5 Days Later...
"Harry! Oh, my God, stop!" Lilly squealed in between giggles. Harry's fingers ran all over her sides, tickling her. Harry and Lilly had grown unbelievably close over the time they had spent with one another, and Harry had done something not many people could do. He made her happy. All the time. She couldn't frown while Harry was around, and she enjoyed it.
"Umm... I might. If you say the thing," he said with a mischievous grin. Lilly rolled her eyes.
"No."
Harry laughed, then shrugged, tickling her again. She burst into a fit of laughter, squirming under his touch before falling onto her bed.
"Okay! I'll say it." She pouted, crossing her arms. Harry raised his eyebrows in anticipation, waiting for her to continue.
"Fine. I love you, Harry." She huffed, pretending to be angry, but a smile soon broke out, just as Harry's loud laughs filled the room.
"Finally!" he exclaimed. Lilly just rolled her eyes and let his laughter continue.
Ness sat alone in one of the rooms of Bill's big house. She had done this very thing ever since she could walk by herself again. Once she was healed, and could function by herself, the group pretty much let her be. Well, with the exception of Liam. He couldn't seem to be away from her. She had helped him become mildly normal again, and he couldn't thank her enough. But he would try to stay by her side, in fear of the thought that he would lose his sanity once again if he were away from her. But Ness made him go interact with his friends, now that he could. He would always do it, just to make her happy.
Zayn barely even looked her way now. He told himself that he would back off from Ness and spend more time with Perrie, and that was exactly what he was doing. Spending time with his lovely girlfriend, even if he was thinking of the girl in the other room..
Lilly hadn't let the secret slip, of course. She was better than that. And she couldn't let Ness fall backwards. Honestly, she had moved forwards so much in the past few years since it happened. Being with the guys had helped her a lot-- she had developed at least some sort of feelings for them. It was far enough established that she felt as if they were all under her protection-- like it was her job to ensure that none of them got harmed. Ness would preserve their lives with all she had.
As they were all sitting around eating their room temperature canned food, missing the hot chicken soup they had all had days ago, a low but loud mix of growls was heard. Ness, being the closest to the door-- she had been seated away from everyone else-- pushed the plaid curtains out of the way and looked through one of the four small windowpanes that were there. As soon as she saw the dilemma she would have to face, she involuntarily let out a squeak.
Reacting quickly, she closed the curtain and took out her knife, quietly telling everyone to pack up. They didn't object her decision, just doing as they were told. Ness had gotten them this far. To say they trusted her would be an understatement. Soon enough they were packed up, backpacks slung over shoulders and ears waiting for further orders.
"Head out back," she said, her voice the quietest they had ever heard it. "If you make noise I'll leave you for dead." Her eyes were wide, her breathing heavy as she tried to think of a plan to counter what she'd seen. She'd have to act fast. Purposefully, she didn't tell them what was happening-- she knew the fear would send them into a panic. "As soon as you get out there Lilly will find the lock for the back entrance of the gate. Don't shake the gate too much and don't attract attention."
By now they were all deathly confused, looking around in question. With a violent wave of her hands, Ness shooed them out the back door. They consented, staying in a straight line to not aggravate the already on-edge Ness. Ness did a once-over on the house, making sure nothing had been left. They wouldn't be returning to this house.
When she heard the high pitched scream from the back, she panicked, her calm demeanor slipping away from her more with every second that passed. Standing in the backyard now, she found Zayn holding a hand over Perrie's mouth as he tried to drag her towards the gate. Half of the group was out of the fence, the other half lagging as they saw the monstrosity.
Their eyes were all trained on the front yard, which they could clearly see from where they stood. A herd of zombies had passed through, their swollen bodies leaning against the fence, having bent it to the point where a few had already made it into the yard. Their teeth clacked, their eyes wide in excitement. When Ness had first seen them, they were simply walking, trying to pass through the fence. Now, because of Perrie's scream, there was motivation. Giving motivation to these creatures was deadly.
Now that Ness was closer to the fence, she shoved Zayn and Perrie on. Their feet decided to connect with their brains, running to the fence at full speed. A few of the zombies were now heading for the half of the group outside of the fence. Somehow they were smart enough to figure out that it was easier that way. As the zombies across the yard kept piling up, the fence fell, the metal buckling under the weight. Zombies poured in, practically tripping over themselves to get to them.
