IV - Zugzwang
-Ten Hours Later-
Lori blinked as her eyes opened. Bobby yawned as he stretched his arms out. Lori pulled down her white T-shirt down to her waist. Bobby fixed his pillow. The couple then laid their heads back on the bed, looking at each other.
"It's gonna be a beautiful day, right?" whispered Lori.
"Looking at your eyes… it already is," whispered Bobby.
Lori smiled. She turned around as Bobby snuggled his arms around her. She held Bobby's arms and stroked her fingers across it.
"Never thought I'd be waking up next to my husband in the White House," whispered Lori. "You know what I have been thinking about lately?"
Bobby shrugged. Lori looked out at the window, staring at the Washington Monument.
"I've been thinking about having children. I mean… I know this world will probably be the last place I would want them to be raised in, but… it's safe here, right?"
"Yeah," said Bobby. "I'd really love that."
"Me too. Maybe the cannibals are truly gone. Maybe this place is safer than I thought. Maybe the No-Zones aren't so bad. We could turn the North Lawn and the South Lawn into farmland. We could actually make a life here. There's nothing to fear."
"Any names in mind?" asked Bobby.
Lori laughed.
"I've had names in mind since we started dating," she said. "Let me tell you later. First, we have to get the stuff for Lisa."
"How long will that take?" asked Bobby.
"Mmm… shouldn't take too long."
Many hours passed.
Lori slammed the door open. She and the rest of the group stepped out of the Georgetown University Medical Center. Her hatchet was bleeding. Her boots left a bloody trail on the snow.
"There were so many roamers in that one room," said Lynn. "Why? Why so many?"
"I don't know," said Lincoln. "I'm just so glad… the plan worked."
"What are we doing now?" asked Sam.
"We're going to inspect the Georgetown Reservoir," said Lana. "Turns out there was another reservoir near us. I mean… it's a bit farther than the one we went to yesterday, but I think checking it out would be cool. Running water doesn't work for half of the White House. What if there's a problem with this reservoir?"
David looked at his watch.
"Lisa needs these medical supplies now, right?" he said.
"It'll only take an hour, tops," said Lana. "I mean, what's the rush? The cure's only for us, right?"
Lori's group continued onwards towards the reservoir. David sighed and looked into the river in the distance. He then walked towards the group. He pulled Lori back as the group continued talking among themselves.
"Definitely Hillary," said Lynn.
"Nobody I talked to ever supported her," said Jace. "Everyone I knew was gonna vote Trump!"
"Yeah 'cause you lived like in the middle of nowhere!"
"Dude, really? The Donald?" groaned Luna.
"I didn't say I supported him," said Jace. "I don't know shit about politics!"
"I think Trump woulda' won," said Preston. "Wouldn't want Clinton to be President."
"Why? 'Cause she's female?" said Lana.
"Democrats support abortion, that's why! I just can't!"
"What's abortion?" asked Lana.
"It's when uh…" stammered Lynn.
"Don't explain it to her, dude!" said Luna.
Preston smiled as he shook his head. Sam looked at him.
"You have like an immigrant uncle, dude," said Sam. "Trump would deport him y'know."
"Umm, I think Bernie would've won," said Luan.
"Now, that's a good joke," said Preston.
"Ronnie Anne, what do you think?" asked Lynn. "Oh wait, I already know."
Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes. Lynn looked around.
"What about you, Lincoln?"
"I think it's stupid to argue about politics. I mean, there's no point. There's never gonna be a 45th President. Never another senator or representative voted to Congress. No more Supreme Court justices. Nothing."
"Ugh, you're lame," groaned Lynn as she walked up to Lori. "What about you?"
"What?" she asked.
"Who do you think was gonna be the next President?"
"Oh my god, guys. Some of you don't even have the maturity to talk about politics."
"But if you had to pick…"
"Lynn… it doesn't even matter. We're walking around with guns like a bunch of Republicans and getting free healthcare like a bunch of Democrats. God, I hate talking about politics."
"You were gonna vote."
"Michigan was gonna go blue without me. Now can you kids stop arguing with each other? David has something important to say!"
Lynn shook her head.
"Blond? White? Old?" she muttered. "Now Lori being President makes sense."
"Go ahead," said George.
David cleared his throat.
A loud gunshot cracked across the air. The group members ducked as more bullets were fired into the air. Bullets then began to smack the ground next to them, forcing them to run away from the source of the gunshots.
"Into the woods!" yelled Lori.
