Author's Note: I know, this chapter is little longer than the others- but trust me, I think I've made it worth your while- this is where things are really starting to get heavy! XD Enjoy! Review! Thanks! ^_^
(P.S- This fic is also on Archive of Our Own! To find it, just search it- my username is RL_BlackRose)
Chapter Four
The four of them ran through the woods, panting heavily.
Suddenly, a zombie heaved itself into their path, right in front of Martin. He yelped, shot it, and promptly tripped over its body.
"Go!" Douglas shouted to the others, reaching down to pull Martin up. "How many times is that now?"
"And now, I suppose you'll do that stupid little smirk of yours and tell me?" Martin huffed, out of breath.
"If there was time, perhaps." Douglas said, grabbing his arm and pulling him along. "I'll have to do it without the smirk, though. It's a shame, really- I do like the smirking part."
"Why can't you just mind your own business?" Martin said. His voice came out unintentionally high, though, and he turned red.
"You've fallen eight times now, Ms. Crieff. Or perhaps I should call you Junior?" Douglas said, a grin in his voice.
"Oh, shut up!" Martin snapped.
"Ms. Crieff? Junior" Arthur said, confused. "But- I thought-!"
"You too, Arthur!"
"How about all of you shut up?" Carolyn said. "It would make this all the more tolerable."
"It's not my fault Martin keeps tripping over his skirts." Douglas said innocently.
Arthur gasped in surprise. "Martin's wearing a skirt?! I never knew!"
"I'm not wearing any skirts!" Martin shouted. Suddenly, a loud moan sounded nearby.
"Oh, sure, bring them all here!" Carolyn said. "Just what we need."
"I'm afraid we already have called them." Douglas said. A zombie reached out from behind a tree, and he dug his axe into it. When he drew it out, the corpse sprawled across the ground.
"Look!" Arthur shouted, pointing over their shoulders. They all turned, and saw the first of the zombies staggering into view.
"Go, go, go!" Douglas said, and so they spun and continued in their race towards the plane.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"There she is!" Arthur said with glee, pointing ahead. "I see our plane!"
"Arthur," Douglas said, skidding to a stop, "care to mention what else there is?"
They all stopped.
"Oh, yeah! There's some dead-people-who-aren't-dead-"
Carolyn sighed, impatient. "They're called-!"
"Doesn't matter what they're called, they're everywhere!" Martin said hopelessly. "We're doomed! We've wasted our time!"
"No, we haven't," Douglas said, "But we're going to have to take care not to waste our ammunition."
"And you, Douglas, are wasting your breath." Carolyn said. "We can't kill that many. It's impossible! They're probably already in the plane."
"Haha, and the zombies are wasting away!" Arthur said. "Get it? Because we're all talking about- wasting?"
"No." Carolyn said.
"You don't get it? See, Martin said we're wasting our time- and then Douglas said-"
"I meant no, as in no one cares and you should stop talking now."
"Sorry to interrupt," Douglas said, "but I've just had an idea."
"All right." Carolyn said, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms. "You have thirty seconds to get to the point."
"We need a distraction." Douglas said, "so we can get on the plane, start it, then pick up the last person who was providing the distraction."
Martin looked up and realized that everyone was staring at him. Well- except for Arthur, who was focused on tossing one of his shoes from one hand to the other.
"No, no, no!" he said, stomping his foot and clenching his hands into fists. "I understand why Arthur can't, but- what about you Douglas? You can do it!"
"Someone's going to have to start the plane under pressure, with the living dead breathing down their neck-"
Arthur giggled. "Silly Douglas, the dead don't breathe!"
"Fine. With the living dead at their neck-"
"If the living dead are at your neck, then you're probably already done for." Carolyn said, clearly enjoying herself.
Douglas paused for a second. "Very funny. Anyway, someone's going to have to start the plane while being pursued by the living dead-"
Arthur frowned. "But how would they get up the slide leading up to the plane door, if they can't really climb up things?"
