The End of Us

by D, Hannah

  “You don’t know that. Please Michael. Come back with us to this depot. Help us fight against Brian” Colleen pleaded with him.

  “We’re safe here” Michael said.

  “You won’t be safe for long and that’s got nothing to do with Brian. There’s skin eaters surrounding this place” Jeff said to Michael.

  “And I wonder whose fault that is?” Michael asked Jeff.

  “Yes more of them coming to the door is our fault but you said yourself, tons were out there before we came and you couldn’t get food, so how long can you actually keep living here?” Jeff asked.

  Michale looked to be stuck for answers.

  “At least come back with us. If you end up wanting to leave then you can, we won’t keep you there against your will, we’re not like Brian” Zoe said.

  Michael looked like he was debating with himself whether to go with them or not.

  “Michael, We should go with them, at least see if we like this depot place. They’re right in saying we can’t live here for much longer” the woman named Mandy said.

  After a couple of minutes Michael let out a long sigh and turned to face Zoe, Jeff and Sophia.

  “Fine. We’ll come back with you. But if we don’t like this depot place and still don’t want to fight with Brian and his group then we’re leaving. Got it?” Micheal said to them.

  “You got it” Jeff answered.

  “You’ll like it there Michael, trust me” Colleen said to him.

  The noise from the skin eaters from behind the door to the bar seemed to have died down a little. The skin eaters must not actually know that they are in here. They were maybe banging on all the doors that were outside, trying to break down any of them to get inside to their food.

  “When do we leave?” Sophia asked.

  “Whoa, lets let the skin eater rampage die down before we leave” Michael said.

  “They’ve stopped banging on the door though?” Zoe said.

  “That doesn’t mean they’ve left the are out the back, they just got bored of banging on the door is all” Michael said to them.

  “What if they never leave?” Zoe asked.

  “Ah we have a secret escape in case that ever happened. It’s a dangerous escape but if you lot can fight your way through herds of the biters then I think you’ll enjoy this. Follow me and I’ll show you” Michael said to them.

  “We call them skin eaters” Sophia said.

  “Ha! How very accurate, I like it” Michael said as he led them through a door which took them up a staircase.

  “People who owned this bar lived upstairs. Don’t worry, we cleaned the place out from any biters. Sorry, skin eaters” Michael said to them.

  Michael led them to the main door of the upstairs flat and opened it. Sure enough there two skin eaters lying at the door.

  “Why keep them at the door? Why not throw them out a window or something?” Jeff asked Michael.

  “They can’t smell the living if there are their own kind in front of them. Makes them not want to bang down doors” Michael told them.

  ‘Huh, who knew? A least this was something the group could do back at the depot. Start lining up the skin eaters they killed in front of the fence so that no skin eaters would try and break in’ Zoe thought.

  Jeff and Sophia were thinking the same thing as they all looked at each other and smiled.

  “Through here, into this bedroom” Michael said to them.

  They followed Michael into the bedroom and watched as he opened up the window and climbed out.

  Zoe, Jeff, Sophia and Colleen looked out the window and saw Michael climbing up a fir escape.

  “Come on, follow me” Michael said to them.

  Colleen shrugged her shoulders at them and started following Michael up the fire escape. They all followed, Zoe going last.

  They had made it to the top and were standing on a roof. They looked down and seen all the skin eaters below them. There were loads. Far too many for them to even think about fighting their way though to get back to the depot.

  “Well looks like we can’t leave through the doors” Jeff said.

  “Exactly, but we can jump over the roof’s” Michael said to them.

  “Jump over the roof’s? Are you crazy! We can’t jump over the gaps, they’re massive, we’d fall to our deaths!” Sophia said.

  “We can come up with an idea to tie these ladders here together over the massive gap that leads to the Tesco express over there” Michael said as he pointed out the two ladders lying on the roof.

  “That’s not actually a bad plan” Jeff said.

  “It would get us over this herd down below us surrounding the pub” Zoe commented.

