If I'm gon’ die for you...
~•~ Chapter 17 ~•~
Ed and Cole went completely silent after being totally embarrassed by our truthful words as we walked into the forest. They had started to piss me off, because if you are so scared, why did you agree to go on this mission anyway? Life was never simple, how much an infected one.
My eyes had adjusted and I could finally see clearly without feeling any pain. The sun was still burning too harsh down on us, the sweat now on my back making me slightly disgusted. I wish I could change clothes but I have to wait till we reach the cabin first.
Once we were completely surrounded by the trees, my entire body felt much better at the shade and the cool breeze that kissed my skin. I wiped my sweater on my forehead and sighed deeply, wishing we could get to that cabin as fast as possible.
“Where to?” Liam asked, giving Cole a blank look.
Cole looked around before pointing, “Over there,” He murmured.
Liam nodded and we all followed Cole’s instructions. My eyes caught Ed fidgeting with the end of his shirt and that's when I saw the fabric sticking up against something. Once I peered closer at it, I realized what it was. He only had his belt around his waist but not his gun.
My eyes flicked to his hands and that’s when I saw him holding it on his left hand, who held collided to his body so we couldn't make it out clearly. Huh. I don't like that he is trying to hide the gun from our sight but now that I know, he better not try anything or I'll blow his head off with no regrets. I know he doesn't like Harry one bit, so I'm not risking it.
“It will take us a little longer to get there,” Cole stated. He was calm, unlike his brother who was glaring everything and everyone.
“As long as we get there, who cares.” Zayn said carelessly.
Harry turned to look at each one of us every now and then. He kept glaring at Ed and throwing me a concerned look whenever he saw me. I am fine now though and I should thank Liam for helping me with that.
Thomas scooted closer to me, his face plastered with doubts. “I have a bad feeling.” he told me lowly, looking ahead.
“Why?”
“I don't know, I just feel like.. like we're being watched or something.” he shrugged, frowning lightly.
“Huh?” I looked around but I saw nothing suspicious. Just trees, flowers, birds flying and a few clouds. “Maybe you're just too stressed.” I said.
He scrunched his brows, “Maybe.”
“If you could just stop holding me that tightly,” Niall grumbled, frustrated.
Zayn huffed, “Just holding you in place, man.” he said lightly.
“You can loosen up your grip, I'm not going anywhere you ain't going since I can't see shit!” he spat and Ashton turned to give me and Thomas a weird look.
“Jesus, fine, calm down.” Zayn shook his head.
“You’re not the blind one here.” Niall mumbled and I heard the sadness in his voice, which actually had my heart clenching. I feel so bad for him.
Like imagine out of nowhere, losing your sight. One minute you can see everything. The sun, the sky, the trees, the flowers, the bees, the water glistening, your legs and arms and then you see nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's heartbreaking. That's why I should never take anything for granted. Because I could've been in his position and I am beyond thankful I am not.
“Maybe you should be a little more quiet, this place is full of-,“ Cole was suddenly pinned on the ground as a heavy body jumped on his back, growling and screaming in hunger.
My heart stopped and I instantly raised my gun, but before I had the time to pull the trigger, Louis had shot the zombie on top of Cole. Everybody was now in a rush and turned to look at each other with wide eyes. Cole panted on the ground and pushed the zombie off of him, while Ed stood with regret across his face. Harry gave me a wild look before scanning around the area.
Growls hit my ears and I gulped. The panic that flooded through me was too much when I looked up at the trees and saw many zombies hanging from the branches and looking at us with hungry angry eyes.
“Watch out!” I yelled just as they jumped off the trees, lunging at us.
“Niall in the middle now!” Harry yelled and Zayn pushed Niall on the ground swiftly, him groaning at the sudden hit. “Circle up!” Harry ordered and we all got in a circle, our backa facing each other, our guns ready.
Two zombies lunged at me and I shot them right in the heads, their skulls bursting open with bull coming out. I cringed, I had to see such horrendous things for some long. It felt odd. I saw Zayn shooting with his crossbow a zombie in the heart before going for his eye.
A dragging sound caught my ears and I instinctively kicked the body next to my foot, earning a loud “Ow” from Cole, who pulled his arms away from his head and gave me a weird look. “Fuck it's me!” he hissed, crawling on the ground to get next to Niall.
“Shit sorry.” I said before turning back in action. Ed was standing beside Thomas and just looked around with wide eyes at the rest of us do the work. I didn't really expect him to do anything, but seeing him not helping pissed me off.
Three zombies jumped around me and I shot the one on my right on the head before ducking down to avoid the hands reaching out to me. With a swift move, I slammed my hand across the zombie’s face, sending him stumbling back, before kicking the other in the stomach to earn space and shooting them both in the heads.
I looked behind me to see Niall’s head lowered, his face showing fear and anger, Cole beside him going crazy and freaking out. I can tell he was devastated he couldn't help. Grunts and shouts were heard. Harry’s gun was so loud, as fire bullets were sent off into the zombies hearts, their screams of agony and pain always haunting me at nights.
“Claire duck!” Zayn yelled and I immediately crouched down, him shooting at the zombie behind me. Deja vu hit me as I remember him saving me like that again.
From my crouching position, I could see a zombie crawling towards Cole and Niall. Cole was looking around, unaware of where to help first, while Niall just tried to listen clearly to everything going on around him. None of them heard the zombie approaching them.
