Chapter 20 --- Land of the Dead
The Quiver of Words
"IT BURNS!" Lani screamed at the top of her lungs. Tears streaked her pale face and her hair was dry and knotted.
"Calm down, it'll be okay!" Ivy rummaged around the first aid kit. There were only a few bandaids left and an information booklet. She sighed.
"This thing is practically useless."
"Keep the few bandages..." Victoria nodded at the first aid kit. She pressed against Lani, who was struggling to escape her grip. Ivy had rubbed cream around Lani's wound, but it had apparently given a burning sensation.
"Yeah, I was planning on keeping them." Ivy took in her surroundings with her hands on her hips. She realized Jett had disappeared. "Where's Jett gotten to?"
Victoria shrugged and Ivy pulled a few faces. "Jett?" Victoria shouted. When Jett didn't reply, she got suspicious.
"...Jett?!" She called out again. This time Jett called out in a faint voice.
"What?" Jett stumbled into the room, holding a cup filled with water. It had spilt all over his shirt.
"I was trying to get a cup of water for myself, thanks." Jett growled.
"Ahh, don't worry. Just pass the cup of water over here and go into my room. Pick out some of Flynn's clothing, okay? Sorry if it doesn't fit, you might have to wear Slates clothing, although he'll get pretty ticked off..." Ivy sighed again as she took the cup from Jett. Lani screamed and Victoria whispered something to her.
"I have my own clothes, thanks."
Ivy snorted. "I washed them all."
"What? You washed all of them?"
Ivy shrugged. "Maybe."
Jett rolled his eyes and proceeded to stalk out of the room with his hands in his pockets. Ivy kept talking to him, however.
"Oh, and Jett, one last thing. I think you should leave Alice alone for a little bit. She's a pretty independent woman. She'll keep on attempting at running away from you if you keep on doing the stuff you're doing. You're too overprotective of her."
Jett paused for a second, and then fled the room.
"You had to tell him the exact truth." Victoria wiped her nose.
"Of course. He needs to know. He seems pretty oblivious." Ivy sighed.
"I guess so." Victoria left the room and Ivy watched her go.
Jett trudged into Ivy and Flynn's room. He flung open the wardrobe doors and scanned every piece of clothing. Most of his clothes were dull and blank. Jett yanked a black t-shirt with 'Fallen' written in big, bold gold letters from its coat hanger. He suddenly realized that it was Ivy's, and put it back, before pulling out a white tee with a logo printed on it. He rubbed at the creases furiously, but to no avail did they flatten out. He cursed and threw it on the bed.
He tore out a pair of faded jeans and threw them at the bed as well. He grabbed the clothes he had selected and shut the door quietly.
"Well, at least she's not a flesh-eater," Ivy bit her lip, talking to Lily, Zeno listened intently as Lani kept crying. "But Victoria tore a large chunk of her arm out...ouch. We need painkillers, but I haven't got any." She clicked her fingers. "Damn! Hopefully one of the boys will return soon...."
• • •
Slate stared at the car and blinked twice. He had his butcher's knife poised at the man's neck, whose name was revealed to be Max.
"Uhh...a Citroen C9?"
Max shrugged. "We picked up whatever we could."
"Okay. I like Citroens. Yeah."
"Uhh...." Max trailed off. Slate shook his head and dragged him to the car. It was painted a bright gunmetal-blue, and with every step Slate took the colour morphed and swirled. It was an ombré of darker blue to lighter blue.
"Where are the keys?" He asked, smirking. This seemed all too easy. Way too easy. Slate took note of Max's every step, every gesture, to where his eyes flickered to.
"Umm, here." Max threw the keys at Slate and started to back off. Slate frowned and examined the car, before carefully stepping up to it.
"X'ghamlet?" He asked, running a finger over the surface. The metal was cold against his skin.
"I'm sorry, but, what?" Max wore a puzzled look on his face as Slate turned towards him.
