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The Outbreak - Chapter 2

Loss

By DudPublished 6 years ago 14 min read
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Almost as if time had reversed itself, the car rolls down the same never ending road we were on returning from LA; I can almost taste the irony. With the wheel in hand and the blood soaked retracting roof now stuck to the back of the car, I’m sat in the driver's seat with Sam in the passenger seat, Jade behind her and Jordan behind me. Lucy is perched between them like an anxious bird - frozen in fear or turmoil. The heat is excruciating, every ball of sweat that slowly makes its way down my face or off my arms leaves a lukewarm trail that I feel during every second of it. I'm unsure if the heat is from the sun or the burning cars at the side of the road. The silence is both comforting and awkward; words avoid our mouths, stuck inside our heads just screaming for release. It feels as though days have gone by instead of minutes.

"How long left?" To my right I hear a rough voice. In my peripheral I can see dirty-blonde hair being blown forward and then retreating with almost every worked spoken. Sam has remained, for the most part, silent. I can’t help but ask the question to myself; is it because of the state of the world, or because of Connor?

"Hard to say.” My eyes dare not take their vision from the road, crashed cars and corpses line the road. I say, not taking my eyes off the road. “Is anyone’s phone still working?” I ask however unhopeful. The sound of rummaging emanates the air around me.

“Dead,” an emotionless tone escapes Jade’s mouth.

“I left mine back home,” mutters Sam. From the mirror I see Jordan holding his phone. Even in the daylight it leaves a flicker of light on his face and through his dark brown, greasy hair.

“Mine’s working, but no signal. Obviously.” It’s hard to make out how Jordan is speaking, he sounds almost hostile, vengeful. I don’t blame him. “What the fuck are we gonna do?” In that moment his voice is replaced with hopelessness as he leans forward and rests his head in his hands.

Once again I look to the mirror to see Lucy; her eyes are dead straight, lifeless, hopeless.

“Luce...” I slowly bring the car to a stop. I turn my head to her, she makes no eye contact. “You know I had to do it right...” Nothing. “She was going to hurt us.” I feel a tug on my arm as I look to the left.

“Switch with me, Zack,” Jade mutters as she climbs out of the car. I exit and begin walking around the car to where Jade was, passing her in the process, she gives me a nod and the first smile I have seen in a day. It was so bright.

-

The sun hovers high above our heads at what must now be noon. Breezes of cool air begin to create partings in the blanket of heat that surrounds us all; with each one, I take a breath, savouring the chill.

To my left is Lucy, still a statue where she sits, unconsolable but so calm. To the left of her is Jordan, fazing out the window to the passing scenery. Jade is driving, the car slides left to right every so often, the inexperience positively drips off of her.

Before I can conjure another thought I see a flash of white, before a splat of red. I have a blanket over me, covering my entire body, a blanket of glass. Blood drips from my arm and soaks into the carpet beneath my feet. The windows are gone, except they’re everywhere. As I slowly begin to get a grasp of reality, I look around to see chaos.

“Shit!” screams Sam, covered in blood. Her hair is ruffled hiding her face, but the flecks of blood give away her injuries.

“Is everyone okay?” I don’t think I’ve yelled louder in my life, I can feel my throat open up as I open the door. I step out onto the road and see; a crashed car in the middle of the road.

“Fuck!” Jade appears to be in shock. “Fuck fuck fuck! How the fuck did that happen!” she jolts in her seat as Jordan reaches out and puts his hand on her shoulder.

“Jade get out of the car, you need to rela-" Jordan is cut off by a voice of anger.

“Are you fucking serious?” Sam is writhing with anger. Shaking in her place. Her head slowly moves toward Jade, who’s just staring out the chipped windscreen. “How the FUCK did you hit a care in the MIDDLE of the fucking road!” Sam lifts her arm for a swing.

“Stop!” I yell as I grab it through her window.

“You’re a fucking idiot!” Sam gets up from the car and storms off in front, I can almost feel the vibrations from her feet. I watch as she sits herself down on the bonnet of the wrecked car we crashed into.

I look in to see Lucy, unscathed, but obviously shaken. “Come on,” I whisper as she reaches for my hand. I take her over to Sam and Jordan follows as Jade stays sat in her seat.

“I didn’t even see it...” she murmurs as I walk back over.

“How?” My patience for her is everlasting.

“I guess I wasn’t paying atten-" In the moment I hear something. A faint rumble is eerily hovering on the horizon.

“Do you hear that?” I ask. Sam, Jordan and Lucy all turn their heads in confusion, present in their faces.

Before there’s even time to react a horde of infected come charging down the freeway.

