The Aftermath

S2E4: Find Her

The group waits anxiously as they listen for the growls of the crawlers to dissipate. Everyone seems to be concentrated as they fight through this life and death scenario. Chris looks up at Skyy's helpless body and feels a wave of determination flood throughout his body.
Chris grips his piece of rebar tighter as he inches closer and closer towards the door handle, trying to be as quiet as possible. He puts his ear up to the door. Silence. He looks up at the group ever so calmly and locks eyes with them.
"Are you guys ready?" Chris asks in a hushed whisper.
They all nod in response and get in their readied positions. Chris takes a deep breath of fresh air and opens the door. He walks through the door, trying his best to not make a sound. The group safely makes their way through the door as they are now left out in the open.
Upon first glances, the supermarket looks more ransacked than before. Carts are crushed into smithereens and aisles are toppled over like dominos. Hayden walks ahead and motions us to get behind the toppled down aisle for cover.
       Hayden continues to make his way down the knocked down aisle as the rest of the group catches up with him. Chris looks through the cracks of the aisle and can see two crawlers. His heart sinks to the floor as he sees Hayden inching closer and closer towards the end of the aisle.
       Hayden leaps out of his cover and is completely vulnerable as he plunges his weapon deep into the head of the crawler. Chris looks back. Expecting to see the second crawler lunge at Hayden, Chris notices Jeannie's blade stuck underneath the neck of the crawler.
       She stabs the crawler through the small crevice of the aisle as tiny droplets of black blood splattered on her clothes. Jeannie quietly yanks the knife out of the crawler and resting it's lifeless body down. All eyes stare at Jeannie as she walks towards Hayden and aggressively pulls him back behind cover.
       "Are you stupid? You could've gotten us killed," Jeannie whispers angrily while tightly gripping the hems of Hayden's shirt.
       Hayden doesn't respond. He avoids eye contact with a sulky look in his eyes. The group tries to lift the attention off of Hayden and look for their surroundings for anymore mutants.
       "I know you're trying to protect your group from any possible threats, but you being in danger isn't helping anyone," Jeannie says in a more calmer tone.
       "Right. Sorry. Let's focus on getting out of here," Hayden says while still avoiding eye contact.
       "Does anyone know where Matthew ran off too?" Simon asks curiously.
       The group shares some looks of realization about the disappearance of Matthew. They take another look down the long hallway that connects the aisles to see a wide variety of mutants walking. There's crawlers surrounding the cloner and super humans growling in the near distance.
       "We need a plan," Jill says worriedly.
       "Agreed. We should split up into groups. One group will ride along the side of the aisle till we get to the side door while the other groups searches out to find Matthew," Jeannie whispers as she squats down.
       "The rescue team for that arrogant prick will meet up with us at the side door right?" Simon asks with a slight smirk.
       "I can try and find Matthew with Ricky. We were the closest to him before we got separated," Jill says suggestively while twiddling her fingers.
       "Sarah and I should probably tag along too since he might be injured," Jess says as she grabs a medical kit out of her bag.
       "Stay safe guys," Chris says before heading off with the rest of the group.
The group dissipates into two separate bodies to try and survive this horrific situation. Jess, Jill, Sarah and Ricky mentally prepare as they constantly look over their shoulders in paranoia.
Meanwhile, Simon and Ryan begin their long walk with the rest of the group as they lie in the middle holding Skyy up on the makeshift stretcher. The group silently yet swiftly makes their way aisle to aisle trying not to alert the horde.
Ryan and Simon's forearms begin to tremble as they desperately try to keep Skyy upright and out of sight from any possible danger. Sweat begins to drip down their faces as they struggle to keep this swaying makeshift stretcher stationary.
       They can see the backs of many crawlers as they pass each aisle. The crawlers look vile as they can be heard growling in the near distance. The aching in Simon's back becomes too unbearable as he knocks into the aisle from exhaustion.
       Suddenly, a metal can begins to roll off the top shelf of the aisle. It comes hurdling down like a bomb during a war. Ryan tries to stabilize the stretcher as he reaches to catch the can. He inches closer and closer. The can looks like it's falling in slow motion.
Is this how we die? By a simple can? Will I be able to reach this? Ryan thinks as he winces from the pain of stretching his body out too far. Ryan groans in defeat as he stumbles over and catches the stretcher where Skyy has been laying in uncomfortably during this whole pandemic.
