"Hey, are you coming with us?" Addison asked, crouching down beside Aurora to be more level with the girl who sat on the porch, her legs swinging back and forth. The blonde girl looked over to her sister, nodding. Even though the two were sisters they thought they couldn't look more different to each other, Aurora with her blonde hair and heart-shaped face and Addison with her long red hair and oval face shape but, others always noticed how similar they looked; their eyes were both a greenish blue, they were almost the same height, and they had quite a few of the same mannerisms.
"Amazing, we're gonna head out now." Addison smiled, standing up, offering her hand to the girl
"Thanks," Aurora stood up, dusting her pants off, grabbing her sword and bag, and following her sister down the path.
The girls made their way to the front gate, where Doc and Mack waited for them. Doc had been searching through his bag, pulling out a little baggie, his face lighting up as he saw the two girls walking over.
"Took ya long enough" Mack joked, rolling his eyes as he watched the two girls get closer.
"Sorry, I had to work up the courage to see your ugly face" Aurora scoffed, causing Doc to burst out laughing. an offended look landing on macks face.
"Be nice." Addy warned, linking her hand with Mack's. Aurora rolled her eyes, opening the gate. The two girls had met Mack on day one, and since then, he and Addy had been immediately infatuated with each other. It hadn't taken long for them to start dating, and Aurora had been disgusted with the whole thing. Aurora had once overheard Mack say it was only jealousy that Addy had found someone and Aurora didnât, which only made the girl more annoyed at the two. Aurora completely disagreed with the statement and was just disgusted because once the couple knew they were safe and could let their guards down, they were all over each other, and no little sister wanted to see that.
"I hope they have bullets, I'm almost out." Doc spoke from beside Aurora, helping the blonde close the gate behind them.
" I hope they found more cassette tapes," Aurora grinned, grabbing out the Walkman she kept in her bag. The last time they met up with Sketchy and Skeezy, who happened to collect random things for trade, she traded 12 bullets that she rarely used for it. Addy said it was the stupidest trade that could have been made, but Aurora heavily disagreed with her sister.
After about an hour of walking and one random zombie group, the 4 stumbled upon the trading shop-or their car with bars on the window and their trunk hatch open. Skeezy stood behind a collapsible table that had random baggies, weapons, and other things spread across it. While his partner Sketchy stood at the back of their trucks with more guns and random things spread across the back.
"We were getting worried thinking maybe you ran into trouble." Sketchy spoke in an uncaring tone, he was a taller man with a salt and pepper looking beard and short curly hair to match it.
"Nope, someone's just slow." Aurora spoke, glancing at Mack, who threw his hands up like he was gonna say something, only to be stopped by Addy. Doc pulled Aurora over to the table Skeezy stood at. Skeezy was a tall, slender man who had more of a buzz cut than hair and looked like someone you would cross the street to avoid. The two rummaged through things as Skeezy talked about nonsense, trying to upscale things more than anyone would logically be willing to give for.
"How about a straight across trade?" Doc asked, grabbing out a bottle of Aspirin, "A Dozen of these aspirin for a dozen of these reloaded .223s."
"You can't kill a zombie with a bottle of aspirin." Skeezy gestured to the aspirin
"Well, you can't Kill a fever with a bullet, and they ain't making any more bottles of aspirin," Doc spoke matter-a-factly. Aurora shook the bottle of pills in her hand for emphasis.
"Make it a dozen OxyContin and you got a deal." the man said, causing Doc and Aurora to scoff
"I'd have to take a dozen OxyContin before I make that deal," Doc said, grabbing his aspirin and shoving it back in his bag.
"How about some meth? Do you want any crystal?" Doc said, perking up, catching the other man's interest, and officially losing Aurora's.
Aurora made her way to her sister and the new spiked bat she had in her hands. Rory reached for the bat, grabbing it from her sister. The blonde inspected the bat in her hands with admiration, a small smile on her face. The blonde immediately handed it back as they heard distant growling.
"Behind you" Mack warned, causing Addy to spin around, whacking the Z in the head. The Z hit the ground with a thud.
"Nice, You alright? That was a little close." Mack walked over to Addy, quickly scanning her for bites. Aurora followed quickly behind him.
"Yeah, that-that was a fast one." Addy spoke, her eyes soft as she looked up at Mack. "Brutal." the redhead smiled before turning back to sketchy, who had a knowing smile across his face.
