Chapter Two: Alone
Star quickly grabbed some more ammo before hurrying out the back door. Steve and Katherine, Katie, quickly followed him outside.
"Where are we going?" Katie asked.
"Somewhere else. Those gunshots would have attracted something."
Katie didn't speak anymore, she only followed. Steve, on the otherhand, pointed his gun in every alleyway or corner, just like Star. Katie held a silver pistol, checking behind the group every now and then.
She took note of a faint cry coming from an alleyway not too far from them. He also took note of the moans up ahead. Star stopped suddenly and looked at Steve and Katie.
"Go down this narrow path. There's a small clothing store across the street. I want you to silently clear it out and wait for me."
"Where are you going?"
"Just go and wait. I'll be there in less than five minutes."
Steve looked at Star before grabbing Katie by her wrist and leaving down the path as instructed. Star, on the otherhand, was holding his gun aiming in front of him as he ran down the alleyway towards the scream that he heard.
"Is anyone there?" He asked.
It was quiet around him, a little too quiet. There were no more moans, which seemed to send fear through him. He came upon a small walkway wondering if whoever is was he heard was in there.
"Hello…" He said softly.
There was another whimper and instinctively he walked towards it. His gun was held high, anticipating what he would do if zombies showed up.
That was Star alright. He was always ahead of his brigade. He always thought and planned ahead of everyone. He was a top-notch sergeant compared to everyone, which would be where his nickname came from. He was always looked up upon by other cadets and gave many speeches during his twenty years in the army.
Star shook his head, it had been a few years since those days and even then the virus was just starting to spread. People were sick, coughing and calling in from work. People often disappeared, but the cops seemed too distracted to care. It never crossed anyone's mind why they weren't responding to any of the calls. Survival was the only thing that seemed to cross through anyone's mind.
People even went crazy. Whether the person with them had a scratch or not, they would still only meet death. This "disease," or so people called it, had spread faster than the Ebola virus in Africa. People were stalking the streets every part of the day looking like zombies from a horror movie that you now seemed to be a part of.
It never crossed Star's mind whether or not this person was in trouble or in pain. He just saw the little girl crunched in the corner facing away from him. He contemplated on leaving the girl there, but the sudden urge in him caused him to speak to her, to at least see if she was in fact alive.
"Are you ok?" He asked his gun still pointed to her.
She didn't move. She stopped whatever she was doing and slowly turned around.
Meanwhile, Steve and Katie made their way into the clothing shop just as Star had said. Both people walked inside and quickly searched the place.
"Do you think Star's ok?" Katie asked holding her gun upon as she walked to the back room.
"I'm sure he's fine. He is from the army after all. He's gone through a lot of training. I don't think he'd go down that fast."
"I don't see anything. Do you?"
"Nah. I guess we wait then."
"Yep. That's what he said."
Katie nodded and sat down on the counter with Steve right next to her. She looked at him and smiled. Out of no where, there was a crashing sound.
"What was that?" Katie asked hopping down.
"It sounding like it was coming from the back door."
"So who's checking?"
"I will."
Steve pushed past Katie and slowly walked towards the back door. There was a light flickering on the other side and all he saw was what looked like a horde of zombies.
Katie let out a scream and Steve came running in her direction.
"Katie!" He yelled firing his gun at the zombies that were eating Katie's body.
Katie let out another choaky scream as her arms were ripped from her body. Steve kept firing, even at the zombies that were coming towards him.
"Die you bastards!"
Steve felt something behind him. He turned his head slightly to the side, enough to see the zombies that were outside the back door were now inside and coming for him. He too let out a scream as his body was ripped to sheds.
It was hard for Star, too shoot a kid. Zombie or not, he's always had a soft spot for kids. Star wanted to cry or find a way to get rid of the horrible feeling. All he could do now is make his way to the clothing store, where Steve and Katie were.
The store was quiet and dark when he got there. Hopefully Steve was the one who thought of that; that nothing had happened to his comrades.
His footsteps grew quicker; his heart was pounding faster. Something wasn't right, something in him wanted him to stop and turn around. He was afraid and he couldn't understand why.
Star opened the door and walked inside. He didn't call out their names or turn on his light. He stared and his face twisted horrifically at the sight on the floor.
There was a pool of blood in the center of the floor, but no body to place it with. He walked farther inside; there was a small blood trail. His heart felt like it was pumping out of his chest, but he still continued. His mind screamed at him, wanting him to turn around and run, but all he could do was move on. He had to find out who the blood belonged to. It seemed too much for just one person and Steve and Katie were no where in sight.
Star pressed on fighting the urge to run. He turns his body to see into a small room, but found nothing. The blood trail led outside. He quickly made his way to the back door and just stopped. One the ground near him were two bodies. Steve and Katie. They were full of bite marks and had body parts missing. Everything in his mind seemed to rush through his body and he slowly backed away. When he knew he was outside and just staring at the front of the store and let out a slight cry.
All blame seemed to point to him. He had told the to go there; he got them killed. Star felt something coming up from his stomach and without hesitation he threw up on the cement sidewalk below him.
