The Apocalypse

Even Worse

     The nights have been getting much longer and colder, signaling the coming of another winter. That coming signaled a time where nobody was allowed to leave the house unless it was absolutely necessary. The cold and sheer stillness of the land during the winter made you an easy target, especially when against the contrast of the white snow.
     "It's too cold!" Holden complained as he shivered around the roaring fire with everyone else.
     "Wanna get closer?!" Henry irritatedly yelled as he gave Holden a light push towards the flames.  Holden squealed, thinking Henry was going to actually push him into the fire, causing everyone to fall into a weak laugh that was soon shut off by a sudden gust of frozen wind. The cold was slowly sapping out everyone's will to live, and that was already pretty low. Morale was insanely low, as usual tonight.
     "You know, I think we all need something to change the mood, after all, it can't get any worse, can it?" Collin told everyone as he stood. "I know a story that'll be guaranteed to give everyone a chill or a morbid morale boost."
     "Once again, I'm morbidly intrigued," Cade sat up straight and started paying attention.
     "I'm not in the mood for this," Lane mumbled as he got up to go curl up in blankets somewhere else. They all knew this story by heart and were all ready for the disasters it held, except Lane because it involves him in a way and he didn't like that.
     "Well get talking!" Henry yelled after a few moments of Collin just sitting there. He scrambled a bit, then began talking.

It's been a good month since the events at Centennial, and things haven't gotten any better. Tension between everyone and Justin has been slowly rising because in a rage, Justin accused someone of letting the zombie kill Alex, but it was obvious to everyone in the gang it was a pure accident, and it didn't matter that not all of them were fond of Alex, they still wouldn't go as far as to let him be killed in that manner. The scarcity of food in the house didn't help either. Food has been below average since they took Justin, so some members blame Justin for everything when in reality, it's not his fault and he's openly said many times he slightly wished he could've died early in the apocalypse or with Alex and Max, but that didn't happen, and here everyone is, alive and slightly well. Finally, after all this time, Justin finally snapped.
     "You know, I'm sick and tired of all this trash you've given me!" He screeched early in the morning to Ethan, who he was in a fight with.
     "Then why don't you just leave! Nobody wants you here!" Ethan screeched back.
     "Fine!" Justin's footsteps could be heard as he went and grabbed his bag which was soon followed by a slamming door. Megan, who had been listening, got up and walked out. She approached Ethan who looked glad to see her, probably to say how bad Justin was, but he didn't get a chance. Megan slapped him across the cheek with all her might. M
     "Ow!" Megan, why'd you so that?!" He cried as he spit a tooth and blood onto the floor.
     "You don't do that to people you uncultured swine!" Megan's screaming could be heard across the entire house, probably down the street too. "You couldn't just let tiny things slide and you've gone and driven Justin off! Did you just for a second think of the consequences of your actions?!" Tears were now rolling down Megan's cheeks. It was no secret in the house that Megan had mutual feelings for Justin, and she wasn't the only one.
     After Megan had calmed down to the point her panic attack ended, she gathered everyone in the living room. She had a proposition she hoped would go well with the others.
     "Since Ethan was a complete idiot as usual, I'm proposing that Ethan and someone else we vote for goes out to find Justin and bring him back cause Ethan, once again, Meade up beyond his usual amount," She started. "I'll count the votes and Ethan and I have no say in it. You can't vote for yourself, but I'm not sure why you would in the first place."
     The gang nervously looked at each other before deciding they could trust one another to not screw someone over. Lane raised his hand.
     "Can we have a second to talk?" Lane asked.
     "Why not?" Megan responded. She dragged Ethan out with her and knew that it didn't matter how they voted, Alex was going out. They were probably going to cause a tie so everyone would go or Ethan alone, but she was prepared. Ethan and Alex were going out, and that would be final.
     After a few minutes, Megan walked back in and told them the vote would now begin. Everyone had to put their heads down and raise their hand for they wanted to go, and just as Megan thought, everyone got only one vote. In return for fainting the votes, Megan gave herself one vote to begin with, so even she had one vote, but it didn't matter.
     "Your winner is Alex, so I hope you're packed," Megan stated. She yawned and saw Alex looking around in shock and fear. Inside, she was laughing because everyone looked kinda confused, but she had a reason for doing what she did. Alex was just under Ethan in how he treated Justin, so that was why she chose him. She watched in slight amusement as she handed Ethan the car keys and watched as Alex walked by in shock with Ethan as they walked out into the garage and Megan told them the knock to signal it was them. The two pulled out and disappeared into the night.

