Earth: Book One (Elemental Series) (12 page)

Chapter Thirty

Day Two: March 29
th
, 2020; 12:59 pm

“Okay so it a-go?” Felix asked later that day.

Austin was look through the binoculars from the window. He was trying to see St. James from the building they were in but there was no chance. He gave up then turns to Felix. “Sure.”

“What’s a-go?” Rayne asked, walking into the room. She stopped in her tracks and looked at them.

“Nothing,” Austin growled at her then goes into the kitchen. Most of the group was in there. All silence and barely eating.

Once Felix got in, he explained what they were doing. “We’re splitting into three teams. One group will stay here and man the fort. The second group goes and gets guns. The third gets propane tanks, food, and supplies.”

“Propane tanks?” Forres’ head tilted the side like a lost puppy.

“We are going to blow them up in front of the mental hospital with all the zombies and drive a path through to get to the entrance,” Felix stated.

Forres stood, thinking. “You didn’t think this through,” She was surprises Felix didn’t think this through well enough. “If you throw the tank close to the wall, the wall will explode and zombies will get in. What if-“

“I said that but it’s the only way in.” Felix interrupted. “We have to try.”

“It has too many flaws!” Forres exclaimed. “We can’t risk the people inside getting killed.”

Felix’s face darkened with a bit of rage. “How do we know that there are humans inside? Have you checked lately? And if there are survivors, how do you know that they are bit? How do you know they aren’t already dead as we speak, searching for a pumping heart and waiting for us. How do you know that?” Forres stayed quiet because she didn’t know. No one knew. “Please if you have a better plan, tell me and I’d be happy to do it but until then you need to follow my rules. Got it?”

Forres bit her tongue from mouthing back. She just nodded.

Felix left the room, pretty steamed.

*****

Day Two: March 29
th
, 2020; 1:27 pm

The two groups – that was going out – stood in the hall, getting ready.

The group that was staying was Sargent, Andrew, Chyler, Rayne and Thaddeus.  The group going to get the tanks consists of Forres, Max, Buzz, Jackus and Felix. The last group going for guns was Zander, Eleanor, Dean, Bex and Austin.

Forres didn’t like the idea of going with Felix because she had requested her in her group. Chyler didn’t like idea of being with Rayne either. As Forres just got on her coat, Rayne pulled her away from earshot of the groups. “Can you get me something while you’re at the store?” Rayne asked.

Even though Forres didn’t like Rayne so well, she wasn’t in the mood to get on anyone else’s back side. “Sure. What is it?”

Rayne handed a paper.

Forres unfolded it and read the word:
“
Estrogen?”

Rayne shushed her in fear that someone might hear. She then pulled Forres a little bit further from the group. “It’s just over the counter pills for fertilization?”

Forres raised a brow.

“It’s hard to explain. Please just get it for me. A bunch if you can.”

Forres frowned and leaned in and whispered: “Do you plan to over dose?”

“No. I plan to take them one at a time each day. Please, Forres. Just promise me you’ll get them. A bunch of them for me please.”

Forres looked from Rayne and to the paper that had Estrogen written on it. Forres thought it must be a secret on why she needs these pills. But no matter how much she hated Rayne, she wouldn’t wish death on her. She wouldn’t wish death on her worst enemy matter of fact. Finally she said, “Fine.”

Rayne breathed out air that she was holding in. “Thank you so much! Please keep this a secret.”

“But,” Forres quickly added. “I’ll give you a bottle a month if you don’t hurt anyone. Don’t even hold a weapon…”

Rayne searched Forres’s face and saw in her brown eyes she was hurt. “You think I killed Ben. You know me. I would never hurt anyone.”

“I don’t know anyone,” Forres said. She looked down and blinked away the warm tears that were forming in her eyes. “Promise me, Rayne. Promise me, you won’t kill anyone and I’ll get you these pills.”

Rayne doesn’t try to see if Forres was crying because by her voice Rayne could tell she was. “I promise,” She said. Rayne hated to lie or break promises to Forres but she’ll do anything for the pills. Even if that means killing Forres for them.

Chapter Thirty-One

Day Two: March 29
th
, 2020; 1:42 pm

Andrew locked the door behind them.

Instead of slowly creeping down the steps, the two groups ran down the steps. Forres let out a laugh and slipped a bit. Max caught her at the waist and got her to her feet. “Careful, princess,” The others pass them. Forres straightened herself and nodded. She goes down as he muttered: “You could’ve said thanks.”