"Told ya." The man's smile turned into more of a smirk.
"Hey isn't that Red Hanson?" the man asked. Aurora took a step closer to inspect him, nodding her head in agreement.
"Z's got red? Damn, he was our best customer." he sighed. "Tough as bullets, I wonder if his brothers know" the man said as loud growls were heard
"Yeah I think so, cause here they come" Sketchy screeched, everyone reaching for their guns.
Aurora reached up, grabbing the sword from where it sat in its sheath against her back. Mack shot the first one, stepping aside so Addy could use her new spiked bat to take out the other one, missing him when Mack jumped in, shooting the zombie's head. The last brother surprised Mack, attacking him before Sketchy and Skeezy took the man out. Aurora sighed in relief, sheathing her sword in its place again.
"Closing time" the two tradesmen spoke, shutting down everything, putting everything away, and safely packing it in their car. The four left stood making sure all of their stuff was safely packed in their bag, Addison pulling out her camcorder. Addison's need to document everything annoyed Aurora to no end, but there wasnât much she could do about it, so she chose to ignore it.
"the way that big one moved, he must of turned just a few hours ago" Doc said as Addy filmed their surroundings
"Four brothers recently turned on Millers road by Sutters farm. Given Mercy, May 13th, 3 A.Z" Addy spoke a sadness evident in her voice
"Time to go" Mack came up behind the redhead, giving her a comforting pat. The four made their way back down the road towards their camp. Aurora, Addy, and Mack met Doc 10 days after they first made it to Camp Blue Sky and took an immediate liking to each other. Aurora immediately liked Doc after he made a joke about being too sober, and after Rory was the only one who laughed at the joke Doc immediately liked her. The others soon joined in, seeing why Doc was so funny. Aurora and Mack, unfortunately, had gotten off to a much rougher start. Aurora thought he was a little too egotistical and mentioned hockey a little too much for the end of the world for her.
"Too bad they didn't have any cassettes on them." Aurora sighed, bumping into Addy, who just laughed and wrapped her arm around the blonde's shoulder.
The four stopped when they saw smoke and heard gunshots, the group exchanged worried looks before taking off closer to camp. Doc pulled out the radio from his bag, trying to call for anyone. Aurora prayed for an answer from anyone; she hoped no, she knew they couldnât all be dead. The small group waited for a response
"Hey, Doc, it's Garnett. What's going on?" A voice carried over the radio, a sigh of relief washing over everyone's faces.
"Garnett, thank God you're alive." Doc spoke as the group around him let out a breath of relief.
"We thought everyone was dead."
"I'm not at Camp Blue Sky. What's happening?" The words had barely come through between static and crackling. Doc smacked the radio against his hands a couple of times to try and knock the radio back into sense, but it still crackled.
"The batteries are dying." Doc spoke more to the 3 around him than to Garnett, causing the other three to groan. Aurora dropped her head onto Addyâs shoulder, a lump forming in her throat from anxiety.
The four too occupied in the conversation on the walkie talkie to notice what had been happening at Camp Blue Sky, jumped back everyone looking up to the explosion that went through camp blue sky Aurora immediately reached for Addys hand squeezing it. Aurora had never been a fan of loud noises and the apocalypse had not been a place to get away from it.
"Blue Sky has been overrun, the whole place is on fire!" Doc informed Garnett, his voice a little uneven
"Survivors?" Garnett questioned
"Well, there was a ton of gunfire a while ago, but nothing since." the older man spoke as the radio started crackling again.
"Let's go." Doc called as he ran closer to the camp; the other three were hot on his trail. The group of four ran through the trees, trying to find any survivors, running until they stumbled to the edge of the tree line.
"Hey, there's the escape bus!" Addy screamed happily as they all stopped in their tracks, watching the school bus of survivors drive by, kids sticking their faces out the windows."Oh! they got the kids out." Addy smiled as a zombie poked his head out of the end of the bus. Addy and Aurora looked at each other, horrified, as the group took off after the bus, watching it crash into a tree, smoke rising from the crushed engine.
The back door swung open, a line of Zs falling out the back door. Addy, Mack, Doc, and Aurora backed up, running in the opposite direction as fast as they could as zombie kids and adults chased them. The group ran up a hill as fast as they could, only to run into a tinier group of Zs. They stopped in their tracks with horror on all of their faces, the thought of this being the end racing through all their heads.
