Separated

by Michael Blue

  "Do it, ugly bitch," he said disgracefully.

  Erlina darkened more as she was insulted by the slimy old fiend. When she noticed his struggle to get up, she immediately placed away her blade in her back pocket. Crouching down to remove her bow and arrows from the biker guy, she kept her eyes on Juan at all times. Finally being fully equipped, she picked the pistol back up and aimed at him. Fearfully, she backed around the butcher table to avoid passing through the corner Juan was forced into. Keeping her eyes on him until she reached the doorway she finally let her guard down.

  "You're making a huge mistake letting me go, girl," he said looking up at her with a devilish smirk. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that there was something seriously messed up with this dude.

  "Where's our stuff?" Erlina asked pointing the gun at him.

  He glared up at her.

  "Where's our stuff!?" she said trembling in both fear and anger.

  "It's in the kitchen upstairs," he admitted weakly.

  "Good luck getting to it without getting killed by those two,"

  Erlina glared and didn't answer. She would've had the last word, but she still feared him, even if he was bled out in a corner on the brink of death. She looked around to make sure that no one was around. Immediately, Erlina grabbed the door and pulled it shut. Backing up from the entrance, she began sneaking up the stairs. Rescuing her older cousin was her next objective. She had a handgun, but didn't want to use it anymore. This wasn't going to be easy.

  * * *

  Pamela's knees sunk into the wet moist soil below her. She wasn't going to go down a damsel in distress, so she painted on a brave face and fought the tears that wanted to emerge. However, it seemed that the guy ordered to execute her was having more a struggle than she was. Every time he aimed and put his finger on the trigger, it led to him putting his assault rifle back to his side

  "I-I can't do this," he said biting his bottom lip.

  Pamela didn't reply in case anything changed his mind.

  "I give up. I'm tired of having to do that man's dirty work," he confessed, "I wanted to let you two go, but the boss, man. I'm nothing like him."

  He paced back and forth, and began conversing.

  "Look, if I let you go—"

  But that's when it all ended with a nasty croak. Looking and squinting past the trees, Pamela and the Lumberjack saw what appeared to be a female Runner and Clicker trekking through the forest. Pamela was wondering if death was playing with her life at this point because it seemed like she couldn't win for losing. The man aided her to her feet and slowly tried to back up to avoid being seen. Of course, thanks to a very cliché moment, the Lumberjack had to step on a branch that snapped very loudly under his heavy feet.

  Stopping in their tracks, Pamela and the Lumberjack looked up to see the female Runner shouting and beaming towards them without any conscience thought. Immediately, Pamela and the Lumberjack turned to run. With her arms still tied, Pamela had difficulty keeping up with the large man. As she ran, she heard the snarls of the Runner becoming awfully closer and within seconds, the Runner leaped at her back and threw her to the ground. She yelled, shuffling her shoulders around, trying to wiggle free from its grip. It punched and slammed her back with all its might. It then held her head to sink its teeth into; however, the Lumberjack fired a couple of bullets to the back and head of the Runner just in time. Kicking it off of Pamela's back. She rolled over, relieved to see that the man who almost killed her, saved her life.

  As he reached down, he grabbed her hand and partially helped her to her feet. From the side, the Clicker that was journeying with the Runner, tackled him to the side and immediately bit into his neck. Pamela fell back down and grunted on the impact.

  "RUUUNNN—AAHH," He warned as he shouted in excruciating pain.

  Chunks of muscle and veins were being pulled free from his neck and Pamela turned from it as she sat up. Immediately, Pamela crawled a few feet away from the incident and sat behind a large trunk of a tree. It was a shame that the young fellow had to go this way after trying to help her and her family. As soon as the Clicker was done with him, it stood up, listening closely for any near targets, screaming into the air with its atrocious mouth. It clicked and croaked, staggering around for more enemies. What was to be done?

