The Bowl/Issue 10

This is Issue 10 of The Bowl, entitled "Crush."

This is was written by Headaches, with the challenge Unusual Genres.

Issue 10, Crush
Two vans flew down an other-wise deserted road. Even infected weren't lingering. Mark, Peel, Steve and Bella sat in the first van as Charley drove. Joel drove Carl, Adam, Harrison, Kyle and Daniel in the second van.

"Hey!" Charley called back. "Is my gun there?"

Mark peered over the back of the seats, into the boot. "I don't see it." He replied.

"Shit, must've left it at the base." She cursed.

"It's fine, we've got loads of guns from the base." Steve told her.

"I know." Charley sighed. "It's just that... This one was special. It was my brother's."

"I'm sorry." Steve frowned.

"Don't worry about it." She said. "It was old and dirty anyway."

***

A few hours later, the group were unpacking the van. They had located in a two-story house, hidden away in the forests. It wasn't too far from the city and the base, but it was far enough to feel hidden from The Others.

"My gun!" Charley grinned as she found it in the trunk of the van. "Mark! It was in the van!"

"Sorry." He apologised. She placed the gun into one of the boxes with the other ammunition, before going outside to collect more supplies.

Peel and Bella were sitting together in a small living room. Bella was neatened up Peel's nails with a nail file that she had found in one of the bedrooms.

"See any boys that you like here?" Peel asked.

"Peel!" Bella blushed. "Everyone is super old."

"Kyle isn't too bad."

"Ew, no... He must be, like, fourty."

Suddenly, Charley burst into the room. "Have you guys seen my gun? Or, taken it?"

"Have you lost it again?" Bella asked.

"No." Charley spat. "Someone has been taking it. It wasn't in the van, then it was. It was in the box and now it isn't."

"Why would someone want to take your gun, anyway? There's plenty others like it." Peel added. "We took all of them from the base."

"I don't know." Charley sighed as she picked a box up and carried it upstairs.

***

There were three bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom. Charley slept in one of the rooms with Peel and Bella. The women couldn't sleep in the same room as the men - that was always the rule.

Charley had been drifting in and out of sleep for a few hours. She was retracing her steps and trying to figure out where the gun had went. Her eyes slowly fluttered closed. However, the sound of a creaking door and a gun sliding across the floor made her jump awake.

After falling out of the bed, Charley crawled across to the gun. Someone had cleaned it and a new magazine of ammo had been placed in the gun. She ran her hands along the smooth, shiny metal. Suddenly, Charley's head jerked up.

She ran out the door to see someone dissapear from the bottom of the stairs. Charley ran down on her tip-toes, trying not to wake anyone up. The mystery person walked into the living room. Charley went in the opposite direction, into the kitchen. She knew that the person was trying to walk around in a circle and lose her, before going back upstairs.

When the mystery person walked into the kitchen, Charley raised the pistol. It was Mark.

"Woah, don't shoot!" He exclaimed.

Charley held the gun to her side and sighed. "Damn you, Mark."

"What?" He chuckled. "Do you like it?"

"It's awfully sweet - your little crush." She told him. "But, you're twenty-two. And, I don't really want a guy in these harsh times."

"I don't fancy you..." Mark frowned.

"Yes, you do." Charley kissed him on the cheek before returning to bed.

***

The next day, Charley and Bella were clearing infected on the front lawn of the house. Bella grabbed her knife from it's position on her belt and penetrated an infected's skull. Charley elbowed an infected in it's forehead. Her elbow smashed straight through it's decayed skull. She gagged, but had no time to look at the slime on her elbow as another infected approached. Bella jumped in front of her and planted her pistol to it's head. With one bullet, it's brains flew across the yard.

Charley heard Mark speaking to Steve inside the house. She turned to look at him for a second.

"I need some help here!" Bella called, smashing an infected's skull with a rock. Charley turned back and continued to attack the oncoming herd.

Mark turned to look at Charley. He watched as she battled the monsters. Bella looked at him and then whispered something into Charley's ear. They both giggled.

"I think the girls need some help!" Mark called back into the house.

Credits

 * Steve Tusk
 * Mark Tusk
 * Charley Simmons
 * Peel Rustjovik
 * Kyle
 * Adam
 * Harrison Blueman
 * Daniel McFrank
 * Joel Everett
 * Bella James