When The Dead Came 2

by Torralba, Ariana

  Holly looked around," oh my gosh," she announced and followed her gaze. Ahead of them, parked in the road, was the familiar black four door SUV. The three friends ran up to it and looked in the windows, not seeing anyone. Keith jerked open the driver door and looked inside, not seeing any blood and the key was still in the ignition. Holly opened the trunk door while Jenny looked in the back seats,” there's no bags here,” Holly said, looking around the corner at Keith. He walked over and saw nothing in the back aside from empty buckets that smelled of gas. Holly and Keith looked ahead, seeing the sign ahead reading Welcome To Cleveland as Jenny followed their gazes. They could see the buildings in the distance, the city looked to be on fire, smoke crowding the sky around it. "If we leave now, we can make it before it gets dark,” Holly spoke softly, glancing at Keith. He nodded.

  "C'mon then," Keith said to them and led the way back to the car. After they got in the vehicle, Keith started it up and put it in drive, beginning their ride into Cleveland.

  "Do you think Justin, Avery, and Alex are there," Jenny asked, flipping her hair back as she put her grape flavored glittery lip gloss on.

  "They could be," Keith answered, still keeping his eyes on the road," I'm sure we'll find them."

  Avery sat up abruptly, hearing the sounds of gun shots and screams. " Don't worry about it," Alex said to her while he sat on the floor, stabbing his knife into the carpet, looking bored.

  "What time is it?" She asked, looking toward the window. Ever since it began, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get any sleep. No matter what, the images of what all has happened always come to her mind during sleep, posing as constant nightmares: the escape from the school, how her hometown looked, the zombified senior citizens, cops, and nurses in Lubbock; the beatings they took outside of that Wal Mart, the drive through Oklahoma, the hotel in Topeka, the largest horde she's ever seen; the fighting her and Alex did just to get through Cleveland, and the night they had to try their best to board up and block the entrance of the building they're in now.

  "It's the afternoon," he responded, twisting the tip of the blade. She looked at him twisting the knife on the floor before turning away, looking toward the window, it made her feel nervous when he did that, made her think he was going to snap any moment.

  "Do you think they'll ever make it in here?"

  "Possibly," Alex answered her," either way, we gotta move out of here before it does happen. Maybe we can find a house with a working shower or bath." Avery sat with her knees drawn up, still feeling exhausted after the long days running, dodging, and struggling to find a safe place. They finally found one in what appeared to have been an apartment building before it happened. The room they remained in had the kitchen, dining, and living room togther and a small bedroom. Most of the furniture and appliances in the room were gone when they found it, only thing remaining behind was a grease caked stove that didn't work.

  “ I miss my dorm room,” Alex said suddenly.

  “You were in college?”

  “Yeah, majoring in accounting. Then I agreed to go on a road trip with Justin down to Texas to visit our grandmother;” he continued jabbing the blade in the ground, the carpeting around the area torn up,” I miss my friends, my Xbox One and video games.”

  “I wish we had a dog,” she found herself saying and he looked over at her.

  The two friends remained silent then, hearing the death sounds of the city, being able to hear shouts and gun fire across the city; but a new sound they hadn't heard in a long time, so close by, alerted them. Avery and Alex looked at one another and rushed toward the window to see. They held their guns in case it was scavengers looking to steal their supplies again. Avery listened patiently, hearing gunshots and what sound like a car drifting around a corner. It was coming closer now.

  Keith always enjoyed driving, only because it gave him the chance to run over the zombies, like a hit and run game, only he gets the chance to get away with it. Holly, holding the door handle, swallowed the acid that came up in her throat, revealing how fearful she was over her friend's driving. When he rounded the corner of a street named Gordon Ave., Jenny gestured out the window," I saw movement!"

  "It's likely a zombie," Holly bluntly said, looking out the window as Keith slowed down finally, calming her nerves and she exhaled with relief.

  "No," Jenny insisted," do zombies look out windows then back up instantly??"

  "They do if they wanna eat you," Keith cut in and chuckled. Jenny shook her head, becoming annoyed at how dense they were making themselves out to be. He glanced in the back seat at the younger girl and noticed the look she was making at him. Her arms crossed, eyes glaring, and her mouth shut tightly in frustration. He looked back at the road and slammed his right hand down on the shifter. "Alright, fine, we'll stop and look." He brought the car to a stop in the middle of the street in front of the building. The three of them climbed out of the vehicle, cocking their guns and pulling out knives, and walked up to the blocked entry. Keith examined the piled up furniture and the door hanging on by a hinge.

  "Zombies don't block themselves in a building," Jenny said after a moment.

  "What if people blocked it because it's full of zombies?" Holly dared Jenny to answer back with her know-it-all attitude, apparently becoming irritated by Jenny's smart ass remarks lately. They remained silent before Holly added,” go ahead, I dare you to say something now.”

