IV - Hell
Footsteps and huffing and puffing were the only sounds heard as Lincoln and Lily jogged over to the southeast corner of the community. A manhole could be seen but it was guarded by a Vulture.
"Crap," said Lincoln. "Okay… here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna break into Girl Jordan's house. We can't get through the front door because the Vulture is going to see us. And if we try to knock, he'll hear it."
"Break in?" asked Lily.
"Breaking the windows."
"But he will hear!"
"Yeah. That's why we'll fool him. Just follow me."
Lincoln opened the fence door that led him to Girl Jordan's backyard. He limped over to the garden surrounded by bricks. He grabbed two of the bricks while Lily watched, wondering what he had planned. He peeked through the driveway, looking to see if the Vulture was looking in his direction. He wasn't.
Lincoln then took a deep breath and waited until the Vulture was looking away from the car to his right. The Vulture then turned around, looking at the walls. Lincoln quickly looked up and tossed the brick as he muttered softly to himself. He then smashed the brick hard against the window, making a loud shattering sound.
The Vulture quickly turned around, looking away from Girl Jordan's house. He walked over to the car to his right, wondering how the car window was shattered. He then heard a gunshot in the distance coming from the town center. He nodded softly as he walked over to the manhole, now having his curiosity piqued.
Lincoln unlocked the window and lifted Lily up slowly over the window and into the house. He then pulled his sleeves over his hands and climbed over the window sill. After getting inside, he shook off the glass shards from his sleeves and looked around, seeing a kitchen.
He grabbed Lily's hand and slowly walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. It was dark. He then slowly walked upstairs.
"I'm scared, Linky," whispered Lily.
"It's okay, Lil. Once we get somewhere safe, I'll turn on the lights."
Lincoln looked at all the rooms. They were all open except one, which had light coming from the slit under the door. He walked over to it and prepared to knock on it. However, before he could, the door opened with Chandler aiming a gun at him.
Lincoln gasped in fear as Lily trembled behind his legs. Chandler sighed before smiling arrogantly. He then lowered his gun.
"It's just Stinkoln."
Stella showed her face from the lamp-lit room. Mollie and Chloe then showed themselves from the closet while Trent and Richie stood up from behind the bed, lowering their weapons.
"Oh, hey, Lincoln," said Mollie. "Any chance Girl Jordan's with you?"
"I… I don't know where she is," said Lincoln.
"What about Clyde?" asked Chloe.
"I don't think he and the others are back yet."
"Oh no… what if something happened to them?"
"I'm sure they're fine, Chlo," said Richie.
"Fine? We don't even know what the hell is going on out there!" exclaimed Trent.
Lincoln walked inside the room with Lily. The windows were covered by cardboard. Lily felt warm and safe inside, especially after Chloe waved at her.
"It's a good thing you guys are here. Do you guys know about the Vultures outside?" asked Lincoln.
"Those scary looking guys with swords and knives?" asked Stella.
"Yeah. They're after me."
"Why?"
Lincoln sat on Girl Jordan's bed and took a deep breath.
"When the Laborers came, I tried to escape from this community with Lily through the manholes. However, the Vultures came out of it and they started chasing us, so we ran all the way to the infirmary. But the infirmary was being shot up by Laborers then they were killed by the Vultures. So we left, tried to head here until we ran into Becky. Here's the thing— Becky is their leader. And Becky was about to shoot my grandpa until I came in and threw a rock at her. And I got into a fight with her and that's how I got all these wounds… including this big cut in my leg."
The group looked at the cut in Lincoln's thigh, gasping in horror. Lily stared at it with curious eyes, though everyone's reactions unnerved her.
"Anyways, I managed to escape from the Vultures and ran all the way here. Oh, by the way— did you know that Polly Pain is a Vulture?"
"So that's what's happened to her…" said Mollie.
"You didn't lead them here right?" hissed Chandler.
"I… I don't think so," said Lincoln.
"Idiot! How long were you bleeding?"
