Yo, it's been a while. I'll explain everything at the end of this chapter. Hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter 4: Downfall

Part I - Fallout

-Day 27-

"Fucking finally," says Marcus. "We made it."

The group arrives at the New York - Pennsylvania borderline. The truck quickly drove through the toll booth, running over one of the dead bodies lying in the middle of the road. They drive a couple of minutes more until they see something they weren't expecting. They stop and get out of the vehicle to see the catastrophe in front of them.

"What? No, no way this is possible."

The group sees what used to be New York City. It was destroyed and everything was turned to dust.

"W- what happened here?" asks CiCi, in complete shock.

"A nuke went off. It's the only thing that can do damage like this. You can see the crater from here, holy shit."

"Well, what are we gonna do now?

"I don't know. I guess we gotta keep moving until we find somewhere to stay."

"Que verga?" JuJu says in his native tongue. "This is bullshit bruh. All we're goin' through and it led to this?"

"Hey, relax dude," says Byron.

JuJu gives Byron a dirty look as he sighs loudly.

"Man, you lucky I fuck with you," JuJu mutters. "If I didn't, I would've gone off on you, maybe worse."

"Everyone relax," adds CiCi. "It's fine, let's just do what Marcus says alright?"

CiCi grabs JuJu's hand as she walks him away from the others.

"Listen JuJu, I don't know how it feels to go through as much as you did but we're all here to support each other. Remember about 'building trust'? That's what we have in this group."

CiCi lets go of his hand and put her hand on his face, next to his scarred eye.

"I don't know what came over me, but since I've met you, Something lit inside of me that I can't explain. You're strong, confident, and you never back down from a challenge."

She leans in for a kiss, but JuJu moves his head away. He then looks back at an embarrassed CiCi.

"Look, I appreciate what you've done. I really do. But I don't want to be in a relationship. I do like you, just, not in that way. I want to focus on staying alive and hot having anything holding me back. I'm sorry."

She stays silent for a couple of seconds as her face gets red and covers her mouth in embarrassment.

"No, I'm sorry. It was a dumb thing to say. Let's- j- just get going."

CiCi walks away not wanting to be close to JuJu.

"Ugh," JuJu grunts. "I feel like an asshole now. Que pendejo soy."

He turns around as he walks toward Byron.

"Hey B, my bad bro. We good?" He says as he puts his hand out for a handshake.

"Yeah man, no hard feelings," Byron replies. "I don't blame you."

He puts his hand out as well and they both head back into the truck. JuJu sits in the passenger seat with Marcus driving. They drive around the outskirts and look deeply into the destroyed city.

"Jeez," says Letty. "Look at the Brooklyn Bridge. Or, what's left of it? Why would anyone want to do this?"

"Quentin Black," JuJu says.

Everyone looks at him in confusion.

"Who?" questions Marcus.

"General Quentin Black. Leader of those rogue soldiers. That puto is the only one I know that would have the balls to do anything like this. Remember I told y'all about the Safe Zone I was at in Detroit? He was the one who ordered the airstrike on that place before I escaped. Wouldn't be surprised if he ordered this shit. Probably also the reason why my pops is missing. I'm not showin' any mercy if I see him again."

JuJu looks out the window staring into the city, grinding his teeth in anger wishing to see General Black face to face.

"Damn it," says Marcus. "Cars are blocking this way, we gotta go through the city and go around."

The truck makes a turn off the ramp and into the city, with the tires being covered in dust as it goes on.

"I had a friend that lived here," says Letty. "Hope he's okay."

"Doubt anyone got outta this," replies Byron. "If the buildings are literally gone and the line cars back there are fucked up by the blast, I don't think many survived."

"What the fuck dude?" says CiCi as she slaps his arm.

"What? I'm being logical."

"B, not cool bro," says Marcus.

The truck drives a few blocks until Marcus finds an empty ramp that leads out of the city to the main freeway. He accelerates as it reaches the ramp. On the opposite side of the freeway, they see the line of cars from before.

"Yo, Marcus," JuJu asks. "You got any idea where we're going?"

"I'mma be real with you," Marcus replies. "I got no fuckin' idea. The main goal was to get to New York; now I don't know what to do or where to go. We're almost outta gas too."

"Wait what? You didn't refill before we got here?"

