Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something about the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not funny!" Isaac shouted with intense fear in his expression. None of the rest of them could comprehend what had the man so spooked. "This...is not funny, it's dangerous! I don't know...what the thing out there is...but it's not Mrs. Ottwell!"
"Her mouth is moving! And she's not saying any words!" Rosalyn laughed, stuttering a bit. She'd only been this drunk twice before. The first time was on their twenty-first birthday, and the second was the first time she ever drank. Neither of those times he she gotten drunk on wine.
Isaac looked very confused and scared. None of the people in their apartment really knew why. "You guys...gotta believe me! We're in danger!"
"Well, why don't we go outside and have a look?" Larry asked, seeming pleased with his own suggestion. Anna nodded and stood up, walking toward the door along with them. Rosalyn thought this was a good idea. They could say hello to Mrs. Ottwell while they were at it.
Isaac pinned himself to the door and the hard knocking against the other side only grew louder. "No!" He shouted, wiping the spit from his lip. The fear in his eye grew as the three of them surrounded him. "You can't...go out there! We're in danger!"
"What kind of danger are we in?" Anna hiccuped. She lurched forward, trying to look out the window. "Let me see!"
"Rose!" He shouted, staying pinned to the door. Rosalyn's annoyance grew, as her urge grew to pry her brother from the doorway. Mrs. Ottwell just wanted to come in and drink with them... "Remember all those times...those times when you protected me? Now...now I'm returning the favor."
"How are you protecting me by keeping me prisoner in my own home?" Rosalyn frowned. She couldn't think of one thing about this situation that made Issac's reaction sensible. "LET ME OUT!"
The scratching of fingernails on the wood outside the door became harder and louder. Rosalyn heard a sort of groan on the other side. Mrs. Ottwell must really have wanted in. "I'm not...letting you guys out! There's a monster out there! You're all...fucking drunk!"
"Let us out, asshole!" Larry yelled at him, walking forward slowly.
Rosalyn watched as her brother reached behind him and fiddled with something on the door. Isaac swiftly rushed away and dodged behind them as they lunged for the door. Rosalyn fumbled with the doorknob, but was annoyed to find it was locked. "Isaac!" She yelled. "You can't keep me in her forever!"
"No...not forever..." Isaac replied. "Just as long as...as you want your damn wine."
Rosalyn turned to see Isaac holding his arm out of the window, gripping the half-empty bottle of wine in his clutches. They were on the second story. Dropping it would surely shatter the glass. All that wonderful wine...gone. "Isaac!" Rosalyn shouted at him. "Put the bottle down!"
Isaac frowned in a determined way. Rosalyn had only ever seen this kind of emotion on her brother once before, when he had decided he wasn't going to fail a math test in high school. He not only passed it...he aced it. She was just confused why he was displaying this emotion now. "Rose...I'll give you back your wine, if you...if you promise not to open that door."
Rosalyn laughed. "Okay. Come on, guys." She gestured to Anna and Larry, who were having trouble with the lock. Eventually, they gave up and returned to the table in the center of the room. "It's not like it's the end of the world, Isaac. That Oberson nutjob made that very clear. Now give us back the wine!"
"Actually..." Isaac started, staring down into the bottle at the alcohol inside. He looked outside and a look of horror spanned across his face. "I think it is..."
Anna frowned, trying to process what he had said. "That's just nonsense, man. Don't let that guy fool you into thinking it's the end of the world. It's just...it's just..." She trailed off and took her last sip of wine from her glass.
"Stop!" Isaac shouted at her. "Not...not...not one more drink! You guys are all...sitting here in this apartment until you're sober... I don't know why you don't believe me... but you're safer in her than... out there..."
"Can't I just have one more?" Larry asked extending his glass to Isaac, waiting for it to be filled.
Isaac looked angry. Rosalyn had never seen her brother angry before. She thought this was all just a big misunderstanding. Maybe they could sit and talk about it over a drink... That thought was interrupted when Isaac grabbed hold of Larry's glass, ran over to the window and chucked it from the second story as far as he could. Larry jumped up in anger. "You fucking loser! I was going to drink out of that!"
"You aren't...going to drink out of anything... All of you are going to sit there in those chairs... until you're sober. And none of you...none of you are going to argue with me." Isaac made a tossing motion towards the window with the wine in hand. "Any of you try to open the door...the wine gets thrown out... It gets thrown out. You...got that?"
"Isaac... Give us back the wine..." Rosalyn complained.
This time, Isaac didn't respond to his sister's statement. He sat down beside them on the kitchen table and gestured down to the chess set, still partially set up from the last game. "Anyone...want to play again?"
Rosalyn crossed her arms and stared back into the eyes of her twin, menacingly. Why was he being so mean to them. He was holding them prisoner in her own house. He wouldn't let Mrs. Ottwell in no matter how many times she knocked, and he was keeping the wine all to himself. Isaac had never been this selfish... Rosalyn didn't understand.
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
Well, had they heard of the state of emergency, or heard anything on the news? Because if I heard about that on the news I'd think it would be pretty stupid to get drunk xD
Honestly I'm kind of disappointed they were unaware, or gullibe(assuming they knew somewhat about what was going on) enough to get drunk. Hoping that it turns out okay, but I know there's no way they're gonna sit around until they're sober lmao
Well, that's always been in Rosalyn's personality. She doesn't really pay attention to the news, and she doesn't give in easily to peer pressure. She's the rebellious type of person.
Well, had they heard of the state of emergency, or heard anything on the news? Because if I heard about that on the news I'd think it would … morebe pretty stupid to get drunk xD
Honestly I'm kind of disappointed they were unaware, or gullibe(assuming they knew somewhat about what was going on) enough to get drunk. Hoping that it turns out okay, but I know there's no way they're gonna sit around until they're sober lmao
Well, that's always been in Rosalyn's personality. She doesn't really pay attention to the news, and she doesn't give in easily to peer pressure. She's the rebellious type of person.
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something abou… moret the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not fun… [view original content]
The vote was closed, but yeah, that's what's going to happen anyway :P
Edit: On second thought, I suppose I can factor your vote into the tally. It won't change the outcome.
Yeah haha. That's fine though. This choice didn't really feel like it was all that great anyway. I didn't really know how to make an powerful choice with them being under the influence and all.
Hey guys, sorry I didn't get an upload today, but I've been really busy. I'll be riding in the car a lot the next few days and I'll be doing a lot of writing, so there's that.
Hey guys, sorry I didn't get an upload today, but I've been really busy. I'll be riding in the car a lot the next few days and I'll be doing a lot of writing, so there's that.
75% of readers chose to [C. Set up the chess board.]
Rosalyn began shakily placing the black pieces on the chessboard back in their respective spots. As she did so, she curiously watched the wine in Isaac's hand. She wanted more, but he wouldn't give her any, and she didn't know why. "All right, let's play your game." She spoke to him as he set the wine down on the ground below him.
"Okay..." He smiled. "See? Not drinking...isn't so bad. I've done it...my whole life."
"Getting drunk is fun." Larry argued from across the table, leaning in to watch the chess game play out.