  As the Clicker traveled a couple of feet away, Pamela carefully crawled towards the body of the Lumberjack. She searched his pockets in search for something sharp to cut her hands free. As she patted his pockets down his wallet fell out opened. It didn't bother her, but she looked down when the first thing she noticed caught her attention. It was his identification card, it read "Salvador Morales". It was going to be a name she'd never forget.

  Turning away she continued to search his pockets, clothing and pants. She looked up and saw the clicker coming back in her direction. She stepped back from Salvador's body and turned him over, ever so lightly, towards her. Patting him down more and more, her fear of being vulnerable became more and more overwhelming. She stopped, looking around in the soil for something; Bingo. She spotted, what appeared to be, a handcrafted blade that probably had fallen off of him or maybe even one of the Infected. She reached over and took the blade, maneuvering her fingers to hold the blade upright and point towards the rope around her wrists. It was a challenge having to cut the rope, so there were a couple of times where she nicked her palms and fingers with it. However, it all became easier when her wrists became easier to move. Within a couple of moments of struggle and pure frustration, she finally broke free. She celebrated silently within herself and took the assault rifle from his side. She examined it, and saw how similar it was to a hunter rifle. She threw the sling over her shoulder, and the gun hung at her side.

  The Clicker itself was still aimlessly walking around the area; Pamela made a couple noises to give the Clicker an idea of where she stood. Finding her way behind it, she jumped unto its back and pierced the small blade deep in its throat. She stumbled forward with it as it tried to fight its way out of her hold, but it collapsed to the ground. Looking around, Pamela was safe for the time being, and she'd be going back to get her family, even if it meant putting her life on the line. She began journeying off the way they came from.

  * * *

  Joshua was still sitting in his chair, strapped and bloody, and he was given a few more punches by the two comrades of the old geezer. Joshua was exhausted by now, he was strapped in his chair, slowly falling asleep, but tried constantly to stay awake being bothered by the thoughts of his mother and cousin. He felt uncomfortable and he was sniffling up the loads of dried up blood in his nose. It was until they all heard gunshots that made them react differently. Joshua was the most worried of all, and he began fidgeting his fingers.

  "Erlina...?" he whimpered, trying to struggle free.

  "Yo, you heard that?" the man with the eye-patch questioned quickly.

  "Maybe he killed the girl?" the female replied.

  Joshua's eyes shifted over to the woman as those words came out her mouth. Odds are, after everything that bitter old man said, that could be true.

  "Nah, it's too soon. He said he was saving her for last, didn't he?" said the man with the eye patch.

  "Go check downstairs. I'll keep an eye on the boy, but be really careful."

  The female nodded and twirled her machete within her palms as if she were performing with a baton. Before making her way down the numerous steps, she stopped at the top of the staircase and called out,

  "Is that you, Boss?" she shouted.

  Erlina was by the bottom of the staircase, but was still out of sight. She remembered that there was another person upstairs before she had left so she'd have to be really careful before she put Joshua's life in danger. As much as Erlina didn't want to, she had to kill the woman before she got chance. The young girl left the sides of the staircase as she heard the footsteps make their way down. She ran past the corridor and went straight into the chapel, making a quick left at a corner; she kneeled and crouched
between the pews. Slowly crawling, she made her way to the front of the chapel, but just before the exit that led to the back stairs that led both upstairs and downstairs.

  "Boss?!" the woman called out again.

  There was no answer, and that's when she figured out something definitely wasn't right. It was just too quiet, and that gave her even more a reason to put her guard up. She made her way into the chapel and walked down the middle of the isle. She searched each pew individually with her eyes, making sure she didn't miss a glimpse of anything. That's when Erlina knew it was time for the woman to get put down. Quickly, the young archer stood up, becoming visible. The older woman was immediately caught off guard and needed a moment or two to realize what she had actually been seeing. The younger girl's clothes were covered in blood, but she wasn't wounded.

  "The girl... I found the girl!" she shouted, notifying her partner.