"Hey, go easy on him…" said Stella.
"No, he's right," said Lincoln. "I didn't even think about the blood trail I could've left behind."
"This is bad," said Chandler. "This is real bad. Did Becky beat the hell out of you? Did you land a single scratch on her?"
Lincoln looked at the teens he formerly known as his classmates. He didn't like how Chandler was underestimating him.
"I almost killed her," said Lincoln. "Just to be clear, she's not a friend anymore. That's not the Becky we knew. So it's not like I was going easy on her or anything."
"You almost killed her?! Oh my god…" groaned Chandler. "You can't stay here!"
"Lower your voice!" hushed Stella. "We don't want them to hear us!"
"Sorry, Stell. I'm just worried about our safety. We let this kid in here— what happens when the Vultures find him?"
"We'll just have to hide him really well so that they don't," said Stella.
"We can't hide him forever. If the Vultures are taking over this town and they're the ones who took down the Laborers and all those cops— who all had guns— and these Vultures only have bladed weapons, then they have numbers! Lori and her group ain't comin' to save us! These Vultures have the numbers to search every inch of this house!"
"We can't just let him out there on his own."
"We can! We can protect the small child, but not Lincoln!"
"Why not?" asked Mollie.
"Man, I kinda see your point," said Richie. "I just don't think it's cool to leave Lincoln out there to die."
"They're gonna kill us if they find us with him. All of us. Have you fools forgotten who kept all of us alive during the pre-construction days? I did! You know why? Because I'm willing to make the hard choices for the sake of this group!"
"Hey, Lincoln is one of us too!" said Chloe. "You wanna make the hard choice? Protect him. That's hard, but leaving him out there where he'll most certainly die is not an option."
"Yo, Chlo…" whispered Richie, trying to calm Chloe down.
"I won't let him single Lincoln out like this! He's been nothing but nice and friendly to us! He doesn't deserve to fight for his life like this!"
"Oh, he'll be fine," said Chandler. "He's survived out in the wild, I'm sure this is familiar to him."
"Gosh, how could you be so sure?"
"It's okay, Chloe," said Lincoln. "I understand where Chandler's coming from."
Chandler raised an eyebrow while keeping his arms crossed.
"I'll just leave Lily here with you guys—"
"Please let us help you," said Chloe. "We don't know if Clyde, Jordan, or Ronnie Anne are still alive… but if you stay with us… then at least we'll know you are."
"She's right," said Stella. "I too get where Chandler's coming from… but we can protect you. We just have to be optimistic."
"Really?" smiled Lincoln. "You guys are willing to do that?"
"I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if we sent you out there and you died," said Mollie.
"Yeah," said Richie. "Just wouldn't be right."
"Sure, why not?" said Trent. "If my girlfriend and my friend want you alive, then so do I."
"So it's settled then?" said Stella.
Chloe smiled and nodded. Chandler groaned as he walked out of the room.
"Unbelievable," he muttered.
"Where are you going?" asked Stella.
"I'm going to see if I could bag another gun or two, since y'all wanna protect this loser. Because if the Vultures do come here… it's gonna be one hell of a fight."
Lincoln gulped. He found himself agreeing with Chandler. He did not want his friends to die trying to protect him. He did not have it in him to carry on more survivor's guilt.
The doorknob in the questioning room jiggled softly as Sam slowly tried picking the lock. Licking her lips as she remained focused, she tried her best to translate Simon's instructions into action.
"You have to keep the tension tool level," said Simon. "And make sure you're not pushing the little pins too hard."
"I don't know how you can do this," said Sam, removing the bent paperclip from the keyhole. "It's way harder than it looks!"
"Hmm… try the other way around. Use the wire as the picking tool and the paperclip as the tension tool. Maybe that could feel more comfortable for you?"
"Alright. Same thing as before?"
"Yeah."
