Desolate

Charlie leant back as soon as everyone was done crowding around her; the bloody bullet left laying on the floor beside her. Charlie's arm was still throbbing, because despite the bullet being out; the infection won't go away in an instant. Oliver pat her head and continued to lull her to a calm nature; she couldn't speak, having lost her voice due to the growling and bellowing that she had done.

"We should move on," Charlie whispered, her voice cracking as she motioned to the store; they shouldn't really stay in one spot for too long, because the zombies will eventually notice. Bianca crossed her arms crossed as she rolled her eyes, looking around the store as well.

"Well why? It's cool. Why are you even bossing us around anyways?" she retorted, her knuckles clenched as she stood to her feet; Oliver standing up as well, patting Charlie's shoulders.

"Don't let her get to you," he warned her, unclenching her injured arm; but she tore out of his hold. He didn't bother to control her, seeing as she was only staring at Bianca; well, if looks could kill.

"I mean, all you do is boss us around, and then you get hurt?" Bianca murmured, her voice high-pitched and irritating, " I mean how am I supposed to follow you, if you got hurt?" Bianca continued, as Charlie raised her fist; only to be pushed back by Jason.

"Hey listen, bitch," he started, instantly gathering her attention; wide eyes cast in his direction. "Do you even think you'd be here without her? Stop being such a selfish stuck up asshole," he continued, his face stern as he watched her eyes tear up; along with her lip as it started to quiver. Charlie didn't really talk to him, but she was there when everyone saved him; and she didn't know what to make of the situation. "People will get hurt, so get over it before it becomes you!" he finished, emphasizing on the word "will" as he pushed past her. She let tears ruin her always "perfect" make up before running off; Charlie didn't even see how she managed to put makeup on every day. Everyone exchanged worried glances as they fought to find something to say.

"I'll go check the area," Alex announced, Charlie nodded and followed her; they moved to go check the front. "Looks safe," she mumbled, watching as Charlie followed her gaze; it really was sterile, and it was pretty weird. The entire parking lot was spotless, along with the completely normal looking surrounding land.

"The back," Charlie whispered as the pulled their guns over their shoulder, moving towards the back where they had seen Bianca go. The store lights suddenly went off, and Charlie and Alex looked between each other worriedly; the rest of the group all talking animatedly from the front. Pulling out a flashlight, Alex shined it around; there wasn't much except for clothing, and the sound of silence. "What the fuck," Charlie rasped, making Alex shine the light on the floor. Blood was splattered in a pile, with the blood being spread around the corner; like something had dragged it. To their surprise, a sudden sound of crying had interrupted the earlier silence; making them become worried. The blood, which was still wet, was leading around the corner and all of the way down to the manager's room in the back; Charlie and Alex were hesitantly pulling back towards the others, but their attention moved back towards the room; Bianca was slowly crawling up to them, her body literally drenched in blood.

"Jesus Christ," Alex remarked, watching as Bianca was crawling directly towards them; her eyes lifting up to them as she reached them, mouthing the word: Dylan. She collapsed onto the floor in a heap, her body not breathing as she lay there in her own puddle of blood. As if as sudden as before, she rose up in a deafening bellow, attaching herself to Alex's leg; opening her mouth to bite her, Alex shot the top of her head, watching as it shattered below her. Squeaking, the manager room's door opened, a decomposing Dylan appeared; missing an arm, and an eye hanging from her socket, she inched her way over. "We've got to warn the others," Alex continued, watching as we took off down the darkness, only our flashlight illuminating.

"She's following us," Charlie remarked, hearing the sound of heavy footsteps from behind us; indicating Dylan was fast at our feet. Pulling the flashlight out of herself, Charlie quickly shined it behind her; into Dylan's face, stopping she slammed the hilt of her gun into Dylan's decomposing face. The sound of a crunch from Dylan's jaw was enough to show that Charlie had just easily shattered her bone; it would have done more had she used two arms. Following Alex once more, Charlie could hear the sound of everyone wondering what the gunshots were for; shining the light on Oliver's face, Charlie hurriedly pointed in the direction of the darkness.