An unfathomable force of infected...

"Run like hell!" shouts Jordan. I grab Lucy and put her on my back as I run, Jade and Sam sticking together to my left, jumping over the abandoned cars, Jordan on his own to my right running on the other side of the small barrier on the side of the road, with no obstacles.

"Guys!" Jade screams. "Gas station!” she throws her hand up and points her finger, the nail of which is dirty and covered in blood, at the small rundown building ahead of us. The rundown gas station just ahead of us; I can smell the moulding skin of the carnivorous beasts losing distance and getting ever closer.

The run seems eternal, though only a few seconds have gone by.

Just steps away from the gas station, Jade trips on a wire connecting the gas station lights together, unplugging them.

"Jade!" shouts Jordan. Jade gets back to her feet and her run is replaced with a limp.

Suddenly Jordan breaks from the group.

"What are you doing!?" shouts Sam, turning her head whilst running forward.

"Keep going!" Jordan gets to Jade's side and puts her arm around his neck and he helps her to the gas station. Infected closing in fast behind, almost arms length. He just makes it to the door as Lucy shuts them behind him. He sits her down on a chair whilst the others block off the doors and windows.

"Thanks," she says, before welcoming him into her arms. A warm embrace.

-

About three hours have passed since the horde attacked; windows shattered and their remnants glisten in the moonlight. Most appear to have retreated while a few stragglers remain out front. Sam and Lucy are asleep, at peace, while Jade and Jordan talk about whatever it is they find comfort in. The sky is dark, and for once, clear of smoke and that horrid flesh smell.

"That is not what happened." Laughter fills the room with Jade’s reminiscing. I look back from the window to see her and Jordan speaking, reminding everyone of positivity.

“That’s how I remember it!” Jordan counters with a small shove on her arm. As they stare deeply into each other’s eyes, the barrier became nothing but dust; the barrier of bravery, gone. “I’m glad I came back for you.”

"Trust me, not as glad as I am.” Another laugh. “Thanks J, you really saved my ass,” she rests her hand on his before laying her head on his shoulder, staring off into the sky through a bookcase that’s covering the window. The bitter chill sweeps the stray pieces of paper across the floor.

"Are you cold?" Jade shrugs at the questions and Jordan removes his shirt and wraps it around her upper body. They slowly look into each other's eyes. Jordan puts his hand on Jades cheek and slowly pulls her forward, making clear his feelings for her, until their lips touch. The kiss lasts, only a few seconds but for them, it lasts a lot longer. Their lips finally part, not breaking eye contact. "Really glad," he continues. Jordan pulls Jade closer, kisses her on the forehead and then lies down with his arms around her, protecting her from the fear of isolation in the fucked world.

-

The light penetrates the door with a forceful push, the air is thick and heavy; the scents coming from our bodies that would usually be scrutinised has become a daily norm. The putrid smell of rotten flesh returns, the infected are still outside.

"Alright," I say. Everyone perks up, heads looking at me from all directions. "There are three infected out the front, four out the back and one to the left of us," I point to each corresponding area as I mention them.

"They’re clearly resilient, assuming they were tracking us.” Sam gets up from the floor and dusts herself off, pieces of dirt and broken tile fall to the floor.

“Look at them, they’re barely capable of standing let alone tracking,” Sam protests.

“We don’t know anything abo-" Jade is cut off.

“You don’t get to speak!” Sam folds her arms and leans herself against the wall. “You’re the reason we’re here!” Jade gets to her feet and slowly begins toward Sam.

“At least I’m trying! The fuck are you doing about it?” She’s almost right in Sam’s face as everyone just watches on.

“Back the fuck off...” Sam threatens, taking herself away from the wall with rage. A loud sound can be heard, it ripples through the building and in the moment Sam and Jade fall to the ground. A red mark leaves itself across Sam's face. Jade is sat on top of her, grabbing her by the hair, pulling it like a rope; Sam counters with a kick to the stomach. Jade rolls off and onto the grimy floor, clutching her ribs; Sam attempts to climb on before Jordan rushes over and grabs her by the waist, pulling her off and restraining her wrists.

“STOP!” Lucy has never screamed before, it was stomach churning. All heads, mine included, turn to see her standing with a stiff posture. Jade gets to all fours, then back to her feet whilst catching her breath and also follows suit, staring at Lucy.

“We’re not going to get anywhere by fighting!”

“She’s right,” I agree. “We’re on the same side! If you can’t work your shit out, leave.”

"Umm, guys," the entire atmosphere shifts as Sam opens her mouth to speak. "Was that door open earlier?" She points to a blue door leading to an ominous darkroom.