"Get in!" Garnette yelled, running over the zombies in front of them, the back door swinging open to a man they had never seen before. The Carvers and Mack ran to the bed of the truck while Doc got in the backseat with the unrecognisable man. " GO, GO, GO!" Mack yelled once the three were safely in the back. Aurora laid her head against the back of the truck, a huge sigh leaving her lips. Mack and Addy mimicked the girl's actions.
It wasnât long before the truck pulled into an abandoned high school, fences, damaged vehicles, and tore down siding everywhere. Hammond made his way out of the truck, hoping to find his guys but if anyone was here, they were definitely dead.
"Is it him?" Murphy called out of the back seat. Hammond nodded, shooting the Z he stood in front of in the head.
"Don't go far," Warren said as the group climbed out of the truck
"Don't worry," Murphy rolled his eyes, unzipping his pants and peeing on the tire. "This guy." Warren scoffed
"My reinforcements are dead, we need to make a quick search for survivors and any supplies." Hammond ordered. "You! Zip it up and stay close to me." Hammond yelled to Murphy, who looked at him in disbelief.
"Hey, where'd all the Z's go?" Addy asked from where she stood
"Movin' on, like locusts." Doc said, causing Aurora to send him a confused look, the older man just laughing her confusion off.
"yeah but they'll be back. Garnett, Warren, you clear the building. Hey! you four check the vehicles." Hammond ordered again, earning himself a couple of looks of disbelief. Everyone headed off in their directions.
The small group of four headed towards a pile of rubble and clutter, looking to see if they could find anything. Aurora bent down, holding up a loose arm only to drop it just as fast. Aurora's head snapped up to a group of zombies growling. Addy's eyes moved to where her sister was looking to see a cage with a horde of zombies trying to get in to eat whatever was in it.
"What are they after?" Addy asked, running toward the cage. "only one thing" Mack spoke from behind her. Doc and Aurora ran after them, the four grabbing out their melee weapons, mercying the Zs that surrounded the metal cage.
"Is that a girl?" Aurora asked, confused as the zombies fell, looking at the three around her in disbelief. Who would lock up a poor girl? Why would they lock up a girl?
"Hey! Hey!" Mack called, banging on the cage to get the girl's attention. "Are you alright?"He asked, moving to open the door.
"Careful, she might be dead." Addi warned as Mack entered the structure, kneeling in front of the girl. Once Mack touched the girl, she shot up, shoving Mack against the wall, a knife against his throat.
"Whoa, Whoa! Hey, Hey, Hey!" Addy screamed, trying to get the girl's attention
" Well she ain't dead." Doc and Aurora laughed high high-fiving each other. The blonde girl sheathed her sword, no longer seeing any danger or anything to worry about. Addy sent them both a warning look, causing the pair to look anywhere but the redhead's eyes.
"Hey, Hey, it's okay. We're good people. We just saved you." She tried to bargain, shoving her hand through the bars. " Okay, don't hurt him!" She pleaded. The girl threatening Mack lowered her knife, stepping away from the blonde boy, pain etched into her face.
"Sorry. I didn't know where I was." The girl spoke softly. "I must have fallen asleep."
"Asleep?" Doc questioned, "How long have you been in this cage?"
"Two Days." The girl sighed, rubbing her head. Aurora shot her sister a worried look at the girl's words.
The group made their way inside the school, seeing Garnett holding a crying baby. Aurora shot her sister a confused look. Addy just shook her head, finding a stool to sit on where the rest followed.
"Somebody better shut that kid up before he attracts Z's like flies." Murphy stood up from his seat, complaining.
"Hey, it's a baby. He makes noise, okay?" Garnett spoke with annoyance, lacing his tone.
"Shut up." Hammond spoke to Murphy, " And you do what you can. He's right about the Z's." Hammond grabbed the water off the table, handing it to Casandra. "Here."
The girl gratefully took it, sipping as much as she could before the man ripped it out of her hands, tossing it over to Addy.
"Why would somebody lock you in a cage and leave you to die?" He questioned the girl, "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything. I locked myself in the cage for protection." The raven-haired girl spoke, defending herself.
