Chocolate brown eyes opened to blinding sunlight and a gasp of fright escaped his lips.
Rory quickly sat up, sweat drenching his body. His last memory was one of those cringey screecher things looking down at him, blooding dripping from it's mouth. He frantically examined his surroundings, his body shaking uncontrollably. He was in the back of the Jeep, the seats put down for more room and a blanket underneath him. He listened for the gun shots and screams that had filled his ears only seconds ago, but it was completely silent other than the sound of birds tweeting.
"You alright?"
Rory jumped at the tired voice, turning around to find short blonde hair and worried blue eyes staring him down. A new, long, poorly sewn cut ran from the end of his right eyebrow to his hairline.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
Rory looked out the window to his left seeing nothing but forest surrounding them. Cash and Ezra stood on either side of the tree lines, guns in hands, as the sun came over the horizon. Rory felt like he couldn't catch his breath.
He was alive.
He was in the Jeep, on the trip to the bunker in Virginia.
How was this possible? Had it all just been a bad dream? It felt so real. So painful.
"Rory?"
Jude gently rested a hand on his shoulder and Rory jumped.
"What happened?!"
He knew he sounded crazy but he was so confused. It could have been a dream- but that wouldn't explain why he couldn't remember the rest of the day...
"What do you mean?"
Jude's brows knitted in concern. Rory's eyes fell to his hands before he rubbed at his face in frustration. Was he going insane?
"I just- can you just give me a run of the day? Please."
Jude stared at Rory like he had grown a third head.
"Uh... of yesterday?"
"Yes! Of yesterday!"
"...yeah. Sure."
He sounded confused but still entertained Rory's break down.
"We left for the bunker early, around five in the morning."
He paused, looking over the shaken boy trying to find any sense of recollection in his eyes.
"When we got in the Toyota and drove off the screechers attacked. They took out the car and..."
Jude drifted off, a sad look falling over his face. Rory couldn't handle this not knowing so to get Jude to spit it out he yelled,
"And what?!"
Jude's light eyes fell,
"..Mable died when the car flipped."
Rory's heart sunk.
He was the one who died in that car crash. Not Mable.
"She wasn't even suppose to be riding with us. She was suppose to be with Cash and Tabb but because of us-"
"What happened after that?"
Rory asked frantically, surprising Jude with his lack of sympathy.
"Uh... Well, Xzavier and Finn put all the gas in the Toyota and there was a fight..."
Jude scooted closer to Rory, a worried expression plastered on his face.
"You don't remember any of this?"
"Just tell me!"
Rory's yell came out more aggressive than he meant for it to be causing Jude to jump.
"We ran out of gas around three in the morning and pulled into a clearing in the forest to keep out of sight. You took first shift because it was shortest and then you fell asleep as soon as you laid down."
Rory ran his hands though his dirty hair, none of what Jude was saying clicked in his memory. All he could see when he closed his eyes was that damn screecher, the skin of its jaw ripped open as his own flesh fell from its mouth.
None of this was making sense. Mable had been the one to die in the car crash? He remembered so clearly the pain of his neck hitting the roof of the car, hearing the blood curling snap-
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
He answered maybe too quick.
"I just had a bad dream, it felt-" he took a shaky breath as a chill made its way down his spine, "it felt really real."
Jude reached for Rory to comfort him but the taller quickly stood up, opening the trunk of the Jeep and jumping out.
The sun blinded him momentarily, the green and browns of leaves surrounding him looked red. Like blood. Like his blood. No. Not his blood, Mable's blood.
"Rory!"
He hadn't realized he was falling until his head slammed into the ground, bouncing on the dirt beneath them. Ezra threw his gun strap over his shoulder, quickly running towards them with a yell.
The blonde attempted to find his footing as Ezra helped him up but his legs were weak. He could feel the pain of his death, his leg being bitten into like a steak. His intestines being ripped out and devoured like sausage links. His stomach turned and bile made its way up his throat, Ezra yelled out in disgust as he dropped the limp boy.
Rory caught himself with his hands this time, thanking his reflexes for not letting him bust his head open on the rock below him.
"Is he infected?"
Cash quickly pulled his gun up, aiming it at Rory's head. Without a second thought Jude stepped in front of him.
"He's not infected."
"Get out of the way or I'll shoot you too."
