Enjoy!
-Day 10-
The helicopters hovered over the buildings, displaying a large beam of light on the city of Detroit. The beam pointed at the roamers in the destroyed sections of the city, both near and far from the Safe-Zone. A few planes passed by the tall buildings that were labeled from A to D, flying over a highway that led to Detroit.
Tim looked outside the attic window of the house he was in. The heavy traffic in the lanes of the highway moving towards Detroit were stopped before the front gates of the city. Many drivers and passengers stepped out of their cars to see what the commotion in the front was. The soldiers refused to let the drivers inside the fences.
"What's taking so long?" asked Carlota, tapping her arms on the car window. "If I stare at this sign for a minute longer, I'm going to freak!"
Maria sighed as the cars honked around her. She yawned and looked into the rear-view mirror.
"I would rather wait in this traffic than go back to the hospital," said Maria.
"I can wait all day!" exclaimed CJ. "I can't wait to see Bobby again!"
"I'm getting impatient," groaned Carl. "Mi amor is waiting in there, and those guys in the front won't let us in?"
"Now, now, don't get mad at them," said Hector. "I'm sure they have an important thing to do inside."
"Getting people's information is a long process," said Carlos, his face planted on a book. "I'm sure they're going as fast as they can."
"I only hope they have enough food for all of us!" cried Rosa.
"Look!" pointed Frida. "What makes you think there isn't a problem inside?"
A few drivers were getting out of their cars. Commotion filled the highways as jets were heard from the distance. Suddenly, a large explosion came far away from the Safe-Zone caught the attention of the drivers and passengers of the highway.
The Casagrandes all went out of the car with the exception of Frida, who held Carlitos and her camera. She pointed her camera at the city, ready to take a picture of another explosion.
More napalm was dropped into the city, this time, closer to the Safe-Zone. A large explosion on Building C frightened the civilians. Helicopters continued to swarm the skies.
"Oh… my… god," whispered Maria.
The soldiers from the front gates walked away from their post and into the highway. They aimed their guns at the cars at the front and fired them.
More soldiers stormed the highway and fired at all the civilians in their sights. One soldier noticed a flash coming from Frida's camera, in which she accidentally took a picture of the soldiers firing onto the civilians.
Frida lowered Carlitos behind the dashboard and looked away from the soldiers. They aimed their carbines at the woman and shot her, shattering the windows of the car.
Maria and the Casagrandes were in shock. The soldiers shot Carlos and CJ, then Hector, then Rosa. Carlota, Carl, and Maria began running. They ran behind the car in tears.
"Carlota, Carl, I need you two to follow me, okay?" panted Maria. "When I say– hey, Carl!"
Carl began running away from the car before finding himself victim to the soldiers' bullets. The soldiers ran past the two survivors before they turned around.
Carlota yelled and ran away from them, along with Maria. The soldiers fired onto them, shooting the teenage girl nine times in the back. Maria fell down with her, falling next to her brother.
Carlos groaned and moved towards her. He groaned as he placed Hector's legs and Rosa's arms on top of Maria. He then lied on top of her and let his tears fall on her sister.
The rogues shot Carlos in the head, causing his brains to spill onto her chest. More families ran past her, while some were killed in front of her eyes. Their guts and blood splattered on her, leaving her soaked with a coat of murdered souls.
The soldiers approached her. She closed her eyes and lied completely still. The explosions roared through her ears which also captured the chatter from the soldiers' walkie-talkies. Eventually, the explosions and the chatter faded as Maria went unconscious.
The smoke billowed out of the buildings and into the sky as the morning sun shined on every living survivor in the highway. And the only living survivor still in the highway was Maria.
She blinked and moved her arms around. Carlos's corpse still lied on top of her. However, the other bodies weren't in the ground.
Maria stood up, wiping the blood away from her hair, before she noticed she only stained her hair further. She looked around and saw her father, mother, niece, and nephews, all wandering as living corpses.
She wondered why they were passing by her as if she were one of them. She walked to her car, feeling her heart beat faster.
Frida's lifeless eyes stared ahead at the dead city, with Carlitos sniffling in her laps. Maria grabbed Carlitos, whose head was coated in his mother's blood. She wrapped him with a blanket and looked at her sister-in-law. She vomited into the car seat.
The roamers looked at her. They tried catching the distorted scent in the air and couldn't figure out where it was coming from.
Maria wiped her eyes and mouth, before moving away from the car. She waddled through the corpses and blood-stained road before noticing someone in the distance.
She saw a man stabbing roamers with a small pocket knife, urging her to follow him. She looked back at her family and teared up again. Her head felt lightheaded and her eyes throbbed.
Maria then followed Tim into the small narrow street along the fences. Only a few roamers followed both people, smelling the scent of Tim.
"Hey, I think we're safe," whispered Tim. "You're lucky to be alive. Care to tell me your name?"
"Who are you?" asked Maria.
"My name's Tim Crowley. Nice trick you did with the guts there."
Maria trembled. She coughed and looked at the two roamers approaching her. Tim quickly walked up to the roamers and stabbed them in the head.
