Chapter 30 "Again"
Day 92; Group C
The group woke up early that morning. They packed everything back away and did their best to cover their tracks, though they overlooked the latrine and the holes they used for their tents. When they left, they attached small branches to the back of the three in the back's feet to cover their tracks, fearful of the Mexican man Sierra had told them from about the night before.
They had left shortly after sunrise. Ryan was at the front, leading the group. He was thankful Shawn wasn't there, or else they might currently be fighting. He was also thankful no one from the scouting group he was with on the day they met the biker gang was there, or else they might have something smart to say about him being a leader, as well.
Directly behind him was Sierra and Otis, who were keeping an eye out in the trees surrounding the path they were walking, both holding sniper rifles. They both worried for their missing loved ones, but they couldn't let those thoughts overwhelm them. Their purpose right now was to escape the pursuit of the herd and survive.
Following them was Amanda, who was lost in thought as she held a butcher's knife she had grabbed from the kitchen when they left. She couldn't stop thinking about everyone else. About Beth, and if she was okay. If her missing fingers hindered her and became the death of her. About Seth, and if he even cared about her. She knew he was still alive. He was the biggest and strongest out of all of them. If anyone made it, it had to be him.
Behind her was Xavier and Kelly, who were awkwardly making small-talk, dancing around the subject of what had happened the night before.
Finally, Gabriel, Shakira, and Oscar rounded out the back of the group, twigs tucked into the back of their socks and shoes to brush away their tracks. Mostly, they remained quiet, but when they did speak, it was in Spanish, and usually just comments about the conversations they could hear.
"So," Xavier hesitantly began. "Was last night just… sex to you?"
"No," Kelly said, not wanting him to think she didn't care about him, or was easy.
"So, then," he hesitated once more, very nervous. "Are we… together?"
Kelly smiled to him. "I dunno," she teased.
"So…?"
"We'll see," she grinned. "I'm not sure I'm ready to settle down just yet," she joked.
Xavier lifted a brow and looked very concerned. "Wait, what?" He looked around at the others in the group. "Are you having sex with some of the other guys?"
Kelly laughed at how jealous Xavier got, and decided to tease him more. "Who said it was just the guys?"
Xavier's eyes grew wide, and Kelly laughed even harder. "I'm just kidding," she finished. "I just...don't think I'm ready for another relationship just yet." She thought of Roger, and considered the possibility of ever seeing him again. She still loved him, but she knew he was probably long gone. Even if he wasn't, would he still love her? Would he still want her? He could have moved on, found another person to love.
Xavier half frowned at her as she looked at the ground, but feigned a smile when she looked back up. "I understand."
After about an hour of walking, Xavier leaned in to kiss the purple-haired girl, and Amanda in front of them yelled "Break?" to Ryan, interrupting them. They blushed and got in the formation, a row along the treeline facing the street.
Ryan made Xavier and Sierra get up and go scout the area around them, both to check for food and to make sure the herd wasn't too close. They were both very strong, capable survivors, and have been for a very long time. They've had to claw their way up from nothing to get jobs in the careers of choice, and along the way they experienced many things that have helped them adapt to this world. Now, though, things were strange between them. They were once together, and they had a huge fight that broke them up. They didn't talk at all, and a few weeks later, they were forced to be around one another once again, and taking care of a child. Then, Xavier finds a new girl. And there is obviously tension over it. Originally, Xavier wanted to ask Sierra if she was okay while they were out, but he decided against it. She seemed very focused now, and he could only assume she was doing well, so they only spoke sparingly.
They found many chestnuts, walnuts, and pecans, along with a few raspberries, but there was very little of it. They moved west, following the food on the trees, and then, the trees opened up into a field and they could see a house. It was quite large, and seemed like it could be useful. If the herd wasn't following them anymore, they could stay there for a while.
They began heading south, finding cover once more in the woods. As they got further south, they grew more quiet. Then, they heard it. The sickly, disgusting moans of walkers.
