Hey, everyone! Prepare yourself for one chaotic chapter! Hope you enjoy!
-A Few Hours Earlier-
A pair of combat boots walked on padded sand before stepping onto grass. April crunched on an apple while walking around the gardens outside of a large car factory building. Outside in a large fenced lot, where the cars used to sit were now replaced with Humvees, helicopters, tanks, fighter jets, and a wide array of military vehicles. Many of them had no fuel though.
April rubbed her sticky hands on her pants, which were part of the standard combat uniform of the U.S. military. The person next to her expressed disapproval through his face.
"Your manners?" said Major Massey, the man walking next to April.
"I don't have napkins, sir," said April. "But if it bothers you so much, then you can fetch me a napkin."
Massey looked at April with a stern face, his graying curly stubble not budging a bit. He then broke into a soft chuckle.
"Over my dead body," said Massey.
"I don't know… I'm kinda your superior."
April took another bite into her apple. Massey sighed with a groan, which made April giggle.
"Kidding. But after I finish this apple, I do want you to throw it into the compost box."
Massey gave her a stern look again.
"What? Don't give me that look. I don't want my soldiers to think I'm giving you special treatment. This is my base. I want them to respect me."
"First of all…"
Massey took the apple away from April's hands and took a bite out of it.
"...they already respect you. Second of all, I'm an officer. I already get special treatment. We both do. And third of all… this is about Royal Woods, isn't it?"
"I say it again and again, you're the only one who can read my mind," said April. "Before you go on your long rants again, I know what you're thinking and I'm thinking it too. I'm no Oscar. But that doesn't stop me from thinking about the day I make a soldier mad."
"You know all your men and women. You know how loyal they are to you. Your mission is their mission. As long as you remind them how much you want all the roamers dead– they'll follow."
Massey began to walk away.
"Where are you going?" asked April.
"Compost box."
"Wait, before you go– any updates on Royal Woods so far, sir?"
"No."
"Weird. And Brax should've contacted me by now."
I don't mean to sound selfish…"
"–but you'll say something selfish anyways."
"Yeah. I guess so. You should've never sent Braxton and the others to Royal Woods. They were unhappy with Melissa just as they were unhappy with Oscar. And it's Orlando's police that are handling it right now. I doubt Melissa is in any real harm."
"She's not my concern right now."
"Hmm? Oh… I see. It's Lori Loud, right?"
"Read my mind yet again."
"So what, you're gonna escort her out of there?"
"Orlando probably wants vengeance for what happened to his father. The police already arrested Katherine Mulligan. They're gonna take down whatever political enemies they could and establish a dictatorship with Orlando as the head of state. We can't allow that to happen."
"April…"
The walkie-talkie in April's belt hissed. April quickly grabbed it.
"Captain, we found something."
"What is it, Brax?"
"It's worse than we thought. Their walls seemed to have been breached by raiders. There's fires burning inside and there are bodies all over the place. A lot of them are Orlando's cops. There are two people standing on the guard post but I don't think they're civies. I think they're raiders. It's very quiet… there is currently no activity within the walls as far as we can tell… which worries the hell out of me, ma'am."
"Copy that, Brax. Estimate the body count."
"It's like forty bodies and that's just the ones we can see from outside the walls. No telling how many are dead inside."
"Jesus Christ," gulped Massey.
April's hands shook as she took a deep breath.
"How safe is your position?" she asked.
"It's safe. We're inside a house so the roamers can't get to us. And the raiders can't see us from this far. Not with those iron sight rifles."
"Alright, hold your position. Update me on anything. Best case scenario– we're dealing with a hostage situation."
"That's the best case scenario?" whispered Massey out loud.
April shrugged with little confidence.
"Worst case scenario…" gulped April, "...we're liberating a ghost town."
"Roger that, ma'am."
April set the walkie-talkie down. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She then raised her walkie-talkie to switch the frequency before suddenly hearing a large explosion. She turned around and saw a large orange ball of flames rising into the air before turning into black smoke behind the barbed fences– which had large green nylon fabric tied to it to prevent anything outside from looking inside.
"Oh, fuck," whispered Massey.
"Get inside!" yelled April as she switched the frequency on her walkie-talkie. "We got an attempted breach on the perimeter! I repeat, we got raiders attempting to breach the perimeter!"
Gunshots started to roar across the sky. Soldiers guarding the perimeter were firing from scaffolds that served as guard posts while April continued to run towards the gate, where the explosions were coming from. She ran up to a scaffold before hearing another explosion, this one shaking the very ground that she was running across. She climbed up the scaffolding and grabbed her rifle.
