IV - Change of Heart
-Present Day-
The campfire crackled by the river. Richard was sitting on top of the RV, scouting the surroundings of the group, making sure they weren't being stalked. David opened up a can of peaches and offered one to Richard, to which he declined. Lori and Luan walked inside the RV, and moved towards the stacked weapons in the sofa.
"Benny told me that when his time ran out and he is no longer with us, I should take his katana. I didn't think I was going to be tough enough to do it, but after surviving a bullet to the head, I realized I am tougher than I think," said Luan. "Don't you think, Lori?"
Lori rubbed Luan's hair and exposed the scar in her temple. She saw the stitches on her head and noticed that hair wasn't growing around the scar. She covered it back with the longer strands of Luan's oily hair and nodded.
"You're a really tough girl, Luan. Tougher than I imagined."
"I think Benny knew it the whole time. Which is why I AM going to take his katana and honor him."
"We don't know what happened to him, Luan."
"But we do know that he is no longer with us. When is going to be next time we find him? How do we even know if Sherry kept him alive? Just the thought of that makes me want to break down and cry. But I'm not going to do that. I'm going to take his katana and use it, the way he would want me to."
"Don't you want Benny to be alive?"
"Of course, I do. But for now, this katana is the last piece of Benny that I have."
"I understand."
Luan grabbed the katana and unsheathed it from its scabbard. She looked at the shiny blade and noticed a dark-red tint on the point of the blade. She grabbed a napkin from the cabinet above the sofa and wiped it on the blade. The napkin revealed that the tint was dried blood. She put the katana back in its sheath and tied the strap across her chest.
"It looks nice," said Lori. "It fits you."
Vonda looked visibly confused as she looked in the distance. There were a few tall buildings remaining in the skyline, the familiar New York City skyline that most people knew. The boat traveled slower and slower. As she got closer and closer to the buildings, she noticed that there were a large amount of debris of enormous size, crumbled in the ground, smoked, shattered, and bent. The boat has remained idle after a while, in which Vonda realized that the debris in the river prevented the boat from moving. The river was littered with steel poles, scrap metal, bricks, tons of glass particles, rubber tires, and even flesh. Vonda looked closer at what appeared to be a skeleton. The skeleton hung from a crooked pole, with wires wrapped around the parts where skin still stuck. Mountains of collapsed buildings covered the land for as far as the eye can see. Vonda stood back and almost stumbled to the wooden floor of the boat.
"Something wrong, Vonda?" asked Sherry, as she placed her hands on her daughter's back.
"Where are we?" asked Vonda. "What happened here?"
"We're in the Dust Zone. This place used to be New York City. But there's no city, right? So… welcome to the Dust Zone."
Missy, Becky, D, Benny, Lynn, and Lucy became horrified by what Sherry said. They looked around the former city and laid their eyes on their crumbled world. Missy was the most frightened of all, knowing that David used to live here.
"This… was New York?" stuttered Vonda.
"Yeah. I mean it's not all of it. You can still see some pieces of Harlem over there. And Yonkers over here doesn't look too bad. Did any of you live here?"
"We're… all from… Michigan," said Lynn. "Except D over there…"
"Unlike any other place, this place wasn't bombed by napalm or missiles. This looks like the work of an H-bomb."
"Why did we come here?" asked Vonda. "Is this what you wanted to show us?"
"Not at all. This is where we're supposed to meet your father."
"I told you. He's not alive anymore. Are you trying to torment me?"
"Why would I do that to my daughter?"
"I don't know! All you have been doing with me and everyone on the ship is playing mind games! You gotta stop! Just tell us why we're here!"
Sherry nodded. John, Andrew, Gina, and two other Piranhas that were maneuvering the boat stood in the main deck, watching their surroundings.
"Before the GIE, Tim told me that he was going to infiltrate the safe-zone in Detroit in order to find out more information about a general that leaded the place. General Quentin Black."
The name caused the group to shiver in fear as it instilled fear in Sherry herself.
