Enemies
"Will you hold the line
When every one of them has given up and given in? Tell me
In this house of mine
Nothing ever comes without a consequence or cost, tell me
Will the stars align?"-Imagine Dragons
It's been four weeks since we ran into that group that tried to pull one over on me. A couple days after we took shelter at that abandoned warehouse, they started to shoot the place up, ending in Cora getting a bullet wound to the leg.
Miguel's head still has a scab from his head wound, but other than that he's been recovering well.
Lilley's ankle is still healing from her cut. She can't run without help, just like Cora now. Both of them are trying to pull their weight. But it's kind of hard with both of them having a leg, or foot wound. They're also slowing us down. If we find ourselves in a horrible situation, like when we got cornered with the undead before those people decided to shoot up the alley.
If they didn't do that then I probably wouldn't be alive right now, and walking. But they only saved me to bring on their own hell. They caused Miguel enough pain as it is, why do they have to cause more? That's a question I dont have the answer to. And I don't like it when I don't have answers to problems.
I especially don't like problems I can't fix. They piss me off.
As long as we keep walking, going farther to try to lose them, we might survive this. But I can't tell them about us not surviving these horrible people, that will just cause panic.
Panic is something I do not need.
Being the one that basically leads this group, I need to make sure that no panic ensues. I'm already worried enough, I don't need anymore worry to add on top. Yes, Miguel has told me multiple times to let him in on my feelings.
But I just can't do that.
I'm the strong one in this group. I have to keep it that way. When I tell Miguel about my feelings he treats me like glass. I love him, but I can't stand being treated like glass. I might be stressed or sad, but I can handle it. I can handle my emotions without help. I love Miguel I really do, but my feelings are something I have to keep to myself. If I don't keep them to myself everything will fall apart.
And yes, I might be a little bit over dramatic, but my feelings are just that, feelings. Feelings don't change the past, nor the future. So, why keep feeling them if they have no power over change. Feelings don't have control over life, or me. So, I stick them deep down.
So deep, no one can find them.
"You okay Bel?" Danielle questions.
I look over towards her with frowned eyebrows. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
Danielle shrugs, "You just look like you were in deep thought." I smile softly towards her.
"I'm fine." I reassure. She nods with a smile before falling back to help Cora and Lilley walk. Miguel walks up next to me, taking Danielles spot. I send a smile towards him.
"How you doing Bella?" I sigh. Even though I haven't known Miguel that long, he can read me like a book. Even if I don't like it.
"I'm doing." I respond.
He takes my hand in his. "That's the best you can do." Miguel lifts his mouth in a side smile. Before Miguel could get any sappier, another loud bang echoes through my head.
The noise was so loud my vision blurred, and my hearing vanished. I could barely see the smoke coming from the building right next to us. Everything is a fog. I can't concentrate, nor can I find Miguel. I try getting to my feet to no avail.
I grimace as pain overtakes my head. My hand reaches up to touch the part where my head hurts only to hiss in pain. I bring my hand down and look at it. Even though I can't see straight, I know it came back red.
My legs aren't working, my vision is fuzzy. I can't think properly. My head whips around trying to find someone in this haze.
I can't see.
My breathing starts to become labored.
I can't see.
I try to inhale a breath through my nose, and out through my mouth to calm my nerves, but it doesn't work. I'm injured.
I don't know if the others are okay. I really hope they are. I'm not in the right mindset to get us out of this one. Suddenly I hear a sharp ringing, making me hold my head in agony. I feel a hand grab my shoulder, making me look up.
The figure above me has rough skin. The hand digs more into my shoulder. I gasp when I realize what's above me. I try to back away from the chomping teeth of the undead.
A thwack sounded followed by the thud of the undead. Someone comes running towards me, making me crawl back. Two soft hands grab my face. I flinch away.
"Bella, it's me." The familiar Mexican accent puts relief through my veins. He grabs my face again, turning it to the side. I see his dark eyes slightly widen. "Can you hear me?" His voice sounds miles away. Like I'm going deeper, and deeper underwater. I slightly close my eyes. Miguel's soft hands turn a little rougher in panic. "No, Bella stay awake. Keep your eyes on me." I slowly open my eyes, my head nodding. The world started to spin.
My vision is still blurry. My hearing is getting significantly worse. Miguel grabs me by the arm, helping me get up. He stands me up and takes a step back, only for me to start falling, Miguel swiftly catches me and throws my arm around his shoulder.
