"No. For the last time, we are not walking the rest of the way." I drummed my fingers on top of the table I was sitting at.
"Why not?" Kiba asked picking up his sidearm. "We have enough weapons."
"Idiot. Do you really think we can make it past all those infected and get out alive?" Pulling back a piece of wood we had placed on the window, I showed the outside to him.
The street was covered with infected. Some more advanced than others. You could barely see the pavement there were so many.
I leaned my head closer to the window. The crowd of those 'things' continued all the way out of the city.
Kiba stepped back and glared at me. "Well... If we didn't have to wait for your ass to get here, we would've been long gone."
Narrowing my eyes, I let go of the wood and walked over to him. Stopping inches from his nose, I stood there. "I have nothing to say to you."
Shikamaru stood up from Temari's side and walked over to the two of us.
"Neji, you still have that map I gave back at the outlet store?" He asked, inclining his head towards me.
"Yea, but the water kinda ruined it." I replied handed him the moist bundle of paper.
He carefully pulled the flaps apart, trying not to rip it. Once it was fully open, or as far as he could get it, he placed it on the floor. We knelt down to look at it. The words were blurred because of the water, but, thankfully, the roads were still eligible. The red circle was still around the warehouse on the paper. Shikamaru placed one long finger on the dot in the middle of the circle.
Moving his finger along the road to get in the warehouse, he mumbled, "Road is blocked here with infected.." His finger moved to the small road by the back of the warehouse. "Blocked." He took his finger off the paper and rested it on his temple. "Even if we fight our way through this road, we can't keep it up if the infected go all the way down the road."
"What about the sewers?" A voice spoke up. Temari walked over and place a finger on the map. I watched her casually, not because I was watching where she moved her finger. No. I was watching because I will still unsure of her. She could turn any moment.
"Neji?" Shikamaru asked.
"Huh?" I replied breaking out if my train of thoughts.
He sighed and repeated what I must of missed. "Temari said there is a sewer line running all the way to an military airbase."
"There is a opening to the sewer just outside those doors." She added and pointed to the doors we blocked with heavy objects to keep the infected from getting in.
"Great besides the fact of what the hell we are going to do when we get there." Kiba sighed. "I mean none of us knows how to fly a plane."
"We won't be flying a plane, hopefully we'll fly a helicopter." Shikamaru said glancing over at him.
Kiba threw his hands in the air, "Big difference!" He yelled his voice layered with sarcasm. "None of us can fly a helicopter or any flying object."
"Would you rather stay here?" I asked. "None of us knows how to fly a plane, but I'd rather take my chances out there than in here."
Shikamaru nodded. And so did Temari. Sighing heavily Kiba replied, "Fine I'm in."
"Me too." Tenten smiled walking up to our little group.
Kiba jumped back ten feet and pointed at her. "Where the hell have you've been? You scared the shit out of me."
"Sorry." She replied putting her hands in the air. "I was actually here this whole time. Just listening from the corner over there." She quietly laughed.
I stood up and walked over to the black duffle bag still holding our weapons. Picking up the AK-47, I turned to the others, "Ready to roll out?"
They all nodded and walked beside me and picked up their weapon. I reached down and picked up another pistol. I opened the cartledge and shook all the bullets out of it. Putting all but one in the gun again, I tossed it to Shikamaru. He sent me a questioning look but, I told him, "You may need it."
With an unspoken plan Temari and Tenten walked over to the ware house doors. Removing the blockade in front of the doors, they each grabbed ahold of one door. Shikamaru, Kiba, and I formed a little triangle in front of the doors, with me as the point. I rose the the automatic rifle to my face. Nodding my head towards the girls, the pulled back the heavy double doors.
Gunshots engulfed the warehouse room as we pushed our way outside. The infected ran at us but never made it close enough for it was shot down before it could. Slamming the butt of my gun into a infected's head, I called out, "Where is the pothole?"
"Over here!" Tenten yelled making it to the metal ring. I followed quickly towards her and knelt down. As she worked on opening it, I shot any thing that got too close. The others soon made it over to us and we formed a lose circle around Tenten. The horde of infected were getting harder and harder to hold off.
"Cover me, I'm reloading!" Someone screamed. I was unable to make out the voice.
"Any day now Tenten." I rushed her, turning around I sent a bullet into the forehead of one of the infected.
Hearing a loud metal clank, she replied, "It's open."
I nodded to her and she descended down into the darkness. Next Shikamaru went to cover her rear. I stepped back, losing the edge of holding the horde off. The infected were about to take us over. Temari's head disappeared into the hole and I realized it was just Kiba and I.
