Hey guys! Thanks for all your awesome reviews and all your poll votes! Hehe! I didn't really expect for that many replies to come into my Inbox that fast ;P But it seemed as though a
"Hello? Hello, Beaver, do you copy? Hello?"
The static voice tugged Zoey away from her first good night's sleep in a while. The soft, cold body of Hope pressed against her own was the first thing to grace her senses, her chest rising and falling at random intervals—she was waking up as well.
Zoey took a deep breath, forcing herself awake as she jumped up as quickly as she could, having to stabilize herself to keep from falling over before groggily staggering her way towards the radio like a drunk. Vision began to sharpen and clarify next, allowing her to see the outline of the microphone more clear as the man on the other side continued to call, "Beaver? Do you read? This is EZ LZ calling you with some important news. Please respond."
With what motor skills were finally coming to her, the tired woman reached out and cautiously grabbed the microphone, making sure her fingers were wrapped fully around its cold frame before lifting it to her lips and answering, "This is Zoey," she forced herself to sound as awake as possible. However, the rasp in her voice gave her away easily.
"Good to hear from you Zoey," the distorted voice greeted. "We are leaving the camp in approximately half an hour. Do you copy?"
"Copy," Zoey answered as she shook herself awake. "What time is it?"
"It is six in the morning, Little Lass," the operator dubbed her. "But that's not why I called. The zombies are known to be attracted to sounds, as I'm sure you're fully aware."
Zoey grimaced as the thought of the zombies filtered back into her mind. With all that had gone on the night before, the flesh devouring creatures were at the least of her list. However, now that she had some time to sit and think, she realized where he was going.
"Affirmative," she tried to sound as radio-savvy as possible.
"When we fly over to your location there's no doubt that we'll be turning the heads of every damn zombie in a mile radius," his serious response came, reflecting the concern that he must've held in his eyes. "They'll want to know what the commotion is all about and I'm sure it won't take long for them to reach your location. And to add to it, you're going to have to activate that satellite dish on top when I get close so it starts coming up on my radar; that'll tell me exactly where you are. It hasn't been used in a while and I'm sure once the gears start spinning it 'round it's going to make one hell of a noise. I hope you and your team are ready for a fight, Little Lass, because you're going to have to make one hell of a stand."
Zoey swallowed hard as she nodded, despite the fact that she knew he couldn't see her. He was right—ever zombie practically in the entire city would be charging at their doors, eager to find out what all the commotion was about. If they wanted to have any chance at survival, they would have to start making a strategy… and now.
"Roger," her uneasy response came, though she attempted to make her voice sound strong and sure.
"Keep your ears on the horizon, Little Lass," the man instructed carefully. "Once you hear that copter coming you know that it's got company."
"Will do, EZ LZ," Zoey breathed through shriveling lungs. "Over and out."
With that, the girl put the microphone down on the table and sighed as she shook her head, rubbing her temples soothingly. She knew that freedom would come at a price… but why such a dangerous one? One or two zombies standing stupidly on the street, practically asking for bullets to introduce themselves, was a joke. But the horde… a horde attracted by a car horn was bad enough. Who knew what it would be like from a helicopter's rotors.
A light tap on her back caused Zoey to turn and find that Hope was standing behind her, her crimson eyes staring strongly at the older woman. A moment of silence passed as the two girls found strength and consolidation in each others' gaze.
"C'mon," Zoey finally sighed after a deep breath, prodded on by the pale girl's endless vigor. "Let's go tell the others."
However, as the two girls turned to warn their fellow teammates, the doors that held the warning in the radio room creaked open, revealing the seven survivors, their faces riddled with determination and their hands filled with weapons as they walked in.
"No need," Bill was the first to speak as he let out a heaving sigh, crossing his arms as he leaned against one of the random control boards. "We heard everything. We've been awake longer than you, princess."
Zoey shook her head, blowing off the harmless comment before asking, "So? What are we going to do?"
"We're going to do just what he said," Francis's rough voice was only accented by the morning crap caught in his throat. He coughed a few times to get it out before turning and spitting it back out the door they left open. "We make one hell of a stand."
"There's nothing to worry 'bout," Ellis's southern drawl kicked in just as excited and eager as ever. "If four of us can take an open street, I know for damn sure that nine of us can hold a helipad."
Zoey couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm. However, once he noticed her grin, he turned a deep shade of red and immediately snapped his head back down to the ground where he stuffed his hands in his pocket and kicked pointlessly at the floor beneath him.
