CRYSTAL'S CHAPTERS:Chapter 1
The late summer heat was burning down on the once great metropolis of London. The sun was a spiky ball of flame, reaching the earth’s surface and soaking it in a hellish heat. Sweat had started beading on her brow as she dug around the garden center of a superstore. Letting out a breath, Rose Kavanagh wiped the sweat on her brow with her forearm. She glanced up at the sky and shook her head, it was high noon, the hottest part of the day. Combing her chocolate-colored hair into a high ponytail, Rose pulled it tight and walked over to the dusty glass doors that lead into the superstore.
Her rich caramel eyes stared at the door for a moment. She was debating if she should slip into the store or keep poking around outside. When she licked her lips she gagged at the saltiness from her sweat. Scrunching up her nose, Rose reached for her trench knife tucked into her russet boot. Pressing her lips together, she stepped closer to the door and peered inside the store. Letting out a steady breath, the young woman glanced at her trench knife and slipped her fingers through the loops of the knife’s handle.
Sticking the tip of the knife in the split of the glass doors, Rose wiggled it through. The doors split apart far enough for her to stick her hands in between and push them apart. Stepping through the threshold of the door, Rose glanced around cautiously. Her breathing was steady, ears alert, and eyes scanning every nook and cranny critically. The store was a total mess. The linoleum floors were covered in a thin layer of dust, various items had been knocked onto the ground such as shampoo bottles, empty boxes, and newspapers.
There were sacks of bird food and plant fertilizer that had been cut open and spread across the floor. Rose stepped carefully, the less noise she would make the better. All she wanted was some toiletries and she would be on her way. The sound of dripping water echoed in the store. The ceiling above was covered in mold and water damage, but that was to be expected after nine months of no maintenance. Taking in a deep breath, Rose walked down the aisle and ventured to the pharmacy section of the superstore. She was amazed by the amount of damage the building had incurred in less than a year of people being gone.
Many shelves were left with very few items and what remained were knocked over or damaged. Rose stood at the edge of some metal shelving and peeked around into the aisle. Sucking in her breath, Rose pulled back quickly when she caught sight of two of them. Closing her eyes tightly, she cursed and shook her head. Rolling up the sleeves of her sheer red plaid flannel shirt, Rose knew she had to do this quickly and quietly. The last thing she needed was to bring on a hoard. She swallowed hard and came around the corner with no hesitation.
She held her knife high and slammed it into the skull of the monster in the aisle. It went limp and she yanked the knife out quickly, letting it fall to the ground. Black goo oozed from the wound of the mutilated creature as it lay lifeless in the aisle. Rose stumbled back and looked at the gray being covered in ripped clothing stained with dried blood and other bodily fluids. Her nose scrunched up at the horrible stench and she lifted her gaze to the second creature—a biter—limping towards her.
Rose lifted her knife and moved forward swiftly. Grabbing the creature by the back of the neck, she yanked him forward into her blade. With one powerful strike, Rose stabbed the biter right in between the eyes. Letting out a breath, Rose pulled the knife out with a disgusting slimy sloshing sound, and watched the biter fall lifeless to the ground. She stared at their bodies, skinny, boney, gray in color, stained with dried blood, eyes sunken in, teeth yellowed, hair tangled, and gums black and purple. Rose closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath, she hated killing these things, it always freaked her out.
“Ro?” she heard her sister calling out as quietly as she could.
Turning around, Rose quickly walked to the other end of the aisle and saw her sister edging down carefully with her make-shift spear held out. “Be quiet,” Rose warned and put her index finger up against her lips. “There are biters in here.”
“There are biters everywhere, Ro,” her sister, Zoey, whispered. She rested her spear against her shoulder and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Her hazel eyes drifted over to the two biters laying in bloody heaps on the ground. They were disgusting and she hated that the world had become overrun by them. She lost count of how many they had put down just from scavenging around the outskirts of London. “Let’s hurry up, it’s gonna be dark in less than two hours.”
“Keep watch, I’ll get what we need,” Rose said, walking down the medicine aisle carefully and quietly. She grabbed a bottle of chewable vitamin C, a bottle of aspirin, and a bag of cough drops. Stuffing it all into her backpack, Rose moved to the next aisle and saw a box of tampons. “Thank God,” Rose muttered in relief as she grabbed the box and stuffed it into her bag.