We start walking only for my feet to start to drag. My head starts to nod as the world starts to spin faster, and faster. My eyes drift close once again. I start to fall, making Miguel catch me. "Bella!" Miguel's voice sounds panicked and desperate. I try to respond but no words form on my lips. Before I could comprehend anything my mind went dark.
I woke up really disoriented. Right as I woke up i fly up into a sitting position. I search my surroundings trying to find one of my weapons. Someone comes into my foggy view. "Hey, Bel." I flinch away from the voice, still trying to find my weapons, only to come empty handed. "Bella!" The urgency of the voice snapped me out of my panic.
I freeze my movements. I look forward and once my vision cleared I recognized who was in front of me. "Cora?" My eyebrows frown in confusion. Cora puts a wet cloth on the side of my head, making me hiss in pain. "What happened?" I question in confusion. I wince when Cora retracts her hand.
"When the explosion hit, you got a head wound that knocked you out." Cora gives me a small smile. My eyes shot up in panic. Images of what happened finally fill my brain. A big boom, so much smoke, so much panic.
What happened to the others?
Are they okay?
"Before you ask, everyone is fine. You're the only one that got majorly affected." I sigh in relief. My eyes drift close as I calmly breath through my nose and out my mouth.
My eyes slowly reopen. "Where's Miguel?" I ask, remembering he's the one that picked me up after I passed out. Cora slightly moves out of the way pointing behind her. I glance past her shoulder to see Miguel taking care of Lilley. "What happened to her?"
Cora sighs. "Because of the smoke her asthma started acting up. She had an asthma attack." My eyebrows frown, causing a crease to form on my forehead.
"Is she going to be okay?" Cora smiles slightly with a nod. I inhale a breath through my nose, exhaling heavily in the process. Suddenly an excruciating pain starts in my stomach. A crease starts in my eyebrow, making Cora look at me with concern.
"Are you okay?"
I was going to answer with i'm fine but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a painful groan as I lean forward. My hands go over my stomach. Miguel looks over towards me in worry.
I gasp as bile starts traveling up my throat. Miguel runs over towards me, grabbing onto my shoulder in the process. I lean over my side and start to heave. As I start to hurl all over the ground Miguel pulls my hair back, whereas Cora rubs my shoulders, trying to give me a sense of comfort.
Once i was done gaging I lean back into Miguel's hold. Once i finally caught my breath, i take in my surroundings. I didn't notice before, but right now i'm lying on a leafy floor.
We were outside.
When I woke up for some reason; I thought we were in some sort of building. Trees were everywhere. From up close, too far into the distance. Not much of a surprise, considering where we are. I turn my head, putting my chin on Miguel's shoulder, looking past him in the process. Something in the distance catches my eye. I squint my eyes, trying to define what the object in my vision is.
I realize after a couple seconds that the object is a building. A wooden building. Once I realize where we are, I freeze.
No.
It can't be.
Can it?
My eyes narrow.
We couldn't have gone this way. That can't be where they are. They did say they were living in a cabin.
About thirty or more feet away a cabin was standing in the distance. I don't know if that's the same cabin I grew up in.
I'm hoping.
I'm praying, it's not.
I close my eyes and take a calming breath through my nose and out through clenched teeth. I turn my head to the front, facing everyone and opening my eyes in the process."We can't stay here." I state.
"Where can we go?" Danielle questions with furrowed brows.
"We need to find a better place to lay low." I respond. I try to stand up, only to fall back into Miguel's hold with a grunt. My head starts to swarm again, making black spots dance around my vision. I hold back a groan of annoyance.
I try standing on my feet one last time, only for Miguel to grab me by the waist. He sets me back down onto the dirty floor.
I glare at him.
"You have to rest." He demands more than states. I scoff with an eye roll. "You're injured. Along with Lilley and Cora. You guys stay here." He reasons, standing up and taking a step away from me. "Danielle and I will go find someplace safe." I narrow my eyes. He narrows his eyes right back. I roll my eyes one last time with a sigh of defeat.
"Fine." I clench my teeth in annoyance.
Miguel smiles down at me. "Good." He leans down and presses a kiss onto my lips. "We'll be back before you know it." Miguel softly grins at me.
I glance at him through my eyelashes. "Be careful."
He presses a soft kiss on my forehead. My eyes slide closed. "I always am." I nod, still with my eyes closed.