"Cash!"
Tabb's voice caught his attention as he got out the challenger and sped towards them.
"What're you doing?"
He asked in an exasperated tone, examining the scene in front of him.
"He almost passed out and then threw up. Tell me what that sounds like, Tabb."
"He's not infected!"
Jude repeated and Cash scowled at him with dark tired eyes. Tabb pushed the barrel of Cash's gun to the ground.
"We don't kill our friends."
The dark haired man met his boyfriend's angry expression with his own.
"If they're infected we do."
"I'm fine!"
Rory yelled, stealing both men's attention. He slowly gained his composure and stood to his feet, pushing Jude away when he tried to help.
"I'm fine. I just felt a little nauseous, I'm not going to eat you in your sleep Cash."
He wiped the puke from his lips with his sleeve, meeting Cash's skeptical glare. He was pale and sweaty, the perfect picture of an infected person.
"I'll keep an eye on him."
Jude stated, attempting to reassure the leader of the group.
"If he turns?"
"...I'll deal with it myself."
He stated, a steely expression on his face.
"You can do it?"
"Yes."
Cash glanced back to Tabb who gave him an expectant nod.
"Fine. Keep a close eye on him."
The Jeep door was suddenly slammed open, a loud, exaggerated yawn grabbing everyone's attention.
Dax exited the vehicle, scratching his ass before he closed the door behind him. When he turned to look at the group his eyes fell on Rory, who looked near death, and then at the vomit on the ground.
"Oh, god damnit! I missed something else?!"
~
Finn only watched her feet as they walked through the forest, guilt sitting heavy in her chest as she walked slowly behind Xzavier. It was her idea to put the all gas in one car. She should've been the one to take the blame, but stupid Xzavier had put it all on himself before she could even say a word. Ollie punched Xzavier but he refused to fight back, knowing he could've stopped the young man with one hard hit. Finn tried to plead with Cash to make Ollie stop, telling him that it was her fault but the leader turned to her, grabbing her shoulders and squeezing.
"It does no good to have two of you beaten to a pulp."
Her hands tightened on the straps around her shoulders.
"Hey X, how's your face feeling?"
Dax chuckled as he sped up to walk past them.
"How's you're nub feeling?"
Finn shot back when Xzavier made no effort to fight back. Dax flicked her off, before treading past to catch up with Kyle.
"...I'm sorry."
Finn stated loud enough for only her best friend to hear. He stopped and so did Finn, the others quickly getting ahead of them.
"I know you feel guilty. Don't."
She was surprised by his stern tone. His dark eyes staring intently at her. She was surprised his glasses hadn't been broken or even scratched in the fight.
"But it was my idea."
"No it wasn't. It was our idea. It was a bad idea and now we're paying for it. It's over."
"But I let Ollie-"
"You think I'm scared of Ollie?"
Xzavier finally smiled, after hours of silence he finally showed off those white pearls Finn always thought of to cheer herself up.
"A few bruises handed to me by a preteen? If I was worried I would've knocked him out."
It was Finn's turn to smile,
"You would never hit a kid."
***
"Are you gonna let Cash continue to steal your brother?"
Kyle rose an eyebrow as she turned from the woods in front of them to the multicolored eyes staring her down with a quizzical expression.
"What're you talking about?"
She turned back to the forest ahead, stepping over a large tree branch with caution. Ollie, Violet, and Cash lead the group from the front. Violet held the map at arms length while Ollie pointed between it and their surroundings. Cash watched them with a small smile, occasionally adding something to their conversation.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. He just found out you were alive after six years and the most time you've spent together was the first hour we got to the school."
"...He's been busy."
Kyle excused.
"Well, we've got a month of travel for you two to catch up. That is, if he decides to make time for you, instead of his new family."
"Shut up Dax."
Ezra commented as he caught up with them, swinging an arm over Kyle's shoulder.
"You have no idea what you're talking about, as usual."
He only threw his hand up in defense, a nonchalant expression on his face.
"Hey, I'm just tellin' it how it is. Isn't that right Jude?"
Dax yelled to the two boys walking just ahead of them.
"Please don't drag me into this."
Dax scoffed,
"Whatever."
Jude looked back to Rory who only stared at the ground with haunted eyes. What had he seen that had shaken him up so much? He was fine after the crash yesterday. Why was he suddenly traumatized after one bad dream?
