II - Golden Hour

-Present Day-

"...they could be nearby. Okay. Got it," muttered Calvin.

George blinked his eyes rapidly before he coughed. He clenched his teeth as he dragged himself upwards against the tree he was tied up against.

"Oh. Look who's back up," said Calvin as he got closer. "Glad you're back with us."

"I was never out. Was just resting my eyes. Had to get you to shut the hell up for a couple minutes."

Calvin forced his laughter as he stood up. George looked away from him and watched Jace and Becky knelt down around the bonfire, hands tied behind their back. Their faces had blemishes and bruises and small cuts.

"You say you're all from different places… George's from New York, his license said it all. And the heartless sniper… Jace Taylor… surprisingly easy to squeeze information from..."

Jace panted as he looked up. Calvin placed his hand behind Timothy's back and patted him softly.

"Maine. That's really far. But it makes sense. Maybe Lori's bullshit story isn't so bullshit anymore."

Calvin continued walking around the fire.

"And Becky. You know it was George who first revealed your name?"

Becky continued to stare ahead, avoiding eye contact with George. Calvin stared at her through the dizzying smoke of the fire.

"Your life was in danger. No one really had anything to lose. But even now, I bet I can squeeze something from an FBI agent."

Calvin walked back to George. He crouched and looked at him in the eyes.

"One more time, Agent Cane. Who created the cure and where can we find it?"

George remained silent. Calvin clicked his tongue before shaking his head.

"You know, the X people that you killed back in Baltimore? There was a guy in charge of them. Now, they usually don't share names, but for my convenience, this man did. Woodrow."

Jace looked at Calvin with wide and worried eyes.

"He was a patient at the Spring Grove Hospital Center in Baltimore. For what? He never said. But I can only assume it's for psychopathy. I mean, if you knew the guy, you could tell something wasn't right in his head."

"And you're the normal one?" whispered George.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you. Did you just accuse me of being insane too?"

"Insane enough to eat people."

"I don't have to explain myself again," said Calvin. "You don't know true hunger. Woodrow recruited people into his X-Tribe because he took advantage of their mental instability! I… I simply woke people up. The people who knew what had to be done to survive were able to live among us. And those who couldn't have… you know what we did? You wanna know?"

"You're a psychopath," said George.

"Any chance you're a vegan, Agent Cane? I never saw a farm around the White House. Maybe… maybe it's inside. Could be. There's the Solarium, a greenhouse where you could grow your beans and shit. But where am I going with this? Of course you're not a vegan. You slaughtered animals before."

"It's not the same thing," said George.

"Oh, it's not? You mean they haven't slaughtered chickens like we did to the patients in the mental institutions? They haven't cooked beef like we cooked people from prisons and roads? We locked these people up in their hospitals, their prisons, their homes like they were animals in a cage. And those who wanted to survive are here with us. Well… not all of them."

"So, you're treating us like animals."

"You people are animals. It's a dog-eat-dog world. Your survival doesn't matter to me. That's why it doesn't pain me to hurt you people to get what we need— not want— in order to survive. And what we need is the cure. So, tell me… before we really make this painful for you people."

George spat at Calvin's face.

"Eww. Fucking gross piece of shit!"

Calvin wiped his face with his denim jacket sleeve, and stood up. He looked at the cannibals and nodded.

Guillermo punched Becky's face before Moose pinned her down to the ground, shoving her head against the dirt. He forced her to look at George as Guillermo grabbed and held her arms behind her back. He knelt down above her legs, closing them with his own legs.

"You want a tattoo so bad?" growled Guillermo. "I'll give you something permanent on your arm."

Guillermo placed the tip of Becky's dagger on top of the fire before moving it towards her left arm.

"The fuck is this? Sharpie?"

"Don't tell them, George! I can handle the pain! I can handle— AH!"

Becky screamed as the hot blade cut against her arm, causing small trails of smoke to puff out.

"Hold still!" yelled Guillermo.

Tears flowed out of her closed eyes as she continued screaming. Blood dripped to the dirt ground next to her face. A scar on her arm began to form in the image of a vulture as Guillermo continued cutting.

"Stop!" yelled George. "The cure is in the laboratory in the White House! East Wing! First floor! Now, stop!"

"The name," said Calvin.

"Stop hurting her!"

"The name damn it!"

"Dr. Steven White! Goddamn it, stop! STOP!"

"Guillermo!" Calvin whispered loudly.

Guillermo lifted the dagger off of Becky's arm. He panted as he stabbed the dagger into the ground, followed by Moose releasing her head. She softly sniffled and shivered under her shriveled red hair.

"Who's this doctor?" asked Calvin.

