"I had it all figured out. Life sucks, anyway. Then I met you, and it got weird."
-Keith (2008)
***
The thump of the mans body hitting the ground below us rocks through everybody like a gunshot, and then silence. Luke lowers the gun, shaking his head, and turns his back on Ivy. The poor girl just stands there, staring at the spot the man was just in with blank eyes.
The only sound being made by any of us is Georgia's little boy, who is still gripping onto his mamas leg for dear life and sobbing his eyes out. The women looks utterly exhausted, her dress filthy and ripped, but her eyes are still bright with life. She's strong, that's for damn sure. Very strong.
The lump in my throat threatens to take over, but I swallow it down. My whole body feels numb at this point.
Strangely, there's no noise from down below. Just silence. With little hesitation, I glance that way.
None of the mutants have moved towards the construction workers crippled body. All of them just stand huddled together, staring straight up at us. They're like statues. Extremely creepy, foaming-at-the-mouth statues. Then, to my complete and total shock, the man's corpse picks itself up off of the ground and walks to join the others. His neck is completely snapped, his head resting on his shoulder, but that doesn't stop it from leaning back to fix its red eyes on us.
"Guys." I whisper, my voice cracking. "I think you need to see this."
Ivy seems to snap herself out of a daze, before she walks over to stand beside me. Her eyes widen, lips parting in shock. The wetness in her eyes threatens to tip over.
"Luke." She says, her voice emotionless and strained. "Come here."
He does, and he looks almost unsurprised at the sight in front of him. He furrows his eyebrows, twirling the final knife in his spare hand almost absentmindedly. "That's... interesting."
"And it makes sense." Michael says, and I almost flinch at the sound of his voice right behind me. "They aren't trying to eat each other or us. They would've devoured the mans corpse the second it hit the ground." He shakes his head. "They're trying to turn us. Get us infected. Make more of themselves."
"And why would they do that?" Ivy says, and the wetness in her eyes is gone. She's gone cold now, a stern expression locking away any visible emotion behind an icy door. "The dogs were all for eating us. Why not the people?"
Michael sighs. "Dogs are predators in the wild. Its their natural instinct. Humans, on the other hand-" He trails off. "I don't know."
"Regardless, they still have to die." Luke says, his voice devoid of empathy. "I'm going to see if I can building hop to the street we started on and find my sheath. You guys stay here and try to drop enough lighter fluid on the bastards to set em on fire."
"Wait." Ivy says, stepping up to him. When he doesn't respond and starts to turn around, she grabs his wrist and forces him to face her. "Are you honestly being serious right now?"
Luke raises an eyebrow. "About what?"
"You just want to slaughter all of these innocent people? That construction worker? What ever happened to saving lives?" She sounds genuinely angry, and it's absolutely terrifying. If I were Luke, I'd be scared of her.
Luke rolls his eyes, and I suddenly have the strong urge to smack him. But it's not my place. "Ivy, come on. Be logical. You heard Calum, once cells are mutated they can't be turned back. Why the hell do you think it took us so many centuries just to find a damn cure for cancer?" He shakes his head. "Those people aren't people anymore. I doubt any of the ones we'll find after this will be either."
Ivy scoffs, looking as if she's completely and totally exasperated. Luke is unfazed. "You are serious."
"As cancer." Luke shrugs. "Or should I say radiation poisoning?"
I don't know what comes over me. Maybe it's the harsh events of the day, the fact that Xavier is one of the victims, or the fact that my family might be as well. The fact that Luke has the audacity to speak about the situation like this. But there's no hesitation when I move in front of Ivy, slapping Luke so hard he stumbles back a few steps.
There's a shocked silence. Ivy looks at me with an expression that can only be described as, surprisingly, impressed. I can feel the blood boiling in my veins.
Luke turns back slowly with a hand on his cheek, looking utterly bewildered for a moment, before something I can't place. He seems to consider something, before and removing his palm from the bright red spot on his skin. He's got a cocky look on his face. "What is it with you and inflicting physical harm on me?"
"You bastard." I spit, my fist clenching at my side. "I can't believe you would joke about something like this. How the hell can you be such an asshole?"
"I may seem like an asshole, Alexandra." Luke says, his blue eyes shining. His voice has lowered to a hiss, his tone cold. "But I'm just honest."
Ivy steps in between us before I can smack the shit out of him again, crossing her arms over her chest. "Alright you two. That's enough."
Luke looks back and forth between me and her, me and her, before chuckling and turning his back to us. "I'll be right back."
"Where exactly are you going?"