Moving along down the aisle, Rose stopped when she saw some basic first aid supplies. A few boxes of cheap Band-Aids, a tube of antiseptic, a bottle peroxide, and some gauze; they needed more than that, but she’d take what she could get. Once she filled her bag with the few items she found, she closed the bag and slipped it onto her shoulders. She made her way back to her sister a few moments later and saw her poking around the shelves.
“I found some tooth paste and a travel size bottle of mouth wash,” Zoey said with a smile. It didn’t sound like much, but it was better than none at all. “Did you find any soap?” the older girl asked when Rose got over to her.
“No, but come on. We can’t stay much longer.” Rose walked around her sister and started for the garden center doors. She heard her sister sigh and follow after her. When they got to the door, she slipped through easily and looked around before carrying on. Glancing over her shoulder, her caramel eyes caught sight of her sister’s copper-brown hair waving in the stale breeze. “Let’s head back, it’s getting late.”
“We still need some stuff though,” Zoey pointed out, stopping in her tracks. “We can’t keep putting this off, Ro.”
Rose, the younger of the two, sighed heavily and looked back at Zoey. Her hazel eyes were unwavering and Rose knew that Zoey would not be persuaded. There was no denying that Rose had been trying to put off leaving the city, but she feared their chances out in the wilderness. It would be harder to find medicine, or food for that matter, which meant they were as good as dead. By the looks of things though, the city was on its last legs. Eventually they would have no other choice, but to leave.
No one understood how this all happened. It was like one day the world gave up and the dead rose. Within a few weeks they had taken over major cities and those who survived had to fend for themselves. Rose could still remember three months in, she and her family had been attacked. Every night when she tried to go to sleep, she could see all the blood, hear the screams, and would wake up with tears streaming down her face. Her brother, mother, father, and grandmother had all been killed by the biters and never stood a chance. All she could think was that she and her sister wouldn’t either—even though they had made it this far.
“Do you really think we’ll survive out there, Zoey?” Rose questioned and sat down on what was once a shelf for flowers. Her eyes were piercing into Zoey’s, expecting an answer. “We’re lucky we’ve lasted this long.”
“Stop being so pessimistic,” Zoey scolded with an eye roll and walked over to her sister. She sat down on the shelf beside her and rested her spear next her. “You want to live don’t you?” she asked harshly.
“What’s the point of living anymore?” Rose shot back bitterly, causing Zoey to scowl in frustration. The past few months Rose’s will to live had dwindled down to almost nothing. “The whole point to life has faded into nothing. Every day we just scavenge and hope for the best, that isn’t living.” Rose shook her head and dug the toe of her boot into a pile of soil that had come from some broken pots.
“We have to make a life,” Zoey replied firmly. “What we’re doing now, you’re right! That isn’t living, I want to live and we can’t do that here.” She sighed softly and brushed her hair behind her ear. Placing a hand on Rose’s shoulder, Zoey gave it a gentle squeeze.
“I’m not having this argument,” Rose stated and stood up quickly, leaving her sister alone in the garden center. She ducked through the hole in the chain link fence and started heading in the direction of the housing development they were staying at. It was about a mile from where they were, just pass the place where the farmers market used to be held on weekends.
“Someone help!” a voice echoed from the right side of the intersection, the opposite direction of which Rose and her sister were heading. “Please! Someone! I need help!” the person shouted loudly and Rose whipped around, her eyes scanning the area. She spotted Zoey by the chain link fence, looking down the road.
Running over to Zoey, Rose came to a stop and looked down the road as well. A woman came scrambling out of the alleyway a block down from them. The woman fell onto the ground and the biters nearby started moving towards her. Screams and wails erupted from her throat and she tried to run away. She looked like a complete mess, her body was covered in sweat and grime, her hair was matted, and she looked very skinny.
“We have to help her, Rose,” Zoey announced.
“No!” Rose grabbed her sister and pulled her back in the direction of the housing development. “We can’t save her.”
“Please! No! I need help, anyone! Don’t!” the woman wailed, her voice cracking and going hoarse the more she wailed. “Please!”
Rose flinched every time she heard the woman crying out for help.
“Rose we have to help her,” Zoey said softly, watching as the biters started closing in. The woman would never make it out of there alone. She was boxed in between some cars and a building.