She then finally witnessed what was going on. Laborers were driving their armored vehicles from a distance, their headlights broken on purpose to prevent detection, but the noise coming from their roaring engines made it easy to pinpoint where they were. Many of the vehicles were driving into the spiked barricades outside the walls, which had anti-tank mines underneath them. The anti-tank mines exploded and destroyed everything inside the armored vehicles before engulfing its outer metal shell in flames. The projectiles fired from the soldiers' grenade launchers were also destroying the vehicles, but then many of them started coming at once, like kamikaze. Some were already destroyed, but they were moving way too fast and collided with the fences before blowing up and stopping for good.
"Captain, get away from here, it's too dangerous!" screamed out a private. "Captain, please!"
April came to a realization. All the Laborers' vehicles had explosives in them.
"Get away from the fences!" shouted April.
The soldiers quickly leaped away from the fences as the vehicles continued their onslaught, ramming into the barricades and fences, exploding and killing all the Laborers inside. However, one of the vehicles managed to evade all the mines and spiked barricades and burning vehicles. It crashed into the gate before shaking the whole base apart with its enormous explosion.
And that was the last of it. April coughed as she turned around and lifted herself from the collapsed scaffolding. She had ash covered all over face while blood leaked from her nose. She then looked at the private's body on top of her. A piece of shrapnel was pierced into her neck.
April let out a tearful gasp as she lifted the private. She then pushed the body away as gently as she could. She turned to her right and looked at the burning van. There was graffiti on the side, but upon careful inspection, April saw a message etched into the metal with holes. It only made her angrier.
It read: YOUR ONLY WARNING. STAY AWAY.
Chapter 39: Because She Crossed A Line
I - The Roost
-PRESENT -
A faint iris underneath one of two glowing golden eyes twitched slightly, reacting to the dim lamp above. Teeth gritted before jaws opened, but no noise came out of the mouth. The skin on Monica's face seemed to be less saturated, though it was still fresh.
Zheng lay his face against the metal bars of the cell, his whole body against the floor. He then drew his hand out and moved it between the bars, reaching out for the head of his zombified ally. He opened his fingers and moved it closer to the teeth on the roamer. He let out a shuddering chuckle as tears rolled down his face.
"God…"
"...is not here to help you," said a voice, approaching from the end of the jail cell.
Monica's head was kicked away and Zheng recoiled. He partially lifted himself up from the floor and looked up, seeing Becky standing in front of his cell holding an apple.
"Becky… please let us out!" cried Ms. Carmichael, her voice coming from a cell nearby.
"Quiet!" hissed Becky. "Shinwen, anyone talks, you take them out of their cell and you cut them."
Ms. Carmichael saw Shiwen nod and then received a stare down from her, causing her to back away into a wall. She whimpered softly.
"Zheng," said Becky. "Were you about to let yourself get bit?"
Zheng remained quiet.
"If you're not gonna talk, then I guess you have no use for your tongue, right?"
"Guess not," murmured Zheng.
"You can hold onto your ears, though. I brought good news and bad news. Which do you wanna hear?"
Zheng looked away.
"Oh, right. You're not gonna talk. Well, I guess it would suit you to hear the bad news first. People always wanna hear the bad news first, because they think the good news will erase some of the pain that comes from the bad news. We'll see."
Becky took a bite from her apple.
"Your… people, the ones that we captured, were sent on a suicide mission. All save for a few of them. Mmm, I would say 90% of whatever people you had left were on this mission. Poor things. They knew they were going to die… probably. Thing is, they had a way out. Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me just start by saying that we forced them to get into those junky ass cars you guys have and made them drive to Auburn Hills. They had no choice. We strapped explosives in their cars. If they were to leave before they arrived at Auburn Hills, my people would have blown them up. The goal was to crash their cars into the walls of April's base and shoot as many soldiers as they could. The plan was to get the soldiers to wipe out the attackers and then retaliate. We want to flush the soldiers out of their base and get them to head to Ann Arbor. There, we will order your other Laborers— the ones we didn't send on a mission— to attack the soldiers at Ann Arbor. They probably won't survive either, but amidst the chaos, the soldiers will get engulfed by the herd in Ann Arbor. That's where my people come in. We make quick work of whoever's left behind at Auburn Hills and take it over. With their base at our disposal, we can basically take over any community we want. Huntington Oaks is undefended, Orchard Lakes is isolated— perfect for our herd— Windsor Hotel is defended by college kids— no trouble at all— and Detroit— all we need is to trap them in their buildings with our herd and then set the buildings on fire. We have no need for any of them in the buildings. But here's the thing, your people had a way out. If they had actually managed to kill all the soldiers in Auburn Hills, they could've simply escaped and we would have no way of stopping them. But that didn't happen. All because… I lied a little. They were never given a chance to engage April's soldiers. The explosives in their cars detonated on impact. That's what they were. Suicide bombs. Poor things."
