Chapter 4 –Guardian
"Anna, run!" Ethan yelled as he emptied his last mag shooting at one of the runners that were following them, "Open the door now, so we can get out!" Anna ran immediately looking for the keys on one of the desks, unlocking the door in less than a full second; she and Ethan barely escaped from that house that, for quite a long time, had been a safe place for her. It all had been too sudden for both of them; just a couple of minutes after their psychological battle; right now priorities were in place, and escaping alive was the goal.
They ran for quite some time and finally lost the infected, but just as Ethan took a moment to catch his breath, Anna punched him in the face so hard that it made him fall to the ground in the middle of that forest.
"What was all that shit back there?!" she yelled at him, not calm at all, "I've been around here for a whole fuckin' week, never even seeing one of those, and then you come and the place is crawling with them in seconds!"
He got back up quickly and, after one second thinking about striking back, he decided yo only answer with words.
"What? I've got nothing to do with that… to begin with, you were the one that captured me and forced me to go to that place; as I already told you, I'm with a group and besides… what would I gain from… somehow… guiding some infected to your place?... so they can free me and then kill me? You're not making sense at all" and Anna did see that eventually, although her internal battle was as real as the expression on her face; at last she calmed a little and let out a sigh.
"Anyway… you are going to help me recover that house" she then told him, not like an order, but like a plain fact, "I had a motive to be there, you know? I've got food, weapons and a car… you can help me and then I'll share a little… you guys must be hungry."
And indeed they were; Ethan and his group were running short on food for the last three days; even with Julie and her hunting skills. They were even considering making a stop on a town on the way, or in the worst case, a city.
"It better be a lot" Ethan finally answered, "But why the car?"
"Are you really stupid enough to think I plan on living in this god forsaken place for the rest of my life waiting for the first jackass or infected to come by and kill me? I stole that car from a town going down the north; I've done some visits there to get food and gas… I was planning on getting enough to give me some good days and then getting out of here… or it was that way until you came and now the plan is 'just get back whatever you can and get out'."
"Where were you planning to go?"
"A QZ, of course."
"I guess you already know those places are not that safe to begin with," he immediately remembered him being negated the access to one of them, and Dom having to escape from one as well.
"That may be you opinion… I had a pretty good life, until some clickers decided to play sneaky and got into the downtown; the military was fucking useless as always and we had to run for our lives and then live as stray dogs on the outside, until some other infected decided they would play sneaky too… I had to jump from a third floor… no idea how I got out unharmed, but that's how it is… and of course I was the only one that made it, with life being as shitty as usual."
Anna had captured him, handcuffed him and then locked him in that house, but she was also a victim and a lonely one too. He thought about how regardless of how you were on the inside, most of your attitude was defined by your experiences; Anna wasn't a bad person, even with her mouth and her aggressiveness; maybe she wouldn't have always been that way; maybe ending up alone had played its part; of course there was the other option; maybe she had always been like that, and he was just being overly positive about it.
"Hear me out" he then told her, with Liz and the others in his head, "I was supposed to meet up with my group by a waterfall, but right now I don't even know where I'm standing; you should be familiar with this forest: give me food and guide me there and I'll help you with everything I've got; after all I'll be fighting for my food too if that's the case."
Ethan had been walking alongside his group, when he fell down a gully; he could still hear them, but there was no way of getting back up there, so they decided to meet up at a waterfall that they all could see from that place, but just as he started walking towards it, he ended up being an easy target for Anna, who welcomed him with her rifle pointing at his head.
They decided to rest for a little longer after escaping with every inch of energy they had at that moment, and Anna gave him some bullets after noticing that he only had a couple of them left; she was definitely ready, with her bulletproof vest and carrying her guns, proving her stance towards his daily life. Unfortunately while escaping Ethan had no time to get his shotgun, which Anna took after capturing him. And being her the one most knowledgeable about the terrain, he decided to be the one who'd only follow her orders; the plan was attacking them from the top of some trees, high enough to keep the infected from reaching them and strong enough to resist the hits. The only problem was the distance, so they had to be accurate while shooting, as the idea was getting most of them before they ended up at the base of the trees: Anna had his trusty rifle, so Ethan was the one more troubled.
They were both in position, in different trees to keep them from focusing on one too much, but close enough to be able to talk to each other without trouble.
"You better be good with that thing," Anna told him just when they were about to start; it was obvious that she was more experienced.
"I'd be better with my shotgun… just saying."
"Use a shotgun from this distance and you'll finish by tomorrow at night," but right then she saw how he was holding his pistol, close to his eyes as possible to improve his accuracy, "hey hey hey, hold on, this ain't close quarters, put that thing as far as you can from your head; you gotta extend those arms if you want your bullets to actually hit them."
There were fifteen outside and some more inside the house, and probably others nearby that would join the fight once the gunshots started. There were four clickers, which were their priority; Anna would kill them with her rifle while Ethan would take care of the runners focusing on shooting at their legs to stop them from getting too close; if things went wrong plan B would be using one grenade that he had.
