This Broken City Sky

Kat let out a heavy sigh as she poked at the fire with a metal pole, stirring the embers to life once more. The eight of them had stayed at the bottom of the emptied out pool and with the fire, so they’d be warm while they tried to get some sleep. It was few and far between when Kat got more than an hour or two of sleep from the stress and anxiety of their situation. She knew she’d have to get up and tend to the fire soon, adding more of the broken up bed frame to feed the flames, and that would mean disturbing Johnny from his sleep since he was resting against her shoulder.

She let out a sigh and looked up to the hole in the sky light, noticing that the snow was steadily falling through the crack in the glass and piling up just beside the pool. Kat was tired of being with people she didn’t really get along with, with people that she was forced to live with. All she wanted to do was to retreat somewhere with Johnny and try to spar it out on their own. Then again, she knew that they probably didn’t have much of a chance by themselves anyways.

Gently, she pushed Johnny from her shoulder, who easily just leaned over in the opposite direction and lay down on the pool bottom. Kat stood from her spot on the floor, her joints aching slightly from the cold and sitting down in one spot for too long. She stretched her arms over her head and let out a yawn before climbing out of the pool, grabbing a few planks of wood. Her eyes caught the glimmer of the extra bottle of whiskey, the twin to the one that Gerard had used to light the fire. She glanced over her shoulder, making the rest of them were asleep before bending down and pocketing the half-empty bottle.

The next morning, once everyone had woken, they killed the fire and made it back to their rooms. Kat, who hadn’t said a word all morning, immediately wrapped herself in a few blankets and went to sleep. Johnny had noticed her wobbling footsteps as they climbed the stairs and her tired looking eyes, thought he could attribute that to her lack of sleep the night before. However, it didn’t stop him from walking over to her jacket once he knew she was fast asleep and digging into the pockets. When his hands rested on the cool glass of a bottle, he gave a scornful hum and pulled the now empty bottle from it.

“Shit, Kat,” he murmured to himself as he shook his head before walking over to the trash can in the room.

“What was that?” Mikey asked from his spot on the opposite bed. Johnny merely shook his head.

“It was nothing,” he grumbled before walking over to the couch in the room and plopping down on it. The sun had come up outside and had warmed up the building just enough, but there was no doubt that they’d have to build the fire again to get through the night without freezing to death. Gerard merely shot a look to Mikey before standing and peeking into the trash can immediately recognizing the bottle. His eyes then lifted to Kat, who was sleeping peacefully without making a sound.

“Does your sister have a problem with drinking, Johnny?” Gerard asked, glancing over to the youngest of their group who had his arms crossed over his chest as he stared out the window. Johnny remained quiet for a while, his brow furrowed. Whether it was with anger or thought, the Way brother’s couldn’t tell. He then let out a sigh and nodded slowly, his mouth tensing up.

“You think she’d stop…what with all that’s happened,” his said softly, staring harshly out the window at the snow-covered city around them. He shook his head, slowly turning his eyes to them. “She says that drinking keeps the nightmares at bay, and while that may true…she drinks too much all the time.”

“So, she’s an alcoholic?” Gerard asked, watching as Johnny winced slight at the last word. The boy just looked away and let out a heavy sigh, not saying another word and not wanting to. Gerard merely looked over at Mikey, who stared back at his brother with raised brows before shaking his head. The room remained completely quiet for some time after that, no one really knowing what to say.

“ So, if we go out through the side door, on the north side of the building, we’ll be further away from the group of walkers,” Lily said softly as she sat on the roof. Kat and Ray were with her as well, since they were the only ones to condone the idea of a small group going out to scavenge for food and supplies. The two nodded as they dangled their legs over the ledge that they sat on, thinking the eleven story drop was a bit daunting, but exhilarating none-the-less. It was cold, but there was no wind so they could manage it.

“But still, we’ll need to get them as far away from the front doors as possible just to be safe,” Ray said with a nod. Kat looked over at the two of them before letting out a heavy sigh that turned to steam.

“This would be a lot easier if we could convince the others to do something,” she said lowly, shaking her head as she stared down at the dead that still moved in a large group around the hotel. She knew that they knew people were alive in the building, and she knew that it’d be all over if they managed to find a way into the building. She also knew that they would never be able to get to the gas station if the walkers remained where they were.

“We need a distraction of some sort,” Lily said, lifting her hand to brush her black hair from her eyes before shoving her hand back into her pocket to protect it from the cold.

“The only thing is, we don’t know what they’ll react to and be drawn away long enough for us to get food,” Ray mused before tossing a small rock over and watching it plummet to the ground, but not being able to see exactly where it hit.