Zheng let tears roll down his cheeks as he continued to face the wall in his cell. However, the shadow of the woman behind him continued to torment him.
"Poor thing."
Becky walked away before stopping herself.
"Oh, I almost forgot. The good news. We're not gonna kill you. I wouldn't want to grant you the quick mercy of death now, would I?"
Zheng yelled and banged his fists against the metal bars. Becky smiled as she walked in front of her parents' cell.
"You two, come with me."
Shiwen opened the cell and let Ms. Carmichael and Clancy out.
Becky sat her parents inside the interrogation room before taking a seat herself. She picked at her nails as she looked around the room. She then looked at her parents.
"How are you two doing?" asked Becky.
"Becky…" whispered Clancy.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" cried Ms. Carmichael. "We raised you better than this!"
"What a failure I turned out to be, right?" chuckled Becky. "I came back, but you didn't make me feel welcome at all. Only Dad did. No matter how much I changed, he's the only one who understands."
"No, I don't understand it anymore," said Clancy. "You killed people. Innocent people."
"I sent Laborers to their deaths. Innocent?"
"The cops? What about them?"
"The cops that arrested you? Arrested Mom? Abused their power to get Royal Woods under their control? What about them?"
"They were supposed to defend this community from savages like the Laborers. You think after they killed the cops, they left all the innocents alone? Even if you told them to spare the innocents, you think they would listen? I may not be as smart as you or your mother, but I do know this. People like Zheng don't listen to rules. Look– look what he tried to do. There's no doubt in my mind that innocent people were killed out there— if your people aren't already executing more of them out there now. But why? Why did these innocent people need to die? What are you trying to do? I don't understand any of it!"
Becky sighed.
"No one's innocent these days," she said.
"Rebecca…" sniffled Ms. Carmichael. "You have to stop, please. We can forgive it all, I'm sorry about everything, just, please, please stop."
"I had a happy life. But you two had problems and pushed them on me. Why did I have to deal with your problems? Why did your problems hurt me? Was I not innocent in your divorce? Or was I somehow responsible?"
"Becky–" stammered Clancy.
"Whatever the case is, my friends were the ones who were there for me. They stopped my life from going to shit. But my friends… where are they now? Chaz… buried in Ann Arbor. Dana… buried in Houlton. Tad… rotting away somewhere in Albany. And Leni… buried next to Dana. Lori and Carol don't want me around anymore. Lori hates my guts. And Carol… Carol's terrified of me. Maybe that's what's wrong with me. I depended too much on my friends."
"Becky…"
Becky stood up.
"Shiwen, take them back to their cells."
Shiwen nodded as Ms. Carmichael shook her head, tears still rolling down her face.
"Wait, Rebecca! Clancy, do something!"
Becky grabbed her ax and walked away, taking another bite from her apple. She then stepped outside of the police station and was greeted by survivors wearing police armor. They were her Vultures. They were dragging bodies across the street, stripping them naked of their items and clothing, and then burning them. She closed her nose before arriving at City Hall. She entered the building and opened her nose, breathing in the unspoiled air.
"Oh, there you are, Becky!" gasped Polly.
Becky was caught slightly off-guard as she looked down at Polly and saw him holding Chandler by his hair, knife against his throat. He was on his knees and was breathing hard as he looked at Becky.
"What's this?" asked Becky.
"Chandler here claims he saw Lincoln. He says he could bring him back to you, but for some reason, he refuses to just tell me where he is!"
"Is that true?"
"Y-Yes," groaned Chandler.
Becky signaled to Polly to move the knife away from his throat. Polly listened and released her grip on his hair, causing him to fall on his hands, allowing him to take a deep breath.
"Why didn't you just tell her where Lincoln is?" asked Becky.
"I wanted to prove to you that I could be an ally. Not as a snitch but as someone as capable as capturing a person for you."
"Oh, is that so? You would also show how capable you are at stabbing people in the back."
"Who, Lincoln? That loser's not my friend."
Becky smirked and continued to stare at Chandler.
"Y-You? I would never do that. Only a crazy person would stab someone as scary as you in the back."
"Someone like Polly? She's crazy."
"That I am," giggled Polly.
"You know what I mean," said Chandler with a hint of snark in his voice.
"Yeah, maybe I don't. Polly, pin him down."
"Wait!"
