You know what's one thing I'm grateful about? The patience that you guys have. You shouldn't have waited this long for a new chapter... yet you did... and I'm sorry for that. I can't blame anyone but myself, and not for the fact that I made you guys wait a while, but because I didn't have a way to give you guys a heads up. But enough of the guilt-tripping, right? Some things in life, we cannot control. So let me just blame life and promise to do better! 'Cause I'm gonna need the motivation instead of guilt to speed things up for the next chapter (which I'm so pumped for)! Wait, why am I talking about the next chapter? And why am I rambling so much? Ah, I'm just going to shut up and let y'all enjoy the chapter.
Oh, and also, even more credits to Moon5555! With his contributions to the story using the nodes in his brain, I could definitely speed things up now!
The sound of a shotgun blast followed by a thud to the floor awakened Sam. As she rose from her bed, Sam saw that her parents were already up, busily scrambling about the small room they've been staying for the past two to three days. Sam tiredly rubbed her baby blue eyes before they open widely when the gunfire from earlier suddenly resounded. The building, formerly a 5-star-hotel, converted by Canadian soldiers into a shelter for refugees, now had the unmistakable din of rifles and shotguns being fired, the noises traveling down the hallway corridors, accompanied by yells and thuds of people being gunned down, left and right.
"Amanda, we need to leave," Mr. Sharp panted, "It's too dangerous– the soldiers can't hold out for long. 'Sides, we weren't planning on staying here for long."
"Dad?" Sam exclaimed. "What's going on? Why are they shooting?"
"It's not zombies, is it?" asked Simon, his eyes widening with fear.
"No, it's not zombies," their father replied. "It's people. Bad people who are trying to hurt us. We need to leave before the soldiers are overrun."
"Erik," Mrs. Sharp said, visibly worried. "What do we do? Where do we go?"
"I know a way out. I did some construction here a while back. I know this place better than anyone, even the soldiers. Stay close. We're going home."
Sam put on her boots, grabbed her bags, and left the room with her family, her dad taking the lead, and her mom carrying Simon in a protective embrace. Erik, tall and muscular, ran ahead, using his knowledge of the building's schematics to navigate through the best route, as well as using his strength to clear a path when necessary. Meanwhile, tremors could be felt from the explosions outside, as the lights dimmed on and off, with refugees continuing to scramble in terror.
Just as the Sharps made their way to the lobby, a bunch of armed gunmen, sporting uniforms with emblems labeled 'K.H.A.N.' sewn onto their chests, burst through the front entrance, the Sharps narrowly managing to avoid running straight into their line-of-sight. Some of the Canadian soldiers managed to gun down a few of the attackers, before suddenly, a few more gunmen burst through the windows, catching the soldiers by surprise. Erik redirected his family into a hallway that lead to an alternate route. Screams could be heard from the lobby as the gunmen proceeded to mercilessly slaughter all the refugees they came across.
Meanwhile, a group of gunmen outside, armed with grenade launchers, fired a volley targeting specific areas of the building, including the hall the Sharps were currently running across.
The damage from the volley caused a part of the roof to cave in, sending a considerable pile of rubble hurtling straight towards Amanda. Spotting the falling debris, Amanda instinctively tossed her seven-year-old son out of harm's way, just before the rubble from the ceiling fell on top of her, burying the lower half of her midsection.
"AMANDA!" Erik screamed, as he quickly dashed over, making sure his son was okay, before proceeding to check on his wife. "Amanda! Amanda, no! Oh, oh my God!"
"E-Erik...? Erik, honey, I… I can't feel my legs."
Immediately Erik went to work on doing what he could to unearth the rubble that currently had his wife pinned. Sam ran towards her mom, kneeling down to her level as the alarms continued to blare outside. Sam panted quickly as tears began to bubble in her eyes. All Simon could do was simply stand by in shock.
"Mom, don't move!" Sam cried, as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Dad and I are gonna get you outta there!"
Suppressing the urge to cry out in pain, Amanda steadily extended her arm out to her only daughter, with whom she shared a striking familial resemblance with, in all but the color of their eyes.
"Sammy... don't. Even if you get me out... my legs are crushed... and my spinal cord is completely fractured... Not even a nurse such as myself would be able to patch that up alone."