"Ellis got a point," Coach agreed heartily. "It's like Nick always says."
All eyes turned to the suited man and his neatly slung AK around his back. For the first time since Zoey had met him, a sly smile slipped across his sharp face. "I have not come this far to die now."
Only the sound of the passing breeze could be heard as the survivors kept their eyes to the horizon and their ears to the skies. Each one of them clutched their individual weapons as though it were the only thing keeping them alive. It wasn't a far stretch from the truth… aside from the bullets that would come screaming from their guns, they had teamwork and their wits. All three were valuable assets… and they would have to be used to their fullest extent if they wanted to live past the day.
The strategy had been planned and agreed on. Being formulated by Bill's military experience and adjusted by all to make sure every last detail was perfect, it was something that Zoey found to bring a little more confidence to the table. If their strategy worked, they would be on a one way ticket to home without much fuss. But if something went wrong… if something was left uncalculated…
Zoey squeezed her eyes shut for just a moment before opening them to keep an eye on the east side of the structure where she was appointed to observe with Hope.
There couldn't be any doubt… not now. Everything had been accounted for, and that was something she would have to force through her head.
Zoey spun around once she reached the corner of her side and began to pace back to the other, continuing her pointless patrol. Hope had taken on her approach and was doing the same, passing Zoey every now and then and giving her a helpful, much-needed smile.
The weight of her five spare sniper and two extra pistol magazines began to magnify with each passing step, burdening her further as it combined with the futile attempt to keep doubts at bay. The hunting rifle that she had become so familiar with was clutched tightly in her fingers, the sling fastened securely around her body. There would be no mistake… no accident. There couldn't be.
"Ears to the North!" Rochelle's voice pierced through what was left of Zoey's calm like a sniper round. "That is definitely the sound of a helicopter!"
The survivors ceased their pointless movements and nervous fiddling as each one of them craned their necks to try and hear what Rochelle had claimed. And there, though barely audible, was the beating of a chopper's rotors against the wind. Their ride was coming… and that meant so were the zombies.
"Turn on the beacon!" Bill immediately turned and called into the radio room which was manned by none other than Nick.
Zoey's breaths became short and unsteady as she saw the nod of acknowledgement come from the suited man before he retreated into the walls of the room, hidden as he worked to activate the distress signal-
-a loud explosion of metal, as if a rock had been dropped between the grates of a school bleacher, shook the air around them as the satellite dish came to life. And as if fate was laughing at them, the metal scraping against rust as the tower began its rotation shrieked a call to ever zombie that could hear it… and that was quite a few.
"Holy shit that was loud!" Francis screamed over the high pitched grinding of the radio beast coming to life.
However, a noise prioritized itself in Zoey's ears that rang through not only her bones, but her very heart.
A loud, shrill shriek filled the air, echoing off the buildings below before it was joined by another one… then another one… then another one until the cries were coming from all around the towering structure. Zoey shot a nervous glance to Hope, who kept her eyes determined and brave as she could only offer a simple nod.
"Ro! Zoey!" Nick called as he was running out of the radio room, tearing his AK from behind his back and running to his own designated point in front of the entrance door but behind Francis and Coach. "You guys know what to do!"
Zoey glanced over to Rochelle, who offered the same understanding nod that Hope had earlier as she ran to the north side of the building. It was done—Zoey was posted on the west side, Rochelle on the North, Ellis on the East, and Louis on the South.
Breathing became a task as the first zombie visible to her side came charging out of an alleyway nudged mysteriously between two buildings far below. However, in only a second he was joined by many, many others… at least five hordes worth, each filtering out of their own alleyways, crooks, and corners. At least five masses to a side… that meant at least twenty hordes altogether, charging the location that would either spell life or death to the survivors.
Zoey forced her body to move as she gripped her hunting rifle tightly, aiming it down at the approaching horde. Without bothering to scope in on the moving carpet, she began to fire pot shots into the crowd, watching as one zombie would fall victim to every shot while still keeping an eye on the west side's walls-
-there it was—the reason she was posted up so close to the edge.
From the massive horde of zombies came at least five hunters, breaking their way out of the mass and charging excitedly towards the building, their speed unmatched by any of the other infected. However, instead of scrambling around until they found an entrance as Zoey knew the common creatures would do, the nimble hunters lunged at the walls, digging their razor sharp claws into the bricks of the building before beginning their speedy ascent up the tall structure.
