II - Trenton Makes, The World Takes
-Two Weeks Later-
The clear skies allowed the sun rays to burn the survivors slowly. The heat was tormenting, leaving Bobby in a white tank top, David with a gray shirt with ripped sleeves, and almost everyone in shorts. A lot of exposed skin ran a higher risk of getting bit or scratched.
Luna slammed her crowbar down at a roamer stuck under a wrecked car. Clyde walked to the other side of the car and stepped on a roamer's hand with his repaired metallic leg. He then lifted his baseball bat and swung it down, splattering the roamer's brain with its fractured skull. The two survivors returned with the group as they continued walking down the street. Then, they stopped at the side of the road to observe the bridge in the distance. The dark neon signs that created Trenton's motto stared at the group.
"Regroup everyone," said Lori in David's walkie-talkie. "I got four armed survivors over here."
The gun barrel was dark inside, though the metallic surface reflected the sunlight. A finger was ready to press against the trigger. A couple bandages were stuck to the skin of the arm that held the revolver. The shoulder that the arm belonged to was wrapped with a tan vest and was covered by oily golden hair.
"Relax," said the survivor that the revolver aimed at. "We really don't mean harm– 'less you're one of the dead fuckers."
The young brunette with slicked back bob hair, which went no lower than her neck, held her arms up, with her UMP45 hanging around her red sleeveless shirt, which covered the top part of her leggings. She had a heart tattoo with the name 'JULIO' on her right arm, and a tattooed wrist on her left arm. Next to her was a tan woman around the same age, old enough to drink, with a yellow bandana wrapped around her forehead, where her hair dropped from the side of her head to the back of her crop top.
Becky held her Glock 17 in front of the woman with the yellow bandana, who wielded dual TEC-9s in her belt. Behind the young woman were two more young women, each with black hair, though one was curly and was tied in a ponytail, while the other went straight down to her back. They each wore tank tops and held CBJ-MS guns.
"Take your guns and drop them on the ground," said Lori.
"I get the hostility," said the woman facing the barrel of the Python. "I really do. We don't trust everyone either. Can't drop my only form of protection from people I never met. Can't risk it, ya know."
Lori pulled the hammer back and aimed the Python closer. The group that were looting a block away arrived at the street.
"Me either," she said.
"Okay, then let's getta' know each other. Name's Talia. Talia Bradshaw. Girl with the yellow bandana?"
"Sonora," she said. "My name's Sonora."
"I'm Haleema."
"Makara here."
"What brings you to Trenton?" asked Talia.
"Just looking for some things," said Lori, noticing that the girls were completely surrounded. "What are you all doing here? Looting too, I suppose?"
"Yeah. Looting. Moving from place to place. Next goal is Philly. Lower the gun, won't ya? Makin' me nervous as hell."
Lori looked at David and raised three fingers up. He nodded.
"How many roamers have you killed?" asked David. "Each of you."
"What, the dead sacks of shit?" chuckled Talia.
She took out a butterfly knife and opened the blade.
"Plenty," she said as she looked at the rest of her crew.
"We all killed a lot," said Sonora. "We have no trouble dealing with the muertos."
"How many people have you killed?" asked David.
"I'm not gonna lie. I killed people," said Talia. "Four people."
"Uhh, I haven't," said Sonora before pointing at Haleema and Makar. "Neither have they. We didn't need a reason to."
"I had my reasons," said Talia.
"Why?" asked David.
"What, why I killed the four? They were men trying to take advantage of us. I ain't a weak bitch. I did what I had to do, you know?"
"And you three?" asked David.
"What us?" asked Sonora. "Talia's a tough bitch. She took them on for us. We didn't have to do anything."
Lori lowered her gun. Talia looked back and shrugged as she wiped the sweat away from her face. The girls nodded as Talia faced Lori again.
"This may be askin' for too much, but mind if we ride with y'all? We ain't getting to Philly anytime soon with the damn weather beatin' on us."
"Deadass," said Haleema. "Water runs out fast too."
"Yeah. Anyways, that's where y'all headed, right? Philly?"
"Yeah. But you're finding your own food and water," said Lori. "We don't accept any dead weight."
Talia nodded and raised her hands, looking down as she walked towards the vehicles.
"We're anything but dead weight," said Talia. "Which car we ridin' on?"
The wheels on the vehicles moved along the pavement as grass began to grow in between cracks in the road. The girl crew all sat together in the floor in the back of Hana's RV as Luan and Benny turned around from the passenger seats.
