“What about my dad and the others in comas?” I quaked.
Silas wouldn’t meet my eyes. I felt defeat sweep over me too. It was the coldest kind of defeat I had ever known. I couldn’t stand there a second longer. I darted from the horrid lab of death and didn’t stop running until I was at the gate. I screamed and screamed. I fell to my knees because my legs couldn’t hold up all the burden and weight of the world any longer.
“It’s not fair! We’re just kids!” I yelled out, shaking the fence.
“When has life ever been fair,” Silas said making his way to my side.
He knelt down next to me and pulled me into him. I rested my head on his chest.
“I hate that I can’t push a button and fix this mess. There has been too many lives loss,” I cried.
“It does suck. It all sucks but maybe we can help the humans enjoy the time they have left. I know it may only be days but let's make the best of it for them,” Silas said smiling.
“For them,” I repeated.
Day 116:
Today the soldiers, including Zola, Julia, Gabe, Silas and me loaded into three big trucks and made our way to the warehouse. We had made a plan to go back to the warehouse and bring the remaining humans back to the facility. We were going to have a celebration with food for them. Our group didn’t eat but it wasn’t about us. It was about making amends with the the humans. Even though they left us for dead it didn’t matter anymore because we now knew the horrifying truth of what was to come. Perhaps we were being a bit selfish but we wanted to be with the humans. After all not so long ago we were human. Last night it was decided which of us would go and whom would stay.
We also decided to try and wake one of the coma patients. Julia was successful in waking the young women but it was only for minutes. The women woke and seemed to know death was upon her. She called out for her son, Wes. Unbelievably the women was Wes’ mother. He held her hand and she smiled at him before convulsing. The transformation occurred in minutes. She changed into a screamer but then froze before attacking anyone. Death completed her moments after her transformation was complete. It was awful to witness. Hannah found her mother, sleeping and Addy found her father. Each of the thirteen had a parent in one of the beds. It was hard to believe and process but in the end we were thankful, it was a way for each of us to get to say goodbye. Not all of us wanted to wake our loved one. I couldn’t bare facing my father but more then that I couldn’t let him die the way Wes’ mother had. Silas sat by his mother’s side and wept for her. We felt each others pain and sorrow. Somehow through all the sadness that surrounded us we came together and this made the thirteen of us closer and connected in a way we hadn’t known before.
The ride to the warehouse was sullen. Everyone was somber and deep in thought. We all knew the end was approaching for the humans. Even Gabe sat quietly and restrained from using his snarky words. The city was now in complete shambles. It was incredible to see the damage the screamers made. They had torn through buildings like rabid animals. Cars were upside down, debri was scattered around everywhere. The wind picked up a faded newspaper. The paper landed against the windshield. The page showed multiple pictures of men, women and children at war. The headline stated, “War is everywhere around us but we can’t see past our phone,” I swallowed hard.
“Watch out!” A voice yelled bringing me out of my thoughts.
The soldier driving the truck swerved to miss a man standing in the road. The truck smashed into a turned over mail truck. The impact sent everyone in the truck flying forward. Gabe grabbed Silas and my hand. We teleported out of the crashing truck and stood on the sidewalk. We watched the trucks collide.
“That was incredible,” Silas gasped.
The other two trucks came to a halted stop, barely missing the collision themselves.
“I should have tried to teleport the soldiers too but I didn’t,” Gabe explained sounding disappointed.
We ran over to the crashed truck. Silas and Gabe worked on getting the driver out.
“Stop,” Zola ordered, “You are wasting your time. He is dead.”
“How do you know? We can try and save him,” Gabe yelled and continued to pull at the stuck driver.
Zola pushed Gabe out of the way and pulled out her gun. She fired a bullet into the drivers head. We all jumped back. Zola turned and stared coldly into Gabe’s eyes.
“I can feel right here,” she said pointing to her heart, “When one of my men dies.”
“Zola,” I called but she hurried over to the man standing in the road. She held her gun to his head. The man shook with fear.
“I’m sorry,” the man stuttered, “I heard your trucks coming and didn’t want to miss you. I haven’t seen anyone in days.”
“Zola,” I yelled running up to her.
“Hey, come on. It was an accident,” I stated.
Zola held the gun to his head for a breath before lowering it. The man sighed out.
“Where did you come from?” I asked.
“The warehouse down the road. It was overrun with screamers. I hid the night of the attack,” the man explained.
“Tom?” Gabe questioned.
We all turned to face the man named Tom. He looked at Gabe and then at us with a puzzled expression.
“Tom, it’s me Gabe, from the warehouse.”
“Do I know you?” The man inspected Gabe and then the rest of us.
Zola pulled me aside out of earshot from Tom.
“He is sick. It has already begun. We should head back,” she observed.
“We can’t leave him,” I stated.
“Yes we can and we should. If the others are sick too it will be bad,” Zola explained, “We don’t know the extent of the mutated virus. All we know is the humans are going to die.
I shook my head, “We are going to help them,” I finalized.
Zola stormed to the truck and spoke quietly to Julia. After some debating amongst the group it was decided we would move forward with our plan. We crammed into the two trucks and continued on our way. The warehouse came into sight and a mixture of emotions ran through me. We drove through the broken gate and parked at the entrance. The building was damaged and matched city. The screamers were beast and destroyed everything in sight. We walked into the warehouse and found the makeshift beds in shredded despair. Tables and chairs scattered and broken. I followed Silas, he lead the way to the bunker. Although the sun shone outside and the temperature was hot and humid the inside was damp and cold. Dread suddenly filled me when we stood at the bunker door.
Silas banged on the door and called out, “Hello?”
There was movement on the other side of the door.
“Get behind us,” Zola commanded.
Gabe, Silas and I were pulled to the back of the group. I stood next to Julia. She had a thin line of beaded sweat on her forehead.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
Before she could reply we were shushed by a soldier in front of us. The lock to the bunker slid forward and the door slowly slid open.
“We are here to help,” Zola stated.
The door opened inch by inch until it was fully open. My view was blocked by the soldiers.
“Get back!” I heard Zola yell and then chaos broke out. A loud bang sounded in my ears, followed by screams. Bodies exploded from the bunker. Gabe pulled me back. Silas and Julia followed. We ran fast, our feet moving at incredible speed. Gabe looked back and I did too, although I wish I hadn’t. The humans attacked the soldiers. There were too many and the soldiers were outnumbered. Even with the guns firing at their targets it was pointless. My eyes watered and guilt once again ate at me.
“No!” I screamed as I was dragged down hallway after hallway.
“Screw this,” Gabe yelled.