Taking a deep breath, Zoey raised the sniper's sight to her eye and took careful aim on the one closest to the top, though he was only ten stories up. The crosshairs bobbed and weaved around the hunter's head from a mixture of its own weight as well as her own nerve before Zoey found the pattern to her own shaking. She waited for the predicted moment when the cross would mark its fatal spot once more and snapped the trigger in. The sniper kicked upwards as it sent the round crashing down into the hunter's face. The creature made no sound as its head exploded like a melon from the impact, sending rinds of tissue and skull in every direction as its body finally gave in, no longer tightly gripping the walls of the building. Silently it fell ten stories where it slapped limply against the concrete before disappearing underneath the wave of zombie bodies.
Zoey took no time to admire her work as she immediately snapped to the next hunter, firing another perfectly landing round into its rotting head.
Shot after shot blasted from the hunting rifle's gleaming barrel, proudly scoring a head shot every time. However, it was as though there was no end to their numbers. Another hunter would take a fallen comrade's place fresh off the line, eager to be the one to catch the sniper at long last-
-the gun clicked empty. Zoey's eyes widened as she realized that the closest hunter was only ten stories away before finally reacting. She ejected the spent magazine and with practiced precision reached into her jacket and slapped a fresh one in before the dead cartridge even hit the ground. Zoey cocked the first round into the chamber and snap aimed the crosshairs right onto the excited hunter's head before crushing his dreams in with a bullet to the head. It fell silently back to the ground like its brethren before it.
Behind her, she could hear the powerful rounds of shotguns begin to blast their way through the zombies that had already been occupying the topmost floors of the building—they had the honor of dying before the real horde actually arrived.
However, she didn't allow it to take her focus. She continued to fire shots down at the slowly advancing army of crawling hunters, praying with all her might that the others were doing just as well as she was… or hopefully better.
Though she scored a kill with every shot that burst forth from the muzzle of her powerful sniper, the time it took to switch from target to target was allowing the hunters to come closer with every passing second. It would only be a second before she would have to take some of the closest shots with a sniper rifle that she'd ever made.
"Hope!" Zoey called over the rapid, deafening fire all around her. "When they get close I'm going to need you to help me and claw them off! Can you do that for me?"
A soft pat on her back acknowledged the request before Zoey saw Hope begin to patrol the wall from the corner of her eyes. The pale girl's claws trembled in anxiety as she stared down at the hunters, their shrieks chilling even her to the bone.
Only a moment passed before Zoey could look into the eyes of the hooded creature only a story away from her. Its erratic panting could be heard from the uncomfortable distance before she snapped the sniper rifle to its head and hip-aimed two shots. One collided with its arm, stalling its movement for a much needed split second until the second bullet cascaded into its face. Once the body rag dolled to the ground, it was immediately replaced by another hunter to her left, who was so close Zoey could smell its putrid breath. Without a second of delay the woman sprinted the necessary three steps and jammed the sniper rifle's barrel into the throat of the pre-shrieking hunter before firing a shot. The hunter's entire body seemed to ripple as its neck exploded, splashing warm, wet flaps of flesh onto Zoey's face and sweatshirt. The sniper carelessly wiped the chunks off her cheek before shooting a quick glance to her side. Only a few feet away, Hope was arching her fatal claws far behind her head, waiting for a hunter to take one more step up before bringing them down upon its head. The hooded creature screeched as its head was torn to shreds in a single swipe before falling into an unfortunate hunter directly beneath it and bringing them both to their ultimate death.
It was only then that Zoey could see that her wall only held four more hunters. The bad news was that they were only an inch away from the top where Hope was nervously eyeing which one to tear down first. She made up her mind at the same time Zoey did, clawing at the furthest hunter from the sniper's location as three rounds were sent careening into the closest. Both infected fell at the same time, giving the two girls just enough breathing room to switch to their final targets and take them out with lightning precision and accuracy.
Though her wall was clear, it was far from celebrating time.
"You help Rochelle!" Zoey instructed as she had already begun sprinting towards where Ellis was screaming at a hunter that he was beating with the butt of his gun—he needed to reload, and from the looks of it, Louis's side had the least amount of resistance.
Zoey took a chance. As she ran, she snapped the sniper's scope to her eye, studied her shaking pattern for the second she was allowed, and fired a round at what she hoped would be the hunter's head right next to Ellis's arm.