“How Zo?” Rose questioned. “We have one pistol and I’m down to fifteen bullets.” The younger sister swallowed hard and looked to the woman.
“Help!” she screamed so loud it made Rose tremble.
BANG!
The woman fell lifeless in the middle of the road and the biters piled on top of her. They ripped her apart, limb from limb, leaving her as blood heap. She was gone now, she wouldn’t come back and she wouldn’t have to face this life anymore.
“Who in the world...” Zoey breathed and shook her head as she watched the biters fighting over the woman’s body. The blood splashed all over them, turning their usual gray skin dark red.
Rose looked up at the roofs of the building. Her eyes fell onto a man at the edge of the building, slowly lowering a rifle down to his side. She gasped and shook her head. That was the first living person that she had seen in almost two months. The way he stood on that building, calm and collected, watching the biters devour the woman. Rose swallowed hard, something in the pit of her stomach said to go to him. With that feeling burning inside of her, Rose bolted towards him.
“Hey! You!” Rose hollered as she started running towards the building he was on, but when he saw her coming he quickly evaded her. “Wait! Get back here!” Rose yelled and followed after him.
“Rose! Are you insane?” Zoey shouted and chased after her sister. “Rose!”
When Rose got to the end of the street, she rounded the corner and skidded to a stop. The air in her lungs froze and her eyes widened in horror. There crowding the street were dozens of the dead, shuffling around with no place to go. They all started turning towards her and she cursed under her breath, backing away slowly.
“Rose!” Zoey snapped, but quickly covered her mouth the moment she saw the hoard of biters coming towards them.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two girls yelped when a machine gun fired off. Five of the biters fell to the ground in loud thuds, but the other biters didn’t seem fazed at all. Rose shook her head, she knew it was the end for them.
“RUN!” a man’s voice came from a nearby building. “Hurry! Get out of there!”
“Ro come on!” Zoey grasped her sister’s wrist and pulled her back down the road.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two girls came to an alleyway and found a fire escape. They quickly started climbing up as the biters started herding into the alley. Zoey was in the lead, climbing as fast as she could with Rose trailing a couple of steps behind her. When they got to the rooftop, Zoey fell to her knees and panted heavily. Rose stood at the edge of the building, staring down at all the biters, looking up at them.
Those miserable creatures reached for her with boney fingers, their foggy eyes staring at her with a fierce hunger, and their moans were so loud it made her head hurt. Rose closed her eyes tightly and began teetering towards the edge of the building. She was feeling light headed from all the running. Her lungs were burning and her legs were trembling.
“Get away from the edge, do you want to die?” the man, who had saved their lives, barked at her as he came trudging over. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her back from the edge of the building. “Are you stupid? Running after me like that?” he shook his head, his dark curls falling into rich green eyes. He was young and handsome with a gun slung on his shoulder.
“You shouldn’t have run then,” Rose panted as she fell onto her butt and laid back. Once again she had managed to escape death.Chapter 2
He stared into the fire, watching the flames lash out of the small pit he had made from brick. His frosty eyes slowly lifted and he sighed softly, poking at the fire with a tire iron. The fire popped and crackled, allowing a few embers to raise into the air. Within moments the vanished into thin air and the young man looked back down. Letting out a breath, he rubbed the back of his neck and pulled gently at the blonde strands that felt greasy from his sweat. It had been a very long, hot day and he hadn’t showered or anything in almost a week.
He knew it was almost time to get on the move again. His time was coming to an end, his welcome was over. For the past two months he’d been scavenging around the outskirt of the fallen city of London. He couldn’t believe how long it had been already. No electricity, no running water, barely any food, and no transportation. The entire city had been left to decay and rot away—just like the people. Once thriving and beautiful, London had become a mere skeleton filled with the worst type of monsters—the living dead.
Grabbing another small branch, Niall Horan tossed it into the fire. The flames quickly engulfed it and light gray smoke rose into the air. His frosty blue eyes watched the smoke swirl and twist, fading up into the large hole in the ceiling. A gentle breeze came through the gaping hole and Niall looked up at the silver moon, beaming in and giving the room an iridescent glow. Tomorrow morning he would try to find some final supplies and leave the city, he had no choice anymore. The longer he waited, the lower his chances of survival became.
