The parking lot was eerily empty as the two girls made their way towards the green mustang that was parked three spots away from the corner of the church. They rounded it sloppily as they heard the high pitched scream of an infected, the sound originating from somewhere behind them; they didn't turn and look for fear of seeing a half mangled body with its jaw hanging loose as it spat blood up with every screech or groan. They did however get a hold of their guns so that they weren't just flopping uselessly on their backs, making them feel a bit safe when in reality they were just as screwed as they had been.
Reality struck at the very same moment they reached the mustang that they had loved for as long as they could remember, their hands fiddling with the door handles until they realized it was locked (not only did Tommy forget his keys, he also had locked it. He never used to lock it). They didn't have James, and not only did they not have James but they didn't have Tommy either. The two people that knew how to fire a gun properly were both risking their lives for a set of keys that, in the end, they might not need if they get killed. Tanya and Coleen were on the edges of panic, it shook their hands and made their legs feel like jello as they stood, trying to contemplate whether they should turn around or not.
Coleen did first, rearing her entire body around in one messy motion, bringing the shotgun that was way too big for her, out in front of her. Something big collided with her as soon as she finally got her balance, knocking her back against the car and pinning her gun to her chest. She began screaming and kicking but her sounds were drowned out by the sounds of the crazed, massacred form that lay on top of her. Its voice was like nails on a chalkboard compared to Coleen's.
Reacting quick, Tanya pushed at the creature that was trying to eat her friend. The zombie came free of Coleen but it was still moving, still clawing and trying to grab either of them. It almost snatched Tanya's arm, but Coleen slammed the butt of her gun into its stomach, sending it back a few feet and giving them a few seconds to think of a plan. And in those few seconds, while Tanya tried to think of a quick plan, Coleen's brain sent electrical signals to the rest of her body, saying one word, and one word only; "Shoot".
The shell erupted from the end of the barrel and completely, and utterly, eradicated the stomach area of the infected that had threatened their lives. Its body fell into two separate parts, the top half falling backwards and landing several feet away from the lower half, which walked around for a few more seconds before collapsing. The pool of blood was immense and for some reason, the only thing that Coleen could think about was that the human body only held ten pints of blood (or something like that) and that definitely looked like more than ten pints. Then again, she didn't know how much a pint was precisely, but still, it was a lot of blood.
Tanya looked at her with bewildered amusement for only a moment before she heard even more infected coming, bustling their way across the parking lot towards Coleen and her. This time she raised her gun and fired, the machine gun spouting to life and letting loose a stream of bullets into the first zombie she saw, tearing it into tiny bits that now littered the pavement. There were still five more by her count, but Coleen dwindled that number to four with one more pull of her trigger, letting the empty shell hit the ground beside her.
Coleen began to reload, but of course, in her panicked state, it was hard for her to even locate the extra shells she had, let alone actually get them inside the gun and ready to fire. So Tanya, remembering something James had taught her a long time ago while they were playing a video game at Fortress PC, fired the gun "from the hip" (that was the term James had used), which meant she wasn't aiming down any sort of sight, or even picking any kind of target, she was just pulling the trigger and pointing in the direction that the infected were coming from. It was used (in the game) to cover someone while they reloaded, and to just hold back a large number of enemies at once, and Tanya thanked God that James had forced her to play that game.
The bullets whizzed through the cold morning air, several connecting with the zombie, but most of them ricocheting off of the ground, or the church wall. It knocked the first infected that was taking up the lead, to its knee, causing it to slow its pace and get mixed back in with the other three that were running toward Coleen and Tanya. The bullets did nothing but slow the zombies down momentarily, and the ironically funny thing was, that even with a trained soldier reloading Coleen's gun, they wouldn't have been able to finish before the zombies were upon them. Coleen swore she saw her life flash before her life, for the second time.
Then there was a loud crack, and blood was sent flying from one of the infected's chest and onto Tanya, who was then out of bullets, joining Coleen in her "final moments". Then another crack, and another, and one final crack, each crack spraying more blood onto the pavement, or the car, or one of the girls. They both stood paralyzed, fresh blood on both of their already stained clothes, their guns empty and useless. They looked back to where the infected had stood, relishing the fact that they were still alive. James had just come around the corner at a full sprint when he stopped, aimed, and fired four times before continuing his full sprint towards the car.
Where's Tommy? Coleen and Tanya both thought. Where's Tommy? James and Tommy had gone to retrieve the keys but they only saw James.
"Where's Tommy?" Coleen finally asked, looking as distraught as her voice sounded. James didn't give a vocal answer, he simply looked at her, his eyes like video screens replaying the terrible attack on his friend that he had witnessed. She didn't believe it, he was invincible wasn't he? They were all going to make it through it together? Wasn't that the plan? Weren't they all going to live? "Where's Tommy?"
