Author's Notes: Thank you all for reviewing. I'm glad everyone likes it so far. I will try to keep this story interesting.
Others Like Us
The group, now taken down from five to four, made haste in leaving the institute. The sun was rapidly descending and soon they would be stuck out in the dark.
When they were far enough away they slowed their pace.
Rogue was still shaking from what had happened. Sam was a member of her team and she had to watch as his brains oozed out of the cracks in his skull.
Jack did not seem to show any sympathy. He was very angry with Rogue at this point.
"We told you Rogue," he said. "We told you to stay with the group. But no, you had to go off by yourself. You could have ended up like Derrick."
Rogue's voice shook as she spoke. "Why did you kill him. Ah thought he was your friend."
Drew was the one to answer her. "He was infected. It doesn't matter who a person is. If it's your friend, your brother, or the fist person you ever fucked. If they're infected then they're already dead."
"But he was your friend," Rogue stated, "how could you kill your friend."
Jack shook his head and said, "you just don't get it do you girl. I did him a favor. I stop him from becoming a blood thirsty killer like the rest."
"Trust me if it happens to you we'll kill you like that," he said as he snapped his fingers.
Rogue then said sarcastically, "oh well Ah've enjoyed knowing you to."
Keith turned to her and held his bat up to her face.
"Enough of your bull shit," he said before turning back around.
Rogue stood still a few moments before following the boys again.
When she caught up with them she said, "look Ah know what kind of crap we're in, but Ah'd like to think that there was a better way of handling that situation. The X-Men wouldn't have just killed him, they would have tried to find a way to help him."
"How the hell would they do that Rogue," Jack asked harshly as he turned to her.
He paused for a second and then asked, "what is going on in that head of yours? What, do you think we're gonna find some magic cure and save humanity? It's not going to happen, there is no cure. The only thing we can do in this situation is try to stay alive. That's as good as it's gonna get."
He said no more. He only turned away and they all continued to move.
The sun was almost completely out of view. It was now only a matter of time before the infected would begin prowling about the streets.
That thought made Rogue even more nervous. She moved ever so slowly, keeping her eyes on every shadow, because she wanted to be ready to run if anything came out at her.
Her movement was so slow that the boys got a good distance ahead of her.
They stopped when they realized she was not with them. They looked back and saw her moving so cautiously. To anyone else this image would have been amusing, but not to them.
"What's taking you so long," Keith called back to her. "You move any slower you're gonna be dead in less then ten minutes."
"Cut me some slack," Rogue said angrily, "Ah lost the gun back at the institute. Ah can't protect mahself now."
Jack sighed and reached into his coat pocket.
"Relax," he said as he pulled the gun out of his trench coat. "I grabbed the gun as we were dragging you out."
"What," Rogue asked full of rage.
She ran over to them and looked at Jack angrily. "You mean you had me walking out here, scared half out of mah mind, without a weapon, and you had the gun this whole time we've been running."
Jack walked up to her until his face was only two inches away from hers. "I wanted you to calm down a little first," he said. "The way you were acting you'd fire this thing when ever you heard a sound."
He then put the gun in Rogue's hand and continued with his remaining friends into the darkness.
Rogue followed close behind, but didn't speak at all. 'What is with these people,' she asked herself in her mind. 'One minute they seem to care about mah safety and the next they don't seem to give a shit."
They continued to move. The sun was now out of view and the moon had taken its place. They could all be attacked by the infected at any moment.
Sure they would have hidden by now, but none of the buildings around them seemed to provide any protection.
Keith looked up at the night sky and shook his middle finger at it, knowing what it was going to bring.
As they quickened from a walk to a run Drew noticed something not too far away.
"What the hell is that," he asked causing everyone to stop.
They all looked at what he saw.
Lights. Many lights blinking on the top of a high building.
"You think there's somebody up there," Keith asked.
Jack looked at the lights. The infected weren't bright enough to set traps.
"If there isn't," he said, "then we'll at least have a decent place to hide for the night."
They quickly ran over to the building where the lights were coming from.
The darkness around them made it very difficult for to see. It took time to locate the building with the lights from a close distance.
As soon as they were in the right place they began to take the stairs up to the floor where the lights were coming from. Seeing as the elevator didn't work that was their only way up.
The building they were in was very tall, which meant a very long staircase, something none of them were looking forward to.
Still they didn't came plain as they moved up each flight, walking the whole way.
Rogue was in the back of the line going up. No one said a word as they climbed.
By the time they were half way up Rogue's legs were killing her, but she didn't complain. She knew they had to make it up there.
But as they got farther up the headache that she had yesterday was returning. She remembered how bad it was the other day, but it came back even worse.
The Goth tried to ignore it to the best of her abilities. It was very difficult to do so.