  “It’s a row of building beside the Tesco express so we can walk over those and at the other side there is another fire escape we can climb down” Michael said to them.

  “I say we go for it” Zoe said.

  “What if there are loads of skin eaters on that side?” Sophia asked.

  “Then we deal with that when we come to it but for now it is our only plan” Zoe said.

  “Okay, we got for it. When do we leave?” Jeff asked.

  “Better waiting until tomorrow mate. The suns going down now and it’ll be dark. I prefer our chances when it’s daylight” Michael said.

  “Then tomorrow it is” Zoe said.

  “Cool. I’ll go down and tell the plane to the others, you all coming?” Michael asked them.

  “I’ll be down soon, I need some air and a moment to rest” Zoe said.

  “Yeah, me too, you all go down and we’ll follow soon” Jeff said.

  Michael nodded his head as he, Sophia and Colleen made their way back down.

  Zoe and Jeff sat down on the roof.

  “What a crazy day” Jeff said.

  “Yeah I know, at least Michael and the others are coming back with us” Zoe said.

  “Think they’ll stay and fight with us?” Jeff asked her.

  “Honestly, I don’t know, we’ll need to wait and see” Zoe said.

  “I hope that they do” Jeff said to her.

  “Me too” Zoe agreed.

  Zoe leaned her head onto Jeff’s shoulder and he put his arm around her.

  It was a crazy plan they had tomorrow to jump over the roof’s but Zoe felt positive about it. If they could fight through herds of skin eaters just the four of them then they could make it back to the depot no problem.

  Zoe and Jeff relaxed into each other and spent a few hours on the roof just the two of them, going back down into the pub when it got dark.

  That night they shared a few drinks with the group downstairs before falling asleep in preparation for their journey back to the depot the next day.

  Chapter 10

  Zoe woke to the sound of footsteps near her head. She opened her eyes to see that already everyone was up and moving, getting things packed to start their journey back to the depot.

  “Is it time to head out” Zoe asked Mark.

  “Yeah, near enough. We’re just packing up to get ready to go” Mark said.

  “Oh, no problem” Zoe replied.

  Zoe looked around for her group and found Jeff and Colleen speaking with Michael and Sophia was helping the others pack. It looked like majority of the alcohol was also coming with them. It would make the days and nights go in quicker Zoe supposed.

  Zoe stood up and stretched. She could hear the skin eaters from outside. They definitely sounded like they were very hungry. They were waiting on their next meal and Zoe kept her fingers crossed that none of them would be the human happy meal today.

  “So you think the majority of the biters, sorry skin eaters, will still be at that exploded van?” Michael asked Jeff and Colleen.

  “Well that’s what we’re hoping” Jeff said.

  “I mean, if not, there are loads of cars out there that we could set fire to and make explode” Colleen said.

  “That explosion attracted loads more skin eaters to make their way towards it, they ca
me from every direction, we just made it out alive so it’s not a great idea to make another explosion” Jeff said.

  “But if we had to we could do it again?” Michael asked.

  “If we had to then yes, I can’t see it being a problem” Jeff said.

  Zoe walked up at the end of the conversation. Zoe hoped she wouldn’t have to do another explosion. The first one was bad enough and she and Jeff were nearly flattened by the van door! Plus, the image of the falling body parts, even though they were skin eaters was something she never wanted to see again, or at least try to never see again.

  “Hey sleepyhead” Jeff said to her.

  “Hey, how long have I been the only one asleep?” Zoe asked him.

  “Only about an hour. I thought it be best you got some extra sleep” Jeff said to her.

  Zoe nodded. Jeff knew that Zoe needed as much sleep as she could get. She slept the least compared to the rest of the group at the depot, she just couldn’t sleep.

  “Do we need to help you guys carry anything?” Zoe asked Michael.

  “Nah, we’ll manage. We carried these bags on our backs when we ran from Brian, it’s only a little more heavy with the alcohol we’re carrying. You don’t mind us bringing that do you?” Michael asked her.

