87.5% of readers chose to [A. Stay with Ashley.]
Sympathy filled Grace's mind as she climbed back into the seat of the vehicle. Someone c… moreould show up with a car...or medicine...things they needed. She was hurting already, but to have Ashley bleed to death on top of that would be too much. She couldn't just leave her here by herself. Grace couldn't live with herself if she went down there, and an ambulance had passed us by before she returned.
No matter how curious she got, Grace didn't allow herself to think about the person in the pickup. If her friend was here with her, she was going to stay with her. Strangers come second. He was probably long gone anyway. Ashley was still with me.
Grace couldn't stop thinking about the crash. If Ashley had simply turned to the left instead of the right, it would be her at the bottom of the ravine where the pickup was. Grace didn't think she would have made it out too great either. Everything th… [view original content]
Well, the guy in the pickup truck down in the valley lived in her place, so it's one of those double determinant things. That's what I like about writing this. I'm only writing one version of the story, so I can have decisions freaking buttfuck the entire story.
Well, the guy in the pickup truck down in the valley lived in her place, so it's one of those double determinant things. That's what I like … moreabout writing this. I'm only writing one version of the story, so I can have decisions freaking buttfuck the entire story.
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock them down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that thing? There are hundreds, maybe thousands... and their numbers are growing by the minute."
He turned and began to down the hill towards the pickup at the bottom. Grace followed him closely behind. "Who are you calling thing? Her name is Ashley! She's my friend!"
"She was your friend." He corrected her with a long sigh. Grace felt the first of many tears begin to slide down her cheek. She looked back up to the top of the hill where Ashley lay dead. She still couldn't believe it had happened to her...There was a deep pit in her heart where her friend used to be...one that was never going to fill itself... "Ashley...This isn't real...I don't want it to be real..."
He refused to look her in the tearful eyes when he talked to her. "The important thing is to not let them get to you. They take a bite out of you and it's all over. You can call them whatever you like. A few of the people I knew have taken to calling them lurkers, biters, geeks, walkers... However, they're all dead now, so I'm not sure why that matters."
"Oh..." Grace wanted to pat the man on the shoulder, and attempt to comfort her, but instead she collapsed on the ground below her. She couldn't bear the pain of losing her best friend. She felt as though she couldn't bear anything anymore...
"I'm sorry." He put his hand on hers and helped her back up onto her feet. "They weren't my friends. I just knew them. I don't have any friends." He turned and looked her in they eyes. They were a shade of calming ocean blue. Grace could see a great pain in those eyes masked by his rugged appearance. She only assumed that same pain could be seen in her own. He sighed and paused a moment before letting go of her hand.
He began to walk towards the car and she ran to catch up with him, regaining the strength to act for herself. "You know, you never did tell me your name. Mine is Grace Peters." She told him as she wiped a few tears from her eye, wiping them on her pants.
"Name's Noah Sinclair." He said roughly. "Don't know my middle name, and don't need to. I lived on the street since I was young. I'm not sure I ever had parents. As I grew older, I hopped homes every now and then. The people who took me in always ended up kicking me out later. Tried to get jobs here and there, but that's pretty hard to do when you don't got a decent education. Since I was 18 I've been living out here in the forest. The city folk don't look too kindly on me, but I do okay. Travel down to the city every once in a while to get supplies and farming tools. How about yourself? Where do you come from?"
"I'm originally from a little town down the way, but I moved to Savannah for college." Grace began. "I suppose, in a way, I'm kind of like you. My parents died in a shootout when I was very young. I was raised by my godfather after that. I have to tell you though, he was a real piece of shit... I get jobs here and there, but they never seem to last."
"You know how to fire a gun?" Noah asked her.
"Well, no... I've never really tried. It can't be that hard, can it?"
He smiled and chuckled as he directed his eyes to the top of the hill. His laughter felt very unreal, against the midst of all this death. "You'll have to learn that right quick. One of these things? It's what saves your life from here on out."
"You're talking like this is the end of the world..." Grace squinted, trying to process everything that was going on. "Surely this whole pandemic thing will all pass over in a couple days...a couple weeks at the most."
"If we're lucky." Noah replied. "If what was happening down in Savannah is happening all over the world, then this is fucking huge. Even if it does pass over in a couple days...I don't think the world will ever be the same."
They arrived at the pickup truck had wrecked on the stone cliff side. The man inside had his head planted in an airbag. She saw the man's body shifting up and down slightly, breathing. Although she resented it, Grace felt a tinge of anger. Why did this man get to live while Ashley died? Then again, why did Grace get to live either? She just wanted Ashley back...
"I saw him on the way up to get you. You looked like you needed the help more. I'm sorry, by the way...for your friend..." Noah coddled me. "Who was she?"
"Her name was Ashley... and she was my best friend." Grace told him, tears condensing on her eyes once more. "She was always there for me... So in her final moments...I wanted to be there for her...
"She was bit." Noah stated plainly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... bitten. She was bitten. Scratched. anything that mixes their blood with yours will do the trick."
"No...I don't think so."
"She turned." He contradicted her. "One way or another, she was bitten, Grace. "That's how ya turn. But look, now that she's dead... I'm not dragging her anywhere. We would be sitting ducks."
Grace pointed at him angrily. "We have to bury her! It's only-"
Her statement was interrupted when, out of the corner of her eye, I saw the man in the chair's eyes flicker open. Great fear filled her head until the miracle happened. He turned to us and said, with a sort of monotone voice. "...What happened? Who are you people? What's going on?"
"Well, good morning sunshine." Noah crossed his arms, seeming pleased with himself for being able to save this man that was sitting alive in his chair. "I thought he was bit too.
Grace ran over to him and unbuckled her seatbelt. "My name is Grace and this is Noah. We have to go now. Everything's gonna be all right."
She put her arms under her the man's weak-looking ones and helped to lift him onto his feet. He gasped in pain. He looked up into the sky and seemed to notice that night had fallen. "What time is it?" He asked anxiously.