  "Help me move some of this," Keith interrupted, making sure no arguments escalated. After Holly turned away, Jenny rolled her eyes, dropping her arms to the side. “Jenny, stay on look out.” She turned her back and began watching the empty streets. Holly and Keith began to move half the debris, as silent as they could or with the least sounds possible; and when there was enough room to squeeze through, Keith went first, crouching down to make it through safely. Checking around first, he waved for the other two to follow, Jenny going past Holly and going first. After Jenny made her way through, Holly joined them in the building and looked at the place.

  The lobby was damaged, debris on the floor: trash, stains, and bits of the walls even. There was dust on the overhead light, caked up so bad that it looked like it's been there even before the virus spread, perhaps years beforehand. The paint on the walls was a faded yellow with patches of white. “This place,” Jenny could only say before frowning,” it's just...terrible. You think it got hit first here?”

  “From the way it looks,” Keith responded, looking around,” it's been like this for years. C'mon.”

  The three survivors walked up the stairs, making sure they wouldn't creak or fall in on them. Keith silenced the two girls as they heard movement in a room on the second level. Taking their guns off safety, they walked quietly down the hall, and to the archway. Keith and Holly quickly pointed their guns just as Avery and Alex did the same too. Holly, realizing who it was, lowered her gun down slowly and began to smile with relief, wanting to laugh.

  "No way," Keith began, almost breathless from shock, and he lowered his gun, Jenny peered into the room," What the hell!" Alex smiled at them, and he got up from behind the turned over table he and Avery were hiding behind.

  "Look who's still alive," Alex said to Avery. She stood up, putting her gun back on safety, knowing she only had a couple bullets anyways, she felt relief that she didn't have to waste them. Keith smiled at the two of them and hugged Avery while Holly and Jenny smiled on at their friends.

  “We missed you guys,” Keith said to them. Holly looked around, surprised there wasn't any couches in the room they stood in for them to sleep on.

  "Well, looks like the two of you established a home," Holly said, forcing a smile.

  "We thought the two of you were dead," Keith said," and that Justin took the SUV."

  "No," Alex said to Keith," Justin made me leave. I don't know where he is..." Alex gestured then fell silent and put away the knife he had the whole time.

  "How did the two of you make it this far without a vehicle,
” Holly asked them.

  "The SUV ran out of gas on the highway," Avery answered," so we walked into the city. When we ran low on ammo, we had to do a lot of dodging, running, and used our knives."

  “We saw the SUV,” Jenny said,” out on the road. We searched it to see if you guys or Justin was possibly sleeping in there or something.”

  “We could've stayed in there,” Avery responded,” but we wanted to keep moving.”

  "Then we scavenged around," continued Alex," and found a small amount of food. We're thinking of leaving here though, there's been more zombies wandering around here lately."

  "Well," Keith began," you got us now to back you up. What do you say? The only cure is to kill them all; we can't do it alone either, and there's survivors out there, waiting for the military or government to do something. It won't come, we already know that. All they get is us;" Keith looked from Alex to Avery," we're not much to look at or forward to, but it's better than nothing. So?" Avery and Alex looked at one another, then Alex stood up, grabbing his bag.

  "Okay, we'll go with you,” he answered,” I feel like I'm getting cabin fever in here anyways. Moving around constantly seems natural.” Avery picked up her bag and followed her friends out of the room and down the stairs, leaving the temporary safe zone her and Alex and created.

  After packing their belongings, the group left the building, stepping out into the cool air and climbing into the Dodge Charger SRT8. Keith started the car and drove down the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, chatting with Alex on the plans. “Here’s what we're going to do," Keith began after lighting a cigarette and taking a puff," we need more supplies: food, beverages, ammo, weapons..."

  "Medical kits," Jenny cut in, reapplying more lip gloss, and Keith nodded. Avery, noticing Jenny putting on lip gloss, frowned.

  “Why are you putting on lip gloss?” She asked and Jenny looked at her before making a look then went back to applying the glittery substance.

  "Medical supplies, yeah," he glanced over at Alex briefly," and another vehicle. Possibly one big enough to transport more people or at least close to that. So I'm going to drop you and Avery off at a parking lot and let you guys choose a vehicle or find one in a dealership or something."

  "Since when do you smoke?" Avery asked randomly.

  "Since what happened in Kansas ended," he responded, leaving Avery with no more discussion on the matter. Alex looked at Keith, also noticing the change as well, he even noticed the change about Jenny, causing a strong smell in the car from the lip gloss she was using. He wondered like Avery, why the sudden changes? What's up with the smoking suddenly and the need to make yourself look glamorous when there's just them left alive to see that. It puzzled him as he began thinking maybe they got used to doing their own thing. They're living it up while they can, while he and Avery focused more on survival, not the glories of wants instead of needs.

  They eventually reached a parking lot with at least a few decent sized vehicles. Everyone left the Dodge to help find a good enough vehicle, searching the entire parking lot for a car that still had its keys or was unlocked for hot wiring purposes. Alex and Avery searched each one for keys until Alex finally found a dark red Ford Expedition, no keys, but is unlocked. He opened the door and looked in, a few dried blood spots rested on the seat of the driver side and the windshield had a hairline crack over the top in a diagonal line, jagged. Avery threw their bags in the back seat as Alex leaned down in the driver seat, attempting to hot wire. He found the skill useful now days, he just wouldn't be doing this with Justin around, or else he would start to question on where he learned to hot wire a vehicle in the first place. At that thought, he began to imagine how that conversation would go:

  Justin: Where the hell did you learn to do that?