Isaac frowned back at him. "Getting drunk...will get you killed. We're safe...in here... And until you're...until you're sober and can see that, you're...you're staying here."
"You can't keep us in here." Anna said, her eyes shooting around throughout the room, trying to find something she hadn't stared at in wonder yet. This time, her eyes fell upon the paint peeling off the wall in the corner of the room.
Isaac took his knight by its head and moved it out onto the white space between it and the queen. Rosalyn shook her head. She'd never seen him use that move before... "I can and I will..." He told her, gesturing to his sister to make her move.
Rosalyn took the pawn in front of her queen and moved it out two spaces, accidentally knocking down its pawn brothers beside it. It took her longer than it should have to set them back up on their bases. That was one thing Rosalyn didn't enjoy about the feeling of being drunk. She never could use her hands in the way she wanted to. Her motor skills became very poor. It was always a strange occurance for her... While she was sober, her hands were her most versatile tool. "It's your move." She told him.
They went back and forth for hours. It was the longest game of chess they'd ever played against each other. There was a point when Rosalyn thought she had won, but Isaac moved out a pawn to block her queen from its prize. With every move that passed by, Rosalyn's sanity inched back to her. Halfway through the game, Rosalyn got up to go to the bathroom, and a lot of the alcohol in her bloodstream streamed out of her.
She looked up towards the ceiling while she was on the toilet, after feeling a drop of water hit her from above. There was a slight leak in the ceiling. The guy above her must have been overflowing the bath again... She felt a varying amount of annoyance. She had had to get her ceiling redone four times because of that guy.
When she came back to the game, she found Anna and Larry passed out on the couch, and Isaac sitting across from her seat at the table, waiting patiently to finish their game. Mrs. Ottwell had stopped clawing at the door, but Rosalyn didn't remember when she had stopped. She must not have wanted in anymore.
"Isaac, are you really going to make us wait here until we're completely sober?" Rosalyn asked him, able to converse her thoughts more clearly now. "That will take days..."
"Yeah...It will." Isaac replied, adamant in his position. After that, Rosalyn simply gave up at trying to sway her brother. He wasn't going to budge.
She took her bishop and moved it three spaces towards the top right corner. "Check!" She exclaimed, as she saw his king wide in the open within her piece's attack range. "Do you remember that time in elementary school, when I locked you in the bathroom, pretending you were prisoner and I was a police woman?"
"Of course... I remember." He replied, moving his King a space to the right behind his knight. "I was...I was in there for an hour...yelling for you...yelling for you to let me out."
"This is payback for that time, isn't it?" She asked him, certain she had discovered the cause. "You're locking me up in my room like I locked you up in yours."
Isaac seemed hurt. "No, Rose... I'm locking you...up in here, because I want you...I want to protect you." The way he said these words reminded her of the man who had stood above them outside. He wanted to protect her... and from the speech Oberson gave...so did he... Rosalyn was tired of being forced around. She only wanted to be free for once. "Do...do you want to see what...what I'm protecting you from?"
"Yes...please..." Rosalyn answered him, accidentally knocking over a few of the chess pieces while she stood up. "Please show me what hell is pouring into the streets."
Isaac led her over to the window and pointed out of it. "Rose...you know we... don't believe in hell..."
When Rosalyn peered out the window of her apartment, her eyes widened. Outside, down only a story below where the four of them rested, hundreds upon hundreds of people were flowing in an easterly direction down the street. She still couldn't make out who any of them were, but she could hear the faint groaning noises echoing from each of their flailing jaws. "Who the fuck are they?" She asked her brother.
"I think...I think they're all dead, Rose." He replied, looking down upon the herd of people in the street with his own eyes, dashing between each and every one of them.
Rosalyn raised her eyebrows. Just the idea of what had suggested was preposterous. There was no common sense in what he was saying. "Don't make yourself sound so damn stupid, Isaac. Do dead people get up and walk around?"
"They don't."
"Do dead people speak?"
"They don't..."
"Do the dead...waltz through the streets of Savannah at night like a goddamn 4th of July parade?"
"No, Rose...They don't."
Rosalyn shook her head, not unlocking her eye contact with her brother. The two had the same eyes. They got that from their father. That was the only thing they ever got from their father. "Then they aren't dead."
"Yes, Rose...they are..." He pointed out the window at the parade passing by. "You never believe me...believe me when you're drunk. But...I'm asking you to now... This is important..."
Rosalyn sighed angrily. "You're just as crazy as that psychic fuck out in the streets."
Isaac seemed very hurt by the words spoken from his sister's mouth. His eyes welled up with tears. Rosalyn was always the one shielding his ears from these words. She was never the one actually telling them. She was a defender... But she wasn't defending. She couldn't understand any of these things under the influence, and that was one of the reasons Rosalyn enjoyed being drunk. She had much less to deal with...
A couple of moments after she said this to Isaac, she heard a creak in the ceiling above the bathroom. "What was...what was that?" He asked.
"I don't...know..." After her statement, the wet ceiling gave weigh under its weight. A hunk of white and red came crashing down into the apartment above the door. There was a ceramic bathtub sitting in the middle of the room, and inside was a man. He was Mr. Fredericks from upstairs. He had his blood-soaked clothes on. He was holding an little microwave with an extension cord attached to the wall. Rosalyn inched closer to him and realized he was dead. The water was still pouring down into the apartment from the faucet upstairs, wetting down her living room.
"See..." Isaac smiled, glaring down at the dead man soaking the floor with water and blood. "The dead speak..."
Rosalyn wasn't disgusted, or frightened...but more intrigued. The dead man in front of her began to open its eyes and groan in a long watery sigh, as if he was gargling some of the water in the tub. She turned around to see if Anna and Larry had woken up to see what had happened, but they were both out. They must be very heavy sleepers. "Hey Mr. Fredericks. You ruined my ceiling again." She spoke to the dead man. "This time, paying for this is gonna break you."
The dead man's attention slowly turned to the woman speaking to him and he clumsily stood up out of his bathtub. Rosalyn didn't find the chomping as hilarious as she found it before, but instead, she found it very strange...and unsettling. "Can you...talk?" Isaac asked him.
He responded to Isaac's words with gargling moan noises of his own. He stumbled out of the bath tub towards them and Isaac began to inch backwards towards the corner of the room that had been the least wet down by the splash of water. Rosalyn stood tall. As the dead man approached her, she simply stared him in his lazy, colorless eyes, and saw a kind of sadness in them. She felt very empathetic towards the man, yet she didn't know why.
The dead man brought his face toward her, but she placed her hand on his shoulder and pushed him harshly away. He almost fell over, but then continued pursuing Rosalyn as he simply kept performing the same actions time after time again. Rosalyn felt very intrigued by this man. She wasn't afraid of him as Isaac was. She felt sorry for him.
"Rosalyn!" Isaac shouted frantically. She grabbed the dead man by his left shoulder and looked right into his face. She looked very hard for consciousness inside of him, but couldn't find any. He began to bring his face toward her arm, and something inside her seemed to click. She realized this man was not a man anymore, but a monster. And somehow, she knew, if she let it get to her, she would not be there to protect Isaac anymore. She couldn't let that happen.
