I can't believe I was actually able to get the chapter done so quickly. I really feel like I rushed through it though.
Anyway, like I said life might get in the way so I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter up. But I'll try my best.
Also, did you guys hear about meteor over Michigan a few days ago? Spooky.
The Dread
Chapter 3: The Heretic
1. The Only Hope
Lisa rubbed her face. She was dead tired. Every time she closed her eyes the face of an adult stared back at her, with blood dribbling from its permanently scowling face. Being the smartest girl in the world was both a blessing, and a curse. Everyone looked to her for answers. She'd used to have to take time out of her to help her siblings with their schooling. She didn't mind she loved sharing her knowledge. At the same time, sometimes it frustrated her having no one to have an intellectual conversation with. Even Brian, the smartest fifteen-year-old in Royal Woods was no match for her. And she could tell that he secretly hated being shown up by a four-year-old. But he didn't complain. He knew Lisa was their only hope. But now Lisa wasn't sure what she could do. Sure, she was the smartest person alive. But she was just a kid. She wished she'd taken some time to enjoy life, it was always a hassle getting her out of the house. She just wanted to be left alone in her room and continue her studies and experiments. But now, she'd give away all her intellect for things to go back to normal. But at the same time, she needed her intellect for things to go back to normal. What she meant to think was, she'd give anything for things to go back to before the blast happened. She wanted to see her mom and dad. And her oldest sisters Lori and Leni. She wished she'd hugged them more often. She wished she could hear her mom's caring, high-pitched voice one last time. And hear her dad tell a lame pun. She also wished she could hear Lori's authoritative voice tell her to stop with her weird poop studies. And Leni's soft sweet voice say something completely stupid. Why did she have to experiment on them without their knowledge. It wasn't right. They weren't guinea pigs, they were her family. They were all she had.
Lisa rubbed her eyes, she realized that she was crying. She wasn't one to show such mundane emotions but this time they were warranted.
She looked over to the adult who was still watching her with cautious eyes.
"I have to stop this thing," She told herself. Nothing was going to stop her. Not even God. She pictured him up there looking down on the world with his sick sense of humor. She then put that thought out of her head. No God would allow children to die.
2.
Stan walked with blood-covered hands in his face. The sewer water was slowly moving past him as he and the others walked along the concrete walkway that rose above the sewage.
The kids used flashlights to light the way. They tried their best not to look as a body slowly flowed past them.
It was dead quiet. Only Stan's silent sobs gave the hint of a presence in the ground below the streets of Royal Woods.
Zeke walked with a hammer in hand. It was a claw hammer, with a bigger head than usual. He'd decided on a hammer at the beginning of the apocalypse because Jesus was a carpenter. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that he could completely bash in someone's head with one swing of the tool.
He walked next to Luna as they searched for a way out of there.
He finally spoke. "Tell me more about this smart sister of yours."
Luna searched for something to say. It was funny there were so many things she could say about Lisa, that she couldn't think of one.
"Well… she's really smart."
"So I've heard."
Luna felt really dumb for saying that. "It's hard to explain, ever since she was a baby, she's been solving mathematical equations, working on scientific experiments, creating robots, she even created some medicine that we brought to the middle school before we showed up at your doorstep."
"Interesting. I can't wait to meet her."
"Yeah, hopefully she'll make time. She's a busy kid. She just might end up being humanity's savior."
Maggie walked next to Luan. There was some awkward silence between them. When they arrived at the church Maggie still held on to Luan's hand. Luan had to tell her that she could let go for Maggie to finally let go. She looked slightly embarrassed once she did.
Luan decided to speak. "Thanks for saving me back there."
Maggie instantly looked towards Luan. Her eyes seemed to shine, and her face gave off a surprised expression. She instantly settled back into her brooding expression.
"Don't mention it," she said.
"So, why did you want to come with us for real though?"
Maggie sighed. She reminded Luan so much of Lucy.
"Okay look, do you remember performing at my birthday party a few months ago?"
Luan nodded.
"Well since then, I've been thinking about you a lot; I'd watch your YouTube videos and I'd go see some of your shows at comedy clubs. You were like a light in my cold dead heart. And then the world went to shit. I'd sit in that cooped up gym with my friends. I liked them, but their stoic attitudes drove me crazy. Still, they were all I had since no other group of kids would let me hang out with them. To them I was just a weird goth girl who never showed any emotion at all. Which, in a way, was true. I was good at keeping my emotions to myself, but the truth is… I'm scared. Scared of what's out there, scared of the future and scared of dying. I just wanted a reason to be happy, but no one gave me one. And then you showed up, Luan Loud. The only person who could make me smile. I knew that if I was with you. I'd have a reason to keep going. A reason to smile. A reason to live.
Luan was flabbergasted. She knew she had fans, but she didn't know she had a fan that cared so much.
"Well…uh…thanks. That means a lot."
Maggie tried not to smile but in the end, she couldn't help herself. She also wanted to hug Luan, but she knew that something like that would have to wait until later.
Cooper walked next to Lynn.
Lynn stared intently ahead while Cooper looked at the ground, completely lost in thought.
"That was really messed up back there," he said.
"Can you be more specific?" Lynn asked without even looking at him.
"Well…all of it. The adults gathering bodies, Jeremy being bitten, the fact that we had to leave him."
"There was nothing we could've done for him."
"That still doesn't make it right."
"Look," Lynn was now looking right at Cooper. "I really hate that we had to leave that poor kid, but I didn't see you trying to stay and help him either."
Cooper couldn't think of anything to say.
"There were way too many adults," she continued. "we were outnumbered. And besides, even if we did take Jeremy with us, he was just going to bleed out before we got back to the elementary school."
Cooper looked back down at the ground.
Lynn sighed. "We're not bad people, Cooper. We're just kids, we can't be expected to make good decisions."
Cooper looked back up at Lynn and was about to say something when he yelped and disappeared.
"What the fuck!" Lynn screamed.
Everyone looked at her.
She hurried to the edge of the walkway and saw Cooper being dragged underneath the dirty sewer water by dirty, rotten arms.
"Help!" was all he could say before he was submerged.
Everyone stood around screaming, none of them wanted to jump into the dirty sewer water after him.
Lynn shouted at someone to do something, but no one budged.
She swore. Looks like it's decision making time.
She gripped dropped her Louisville Slugger, gripped her mace tight and jumped into the dirty water. The last thing she heard were the shouts of her sisters as she went under.
3.
Kids dragged bodies of dead adults out into the grass behind the school. While older kids stood watch. They piled up the bodies of dead adults while other kids went to work digging holes to bury the dead kids in.
"This sucks," Chandler groaned as he went to work with a shovel. He was talking to Andy. "Why did Lincoln's weird little sister have to go in the fucking basement to look for fucking ghosts? Now we all have to throw our backs out digging holes."
Andy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just glad we didn't lose that many kids." Once there was a head count on all the kids it was concluded that only six kids had died.
Lincoln was also digging with Clyde, while Lucy was forced to mop up the blood on the school floor with Grace and some other older kids.
"It's scary," said Clyde. "I felt so safe in the school for the last week. I thought we were protected from the outside world. But after what just happened. I don't feel safe anymore. I feel more vulnerable than ever. I don't think we'll ever be safe again." Clyde thought back to how overprotective his dads were. They watched him like hawks. Always making sure his food was safe to eat. Always making sure he wasn't walking too fast in his own house. Always making sure he had his medicine and inhaler. He wished they were their now to make him feel safe. But that was never going to happen. They all had too look after themselves now, and today proved it more than anything.