"You alright?"
The blonde finally looked up, his expression quickly changing.
"I should be asking you the same thing."
He smiled, stepping a little quicker to stay next to the shorter man. Jude lifted a hand to his head, gently feeling the rising skin of where his stitches were.
"It definitely hurts but, I'll get through the pain. I'm just glad I don't have a splitting headache.-"
"Bridge up ahead!"
Cash interrupted Jude's joke as he called back the to rest of the group.
A long yet thin dinky bridge sat over a flowing river, the sides missing of rails of any kind. There was a sign next to the front of the bridge but the young adults ignored it as they started to cross.
"We must be in some type of national forest."
Finn spoke up before looking into the river below. The current was strong, leading down to a couple of short waterfalls. It was kind of beautiful.
"Gross. I never would've gone to a national forest before this all happened. What's so fun about walking around in nature completely sober?"
Rory spoke up from next to Jude.
"Agreed."
Ezra laughed.
A loud gunshot suddenly rang out through the air causing all but one of the group to jump. Dax stood confidently at the back, a gun in his left hand and a proud evil smile on his lips. One Z, a man no older than forty with a missing eye, laid dead at the entrance of the bridge.
Cash's eyes grew wide before he pushed his way to the back of the group, turning Dax around quickly and throwing a fist across his face.
"Why the fuck would you do that, you fucking psychopath!"
He yelled with an infuriated, surprised tone. Loud groaning suddenly came from behind Dax, Zombies of all sizes and ages slowly made their way towards the entrance to the bridge.
"Fuck."
Cash spat.
The group quickly started their way towards the opposite end of the bridge. Until a loud screech lit up the sky.
"Fuck!"
A large group of screechers were running from the edge of the forest, getting closer to them by the second. They were cornered. Both groups of the dead too big to fend off.
Finn looked over the edge of the bridge and down to the river. The currents were deadly, not to mention the sharp boulders sticking out from each corner.
...But jumping was a better chance of survival than this was, and that's all that mattered.
"We have to jump! The current will be too fast for them to grab us."
"Yeah or the current will be too strong and we'll drowned!"
Dax yelled back.
"I'd rather drown than be eaten alive."
She turned to Xzavier, wrapping her hands around his wrists.
"There's no other choice."
Xzavier looked at both ends of the bridge, biting his lip before nodding.
"Together?"
He asked, sliding his fingers between hers.
"Together."
Finn's voice was shaky as she agreed, her hand tightening around his. She closed her eyes and without another word they both jumped. As soon as they hit the water they were swept away.
"Holy shit."
Tabb huffed anxiously, his eyes wide. Zs groaned as they got closer, the smell of rotting flesh getting stronger with each step. They each looked over the edge, nervous expressions on their faces as they prepared themselves to jump.
"Remember, the key to getting across is to swim up stream."
Cash spoke up, causing the others to turn to him.
"Is that true?"
Ezra asked.
"I don't know. I saw it on tv somewhere."
"Great. That's helpful."
He shot back sarcastically.
Cash turned to Tabb, putting a hand on either side of his face.
"You take Ollie. I'll take Violet."
Although Tabb looked as though he was on the verge of a panic attack he nodded.
"Meet us back on this bridge as soon as you can."
Tabb grabbed his hands with another nod, his stare more intense than before.
"I love you."
Tabb whispered just loud enough for Cash to hear over the flowing water.
"I love you too."
Without another word Tabb turned to Ollie, wrapping his arms around him and jumping. Cash did the same with Violet next to them.
Kyle tried to follow them with her eyes as they were rushed down stream, but they were quickly torn apart and pulled under.
They were going to drown.
Ezra's hands gripped her shoulders, turning her to meet his blue eyes.
"We're going to be separated in the water. I need you to promise you'll try to find me."
Kyle's brows knitted. How could he ask such a question?
"Of course I would try to find you."
Ezra's jaw clenched at her words.
"I promise."
She brought a hand to Ezra's cheek, lowering his face so she could kiss him.
There was a splash from behind him, Dax must've jumped.
He pulled away.
"I'll look for you."
Kyle nodded and Ezra stepped off the edge, Kyle followed right behind.
Jude and Rory jumped last, Rory attempting to hold onto Jude as they were pulled by the river.