"You have the keys?" Hammond asked acquisitory
"I Lost them." Cassandra spoke. Hammond shot her a disapproving look
"Why are you dressed like that?" Warren asked from across the room
"I don't have to justify myself to you." Cassandra said defensively
"Maybe you do!" Hammond yelled, bending down to be in her face
"No, she doesn't!" Aurora yelled, leaning down to be in Hammond's face. Hammond shot her a glare as Addy stood up, moving to stand beside her sister in case she had to jump in to protect her.
"We were supposed to meet the men in those trucks." The Man yelled in Aurora's face, "What happened here?" He asked angrily, looking down at Cassandra.
"Those men showed up about a week ago. They cleared out the school and set up a camp. But word got out that there was food. Lots of it in a bomb shelter. yeah it didn't take long, there were too many people. So the soldiers shot some of the locals and that brought the Z's. You can guess the rest." Cassandra explained. Addy pulled Aurora back to her seat as they listened.
"What are we waiting for? Give her the baby, and let's go!" Murphy interrupted
"You can't just give this girl a baby and leave them." Garnett argued back
"Well, they can't come with us." Murphy shot back
"Listen-"
"No way am I leaving the baby and her behind. It is not gonna happen" Garnett yelled to Hammond
"It's just a baby." Murphy rolled his eyes. "It's not like he's gonna grow up to be a fine young man."
"You know what? Shut up!" Hammond interrupted, pushing Murphy away from Garnett
"This is ridiculous." Aurora grumbled from her seat
"We'll take them to the next safe, outpost" He offered. "God, I hate moral dilemmas."
"Yeah, what's next, chief! you gonna start a college fund for him." Murphy rolled his eyes
"Puppies and kittens. 200 yards away." Warren yelled, interrupting the squabble. The rest of the group stood up, Hammond and Cassandra giving them a confused look
"Alright, everybody. Time to go! I want you five to gather all the food and weapons you can find." The man spoke, "Load them in the truck the keys are still insi-"
"Hey! we haven't talked about this" Mack interrupted
"Hey, we can talk about this later. Right now, you do what I tell you." Hammond said, raising his voice
"Garnett! You stay with the baby and Murphy till we get back." Hammond kept talking or ordering, but Aurora had heard enough. Looking around the room, and all the piles of garbage
"Go!" Hammond yelled, snapping Aurora back to reality as everyone looked to Charlie, who nodded his head, "Do it." Garnett spoke, and everyone nodded, heading out the door.
Aurora and Addy had been searching a Z's pockets for anything cool
"This is so lame." Aurora sighed almost as if to jinx the peace. A zombie lunged at Doc as he twisted around, trying to stay away from his jaw, which made it very difficult to get a clear shot at the dead soldier. Doc continued screaming as everyone circled with him, trying to kill the Z until a moment later when the Z had a big gaping hole in its head and dropped to the ground. The group looked up to the roof, where it appeared the projectile that killed the Z came from. All that they saw was what appeared to be a man running across the roof.
"thank God for snipers." Aurora laughed, moving to check Doc for bites.
"I'm good," Doc shrugged her off, fixing his vest and stroking his beard. The Man patted the girl on the shoulder before moving to search more z's
Aurora gave up searching Z's as she had deemed it too boring and instead moved to vehicles. She opened up the glove box of an old van that had crashed into a fence. The blonde rummaged around the glove box, throwing the papers into the back seat before her hands found what felt to be a cassette. She pulled it out, reading the label, which read Van Halen. Aurora grabbed her bag to look at the three she already had were Elvis, one full of 80's love songs, and Abba.
"Score!" Aurora smiled to herself, tucking the cassettes back into her bag, and hopped out of the truck as she saw her sister walking towards the door of the school. Aurora got there in time to see Hammond with his gun pointed at Garnett's head and Murphy pinned to the wall. The girl reaches up for the sword sheathed at her back just in case. After a few moments, Garnett released Murphy and backed away from the two men.
"Let's get in the trucks," Hammond said. "We're moving out." Aurora grabbed Addy's hand to calm her anxiety after all the fighting.
"WHat about the baby- thing?" Warren asked, gesturing to the door. "We can't leave it like that."
"Yeah she's right even if it is turned." Mack frowned
"It sounds so sad," Addy said softly, squeezing her sister's hand in comfort. Aurora rubbed her thumb up and down Addy's hand to comfort her.