"We used the last of it when you were recovering while heading to Philly."

"Fuck me."

"It'll be alright. Don't trip. How does your side feel? Still bothering you?"

"Eh, just a little bit. I just hope it won't limit me from staying in shape."

"I doubt it will."

The truck drives for a couple of hours until it reaches a tunnel. The group sees that the entrance of the tunnel is blocked off by abandoned cars. The cars appeared to be covered in bullet holes and the road was covered in broken glass.

"Great," Marcus says. "We're out of gas anyway. We gotta continue on foot."

Marcus releases the killswitch from the truck so it wouldn't be able to turn on and rips a hole in each of the tires with his knife.

"Uh, is that really necessary?" asks CiCi as she steps out of the truck.

"What?" he shrugs. "Won't be useful to anyone, so might as well make sure of that."

The group gets their things from the truck and proceeds toward the tunnel.

"Aye," JuJu whispers. "Y'all get down. I hear a ton of undead inside. Also 'cause of how cloudy it is right now, we won't be able to see much inside."

"He's right," Marcus says. "The best thing we can do is to stay together."

The group walks close to one of the destroyed vehicles and they overhear growling from the other side. JuJu peeks over one of the cars and sees two infected feasting on a dead body. He raises his rifle and shoots them both in the head with their bodies dropping instantly. He signals the others with hand gestures to move up. They all sneak around cars looking for the golden glow of their eyes around the area. Marcus leads the way, walking by more abandoned cars riddled with bullet holes. Once they reach the end of the tunnel, they hear a scream followed by a loud thud.

"CiCi!" Byron calls out.

Without hesitation, JuJu runs back into the tunnel taking out his revolver.

"CiCi!" JuJu yells. "Where are you?"

He gets no answer. He looks by the cars looking for her. The undead heard him call out her name and headed toward the sound of his voice. He shoots the ones in his way and finds CiCi being dragged under a semi-truck. JuJu gets near her and shoots the undead in the head, letting go of her leg. He goes up to her, looking at her nose oozing blood from the fall. He helps her up, ignoring the pain in his side from the weight added to his body. He grunts as he calls out to the others.

"I found her! Need some help!"

He slowly takes CiCi to the other side of the tunnel with more of the undead following JuJu, with their decomposing bodies being more visible the closer they get to the light. The others fire their weapons, taking out the undead coming close to JuJu. Byron then comes in and takes over carrying CiCi. JuJu lets go and put his hand on his side, limping toward the others. They set CiCi by a tree and the others sit near each other to rest.

"JuJu," Marcus says. "What the fuck were you thinking? You could've died doing that dumb shit."

"You serious right now?" JuJu replies, catching his breath while still holding his side. "You wanted to leave CiCi to die? Fuck's wrong with you? I'm willing to risk my life for the people I care about. I know you would've done the same shit. Or you too pussy?"

Their arguing is suddenly cut off by overhearing an engine of a car become louder and louder.

"Guys?" says Letty in a broken voice. "It's them."

They look and see once again a K.H.A.N. Humvee heading toward them. The others get up and try to grab CiCi, who's unconscious while heading deep into the woods to evade them. The soldiers exit their vehicle and begin to fire their weapons at the group. Byron tries to get his friend until the sound of bullets flying by makes him leave her behind to save his own life. They hide behind a fallen tree near a creek and see The soldiers in the distance. CiCi opens her eyes and sees the silhouette of someone.

"JuJu?" she mumbles. "Y-you came back to sav-"

She's cut off by a bullet going straight through her head. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the trees with the group looking at what they had just seen.

"You just killed a defenseless kid," says a soldier. "You realize that right?"

"She was on the verge of death anyway." says another.

"Jesus, you're sick. Let's go find the others."

"Shit, no no no. CiCi…" Byron says softly.

JuJu puts his hand over a traumatized Byron.

"I'm sorry B," he whispers. "Come on, we gotta get outta here."

The four try to sneak away until they're met by other soldiers pointing their weapons in front of them.

"Where do you think you're going?" says a soldier. "Turn around and walk back."

The group follows what he says and is led back to where CiCi's lifeless body was.

"All of you, on your knees."