  Himself: It's just something I picked up along the way.

  Justin: How is that when you've been around the group the entire time. Where did you learn it?

  Himself: None of your business.

  Justin: It is my business. You don't tell me then there's gonna be a fight. You learned it from your friends didn't you?

  Himself: Definitely didn't learn it from you or else we wouldn't have to spend so much time finding a car with keys.

  And that that point, they'd begin fighting and that would go on until someone stopped their fighting. That is if they run into him again after these months, then he could easily lie and tell him he was taught how to do it for survival purposes. No questions asked after that. Hopefully.

  Back when Alex was in high school, his senior year, he and his group of friends had gone out partying, drinking and smoking some weed. When they became drunk enough, they had left the party and made their way out to a house off to itself. While there, they had realized no one was home, but their one vehicle was parked out in the drive way. He and his friends had broken into the 2008 Pontiac and his friend Henry had disabled the alarm that had gone off. Once that was done, Alex attempted several times to hot wire the car, his other friend Jason, told him how to hot wire it. After it started, they gathered in the car and drove around. Then they drove the car into a field and did doughnuts in the crops before abandoning the car on the side of the road not far away. No one ever found out it was him and his friends. And he suffered the worst hang over he ever had, then swore off drinking ever again no matter what after he had spent all morning throwing up, lying to his parents that he was sick with the stomach flu, except Justin was smarter than that and knew what was going on. He didn’t know Alex had stolen a car and left it out in the middle of nowhere, but he could tell he drank alcohol.

  Alex sat up after the car started. "We'll head east and south," Alex told Keith, no longer thinking of that fond memory of his he won't ever forget.

  "We'll go the other way then, meet back here in a few hours, okay. And just honk if you're in trouble, we'll be able to hear it."

  "Wouldn't that attract the zombies though?" Avery asked them.

  "She's right, it would," Alex said, looking at Keith.

  "Fine,” Keith almost snapped in annoyance,” rev the engine," he finalized before walking away, throwing his cigarette down in frustration suddenly.

  He watched with binoculars as the tall dark haired guy wearing all black got into the driver side of the Dodge then he turned his sights onto the other two survivors left behind, getting inside the Expedition and then driving away. The watcher pulled his brown eyes from the binoculars and picked up his walkie talkie," Looks like we have some interlopers in our domain." The other side came to life with another man's voice.

  "How many?"

  "Five," the guy responded," looks like two guys and three chicks; possibly some kids. Should we follow them?"

  "Yeah, let's give them a warm welcome to our town." The guy smiled and put away his walkie talkie, picking up his gun and leaving the dark room in the tall building he was in. Shortly after he left the room, he was joined with the man he had spoken to before. Both guys were tall, one with a receding hairline and the other with short dark hair. The man with the receding hairline got in the driver seat while the other guy with tattoos on his arms and neck, joined in the passenger seat of the black truck and left east. Five other guys and a woman climbed into a van and proceeded with going north.

  Keith sped down the streets, causing Holly to grip the door until her knuckles were white and her hands were red and sore, her stomach feeling like it was doing flips once again. He drifted around a corner, still blasting music, the song Push It by Static X giving Jenny a harsh headache. She never listened to loud music before, back when things were normal, she was more of a pop music fan than rock nor metal.

  Holly, no longer liking the car ride like she had when they were on their own at first, finally reached over and shut off the music and spoke up,” will you slow down!” Keith looked over at her, a bit surprised she was shouting at him suddenly.

  “Why, there’s no cops or other drivers out, we can speed all we want.”

  “Slo
w the hell down or I’ll shoot you and make sure you drive slowly from now on,” she threatened, holding her pistol in her left hand. Keith just looked at the gun then at her and scoffed.

  “Yeah right,” he challenged and kept speeding. No longer phased at his ‘bad guy attitude’ he’s developed since Kansas, she cocked the gun and aimed at his foot on the pedal and he looked at her once again as she raised her eyebrows.

  “You think I’m joking? I’ll shoot your foot just to make you stop.” When he didn’t listen, she pointed the gun at his opened window and pulled the trigger, making him jump and stomp on the brake pedal instantly, causing Jenny to almost join them in the front as she screamed.

  “What the hell is wrong with you,” he shouted. She lowered the gun, staring ahead at the road.

  “I told you I’m not joking, now slow down or I’ll definitely shoot you next time, so help me,” she exhaled and put the gun on safety. Keith glared at her before continuing driving, going at least 75 now. Sensing the tension in the car, Jenny looked at Holly then at Keith, not sure whether to remain silent or not. She could recognize when someone is mad and when an argument is about to break out, her step mom and her dad always argued. She remembered her step mom always seemed angry, especially when Jenny would decide to stay home and not go out with her friends to Wal Mart or the mall, her step mom would spend the rest of the day slamming things and drinking while cursing.