Time to Survive

Bye, Bye, Hazel Eyes

  Chris POV

"The intersection is here," Kuza's finger roved the crinkled map. "We got maybe another two hours drive from this place until we get there and the siblings turn off. We're gonna need to raid these small towns to make sure we have more supplies. I figure we can split into groups and hit both of them at the same time to make this go quicker."

I frowned, but what he was saying made sense.

We needed to be in and out ASAP.

"Cool," Ricky bobbed his head in agreement as he leaned against the rickety kitchen table. "Who's with who?"

I glanced about our small group.

We had to have everyone on board this time, so everyone was gonna have to pitch in.

"Kuza can take you and Ryan, I'll take Devin and Kylie," I sighed. "Kelsey and the other girl can stay by the cars and make sure no one nabs them."

"Sounds good. But," Ricky hesitated, glancing at the stairs. "Are you sure that's going to keep them from getting nabbed?"

"She can still shoot a gun, even if she can't walk right now," I muttered, irked. "She can still take care of herself just fine."

"Fine, whatever you say. Just as long as she suddenly doesn't start randomly bleeding out and no one is There to help her, right?"

"Ricky, you're not helping," Kuza scowled at him. "She'll be fine. What's important right now and getting supplies outta these two towns and this is the best plan we fucking got. So if you want, your ass can sit at the cars with them and me and Ryan can go ourselves!"

Ricky winced. "That's okay, sorry."

Hmph.

" We'd better get a move on," I yawned, stepping back from the table. "We wanna get this done quick and easy. Let's just hope the population has already dwindled down there."

"Hopefully." Ricky sighed. "And it doesn't end up being the police station all over again."

I winced at the memory.

My back still hurt from that.




"Hurry up," I whispered, keeping low to the ground as we neared the town we were supposed to hit.

The siblings had wanted to help hit the towns, so Carol got stuck coming with us, Thomas with Kuza and Ryan. Janie was staying back at the cars with Kelsey and Kera, which made me feel a little more relieved.

I hadn't liked leaving her by herself like that.

But it never hurt having an extra hand.

I darted quickly behind a truck, watching the town for any movement. So far I'd only seen a few deaders ambling around, but that didn't make me feel better.

They could be in the surrounding woods, and if we ended up making any loud noises., we were absolutely fucked if they swarmed us.

I had never missed our radios so much before in my life

Of all the things we'd salvaged, why couldn't those have been one of them?

I withheld my sigh, staring silently at the town for several more minutes.

It didn't look like it was a big one, probably only housed a couple thousand people, so hopefully it wouldn't take us long to scour it and find its supply stores.

I had a running list in my mind.

small foods, like candy bars and protein bars That didn't take a lot of space to carry and kept the blood sugar from dropping. Any canned foods that were filling and could easily be shared amongst the group --- which included utensils so we didn't have to eat with our hands.

And, of course, water.

I just hoped there was enough left in there to be worth the risk.

"Okay," I whispered, turning to face my guys. "Looks like it's mostly abandoned, but be completely on guard, I can still see some deaders roaming around. We around re NOT separating, no matter what, am I clear? We stay together and hit each place together. Get as much as you can carry without being noisy. Got it?"

They all nodded.

"Good. Let's go."

I slowly raised my head over the hood of the truck, and then took a few steps to the side, allowing myself to be out in the open. I waited a few seconds, then started forward, everyone following Me.

I would go first since I was immune, and tackle any of the threats that got too close. We couldn't risk someone getting bit.

We stepped onto the sidewalk, all of us quiet as we gazed around. There wasn't a lot of damage to this town like there was to the city. You could see where people had died here, the random blood splatters across the sidewalk or the buildings, and here and there you had to kick a random body part out of the way. But there wasn't bodies everywhere, where people either hadn't changed or had died when the rioting had started.

This town looked almost... PG-13.

Like this wasn't anything like what we'd been seeing.

Like the town before, where it looked like a mass suicide had happened in the streets....

Not the time the think about it.

