A kid was screaming! That's what I heard. I momentarily felt lost, but the sound of the walkers all converging around the window made my big sister senses activate. I pulled out one of the guns and precisely shot the killers around the car, they were seven. Five bullets left. All the other walkers seemed to be more interested in what was going on inside the car and decided to abandon my friends and came here instead. I counted them out. Ten walkers for seventeen bullets! Eureka!
Of course there were shots that I missed, but eventually, I had gotten them all from my very advantageous point of view. I got down from the car and peeked in the window. I barely swerved the shot that went out of it. Who leaves a kid with a gun? My parents, oops.
"It's okay; I'm here to help you. Don't shoot!" I cautioned, peeking in the car I saw nothing but some strings tied to a revolver and an audio player. Shit, a trap. I turned around and started running. "Everyone to the cars. It's a trap."
When I finished my last sentence, the shopping mall doors flew open, and a hundred walkers came outside directly to us. Luckily we were nowhere near those stupid doors, except for Jacob.
Who could've set up a trap like that?
I was the first one to get to the cars. I threw open the driver's door and got in. I started the engine while I waited for the others. Jacob had already unlocked the other car, so everyone could get in the second car as he was still behind. I don't know how but he was the closest to the doors, so the walkers made him the next target.
When I saw him struggling, I got out and decided to help... from a distance. I took out my guns and changed the magazine clips and started shooting the ones closest to him and the cars while he made a run for it. After rounds and rounds of shooting the magazines clicked empty and I had to work fast to change them.
When I did finally change them, Jacob was already squatting under the wicket, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me to the cars. I was quick to react and went straight for the car I was driving and put the gear into drive and sped off with the other car following close behind. No one said anything. No one dared to; we were all in shock. Well, I won't say I've never been in a situation like this before but thou cared for these people, and I felt that I was responsible for their lives. I mean, I wouldn't feel guilty if anyone died, it happens, but if it weren't for me, we wouldn't have been in this situation. It was my entire fault.
After driving a safe distance from the mall, I slowed down and went inside the Dolce Vitta complex near the compound. I've never been in here since the beginning. I don't know why. I also don't know why I was bringing them here too. It should be crawling with those beasts. But it wasn't, at least not from the outside. I stopped in front the restaurant and started hitting the steering wheel hard until Christina stopped me.
"Stop it. What are you doing?" Christina asked genuinely concerned.
"It's all my fault. I could've gotten all of you killed," as I said that I turned away from Christina and got out of the vehicle. Everyone did too. I sat on the sidewalk and started apologizing to everyone. I don't know why I was making so much drama, but I didn't go through the trouble of saving them to have them killed.
"It's okay it wasn't your fault you didn't know. None of us did," my cousin, Zaphire, said. Her words comforted me. Maybe it was because she was family or maybe it was because I was feeling vulnerable and blaming myself and I needed to not feel like that.
"There's a restaurant behind me. I need to go search for food. You guys can stay out here. I don't want to get you killed," I said shaking my mind off the past situation and moving on. Great, Zyla, keep pushing your problems away.
"No way you're going in there alone!" Jacob finally made himself feel present. By the way, thanks for comforting me, boyfriend!
"No way I'm getting you in danger again," I challenged him.
"The only one who is going to be in danger is you if you go in by yourself," he chimed. This boy is playing with fire; somebody, please hold my damn earrings. I don't care if we have a thing I won't hesitate to flip him, trip him and double dip him face first on the ground if he dares to cross me.
"You guys better settle your booties on the floor. You guys are the cutest couple ever. You can't be fighting like this. Plus Zyla, Jacob is right. None of us in our reasonable minds is going to let you go in by yourself. Plus you have a lot of food why do you need more?" Jasmin intervened.
Okay, let's just skip this part and go to when I had convinced them more food is better because you never know. I have watched too many episodes of The Walking Dead and read too many books were a particular group or gang would raid every place where you find food so the other groups would have none. It would look like I was doing that but no I was just guaranteeing that I had food.
The search was a bust. All we found inside were walkers and mostly rotten food. You cannot begin to understand the foulness of that smell. On the plus side, the bread flour was still good, so that was good.
~~~~~~
Laisse tomber les filles.
Laisse tomber les filles.
