IV - Pursuit
-Four Days Later-
An arrow flew through the air as if it was an owl diving to catch a mouse to eat. The air drag pulled the arrow closer to the ground as gravity played a part as well. The arrowhead pointed at a squirrel. Although the wind tried to drag it away, the arrow moved too fast, allowing it to hit its target. The arrow stuck itself in the squirrel.
A roamer nearby saw the dead squirrel on the ground and was attracted to it before another arrow flew across the air, killing the roamer.
"The sun's setting. We should go back to the RV," said Lynn.
Vonda nodded. She walked up to the squirrel and grabbed her arrow, lifting it up with the squirrel. She then removed the squirrel from the arrow and hooked it onto her belt.
She then looked down at the ground. There were shoe prints in the dirt, with its size larger than the shoe sizes of her and Lynn.
"Hold on," said Vonda. "I think someone was here earlier."
Lynn looked down at the shoe prints. She then looked up at Vonda and nodded. They grabbed their bows and an arrow and followed the trail of shoe prints.
In another part of the woods, a roamer stumbled around aimlessly. Its glowing eyes stood out in the shade of the trees before a flashlight caught its attention.
"I can get this one," said Benny.
"No, wait," said Luan. "I got this."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Luan held the katana in her hands steadily and walked forward. She then turned the sword to the side and sliced the top part of the roamer's skull apart, killing the roamer.
"Wow," said Benny. "You weren't even afraid."
Luan looked down at the roamer before turning towards Benny. She nodded.
"I can't be anymore," said Luan.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to be weak anymore. I don't want to be someone who needs to depend on someone else to protect me."
"I see."
Benny looked down at the ninjato sword he was holding.
"Do you think that's why Tad wanted to learn to use guns? So that he wouldn't feel weak and dependent anymore?"
"Maybe. But just knowing how to use a sword... it's enough. It feels like I can protect myself."
"Yeah. Me too. But with a gun... it feels like you can protect others, no?"
Luan stared at Benny blankly before nodding softly.
"Well, at least you don't need protecting," chuckled Benny. "You look dangerous enough."
Luan smiled. The two headed back to the vehicles.
The vehicles remained stationary by a gas station and a 7-Eleven. A Route 9 sign stood next to the gas station while trees surrounded the road.
David came out of the trees with Luna and Sam following him. Luna was holding Missy's AR-15 rifle.
"Found anything?" asked Lori.
"Just some shotgun shells from a bar nearby," said Sam.
"And some drinks, but David here wouldn't let us take them," said Luna.
"I guess I have to thank him then," said Lori.
"Didn't do out of the kindness of my heart," said David. "Just didn't wanna deal with drunk brats today."
"Hey..." mumbled Luna.
"Heh, can't be a good shot if you're wasted, kid."
David then turned towards Lori.
"She's getting better."
Lori smiled softly as David walked away. She then looked at Luna with curious eyes.
"Anything?" asked Lori.
"No," said Luna. "I'm telling you... she may not even be close."
"Vonda says Diamond Point was going to be her last resort. Lake George's only a couple miles away, so we're getting close."
"Assuming Sherry didn't lie to her."
"Yeah."
Lori looked over at Bobby, who was watching Darcy and Lisa pointing at the stars in the sky.
Dana then walked over to Lori.
"Becky wants to know if we're going to sleep here or if we're going to keep moving," said Dana.
Lori looked behind Dana and saw Becky leaning against the RV in the distance. Next to her was D and Wavehead.
"Why doesn't she ask me herself?" asked Lori.
"You know why."
"It's been three days. She's still not going to talk to me?"
"She feels what happened to Tad could've been prevented. And she's not the only one."
Lori crossed her arms.
"We might keep moving," said Lori.
Dana nodded and began to head back before Bobby stopped her on her tracks.
"Wait," said Bobby. "I think Becky needs to come and ask Lori herself."
"Bobby..." said Dana.
"She needs to."
"Where are you going?"
Bobby walked over to Becky, who groaned.
"What do you want?" asked Becky.
"D, Wavehead, can you two give us a minute?" asked Bobby.
"Sure thing, man," said Wavehead.