Luke scoffs, already looking around for something. The nearest roof, I presume. "I already told you. To get my sheath back." He spots one about twenty yards from where we climbed up, at least ten feet below the railway. "I'll be ten minutes tops."
"I'm coming with you." Michael sighs, gesturing for Calum to toss him the machine gun on his back. He catches it effortlessly.
"No you're not-"
"Listen, Hemmings, there's a damn troops worth of mutants down there and no matter how tough you think you are, you can't take all of them alone." Michael pumps the machine gun, his finger on the trigger. He moves to stand next to Luke. "Now lets go."
Luke starts to argue, but shuts up. He sighs heavily, bracing himself, before taking a running start and launching himself off the edge of the tracks. I'm close enough to see him land on the rooftop of the building with the grace of a deer, rolling to his feet. Michael follows him.
They're gone for a solid five seconds before Ivy turns to me and raises a hand. At first I'm confused, but then I high five her back and she cracks up into giggles.
"That's-" She's hysterical. "The most surprised-" She's heaving in between breathes, laughing so hard her face is red. "I've seen him in a while."
She sinks to her knees on the ground, still gripping her chest and cackling.
"Ivy?" Calum says, looking a bit distressed. "Ivy, are you ok? I can't tell if you're laughing or crying."
Ivy doesn't respond to this, just keeps howling in laughter to the point to where it's actually kind of scary. Then, like a switch is flipped, a laugh turns into a sob and then she's just crying.
Ashton and Jess, who have come to stand beside me, look as surprised as I feel. Calum is a deer caught in the headlights.
Obviously, Ivy isn't the type of girl that cries very often.
"Shit, Ivy." Calum sighs, sitting down next to her to lay a hand on her shoulder. She smacks it away, getting to her feet and wiping her nose ferociously.
"Fuck, I'm f-fine." She says, still hiccuping a little but sucking it up fast. "I'm fine, sorry."
The sheer craziness and terror of the entire situation is clearly not just effecting me.
Thankfully, the awkward silence that follows the little outburst doesn't last very long. It doesn't last very long, because a few feet away, Xavier starts to sputter awake.
***
"So." Michael coughs, amusement in his voice as Luke rips one of his daggers out of the side of a building. He's trying so hard not to break battle exterior, but he can't help it.
"Not a word." Luke says, rolling his eyes.
"So we're not going to talk about the fact that you just got bitch slapped by a 5"4', untrained, inexperienced, female college student?" Giving in, he's almost wheezing in laughter at this point. "What the hell man?"
Luke yanks another knife out of the corpse of one of the mutants, green and black dripping off the end. He points it towards Michael, his expression tired. "I'll shove this in your mouth. I swear on Warner."
Michael calms himself down, still holding the machine gun in a locked and loaded position. "I just can't believe you let her do that. I've seen you catch the fist of a 300 pound metawarrior in Syria, and you let her slap you?" He raises an eyebrow. "Unless you didn't let her."
Luke glares at him, sliding the knives back onto their ring. "I felt like it was necessary to let her get her frustrations out."
"On my god." Michaels mouth drops open. "You weren't expecting it, were you? She caught you by surprise."
Luke doesn't respond, and Michael just laughs harder.
Luke picks up the last of his sheath and hooks the ring back on his belt, looking up at the air train tracks in the distance. He can see the faint outlines of his troop, scuttling around like beetles. Something must have happened.
His ears pick up on the snapping of twigs not too far away.
"Twenty yards, east behind you." Luke says, and Michael turns and blows the head off the mutant before it can even get close enough to smell him.
Michael sighs, wiping off the sludge that was thrown onto his cheek. "Dammit. Didn't want to waste a bullet." He spits on the ground, eyeing the perimeter. "We better go. They probably heard that."
Luke agrees silently, and the two start heading back to the tracks.
***
I'm running to Zay's side so fast, nobody else really has any time to react.
The boy is coughing, his chest coming off the ground a little, shaking all over. After a few seconds of this he stops, and ever so slowly, his eyes flutter open.
"Zay." I breath, putting a hand on his good shoulder. He squints at me, and I'm almost relieved to see that his eyes are green again. Bloodshot as hell, but green.
I'm surprised to watch him sit up, rubbing his hand across his face. He blinks a few times, eyebrows furrowed, before muttering: "Jesus Bindy, you look like shit."
I can't help it, exasperated laughter bubbles out of my chest, and I'm lurching forward to pull him in the best hug I can, avoiding his shoulder. "That's the Zay I missed."
