We've hit a dozen chapters folks! And in way quicker time than I anticipated so I'm giving myself a pat on the back for this one. I also realize most people probably skip the author's notes at the top but I enjoy it so yeah.
Anywho, I do want to send a shout out to those of you who have consistently reviewed my story in either comments or private messages! It's very much appreciated and I'm getting more and more interesting reviews as the plot thickens. Really loved reading that long review about personal thoughts on all of the Revenge cast, as well as the feedback of all my most vehement readers. Thanks guys!
Also if anyone is curious to poll results, the top few still haven't changed with Gwen and Cody still leading despite not being in the story for what, 5 chapters now? Just thought I'd let you know. And the voting is still open so go ahead and vote if you haven't already!
But on with the chapter! It's my longest one by far and I'm curious what people's take on this one will be.
WARNING: This story will contain scenes of violence, swearing, sexual activities and character death.
One week had passed since the TDI survivors had arrived at the hotel, which conveniently was named "Revenge Hotel" by Jo because she claimed she'd liked the name. The survivors had spent the week doing a wide variety of things, but primarily integrating themselves into Jo's group and trying to get to know some of them. Alejandro had made this suggestion to the entire group on their second night here as a means to form allies not enemies. No one had thought his idea was invalid so they set about trying to accomplish the task.
Some took to the task more so than others. Much to her own annoyance, Courtney was having the most difficulties with the majority of the group aside from Brick. The soldier-in-training seemed to get along swimmingly with the counselor-in-training and they spent a lot of their days together discussing who knows what. Duncan, his mood soured by this, did not really strive to get to know anyone in the group and he mostly sulked in his room while Trent awkwardly consoled him.
DJ was finally recovered from his original wound completely and he was practically born anew. Despite his initial misgivings about trusting people, he'd had a lovely conversation with both Dawn and Dakota and he was back to his warm and endearing personality. Katie had taken particular note of his attitude shift and she was relieved: she admired the positive version of DJ. He was the one who had helped her get through this ordeal thus far, after all.
Bridgette still checked up on DJ from time to time, but now that he was recovered she could spend more time with Geoff. The two hadn't really had a lot of time to settle down and concentrate on each other, but they hadn't experienced a single zombie attack in that whole week and they were back on excellent communication terms. And the couple were some of the best at mingling with the newer members of the group. Geoff had quickly befriended almost the entire group, bar those who were sick. Even Anne Maria took a liking to him, though only she could say what that meant exactly. And Bridgette had continued her friendship with Scott, as well as gotten to know some of the girls too. So far she'd held her end of the bargain as being the group's "doctor", however the condition of Sam and Staci had not yet improved. Mike's condition seemed to baffle Bridgette because he didn't seem ill or sick, and yet he rarely awoke from his state of rest.
Noah mostly kept to himself, though at one point he'd been in the medical area and began speaking to a conscious Sam. The two seemed to hit it off surprisingly well, but when Dawn had entered the room Noah had quickly excused himself to avoid dealing with "nonsensical shenanigans" as he put it. Heather had spent a few days recovering from her twisted ankle but once she was up and walking again, she was back to her usual self. She'd gotten into a few bickering arguments with Jo and Courtney, she and her lover had continued their love-hate relationship; it was business as usual. Although Heather had also made a new friend in Dakota. Dakota practically gushed over Heather's brilliance in Total Drama World Tour to her, explaining how she'd never expected to find herself cheering for the original villain but Heather's story arc was epic. Heather loved the praise and actually found herself interested in learning about Dakota's life as well.
But no one had befriended people the way Alejandro had. The cunning womanizer had made sure that every girl in the new group had a good impression of him by taking the time to give each of them attention. Anne Maria had found herself nearly unable to keep her eyes off of him, Staci had woken from her slumber and found herself having hot flashes just from looking at him, even Dakota had unintentionally blushed when she saw Alejandro exercising purposely without a shirt on. And it wasn't just the girls he was charming. Alejandro had been quick to form friendships with Lightning and Brick, claiming the pair of them were exceptionally skilled athletes and he was honored to have them on his side. Heather had mostly just watched with annoyance as he went about his business and didn't spend much time with her. She would never admit this openly, but it made her jealous: both that he would flirt with the other girls, and that he was simply better at being nice to people. She wanted to fix that, but she truly didn't know how.
