This chapter will be focused more on the social aspect of a zombie outbreak...good vs. evil, savagery vs. society, etc. It was inspired by Lord of the Flies by William Golding, with Rikki taking a sort of "Ralph" role, Simon taking a "Jack" role and Lewis a sort of "Simon" role. (I hope the two Simon's doesn't confuse anyone who has read Lord of the Flies!) I hope you like it! :)
Rikki wheeled the last two propane tanks into her father's house, their meeting spot. It was way past the time her and Zane were supposed to meet Lewis and Bella, but her blonde friends weren't here yet. She desperately hoped nothing had happened to them. Maybe they shouldn't have split up...
Zane sat down beside her and put his arm around her. It had been a long day, and the comfort felt nice. She really needed some sleep. She breathed in the familiar smell of her old house and Zane, and shut her eyes.
Rikki was just starting to doze off when she heard voices. She leapt to her feet, waking up Zane in the process.
"Wha?" he murmured, jerking awake.
"Rikki?" Bella called from somewhere nearby. "Zane?"
Rikki opened the door and peeked outside. "Do you two want to alert every zombie in the neighbourhood?" she scolded them. But honestly, she was relieved to see her two friends with all their body parts intact.
A correct anatomy wasn't the only thing Bella and Lewis had returned with. Lewis was carrying two bursting duffel bags, and Bella was lugging around a massive microscope in a big bucket. They looked exhausted.
Zane appeared behind her and helped Lewis with a bag. Rikki put the new supplies in a closet with their propane. She locked all the doors and windows and showed her friends potential sleeping spots. Her father's caravan was only a two-bedroom. Lewis graciously offered to sleep on the couch and allowed Bella to take Mr. Chadwick's bed. Rikki and Zane curled up together in Rikki's old room, where Zane passed out in seconds and Rikki lay awake thinking for hours. Finally, when the first streaks of sunlight were coming in her bedroom window, Rikki fell asleep.
A very late night and a very early morning made for an irritable Rikki. She snapped at everyone for the most pointless things, she had a raging headache and everything seemed to annoy her. She just wanted to get to the café, find out everything there was alright, and then fall asleep on the couch in her office.
Lewis was explaining how Bella could purify water while Zane carried their supplies out of the closet.
"What the hell is all that for, anyway?" Rikki asked, pointing to a load of microscopes and other science-y equipment.
"Uh..." Lewis ran his hand through his hair. "I was thinking I could do a few experiments on the disease. Maybe find out where it's coming from, how exactly it affects humans?"
"You're carrying it, then." Rikki told him. She wasn't in the mood to argue about Lewis's need to examine absolutely everything that came into his orbit. Some things just happened and they couldn't be explained logically. Rikki could picture Lewis going up to a zombie with toe-nail clippers and the thought made her laugh out loud.
Zane, Bella and Lewis gave her a strange look but didn't say anything. She suspected they were just happy she wasn't yelling at them for getting extra stuff.
The group started loading each other up with supplies. Zane, being the strongest, had to carry two backpacks and the biggest propane tank. Bella, the weakest, carried a smaller backpack and wheeled two smaller propane tanks. Lewis and Rikki both had a medium-sized load, but her shoulders were hurting just minutes after they started the walk back to the café.
Rikki kept her hand at the ready, just in case they stumbled across any hungry zombies. She never realized how destructive her power really could be. It actually made her feel bad-like she was just a weapon, only useful for fighting. Unlike Bella and Cleo, who could purify and make useful things out of water.
Then Rikki remembered something she had forgotten to check with the others.
"Hey guys," she called to them. Her thinking had caused her to lag behind a bit. "Did you and Lewis check out anyone's houses? Me and Zane were going to, but we didn't have time..."
Bella's face fell and Lewis started biting his lip. Rikki's heart sunk. Please, please don't let it be...
"We don't think Cleo made it." Bella explained. Lewis stared at the ground, motionless. "Her house was broken into and there were zombies everywhere."
Rikki clenched her jaw and sat down on her backpack. The others decided they needed a break, too, and sat down around her. Zane tried to comfort her but Rikki pushed his arm away.
It was just hard to believe Cleo, the sweetest, kindest person Rikki had ever met, was gone. Most likely gone, or worse: infected.
