Low on Time/Issue 11

This is issue eleven of Low on Time, entitled: Losing Her, Part II.

Issue 11; Losing Her, Part II
''A 16 year-old Ike sat in a office, playing with his hands nervously. A man in a black suit and glasses walked in, and Ike stood up upon his arrival. The two shook hands, and the man sat across from Ike, as Ike sat back down.''

''"How are you feeling, Mr. Dennis?" the man asked.''

''"Fine, Doctor." Ike said, nervously.''

"You don't look fine. In fact, you look worse than usual. What's wrong?"

''Ike sighed, looking at the ground. "It's my girlfriend, Doc. She's been acting weird." he said.''

"Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"No-- nothing. Randomly she just changed."

"Well, do you have any concerns?"

''"Yeah, I fear she might be cheating on me, or maybe she's terminally ill. I don't know why, but those options have been running high through my head, man." he said.''

''"Well, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, son." the doctor said, reassuringly. "Anything else on your mind?"''

"Nothing really. My aunt finally let me back onto my house, which is nice-- I guess."

"How is your aunt?"

''"She has another boyfriend. It'll end up being the same story. He'll dump her, she'll drink a lot, and she'll get another DUI which will come out of my wallet." he said, sounding like he didn't give two shits about it.''

''The doctor sat back in his chair, getting more comfortable. "Have you been having anymore nightmares?" he asked.''

''Ike looked down, nervously. "I had one the other day. It was about my dad." Ike said, gulping. "He was beating me, like he used to when I was a younger... and I was just accepting it. Then suddenly my girlfriend burst through the door, attacking him for hurting me. He attacked her... and that's when I snapped. I ran over to him, and I beat the shit out of my dad. By the end of it, he wasn't moving-- I figured I had killed him. And... I didn't feel any pain; I felt accomplished." he said, then looking up at the doctor. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"''

''"Crazy? No. I think this is part of your slow healing process, and with a bit more work. We can get to the source of this." the doctor said, smiling at Ike.''

''The talk between the two went on for around 30 minutes, before the two finished up. Ike shook the doctor's hand, and left the office. He walked outside, where a tall brunette his age was waiting for him. She looked nervous, but still tried to force a smile. Ike didn't notice her at first and walked right past her.''

''"Hey dumbass!" she called to him.''

''Ike turned around, and smiled, jogging over to her. He kissed her when he reached her.''

''"Baby, what are you doing here?" he asked.''

''"I came to see you." she said, putting her hand on his cheek.''

"I'm glad you did. I missed you."

''"Babe, we really need to talk." she said, leading him over to her car.''

"Is everything alright?"

''She handed him a pregnancy test, which said "Positive". His girlfriend started to tear up, as he looked at it. He looked up at her, and gave her a big hug.''

''"We'll get through this, Chrissy; like we always do." he said, trying to reassure her.''

''"Will you stay with me?" she asked, crying into his shoulder.''

''"Of course I will. I didn't plan on leaving." he said, stroking her hair.''

Ike and Owen walked down the hallway where they saw Paul talking with Dylan. Dylan looked at the two, and pointed them out to Paul, who looked over as well. The two jogged over to them.

"Where the hell were you guys?" asked Dylan, angrily.

"Relax, man. We just checked on the generator in the basement, which is full by the way. So, if we need power, we know where to go." Ike said.

"Where is Tyler and Isiss?" Paul asked.

Owen looked at Ike, and back to the two. "They didn't come with us." he said.

"Then where are they?" asked Dylan.

"We don't fucking know." Ike said, defensively.

"Over here." they hear a recognizable voice call to the.

The four turn, and see Tyler walking with Isiss towards them.

"Where the hell were you?" Dylan asked.

"Getting these." Tyler said, handing Dylan a pistol, Isiss holding the other one.

"Where did you fucking get these?" Owen asked, in awe.

"Her idea." he said, pointing to her.

"Killed a couple of zombies out front... they just happened to be police officers." she said, smirking.

"We also got some walkie-talkies... you know, just in case someone goes off somewhere they can get in contact with the rest of us." Tyler said, handing Dylan the walkie-talkie too.