"Don't say that, Clyde," Lincoln said. "You saw how the older kids effortlessly took down those adults. It was only an accident that they got in. All we can do is learn from this experience and prevent it from ever happening again."
Clyde nodded. "I guess so, I'm still scared though."
"We all are, Clyde."
Lucy wanted to vomit as she mopped away blood, not knowing if it belonged to adults or kids.
"That sure was scary."
Lucy looked up to see Grace looking at her. She had a smile that could warm even an adults cold, dead heart. It was hard to believe that only an hour ago she was scared beyond belief.
"Yes, it was."
"Were you scared?"
Lucy nodded.
"Me too. I'm glad Joey and the older kids were able to protect us, they were so brave."
Lucy nodded again. Remembering how Joey went mental on the adults while Duke stood a few feet behind just poking them haphazardly. She could tell he was scared. And the thought of that made her want to smile. He was all bark and no bite. He wasn't fit to be in charge. All he did was sit around in the auditorium looking important. They couldn't live like this forever. Lucy hoped that someone else would eventually show up and take charge.
Lana and Lola sat in the gym, with other younger kids, holding Lily and petting Charles.
"I'm going to kill him." Lana growled. "I'm going to kill that stupid Grease Monkey."
"How do you plan to accomplish that, warrior woman?" Lola quipped
"I'll get Tom to help me make a bow, so I can shoot him with it."
"Do you even know how to use a bow?"
"No, but it's never too late to learn new things."
"Are you sure you'll be able to take him out with it?"
"I won't know if I don't try. I just have to go talk to Tom in the wood shop room."
"We're not allowed to leave the gym, Lana. We'll just have to wait until Lincoln's done digging holes, or our sisters get back."
"Who knows when that'll be? I need to go now, every second counts."
Lola grabbed Lana by the arm. "Please…don't leave. Just wait here with me. I don't want to be left alone."
"You won't be alone, you'll have Lily."
Lola looked down at Lily and watched as a snot bubble formed in her nose and then popped.
"Lana." Lola said, sharply.
"All right, all right," Lana said, sounding irritated as she took Lily from Lola's arms. "I'll wait a little bit longer."
At this point some kids around their age heard them.
"You really want to fight these things?" One of them asked.
"Yeah, I do."
The kid looked at a few other kids who sat around them. Then he looked back at Lana.
"I want to help," he said, excitedly.
"Why?" Lana asked.
"Because when I saw Joey and the other kids fight all the other adults. I thought he was so cool and brave. I really wanted to go out and help him but none of the older kids would let me. I just want to prove that I can fight. I'm tired of sitting around the gym doing nothing."
Lana continued to stare at the kid. "What's your name?"
"Timmy," he answered.
Lana continued to study the kid he looked to be about the same age as Lana and Lola and he didn't look very strong. However, size didn't matter if you had numbers.
"If you can get some other kids to help me we can go out there sooner and take it to Greasy Monkey and his gang."
Timmy nodded and wondered off with a few other kids.
"Lana there's no way in heck you're going to stand a chance against Grease Monkey," said Lola, her voice filled with trepidation.
"Why not? Those adults out there are stupid. I've all ready killed some." She patted her wrench that was attached to the toolbelt tied around her waist. All I'm going to do is go out there kill Grease Monkey and then come right back in without anyone noticing?"
"What happened with shooting him with a bow?"
"Forget that. I'd rather be up close and personal when I kill him, so my smiling face will be the last thing he sees."
Lola began to shake her head. "You can't do this, Lana. I'm going to tell on you."
Lana stood up and pressed her face against Lola's. If you do that I'll never talk to you again, I'll denounce you as my twin and I might even cut off your hair while your sleeping.
Tears began to fill Lola's eyes. She threw her head back and sobbed.
Lana knew she crossed a line. There was no way she was really going to do any of that stuff if Lana did tattle on her. But at the same time, she didn't want Lola to ruin everything. She needed to kill Greasy Monkey. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to get the thought of Grease Monkey holding up her dead pets out of her head. Ever since they first arrived whenever she tried to sleep at night. She couldn't get the thought of Grease Monkey stomping down on Hops and Biting into Izzy out of her head.
Trinity walked up to Lola and began to comfort her.
"What happened?" She asked. Her voice was soft and soothing.
"I don't know?" Lana answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess all the stress of the last couple of hours is probably getting to her, or something."
4.
Lynn was surrounded by darkness and sewage. As soon as her feet hit the water she instantly regretted jumping in. But it was too late now. This was not time to show fear. She felt around in the water and felt something grab onto her.
Gotcha!
Lynn pulled as hard as she could. She didn't think Cooper was this heavy. By the time she realized it wasn't Cooper it was too late. An adult male rose from the water and lunged at her; now Lynn was dragged under the water. She struggled for air. The adults had shoved her so far under the water that her back was against the floor at the bottom of the sewage.
Despite this she was still able to hold the adult away from her. But she felt her grip slipping. Soon she felt another presence jump into the water and the weight of the adult was lifted off her.
She quickly rose to the surface and instantly took a deep breath as soon as she was above the water. She wiped her face and saw Luna holding back the adult. The adult tried to turn and pry Luna off him, but she held on for dear life.
Luna saw Lynn and her face was flooded with relief. But then she remembered the adult that she was clasped onto.
"Lynn, take him out!"
"On it." Lynn felt around with her foot and brushed up against her mace.
She dove back under, swooped it up. And once she returned she delivered a fatal blow to the grown-up and he slowly drifted away once Luna let go of him.
Lynn didn't forget about Cooper. She thanked Luna and dove back under the water. Feeling around for any sign of the kid. She grabbed another body and wasn't surprised to find out that it was an adult as well. She brought it up and let Luna deliver the swift blow this time. That's when Lynn saw Cooper drift up from below the Water.
She grabbed him and heard cheers coming from some of the kids. But their cries were suddenly silenced once they realized Cooper wasn't moving.
Lynn looked back at the group that stood before them: Luan had a worried look on her face, Maggie looked a little bit concerned, Stan's face looked completely devoid of any human emotion, Zeke, however, looked to be upset at the two bodies that were drifting away instead of Cooper.
"Help me," she demanded as she made her way towards the walkway. Luan reached for Cooper, which prompted Maggie to do the same. Zeke helped too while Stan just stood and watched.
They lay Cooper sprawled out on the path. Lynn put an ear to his head and chest and began to do chest compressions and mouth to mouth. While people around her held their breaths. As if them not breathing would help Cooper with his not breathing.
"Come on, come on!" Lynn swore at Cooper. "Don't die on me." Lynn didn't want her heroic act to be for nothing. If cooper lived, it would make her feel better about her acts of cowardice at the beginning of the apocalypse.
Suddenly, Cooper began to cough up water.
"YES!" Lynn cheered as she set Cooper to his side and let him vomit up water.
Now everyone could cheer.
As soon as Cooper was done spitting up sewage water he looked up at Lynn. She was being illuminated by a flashlight which made her look like an angel. Even though she was soaking wet with sewage water.
"Thanks," he said as soon as he caught his breath.
"Don't mention it," she responded. "I only saved you so I could beat you at basketball when we get back."
Cooper couldn't tell if she was joking.
"This is not time to breathe easy," said Luan, pointing at the darkness behind them.
Emerging from the shadows, shambling along the path were even more adults.
Kids from the church began to panic, a lot of them hid behind Zeke as he stood without a hint of fear on his face. He looked almost pleased to see the adults.
