As the World Burns

“You have got to be fucking kidding me! This is total fucking bull shit!” Wes screamed as he realized he had lost the game. I sort of felt bad for him, but then again... Maybe I thought he was a bit of a dick. Nelly was in the background laughing her head off at Wes' misfortune. I don't think anything could have made her more happy.

“Wes... I'm sorry man, but you lost fair and square,” I said. Wes shot me a look like he was going to kill me, and Nelly started laughing even harder.

“Jesus fucking Christ! You guys have a fucking dog running around with you! Why can't we send him out there!?” Wes asked.

“We are not sending Nimel out there! That is out of the question!” Jessie yelled.

“What about the kid!? He's a smaller target! He has less of a chance to get shot!” Wes suggested.

“Are you serious!? You're that big of a dick that you would send a kid out there!? What kind of man are you!?” the bearded man asked.

“One who's not keen on being shot!... Fuck!... You're right. I didn't mean any of that... Alright!Fuck it! I'm ready whenever you are!” Wes shouted. “Let's just get this over with... Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do when I'm out there?”

“Oh! You should do the Macarena! Or the electric slide! Do that Wes!” Nelly suggested.

“Actual suggestions,” Wes replied.

“I haven't seen the Macarena done in a long time,” I added. “That would be pretty entertaining.”

“Well you're probably not going to see it today, unless Nelly wants to volunteer,” Wes said.

“Just make yourself as hard to hit as you possibly can,” Jack told him. “Run around, dance, whatever you think is best. Just do whatever you can to not get shot... And if you do get shot, make sure you don't lose something you're going to need.”

“Comforting stuff Jack,” Roxy replied

“I try... I'm ready when you are kid. Just run out there and get his attention. I need him to take a shot so I find out where exactly he's hiding,” Jack explained.

“Fuck!... I hate all of you!” Wes screamed as he ran out into the line of fire. He started to run back and forth, ducking and dodging invisible bullets that hadn't even been fired yet. Meanwhile, Jack was slowly edging his rifle over the pile of corpses, trying to find the sniper hidden in the structure in the distance. We all watched as Wes continued to flail around like a lunatic, and it wasn't too long before Jack's plan came to fruition, and the sniper took his first shot, missing Wes by an eyelash. Wes cussed at the top of his lungs, as Jack tried to key in on where the shot came from. A long ten seconds passed, and then I heard the sound of Jack's rifle firing.

“Son of a bitch!” Jack whispered under his breath.

“You missed didn't you?” Jessie asked. Jack didn't reply, he just shot Jessie a look, and got ready to take another shot.

“Keep up the good work kid! I have a good feeling about this next one!” Jack shouted.

“What about the first one? Did you have a good feeling about that one?” Lucas asked.

“I was fifty fifty on it,” Jack replied. Wes continued to dance around like Kevin Bacon in Footloose hopped up on crack cocaine. It was one hell of a sight to witness in person. The shooter must not have noticed Jack's first shot at all, and not too long afterwards, he took yet another shot at Wes, this time missing a little worse than the last time. Jack carefully aimed the gun again, and took his next shot. He paused for a second before celebrating quietly to himself.

“Did you get him that time?” Jessie asked.

“Well... He went down... I'm fairly certain I hit something on that one,” Jack answered. “Wes! You can stop now! He's down!”

“Thank fucking God! Seriously! If I would have gotten killed from this bull shit...” Wes didn't get to finish his rant before the shot went through his right shoulder dropping him to the ground. Jack didn't waste any time in taking aim. He popped off another shot, and watched in the distance to see what he hit.

“We have to get him out of there!” Layla shouted.

“Are you okay Wes!?” Melody asked.

“No! I'm not fucking alright!” Wes screamed holding his shoulder and trying to crawl back to where we were.

“Wait, he's not shooting at him! Wouldn't he take another shot to finish him off!?... I mean, that's what I'd do!” Nelly informed us.

“Maybe he's just fucking with us,” Roxy said. “Maybe he wants us to go out there and try to help him so he can shoot the fuck out of us too.”

“I don't see anything moving in the distance... Does anyone wanna test the waters? We don't exactly have time for another game of bubble gum bubble gum either,” Jack explained.

“How confident are you that the third shot hit?” I asked.

“Fifty fifty,” Jack answered. “I seen him go down the last two shots... He could just be getting back behind cover though... Its really not easy to tell.”

