II - Aftermath
The storm raged on earlier in the day. Luna and Sam limped to the prison bus in the road. Kotaro treated the wounds on their feet as Ted drove the bus away.
Luna asked Kotaro where her siblings were. He said he didn't know. Ted added that they should all be in Washington in a matter of weeks.
Not all of them, thought Luna.
Sam reached into her backpack and pulled out a cassette player. Even after she took a hit from a mortar strike, the cassette player and the tapes survived the blast. The tapes were her own tapes, since Tim's tapes were back in the RV inside Vonda's bag.
Sam placed a tape inside the cassette tape, which would play one of her favorite songs. She placed one of her earbuds in her right ear while placing the other in Luna's left ear. She pressed a button, now playing the classic song from The Who, "Behind Blue Eyes."
Luna looked out the windows, sighing. She always pretended she was a part of a somber music video when it rained, but now she was in no music video.
Lily looked out the booth windows of the RV and saw the passing trees and the rain splashing against the road. She sighed and looked back inside. She looked around, unable to find any of her siblings other than Lana.
Vonda looked at her father's tapes while sitting next to George in the passenger seats. In the sofa sat a boy, about Lana's age, and his father. The boy, Simon Weber, seemed unmoved by what just occurred and was just scribbling on a crossword puzzle.
David continued driving the gang away from the town, aiming for their new destination.
In a different prison bus, surrounded by other buses, Dr. Feinstein was driving his passengers down Route 95. Some of these passengers included Jace, Preston, and Jeffrey. In another bus, a driver carried Dr. White, Carol, Zoey, Lisa, and Clyde.
Carol looked down at her fussing baby. She rocked her softly, as she looked out the windows. The thunder continued to rumble.
Jeffrey trembled as lightning crackled across the sky. Preston knelt down by his side and attempted to calm him down, but the raindrops were only making his flashbacks worse.
The modern RV drove through the rain. Inside the vehicle were three young adults and a teen. The driver, Hana, had Reiji tied to the passenger seat. Bobby, Benny, and Becky all sat in the couches in the back of the RV. Kimi leaped to Benny's lap and lied there, deciding that it would be the right time to take a peaceful nap.
After an hour, the group made a stop by the truck wreckage in the side of the road. The group came out of the RV, with Kimi following Benny instead of Hana since she was scared of her new companion, Reiji. The putrid fluids oozing out of its flesh was enough to make any living being with a nose stay away from Hana.
The roamer quickly became tame when Hana cut off its mouth after it devoured Oliver Jett. With no nails and no teeth, it was impossible for the roamer to infect someone, unless someone deliberately consumed its fluids. Even the roamer knew that no sane person would do that, or at least the virus/parasite controlling its brain. So with no way to attack anyone, the roamer had abandoned its aggressive nature for a docile one.
Benny wiped the rain from his mustache and growing stubble. He shook his head and looked at Bobby who allowed the rain to pour down his face. Becky ignored the rain, except when it caused her hair to drop down to her eyes.
After a few minutes, the group arrived at the main base in Spednic Lake. The mud in their shoes proved that they made a difficult walk through the woods to get to the entrance gates.
"Look," said Becky. "Something happened here."
"Yeah, this base got blown to hell," said Benny. "I wonder who did this?"
"Couldn't be Black. He brought all his firepower to the town for invasion. This was someone else. Smells like napalm."
"Doesn't smell like victory, though," said Benny. "What are we doing here anyways?"
"Loot," said Hana. "Weapon. Ammo. Medicine."
"What she said," stated Becky. "Anything that's left over, take it. Anyone that's left… kill them."
Becky opened the entrance gate, leading Hana, Bobby, and Benny inside the base. With her green eyes, she looked around the base, then back at her group members. Hana closed her eyes as her pet roamer stood next to her. Bobby's head was lowered as he wasn't paying attention to anything. The petroleum smell and smoke didn't faze him at all. Benny had his thousand-yard stare, looking past the wrecked helicopters, melted armory, smoked vehicles, and craters in the ground.
Becky closed her eyes and allowed her tears to join the raindrops on her face. This time not for Chaz, not for Tad, not for D, not for Dana. This time for Leni.