The cock of a gun interrupts the tiny moment happiness. I turn around to see Calum, machine gun positioned to fire right at Zay's head. Zay holds up his one hand, eyes blowing wide. "Woah woah woah, dude-"
"Alex, step away from him." Calum says, his finger centimeters from the trigger. I narrow my eyes at him.
"No." I reply.
"Now." Calum barks, his voice even colder than before.
Instead of obeying, I move to sit in front of Xavier, blocking him from the front of the barrel. "I said, no."
"Damn, what is it with you people and pointing guns at anything that breathes different?" Ashton butts in, stepping in front of me and Zay. There's a wild sort of look to his expression, like he's on the edge of smiling and exasperated at the same time. "Seriously man, look at him. Does he seem hostile to you?"
"Yeah." Jess even speaks up, and then she steps in front of all of us, her chest inches from the barrel of the gun. "Does he?"
Calum raises an eyebrow at the three people standing in front of him, seeming genuinely perplexed. I, for one, feel a strange sense of pride. Three measly college students, put together by mere chance, and now we're standing as a united force to protect one of our own.
Calum finally lowers the gun in defeat. He rolls his eyes, shoving the AK47 into Ivy's arms before stepping forward. "All right, let me have a look at him."
We hesitate. He rolls his eyes again. "I'm not gonna stab him in the throat. I'm going to see if he's gonna live."
I stay by Zay's side, moving over to make room for Calum while the others step away. Zay eyes the black haired boy while he runs his fingers over the bandage on his shoulder, rubbing the slightly burnt cotton with light fingers. He studies his eyes next, then the veins in his neck and chest. He's still shirtless, and has been since the incident. His skin is a canvas of dried black and green blood.
"Xavier, how do you feel?" Calum asks, still as tense and perplexed as ever. Zay shrugs.
"Nothing. Literally nothing. My shoulder doesn't even hurt. I mean, I could use some water, but other than that-"
Without warning, Calum pulls a tiny razor knife from his sleeve and slices a cut on the inside of his own hand. Blood drips down his fingers, and he holds his bleeding hand right in front of Zay's face. Zay looks at him like he's grown a second head.
"Uh..."
"So I'm guessing you don't want to rip our heads off anymore, or drink our blood." Calum concludes, wiping his palm on his cargo pants. "No weird hunger? Like you were before?"
Xavier frowns. "No. Not at all. Seriously. I don't feel anything."
"You don't feel anything." I say, squinting at him. "Anything?"
Zay shakes his head. Calum reaches forward and lightly slaps at the bloody stub left of Zay's shoulder. He doesn't even flinch.
"Huh." Calum mutters.
Ashton walks up and pokes at the horrific wound, eyeing Zay carefully. He doesn't react, just seems as surprised as all of us. Ashton presses down harder. Fresh blood blossoms on the surface of the bandage, but Zay doesn't even blink.
"I don't get it." I mutter, staring at the boy in front of me. "Zay was bitten. But he's human right? So why was he hungry? Why did he want to eat us instead of turn us?"
I can almost visualize the gears turning in Calum's brain, his thick eyebrows pulled together on his forehead. "He was bitten by one of those dogs, right?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe the radiation poisoning is different for whatever it takes over. The basic instinct is intensified, yes, but not all creatures have the same basic instinct." Calum makes a sound of recognition. "The dogs just wanted meat. Meat and blood. That's why Xavier wanted to make us into t-bones."
"Jesus Christ, this is all one giant bowl of fucked up." Ashton shakes his head.
"Ok, look, I get you're all making important scientific revelations here, but seriously, I'm gonna die of dehydration if you assholes don't get me some water."
I reach into the nearest duffle bag and yank out a half full jug of water, handing it to him. He downs it in one drink.
"Thanks." He whistles, tossing the empty container behind him. . "So what's the verdict doc? Am I an X-Man yet?"
Calum squints at him. "I don't even know what that is. But I think you'll be fine. If you turn on us, though, I'll kill you myself."
Zay starts to respond, but is interrupted by the whole railway shaking momentarily. I grip the nearest hard object I can, my breath catching in my throat.
Luke and Michael flip back onto the tracks with ease, Luke with a fresh ring of knives on his belt and Michael with a large plastic bag. He dumps its contents out the second he gets close, and I can almost hear everybody's mouths watering.
"Found a liquor store." He says, a smirk on his features as he stands over the four different bottles of Vodka at his feet. "Dig in, folks."
I watch in part amusement, part anxiety as the group takes turns swigging the alcohol. Luke sneaks a bottle for himself, drinking down a fourth of it before Michael steals it from him. Zay looks on with hungry eyes.