Heather found herself lost in these very thoughts as Alejandro and Lightning laughed about something sports related, when she felt someone tapping her shoulder. She turned, already expecting to be annoyed, and was somewhat surprised to see it was Katie and DJ.
"What?" Heather asked, a lot more malice than necessary in her voice; it was only natural for her.
Katie ignored the harsh tone and smiled at her, "We were just wondering if you wanted to do something with us. We were thinking of playing some sort of 'get to know you' type of games with everybody and thought you could join."
"No thanks," Heather scoffed, "I don't want to do something so stupid. What is this, fifth grade?"
"Hey now," DJ said warningly as he put a defensive hand on Katie's shoulder for support, "no need to be nasty Heather, she was just asking. Besides, we've both noticed you haven't really made friends since you been here and thought we could help."
"Whatever," Heather rolled her eyes, "and I have too made friends. Dakota and I are gal pals."
"Okay then," Katie sounded visibly irked by the way the conversation turned out, and she grabbed DJ's arm, "come on DJ, let's go to your room."
DJ seemed content with this, though he did have one last thing to say to Heather before departing, "You do realize that with everything that is happening in the world right now, one of the only things that wouldn't kill you is to make peace with those around you. This isn't a reality television show anymore, this is reality itself."
Heather didn't reply but she watched the two walk away. DJ's words hung heavy over her but she didn't want to dote on them: what did he know compared to her? So she stuck her nose in the air and stalked away to go do something she considered "productive".
"No way, I was in an animal rights club too!" Bridgette was exclaiming joyfully to Dawn as they sat together in the medical area, not currently needing to tend to anyone.
"Your aura simply radiates happiness and thoughtfulness Bridgette." Dawn smiled warmly, "And we have so much in common. I'm glad for this, it's been difficult holding on to my principles with the dead walking among us."
"Oh my gosh I know," Bridgette agreed, as if this were a typical conversation which these days it sort of was, "I can't even stand the idea of killing something, even if it's technically already dead. I just hate violence in general."
"There's no reason why we can't stick to our morals despite the circumstances." Dawn stated firmly, Bridgette readily agreeing.
As the two continued talking, several others were entering the room, Jo and Courtney among them. Courtney cleared her throat and addressed those in the room, "Just so everybody knows, we've decided it's time to head out on another scavenging mission. With twenty two people, we've been running low on food fairly rapidly."
"So CIT and I are taking our team," Jo gestured towards Duncan, Lightning, Alejandro, Trent and Brick, "to go find some shit. Dakota's in charge while we're gone. All clear?"
The girls were nodding, and both Scott and Geoff, who were entering at that moment, also nodded their consent. Scott shot a quick look at Bridgette, and then strangely over at the relaxed form of Mike, but he chose not to say anything. Bridgette had caught his eye and she raised her brow: what was that all about? She'd have to ask him.
Suddenly, Staci shot up from her position of laying down and she gasped and proclaimed eerily, "Unlucky! Seven is unlucky today! My dead great-great aunt's second cousin warned me!"
"That's fascinating Blabber Mouth," Jo rolled her eyes, "why don't you get back to sleeping-"
But Jo faltered when Staci was actually glancing around at all of them wildly, almost in a panic, and she finally rested her eyes on Mike, "Death! Death follows him!"
"What the hell is she talking about?" Zoey, who was kneeling next to Mike, rose and asked angrily.
Staci settled now on Bridgette and looked horrified, holding a shaking finger up to point at her, "Oh no, sweetheart your time is running out! My ancestors-"
"Okay man that's enough," Geoff interrupted, coming over to put a comforting arm over a now stunned and shaken Bridgette, "we don't need all these bad vibes."
"But the seven!" Staci shrieked again and by now the entire group had come to see the commotion.
"Will someone tell that hideous freak to shut the fuck up?" Heather hissed as she came down the stairs, "My ear drums are going to bleed for Christ's sake!"
"Guys," Trent said a bit shakily, "I know this may sound weird, but there are seven people on our team to go get supplies."
