Separated

by Michael Blue

"C'mon, Joel!" Josh groaned trying to push the door.

  Joel eventually joined in on the job, and so did the two young girls. Pushing with all their might, they significantly pushed the door open, making a loud noise in the process.

  "THEY'RE GOING THROUGH THE BACK!" they heard a voice shout throughout the house.

  They all cursed and immediately began to scatter from the back door, stepping over the trash bags and fallen barrels. Making his way down the wooden steps, Josh tripped and fell to his knees, but he quickly made it to his feet and started beaming as the other followed. Just as he reached the corner of the house, he ran into one of the men, tackling them both to the ground. The man sat on top of Joshua and tried using his gun, but Joshua had enough power to knock the muzzle away from his face. Using his head, literally, Joshua head butted the man, dazing him and breaking his nose. The man yelped in pain as he held his bleeding nose. Running in from the side, Erlina used her bow to give the enemy a victorious blow to the face. He squealed, and fell to the side. Joel pulled her back and shot the man in the head, and then kicking his body off of Josh.

  Joshua made it to his feet and he thanked Joel for saving his life, again. Josh looked at everyone's faces, and turned his head to see what they were looking at. Gregory and Juan were a couple of feet away from them, both having pistols pointed at the group.

  "We have a score to settle," Juan said.

  Spring

  * * *

  Juan pulled the trigger, and before Joshua could be he hit, he jumped to his right with reflexes quicker than a feline.

  Gregory grabbed Juan's arm, diverting his aim in another direction.

  "Look, that asshole is mine to kill! No arguments!"

  Juan looked at Gregory as if he had lost his mind. If it weren't for the situation they were already in, Gregory would've been shot dead by the minute he put his hand on him. Without further question, Gregory walked off and took matters into his own hands.

  "You girl's go hide!" Joel shouted.

  Erlina and Ellie, hand in hand, ran off into the bright green forest that decorated the perimeters of the open area. They were both terrified and each hid behind their own tree trunk.

  "Fuck, watch out!" Ellie screamed as a bullet ricocheted off the bark of the tree.

  Erlina shrieked and ducked, covering her head. Erlina glanced up to see Juan shooting bullets in her direction rather than focusing on Joel or Josh.

  "Oh no..." Erlina began to panic, "H-he's coming after me!"

  "No the fuck he's not. I'll kill him before he does" Ellie said.

  Both girls ran off into another direction, trying to escape the bullets.

  Joshua ran back into the house through the front entrance since it was the only way to avoid Gregory's gun shots out in the open. Josh found his way upstairs and turned into the first bedroom on his left. He hid behind the door and had an idea of how he could throw off Gregory. Gregory was cautiously making his way up the stairs, and unlike Josh, he hadn't calmed his breathing. His heavy breathing and nervous footsteps made it very easy for Joshua to locate where he was, and just as Joshua planned, Gregory was making his way into the very bedroom he was in. If it went as planned, he could probably get the upper hand. Gregory walked beside the door Josh hid behind, and attempted to push the door to knock Gregory out, however, Gregory's arms were up. As Joshua pushed the door shut, Gregory backed up, and it slammed on both of Gregory's wrists. He shouted as Joshua pressed the door harder and harder so that Gregory could either drop his handgun or get his wrists broken; either option was fine. The door wasn't working, so Joshua used his elbows to stun Gregory's wrist, making him to drop the gun.

  Bending down to get it, Joshua grabbed the handgun and was tossed across the floor as Gregory kicked the door open into his side. A small coffee table fell on top of Josh, but he quickly pushed it off of him and shot Gregory twice in his left thigh as he came nearer. In pain, he screamed and slid to the floor beside Josh, but that wasn't enough to stop him. He grabbed Joshua's neck and began choking the life out of him, but before he could get the upper hand, Joshua banged the handle of the gun right on Gregory's head. He loosened his grip, and quickly, Joshua kicked away from him. He stood up and ran by the outside of the doorway. He tried catching his breath, but his racing heartbeat wouldn't let him.

  His own hands covered in blood and sweat, Josh pointed the pistol down at Gregory.

  "Shoot me!" Gregory foolishly wished.

