Our Undead (68 page)

Margaret:
I'm going to fall.

Sharp:
What?!

Margaret:
I'm going to fall. If I fall, you'll be able to pull yourself
up.

Sharp:
Don't say that garbage. Don't even
think
it. Me not being able to
pull myself up has nothing to do with you. This bag of guns weighs
twice as much as you. Just sit tight. We'll get out of
this.

Margaret
:
I don't know if I want to.

Sharp:
Why..
ugh..
would you say that?

Margaret:
I have nothing left to live for.

Sharp:
That's bullshit. There's...
always
something to live
for.

Margaret:
Not for me.

Sharp:
Ugh… What about your friend?!
Ugh..

Margaret:
We've only known each other for a short time. He's strong.
He'll get over it, and he'll be better off.

Sharp:
I
highly doubt he would see it that way… Ugh… Shit… Listen, sometimes
life keeps us in the dark, in the most hopeless places for a
reason. Sometimes we're not supposed to know what comes next… The
fact that you're still here is proof that you have something to
live for. The only thing you have to do is
hang on
, in life, ugh… and right
now.

Margaret:
Yea... I've heard something like that somewhere
before.

She listens to Sharp's
words of support, but the clichés go in one ear and out the other.
She takes one more look at the fall, at her inevitability, and
begins to weep while loosening her hold around Sharp even
more.

Margaret:
(sniffs)
Just.. tell
Billy..
(sniffs)
… Tell him I couldn't hold on.

Sharp:
Margaret, don't do it!
Don't!

Margaret:
I'm… sorr-

Sharp:
Wait!
Shut up!
Shut your mouth for a second!

Sharp's abrupt, and
frankly, rude interruption throws Margaret off. The shock from it
causes her initial grip to be restored. She waits as
commanded.

Sharp:
Do
you hear that?!

She listens. It's faint,
but there is definitely something there, a high-pitched sound
tolling above the rushes of the leftover avalanches. Before long,
it becomes even clearer, the sound of someone calling their names
out. Seconds later, and the voice becomes recognizable to both of
them as Erika Blaze's.

Sharp:
Oh,
thank fuck… Ugh…. BLAAAAZE!!! WE'RE OVER HERE!!!!

Erika:
(in the distance)
Denver!?
Where?! Keep calling out to me!

Sharp:
OVER HERE!!! … Hey, you back there. You wanna help me
out?

He calls Margaret out for
being silent when she is unquestionably the one in a better
position to be hollering. She looks up and is about to yell for
Erika, when a shadow casts over her head in the same moment. It's
Erika's mocha chocolate face eclipsing the already dimming sky. She
looks worried, but with shades of relief as she flings off her
duffel bag and bends down over top them.

Erika:
MATTHEW, THEY'RE OVER HERE!!!
You guys all right? Here, take my hand.

She reaches down for
Margaret, who first passes up her forearm crutches. Erika tosses
them aside and takes Margaret's arm next. She pulls the girl up,
and Margaret crawls over to her crutches. Next, Erika pulls Sharp
up. She struggles a little with this one, seeing as how he is a
full-grown man with a duffel bag full of weaponry. Not to mention
how tired she is, herself, but she eventually gets him up and over
the edge. When she knows he is safe again, she lets herself go and
drops to the ground, totally spent.

Erika:
(huffing)
What the hell
happened?

Sharp:
Well… The scenery was so breathtaking. We thought we'd hang
out for a bit.

Erika:
When are you gonna learn that "breathtaking" doesn't always
mean "good"?

Sharp:
Never!…
(exhales)
Thanks, E.B.

Erika:
Don't mention it… Actually, mention it. Mention it a
lot.

Sharp:
Aw,
I'm pretty sure you'll take care of that just
fine.

Erika:
Heh, yea… Like remember that time I saved you and Matty in
Bolivia?

Sharp:
Erika, please-

Kerrick:
You saved
him
. I was in the
process
of saving
him. I didn't need saving.

Erika:
You
guys were free falling into that lava pit. If I
didn't-

Kerrick:
Soooooo,
what the heck happened
here? Where'd you find these two?

Kerrick swings off and sets
down his own bag of guns, then sits playfully down beside Erika,
cutting in before she can finish her story. He is awfully tired
himself. After what had just happened, a little sit down won't
hurt. Margaret doesn't sit too far off from them. She listens to
the team members joking with each other, and it kind of makes her
sick to her stomach. How could they be joking around after what
just happened? They sit there self-centeredly pecking at each
other, competing selfishly when they had solved absolutely nothing.
And they wouldn't solve anything, either. They are
useless.

Erika:
I
found these two hanging off the edge.

Kerrick:
Enjoying the view?

Sharp:
Yes. Exactly that.

Kerrick:
It
is
sorta beautiful… In a… dreary type of.. nightmarey, sad sorta
way.

