Low on Time/Issue 30

This is issue thirty of Low on Time, entitled: Making It.

Issue 30; Making It
Olivia and Vince stood on a steep hill looking over the bandit community. Vince was looking through the scope of a sniper rifle, clearly seeing kids running around, men carrying firewood, using the street lights as their only light. Vince looked over, seeing a couple of men holding big assault rifles, watching over a group of people who were carrying big supply crates. These people were shirtless, shoeless, and visibly bruised and had buzz cuts, even the women.

"What the fuck?" he muttered to himself.

"What is it?" Olivia asked.

Vince, without saying another word, just passed the sniper to Olivia, who took a moment to adjust it, and looking through it. She saw the group of people, and immediately felt sick to her stomach. She took note of one guy, buzz cut, arm in a sling, emaciated, with bruises all over his face and stomach. It takes her a moment to carefully examine this man, before realizing it's Sean.

Olivia lowered the sniper, and collapsed to the ground. Vince immediately tensed up, not knowing what to do; but soon enough, he got down on his knees next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Olivia slowly shook her head 'no'.

Kira, Trent, and Owen hurried away from the herd of zombies, who have not noticed them yet. The frantic looks on their faces says it all as they try to make their escape. As they got farther away, Owen pulled his gun out of his pants, making sure to keep his finger off the trigger as he ran. Trent and Kira, too worried to even bother to draw their weapons, just ran with him. Owen picked up speed as he ran, creating a gap between the three.

A zombie came from behind a tree as Owen ran past him; taking Owen down to the ground; knocking the gun out of Owen's hand. Trent and Kira, who are too far away at this point, try to get to him as Owen struggles with the zombie. The zombie tries to take a bite out of him, but he keeps it back using his right hand, as his left one reaches to his gun, which is a few feet away. Owen just barely reaches it, and pulls it to him, quickly shooting the zombie in the head.

As Trent and Kira reach him, he stands up quickly, looking at the two's horrid faces.

"What did you do?!" screamed Kira.

"I killed it; it was gonna eat me!" he protested.

"Why'd you have to shoot it? That herd is gonna be on top of us any moment now!"

"Then let's not waste any more time." he said, taking a deep breath.

The groans of the undead attract the three's attention, and they turn at once; seeing the amount of zombies converging on them.

"Run." Owen muttered, but Trent and Kira were too distracted by the sight of them. "Run!" he yelled.

This time it clicks, Kira takes off running, Trent closely behind her with Owen just behind them. The zombies, started pickingup their pace with the sight of their next meal.

Kelly, Jake, Olivia, Trevin, Patricia, Vince, and Drew walked through the woods, stepping over any branches they needed. As Drew walked, a mosquito bit him on the arm, causing him to flinch and slap at his arm.

"Fuck, when are we getting there?" asked Drew, obviously annoyed.

"We're almost there." Kelly said.

"Is anyone else concerned about that gigantic horde we just saw a few minutes ago?" Olivia asked.

"No. We got around them easily." Jake said, putting his arm around her. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, cause they seemed pre-occupied." she muttered.

"They probably saw a bunny or something." Drew said.

"Yeah, a bunny." Olivia repeated, trying to calm herself. Her heart was beating fast, she was taking heavy breaths, and she could feel herself heating up.

Jake, on the other hand, seemed almost unnaturally calm. He had his arm around Olivia, bringing her closely; not only trying to comfort her, but himself as well.

"Man, what are we gonna do?" asked Patricia.

"Do about what?" asked Kelly, turning to her.

"About those people!"

"You saw what was going on down their. They got kids, trying to provide for the little ones." she said, getting increasingly angry as she spoke. "We aren't going to kill them; we'll just make anything west of the farm off-limits."

Patricia nodded, and Kelly turned around and continued walking. "What about Sean?" Olivia asked, her voice quivering.

"He's down there; nothing we can do." Jake said.

"But, you saw his condition! He was emaciated, his arm was in a sling; they're probably torturing him as we speak."

"What should we do then?" Jake snapped back, taking both Kelly and Olivia off guard. "We can't just go in on a covert op and save him. This ain't a videogame. And there is no way we can get him back without the deaths of a lot of our people."