"It's not sad! It's a zombie." Doc interjected, "Amen brother. Let's go." Murphy agreed.
"We can't leave it like that!" Warren yelled
"I'll do it." Garnett nodded his head, trying to prepare himself for what was about to happen.
"I'll do it" Hammond said, stopping Garnett. "I need you to pull it together." Hammond spoke, grabbing the man's arm
Hammond walked into the school, leaving the group waiting for him to kill the Z baby so they could leave. Aurora let go of Addy's hand and grabbed her bag.
"Look what I found!" Aurora smiled, grabbing her Van Halen cassette and handing it to Addy. The older sister laughed, taking it from Aurora to inspect it.
"Have you listened to it yet?" Addy asked. Aurora shook her head, putting the cassette back in her bag.
"You know if we wanted to take the truck and run, now would be the time." Doc said offhandedly, causing Aurora to laugh. "Just sayin', " Doc shrugged his shoulders
That's when the group could hear screaming coming from inside the school. Warren opened the door as they all rushed into the school to see Hammond being ripped apart by an adult and the baby Z. Aurora stood there watching the horror show unfold in front of her. Slowly, they walked out of the school, the grief on their shoulders a little heavier.
"Well none of this would have happened if you'd just left that damn baby." Murphy argued
"I didn't tell Hammond to get eaten by a baby." Garnett countered.
"Never mind that now. We need a plan." Warren spoke up.
"My Plan is that I am taking this truck and I am forgetting about vaccines and labs and all of you!" Murphy yelled, hitting the truck "I wanted off this train from day one, and now is my chance." The Man added annoyedly
"Wait Wait! you can't just go! What about California? What about the Vaccine?" Doc panicked
"What if it's real? What if there's a chance?" Addy added
"What if it's you?" Aurora asked, looking at the man.
"Addy! how do we know this isn't all bullshit?" Mack interrupted
"How does anybody know anything anymore?" Murphy groaned
"Delta-Xray-Delta." A voice from inside the school interrupted.
They all looked around confused, their eyes landing on the school. Addie ran inside, grabbed the radio, and ran out, the voice repeating the same thing.
"Hello?" Addy spoke confusedly into the radio.
"I copy you, Delta-Xray!" The voice spoke back
"This is- This is Northern Light. Who am I speaking to?"
"Okay. I need to speak to Lieutenant Hammond."
"I didn't copy that, Delta-Xray. DId you say that Hammond is dead?"
"Is the package safe?" The voice questioned
"Package?" They all questioned, "What- What package? Who is this?" Addy asked the voice
"Listen, I need to speak to whoever's in charge." The voice demanded.
"Who is it?" Warren questioned "They won't say. They want to know who's in charge." Everyone looked up to where Charlie stood.
" You are." Warren told Charlie as Addy handed him the radio.
Charlie took the radio from the girl. "This is Sergeant Garnett of the National Guard. Who is this?" He asked.
"Sargeant Garnett. Lieutenant Hammond was transporting a civilian named Murphy to California. Is he still alive?" The Man questioned
" Yes. He's still Alive."
"Good- good are you aware of Operation Bite Mark?"
"Do you mean the lab in California?"
"Yes! Yes! Listen to me! It is imperative that you get Murphy alive to California. DO you copy!?
"
"But we don't know--" That's when the radio cut out, and all that came through was static.
"It's Dead" he groaned, fiddling with the antenna
"So?" Warren asked
"Looks like we're taking Mr. Congeniality here to California." Garnette spoke
"Who?" Murphy asked sassily
Garnett threw his radio down. "Says me, Damn it!" It didn't take long for them to load up in the trucks. Aurora stole the front seat, sticking her tongue out at Addy, who went for the seat. The two trucks drove along the road, Doc stopping next to an unknown man walking along the road.
"Hey! Hey there! Oh, man. You're that sharpshooter that saved my ass!" Doc spoke gleefully. "I want to thank you!" he smiled. " Do you need a ride?" He questioned Aurora, leaned forward looking around Doc to the boy that stood there stoically before nodding his head, and hopping into the bed of the truck. Tapping the roof of the truck to let them know he was good.
âAre you sure we should be picking up more strangers?â Aurora questioned the older man. Doc just nodded, smiling down at the young girl.