"Around 7:30." Grace replied.
He wiped his forehead in irritation. "I missed my doctor's appointment! Logan's gonna kill me!"
"I think we have more pressing matters than your appointment right now." Grace told him. "And there are plenty of other things that want to kill you. C'mon, get up." She pulled on him and the man managed to stand up straight.
"Grace, what's going on?" The man asked.
"I'll explain when we get down to the city. What's your name, by the way?"
"Leo...Leo Douglas." He replied, still vaguely confused about the situation. Leo Douglas was tall, had dark sandy blonde hair pulled back as far it could go. His cheek structure was very adamant, and his eyes were full of intrigue. One thing Grace could say is the man was very attractive under the various cuts and bruises.
Grace started to walk in the direction of Ashley's car at the top of the hill, with her arm around Leo, helping him to hobble along. Noah placed his hand on their shoulders and stopped them. "We're not going to the city."
"What do you mean, 'we're not going to the city?'" Leo shot back at him. "That's where I'm going."
"You were driving away from the city..." Grace told him, slightly confused.
"There was too bad of a traffic jam." He replied. "I was going to find a way around.
"There's too many monsters down there." Noah told them through his teeth. "I barely made it out alive, and with you in the condition you are, there's no way you'd be able to."
Leo turned to him and squinted, narrow-eyed. "I'm going to get to the city. I have family there. If we don't go, they'll wonder where I am."
"What do you propose we do?" Grace asked Noah.
"I don't know." He shrugged. "We wander around and find some shelter... We go anywhere but the city."
"The city is where all the medicine and supplies are." Grace argued. "That's why we were going down there in the first place. I know people down there too. We have to find them."
Noah sighed and pulled the gun out of his holster. He held it in his hands and showed it to them. "You see this gun?" He said. "This gun has killed 49 of those things so far, and I didn't make a dent. They're crawling the streets. We can't go down there."
"You...you killed people?" Leo asked, looking back to Grace with an intense expression of distress.
"If I hadn't, I would not be here right now, boy." Noah snapped back at him.
Grace sighed and turned to the man they had just met. "Is there any way you could...call them or something? Make sure they're okay, or find a place outside of the city to meet up?"
"Phone lines are down." He informed us. "Have been since an hour ago."
Leo looked Grace dead in the eye. The deep blue in the man's looked very persuading. Grace couldn't help but blush. It was clear Leo was not going to back out of this. He knew where his heart was. "Grace..." He started. "I don't know what's going on out there, but from what you two are saying, I can tell it's dangerous. I am willing to take the risk. We're going down there. I have to find my family."
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock th… moreem down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that th… [view original content]
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock th… moreem down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that th… [view original content]
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock th… moreem down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that th… [view original content]
87.5% of readers chose to [A. Stay with Ashley.]
Sympathy filled Grace's mind as she climbed back into the seat of the vehicle. Someone c… moreould show up with a car...or medicine...things they needed. She was hurting already, but to have Ashley bleed to death on top of that would be too much. She couldn't just leave her here by herself. Grace couldn't live with herself if she went down there, and an ambulance had passed us by before she returned.
No matter how curious she got, Grace didn't allow herself to think about the person in the pickup. If her friend was here with her, she was going to stay with her. Strangers come second. He was probably long gone anyway. Ashley was still with me.
Grace couldn't stop thinking about the crash. If Ashley had simply turned to the left instead of the right, it would be her at the bottom of the ravine where the pickup was. Grace didn't think she would have made it out too great either. Everything th… [view original content]
I planned it out guys, and if I keep writing at the rate I'm writing, and take the month breaks I'm taking between parts of the book, I won't be finished with this until at least after Minecraft is finished. Season 3 might be well underway!
I planned it out guys, and if I keep writing at the rate I'm writing, and take the month breaks I'm taking between parts of the book, I won't be finished with this until at least after Minecraft is finished. Season 3 might be well underway!
I'm practically selling my soul to this book right now. If I'm going to take breaks, I'll split it up at the parts. Besides, it might take longer than a month just to get Part 1 done.
I have to adequately portray each of the characters. It's not like Game of Thrones where it's one story spanned over multiple characters. It's pretty much just an episode 1 for each of the characters.
I have to adequately portray each of the characters. It's not like Game of Thrones where it's one story spanned over multiple characters. It's pretty much just an episode 1 for each of the characters.
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock th… moreem down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that th… [view original content]
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock th… moreem down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that th… [view original content]
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock th… moreem down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that th… [view original content]
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock th… moreem down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that th… [view original content]
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock th… moreem down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that th… [view original content]
Grace looked the man straight in the eyes and couldn't say no. He had to find his family. She wasn't going to be the one to separate a man from his family. She rotated around to face Noah and stated in a plain voice, "We're going down to the city."
Noah looked her in the eyes and sighed. He turned to Leo and got the same reaction from him. He could tell that he was now in the minority. "Fine." He spoke. "We'll go down to the city, but we have to make a few stops first...be prepared. You think you're gonna waltz right into town find those people you're looking for? Think again."
Leo shot Grace a glance, and she nodded. He hadn't seen the monster that used to be her best friend. He hadn't been exposed yet. He seemed to trust Grace's word more than Noah's. "Ok." He said, clutching his side in pain. "We'll run your fucking errands."
"Great." Noah smiled, turning around to point down the road in the direction we were originally headed. "I saw there was a small town a few miles up. It's gotta have a hardware store or something we can use for weapons. A little bit of food would be nice too. It's been a couple days though...Damn place is probably picked to the bone."
"Weapons?" Leo asked, with a certain fear in his eye. "Like guns? What would we use those for?"