"Go!" I yelled at him, backing up closer to the hole."I'll follow you!"
He looked unsure but complied with my order. As soon as he descended down the metal ladder, I jumped back into the hole. Walking down two steps, I grabbed the metal ring and slide it over the hole engulfing everyone into darkness. Sighing, glad that I made it, I stepped down the ladder. My feet came into contact with cement as I turned around looking at darkness.
"Anyone have a flashlight?" I asked.
Ruffling was heard and some "no's".
"Oh yea.. I do." A voice I easily recognized. Kiba.
A click was heard as a bright beam shined on Shikamaru's face. His eyes closed as he put his hands up to cover his eyes. "Dammit Kiba. Away from my eyes please." Shikamaru moaned.
"Oh sorry." Kiba offered, as the beam of light pointed towards the hallway.
I then noticed how big this sewer was. In the middle of the cement ran a huge current of dirty water and trash. On the sides of the water were cement walkways leading all the way down. Other ladders were mounted on the walls, leading to different exits. But my favorite part was that we were the only things down here. I strolled over to Kiba and opened my hand, palm up. He placed the flashlight in my hand. Gripping it tight, I shined it around the sewer.
"Which way, Shikamaru? Left or right?" I asked, shining the light at his feet.
"Right." He replied.
I started walking down the hall as the others followed in a single line. My shoes made a squashing noise as I stepped over mold. Uh.. This is digesting. A rat ran by in front of us and Tenten shrieked. I chuckled quietly to myself. Coughing soon turned my attention to the back of the line. Temari was leaned over, her hand gripping her knees as she coughed. Shikamaru was behind her holding her waist and holding her hair out of the way. Turning fully towards them, I moved the beam of light to her face. My grip on the light loosened. The flashlight started to slip from my hand but I caught it. Temari was coughing up blood, her skin had turned a sickening pale color. The blackish veins had now reached the bridge of her nose. She dropped her gun and it clattered to the floor. Her coughing got worse and there was nothing we could do about it. Tenten walked into the light beam and handed Shikamaru a table cloth. He then wiped her mouth with it. She pushed his hand away and forced herself up. She stumbled slightly but started to walk forward. I turned back to the front and continued forward. Splashing and coughing was the only thing I heard for the next eight minutes of walking. We neared a metal ladder and I stopped in front of it.
"Is this it, Shikamaru?" I asked looking up at it.
He replied from behind me, "I think so. Climb up and check."
"Ok." I handed Tenten the flashlight. "Keep it pointed on the ladder so I can see." I told her.
She nodded as I grabbed ahold of the metal. Step after step, I climbed my way up the ladder. Stopping at the seventh step, I placed my hand on the metal ring above me. Pushing up with my right hand, while my left still held on the metal bar of the ladder, I pushed the ring a few inches to the side. Poking my head out, I sighed in annoyance. I climbed my way back down the ladder.
"So...?" Kiba asked.
"Its bad." I replied.
"How bad?" He questioned, stepping closer to me.
"What we saw back at the warehouse. Listen I have an idea. We are right by the airbase. Close by the enterance to the base is a black military helicopter. It's big enough for all of us." I told them, bringing my gun to rest on my hip.
"But it still leaves the problem of who will polite the helicopter." Kiba pointed out.
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, and added, "Since none of us know how to fly a helicopter, who ever gets there first, it will be their problem."
"No offense, dude, but I don't see how that will work." Kiba argued.
I sighed, "I'll do it, ok?" Getting back on the ladder, I added, "There should be a instruction manel. But you need to hold all the infected off until I get the helicopter into the air."
I continued up the ladder and stopped at the top. Kiba followed behind me and stopped at my heels.
"Ready?" I asked.
He nodded and pushed the metal ring off the hole. Pulling myself out, I clicked the safety off my gun and opened fire. Not sparing a glance behind me I half walked, half ran towards the gated fence leading to the helicopter. Reaching the gate I tried to pull it open. It wouldn't budge. Gunshots behind me reached my ear. Crap. I pulled on the lock around the gate. Kiba ran up behind me. Glancing at the lock, he swung his gun around his shoulder a pounced onto the gate.
"Climb over!" He screamed back down at me.
I followed his lead and clung to the gate as I worked my way up. I threw one leg over the barbed wire and held myself up with my hands. Blood dripped onto the ground as my hand dung into the sharp wire. Kiba landed softly onto the ground and I followed after. The gate shook as the others jumped onto it. I wanted so bad to make sure Tenten got over safely, but if I didn't get the helicopter started, we would all die. Kiba knelt onto the ground and fired at the infected trying to pull Shikamaru and the other off the gate.