"I see you guys know who he is. If you really think I'm a bad person, then you haven't seen this guy. Anyways, he told me about his plan. He was to go to the Detroit safe-zone with his virgin friend and some other guy who looks like him, all three using a false identity, leave once he deemed it the right time to go, make his way into Ann Arbor, and head for upstate New York. However, if he was compromised or went missing for some reason, which it looked like he did, then my sister was supposed to bring you, Vonda, to the borderline of New York and Pennsylvania. She was supposed to have a pass and Kevin and Madison, two of my people, were supposed to lead them to upstate New York."
The hostages looked at each other guiltily, understanding why the whole borderline scenario happened. Vonda shook her head.
"Aunt Meredith? She was a drunk. You guys trusted her? She got herself killed in the fifth day after the Global Infection Event! I met these people while I lived by myself and they were the ones who wanted me to come with them to a safer place!"
"Meredith died? How?"
"There was a protest that she wanted to partake in. Protest turned into a riot, and the riot police ended up shooting at them. She didn't give two shits about me whenever she drank her bottle of vodka," explained Vonda. "And why aren't we in upstate New York?"
"Tim said that in case we were both absent or unable to make it to upstate New York, we were to meet him in New York City. There are a couple Piranhas that would give him the boat ride. I didn't want to head to upstate New York because I wanted to kill George first."
"Why?" asked Lynn.
"He caused me too much pain. I can't live safe without knowing he might kill me the moment he sees me."
"Why is the plan so complicated? Why couldn't you just come to Ann Arbor?" asked Vonda.
"I had too much business to take care of in here. I know the plan is so complicated, but we're so close to completing it."
"He was shot. My father was shot. How could he come here anymore?" asked Vonda.
"He was using a false identity…" said Sherry. "Maybe he could've–"
"There's no maybe…" interrupted Lynn. "Tim Crowley died in Detroit. I overheard the soldiers. They said they identified one of the "terrorists" as Tim Crowley. They shot him! And even if they made a mistake, people were massacred by the rogue soldiers in every building that was in the safe zone! After that, the soldiers shot anyone trying to escape! And after all that, the buildings were bombed by napalm! Even if the man was able to somehow survive through the bunker that ONLY kids inhabited, he would have to escape through the massive herd that consumed almost everyone in the safe-zone! I know all of this because I've been there! I went through the horrific experiences in the godforsaken place! I lived it! And you… want to believe that Tim lived through all that? It sounded like he didn't even expect the bombings to be that early! He ran in the blind night where soldiers were clearly guarding the gates! He's not alive! He's not… alive! He's… not… ALIVE! I wish he was, but he's not!"
Lynn fell to the floor of the boat, releasing all the tears that she held inside of her. Sherry and the Piranhas looked surprised at the girl's sudden outburst. Benny and Lucy looked at Sherry and nodded. Vonda sniffled and looked at her mother.
"Do you believe me now?" asked Vonda.
"The buildings. Soldiers. Napalm. The bunker. Gates," said Sherry. "Only someone who was in the safe-zone would've gotten all those details correct."
Sherry swallowed really hard. The hostages and the Piranhas looked at her. She knew she had to say something soon. The truth really caught Sherry off-guard as all what she did meant nothing. Her goal of keeping Vonda safe was in vain. She knew that she resented her own mother, and without her father's love, there was no use in living a peaceful life with Vonda. Sherry's beautiful daughter would choose to live with the group instead of with her as they continue their journey to Houlton.
"I suppose I can't come with you guys to Houlton, right?"
"Only if you allow George to capture you and keep you captive until we go to Houlton. Then whatever system he wants to try, he will try it. But believe me, if it weren't for him, you would be dead by now."
Sherry had to face the truth. She made new enemies and lost almost all of her allies. She was left with one goal which was to kill George. However, she needs to be alive in order to do that, but if she were to give up the hostages, it would mean the death of her.
"I'm a reasonable person…" whispered Sherry to herself. "Vonda, I'm sorry."
-Day 52-
The dust was carried by the wind in multiple directions. The morning sun started rising, but there were no chirps to accompany it. The sound of nature has completely faded as the destruction of mankind remained lurking in the area. The skeleton continued to stare southwards over the distance as it hung from the pole.