"He's dead," said George. "Woodrow killed him! And we've been trying to replicate the cure ever since."

"Who's trying to replicate the cure? Specifically? And don't bother tellin' me it's Lori, because I—"

"Vonda," said George. "Redhead girl with bow and arrows. But don't… don't let her appearance fool you. She's a child genius. Along with Lisa Loud. Small girl with round glasses. There are more, but who knows if you're gonna keep them alive?"

"Right. Who knows?" said Calvin. "One more question. Who killed Woodrow? Who left him on the rooftop… bleeding out from bullet holes and a bludgeoned skull?"

Jace panted heavily as Calvin drew an X on the ground.

"If you tell me, that person is going to die a quick death. I won't bother with the knives, the fire, nothing. We'll shoot them in the head and leave 'em there in the ground. Let the roamers eat for once, you know?"

Calvin chuckled.

"But if you don't… we'll kill Becky right now. Hack her to death. Make it slow."

"We're not killing the sniper?" exclaimed Timothy. "He killed my lil' brother! Shot him through the heart and left him to bleed out! I never even got to bury the body 'cos the dead are still all over the fucking place…" Timothy hissed while pointing at Jace. "No way I'm letting him live. No. Way."

"In time," said Calvin. "I'll let you be the one to do the deed. But Guillermo asked first. And Becky was supposed to be dead a long time ago."

Calvin cleared his throat. The fire continued to rage. George's cold breath puffed out his mouth faster and faster as sweat drops showered his face.

"So, who killed Woodrow? Or… would you rather see Becky's limbs dismembered before you?"

George panted as he looked down.

"It was Kotaro. The guy you killed a while ago."

"Bullshit," said Calvin. "There were people who saw this shit from a distance. It's either… the blonde girl with the blue streak… Sam was it? Either her… or the girl with purple clothing… or the scientist, Dr. White... or it was Jace. The fact that you're lying makes me question what other shit you lied about."

Calvin placed his buck knife back into his sheath and grabbed his meat cleaver.

"And that… won't go unpunished."

Calvin walked towards Becky with the meat cleaver. Becky shook her head as she tried dragging herself away from him as he lifted up the meat cleaver.

"WAIT!" screamed Jace. "Wait, stop, it-… it was me. It was ME, I killed Woodrow!"

"Oh? It was you…?" whispered Calvin, amused.

Jace quaked in terror, before whimpering "Y-Yeah, it was me. J-Just me. You wanna kill someone…? K-Kill me. I'm a killer, I fucking deserve it! N-Not Becky, please…!"

"Interesting…" said Calvin. "And you do? Well! Timothy! Would you like to do the deed?"

"Could hardly fucking wait. I'm making this as painful as—"

George began laughing softly.

"You people aren't doing shit," he blurted out. "Calvin. I find it funny how you don't see a hole in your plan."

"There isn't one. But you're welcome to tell me about it."

George continued laughing.

"Alright, I don't have time for this. Timo—"

"The hole… is keeping everyone alive! If you keep every single person in my group alive, then you're fucked! You won't get out of this alive!"

"You're starting to piss me off."

"And guess what? You know what else I found funny? We're not the same person at all. Not even close. But you're so fucking crazy, that you think you could be like me. You know what. I'm proud of doing what I did."

"Which is?" growled Calvin.

"I'm proud of it."

"The fuck did you do?"

"Your little girl back in the deli shop. I killed her. Destroyed that eye she had."

Calvin reached into his pocket and took out George's Glock 19. He knelt down and aimed it at George's head.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't blow your head off," said Calvin.

George gurgled and spat at Calvin, who yelled and aimed the pistol at his abdomen. He fired his pistol, squirting blood out of his abdomen. George groaned and clenched his teeth. Jace and Becky gasped.

"Killing you would've been a hole," hissed Calvin. "This was planned. This…"

Calvin pressed the tip of the knife against the wound and twisted it. George screamed as he felt the blade cutting up his wound.

"...was not. If you kept your mouth shut, I would've made it less painful. But now, you're gonna feel the pain with every step you take. And you won't even make it back to the White House."

George clenched his teeth. Calvin placed the Glock back into his pocket.

"You're not young," said Calvin, "but you are strong, Agent Cane. So I give you an hour to bleed out. Time enough to consider whether it was all worth it."

George groaned and blinked as blood seeped slowly from his abdomen. Calvin stood up and began to walk away.

"Get the cars ready," said Calvin. "We're leaving."

"I'm getting impatient," said Timothy.

"Wait no more," said Calvin. "Go."

"Wait!" yelled Becky. "Jace is lying to you! He didn't kill Woodrow! He didn't! It was me! I swear! I swear!"

