Low on Time/Issue 39

This is issue thirty-nine of Low on Time, entitled: Mute.

Issue 39; Mute
Manning rushed down the long corridor, big machete in hand. His face was bright red, tears still rolling down his cheek, as Ella ran after him.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, but to no avail. Manning ignores her, pushing down the corridor.

As Manning gets into the main lobby of the police station, he passed Jake and Trevin, who were keeping watch. He pushed the doors open, walking outside. The sun was beating down on him as he looked around the streets. There were only a few zombies roaming around, and Manning had plans for them.

Jake, Trevin, and Ella all wandered outside after him, and watch as Manning sprints to the closest zombie. Manning quickly lifts his machete, stabbing it in the head. As the zombie falls to the ground, Manning looks over it, and stabs it again in it's chest. Manning does it over and over again, until there his arm grows tired.

Suddenly, Manning feels a faint tapping on his shoulder, and he spins around, raising his machete, ready to swing. He's met by the shriek of Ella, who falls backwards. Manning eases, as Ella just watches him from the ground. He turns around from her as Trevin and Jake get to her, helping her up.

Manning looks around, and all zombies in the area were now converging on them. Manning readies his machete, prepared to take them all on, if needed be.

"Blake," Ella says, trying to draw his attention, as Jake and Trevin look around at the small amount of zombies.

Manning looks back at her. It was the first time anyone has called him by his first name since his dad left him. Manning starts walking to the closest zombie, and Ella leaves the protection of Jake and Trevin, running to Manning.

She quickly takes hold of his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

"Leave me be," he muttered, looking at the closest zombie.

"C'mon, Blake." she pleaded.

Manning didn't listen to her, and he shook his wrist free from her grasp. She looked back at Jake and Trevin, who had already started taking out some of the zombies getting close to them. She sighed, as Manning lifted his machete, slicing the closest zombie's head in half. As a few more zombies came, Manning readied his machete, hungry to kill.

Ike sat alone in an office, examining a submachine gun. He rested against the comfy leather chair, trying to take his mind off of everything.

"Hey," a faint voice calls from the doorway.

Ike looks up, and smiles seeing Amanda standing there.

"Hey Mute, come on in." he said, setting down the gun.

Amanda walked into the office, looking at both Ike, then the gun. Ike notices it, and smiles, picking the gun back up.

"You like it?" he asked. "I was thinking about getting some spray paint-- customizing it."

"Why are you acting all friendly to me?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Why are you so nice to me, and mean to Paul?"

Ike set the gun back down, and leaned back in the chair, putting his feet up on the desk. "Amanda, that's because I like you. I've told both you and him about a hundred times now how sorry I was-- and I am, but if he's gonna be a dick to me... then fuck him."

"He loved her."

"People die. You really think that she would've survived out here for too long? The strong-- the strong are the ones who survive. The ones like us."

Amanda sighed, and Ike looked down to the ground, rubbing his eyes.

"Come sit, Mute." he said, motioning her with his hand to go to him. "I want to tell you a little story about a girl named Chrissy."

Julia and Ryker sat together on the bed in one of the jail cells. They sat on opposite sides of each other, and Ryker couldn't help but look at her stump.

"Ry," she said, drawing his attention. "What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about-- about how are roles are gonna be switched."

Julia smirked, "And how so?"

"Well, you were always the one protecting me-- now I'm gonna have to be your night in shining armor."

Julia laughed, and Ryker just smiled seeing her happy. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Thanks," she said. "Man, if you would've told me a few months ago I would be stuck in the apocalypse with some nobody from my school-- I would've said you were crazy."

"'Nobody?' Ouch."

"Sorry-- it's kinda true."

"And I'll be the first one to admit that." he said as he smiled. "So, how do you think you'll manage on the road?"

"I'll be fine." she assured. "No need to worry about me."

"C'mon, worrying is what I'm best at. Seriously-- you're going to need crutches or something."

"Or, you can just be my personal chauffeur."

"Eh,"

"Just an 'eh'? Ok buddy..."

Ryker just smiled, before getting off of the bed. He reached out his hand to her, which she took. "Let's go for a walk." he said.

Kelly sat with Amanda and Ella in the main lobby, staring outside as Manning sat outside, head buried in his lap.

"I'm worried about him." Ella said, looking at Manning.

"He'll be fine." Kelly said, looking at the rifle on her lap.

"I don't know-- he wasn't that bad when his mom died, and it was clear he liked her more." Amanda muttered.

"Guys," Ella said. "What should we do?"

"Let him take out his frustrations his way." Kelly said. "I'm sure he'll be fine, just, give him some time."

Ella nodded, sighing. "When are we going on the road?"

"I don't know." Kelly sighed. "We're a wreck right now. We just need everyone to get in their right mindsets."

"Then you need to go talk to Paul and Manning. Cause this place brings nothing but bad luck." Amanda said.

"Agreed," Ella said.

Kelly stood up, brushing the dust off of her shirt. "I'm gonna go find Langston, talk it over with him." she said.

Paul walked quickly along the corridor, Sam's blood still all over his hands. He walked into the infirmary where Trent was talking with Olivia. The two immediately stopped talking, and watched as he went through the medicine, pulling out a bottle of Motrin.