They all comply as the soldiers get behind them and zip-tie their hands behind their backs. One of the soldiers points their pistol right at the back of Letty's head and pulls the trigger. JuJu's ears ring after the gunshot as he sees her body go limp and falls face down onto the fallen leaves, with a puddle of her blood forming from under her head. JuJu looks at Byron and Marcus as they have bags put over their heads. JuJu starts to squirm out of the zip ties until he is pistol-whipped and knocked unconscious, followed by the other two survivors in his group as well.

-Day 32-

"JuJu!" Marcus calls out. "Wake up."

JuJu wakes up with a big headache and finds himself in what looks like an interrogation room tied to a chair with Marcus and Byron tied to chairs next to him. In front of him, he sees 3 soldiers standing with their M4's in their hands.

"What?" he says as he struggles to get out of the chair. "Where are we?"

"Welcome to Houlton." says a man with a deep voice as he walks into the room.

"Black," JuJu says, grinding his teeth. "I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU! Where is my dad?"

JuJu tries to escape from the chair but doesn't succeed. General Black walks toward JuJu showing his eye missing. He pulls out a pistol from his holster and points it in between his eyes.

"Hey!" Marcus yells. "Don't do this!"

"Pull the fuckin' trigger!" JuJu says. "I ain't afraid of you!"

Black pulls the gun back from JuJu's face and puts it back in his holster.

"You may not show fear," says Black. "But deep down, it lives inside of you."

Black turns around and walks around the room with his hands behind his back.

"Have you ever heard of the saying, 'You kill one man, you're a murderer. You kill all of them, you're a god?' I killed all of those innocent adults just for my own pleasure. I AM A GOD."

JuJu begins to tear up as Black turns around and walks towards a table with the group's weapons sitting on it.

"You mother fucker! What did you do with my father? I know you took him."

Black Ignores his question.

"Take their weapons to the armory," he says to the soldiers in the room while walking toward a table with the trio's weapons laying on it. "They won't need them."

The soldiers grab the weapons and head out of the interrogation room. Black heads out of the door as soon as two more soldiers enter the room.

"Take them to their cells. I'll deal with them later."

The three are untied from their chairs one by one until JuJu's rage overtakes him and he tries to punch one of the soldiers but fails. He's tackled and his hands are zip-tied behind his back once more.

"JuJu!" yells Marcus. "Don't make shit worse than it already is!"

He screams from the top of his lungs out of pure rage and is lifted by a soldier. He's then led out of the room followed by Marcus and Byron to their cells. They are each put in separate little cells next to each other. JuJu gets the zip ties released and is thrown into the cell. Each cell had a bed mounted to the wall and a toilet in the corner. JuJu slaps the bars as they close and lays face down on the bed. He sighs loudly and begins to tear up and cry quietly, turning his anger into tears once more.

-5 days later-

JuJu is woken up by hearing a woman bang on the bars in his cell. She was a guard who patrolled the area.

"Hey!" she says. "You gonna eat or not? You don't eat as much from what I've seen so I just want to be sure you get a good amount of food in your system."

The woman puts down a tray with a fruit cup, rice, and a bottle of water. She slides it under the bars. JuJu slowly gets up with his side still sore from his injury.

"Now why would I trust you with this?" he groans. "Is it poisoned or some?

"No," she sighs. "Just, eat. I shouldn't be doing this. Do you want it or not?"

JuJu gives a questionable look and grabs the food. The woman then walks away and disappears from JuJu's vision.

"Hey B, Marcus. Are y'all there?"

"Yeah," replies Byron.

"That guard's the only one who has any sympathy for all of us you know," says Marcus.

"How you so sure?"

"Because she told me."

"Then why is she one of these rogues if she gon' act like this? All the ones we ran into wanna put bullets in our heads."

"I don't know bro. Just be grateful for now. Who knows what will happen if she gets caught."

JuJu begins to eat his food, savoring every bite since he hasn't eaten anything warm and cooked properly since the outbreak.

"I've never seen you explode like that when we were in the interrogation room," Marcus says. "I honestly thought you were gonna do something you would regret."

"I think I was, to be honest. It's just that I was too in the moment seeing him face to face. My temper took over. My bad guys."

"Don't be, that's justified. I'd react the same way if I went through what you did."

"Wait, B, you good?" JuJu says as he looks across to the cell in front of him. "You haven't said a word."

He gets no answer.

