Chapter Fifty:
A/N: I know, 50 chapters! I can't believe it either. So much has happened to these people I've grown to love and hate. We've said hello to OCs, goodbye to old and new friends and heroes, Tessa's relived her childhood rape and killed a man she felt she could have loved, Adette has captured our (and Tessa's) hearts, and there has even been a bit of humour along the way. I know it's stupid to reminisce, but as I'm writing this chapter, I'm preparing to graduate from high school. Give me a break, my world is about to change. Many of these OCs (Tessa included) have been based on friends that I may never get to see again. I just wanted to let my friends and fans alike know that I appreciate you being with me.
Okay, now that the emotional crap is on the way, I want to warn you guys that this may be one of the goriest chapters yet (and that's a lot considering the events in chapters 37 and 38), so don't eat before reading this.
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The blast of a shotgun could be heard as the SeeD, security guard, and two students ran across the grounds of Balamb Garden. Tessa thought of how much she had enjoyed transferring to Balamb Garden initially, but now it was one of the worst places that she had ever been. A female Rot in a SeeD uniform launched itself at Tessa, but its head exploded with another shot from Irvine. Brain matter and bits of scalp hit the girl in the face, but she just brushed it off with her bandaged right hand. It had been awhile since she thought about it, but Tessa suddenly remembered that she was missing a portion of her nose. It was an odd time to think about it, she admitted, but there never was a good time, really.
Suris and Seifer hacked away at the Rots, keeping Tyran and Tessa safe. For a brief moment Tessa wondered why she was the only woman involved in the retrieval of the vehicles. It didn't seem right, sticking her with a bunch of men. All they would do was slow her down.
You don't really believe that, do you?
Look at the record, Tessa answered Shiva. I've never been saved by a man. Adette saved me from the Rots in the Presidential Residence, and Quistis saved me from the idiots in the Administration Building.
What about Holt saving you in the sewers? He paralysed the Creeps that was trying to kill you, then helped you get into the Residence in the first place.
Fat load of good that did. Everyone in there died anyway. Besides, I was tortured, if you'll recall.
Tessa stopped as the Rot version of Aili stumbled toward her, but Seifer sliced her head open with the gunblade. He winked at the redhead, not realizing the effect that the event had on the girl.
"Aah!" Suris cried. Tessa swung around and saw a Rot take a bite out of his forearm.
Great, just what I don't need, she thought. Leaping over Aili's body, Tessa ran to Suris and elbowed the Rot in the face. It fell back and the SeeD shoved the gunblade through its face.
"Thank you!" he said, looking at Tessa appreciatively.
"Give me the gunblade," she ordered. Unwillingly, he did as he was asked.
"I'm okay, really. it doesn't hu..." but he never finished his sentence. Tessa swung and split open his neck, spraying herself with warm blood. Then she wheeled around and shoved the gunblade into the chest of another Rot before punching it in the face and taking off.
When they were halfway to Garden, the remaining three noticed that there were no more gunshots. That meant that they were either too far away for Irvine to see them, or that he was out of ammunition. Tessa hoped that it was the former.
"We don't know what's waiting for us inside," Seifer told his companions when they reached the entrance. He looked from Tyran to Tessa and cocked an eyebrow. "Where's that SeeD, Suris?"
"I killed him," Tessa said nonchalantly. "He was bitten, infected. He would've become one of them."
"You didn't have to do it just now!" Seifer said angrily as he jumped over the small entrance gate. It wasn't actually intact anymore, the Rots had destroyed them all by pushing their collective weight against them.
"We didn't know when he was going to turn. Besides, at least he won't become one of them," Tessa shot back as she too jumped the gate. Tyran followed silently.
The Garden seemed bigger than Tessa remembered, though it had been barely a week since she had been away. Each foot pounding on the linoleum floor seemed to conjure another dead classmate. Punch, slash, cast: it became almost mundane as the three fought their gory way through the commons. As they passed the library, Tessa saw her roommate, Latasha, stumble out in all of her chewed up glory.
The aspiring firearms major appeared to have had her cheeks ripped out, as the soft skin fell down over her jaw. The lips were bitten off, leaving behind two large open wounds. Flies swarmed all over her body and as she approached, Tessa saw that maggots were squirming around in her eye sockets. The redhead decided to give her roommate the peace that Seifer had given her best friend, and charged Latasha. She pounded the Rot's face with her fist, then grabbed her head and brought it down on the corner of the library sign.
