The Aftermath

S2E3: Left Behind

       The sound of footsteps echo in the isolated supermarket as the group dashes towards any possible door they can lay their eyes upon. Each aisle they pass is like a maze as they pray to find some type of door.
Skyy continues to run straight without looking back. Behind her she can hear the sound of carts crashing into the metal aisles as the crawlers groan in anger trying to catch their prey. Skyy's heart is beating eight miles a minute as the rest of her body begins to become fatigued.
"Come on Skyy! You have to keep moving," Matthew says worriedly as he practically drags Skyy through the supermarket.
       Matthew and Skyy both lock eyes with Jill and Ricky as they hear their voices a few aisles in front of them. Skyy desperately tries to increase her strides as she fights against her lack of breath.
       "Matt! Skyy! We found the rest of the group! Hurry," Ricky shouts frantically.
       Matthew and Skyy begin to pick up speed into a full on sprint as Skyy's legs slowly begin to give out. The two are just one aisle away from Ricky and Jill as Ricky is seen holding out his hand to pull them inside.
       Behind him, Jill is seen resting her hands on desk, ready to create a barricade any second. Skyy and Matthew are inches away from safety. They inch closer and closer. Skyy can practically see the hint of worry that falls over Ricky.
       "Guys watch out!" Jill yells in fear as murmurs from the group can be heard behind the safety of that simple wooden door.
       Suddenly, a crawler jumps down from the top of the aisle and violently swats Matthew away like a baseball being ricocheted off a bat. Skyy's adrenaline kicks in as she leaps to grab Ricky's hand while trying to evade the vicious crawler.
       Skyy feels a searing pain rush up her leg in the heat of the moment. Her leg begins to grow numb as her hearing begins to slowly fade. She can see the group's facial reactions as all eyes pointed to her leg. She sees the crawler in the corner of her eye about to take its final strike. Is this is it? Is this how I die? In front of my group? Is there any hope left for me? How will Matthew react to this? Skyy thinks to herself while struggling to keep her eyes open.
       She quickly shuts her eyes as she awaits for the inevitable. She hears a muffled grunt and opens her eyes to see the crawler fall to the floor. She sees Hayden holding a bloody piece of wood with droplets if black blood on his face. Both Chris and Jeannie rush out to pick Skyy up, and everything goes black.
       Meanwhile, Matthew can be seen dashing in between the aisles trying to find any type of temporary protection as he evades the mutated that he encounters. Sweat begins to drip down his face as his facial expression becomes even more determined to find a way to survive this hell hole of a night.
He soon runs into a series of crawlers that seem to be protecting the only possible way of protection. The crawlers yell a menacing roar as they begin to inch closer to Matthew
"This should be fun," Matthew says with a slight smirk on his face as he picks up a piece of rebar on the floor. The crawlers charge at him tenaciously as Matthew mentally prepares for a bloodbath. He jumps off the aisle and plunges the sharp rebar deep in the head of the first crawler.
Suddenly, the next crawler leaps toward Matthew as he slides under it and quickly stabs the crawler; it's teeth just inches away from his neck. Matthew stabilizes and swings the now dull rebar into the crawler's head repeatedly. The blood splatters everywhere as he hits it again and again and again. Over and over.
He pants from the exhaustion and quickly recovers from the rush as he runs to the closest door with more mutated following behind him. He finally reaches the door and quickly slams it shut. He takes the time to catch his breath as he slowly glides down the wall to sit.
He notices his surroundings and sees a very cramped room like a closet with no escape or ventilation whatsoever. There's old cleaning supplies, a crusty mop and shelves with empty cans on each one.
Matthew's heart abruptly stops for moment as a loud bang is heard outside the door as the crawler tries to break through. Matt quickly gets up and starts knocking down the shelves to create a blockade in hopes of preventing further damage.
"God damnit," Matthew mumbles in defeat as he tries desperately to analyze his surroundings.
Will this be my last stand? Is there anything in here that I can use to defend myself? Did Skyy get to safety? Matthew thinks to himself as he rips off a loose metal piece from the shelf. He waits there, covered in scrapes, ready for round two with these unforgiving creatures.
"Time for round two I guess. Who's up first?" Matthew says with a full smile as he mentally prepares for battle.
Back with the group, Skyy's leg has caused a wave of hysteria to rush over them. Boxes and cans are scattered around the floor like landmines. The room is full of clutter Jeannie and Chris frantically bring Skyy over to Jess and Sarah while blood drips down the side of her leg.