"What of it?" Jo asked.
"I know you might not really understand, but as someone who used to have an...unfortunate obsession with a number, the superstition of luck and bad luck can be a powerful thing." Trent said, regretfully recalling his number nine fiasco from Total Drama Action, "Maybe we shouldn't have seven people go on the supply run."
"That has to be the lamest thing I've ever heard," Duncan snorted, "she's yanking your chains man, don't worry about it."
"Lightning thinks annoying girl might be sha-right." Lightning said, a bit of concern in his voice, "My Pops always warned me about things like that. And this champion ain't going down for some dumb superstition!"
"Fine then you can stay here like a pansy!" Jo sneered at him, "Everyone happy now? Jesus Christ I'm surrounded by idiots!"
As soon as Lightning volunteered to remain behind, Staci had visibly relaxed and was now muttering quietly, "Now the bad luck will shift..."
She was soon snoring once again. The moment of fear had been swept under the rug and people were once again focused on the task at hand. Courtney awkwardly cleared her throat again and said, "Right, well then the six of us will be gone for the day at least. If we aren't back by nightfall, don't worry about it."
"Yeah only start to worry about us if we're gone for nine days." Duncan couldn't resist the smug look he gave Trent, who looked irritated by it.
"Everyone sha-quit with the numbers!" Lightning actually put his hands over his ears, "I'm not gonna listen to it!"
"Big baby." Scott muttered under his breath as he rolled his eyes at the pathetic display from Lightning.
By now Courtney and Jo were really annoyed so they started shuffling the remaining members of their team outside. Only Alejandro remained for a moment, to try and get a word with Heather, but she seemed disinterested and went back up the stairs. He sighed and hurriedly exited the building and allowed Dakota to close the door behind him. He was back into the apocalyptic world once again.
The group of six had left over an hour ago and aside from that normal service had resumed. Dawn and Bridgette were continuously checking on Staci, but the girl seemed totally out of it and showed no signs of waking again to cause any havoc. Zoey still sat next to Mike on his bed, though she wasn't crying at the moment. She was looking thoughtfully at Staci and then back at Mike, as if trying to sense any possible connection.
Scott and Geoff were also in the room and after they shared a quick word, Geoff had come marching over towards Bridgette with a suggestive look in his eye, "Hey Bridge!"
"Hi Geoff." She replied without emotion as she wasn't sure what he was all happy about.
"I was wondering if you could take a break from all of this doctor stuff and spend some more time with me. In our room." Geoff let that last sentence sink in a bit and Bridgette found herself a bit tempted.
"It is fine with me, my friend." Dawn said from a meditative pose next to her, "You appear very tired after all."
"Just cuddling?" Bridgette asked and Geoff nodded.
"Sure, I just got to take care of something really quick and I'll meet you up there." Geoff beamed at her and gave her a quick peck before going back over to Scott. Bridgette flushed slightly but felt herself relaxing: she was tired. She could almost hear her bed calling her name. She bade Dawn farewell and headed off to her room on the second floor.
A few minutes later, Zoey found herself startled when her boyfriend gasped and opened his eyes for the first time in a while. Her shock quickly turned to joy and she hugged him fiercely, "Oh Mike thank goodness you're awake! I've been so worried about you!"
"It's good to be awake." Mike smiled weakly back at her, but he then frowned and said, "But why do I feel so...weird?"
"What do you mean?" Zoey asked, clearly confused.
"I can't remember anything that's happened for...wait how long have I been out?"
"It's been about a week now." Zoey told him and he paled.
"Zoey, I don't remember anything since the attack. When was the attack?" Mike was almost pleading for an answer and Zoey was visibly worried.
"Mike...the attack happened three weeks ago." Zoey said, voice full of concern.
"I'm sure it's nothing a little bit of sleep won't fix." Scott assured them as he and Geoff passed them by, "Sleep well 'Mike'."
Zoey heard Scott snicker a bit as he and Geoff exited, but she paid him no mind. She leaned down to press her lips on Mike's forehead before saying, "Do you think you can walk?"
"Like I said, I don't feel bad." Mike told her, promptly getting out of the bed and standing with ease, "What's happening to me?"