The group ran towards the Glover-Archbold Park. A shard of tree bark was shot off, forcing the group to enter a specific part of the woods. Lori looked back, though more gunshots forced her to look away and duck.
"Where do we go?" yelled Preston.
"Just keep running!" yelled Luna.
The group members began to split apart as more gunshots were fired. The bullets were fired closer and closer to Jace and Becky, some narrowly missing the targets as they dodged the gunfire.
Jace yelled as a rope pulled his body upwards towards a branch where he hung upside down. He grabbed his pistol and held it close to him as he swung around.
"Jace!" gasped Becky.
"Ah! Oh, God!" he shouted. "Cut me down!"
Becky pulled out her machete and walked towards the tree. Suddenly, her left foot slipped and fell into a hole covered by snow. She shrieked in agony as a boning knife stuck the ground, cut through her foot, right through the sole and shoelaces of the boot. She tried pulling her foot out of the hole, but screamed with each attempt. Blood slowly poured out from her boot.
"Oh my god!" yelled Jace. "Becky! Roamers! We're gonna die! We're going to die!"
Becky turned her head around and saw roamers coming from the distance. She grabbed her Glock 17 and struggled to turn her legs around, but to no avail. She turned back ahead and found even more roamers coming.
"Get the ones behind me!" panted Becky.
"O-Okay. And you– you got my back?"
Becky nodded. Jace continued swinging softly as the roamers that approached him came running as if the ground was in the sky and the sky was in the ground. He aimed at the upside-down roamers, focusing his iron sights. He fired once and hit a roamer in the neck, doing no damage. He aimed his gun a bit lower, then fired it, hitting a different roamer's head. He fired again, killing another roamer. The bodies fell upwards towards the ground, as Jace felt his head getting warmer.
Becky fired one shot from her pistol and groaned as the recoil caused her left foot to move slightly through the knife. She knelt down and placed her left hand on the cold snow, slightly wincing as her fingers began to feel the sting of freezing temperatures. She fired her pistol again at a nearby roamer and killed it.
The gunfire continued as George looked around. He found the two teenagers firing their guns from the distance through the naked trees. A bullet then struck the bottom of his backpack, causing a black liquid, appearing like soy sauce, to leak out from the bag. He quickly ran through the park, grabbing his shotgun, and aiming it at the roamers approaching the teenagers.
"I'm out of ammo," huffed Becky.
"Me too!" yelled Jace.
George took out his Glock 19 and handed it to Becky.
"I got your back, Jace," said George.
George continued firing his shotgun, killing multiple roamers at once in the distance. He continued walking back closer to Jace.
Suddenly, a gunshot fired upwards from the ground. George quickly collapsed to the ground on his side. He screamed as the bottom of his right foot was pouring blood. There was no exit wound. The bullet was lodged into his right calf.
He looked at the ground and found a bark strip and a cartridge near it where his blood began to drip. He then looked up at the approaching roamers. And he stared.
"George? George!" yelled Jace.
"George, c'mon!" yelled Becky as the trigger to her pistol clicked with no gunfire.
A roamer growled as it approached George. He was frozen in fear. Jace screamed as the roamer knelt down. Then, a gunfire killed the roamer. And another one.
A car drove near the park and braked, as people began to come out of it. They fired their weapons, then began to stab the roamers. George blinked as Guillermo stuck a drop point dagger into a roamer's skull before pulling it out.
"You…" groaned George. "You!"
"Look at the pieces of shit that came back," hissed Becky.
The cannibals began to surround the three survivors as all the surrounding roamers lay dead on the ground. Guillermo placed the dagger back into his pocket as he grabbed his G36. Calvin then approached the survivors.
"The infected almost got our kill," said Calvin. "But the game's ours. You three are our prizes."
Moose reached into the hole that Becky's foot was stuck in. He grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled upwards, taking it out of the ground. He then grabbed Becky's machete and quickly chopped the handle off.
"This could've been so much easier for you three," said Calvin. "All you had to do was not fight back. And yet, that's what you did."
Moose pulled the blade through Becky's foot, causing her to yell as blood began to squirt out. Beatrice began to wrap a bandage around Becky's foot as Moose tied her leg with a belt.
"Lori played her turn. I played mine. She played hers again," continued Calvin.
Neville lowered the rope that Jace hung on before slicing it. Jace fell inches into the snow, as he struggled to quickly get up. Guillermo quickly kicked his face back into the ground.
"I knew the water problem would get you guys out here," added Calvin. That's why we sabotaged it."
