“There's nothing wrong,” he said,” they're just doing what's necessary to survive, like we're doing.”
“Yeah but, you heard them before. Last night Charles mentioned killing us. He threatened that again just a moment ago,” she gestured behind them.
“Like I said, necessary to survive. You either live or die these days.” Holly frowned.
“What would Avery and Alex think,” she said, not looking at him.
“I don't care,” he responded,” Alex is just trying so hard to be like his dead brother.”
“Wouldn't you too? If you had a brother that is.” Keith shook his head and Holly stared at him with disbelief,” well then what would Avery think,” she began.
“Screw Avery,” he snapped at her and she shut up instantly, staring at the person she once knew to be kind and funny. He was now mean, harsh, and careless. “ I don't care what Avery does, I don't care what Alex does. And I don't care if we live or die. If Alex wants to drive himself to death just like Justin had, he can. And if Avery wants to continue being alone then she can do that too.”
“Avery's your best friend though.”
“No she's not,” he said, staring ahead,” Avery doesn't mean crap to me.” Holly stopped talking, staring down at the ground while they walked, fully aware now that the others heard the whole conversation from start to finish. She felt strongly that his outburst of anger was jealousy. She could understand that he's jealous over Avery. She knew that he noticed the attention Trevor gave and the attention Alex gave when they found them. But why was he jealous of Alex? Because of his bravery? She wasn't sure and didn't care now. As of this moment, Keith was lost. He was no longer a matter to her. For once since it began, Holly felt alone.
The groups gathered back at the tunnel, everyone bringing anything they found inside before piling the sand bags in front of the opening. “What happened to the door that was there,” Holly asked the SGO.
“Don't know,” Jeff responded, throwing a bag on top,” it was gone when we came here.” She watched them pile the bags on, arms crossed.
“Are you just going to stand there or help us,” asked Jeff, gesturing. She uncrossed her arms and picked up a bag, realizing she misjudged the weight of it and fell back in the dwindling pile of bags, the one she had picked up knocking the air out of her. Alex sat by himself, near the others of the SGO and looked around, noticing the other group hadn't come across Jenny. He could see Holly attempting to help Jeff, Trevor, and Drew with piling the last of the sand bags up, clearly the only one struggling with it being Holly. He saw Charles spending time with Lucinda, talking and hugging briefly. Avery looking around at the different areas of the collections. Nick and Will talking and drinking again. He assumed this group drank each night apparently, perhaps their way of enjoying life while it's there. And he noticed Keith off to himself this night.
“So your group didn't find Jenny,” he asked Will.
“No,” he responded,” we found magazines, a few rolls of toilet paper, one partially used, a couple of cans of lentils. And your friend,” he gestured over at Holly, finally regaining posture after the fall,” threw up.”
“Is she sick or something?”
“Hanging over,” Will then stopped and added,” oh, you should probably talk to her and that other guy. They had an interesting argument.” He took a drink from a shot glass. Alex looked over at Holly who was stretching her arms out, likely trying to play off what had happened, then looked over at Keith. “ Your group might be having problems.” Alex walked away toward Holly to ask what happened. Since Justin was now gone, he was trying his best to become a leader, including trying to solve all issues.
“I hear there was a problem earlier,” he said to her. Holly stared at him.
“... It was just vomit,” she responded,” I likely won't drink tonight.”
“Not that,” he said, shaking his head,” between you and Keith.” She sighed and looked down at the floor then at him.
“Keith is definitely changing these days.” The both of them walked over, Alex stopping to have Avery join them too since it was a group issue. Keith looked up to see the three of them walking over and he stood up.
“What,” he asked in a snap. Alex gestured.
“Something up? Will told me there was a problem forming in our group. What's wrong.”
“Why do you care,” Keith asked,” it was just between Holly and I. It's none of yours or Avery's business. Leave it alone.”
“Fine then,” Holly blurted and faced Avery and Alex,” he's mad because of the both of you, I think it's jealousy.