"The plague." Noah stated. "I don't know where you've been for the past few days, but you get sick and you die. You don't stay dead, though, oh no! That would be too easy. You come back as a hollow, vicious flesh-eating shell of what you once were. And those...the dead...are flooding the streets of Savannah. They aren't showing any signs of slowing. And that, boy, is why we need guns."
Leo's skin turned an odd shade of green. "I don't feel so hot." He said.
"Really?" Grace asked. "What's wrong?"
"My stomach hurts...and I'm a little bit light-headed."
"Light-headed?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow. "Good. Not a symptom of the virus. You get sick? The first think you're going to feel is intense headaches."
"How do you know that?" Grace asked him, looking up from Leo for a moment.
"Told you already." Noah responded simply, focusing his gaze just above hers. "The people I knew. They're all dead. How do you think they went?"
Grace wanted to tell the man sorry, but with the reaction the intense grief she'd just experienced, she didn't think that was a good idea. She didn't want to hear the word sorry. It had only been a few minutes, and Grace was already starting to want to push the feelings from her mind. She didn't want to think about Ashley anymore. However, no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't get the image of Ashley's dead face dragging itself toward her own.
She simply stayed silent and let Noah sigh his feelings away like she so desperately wished to do. He was clearly trying to sell her the tough guy act, but Grace could see straight through it. Inside that shell hardened by the world was just a guy trying to bear too much pain on his shoulders. She walked up behind him and placed the hand that was not sprained onto his shoulder and patted him. She wanted to let him know that he didn't have to be alone.
As the two of them had their small moment together, a small buzzing noise could be heard from inside the car. "What's that?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know..." Grace replied. She walked to the passenger side of Ashley's car and gazed in through the busted out window. In her seat, there was her pink-encased smartphone with small glitter particles ingrained. Ashley always was that kind of person...always cheerful...glittery... She had been sitting on it. Grace grabbed up the vibrating phone and pressed the button on it, lighting it up. The screen was cracked, just like every other piece of glass in this car. It read, "new voicemail." Grace opened her phone and listened to what the phone had to say hesitantly.
"Ashley, hey!" It was Gary. Grace knew the voice very well from when they would talk on the speaker phone in the afternoons. It felt like weights on her shoulders as she realized, Ashley would never get this message. "I don't know why you're not responding to my calls, but I've gotten myself into a bit of trouble. I may not be able to make our lunch. Ashley... I love you..."
As soon as the man spoke those last three words, Grace broke down sobbing. So much had happened in the last hour. She couldn't believe any of it. A tidal wave of emotion surged over her. Why did it have to be this way? Why did Ashley have to go. When she set the phone back down in the car, she felt as though she were saying goodbye to her dear friend for the last time. It was a terrible feeling...one of dread and remorse. Grace ran her hand over the thin scar across her neck. She'd only felt this kind of emotion once before...
She picked up Ashley's phone one last time and went into her contact list. She picked her own name out and hit the send message button. She selected a picture of the two of them with their arms around each other from two years ago. Their college graduation... When the message failed to send, Grace found herself weeping a small amount. She wanted to take the phone with her, as something to remember her friend by, but she also wanted to honor her death. She sucked in her gut and set the phone back down in the driver's seat and stood up, ready to forget.
"Guys...I'm not..." Leo started, his eyes bouncing open and closed. He looked down at his stomach and removed his hand from his side. His black business suit was now stained red with blood. His hand was dripping. "Oh God..." His eyes closed slowly and he collapsed to the ground. As his head hit the pavement, so did Grace's heartbeat.
55% of readers chose to [B. Side with Leo.]
Grace looked the man straight in the eyes and couldn't say no. He had to find his family. S… morehe wasn't going to be the one to separate a man from his family. She rotated around to face Noah and stated in a plain voice, "We're going down to the city."
Noah looked her in the eyes and sighed. He turned to Leo and got the same reaction from him. He could tell that he was now in the minority. "Fine." He spoke. "We'll go down to the city, but we have to make a few stops first...be prepared. You think you're gonna waltz right into town find those people you're looking for? Think again."
Leo shot Grace a glance, and she nodded. He hadn't seen the monster that used to be her best friend. He hadn't been exposed yet. He seemed to trust Grace's word more than Noah's. "Ok." He said, clutching his side in pain. "We'll run your fucking errands."
"Great." Noah smiled, turning around to point down the ro… [view original content]
55% of readers chose to [B. Side with Leo.]
Grace looked the man straight in the eyes and couldn't say no. He had to find his family. S… morehe wasn't going to be the one to separate a man from his family. She rotated around to face Noah and stated in a plain voice, "We're going down to the city."
Noah looked her in the eyes and sighed. He turned to Leo and got the same reaction from him. He could tell that he was now in the minority. "Fine." He spoke. "We'll go down to the city, but we have to make a few stops first...be prepared. You think you're gonna waltz right into town find those people you're looking for? Think again."
Leo shot Grace a glance, and she nodded. He hadn't seen the monster that used to be her best friend. He hadn't been exposed yet. He seemed to trust Grace's word more than Noah's. "Ok." He said, clutching his side in pain. "We'll run your fucking errands."
"Great." Noah smiled, turning around to point down the ro… [view original content]
The limbs of bushes and trees bounced up and down in the wind. The droplets of rain made a refreshing pitter-patter on the ground below them. The thunder struck moments after the lightning flashed in the night sky. The storm was upon them. It was moments like these that made Grace want to cuddle up by the fire with a blanket and a cup of coffee. I had no fire, I had no blanket, I had no coffee, and Leo was bleeding out.
"Fuck!" Grace yelled, dropping to the ground to help the man she had just met. She had just let one friend die. She wasn't about to lose this guy too. "Why didn't he tell us he was injured? What do we do?"
"Keep your voice down!" Noah said, frantically, gesturing toward the ground. "They can hear you. Normally, I'd rip off a piece of my shirt to make a tourniquet for the wound, but it's around the side of the body. No piece of my shirt could reach that far."
"Well, what do we do?"