Stan tightly gripped his mace, he really wanted to take them all out. But her knew it was dangerous to fight in the dark against so many.
Cooper groaned which caused Lynn to look back at him
"Are you okay to walk?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Good."
Lynn picked up her baseball bat as they all hurried down the path, away from the approaching danger.
"We really need to find a way out of here," said Luna.
"No, duh," Lynn retorted.
They ran for several minutes through the underground maze. They wondered how long these tunnels went on for. For all they knew if they kept on running, they'd eventually circle the globe.
"There!" Luna pointed to an open manhole cover.
As soon as they reached the steps that had been integrated into the concrete Luna told them what they should do.
"Luan, you and Maggie climb up first and then we'll let the younger kids go up and you can help them once they reach the top."
Luan and Maggie nodded and began to climb.
Luna then looked at Lynn, Stan and Zeke.
"We need to stay behind and fend off the adults while the kids climb up."
Now Stan spoke. "Why the hell are you giving orders, missy? I'm the leader of this expedition."
"Then step up," Luna didn't like Stan's tone, but she wasn't going to tell him off, it was bad enough he'd just lost his best friend.
"I will, I'll step up and kill all these fuckers. There won't be any left once I'm done."
"There's no need to inflict any more violence on these poor creatures," said Zeke, placing a hand on Stan's shoulder.
Stan instantly pulled away from Zeke.
"Are you fucking serious? What the hell are you smoking? Those aren't poor creatures- they're monsters. They live only to kill, maim and consume, and in case you haven't noticed; they killed my friends and tried to kill you and your friends."
"They won't kill me," Zeke responded.
Stan, Luna, and Lynn were slightly confused by what Zeke meant when he said that. But there was no time to think about it because the adults that had been chasing them continued to shuffle towards them.
"Here they come!"
Luna looked back as some of the older kids from Zeke's church helped kids up the ladder then to Luan and Maggie who were helping pull kids up.
She turned back to the approaching adults who were now completely visible in the light shining down from the open manhole.
The adults looked absolutely disgusting. They were covered in grime and feces. The smell was the worst part though. They smelled like shit and rotten trash. Which didn't seem to bother them at all. They were too focused on the kids that stood before them.
"Me first," said Stan as he stepped up and swing hid mace at the first adult, a male. The blow knocked a chunk of gunk off the adults and sent him falling into the sewer water.
The strike, prompted Luna and Lynn to step up and do the same.
"Good God!" Zeke cried, holding back from advancing on the adults.
"If you're not going to do anything than just go up the ladder." Lynn told him
Zeke didn't say or do anything. He just stood and watched with his hand clamped together as if he was praying.
The teens continued to send all the adults flying into the water, with major blows to their heads. The adults were blind due to the muck and grime covering their faces. The fight was over in a matter of seconds.
"Let's go!" Luna shouted and they all hurried to the ladder. She let Lynn go up the ladder first, and then Zeke. Once Stan made it to the ladder he told her to go up first. Stan secretly figured if he was the last one out of the sewers it would make him look brave.
As soon as Luna reached the top it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sunlight. She wasn't sure how long they were in the sewers for. She was happy to be away from the smells. Although she and Lynn did stink from jumping into the water. But she didn't care. She was just glad to be on the dry streets of Royal Woods- at least that's where she hoped she was. She wanted to shout, dance, and sing. But she soon noticed that a lot of the kids were looking in the opposite direction of the manhole. Most of them were huddled together in a defensive stance. She couldn't see what they were looking at.
Stan soon reached the top and noticed the same thing as well. He hurried up to the group and pushed past them.
Luna decided to follow him and once she saw what everyone was looking at. Her heart skipped a beat.
Before them, only a few yards away. Stood a group of about fifty kids, mostly teenagers. A lot of them were wearing blue jerseys with white numbers printed on them, while others were white jerseys with blue numbers printed on them. Luna wondered what team these jerseys belonged to. Lynn would definitely know. Luna looked back at her sisters. Lynn was studying them intently while Luan stood behind her younger sister with a worried look on her face.
She looked back at the teens and studied them as well. They all had hard, curious, and vigilant looks on their faces. They all held random assortments of weapons: Baseball bats, clubs, and knives, daggers and swords.
They were holding these weapons at the ready, daring Luna and the rest to make one wrong move.
Finally, it was Stan who did something.
He held up his hands and spoke.
"Hello."
None of the kids said anything.
"Can we help you?"
"Yes, you can," A tall, tough-looking fifteen-year-old kid standing in the front of the crowd said. "You can tell us how to get to a school called: Royal Woods Elementary."
5.
"What a day, huh?" a voice said to Lincoln.
Lincoln looked up to see Tucker approaching him and Clyde with a shovel.
"Tucker, you're alive," Lincoln was happy to see that Tucker was okay. "Where have you been?"
"I was up on the roof."
"And you didn't hear any of the commotion going on in the school?"
"No, I was asleep," Tucker looked embarrassed.
"Well, you missed all the action," Lincoln told Tucker what happened.
"Wow," was all Tucker could say. "Once I woke up and went back down stairs, no one would tell me anything, someone just handed me a shovel and told me to get to work out back."
"Well you probably should've stayed up there," Lincoln quipped. "We've been digging for over an hour. We have to dig six holes, six feet deep for the kids who died."
Tucker looked worried. "Who died?"
Lincoln told him.
Tucker shook his head.
"No kid deserves to die. But it happens, it's happened all throughout history. Kids are pure and innocent. Yet, the world would always find ways to kill them. Be it, a sickness, a famine, an accident, a violent act, or an adult who preyed on kids."
Lincoln and Clyde nodded their heads.
"We just have to hope," Lincoln said. "Hope that some day it'll just be us kids and we can make the world a better place."
Tucker looked up at Lincoln who was smiling at him. Tucker was glad that Lincoln remembered their earlier conversation. It wasn't often that kids took what he said to heart, but Lincoln was different. Lincoln was a good kid. He was a listener, he had to be if he lived with ten sisters before all of this.
"Yeah," said Tucker, "Let's not let these kid's deaths go to waste." And he went to work on the ground.
6.
Stan, Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Cooper were confused. Why did this group want to go to Royal Woods Elementary? There were a million other places they could go to.
"Why do you want to go there?" Stan asked.
The kid spoke up again. "That's none of your business."
"Actually, it is our business."
"How so?"
Stan debated on whether he should tell this kid that they were from the elementary school. He continued to look at the group. A lot of them looked tough, but some of them looked scared. He also noticed some younger kids among the group. If this group was comprised of nothing but trouble makers, then surely they wouldn't have little ones with them.
"Because that's our home."
Stan ignored the chiding comments that Luna and Lynn gave him for telling him where they resided. Instead, he watched as the face of the kids he spoke to seemed to appear pleased.
"Can you take us there?"
"Why?" Stan asked.
"I got a cousin who lives in Royal Woods. His name is Jake Flecks he and I are very close, he's like a brother from another mother. Do you know him?"
"Maybe."
"Hold on," Lynn spoke up now. "Why should we take you to the elementary school." She walked past Stan and went up close to the kid at the lead of the group.
Luna and Luan called out to Lynn, but she ignored them.
"Whoa now," the kid warned. "Don't get any closer. I'd hate to have to fight you- or rather have her fight you." The kids pointed to a strong looking blonde girl with short wavy hair, who was clutching onto a double-headed axe.
"Come at me. I'm not afraid of you- or her. I'm not afraid of anything."