“Fuck it... I got this shit,” Kwame said as he charged out into the open and began to drag Wes the rest of the way. It took Kwame about twenty seconds to drag Wes behind the corpse pile. Twenty seconds of him being wide open to sniper fire. It would have been too easy for our attacker to plant a bullet right in his skull, and why Kwame decided to take the risk in the first place is beyond me, but I couldn't help but admire the guy's blind bravery in this situation.

“Why in the fuck did you do that Kwame!?” Roxy screamed.

“Shit... Wasn't none of ya'll bout to do that shit. Figured I'd help old dude out,” Kwame replied.

“Wow Kwame, I didn't know you had it in you,” Lucas said.

“Shit mothahfuckah! I got lots of shit in me you don't know about! I snuck a box a sour patch kids at that mothahfuckin gas station back there! Did you know I had that shit in me!?” Kwame snapped.

“I don't see the relevance of sour patch kids and bravery, but... That was pretty awesome Kwame. I'm impressed,” Dalton said.

“Thanks man, I owe you one,” Wes replied from the ground as Dr. Grant took a look at his shoulder.

“Bad news, the bullet is still in there,” Dr. Grant informed us after a brief examination. “We're going to have to try and get it out of there.”

“Meanwhile, I think a few of us should take a trip to confirm the kill,” Jack said. “Is he going to be alright?”

“He should be fine... He's going to be in quite a bit of pain in a minute here, but he'll live,” Dr. Grant replied.

“So only coming rushing back if I hear one or more people screaming... Got it. So... Who's coming with me?” Jack asked. “I only need a few of you. Just need some people to watch my back.”

“I'll go with you Jack,” I replied.

“I'm going too then,” Layla added.

“Would you guys mind if I went?” Nelly asked. “This corpse pile smells like ass, and as much as I'd like to stay here and watch Wes scream in pain, I'm sort of sick of his face at the same time.”

“Fuck you Nelly!” Wes shouted.

“That's a solid group I think,” Jack said.

“Jessie, you're in charge while I'm gone,” I added.

“Well duh! I'm the other leader! God you're stupid! Why does anyone listen to you?” Jessie asked.

“Uh... That's a good question actually,” I answered.

“Wait! Should I leave someone in charge!? You guys are so organized!” Nelly shouted.

“We'll all be fine Nelly, just go with them,” a guitar wielding man replied with a smile. We set off towards the factory where the sniper had taken refuge. We weren't too far away from the group when we heard Wes start to scream bloody murder. I looked over at Nelly who was doing her best to hide her laughter. I could tell that was the real reason she came with us. She didn't want Wes to see her laughing her ass off as he got the bullet taken out.

“You have something against that guy don't you?” I asked.

“Not really. He's just sort of an asshole is all,” Nelly replied.

“That's pretty obvious,” Jack said. “He comes off as the arrogant type to me.”

“That's an understatement. The guy thinks he knows everything about everything, and everyone else is automatically wrong,” Nelly explained. “He's really the only one in the group I have a problem with.”

“Who are the other people in your group?” I asked.

“Oh! I never got to tell you did I? Well, obviously the guy who got shot is Wes, the happy little blond girl is Melody. I sort of find her a little annoying at times. The guy with the beard is Henry, and the prego lady with him is Janice. Then the girl who looks like she's some sort of zombie is Natasha, and the guy with the guitar is Leon. He's cool... Oh! And I'm Nelly... But I think I already said that.”

“Ha! Yea you did... Has anyone ever told you that you talk really fast?” I asked.

“Ha ha! Yea all the time. I used to get in trouble for it a lot,” Nelly answered. “I'm sorry.”

“Don't be, nothing wrong with that,” I told her. “I may just have to make you repeat yourself on occasion... I'm sort of hard of hearing.”

“Don't worry Nelly, I have to shout at him sometimes before he hears me. If anything I'll translate for you, so you don't have to say it a million times,” Layla said.

“Sounds good! So... Where were you guys headed anyways?” Nelly asked.

“Towards Florida. We plan on finding a boat and heading out to an island we heard about,” Jack explained.

“Uh... Yea... You might want to think of a new plan,” Nelly replied. “We just came from Florida. Been stuck there the entire time. Its a complete mess there. You don't want to go there.”

“I think everywhere is a mess right now Nelly. We came from up north, and it isn't much better there,” Jack said.

“Well, if you came from anywhere around where that radio station is, it can't be too bad. There's nothing left in Florida. They sank the ships, cut the power, blew up the gas stations... Its just a total mess. Trust me, you don't want to go there,” Nelly explained. “Those things are organized there. I don't know how it happened, but they travel in this big army and they just destroy everything they come across... Its pretty scary. Don't go that way.”