The two exchanged looks, and Paul felt the eyes on him. He quickly turned around, looking at the two.

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked.

"An answer." Olivia said.

"I killed her to protect us."

"No-- you did it to protect Amanda. You didn't consult anyone else."

"You think I give a fuck?" he asked, walking closer to the two. "I know y'all like to think that everyone here is all together-- but that's not the case. You all have your own cliques with in the group-- it's just like fucking high school."

"No-- I'm doing whatever I can to protect everyone." Olivia muttered.

Paul scoffed, walking closer until he was standing right in front of her, looking down on her. "You listen to me--"

"C'mon, man." Trent said, trying to push Paul away from Olivia.

Paul snapped back, grabbing Trent by the shirt, and pushing him against the wall. "Don't ever touch me." he said under his breath, before letting go of Trent.

As Paul walked away, Trent just watched him. Olivia quickly walked over to him, but he brushed her off. "I'm fine." he muttered.

Manning walked back inside the police station, blood all over his clothes and machete. He was completely exhausted, tripping over himself as he walked.

Ella quickly made her way over to him, offering him a shoulder to lean on, which he hesitantly accepted.

"C'mon, you're gonna ware yourself out." she said.

"Who fucking cares?" he asked, breathing heavily.

"I do."

"Why? I'm nobody to you."

"That's not true-- you're very important."

"Heh, you're funny." he said, smiling slightly to himself.

"C'mon, you're delusional."

"That'll happen to you too soon. When everyone you love is gone."

Ella just shook her head, bringing him to the cells. She helped him into one of the cells, lying him down on the bed.

"Did I ever tell you about what happened to my dad?" she asked, sitting on the bed next to him.

"No," he said.

"He was-- killed by a group of bandits. I--I was taken from my group-- used for manual labor But, luckily, I escaped. Kelly found me not so long afterwards."

"How'd you get out?"

"I was broke out by Trevin."

"Trevin?"

"Yeah, he helped me get out. I owe him everything--"

"I was thinking-- we should leave." Manning said quietly.

"What?" she asked, completely dumbfounded.

"We should leave."

"Why? We wouldn't make it far out there alone. You know that."

"We aren't going to make it much farther here though. How many have we lost now?"

"Too many."

"Exactly."

"C'mon, you don't know what you're saying. Just get some rest-- you'll come to your senses eventually."

"Whatever," he said, turning away from her.

It was pitch black outside, the only light coming from the moon. Inside of the police station, Jake sat with an assault rifle in his lap against the back wall, keeping watch. Olivia lied down next to him, her head resting in his lap, staring at him. Jake couldn't take his eyes off of her, he loved her.

"Babe, what are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Just how adorable you are." she said, pinching his cheeks, jokingly.

"Okay, mom..."

She couldn't help but giggle.

"Alright, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow." he said, kissing her on the forehead. "You should head to bed-- I got this."

Olivia yawned, and smiled. "Fine, I'll leave you to your fun job then." she said, leaning up.

"Love you." he said, smiling.

"I love you too, Jayme." she said, walking away.

An hour later, Jake still sat back against the wall, sleeping. His snoring overtook the room, and his gun lied carelessly in his lap.

Suddenly, a zombie appeared in the doorway, and started to bang on the door. Jake was too far off in his sleep though, and didn't hear a thing. Pretty soon another zombie came to the door, followed by more and more.

Trent clumsily walked into the room, yawning. He looked at the door, and looked back toward Jake.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed, running over to Jake. He quickly takes the gun off his lap, and aims it at the doors. "JAKE!" he yelled, and Jake wakes up, almost immediately.

"Huh?" he asked, before noting the amount of zombies at the door.

"Go get everyone else-- we gotta go."

"What about you?"

"I'll be right behind you."

Jake nodded, and ran off, leaving Trent along in the main lobby as the zombies banged on the door, wanting to come in. Fairly quickly, the doors are busted open, and Trent fired the rifle at them.

He easily took out the first line of them, and he backed away slowly as he fired at them. He turned around to run, but quickly tripped over himself amongst his panic, dropping his gun. He span around, and the closest zombie quickly got on top of him, taking a huge chunk out of his leg.

Jake, Olivia, Ella, Manning, Julia, and Ryker could hear the painful screams from Trent coming from the opposite side of the building.

"Fuck," Jake muttered. "I'm going to go find Kelly and the others. Olivia-- can you protect them?"

"Of course." she said.

"No way, man. I'm going with you." Manning said.

"Me too." Ella said.

"Well, we gotta go now then." Jake said.

The three quickly left the room, Jake closing the door behind them. Olivia looked at the pistol in her hand, and then to the two teens in the cell.

"Get behind me." she said.

Ryker complied, helping Julia up, and over to Olivia. Olivia quickly ran up to the door, locking it, before running back toward Ryker and Julia.

Suddenly, there was a banging on the door. Olivia raised her pistol, aiming it at the door.

"Who's there?" she called out. "C'mon, answer me or I'll shoot."

Olivia fired off two shots at the door, both which penetrated the door. The banging stopped, but not after hearing a piercing scream.