The kid seemed slightly taken aback by her comment.
"You're not afraid of anything?"
"No."
"Then I guess you're just stupid."
Now it was Lynn who was taken aback. But she quickly stood up straight.
"I'm not stupid. I'm brave."
"Bravery has killed more people than fear. Fear is a trait of human evolution. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It keeps us alive."
"Are you scared?" Lynn asked, trying to deflect attention away from herself.
"Yes, I'm scared. I'm scared of the adults, I'm scared of dying. And I was scared when I saw you all climbing out of the sewers. But I can see now that you're no threat, you're just kids."
Lynn looked embarrassed.
"What were you all doing in the sewers anyway?"
"It's a long story. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" she asked.
"My name is Ethan Flecks. Me and my friends have come all the way from Indiana. South Bend to be exact."
Lynn looked at their jerseys.
"These are Colts jerseys by the way. That's we've decided to call our group. The Colts. You know who the Colts are right? They're a football team."
Lynn looked offended.
"I know who the Colts are. They're a football team that's part of the AFC South. They were originally the Baltimore Colts from 1953 to 1984 before becoming the Indianapolis Colts."
"Impressive," said Ethan as he gave her a creepy smile. "I love girls who know and love their sports."
Lynn made a fart noise with her mouth. "It's just the Colts, they're not that impressive."
"What?" Ethan looked offended now. "Please, it's better than being a Lions fan."
"At least the Lions were good before the world went to shit."
"Don't forget that the Lion's went 0-16 in the last ten years."
"Whatever. I'd pick Michigan over Indiana any day."
"Oh please, what does Michigan have that's better than Indiana. Lighthouses? Lakes? The Michigan Dogman?"
"What does Indiana have? Corn?" Lynn countered.
"Well if you must know, we have- or had the Indy 500, and the biggest Childrens Museum in the U.S.A. the Indianapolis zoo, Holiday world- "
"Whoa, let's take it easy," a short kid stepped between Ethan and Lynn. "This is no time to fight, we've come a long way. It's bad enough that every adult wants to kill us, we don't need to kill each other for them."
Ethan and Lynn eased up.
The short kid then turned to Lynn.
"Sorry about my friend. He's a tough kid to love, but he grows on you."
Lynn made a dismissive grunt.
"My name's Norman by the way." He held out a hand, Lynn just slapped it. "Okay… so will any of you be able to take us to the elementary school? We're tired and hungry and we've got little kids with us."
Stan stepped up. "I can take you to the elementary school, but whether or not you get to stay isn't up to me."
"Fair enough," Norman nodded his head. He turned back to face Ethan. "Shall we continue?"
Ethan shrugged. He turned and gestured towards someone who was hiding behind a corner of a building. The kid nodded and began to advance. He was guiding two horses that were carrying a big wagon that held some kids and supplies.
"What the?" Stan cried.
A lot of the kids began to jabber excitedly. The younger ones seemed excited to see the horses.
"Oh, sorry," Ethan said. "I forgot to mention that we've traveled here by wagon.
As the horses got closer Stan realized just how big they were.
"These are Clydesdale horses by the way."
"Can you all fit in there?" Stan asked, pointing at the wagon.
"No, it's not big enough. It's mostly for the younger kids. We older kids took turns riding in it while others guarded it."
"Cool."
The group continued towards the elementary school. Stan was certain that Duke wasn't going to be happy, but at this point he didn't care.
As he walked he noticed a girl with dark blonde hair walk up beside him holding the hand of a younger boy.
She smiled at him.
As beautiful as this girl was, Stan didn't smile back.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"For agreeing to take us to your school. I'm glad to be out of that church. It was pretty creepy."
"I only agreed to take you to where we live, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to stay."
The girl looked saddened by Stan's remark and turned to the younger kid beside her. He looked sad as well.
For the first time since losing Jeremy. Stan felt bad for someone else.
"Sorry," he said.
The girl looked back at him. "It's okay, I'm sorry about your friend, it wasn't right to leave him."
"Tell that to them." Stan nodded towards the kids who stood a few feet away from them. Luna and her sisters were standing next to Zeke as he talked away to them and Ethan.
The girl nodded.
"My names Stan by the way," he told her.
The girl smiled again. "I'm Mary and this here's my brother, Matt." The kid stepped slightly behind his sister.
"He's a shy little fellow."
"Do you have any siblings?" Mary asked.
Stan smiled thinking about his sister.
"Yeah, I have one sister named Sally," Stan's face changed as a dark thought came into his head. "I used to have another sibling, a boy named Sammy."
"Oh…" Mary looked sad. "Do you mind if I asked what happened to him?"
"It was before the disease- or whatever. Sammy was Sally's twin brother. Six years ago, when she and him were only a year old and I was nine. My dad went on a hunting trip. He loved to hunt and fish, but I didn't. I didn't like to hurt animals and so my dad went without me. And when he came back a few days later everything seemed fine. Then, a week or so later, he started to act strange. I woke up one night to find him attacking my mom, he was acting like a monster. I panicked and went to where my dad kept his guns. I grabbed one and threatened to shoot him. He then went after me and being too scared to shoot him, I ran into Sally and Sammy's room."
Stan lightly hit himself in the head with a closed fist.
"Stupid…" he told himself before continuing. "I hid in their closet while they slept soundly in their cribs he barged in and made his way towards Sammy since he was the closest. He stirred in his sleep. And my dad grabbed him. Now I shot out of the closet and threatened to shoot my dad again, he completely ignored me and lifted my younger brother up. I kept shouting at him, and then he bit down on Sammy's head. I Screamed and shot him several times until he went down."
Tears were slowly forming in Stan's eyes.
"I ran up to Sammy, but it was too late. My dad had killed him." Stan cursed at himself. "If I had just shot him earlier my brother would probably still be alive. Instead I was too scared to anything and now he was dead."
Stan then looked at Luan who was still talking away with her sisters. He thought back to how she'd been too scared to fight those adults a few hours ago. And how he'd tried to make her kill one. He was aware that he was being hard on her, but she had to learn how to fight before it was too late. He wouldn't wish the guilt he felt over his younger brother's death on anyone else.
Mary looked completely blown away by Stan's story.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry."
"It's fine."
"Why did your dad go crazy?" she asked.
"Rabies," Stan answered. "turns out when he went hunting he got bit by a bat and since he'd been drinking, he was too drunk to notice." Stan thought about how creepy it was now that the adults were acting just like his dad was. Absolutely mental and attacking everyone in sight who wasn't sick.
"You know, you can't blame yourself for what happened right? He was your dad. If my dad went nuts, I'd have trouble bringing myself to put him down too."
"That thing wasn't my dad, it was a monster. Just like the adults are now."
Mary looked down at the ground.
Stan didn't like how he made her sad. Dumping that sob story on her.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that depressing story. Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? Like, what you were doing at that church?"
Mary lifted her head up and smiled.
"Well, it all started when I was running to the elementary school where Matt was. I prayed to God to let him be okay and as soon as I finished praying. I saw Matt standing in the middle of the street all alone, crying. Either it was crazy coincidence, or God did hear my prayer. After I scooped him up I began to run towards our house, eventually me and some other kids were running in the same direction and that's when we were suddenly being chased by a large number of adults. We were all scared and crying. We thought it was the end. When suddenly. We saw Zeke standing in the middle of the street in front of the church. He was joined with some of his friends he knew from church and where he worked out in the gym. I ran up to him and begged him to help us. He just told us to stand close to him. As the adults approached he stood still, not even scared of them. I told him the adults were going to rip him apart. But he didn't budge. I was about run away and leave him when he held up he spread his arms wide to protect us. And the adults completely ignored him and kept on going."