“We’ll just have to try a couple of things and if none of them work, we’ll have to think of another way to come by food,” Kat murmured before a brisk wind picked up, causing the three of them to quickly stand and move off the roof. They silently made their way down the staircases to the fourth floor, then to the rooms they were staying at. The three paused outside the door as Lily looked between Ray and Kat.

“Which one of you wants to do the talking? I’m not much for convincing people to do things,” she said in her quiet voice. Kat and Ray sent a look to each other before Kat turned to Lily.

“I will,” she said, taking heed of the nervous looks both Ray and Lily were sending each other. Her take-no-shit attitude would either get them what they wanted or completely backfire in their face, but it was worth a try. And even if she didn’t convince the group, Ray or Lily could always step in after and try to patch things up. Lily opened the door and let them into the room.

“Alright, everyone gather up,” Kat called as she pulled off her coat and tossed it to a chair. She glanced between Dylan and Frank, since they were in room ‘415’, who both shot her a look before glancing to each other. Gerard, Mikey, and Johnny wasted no time in walking to the other room, looking to Kat before sitting down on the bed. The room, which had been full of quiet chatter, hushed quickly as Kat took in a deep breath of air.

“Three of us are going to go across the street to the gas station whether you lot like it or not,” Gerard, Frank, and Dylan all opened their mouths to protest but Kat quickly cut them off, raising her voice slightly, “and before any of you have any smart ass comments about how stupid and reckless it is, trust me, we’re quite aware of it.”

“What are you planning to do?” Johnny asked quietly, looking up at Kat cautiously.

“That depends on if you guys are willing to help us,” she said, glancing between the other four that didn’t want to be part of their plan. They merely stared back at her and she drew in a deep breath of air. “We need some sort of distraction first off, to draw the walkers away from the front doors of the hotel so we have a somewhat clear shot to run for the gas station. Once we’re there, one person will stand watch to make sure that no infected get in while the other two grab food and other things we’ll need. Hopefully, by the time we’re done, the walkers will still be distracted so we can slip back into the hotel easily.”

“How will you be getting out?” Frank asked curiously, his brow furrowed with thought.

“The one way door on the north side of the alleyway,” Kat replied quickly, looking at him for a moment before glancing to the others. “It’s a risky move for us to not be able to have immediate access back into the hotel, but it keeps five of us safer in case a walker discovers the door. We‘ll need at least one person to monitor the door and let us back in…but if you refuse to help we‘ll find another way out.” The room remained quiet for a while as they all just looked at each other, thinking through the whole thing.

“I still don’t like it,” Gerard said and Kat’s vivid blue eyes snapped to his as she clearly began to get a bit perturbed.

“What don’t you like about it?” She snapped, placing her hands on her hips as she stared him down. “And before you say something childish because you think it’s my plan, it’s not. Ray and Lily thought up the majority of it, they just put me in charge of conveying their plan.” Gerard quickly went quiet again and stared hard at Kat.

“It’s still too risky. The whole idea is risky,” he argued, shaking his head. “I mean, we don’t even fucking know what’ll distract the walkers out there! What are we going to do? Throw a couple of raw chickens out the window at hope that they go after them?” Kat grit her teeth hard and let out a sharp sigh, her nostrils flaring slightly.

“That’s why we’re going to do fucking tests beforehand, jerk off,” she growled, her eyes lighting up angrily. The room fell quiet again as Gerard and Kat continued to stare each other down. Johnny gave a heavy sigh and plopped back onto the bed, covering his hands with his eyes.

“Well…we’d like to see how many of you’d be helping us, so we can plan around that,” Ray said softly, causing Kat and Gerard to break their stares. Kat merely looked over to Johnny before sighing heavily. Gerard merely looked down to the ground.

“I’ll help you guys out,” Frank was the first to speak up, glancing up to the three with a nod. Lily gave him a wide, thankful smile and nodded to him.

“I’m going to help out as much as Kat will let me. But you guys probably already knew that,” Johnny commented from his spot on the bed. Kat gave him a slight grin before it fell.

“I’ll help,” Dylan said quietly, glancing up to Lily, Ray, and Kat with a small smile. Kat nodded to her in return before biting her bottom lip.

“So, it’s just Mikey and Gerard not helping?” She asked, thought it sounded more like a statement. Mikey looked up to her before glancing to his brother.

“No, just Gerard,” he finally said, causing Gerard to look over at him with a slightly angered stare, “I don’t think I’d be able to sit around and not help you guys.” Gerard let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his face, the room going quiet for the moment. He then looked up to Kat, before looking away irritated.

“Fine,” he grumbled, “I’ll help as much as I can.”