He better be, was the only thought that went through my mind as he walked away from me. As Danielle and Miguel walk off Lilley slides down a tree onto the ground. I open my eyes at the sound of scratching bark. As I open my eyes, a thought suddenly hits me. I don't know much about Lilley. Considering I grew up with Cora I know everything about her. Same thing goes for Danielle. I don't know much about her, but the thing's i do know about her consist of her past life, before shit happened.
"Hey Lilley," She glances up from the ground with raised eyebrows. "Tell me about yourself."
Her eyebrows frown. She chuckles nervously. "What do you mean?"
I tilt my head with a shrug. "I don't know much about you." I give her a side smile. "So, tell me about yourself." Lilleys eyes narrow, making her develop a guarded look. Cora glances back and forth between Lilley and I.
"What do you want to know?" Lilley questions.
"What did you do before the dead awoke?"
Lilley sighs, looking down for a second before looking back up. "I didn't do much." Lilley says with a shrug. "I just got out of high school when shit happened." That makes my eyebrows frown.
What?
"Wait..." I pause, "how old are you?"
"I'm nineteen."
My eyes widened in surprise. "You're nineteen?!"
She chuckles softly with a slight nod. "What else do you want to know?"
"Are you also from Alabama? Cora and I are."
Lilley shakes her head. "No, I'm from Clarksville Tennessee."
My eyebrows raise. "Then, what are you doing in Alabama?" I question.
Lilley looks down slightly. "Well, when everything happened I was living at home, considering I just got out of high school. I was living with my brother, Scout. He had to take care of me and my little sister after my parents died. They died when I was sixteen. We stayed at my brother's house, which was right next to the house I grew up in." Lilley runs a hand through her black hair. "My other siblings Missy and Marcy were living with us too. Missy was the second oldest. Marcy was the youngest out of all of us."
I nod, silently telling her to go on. "We didn't go out until a month after the world ended. It was because we needed supplies. We were running low on food and that lot." Lilley sighs heavily. "As we were walking through different houses, trying to find what we needed," Lilleys eyes glaze over with unshed tears. "We went into this house, a couple streets away from our own." Lilley inhales a breath through clenched teeth. "We were maybe in the house for about ten minutes when I heard a scream. The scream was from upstairs. Both my little sister and I ran up those stairs, taking two at a time. When we got up to the top floor we saw what was taking place before us."
Lilley slightly turns her head, shielding her eyes away from me. "An undead was about to bite my brother's neck, so I did the first thing that came to mind. I grabbed a candle holder and started bashing its head in. Head matter went everywhere." Lilley shakes her head. "When I was done bashing the head in, I looked to see where my older sister was, and what I saw gave me nightmares." She whips at her eyes with the back of her hand.
"My sister was getting torn apart. Limb by limb by two undead. She tried to fight them off, but it didn't work. I tried to run to her but my brother held me back. Scout got out a gun. I didn't even know he had a gun." Lilleys voice breaks. "He aimed the gun and one undead after the other went crashing down to the floor. My brother slowly walked up to my dying sister. She was choking on her own blood. He slightly swiped a bloody strand of hair out of Missy's face before also shooting her in the head." A dry sob escapes Lilleys mouth.
My eyes slightly water. I never would have thought she went through something like this. Both Cora and I go over to her. I crawled considering I still couldn't walk. I grab Lilley by the back of her head, laying her forehead onto my shoulder. I smooth down her hair trying to give her a sense of comfort. Cora sets her hand gently on her shoulder. After a couple of minutes of her soaking my sleeve with salty tears she leans up and turns her head away from me. "If you want you can continue talking to me about the beginning of the apocoli[se. But if you don't, you don't have to."
Lilley nods with a deep sigh. "I think i should talk about it." Lilley says, glancing up at me. I nod with a comforting smile. "After that day nothing else happened until later." A small smile enveloped Lilleys face. "We thought no one else survived." Lilley shakes her head slightly. "But we were wrong. A couple weeks after Missy died, maybe one or two, these two kids came crashing into our home." Lilley closes her eyes looking lost in a memory.
"We all got ready for a fight. Only for me to recognize the two people." Lilley glances at me. "They were my best friend Layla and her brother, my boyfriend, Kayson." Lilley slightly chucked. "I thought they died. We got seperated when everything happened. I thought I would never see them again." Lilley moves a strand of her hair that fell into her face behind her ear. "From that day forward they stayed with us." I smile.