"Are you sick?" asked Tim. "Did you get bit?"
"No, I don't think so," she said, looking around. "My name's Maria Santiago. I-I-I am looking for my daughter and my son."
Maria looked at the crumbled buildings through the fences, causing her voice to tremble and break.
"Their names are Ronalda and Roberto… but they prefer to be called Ronnie Anne and… Bobby. I don't expect you to–"
"Bobby? I heard that name before. Is he in any way connected to a Carol? Or a Lori?"
Maria nodded. Tim looked at the destroyed city.
"Damn," he said. "I wish I hadn't heard their names in there."
Chapter 16: Swarmed
I - Remnants of Herself
-Day 472-
The leaves in the pine trees outside of Houlton refused to change. The oak trees, however, changed their colors like a chameleon, and were abundant in Houlton. Outside of Houlton, there weren't many oak trees, as they weren't treated well by the wilderness.
Lori stood near the front gates on the trunk of a navy blue truck. She wore her usual cargo shorts and blue tank top, except she now wore Missy's light-brown safari vest. Her hair, now cut to her prefered size– courtesy of Dana, was tied in a ponytail.
Small scars remained on her face to remind her and others what she went through in the Wasteland. Though no one knew where it was, the community didn't deny its existence. The way Lori and Luan described seemed plausible and the community couldn't doubt them.
Leni held repressed memories of the Wasteland, only being able to remember her emotions on that day. And although, she couldn't remember most of her experiences in there, there was one that she could remember as clear as day. The deaths of her parents.
Hana had gotten into the habit of learning English with Jeffrey, as both had nothing better to do in their quiet lives in Houlton. Lately, her life hasn't been quiet.
"I know it's a long shot…" said Lori. "But some of us should go to the cities like Bangor, Augusta, Portland. We already cleared out some of the neighboring towns and we literally got a lotta supplies from them. But this is about much more than supplies. This is about the man who led my family here to rescue this town."
The Houlton civilians looked at Lori. Some of them nodded while others didn't feel convinced enough.
"This is the man who led you all through tough times! If it weren't for him, none of us would've been standing here listening to some… survivor."
Carol watched somberly before Lori gave her a disappointing glance.
"The threat of the rogues is very real!" declared Lori. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but they'll come one day… and some of you are not trained to handle these kinds of situations! David's a Marine! He would know how to train–"
"Lori! Behind you!" warned George.
Lori turned around and saw a group of cars coming from the hill. Luna ran towards a guard tower in the prisons. Buck and Pike loaded their weapons and faced the incoming cars. Most of the old gang plus some of the Houlton civilians loaded their weapons and got into position.
The cars came to a stop. One girl came out of the car in front, appearing unkempt. She walked towards the front gates before George ordered her to stop.
"Oh my god, Lori!" she exclaimed. "Bobby!"
Lori moved her hands closer to her holster. Bobby stepped up and looked at the girl.
"Teri?" he gasped. "W-What are you doing here?"
"You're Teri?" asked Lori. "I almost didn't recognize you."
"Well, I've been through a lot! Can you let us in? We're hungry!"
Teri placed her hands through the gates. Lori looked behind her. There were bags in the vehicles, and no one but Teri seemed to be hungry.
"We could let her in, right?" asked Bobby. "Don't worry, Teri! You must be so exhausted from your trip! We got plenty of food!"
Bobby waited for Lori to open the gates. But she didn't.
"Lori? What's going on?" asked Teri.
"How many roamers have you killed?" Lori asked.
"Roamers? You mean the skin-eaters?"
Lori nodded. Teri looked back at the vehicles.
"Just me? I, uh, I killed plenty."
"Uh, huh. How many people have you killed?"
"Me? I didn't kill anyone!" exclaimed Teri.
"Why?"
Teri couldn't answer. She felt she has been cornered into answering a trick question without knowing the trick. It's almost as if Lori knew what her group was up to.
Lori reached for her holster. One guy from Teri's group got out of his vehicle holding an UZI. He took off his shades and looked at Teri.
"This girl giving you trouble?" asked the guy.
"N-no."
"Answer the question," said Lori.
"I didn't have to," responded Teri. "I didn't have to kill anyone. Not that anyone did! We… didn't come across a big group so I– we, didn't have to kill anyone! C'mon, Lori, you can trust me!"
Teri shied away from her. Sweat formed in her face as Lori kept her glare of distrust at her.
"You're not coming in," said Lori. "All of you! You can stay out there! If food is what you want, we can provide you some!"
"You're not letting us in?" asked Teri. "What the hell, Lori?"
"Come on, babe," said Bobby.
"My decision is final," said Lori. "I don't trust your group. I don't trust you, Teri."
"We're getting in!" yelled Teri. "This is a damn good place to live in! I bet you guys have plenty of food and space!"
The men and women in Teri's group exited their car. They held their weapons and placed themselves behind the car doors. Teri took out her small .22 Magnum.
"We're gonna come in, whether you like it or not!" yelled one of the men.
"We're the Oaks! We won't let anyone knock us down!" yelled another man.
