Low on Time/Issue 49

This is issue forty-nine of Low on Time, entitled: Engulfed.

Issue 49; Engulfed
As Olivia quickly turned away, and sprinted in the other direction, both Ben and Eli just stared at each other. The two were clearly confused, and before Eli got the chance to say anything, Ben quickly ran off after her. Eli could only sigh before joining him.

Olivia quickly ran through the streets, dodging any zombies in her path. She didn't have a single thing on her, she was lucky to even be running right now. Ben however, pushed any zombies he could out of his way. As they tumbled to the ground, Eli would shoot them in the head with his silenced pistol.

As Ben caught up with the quick Olivia, he grabbed onto her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks. She tried to push away from him, but to no avail, he was too strong.

"Let me go, you shit!" she muttered, trying to squirm away from him as Eli caught up to them.

"What the hell is going on?" Ben asked, keeping a tight grip on her.

"My friend-- there isn't much time left... please!" she said quickly, still trying to break grasp.

Ben sighed and let go of Olivia, who simultaneously tripped over herself, landing in the street. She quickly got up, and ran off.

"What the fuck, man?" Eli asked under his breath. "Why are we helping this crazy bitch?"

"She needs help." Ben said, before running back off in the direction of Olivia. Eli shook his head, but nonetheless he ran after him.

As Olivia rounded the block, Ben and Eli close behind her, it didn't take long for the two to see what was going on. A few hundred feet away, a huge chunk of one of the buildings lied in the center of the street. But, it was from underneath the pile that mattered. A squirming human hand was clearly seen, and it was very apparent that someone was stuck under there.

Olivia quickly reached the pile, and grabbed hold of the squirming hand.

"Ry...Ry it's me." she quickly said, in a hushed, yet energetic tone. "I brought some help." She quickly turned back toward Eli and Ben who are only just reaching her, and quickly motioned for them to help.

"I--I couldn't get it off of him." she quickly said, looking at the two.

"What the hell happened?" Eli quickly asked, dropping his pistol, as Ben dropped his rifle.

"We were walking-- I don't fucking know, man! We were just walking and before I could tell what was happening he pushed me... and he got trapped."

"Alright ma'am, we're going to try and get him out of there." Ben said, grabbing hold of one of the chunks.

"Please, he has asthma... I don't know how much longer he can last under there." she said still holding onto the hand as tightly as she could.

Ben quickly nodded, and with all of his strength, he lifted a huge chunk of building off of Ryker, and threw it to the ground. Eli did the same, with a much smaller chunk, tossing it to the side as well.

Olivia muttered to herself and only watched as the two men lifted the rest of the remnants of building off of Ryker. As they finished up, and Ryker's body was uncovered, the tears immediately started to stream down Olivia's face.

Ryker's body was completely mutilated. He was covered in a mixture of blood and dirt, but, mostly blood. His eyes could barely stay open, and his breathing was so out of place. Olivia quickly went over him, and straight for the CPR.

"Don't--you--fucking--die--on--me." she cried out between each pump on his chest. "You--can't--do--this."

"C'mon, we gotta get him back to the zone." Ben said, kneeling down next to her.

"Can you fix him?" she quickly spat out at him.

"We can definitely try."

"If we're gonna go-- we gotta do this now!" Eli said, picking his gun back up from the floor. He motions his hands where a few zombies roamed, and quickly shot them down... but more were coming.

As Eli started to pick off the closest zombies, Ben lifted up the barely conscious Ryker over his shoulders. Olivia quickly got to her feet, and followed the two men.

''Olivia held Ryker close to her, her hand over his mouth, as the shadows of their attackers passed the closet they were taking shelter in. Olivia was shaking with fear, but she wasn't letting it get the best of her. She knew that without her right now, Ryker would draw attention to himself, and get himself killed.''

''"Looks like they're all gone, sir." one of them said.''

''"This one doesn't-- she doesn't have a leg, sir." the other one, a shady Eli said. As Eli mentions Julia, Ryker flinches, and Olivia brings him in tighter.''

"What the fuck--" the last one, Ben, muttered.

Olivia watched from the crack of the closet door, as the men look over Julia's deceased body, shaking.

''It didn't take long for the men to shoot her in the head, before she could reanimate, and give up entirely. The three quickly left, and as the front door could be heard shutting, Olivia removed her hand from Ryker's mouth.''

''Ryker practically goes flying out the closet door, rushing back over to Julia's side. As Olivia emerged from the closet, she just watched as the broken teenager just cradled the body of his friend. She looked back to the room she was staying, where Jake's body lied, and only sighed.''