The thunder rumbled softer and less frequently as time passed by. The rain, however, would continued to pour into the destroyed town of Houlton.
Haley sniffled and cried softly as she sat on the narrow walkway in the sewers, a dying flashlight by her legs. The sewage flowed around in a single direction as the rainwater continued to pour down the storm drains.
She placed her fingers over Lynn's shoulders and peered at the wound. It was too dark to figure out how bad the wound was, but she knew where it was.
Then, a beam of light lit up the sewer tunnels. Haley covered her eyes with her arms and flinched away from the light. A few clicks and snaps were heard as the beam of light grew stronger.
Haley slowly turned towards the light and raised her eyes as she found new survivors. At least new survivors to her.
"Well, this is unexpected," said the man holding the flashlight.
"Wha– who are you?" asked Haley.
"Care to explain who you are first?" asked the man.
"I'm… Haley Jennings. I–I'm a nurse… the best damn nurse in Halifax, I've been told."
"Nice to meet you, Haley Jennings," said the man, revealing himself as the other men moved their lanterns close to him. "My name is Waylon Prasad. This is my wife, Kavya. Looks like you got yourself a problem with your friend down there."
"Yeah, do you guys have any antibiotics for Lynn? I–I don't know if any of you have benzylpenicillin…"
"Do you know who we are? She treated one of yours from pneumonia!"
"I… actually don't have any idea who you people are. Can you please just tell me if you have medicine?"
"More than just medicine," said Kavya. "Benzylpenicillin you said? Najjad, give me your lantern."
Najjad passed down his lantern to Kavya who placed it down the walkway as she knelt down to Lynn. Her shoulders continued bleeding, though she grabbed a rag from her medical bag and pressed it against the wound. Then, she placed her fingers on her collarbone and moved around it, eventually making it to the wound where she felt a fracture.
"We are gonna have to fix that," she said. "Fracture in the collarbone."
Kavya took out a syringe and a bottle of antibiotics before lifting up Lynn's coat. There was a vest inside, one that stopped the .308 Winchester bullet that Luna fired.
"This is good," said Kavya. "Did she get stabbed with something?"
"Yeah, a katana to the shoulder."
Kavya took off Lynn's vest and slowly lied her down the walkway.
"You said you are nurse? Take this. Inject it in her."
Haley nodded. Waylon looked at the water pouring down the manhole cover and storm drains. Then he looked up.
"We're the people that your leader, Lori Loud, spent time with," said Waylon. "Well, I suppose no one in this town ever seen us except David, Becky, Luan, and Hana."
"Oh, you're the leader of the subway people," said Haley. "I'm sorry, was the name– oh god."
"It's alright. Since we're called that, might as well embrace that name! Subway People. I like that. It has a ring to it, even though we're not necessarily in a subway now."
Haley injected the syringe into Lynn's arms. Kavya dug her forceps into Lynn's shoulders, repairing the ruptures veins in her shoulders.
"How is it up there?" asked Waylon.
"Blown to shit," said Haley. "Bodies everywhere. Most of them with holes in 'em. Hey, can you check the prisons for me? I think… there might be someone in there."
"That's a strange way to thank us for saving your friend," said Waylon.
"I'm sorry, it's just… everyone in this town went through hell."
"No problem, I'll check it out. Najjad, Joshua, Jax! With me. The rest of you, make sure this place stays secure."
Waylon climbed up the stairs and lifted the manhole cover out of the way. As he got out, he found bodies rising in the once thriving community. He quickly got up and took cover behind the ATC tower with Najjad, Joshua, and Jax. He took out two katars, while Najjad and Joshua used their gunong daggers. Jax held a large axe, suiting his larger size.
They spotted their target, a roamer that began approaching them. It was a turned-Rusty who had wounds all over its body. Waylon quickly stabbed his knife into its head before pulling it out quickly, leaving the body standing for a second before gravity dragged it down to the floor. They found more roamers nearby, but they kept their focus on the prisons.
