5th May 2023
After Ali's decision to turn back and not engage in a battle they weren't a part of, the group also agreed and decided to leave the area through the path they came from.
"Helppp. Save me."
They had just walked a few steps when the sound of screams came from behind them again. But everyone ignored it.
Everyone except Kiara, that is.
"It's uncle's voice." She muttered in disbelief as she heard the call asking for help again. "Uncle Liebe is that you?" She shouted loudly as she ran back to the gathering of infected.
"Kiara" A surprised voice rang out, but then the man trapped within the horde started shouting even more loudly "Kiara, save me. Save me. I'm here. It's me. save your uncle."
Kiara who heard the confirmation ignored the calls from Ali and the group who were calling her back as their shouts attracted the attention of zombies, and they were now turning back and coming their way.
"This bitch, shut up and run." One of the guys who joined the group a few days back said and went forward to drag her back. But Kiara ran forwards while avoiding and running from the few zombies who came her way. Going deeper into the horde which was now scattered a little, confused by the sounds coming from both directions.
Seeing Kiara running through the zombies like an idiot, Emily who was standing near Ali said "We should leave, it's too dangerous."
"What do you mean, leave? We can't just leave her." Another guy with blonde hair and blue eyes glared at Emily and started shouting.
A frown came to Emily's face and the other guards after hearing him shouting. He was one of the foreigners whom they found last week. They took him with them since he didn't have anyone else here and agreed to move with them wherever they went. But ever since then the guy has been basically drooling over Kiara, trying to please her with everything and everything.
"If you want to go with her then go, I'm not stopping you." Emily said to him with a cold tone.
"You _ "
"Stop it, both of you."
Seeing them fighting amongst themselves Ali came forward and stood between them. He looked at the man, who backed off seeing him. Ali turned to Emily who met his gaze and said "It's not worth it to risk our lives, young master. We don't know her enough, and you said it yourself that once she finds her family members, we'll go our separate ways. She found them, so let's _ ."
"We can't leave her. Whatever it is, she's still someone who's been with us for nearly a month now. We've fought together for so long, let's just help her this time." Ali said to her in a stern tone.
"But _ " Emily wanted to say something but seeing him being serious and getting ready to fight, she stopped and agreed. "Fine, but after this we go our separate ways." She held the metal baseball bat in her hand and proposed her condition.
She didn't seem to like Kiara very much. Not because of some jealousy or anything, but simply because she always thought Kiara was a risk. She hasn't changed her ways at all in nearly a month now, and still acts like an arrogant kid, doing whatever she wants. Emily couldn't count how many times she made stupid moves like this and risked their safety too. Just two days ago she picked a fight with some men while they were out looking for food and other equipment. In the end Ali had to go and save her. Same was when they're looking for Aarvi or Olivia, she's the laziest of them all, who'll put in the least effort. And ever since that foreigner guy Brian joined them, she's been basically just sitting on her ass all day, while throwing all her tasks at him. Even now without asking for anyone's opinion she ran towards the horde, forcing them in this situation.
Emily had a doubt that if she let Kiara be in the group, sooner or later something bad was going to happen. So she really wanted to push her out.. But Ali refused her. So this time she put forward her condition which everyone else agreed too.
"Fine, we save her and then leave her with her family and move forward." Ali said, while swinging the metal rod at the zombie's head and pushing him away.
Since most they came across were zombied and few infected ones here and there everyday, choosing blunt weapons was the right choice. Especially those which can keep the zombies a handful of distance away.
No one knew how the virus or whatever it is, that's turning people into zombies worked. Does it have to be a bite? Or can it spread through a scratch, or a blood, or skin sample too. What if while fighting the blood of zombies fell in your eyes or mouth, would you turn into a zombie too. No one knew anything, so it was better to be prepared for everything.
Ali and the group moved forward to help Kiara and her family members. Brian, Ali and two of his guards were at the front, with Emily and another girl in the middle with another guard, and four guys at the back too. They all moved in a formation so as not to get drowned by the zombies or stuck inside the horde alone.
After fighting for a while Ali and his group finally managed to reach the center, and met with the other group surrounded by zombies. Kiara was standing beside a wounded middle aged man, while holding back a few zombies with a hockey stick. She was swinging it wildly, trying to scare them, instead of hitting them and knocking them out with a proper hit. An infected one soon came towards her and almost got close to biting her, but Emily came forward and saved her by hitting that infected away from her and killing it by bashing his head in.
