Their Rebellion

My one arm tightened around Murphy's waist as I took aim on the closest infected person within this seemingly large group. Once that single gun shot echoed through these dirty streets, it seemed to have riled up the dead coming our way. It came in unison; the groans, moans and spine chilling screeches of hunger. Abby threw her hands over her ears as Paul, Connor and Murphy reached into their breast pockets for their silencers.

Maire rose her AK 47 up and over Paul's shoulder, taking aim at whoever she could. She began to pull the triger without mercy, dropping multiple dead in seconds. I traced my fingers over the delicate trigger and took in a deep breath. The old man beside us reached out his greasy paws, but before he could touch a hair on Thatcher's side, I shot my glock. He fumbled into the ground with a thud as I took aim once more.

Connor and Murphy swung their arms back and forth, hitting the infected in the shoulder, arms, legs and head. They weren't concentrating enough, so there was more wasted bullets than there should have been in the first place. Ei, Thatcher and Raza slowly began to calm as the last infected woman tumbled into the dirt road. I soon found myself trying to catch my labored breath when I realized our inhumane target practice was well over.

Murphy turned back toward me and asked, "Ya'lright, Adrienne?"

I slowly nodded my head and turned my attention over to Connor and Abby. Connor rose a hand and said softly, "She's alright."

"Well, that was fun."Paul reached into his pocket to retrieve his cigarettes.

Maire's nose scrunched up in disgust as he lit one with a smile. She slid off of Raza before cocking her gun back once more. I followed her with my eyes as she began to tear open the doors to the tents.

"What'er ya doin' there, lass?"Connor called out.

"Lookin' fer anythin' important."Maire emerged from within a tent, a pistol and Ak 47 in hand."Care to take a pick?"

"The big one!"Connor urged Ei forward, but Murphy was closer.

"No way! I got a way better shot than ya!"Murphy argued.

"Fuck yerself, Murph."Connor reached for the large gun, but Maire pulled it away.

"Ya both have piss poor shots and ya both act like children."She spat angrily."Ya can have the pistol til ya learn better."

Connor and Murphy exchanged angry glares toward eachother before Maire handed the pistol off to Connor. I ran a hand through my hair and nervously played with the safety on my gun. Maire continued her quick jump from tent to tent, where she found multiple pistols and a few supplies we could use later on in our travels. I looked up toward the sky and realized that the sun was growing increasingly closer to the ground.

The sun would be setting soon and we all knew how the night worked its magic for the dead. I swallowed hard and asked, "So, what now, Marine?"

"We ferget Dublin."Maire climbed onto the back of Raza once more and positioned herself better."There's only a few safe zones set up in Ireland, but since this one has gone down within no more than twenty four hours, I suggest Belfast."

"Belfast?!"Murphy scoffed."S'bout five days away walkin'!"

"And we'll take the five days a day at a time."Maire furrowed her eyebrows together in anger."That or ya can try and escape Ireland on yer own."

Murphy ran a warm hand over his face and growled lowly. He knew the dangers of walking Irelands streets as much as the rest of us, but he also knew how dangerous the wooded areas could be as well. After a few moments debate, he slowly nodded his head and said, "Aye. Belfast it is, then."

"Let's get goin' then, boys."Paul snapped Raza's reigns when Connor and Murphy began our trot away from town.

I peeked over at Abby continuously as we made our trail to the closest forest we found. The walk seemed very lonesome, even though we were travelling as a group. No one had the right words to say, especially since this was our second encounter with the dead. I could feel warm tears prick at the corners of my eyes at the thought. I hastily wiped them away, afraid that anyone could see them as well as I could feel them.

It was the burning sensation of eyes on me that forced me to turn toward Paul, where I found Maire's deep, blue eyes glaring over at me. There was no comforting smile or hopeful look in her features. It consisted of anger and hate, as if she couldn't stand to be within the group. It was her decision to tag along; no one was holding a gun to her pretty little head. I wanted to confront her on her starring problem, but thought it'd be better if I didn't start another fight.

I didn't know why there was hatred between Maire and I. It could be that I didn't trust the Irish woman, for the main reasons that she was a Marine. She was one of the people who were supposed to keep Ireland safe, which didn't turn out as planned. Connor and Murphy had seen what the Marines turned to; killing of innocent civillians. Maire didn't strike me as the hero type, especially since she only seemed concerned with herself.

I had a strong feeling we were being led into nothing but a trap, but no one seemed to take me seriously. I had been proven wrong on multiple occasions with my trust issues before, so that could be why. When I had first met the twins, I was skeptical of their care for Mama. When I had met Noah on my short vacation in Boston, I thought he was only part of the plan. Ken and his kids had struck me odd as well, but each time proved falty.

