~A/N~ Chapter 6! And now with multiple POVs per chapter! I finally realized how STUPID I was to keep it at one per update, so now I can tell the story much better. Enjoy! And leave a review if you have anything to say. Let's try and get this to 20 of them with this chapter, guys! :D


Life Goes On: Chapter 6 - Chaos


(Day 18)


POV: Shawn

I open my eyes as I see Duncan's body enter the room, followed by another pair of men. Neither of them is Jake though, so I know that I'm safer than I thought. Jasmine stirs behind me and I sigh in a tired voice. "What is it?"

Duncan smirks. "Jake needs your help with somethin' out here. He thinks you know something about some door at the end of the hall. Now, just stay still and don't do anything stupid, got it?"

Jasmine scoffs. "As if we're telling you anything, you scumbags!"

The man to right of Duncan sighs. He's wearing the same outfit as the other guys and has a short tuft of hair on his chin. It's at this time that I see a large knife in his hands. He notices me staring at it and laughs. "I ain't gonna use it on you yet. We just need to readjust you two."

The man leans down and begins hacking at the cords of wire surrounding our bodies until they're cut loose. I try to move his hands, but the second guy and Duncan grab me before I can get a punch in. They do the same to Jasmine and look us in our faces.

"Here's the deal, man," Duncan tells Jasmine and I. "You're gonna stay nice and peaceful and do everything Ol' Jake says. Un-"

"Got it," I hiss in his face. Suddenly, my trust of Duncan is faltering. I suppose seeing him man-handling the both of us is putting me in a state of anger, but I have to remain clung to the hope he's given us.

"Git!" the man with the beard grunts, shoving me ahead and out the door. The hallways are a mess. Trash and broken objects are scattered across the ground, visible only by the light of the lanterns placed at intervals through the corridors. I see empty cans of food reflecting the dim light as I slowly walk down the hall with my hands behind my back, held together by the older man. Even further behind me, I hear Jasmine grunting and trash rattling. I want to tell her to stop fighting and go along, but I know my words are futile now. Even if I was to speak up, I'd just be scolded, slapped, or worse.

I feel the man's hand smack into my back. "Move faster, asshole!" he shouts. "Jake ain't got all day."

Jasmine growls. "Don't touch him!" I cringe as I hear the sound of a smack and a whine that follows.

The other man hisses verbal poison to my ears. "Do that again and you'll get mo' than a slap. Now shut the hell up and walk straight!"

We both turn a corner in the hallway.


POV: Jasmine

As the man pushes me around the corner I feel his warm breath on my neck. Despite my rather large stature, he's managing to keep control over me because I have nothing left inside me. We went a few days in that kitchen without good food and very little water and I'm feeling it now. My muscles are moving, but there's a slight pain that accompanies every stride.

At the end of this hall rests a light surrounded by two dark figures, one incredibly buff and the other average sized. We get thrown to the ground in front of the two men and I hear the clicks of weapons behind me. Something cold touches the back of my head and I can only believe it to be the barrel of a firearm.

Shawn looks at me with a sorrowful face. There's no fear.

The average sized man walks forward and kneels down in front of me. It's Jake.

"Hey, beautiful. Tired?" He licks his lips and I see the insanity in his eyes. He's unstable and I know it. That means he's dangerous.

I glare into his eyes and snort, remaining silent until he shrugs. "Don't worry, I'm not."

Duncan walks out from behind us and rolls his eyes as he speaks to Jake. "Hey, dude, aren't you supposed to be finding that key?"

"I'm gettin' to it!" Jake growls back before settling in front of Shawn. "So," he smirks, inches from Shawn's tired face. "I found this, uh, door in the back end of this hole. It's locked and... I need to know what's behind it. How 'bout you spill, huh?"

"There's nothing you'd want," Shawn sighs. "It's just keepsakes in a closet. Pictures, collectables, luxuries..."

"I like luxuries," the madman chuckles. "So where's the key?"

"I don't know."

"That door was locked shut when we got here, now tell me where the key is or I put a bullet in the back of hot stuff over there."

The cold feeling pushes into the back of my head and Shawn gasps. My mind is racing with feelings of fear, but I feel so weak. I can't fight back and neither can Shawn. But I know I could run on adrenaline if in was forced to fight.

"I don't know," Shawn says again. "You ransacked this place. It could be anywhere!"

Jake breaks eye contact with him and looks at me. "She's very pretty. It'd be a shame to lose her before I could get a little taste of Australia, huh?"

"Don't touch her!" Shawn shouts, his eyes bulging. "Don't you dare!"

Jake stands up. "I'm afraid it's too late for begging. Robert, Duncan, take her to the bedroom!" he says to his cronies as I'm lifted off the ground and raised to my feet. I try to bite, kick, and attack, but I can barely move. The men, including Duncan, begin to walk me down the hall until Shawn breaks down.

"No!" he sobs. "I'll tell you! Don't hurt her, please! I'll tell!"