       "How deep is the cut?" Jess asks worriedly as Jeannie and Chris set Skyy's motionless body down on the crumpled up sheets
"It's pretty deep," Chris says as he gets lost in thought on what to do.
What should I do? Should I help the others keep the crawlers out? Should I help Jess with Skyy? Is this going to be like Sasha all over again? Chris thinks to himself as he ponders between his choices.
"Chris! Help us barricade the door. This isn't gonna hold," Jill exclaims as her arms begin to wobble from the pain of holding the barricades.
"Chris! Go get Sarah! She has the supplies in the office next door," Jess says while applying pressure on the wound.
Chris looks around frantically trying to determine the smartest way to keep everyone alive. However, at the corner of his eye, he sees Hayden come out with the rest of the group using several pieces of furniture as barricades.
Chris dashes toward the room where Sarah has taken refuge. He dodges the landmines of boxes and old rubble on the floor and finally makes it to the door. He opens the door knowing very well that every second that he takes could mean life or death for Skyy.
"Sarah! Come quick! It's Skyy! A crawler attacked her, and her leg has a deep cut," Chris says frantically.
"Ok I'm on my way. Did she lose a lot of blood?" Sarah asks rather calmly.
"Yes she did. She's unconscious right now so we have to hurry," Chris says as he starts to run out of the room while holding some medical supplies.
Sarah and Chris sprint back to Jess as they notice the rest of the group struggling with the barricades. Hayden's out in the front trying to dwindle the amount of crawlers by stabbing them with a sharp piece of wood. They look to their left to see Skyy in even worse shape than before. Her face has grown paler. Her body seems lifeless as Jess tries to find her faint pulse.
"Chris stay with Skyy! We can handle these crawlers," Simon says optimistically.
"Yeah the numbers are dwindling. Hayden has been putting in work over there," Ryan says as he points to Hayden where he looks fatigued yet determined.
Chris nods in response and turns back to see Sarah tying a belt around Skyy's leg. Immediate fear rushes over Chris's body as a million thoughts rush into his head. Are they about to cut her leg off? Did she already lose too much blood? Are we too late? Chris thinks to himself as his hands start to tremble. Jeannie notices the fear that's portrayed in Chris's eyes and rests her hand on his.
"It'll be ok. Skyy will live," Jeannie says with a smile while still applying pressure to the leg.
"Alright we have to cut it off now!" Jess yells as her tone completely shifts.
"I understand Jess, but who's going to do it?" Sarah asks nervously.
Silence falls among them for a second as they both remain in fear about this dangerous procedure.
"I can do it," Jeannie says breaking the silence.
"I found an ax before the crawlers got inside," She continues.
Jess and Sarah stare wide eyed at Jeannie as their hands remain covered in blood. Chris looks back at the rest of the group and notices all eyes locked onto them. Even Hayden has stopped playing hero for a little while. The door is sealed shut with a few occasional bangs coming from the outside, but they're less frequent.
"Are you sure Jeannie?" Sarah asks curiously.
"Well somebody's gotta do it," Jeannie says while avoiding eye contact.
"Alright than. I suggest everyone go into the other room while we take care of this. Jeannie, Sarah and I will handle this," Jess says with a painful look in her eyes.
The group remains there for a second; still in shock of their current situation. Chris starts the walk to the door as all eyes lock onto him. Shortly after Chris begins the walk, the other follow soon after. Simon catches at the corner of his eye Jeannie swinging the ax up and striking down onto the motionless, bloodied up leg.
The sound of the ax making contact with the leg is enough to make anyone uneasy. The group doesn't share any looks as they continue the walk to the door while picking up speed. This simple walk to a door a few feet away has turned into the longest walk of their lives.
They finally get to the door as they all squeeze in the tight, cramped room, and slide their backs down the wall. They remain there in silence for a moment as the sound of the ax meeting the leg finally comes to a halt.
"Finally I was about to throw up. That might possibly be worse than Ricky and Jill being affectionate towards each other," Simon says trying to lighten the mood.
No response. Not even a chuckle. The tension exponentially rises in this small room as the only thing the group shares are looks. Jill rests her head on Ricky's solider as tears can be seen slowly streaming down her cheek.
"She has to be ok. Right?" Jill asks in hopes of a positive answer; clearly holding back tears.
"She'll be fine Jill. She's a fighter," Ricky says reassuringly clearly trying to convince himself as well.