"What?" Stan was shocked.
Mary went on. "After we all witnessed what had happened. We trusted Zeke completely, he led us to the church where we'd been hiding ever since you all showed up."
Stan still couldn't believe her story. What the hell was up with Zeke? He looked at him, he was still talking to the Loud sisters and Ethan. He was going to have to talk to him about that when they got to the school.
"So," Zeke began. "Do you really think Lisa can find a cure."
"Hell yeah we do!" Lynn said.
Zeke looked slightly shocked when Lynn swore. But he decided not to say anything.
"She is the smartest girl in the world after all.
"Oh, boy," Zeke said. "I can't wait to meet her."
The Loud siblings all looked at each other.
"Well she's normally really busy," said Luna "She might not have time to say hi."
Zeke's facial expression didn't change, instead he lifted his face towards the sky.
"God thank you for sending these messengers."
The group was kind of off-put by Zeke but they admired his enthusiasm. It was rare that anyone was upbeat these days.
"Is there anything Lisa can't do?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah, fly." Lynn answered.
Ethan laughed. "Let's pray she actually can find a cure."
"Do any of you know any prayers?" Zeke asked.
Everyone thought about his question. The Loud family wasn't exactly the religious type. Ethan and his friends tried to think also.
"The only prayer I know is the Hail Mary prayer," said Lynn.
Ethan snapped his fingers. "Yeah, me too."
"Oh," said Zeke.
"Yeah, said Lynn. "Of course, I only know it because of football."
"Me too," said Ethan.
Zeke's shoulders drooped.
"Sometimes I'd throw a football in the air and try to recite the entire prayer before catching it," said Lynn.
Ethan laughed.
A few feet away, Cooper was becoming slightly jealous at how well Lynn and Ethan seemed to be getting along. It wasn't even half an hour ago when they were at each other throats.
"You all still have much to learn," said Zeke.
"Like what?" Lynn asked.
"Like the word of the Lord."
"No thanks. I'm good"
Zeke was offended. But he wasn't going to force his religion on anyone.
"There!" Stan called out.
The elementary school was beginning to come into view.
7.
Lincoln and Clyde were just about done digging the holes when there were sounds of whistles blowing. He looked up to the roof of the school and there were older kids yelling at them to hurry inside.
What's going on? Lincoln wondered. Are there more adults or something? He didn't have time to think as older kids ushered the younger kids back into the school.
As Stan's group got closer to the school, they noticed smoke billowing from behind the school.
"What's with the smoke?" Ethan asked.
"I don't know?" Stan answered as his heart began to race. "Come on, let's pick up the pace."
The closer they got to the school the more obvious the smell of death became.
Stan, and the Loud sisters began to go into a light jog. They soon reached the front of the school and Stan looked up and saw kids standing on top of the roof, watching them and the new arrivals carefully. "It's okay it's just us," he called out to them.
He pounded on the front door and it opened slightly. There were still chains attached to the door handles to keep it from opening all the way.
Doug peered out.
"Whoa man, who the heck are they?"
"It's a long story Doug. Why is there smoke coming from behind the school?"
"It's a long story," Doug answered.
"Is Sally okay?"
"And our siblings?" Luna asked.
"They're fine," Doug said, with a hint of scorn in his voice.
"Well then what happened?" Stan asked again.
"You'll have to talk to Duke. He's not going to be very happy to see that you brought company."
"Ask me If I give a shit," Stan said.
Doug sighed, closed the door and unlocked the chains.
Stan came in first, and then the Loud siblings.
Doug sniffed the air. "Why do you all smell like shi- " he stopped when they all gave him intense, threatening looks.
"Long story," Luna answered, and they continued on.
Doug watched as kids kept piling past him. One of them he recognized as Zeke the Zealot. He was whispering intently with a few other kids his age. And then kids wearing blue and white Colts jerseys starting walking past him. Doug thought about smiling as kids went past him but decided not to, they really should've just let whoever was in charge of these groups come in and talk to Duke, but it was too late now. Finally, at the end of the group was a kid wearing overalls and a straw hat. He asked Doug if there was a place where they could put their horses.
Doug sighed. Could this day get any worse?
8.
Lincoln, Clyde, and Tucker were confused as to why they had to go back inside, although they weren't really complaining, they were happy to be done digging holes out in the sun. Lincoln spotted Lucy who rushed over to him.
"What's going on?" she asked, worriedly. Hoping the answer wouldn't be more adults.
"I don't know?"
They heard someone say something and looked down the hall to see kids walking across the hall horizontally from them.
"Who they heck are they?" someone said.
No one said anything. Instead they watched as the kids kept coming there had to be about seventy of them. As soon as the last of the kids walked by some of the older kids began to walk down the hall which prompted the younger kids to follow. Some teens told the kids to wait but they were all too curious. They followed the new kids down the hall.
It had been a while since Lola stopped crying. She sat next to Trinity who kept a watchful eye over all the kids. She looked over at Lana who sat restlessly, holding her wrench with one hand and smacking the head of it against the palm of her other hand. She looked at Lola and smiled and waved. Lola was still mad at Lana, but she waved back anyway.
Then an older kid hurried into the gym and ran up to another teen. They spoke for a few seconds and then the teen looked at Trinity and told her to watch the kids as he and a few other teens ran out of the gym.
Lola could sense that something was wrong, and she scooted closer to Trinity.
Luna, Luan, and Lynn were happy to finally be back they wanted nothing more than to go look for their sisters, but Stan told them that Duke was going to want to hear from all of them, although they were pretty sure that he just didn't want to face Duke alone.
Duke sat in the auditorium, still brooding over the recent attack. He studied his spear. He wasn't too happy with himself for how he handled the attack. He hoped no one judged him for hesitating when he was told that adults had gotten into the school. Instead, it had been Joey who sprang into action and took down several of the grown-ups.
Since the beginning Duke had been lying about his heroics. He told everyone it was him, Joey, and Stan that had helped take out the adults in the school. When in fact it had been all Joey and Stan. Sure Duke did help, but he mostly just jabbed pathetically at the adults with his spear.
Oh well. Duke was a leader. Leaders didn't have to be good fighters.
Just then someone rushed into the gym. It was Tyler.
Duke looked up at Tyler who looked worried.
"What's up, Tyler?"
"Stan and the rest are back."
Duke looked pleased "Great, have them come here and tell me all about their trip."
"Yeah, about that…"
"What?" Duke tensed up. Had one of them died? If someone did die he hoped it was one of the Loud sisters. He especially hoped it was Lynn. He couldn't stand her or her I'm better than you attitude.
"Don't freak out Duke. But they brought company.
"Huh?"
Tyler opened the door and in walked Stan, followed by the Loud sisters, then a goth girl, then a kid Duke recognized as Zeke, and then around twenty kids followed him, and then a boy wearing a Colts jersey, followed by about fifty other kids some of whom also wore Colts jerseys while the younger ones wore plain clothes.
Duke shot out of his seat and before he could say anything. Randy spoked up.
"Hoosiers!" he shouted. "Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper…"
"Be quiet, Randy," Duke shouted and then he turned back to Stan.
"Dude, what the fuck is this?"
Stan looked at the group and then back at Duke.
He told him about how they ended up at the church and how Jeremy died. He broke down before he could finish the story.