"Ya know there's empty seats in the couch, right?" said Luan.
"Uh huh," said Haleema. "But it's so damn close to the undead fucker in the closet."
"Watch mouth," said Hana.
"How you feel so comfortable sleepin' under the same roof as the dead? It's waiting any moment to bite or scratch you."
"It doesn't have hands or teeth," said Becky. "It's domesticated."
"Domes–? I can't with that bullshit. If I were you, I would kill it!"
"Leema, chill," said Talia. "It's their car. Their rules."
Hana looked at the rearview mirror and saw Talia smiling and winking at her. She looked back at the road with an unchanged expression.
The evening sun shone on the group as they parked near a creek. Lisa placed her glasses back on before dropping a couple shards with unknown chemicals.
"There," said Lisa. "Smokeless fire."
The group held their canned food above the fire, with some of the group members standing and some of the others sat down. Talia stood up and placed her gun down. She then tapped David and pointed at a Ruger 10/22 in the ground.
"Think I can borrow it?" she asked. "I gotta look for my own food, right? I can hunt. But the little beast I have won't do shit long-range."
"Sure, take it," said David.
George grabbed his Mossberg 590 and grabbed a small bag with his shotgun ammo. He stood up and walked behind Talia, looking back at Lori, who gave him a nod.
"I'm going with her," he said. "Vee, don't take a bite of my food."
Vonda blew on her spoon of canned beef and gave him a thumbs up. Talia looked at George from head to toe and smiled.
"Not bad," she said. "I hope you got my back."
Carol and Becky stayed inside Hana's RV with the windows open, watching Kimi. Becky hoped that the dog would raise Carol's spirits, but her hopes were gone as Carol decided to stare out the open window instead, looking at George and Talia disappearing into the trees by the creek.
The windows to David's RV were open, though the curtains were closed. The door to the RV remained open as well, though a passing Lana walked by, determined to close it. She moved her hands to the door before pausing. To cure her hesitation, she peeked inside the RV, wondering who may have left the door open.
"Weber?" she called out.
Weber turned around as Lana walked inside the RV, turning the lights on. Weber stood by the closet with his hands behind his back. Lana cleared his throat and walked closer to Weber.
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing," said Weber, scratching his nose. "What are you hiding?"
"I asked you first! You're not a good liar, ya know."
"It's just something to protect myself with," said Weber. "The roamers are bad, right?"
Weber revealed the Bowie knife in his hand, scratching his nose again.
"I won't hurt you. I promise."
Lana shook her head and walked away from the RV. Weber refused to change his deadpan expression. He turned back towards the closet and opened the closet, revealing stacks of ammo before setting his eyes on the M1911 that sat on the top part.
"Hey, Weber, is it?" asked Makara, slowly walking inside the RV.
Weber's deadpan expression refused to budge. After a few seconds, he nodded slowly.
"It looks like you have a lotta bullets," smiled Makara. "You do, right?"
"Yes. But just bullets in this car. The guns are in the other recreational vehicle."
"Oh, word? What kinda guns?"
"Big ones. Strong guns," said Weber before looking at the reflection in his knife. "Let's go. I'm getting a little hungry."
Makara nodded as she followed Weber out of the RV. She closed the door before looking at Hana's RV. Weber headed back near the group around the campfire, sitting next to Sam, which made her feel very uncomfortable. Haleema then approached Makara.
"Managed to jack anything?" asked Haleema.
"Nah. But I got something better for you. Their best guns?" said Makara before pointing at Hana's RV. "It's in there."
"It's where that katana bitch hangs out," said Haleema. "I really just wanna shoot her face. She has such a bitch face."
Haleema and Makara walked away from David's RV and headed back to the campfire. Meanwhile, Lana ran up to Lincoln, who was conversing with Clyde and Ronnie Anne, and pulled his shirt.
"Hey, what's going on, Lana?" asked Lincoln.
"Weber's a threat," said Lana.
"What, the kid with that mental condition?" said Ronnie Anne.
"We all have mental conditions at this point," said Clyde.
"If you mean being crazy, then yes!" exclaimed Lana.
Lincoln grabbed Lana's shoulder and walked her away from his friends. He then knelt on the grass and looked at Lana's eyes.
"Simon Weber is not crazy," said Lincoln. "He just lost his father. We all need to leave him alone. That includes you, Lana."
"I can't. I keep finding him doing weird stuff everywhere. Right now, he grabbed a knife! A very big one! He says it's to protect himself and all that crud, but do you really believe him?"