Wavehead helped D to his feet and they both walked away from the RV.
"You know I really don't feel like talking to you, right?" remarked Becky.
"I understand," said Bobby. "But not talking to Lori?"
"She kept your secret too. Probably kept her brother's as well."
"She didn't know about Lincoln's secret. And she only kept my secret because I asked her to. And even then... she still didn't want our group to go to Albany until it was the very last thing we could do."
"It wasn't the last thing we could do. We didn't have to go to Albany at all. We could've just left a couple miles back. But we didn't."
"You're right. And Tad knew it too. I told him my secret before anyone else... and he told me to tell the group. But the truth is that I was afraid of losing my sister."
Bobby sighed and leaned against the RV.
"I don't get it though. He could've told the group. He could've saved lives."
"Your mom might still be alive, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well... maybe he just really wanted you to be with your mom again. I know if it were me... he would have risked the lives of everyone in the group just in the slim chance that I'd get to reunite with my family."
Bobby didn't expect Becky to be this self-reflective.
"Yeah..." said Bobby.
"It's funny. I'm mad at Lori for doing what Tad basically did. And I'm mad at myself for getting mad at him before he died. He wanted me to forgive Carol... and I got mad at him for that. I just want to turn back time and tell him that I'm sorry for blowing up on him. That I was too stubborn to see... that everyone's changed... including me."
Becky began to tear up.
"Do you think if I forgive Carol and apologize for the way I acted... he'll forgive me too?"
Bobby nodded before clearing his throat.
Becky sniffled and nodded too.
"Okay."
Becky walked over to Carol, who was talking with Sergei.
"Heads up," said Sergei.
Carol turned around and noticed Becky walking towards her with teary eyes.
"Hey, what's going on?" asked Carol. "Becky..."
Becky wrapped her arms around Carol, causing her to shift uncomfortably.
"Umm..."
"I'm sorry," whispered Becky. "I'm sorry for the way I acted. You didn't deserve to be treated the way you were treated. I should've realized long ago... that you were a new person."
Becky looked up at Carol, her wet eyes locking onto Carol's surprised eyes.
"I accept all your apologies... do you accept mine?"
Carol nodded as a tear fell from her eye.
Lori and Dana looked at them with surprised expressions, though they felt a warmth inside them.
D and Wavehead watched from the distance, chuckling amongst themselves.
"Dang, I didn't expect that to happen," said Wavehead.
"Forreal," said D. "I thought they were supposed to be sworn enemies?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, man. Take a long look. That's our girls hugging each other. Now we can take 'em out together, yo."
"Eh. Carol's not really my girl. I never even talked to her once."
Wavehead looked at Dana, who walked towards Becky and Carol as Lori and Bobby followed her.
"You ever think about leaving this group, D?"
"That thought ain't cross my mind once."
"Ah."
"You?"
"Used to."
"What changed?"
Becky hugged Lori and Bobby. Through it all, Wavehead kept his eyes locked on Dana.
"Everything, D," said Wavehead.
A flashlight then shined out from the trees as Luan and Benny came out. They held a small bag.
"Hey, guys," smiled Lincoln. "You guys find anything?"
"Not really," said Benny. "Everything seems to be empty around here. Entire place got looted already."
"That's what it seems like," said David. "The Piranhas probably took everything viable from this place. At the very least, this means there probably aren't that many roamers nearby either. We shelter up here."
"We're really close to Diamond Point," said Lori. "We have to keep moving."
"Lori... this isn't a race. If Sherry's going to Diamond Point, then she's already there. And if she's already there, then she ain't going nowhere. But if she was... then there's no way we're catching up to her."
"I guess..."
"We can always turn around," said George.
"We aren't."
"I've been thinking about it... there are only four of them. I can go on my own and take them out easily. All of you don't have to keep going on this pursuit."
"Like hell we aren't," said Richard.
"It's risky. And it's not worth it."
"As long as Sherry lives, we'll be in danger," said Lori. "She knows we're going to Houlton. She can always find us and take us by surprise."
"Which is why I'll take care of her and her people."
"I... I have to be there. I need to know."
George sighed.
"Lynn's not back yet?" asked Luan.
"Neither is Vonda," said George.
