Riley and Julie stared behind them, watching several goons fall through the ice as the crack in the ice grew larger around the undead's feet.
"We gotta go faster," Julie said. "They're gonna go through and take us with them."
"Well if we go too fast," Riley said, "we'll beat 'em to it." He sighed. "Look, let's just keep doing what we were doing and maybe we can stay ahead of them long enough." He looked back as some of the goons tried running, only to slip and fall almost comically, and in a few cases, fall through the ice. Nevertheless, a good portion of the herd still followed as little as twenty feet behind.
Riley and Julie were about one hundred and fifty feet from the island.
"As soon as we're on land," Riley said, "run like a fat guy at Hannibal Lecter's house."
Julie glared. "Please say something else, because I don't want THAT to be the last thing I hear if we die!"
Riley smirked. "Just a little further," he said as he saw two more of the undead fall through the ice. Suddenly, a very loud crack emanated from behind, followed by a series of tearing noises.
"Oh my God," Julie said, horrified.
"We're almost there, don't give up now." One hundred feet to go.
The tears became longer and louder, and the spider-web crack extended further. A few more undead fell through.
"Riley, we should make a run for it. We can get to the island in like ten seconds."
"Yeah, but we can also slip and smash through the ice. Some of these dumbasses are doing it, and I don't want to join them."
Julie sighed. "Fuck."
Seventy feet remaining.
At that moment, the sound of twenty goons going through the ice sent shivers down the spines of Riley and Julie. It sounded like a car crashing through a glass window.
"GO GO GO!" Riley shouted, dropping all hope of the ice holding out long enough. He and Julie started to cautiously jog back to shore, as the spider-web came dangerously close to them.
"We're almost there," Julie said, motivating herself not to stop. "Almost there. Almost there. Almost the—" Before she could finish, the ice cracked beneath her feet, only twenty feet from shore, and she fell into the water up to her shoulders. Riley looked back when he heard the sound, and quickly made his way to her.
"Get back!" Julie shouted. "You'll fall in too. Just go!"
"Not a chance," Riley said, determined. He took the duffel bag off of his shoulder, unhooked the strap, and threw it over to her. "Don't let go of that." She gripped the strap with both hands, and Riley started to pull her toward him. She managed to wiggle her way further and further out of the water, but the goons were now right behind her. She then took one of her hands off the strap and dipped it back into the water, to Riley's confusion.
"What the hell are you—" He stopped, as Julie's hand emerged from the water, holding her revolver. She fired at the closest goon, hitting it in the eye and blowing its brains out. Riley pulled as hard as he could, as she scored perfect headshots on the next three goons that came close to her. Right as Riley got her waist out of the water, she fired her last two bullets at two more of the undead, hitting both in the forehead. The last one she hit, a rather heavyset goon, fell backwards and broke the ice behind him. She lifted her feet out of the water, and stood up carefully. She and Riley then quickly power-walked to shore, as the twenty-nine remaining goons followed; twenty-four of them made it to shore without falling through the ice.
Riley and Julie then began running through the woods, back to the house. As the adrenaline wore off, Julie began to weaken from the cold water still soaking through her clothes. After a minute or so of running, she collapsed.
"Oh shit," Riley said, worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Julie said, struggling to stand up, but failing as her whole body shivered. Riley then picked her up and sprinted for the cabin.
"You're gonna be fine, babe. We'll get you warmed up at the cabin."
"Riley. If I freeze to death—"
"That's not gonna happen!"
"If it does, just make sure…you tell everyone…"
"Tell everyone what?"
Julie trembled as she spoke. "Tell them…I was six for six back there."
Riley smiled. "Yeah. You were. But you'll tell them yourself. I promise."
…
On watch, Alan paced back and forth on the porch, awaiting the return of Riley and Julie. He held his scoped rifle in his hands, ready for anything. He had seen a goon walk by on the ice about an hour before, but it walked by without even looking his way. As he stood guard, Emily walked out onto the porch.
"Hey Emily," he said kindly. "How are you? Getting along with Melissa okay?"
She grinned. "I like her. Yeah she's kinda cold, but I know she's a good person."
"What about the others?"
"I like everyone. Obviously, I owe Riley and Julie my life for letting me stay here." She paused. "Theresa is really nice to me, too. I like her a lot."
"All of us are grateful for the supplies. We were worried we wouldn't make it through the winter. But you really bailed us out. We won't forget that."
Emily smiled. "Happy to help." After a moment, she changed the subject. "Is it me, or have Riley and Julie been gone too long?"
Alan shrugged. "It's probably nothing. They may have just gotten tied up, like maybe they had to lay low for a while. It happens; William and I went on a run once where we spent the night hiding in an ice cream truck from goons."
Emily nodded. "Well, how long until we go looking for them?"
Alan looked down morosely. "They didn't tell you, did they?"
Emily was confused. "Tell me what?"
Alan took a deep breath. "A while back, we all sat down, had a good long talk, and agreed that if someone, or a group of people, take too long to return from a trek, it wouldn't be wise or safe to send people out looking for 'em. We agreed to find our own way back, or die trying."
Emily was frozen in shock, mouth agape. "You're willing to just…leave them out there? What if they need help?"
"And what if they don't? What if plans change? What if, God forbid, they've been taken out by a pack of goons, or even a group of ruthless hunters? It's dangerous out there, and it isn't fair to risk others for what may turn out to be a pointless task."
Emily was still shocked. "I can't believe this."
