Chapter 17
The next morning I wake up to a flashlight being pointed in my eyes.
It takes a second for my eyes to focus. I see that everyone is awake except the girls. Robbie is complaining about having no food and is shining the flashlight around the room willy-nilly. I knew he was the one that was doing that. He doesn't give a shit about anyone. Especially me and my beauty sleep.
I had a horrible night's sleep last night. Sleeping on the ground made my back ache. The only good thing that came out of sleeping on the ground was sleeping next to Cameron.
I stand up and stretch my arms. I wipe away the crust in-between my eyes and yawn. My stomach growls really loud. I rub it as the empty feeling takes over my body.
I say good morning to everyone and help fold the blankets. We put them in a pile on the arm of the couch. My father takes off the blankets from the windows, letting the light in. It's not very bright outside. It's probably still early in the morning.
After hearing Robbie complain for about ten more minutes, Layke and I volunteer to go look for food. Both of us grab guns and Layke hands me his pocket knife to use. Using our guns is the last resort. Gunshots can be heard for miles in the dead silence of the city. It can attract the infected. And now, the military.
I unlock the door and make sure the hallway is clear. We walk out into the dusty building. There's really nothing in the hallway. A chair sits against one of the walls by the broken elevator. It doesn't look like any infected have been in this hallway before. That's a good thing.
We go to the apartment next door. The door is locked but Layke picks it with the pocket knife. The apartment is basically the same as the one we're in. A small living room is shared with a kitchen and a long hallway leads to the bedrooms.
We raid the cabinets and find a jar of peanut butter and a bag of white rice. We take a backpack that we found in one of the bedrooms and use it to carry the food. We search the rest of the apartment for anything useful. I find some tampons, which is always a plus. We take a couple more blankets and some kitchen knives.
As Layke drops off the blankets to the others, I go to the next apartment. The door was unlocked, surprisingly. This apartment looks untouched too. I find another jar of peanut butter, more tampons, and a few cans of vegetables. I meet Layke in the hallway and we search the rest of the floor. It takes us about an hour to get to the last room at the end of the hallway.
The last room is unlocked and different from the rest of the rooms. It's trashed. Furniture is scattered everywhere and flipped over. There's blood smeared down the hallway and on the floor and walls. One of the windows in the living room is shattered and I can hear the birds chirping from outside. The kitchen is full of dirty dishes. The smell is almost as horrible as how the infected smell.
"What happened in here?" Layke says.
"I don't know." I sigh while kicking over a vase that was on the floor. As soon as it hits the ground, it shatters.
Layke laughs. "Now, don't be wrecking the place."
"Oh really?" I grab a pillow that was on the floor and throw it at him. It hits him on the side of the head.
"You want a pillow fight, don't you?"
"What? No. Those are for teenage girls at sleepovers."
Layke picks up the pillow and throws it back at me. It hits me in the shoulder. "Well since you decided to start one, are you going to be a normal teenager and fight me?" He smirks.
"Of course not. I don't wanna hurt you any more than you've already been hurt." I tease.
"You're just afraid to lose."
"Not true."
Layke walks up to me slowly. The pillow that was in his hands drops to the floor. His hands make their way to mine, and his fingers lace through mine perfectly. "We're alone again." He whispers. "Can I maybe get that kiss now?" His eyes flick down to my lips and then back up to my eyes.
My heart races, and I can't help but stutter. "The— others are waiting for us."
"Don't worry. We can be quick." He starts to move his body closer to me but I walk backward. I take about three steps before my back touches the island counter that separates the living room and kitchen.
"I told you last night Layke. It's complicated."
"I know," He licks his lips. "We don't have to tell anyone. I promise. And if you like it, maybe we can go to the bedroom." He lets go of my hands and grabs onto my waist. My feet leave the floor and Layke's thick arms push me up onto the countertop. My thighs part as he wedges himself between them.
My stomach burns with passion. He has no idea how much I want to give in right now. But, I can't. If Cameron ever found out he would never talk to me again. Although, I really like Layke and maybe someday we can be a thing. But, not right now. We have to find somewhere safe first.
Layke's hand slithers up my back and onto my neck. He grips it firmly, cocking my head upward towards his lips.
