It's hard not to judge a book by its cover, same goes for people.
I slammed the shovel into the wet soil wiping the sweat from my forehead. "That should do it." I announced.
Patrick didn't say a word he just brushed the dirt from his pants and walked back into the house, I followed after him.
Stepping over the dead zombies we made our way into the living room Patrick picked up his knapsack and Gary's shotgun.
"Y'know you could come with us." I offered.
He looked back at me. "Look, I appreciate that you helped me bury them but..." he walked towards the front door, "...you're crazy if you think I'm coming with you two psychos."
He swung open the door, "So I'm just gonna get as far from you guys as possible." He announced. He climbed into his car placing his things in the passenger seat, slamming the door shut, starting up the car and backed out of the driveway.
I ran over to the driver's side and knocked on the window, "Can I at least have some magazines for the Beretta?" I asked.
He sat there for a minute, pondering. "C'mon you've got a goddamn shotgun." I argued.
"Fine." he reluctantly agreed, rolling the window down he handed me 4 clips. "Thanks" I said.
"Might want to check on your girlfriend...not that I care, it's just a suggestion." he replied.
I stood there holding the ammo as he drove away. "She's not my girlfriend." I growled squeezing the clips in anger. I walked back inside the house closing the door behind me; I set the ammo on the kitchen table "We have to leave soon." I thought.
I headed up stairs entering Sharon's room half-expecting her to be in there, she wasn't. I examined the room for our duffle bag, finding it in the corner I opened up the side pocket stuffing my almost empty .357 inside the pocket. I looked over at the bed, "Why does everything bad happen when I'm unconscious?" I wondered. I glanced over at the dresser spotting my locket I quickly ran over to it; dropping the bag.
I held it close, "I wish you guys were here." I said softly. I put the locket back on breathing a sigh of relief, "Finally back where it belongs."
I walked back downstairs, "Sharon, I think we should go." I called out.
No response. I placed my stuff on the kitchen table and went to look for her.
"Sharon?" I called out again. I pulled out my Beretta in case there were Them still roaming. As I neared the room at the end of the hallway I could hear soft crying "Sharon, you okay?" I asked.
"Y-Yeah I'm fine." she answered. I slowly opened the door I found her sitting against the wall, wiping away her tears.
"You sure?" I asked wanting a confirmation. She didn't respond I sighed, "Looks like I have to console her."
"Leave me out of it." Drake ordered me.
I put my gun away and sat next to her. "Okay...what's wrong?" I asked.
"It's not fair..." she began.
"...It's not fucking fair"
"You mean what happened?" I wondered. She nodded.
"Didn't you just meet them?" I asked.
"That's not the point!" She snapped. "They were good people who didn't deserve any of this!"
"Okay, okay I'm sorry I-I'm not good at this." I apologized.
"*Sigh* This is a cruel world we live in. Bad stuff happens to good people."
"I know." She agreed.
We sat in silence for a while. She looked at a broken picture frame on the floor showing a photo of Sharon, her Mother, her Father, and her brother.
"Do you remember Jesse, my brother?" she asked.
I thought for a bit, "Yeah I do, he always acted as if he were hyped up on sugar. What happened to him?"
"*Sigh* H-he was shot." she said quietly
"You mean from the robbery? I heard about it in school but then again I don't believe the rumors."
"That's not what really happened."
I looked at her, "What do you mean?"
She took a deep breath and began:
"7 years ago on a rainy day Dad was away at a meeting, Mom ran to the supermarket for a bit. It was just me and Jesse bored out of our minds.
"Hey Sharon, guess what I found." He told me.
"What?" I asked intrigued.
He beckoned me towards Mom and Dad's room. They told us over and over again not to go into their room while they were away, but curiosity is a powerful force.
He showed me a wall safe behind a portrait, funny how we didn't notice it before.
"Do you know the code?" I asked.
"Yeah it's the last number of the years the four of us were born in."