"Here," Devin murmured, stopping in front of a small convenience store. The door was completely busted down, so whether there would be anything in there to even get was doubtful.

Still, we needed to look everywhere.

I nodded, and stepped inside first, my boots crunching on the broken glass. I did a quick sweep of the store, making sure to check behind the counter, but it seemed clear.

I waved my hand, motioning everyone inside
.
We were good.

I scanned the shelves behind the counter, seeing everything had basically been gone through back here, though some cigarettes and the off brand of snuff was on the ground. I leaned down, lifting a couple packs of cigarettes up and tossing them in my pack.

Ryan and Ricky would appreciate these; when they'd been going through their withdrawals initially, it had almost been harder to deal with then the fact the world was ending and everyone was eating each other.

And there was some leftover condoms for later I had full intentions of using. I quickly shoved those into my pack before anyone else noticed.

"Anything?" I called as I straightened, brushing at the dirt clinging to my clothes; as if they weren't disgusting enough.

Maybe we could hit up a clothing store if we had time, all of us certainly needed a change.
"Just some old candy and odds and ends," I heard Devin sigh. "Nothing really useful. All the first aid stuff is already gone."

"Any pain meds left? Aspirin or anything?"

"The off brands. But not many. And here's some allergy meds," Devin sounded relieved to shove those into his pack. "I think we all need some of these."

For real.

My sinuses were dying.

"Let's move on," Carol grunted, sounding irritated. "It's already been picked through. I see a dollar store down the street."

As if it would be in any better condition.

It wasn't.

Worse, actually.

The clerk who'd been working was still there, sprawled across the counter with most of his head missing. I grimaced as the intense smell of rot hit my nose, the automatic doors completely busted down and useless.

"Grab some toilet paper if there's any," I heard Kylie mutter. "I'm not going to use leaves anymore."

Yeah, one of us had already had the mistake of thinking poison oak was just a normal plant.

I glanced around the dim store, the back in complete darkness as there was no widnows. "Find any flashlights you can, too. Glow sticks even. Batteries."

"On it," Devin followed Kylie towards the back where the toilet paper and paper towels would be, and Carol and I started for the canned goods. I shuffled around until I found my flashlight, shining it farther into the dark aisles, making sure they were clear before we proceeded.

I didn't trust this place whatsoever.

Nervously, I looked at some of the knocked over shelves, seeing all of their contents sprawled across the floor, and any food looked like the animals had already pillaged through it from the ripped packages scattering the floor.

That wasn't going to help us any.

I glanced over, seeing the wall for hairbows and brushes and everything still intact, and I picked a few of them off, tossing them in my bag; it never hurt to have bands for your hair, or to have the luxury of brushing it every now and again; especially Kelsey, since all of hers had been cut off and had yet to be washed.

None of ours had.

We all tried not to mention it, but all of us were filthy, covered in grime and our hair matted to our skulls. Most of the time I kept mine up, but my band was wearing thin, about to snap, and we needed some more. I think the only thing worse was that all of us smelled, and we knew it, but no one wanted to say anything.

We didn't have the option for clean showers anymore.

Still.

I nabbed a tall bottle of shampoo, tossing it in my bag as Carol scrounged through the vitamin aisle, stocking up on some of them.

That was a good idea.

We couldn't eat, but at least we could get some nutrients from those, right?

"Guys!"

Devins voice echoed through the store, and I winced, raising my head.

"What?"

"C'mere!"

I hesitated, then rose to my feet, glancing at Carol. She zipped her bag before following me, and we hastily walked to the other side of the store, my flashlight hitting every dark aisle just in case as we made it over to Devin and Kylie.

They were standing by a knocked over shelf, both of them looking worried.

"What is it?"

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I frowned, and then shook my head. "I don't hear anything."

"Shh!" Kylie hissed, clutching a roll of toilet paper tightly against her chest, her frightened eyes flicking towards the broken down doors of the front, and after a moment I followed her dark gaze, staring as well.

I couldn't hear anything, not really. I could hear some scraping sounds, but the wind was blowing, so that could be a number of different things.

Animals, random trash --- it didn't necessarily have to be deaders.

