Surviving, Not Living/Issue 20

This is Issue 20 of Surviving, Not Living, entitled Masquerade. This is the second issue of Volume 4.

Issue 20 - Masquerade
Doug watched.

Amelia sobbed.

Jack stayed frozen.

Vicky just wanted to hug Amelia.

Jackie desperately wanted to move away but, deep down, she knew she was safe. Thank god for her looks.

Despite it all, Charlotte was worried about Ava.

The six survivors sat on metal benches inside the cargo compartment of the large truck. Doug estimate that they had been driving for just under a whole day. It was dark again, meaning it was night, and they could barely see each other. Each of them were chained to the bench by chains wrapped around their ankles and wrists. Every time the truck rode over a bump in the road, the chains rubbed against the exposed skin. Jackie's sensitive skin was already bleeding.

"You were fantastic." Amelia choked between her sobs. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said all of those things that I did when I was younger... It was foolish... Joining this group... Now, I've lost you and Bobby and I'm gonna be turned into a sex slave... We survived twenty years and within weeks of meeting these people, this is what has happened..."

"This isn't our fault!" Jack shouted.

"Shut up!" Doug suddenly exploded. "Her carer, her mother figure, was just ripped apart by that mad-man and you're concerned about what she called you. Everyone she knew, prior to three weeks ago, is dead. You make me sick. They should've killed you instead. You can't fight - you're seventy-one. What use are you? Your boy is dea-"

"Don't bring my son into this!" Jack warned.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Doug spat. "Rip out of these chains? You'd break your bones before that happened."

"Just you watch me." Jack threatened as he began to tug on the metal.

"Stop it!" Jackie screamed. "This is about Amelia and Sarah!"

And, it was about Amelia and Sarah. Sarah, her skin pale and her eyes white, sat, full of life, in the corner of the room. However, she wasn't full of her own life... She was a monster. Sarah sat next to Jackie, licking her lips and groaning in hunger. She was infected. Sarah's guts laid on her lap. The blood stained her clothes. They had been scooped out by Dallas - slowly and painfully. He had threatened Amelia to watch the whole thing, otherwise he would do the same to her. She had no idea why they had done this to Sarah. Maybe it was a show of strength, maybe it was because they were simply evil.

"Keep it down, back there!" Private Jones called from the driver's seat.

"What are you gonna do?" Vicky shouted back.

"Oh, the things I'd do to you, baby." He chuckled loudly.

"Creep!" She retaliated.

Suddenly, the truck skidded to a halt, causing the survivors to lean. The infected Sarah managed to get closer to Jackie, her jaw snapping open and close by her ear. Jackie managed to smell Sarah's breath and gagged.

"Fuck, a road block." A soldier sighed from outside. The two, giant metal doors opened at the end of the truck. Bright white light, reflecting off the snow, found it's way inside the truck. As if he were some sort of God, Dallas stood with his head held high at the end of the vehicle. The group squinted as they were each untied.

"It seems we have a problem." Dallas told them. "There are a lot of cars blocking the path. We came down the other side of the road, on the way to your little farm, and it was clear. So, we're gonna have to walk."

Amelia was the last one to exit the truck, being pulled by her hair by one of the bandits. Sarah was left in the truck, to rot and wither away. She would be stuck there for years, possibly even decades.

A dozen soldiers surrounded Doug and the rest of the group in a circular formation as they walked the snowy road. It was silent, except from the sound of crushing snow underneath boots.

"Remind us why you're doing this again..." Jack spoke up.

"We have desires. We need women." Private Jones replied. "We're not gay."

"Not like Billy." Dallas added. The bandits let out an uncomfortable laughter at the joke.

"Ready?" Doug quickly said.

"It's now or never." Vicky replied.

Doug crashed his elbow into the bandit behind him's crotch. The bandit fell to the floor and his sub-machine gun slid in front of the group. Jackie dived into the snow and picked up the gun. Amelia, Doug, Jack, Jackie, Vicky and Charlotte dived to the floor. With tied-up hands, Vicky managed to pull the trigger and randomly shoot the gun. A bullet grazed Jack's ear.

