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  “I am most thankful to you, Sebastian”. A very stereotypical name for a butler. Elise said this in the same manner. I peeked up at Nika who was trying to hold in a laugh. And what she did was very smart because, that girl’s laugh could alert all of those things to our location. Like a siren. When we were done joking around. We walked down the road towards Elise and Nikas house.

  It was only a two blocks away from my place. We often hung out together at they’re place. Well, perhaps ‘hang out’ wasn’t the best way to describe what we would do. Normally, Elise would sit on the couch and be on her phone, I would be on the opposite couch either drawing or watching T.V, and Nika would sit beside me. Sometimes lay down next to Elise. So, I guess that’s how we would normally hang out. It sounds boring, but it made me happy.

  When we got to the house, everything seemed normal. It didn’t appear to be disturbed. The door was still securely locked like it always was. The windows weren’t broken. I felt a little angered by the fact that my apartment had been torn apart, while their home seems as if nothing bad has happened. Elise sighed in relief, and Nika was probably in her room looking for things. I walked over to the back door, and found it locked and in place as well. They must have not gotten to this place yet. They’re parents were both busy so that comforting. They were a ways from here, maybe they were taken in by the military before shiznit hit the fan completely.

  I placed my hand against the wall, and sighed heavily.

  “Calm down, they’re safe. .they’re all safe. Their parents and my mom are somewhere safe”. A lump began to form in my throat.

  Again this feeling, washed over me. I wanted to cry. The worry

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  swept over me like a dark cloud. I hated these feelings most of all.

  The anxiety, the stress. The very feeling that makes me tremble and want to curl up in a ball and forget it all for a while. This rarely happens...I force it out of me. Make it go away. I punched the wall in front of me, again and again. I might have punched the wall at least 20 times before I could finally clear my head. Elise popped up behind me, her facial expression dim. I cleared my throat making sure the lump was gone. And spun around to look at her.

  “You okay, what was that thumping”? She was scratching the dried paint off the door way.

  “Nothing really, just trying to...calm myself down”. She was silent then said,

  “If punching a while is one of your calming exorcises then proceed with caution, don’t do it too much, to the point that you’re knuckles could bleed”. She pointed to my hand, I examined the spot. They had already started to turn purple. I bruised it a little I think.

  “I brought some medical cloth I found in the nurse’s station at the school, I’ll just wrap it up and it’ll be as good as knew”. I fumbled around inside the back pack until I found the cloth. Slowly wrapping it around my left hand, securing it with one of those pins they put on the cloth. I flexed my fingers and wiggled them towards Elise’s direction. She widened her eyes and tapped the wooden door way.

  “If you say so”. She clicked her tongue and looked around.

  “I’ll be looking for things in my room, could you keep an eye out down here”? She looked down at my bandaged hand and up at me. I chuckled and walked past her, patting her head.

  “Only the important things alright? I’ll holler if I see anything”.

  I took my place and every now and then peeked out between the window curtains. I only saw a few of them walking nearby, but too far for them to be a threat.

  I glanced at the clock above the door way, “Already, 6:30 pm”? I scratched the back of my head. We were sitting in the living room. Nika on the floor eating a Nutrigrain

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  bar she found in the food pantry. Elise was looking over our plan on the table. She used a small lamp to light the space around her, so as to not attract any unwanted attention. I played with my necklace. Which hung low around my neck against the top of my stomach. A silver cross, I dangled it in front of me. Swinging sideways. I usually wore it to school or going somewhere that involved vehicles. I wasn’t one for churches or hyped up on that whole reli-gious thing, but I felt safe with it. I made myself comfortable on a small chair which might have come from the early Victorian age.

  It was petite yet subtle to sit in, the floral designs caught my attention the first time I laid eyes on it. I found it adorably charming.

  My katanas were placed against the chair on the floor. I wanted to nap a bit before continuing our journey back into “Madness”.

  I extended both my legs out, slumping in the chair crossing them every other couple of minutes. We sat in silence for a good 10 minutes until Elise slapped both her hands on the table, making the room shake a little. I twitched trying to get out of the chair as smoothly as possible, knowing that my joints had relaxed a little too much making them crack and pop with each movement into standing position. I bent down to touch my toes and up bending back cracking it. I twisted my body sideways before confirming that it was okay to move around freely. Nika finished her third Nutrigrain bar, and sat cross legged on the floor looking at Elise.

  “So, we rested here for a while. Now it’s time we move on to the next location”. She said this so formally I wanted to gag. She sounded like a freakin squad commander telling his team our next assignment.

  “We’ll need a car for that”. I messaged the back of my neck.

  Half yawning as I said this.

  “Then we’ll get one, once we go out”. She nodded towards Nika, and folded the paper into a neat little box, placing it into a small pocket on the back pack, zipping it closed. I groaned in pain, seems my necks gone stiff from that earlier position I was in.

