Ah, the 31st of October. I considered publishing this chapter for the two-year-anniversary of this story, but I thought it'd be more fitting to make this year's Halloween a bit more special to you guys! Plus, it makes sense as well, since this chapter takes place entirely during the 31st of October 2018 in this zombie AU. Yeah, a year behind. It's a bit weird. But wow! Two years, 27 chapters, 480k words, 23.4k views! This feels amazing! Sorry for the wait, which was almost TWO MONTHS. I've been working on Chapter 28 during this waiting period, so you don't have to wait as long! Anyways, that's all, enjoy the story and don't forget to leave some reviews! Later!
Heartbeats pulsed rapidly. Sweat dripped from their faces. Breaths were short and quick.
Guillermo lifted Becky's ACE 23 and machete away from the ground as she huffed bitterly. His allies from the rooftops climbed down the fire escapes and ladders and walked over to the surrendered search party. Their clothes were all baggy, layered under something else, or stained with dirt and dust. Some of them grabbed an unconscious George and placed him inside the trailer of the semi-truck. Guillermo rubbed his eyes before putting on sunglasses.
"If anyone has any other weapons, throw it down on the ground now. Concealed knives, guns, anything- on the ground."
Preston grabbed his pocket knife and tossed it to the ground. Luna grabbed her crowbar and dropped it next to her. Guillermo nodded and then raised his arms behind his head.
"Hands behind your head, like this."
The group members followed his instructions. Guillermo then pat each one of them individually. He then pat Becky down, who gasped softly as she felt his palms slap hard against her. He then began to pat against her gray hoodie around her left breast repeatedly, before pulling back her hair. She gasped louder as he whispered close to her ears.
"You hid it in the one place you thought I wouldn't check?"
"Stop!" yelled Sam.
Guillermo zipped open Becky's hoodie and pulled out a dagger from a hidden pocket inside it. He ran it against her cheek, causing a small cut where blood dripped out slowly.
"I said concealed knives too…"
Guillermo kept pulling back Becky's hair as he walked her over to the back of the truck, shoving her head against the trailer floor.
"Get inside, bitch," said Guillermo before turning towards another one of his men. "Tell Calvin to bump her up to top priority."
The man nodded as Guillermo turned around. He looked at his watch and motioned the group to get inside the truck.
"Come on. I don't have all day!"
Hana, hidden behind a window in the store, looked at the search party being rounded up inside the truck. Guillermo walked over to the driver's seat while the men got inside surrounding cars. One of the men closed the trailer door and tapped on it while holding on to the vertical rail.
"Hold on, Guillermo," said one of his men. "There's another one. It looks like a woman. Thin Asian woman. She's hiding in a store."
"Thin?" asked Guillermo. "Kill her. Report to us when you're outside the base."
"Got it, G."
The man and a woman walked towards the store, the man holding Benny's katana. The woman held George's Mossberg and kept her eyes on the frozen Hana. Suddenly, Hana leapt out of her hiding spot and ran deeper into the store, prompting both enemies to run inside. The truck began to drive away, the other cars following it.
George groaned as he rubbed his head. Light shone through the air holes on top of the trailer, though the darkness remained in the bottom, where the group were. Bumps and turns were felt as George coughed. Then, the truck stopped.
Three loud thumps against the trailer from the outside snapped George awake. He looked at his group members, some who were looking above. Luna and Sam's face were dripping with sweat as they held hands, their dilated pupils looked up at the air holes. Preston was in the corner, his eyes closed and arms crossed as he whispered to himself. Becky and Bobby placed their backs against each other as they sat against each other. Them, the trailer door opened. Red lasers pointed inside the trailer as the survivors shielded their faces from the bright lights inside the parking garage.
"Get out, single file," said Guillermo.
George walked out first. Then, Luna. Sam. Becky. Bobby. Preston. The metallic door was opened and Guillermo led them inside. The empty parking garage was wide. The group members found mesh fences in the corners of the garage, where two adjacent fences were connected to a wall and a support beam each. They saw blood stains across the floor, chains wrapped around the support beams scattered across the garage, ropes and chains tied in the middle.