He bent down and put his hands underneath Leo, lifting him into the air. "I'm guessing you don't have any giant pieces of cloth in that car of yours?"
"No. I don't." Grace answered.
"Then we're booking it down the road. First house we see, we're breaking in and finding a blanket. I've seen my fair share of wounds like this before. I say we got about half an hour before he's gone." He started to walk down the road, and Grace followed him.
"That's breaking and entering!" She argued. "You do know that's illegal, right?"
"Grace, there ain't no law anymore." He told her. "Not after what I saw down in the city. And if the police force is still trying to enforce the law, then us breaking into a small house in the middle of nowhere is not their biggest concern right now."
Grace shrugged. It felt strange that she was willingly going along with a plan that involved breaking into someone's house. But right now, it was become a robber or lose Leo, and she wasn't about to lose Leo, no matter how little she knew him. "Fine." She sighed. "We'll break into some house, but we're taking a blanket. That's it."
"You may change your mind once you get there." He continued. "Trust me; the concept of stealing is not a new sensation to me. You're inside a house, and you see something you need, you take it. Don't matter if it's wrong or not. You need it. They'll do fine without it. And in these times, you'd be a damn fool not to take it."
"I'm only stealing the blanket." Grace said with a certain confidence, one that would not leave her voice. "Now let's go." She gestured toward the road, and they continued running. She started to feel wheezy, but pushed harder. She was never a runner. She had to keep reminding herself, that she was doing this to save Leo's life. Every step she took was for him. Every step was for staying alive. Grace turned her head away from the blackness of the asphalt to the raindrops falling from the sky. It was much easier to run faster if she wasn't looking at the ground.
"Can you load the gun for me?" Noah asked her between gasps of air. "Just take it out of the holster there. There are rounds in the backpack."
"Sure." She said, withdrawing a huge breath. She reached her arm over and grabbed the gun out of his belt. It was heavier than she thought it would be...more metallic...more unfeeling...more deadly. She slowed down a small bit and ran behind him. It felt awkward trying to unzip his backpack while running, but she managed it. She reached into its cloth frame and pulled out and handful of rounds.
"Good." He told her, pulling his arms up to try to find a more decent way to hold the man in his arms. "Now pull the bottom out of the handle." Grace did as he instructed, and pulled the empty chamber out of the bottom of the gun. She put six bullets into it and clicked it back into place. The gun was loaded. "Okay." He huffed. "The rest is simple. Pull the top back until it clicks, aim and pull the trigger."
"Wait..." She breathed. "You're not actually going to make me shoot this thing!"
"Now's as good a time as any to learn." He argued. "Told you already. That thing's what saves your life from here on out. Yes. I'm going to make you shoot it." He looked down to Leo. "My shootin' arm's a bit occupied at the moment."
Grace shrugged. He made good points. They ran for a couple more minutes before she spotted something moving in the woods. As they drew closer, she heard the watery groan grow louder. It was a similar sound to the one she heard from Ashley's mouth. It was what Noah called a lurker, and it was approaching us slowly. As it stepped out of the forest and into the light, Grace saw that the bottom half of its jaw was missing. The plaid shirt it wore was bloody and in tatters. On impulse, she pointed the loaded gun at the monster.
"No!" Noah shouted. "They move very slowly. We'll outrun him. You'd be wasting the shot." Grace agreed and put the gun back down at her side to continue running. As they passed the dead man, she shot a quick glance behind her into its colorless, dead eyes. It looked sad. Grace was sure that she did as well through the streams of tears still flowing like a faucet down her cheeks.
They plowed through half of the time Noah estimated they had left running down the road, looking for a house. Grace thanked God when they spotted a small mailbox in the thick of the forest. They immediately turned in onto the gravel road. There was a small cabin at the end of the path. It's roof was slanted at an odd angle. The windows were all circular and made with stained glass. From what Grace could tell, the home looked to be custom built. There was a truck parked in front of the garage. It looked as though it hadn't withstood the years all too well. The rust covered more of the frame than the paint did.
They arrived at the door soaking wet from the rain, and with not much time left. Grace was walking ahead of Noah, so she reached out and knocked on the door. After waiting a couple seconds, Noah spoke up. "Out of the way." He said in a gruff tone. He climbed the steps, lifted his leg in the air, and with a mighty heave, kicked the door in.
Noah had opened the doorway into a very dark room. Grace raised her gun in the air with caution. In the center of the room was a man poised in a chair. There was a television across from him playing static. It was the only light source in the room. She tried to turn on the light, but to her surprise, the power was out. "No!" She shouted. "We don't have time for this shit!"
Noah sighed. "C'mon, we'll work in the dark." He began to run throughout the house, checking the doors in the hall across the room for beds with sheets. He didn't bother to even use the doorknobs, simply kicking his way into the rooms. "If that guy moves, take care of him." He called back from the hallway.
A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, and Grace could make out the situation. There was a hole in the man's head, and a gun on the floor next to him. "Hey!" She called, holding her gun shakily in the air. "You getting up?" She waited for a few seconds before lowering her gun and her guard. This man was completely dead.
"Grace!" Noah called from the room in the hallway. "I found a sheet! I need you in here!"
"Okay!" Grace started to run towards the sound of his voice, but caught her hand on a wall. She slowly turned around to take one last look at the dead man. His eyes were forever pointed in her direction. She could feel them stare at her with intense accusation. Grace looked away. She couldn't bear any more pain with the death of her friend so close behind. She looked down directly next to him, at the gun in a pool of blood on the ground. It had been the instrument of his demise.
Noah was right. This was a very hard choice. That man didn't need it anymore. Why should such a valuable thing like a gun just sit on the floor? Grace turned her body around to match her eyes. Then again...She had never stolen anything before. Even from a dead man, stealing seemed wrong. Her eyes shot back and forth between the gun on the ground and the door to Leo's room.
