Low on Time/Issue 43

This is issue forty-three of Low on Time, entitled: Scarface.

Issue 43; Scarface
Kelly's door flew open, and Kelly quickly jumped out. She looked at the flipped car, and, tears in her eyes, sprinted toward the Toyota as quickly as she could. Shifting her attention to the ground ahead, she saw the road spikes lying in the middle of the road, but didn't have the time to check them out. She made sure she stepped over it, continuing to sprint to the car.

Ike still sat in the car, staring in shock up ahead. Ryker did the same, and Julia just shut her eyes, hoping it wasn't really happening.

"Shit," Ike finally muttered, as he saw Kelly reach the car, getting on her knees so she could look through the window. He finally opened his door, and ran down the road after her.

Kelly looked through the shattered window, and is face-to-face with Olivia, who's barely conscious, blood all over her face. Kelly doesn't know if it's hers or someone else's, but Kelly doesn't hesitate to stand back up, and try to open the door.

As Ike reached Kelly, she had already managed to pull Olivia out of the car, and was in the middle of checking her pulse.

"Is she okay?" Ike asked, getting on his knees next to Kelly, to which Kelly nodded her head, wiping the sweat from her forehead, before inspecting a huge gash on Olivia's head. Ike looked back at the Toyota, seeing Manning, who was in the seat next to Olivia, shaking uncontrollably. He immediately hopped to his feet, and ran to the car, looking inside at Manning, who's face was crunched in between the floor and one of the seats. Ike quickly ran to the opposite side of the car, and opened the door quickly. Ike grabbed Manning's foot, and started to pull him out of the car.

As half of Manning's body was pulled out of the car, and Manning was still face-down on the floor, shaking uncontrollably, Ike quickly ran up to his shoulders, and pulled him back. He brought him back to the street, Ike's eyes closed, focusing on using all his strength to bring him to safety. When Ike finally opened his eyes, he looked at Manning's face, and dropped Manning, his head bouncing off the street. A pocket knife was lodged into Manning's right eye socket, and Ike turned away, gagging.

By this time, Ryker had already gotten over to Kelly, and was instructed to bring Olivia back to the Humvee, which he was in the middle of doing as Kelly went to the front of the car. The windshield glass was broken, but some shards remained in the way between Kelly and Trevin & Jake.

Kelly looked around, but there was nothing in the immediate area to help her, so she went in. She got on the ground, and quickly tried swiping the glass away from the windshield, slicing her own hand in the process. She didn't notice though, and although the blood slowly came out of her palm, she didn't notice nor care. She grabbed hold of the unconscious Jake's sweatshirt, and slowly started to drag him out of the car.

When she finally got Jake out, she quickly went back to get Trevin. Looking at Trevin, she could tell his condition was much worse. His face was all cut up, covered in blood, and his arm was bent in a weird way against the dashboard. She quickly grabbed him by the arm, and with all the energy she had left, she pulled him out, getting him out of the car, and landing on top of Kelly.

Ryker ran back to her, and quickly pulled him off of her, and Trevin going onto the street. Kelly got up, and stumbled over to Ryker.

"Help me get them back to the car." she said, mixed feelings of distraught and anxiety hidden within her voice. "We have to go."

Ryker only nodded, and the two helped get Jake up, and slowly headed back to the Humvee.

On the other side, Ike kneeled over Manning, who's body was still shaking. He looked at the knife which was lodged in Manning's eye, and he put his fingers on his neck, looking for a pulse before he did anything.

He still had a pulse, a faint pulse, but it was still there. He took a deep breath, and looked back at Kelly and Ryker, who were already on their way back to get Jake.

"Shit," he muttered to himself, before putting his hand on the handle of the knife.

"Ike?" he hears Julia's voice call to him.

By the time Ike looks over toward the source of the voice, Julia had hopped over to him, falling onto her knees as she reached him.

"What happened? Is he okay?" she quickly asked, obviously nervous.

"I'm gonna-- I'm gonna have to rip it out... it's the only chance he has." Ike said.

"But, then what?"

"I don't fucking know!" he exclaimed. "We can't leave it in there though... and he's dead if we don't get it out."

"He's probably better off dead," she said, catching Ike off guard. "We did it with Kira-- and I don't see him surviving without a doctor or something."

Ike didn't take his eyes off of Manning, but he knew she was most likely right anyways.

Suddenly, Ike hears the moans and groans that he is way too familiar with. Ike looks back, and a big group of zombies were emerging from the woods. He looked at Julia, and then to Manning, before reaching into his own pockets, feeling around for... something.

"Do you have anything on you?" Ike asked, looking at Julia.

"No," she said, looking around. "Why?"

"Then we gotta leave him."

"Can't we put him down?"

"With what?"

Julia looked around, and noticed a big shard of glass just within arms reach. She reached forward for it, grabbed in, and quickly handed it over to Ike.

Within a swift movement, Ike lifted the shard, and quickly and forcefully stabbed Manning in the forehead. He turned back toward the woods, and the zombies were getting closer. He looked over at the Humvee, where he could see Kelly sitting in the driver's seat watching them.