The debris in the river rocked the boat as it moved very slowly up the river and along Harlem. Sherry stood next to Vonda, gazing at the gray water. She sighed and turned towards Vonda. The boat ride was becoming smoother although it was still rocked by smaller pieces of floating debris.
"What is it?" asked Vonda, not making eye contact with her mother.
"We're going back to Albany. There's no use remaining in the Dust Zone."
""Congratulations. I knew that from the start."
"Look, Vonda. I know that I'm never going to receive the same love that your father had, but I want to start somewhere. What would it take for you to forgive me?"
"My dad spent a decade raising me by himself. He was there when I was having silly nightmares about spiders crawling in my bed. He was there when I was learning how to ride a bike. He was there when I shot bullseye after bullseye with my bow and arrows. We laughed together and he always knew how to comfort me when I felt down. You abandoned my father and I for what? Because you wanted to lead a gang of murderous hoodlums?"
"That's not… why I left. Times were hard and our financial situation was in trouble. Your father refused to consider moving out of Ann Arbor. He didn't have a job so he was being a burden on us. Because of my experience in the Coast Guard, I was able to find work in the Piranha syndicate. However, the former leader feared that I would rat him out at any time so he made me put down an address. I didn't want you and your father to be involved in the crosshairs, so I moved out. Since your father and I never legally divorced, I didn't have to send alimony checks, but I sent money regardless. Money to make sure you grew up safe and happy. The whole goal was to secure your financial future, because my future was already dead. Looking back at it now, there are a lot of things I wish I can change, but the past is the past. There is no going back now. Of course, I did not expect your father's crazy idea about zombies roaming the Earth would actually happen, but it did, and what I did was basically for nothing."
Sherry started tearing up.
"There is no future of yours to secure. There is nothing. Just this fucking shit pile of a world."
Vonda was speechless. She looked back into her past and starting piecing some clues together. It all made sense to her. There was no way her mother was lying to her.
"I had no idea…" whispered Vonda. "I still can't forgive you. But I don't want you to die. Not if you did all that. I want to give you a second chance of a different type. I want you to leave our group alone, and we'll leave your group alone. You can become someone new, meet someone new, restart your life in this new world. Would you take this second chance?"
"I would consider it," said Sherry.
The sun rose higher and higher into the air. There was barely any debris in the river. The tumbled skyscrapers were gone from sight. New mossy and abandoned buildings filled the skyline. The boat came to a stop by a dock. By the docks was a blue van.
"What's going on?" asked Lynn.
"I'm getting myself a second chance," replied Sherry. "Andrew! John! Gina! Doug! Bertie! You know what to do."
Andrew held Becky's arms and forced her out of the boat and into the docks. John did the same, but with Lynn. Gina grabbed D and led him into the van along with the others. Following her was Doug, who forced Benny out. Last but not least was Bertie, who led Lucy into the van. All of the hostages were pushed inside the van, with Doug in the driver's seat and Bertie in the passenger seat. The three other Piranhas sat next to their hostages with weapons in their hands.
"Where are they going?" asked Vonda.
"Somewhere safe," replied Sherry as she grabbed Missy's shoulder. "No doubt, David and the others are going to be on this road. I heard what they did in Hudson. They'll see us. And then I will release you both."
"Why am I being released?" asked Missy.
"You heard what I told Vonda. David is going to need someone close to him to tell him the truth," replied Sherry.
Hours after hours in the hot sun, Sherry awaited David and his group. Missy and Vonda were eating sandwiches as they wondered what happened in Hudson. The quiet roaring of an RV came closer and closer, until it came to a stop.
"Here they are," said Sherry.
David, Richard, George, Lori, and Sergei came out of their vehicles with their weapons pointed at Sherry. Sherry smiled and raised her hands. Missy and Vonda looked surprised as they saw the group once again. Sherry stepped out of the boat and motioned both Vonda and Missy to follow her. Richard saw Missy and lowered his Python. George, Lori, and Sergei lowered their guns when they saw Vonda coming out of the boat.