"...people croaked as soon as they were bit by the uglies… I took out all the roamers that tried to kill me. People got shot while I dodged every single bullet. And then this happens. I, Ronalda Anne Santiago, will die to rain."
She chuckled to herself as the water began rising to her chin.
"Oh… it's like I got tough for nothing, right? If the water doesn't kill me… the lack of air will. Oh, Liam and Zach. I know you guys are gonna laugh at me… lived out two whole years in this apocalypse, and then die to water? 'How do people drown, just drink the water,' as Rusty's dumbass would say. At least Rusty gets to live. I saved a life, just like Tabby. Except Jenny died a couple days after. Rusty, you better not die! Oh, I'll be pissed."
The water then began to reach her lips.
"Oh shit! Someone! Please… help…. HELP! Ugh… no one's… coming."
Ronnie Anne struggled to lift the debris out of her head. It barely budged. Then she strained her voice and lifted herself up with her back against the debris. The debris moved.
Suddenly, the debris was lifted up completely, just as Ronnie Anne spit out a mouthful of water.
"What the-?" gasped Ronnie Anne.
"If Joshua decided to tie his shoes once more… you would've been gone," said Waylon. "Let's get you outta there."
Waylon stood on the crumbled roof of Unit C, and he knelt down to lift Ronnie Anne out of the flooding cell.
"Who the hell are you guys?" groaned Ronnie Anne as she stretched out her back.
"Jesus, is everyone in this town lack gratitude?" chuckled Waylon. "Who are you?"
"I asked you first," said Ronnie Anne.
Waylon chuckled.
"I'm Waylon Prasad. This is Najjad, Joshua, and Jax. Now, I just saved your life, so I expect you to be polite to a certain degree, understand?"
"Okay. I'm Ronnie Anne."
"There you go! C'mon. Let's go, Ronnie Anne. Haley is waiting for you down in the sewers."
"Excuse me? Sewers? Look I don't even know what the fuck just happened in this town so explain to me why you guys are here instead of my friends and family."
"We're trying to figure that out too," said Waylon. "You're lucky to survive. And Lynn will be too."
The RV kept on driving ahead in the rain with no other survivors in sight except the ones that were inside the vehicle.
Lily looked at the driver. She clutched her older sister's arm and tried to hide herself behind her.
"What's wrong, Lily?" whispered Lana.
"That man. I dunno that man."
"You mean David? Sure you do. You just don't remember him 'cause you were still a baby."
"Do Lori know… David?"
"Yeah. They're like… close friends, I think? Or just someone she looks up to? Like a father figure. Nah, I doubt Lori got over what happened to Dad."
Lily continued to act timidly.
"Lily, don't worry! Your big sister Lana is still here for you! See this?"
Lana grabbed her AK74-US.
"I can protect you with this. But only I get to touch it. Don't touch it when I'm not around, got it?"
Lily nodded. Lana smiled and placed the gun on top of the table, the barrel facing away from everyone else.
"Hey, George," called out Lana. "Did Sergei take a bus or something? I need to ask him what ammo goes in this thing. Unless you know."
"Lana… you don't know?" replied George.
"Duh, of course not. No one told me that guns used different kinds of bullets."
"That's not what he was talking about," said Vonda faintly.
"Then, what are you talking about, George?"
George cleared his throat. He looked at the gun in the table before lowering his head, thinking about easy ways to give the news.
"Sergei died in battle."
Lana gasped softly as she glanced back at her gun. She then looked outside in the rain.
"I didn't get to see most of the battle thanks to my big brother. Who else died?"
"I don't know how to tell you this… but your sister Lynn…" said George, his voice breaking.
"What about her?" exclaimed Lana her heart racing. "Don't tell me she died! I asked you who died! Don't tell me she did!"
"Black sliced her shoulder with a katana. Then…"
George couldn't even reveal who sealed her fate. She didn't want Lana to know. She didn't want her to know that Luna put the final nail in Lynn's coffin.
"She must have bled out," said George.
"Are you sure about that?" asked Lana. "I didn't see her anywhere! There was no body!"
"It's possible that someone could've saved her," said David. "Keep your hopes high, Lana. Lynn's a tough girl. The sword didn't cut her shoulder all the way through. She can survive that."