Chapter 5: Only Minutes Left
Grace Peters
The limbs of bushes and trees bounced up and down in the wind. The droplets of rain made a r… moreefreshing pitter-patter on the ground below them. The thunder struck moments after the lightning flashed in the night sky. The storm was upon them. It was moments like these that made Grace want to cuddle up by the fire with a blanket and a cup of coffee. I had no fire, I had no blanket, I had no coffee, and Leo was bleeding out.
"Fuck!" Grace yelled, dropping to the ground to help the man she had just met. She had just let one friend die. She wasn't about to lose this guy too. "Why didn't he tell us he was injured? What do we do?"
"Keep your voice down!" Noah said, frantically, gesturing toward the ground. "They can hear you. Normally, I'd rip off a piece of my shirt to make a tourniquet for the wound, but it's around the side of the body. No piece of my shirt could reach that far."
"Well, what … [view original content]
Chapter 5: Only Minutes Left
Grace Peters
The limbs of bushes and trees bounced up and down in the wind. The droplets of rain made a r… moreefreshing pitter-patter on the ground below them. The thunder struck moments after the lightning flashed in the night sky. The storm was upon them. It was moments like these that made Grace want to cuddle up by the fire with a blanket and a cup of coffee. I had no fire, I had no blanket, I had no coffee, and Leo was bleeding out.
"Fuck!" Grace yelled, dropping to the ground to help the man she had just met. She had just let one friend die. She wasn't about to lose this guy too. "Why didn't he tell us he was injured? What do we do?"
"Keep your voice down!" Noah said, frantically, gesturing toward the ground. "They can hear you. Normally, I'd rip off a piece of my shirt to make a tourniquet for the wound, but it's around the side of the body. No piece of my shirt could reach that far."
"Well, what … [view original content]
Comments
Nice chapter!
;_; sry Ashley
oh well
Well, the guy in the pickup truck down in the valley lived in her place, so it's one of those double determinant things. That's what I like about writing this. I'm only writing one version of the story, so I can have decisions freaking buttfuck the entire story.
I know the feeling ;D
No one's going to be saying decisions don't matter on this.
Chapter 4: The Black Death
Grace Peters
Sometimes people put up walls. Not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to knock them down. Grace had been guilty of doing this sometimes. It always either destroyed her relationships or put cement between the cracks. It irritated her when she built a wall and she wasn't standing in the rubble.
The man with the beard put his handgun back into its holster on his belt. "You gotta keep quiet." He told her. "You keep yelling like you were and you'll never survive out here."
"Wha-what do you mean, survive?" Grace asked the man, still shaken up from her friend lying dead on the ground. "Me and my friend... we were just driving down to the city..."
"No." He stated plainly. He pointed to the Ashley on the ground. Grace would be sad right now, but she was still so shaken up and confused that she didn't quite understand what was going on just yet. "I just came from there. You see that thing? There are hundreds, maybe thousands... and their numbers are growing by the minute."
He turned and began to down the hill towards the pickup at the bottom. Grace followed him closely behind. "Who are you calling thing? Her name is Ashley! She's my friend!"
"She was your friend." He corrected her with a long sigh. Grace felt the first of many tears begin to slide down her cheek. She looked back up to the top of the hill where Ashley lay dead. She still couldn't believe it had happened to her...There was a deep pit in her heart where her friend used to be...one that was never going to fill itself... "Ashley...This isn't real...I don't want it to be real..."
He refused to look her in the tearful eyes when he talked to her. "The important thing is to not let them get to you. They take a bite out of you and it's all over. You can call them whatever you like. A few of the people I knew have taken to calling them lurkers, biters, geeks, walkers... However, they're all dead now, so I'm not sure why that matters."
"Oh..." Grace wanted to pat the man on the shoulder, and attempt to comfort her, but instead she collapsed on the ground below her. She couldn't bear the pain of losing her best friend. She felt as though she couldn't bear anything anymore...
"I'm sorry." He put his hand on hers and helped her back up onto her feet. "They weren't my friends. I just knew them. I don't have any friends." He turned and looked her in they eyes. They were a shade of calming ocean blue. Grace could see a great pain in those eyes masked by his rugged appearance. She only assumed that same pain could be seen in her own. He sighed and paused a moment before letting go of her hand.
He began to walk towards the car and she ran to catch up with him, regaining the strength to act for herself. "You know, you never did tell me your name. Mine is Grace Peters." She told him as she wiped a few tears from her eye, wiping them on her pants.
"Name's Noah Sinclair." He said roughly. "Don't know my middle name, and don't need to. I lived on the street since I was young. I'm not sure I ever had parents. As I grew older, I hopped homes every now and then. The people who took me in always ended up kicking me out later. Tried to get jobs here and there, but that's pretty hard to do when you don't got a decent education. Since I was 18 I've been living out here in the forest. The city folk don't look too kindly on me, but I do okay. Travel down to the city every once in a while to get supplies and farming tools. How about yourself? Where do you come from?"
"I'm originally from a little town down the way, but I moved to Savannah for college." Grace began. "I suppose, in a way, I'm kind of like you. My parents died in a shootout when I was very young. I was raised by my godfather after that. I have to tell you though, he was a real piece of shit... I get jobs here and there, but they never seem to last."
"You know how to fire a gun?" Noah asked her.
"Well, no... I've never really tried. It can't be that hard, can it?"
He smiled and chuckled as he directed his eyes to the top of the hill. His laughter felt very unreal, against the midst of all this death. "You'll have to learn that right quick. One of these things? It's what saves your life from here on out."
"You're talking like this is the end of the world..." Grace squinted, trying to process everything that was going on. "Surely this whole pandemic thing will all pass over in a couple days...a couple weeks at the most."
"If we're lucky." Noah replied. "If what was happening down in Savannah is happening all over the world, then this is fucking huge. Even if it does pass over in a couple days...I don't think the world will ever be the same."
