Chapter 24: Forget Me Not

Streets of L1

"Shit."

"Shh."

"Don't tell me to-"

"Shut up, Maxwell."

The horde had stopped moving, but through the darkness, Heero could still hear the rustling of their bodies and clothes moving against each other. He held his gun tight in his hand, and he wished he could reach out for Relena, but in the darkness, he'd lost track of where she was. And there was no way he'd risk grabbing the hand of anyone else in that group.

"Why aren't they moving?" Relena whispered.

"Maybe they can't see in the dark," Sally offered.

The rustling became louder as the creatures reacted to the sounds of voices.

"Everyone be quiet," Heero growled.

"I have a flashlight," Timothy said, and a moment later, his cell phone lit up, the bright light from the camera flash casting a glare on the eyes of the creatures. They screeched and lunged forward, following the light.

"Put that out!" Wufei shouted, and slapped the phone out of Timothy's hand. It landed on the ground and broke, and the light went out. The creatures stopped.

"Well, we have to do something," Timothy whispered. "We can't just stand here forever."

For once, Heero thought, Timothy was right. They'd have to use a source of light to get away from the horde, but the creatures would inevitably chase them from the light. Heero's mind ran with options. There were no other options. He opened his mouth to speak, but Duo beat him to it.

"Timothy is right. We need to use a flashlight," Duo said. Heero winced at the words spoken out loud, but he was forced to agree.

"If someone hadn't broken my phone," Timothy complained, but Relena hushed him.

Heero pulled his phone from his pocket, and took a deep breath. He flicked on the flashlight and raised the phone above his head. The creatures moved forward towards the light, and Heero fired two shots, taking down two of the creatures.

"Everyone turn this way," he shouted, and threw an arm out to push a creature away from him. The others were scrambling to push the creatures away as well, while Wufei, Sally, and Duo fired shots into the horde, taking down a few. "I'm going to turn the light off. When I do, run."

"Everyone hold hands!" Relena shouted.

Heero wrinkled his nose, but nodded. Sally was closer to him, and she grabbed his hand tight. The rest of the group linked together by hands and Heero shut off the flashlight.

The creatures stopped, but their gurgling and growling could still be heard.

"Run!" Heero shouted, and he burst forward, trying to keep hold of Sally's hand. She lagged behind for a moment, and Heero squeezed harder so not to lose her.

As he ran, he crashed through the first of the creatures, pushing them aside with his hand. He could feel the lag as each person ran at their own pace. He frowned to himself, wishing they would all run together at the same time. He hoped they were okay, and that no one was getting bitten, but it seemed like the creatures weren't fighting very hard to get to them in the darkness.

It was hard to keep moving into the complete darkness, not knowing what lay ahead of him. He felt the bodies of the creatures brush against him as he ran, and felt the sweat on Sally's hand that he clutched in his own.

"Help!"

It was Relena.

She must have let go.

"Help me! Wait!"

Relena's hand slipped from Duo's. Her momentum carried her forward and she lost her footing, landing on the ground in a heap. Timothy crashed into her and landed on her back. Her breath expelled from her.

"Help," she gasped through her struggling lungs. "Help me! Wait!"

Timothy struggled against her, trying to stand back up. She could feel hands groping at her arms and legs and shoulders, one grabbed a fistful of her hair. She screamed. But this only roused the creatures further, and their grabs became more incessant.

Timothy's scream cut through the blackness. "Relena!" Relena struggled to her feet while she pushed away the groping hands.

"Timothy!"

"Relena!" It was Heero. Voices erupted in the darkness. Heero, Duo, and Wufei used their phones as flashlights.

"RELE-"

The flashlights hit upon Timothy, wrestling against the hands of the creatures. They were already gnawing and biting at his arms and shoulders, and one had latched onto his neck. The creatures dragged him away from the group, drawing the attention of the rest of the horde.

"No, Timothy! No!" Relena screamed, watching in stunned horror as the creatures ripped his flesh from his body and tore at his clothes. Tears erupted and flowed down her cheeks in unending streams. Someone hauled her up off the ground and gripped her tightly, trying to shield her eyes. Even without looking, she knew immediately who it was.

"No, let me go!" she cried, struggling against strong arms.

"Relena, stop. He's gone," Heero whispered to her.

"No, you have to save him!" Relena cried, writhing against his hold. She swiveled around, and saw his body disappear under a mound of creatures. "Timothy!"

Duo watched with a grim expression as Timothy's body was effectively swallowed by the creatures with their ripping teeth. He felt his stomach clench in disgust. He watched as Heero hauled Relena up from the ground and wrapped his arms around her while she struggled to reach Timothy. Wufei, Sally, and Trowa just watched in surprise.

Relena screamed and screamed. Duo turned his head away from the gruesome scene, fighting down the sickness that roiled his insides. He had nothing against Timothy, and was sad to see the prince destroyed by a bunch of man-eating zombie creatures.

But Duo knew they needed to get back to business. He shook Wufei's shoulder.

"Come on Wu-man, we need to get them out of here," Duo said urgently. Wufei nodded, grabbed Sally and Trowa and pushed them forward.

"Let's go, Heero!" Wufei shouted over the sounds of the horde.

Heero nodded and pulled Relena along. She continued to fight against his hold, but his strength was clearly more than she could handle. Eventually, she stopped struggling and hung limp against him.

"The shuttle port isn't much further away," Wufei said, and with a nod, they shut off their flashlights. The horde quieted and stopped moving once again, and they ran, hoping to not bump into anything along the way.

Just when Duo thought they would make it to the shuttle port unscathed, a thousand clicks sounded at once, and the lights in the colony turned back on.

Duo skid to a halt and stared. They wouldn't have gotten much further in the dark. A wall of creatures stood in the street, and when the lights came back on, began to move.

Wufei stopped short beside him. "Oh, what the fuck."

- RGS