Disclaimer: I do not own the 2004 or 1978 film Dawn of the Dead; I own Angela and any other unfamiliar characters. WARNING! Rated T for violence, death, gory scenes, and any other adult content.
Chapter Fourteen
"Back it up, back it up!" C.J shouted. "Back up!"
Putting the bus in reverse, Michael started to back up slowly until they reached the alleyway. The second bus had skidded on its side for about fifth teen feet before stopping, crashing into a wall. Angela and C.J looked at the bus in horror as Ana pulled out the walkie talkie.
"Kenneth, you there? Kenneth?" She asked to no reply. "Kenneth, are you there? Kenneth, you okay?"
"We need to get them out." Angela said, turning to Michael.
"I'm getting no answer." Ana sighed, the walkie crackling in her hand.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, C.J pumped his shotgun, walking over to the bus door.
"What are you doing?" Ana asked.
"Fucking nursery school." He muttered, unlocking the door and kicking it open, jumping out.
Angela shook her head, pulling her gun out as she crouched out the bus, following him. They crept slowly around the over-turned bus, guns aimed high. The hatch on the bus suddenly flew off, Kenneth climbing out.
"C.J! Angela!" He called, throwing a bag of ammo and supplies at them.
C.J caught the bag, Angela rushing over to help Terry climb out as Kenneth brushed himself off. As Angela slung one of Terry's arm over her shoulders, steadying him as he regained his balance, Ana ran to them, checking inside the truck.
"Ana, no!" Kenneth snapped, blocking the hatch. "Everyone's dead; Steve took off."
"What?" She gasped.
"No..." Angela whispered, glancing inside the truck.
The inside of the truck was sprayed with blood. Monica laid flat on the floor, her body ripped in half with a chainsaw stuck in her stomach. Next to her also laid Glen, facing up with his eyes open, blood oozing from his broken skull.
"Let's go, c'mon!" C.J shouted, beginning to run back to other bus.
Shaking her head, Angela tore her gaze away, making her way back to the first bus with Ana by her side. As they walked, Steve appeared in front of them, covered in blood.
"There you are, you fucking asshole." Angela spat, but stopped short as he turned to face her.
White eyes stared at the two women, a raspy cry coming from his bloodied mouth.
"Oh, shit." Angela whispered, taking a step back.
"I got him." Ana mumbled, raising her gun to shoot him in the head.
Angela watched as his head jerked back against the bus, blood and brain matter splashing on the bus as his body slid to the floor.
"Damn." Kenneth said, who had watched from behind.
"Guess you kept your promise then, huh?" Angela said, wiping chunks of brain off her shirt.
A low screech ripped through the air as a lone infected jumped from behind the bus in front of C.J, who had also stopped to watch Steve meet his demise. Before he could pull his gun out, Terry ran past, shooting it in the head.
"Come on! Come on!" He yelled, running to the bus.
Hearing the horde's suddenly close screams, Angela and Ana looked at each other before beginning to run. Looking down the street, Angela saw the undead running around the corner straight for them, but when she looked back Ana had stopped, running away from the bus.
"Ana, what are you doing?" Angela yelled, skidding along the floor as she quickly turned to run after her.
She grabbed Ana's hand, pulling her back towards the truck.
"Wait, no!" Ana shouted, trying to pull out of Angela's grip.
"We need to go, Ana, now!" Angela yelled.
"Hurry!" Terry yelled, jumping into the bus.
As Ana still struggled, Angela wrapped her arms around Ana's body and dragged her to the truck, pushing her inside. Michael grabbed Ana, C.J appearing as he pulled Angela in, Terry closing the doors just before the infected got them.
"GO!" Terry yelled to Kenneth, who was now driving.
"No, we need to go back!" Ana yelled as the bus stared to pull away.
"What?" Angela exclaimed, frowning at Ana.
"What the hell were you doing?" Michael asked, grabbing Ana by her shoulders.
"The keys!" Ana yelled. "The boat keys! Steve has them and I was trying to get them!"
Tension rose among the group as they fell silent, the realisation hitting them all a split second later.
"Oh, fuck." Angela whispered.
Mouth in a tight line, Michael exhaled loudly through his nose, eyes squeezing tight in frustration as he let go of Ana.
"Well, that's just fucking fantastic!" C.J muttered, fist hitting the side of the bus.