He punched in the code: 6079, it popped open reveling Mom's emergency funds and Dad's Colt .45 he had for protection.
"We shouldn't be doing this." I told him.
Jesse slowly pulled out the gun.
"Think it's loaded?" He asked.
"I don't want to find out." I said.
He fumbled with the gun "How do you get the clip out?" he said to himself.
He accidentally pulled the trigger; the bullet just missed my head.
My skin turned pale, my muscles locked up, my heart beating so fast I could barely breathe. Jesse scared out of his mind ran to me, "You okay!" he asked.
He shook me out of it, "You okay!" he asked looking into my eyes.
I looked down at the gun in his hand, I grabbed at it trying to take it from him to put it back in the safe.
"Put it back!" I kept yelling. I finally got it away from him but…my finger squeezed the trigger, the force of the gun knocked me down. I looked back up at Jesse his face had gone pale, the blood gushing from the bullet wound as he fell to the ground.
I dropped the gun and rushed over to him. He looked at me trying to say something but he kept choking on the blood. His chest stopped moving, I was speechless all I could do was cry. Then I heard the door open I looked back to see my Mother, her expression was that of horror "Jesse!" she screamed.
"The horror in Jesse's eyes still haunts me to this day. The doctor said the bullet punctured his left lung filling it with blood."
"Holy crap." I said softly.
"Mom and Dad were devastated, Dad dealt with it as best he could, Mom dealt with it through the use of alcohol. She blamed herself for what happened, leaving us alone like that; so she decided to drink away the pain until it was too much to bear she hung herself in the bedroom. I had to undergo years of therapy in order to cope with the incident."
"I-I'm sorry" I said softly.
"Don't pity me." She retorted.
"Sorry."
"Stop it!"
"Okay, but why didn't you just tell me back then?"
"What was I going to say? I killed my brother which in turn caused the suicide of my mother? I didn't want you to avoid me."
"I-Is that why you hate using guns?" I asked.
"Yeah." She quietly said.
I thought back a minute, "Wait a second…"
"How was that a robbery?" I asked.
"Fucking politics that's how!" she blurted out.
"City Council was about to pass some bill on gun ownership y'know for protection. Well if word got out about a council member's child being killed by the gun he owned that would've kept the bill from passing. So they decided to turn it into a robbery that way the people would feel sorry for the child and want to protect their own kids from similar incidents. Instead of admitting the truth, what does my Dad do? He bends over backwards for them."
"When I got older and found this out I just couldn't stand him anymore."
"Holy shit…" I said quietly.
"I killed Jesse it's all my fault." She said burying her face in her hands and began to sob.
I tried to reassure her, "It's not your fault."
"I'm a murderer!" She exclaimed through her tears.
I stood up, grabbing her by the arms, picking her up, "Listen to me you are not a murderer, you got that!" I told her.
"But…"
I interrupted her, "But nothing it was an accident, plain and simple!"
She opened her mouth but no words came out, she just stared back into my eyes.
"Look I'm sorry I really am; I know it was rough for you but we have to move on in life." I told her.
She chuckled, "This coming from someone who can't even let go of his dead girlfriend."
I felt my heart sink I stepped away from her, and left the room without saying a word. Halfway down the hall I felt rush of anger envelop me I sent my fist into the wall, breathing heavily I looked to see one of Them stumbling towards me from the front door I smiled removing my hand from the wall.
"You caught me at a very bad time." I muttered walking toward it. It lunged at me I quickly grabbed its head and slammed it into the kitchen counter I felt my smile grow into an evil one. I just wanted to kill something. I picked it up by the neck with my hands till it was on its knees holding its head I looked into her dead gray eyes.
"Look at you, you used to be someone very beautiful, alive, and healthy but now…heh your nothing but a mindless husk filled with maggots and decaying meat wanting only to feed upon the living to fill your fat gluttonous stomach."
"Isn't that right?" I asked it.