“Shut up,” Keith snapped at her,” you know what's bothering me? All three of you,” he pointed, beginning to raise his voice at them,” the three of you think you're so damn great;” he looked at Holly,” you won't stop whining! You lost your boyfriend and you cried about that. He was cheating on you the whole time, so all your crying around was worthless. You whined the entire time 'cause Joel died. Take the hint, Holly, you're too desperate to keep a boyfriend alive. You'd do better being alone for the remaining time of your life, which isn't much anyways 'cause you're useless against zombies in the first place,” Holly flinched at the last sentence and backed up a step.
He looked at Alex next,” you lost your brother and are trying so bad to try and be like him. You're no leader. You're not impressing anyone. Come to think of it, neither your brother could save anyone long enough to keep them alive, much less himself. You're just as weak as everyone else.” Alex stared at Keith, feeling a bit of anger at him talking about his brother like that that he tightened his right fist to keep from hitting Keith then and there. He then looked at Avery.
“And you're as bad as they are,” he almost hissed at her,” I haven't once seen you defend yourself against those out there, I doubt you'd last even a day on your own. Apparently you prefer to hang out with Alex more than your own friends. You didn't even remain behind in Kansas just to see if we were even alive!”
“I didn't know,” she responded, shaking her head,” like I was able to see in that large horde.”
“There's always the option of waiting.”
“And if we had waited then you'd literally be dead right now. It was because of Alex and I that you're even here today 'cause we drove away, that whole horde followed us, you shouldn't even be snapping at us.”
“You give all your attention to everyone else,” he snapped.
“What does that even have to do with this?” Avery asked him, shaking her head. Keith grew silent and looked at all three of them.
“You guys want to leave, I want to stay here.” Alex looked at the others before responding.
“Alright,” he said,” do what you want, we'll do our own thing. But I think you should stop drinking and get sleep.” Keith looked down at the couple empty bottles on the ground and looked back at them before nodding silently. Alex, Holly, and Avery walked away to leave Keith alone in his thoughts.
“It's sleeping time,” Charles shouted at the others just as thunder began rumbling,” lights out.” Nick got up from his area and shut the small lamps off, leaving them in darkness.
The city was busy with the dead,still roaming the streets,the buildings,the stores. Just down underneath the bridge,several zombies were walking past a door that held a sign reading: KEEP OUT. CITY TUNNELS. One particular zombie,wearing a hardhat,yellow vest,and bloodied jeans, could overhear the shouts from within in the tunnels and began to beat on the door. The other nearby zombies,seeing the hardhat wearing undead beating on the door,joined in,also beating on the door with their decaying and diseased hands. It shook repeatedly, until there were enough zombies to knock the door down. Sniffing the air more,the horde began to sense the smell of the living inside the tunnel, eager for dinner, they ran down the dark tunnels, in search of the source of yells.
When they began to shriek out, echoing throughout the tunnels, everyone awakened immediately. Will turned the lights on. “Turn those
off,” Charles shouted and they listened. "Gather the weapons, let's get the hell out of here,"instructed Charles. Drew began to load his guns by the faint lighting of Lucinda's small flashlight. Just then, a zombie yelled out, echoing even louder. They looked over, shining the flashlight down the tunnel, and all they could see was the tall shadows growing as they neared their safe area. The survivors ran over to the sandbags, Evan, Trevor, Drew, and Alex began to push aside as many of the bags as they could.