He glanced at me, "Go! I'll cover the others!"
I sprinted toward the black aircraft. An infected wearing a military uniform stumbled over to me. Pulling out my sidearm, I fired one round into it's skull. It doubled over as I passed the body. As I neared the helicopter, I noticed there was no side doors to the aircraft. Throwing my automatic rifle in the helicopter, I climbed into the side. The aircraft had passenger seats on both sides. One set facing the tail of the helicopter and the other back to back to the pilots' seats. Pushing myself through the walk-way between the seats, I threw myself in the pilot seat. I looked around at the controls, fear running through me. How do I even start this thing? My eyes darted to a key sticking on the control panel. My fingers grabbed the key and turned it. A ding sounded in the helicopter as the buttons and switches lit up. Seeing a little storage area near my left side, I opened it up. A single book was the only thing in there. I snatched the book and flipped to the index. My eyes scanning down the page, looking for key words like 'start' and 'helicopter' and 'now'. The aircraft shook a little and Shikamaru sat in the co-polite's seat next to me.
"Anyway you could speed this up?" He asked.
"I'm trying." I yelled starting to panic.
More gunshots were heard but closer this time. Shikamaru got up and walked to the back of the helicopter out of sight. My eyes widened as I flipped a switch to the right and then pulled a switch down beside it. The seat I was sitting in started to shake as the metal blades above me began to spin. A sentence lit up above me, 'Active Communication Device.'. I looked around and noticed what looked like headphones. I placed the earmuffs over my ear and pulled a thin bar down towards my mouth. Shikamaru sat beside me and grabbed the headphones and put them on.
"Is everyone strapped in?" I asked, my voice clear because of the mini microphone.
"Yes. Kiba is still holding them off from in here. Take off now." He replied rushed, his eyes staring at the infected climbing over the gate.
My eyes stayed looking at a little red dot beside my steering handle. According to the manual, I can't take off until it's green, saying the propellors are moving fast enough. A wave of infected got over the gate and started to run towards us. Come on. I begged to myself. They neared, only yards away as the light turned bright green. I pulled up on the handle bar and Shikamaru mirrored my movement. With a lurch the helicopter rose off the ground. It spun slightly as an infected ran into the back propellor. I pulled the handle up as hard as I could. The aircraft soared up five meters and continued to climb in height. Sighing, I piloted the helicopter due northeast, towards the lake house. Glancing back to the passengers seat, I saw Tenten and Kiba sitting with their backs to me. Temari was sitting in the middle. She was buckled up with her head leaned back against the metal if the helicopter. If her eyes didn't close every few seconds, I would of thought she was dead. The helicopter rose until it met it's maximum height. We had just left the air base far behind us. The swishing of the blades was all I heard for a moment. But a loud snap filled my ear and the metal around me shuttered.
"What the-?" I questioned looking around the little space I was in.
A loud siren started to go off as the emergence button started to blink on and off red.
"It seems we have engine failure." Shikamaru yelled as he turned to me.
He pressed a couple if buttons on a screen. A mini picture of the helicopter popped up showing the damaged area. The back propeller was bent because of the infected earlier. The main propellors above us were starting to fail because it had to do it's own job and now the back propellors job.
"Dammit." I yelled, as the blades above us stopped moving completely.
The emergency alarm turned on as the helicopter started to spiral down towards earth. My whole body was slammed against one side of the aircraft because of the pressure. I could faintly hear screaming.
Shikamaru's voice rang clear in my ears, "We are going down!"
The little screen in front of me was reading our height. 1,000 feet.. 800 feet... 500 feet. At this rate we are going to slam into the ground. I turned my head slowly trying to locate the others. My eyes fell on Kiba who was unbuckling his belt. What is he doing? I tried to yell for him to stop but he couldn't hear me. I could barely hear myself. He stood up and inched across the helicopter with his back on the wall. I follow his gaze to our guns, that were sliding out of the aircraft. I started to yell 'No' but it was too late. Once he reached for the guns, the air pressure sucked him right out of the helicopter. A huge bang was heard. It sound like something heavy that was slammed into the plane. Realization hit me but before I could process what just happened, I grabbed the control and tried to jerk the helicopter in the opposite direction it was spinning. I glanced back over at the screen, 100 feet. Shikamaru copied my actions as the ground rushed up towards us. Finally the helicopter responded turned slightly. It rolled over on it's side in mid air and nose dived toward the ground. - Shikamaru's side was going to be the main impact! - That was my last thought before I blacked out.
