Dalton's arm was the only thing keeping Diamond on her feet, especially with her heels. She tried not to look at the walkers, because they made her want to vomit. Sloane, incredibly, was leading the way away from the creatures, towards what looked like a forest. Diamond grimaced - she didn't particularly like the wilderness.
Once they were concealed by a few trees and some shrubbery, Diamond made them stop so she could catch her breath. She had thirteen years of dance experience, but running was not her specialty. "We - have - to - go - back," she panted.
"Are you insane?" Sloane snapped.
Diamond narrowed her eyes. "No. I'm in heels, and your ass is hanging out. We need some decent clothes."
Dalton put his hand on her shoulder. "Di, come on, there's no way we can go back. The only way we got out of there was because they were eating our pilot."
Diamond was thinking of a good comeback when she heard a snapping noise. "What was that?" she hissed, just as a big figure popped out from the trees. She opened her mouth to scream, but was stopped by Dalton's hand.
The figure let out a gasp. "Whoa! Sorry, I didn't see y'all there. Man, am I glad to see some actual people 'round here." The voice was a young male, with an obvious Southern twang.
Diamond looked up, and her breath caught. Never had she ever thought of ending up with a country boy, but this guy was gorgeous! He was tall and muscular, but not too brawny. His hair was dark and slightly longer than usual, and his eyes were a bright, hypnotic blue. He wore jeans, boots, and a plane brown T-shirt, all smudged in dirt. His face had a splash of dirt across its perfect features as well, but, somehow, Diamond found it even cuter.
"Who are you?" Dalton demanded. Diamond glanced at her twin sharply.
"I'm Ellis, its nice to meet ya. Who are y'all?"
"Diamond Sylvia Gold!" Diamond exclaimed. "But you can call me Di." She gave him a wink, and he grinned.
"Sloane," her friend said beside her, looking bored.
Ellis turned her way, but quickly moved his gaze. Diamond suspected it was her lack of clothing. They all looked expectantly at Dalton, but he just glared stubbornly. "That's my stupid twin brother, Dalton," Diamond intervened. "He hasn't quite mastered the concept of 'manners' yet."
"No worries," Ellis said cheerfully. "Where did y'all come from?"
"That airport."
"The hangar?"
"Uh, sure," Diamond didn't know the terminology.
"Is it safe? Any of the zombies over there?"
"You know about them, too?"
Ellis nodded, looking grim for the first time. "It was just all of a sudden. All day today, you know? People just started eating each other. I first saw cousin Larry chomping on Susan."
Dalton was rolling his eyes, but Diamond hung on his every word. "Whoa. Did you see people all over town turn?"
He shook his head. "Nah, the town's about a mile away from our farm."
"Farm?" Dalton asked, speaking for the first time.
"Yeah, of course. Where else would we keep the horses and chickens and -"
"Can we come? Is it safe?"
Ellis grinned. "Of course! Sure y'all can come. We got a group stayin' there for now, all the townsfolk. We got my Uncle Ed, Sandra, Emma -"
"Yeah, we get it," Dalton interrupted. "So what're you doing out here?"
"I gotta get fuel for the fires."
"Wait," Diamond said, "You're going to go in there, with all the walkers?"
He shrugged. "Yeah. The group's counting on me." He pulled out a bat, holding it up on his shoulder.
"You've got a gun right there!" Dalton said in exasperation.
Ellis remained calm and friendly. "The sound just attracts more of 'em. You gotta do it real quiet."
"We'll come with you!" Diamond offered.
"What?" Dalton and Sloane said simultaneously.
"No offense, little lady, but you'd probably just be in my way."
"We have to go," Diamond insisted. "We have to get our bags. I need pants and proper shoes, and Sloane needs...well, something."
Sloane looked down at herself with a shrug. Ellis looked reluctant. "Uh, okay, I guess. Do you need weapons?"
"We don't have anything."
"Alright," Ellis said, "Here's the plan. I give Dalton there this," he handed over a crowbar, "And he covers Sloane. I'll make sure Di is safe."
Dalton narrowed his eyes. "I don't think -"
"Perfect plan!" Diamond exclaimed, elbowing her brother in the ribs. "Let's do it."
"Alright. Di goes first, with me behind her. Then Dalton and Sloane."
Diamond and Sloane nodded, but Dalton just crossed his arms and glared. They took his silence as agreement. "What plane is it?" Ellis asked.
"The one in the front," Sloane said. "With that cluster of creatures at the top."
Ellis nodded. "Okay. Here goes nothing."
Diamond went out first, frightened, but wanting to prove herself. She tip-toed out, sneaking her way to the first plane and pressing up against the side. Ellis, Sloane, and Dalton followed closely, and Ellis nodded towards the next plane in front of them. It was theirs, so close to them. Diamond took a hesitant step forward, and almost ran into a zombie rounding the corner. She opened her mouth to scream, but Ellis was already on it. He covered her mouth with his left hand, and smashed the creature's head with the bat in his right hand.
"You okay?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded, and he let her go. "You think you can make it? After you get there, I think it will be safe for me to open the hatch for you."
She nodded again, and streaked across the empty ground with the speed and softness of the ballerina she was. Just like he said, Ellis was right behind her, and he lifted the hatch quickly. "You and Sloane get your stuff," he directed. "We'll take watch."
"You can't take the whole suitcase," Dalton informed the girls. "Find the biggest purse you have, and fill that up. If you can, Di, find my backpack and get me some clothes."
