No Way

Today's song is No Way by Scott H. Biram.

"I can't take it anymore," Jasper declared as he tore at his wavy blonde hair in agitation. "If I don't get the fuck out of this shithole soon I'm going to flip my fucking lid."

"Dude, just chill the fuck out," Rose replied while tenderly stroking Jack's sleeping blonde head. "We're perfectly safe in here."

"Yeah, for now," he argued, "but you can't fucking tell me you haven't heard the noises from outside. The pounding on the door has gotten louder every fucking day. They know we're in here and eventually they'll find a fucking way in and when they do we're fucking chow."

Rosalie rolled her eyes, "You know, I really think you're blowing this way out of proportion. There's no way they're getting in here."

"Fuck Rose," Edward growled pacing their impromptu living quarters in the middle of the store like a caged lion. "Jaspers right, our opportunity to get out of this place is almost gone. We have to make a move while we still can."

"No," Rose snapped, her blue eyes blazing, "I'm not going back out there, I just can't risk it with Jack. You don't know what it was like, I can't do it again."

"Fuck that!" Edward's voice rose and cause the sleeping child to shift uneasily in his mother's lap. "I spent three days hiding with my dog in the bathroom before I fought my way out of Austin and Jasper- well I'm sure Jasper had shit happen to him too."

Jasper nodded his head rapidly in agreement but offered no verbal explanation of what exactly what he had been through.

"Oh boo fucking hoo," Rosalie taunted nastily. "You and your pathetic pooch had to snuggle together for a few days before you made it out without a scratch, cry me a fucking river. You don't even know what bad is you fucking cry baby."

Edward bristled at her condescending attitude. "Oh and I suppose you do?" he challenged angrily.

"Yeah, I do," she spat.

"What the fuck ever," Edward replied with a dismissive roll of his eyes. "I assume you were shopping when the infection hit and so you just decided to hole up here. Real fucking hard Rose. Hole up in a warehouse that has everything you could possibly need while the rest of the world goes to shit. Yeah, you know what bad is."

"Fuck you Cullen," she snapped. "You don't know anything about what we've been through. You can't even begin to imagine what a clusterfuck this has been for us."

Edward shook his head in disbelief at her dramatics. He had learned long ago that everything that happened to Rosalie Hale tended to be bigger and more dramatic than anything that anyone else ever experienced.

"Really Rosalie? Well then, why don't you enlighten us?"

Rosalie straightened her back and glared at the cocky man still pacing before her. "You think you've had it hard surviving for the past week? Well you don't know shit Cullen! You hid in your fucking bathroom for three days. Try hiding in your apartment with almost no food with a frightened child for three weeks, three fucking weeks! I had to climb out of a third story window with a terrified child on my back after the fucking zeds broke through the front door while I was sleeping. Jack had to fight for his fucking life because he couldn't wake me up. Do you have any idea what that's like? Watching someone you love fight to survive?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. "No," she laughed in disgust, "I don't suppose you do since I'm fairly certain you don't even know what love is."

Edward opened his mouth to defend himself but thought better of it. Rosalie had a point, he had no clue what it was like to watch someone he loved fight for their lives. She had his number and she knew it too. Every time they had interacted since he had gotten here she had made some sort of remark about what an unfeeling bastard he was and honestly he couldn't really blame her, she was one-hundred percent correct. He really was a heartless son of a bitch.

Ignoring Edward's gaping mouth, Rosalie continued her story. "After we got out of the apartment I had to steal a car, which coincidentally was soaked in the blood if it's previous owners, just great for a traumatized child. I got us out of our neighborhood but then there was nowhere for us to go. We don't have any family here and the air force had bombed large portions of the city after the barricades were overrun but eventually the explosions stopped so I didn't know if I could even go to the base. This was my only choice. I couldn't think of anywhere else to take him where he would be safe," she whispered tenderly while she stroked the sleeping child's head tenderly.

"You may have seen some fucked up shit Cullen," she said while still staring lovingly at her entire reason for living," I'm sure anyone who has survived has, but don't you dare belittle what we've been through."

After Rosalie finishing speaking, the warehouse was silent save for the ever increasing pounding upon the store's reinforced front doors as the two men mulled over her words. Neither had imagined the tenacious blonde and her towheaded son had been through so much and both were cowed by her story.

Finally after considering her story for several minutes, curiosity got the best of him and Jasper just had to know."What do you mean you hid for three weeks?" he asked nervously.