Ike quickly stood up, and grabbed Julia by the arm. He lifted her up, and threw her arm over his shoulder, walking quickly toward the Humvee.

As they reached the car, Ike opened the passenger seat, and lifted Julia into the seat. He quickly squeezed in next to her, and Kelly immediately put the car in reverse as Ike closed the door. Ryker, in the middle row, looked over at Trevin and Olivia, who lied in the back unconscious, and then to Jake who was put in the back row because of the lack of room.

As Kelly drove back the way they came, Julia only looked through the rearview mirror at Manning's body, which quickly became a feasting ground for the zombies.

Olivia lied in the grass, still unconscious, and Ryker kneeled over her, a wet shirt in his hand. He put it on her forehead where the gash was located, and held it down.

A few feet away Trevin sat up against the Humvee's tire, as Kelly tended to his wounds. She wiped the blood away from his face, and looked at all the cuts on his face, only sighing.

"I--I can't feel my arm." Trevin muttered.

Kelly looked at his left arm, which was still bent in a weird way. "It'll be fine. I'm just gonna have to re-break it." she said.

"Perfect..." he muttered sarcastically.

In the car, Jake lied unconscious still, and Ike was doing his best to clean up his cuts and scrapes... but he can't concentrate fully. He can't get Manning out of his mind, the view of the knife in Manning's eye was killing him, and all he wanted to do was help.

Across the way, Julia sat by a small pond, doing her best to keep herself from crying. Too much is happening at once for her, and all she wanted was one day where she didn't have to worry.

That night, Kelly sat with Trevin, who's arm was in a custom-made sling, Jake, Julia, and Ike by the campfire. Ryker was still in the Humvee, keeping an eye on Olivia, who was still unconscious.

"How'd you learn to do that?" Trevin asked, looking at Kelly, motioning to his arm. "I didn't know you had that much fucking strength."

Kelly giggled a little, punching him lightly in his good arm. "I don't know, Scarface."

"Oof," he said. "Is my face really that bad?"

"Hell man," Jake piped up, looking at the two. "You were always ugly, smack some makeup on there and no one will even tell the difference."

As the three smiled and joked around by the campfire, Julia and Ike both remained quiet, looking into the fire. They were both thinking about Manning, but in different perspectives. Ike was thinking about how much he wanted to save him... but alas, he wasn't able to. And Julia was reminiscing, thinking about the past and when she first met Manning on the farm. She had a small crush on him at that time, but never acted on it... and now she's regretting it.

Ryker lied in the middle row of the Humvee, sleeping silently wrapped in one of the group's blankets.

In the back seat though, the unconscious Olivia still lied. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, and she sat up immediately, breathing heavily. She looked around, almost like she had no idea where she was. She rubbed her head, and quickly looked around the car, noticing Ryker almost instantly.

Seeing him calmed her down tremendously, and she reached over the seat, and shook him until he awoke. He looked up at her, a little taken back, but seeing it was her brought a small smile to his face. He sat up, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Hey," he said, yawning. "How are you feeling?"

"My head is killing me-- what happened?" she asked, climbing over the seat with assistance from Ryker. She simply took a seat next to him, and rested her head against the seat.

"You don't remember?" he asked.

"No-- the last thing I remember was that-- was that we went to a gas station? Jake brought back all that food?"

Jake nodded his head. "The car crashed, Manning died and-- everyone else made it. Let's just be glad about that."

"Manning died? He's--he's dead?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

"What about Jake?"

"He's fine. Want me to go get him?" Ryker asked, getting ready to open the car door.

"No," she quickly said. "I don't want to talk to him right now."

"Do you know what today is?" Ryker asked suddenly. "Like, the day of the week?"

"Umm... Tuesday?"

"Uh," Ryker said. "That's incorrect, today is Wednesday."

"So what?"

"So, that could be a sign of a concussion, that you didn't know it."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine," she said.

Ike walked through the dark woods, alone. He couldn't stand to hear all of their joy and happiness after losing another one of them. These people were all family to him, and you don't giggle and laugh when a member of your family dies.

"Wait up!" he heard the familiar voice of Julia call to him.

He sighed and turned around, walking toward her as she hopped to him. He met her halfway, and helped her gain some leverage, as the two continued to walk.

"Why'd you come?" he asked.

"I just wanted to get away from them. And I'd probably die if I go out alone..."

"Well, yeah, me too, I guess." he said. "They're making me sick with all their laughing."

Julia scoffed. "Tell me about it... we just fucking lost Manning."

"Exactly, and there they are fucking smiling and laughing." he took a deep breath as he felt himself getting madder and madder. "It's just-- he saved my life... on more than one occasion. He doesn't deserve this, he deserves better."

"Yeah, I know how you feel. He chopped my ankle off-- saved my life that day. I just don't understand how they can all be happy and joyful when our friend just died."

Ike just shrugged his shoulders, thinking about it. "I guess that they're just so used to it that they don't care at this point, just live while you're alive."

