Low on Time/Issue 36

This is issue thirty-six of Low on Time, entitled: Keep Going.

Issue 36; Keep Going
Both Nolan and Brandon stood still, staring at the motionless Drew, who stared at them, mixed feelings of anger and regret. The zombified Vince desperately reached out to Nolan, who was closest to him.

"Just take it easy, Drew." Brandon said, putting his hands up, showing him he was unarmed.

Drew took a pistol, the same one used by Vince earlier, out of his back pocket, pointing it at the two. Both Nolan and Brandon tensed up, unsure of what to do.

"Calm down, man." Brandon said, shutting his eyes close, in fear.

"Yeah, nobody got to get hurt." Nolan said, placing his bow onto the floor, right next to his feet.

"I couldn't just leave him." Drew said, looking back and forth at the two, and then to Vince. "I don't wanna have lost everyone I've ever cared about."

"He's dead, man." Nolan said, almost instantly.

"Dead? He's not dead! He's different."

"C'mon, man. We both know he's dead-- no bringing him back."

"Nolan--" Brandon said in a hushed whisper, but Nolan ignored him.

"He is not dead." Drew said, inching closer, gun still raised at Nolan.

"Yes, he is. And I'll prove it." Nolan said, picking up his bow. Drew watched, hesitantly, as Nolan drew back the bow, and shot an arrow clean through Vince's chest-- but he kept going. "How come he's still going?" Nolan asked.

Nolan turned around, looking at Drew, who was still watching him, finger itching on the trigger.

"He is dea--" Nolan is quickly cut off as a bullet rips through his abdomen. Brandon jumps back, as Nolan slowly walks backwards, examining his gunshot wound. Unbeknownst to him, he walked right into Vince, who immediately took a big bite of his neck. Too weak to move or make a sound, Nolan just gasps in pain as Vince goes to town on him through the cell bars. Drew stares at Vince with a satisfied grin on his face. Brandon looks at him, scared, and not knowing what to do.

"What did you do?" Brandon asked, turning back to Nolan and Vince.

"I did what I had to do." Drew said, itching his head. "He was gonna kill Vince."

Brandon went to speak again, but Drew now had the gun at his head.

"I'm sorry, Brandon. I am." he said, a little taste of uncertainty in his voice.

"Man, you don't have to do this." Brandon pleaded.

"I do. Because if I don't... you'll tell the others. They'll kill Vince."

"No-- I promise I won't."

"Promises don't get you nowhere these days." Drew said, before pulling the trigger.

As Brandon's lifeless body fell to the floor, Drew just sighed, and turned around, now face-to-face with Nolan who has turned. Nolan quickly pounces on top of Drew, taking him to the ground. Nolan immediately ripped a big piece of skin from Drew's shoulder, who let out a loud, piercing scream.

Ike sprinted down the hallway, crowbar in hand. He heard the screams, and didn't want to lose anyone else. He couldn't stand to hear Jake, Langston, and Paul debate on how they should go check out the noise. Ike got in front of a door, and kicked it open. Nothing but darkness. Ike turned back down the hallway, and ran again. The next door was already wide open, and Ike pulled out a flashlight, looking around the room. He immediately saw all the blood in the room, along with moaning. He looked into one corner of the room, seeing Brandon's dead body lie on the floor, bullet hole in his head.

Ike then turned, still barely able to see anything besides what his flashlight is shining on. He shines it a cell, seeing two arms sticking out of it. Ike walks slowly towards it, and the closer he got, the easier it was to tell it was Vince. Ike looked back, ignoring Vince for now. He shined the flashlight on the back wall, where he got the sight of Nolan feeding off of Drew. Ike looked away in disgust, then back to them. Wanting to get it over with, Ike quickly walked over to Nolan, and raised his crowbar. He swung down, indenting Nolan's head, killing the zombie. He looked at Drew, knowing he was going to turn and raised the crowbar again, swinging again, bashing his brains in too.

Ike just stood over the two corpses, still trying to process what had happened. He wasn't sure what happened, and it was driving him crazy.

"Ike?" he heard the feminine voice ask.

He turned around, seeing Olivia standing there with Jake and Paul.

"Are you okay, Ike?" Olivia asked.

Ike didn't realize, but looking down at the shaky, bloody crowbar made him feel sick. He dropped the crowbar, the loud sound of the metal hitting the floor made him flinch. Olivia hurried inside the room, only looking at the carnage for a moment, before grabbing Ike by the hand.