  I blame the way my spine worked. I had scoliosis, my spine wasn’t completely straight. It would curve slightly slumping my back and ruining my posture in the process. I got it from my mom. It

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  wasn’t that bad, it just hurt sometimes to stand up straight. I had to do that a few times for multiple different reasons. Pretty sure that when I grow old I’ll have a hump.

  I secured the holder behind me and placed the katanas into their slots. I laced up my boots tying it around then into a tight knot. Nika had gotten a few small sharp knives from the kitchen, which she placed under her belt. Elise was by the door, the metal baseball bat poking from the behind her. She crossed her arms against her chest and huffed,

  “So, I saw maybe 4 or 6 of them out there, they haven’t noticed us yet. We could both choose a car and run for it, or. .” She looked at us, I could see the maliciousness in her eyes.

  “Or, we could kick their arses, obliterating the threat...taking our sweet time picking out a suitable car”. She said the last few words slowly, letting the ‘sweet’ and ‘suitable’ pass through her O

  shaped lips, emphasizing the ‘S’s longer than it should be. Still, I smirked with amusement.

  “I like the second one”. I licked my lips by habit.

  “Same here”. Nika said, her voice in that mouse like state. We looked at each other, then Elise opened the door, leaving it slightly ajar. She eased her hand outward, other on the knob.

  “Let’s go”.

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  W e raced across the lawn. As the Bodies got closer we split up and got rid of the lot, as many in the area. When I was finished on my side, literally both my katanas had been drenched in that black blood. I wiped it off on my shorts. Then slowly placed them back in their holders. When we got back together Elise was crouching down next to Nika. I told them to pick out a car, but I didn’t mean a monster.

  “Really”? I huffed placing my hands on my hips. Parked in front of me was a beautiful black H3 Mid-size SUV. It looked almost too conveniently placed. Especially in this area of the neighborhood.

  “How the heck did you find this”? I walked around the vehicle, looking up and down. I need to savor
this moment. I mean, when would be the next time I’d get to ride in this thing? I grinned giddily. Elise glanced up at me, giving me a wink.

  “You like it? Whoever drove this car...is a total boss”. Nika sprung up and jogged around to the driver’s side. Elise patted the hood heavily.

  “Though, unfortunately the only way were gonna get inside this is to-” Before Elise could finish her sentence, Nika leaned back and smashed the driver’s side window with a baseball bat.

  The shards scattered across the cement. The alarm went off putting all of us on high alert. I spun myself around.

  “Gosh Nika! You know that’s gonna attract them”. Elise hurriedly opened one of the passenger seat doors and shoved Nika

  STAYING ALIVE

  inside. She winced when her elbow made a heavy impact on the cup holder. “Get inside Jade”! She shouted from across the car.

  “Did you hot wire it yet”? I asked. I started to get uneasy. The car alarm didn’t silence until after a couple of minutes. Elise was already ducked down underneath the wheel, fiddling around with the wires. She was still, and calm. Although her expression wore composure I could see the sweat dribbling down her temple. Her lips quivered, she whispered a cuss and the car roared with power.

  She sat back in her seat and placed both her hands on the wheel. I chuckled and turned my attention towards the window beside me.

  My eyes grew widely when those things started to appear one by one out of every street corner. With each step sent shivers down my spine. They walked slowly. Their muscles visible, limbs miss-ing. They paced towards us. I shifted in my seat. I clenched my jaw, massaging my knees. Elise turned towards me and smiled.

  “I’ve always wanted to do this”. I twitched, as she put the car in drive stomping on the accelerator. The forced pushed me back against the seat. I heard Nika stumble about in the seat behind me. Her foot poked out a top the arm rest.

  “This is why you always need to put on a seat belt”. Elise tapped the steering wheel. Before I knew it they flew from every direction. One of them crashed against my side of the window.

  Elise turned a sharp left corner heading towards the main road.

  I held onto the handle above me. I’d forgotten about how reckless she was at driving, since she only got her license a couple weeks ago. I went for my cross necklace. Holding it tightly against my chest.

  “Lord, please grant me protection...I might not die from those things today”. Elise took her eyes off the road and glanced at me.

  “Aw, c’mon that’s rude”. She smirked as she made another sharp left. I braced myself against the car door. Nika was still rolling around behind me. Poor child might end up with a few broken bones from this. We drove past many other cars that were headed in a different direction.

  “Hey, turn on the radio”. Nika squeaked, she leaned between our seats pressing lightly on the radio button. The first thing

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  that came out of speakers were the only people I didn’t really agree with.

  “Oo, One D...fascinating”. I grumbled and switched to the news.

  “Reports have been coming in from every heavily populated towns in the state. Officials have noticed; a high alert to all citizens in the following sections...” I lifted up my legs and wrapped my arms around them. “We have confirmed that these occurrences have been reported in other states since yesterday morning. The estimated total of deaths so far...are steadily rising. Officials have not yet found the source of these deaths”.