  “Not at all, so long as you share some with the rest of us” Zoe said to him.

  “Sharing is caring” Michael said with a smile.

  “If you’ll excuse me, there’s a few last minute things I need to pack and then we should be ready to head out” Michael said.

  “Yeah sure, no problem” Zoe said.

  Zoe turned and looked at Jeff an d Colleen.

  “I hope they stay and help us” Zoe said.

  “They more than likely will. Michaels a good guy, he always wants to help. He just needs a bit of convincing at times” Colleen said.

  “It sounds like you’ve known Michael for a long time? Longer than just at the zoo for a few weeks..” Jeff said to Colleen.

  “Yeah, we knew each other a little before the epidemic. We went to school together. I hadn’t seen him in years until we ran into each other in Brian’s group” Colleen said.

  “Did it have to be some secret that you knew each other?” Jeff asked her.

  “No, I just forgot to say really. You never really expect to have to explain how you know someone to strangers” Colleen said with a laugh.

  “Yeah, true” Jeff said with a laugh.

  “I’m going to go over and give them a hand. Someone needs to go up and tie those ladders together as well” Colleen said to them.

  “Me and Zoe can do it. Right Zoe?” Jeff asked.

  “Yeah, we’ll do it. Make ourselves useful” Zoe said.

  “Hey, Michael. Jeff and Zoe are going to go up and tie those ladders together. You got that rope?” Colleen asked.

  “Yeah, behind the bar. Thanks” Michael said to them.

  Jeff grabbed the rope from behind the bar and he and Zoe made their way back upstairs, out the window onto the fire escape and back up onto the roof.

  There was still a herd of skin eaters below. It actually looked like there was more skin eaters here than there were last night.

  “Think more congregated here whilst we were asleep?” Zoe asked.

  “Looks like it. At least they can’t tell we were hiding in the bar” Jeff said.

  “That’s the bonus. Now we need to make it back to the depot alive. Avoiding both the skin eaters and Brian and his group” Zoe said.

  “We’ll manage, there’s a little more of us now” Jeff said.

  “Yeah, true but here’s hoping we make it back unnoticed. I need an easy journey back, don’t you?” Zoe asked him.

  “I love challenges but yeah, I could do easy right now” Jeff said.

  They both got to work tying the two ladders together. They weren’t being the quietest and the skin eaters could hear the noise but they couldn’t tell where it was coming from apart from that it was above their heads. Zoe could see just over the edge and could see their heads looking up at the sky, trying to sniff out their food.

  After they were done tying the ladders together they both stood up and stepped back to look at their handiwork.

  “Think it’ll hold everyone’s weight going across it?” Zoe asked.

  “I think so, we’re better going over one at a time though, just to be safe” Jeff said.

  “Good idea” Zoe said.

  “I’ll go down and grab them, tell them we’re good to go. The skin eaters are going to notice me going down so we’ll be backup quickly” Jeff said.

  “I’m ready” Zoe said with a smile.

  Jeff smiled back at her and disappeared down the fire escape. Zoe saw the skin eaters follow Jeff with their eyes and five seconds later she could hear them back banging on the back door to the pub. Zoe was ready to get the hell out of here. She’d had enough of the city centre and the herds of skin eaters. She just wanted this Brian mess to be over and done with. Zoe wanted a days peace at least.

  Jeff was true to his word and everyone was back up on the roof in less than five minutes. Very quick they were indeed.

  “Okay, lets hope to god these ladders make it across this gap” Jeff said.

  Jeff, Zoe and Michael all stood the ladders up, took them to the edge of the roof and, as softly as they could, put the ladders over the gap and onto the Tesco express roof.

  It was a success. The ladders went across the gap. The bad news? The ladders banged as they hit the Tesco express roof and it attracted the skin eaters attention and they all looked up and noticed Zoe, Jeff and Michael standing at the roof.

  “Time to go” Michael said.

  “Yep!” Jeff and Zoe said at the same time.