     "Ok, so we've gotten the part of the story that everyone knows, so the rest is up to Alex to tell us," Cade yawned. "Get going." Alex frowned and started.

     The two of them pulled out of the garage with Ethan driving and Alex in the passenger seat, looking for Justin who had only left a few minutes ago. It was still dark and sleepy through the homes and it almost looked like there was no apocalypse going on. Just as they really started looking, they saw him.
     "There!" Alex whispered intensely as he pointed to a figure who met Justin's profile across the field going into an old church. The old lights illuminated that signature hair of his, popping back into place faster than light.
     "Just drive through the cornfield," Alex ordered Ethan. He rolled his eyes and slowly slid into the dark, mushy fields.
     It was amazing how bumpy the field was. It felt like every other foot, the truck would be angled in a serious way, going from flat to what felt like angled on the side at a straight up 90 degrees.
     "You know," Alex started. "Let's turn around the truck and get it ready to go back. I think leaving it under a light may not be the best idea."
     "You've got a point," Ethan admitted. He turned around and got the truck ready to go. They got out and began sneaking towards the church Justin had disappeared inside of. The doors swung open with a quiet whoosh and clicked shut quieter than the noise that they made when the two entered. Nice touch, the two thought.
     "Justin!" Alex shot into the entrance hall. The only response he got was a soft echo of his own voice and the slight quivering of the endless cobwebs. They slid deeper and deeper down the hallways, jiggling doorknobs as they went, only to find each one locked. When they reached the end of the hallway, there was some for open right next to the main room. They peeked in to see the bag Justin took with him, so they knew he was here.
     "The main room, that's where he is," Ethan whispered. "Let's go." They slid back out into the hallway and scanned the hall for another peek before going in. It's weird because it looks like that door is slightly open, but we checked them all. Alex thought. He ignored it and they slid into the main room. The door opened and neither were ready for what they saw. Justin was in a corner, violently shaking with several zombies walking around, ignoring him. Ethan flipped the light on and began hoping he hadn't. What he saw was the rotting yet alive corpses of Max, Alex S, and Olivia, his crush since he met her staring at the two dead in the eye.
     "No," Ethan cried, freezing up. He dropped his nunchucks and started to fall back into the corner. The corpses posing as those they once knew put on a twisted grin as they walked towards Ethan, the size of the main room gave a few seconds to Ethan and Alex to react. Alex registered that Olivia was walking to Justin who blankly stared back.
     "Ethan! Move!" Alex screeched a she pointed his gun at the two walking towards Ethan, but he was paralyzed, crying. Ethan was unable to face the two.
     "I can't, I'm not good enough," Ethan whispered as his tears suddenly stopped. "I can accept this." Ethan ran towards the two and let them devour him, chunk by chunk.
     "NO!" Alex screeched at the top of his lungs. He pulled the trigger twice, patting out two ear splitting bangs and watched as they knocked the two zombies off their feet. Alex fired one more shot at Olivia to give Justin a chance and ran outside, across the field, and back to the house, slowly accepting death as he went. He practically broke down the door and ran inside, screaming about how Ethan and Justin were dead. He more realized he couldn't accept this.

     "And there's your story," Alex concluded. Everyone was silent in remembrance of Ethan and Justin, they wouldn't let their memory go to waste. Soon, everyone started talking again. Alex sat down and looked at his gun. He knew completely that that wasn't what happened. Yes, they saw Alex, Max, and Olivia there, but that wasn't how they died. He remembered it perfectly, Alex pulled the trigger and killed Ethan and then pulled it again to kill Justin. The guilt was killing him and he couldn't live like this much longer. They both screamed when he killed them and he regretted it with every fiber of his being.
     "Soon," he mumbled. "Soon, I'm gonna find out what lead tastes like." He stared down the gun and imagined the shot being fired. He imagined the sharp, but temporary pain shoot through him before everything went black and he could move on from this world. His finger shook on the trigger, ready to fire, but he didn't. Not now, but soon. He thought. Alex got up and walked away, leaving the laughing crowd behind. Soon.