With a jolt, she grabbed the dead man by the throat and threw it hard behind her toward the ground. She walked up next to its face and watched as it continued to try to get up and bite her. Even now, she was not afraid of this thing...and she knew this courage did not come from the wine, it came from her own force of will. It felt good... She felt free...
At last, someone was trying to hurt her and Isaac. She'd waited for a long time for an excuse to be able to beat something up. She began to laugh. She was going to enjoy this.
"Rose! What...what are you doing?!" Isaac shouted.
Rosalyn took the dead man by the neck and picked it back up onto the ground. It clawed at her with its rotting fingers, but with its head in her clasp, it couldn't do anything with its teeth. "Mr. Fredericks! Are you in there?!" She attempted to get his attention in a last resort. It didn't work. He was gone. Any normal person would have been shaken up at a neighbor's death. She wasn't...
"Hey Isaac. My gun. It's under the sink lodged in the pipes. Go get it." She told him. She never told anyone about that gun. She kept it for safety, yet not even her own twin brother knew she kept it there. He only hesitated for a moment before rushing back into the kitchen.
"What's going on...?" Anna started to speak, rising from her place beside her boyfriend, who still hadn't awoken. Her eyes fell upon the dead man I was pinning to the ground. "What the hell is that?"
"It's dead." Rosalyn sighed. "That's all I know."
"Dead? Like dead dead?" She didn't sound like she understood. Rosalyn didn't blame her. She didn't understand either. She rubbed her forehead hard. Her blonde hair hung in strands all over her face. "My head hurts..." That was the part Rosalyn didn't like about getting drunk...the hangover... She would surely be having one soon.
Isaac returned with a Glock 19 in hand. He extended his arm shakily in fear to his sister and she took it from him. She pressed it hard against its head. Her hand shook too, but not from fear. "Rosalyn... Don't! It's Fredericks!"
"Not anymore..." Rosalyn felt the alcohol washing out of her mind by the second. The adrenaline made her feel more alert...more alive... She picked it up by its throat and held it by the head out of the window. "I'm giving you one more chance, you son of a bitch! You talk to me! Give me some way I know you're still there, and this gun comes down." The dead man only groaned in response.
"Rose...don't!" Isaac shouted. Rosalyn glanced back at him and saw fear in his face. Fear she wouldn't allow herself to have.
"Are you seriously going to shoot that guy?" Anna asked, expressing the same concern. "He didn't do anything to-"
Rosalyn blew a hole the size of her fist in Mr. Frederick's face.
"Fuck!" Anna yelled, jumping up onto her feet. "What did you do?"
Isaac's face of fear turned to one of shock. "Rose...you didn't... How could you...how could you do something like that?!"
Rosalyn stared into the ruined face of the man who had lived upstairs and pushed it as far out the window as she could until he tumbled to the ground. After he fell out of her tunnel vision, she saw the masses of dead people in the street had changed directions. They were all funneling their way into the door to their apartment... drawn to the gunshot...
These things were dangerous... Hell would be flowing through the streets... They were dangerous. Rosalyn understood that now. She remembered what she had spoken to her brother only minutes before. Her eyes began to well up with tears. She realized how terrible she had been to him. He was protecting her... and all she could think about was her damn wine...
Rosalyn ran up and wrapped her arms around her brother. He hesitantly hugged her back, not understanding what was going on. "I'm so sorry, Isaac!" She cried into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry..."
75% of readers chose to [C. Set up the chess board.]
Rosalyn began shakily placing the black pieces on the chessboard back in their res… morepective spots. As she did so, she curiously watched the wine in Isaac's hand. She wanted more, but he wouldn't give her any, and she didn't know why. "All right, let's play your game." She spoke to him as he set the wine down on the ground below him.
"Okay..." He smiled. "See? Not drinking...isn't so bad. I've done it...my whole life."
"Getting drunk is fun." Larry argued from across the table, leaning in to watch the chess game play out.
Isaac frowned back at him. "Getting drunk...will get you killed. We're safe...in here... And until you're...until you're sober and can see that, you're...you're staying here."
"You can't keep us in here." Anna said, her eyes shooting around throughout the room, trying to find something she hadn't stared at in wonder yet. This time, her eyes fell upon the pain… [view original content]
75% of readers chose to [C. Set up the chess board.]
Rosalyn began shakily placing the black pieces on the chessboard back in their res… morepective spots. As she did so, she curiously watched the wine in Isaac's hand. She wanted more, but he wouldn't give her any, and she didn't know why. "All right, let's play your game." She spoke to him as he set the wine down on the ground below him.
"Okay..." He smiled. "See? Not drinking...isn't so bad. I've done it...my whole life."
"Getting drunk is fun." Larry argued from across the table, leaning in to watch the chess game play out.
Isaac frowned back at him. "Getting drunk...will get you killed. We're safe...in here... And until you're...until you're sober and can see that, you're...you're staying here."
"You can't keep us in here." Anna said, her eyes shooting around throughout the room, trying to find something she hadn't stared at in wonder yet. This time, her eyes fell upon the pain… [view original content]
Isaac getting smarter wow
"We're safe...in here..."
"I think...I think they're all dead, Rose."
"because I want you...I want to pro… moretect you"
Rosalyn must look like this
"Rosalyn took the dead man by the neck and picked it back up onto the ground."
or maybe I image she is like this ome kind of gym drunk gangsta
Grace awoke to screams of agony. They were distant, but nonetheless present. As they faded away into the morning, she sighed. As much as she didn't want to believe it, this world had taken another life in its clutches. She wished she had woken up to her own circadian rhythm, but she knew that such a feat wouldn't be common anymore.
Grace liked to sleep. The last time she had slept for less than five hours was during college. She had never wanted to go back, but with the way things were turning out, she really didn't have any choice. She ran her hand through her thick brown hair and attempted to scrub out the dirt and grime. It was no use. There was more there than she could ever brush out. She swung her feet off the bed and onto the ground. Yawning, she glanced to the left. A small digital alarm clock sat there. The face was blank. The power was out. It was never coming back on.
Last night had been a disaster. With Leo almost dying from blood loss, and finding a dead couple in the house, Grace tried as hard as she could to forget yesterday. Noah and her had hauled the bodies of the man and the woman out of the house shortly after they found them. It was only then she realized how tired she was and passed out on the floor. Noah must have put her in the bed. She looked to the ceiling. A length of rope hung there; the rope that had previously hung the bitten woman.
She reached to the other side of her bed and grabbed her phone. She turned it on momentarily, half-expecting there to be some sort of notification. When there wasn't, she felt a bit empty. This was the first time in a long line of mornings that she woke up with not so much as a text. It was still at 87% battery. She knew it wasn't going to have much use now, but she kept it anyway. It reminded her of home.
