When The Dead Came 2 (8 page)

"You
guys lost Jenny??"

"She
ran away when these guys started to beat us," Keith said,"
I don't know where she went though.”

Jenny,
breathing steadily after the mere panic attack, told herself over and
over that she could make it. Unlocking the booth, she looked out,
seeing zombies wandering around near the vicinity. She looked back in
the booth and managed to jerk the phone off its cord the best she
could, looked out again and she began to run as fast as she could
with a limp down the street and sidewalk. She swung out at the first
one that came up to her. He reached out his left hand, the skin
missing from his fingers; and she felt sick to her stomach, this
being her first time facing the undead by herself. When she had
traveled with the whole group, she hardly lifted a finger, it was
always the others dealing with them. Then while traveling with Keith
and Holly, Keith did most of the killing, after a while though, Holly
began practicing with firing a gun, but Jenny still didn’t want
anything to do with the sickening zombies. She loathe them, much less
even being near them and she was sure if one ever grabbed her, she
would have a heart attack. Remembering how the others dealt with
them, she swung the phone and hit the zombie across the face, tearing
away the dead skin and she felt even sicker.

Jenny
ran down the street, deciding to just avoid the undead instead of
trying to fight back. Dropping the phone down, she attempted to run
faster, dodging the outreached hands of the dead, escaping their
grips and gnashing teeth, if they have teeth. She turned another
corner, looking back before running further, careful to not trip over
the dead bodies and debris.

She
continued running, until she turned a corner of the street named
Grenshaw, where she took shelter in a turned over school bus, lying
on its left side. Crawling in, she forced the door shut and backed up
where they wouldn’t see her. For once, she felt thankful that
they couldn’t spot you by scent, because she happened to be
wearing some perfume she had found back in Missouri. Resting, she
looked around when she heard a noise of movement near the middle of
the bus. Crawling carefully, she made it to the seat where the sound
came from, and she stopped herself from hitting a girl with her left
hand, possibly around the age of 8 to 10. The girl scooted back and
gripped her Hello Kitty backpack in fear. Jenny sighed with relief.
"You're not bit or anything?" The girl answered with the
shake of her head. "Does this bus have a first aid kit?"

The
girl pointed toward the front where the driver side is. Jenny crawled
up to it and grabbed the kit, then crawled back to the girl. She took
out the gauze, first using her sanitation wipes to clean her gunshot
wound, and then wrapping it. She gave the girl the kit," Here,
keep this in your backpack," the girl put the kit in her purple,
pink, and black bag," What's your name?"

"Laura,"
she said in a whisper.

"Okay,
we're gonna leave the bus," Jenny told her," we're gonna be
doing a lot of running.”

“But
those monsters are going to get us,” the little girl whined,”
I don’t think I can.” Jenny oddly knew how the girl felt,
because that’s what she had said to her father before he died.
The little girl was like her, except she had blond hair and blue
eyes.

“We’ll
make it, I made it,” the little girl looked down at Jenny’s
wounded leg with doubt,” do you know how to swing a weapon or
anything?” The girl nodded a little. “Good, 'cause once
we find some weapons, we're gonna need to do a lot of that. C'mon,"
she said softly and the two of them climbed out of the bus, the
little girl gripping her backpack. Looking around, Jenny nodded,"
Alright, don't worry, I'll keep you safe, let's go." The two of
them began to roam the streets, in search of weapons as cautiously as
possible. Jenny smiled inside, thinking that if the others could see
her now, she would be showing them just how to rescue survivors the
right way.

In
the tunnel, Holly watched the dark haired guy sharpen a machete,"
How long do we have to stay here?"

"Probably
as long as they're alive," Keith whispered to her, drinking the
alcohol. Evan walked over to them and knelt down in front of Avery.

"So,"
he began, pausing," how did you and your friends manage to make
it this far? Without getting bit, scratched or anything? I'm sure
you've lost people along the way."

"Yes,"
she paused and sniffed.

"Tell
me about it," he said,” Charles enjoys hearing how others
made it.”