They were both ready, as he was just waiting for her signal, aiming at one of the runners, while Anna had the head of a clicker in his eyes. Then it began; all the runners started running towards the trees after the first headshot, leaving the clickers behind totally exposed for Anna to finish them; Ethan was just shooting at everything that moved, having to reload extremely fast, almost dropping the mag while doing it, and then he realized her advice was right, as his shots were precise as never in his life; he was an average shooter after all. Soon enough the four clickers were dead but the base of the trees were crawling with runners; Ethan and Anna just started spamming shots down there until nothing moved anymore; they didn't have to use the grenade at the end, although Ethan was out of bullets.
They looked at each other; some seconds of silence between them, and then, at the exact same time, they started laughing.
"It worked," he said, from his tree, "I guess I was starting to get used to expect them to fail."
"That's because it was my plan; how do you think I'm still alive when there are hunters just down the road in that town? They don't even know I exist and I get to steal food and gas from them."
Smiling, Ethan started to carefully drop down, while Anna just made a jump. But then a runner appeared from nowhere and attacked her; Ethan immediately took out his gun forgetting about him having no bullets, only hearing the clicking sound when he tried to shoot it down; Anna was fighting with all her might to keep the runner from biting her, but that thing was slowly defeating her. Desperately, Ethan threw the gun at the runner, and then proceeded to hit it with his bare fists, focusing on his head, without even thinking about him getting seizures from the thing's tooth and getting infected; he just kept hitting that thing's face until nothing could be made out of it.
"Thanks…" she told him, after getting up, a little disturbed by the sudden fight.
It was then that he checks his fists, they weren't hurt.
They looked at each other again and made their way to the house, which was intact; Ethan got his shotgun and yet again they again looked at each other, but only to notice that they both were starving.
"Don't worry, this is my treat," she told him, indicating some food cans.
And so they started eating in complete peace, while the sun was setting.
"Ok, there's your food; take only what's on the table," she told him, remembering their deal, "I almost left you some bullets, and a gift… that may be useful for you and your group."
Ethan could see the table, and how it was indeed a lot of food, next to some bullets and a rifle; it wasn't the one she carried, as this one lacked the scope.
"How many are you guys?" She asked.
"Four, myself included."
"Wow, I gave you food for ten at least… if you know how to make it last it should give you some time not worrying about food at all… and thank you again," her tone changed while saying that, to a more serious one, "I think I've never been so close to die in my life", he could see that she also remembered his attitude while saving her, "… why…?"
"Why don't you join us?" He interrupted her, to her surprise, "we are going to a QZ as well; the one that the Fireflies have."
Anna started looking at the floor, only to raise her head again and look at the red sky.
"The QZ where I lived, that… it was a good place, until I arrived and in just one year it ended up like a ghost town… then the group in which I was… I was the only survivor… and what hurt me the most was… there was a little person… this fuckin' person… that I cared about… even when I was not needed."
"I used to date someone", Ethan told her, realizing that that could have been their last conversation, "but it ended like always… when you can't protect what you love…"
"I'm sorry for your loss, Ethan, I really am," she replied, respectfully, "but it's not like that in my case… even so, I guess I don't care about it anymore; I just don't want to be with anybody, I just want to know that if I die, I die alone and that's it, it ends there… I don't want to carry more corpses in my life… and don't get me wrong, but I don't expect things to change anymore… maybe at the start, it was nice thinking they would find a cure and it would all be just like before… I wish the best for them, but I don't think they'll ever find a cure".
Ethan felt it; he didn't want her to leave, but he only could stood there and realize that he just couldn't convince her; he didn't want to admit that, he didn't want to leave someone behind. He knew that he couldn't tell if she would make it to some QZ; she definitely knew how to defend herself, but even so he didn't want to leave her; he felt that it was wrong, but just couldn't find the justification, and there he was, having a last chat with her. Anna could've killed him when she captured him, or in the house, or she could've just left him when the infected attacked them, but it only took him a couple of words between them to know for certain that she wasn't a bad person; she wasn't a predator, and she did that as well, and that was what forced her to untie him when the first runner entered the house through the window.
He took the rifle, put the food in his backpack that barely could keep up with all that food, and put the bullets inside his pockets. They looked at each other for the last time, like saying goodbye with their eyes only.
"Do you see that road?" She told him, "you have to follow it until you reach two tall pines, each one marked with an 'x'… well, that's not the way, but from there you'll be able to see the waterfall you told me about earlier, but be careful as the way is quite twisted, but always follow the empty cans I left… originally it was my way of going to that town I told you about, but you'll be able to use it to get to your friends… and of course don't go to the town, at least if you don't want those hunters to get funny with you."
Just as he was making his way, he could see her getting the car ready for her own journey.
"What are you looking at?" She told him, "you got what you needed, now go; your friends must be waiting for you!"
