Happy 4th of July everyone! This one took me a few days to complete, but I've had a busy couple of days so I apologize. Although realistically, I'm not going to be able to pump out a new chapter every two days down the line.
I hope everybody is enjoying the story so far, but don't forget to check out the poll in my profile about who you want to survive the zombie apocalypse. And don't forget to drop me a review so I know what you like, and maybe what you don't like.
Enough of that, on with the story!
WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, swearing, sexual activities and character death.
"Hurray, the gang's all here." Noah said sarcastically as Gwen closed the door behind LeShawna, Tyler and Ezekiel. Noah noticed the blood on Zeke's shirt and he frowned, "You alright there, home school?"
"I'm fine, eh." Ezekiel claimed and Noah narrowed his eyes at him, "It was hard to find you guys though. At lot of running around in the woods and all."
"Leave him alone Noah," Katie snapped at the bookworm who raised an eyebrow, "Ezekiel saved me back at my cabin. I really appreciate what you did for me so I wouldn't end up like..."
Katie couldn't bring herself to say the name of her deceased best friend. After this brief conversation, Chef Hatchet had regained everyone's attention, "Alright listen up maggots. It seems we got ourselves a bit of a break from dealing with those brain munchers. We need to gather as much supplies as possible here and come with a strong plan to bust ourselves off this island."
"I've been gathering guns with Sierra and Cody." Chris reported to the group as the mentioned teens brought down a few boxes from the upstairs of Chris' residence, "I've got an additional four pistols with boxes of ammo, a machete, and a .357 magnum that I'll be taking for myself. I seem to have lost my handgun during the chaos earlier."
Blaineley purposely kept her face expressionless at that. Cody looked into the boxes containing ammo and his mouth fell open, "How come you have all this?"
"Um hello, wealthy reality TV show host who lugs around a million dollars every season?" Chris seemed offended Cody had to even ask, "I'm a very important person you know, it doesn't hurt to be protected."
"Look at that, Chris actually being useful for once." Gwen mocked and the host glared at her.
"Enough," Chef said gruffly, "we got four more guns to pass out. Who's taking 'em?"
"I will." Duncan and Courtney said at the exact same time.
Courtney frowned at him and said, "As if we're letting a criminal handle a firearm!"
Duncan rolled his eyes, "And you've spent much time around guns have you princess?"
Before Courtney could retort, Chef handed each of them a gun, "We don't have time for arguing. Criminal, don't make me regret giving you the gun."
"You steal one car and the world never shuts up about it." Duncan mumbled but when Chef prepared to berate him, Duncan wisely turned the other way.
"I will gladly take the machete Chef." Alejandro said and many were surprised he didn't request a gun for himself.
Chef didn't question him as he handed the Latino the very sharp machete. LeShawna was the next to request a weapon, "Chef, I think we both know LeShawna can handle herself around a gun. You learn to pick up a thing or two when you live where I do."
Chef nodded in understanding and gave LeShawna the third pistol. There was only one left, and yet again there were two volunteers.
"Give it to me." Heather and Gwen both stated, which was instantly followed by the two glaring daggers at each other.
"Surely we're not going to let Heather have the gun, right?" Beth asked Chef, "I mean, she's notoriously a backstabber."
"Watch your tongue." Alejandro warned Beth, who shrank back from his menacing look.
Chef gave the final pistol to Gwen before more arguing would ensue. Heather was steaming and without a word she stalked away into another room. No one went after her; no one really wanted to mess with an angry Heather.
"How come you didn't volunteer yourself for a gun?" Noah asked Blaineley suspiciously, "Last time you pitched a fit because Chef gave the guns to DJ and Geoff, but this time you were rather quiet."
"Because I knew they wouldn't have given me one." Blaineley huffed, sticking her nose up in the air. She made sure to keep the gun she'd stolen concealed, but she was paranoid someone might find out so she moved off to a different room in the upstairs of the house. She silently cursed Duncan for finding her at all: she would've rather tried to make a fun for it to the boat house. But at least she could say she was alive; a state of being others sadly could not claim.
"Under normal circumstances I would never allow any of you in my home," Chris was saying, "but given that the dead are rising up to attack the living, even I am willing to bend my own rules. My elaborate island getaway has plenty of room for all of you to spend the night, so I recommend you do. Assuming we bust out of here tomorrow, we got a long day ahead of us so get some shut eye."
"Um, what about Izzy?" Sierra raised her hand, "We still don't know where she went, but we promised we'd make a signal for her."
Chris faltered and glanced over at Chef as if to say "This one's your call."