She swung her feet off the bed and onto the floor. With her drowsiness, she found it difficult to hobble to the door and creak it open. She walked slowly through the hallway. Now that the sun was up, Grace could see that the floral wallpaper was peeling off the sides of the wall. The floor creaked under her. This was a fine piece of land before the dead got up.
She passed the bed where Leo lay resting. She strode into the room slowly and watched him breathe. His skin was pale and Grace could see the veins beneath his skin, but with everything she had been through, just the fact that his breath remained constant was a miracle. The blanket tied tightly around his side had effectively stopped the bleeding. She could only see a slight stain of blood in the top layer. Grace smiled. She felt terrible for chuckling, but she found it ironic that this was the first she had slept away from her bedroom for years. Leo was going to make it. We had come too far to stop here.
Ashley's death felt like a million years ago. It had only been a few hours, but after the night's rest, her death only felt of a faint memory. Grace felt guilty for giving her up so early. She was still sad, mourning every time she thought about her, but now, she no longer had tears streaming down her face. It made her feel dirty...
Noah was gone. Grace walked into the living room and noticed that the makeshift bed Noah had crafted out of couch cushions was empty. She found it rather sweet that he was willing to to let me sleep in the bed while he was out here with no way to keep warm. He told me her was used to it, that he slept like that every day. His time in the forest had taught him that he doesn't need a blanket to sleep. "Humans have been sleeping for thousands of years." He had said. "Just because I ain't comfortable don't mean I ain't gonna go to sleep."
Grace sat down in the chair the dead man had shot himself in. It seemed to be the only comfortable chair in the house. Only a portion of the fabric was soiled with blood, so she leaned to the left in order to avoid it.
She glanced out the window at the trees flowing in the wind. The drops of rain that had filled the sky during last night's storm now sat on the leaves as morning dew. The sun sat behind them, greeting the morning. For a moment, things felt peaceful. She almost felt a twinge of...happiness...an emotion I didn't think I was ever going to experience again after gazing upon the face of her dead friend.
The kitchen to her right was empty. Noah had checked all the drawers and cabinets before they went to sleep. They must not have been the first visitors to this house. She remembered back to that horrible day all those years ago. She never thought her brother would be the one behind that mask...But that was all in the past now. It was time to look forward.
After an hour of staring into space, Grace heard a tapping on the door. "It's me." Noah called from the other side of it. She pushed the dresser holding it closed out of the way and opened the door for him. He was holding his black backpack under his arm, and his pistol in his opposite hand. "You want the good news or the bad news?" He asked, walking into the house.
"Eh...I'll take the bad news first." She replied, moving the blockade back in front of the door.
He sighed, running a rugged hand through his thick black hair. He set the backpack on the ground and fell backwards into the armchair she had been sitting in. "The bad news is I didn't find any supplies. The stores on the outskirts of town are completely tapped. Ain't no fight left in 'em."
"And the good news?"
"The good news is, the lurkers have cleared out of the streets in decent amounts." He continued. "If your friend wakes up, we could start heading down there. There's likely to be somewhere with better defenses and you and Leo have a good chance of finding your people. Plus, I find it hard to believe every last scrap of food has been cleared out of that city."
A wave of relief passed over her. "That's good to hear. He'll be happy to hear that too, once he wakes up. You see a lot of bodies?"
"Not as many as I expected to see." He answered.
"But it was still unsettling." Grace finished for him. He looked up into her eyes and nodded. He agreed but didn't want to say so out loud. It would be hard for me to believe that every single one of the dead that Noah was talking about was up and breathing at one point. "How are you holding up?"
"Don't worry about me." He said, twisting the gun around in his hand. "I'm a survivor, Grace. I've been out in the rough for longer than I can remember. I made it this far. Don't see why I should stop now."
Grace leaned against the kitchen counter. "What did you do for work?" I asked him. "You know, before you went to live off of the land."
"I was the apprentice of a blacksmith when I was young." He answered, laying a glance in my eyes for just a moment before gazing back down to the floor. "It's how I got used to the heat. I hated the job. The blacksmith's name was George. He was my foster father and a real asshole. Didn't pay me for shit. I quit that job two years later."
"You stuck around for two years?"
"Yeah." He stood up and walked towards where she stood in the kitchen. "I had to buy food somehow. And I wasn't exactly the first choice for any other job, not having even a grade school education. I can read though. Taught myself when I was looking for jobs. I never got real good at it, but I know the basics. It's all I need."
Grace was awestruck with the man. She didn't even realize it was possible in this day and age to grow up in the world in the way that Noah did. She wished she could have helped him out of it, but it was all over now. "Sounds like it hasn't been easy for you." She sighed.
Noah walked right up next to her and leaned over the sink. He pulled on the left handle, and expected cold water to rush from the faucet. When none did, he exclaimed, "Damn. The water line's down too now."
He was standing very close to her, but she didn't step away. She looked up into his eyes and he stared out the window into the forest. "Do you trust me?" She asked him.
He sighed and met her eyes. "Too early to tell. You can't be too careful these days, you know?"
"Then how come you picked me up when were in the forest?" She asked back. "I was going to die. You saved me. Why?"
"I can't explain what I did." He said. "I saw a lot of people turn when I was in the city. Those people were weak. I don't know why, but I sensed something in you when I saw the way you held off that biter. I could tell you were stronger than the rest. And so I saved you."
Grace smiled at him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He met her gaze and held it there for a moment. She could tell there was something else he wasn't telling her, but she figured she would just leave it at that.
Grace heard a very loud sound coming from outside the house. "What is that?" She asked. It sounded almost like a car horn. Curiosity won her over. She immediately rushed to the door and unblocked it. She ran outside to see what was coming. She ran onto the highway and glanced to the left. She could make out the front of a bus driving down the center of the road toward the city. Whoever was driving the bus was honking the horn repeatedly, as hard as they could.
She thought about waving and signaling the driver's attention, but as soon as she was about to, she felt Noah's hand on her shoulder. "Don't get this guy's attention." He told her. "This dumb fuck is alerting every single walker in a mile radius to his vehicle. We can't have him stop here."
"I don't care." Grace told him. "He's alive. That bus is huge. He could have a load of people on board. We need to bring them to us."
"The cabin is strong, but it's not that strong." He continued. "If the dead begin to pile up against the door they're going to break it in. The door doesn't close now that I kicked it in."
She turned back to the bus approaching us from the hill making lots of obnoxious noise. "There's strength in numbers..." She said.
"Are you just going to up and trust these people?" He asked her. "We don't even know who they are! They could be dangerous. We can't judge people by their cover. Hell, we don't even have a cover to judge!"
As the bus drew closer, Grace could make out a man in the driver's seat. He looked frightened as he smashed his hand into the wheel over and over. She could tell the man was making a cry for help. He wanted to be found. But as much as she wanted to help him, Grace didn't want for him to attract any unwanted guests.
Isaac getting smarter wow
"We're safe...in here..."
"I think...I think they're all dead, Rose."
"because I want you...I want to pro… moretect you"
Rosalyn must look like this
"Rosalyn took the dead man by the neck and picked it back up onto the ground."
or maybe I image she is like this ome kind of gym drunk gangsta
Comments
I think you'll be interested in his path.