"What about Lincoln? Or Lori? Or any of my other sisters?"
"I don't know," said David. "I truly don't know."
In one of the prison buses, the mood grew more sorrowful as the rain continued to pour down. The skies darkened and the air cooled.
Clyde looked at his healthy leg then compared it to his bionic leg. He grew a lot in two years, but he almost didn't notice. His right leg was much longer than the metal leg he had. In the past few months, no one commented on his stumbles, since they thought it was something he was used to.
"Hey, Lisa?" asked Clyde. "You think you can make my robotic prosthetic longer? It's starting to feel uncomfortable."
"I know I can increase its length. There must be a spare container of scrap metal in the back of the bus somewhere."
"I got it," said Dr. White. "I was just trying something out… here you go."
The doctor handed Lisa the box of scrap metal. She knelt down and lifted Clyde's pant sleeves before taking out a ruler, protractor, and calibrator of her own. Then, she took out a small tool that sparked blue flames.
"Hey, what is that?" asked Clyde nervously.
"Welding tool," said Lisa as she began welding the metal with the leg. "Don't be in a state of concern. I constructed it myself with attention to precautionary measures. You shouldn't feel the warmth unless the flame is in contact with your skin tissues."
"Uhhh, fire is scary," said Clyde. "I'm going to stay worried."
"Then stay worried," said Lisa. "I completed extending the length."
"What? That fast? Gee, Lisa, you're amazing!"
"Or so I've been commented upon before," said Lisa. "Can you still peanuts-?"
Carol's baby began bawling as loud as she could. Carol sighed and rocked her softly to no avail. It's cries felt as if it could shatter the windows in the bus.
"What's with the blubbering?" asked Lisa.
"She's hungry," said Carol. "...I'm hungry too. My chest is hurting."
Zoey's cries continued to pierce through the survivors' ears. The mood grew more desperate as Lisa tried to look around for something to calm down the baby.
"Thank goodness we're not in the wilderness," said Lisa. "Unfortunate soul would have no idea that her deafening cries would result in our untimely deaths."
"What do we do?" asked Clyde.
"We have to look for food," said Dr. White. "Driver! Can you change your course for a little? Find the nearest town! There's gotta be formula somewhere, or at least some food so Carol can replenish her energy and her fluids."
Lisa sighed. She looked at Zoey before quickly taking an aspirin tablet when no eyes set upon her.
A few drops of rain dripped from the leveled ceiling. The sunlight passed through the window. A gust of wind blew into the cracks in the wall.
Lynn gasped and screamed as she peeled her eyes open and leaped out of her bed.
"Woah, woah! Chill!" exclaimed Haley, holding Lynn down in the bed.
"Where is he? WHERE!" hissed Lynn.
"Easy there. No one's here, 'cept the subway people."
"Who?" asked Lynn.
"The people Lori stayed with for a month."
"Also the people who saved you," said Waylon, coming inside the demolished infirmary building with his wife. "Nice to meet you, Lynn Loud. I'm Waylon Prasad. And this is Kavya, my wife, and the woman who saved your life."
Lynn looked around. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the sunny light inside of what remained of the infirmary room.
"What happened here?" she asked.
"It'll take a while to explain," said Haley. "For now, I gotta replace your bandage. Good morning, Lynn. You survived."
"Ohh, my head hurts," said Lynn, falling back down on her pillows.
The morning sun and the rainbow in the sky mocked the inner torment that Ronnie Anne faced. The wheels in her skateboard passed by the powder and pebbles that lied on the runway.
"Hey, where ya going?" shouted Joshua.
Ronnie Anne ignored him. She continued to skate towards the prison, feeling more disgusted the more bodies she found lying on the ground. Then, she found Rusty and his father, both in the ground. One has turned before being killed off, while the other had no golden eyes.
Ronnie Anne quickly leaped from her skateboard and covered her mouth as tears bubbled in her eyes. She then clenched her first.
"Fuckin' ginger. Shoulda' taken the gun… now what am I supposed to tell Lincoln?"