Sam switched the paperclip and the light bulb's wire's positions. She then picked the lock, now finding it easier to push the interior pins needed to unlock the door. Suddenly, she heard a click. She turned the paperclip to the side, unlocking the door. She then turned the doorknob with her own hands and opened the door, gasping in surprise. She wanted to cheer, but kept herself quiet just in case there were Vultures around. She slowly walked out of the room and towards a cop's body. She grabbed the keys from the cop's belt and walked back inside the questioning room. She stumbled around the dark room, waving her hands around until she was touching Simon's hair. She then moved down his arms and into his wrists. She unlocked the handcuffs within a few seconds.
"Much easier with keys," she whispered.
"Who knew?" Simon whispered back.
Both Sharps walked out of the room, taking the keys with them. They walked towards the crate they spotted earlier, walking past the cop's body that Sam took the keys from. However, they heard two Vultures chatting with each other inside an office next to the crate. Simon lowered his body and crawled to the crate before slowly removing the pistols in the top of the crate. He then crawled back with Sam and handed her one of the pistols he grabbed. It was a Glock 17 with the words 'DANA' inscribed on the side of it. Simon then looked at his own pistol, which was a standard M9 pistol.
Sam and Simon stood up and looked through the window on the door that led inside the jail center. There was a Vulture walking around. They couldn't free the prisoners.
"Where now?" mouthed Sam.
Simon pointed at a door in the back. He slowly made his way there while Sam followed him.
The back door opened. Sam and Simon were now outside of the police station, where they now witnessed smoke hovering in the air around them. Light from the fire shimmered from the town center, though the police station was blocking the view.
"I can't spend another minute here," said Simon.
"Agreed," said Sam. "But where do we go?"
"Outside of the walls."
"They must be guarding the main gate. And the walls are way too high to climb over… unless we had a ladder."
"Don't worry," said Simon. "I know another way to get out of here."
Sam and Simon ran through the parking lot of the police station, making sure to keep themselves hidden from the sidewalks and streets by leaping from backyard to backyard. And then, they were gone from sight.
Looking at the pictures she took caused Jane's eyes to widen in ecstasy while the rest of her face couldn't quite match her true feelings of happiness. She sat on the couch with her legs crossed, holding two pictures upwards to get the light from the lamp next to her to shine on them at a good angle.
Vonda held up a mouse chew toy and squeezed it, though Carlitos was unimpressed. He was more curious about the pictures that Jane was looking at.
"What are you looking at?" asked Carlitos.
"Car, stop bothering her," said Vonda.
"But I want to see the pictures…"
"Eat your mac and cheese."
"Hmph."
Carlitos walked away from Jane and knelt by the table, eating his dinner. Vonda then tossed the chew toy away before she tapped her fingers against the couch nervously.
"Hey, can I get your opinion on these pictures?" asked Jane, showing Vonda the two pictures she was staring at. "Which looks better?"
"Are we going to act like there isn't a riot and an attack going on outside?" said Vonda. "How could you focus on those pictures? Aren't you even a little worried about what's going on?"
"I am…"
"Oh, wait, of course— I forgot that this isn't your home. There isn't actually anything to be worried about because you don't have anyone that you care about living here. They're all back home safe and sound."
"That's not fair… I care about Melissa and your dad and Lori…"
"You don't seem like you care. You're right— it's not fair. I'm sitting here worried sick about my dad and you're sitting here waiting to get back home to your multi-million-dollar mansion."
"I'm sorry… I didn't know…"
"Typical rich girl. Ignorant to other people's feelings."
Jane rubbed her arms as she blushed out of shame. She put her pictures inside her small backpack, unable to look Vonda in the eyes. She then heard the door open.
"That was quick," said Vonda sarcastically.
"Is everyone here?" asked Albert.
"Yeah. Where's my dad?"
Albert entered the house with Ronnie Anne, Lana, Whitney, and Roger.
"Found these two," said Albert. "Whitney and Roger— you guys are really lucky that we—"
"Guys, where's my dad? And where's your mom, Ronnie? And Bobby?"
"It's a very long story, which we have no time to tell."
"Well, I'm not leaving without him!"