  Without hesitation, Joshua aimed to another spot on his left leg and pulled the trigger. Gregory yelped sharply, tightly shutting his eyes in pain. He groaned in frustration, and breathed nervously. He sat in a position, accepting defeat.

  "Fucking do it!" Gregory whined.

  Joshua exchanged glares with him,

  "How could you defend that m-monster?" his eyes began tearing, "That devil!?"

  "That man gave me and my family a home..." Gregory defended.

  "He's a murderer!"

  "YOUR FAMILY'S THE MURDERERS!" he shouted, all his veins popped out in his neck, "Because of your mother, my dad is dead!"

  "He ordered your dad to execute my mom," he paused, blinking the tears free from his eyes, "...and if he was going to kill my mother then he got what he deserved!" Joshua spat.

  Gregory was speechless, but he couldn't have wanted Joshua dead any more after that.

  "H-He, almost raped my cousin!" Joshua said with his voice cracking, "He's a rapist and he's raped, and killed many others at the fucking church!"

  The expression in Gregory's face changed. Joshua could only scoff.

  "Of course you wouldn't know..."

  Now that Gregory was weaponless and didn't speak, Joshua had the upper hand. He made sure to search the kid before leaving the room, and when he turned his back to make his way down stairs, Gregory spoke again.

  "Aren't you going to kill me?"

  Joshua stared at him. Truth was Joshua couldn't kill him at all. Believe it or not, they were two young adults in the same situation. Both survivors, both lost without their parents. Who was to blame here?

  "I changed my mind," he lied, "You're not mine to kill."

  Joshua made his way down the stairs and cautiously approached the doorway. He saw Joel fighting with Juan, and surprisingly, Juan was getting the upper hand. Joshua, armed with his pistol, pointed the gun at Juan, but couldn't get a clear shot. Right then and there, Juan was seen reaching in his pocket to pull out his gun. Joshua leapt of the porch and ran towards the two, trying to reach them at his fastest speed.

  As Juan had his gun in one hand, he pointed it to Joel, and just before he pulled the trigger, he felt a sharp pain in his hand, and shot elsewhere as his arm was swayed to the side. He looked the back of his hand, and pulled out the large arrow pieced in it. Looking over, he saw Erlina quickly reloading another arrow and shooting another at him. He stumbled backwards in pain, clenching both his bloody hand and pistol at the same time. Joel quickly made it to his feet and lifted Juan from his waist and slammed him like a pro-wrestler. Juan was tossed across the dirt and rocks and let out a painful yell as he felt a sharp pain in his back. Every time he reached back, his body wouldn't let him. He felt every stitched up wound open right back up.

  "You broke my back you crazy bastard!" he said through his teeth.

  Although he probably would've already been dead, Joshua reached Joel and stood beside him. He touched Joel's elbow as a sign of being satisfied that his partner was alive. Erlina and Ellie both climbed out of the bushes and approached Juan on the ground.

  "You're loving this, aren't you, little cunt?" Juan spat at Erlina.

  "Don't you talk to her that way you fucker," Ellie growled.

  Erlina approached her immobilized enemy, and delivered two heavy kicks to his face, and his winces empowered her each time.

  "I," she kicked, "hate" she kicked again, "you!"

  Eventually, she began kicking him to the point where she couldn't find it in herself to stop, and she even stomped on his jaw a couple of
times, trying to break it. She dropped her backpack and bow, and the kicks became more vigorous as Juan began coughing up blood.

  "I hate you!" she shouted, kicking dirt in his face and eyes.

  "Erlina..." Joel said trying to get through to the distraught preteen, "Erlina!"

  "I HATE YOU!" she cried, spitting at Juan through a cough.

  Joel came in from behind and lifted her off her feet. She tried to kick free from his grip and broke down sobbing to the point where her body became weak. Ellie was called over to console her. Bringing her bag and items over, Ellie did a pretty damn good job at keeping her calm.

  Joel walked back beside Joshua, where he was still looking at Juan with his coldest stare.

  "Lucky. I would've let her kicked your brains out..." Josh said.