A satisfactory wet, crunching pop was heard as the hunter's skull disappeared into a cloud of meat and blood rain, causing Ellis to flinch for a moment before Zoey finally arrived at the wall. "Reload!" she called in panic as she realized that four hunters were only a moment away from mounting the rooftop. The sound of Ellis's magazine falling to the ground as a new one was slapped in became the most beautiful song in her ears as she killed two more just in time for Ellis to release four hearty bursts from his weapon into the remaining two.
"You're a saint!" Ellis's heavy accent was only made less understandable from his volume. "Now c'mon, we got a job to finish!"
Zoey wordlessly agreed as she, in one motion, turned to the main entrance and snapped her gun to safety, slinging it onto her back and whipping out her trusted Cold 1911. As if perfectly timed, Hope and Rochelle had just began their sprint to support the men who were firing through the open door to the roof, still killing the eager singles that had already inhabited the structure. Louis had already joined their ranks, standing beside Bill and Nick as they fired over the crouched Couch and Francis. The second part of the plan took effect once all four wall-watchers were positioned next to the door guards. Zoey spun around to face the edges of the building once again before snapping her pistol up, patrolling with her eyes as she and the other three prepared to take out any stragglers that were late up the wall, keeping as close together as possible.
An uncomfortable rumbling sound was quick to ensue. It started out modestly, but quickly turned into a nightmarish scream as hundreds of feet stomped their way up the metal staircase.
"Here comes the party!" Francis screamed over the deafening roar. I hope you guys are ready!"
It wasn't long until the screech of the first zombie of the massive hoard could be heard directly behind Zoey. All instincts told her to turn around and blast it in its drooling maw, but she knew her job to keep an eye out and forced herself to put full faith into the team behind her to do their work.
The roof was clear so far, though her hands shook more and more violently with every passing second as if anticipating something would appear soon.
A coughed burst coming unmistakably from an Uzi came from behind Zoey—Louis had found a straggler, and from the immediate silence of his weapon afterwards, had put it down to an eternal rest.
It was only a second before Bill screamed words that Zoey had been nervously anticipating the entire time. "Let 'em have it!"
The higher pitch of the M-16 took the lead as the lower rumble of the AK-47 played as the rhythm, joined by the booming explosions of a fully automatic and a pump action shotgun. The screams of zombies falling behind her raised every hair on Zoey's body, sending endless chills racing up and down her spine.
However, almost instantaneously afterwards did the helicopter's rotors come into the beautiful song of hope. The beating against the wind could be easily heard over the shrieks and screams of the zombies—it had to be closer than ever now.
"Here comes the chopper!" Rochelle screamed at the top of her lungs, desperately attempting to outdo the hellish jumble of noises. "We have to end this now!"
It was Zoey's turn.
"Nick!" she yelled as she holstered her pistol and turned to face the hallway of piling bodies. The zombies crawled disgustingly over the heap, slowing them down but not stopping them from being mauled by a rain of fire.
With a snap of his hand, the suit threw the bottle of the familiar thick brown liquid behind him, allowing it to come to a skidding halt at Zoey's feet. She scrambled to pick up the liquor and jerk off its cap before tearing a pre-prepared foot long shred of towel that she hastily jammed into the top of the bottle. The absorbent material quickly saturated itself with the liquid before Zoey screamed for Bill.
In the same fashion as Nick, the veteran refused to take his gun or eyes off the door as he snapped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his signature butane lighter, sliding it behind him and to Zoey's waiting hand. She caught it perfectly and flicked it open, the small flame glowing in the bottle's reflection. She graced the tip of the towel with the lighter until it shared the burning flame, burning the materials and inching its way to the bottle.
"Alright guys get ready!" she screamed over the sound of the helicopter that was landing behind her.
"Contact has been made with the LZ!" the pilot's voice blared from the helicopter's exterior speakers. "Let's go! We don't have all day! The second horde is on its way already!"
"Three!" Zoey began her countdown over the seemingly endless fire. "Two! One! Move!"
As planned, everyone dove out of the way of the door right as Zoey hurled the crude Molotov cocktail into the stairwell room. The weak plastic bottle shattered on impact with the far side wall before lighting immediately from the towel's blistering flame. The fiery explosion lit the group of zombies in the immediate blast zone on fire and laid a carpet of defense down just long enough to deter the infected creatures and hopefully allow the survivors to escape into the helicopter only a few yards away-
-"God damn it!" Bill's trademark scream pierced through Zoey's ears.
As she whipped around, her face turned pale as she saw that the veteran was on the ground, his two hands clutched around his ankle.