"Get everything we need, now," I hissed quietly, my fingers curling tightly around the aluminum bat I'd found for Kelsey; she'd lost her weapon in the fire, she needed a new one. "We're out of here in five."

Devin took off towards the bandaids, Kylie went for the can foods, and Carol disappeared into the dark, and I heard metal clinging. I stepped carefully to the front of the store, pressing myself against the wall before peeking out onto the street, grimacing.

I could see the few deaders ambling around, a dog leash still attached to one of their hands, the metal part scraping the road as he stumbled around, which was what was making the sound Kylie had heard.

I frowned, watching them as they struggled by, completely oblivious to us. It worried me, about what Ryan had said; if they could smell us, we didn't have much of a chance when it came to hiding. So we would have to be extra careful now.

I hoped the guys were doing good in the other town.

"Done," Devin huffed, and I glanced behind us, seeing all of them starting towards me. I was pretty sure Devin was loaded down the most from the looks of his sagging pack, so he wouldn't be able to move as quickly as I would have liked, and Kylie had managed to clip the rolls of toilet paper to her pack. Carol was actually carrying a few backpacks, and I raised my brows at her in question.

"Your people lost their packs, didn't they?" She muttered, glancing up at me. "They need to be replaced. And we can fill these up as we go."

Why hadnt I thought about that?

I nodded, glancing away from her quickly.

Some leader I was turning out to be. My mind was so focused on getting us out of here without getting bit that I couldn't think about much else; fuck, I should've gathered more supplies myself.

"Three deaders just went to the right, so we're going to be heading towards the left," I murmured, eyeing the end of the street. "Stay close, we're going quick. I'll check around the edge of the building and wave you guys forward if its safe, got it?"

A murmur of yes's.

I tightened my hold on my weapon, comforted by the feel of the gun on my waist just in case I needed it. It would be a last resort if I had to use it, it would draw too many deaders to the area and we couldn't have that right now.

So only if one of us was in extreme danger would I dare to use it.

Devin had one as well, as did Kuza and Ricky, and we'd left one with the girls; that was the only guns we had left thanks to the fire, which just made me hate those men more and more. They'd taken away our safe place, one of our friends, and had made sure we didn't have any supplies left. The ones we'd been able to take from them had been so little it had been no wonder they were looking for more.

But we had to make it, and we wouldn't stoop to the level of them, forcing others to give us their supplies. We could find it ourselves, make it on our own, we didn't need to become them.

That's what I kept telling myself.

But when it came down to desperation, life and death, there was no telling what any of us would do.

I repressed a sigh, glass still crunching under my shoes as I crept to the end of the building, glancing around the corner. There was one deader, on its knees and struggling against a shopping cart. It was only half a body, the bottom half missing completely, and it was hung in the bottom, unable to go anywhere.

I hesitated, glancing around the area.

It couldn't do anything to us, but I hated to leave a deader living just in case.

So I stepped around, my palms sweaty around the aluminum, and I felt the wind at my back, sweeping my scent forward to the deader. Its head lolled in my direction immediately, eyes already rotten out of its skull, and its bony fingers reached forward, nails flaking off as they raked against the concrete.

Just don't look, I told myself, stepping over to it. Don't look at It, don't think about it, just do it, just kill it.

Its brains splattered out against my boots.

I grimaced, kicking my shoe a little to get the matter off of it, and then I turned, motioning the guys out of the store.

They trotted out after me, and we crossed the street, staying right on each others heels as we glanced around, all of us tense and on guard.

There was no telling when a horde might come through, and we would need to move quick.

I stopped, glancing up at the sign.

"Radio shack?"

"Radios," I murmured, my hand hovering over the door; what if it was locked, what if it had an alarm and it sent it screaming out into the street? From what I could see through the glass, it looked mostly untouched, which meant maybe most of the electronics had made it.

And we needed it.

My shoulders went rigid as my hand closed over the handle, squeezing tight as my stomach decided to run into my throat.

Don't be an alarm, don't be an alarm, don't be an alarm....

