It would be almost odd traveling without Peter and Ricky since any time we've had to split up for anything, we've typically worked together as a team together and seldom split up until under extreme circumstances and if it was really necessary. I've worked with Justine the majority of the time since he was my partner, however, I also sometimes work with Peter or Diana.
The mere mention of Diana's name almost brought me emotions. I bit my lower lip and stared longingly at my hands, which were perfectly tucked in my lap, trying not to fidget. But I couldn't help myself. Her fateful minutes came flooding back to me in excruciating detail.
As she fought to keep going, I could hear her heavy breathing. Her blood was soaking through her clothing, and I could smell it. When she recognized we were abandoning her behind, I could see the dread and hopelessness in her eyes. Not Mikaella, but she should still re
Justine came to a halt, and Ricky collided with him, his eyes widening as he decided to walk away swiftly."You really ought to comprehend something," he ominously said. "I am the group's leader. I looked up highly to you Ricky not only as a brother but as a potential leader as well. But if you continue acting like you're not on your sanity, then I'm afraid I would have to do something. Now, if you don't like that then, you and Mikaella are encouraged to remain.""Clementia will not let you-"Justine guffawed. "Clementia understands her position in this division, and you must learn yours. Peter and I are in command, and he concurs with me. Ricky, you're out of Goddamn good fortune. This is what's going on.""You're frightening her," Ricky said solemnly. "I'm not a moron, Justine. You're attempting to frighten her so you can abandon
Justine stopped for a moment. "I'm not confident whether we'll remain for the evening," he said. "It's still early in the morning, and we may get a few more hours of driving in." We have to go to New York."Lesley cocked her brow. "What about New York? You're going to need all of your stamina and energyif you want to get there. Why don't you all spend the evening and help me out around the cattle ranch a little bit, and we'll get you some delicious food, an excellent night's sleep, and a wonderful breakfast to start you leaving tomorrow?"Stull, Justine pulled back. Ricky and Mikaella both looked at him with startled eyes."Please, just let us remain for one overnight, dude! New York is not going away. Besides, I know you want a delicious sirloin just like the remaining of us."Justine cracked a beaming smile. "Yeah sure, we'
"We're aware of the consequences," Justine stated knowledgeably. "But not all of us will be heading," he said, looking at Ricky and Mikaella. "Those two will be going to have to stay in a nearby establishment, where they will be safe, and soundand we will not have to be concerned about them. Ricky's capable too, but he needs to look after Mikaella.The remaining of us is far more competent than we appear.""You appear competent," Kelly said, casting a skeptical glance our way. "But some of you don't, I'm sure. I'm not sure what your arrangements are, but you'd be much safer remaining and stayingin the neighborhood and helping us out on the homestead. Lesley's leg is deteriorating, and even more so with the impending cold, and we're going to need every support and assistance we might get.""He's correct," Lesley stated. "You're free and welcome to remainhere and help out to make
I rolled my eyes and entered the family room, where the others had congregated. Justine indicated the place next to him on the sofa, and I gladly sat down, allowing him to throw his arm around me and bring me in deeper. I kept an eye on the threshold, waiting for Peter and Ricky to emerge. It was already getting late outside, and I would not want them to be out there unaccompanied for too long, even when they were still on the premises. I squeezed my hands together, attempting to restore some heat to them. My nose was runny and burning now that I was no longer chilly, and I prayed there was a heater or any hearth nearby. Ugh! So much for this particular day. I beamed gratefully at Justine as he took a comforter from the back of the sofa and put it over me. To create a fire, it would have to do without a chimney or any furnace. My skin was tingling from being outdoors for so long. I'm simply grateful we've been doing a couple of complex hard work and manual effort to keep ourselves wa
"Sure, I respect and trust you," I answered with a chuckle. "I think it's great that you're willing to discuss it and be willing to understand with us.""I've had this discussion with fresh acquaintances hundreds of times previously. I'm pleased you're okay with it. Even though you are basically random people to me, it makes a huge difference to me. An aspect of me even loves discussing such topics. It's one of the primary reasons I would like to become a mental health professional: to lend a hand to fellow troubled children come to find a way to deal with who and what they are, even when society expects them it's unrealistic and extremely difficult.""That's very refreshing," Peter said. "I'm sure you'll be outstanding at it."Kelly smirked. "I suspect I'll ever have the opportunity to serve people again. It's difficult to assist individuals who are no longer alive."I nearly opened my lips, but Peter's glance made me close them. I'm not certain what damage it would do to inform Kel