"Fine. He's dead."
"What?"
"Stop that!" said Ronnie Anne before looking at Vonda. "He's not dead. Not yet so far at least. Look, he got shot along with my brother. The Laborers broke into the walls. And they are definitely gonna break into the infirmary for certain and they need my mom alive to treat their guys. And if they were to finish off my dad and my brother, then there's no way my mom will treat them. So it's better for them to keep them alive. But if you go in there all stupid, they'll just use you as a hostage. Meaning they can kill Bobby and your dad. So, please… I know what you're thinking. Don't go."
Vonda sighed and nodded.
"Well? Where do we go?" she asked.
"Down the sewers," said Albert. "Y'all have your weapons?"
Ronnie Anne grabbed her crossbow. Vonda put on her quiver. Whitney held up a baseball bat with a nail on it while Roger brandished a kitchen knife. Albert was the only one with a gun— and it was a pistol.
"We are coming back, right?" asked Vonda.
"Eventually," said Albert. "We need to head to another community because something tells me that they don't know about this. More manpower, more firepower— that's the plan."
"When we come back…" said Ronnie Anne, "...if it turns out I was wrong… and my mom is dead… I'm gonna kill you. I don't care if you're my boyfriend's grandfather."
"We coulda' used that killer energy back then. Why'd you freeze?"
"'Cause my mom was there. I don't want her to see me for who I really am. But if she's gone, then I guess it won't matter, right?"
"Ronnie… you really won't do that, right?" asked Lana. "It may have been messed up what he did… but he's still my family."
"It's alright, Lana," said Albert. "Let her say what she wants to say. Ronnie, I'll keep that in mind."
Whitney and Roger looked at each other with horrified expressions. Lana looked anxious about Ronnie Anne's anger. Jane grabbed Carlitos's hand and followed Albert, Ronnie Anne, Vonda, Lana, Whitney, and Roger out of the front door. They jogged to the nearest intersection away from the town center. There, they found two Vultures standing around with bows and knives. They saw the group approaching and raised their weapons. Albert prepared to raise his pistol while Vonda grabbed an arrow from her quiver and Ronnie Anne lifted her drawn crossbow.
Then, they heard multiple loud gunshots. The two Vultures dropped down with smoke trailing from their bodies. The group continued to run towards the intersection, turning their heads to the street on their left where they saw two approaching survivors.
"Sam?" said Ronnie Anne.
Sam and Simon ran towards the intersection, looking around. Simon then stopped at the manhole and quickly lifted it.
"Any of you guys got a flashlight?" asked Sam.
Roger tossed a flashlight towards Sam, who caught it with one hand.
"Thanks."
Sam handed the flashlight to Simon, who placed it in his mouth as he climbed down the ladder to the sewers. Albert and the rest of the group followed, with Jane and Carlitos going down first. Then, Whitney and Roger followed.
One of the Vultures popped up from the street to their right. He whistled aggressively as he raised a rifle. However, Sam quickly shot him with her pistol, landing a clean headshot. Even Albert didn't have time to react.
"Woah, Luna wasn't kidding when she said you were the best shot next to her," said Albert.
"Aww, she said that about me?" smiled Sam.
"Guys, get down already," said Ronnie Anne, looking up from the manhole.
Albert climbed down as Sam stood on the lookout. She then ran towards the Vulture that she shot.
"Sam?" whispered Albert. "Sam!"
"What's going on?" asked Simon.
More gunshots sounded. Simon was starting to get worried. Suddenly, Sam looked down the manhole.
"I got this for me," said Sam, passing the Vulture's rifle down to Albert.
"Ugh, had us worried there."
Sam climbed down the ladder before closing the manhole with the cover. She then finished climbing down the ladder before Albert handed the rifle back to her.
"Ugh, it's an AK, though," said Sam, her voice sounding echoey in the sewers. "I hate AKs. Recoil sucks— ugh, it kinda stinks in here."