"Be ready," I muttered, and then nudged the door. It swung open easily, slowly, and I relaxed as there was no alarm, no earth-shattering peel that would attract every monster within a two mile radius.

"Radios!" Devin looked relieved as he spied them against the wall, heading for them immediately, and I started for the round desks in the center where the cashiers usually stood. I glanced behind it, shining my flashlight, but it was empty, the blue carpet dusty but pristine still.

Apparently this place had been empty when the shit hit the fan..

And I was surprised it was even still here. Most of these places were completely obsolete at this point, the fact one had made it this long, especially in the economy we'd had, was sort of a miracle.

"Is this one of those drones?" I heard Kylie ask, and I turned to shine my light at her, seeing she was staring at a large box, what I assumed was a drone inside. The thousand dollar price tag told me it probably was.

"Check for batteries," I grunted; we didn't have time to fucking shelf shop right now.

I leaned down behind the counter, searching for anything useful, nabbing their pair of scissors and tape; you never knew, right?

I shoved everything into my pack, and then rose, my flashlight in my mouth as I struggled to zip it back.

It was becoming difficult, it think the lining was getting stuck ---.

"Down!" Devin suddenly hissed, and immediately we all hit the floor.

I didn't even think about it.

I hesitated, but since I was still behind the counter, I was safer. I slowly peeked around the register, seeing a few of the deaders had come back through, the one with the leash pressing its face against the glass windows, smearing old blood and skin in its wake.

My stomach did its familiar roll.

I clenched my jaw, watching as it rubbed against the window a few moments, dead eyes roving the place for any movement. I glanced over, seeing Carol had ducked behind a large display of toy trucks, the closest to the front of the room. Her face was hard, jaw clenched, with absolutely no emotion.

She was the definition of hardass.

I frowned, wondering if we would need to go out and take the deaders down; there was only three, and I could take care of at least two of them on my own. I would need help distracting the third one, though, which meant using one of my guys as bait, something I wasn't fond of doing.

I started to rise, but froze, chills running up my spine.

Uh oh.

I dropped immediately, clenching my hands in the carpet.

Fuck fuck fuck.

Think think think!

What the hell we were going to do?

What the fuck fuck fuck?

Think!

Coming around the bend in the street, there was a lot more deaders then just the four of us could handle, especially since Kylie was basically useless when it came to fighting.

We would get eaten alive, and loaded down like we were now, we wouldn't be able to outrun all of them.

I chewed my chapped lip nervously.

We couldn't go out the front, and we didn't have time to just wait them out, either. The others would get worried and come looking for us and run right into the mass.

So we had to figure something out.

I rose a little again, peeping over the counter, seeing the horde was slowing down as they noticed one of their own rubbing itself against the glass, beating lightly, trying to get inside at us.

It was drawing them right to us.

Son of a bitch!

At least now we knew where all of the population was.

Was there a back door to this place?

I didn't hesitate, but crawled from the circle of desks, my flashlight sliding against the floor.

"This way!" I whispered as loud as I dared. "To the back!"

Please let there be a door there!

I crawled hastily to the large door, the carpet rough against the skin my jeans couldn't protect anymore, and my hand curled around the handle. I didn't have time to worry about there being deaders inside, that we could just be going into another hell, I didn't have time --- we needed somewhere fast and this was the decision I was making.

I opened the door.

It swung silently, revealing nothing but more darkness, and I haphazardly swept my flashlight through it, the quickest check I could manage before I got to my feet and stepped inside. I glanced behind me, ushering the others in quick, and then I hastily shut the door, hearing it click.

Well fuck.

We were stuck here.

I turned, staring at all of the others. The only light was from us, all of our faces nervous; I could hear the deaders against the glass in the silence, and I could hear cracking noises that let me know real quick they knew we were in here, they could smell us, and we had to get the fuck out now.

Carol had her flashlight turned on the room, inspecting it, but it was nothing more then a storage area, shelves with boxes stacked all over each other, a few chairs here and there.

"Check for a door or a ladder to the roof," Devin said after a moment, his light roving the ceiling. "Quickly."