"How the hell do these even work?" asked Ike.

"I don't know... but I know who probably does." Paul said.

''Ike walked down the streets, his arm around Chrissy. It was dark out, only a couple of people walked the streets. Chrissy looked up at Ike, she looked like she bad been crying a lot, and she kissed his cheek. He looked over to her, and smiled.''

''"How are you feeling?" he asked.''

''"Like shit." she said.''

"Don't feel like shit. You're going to be just fine, I'll be here for you."

''"Such a charmer." she said, sarcastically. "But, I've been thinking about it... and I want to get an abortion."''

''Ike looked at her, and forced a smile. "If that's what you want, I won't argue."''

''Ike looked up, and saw three hooded figures looking at them. He acted as though he didn't see them, and continued to walk with Chrissy. He hears sudden running, and before he knows it, he's on the ground. He doesn't know what's going on, all he knows he's in a lot of pain and he could hear Chrissy screaming. He opens his eyes, after what seemed to be 20 minutes. Chrissy was being held back by two of them, crying, and one of them had a pocket knife to Ike's throat.''

''"About time you opened your eyes, pussy." the man said.''

Ike couldn't say anything, he just looked at the man.

"Just give me your damn wallet, and we'll leave you and your girl."

''Ike very slowly reached for his pocket, and pulled out his wallet, which the man took right away. The two men behind him let go of Chrissy who ran over to Ike, getting on her knees next to him. The man who took his wallet, opened it, pulling out his student ID. The man dropped it almost instantly, and looked at him.''

''"It's the sheriff's nephew." he said.''

''"He saw our faces, man." one of the others said.''

''"Take him out." the last man said.''

''The man with the pocket knife ran towards Ike who Chrissy was trying to help stand. Chrissy saw him running for Ike and jumped in front of him at the last moment, with Ike falling down with no support. The man stood there in shock before turning around and running away. His two buddies ran after him, and Chrissy soon fell. Ike looked over, seeing Chrissy lied down with the knife sticking out of her stomach. Ike crawled over to her, quickly, seeing she was still alive. Ike himself was bleeding heavily, but he didn't care. He looked down at her, and started cradling her body. An overweight man walked over and saw him cradling her body.''

''"What happened, son?" he asked, scared.''

''Ike didn't answer him, he just sat there cradling her body. The overweight man ran away, probably to get help.''

''"Baby, baby, you'll be okay." he muttered, crying.''

''Chrissy reached her hand up to Ike's cheek, and Ike grabbed her hand. The two stayed like that, until Chrissy's eyes started to close.''

''"No, no, no, open them baby, please." he cried out, as a bigger group of people came to help.''

Ike, Paul, Tyler, Isiss, Owen, and Dylan were standing outside of a door, and Tyler knocked on it. The door opened, and Sean was standing there with Kira.

"Hey Sean, Kyla." Tyler said.

"What's up?" asked Sean.

"Tell me you know how to work one of these." Paul said, handing him the walkie-talkies.

Sean took them and started fiddling around with them.

"I take that as a yes." Paul said, smiling.

"Yeah, all you have to do is line them up to the same frequencies..." Sean said. "And bam, here you go." he said, handing them back the walkie-talkies.

"That's fucking awesome." Dylan said.

Sean smiled and looked back at Kira, who was sitting on the bed, smiling.

"Hey, while we're here, have any of you guys heard from the military or something?" asked Paul.

"No, I've been trying to hack my way into some of their documents, but so far it's all stuff we know. I did find out they're getting their asses handed to them." Sean said.

"How are they losing with all there guns, when all the zombies have are teeth?" asked Ike.

"Think about it. You kill a soldier's best friend, they're emotionally impacted. The zombies don't feel that, which give them a huge advantage." Owen said.

"What about search and rescues?" asked Dylan, going back to being saved.

"They have quarantine zones, but they're not looking for people to help." Sean help.

"So, we've been left behind?" Isiss asked.

"Pretty much."

"So, we have to fend for ourselves?" asked Paul.

"Yeah, that means we should head to a local super market... soon." Sean said.

"You wanna go scavenge for food?" asked Ike.