Guillermo grabbed George's arm and led him to one corner of the parking garage. George looked up and saw a sign that said 'BULL.' He was shoved inside the square cell, surrounded by men, most of them large. His eyes opened as he saw one of the men, who happened to be Brendan.
"You boys, come with me," said Nora, standing next to armed men.
Bobby and Preston shook as they followed Nora and the armed men. They looked up at a sign that read 'ROOSTER.' Inside, they saw Lincoln, Clyde, and Benny, as well as other young boys and young men.
Guillermo then led Luna, Sam, and Becky past the cage labeled 'COW' and walked them over to the cage labeled 'HEN.' He unlocked the padlocks and slid the mesh door open, shoving the girls inside, before closing and locking the doors again.
"I'm sorry, guys," whispered Lori.
The three girls found Lori, Luan, Lynn, Ronnie Anne, and Lana inside the cell, along with other young women. They hugged each other as Guillermo walked away. Then, a man wearing a New York Yankee hat walked inside the garage.
"We got six more consumables," said Guillermo. "A bull, two roosters, and three hens."
"Good. Begin the slaughter," said Calvin.
Chapter 27: Last Resort
I - Quarry
The overcast skies covered the capital while the wind blew back Jace's hair as he lay prone on the roof of the White House. He looked away from his binoculars and yawned. David looked into his binoculars and sighed, hearing the crunching noises next to him.
"Are you aware of the fact that I had a crush on a boy named David?" asked Lisa, munching on a granola bar. "He was a smart kid. Attractive. But not mature enough to grasp the concept of love."
"What happened to him?" asked David.
"I'm afraid I can't answer. The last I saw of him was 883 days ago. I stopped worrying about him ever since."
"That's unfortunate. And uh, Lisa. Try to chew with your mouth closed. It's kinda ruining my concentration."
"My apologies. This edible yet possibly expired granola bar is working wonders on my taste buds- and on my brain. Would you care for one?"
"Nah. I'm good."
"I'd like some," said Jace. "Could use some energy myself."
"They're downstairs in the first floor kitchen. Pantry to the left of the refrigerator."
Jace's mouth widened.
"Y-You're seriou-? Alright. Okay. Whatever. I'll get it myself."
Jace stood up and walked back into the building. Lisa grabbed his binoculars. David looked at her.
"You know it's not really safe for you to be up here?" he said.
"I'm aware. There's nothing to do, however, and I'm really concerned for my eldest sister."
"What about the boy? Brought him up for a reason?"
"Yes. I used to worry about him," said Lisa. "Just hearing someone calling your name reminded me of the boy. Scenarios would form in my head everytime I would try to rest. But then… I started worrying about my friends and family. Remember Darcy?"
David nodded.
"How I replayed that moment over and over," said Lisa. "Quite literally. I had the video from my glasses. But can you imagine what went through Lori's mind? She transformed into an entirely different person. And I worried about her ever since."
"Same here."
"Don't you have a son?" asked Lisa. "Ever think about him?"
"Yeah. I always like to think that he's soaking up the Florida sun, living a hell of a life away from here. But my mind refuses to believe that. I can't stop thinking about what would happen if I find him. Seeing Lori change only made me more afraid of finding him. If I find Seth, will I even be reuniting with my son?"
Lisa gasped softly and looked at David.
"Florida… your son lived in Miami, right?"
"Yeah, but who the hell knows where he is now?"
"The Keys," said Lisa. "There's a military base there. Nothing controlled by Quentin Black. Nothing controlled by KHAN. It's the site where most evacuated soldiers went to."
"How the hell do you know that?" asked David.
"I found detailed plans in the Situation Room. Your son might have possibly been taken in by these soldiers. Real soldiers."
"The ones that abandoned this city? You see… I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, they gave up the capital to the KHAN… but on the other hand, these were just men and women trying to get back home safely to see their loved ones. I'm conflicted. I don't know what to think. I don't."
"I know you've been thinking about looking for your son, and while the risk of losing your life is very likely… I think it's worth it."