       Ryan quickly looks over his shoulder to see if the can has landed yet. He looks over to see Jeannie sliding on the dirty and rugged floor catching the can only inches away from the floor. The group sighs with relief as they evade the deadly grasps of the mutants.
       "That was way too close," Ryan whispers as he slowly begins to rise from his relaxed state.
       "Let's just keep moving," Jeannie says with a determined glare as she continues to lead the group forward.
       They arrive to the front of the store where all the counters and cashiers are knocked out of proportion. The windows that were once boarded up are now shattered and vulnerable to the outside world.
       There's a sea of mutants at the entrance as the crawlers encase the cloner like some sort of ruler. The group makes a dash for the cover that's near the side door as they evade the landmines of noise on this worn out floor. One simple sound can lead to death.
       "Is that slender creature like their ruler?" Ryan asks as he takes another look at the disturbing sight.
       "I don't care what that thing is. I just wanna get the hell out of here," Simon says anxiously as if a spider landed on him.
       "Well we're going to have to hold out here until the rest of the group catches up," Jeannie says as she takes cover behind a blockade of some sorts.
       Hayden is still silent. His whole demeanor changed. He's avoiding eye contact as his hands become fidgety, and he looks off into the distance. His legs begin to twitch as he clearly looks lost in thought.
       Chris notices Hayden's silence as he looks at him, full of curiosity. Is he still upset from our previous argument? Has he given up? What's going on with him? Chris thinks to himself before looking back against the dirty  wall as he waits for the rest of the group anxiously.
       Meanwhile with Jess, Sarah, Ricky, and Jill, they are slowly walking along side the wall in search of their missing group member. They are near the back of the store and completely vulnerable. No cover. No guns. No allies.
       "Jill where did you see them last?" Jess whispers as she looks around frantically.
       "It shouldn't be far," Jill whispers as her legs begin to tremble from the fear.
       The group makes their way around the store searching for any door that Matthew could've encountered along the way. Silence fills the air as this simple rescue team stays alert in this uncharted territory.
       Suddenly, the group sees an array of dead crawlers in an aisle. There's black blood on the floor and claw marks on the side of the metal aisles. They turn their attention away from the vivid and graphic image of the aisle.
       Ricky turns left and notices a busted down door ransacked with a swarm of dead crawlers. This small, cramped closet is covered in a sea of black blood and broken down shelves.
       Ricky sprints inside the destroyed closet and fights the nausea that rushes over him. He starts to push body after body off each other until there's a pile. He looks down and sees a human body that's trapped underneath a shelf and covered in a mixture of blood.
       Ricky continues to push bodies off the busted up shelf along with the rest of his entourage. Ricky and Jess push the shelf off of this motionless body while trying to avoid the shards of glass that flood the floor. The body is Matthew. He's covered in cuts, bruises, and dried up blood.
       "Matthew," Ricky whispers worriedly as he begins to shake him.
       No response. Jess rushes over with her medical kit and checks his pulse. Sarah and Jill wait anxiously behind her as they look out for anymore mutants. Everyone waits eagerly for Jess to finish as if they're getting a letter from their dream college.
       "He's alive. Just banged up. We have to carry him back. Ricky grab his legs, and I'll take over the other side," Jess whispers calmly.
       They head out of the cramped closet as they start the dreadful walk back in hopes of escaping this horrific nightmare. Sarah looks around and notices the eeriness of the isolated supermarket.
Where are all the crawlers? Are they all towards the exit? Is the rest of the group in a safe place? Sarah ponders to herself before turning the corner of the aisle.
       The group is only a few minutes away beyond this straightaway. Sarah begins the walk as the rest of the group follows shortly after.
       However, Sarah hears a low mumbled growl next to her. She turns to her left. Slowly. Afraid of what her eyes might feast upon. She begins to breathe heavily. She sees it. The crawler is just inches away from her face as she barely dodged its lunge.
       "Run!" Sarah yells as they all take off in a sprint.
       Sarah can feel the adrenaline rush through her body as she hears the disapproving groans from the mutants. She pushes through her exhaustion and fear as she makes a dash towards the exit. Regardless of the current situation, they will persevere through any obstacle that's interfering with their lives.