Chef cleared his throat and said, "I'll come up with something, but for now listen to Chris. We'll alternate watches in case some of those undead attack during the night. Chris and I will take first watch."
"Cody and I can go see if the television is working and if there's any info on this outbreak." Harold said, straightening his glasses, "That way we might be able to deduce if this undead crisis is contained to just our island or not."
Chef nodded, "Good idea, get on that ASAP soldier." Harold saluted and moved away with Cody and Sierra to Chris' living room.
Geoff and Bridgette had claimed the first of many bedrooms for themselves. There was but one large bed in the room, but the pair didn't seem to mind one bit. Bridgette was currently cuddling with Geoff and he had an arm draped protectively over her.
"Geoff?" Bridgette spoke after a bit of a silence, "Do you think this will stop when we get off the island?"
"What do ya mean?" Geoff asked.
"I mean do you think these...undead spread their infection throughout Canada? Or worse?" Bridgette bit her lip, her face flooded with concern.
"I have no idea," Geoff answered honestly and when she looked up at him with those frightful green eyes, he cupped her chin in his hand and added, "but regardless I will protect you. You are my entire world Bridge, I don't know what I would do without you."
Bridgette smiled, albeit only for a moment, before saying, "There's also the...other issue."
Bridgette put a hand on her stomach and added, "Should we tell the others? I meant to tell Gwen and LeShawna earlier, but with all that's been happening I-"
"Let's not worry the others with the news just yet," Geoff said nervously as he put his hand over hers, "they'll know in due time that we'll soon have another little dude or dudette running around."
"I hope so." Bridgette breathed quietly as she closed her eyes to go into a deep sleep, "I hope so."
LeShawna had seen a lot in her day, but she had never been faced with a situation where she was at a complete loss for answers on what to do. Sitting before her were two incredibly sad friends that she had no idea how to comfort them. Poor Beth and Tyler were still in shock over Lindsay's fate. Beth had only been told after LeShawna arrived, and once she had received the news she hadn't spoken much. Tyler had been in a world of his own. He was irresponsive and he had a faraway look in his eye: it was obvious his thoughts had nothing to do with what was happening around him at the moment.
"Guys," LeShawna tried to get their attention, but neither responded at first so she coughed and said loudly, "Guys!"
Beth looked up at her, silent tears running down her face. Tyler didn't seem fazed by the raising of her voice, but LeShawna carried on, "Look, you two both know I will do anything for a friend. And that's why y'all need to understand something: Lindsay is gone. I loved her like a sista, but there ain't nothing we can do to bring her back. And if you keep wallowing about like this, you're just going to end up like her."
Beth nodded silently, as if in understanding, but Tyler continued blanking LeShawna. Whether or not he even heard her was unknown, but she had said her spiel, painful as it was, and she had nothing else to say. She hoped they'd get it together and not end up like the others. LeShawna didn't know how many more losses she was going to be able to handle before she too finally cracked.
Alejandro stood in the doorway to the bedroom that Heather was occupying alone. He remained silent for now as he watched her go about her business: she seemed angry and she was searching the adjoining closet.
"Worthless, disgusting, useless, ugh!" Heather was tossing various knick knacks out of the closet and she stamped her foot, "Why does Chris even bother having a closet of junk? I mean seriously is this stuff from the 1920s?"
"Luckily I found something much more useful for you," Alejandro finally piped up, but Heather seemed to know he was already there, "close your eyes, chica."
Deciding to trust him, Heather closed her eyes. Alejandro crossed the threshold of the room till he was standing next to her. In his right hand he was holding a bag of items, which he carefully reached into and placed each individual item on the table in front of Heather. When he was done, he said, "Alright open them."
Heather blinked a few times and she saw Alejandro had placed quite a few items for her, the first being a pair of combat boots. When she looked questioningly at him, he said, "They may not be your size since I found them in Chris' spare room, but they should be much more effective for running than heels."
Heather nodded and moved on to the next item: a hand axe. "I know you were angry you were not given a pistol earlier. I was most irritated as well, a woman of your talents deserves to have the gun far more than Gwen." Alejandro explained, "So I went outside to Chris' shed and found this. I know it is not ideal, but it's better than a kitchen knife or nothing."
Heather lifted up the weapon and felt the weight of it. After a moment she said to him, "I imagine I look like I'm a flipping lumberjack about to go chop some wood. That is definitely not my aesthetic."
Alejandro smirked, "Ah my darling Heather, I think you look beautiful no matter what."