"There's a ladder," Kylie burst, and I turned towards her, seeing she was right, there was rings bolted into the wall, leading up to a hatch in the ceiling I assumed was for the workers to get above and check the equipment up there; I'd seen some antennas from the street, they must have lead down to the store.

What if some of the workers had gotten up there and died? I wondered, my light shining on it.

"There's a bay door back here, but it's locked," Carol said after a moment. "Do we have anything in here that can break it?"

"Not likely. All this is cheap, plastic shit from China," Devin grumbled, lifting up a bag, emptying its contents. "Nothing fucking useful."

Dammit.

"We gotta go up," I stared at the ceiling. "We do
n't got a choice. Come on. I'll go first, make sure there's no deaders."

"Be careful," Devin looked up at me anxiously as I placed the flashlight between my teeth, my hand closing over the cold metal of the ladder rungs, conveniently bolted against the wall. "We don't know what's up there."

Just perhaps certain death, no big deal.

Deaders, possibly.


Bugs.

More wonderful shit like that.

I started climbing, keeping a tight hold onto the rings; it wasn't that high off the ground, only about twelve feet, so even if I fell, it might hurt like a bitch, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't kill me.

Because some of these rungs were loose.

You wouldn't think our buildings would start to fall apart so quickly, and a lot of the older ones hadn't. But the newly built ones, the ones put together in a couple days, they were already crumbling since no one had been taking care of them.

I'd seen enough of the "suburb" houses falling apart to be glad I'd never bought into them in the first place, especially when Sabrina had suggested we buy a house together for the baby.

I hesitated.

Where had that thought come from?

Ihadnt thought about her since the beginning, since Kelsey had brought her up.

"Chris? What's wrong?"

"Er, nothing," I shook my head, and then finished climbing, pressing my hand up against the roof tiles.

I didn't need to be thinking about her, she was dead, just like everyone else I knew.

I pressed, and my brows furrowed as the tile didn't give. There was something on top of it, something fucking heavy. I grunted, my teeth tightening around the flashlight as I climbed a little higher, pressing my shoulder against it and straining.

Itbudged a little, and a crack of sunlight spread through the room before it dropped again.

"Son of a bitch," I climbed another rung, pressing most of my shoulder and back against it, aware I was basically dangling off the rungs, and one slip could send me tumbling down onto the floor and all the junk covering it.

"Careful, Chris," Kylie burst anxiously, her face lit up by her flashlight. "You'll hurt yourself!"

Better myself then all of us die.

Something shattered.

I froze, and my eyes roved to where the door would be in the darkness.

They'd broken through the glass.

A lot quicker then they should've!

"Fuck!" I heard Carol gasp.

We were so screwed.

I shoved my shoulder up against the tile again, feeling pain start to spiral down my arm from the pressure, but I didn't give up, pressing more and more, struggling. I could see light seep through again, and I kept pushing, desperately, using what weight my body had left.

There!

I gave a loud, pained grunt as the tile finally flipped up, dust and shit raining down into my eyes as the sunlight streamed through the large gap, my shoulders spasming in pain from the force.
I hesitated, my fingers damp and slipping on the rungs, sweat starting to build on my skin from the effort.

"Is it clear?"

I nodded, unable to see anything on the gravel topped roof, just some electronics that I knew nothing about. I finished climbing up, groaning as I fell onto my back, my hand immediately going to my shoulder, the flashlight dropping from my lips.

i'd fucked it up.

I glanced over at the tile, and hesitated, seeing what had been resting on top of it.

"Hold on!" I gasped, hearing someone climbing up the rungs, and I hastily scrambled to my feet, staring at the rotting corpse. It had been a large guy, probably over two hundred pounds, and he looked baked.

His body had already become mummified, and I could see pieces of his skeleton, which told me he'd been actually dead for a couple months now. I hesitated, then nudged his head with the toe of my boot.

It just caved in, and I gagged, immediately turning away from the site.

He was done.

He wasn't a deader.

All his brain was, was a lot of mush and maggots.