As Jake finished, he let go of Olivia, and walked up ahead quickly. Drew, Vince, and Patricia looked around at each other, awkwardly.

"Nice group you got here." Drew said, sarcastically before walking off after Jake; being followed by Vince and Patricia. Trevin just looked at the girls, awkwardly, and left too.

Olivia and Kelly stood behind, watching them walk away. Olivia was shaking and Kelly just stood their clenching her shotgun, looking at Olivia.

"Are you okay?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah," she muttered. "Just-- rough night. Seeing Sean like that was-- hard."

"I know. But, we gotta keep going; you could use some sleep."

Olivia nodded, and Kelly took her hand; leading her friend back to the group.

Kira, Trent, and Owen still ran, being pursued by a large group of zombies; although they had some distance on them. Not nearly enough to be comfortable. Kira suddenly fell to her knees, panting, out of breath. Trent almost runs right past her, but stops to try and get her up. Owen started to run past them, not taking note of them. Trent looked at him, and looked back, seeing the zombies incoming.

"Owen!" Trent screamed, causing the fleeing man to turn. "Help us, please!"

Owen thinks about it for a moment, they're dead if he leaves them; but he's dead if he tries to help them. As he thinks about it, Trent picks up Kira, lifting her over his shoulder. A zombie reaches the fleeing Trent, but is quickly gunned down by Owen. Owen sighed, and ran to Trent, helping him along; while shooting at the incoming zombies.

"What's wrong with her?" he screamed, the two still going.

"I don't know, she just fell." he said, nervously.

"Fuck, was she bit?"

"No, no she wasn't." he said, but it sounded as Trent was pleading Owen.

Owen turned around, seeing the enormous amounts of zombies coming for them. He sighed, looking back at Trent who was holding Kira, who was looking at Owen.

"Go!" he yelled.

"What?" Trent yelled back.

"Go, Trent. She needs you."

Trent looked at Owen, confused; until he suddenly realized what he means.

"What, that's crazy! Come on, we can all live."

"No... we can't. She's slowing us down, Trent. If I do this; I can buy you enough time to escape."

"Come on, man." he pleaded.

"Just, go." he said.

Trent reluctantly nodded, seeing the zombies getting dangerously close, and ran, Kira over his shoulder. Owen turned back around, looking at the zombies coming toward him. He pulled out his pistol, and aimed down the sight at the closest zombie. He fired the shot, taking the zombie out with ease. He quickly turned to the next one, killing that one too. He fired into the crowd a few more times, taking out a couple more zombies. He went to shoot again, but was met by a clicking sound from his gun. He looked down, for anything that he could use. He quickly looked up, seeing how much time he had left, but was subsequently tackled by a zombie. The zombie took a big bite out of Owen's arm, the blood spurting out of it, with Owen letting out a screech. Soon, another zombie jumped on Owen as well, digging into him, and soon enough, three-fourths of the herd was on him.

Trent exited the woods, coming face-to-face with the highway, Kira still over his shoulder. He quickly jogged over to the closest car, and sat Kira up against it. He ran to the front of the car, and opened the door, going trough the compartments, not finding anything of use. He desperately looked under the seat, finding a water bottle, and smiling to himself. He ran back around to Kira, and poured some water in his hands. He tilted her head back, and splashed the water from his hands into her face, causing her to stir.

Kira slowly opened her eyes, her vision being very blurry. She blinked a couple of times, her vision getting clearer with each blink. She saw Trent kneeling in front of her, nervously speaking to her.

"Kira? Can you hear me?" he asked, although to Kira, it sounded like he was a hundred miles away. "Can you hear me? Please answer me!" he said, this time more clearer for Kira.

She slowly nodded her head, and could hear Trent's sigh of relief.

"Are you okay, Kira? What happened?" he asked, nervously.

"I'm sorry." she said, and even talking took a great deal of energy from her.

"Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for." he said. "But, you collapsed, and if there's something wrong, you need to tell me; 'cause, I gotta know if we need to take a car."

"Con--concussion."

"Concussion?" he repeated. "You came out here with a concussion?!?"

"I'm sorry." she repeated.