Polly tackled Chandler into the ground and wrapped his arms around his back while sitting on his legs. He struggled to move as he lifted his face from the floor. Becky's boots came into view as she placed an apple next to his face, and upon looking up, he saw Becky lifting her ax.
"Wait, wait! Stop! He's at Girl Jordan's house! Girl Jordan! Southeast corner of the wall! Please!"
Becky looked at Polly, who smiled while nodding.
Becky swung her ax down, creating a fleshy chopping noise and a deep ring that echoed across the building.
Chandler groaned as he opened his eyes, seeing an apple sliced in half with an ax blade in between the slices. His breaths shuddered as he saw Becky drag the ax away.
"You bring him back to me. Polly will be going with you. If you try to do anything stupid, Polly here will decide how she will kill you."
"I wanna break his neck!" said Polly.
"Okay, okay, yes, I understand," quivered Chandler.
"Good," said Becky. "Go."
Polly unpinned Chandler and helped him up. He then walked out of the City Hall building with Polly.
Becky picked up the apple slices and handed one to Shiwen.
"Thank you," said Shiwen.
Becky gave her a slight nod before walking up the stairs, Shiwen behind her chewing her apple slice. She then walked over to the office, Schoffner standing in front of it.
"Good evening, officer."
"G-Good evening, Becky."
Becky gave an approving nod and smiled before walking into the office, seeing Carol seated in front of the desk.
"Shiwen, you can leave us now," said Becky.
"I'll be keeping an eye out for Schoffner for you," said Shiwen.
"Perfect."
Shiwen left the office. Becky closed the door as Carol stared ahead, her eyes marked with red bags.
"Hey," said Becky.
Carol remained quiet as she avoided looking at Becky.
"Hey, Carol. Look at me."
Carol placed her hand on her cheek and looked at Becky.
"I noticed that Lori and the others haven't come back yet. Can you think of a reason why that is?"
"I don't know," said Carol.
"No? The trip isn't too long. They left in the afternoon, so they should have been back by now. Even if the Laborers somehow held them up, they would have made quick work of them. So they should have actually been back by sundown. Maybe a little after. Unless they were killed, but this is Lori and her people we're talking about. They don't get killed. They just don't."
"I don't know what happened to them. I don't know where they are."
"I think you're telling the truth, but I didn't ask if you knew about their whereabouts. I asked if you can think of a reason why they're not back yet."
Carol let out an irritated sigh.
"Did you warn them?" asked Becky. "A walkie-talkie message or something?"
"No. Maybe they saw the fires and the bodies and heard all the gunfire and assumed it wasn't safe to get in."
"And they decided the community wasn't worth saving? It doesn't sound like them to run away."
"There were dozens of bodies by the gates. All armored and armed. They must have known they didn't have the people for it. They probably went to another community to ask for help."
"Yeah, I think you're right. Sorry for doubting your friendship. I don't know why I thought you of all people would stab me in the back."
"If you were truly my friend, you wouldn't have done any of this. A lot of people died. I know you don't like to think of these people as innocent, but they were people I cared about. And you and your Vultures killed them in cold blood."
"I only killed what was necessary so that I could take over. Can't you see I'm doing this for our survival? Our freedom?"
"If this is what it costs, then I don't want any of it. You, of all people, should know this."
"Yeah. Well, now that all the bad stuff is over with, here's some good news. I won't kill anyone else. My Vultures won't kill anyone else. Well, as long as no one tries anything funny with us."
"Is that really supposed to make me feel better?"
"Yes. Because my people are out there looking for Lori and the others. They're out in the roads, making sure they don't come in contact with any of the other communities. If I were you, I'd be glad they're coming back in one piece."
Carol lowered her head, trying to keep it together. Becky felt her heart stinging and looked out the window towards the main street, looking to see if somehow, Lori's group was back. However, it wasn't her group that she saw on the street. She saw Jace looking around, seeming lost. Some of the Vultures in body armor stared at him, though they did not approach him. He simply walked by them faster.
"Is… Will still alive?" asked Carol.
"Your beloved?" said Becky in an irritated tone before she looked back at Carol. "Who knows? If he was hiding somewhere, pissing his pants, then yes, he should still be alive."
"Oh, god."
"Why do you even give a rat's ass about Will? He's like the most basic guy ever. You can do better."
"That's exactly why I care about him. I want some normalcy in my life."
"Then I must be the opposite of what you wish for."
"Are you… mad?"
"Me, mad? You think I burnt this town because I felt happy? Calm?"
"Is Will in danger?"
"I'm not mad at him. Not mad at you either. I'm mad at Lori. I'm mad at her sisters. Mad at Lincoln."