They waited while Douglas gave it some thought.
"Someone's got to start the plane."
"Good point." Carolyn admitted.
"What- but- I can start the plane! I'm a PILOT!" Martin yelled.
"True, but you do run faster than I do." Douglas said. "Now, I want you to run past them, maybe shoot your gun in the air a little. We'll get on the plane, taxi, then you'll run in an arc and get on. It'll be fine. They can't go very fast."
Martin made an uncomfortable sound, shifting. "But-"
"Martin," Douglas said, putting his hands firmly on his shoulders. Martin reddened at the touch. "I will never, ever do anything to intentionally put you in danger. Nothing. Do you hear me?"
"Well-!"
"You're actually safer running from them than fighting your way past them to get to Gerti. Do you understand?"
Martin sighed, taking a deep breath and nodding.
"Then run." Douglas murmured in his ear. He spun him around.
Martin opened his eyes and fixed them in the distance, launching himself off his toes and tearing across the grass. He emerged onto the empty airfield, turning and shooting at the zombies. His bullets landed amidst them, and they immediately swiveled their heads in his direction.
"What was that all about?" Carolyn asked curiously. "Have you really gone so low that you would lie to him, just to manipulate him into helping?"
"Who said I was lying?" Douglas said. "I would never lie about something like this. Especially not to him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Carolyn said, but Douglas had already slipped by and was creeping towards the plane.
"Follow." He said, and he sprinted. The dead who had stayed beside the plane growled and turned. Douglas leapt to the side as one approached and spun his axe around, cutting it in half. He landed, and whipped his weapon into another's face. Suddenly, another zombie reached up and grabbed his blade, but a gunshot sounded through the air and it fell to reveal Carolyn. She lowered her rifle.
"Thanks." Douglas said. "Cover me!" He grabbed the handle of his axe with two hands, running. Then, he ran, pushing any zombies who came close away, shoving the weapon into them and kicking them away with his heel. One zombie tried to grab his ankle, but his axe came forward and cut its arm off. He slid to a stop below the plane's door, and slung his weapon across his back as he grabbed at what remained of the blue exit slide. A grunt escaped his throat as he reached up with another hand. The material tore a little.
"Arthur, stay close!" Carolyn said, pointing her gun forward and squinting across it. Bam. Bam. Bam-bam-bam.
"Aw, gross!" Arthur said unhappily, now with both shoes in hand as he batted the dead away with them. "Mum, is Douglas up yet? This isn't very fun. Well, but you've probably already noticed that. You know, because of all the living-dead-who-"
"You will be the death of me, not these things." Carolyn groaned. She looked towards the plane, where Douglas had reached the top of the broken slide.
"Come on!" he called, stretching out his hand. Carolyn took it and Douglas heaved her up. Then, they both reached down for Arthur, dragging him aboard. Douglas ran to the flight deck, sitting down and hunching over the controls.
Martin, oblivious to all this, breathed heavily as he ran. He looked over his shoulder, clenching his teeth. There they were. Ugh. Hurry up, Douglas! He thought, listening to the zombie's groans mingle the sound of his shoes slapping runway pavement. His feet were starting to ache- these weren't shoes for running, he realized- and suddenly, he heard the most beautiful sound in the world.
The plane roared to life, engines warming up. It started moving.
And Martin turned, running with all the strength he had left, past the zombies, past the runways, the grass. He was sprinting. He was flying. Somehow, he even forgot about the dead behind him.
He spread his arms. It felt nice.
Running. He hadn't done it in a while.
Curls tossed and bounced in the wind.
Reality came back to him slowly, trickling past his eyes and into his mind, and when it had set back in he was near the plane.
He slowed down, turning to run alongside the huge craft. A pair of hands reached out. Martin grabbed them, jumping from the ground as he was pulled up, over, collapsing on the floor of the plane next to Arthur.
"Aaaand- done!" Carolyn said triumphantly, slamming the plane's door. "Douglas, we're ready for takeoff!"
"Is Martin all right?" Douglas called back.
