no more room in hell

It was a heatwave the day Stella found herself having to leave her home, biking a few miles away from her little farmhouse into the closest town. Her younger sister had been up all night sick to her stomach and with a fever and that morning they had ran out of medicine. Stella hated having to leave her home, even before the outbreak, she preferred to live off the land and make due with what was left to her. Her parents had left her their small farm, surrounded by acres of land as far as the eye could see. All of it was hers and she had spent the past few years making it self sustainable. They had a garden, some chickens and what the land couldn't give them, Stella had hoarded in their basement, walls and walls of canned goods and jarred foods. So when Stella woke up that morning and found they had ran out of the medicine her sister needed, she felt like an idiot. Something so obvious and detrimental and she hadn't made sure to stock up on it. Only a couple of weeks had passed since the outbreak had started and Stella had hoped that they had enough of what they needed to stay safe on their plot of land for at least several months.

The town Stella had biked too was a little town on the outskirts of Houston. The population was less than a thousand and she knew of an old mom and pop pharmacy that was sure to have what she needed. Stella made sure to stay as far away from the city as possible, knowing heading closer to a large populated area was a dangerous decision. On her way into town, she had rode past only one zombie- she hated the term, zombie. It made it seem like she was living some weird nightmare that any moment she would wake up from or like she was just acting in some cringe horror movie. But she wasn't, it was real life.

Propping her bike up against the backside of the pharmacy, Stella placed a hand on her hip where she kept her father's hunting knife. Even though she knew it was there, it calmed her to feel it, to know that if something happened, she would be able to take care of herself. Trying the back door, she was surprised to find it unlocked, swinging open freely to allow her inside. The pharmacy was dimly lit on the inside, a few lights still flickering over head. Stella closed the door back behind her securely, before quietly walking the perimeter of the building to make sure she was alone. It was silent enough in the pharmacy to hear a pen drop, but she knew it was better to be safe than sorry. Tiptoeing around the isles, she pulled her bag from her shoulder and stashed it full of over the counter medications before going into the back to find the good stuff.

Stella eye's skimmed the shelves, her gaze glancing over every prescription left behind when she heard the front doors of the pharmacy bust open. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and her whole body stiffened, she felt her heart drop to her stomach. She wished she could relax, just grab what she needed and sneak out before being seen, but she knew she was about to run into whoever she was hearing. Stella could hear the strangers talking and while that might've alleviated some people's worries, it only kept her even more on edge.

The dead were easy. You knew what they wanted. They were mindless remnants of humanity shuffling around, usually easy to take down, but people... People could be surprising, and from what Stella could hear, it sounded like two men. In a world where there was no longer any rules, people could be just as dangerous as the dead. Her blood ran cold as she pulled her bag back on her shoulders and unsheathed her knife from her hip, slowly making her way out of the back. Stella crouched down, hoping she could sneak her way around them and make a run for it. Her mind was going to all the worst places, like what if they killed her, or kidnapped her, or worse? Her younger sister, Rosa, would be left all alone with no one to help her... It was enough to make her sick to her stomach.

"You'll be fine, just shut up-" she heard a deep voice, and then a second, complaining about the pain. Knitting her eyebrows together, she peeked around one of the isles, trying to catch a glimpse of the strangers.

One was a large man, dirty, in cargo pants and a tan t-shirt, dragging a much smaller man in his muscular arms through the pharmacy. Stella could hear him complaining about something, asking himself how he found himself in these situations. The younger man was whining about a stab wound, before being dropped to the floor. The larger man mumbled something about finding bandages and pain pills before he disappeared down an isle.

Fuck, fuck, fuck... Stella closed her eyes tightly as she gripped the handle of her knife tighter.

"Who is that? Whose there?"

Her eyes shot back open when she realized the smaller of the two had caught sight of her. Darting back behind the shelving she was crouched behind, Stella held her breath, hoping for a moment that he would think his mind had tricked him, or he would just let it go. But he didn't. He called out to the other man, Vernon. Stella rose to her feet, walking out from behind the isle with her hands in front of her. "Look, I'm not going to bother you, I'm leaving."

Before all of this, Vernon had thought he'd seen the bottom depths of human depravity when he was overseas, but this, whatever it was, was much worse. He couldn't remember how long ago it was that he'd been ordered to come escort some scientists from Texas to Virginia. It had been a bloodbath, so much so that Vernon had barely managed to pull Nathan out of the facility alive, leaving behind his squad to whatever befell them.