"I surrender," said Sherry. "Not only do I surrender myself, I surrender Missy and my daughter, Vonda. No tricks. No games. I give myself up."
David and George walked towards Sherry. David kept his gun pointed at Sherry while George took out his handcuffs and arrested Sherry. Sherry closed her eyes as David lowered his gun. Sherry frowned and was moved towards the road.
"What about my Miranda rights?" asked Sherry.
"Shut up," replied George. "Where are the others?"
"I know I have a right to remain silent. I'll use it."
"Oh yeah? We'll see."
The group looked through the windows of their vehicles and gazed at Sherry, the leader of the Piranhas, captured by David and George. Vonda and Missy followed both men. Missy smiled as she saw Richard and walked towards him. Richard hugged and kissed his wife as they stood near the river. Lori, with her cane, walked towards Vonda and hugged her, confusing her since she didn't know the girl that well. The two walked back to the RV.
Sherry was handcuffed to a pipe in the RV. She looked at each member of the group inside of the RV. Dana, Tabby, Rusty, and Zach were inside of Sergei's car. Wavehead sat with Luna and Sam in Chunk's car. Only David, Richard, Missy, George, and Vonda were inside of the RV.
"This place smells like shit," groaned Sherry.
The vehicles turned around and were droven north along the Hudson River.
The house that the group sheltered in the night before had an attic, which was the perfect place to put Sherry. George moved Sherry out of the RV, with everyone staring at her once again. Luan resented the woman for capturing Benny, and for holding him in an unknown place. Dana and Bobby wanted to know where Becky was hidden. Wavehead longed for his friend D, causing him to hate the woman. All of the Loud children looked at Sherry with disgust as they knew that Sherry knew where Lynn and Lucy were hidden. Sherry continued to look ahead as the door to the house was opened. Four candles flickered.
"The past few days were hard," said Lori as the group surrounded the candles, acting as if it were their campfire. "When we're missing the people that we love, it feels hard to keep on going in a world that we hate."
Luan entered the bathroom in the RV, and closed the door. She looked into the mirror and grabbed her long hair.
"But we have to remember, there are other people that we love. There are other people that love us back. You may love your friends, but they come and go. Family… is for life."
Luan took out Leni's pair of scissors. She took out her yellow scrunchie, causing her ponytail to go down. She noticed how long her hair was as it reached her skirt.
"Remember what I said earlier in Royal Woods about sticking together as a group? I was wrong. We're not going to stick together as a group. We're going to stick together as a family."
The sound of snips and cuts were heard in the bathroom. Locks of hairs fell into the floor next to Luan's shoes. She continued to look into the mirror as she cut more of her hair off.
"We are going to find our missing family! The ones that we accompanied in our journey ahead, and the ones that await us in the journey ahead! And then, they'll no longer be missing!"
Sherry was tied into a chair with a rope across her chest. Her hands were handcuffed behind the chair and she was sweating. She then smiled at the idea of a second chance. A second chance would either have the best results for Sherry or the worst consequences for David's group. Or both. She was one step closer to ruining the group. She was one step closer to killing George. She considered Vonda's idea about a second chance. She considered it and made a choice. Starting a new life without Vonda was not an option.
Meanwhile, tears rolled down as Lynn looked out the windows of the van. She then looked at Becky, who was also looking out the windows. Her eyes then met Becky's as the latter looked at her. More tears rolled down from Lynn's eyes as she could see how broken and hopeless Becky's eyes were.
The van continued to move along the road.
End Credit Song
Youth - Daughter
The last sentence is true! Don't worry, guys! I won't drag the Piranha arc for much longer, but their influence will still be felt for a long time, whether subtle or not! I like Sherry and her cocky personality, that it makes me wonder, should she meet her fate in any of the next couples of chapters, or should she take the second chance and live? And as for the conflicting leaders, are you Team David or Team Lori? Remember to follow this story if you haven't already, and make sure to leave a review if you have any comments about the story! See you all in the next chapter!