They looked to one another, eyes wide, and turned around, and when they got far enough they fell into a sprint, trying to get back to their group as soon as possible. They exited the brush, hearts pounding hard. "The herd is just a little bit away. We have to move!"
"You're shittin' me," Ryan said, annoyed, as he quickly pulled himself up to his feet.
"No," Xavier panted, "I'm not. Let's go!"
"Where?!" Gabriel asked, grabbing his stuff up as everyone did the same, quickly rising.
"We found a house on the other side of the woods not far from here," Sierra said, pushing Xavier to lead the way as she helped everyone get their bags. "We can get there and hide if we hurry."
Clouds began rolling in, darkening the sky as they ran through the woods. After running for about fifteen minutes, many were getting winded and exhausted. Thankfully, they were very close to the house. When they exited the woods, they saw Xavier at the door, attempting to pick the lock.
"Just bust it open like we usually do!" Ryan yelled as they caught up.
"Are you an idiot?! If we break down this door or bust open a window, we might as well just keep running! Not much of a house without doors!"
"Well, what do we do?" the large man asked between breaths, feeling very exhausted.
Sierra looked around nervously, and noticed windows on the top floor. She then looked around, searching for the person who seemed the least tired from running. Oscar, Xavier, and Kelly seemed to be in the best condition. She couldn't take Xavier because he was probably the best lock picker. She decided on Oscar, assuming he might have the best upper-arm strength.
"They're comin'!" Otis yelled as walkers came out of the northern tree-line in the distance.
Sierra jumped into action and grabbed Oscar's wrist. "We'll find a way in! You all stay here and get that lock done!"
She let go of him as he began to run in time with her as she led him around the house, looking upwards. She was searching for a low, large, or open window. Luckily, she found one wide open around the back of the house, and a bench was underneath it. She helped Oscar in, giving him a boost. When he was in, before even looking around, he turned back to the window to grab Sierra's hand and help her in. As she began climbing holding Oscar's hand, he screamed in agony and she fell onto her rear, hurting her foot on the bench on the way down.
Oscar had been bitten, a walker in the room snapping into action as he entered it and faced away from him, chewing into the boy's left shoulder. The boy screamed and let go of the blonde in response to the unexpected pain, and quickly grabbed a nearby lamp to hit the walker in the head and smashing the bulb into the undead woman's head. When he was sure it was dead, he turned back to the window. "Sorry! Get to the others, I'll open the door!"
Sierra nodded hesitantly in response, quickly limping to join the others. Oscar went to the closet in the room he was in and put on a coat to cover the bite. They didn't need to deal with this on top of everything else. He sprinted to the door, wincing as his wound moved every time his arm swung. He opened it up and Xavier stumbled in, Kelly's hair clip stuck in the knob. He yanked it out and they all followed in, beginning to close curtains and pile objects in front of windows and doors. Sierra was the last one in, and she locked the door behind her. She looked around, but couldn't see the Mexican boy, so she began helping with barricading the doors.
Oscar had gone back upstairs to dispose of the walker's body before the herd got too close, and before others in the group saw it and began asking questions. He threw it out the window, struggling. When it finally fell, he eased back into the rest of the group and assisted them with the barricades.
Shortly after, the walkers could be seen getting very close through a crack between boxes put in front of a curtainless window, and they filed upstairs. Sierra had already gone upstairs and found the biggest room with the fewest windows, and she led them all in. Most of them huddled into the large walk-in closet. Ryan and Sierra, however, stayed in the main part of the bedroom, taking occasional peeks at the herd, and remaining ready in case of walkers making it in.
Hours and hours passed, and it was now raining, obscuring their view of the walkers, but definitely not doing a lot to quiet their haunting moans. Many noises could be heard from downstairs as time passed. Scratches on the walls, some glass breaking. Kelly had fallen asleep after staring at Xavier for hours, contemplating. Quickly, everyone but Ryan was asleep, lulled to rest as the rain beat down on the house. The large main remained attentive, subtly looking out of the windows every few minutes to look for signs of the herd clearing up, as well as keeping his ears trained for just in case the walkers began attacking the house.