Diamond gave him a reassuring smile and climbed into the hatch after Sloane. She first filled her brother's bag, and filled that. Then she went through her giant suitcase, picking out the large black purse she had. She filled it with an outfit of a dress and heels she simply couldn't live without, and then all her designer pants, shorts and jeans she brought. She added the most flexible shirts she could find, and her feminine products, shower items, and makeup. If she was going to survive the zombie apocalypse, she would look hot as fuck doing it.
She saw Sloane pulling on pants, and decided to follow her lead. She zipped off her dress and put an outfit over her Victoria's secret lace bra and panties. She slipped on Alexander McQueen stretch-leather pants and a dark blue Burberry strapless peplum top. She added a pair of flat shoes she had with her - Chanel gladiator chain sandals. She threw the purse over her shoulder, and lugged up Dalton's backpack. "You ready?"
Sloane nodded, her own purse stuffed to the top. The started down the hatch, but froze when they saw the three walkers straggling up towards them. "Guys!" Diamond called nervously. There was no answer. "Dalton!" she screamed, "Ellis!"
The zombies continued up toward them.
Sloane slung her two purses over her shoulders and gripped a crowbar-like item that she found under a seat. "We have to go, now!" she barked.
Diamond clung to her back as she ran into the crowd of zombies, walkers, as Ellis called them. She smashed heads as Ellis had instructed and forced her way towards the hangar. The large metal dome looked like a safe haven and Sloane couldn't get their fast enough. She and Di slammed closed the sliding door and gasped for breath.
"Did you see the boys?" Di asked.
Sloane shook her head. "Lets just keep going with the plan, I'm sure they're fine."
Sloane searched for the red cans of fuel Ellis had explained. "Over here!" she called to Di.
Her blonde friend smiled brightly and started pouring the fuel all over the concrete floor. Sloane found an oil stained jacket with a Bic lighter in the pocket and tossed it between her hands while sucking on her plump bottom lip. A roll of blue paper towels caught her eye and she weighed them in her hands.
"Do you have Ellis's fuel?" she asked.
"Right here," Di exclaimed. Sloane got a feeling she liked the hillbilly boy, who had such a strong accent even though it seemed he lived in Colorado.
"Okay, let's get out of here," Sloane ordered. She slid open the main door to the hangar and ran to meet Di at the emergency exit in the back. It led up to the woods, a perfect escape. Multiple airplanes were parked in the hangar, and the thought of their huge fuel tanks catching fire sent shivers down her spine. Who knew what the explosion would be like.
"You cover me, hit any of them in the head and run as fast as you can," Sloane whispered.
"Okay, be careful," Di responded, gripping the crowbar.
Sloane lit the roll of paper towels with her lighter. The soft blue paper slowly singed before the whole role was engulfed in flames. She could see the walkers pouring in through the hangar door, attracted by her loud screams. Sloane rested the flaming roll on the small puddle of fuel. It immediately burst into flames, making her jump back and push Di into the woods.
"Run!" she hissed. The branches whipped by her head and leaves were thrown up in their wake. Sloane didn't even look back, she was terrified of what the blast would be like.
Sloane and Di jumped over a log in their rush to get away. She regretted the decision as her feet scrambled in the air, not meeting the earth. Her legs jolted as she slammed onto the ground at the base of the steep drop and she rolled in the thick, musty leaves.
Her breath knocked out of her, Sloane managed to pull herself up into a sitting position. "Di?" she gasped.
"Shouldn't it have ex-"
The two girls ducked as an enormous blast filled their ears. A gust of wind followed, and Sloane was assaulted by a loud ringing in her ears.
Di looked at her with wide eyes and it looked as though her lips were asking about the boys, but Sloane couldn't hear anything.
Sound began to slowly come back and Di's words made it to Sloane's brain. "... I don't know why they never came back!" she cried.
"Maybe they-"
"Are y'all girls okay?" a country voice asked.
Sloane looked up to see Ellis and Dalton panting roughly.
"You made it!" Di cried, jumping to her feet and pulling the boys into a hug. "I- we were so worried!"
Dalton pulled away from his twin and drug Sloane to her feet. "Did you two get anything good?"
Sloane shrugged, "I got some clothes and jewelry I can't live without. And all my toiletries. We couldn't find out phones, though."
"Dammit," Dalton cursed, slamming his fist into a tree. "What the fuck are we supposed to do with no phones?"
"I can take y'all back to the farm," Ellis offered.
"That would be amazing," Diamond gushed.
"Can you please shut up before I puke?" Sloane whined. Her friend needed to give it a rest.
"We got a little off track," Ellis continued. "but I think I can find it."
"Great," Dalton grumbled.
Sloane scowled at her boyfriend. After just about an hour, he was driving her insane. "Lets go, it should be getting dark soon."
"Right this way," Ellis directed.
The foursome trudged along through the thick forest. Sloane had found a nice black and white blouse, black leggings, flats, a studded headband to keep her hair out of her face, and one of her favorite pair of sunglasses to shield the bright setting sun from her eyes. She wished that she had some work out clothes, but Sloane had been on work out strike and didn't bring any clothes on the trip.
"Are we almost there?" Diamond asked tentatively.
"Should be up round here," Ellis said gruffly.
"How do we know you aren't going to murder us and let your back wood mutant cousins eat us?" Dalton questioned.
"My family is actually really nice," Ellis said quietly.
Diamond shot Dalton a look and talked quickly and quietly to Ellis with a soft look in her eyes.
"Can you stop being such an ass?" Sloane snapped at Dalton.
"What? Like you haven't thought the same thing."
"No, I haven't, I'm a little more concerned about the fucking zombies roaming the woods." Sloane took a side step to distance her and Dalton. "You are literally so rude."
"Come on, baby," Dalton sighed. "Don't be like that, I'm sorry."
Sloane rolled her eyes and grabbed Dalton's hand, and stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh my god."