"Did you actually find out for sure if Cleo is...dead?" Rikki sniffed. There was a little bubble of hope rising up in her chest.
Lewis and Bella glanced at each other. "Not exactly, it was too dangerous to investigate her house. I suppose she could have left with her family, but then why would zombies break into her house if there were no people in it?"
Rikki sighed. She could see Lewis's logic and didn't want to create false hope for anyone. Maybe tonight she could sneak away to Cleo's house and check if she was hiding in a closet or somewhere. That would be just like Cleo, to hide instead of escape.
The group let Rikki rest and work out her thoughts for a few minutes before Zane suggested they get a move on. Rikki knew she had to carry on, for Cleo and the hope for everyone else. Who knew what trouble Simon and Nate had gotten up to while they were gone?
As the cafe came into view, they all saw exactly the trouble. Rikki's mouth dropped open in outrage. Every. Single. Light. They had turned on every light in the place, even the glowing neon Rikki's sign.
Rikki took off. Even with propane tanks and a heavy backpack, she still sprinted to the cafe in less than thirty seconds.
She pushed open the door and took in the scene. All of her grief, shock and sadness was directed into a new emotion-anger. And she knew just who to take it out on.
"Simon!" she growled, snatching him away from his girlfriend. Simon glowered at her, clearly not happy that she was back. "What do you think you're doing? This is my café! I said no electricity!"
Simon remained obnoxiously calm. "I don't see your name on the place."
Rikki raised her eyebrows, amazed that anyone could be so stupid. She grabbed the nearest menu and pointed to the jagged red script at the top.
Simon turned away, as he had clearly lost this argument. Rikki, fueled by frustration, stepped onto the nearest chair, and from there onto a table. She yelled to everyone in the café,
"Turn off the lights! Unplug your phones, don't use the electricity!"
There were several grumbles and her orders weren't obeyed. Rikki's anger flashed again.
"We need to use all our propane for the freezers! We could be here for months-your stupid iPhone's are not going to matter when you're starving!" she raised her voice above the irritated voices. "And...and if you don't like it, then just leave!" she pointed to the door, where Zane, Bella and Lewis were not helping matters by wheeling in several propane tanks.
Rikki heard more and more people grumble about it. Still, no lights were switched off. No phone chargers were unplugged.
Without a word Rikki jumped off the table and walked along the wall, unplugging things as she went. Simon leapt to his feet to argue.
Before he could get a word out, Rikki silenced him. "I said if you don't like it, leave. We aren't wasting energy here."
"I thought this was a democracy." Simon challenged. "I'm a leader, too, and I say we can have lights. Look at all that propane you just brought-and I'm betting there's more."
Simon was infuriating. Rikki stamped her foot. "That doesn't matter! Not if we're here for months..." she trailed off as she saw people agreeing with Simon. Maybe it was because he had more arguments than her, or maybe because he had turned them all against her. Rikki groaned. Why couldn't people see sense?!
"I agree with Rikki." Lewis said, standing behind her. So did Bella and Zane. Lewis continued, sounding a lot more logical than Rikki had. "It's the daytime, there's plenty of sunlight...why do we need lights on? And charging iPhones? It's not like we can send texts or go on Twitter...the phone lines and Internet are down. Maybe we can compromise. At night we can turn on lights if needed, but other than that we don't use electricity. Okay?"
The people who had previously agreed with Simon saw the logic in Lewis's compromise. A few guilty-looking people unplugged their chargers while Bella flicked off the lights. Simon glared at both Rikki and Lewis and then asked to speak with them privately.
"We can't keep having arguments like that." he told them later, when the three leaders were alone in the office.
"You started it." Rikki grumbled. "You disobeyed orders."
"I was doing what the people wanted!" Simon argued.
Rikki was about to come up with a witty comeback when Lewis stopped their fight.
"Guys, from now on let's discuss things privately before we announce decisions to the group. Agreed?" he looked back and forth from Rikki to Simon.
"Agreed." Simon said.
"Fine." Rikki consented at the same time. She sunk into the nearest chair. It had barely been a week since this disease started and already things were falling apart. How hard was it to conserve electricity, for God's sake? And Cleo...her best friend was dead and she couldn't do a thing about it. She had a chance to save the rest of the people at the café, but Simon was doing the best he could to ruin their chances.