The sound of burning metal and churning was all I heard. My eyes flickered open. Where am I? I touched the top of my forehead. Blood ran down my head and parted as it reached my nose. I spit up blood unto the metal in front of me. My entire frame was sore, but I could still move. I turned my head to the right of me. An unrecognizable man was unconsis, his head resting on the metal. I reached over to push some of his black hair out of the way.
"Shikamaru?" I asked shocked.
My memories flooded back to me at that moment. Us escaping the city, getting on this helicopter, and us crashing. Then that meant... Kiba was dead.
I struggled with my harness or belt. Once it clicked, I fell out of my seat and onto the ground. My headphones bounced off my head and slid out of sight. Realizing I didn't have the energy to pull myself up to a standing position, I crawled my way to the back of the helicopter. It was completely destroyed. Sunlight showed through the cracks and missing pieces of the metal. My eyes fell on a girl. Her legs and everything torso down was crushed under metal. Blood ran down her face as well her arms, dripping in a puddle on the ground.
Fear ran through my body. Please don't be Tenten. I forced myself up, gritting my teeth together. I stumbled over to the girl. But I noticed a unmistakable feature. Under all the blood, this girl had blonde hair. I placed my hand in front of her nose and mouth. A small breeze hit my fingers. She is still alive. Movement turned my attendtion away from the girl. A brunette was unbuckling her belt across from us. Once she undid the belt, she fell forward. I caught her easily.
Pushing the hair out of her face, I spoke, "Tenten? Are you ok?"
Her eyes locked onto mine. "Yes, just a little shaken up. Maybe... A few cuts." She said.
Her head tried to turn to look at Temari, but I held it in place.
"Is she...?" Tenten started, but I cut her off.
"No, but her injuries are too severe." I replied, trying to keep my voice confronting.
Something plopped onto the ground, as a low voice said, "Ouch. Dammit."
"Shikamaru?" I called. "You ok?"
"No. I think I broke my arm." He moaned. "Is everyone else ok? Temari?"
It was the most painful silence I have ever sat through, as Tenten and my eyes looked back at each other again.
Shikamaru, thinking we didn't hear him or the fact he chose not to think our silence could possibly be bad, he called again, "Is Temari ok?"
"No." I said softly, but I knew he could hear me.
Stumbling was heard, as he walked out to where we were. His eyes merely glanced at us. He stopped just in front of Temari and dropped to his knees. He grasped one of her hands into his own and bowed his head.
"S-Shika-maru..." Temari started, her eyes opening. "W-where are y-you...? I can't s-see you.. " She continued as her eyes darted around searching for him.
"I'm right here, love." He replied tears forming in his eyes.
I stood up from my spot on the ground and walked over. I placed my hand on his shoulder, "Shikamaru, she is in pain."
"Don't you think I know that?" He screamed at me.
"Don't let her suffer." I continued, my eyes looking at the fire arm I gave him back at the warehouse.
"You heartless bast-!" He started but Temari cut him off.
"Neji is right. Please Shikamaru.." She asked her voice layered in pain.
"No. I can't. I won't." He spoke mostly to himself as if he was having a mini fight with himself in his head. But he was losing.
She brushed a piece of hair out of his face, "You knew this was coming. Now please.. Do it. For me?"
The tears welding up in his eyes spilled over down his face. With his good arm he drew his firearm and click the safety off. He leaned forward and kissed Temari, softly on the lips before placing the metal against her head and firing. She slumped over, as he started to scream. He banged his gun against his head and moaned in emotional pain. He opened his mouth and put the gun into it.
Click. Click-click. The gun didn't fire, it was empty. I knocked the gun out of his hands before he could do anymore damage. His eyes met mine as he tackled me to the ground. My back slammed up against the metal.
"You BASTARD! You knew it would come to this! You only put one bullet in that gun and gave it to me! You knew I would have to kill Temari and then I would kill myself!" He yelled digging his elbow in my throat.
I started coughing, but tried to speak anyway, "I know it hurts. Shikamaru I know. But you can't just end it like that!"
He delivered a kick to my side as he stood up. "I want to die. I want to be with her."
Tenten was over in the corner begging him to stop.
"Think of what your doing Shikamaru!" I yelled. "I refuse to let my best friend and his girlfriend die in the same day!"
I pushed myself up to a sitting position, breathing hard looking at him. He glared at me, while Tenten looked back in forth between us.
"I made my choice, Shikamaru." I said, gripping my hurt shoulder, "Now make yours!"