"I should have known the good wasn't going to stay for long." I slowly lose my smile. "We thought we were safe. How could we be so naive." Lilley shakes her head.
Cora grips her shoulder making her look towards her. "It wasn't your fault." My eyebrows frown at what Cora said.
"What wasn't your fault?" I ask, making Lilley glance back towards me.
Lilley looks down before she continues to explain her story. "Two months after Layla and Kayson showed up, we had to go back out to get more food." Lilley starts playing with a dead leaf she found on the ground. "Always the damn food. Right as we walked out of the door an undead grabbed ahold of my younger sister Marcy. She got bit in the neck. She started choking on her own blood like Missy did. We all knew she wasn't going to survive." Lilley rubs at her eyes with her knuckles. "Scout also put her out of her misery. Scout and I were the only ones left from our family."
"After she died, Scout died." Another sob escapes her mouth. "He died trying to save me." Lilley shakes her head once again. "It's my fault." The makes my eyebrows reach my hair line.
No!
She is not blaming herself.
I wont allow that.
"Don't blame yourself Lilley." I gently grab the side of her face with my hands. "It wasn't your fault. You're only nineteen. You're still a kid. No matter what happened, it wasn't your fault." I console her.
She slightly nods before beginning to talk again. "A month later a undead broke into the house. I didnt know, niether of us did. I got caught off guard when an undead came barrling towards me. I loud screech escaped my mouth. Scout, Layla and Kayson ran downstairs from upstairs. I was about to get bit. Scout took the withering corps by the shoulder and thrusted it to the side. It tried to come after me again. Scout got in the way, he go bitten on the stomach. It took maybe twenty four hours before he started showing signs that he wasnt going to make it."
Lilley inhales trying to calm herself. "He started sweating, he couldn't eat without throwing it back up. He got super pale. He also got shaky, he couldnt keep anything in his grasp. We all knew he wasnt going to make it. He was suffering. After about three hours of him showing side effects, he started groaning in pain. He asked me to put him out of his misery, I couldnt do it."
Tears start to slide down Lilleys face, making her aggressively swip at her face. "Kayson took the gun out of my hands. He took the life from my brother. The gun sound echoed through my head making me fall down to the floor, sobbing." Lilley clears her throat. "After that day, i was fucking depressed. Two months of me not being able to get out of bed, my boyfriend thought it would be good for me to go get some supplies i needed." Lilley clenches her teeth to hold back her tears.
"When i got back to the house I saw my boyfriend with a few other undead eatting away my best friends skin. She was screaming." Lilley closes her eyes. "After that day i didnt see a point in living. Everyone i cared about was taken from me." Lilley inhaled a sharp breath. "Maybe two months of wasting away in my bed Cora came waltzing into my house." My eyebrows frown.
I look towards Cora. "What were you doing in Tennessee?" Cora glances up from the ground to look at me.
"I was visiting Kentucky, with my boyfriend." That makes my eyebrows raise.
"The same boyfriend that said all that shit about me?" I question, which she nods to. I glance back towards Lilley. "So if she was in Kentucky, how did you guys meet?"
Lilley sighs sadly while looking at Cora. "It was two months after i lost Kayson and Layla, i was wasting away in my bed, seeing no point in surviving." Lilley glances down like she was ashamed to admit something. "I have a history of having suicidal thoughts. I even tried to commit suicide multiple times after my parents died. I wasnt eating nor drinking, all i was doing was laying in my bed waiting for some force to take me away." I frown my eyebrows at that. No matter what, a child her age shouldnt have to think like that nor feel like that.
"Cora walked into my house thinking it was abandoned like every other house on that street. She saw me, she talked me away from the edge." Lilley glances at Cora with a small smile. I look at the two of them with sparkling eyes.
"Cora always had that gift." I praise my long time best friend. I shake my head and smile at the two of them. "Getting away from depressing topics, is there anything else about you that we dont know?" I question.
Lilley looks down in thought before looking back up with a gleam in her eyes. "Im part French." My eyebrows raise to my hair line.
"You are?" Cora asks.
Lilley nods. "My mom was from France. My dad was from Tennessee. When my dad went to go visit paris for a couple weeks he met my mom. They fell in love instantly. My mom decided to move to Tennessee with my dad."
I tilt my head. "Can you speak French?"
"Assez à propos de moi. Je ne sais pas grand chose de toi Bel." Lilley says. My eyes widened.
"What did you say?" Cora inquires.
