Hello everybody! Yes, I'm back after having disappeared unsuspectingly for the past month-and-a-half. I know that it's been a while since I've updated this and any of my other stories on this site. I promise you all that I have a very legit reason for my unspoken hiatus. It's not actually a happy reason, but it's completely legitimate nonetheless.
You see, just a couple of day before Christmas came around, I got a letter from my college stating that when the Fall quarter was completed, I was considered to be academically disqualified. Essentially, it meant that I was barred from enrolling in their classes until I managed to bring my grades back up. Long story short, I went into a depression mode for the past month and have since recovered now that I'm working to get better grades.
Now that we've got that unpleasant explanation out of the way, I apologize once more for having the new chapter to this story become terribly delayed. I do hope you can forgive me for that. And as an apology, here's a new chapter for you all to read. And I promise to not go on another hiatus moment unless something like that depression moment randomly comes around again.
So yeah, please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. They are always very helpful in motivating me to keep writing for you faithful readers as well as provide any suggestions and such that you may have. Suggestions are always good since I'm sure you remember that I don't know much about the Young Avengers universe and might write a couple of things terribly wrong that you sticklers for details might want to lash out at me for. Not that I don't deserve it since I'm writing a fan fiction without knowing anything about the universe beforehand.
And thanks to Straycat113 for your review even if it was long after my last update and during my hiatus moment. It's great to hear that you enjoyed this story so much that you had to reread it again. That really shows me that I'm doing something great with this story and that you're thoroughly enjoying my writing. It really makes me happy since I'm working to become an actual writer in real life. Of course, all of you other reviewers are also well-thanked by me for your reviews. I just like to announce the most recent ones whenever I update a story.
Now that I've gotten all that out of the way, I'll let you all read the new chapter you've been waiting very patiently for. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories on here everybody!
Chapter 12: Separate Ways B-1: Unexpected Results
It had only been a few seconds since the three teens had decided to temporarily go their separate ways. Greg was quickly making his way down Mayer Street, the connecting street of E. Mayer Street in the opposite direction that Teddy and Billy were moving. His speed-walking pace did not reflect any sense of caution on the black haired teen's part. However, his actions spoke differently as he effortlessly took out a couple of zombies that dared to come out of hiding and try to make a meal out of him.
"Damn, can't a guy just walk through a street in peace anymore without worrying about becoming a monster's next meal?" he grumbled as he dug the sharp portion of his crowbar into a fallen zombie's head to insure it was dead. "With such a crazy welcoming I've already gotten; I wouldn't think about ducking down in this town even if the military managed to make some kind of defensive front."
After taking out a couple more monsters, he looked down the street behind him and saw the barely visible forms of Billy and Teddy along the horizon. He could barely make out the blond doing all the heavy work while the other simply stood back and pointed at an oncoming zombie.
Geez, that's almost like a clichéd scene where the girls just point while the men protect their sorry asses, Greg thought as he shook his head in amusement. I hope those two don't find themselves in the middle of a killer horde, especially if Billy's content on trying to point at them to death. Then again, I'm sure they'll find some way to work through it so long as Teddy's boyfriend puts his prodigal gun skills to use. I swear; those two probably work together better than two people in the military!
With an amused smile approaching his lips, Greg cautiously continued to make his way towards Henry Court. As blunt and uncaring as he often portrayed himself to be, he was in fact a caring guy as well as a good reader of people. This was especially so when it came to his close friends and their relationships. However, he never told anyone about this attentiveness so as to keep in line with his cool and no-nonsense attitude with his peers at school. And naturally, his long-time baseball friend and newfound buddy since yesterday fell under his keen yet silent observations much to their obliviousness and his pleasure.
Over the course of the day they had been working together to escape from Southfields, the black haired teen had noticed quite a few things between Billy and Teddy that seemed to indicate more than just a longtime friendship. The first was the incident in the delivery truck back when they were hiding out in their high school's loading garage. While he did not know too much about Billy's overall attitude, he knew more than enough about Teddy's which coincidentally lent further insight to the others. Both boys had seemed more flustered than normal when he had teased them about how compromising their positions were at the time. He knew that the blond was one who easily became embarrassed over an incident like that; however, he also noticed that it was the first time he ever saw the guy become so defensive over a rather harmless joke.
