Chapter 37 "Harry Potter"
Day 96; Group B
Another boring day of searching, Daniel thought to himself. These people need to learn to let things go. Everyone's gone; we're never going to see them again. At least I know I'm not going to see any of them again. We shouldn't be wasting resources by picking through every town we come through. We're blowing through more than we're gaining. He glanced over to the corner of the room, once again occupied by the new couple. The freckled one looked around the room, noticing everyone waking up, and he smiled to his partner, who nodded in return. I'm gonna puke, Daniel thought.
Once everyone arose, Robert and Greyson got to their feet. "We have an announcement," Robert said. Seth and Daniel rolled their eyes, but for very different reasons. "If you hadn't guessed yet, that is," Robert said under his breath with a cough and a laugh.
Shawn gave them a questioning look, finding the scene already a bit too dramatic.
"We're officially dating," Greyson said with a blush, clearly becoming shy.
"We're boyfriends," Robert said, grabbing the younger boy's hand.
Selenis began clapping, and everyone else followed, even Daniel, who did it begrudgingly so. The only female in the room rose to her feet as well, and hugged them both.
Shawn didn't know what to say, but nodded and said, "Uh, good for you guys," to which Seth indignantly added, "Yeah."
Daniel didn't congratulate them in any way, other than a distant nod, which struck Greyson as odd. Robert gritted his teeth as he looked between the two, Greyson confused and Daniel clearly seething. Obviously, there were bridges that needed to be mended. Things that needed to be discussed. If he absolutely had to, he would burn Daniel's bridge to ashes.
As the day progressed, shortly after breakfast, they began searching through the town, reusing techniques they had developed from searching Bunker and Centerville. They would split into groups, as determined by drawing straws, and search sections of the town depending on how big it was. This particular town, Lesterville, was quite small, so it was decided the group would split into two groups of three, one group searching the northern and western areas, while the other rummaged through the southern and eastern half.
Using a deck of cards they had found in a neighboring house cleared the day before, they drew for numbers. The three highest would be in one group, and the three lowest would form the other; ace being high, of course. Seth drew first, getting a nine of spades. Selenis then drew, getting an Ace of hearts. Robert drew, getting a two of hearts. Greyson followed who got a two of clubs, and the boyfriends smiled at one another gleefully, causing Daniel to stifle a gag. Shawn drew next, drawing a five of diamonds. Finally, Daniel drew, and couldn't hold back the disappointment in his face as he drew a 4 of spades.
With the highest cards, Shawn, Selenis, and Seth became a group, and would search the northern and western half of town, while Daniel, Robert, and Greyson would take the other half.
They loaded up the RV with all of their stuff, ready so that they could just take off for the next town when they were finished looting the town. Eight bags were emptied, giving each group a bag per individual, plus an extra if they needed it.
"Anybody feel a particular way about where we'll go?" Seth asked.
Everyone shrugged, not caring very much about what side of town they would take.
"Well, we drew high," Selenis said, trying to get this sorted. "So let's go north. Those who drew low go south." And so it was decided.
Seth drove the RV to the farthest point down south in the town, where he dropped off the gay boys. The plan was they would both start at the farthest ends of the side of town they were assigned to, and then reconvene at the house they had stayed in the night before, which was in the center of the town.
Selenis remained quiet, silently praying to herself at the table as Seth drove. Shawn, in the passenger seat, looked back to see her praying, and it reminded him of his father. He sighed, upset at the memory. He recalled how he had nearly punched that same woman in the face when he found out about his dad's death, as well. He pushed the thoughts back, and began praying, too; joining the only woman left in her hope for everything to be okay.
Soon, they arrived at the house farthest north. They parked the RV a ways from it, and began clearing out the farthest houses, working their way back to the vehicle, which they would then get back into, drive farther away, and repeat the process again.
The first handful of houses were a breeze, being mostly cleared by other survivors, apparently — most likely due to the fact they were easily accessible from the outskirts of town, and could be swiftly slipped into for a quick run and then right back into the national forest.
Upon entering the eleventh house, Shawn and Seth felt they had it covered, and asked Selenis to keep watch outside. Begrudgingly, she accepted.