"Look, Riley and Julie are tough, and better yet, they're smart. They may have run into a complication and have to either work around it or lay low for a minute. We've been together for a while now, and we've never lost anyone. I think they can handle a quick supply run."
Emily nodded hesitantly. "And…they agreed to this?"
"Riley was the one who suggested it first."
Emily's eyes widened. "For real?"
Alan nodded. "He was very persuasive." He paused. "They, uh…they're a couple. You knew that right?" Emily nodded. "And do you think they…do 'couple' things?"
Emily glared at him. "I'm fourteen, not four, you don't have to dance around it. Yes, I think they have sex."
Alan smirked. "Well, of course they WANT to. But there's now nine of us living in this house. Hell, you're bunking with them now. The walls aren't particularly thick either, so they can't do anything loud."
"It is tough to stay quiet."
Alan looked at her, curiously. "You say that like you…" She looked back, and he backed down. "Not important. My point is, they've been volunteering to go on any two-person runs that come up, so they can have some alone time. They may just be…savoring it."
Emily giggled. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm sure they—"
"HELP! We need help!" Alan and Emily quickly looked over and saw Riley running toward them, with a barely-conscious Julie in his arms.
"Oh shit," Alan said. "What happened?"
"She fell through the ice and she's getting weaker!" He finally got to the stairs and climbed. Alan came to him and helped him carry her. Suddenly, Theresa came running out. "What the hell's goin' on?"
"Get some towels," Alan said, "and heat something up!"
"On it!" Theresa ran back inside, and Riley and Alan were close behind with Julie. Emily then came in and closed the door behind them. Riley and Alan carried Julie to her bed as the others looked on confused.
"What the hell?" Donnie asked.
"Is she okay?" Melissa asked.
"She's okay," Alan said, "but we gotta heat her up."
"Here you go," Theresa said to Riley as she handed him two large beach towels.
"Thank you," he said. "Now get her something hot."
"I'm on it."
Riley laid one of the towels on the bed, and Alan set Julie down on top of it. "I got this," Riley said to Alan, "tell the others everything's gonna be fine."
"You got it," Alan said as he left and shut the door behind him. Riley then took Julie's wet clothes off of her, and wrapped her in the second towel.
"You're gonna be okay," he said as he lay down next to her, wrapping her in his arms. "I'll get you warm, they're gonna get you some warm soup, you're gonna be fine."
"Thank you," Julie said, weakly.
Outside, Theresa turned the burner to the highest setting, and put on a can of tomato soup. "What the hell happened out there?" She asked.
"She fell through the ice," Alan said. "That's all I got out of him."
"Probably coulda ballparked that one," Donnie said sarcastically.
"Shut up Donnie," William said. "Anything else?"
"That was it," said Alan. "They did get the supplies at least.
"What can we do for Julie?" Jason asked.
"We'll warm her up as best we can. I'm sure Riley's in there helping keep her temperature up, and the soup will help. After that, we'll let her rest for a while, and she should be okay."
"And if she isn't?" Melissa jumped in. "We could have an undead monster in our own house, and none of you are concerned about that?"
"Look," Alan said, concealing his irritation, "odds are, she'll be fine. And if we do lose her, we'll make sure nothing happens to the rest of us."
"You think Riley will just…end her like that? I don't think he'll be able to do it."
"That's not gonna happen!" Emily said, angrily. "Julie is going to be fine, so stop being such a cynic, because I highly doubt Julie wants to hear any of us talking about what happens if she ISN'T gonna be fine."
Melissa glared back furiously. "Watch your mouth. You've been here for a DAY. I've known Julie for months now. You think I WANT anything to happen to her? Of course not. But I'm thinking ahead, and I'm not gonna let some little girl come into my life and talk SHIT to me! About how I don't care about her, because trust me, I care far more about her than YOU."
"Melissa," Donnie cut in, "take it easy."
"Shut up Donnie! Now you listen, don't think you can just come in here and act like anything you say matters when you just got here. I've DRIVEN for longer periods of time than you've been here. You gotta earn your place and you haven't done a fucking thing!"
"She's a kid," Theresa said. "Stop treating her like this."
"Besides," William jumped in, "do these supplies not count as 'help' to you?"
"No," Emily said. "Apparently it doesn't. But that's fine. Because as soon as I know that Julie's okay, I'm fucking leaving!"
"No!" Theresa said. "You can't!"
"I'll be fine. I was on my own for a while, and I was just fine. I'll take one bag of supplies and then you'll never see me again. Because I don't need this shit!"
"Look," Alan intervened, "let's all just relax, okay? I get that emotions are running high, but let's not say or do anything we're gonna regret in the morning."
"You heard the girl," Melissa said. "Don't make her do something she doesn't want to do."
Emily glared at Melissa. "I don't want to hear you act like a bitch, yet you're making me do that!"
"You little shit!" Melissa came at Emily, and Donnie and William held her back while Alan and Theresa stood in front of her.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Theresa screamed. "This is ridiculous!"
Jason went to check the soup, just wanting to avoid the drama, when something caught his eye. "Guys?"
"One minute sweetie," Theresa said calmly. "Enough fighting, or I'm gonna lose my damn mind."
"Guys?"
"We trying to survive, or not? We can't do that if we kill each other!"
"Guys they're coming!"
Suddenly, the others all turned their attention outside, and looked at the approaching herd.
"They REALLY skimped on the details," Donnie said, annoyed.