"Come up," I croaked after a second when I was sure I wouldn't puke. "Good."

I took a few steps back, and helped Carol up, her eyes nervously going to the body and then away. Kylie was next, and then Devin, and I could hear the banging noises as they deaders went through the store, trying to get through the door to us.

Thank god we were all up top.

"What now?" Kylie wheezed as she topped the final rung, Devin giving her a boost to help her over the edge.

"We get off the roof, somehow," I mumbled, stalking quickly to the edges. I couldn't find a fire escape, which meant we were kind of fucked, because obviously the drop wasn't intense, but it would hurt. So jumping off the roof really wasn't much of an option right now.

I paced the corners, trying to find a way down, and trying not to trip on all the cords and wires racing across the top of this place.

"What are we gonna do?" I heard Kylie whimper. "How do we get down?"

I just needed to think.

We could get down.

I just needed to think!

I ran my fingers through my loose hair, my eyes flicking across the roof.

Could those cords hold our weight?

We could make a makeshift rope out of them, use them to sort of ropel off the roof, couldn't we? I'd seen Kelsey do it, though she was more climbing down gutters and the like.

Did this place have gutters?

Would they be able to hold our weight?

I stalked quickly to the front of the building, but I didn't see any, and I clenched my fists, feeling more and more frantic.

What the fuck were we gonna do?

I stared down at the street, feeling an awful metallic taste rise into my mouth as I saw the deaders down below, crawling through the broken windows, their skin tearing and left behind on the sharp pieces still intact.

It was like something you'd see out of a movie, all of them rushing into the store like there was a Christmas sale, their dead eyes and rotting bodies struggling amongst each other like a grotesque mosh pit.

"The wires," I said after a moment, my mind made up. I turned around to face them. "Start tying them together."

"What?" Carol stared at me like I'd lost my mind, the extra packs dangling in her hands, and I could see she'd started to put some supplies in them from the way they hung. "Have you lost your mind? Those won't hold us!"

"Do you have a better idea?" I snapped, stalking over to where the cords were all hooked up to what I assumed was some sturdy bases, large antennas and other metal shit I didn't know rising out of the rooftop. I curled my fingers around their cords, feeling the thick, weatherproof rubber that was circling them, half-sure that this would work. I traced it hastily back to where it was going into the roof to below, and then started pulling on it, wrenching it through the ceiling.

"Chris, wait ---."

"Dude, that might not ---."

I heard the door below sudden give in, and Devin whirled, staring down into the building.

"Tie the wires together!" He gasped, looking terrified, and he staggered over to where the fat guy laid, giving his body a harsh roll out of the way. He grabbed the top of the tile, and basically Lucker stomped it closed, the sound loud and echoing through my ears. "They were
trying to come up the ladder!"

Well that wasn't good.

"Roll the guy back on top!" Carol burst, rushing over to Devins side, and together, they rolled the heavy corpse on top of the tile, Kylie standing frozen in her spot where I continued to rip the cords up.

This wouldn't reach the ground, but maybe the drop from it wouldn't be severe.

"Let's go," I hissed, dragging the weather-proof cord across the roof, glad for once there wasn't any power, otherwise I might have just been electrocuted. There was wires sticking out of the end of the cord where it had ripped in half with my abuse, and they were sticking out, red and green and prickly.

I tossed the cord over the roof, and it landed about halfway down the wall, swinging hazardly.

We could make it down.

So far all the deaders were at the front of the store, not the very back, and so unless they broke down the bay door, we still had a chance to get the fuck out of here.

"Come on," I huffed, motioning the guys to my side. "Who's first?"

"I'll go," Carol volunteered immediately, her eyes worriedly flicking back to the heavy corpse where it was starting to move.

Had those deaders climbed the rungs?

Had they... were they getting smarter?

"Go," I motioned her forward, and she slipped both of the backpacks on over her other one, grimacing with the added weight. Her dark fingers wrapped around the rubber, and she carefully hefted herself over the roof, her face paling a little bit as she looked down.

