A Cruel, Undead World

~ Chapter 7 ~

Hope

Tervu Infection Outbreak Active for: 0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Weeks, 0 Days, 03:11:28.

Emily leads the two boys up a few stone steps to a grand two-story house. She opens the door and lets the other two in first, then quickly shuts the door on the chaos behind them.

"Stay in the living room, I have to call my parents!" she told them. The sixteen year old ran from the two to find a phone.

Travis looks to his younger brother. "What are we doing here?" he asks him. Depression was clear on the boy's face, and his little brother sensed it and slipped his small hand into the bigger one.

"We're being helped," he told him simply. Travis shook his head.

"You don't know that, everyone that says they will help us just ends up hurting us…how can we trust her, Philli?" the little one looked down in thought, then stared deep into the older one's eyes.

"Because we don't have a choice." He stated, and the both of them knew it was true—they wouldn't survive out there.

Emily came back, a horror-struck look on her face.

"This…isn't even on the news…no one knows about what's going on here…how could they not?" she asked herself, beginning to pace. "Everyone knew about Raccoon City soon after the first hint of a zombie, why doesn't anybody know?" the brothers looked at each other, then back to watching the girl, hopelessly pace back and forth. The three were doomed if they didn't get help soon, and by the looks of it, they weren't going to get it. She didn't tell them, but her parents who were just outside of town on a small vacation for their anniversary, couldn't even get inside the city limits. The reasoning they were told? A bad bout of influenza they were trying to stamp out and keep from spreading.

"Just hang on, Jasmine…we will all get through this, I promise…" the man was knelt beside her on his knees, dabbing at her cold forehead with a wet rag. They ran as far as their feet could carry them, then broke into an abandoned home just above the sewers. Matt had the teens take care of the injured girl as he locked everything and blocked every entry point he found. Once he returned, he tended to the wounds.

He was surprised, with what the two had told him, this infection had to be transmitted easily and took affect quickly; Jasmine however did not seem to be turning into an infected.

The teens right now were sleeping—so exhausted from the endless running. He couldn't rest, not with this young girl hurt like this. She hadn't said a word, and didn't appear to be conscious, though her eyes remained open and blinked rarely. Brushing her platinum blond hair back, he placed her head gently on his leg, applying some disinfectant to the bite. He had managed to get the bleeding to stop by pressing some torn apart curtains to it for a while, and even with the bite she seemed…still herself, aside from her open eyes. To himself, he questioned aloud "What is happening to you?" as if she would awake and answer him.

The tall young man with the black hair and light blue eyes was lying on the bed, one leg crossed and bouncing up and down with his hands behind his head. Lana walked by the room, and even though Kenny had just about two seconds to see her, he called out knowingly: "Lana!"

She turned and almost ignored the voice, but something made her walk back a couple steps and look inside the room at the lounging male. "Yes?"

Sitting up, Kenny's eyes sparkled with genuine worry. "How's your head?" With the excitement of Fiona's adultery and pregnancy, Lana's injury was forgotten, until Kenny brought it up of course. She would have preferred it stay forgotten.

"Fine…why do you care?" she asked him. He merely shrugged and explained that since they were going to survive together, he had to make sure everyone was at tip top shape.

"Besides…" he added, "If you were to go down, there'd be no other beautiful lady to talk to." He smirked at his own words. She scoffed and turned, ready to go again, but he called to her.

"Look, I can see you don't like me, and I want to change that. What do I have to do for you to trust me?" Lana narrowed her eyes at the man and examined his face, trying to see if he was being serious or not. Finally, she answered his question curtly.

"Maybe when you stop treating this like a joke and take it seriously, I'll begin to consider trusting you." She started to leave, and Kenneth didn't stop her.

"I know this isn't a joke." He stated, causing her to pause momentarily. "But I can't let those things destroy me. I owe it to him…" that last part was lowered in volume, so Lana barely heard. She glanced to the side, catching a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, but decided against inquiring him and left the room.

In the kitchen, Derik was making a sandwich; a simple peanut butter and jelly. Even if the boy was eighteen years old, he had moments of innocence and childish ignorance. Many were put off by his awkwardness, all because his emotions were shielded.

Omar was sitting in the pantry, which was adjoined to the kitchen. He had been in there since the discovery, and Fiona made no attempt to speak to him. In fact, she found make-up in the bathroom, and without asking Lana's permission began to apply it. No one bothered her-no one wanted to talk to her.

Derik knew the older man was in there, but wasn't sure what to say. As he spread the jelly, in his head were different ways he could comfort the guy. In the end, the younger one walked up the middle-aged man, and offered him a half of his sandwich without speaking. Omar was confused, and stared at the sandwich. With his age, Omar could easily see pass even the strangest of people. He looked up at the younger boy and gave a semi-grin and took the sandwich. Derik grinned, seeing he understood his gesture, and sat down next to him. The two sat in silence, munching on their halves of the sandwich.

A/N: Hey all! Sorry this is both a little bit on the later side and shorter than usual, I am setting everything up for the next chapter, which will be a big one, where all characters are featured! Next chapter, there is no avoiding death, for the odds have slimmed to the point that surviving is near impossible. As I said chapter before, I will not be accepting new characters, and all characters that do come in will be seen in chapter nine instead. Hope everyone is doing well, and I hope you all look forward to the next chapter just as much as I am! R&R!