The sound of groaning and growling filled his ears. Running his fingers through his shaggy blond locks, Niall stood up from the lawn chair he had dragged into the old firehouse he was staying in. He walked over to a darker section of the room and right where the light ended, he crouched down. Biting his chapped lips, Niall watched as something moved in the dark shadows. For the past several days, this had been the normal thing for the young man. He would sit in the dark, talking with the monsters that haunted the area. Swallowing, Niall was about to say something, but fell silent went the biter lashes out at him.
Pulling back a little as the monster stretched out it’s boney fingers, Niall closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Leathery, grey wrinkled skin, foggy eyes, black gums, and blood stained clothes; this was Niall’s older brother. The biter’s jaw opened and closed, the echoing of teeth clattering filling the room. It was a terrible sound, but Niall had become used to it the past two months. He shook his head and watched as his undead brother, who smelled of rotting meat and decay, growled and tried to bite at him.
“Greg,” Niall muttered softly as he sat down on the ground, cross-legged. He knew it was wrong to keep his brother chained up to a wall, but he just couldn’t seem to say goodbye either. “Do you even remember me anymore?” the blond asked in a heavy Irish accent.
The biter was staring at Niall, lips curling back, showing rotting teeth. The malevolence in the monster’s eyes were almost too much for Niall to bear. For the past three weeks, Niall had debated on killing his brother. He wanted his pain and suffering to end; he wanted to stop the ravenous hunger his brother felt.
“Can you understand me?” Niall asked.
The biter snarled, a bloody dribble of spit sliding down his cheek. Niall looked away in hopelessness and reached for the tire iron he had placed on the ground. He knew he could end it all, do it quickly and just carry on for as long as he could—just like his brother wanted him to do.
“I can’t do this without you, Greg,” Niall choked out, feeling the tears brimming. “I know what you would be telling me right now.”
The biter sniffed the air and opened and closed his jaw, the sharp sound of teeth chattering together caused Niall to shiver.
“You’d tell me,” Niall paused and looked at his brother, “you would tell me to live, but who wants to live a life alone?” he questioned his older brother softly.
The biter slowly tilted his head, almost as though he was trying to make sense of what Niall was saying. It was things like that that made Niall believe his brother was still inside, even though he had been dead for three months now.
“You’re gone though, aren’t you?” Niall asked sadly, shaking his head in disappointment. “I have to do this on my own. You’re just a body now, driven by endless hunger. I’m sorry that this happened to you.” A single tear slipped from Niall’s eye and he stood up.
The biter reached out to him, wanting to tear him apart and rip the flesh from his bones. Niall gripped the tire iron tightly in his hand, watching his brother growl and snap at him. He choked out a sob and closed his eyes, letting his head fall between his shoulders. Taking in a deep breath, Niall looked back open and slowly opened his eyes. Greg was still reaching out to him, eyes clouded by pain, anger, and hunger. Pressing his lips together, Niall fought back his sobs and tears.
“Goodbye,” Niall whispered as he grabbed his brother’s shoulder and pushed him back against the wall. When his brother bumped into the wall, Niall lifted the tire iron and slammed it into his brother’s temple.
The biter went limp and fell silent.
----
Harry wasn’t sure what he was thinking when he let the two girls stay in his apartment. He had told himself that he wouldn’t get involved with anyone. For about four months that had worked quite well, but earlier this afternoon he just acted. He didn’t think about it, he didn’t waste anytime, he simply saved the two girl’s lives. His green eyes drifted over to the two girls that were sleeping in the living room. Pressing his lips together, Harry let out a soft sigh and ventured over to the door of the apartment.
“Wait,” a tired voice came and Harry stopped, glancing over at the two girls. “I want to ask you something.” It was Rose and she was getting up from where she had been sleeping on the floor. Running her fingers through her hair, Rose walked over to Harry.
He didn’t say a word, he just opened the door and walked outside with Rose right behind him. When Rose was out, he quietly shut the door and walked over to the edge of the stairwell that viewed the gloomy city of London. Harry rested his arms on the railing of the stairs and licked his lips.