"Let's get you out of here." she said, to which Ike just nodded.

Ike hesitantly followed Olivia out of the room, leaving Jake and Paul staring at each other, both confused.

"It was so weird." Olivia said the following morning.

The two were going through the drawers in the break room, looking for anything of use.

"You said that he was out of it? Like, he looked emotionless, startled, or-- what?" Kelly asked.

"He looked-- scared, he looked sad." she said, pulling out a pair of scissors from one of the drawers. "I've never seen him like that."

"I have." Kelly said, prompting Olivia look up at her. "I was with him on a supply run-- we went to a pet store, I don't remember why we picked there-- but when we got in, we saw--" she paused, not wanting to think about it, but decided to keep going. "There was this little girl, no older than eight. She had long blonde hair, and she was eating this puppy. It was just a bad situation as a whole-- but the sight of the little girl just haunted Ike. He just shut everyone else out, keeping to himself."

Olivia nodded her head, looking back to the drawer. "Should one of us talk to him?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'll talk to him." Kelly said.

"I might wait though. I saw him this morning-- he looked like a mess."

"Don't we all, though?" she asked, before setting down her stuff and leaving the room.

Paul lied down next to Amanda in the main lobby of the station. Amanda was lying close next to him for warmth, and she liked the company too.

"What happened last night?" she asked, not bothering to look up at him.

Paul sighed, not sure where to start. "Well, I don't know, to be honest. It looked like Drew shot both Nolan and Brandon-- and then Nolan came back and attacked Drew."

"Why would he do that?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not sure, Mandy."

Amanda couldn't help but smile, even in the given situation. "You know I don't like that name..."

Paul let out a faint smile, as Amanda looked up at him. He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, and brought her into a tighter hug.

Ike sat alone in one of the offices, his head rested against the desk in front of him. There was a faint knock on the door, and he lifted his head quickly. Ryker stood in the doorway, holding a small pistol.

"What do you want, kid?" Ike asked.

"I-I was thinking and I haven't killed a single zombie since this thing started, and I'm not gonna last much longer out here if I don't learn how to."

"So what? You want me to train you? Last time I did that I lost my fucking ear!" he said, obviously pissed off.

"Oh," he said, unsure what to say and feeling very uncomfortable by the moment. "Thanks anyways." he said, turning around and quickly leaving, walking past Kelly who walking towards the office Ike was in. She grabbed Ryker by the shoulder, pulling him towards her.

"Go to Trevin, he'll train you." she simply said, to which he nodded and walked off.

Kelly continued walking, quickly entering the office. Ike looked up, hearing her footsteps, and sighed.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Ike," she said, her voice soft and calming. "Do you wanna talk?"

"No."

"Please? Ike, I know how you're feeling-- but please. Talk to me."

"No." he repeated.

"Ike, we've went through this before. You and I. During the farm-- I know how much our talks meant to, not only you, but to me. Please. You can talk to me."

Ike sighed, nodding his head. Kelly walked over to Ike, sitting beside him. "Why do you wanna do this?" he asked. "You're not some therapist."

"No... but I'll listen because I care. Every so often you scream in your sleep, and it kills me to hear, because you're such a good person at heart."

"What about yourself? You seemed to have been doubting yourself too."

Kelly looked down, thinking about it for a moment. She knows she's been nothing but sad, but, she was elected to lead these people, along with Jake and Paul. She has a duty to make sure everyone isn't scared, and everyone is feeling ok. "I'm fine." she said, forcing a smile.

"No you ain't." Ike said. "Kelly, if you want me to open up... I expect you to do the same."

Kelly sighed, looking back up at Ike. "Fine. You first though."

Ike nodded, unsure of where to start. "Well, it's just that I was surrounded by death my entire life. Growing up, I lost my dad, my girlfriend. She was the only person I ever really cared about, and then bam. Gone. I just-- I can't handle anymore death. Seeing Drew, Nolan, and the other guy, all dead just like that... it was tough. I haven't talked to any of them much, or at all for that matter-- and I just wish I did."

Kelly let out a faint smile, dragging Ike into a hug. "Feel better?" she asked.

"Yeah, a little." he said. "Now, your turn."

Kelly nodded her head, releasing the hug from Ike. She immediately slouched down, cupping her face in her hands, a couple of tears coming from her eyes. "Back at the farm, when we decided we needed people to call the shots-- I was chosen, y'know? The people wanted me to protect them... and I couldn't do it. They died, and it was my fault. They trusted me... and I failed them."