And then there was the second instance that had occurred last night. It was right after he had finished rationing out the food and called Teddy and Billy over to explain the situation. At the time, he knew that they were talking about something important since he noticed they were practically huddled up together whispering to each other. However, he had a feeling as to what they were trying to discuss when he was soon greeted with two pairs of annoyed glares and a slight tongue lashing from Teddy. The blond only did that when he was interrupted in the middle of something that he considered important, and Greg had a good feeling as to what it was when he saw the other's cheeks just slightly red during the lashing.
With these two things in mind along with what he already knew about Teddy and Billy on an emotional level, Greg had a pretty good idea that the two were head over heels for each other. It was not like he particularly cared about them being gay since he was not one to judge people by their sexual preferences. He did take note, however, that since he interrupted them last night, they most likely still did not know their feelings for each other. He could not help but chuckle at how painfully obvious it was, at least from his point of view, that they were in love and could not admit it without acting like shy little kids. And as much of an impatient guy he admittedly was with such scenes, he could not bring himself to just ruin the scene and possibly his only chance at seeing Teddy struggle heavily over something.
Before the teen could continue on with his line of thought, he heard some strange sounds in the empty street. Ceasing his chuckling and looking around, he soon saw zombies coming out from wrecked and abandoned cars. They also came from through the broken windows of houses and the side gates. In a matter of seconds, the monsters had grown into numbers that the teen could never hope to handle! It was almost as if he had tripped some kind of silent alarm that warned them all of his presence.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Greg growled as he quickly thought about the choices for his next move. "Where the hell are all these guys coming from? I seriously don't have time to be messing around with you all!"
Seeing how things were growing worse by the second, he decided to make a break for the nearby cross street that was thankfully his intended destination. He would be damned if he did not make it to his cousins' house now after having risked his life by stupidly agreeing to split from his friends. However, the street they lived on happened to finish off as a dead-end. While the first part of his plan might go well, trying to rendezvous with Billy and Teddy afterwards might prove to be easier said than done.
Daring a quick glance behind him, Greg noted that he had now put a good distance between him and the now large group of zombies. Unfortunately, he knew that it was going to be gone the moment he reached the end of the street where the house he was looking for was situated. Oh, just his luck to be chased by a growing horde of monsters into a street that had only one way in and out.
"Geez, I never through I'd have to put my life on the line just to visit my cousins!" he grumbled as he reached the end of the street where, to his lack of surprise, more zombies were hanging around. He then whined with a sigh before readying his crowbar, "Do I really have to take out these guys just to get into the house? At least this is much more manageable than the group behind me."
Without giving it a second thought, he ran right towards the crowd that stood between him and his destination. Despite having over ten zombies in his way, they were far apart from one another that they were easy to pick off one at a time. With this as his advantage, he gave each one he approached a well-aimed swing to the head with the sharp end of his weapon. He decided to leave the ones that were further away alone since they were nowhere near the path to his cousins' house. They would only waste time he already did not have to be messing around with the ones in his way.
"Hell yeah, I'm here!" he breathed out once he set foot on a two-story house's porch after taking out another zombie. He then turned around and saw that the street had filled with the monsters during his couple seconds of battle. That was definitely harder than I thought. I just hope searching this place for them was easier than this. The last thing I need is to be trapped inside like some caged animal!
Taking only a moment to clear his head, Greg reached for the doorknob and gave it an experimental twist. To his surprise, the door was unlocked and he quickly entered the house after making sure the zombies were nowhere near him. After quickly scoping out the main hallway for any signs of danger, he shut the door behind him and locked it with both the original lock and the installed chain bolt.
That should hold them back for a little bit, he thought as he let out a breath he had been unknowingly holding. Now I just need to see if anybody's here and find another way to leave this house. I doubt the welcoming committee is going to disperse anytime soon. I just hope I'm not in over my head this time around.