"They're not children who'll get scared by a stick, so if you want to live, start hitting them in their head." Emily coldly said to her and moved towards another side, leaving her there.
"I'm not cold blooded like you." Kiara said as she helped her uncle up. "They're humans too."
"Not anymore. And if you don't learn to survive, you'll be like them too." Emily said and moved even further away from her.
Kiara who saw this clenched her fists with an angry look, but before she said something to refute her or argue, her uncle held hand and stopped her. "Stop it Kiara, we need to get away from here first. Let's talk about it later."
Kiara nodded her head and just like that after fighting for a while they moved back and managed to run away from the zombies. No one from Ali's group got bitten or seriously hurt. Brian did hit a guard on the back while fighting wildly like a maniac.
"We have a sort of small base nearby, you guys can come with us there too." Liebe, Kiara's uncle, spoke inviting Ali and everyone back to their camp.
"How many people are there in your camp?" Ali asked, a little curious.
"Around 50 or something. We also have enough food and everything." One man who was with their group spoke. "Since you guys are also together and good at fighting, you can join us too. At times like this it's better to group together and survive, then to risk our lives outside alone."
Their words surprised everyone, as it's not even a month into the apocalypse, yet someone was thinking about the future like this. This was also one of the biggest groups they had come across, and the others were just those people from the churches and some goons who were looting everything.
"Yeah, Ali let's go. We'll join." Kiara said excitedly.
"We haven't decided yet, and we won't join. Since you found your uncle you should go with him." Emily said to Kiara, who seemed to agree on everyone's behalf.
"But Ali…"
"No, she's right. We won't be staying here in this city for a while. You know I'm looking for Aarvi and Liv, once we find them we'll leave this city. So you should go with your uncle." Ali said, cutting off Kiara's words, telling her his decision.
"Who are you guys looking for, maybe they're at our camp. You can come to take a look at least." Liebe spoke up in a hurry "It's already gonna be nightfall soon, so why don't you stay with us for the night, and if you don't find anyone you're looking for, you can go your own way tomorrow."
Hearing his words Ali thought for a few seconds and found it reasonable enough. "Fine. We'll come, but just for a night."
"Agreed." Liebe said with a smile and started leading them back.
On their way back, they kept talking about their camp, where it was located, what resources they had or what they do daily and what not. "The boss named it Haven. You know as in safe haven." One man finished his words with a smile.
"By the way who're you looking for, maybe we know them?" One of the other men asked Ali.
"Here, I'm looking for these two. They're friends." Ali said as he pulled a photo of him, Aarvi and Liv, and showed the man.
"Huh, isn't that Aarvi? You actually know her?" The man who took the photo surprisingly said.
"You met her. Is she there? Is she safe?" Ali asked excitedly as he found a clue about Aarvi after looking for so long.
Another man took a look at the photo and said "It's really her. You're lucky. She's at the camp so you can meet her."
"Yeah, she's perfectly fine. She's also the vice-leader of our camp, so you guys don't even have to worry about anything." Another man said.
Ali started to smile hearing that. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his heart. It's been nearly a month till he last saw her, this was the longest he has been without seeing her for the past decade. He was scared that something happened to her, or that he won't ever find her again, but hearing that she was fine and okay, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Emily, who saw him happy after so long, had a small smile on her face too. Though a touch of sadness passed through her eyes when she realized he'll go back to Aarvi and it'll be the same as before, but she suppressed it by another forced smile. 'As long as he's happy.' She thought and ignored her feelings again.
Ali was happy, but then he remembered something and asked curiously "You said she's the vice leader, who's your leader then?"
With Aarvi's character and habit of having everything perfect and in control, it was surprising for him that she was working under someone else.
"He's a young man like you. But don't take him lightly, he's very strong and a good leader." One of the middle aged men said. "His name's Kevin. And he _ ."
Liebe, who was walking forward, looked back with a worried face and said coldly "Why're you talking about everything here. It's not a sales pitch, he'll meet the leader soon enough anyway."
Hearing Liebe say that, the man stopped and continued walking. Liebe looked at Ali, gave a warm smile and turned back to walk forward. But as he turned around his smile turned into a cold one and then into a smirk. Kiara at the side saw it, but didn't ask anything.
Ali, who heard their words, didn't think much about it. His mind was just focused on the good news. As for Aarvi working under someone else or whatever he didn't care. It was probably nothing important anyway. 'As long as she's safe.' He thought and ignored everything.