They arrived at the pickup truck had wrecked on the stone cliff side. The man inside had his head planted in an airbag. She saw the man's body shifting up and down slightly, breathing. Although she resented it, Grace felt a tinge of anger. Why did this man get to live while Ashley died? Then again, why did Grace get to live either? She just wanted Ashley back...
"I saw him on the way up to get you. You looked like you needed the help more. I'm sorry, by the way...for your friend..." Noah coddled me. "Who was she?"
"Her name was Ashley... and she was my best friend." Grace told him, tears condensing on her eyes once more. "She was always there for me... So in her final moments...I wanted to be there for her...
"She was bit." Noah stated plainly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... bitten. She was bitten. Scratched. anything that mixes their blood with yours will do the trick."
"No...I don't think so."
"She turned." He contradicted her. "One way or another, she was bitten, Grace. "That's how ya turn. But look, now that she's dead... I'm not dragging her anywhere. We would be sitting ducks."
Grace pointed at him angrily. "We have to bury her! It's only-"
Her statement was interrupted when, out of the corner of her eye, I saw the man in the chair's eyes flicker open. Great fear filled her head until the miracle happened. He turned to us and said, with a sort of monotone voice. "...What happened? Who are you people? What's going on?"
"Well, good morning sunshine." Noah crossed his arms, seeming pleased with himself for being able to save this man that was sitting alive in his chair. "I thought he was bit too.
Grace ran over to him and unbuckled her seatbelt. "My name is Grace and this is Noah. We have to go now. Everything's gonna be all right."
She put her arms under her the man's weak-looking ones and helped to lift him onto his feet. He gasped in pain. He looked up into the sky and seemed to notice that night had fallen. "What time is it?" He asked anxiously.
"Around 7:30." Grace replied.
He wiped his forehead in irritation. "I missed my doctor's appointment! Logan's gonna kill me!"
"I think we have more pressing matters than your appointment right now." Grace told him. "And there are plenty of other things that want to kill you. C'mon, get up." She pulled on him and the man managed to stand up straight.
"Grace, what's going on?" The man asked.
"I'll explain when we get down to the city. What's your name, by the way?"
"Leo...Leo Douglas." He replied, still vaguely confused about the situation. Leo Douglas was tall, had dark sandy blonde hair pulled back as far it could go. His cheek structure was very adamant, and his eyes were full of intrigue. One thing Grace could say is the man was very attractive under the various cuts and bruises.
Grace started to walk in the direction of Ashley's car at the top of the hill, with her arm around Leo, helping him to hobble along. Noah placed his hand on their shoulders and stopped them. "We're not going to the city."
"What do you mean, 'we're not going to the city?'" Leo shot back at him. "That's where I'm going."
"You were driving away from the city..." Grace told him, slightly confused.
"There was too bad of a traffic jam." He replied. "I was going to find a way around.
"There's too many monsters down there." Noah told them through his teeth. "I barely made it out alive, and with you in the condition you are, there's no way you'd be able to."
Leo turned to him and squinted, narrow-eyed. "I'm going to get to the city. I have family there. If we don't go, they'll wonder where I am."
"What do you propose we do?" Grace asked Noah.
"I don't know." He shrugged. "We wander around and find some shelter... We go anywhere but the city."
"The city is where all the medicine and supplies are." Grace argued. "That's why we were going down there in the first place. I know people down there too. We have to find them."
Noah sighed and pulled the gun out of his holster. He held it in his hands and showed it to them. "You see this gun?" He said. "This gun has killed 49 of those things so far, and I didn't make a dent. They're crawling the streets. We can't go down there."
"You...you killed people?" Leo asked, looking back to Grace with an intense expression of distress.
"If I hadn't, I would not be here right now, boy." Noah snapped back at him.
Grace sighed and turned to the man they had just met. "Is there any way you could...call them or something? Make sure they're okay, or find a place outside of the city to meet up?"
"Phone lines are down." He informed us. "Have been since an hour ago."
Leo looked Grace dead in the eye. The deep blue in the man's looked very persuading. Grace couldn't help but blush. It was clear Leo was not going to back out of this. He knew where his heart was. "Grace..." He started. "I don't know what's going on out there, but from what you two are saying, I can tell it's dangerous. I am willing to take the risk. We're going down there. I have to find my family."
[A. Side with Noah.]
[B. Side with Leo.]
[A. Side with Noah.]
I'd really love to help Leo, but with the condition he's in, and how bad the cities seem to be, it'd be extremely unsafe to risk anything.
[Side with Noah]
Great chapter!
[B. Side with Leo.] It´s more interesting and Gary could be there. We should them him about Ashley being dead or something
Awesome Chapter!!
RIP Ashley
She will live on in our hearts.
I planned it out guys, and if I keep writing at the rate I'm writing, and take the month breaks I'm taking between parts of the book, I won't be finished with this until at least after Minecraft is finished. Season 3 might be well underway!
Month breaks? Wot
I'm practically selling my soul to this book right now. If I'm going to take breaks, I'll split it up at the parts. Besides, it might take longer than a month just to get Part 1 done.
I have to adequately portray each of the characters. It's not like Game of Thrones where it's one story spanned over multiple characters. It's pretty much just an episode 1 for each of the characters.
Okay, okay, it's fine. I understand, I don't know, I was just a bit confused as to when the breaks would be. I can understand you needing a break
Lol yeah. I'll actually keep the 4-6 week time frame though :P
Sweet
Yeah haha.
Offscreen [B. Side with Leo.]
[ C. Side with Tise.]
I'll take the time to actually read this and give you a serious answer later.
[A. Side with Noah]
Who is Tise? lol
One offscreen [A. Side with Noah.] and two offscreen [B. Side with Leo.]
[B. Side with Leo.]
55% of readers chose to [B. Side with Leo.]
Grace looked the man straight in the eyes and couldn't say no. He had to find his family. She wasn't going to be the one to separate a man from his family. She rotated around to face Noah and stated in a plain voice, "We're going down to the city."