Before the teen could take this chance to take a rest, a strange sound coming from the second floor reached his ears. Gripping his crowbar tighter, Greg turned towards the stairs just a few feet away, quickly checking the living room as he passed it by for any signs of life or danger. Looking up to the second floor railing, he saw nothing that could have made the sound but cautiously made his way up the steps.
Damn it; where the hell is everybody?! I'm sure my uncle wouldn't have just left the door unlocked like that if he were here. I guess that means he and my cousins aren't in here. But then what the heck was that noise earlier? They don't have a dog or anything. Maybe one of them stayed behind.
With all these thoughts running through his head, the black haired teen cautiously made it to the second floor hallway. The only thing to his left was a bathroom that he could clearly see had nobody in it; however, he figured it was worth a quick look for anything worth its salt. He ended up being glad he went since he found some regular medication sitting on a wall-mounted shelf and stuffed them into his backpack.
Leaving the bathroom and continuing down the hallway, he passed by some rooms which he took care to check for any signs of his cousins or worse. He took no more than thirty seconds checking each room due in part by the sounds of pounding against the outer walls and windows from the zombies outside. In each room he searched, he found neither signs of life nor anything of great use or interest. Each had bits of clothing on the floor with the drawers and closet doors left wide open. The only thing he found that he felt would be useful was an iPod USB cable in his little cousin's room. He remembered that Billy had an iPhone on him and figured it would need a charging if it ever ran out of juice.
With a minute gone and only some medicine and one supposedly useful item tucked away in his backpack, Greg had finished checking all but one of the rooms. He was beginning to wonder if he had simply imagined the noise he heard earlier seeing as how the house was apparently abandoned. He highly doubted that his cousins would have crowded themselves into one room. His army-smart uncle and older soldier cousin knew better than that. Then again, he could not be too sure that they simply did such a thing in a panic until he checked the last room for himself.
Taking a deep breath, the teen placed his hand on the doorknob and gave it a twist. The door creaked open and revealed what appeared to be his aunt and uncle's bedroom. From his position in the doorway, he could see that the drawers were all open much like the other rooms. Pictures he remembered seeing hanging on the walls were gone with only discolored paint showing where they once hung. There were no signs of a group of people hiding in here, so that meant they had all ran away when the trouble started. But if that was the case, then where did they go? They did not leave any hints whatsoever. Perhaps they went to Suffern High and took shelter there…
"Zombie bastards!" a voice suddenly cut through Greg's thoughts as something flew right by his face just as he set foot into the room. By some miracle, it missed hitting him by mere inches and instead struck the wall with a crashing thud. "Go to hell!"
"What the…?!" Greg exclaimed as he stumbled back a few steps, his crowbar falling to the wooden floor with a clang as loud as his assailant's weapon.
"You're not getting away that easily, you piece of dead shit!" the person shouted again as he stepped out from his hiding spot and into the doorway. Standing there was a bald-headed African-American with a metal baseball bat at the ready.
"Stop; I'm not a zombie!" the teen quickly shouted just as his attacker was about to go for another strike. "Don't you hear me talking?!"
"…G-Greg?!" the other person gasped before dropping his attack stance. "Never in a million years did I think I'd see you again!"
"…Eli…!" Greg breathed out heavily once he finally got a good look at his former assailant, a friend he made from his constant visits here looking unusually disheveled. "Oh, thank god it's just you! For a moment, I thought I was about to get screwed over by a zombie that learned how to use weapons."
"Gee, thanks for comparing my survival skills with one of those retarded zombies," Eli responded in a sarcastically playful tone, his face cracking a small smile in the process. "Nice to know you think that I'm prime zombie food. But seriously, you don't know how good it is to see another living person much less a familiar one! I'm telling you, spending a week alone isn't the greatest of things to be doing right now."
"Are you saying that's how long it's been since all hell broke loose? It's nice to finally know now when everything started hitting the fan here in Suffern. Just when did all this shit really started and how far has it spread?"
