Again, I have to say this is NOT my best work. Hopefully the next few chapters will be a bit better. After all, I'm finally done with my Writer's Block!
REVIEW REPLIES:
The Beautiful Filth:
Now that you mention it, that wasn't as good as it could have been, but I'm glad you have your own opinion on if Blaise is really a zombie or if it's Strader just playing tricks. And I more than agree with you about the homework. Holy crap. At least you're almost out, right? ^^
Thank you for the luck...wishing...On my driver's test. I passed Range (completely failed on Serpentine though...^^') and now I'm waiting for my Road dates.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week and good luck with school stuff! :D Thanks for reading, sharing your opinion, and reviewing! I appreciate it!
mozzi-girl (The Beast!):
Thank you so much! I appreciate the kind words, and I really appreciate you taking time to read and review! It means a lot to me! :) Have a wonderful day, you fabulous human being!
ZeDancingHobbit:
^^ Thanks for reading and reviewing and I hope you enjoy the chapters to come!
NiekaWow:
No worries my friend! How is your holiday going so far? Have you done anything interesting? :)
And about the job...Hehe, I don't do it anymore. It was really just cleaning the house since both of my parents work a lot, but after I got my laptop...I stopped. ^^' Toby! Oh my goodness, have you seen his GTA V letsplays? He is absolutely hilarious! Oh my gosh! xD But yes...Completely hopeless! I'll definitely check him out when I get the time!
I'm so happy you're enjoying this! :D Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the trip! :D
Anyways! I just want to say that this story is going to end soon. I have lost all my ideas and I see no main plot point in this entire thing. But I'll make sure it ends with a bang! :)
Also, this is something new I'm doing, but since I have a new laptop, my Sims 3 works a lot nicer and smoother, and the new editing program I have is pretty okay, I was thinking of doing something new with my YouTube channel. Basically I want to make music videos of people's fanfiction. If you're interested, visit my profile for more details! :D
Alright! Here's Chapter Thirteen! Please enjoy and I promise the next few chapters will be a lot better! :D
Chapter Thirteen: The Package and Realization
Spirits at the Colony were at an all-time low. Work on our escape vehicle had ceased and most of us were lounging around, trying to avoid the rest of the universe. Even Mike, who had been so focused on making sure every one of us ended the day with grimy hands and faces, was often catching some extra sleep in his lawn chair.
I think we all just missed how things used to be. I'm sure the Colonists wanted to go home and abandon trying to fight for survival, and I knew that the Carriers and I were sick of being so far away from civilization without any zombies to actually fight. We had very small, defenseless hordes that occasionally crossed our paths, but the battle only took a few coordinated hits and skilled shots to end their slow approach.
I never thought I would say this, but I missed the actual apocalypse. At least then, we had something to fear instead of starving to death.
Jeremy had gotten a lot better since I talked to him. He was starting to remember everything...Aside from who took Blaise. He was frustrated because of it, but he couldn't do much besides wait. He did tell us, however, that he was tossed from a helicopter at a very low altitude so the fall wouldn't kill him. Whether it was intentional that the pilot chose the VOPA camp or not, we didn't know.
The sun was high in the sky today, indicating summer's arrival. It was another day without much progress as most of us sat or slept. John C. and John V. were the only ones looking over blueprints of the escape vehicle they had been so focused on completing. They never did more than just study the blueprints, though.
Bill was doing great and showing signs of a healthy development, which eased Zoey and Ellis's fears. The young parents were able to spend a lot more time with their baby, now that work had been stopped for the unseeable future.
Mike's wound he had received during the zombie attack was healing nicely. Kai had one of the Carrier's give up their blood to help formulate the cure we had used for the last apocalypse. Mike was still awfully pale, but the blood did stop the virus from completely overtaking his entire body.
Natara, Ken, and Nick seemed to be more upset than anyone else though, and the reason was quite obvious. Our loved ones were still gone and we didn't know if we'd see them any time soon. I tried to remain strong, for Natara's sake, but every now and then, I'd remember my promise to Katie of being with her in just a few days, and burning down her hopes.
Around mid-afternoon, I was helping Leilani prepare lunch. It wasn't too grand; just some oranges and fish. We didn't stop scavenging, but every place we visited was so barren. The only places we could rely on were the citrus tree and the L.A. River that cut through the Colony. Leilani wasn't a quiet person, which I was grateful for. I wasn't in the mood for starting a conversation at all.
"So Mal...I heard you were a cop. Do you have any good stories?"
I shook my head.
"What? Every cop has a good story to share! What about your first case, huh?"
"I don't remember," I lied.
Leilani shook her head as she dug her fingernails into an orange and peeled away it's surface. "What about the day you and Natara got married? I haven't heard that story."
I sighed and stopped peeling my orange. "It was a very small wedding," I replied. "Nat invited her parents, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend. I invited my sister, her husband, and her two kids. The other Carriers also came along. We didn't want anything too extravagant, because at the time, we were still very 'popular' among the nation. After all, this was about a year and half after the apocalypse ended."
Leilani smiled. "That's very cute! What about your proposal, that has to be even cuter; a stud like you must have had something very sweet planned!"
I shook my head. "Nah...I just asked her to marry me during Zoey and Ellis's wedding. It was kind of an impulse thing; I didn't even have a ring."
"That's still very cute," Leilani commented. "You two are very cute. I..."