"What did she do?" He said between gritted teeth. "X'ghamlet? What did she do? Tell me exactly what she did to the car!" Slate didn't avert his icy gaze from Max, whose bottom lip trembled.
"W-W-Who? What l-language? Man, I don't know what you're talking a-
"Shut up! If you're backing away, then you're obviously nervous about something! And it's Maltese!" Slate snapped. "And you know exactly who I'm talking about! Tell me, tell me everything! Spill now!"
Dave blinked. Slate leant against the window, keeping an eye on him. He could hear something ticking.
"The hell? What's that thiiiiiiiii- myyyyy god!"
Three seconds was all it took. Dave escaped, almost tripping over a few times. Slate eyed the bomb, a look of terror written all over his face. He ran fast; but not fast enough.
Three, two, one....
• • •
The noise of an explosion attracted the zombies attentions. Alice hid in the backseat, tears dripping off the bridge of her nose. She quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand and glanced upwards. Her eyes widened.
"Wha- What? Since when did we have grenades on us?" She frowned and looked closer. "N-no, s-s-something's not right...."
She carefully made her way into the driver's seat as the zombies shuffled away, practically forgetting about her presence. She inhaled deeply. "Okay. Okay, Alison, you can do this. Either you live or you die."
She placed the gear into reverse and started backing off the cliff. She winced a couple of times as rocks and dirt fell off the edge. Slowly, the car reversed down the empty dirt road and she cried tears of joy.
"Y-yes!" She wiped her eyes and changed gears, before setting off back towards the house.
• • •
The zombies left Rose alone. They were attracted by the noise of an explosion, which sent the bushes around Rose mad. She shielded her face in a lame attempt to protect it.
"What is going on?" She tore her gaze from the bushes to in front of her. Something pelted past her, and she figured out it was Flynn in almost a second. She started following him.
"Wait!" Rose hissed. She grabbed Flynn's shoulder and yanked him backwards, before pushing him into the bushes. "Don't! Just...don't!"
"Where's Slate?" Flynn asked Rose. Rose frowned. "I'm not sure!" Rose and Flynn stared at each other for a moment before Flynn pushed her backwards.
"Dude- I mean, Rose, this is Slate. Where is he?"
Rose took a deep breath. "Go back to the twins, Ivy and Jett, they're gonna be wondering-
"Excuse me? I've known Slate longer than you have. Why don't you go back to them? Unless you want them to leave Lani unattended; unless you want them all to die."
"I thought Ivy was your girlfriend."
Flynn bit his lip. "So what? Yes, she is my girlfriend, but that doesn't mean you can't go check in on them yourself."
Rose growled. "Fine. But if you die, it's not my fault."
"Pfft, I won't die."
"Don't be so sure." And with that, Rose got up and stalked out of the bushes, leaving Flynn alone.
• • •
The girls, as well as Jett, shrieked as an explosion erupted nearby, making the house quake. Suddenly, Lani froze. "Is she okay?!" Victoria asked, checking to see if her heart was still beating.
"Is Slate, Rose and Flynn okay? What about Alice?" Ivy asked. Jett rushed back into the room, wearing Flynn's clothing.
"Ooh! Stylish! That's my fav tee of Flynn's!"
Jett frowned. Suddenly, Victoria screamed. Ivy dropped both her hands by her side.
"NO!" Ivy shouted, dashing over to Victoria. Jett dashed about, picked up a knife and stalked over to Lani. He raised it above her head as Ivy checked Victorias hand.
"SHE GOT YOU!" Ivy shouted, "SHE SCRATCHED YOUR HAND!" She shook Victoria violently. Jett threw the knife into Lani's head despite Lily's protests, averting his gaze as blood oozed everywhere. Ivy sniffed, and Lily burst into tears.
"P-Please don't die."
Victoria shuffled about a bit. "I can't let this go to waste." She whispered, looking up into Ivy's eyes.
"Goodbye."