"I'm not sure, but come on." Zoey offered her hand and he took it, "Let's get you up to my room and away from those who are actually ill. Staci was..."
She glanced over at the sleeping form of Staci but decided to leave her thought fragmented, "Never mind, let's just go."
They passed by Anne Maria on their way up the stairs, who merely sprayed her infamous hair spray and forced Mike into gasping and cursing at her in a very different voice, "Dang kids and their fancy whim whams! Back in my day-"
"Can it Multi Moron!" Anne Maria snapped at him and sprayed more of the spray in his face.
"Hey!" Zoey exclaimed angrily, "That was so uncalled for! And extremely rude! He has a disorder he can't help you...you bitch!"
"Oh wow Red learned how to swear," Anne Maria seemed unfazed, "not impressed sweetheart. Now move it or lose it, kay?"
"One day you'll get what's coming to you." Mike said, suddenly in a different voice and tone that sent chills down even Zoey's spine, "You worthless scum."
"Excuse me?" Anne Maria blinked in surprise but Mike seemed to have gone back to normal and no longer seemed able to respond. Anne Maria just huffed in annoyance and said, "To hell with both of ya's, I don't got time for your whiny ass problems."
She continued on her way down the stairs and Zoey looked on the verge of tears, "I don't know what came over me to curse at her like that, but she really irks me. I'm sorry Mike. Mike?"
"I feel woozy," Mike told her, clutching his head and she partially held him up, "let's just get to your room quick."
Katie and DJ were spending some quality time together in DJ's room. They had briefly asked around to see if anyone wanted to do anything with them, but either they were busy or they pulled what Heather pulled. So it was just the two of them, which neither really minded.
Katie was currently standing at the window and looking out at the fairly dismal scenery. The land around this little town was decaying already, the sky was grey with storm clouds, and there still wasn't another person to be seen for miles around. It was all in all extremely depressing.
"Come away from there," DJ said softly, "no need to get more upset than you already are."
Katie closed the curtains and went to join him, sitting down next to him on the bed. She was clearly frustrated, "I'm just annoyed that no one really wants to try doing anything normal. I mean I get that we're in an apocalypse here, but shouldn't we try and hold on to what used to matter to us?"
"I think we should." DJ agreed thoughtfully, "That's why since I've improved in my condition I've been offering to cook the group's meals. It reminds me of home...and my Mama."
He looked saddened as Katie continued her little rant, "People like Heather, Jo and Courtney are all like this though. They don't care about other people, they just focus on themselves. They're the types to call me immature, or whatever, but I'm looking out for everyone! It's what Sadie would have wanted-"
She faltered as she mentioned her former best friend for the first time in a long while. She felt DJ's hand find hers and he whispered, "I know. But they're doing what they think is best too, even if they aren't as showy about it as you are."
Katie didn't seem convinced but he continued, "But I like that you care so much Katie. I like knowing that I have somebody like you in my life that will always look out for me, the same way I look out for you."
"You don't find me immature like most of the others?" Katie asked, her voice receding into more of a whisper as she glanced up at him.
DJ shook his head, "Nope, I always thought you were confident in who you are as a person. And that's maturity to me. You are an amazing girl Katie, don't let anything tarnish that knowledge."
It was then that Katie pressed her lips against his for the first time ever. And she felt fireworks; all the pent up emotions of worry and sadness from when he had been shot. The happiness and joy when she'd discovered he was alive; when he said he would never leave her. It all came down to a first kiss.
DJ didn't hesitate to kiss her back. The tension between the two had been mutual. He felt himself leaning in closer to her, his hands reaching down her back to pull her closer. She eagerly moved in as well and soon they were full on making out, and even reaching the point where Katie was unclasping her bra.
DJ paused at this and looked into her eyes, "Is this what you want?"
She kissed him and slowly took her top of, "This is all I've ever wanted."
Just then there was a knocking sound coming from the door to their room. They both stopped and looked at each other, neither interested in opening it. But then the knocking continued and Katie sighed, "Perhaps one of us should get that?"
"Since I'm still wearing clothes, allow me." DJ said with a bit of a cheeky grin as Katie covered herself with a bed sheet.