Heather put the hand axe down for now and looked at the last item. This one made her do a bit of a double take: it was Alejandro's jacket. She frowned, uncertain why he was giving this to her.
"The weather is getting cooler and cooler as we approach winter." Alejandro stated, grabbing the jacket and putting it on his girlfriend, "With all this going on, we wouldn't want you to lose a fight with a cold."
When Alejandro stood behind Heather to put the jacket on, he also whispered into her ear, "The others will never completely trust us unless we prove we deserve to be trusted. While the situation is not ideal, right now we have no other choice but to work with them as a big group. So even though Chef giving Gwen the gun over you is insulting to both of us, I advise patience. We must simply act like it doesn't bother us, and perhaps we will earn some much needed trust."
"Fine, but if Courtney or Gwen keeps on annoying me like they have been lately-" Heather warned but Alejandro put a finger to her lips.
"Remember mi amor, patience. They will get what's coming to them, but not yet. Alright?" Alejandro asked and after a moment of thought, Heather nodded. Alejandro smirked and pulled her in from behind for a hug, which she allowed. As far as they were concerned, it was them against the world. As usual.
Duncan had taken to one of Chris' guest rooms so that he could have a few minutes of solitude to rest and contemplate his current conditions. He'd always hated this island, this show, and many of the others who competed on it, but never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd be fighting for his life beside them against the forces of the dead. He knew now that he'd need the few friends he had to be with him to survive this ordeal. Unlike some of the others, he was much more realistic about the situation unfolding: he knew something this dangerous would've hit the mainland as well. Even if they got off this island, they wouldn't be returning to life as they knew it. That life was over; death welcomed them into a new world.
Duncan was laying on one of the beds, keeping his pistol right next to his body just in case. They may be safe temporarily, but he didn't want to be defenseless if their temporary paradise became threatened. Keeping himself safe was top priority. He bit his lip at the thought: it wasn't entirely true.
In his mind he knew that he ought to keep Gwen safe, and he truly did care for her. She was one of the only people on this show who didn't drive him crazy, and they were currently dating. But when he had arrived at Chris' cottage earlier and realized Gwen was safe but Courtney wasn't, he had chosen to go back for Courtney. He felt very conflicted over it: if he really cared for Gwen more, shouldn't he have stayed with her? Or because she was already safe did he think Courtney became the next priority after confirming Gwen was safe? He sighed heavily; he hated karma.
He heard someone pushing the door open, and Duncan immediately moved his hand towards the gun. He relaxed when it turned out to be Trent, though that definitely did bring a puzzled expression to Duncan's face.
"Need something Elvis?" Duncan asked sarcastically: he didn't really want to talk to Trent.
Trent seemed unfazed, "Oh, uh, I was looking for...someone else."
"Just say her name," Duncan said, though he surprised even himself when he sounded totally calm, "I've seen you looking at Gwen since this whole thing began."
Trent flushed, confirming Duncan's suspicion, and the guitar player said, "I just want to make sure she's safe. If nothing else, she's my closest friend and I would gladly give my life for her."
Duncan tried not to mock the sappiness Trent was showing off, but then it hit him: was he willing to give his life for Gwen? He truly didn't think that he would, which made him feel admittedly a little guilty.
"Good," Duncan finally said and Trent looked shocked, "protect her, care for her, love her if you must. You have my blessing."
"Seriously?" Trent asked, perking up a bit as Duncan nodded, "Wow Duncan, that's really cool of you."
Duncan shrugged, "Whatever man, I don't do well with this happy, friendly stuff so just go on and do what you got to do."
Trent's smile was one of the happiest expressions Duncan had witnessed all day. Trent nodded and was about to leave the room when he stopped and said, "You should let Courtney know if you still have feelings for you. I hope it works out for you."
With that, Trent departed and left Duncan to his thoughts once again. Were his conflicting thoughts really that obvious to Trent and the others? It didn't really matter, because Duncan had realized something during this conversation with Trent. He wasn't willing to give his life for Gwen, that he was sure of. But when he thought of the same for Courtney, he was a lot less certain. In fact, he was fairly confident that he would sacrifice himself for her if need be. He put his head in his hands: what was he going to do now?
DJ had tasked himself with gathering together food rations and putting them into backpacks for when the group made their expected trek off the island. Chef had told him it was best to be ready for anything, and everyone agreed that starving was the last thing they needed with all this mess happening.
DJ had just finished stuffing the tenth bag with cans of food and let out a huge yawn: man was he tired. After they'd all been in the cottage for a little while and the adrenaline had worn off, DJ realized just how exhausted he was. He decided to find a nice bed and sleep before the big day tomorrow.