Erik, still doing everything he could to free his beloved wife, suddenly heard the approaching gunfire, getting closer and closer, and realized he had to make the difficult decision; one that'd torment him to the end of his days.
Amanda moaned in agony, as a puddle of blood slowly seeped beneath her, forcing Sam to take a cautionary step back, while still clasping tightly onto her mother's hand. So many thoughts began racing through Sam's mind. Every passing second approached her mother's last; there were so many thoughts Sam had wanted to share with her, so many secrets she harbored. When she failed a math test that one time. Or when she snuck out of the house to go to a concert with Luna Loud. The fact she had a crush on Luna Loud! Sam was so scared back then, to come out to her parents, to tell them how attractive girls seemed to her over bland boys. Even now, she couldn't find it in herself to come clean. But soon, it wouldn't matter.
"Just go," said Amanda. "I love you both. I'll be watching over you…"
Erik, realizing what had to be done, gently held his wife's hand, the two sharing a knowing gaze.
"I love you, Erik… please, look out for our babies…. Samantha… Simon… don't give your father too much trouble, okay?"
Sam nodded softly before looking up, her tear dropping to the floor. Erik wiped his tears away as he let go of his wife's hand. The gunfire grew louder, so he quickly stood up and grabbed Sam.
"We need to go," he said. "I love her too, Sam. But please let her go. The others are coming."
More explosions and gunfire erupted throughout the shelter. Bodies lay on the floor as the Sharps continued to navigate through the back exit. However, the back exit was revealed to be a deathtrap as the dead began to flood through it. Erik punched one of the roamers against the wall, causing it to fall down. He then punched another infected away from his kids, before stomping it to the ground. His knuckles bled as he slammed his arms against the door, struggling to keep the dead ones from entering the building. The fire outside began to rage closer to the building, already burning the ceiling.
"Sam, come over here!" groaned Erik.
Sam quickly ran towards her father, flinching at the aggressive slams against the door.
"Go run the hallway to my left and go out through the restricted halls! Code is 2433!" groaned Erik. "Me and the guys laid some bricks in the ceiling when were constructing this building so watch your head!"
"What about you?" panted Sam. "I can't lose you too."
"You won't…" said Erik. "Please, Sam. I need you to do what I said. And when you do… don't look back. Now, GO!"
Sam proceeded to grab her brother and run down the halls, but Simon didn't want to leave his father. Erik groaned and demanded that he follow Sam, but he was frozen. The roamers pushed against the door harder and harder, prompting Erik to release it and fight them off. He kept them away from his children, punching the roamers and tackling them and shoving them away. Sam grabbed Simon and lifted him up, much to his protest.
"Let me go!" yelled Simon. "Dad! Please don't leave us!"
"Your big sister is here for you, Simon!" groaned Erik, as a smile visibly formed. "Please, don't… don't give her much trouble…!"
The roamers began to sink their teeth into his flesh, though Erik struggled to hold his screams. But the bites were too painful. He screamed, as Simon cried out for him. His screams echoed throughout the hallway, as Sam continued to carry his little brother across, squeezing her eyes shut and refusing to look back. The fire, the gunfire all continued to rage.
A couple birds squawked as they flew across the bright daylight sky. Sam wandered across the highway with her backpack in front of her while holding hands with her only living relative. Suddenly, Simon gasped and fell to his knees before Sam caught him– his face mere inches away from the hot pavement. He huffed and puffed as he closed his eyes, sweat pouring over his red cheeks from his light blonde hair.
Sam lifted him and placed him over her back, his legs sitting comfortably over her backpack. Simon was exhaling deeply as the heat removed their energy slowly. Sam looked ahead and sniffled, continuing her path ahead as there were no buildings in sight. Just miles of recluse homes and trees.
After a day or two, the two arrived at their destination, though it appeared abandoned.
"C'mon, Sammy! We're almost there!" Simon said, as the two made their way through the roamer-infested streets of Detroit, the safe-zone still many blocks away.
The younger Sharp was doing everything he could to support his big sister, whose ankle was badly twisted from during an earlier encounter with roamers in a convenience store. It was taking Sam all of her willpower to avoid collapsing right on the spot, wincing and hissing with every step she took.