"Load her into the cars. And someone shut her up!"

Guillermo grabbed Becky's tied arms and dragged her to a nearby red truck. Timothy shoved Jace's head down and grabbed Calvin's meat cleaver. He untied him and placed one of Jace's hands out near the fire and lifted the meat cleaver.

"Wait, does anyone hear that?" asked a cannibal.

A bullet flew across the camp and grazed Timothy's neck. He screamed as he dropped the meat cleaver, coughing as his neck began to drip blood. The cannibals turned towards the southern trees near the creek.

Another gunshot was fired. A bullet struck the skull of one of the cannibals. His body stiffened as his body fell back. More gunshots were fired.

"Shit! Fall back! Fall back!" yelled Calvin. "Don't shoot!"

The cannibals ran towards their vehicles. Guillermo tossed Becky on top of the back trunk of the truck, before running into a different vehicle himself. Calvin ran inside a black car, where Moose began to drive him away. Timothy held his neck as he ran inside his own car, taking Raphael, Beatrice, and Nora with him.

Lori and David revealed themselves from the trees with Luna and Sam behind them. A cannibal tried to shoot David, though David quickly shot him in the neck with his M9. Another cannibal tried to run across the creek, though Sam fired her AR-15 multiple times at his back. The cannibal dropped to the water, his blood mixing in with the flowing creek. One other cannibal tried to escape into the woods, though Hana quickly stopped her. She swung her katana up, dismembering the cannibal's right arm before cutting off her scalp. Luan and Benny popped out of the woods behind her.

"They're getting away with Becky!" yelled Luan.

Lori and the others fired their weapons at the red truck as the cars tried to leave through a trail. Then, David's M9 popped one of the red truck's wheels, though it didn't stop the truck at all. Lori tried running towards the trail, though the cars sped out of the woods and into the streets, where they quickly disappeared. She sighed and lowered her Python as her eyes remained glued to the trail. Her eyes then shifted towards Hana, who ran towards the trail, holding her sword out.

"Hana! Come back!" yelled Lori.

Hana continued running at full speed, eventually disappearing in the distance. Lori let out a disappointed sigh.

"Do we follow her?" asked Bobby.

"No. Just let her be."

Lori turned around.

"Oh my god," whispered Luna as she lifted Jace up. "What the hell happened here?"

Jace immediately wrapped his arms around her and then buried his face into her shoulder, the loose ropes still hanging around his hands. Sam and Preston ran over and joined in on comforting Jace.

"George!" exclaimed Vonda. "Your stomach!"

"Yeah, the bullet's still inside. It's a hollow point."

Lori grabbed Bobby's scarf and wrapped it under George's ribcage.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Calvin… used my gun. I had… hollow rounds."

George groaned as David and Bobby helped him up.

"How'd you guys… find us so fast?" he asked.

"They left footprints in the snow," said David. "Don't need a tracker to know where they took you."

Benny and Bobby exited out of the two cars that were left behind.

"No fuel," said Bobby.

"No keys either," said Benny.

"You guys… have to leave me," groaned George.

"We have medicine at home," said Lori. "You can hang in there."

"No. That's their… plan. I'll hold you… guys back."

Lori wiped George's face with a small rag, before handing him a bottle of water.

"Take a sip," said Lori.

"No, Lori…"

"A sip!"

"Lori… Calvin and the others know where we live," said Jace. "They're on their way there. And they're hellbent on capturing us all and getting that cure."

"So, we'll be ready for them."

"They called in the rest of the X-Tribe. They're gonna get us surrounded all around the White House!"

"So you want us to leave George?"

"No," said Jace. "I'm just saying to keep an eye out for any X along the way."

George sighed and took a sip of the water bottle that Lori handed to him. He coughed out blood. Vonda shook her head.

"George…"

George wiped his mouth and took a large sip.

"Some of you… have to beat 'em there," said George.

"We're not splitting up," said Lori. "We're going as one."

"What about Becky?" asked Luan.

Jace shook his head.

"It— it was supposed to be me, but Becky, she… They took her, and they're gonna…!"

Luan covered her mouth as the fire continued to blaze on top of the timber.

"Maybe Hana will find her!" exclaimed Luan.

"Maybe. If she can even catch up to them in time."

"Forget Hana. We have no time to waste!" exclaimed Lori. "Let's go!"

George groaned as David and Bobby helped him limp forward. Sam and Luna jogged forward as Jace and Preston stayed back, grabbing the belongings of the cannibals that were killed. Jace grabbed his Px4 from a cannibal's body. Preston grabbed Becky's Glock 17 from another cannibal. He felt nervous about holding a gun, but there was no time to hand it to someone else. Both boys followed Luan and Benny as they went back into the woods, traversing through the snowy pine trees.