"You're not jealous?"
"Jealous? Ha! Why the hell would I be jealous?"
"I'm sorry."
"Forget about it. I'm not gonna kill Will. Remember what I said? I only killed the people that I thought were necessary to kill. I don't have to kill Will and I won't. Last thing I want is for you to be depressed. I know this is really, really hard to believe, but I do want to see you happy. Years from now, when we live in a world without enemies, this will only be a bad memory."
Carol stared at Becky, starting to make sense of it all. She opposed everything Becky was doing, but at the very least, she could finally grasp why she was doing what she was doing. Becky truly believed she could save the people she cared about from her enemies. However, it's who Becky considered an enemy that she couldn't understand very well.
Schoffner knocked on the door.
"What is it?" said Becky.
"Jace Taylor wants to talk to you," said Schoffner.
"Alright, give us a second!"
Becky stood up and motioned Carol to get up.
"I have a feeling Jace, like most people, has no idea what the hell is going on. You don't tell him anything. If you somehow imply that I or my people took over Royal Woods, I'll kill Bobby. Understand?"
Carol nodded though she did wonder. Why would Becky go through such lengths to keep Jace uninformed? Becky did not try to hide the fact that she took over to anyone, so why is Jace special? She didn't know how to answer her own questions.
"Jace can come in now!" called out Becky.
After a few seconds, the door opened and Jace walked in, appearing confused.
"Hey, Jace," smiled Becky.
"What… is this?" asked Jace. "I thought you were arrested."
"I was. Unfortunately when communities get attacked, jail cells tend to be very unsafe. You know, with us being sitting ducks and all. So, Schoffner here let me out. She even gave me a gun to help out! I mean, what was I gonna do, shoot her? Nah, she knew I wanted to defend my home from the invaders too. And so I did. But here's how she repays me. She still keeps me locked up. Fancier room. But still locked up."
"I see. This is where they're holding you for now?"
"Schoffner thought this was the best place. The City Hall building is pretty well defended as you can tell from the army of cops outside. And she couldn't just stuff me back inside the jail. That's where they're keeping the captive invaders. And now, we're just waiting for Lori and the others to get back."
"Geez, what a night. And to think it's not even over yet."
"You know who these people were, right?"
"Laborers. I recognize their anarchy tattoos anywhere. I saw the cops dragging them into a pile and burning them. And some of our own people too, sadly."
"Yeah, it was a whole mess. The whole community was in chaos last time I was out there."
"It's gotten better. Everything seems to be taken care of. No more gunshots or screaming, at least."
Carol gave a sigh of relief. Becky gave her a side smile.
"Still, I'm worried. I went to Lori's place. I didn't see anyone there. I really want to go look for the others."
"No, you can't!" said Carol.
Becky raised an eyebrow and tensed up as her facade started to fade away.
"Why?" asked Becky.
Jace looked nervous.
"They're in the infirmary," said Carol. "I was just there. Lincoln, Lily, and Lana were there. Ronnie Anne and her mom and the others too. They're very short on people with basic medical knowledge, and they need as many hands as necessary to help out."
"They could use you! I could help too," said Jace.
"No, they're good for now. I just came over to see how Becky was doing. I'm… not very trusting of Schoffner. But I'm gonna head back to the infirmary, so you should stay with Becky! Make sure Schoffner doesn't do anything to her, you know?"
"Right, right."
Becky loosened up as she sat on the desk. She looked at Jace and nodded softly. Jace smiled and nodded back.
"Okay. And Schoffner won't say anything about me being here?"
"No. Like Becky said. This place is surrounded by cops. Becky can't do anything at all."
Carol looked back at Becky and let her smile die. She then walked out of the room, leaving Jace alone with Becky.
Becky giggled softly as she stood upright.
"Heh, what?" asked Jace.
"Oh, nothing. Just glad you're here."
Becky approached Jace and grabbed his face before kissing him on the lips.
"I missed you."
"You did?" asked Jace.
"Didn't you?"
"I did. A lot. About what happened this morning, I gotta apologize for Luna acting all crazy. She's acting like a crazy big sister, and I don't really know why."
"I wouldn't know how a crazy big sister acts like. But a jealous girlfriend? Maybe."
"Girlfriend? Nuh uh. I do not feel the same way about her. And she doesn't—"
"I know, I'm just teasing you a little bit."
Becky kissed Jace again and walked forward, pinning him against the wall. She moaned as Jace moved Becky's face away.
"Wait. Can she hear us?" asked Jace.
"Who?"
"Schoffner."