"Climb over," Jeff shouted. Everyone began to climb over, Evan and Jeff continued firing at the visible zombies. Holly climbed over the bags and lost her footing, falling down on the ground outside and Charles jerked her up by her arm, causing a quick pop sound that made her eyes water as she ran to join the others. Lucinda climbed over as the others did and felt her left ankle being grasped by one of the dead. She screamed out,” help me!” Charles stopped running and ran back toward his girlfriend, using the butt end of his rifle to smash in the head of the zombie grabbing his girlfriend's ankle while she kept screaming, fearing its nails will eventually squeeze hard enough to break her ankle or even the skin. Charles swung down repeatedly until the zombie stopped moving and he fired at the ones coming closer, Trevor helping him while Lucinda finally ran out toward the vehicle everyone else was in, rain pouring down on her. Once out of the tunnels, the remaining survivors ran to the vehicles,and everyone climbed into the paddy wagon, watching the zombies come pouring out of the tunnels. Evan put it in drive and sped away, the group of zombies kept chasing the vehicle.
Holly sat with her legs drawn up, crying and repeatedly saying,” please God, help us.” Avery clutched down on the seat, her hands turning red while Alex attempted to reload a gun and Keith sitting there, beginning to sober up quicker than when he was drunk. Evan, caught off guard, attempted to swerve away from a Pontiac GrandAm and a Honda Van that appeared to have wrecked into each other; the effect was swerving too far, causing the vehicle to turn over on its side, everyone in the back hitting the left side of the wall in the paddywagon, and the vehicle, sliding, finally stopping when it bumped against a building.
Carefully, Alex pushed open one of the double doors, letting Keith and Holly make it out, and he turned around and pulled Avery out of there too, only saving his group just as he knew Justin would approve of. Holly began to run as soon as she could stand straight.
"Where the hell are you going?!"Keith shouted.
"Getting the hell away from them psychos,"she shouted, gesturing toward the vehicle still holding the SGO. Keith looked around and then ran after Holly, the two of them disappearing behind a building. Alex, wanting to take advantage of the moment of freedom too, pulled Avery's arm.
"Come on," he shouted at her.
"We have to help them, Alex," she insisted.
"They held us hostage though," he argued back,frowning,"they beat Keith and Holly, likely killed Jenny. And their crazy leader tried to beat me to death and that one guy even fought with you. Why help those that harmed us?"
"I'm helping them," she finalized, then proceeded with running up to the driver side door and pulled Evan out the best she could. Alex, sighing in fustration, decided to help the ones in the back of the vehicle out of there. After helping Evan out, Avery began to help Alex until everyone was out of there.
"C'mon," Alex yelled at them,"let's go!" They began to run down the street, avoiding any zombies as best they could. Holly and Keith finally stopped running, resting in a deserted alley.
"I can't wait for all this to end,"Keith breathed, regaining his stature after the moment of dizziness that hit him. He realized he was already becoming sober. Holly nodded in agreement. Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed Keith's shoulder, causing him and Holly to jump," Avery."
"Hey," she said," You know that talk we've been having since Texas? Y'know, about helping all survivors who aren't infected, whether we hate them or not? Remember that,Keith and Holly??" They looked at one another.
"...Vaguely," Holly said with a shrug.
"Then why in the hell did the two of you run?!!" Before they could respond, the others ran up, taking a rest too.
"Didn't I tell you that'd happen?" Alex said to Charles.
"It's a 50/50 chance of something like that actually happening," he responded almost breathless.
"We need to get moving," Lucinda cut in," standing in an alley isn't exactly safe." Alex began walking down the alley.
"Where are you going," asked Charles.
"Shelter," he answered, looking back," a house instead of a business building or tunnel." Everyone else began walking too, catching up with him.
"That was nice," Charles said to Alex,"going back and helping us. Thanks." Alex noticed that it seemed to almost kill Charles to say that to him.
"Wasn't my idea," Alex said," It was Avery's idea, she insisted that we help you guys. If it had been up to me...I would've left you guys in there."
" She's such a little saint, isn't she,” Charles spoke with the same tone as when he thanked Alex. Even before the virus happened, Charles was never much for kindness or kind people. “ Either way," Charles began," the world could use more people like your group now days."
"Why is that?"
"Look at you guys. We've been on guard in this city since it began, hiding out in a tunnel. You guys have been traveling on foot and by vehicles, from Colorado all the way up here. You took a beating at Wal Mart and are still carrying on and fighting to survive. You've done more than we have, and we've got more guns than you do."