Dallas grabbed one of his bandits and held him as a shield. The bullets destroyed the bandits internal organs but Dallas was fine. He dropped the deceased man as another bandits grabbed hold of Vicky and confiscated the weapon. The rest of the group were grabbed and pulled back to a standing-up position. The leader of the pack, Private Jones, grabbed Vicky. He nibbled at her earlobe and moned.

"You're gonna pay for that, baby." He told her.

Dallas grabbed the gun from the floor before speaking to Doug. "Don't think we've forgotten about your part in this little masquerade. You'll pay for it, too."

"You've been awfully quiet." A bandit slapped Charlotte's bum. "But, you know what they say, quiet in the streets but a devil in the sheets."

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Danny stopped running. He panted as he released Ava from the cradle hold. There were still infected surrounding them. Only three were able to walk, the others were frozen to cars and other motionless objects.

"Get your knife out." Danny quickly instructed. "Don't be afraid but don't go to an infected. Wait until it comes to you."

Ava withdrew the knife from her pocket as Danny walked away from her. She looked at her reflection in the blade. Ava watched the reflection of the white sky on the knife as she twirled it in her hands. Something caught her eyes. An infected - behind her. Ava had caught a glimpse of it in the reflection. It stumbled towards her as she raised the knife and took a deep breath.

However, Danny jumped into the space between Ava and the infected, holding the end of his gun to it's chin. He pulled the trigger and a splatter of blood stained the snow. The infected fell back and crushed the snow. Danny turned around to face Ava.

"Thank you." She whispered, clutching the knife with both hands.

"It's okay, Ava. You can put the knife away." Danny told her. "We need to get off the road and into the forest."

"No!" Ava argued. "Mommy said that if I ever want to find someone, stay on the road."

"Listen, Ava. It's more safe in the forests, I promise. We'll be able to hear infected approach. The dry leaves have been protected from the snow by the trees. So, we'll be able to hear if infected approach us." He explained. "Okay?"

An infected reached out at Danny and Ava, the only thing restricting him was the ice connecting it's back to an unattractive orange car. The ice began to snap as it pushed forwards.

"There's not going to be any arguing about this. We have to go." Danny told her. He gripped Ava's arm tightly and pulled her across the road. He ran as fast as he could. Her legs struggled to keep up but Danny didn't stop. Their presence seemed to have given the infected a new lease of life - some had escaped from their frozen positions.

"We need to stop!" Ava screamed. "I can't run this fast."

"Listen. Ava." Danny was angry. He spoke through his teeth. "I'm thinking of our own safety. Do you want to be run fast, get worn out and safe or run slow and be eaten alive?"

Ava's bottom lip curled over and she began to cry. However, she ran straight past Danny, in the direction that they were running before. He didn't call her back. Instead, he followed her.

___________________________________________________________________________

Dallas had also decided to take the group - well, the hostages and his men - into the trees. One of the guards had create a little fire on the little dry leaves in wood that they could find. Everyone stood around the small fire.

"We're gonna have to camp out here for the night." Dallas told the others. He was the first one to sit down. "Come on, make yourself at home."

A few hours later, everyone was asleep except one of the bandits and Charlotte. Dallas has appointed them as the two that must stay guard during the night. Charlotte kept looking over to the other man. She would look for a few seconds, squint her eyes like she was thinking and then look away.

"What?" The bandit finally spoke up as Charlotte looked at him for the umpteenth time. They could barely see each other through the bushy trees and the darkness.

"You're different..." Charlotte told him.

"What?" He spat.

"You could've raped me already - put your hand over my mouth, it would be easy." She explained.

"Don't put ideas into my head." The bandit threatened. He had floppy black hair that fell out of the side of the beanie that he wore. His eyes were a soft dark brown. He held an unusually large pistol.

"What's your name?" Charlotte asked.

"Zach Whittle - not that you need to know." He replied.

"You're here for a different reason to all the others. I can see it in you... You don't look like a bad guy..." She told him.

Zach walked up to Charlotte and held the gun to her chin. "You need to shut your mouth right now. If you raise any suspicion about my activities here, even though I don't have any against Dallas, I'll be shot. But, not before I can get to you."