"How cliché..." Jordan’s sarcasm comes to light.

Heads turn around the room, confusion, worry and curiosity take hold.

"I'll go take a look, I mean, if it was one of those things it would have attacked by now," Sam correctly states.

She slowly walks to the door, fearlessly, one of her most notorious traits. She opens the door, it squeaks loudly and echoes through the tiny building.

"Guys?" Sam says. "There's baseball bats and golf clubs in here!" A sense of joy lingers in her voice.

We all move to the room, now lit from a tiny light bulb powered from a flimsy pull string.

"Whoever works here sure loves his sports," I say. There's a collection of baseball bats, golf clubs, softballs, and even a few baseball helmets.

"These helmets could be helpful," Jade states.

"All of it could," Lucy says.

We all grab as much as we could. Sam, Jade and Jordan got the baseball bats, while me and Lucy got the golf clubs. We decide to leave the softballs and helmets, extra baggage would slow us down.

We walk back up into the store, raiding the shelves for anything useful. I find two first aid kits, Jade finds canned beans and rice, Jordan finds belts that have holders around it, for our weapons and first aid supplies. Sam and Lucy go over to the store door, getting ready to open it for our attack.

"Three," I say, Sam and Lucy grab the handles.

"Two," they both look at each other.

"One!" they nod to each other and open the doors.

We all run out the front, weapons in hand. The infected charge at us. One comes in my direction, It holds up its arms about to grasp me. I swing my golf club into its temple and it collapses to the ground, only to rise back up, I turn the club around and whack it in the nose with the handle, blood flies on to my face before it finally re-dies. Jade and Jordan are running together, Jade smacks a zombie in the knees, to have it plummet to the ground, unable to get back up, she then slams its head into the ground, definitely dead. Jordan swings for another zombie, only to miss, it grabs him and pulls him closer.

"Help! Jade!" He shouts.

"Duck!" Jade replies.

Jordan ducks his head just as Jades bat comes into contact with the zombies jaw, its jaw shatters, leaving its face to collapse on top of itself.

"Nice shot," Says Jordan, his masculinity on the line.

Sam and Lucy charge as one up to a zombie and synchronously hit it in the back with the golf club and baseball bat, breaking its spine and killing it instantly. The bloodbath has taken a brief pause. I look to Lucy to see her covered in red and for a moment it hurts to see. I notice something out of place behind her; the infected had jolted the gas hoses out of place and now the entirety of the station is coated with gasoline fumes. I see the puddle spreading farther, toward the wires which Jade had tripped over.

“Guys...” the realisation finally hits. “Guys the place is gonna blow! Run!”

From behind us comes an explosion; I can feel the heat burning holes in my clothes, singing my hair. Debris flies everywhere in a tornado of fire. We all fall to the ground, hard. All except Lucy. The explosion sweeps her off of her feet and into the tornado. She flies across the road, momentarily making eye contact with me, tears streaming down her eyes. I can see her skin peeling as she falls, she has no hair anywhere. Suddenly she stops flying, stops breathing, stops everything. Her young body violently greets the metal barrier on the other side of the road, breaking not only her spine, but the only world I have left. All around me, almost in slow motion, pieces of her fall to the ground. Skin, blood and an arm paint the road I’m laying on. The whole world went silent, I went silent. At that moment my whole life crumbled. I run over to my sister's body, lying on the ground. I fall to my knees, not taking my eyes off of hers. A hand touches my shoulder, it was Jade.

"Zack..." she whispers.

I just stay there in that spot, with tears streaming down my face, whilst Jordan and Sam brush off debris from themselves, when they realise what's happened they freeze. The blaze behind me engulfs the gas station. Jade kneels down next to me pulling my head in to her neck; still, I don't break eye contact with my little sister.

"Zack, say something," Jade requests.

"Lucy," I stutter.

"I know, I know," Jade says, my head still in her neck. "I'm so sorry, Zack," she embraces me, it helps me, but it doesn't bring Luce back like I hoped, how naive.

"We have to get out of here!" shouts Sam. “There’s no way those things can’t see that smoke!”

"Sam, we have no transport, not enough supplies, and weapons that are good for about a week before they break!" Jordan protests.

"But maybe if w-" I interrupt her.

"No! We need proper supplies, we need to get off this fucking freeway, and into a town! We need food, aid and most importantly, guns!" I don't know if it's just the fact that my only family left is now gone forever, or the thought that the entire world is now being infected by monsters, but I feel more motivated to getting to safety, killing these infected bastards and just being with my friends, after all, I don't know how long they'll be around, we only have so much time.

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Dud

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