"Hey, man." Lui told Maurice.
Maurice smiled at him and went back to sleep.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"Lui, who're they?" Paula asked, pointing to Kathy and Sarah.
"They're friends of mine." he replied.
"Okay..." Paula replied.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The class were led to a huge room.
Rows of long tables covered in white cloth, laid out with millions of plates of food for the equally quantified refugees.
"Oh. My. God." Kaye gasped.
She reached out a finger to a little chocolate fountain, covering her fingertips with the rich, sugary delicacy.
"Yum..." she said, licking her finger.
She turned, and gave a little shriek.
She saw Lui munching on a giant t-bone steak.
"What the-" she gasped.
"Hey, Lui that looks delicious." Jerome said, snatching the slab of meat off his mouth.
"HEY!" Lui screamed, diving for the steak.
"It... It feels... It feels... Normal..." Kaye whispered to herself.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
After a while, Lui had broken off from the group to examine the huge, underground Safe Haven.
He noticed big, iron storm doors covering huge holes on the walls of the cave.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Lui noticed two people walking towards him, realizing that they were Jerome and Rica.
"What's up, man?" He asked them.
"Nothing. Just wanted to know what you found on your little adventure." Jerome replied.
"Well, all I found here were these gigantic doors." he said, pointing to the doors.
"Wonder where they go.." Rica muttered to herself.
"That, my friends, is not for public knowledge." a voice behind them growled.
Rica jumped back.
"Oh, Mr. Stone, what's up?" Jerome asked.
"Nothing really, just that, I heard you talking about the Gates." he replied.
"Yeah, what about them?" Jerome said.
"I'm afraid that that information is not allowed to be mentioned here. The tale is too dark." Stone said, his eyes filling up with sadness.
"Now you kids get along now, the Gates aren't safe." He said.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
That night, the class was again fast asleep. Not a sound could be heard.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"Psst." a voice called out in the darkness.
"Dude, you ready?" a second one said.
"Yeah. Let's go!" the first one replied.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Jerome slid down the metal bars of the bunk bed's ladders.
Lui took off his pajamas and put on regular clothes.
Jerome took off his pajamas too, slipping into a white, red-striped shirt and blue pants.
Lui wore a purple shirt under a black jacket and some black pants.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"You sure this is ok?" Jerome asked.
"Of course." Lui replied. "I mean, we might get caught... But it's worth it."
"Why, though?" Jerome asked.
"I heard... Zombies behind the Gates. But I'm not sure." Lui said.
"What?!" a third voice exclaimed.
The two guys turned, seeing Ryan sitting up.
"You... Heard... Zombies?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, but-"
"No, Ryan, you can't come." Jerome told him.
"Why?!" Ryan protested.
"We're just gonna do some reconnaissance." Jerome said. "We'll be back soon."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Jerome and Lui walked carefully towards the Gates.
"Jerome, let's split up." Lui said.
"Sure thing, I'll go here." Jerome replied.
Jerome went east and Lui dashed to the west.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Jerome walked past the dozens of little houses.
Looking up, he saw the artificial sky with all the stars and the moon.
"Damn. It feels real." he muttered to himself.
"I know right?" a voice behind him said.
Jerome turned and put his pistol up.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"Oh my God!" Rica yelped, holding her hands up.
Jerome gave a sigh of relief and put the gun down.
"Wha- Rica, what are you doing here?" Jerome asked her.
"Well, Ryan told me you were leaving so I followed you." she replied.
I'm gonna kill that little bitch.
"Dammit." Jerome sighed. "Well, c'mon. We might get caught."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Lui had arrived at the Gate hours ago.
"God..." he sighed.
He saw a figure getting nearer.
"Jerome, you took way too long! I-" he stopped midsentence.
It wasn't Jerome.
Quickly, he hid behind a building.
"Now, where's Lui?" the man said.
Rage exploded inside Lui, sensing that he was betrayed.
Ryan... I'm gonna kill you...
He turned around and threw a fist at Ryan's face.
"Owww!" he exclaimed, holding his face in agony.
"That's for leaving the bunker." Lui told him.
"Sorry, okay?" Ryan said. "Rica tried to go and I knew I'd get blamed!"
"Well, you're right. You are to blame."
Lui held out a hand. Ryan held it and stood up.
"Like it or not, you're a part of this now."
Then they saw two figures coming closer.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Jerome, Rica, Ryan and Lui walked on.
They arrived at a small control room. There were a lot of buttons and levers.
"Lui, I found it." Jeromr said, pointing to a tiny red button that said, 'OPEN'.
"Who wants to press it?" Lui asked them.
Ryan and Jerome raised their hands.
"We'll probably set off some end-of-the-world scenario, but yeah." Lui added.
They both dropped their hands.
Rica just stepped forward and slammed the button.
"Don't be a bunch of babies, let's go." she told them, exiting the room.
"We got roasted, man." Lui said.
Ryan laughed.
"Yeah, a sweet burn!"
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
They noticed the Gates weren't opening, but instead, a smaller door opened beside it.
"Guess that's the way?" Ryan guessed.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The four of them walked carefully down the stone corridor inside the smaller door.
Lui was a bit creeped out.
The walls were narrow, the ceiling dripped, the floor was wet and it was pitch black.
"... 'Cause my name is Cory Kenshin..." Lui hummed, doing a little dance with his arms.
"Shut up, moron." Jerome said, punching him in the head.
"Okay... Asshole..." Lui muttered.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Lui and the group kept on walking.
"Hey... I think there's a turn-" Lui stopped. He had crashed into 100% wall.
"Dammit..." he groaned.
Jerome bumped him from behind, and Rica bumped him from behind, and Ryan bumped her from behind.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Rica." Ryan mumbled.
Lui got up, checking himself for injuries.
"Sorry guys." he apologized. "My bad."
They turned.
Lui gasped. He saw something in the darkness.
"Uuuhhhhh....." they heard.
Lui's eyes shot open with fear.
They didn't use flashlights in fear of veins discovered, but Lui didn't have a choice.
He flashed his phone on and aimed it at the figure in the shadows.
The bloody zombie turned around, groaning and stumbling a lot.
It saw them.
"Don't move..." Jerome told them.
"Jerome... I'll duck." Lui told him.
"Got it." Jerome replied.
Jerome readied his knife, and prepared to lunge.
...
...
...
...
Rip
Crunch
Munching sounds
The zombie hadn't noticed them because the light blinded them, but the sounds had attracted it.
The zombie started limping slowly towards them.
Lui ducked and Jerome climbed over him.
The zombie stopped, taking in the sudden swap of targets.
It soon came over it and continued to limp.
Jerome brought the knife to the zombie's neck.
Blood shot outwards and sprayed him in the face.
"Shit!" he exclaimed.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
While the action up front occurred, Rica and Ryan just stared.
"Why is it that they always get those moments?" Rica asked herself.
Suddenly part of the wall exploded and revealed a zombie's head, it's mouth open and aiming directly for an arm.
Rica screamed, clutching her bloody arm.
Lui turned.
He saw the zombie head popping out from the hole on the wall and Rica's bloody hand.
"Holy shit... It came true..." he gasped.