Hysteric

Arisa was entering the beginning stages to adulthood. She was born during the height of the zombie apocalypse, and a child who managed to survive the worst of it. Her mother carried her through the first of the infection stages and amazingly managed to keep both of them alive while in the wilderness.

When Arisa was very small, her mother and her found sanctuary at a power plant at the far outskirts of the city they fled from. For all the years she had spent growing up around the sounds of zombies, they still scared her. The front of the plant was done up with some sort of industrial strength glass that held up to the abuse and pressure the zombies put it through, but everyday Arisa would walked past those windows staring out into the hordes of angry gluttonous zombies just as terrified as ever.
The elders also still held fear for the outside creatures; only the youngest ones born within the facility who had seen the zombie wall every day were able to walk past without cringing. Here in their small makeshift fortress things were safer.

Sadly for Arisa, a fortress with no outdoors was not meant for her. She had grown up in the woods, and she would find a way back out whenever she could. There was once a time she snuck out with the scavenger crew. That was a mistake; she had gotten far too close to the zombie menace that comes when the troops go out to search for food, clothing, and other luxuries.

For the past few days, however, she would run out of the fenced off area and walked around the giant tanks that were used to keep the water that was collected clean. The engineers had become used to seeing kids running around and finally stopped yelling at them to get back inside. She smiled the brightest on the day she had found her own way out of the facility, and around the nasty zombie horde that swarmed the front and back gates of the fortress.

“Arisa!” There was a call from the far side of the cubical Arisa bedroll laid in.

“Arisa!” The call came again, this time with annoyance.

She stretched out onto the partially rolled foam matt and starred up at a very angry blonde. The girl who had been calling for Arisa had hair had pulled up into a tight pony tail on the back portion of her skull. Arisa stared through bleary eyes at the girl who was her assigned sister. Most of the children here were orphans, or would become orphans over time. Each child was assigned a sibling, so that they could watch over one another or protect their other half in circumstances where the adults could not help.

This was a method that worked very well for the younger children. There was time when Arisa would have said that she loved her sibling, that she loved Cassie. But now that they had both grown older and farther apart, she was more excited for the day when the sibling system was cast aside and Arisa could begin to apply for the hunter position at the factory. Cassie would no doubt simply act as a serving girl around the facility since she had little aspirations in life.

“What,” Arisa stated gruffly as she rolled onto her back to stare up at her angry companion.

“We need to go, I have my ceremony today.”

Arisa groaned even louder, “Leave without me. I abandon you all the time so do the same for me. Sister, I’ve fallen. You must go on without me!” Arisa reached up to the ceiling with her left arm while her right hand clutched her heart. She was over playing the dying soldier role as melodramatically as she could manage.

Cassie nudged her foot under Arisa and kicked her off the improperly unfurled mat.

“No,” she said angrily, “for initiations such as this your companion sibling is required to attend. We don’t have family, so you have to come.”

“Cass… I couldn’t even start to give a shit about your fake sorority…” Aria’s voice came out harsh and gruff. She wasn’t ready to get up yet but she was willing to fight for her sleep.

Cassie kicked harder at Arisa’s ribs, “I had to wait day and night while your ass had been reprimanded time after time and placed into the quarantine chambers! You’ve embarrassed me in front of the other classmates relentlessly. You owe me this. You can do this one thing for me you selfish brat!”

Arisa raised herself from the floor in order to avoid being kicked again by her sibling. “Why is it so important I attend? The other kids hate me almost as much as you do. Won’t my presence be yet another reminder of how embarrassing I am?”

Cassie maintained a stern expression, “Because one family member is required to attend. If I want to join the influential women of this colony I need to be a part of this group! That means you will have to show up for one freaking day as I’m accepted into the ‘Powered by Women’ club.”

Arisa choked back her sarcasm. The club name was dumb. The PBW Group. Someone thought it was a cute title. The women’s club was meant to help further the progress and image of the power plant. In all reality the women that ran it were just as annoying as the title of the group. All of Arisa’s least favorite classmates seemed to be involved one way or another with the system.

“You know, that’s a group of people who never took their engineering studies seriously. This plant needs engineers, not snobby women,” Arisa spoke without thinking and felt the cold slap from Cassie’s hand hard across the face.

“This plant needs people to get involved! Not lazy day dreaming ass-holes like you who flee and hide at the drop of a dime and are never around when we need people!”

Arisa stood grumbling as she rubbed her cheek, “Oh, I see where this is going. Listen you’ll become Betty-homemaker, find yourself a decent husband and stay inside nice and warm for the rest of your mundane life. While you’re practicing your breeding habits, I’m going to be training to fight zombies and risk my life every time I step outside this miserable building. I’m the reason you get to keep living so cozy. I’m the reason you get to continue to waste time with your stupid little clubs. I’m the reason you get to act like a snob. Because I’m good at what I do! Because I’m good at escaping.”

Cassie scoffed, “Like they’ll take you. If you couldn’t stand by your sibling, how could they expect you to stand by your next partner?”

“I’m expendable,” Arisa said with a shrug and a sheepish grin. She’d start out as a bait worker or a ‘clown’ as the plant had nicknamed the position. She’d be the distraction to keep the zombies from attacking the scavengers and with some time she could work her way to the scavenging position herself; that was the plan she had for her future.

“Alright, I’m awake, I’m up, and I shall accompany to your stupid ritualistic cult meeting,” Arisa took a moment’s pause to wipe the dirt from the floor off of her pants.

Cassie sighed with disgust and disdain as she looked at her sister. “You’re going to need to wear something nice.”

Arisa allowed a cruel sneer to grace her face, “we don’t have nice things Cassie. We’re orphans without a single cent to our name. So, looks like my shoddy apparel shall suit the situation just fine.”