"Should we look for them?"
"We don't even know where they are. It's better we stay put."
"Who even told them they could leave?" asked Lori.
"Hey, you know them," said David. "I didn't make 'em go anywhere. But they go off on their own. Especially Vonda."
Lori groaned. She was upset, but she understood how Lynn could get when she grieved.
"And no one knows which direction they went?" asked Lori.
None of the group members said anything. No one paid attention to them.
"Oh, I think I see 'em," said Luna.
A shadow in the trees moved. However, the figure was too tall to be either girl.
"Wait..."
"That's not them," said Lori, grabbing her rifle.
David and George grabbed their pistols as Richard reached for his revolver. However, Richard couldn't grip the revolver properly, causing him to drop it as he pulled it out.
The figure then disappeared into the trees.
"We got a runner," said George.
David and George ran into the woods as they held their pistols. The former took out his flashlight and pointed it at the trees before a shot was fired at them, causing the two of them to duck.
"Shit."
David fired into the woods, trying to hit the shadowy figure. However, the woods was just getting too dark for him to see, even with the flashlight pointed at the trees.
"That looked like John."
"How the hell did you see anything?" asked David.
"The chain around his neck reflected the light. It's him."
David and George carefully approached the trees in the woods. They entered the woods, taking cover behind some trees.
John panted as he continued running ahead. However, he kept tripping and stumbling as he was not using a flashlight to avoid getting spotted. He then took out his walkie-talkie.
"Yo, you motherfuckers. Get the fuckin' van ready. I'm getting fucking chased!"
"This stupid asshole..." muttered Andrew from the other line.
"Shut the fuck up! This was your idea!"
"Alright, quit crying. Where the fuck are you?"
"I'm-"
As soon as John heard a branch crack he quickly turned to his left and fired off a couple shots, hitting a tree close to him. He panted and looked back, seeing David and George pointing the flashlight at his direction. However, the light couldn't reach him as the trees were in the way, but they knew where to find him.
"Yo. John?"
John pushed his way through the trees, shoving them as he ran through the woods. He then ran onto a road, which was empty and showed no signs of life except the trail of shoeprints he left there. He took out his walkie-talkie.
"Fuck. Meet me at that CVS. I'm gonna cut through-"
An arrow flew through the air and pierced John through his abdomen. He screamed before a second arrow followed and pierced him through his left lung, forcing him to cough out blood before he collapsed to the ground.
"Don't tell me you got fucked."
Lynn and Vonda came out from the trees across the road and looked around. They then walked into the road.
"We'll be at the CVS. If you ain't there in fifteen minutes, we're fucking out of there."
Blood seeped out of John's lips as he tried to reach for his walkie-talkie on the asphalt. He then eyed Lynn as she walked over to him.
"That's what you get for what you did to Francisco," said Lynn.
John spat out some blood, which ended back into his mouth. He then gurgled the blood before becoming motionless.
Vonda stared at him, feeling a sense of remorse for letting him suffer. She then pulled out her arrow as Lynn took out her arrow as well.
David and George came out of the woods, causing both Vonda and Lynn to aim their bows at them. However, as soon as they recognized each other, all four lowered their weapons.
"I know where the others are," said Vonda.
"Where's it at?" asked George.
"Come on. It'll be faster to get there by car."
The four survivors ran back into the trees by the gas station. As Lynn took one last look back, he saw a few roamers coming out from the other side of the road. They lowered themselves before ripping apart John's body.
Lynn smiled before feeling a wave of sorrow and guilt wash over her. She thought about Francisco and the way he was torn up by roamers. She let out a deep breath and continued running back to the gas station.
The group members were inside the RV as Lori and a few others had their weapons up. They looked around in the darkness of the trees, unable to tell if there were more stalkers nearby.
Then, David, George, Vonda, and Lynn came out of the trees.
"Everyone get inside their vehicles!" yelled David.
The group members entered their respective vehicles. The engine in Chunk's van, Vanzilla, Chaz's car, and the RV roared as they drove ahead into the road.
Sherry looked at the time in her watch. She sighed as she sat on the edge of the back of the van.
"Can't believe that asshole got spotted," said Doug.