I let out a quiet sigh and turned away from Maire, who had given me the cold shoulder moments ago. I rested my head in between Murphy's shoulder blades and huffed, which was when I noticed the puff of smoke crawling from my lips. The sun was going down, which meant it would become much colder very soon. Murphy ran a warm hand over my arm and I smiled, knowing that even silence couldn't stop him from knowing how I felt.

I perked my head up quickly, though, as we neared the forest, because something had caught my attention. It was a strange sound and on I had heard nearly half a dozen times in my life time. I looked up toward the sky and whispered, "A helicopter."

"What's that?"Murphy turned back to me.

"A helicopter!"I shouted.

I kept my eyes on the skyline, hoping that large hunk of metal would come flying into our view. Maire let out a gasp and shouted, "Get into the forest, now!"

"The fuck are ya sayin'?!"Connor scoffed.

Maire's fingers tightened significantly on her weapon as she leaned toward us. A low growl escaped her lips as she said, "If the 'copter don't get us, the Marines will! Base'll get a call and they'll be down here in no time to finish us off! Forest, now!"

The helpless feeling of being vulnerable set into me as Murphy roughly snapped Thatcher's reigns. I looked back as we quickly escaped into the trees, hoping I could get even a glimpse of another living person. I felt my eyes well up in tears as we became completely hidden in Ireland's thick brush. The thundering blades of the helicopter suddenly became louder as the gleaming metal box came into view.

I whimpered quietly as it flew over the tree tops, never circling back to take us to safety. I wanted so badly to jump from Thatcher's back and run into the road, where I would scream and flail my arms until they saw me. I absentmindedly began to slide from the large horse, but Murphy quickly let his hand slide to my thigh. I looked forward, finding his baby blues full of discomfort and more so, disappointment.

I looked back at Maire, who's eyes never left the lit sky. I felt a burning sensation int he bottom of my stomach, as I wanted even more so to knock Maire from her high horse. I felt as though she thought she was better than us, because she had the profile of a high and mighty killing machine. Murphy began to growl lowly in pain as I tangled my fingers deep into his shirt, scratching at his chest and stomach with my nails.

I gasped quietly, while removing my hands and whispered, "Sorry, Murphy."

"S'alright."He smiled warmly.

"I told ya's it'd be best to stay off the roads."Maire spat."We almost got caught along the way. It'd be the smarter decision if we stayed hidden, now."

Instead of biting my tongue like the brothers would have liked, I quickly shot out, "How do ou know what's best, Marine? You sure you ain't leadin' us into anythin' dangerous? What if that 'copter was our safety net? What if we just missed our chance at survivin' 'cause you're fuckin' paranoid you'll lose that shiny badge?!"

"I'd shut that pretty mouth of yers real fast, pig."Maire growled.

"Or what?"I argued."You gonna shoot me?"

"Debatin' on it."Maire let her finger glide over her trigger, but I only smiled.

"Take your best shot, coward."I sneered."I'm pretty quick when it come to my gun."

"This ain't cowboys and indians, lass."Maire smirked.

"Enough!"Paul shouted."That's enough! I'm tired of dealing with children. It's giving me a headache. Now, Maire, darling, that lovely helicopter we're so scared of just went in the direction we were heading in until you changed plans. Why is that?"

Maire kept her angry glare on me for a few more seconds before turning toward Paul. She rested her AK 47 on her lap and said, "The 'copters go ' round findin' civilians or the dead. Whichever it is, they radio base and tell'm the deal. Base goes out, puts a big gun to their head and pulls the trigger. No mercy."

Paul ran a hand over his face and sighed quietly. I shoved my glock back in between my pants and hip, hoping I wouldn't have another chance to use it. Murphy squeezed his hand on my thigh and said, "S'alright, Adrienne. Jus' calm down, aye?"

"Yeah, calm."I whispered softly.

Despite the thick cloud of tension between Maire and I, we continued on with our travel to Belfast. I kept my eyes along every inch of bush and tree we passed, praying no part of infected would come bursting in our direction. Even though they were infected with a disease we've never encountered, we knew they were fast. Their flesh would rot and they became what Romeo referred to as zombies, but they could still die.

That was one of the only things that kept me going. Knowing that these creatures could still die like the rest of us. I had my hand glued to my forty caliber hand gun as the sun slowly settled behind the mountains. The sky reflected that pink, orange and blue aura that most found beautiful, but I only found it disturbing and sickening anymore. I looked over at Connor and said, "it's gettin' dark, boys. Be best if we settle down for the night."

Connor nodded his head and said, "Aye. Ya know what happens when those fuckers are out at night.

