Characters belong to their respective owners, but the story was written by Emelie. Chevy helped with the ending.
Inspired by Till the Casket Drops - ZZ Ward
Amika looked over at Aubrey, her breath coming in puffs she could see. The cold was horrible. It bit at any exposed skin and even with several layers on, it pressed in around her. Her body ached because of it and because of her crouched position. Adjusting the rifle at her shoulder, she looked out through the scope and down the abandoned road. Frost had clawed its way up the metal trunks of lightless street lamps. Snow capped the scattered cars and the tops of buildings, hung on every tree branch and lay like bed sheets across the ground.
"How long are you going to stay there? You should go back in." She had expected the model to leave her side much sooner. It wasn't much better inside but there was a significant difference. Aubrey moved closer to her instead. Everyone was outside. Feo and Dev were braced against the wall further down at their own posts, each in the same position as Amika to her left and right. The four of them were all that was left now.
"'Til I can't follow you anymore," Aubrey replied quietly, resting her head against Amika's shoulder. The taller woman wanted to shake her head. Even now Aubrey could be so soft and romantic but it brought a half smile to her face nonetheless. She leaned towards Aubrey but was reluctant to release the gun.
"They're coming. How long are you going to stay?," she asked again, appreciating the sentiment but knowing she would struggle to stay concentrated with Aubrey panicking next to her. Amika looked through the scope again the grey shapes of fog roiling around in the distance were tinted off and on by red like the angry eye of a lighthouse, this one not a beacon but a warning.
This time Aubrey followed her gaze. Her throat tightened to swallow as the uneven scream of a broken siren grew and more disturbing than that.. a rumbling. They should be running. She wanted to run, even now. They would probably all meet their ends in this stupid standoff.
"'Til my legs break," she reasserted. Was she trying to make Amika believe it or herself? The idea of her legs being broken was criminal.. The nightmarish wailing grew and the pounding that rattled the ground dropped snow from the branches further down the road.
"Goddamnit, it is her," Dev confirmed over the radio with the help of the best scope, voice crackling but message clear. It was Cerina, as they had suspected, rallying up the zombies and herding them with the use of a fire truck. It was difficult to imagine how the tiny woman was driving the enormous vehicle but it was easy to see her causing them undue trouble and literally bringing death to their door. The rumbling was the result of an enormous horde. The mass of undead broke the fog, giving chase to the sound. Only the strongest, only the fastest were among the frontline.
Feo double checked his ammunition and grit his teeth as he began to take aim. This distance was still too great. They waited. They were waiting for the horde to break on them. They had no other choice.
"'Til we're both dead," Aubrey breathed, terrified and shaking against Amika. She jumped when they began to squeeze of rounds one after another after another. She couldn't see where the raven-haired beauty was but Aubrey knew Cerina was coming for her and even being unable to spot her.. she felt her eyes on her. She stood. This was the most terrible thing she had ever seen or experienced. The tension, the apprehension, the suspense.. and perhaps because of that she had to watch, could not look away, searched through the Hell coming straight for them for the Grim Reaper that wanted her life, the Devil herself.
The siren stopped suddenly and the only sounds remaining were the crack of gunshots in the still, dry air and the zombies.
"Shit just got real," Feo said into his walkie talkie between shots, wondering if it would be his last words to them. The horde came more clearly into view. There were hundreds.. hundreds of them. Dev wondered if he even had half as many bullets...
It only took minutes, barely any time at all. Dev and Feo were already compromised. The fight had been torn out of them. Everyone was gone. Miela, Farrah, Blair, their hearts were ready to quit this fight. There was no one left to live for and if they had to go out, they were going to go fighting. Even Amika felt the futility of the fight but she had soldiered on for her..
"AUBREY," her name ripped from Amika's throat in scream full of pain and fear. She looked back to her side and the other girl was gone. Had she taken off for her own safety?
''Til one of us is dead is good enough, I guess,' Amika thought, putting the handgun to her chin and as she pulled the trigger an explosion rocked the ground she was on. The gun fired at an awkward angle and the bullet pierced through Amika's neck. Blood was pouring everywhere and Amika could only hear the ringing of her ear as she fell to her knees. So much for dying instantly..
"AMIKA!" Her light brown eyes snapped open at the calling of her name and she pivoted her body to see Aubrey scrambling to get to her. Wait, hadn't she..?
"What the hell!? Why did you… I told you I wouldn't leave you.." After her struggle she had witnessed Amika's attempt. Her body racked with tears and she pulled the other girl into a hug. She heard the gnashing of a zombie and she aimed her own gun at it to kill it. It was in that moment that Amika noticed the dead body of a Smoker in the distance behind Aubrey.
A Boomer rounded the corner and Amika choked as she tried to speak through the hole in her throat. Aubrey flicked her eyes in the direction of Amika's gesture. She took a step away from her and brought her gun up as he waddled towards them, gagging. After a moment she lowered her arms and turned back to a baffled Amika, who fought to steady her breathing through her injury. Aubrey knelt down in front of her with the gun clutched in her hands, her chest tight with the realization of what she was doing. Giving up.
'What are you doing?..' Amika could only mouth her thoughts, but Aubrey understood her. A pile of vomit was flung close to them. The Boomer was caught behind a railing but still tried to puke on them. Nearby zombies howled as the stench reached them and they started sprinting towards the two girls.
"Till my dying day…" Aubrey forced a chuckle through her sobbing. Her heart was beating rapidly against her chest as she could see the zombies in her peripherals. She started to turn to look but Amika grabbed her chin. She slowly shook her head and maintained eye contact, her light brown eyes staring into Aubrey's emerald ones. She wanted to be Aubrey's last moment of light before they were swallowed up by the darkness.
'I love you.' Amika mouthed, feeling confident in the last words she would ever utter. Despite her voice not reaching her ears Aubrey could still hear her. Through her tears she could only reply back in the same way Amika had done, with no ability to speak. She was snatched up into the taller girl's arms sobbing uncontrollably as the roar of the surrounding zombies deafened her ears. They held onto each other as they disappeared within the horde.