As DJ was walking up the stairs, he heard the sound of crying coming from one of the bathrooms. Concerned, DJ moved in the direction of the bathroom and found that the door was slightly ajar. Inside was Katie, and DJ could see that she was holding her knees and crying. Her knife was sitting on the counter next to the sink, but DJ was relieved to see that Katie wasn't in any physical pain.
"Katie?" DJ spoke her name softly as he opened the door, "Is everything alright?"
"No," Katie sniffled out and looked up at him with puffy, red eyes, "how could everything be okay? I thought all of this might be a dream but...it's all real isn't it? There are monsters coming for us all, and they already got Owen, Justin, Lindsay and...Sadie."
Katie couldn't keep herself from more tears and she buried her head in her knees once again. DJ approached and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, "It's awful, I know. But as my mama always used to tell me, a bad situation can be made better if you don't dwell on it too much. That little tidbit of advice made me a much more optimistic person once I started abiding by it."
"But how can we not dwell on it?" Katie asked him, "I was moments, no seconds, away from being eaten alive. I stood there and watched while that unholy creature ripped Sadie apart like a turkey on Thanksgiving. If it weren't for you and Ezekiel, I would've died too. But maybe that would've been better so that I could be with Sadie-"
"Don't say that." DJ cut her off and Katie was surprised at how angry that seemed to make him, "You should never say things like that."
"I'm nothing without Sadie." Katie admitted, "I'm just going to drag the group down. I have no survival skills, hell the survival challenge was the one that got me eliminated back on Total Drama Island. Maybe you guys should just leave me behind when you leave and-"
"I won't allow that." DJ said sternly, "No one is getting left behind no matter what. And you are your own person Katie. I'm very sorry for your loss, I know how much Sadie meant to you. But you have to understand that you are a unique, beautiful girl who still has the ability to survive. You just have to believe in yourself."
For the first time, Katie smiled, "Is that another one of your mama's wise sayings?"
DJ blushed and he only just now noticed how close he had gotten to her throughout the conversation, "No, it's mine. I've found that confidence can go a long way. Will you trust me on that?"
Their eyes met and Katie saw nothing but genuine affection in his gaze. She nodded and whispered, "I trust you DJ. With everything I've got. I'll try my best."
"Good," DJ said as he gave her a warm hug, "I'm glad."
Ezekiel had tried his best to conceal his wounds, but he hadn't been able to escape the watchful eye of one of his fellow Total Drama contestants.
"You were bitten weren't you?" Noah asked from the doorway of the room Ezekiel had claimed for himself, "That blood on your clothes is your own, and you had no actual weapon to defend yourself out there in the woods. One of those things got you didn't they?"
Ezekiel hung his head in shame, "Don't tell anyone, eh. I don't want to alarm nobody-"
"You are literally carrying the infection inside your body. Not telling anyone would probably get more of us killed." Noah said coldly, "I'm sorry, but you're a dead man walking. I'd rather not risk my life or one of the peons' life for someone who has no chance."
Noah quickly exited the room and Ezekiel tried to follow after him. However, the pain in his body was excruciating. He could already feel the hunger starting to control most of his thoughts and the temperature of his body was feverish. His stomach was tied in knots and sometimes when he closed his eyes, he pictured ravaging through someone's flesh. He blinked a couple of times and fell back down on the bed: what Noah did was out of his control at this point.
Downstairs, standing near the main entrance, Chef Hatchet and Chris McLean were quietly discussing realistic options they had regarding survival. They each held their guns just in case, although none of the undead had been spotted in quite some time.
"So we're going to take the bags of supplies and load everyone onto the yacht?" Chris summarized and Chef nodded.
"That's the gist of it, yeah. I know the yacht is large and takes a shit ton of fuel, but we need something that can carry everybody to the mainland." Chef stated.
"The yacht is on the dock of shame." Chris' face fell as he realized the boat was still where it was after it had dropped off the contestants earlier that day, "The undead are swarming all over the campgrounds and nearby areas. We're never going to make it to the boat without casualties."
"Don't think I don't already know that." Chef said darkly, "We'll use our guns to try and draw them elsewhere while we load the yacht, but it would take a fucking miracle for all these kids to make it."
"No kidding," Chris scoffed and then lowered his voice even further, "I also take it we aren't going to try and find Izzy?"
"The girl saved us, there's no doubt about that. But I'd be shocked if she's still alive out there by herself." Chef admitted, "I'm not willing to send anyone to find her. If we don't see her on our way to the docks tomorrow, I'll try and find her myself. But if I don't succeed, we leave without her."
