We walked past a red brick building, Randall still in Rick's grip. I held the knife in my shaking hands. I'd already killed someone today, and now I was going to be a part of another death.
I saved Rick's life, and that was a good thing, but somehow my mind just wouldn't be satisfied with the action.
I noticed a pile of what looked to be charcoal. As we neared it, it became clear to me that they weren't logs of burnt wood, they were human beings.
Whatever happened at this school must've been catastrophic. There were bodies lying beside the walkways, none covered with any kind of blanket. They gathered flies, in hordes of black spots that buzzed in the distance.
Rick continued pulling Randall along, who was stumbling on his sore leg. The whole place was a haunting reminder of how long we'd been alive.
Under the shade of another tree, were two men. They were dressed in police uniform, lying beside each other. On the floor in front of them was a utility belt, which again reminded me of Shane, who was probably still in the bus.
"Stay there," Rick ordered to Randall, letting go of his shirt. He obviously knew that if he let Randall go, he'd make a run for it. I, however, was planning on staying with Rick. It was strange that I was safest at the place where I have never felt so... unsafe.
Rick grabbed Shane's belt, and began digging through the many pockets. In one was a handgun, which he pulled out. Of course his revolver was flush out of ammunition, so he needed another weapon.
After standing back to his feet, he looked down at the decomposing police officers. One wore a sheriff's deputy badge.
I couldn't see the significance of this, but Rick looked like he was remembering something important.
Maybe the policeman reminded him of his humanity, as these men would've gone down protecting innocent children from the creatures that they themselves soon became.
An image of the small boy flashed to mind, holding the dark green sheriff's hat.
Randall jumped on his feet impatiently, waiting for Rick's little episode to end.
Almost as soon as he regained his composure, Rick pulled Randall ahead without a word. I stayed behind, and although I was beginning to feel faint from the smell emanating from the two, I held back the urge to run.
"I'm sorry," I whispered to the corpses, apologising for what had happened to them. It seemed totally normal to me inside my head, but after the words left my lips and echoed in the silence of the school, I felt slightly insane.
The entire space around me was dead quiet, and I had just apologised to a dead man.
I chased after Rick and Randall, lightly running, even though I felt like I was going to pass out at any moment. They were standing at the grey car again, Rick shoving Randall into the driver's seat.
"Get in," He called to me. When I reached the backseat, I pulled the door open with both hands and forced myself inside. I tried not to step on the petrol cans on the floor, as I inched myself behind Randall.
What was Rick thinking, letting Randall drive?
Randall started the car as soon as Rick was inside, the keys still in the ignition. There was a silence as Rick looked out the window, towards a fence gate that was half-open.
"You drive through that fence, you hear me?" Rick ordered, his breathing picking up speed. I knew then what he was planning to do. From the backseat, I could see through the fence and to the dusty yellow bus where Shane was.
"What?" Randall groaned. "Man, I thought we were leaving?"
"Drive!" Rick yelled, making Randall jump and grip the steering wheel.
I could feel my pulse quicken, as he reversed the car roughly. I pushed the leather seat in front of me, holding myself up as I was jolted backwards when Randall sped towards the gate.
There was a sharp knocking sound, as the side of the car butted against the gate. The sides of the gate had to give way a little, but in almost a second we were through, and hurtling towards the bus. Rick pulled his entire upper body from the car, so he was sticking out from the open window.
"Shane!" He screamed, trying to get the man's attention. Still hanging out the window, he started using the new gun to shoot some of the roamers that had turned to see what all the noise was. "Head for the back door!"
He shot a few more of the roamers, as I tensed in my spot. Randall continued to drive forward, edging towards the bus. I shoved my knife into my pocket, and quickly unrolled the window beside me. I guessed this was where he'd be jumping in.
"Come on!" Rick continued, hoping his friend could hear him.
From where I was sitting, I could faintly see Shane's massive figure hurtling for the emergency door of the bus. I rolled the knob faster, and soon the window was completely down just at the right time.
"Come on, get in!" Rick yelled, as the car slowed beside the door. A few roamers were pushing their way down the side of the bus, following the smell of fresh meat.
One of Shane's military boots landed on the door where the window once was, before another. He steadied himself by placing his heavy hands on the top of the car, as he lowered himself in beside me.
Randall pulled a U-turn, pushing Shane against my side as the car jolted over what was probably a roamer.
The car smashed open a padlocked fence, but this time I had a moment to brace myself for the impact.
Even though Shane's heavy body was still pressed tightly against mine, I didn't move. I was too amazed at what just happened.
We did it.