"Bill!" Zoey screamed as she snapped her attention back to the flaming stairwell. It may have been fighting the burning, stumbling creatures off for now, but she could tell it was already beginning to extinguish. "Francis! Louis! Get him out of here!"
The two men took the direct orders immediately as they swept down and each took a side underneath the veteran's arms, lifting him off the ground and running him to the waiting chopper.
"Zoey! C'mon!" Ellis's slowly distancing screams came as she fired a few pistol rounds into the two zombies' heads that had made it past the flame with only their shoes on fire. Even Hope desperately tugged at her sweatshirt, but it wasn't until she was sure there were no more threats that Zoey turned and began sprinting towards the chopper that everyone, save Hope and herself, were already sitting in, watching her with wide eyes as they made their way to their safety.
That was it… no accident had gone unaccounted. Every last detail in the strategy had worked—it would only be five more steps until Zoey was safely in the chopper and they lifted off, spiriting away from a flawless, fully accounted plan-
-except for that.
Zoey felt her heart run cold as she was greeted by the barrel of a pistol only three steps away from the safety her heart yearned for so much. She stopped dead in her tracks before tracing the barrel to the grip… the grip to the hand… the hand to the arm… the arm to the body and the body to the face of a very angry Rochelle, her expression twisted into a grimace of hatred.
"Rochelle!" Nick's bewildered scream came from inside the chopper where he and the others were already securely fastened. "What the fuck has gotten into you? Move the gun and let her in!"
"I swore!" the trembling African American woman shrieked as tears began to roll down her cheek. "The day my entire family was killed by the infection I swore that not a single one of them would live when I was done! And I'm not about to let some fucking witch ruin that for me!"
"Have you fucking lost it?" Francis's scream came next as he struggled to escape his tightly buckled restraints, but to no avail.
"Rochelle! Please!" Zoey begged desperately, her entire body shaking as the sounds the zombies on fire were becoming less and less pained… they were breaking through. "Let us in! Hope is different! She helped us! She helped you!"
However, the only response that came was a shake of the woman's head as she screamed, "Either Hope stays or you both do!"
"Get the fuck in here now!" the pilot's angry voice came over the loudspeakers as Zoey's entire world came to a shattering halt. "We don't have much time!"
However, the woman's hold and aim on the pistol didn't move, and the others were too far away and strapped in tight to stop her from being the only thing standing between Hope, Zoey, and their new life.
Time froze as Zoey recalled what she had said to Hope the night before… she had said that she loved her with all her heart. She had kissed the girl who was her hero… who was her best friend. But now, all she had to do to escape in the helicopter to a new life… was sacrifice her best friend.
A weak smile spread over the woman's lips as she knew what answer she had to choose.
Slowly, Zoey shook her head, and was immediately returned by stares of terror that crossed everyone's face inside the helicopter… everyone but Rochelle, who only grimaced in detest.
"I love Hope!" Zoey screamed over the rapidly beating rotor blades, signaling that the pilot was already beginning to take off. "And I won't leave her! Ever!"
"Rochelle you fucking bitch!" Louis screamed as he jerked and bucked against the heavy buckles. "I'll fucking kill you! You let her on right now! Right now!"
But no reprieve came as the lady only holstered her pistol as the helicopter rose a centimeter off the ground. She sat next to Coach, who only stared at her in jaw-dropping disbelief as she buckled herself in and shook her head down at the two girls.
This was it—death together with the girl she loved. At that moment, Zoey couldn't have asked for anything more.
Hope watching in silent terror as the helicopter rose an inch off the ground… without Zoey in it.
She had understood. She knew that the only reason her best friend had refused to enter the chopper to safety was because of her. It was because she didn't take her own life last night that not only was she going to die, but her lover… the only one that cared to see past her appearance and accept her for who she was.
No.
Hope clenched her jaw tightly as she bore her razor sharp teeth, displaying her frustration and anger to the world.
It was the toughest decision she'd ever make… but it was the one she knew would be right.
Without warning, Hope seized Zoey by the shoulders. The human girl gasped as she felt the witch's cold claws cutting through her sweatshirt and shallowly into her skin.
"Hope?" Zoey's confused scream came as the helicopter lifted a foot into the air. "Hope what are you doing? WHAT ARE YOU DOING PUT ME DOWN!"
However, her shrieks of demand only fell upon determined ears to keep her lover safe.
With all the energy she could muster, Hope threw her one true love as hard as he could, watching in what could only be described as pure bliss as Zoey fell onto her stomach in the belly of the helicopter where she immediately scrambled to her feet, but was restrained by Francis and Bill, who nodded their tear-filled understanding to Hope…
The girl who finally paid back the debt she owed to her love.