Jack looked back at the girl and saw her grabbing her head.
"You ok," he asked.
"Ah'm fine," Rogue lied as they continued up the stairs.
She only managed to move up a few more steps before saying, "no Ah'm not. Ah need to rest."
She turned around and sat down on the steps. She grabbed her head as she groaned in pain.
The three boys looked at her.
"What's wrong," Keith asked.
"A headache," she said. "Ah feel like somebody dropped a load of bricks on me."
Jack stepped down to her saying as he sat next to her, "then why didn't you tell us earlier."
"Ah thought you wouldn't give a damn," she said.
The hardness in Jack's face vanished. He made Rogue face him and the Goth looked into his nearly white eyes.
"How long were you in the hospital," he asked her.
Rogue tried to think through the pain.
"Ah don't really know," she said. "It was for quite a while."
Jack nodded and said, "well I think that explains it. You've been dealing with so much stress after just getting out of a hospital bed where you were for such a long time. Your brain can't really handle it yet so it retaliates by giving you pain."
He stood up and said, "unfortunately there's nothing we can do about that except wait for it to go away."
Rogue gave another groan of pain before saying, "that sucks."
For the first time that day Jack gave her a look of pity.
"Sit up a little will you," he asked Rogue before putting down his ax and sitting down behind her.
Rogue did as requested, but didn't really know why.
Jack put his gloved hands on her shoulders and began giving her a gentle, but comforting massage.
The rubbing felt good. Rogue closed her eyes and leaned her head forward a little.
Keith leaned on the railing and looked at Drew. "See, look at that. Every time someone gets a headache he lets the magic fingers go to work. It's like an addiction."
Rogue felt herself sinking into the rubbing. It was sort of helping her headache go away.
Suddenly Jack stopped his hands and raised his head up in alarm.
Rogue opened her eyes and lifted her head. She shook her shoulders wondering why the rubbing had stopped.
"What's wrong," she asked.
No one had to give her the answer. It revealed itself with a very familiar and terrible sound.
"Oh crap, more infected," Drew blurted out before Keith and him took off up the steps.
Jack grabbed his ax and said, "come on move," very persistently.
He ran up the steps with Rogue running after him.
The boys were in such a panic that they did not notice Rogue lagging behind.
Rogue ran up the stairs as her headache came pounding back. The pain made it difficult to run, but she still managed to move at a decent pace.
Nonetheless, the infected still moved faster than she did. In no time Rogue could see them chasing her.
The Goth took up the gun and aimed it as she ran. She had never fired a gun before in her life, it was no wonder she wasn't a good shot.
She pulled the trigger and let the first bullet fly. It zipped by one of the infected, missing it by inches.
Rogue fired again, and still hit nothing.
Finally she turned all the way around and put both of her hands on the gun. She pulled the trigger and the bullet went clean through the air and hit one of the infected in the shoulder.
But that did not stop it. It didn't even seem to slow down.
All the infected kept coming.
Rogue turned again and tried to run faster.
Now she didn't even have time to aim. If she tried she would be enveloped by the infected.
Her heart began to pound with fear as she began to think escape was impossible.
She screamed up to the three boys. "GUYS!"
A few flights up the three boys stopped.
"WAIT FOR ME, PLEASE," Rogue screamed in absolute terror.
Jack pointed at his friends. "Keep going," he ordered as he went back to help Rogue.
Meanwhile Rogue kept running.
Only a few seconds had passed, but they seemed like hours, and she still didn't see any of the boys.
"HELP," she screamed out again.
Just then a hand reached down from one of the flights of stairs above.
Rogue ran over to it and grabbed it, not caring whose it was.
She felt herself being lifted up, and up there she saw Jack's face.
Jack helped her over the railing and then began to pull her along.
The infected were still coming.
Higher up the stairs Drew and Keith made it to the final floor. There were many doors and they had no idea which one the lights came from.
They began running from wall to wall banging on them and yelling things like, "hello! Can anyone hear us?!"
At last Rogue and Jack made it to that floor, but the infected were still not far behind.
Keith and Drew ran over to them with there weapons ready.
Rogue pointed her gun, ready to fire.
The infected came around the corner like a tidal wave.
There were seven of them. Enough to be a problem for the four survivors.
The things hit the four hard, pushing them back towards the end of the hall.
Both Jack and Keith were pinned to the floor, with their weapons held in a position so they couldn't use them.
Rogue was slammed against the wall as her gun was grabbed by the infected person. She kept her grip on it, but the thing still struggled with her.
Drew was busy trying to fend off the other four with his machete.
As the four struggled for their lives a door at the end of the hall opened and out came a tall African American man. His face was covered with a beard and he had a pair of glasses over his eyes, one of the lenses being cracked.
