How Far We've Come (Fifteen)

Ah, so here we are. Things have finally come full circle from Let It Rain (One)

I’m wakin' up at the start of the end of the world

But it's feeling just like every other morning before

Now I wonder what my life is gonna mean if it's gone
The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour and I

Started staring at the passengers and waving goodbye

Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?
But I believe the world is burning to the ground

Oh well, I guess we're gonna find out

Let's see how far we've come

-How Far We’ve Come,

 

It’s been about three weeks since the end of the world. Can you believe that? Everything seems so surreal. I don’t think it’s actually hit me yet that the world has crashed and burned.

 

Just three weeks ago, my life was still normal. My mom had slapped me. I ran out. Adam’s girlfriend slapped me too. Adam emotionally slapped me. All in all, it was a time for slaps.

 

Now I’m living in a high school with twelve other people and my dog. Since that day, we checked the rest of the school and now we we’re living in classrooms. Adam, Bella, and I shared the junior’s science class, and Devon and Austin shared the room that was attached to ours by a door.

 

Chris, the one who’d shoved the gun at me, and his brother, Jeff, shared the Spanish classroom together with Maggie, Jeff’s wife, the accented woman. Marco took the speech room, which he shared with Hal, who looked our age. The last couple is staying the Health room.

 

Chris doesn’t like us still, which is fine by me. He reminds me of the creep that killed my grandmother. Hal, the one that was out with Jeff when we met, sends me cryptic looks that I have yet to decipher. They’re not romantic or anything, it just looks like he knows something I don’t. Marco has made a habit of hanging around us. Sometimes I’m suspicious.

 

We were hanging in our room when Scott came in. Adam raised his eyes to him from the feather duster previously named Frank. Our science teacher had been just a bit eccentric.

 

“Since you guys are living here now, we’d appreciate it if you could help out. I mean, now there’s thirteen people to take care of…”

 

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Scott, why did you come to a high school in the first place? You’re girlfriend is pregnant and there are barely any beds.”

 

He looked me in the eye, slightly shocked I’d talked to him that way. “I…this seemed like the safest place. Why do you care?”

 

“Why do we care?” Carlee asked, straightening up fro her position on one of the lab tables. “This is our high school. We know it better than anyone here. We know the exits, traps, and tricks of this place.”

 

“Look,” I said, cutting to the chase. “We’ll help; we just don’t want to be treated like children, when we know more than most of you here. You’d be a great deal smarter to start listening to us.”

 

“Is that right?” Jeff spat, sidling into the room. “Just how old you are you?”

 

“Age doesn’t matter anymore. Everyone’s life span is about the same,” Austin answered, playing with his pocket knife.

 

“The way I see it, you all are at a disadvantage. You’d be a great deal wiser to realize your place,” he mocked. Scott put a hand on his shoulder.

 

“We’d just appreciate it if we had help. Everyone’s meeting in five minutes. Be there.” Scott said, walking out. Jeff followed him after throwing a scowl in our direction. I grabbed my machete (they’d since given us our feeble weapons back) and grinned.

 

“Ready to wreak havoc?”

 

“You know, sometimes you scare me,” Adam said offhandedly, picking up Bella.

 

I rolled my eyes.

 

~*~*~

 

“The fact is, we need more supplies. We can’t run on Smucker’s forever.” Marco said, holding his hands out in cluelessness.

 

“I’ll go,” I volunteered, “Devon and I can raid some stores. We’re not foreign to…stealth related objectives.”

 

Adam furrowed his brows, “I’ll go too…”

 

“No, you stay here and watch Bella. Devon and I can do this, no worries, babe.” I think he would have protested if I hadn’t called him babe.

 

“Why should we trust you two to bring back supplies for all of us?” Maggie asked, crossing her arms. Apparently, she was just as bitchy as her family. “Who’s to know that you won’t hog what you get?”

 

Devon shrugged, “Fine, you want to send someone with us, whatever.”