"We
came from Colorado," Avery itched her nose," Alex and his
brother, Justin, saved Holly, Keith, and I. We went to Lubbock,
Texas, where we found Jenny, Joel, and Zackary. And while in Lubbock,
we were attacked by a few people who took our vehicle and was
demanding our money. Later down the line, we stopped in Topeka, where
we met a scientist, named Pherson. Alec Pherson;" just then, the
chestnut haired guy stopped reading a novel he had jacked from a
store, and looked over, his heart racing," And while he told us
everything about what happened, a group of people tried breaking into
the hotel and attracted zombies. We lost Joel, Zackary, Justin, and
Pherson there." Evan examined her then the others.

"What
about those bandages on your friend there," he gestured at
Keith.

"We
were beaten," Keith answered,” just like she said.”
Avery caught a hint of sarcasm in his tone and he took a drink from
his beer.

"Yeah,
we got beaten and robbed at a Wal Mart in Texas," Avery added,”
Keith was shot, Alex thrown through a glass door or window. The rest
of us beaten or pistol whipped.”

"Did
the scientist tell you anything important?" Cut in the chestnut
haired guy. They sat in silence until Keith spoke up.

"There's
no cure," he said.

"Of
course not," Lucinda said, arms crossed," There's never a
cure until way later when it's too late." She rubbed her eyes.

"It
began in the desert," Alex said, catching everyone’s
attention,” out in Nevada, which we don't know where exactly.
He told us that a guy in charge of the project made him and others
create a virus, inject it into a few living people and dead bodies,
and release the living people out into the world while they kept the
dead bodies there with them to study. New York City's blocked off,
which is where all the higher ranked people in the U.S. have gone for
sanctuary."

"He
also mentioned that those left of the government of each country are
planning on dropping bombs everywhere, thinking it'll kill off most
of them," Keith said.

"And
they think that'll help,” Evan mumbled, standing back up.

"We've
noticed something else," Alex said," when Avery and I were
in hiding. The zombies are evolving, mutating. And those bombs
dropping are gonna kill us if we're unlucky enough. We need to get to
a safer place."

"We're
all gonna die either way," the chestnut haired guy said with a
shrug," so what's the point of even trying to survive."

"I'm
not going down without a fight," Nick said out loud," I'd
rather be out there killing as many of those zombies as I can before
I die than just sitting here waiting on being killed." No one
else spoke for a while, until Lucinda spoke up.

"...Maybe
we should go out there," she said to her group.

"Are
you kidding me??" Charles said, raising his eyebrows," what
makes you think it's safe out there compared to in here?"

"For
one, we can't help people while sitting in here, waiting to be
bombed. There could be survivors out there hiding in their basements
or attics. There could be children out there. Babies. Even you,
Charles, lost your fiancée and two year old son... Don't you
want to fight for them??" Charles just stared at Lucinda, and
the pain came back, he turned away to think.

"Maybe
we can find Jenny too," Holly said to them.

"What
makes you think she's still alive," Jeff asked, looking at her.
Holly just looked at him then turned away. No one else spoke, Alex
and his group looked at one another, the others whispering amongst
themselves while Trevor stood to himself, continuing with working on
the knives. Later on, everyone was preparing to go to sleep, claiming
areas and the chestnut haired guy walked up to Holly.

"Did
Pherson tell you more?" He handed Holly a beer, ignoring the
fact that she was under 21 years.

"He
told us," she paused to take a drink," he has a brother.
Somewhere here in Ohio. He told Alex's brother, Justin, that his
brother's name is Drew." She took another drink.

"What
happened to him?"

"He's
dead," she answered bluntly,” he remained behind and
likely got eaten or bit then turned.” She looked at him since
he was now silent, and realizing the look on his face, it all added
up and she lowered the beer bottle,"... You're Drew?"

"Yeah,"
he paused and shrugged, trying to not seem so sad," Life goes
on." And they both drank their beer. He changed the subject,"
Aren't you under age?"

"Oh
I am underage, but it doesn't mean this is my first time drinking
beer," she took another swig," I used to party a lot with
my boyfriend." And she shrugged," but vodka... That's a
different story. I’m avoiding that." Alex walked over
toward Avery and sat down.