"You'd be correct," Justine murmured as she stood at the threshold. He brought Lesley with him. His facial wrinkles were murkier than normal, leaving him to seem much older. "Lesley is looking for anybody who is prepared to assist him in forming a search and rescue team and finding John. He may be a jerk, but it's not fair to let him perish from visibility out there, particularly when there are plenty of qualified individuals in here to assist in his search."Peter sighed. "Are you sure you're willing to do that? Are you for real? Did you forget he's a freaking pussy? That dude's no doubt a sociopath. He's relieved that the world has come to an end. Didn't you remember him saying that? We'd be greater off without him.""But we won't be here indefinitely," Justine calmly said. "And Lesley and Kelly won't be capable to operate this property on their own for much longer. John doesn't really do anything around here, but it's one less thing for them to worry about. The weather isn't too a
The door swung open as Peter yanked on the doorknob. The door screamed as he grumbled from the exertion. He took a step back and flashed his spotlight into the entryway, searching for signs of life. Because nothing ever changed, he returned my gaze. "Hurry up. Let's come inside.""Should we scream for that brute's name?" I inquired.I'm not certain I intended to go inside this underground. It seemed to be a bit spooky, and there's no knowing what was under there. Perhaps the proprietor was heavily guarded or maybe rigged with explosives the whole establishment. We may blast our heads off or be skewered by anything!"We might, but I'd want to have a look around. His tracks went up to the entrance, indicating that he is within someplace. But there really is no knowing what we'll discover once we get down here. Except if John got them back up while attempting to hide out elsewhere, a profound vault like this is constrained to have stockpiles of some kind.""I'm curious whatever he does o
I raised my handgun. There's no time to start making a leisurely, methodical scan of the chamber like in the cellar. So, Peter wrenched the door wide open and walked inside, his handgun up, ready to take out any remaining rottens. I'm close behind him, moving up on his right so we could keep an eye on each other's backs.The entertainment room resembled a warped version of the chamber where the girls were being imprisoned. Shackles dangling from the ceiling and were chained to the partition to prevent his little entertainment from escaping and eating him. There were now two unsavory visitors in his lounge room. One was shackled to the furthest facade, while the other was fastened to a lengthy podium, like in Dr. Melendez's tests. I trembled simply gazing at them, thinking what atrocities John had perpetrated while imprisoned here."There it is, dangling on a handle."Following his eyes, I saw a house key twisted around a handle on the distant partition."We'll have to get that rotten
Peter nodded. “I’ll go find him some clean clothes to wear. The shirt might be a little tight since he’s so big compared to me, but it’ll have to do for now. You should help him get into the shower while I do that. Do you want me to go find the others?” “That’s probably a good idea,” I said. “Once he’s cleaned up, it should go smoothly.” Turning to Justine, I motioned to the stairs. “You remember where that bathroom is, right? Why don’t you go start a nice hot shower and I’ll be up there in a minute?” I sighed. “It’s too early to tell. He did turn and attack someone, but I’m not sure how much of it he remembers, or what kind of lasting affect it’ll have on his mind. I’m hoping he’ll be able to put it all behind him with some time and love and understanding.” “Be careful being alone with him,” Peter remarked. “I know you don’t wanna hear this, but he might be dangerous. I shouldn’t even be leaving you alone with him to go find him something to wear. The only reason I am is because it
Two months later. Joseph screamed, spit flying from his lips as he swung wildly at Clyde. He knocked another man to the ground before he could get out of the way, and he stepped on his back, vaulting off him and leaping at Clyde. He slams into Allen’s chest and drags him down to the ground with a startled shout. Before any of us could even react, he sunk his teeth into Clyde’s shoulder, tearing through the flesh. Clyde grunted as blood welled up and spilled down the front of his chest, staining his white shirt red. Michael and Billie were there in a heartbeat, dragging a kicking and screaming Joseph away from Clyde. I knelt down beside him, pressing a wad of clean napkins to the bleeding wound while trying to ignore the terrified whispers around the room. Thankfully the wound didn’t look too bad, but I’m sure it couldn’t feel very pleasant. Clyde hissed in pain as I pressed the napkins harder against his chest, trying to stem the flow of blood. “What set him off?” I asked. “I’m not
Unfortunately, I was one of the ones closest to the front.The rottens advanced on us, and Billie pulled the trigger again and again. One more rotten dropped, but the second just staggered as his shoulder jerked back from the impact. Peter fired, and the wounded rotten dropped to the ground, unmoving. The rest of them were on us, and I brought my weapon up. My heart was racing in my chest and my blood pounded like a drum in between my ears, creating a roar that blocked out everything except the harsh sound of my breathing.I pulled the trigger and my hand jerked from the force of the shot, but a rotten dropped. Three more drops to the ground courtesy of Billie and Peter, and I took out an eighth. Only four left; Billie took out two of them with relative ease, leaving the last two for me and Peter while he reloaded. Mine was too close to take the time to aim, so I just screamed in anger and hatred, swinging my weapon up before bringing it back down like a hammer, slamming into the rotte