Noah looked her in the eyes and sighed. He turned to Leo and got the same reaction from him. He could tell that he was now in the minority. "Fine." He spoke. "We'll go down to the city, but we have to make a few stops first...be prepared. You think you're gonna waltz right into town find those people you're looking for? Think again."
Leo shot Grace a glance, and she nodded. He hadn't seen the monster that used to be her best friend. He hadn't been exposed yet. He seemed to trust Grace's word more than Noah's. "Ok." He said, clutching his side in pain. "We'll run your fucking errands."
"Great." Noah smiled, turning around to point down the road in the direction we were originally headed. "I saw there was a small town a few miles up. It's gotta have a hardware store or something we can use for weapons. A little bit of food would be nice too. It's been a couple days though...Damn place is probably picked to the bone."
"Weapons?" Leo asked, with a certain fear in his eye. "Like guns? What would we use those for?"
"The plague." Noah stated. "I don't know where you've been for the past few days, but you get sick and you die. You don't stay dead, though, oh no! That would be too easy. You come back as a hollow, vicious flesh-eating shell of what you once were. And those...the dead...are flooding the streets of Savannah. They aren't showing any signs of slowing. And that, boy, is why we need guns."
Leo's skin turned an odd shade of green. "I don't feel so hot." He said.
"Really?" Grace asked. "What's wrong?"
"My stomach hurts...and I'm a little bit light-headed."
"Light-headed?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow. "Good. Not a symptom of the virus. You get sick? The first think you're going to feel is intense headaches."
"How do you know that?" Grace asked him, looking up from Leo for a moment.
"Told you already." Noah responded simply, focusing his gaze just above hers. "The people I knew. They're all dead. How do you think they went?"
Grace wanted to tell the man sorry, but with the reaction the intense grief she'd just experienced, she didn't think that was a good idea. She didn't want to hear the word sorry. It had only been a few minutes, and Grace was already starting to want to push the feelings from her mind. She didn't want to think about Ashley anymore. However, no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't get the image of Ashley's dead face dragging itself toward her own.
She simply stayed silent and let Noah sigh his feelings away like she so desperately wished to do. He was clearly trying to sell her the tough guy act, but Grace could see straight through it. Inside that shell hardened by the world was just a guy trying to bear too much pain on his shoulders. She walked up behind him and placed the hand that was not sprained onto his shoulder and patted him. She wanted to let him know that he didn't have to be alone.
As the two of them had their small moment together, a small buzzing noise could be heard from inside the car. "What's that?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know..." Grace replied. She walked to the passenger side of Ashley's car and gazed in through the busted out window. In her seat, there was her pink-encased smartphone with small glitter particles ingrained. Ashley always was that kind of person...always cheerful...glittery... She had been sitting on it. Grace grabbed up the vibrating phone and pressed the button on it, lighting it up. The screen was cracked, just like every other piece of glass in this car. It read, "new voicemail." Grace opened her phone and listened to what the phone had to say hesitantly.
"Ashley, hey!" It was Gary. Grace knew the voice very well from when they would talk on the speaker phone in the afternoons. It felt like weights on her shoulders as she realized, Ashley would never get this message. "I don't know why you're not responding to my calls, but I've gotten myself into a bit of trouble. I may not be able to make our lunch. Ashley... I love you..."
As soon as the man spoke those last three words, Grace broke down sobbing. So much had happened in the last hour. She couldn't believe any of it. A tidal wave of emotion surged over her. Why did it have to be this way? Why did Ashley have to go. When she set the phone back down in the car, she felt as though she were saying goodbye to her dear friend for the last time. It was a terrible feeling...one of dread and remorse. Grace ran her hand over the thin scar across her neck. She'd only felt this kind of emotion once before...
She picked up Ashley's phone one last time and went into her contact list. She picked her own name out and hit the send message button. She selected a picture of the two of them with their arms around each other from two years ago. Their college graduation... When the message failed to send, Grace found herself weeping a small amount. She wanted to take the phone with her, as something to remember her friend by, but she also wanted to honor her death. She sucked in her gut and set the phone back down in the driver's seat and stood up, ready to forget.
"Guys...I'm not..." Leo started, his eyes bouncing open and closed. He looked down at his stomach and removed his hand from his side. His black business suit was now stained red with blood. His hand was dripping. "Oh God..." His eyes closed slowly and he collapsed to the ground. As his head hit the pavement, so did Grace's heartbeat.
End of Chapter 4
Wow... O.o is Leo dead?? Goddamn...so intense.
wot Leo have hole in belly/abdomen this is sad
Leo's not dead. He passed out.
Chapter 5: Only Minutes Left
Grace Peters
The limbs of bushes and trees bounced up and down in the wind. The droplets of rain made a refreshing pitter-patter on the ground below them. The thunder struck moments after the lightning flashed in the night sky. The storm was upon them. It was moments like these that made Grace want to cuddle up by the fire with a blanket and a cup of coffee. I had no fire, I had no blanket, I had no coffee, and Leo was bleeding out.
"Fuck!" Grace yelled, dropping to the ground to help the man she had just met. She had just let one friend die. She wasn't about to lose this guy too. "Why didn't he tell us he was injured? What do we do?"
"Keep your voice down!" Noah said, frantically, gesturing toward the ground. "They can hear you. Normally, I'd rip off a piece of my shirt to make a tourniquet for the wound, but it's around the side of the body. No piece of my shirt could reach that far."
"Well, what do we do?"
He bent down and put his hands underneath Leo, lifting him into the air. "I'm guessing you don't have any giant pieces of cloth in that car of yours?"
"No. I don't." Grace answered.
"Then we're booking it down the road. First house we see, we're breaking in and finding a blanket. I've seen my fair share of wounds like this before. I say we got about half an hour before he's gone." He started to walk down the road, and Grace followed him.