Freakin' men. Just 'cause I'm the only girl left doesn't mean they have to be extra chivalrous to me. Hell, I'm the last girl we have left; that if anything should tell them I'm strong enough to be here.
As she sat on a bench by the street, her eyes keenly observing the RV and all surrounding houses, she soon heard screaming coming from inside the house Seth and Shawn decided to go clear themselves. Smilingly slightly to herself at their incompetence, she quickly rose to her feet, gun in hand, ready to save her foolish comrades.
She entered the houses and immediately saw the problem. Seth had fallen, the stairs collapsing underneath him. He was now wedged underneath the rubble as Shawn struggled to fight off an unexpected large number of walkers coming from all directions, loosed from the basement.
"I'm out!" Shawn yelled as he ran toward Selenis, begging for more ammunition.
"There's more in the RV," she said with surprising calmness as she began firing off rounds into the oncoming undead swarm, aiming mostly at those headed towards Seth.
Quickly, her clip had ran out. She ejected it as she yanked a sharp butcher's knife from her belt. She swung rapidly, taking down walker after walker. Before she knew it, though, two walkers had made it to where Seth had fallen.
He screamed underneath the rubble, desperately trying to free himself, violently shaking his body. He managed to free a hand, but that proved useless. He tried picking up rocks or something larger to use as a weapon against the biters, but he couldn't muster up enough strength to throw the rocks hard enough to damage, or to pick up the larger pieces of rubble.
Selenis remained calm, slicing into the undead brains and quickly terminating them.
As the walker finally fell onto inching for his flailing hand, Seth panicked. "Selenis! Seleniiiiiiiss!" he yelled as loud as he could, fear and desperation soaking his cries.
Then, the walker, who was crawling for his hand, was pulled back, and its head was sliced in half, the top part containing the rotting brains alling beside Seth's head as rotten, sickly blood sprayed across his face and hair, turning his blonde hairs red.
Selenis had taken down the walker with the butcher's knife. She turned around swiftly, getting the final walker who was trying to get at Seth.
Shawn was standing in the doorway, stunned. Selenis back away from the pile of corpses and began picking up the rubble off of the bodybuilder.
"Are you just gonna stand there with your mouth open?" Selenis asked the farmboy.
"Um," he began, composing himself. "No?"
"Then help me out already!" Selenis said with a smile.
Daniel exited the RV, followed by Robert and Greyson, who were carrying a bag between them. Seth nodded at them and drove off to the far end of the town that his group would scavenge.
After the large vehicle disappeared around the bend, Daniel sighed and turned to the two he was beginning to loathe more and more with every passing second. "Well, come on then," he yelled. "Let's get a move on."
The first house was a breeze, completely empty of all lifeforms, dead or otherwise. A few cans were found unopened, along with a firstful of other moderately useful items.
In the second house, Daniel ran into the two boys multiple times — usually because of Greyson's inexperience and clumsiness or trying to avoid it — infuriating him greatly.
By the fifth house, Daniel was coming unhinged. The boys kissed too much, and Greyson was a bit of a clutz. When Greyson was too clumsy, his oh-so-amazing boyfriend would waste time showing him tricks and trying to help, making Daniel sick.
Eventually, though, Daniel learned to repress his anger. At least, until they got to about their fourteenth house; they had lost count.
They entered, and everything was fine. After the walkers around were cleared, the three separated and Greyson went into the kitchen. When he opened the cupboard, a stack full of plates and mugs fell out, making a loud, banging crash.
Daniel and Robert jumped from the rooms they were in, momentarily scared out of their wits. When they recollected themselves, Robert ran to find Greyson as Daniel looked out the window to see a large crowd of walkers headed their way. He groaned and ran to the kitchen, as well.
"Which one of you idiots did that?!" the oldest boy yelled furiously.
"It was me," Greyson said worriedly, pulling out his gun.
"Well, get your ass out here and help me get rid of these walkers," he screamed as he ran towards the door, his gun at the ready. "This isn't settled yet," he yelled back to the two, having completely lost his composure he had managed to hold the past few days.