Defeated, he started walking, leaving the house and Anna behind. It was weird; he had met her in the worst way possible and only for a few hours but even so he felt sad about leaving her, leaving and empty feeling inside him. And it was that felling that made him turn around and look at her one last time.
He started running with all his energy immediately.
It was the hunters from that town, and they were shooting at her, who was taking cover behind her car. They were trying to flank her and he realized he wouldn't be able to get there in time, so he just took the rifle she had given to him and started shooting at them, getting their attention after taking one out, leaving about five alive. He reloaded and shot again, using his distance to his advantage, making their pistols less effective at that range. He shot again and killed another one, to then realize one was trying to escape, probably to call the other hunters back at the town; he reloaded as quickly as he could and shot him before that. But it was then that he felt a bullet passing just by his side, realizing that one of them had a rifle too; he climbed the tree that was right next to him and from there he identified the hunter with the rifle and killed him; one bullet later the hunters were dead, and after a quick jump he started running towards the car to see if Anna was hurt.
When he arrived, he realized she had a lot of wounds in her torso, some blocked by her bulletproof vest, but some others not; her chest was all bloody and she was breathing agitatedly.
He immediately took out her vest to see her wounds, but then he saw that he had at least four deep wounds, and the bleeding wasn't stopping. She was losing consciousness, while still being able to see him.
"I'm sorry Ethan… looks… like I…fu…"
"No! That's not true! I'll help you!" He interrupted her, looking inside his backpack for some kind of bandages or anything that could help, only finding the food cans she had given him.
"Don't worry…" She said, holding his hand with what little energy she had, almost as if she was stopping him, "it's not that bad… maybe this was the way… things would end…"
"What are you talking about, Anna?! We'll go meet my group… there's a person that knows about this stuff! C'mon! Try to get up!"
"Just protect the ones you love… Ethan… try not to end up like this failure right here…"
Ethan could just realize in shock that she was dying in his hands, while he was trying to get her up; using her car would make things faster; he was lost, knowing that he wasn't the right one for that job, not even knowing if her wounds weren't plain fatal. Finally he could sweep her in his arms, getting his shirt all bloody, and started walking to the car, while his eyes were starting to water, and talking to her at all times to keep her awake.
"We'll help you, Anna! I won't let you die here, keep your eyes open please… you'll know my group… John looks like a shitty person but he's just the quiet type and he's a Firefly; Dom can be a little cocky from time to time but you can trust him; Julie is an expert hunter… the animal hunter though… I'll give her the rifle you gave me, and Liz just wants to help everyone she can… she'll help you! ... Anna? Anna?"
He looked down, only to look at her with her eyes closed, without moving or breathing anymore; he checked her pulse quickly and it was too late: she was dead. He fell to the ground with her body in his arms and hugged her while crying. He didn't care if the others hunters were to hear his cries, nor if they shot him, or killed him. Nothing was important at that moment.
Anna had died in his arms.
He dug a grave not so close to the house, fearing that someone could mess it up, and gently put her body in there. As he was looking at the wooden stick that marked her grave he could only think about what he had felt after their goodbye. He wanted to hit himself, thinking about what would've happened if he just had kept by her side just a little longer, fighting together those hunters, but that only lasted a couple of seconds, after thinking about it didn't matter; it wouldn't change how things ended up. Nothing would do it.
He went to her house, noticing her car, he looked in the direction in which her grave was, just like when they looked at each other, and then he got into the car. He looked at the grave for one last time, and followed the path she had told him.
He eventually got to those two pines and from there he could see the waterfall and the town too.
He went to the waterfall.
But it was then that he felt something, and checked the glovebox: a drink, some food and a pistol.
But he also found a photo, quite deteriorated, but not too much to not being recent. He could see Anna, who looked surprisingly happy, completely different from the Anna he had met; right next to her was a man, in his fifties, and a young girl, probably his daughter. He stopped the car to look carefully at the photo: it was Liz, without a doubt.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest after understanding everything, remembering Anna's words.
He eventually got to the waterfall, where the rest were waiting for him, although at first they ambushed him, until they recognized him and laughed about it. Liz ran him to hug him; Ethan could only feel that sharp pain returning, going through his whole body.
"Take this, Julie," he told her, "you're quite good with the bow so I guess this rifle will be even better for you… it's got a scope."
"How did you get all of this?" Dom asked, with a smile in his face. Ethan didn't answer immediately; instead he looked at Liz. He had his doubts. She was smiling, happy about finding him, different from that terrified Liz that he had met; she had changed.
Was it worth it?
"I found it at an abandoned house."
He wondered why, while talking to Anna as she was dying, he ended up mentioning Liz the last.
Any kind of review is welcome! Sorry for not updating in such a long time
A/N: Canceled story. I'm sorry if you liked it, but it takes time to translate my chapters and I don't even know if I'm doing a good work or not. Have a nice day and thanks for reading!