"Oh, don't worry about her. The walls are soundproof. Why? Are you thinking about taking this further?"
"Maybe. You seem in the mood for it."
"I am."
Becky closed her eyes and kissed Jace as he remained pinned against the wall. Carol listened from the other side, nodding to herself. She then turned around and walked away, but not before being confronted by Schoffner.
"You bitch," growled Schoffner, grabbing Carol's shirt.
Carol grabbed Schoffner's hand, trying to pull away, though Schoffner only pulled her closer. She was frightened by the cop, staring at her dead in the eyes. Shiwen began to walk towards them.
"Step away," ordered Shiwen.
"I told you. I told you how dangerous she was. But you didn't listen did you?"
Shiwen grabbed Schoffner's hands and pulled them away from Carol's shirt before dragging Schoffner away.
"I warned you and you defied. You and your friends are responsible for this."
Carol walked away frantically.
"You were there at the police station… back then, weren't you? Back! Back when she killed Plesko!"
Carol stepped out of the City Hall building and made her way to the infirmary. As the street she was walking on got darker and quieter she looked at her palm and saw a key. She then pocketed it and continued onwards, now having figured out what Schoffner was trying to tell her.
The fire in the candle moved erratically as Lily tried to follow its movement.
"Hey, Lily," whispered Lincoln.
"Huh?"
"Are you okay?"
"Uh huh. When can I sleep?"
"I… suppose you can sleep now. Jordan, can she take your bed?"
"Of course, go ahead."
Lily rubbed her eyes as she walked over to the bed. She climbed onto it and wrapped herself under the covers. She looked at Lincoln, who smiled at her.
"Poor Lily…" whispered Chloe. "She's seen far too many horrible sights for someone her age."
Lincoln leaned his head against the wall as he remained seated on the floor with the others. He stared at Lily, who also stared back at him. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, but the longer he looked at her, the more guilty he felt. He then jumped at the sound of a knock.
Hearing the familiar knock pattern, Stella walked up to the door and opened it. Chandler walked in, letting out a large sigh.
"That was fast," said Stella. "Where are the guns and ammo?"
"I couldn't find any," said Chandler, rubbing his nose. "The armory is guarded like crazy. There's no shot I was getting in."
"I thought you knew of a place other than the armory," said Girl Jordan. "Don't tell me you didn't know the armory wasn't going to be guarded."
"Yeah, that's the thing. There is this one place I didn't check yet. Melissa's house. Thing is… I need another guy to help me out."
"I could go," said Trent.
"I need someone who can pick locks. And I heard Linc over here knows."
"I shouldn't leave Lily's side," said Lincoln. "I also shouldn't show my face out there. Becky is looking for me."
"Are you sure? I thought you wanted us to get armed."
"It's not worth it. I think we should wait it out."
"And wait for your sister Lori to come back? Man, who knows if she's even coming back? This is our only chance of fighting our way into the armory."
"That's a bad plan, Chandler."
"Then we can come up with a better one on the way to Melissa's. But we have to go."
Stella lowered an eyebrow. She then walked and stopped in front of Chandler.
"It's so easy to tell when you lie," said Stella.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Stella?"
"You rub your nose a lot when you lie. What are you not telling us?"
"I… what… I'm not lying!"
"Lincoln. Take Lily and go."
Lincoln stood up as Lily raised her head in confusion. Chandler then pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Lincoln.
"Hey, don't move!" exclaimed Chandler.
Lincoln froze as Lily hid half her face under the covers.
"Chandler, don't!" said Girl Jordan.
"Shut up! Lincoln, move away from her and come with me. Now!"
Stella looked back at Lincoln and nodded. Lincoln shook his head.
"What are you—?"
Stella stood in front of Chandler again, this time, preventing Chandler from aiming his pistol at Lincoln.
"Hey! Stella, move!"
"Go, Lincoln, go!"
Lincoln grabbed Lily and ran for the door. Chandler moved his pistol before Stella grabbed the barrel of the pistol and forced it up.
"Stop!" yelled Chandler, before pressing the trigger.
The bullet hit the ceiling as Stella flinched, releasing Chandler. Lincoln was running down the stairs as fast as possible, holding Lily tightly as Chandler ran out the door. He aimed the gun at Lincoln, though he was unable to pull the trigger.
Lincoln opened the front door and ran before all of a sudden, Polly tackled him to the ground. Lincoln hugged Lily, protecting her fall, as he felt his left arm take the brunt of the impact. He groaned as he kicked Polly off. He then released Lily.
"Run," said Lincoln, taking out his knife.
"Ooh, we're playing with knives?" giggled Polly, taking out a knife of her own. "Let's play!"
