Ch. 34

'Resolution Part one'

[Baltimore, morning]
It felt as if they had been climbing stairs for several minutes, it was dark and damp in the stairwell of this abandoned building, the siblings knew this was the right place from the smoke billowing above them.
The water seemed to be somewhat effective at keeping the walkers at bay, while they wouldn't drown, they didn't have the motor functions to swim.
Summer's eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting of this interior, moving stealthily up the stairs, Blake behind her doing the best he could to follow in her silent footsteps.
The sound of voices above their heads could be made out, what they said could not be.
"Careful, I think there'll be fighting ahead," Blake whispered as they rounded the corner of the final flight of stairs before they got off.
Summer felt a lurch in her stomach at the idea of being so close to the teenager she missed so dearly, she only hoped they would find her alive.
Stepping out of the stairwell, the duo saw there were many members of the militia searching around the remnants of what looked like ammo boxes.
"We're gonna find you!" A Saviour growled as he looked under a table.
The sound of a gunshot and yelp was audible to Summer from her spot at the entrance to the stairs, soon the Saviours had turned their backs on the siblings for a threat coming from the other side of the building.
Throwing caution to the wind, Blake rushed forward with his hatchet in hand, reeling it back, the survivor brought it down on one of the men's heads, killing him.
Several gunshots came ringing past him at this point making him duck down and take cover.
Summer pulled her bow out and got an arrow on her string and pulled back, calculating her shot quickly, Summer let her arrow loose.
"There's more of them-" the Saviour yelled as the arrow lodged itself in his throat, the man tried to grab ahold of the shaft and pull it out but quickly found his strength sapping away, he ended up falling back, breaking the arrow as his head hit the ground.
The men rushed at the siblings, putting her bow away, Summer pulled her Bowie knife out, the tingly sensation of fear wracked her body as the roar of a man running towards her, reached her ears.
Weaving out of the way of his machete, Summer connected with a left hook, which serves as her counterattack, after he recovered he swung in a wide arc with his machete, trying to decapitate her.
Ducking under the deadly weapon, Summer pushed her knife into the man's stomach, ripping it to the side, spilling the man's intestines.
Crying out in pain and falling to his knees, Summer pulled out her knife and struck the man in his temple, destroying the brain.
Blake saw one of the men shooting at him, crumpling over after being shot in the head by someone on the other side of one of the bridges.
Looking that way, Blake saw the Saviours rushing over the bridge, some of them being stopped short as they were shot down, but there were too many for one gunman.
"She's gotta be over there!" Blake shouted to Summer before looking over and seeing she was in trouble. "Ah!" Blake exclaimed before rushing to help.
On the other side of things, Summer had been fighting a man wielding a 2x4 board as a weapon.
She attempted to stab the man but he dodged and swung the board hitting Summer in the head, staggering slightly, the woman bobbed her head as he swung again, making him miss, she tried her luck once more but came up empty again.
Swinging the board like a baseball bat, the man connected a second time, with Summer's head.
Stumbling sideways, Summer fell into a small end table, then to the floor, there on her hands and knees, she looked up to see the man raising the board over his head to end her.
The clunk of the board hitting something made Summer's eyes snap open in surprise, he had accidentally hit the table, not accounting for the length of his weapon.
A moment later, the man was bulled over, by Summer's brother, Blake wrestled the wooden weapon away through brute force, swinging the board down, Blake killed his sister's assailant.
Throwing the shattered board to the floor, Summer saw the worried look on Blake's face.
"You ok?" Blake asked, panting slightly from his exertion while holding a hand out.
"I'm alive," Summer said, taking his hand and lifting herself up from the floor. "C'mon we gotta help whoever's over there, it could be Genevieve!" Summer said as he picked up her knife and followed right behind Blake.
[On the other side]
As the Saviours swarmed towards her on the bridges, Genevieve had to take different measures to survive, dropping the rifle, Genevieve drew her pistol and hunkered down behind one of the medical crates that were kept on this level of this particular building.
"Where the fuck is she!?" One of the men roared as he looked around.
"Spread out! Before her friends catch up!" Another man said.
