The Apocalypse Has Dawned

Chapter 3 Kat

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7

10K and I found a car, an actual working car. We fixed it up a bit, filling it with any extra food we could find. All the possible weapons have been taken, so we hit the road, heading to Utah.
We had no plan as to where to go, but Vegas isn't the best place. It's dry and too many people have hit the place and scavenged everything.
10K can't drive, let me tell you. I actually use the seat belt. He's going two miles an hour? No one does that, no one ever has! It is quite obvious he never learned how to drive.
"Pull over," I say finally, breathing heavily. "I'm driving."
10K pulls over, hopping out of the car and switching sides with me. I take the wheel, and we drive a lot more smoothly now. We pass every building in Vegas. I look out the window of the car with sadness. This used to be a great place. It was never empty, there were always lights, there was so much here. Now, it's all empty and dark and quiet. No more lights on the Strip, no more church services, no more malls, no more shows, it's all gone. Everything I grew up with.
"We're making a quick stop," I say, turning down a road. I step on the gas, eager to reach my destination. I slow to a stop and stare at the massive school in front of me.
The school I went to before this all happened.
It was a Christian school, and I really needed to come. Given how big the school is and how many people could have died here, this is the worst idea ever, but I need a copy of the Bible.
Yes, I know it's crazy. I still read the Bible, I still pray, I still believe. Even after all that has happened. I have no where close where I can get a Bible, so this is the only place I have to go.
I park the car and jump out, walking towards the gate.
"What the..." I whisper, seeing massive spikes all sticking out from the gates. Dried blood can be seen on the spikes, as well as a few Zs hanging from them. Someone built something here.
I read towards the latch on the gate, and freeze when I hear someone shout at me.
"Don't move! State your business."
I look up towards the top of the chapel building to see...
"Lena?" I ask, squinting at her. "Lena! is that you?"
Lena lowers the gun she has and looks at me. "Kat!" she shouts. "I never thought I would see you again!"
"Same here!" I shout. I notice some ZS heading for 10K and I. "Hey, you mind letting us in? I came to get something."
"Hold on a sec!" she shouts. She spins and runs out of view, her long blond hair flying behind her. A few seconds later, the spiked gate opens, and 10K and I walk inside. Lena closes the door after us and says, "Welcome to our camp."
"Holy..." I mutter. "You guys managed to save this place?"
"Yeah," she says as she starts to walk towards the main building. 10K and I follow her, looking around at the school. Kids yell and scream, running around. Older kids, teenagers, sit in the yard, laughing at something the other said. There are even some adults, walking around o. The pathways, chatting as if they're taking a stroll in the park. Others hustle around, carrying food, medical supplies, weapons, books.
"It's like nothing ever happened," I say in amazement. "You can't even see Zs. Did you close of the whole school, like the fields? Or did you only get this section?"
"We got the whole school," says Lena, changing direction towards the football field and soccer fields. "In fact, I'm sure some of the guys are playing football right now."
I look at her. "Is Zach here?" I ask hopefully. I know j left him behind, but maybe I got it wrong. Maybe he's not dead.
"Zach..."
"What other Zach is there?" I ask. "Ya know, our bro, our bestie?"
"Yeah, the brain-dead idiot is alive. He's playing football now probably."
It doesn't take much after that to send me sprinting to the football field. I run fast, running like my life depended on it. I burst onto the field and see a group of boys playing football. I easily pick out Zach; he's super tall, so it wasn't that hard. I rush towards the dark haired boy, not even caring if I'm interrupting a play.
Everyone stops what they're doing and Zach turns to look at whatever was holding up the game. I squeal as I throw myself into his arms, and I'm the only one hugging before he hesitantly wraps his arms around me, too. He squeezed me, as if to make sure I was real. He's so much taller than me my feet don't even touch the ground when we hug. I cling onto him for dear life, fearing he may disappear if I let go.
Zach is alive.
"Kat," he breathes, running a hand through my hair and hold me close to him, a hand on the back of my neck and one wrapped around my waist, holding me up. "Oh, Kat."
"I thought you were dead, Zach," I say, close to sobbing. "I though you were gone."
"I'm not gone, Kat," he whispers. "I'm right here."
We stand there, hugging each other for what seems like forever. I can feel gazes on me, but I could care less about them. I close my eyes tight and snuggle into Zach. "God, I missed you," I say as we let go of each other.
Someone clears their throat and we both realize we were interrupting a game. We quickly move off the field, allowing the guys to return to their game.
"I can't believe you're alive," I say. "Adam told me you went out alone when it started. He said you didn't want to come with us."
"And you believed him?" asks Zach.
"I feel like I was Jocelyn and Adam was Valentine. And you were Luke." I know he understood my reference; we were reading buddies and I always talked nonstop about books until he read them. "I knew there was something wrong with Adam, yet I still chose to ignore, loosing everyone except for Raine."