At that point, Noah had come barreling down the stairs and was headed straight for the two adults, "Chef! Chris! We have a bit of a situation!"
"What's the problem soldier?" Chef asked, instantly cocking his shotgun.
"Ezekiel," Noah explained, "he's been bitten."
"What?" Chris asked, terrified, "Did one of those things get inside?"
Noah shook his head as others came to hear the conversation, "No, no, Prairie Boy was bit before he even entered the house."
"You mean he's infected and he willingly entered my luxurious home? Without telling anyone?" Chris looked furious, and Noah affirmed everything he said, "Chef, we got to do something about it."
"You want to kill Zeke?" Harold asked and Chris' eyes burned with hatred for the formerly feral home schooled kid, "Isn't that unnecessary?"
"He's a danger to all of us." Noah stated, agreeing with Chris about something for once, "I don't enjoy it or anything, but we're safer having him...removed."
"You can't do that!" Katie exclaimed in outrage as she and DJ arrived on the scene, "Ezekiel saved my life! He doesn't deserve to be slaughtered like an animal by the likes of you!"
"I'm trying to save us!" Noah sneered at Katie, "I'm sorry you're too dim-witted to understand such a simply concept, but allow me to enlighten you. If you get bit, you become one of them. You join their ranks and then you try and eat people. Kind of like your friend Sadie."
"Take it back." Katie growled, "Take. It. Back!"
"Enough!" Chef roared and all fell silent, though Katie was still seething with anger towards Noah, "I'll go speak to Ezekiel, but scrawny kid is right. We can't risk him turning and biting any of us. So whoever wants to say their goodbyes, come with me."
Noah nodded, seeming satisfied with Chef's decision, and he did not go back upstairs with Chef to speak to Ezekiel. He felt people were already miffed with him, even though he did the right thing.
After a few people sort of considered the idea, only Katie and DJ went with Chef to speak with Ezekiel. When they got to his room, they could see his condition had visibly gotten a lot worse. There was blood around his mouth and all over his covers due to the fits of coughing that would take over his body. His forehead was dripping with sweat and he was trembling from the pains in his body.
"Listen up kid," Chef spoke a bit softer than usual as he stood by Ezekiel's side, "we salute you for your efforts, but your service has come to an end."
Although Ezekiel had never been military, he seemed honored by Chef's choice of words. He said shakily, "I guess this is the end, eh? I'm sorry I wasn't a bit more helpful."
Ezekiel was trying to keep it together, and DJ gave him a pat on the shoulder, "You were very helpful. I'm proud I got to know you over the last few years."
Zeke smiled at the friendly jock. Katie knelt down next to Ezekiel and said, "Thank you so much for saving my life. I'm very sorry that this is happening to you, and I'd like to apologize for the way I treated you over the years. I always thought you were just a sexist pig, but you proved to me that you really just wanted to protect the people you cared for. I'm sorry I misjudged you."
Katie kissed Ezekiel's cheek and he smiled, "That's all I ever wanted to do on this show. I wanted to prove to everyone that I wasn't like that at all. And if I've finally managed it, I can say I've achieved my own personal peace."
Katie squeezed his hand as if to say goodbye and she backed up so that Chef could speak to him one more time, "You ready soldier?"
Ezekiel took a deep breath, "Ever since I as bit, I knew it was going to be a long farewell. I'm ready to move on and experience something new."
Ezekiel said a few religious prayers before a look of peace and happiness etched its way onto his face. He closed his eyes and waited, accepting his fate. Chef took his knife and without hesitating, he stuck it right through the side of Ezekiel's head, hitting the brain and killing him instantly.
Katie had looked to DJ for comfort, who wrapped her into a hug so she didn't have to watch Chef kill Ezekiel. Chef cleaned the blade for a moment before telling the other two, "Get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a shit storm."
Okay so I know there was no zombie action in this chapter, but I thought we needed a nice calm before the storm chapter. Plus this story isn't just about gore and death, I want to focus on actual characters and their development as well.
Also I'm curious what you guys think on what I'm doing with various relationships. I'm still trying to decide if I want certain relationships to happen and I'm interested in which ones you guys think I should do.
DEAD: Sadie, Owen, Justin, Eva, Lindsay, Ezekiel
ALIVE: Gwen, Heather, Duncan, LeShawna, Geoff, DJ, Bridgette, Trent, Harold, Courtney, Beth, Cody, Tyler, Katie, Noah, Alejandro, Sierra, Blaineley, Chris, Chef
UNKNOWN: Izzy