Jane vomited into the wet brown and green liquid that her shoes were touching. Whitney coughed and tried to wave the air around her face before she gagged. Roger felt very nauseated. Carlitos pinched his nose while Ronnie Anne simply made a slightly-disgusted expression.
"You alright?" Vonda asked Jane.
Jane groaned weakly. She then vomited more before stumbling slightly.
"Never been around a dumpster?" asked Ronnie Anne.
"She's never even been around a trash can," said Vonda.
"Let's stop wasting time," said Simon. "This way."
"How long will we be gone?" asked Carlitos.
The group was silent. Whitney cleared her throat as she grabbed Carlitos's hands.
"No one knows," said Whitney. "But it's okay. We'll all make it back home safe and sound."
Carlitos nodded hesitantly. Whitney wasn't sure if she believed herself.
The group walked deeper into the sewers, following the flashlight. Then, they made a turn, the sewers turning dark again.
The fires burned intensely in the houses near the town center. This included homes that belonged to Schoffner, Ravi, Plesko, and other residents. The police cars were also in flames, lighting up a dark community.
The Vultures were putting on the helmets that the riot police wore. They were also putting on their uniform, grabbing their batons, their shields, and their guns.
Glass, wood, cartridges, bullets were littered all over the stairs in City Hall. Bodies were being burned by the front lawn, though the apple tree was left alone.
The marble floor was stained by a mess of blood and bodies belonging to the cops that tried defending the City Hall building. They all lay on the floor or against the walls, lifeless, with the exception of two police officers. One was the police sergeant who ordered Katherine Mulligan's arrest and the other was the police lieutenant, who was interrogating Becky with Schoffner just a few hours earlier.
The police sergeant whimpered in pain as he lay against the stairs with his kneecaps blown off. The police lieutenant had the top of his head grazed by a bullet. He was sitting next to the police sergeant, surrounded by Vultures dressed like them. Then, they both looked up.
"We don't need this one," said Becky.
Shiwen nodded. She walked up to the police sergeant before Becky called out to her.
"Shiwen, wait. I wanna do it."
Shiwen nodded again. She stepped away as Becky approached the police sergeant.
"Hey, there," said Becky, pulling out her pistol. "We didn't kill Ravi yet, right?"
The police sergeant shook his head. Becky then pressed the muzzle of her pistol deep into his kneecap wound and twisted it, causing him to scream madly in agony.
"He answered your question!" exclaimed the police lieutenant.
"Yeah," smiled Becky. "He certainly… fucking did."
Becky continued to dig deep into the wound before lifting her pistol, now seeing the arteries ripped open as a result of her doing. The blood from the cop's knee was spilling all over the stairs as he cried out for his mother. Becky closed her eyes and laughed softly as she rubbed the blood from her pistol all over her fur-collar jacket.
"You're a goddamn psychopath," said the police lieutenant.
"Oh… maybe. Wish you knew that before you left Schoffner in the room alone to beat the shit out of me. And now… this random asshole's paying for it. Alright, his screams are starting to bother me."
Becky shot the police sergeant in the head. The police lieutenant let out a fearful gasp.
"Don't be so sad," said Becky. "Piece of shit deserved it. He beat the protesters."
Becky then stood up and looked at the Vultures inside the City Hall building.
"You guys can go wait outside now," said Becky.
The Vultures all nodded and began to leave the building, with the exception of Shiwen. Becky grabbed the police lieutenant by the back collar of his shirt and stood him up as he glanced at the dead police sergeant one last time. She then walked him up the stairs.
"Do you have a wife?" asked Becky.
"Yeah," said the police lieutenant.
"Any children?"
"Two girls."
"You can still go home to them. I'm counting on you going home. It'd be no fun to kill you right here and then. Plus, I want to keep this upper part of the building as clean as possible."
"O-Okay."
"Just follow my lead and I promise no one will hurt you."
Becky walked to the door of Oscar's office, holding her gun against the police lieutenant's right temple.
"Officer Schoffner," said Becky, "you better open the damn door or else I'm shooting your lieutenant in the head. That simple."
