L u k e
"Hey, little brother," Jack's smile took over his entire face, as he rushed over to me, and I couldn't help but melt into his hug. I smiled as I was taken back to 2nd grade, crying on the curb over my scraped knee.
He had wiped away my tears and told me it was going to be okay because ice cream was the best medicine. He had carried me home, bandaged me up, and we got ice cream out of the freezer and pretty much every sweet, crunchy, or sour item we had in the kitchen, and we ate ice cream until we were sick, but it was worth it. He told me stupid jokes as we listened to All Time Low and Blink 182.
I got so swept up in the memory, I didn't realize I was clinging to Jack as if my life depended on it.
"Hey, buddy, it's ok. I'm here, it's gonna be alright," He coaxed me until I relaxed enough to let him out of my arms.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, reaching out to touch him as if to prove to myself he was real. "You're supposed to be in London!"
"Well, we decided we should both come home. We wanted to say this with everyone here. We were gonna get Mom, Dad, Ben, David, and Joy, and you and Calum, but... Obviously not gonna happen. We wanted to share some news with you guys...We're engaged if that even means anything anymore." Jack said, somewhat nonchalantly.
"WHAT?!" I whispered yelled, incredibly shocked and excited at the news.
"Shhhh!" The others shushed me, not wanting to attract the attention of the walkers in the distance.
"Sorry, guys. You guys are engaged? When? How? I need some details, me being your best man, of course."
"Later, bro. First, we have to get outta here." Jack said, looking at the walkers in the distance. I felt a hand clap over my shoulder, and I jumped nearly a foot in the air. I whipped around and was relieved to see Michael with an expression equally as startled as mine.
"Jesus, Mike, don't scare me like that."
"Sorry," Mike breathed out.
"We got worried," Crystal stated. "You guys took a long time."
"Then I remembered that tracker thing Mama Joy installed in Cal's phone, and- Is that Jack?"
"Yeah," I smiled, despite the situation. "He and Mali got engaged, apparently."
"Woah, that's trippy," Mikey mumbled.
I nodded in agreement, and couldn't fight this burning feeling in my chest. Something was wrong.
Oh shit.
"Wait... Where's Sierra?"
No one seemed to hear me except Angelle, who looked at me, with a look I could only describe as pure fear.
Every which way I looked, she was nowhere to be seen. This cannot be happening.
Just then, panic started to seep its way in. As if to cement my feelings, a startling, ear-piercing scream rang through the air. As much as I wanted to deny it, I knew exactly who it was.
Sierra.
I ran through the airport, pushing off everyone trying to hold me back.
I have to get to her.
"What's happening?" I vaguely heard Ashton ask, but all I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears, Sierra's screams, and footsteps running behind me. I barely looked behind me to see Angelle just behind me, and then saw the rest of the group realizing what was wrong, and take off after us.
I followed the sound of screaming, and then it stopped. I turned the corner, and there she was, surrounded by at least three, maybe four Walkers, one of them had its hand around her neck. She looked beyond scared. Her hands shook at her sides, her lower lip trembling, as tears slid down her cheeks.
"No, no, no..." Angelle trailed off behind me, but I didn't dare tear my eyes away from Sierra. I saw her move in front of me to try to get her by herself, but I pulled her back by her arm.
"Help," came her strained plea. I don't know how or when it happened. One moment, she was standing there, and the next, her body was on its knees, falling to the ground, her head in its grimy hand, and Angelle was covered in her best friend's blood.
"No," what I could only describe as a growl ripped its way through my throat. My knees gave out, as I fell to the ground, as the rest of the Walkers made their way to her, like wolves to their prey. I was numb. I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't feel anything, I barely saw through my blurry vision of the scene in front of me. I crawled toward her, certain I could still save her. Finally, I felt hands clawing at my shirt, and at this point, I didn't care who or what it was.
Nothing mattered.
I felt myself being half-dragged by a blonde head. I could only guess Jack.
I looked to the side to see the only other person that could imagine this pain being carried over Ashton's shoulder.
She wasn't fighting, she wasn't... anything.
And it scared the shit out of me.
Once we got to a stop, where I could finally breathe again, I felt sick. Like I was gonna-
Calum saw my face, and, probably acting on instinct, grabbed the nearest trash can, and put it under my mouth just in time. I grabbed it with both hands as my stomach emptied its contents- not that there was much, to begin with. I felt someone sigh behind me, and I felt a warm hand on my back, that could only belong to Calum. It swept up and down my spine and was probably the only thing keeping me from bursting into tears.
After a long five minutes, I finally stopped and looked to everyone else guiltily. I saw Angelle still by Ash's side, in tears, brown eyes wide, and like she would rather have my puke than Sierra's blood on her.
"I-I have to get this off," she rambled, and I saw Makayla nod, grabbing her hand.
"C'mon. I'll help," She whispered, grabbing a bag of extra clothes.
"Kayla-" Mike started, but Makayla shot him a deadly look, and he snapped his mouth shut. She led Angelle to the nearest bathroom, just around the corner.