The zombie snarled snapping its jaws at me, "That's what I thought"
I plunged my thumbs into its eye sockets squeezing out its eyes like jelly, blood and maggots spewed from the sockets. In a quick jerk I snapped its neck like a twig; I let the body fall to the floor. I looked at my hands; dirty from the blood. I walked over to the kitchen sink washing them thoroughly with soap.
"Wow, she finally got to you." Drake laughed.
I ignored him, "It's funny. All anyone has to do is being Helen up as a negative and you just lose it."
I grabbed at his collar, "You want to start something or are you too fuckin chicken."
He just smiled, "Alright, that's enough you two." Roy interrupted.
Roy pulled me away from Drake, "Harrison, calm down."
I pulled my arm away and looked at him; He was almost the same as me except he didn't wear glasses or shoes and his hair was short with white tips, wearing a white long sleeve shirt with black sleeves and gray cargo pants.
"So, you're Roy?"
He took a bow "At your service."
"Told you he was fruity." Drake said.
"Up yours, Drake." Roy said flipping him off.
"What do you want?" I asked Roy.
"To keep you from doing something stupid." He responded.
"Don't let the grief consume you."
I looked at him, dumbfounded "What do you mean?"
"I know what you were thinking. It's not worth it, you need to let it go."
"Easy for you to say..." I retorted.
I reached for the glass on the table, "...you didn't have to live with it."
I drank from the glass and immediately spit it out.
"Ugh…what the hell is this stuff?"
"Jack Daniels." Drake said picking up the bottle.
He shrugged his shoulders, "I prefer Bourbon but this'll do." He began to chug the whole thing.
Roy sat up on the counter, "See what I have to deal with here."
I nodded in agreement but noticed something odd about Roy.
"What's wrong with your hand?" I asked.
He looked at his hand some sort of black substance was infecting it.
"What this? This is nothing." He responded.
Drake finished the bottle, "Damn, I'm not even buzzed." He sighed then threw the bottle against floor, breaking it.
Me and Roy glared at him. "What was that?" Sharon asked from down the hall.
"None of your business!" I yelled back.
She didn't respond back.
"That's another thing we have to discuss." Roy started.
I leaned against the counter and folded my arms, "What do you mean?" I asked.
"Go easy on her, she's had it rough."
"So have I..." I said.
"...I watched my parents die in front of me, Helen died in my arms two mouths ago." I added.
"She killed her brother by accident and her mother committed suicide. Not to mention some psychopath just exacerbated the situation by sleeping with her...isn't that right Drake?"
"I don't see the problem there." Drake retorted.
Roy grabbed at his collar, "Do you realize what you've done? She's had a big crush on Stephen since the 3rd grade and you slept with her. She's already messed up now she thinks Stephen loves her, what's that going to do to her mental state if you just break it off; she's going feel used and want to kill us mainly Stephen."
"Hey." I snapped at him.
"Sorry." Roy said.
"Some women like being used." Drake said with a smile.
Roy let him go and bowed his head in disappointment, "God, you're hopeless." He muttered.
"The way I see we have four options:
1. We continue with this "I love you" charade and hope she's buys it.
2. We kill her before it escalates any further.
3. We leave her behind
Or...
4. We could use her to our advantage she'll be a valuable ally, she'd probably follow Stephen through Hell if she could." Drake suggested.
Everyone was silent for a while.
"She's a good friend and a good person I don't want to manipulate her. I choose none of the above, instead I'll do what I always do; ignore the problem until later."
"I don't know about that..." Drake began.
"I'll deal with it when it becomes an issue." I growled at him.
I walked up to Drake "If you hurt her in anyway..."
I got up in his face, "...I will kill you."
Sharon stepped into the room wearing her leather jumpsuit. "Ready to go?" She asked placing her clean machete back into the sheathe.
I looked back at her, hoping she didn't hear my conversation.
"Yeah..." I responded.
There was an awkward silence for a moment, both of us afraid to break it.
We took a deep breath, "Look..." We said in unison.