"NO!" Ivy shouted as Victoria dashed out of the room. She ran out onto the deck and almost collided with Rose.
"Thank you for everything!" She whispered in her ear, leaving her confused as she passed by her. Ivy screamed after her.
"PLEASE, VICTORIA, PLEASE DONT DO THIS!"
Rose spun on his heel in an instant and fled after Victoria. "WHOA! WAIT UP! DON'T GO OUT THERE, IT'S JUST LIKE COMMITTING SUICIDE!"
Ivy paused for breath, tears streaking her cheeks. Rose kept shouting, "PLEASE VICTORIA! WE'VE BEEN FRIENDS FOR SO LONG, DO YOU REALLY THINK I'LL LET YOU-
"I'M GONE!" Victoria screamed. She ripped the Katana from off her back and threw it at Rose's feet. "You'll let go of me." She stomped off out onto the street. Rose collapsed onto her knees and let tears slide down her cheeks.
"I...I need an explanation, somebody give me a good damn explanation." She slowly climbed the steps and went inside.
• • •
Slate coughed as he dragged himself across the tarmac. Excruciating pain coursed through his whole body, making him grimace and cry out. Those things were getting closer. He wouldn't be able to defend himself.
"No, damn, no!" He cried out in pain and checked his legs. He screamed. He didn't have legs. They had been blown off.
He shouted louder this time. Part of him had collapsed; had crumbled away completely. His defences no longer existed, with the explosion they had been wiped out. All he knew was that there was no hope left.
With quivering hands he pulled out his handgun. His breaths were short and ragged, and he silently prayed that he would die of blood loss before they got to him anyway.
A flesh-eater he hadn't spotted cowered over his body. It tore into his shoulder and he could feel his own thick blood dripping down his back. He shouted out again.
He shot the zombie in the head, missing the first few times. It collapsed beside him. He felt sick and dizzy; the whole world seemed to swoop beneath him. So suddenly, a scream pierced the bright blue sky.
"Alison," Slate whispered, resting his chin onto the hot tarmac. "Alison...."
• • •
Alice left the car and collapsed on the ground, scraping her knees. The heat was too intense for her body to carry on any longer.
Many questions flooded Alice's head, but she pushed them away with an unknown strength. She wanted to carry on, no matter how much pain her body was in right now. Besides, she couldn't feel anything anyway. She had gotten used to the fact she couldn't taste or touch anything. To be honest, she was sort of glad she couldn't. If she died, at least she wouldn't die in pain. Those were words Victoria had spoken. But Victoria was gone now, and so were the words that had left her mouth. She had witnessed Victorias gruesome death by flesh-eaters only a few moments ago, but still she carried on. They were all in the past.
Alice forced herself up onto her feet and checked her knees. They were covered in bruises, cuts and dried blood. She didn't bother to wipe it all away.
She looked up and covered her eyes from the glare of the sun. And in the distance, she saw him. Lying in a pool of his own half-dried blood.
And she screamed.
She let the tears flow freely down her red and hot flustered cheeks. Was she hallucinating? No. Her eyes did not deceive her.
What she was seeing was real.
She was close to collapsing again. Her knees knocked together and her palms were clammy.
'Its not real!' She said to herself over and over again. 'Its not real!' She wanted to believe that part of her mind which was pressing it against her.
She wanted to scream again, let all her emotions loose, but no sound escaped her gaping mouth.
She crumbled to the ground and blinked several times. She forced herself to look up again. Tears dripped off her chin. It was real. No matter how many times she blinked, it didn't disappear or go away.
It. Was. Real.
She started crawling towards him on her hands and knees. It took her a while to reach him. Her back and her neck, her face and her limbs were all raw red and blistered.
She didn't care if she was collecting his blood. She gently took his limp body.
"S-Slate?" She stuttered. Her salty tears hit his face.