A chuckle came from the seemingly-sleeping Dallas and he turned over so he was laying on his front. Zach sighed loudly and moved his gun away from Charlotte's cheek.

___________________________________________________________________________

Ava screamed as an infected jumped out of cover. It stumbled on top of her and began to bite her. It ripped it's jaw away but, luckily, it only had a mouthful of her puffed-up coat. As fast as he could, Danny ran over and pressed the end of his gun to the back of the infected's head. It's blood splattered across Ava's face.

"Did any blood get in your mouth?" He asked as he gave her a hand up.

"I don't think so." Ava replied, moving her tongue around her mouth.

"Yes or no. Did any get in your mouth?" Danny repeated.

She waited for a while before responding. "No."

Danny sighed of relief before looking up at the sun. "We have about another hour of daylight left. We need to find shelter."

"No! We have to go back to the road!" Ava shouted. "The tyre tracks are our only lead. Remember? Auntie Char went that way so I'm going that way. I can survive by myself."

"Shut up!" The older man screamed in her face. "Just shut up! My dad is out there, too. Did you even think about that? I'm as scared and worried as you are. I haven't fought off these monsters in a year. Do you know how hard it has been to protect you when you just run off like that? And don't give me shit about you being able to survive by yourself. You wouldn't last two seconds."

Ava covered her mouth with her hand. She was in a state of shock. She wanted to run away but she couldn't. She didn't even know what to say.

The pair walked in silence for a few more minutes before the sun began to set. It tinted the sky a beautiful orange colour. Eventually, they came to a fence taller than Danny. He jumped and looked over the edge. A single house stood at the end of a long garden. An average-sized shed had been built at the end of the garden. Danny jumped up and observed the surroundings one more time. There were no infected in the garden, as far as he could see.

"I'm gonna lift you over. I'll be over a few seconds after you." Danny told Ava. She nodded. They did as said and Danny lifted himself up-and-after soon after.

Danny reached down to Ava with his hand. She accepted the gesture and held his hand. They began to walk up to the house when, suddenly, Danny pushed Ava down into the glass. He dived on top of her and covered her.

"Danny... What's going on?" Ava whispered.

"Infected." He whispered back. "The back door is open and there must be at least a dozen in the house. We can't clear them all out, we have minutes of light left. The only option is the shed. We can't go searching through the woods for another house at this time - its too late and we don't know how far away the next house is. Get up and walk slowly back to the shed, okay?"

"Yes." She complied, standing up and walking back. They moved slowly back to the shed, trying not to attract attention. Once they got to the small, wooden building, Danny used the grip of his gun to knock the lock off. Ava quickly and quietly moved inside before Danny.

The shed was quite spacious. There were two, heavy, wooden chairs to the left, which Danny moved against the door, a bucket held various gardening tools and an old, but still soft, rug laid out on the floor.

"Well, Ava." Danny sighed. "It seems that this is your bed for tonight."

___________________________________________________________________________

Danny watched Ava as she slept. They both laid on the floor. Ava was laying on Danny's coat that he had given her after she had complained numerous times. He shivered. The thin, wooden walls didn't offer much protection to the cold. Ava scoffed and then began to cough, waking herself up.

After what seemed like an hour of looking at each other, Ava spoke up. "I can't sleep. Tell me a story."

"About what?" Danny asked.

"Um..." She pondered. "Tell me about your mommy? What was her name? What did she look like?" He smiled at Ava and rolled over to lean on his back.

"Her name was Marie and she was beautiful." He explained. "She had dark skin and long, flowing black hair. She used to meet me at the bus stop every day after high school and take me to the sweet shop. She would only let me chose one thing but, whatever it was, I would share it with her. My momma liked knitting too. I have - well, I had - a sweater that she had knitted for me. It was mainly dark blue but had a green christmas tree in the middle. Unfortunately, like most people, she died by an infected. What about your mom, Ava?"

Ava didn't reply. She was in a deep sleep. Danny smiled and turned over.

"Goodnight, Ava."