"Yeah, get as much as we can now when there is actually food there, and not have to worry about it later." Sean said.

"I'll go." Tyler said.

"Me too." said Paul.

"Count me in." Ike said.

"I'll stay here and protect the rest of you." Dylan said.

"I'd suggest going before it gets dark out." Sean said.

"Thanks for the advice, man. Let's get this started." Tyler said.

Kelly sat with Trent, looking at the news, hoping to see something good for a change. Jake, Olivia, and Jeremy were in the background doing their own things. The news was doing a story on Baltimore's act to kick them out of the state.

"I'm so screwed." Trent said, watching the TV.

"Why do you keep thinking that?" asked Kelly.

"My mom and dad are there. They're probably expecting me to come and try to get to them."

Kelly looked at Trent, and squeezed his arm, prompting him to look at her.

"Why do I have the feeling you hate your parents?" she asked.

Trent looked down, in sorrow, before looking back up at Kelly. "Honestly, it's because they scare me. I love my mom, but my dad-- he's just an asshole, you know?"

Kelly smiled, sympathetically. "You know, when I was younger, I ran away from my house for the same reason." she said.

Trent looked over at her, and smiled. "You have some balls... I would've never been able to do that." he said.

"So tell me.." she started. "Your dad... what he do?"

"He was always awesome when I was growing up. Then I hit high school and he changed into a totally different person. It was hell. But then when I finally told him I was gay, he just, well... he snapped. He beat me until I didn't have feeling in my shoulder." he said, recounting the memories he tried to forget.

Kelly looked at him, sympathetically before deciding to tell her story.

"My dad was a dick too. He used to come home drunk every night and attack my mom. And when I mean attack, I mean knocked her unconscious. One day my dad got so angry, he almost killed my dog. The dog ended up paralyzed, and after that, I couldn't live with it. I packed a couple of bags, and I left." she said.

"Looks like we both come from shitty pasts." Trent said, his voice breaking.

Kelly hugged Trent, who hugged her back.

Amanda sat alone in her dorm, looking at herself in a mirror. There was a knock on the door, and she turned towards it. The door slowly opened, and Paul walked in. Paul walked over to the dresser, picking up the metal pole he likes to use.

"Where are you going?" asked Amanda.

Paul looked over at her, and smiled.

"Just gonna go do some shopping." he said, sitting on the bed, tying his shoe.

"Where are you going?" she repeated.

"I'm going to the supermarket that's downtown. Gonna go get some food so we don't all starve over here." he said, looking up at her. "Is there something wrong?"

"No... it's just... please come back." she said.

Paul smiled and got up, walking to her.

"I'm coming back, you don't need to worry about me. I'm going with Tyler and that dickhead Ike."

"I don't trust him." she said, referring to Ike.

"Neither do I. But it's chaos out there, and we need to start trusting him." He picked up the brush next to her arm, and started to brush his hair. "Since when did you care for my well-being anyways?" he asked, smiling.

Amanda looked up at him. "No one else has made an effort to talk to me, besides you. I lose you, no one will ever come near me."

"That's not true." he said, getting on his knees so he's eye-level with her. "Listen, just be safe while I'm gone, okay? I promise I'll be back."

Violet stood in the hallway, armed with a kitchen knife, when Tyler, Paul, and Ike walked over to her.

"Where are you guys going?" she asked.

"We're going on a supply run." Paul said.

"It's only fucking day two! We aren't scavengers or animals." she protested.

"Yeah, but if we don't do it, who will? It'll just sit there and go bad... and I checked on our stock, we're good on perishable goods. But we need non-perishable shit if we're gonna survive, that way we don't have an expiration date." Ike said.

"Fine go, but if one of you dies, don't make me say 'I told you so'." she said.

"Yes, sergeant Middleton." Paul said, sarcastically, before the three walked off.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Dylan Adams
 * Kira Fulton
 * Sean Solo
 * Tyler Blake
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Jeremy Flynn
 * Trent Jones
 * Isiss Rivera
 * Violet Middleton
 * Owen Horne
 * Amanda Dixon

Deaths

 * Chrissy (Flashback)