He had found out that the two girls were sisters and they had been looking for supplies the other evening. Apparently they had been in London since the start of the plague and now they were going to leave. Harry hated to admit it, but he knew he’d need to leave soon too. After seeing that massive hoard the other day, it just made it clear that the city was overrun. Food was getting harder to find, there weren’t many safe places anymore, and it wasn’t like they were going to be rescued. Whatever this plague was, it had wiped out a good amount of the world’s population.
“That woman,” Rose began and Harry glanced at her, “why did you shoot her?”
Harry let out a breath. “She wouldn’t have survived.”
“Neither would my sister and I, so why did you save us?” Rose shot at him, eyeing him curiously. He intrigued her, she couldn’t deny he was a big question mark to her. Harry was quiet and distant, hardly seeming to want anything to do with herself or Zoey. Typically, Rose didn’t mind, but she could understand his reasoning for saving them—not that he gave them a reason in the first place. “You could have let us to die or shot us down like the other woman, so why?” Rose asked and walked beside him, staring at his profile for what seemed like hours.
“I don’t know,” Harry answered truthfully. He really wasn’t sure why he saved them, maybe somewhere deep down inside he still had hope. Wasn’t that in human nature, to hope even if all hope was lost? After four months of being alone, Harry had grown tired of it. Anyone could have seen that the woman in the street was never going to make it. She was completely surrounded on all sides. No one could have saved her from that, so Harry did the most humane thing.
“How long have you been here?” Rose asked with a tilt of her head. Her hair fell from behind her ear and she quickly brushed it back. “You’re packing some pretty heavy artillery in there.” She gestured to the apartment door a few steps away and leaned against the wall.
“Like you, since the start,” Harry answered her in a gruff voice. “I can’t stay much longer though. The herds are getting bigger.” He shook his head and ran his fingers through his dark curly locks.
“That’s what my sister says,” Rose sighed, looking down at the concrete ground. “Taking chances out on the road doesn’t seem much better than this.” She pushed off the wall and walked over to the first step of the stairs and took a seat.
“You’d rather stay here?” Harry asked, intrigued by her sentiments. The tone of her voice, her body language, and attitude all suggested that she had lost all hope. He couldn’t blame her for that though, sometimes he felt like he’d lost all hope too. Somehow though, it always came screaming back at him. Harry didn’t want to die; he wanted to live.
“What if a herd is out there too? Then what?” Rose questioned, leaning against the rails. “What if we get sick? What if we break a bone?”
“If you get sick or break a bone, you’re just as dead in the city as you are out there,” Harry pointed out simply, gesturing to the wilderness that could be seen in the distance. “It comes down to preference really.” He slouched a bit where he stood and looked down the stairs.
“I guess you’re right,” Rose said dejectedly. “Two people will never make it by themselves.”
Harry smirked and looked over at Rose. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was an invitation.”
Rose blinked a few times and looked up at the grinning man. She scoffed and stood up, dusting off her jeans. “It wasn’t,” she assured him with a shake of her head. “I was stating a fact.” She shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip, meeting his green gaze.
“Well if you don’t want me to go, I know someone who could,” Harry mentioned and Rose raised a brow at him. “He’s been planning on leaving for just about as long as I have.” Pushing off the railing, Harry placed his hands on his hips and looked at Rose.
She was one interesting girl, the fire in her eyes were flickering unsure of whether it should burn or go out. Her sister, Zoey, was the exact opposite—she believed they could survive. Harry had to admit, he was a little jealous of her optimism. By no means did he think he couldn’t survive, but he just didn’t have that passion to keep him believing. In some ways he was a lot like Rose.
“Then why haven’t you both left?” Rose inquired, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Same reasons as you I guess.” Harry shrugged his shoulders and let his arms hang at his sides. He looked down at his tattered up sneakers and torn jeans. Sometimes he could hear his mother scolding him for looking like such a mess, but it was the end of the world, so he felt he was within his rights. “Two wouldn’t last as long as a larger group of four or five.”
“Strength in numbers,” Rose concluded and Harry nodded his head. “I’m afraid to go out there, we’ve lasted so long here.”
“To what end?” Harry pressed. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Rose was about to say something, but the apartment door came open. The two standing outside both looked to Zoey as she stood in the door way. She smiled weakly and stepped out, quietly closing the door. Her lips were chapped, her hair was messy, and her clothes a little disheveled. She looked between the two of them and sighed softly.