"Cut the wires on that bridge," one of the men ordered, clearing a corner.
"These things took forever to put in!" The man closest to the bridge exclaimed, referring to the bridge.
"Just fucking do it!" The leader yelled, taking his focus off the mission at hand.
Hearing the word 'friends', Genevieve's brow furrowed, someone followed her this far from the settlement? She assumed she knew who.
Pulling her knife out with her free hand, Genevieve took a quiet cleansing breath before vaulting over her cover.
Shooting her leg out, the survivor kicked the man, making him fall backward as Genevieve landed on the balls of her feet, lunging herself toward the enemy, stabbing him in the chest, and putting her weapon under his chin and firing the pistol.
Ducking her head instinctively, a bullet whizzed over her, the sound of a bolt being pulled back, throwing herself toward him spinning into a heel kick to the groin, grabbing the rifle barrel, Genevieve pushed it up into the man's face.
Having stunned her current opponent, Genevieve stepped on the man's knee crushing it backward, while he fell, the survivor let her knife slide across his throat.
Turning her head, Genevieve saw another assailant, snapping her aim to the man, the teenager shot him in the with her pistol, hitting him in the shoulder.
While he grabbed his shoulder in pain, staggering back a few feet, Genevieve dove into a front roll, expertly stabbing her knife into his knee.
Pulling the knife out with lightning speed, the survivor shot her pistol into the man's stomach at point-blank range.
Grabbing the man's shirt collar, Genevieve pushed the dying man forward, shots rang out as another man fired at the girl, hitting his friend.
Reaching her gun around her human shield, Genevieve fired off two shots, the second hitting its mark in the militant's sternum.
Throwing her shield to the floor, Genevieve walked over to the last man she shot, standing over his writhing body, the teenager aimed her weapon and ended the enemy's suffering.
Hearing the snapping of metal cable, Genevieve's attention quickly shifted to the bridge only seconds from dropping her allies into the water several stories below.
Blake and Summer had witnessed the Saviours trying to cut the bridge down, the duo felt as if it might give way any moment.
Running hard, the siblings heard the bridge give way for the last time.
"JUMP!" Blake screamed as he felt the bridge begin to fall.
Summer and Blake both dove for the safety of the building where the girl they had tracked so far resided.
Reaching with all his might, Blake felt gravity pushing him down, long before he would make the ledge, Summer who had been behind him, felt the same thing.
Her heart was pounding, her ears were ringing, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as she ran towards her companions, every sound, every breath amplified by the adrenaline in her veins, reverberating in her head as she made the fateful attempt.
Diving forward, Genevieve stretched her out as far as possible, reaching with her left hand for a support beam to keep herself from falling with them.
The world sped up as Blake grasped her right wrist half a moment later, a pop could be heard in her shoulder, and a short but loud and shrill scream echoed out as the weight of Blake and Summer's lives rested in her hands, and her will to not let go.
Summer's heart raced as her eyes shot open, she wasn't falling, Blake had got to the edge? Looking up, she saw that Blake was dangling not from the ledge, but Genevieve's outstretched and over-extended arm.
Holding to her brother's legs for dear life, Summer felt herself release the breath she had inadvertently held.
Groaning and growling in pain, Genevieve felt every agonizing movement in her right arm, her fingers were locked around Blake's forearm despite her brain's cry for her to release her grip.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, obscuring her vision as she looked at the two people she held most dear, hanging over a fatal fall.
She knew she had to pull them up, this was a precarious situation since she was laying down with only a bar to hold her in place.
Tightening her grip on the support, Genevieve's face went red from the strain on her body.
Scooting her knees up under her, Genevieve needed a final push of effort, or else she would lose the biggest people in her life.
Stifling her agonized cries, Genevieve put her foot on the ground and began lifting with all her might, tense seconds passed until finally, Blake was able to grab the ledge and pull himself and Summer to safety.
On the safe solid flooring of the decaying skyscraper, Summer looked at the dead bodies that Genevieve had been responsible for.
"Let me look at that arm," Blake said as he moved closer, taking great care to not move it suddenly.