Sam and Simon watched the swarm of roamers approaching ahead in the street. He quickly moved Sam to the closest car and placed her inside, closing the door.
"What… what are you doing?" groaned Sam.
"I don't know," said Simon. "I already lost Mom… and Dad… and I can't lose you too!"
Simon ran away, leading the swarm of roamers into an alleyway. Sam groaned as she tried to open the door, though her wrist prevented her from getting a good grip on the door handle. She then heard her little brother scream. The scream faded before Sam screamed inside the car, tears flowing out her eyes.
A burst of lightning thundered across the sky. Sam woke up and panted heavily as her eyes remained dry. Then, they began to water softly as she looked out the hospital window, realizing the storm hasn't let up.
"...a dream?" she murmured to herself.
"You talk in your sleep," said a voice, causing Sam to grasp her chest as she flinched back with a gasp. "You kept saying my name."
Sam found Weber standing by the door to the dark hospital room, his eyes fixated on her. She rubbed her hands over her hair and sighed, closing her eyes.
"N-No… it's… it's my brother's name. God, I can't believe I'm still thinking about my family..."
"At least no one is telling you to get over them," said Weber as he closed the door.
"I… I thought I got over them…" said Sam. "I thought I did."
Sam covered her eyes as she began to tear up. Weber reminded Sam of someone she thought she got over. Unfortunately, it would be the first of the many troubles he would unintentionally cause.
Chapter 24: South
I- Fallout
-Present Day-
Mist clouded the barren wasteland of ash and dust. A night sky darkened near the horizon, though light was still present, as if the mist gave off some sort of luminous power.
Lori's eyes were fixated on the empty and foggy horizon, though, in a sudden flash, she became aware of her own consciousness. The ash blew past her blue slip-ons and the mist surrounded her arms uncovered by her blue tank top. Then, a sudden chill caused Lori to cover her arms as she heard her name being whispered by the mist. The voice seemed to be getting louder as the young woman focused her hearing in the location of the darkness.
"Lori! Behind you," called the voice.
Lori quickly turned, her low-cut hair swishing around. She gasped and flinched away from the source of the voice.
"Hey, Lori. You look lost."
Lori mustered the strength to say something.
"W... Where am I, Leni? What are you doing here?"
"I don't know actually. Lucy told me there was a way to talk to you. You know, in person, not over the phone. Look, here she is!"
Leni tugged her hand as Lucy appeared out of the mist. She smiled and waved at Lori, though remaining eerily silent. Lori placed her hands over head, whispering to herself, pleading to herself.
"I know this looks kinda creepy, but apparently, there isn't anywhere else we can talk right now. And I really just wanted to see you again."
"Me too, Leni… but I don't know what this is."
"Right… you never really understood how Lucy talked to the dead, right? It's okay, I don't think anyone did. Only Linky did, and Lucy did try to get through with him, but… he doesn't seem to have accepted her death. Lucky for me, you accepted mine's!"
Lori remained speechless. Leni walked closer to her and opened her arms, to which Lori responded by opening her own arms as well. Leni wrapped her arms around Lori and lay her head down on her shoulders.
"I miss you," whispered Leni.
"I miss you too. But, Leni… I–"
Lori looked around. The mist, the light and the darkness, Lucy, it all felt real to her. But she knew it wasn't, and a realization hit her.
"I'm… I'm dying, aren't I?" whispered Lori.
The ash blew over her black hiker boots and the mist surrounded her arms uncovered by her cargo vest over her gray T-shirt with blood stains near the waist. A storm thundered above the sisters.
Leni pulled herself away, tugging Lori's oily hair down to her chest. Leni moved behind her and began to tie her older sister's hair into a ponytail.
"It's not as bad as it sounds."
Leni walked in front of Lori and faced her, placing her hand on her shoulder.
"You shouldn't worry about it," whispered Leni.
A loud flash of thunder struck across the misty darkness and in a sudden flash, everyone disappeared.
"Lori! Stay with me!" shrieked Lisa.
Thunder rumbled across the sky as Becky raced Vanzilla to the closest hospital. Lisa hopped away from Lori and grabbed a manual ventilator. She ran back and placed it in her sister's mouth.
"Oh, my god," whimpered Bobby. "She stopped breathing?"