Chapter 9: The Fittest
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn's eyes met with the eyes of the woman's outside. She wasn't sure why, but something about the way the woman's colorless pupils shot around in her eyes was hilarious. She waved to the woman outside, laughing while it clawed at the door. "Isaac! You gotta see this!" She laughed and gestured for her brother to come see.
"What? Who...is it?" Isaac asked, jumping up from his victory at the chess table and running from to the door. He was the only one in the room who wasn't drunk. He placed his eyes over the hole in the door and glared at the woman outside. He peered over it for a few seconds and then jumped back. He had a certain amount of terror in his eye, although for what, Rosalyn didn't know. This was hilarious.
"What's the matter, bro?" Rosalyn asked him through her laughing.
"Who's at the door?" Anna started, blinking rapidly. "And why's it so fuckin' funny?"
"This...is not funny!" Isaac shouted with intense fear in his expression. None of the rest of them could comprehend what had the man so spooked. "This...is not funny, it's dangerous! I don't know...what the thing out there is...but it's not Mrs. Ottwell!"
"Her mouth is moving! And she's not saying any words!" Rosalyn laughed, stuttering a bit. She'd only been this drunk twice before. The first time was on their twenty-first birthday, and the second was the first time she ever drank. Neither of those times he she gotten drunk on wine.
Isaac looked very confused and scared. None of the people in their apartment really knew why. "You guys...gotta believe me! We're in danger!"
"Well, why don't we go outside and have a look?" Larry asked, seeming pleased with his own suggestion. Anna nodded and stood up, walking toward the door along with them. Rosalyn thought this was a good idea. They could say hello to Mrs. Ottwell while they were at it.
Isaac pinned himself to the door and the hard knocking against the other side only grew louder. "No!" He shouted, wiping the spit from his lip. The fear in his eye grew as the three of them surrounded him. "You can't...go out there! We're in danger!"
"What kind of danger are we in?" Anna hiccuped. She lurched forward, trying to look out the window. "Let me see!"
"Rose!" He shouted, staying pinned to the door. Rosalyn's annoyance grew, as her urge grew to pry her brother from the doorway. Mrs. Ottwell just wanted to come in and drink with them... "Remember all those times...those times when you protected me? Now...now I'm returning the favor."
"How are you protecting me by keeping me prisoner in my own home?" Rosalyn frowned. She couldn't think of one thing about this situation that made Issac's reaction sensible. "LET ME OUT!"
The scratching of fingernails on the wood outside the door became harder and louder. Rosalyn heard a sort of groan on the other side. Mrs. Ottwell must really have wanted in. "I'm not...letting you guys out! There's a monster out there! You're all...fucking drunk!"
"Let us out, asshole!" Larry yelled at him, walking forward slowly.
Rosalyn watched as her brother reached behind him and fiddled with something on the door. Isaac swiftly rushed away and dodged behind them as they lunged for the door. Rosalyn fumbled with the doorknob, but was annoyed to find it was locked. "Isaac!" She yelled. "You can't keep me in her forever!"
"No...not forever..." Isaac replied. "Just as long as...as you want your damn wine."
Rosalyn turned to see Isaac holding his arm out of the window, gripping the half-empty bottle of wine in his clutches. They were on the second story. Dropping it would surely shatter the glass. All that wonderful wine...gone. "Isaac!" Rosalyn shouted at him. "Put the bottle down!"
Isaac frowned in a determined way. Rosalyn had only ever seen this kind of emotion on her brother once before, when he had decided he wasn't going to fail a math test in high school. He not only passed it...he aced it. She was just confused why he was displaying this emotion now. "Rose...I'll give you back your wine, if you...if you promise not to open that door."
Rosalyn laughed. "Okay. Come on, guys." She gestured to Anna and Larry, who were having trouble with the lock. Eventually, they gave up and returned to the table in the center of the room. "It's not like it's the end of the world, Isaac. That Oberson nutjob made that very clear. Now give us back the wine!"
"Actually..." Isaac started, staring down into the bottle at the alcohol inside. He looked outside and a look of horror spanned across his face. "I think it is..."
Anna frowned, trying to process what he had said. "That's just nonsense, man. Don't let that guy fool you into thinking it's the end of the world. It's just...it's just..." She trailed off and took her last sip of wine from her glass.
"Stop!" Isaac shouted at her. "Not...not...not one more drink! You guys are all...sitting here in this apartment until you're sober... I don't know why you don't believe me... but you're safer in her than... out there..."
"Can't I just have one more?" Larry asked extending his glass to Isaac, waiting for it to be filled.
Isaac looked angry. Rosalyn had never seen her brother angry before. She thought this was all just a big misunderstanding. Maybe they could sit and talk about it over a drink... That thought was interrupted when Isaac grabbed hold of Larry's glass, ran over to the window and chucked it from the second story as far as he could. Larry jumped up in anger. "You fucking loser! I was going to drink out of that!"
"You aren't...going to drink out of anything... All of you are going to sit there in those chairs... until you're sober. And none of you...none of you are going to argue with me." Isaac made a tossing motion towards the window with the wine in hand. "Any of you try to open the door...the wine gets thrown out... It gets thrown out. You...got that?"
"Isaac... Give us back the wine..." Rosalyn complained.
This time, Isaac didn't respond to his sister's statement. He sat down beside them on the kitchen table and gestured down to the chess set, still partially set up from the last game. "Anyone...want to play again?"
Rosalyn crossed her arms and stared back into the eyes of her twin, menacingly. Why was he being so mean to them. He was holding them prisoner in her own house. He wouldn't let Mrs. Ottwell in no matter how many times she knocked, and he was keeping the wine all to himself. Isaac had never been this selfish... Rosalyn didn't understand.
[A. Grab for the wine.]
[B. Go for the door.]
[C. Set up the chess board.]
Take into account, with that last choice, Rosalyn is impaired.
[B. Go for the door.]
[Set up Tue chess board]
Yay, drunk people playing chess! What could go wrong?
[C. Set up the chess board.]
Well it's better than drunk people taking on zombies lol :P
[C. Set up the chess board.]
It's worse.
[C. Set up the chess board.]
This chapter was extremely difficult to write lol
This is true. Very true. it will be hilarious as apprised to dangerous.
[A. Grab for the wine.] Why not? xd
Awesome Chapter!!!!
Lol you changed it :P
Yeah haha.
Offscreen vote for [C. Set up the chess board.]
I'm gonna try to get back on my schedule. It's 5 o'clock, and the voting is closed.
Rosalyn will be setting up the chess board.
Sweet
Interesting and excited to see how this is gonna turn out...poor Isaac, having to put up with them.
Haha. What do you think of the whole situation in general?
Well, had they heard of the state of emergency, or heard anything on the news? Because if I heard about that on the news I'd think it would be pretty stupid to get drunk xD
Honestly I'm kind of disappointed they were unaware, or gullibe(assuming they knew somewhat about what was going on) enough to get drunk. Hoping that it turns out okay, but I know there's no way they're gonna sit around until they're sober lmao
Well, that's always been in Rosalyn's personality. She doesn't really pay attention to the news, and she doesn't give in easily to peer pressure. She's the rebellious type of person.