"We had to leave him, we had to leave Jeremy."
Duke tried his best to look upset, but he couldn't. He was too focused on the new kids. And besides he barely knew Jeremy, he didn't arrive until a day or two after they secured the school.
Duke told Stan to calm down and when he didn't, he turned to Cooper and asked him to finish the story.
Cooper told them all about the sewers and the finding Ethan's group.
Once Cooper was done telling the story Duke turned to Zeke and Ethan. Since Duke already knew a little bit about Zeke, he decided to start with Ethan.
"Ethan, was it? Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"
Ethan told him about who they were, where they came from and why they were here. He also included something that he didn't tell Stan or anyone else on their way to the school. He told them that he and his group were being pursued by a large group of around five hundred adults that seemed to be lead by a diseased woman who wore a pink dress. A woman they called Princess.
"What?" Duke was shocked. "When was the last time you saw this group? How close were they?" And then he called Ethan an idiot, that they could be on their way here right now.
"Don't worry," Ethan assured Duke. "We're pretty sure we lost them."
"That's not good enough. We could be sitting ducks in this school. We'd be so fucked if those adults surrounded us like…like the zombies in Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead.
"Dawn of the Dead!" Randy shouted. "Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, - "
"Be quiet, Randy," said Duke.
Ethan looked confused. Then Norman stepped up and spoke.
"You don't really call these grown-up zombies, do you?"
"No, that was just an example."
"That's good, because they aren't zombies. Zombies are supposed to be dead corpses who are brought back to life by either magic, or some kind of experiment. And as far as I know, when these adults bite someone they don't turn into a zombie or whenever someone dies they don't come back as a zombie. Therefore, they aren't zombies.
"Well then what would you call them?"
"We normally call them adults or grown-ups. But I guess we should come up with something else, as long as we don't call them zombies. Zombies are pure horror-fantasy. They don't exist.
"Zombies do exist," said Duke.
"What? No, they don't."
"Yes, they do. Ever heard of Rob Zombie?"
"He's just a cartoon character," said Norman.
Some kids laughed at that statement, Duke included.
"What's so funny?" Norman asked, looking around.
Before anyone could say anything, Randy spoke up again. "House of 1000 Corpses. Sid Haig, Erin Daniels, Rainn Wilson, Walton Goggins- "
"Be quiet, Randy," Duke said again.
"Why does he keep doing that?" Ethan asked, pointing at Randy.
"No idea?" Duke answered.
"Well, we really need to come up with a name for these things.
"Infected," someone said.
"No way," said Duke.
"Biters?" another voice called out.
"Maybe,"
"Strangers?"
"Monsters?"
"Sickos?"
Duke shot down all of the suggestions.
"I have an idea," a kid said.
Everyone looked to see a boy standing at the back of the auditorium. It was Chandler.
"How about we call them greens?"
"Why greens?" Duke asked.
"Because these adults have a sickly green skin and we hate them. And you know what else is green and we hate?" Chandler took a dramatic pause. "Vegetables."
Some kids laughed, others shook their head.
"It's perfect," said Duke.
Some kids objected to Duke's idea of calling the adults, greens.
"That's stupid," said Ethan.
"Yeah, some of us like vegetables," Lynn also said.
"I don't care what you think," Duke told them. "I'm the leader and if I say these adults are called greens the they're called greens.
Lynn rolled her eyes. Every suggestion she'd heard before greens was a way better term.
"Excuse me?" someone said.
All eyes turned to the voice. It was Zeke.
"I only came here with my flock because I heard there was a girl here. A smart girl who's trying to find a cure."
"Who told you that?" Duke asked.
"Does it really matter? I just want to meet the girl who's going to end all of this."
"In a minute," Duke told him. "First, I need you to tell me about yourself. I know your name is Zeke and you're extremely religious and into fitness, but I'd like to know how you've survived so far."
"The grace of God," Zeke answered.
"Can you be elaborate?"
"It's simple. I'm the chosen one. I do what God tells me to do and right now God wants me to go see the girl who's going to stop all of this?"
There was murmuring all throughout the auditorium as soon as Zeke finished talking. Lincoln, Clyde, Lucy, and a few other kids were standing at the back of the auditorium against the walls. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you what he's talking about." A girl stepped up holding a younger boys hand.
"And, who are you?" Duke asked the girl.
"My name's Mary Harper, and Zeke is telling the truth when he says that he's the chosen one."
"And how can you be so sure."
"Because," Mary began, and she told them what she'd told Stan earlier, about how none of the adults would attack Zeke and about how he'd kept them safe and heard the voice of God tell him that Stan's group was going to show up. She left out the most important part of why they were there though. Something Zeke had told them earlier. Something he only trusted with his flock.
Duke slowly nodded his head and turned to the rest of Zeke's group. "Do the rest of you believe this as well?"
A lot of the older kids nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay," Duke simply said. "Zeke I'm going to have to ask you to leave and take your flock with you."
"What?" Zeke's heart dropped.
"You heard me. You and your group are obviously crazy. Hearing voices and shit."
"We're not crazy, it's the truth," Zeke protested.
"I'm sure you believe that, which is why I can't have you staying here. You and your group are too much of a risk."
"Please," Zeke begged. "I just want to see this girl and then we'll leave."
"I can't let you do that."
Zeke eased up and clutched his hammer tight.
So be it.
He turned to the teens that were standing next to him. There were twelve teens he knew from church and the gym. They were all as strong as he was. They returned his gaze and they instantly knew what they had to do.
Duke felt bad that he was about to send these kids out on their own. But if Zeke really was as close to God as he said he was he should be fine. "Joey, will you and the other guards please escort these kids out of- "
There were screams as Zeke swung his hammer and hit the closest teen standing next to him square in the side of the head. Other members of the church brandished knives and slashed at teens who stood close to them as well.
Duke swore. Stan hurried away from the slaughter, while the Loud sisters all held each other and stepped back. Joey rushed towards Zeke but was quickly cut-off by one of Zeke's friends.
Zeke constantly swung his hammer hitting any kid that stood in his way as he made a break for the auditorium doors. As he got nearer some kids that were standing near the door to watch the arrival of the group out of curiosity quickly stepped out of the way and he was finally back in the halls of Royal Woods Elementary School, looking in every room as he passed each door.
Lincoln held onto Lucy as he and a few other kids began to scramble to a corner in the auditorium away from the scuffle.
"What the heck is going on?" Clyde shrieked.
Lincoln didn't have an answer. He suddenly spotted his sisters scurrying away from the scene as well.
He screamed their names and they all looked up and smiled at him as they made their way towards each other.
"What's going on?" Lincoln asked them when they reached each other.
"I have no idea?" said Luna.
"Did you hear what Zeke said though?" Lincoln asked.
"Yeah," Lynn answered. "He said God told him to…go see Lisa?"
"Yeah," Luan nodded, "But what could it…"
They all swore and began to make their way into the hallway after Zeke.
Clyde tried to follow them but was quickly cut-off by a bunch of kids as they ran past him. By the time he made it into the hallway he had no idea where Lincoln and his siblings were.
Joey, a few other guards, and Ethan and some kids from his group were all making a stand against Zeke's group. Some of the church kids were slashing furiously with knives while some of the younger kids cried as they watched the scene unfold.
Joey, and his group quickly gained the upper hand as they outnumbered the group.
The church group began to flee as some of them were killed by the Elementary school group and the Colts.