"Yes! No more zombies!" Arthur said, doing a small dance. Well, it wasn't really a dance. It was more of just- heaving his body from side to side.
"Stop that." Carolyn muttered. "You're giving me a headache."
"I said, is Martin all right?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Martin said, dusting himself off as he stood. He came forward tentatively, coming to stand behind Douglas.
"Um." He said, rubbing his arm. "Uh- well- about what you said…"
"You're welcome." Douglas said. "Now, would you mind sitting down and putting your seatbelt on? We have to- how did you put it, that one time?- 'fly some plane.'"
Martin made a face at the memory, then sat and strapped himself in.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The flight went rather well. It was almost easy to forget that the landscape below was teeming with life- or rather, un-life- but the plane couldn't go any further, due to a strange lack of gas, and it came time to land.
"We can't keep going." Carolyn said, looking down at her map. "The road branches off into the city after where we are now, maybe a little more. If we land, we have to do it now."
"We'll land, then." Douglas said. "Martin, are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be." He muttered nervously, squeezing his eyes shut and grabbing onto the arms of his seat.
"Well, I think this is BRILLIANT!" Arthur yelled from farther back. "We've never landed on an actual road before! Won't that be fun, Skip? What if there are cars?"
"Arthur, you're not helping." Carolyn said, as the plane started inching down. "But then again, when are you helping?"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Douglas stuck his head out the plane door, looking both ways, then dropped a rope ladder over the edge.
"A rope ladder?" Carolyn said in disbelief. "You had a rope ladder the whole time, and you didn't tell us?!"
"Must have slipped my mind." Douglas said, smirking as he climbed down.
"'Must have slipped my mind', he says." Carolyn grumbled. "'I'm also an idiot', he says."
Arthur looked at her questioningly. "But Douglas never said that!"
"Shut up."
Once they were all on the ground, they looked around. It was a city, with huge buildings and dirty cars- and it was all empty. A warm wind blew by, giving the whole place an eerie feel.
"We should find shelter." Martin stammered. "Just- for now. I don't feel safe out here."
"Yes," Douglas said, "especially since every zombie in the city is probably dragging itself towards the sound of our plane landing as we speak. Let's get as far away as we can."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After what must have been an hour of walking, Douglas finally held out his arms. "Okay. Enough."
"Finally!" Carolyn said, leaning against a car. "Now, where do we-"
She never got to finish that thought, though, because a hand reached out from the window of the car she was leaning against, breaking the glass and grabbing her throat. Her eyes flew open- and then Martin pulled the trigger of his gun, launching a bullet through the zombie's head.
"Uh-oh." Arthur said quietly, and then the dead emerged, pulling themselves from behind the buildings around them. There weren't many, but they were surrounding them, which was unfortunate.
"We have to run in different directions!" Douglas shouted. "It'll confuse them!"
They did just that, hiding behind anything they could find. Carolyn shot a few zombies, and so did Martin. The only problem was, when Douglas had yelled, he'd attracted them to him. They surrounded him, grabbing for his axe as it whistled through the air.
"Douglas!" Martin shouted.
"Go!" he called back, wildly spinning as he fought the dead off. "Now!"
"Come on, Martin, you heard him!" Carolyn said, grabbing his arm. "We've got no other choice!"
"No!" Martin said, struggling against her grip. "We can still save him!"
"No, you can't!" Douglas yelled desperately. "Leave!"
Martin froze.
He saw that Douglas was already out of breath, sweat glistening as it ran down his face. He saw the zombies grab at him with their rotten arms, covered only by scraps of bloody sleeves.
With a sense of growing horror, he saw a few of the zombies reach out and grab his axe, holding it. He saw Douglas clench his teeth. He saw Douglas let go of his weapon.
He saw Douglas close his eyes.
And with that, he decided that he'd seen enough.