Cassie whirled around to Arisa pushing into her personal space, “There,” Cassie grabbed Arisa’s shoulder and pointed to the wall, “is a dress I borrowed for you. You will wear it and you will not embarrass me. You will sit in the damn chair and not make a sound until I am officially initiated into the community service of which you will then clap politely and leave.”

Arisa stared incredulously at the ugly pink dress that protruded awkwardly from the hangar that had been fit over the side of the cubicle wall.

“Well… I can see you’re passionate about this…” Arisa wondered how she didn’t notice the ugly garment on her wall sooner. “That profoundly ugly piece of clothing has me beat. I positively can’t resist the opportunity to embarrass you and a garment as hideious as this presents that opportunity,” Arisa turned her gaze back to Cassie in the hopes to use her sister’s poison against her.

“Put it on,” With that Cassie left the cubicle.

Arisa sighed, if there was one place she absolutely did not want to be it was with her classmates.
“You owe me Cassie,” Arisa muttered as she slipped into the dress. It was a fowl shade of pink and Cassie only added insult by making sure that it was a short puffed out dress that tucked back in wrapping around the legs turning into an ugly pair of poofy shorts. Luckily the designers had the good sense not to complete the seam and make actual shorts which left the garment as a really grotesque short dress that stuck out like a neon pink satin bell around Arisa’s hips. Arisa gazed at the top of her legs wondering how many containers of Pepto-Bismol were used to dye the garment.

“How could I ever say no to something so ghastly,” Arisa murmured. She stepped out from her room space.

Cassie’s sour glance eased up as she looked at her ‘sister’. She was always delighted to make her assigned sister squirm. Arisa had always been such a weird a child, which put Cassie in plenty of awkward social situations. Arisa was also the child that would frequently get into trouble. She had a habit of disappearing for weeks then returning only to be put on display in the quarantine chambers after being found outside the walls of the power plant. Arisa caused a lot of negative attention, so to allow that bad attention to be solely focused on Arisa instead of Cassie was a relief in its own.

Arisa stood in the hot pink dress just as Cassie had envisioned. She was too pale for the bright colors and her dark brown hair only made her skin look whiter. Her vivid green eyes brought out the imperfections on her face when contrasted to the pink. Scars were amplified and displayed in louder tones with the pink to accent them. The dress looked terrible and this pleased Cassie who was wearing a much more pleasant business outfit.

“Let’s go,” Cassie spoke with a tinge of gloating to her tone.

Arisa sighed, “This is it… after you’re accepted into the PBW you’re officially an adult and our ties to one another are severed. How does it feel to know you’re about to join a cult who will control your every move and action and never allow you to have a moment’s worth of independence or freedom?”
“Shut up,” Cassie growled at Arisa, “I know you don’t like anything that has order or sophistication to it. You’re nothing but a barbarian, and getting the opportunity to escape you is the greatest thing that will ever happen to me!”

Arisa scoffed as they walked down the halls. She held her front as a hardened teenager who would not be off put by Cassie’s words, but in reality those words really hurt her. She had spent much of her childhood next to Cassie, and for a little bit they were best friends. All they had was each other, until Arisa had found a way to leave the power plant and safely go outside.

The office space had been converted into apartments long ago. A cubical was now a bedroom, and Cassie and Arisa shared cubical space together. Until Cassie was accepted into the PBW training program, then she would be moved upstairs to their secluded office space. Arisa was going to miss the front office. The front office is where the girls slept with other families, and she too would be moved somewhere else in the facility. Probably with the rest of the defective people in the basement.
The two girls made their way to the auditorium. They entered and Arisa took a moment to appreciate the situation she was in as she looked out over the crowd. A lot of people were over dressed the best they could for this. To see one’s daughter or relative excepted into the PBW was supposedly a big deal. These were influential women in the colony so it was a big political thing. Arisa was able to spot all of her least favorite class members seated in the crowd. Fiona and her boyfriend David stood close together excited for Fiona’s promotion within the club. Sue and Kiki stood off to the side talking furiously to one another no doubt over something mundane; they were Fiona’s minions.

Arisa peered over until she found one familiar face that she knew to be tolerable, “Well Cass, I won’t stick by your side and keep on embarrassing you. Go talk with your lover Fiona, Imma take a seat and wait as patiently as possible for this to finish.”

Cassie nodded with relief to hear her sister was not going to stick around her for the remainder of the ceremony.

Arisa walked over to the row where a younger girl named Salina sat. Now Salina was a strange creature that had long fascinated Arisa. She was the younger sister to Fiona, the woman who seemed bent on making Arisa’s life miserable at every chance she could get, but Salina was very much unlike her sister. Firstly, she preferred to go by the name Sal, which was a boy’s name. She was as much of a girly girl in that she enjoyed to dress just as prim and proper as any woman of the PBW does, but where Fiona was an infinite bitch Salina was filled with infinite kindness.

“Hello Salina!” Arisa waved and walked towards the girl.

Salina smiled and then moved over to make space for her acquaintance. Sal was one of few who was completely unafraid to be seen with a degenerate of her class.

“These events do bore me …” Salina spoke dryly.

“Me too, but Cass said I had to come, must be serious if I was needed.”

Sal shrugged, “many children here are orphaned, I don’t know why they suddenly decided to make it a rule for relatives to show up… my sister's antics with this group are causing many frustrations. I think she means to limit who is allowed in. I’m rather surprised she even accepted Cassie.”

“Me too, at first I thought it was a trap…” Arisa muttered, “Fiona hates us both, but as Cassie kept ass kissing and I kept rioting, Fiona became pleased with Cassie. I don’t think she’ll ever make it past the bottom rung, though.”