Sharon blushed then she sighed, "Look...I-I'm sorry I brought her up I know she meant a lot to you."
"Sharon..." I started.
"It's just...you were always happy with her, you were never that happy around me and that...that just pissed me off but when she died, you changed. You shut everyone out, stopped talking all together. I just wanted things to go back to the way things were. I wanted you to know you still had a friend who still cared. You weren't the only one who went through the death of a loved one." She continued.
I walked up to her and hugged her.
"Please don't change." She whispered.
"I'm alright Sharon. Thank you." I whispered into her ear.
She gently pushed me away, "Okay we got that mopey crap out of the way can we get back to the zombie killing now?" She asked.
"Finally!" Drake joyously said.
"Yeah..."
"...but can I have my hoodie back?" I asked.
"Sure." She handed me my hoodie. I put it on, still warm from her body.
Sharon headed outside, "As if Social Anxiety wasn't enough." I thought. I grabbed the duffle bag and followed her.
We saw Them roaming the streets. Sharon took out her blade and sliced the closest one's head down the middle. I took aim and fired at Them, caught one of Them in the left eye. Sharon jumped on her bike and started it.
"C'mon let's go." She ordered.
"I thought you wanted to kill some zombies!" I wondered.
"Plenty of Them to kill along the way." She said.
I fired off one more before running to the bike. She peeled out; she swung her machete at Them as we went past. She was laughing the entire time.
The bus wasn't going anywhere, the street in total gridlock. Everyone was asleep except Bailey and Richard.
"We can't stay on this bus forever." Richard finally said.
"Couldn't agree more." Bailey agreed.
Richard took a deep breath and stood up "Alright everyone wake up!" he ordered. The other woke up.
"This bus isn't going anywhere. We should take our chances and continue on foot towards the park."
"I don't feel like walking through a city with thousands of dead cannibals, its suicide!" Robert blurted out.
"He's right, it's suicide!" Amy joined in.
"If we split up its suicide but if we work together we can make it." Richard argued.
"So who's with me?" He asked.
Lisa shot up next to him, "I'm in."
"Yep." Bailey joined in.
Amy looked at Robert, waiting for his answer.
"Alright..." He reluctantly agreed.
"...But if we die it's on your head." He added.
Richard picked up his crowbar, "With that settled..."
Screams and gunfire interrupted him, everyone looked out the windows.
People ran for their lives, as They made their way through the traffic jam eating anyone who got in their way.
"Well that's our cue." Bailey announced. He opened the bus door, "Let's move!" He ordered.
One by one they quickly exited the bus. Fleeing citizens ran past them. A Goth kid ran into Amy, knocking her down, he fell down with her.
"Shit, sorry!" He apologized looking into her eyes. Enraged, Robert pulled him off her. "Watch where you're going, shithead!" He yelled pushing him down.
"This isn't the time!" Lisa said helping Amy back to her feet. Richard looked back at the incoming horde; They were already at the back of the bus.
Robert looked too "Shit! These fuckers are fast!" Robert yelled.
Richard raised his bat and swung at Them, smashing into its face knocking it back into other zombies buying them some time. "Go!"
Everyone made a run for it, Bailey picked up the Goth kid. "C'mon!" he yelled. He nodded, "Alright."
Further down the road they spotted a police barricade, a mob of panicking citizens trying desperately to get past. Shots rang out as the police fired at them, the mob retaliated.
"Now what!" the Goth kid asked.
"There's no way past without being shot!" He added.
The group looked around, hard to concentrate when everyone is screaming.
Lisa spotted an alley, free of the undead. "There!" She yelled out.
Everyone quickly looked to where she pointed to.
"It's better than nothing!" Bailey said.
As they ran for the alley, Richard looked to see a speeding car on the sidewalk heading in their direction. Zombies were on the windshield blocking the drivers view.
"Oh shit!" He thought.
The speeding car hit a guardrail causing it to flip into the air, towards him.