"It's Dylan, she's probably attracted more; Bianca's gone," Alex explained for Charlie, seeing all Charlie could do was choke out rasp sounds. Everyone quickly gathered their weapons and looked towards the entrance, it was still day so the door illuminated the outside. The once clear parking lot, was soon filling in with the bodies of the dead; the sound of gurgling brought their attention behind them. There was Dylan, with her jaw completely missing; the clotted blood cascading off her face like drool.

"I'll do it," Darren muttered, pulling up the gun and shooting her through the head; no one spoke as she collapsed to the floor. "Finish what I didn't take care of," he muttered solemnly as everyone turned to make their way towards the entrance; the horde of zombies all gathered around the glass opening; clawing and groaning to make their way in. It started with a crack, then a shatter, and that led to a complete zombie invasion; looking between each other, everyone cocked their guns.

"You little sons of a-" Alex was cut off by the sound of everyone's guns firing, along with the sound of each zombie; the light of the firing was the only thing that illuminated their faces. Charlie fought to use each arm to try and shoot; her teeth gritted as the kickback knocked the gun into her arm. They fought to make a pathway through, the sunlight connecting with their faces; their van was still parked upright where they had left it.

"Hurry up!" Darren hollered, as everyone sprinted towards the van; the zombies following just as easily. Jordan slammed a skateboard against the side of a zombie's head, watching as it fell to the floor; throwing the broken skateboard back to the ground. Jason fired more shots into the zombies around them, watching as some of them collapsed onto the concrete. The once clean asphalt was now drowning in clotted blood; insides were splattered, and bone fragments shattered. Charlie threw a zombie to the ground, it's head slamming against the side of the curb; smirking, she slammed her boot against the back of its head, watching as it shattered. CAUTION. Curb Stomp: May result in crushed teeth, broken jaw, and or skull, and even death.

"I've got the keys," Zakk spoke, jumping into the van and seating himself into the driver's seat; turning the ignition as everyone jumped into the car and closed the door behind them. Pulling out of the parking lot, with the plus of running over zombies, they took off down the street; everyone collapsing onto the fabric of the van.

"Way to end the day," Jordan muttered, looking at their recently clean clothing; now doused in the blood of what were once humans. "I'm sick of this shit!" she cursed, leaning her head back against the chair. Everyone nodded in agreement, because it was all fun and games until someone gets hurt; that's how everything is.

"I'm cold," Alex muttered, seeing as the rain clouds had poured in; the sky turning grey as the heavy drops of rain plotted against the van. Jason draped a blanket over her as everyone snuggled into their seats; Jordan climbing into the passenger seat beside Zakk in the drivers.

"My head hurts," was all Charlie muttered, leaning against the freezing cold glass window; trying to grasp some of the cool from it. Oliver covered her with a blanket as she held it open; letting him crawl beside her, he didn't hesitate to accept. "You're a nice guy Oli," Charlie mumbled, turning to look at him. His chocolate eyes watched hers as he looked down quickly; her lips pursed in an almost pouty manner.

"I don't want to be the nice guy," he whispered, he didn't want people to hear him; Charlie's voice was already quiet from having lost it. "I want to be everything else," he contemplated, looking at her as she cocked her head to the side; trying to soak in what he was saying.

"You're halfway there," she replied, quickly placing her lips against his; feeling him return the pressure. Wrapping his arms around her warm body he pulled away, kissing the side of her cheek as she leaned once again on the window.

"Not fast enough," he muttered, watching Darren's scorn eyes on him. Hastily turning his head to the side, Darren turned to look at the gloomy weather; it was gloomy, but it was beautiful. With a shrug, everyone settled into the car and let sleep welcome them.