Sal nodded, “Don’t worry Arisa, I know you still worry about your sister. Fiona is bound to screw up soon, and when she does I shall be the one to replace her. I will keep a close eye on Cass.”

Arisa smiled, Sal may be one of the last decent human beings in this power plant. She hadn’t gone crazy with power and somehow she was still able to be kind to everyone, including her own sister.
Sal continued her rant, “I grow tired of Fiona’s childish behavior and I know the elders are as well. She should be more careful for her very own actions will destroy her.”

Arisa replied, “To be honest, as long as Cass is okay I don’t really care for the PBW.”

Sal held an innocuous complexion, “Oh, I understand that. You were looking into being a ‘clown’ the last I heard. Live bait for zombies hardly seems like a career worth pursuing. Most don’t live long in that field and promotions rarely happen. I worry for you too Arisa.”

Arisa leaned back in the seat and raised an arm over the empty chair next to her, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. The bait job just seems like the best choice for me. I wasn’t smart enough for the science groups like Butch was, and I’m not vacuous enough to be a part of this, no offense…”

“None taken,” Sal’s tone remained flat. She understood Arisa and the stubborn terminology that came with Arisa. She was a tough case.

“Are you going to try and run out again?” Sal sinterrogated.

“Of course Sal my love, we are at the cusp of adulthood and I’m going to spend my graduation outside, in the woods, where I belong.”

Sal spoke with disapproval to her tone, “when you return they’ll make you bait for sure… too uncontrollable… too rebellious.”

The crowds began to simmer down and the ceremony commenced. Arisa watched as Fiona took her spot on the stage and began her speech; then saw David round the corner and head over to wear Sal was seated. He grew angry when he spotted Arisa sitting next to his future sister-in-law.

Grimacing he said, “If it’s not the disposable clown.” Upon approaching he glanced at the two girls below him with disdain.

“Classy as always David. Really now, I half expected you to come up with better insults. Yeah yeah, I’m trying out for the ‘clown’ job. I’ll be the gal saving your ass in the future… you sure you want to keep pestering me? Because when we’re out in the field and I see a zombie shambling your way, I’m not going to bait myself out so you can keep living.” Arisa retorted.

David sneered, “You’ll never make it that far. They’ll throw you to the hordes and you’ll never come out alive.”

“Of course I will, I have to see you get eaten first; only then my life will be fulfilled,” Arisa replied.

Sal angrily pushed at the two of them, “silence yourselves. You will sit here in peace until this ceremony comes to completion, and afterwards depart from one another with out another word to be spoken!”

The demands from the younger girl were enough to momentarily calm the animosity between the two characters, but peace was only temporary. Arisa and David found themselves bickering at every turn of the ceremony, neither able to stop their egos and allow the other to have the last word. By the time the ceremony came to completion Sal made sure she had slapped both of them across the face.

“Wretched children, may the zombies take you both!” and stormed off angrily.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen her angry before,” David muttered cradling his cheek.

“At least not that angry…” Arisa retorted staring in awe at Sal who normally controlled every action. “Well ass-wagon, it’s been nice battling it out with you, but I’m off.”

David grabbed Arisa’s dress and pulled her back to him before she had a chance to escape the ceremony halls. “Oh no, you’re not running out on us again. I have been instructed to bring your ass down to the enlistment halls and get you signed up as a clown today.”

Arisa gave a few effortless tugs to test David’s grip on her then grinned. “So this is why family was required? So I’d be forced to make the leap to the bait job? Man, you guys are getting desperate.”
Arisa dropped her weight and harshly turned her body to free herself from the grip. David let go both surprised by her movement and surprised by the rug burn her dress gave to his hand. She wriggled out then bolted out the doors.

“Congratulations Cassie!” Arisa screamed as she ran past the new inductees. There was a commotion behind her, and Arisa joyously left hearing the annoying whining of Fiona yelling at David behind her.

Arisa bolted out of the power plant and into the outdoor portion of the facility. She leapt off the side of a railing and onto a small platform where she then climbed down and onto the lawn like area of the ground. It was mostly dried out and rock, but a few weeds grew around making the ground into a little lawn. She ran through the base unnoticed by the men above until she got to the first outer wall. She walked to the left until the lookout tower emerged. Arisa climbed up the tower but ducked down so the men wouldn’t see her. She watched to see what the duties of the men were going to be.

She observed as the last of the rag-tag team assembled for a necessity scavenger hunt. She saw the trucks load up then waited patiently for them to leave. The boys in the lookout tower always cocked their guns and readied their aim for any zombies that might leak in; they had no time to deal with her when the trucks departed. This always gave her the chance to bolt as soon as the gates opened without having to worry about the guards looking after the runaway child.

The first gate opened, and then the second with the first closing behind it. There were now only two more gates left to open and then the shooting would begin. Arisa quietly climbed up to the top of the lookout tower and would then jump over onto the wall ledge. The jump could be scary, almost even treacherous, but she never fell. The first and second gate closed up, then the third gate closed as the fourth opened. The trucks rammed through hundreds of zombies as they mowed down the undead bodies exiting the power plant facility. The monsters rushed into the first gated area where they were immediately showered with bullets. The trucks were off to gather supplies, and god willing they would return all together. Last week one truck did not return at all.

Arisa moved down the wall. Eventually the gates all merged into one thick concrete exterior towards the sides of the power plant. The wall circled then around the building’s edge until you got to the lake and the waterfall where the natural barrier allowed the wall to come to an end. She ran as fast as she could once she got to the waterfall that poured over the edge of the concrete barrier. She broke through to the other side of the water. The thick ledge kept her from slipping off and falling down into either the pools of water on the right, or the long fall to the ground on the left. Behind the waterfall was a cave she discovered when she was younger. As she worked her way up the cave passage she knew this would take her as far as she needed to go. An upward climb and soon she broke to the surface. She crawled out onto a flat plateau of land that overlooked where the river ran into the lake.