"HOPE!" Zoey screeched like a banshee as she jerked and fought, attempting to tear her way out of the combined strength of Francis and Bill. "LET ME GO!" screamed as the helicopter rose higher and higher into the air. Tears fell hysterically out of the screaming girl's eyes as she wanted to jump… she wanted to go down and die with her friend where she belonged. But they didn't let her… they kept her from her one true love and the destiny that she had so willfully chosen to accept but was now being torn away from on the wings of a cold black bird.
The last she saw of Hope was the pale girl's small, innocent smile spreading across a beautiful young face as the horde of zombies finally broke through the protective veil of fire and charged the motionless target. It was then that the helicopter made a full turn, sweeping Hope out of Zoey's sight and whisking her away to the freedom she no longer wanted.
Zoey spilled out onto the hard, cold, unforgiving ground. Only her desperate, screamed cries for her lover to return to her echoed through the dark hangar. No one moved… not a sound was made as the girl curled up in a ball on the ground, hugging herself as she attempted pointlessly to warm herself the way she knew only Hope could. Every second the attempt failed dug her deeper into the hole of her misery.
Hope was gone… that was the only thing that mattered.
And there was only one person to blame. The person she should've killed from the very start.
Slowly, pathetically, Zoey rose to all fours, wavering back and forth as she resisted the urge to vomit where she was. "R-Ro…" she choked out through a sea of tears. "You…"
"I…" the woman's slow, pitiful voice echoed through the hangar. "I'm sorry… I don't know what came over me… I… I'm sorry…"
Sorry? Was sorry going to bring Hope back? Was sorry going to mend the hole that would forever be torn in her heart?
No. It wasn't.
"You…" Zoey repeated through clenched teeth and blind rage. "YOU!"
Without a moment of thought the girl snapped up into a weak stand and ripped her pistol out of its holster, matching the barrel to the image of Rochelle's terrified face. "YOU FUCKING RUINED MY LIFE!"
"Zoey! Wait!" the woman cried desperately as her bottom lip trembled violently. "I'm sorry! Please! I didn't know what I was thinking!"
"Sorry won't take it back!" Zoey screamed as she took a step forward, jamming the barrel of the pistol into Rochelle's forehead. The woman grunted as she was thrown to the ground but followed by the cold gaze of the Colt's iron sights. "SORRY WON'T FUCKING TAKE IT BACK!"
Zoey pulled the trigger.
The explosion rocked the hangar like a nuclear weapon, echoing eternally off the walls before coming to a final rest.
But there was no dead Rochelle. There was no pile of brain and skull where the girl had once laid. Instead, there was a bullet hole, carved forever into the ground as a mark of shame.
Zoey frantically looked around through tear-blinded eyes for where she was, and found that at the last second, Coach had jerked the woman up to safety… away from the justice that she so rightfully deserved.
"Killing her won't bring Hope back!" Coach's harsh voice came. "Rochelle made a mistake and she will be punished! But a life of a friend for the life of another will never be worth it!"
"You think so?" Zoey shrieked as she lifted the pistol to Coach's head, who flinched backwards. "YOU THINK SO?"
No one moved… no one was sure how to handle the situation. Was there really nothing to do but wait for Rochelle's imminent death?
Zoey shook her head as she slowly lowered the gun. "No… you're right," she admitted defeat as her nose served as a waterfall, dripping a stream of tears onto the cold ground below. "Killing Rochelle won't bring Hope back… and it won't bring me closer to her where she is now."
Sighs of relief were exchanged through the room as tense bodies relaxed.
Relaxed all too soon.
Zoey snapped the pistol up to her head, pushing the barrel into the hair that Hope had once fondled with such desire.
"ZOEY!" Francis's scream could be heard from above the slowly disappearing world that the girl was closing her eyes off from. "ZOEY STOP!"
"But I can go to her, I know I can," the woman spoke in a trance as she placed a finger on the trigger. "I can come to where she is… and I'll never be separated from her there."
A dull thud to the back of Zoey's neck stopped the pull of a trigger only a quarter second away from occurring. Her hand grew numb as it released the Colt from its steely grip. The pistol clattered heavily to the ground only a second before she joined it, the world going black as her head hit the ground.
Only one thought slipped into her mind before she slipped into darkness.
I failed.
THE END
PS: Don't forget the Epilogue! Thank you guys so much for reading through!