Chandler looked out from the front door. Lincoln growled as he stood his ground, allowing Lily to stand up and run away. Polly approached Lincoln, lunging at him with her knife. Lincoln quickly dodged the lunge and swung his knife at Polly, slicing her shoulder. Polly yelped in excitement and swung her knife, causing Lincoln to flinch. The tip of the blade sliced Lincoln across the face, cutting his right cheek as he stumbled back.
"You got moves, I gotta give you that!" giggled Polly.
Stella then pushed Chandler out of the way before running towards Polly.
"Hey! Get back here!" screamed Chandler.
Polly whooped in excitement as Lincoln began to run away. Polly then prepared to throw a knife at Lincoln before being tackled by Stella.
"Stella!"
Lincoln turned around to see Stella grabbing onto Polly from behind, struggling to keep her on the ground.
"Just go!" exclaimed Stella. "Find Lily and go!"
Lincoln nodded as he ran away. He closed his eyes and quietly begged Chandler to save Stella. But she wasn't his priority. Lily was.
After a few seconds, Lincoln was gone from sight. Stella smiled before being elbowed in the face. She grabbed her nose before seeing Polly grab her knife. She screamed as she raised her hand to shield herself. Chandler raised his pistol, but his fingers froze on the trigger. Polly swung the knife forward, stabbing through Stella's hands. Stella cried out in pain as Polly pulled out the knife and placed it against her throat.
"Where's Lincoln headed?" panted Polly. "You have three seconds to tell me now. Three…"
Stella whimpered in pain as she held her bleeding hand.
"Two…"
"Wait, Polly…" said Chandler.
"One…!"
Stella closed her eyes.
"Polly! Stop!"
Polly glared at Chandler, realizing he was holding her at gunpoint now.
"Leave her alone! I know where Lincoln is headed!"
"Oh, do ya'? Well, then, why don't you lead the way?"
"Take your knife off her, dammit!"
"Okay, okay! So serious!"
Polly giggled as she moved the knife away from Stella's throat and placed it under her belt. She then stood up and ran towards the direction Lincoln headed. Chandler groaned.
"You okay?" asked Chandler.
"You… have a lot of explaining to do…" groaned Stella, unable to hold her tears in.
"Yeah… not yet though. Trent! Chloe! Get Richie's ass over here. Have him stitch Stella up."
"Where you going?" asked Trent.
"I have some business to take care of, man."
"This ain't right, dude. Why are you tryna' kill Lincoln?"
Chandler ignored him as he chased after Polly.
Jace looked out the window as he zipped his pants back on.
"Did you hear that?" asked Jace.
"Hear what?" said Becky, buttoning her bra back on.
"Gunshots. I thought you said these walls were soundproof."
"I didn't hear anything."
"You didn't? Well, they were kinda quiet… so the gunshots must've been close if the walls are soundproof."
"Maybe the cops are shooting at someone."
Jace took a deep breath.
"Yeah, maybe," he sighed. "I should really go out there and check on Sam and her brother."
"I'm sure they're fine."
"I just have a bad feeling about this."
Becky placed her tank top back on and noticed Jace's expression continued to become more and more plastered with concern.
"I think she left this place," said Becky. "She wanted to go look for Luna. Her little brother went too."
"She's going all the way to Ann Arbor?"
"Or maybe a different place. You're not going to follow her if you don't know where she went exactly, right?"
"I can ask around."
"What, you don't want to stay here with me?"
"No, it's not—"
"Do you not want to be here? Are you scared someone will catch you with me?"
"No!"
"You're ashamed of me, aren't you?"
"Not at all, Becky. In fact… it's kinda the opposite. I… I feel honored to be here with you."
"Honored?"
Jace cringed slightly at his word choice. However, Becky laughed it off as she took a step closer to Jace.
"I want you here because I trust you," said Becky. "I can't say the same for anyone else."
Becky lay her head on Jace's shoulder, closing her eyes as she hugged him.
"I feel safe with you."
Jace chuckled awkwardly as he hugged Becky back, blushing. He then looked at the desk and saw a Px4 pistol.
"Is that…?"
"What?" asked Becky.
Becky turned over and saw the pistol on the table. She opened her eyes widely with shock. She then lowered her head as she tried to come up with another lie on the spot.
"Why… would they leave a pistol here?" asked Jace.
"It's empty," said Becky.
"Oh."
Jace then looked back at Becky, wondering if she could smell the scent of gunpowder still lingering in the room.