This time her voice was barely audible, sounding more like a sob instead of syllables. She was crying before she asked it the second time, and before she knew it her body was already shaking. She couldn't move, she didn't want to move. She felt like she wanted to die, she felt like she could die for the first time since the gas station. If Tommy could die then she could die, and so could Tanya, and even James. It was overwhelming to her brain, and her weakened body.
"We have to go." James spoke softly, unlocking the doors and starting to slide into the passenger seat. Tanya and Coleen didn't follow, they just stood, the feeling of distraught racking their bodies like hammers on steel. "We have to go now!" James yelled it this time, making their heads turn towards him. His face was tired, beaten and afraid, and they could see it clear as the day was becoming.
"If we don't leave then we die, and I know you feel like you want to right now, believe me, I know, but we are alive. Don't fuck that up. Get in the damn car or I'll have to come over there and force you in, because I'm not leaving you two here."
James continued getting into the car, putting the keys in the ignition and starting it up. The roar of the engine seemed to kick Coleen and Tanya back to life, as they sprawled to get into the car with James, Coleen getting in the back by herself, allowing Tanya to sit up front. Coleen curled up into her favorite position, laying her head on the jacket that Tommy had given her all those years ago. She didn't cry, she only sat there. None of them cried. The car was completely silent as they drove out of the parking lot, turning west onto the road that leads out of Catlin and towards Champaign. To be honest, James didn't know where he was going; he was just driving and hoping.
The sun continued to rise as they drove down the long stretch or straight road that had been recently re-paved, making the ride smooth. By the time they left the limits of Catlin the sun was fully alive, shining bright in the cloudless sky like a diamond in the rough. It was behind them, seeming to almost push them forward like a guide, even though they didn't want to go anywhere. In their heads they just wanted to go home, wherever home was; they weren't sure anymore. To them, home was any place where all four of them (Tommy, Tanya, Coleen, and James) were together, enjoying themselves as much as four friends could during what seemed like, and might possibly be, the end of the world.
Home didn't exist anymore, as dramatic as that sounded. The four of them could find home, only the four of them, not just three of them, or two of them. Only together could they feel safe, and whole. The infection changed everyone, and the major change that came upon these four survivors was the sanity that only the four of them could keep. It seemed like the fabric of their brains were unraveling now that they had lost one of them. They could feel the world slowly breaking apart underneath them, right where they stood a giant tear in the Earth's crust was splitting their group of four, to a lack-luster trio.
James wanted to stop the car, and he did, but it wasn't because he didn't feel like going on any further, it was because there was something blocking the way. A white car, an old police cruiser to be exact, with a person standing behind it, gun raised at a firing position, was in the road, halting their progress. James smiled, despite all the horrible stuff that had happened in only the past half hour. He knew who's car that was, and he even knew who the person standing behind it was. Alex, the guy who joined the army after graduating high school, and not even a year later, was part of a scout sniper squad stationed in Iraq. At that point in time, Alex was probably the most qualified person to fight the infected, that James had come across, but he still didn't feel safe; he still wasn't home.
"What's going on?" Tanya asked, Coleen sitting up from her back seat, half expecting to see Tommy standing there, back from the dead. James stepped out of the car, not answering, and started to slowly walk towards the white car that was parked sideways in the road. It's long shape blocked a little more than three fourths of the pavement. "Coleen?"
"Yeah?" Her voice was quiet, nearly a whisper.
"I'm afraid." Tanya said, and Coleen could tell that she was holding back tears, just as she was.
"Me too Tanya, me too." Coleen reached to hug Tanya but they both saw that James was walking back to them. The man that had been standing by the large white car was following with him. They halted the would-be-embrace and said they'd get a rain check, taking their seats and waiting for whatever news was coming.
James opened the driver's side door, and got in, while Alex, who Tanya and Coleen now recognized, stood at James' window. They could see that he had aged, and mostly for the worse. His rinkles (which shouldn't have been there to begin with) looked heavy, while the skin that barely clung to his bones looked tattered and worn, like an old jacket; like the jacket that Tommy had given Coleen.
"You've got a whole party with you, huh?"Alex asked, smiling to reveal his feeble teeth. His sunglasses were as weak as his skin, not reflecting anything, but instead, showing his eyes as shaded circles on his pale skin. "Where's Tommy?" Alex asked, nonchalantly.
No one answered, and the air around the car seemed to get heavy, as if some almighty being was pouring invisible cement into the sky, letting it harden slowly as time ticked on. The silence, which in reality only lasted a few seconds, seemed to drag on forever until Alex, who seemed oblivious to the awkward-ness, spoke again.
"Didn't you say that he was with you?" Everyone was silent except for Coleen; she finally started crying.