"He can't do nothing right," said Andrew angrily. "Now he's fucked up our one chance to get 'em."
"Relax, guys," said Sherry. "We're gonna have another chance."
"Look how close we are to fucking Diamond Point. There ain't gon' be another chance!"
"Andrew... I promise you..."
Sherry pulled out her M1911 pistol.
"We won't touch Diamond Point until all but one are dead. And I fully intend to keep that promise to you. But if you ever raise your voice at me like that again, I promise you'll regret it."
Andrew grit his teeth and then nodded.
"I'm sorry, ma'am."
"There ya go. How many minutes we got left?"
"Five."
"Your brother's never been a fast runner, huh?"
"No, ma'am. I'm telling you-"
"Wait."
Sherry remained still as she stared ahead. She heard a humming sound becoming louder and louder. Her eyes then widened as she realized it was the sound of multiple engines.
"Shit. Fucking shit."
Sherry moved her legs inside. Andrew, who still had his legs hanging from the edge was confused.
"Get the fuck in."
Andrew moved his legs inside before Sherry shut the back doors. He then realized what terrified his boss.
In the distance were the four vehicles that they kept seeing over and over again.
"Doug, drive!" shouted Sherry.
The headlights turned on for the van as it then steered off the parking lot of the CVS and into the road.
"Here we go," whispered David.
The four vehicles pursued the van, just as a few roamers crossed the road. However, Doug steered by them, causing Sherry and Andrew to be tossed around, prompting them to grab onto something.
The RV then crashed into the roamers and ran over them, killing them. However, this did not cause the RV to slow down. In fact, it was only speeding up.
However, it was too slow to catch up to the van. That is, until Sergei raced his car forward, similar to when he chased George. It was much faster than the other cars and was easily catching up to the van.
"They're catching up to us!" exclaimed Andrew.
"I know!" shouted Doug.
"Go faster!"
"I can't! Fucking shoot 'em or something!"
Sherry opened up the rear door of the van and took out her pistol.
Andrew grabbed his UZI and aimed at Sergei.
"Watch out!" yelled Carol.
Sergei steered the car to the side, putting himself in the line of fire as Andrew fired off his submachine gun. However, the bullets were unable to hit Sergei, only breaking glass, damaging metal, and popping rubber tires.
"Blyat!"
Carol kept her head low as Sergei steered the car off the road, while braking. The car burned rubber before sending dirt flying into the air. As it slowed down, it bumped into a tree, causing it to stop completely.
The three vehicles passed by Sergei's car, continuing to chase after the van.
"Oh my god are they alright?" asked Lori.
Bobby looked out the window and saw Carol stumbling out of the car. He looked back at Lori and nodded.
"Yeah," he said.
David grabbed his walkie-talkie.
"Sergei, you alright?" asked David.
Sherry tried firing her pistol at the RV, though the bullets simply bounced off the RV.
Sergei came out of the car holding his M4 assault rifle. He aimed carefully into the iron sights and then fired off a burst of shots.
"Fuck!" shouted Sherry.
The bullets flew into the van, flying over Sherry and Andrew as they ducked. It struck the front windshield, Doug to flinch. He then began to steer the van in a zigzag pattern as Sherry and Andrew closed the back doors.
Sergei continued to fire his rifle as the van got smaller and smaller. Although more of his bullets were missing, some were able to hit the van. Then one struck a front wheel, causing smoke to burst out of the wheel as sparks were then produced.
Doug tried to turn the van, but the friction from the flat tire caused the van to drive off-road uncontrollably.
"Brace yourselves!" yelled Doug.
The van drove head on to a tree and crashed into it, creating a loud boom. The van bounced and turned, its front side now facing the approaching vehicles.
"Oh my god..." whispered Carol, taking out a pistol.
The vehicles slowed down as the headlights from the RV beamed into the van. It revealed the front seats and the mangled body sitting in the driver's seat.
"Ah, fuck..." groaned Sherry, clutching her dislocated shoulder. "You alright, guys?"
Andrew's left elbow twisted unnaturally, tearing his skin. He was gritting his teeth tightly, before screaming in pain.