There were no zombies up here, because people didn’t live up here. Additionally, there was no advantage for the zombies to jump down here. The community itself was almost a mile from the ledge point she had climbed up to. Arisa covered up the cave entrance she had emerged from and immediately took to the trees. She always felt safer in higher ground. Zombies couldn’t climb much more than a ladder, and she was an expert at climbing. She climbed up a tall tree as her mother once taught her while they lived in the wilderness and made herself comfortable. She plucked a mulberry off the tree and gnawed on it. Today was shaping up to be a nice day; she managed to sneak by without even having to bribe the guards.

Of course a good day could not last forever. A boy came running through the woods below her; he seemed to have a panicked look about him. Following behind him two more individuals emerged. There was a very tall woman and another young male. Arisa watched from above wondering what the situation was, and then heard the familiar groaning and moaning of the undead. The group certainly was not safe below her, at least not for much longer.

“Boy!” she whispered to male the closest to her. She chucked a stick down that hit him on the side of his head. The man looked up worried and confused. He was about the same age as she was with a rounded perfect face that had electrifyingly intense eyes.

Arisa spoke as the other two individuals followed their companion and saw Arisa, “you’ve got zombies on your tail. It’s not safe down there.”

The boy cocked his head at an odd angle when he looked up at her. It was as if she was the first person he had seen in ages despite being accompanied by two others.

“Can you climb?” she whispered down to the group. They each exchanged nervous glances and then moved over to her tree, “well, come on, get up here. Zombies don’t climb, and they don’t generally look up if you can keep quiet.”

The boy nodded and began to lift himself up the branches as she had done earlier until he reached her. The other two found a nearby tree to clamber up and make room for themselves. The boy that had come to join Arisa in her tree looked back down with worry. He was an odd looking kid. His hair was a dark black, a black that matched the clothes he wore. He had on a dark black t-shirt, and black shorts that made his legs look very pale. His eyes showed that he was Asian in decent and the irises were almost red, but it must have been the way the sun reflected the light. In the shade they dulled down to a deep brown color.

“Hi,” Arisa whispered, “my name is Arisa.” She extended her hand to the boy.

He smiled at her, “I’m Zach…” he muttered quietly returning a hand to shake with hers, “the two over there are Danny and Meg,” he pointed across the distance.

She smiled at him before pressing her finger to her lips and pointing down to the below foliage, “Shhh,” Arisa whispered as the first zombie broke through the underbrush. It walked around confused and frustrated. The victims it had been hunting were no longer around. Slowly but surely more zombies appeared around the foliage. Arisa laid back, it was going to be a long night. Once those things think they are near a victim they don’t leave for awhile. She winked at the boy as she curled up on a large branch. The boy didn’t seem to pay her any attention.

“Go away…” he continued to mouth the words to the statement, “go away, go away, go away…”
Arisa wanted to comfort him, but to make a sound would give away their position, and then they would be trapped. She placed her finger over her lips and he seemed to calm down. She just needed to be relaxed and maybe he too would calm down. The creatures wandered below for a few more hours, then began to disband.

Arisa was actually surprised to see the zombie lot give up so early. Once she was sure the last zombie was out of earshot she spoke to the boy, “that’s weird, usually they stick around longer than that… something must have distracted them. They like to swarm the area until they find whatever it is that brought them there, or until a new sound is heard off in the distance.”

“Must be a new sound then, because the damned things didn’t even see us up here,” Zach was completely surprised.

She smiled, “years and years of survival. My favorite place to camp is up in the trees. Don’t have to worry about any walkers below, because they can’t reach you. The worst though is when they see you and you get trapped in a tree. I’ve only made that mistake once.”

The boy nodded, “indeed,” he replied before looking back at her. He appeared to be somewhat suspicious of her, “I didn’t realize there were survivors left in the woods.”

Arisa laughed, “Hardly anyone alive in the woods themselves. See, we’ve got the whole power plant which is just a short climb away from here, that’s where I’m from you see. I just travel out here to get some peace.”

The boy connected the dots, “you’re one of the people at the plant… the one that keeps the power turned on in the city?”

“Well, I don’t keep the power juiced, but I certainly live there. What about you… where the devil did you guys come from?” Arisa pointed over to the other tree containing Zach’s silent companions.
He looked out into the distance, “Out there, somewhere out there in those woods. We’ve been running for as long as I can remember, just trying to get away from those things.”

“Say no more, I know the feeling. Hey, you guys don’t have anywhere to live no more do you?” Arisa’s glanced from the boy in the tree back to the other two who seemed to be studiously watching the actions occurring in her tree. He shook his head.

“Why don’t you come back with me then?” Arisa asked him, “we’ve got food, and certainly shelter. All things good for the most part.”

The boy was surprised by her offer, “you would trust a stranger? You realize strangers have been known to destroy entire colonies?”

“What, have you been bit or something? Sure would suck for you to make this far only to have me kick you out of this tree.”

He shook his head and lifted his shirt revealing a very well cut body, “no bites, see.”

Arisa held in a burst of laughter trying her hardest not to embarrass him. “Don’t worry about it kid, one of the adults will check you if you survive the climb back to the plant itself.”

He put his shirt down realizing she appeared to be challenging him. He had a toned body and she was prepared to see if it was only for vanity or if he really was capable of surviving.

“Okay then, you’ll take me to your colony of living humans then?”

She nodded, “yup, all us left over humans. Easy breeze, come on.” She leapt outward from the tree, down from branch to branch until she hit the bottom. She was amazingly graceful and stuck her landing without swaying. Zach just leapt straight from the tree. He landed without faltering after he dived directly onto his feet.

