Fear the Dead 11
"The Dearless Departed"
Author's notes: Concluding this story work with chapter 11, however I never say never...I do not like to get too far ahead in a story work of mine and I do like to keep what I posted relative and cohesive to the show. Although this is totally fan-driven tale maintaining a bit of believability is something I like to acheive. And with that said, I hope this chapter keeps that feel. My thanks to everyone for reading...Z
**************** Not Yours to Save ****************
Tobias knew this guy. They hadn't attended the same high school, however, the Paul R. Williams student knew him from the internet, and from playing Dungeons & Dragons (the two were familiar).
"Tobias, I thought I recognized your voice," the figure standing on the stairs said.
For a moment there was complete silence, and then Tobias spoke.
"Lance, you made it...good."
The new arrival finished descending the steps.
"Yeah, sorry about eavesdropping on your plans but I think that both of you have it wrong."
(Who was it is fellow? At first it was thought that there were only three them here, hiding in this building. Now it looked as if another had joined the parade. Didn't seem right, this guy just barging in on their conversation and then telling them they were wrong)...That was Blain's thoughts. He looked over at Tobias.
"Who is this guy," he questioned, and his voice did show a bit of irritation.
"His names Lance, Lance Chase and he's a friend of mine."
"Well he's no friend of mine. I don't know him, and I don't want to know him. I'm sticking to my brother's plan, and I think you'd do best to follow."
It looked as if there was some struggle for authority going on here.
"Suit yourself, but you're going to die," Lance volunteered his opinion.
This meeting was not going well...and although this alternate show of opinions would not lead to the exchange of blows, differences had not been resolved. It looked as if each party would pretty much stay dedicated to their own path.
Lance had seemed a little arrogant. He was a smart kid and oftentimes let his ego go to his head. His mother had cautioned him about this on occasion.
"Lance, you keep that attitude and you won't make many friends," she had said.
Well, how many friends did he need? He had a few, Tobias being one of them, and that was all he cared to have. However having started out with so few friends Lance was now considering that Tobias may be the only one left.
He stood there saying nothing more. Then, in the dim light of the interior, sounds were beginning to be heard from outside...Sounds of an army, but what army (?) an army of the undead.
"Virals," Lance said.
"Zombies," Blain countered. And each one's eyes grew wide at the idea.
"They aren't zombies Blain," Tobias whispered, "you've seen too many old horror movies," he paused. "They're infected, and some may even be dead," he paused here a moment, and then continued. "The trick is to *outsmart* them, or outrun them. That's our advantage (Note: at this time it wasn't known if any of these creatures maintained intelligence).
Blain didn't give a rat's tail what people called them, virals, infected, creepers, zombies, didn't mean a shit to him. But he did know that what Tobias had said was true, you could outrun them. Looking outside the door he could see an escape route just on the other side of the street. A two story building and another, lower structure attached to it. He made his decision within a split second, he was leaving.
He looked back towards Jessica.
"I'm heading out. You com'in?"
The girl was a little surprised. She was caught off-guard by his question. She couldn't find her voice. Jessica looked at Blain, and then over to Tobias and then at Lance. It was still dark out, and she could see that his plan was to make a run for it. However, how well did creepers see in the dark? She hadn't a clue, but she did know that here she felt trapped.
Jessica was at a crossroad. Was Tobias her choice to continue with or would Blain be better? The athlete or the geek, she had only a second to decide.
Before she could actually make her decision Blain bolted out the door. He ran straight over to a little "lean to" on the opposite side of the street and there began climbing onto the lower structure.
Jessica could hear the sounds of the creeper coming closer. "Damn"... they may only be a few feet away now. She was about to launch herself out the door whenever Tobias caught her by the arm. She turned to look at him and although his mouth spoke no words his thoughts were written all over his face. He was forbidding her to go. He was in charge of her salvation. She pulled away, but before she exited she looked into his eyes.
"I'm not yours to save, Tobias" she said
Tobias watched as Jessica crossed the street. He had felt that he would be the one to keep her safe, now she was gone. She was able to reach Blain without incident, and he reached down to attempt to pull her up onto the shelter. Creepers had come into frame, and were honing in on the two. One reached Jessica before the football star was able to get her fully off the ground. It grabber her foot and Tobias heard her scream. Blain was able to pull her from the beast's grasp but by then others had joined the fray. the rickety shelter was being bombarded by a mob of hands and fingers. The structure began to falter and sway from the attack.
Tobias heard Blain call to Jessica to climb up onto the next level of the building, but it was too high for her. With his assistance he was able to get her up, but before he could gain safety himself the little building wobbled and he fell onto his butt and then slid down the inclined of the roof to its edge. He hadn't fallen off entirely but his shoes were hanging and that was just enough. The beasts grabbed him and began dragging him down.
Blain screamed as first his legs disappeared into the mass of bodies, and then his waist. The three onlookers watched in horror as he inched lower and lower as if he were be devoured by quicksand. Still, there was nothing they could do.
It was then that one of the creepers noticed Tobias standing just inside the doorway. It moved towards him, followed by another and then another.
Lance grabbed him by the collar.
"Tobias we have to go! We can get clear on the roof."
Tobias knew that he was right and it killed him to take his eyes off of Jessica. She just stood there, eyeballing them from the safety of the second level. Blain was gone now, even his scream could not be heard anymore. There were at least a dozen creepers coming towards them. The two vaulted up the stairs and then onto the roof.
From this vantage point Tobias could see that Jessica had climbed into a window on that side of the neighboring structure. She had disappeared from his view. He hadn't fully accepted the idea the she was gone, maybe forever.
Lance pulled on his shirtsleeve.
"Look we might be able to catch up with her later, maybe at sunup. For now we need to stay safe and stay put. My plan is to head out west instead of north or east. I know there's a boat out there, a big boat...and that may be the best place to be at this time. We can head out in the morning."
END PART 11