Knowledge Is Power...
After 5 minutes of driving, the cars finally pulled up in Tori's driveway. All the cars could barely fit into the medium length of the pavement.
Jake and Cat got out of the truck and headed for the porch to wait for everyone, which didn't take long considering Tori and Trina both bolted past the rest of the group to get into their house.
"Hey!" Cat yelped as Tori pushed her over in an attempt to get to the door, but she didn't care. She just wanted to know her family was ok.
Trina followed behind Tori, practically walking on her heels.
"The door's locked!" Tori exclaimed.
"So unlock it!" Jake commanded.
"No, I mean with the panic lock. It prevents keys from unlocking the door. It also stops most lockpicks."
"Let me see it." Jade urged, stepping in front of everyone else and pulling out a bobby pin and a pair of scissors.
"Jade, did you not hear me? It's locked."
And as quick as that, the door was open. Tori and Trina rushed in, searching everywhere for their parents.
"How did you do that?" Jake asked, astonished.
"I've needed things from Tori's place before."
"What do you mean?"
"Just, don't ask."
"Got it."
With that, Jake entered the house and ran up to the kitchen to check the food supply. When Jake got to the refrigerator, he practically ripped the door off of it's hinges. He didn't mean to, he was just in a hurry.
"Alright, we got ham, turkey, lettuce, dressing, multiple..." Jake was interrupted by a nervous Cat.
"Jake? Look." Cat held up a handgun which she had found on the floor beside the stove.
"Let me see that." He walked over to Cat, taking the gun from her hands.
"It's a Glock. Pretty standard police firearm. Probably Tori's Dad's."
"What is it doing on the ground?" Andre stepped up to ask.
Before Jake could answer, they heard Trina scream from upstairs. Jake checked the bullet count on the Glock and headed upstairs, the group following him.
"Stay here!" Jake commanded the group as he continued up the stairs.
When Jake reached the top of the stairs, he saw light coming from a room at the end of the hall. He started towards it slowly at first, but sped up into a jog when he heard Tori scream.
He jumped around the corner and saw Tori's dad wrestling with Trina. His skin was grey and rotting.
Before he could think about what he was doing, he aimed the gun at Tori's dad, and pulled the trigger.
Both girls screamed at the sudden sound of the shot, but it hit. Mr. Vega's corpse fell on top of Trina, who was still shaking.
Tori ran over to her father's body, crying, and pulled it off of Trina, and on to the floor. Tori hugged Trina as tight as she could, both girls balling.
Jake put the gun in his back pocket and slowly approached the weeping girls.
"Hey, I..." Before Jake could finish, he was cut off by a scared Tori.
"Go away!"
Tori continued crying with Trina as Jake walked out of the room. Once in the hallway, he looked over to the left and saw Mrs. Vega's mangled body, barely recognizable from the brutal flesh wounds.
Jake continued to walk slowly through the hallway, disgusted by the smell.
When he reached the top of the staircase, Beck released Cat to send her flying to him.
Jake grabbed Cat and picked her up in both arms, a tear in his eye.
"Are you ok, Jakey? Did you get hurt? Where's Tori and Trina?" Cat asked frantically, searching his face for any signs of pain.
"I'm fine, kitty-cat. Tori and Trina are in a room at the end of the hallway, but don't go in there. Or the hallway. Let's just go downstairs."
"kk."
"What happened?" Beck asked as Jake carried Cat down the stairs.
"Cat, go sit on the couch, I'll be right there."
"kk." Cat quickly agreed, walking to the couch to wait with Robbie.
"Alright," Jake began, "I got up there and Tori's dad was wrestling Trina on the bed. He almost had her, and I did what I had to. But, they're mad at me. And their mom's corpse is lying in the hallway, just behind that open door up there."
"Fuck. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, man. But, maybe you should talk to them. You know, calm them down. Ask them what they want to do with the bodies."
"I'll do it." Jade spoke up.
"But, Jade you don't even..." Jake began, but was cut off by an annoyed Jade.
"Look, I'm a girl, they're girls. I'm the best one to talk to them. Unless you want to send Cat."
"No, no you can go."
"Good. I'll see you in a minute."
So Jade headed up the stairs as the boys moved back to the couch with Cat, Robbie and Andre.
Once up the stairs, she noticed Mrs. Vega's corpse. The smell was horrific. There were bits of blood and flesh on the ground all around the rotting body.
Jade continued past it to find Tori and Trina in the room at the end of the hallway, cuddled together on the bed. They weren't crying anymore. They were just in shock.
"Hey, Tori? Trina?" Jade asked, but received no reply.
"Girls? It's me, Jade. I just want to talk."
"What?" Tori slightly asked.
"About what just happened. Look, you can't stay here. Or, at least your parents can't stay here. We need to do something with them. If they stay here, I'm not sure if they'll attract more, or if the smell would become toxic or what. What do you want to do with them?"
"Can we bury them?" Trina asked suddenly.
"Sure, where do you want them buried?"
"In the orchard, next to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried." Tori answered the goth, a little less stressed.
"Ok," Jade began to confirm their plans about the bodies, "we'll bury them in the orchard. Can you show us where this is at?"
"Yeah, I'll take you there."
"Alright, Tori. Trina, you want to come?"
"No," Trina answered just as depressed as when Jade walked in the room, "I just want to stay with them until then.
"Alright. Tori, let's go."
Jade and Tori walked down the steps together to explain what they were going to do to the bodies with the group.
"Ok, guys. Tori wants us to bury them in an orchard next to a cemetery where her grandparents are buried. Trina's going to stay here while some of us go."
"Sounds good." Jake agreed with the simple plan, moving Cat off of his lap to stand.
"Alright," Jake began giving roles to everybody, "Beck, Andre, Robbie stay here with the gun and defend the house and Trina. I'll go with Cat, Jade and Tori. We'll also stop by the hardware store and pick up some things to fortify the house. We don't know how long this is going to last, so let's make everything count. Conserve food, we only get two small meals a day. We need watches for sleeping, and things to keep us entertained. We'll discuss more when we get back."
"Woah, wait! Who made you the leader?" Jade asked angrily.
"My leading has gotten us this far, right?"
"Yeah, in a house filled with rotting corpses, barely 5 minutes from where we started."
"Fine, who votes me for leader?"
Cat, Andre, Beck and Robbie raised their hands.
"Beck, what the hell?" Jade asked angrily.
"Sorry, babe, but I think it's best for our safety that Jake keeps leading us."
"Fine."
"Well, it's unanimous! I, Jake, will be leader. Happy Jade?"
"Yeah, whatever."
"Alright, before we go, let's review what we know. We know that they die by headshots. They're attracted to sound. And they can see us and identify us. So guns should be a last resort. We'll comeback with some knives for each of us. Knowledge is key here, we're going to need to be able to defeat them by knowing their weaknesses. Andre, Robbie, search the kitchen and house for food and supplies. Beck, take the gun and come with them if need be."
Jake handed Beck the Glock.
"Now Beck, it's a trigger safety, all you have to do is pull the middle of the trigger to release the safety. It re-locks when you're done firing. You've only got 15 rounds plus the one in the chamber for now, so be careful with them. DON'T open up the gun unless it jams, in which case, take out the mag, pull back the slide, put the mag back in and pull back the slide again. Later, you can retrieve the bullet that popped out of the slide if one did. And keep this place safe until we get back, above all."
Holy Fuck! I hope I got my gun facts right for this one. I usually do, but you know, sometimes you gotta get creative. Sorry it was a bit shorter BTW. Next one will be longer.
Anyways...
Review and shit!