Trent put his face in his hands, rubbing his temples. He took a deep breath, and forced a smile. "It's okay. But, Owen got separated from us; so, we gotta move."

She nodded her head in agreeance, and Trent helped her up, picking her back up. Trent went from car to car, peeking into the windows in hope that a key is still in the ignition. He peers his head in a black Hyundai, and sees the key still in the ignition. He smiles, and open the back door, slowly putting Kira in the back, lying her down. He closes the door, and runs to the front, and opens the car door, getting in and turning the keys, starting the car. He smiled, and looked around, seeing nothing in the black sky besides the wrecked cars.

Kelly, Olivia, Jake, Vince, Trevin, Patricia, and Drew entered the farm land, and is quickly greeted by Paul and Ryker. Paul immediately gave both Olivia and Kelly a hug, and Jake talking with Ryker.

"You had us worried sick." Paul said, before taking notice of Olivia's distraught look. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Olivia just nodded her head, and quickly left the group; Jake going after her. Paul looked at Kelly, confused in general.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked.

"I'll tell you later." she said.

"Ok..." he said, before noticing the number of people. "Where's Owen, Kira?"

"They didn't come back?" she asked, surprised.

"No, they never got here."

Kelly's mind started racing with thoughts. "They're dead?" she finally asked, nervously.

"We don't know that." Paul said, turning to Ryker, Vince, Drew, and Patricia. "Kid, can you get these guys settled in?"

Ryker nodded his head, and led the three away from Kelly and Paul.

"So now what?" asked Kelly.

"I-I don't know. I guess we wait for them to come back." Paul said.

"I mean what if they don't come back?"

Paul looked at her, not knowing what to say. "I guess we pay our respects and move on."

Ike lied alone in his bed, watching Taken. His ear was still killing him, not letting him get any sleep; no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't help but think how much Kim looked like Valerie. His door opened, and Kelly rushed in, quickly walking to his side, giving him a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay." she said.

"What happened out there?" he asked, and she drew back from him.

"I-I don't know. We sent Kira, Trent, and Owen to come back early; but they never showed up." Kelly said, quietly. "I don't think they made it."

Ike looked down, and took a deep breath. "Fuck." he muttered.

"I'm glad you're okay, though. We can't afford any more bad news."

"I thought you were just happy I was okay 'cause you actually liked me." he said, trying to make light of this bad news; but only recieved angry looks from Kelly. "What do you plan to do?"

"Me? Why me?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"You, along with Jake and Paul, were elected our 'leaders' a while back; so, I assumed y'all had a plan."

Kelly sighed, and sat down on the side of the bed. "I sent them back. This is my fault." she said.

Ike sat up, grabbing her arm. "Don't you say that." he said, in an almost threating tone. "This is not your fault. If they didn't make it back; it's cause of their own stupidity, not cause of you. You haven't killed before, Kelly. I have; and I know that, that is something I'll have to live with forever. You don't have to worry about that; and you shouldn't blame yourself for anything you couldn't control."

Kelly slowly nodded, and took a deep breath. "Thanks." she said, getting up. She slowly walked out of the room, and is immediately met by Ryker at the door.

"Kelly, they made it back." he said.

Trent and Paul carried Kira into the house, where Kelly and Ryker met up with them.

"Is she okay?" asked Kelly.

Trent looked up at her, and nodded. "She's fine."

"What about Owen?" Ryker asked.

Trent looked to the ground, and back to the three who were awaiting an answer. "We got separated. I don't know what happened to him."

Kelly and Paul both looked to the ground in sorrow, while Ryker looked back at Kira. "I'll go grab water or somethin'." he said, leaving the room.

Kelly gave Trent a hug, smiling. "I'm just glad you guys made it back." she said.

Trent nodded, looking at her and Paul. "Wasn't easy. Herd got us; and I had to carry Kira for such a long time... wasn't sure if we'd make it."

Paul smiled, and put his hand on Trent's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man. At least you made it."

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Kira Fulton
 * Sean Solo
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Trent Jones
 * Owen Horne
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Trevin
 * Drew Radke
 * Patricia Amador
 * Vince Dallas

Deaths

 * Owen Horne