  Nika started to kick the back of my seat. She seemed so carefree most of the time. Sometimes I don’t understand her. “These people just don’t want to admit that we’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypses”. She hummed.

  They’ve only told us about the epidemic or tragic illness these people have been through. Right from the very beginning we all knew that something like this was gonna happen. It all started when that new vaccine came out during the start of spring. One that would help people with allergies and would be more advanced that the average summer vaccine. After all the recent sicknesses that have been popping up, doctors and medical university profes-sors have come together to make this so called ‹Ultimate Vaccine’.

  Yeah sure, they’ve successfully tested it on animals or whatever they use, it still doesn’t mean that it will work positively on the human body. It was after all a tested drug. Thank god I didn’t get that thing injected in me. I’d hate to learn the consequences of an alien toxin swimming about in my blood stream.

  I’ve had enough as is. Some waited for the summer flu shots other well, they weren’t so patient. Then all of a sudden...boom!

  All that mambo jumbo about the almighty drug sank down to the very bottom of the ratings. All those sorry people went through the pain and suffering for nothing. It didn’t change anything, instead it broke down their immune systems. Slowly draining the strength in their bodies and weakening it. Like cancer, except it might have been more deadly.

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  “Stupid experimental drug. Those Idiot for brain doctors had no idea what they were putting themselves into”. Elise bit her lip staring dead ahead at the open road. I would think that we were the only ones heading towards the danger. Most cars went the opposite direction. Trying to get out of town as soon as possible.

  Not like they could go anywhere. The government hasn’t issued a secured safe location as of yet. Of course they’re only priority is the one person that runs this country and others that govern it.

  The citizens come after. Sure they might have sent in the military but, something like this it’s too late to stop. Like every other epidemic, it’ll spread until every living being in the entire world is consumed by its madness.

  I’ve been told before that I think negatively. I usually do it unconsciously, and it’s unintentional but I can’t blame myself for thinking like this. .especially in this case. I opened the window and stretched my arm out. Moving my hand up and down, feeling the winds current like a wave.

  “How long until we reach our destination”? I asked.

  “Not long, about 10 more minutes”. Elise gripped the wheel.

  “I’d like the avoid meeting anyone...unnecessary while were there”. She said.

  “What do you mean”? I turned.

  “What I mean is, anyone that could compromise our form. We have a plan and I don’t want to involve anyone else”. She said sternly. I’ve seen Elise serious...but this was a little unexpected of her.

  “So basically, we can’t make any friends or rather allies”. I eyed her curiously.

  “MH. It’s just...we can’t trust anyone. You know the deal, there’s always those kinds of people when situations like this occur.

  I don’t want to make any more enemies we’ve already got ‹those’

  things out there I don’t need any more reasons to kill”.

  She turned right into a parking lot. Setting the car close to the store. Again we were a bit surrounded by those things out there. I leaned my elbow against the bottom of the window. I sighed.

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  “That means I can’t get a boyfriend, huh”? I made a duck face as I glanced at Elise. She was leaning against the wheel. Nika giggled behind.

  “Well...that all depends on if he can handle being with a psy-chopath then, it’s totally fine with me”. I punched her arm. I’ll take that much sarcasm I know what she really means. I got out of the car closing it slowly, striking a pose in front of the store.

  “Let’s head inside then”.

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  Chapter 9

  E lise hopped out of the car, Nika behind her. As we walked closer to the front of the store. I questioned something “Hey Elise...Are we gonna leave this black beauty out in the open”? She crossed her arms and sighed looking at the car up and down.

  “Then, where should we put it? Unless we find the loading dock in the back of the building...we can keep it locked up
”. She jabbed the air with her thumb, pointing towards the building.

  “Firstly, we must clear the area as much as we can, if you find any survivors bring them together we’ll talk about what position they have in our group”.

  Me and Nika looked at each other and snickered. Elise jumped in surprise.

  “W-what”? She stuttered. Nika gave her a nudge and made her way to the doors.

  “Oh, you know...” I patted her shoulder. She paused. The expression on her face was priceless. I chuckled. Me and Nika waited for her near the doors. They slid open automatically.

  “Looks like the powers still workin’ fine”. Elise huffed beside me.

  “Eventually it’ll shut off. I’d give it a few weeks. The generators would run out of fuel by then”. Nika spoke in a whisper poking her head between the open doorways. I leaned against the wall.

  While both Nika and Elise checked the area around us. I glanced over my shoulder, just a couple of Bodies here and there. They wouldn’t go after us unless we did anything too loudly.

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  “Can we get this over with, the longer we wait here the more my skin will fry from the sun”. The flesh around my arms started to turn a bright red. Don’t supposed I could apply sun screen once we get inside. Maybe it’ll be too late for that. I sighed with impatience.

  “Alright, we stay together until I say so...” We all nodded.

  We all walked in. I glanced around, no one in sight. I would assume they all left in a hurry. Just imagining hundreds of people rushing out between these automatic doors. It’d be just like black Friday.