Becky then grabbed his face and leaned closer to kiss him, but he was slightly hesitant. He eventually relented, and easily too, but in the brief moment of hesitation, Becky could tell that he was starting to become suspicious.
As they kissed, she opened her eyes slowly midway, hearing the gunshots in the distance.
Carol arrived at the infirmary, simply stepping through the entrance as the broken door remained open.
Maria turned towards her, bags under her fearful and strained eyes. She sighed in relief and looked back at her patient, a Vulture that was shot in the waist. The Vulture was in stable condition, though barely able to move with multiple bandages around his waist.
Naomi came downstairs, removing her nonlatex gloves.
"Your son is awake again," said Naomi. "He's asking for you."
Maria then stood up and prepared to walk upstairs before Naomi stopped her.
"Wait. How's Brock feeling?"
Maria looked down at the Vulture she was treating.
"I'm feeling fine, Naomi," said Brock. "Would rather be lying on my stomach right now… but Maria says I have to lie on my back."
"I'm glad to hear that."
Naomi looked at Maria and stepped out of the way. However, just as Carol was going to follow Maria, Naomi stopped her.
"Where are you going? Family only."
Carol looked over at the body that two Vultures were dragging out of the infirmary. It was Leo's.
She nodded softly and looked back at Naomi. She turned around, allowing Naomi's guard down as she pulled out Becky's dagger from her front pocket where Naomi couldn't see it.
Naomi turned around.
"One more thing, Maria—"
Carol turned around and clasped her palm around Naomi's mouth as she sliced her throat open with the dagger. Maria gasped, flinching as she watched blood squirting out Naomi's throat.
Naomi tried to scream, but Carol continued to muffle her with her palm. She then began gagging as she tried to fight Carol off.
However, Carol stabbed her once more in the stomach before dropping her to the ground.
"Oh my— help!" shouted Brock.
She turned around and stormed towards the back door before pausing, seeing the two Vultures run back into the infirmary building holding their knives. She hid her knife behind her back and allowed the Vultures to pass her as they entered the room where Naomi was killed.
"What?" asked one of the Vultures.
"That girl—!"
Carol spun around and slammed her knife against one of the Vulture's neck before pulling it quickly, allowing him to fall. The other Vulture turned around, though it was too late as Carol swiped the dagger knife across her throat.
Blood splattered onto an unconscious Vulture in a bed as the knifed Vulture stumbled towards the fall, grabbing her throat. As she coughed out blood, she watched as Carol walked up to Brock, who was shaking his head fast.
"No, no, no, wait," stammered Brock as he covered his face.
Carol inserted the knife into his stomach, then sliced it open, causing him to scream. She then sliced open his throat as well, silencing him.
The knifed Vulture who carried out Leo's body then closed her eyes as she gradually lowered herself against the wall before outright collapsing. The blood from her throat seeped all over the floor as Carol walked to another Vulture in bed, killing her.
Maria panted heavily as she watched Carol kill one patient after another. All of them except Tim and Ravi.
Carol wiped the blood of the dagger knife against one of the killed Vultures' shirts. She then turned towards Patti, who flinched upon making eye contact with her.
"Don't…" whimpered Patti.
"They seem low on blood," said Carol.
"They are," said Maria. "Do not mind Patti. She is frightened out of her mind."
Patti trembled as she looked up at Maria, who seemed surprisingly calm as she approached Carol.
"They need a transfusion. But we do not have any more blood."
"I can get someone in here. What blood types do you need?"
"O-negative for Tim and A-negative for Ravi. But if you can get someone with O-negative blood—"
"You could treat them both. Got it."
Carol placed the dagger knife back into her pocket as she knelt down, picking up Naomi's pistol.
"Who has O-negative blood?"
"His daughter. Whitney. Maya. There is a list inside that cabinet."
Carol walked up to the cabinet next to a freezer and pulled out a small booklet. Inside, it had a list of people of certain blood types. She went over to the O-negative section, but didn't see a lot of names.
"Great," sighed Carol. "I don't know where to find these people."
"Find someone with A-negative blood then. If we cannot treat Tim… then we should treat Ravi at least."
Carol nodded. She ripped the pages off of them and stuffed them in her pocket. She then walked over to the pile of bodies and grabbed Leo's riot armor.
"I'm going to the police station," said Carol. "Anyone there that might have A-negative blood?"
"Clancy and Patchy should."
"Okay."
Carol looked at Tim's unconscious body. His neck was wrapped with a bandage and he was hooked up to an automatic ventilator. She then looked up and noticed how worried Maria was. She sighed as she began to put on the riot armor. With every second that passed by, she was getting angrier at Becky.
"If the Vultures ask… tell them I did this."