  Juan breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. After that, that's when he spoke,

  "I underestimated you all. I truly did..." he paused before a heavy swallow, "I see you killed Gregory. Ended up like his pathetic father," Juan's ego got the best of him at this point and just wouldn't stop talking, "I thought telling him that your mother killed his dad instead of that Clicker would've actually made him disembowel you...but I guess I was wrong. He's weak."

  With that being said, Josh reached for his pistol and shot Juan right in the leg, causing him to yell. Josh though that if a Clicker was what killed Gregory's father, it only lessened his mother's chance of surviving since she was last in the forest, weaponless. Joel looked at Josh this time, and could tell that personal feelings were getting in the way just like it did Erlina a couple of minutes ago. However, Joel wasn't going to be the one to voice how this was going to be handled, because he would do the very same thing.

  Joshua held his gun tightly again and aimed it at Juan's left shoulder,

  "Where's my mother?" he said raising his voice.

  "How the fuck should I know? Hopefully half eaten by one of those-" Juan was sent screaming into another world of pain when he felt a bullet fly straight through his shoulder.

  Josh didn't want to hear it. However, from the sidelines, Gregory made his way out from the side of his house. Ellie anxiously cried out Joel's name, and he turned over to see Gregory. He aimed his gun at Gregory,

  "Stay the fuck back..." Joel calmly ordered, "I'm warning you!"

  Eventually, Joshua too turned to aim his gun at Gregory, but he didn't seem threatened by the sight of their weapons. Gregory walked until he stood on the opposite end of Juan, overshadowing him.

  "You lied to me about my dad...?" Gregory asked.

  Gregory didn't receive and answer from Juan.

  "...Why? Why would you lie to me?!" Gregory shouted in confusion.

  "You have a lot of your father in you..." he admitted, "You're pathetic and even more gullible than he ever was. Your father always tried to step over my plans and thought he could undermine me." Juan looked carelessly into the sky, avoiding eye contact with any of them "Frankly, I'm even more surprised that you're not dead."

  It wasn't much of a surprised what Juan chose some of his final words to be, and it most certainly served him rightfully what he deserved. Joel and Josh had backed up away from the two, and were about eight feet away from them by this point. They both got Erlina and Ellie to gather with them, and they stood at a distance, unaware of how this could possibly end. With reddened, tearful eyes, Gregory looked around and noticed Juan's handgun a couple of feet away from where he stood. He bent down and grabbed the pistol. He checked to see if there were any more bullets left, and thankfully, there was two more left with Juan's name. When Juan noticed the gun in Gregory's hand, he turned paler than he was before. Gregory pointed the gun at Juan's cranium, and after a sharp exhale, pulled the trigger.

  With exhaustion and misery on Gregory's face, he fell to his knees and sobbed silently to himself. He felt tortured and betrayed. Looking at the gun, he lifted it and pointed it to his head.

  By now, Josh, Erlina, Joel, and Ellie were running through the forest after Juan met his demise. Frankly Josh wished he would've done it himself, but he would've enjoyed torturing him a while longer. While they each dashed through the trees, the group heard a second gunshot.

  Bang.

  Spring

  * * *

  It had been three days since Juan's murder, and the day to separate had already arrived. It was midnight, the air was cool, and the night sky shined like glitter on a navy surface. Joel and Josh found the group a place to stay for the night; the garage of an old mechanic shop. Joel and Josh were catching up on sleep and decided to sleep in early.

  Besides the usual infected they heard every day, it was satisfying to finally hear crickets on a calm night. Ellie and Erlina were both laying on some stained sheets that they found in the trunk of an old car. Both girls' backs were both facing each other, and Ellie found it nearly impossible to sleep.

  "Erlina…" her voice whispered raspily

  "Hm…?" Erlina answered as if waking from a nap.

  Ellie turned her head to face the ceiling,

  "Are you tired…?"

  "Not really…" she sat up, hoping the spontaneous red-head would have something in mind, "Are you?"

  Ellie sat up beside her, crossing her legs,

  "So, tomorrow morning's going to be our last time together…"

  Erlina nodded her head quite apprehensively,

  "Yeah. I'm really going to miss you, Ellie…"

  "I'll miss you too, kiddo."

  "But you'll be coming back to the dam, right?"

