"You know, I wanted to buy myself one of those I HEART ATLANTA shirts," Rennie shouted over the chaos as we ran for our lives.
"Why on earth would you want to buy one of those?! I'm pretty sure New York or Hollywood would've worked great," I shouted back over the snarls of the zombs as they chased up down the streets of Atlanta.
"Yeah, but I just wanted a shirt!"
"Maybe I'll steal you one later when we're not about to- I don't know- get eaten alive!"
"Stealing is for the cowardly!" Rennie replied hysterically, half out of his mind.
"DOWN WITH CAPITALISM!" I hollered maniacally, knowing that I should be thinking more rationally rather than completely losing it. In my defense, I just watched a horse get torn to pieces, realized that my brotherly companion was missing and most likely dead, and I've been surviving off of tree bark and almost no sleep for the last two weeks. So, yes, I've gone coo coo for coco puffs.
It only took a near-death encounter with a zomb from my brother's end for me to snap out of it. I shot an arrow at it and picked my brother up off the ground where he'd tripped and landed when it attacked him from the side.
"AH SHEE!" he cursed in Korean.
"YAH! MAL JOSHEEM HAE!" I scolded him. (Hey! Watch your language!)
"Seriously?!" he snapped at me while running by my side again. "You're worried about me cursing in Korean right now?!"
"Shut up and let me think!" I glared at him. I saw a car over yonder, running towards it with my brother.
"Where are you going?!" he shouted before throwing his hands up in frustration. I didn't care to listen to his groans and the moans of the zombs, only focusing on getting in that damned thing. I ran over and got into the open driver's side of the car with Rennie hot on my heels.
"C'mon, hurry!" I shouted at my little brother after struggling to hotwire the car. The engine rumbled to life and I leaned out of the open driver's side door, stretching out a hand. "Gimme your hand!"
The boy's cheeks were flushed and pale at the same time as he leaped one last time towards me in a desperate attempt to escape the zombs. Our hands made contact and I immediately grasped his tightly and pulled him in, making him sit on top of me before I slammed the door. I suppressed an oompf as his weight and his backpack met me. The back of his head knocked into my chin as he flailed about panicked.
"Stay…still-" I grunted tiredly. I grabbed the gearshift, pulling it to R before my brother accidentally pressed the button that lowered the window. We both screamed as a zomb reached its gnarly hand into the car.
"STEP ON IT, LYNNIE! GO GO GO!" Rennie screamed, pulling the button that made the window go up frantically.
"I'M TRYING!" I snapped back, finally stomping on the accelerator. The car squealed before ramming backward into some of the zombs. Rennie was frantically stabbing the very mobile hand of the zomb with a plastic fork, tryna get rid of it. Wait. Fork? Where'd he get that?
"I CAN'T KILL IT!" Rennie freaked out. I huffed before grabbing him by his backpack and shoving him towards the passenger side. His foot accidentally kicked the gearshift, making it go to D. I rammed into some more of the zombs in the front.
'Lord help us.' I thought to myself as my brother clambered over to the passenger side without any further ado.
"Buckle up, hold on tight!" I growled before grabbing the steering wheel and twisting it before shifting the gear to R again. The poor car screeched again as it turned in a full circle, knocking out most of the swarming walkers. I shifted gears again once I saw an exit, driving down the streets. I subconsciously touched the wristwatch I had on.
"Lynnie!" I skidded to a stop on the sidewalk, hearing rapid footsteps and someone calling out my name.
"Do you know how long I've been calling for you?" My older brother panted with a grin, keeling over for a second. I moved my headphones around my neck, giving him my full attention. I wasn't sure what he wanted from me.
"I was listening to music."
"Obviously," he smirked, shaking his head. He put his hand into his jacket pocket, fumbling for something.
"Is it another prey mantis? If it is, so help me, I will-"
He cut me off by grabbing my left arm and placing something around it. I looked at my wrist where a classic silver watch now sat, the straps a light brown leather.
"Testing season is coming up, isn't it?" Denny smiled a bit, nodding to the watch while still panting. "I thought you'd like to be able to keep time on your own instead of keeling over just to see the clock past Big-headed Bernie."
I gaped at him like a fish flopping about on the land. He only grinned further before pinching my cheek and leaning forward, bending his knees to match my eye level.
"Hwaiteeng, nae dongsaeng," (Good luck, my little sis) he cooed at me before backing away and waving at me. He turned back to go home again where my younger brother was probably wreaking havoc. I stood there on that warm sunny day, smiling to myself. I would never take it off, I vowed. Not when it was something that Denny had got me. I skipped my way back to school before realizing that it was highly uncool and walked again, a song that Denny loved blasting on my headphones.
"How do we get rid of that thing?" Rennie asked me, still half-hyperventilating from the panic.
"Sweetheart," I crooned at him on purpose to mock him. "It's called physics."
With that, I turned right while keeping my foot on the accelerator, making my brother screech as the car tilted a bit. The zomb hand was still clawing at me, but the zomb's bottom half was now gone after hitting one of those bars with No Parking signs.
"It's still there," my little brother practically squeaked as I growled in frustration.
"Shut up for a moment," I said as I stepped on the accelerator further, the speedometer showing me that I was going at eighty miles per hour now. I hit the brakes all of a sudden, the car screeching and our bodies flying forwards. I stuck a hand out to keep my brother in his seat while the other hand pushed down on the window button, making the half-zomb pitch forwards. Rennie screamed like a girl before desperately grabbing the handle to control the movements the car made as it squealed.
"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD WE ARE SO GONNA DIE-"
I waited till the car halted completely before switching gears to R again, driving backward close to the alley where we had lost Ben.
"Where the hell are we going? Where the hell are we going?!" Rennie screeched, freaking out for sure.
"WHY ARE WE GOING TO THE ALLEY WHERE WE SAW A TON OF THEM BRAINDEADS?!"
"Cause we need to get dumbass in our crew again. Now shut up for one goddam moment and let me drive in peace!" I snapped at Rennie, glancing at him before driving up the same area we had last been in.
Please be alive, Ben. Please.