"We keep movin'."Maire stated coldly.

"We can't."I growled."Abby hasn't eaten. We're tired - "

"I could give a fuck less 'bout how ya feel."Maire spat."We keep movin', 'less ya wanna die out here."

"We could die anywhere, bitch."I glared."We stop. You can keep walkin' 'til your god damn feet bleed if you damn well please."

"Maire,"Connor began softly."It's been a long day. We need our rest if ya wanna keep up a good fight. We don't have the trainin' ya do fer this shit."

Maire's features stayed emotionless, but after so long she slowly nodded her head in agreement.

"The next clearin' we came to here, we'll stop."She turned back toward the trees, making sure she could spot anything dangerous that lurked out.

I let out a quiet huff and a roll of my eyes. Even just the annoyed breath got Murphy to chuckle ligh lightly. We continued a short walk before coming across a small section without a horrible amount of trees or bushes. The horses were forced to a stop and Murphy slid from Thatcher's back. I instantly wrapped my arms around my chest, feeling how cold it had gotten since we had started out.

He extended his hand to me and said, "I got ya, Adrienne. Come on down."

I gripped his hand tightly and slid from Thatcher, landing quietly on the dirt ground. I watched as Connor jumped from Ei and took Abby tightly from under her arms. He pulled her from his horse and gently set her down.

"I'm sure the horses are thirsty."I ran a hand along Thatcher's neck and smiled warmly."How about a carrot big boy?"

Thatcher tilted his head slightly before shaking out what I presumed to be a yes. Connor dug deep into the side bags along Ei and pulled out a few carrots, which were fed to each horse. He set water down in front of them as well and they all lapped quietly at it. I walked over to Razza, who was nibbling on a few strands of grass, and opened his saddle bags. There were two small tents that I had shoved into the very bottom, as well as blankets and other small supplies.

I found the set up to drag on, for the main reason that I hated doing it. When the tents were set up and the beds ready, Abby plopped down on the first one she saw. She lied back and let out a loud yawn, letting me know that she was more than ready for bed. Connor and Murphy had gone to scout the area, which had been done numerous times in the past. While they were gone, I had managed to set up a very small fire, hoping it would keep us a little warmer.

I scrounged up a small portion of meat I had packed for the ride and lied it over a small pan from the cabin. It only needed to be heated up, since it was last nights dinner. I cut up a few apples and lied them aside on everyone's plates, hoping that the tender meat and acidic apple taste would be to their liking. After handing them out and setting the twins aside, I walked to the tent where Abby, Murphy and I would be sleeping.

Connor, Paul and Maire would be taking the second tent, since Maire wasn't welcome in my own. I set Abby's plate of food beside her and sat indian style on my blanket. Abby sat up, happy to have the delicious smelling lamb and began to dig into what I cooked. She groaned quietly at the taste and said, "I'm gonna miss this."

"Yeah, me too, sweetheart."I gave her a small grin and said, "So make sure you eat it all."

She gave me that I'm not five look and I chuckled quietly. I tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and said, "We're gonna do just fine, Abby."

"I know."Her smile faded and a frown creeped its way onto my lips.

I picked slowly at my food until it was gone, while Abby scarfed down everything in just a few minutes. For as tiny as she was, that teen could eat. I stood from my seat as she ran her hands over her thin arms.

"I'm gonna find you another blanket."I said.

"I'm okay."She smiled.

"It's gonna get real chilly out. We ain't in Georgia anymore, darlin'."I took her plate and said, "I'll be right back."

I emerged from my tent as Connor and Murphy came waltzing back into camp. I gave them a smile and asked, "Nothin'?"

"Nope."Connor smiled.

"Safe and sound."Murphy said softly.

"Your food is in your tentsm boys."They quickly scattered as I wiped Abby and my plate clean.

I tossed them back into the saddle bags and ran a hand through my hair. Paul had gone in for the night, but Maire was nowhere to be found. I stumbled through our small camp, wondering what the Marine could be up to. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed quietly. The thick patter of boots met my ears and I turned, finding the blonde haired irish woman only a few feet away from me.

Her map was clutched tight in her hands as she began to make her way toward her tent. I stepped closer and called out, "Maire,"

She slowly came to a stop and tilted her head in my direction. She had no desire to speak to me, but that went for the both of us.

"Can I see the map? Maybe there's -"I began.

"No. I know Ireland better than yerself, miss Georgia peach. There's no point in a foreigner taking command."Maire threw open her tent door and stepped inside, leaving me in the cold.

I found myself clawing roughly at my sweatshirt out of anger and I growled lowly. I had a trong feeling this wasn't our average Marine. She was certainly hiding something.