"I don't know about when it started or how bad it is, but it definitely got bad enough where the military actually had to get involved," the bald teen answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm sure you've already seen how well that idea ended up working. The town's as dead as it could be, regardless whether or not they had enacted the safety plan and made Suffern High as a shelter and base of operations."
"I figured the military here would pull a move like that. But then why aren't you taking shelter in the high school like everybody else? Don't tell me you somehow missed getting the memo about it all this time?
"Do you really think I'm that dense, Greg? I chose not to put my life in the hands of the military who think they got it all under control. I don't know about you, but I've watched a lot of zombie movies. Hanging around in a crowd of living people is just asking to be eaten alive. I figured I'd take my chances out here and live off of what I can find. I never been to the shelter-converted school before and I don't intend to go anytime soon.
"Anyway, that's enough about me. What the hell were you thinking when you thought about coming to this town, Greg? You're honestly the last person I expected to see. I almost knocked you upside the head, you know that?"
Before Greg could provide an answer, the sound of windows breaking on the ground floor reached their ears. Familiarly threatening moaning sounds followed suit a second later along with various cluttering of falling objects.
"Damn it; they're breaking in!" Eli said with a growl as he pulled Greg into the room and picked up the forgotten crowbar before slamming the door shut. "We'll continue this later. Let's just concentrate on trying to find another way out of this house!"
"And how do you suggest we pull that off?" Greg asked as he caught the piece of metal thrown at him. "Unless you know of some secret way out that I'm not aware of, we can't get out of this place from the second floor! And I'm not going to risk breaking my leg jumping out of a window!"
"We'll get out of here through the rooftops," the other explained as he picked up a red backpack from the bed before pushing open the glass balcony doors. "We should be able to get up there through the balcony in here. Once there, we'll find some way to get back onto Mayer Street. I'm sure you remember how that's the only way out of here being that the Mahwah River runs just beyond all these backyards."
"As if I could forget about that damned stretch of water," the raven haired teen replied as he followed the other out onto the balcony. The moaning noises steadily grew louder with each passing second. "I nearly drowned there while playing hide-and-seek eight years ago when my little cousin made me run into a low-hanging branch that knocked me out! But forget about that right now. Mayer Street is right now crawling with these things! And don't think I'm screwing with you on this; I just came from there!"
"What?! But that's the only way out of this dead-end street! Damn it; now how are we going to get out of this? The river's seen an unusual increase in leeches this year, so we can't even think about swimming across."
Just as Eli pinched his nose in frustration, loud pounding could be heard coming from the bedroom door. This along with the disconcerting moaning sounds caused both teens to jump; Greg had jammed his ribs into the balcony door handle because of it and hissed in pain as he leaned against the doorway.
"Screw it; I'll just wing it from here!" the bald teen exclaimed as he secured his backpack before quickly yet cautiously stepping onto the balcony's concrete railing. With his arms stretched upwards, he gripped the edge of the roof and began pulling himself up with hardly any effort. He was safely on top of the house in a matter of seconds. "You better move your ass up here if you're planning on living, Greg!"
Before Greg had the chance to make any kind of response, the bedroom door burst open with the sound of its hinges being ripped from the wall. Looking back into the room, he saw the zombies trying to go through the doorway all at once and tripping amongst themselves in the process. Out of reflex, the teen immediately shut the doors and jammed his crowbar into the handles. This effectively kept the door shut as the zombies approached and futilely tried to open it again and eat the teen.
"Great, there goes my only weapon," he growled as he quickly set foot onto the railing just as zombies began pounding on the glass. Unlike Eli, he had trouble pulling himself up to the roof what with his backpack adding more weight than he was used to doing pull-ups with. With no help from the bald teen, he finally made it safely up just as the sound of breaking glass reached his ears. Still on all fours, he looked back down and saw a few zombies falling over the balcony while others were smart enough to look upwards. Thankfully, they could only moan in want and hunger as the roof was out of their reach.
"What happened to your crowbar?" Eli immediately asked. "I swore I handed it to you before I closed the bedroom door."
