Chapter 9: Bonus Chapter Eight

What ended up happening to the mother? We took her to a green flare, not the same one that had been shot up thankfully; although Jack suggested it. How was Ark? Non-verbal for a while, kind of just off in his own world. I don’t blame him though, the minute he felt like a hero it was snatched away from him and someone he cared for died in front of him. It had to have had a lasting effect on him I imagine. Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure where he is now. I see.

Yellow and orange hues faded over the horizon as the sun began to rest. We were stuck with no green flare in sight. It had been hours since we left after dropping the little girl’s grieving mother off. Unease began to set itself into our minds as the evening light faded to dark and the shriek of more hordes awakening flew through the streets. A couple hours into the night, after a couple close calls with angry hordes, we had made our way into the less densely developed part of the city.

“This place is so creepy.” Crystal remarked with an underlying sense of fear attacking her words.

“We need resources, this place seems abandoned so we should take advantage of this opportunity.” Aleena replied.

”I need fuckin’ ammo.” A little chuckle escaped me when Jack interjected.

“‘Da fuck u laughin’ at? I need more bullets.” He seemed genuinely confused. Approaching an old rusty fence, we stopped and just gazed at it for what felt like minutes until our trance was broken by Aleena slamming her hands against it and starting to climb. Whilst only a few metres tall, the gaps between the wire were hardly big enough for my fingers to fit through so we all had trouble making it over. Once on the other side, I scanned around and noticed a cave-in of the closed off street a little ahead. The road had collapsed into some kind of pipe system. We came here for the convenience store to the right but our curiosity peaked at the sight of this anomaly.

Inside the store, the shelves remained mostly empty with a layer of dust and mold covering just about everything. The only remaining roof-light that functioned swung from the centre of the ceiling; buzzing, not emitting enough light to illuminate anything. Moving through the isles, rats scattered under our feet and cockroaches crawled over our shoes. Standing in a doorframe, a tall figure twitched. Appearing to be ready to attack at the drop of a pin, Everyone ceased movement. It’s unbelievable to see one by itself. Something out of a dream, or a horror movie. No, a nightmare. Not knowing how to feel, our weapons rose from our sides. With the shuffle of Aleena’s stance, its head spun and let out a grunt as it began pacing towards us.

“Don’t even think about it, Aleena.” I snapped as she unsheathed her sword. Her eyes darted to me, expression unchanging, then they shifted back at that thing running towards us. Wind from her dash blew my hair back, her speed was unreal.

“Aleena! What’re you doing?!” Crystal yelped.

”Man She’s always doin’ ‘dis shit.” A surprisingly calm response from Jack, he had confidence in her.

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It ceased movement as Aleena ran circles around it, slicing into its vile flesh with every lap. It wouldn’t drop.

“This thing won’t fucking die!” Aleena cried through swift sword swipes, Like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. We all sat in shock at her stamina and the pure durability of the creature. Its arms whipping the air around it trying to stop her, it couldn’t connect a hit. With every flare of its limbs, she swung harder and ran faster. Finally, after minutes of this, she managed to pierce its neck and slice it clean off with one last cut.

“woohoo! Yes girl!” Crystal began jumping up and down and cheering. still silent, even Ark gave her a nod of approval with a quiet applause. However shortly after its head hit the floor, she collapsed on the way back.

”Fuck!” I screamed with worry. We all began running towards her to offer help. She was out by the time any of us got to her. Jack knelt down and picked her limp body from the moldy ground.

”Yeah, she’s definitely out. We just need to wait.” He walked over to the counter and laid her body atop it.

“That was incredible.” Crystal, more calmly, repeated.

“I didn’t even know she could do some’d’in’ like ‘dat.” Jack responded. For the first time in hours, Ark spoke up.

”I think she was a protector, like me.” A soft voice broke through the mask.

”A protector?” I asked.

”Protectors are people with a mastery of a certain military skill who roam the city making sure the alliance doesn’t kill innocents. Today, however, I failed.”

“That’s alright man, sometimes shit happens you know?” Trying to help, Crystal happily interjected.

”The type of failure I showed today is usually enough to make a protector take off their mask and roam free of that title. I think we just learned something about Aleena’s past.”

“Oh shit.” She sighed.

“‘Dat’d make sense, she showed up randomly a couple years back wit’ a quiet attitude. But I only ever seen her use knives. She was ‘da only reason we weren’t packed up by a horde before we met Ashley. We’d lost our weapons a few hours earlier in an escape from ‘de alliance. Hell, shes ‘da only reason we escaped in ‘da first place. She had one dagger and managed to protect Crystal and me from oncoming gunfire wit’ just ‘de blade.”

“Yeah, it's likely she destroyed her mask after whatever it was that happened to her.” Ark seemed concerned in that moment. Knowing how he felt, I’d say he was more than empathetic towards her.

I dropped my cigarette and flung my arms around her as she rose from the countertop. In a haze, she dropped her head on my shoulder. Her breathing slowed as my hands slid up and down her back. Her warmth against me conducted an energy I hadn’t felt since before you died. Oh? Moving on are we? What? No. I just meant that… it felt… I’m fucking with you, I don’t expect you to stay single forever, or even for that long at all. Well either way that’s not what I meant. Uh huh, sure haha. Screw you. As I was saying, she began to speak as she lifted her head.

”We going to the hole in the road?” Completely disregarding what just happened.

”What? Aleena you’re hurt.” Crystal said, concerned.

“I’ll be alright, we need to keep moving. Don’t wanna be doing this forever.” Seemingly okay, she hurried us along.

”You’re not alright, Aleena.” Jack’s voice became soft for the first time since I met him.

”Can I have a cigarette, Ashley?” Dodging his attempt at getting her to rest, she decided to redirect her attention to me.

”Of course, here.” Scrambling into my pockets, I struggled to find the box before pulling it out, flicking a cigarette into my hand and lighting it for her.

“Thanks!” She said cheerfully as she sprung off the counter onto her feet. Concerned, I thought about stopping her. Aleena wasn’t weak, though, so I said nothing.

She sounds strong, like you. At the time, I was. I’m not even sure now, I mean, look at the state you caught me in. I came here to remind you how strong you are. I got the feeling something was wrong so I, without permission, came back here to see you. What’s gonna happen to you? Not even sure if I’m being honest, I’m starting to hear their calls, though. Who’s? The angels, they want me to come back. At least you ended up with the angels. Haha, yeah, you’re right.