"The Oaks never fall down!" yelled Teri.
"What is this, some cult thing?" groaned Lori. "Just leave. Leave, now!"
Teri smirked. She slowly sauntered back. Lori removed her Python from her holster and walked behind the truck.
"Scared, Lori? You're going to wish you listened to the Oaks! We are the mightiest group to survive on the Earth! Zombies! Humans! We do anything to survive!"
"Guards!" shouted Lori. "Defend Houlton!"
Buck and Pike shot their rifles at the vehicles from atop their platform. One of the men was shot in the head while another was shot with bullets that punched through the car doors.
Teri crouched. The Oaks returned fire onto the guards. However, their armor prevented them from doing much damage.
Becky and Dana crouched behind a metal box behind the fences. They aimed their sidearms at the group and joined in the firefight. Becky fired relentlessly at a driver while Dana killed the woman running towards a pine tree.
The eleven-man group, including Teri, were in trouble. Down to seven, the Oaks decided to scatter. They spread out, hoping to seek cover in the woods.
The Houlton civilians ran away from the fences. They sought cover behind the homes, something they were easily able to do.
Sergei used an AKS-74U that he found in the armory against the group. George used a Mossberg 590, a shotgun he has used before.
Two of the Oaks were shot down by Sergei before they were able to reach the woods. George aimed his shotgun at a car door and fired it. The pellets smacked the door and killed the man behind it.
One of the Oaks with the shades fired his UZI above Teri. The bullets rained on the truck that Lori hid behind in. Lori and Bobby clenched their teeth as the metal body of the car trembled. The sounds of the bullets ricocheting caused some of the guards to close their ears.
One of the Oaks drove the car towards the fences. However, the car was too slow to take down the fences and only managed to bend the fences slightly.
Wavehead aimed his pistol at the windshield. He fired one shot and splattered the driver's brain all over his seat.
One woman of the Oaks managed to make it behind a pine tree. She gasped as she aimed a shotgun at the fences. She fired it multiple times at Lori, before realizing she was too far from her. Only one of the pellets managed to graze Lori on her shoulder.
Lynn came to Lori's defense and loosed an arrow from her bow. The woman quickly moved away from the tree, effectively dodging the arrow. She coughed while dropping the shotgun.
She then looked at a man behind the fences. Kotaro aimed his Remington Model 700 rifle at her.
She smiled softly and winked. She watched Kotaro close one eye expecting to wink. And he did. Before he pulled the trigger.
The gun went off and the woman was shot in the chest. Her arms flailed as she dropped to the ground.
The man with the shades went from shooting his UZI at Lori to shooting at Lynn. She ducked behind a house next to the front gates. The man yelled as he needed to reload his weapon.
Lori stood up and raised her gun to shoot at the man. However, a loud shot came from the guard tower, and suddenly, the man was sniped in the skull. His lobes flew out of his left temple before the man fell to the ground, his shades cracking as it hit the pavement.
The gunfire ceased.
Lori and Bobby popped out from behind the bullet-ridden truck and saw Teri in the ground, trembling with fear. Lori cocked her gun and walked to the front gate.
"Lori, I think that was enough," whispered Bobby, reaching for Lori's shoulder. "We could place Teri in prison."
"We can't," replied Lori.
"Yes we can! Your siblings are watching. The town is watching."
Lori nodded. Becky and Dana opened the front gates and let Lori walk towards Teri.
Teri recognized Becky and Dana. She sighed and groaned as she grabbed her small revolver. However, Lori quickly stepped on her wrist.
"What happened to you?" asked Lori.
"Do you know how it feels to be low on supplies?" hissed Teri. "Thirsty, hungry, cold?"
"I do. But we wouldn't do this."
Teri yelled and grabbed her revolver with her other hand. She moved her hands and attempted to aim it at Lori.
Lori then pressed the trigger on her Python before Teri was able to shoot her.
Bobby and Dana gasped at the sight of their dead friend. Becky had a worried expression for Lori.
Lori picked up Teri's revolver. She walked back inside Houlton, rubbing her eyes.
"Hana, can I use your RV?" asked Lori. "This truck… doesn't work."
Hana nodded. Some of the defenders that killed the Oaks went to their respective vehicles while others followed Lori and Hana.
"Oh! Sergei, I need you to check what supplies they had. I also want you to get some volunteers to pick up the bodies," ordered Lori as she walked towards Carol. "How are you feeling?"
"Good. This kinda shook–"
Lori walked away, much to Carol's sorrow.
"Come here," said Becky, comforting Carol. "Tell me how you feel…"
The Oaks' vehicles were moved out of the way. The volunteers moved the bodies away, allowing Lori and the other community members to continue their search for David.
When they left, Sergei and the others took the bags out of the vehicles. Most of it contained ammunition, lighters, silverware, and clothing.
"Some of the others can't stomach this," said Bobby. "What'd you find, Sergei?"
"Stuff that did not belong to them. What they call themselves? The Oaks? The Oaks did not bother to clean blood off of the stuff they took."
"They've attacked people before," said Bobby. "I didn't think Teri would've done this. Wow."