''As much as she wanted to just sit down and cry... she knew she couldn't. She had to protect Ryker. She had to make sure he didn't give up, he didn't lose faith, he survived.''

''Olivia sat in a small house, alone, opening a small can of beans. She grabbed a small handful, and shoved them in her mouth. This was the only food she could fine-- and Ryker wasn't eating anything. He refused to eat, refused to come out of the room he claimed, and refused to talk to Olivia... even in the slightest.''

''She sat miserably eating the small can of beans. Every so often she would hear Ryker mutter something incoherent, which only bothered her more. As she got close to finishing the can, she heard Ryker mutter something else again, and she just sighed. She quickly got up, and walked over to the door.''

''She opened the door quickly, and dropped the beans on sight. She watched as Ryker, who was standing on a folding chair, was in the middle of attempting to tie a belt around the metal rebar that dangled from the ceiling.''

As he noticed Olivia enter the room, and her surprised face, he didn't pay much attention to her, and he simply went on with what he was doing-- like it was normal.

''"Ry-- what are you doing?" she asked, walking closer to him.''

''"There... there is nothing more for me to live for, Olivia." he muttered. "The only person I ever truly cared about is fucking gone."''

"But, Ry--"

''"Don't guilt trip me, Olivia." he spat out, interrupting her. "This is better for both of us. I don't have to worry about living this cruel life, and you don't have to worry about protecting me anymore."''

"Please, Ry..."

"I'm sorry-- but this is my choice."

''As he said that, Olivia quickly pushed him off of the folding chair he was standing on, and he landed on the floor with a huge thud. Olivia quickly leans over him, and pins him to the ground, and as he tries to squirm away, Olivia only holds her grasp on his arms tighter.''

''"Let go of me you fucking bitch!" he spat out.''

''"Ry--Ry, just calm down, please." she said in a hushed, motherly-type tone. "I don't wanna hurt you."''

''"Let me fucking go!" he yelled.''

Olivia quickly lifted one of her arms back, and before he could react, Olivia sent her fist flying into his eye.

''The next morning, as Ryker awoke, all he could manage to see was a blurry Olivia, who sat in front of him. He tried to grab hold of his head, which hurt like hell, but something restrained him. He quickly looked up, and saw his arm was being held back by a belt, which was tied around the rebar.''

''He quickly looked back up at Olivia, who silently and seriously watched him. He quickly tried to pull his arm to free, but received no such luck, and sighed.''

''"Can you let me go?" he asked silently.''

''"You gonna try and kill yourself again?" she asked, crossing her arms.''

"What does it matter to you? You thought I was some useless kid back when Kelly and Julia were around. Now what? Since it's just the two of us you act like you care?!?"

''"Just because I thought you were useless doesn't mean I didn't care." she said, getting up slowly.''

''She slowly walked over to Ryker, and kneeled in front of him, getting a good look at him. He had a black eye, which, came from her the previous night, but beyond that-- she saw fear in him. It was well-hidden behind his stoic expression, but it was there... deep down inside of him.''

''"Just-- let me go." he silently said.''

''"Promise me you won't try to kill yourself." she said, pleading with him at this point.''

After a few moments of silence, and the unbreakable look he was receiving from Olivia, he nodded his head.

''"Tell me." she said.''

''"I won't try and kill myself." he said, his voice breaking half-way through his sentence.''

''She smiled and gave the restrained Ryker a big hug, to which he only sighed. She got up, and started working on untying the belt from Ryker's arm.''

''Both Olivia and Ryker walked in the middle of the deserted street, Ryker's rifle at his side. The night was coming, so, the two figured that the closer they are to the middle, the easier it'll be to see when a zombie comes charging them.''

''Ryker walked close by Olivia's side, and Olivia quickly took notice of it. Just yesterday he wouldn't talk to her, and now he won't leave her side. She smiled looking at him, but he didn't return it. He just kept watching the road ahead of him.''

''Before the two know it though, the ground started to shake rapidly, and Ryker immediately clutches Olivia's arm. She looks at him, and gives him a reassuring smile.''

''"It's only an earthquake." Olivia said, to which Ryker nodded.''

''As the ground continued to shake, Ryker's eyes shoot upward, as a few chunks of building come down flying at the two. Before Olivia even notices what's going on, Ryker shoved her away from him, and is soon engulfed by the fallen building remnants.''

''As Olivia quickly turns around and hops to her feet, she looks around for Ryker aimlessly. It isn't until she sees his hand coming out from underneath the chunks that she realized what had happened. She quickly ran toward Ryker, and grabbed hold of Ryker's hand.''