The couple looked at each other worriedly, but went out the door as well and quickly began taking out as many walkers as they could. They were in too much of a crowd for the trio to easily go hand-to-hand with the undead freaks, so their only safe option was guns.
Biters were dispatched of quickly, taken down easily shot by shot by the three. Their sick, dirty bodies fell limp on the worn road, nasty brown blood pouring out of them and soaking into the ground, onto the overgrown greenery. The stench hit them like the waves of an explosion, instantly nauseating the men.
When the last walker was taken down, they fled back inside, shielding themselves from the odor.
Daniel hadn't let it go, and was completely enraged. "You little fuck-up!" Daniel spat at the freckled boy, who was now looking quite afraid.
"Daniel, what's wrong with you?" Greyson asked, confused and upset that his last remaining, closest companion from before this all began had become so hostile towards him.
The oldest boy raised his gun at Greyson, and Robert stepped between the two, slapping Daniel's gun out of his hand. "What the fuck are you thinking?!" Robert begged of the crazy man.
"What am I thinking?!" He repeated incredulously, stepping angrily towards the younger boy. "What the fuck are you thinking?!"
Robert took a step back, closer to Greyson, who grabbed onto his boyfriend's hips, holding him closely for comfort. Robert held his breath, knowing what Daniel was about to say and horrified of how Greyson's opinion of him may change.
"You are a disgusting, low-life piece of shit, and you're just using us. First, you go around and sleep with me," Daniel announced with a grin, glaring daggers at Robert, "being a fuckin' nasty slut, begging me to have sex with you."
Robert felt the hand on his hip loosen, falling off. A wave of emptiness hit him, and he all he wanted to do was turn around to Greyson and apologize, but he remained in his position, frozen for fear of what Daniel might do. He kept his lips shut, allowing Daniel to continue his tirade of rage.
"Then, you try and change me to fit the perfect way you want me to be. To fit your pretty little picture. Now, you go right for the only person I have left from before all of this, the only person who knew the real me, and you make him your little play-pretty. And you flaunt his ass in front of all of us, bragging about how in love you two are; rubbing it in our faces that we'll probably never find love again."
Greyson was crying now, his face turned down away from the two. He didn't know he had hurt Daniel like this. He knew it. He knew that Robert didn't really care for him.
Robert remained focused on Daniel, too afraid to turn back to Greyson. Robert subtly reached for his gun, ready to shoot the clearly unhinged madman in front of him. He was gone, and there was no telling what he was capable of doing. "The last thing I tried to do was hurt you, or to rub my relationship in the faces of others."
"Shut up, you liar! I'm forced to be with you two for an entire day, and you can't do me any kindness; you can't show me an ounce of compassion; all you want is me. You want me to become a jealous, horny bastard. Don't you? Don't you, goddamn it?!"
The boy with the white-handled machete stared into the older man's eyes. He gripped his fingers tightly around his gun, ready to aim and pull the trigger. "No," he said quietly.
"Excuse me?" Daniel asked again.
"No," Robert said with conviction.
"Don't call me a fucking liar!" Daniel yelled as he quickly turned to pick his gun up off of the floor.
Robert instantly shot at the gun, nearly blowing off the lanky man's hand. Daniel quickly jumped back, away from the loud bang of Robert's gun, and he fell onto his rear.
"You piece of shit!" Daniel yelled, pulling himself up and clocking Robert right in the face, who instinctively pulled the trigger again, sending a shot flying out of a window as the gun fell out of his hand as he reached for his face in pain. The two fell on the ground, Daniel laying in punch after punch into Robert, who was squirming viciously underneath him, desperately attempting to get out from under the maniac.
Greyson grabbed the gun then, pointing it right at Daniel. "Stop!" he yelled futilely as Daniel continued hurting the younger boy. Greyson shot, blowing out a hole in a cupboard drawer next to Daniel's head.
Frightened, Daniel quit and stared up into Greyson's eyes, begging for forgiveness.
Greyson looked into the man's eyes, shocked. All of the sanity that was once there was gone; he was gone as a person. What had happened to him? What drove him to this? he questioned. He could see Daniel feigning remorse, but it was very off, like he didn't mean it, or he didn't get why what he had done was wrong.