At the bottom of the stairwell, Felix and Austin were on each side of the doors. They both looked at each other as Felix touched the door handle. Silent they counted to three together. Felix swung open the door and Austin went out. He checked both ways before yelling, “Clear” to them.

The groups filed out into the lobby of the building. “Where did they’d go?” Zander questioned as Forres thought of all the places they could have gone.

“Who cares?” Dean laughed. Forres followed a trail of blood on the floor. If this was normal – which was highly likely – Forres would get on her knees and would clean the floors spotless with a toothbrush. She followed the bread crumb trail to the elevator they had gone in before. There was blood on the doors in the forms of claws.

Do you know what I’m thinking?
Forres questioned the voice in her head.

Well I am you…
The voice answered.
I don’t think they couldn’t have gone in there. Unless…

“Unless they are mutating…,” Forres muttered under her breath.

Austin let out a sigh. “We are burning daylight. We should hit the road.”

The groups started to pile out except for Forres and Max. Max was watching Forres because she was talking to herself. He couldn’t hear what she was saying because it was under her breath and soft. Max looks at the group that had left them alone. “Forres…,” she mustn’t have heard him. Max walked over and touched her shoulder. Forres jumpped as if he was a zombie sneaking up on her. “You okay?” He narrows his gray eyes on her.

Forres glanced at the elevator. “Oh um… Yeah. We should…,” she looked over at it again and softly adds: “go…”

“Yeah. Let’s go,” Max said. He had to pry her away from the elevator because she just kept looking at it as if it would open and something would pop out.

Nothing did.

But Forres knew something was lurking in that elevator. Rats? Possibly. But she thought it might be scarier than a few rats. Maybe dead humans…

*****

Day Two: March 29
th
, 2020; 1:58 pm

“Where are we going?” Forres asked.

She was still in a bit of a daze and in a hurry to get back and investigate.

“Walmart,” Felix answered. His tone of voice made Forres think he was a bit annoyed with her. He was. He rolled his eyes and kept walking, looking for an unlocked car.

“How far is that?” Forres asked. She ignored the tone in Felix’s voice.

The group looked at her. “You don’t know?” Buzz frowned. Forres slowly shook her head. “Maybe five minutes to ten minutes by foot. Don’t worry. Be glad you were in a hospital for all your life. You didn’t miss much.”

“Was it bad?” She asked.

Buzz snorted. “Before or after the infection?”

Felix smiled too. “Before the infection, half the people were annoying and the other half was stupid.”

The wind picked up. The sun was shining, brightly but Forres felt no heat against her pale, tan skin even though she desperately wanted to. “It seems like you hate a lot of people,” she justified.

“I do not. I’ve hated what they became. They were the monsters under beds. It scares me how quickly they could turn on each other even without the infection,” Felix explained.

Forres looked over at him. His face has turned a bit soft but yet it was still somber. “Did you lose anyone to these monsters?”

“Are you talking about society or the dead?” He questioned.

“Yes…”

Felix looked over at her. She was looking straight ahead, not at him. He hesitated: “To society, I lost my dad. He was a cop and was on an important case. Drug Dealers murdered him. They blew up him and his partner that were on the way to the station. My mom died from a car accident. She was lawyer and made a guy go to jail. She was killed by some of the guy’s friends… My brother is just lost. I can’t find him…”

“I’m sorry…,” Forres started. “What’s your brother’s name? I could help you find him.”

Felix looked over at Forres. He wanted to hate her but it was impossible. She was that type of person who makes you like them. “Scout. Scout Hewitt.”

Forres snorted. “Hew-itt is your last name?”

“Shut up,” Felix laughed with her. He bumped her a bit. “What your last name?”

“Tanner.”

“Why that?” Buzz asked. “Did you pick that last name?”

Forres shook her head and went to shrug but she remembered why she was named Forres Tanner. “No, my foster mother did. I was found in a forest nearby, thus Forres. And I was a little tanner then the rest of the kids so Forres Tanner became my name.”

Max winced as she said that. He cursed under his breath hopping no one would see or hear him.
She is…

Chapter Thirty-Two

Day Two: March 29
th
, 2020; 2:22 pm

Bex kicked open the door of the gun store.

“Clear,” she yelled to the others after checking to see if there was any undead.

Austin goes in. His new blue t-shirt was tucked into his jeans. He had cowboy hat and boots on. “Let’s go. We’ll take a car and meet the others at Walmart.”

Zander followed. He has on a black sleeveless shirt, showing off his tattoos, with black jeans. “Let’s take two, just in case,” Austin nodded at that.