He was slightly afraid that she would lay into him the same way he had watched her rip into Edward repeatedly for the past few days over the tiniest things. Edward had mentioned offhandedly that he had almost killed her best friend but he never explained further and Jasper wasn't the type who would press for more information. Whatever happened in the past between Edward and Rosalie obviously explained why she hated him but Jasper wasn't sure where he stood. He was wary of the armed woman and hoped that he wouldn't be perceived as guilty by association.

"The infection hasn't been around for that long. Far as I knew it's only maybe been around for a week or two."

Rosalie regarded her son for a moment more before explaining. "It's been around much longer than you think, the government obviously did a good job of keeping it under wraps until it was too late. This," she gestured around her, "is ground zero, this is where it started. I don't know what happened so don't ask but I do know that about a month ago the first reports about the infection hit the local news but were snuffed out quickly. There were whispers around town about increased military activity but no one really knew anything. Even when the outbreak really started they never told us anything, we never had a chance to escape," she declared bitterly.

"Next thing I know, the mailman is trying to eat me and all sources of information and all methods of communication are completely cut off. I tried to warn -," she paused and regarded Edward coldly, "people, but I couldn't get through. That was weeks ago. I watched through the window as my neighbors were ripped to shreds and then got back up. When the zombie somehow managed to get into the house, it was the first time I had actually slept in almost three weeks, that's why Jack couldn't wake me. Thank god I taught him out to use a gun or we would both be de-."

Rosalie suddenly stopped speaking and jerked her head to the left when the small group heard the unmistakable sound of a door opening and closing. Wide eyed, the adults silently stared at one another for a fraction of a second before scrambling to their feet. Edward and Jasper each reached for the nearest thing they could use as weapons while Rosalie checked her gun and got a better hold of Jack who had just begun to stir.

"Mom," his sleepy voice protested, "I don't wanna," he whined before encircling his mother's neck in a choke hold as a particularly grotesque former member of the human race came shuffling into view. "Mom."

"Shhh Jack," Rose soothed as she pulled the gun she had threatened Edward with only days earlier out of the waistband of her jeans. "It's okay, just close your eyes baby and everything is going to be alright. I promise, I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Jack immediately complied, hiding his face in his mother's shoulder as she calmly took aim and fired straight into the forehead of the zed, felling it immediately as another stumbled into view.

"What the fuck?" Edward shouted as he took a mighty swing at the head of another zed. "How the fuck did they get in here?"

"I don't know," Rosalie shouted as she dodged the spray of gore coming off the backswing of Jasper's Grab-It. "All the doors are closed."

"Shit, there's too many," Edward panted. "Rose, hand jack to Jasper so they can climb the shelves then follow them up, I'll hold them off."

"What? No!" She protested as she clutched the frightened child tighter.

"Just fucking do it Rosalie!" Edward commanded as he took another swing. "You and I both know you can't climb those shelves with him on you back. Besides, I'm going to need you to cover me with the gun while I climb."

Although he had a good point, she was still hesitant to release her child until she caught sight of the new wave of undead streaming unfettered into the warehouse.

"Alright, take him," she commanded, shoving Jack into Jasper's arms. "You had better not let anything happen to him or dead or alive I will hunt you down and torture you until you beg for death."

"Yes ma'am," Jasper replied before swinging the small boy onto his back and beginning to climb.

As he climbed, Rosalie took aim and fired into the growing crowd before Edward ordered her to save her bullets and climb god dammit. Not needing any further encouragement, Rosalie whirled around and began scaling the large metal shelves.

"Pass me the gun!" Jasper shouted from a level above her.

"No, there's no time," she argued as she took up a position of the second level. She was still too low to be safe but the number of undead was quickly growing and Edward's strength was rapidly fading. "Climb Cullen!" She shouted before picking off a zed that had almost manage to take a chunk out of him. "I've got you covered."

Needing no further encouragement, Edward took a final swing at the nearest zombie before dropping his nine iron and scrambling up a tower of Vienna sausages while Rose expertly picked of anything that got too close.

"What are you doing?" he demanded angrily once he reached her. "Fucking climb!"

"Well that's a fine thank you," Rosalie griped as she once again tucked the gun securely into the waistband of her jeans and began to climb.

After being reunited with and antsy Jasper and a crying Jack who had to be assured it was now alright for him to open his eyes, the adults turned their attention to the growing problem down below.

"I don't understand how the fuck they got in here," Edward mused, running his hand distractedly through his unkempt hair as he stared down at the milling horde of undead. "The front doors are still blocked and there's no way for them to have come in from the auto care center or through the loading docks. I can't think of another way in."

"Air vents?" Jasper suggested as he observed the crowd milling aimlessly about now that their desired food source was nowhere to be found.