"I— I can't," I whisper.
"I know you want to." Layke moans into my ear. He pulls his head back to look at my lips. He licks his lips again, and his teeth grab his lower lip.
I gulp. My legs begin to shake and I can feel my heartbeat in my stomach. If I don't put a stop to this now I'm going to give in.
I push him back. "I'm sorry Layke but I can't."
He grabs onto my outstretched arm and squeezes it. "Please, Summer?"
"Are you really begging me?"
"No, I'm not begging you," He says, flustered. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me." He backs away from me, bumping into the kitchen table. A plate slides off another and crashes onto the floor. It shatters, leaving bits and pieces of it everywhere.
"Look what you've done." I tease.
Before Layke can respond, an infected appears from the hallways and latches onto Layke's back. He screams and thrashes around trying to get it off of him. Layke's shirt is stretched by the infected's blackening fingers. It opens its dry lips and green goo slides down onto Layke's shirt. In an attempt to get the infected off of him, Layke rushes backward and pins the infected on the wall.
"Kill it!" Layke yells. The infected's mouth opens wide. It hovers right above Layke's shoulder blade.
Frantically, I take the pocket knife out of my jeans. After clicking it open, I send it into its skull through the temple. I hear the pop of its soft skull. Black blood escapes the wound when I pull the knife out of its head. When Layke jumps away from it, it slides down the wall it leaves a trail of black blood behind its head. It flops onto the floor with limp limbs.
Layke wipes the blood that's dripping down his arm onto his shirt. "Where the fuck did that come from?" He breathes heavily.
"I guess from down the hallway," I say while still staring at the dead body next to us. Even though I know I killed it, I'm still scared It's going to jump back up and bite my ankle.
Layke makes his way down the hallway and I follow him. We end up in the bathroom to a horrendous scene. The entire bathtub is filled with souplike blood. The white shower curtain is laying inside the bathtub. Blood stains the floor, the walls, and the toilet. The mirror has a piece of paper stuck to it. I grab it and pluck it off.
It reads:
"I'm sorry.
I couldn't do it.
I got bit.
May I meet God in Heaven."
It wasn't signed.
"Oh my gosh, he committed suicide," I say as I put the piece of paper on the counter.
"I would do the same."
"I don't know what I would do."
My eyes start to fill with water. I don't know if it's from the smell or if it's because of what happened to this guy. I take a closer look at the bathtub. The black paste is starting to grow mold. My stomach churns. I don't know how much longer I can stay here without blowing chunks.
"I can't see any more of this. Let's get out of here."
...
Back in the apartment, the girls are awake and playing around with Linda. My father sits on the couch and watches them. I don't know if he's watching how cute Linda is with kids or he's watching her. I try and push that thought out of my mind.
We pass around the food we found and everyone eats. I end up picking a can of vegetables, which I don't mind. Any food is better than none.
I spend the next few minutes making sure everything I scavenged has a place to go so we can haul it back to the van. Pheobe and Brianna play with Wilbur until I tell them that he has to go back to his pet carrier. Once everyone is ready to leave, we make our way out of the apartment and down the long hallway. We follow each other in a line with Robbie being the leader. My father volunteered to be the person in the back so he could make sure the girls wouldn't fall behind. But of course, I can already tell they will since Brianna's carrying a heavy bag of food.
We walk down the four floors to the lobby and stop before we exit the glass doors. Robbie scans the road for the infected. After waiting a few minutes for some to pass, we jump into gear and jog out of the building and down the sidewalk.
The parking garage is only five buildings away, so I'm hoping it's a quick and easy trip. I haven't heard or seen any military jeeps this morning so luck may be on our side.
The sun is high in the sky. The heat burns my shoulders and makes me sweat through the black tank top I'm wearing. The city is quiet, I can only hear the faint sound of the wind passing by my ears.
Before we cross an intersection, we hide behind a car. Robbie makes sure the road is clear and he motions us to start walking. Everyone in front of me makes it across the road, but I stop in the middle of the intersection. I hear a thud and look behind me.
I see that Phoebe has dropped the bag she was holding. Brianna helps her pick it up quickly, and my father pushes them to walk across the street.