Sherry panted heavily as she looked out the front windshield, seeing David and a few of his group members come out of their vehicles. She then looked at Andrew and saw blood leaking from his head.
"Shit..."
The front bumper of the car was completely wrecked. Lori looked at what the headlights revealed. On the inflated airbag was Doug, with his neck dislocated and his face unrecognizable. She felt shivers through her arms as she continued to walk towards the van, her rifle aimed at it.
David and George continued to walk to the back of the van, ready to flank the Piranhas. However, upon arriving there, they saw the doors open and no one inside the van.
"The hell?" muttered David.
George pointed his flashlight at the ground and saw drops of blood that led to the woods.
"That way," said George.
David and George entered the woods with Lori and Richard behind them pointing their flashlights in the direction of the blood trail. They saw footprints in the dirt and continued following it.
Lincoln held his pistol as he ran over to the van. He then stopped and looked as Lori continued pushing deeper into the woods. Becky, Dana, and Wavehead chased after them. Luna, Sam, Benny, and Lynn were right behind them.
Vonda ran after them too, though Lincoln grabbed her arm.
"Wait, it's unsafe," said Lincoln.
"Don't care," said Vonda. "I have to stop her."
Vonda shoved her arm away and continued running ahead.
D sighed as he remained standing by the door of the RV. He didn't need a crutch to move around, but he couldn't run like the others. The gunshot wound on his leg was still healing.
"Do we follow 'em?" asked Rusty.
"No," said Lincoln. "Everyone get inside Vanzilla."
"Why not the RV?"
"Do you want to stare at that dead Piranha?"
"Ah. True that."
Sergei and Carol ran over the vehicles.
"Where... did they go?" asked Sergei.
"Over there," said Lincoln.
"Anyone hurt?" asked Carol.
"No," said Lincoln.
"Alright. Stay still. We'll be back."
Sergei and Carol ran into the woods.
Night replaced dusk.
The roamers crossed another road and walked into the woods, at the direction of where they heard the gunshots. They roamed around and heard the hooting of an owl, which echoed across the woods. Some of the roamers dispersed, some headed in the direction of the vehicles and some in the direction of the blood trail.
David and George continued moving along the woods, this time slower. There were less drops of blood, though the footprints did not recede. Then, they heard a growl.
"Watch out!" gasped George.
David sent his knife to the left, dispatching a roamer that got too close to him.
Richard then pointed the flashlight at the roamer, seeing blood seeping out its skull.
"Shit," whispered Richard, holding his Python with his left hand.
Gunshots then went off behind the four survivors. However, they were coming in the direction of the flashlights moving around, not the trail they were following.
"Did they find 'em?" asked Richard.
"I don't know, let's find out," said Lori.
"I'm going to stay on the trail," said George.
David nodded as he, Richard, and Lori backtracked.
"Don't let them get too close!" exclaimed Becky.
Dana fired her gun at a nearby roamer, causing it to fall in front of her.
Sam fired her pistol too, killing another roamer.
Benny swung his katana, slicing a roamer's head in half.
"None of you brought your knives?" asked Benny.
"No," panted Becky, firing her pistol.
"We have to go back to the vehicles," said Wavehead. "There's too many roamers in here and I can't see shit!"
"Stop moving the flashlight around so much then!" growled Lynn.
Lynn swung her bow, hitting a roamer in the face while Vonda fired her arrow at a roamer, hitting it in the neck.
Luna swung the butt of her rifle onto a roamer, causing it to fall down. The group members were dispersing like the roamers earlier and their flashlights were moving around too chaotically to get a sense of where they were.
Sergei lifted his gun up, though he couldn't tell who to fire on as some of the figures moving in the woods were holding flashlights while others were shadowy.
A roamer then raised its arm and reached for him before Carol kicked it away.
The shrubs and twigs snapped as Becky and Dana backed away from the roamers. Wavehead fired a couple more times, killing a few more roamers before running out of ammo.
"Where are all these roamers coming from?" asked Dana.
"Guys, where's everyone else?" asked Wavehead.
Lori fired her rifle at a few roamers closing in on Lynn and Vonda.
Richard smacked his revolver on a roamer approaching Benny from the back.
David fired his pistol that was about to attack Sam.