“Well,” commented Arisa, “that was impressive. Aren’t you the show off.” Arisa motioned her hands upward to the other two sitting in the opposing tree.

The two jumped down with the same agility as Zach did. Arisa let loose a low whistle impressed with the people she found.

“Excellent, everyone is accounted for!” Arisa blurted, “Now keep up! I move at one pace, my pace!” She bolted to the direction of her hidden cave to see if the others could keep up with her.

Much to her surprise they did. Zach matched her speed and stayed by her side. The other two stayed directly behind, and although they appeared to struggle at points of her race they never fell behind. All three of them were well prepared for the simple tasks she was putting them through. She got to the cave and placed her finger over her lips again motioning for the group to be quiet. Arisa pushed over a small boulder with all her might and a dark hole appeared. She climbed into her secret safe haven and waved the others down. They crawled in after her and she tugged at the boulder with all her strength to try to recover the hole.

Zach watched as she struggled with the weight of the heavy object before stepping in to help. He reached up and slid the bolder across with ease, “I thought you said we didn’t have all day?”

She smacked his arm away from her surprised at how easily he just moved the large rock, “it’s a heavy boulder. I’ve not gotten myself trained all the way to perfection yet, come on. The trip does get harder.” Arisa’s tone indicated that she was still trying to challenge the newcomers. To examine the stuff they were made of. This might have made the newcomers think she was an ass, but there was method to her madness. Arisa had grown tired of the groups like the PBW, and for her it would be nice to have some fellows made of the same tuff stuff she was.

Arisa released her grip from the rock, and let herself fall from ledge to ledge grabbing onto each section with incredible strength as she descended down the small cave tunnel. She reached the bottom and peered out from the base of the cave waving the others to come down.
The boy gulped and tried his best to mimic her agility. 20 feet up he just let himself drop from jagged rock corner to jagged rock corner. Even the other two hesitated before very slowly starting their descent.

Arisa was amazed the boy didn’t break his leg as he fell, “you’re so damn lucky you didn’t slip on the water and fall to the tide pools below,” she stated as she watched his awkward movements.
He gulped with a nervous sweat on his brow line, “yeah… I guess I should have heard the waterfall huh?”

Arisa shook her head in amazement, “Come on,” then ran head first on the ledge through the water. Zach was athletic himself to a point of being exceptionally gifted, but the water pouring over the top of him on the ledge made him rethink his head strong attitude toward the challenges Arisa was presenting. He lowered his body and inched himself along, he wasn’t about to run across like the girl did. When he finally emerged he saw her waiting there for him on the other side. Slowly but surely Arisa waited for the other two to re-emerge. She smiled at their unhappy faces as they looked at her incredulously. Stares that were not uncommon for Arisa to receive.

“I thought you said you could keep up,” she looked down at the boy with a gleam in her eye.

Never had he been ousted by a girl physically like this. Not even his sisters could keep up with him. This girl interested him as she dragged his band of survivors back to her colony. At first she just seemed like another person wanting to find support in survival, but now she seemed much more competent for she was fully adept at keeping herself alive. He wanted to play along with her for awhile to see how things would turn out, although time was running out for him and perhaps her as well. He gave a wayward glance back to the other female of his group and without ever needing to exchange words she instantly understood his newfound sentiment.

“Generally, I would have been able to keep up… but water is not my element. You certainly discovered a weakness.”

Arisa flipped her hair back spraying water outward and away from her head. Her methods for drying off were to just shake the water down. She had messy brown hair and pretty green eyes. She was a relatively slender girl, aside from the slight muscle build she had gained over years and years of climbing.

He stood up looking around himself. “So, this is the force that fuels the town?”

“Maybe like 20% of the counties electricity comes from here. We won’t be lighting everything up all once if that’s what you mean. Only a few places stay lit, see.” It had gotten dark enough by now she could point out the areas that were still powered and within their line of sight. “There are a few places in the city where lights are left on intentionally to have zombies swarm a great big nothing, and a few residential country areas too. Way out there in the distance is a massive mansion that still holds power, but not from us. I’ve always wondered if it was fueled by backup generators.”

“It’s not generators. This place has to be the source for its energy.” Zach responded curtly.
“Really, how do you know?” Arisa asked.

The boy sighed, “I just came from there. It’s been overrun with the dead. It was safe place… now I suppose it’s just a beacon for zombie bait.”

Arisa’s tone grew somber, “glad mom and I didn’t follow the light to that one then. We chose the power plant route; good luck is what that is.”

Zach agreed, “good luck indeed.” As he looked at Arisa he smiled ever so slightly. Arisa thought that something about that smile was off. It gave her unnatural chills to look at his pearly whites.

“You’ve got me all wet,” the boy said as he stood up from the ground.

“That’s what she said,” Arisa replied jokingly pushing an elbow into his arm. He stared up at her choosing not to laugh, but returned a smirk to show her joke was not lost. It had been years since he had been around a person willing to joke with him and it felt nice to be with someone relaxed. Even if she wasn’t as funny as she thought she was.

“Alright,” Arisa reached her arms up to the sky and stretched out her back, “well, let’s see here… We could camp out on the ledge? Trust me, no zombies make it this far because there is no reason for them to travel this far, or we can pray that the scavenge crew ran late so when we return we won’t be noticed.”

The boy looked back to his group members who were starting to grow annoyed as they were left out of the conversation. Zach peered down the left side of the wall looking at swirling water below.

He gulped, “I think we should press our luck. I’d prefer to sneak back to your village, or even get caught. I don’t understand why we need to sneak in.”