Justine was going to die in the next couple of hours. He’s going to be ripped away from me, and then he’s going to come back. He'd probably end up being a rotten for at least a little bit while we get the cure to work. He’s going to suffer a fate worse than death.The tears streamed down my face and I started to choke. Justine pulled me closer as I cried, but for once it didn’t comfort me; it made me feel claustrophobic and smothered. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe or function. All I could do was cry and gasp for air like my lungs had been punctured or flattened like pancakes. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t. Please…Everyone kept their distance while Justine and I cried it out, and I was forever grateful for it. We needed the space and time to ourselves, even if we didn’t have the time to spare right now. I was dangerously close to breaking, and it was wise for them to keep their distance. All I wanted to do was scream and throw things and pull at my hair, cursing Dr. Melendez, the gove
As the celebration drew to a close, Justine and I headed back to our house. We took our time, enjoying the peacefulness of the night, not really minding the cold anymore as we enjoyed each other’s company. The others wandered along behind us, watching us with obvious concern. I knew they saw us together during the song, and I knew they saw how it affected us so deeply, but none of them know why or what to say. So they remained quiet and just watched, looking for any sign that something was wrong.When we reached the house, everyone gathered in the living room, taking up every available seat on the couch, chairs, and the floor. Clyde, Billie, and Michael joined us, and together we made a rough plan of attack. “Unfortunately, we don’t know the layout of this area where the lab is,” Clyde began. “And we don’t know the extent of the disease. So we’re going in blind and to an extent, we’ll just have to hope that things work out for the best. What we can plan for, however, is what to do in
“You did look a little green up there,” Xander said with a smirk.“You did great. It was a speech to go down in history,” Clyde replied. “I told Millie it would be, so she had someone write down the entire thing word for word, so we can put it in our records. People will remember that speech for a very long time.”Billie clapped his hands loudly. “Well, now that the official business is over with, who wants some booze?”“Yeah, what the hell,” Michael said, getting to his feet. “This might be our last chance ever to get drunk.”The two of them headed up to the front and grabbed red plastic cups, searching through the already open bottles of liquor for something to drink. Billie chose what looked like Captain Morgan spiced rum and he mixed it with coke, making his drink very strong. Michael went with seven and seven, using less liquor and more pop to take it down a notch.“What did they mean by ‘this might be our last chance ever to get drunk’?” Justine asked.“The three of us are headi
A quick glance out the window showed that it was no longer snowing, which was good for us. It'd make the drive tomorrow much easier if the roads don’t get any worse, and it'd be easier on us when we had to ditch the vehicles and continue on foot. I’m not sure of the layout of New York, but I assumed we’re not going to be driving straight up to the front door of a top-secret government facility. At the very least I’m sure there would be a fence, and maybe even more obstacles.I tore myself away from the window, sitting on the edge of the bed with Justine while I pulled on my boots. They zipped up easily, and I waited for him to ready himself mentally. He finally sighed and gets to his feet, following me to the door. The others were already waiting for us downstairs, and I saw Clyde, Billie, and Michael were all with them. This couldn’t be good…“What’s going on?”“Just a precaution,” Clyde assured. “Word got out about Justine being here, and there are a lot of unhappy campers. We just w
“If you’re right and you guys do succeed, everything is gonna change. Hope will be alive once again. We can actually begin rebuilding instead of just surviving. People won’t have to be afraid to search for their lost loved ones, or to fall in love again for fear of losing who they’ve given their heart to. So many possibilities, all because of one crazy scientist, and a group of kids crazy enough to go after him," Clyde looked back at us, his eyes shining with unshed tears and the smile on his face growing. “You’ll all have prominent spots in the community if you decide to return. Everyone will know who you are.”Peter’s cheeks turn red. “I don’t know about that,” he said, looking away. “I’ll be happy knowing we made a difference. I don’t need any kind of praise or validation from others. We had a duty to seek out this cure, and we did it. It’s nothing most people wouldn’t have done if given the chance.”“You really believe that?” Clyde asked, lifting one bushy eyebrow. “Huh. I can’t sa
Millie wasn’t the only person in the tent. There were two men in white coats with clipboards, and they ushered us farther into the tent. One closed the flap behind Justine, and he looked us over closely, probably trying to decide where to start with us. While Millie looked after Isabel, he motioned to several nearby chairs. “Take a seat. We’ll take you behind the curtain one at a time and have you undress for a quick examination.”“You’re shitting us, right?” Peter asked, eyes narrowing a fraction. “There is mother fucking snow on the ground. Do you honestly think any of us are stripping?”The doctor didn’t look up from his clipboard. “It’ll only take a moment. We can’t let you any farther into the community until you’ve been cleared. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to deal. The sooner you strip, the sooner you can get dressed again. You’ll be given some hot chocolate for your troubles while you wait for your friends to finish," he motioned to the screen behind him, tucked away into the c