The men turn me around and walk me back, but keep me standing.

Jake smiles. "Where?"

Shawn pauses and huffs. "Kitchen drawer. Top shelf. There's a compartment in the bottom."

Jake looks my way. "Duncan. Fetch!"

I feel a pair of arms release my waist. "Sure thing, boss," Duncan yawns, walking off.

Jake looks back at Shawn. "You'd better not be fibbin' unless you got a death wish."

"It's there," my boyfriend sighs sadly. "I know it is."

Jake fiddles with his winter coat, stolen from us, and closes his eyes. "This place is nice. A bit cold, but nicer than out there."

I want to call him a monster, but I'm in shock and left speechless in the hands of the man named Robert.

"We didn't want to cut the power," Jake snickers. "We didn't know if y'all we're armed or not and, let's face it, it made takin' your place much easier." Moments of silence pass and he looks at Shawn. "Nothin' to say, little rat? Not a word? Not a 'fuck you' or anything?"

Shawn growls quietly and Jake chuckles.

"Found it," Duncan says from across the bunker, drawing everyone's attention. Shawn sighs as Jake pats him on the back. Duncan rounds the corner and hands the key to Jake. Here we go. He's about to open the weapons room.


POV: Duncan

I watch as Jake snatches the key out of my hand like a wild animal being handfed. He looks over it with a glow of ambition in his eyes and looks at me. I don't respond, even when he thanks me.

The douchebag looks at Shawn. "This it?" The boy nods.

I move behind Jasmine with a knife in my hand and look around her side, grabbing her wrists tightly, just to make sure she doesn't get too excited. As much as I'd love to see her and her man get away, I need this group and she'd only mess it up if she became too reckless.

Jake slides the key into the lock and wiggled it around. He speaks. "We tried kicking it down, but it's thick. You got more than shits an' giggles back there, don't you?" Before anyone can answer, the door opens with a loud creak. Jake holds up his lantern. Inside are hundreds of shimmering figures. Guns, knives, hatchets, axes, tools, swords, machetes. Hooks, saws, spears, lances, more guns, more knives, glass bottles, explosives. The list could go on forever.

Jake smiles and walks inside. "Stay there!" he demands of us. "Make sure those two stay put!" Then he motions for the buff man to watch the entrance as he takes a tour of the room.

I shrug and watch Jake feel over each individual weapon, one by one, trying to find his perfect match. He picks out a pistol and Shawn scoffs. "Not that one."

"Why?!" Jake growls.

"The revolver is better. You can load it faster and..." He stops mid-sentence as Jake sets his gun back on the rack and looks at Shawn before picking out a revolver from the shelf.

"Six shots?" the madman says in disgust.

"All it takes is one," Shawn sighs. "Just one."

"Thanks kid, but I have somethin' else that puts these pussy guns to shame," he says to the hipster. Jake reaches up and draws a samurai sword from it's sheath. "Infinite ammo."

"If it's sharp," Shawn scoffs. "If it ain't sharp you might as well be swinging a branch."

Jake sets down the sword and picks up a crowbar. "Universal tool, huh?"

"Bingo," Shawn sighs. "Great for bashing heads in and prying stuff apart. Terrible range though. Try again, dude."

I feel Jasmine's hands start to move and suddenly I'm flying over her shoulder and smashed onto the ground, deprived of my knife. When I look up, Jasmine has my blade to the throat of Robert. Shawn has grabbed the gun of the other dude whose name eludes me and has it at his head. Jake and his right hand man run to my side with the former holding a pistol and hisses. "Drop them, now!"

"No," Jasmine says. "We're done! Just let us leave and no one has to get hurt."

"What?!" Shawn gasps. "We're not leaving! They are!"

"I ain't goin' nowhere, assholes," Jake grunts. "Now put the shit down and back off. It's five to two and we have an entire room of guns."

I get to my feet and watch the two teens move towards the ladder at the edge of the entrance. Jasmine moves first with Shawn reluctantly following in her footsteps. The small alcove that houses the ladder could shield them from gunfire, but it won't be enough. I know I won't fire, but Jake has nothing to lose. He'll let loose upon the slightest movement.

"Just do it, Jake!" Robert sobs from Jasmine's tight grasp. "Don't make her-"

"Shut up!" Jake screams, his face popping with veins. "Drop the weapons or I'll shoot!"

I stand back as I see Shawn inching the gun away from the face of his hostage and toward Jake. This could be it.

Suddenly, gunfire erupts from Jake's handgun and Robert comes flying at us with red splattered across his torso. He crashes into Jake and brings the madman to the ground. Jake pushes him off and screams. "Stop them!"

I see Shawn's hostage on the ground with blood running down his neck and pick up the gun that Shawn must have dropped. Jake runs over to the alcove and aims his gun up the ladder, firing a burst of shots. "I got one!" he cheers. "Get something from the pile and get after them! Now!"