He ran out of the room with a crowbar in his hands.
Drew was partially startled when the man ran over to him and hit one of the infected with his crowbar.
He quickly shook the feeling off and took the man's coming as an advantage. He swung his machete forward cutting open one of the infected.
The thing fell to the floor as warm blood dripped from the wound.
The black man began hitting another infected person in the head. Not stopping until it fell down motionless.
Back on the floor Keith just managed to overcome the thing on top of him.
He pushed it off and stood to his feet. He kicked the thing that was holding Jack down, and helped his friend stand.
Then in a quick move both Jack and Keith grabbed the infected person Rogue was dealing with and threw it against the opposite wall.
The black man yelled at the four, "get inside quickly," as the for remaining infected stood up.
The three boys did not listen. They stood by the man and readied their weapons.
Rogue stood with her gun aimed.
The infected ran at the boys and the man.
Rogue fired her gun. The bullet shot right through the skull of one of the infected, killing it instantly.
The three boys charged at the last three things, swinging there weapons like mad. Blood splattered on the wall as the infected were killed.
After they were dead Keith got a little carried away and kept hitting one of the bodies.
After a few hits Jack grabbed his arm and calmed him down.
Rogue began to breathe more easily as she slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
The three boys looked at the person Rogue had shot.
The Goth saw the three admiring her "work".
She held her gun up with a smile and said, "finally got one."
Jack helped her to her feet.
Drew walked over to the African American man and held his hand out.
"Thanks," he said as the man took it.
"No need to thank me," he said, "I can't let people to get torn apart by these things."
The man went back into the room and allowed the four to enter.
When they were inside he closed the door and locked it tightly.
"I wouldn't do that," Jack said. "Not yet at least. The bodies will need to be cleared out or else more infected will smell the blood."
The man walked away from the door saying, "I'm keeping it locked for now."
He passed by the four and stood in front of them.
"I'm glad to see that more people survived through all this turmoil," he said, "We were beginning to think we were the only ones left alive."
The four were confused by his statement.
Keith cocked his head and said, "you mean there are more of you."
The man nodded and turned his head. He held his hand up to his mouth and called to the other survivor.
"Amanda," he called. "Come on out, its safe now."
When Rogue heard that name her eyes turned wide.
After a while Amanda came out from one of the rooms and walked over to the man.
The man put his arm around her shoulder and said, "this is my daughter, Amanda Sefton. My name is Lucas Sefton." (Author's notes: I don't know his real first name.)
Amanda looked at the four new comers. Her eyes passed by each of them until she saw a familiar face.
"Rogue," she said in astonishment.
"Amanda," Rogue said in the same way.
The two girls looked at each other as the boys just stood confused.
"You know each other," Jack asked both of them.
Rogue didn't say anything. She just stood in shock. Kurt's girlfriend was still alive.
It took quite a while for both Rogue and Amanda to explain how they knew each other. To tell the truth they didn't know each other very well. They would see one another every now and again. All they really knew were their names.
After everything was settled and things were clarified Mr. Sefton allowed the four to stay with them. But Rogue had a strange feeling that he didn't really approve of having a mutant hiding with him.
Amanda and Rogue talked to each other about what they had gone through since Infection broke out.
From what Rogue was told, Amanda's mother was killed after some of the infected broke into her house. Both she and her father had to leave their home behind and they had been hiding in this room ever since.
Rogue told Amanda everything that had happened to her since she woke up in the infirmary. She told of everything, from when she saw the institute in ruins to when Derrick had to be killed.
Amanda did seem upset when she was told that Kurt's whereabouts were unknown, but she tried not to show it.
As the two talked the three boys checked out the apartment to see if it was suitable to protect them from the infected. It would do just fine.
The boys did not make them selves at home. As soon as they checked the place out they went strait to disposing of the bodies.
While they took care of that Amanda led Rogue to the bathroom of the apartment.
"I take it you want to get cleaned up a little," she said opening the door.
Inside was a small tub full of water. The plumbing didn't work so this was all the Seftons had.
"I know it's not much," Amanda stated, "but I figured you'd feel better after you washed off some of that grunge."
Rogue nodded and said, "thanks."
She walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She took off one of her rubber gloves and put her finger in the water.
The water was absolutely frigid, but Rogue knew it would have to do.
She took off all her cloths and stepped into the small tub.
There was a small piece of soap and a wash cloth laid at the side. She picked both up and cleaned herself off while standing up. It was an uncomfortable bath, but it did the trick.
While Rogue bathed the three boys dragged the bodies out to the street.
It was a long and tedious job, but it had to be done.
Drew and Jack had to help each other carry the corpses. Keith was able to take them down by himself, seeing how he was the strongest of the group.
