Hope On The Rocks/Issue 89

This is Issue 89 of Hope On The Rocks, entitled "Never Ready".

This issue is Ridley-centric.

711, Never Ready
It has been hard for me to handle the fact that Esther isn’t here anymore. I’ve been crying nearly every night. I think the others are getting tired of it, but I can’t help it. Even though it’s two or three months ago, I can’t get over it. “I heard the story, bro.” Romario, who I am currently pushing a car with, says. I look at him, muttering “what story?” “The one ‘bout your girlfriend. Real sorry that had to happen to you.” Romario says, and we push the car off the road. Something makes a noise inside the car, and we go to check it out. We’re low on ammo and food, so a little scavenging wouldn’t hurt. In fact, Miles and Kristen are scavenging houses right now. “Thank you.” I say, opening the door to the car. “It’s been a rough time.” “I’d imagine.” Romario says, opening the door in the other side of the car. We look through the car, seeing nothing of use. “Maybe the trunk?” I say, and we turn to the trunk. It’s locked, but Romario seems to know a trick that can open the door. I’m not going to comment on that. What we were before the outbreak doesn’t matter now. That’s what I believe. He gets it open, and we see a shotgun and around ten boxes with ammo. This might be the best loot we’ve found in a long time. “Awesome.” Romario says, taking out the gun. He aims at nowhere in particular, and then gives it to me. “Hide!” I then hear Neil saying, running towards Romario and me. “What? Why?” Romario asks, turning around. “There’s a herd coming this way. Get under the cars or something.” Neil says. “Just be careful.” I grab the boxes with ammo, checking if some of them fit in my gun. I find a box with .22 LR, grabbing it and getting under the car. It’s in a ditch, so there’s plenty of room for both me and Romario down here. “Where’s Miles and Kristen?” Neil asks, looking around. I get completely under the car, and can now only see the legs of Neil and Romario. “In one of those houses.” Romario says, getting under the car as well. Neil runs off, and we just wait down here.

It takes at least five minutes before the first zombie passes. It doesn’t seem to have noticed anyone so far, and it doesn’t notice us neither. We lay in silence as the zombies walks past us. I look back, seeing at least fifty zombies. There’s probably more, but I can only see around fifty. Romario is looking too, whispering “shit.” I then turn to look under the other cars. I see Timmy and Al under a car. “Don’t worry, papi.” Timmy mouths and I nod. However, I do worry. We are not going to get out of this alive. I can feel myself beginning to shake, and I then feel Romario’s hand on my shoulder. He tries to make me relax, but without succes. I am not ready to die.

Deaths

 * None

Credits

 * Al Halib
 * Ridley Johnson
 * Timmy Ember
 * Romario Cortez
 * Neil Bradson