I sigh and look at my pistol. What just happened was a miracle on their side, but if what I know about Jake is true, they're gonna need more than shooting stars and hopes. I follow behind the three men, up the ladder and outside into the cold air. Our lanterns light the forest around us. In the distance, a faint crashing sound pings like radar to our ears. Whether or not I like it, it's hunting time.


(Day 19)


POV: Shawn

I wake up. It's cold. I'm in pain. I look down at my gunshot wound and see a cloud of red on my jeans. A strip of Jasmine's undershirt is wrapped around my leg to stop the bleeding. The forest is completely quiet, but not eerily quiet per se. I raise my upper body using my arms and look around. It's all coming back to me: the gunshot, the running, the killing, everything. It's at this time that I notice the absence of Jasmine around me. My mind races with thoughts of where she could be. Is she dead? Did she get caught to save me? Could she have been devoured by the walking corpses I have yet to see?

A bit of motion catches my eye from the bottom of the hill where I lay. Something is moving through the trees, but the forest is too thick to see it clearly and it disappears from sight.

Without warning, something touches my left shoulder and I jump, falling over and tumbling down the hill a few feet before hitting another tree.

"Shawn!" Jasmine grabs me and turns me over. I see her beautiful, mud stained face and smile.

"Are we safe?" I ask her, touching her cheek with my cold, numb hand.

"They stopped looking last night. They're out here somewhere, but I found I place to stay warm: a cave. And there's food too. Berries!" She lifts me up in her arms and carries me over the top of the hill. I look down and see the body of Jake's buff friend on the ground with a bullet hole between his eyes. Nothing has eaten on him yet, so that's good news.

As I'm carried through the woods I get time to think. I know I promised myself that I wouldn't leave my bunker, but I got caught in the moment and ran for it. The man had a gun and the numbers advantage, and even if Duncan had done something, it was still unlikely that we would have made it out together. My leg still hurts from the shot, but the bullet went through, so there's no need for any risky procedures yet.

"How far is it?" I ask Jasmine weakly, nearly dozing off.

"Just a bit."

The aching in my calf forces me to ask something. "We're going back, right?"

"I don't think so, Shawn. That place is gone for good."

"But there's medical supplies! What if this wound gets gangrene or worse?" Images of my leg rotting off slip into my mind as I begin to panic. "What if I turn in my sleep or get attacked and can't run?!"

Jasmine hushes me and sighs. "We're beaten. If we go back, they're gonna shoot us down. I know that bunker meant everything to you, but you just need to move on. We'll find a new shelter with good people and food and supplies and everything."

I close my eyes. "No, we won't. I've studied possible outbreaks and faster zombies are the worst for civilization. Unless a pre-crunch shelter is built, there's no getting one set up."

"Crunch?" Jasmine asks. "What's that supposed to be?"

I raise my head and look her in the eye. "The crunch is the time interval from infection to the end of military involvement. It normally lasts about two weeks on average. Remember the videos?"

Jasmine cringes. "I might've dozed off during a few of 'em."

"Yeah, I know," I sigh as we reach the entrance to this so-called cave, which is actually a hole in the side of a rocky wall that goes back a few feet before closing off.

"Well, this isn't much, but you can rest here while I go hunting and foraging." Jasmine sets me down inside and props me against a rock wall. She hands me berries she pulled from her pocket and I closely examine them.

"Don't worry, it's not toxic. I know my plants like you know zombies," Jasmine chuckles, trying to bring humor into our predicament. I can't help but smirk. "I guess I'll be back in an hour or so. Just stay quiet and off that leg. Okay?"

"No, stay here with me," I plead. "Just lay down beside me. Like the old days."

Jasmine looks me in the eye with a stern glare. "Shawn, you need rest and we both need food. It's just one hour or so. Do it for me; for us." She kisses me and holds my hand. "Trust me when I say that I can fend for myself. I'll be okay."

I reluctantly nod my head and she leaves, only looking back to wave. After she leaves my sights, I pull a berry from my hand and pop it into my mouth. It's juicy and sweet with a little sour, but it's food. I eat another, and another, and another until they're all gone. I look at the purple stains on my hands and then at the red stains on my pants, comparing the two shades, anything to pass the time. I start thinking of defenses and weapons, so I grab a handsized stone and run my cold hands over it's wet forms. The rock is oddly beautiful. It's shades of grey and brown twist and turn in ways that resemble puzzle pieces. I set it down on my lap and lean my head back on my bundled up cap that I quickly stuff behind me and close my eyes for a moment, taking in the silence.


~A/N~ And now we're right back at the start! Hooray! This is where things should really take off, so I hope I keep getting better with organizing this story. Thanks for reading, and if you happen to leave a review, special thanks to you as well. Also, I'm heavily considering making this thing M-Rated, so if you're not following it yet and don't want to lose track of it if I change it, do so just in case. And if you can, tell me if it's worthy of the M-Rating so far. It will get bloody, but only about like The Walking Dead or any other zombie story. Thanks, and have a great day.