Teric ground her teeth nervously, “Well, since you're new and I snuck off again then they’ll be putting us all into containment cells. I don’t really like those isolated plastic walls much, and if we snuck in we might not get quarantined. Or better yet I could find away to get just you guys get quarantined since… you’re new… and someone is bound to notice that.”

She walked calmly along the edge with the small group right behind her. “No point in rushing now, we can just move along at whatever pace you prefer. No zombies… and we’ll deal with the quarantine situation when we get there.”

The boy shared a moment with his silent companions shifting looks between them. The other two that Arisa had picked up had managed to stay unusually quiet the entirety of the journey thus far.
“So…” Arisa muttered, “Zach says your names are Meg and Danny?”

For the first time since picking up the band and dragging the strangers along Arisa took a good look at the other two. The other girl was somber in appearance. Her hair was dyed a greenish blue color though tending more towards blue at the moment. She was incredibly tall and very slender with dark brown skin. Her body seemed somehow lanky and yet sophisticated. She had a model's body.

The boy on the other hand looked as though he’d been through hell and back. He was smaller than the towering woman and maybe even Arisa. His face had scars and stitches all over it. He hid his mangled appearing body underneath a dark blue sweater and a set of jeans. Despite the heat outside he kept his body under the layers no doubt hiding more scars underneath.

The woman looked up and smiled, “yes… those are our names, though you can call me Jules. Megurine Julia Stockheim is the full name… not that it matters anymore… I personally prefer my middle name to the first name. Zach so often tends to assign the names I dislike. Glad to get the chance to finally enter the conversation.”

Arisa held her breathe, the others could have said something at any point while she was guiding them back. Luckily the cynicism was not directed to Arisa, but instead to Zach.

The boy shook his head, “so, Julia is it? Glad to see you again.”

The woman frowned, “seems we’ve been going for a ride. Danny here has filled me in on some of the details. Young girl, you do realize you are showing us the back door to the power plant.”

Arisa nodded, “um… yeah… that’s how I figured I get you guys safely in, no zombie hordes or any of that and there never will be. These grounds are far too treacherous for those shambling, bumbling, lack of coordination creatures.”

Julia, or perhaps Megurine, whatever her name was, gave a nervous glance to Danny.

Zach stepped forward, “I made the promise that I would get us to the human colonies, we’re getting there.”

The woman edged closer keeping up with Arisa as she guided them along, “what if we don’t like it there?” she said just barely above a whisper as Arisa moved down the wall ledge.

“You can leave if you want. I’d give it a shot first. I don’t like here all that much either, but I can come and go… Not that the elders appreciate that. So long as you don’t bring in any zombies or turn yourself into one I guess it doesn’t matter. Speaking of zombies…”

Arisa turned her head back and took a long look at the mutilated boy behind her, “not to sound rude or anything but what happened with him? He’s going to put those doctors into a tizzy when they see how beat up he is.”

Her question was so direct and blunt that Danny had to force himself to refrain from taking offense. “My mutilations are not from the dead but from the living,” he said gruffly, “there is many a sick individual out in the wild. Many who enjoy doing harm to the subjects they take.”

Arisa shuttered and Meg wrapped her arms around the boy, “we all seek refuge, but you’ll have to forgive Danny and I. We are not as trusting to humans as Zach is. He seems to be overjoyed at the prospects you are providing him. But Danny has seen the terrible things humans are capable of.”

Arisa said, “well, temporary home if you don’t like it. The people can be assholes, but that’s as mean as they’ll ever get here. You’ll be spending two weeks in quarantine… every time you leave and come back (and get caught) its quarantine. So, that sucks… but it’s bearable.”

Jules shrugged, “that’s fine. I suppose it’ll be nice to return to a life with other people, rather than the wilderness and wondering dead.” She gave a glance past Arisa.

Arisa thought there was something important she was missing. The members of this new group were having a silent conversation that might have contained information vital for Arisa to know.

“Yeah…” Arisa muttered looking at her three new companions. All in all they were each very different and it was hard to believe that these three wound up together, but desperation leads to desperate measures. Whatever they were expressing between one another would come to surface when the time was right.

“So, how did ya’ll meet each other?” Arisa spoke trying to alleviate some of the tension as she pressed on toward her home.

“You’ve walked along these edges many times, haven’t you?” Zach asked changing the subject not caring to talk about his traveling companions.

“The minute I found away to feel grass under my feet and a branch in my hand I’ve been climbing out of here ever since.” She turned around and looked at him, “it sucks in there, not going to lie. Sometimes I wonder if it would have just been worth fighting the monsters that scare us so, just to have a chance to live outside again.”

He said, “Being outside is not too spectacular.”

She winked and turned back around. “Ah, so as we move away from the water fall, you’ll see more walls beginning to emerge, 4 of them to be precise. We made kind of like, a really sturdy barrier to this place, but it’s the beginning of these walls that makes our smarter folk nervous. See, they aren’t the strongest section of the building. Don’t let that glass in the front fool you, we walled in a glass factory and built brand new windows for this place. Those windows are stronger than the steel that protects the bank safes.”

Zach threw a curious look back to his companions who also seemed to be equally happy with what they were hearing, “We’ve noticed. We saw the front one day and knew there was no way in. Not without stirring up some unwanted zombie attention. You have granted us safe access. Is this how you entered the facility?”

Arisa gave him a sad look, “My mom and I came through the front, and you’re right, there is no way to go in through the front without stirring up unwanted attention from the undead… in a hail of bullets we entered right through that front door. It was scary… I wish you would have made yourselves a little more visible sooner… I could have gotten you all in without as much hassle, I know all the secrets… well most of the secrets to this she-beast facility.” Arisa laid her hand onto a nearby wall and pat it as if the facility were an animal deserving of her love.