''"Ry," she said, under her breath. "Can you hear me, Ry?"''

''After no response, and just the sound of him struggling for breath is heard, she hops to her feet, and immediately tried to pull a chunk of the building off of him. But, she is far too weak, and she just ends up getting an ache in her back.''

''"Ry... I'm gonna go get help." she quickly said, grabbing hold of his hand again. "Just-- stay alive."''

''As she goes to let go of Ryker's hand, his grip on her's tightens. She lets out a small whimper, and rips his hand off of her's. She quickly turns away from him, and she runs off, hoping to find help.''

As Olivia sat in the back of Ben's car, Ryker's bloodied head resting on her lap, she silently rubbed his head. Olivia could see that his eyes were still open, and he was fully aware of his surroundings, and she just wanted to make him feel comfortable.

Eli sat in the passenger seat, and just watched the two, sadly. He didn't know what to say or what to do, so he just looked back at Ben, who's main focus was getting back to the zone.

"How much longer?" Eli asked under his breath.

"Give it ten minutes." he said, not taking his eyes off the road.

Olivia remained quiet in the backseat, her eyes full of water, but still doing her best to keep Ryker's hopes up.

"Please don't die..." she said under her breath.

As the car pulled into the safe-zone, and drove quickly down the deserted road, Olivia couldn't take her eyes off of Ryker, who reached up to her. He put his bloody hand over Olivia's cheek, and let out a faint smile, which she forcefully gave back.

When the car pulled over in front of Katy's house, Ben quickly hopped out, and pulled Ryker out from the car. As Ben forced his way inside the house, and Eli assisted Olivia out of the car, Katy was already downstairs waiting for them.

"What happened this time?" she asked, sighing. "The second time in two days?"

"Look-- can you fix him up?" Ben forcefully asked.

"What happened?"

"A building fell on him."

"An entire building?"

"No-- fragments of a building."

"Ok," she said, nodding her head. "I think I can do this."

As Eli brought Olivia inside the house, Katy had already started to work on Ryker, ripping his shirt off to look for any wounds.

Olivia only stared at the bloodied Ryker being checked on-- and she couldn't help but think he was going to die. She quickly turned toward Eli, who was helping her stand, and she buried her head in his chest, starting to cry.

Eli couldn't help but feel bad for her. Sure, he didn't know her-- not at all, but it looked like she's been through so much and he really felt for her. So, he just let her sob, and looked on with her at Ryker.

Olivia sat by Ryker's side a few hours later, still rubbing his head. Katy said she did what she could, and that Ryker was gonna live, but Ryker was still broken. As far as Katy could tell, he had two broken bones in his arm, his ankle was completely shattered, and there was a "high chance" he had a concussion.

Ben, along with Eli and Katy, sat in the living room, watching both Olivia and Ryker.

"You think there's any connection between those two and Kelly?" Ben asked nonchalantly.

"I don't know." Katy simply said. "But, who travels as light as they did unless they were recently overrun?"

"Fuck, man." Eli muttered, throwing his face in between his hands. "This is so fucked."

"What is?" Katy quickly asked.

"If they are connected-- we fucking ruined their lives too." he simply said. "I can't handle this."

"Just, calm down." Ben quickly said. "Let's just, invite them over for dinner tomorrow night-- or somethin'. Say we're getting to know our new members, and if they recognize each other there-- we'll know for sure."

"Sounds fine to me." Katy said, crossing her arms. "That one guy was cute."

"The one with Kelly?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, Ike." she said. "He was really funny-- I wanted to get to know him better anyways."

"Fine, that's a plan." Ben said, smiling.

"Fuck, man..." Eli muttered to himself.

"You don't have to be there..." Ben said.

"No-- I need to be there." Eli said, standing up.

"Everything will be fine-- you'll see." Katy said, also standing up.

As Olivia remained staring down at Ryker, she couldn't help but notice as his head started to remove. She quickly smiled as his eyes slowly opened, and he started taking loud breaths.

"Ry...Ry, calm down." she said, quickly placing her hands over his shoulders.

He only looked around, confused, scared, before finally taking a good look at Olivia. He started to take deeper breaths, and started calming himself down. A small smile came across Olivia's face, and she grabbed hold of his hand, sitting back down. Ryker just watched her, and attempted to say something-- but he was too weak to. So instead, he just put a tight grip around her hand, and closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath as Olivia placed her hand over his forehead, smiling lightly.

Credits

 * Olivia Bell
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Eli
 * Ben
 * Katy

Deaths

 * None