London Bridge Is Falling
Friendly Faces
ENGLAND
Driving back a long dirt road surrounded by trees, it reminds me of when my parents and I would go camping; I miss it and them. The road leads to a large place with a tall steel wall surrounding it. From the looks of it, the community inside is quite large. We pull up to the front gate and Jo shuts the truck off, everyone piles out onto the road, waiting for what she’s going to do next.
“Jo!” A girl yells, she’s standing on a lookout point that sits just near the front doors.
“Zoe! Come open the gate. I have some friends to introduce you to.”
The gate slides open and the girl signals us to come inside. The place is definitely nice, it looks like it was in the middle of being built when the outbreak happened. Newly build houses and apartments line the streets, solar panels attached to the inside walls provide power and a large pond gives them water. This place is beautiful, like a peaceful gated community.
“Welcome to Athena.” Zoe says, she turns towards Jo.
“What brings you here?”
“A fight.” Jo responds softly.
“Alright, we should talk to Andrea.” Zoe smiles. She’s gorgeous, just like Jo is. Her dark skin glistens in the sunlight, long black wavy hair blows in the wind.
A large house in the middle of Athena is where this girl Andrea lives; she must be the leader of this place. She’s done a damn good job. Others stand on their porches, watching our group as we trail behind Zoe. There are so many people here; kids play in the small park, others tend to the crops. It’s nice to see a place that’s flourishing even if the outside world isn’t. Once we enter the house, Zoe leads through two doors and into a large study.
“Jo.” Andrea says, jumping to her feet. I’ve never seen such an old lady move so fast. “I’m so glad you’ve returned!”
“I’ve missed everyone here.” She hugs Andrea.
“So what brings you back?” She asks.
“These are my friends from the B.T.A.R. They’ve found the company that created everything. It’s called Helios and it’s under Wembley stadium. We were wondering if we could stay until we’re ready to attack.”
“Of course.” She smiles. “I’m glad you’ve found the bastard. Having the B.T.A.R. here will make everyone sleep a little better.”
“Thank you.” I say. “We’ll do anything we can to help out.”
“This is an extraordinary place you have here, Andrea. It’s amazing.” Jake looks around the room, studying everything.
“Thank you. I found this place a few days after the outbreak. It was being made for the rich people that wanted to vacation out here in the woods. Eventually, I found more and more people, then we put up the walls.”
“We’ll keep you protected.” Lara says. “No need to worry.”
“We have plenty of empty rooms here, feel free to chose whichever one you want.”
A few hours pass, Jake and I decided on a smaller house just big enough for the two of us. It’s different here; they aren’t fighting off tons of infected 24/7. They’re just living peacefully. Jo did great bringing us here; we can relax for a bit while we prepare to take down Helios. Jake sits on the couch, reading a book and sipping on a glass of water while I start the fireplace; it’s pretty chilly in the house. A knock breaks the silence; I peer out the window and see Zoe standing there. Jake jumps up from the couch and opens the door. I come up beside him and wrap my arms around him.
“You’re Dylan and Jake, right?” She asks.
“Yeah.” Jake says. “What’s up?”
“Andrea is having a big dinner tonight at the town hall tonight. If you aren’t busy, you should come.” She smiles and brushes some strands of hair behind her ear.
“Yeah, that sounds great. We’ll be there.”
The town hall is a huge building, people are filling it up. Jake looks at me and smiles, I haven’t seen him genuinely smile for a long time. He feels safe and I do too. We meet up with the others before we go into the dinner. Jo and Zoe are all dressed up, holding hands. I wonder why she didn’t mention this place or even Zoe. We walk into the building, there’s a bunch of people here, chatting away. It all seems normal; they don’t seem phased by the world being overrun with the undead. We make our way to a table with our names marked on it and take our seats. Andrea stands at a podium in the front of the room and raises both of her hands, demanding our attention.
“Thank you all for coming here tonight.” She says, practically yelling. “We are joined by members of the B.T.A.R. They will be staying with us until they’re ready to travel into London and take down the man who created this awful virus.”