The jock with a heart of gold opened the door and said, "What is so important you had to ruin-ah!"
He certainly had not been expecting to open the door and find himself staring into the glossy eyes of a zombie. Nor had he been prepared for its instantaneous attack. The zombie immediately bit down on DJ's arm and he cried out in shock and pain.
"DJ!" Katie shrieked in terror as she shot out of the bed, disregarding her current state.
"Stay back!" DJ warned and yelped again as he wrestled with the zombie, who was now furiously lodging its teeth into the shoulder of the same arm it had just bitten.
"We don't have any weapons on us!" Katie shouted, her heart pumping with nothing but fear and adrenaline, "Someone help!"
Dawn still sat in her meditative state in the medical room, but she opened her eyes at the sound of a pitter patter of a set of very small feet. She found herself slightly surprised to make out the form of Cameron in the dim light.
"Cameron?" She called out to him, "What are you doing in here? I thought you were-"
Her eyes widened with alarm as she saw him step into the full light of the room: and he was completely covered in blood. She screamed as he snarled, a blank look in his once intelligent eyes, and took a step towards the nearest living person: the sleeping Sam. Dawn was helpless to prevent Cameron the zombie from biting down on Sam's jugular and she was forced to look away when the blood spurted out like a faucet and splattered all over Cameron.
There was nothing to be done about saving Sam, the poor boy hadn't even woken up, but Dawn rushed over to Staci's bedside and shook her awake frantically, "Come my dear, we need to run!"
Staci blinked her eyes open and said in a very creepy voice, "We warned them, the bad luck had to shift."
"Staci come on, I can help you run." Dawn pleaded with her but Staci did not get up.
"They should have listened," Staci said and turned to look at the undead form of Cameron, who was now moving towards her, "the end was in front of us all along."
Dawn had no choice but to run for her life as Cameron latched his teeth onto Staci's eye, bursting it instantly. Staci's screams could be heard like an echo in a sound chamber, but Dawn bolted up the stairs.
She ran to the nearest room and threw open the door before closing it shut behind her and locking it. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she was going to pass out. Now she had to warn the others before this became even worse than it already was.
"If you wanted to pester me, did you have to run in here like you've just seen a ghost?" The dry voice of Noah surprised her as she had not realized his room was the one she had entered.
"Zombies," Dawn said breathlessly and that got Noah's attention away from his book, "somehow Cameron became a zombie and is infecting the others."
"Who the hell is Cameron?" Noah asked with bewilderment, "We never met a Cameron."
"There's no time to explain that now," Dawn assured him, "but we need to figure out-"
She jumped as she heard pounding on the door and the rattling of the handle: good thing she'd locked it, "See? Those things are trying to get in right now!"
"Yes I can see that," Noah snapped as he closed the book and moved to join her, "do you have any weapons? Jo insisted that those of us not going on the scouting mission didn't need any weapons; foolish girl."
"I have a knife, but I don't know how to use it." Dawn admitted, "Jo told me to take it just in case, but I couldn't bring myself to harm anything anyway."
"Seriously?" Noah deadpanned but she nodded seriously, "Fine, whatever, just give me the knife!"
She quickly handed him the blade and she said, "Surely you aren't planning on opening that door and fighting those things are you? You're...small, like me."
"Of course I'm not, that would be something an idiot like Lightning would do." Noah snorted, "I'm only going to use this as a last resort and wait till someone with actual weapons comes along and saves us."
"But how we will we help the others?" Dawn asked incredulously.
"You need to forget about saving people and worry about us!" Noah snapped angrily at her and she took a step back, "Your naive ideals of never killing anything and hoping the world will simply be a better place soon have got to go if you want to survive! You have to be willing to be cutthroat, you have to do things you never expected you'd have to do. That's necessity now. So either you adapt or you die!"
The pounding on the door increased but Dawn couldn't even hear it anymore. Noah's words were ringing in her ears: was he right? Was she going to have to throw away her values? The very things that made her who she was? If so, who or what would she become?