Zeke continued down the hall. He could hear a voice calling out to him, he was getting closer. He stopped when he reached the gym and looked in. There were only kids in there with some older kids watching them. Some of the kids noticed him but he hurried away before they could get a good look.
Closer. The voice continued.
Zeke's heart was racing. He could sense that he was almost there. Attainment was at hand. He didn't doubt himself. He knew he would succeed. He was the chosen one. Why else would the blast have occurred on his birthday of all days. Specifically, his sixteenth birthday. He knew the disease only affected people sixteen and older, but not him. He had to be the only non-infected sixteen-year-old in the world.
The disease had to have spared him so he could be the one to do what was necessary for stopping the development of a cure. And the only way to do that would be to kill Lisa Loud. She was no savior, she was a Heretic.
Lisa continued studying the adults. He was acting strange over the last few minutes. He looked almost excited.
"I have to go the bathroom," Brain told Lisa.
Lisa made no gesture to indicate that she heard him.
He didn't bother repeating himself and went out of the room. After he shut the door he started down the hall and that's when he saw someone running towards him.
"Who in the world?" Brian suddenly heard shouts coming from down the hall past the approaching figure. Then some of Lisa's older siblings appeared, shouting at him to stop that kid.
Brian didn't know what to do. As the kid got closer he realized that he was bigger and stronger than him. All Brian could do was stand in place and stretch his arms out.
The kid bowled right over Brian, knocking him out.
Zeke noticed that this kid was wearing a white lab coat. Which meant that he had to have come from the lab.
HERE! The voice screamed out to him.
Zeke smiled once he looked in the room and saw Lisa all alone. He knew God wanted him to accomplish his goal.
Lisa heard the door open and assumed it was Brain returning because he'd forgotten something. Then she heard the sound of a table being dragged across the floor just as it sounded when Brian had done it earlier.
She looked behind her and saw a kid she didn't recognize shoving the table against the door to prevent anyone from entering. Then he looked at the adult that was chained to the table and then at her.
Lisa quickly became terrified. The person who stood before her had blood stains on his clothes and wielded a hammer that was drooping with blood, and a wicked smile on his creepy face.
Lisa was too afraid to say anything.
And then the teen spoke. "We have traveled light-years. Searching for a planet with suitable hosts. One we could call home" He took a step towards Lisa. Promoting her to take a step away.
Zeke continued. "We live only to consume and devour the flesh of the planets young ones. And we will stop at nothing to accomplish our goals."
Lisa took another step away as the teen stepped closer. There was suddenly banging on the door and screams. Lisa recognized the screams. It was her siblings. They were pounding on the door and shouting threats and obscenities at Zeke. But he ignored them.
"We are the future. Not you or anyone else. The world belongs to us. We will hunt, kill, and feed on every kid until the end of time. Nothing will stop us, not even you."
Lisa began to reach for something under her desk. Something she didn't trust to anyone. Only she knew it was there. Her siblings continued to beat at the door as the wood on it began to crack.
Zeke raised his hammer. "You will die, along with any hope for a cure. And we will live, strive, and prosper in our new world. We are the inheritors. We are your end. We are unstoppable."
Lisa quickly grabbed and held up what she was reaching for. It was a raygun. She aimed it at Zeke and fired. He didn't even flinch as the beam of energy shot right through him. Instead he began to speed up his advance towards Lisa. She fired again but Zeke kept on moving, as blood began to dribble down his clothes. The young scientist really began to panic as tears formed in her eyes. Images of her family and friends whooshed in and out of her head. She didn't want to die she was only four. She still had a long life ahead of her. A life filled with scientific discoveries, vast explorations, and joining the Intergalactic Council. There was no way she was going to be killed by this cretin.
Just then a thought popped in her brain. Aim for the head. It was as if her siblings were right beside her telling her that. She remembered hearing Lincoln playing his first-person shooter video games with zombies in them and he'd always tell the person he was playing with to aim for the head.
Lisa wanted to smack herself for not thinking of that sooner, because Zeke was right in front of her now.
She aimed the weapon at his head as he lifted his hammer.
She closed her eyes, heard her siblings finally barge in, and pulled the trigger.
9. Humanity's Savior
The sun shone brightly onto the world as the crowd waited for the ceremony to begin. Lisa sat front and center on the stage with a big smile on her face. She could barely contain her excitement. Her dream had finally come true. After saving the world from the virus that took control of everyone sixteen and older she was able to find a cure and bring back everyone who had gone mad due to the disease.
She looked out into the crown of millions. And sitting in the front row only a few yards away from her was her family. She was delighted that she was able to cure Leni, Lori, and her mom and dad. They all had big bright smiled on their faces.
A man dressed in a suit approached the podium on the stage and began to speak. "Ladies, and gentleman, we have gathered her today, to celebrate the incredible accomplishment of Lisa Marie Loud who- despite all the hardships, attacks, and assassination attempts on her life. Managed to find a cure to the horrible disease that affected us all and save humanity."
The large crowd roared with applause.
Lisa could feel the smile on her face growing bigger.
"And because of this accomplishment she has been chosen to represent Earth on the Interplanetary Council."
The roars of the crowd continued as the man applauded her as well as other leaders of the world.
"Lisa Marie Loud, your journey on Earth ends here and your journey into the great beyond begins."
Lisa got up and looked behind her. A rocket ship was ready to launch. In front of it stood inhabitants from other planets. All of them part of the Interplanetary Council as well.
As Lisa approached the ship, she took one last look at the crowd and her family. The gigantic smiles on their faces hadn't waned one little bit.
"I'm so proud of her," said Rita.
"I know," said Lynn Sr. "Our little genius is a hero and a savior to all of mankind." He wiped tears from his eyes.
"I literally couldn't be happier for her," said Lori.
"Who knew so much smart could fit inside such a little head?" said Leni.
"We love you sis, you're an all-star!" Luna shouted.
"I hope you have a blast," Luan laughed.
"You're gonna kick butt!" Lynn cheered.
"Take care, Lisa," Lincoln shouted.
"I hope you enjoy the vast emptiness of space," said Lucy.
"I hope you get to see some really cool, gross looking alien mutants," said Lana.
"You're a space queen!" Lola shouted.
"Bye-bye Sa Sa," said Lily.
Lisa put on her spacesuit and helmet and boarded the ship.
The countdown began.
The female alien sitting next to Lisa looked at her.
"Are you nervous?" she asked.
"I guess," Lisa answered. Turning to the alien. She looked Nordic. She had white skin, long blonde hair and blue eyes. Lisa felt safe in her presence as if the lady was protecting her. She gave off an angelic vibe.
"Don't worry," she said, "You're safe with us, no one will ever be able to hurt you again."
Lisa nodded "I just wonder if leaving is the right thing to do? I really feel like there's more I could've done for the world."
The woman made a soft shushing sound and spoke again. "You've done all you could, there's nothing more for you here. Now sit back and rest. You've earned it."
Lisa felt a calmness wash over her.
The rocket ship blasted off and Lisa could hear the crowd chanting her name over the thundering of the rockets engines.
"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa!"
The launch site began to shrink away. Somehow, Lisa could see everything as the rocket continued to ascend. She saw her town of Royal Woods, and then she saw her school and finally she saw her house. The place she loved the most. The place where she was the happiest. It wasn't school or the library, or the universities or the museums, or the science labs where she was the happiest. It was her house. The Loud house, her one and only home. Now she was off to a new home. A new place. A new adventure. Space, the final frontier.
Soon the world began to drift away until it was only a dot in the middle of a blank, dark, starless atmosphere.