Zach continued to walk along behind her. He couldn’t believe his luck in finding her. This girl would take him right to the colony without as much as a question or interrogation. It would be a first for him, and now he understood how some humans could be called nice.

She made a long leap on top of a flat box-like structure and pressed her finger against her lips once she was across. Zach got the memo to be quiet and jumped over with greater ease than her, and landed without a sound. She held her surprise and returned over to extend her arms outward as in case the other two were in need of assistance.

Surprisingly both Danny and Meg were just as agile as Zach had been. They were an easy bunch to guide and to take care of. “We’re in luck guys, the trucks are late, look,” Arisa pointed out across the yard. The ends of two guns stuck out from below the box the group sat on. People on the ground loaded up and prepped for what looked like the worst zombie rush yet. The talking with in the lookout structure began to decrease and focus turned to events about to occur.

The first gate opened for the returning trucks, and with the trucks along came a horde of zombies running in desperate to munch on the people within. The first gate didn’t have any people on the grounds. A storm of bullets rained down as the gates closed on the zombies entering. These front gates were massive, and maintained by a pulley system. They shut and closed on the bodies trying to enter smashing the zombies not smart enough to move out of the way.

As the zombies around the trucks fell under the bullets the second gate opened. The trucks this time stayed put at the front gates grounds while very well armored men entered into the miniature war zone, and not one of them had an automatic weapon on them. The armored group slashed, stabbed, and swung. It was a spectacular battle unfolding before the casual viewers.

Not one of the human people seemed to gain an injury as they cut down the unorganized remaining zombies. The snipers seated below Zach and Arisa would line up a shot and fire one off blowing out the brains out of a distant zombie attacker if one of the undesired creatures looked like it was to gain an upper hand on the ground fighters. Soon the men on the ground ran to the ends of the hold, a few zombies followed, and the third gates opened.

The second gate workers finished off what was left and the third gate was just precaution to ensure nothing had found its way in. Flame throwers cleaned the base and tops of the trucks. Every now and then a zombie would run out screaming only to take an ax or baseball bat to the head. Anything that tried to just walk in from the second gate was cut down with ease. Once the trucks had all been inspected they pulled into the final gate, where men without armor ran up to unload them of ammunition, food, medication, and clothing.

Arisa watched as the second gate still continued their battle on the limbless zombies, then moved to the farthest outside gate to kill off the ones that got caught in the closing doors. “See, neat huh.”
“You are very well protected, and very prepared,” Zach muttered as he watched the safety system set into place.

“The people here have been living here awhile. Long enough that some of my fellows have never even seen the outside of these walls. One of the physicists of past helped design this place with our sister colony; we’ve had a very effective system of chopping down the walking dead… Oh, and our sister colony just so happens to be the best protected ammunition and weapons factory ever. It didn’t start out that way, but it was quickly modified to become such. We supply them with energy, and they supply us with the needs to protect the place. It’s a long trip to that factory, which is probably why the trucks are late.”

Thud thud thud. The base of a long range sniper rifle hit the roof of the sniper’s box shaking the roof and shifting Arisa as she lay atop the roof. “Arisa you are up three more than when you left.”

“Crap…” Arisa muttered, “we’ve been caught.”

The face of an older male peeked from outside of the box to look up and see the small traveling pack Arisa had found.

“I’ve never seen them before,” the man said.

“No, you wouldn’t have seen them ever, this one is super sneaky, and rescued a few survivors in her free time,” Arisa said pointing to herself then to the others.

The man scowled at Arisa, “climb down, all of you.”

Arisa groaned, “sorry dudes… you’re not going to like this next part.”

Zach returned a faint look of assurance, “its fine… I guess.”

He turned back at his compatriots and they seemed to understand his unspoken instructions. They were odd in the sense that they had found away to keep quiet and communicate never raising their voice to those who didn’t need to hear them.

Arisa checked behind her just to make sure her new companions were not too frustrated with her actions, noticed that on Megurine Julia it almost looked as if her hair had become greener than it was earlier. Perhaps it was an effect of the lighting from the sun.

The group leapt from the roof of the box and swung themselves to the inside of the sniper area.
“Hey Silas… how’s the wife doing?” Arisa said in an attempt trying to defuse the amount of trouble she had put herself into.

“She’s fine… how did you smuggle outsiders in?”

“I know all the secret doors and exits… I just happened to stumble onto this group while exploring.”
Silas, the sniper, glared at Arisa, “did you inspect them?”

The sniper turned his eyes over to the boy named Danny. The one who was covered in open cuts, stitches, and scars.

“He’s not bit,” Arisa protested as she looked back over at Danny, “He ain’t got a fever or nothing. He’s just been running around all day with me. None of them are bit.”

“He could still be bit. I’m sorry boys and lady… but you’re going to be quarantined for a bit.”

“Ugh!” Arisa threw her arms up into the air and then gave Zach a sad look, “I’m sorry man… quarantine sucks balls… you’ll make it though. We all have to sit through it. Can I at least fill them in on what it’s like before you go and throw ‘em into a plastic cell?”

Silas shrugged, “that’s fine, but I will be escorting you myself. My shift is over, and I’ve stopped trusting you when you’re left to your own devices.”

Arisa beamed up at Silas with a twinkle of mischief playing about her continence, “but… you’re the only one who lets me run out of here, how could you not trust me? Besides if this place is over run, I’d be one of the keepers. You’d take me to stay alive.”

“I keep hoping you’ll get eaten,” Silas joked as he mussed up the brown hair on top of her head.
She frowned, “not a very nice thing to say.”

He smiled, “come along kids, we all got to do quarantine at least once in our lives. Just a necessary precaution these days.”

Danny’s eyes opened wide with terror, “quarantine? No… no…” he put his hands over his ears and collapsed onto the ground, “no more cells!!! No more! No more doctors touching me!!!”

