Surviving This Life (4 page)

“Willow….close your eyes and only open them when I say to. Do you understand?”

“Why Liv? What is going on? Move let me see!” she says nudging her way past me to see what has stopped me in my tracks.

I feel Wil push me aside and her screams fill the breezeway. She leans against the wall behind her, still screaming and slides down the wall. I watch in horror as Devin zones in on her and is going straight for the kill.

“Wil, Move!”

She shakes her head no.

“Wil he is going to hurt you! Now move,” I demand. But still she shakes her head.

“Just leave me alone Liv,” she cries.

Devin reaches out for her and Emily screams and runs over and gets behind me. Just before he grabs her I yank him back. He lunges for her again and I pull him back again. This time he turns toward me, his usually emerald green eyes show no sign of life. Instead the blood shot red has taken over. He opens his mouth and snarls at me showcasing what used to be pearly whites, but now have taken on a yellowish tint.

“I’m sorry Dev. I love you,” is all I say before I swing the bat with all I have making him fall at my feet. This time he is truly dead.

“UGH!” I scream out then sink down on the opposite wall and cry into my hands.

Chapter Five-

Willow

I run to Devin’s limp body lying on the floor of the hallway and hit my knees. The one thing I was fighting for is gone. What else is there to fight for? He was the one man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I reach down to his neck with shaky hands I take off his necklace. It’s a silver W to match the D on my neck. We bought them when we went on vacation two years ago. I slide the necklace on and tuck it into my shirt alongside my own.

I hear a scream and jump at the invasion of noise when it felt like the whole world went silent.

“HELP ME!” Emily yells.

Liv and I both snap our heads up in her direction just in time to see a flesh eater jerking on Emily’s arm. Before I have time to process what I am seeing, Liv jumps up and runs over to Emily smashing the flesh eater in the head, dropping him with one blow. She scoops Emily up in her arms and mumbles something in her ear that I can’t quite hear.

“We need to get up to their apartment fast!” Liv says as she heads toward the stairs. “There are more flesh eaters coming,” she spouts over her shoulder as she takes the first step up the stairs. She turns to me and I am still knelt down by Devin’s cold lifeless body. “Willow come on! Please!” she begs, and since the first time this has all started I see the worry in her eyes.

I look back to Devin, I kiss my hand and place it on the top of his head. “I love you Dev, always,” I whisper, then take a deep breath before I run up the stairs behind Liv and Emily.

Emily has her head buried in Liv’s shoulder, her eyes squeezed shut. I pray that Tony is okay and we don’t have to go through all of this again, one time is enough for a lifetime. Tony’s door is one of the last ones on the right.

Liv runs to the door and bangs on it while I put my back to the wall and look all around us. That noise surely had to attract some attention. When the door opens my breath catches in my throat as the brown hair of someone we don’t know peeks out.

“Who the hell are you?!” Liv barks at the brown haired bimbo at the door.

“Becky, now be fucking quiet! Before we are swarmed with them things!” she barks back.

“FUCK YOU! TONY?!” Liv yells into the crack in the door.

The door slides open and there stands Tony. I don’t know if I feel relieved or jealous that he is alive and Devin isn’t. I want to be pissed that Tony did nothing to save his cousin, or maybe he did but it just wasn’t enough.

Liv rushes in knocking the brown haired bimbo to the side as she wraps her free arm around Tony. I watch as Becky rolls her eyes and shifts her weight from one foot to the other and slams the door shut behind me.

“Thank God you are alright!” She says as she gently sits Emily down and envelopes Tony in a tight hug.

“Hey baby I am so glad you are alive!” He wraps his arms around Liv and kisses her on the lips slowly.

I roll my eyes and take Emily’s hand leading her to the couch.

“Uhm, can you two do that another time?” Becky asks.

Liv turns and glares at Becky and then takes Tony’s face in her hands and passionately kisses him. I can see her tongue as it darts in his mouth. I think I am going to be sick. I turn my attention to Emily.

“Are you okay?” I quietly ask.

“Yes,” she replies almost too low for me to hear.

I pull her close to me wrapping my right arm around her. “It’s going to be okay baby girl, I promise.” I say not knowing if I am saying it more to her or to myself.