"You can do it, you're okay," Devin told her quickly, stepping over to the edge of the roof. "Just don't look down, okay? Look up at me, don't worry."

Was she afraid of heights?

I shuffled, waiting impatiently for her to climb down. I rubbed my shoulder, wincing as pain met my touch.

Of course I'd fucked it up.

"Hurry," Kylie muttered beside me, shifting her weight, antsy. I glanced down at her shorter frame, and then back at the fat guy, seeing his body hopping around like popcorn as the deaders tried to open the tile, their nails raking against the roof.

I hated that sound.

It was like nails on chalkboard.

I shuddered, hastily turning to look, seeing Carol had safely made it to the ground, and Devin looked over at us, motioning us forward.

And then there was a cracking sound.

Kylie and I froze, neither of us moving as we heard it again, and there was suddenly a shuddering shift in the roof beneath us.

Uh oh.

My head jerked over in the direction of the metal antennnas and poles.

They were coming out of the roof.

And taking the roof with them.

"GO!" I burst, and ran for the antennas, wrapping my arms around them, pressing my entire weight on them as I tried to keep them from ripping out of the rooftop. If they went over, no one was getting down safely.

"Devin, go!" Kylie gasped, running for the wires. She pressed her weight against them quickly, and almost shoved Devin over the side of the roof in her haste. I saw him scramble to grab the wires as he started to go over, his face alarmed.

I felt a sudden jerk on the antennas, and they pulled more. I tightened my grip best I could, hot-white pain blossoming through my entire shoulder, making me groan. I squeezed my eyes shut, holding tight, trying to keep them still the best I could.

Please.

"He's down!" Kylie gasped, releasing her weight on the cords, and I cracked open my eyes, loosening my grip for a split second.

"Then go!"

"What about you---?"

"Just fucking go, okay? I'll get down
fine!"

"But, Chris ---!"

"FUCKING GO!"

She jumped, then bobbed her dark head, reaching for the wires.

The entire fucking roof caved.

I felt my weight suddenly shift, and then it was like the gates of hell opened to swallow us. Kylie screamed as she fell back, landing hard on her pack as the roof beneath her feet seemed to suddenly disappear, crumbling.


I shouted her name, watching in horror as she slid backward into the giant hole forming in the middle of the ceiling, right where I'd torn up the cords; I must have weakened it somehow, and when the antennas had started to tear free, it had been the last straw.

Fuck!

I didn't even think about it, I just bolted forward.

I half heard the antennas finish tearing from the roof, and out of the corner of my eye I saw them sail over the side of the roof after the cords.

I reached forward, trying to catch Kylie before she went down, and my fingers curled aroudn the back of her back, my stomach hitting the ground hard and dragging me forward.

She continued to scream as she went over completely, and I gasped, feeling my shoulder completely pull out of socket.

Jesuschrist!

The pain --- my fingers spasmed, and I tried to hold onto the back of her pack, but my fingers in that hand were going numb!

"KYLIE!"


She was dangling above the deaders, and they were all yowling, their dead hands reaching up towards her, covered in plaster and dust, sunlight streaming down on their grotesque faces.

She looked up at me, her hazel eyes wide.

"I don't wanna die!" She cried, her fingers curled tight around the straps of her pack, the only thing keeping her up; if I let go of her, she was dead. The deaders would rip through her flesh like wild dogs.

"Chris, please! PLEASE!" She was screaming at me, reaching her hands up, but I couldn't reach her, I ---.

"I won't let go!" I gasped, reaching with my other hand, trying to get a hold on the pack instead, and I felt the roof give more, making her fall several more feet. she gave a shriek of fear, curling her legs up high to her waist, making her swing and making the pain unbearable.

My fingers spasmed again, and I felt the pack start to slip.

"NO!"

The pack dropped from my fingers.

Kylie dropped into the mass of deaders, her screams echoing through my ears as she fell into them, almost in slow motion. I watched, unable to look away, as the bodies she crashed into dropped first, cushioning her fall, but then the remaining deaders were turning toward her still screaming form, and I saw her arm was turned in an awful direction, wrenched high behind her head.