  She twirled her weapon and ran down the middle of the isle with her arm raised high. Erlina quickly aimed her arrow and followed the woman's pace. She began timing the speed of the older woman, and brought the aim a couple of feet away from the woman's body. Just as soon as the lady turned the isle to come towards Erlina, she fell into the target. Erlina released her finger off the string and shot her arrow clean through the older woman's chest, causing her body to fly backwards and fall right on her side.

  Erlina quickly ran to her corpse and yanked the arrow out from her fresh wound. Erlina watched her body, slightly upset that it had to come to this. Her attention came back to her and she turned to look at the crackled ceiling. Now that it was alarmed that she was alive, It was going to be a little difficult fighting an enemy who was aware of her whereabouts. She went up the back staircase listening closely as the man called out her partner's name repeatedly. That's when he cursed to himself and realized that she was most likely dead. Feeling unstoppable, Erlina made her way silently up the stairs, peaking through the side of the doorway. Focusing and listening closely, she noticed the turned back of the long-hair man. In addition, he was weaponless. She could tell he was a man who focused more on brawn than brains; like those juice-heads who spend every day working out.

  Meanwhile he was too busy checking the front flight of stairs. That's when Erlina made her way to the top floor and entered the premises and had her bow and arrow armed and aimed. Joshua looked up and noticed his cousin astonishment. That's when the sniffling began. His eyes watered and smile appeared across his face, being more than happy to see that his wonderful, younger cousin was alive. The man quickly turned around and stopped in his steps once he noticed Erlina walk into the room. The look on his face was so comical, you would've thought he was going to wet his pants.

  "Let him go," she demanded, quickly shifting her aim back and forth.

  The man stood with his hands raised.

  "I can't do that..." he replied looking down at the young girl as he inched closer to her.

  "Stop...moving!" she said, "Untie him or you'll end up like your other friends."

  It took a moment or two for the man to think on his next move and so he did what he was told. He walked beside Joshua and untied his wrists first. Meanwhile Joshua was getting untied; he gave a warm smile to Erlina, being more than grateful that this was probably the second occasion she had saved his life. Next was his ankles and after some time, he was able to move his legs and arms freely. Still being crouched beside him with his arms up, Josh gave a devastating kick to the long haired man's head. He fell to the ground and looked up dazed. That's when Josh delivered his final kick, causing him to fall fully unconscious.

  "Erlina." he cried softly, running to her and hugging her.

  Erlina dropped her bow, wrapping both arms around her cousin. She buried her face in his chest and began trembling as she cried. He released her and slightly looked down while he placed his hands on her shoulders.

  "What did that man do you do?" he said looking into her dreadful eyes.

  "Nothing...I stabbed him with my knife a couple of times before he could do anything..." Erlina said wiping the tears away.

  She picked up her items before releasing him and walking towards the kitchen. The door was missing, so it was open to anyone.

  "Is he dead?" Joshua said turning and beginning to follow her with a fast pace.

  "He told me where our stuff was. Let's get them so we get out of here," she answered, ignoring his question.

  After a while, Erlina told Joshua about the pistol in her pocket. Taking it for himself, Joshua was now in charge since he was free; he walked past her and searched the whole kitchen. Eventually, it led to him checking the cabinets and oven. All he really found were small tanks of gasoline; something they didn't need. Last but not least, he checked the powerless fridge and found all three of their bags in the freezer, including his mother's. Most of Joshua's and Pamela's weapons were gone. All he had was the pistol Erlina had just given him and his own.

  "Fucking shit!" he cursed.

  Erlina looked up at him, frightened.

  "How are we going to get to Aunty Pamela...?"

  Joshua didn't answer. He looked down and rubbed his temples. Immediately, he grabbed all three bags and handed Erlina's hers and held his mother's own in his hand.

  "What now...?" Erlina said.