"I found a better use for it as being the balcony door's jam when zombies started to flood the room," Greg explained while refraining from commenting about the bluntness. "I wouldn't be up here if I didn't use it to keep them out. I'd probably still have it if the doors instead opened into the bedroom so they couldn't push it open."
"Oh well, best to pick the lesser of two evils when you're put into situations like this," the bald teen said with a sigh as he looked towards the rooftop next door. "We'll worry about finding you another weapon later. For now, let's get as close to Mayer Street as we can. Maybe we'll find an opening to get out of this rotten herd."
Without further explanation, he immediately ran towards the next house. Just as he was about to reach the edge, he made a good jump across the four-foot gap and landed safely on the other roof.
"The hell…?!" the black haired teen exclaimed as he followed Eli's path and stopped short of the ledge. "You're going to get to Mayer Street across the roofs? Are you crazy or something, Eli?"
"Not crazy enough to go risking my life by running through that killer crowd. Look, this is the only plan I could come up with on the fly that has the lowest chance of us dying. Unless you have a machine gun or some grenades hidden away in your backpack, stop complaining and follow me."
Unable to come up with a better argument, Greg gave a small shrug before backing up a bit and tightening the straps on his backpack. Readying himself for a jump, he could not help but wonder if this idea of Eli's was going to be any good. Then again, this was better than just sitting around doing nothing like he thought he was going to do. All that was left to worry about was whether or not he would be able to make the jump.
Once he felt he had backed up enough, the teen took a couple of deep breaths before breaking out into a run. In about a couple of seconds, he reached the edge and made a leap for the other roof. He flew across the gap with great ease; unfortunately, that was the only easy part as it seemed he did not take on enough speed and fell short of his landing zone. Instead, he found himself hanging onto the side of the roof for dear life as zombies below him began moaning loudly in anticipation.
"Help!!!" Greg immediately shouted as he barely managed to wrap his hands along the edge of the roof. In less than a second, he felt a pair of hands wrap around his wrists before being pulled up to safety.
"How the hell did you manage to miss that jump?" Eli exclaimed as he pulled the other safely onto the roof and put him in a sitting position. "I know you're not that slow of a runner what with you saying you're a part of a baseball team! You're probably being weighed down by your backpack," he added before taking off the backpack and testing its weight. "Geez, just what the heck do you have in here?"
"Just some food, a few boxes of medicine, some bottles of water, and an iPhone USB cable. Oh, I also have a couple of textbooks and binders from school sitting in there," he added in an uncharacteristically sheepish manner. "I kind of forgot to throw them out after managing to get away from Southfields."
"You have both textbooks and binders in here?!" the bald teen exclaimed before quickly opening the backpack and pulled out some food and a thick orange textbook. "Why are you travelling with this heavy junk on you? No wonder you fell short with your jump and had a hard time climbing up onto the roof earlier. Get rid of these damned things!" he growled before proceeding with the emptying of said useless items. "It's not like you're going to need them in the long run."
"Hey, stop digging through my stuff!" the baseball player said as he tore the backpack from the other's grip. "I'll go through my things myself. There are some things in there I'd rather keep."
"Just make sure you don't repack those heavy books when you're done. I'm not saving you again if you fail another jump. Honestly; how could you forget about something like that? You almost died because of it, for crying out loud!"
"Alright; I'm getting rid of the things now! Just stop bashing me and give me a couple minutes to sort through it."
With a few choice words murmured under his breath, Eli went to the edge of the roof so as to see how the zombie situation was on the street. Meanwhile, Greg was busying himself with sorting through the papers in his two binders. He had already taken out his textbooks and set them aside for the last time. Most of his papers were just useless junk and unfinished bits of homework, but some of it he found interesting and wanted to keep so as to pass the time should he ever become excruciatingly bored.
I can't believe I was stupid enough to be tugging along these heavy things with me, he berated himself. I definitely wouldn't have made that jump if Eli wasn't here to help me out. Hell, I'd probably still be trapped in that house if it weren't for his quick thinking. I've so got to learn how to think wildly like him. That'd probably be the only way I'm ever going to survive through this.
