Deliquesce
Chapter 2: Nail
Rated: T
Warnings: Violence, language
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Song: "If I Had A Heart" By Fever Ray
A/N: Here's another chapter for you guys. Thanks for the reviews/favorites/follows.
Turrislucidus: Thank you so much. Glad to be back.
Dionne Dance: Haha. It'll definitely be fun writing his reaction.
It was raining. The raindrops splattered against the windshield as we drove on, racing the setting sun as it plunged further and further below the horizon. Even in the car, bundled up in layers of clothing, it was cold. But I was okay. They had some disinfectant they could use to my arm, and bandaged it up nicely. It didn't hurt so much now.
The car stopped outside a house. There weren't too many of the infected around here, so it was safe for now.
"We'll stop here for the night. It's getting dark." Veronica peered around from the driver's seat to face us in the back. "I'll go check the place out with with Jackson and Spencer, the rest of you stay here. If anything comes at you, use the knife. And for god's sake, be ready if we need to escape. Briley, you can go in the driver's seat. Daniel and Ember, watch out for anything. Get down, don't move and don't make a sound, got it?"
They nodded. Veronica and Jackson got out of the car and started moving toward the front of the house, keeping low and quiet. Briley climbed over and sat in the front seat. They made it to the door and disappeared inside. No one made a sound. It was silent for a while, before I heard a whisper from the front seat.
"You know, it's nice to see a new face around here. Especially another girl! Veronica's always so demanding and pissed off all the time, you can't really be friends with her. You should stick around, and you know, not blow your brain to bits when we're inside the gates. You might like it there."
"Do you think he's alive?"
"Who?"
"Willy Wonka, duh. I mean he never left the factory, so do you reckon he's still there?"
She shook her head. "No, last I heard he was dead. He actually left the factory around the time of the outbreak. He was at the hospital."
"Was he bitten?"
"No, just visiting I'm pretty sure. I was there, at the hospital. My little sister had the… yeah. I got out though."
"Oh." I said. "I'm sorry."
She forced a smile on her face and giggled. "Well, hopefully this will work for us. I miss not having to look over my shoulder every two seconds."
"What's the point though? You won't be able to get inside the factory."
"That's the thing, though. Daniel?"
"My father was one of Wonka's lead architects building the factory. He has maps and blueprints of every single bit of the building. At the back of the building, there's a storm drain. You go down it, turn left, and find a door with a keypad. Enter the passcode and you're in."
"And do you have the passcode?" I asked.
"We don't know that. But we can guess. My father always mentioned he was a very precise man, who never did things at random. So the passcode needs isn't going to be just any number. I'm thinking the day he opened the factory. Maybe his birth date. We just need to think."
I scoffed. "Good luck, then."
"Smartass." Daniel shook his head and continued to look out the window.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a gunshot and the door flew open and Veronica and Jackson came running out. Briley instantly started the car and Daniel opened the doors. I saw three infected come stumbling outside. As soon as Jackson and Veronica were in the car, Briley took off down the street before the doors even closed. They were panting. There was blood on Veronica's leg. She pulled off her jacket and pressed it over her leg.
"There were more inside. We couldn't take them all." Veronica said, struggling to regain her breath. "I got cut on a nail."
"Shoot. Where do we go now?" Briley asked.
"I don't know. Just let me think. Not anywhere in the area. They know we're here." Veronica said.
"Why don't we just keep going?" I asked. "It can't be too far away now. Yeah, darkness is bad, but don't you think daytime is even worse? When we're up on the ladder, there's no way they won't see us. At least we can blend in a bit."
"They can blend in too. That's the problem." Daniel retorted.
"I'm pretty sure out eyesight is better than theirs. Might as well get it over and done with."
Veronica slammed her fist on the door. "You can't just come into our group and start making decisions." She hissed at me. "The only thing we need you for is to get us all over the gate, not to start spouting ideas that will kill us. I run things around here, not you."
I grinned at her, a laugh escaping my lips. "Yes sir."
She gave me a withering glare.
"Jesus, Veronica." Jackson shook his head. "She was just saying. We work together as a team. I think that's a good idea, actually."
"Fine then. Whatever. I'm warning you, it's dangerous. Briley, stop the car. I'm driving." Veronica said.