Lisa closed her eyes as the rocket continued into the great beyond. "Goodbye house. Goodbye family. Goodbye world."
10. No Hope
"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa," All of Lisa's siblings cried her name as if she'd come back to them if they said it enough times.
Luna held Lisa's body which had Zeke's hammer embedded into its skull.
Luan was on her knees and she threw her head back as she wailed.
Lynn was crying, swearing and punching the ground as she lay on all fours.
Lincoln was sitting and holding Lucy as they both wept together.
Meanwhile, back at the auditorium Zeke's group had been taken down, some of them were dead and others were injured and had no will to fight.
Joey counted the bodies. He knew Zeke had escaped but there was another one missing.
"There's one behind the stage!" Ethan cried.
He and Joey ran after him to find him slashing the tires of the bus.
"I didn't know you guys had a bus," said Ethan.
The teen looked at them and smiled.
"A bus that can't go anywhere."
Joey swore and rushed the teen.
The boy held out his knife in a defensive stance, but Joey ended up cutting off his hand with one swing of his axe.
The boy screamed and fell to his knees. He looked up and shouted. "Are you watching God? I'm doing all of this for you!"
"No one's watching over any of us," said Joey, coldly. And he brought his axe down on the boy's head.
He and Ethan dragged the body back to the auditorium. Where kids were still crying as other teens were looking around nervously, still shocked at what had just happened. Joey spotted Duke standing in the middle of the carnage staring off into the distance and ran up to him.
"Come on Duke we have to go after Zeke."
"I-I-I didn't w-w-want any of this" Tear were running down Duke's face.
Joey slapped Duke which brought him back to his senses.
"Come on dude, no one wanted any of this. But it's happened. Now be a leader."
"All right, all right." Duke told some of the older kids to take the younger kids to the gym and told Ethan to tell some of his friends to keep an eye on the church group.
Ethan nodded and turned to a strong looking girl with short wavy blonde hair. "Lexi, you and Norman stay here and keep an eye on them." He pointed to the injured church kids on the ground and the scared little church kids in the corner. "We're going to go look for Zeke."
"Yes, sir," she said, and held up her axe as if she was ready to attack.
As Joey and the rest made their way down the auditorium they past many of their own kids who were lying on the ground with head wounds, some of them weren't moving while other sat and sobbed.
Looks like Sanjay's going to have a lot of work to do. Joey thought.
Lana and Lola were still in the gym. Lana had gone up to Trinity and told her she'd seen a scary looking person look at her through the small window on one of the double doors. Trinity put a hand on her shoulder and told one of the older kids to go take a look.
The kid looked out and saw some other kids run by.
"I think somethings going on," he said.
Lana and Lola huddled closer together as they and some other young kids scooted closer to Trinity.
Then other kids began to come into the gym.
"What's going on?" the kid at the door asked one of them.
"Stan and the others are back."
Lana and Lola perked up when they heard this.
"It's bad out there, people are dead."
The twins looked at each other and then back at the kids who were pouring into the gym.
"Are our sisters okay?" Lana and Lola got up and went towards the kid before Trinity could stop them.
The kids looked at the twins and he instantly knew who they were talking about.
"Yeah, they're fine."
Lana and Lola eased up.
They were about to ask him where they were when they heard shouting coming from down the hall. They recognized the shouts. It was their siblings. Lana and Lola threw caution to the wind and ran past the kid into the halls. Ignoring shouts from the older kids.
They ran down the hall as fast as their little legs could carry them. Their sibling's screams grew louder the closer they got to the were coming from. Their hearts were racing as they passed Brian who was lying on the ground rubbing his head.
They reached the room where the screams resided: the science lab.
Lana and Lola looked in. They saw all their older siblings crying. And the body of an older kid lying on the ground with a hole in his head as if he had been blasted by something. His eyes were wide open and he had a smile on his face. They tried their best to ignore the body and approached their siblings without them noticing. Lola made a whimpering sound and her siblings finally noticed them.
They all looked at each other and the twins noticed that Lisa was absent.
"What's going on?" asked Lola.
"Where's Lisa?" asked Lana.
They both noticed that Luna was holding something in her arms.
"What are you holding?" Lola asked.
Luna tried to hide what she was holding. As Lynn got up and tried to escort the twins away.
"No, where's Lisa?" Lana started to shout.
"Where's our little sister?" Lola was screaming.
Lynn was struggling to contain the twins. Lincoln tried to get up and help Lynn, but Lucy held onto him to prevent him from leaving her.
The twins were both screaming and managed to break away from Lynn.
"No!" everyone shouted. As the twins made their way towards Luna. She made a last-ditch effort to hide what she was holding from the twins. As if keeping them from seeing what she held onto would protect them from all the pain and misery they were experiencing at that moment. But the twins were too fast. Once they saw Lisa with the hammer firmly driven into her head they lost it.
Lana started to scream and sob, while Lola began to shake. Her vision became fuzzy and she suddenly felt dizzy. Then she was surrounded by darkness. Lynn caught her as she fell and held onto to her and cried. The other joined in as well and they all held each other. Why did Lisa have to die? She didn't deserve to die. No one did.
Soon, other kids began to appear in the door way. Some of them stepped back and started to cry when they saw the dead bodies, while others stood still and put hands to their mouths.
Duke, Joey, and Ethan finally made it to the science lab.
"What happened?" Duke asked one of the kids.
"The smart one… she's dead."
Duke stood as still as a stone as the sounds of the crying Loud siblings began to fade into nothingness. Only to be replaced by a high-pitched ringing noise. He saw the shapes of people still moving in front of him. He could make out Ethan saying something to Joey with his arms in a shrugged position as if he was asking him something. He could see Joey talking back to him and Ethan put a hand on his head as if what Joey had said shocked him completely.
Even though he didn't hear what they were saying he knew exactly what Joey had just said. Lisa Loud was a genius. The only person in the world who could've put a stop to this disease. And now she was dead. Their little beacon of hope was extinguished. This was the end. They were fucked.
Duke wanted to kill himself at that moment. He wanted to take the spear and drive it into his chest. Why did he have to make Stan and the others go to the middle school. He should've just told Jay and the rest to fuck off. If he hadn't have sent them off they would never have found Zeke and Lisa would still be alive. It was all his fault. He hoped one of the Loud sisters would die. So that Lisa would work harder on finding a cure. But in the end, it was Lisa who payed the price for his selfish act. The only one they couldn't afford to lose. Duke wanted to be a hero. But now, he was a villain. The human population was going to go extinct all because he wanted to be the one on top.
11. Christopher Savinski VI
Chris and the others dug into the kids that they had captured. Some of the kids had escaped, but Chris didn't fret over them. In time they'd get theirs. Instead, Chris looked ahead to where they'd go next. He pulled out a map and studied the next few towns they'd end up at: Hazeltucky, Huntington Oaks, and Royal Woods.
Chris couldn't wait to gather up even more adults and see the look on all the kids faces when they showed up. He figured if kids were held up in this school. Then their had to be other groups of kids in these town's schools as well.
He laughed, shoved the map back into his pocket and continued to dig into the flesh of the partially alive kid that was lying in front of him.
Lisa was OP I had to nerf.
But seriously, do you want to know what my favorite parts of The Enemy series were? They were the death scenes. Like how sometimes characters would imagine things before they died. In Lisa's case she imagined accomplishing her goal of representing Earth on the Interplanetary Council.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was the final chapter of Phase II.
Stay tuned for chapter 1 of Phase III: The Danger.