Un jour c'est toi qu'on laissera.
Laisse tomber les filles.
Laisse tomber les filles.
Un jour c'est toi qu'on laissera.
The world might have ended, but it left me an enormous collection of The Weeknd songs to last me until I die. Right now I was blasting Montreal in my earphones because one, it's one my favorite song of his and of all time; two, it's in my depression & chill playlist, and I was feeling depressed, so Montreal it was.
Oui j'ai pleuré mais ce jour-là.
Non, je ne pleurerai pas.
Non, je ne pleurerai pas.
Oui j'ai pleuré mais ce jour-là.
Je ne pleurerai pas.
Je ne pleurerai pas.
I felt my earphones fly from my ears and I shot my eyes open in rage to see Jacob looming over me.
Let me fill you in. After we had left the compound, we came back home, and I told my friends they could do whatever they wanted, except wandering inside the other houses since they didn't know which houses I haven't been through yet. Then I went up to my room and just shut the world out with music. My only salvation! But then this idiot had to show up.
"What do you want?" I asked angrily.
"I've been calling you for five minutes, I thought something happened," he barked.
"As you can see I'm fine thank you very much," I hated when people thought I was going to hate myself.
"You know you can talk to me right?" he questioned looking preoccupied.
"The whole point of blasting music like this was to not talk to anyone!"
"Listen I know you're feeling a little down—"
"A little is not enough to describe it," I interrupted before he could go further on.
"Okay, I know you are sad, but now you have someone to talk to at any time. You don't have to keep it bottled up anymore. I'm here for you." Speak of the perfect boyfriend, "If you want I will just listen."
"I can't put my finger on it. Have you ever been in a situation where you're super sad, but you don't know what is causing the sadness because a million things are happening at once? Well, that's it," I dramatically sighed and plopped back on the bed with a hand on my head
"Well, how about you tell me what are the things that could be causing this sadness?"
And so I did. I told Jacob how I felt about him and how it was confusing me; I confessed to him of how ace felt about the new people; what responsibility I felt for their lives; the weight I was carrying for almost getting them killed. My parents and siblings who were never coming back; the time I spent alone; my mental illnesses that were eating me from the inside out. I told him about all that and any small detail I could let escape. He didn't judge me or anything. He was supportive. In the end, we ended up laying on the bed getting to know more about one another until I drifted off to sleep.
I was doing a random stakeout by the church in the compound when I heard voices. I got in position with my rifle ready. I had a good view from my spot on the floor to the gate. I grabbed the walkie-talkie and spoke to the one I had left in the front.
"Don't go any further. Name yourselves and state your business," I commanded.
"Zyla it's me," a person with a Spanish accent spoke, "Pablo."
"Pablo? I thought you were dead?" I asked.
"No. You know I left to find my family. I never did but—"
"How do I know you're Pablo?"
"Well for one I converted your cars into apocalyptic driving machines, and you told me that if I ever came back to tell you about your mermaid table," he sounded accomplished, "As I was saying I didn't find my family but I found yours."
"Impossible my family died!"
"Honey we are here. We're safe," my mother's voice boomed in the walkie-talkie.
"Come open the door for us Zy," my dad said.
I got up from my position and ran as fast as I could to the front gate. When I got there, they weren't even facing it.
"Mommy? Daddy?" I asked. But when they turned around they were walkers, and they were now coming for me. Suddenly the gate was open and they were chasing me. Luckily walkers are slow so I ran to the house screaming for Jacob to come.
When I got in the house, I heard noise in the kitchen but when I went in Jacob was a walker too. He saw me and was coming for me too. I ran outside and saw all the people I once knew and loved corner me and eat me alive.
I woke up screaming and sweating and Jacob was next to me looking as worried as a person could be. I instinctively hugged him and he returned the gesture.
"It's okay; it's okay. It was just a nightmare," Jacob comforted me.
Although those words sounded like something a mother would say to her little child, they felt so comforting at that moment. He had told me of how after I had fallen asleep he went downstairs to eat. After a couple of hours, he had heard me mumbling and thought I was up, so he came upstairs. That's when he had seen me rolling around in the bed sheets and incoherently speaking until I finally screamed and he had come next to me to help. Could this nightmare mean something?
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