"At least I didn't die," says Zach, sitting down on the bleachers.
"Yeah," I say. "So you didn't die that day? You survived? And you came here?"
"I almost died," he says, turning his gaze towards the game. "I was lucky they came along when they did. I owe them greatly. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here right now. They saved my life." He mutters something under his breath, not meaning for me to hear it, but I heard it. "Unlike you."
I choose to ignore it, not wanting to darken the light. Instead I say, "I'm going to go find a book. Come with?"
"Sure," answers Zach. "On the way you can tell me how you got here. Thought you went to Cali."
"I did," I say as we walked down towards the library. "We started running out of food. Well, Raine and I started running out of food."
"What do you mean?" asks Zach. "If you and Raine ran out, doesn't that mean everyone ran out?"
"Adam and the other guys took all the food. And then I went on a run with Jason and Adam. I was eager to get some food and water; it had been three days. And when we got to the store, it was overun. They left me. But 10K saved me. We came here. Now, tell me your story."
"I was born. I lived for eighteen years. That's my story." I glare at him and he laughs, saying, "Alright, fine. You know how I said I was going to Rose's house to grab her and her sister and brother? Well when I got there, she was screaming her throat out for help. Her brother had been bit. Her screaming was only attracting more Zs. I tried to help her brother, but he was bit in the neck. The only thing I could do was give him mercy. The other two were fine, but we couldn't make it back to you."
"Were there too many of them?" I ask, placing a hand on his arm.
"No," he says, his voice suddenly filled with a deep sadness. "I couldn't kill them. There were only a couple of them. But I walked straight into ones mouth."
"You... were bit?" I ask, eyes widening. Could he be immune?
Zach nods, as if it were shameful. "It tore into my skin. Not the deep, but it felt like someone was burning the skin off. No, like someone was pricking knives into it before cutting a small chunk out. Rose saw, but she didn't try to kill me. Instead, she covered it up and hid me in the house with her sister. Rose stayed outside, searching for help. And she came back running, with Lena and a few others. She lied, said I had impaled my leg on a fence. But she insisted on treating the wound herself. I thought it was over for me, Kat. I was bitten, yet she was trying to save me." He looks at me, blue eyes dark and haunted. "But all she had to do was stitch it up. I still have a scar, it took a while for me to start walking normally again, but I'm fine now. But I never turned."
My breathing stopped. He's immune. Because of what happened between us. Because of what happened in those last few minutes together. I quickly look away from him and look at the ground. We arrive at the library, which leads us away from our violent topic. As soon as we enter the library, we head to the same section; Dashner.
We launch into a conversation on whether a specific person should've died or not. I personally disliked the character, but that character happened to be Zach's favorite. (A/N: happens in last book with a crumbling building, for those who are wondering. And also, I like that character, im just saying that the Kat doesn't like them).
I exit the library with the maze runner books as I head to my old locker, going to get the bible I put in there.
"You're still a believer?" asks Zach when I grab the book.
"You aren't?" I ask. If I knew anyone who would still be faithful, it would be him.
"As someone very wise once said, 'There may be a God, there may not be a God, but either way, we're on our own.'"
"Zach, that's saying you don't believe. You know, you survived." I turn towards him. "You survived a zombie bite. Who else has done that? No one has done that. And, you've survived this, long. You found a camp. Why do you think you lived? He saved you, Zach. He wanted you to live, so you lived. Isn't that enough?"
"He separated us," says Zach. "Kat, it's been almost two years since we last saw each other. I've been wondering from day one if I would ever see you alive again. Do you know what that was like?"
"I know what it was like," I say, stepping closer to him. "I was wondering the same thing everyday, you know. I thought you were dead, but every part of me wanted to believe you were alive. But when you didn't come back that day, and I waited forever, I thought you were dead." I looked up at him. "But I'm here now. You're here now. We're both here." With that, I wrap my arms around him again, and he does the same. "I don't want to leave you again."
"Then don't. Stay here. You can. There's room, there's enough food."
"I... " can't. "I don't know."
"What do you mean?" he asks, his face dropping.
"I don't know," I repeat, turning away from him. "I don't.
"I have to go," he says. "Maybe you can find Lena or Rose. But please. Think about it." With that, Zach leaves me standing by my locker, small tears streaming down my face.
~*~*~*~*
Hola, amigos!
I finally updated. Yay (not). I don't know whether you're happy or not but I guess you are if you're reading this so thanks, I guess?
I wanted to say thanks for +100 reads, and don't forget to please vote and comment and follow!
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