This morning had been a rough one for the pair, they were running low on supplies, as Vernon had lost his pack in their escape from the facility. That's why he'd led them towards this small town, hoping to pick up some supplies, ammo and long life food.

Nathan had been put on watch outside of the grocers, while Vernon looted it for what they needed. Unfortunately Nathan was new to all this chaos, preferring to work indoors in a controlled environment, so he didn't notice the other group approaching, and ended up getting stabbed, before Vernon could eliminate the threat.

Vernon then had another thing to deal with, and carried Nathan to the drug store he'd noticed on their walk in to town.

"Well then, raise your gun and point it towards the direction you idiot," Vernon called back. He lifted his own rifle, which was empty now, and walked towards where Nathan had pointed.

Vernon watched as the woman walked out from the isle, "you alone?" he asked quietly as he moved back towards Nathan. He kept his ears open for any sudden noises, as he dropped some bandages next to Nathan. "Start wrapping the wound Doctor," he said lightly his eyes trained on the woman.

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Stella slowly lowered her hands, being even slower to sheath her knife back onto her belt. "Yes, I'm alone." Her body had stiffened noticing the rifle the larger man was carrying. Her eyes watched the bandages drop to the floor, the injured man on the ground reaching for them desperately. "Is it just you two?"

She wasn't sure if that was a safe question to ask. Turning her attention towards the front doors, where she had watched them barge through, she wondered if they had a group lingering around outside. Her bag on her shoulders were weighing her down, reminding her of her mission. She needed to get home as soon as possible, knowing Rosa had to be in pain.

"What happened to him?" Stella asked, swallowing around a lump in her throat. Men could be much more dangerous than the dead, they were almost impossible to predict. At least, with a zombie you knew they were going to try and eat you. She couldn't trust either of these men, turning her back on them could be fatal for her. Her eyes wandered back to the bigger man. It was pretty obvious he was a soldier from what he was wearing and how he held himself.

@ A Drop On the Window

Vernon slowly lowered his rifle as she lowered her knife. "Unfortunately yeah, its just me and the doc," he said gruffly. He looked down at Nathan and sighed, "wrap it tightly dude, you need to stop it bleeding," he instructed.

Vernon was weary of this woman, she could try anything, and he didn't like killing woman. But he would if he had to. He shifted his bag on his shoulder, it wasn't as comfortable as his army one, but it was what he had found in the mean time.

Nathan smiled lightly at the woman, putting his pistol down, to work on wrapping his stab wound with the bandages. He was lucky that it had just hit his leg, and not something more vital, but he knew it would make moving a bitch. He chuckled weakly, "Sorry he's a little quiet, I'm Nathan, and that's Vernon," he introduced himself. He eyed her lightly, "so what brings you to a drug store?" he asked.

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Stella tilted her head as she looked down at Nathan, knowing that she should offer some aid. The doctor looked pale in the face and a bit frantic. His hands were shaking as he tried to tighten the bandages. "I'm getting medicine for my sister..." Stella let her words trail off as she wondered if it was smart idea to invite two strangers home with her. It was hard finding hospitality in a burning world and it looked like these two needed it.

Sighing, she slouched her shoulders and took a few steps towards them. "I don't know where you guys are headed, but I live near here. A little farm... Anyway, if you wanted to, you could follow me. Get some rest, some food, a shower... I could help stitch that if it needs it." She motioned to Nathan's leg. She hoped she could trust them, especially if they accepted her offer.

"I rarely come out to town, for obvious reasons. So I need to grab a few more things in here, but if you want to, you're welcome." She was relaxed enough now that all the weapons were put away to where she moved past them, walking down the small candy aisle, knowing if she could find a non expired Snickers bar, that would definitely make Rosa feel better.

@ A Drop On the Window

Vernon was still a little tense, but a decent place to rest sounded ideal right now. The pair of them had been walking for months, with very few chances to sleep properly. He moved over towards the door, looking out into the street, vaguely aware that the noise they'd made getting inside would attract some threats.

He looked back at Nathan, then the woman, "Ah we're headed north, Virginia," he said calmly. His attention quickly pulled back outside as he heard something. "Well, decision time smart guy, going with the lady or not?" he snapped as he closed the door, and moved to push the table in front of it.

Nathan watched Vernon and thought for a moment, "uh company?" he asked, "Dead or?" he trailed off. Vernon continued working quickly, before heading over to Nathan and helped him to his feet, "Give me the pistol, and get ready to move," he said quietly.

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Stella exited the candy aisle, shoving some sweets in her bag as she walked up behind the men. She watched as Vernon shoved a table in front of the door to bar it and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll make the decision. Follow me." There was no time for the two to debate whether or not they were going with her or leaving on their own, especially if they had alerted some of the dead.