Lori lied on the car seats with her eyes closed and her body tied with seatbelts. A few of her siblings surrounded her, including Lincoln, Luan, and Lynn, who all held their breath and on the verge of breaking down.
"Her pulse is still active," said Lisa. "I don't know for how much longer, though."
She then turned to Lori.
"Please, eldest sister. Stay with me."
A quick glance at Lori was enough to distract Dr. White from his patient. He quickly regained his focus, though, and went back to treating Vonda.
A bolt of lightning flew across the overcast sky as raindrops began to pour on the survivors in the abandoned RV park. The mega-herd continued to crowd the streets of Manhattan, but it was out of sight, and therefore, out of mind.
George shoveled the muddy dirt below the makeshift crossed windmill spun in the direction of the wind. David and Lana were salvaging whatever materials and parts they could from the abandoned RVs in order to repair the vehicles of their own. Hana patrolled the perimeters, her hands on the handle of her bladed katana as her pet companion barked from inside her RV in response to the thundering noise in the distance.
"What the hell are you doing?" shouted out David.
"Me?" huffed George. "This place here doesn't feel right. They got all these… X's. The blood… it's not even gone!"
"I think you're pushing yourself too hard," said David. "Look, we're all tired and we all need to be distracted from everything that just happened, especially you– you know, with what happened to Vonda. But you gotta chill out and focus your energy in trying to get the wheels fixed so we can head to the hospital."
A clunk caught David's attention. Kotaro wiped the mud and grime into his pants and rubbed his eyes against his arms as he walked towards the makeshift windmill. Sam stood up and walked away from an abandoned sudan.
"Just as I suspected," said George. "We always found a roamer or a body part around the goddamn X's. Look, hole wasn't too deep."
David approached the dug area and found a skull with traces of skin, stained by the slush of wet mud. George thrust the black shovel into the dirt and knelt down. He pulled a fragment of the skull out of the dirt and washed it away with rainwater.
"Mr. David?" called out Lana. "The wheels are in. We're ready to go."
David gave her a thumbs up and faced George. George tossed the bone fragment and grabbed the shovel.
"We're gonna talk about this very soon," he said. "Alright, let's go. I gotta make sure Vee's safe."
The thunder softened as the two RVs arrived at a hospital in Newark, close to an airport. The parking lot was abandoned, with the exception of Vanzilla, where its doors were open while the entrance doors to the hospital were closed. Some of the windows were cracked while others were open, with the rails above the glass pane reaching the top frames. Puddles of water hung around the weeds that grew in the small gardens outside the hospital. Moss grew in the corners of the roof.
David grabbed his walkie-talkie.
"We're here. Where do we go?"
"Second floor," replied Becky. "Careful, there's roamers in the halls!"
"What's that banging?"
"Roamers on the other side of the door. We're trapped in this room. I mean, I got my weapons and everything but I can't do everything you know."
"Hang in there. We're coming."
David placed the walkie-talkie back on his belt and grabbed his knife and his flashlight, and led the group towards the entrance door of the hospital. Some of the other survivors in the group grabbed their weapons, while Jeffrey helped Preston and Reggie limp towards the hospital. Hana helped Jace on his feet as Kotaro held Carol's arms and moved her towards the abandoned building.
David and George slowly opened the entrance doors to the hospital and beamed up the waiting room with their flashlights. Papers were shuffled across the floor, chairs were toppled over one another, dust accumulated on the desks and tables. The two men walked in further inside the hospital with the other survivors behind them.
"The stairs… over there," whispered George, pointing his flashlight at a corner of the waiting room.
"Everyone, stay tight," ordered David. "You see anything– kill it or warn us. No running away."
After the group agreed to David's orders, they made their way up the stairs and lit up the halls of the second floor, as equally cluttered and dusty as the first floor, if not more. David moved forward and walked along the hall, which curved to the right. A distinct noise and smell warned the group of what was to come, but after the hall stopped curving, the group were met with roamers banging a door a couple meters away from them.
"Take the right," David told George.
The roamers growled, their golden eyes reflecting the light. Then, one of them roared as it moved one foot after the other at a quick pace.
"A runner," muttered Luna.