"Get off of him," he threatened to Daniel. When he didn't move, Greyson shot again, this time closer to the madman's head. When Daniel got off, Greyson motioned the maniac to move away with his gun. The youngest man kept his aim as he went to his boyfriend, making sure he was still conscious, or at least alive. Thankfully, he was. He had large welts across his face, blood oozing out of his nose, which Greyson thought might be broken.
Greyson angrily looked to Daniel, then back to Robert. He was still unclear on what the truth was, but he knew that on his watch, no one was going to die or get hurt.
"Go," Greyson demanded Daniel. "Let's get a move on." Daniel seemed confused, but grabbed his gun off the floor. He looked to Greyson, who was still aiming Robert's gun at him, for permission. "Finish searching this damn house," he commanded. "I'm gonna do my best to keep Robert breathing."
Daniel gritted his teeth, but moved on, continuing to search the rooms. He found a door that led downstairs, and looked back to see Greyson cleaning Robert up.
Robert weakly looked to the older man through the doorway. "Grey," he whispered, "you should have killed him."
The younger boy sighed, knowing Robert wouldn't understand his reasoning, and continued cleaning his boyfriend's face.
Wordlessly, Daniel continued down the stairs, which led deep into darkness. He carried on as far as he could before he pulled out his flashlight.
He made it to the landing and shined the flashlight around the room. All around the room were bookcases and retro seats, such as beanbags. He walked to the nearest bookcase and pulled off a book. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," the cover read, depicting a young boy with a lightning scar on his head on a broomstick. He scoffed as he stuffed into his bag, sure someone would want to read it; he certainly wouldn't.
He carried on down the aisles of books, occasionally stopping to grab a book. When he made it to the end, he was disgusted to find a walker tied onto the wall, its arms and legs spread wide open. It was grossly thin, with hair falling off and bones digging through what little skin was left.
Daniel smiled as he walked up to it. "Are you hungry?" he asked the reanimated human, observing its anorexic appearance.
As he untied the walker, he contemplated everything. Maybe he was crazy. He did just try to kill someone. But, still, Greyson let him go. He had no idea why the boy would do that. He had nearly killed the guy's boyfriend, and he had proven himself dangerous. Greyson had the perfect opportunity to put him down, and he didn't take it.
The walker was now free, and he lied down on the ground before it, allowing himself to be taken by the lucky creature. When it took its first bite into his chest, he began to regret his decision as it tore into him, ripping out his guts and swallowing them down into its gross, rotting throat, making a disgusting, wet noise between its moans.
Now, he really regretted it. He was wrong — he had been so wrong. He then realized he had been screaming the whole time as his organs were ravaged, and he felt everything going dark around him; the intense pain fading into blackness.
Greyson bolted down the stairs, the wet rag he had been using on Robert still in his hand, and his own gun in the other. He ran down the aisles, trying to pinpoint Daniel's horrible screams. Making it to the far wall, he covered his mouth with his wrist as he looked at the scene. After taking a moment to process what had happened, he sadly shot the walker, but couldn't bare to put Daniel down. The young man had his gun trained on him, but couldn't find it in him to shoot his friend. What had happened to him? Why did he do this? What the fuck took him so overboard? Was this always a part of him, lying in bitterness beneath his quiet exterior? An insane, hateful, suicidal douchebag? There's no way this was solely Robert's fault.
Then, a hand touched Greyson's shoulder, and he jumped slightly in surprise. Robert had weakly come down the stairs, and was now observing the scene, his gun in hand. He looked to Greyson and nodded. "I told you so," he said as he shot the poor, dead soul in the head.
As the RV pulled up to the house, the headlights shining through the windows, Robert and Greyson shared a sigh of relief. At least one of them was okay. At least they didn't lose the RV. At least the two boys weren't alone anymore.
Greyson got up and peeked out the window to see all three who they had separated from file out, and he smiled back to his boyfriend. As he looked at Robert's scarred, beaten face, though, the smile dissipated and he went to the door, opening it wide for his friends to come in. They had a lot to discuss.