Neither Alicia nor Michael could believe what had just been said to them. They stared into space, processing Darnell's words. Alicia managed to utter while holding her head, "What- no- just like that?" Darnell nodded his head. Alicia looked at Vanessa and Vanessa reaffirmed it with another nod. "Oh no, no, no-" she began to utter, but suddenly, Michael collapsed to his knees.
Everything sunk in for him. Their behavior, their attack, their bloodlust, their lack of reaction to pain. It all began to make sense. Not really. This whole situation was beyond any sense. He never thought he'd think the words, "My parents were attacked by zombies." But here he was. More tears poured down his face. He looked down at his hands, which were quivering. The memory kept replaying in his head, except now he realized he was even more powerless than he thought.
"Oh my god Michael." Alicia muttered, she reached out to him, but stopped midway.
"What are we supposed to do?" Michael said to Darnell.
Darnell answered him without hesitation, "Survive."
"How the hell do we survive that?" he sobbed, pointing back to his room, where the assailants most likely had broken in by now.
"By rounding everyone up as soon as possible." Darnell said sternly, "Tristan is the next closest. We know Ryan is at the gym, Makayla and Raj are at Makayla's, I know Teemo is fine, and Illyana… I'm not sure, but I'm optimistic."
"So that's it? We just, round up the gang and go zombie huntin'?" Michael snapped, flailing his arms about in a goofy manner.
Darnell remained serious, "If you tryna put it that way, yes. We goin' zombie huntin' partner." he mocked Michael.
Michael dropped his hands, he couldn't do it. "I'm not going," he said.
"What do you mean?" Alicia nearly yelled.
"I'm not-"
Darnell cut off Michael the moment Michael opened his mouth, "We've already wasted too much time here. Tristan needs help. You ride with us and you keep breathin'. You don't, then Imma just drag you with us."
Michael just glared at Darnell, it was clear he was unable to form a response.
"Aight let's roll." Darnell finished the conversation.
Vanessa hurried towards Darnell to follow him. Alicia stared at Michael for a moment. She pitied him, but only to an extent. Alicia wanted to support Michael, but she'd rather just move along with Darnell. So she did. Michael looked at the three of them walking away. He looked back at his house. That was it. There was no going back. Not unless he wanted to die. He slowly picked himself up, and grudgingly followed along.
Darnell hustled the group a lot harder than when he was just with Vanessa. They needed to get to Tristan's, and fast. According to Darnell, Tristan had his house broken into and he, along with his siblings, were trapped by a group of the monsters. Luckily, Tristan's house was only a few blocks away from Michael's. But that was where the luck ended.
The group hopped over two fences and were making steady progress. Vanessa and Alicia in the lead, Michael and Darnell taking the rear. They treaded along the third backyard. Nothing was spectacular about it. The yard was fairly large, with dead leaves and patches of grass blanketing it. There weren't any trees or outdoor furniture occupying it. As soon as Darnell hopped over the fence into the yard, he gave them a nod and they began to move forward again.
As the four crept along, Vanessa felt a weird sensation. Like she was being watched. And not just because Darnell and Michael were behind her. She felt something more sinister. She didn't have much time to comprehend this feeling. Everything seemed to be going as smoothly as planned. Her and Alicia crossed the midpoint of the yard. That was when she noticed a window on the back of the house, overlooking the yard. Vanessa eyed the window as it fully came into view. There was a figure, she couldn't really make it out. Not until, they were directly across from it. It was a man, his mouth was hanging open while his hands pressed against the window. The glare of the Sun made it difficult to make out any other details. Then he vanished. Vanessa felt another eerie sensation crawl up her spine. What was about to happen? Was all she could ask herself, then she was answered.
"Move!"
Vanessa heard a shout behind her and the shove of a hand on her back. Her and Alicia launched forward at the same time, flying a couple of feet before sliding on the ground. As she hit the ground, there was a loud shatter of glass behind her. Vanessa immediately turned around to see Darnell standing directly under the flying path of another one of those bloodthirsty cretins. It soared through the air directly towards Darnell with its hands reaching outward.
"Darnell!" Vanessa screamed out to him. Darnell used the momentum from pushing Vanessa and Alicia to roll backwards just in time to dodge the falling man. Darnell had his monkey wrench at the ready, crouching on his toes, ready to fight. The man immediately recovered and got to all fours like a wild dog. It hissed and snarled at him. Darnell tightened his grip on the wrench. Michael, panicking, tried to run around the monster. It immediately noticed him. "Michael, no!" Darnell shouted.
The monster directed it's attention to the terrified Michael and jumped at him. Michael screamed as it's bloody hands and jaw reached out to take a chunk of his flesh. As it was mid-air, though, Darnell delivered a powerful kick directly in it's side. The monster folded over as it flew backwards. It landed directly on its side and immediately recovered. Without a second wasted, the monster switched targets to Darnell and wildly charged towards him. Darnell stood firmly while reeling his wrench back. The monster repeated the same attack it attempted on Michael, by pushing with all of it's might to fly in the air at Darnell. Darnell didn't even flinch. His wrench came whirling in an underhand spin. The monster and Darnell's wrench met mid-air and a satisfying bang was made as the wrench collided with the underside of its chin. The monster spun right back the way it came, its entire body going limp. It crashed directly onto its head, dealing even more damage.
"Holy!" Michael screamed as its arms and legs fell down with the rest of it. This time, it didn't recover as swiftly, and Darnell didn't waste the opportunity. Darnell jumped down onto the monster as it rolled onto its side. Darnell lifted the wrench high above his head then sent it directly into the side of the monster's skull. It's head planted into the ground from the force of the impact and blood splashed onto the grass. Now, it stopped moving.
"Well I'll be-" Michael spoke just before being interrupted by Darnell who covered Michael's mouth. Darnell put a finger to his own lips and looked around them. After a moment, it was clear they hadn't attracted any attention.
Darnell whispered in a stern tone, "We survive." Then took his hand off of Michael's mouth and walked towards Vanessa and Alicia.
"Yall okay?" Darnell whispered.
Vanessa and Alicia nodded their heads. "Then let's go." he finished.
The four of them resumed their previous task, making as little noise as possible. They were on a mission and Darnell would not let anything get in the way. If it wasn't clear before, then it was clear now.