The Two Who Were Alone

Horror Is Around The Corner

A week had passed since the incident with Richard. Since then, we would scope the area for anymore of those creatures in the day. At night, we would double check the locks and make sure the duct tape wasn't peeling off the windows before we all went to bed. We decided to call them "Hellborns" since they pretty much spawned from hell. Not super original, but when you're living through an apocalypse, you can't really come up with names right away.

"Indigo!" Connie yells from upstairs as I grab water. "There's no more toothpaste!" My heart drops. Now that I really think about it, we have been running short on supplies since I've started living with boys, but I never thought about the day we'd have to take a trip to the supermarket. "Indigo?"

"Connie, wake up Adam." I yell as I grab my coat from the couch. I hear the two boys run downstairs. "It's time we grab a few things from the supermarket." Both of their eyes go wide. "I know, I don't want to do it either."

"No, this day was meant to come. I think we're prepared, right Connie?" Connie looks at Adam. He responds by taking a deep breath.

"I'm gonna hope we are."

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Connie parks into the parking lot of the supermarket. Just like the rest of the buildings, trash lays on the ground along with a few bodies. As we get out of the car, we gear up with sunglasses and weapons. We make sure the bodies really are dead before entering the building. The inside is vacant of people and Hellborns, making our panic disappear for a moment. We take off our sunglasses but keep our weapons in hand, just in case. I grab a cart as the boys run around the supermarket grabbing as many snacks and energy drinks as their hands could carry. "Boys! We may not have to pay for it, but be mindful of the things you're gonna eat!" Don't wanna fatten up for the Hellborns, but I'm sure they like the extra meat though. I chuckle at my inner thoughts as the boys respond with a "yes mom!" sarcastically.

I hear a low growl to the side of the aisle. I freeze in place, looking to the side. There can't be Hellborns in here... right? I slowly make my way out of the aisle and go to the next one. My body freezes again when I see one. It's the second one I've encountered since Richard, and hopefully I have enough skill to kill it fully this time. What we learned about the Hellborns is that once infected, some can turn into one right away, take a few minutes to, or even a few days. We aren't sure if it's a genetic or random thing entirely, but they are equally dangerous. One thing that sucks is that they can only die by slitting their throats or decapitation, which means that you have to get close to those ugly things. The Hellborn spots me and stops in place, examining me.

"Indigo? We're done over here!" I look over to Connie's direction for a second and when I look back, the Hellborn is right in front of me. My heart reaches my throat as it examines me some more. "Indigo?" The creature stares at me one final time, scoffs, and runs towards the boys direction. I brace myself as I take a quick breath and try to tackle the creature. It completely dodges me and continues to sprint to the boys. I fall to the ground and yell, "There's a Hellborn coming your way! Run!" I quickly get up and take the shopping cart with me. When I arrive at the aisle the boys are in, I see Connie pin it down as Adam strikes the bat down. In a swift move, the Hellborn escapes Connie's grasp, making the baseball bat hit Connie's head. He falls to the ground and passes out. Adam yells with frustration.

"Stay where you are, bitch!" He chases after the creature as I follow with the cart. I manage to catch up to it and rail it with the shopping cart, making it fall into the sauces. As I pull out the gun, they crash and make a tomato-y mess. "Adam, now!" He positions the bat over its head but doesn't do anything. "Adam are you awake?! Kill it!"

"...Veronica?" Everything stops. Does he recognize it? The Hellborn turns its head towards Adam, and looks as though their expression softened. "Veronica... hey, it's me!" Wait, this can't be happening right now. Though, a lot of shit had happened to me in my life, so this was one of the less weird ones. Veronica gets up slowly. I point my gun towards her in a panic. "Indigo, wait!"

"Adam, you're crazy if you think that it'll recognize you!" Veronica doesn't do anything other than struggle with her words.

"A...dam?" She says in a raspy voice. No fucking way, this can't be happening. These creatures are evolving too fast! "Ad...am?"

"Yes! Veronica, it's me, Adam!" Adam moves closer.

"Adam!" He ignores me as he approaches Veronica, while she does the same. I shoot for her head which pushes her back. I grab Adam by the arm and push him aside. "Every goddamn--" I strike her head with the side of the gun. "--time!" I struck her head again and again. "Adam go get the--" I feel pain on my nose. This motherfucker really just punched me! I fall to the ground with a grunt as I grab my nose. My eyes wander to Adam in a daze as he holds Veronica in his arms. She kicks and scratches him, but he doesn't let go.

"Veronica, please! Just--" She doesn't stop and takes a bite of the side of his neck. She sinks in deeper and I start to get sick. "Well then... I never thought I'd be the one dying in your arms tonight..." Adam starts to bleed more as his arm falls to his side. My eyes start to water but I shake them away. I push my body off the ground and grab the baseball bat from the floor. I take a final swing which causes her head to fly, splatting on the ground further away. I look at Adam and find him dead in his own pool of blood, a huge bite mark taking over the side of his neck. I take a breath and look away. Connie's gonna be furious with me.

"Adam?" I turn around and see Connie. I gulp as he examines his brother some more.

"Connie..."

"C'mon, I got some of the things we need. Let's go." I take a final look at Adam and look down, closing my eyes. I take another breath and get up, putting the bloody gun in my pocket and toss the bloody bat to Connie. We walk to the car with blank expressions and jump in. With the stuff in the backseat, we look at each other. Our eyes start to water with tears. Connie starts to scream and punch the steering wheel while I scream and punch the glove compartment. When our little episode was done, we pant for breath.

"Connie, I--"

"Don't apologize. I don't think there was much you could do."

"I could've saved him if it wasn't for his idiocy!" Connie laughs at my comment.

"It's Adam, what do you expect? For him to actually listen to you?" he continues to laugh as I join in. "But seriously, I'm gonna have to get used to seeing a lot of my loved ones, even strangers, dying in front of me." We both look at each other again. "But you, Indigo... don't go dying on me, okay?" He sticks his pinky finger out. I smile.

"Yeah... same goes for you." I interlock our pinkies. This is the start to the promise of staying alive.

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