  “Who wants to go first?” Michael asked.

  “I’ll go” Mark said.

  It was always risky being the first one to go over. Who knew just how steady the ladder actually was, it could fall at any second really. The ladders were only typed together by bits of rope. Zoe could barely watch as Mark crawled over. Zoe had never held her breath for as long as she did at that moment. When Mark made it across with no problems you could hear everyone releasing the breath they were holding.

  Kirsty went next followed by Sophia, Mandy, Colleen, Lewis, Zoe, Jeff and lastly Michael.

  “Do we leave the ladders here?” Jeff asked.

  “Why not? Who knows if we ever might need it again” Michael said with a wink.

  They all started walking ver the roof’s to get to the opposite end with the fire escape. It was easy enough walking over them. There were no gaps between buildings and they were all pretty much equal in height so it wasn’t like they had much struggle getting from one building to the next.

  Soon they were standing on the edge of the last building looking down the fire escape.

  “Are there any windows on the side of this building going down?” Zoe asked.

  “No. All brick, why do you ask that” Mark asked her.

  “We have noticed that some may get trapped inside the buildings and if there’s an open window and a skin eater is in there, well then they can easily grab us and chew us up” Zoe said.

  “Ah.. Good point, didn’t think of that” Mark said.

  They were all looking down the fire escape when they seen there were quite a few skin eaters down there. So far the skin eaters hadn’t noticed them standing at the top of the building.

  “That smoke over there? That from you guys with the van exploding?” Kirsty asked.

  “Yeah, that would be from us” Colleen said, squinting in the sunlight in her eyes to see the smoke.

  The smoke was travelling high up in the sky still and you could see it in the sunlight. You could make out the dots of skin eaters surrounding that area. It became apparent to Zoe that they would need to find another way around to get back to the bus depot.

  “Three of us should go down first, there’s enough space for two to go down at the same time on the last set of steps with the third person fo
llowing” Mark said.

  “I’ll go” Zoe, Jeff, Colleen, Michael and Mandy said at the same time.

  They all looked at each other. Zoe wasn’t used to having so many people all offer at once to go and fight some skin eaters. There was usually a pause before people offered.

  “Look, let us go down first, me, Mark and Mandy. You guys fought enough trying to get to us. Let us pay you back” Michael suggested to them.

  “If you’re offering then I can’t stop you lot, thanks” Jeff said.

  “Always the gentleman Michael aren’t you?” Colleen said with a laugh.

  “You know me” Michael said.

  “Okay, once we get down the bottom another three come down and then the final three come down after them” Michael said.

  “Got it” Jeff said.

  Michael, Mark and Mandy started going down the fire escape to start fighting off the skin eaters.

  “Colleen, Zoe and me will go next, Colleen you’re better finding the safest way to get us away from here and back on the path to take us to the bus depot” Jeff said to her.

  “Yeah, go it. I know a good way to go” Colleen said.

  “Kirsty, Lewis and Sophia, you all good coming down last?” Jeff asked them.

  “Yeah, sure, I’m fine with it” Sophia, Kirsty and Lewis all said at once.

  Zoe, Jeff and Colleen looked over the edge just as Michael, Mark and Mandy got to the bottom. Michael and Mark were the first two down, killing the skin eaters as soon as they got there followed closely by Mandy. They were good at fighting.

  Zoe, Jeff and Colleen were already making their way down, getting to the bottom and killing skin eaters before they knew it. They were closely followed by Sophia, Kirsty and Lewis. They were all fighting the skin eaters, every time they turned around, there was a skin eater there. More were following the fighting noise that was going on.

  “Colleen, we need that safe route right about now!” Jeff shouted.

  “One second!” Colleen yelled back as she fought of the three skin eaters that had surrounded her.

  Zoe was fighting right beside Lewis. He was very good at fighting Zoe realised. She didn’t have to protect him at all and he was working with her even though they were complete strangers. Zoe only fought this well with Jeff usually.