"C.J." Angela sighed, closing her eyes as she rubbed her forehead.
"What are we going to do now?" Terry asked, panic in his voice.
"We stick with the original plan." Michael murmured, hands still over his face.
C.J looked at Michael with a dark expression. "And how the hell are we supposed to do that without the goddamn keys?"
"Look, everybody, just calm down!" Angela snapped, though her sentence was aimed at C.J as she glared at him.
"C.J's right," Terry said. "We can't get on the boat without the keys!"
After a moment of silence, Michael opened his eyes, lifting his head. "We can."
Anger was replaced with confusion as the group stared at him silently.
"What? Angela asked.
"I know a way we can get the boat goin'." Michael said.
"And just how the hell do we do that?" C.J asked, annoyance still in his tone.
"I can hot wire it." Michael replied.
"How?" Ana asked as the group grew more confused.
"I used to work on boats; building them and taking them apart. It was one of my jobs." Michael explained with a small grin.
As the group stated at him in amazement, Angela began to chuckle, hand rubbing over her eyes before she smiled at Michael. "You got anymore tricks up your sleeve?"
They drove for half a mile before the marina came into view, a chain link fence blocking it off. The truck gradually began to pick up speed as they neared the gates. Everyone braced themselves against the sides of the bus, Angela holding onto C.J.
"Hold on!" Kenneth yelled.
The bus crashed through the gates, flattening the fence with ease. Kenneth swerved through the entrance, avoiding cars and boats as he drove on the dock. The front of the bus smashed through the wooden planks, landing into the shallow water hard. As the bus tipped forward with a jerk, Angela lost her grip on C.J, tumbling to the floor and hitting her head.
Sharp pains shot though her head as her vision blurred, everyone around her gathering their supplies while Terry opened the door.
Somewhere around her, she heard Ana's voice calling her, but her head spun too much to locate it.
"Angela! Angela get up!"
C.J's voice sounded underwater as his hands shook her, trying to get her on her feet.
"C.J, come on! Just carry her!" Michael shouted as he stood by the door.
"Do it, man! We'll catch up!" C.J replied.
Angela was suddenly pulled to her feet, her head spinning as C.J caught her.
"Come on, Angela, we need to go now!" He said.
The pain still throbbed in her head, but she regained her vision in time to see the horde in the distance, running up to the bus.
"C.J!" She screamed, pointing to the door.
"Shit!" He hissed, pulling his shotgun out.
Angela frantically looked around the bus for another escape route as C.J began to shoot the infected that swarmed the bus. Spotting the emergency side door, Angela tried to open it, only to realise the handle was stuck.
"The door's jammed, C.J!" Angela yelled.
"Fuck!" He growled, dropping his shotgun and pulling out his hand gun.
Angela suddenly looked up, eyes landing on the empty hole in the roof.
"The hatch, C.J!" She exclaimed.
C.J quickly glanced up before shooting the infected again, kicking the last gas tank behind him.
"Angela, light a flare and attach it." He said, throwing a flare at her from his belt.
"What for?" She questioned
"Just do it!" He shouted, shooting an infected that had jumped in the bus.
She quickly lit the flare, sticking it through the bar on top of the tank.
"Climb up! Climb up!" C.J shouted.
Pulling a crate out, Angela stood on it and jumped, her hands gripping the sides of the hatch. She pulled herself up and out on to the roof. Kneeling down, she stuck her hand into the hatch for C.J.
"Grab my hand!" She yelled.
As an infected jumped in, C.J shot it. "Angela, just go!"
A look of horror washed across her face. "What?"
"There's too many of them, Angela, just go now!" C.J yelled, looking up through the hatch.
A glare appeared on Angela's face as she snarled. "C.J, don't be fucking stupid! Grab my hand and I'll pull you up!"
C.J shook his head. "Angela, listen-"
"Dammit, C.J, you listen to me!" She shouted harshly. "I'm not leaving without you! I'll jump back into this goddamn bus if you don't grab my fucking hand right now."
Glancing up at her, they both held each other's gazes before another infected jumped in.
"NOW!" Angela screamed.
Shooting the infected, C.J quickly stood on the crate, jumping up to grab Angela's hands. She caught him by the forearms, groaning as she began pulling him up. As she pulled him up, another infected grabbed his leg, trying to pull him down.