"Look at the world we live in. It seems to be getting more dangerous. He's just a kid. He's still learning to adapt, and we all need to understand that. I think he might be a little misunderstood, but he is certainly not crazy."
"What's his mental condition?" asked Lana as Lincoln stood up.
"I don't know. Ask someone else."
Lincoln headed back with his friends, leaving Lana alone to observe Weber from the distance. She gulped and walked towards Lori.
"Oh my God! Hahaha!" laughed Sonora as she touched Bobby's shoulders. "That's so true!"
"Ha… ha. It really wasn't that funny," said Lori, staring at Sonora's hands.
"It's a Latino thing," smiled Bobby. "It's okay if you don't get it, babe. She can explain it to you!"
"Me?" gasped Sonora, moving her hair to the side. "Oh, Bobby, she just won't get the joke. She's not like us."
Sonora then looked at Lori.
"I can see why you put a ring on him," she said, moving her hands down to Bobby's biceps. "I bet he's your savior. Handsome guy looking out for you."
"I can save my own skin, thanks," said Lori as she stood up. "I need some fresh air away from the fire."
"But it's smokeless," said Bobby.
The birds chirped softly as the leaves rocked back and forth as gentle as a slow rocking chair. Talia shot her rifle and hit the water near the creek, frightening the brown rabbit away. She lowered her rifle and sighed.
"Sorry, I think the heat's gettin' to me."
George nodded and looked ahead for more possible sources of food. He then turned towards Talia, before finding her sitting on the grass, looking up at him.
"A lil' break," she said.
George sighed and sat down next to Talia, rubbing his palms against his legs. He wiped the sweat from his face before looking ahead at the creek. Both survivors stared at the glittering reflection as Talia laid her head on George's shoulders.
"It's beautiful, ain't it?" said Talia. "This world is not all that bad. The freedom that I get from this world– it's something nice that I didn't really have in the old world."
"It's something," nodded George.
He then noticed Talia placing her hands over his. He flinched his hands away, causing Talia to gasp softly, though she quickly grabbed his hands back.
"It's been years since I've last been with a man," she said as she moved her hands over George's chest. "You haven't been with a woman in a while either, have you?"
Talia then wrapped her arm around George and leaned close to his face, kissing him as she placed her legs over his lap. George kept his eyes open, observing her young and smooth skin.
"Talia… I can't. This is all too sudden."
"Come on," she whispered. "It's just gonna be this one time. It'll be quick, I promise."
Talia removed her sleeveless shirt, and smiled at George as she began to unhook her red bra. George gulped as Talia rocked slowly against his lap, placing her head over her shoulders as she kissed his neck. He looked at her flawless skin in her back before moving Talia away from his neck.
"I'm sorry," said George as he moved Talia off his lap. "I can't do this. You know I used to be an FBI agent, right?"
"Hot," smiled Talia as she leaned closer to George.
George stood up.
"I used to bust people like you. You were in a gang, right? Julio, you got that name tattooed on your arm, that was your boyfriend or something?"
"That was in the old world," said Talia.
"Latin Queen tattoo on your back? You were associated with the Latin Kings, weren't you?"
"Old world," she said.
"What about those prison tattoos? You were going to stay in prison for a while, but you don't look that old. You look about twenty."
"I'm twenty-four," said Talia. "I'm changed now. This new world is my new chance at life."
"What did you go to prison for?" asked George before remembering the questions that she and her crew answered. "You killed people before all this, didn't you?"
"They deserved it," said Talia.
George looked towards the creek. Talia turned around, before quickly covering her breasts. Lori held her revolver in one hand and a hatchet on the other.
"How much did you hear?" asked Talia.
"I heard enough," said Lori. "George, bring her back with the others."
The campfire crackled as cans were tossed to the ground. Bobby nervously moved Sonora away from his arms and stood up, rubbing his head as he looked into the wooded creek with worried eyes. He then smiled softly as his fiancée walked out of the woods.
"Lori… I'm sorry if we made you feel a little uncomfortable," said Bobby.
"It's not your fault for being naive," said Lori. "Sonora, stand up."
She remained on the ground as she saw George and Talia walking out of the wooded creek. George held the rifle and his own shotgun, as Talia covered her bra with her sleeveless shirt.
"You two, come here," Lori told Haleema and Makara. "Sonora, stand up!"
The girls gathered across Hana's RV and placed their hands on the vehicles. Lori pulled up each of their shirts, exposing their backs as George identified all types of prison tattoos and markings that revealed their former life in gangs.