"That's great news and all but then there's also me. I changed. I'm a mess. I've been a fucking mess since… my wife passed. I did some things that I regret. Some things that keep me awake. I wouldn't want my son to see me like this."
"I don't understand. What would you ever feel guilty about?"
Jace walked back to his sniper rifle and lied down, opening up his granola bar. David rubbed his face and looked down.
"I'll forever be the reason why a father and son weren't able to survive. The reason why a father and son were never able to say goodbye to each other."
"I presume you're referring to the late Webers?" asked Lisa.
David nodded slightly.
"The measures we took to make sure that our people didn't get sick wasn't worth it. It wasn't smart then. It's not smart now. No matter how desperate we were, it was wrong to separate them both. I didn't even have the goddamn courtesy to give Frank a chance to speak with his son."
"Right, we didn't let him."
"But you let Luna talk to me," said Jace. "I was on the bus and I was sick, but she still went close to me."
"That's right," said David. "That's fucking right. No wonder why people think you're favoring your family. I should've said something. If I had done the right thing for once, then others wouldn't have to suffer. Like Lana. She wouldn't have had to kill Simon Weber. God, what have I done?"
"I have to believe what I did will eventually become the right choice," said Lisa. "Even if it feels wrong. Otherwise, I killed Zoey for nothing."
"But–"
A burst of gunshots popped through the air. The three survivors looked ahead at the direction of the road where Lori's group and the search party went. More gunshots went off.
Meanwhile, Carol turned on the bright lights that reflected off the mirrors in the cosmology room. She looked at the cabinet below the mirror and opened up the drawers. She saw hair pins, scrunchies, razors, nail files. She opened up another drawer and saw nail polish, lipstick, mascara, eye liner, foundation, and concealer. She closed the drawers and grabbed the scissors at the top of the cabinet.
Her long, thin golden hair glowed in the reflection of the mirror. She took a deep breath as she grabbed a few strands of her hair with one hand and the scissors on the other. She then quickly snipped it off.
Strands of her golden wavy hair dropped to the floor as she continued cutting her hair.
Her shoes kicked against the metal cans on the sidewalk and rustled against the warm leaves. Hana panted as she ran along the cars, passing by as many as she could.
"This bitch runs fast!" panted the male pursuer.
He knelt down below a red car and took out an unloaded M9 from his left pocket. He dropped the katana to the ground and pulled out a magazine from his right pocket. Pushing the magazine inside the pistol, he then cocked it and aimed it the M9 above the car. His iron sights followed Hana as she leaped from cover to cover. He pressed the trigger once, hitting a car mirror. He groaned and grabbed the katana with his right hand, following Hana down the road.
The wind blew against the women's black hair. The female pursuer continued running on the sidewalk as she held both of her hands on the shotgun, her left on the pump and her right on the grip. She then aimed it upwards at Hana's direction as she attempted to run across the street, and fired it. The pellets hit a mailbox and some ricocheted into the parked car next to it.
She crossed the street and was now within the male pursuer's sight. He aimed his pistol at her and fired off two shots, both of them missing. He then ran after her as Hana continued running in a zigzag formation. Wheezing, he stopped and crouched below a green car, trying to catch his breath.
"She's heading into Service territory," said the male pursuer, breathing heavily.
"Just keep going!" shouted the female pursuer.
She fired the shotgun again from across the street, the pellets shattering the windows of a car and the shop behind it. Hana darted past the car and continued to run. The woman with the shotgun crossed the street, now behind Hana's tail. She stopped and aimed her shotgun at Hana.
A gunshot went off. The bullet struck the woman's chest before she pressed the trigger. She spasmed and aimed the shotgun slightly upwards as she fired it, missing Hana completely. Then, she slowly dropped on her back, landing on a can as her body forced it to roll away.
David placed his hands on the bolt handle of his M24, small traces of smoke puffing out of the barrel. He cocked the sniper and aimed it at the street ahead, distances apart. Lisa crouched away from the edge of the roof with her fingers covering her ears. Jace looked out of the scope of his gun and scanned his surroundings.