Ness shouted orders, her mind in full military mode. She had never been this aggressive before with them. Never had she been this scared. She tried to stay a good 20 feet behind them as they ran on, but plans don't always go as expected. Her knife slashed through as many zombies as she could reach as she continued to fight for her life.
Liam was terrified, his head always turning back to check on Ness. She yelled at him to stop turning around, taking notice of every movement. With her trained eyes, it was easy to cope with. But as the zombies started closing in, Zayn shoved Perrie at Liam, yelling at him to protect her at all costs. He nodded, grabbing a hold of her hand as he continued to run. It didn't matter where they went as long as they stayed alive.
Ness hadn't even made it out of the fence yet. Zayn pulled out his gun, figuring it couldn't get much worse. They didn't have guns for nothing. He hadn't realized how far they had already gotten, the zombie level seeming to stay the same as they ran. It took him a few minutes, but he found Ness in the mix of it all. He still sort of had his bearings, but by now she had finally made it to the gate, passing through it as he set his eyes on her.
One thing he saw clearly was blood, and he wasn't ready to find out if it was hers or someone else's. Picking up his gun, he aimed it at a zombie near her, shooting and missing. Ness jumped at the noise but kept fighting, not willing to let it distract her. She hadn't had a chance to get her gun out yet, so she was struggling as she plunged her knife into zombie after zombie, tiring after having repeated the action so many times.
The zombie approaching Ness from behind got closer, its eyes glowing with hunger. Zayn shot again, hoping that the bullet would hit the target. He got no luck, the bullet hitting the ground a little ways away from the creature's foot. He cursed, checking to make sure nothing was near him as he let his shoulder relax. Ness wasn't paying as much attention as she had been at the beginning. Her alertness was starting to come out of focus. She didn't hear the zombie coming up behind her. Zayn knew that if he didn't shoot it this time, it would get Ness.
So, he took a deep breath, steadying his trembling hand. He tried to remember how to stand correctly, giving up and just straightening his back, his feet falling into place where they felt comfortable. The zombie was almost at Ness now, her head dangerously close to where he was aiming. With one last prayer, he pulled the trigger, despairing when it didn't pierce the skull. It hit the leg, sending the thing spiraling to the ground. Its arms reached out, desperate for the meat around Ness' ankles. She shoved a zombie off of her, her knife stuck in its head. Upon seeing the alive zombie on the ground, she stomped on its head, the rotted brains and fluids engulfing her shoe.
She didn't have time to complain before Zayn shouted, "Get your ass up here!" He shot a zombie that was within inches of him, running down the small hill to grab Ness' hand and pull her into the woods. Everyone else was long gone, so they ran as fast as they could, the amount of zombies they had killed nowhere near the total body.
They went through rounds like crazy, the rest of the group. They were too scared to get too close to the beasts, afraid that one wrong move would cost them their life. The zombies had completely given up on the fence, seeing as their food was no longer caged in it. They had cut around the woods, showing up wherever they chose to turn. Niall and Louis being more so towards the front, everyone else kept an eye on them, fighting their own battles as they went on.
Liam still had Perrie, and Bill was with them, the theory of them being the weakest proving itself to be true. They were last in the scattered line they tried to form. All of the small groups were no less than 15 feet away from each other, a zombie being in at least every foot of space between them. Perrie did no work at all besides dodge the zombies that Liam killed with a gun someone had tossed him earlier. He didn't have the most impeccable aim, but he was good enough to last. Lilly kept an eye on him, all while defending herself and Harry if he needed it. Bill just helped when he could, trying his best to keep running.
Liam could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins, the distorted faces mixing with the hallucinations. He didn't know what was real and what was artificial, but he swung at anything and everything, the mistake of not killing one of them one he wasn't going to make. Perrie shrieked as the blood of a sick person flew all over her face, the stench overtaking her senses. She was so tired-- she didn't know how long she had been running. All she seemed to know at the moment was the growl of the beasts, the metallic smell of the blood, and the sight of dead bodies laying everywhere, their faces devoid of emotion, and rotten.