"Nobody gets these if they're in prison for a few months," said George. "I think you all murdered people before."
"Who hasn't by now?" hissed Talia.
The evening sun peered through the wooded creek. The group members were in their respective vehicles as Lori tossed out the girls' bags out of Hana's RV. She then walked to Vanzilla and closed the door.
"This ain't right," said Talia. "We're in the middle of nowhere. You're just gonna leave us to die out here?"
"Yeah," replied Lori. "Sorry. We don't trust you. If you had done anything, I woulda' killed you all. Consider yourself lucky."
The vehicles drove away as the four women stepped into the road. Talia sighed as Haleema nudged her.
"The fuck do we do now?" she said.
"There's only one road," said Talia. "We're gettin' to where we're goin'."
The women then walked ahead in the road, leaving the cans and burnt logs behind.
The stars lit up the night sky while a sliver of the moon remained almost hidden from sight. The owls hooted across the park where the group found a house at. The massive oak trees covered the house, weeds grew over the pavement in the park, and the benches were covered in animal waste and leaves. The lamps were off, making the park too dark for the roamers to see through. Then, a beam of light pointed at one of the benches.
"Weber?" called out Lincoln, holding a flashlight. "What are you doing out here?"
"Leaving people alone," Weber answered, observing the moving leaves in the trees.
"Don't you wanna come inside? It's comfy inside."
"It's never going to be comfortable anywhere," said Weber. "Not without my dad."
"I know how hard it is to live without your father anymore, especially if he was someone you trusted so much," whispered Lincoln as he sat down next to Weber. "It's even harder when you haven't had the chance to say goodbye to him. This world really is uncomfortable, but not all the time. I know I may sound crazy right now but… you will feel better with time. Especially if you talk with people you can trust."
Weber looked at Lincoln.
"You don't think I'm crazy?" asked Weber.
"Having a big knife doesn't make you crazy," said Lincoln.
"Lana told you about that? I know she thinks I'm weird and crazy. I even think she's scared of me. I'm just trying to do things in secret so I don't scare anyone."
"Well, you certainly scare me, with your… fierce skills!" chuckled Lincoln.
"Sorry," said Weber.
"No, no, I'm sorry," said Lincoln. "That was sarcasm. I know you don't quite understand it completely, but I wasn't being serious. The only people that should be scared of you are the roamers. You don't scare me but I wouldn't want to mess with you."
Weber smiled.
"I kinda wanna be like you," said Weber. "Someone people trust."
Lincoln smiled before looking into the distance. He peered through the darkness that surrounded the park, and found movement among the low-hanging leaves in the trees that stood along the bike track. He then looked on top of the RV, finding the lawn chair unfolded, but empty.
"Go inside," said Lincoln. "It's dark out here. Which means it's dangerous. Please go back inside."
Lincoln then stood up from the bench and passed the RV and the entrance to the house, heading towards the bike track. Weber remained seated on the bench before standing up.
Few spots of starlight were able to pass through the abundance of trees in the park. Flowers blew softly against the breeze of the summer night. Next to a tree was a blue port-a-potty. Lori quickly closed the door after getting a quick whiff of the smell inside. She then walked near a large tree, taking a deep breath.
The air felt cool and relaxing as Lori unzipped her shorts, tossing her revolver and her hatchet to the ground beside her. She then squatted down and relieved herself of all the liquid she consumed– though it wasn't a lot– while hearing the hooting of an owl. It wasn't difficult to urinate in the darkness as fear began to overtake Lori. After a few seconds, she pulled her cargo shorts up and proceeded to zip them, observing the spot she just urinated at.
Suddenly, Lori was tackled against the tree, her temple bleeding after her face smacked against the tree. A hand shoved the side of her face against the bark of the tree as one of her wrists was being gripped to the point of losing blood circulation.
"You asked me why I killed my victims?" hissed the voice in the darkness. "Because they pissed me off."
"I knew I couldn't… trust you," groaned Lori as she struggled to lift her face off the tree. "Talia… stop!"
Lori backkicked Talia's groin before freeing her face from the tree. She turned around but was quickly grabbed by Talia and tossed to the ground away from the tree. Talia sat on top of Lori's lap as she held both of her wrists above her head with one hand, her muscles gained during prison time giving her the strength to do so. She then pressed her other hand on top of Lori's mouth as she struggled to scream.