The teenager had been pacing before Blake chimed in, doing her best to stop her pain-induced jitters, Genevieve leaned against a pillar putting her weight on her left, and uninjured arm.
Tenderly placing his hands on the shoulder of the child he had saved years ago. "It's outta socket, maybe some tearing, I dunno," Blake said, shrugging his shoulders, the man thought for a moment about what he could do to help, he looked up into Genevieve's eyes, asking the silent question.
Reading his expression, Genevieve looked to the floor before closing her eyes, wincing at the thought for a moment before hesitantly nodding her head. "Just do it quickly," Genevieve uttered, opening her eyes after giving confirmation.
"Why the fuck did you come out here?" Blake asked as he took Genevieve's wrist in his hands. "Hold on to that pillar," Blake said in passing, not trying to lose the conversation.
"Because… they deserve to die, they have killed so many people I love, and hundreds of other people if not more!" Genevieve said, wrapping her arm around the pillar as best she could.
"Lil lady, I'm gonna say it now, what they're doing is horrible and they will get what's coming to them, but take a damn minute to think about what you're doing, you can't kill all of them," Blake explained, motioning about to emphasize his points.
Pulling on Genevieve's wrist with steady pressure, Blake attempted to relocate the teenager's shoulder as she hissed, after a moment she began to groan in pain.
When she was about to have the man stop when suddenly she felt a shift in her arm, her shoulder gained traction, Blake let off the pressure he had been producing.
"Aah!" Genevieve exclaimed as she felt the bone slip back under the shoulder blade and into place with a pop.
The pain she had been feeling, substantially dissipated, bringing her right hand up, she had control over it once again.
"Thank you," the young survivor said with a slight pant in her voice.
"Genevieve, come back with us!" Summer said, coming closer to the teenager.
"No, I still have to make them pay!" Genevieve hissed, stepping towards the edge of the building, the fort was in sight.
"You can't do it alone, you have to give this up!" Summer exclaimed, hoping her words could get through.
Genevieve looked over her shoulder to send a scowl in Summer's direction. "Probably not! But Tina deserved better!" Genevieve growled as she turned to fully face the guardian who had kept her safe all these years.
Seeing Genevieve turn to walk away again, Summer grabbed the teenager's left wrist, taking care not to hurt the injured arm, turning Genevieve around swiftly. "What would Tina want?! Would she want you to avenge her?! Or be safe?" Summer questioned as Genevieve gave her a hard glare, one Summer held with equal intensity.
The question hit Genevieve, she had been so intent on joining her beloved and taking as many down with her, that she had not stopped to think of what Tina would have wanted.
Averting Summer's gaze, Genevieve looked at the floor, scanning it for nothing in particular, until her eyes fell on Blake, she could see in his eyes that he pleaded for her to come back.
Wrenching her hand away quickly, looking back to Summer, shaking her head, Genevieve turned away again to think.
Summer's face fell as the child she helped raise turned away, she would willingly give her life for Genevieve in a heartbeat, surely Genevieve didn't want to throw her life away, again.
With her breath shaky and her voice weak, Summer tried to hide the slight quiver of her lower lip. "Please come home," Summer pleaded, holding back tears.
With her eyes closed and tears pricking her eyes, Genevieve battled with herself for a long moment.
"Baby… Go home, I'll be waiting for you," A familiar voice said to Genevieve's right.
Looking over, Genevieve let her tears fall, as she saw her late girlfriend. "Tina, no!" Genevieve exclaimed with a quivering lip.
Tina looked out at the buildings of Baltimore than to the water below, a thoughtful smile gracing her lips. "Genevieve, I want to see you again, but I don't want you to die, live first," Tina said in a knowing tone.
Looking down at the water writhing and churning below, the pull of the void urged Genevieve forward.
Tina shook her head at Genevieve's thoughts. "Stay alive," Tina said simply, turning her body to face Genevieve.
Genevieve looked up and saw Tina was gone, with her back still facing Summer and Blake, Genevieve swallowed hard before letting out a sigh, the teenager made her decision.
"Ok, let's go home."