  "I sure hope so…"

  Both girls then turned to look at Joel who was muttering in his sleep. He was laying back on an old red sofa, stained with oils.

  "He's always muttering in his sleep…" Ellie commented. Ellie glanced back at Erlina and spoke, "Let's do something fun."

  "Fun?" Erlina questioned.

  "Yeah, fun," Ellie stood up and walked over to a massive tool chest with both her and Erlina's backpack. She grabbed both of them, and handed Erlina her own bag.

  "Like what…?"

  "There's tons of places around here...we'll find something."

  Erlina was stuck between breaking the rules or staying in. She knew that there were risks of going out there at night, and it could be the end of her or Ellie's life. Erlina felt as if the devil and angel were on either of her shoulders and thought that if people didn't take risks, especially in a world like this, there'd be nothing to live for. Erlina stood on both feet and placed on her bookbag. Grabbing her quiver and bow from the corner of the room, she followed Ellie, who was already waiting by the exit. Quietly, she walked past Joshua's body who was asleep on the floor. Taking her eyes off him as they made it out of the back room, the girls cautiously ran out the mechanic shop.

  * * *

  Ellie made sure the road was clear, and didn't hear any infected nearby. Erlina walked closely behind her,

  "Where to now?" she asked.

  Just as Ellie was about to open her mouth, Erlina gasped. Ellie jumped in shock, scared she might've seen an infected,

  "What!?"

  "A library!" Erlina sighed. Still stunned, she walked past Ellie.

  "Fuck!" Ellie said with a chuckle, "You scared the shit out of me...' she said before putting a lock of hair behind one of her ears.

  "I already finished The Hunger Games," Ellie said, "Think they might have the others?"

  "Don't know," Erlina said with a dorky smile, "Let's check."

  Frankly, Ellie liked where this was going. The influence she had on her partner was satisfying. Both girls made their way to the library, only to realize that it was covered by a storefront gate. While Ellie kept a lookout, Erlina cautious made her way around the building until she wandered past an opened gate that led into an empty parking lot. To the back of the building, there was an opened entrance. Removing her switchblade from her pocket, Erlina held it tightly within her grip and neared the doorway. She lightly pushed the door opened, hearing a slight creak within the hinges, and jumped
back. After turning on her angle-head flashlight, Erlina moved in closer to the doorway until she was partially inside. To her right there were staircases that led to higher and lower levels, and there was no doubt that infected hadn't inhabited the place. A couple of feet away away from the entrance was another open doorway that led to the library, piled with numerous books. Lowering her guard in the dark room, Erlina turned around, nearly letting out a scream at a figure. She inhaled deeply and covered her mouth after noticing it was Ellie right in front of her.

  Erlina bent over and held her chest momentarily,

  "You scared the hell out of me!" she said.

  "Sorry," Ellie said scooting past her, "How's it looking?"

  "There's none down here," Erlina said following her.

  The place was gigantic. The only problem with the library was the same problem everywhere else faced; it was unattended and practically falling apart. Very few remaining bookshelves were still standing. Both of the girls split up again, flashing their lights at the genres that sparked their interest. Ellie scanned the non-fiction shelves meanwhile Erlina scanned the fiction ones. Erlina knew Ellie wasn't just fascinated with real world issues, but things that occurred in the past.

  After a couple of minutes, about four bookcases away, Erlina noticed Ellie walk out with two books clenched in one hand.

  "What are those?"

  Ellie held up one book and Erlina flashed her light on it,

  "50 Shades of Grey?" Erlina reached for the book and turned to read the summarization in the back before handing it back, "Sounds likes a boring love story."

  "Here…" Ellie said grabbing the book. She flipped through the pages and passed it back to Erlina, "Read those lines…"

  Doing as instructed, Erlina read the passage Ellie pointed out. After each line, Erlina's smile grew wider and wider. Ellie's smile did too.

  "Wait, what?" she covered her mouth, "What!?" then closed the book, giving it back to Ellie, "Why do you want to read that?"

  Ellie chuckled and kneeled; removing her backpack and unzipping it.

  "I'm getting it for Joel. Please, you think I'd actually read that?"