As the first two bodies were placed onto the pavement outside Drew asked foolishly, "why exactly are we doing this again?"
"So we don't get killed in our sleep," Jack answered as if it was so obvious. "Leaving these bodies up there is like ringing the fucking dinner bell."
Drew nodded and slapped himself for asking such a stupid question.
It took them a long time but, they eventually got all the bodies down on the street. They stacked them in a pile far away from the door.
"Ok light it," Jack ordered as Drew and he dropped the final body.
Keith took out his matches and lit the clothing of one of the bodies. It took some time, but the corpses began to burn.
The sound of more infected were heard nearby.
The three moved back into the house and up the stairs.
"Now we wash off every drop of that blood," Drew stated.
"Yeah," said Keith. "No way those bastards are finding us tonight."
"Damn strait," Jack said as they moved with haste.
During this time Rogue had finished bathing. She stepped out of the cold water and dried herself off with the towel Amanda had brought her. She dried off quickly to stop the could feeling that covered her body.
She grabbed the clothes the three boys gave her and put them back on. There was nothing else for her to ware.
After putting on her clothes she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked so tired, which was amazing seeing how she had been sleeping for such a long time. She brushed her hair as best she could with her fingers trying to make it neater.
She then noticed a can of shaving cream and a razor in front of the mirror. Without a doubt they belonged to the former owner.
Rogue grabbed both of them. She sat down one the edge of the tub and sprayed the shaving cream upon her right leg. After rubbing it around a little she slid the razor along it, cutting herself instantly.
"Ow," she said as she felt the quick pain. "Damn it."
The blood ran down her flesh. She ignored it and continued to shave her legs.
Back out in the hall the boys were cleaning up the blood.
They were just about finished when Mr. Sefton came out to check on them. What they were doing made no sense to him.
"Is this all really necessary," he asked.
The boys looked at him as if he asked a stupid question.
Jack walked up to him and held the bloody rag in front of him. "You see this. The infected can smell this from a mile away. If we leave it lying around then there will be tons of Infected right outside your door quicker than you can say, 'oh fuck'. Let us do what we have to if you want to stay alive."
Mr. Sefton did not question them again.
The boys finished cleaning the blood and went back into the apartment.
Keith grabbed the nearest waist basket and they wall threw the rags in it. Once again a lit match was thrown in with the bloody pieces of cloth and burned until they were ashes.
Amanda watched this routine. It was very strange to her. But these boys seemed to know what they were doing.
When they were finished Mr. Sefton spoke. "You're free to sleep where ever you want tonight. Uh, the room over there is where my daughter is sleeping, so that one is off limits as you can guess. If one of you doesn't mind bunking with me, then that's alright."
"We'll be fine here," Jack said pointing at the living room, dining room area.
"Are you sure," Mr. Sefton asked.
The boys just nodded.
"Well, ok," Mr. Sefton said as he shrugged. "If you don't mind it's been a long day, and I'm exhausted. So I guess I'll see you all in the morning." And with that he went to bed.
Amanda stayed back with the boys and watched them as they slowly paced around the room.
They had placed their weapons on the table seeing as they needed two free hands to move the bodies outside. It seemed to be the first time that they even put down their weapons.
Amanda sat down next to the lethal objects. She picked up the machete and looked at it. She had never seen such a big knife before in her life.
"Put that down," she heard Drew order. And she instantly put it back on the table.
It was at that time that Rogue exited the bathroom.
She looked at the boys as they paced. "So who want in the bathroom next," she asked.
"We're fine," Keith said as he began to fiddle with the cuff of his jumpsuit. It was a nervous habit he developed ever since infection broke out.
Jack looked at Rogue as he paced.
"I see you shaved," he said pointing at the cut on Rogue's leg.
She looked down at the cut and said, "yeah. I wouldn't really call it shaving." She looked back at Jack. "More like shredding."
Jack gave a little snicker through his nose.
Rogue looked from boy to boy. She tried to getup the nerve to say what she wanted to say.
"Um, guys," she said to all the young men.
The boys stopped pacing and looked at her.
She took a deep breath and said, "Ah know you don't think Ah understand what's going on, but Ah do And Ah know Ah would be dead right now if you hadn't of taken me in."
After a few second of uncomfortable silence Rogue said, "what Ah'm trying to say is Thank you."
The boys did not say anything at first.
Then Jack said, "you're welcome," and his friends nodded in agreement.
Rogue then walked over to Amanda and sat next to her.
The girl looked at the tired Goth.
"Are you alright Rogue," she asked.
Rogue looked up at her and tried to force a smile. "It's just been a bad couple of days. Ah guess Ah'm still having trouble coping with everything that has happened."
Amanda nodded in agreement.
Rogue closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, wondering if this nightmare was ever going to be over.