"Back door, let's go. Do you need help?" She asked, her gaze glancing back down to his leg. Before he could answer, she was by his side, throwing his arm over her shoulders and helping him limp towards the back door. "You guys said you've been walking?" She thought about her bike propped outside, but she knew she could come back for it. "I do live about three miles away, so sorry for the bad news." She opened the back exit and helped the doctor out, glancing over her shoulder at Vernon.

"But when we get there, I can make you guys some food. Sounds good, right?" Stella wasn't sure why she was being so hospitable, or why she even cared to share her stock of food with them. That's how she had always been, as kind and generous as she could allow.

@ A Drop On the Window

Vernon followed her out the back door as she helped Nathan out. Nathan hobbled along, looking back at Vernon, as Vernon made his way around the side of the building.

Vernon turned back to the woman, "Which road out of town do I need to take to get there?" he asked, as he checked the clip in the pistol.

Nathan sighed, "don't argue, he's about to do something dumb, where you tell him or not," he said having seen that look in Vernon eye several times. Nathan struggled along slowly, trying to keep quiet.

Vernon waited for a moment, for his directions before he swung out from behind the building. He took a shot a one zombie, before moving off away from Nathan and the woman, drawing the zombies with him.
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Stella kept a good grip on Nathan, eyeing him as he spoke before looking back towards Vernon. She had barely gotten the name of the road out of her mouth before the soldier was already gone, having disappeared around the building. "He does this often?" Stella asked Nathan as she helped him in the direction they needed to head.

She flinched when she heard the first couple of shots, hoping to get far enough away in case the sounds drew more towards the pharmacy. "Why are you both heading towards Virginia?" Stella glanced over her shoulder one last time, eyeing her bike before she looked around to see which direction Vernon had gone. All she could see were a couple of shuffling zombies, mindlessly following the man.

It seemed like an idiotic plan, but with how slow the doctor was moving, she knew he was just trying to keep them safe. If they stayed together and drew the hordes attention, she wasn't sure if they'd all three be able to make it to safety. Especially with Nathan hobbling along as slowly as he was. "You two don't really seem to like each other very much, either. How did you come to travel together?"

@ A Drop On the Window

As Vernon tried to pull the zombie horde's attention away from Nathan, he headed further into the small town, conserving his very limited ammo.

Nathan shook his head, "first time he's left my side since Corpus Christi," he admitted. He continued to hobble along, as quickly as he could, his leg was burning up, and the pain was intense. "Virginia, that's apparently where they've set up a lab to try find a cure," he noted.

Nathan looked back worriedly as the shooting stopped, but tried to keep positive. "His uh, unit was sent to pull my team out of Corpus, and get us to Virginia," he explained. "I guess he's just trying to complete his mission," he explained. He could see her confusion, "I'm with him, because he's much better at this surviving thing than me," he added.

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Stella just nodded, silent hoping along with the doctor that Vernon was okay once the shooting stopped. When the pair made it to the road that she had mentioned to Vernon, they stopped. She helped Nathan lean up against the road sign, deciding letting him rest a little would be good for him. She knew his leg had to be killing him.

"Fuck, I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't think about this earlier..." She dropped her bag from her back, letting it hit the ground. Squatting down, she rifled through it before pulling out a prescription for codeine she had found in the pharmacy. Twisting the cap off of the bottle, she handed one of the tablets to Nathan, along with a bottle of water. "That will help with the pain and we're almost half way there, so it won't be long now."

She tossed the bottle back into her bag before zipping it up and resting on the ground. She looked around their surroundings, still finding herself not used to his quiet the world seemed now. There was no sign of Vernon yet, either. "You really think there's a cure for this shit?" She whispered, looking back at Nathan. She didn't believe the world could ever return back to normal.

@ A Drop On the Window

Nathan nodded resting up against the road sign. He took the pain killer when she offered it to him. He watched back towards the road where they had come from. "I think it should be doable, from what I've seen it is an infection of some kind," he said lightly. Nathan rested against the sign for awhile. He looked up the road sighing softly as he saw Vernon headed towards them.

Vernon had managed to loose the horde after awhile, and slipped out of town. He was moving quickly, hoping to catch up to the pair of them, before they took a turn he wouldn't of known about.

"Thank god for that," Vernon whispered as he saw Nathan leaning against a road sign. He made his way over to him, "I'm pretty sure I lost them," he said.