More gunshots continued to go off, though the amount of roamers didn't seem to lessen.
"Fuck," muttered David. "That fucking herd we saw the first time we were here must've left remnants."
"Yeah," panted Lori. "A lot of us need to go back to the vehicles. It's too hectic here!"
Sam grunted as a roamer grabbed her hair from the back. She dropped her flashlight and gasped loudly as the roamer pulled her back.
"Sam!" yelled Luna.
Richard fired his revolver, hitting the roamer in the arm.
More flashlights dropped as group members began to run away from the roamers.
George continued to follow the footprints before noticing that they diverged. One continued moving forward and one seemed to turn around in the direction of the chaos going on behind him. He looked at the moving flashlights.
He then ducked as bullets flew past him. He grunted and took cover behind a tree.
"Guys!" exclaimed George. "Stop firing wildly! You're gonna hit each other!"
David nodded.
"You heard him," said David. "Hands off the trigger and hit 'em with the guns instead."
Lori grabbed her rifle by the barrel and smacked a roamer with the butt of her rifle.
After the gunfire disappeared, George sighed and then turned around before being smacked across the face with a submachine gun.
Lori backed away before a roamer grabbed her from behind. She quickly turned around and smacked it with her rifle. A pair of hands then wrapped around her mouth as she was dragged away from the group. She tried yelling, but the hand muffled her screams.
"Everyone, we need to head back to the vehicles!" exclaimed David.
"Where's Becky?" asked Sam.
"Right here!" panted Becky as she tossed a roamer to the ground before stomping its skull. "Let's go!"
David shined the flashlight down at the ground, this time going in the opposite direction of the footprints. The rest of the group followed him.
Meanwhile, Lori tried to scream out for them before being shoved into a tree. She grunted and tried to regain her balance before her neck was being choked by her attacker's arms. She gagged as she raised her arm, trying to reach for the disappearing group members.
George quickly picked himself up before seeing the submachine gun being swung at him again. However, he dodged it this time and grabbed his attacker's arm. He was then inches away from his attacker's face and saw who just attempted to kill him.
"Get off!" grunted Andrew.
George punched Andrew in the nose, causing him to yell out and drop his gun.
Andrew fell to the ground and clutched his abdomen, which was bleeding. He then turned around and tried crawling away before George stepped on the back of his right leg, causing him to gasp out in pain.
"Tell me..." panted George, aiming his gun at him, "...what did my family do to deserve getting shot by a lowlife?"
"I was just following orders!" groaned Andrew.
A roamer growled as it approached George.
"Yeah," said George. "Just following orders. Piece of shit."
The roamer lunged towards George, but he quickly dodged the roamer and moved behind it. He grabbed its arms and back of its neck and threw the roamer down at Andrew.
Andrew screamed as the roamer bit hard into his scalp, tearing it apart. Blood seeped down his head before the roamer dug its nail into his eyes, causing him to scream even louder. His eyeballs burst apart as the roamer continued digging deeper.
George sighed before David and the others approached him.
"Jesus," said David.
Vonda looked at Andrew with fright. She quickly looked away and saw George follow the footprints in a different direction. To not get left behind, she quickly followed the group, doing her best to not look back at Andrew.
Lori let out a gasp as her arms lowered.
"I should've killed your entire group back in the bridge. I was too easy on you guys," hissed Sherry. "Remember that day? Jesus, what a pussy you were, Lori."
She then heard a growl before Lori kicked back, hitting Sherry's shin.
Sherry yelped before releasing Lori.
Lori turned around and swung her rifle at a roamer lunging at her. She was then punched across the face by Sherry.
It was dark, and before she knew it, her face received another blow. And another. And another.
Blood and saliva flew across Lori's face as she grew more disorientated. She collapsed to the ground before Sherry grabbed a roamer and tossed it at her.
Lori's eyes widened as the roamer fell on top of her.
Sherry panted as she ran away, headed back for Andrew.
After a few seconds, she made it out the woods and into a field by a lake. She grabbed her leg and groaned before seeing a flashlight shine on her face.