The silence returns as a wave of exhaustion falls upon the group. The only who seems somewhat responsive is Ryan who looks like he's taking a calculus test. He's mumbling to himself clearly lost in thought. The group can hear murmurs outside the door regarding Skyy's condition. They wait there in anticipation, praying that she's still alive.
"Ryan what're you thinking about?" Hayden asks curiously, finally breaking the painful silence.
"Well Hayden, I'm thinking about how reckless you've been recently," Ryan says with a slight hint of annoyance in his tone.
"What do you mean Ryan?" Hayden asks defensively.
"Before we got into the supermarket, you instantly ran ahead trying to kill a crawler. You realized that you could've gotten hurt right? Don't you have any consideration towards yourself at all?" Ryan asks angrily.
"I was trying to be helpful! I'm trying to prove myself to you guys," Hayden yells back.
"Well all you're doing is endangering us even further," Ryan says while scooting further away from Hayden's hostile glare.
All eyes lock on the two friends butting heads as they pray for another moment of silence. The attitude in these two completely shifts into a hostile tone which is different from their usual attitudes.
"Guys! Calm the hell down," Simon says. His eyes full of worry.
"Yeah guys let's be civil about this," Chris says reassuringly.
"Oh shut the hell up Chris! What were you doing huh? You basically froze up after things got hard. Some leader you turned out to be," Hayden says in a condescending tone.
A hush or silence rushes over the group as Chris begins to rise off the floor. His heart is beating fast and thoughts begin to formulate in his mind. His eye twitches. His fists clench up as he slowly walks toward Hayden. He grips the collar of Hayden's shirt and aggressively yanks him against the wall.
"Hayden, once you get over this authority complex, then come and speak to me like an actual human being. Stop playing hero for once in your life!" Chris snaps; finally releasing his grip on Hayden's shirt.
"This is the time where we have to come together as a group. We're in this together," he continues tenaciously.
The group goes quiet once again as the hostile attitude finally fades, and the tension falls. Hayden sulks to himself in the corner after the argument clearly ignoring the rest of the group.
The tension is washed away completely once the door opens and Jeannie pops through it. Everyone's facial expression changes when they see Jeannie walk through the door bearing news.
"Sorry to break up whatever that argument was, but I thought you guys should know that Skyy is alive!" Jeannie says enthusiastically yet with a hint of exhaustion as well.
The group takes a collective sigh of relief, and Jill can be seen hugging Ricky excitedly. The group follows behind Jeannie as they see the aftermath of Skyy's procedure. The sheets are all bloodied up and she's wrapped in gauze and medical tape. The leg from her knee down is completely gone and thrown away as if it were rubbish.
Jess and Sarah are sitting along side of Skyy clearly exhausted after that stressful operation they had to do on the spot. Then there's Skyy. She still remains unconscious but seems to be resting much more comfortably than before.
As Chris starts to walk towards Jess and Sarah, Jeannie pulls him back into the small room. The hint of confusion on Chris's face is obvious as he sits back down in his old spot in the cramped office.
"What's up?" Chris asks curiously.
"I heard your argument in here. How ya holding up?" Jeannie asks as she sighs and sits down next to him.
"It was just a misunderstanding. We're fine now," Chris says still not making eye contact.
"I miss Rosie," Jeannie says suddenly as her attitude completely shifts.
"Yeah me too. You know, I have the radio still. We can try to contact her," Chris says reassuringly.
Jeannie scoots closer to him in response, and Chris pulls out the walkie talkie that Zach and Rosie gave him. Chris turns on the radio and static can be heard as he turns to the correct radio station.
"Hello? Is anybody there?" Chris asks through the radio.
Chris and Jeannie wait with anticipation for a response. No answer. Chris repeats it again. No answer again.
"We have to search for her after we get out of here. She has to be alive out there somewhere," Chris says.
"We'll find her. I promise," Jeannie says optimistically while smiling.
Suddenly, the door opens up again revealing Simon as he walks in with his backpack full of supplies. He looks much more lively than before.
"We're about to get moving so get your supplies ready," Simon says before walking back out to the group.
"Let's do this," Jeannie says as she stands up preparing for a battle.
The two siblings arise from their positions and walk back outside to the group. Hayden and Ricky are about to rip down the barricades as Skyy is in a makeshift stretcher. The group is lined up with weapons at the ready as they prepare to open the door to the cruel world once again.