"Enough about me. I don't know much about you Bel." She translates.
My eyes became garded, but before I could say anything a russell in the leave made my senses be alert. Cora looks at me with furrowed brows at my sudden alertness.As the russell continues my head snaps up. I signal Cora and Lilley to be quiet. I stumble to my feet with a wince.
I breath in through clenched teeth. I grab my gun from my side holster, cocking it in the prosess. My feet shuffle on the ground, making my head start to ache. I try not to close my eyes in pain. I push Cora and Lilley behind me, trying to keep them safe. I ami my gun towards the noise, but all of a sudden it moved.
From being in front od us, it moved to the sied. Confused i turn my pistol in that direction. Again it moved, after that the sound was all around us, i tense up.
We're surrounded.
I slightly move my head so i can speak through the corner of my mouth. "We're surrounded. It sounds like there's more then five around us." I inform.
Just then the sound of multiple shotguns getting loaded and ready to fire, fills my ears. I grab Cora and Lilley by their wrists yelling, "get down!" I push Lilley and Cora onto the ground, right before I followed laying onto my stomach. Multiples sounds of different guns discharging echos throughout the forest. I close my eyes, tightening my hold onto the others.
A pounding starts in my head as the shots became more echoey in my ears. Flashes of the past few incidents fill my head.
Lilley have her asthma attack.
Me and Miguel rinning into my parents.
The fight between me and Cora.
Lilley getting her foot cut on some glass.
Me getting my arm sliced by The Generals knife.
Miguel getting his head wound.
Cora getting a bullet wound in her leg.
Yelling...
Blood...
So much yelling and blood.
All of a sudden the forest within the trees became irrily quiet. The wind stopped blowing. Everything seemed frozen. You could hear a pin drop.
The sound of crunching leaves fill my ears making my head shoot up. The General and his crew break through the trees and advance onto me and the others. The General grabs me by the shoulder before i could comprehend anything. The blonde girl and a brennet guy grabbed onto Lilley and Cora. The other just surrounded us, making sure we didnt do anything funny.
The General pushes my back into a tree with his arm around my neck. I inhale my gasp as pain succumbed my back. The General aims the same knife that cut my arm at my chest. He travels behind the tree making him behind me. He leans down to my ear. His hot breath made my skin crawl. "We could do this the hard way," he started in a whisper before looking up at the others. "Or the easy way."
Phill pushes the knife a little bit more into my skin, making a sting envelope my chest. I breath in sharply. "If you dont come with us willingly, then im going to have my men kill yours in front of you, in a slow and painful death." Phill threatens. I conect eyes with Lilley and Cora.
"Dont do it Bella!" Cora fights against the blondes hold, only for the blonde to hit her on the head with the butt of her gun.
"Hey!" I scream, trying to get away from the Generals hold. He tightens his arm around my neck, making me unable to conceal my gasp.
"Bel, dont do anything stupid." Lilley tells me. The Generals eyes harden. He nods towards his minions. The brunette took Lilley by the hair and forced her onto the grund, the blonde doing the same to Cora. The hold on their hair was so tight Cora and Lilley cried in pain. My eyes start to water with unshed tears.
At this moment i knew.
I knew i cared about both of them and i would do anything for them.
"What do you think?" The blonde inquired, "should i shot the leg or peirce my knife in her arm?" She looks towards me with her gun raised.
"A stab wound leave more blood." the brunnet comments.
Cora closes her eyes as the stupid bitch put the tip of the knife onto her Coras arm. "Stop!" I yell. "Stop." I say with desperation in my voice. I close my eye before looking straight at Cora and Lilley. "If you leave those two alone. I'll go with you."
That makes their eyes widen. "What? No!" Cora cries.
The General nods again signilling them to let Cora and Lilley go. "You cant do this Bel!" Lilley sobs with tears running down her already puffy cheeks.
The General steps away from the tree, taking his arm and knife with him. He clunches onto my arm, making me wince. I look back at the nineteen year old. "I have to."
"Knock them out." Phill commands. This makes my eye widen.
"You said you wouldn't do anything if i went with you!" I shreik.
He looks at me with a shrug. "And we're keeping to that. But we cant risk them following us." He nods one more time before both henchmen hit them on the base of their skull with the butt of their shotguns. Blood starts running down their faces as they both fall to the ground, passed out.
"No!" I cry, trying to get to them only to have a bag thrown over my head, and my vision to go black.