"Scream all you want," hissed Talia. "Your friends won't hear ya. You're only making this more enjoyable for me. I like it when you fight back, you know."
Talia released her hand from Lori's mouth, allowing her to scream in protest as she struggled to set herself free. Talia unzipped her shorts as she pulled Lori's down.
"Let me go you freak!" yelled Lori.
"Keep talkin' dirty to me," snickered Talia as she pulled Lori's shirt upwards. "Keep squirming, bitch."
Lori shrieked as Talia pulled her undergarments away from her crotch. She flailed her legs and her body as she struggled to shove Talia away from her body. But she responded with a punch across her jaw and more rough foreplay.
"You're the best one I had yet," chuckled Talia. "After I'm done with you, I will–"
The flash of a gunshot lit up the area for a split second as Talia gagged and slowly fell out of Lori's lap. Blood poured out of the side of her neck as she wrapped her hands around it, gagging before becoming unresponsive, her eyes staring into the night sky. Lori pulled her shirt down as she panted, squinting her eyes at the tree. She then gasped softly.
"I'm not losing anyone else anymore," said Lincoln as he knelt down with a knife, stabbing Talia's skull.
Lori quickly pulled her shorts up and zipped them as she crawled towards Lincoln. He handed the Python back to Lori, to which she responded with a hug.
"You killed my friend, you putos!" yelled Sonora, who held both of her Tec-9's against Weber's face. "Get up! Go back to the house or I swear to dios I will shoot this kid's skull!"
Lincoln and Lori quickly stood up, Lori grabbing her hatchet and revolver and placing it on her belt as she lifted her hands up. Lincoln dropped his knife to the ground and held his hands up, walking on the bike trail back to the house.
"What the hell's going on out there?" muttered David, holding his M9 as he walked out of the house.
Haleema and Makara fired their CBJ-MS at the entrance to the house, causing David to flinch back and jump to the ground. They stood by Hana's RV with a crate of weapons, firing rifles and other submachine guns at the house. They shattered the windows, shot through the doors, blew the wood off the roof.
"Basement, now!" yelled David as a few bullets flew across the house.
The survivors yelped and shrieked as they ran down to the basement, avoiding all the bullets that were penetrating through the walls. David slowly crawled to the back door as Hana ran to the attic.
"I'm gonna finish the zombie fucker inside the RV," said Haleema.
"Ima' just keep my distance," said Makara.
Sonora laughed as she pointed one of her dual SMGs at Lori and Lincoln, walking within site of the house.
"Your friends are gonna die now," said Sonora. "Shouldn't have pissed Talia off by exiling us."
Weber looked at Sonora, noticing that she was distracted with both Lori and Lincoln. He grabbed her left wrist and chomped his teeth on it, causing her to drop one of her SMGs.
"Ahh, mierda! Little pendejo!" she yelled as she aimed her CBJ at Weber.
Lori quickly lifted her revolver and let off two shots to her chest. She groaned as she collapsed to the ground as Lori quickly ran over to her, aiming her revolver at her head.
"You're right," said Lori. "I shouldn't have exiled you all. I should've killed you all."
Lori then pressed the revolver before grabbing Weber's wrist and running away from the bike trail. Lincoln stared at Sonora's corpse before following Lori, having trouble catching his breath.
Haleema turned the lights on to Hana's RV and fired her CBJ at the closet door, causing the closet to burst open. Reiji growled as it stared at Haleema. She lifted her gun before hearing a footstep behind her. She turned before being stabbed across her stomach, the blade going in her left side and out her right side. Hana quickly pulled out her katana and sliced Haleema's head off her body. Hana looked down and grabbed the head, tossing it out of her RV.
Makara yelled as she fired her SMG at the entrance of the house. She then ran away from the RV, trying to find run away into the darkness of the park. Suddenly, David popped out from the driveway, shooting Makara in her legs. She fell down and rolled, groaning at the wound in her thigh. David walked towards Makara as she slowly crawled back. She then felt the barrel of a revolver behind her head.
"Going somewhere?" asked Lori.
"I was just a hitchhiker," she whispered. "I'll go anywhere but–"
Lori shot her revolver before running towards the house.
"We have to leave now," she said. "Roamers are gonna be here any second."
David nodded. Lincoln stared at Makara's corpse in the ground and had difficulty swallowing. He then shook his head quickly and ran towards the house with Weber, gathering everyone to the vehicles. The roamers slowly made their way to the park, though by the time they approached the bodies near the house, the vehicles have already made their way out of the park.