"...They
lost Jenny," he told her.

"I
know," she responded," I assumed that instantly when we
were brought in here and she wasn’t here." Alex looked at
her then down at the ground.

"You
sure you don't want a drink?"

"I'm
good, I think I'd rather be free of alcohol at all times. It's really
not the best timing to even start either." Alex stood back up,
stumbling a little.

"You're
loss, Ave," he slurred and smiled at her before walking away,
almost falling over.

"Lights
out," Charles announced," let's get some rest, then in the
morning, we'll go looking for your little friend. If she's even
alive." Nick shut the little lamps off with one handheld switch,
leaving the tunnels in complete darkness.

Avery
woke up, thinking she heard a noise, but instead could only hear
someone snoring. Likely someone in the other group. She rolled over
onto her left side, facing the wall and just laid there, no longer
feeling the need to sleep. She wasn’t sure if they should trust
these people. But it seemed like Alex was trusting them.

67
feet from where she was lying, Trevor also laid there, staring up at
the dark ceiling, hardly getting to sleep either.

"Everyone
gather around," Charles said. Once it hit around 10, just like
Trevor had told Avery, everyone was waking up and getting prepared,"
today we're going out there in two groups, more or less. Look for
supplies and ammo if possible."

"Wait,
I thought you said we were gonna look for Jenny?" Keith asked.

"If
you come across her while doing the errands."

"So
you just lied to us then," he argued back," you just wanted
us to do your groups dirty work then." Holly shook her head
slowly, Keith’s voice causing her temples to ache.

"If
the little dumb ass hadn't ran away then you wouldn't be needing to
have her as another work priority," Charles responded then
looked at the others," how about two groups with six. Will,
Lucinda, Drew, and I will go. Evan, Nick, Trevor, and Jeff will be a
group too."

"We
get to be on our own?" Alex asked. Charles chuckled.

"Hell
no, you," he gestured at Keith," and you tall chick, come
with us. The short girl and you go with them. Ya'll listen and do as
you're told by the four of them, got it," he looked over at
Jeff," give them a couple weapons." Jeff gave the new
comers a .44 magnum each, a knife, and extra ammo plus a bag for any
supplies found. The two groups left the safe zone, stepping outside
to a grey sky. Holly shut her eyes, feeling blinded and the headache
worsening by it. Charles led his group in the truck while the other
group took the paddy wagon. Charles' group went left as the other
group traveled right, both vehicles parting ways.

Jenny
and Laura awakened in the empty Laundromat, seeing it was finally
daylight out. “Come on,” Jenny said to the little girl
and they got up from the floor, leaving the small building. The two
girls ran down the streets, finally mastering the maneuvers of
avoiding being seen by the dead. They watched as the undead walked
around, a group of them beating on a door to a building, they could
hear screams from within. “Keep moving,” Jenny instructed
and they ran further down a street. Stopping near an alley, they
stood there to take a breath when Jenny noticed a two story house at
the end of the block. Thinking it would be the best place to be, she
gestured at the girl to follow her and they ran down the street,
approaching the house. It was white with a large glass window to
their left. Walking up the two steps, Jenny twisted the door knob and
they walked in, the door not being locked. Laura shut the door behind
them and looked around, smelling something cooking.

“It
smells like meat,” Laura said to Jenny,” I don’t
like it here.” Jenny looked at the young girl, tugging on her
jacket sleeve. Jenny looked around, trying to find the aroma. Walking
into the room at the end of the foyer, the two girls walked into a
kitchen, seemingly clean. But what they witnessed would scar Laura
for the rest of her life and make Jenny question all people from now
on. Blood was smeared all over the counter tops, the kitchen island,
and on the floor in front of the stove. Hacked up body parts laid out
on display for anyone to see. Smoke arose from the stove top, a pan
containing cooking meat. And a meat grinder rested on the island.
They watched it come out the other end in long strings as a
middle
aged man stood on the other side, turning the grinder handle while
wearing a blood stained apron. He looked up at them and Jenny shoved
Laura down the hall.