George lunged his knife forward and stopped the running roamer on its track, before pulling it out of its eyes. David sliced the other runners' nose off its face then stabbed his knife through its skull. Sam moved forward and thrusted her ice pick towards a runner's neck, and as it struggled to recover its speed, she slammed the pick down and killed the roamer. Luna then moved ahead of her and smacked the remaining runner with her crowbar, splattering its brain against the wall.
"Their noggin's softer than I thought," said Luna.
David nodded as he walked up to the door, knocking on it.
"Becky, you can open up now."
The door slowly opened up as Becky pointed her pistol at it.
"How's the girl?" asked David.
"Which one?" Becky replied, lowering her gun down.
"My girl," said George, walking inside the dark room, barely lit up by the light outside the windows.
"And Lori," said David.
Becky allowed the group to enter the room as she pointed towards Vonda.
"She's a tough girl, you know. Vonda was just unconscious, and she was close to dying from the disease, but the medicine that you guys found– it helped."
Becky then glared at the bed by the corner of the room.
"Lori on the other hand… Lisa fears she slipped into a coma. She says that Lori's experiencing symptoms kinda like radiation sickness, but… the fact that it's affecting only her is the question."
"Must've been something she came in contact with in Jersey City," said Dr. White. "It's possible radiation could've been magnified in some areas, taking the fallout longer to decay."
"It would be of great use if we had access to electricity," said Lisa. "For the benefit of this patient."
"She's gonna die without power," said Becky.
"Okay," exhaled David. "Where's the generator?"
"We don't know," said Lincoln. "But I'll help you guys find it."
Luan stood up.
"Lincoln, don't…"
"I have to do this," he said. "Lori needs me now."
"Fine. Count me in too."
"Count me out," said Kotaro. "I can't feel my legs."
"I can't feel my arms either," said George.
Some of the group members agreed.
"Sure thing. But what about you guys? Don't you guys feel tired?"
"Hella tired," said Luna. "But we gotta save our sister."
David nodded. He gathered around Lincoln, Luan, Luna, and Lynn, and not Lisa, Lana, and Lily as they were too young for the mission.
"You follow my orders, got it? Anything goes wrong, and I'll have to be the one to break your sister's heart with the news."
"Sure thing. You're our leader for now, after all," said Lincoln.
"Whatever you say. The rest of you, get some rest. We'll be back!"
David then pointed at Jeffrey.
"And you… thank you for saving your nephew, Jace, and Reggie, Elder.
Jeffrey smiled as David and the Louds headed out the room, with Becky closing the door. Becky walked up to Carol and hugged her.
"It's going to be okay, Carol," she whispered.
David and the other Loud children walked around the first floor.
"It would make sense to keep the generators in the basement, right?" said Lincoln. "But it looks like this place doesn't have a basement."
"It could be outside," said David. "The noise is bound to attract the roamers, so we gotta find some way to secure this hospital."
"The chains are probably in the janitor's room, dudes," said Luna. "We get 'em and we lock the fences outside."
"I got an idea then," said Lincoln.
The group ran through the emergency room as the roamers were chasing after them. Lynn turned around and whacked one of the roamers with her bow, smacking its jaw off, though it was still alive and hungry.
"Shit, shit, run faster y'all!" yelled Lynn.
"Shut your bloody mouth!" exclaimed Luna. "You want every dead person in this city to hear us?"
"Well, Lincoln somehow managed to do that by dropping everything in the janitor's room looking for the chains!" shouted Luan. "Look at what your chain reaction did! No pun intended!"
"At least I have the chains!" exclaimed Lincoln.
"Guys, quiet and run faster!" yelled David.
Lynn bursted out the emergency room and into a parking lot adjacent to the one by the entrance. She held the door open, until all the members ran out the building. She then slammed the door shut, though that did not stop the roamers from bursting through. One of the roamers tackled Lynn to the ground and grabbed her shoes. She yelled as it scratched her soles, and just as the roamer aimed for her legs, David shot it with his M9. He aimed at the other roamers and shot them all dead.
"I so owe you one," sighed Lynn.
"You can start by giving me a hand with this. There's a generator here. Pull the cord."
David stood above a generator while Lynn walked to another one next to it. Lynn began pulling the cord, activating the generator.
"Kids. Close the fences and lock 'em up with the fences."