“But... We came this far... Fuck! Damn it! Story of my fucking life!” I shouted.

“We'll figure it out Bob, don't worry,” Layla said assuringly.

“If anything, I say we go look around and see if there's anything we can find to...”

“No, there's nothing left there. You guys helped us. Let me help you. Go another way,” Nelly said, interrupting Jack. “You can go with us if you want... We're not really sure where we're going, but you're welcome to follow.”

“I'm not going back north,” I answered. “But... Fuck... You're sure there's nothing there?”

“Nothing,” Nelly replied. “You'll get yourselves killed.”

“Well, we'll probably get ourselves killed no matter what direction we take... I've come this far I'm not going back now. Don't go north either Nelly. There's nothing there for you,” Jack said.

“So what do we do then?” I asked. “No matter what way we go we're fucked. We have to find a boat or something... Damn it! Where the fuck are we gonna go!?”

“That's a question I've been asking myself for a while now... Bob right? And you're Jack? And... I don't think I caught your name,” Nelly said.

“I'm Layla, its a pleasure to meet you by the way.”

“Well... In my eyes we have three options,” Jack explained. “Risk searching Florida, search the east coast for an escape, or make our way out west.”

“We could go into South America,” Layla suggested.

“Wouldn't do us much good,” I said. “This whole thing is worldwide remember?”

“I say we wait until we get back to figure this all out. We'll get everyone's opinion on it before we make a decision. I don't need Jessie cutting a fit on me,” Jack replied.

“No matter what we decide, I think you and your group should come with us Nelly,” I added. “We stand a better chance of fighting them all off if we stick together.”

“Well... It sounds good to me. I'll make sure its okay with the others first though,” Nelly replied.

“Damn. This is quite a walk to this factory. I didn't expect it to be this far out,” I said. “I also am glad to see we haven't been shot at yet. You must have got him Jack... Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that anyways? With a Walmart hunting rifle and no scope!”

“Its a story for another time,” Jack replied. “I'm not exactly ready to tell it yet.”

“Okay... I can live with that,” I said, knowing it was time to move on to another subject. “Layla! Now would be a good time to make those suggestions you were talking about earlier. What do you got for me?”

“Oh! I almost forgot about that,” Layla answered. “Well... I think we need to get rid of the mentality we're in right now.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Nelly asked.

“Well... We've sort of retained this thinking that, the world is going to get better, or that we'll find a place to get away from it all,” Layla explained. “I'm guilty of this thinking myself, but right now, we need to think the exact opposite for our own safety. We need to adopt the mentality that the world is over, and its not coming back. We need to change what we wear, what we eat, how we act, and everything else that could possibly get us killed.”

“I think I get where you're going with this Layla, but continue,” I said.

“For example, I'm a girl. The old me loved clothes... I don't think there are many girls who don't, its just how our society is. We as women usually want to look good. But now, those very same principles can get us killed. Mini skirts aren't exactly keeping us safe right now... If that makes any sense. We all need to adopt a sense of style that fits our situation.”

“But... I like mini skirts,” I replied, with a huge smile. “I get what you're saying though Layla. What do you have in mind?”

“Well... I think we need to think of what the zombies could use against us. Anything loose can be grabbed by one. So whatever we wear needs to be form fitting... I mean... It doesn't have to be spandex or anything, just something that's not flapping around. It should also be something you can easily move around in. We do a lot of running around these days... You know, just stuff like that. If you can find something that's hard for a zombie to bite through or something that blood isn't going to soak through, it would be a plus. Its something that's going to be left to each individual. I'm just making suggestions.”

“Jessie is going to hate that suggestion Layla,” Jack replied. “Having said that, I'm all for it.”

“Me too, and I'm a girl. I've been thinking that exact same thing for a while now actually,” Nelly said.

“Okay, so wardrobe changes... If the person feels necessary. Check... Anything else Layla?” I asked.

“Yes there is actually. This whole situation has made me realize that we should probably be avoiding cars. As much as it pains me to say that. If Jack had been driving any faster that crash could have easily killed us. We should carry out the rest of our journey, wherever we decide to go, on foot. There's no telling what we're going to run into, and we might be walking into a deathtrap in any sort of vehicle.”

“No more cars... Jessie is gonna hate you for that one too, but check,” I said.

“Next thing, since we'll be on foot, I say we assign every member a job. It doesn't have to be anything big, but we should all carry some sort of responsibility, that way when things get bad, we all know what to do, and we're not just looking at one another in confusion.”

“Now that idea I like,” Jack replied. “What sort of jobs are we talking about?”