Richard saw that Robert hadn't entered the alley yet, "Move!" he ordered Robert.
Robert looked back and saw the car flying towards them, his legs froze unable to move. Without a moment to lose Richard ran at Robert, he tackled him into the alley just in time. The car smashed into the alley wall missing them by an inch.
The dust settled Richard looked back to see the alley was now blocked they couldn't go back to the streets.
"That was close." He said out of breath.
He looked back at Robert, "You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah." He answered.
Robert looked up at him, "Get off me!" he yelled. Richard got off him, "You owe me one." he said.
"Whatever, I would've dodged it anyway." He boasted.
He picked up his hat, dusting it off, putting it back on.
The others ran to them. "You guys alright?" Bailey asked.
"Yep." They answered.
Everyone looked at the car, "That will keep Them out." Amy announced. They could hear more screaming on the other side followed by more gunfire and an explosion.
"It's like World War Z out there." The Goth kid said.
"Nothing we can do but go forward." Lisa said.
They all nodded in agreement and pressed on.
The sun shined through the clouds as we roared through the streets it was quieter then yesterday.
"Hey, check it out" Sharon pointed out. Up ahead we spotted an overpass, "That goes to Franklin Street." she added.
"Finally." I murmured.
"What floor does she live on?" she asked. I tried to remember which floor, "Uh-err...3A no...5D...fuck."
"Didn't she tell you?" she moaned.
"...Oh it's 4E." I remembered.
"Let's hope the on-ramp is clear."
As we drew closer it became apparent we weren't alone. They were in our way along with a long line of abandoned cars.
"Every single fucking time!" Sharon screamed in frustration as she slowed to a stop. A loud explosion tore through an office building at the other side of the overpass a few seconds' later people and zombies stumbled out of the building on fire.
"Holy shit!" we exclaimed. A Humvee burst through a fence next to the office parking lot. A tattooed individual popped up, mounted the .50 cal and opened fire on the crowd. They weren't military.
"We should find another way" I suggested. She didn't say anything back, she revved the bike.
"Please tell me you're not going to charge them." I asked praying that she wouldn't.
She quickly looked back at me, "Then get off!" she yelled.
I didn't say anything; it's been a long time since I've heard her scream like that. I hopped off.
She took off in the Humvee's direction.
"Definitely a feisty one there." Drake added.
She began to pick up speed; the occupants of the Humvee were too busy watching the massacre to notice her. Sharon noticed the broken fence in the shape of a ramp, she smiled under her helmet.
"This won't end well." I thought out loud. She hit the make-shift ramp at full speed, the gunner noticed her a little too late as the bike's back wheel came crashing down on top of him crushing his ribs and skull, in that split second Sharon revved the bike as hard as she could. Severing his head and smearing his upper body all over the roof of the truck, his flesh seared off into the suspension, his severed head fell into the truck his body gave her enough momentum to jump off the Humvee. We could hear screams coming from the vehicle.
She made her way back, she flipped up her visor "How was that?" she asked.
Before I could answer the sound of tires screeching interrupted me, we saw the Humvee heading in our direction.
"Hurry, get your sweet ass on!" Sharon ordered. I pretended I didn't hear that last part as I quickly jumped on and held on tight.
A new gunner popped up. Before we knew it they opened fire on us, my heart jumped out of my chest as the bullets whipped past us. "What now!" I asked gripping her tighter.
Sharon was unusually calm, "Hang on!" she yelled. She pulled the handbrake to execute a sharp U-turn we were now facing the Humvee (which also stopped). Both vehicles stared down each other revving their engines. "Time to play chicken." Sharon said with excitement.
"Oh for fucks sake." I moaned.
Both vehicles peeled out, Sharon showed off by popping a wheelie. As we picked up more speed the Humvee fired at us again, "Cheaters!" Sharon screamed. The bullets flew past us I was shocked we weren't hit yet. I spotted an empty semi car hauler conveniently made into a ramp gave me an idea.
"Sharon!" I yelled to her.