"Na, I saw those on my way in. They were on the roof and there's no way a zed could reach it without a ladder."

"There is one other door," Rosalie supplied as she rocked the now hiccupping Jack comfortingly. "An side door near the pet supplies, its how Jack and I got in but it's nearly impossible to open from the outside since it has no handle. Besides, I made sure I was locked after we came inside."

Edward tugged at his hair while he considered how the zeds could have gotten in. He knew if Rose was right then the only way anything could have gotten in would have been for someone to open a door but none of them would have been that stupid…

"Jack," Edward breathed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "how did you know to open the door to the Auto Center for Jasper and I?"

"Edward," Rosalie warned.

"Huh, you know, I've kinda been wondering the same thing myself," Jasper remarked distractedly while watching two zombies trying to attack a cardboard cutout of a Costco employee.

Jack sniffed and regarded the two men warily from his perch in his mother's lap. "I peeked," he mumbled before hiding behind a shiny curtain of his mother's long golden hair.

"Jack Zebulon Hale," Rosalie scolded as she gently pulled the boy off of her lap and forced him to stand before her. "Why would you do that? You know how dangerous it is out there."

"I-," Rosalie grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eye. "I was lonely. You were busy looking for something and I just wanted to see outside, just for a minute so I peeked and saw Mr. Ed's car so I opened the garage," he admitted as tears streaked down his face. "I'm sorry, it was an accident."

Rosalie took a deep, calming breath before saying anything. She knew the past few weeks had been incredibly hard on Jack who was normally such an active child and she really couldn't blame him and neither could Edward or Jasper since his mistake had effectively saved their lives.

"Come here," she said while pulling the weeping child back onto her lap and wrapping her arms around him. "You know what you did was wrong don't you."

He nodded his head solemnly, "I know mommy. I'm sorry."

"It's alright Jack. At least you only opened it that one time. Right?" She asked as he once again hung his head. "Jack?"

"Me and Sammy peeked again today while we were getting his bones. But only for a teensy tiny second. Then we came right back when you called us for dinner."

"Oh Jack," Rosalie leaned her head on his small shoulder in exasperation, "what am I going to do with you?"

"Never mind that," Jasper interrupted. "We need to figure out how to get the fuck out of here before any more of these things show up." He pointed toward the crowd. "I've counted five new zeds in the last ten minutes."

"He's right," Edward agreed. "It would be too dangerous for us to make a move now since it's the middle of the night but as soon as the sun comes up we need a plan. There is no way I'm living off," he picked up the nearest box and read the label, "Graisse de Canard Gold Rendered Duck Fat. What the fuck?" Dropped the box as though it had burned him, "who eats that shit?"

"I don't know dude," Jasper said examining another package, "I mean its gluten free, trans fat free, and lactose free so it can't be so bad."

"Hello," Rosalie snapped to get their attention, "can we get back to the problem at hand?"

"Oh, right," Edward said running his hand sheepishly through his hair. "Any ideas on how to get out of here?

Rosalie shook her head. "Don't look at me, I've got nothing."

"Alright well Jazz, any ideas?"

Jasper was silent for a few seconds before nodding. "I think the only way out of here is to make a run for it. Our best bet is to somehow distract the zeds while we get into the Auto Care center and get the car. There should be just enough gas to get us past the city limits and then hopefully we can find a gas station or something."

"What about food?" Edward asked.

"There's a truck full of canned goods and god only knows what else in the loading dock," Rosalie offered. "If we can get into the cab we could take it with us."

Jasper nodded thoughtfully. "That's a good idea but let's not bank on it. Right now we need to focus on getting out of here alive, then if we're able we can try to get the truck."

The trio spent the rest of the night keeping a watchful eye on the unfortunate masses below while they plotted their escape as Jack slept fitfully in his mother's lap. When dawn broke, Rosalie roused the sleeping child and filled him in on what he needed to do before getting into position.

"Alright, everybody ready?" Jasper asked.

"Ready," Rosalie answered as she gripped Jack's hand tightly within her own.

"Edward, you ready man?" Jasper called but received no response. "Edward?" he called again.

"Yeah I'm here but I have one question before we do this shit."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Where the fuck is my dog?"

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Another chapter down. Let me just tell y'all I loved all the reviews I got! Thank you all so much for your support and pimps on this story I really appreciate it and I'm so happy so many of you are loving the story. I also wanted to say that I'm sorry some of you are getting impatient for Edward and Bella to meet up but it's going to be awhile. You're just going to have to wait like good little taters to see what happens. Leave me a review and tell me what you think!

XOXO,

Bellarella