“I don't really know honestly. I was hoping we could all decide together. We'll need a navigator, maybe someone with a walkie talkie... Mainly jobs will be given based on what your preferred gun is, and what your best at fighting with... If that makes any sense.”

“Makes sense to me Layla,” I said.

“Okay, good... Another thing. If we're walking, I think we should maybe separate the groups. Maybe have Jessie lead one group, and you lead another Bob. We'll travel maybe a quarter mile apart from one another. That way we aren't one big walking target for something. If one of the groups gets attacked, the other can come in to help. It would have helped in a situation like this. One of the groups could have circled around and got this guy from the back... At least that's my thinking anyways.”

“That's actually really good strategy Layla. How do we determine groups?” Jack asked.

“We'll just have a playground style team picking session,” I answered. “Anything else Layla? While you have our attention?”

“Actually that's it for right now. We'll have to cut down on what we carry... But I think that's pretty obvious,” Layla replied as we approached the entrance of the factory. From the looks of it, it seemed completely abandoned, but as I've learned, looks can be deceiving. We opened the doors, and walked inside. It was quiet, and I immediately got a sick feeling in my stomach upon looking around. The walls were smeared with the blood of a massacre that had happened here at some point. It explained the pile of corpses outside.

“So... What do you guys think? Are we dealing with a human? I mean... That's the only kind of thing that could have done this right?” Nelly asked.

“Have you ever encountered a queen before Nelly?” Jack replied.

“Uh... Like the queen of England?”

“Not exactly. I'm not sure if you heard it on the radio but some of these zombies can still think. They can plot and talk just as well as you and I can. They also have some sort of control over the other zombies... But this is confusing,” Jack said.

“Why is it confusing?” Nelly asked.

“Because this place is completely empty,” I answered. “They could all be hiding somewhere... But that wouldn't make much sense... You did kill the queen right?”

“Well, that's why we're here Bob. We're gonna find out if I did or not,” Jack replied. “And for all we know, its not a queen. It could just be some sort of psychopath.”

“It could, but I don't think it is,” Layla said.

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

“Not sure... Just have a feeling. So far they've all worked with others... But maybe they're all a little different,” Layla explained. “Think about it, the one in the mall played with our heads, he was practically working by himself with other zombies as back ups. The blind one we encountered had an entire army following him... Maybe the queens awaken some part of your brain... Maybe it just awakens the sadist in you. Whatever that hidden person may be. Its something we've all probably thought about at least once.”

“More than once,” Nelly replied. “That is... Really disturbing... But it makes total sense... I now understand why I've seen some of the things I've seen.”

“Its only gonna get worse,” I said.

“I hate to say it, but you're probably right Bob,” Layla added. “We're probably only scratching the surface of what these things are capable of.”

“Look at that,” Jack said. “A blood trail... Leads up those steps and out the back door over there.”

“Could it be the sniper's?” Nelly asked.

“I hope not... But let's go up there and pray to God there's a body with armed with a Dragunov laying somewhere,” Jack answered.

We followed the trail of blood up the stairs and onto a balcony that led outside. There was no body laying anywhere that we could see. We all knew that somehow the sniper had gotten away, and that feeling crawled back into my throat.

“Shit... What do we do now?” I asked.

“Well... We go back to the others, and we get as far away from this guy as we can,” Jack replied. He left out the back. I'm sure he's gotten some distance on us now... But he'll be back. He'll either stay here and wait for others to come... Or he'll track us down.”

“Very comforting stuff,” I said.

“What's that bucket over there?” Nelly asked, as she made her way over towards it.

“Who knows, they were probably cleaning...”

“Its filled with blood!” Nelly shouted before kicking it over. “And bullets! What the fuck!?”

Jack made his way over to the puddle of blood, and examined the bullets on the ground. I could tell by his expression that he was equally as confused as Nelly was.

“They're the sniper bullets,” he explained. “But... I don't get it. That's just weird.”

“Oh my God!” Layla exclaimed. “I get it! Oh no! We have to get back! It might not be happening now, but we don't have that much time. We have to get back now!”

I didn't know what Layla was so worked up about, but I knew one thing, the girl was smart, and if she was worried, so was I. We hurried out of the factory and back towards the others. None of us said a word, as Layla led the way. I couldn't help but think I was going to get shot in the back during the walk. My mind was going through a million different scenarios of what was going through her head. Layla was on a mission and no matter how many times we asked, she wouldn't give us an answer as to why. She just kept telling us to hurry. The more we walked, the worse my paranoia got. Damn it Layla! Just tell us what's going on!