Bridgette was growing tired of waiting for Geoff, as she had been laying on the bed waiting for a solid ten minutes, and finally she stood and prepared to march herself out of the room. Was he seriously going to stand her up for no reason after requesting this himself? She shook her head; sometimes she wondered what it was about that boy she loved so much.
Her hand reached for the knob, but it opened before she could do anything and she was pushed back as someone collided into her. They collapsed to the ground and after getting her senses back, she realized it was Scott; and he looked terrified.
"Scott? What the-"
"Close the door!" Scott hollered and she obliged, "Hurry lock it! There are zombies in here!"
Bridgette's eyes widened and she said, "Where's Geoff? Wasn't he with you?"
"No," Scott shook his head, "I was off on my own when I saw them and I figured you guys would be in here so I came to warn you."
"We have to go save Geoff!" Bridgette decreed, but Scott stopped her from running out the door.
"We can't go out there without a plan!" Scott tried reasoning with her, as he locked the door, "We don't know how many of these things we're dealing with."
"Then let's make a plan." Bridgette quipped, "What weapons do you have?"
"Gun and knife," Scott said and handed her the knife, "but Bridgette, I can keep you safe in here. I can't protect you out there."
"I don't give a damn about my protection until I know where Geoff is." Bridgette said firmly as she looked determined to get past him, "Now step aside, I'm going out there with or without you."
"Bridgette," Scott begged, "this is a mistake, trust me."
"Saving the person I love is not a mistake." Bridgette replied and moved past Scott to open the door.
She opened the door and came face to face with the very person she was looking for. She was about to throw her arms around him in relief, but Scott pulled her back, "That's not him anymore Bridgette, he's been turned!"
Bridgette's heart stopped: Scott was right. Geoff didn't look that different than usual, but a slight chunk of the back of his neck was missing and his eyes had taken on that pale feature all the undead had once they had turned. The former party animal locked eyes with Bridgette and growled.
"Geoff!" Bridgette screamed his name in sadness, anger, fear and simply because she didn't know what else to do as he stumbled towards her, "No, no, no, no, no! Why? Geoff come back to me, come back to me!"
Geoff ignored her but she kept trying as she allowed him to keep coming closer, "Please, baby it's me, Bridgette. I love you remember? Remember Geoff?"
Geoff finally lunged for her and she screamed as Scott fired the gun into the side of Geoff's head. Geoff's body collapsed in a pool of his own blood at Bridgette's feet. She shrieked and fell to her knees by his side and grabbed at him, "No! Geoff!"
She sobbed hysterically as Scott moved to close the door. She looked up at him a moment later, tears streaming down her face, and she screamed, "How could you? How could you kill him?"
"Bridgette he was already-" Scott tried but she went back to wailing and cradling Geoff's body in her arms.
"What's happening?" Zoey asked fearfully to the others who had come dashing into the room with her and Mike.
"How should we know?" Heather snapped at her as she and the last member of the group, Dakota, tried to keep the door closed but the zombies were pushing against it. They hadn't been able to close the door in time, "Get over here and help us!"
"But Mike..." Zoey trailed off and glanced down at him.
"Who gives a flipping fuck about his 'condition' right now? We're all about to die you brainless idiot!" Heather lost her cool and Zoey looked angry.
However, Dakota came to Heather's side here, "She's right Zoey, we need your, ugh, help. These things are tough."
Zoey finally consented and the three girls worked together to finally close the door. Locking it was a different story, but they used their combined weight to keep the zombies out for now.
"Any news on anybody else?" Zoey asked, sounding worried.
Dakota shook her head sadly, "No idea, the two of us were in my room chatting when we heard commotion. We hurried to warn you and then, well, got attacked. Oh I hope Sam is okay."
"Oh he isn't." Mike said as he awoke, once again using that eerie voice, "He's one of many to perish today."
Dakota looked angered and Zoey quickly moved over to her boyfriend to calm him down. Unfortunately, this foolish move was enough for the zombies to start pushing in again, with Heather and Dakota unable to hold them back.
"Fuck!" Heather cursed as she and Dakota were forced to back away as a zombified Sam and Staci were now entering the room. Dakota looked mortified and paralyzed with shock as soon as she saw Sam was one of the undead.