"Stop." Ike said, bending down so he was eye-level with her. "There was nothing you could've done, and you know that."

Kelly just nodded, wiping a couple of tears from her cheek. "I just can't stop thinking about everyone who died. I just wish it was me, not them."

Ike pulled her head into his chest, as she started to cry. "It's ok, Kel." he said, trying to reassure her.

Trevin and Ryker stood outside the police station, watching as the infected roamed the streets. Trevin had a metal pole in his hands, and Ryker had a large kitchen knife.

"Don't try to bring too much attention to us. Got it?" Trevin asked Ryker.

"Got it."

"Got your inhaler?"

"I do."

"Then go get them. I'll make sure you don't get too overwhelmed."

"Alright, got it." Ryker said, looking back out onto the street. Ryker looked across the street at the store which held the survivors the group saw the previous night. "Should we be worrying about them?"

"No, we're good. Trust me." Trevin said. Trevin looked at the street, and saw a zombie who had it's head towards the two. "Alright, give it a go."

Ryker nodded and walked forward, the zombie walking towards him, raising it's arm forward to try and grab him. As the nerves flooded Ryker and the sight of blood dripping from the zombie's mouth, he felt as if he was about to vomit. He looked away from the sight of the zombie, but quickly looked back, realizing that was a mistake. He lifted the kitchen knife, and lunged forward, stabbing the zombie in the head, practically tackling the zombie. Ryker got back up, blood all over his light blue shirt, and he backed away. Trevin walked forward, patting him on his back.

"One down, kid." he said.

Ryker took a deep breath. He didn't like the way it felt-- killing something, even if it was a zombie. He looked at the blood-red knife, and looked up at Trevin, who knew something was clearly wrong.

"You gotta keep going, kid. If you wanna survive, you gotta learn to kill." he said.

Ryker just nodded, wiping the knife with his shirt, getting most of the blood off of it. "I'm ready." he said, to which Trevin nodded his head.

Ella sat on a desk, fiddling around with a pen. She wanted to go out on a supply run with Trent, Langston, Manning, Jake, and Julia, but she knows she's not of any use. Oscar and Sam sat on the floor next to her, talking about God knows what. Olivia walked into the room, holding a first aid-kit.

"How's the arm?" Olivia asked, walking towards her.

Ella looked down at her arm, which was still wrapped in bandages. "It still hurts." she admitted.

"Let me take a look." she said, taking Ella's arm, starting to unwrap the bandage. When the bandage came off, it revealed a bright yellow puss. "It's looking infected."

"Is that bad?" she asked, her voice clearly worried.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm not a doctor. Let's just get some alcohol on it, and I'll re-wrap it."

Ella nodded her head, looking down at the kids. "Did Manning and the rest get back yet?"

"Not yet." Olivia said, getting out the rubbing alcohol.

Trevin and a blood-covered Ryker made their way back into the main lobby, Ryker taking deep breaths as he entered. They were quickly met by Paul and Amanda, who quickly looked at Ryker, worried.

"What happened to him?" Amanda asked, as Ryker continued to take deep breaths.

"I took him out killing." Trevin said, smiling.

"Meaning?"

"He wanted me to train him, so I took him out to kill some zombies."

"You could've brought us along." Paul said. "Just the two of you? That's not very safe.'

"We made it back just fine. Don't worry about it." Trevin said, still smiling.

"Alright, Trevin. But next time, I wanna know about it." Paul said.

There was suddenly a loud knocking on the door of the main lobby. The four turned toward the door, startled and confused. Paul quickly walked to the window, looking through the curtain, seeing a pair of survivors, both heavily armed with assault rifles, standing at their door. Paul looked back at the three who were waiting got him to say something.

"Amanda? Go take Ryker and find Kelly." he said, and instantly both Amanda and Trevin left.

"Two survivors, both armed." Paul said, looking at Trevin. Paul ran behind the counter, and pulled out two guns, passing one to Trevin. Trevin aimed his rifle at the door, as Paul walked towards the door. Paul put his hand on the doorknob, and looked back at Trevin, who nodded his head. Paul took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Amanda Dixon
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Trevin
 * Nolan Fitzgerald
 * Oscar Manning
 * Sam
 * Drew Radke
 * Vince Dallas
 * Ella
 * Brandon

Deaths

 * Vince Dallas (Zombified)
 * Nolan Fitzgerald
 * Brandon
 * Drew Radke