Lincoln, Luan, and Luna ran past their vehicles in an effort to lock the fences before the roamers arrived at the parking lot. David pulled the cord towards him then released it slowly, before pulling it with greater force again. Suddenly, the groaning of the power sources rumbled smoothly, followed by David flicking the switches on.
Luan and Luna each pulled a fence closer together as a couple roamers jogged in the streets, approaching the hospital closer with each limping step. Next, Lincoln placed the chains through the holes in the mesh fence and pulled it out through another hole, wrapping the chains together. He then placed a padlock through the chains and closed it, locking the fences and securing the parking lot.
David opened the emergency doors and turned the locks on the doorknobs before closing the doors. The roamers inside the emergency room banged against the door, though they were unable to escape now.
"We're going through the entrance and locking the other side of the room," said David. "Can't have these bastards walking around where we're sleeping."
David walked to the entrance doors with the Louds following him. They entered the hospital, though they refused to turn on the lights until they really needed it.
"The flashlights will do for now," said David.
"So, who's fast enough to run in and out of the ER?" brought up Luan.
"I think–" said Luna before being interrupted.
"Yeah, yeah, me," said Lynn. "That's who you were gonna say, right, Lunes? Lynn Loud?"
"You ran for fun before!" Luna exclaimed. "Of course I was gonna say you! Cunt."
"Wanna say that louder?"
"Alright, just lock the damn door and get in before the door closes!" urged David.
"No time to act like children, you know," said Lincoln.
Lynn reluctantly nodded. She stood outside the door and was ready to fly inside.
"Remember, run like there are zombies behind you," whispered Luan.
Lynn snickered before punching Luan lightly. She then ran into the emergency room and turned around, flipping the lock in the doorknob. The roamers growled and ran towards her, but she already dashed out of the room.
"The door!" yelled Lincoln. "Close it!"
The survivors screamed as Lynn grabbed the doorknob and pulled it. The roamer lunged towards the survivors, only to slam the door shut, followed by other roamers smacking against the closed doors.
"That's it. We're done," said David. "Let's go upstairs and check up on your sister."
The door opened, with David, Lincoln, Luan, Luna, and Lynn walking inside. An automatic ventilator kept Lori breathing while a heart monitor showed her active pulse. Lisa looked at them.
"Radiotrophic fungi," she said. "I prevented the fungi from progressing any further than her lungs using small amounts of our stock of antiparasitic medicine. I'll have to configure the manual ventilator to get the fungi out, and then that's it. She should be okay afterwards."
"Oh, thank goodness," said Lincoln.
The Loud kids hugged Lisa. Vonda remained unconscious in bed while Jace, Preston, and Reggie each lay in a bed, coughing and drinking water. Carol simply looked out the window, holding the yellow pacifier as the storm returned.
The storm raged on for hours. Rain splashed against the pavement of the water, wind rocked the mesh fences back and forth, lightning lit up the rooms for split seconds where the survivors slept.
The roar of thunder awakened Lana, as she opted to sleep by the windows earlier. The other Loud children were asleep, with the exception of Lisa, whose bed was empty as she was working tirelessly to treat Lori. She grabbed a flashlight and decided it was the best time to check on Lori and Jace's condition.
She switched the flashlight on and stepped out of the room as softly as she could, taking light and wide steps. She opened the door just narrowly enough for her to fit, before she closed it– though, not completely.
The room was upstairs, which meant she would have to walk down the halls of the first floor, and pass around the emergency room into the waiting room and stairwell. She continued her silent stride, though her steps moved along the floor quicker.
The emergency room was to her left, and the waiting room was to her right. She turned right, until a mumble caught her attention. The flashing light followed by a crackle of thunder drowned the mumble out, though her curiosity has already been piqued.
She turned around and shined her flashlight at the door. Weber sat against it, holding a mouse in his left palm while feeding it food with the other palm.
"Weber?" whispered Lana. "What are you doing? Go back to sleep!"
"I can't, Lana. I keep thinking about my dad. He's really gone."
"So is mine. Get over it."
Weber sniffled and turned around. Lana took a deep gulp as she immediately regretted what she said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I... can't go to sleep either. I'm scared that my oldest sister is going to die."