"Shit!" C.J cried, trying to kick it off.
"C.J!" Angela yelled, grabbing his upper body to pull him up.
Before it could bite him, C.J shot it, giving Angela time haul him up. They landed in a heap on the roof of the bus, Angela flat on her back with C.J on top of her. For a few moments, they laid there, the adrenaline slowly wearing off them, before Angela looked at C.J.
"Wherever you go, I go."
Breathing heavily, C.J shook his head with a small smile, standing up with his hand held out. Angela took it, letting him pull her to her feet. C.J looked down in the hatch, pulling his gun up.
"When I say jump, you jump." C.J said, aiming his gun.
"What?"
"JUMP!"
Before Angela could comprehend what was happening, C.J shot into the bus, the gas canister exploding. Angela jumped, but the impact of the explosion sent Angela flying into the air, heat consuming her whole body. The sound of the explosion thundered in her ears as she soared through the air, finally landing on the wooden dock. Her body smacked against the planks harshly, the world around her turning black.
After a few moments, Angela opened her eyes, face flat against the wood. Lifting her head, she gasped for breath as she inhaled a thick clump of smoke. A high-pitched ringing noise filled her ears, her vision doubled and blurry as she tried to focus. Pain shot through her body, like fire coursing through her veins, and she could feel wood and metal splinters prick her skin, causing her to bleed.
Fire crackled behind Angela and she could hear her name being called in the distance, but she couldn't force her body to move. An arm suddenly wrapped around her waist and she looked up to see C.J's bruised and ash covered face.
"You okay?" He asked.
Regaining the feeling in her arms, she pushed herself up and wrapped her arms around C.J tightly. "You fucking asshole, don't ever do that again."
"Come on, we gotta' go." He groaned, trying to pick her up.
Keeping her hands latched around him, Angel let C.J pull her up to her feet, but as she tried to walk her foot gave way, causing her to fall to the floor again.
"Shit, my legs." Angela gasped, face scrunching in pain.
Kenneth ran up to the two of them, grabbing one of Angela's arms and slinging it over his shoulder as C.J did the same to the other.
"We need to move!" Kenneth said as he and C.J picked Angela up, helping her run.
They ran along the wooden dock, carrying Angela to the boat. C.J groaned as he ran, but made it to the boat with Angela. Terry stood on the dock by the boat while Michael and Ana tried to start the boat.
"Holy shit, are you two okay?" Terry asked as he helped Angela on the boat.
"Yeah, just a few bruises." Angela tried to laugh, though it came out as a wheeze.
When Angela climbed on the boat, C.J and Terry carried her to the seats while Kenneth went to help Michael. Angela sat on one of the seats, Terry looking through one of the bags while C.J knelt down in front of her.
"You've got some burns on your legs." He muttered, inspecting her injuries.
Letting her head roll back against the head rest, Angela smiled lazily, sighing loudly.
"I don't care." She whispered. "Just as long as you're here."
"I think hitting you're head has made you delusional." C.J said, though he smiled up at her.
A loud rumble came from the front of the boat before it stuttered to life, Michael clapping his hands as he stood up.
"She's running!" He grinned.
"Good, then let's get the fuck out of here." Angela slurred.
As Michael started to turn the boat out of the dock, Terry sat down next to Angela, giving her a bottle of water.
"Thanks." She croaked, sipping the water.
Ana came over to Angela, kneeling next to C.J as she looked at her legs.
"I need to clean this up." Ana said, beginning to rip away Angela's ruined jeans. "Terry, can you get the first aid kit from the bag?"
"Sure." He said, getting up to look through the bag again.
Taking Terry's place, C.J sat next to Angela, brushing her hair out of her face.
"We actually made it." Angela whispered, lifting her head up to stare at everyone.
"I can't believe it." Terry said, returning with the first aid box and giving it to Ana.
"Where to now?" C.J asked, putting an arm around Angela.
Michael smiled as he steered the boat away from the dock, looking at the sunrise. "Anywhere we want."
A sappy ending, I know, but I just couldn't kill C.J and Michael. I felt like they didn't deserve to be killed off the way they were, they were too badass - anyway, this is my fanfiction and I can say who dies and who doesn't! There is an epilogue following this, so one more chapter left, but thanks to everyone who read and reviewed!