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Stella couldn't help but laugh under her breath when he called it in an infection, when he also believed it could be cured. But what did she know? She was just a young girl living out on a farm, not a scientist. Hopefully, he was right and it could all be fixed.

Looking up when she heard footsteps, she was relieved to see Vernon hurrying towards them. "Good," she rose to her feet, dusting herself off as she grabbed her bag. "We're close to my home, c'mon." Reaching out for Nathan, she helped him up and guided the two back towards her farm.

---

It took about half an hour for the three of them to make it to her little home, but once she could see it in the distance, she was more than relieved. She picked up her pace, helping Nathan along with her and soon, she was showing them inside.

"Feel free to make yourself at home," she sighed once Nathan was out of her hands and sitting on her couch. "My sister's probably freaking out upstairs, I should take her the-"

"Yeah, I was freaking out." Rosa called from the stairs, leaning against the banister. She also looked pale in the face, but only from what Stella could guess was the flu."Who are these guys?" Rosa's face hinted towards how nervous she seemed with two strange men in the house, especially with one packing a rifle openly.

"I found them in the pharmacy. This one's hurt. You know me, always gotta help." Stella laughed, opening her bag once more to dig around for something to help her sister feel better.

@ A Drop On the Window

Vernon looked around the place, it was isolated and easily defended. He lowered his weapon when Rosa came downstairs unarmed. He had been a little suspicious still but the pair of them seemed above board.

Scratching at his arms briefly Vernon made his way into the lounge, setting down his pack of gear. He smiled weakly "sorry to intrude, the name is Vernon," he introduced. He pulled his rifle off dropping it on the table.

Vernon wanted to keep moving, to get Nathan back as quick as possible, if what his superiors had told him was true, he was there best hope. He also understood a decent rest for tonight wouldn't go amiss.

---

Nathan hobbled over towards the couch and sat down. His leg wasn't in as much pain as earlier, but it would still need treating. He smiled gently at Rosa, "so how are you enjoying the apocalypse?" He asked softly.

He pulled the leg of his pants up to check the wound. "Not good, itll need supplies we don't have," he said to Vernon. "Unless you have some bullets to spare," he added.

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Rosa moved away from the stairs, for a moment, forgetting her own sickness as she made her way over to Nathan. "Ouch," she whispered as she sat down on the couch next to him, slowly pushing back his pants leg a little more to take a good look at the stab wound. "You pissed someone off, didn't you?" She laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I can help with that." Rosa gently let go of his leg, standing back up to her feet. She had to do her best to keep her balance, feeling light headed as she moved over to the hallway closet, pulling out one of the many first aid kits they had tucked around the house. Bringing it back to the table, she sat back down next to Nathan and pulled out something to clean the wound with. She began to undress the wound, peeling away the many layers of bandages Nathan had wrapped around it in the pharmacy. "I can clean this up and then stitch it for you," she smiled, more than eager to be helpful.

---

Stella watched as her sister moved to help the doctor, knowing she was more than capable of handling his wound. She leaned against the banister of the stairs, instead turning to eye Vernon up and down as he dropped his gear on the table.

"Hey, Vernon, come here." She called to him, standing up straight before she led him into the kitchen. Stella pulled open the fridge, leaning down to open the bottom drawer where she had stashed a few cans of beer. "You look like you might enjoy one of these." Turning back to him, she tossed him the Guinness and shut the fridge door with her foot. "So what happens when you head to Virginia and there's no one there. No one you're looking for?" She asked, before rifling through the cabinets to start making them something to eat.

@ A Drop On the Window

Nathan smiled gently and nodded, "thank you," he said softly as the new girl, Rosa, came over to help clean his wound. He chuckled lightly, "looking for supplies, hell just having anything someone wants these days, is enough for you to get attacked," he said lightly.

He helped her cut away his pants, and clean down the wound. It was strange to him, after all their time on the road, to have a gently pair of hands help him out. Vernon had tried to help on several occasions, but the man wasn't exactly gentle, although Nathan understood why.

---

Vernon finished putting all of his weapons down on the table, he figured it was the polite thing to do, since the girls had invited them so openly into their place. He smiled when Stella called him into the kitchen. He caught the beer, surprised and thankful for her generosity, a quality he hadn't seen in awhile.

He paused for a moment, "well I guess, I try to get him to Washington, if Virginia is a bust," he said lightly. He thought for a second, "I mean there has to be a reason they sent my unit in to get them out," he said lightly. His hand tracing over his shoulder lightly. Vernon smiled gently, "would you like a hand with anything?" he asked.

@ dezz

@ dezz