"I guess that makes sense, but I don't like it."

"And neither do I... but we gotta live with it." he said. "But, Julia, listen to me... if you need to talk, you can always come to me. I know you're young and things can get hard and confusing, but if you need anything at all, tell me."

Julia smiled, nodding her head. "Thank you."

Jake passed a half-drunken bottle of liquor to Kelly, who uncapped it immediately and started chugging. Both Trevin and Jake just watched as she downed the rest of the bottle.

"Damn," Jake said, under his breath, turning his attention to Trevin. "Good thing I have some more... hidden away."

"Fuck off," Kelly nonchalantly said. "Not in the mood..."

"Sorry," he said, looking back into the fire.

"Kel, you okay?" Trevin asked, not wanting to let it go.

"Yup," she lied, forcing a smile. "Just-- haven't had a drink in a while."

Kelly looked back into the fire, setting the bottle aside as Trevin just watched Kelly warily. Kelly felt the stare, she knew it was coming. Trevin had been her moral compass for months now, he's listened to her, helped her, every time she needed someone to talk to he was there, and it didn't look like that was going to change.

"Alright, well, when you wanna quit being so stubborn, I'll be here." he said, crossing his legs.

Jake, feeling the tension at the fire sat back, resting his head in a pile of leaves. "I guess I'm gonna try and sleep. Can I count on you guys making sure I'm not snacked on?"

"Of course, Jake." Kelly quickly said.

The next morning, Ike was putting out the fire while everybody else, excluding Trevin who was still hurting with his arm, was packing up their supplies into the Humvee.

Olivia stood against the car with Ryker and Trevin. All three were clearly exhausted, and Trevin and Olivia were clearly still hurting.

"I can't believe I got stuck babysitting the wounded." Ryker said, smirking.

"Don't kid yourself, kid." Olivia said. "We can still kick your ass."

"Well, that's not the point is it? I have to protect you in case anything bad happens."

"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes.

As Kelly walked by, drinking a bottle of water, still a little hung-over from last night, she looked at Trevin. After last night, she had some questions for him.

"Hey, Trevin." she called, drawing his attention.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Can you come help me out with something?"

Trevin nodded and walked over to her, leaving Ryker and Olivia by the car. He quickly jogged up to her, and the two continued to walk.

"So, what do you need?" he asked.

Kelly suddenly stopped, which he did too, and she looked over his shoulder, seeing if anyone was in hearing distance. He looked over his shoulder too, confused.

"What?" he asked.

"I have known you for a while now, you have given me a shoulder to cry on and I don't know a damn thing about you." she said, talking quickly through her sentence.

"Well, uh..." he said, confused. "That's cause I don't have anything to tell you, y'know? I like helping you, I really do, and that's why I like to help you out."

"Well, I want to know more about you." she said, crossing his arms. "When Owen and Langston found you, you were with Ella. What was that about?"

"Uh--" he said, trying to remember back to that distant memory. "I saved Ella from a group of bandits. Well, I guess it's time to come clean. I was one of those bandits. One of those guys who killed people for their supplies, raided camps, that group that took your friend, Sean was it? That was my old group. Ella was one of the kidnapees, I broke her out of there."

Kelly nodded her head, smiling that she got him to talk. "And what changed your mind?" she asked.

"Me and a few of my guys were in some store. I was sent to check out an aisle, and I noticed a couple of survivors running for the exit. I quickly took out the girl, pushed her to the ground, went to kill her and the other one attacked me. I fucking beat the shit out of this dude-- and when I got a good look at him, it was a fucking kid, couldn't be older than Ryker. When I looked back at the other one, it was this young girl, he was probably only protecting his older sister. When I saw the kid's beat up face-- I realized what I had become. I got the fuck out of there as quickly as I could, and I did my best to try and help some of the other prisoners. Most of them died but Ella, she was the only one I was able to get out."

As Trevin finished, he didn't realize how in the moment he was. His heart was beating fast, he was sweating profusely, and his face was turning red. Kelly only smiled, and grabbed his shoulder, trying to relax him.

"Thank you," she said. "And if you need anyone to talk to, please, don't hesitate to say anything."

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. "I appreciate it."

"Hey guys!" Ike called to them, making them both turn toward him. He was standing with everybody else by the Humvee. "We gotta go, can't wait forever."

Kelly looked at Trevin, who looked back at her and the two smiled. They both jogged quickly over to the car, and the group all piled in quickly. Jake hopped in the driver's seat, and Olivia hopped in next to him, smiling at him.

"Everyone in?" Olivia asked, not taking her eyes off of Jake.

"Yeah," Julia quickly said, sitting with Ryker.

Jake nodded, and quickly put the car into drive, and turned the car around, driving down the dirt path they came on. He followed the road until it connected with a side street, which he merged on.

Kelly watched the road ahead from the back row, and then back toward Trevin who was sitting next to her. Something about him was different to her after he came clean with her, and she couldn't put her finger on it... but she liked it.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Ike Dennis
 * Julia Riley
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Trevin
 * Manning

Deaths

 * Manning