Hm...yeah, I definitely got that vibe. Probably the reason she called the girl that broke Isaac's heart, and told her off like that.
Pretty much haha. And they're not just going to sit there haha.
Yeah, badass drunk zombie brawl incoming >:D
Yeah, although, logically speaking, staying there is the best option.
Very true, but who knows if they're willing to listen to Isaac in their state.
[C. Set up the chess board.] Oh man, not the best time to be drunk
The vote was closed, but yeah, that's what's going to happen anyway :P
Edit: On second thought, I suppose I can factor your vote into the tally. It won't change the outcome.
Oh
Been really busy these past few days so I was kinda expecting I had missed a voting
Yeah haha. That's fine though. This choice didn't really feel like it was all that great anyway. I didn't really know how to make an powerful choice with them being under the influence and all.
Hey guys, sorry I didn't get an upload today, but I've been really busy. I'll be riding in the car a lot the next few days and I'll be doing a lot of writing, so there's that.
Well, that's alright
good luck in your travels.
Thanks lol :P
75% of readers chose to [C. Set up the chess board.]
Rosalyn began shakily placing the black pieces on the chessboard back in their respective spots. As she did so, she curiously watched the wine in Isaac's hand. She wanted more, but he wouldn't give her any, and she didn't know why. "All right, let's play your game." She spoke to him as he set the wine down on the ground below him.
"Okay..." He smiled. "See? Not drinking...isn't so bad. I've done it...my whole life."
"Getting drunk is fun." Larry argued from across the table, leaning in to watch the chess game play out.
Isaac frowned back at him. "Getting drunk...will get you killed. We're safe...in here... And until you're...until you're sober and can see that, you're...you're staying here."
"You can't keep us in here." Anna said, her eyes shooting around throughout the room, trying to find something she hadn't stared at in wonder yet. This time, her eyes fell upon the paint peeling off the wall in the corner of the room.
Isaac took his knight by its head and moved it out onto the white space between it and the queen. Rosalyn shook her head. She'd never seen him use that move before... "I can and I will..." He told her, gesturing to his sister to make her move.
Rosalyn took the pawn in front of her queen and moved it out two spaces, accidentally knocking down its pawn brothers beside it. It took her longer than it should have to set them back up on their bases. That was one thing Rosalyn didn't enjoy about the feeling of being drunk. She never could use her hands in the way she wanted to. Her motor skills became very poor. It was always a strange occurance for her... While she was sober, her hands were her most versatile tool. "It's your move." She told him.
They went back and forth for hours. It was the longest game of chess they'd ever played against each other. There was a point when Rosalyn thought she had won, but Isaac moved out a pawn to block her queen from its prize. With every move that passed by, Rosalyn's sanity inched back to her. Halfway through the game, Rosalyn got up to go to the bathroom, and a lot of the alcohol in her bloodstream streamed out of her.
She looked up towards the ceiling while she was on the toilet, after feeling a drop of water hit her from above. There was a slight leak in the ceiling. The guy above her must have been overflowing the bath again... She felt a varying amount of annoyance. She had had to get her ceiling redone four times because of that guy.
When she came back to the game, she found Anna and Larry passed out on the couch, and Isaac sitting across from her seat at the table, waiting patiently to finish their game. Mrs. Ottwell had stopped clawing at the door, but Rosalyn didn't remember when she had stopped. She must not have wanted in anymore.
"Isaac, are you really going to make us wait here until we're completely sober?" Rosalyn asked him, able to converse her thoughts more clearly now. "That will take days..."
"Yeah...It will." Isaac replied, adamant in his position. After that, Rosalyn simply gave up at trying to sway her brother. He wasn't going to budge.
She took her bishop and moved it three spaces towards the top right corner. "Check!" She exclaimed, as she saw his king wide in the open within her piece's attack range. "Do you remember that time in elementary school, when I locked you in the bathroom, pretending you were prisoner and I was a police woman?"
"Of course... I remember." He replied, moving his King a space to the right behind his knight. "I was...I was in there for an hour...yelling for you...yelling for you to let me out."
"This is payback for that time, isn't it?" She asked him, certain she had discovered the cause. "You're locking me up in my room like I locked you up in yours."
Isaac seemed hurt. "No, Rose... I'm locking you...up in here, because I want you...I want to protect you." The way he said these words reminded her of the man who had stood above them outside. He wanted to protect her... and from the speech Oberson gave...so did he... Rosalyn was tired of being forced around. She only wanted to be free for once. "Do...do you want to see what...what I'm protecting you from?"
"Yes...please..." Rosalyn answered him, accidentally knocking over a few of the chess pieces while she stood up. "Please show me what hell is pouring into the streets."
Isaac led her over to the window and pointed out of it. "Rose...you know we... don't believe in hell..."
When Rosalyn peered out the window of her apartment, her eyes widened. Outside, down only a story below where the four of them rested, hundreds upon hundreds of people were flowing in an easterly direction down the street. She still couldn't make out who any of them were, but she could hear the faint groaning noises echoing from each of their flailing jaws. "Who the fuck are they?" She asked her brother.
"I think...I think they're all dead, Rose." He replied, looking down upon the herd of people in the street with his own eyes, dashing between each and every one of them.
Rosalyn raised her eyebrows. Just the idea of what had suggested was preposterous. There was no common sense in what he was saying. "Don't make yourself sound so damn stupid, Isaac. Do dead people get up and walk around?"
"They don't."
"Do dead people speak?"
"They don't..."
"Do the dead...waltz through the streets of Savannah at night like a goddamn 4th of July parade?"
"No, Rose...They don't."
Rosalyn shook her head, not unlocking her eye contact with her brother. The two had the same eyes. They got that from their father. That was the only thing they ever got from their father. "Then they aren't dead."
"Yes, Rose...they are..." He pointed out the window at the parade passing by. "You never believe me...believe me when you're drunk. But...I'm asking you to now... This is important..."
Rosalyn sighed angrily. "You're just as crazy as that psychic fuck out in the streets."
Isaac seemed very hurt by the words spoken from his sister's mouth. His eyes welled up with tears. Rosalyn was always the one shielding his ears from these words. She was never the one actually telling them. She was a defender... But she wasn't defending. She couldn't understand any of these things under the influence, and that was one of the reasons Rosalyn enjoyed being drunk. She had much less to deal with...
A couple of moments after she said this to Isaac, she heard a creak in the ceiling above the bathroom. "What was...what was that?" He asked.
"I don't...know..." After her statement, the wet ceiling gave weigh under its weight. A hunk of white and red came crashing down into the apartment above the door. There was a ceramic bathtub sitting in the middle of the room, and inside was a man. He was Mr. Fredericks from upstairs. He had his blood-soaked clothes on. He was holding an little microwave with an extension cord attached to the wall. Rosalyn inched closer to him and realized he was dead. The water was still pouring down into the apartment from the faucet upstairs, wetting down her living room.