There was silence.
"Please, Schoffner…" begged the police lieutenant. "My girls… I don't want them to grow up without a father."
There was more silence. The police lieutenant began to tear up. Becky was disappointed.
"You know who to blame," said Becky.
Suddenly, the door opened slowly. It was Ravi, holding a pistol up as he stepped away slowly. He and Schoffner both had their pistols up, aimed at Becky, who was hiding behind the police lieutenant. Becky looked at Melissa, who was behind Oscar's desk. She then looked back at Schoffner.
"See? That wasn't so hard," said Becky.
"What do you want?" hissed Schoffner.
"To cross out the next name in my list."
Becky then rapidly moved her pistol away from the police lieutenant and shot Ravi in the shoulder. Ravi fell as Schoffner shot at Becky. However, Becky quickly ducked as the bullets struck the police lieutenant, hitting his neck and face. He instantly dropped down as Becky shot at Schoffner's chest, causing her to stumble back. After regaining her balance, she quickly aimed at Becky again, though this time, Becky had her pistol aimed at Melissa.
"Drop it," said Becky. "Now."
Schoffner quickly tossed her gun away. Shiwen marched inside, grabbing her pistol before walking over to Ravi and taking his pistol away. She then patted down both officers. Schoffner raised her trembling hands as she looked at Becky.
"Easy there," said Schoffner.
Becky smiled as she lowered her pistol. She then walked over to Schoffner and looked down at her.
"Admit it," said Becky. "Your obsession with catching me was because you wanted to be in power."
Schoffner looked at Ravi. She maintained a strong face, though she wanted so badly to check up on her partner.
"ADMIT IT!"
"Yes, okay? I thought I… I could do it. I thought I could save people. I'm sorry…"
"Heh. Go help your partner."
Becky walked over to Melissa as Shiwen placed Katherine's radio on the desk.
"I trusted you," said Melissa.
"No, you didn't. Tell the other communities that everything is fine and that Royal Woods is simply in a police state after being attacked by Laborers. Tell 'em that and I'll let Schoffner take Ravi to the infirmary."
"The election… who do I announce as the winner?"
Becky's eyes knew the answer. Melissa looked into her heartless eyes, not being able to understand her. It was like looking at a completely different person.
The armored-plated vehicles drove up just outside the gates of Ketcham Park. They stopped right before the road spikes, which had a few roamers tangled up in it. But the few roamers was not something the group paid any attention to.
Lori looked through the windshield of her car. There was a wave of roamers outside the walls, all looking to get in through the dented gate. The Laborer vehicles could barely be seen, but the machine guns that stuck out from the back trunks were visible. Most importantly, the reflection of the burning fires could be seen in the dark cloudy sky.
She then turned to her left. She saw her Pop-Pops standing outside the door, looking through the window. He had a solemn expression on his face. She then looked around and saw the rest of Albert's group behind him.
The Vultures were all standing outside the City Hall buildings. Some stood on the lawn. Some by the stairs. Some near the burning cars. Some on the street. Many of the residents all stood by their homes or in the streets, having lost hope that their community would be saved.
The wooden doors inside the balcony on the second floor suddenly opened. Becky walked through the door with blood-stained hands. Her jeans were stained with blood. Her fur-collar jacket was stained with blood. The right side of her face was not. But as soon as the left side of her face was visible to the burning glow of the raging fires, her wounded and blood-stained face was now clear to the cheering Vultures.
Becky marched on forward and placed her hands on the balustrade of the balcony, looking down at the group who took out the Laborers, the group who took over the town with her. It was her group that she made from scratch. They knew it. The residents knew it.
Royal Woods was hers.
.
.
.
—
End Credit Song
Red - Beth Crowley
—
Wow, what a chapter, huh?
Speaking of all things red, make sure to check out 'Infection of the Dead: All I See Is Red' by Spose! Awesome dude, awesome writer, awesome story!
Alright guys, 'till the next time! Later!