"Dakota, your gun!" Heather shouted but Dakota was a million miles away. Sam took a few clumsy steps towards her and prepared to go in for the kill.
A gunshot went off and Sam's head exploded, grey matter flying every which way and landing on Dakota. Another bullet was fired at Staci, though it missed her head and hit her in the shoulder. The girls' and Mike's savior cursed and threw down the gun and drew a sword instead.
Staci's head was severed clean off her body, revealing Lightning to be standing in the doorway, breathing heavily. Dakota slowly took her arm to brush off some bits of Sam that were on her person and a few tears found their way down her cheeks. Zoey was still focused on Mike, so Lightning looked to Heather.
"Help me kill the others?" Lightning asked her, "I think I've gotten most of those sha-zombies."
Heather nodded after a look at Dakota. The queen of mean took Dakota's gun, with Dakota doing absolutely nothing to stop her, and she followed Lightning out of the room and closed the door so those three would be safe from any further harm until the situation was cleared up.
"Ah wonderful timing." Noah said with genuine relief as Lightning and Heather killed off the final remaining zombies that had been trying to get at Noah and Dawn, "I never thought I'd say this, but thanks for saving my life Heather."
"Not in the mood dork." Heather said darkly as she and Lightning moved off to check on the others and see who else had died.
Zoey had realized Mike wasn't a priority right now and she was currently dragging Staci and Sam's bodies out towards the medical room. Dakota had followed her shakily, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything as the tears continued to cascade down. Dawn hurriedly moved to join the others in dragging bodies, finding herself very upset when she stumbled upon Cameron's. She couldn't get that look out of her head and she didn't want to admit Noah had been right.
Scott was dragging the dead form of Geoff out of his room with Bridgette sobbing and following dismally after him. No one could meet Bridgette's gaze: this was hard on everyone, but everybody knew how close she and Geoff were. Even Noah gave her some sympathy.
Lightning flung the door open to Anne Maria's room and was slightly disappointed to discover that Anne Maria had been turned. It appeared she'd fought back though, as the zombie who must have bitten her had clearly been stabbed in the head. There was a small bite mark near her hairline, ironically enough, but that was enough to do her in. Lightning sighed and used his sword to cleave through her brain, ending her misery.
Heather tentatively stepped into DJ's room, which had its door open, and looked somewhat saddened to see the lovable giant on was one of the infected. She quickly used a blade Lightning had given her to stab him in the brain. She didn't know what Katie was going to do when she found out.
And then she saw it: Katie's ripped up clothes on the ground next to DJ's body. That ridiculous pink top and matching bottom she had always worn on the show lay tattered next to the deceased jock and a lock of her hair lay adjacent to it. She swallowed hard: DJ must have eaten Katie. Her entire body was gone save the remnants of her hair and Heather had difficulties not vomiting at the thought. In fact, only seconds later, Heather couldn't keep it down and she threw up all over the floor where Katie's clothes were. She shuddered and shook something fierce, but couldn't bear to be in such a depressing environment any longer. Heather quickly joined the rest of the survivors in the medical area and relayed the information about DJ and Katie. Everyone looked sad at that as Scott volunteered to drag DJ's body into the room.
Almost everybody was still sobbing, crying or shaking as they tried to understand what had just happened. But it was Bridgette who broke the silence, with one of the most horrific things to ever be uttered, "DJ, Cameron, Sam, Staci, Geoff..., Anne Maria, Katie. Seven people. Seven deaths. Staci said seven was unlucky and once the group had Lightning stay behind, she said the luck would be shifted. She told me I was doomed..."
"She tried to warn us somehow." Dawn remembered exactly what Staci's dying words were and she echoed them now, "The end was in front of us all along."
Everyone ceased conversation, except for Noah who voiced something that was on everyone's minds, "But how the heck did any of the zombies get in? There are two that aren't people from our group that must have started this."
"Nobody knows," Heather said, "but we need to figure it the fuck out or we're going to be relocating real fast."
flashback scene
"Are you sure dude?" Geoff asked Scott as they entered the medical room, "Bridgette probably shouldn't be doing anything sexual with me given her condition..."