Shane pushed himself off of me, pressing his hand on my thigh as he steadied himself. I was uncomfortable with the thought of him sitting beside me, let alone touching me, after he had just attempted to shoot us both dead.
The car was still speeding forwards, Randall's excitement getting the better of him.
As soon as Shane composed himself, he removed his hand from my leg.
"Whoo! Yeah!" Randall yelled to himself. Through the rear-view mirror I could see him smiling and laughing as if he had just earned the right to be a part of their group. "You see that? You see what we did?"
I wasn't feeling the excitement of it all, as the two men were stonily silent. After what just took place, I was sure the two men were in no laughing mood.
"Just keep driving," Rick growled, pulling the handgun to Randall's head. Almost immediately the smug grin on Randall's face disappeared, instead he shook out his shoulders and focused solely on the road ahead.
We continued down the road and I noticed Shane's eyes travel from my face, to Rick's, to Randall's. It wasn't gratification, but it was as close to a thank you that I would ever receive from him.
I noticed a lot of blood was dripping from his mouth, and the smell was filling the car. How he could just sit there, while bleeding everywhere, was beyond me.
Shane caught my stare and sniffed loudly, wiping his crooked nose. It looked like it had been broken once or twice.
I looked away anxiously, not wanting him to say anything to me at all.
"Pull over," Shane's deep voice demanded. I watched from the window as the car swerved to the side of the road.
Almost immediately, Shane pushed the door open, stepping out. He stared down into the car expectantly, waiting for me to follow.
Unsure of what was going on, I crawled out of the backseat.
"Out," I heard Rick say to Randall, who opened the door beside him and got out of the car too.
We were all standing on the road, Rick beside Randall, Shane opposite me. The tension was thick with anger and the feeling of betrayal.
Shane reached into his back pocket and pulled out an iPod, still with the orange earphones attached.
"No..." I croaked, as he approached me, still untangling the knot of wires. "Please, don't."
I felt like I should run again, but that would get me nowhere. This man was not only bigger than me, but probably faster than me, too. And who knows what he'll do if he catches me.
The thought of being completely unable to do anything for myself terrified me. It scared me more so now that I knew Shane wanted us dead.
Once the wires were untangled, he went to reach for my ears, a bud in each hand.
"Please!" I cried, backing away from the man. "Please. I-I won't do anything."
The thought of being in the back of that car again, not being able to see or hear anything that was going on around me, especially after all that had just happened, made me physically feel ill.
Shane ignored me, pushing the earphones into my ears roughly. Instantly, I felt the anger rush through me as I remembered feeling guilty that we were going to leave him behind.
I shoved at his chest, before ripping the earphones from my ears. His breathing increased, anger radiating from him.
"Shane," Rick snapped, taking Randall by his shirt again.
"Hey, man, I didn't do anything!" Randall shouted, as Rick shoved him to Shane. I looked into Shane's eyes angrily, every ounce of courage in my body was willing me to be an uncooperative as possible. I didn't care about the consequences.
"Put his blindfold on," Rick muttered, walking past the two men to me.
I began to step back again, feeling the urge to run growing stronger and stronger. There was no way I was getting back in that car in the blind again.
"Now listen," Rick growled, his dark blue eyes trained on mine. "You don't want to be starting this with me right now."
I looked away, breathing in through my nose deeply.
"Nothing's gonna happen to you. I'll make sure of it," He said lowly.
"I owe you," He whispered, before looking back to Shane to see if he was listening. "Don't think I've forgotten what you did back there. Sure as hell know he wouldn't do that for me." He pointed back to Randall, who was getting his feet tied up again.
I didn't say anything. I had no ground to stand on. What was he saying? He wasn't going to kill me?
I looked back up at the man, his face earnest. I didn't understand him in the slightest. Whatever his plan was, I felt like I had a better chance trusting him than hating him, however much I didn't want to.
I closed my eyes, and took in a deep breath of the fresh air. It felt nice to be able to breathe in and not smell a rotten body.
I wiped at my face with one hand, scratching my cheek in nervousness, only then realising that I had to raise the other too, as my wrists were still tied together.
"Do your own earphones." He took out the earphones Randall had previously, passing them to me. I slowly pushed them in my ears, making sure they were properly secure.
The music was already playing. Compared to the music from the previous iPod, this was gentle and soft. I waited as Rick took the duct tape from Shane, before sticking the earphones to my ears. I still hated the feeling, but the security that came with Rick's promise gave me some sort of comfort.
Although I didn't know if I could trust him at all, it was the only piece of hope I could gather. I needed that.
I still held hope in making it out of this alive.