Driving back a long dirt road surrounded by trees, it reminds me of when my parents and I would go camping; I miss it and them. The road leads to a large place with a tall steel wall surrounding it. From the looks of it, the community inside is quite large. We pull up to the front gate and Jo shuts the truck off, everyone piles out onto the road, waiting for what she’s going to do next.
“Jo!” A girl yells, she’s standing on a lookout point that sits just near the front doors.
“Zoe! Come open the gate. I have some friends to introduce you to.”
The gate slides open and the girl signals us to come inside. The place is definitely nice, it looks like it was in the middle of being built when the outbreak happened. Newly build houses and apartments line the streets, solar panels attached to the inside walls provide power and a large pond gives them water. This place is beautiful, like a peaceful gated community.
“Welcome to Athena.” Zoe says, she turns towards Jo.
“What brings you here?”
“A fight.” Jo responds softly.
“Alright, we should talk to Andrea.” Zoe smiles. She’s gorgeous, just like Jo is. Her dark skin glistens in the sunlight, long black wavy hair blows in the wind.
A large house in the middle of Athena is where this girl Andrea lives; she must be the leader of this place. She’s done a damn good job. Others stand on their porches, watching our group as we trail behind Zoe. There are so many people here; kids play in the small park, others tend to the crops. It’s nice to see a place that’s flourishing even if the outside world isn’t. Once we enter the house, Zoe leads through two doors and into a large study.
“Jo.” Andrea says, jumping to her feet. I’ve never seen such an old lady move so fast. “I’m so glad you’ve returned!”
“I’ve missed everyone here.” She hugs Andrea.
“So what brings you back?” She asks.
“These are my friends from the B.T.A.R. They’ve found the company that created everything. It’s called Helios and it’s under Wembley stadium. We were wondering if we could stay until we’re ready to attack.”
“Of course.” She smiles. “I’m glad you’ve found the bastard. Having the B.T.A.R. here will make everyone sleep a little better.”
“Thank you.” I say. “We’ll do anything we can to help out.”
“This is an extraordinary place you have here, Andrea. It’s amazing.” Jake looks around the room, studying everything.
“Thank you. I found this place a few days after the outbreak. It was being made for the rich people that wanted to vacation out here in the woods. Eventually, I found more and more people, then we put up the walls.”
“We’ll keep you protected.” Lara says. “No need to worry.”
“We have plenty of empty rooms here, feel free to chose whichever one you want.”
A few hours pass, Jake and I decided on a smaller house just big enough for the two of us. It’s different here; they aren’t fighting off tons of infected 24/7. They’re just living peacefully. Jo did great bringing us here; we can relax for a bit while we prepare to take down Helios. Jake sits on the couch, reading a book and sipping on a glass of water while I start the fireplace; it’s pretty chilly in the house. A knock breaks the silence; I peer out the window and see Zoe standing there. Jake jumps up from the couch and opens the door. I come up beside him and wrap my arms around him.
“You’re Dylan and Jake, right?” She asks.
“Yeah.” Jake says. “What’s up?”
“Andrea is having a big dinner tonight at the town hall tonight. If you aren’t busy, you should come.” She smiles and brushes some strands of hair behind her ear.
“Yeah, that sounds great. We’ll be there.”
The town hall is a huge building, people are filling it up. Jake looks at me and smiles, I haven’t seen him genuinely smile for a long time. He feels safe and I do too. We meet up with the others before we go into the dinner. Jo and Zoe are all dressed up, holding hands. I wonder why she didn’t mention this place or even Zoe. We walk into the building, there’s a bunch of people here, chatting away. It all seems normal; they don’t seem phased by the world being overrun with the undead. We make our way to a table with our names marked on it and take our seats. Andrea stands at a podium in the front of the room and raises both of her hands, demanding our attention.
“Thank you all for coming here tonight.” She says, practically yelling. “We are joined by members of the B.T.A.R. They will be staying with us until they’re ready to travel into London and take down the man who created this awful virus.”