"What now?" Crystal asked as if it were that simple.
As if we just hadn't watched our best friend die.
As if one of the most important people in my life hadn't just disappeared in an instant.
"Really?" Calum asked, looking almost offended.
"Look, we all need time to process this-"
"Process what?! That we all just witnessed my girlfriend's head get torn off by a zombie? There is so much wrong in just that one sentence I don't even know where to begin. We might as well just give up." I collapsed in one of the chairs, and I hated the looks of pity they all shot my way.
"Luke, like it or not, you're alive. We're in the middle of a fucking apocalypse, so yes, we're gonna lose some people. And I'm sorry we lost Sierra back there."
I stood up angrily, walking toward him, but he barreled on.
"But you've," he poked me hard in the chest, "gotta decide how you're gonna deal with it. Are you gonna lay down and take it like a pussy? Or are you gonna stand tall and fight to stay alive? Are you gonna surrender? Or are you gonna do what Sierra couldn't?"
"I'm gonna fight," a voice came from behind us. I turned around, shocked to see Angelle behind me, her skin still stained pink with leftover blood. "I don't know about you guys, but I just lost my best friend in the entire world back there. I'm not gonna surrender without bashing a few heads in."
She walked over to Mike, crossing her arms.
Once again, I am amazed at how strong my best friend is.
"So what's our next move?"
"I... don't know," Mike said, deflated.
"Well, they're not gonna be...occupied forever," Angelle visibly swallowed, no doubt bile building up in her throat. "They're gonna be here, soon. After more blood. Our blood. We should go back to yours, regroup. Figure out the game plan."
I could tell she shocked Mike to the core, as he stood there, mouth opening and closing like a damn fish. Finally, he breathed in, nodding to us.
"You heard her."
-
The shock of everything that has happened over the course of the past few hours has not subsided even in the least little bit.
Sierra. She didn't deserve her fate. She deserved to graduate high school, go to college, have a career, have a family. Everything she's ever dreamed of. But now, she'll never get to experience it. Of all people, it shouldn't have been her.
Everyone else is downstairs, conversing in quiet tones, clearing trying to come up with what's next, because according to Michael, "We don't have time for mourning."
Yet. I am here, in a spare bedroom' s closet, wearing the old hoodie of mine that I gave to her years ago, trying to stifle my sobs.
I feel so....broken.
The sound of the bedroom door opening snaps me out of my thoughts. I try to curl up into a ball in the corner of the closet to hide from whoever is invading my private cry time, but the door of the closet is slowly opened to reveal Angelle, hair disheveled, eyes red and puffy.
"Hi." I managed to croak out, trying to hide the shakiness in my voice.
"Do you, uh, do you mind if I join you?" Angelle asked, sniffling.
"Yeah, yeah," I said, scooting over so she can sit.
" How'd you know I was in here?"
" Well, I heard you...also your legs kinda gave you away. You're a bit too tall for this closet if you haven't noticed." A ghost of a smile playing on her lips. Shifting to face me, she spoke in a quiet voice.
" I miss her, ya know. I do. But she wouldn't want us to just lie down and let whatever is gonna happen to us, happen. Actually, she'd probably be pissed at us."
" I know. It's just....she died not quite happy with me. It's selfish, I know...but I never got to make it up to her. I'm a shitty person. "
"Luke-" she began, looking at me like a wounded puppy.
"Please, Angelle. Let me mourn in peace."
And with that, she walked out of the door of the closet, setting off towards the hallway.
"You know where to find me, when you're ready, Lucas."
-
M a k a y l a
How could it have all come to this? So much has changed in the past few hours. Ashton, admitting he has feelings for me and that he likes boys, which I think is kind of contradicting, but I've also never come out to anyone or been this confused. Well...
Maybe I have.
And then finding Mali and Jack at the airport.
Sierra, dying in front of us.
And now, Angelle and Luke... I couldn't even begin to try to understand what they're both going through.
Angelle, in typical Angelle fashion, is pissed all the way off.
Luke, well, he's just a big, sad oaf. Angelle tried talking to him earlier and he basically blew her off, which I understand, but it was also kind of rude. At this point, we may be all that we have. Our families, neighbors, loved ones may all be dead or worse, turned into one of those monstrosities. The idea of becoming one of those things, something that is only somewhat human, unable to control yourself from the horrible things you will do at the hands of the....whatever it is that's causing this.
And then, as minuscule in comparison to everything else that's happened to us, there's Ashton...I don't even know what to do...I've liked him for years, but recently, I've started developing feelings for a certain curly-headed boy who's always been there when no one else was.
Why do I have to have boy problems during the fucking apocalypse? What kinda bullshit is that?
A/N ...
Hello.
OK yes, I know you all probably hate us, but no matter how impulsive we are (a lot), we have been planning this from the beginning. So here's this. Also, there's only one chapter left, and... yep, now I'm crying now. Also, the last chapter is gonna update on the last update day of the decade so that's extremely satisfying. Anywhooooooooo, please let us know what you think, and enjoy the holidays!
-A