Her voice was drowned out by the steady beat of helicopter propellers, alarming whoever had been awake, and disturbing those who had been asleep. The entire warehouse seemed to vibrate as the helicopter glided over, and hesitated. Before we knew it, we heard a loud CRASH!
Ken and Ellis ran out of the warehouse immediately and I excused myself to follow. Both Natara and Zoey joined me as we caught up with Ken and Ellis, standing over the splintered remains of a crate. Dented cans of food were scattered among the warehouse grounds, along with four envelopes slowly fluttering towards the ground. Three were signed to an individual person, and one was for the Colonists and Carriers. (And they were even caring enough to add "+ Mal"). The first thing we did was gather the canned goods (there were about twenty five cans). As soon as the food was stored away, Zoey gathered the notes and distributed them among their owners. I was shocked to see one addressed to Natara and I, scribed in a child's hand-writing. My heart skipped a beat and Natara reached over to hold onto me, also overcome with the same emotions I felt. Ken and Nick also received letters, and Zoey took it upon herself to read the one addressed to everyone.
"Dear Colonists, Carriers, and Malachi," Zoey read with a growing smile, "Stella told us how bad the situation seemed at the VOPA camp and the only thing I could think of doing was sending you as much food as a singular crate can carry. Unfortunately, it wasn't a lot. But I hope whatever you receive is just what you need. Also enclosed are three other letters for Mal and Natara, Ken, and Nick, from your loved ones.
"I provide you with my best wishes! I will try to send weekly 'care' packages. Good luck!
"Raj Mansingh."
Nick didn't wait for anything else to be said. He tore open his letter and began reading. Ken followed and I looked to Natara. I didn't want to do this here, with so many people watching. Natara placed her hands over mine and slowly began opening the envelope.
I wish we hadn't, because as soon as I saw the crayon red forming a large heart and crudely drawn pictures of Natara, Katie, and I holding hands, I realized how much I missed my little girl. Nick must've felt the same way because he was trying his best to hold back his cries. He stormed back into the warehouse. Everyone was smart enough not to follow.
Ken, on the outside, looked pretty stoic as he examined the letter, smiling every so often. He tucked it in his pocket as soon as he was done and looked towards Natara and I. We silently read the letter.
"Dear Mommy and Daddy,
"Gramma and Grampa have been very good to me, and aunt Neha too! I love you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooo much! Please come home soon!
"Love, Katie!"
Underneath Katie's heavily edited message, there was a note from Neha.
"Hey Mal and Nat. Katie and the rest of us are doing just great. I don't want you to worry about her at all. But please do come home soon! There haven't been any reports of a zombie attack, (aside from the President) so I assume you guys are doing a great job and won't be gone for much longer!
"Mom, Dad, Katie and I love you both very much and we can't wait to see you again!
"Love, Neha Mansingh."
I would have chuckled, but what Neha had wrote about there not being any reports of a zombie attack bothered me.
"What does she mean?" I asked Natara instantly. "About the attacks?"
Natara cleared her throat, wiping away any stray tears, clearly still immersed in our daughter's note. "Um...I'm not sure, Mal. What did she say?"
I pointed at the line, rereading what my sister-in-law had written. "'There haven't been any reports of a zombie attack...' Doesn't that sound just a bit weird?"
"I don't get what you're poking at," Natara replied and I shook my head.
"The reason we're stuck in this crap-hole is because of the uprising zombie apocalypse. The President has been killed, and we've faced maybe two or three hordes at the most...And there's no media coverage on any of it. The outside world seems to be pretty uninfected."
Zoey must have been eavesdropping, because the next thing I knew, she had forced herself into our conversation. "There's no Infection?"
The other Carriers and Colonists started to crowd around Natara and I, tuned in for the rest of the conversation, whether we liked it or not.
"According to my sister," Natara began slowly, "the outside world has been facing no Infection."
"I'm sure the nation wouldn't give any news coverage," Mike grunted and Rochelle shook her head.
"I'm afraid your wrong, Michael," she replied and Mike raised an eyebrow at the use of his full name. "News coverage of the zombie apocalypse is manna from Heaven for any reporter looking for a promotion. Why do you think there are so many reports about cannibals and zombie drugs?"
Mike rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let's take what the Intern is saying into mind...I still don't see the problem."
"I do," I muttered. My sudden rage got the best of me and I kicked the nearest stray, empty can. "Don't you see what VOPA did to us? We've been set up!"
Kai raised his hand and shook it vigorously before Natara called upon him. "Strader wouldn't do that," he said immediately. "There must be an apocalypse going on somewhere!"
"Looks like your little boyfriend lied to you," Ken growled and Kai shook his head.
"Strader wouldn't do that! I gave him my blood! I wouldn't give my blood to a dirty, rotten, lyin'..."
"Well you did," I replied gruffly. "I mean, look at everything we've been through these past few weeks. It all makes sense why he would send us here to a fake camp instead of an actual HQ!"
"I still don't believe you guys," Kai muttered. "Strader's a good guy."
"He's using us," I shouted. "He's been putting us through Hell, Kai! We're starving to death, we're losing all of our energy, and the only zombie attacks that have been recorded this year were either at this camp, or somewhere where Strader got involved. We've been tricked, just admit it!"
Kai opened his mouth to argue, but he was stopped by Ellis.
"And this isn't the end," Ellis muttered and gestured towards the sky. Flying towards us were several, cherry-red helicopters. It was hard to make out, but I was sure I could see small machine guns leaning out of the open doors.
"Aw hell," I muttered and grabbed Natara's hand. "Everybody inside now!"