“What’s going on?” Zoey asked, looking to Rose and then to Harry.
“We’re leaving the city,” Harry answered. “First we have to find someone.”
“Seriously?” Zoey asked in surprise and looked to Rose. “I’ve been trying to get you to leave for the past two weeks. How does this stranger, no offense Harry, get you to agree so quickly?” She wasn’t really complaining, she just couldn’t understand how Harry—the boy the meet less than twenty-four hours ago—had convinced Rose that they needed to leave the city.
“We stand a better chance with two others, that’s the only reason,” Rose assured her sister with a shrug. “So let’s head to our place, get the last of our supplies, and go get this person Harry is talking about.”
Zoey looked to Harry and he smiled weakly at her. “I like you already,” Zoey admitted with a small chuckle. “You bring out the Rose I remember.”
----
Niall placed one final rock on his brother’s grave and wiped the sweat from his brow. He had made a small cross out of some old boards he’d found behind the firehouse. Picking up the cross, Niall smiled as he looked at his brother’s name. He’d carved it in with his pocket knife earlier in the morning. Kissing his finger tips, Niall pressed his fingers onto his brother’s name before going to hammer the cross into the dirt.
“Watch over me, Greg,” Niall said as he took a step back, staring down at his brother’s grave. He let out a breath and slipped on his cap to block out some of the harsh noon sun. It was going to be another hot day. Whispering one last farewell, Niall walked over to the firehouse door where his pack and weapons were lying.
Kneeling down, Niall decided to check his inventory once more before heading out of the city. Opening up his bag, Niall reached in and found his brother’s pistol. It was fully loaded and he still had a carton of bullets—those would go fast, though. He studied the pistol for a moment and was about to put it down when he heard the sound of a snapping branch. Niall stood quickly and held the gun in front of him, his finger on the trigger.
“Hey!” a curly haired man shouted, holding his hands up in defense. “Relax.”
Niall slowly lowered his weapon and tucked it into his jeans. “Long time no see,” Niall said, once he realized that it was Harry. They had met almost a month ago while raiding a gas station. Niall had saved his life and they talked for a while before going their separate ways. “What are you doing here?” the blond asked. His blue eyes moved to the bushes by the hole in the fence when two more people came into his view.
“I’m leaving the city,” Harry explained. “I thought I’d extend the invitation.”
Niall’s eyes were on the two girls that came up beside Harry. He’d never seen them before, but they appeared to be harmless. While traveling, Niall had seen some harsh things and not just by the living dead. He’d seen people kill others for supplies, so he didn’t normally take to people easily.
“You said you’ve been wanting to leave,” Harry began, “here’s your chance mate.” His green eyes were boring into Niall’s blue ones. Glancing over to the two girls, they both smiled weakly at Niall and nodded to him.
“Where’d you find them?” Niall asked, gesturing to the two girls.
“This is Rose and her sister Zoey,” Harry introduced. “I saved them from a hoard. This place isn’t safe anymore.”
Niall looked down at the ground and turned around. He grabbed his pack and zipped it up before slinging it onto his shoulder. Reaching down, Niall grabbed his black, sleek compound bow and looked at Harry. “Where are we heading?” he asked with a weak smile. “I’m Niall.”
“Anywhere, but here,” Harry said, grabbing the strap of his rifle. He turned to look at the girls and they both nodded to him. “Let’s go.”MARISSA'S CHAPTERS:Chapter 1
The building was in shreds. Bits of the scaffolding that had once held it together were scattered all over the floor. The roof, which had once protected the contents from the weather, had caved in, and sunlight emitted through the large crack in the center. The rubble of the broken concrete filled the lobby of what once was a doctor’s office.
Clara had been given the chore of standing watch, one of the few things they allowed her to do. She was weaker than the rest of them, always falling behind, and she wasn’t fighters like they were. They had survival skills far beyond anything she ever hoped to have, and they were excellent with weapons, while Clara was the opposite.
When she met Zayn, Louis and Liam, she was being attacked by a group of biters, and they came out of nowhere to save her. They risked their lives for her, and she knew that was a debt she’d never be able to repay. She was always thankful that they’d accepted her into their group, because it was obvious how useless she was to them.
“Clara.” Liam called to her from across the room, as he tossed a bag in her direction. “You may wanna carry a gun if you’re watching the door.”