They all look out over the
boundless crater. It stretches as far as they can see,
outdistancing the darkening horizon where a few stars have already
begun to share their glitter. The dust has disappeared for the most
part, but a dirty cloud floats far overhead. It stretches the
entire length and width of the crater, making the scenery dimmer
than it would normally be. The floor of the crater is lined with
rubble of all shapes and sizes, a barren bedrock.

Kerrick:
Take that, Grand Canyon.

Erika:
The
Grand Canyon? This isn't a canyon, you wonderful genius. It's more
like… a big hole.

Kerrick:
Holes poke through to the other side. It's more like
a…

Sharp:
A
gravel pit. A very big gravel pit.

Kerrick:
Yes! Good one… Oh, why hello there. Nice to see.. some of
you.

Kerrick turns his and
everyone else's attention to the group of people coming toward
them. Professor Gwen and Billy are in front. He is still having
some trouble walking and still has one arm slung over the
professor's shoulder for assistance. Behind them are Holden and
General Feleider. Neither of which look nearly as tired as the
rest. When they reconnect, Billy withdraws from Gwen's shoulder and
sits down beside Margaret who is preoccupied with thought and
uninvolved. He asks her if she is okay, and she does him the favor
of nodding. The professor opts to sit down as well, but a little
closer to the others.

Kerrick:
Come back to see if we're okay? How sweet of
you.

Holden:
We
came back to figure out what to do next.

Sharp:
What, you're not smart enough to figure it out for yourself?
Can't hack it out there without us, uh?

Holden:
I'm not the one who couldn't outrun a little
earthquake.

Sharp:
Oh,
yea?! Well, you can-

Feleider:
ACTUALLY
, we know exactly what
we're going to do next. There's another base located in the Nevada
deserts. It's our best choice.

Sharp:
How
could you even
think
about going to another base? You're a traitor. If
you think you're secret is safe with us, you've got another thing
coming, Feleider.

Feleider:
That, I will deal with when the time comes. For now, we have
a better chance of surviving if we travel as one.

Erika:
He's right. Besides, this is not the place to start an
argument. We'll figure things out as we go, but we have to keep our
heads cool. If you children don't behave and work as a team when
we're in the thick of those goofs, we might as well just shoot each
other right now. We'll be as good as dead. Can we do this? Can you
guys work as a team again? For now?

They all look around at
each other doubtfully, but come to agree with Erika's
terms.

Kerrick:
Yep.

Gwen:
Yes.

Feleider:
Yes.

Sharp:
All
right.

Holden nods.

Erika:
Good. Nevada is due south. There's only one
problem.

Kerrick:
Hmmm, might you be referring to the thousand mile long gravel
pit sitting in our way?

Erika:
(sighs)
Yes. We'll have to go
around it. It's going to take forever, but we have no
choice.

Kerrick:
There's no going through it.

Erika:
So,
that's it then. We're going to Nevada.

With everyone on the same
page, their plan is set. They will go to the neighboring
underground compound in Nevada. Sat off to the side, Billy has been
listening the whole time, although, not participating. The mention
of travelling to Nevada reignites his ambitions of making it to
California. When they were underground he had come to terms with
putting his aspirations on hold. There was no telling how long they
would be down there, or what would happen to them next, but now it
has become possible again. As grim as things are, it gives him
something to look forward to once more.

Billy:
So
we're going to Nevada. Looks like we might be able to see Hollywood
after all, hey Margaret? … Margaret?

He turns to her, but she is
no longer sitting beside him. Looking every which way, he spots
her. She is up on her crutches, walking due north, the opposite
direction from which they should be heading, away from the great
pit, away from the group, and away from California.

Billy:
HEY!

She doesn't answer. Her
heart has become so heavy… It looks like he'll have to delay seeing
Hollywood for a while longer. He has no idea where she could be
going, or if she even has a plan, but it doesn't matter. Without
saying a word to the others, who are now watching them both, he
gets up and jogs over to meet Margaret. Or tries to jog. His legs
are still weak, and his jog looks more like a hasty hobble or
zombie trot. Nevertheless, he eventually catches up to his friend.
The rest watch them slowly get further and further away, neither
one looking back.

Gwen:
Where do they think they're going? We should stop
them!

Sharp:
No... They'll be all right.

Kerrick:
(scoffs)
How do you figure
that?!

Sharp:
…They made it this far… Let them go.

Erika:
Fine, but we should get going ourselves, before the sun is
completely set. Are we good to go?

Sharp:
Ugh… Yea, let's move out.

Sharp, Erika, Kerrick and
Professor Gwen get lethargically back up to their feet. They all
dust themselves off, and the three super soldiers get their duffel
bags back on.

Kerrick:
Great! Time to gun down some goofs. Can't wait to put these
babies to work.

Erika:
You're really sick you know that? Really sick. A real head
case.

Kerrick:
A
real
sexy
head case… that you wanna make sweet
sweet
love to.