The black tar-looking liquid bubbled inside the flask as a burner continued to heat it up. Orange powder sitting on a cup was drenched in water, mixing with it as the water turned orange. Lisa placed a pH strip inside a test tube before grabbing a flask and a dropper. She turned around and saw Carol grabbing scalpels, gauzes, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

"Hey, there…"

"Lisa."

Carol took out an FNX-45 from her pocket as Lisa froze in fear. She walked back as Carol racked the slide back, checking the chamber.

"Here," said Carol, handing over the gun to Lisa. "Just in case."

"What is happening?" asked Lisa.

"The cannibals are back. Our group is going after them. And I expect casualties. So whatever you're doing with the cure— do it fast. After all, you're the only reason why we went that deep into a No-Zone. So, either they come back safe and sound… or that cure is gonna be ready. Hurry!"

"I don't know how to use this."

Carol began to walk out of the laboratory.

"You're smart. You can figure it out."

Carol opened the door as Lisa placed the pistol on the table. She then slammed the door shut and walked out into the hallway, taking a deep breath as she held her revolver tightly. She exhaled deeply before walking away, releasing her tight grip on her revolver.

Lily hopped up and down as she tried reaching the nails in the ceiling. She sighed as she turned around, looking at the rest of the Entrance Hall.

"Linky? I cannot reach."

"Aw, dang. The nails are too high," said Lincoln. "But I got some tape. We could just tape the lights into the wall."

Lincoln reached into his backpack and grabbed a roll of transparent tape and a pair of scissors. He rolled out a strip of tape and cut it off with his scissors. He then grabbed the stretched line of Christmas lights and taped one of the covered wires into the wall. Lincoln then grabbed Lily's hands and walked back with her.

"There we go. That should hold."

"Can I try?" asked Lily.

"Oh, you wanna tape the lights onto the wall?"

Lily nodded.

"Okay! Here's some tape."

Lily grabbed the tape and rolled it out as Lincoln held the whole roll, grabbing his scissors and cutting off the strip. Lily giggled.

"Hehehe. It's sticky."

Lincoln smiled.

"Yeah. That's why the lights stick to the wall. Now go ahead. Grab that green line."

Lily grabbed the green wire and taped it onto the wall. She turned around and smiled.

"More!"

"Go ahead!" said Lincoln. "I'll cut out the tape for you!"

Lily rolled out more tape as Lincoln cut it. She grabbed a light bulb and placed it against the wall before slapping the tape against the green wire. The tape held the wires and the Christmas lights between them in place.

"More! And more up!"

"You want it higher?" chuckled Lincoln.

"Uh huh!"

"Alright, here you go!"

Lincoln cut out a piece of tape before grabbing Lily under her shoulder and lifting her up facing the wall, laughing along with her. Lily grabbed the Christmas lights and taped it against the wall. Lincoln then set her down on the ground before she leaped around, clapping.

"Yay! This is fun!" giggled Lily.

Jeffrey walked into the Entrance Hall. Lily smiled and waved at him. He smiled and waved back before facing Lincoln.

"How many rolls of tape do we have?" asked Jeffrey.

"A lot. Why? You ran out?"

"Yes. Another roll would be handy."

Lincoln walked over to the plastic bag in the corner of the room and pulled out another roll of tape. He handed it to Jeffrey, who looked at Lincoln suspiciously.

"The squall has not hit yet," said Jeffrey.

"Nope."

"And the group is still out there? That is one risky gamble they are taking. Seems… a little foolish."

"How are your lights coming along?" said Lincoln.

"Well. You're welcome to check it out."

Lily ran towards the Cross Hall that ran from the State Dining Room next to the West Wing to the East Room next to the East Wing. She looked around as Jeffrey and Lincoln followed her. The dark bulbs hung on the wall and above the hall, crossing diagonally at parallel walls.

"These are Christmas lights…" said Lily, "...but there no light."

"You gotta turn them on," said Lincoln as he walked towards a switch. "Is it plugged in?"

Jeffrey nodded. Lincoln motioned Lily to follow him.

"Come here, Lily. Elder, can you turn the hall lights off?"

The lights to the Cross Hall turned off. Lily held the switch.

"Here, press this button," said Lincoln.

Lily pressed it. The lights turned on and glowed brightly across the hall, the red, blue, and green colors lighting up the hall like stars. She looked around in wonder as she lay down at the carpet.

"Linky, it's so pretty!"

"Yup."

"Pretty…" whispered Lily.

The lights shimmered along the hallway as Lily continued to watch them in awe.