She knelt down.
"I'm sorry this happened to you, Rusty."
She placed her front foot on the skateboard and pushed it with her back foot, skating away from the ATC tower and towards the infirmary building.
Haley wrapped an arm sling around Lynn's shoulder after checking her eyes and muscles.
"You have a very special kind of body," said Haley. "It's only been a day, and you're not showing any signs of infection, internal bleeding, and fatigue."
"Unlike some of the other kids, I actually exercised," said Lynn. "Been doin' it since I was born."
"Played a lotta sports too, right?" asked Haley. "What made you stop?"
"How'd you know that?"
"Your bone calluses. You had quite a number of them. And that's just on your collarbone."
"Well, I did. In fact, I loved sports… which is an understatement by the way. But then… I had a friend. His name was Francisco. He was such an awesome guy and probably one of the only dudes to able to compete with me in sports. He was a little hot-headed… kinda like me. I thought he and I were gonna beat this world… but it beat him. The roamers didn't get him… until he was shot in the head. And I watched 'em eat him 'till he was no more."
Lynn looked over at the quiver at the side of the room.
"Can you get that for me?"
Haley nodded and handed over the quiver after retrieving it. Lynn lifted the quiver up and looked at the bottom pocket shaped like a sack. She zipped it open and hesitated before placing her hand inside. She pulled out the baseball, the same baseball that was given to her by Lincoln to remember Francisco.
"No one played sports like he did. I loved him… just as I loved sports."
Haley lowered her head. She stood up and teared up as she was reminded of her father who loved watching his favorite NHL team driving a puck around. She then walked out the room, finding Waylon sitting in the damp sofa with his wife.
"Can you take us to Augusta?" asked Haley. "Take us to the subway station. Please."
"No can do," said Waylon. "Safe as it sounds, there's been a large presence that we've been fearing. We lost a man after he warned us about soldiers marching into the city. We left after that."
"If it's not safe there then where can we go?" asked Haley.
"Go where everyone else went," said Kavya.
"I don't know where everyone else went! Washington is too far… and I don't even know where the hell Royal Woods is! Lori said Michigan, but I don't know where that is!"
"You… don't know where Michigan is?" stammered Waylon.
"I'm Canadian, okay? Just… I'm going to Washington. I'll find Steven there. Maybe Carol and Lisa as well."
"Scientists they are, right? Lori told me about them. Go save the world, Haley. But you can't fix it. I'll be outta your hair now."
Waylon stood up and left with his wife. Haley walked back inside the room and helped Lynn to her feet.
As Haley and Lynn exited the infirmary building, they saw Ronnie Anne skating closer to them. She wore a backpack and was ready to leave the destroyed community.
"Where we going?" asked Lynn.
"Somewhere far away from here," said Haley. "Ronnie Anne! Come 'ere!"
Ronnie Anne stopped in her tracks and held her skateboard in her hands as she looked down at the helpless roamer. It was unable to stand up as it no arms to help it get up.
Its golden eye were staring at Ronnie Anne and its mouth were growling at her. She found an M9 in the ground by a severed limb. She picked it up and aimed it at the roamer's head before lowering it down.
Then, she picked up a Bowie knife from the ground and stood above the roamer. She remember how evil it was in its past life. He was the reason she had no family besides Bobby now. Nothing changed. It was still evil in her eyes.
She knelt down and pointed the blade at the roamer's golden eye. She placed her hand around its neck and thrusted the knife into its eye, finally finishing off the monster that destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of families– maybe even more.
Ronnie Anne passed by the Desert Eagle in the ground and walked towards Haley and Lynn, both standing by a Humvee. She opened up her empty knife holster and placed the Bowie knife inside.
"Who did you just-?" asked Lynn.
"The General," said Ronnie Anne. "Let's leave."
Haley carefully placed Lynn in the backseat of the Humvee. She put on her seatbelt and moved ahead into the driver's seat as Ronnie Anne made her way into the passenger's seat. They all looked back at the ravaged community, now inhabited by the subway people. It was the last time anyone from the group set their eyes on the community before they abandoned it. It was time to look for another home again.