Meg ran to his side to comfort him as Arisa and Silas stood back. The term quarantine had been stated several times over the journey, so why was Danny choosing now to react. Furthermore, why was his sudden reaction so extreme?

“We found him hostage,” Zach began, “he is the victim to some of the living humans out there, in the wild. Sick people run in the woods… I don’t know how he’ll handle another holding cell… he doesn’t like enclosed spaces or doctors…”

Silas shook his head, “I’m sorry, but protocol will have you stay two weeks in quarantine, after which you are free to leave and roam where ever you want within the facility.”

Meg gently whispered something into the terrified boy’s ears and he stilled.

She then turned to the sniper, “Can we be quarantined together? I will not have him out of my sight.”

Arisa watched in transfixed curiosity as Megurine’s hair seemed to once again lean more towards a shade of blue rather than green. This woman had some crazy hair dye.

Silas nodded, “that’s fine. Folks can share quarantine cells if they want to. Not advised, but allowable.” Silas took the lead and the small group followed along.

Arisa once again tried to use conversation as a means to diffuse the situation, “So when my mom and I first came, oooh boy were we thrown into quarantine quick.”

“You two came in through the front door itself, your mother a bat out of hell bound determined to make it,” Silas added.

“Yeah… so like, first they strip you down, and like they’ve got this doctor that inspects every square inch of your body (and I do mean every square inch) for any fresh wounds and bite marks… Fresh wounds get you more time in the cell…” Arisa cast a weary glance over to Danny who shuddered probably disturbed by every word that just left her mouth.

“After that you spend like 2 weeks of boredom in a plastic cell… well, depending on your situation it could be really boring. There are multiple cells, so… sometimes you get to see a person change next to you, and then watch them get beaten to death with a baseball bat. I suppose that would alleviate the boredom to excitement in a very negative way. The men here don’t like wasting ammunition or blowing holes through walls, so anything that gets past that front gate is dealt with by hand to hand combat. It’s… scary…” Arisa trailed off deciding it was better if she stopped talking. Clearly she found herself too caught up in a memory and unable to filter herself. Danny was starting to look worse for the wear.

“I take it your first two weeks were not so boring?” Zach said making an attempt at reading Arisa.
“No, not a dull moment inside at all… not the first time, but you won’t have to worry about it. I’m sure you’re used to stuff like this anyway, and besides if none of you are bitten no need to fear the cells. It should be nice and boring.”

Zach shook his head, “I’ve never been stuffed in a clear plastic room and put under constant observation for two weeks, but I did have a similar experience when I was younger… once when I was thrown in juvenile hall.”

Silas starred at Zach, “you’re much too young to have experienced Juvey. There is no way to maintain those facilities with the zombies, and you aren’t old enough to have experienced it before the zombies.”

Zach grimaced and his voice was bitter and filled with resentment, “old enough to experience it in my own colony. I was part of a large one you know… we were out west. We called ourselves the Cambrian colony, a name chosen by one of the original founders because we were the first big colony.”

Silas stood silent for a moment before saying, “I’m sorry kid… I didn’t realize you had traveled that far.”
“What’s the Cambrian Colony?” Arisa asked.

“Don’t worry about it, you can exchange depressing stories with him while he’s in quarantine Arisa. For right now, he’s about to be violated by a doctor. Let’s leave the topic alone for now.” Silas answered.

The group entered the building and climbed up the first set of stairs. Upon reaching the top level a doctor stepped out and eyed three strangers suspiciously, “I wasn’t informed we let in new persons.”
“You shouldn’t have been, Arisa found a way to sneak them in,” Silas said.

The doctor sighed, “of course she did. Leave it to her to find a way around all of our barriers and security someday. I’m going to throw you in quarantine and leave you there,” He threatened.
Arisa turned pale, “I’d prefer not… I can’t… I don’t like the plastic boxes.”

“That’s all well and good,” the doctor responded, “but you’re also getting an inspection just like them.”

Arisa looked over to her new companions, “I’ll see you soon… the cells ain’t so bad. This is the problem with getting caught.”

The group proceeded to separate as each of them were assigned to their own doctor. Zach stepped forward to greet his own personal examiner. The doctor did in fact search his every which way as Silas had promised.

“I’m sorry doctor…” Zach winced, “but I fail to see why a zombie would find in interest in the place you’re searching right now.”

The doctor spoke sweetly, “this is just part of a basic physical, to make sure you are healthy. Just checking your prostate. The zombie infection is a brief skim over. You don’t have any fresh lacerations of relevance; though I fear for your friend you brought with you. That boy seemed to be covered in injuries…You have only one splinter in your knee, so I think you’re going to make it. As of now, I’m just checking to make sure you’re healthy.”

Zach took a step back, “that means you’re going to check my blood pressure and stuff?”

“Yes, that is what that means…” the doctor reached around for a pulse, “huh… I can’t seem to find a pulse on you kid, get your heart turned on for me would ya?” He smiled jokingly.

Zach paled as the doctor continued with his examination, “ah… there it is. Let’s see, 120/80, you’re perfectly healthy kid. Now scrub up and pick a box to live in. The others will join you momentarily.”

Zach breathed easy and changed into his new hospital garments. They were just basic green scrubs, and they looked a little funny on him since they were not fitted.

The doctor had gotten Arisa into a set of crimson colored scrubs and thrown into a nearby containment cell.

“Three weeks doc? It’s just a scrape, I don’t even know where it came from… it was from climbing trees!!! Please, please don’t put me in here for that long! I’m fine I swear!”

“I’m not taking any chances, you have a fresh laceration and god only knows you could have scraped your knee along an area where a zombie had its brains blown out exposing yourself second hand. No chances.”