I hear Liv try and whisper to Tony without me hearing, “What happened to Dev?”

“He couldn’t fucking wait until we had a plan. He went to find Willow on his own. Have you seen him? Is he okay?” he asks looking around the living room like he snuck in behind us without him seeing him or something.

Liv throws herself back in Tony’s arms and I can hear her heart breaking sobs from over here.

“H...He D...Didn’t make it,” she wails.

“Fuck!” He steps away from Liv and looks to me and I see the sorrow in his eyes.

I want to slap him and his little bimbo to! If he had really wanted to make him stay he could have done more to stop him.

“You let him walk out the door! Don’t look at me like you are sorry!” I yell.

“Why didn’t you stop him? Or at least go with him?!” Liv yells.

“What was I supposed to do? I was trying to make a damn plan that kept us all alive!”

“Well you failed at that buddy!” Liv says as she pushes past Tony and comes to the couch beside me.

“I am so sorry Wil.” She wraps her arm around me giving me a gentle squeeze.

I wrap my arms around Liv and try not to cry. I don’t want Emily to see us break down again. I will do that alone when we make it somewhere safe, somewhere other than here. Here holds too many memories of Devin for me.

“Who are they Tony?” I hear Becky purr as she steps closer to him and touches his chest.

“My girlfriend Olivia and her best friend Willow.” He quickly moves back away from Becky’s touch. “And this little beauty I don’t know,” he says and smiles at Emily.

She smiles back at him. “My name is Emily. Olivia and Willow saved me,” she beams at me and Liv. I can’t help but smile back and wrap my arms around her pulling her into my lap.

“We sure did baby,” Liv says giving Emily her brightest smile.

Tony looks between the three of us with a look on his face that says he believes none of what we are saying.

“You saved her?” he asks in disbelief.

“Yeah you know that thing you should have done with Devin instead of hanging out in your apartment with whoever the hell she is.” My voice is thick with irritation as I motion to Becky.

She is still standing where Tony left her watching all of us with a disgusted look on her face. The flesh eaters haven’t been here long and I have yet to meet a person that I can even think about feeding to them, but this girl seems like she needs to be supper for a group of them as soon as we leave this damn apartment.

“Liv we need to go I can’t stay here,” I say turning my attention back to her.

“Where would we go?” Liv asks me. As soon as the words leave her mouth Becky the bimbo speaks up.

“We can go to my family home in Florida. They have two guest houses right on the beach.” She looks up at Tony.

I grit my teeth knowing that means if they say yes then she has to live.

“Excuse me but who in the fuck said that you were a part of the
we
I was talking about?” Liv blurts out. I have always loved the way she says what she is thinking.

She looks to Liv and then turns her worried eyes to Tony and I can see her begging him not to leave her.

“Tony how the fuck do you know her?” I spit out hoping she can tell in my voice how much I don’t like her.

“She lives down the hall,” is all he gives in response.

“Whatever we do, let’s do it now.” I look from Liv to Emily.

“Do you have anywhere else in mind safer than houses on the beach?” Becky asks with a smug smile on her face.

As soon as we make it, that bitch is dead. I stand from the couch and take Emily’s hand.

“Let’s go.” I motion to Becky to walk out the door and she shakes her head no vigorously.

I grind my teeth once again and reach around her opening the door and shove her out with a little more force than needed.

“Wait!” Liv yells at me.

“You and Emily don’t need to go out first. Let me.” She twirls Mr. Bat around and gives Becky a smug smile, “Let a real woman handle this.” And she walks out the door.

I shake my head and laugh then look at Becky with a you-are-a-pus look.

“All clear,” Liv says as she motions for us to follow her.

Gripping Emily’s hand tight I make my way out the door. I look back at Tony who has Becky’s arms wrapped tight around his waist
. She better hope Liv doesn’t see that shit. She will be dead for sure.
I smile at that thought.

We make our way down the stairs and at the bottom I can see a pack of hungry flesh eaters trying their damnedest to climb the steps, but they can’t seem to get their feet to move the way they want them to, up.

Liv holds her hand up for us to stop. “Wait here, let me clear us a path,” she says.