Hana hid behind the back of the bus as she panted. The male pursuer continued crawling towards the bus. He leaped from car to car, sweat forming on his nose as he aimed his pistol at the bus. Hana looked at the shotgun that lay next to the dying woman. She stepped forward and attempted to grab it, though the man quickly shot his pistol near the shotgun, a few bullets striking the woman's body. Hana quickly leaped back behind cover as the man moved behind the front of the bus.
The man moved behind the right side of the bus, hidden from the snipers' sight of vision. Hana crouched away from the back of the bus and toward the shotgun lying on the ground. She grabbed it and quickly ran towards the right side of the bus, aiming the shotgun at the man. The man turned around as Hana pulled the trigger. Nothing came out of the shotgun.
Hana leaped back behind the front of the bus as the man fired off a few shots. She then heard the man drop the M9.
"C'mon. You don't have a gun. Why don't you just make this easier on yourself and give up?" exclaimed the man as his voice came closer. "I promise you won't suffer. But every second you make me wait… well, that's another second of suffering for you."
Hana shouted as she leaped back into the sidewalk, swinging her sword at the man. He ducked and dodged the blade, before grabbing his katana and swing upwards. Hana jumped back swinging her sword downward. The man blocked the katana with his katana, before pushing it away. Hana moved backward and away from the bus.
'Nah. You gotta face me here," said the man. "Somewhere where your Service buddies won't snipe me."
Hana yelled as she ran towards the man, swinging his katana downward, then from the left. She quickly moved the katana back and tried thrusting it forward, before the man smacked the sword out of her hands. He ran forward and swung downwards. She quickly jumped and rolled away, grabbing the handle of her katana. As the man stood above her, his katana raised above his head, she quickly kicked his left shin and knocked him on one knee.
"Ahh! Damn it!" groaned the man.
The man swung the sword downward as Hana quickly dodged her head, the blade smacking the sidewalk. She punched the man and quickly leapt up as he bumped against the bus. He tried raising the blade. Suddenly, Hana spun her sword and sliced the man's wrists against the bus. The man screamed as his hands and the sword dropped to the ground, blood squirting from his open arm to the blade of Hana's katana. She grabbed Benny's katana and raised it towards one end of the man's neck while holding her own katana on the other. She sliced through the neck with both katanas, causing the man's head to fall to the ground before his body.
"Jesus," said David. "Jace, get Kotaro and go with him out there. Get her back inside."
Jace nodded as he ran back inside the White House.
Hana panted as she walked with both katanas in hand. She looked around and found nothing but colorful leaves and trash moving around the wind. Her eyes closed as blood began to drip over them. She continued to walk towards the White House when she noticed two people running towards her. She raised her katanas.
"Wait, it's us!" exclaimed Kotaro.
Hana wiped the blood away from her eyes with her arms and lowered her katanas.
"We have very… little time," she panted. "Group is not safe. We have to... kill every one… of these animals."
"What do you mean little time?" asked Kotaro. "They got captured?"
"Hai."
"Where? By who? These people you killed?" asked Jace frantically.
"No. Not people. Human who eat human. Man-eaters."
Jace turned towards Kotaro.
"Think she has a concussion? Or is she telling me that roamers somehow captured our group?"
Kotaro shrugged before facing Hana again.
"It's odd of you to not get straight to the point," he said. "Are you describing roamers?"
Hana sighed as she walked up to the fence outside the North Lawn and lay against it, her chest puffing back and forth.
"Hitokuijinshu. They capture group. Group of Lori and group of George."
"Who did?" asked Jace.
"How do you know that's what they are?" asked Kotaro.
"There was a man. He said he created the X. He said he was hungry. He wants to eat the group members. His people all want to eat our people."
"What?" gasped Jace. "What's going on, Kotaro? What is she talking about?"
Hana pushed herself away from the fence and went inside, jogging at the North Lawn to the White House as Kotaro closed the fence gate.
"Our group were captured by cannibals," said Kotaro. "It makes sense. These are probably the other X-Tribe people that we didn't kill."
"The ones that kept Luna alive?" said Jace.
"Yes. We have to hurry- the group don't have that much time! They still got to be breathing. We have to hope they are."
Hana, Kotaro, and Jace towards the White House.