"She's going to be fine," said Weber. "That's what Lisa said. And everyone else is going to be fine because she will be okay. Because she's the only person people care about."
Thunder rumbled again in the distance. Lana raised her eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?" she whispered.
Weber rubbed her fingers softly against the mouse's back. The mouse continued to eat the cracker crumbs from his palm.
"Why has no one asked how I've been feeling?" he said. "I'm sad. I'm alone. I can't sleep without my father being around. But no one cares about him. Everyone just wants to worry whether your sister Lori lives to make bad decisions for another day."
"You know that's not true, Weber."
"You're either stupid or lying to me," he remarked. "I don't feel good about those choices."
Weber cleared his throat.
"Pay attention, won't ya?" he said. "No one cares about how I'm feeling. And don't pretend like you do."
"People do care… don't you see it in their faces? Don't you hear it in their voices? In my voice?"
"Don't lie to me. I can't read emotions too well… but I can tell you're trying to act like you care."
"But I do–"
"Just go," said Weber, facing Lana again. "Go check on your sister. I'm going to feel better on my own. I thought expressing my feelings to this mouse would help… but it doesn't care either."
Lana gulped and began to step away. Weber grabbed the mouse's tail and refused to budge until Lana walked away. The thunder crackles and the lightning lit up the hallway. And before Lana headed to the waiting room where the stairwell was located, she saw Weber opening the door to the emergency room with a key. He then tossed the mouse into the room and slammed the door shut, mimicking the sound of thunder, before locking it. The roamers banged against the door as they growled, before the sounds of teeth chomping against a meal replaced the banging noise.
The lightning lit up the hallway again, and Lana saw Weber glaring at her. Spooked, she quickly moved to the waiting room and headed for the stairwell, with Weber gone from her sight.
Lana burst into the room where the wounded and sick were kept. Lisa, holding the manual ventilator plugged to a strange device, turned towards her.
"Why are you missing your nightly-required rest?" asked Lisa. "Are you insomniac? Worried about our eldest sister?"
"Yeah," whispered Lana. "What are you going to do?"
"Use attraction and suction to drive all of the radiotrophic fungi out of our eldest sister's respiratory organs. Gases and vacuum. Not my first time."
Lisa removed the automatic ventilator out of Lori's mouth and nose and placed the manual ventilator over Lori's lower face as she sprayed a gas solution inside her. She squeezed the ventilator, as the transparent surface began to get foggy, with residue forming on it. Gagging, followed by subconscious exhales were triggered by Lori's body. Even Lana was grossed out by it. After a minute, Lori no longer coughed any residue, which prompted Lisa to place back the automatic ventilator over her lower face. Her pulse was normal. Her breathing returned to normal.
"That's it," said Lisa. "She'll breathe on her own later… then she'll wake up."
"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Lana, struggling to contain the volume of her voice. "You're amazing, Lisa! You saved Lori! You're a lifesaver!"
Lana hugged Lisa, who formed an almost-realistic smile, though one look at the yellow pacifier by the window destroyed her smile.
"I suppose I am," gulped Lisa.
With the arrival of morning, the storm has settled down, leaving only heavy rain to drown out any hopeful mood among the survivors. With busloads of food and supplies gone, some survivors were forced to loot the rundown city. Due to its approximate location near New York, and the fact that the city seemed to be overwhelmed by roamers with no signs of napalm bombing or nuclear disaster, the looting group decided to take on the large, empty airport first.
Abandoned helicopters, tanks, armored vehicles, even military planes were scattered across the wet runway. Drenched bodies were also scattered.
"This is good," said Kotaro. "All these supplies could last us quite a while."
"Yeah, that's weird," said Lincoln. "You would think you would find weapons and ammo, but no, we're finding food and water… almost as if people preferred weapons before."
David dropped a plastic packet in the ground, splashing into a puddle.
"Heh. Some of them even took their drugs with them. Morphine. Oxycontin."
Lincoln picked up a bag of crystalized rocks with the color of water.
"What's this?"
"Stay away from that, kid," said David. "That's methamphetamine."
Lincoln gulped and continued walking along the runway, the awkward silence drowned out by the splashing of raindrops shooting down at the pavement. The group continued to walk closer to the terminal, taking whatever bags of edible supplies they could get their hands on. Lincoln found bottles of water. Kotaro had his hands on canned food. David carried MREs with him. George held canisters. The other looters held a variety of wet supplies.