Still, I wonder how he's going to get us out of this mess, he wondered as he looked at Eli who was still surveying the zombies. Their collective moaning seemed to echo in the otherwise quiet streets. Those things don't sound like they're going to lay off of us anytime soon. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up being trapped here for a long while. I'll be damned if I don't rendezvous at the hospital and Billy and Teddy leave without me. God, I hope they're having an easier time with things on their end than me.
Well, that's it for this new chapter. As you can all see, I decided to introduce Eli into this story. But more importantly, I also decided to show off Greg's side of the story. I figured it would add a bit of variety by showcasing both group's struggles in trying to locate their respective families in an apocalyptic zombie hell. However, I think Greg has it rougher for now since he actually fought and survived a horde of zombies that chased him through the streets and narrowly managed to trap him inside his cousins' house. Yep, he definitely had it rougher since all Billy and Teddy did last chapter was save an already terminally ill soldier who was bent on wanting to die.
Anyway, I hope that you don't mind me splitting the story into two sections for the time being. If not, then sorry since I'm still going to flow with it. To be honest, I got the idea for this when I was replaying Resident Evil 2. I saw how the story was separated into two characters' point of view yet still held semblance to the entire plot as a whole. While not on the same level with this story, I figured it'd be best to show how both sides fared with their respective missions and their struggles to stay alive.
Also, sorry to you all if I didn't portray Eli like he's supposed to be in the comics. From what I remember reading, he's a pretty kind-hearted guy while maybe just a bit hot-headed whenever things get crazy or stressful. Since this is pretty much an entirely stressful moment just to survive, that's kind of how I portrayed him for this chapter. Sorry again if that's not how he really acts in the heat of the moment or at any other time.
I do hope you liked this new chapter after having you all wait for over two months for an update. Once again, I'm sorry for making you all wait. Now I'll just leave you with the outtakes. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories everybody!
Outtakes:
Greg: I wonder when Billy and Teddy are finally going to admit that they love each other?
Imaginary Teddy: Billy, there's something I want to tell you.
Imaginary Billy: What is it, Greg?
Imaginary Teddy: I love you.
Imaginary Billy: I love you, too.
(Starts kissing and feeling each other up)
Greg: ...Yeah, that kind of stuff only happens in those terribly made romance movies. They can't even get past the talking stage.
(Imagines Billy and Teddy tearing clothes off)
Greg: (Smiles impishly) But seriously, when am I going to get to see some kissing action from them?
/
Greg: If Teddy were with me, I'd bet him a dollar that a zombie will pop up in the next minute.
(Zombie pops up second later)
Greg: (Sigh) I called it. Ten bucks that there's more hiding out.
(No zombies appear)
Greg: ... ...Ollie ollie, oxen free!!!
(Zombies pour out from houses)
Greg: (Readies crowbar) That's better! Time for a zombie showdown Left 4 Dead style!
/
Greg: I swore I heard a noise coming upstairs.
(Hears more noise coming from room furthest in hallway)
Greg: (Readies crowbar) I knew I heard something. Time to see who or what's in here.
(Arrives at room and gingerly opens door)
Greg: (Pops head in) Doesn't look like anybody's in here.
(Gets hit in head and falls unconscious)
Eli: Oh yeah; got you, you damn no good excuse for a zombie! And you thought you could fool me by pretending to be Greg!
(Smashes Greg's head in before "escaping" house)
/
Eli: Time to jump over the rooftops! (Runs and jumps to next door roof)
Greg: That's your plan for getting out of here?
Eli: You got a better idea than this that doesn't involve contact with the zombies?
Greg: ...I guess you got a point there.
(Backs up a few steps before running and jumping)
Greg: (Misses and hanging onto ledge) Damn; help me, Eli!
Eli: Screw you, buddy! You're slowing me down with that! (Continues with roof jumping and escape)
Greg: Eli! Get back here, you son of a...! (Loses grip and falls below to awaiting zombies)