Fatal | The Second Life I [COMPLETED]

Chapter 36: The Eastern Sanctuary

- E V A N -

I fall into the driver's seat of the car, seeing the others get in their vehicles. Colt blocks my view, hopping into the passenger seat. Our seatbelts click, which wasn't necessary but was habitual.

"Hey." I start, and Colt looks over. "Don't get into fights with us. They're already holding to this plan by one string."

"He dissed me," Colt responds, and I put the car into gear. "If I didn't respond, he'd just continue. I didn't want that to happen either."

     "I hope you're right," I say. "Because I think this sounds like a good
The deal, but if my friends all want to leave I'm not just going to abandon them."

     "I understand," Colt says, in thought. That was the end of that awkward exchange, and we continue to drive down the road. The sky was getting dark, and I was getting lost in my own head. How could Ronnie just leave like that?

And after all that time we spent trying to find him and get United, and he just ditched us for some random people.

"Sorry about your friend." Colt says, picking up on my body language. I guess I did look angered.

"Don't be." I say, still angered that he dipped. "Alright, where is this place you're talking about?"

"I'll give you directions as we go," says Colt. I put the G Wagon in the drive, and start driving down the street. The car rolls down the road, with the Guilia and i8, follow close behind. We had to go slow quite a bit, wiggling between broken down or abandoned cars. Luckily we didn't meet many sickos on our way.

     The city didn't look like a typical apocalyptic waste land, due to this not being even a day in to the apocalypse. It was a bit of a shock at first, as the city looked completely normal. This day was anything but normal, though.

We pass between a couple more buildings before arriving at a sort of grid area. There were many 4 story buildings that looked like apartments. They were red bricked and around every corner.

     "Welcome to the East Village." Colt declares, and we stop our cars near a small park which was surrounded by buildings. "We're pretty close to the river, and so we call it the Eastern Sanctuary."

     I drive past a small construction wall, with a couple of people working on it. They wave, and it reassures me that this will be friendly. The last thing I wanted to do was make this deal screw us all over.

     Colt directs me to a small garage, and we pull into some of the open spaces. I park in the garage, while JP and Caden park on the street just outside the building. I hop out, locking the doors after grabbing my crossbow from the back seat.

"This house is empty, and it's got enough room for all of you. 3 stories, so some may want to bunk up." Colt says. "This place is getting those walls you saw outside. We're building them all over."

"To lock us in?" I hear from Nick, still clearly angered from the earlier incident.

"To lock them out." Colt responds. "Sickos, you call them."

"Oh and what do you call them?" JP asks, following Nick towards the house with their supplies.. or what little they had of them.

"I call them the Diseased." Colt says. "They're not different creatures, they're just us.. but infected."

"K, philosopher." Nick retorts, retreating into the building. JP Soon follows, leaving just Caden and Zach outside with Colt and me.

Colt grumbles something unintelligible, before seeing a figure walking towards us from the park in the center. She had on a long cape of sorts, draping down to his knees. He wore a baseball cap and an athletic shirt. He greets Colt, before waking to us.

"Guys, this is Nicole." Colt says, and I shake her hand. She goes around with Caden and Zach, shaking theirs as well.

"Are They new members?" Nicole asks. She sounded sweet enough.

"Hopefully." Colt says, and Nicole makes a quick nod. "We have two others, but they're in the house right now. I get the feeling they don't like me very much."

I simply laugh, and Caden follows along. Zach stands there, conflicted. He and Nick were best friends, and so this was making him take sides. At least I thought that much. He puts on a small smile and puts his hands in his pockets.

"Have you told them about the Circle of Vera yet?" Nicole asks Colt, glancing at us. Her gaze sits on Zach for a little longer, before turning back to Colt.

"Not yet, Nicole." Colt admits. "They just got here."

"But, they're stayi-" Nicole begins.

"Later, Nicole." Colt interupts and Nicole nods before walking away. Colt turns back towards us. "Dinner is what we have in the houses right now, we're planning on a central farm. Come to the park at 10, we have an announcement on rules and such."

"Alrighty," I say, a bit weirded out by Nicole and his tone, but I shrug it off.

"Alright, get settled. Sun is setting." Colt says, walking away finally. The three of us walk inside, seeing JP and Nick sitting on the couch.

"Hey, there's some sort of meeting in, erm.. 30 minutes or so." I say to them, throwing my Crossbow on the table and sitting on the couch. I was annoyed, both with Ronnie and with everything else that managed to go wrong today.

"I'm not going." Nick grunts, sitting up. He had found a bottle of water in the fridge and was half way through. I could hear the faint hum of a generator somewhere outside, explaining the power.

"Pretty sure it's mandatory," Zach says. "Or something like that."

"Tough luck." Nick responds. "We'll be leaving tomorrow anyway."

"Are you kidding?" I ask. Nick looks at me, annoyed.

"What do you mean?" He scolds. "We should focus on getting the squad back together, not snuggling around here."

"This may be the safest place we'll find." I say. "You know how it works. That many sickos, the military is gonna be crushed. No ones gonna save us, we might as well wait here."

"Does Colt have a chocolate coated cock or something?" Nick asks angrily, sitting up. "Why is he suddenly your father?"

"He saved my ass, you haven't forgotten." I say, angered. "It's common sense to stay here."

"Your definition of common sense is warped." Nick states, standing. He storms toward the stairway, going up to whatever floor.