 

“You come back bit, you don’t come back to this life,” Chris growled. “I’m not putting anyone here at risk for you little b*****s.”

 

Adam stepped forward again, his face taut with anger. “You better watch your mouth, buddy.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Chris thrust his chin out and Rena sighed.

 

“Stop it! If we want to f*****g survive, then we need to play nice.” Marco nodded, trying to help Rena calm everyone down. 

 

So Devon, Hal, and I set off, the others watching as we cautiously made our way outside. A few of the walkers caught us, but we dispatched them quickly. “Where do we go?”

 

“Walgreens is around the corner,” I offered. “It’s not too far away.”

 

Devon nodded and we looked at Hal. His cheeks were kind of pink and he shrugged. “Are you even from here?”

 

He shook his head, “I was visiting my uncle, Marco, and then this s**t happened.”

 

I shook my head, frustrated. “Alright, well, Devon and I know strategy, so you just have to be our lookout okay? Just leave everything to us.”

 

We made it to Walgreens stealthily, and luckily, the alarm didn’t go off when we entered. Apparently, we were having better luck, now. The mirrors at the back of the store along the wall by the pharmacy helped a lot.

 

I don’t remember what we were doing. Looking at something, I think, trying to figure out if we’d need it.

 

Four attacked out of nowhere, and I stuck my machete into one’s eye socket, recoiling from the splatter. Not a person, I chanted, not a person.

 

“Em!” I turned just in time to see another reaching for me. It was Mrs. Fahy, our vice principle. I always knew something school related would be the death of me.

 

I managed to twist away from her hungry grasp, but she got lucky and scratched my upper arm. Maybe I was the lucky one there.

 

 I cried out and fell to the floor, feeling the blood seep through my fingers. Mrs. Fahy’s blood red mouth opened in what I guessed was a smile of victory. As she leapt to take the kill, she was blown sideways by a bullet. I heard a sound that closely resembled someone dropping a sack of potatoes.

 

I guessed it killed her, because I didn’t hear the screeching/growling cries of the undead anymore. Little black patches began to block and blur my vision. I swear I saw John Marston and Dominic Santiago leaning over me, a bright white light shadowing them.

 

“Emma! No!” was the last thing I heard before I fell into oblivion.

 

 

~*~*~

 

“Emma…” My name was being called from far away. I tried to respond, but found I couldn’t. “Emma!” The voice was laughing, filled with amusement at something I didn’t know.

I could finally open my eyes. “Emma, there you are! I knew you’d eventually come round.”

My arms are restrained I think and I am sitting in a chair. But I can’t feel it. I lazily look at the person who’d spoken. It was a man with a leather jacket and a hatchet. Chris. What was Chris doing here? Where was Adam?

“Chris…” I tried to say, but it came out as a muffled moan. I was gagged as well.

“That’s right, you little b***h. You’re finally gonna get what you deserve. I shoulda done this the moment you walked in with that f****t and that little girl.” Chris laughs, his thick brown mustache twitches as he strokes the blade. “But I knew they’d turn against me if I murdered a little girl’s mama, specially in this world, without a reason other than my justice.”

He laughs again and my eyes widen in fright. “Now I got a reason. I get to say that you really wasn’t immune at all, just lucky. You turned while on my watch. You attacked me, what else was I ‘sposed to do? A zombie needs killin, don’ it?”

And with that, he raised his hatchet. In the seconds it took him to swing, the door banged open. I saw Adam, pain and shock painted on his face. “NO!”

His hand reached out, Chris looked away, and I closed my eyes.

Author's Note

So, what did you think? I'm proud of this chapter. I never really thought that I'd get this far.

Dedicated to Kaylee, who's been a great friend, and reminded me what really helps in the end.

Reviews

[Rhea752]

DAMN IT YOU WRITE MORE OR I KILL YOU, LITTLE MISS MASTER OF SUSPENSE. GRRRRRRRR

[♪The Girl Next Do..]

OH MY GOD!!! this is crazy crazy. I cant wait for more! The suspense is killing me!