"See..." Isaac smiled, glaring down at the dead man soaking the floor with water and blood. "The dead speak..."
Rosalyn wasn't disgusted, or frightened...but more intrigued. The dead man in front of her began to open its eyes and groan in a long watery sigh, as if he was gargling some of the water in the tub. She turned around to see if Anna and Larry had woken up to see what had happened, but they were both out. They must be very heavy sleepers. "Hey Mr. Fredericks. You ruined my ceiling again." She spoke to the dead man. "This time, paying for this is gonna break you."
The dead man's attention slowly turned to the woman speaking to him and he clumsily stood up out of his bathtub. Rosalyn didn't find the chomping as hilarious as she found it before, but instead, she found it very strange...and unsettling. "Can you...talk?" Isaac asked him.
He responded to Isaac's words with gargling moan noises of his own. He stumbled out of the bath tub towards them and Isaac began to inch backwards towards the corner of the room that had been the least wet down by the splash of water. Rosalyn stood tall. As the dead man approached her, she simply stared him in his lazy, colorless eyes, and saw a kind of sadness in them. She felt very empathetic towards the man, yet she didn't know why.
The dead man brought his face toward her, but she placed her hand on his shoulder and pushed him harshly away. He almost fell over, but then continued pursuing Rosalyn as he simply kept performing the same actions time after time again. Rosalyn felt very intrigued by this man. She wasn't afraid of him as Isaac was. She felt sorry for him.
"Rosalyn!" Isaac shouted frantically. She grabbed the dead man by his left shoulder and looked right into his face. She looked very hard for consciousness inside of him, but couldn't find any. He began to bring his face toward her arm, and something inside her seemed to click. She realized this man was not a man anymore, but a monster. And somehow, she knew, if she let it get to her, she would not be there to protect Isaac anymore. She couldn't let that happen.
With a jolt, she grabbed the dead man by the throat and threw it hard behind her toward the ground. She walked up next to its face and watched as it continued to try to get up and bite her. Even now, she was not afraid of this thing...and she knew this courage did not come from the wine, it came from her own force of will. It felt good... She felt free...
At last, someone was trying to hurt her and Isaac. She'd waited for a long time for an excuse to be able to beat something up. She began to laugh. She was going to enjoy this.
"Rose! What...what are you doing?!" Isaac shouted.
Rosalyn took the dead man by the neck and picked it back up onto the ground. It clawed at her with its rotting fingers, but with its head in her clasp, it couldn't do anything with its teeth. "Mr. Fredericks! Are you in there?!" She attempted to get his attention in a last resort. It didn't work. He was gone. Any normal person would have been shaken up at a neighbor's death. She wasn't...
"Hey Isaac. My gun. It's under the sink lodged in the pipes. Go get it." She told him. She never told anyone about that gun. She kept it for safety, yet not even her own twin brother knew she kept it there. He only hesitated for a moment before rushing back into the kitchen.
"What's going on...?" Anna started to speak, rising from her place beside her boyfriend, who still hadn't awoken. Her eyes fell upon the dead man I was pinning to the ground. "What the hell is that?"
"It's dead." Rosalyn sighed. "That's all I know."
"Dead? Like dead dead?" She didn't sound like she understood. Rosalyn didn't blame her. She didn't understand either. She rubbed her forehead hard. Her blonde hair hung in strands all over her face. "My head hurts..." That was the part Rosalyn didn't like about getting drunk...the hangover... She would surely be having one soon.
Isaac returned with a Glock 19 in hand. He extended his arm shakily in fear to his sister and she took it from him. She pressed it hard against its head. Her hand shook too, but not from fear. "Rosalyn... Don't! It's Fredericks!"
"Not anymore..." Rosalyn felt the alcohol washing out of her mind by the second. The adrenaline made her feel more alert...more alive... She picked it up by its throat and held it by the head out of the window. "I'm giving you one more chance, you son of a bitch! You talk to me! Give me some way I know you're still there, and this gun comes down." The dead man only groaned in response.
"Rose...don't!" Isaac shouted. Rosalyn glanced back at him and saw fear in his face. Fear she wouldn't allow herself to have.
"Are you seriously going to shoot that guy?" Anna asked, expressing the same concern. "He didn't do anything to-"
Rosalyn blew a hole the size of her fist in Mr. Frederick's face.
"Fuck!" Anna yelled, jumping up onto her feet. "What did you do?"
Isaac's face of fear turned to one of shock. "Rose...you didn't... How could you...how could you do something like that?!"
Rosalyn stared into the ruined face of the man who had lived upstairs and pushed it as far out the window as she could until he tumbled to the ground. After he fell out of her tunnel vision, she saw the masses of dead people in the street had changed directions. They were all funneling their way into the door to their apartment... drawn to the gunshot...
These things were dangerous... Hell would be flowing through the streets... They were dangerous. Rosalyn understood that now. She remembered what she had spoken to her brother only minutes before. Her eyes began to well up with tears. She realized how terrible she had been to him. He was protecting her... and all she could think about was her damn wine...
Rosalyn ran up and wrapped her arms around her brother. He hesitantly hugged her back, not understanding what was going on. "I'm so sorry, Isaac!" She cried into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry..."
End of Chapter 9
Amazing chapter! Wow, Rose is sick
Haha yeah. I tried to make her like that.
Isaac getting smarter wow
"We're safe...in here..."
"I think...I think they're all dead, Rose."
"because I want you...I want to protect you"
Rosalyn must look like this
"Rosalyn took the dead man by the neck and picked it back up onto the ground."
or maybe I image she is like this ome kind of gym drunk gangsta
Haha yeah. She was a female wrestler, but gave it up to go to medical school.
Chapter 10: Among Strays
Grace awoke to screams of agony. They were distant, but nonetheless present. As they faded away into the morning, she sighed. As much as she didn't want to believe it, this world had taken another life in its clutches. She wished she had woken up to her own circadian rhythm, but she knew that such a feat wouldn't be common anymore.
Grace liked to sleep. The last time she had slept for less than five hours was during college. She had never wanted to go back, but with the way things were turning out, she really didn't have any choice. She ran her hand through her thick brown hair and attempted to scrub out the dirt and grime. It was no use. There was more there than she could ever brush out. She swung her feet off the bed and onto the ground. Yawning, she glanced to the left. A small digital alarm clock sat there. The face was blank. The power was out. It was never coming back on.
Last night had been a disaster. With Leo almost dying from blood loss, and finding a dead couple in the house, Grace tried as hard as she could to forget yesterday. Noah and her had hauled the bodies of the man and the woman out of the house shortly after they found them. It was only then she realized how tired she was and passed out on the floor. Noah must have put her in the bed. She looked to the ceiling. A length of rope hung there; the rope that had previously hung the bitten woman.
She reached to the other side of her bed and grabbed her phone. She turned it on momentarily, half-expecting there to be some sort of notification. When there wasn't, she felt a bit empty. This was the first time in a long line of mornings that she woke up with not so much as a text. It was still at 87% battery. She knew it wasn't going to have much use now, but she kept it anyway. It reminded her of home.