Latasha fought back, as most Rots do. She bit at the living girl, who easily dodged the slow movements. Tessa kicked Latasha in the face, sending her jaw flying away. Then she ducked and whirled around behind Latasha and kicked her into a potted plant. That was when she saw the pistol sticking out of the shirt pocket. Tessa finally jumped behind Latasha, grabbed the side of her head with one hand and a shoulder with the other, and jerked. The cracking sound sickened the medic, but she didn't vomit. Instead, she reached into the Latasha's pocket, pulled out the gun, and placed the barrel at the side of Latasha's head.
"Thank you," she whispered before pulling the trigger. A roar was behind her and Tessa whirled around, aiming the gun. A male Rot, in civilians clothes, advanced on her. Keeping her cool, Tessa pulled the trigger again. When all she heard was click, she shout, "Shit!"
She threw the gun, hitting the Rot in the chest, and bolted. In taking the time to kill Latasha, Tessa had been left behind by Seifer and Tyran. Typical useless men.
You were the one who didn't stick to the plan.
Bite me, Tessa thought as two Rots came up from behind and grabbed her. Tessa drove her elbow into one, knocking it back, and hit the other one with the back of her head. They didn't release her and she knew that she was as good as dead.
If she didn't know better, Tessa would have sworn that the shotgun blasts that saved her life had come from Irvine. In reality, it was a lunch lady, a one-armed lunch lady. Tessa remembered her from the cafeteria incident during her second day at Balamb Garden. Why had she not seen her since then until that very moment? Did they stick her in the back washing dishes while the other lunch ladies with two arms served food and collected money. Tessa tasted bile at the thought.
"You might want to be more careful," the lunch lady said with a hoarse laugh. It almost seemed that seeing a student being attacked by the undead were an everyday occurrence to the woman. "Those things can be real pains."
"Ma'am?" Tessa asked as she walked to the woman, who was standing on a bench across from the library sign. "Who are you?"
"Me? I'm Desiree Supre, lunch lady extraordinaire," she said as she jumped down to the floor. A piece of skull was lying next to her foot and she absentmindedly kicked it away. "Well, you'd better get going, your friends probably won't wait for long."
"Thanks," Tessa said before taking off. It amazed her how someone could have survived inside the Garden for so long, but then it brought up other thoughts. Just how did they know all of the survivors where in the Administration Building? There could be some holed up in dorms or the classroom, waiting to be rescued.
You can't save everyone. But with that lunch lady around, who needs you?
Tessa didn't find Shiva's joke funny.
She passed the training centre, the sounds of the wilderness so close it spooked her. Then again, she had almost died. Anything could have frightened her. Not that she would ever admit it.
A couple of Rots were standing in front of the closed door to the parking garage, and Tessa cursed her bad luck. Why hadn't she stayed with Seifer and Tyran?
"Hey, over here?" she yelled, catching their attention. Dumbly, they turned and hobbled toward her.
Now, surrounding both walls of the commons was a smaller wall, about two feet high and a foot wide. Tessa used this to her advantage, climbing on it and luring the undead students away from the garage. When she was satisfied that they were a good distance from the door, Tessa sprinted toward it. She jumped off of the wall and landed in front of the door. She opened it and slammed it shut. Stopping to breathe, she heard a moan.
Tessa looked up and saw one of the most gruesome Rots her eyes had ever laid themselves on. It was stripped naked and the complete front half of its body had been stripped away, leaving behind tattered strips of skin, a couple of organs that were missing bite-sized chunks, and bones. It was impossible to determine if it was male or female. The eyes had even been torn out, and Tessa could see the grey of the brain through the eye sockets. (A/N: One of my friends, who is training to be a nurse, told me that the brain is pink due to blood running through it. Bet you're glad I told you not eat, huh?)
It stumbled toward Tessa blindly, even though it couldn't see. Again, she guessed that they were detecting her body heat, but she didn't know how. However, with each step, a new piece of the Rot fell onto the floor.