He didn't move a muscle. He didn't flinch. His breathing was short and ragged, his eyes shut tightly. She ran her hand through his thick, dry black hair. Parts of it were stuck together with dried blood.
"S-Slate?" Her voice came out raspy. She didn't want to lose him. She wanted him to be with her. He was the only one who kept her calm; he was the only one who understood. Jett pissed her off and Flynn annoyed the hell out of her. She knew it was only because of his SPD, but she didn't care. Ivy...she seemed to irritate Alice. Victoria was dead. Rose was still a bit...odd to her, Lani was almost killed and Lily was too bubbly and happy in a world of pure desolation...only Slate seemed flawless to her.
The rest didn't matter. They never mattered. From the very start, there was something different about him. It had lasted until the very end, and now she knew.
He was the only one who ever truly accepted her love. And he loved her back. She felt something brush against her hand, which startled her for a second.
"Slate!" She shrieked, gently cupping his hand. She leaned over him, tears sliding off the bridge of her nose. His eyes had fluttered open and they were a gunmetal-blue instead of a midnight-blue. The colour had been drained from his face. He looked utterly hopeless.
"...Alison?" His voice was hoarse and it came out as a mere whisper.
"Yes...yes, Slate?"
He coughed. "Why...are you crying?" He breathed out. Alice didn't say anything.
"There isn't...isn't any need to cry."
She didn't want to speak the words. She knew.... Slate reached up slowly and wiped under her eyes.
"When I die..."
Alice winced. Slate continued on. "I want you...you to live your life to its fullest. Remember...with...Flynn? When he acted...like...a little girl? You were smiling. It's...it's..." He coughed. "Been imprinted...in my mind. I want you to be happy like...you were then." He tucked her fringe behind her ear.
"Alison Jane Larsen, I'm so glad I met you." He coughed. More tears streamed down Alice's face. "Just like your hair is losing its blonde colour ... I'll fade away, too...Alice...don't be afraid. Don't cry. Don't...even if it seems impossible...stay strong for me...One day, Alice...one...day you'll find...find someone else and...and you'll get married and have children and you'll be happy..."
"No..." She whispered, wiping her eyes. "I'll never be happy. I don't want you to leave me...I want you to be with me forever."
"Alison, what did I just tell you? Please...stay strong for me..." He stroked her cheek. She started whimpering.
"They say a true loves kiss can bring back the dead..."
Slate blinked. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "You've really...gotta stop believing in fairytales. We're in an apocalypse."
She leant down and pressed her lips against his. It seemed to last forever, but only when Alice broke it off did she realize it had lasted only a few seconds. He was still dying and she still loomed over him, tears escaping her eyes.
"I love you, Alison Jane Larsen. I'll always love you."
His hand left her cheek and hit the ground; his eyes fluttered close. He looked as if he was asleep. Almost. He was now resting in peace.
"No...no..." She started trembling. "Please, oh God, no...Slate, please..."
She screamed. Flynn had caught up with her by now. When he saw Slate's mangled body on the ground, he collapsed and cupped his head in his hands. He had shot down most of the zombies, unaware of Slate's current position.
Slate Dexters was gone.
A/N: I know you guys don't care right now, but it's six in the morning. I UPDATED AT SIX IN THE MORNING RIGHT BEFORE I LEAVE WOOOOOO!
Uhm. Don't kill me, even though you probably want to ._. This is unedited too. Sorry if its short. And I didn't know what to name HEHHEHE.
SAY GOOD BYE TO SLATEEEE, VICTORIA, YAH. I can't believe I just did that. Is that right? I HOPE I WORDED IT RIGHT BECAUSE I FINISHED IT LAST NIGHT ;D
Anyway, I must go. Bye!
Until the next chapter,
~Alicion
Update: I'M SO ANGRY WITH THIS CHAPTER IN ALL HONESTY. LIKE DAMN IT SLATE AND VICTORIA. DAMN IT. AKSJAOSHLSNS
Updated. JAHAISHS //cries