They seemed to pour from everywhere, and as soon as one was dead, another would pop up, ready to bite your face off if you let it. Niall shouted that they were going to try and run to the right instead of continuously getting cut off by the zombies. Everyone shouted in consent as they turned, Lilly and Harry now taking up the rear.
Ness and Zayn somehow found their way back to the group, both of them out of breath and heaving. They had ran twice as fast as the rest of the group had to catch up. A few close calls had been made to just evade the zombies instead of choosing the strenuous task of killing them all. Lilly's shoulders relaxed the tiniest fraction, partially relieved that they hadn't lost anyone yet. Her hand was gripped tightly by Harry, who looked close to passing out. His face was pale, his hair sticking to his head with sweat. The bandana that usually held his hair back had been taken by a zombie. He didn't bother to ask for it back.
Lilly didn't bother to give him any encouraging words. She didn't have enough breath to spare for that. Trying to push Harry to run faster, she tugged on his arm, forcing his legs to move more than twice how fast they had been going. They had lost sight of Niall and Louis and almost everyone else besides Ness and Zayn.
Although Harry was fit, he wasn't ready for something like this. His nerves were alight, his eyes wide and jumping at any movement. A few of the walkers had grabbed him, their faces getting far too close for comfort. Lilly was always there to save him, though. His emotions were running high, goosebumps lining his arms every time he heard someone shout. They were running out of bullets, the sound of clicking guns resonating around the forest. Knives were pulled out, the close proximity alarming mostly everyone. The fear messed with their brains, their aim not as good anymore as the walkers nipped at them.
Harry voiced what everyone was thinking. "We're not going to make it." He kept it quiet so only Lilly could hear. His feet slowed, the hope slowly draining from him.
"Yes we are," Lilly argued, using her breath to push the words out. She pulled on his arm harder, not letting him give up hope yet. Harry stayed silent only due to fatigue. He couldn't keep running like this for much longer.
Ness noticed them slowing down, telling Zayn to keep going and tell the others where she was. He didn't listen and slowed with her. She huffed in annoyance but wasn't bothered enough to speak against him. As they slowed, so did Liam and the others in his small group. One by one, everyone met where Lilly and Harry had practically stopped. A circle formed around Harry as Lilly worked on calming Harry down.
His eyes were shut tight, his hands trembling. He was going to do something big, and he wasn't sure if he was ready for it. He counted down from ten very slowly, using the silly method to prepare himself.
10
He opened his eyes, looking at Lilly through his tears. He had started crying, the fear eating away at him. She tried to console him as his friends around him fought to keep him alive. All he could think was 'at least they'll be alive'.
9
He took hold of Lilly's hands, holding them against his heart. She felt it underneath her fingertips, the fast beating of his heart worrying her. It shouldn't have been that fast.
8
He flinched when someone backed into him, elbowing him as they brought their arm back. He wheezed, coughing for a second before calming himself down. The tears disappeared.
7
His face went from frightened and scared to on the edge of controlling himself. His eyes found Lilly's, the stability that was forming behind them frightening her. Even she was scared. Why wasn't he?
6
Pulling her hands off of his chest, he put them on hers, saying things that he couldn't physically voice above the shouting and growling. She looked at him, not getting the message he was trying to convey. She would get it later.
5
Tugging their hands so they were separated, he placed his hands on her face, leaning over quickly to place a kiss on her forehead. He let his lips linger.
4
He leaned back and chuckled at her gasp, his eyes completely blank except for the tiny spark that ignited as he laughed. It was gone in an instant.
3
By now he was completely gone, the bright Harry she had known having been taken right before her eyes. She wanted to know the reason why. He knew she would figure it out soon. By then it would be too late.
2
He whispered a single strand of words into her ear, leaning down low so that she could actually hear him. "Don't let it go to waste."
1
He didn't wait to see her reaction. She would figure it out in a second. Sighing, he took a step back, shoving himself out of the circle. Everyone was too focused on saving themselves to notice. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see their faces. Taking one last blissful breath, he let himself collapse as a monster took hold of him, biting into his arm. He didn't scream; he was past feeling anything. He heard the growling, the screaming, but he did nothing, only opening his eyes when he was flat on his back. While the walkers worked on his limbs, he stared at the sky, finding his last bit of peace as the pain slowly faded away, the darkness whisking him from the earth.