Byron was sitting on his bed in the cell with his head down and his long, blonde hair covering his face. His blue baseball cap was no longer on his head.

"Life sucks right now man," He says. "I don't like this feeling at all."

"Shit," JuJu says under his breath, realizing he's talking about CiCi's death.

After a couple of seconds of complete silence, the three see the other prisoners being taken out of their cells and led away until three soldiers get in front of their cells as well. First was Marcus's cell to open, then Byron, Then JuJu's. Each of their hands is zip-tied and they are led outside the building to what the rogues call their 'prison yard'. It was a small parking lot surrounded by tall gates, bringing both prison buildings together, similar to the safe zone back in Detroit. The parking lot was just full of benches and tables for the prisoners to sit on. Just outside the gates was the city of Houlton. There was a large runway and across from that were a bunch of tents and bunkers for the soldiers. Next to the runway is what used to be an airport, now turned into a base. The prisoners see helicopters and other armored vehicles surrounding the area. Lastly, they look around them and see towers among the prison buildings, revealing snipers on each tower. JuJu looks at the other two in his group, realizing how big and organized this rogue military is. Their zip-ties are taken off their hands and are then free to roam around the parking lot. The trio finds a bench connected by a table separated from the other prisoners and decides to sit on it.

"Look," Marcus says. "I know both of y'all aren't in your right mind right now. Yeah JuJu, you too. I can tell. I know you well enough."

"Yeah," JuJu replies. "Hold that thought."

JuJu looks into the distance and sees two people that look familiar to him.

"What are you looking at?" says Byron.

"I think I know those two over there. I'll holla at y'all."

JuJu stands up and starts to walk toward the two prisoners. As soon as he gets close enough to get a good look at their faces, he realizes who they are.

"Uh, Mr. and Mrs. Loud?" he says.

"Yes?" replies Lynn Sr. as he turns around to face JuJu. "Do I know you?"

"Yeah, we met at the Safe Zone back in Detroit. Your daughter Lynn introduced me to you."

"Oh!" says Rita. "You're Julian right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"What happened to your face? Are you okay? Are your parents here?"

"I'm fine, all I gotta say is some people are sick, and no, my mom and sister died but my dad went missing since the bombing."

"Oh my god," says Lynn Sr. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I guess. Are Lynn and her siblings here?"

"No, sorry honey," says Rita.

JuJu sighs and shakes his head.

"We don't know where they are. I hope they're all okay."

"Same here."

"We haven't seen them since the day before the bombing. We were brought to a helicopter and flown here. I don't know what they're gonna do with us. We thought we could trust General Black and his army but I guess not."

"Wait, How did you get here?"

"It's a long story."

"We have time, Take a seat. We'll listen."

JuJu proceeds to sit with the Loud parents and tells them about his journey since he snuck out of the Safe Zone, going into every minor detail as if it all happened yesterday.

"Wait so you actually killed people?" asks Rita.

"I didn't want to but I had no choice. I knew they were bad news from the get-go. And after seeing my mother and sister, I didn't feel bad about any of it. They deserved to die. Your kids are probably out there doing the same thing right now, surviving, trying to find you two."

"You said you had a group when you got here," says Lynn Sr. "Are they here?"

"Yeah, they're back there at that table," JuJu replies as he turns around pointing at the table Marcus and Byron were sitting at. He signals them to come and they headed toward him and the Loud parents.

"Guys, this is Rita and Lynn Loud Sr. This is Marcus and Byron."

"Wait," Byron says. "Lynn Loud?"

"Yes?" Lynn Sr. replies.

"I went to school with Lynn Jr. your daughter."

"Wait, what?" JuJu says. "You know LJ?"

"Yeah, we didn't talk much, just had a few classes together. Wait, how do you know her?"

"I met her in the Safe Zone."

"Oh damn, that's news to me.."

Some time goes by as soon as a handful of soldiers walk into the prison yard telling the other prisoners to go to their cells.

"Well, that's our cue," says Marcus. "It's nice to meet y'all."

"Same to you!" says Rita.

JuJu, Marcus, and Byron get up and follow some soldiers to their cells. Along the way, JuJu looks at the other prisoners, some being around his age or way older. He sees the despair in some people's eyes, knowing they have no hope of escaping or being released. He wants everyone to be free from Black's grasp.