  That's when Joshua opened his backpack and reached inside it, he pulled out the box of matches he found at the little diner earlier. He looked up at the cabinets and the three oil tanks that were there.

  * * *

  Erlina and Joshua were finished emptying the three oil tanks throughout most of the top floor. Most of the oil seeped through the spaces of the collapsed parts of the floor. By the back staircases, which were closer to the church exit, Joshua stood with the match in his head. Using the friction of the match box, he ignited the match and held in front of his face, looking at the flame as its hot orange light reflected from the cores of his vengeful, brown eyes.

  Autumn

  * * *

  She had been walking for days, on her own without much food or water, and she was devastated without her family. If she had to guess, she'd say it'd been about a week since she got separated from her son and niece. Pamela was on the brink of giving up. She was in complete pain, both physically and mentally. Feeling the burning scratch underneath her left eye, she remembered how she had gotten it; running past a sharp branch trying to escape some Clickers in the forest. Her feet hurt from always having to run and walk so much, she had migraines because of no proper slumber. It felt like she was getting nowhere. One or two days ago she crossed a small town. She camped in a ranch for two days all by herself; personally it was one of the few times she actually relaxed. Until she discovered some Clickers in the houses nearby, that's when she had to sneak her way out of town. She recalled eating little things like canned beans, string beans and remembered eating the same thing the next couple of days.

  The most painful memory of all was going back to the church after she escaped the forest. Locating the town was probably the easiest part of the travel, but it was also the scariest. She remembered smelling and seeing a large cloud of black smoke in the air. It was a terrifying sight. Once she reached town, there was nothing in the churches place but burning ashes. All she could do was sit and watch the flames diminish everything within its perimeter. Her car was nowhere to be found, but strangely enough, she ended up finding her dirty pink backpack on the side of the road. Opening it, there was nothing inside but three matches, a gas mask, kitchen knife, her old lipstick, and a letter. Of course, the first thing she did was open the letter and it was a message from Josh and Erlina. It was hard to make out some of the words since they were written in lipstick, but it pretty much explained that they both made it out.

  Pamela walked down an empty road, not knowing how to feel. Constantly, she read the letter to make her feel good, but she would never crack a smile. It just made her worry even more. It was reassuring that they might have escaped these people, but it scared her even more to know that they were o
ut there with the infected around them. There's been countless times where they've met and heard stories of the worst.

  At this point, she stopped walking to give her feet a rest and rested on a nearby boulder. She inhaled and exhaled deeply and looked up at the sky,

  "Oh dear God..." she whined to herself.

  Going through her coat pockets, she remembered finding some well-preserved jerky that smelled and tasted good. She had a couple of pieces left in her pocket, and chomped on two or three of them. Reaching in for one last piece, that's when she heard some ruffling in the bushes behind her. Cautiously turning around, she grabbed hold of her assault rifle.

  Through the naked bush, she saw a dark figure but couldn't exactly tell what it was. It was too small to be any human figure and it resembled some kind of animal. Walking closer to it, Pamela craned her neck over the bush to see exactly what it was that was. Lifting its head and looking back with its bright brown eyes, it revealed itself to be an adult Labrador with a shiny black coat. It didn't look wild, instead it had a collar. What was it just doing here? As the dog stood up, it make faint whine and revealed itself to be caught in a snare.

  "Poor thing..." Pamela said as she made her way through the bushes.

  She knelt in front of the dog and examined it, and thought it was a very precious face to look at. Speculations were either that it must have been separated from its owners or that its owners were no longer around. Overall, the poor dog looked miserable. The first step would be to show that she meant no harm before touching the startled canine. She reached into her pocket and she pulled out some beef jerky. She waved it in the air to show that it was only food. Right away the dog picked up its scent, and she placed a couple in front of the dog. The dog sniffed the jerky and immediately began chewing the food. Within seconds, it was all finished and by this point, whenever Pamela moved closer, the dog did as well with a wagging tail, sniffing with its snout.