"We already have enough supplies," said Ronnie Anne. "Think we can just go and– ah, shit!"
She flinched back, catching the group's attention. David stepped forward and looked at one of the doors to the terminal, flinching slightly.
"Jesus," he muttered.
The group were left speechless as they looked at the hanging skull in the air by the terminal doors. A rusty shark hook held by a chain tied to the ceiling held the skull in the air, its tip piercing through the top cranium of the skull, and through the right eye socket. The survivors then moved their eyes from the skull to the large X plastered in the ground below it, where bones and muscle tissues lay stacked on top of each other.
"A whole lotta crazy people in this world, right?" said Lynn.
"As always," said Lincoln.
Sam rubbed her arms as she raised her eyebrows in pity.
"This is just cruel. I hope we don't meet the people who did this."
"Wherever these people are, they covered a lot of ground," said George. "These X's mean something. If we don't try to learn more about the freaks who are doing this, then we might be getting ourselves into some unwanted trouble."
"Or they're all dead," said David. "This person rotted to bones. Time passed. Maybe the people who did this passed as well."
"So, we're not in trouble?" asked Ronnie Anne.
"I didn't say that," said David. "We should take these supplies back, inform everyone. People need to know we're tryin' to find out more."
George nodded. He and David walked away from the skull hanging above the X, the group following them. Some took a couple glances back at the sight. Others refused to look back.
The windows in the hospital were spotted with raindrops, to which Carol was looking out of while holding the yellow pacifier. Dr. White grabbed a foldable chair and sat down next to Carol, wearing a gray shirt that did not hide his slightly overweight stomach. His hair was tied back into a short ponytail and his stubble was growing unevenly. But his burden of guilt was nothing compared to the burden of grief felt by Carol.
"I brought you some water," said Dr. White. "I also got a granola bar from one of the vending machines. It's not expired yet."
"I'm not hungry," Carol replied in a soft voice. "Not thirsty either."
"You haven't eaten since yesterday morning. And yesterday was a hell of a day for the nutrition in your body."
"Just a hell of a day in general."
Dr. White stood up and placed the glass of water and the granola bar by the window.
"For whenever you're ready to eat."
Carol did not turn her eyes away from the windows.
"I'd rather die," she said. "Thank you anyways."
Dr. White closed his eyes tightly and tried to recollect himself as he walked away. He walked over to Lisa, who was sitting by Lori, holding a flare gun.
"Doctor?" called out Lisa. "Are we going to resume our conversation?"
"Yeah, just… keep your voice down."
"My apologies," whispered Lisa, opening the canister of the flare gun with her bare hands. "So, this is what caused ill to Lori. The radiotrophic fungi inside the canister– which I decontaminated with a gas mixture and water– had grown as a result of the fallout from the nuclear disaster that occurred some time in the past. When she fired the flare, the fungi particles must have become airborne, causing Lori to ingest it through her lungs, causing this malady. I am almost certain that's what happened. All the evidence matches up."
Dr. White nodded. Lisa then placed the flare gun inside a drawer.
"Do you believe the roamers have been affected by the radiotrophic fungi as well?" asked Lisa. "The radiation must have mutated them, resulting in more powerful members of the deceased."
"Or perhaps they're evolving," said Dr. White. "Or rather, the parasitic virus inside the roamers are strengthening the roamers."
"Maybe…"
Lori groaned as she swayed her head slowly, opening her eyelids. She then lifted her arms, noticing the IV needles on it. She gulped and saw Dr. White and Lisa watching her wake up.
"How are you feeling?" asked Lisa.
Lori turned her head towards the other patients in the room, finding Vonda, Jace, Preston, and Reggie all asleep. She then saw Carol looking out the window, holding the yellow pacifier.
"Exhausted. Living should be making me happy… but it's not."
Lori then turned towards Dr. White and Lisa.
"How many of us remain?" she asked in a low voice.
"Twenty-six of us," said Lisa, "including you."
Lori sighed and sniffled. The dust zone was essentially a deathtrap with the vast amount of losses the group suffered in there. How many more were going to die on the journey to D.C.?