I was quick to pull out one of my knifes and aim directly at the head of the zombie before throwing it with force. The knife flew in the air and perfectly dug into the zombies skull, splashing blood on the tree behind him. Cole jumped and looked at the zombie with wide eyes before drifting his eyes to me.
“Use your fucking knife you coward!” I snapped at him before standing up.
I saw Liam shooting with his large gun at the group of zombies running towards us and a few approaching him from the other side. Just as I was about to shout at him, Zayn did.
“Liam down!” he ordered, running towards him. Liam bent down and Zayn rolled over Liam’s back before kicking the zombies in the stomach and stabbing them in the ear. I was truly stunned of what I had seen.
I kept firing, the adrenaline rush having my arms feel hot. I heard loud grunts and groans coming from behind me and I turned to see Thomas pushing a zombie against a tree, a knife between his hands stuck in front of the zombie's throat. I shot the zombie's head, the blood spreading on Thoma's face. I grimaced at the sight and he gave me an annoyed look.
“I had him!” he groaned.
“You sure did.” I said, turning back to firing.
My heart leaped when I saw Harry fighting three zombies on his own, punching, stabbing and shooting ever so fast, it was absolutely amazing. He hasn't grown weaker or slower at all, despite being away from duty for so long. He smashed two zombie's heads together, having my insides churn uncomfortably.
Ashton was doing fine with Thomas on his side, while Zayn seemed to enjoy killing zombies more than the rest of us, throwing up some ninja moves and smirking at each kill he managed to pull off. Louis didn't move too far from the circle, sticking close to Niall and Cole.
Due to me being careless and watching others for their safety, I was suddenly attacked by a zombie. I fell on the ground on my campbag, hissing as the hit was hard. The zombie brought her face to arm and I elbowed her right in the nose. She groaned and tilted her head back, black blood dripping from her wounds on her cheeks and mouth. The smell was absolutely disgusting, I almost gagged.
Just as I felt her hands grab my waist, strong bolts of electricity were sent through me as panic and fear coursed me. Before I managed to nail her in the head, a wet thunk was heard and she gasped on top of me. Blood dripped on my chest and I looked away, holding back the acid rising in my throat. I pushed her off of me and I saw Ed behind her, pulling out his knife from her heart.
Well look at that.
He actually did something.
“Thanks.” I murmured, him offering his hand for me to get up. I placed my hand in his and let him help me.
Just as I got to my feet, I saw Harry staring at us intensely, forest green eyes full of anger. He sent Ed a glare that Ed didn't see, too focused on wiping the blood of the knife on his clothes. Harry held the burning eyes on Ed before turning around and firing the incoming zombies.
And they were a lot.
I could feel my arms slightly sore from having my gun raised all the time and firing, but using my gun was a faster way to take them down. For a wild moment, I swung around and saw a zombie climbing down the tree behind Niall and Cole, growling. Just as I aimed at the zombie, I saw something unbelievable remarkable.
Niall pulled the gun out of its case and aimed behind him, his eyes staring down at the ground. He pulled the trigger and shot the zombie right in the eye, who collapsed down on the ground, dead.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
“Oi! Did you guys see Niall?!” Louis yelled excitedly, punching a zombie in the throat before stabbing him in the jaw.
“Niall you fucker!” Liam yelled, proud.
“He has a better aim than I do!” Ashton claimed.
I even let a small laugh, but I was speechless. I don't wonder why they always called him the master of guns. He is blind and he can still successfully kill a zombie.
I felt low for a bit.
After a little while, we were surrounded by dead corpses of zombies lying on the ground. The smell of dirty blood was stomach wrenching. I sighed heavily, lowering my arms and shaking them out a bit to ease the soreness.
Harry turned to us, his hair messy. He placed his gun back in its case before wiping his forehead. There were dots of blood across his neck and cheek. “Everybody alright?” he asked and we all nodded.
Louis sat back down next to Niall, “You are one of a kind, you crazy mofo!” he ruffled Niall's hair, who didn't appreciate it very much, as he punched Louis in the arm.
“Fuck, I know.” he scoffed, sounding smug.
Louis laughed and I saw satisfied smiles on the boys, except Harry, who looked stressed and irritated, and Cole and Ed, who went silent. Cole was actually slightly smiling while Ed was just leaning against the tree, playing with his knife.
“Used that way too much, huh?” Harry spat sarcastically, sending a cold look towards Ed’s direction.
“I saved the girl,” Ed claimed nonchalantly.
I scoffed, “Please, I could manage on my own.” I spat, annoyed at how he made the situation look. I could have easily taken that zombie off of me.
“Sure,” Ed said mockingly, smirking at me. I was getting pissed at him.
Harry pursed his lips and scowled at Ed. “Move.” he ordered bitterly.
“Let’s go.” Ed urged, pushing himself off the wall and giving me a grin that made me want to punch him hard in the throat, as he walked past me. “Come on, Cole.” he called, Cole standing up from the ground and following his brother.
I locked eyes with Thomas, who must have understood I was pissed off. “Ignore him.” he said easily.
I huffed, “It’s hard to. He's begging for a bullet in the gut.” I grumbled, pushing the loose strands of my hair away from my face.
“Well, if he pisses you off next time, give it to him. I'll gladly join you.” he said, making me laugh.
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A/N: exams have started but guess what, fuck exams. I'm all in for my book haha. Give me comments and please press that star button! Thanks a lot babes ❤