Olivia looked back at Ryker and Julia, who were watching the door motionless. Olivia quickly ran up to the door and opened it. There, on the ground, lied Langston, two bullet holes in his chest, and Kelly standing over him, crying.

"Oh my God." she said, dropping the gun.

Ryker helped Julia walk over to see what was going on, and both let out a loud gasp when seeing Langston's body.

"Kel-- oh my God." Olivia said.

"No time to mourn." Kelly said, wiping a few tears from her cheeks. "Let's just-- go."

Ike and Amanda stood in the offices, looking around the rooms.

"What were those noises?" Amanda asked.

"Gunshots." Ike plainly said, grabbing the submachine gun.

"What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know, but I doubt we'll like it when we find out." he said, going through one of the drawers, until finding a revolver, which he nonchalantly passed to Amanda who fumbled with it before catching it.

"I don't know how to use one." she said, examining it.

"No time for training now. Let's go get to the others." he said.

Ike quickly walked toward the corridor, Amanda close behind him, and once he turned the corner-- he saw what was left of Trent being feasted on by zombies.

"Back, back, back," Ike said, quickly, pulling Amanda in the opposite direction. But, it was too late, a few of the zombies had seen them, and had moved away from Trent, and are now on their way to the duo.

Jake, Paul, and Trevin were waiting at the back entrance along with Manning and Ella. The five were waiting patiently for Kelly to return with the others, and Jake looked down at the ground in guilt. He knew this was all his fault-- Trent's gone, and the others might be too.

He quickly discards the thought as Kelly, Olivia come running down the hallway, Ryker helping the limping Julia close behind them.

"Where's Langston?" Jake asked.

Kelly just looked at Olivia, who was still in shock, and Jake just sighed.

"What about Amanda? Where's Amanda?" Paul asked, looking around.

"We couldn't find her-- or Ike for that matter." Kelly said.

Paul looked back down the corridor, as the zombies started making their way down toward them.

"Let's just go." Trevin muttered.

"We can't leave her here." he said, looking at Kelly for support.

"We'll come back, I'll come back." she said.

Paul looked back down, and sighed.

"Now," Trevin said.

Trevin led the push outside, opening the door and slicing a zombie's head open before he gets outside. He looks around at all the zombies coming toward them, and he knows they can't take them all without getting overrun.

"Alright, we gotta run for a house or something. Hop as many fences as you can, it'll confuse these fuckers." he said.

"After you," Ella said, clearly nervous.

Trevin went into a full sprint, Kelly and Manning close behind him. Jake quickly took Julia from Ryker, throwing her over his shoulder, and running after them, Ryker and Olivia close behind them. Paul and Ella were the last ones to go, the two making sure they stayed close to one another, firing their guns at any zombies who came close.

As more zombies started to catch up to them, Paul on impulse started to pick up speed. Ella watches as the distance between them grows, and starts running to catch up with him. She doesn't look around to see how much danger she's in-- she just runs. Before she is able to catch up to Paul, a zombie catches up to her, grabbing her by the collarbone and taking a big bite out of her neck. As she started to scream wildly, is when Paul realizes his mistake. He spins around to see Ella being taken down by the zombies, tearing into her, and he quickly lifts his gun, shooting her in the head so she didn't have to feel anything else. He span back around, starting to pick up his speed again.

Ike and Amanda hid together under one of the desks, using the darkness to their advantage. The zombies who were looking for them quickly ran past them, aimlessly looking for them.

Ike looked at the shaking Amanda, and patted her on the shoulder.

"We'll be fine, Mute." he said. "Just follow my lead."

Ike rolled out from underneath the desk, looking around before standing up. He held his submachine gun out, ready to fire at all times. Amanda followed his lead, lifting up her revolver, standing next to him.

Ike slowly left the room, looking around as he walked, making sure no zombies would take them by surprise. Amanda walked next to him, making sure to watch the side Ike wasn't on.

The two walked through the dark room, trying their best to make out what the area was. The room was quiet, the only sound being the footsteps of the two.

The zombies that were there before seemed to have left, and Ike wanted to make sure that they were out before they returned. He quickly led Amanda to one of the exits, opening the door, and immediately feeling that cold Winter wind. Ike took a step outside, and couldn't see any zombies.

But, from inside the building, a zombie had wandered in and noticed the two rather quickly. It slowly limped toward Amanda, and before anyone knew anything, it latched onto Amanda's back, taking a huge bite from her shoulder.

Her screams quickly took Ike's attention, and he turns around, seeing Amanda wrestling with the zombie. He quickly shoots it in the face, taking it off of her. He quickly rushed over to the now-crying Amanda, looking at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Did it get you?"

Amanda said nothing but looked over at her shoulder. Ike quickly looked there too, and looked away in disgust, as the blood spewed out of Amanda's skin.

"Oh my God..." Ike said, before looking around at the zombies who heard the screams and gunshots. "C'mon Mute, I'll get you out of here."

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Amanda Dixon
 * Langston Otto
 * Julia Riley
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Trevin
 * Manning
 * Ella

Deaths

 * Trent Jones
 * Langston Otto
 * Ella