Oscar had managed to get Sierra to mostly forget about him dropping her, focused more on guard duty and allowing the boy to get rest. He and many others had moved out of the closet as the night drew nearer, feeling more comfortable and safe in the room.
It was now a quarter to 11:00 PM, according to Ryan's watch. He coughed, and sighed, realizing he was coming down with a cold.
Feet from him, leaned against the wall outside of the closet, Oscar's breath slowly halted.
Only twenty moments later, his fingers began moving. His eyes opened, milky and unknowing. His mouth opened, letting out a small moan that could easily be mistaken for a sigh or a cough. He turned and looked to his right, seeing the steady breath of Shakira, who was lying on her side, and the undead man was inches from her neck before Ryan coughed hard. Why does this always happen to me? the large man thought to himself.
The reanimated corpse of Oscar stood to his feet and made his way to the noise. He opened his mouth, ready for the food, and let out a groan, getting Ryan's attention, who turned to the thin, now deceased, boy, and kicked it in the legs, hoping to make it fall to the ground, but instead, Oscar fell forward and bit right down into the leader's belly, ripping out intestines, tearing into the stomach, eating the ribs, clawing for the lungs, destroying veins. Ryan quickly perished, blood pouring out of his mouth and pooling onto the bed. Sierra, lying on the other side of the bed was awoken moments later, as Oscar's intense growls became louder and the sloshing of Ryan's guts continued.
She opened her eyes and held her breath, using the hand she was lying on to grasp her knife. The other was in front of her, now slightly damp with Ryan's pooling blood. She grimaced and quickly rose, swiftly ramming the blade of her knife into the familiar walker's head. When it was down, she looked to the others and debated what to do. She looked out the window. Walkers were still coming, so she couldn't shoot Ryan, and she couldn't get rid of his body no matter how she put him down.
"Guys," she announced, trying to wake them without being too loud. Those nearest to her opened their eyes, hesitant and groggy. Shakira looked up to meet eyes with a very sympathetic-looking blonde. She was confused at the face Sierra was making, her eyes then suddenly going wide as she saw the scene behind her. Oscar's corpse was lying on the floor next to the bed, a stab wound in his head and covered from nose to chest in blood. On the bed was Ryan, his face barely visibly as he was basically a large lump of red, his guts everywhere around the room, soaking the bed completely.
Everyone began to wake one another up, and they all stood around Ryan's body. Sierra had explained what happened, and what she assumed had caused Oscar to turn. When no one else would, Sierra was the one to put him down, slowly sliding the knife into the large man's head.
They covered their bodies with a blanket and quietly moved into the next-largest room across the hall, where they would try to get more rest. Shakira did not sleep, tears in her eyes the whole night. Gabriel held her, trying to comfort her and get her to rest, but he just ended up falling asleep on her. She didn't mind, though. She was thankful someone cared. She wasn't sure she would ever be able to get over losing Oscar. In her thirty-nine years of living, losing a twenty-year-old she had only known for a few months hurt more than anything else ever had. Losing her parents, her siblings, her friends, her husband. For some reason, nothing could compare to the pain she was feeling now. Maybe it was because of how gruesome it was. Maybe it was because he was her last remaining friend. She still had those she loved around her when she met Oscar, and she easily transferred her love for them into him. Now, she felt so alone. She realized how screwed up she sounded. How awful it all was. She blamed it on the stress, the sorrow, and everything that came packaged in the apocalypse.
Today, I'm uploading TWO chapters! Chapters 29 & 30. I've done this because I've got a lot going on in my life, and in order to keep going, I'm going to have to take a break. I've written to chapter 31, and that's not far enough to be able to keep posting regularly. I have finals coming up and writing the story is quite time-consuming. Further, I've recieved a few complaints that I write too quickly for people to keep up, so this is your chance to catch up.
I apologize, but fear not, for my next chapter will be out on January 15th! I hope to see you all then. Also, edits may happen to a few chapters if I have time.