I cut my eyes towards Tony “You’re really going to let her do it on her own? Move it!” I yell.

Becky tightens her arms on his waist and shakes her head no. He pulls her arm from his waist and smiles at her. “I have to help Liv now,” he says looking around the hallway for something he can use as a weapon.

“Shit there isn’t anything here!” he says in frustration.

“Forget it Tony I have it. I have fought off more than this and managed to keep
everyone
with me safe,” Liv barks over her shoulder as she takes the first swing with the bat knocking the first flesh eater down into the three behind him.

She Jumps down off the last step and around them so they follow her away from the stairs. She swings her bat around and knocks the advancing flesh eater on its ass. Then quickly delivers the killing blow to the head. The next flesh eater lunges toward her, falling on the lifeless body at her feet. She takes advantage of its clumsiness and whacks it on the back of its head splitting its skull. The last of the three makes its way back over to the stairs and manages to make it up the first step. Emily screams and digs her fingers into my hand. I quickly pick her up and hold her tight.

“Oh no you don’t fucker!” Liv yells as she yanks him down the step to the ground and beats him in his head repeatedly. Blood and brain matter splash up hitting her in the face but she still keeps smashing him in his head.

“Die mother fucker die!” she yells blow after blow.

“Ohhhh potty mouth!” Emily says.

I can’t help but giggle that at a time like this she still has a little sense of humor.

Liv stops and looks up at Emily. Her face is now red from the splattered blood. “Oppps sorry Em,” she says as she wipes some of the blood off of her face with her arm. She then motions for us to come on down.

I make my way down the remaining steps and over the now flattened head of, I glance down and catch a glimpse of a name tag on the Huddle House uniform that the flesh eater is wearing, Brittany. I make it to Liv’s side as Tony and his tumor make their way down the stairs. Becky hides her face in Tony’s chest as they pass the corpse of Brittany.

I look over to Liv to see if she is seeing the same thing I am. And by the rage I see in her eyes I can tell she does.

Once they step over the flesh eater Liv walks up to them yanking Becky off of Tony.

“Hands off bitch or you will be next.” Liv’s voice takes on a tone I have never heard before as she swings the bat around in circles challenging Becky to argue with her

Becky backs away from Tony and holds her hand up in surrender. We walk the rest of the way out the breezeway and look around for the Range Rover. Liv parked it on the lawn as close to the breezeway as she could without going through the apartment building.

“Where the hell is our car?” I ask quietly.

“What do you mean it is right th…” Liv stops as she looks past me to an empty yard. “That fucking bitch!” she yells.

“Do you have your keys?” she ask Tony who drives a Ford Expedition.

Tony digs his hands in his pocket and pulls out his keys with a triumphant smile on his face.

“Thanks!” Liv snatches them from his hand and stalks her way to his car knocking any flesh eater that gets in her way down with one blow.
Damn she is pissed off.

I look at Tony. “Try and keep her hands off of you this time!” I bark then follow Liv to the waiting SUV.

I open the back door and climb in with Emily. I know Liv and if Tony and Becky sit beside each other she will smash both their heads in.

Pulling out of the parking lot used to be such a natural thing but now it feels like each time we leave somewhere it might be the last time we ever see it again. I lean my head against the window and make the hardest decision I have ever made in leaving Devin behind. I wrap my arm around Emily as she lays her little head on my side and I sigh as a tear rolls down my cheek.

We drive down the road for what feels like hours and I try to sleep. I can hear Emily’s snores and I smile. I am glad she feels safe enough with us that she can finally get some rest.

“Liv look!” I lean up and reach my hand in between the seats. The Range Rover is lying on its side in the left lane of the road.

Liv slows down just in front of the car and I can see Tara hanging out of the windshield. Flesh eaters are devouring her limp lifeless body. They're shoveling her intestines down their throats like they're sausage links.

“Ugh!” Liv gags. “Serves that bitch right for stealing our car. Do you think our bag is still in there?” She asks, looking back at me.

I shrug, “Maybe.”

She stops the car.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Becky demands.

“Chill Barbie I am going to get our supplies,” Liv barks at her. She goes to open the door but Tony grabs her arm, “Babe I don’t think that is a good idea.”