She swung her feet off the bed and onto the floor. With her drowsiness, she found it difficult to hobble to the door and creak it open. She walked slowly through the hallway. Now that the sun was up, Grace could see that the floral wallpaper was peeling off the sides of the wall. The floor creaked under her. This was a fine piece of land before the dead got up.
She passed the bed where Leo lay resting. She strode into the room slowly and watched him breathe. His skin was pale and Grace could see the veins beneath his skin, but with everything she had been through, just the fact that his breath remained constant was a miracle. The blanket tied tightly around his side had effectively stopped the bleeding. She could only see a slight stain of blood in the top layer. Grace smiled. She felt terrible for chuckling, but she found it ironic that this was the first she had slept away from her bedroom for years. Leo was going to make it. We had come too far to stop here.
Ashley's death felt like a million years ago. It had only been a few hours, but after the night's rest, her death only felt of a faint memory. Grace felt guilty for giving her up so early. She was still sad, mourning every time she thought about her, but now, she no longer had tears streaming down her face. It made her feel dirty...
Noah was gone. Grace walked into the living room and noticed that the makeshift bed Noah had crafted out of couch cushions was empty. She found it rather sweet that he was willing to to let me sleep in the bed while he was out here with no way to keep warm. He told me her was used to it, that he slept like that every day. His time in the forest had taught him that he doesn't need a blanket to sleep. "Humans have been sleeping for thousands of years." He had said. "Just because I ain't comfortable don't mean I ain't gonna go to sleep."
Grace sat down in the chair the dead man had shot himself in. It seemed to be the only comfortable chair in the house. Only a portion of the fabric was soiled with blood, so she leaned to the left in order to avoid it.
She glanced out the window at the trees flowing in the wind. The drops of rain that had filled the sky during last night's storm now sat on the leaves as morning dew. The sun sat behind them, greeting the morning. For a moment, things felt peaceful. She almost felt a twinge of...happiness...an emotion I didn't think I was ever going to experience again after gazing upon the face of her dead friend.
The kitchen to her right was empty. Noah had checked all the drawers and cabinets before they went to sleep. They must not have been the first visitors to this house. She remembered back to that horrible day all those years ago. She never thought her brother would be the one behind that mask...But that was all in the past now. It was time to look forward.
After an hour of staring into space, Grace heard a tapping on the door. "It's me." Noah called from the other side of it. She pushed the dresser holding it closed out of the way and opened the door for him. He was holding his black backpack under his arm, and his pistol in his opposite hand. "You want the good news or the bad news?" He asked, walking into the house.
"Eh...I'll take the bad news first." She replied, moving the blockade back in front of the door.
He sighed, running a rugged hand through his thick black hair. He set the backpack on the ground and fell backwards into the armchair she had been sitting in. "The bad news is I didn't find any supplies. The stores on the outskirts of town are completely tapped. Ain't no fight left in 'em."
"And the good news?"
"The good news is, the lurkers have cleared out of the streets in decent amounts." He continued. "If your friend wakes up, we could start heading down there. There's likely to be somewhere with better defenses and you and Leo have a good chance of finding your people. Plus, I find it hard to believe every last scrap of food has been cleared out of that city."
A wave of relief passed over her. "That's good to hear. He'll be happy to hear that too, once he wakes up. You see a lot of bodies?"
"Not as many as I expected to see." He answered.
"But it was still unsettling." Grace finished for him. He looked up into her eyes and nodded. He agreed but didn't want to say so out loud. It would be hard for me to believe that every single one of the dead that Noah was talking about was up and breathing at one point. "How are you holding up?"
"Don't worry about me." He said, twisting the gun around in his hand. "I'm a survivor, Grace. I've been out in the rough for longer than I can remember. I made it this far. Don't see why I should stop now."
Grace leaned against the kitchen counter. "What did you do for work?" I asked him. "You know, before you went to live off of the land."
"I was the apprentice of a blacksmith when I was young." He answered, laying a glance in my eyes for just a moment before gazing back down to the floor. "It's how I got used to the heat. I hated the job. The blacksmith's name was George. He was my foster father and a real asshole. Didn't pay me for shit. I quit that job two years later."
"You stuck around for two years?"
"Yeah." He stood up and walked towards where she stood in the kitchen. "I had to buy food somehow. And I wasn't exactly the first choice for any other job, not having even a grade school education. I can read though. Taught myself when I was looking for jobs. I never got real good at it, but I know the basics. It's all I need."
Grace was awestruck with the man. She didn't even realize it was possible in this day and age to grow up in the world in the way that Noah did. She wished she could have helped him out of it, but it was all over now. "Sounds like it hasn't been easy for you." She sighed.
Noah walked right up next to her and leaned over the sink. He pulled on the left handle, and expected cold water to rush from the faucet. When none did, he exclaimed, "Damn. The water line's down too now."
He was standing very close to her, but she didn't step away. She looked up into his eyes and he stared out the window into the forest. "Do you trust me?" She asked him.
He sighed and met her eyes. "Too early to tell. You can't be too careful these days, you know?"
"Then how come you picked me up when were in the forest?" She asked back. "I was going to die. You saved me. Why?"
"I can't explain what I did." He said. "I saw a lot of people turn when I was in the city. Those people were weak. I don't know why, but I sensed something in you when I saw the way you held off that biter. I could tell you were stronger than the rest. And so I saved you."
Grace smiled at him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He met her gaze and held it there for a moment. She could tell there was something else he wasn't telling her, but she figured she would just leave it at that.
Grace heard a very loud sound coming from outside the house. "What is that?" She asked. It sounded almost like a car horn. Curiosity won her over. She immediately rushed to the door and unblocked it. She ran outside to see what was coming. She ran onto the highway and glanced to the left. She could make out the front of a bus driving down the center of the road toward the city. Whoever was driving the bus was honking the horn repeatedly, as hard as they could.
She thought about waving and signaling the driver's attention, but as soon as she was about to, she felt Noah's hand on her shoulder. "Don't get this guy's attention." He told her. "This dumb fuck is alerting every single walker in a mile radius to his vehicle. We can't have him stop here."
"I don't care." Grace told him. "He's alive. That bus is huge. He could have a load of people on board. We need to bring them to us."
"The cabin is strong, but it's not that strong." He continued. "If the dead begin to pile up against the door they're going to break it in. The door doesn't close now that I kicked it in."
She turned back to the bus approaching us from the hill making lots of obnoxious noise. "There's strength in numbers..." She said.
"Are you just going to up and trust these people?" He asked her. "We don't even know who they are! They could be dangerous. We can't judge people by their cover. Hell, we don't even have a cover to judge!"
As the bus drew closer, Grace could make out a man in the driver's seat. He looked frightened as he smashed his hand into the wheel over and over. She could tell the man was making a cry for help. He wanted to be found. But as much as she wanted to help him, Grace didn't want for him to attract any unwanted guests.
[A. Signal the bus.]
[B. Hide.]
And just because Isaac is autistic doesn't mean he's not smart.