Lewis paced back and forth several times, as if deciding what to say. Simon took the seat next to Rikki, but scooched it so there was a big gap between them. Rikki wouldn't have it any other way.
"Okay..." Lewis began. "So part of the reason we took so long getting back here was because I picked up a few extra pieces of equipment." he was speaking mostly to Simon, as Rikki already knew what he was speaking about.
"Like, extra weapons?" Simon asked. Clearly he didn't understand that Lewis was both passive and a science geek. Rikki rolled her eyes. Lewis and weapons didn't go together.
Lewis shook his head. "No, science equipment. I want to study the zombies. I think this disease originated from the ocean and I want to do tests, maybe look for a cure."
Rikki was confused. "Wait, hold up. You think the disease came from the ocean? Why would you think that?"
"Well...it started in Australia, a continent surrounded by water. We are also a very developed nation so it most likely isn't a known virus or bacteria...and I feel like I've seen something like this before. So have you, Rikki." Lewis explained gravely.
"What the hell are you talking about? I don't study viruses or bacteria!" Rikki exclaimed. Lewis's idea was simply ridiculous.
"Something that is spread through blood getting in contact with infected things? Causes ravenous hunger and almost animalistic behavior?" Lewis shouted at her. Rikki felt like she was taking a test, and failing. She had no clue what her smart friend was trying to say.
Lewis waited a moment, expecting her to suddenly get it. Finally he burst out with the answer as if it was completely obvious. "Emma! The coral!"
"Who's Emma?" Simon cut in.
"None of your business." Rikki snapped at him. "Lewis, I don't care if you study those things but they are nothing like what happened to Emma. And that's that." Rikki stood up and opened the door.
"Wait!" Lewis exclaimed, jumping up and slamming the door. "There's more. I need a favor."
"What kind of favor?" Rikki asked warily.
"I need...samples to study. I was wondering if one of you could get some for me?"
Rikki was disgusted with the idea. Simon, on the other hand, puffed out his chest and stood up. He agreed to go kill a zombie and bring it back. Lewis explained that he needed it dead but in good shape. Rikki got a queasy feeling in her stomach as Simon left with a gleeful grin on his face and a hammer in his hand.
Rikki started to leave when Lewis stopped her again.
"I need a favor from you, too, or Bella. But I would prefer you because you know what to look for..." he babbled.
Rikki sighed. "Just get on with it, Lewis." she told him impatiently.
"Whenever you have time to go for a swim, I need a piece of that coral Emma pricked her finger on. Do you remember what it looked like, or where she found it?"
She nodded, recalling the rainbow coral in Cleo's fish tank. "Do you really think that's what caused this disease?" she asked incredulously. It was such a rare species of coral, and it only affected fish...and mermaids, of course.
Lewis looked thoughtful and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "It's possible. What I'm thinking is, maybe a fish was infected by the coral and then a person ate the fish and got infected, too. Then the person turns into a zombie, bites a few people, the disease spreads...then we have a zombie epidemic. I know it sounds like a long shot but I just have this feeling..."
Rikki shrugged. "You're the nerd." Lewis laughed. "I'll get the coral when I have time...and if you get me gloves and a bag to carry it in! There is no way I'm getting cut like Emma."
Lewis readily agreed to Rikki's conditions and he finally let her leave the office. Everyone was being lazy, sitting around without even the energy to talk.
The boring atmosphere changed in just minutes when Simon came back into the café with blood smeared down his shirt. He led Lewis outside and Rikki followed, warily. Right in front of the entrance was the body of an infected man. It looked like it had been dead for a week rather than a few minutes. Rikki had to plug her nose against the powerful stench.
Simon's explained the kill, his eyes lighting up at he described it. He kept a tight grip on the hammer that he killed it with, and used it to reenact the kill.
Lewis looked like he was about to throw up, but helped Simon drag the body to the back door. Rikki's stomach turned at the thought of it being stored in the freezer as a sample.
"What is the world coming to?" she murmured.
So what do you think about the possible cause of the disease being the coral? I got the idea from my biology teacher, who told me that viruses and bacteria can mutate at any time...actually most of our diseases today were evolved from cows, pigs, things like that. Let me know what you think about Lewis's study plans, Simon's kill, and Rikki's reaction to it all! The next chapter is Emma's.
PS the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update! Xx