"Then just ask to cuddle or something," Scott said, trying to keep his annoyance in check, "but make sure you come back cause there's something I think you might need."
Sure enough, it went without a hitch. Geoff came back to Scott after speaking with Bridgette and he grinned, "You were right dude, she seemed to like the idea!"
"Fantastic, now come with me." Scott ushered him out and over towards the front desk, "Here, take this key and go inside to get some lotion. Bridgette could probably use a massage after all that stressful work she's been doing. Oh and do you happen to know where Heather is right now?"
"Alright dude, my girl could definitely use one." Geoff agreed and accepted the key from his new friend and inserted it into the lock, "And I'm pretty sure DJ mentioned something about getting Heather to hang with him and Katie. Those two are a couple now you know." He pushed open the door and entered Cameron's "laboratory" and blinked a few times.
"Um dude, where's the lotion-" Geoff began but was cut off when Scott hit him over the back of the head with the butt of his gun. The cowboy face planted onto the ground and lay still; unconscious.
"What's all this commotion?" Cameron had been drawn into the outer room and his eyes widened when he saw Geoff on the ground, "Scott? What are you-"
Scott was quick to move over to Cameron and snap the little man's neck. Cameron couldn't do anything to prevent this and he soon fell to the ground, dead. Scott hurried to close and lock the door behind him.
"Now to see what you and Jo have been hiding this whole time." Scott snickered, as if he already knew the answer. He rounded the corner and went deeper into Cameron's study area and his eyes glimmered with victory, "Ah, so it turns out Mal was right. And to think I thought Mal wasn't even one of that freak's real personalities. What luck!"
Scott briefly remembered conversing with Mike after the teen had startled him by waking up. No one else had been around and Scott had been previously muttering about the need for a plan to take down some of these distrusting newbies when Mike had woken. Apparently he had heard Scott and even threatened him, but before Scott could do away with him, he had gasped and seemed much more eager of the idea of killing people. He told Scott his true name was Mal and that Mike was nothing more than an alternate personality. Scott warmed up to the idea and Mal explained to him that Cameron had once let slip what he and Jo worked on in that secret room. From there, it had been easy to have Mal, posed as Mike, swipe the keys from Cameron and give them to Scott for future use.
"A foolproof plan." Scott smirked as he approached the zombies in cages that Mal had told him about, "You two look hungry, don't ya? Well good news, I've got several snacks waiting for you right over here."
And then he undid the lock on the cages and allowed them to feast on Cameron and Geoff, eventually turning them. Scott grinned and said, "Geoff said Heather was in DJ's room so that's where I'll have one of you go first. That'll teach that bitch and her stupid boyfriend Alejandro to mess with me!"
end flashback
Scott glanced over at Mike, who gave him a devious look; it must've been Mal after all. Scott withheld his triumphant grin; Heather may still be alive, but he had killed off several members of both groups. And in this world of death and chaos, he had never felt more alive.
Yikes. Well that was probably the most shocking and most fun chapter to write so far from my perspective. I figured a shocking bloodbath was exactly what the story needed to remind everyone that we aren't just settling down at some hotel and having cat fights or falling in love. The world these characters are living in is still broken and damaged, and this chapter highlights that.
Still, even I wasn't sure if I'd actually have the courage to kill of 7 characters in one chapter. I'm extremely curious to hear you guys' thoughts on this one, what with all the deaths and the way I foreshadowed it with Staci's creepy comments. Is Scott the most hated character by far? Was the Mal plot twist alright or was it lack luster? Are you devastated I finally brought DJ back from his injury only to kill him and Katie off right after they finally got together? And what about Geoff and Bridgette? Let me know!
DEAD: Sadie, Owen, Justin, Eva, Lindsay, Ezekiel, Tyler, Beth, Chris, Sierra, Blaineley, B, DJ, Cameron, Sam, Staci, Geoff, Anne Maria, Katie
ALIVE: Heather, Duncan, Bridgette, Trent, Courtney, Noah, Alejandro, Lightning, Zoey, Scott, Jo, Mike, Dakota, Brick, Dawn
UNKNOWN/PRESUMED DEAD: Gwen, LeShawna, Izzy, Harold, Cody, Chef Hatchet