"Turn off the flashlight, you son of a-"
Her eyes popped open as she saw George aiming a pistol at her. She turned around and tried to make a run for it before George shot her in the leg, causing her to fall down.
"Ow! Fuck."
Sherry turned around and tried crawling back, seeing George and the others jog towards her. She reached for her pistol and tried pointing it at George before he stomped on her arm, causing her to release the pistol.
Vonda quickly picked up the pistol, seeing it out of ammo.
Richard aimed his revolver at her head.
"Wait," said George.
"Why? We can't let this bitch live any second longer!" growled Richard.
"I want to ask her something," said Vonda.
"Alright. Make it quick, then."
Vonda looked down at Sherry.
Sherry looked back at Vonda with fear in her eyes.
"Was it... all a lie?" asked Vonda.
"What... what was?" asked Sherry.
"Everything you told me. About my dad. About caring about me."
"No, no, it was all true."
"Then... when I gave you one last chance... why didn't you take it?"
"Vonda..."
"You never loved me, did you?"
"I did. I still do. No matter what happens, that's not gonna change. I promise... if you give me another chance, I'll take it. I'll give up. I'll be your prisoner. Or you can just leave me here. Just... please..."
"No, I'm done giving you chances."
"Vonda, I'm your mother!"
"You're not my mother. I don't know who you are."
Sherry teared up. She then looked as Vonda turned away from her. She tried to say more, but another word would not come out.
Vonda turned towards George, who looked back at her with sympathetic eyes. She then gave a soft nod.
George quickly turned towards Sherry and pulled the trigger.
The loud gunshot resounded throughout the woods, some birds to fly away.
A teardrop rolled down Vonda's face as she closed her eyes.
Richard lowered his Python and stared at George with a look of betrayal. He then swallowed hard, upset he wasn't able to kill Sherry himself. However, he said nothing and holstered his revolver.
Vonda opened her eyes and saw Lori standing outside of the woods with dark blood all over her tank top and blood leaking from the cuts and bruises on her face.
"It's over now, right?" asked Lori.
Dana holstered her gun while Becky continued to hold hers out. They thought about their late friend Tad.
Sergei passed over a flashlight to Wavehead while Carol shined her small one on Lori's face. Wavehead wondered how D would react to the news of Sherry's death.
Benny placed his sword back into its sheath and David placed his knife back into his pocket. Benny closed his eyes, able to regain some peace.
Luna and Lynn hugged each other while Sam stood next to Richard and watched. The sisters not only hugged for Lucy, but for Chunk and Francisco as well.
"Yeah," said David.
Lori turned around and went back into the woods. The rest of the group followed her, following the footprints back to the vehicles.
Before Vonda went into the woods, she looked back and saw Sherry's body in the grass. She then looked up to see the stars shining over Lake George.
Tears flowed out of her eyes. She has always felt like an orphan ever since the world succumbed to the roamers, but now, she truly knew she was one.
George placed his hand on Vonda's shoulder.
"Let's go," he whispered.
Vonda nodded and turned around, walking with George as they entered the woods.
None of them felt like justice was achieved.
-Two Years Later-
The woman made it across the debris. Some of the debris sunk into the water since the woman's weight forced it further into the flowing water.
She encountered a set of clothes: a choker, a small shirt that would expose a waist, blue jeans, black boots, and a hoop earring.
"Well, I'll be damned. This looks very familiar."
The low rumbling noise grew increasingly louder.
The woman looked behind her. However, there was nothing but damaged skyscrapers and dust in the air.
She took a deep breath and continued to walk to where she was headed. She coughed softly and sniffled as she looked around. No one was around, but she still felt like checking, just for a sense of normality.
Lori walked away from the river with debris as she placed the map back into her safari vest. She sniffled, wondering when she will get to see her three deceased sisters again.
End Credit Song
Mt. Washington - Local Natives
And that wraps up the Piranhas arc! The next arc is something that will come as a surprise to most of y'all or maybe I've been leaving too many hints for it. Maybe I didn't leave any. Anyway, the mood grows grim in the next few chapters as supplies run low and the group are faced with conflicts, both internal and external, that challenges everyone's morals. See you in the next chapter! As always, don't forget to follow this story and leave a review if you enjoyed! Peace!