It was sort of like when he ran on the airfield, but- different. This time, it was as if he was the plane, as if he was being propelled forward by some jet engine inside him. All noise receded- he could hear Carolyn shout as he tore free from her grasp, heard someone say 'no'- was it Arthur?- he couldn't tell- and then he was taking off, flying.
He didn't know how his gun had gotten into his hand, but he knew the trigger was at his finger and he fired, covering his face with his sleeve as he burst through the smoke of the shot.
Someone was screaming.
Was it him?
Bam. Bam. Bam.
"Martin!"
Douglas?
"Martin, they're gone! Martin!"
Martin slammed back into his body, realizing he'd been shooting at nothing. The zombies lay defeated around him. His hat had fallen off, too, and it lay awkwardly on the ground.
Douglas' mouth had opened just a little, in shock at the sight. Martin remembered to breathe, looking around him. Then, at Douglas.
"You…" Douglas said. "You idiot, I told you to go!"
"I've just saved your life, can't you be grateful for once?!" Martin said, throwing up his arms.
"Way to go Skip!" Arthur called, jumping up and down. "That was amazing?"
"It was?" Martin said. "I- I mean, of course it was. Yes!"
All of a sudden, Douglas' eyes widened.
"Martin!" he howled, reaching out to him. "Behind you!"
But it was too late.
A stabbing feeling.
A bite.
Martin's eyes flew open, and he gasped.
The pain flooded up Martin's side, and blood splattered across the ground. So red. Like fire.
A loud sound. Something else was mixed with his blood now, and the zombie fell away from him. Smoke from Carolyn's rifle wafted through the air.
Martin's eyes met Douglas' for just a moment. They were both frozen.
And then, Martin's eyes filled with angry, desperate tears, and he stumbled forward. Towards his first mate. He barely breathed as he closed his eyes and reached out to him.
Douglas' arms opened and Martin fell into them, chin falling forward, over Douglas' shoulder as he grew weak at the knees. Tears rolled off his freckled cheeks, falling on Douglas' shoulder.
"No." Arthur said, voice barely audible, falling to his knees. His face crumbled. Carolyn turned away, putting a hand across her eyes.
Martin felt weak. His heart pounded.
"Martin…" Douglas said, his voice strained with a hint of tears. He held the short pilot, burying his head in Martin's soft, orange locks. "It should have been me… why wasn't it me? Why couldn't you just leave, you idiot?"
"It's okay, Douglas," Martin said weakly. He squeezed his eyes shut "I'm… I'm fine now!"
"Fine?!" Douglas said, his voice shaking. He felt Martin trembling in his arms, felt his grasp the fabric of his coat. "It's not fine, Martin, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"
"You don't have to be sorry." Martin said, a shaky laugh escaping his lips. "Why are you apologizing? It's not like you. You never apologize, Douglas- you never-" But at that moment, his voice broke, and a choked sob clawed its way up his throat. Then, another.
"No." Douglas said suddenly, straightening up. "I'm not apologizing. Apologies won't save you now. Only a cure can do that."
He turned to the rest, a new fire in his eyes. "According to the article we read, we have a little more than 48 hours until Martin turns. I suggest we use that time. We can still do this. We can still save him. Do you agree?"
Arthur stood up. "Anything for Skipper!" he said, holding a fist to his heart. "Anything!"
"And you, Carolyn?"
She nodded. "Wouldn't dream of doing anything else."
Douglas set Martin on the floor, reaching into his backpack and finding a roll of bandages. He took off Martin's blood-stained shirt and set it aside, carefully winding the cloth around him. Then, he picked Martin's hat off the ground and placed it back his head.
He gently slid his arms under Martin and lifted him up, cradling him against his chest. "You should rest." Douglas said, "Though I doubt you'll be able to, with Arthur here with us"
Martin gave a weak laugh, and closed his eyes. The sight made Douglas nervous, but he shook the thoughts away and looked ahead.
"We'll walk until our legs fall off!" he said, determined, and they picked up their things and continued walking down the street.
The light of the setting sun fell across them, illuminating the way forward. But they didn't need it. They already had their purpose.