They got her.

"KYLIE!"

It was like Angelo all over again.

I had to do something!

I had to, to ---.

I felt the roof give more, and if I leaned any, I would fall in after her.

She kept screaming --- these awful, horrible screams as the deaders tore through her flesh, and I could see her struggling, see her trying to fight them off of her, but there was no hope --- there was too many.

They were tearing her apart.

This was my fault, I couldn't --- I couldn't let her suffer like this!


I fumbled around my waist, quickly jerking the gun out of my waistband, and I pointed
down into the hole, my vision swimming around the edges as I tried to aim, as I, I ---.

I felt a whoosh of heat as the gun went off, and my ears rang. I watched as the bullet went down, sinking into Kylie's forehead, and her screams cut off immediately, not that I could hear them anymore.

I stared down, watching as her body completely disappeared from my view, covered with the surge of deaders on fresh meat.

I didn't move.

I could hear them eating her flesh, peeling it from her bones and chewing, shoving it into their mouths. I couldn't look away, I couldn't stop watching.

What had I done?

I laid against the roof, my gun arm dangling over into the hole, unable to move my body.

Id dropped her.

And then I'd finished her off.

I couldn't move.

I stared down into the hole, feeling my vision blackening around the edges, a wave of heat going through my head until I felt like it was going to burst. I felt my forehead dropping, my grip on the gun starting to slacken.

And then I heard sirens.

The sound jerked me, and I raised my head, the sound making my confusion worse. My ears still rang, and I was surprised I could hear anything at all.

Why were there sirens?

I hesitated, glancing down, seeing some of the deaders who couldn't reach her body start to turn towards the other sound, staggering from the small storage area back into the main store.

A fire truck?


I frowned, my fingers tightening around the gun again. Slowly, I pulled my arm back, feeling the circulation start to flow through it where it had began to go numb. I rolled over, several times, until I was no longer on the caved part of the roof, but the edge. I could still feel it giving under me, and it wouldn't be long until all of it was gone and I was joining Kylie in the hungry pit below.

I'd dropped her, I'd fucking dropped her.

I curled my good arm around the remaining ledge of the roof, my other one completely useless, dangling at my side. I couldn't feel it, it was numb from my shoulder down, but the pain in my shoulder --- it was unlike anything I'd ever felt, a burning, hot pain that was making the rest of my body weak.

Ipanted for breath, half-watching as a fire truck and a cop car skidded down the open street, the fire truck smashing through all the cars and deaders that were in the way. I watched in avid fascination as the cop car warped around the truck, speeding down the road, deaders immediately chasing after it as it went sideways around the street corner, the tires skidding and screeching loudly, smoke rising from the asphalt.

Someone could drive.

Thefiretrucks sirens suddenly went dead, and I saw it wheeling in my direction. I hesitated, watching as it floored it through the fence that had been guarding this alley, the metal crunching under the several ton beast as it forced its way through the tight space, metal scre
eching loudly as the alley walls tore the mirrors off, sending them sparking off under the wheels.
It stopped right below me, and I heard more glass shatter as Devin literally kicked the windsheild out, sending the entire thing spiraling off the hood and onto the concrete.

"Chris! KYLIE!"

I stared down at him dizzily, watching as he hopped onto the top of the truck, and then started climbing the white ladder on top, quick and frantic.

It was all my fault...

"Devin," I wheezed as he got closer, his dark eyes meeting mine about halfway. "She..."

Realization swept over his face, and his climbing faltered, but didn't stop. He didn't say a word, just reached the roof where I was propped against the ledge, the rest of me angled toward the gaping, growing hole in the center of the roof.

"Are you hurt?" He muttered, his face the whitest I had ever seen it, and his voice was choked.
I didn't respond, just glanced at my useless arm, feeling the heat sweep through my head again.

I couldn't focus, and my eyesight was becoming worse and worse.

"I can't... my arm won't... move..."

"Chris?"

"I'm... so sorry... I..."

"Chris!"

"Sorry," I managed, and then everything suddenly went dark.