"I see gingerbreads awake." Luke says, walking over. Even half drunk, he's still as graceful as a cat. "How ya feeling bud? Do I need to shoot you?"
"You could try, probably wouldn't do much." Zay replied, unsmiling. "Though I'd like some of that jamba juice, if you don't mind."
Luke rolls his eyes, and Michael appears, tossing a bottle to Xavier with one hand on his precious smart computer. I'm surprised he even left that thing up here. Zay takes a few chugs, looking like he's in paradise. I snatch it from him only to copy his actions.
"Nothing like the apocalypse to turn everyone into shitfesting drunks." Xavier says, his words already slurring a bit.
***
Later that afternoon, after deciding on staying put, everyone is passed out. Everyone. Only Luke and Ivy are awake, Ivy sitting by Xavier to watch him while he rests and Luke on the opposite end, holding post. I lay flat on my back on one of the scratchy blankets, staring up at the clouds.
The sky is starting to darken, the sun setting over the grim horizon. I'm not even remotely tired, despite the events of the day. My mind is far too active. I can't stop thinking about those mutants, and how completely far gone they seemed. How my family may be one of their victims, or one of them themselves. Zay isn't like them, but why? Because he cut out the source of the poison? I have no idea.
My hand lays resting on my stomach, and I wiggle my fingers a little. Slapping Luke felt strangely anticlimactic. It was extremely satisfying, yes, but at the same time I felt like he didn't completely deserve it. He was, in fact, just being honest. He was being an honest asshat jerk, but he was honest.
"Hey." A soft voice resides from my right, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You awake too?"
I look over to see Jess in pretty much the same position I'm in, sandwiched between two blankets with red rimmed eyes. She looks exhausted, but alert at the same time. "Yeah."
The girl sighs. "There's no way in hell I'm sleeping tonight."
Chuckling, I shake my head. "Don't blame you."
There's a short silence.
"You know, I never really got to know you that well. I just know we're in the same boat, and that's seemed to be enough."
I furrow my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Jess sighs. "Your family lives in Norfolk. Mine live two hours from Norfolk. Both of us are alone without them. Both of us want to find them but don't know how to so we've invested in the help of a bunch of military assholes." She gives me a tiny smile. "Same boat."
I grin a little, shrugging. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
We just stare up at the sky a few more moments, no sound around us except for the wild snoring coming from Michaels tent. It almost makes me want to laugh, but I don't.
"Well, I guess it's good to know I'm not alone in this." I mutter, not really thinking about my words before they come out. Though once they're out, I believe them.
Jess's expression softens. "Yeah. Me too."
"I guess all that's left to deal with is the Zay and Ivy situation." I add, shifting the subject to a lighted tone. "I mean, seriously. The sexual tension is ridiculous."
"Zay and Ivy?" Jess snorts. "More like you and Luke."
I shake my head. "Absolutely not."
"Alex, you undress him with your eyes every time he's in range. Seriously."
Speaking of my eyes, I roll them so hard it feels like they could fall out. "He's hot, yeah, but he's an asshole. Clearly. Hot assholes generally aren't my type." I give her a sideways glance. "What about you and Ashton, huh? Are hot angsty medical students your type?"
Jess shrugs, but there's a hint of blush on her cheeks. "He's never gone chocolate before. Never even kissed a black girl. Doubt he will during the apocalypse."
I can't help it, I burst into laughter, covering my mouth to muffle it. "Oh my god, that doesn't matter."
"It kind of does. Have you ever heard the phrase 'once you go black you never go back?' it doesn't only apply to guys, you know. One kiss I'd have him hooked, if I wanted it."
I bite the inside of my cheek, letting out a few panting breaths to come down from the giggling. "I don't doubt it."
Jess smirks. "Exactly."
For a few moments, I actually forget I'm in a desolated city laying on tracks covered in ash that could collapse any minute with swarms of mutants below us. I'm happy, elated. Laughter is like a breath of fresh air in the pollution that is this shit situation.
After a few minutes of peaceful silence, Jess takes a deep breath and sighs.
"We'll be ok, Alex." She mutters softly, not a shrivel of doubt in her voice. It puts a strange sense of security in my heart, and is surprisingly all that I need to hear.
"Yeah." I reply, swallowing down my thoughts. "We'll be ok."
•••
YEET ok so I'm grounded for the next month so I'll be writing this on my laptop and publishing chapters pretty late at night to compensate so yeah love y'all
I will NEVER go so much over data again.
anywhoo thanks for reading please vote lyl boo
Xoxo
~Camryn