"That's breaking and entering!" She argued. "You do know that's illegal, right?"
"Grace, there ain't no law anymore." He told her. "Not after what I saw down in the city. And if the police force is still trying to enforce the law, then us breaking into a small house in the middle of nowhere is not their biggest concern right now."
Grace shrugged. It felt strange that she was willingly going along with a plan that involved breaking into someone's house. But right now, it was become a robber or lose Leo, and she wasn't about to lose Leo, no matter how little she knew him. "Fine." She sighed. "We'll break into some house, but we're taking a blanket. That's it."
"You may change your mind once you get there." He continued. "Trust me; the concept of stealing is not a new sensation to me. You're inside a house, and you see something you need, you take it. Don't matter if it's wrong or not. You need it. They'll do fine without it. And in these times, you'd be a damn fool not to take it."
"I'm only stealing the blanket." Grace said with a certain confidence, one that would not leave her voice. "Now let's go." She gestured toward the road, and they continued running. She started to feel wheezy, but pushed harder. She was never a runner. She had to keep reminding herself, that she was doing this to save Leo's life. Every step she took was for him. Every step was for staying alive. Grace turned her head away from the blackness of the asphalt to the raindrops falling from the sky. It was much easier to run faster if she wasn't looking at the ground.
"Can you load the gun for me?" Noah asked her between gasps of air. "Just take it out of the holster there. There are rounds in the backpack."
"Sure." She said, withdrawing a huge breath. She reached her arm over and grabbed the gun out of his belt. It was heavier than she thought it would be...more metallic...more unfeeling...more deadly. She slowed down a small bit and ran behind him. It felt awkward trying to unzip his backpack while running, but she managed it. She reached into its cloth frame and pulled out and handful of rounds.
"Good." He told her, pulling his arms up to try to find a more decent way to hold the man in his arms. "Now pull the bottom out of the handle." Grace did as he instructed, and pulled the empty chamber out of the bottom of the gun. She put six bullets into it and clicked it back into place. The gun was loaded. "Okay." He huffed. "The rest is simple. Pull the top back until it clicks, aim and pull the trigger."
"Wait..." She breathed. "You're not actually going to make me shoot this thing!"
"Now's as good a time as any to learn." He argued. "Told you already. That thing's what saves your life from here on out. Yes. I'm going to make you shoot it." He looked down to Leo. "My shootin' arm's a bit occupied at the moment."
Grace shrugged. He made good points. They ran for a couple more minutes before she spotted something moving in the woods. As they drew closer, she heard the watery groan grow louder. It was a similar sound to the one she heard from Ashley's mouth. It was what Noah called a lurker, and it was approaching us slowly. As it stepped out of the forest and into the light, Grace saw that the bottom half of its jaw was missing. The plaid shirt it wore was bloody and in tatters. On impulse, she pointed the loaded gun at the monster.
"No!" Noah shouted. "They move very slowly. We'll outrun him. You'd be wasting the shot." Grace agreed and put the gun back down at her side to continue running. As they passed the dead man, she shot a quick glance behind her into its colorless, dead eyes. It looked sad. Grace was sure that she did as well through the streams of tears still flowing like a faucet down her cheeks.
They plowed through half of the time Noah estimated they had left running down the road, looking for a house. Grace thanked God when they spotted a small mailbox in the thick of the forest. They immediately turned in onto the gravel road. There was a small cabin at the end of the path. It's roof was slanted at an odd angle. The windows were all circular and made with stained glass. From what Grace could tell, the home looked to be custom built. There was a truck parked in front of the garage. It looked as though it hadn't withstood the years all too well. The rust covered more of the frame than the paint did.
They arrived at the door soaking wet from the rain, and with not much time left. Grace was walking ahead of Noah, so she reached out and knocked on the door. After waiting a couple seconds, Noah spoke up. "Out of the way." He said in a gruff tone. He climbed the steps, lifted his leg in the air, and with a mighty heave, kicked the door in.
Noah had opened the doorway into a very dark room. Grace raised her gun in the air with caution. In the center of the room was a man poised in a chair. There was a television across from him playing static. It was the only light source in the room. She tried to turn on the light, but to her surprise, the power was out. "No!" She shouted. "We don't have time for this shit!"
Noah sighed. "C'mon, we'll work in the dark." He began to run throughout the house, checking the doors in the hall across the room for beds with sheets. He didn't bother to even use the doorknobs, simply kicking his way into the rooms. "If that guy moves, take care of him." He called back from the hallway.
A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, and Grace could make out the situation. There was a hole in the man's head, and a gun on the floor next to him. "Hey!" She called, holding her gun shakily in the air. "You getting up?" She waited for a few seconds before lowering her gun and her guard. This man was completely dead.
"Grace!" Noah called from the room in the hallway. "I found a sheet! I need you in here!"
"Okay!" Grace started to run towards the sound of his voice, but caught her hand on a wall. She slowly turned around to take one last look at the dead man. His eyes were forever pointed in her direction. She could feel them stare at her with intense accusation. Grace looked away. She couldn't bear any more pain with the death of her friend so close behind. She looked down directly next to him, at the gun in a pool of blood on the ground. It had been the instrument of his demise.
Noah was right. This was a very hard choice. That man didn't need it anymore. Why should such a valuable thing like a gun just sit on the floor? Grace turned her body around to match her eyes. Then again...She had never stolen anything before. Even from a dead man, stealing seemed wrong. Her eyes shot back and forth between the gun on the ground and the door to Leo's room.
[A. Walk away.]
[B. Take the gun.]
Oh...that's still not good, though.
No it is not haha.
Leo's belly is crying
[B. Take the gun.]
Lol yeah, when I came across this choice last time, literally everyone took the gun.
[B. Take the gun.]
BTW GRACE AND LEO XOXOXOX
curios was happen if you walk away...
no no no he is pregnant !!!
Damn...you figured it out...