The second my father's foot steps onto the road, a shower of bullets rains onto them. They jump back onto the sidewalk and hide behind the building.
I shield my eyes from the sun to see a bunch of soldiers on the roofs around us, they have on military uniforms and are holding AK-47's. They shoot at our feet, making us stay across the road.
"What do we do!" Linda yells as we take cover behind the car.
Robbie and Cameron start shooting at them. The soldiers duck behind the ledges but continue to shoot at us. I look around the corner of the building as a bullet whizzes past my face. I spring back and drop my bag. The bullet hits the ground about a foot to my left.
Four jeeps turn onto the road from down the street. They come to a screeching halt in front of my father, Brianna, and Phoebe. The door of the closest jeep flies open. Two men emerge, shouting and cursing, with their guns pointed at them.
My father puts his hands up showing that he's unarmed. Phoebe hides behind Brianna. Brianna looks terrified, I can tell she's about to cry.
I see my father try to talk to them but I can't hear anything through the sounds of Robbie and Cameron's guns. They're still shooting at the soldiers on the rooftops.
The two men scream at my father. They're yelling at him so hard that I can see their neck veins bulge through their skin.
My father quickly reaches for the gun that is in his pocket. He pulls it out and shoots one of the men. He falls to the ground as the other unloads his gun into my father's chest. He looks down at his white tank top as it turns red. He falls to his knees.
I can't believe my eyes. I can't breathe. It feels like all the air was taken out of my lungs at that very second. I didn't realize I was screaming until Cameron puts his hand on my shoulder. I stare at my father lying motionless on the side of the road. A red puddle is starting to form under him.
Move. Come on. Just move. Please be alive. I keep saying in my head over and over. But, he doesn't move.
The soldier that's not wounded runs over to Pheobe and Brianna and grabs them by the hair. He drags them to the jeep and pushes them through the door.
Linda's screams pierce my ears. Layke has to hold Robbie back so he doesn't run out into the middle of the road and gets shot. The soldier slams the jeep's door shut, locking Brianna and Pheobe inside. He gets in the driver's seat as the other soldier struggles to the passenger side. The jeeps rumble as they barrel down the road. They disappear in the distance.
The soldiers on the rooftops stop shooting and the city becomes quiet again. Quickly, the soldiers back away from the ledges of the buildings and disappear just like the jeeps.
"Fuck! What do we do! Fuck! Fuck!" Robbie screams. He's gripping his gun so hard his knuckles are turning white.
I'm in shock. My face tenses up as I start to hyperventilate. I start to wail. The high-pitched screams jut out of my mouth with every forceful breath.
Cameron covers my eyes and pulls me into his chest. I hold onto his shirt as he squeezes me. I can feel him start to cry too. His body tenses up.
I lift my head away from Cameron. Linda tries to settle down Robbie who is now throwing punches at the abandoned car. Layke and Scooter are still screaming curse words at the men that were on top of the buildings. Layke kneels to the ground and starts to whimper.
"We— we have to go get them." I try to say through my cries.
"Where the fuck did they go?!" Robbie screams.
Scooter clears his throat. "Back to the White House? I think Summer's dad said that's where all of them were hanging out."
Robbie grabs his bag and runs down the road without looking for infected. His feet stomp across the pavement.
"Come on Summer." Cameron pulls me to stand up but I can't. I look back at my father's body in the street.
I wish I told him I loved him.
Cameron's eyes widen as a horde of infected turn around the corner of the building.
"Come on Summer! We have to go." He pulls harder.
The infected crowd around my father's body and rip into it like a pack of wolves. I can see the skin tearing as they pull it with their teeth. Blood shoots out of the wounds like water faucets, covering the infected in a mess of red.
Cameron pulls my head away. He looks me in the eyes. "We need to go."
I nod and Cameron picks me up. He tries to carry the cat carrier and me to the best of his ability. He carries me to the parking garage and hops inside the van. Scooter slams the doors shut and the van is out of the parking garage in seconds.
The infected look up from their meal as we drive by. But, they plunge their heads back into the bloody mush of skin and guts and eat my father to the bone.