Beatrice began to go behind Becky as she began to tie her hands.
"Lori's gonna lose a knight and a rook," whispered Calvin before turning to George. "And a bishop. What a loss."
Calvin began to walk back to his car before turning around.
"Oh, and by the way. It wasn't personal before. Now, it is."
Calvin walked back to his car as the cannibals continued tying up the three survivors.
Lori panted as she turned around. The gunfire stopped. She was out in the streets as members of the group began to reunite again. She squinted and looked deep into the park, but was unable to find anything or anyone.
"Everybody's here," said Lynn.
"Except George," said Vonda.
"And Becky," said Carol.
"And Jace!" said Luna.
Lori's breath shook as she began to take off her bag. She looked around the group.
"I need some of you to go back home with these bags and bring 'em to Lisa! Lock down the windows, doors, fences, everything! Go on lockdown!"
"I'll go," said Lincoln.
Lori nodded.
"Lana, Clyde, Ronnie Anne, Vonda. Go with him."
"Hell no!" shouted Vonda. "I'm coming with you, guys! I need to save George!"
"I'll go with them," said Carol. "Lisa's gonna need my assistance, right?"
Lori looked at her. She then approached Carol and hugged her.
"Thank you," Lori said.
"It's the least I can do," said Carol. "Go get everyone back."
Lori nodded as Carol, Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, Clyde, and Lana grabbed all the medicine kits and bags. They ran away from the park, each of them holding their weapons.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Bobby.
"We know who did this. We're gonna find our people. And we're gonna kill Calvin and his people."
The group ran back into the park, as roamers in the surrounding areas began to stumble towards the park too.
A radio crackled as a cannibal spoke into it.
"How's it going, Giovanni?" asked Guillermo as he stood by the radio.
"Everything's just fine. No one arrived yet."
"What about you, Anastasia?"
"Everything's clear here. Not a single live one in sight."
"And you, Lyndon?"
"It's all good. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Alright," said Guillermo as he turned towards Calvin. "Yo! Everything's good."
Calvin nodded. He turned towards George, Becky, and Jace, who were all sitting down, tied to a tree. Jace whimpered. Becky exhaled deeply out of her nose. George clenched his teeth. The campfire next to the creek burned bright as the cannibals all looked at the survivors.
"I wish I was sorry for what's about to happen."
The radio crackled.
"Calvin? The X is here."
Calvin walked up to the radio as the three survivors listened closely. Guillermo handed Calvin the speaker microphone.
"How's it going?" asked Calvin.
"All good. We got the X from Baltimore, Frederick, Arlington in here. The X forces from Richmond and Harrisonburg are coming soon."
"Where are you guys exactly?"
"North of Rock Creek Park. Military Road."
"Perfect. I'm gonna need you guys to split up and take up two roads. One group will take 16th Street down to the White House. The other will take Connecticut Avenue to the White House. Tell the Richmond and Harrisonburg groups to take the areas around the Potomac River. You need to keep your eyes in every street between 16th Street and Connecticut Ave. I don't want you people to kill them. Keep them inside. They're going through places riddled with traps. If possible, engage and maneuver them into traps. If you successfully cripple them all, then report to me. If not, then keep them going towards the White House, but do not let them get there before us. I need this to be clean and organized. Is there anything about this that you do not understand?"
"Nope. Got it all."
"Perfect. Once they arrive at the White House, surround them. We will go inside and we'll take everyone living inside. We'll slaughter everyone and then we eat good. White House is going to be our new base. Keep the damage minimal."
"Understood."
Calvin gave back the speaker microphone to Guillermo. He walked back to the three survivors.
"Your group's gonna come here, no doubt," he said. "But it's going to take them a while. So before they come and with their futile attempts to rescue you three, we'll eat one of you. But we're all having trouble deciding who should be first. Here's the thing. Everyone cannot agree because each person here wants to really eat one of you. Guillermo wants you, redhead. Timothy wants you, sniper. And you… Agent Cane– well, I would really like to have Lori for myself… but I think I could make room for you."
Calvin stood up.
"It doesn't matter. You'll all be dead by the end of the day. But somebody's gotta go now."
Calvin took out his meat cleaver. George, Becky, and Jace all felt the heat of the fire burning hotter and hotter.
"Any volunteers?"
.
.
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End Credit Song
Muddy Waters - LP
Crazy stuff.
Let me know how you feel about the way these chapters are set up! Happy holidays again!