Nothing much was left in the store but they took what they could.

“What happens when the bullets are all gone?” Eleanor wondered aloud.

Bex put some guns into a bag and said, “Then we’ll improvise. We’ll use sling shots and be-be guns,” Eleanor laughed. Bex smiled and looked at Eleanor and winked at her.

“Oh?” Dean said, not really that surprised. “Looks like Bex is stealing Zander’s girl!”

Zander shot him a look.

“Shut up,” Bex barked but inside she was blushing. She did like Eleanor. She liked the way her dark curls were in a mess bun but the bangs clung to her forehead with sweat. She loved her thin beautiful face and her dark blue eyes. Eleanor was even curvy in everywhere Bex loved her to be.

Dean nudged Zander and nodded to Bex who was staring at Eleanor. Zander nudged Austin but as he did, Austin appears on the other side of Dean and says, “What are you guys staring at?”

Zander’s tiger eyes went wide as the guy he bumped let out a moan. Zander turned just as the zombie lunged at him.

Bex, Dean, and Eleanor pull out a gun and aimed them at the zombie who was rolling around with Zander. Austin takes a knife and steadied the zombie. He put the knife through it skull.

Zander moved his head as some zombie blood fell on his face.

Austin looked at the others who now put down their guns down. “Don’t waste your bullets. If there is only one or a few, use something without noise and a waste of bullets.”

Bex nodded, understanding but she was looking at Eleanor.

Dean snorted. “Take a picture. I’ll last longer.”

Bex shot Dean a death and before she could say anything, Eleanor jumped in, “Stop acting like children!”

Dean rolled his dark eyes and whined, “I was only joking.”

But Bex and Dean started to bicker; Zander shook his head and says, “Kids... We need to go. Let’s just go!”

No one listened to him. Bex’s jaw clenched tightly. Just as Dean’s last Australian words left his mouth, Bex tightened her fist and swung at Dean’s right eye.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Day Two: March 29
th
, 2020; 2:21pm

Chyler pouted siting on the couch, staring at an un-working clock.

Thaddeus sighed, understanding her boredom. “They’ll be back soon.”

Chyler crossed her arms over her chest. “How do you know that? They could be dead or undead right as we speak. Who knows?”

Sargent nudged her a bit on the couch. She looked at him. His face looked weak but well enough to survive. “Have hope. If we don’t have faith then we shouldn’t alive. We need to have faith that the future will be okay and that your mother will live.”

Chyler’s blue eyes searched Sargent’s pale Latino face. She then nodded and whispered, “Okay.”

*****

Day Two: March 29
th
, 2020; 2:27pm

Andrew patrolled the halls with a huge machine gun.

He let out a tiring yawn, getting tired of pacing. He foot kicked something, sending the small thing flying across the hall. He looked around and jogged after it. He picked it up and unscrewed the rectangular canister lid and smelt what was inside.

Whiskey burned his nostrils and watered his mouth. He put the canister to his lips and took a long sip. The strong whiskey burned its way down his throat.

He coughed a bit, spitting out some of the whiskey. After a small coughing fit, he drank more.

The drink seems to have gone more to his head then his stomach.

“Dumb Felix,” He muttered, throwing down the empty canister. He was lightweight and never took alcohol well. “Makin’ me wait ‘til they come back. You know what?” He stopped in the middle of the hall – he was near the elevators. “Felix can kiss my a-,”

He was interrupted by a small and muffled moan. It sounded as if someone covered someone else’s mouth when they were talking.

Instantly and almost naturally, Andrew raised his gun and searched the hall he was in. Nothing was there but he waits. When the noise doesn’t come again, he began pacing the halls again, talking to himself. For some reason, Andrew didn’t hear the soft moans and groans or the elevator doors slowly being forced open.

Andrew turned around and stopped. He was face-to-face with an ugly zombie girl his height. The skin around her nose and mouth was ripped off and showing her muscles and blood. The foul smell of rotting flesh filled his nostrils, suddenly wishing it was the whiskey instead or something alive. Behind the girl was an army of undead, still getting out of the elevator – that was being held open but two undead guys.

Andrew swallowed hard as the undead girl sniffed the air, making the Adam’s apple on his neck bob. He didn’t dare to move a muscle. The undead girl seemed to be a bit blind but she saw his Adam’s apple move.

She let a high pitched scream, spiting blood on his face.

“Oh sh-,” Andrew started but doesn’t finish. The zombie lunged for him.