"That was all mostly my brother Justin's work. He's the one who pushed us to survive." Alex stared off when he noticed a house with its lights on,"There's a house with its lights still on."
“That's not possible,” Charles said,” all electric here went out some time ago.”
“There's a thing called a generator,” Alex responded.
They walked across the street and up to the porch of the two story house. Evan and Charles opened the door quietly, making sure there were no zombies in there. The rest came in, Lucinda closing the door behind them and locking it.
"Hello,"Evan shouted out in case,"any survivors here??"
"In the living room," they heard a girl shout, who Keith and Holly identified as Jenny.
"Jenny," Alex shouted and ran into the living room. He stopped, along with the others, when they saw Jenny and a little girl sitting on a couch, and a middle aged man sitting in a recliner, holding a hunting rifle in his lap.
"I'm gonna call the police, let them deal with you drug addict psychos,"the man said, apparently thinking the zombies were all on drugs.
"No one's on drugs," Will insisted," we're survivors trying to find a safe place."
"Yeah right," the man scoffed," all of you people out there are on drugs! That's why I don't ever leave my house."
"This guy's nuts,"said Drew,"Let's go." The man immediately gestured the rifle at them.
"No one's going anywhere," he shouted,"I will not let you let that evil in my house."
"There is so many things you're saying that doesn't make any sense,"Charles said,"We came here to find shelter and survivors."
"All of you are covered in blood," he said,"You could be one of them."
"None of us are injured," Lucinda said to him.
"It'd also help if you kept your voice down," Nick added," or they'll hear you." Holly glanced over at the large uncovered window. Gently, she touched Nick's arm.
"Nick, they're coming." He looked at the window too, but couldn't see anything.
"I think we should move on from here," Jeff said.
"Maybe it'd be best to turn all the lights off too," Drew said after that," they could be attracting them, and we really don't want that."
"Shut up,"the man began.
"He's right," Evan cut in," you don't want a whole horde of them getting us." Charles then opened his mouth to also say something, but the man turned immediately and fired his gun, shooting Charles in his left s
houlder. The force knocking Charles back against the fireplace. Lucinda ran over to him, crying. Charles clutched his shoulder, in dire pain. The gunshot had echoed through the night, setting off the dinner bell for the zombies. They ran toward the house, spotting the living people through the window. The crazed man cocked his gun again and aimed at Jeff next, the others beginning to point their guns at him, but was stopped when the zombies came bursting through the window, instantly grabbing him since he was beside the window. He screamed out in both fear and pain as they began to bite into his skin. Will began to fire his gun at them, firing at their heads, but he noticed one zombie never went down with each shot he fired. He stopped shooting and stared at them, knowing they're all screwed now. The survivors ran to the foyer, stopping when they could hear more zombies trying to bust the front door down.
"Upstairs," Trevor shouted to them, and everyone began up the stairs. The stairs were apparently termite-ridden, because while Nick ran up the stairs, his right leg went through a covered hole, causing his ankle to make a snap sound and he screamed in pain. Holly ran back and struggled to pull him up, eventually getting help from Will. The banister began to shake violently as they ran up the stairs, the zombies attempting to chase them. Avery was the last to run up the stairs when they collapsed, and she managed to catch on the edge of the flooring, her hands beginning to bleed from the sharp shards of wood sticking up, almost making her wish someone would help or she was about to let go. Keith ran back and pulled her up while Alex shot at the zombies. The group ran down the hall, all of them gathered in the master bedroom. They stopped and Holly almost began gagging. On the floor near the bed,were half eaten bodies.
" He was catching survivors and eating them," Evan said.
“I think he was a cannibal,” Jenny said,” when Laura and I came here, we caught him in the kitchen, blood everywhere, and he was using a meat grinder on some dead bodies and cooking it.”
When The Dead Came 2 Page 7