"What!"
"Hit that ramp! If we go fast enough we can make it onto the overpass!"
"If I turn the bullets will tear us to shreds!" She argued.
"I got that covered" I reassured her. I pulled out the Beretta and began firing at the gunner. They stopped firing. "Alright, hang on!"
We hit the ramp at full force launching us into the air I almost felt weight-less with a tickling sensation in the pit of my stomach. I think the occupants inside the Humvee were watching us in amazement. Sharon looked back at me I couldn't tell her expression because of her helmet but I think she was smiling. It's funny how the mind can process thousands of thoughts in a second. As we grew closer to the overpass I realized I should've thought this through more. The front tire smashed into the guardrail the shock caused Sharon to let go of the bike, propelling us over the handlebars I let go of her. She flipped over hitting the divider upside down, falling onto her side. I flew over the divider, my shoulder smashing into it only to hit an abandon car on the other side. My body dented the car door the duffle bag kept me from breaking my spine, the back of my head smacked into the window sending me into a daze I looked up just in time to see the motorcycle miss me, flipping off the overpass and onto the streets below, I heard an explosion shortly after.
I sat up against the car my entire body ached as I grunted in pain I felt blood drip down the back of my neck, the taste of blood inside my mouth. I felt sleepy I glanced over at my side and found my Beretta still in my hand, "You could end it." A voice said.
I looked to find Helen kneeling next to me, "End it, end the pain and be with me." She begged.
"Here…" she helped me pull the gun up towards my head. "…just like that" she smiled.
"Fuck that!" Drake yelled. My hand stopped halfway there Helen kept trying to pull it. Drake kept the hand from moving "Don't let her control you!" he told me. My hand began to tremble from them trying to control it, the barrel of the gun touching my head. I smiled; my finger clinched the trigger I shot my arm straight up firing up into the air.
"Sorry bitch, better luck next time." Drake laughed. Helen bit her tongue in anger.
Sharon heard the shot; she sat up holding her side "Steve." She whispered fearing for his life. Quickly getting to her feet she spotted me against the car, she threw off her helmet, climbed over the barrier and ran to my side "You okay?" she asked frantically.
"Just freaking dandy." I told her. "The back of my head is bleeding, I think I broke something, my right shoulder hurts like hell."
"Can you walk?" she asked.
"Maybe."
She took the duffle bag off me putting her arm around me, propping me up against the car. She opened the bag, pulled out a roll of gauze and gently placed it against the wound.
"There, keep pressure on it." She ordered. I did as she instructed.
"Think they'll come after us?" I asked her.
"Doubt it; the on-ramp was packed with cars not to mention the undead." She pointed out.
"Sorry about the bike." I apologized.
"*Sigh* It's not a problem. I care about you more than a piece of machinery, No matter how cool it was, or the fact that I worked on it for 4 years putting my life savings into it just to see it fly off an overpass. *Sigh* But as long as you're still with me I have all I need." She drifted off.
I let out a nervous smile.
She shook herself awake "Anyway, let me see that arm." She said.
"Ah don't pull on it!" I said through the pain.
She slowly moved it toward my chest getting it into a position that wasn't painful.
She examined it carefully, "Don't worry it's not broken, just dislocated."
"Can you fix it?" I asked.
"I've seen this before." She tried to reassure me.
"Really?" I wondered.
"Yep I've…" She looked behind me, "What the hell is that?" she exclaimed.
"What?" I asked looking to where she was pointing to.
"Uh-oh" Drake muttered.
Sharon quickly pulled at my arm popping the shoulder back into place. I let out a load scream before passing out; she wasn't surprised. He fell against Sharon, she in turn hugged him. She put the duffle bag over her shoulder taking the gun from Stephen's hand she placed it in his hoodie pocket, picking him up in a support carry.
She laughed, "Y'know for a skinny guy you're heavy."
She looked over at the road ahead, "Let's find that damn apartment." She said walking down the deserted highway.