Clara grimaced. “Right, a gun. I don’t even know why I’m watching this stupid door. It’s not like the biters couldn’t just come through the hole in the ceiling.”
“They just want you to –”
“It’s busy work,” she interrupted. “Zayn just wants me out of the way.”
Louis chuckled, as he watched the small girl fumble with the bag. Her hands wrapped around one of the smaller guns, holding it exactly the way he’d taught her. She wasn’t a very good shot, but she had her hands steady just like he showed her.
“Perimeter’s clear.”
Zayn came from one of the back rooms, holding his gun down at his side. It was larger than what he needed, a rifle that held way too many bullets, but it was the one he liked best. Louis followed behind him, carrying a handgun that fit him much better than Zayn’s did him.
Louis smiled at Clara, chuckling at the way she fumbled with her gun. He walked over to her with a few, quick steps, before pulling the gun from her fingers.
“Trade me,” he said, filling her empty hand with his smaller handgun. “You’ll like this one better.”
Clara smiled back at him, before checking to make sure the safety was on. Finding that it was, she moved back towards the broken door. Her body pressed against the frame, as she looked out at the crumbled town that had once been so alive. It seemed like the biters had taken over so quickly, and she just wished she had a little more time in her old life.
“We should keep moving,” Zayn said, looking out at the three of them. “Grab what we need and go.”
The group salvaged what they could from the old office, including a fair amount of medical supplies that Clara hoped they would never have to use, and made their way out into town again. They still weren’t sure where they were heading, but they knew they’d know it when they saw it.
“Let’s move quickly,” Zayn said as they moved out the door. “I don’t know if I much like the looks of this place.”
As if on cue, a group of biters came around the corner, blood covering their bodies. They were reaching their arms out as they moaned, though they were several feet away from being able to reach anyone.
Another biter came around the side of the building, grabbing in Zayn’s direction, and he quickly sliced its head off with a machete. He was always insisting they avoid using guns whenever possible. Sometimes they were just more trouble than they were worth.
Louis reached for Clara’s hand, pulling her in the opposite direction of the biters, while Liam and Zayn began running behind them. Clara’s heart was beating a mile a minute, and if Louis hadn’t been pulling her, she wasn’t sure she’d have known what to do at all.
As they ran, Zayn turned around, running backwards, and fired a shot at a biter that was closing in on them, which hit the biter square between the eyes. It fell to the ground, but the other biters just moved around it and kept going forward towards them.
A new hoard of biters came around the corner, nearly catching Louis and Clara as they passed. Louis shot one, then two, then three of them, spinning around in every direction so he could get ahold of the situation.
Clara’s body was shaking, unable to think anymore, and that was when a biter came up behind her, ready to get her square in the neck. Zayn saw it just in time, and smacking his hand against the ground in frustration, leapt up and began running towards Clara will full force. Just as the biter was about to go for her neck, Zayn lunged for her, tackling her to the ground in one easy movement.
His body covered hers, crushing her between him and the concrete. With her still underneath him, he aimed his gun up at the biter, taking one quick shot.
“Are you bit?” he shouted, as he rang off several more shots at the biters around them. He looked down at her and she shook her head.
A groan came from the left, where another biter was closing in on them. Zayn gave a clear shot through the skull before he turned back to Clara again.
“Let’s go then,” Zayn said as he stood up, pulling Clara up with him. He dropped her hand but motioned for her to follow him as they caught up with Liam and Louis.
The four of them ran for at least a mile, putting as much distance as they could between them and the machines, before Clara was completely out of breath. Seeing her heaving chest, Louis turned to Zayn and Liam. “Let’s stop for a minute. Catch our breath and then we can keep going.”
Zayn reluctantly nodded and Liam agreed, so the four of them took out bottles of water and sipped lazily on them while the sun beat down. Clara moved off to the left, and Louis followed, bringing her a fresh apple from a tree they’d found a few towns over.
Passing the apple to her, Louis leaned against the side of the building with his arms crossed. “He saved you, you know? I think he saved all of us.”
Clara bit down on the apple, sucking up the fresh juice, and moved her eyes out towards Zayn, who was reloading one of his guns. He was always saving her, it seemed, and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to repay him for it.
ahhh, but I like Louis too!