"Guys?" she called as the thing crept even closer to her. No answer. On the other side of the garage door, the two Rots she had tricked were scratching and trying to get in. "Hey, assholes! Are you in here or not?"
Again, no answer. Tessa locked the garage door and dodged the Rot, who dumbly reached out for her and missed. Lying nearby on the greasy floor was a crowbar. Tessa picked it up and charged the Rot, trying to thrust it through one of the eye cavities. Unfortunately, her aim was off and it scraped against the brow ridge.
The Rot, which was unaffected, grabbed her shoulder and pulled her in close for a bite. Tessa shoved her right hand in its face and cast Water, snapping its head back in much the same way Squall's had been. Next she tried, unsuccessfully, to free herself from its grip. When that didn't work, she broke the arm off with the crowbar. But before she could do anything else, the Rot's head fell to the floor, shortly followed by the body.
"We thought you'd never get here," Seifer said with a scowl. Tessa glared at him and tightened her grip on the crowbar. Following Seifer, she saw two vehicles surrounded by dead bodies. "Yeah, kind of had some trouble."
"Was anyone bit?" she asked, looking Seifer over.
"No," he quickly answered. Tessa doubted that he would have told her the truth, not after what she'd done to Suris. "Tyran's opening the garage door. Do you know how to drive? I wouldn't ask, but you killed the other driver."
"I know enough to get by," Tessa scoffed. It wasn't exactly lying: she had driven to Garden, but the road had been clear. Yet, even then, she'd damaged the vehicle.
"Fine then," Seifer said, "you're driving lead. I'll follow in case I have to rescue your ass."
"You're not getting anywhere near my ass," Tessa shot back. Seifer smirked. "Just stay out of my way."
"Seifer!" Tessa heard Tyran yell. "They're coming!"
"Looks like you're up," Seifer said mockingly. They each ran to a vehicle, and Tessa was relieved to see that the keys were in the ignition. She turned it and listened to the engine start. Suddenly, one of the doors opened and Tyran climbed in.
"Seifer, they're coming and..." he said before noticing it was Tessa behind the wheel. "Hey, you're not Seifer!"
"What was your first clue?" Tessa asked sarcastically as she pushed down on the accelerator and shot out of the garage and into the daylight. "The breasts or the vagina?"
The comment was followed by an awkward silence, broken only by a whimper from Tyran as the vehicle hit a Rot. Tessa imagined the tires squashing the thing's skull, and the grey brain matter exploding all over the vehicle's yellow paint job. After swerving to (unsuccessfully) miss a few more Rots, Tessa stopped right outside the entrance to the Administration Building. It was much better than she had expected, driving-wise.
"Come on!" she screamed as she pressed the horn. A dull beeping noise alerted the buildings inhabitants of her arrival. Quistis and Irvine were the first out, followed by Fujin, Hunter, and a couple of others. They clambered into the vehicle, and Tessa let Quistis get behind the wheel. Both women knew which was the better driver.
"Why were you driving?" Irvine asked, his Galbadian accent incredibly minimal. "What happened to Suris?"
"She killed him," Tyran said. "Said he got bit."
Quistis pulled ahead and Seifer stopped in front of the building and honked, but no one came out. "The others think it's too risky to try to leave," Quistis explained to Tessa and Tyran. However, at the last possible second, the Queen of Cards came out and jumped in with Seifer. Tessa noticed a hardened look cross Fujin's face.
They pulled away, leaving behind just over ten people in the Administration building with Squall. Tessa turned around and looked out the window to see someone run out of the building, leaving the door open, and chase the vehicles. However, a Rot tackled and bit him as several others forced their way through the open door. The screams could still be heard long after the vehicles left the Garden grounds.
"It was their choice," Irvine said quietly as the two vehicles sped down the road to Balamb.
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A/N: Interesting way to do my 50th chapter? Maybe. The one-armed lunch lady is never going to mentioned again, but I'll let you all in one a little secret: in my head, she doesn't die. She finds an escape route in the Fire Cavern and gets away to live happily ever after! I'm such a softie.
Well, I left Squall's fate open, like Xu's, which is going to drive you crazy, isn't it? Well, maybe not: what with the Rots getting into the building and all. But you know what? As I write this it is 2:40 in the morning and I'm tired. So to hell with Squall. Please R&R!