       Back with the group, Chris and Jeannie try their best to avoid the line of sight as the rest of the group waits nervously. Simon is backed up against the corner of the rugged walls with the torn up wallpaper. Ryan and Hayden sit in silence until their group members return.
       "Hey Hayden are you feeling alright? You haven't been yourself these past couple days," Ryan whispers worriedly.
       "Yeah I'm fine. I just don't know how we're gonna get out of this," Hayden whispers defeatedly.
       The awkward tension begins to rise as silence falls among the two. The conversation slowly starts to fade in this sulky environment. Hayden doesn't tend to express his sensitive side to anyone.
       "We'll figure it out Hayden," Ryan says while avoiding eye contact.
       Ryan struggles to keep his eyes open from the exhaustion slowly setting its way in. Chris, Jeannie, and Simon sit there in silence as they examine the mutants.
       "What're we doing after this?" Simon asks in a hushed whisper.
       "I don't know yet. I really want to find my sister. I don't even know if she's still alive at this point," Chris whispers while avoiding eye contact.
       "She has to be alive Chris. Just because she isn't answering the radio, doesn't mean she's dead," Jeannie says reassuringly.
       Suddenly, the sound of demonic like screams can be heard throughout the supermarket. Footsteps can be heard inching closer and closer at a rapid pace. Chris looks over and sees the rest of the group sprinting towards them.
       "Come on guys we gotta go!" Jeannie yells as she throws open the door to the outside.
       The unforgiving sun beams down, and Jeannie squints from its abusive glare. It's like walking out of a movie theater. Most of the group is outside as they wait for the final few members to come out of the dangerous store.
       The final people inside the store is Hayden, Ricky, Jess, and Matthew. The mutants inch closer and closer as the small rescue group remains further behind.
       "Hayden let's go!" Chris yells as he passes through the door.
       Will they make it? They're only an aisle away? Should I go after them? Hayden thinks to himself while pulling out his weapon. He begins to run towards the others while taking out the crawlers that get in their way.
       Hayden holds them off while the others make it through the safe haven that's the outdoors. Gunshots echoed through the supermarket as Hayden pulls out a pistol and starts unloading on these mutants.
       Suddenly, Hayden gets forcibly shoved against the wall by the cloner. He recovers rather quickly and stabs the cloner's chest while shooting its head. The tall body drops to the floor as black blood oozes out.
       Hayden dashes towards the door to see Chris holding out his hand. He inches closer and closer till he leaps forward and grabs Chris's hand.
       However, a crawler grabs Hayden's leg as it tries to drag the body back into the hellhole that it came from. Chris tries to pull Hayden in like this is a game of tug and war. Another crawler adds on. Then another. Until they've almost completely caught up with Hayden.
       "Find her Chris. Find Rosie," Hayden says with a smile as he let's go of Chris's hand.
       "Hayden!" Chris yells as he charges through the door while being held back by Jeannie, Ryan and Ricky.
       The rest of the group is clearing out the parking lot of the supermarket while Hayden fights against the horde of mutants. He has claw marks on his legs while the mutants tug at his arm. He continues to kill some crawlers that surround him.
       As the door begins to close, Chris sees the blood splatter. Not black but red. He peers a final look through the door to see Hayden's arm being ripped clean off by the mutants. Chris is there helpless as half the group restrains him from walking back into that death trap.
       "Chris we gotta go," Ryan yells as he tries to hold back tears himself.
       Chris stays there for a moment in shock of what he had just witnessed. His friend had just been forcibly taken away through his grasp. A moment ago Hayden was still holding onto his hand. He failed. Hayden was dead because of him.
This is all your fault! It should have been you! Hayden would still be alive if it weren't for you! A voice rang through his head over and over till Chris clasped his head, praying for this terrible day to end.
       "This is all my fault," Chris mumbles to himself.
       "I fought with him earlier, and he still looked at me with a smile," Chris mumbles as tears begin to streak down his face as he looks at the door of terror. Hayden's lifeless body is just behind this simple metal door that opens up into a cavern of terror.
       "Come on guys we gotta go! More are coming this way!" Jill yells.
       Jeannie lifts Chris up, and he follows while still hearing the same voice repeat in his head. It's your fault! It should've been you! You're a waste of life! Chris continues to run forward.            
       All eyes glaring at him. He doesn't look back at the supermarket. He keeps running. And running. And running. He realizes that this world has forever changed into a cruel and unforgiving world.