Low on Time/Issue 15

This is issue fifteen of Low on Time, entitled: Protect You.

Issue 15; Protect You
Jake was walking down the cold street, by himself. He was wearing a black sweatshirt, and a black beanie. The streets were empty, with a couple of people here and there. He checked his watch, seeing it was 3:00 AM. He walked into a local bar, where there weren't many people there. He sat down on one of the stools, and the bartender walked over to him.

"How are you doing today, Mr. Munoz?" asked the bartender.

"Fine, Ollie; can I just have something strong?" he asked.

"What's wrong? You can tell Uncle Ollie."

"I-- I lost Jackie earlier today. I've been at the hospital all night, but her parents came and kicked me out." Jake said.

Ollie looked surprised at first, but quickly got over the shock. "Jake, I'm so sorry." he said, sympathy in his voice.

Jake looked down, obviously not wanting to talk about it. Ollie understood, and got out a shot class, and prepared a drink. Jake looked over at some of the other patrons, noting them eyeing him. He looked back at the drink Ollie prepared him, and he took the shot.

"Kid, you're going to get yourself killed like that." one of the patrons, a white guy in his 40's, said.

Jake looked over at him, and looked to the bar counter. "Maybe so, but I don't care at this point." Jake said.

"Kid, there are better ways to deal with stress then drinking."

"Shut it, old man." Jake said, anger in his voice. "I just lost my fucking girlfriend; she was my only family I had left. I don't need your fucking lecture."

The man nodded, and went back to his talk with his buddy. Ollie prepared Jake another drink; as Jake rushed his fingers through his hair.

Jake sat on the couch, hugging a crying Kelly. Olivia wept in her room, not wanting to be around anyone. Jake held Kelly close to him, as he did his best to calm her down. Kelly slowly pulled away from Jake, and he wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Why did this have to happen?" she cried, looking into Jake's eyes.

"Kelly, everything happens for a reason." Jake said, trying to comfort her. "It's meant to happen like this."

"What's supposed to happen like this?"

"Just, listen to me, Kelly." Jake said, grabbing her hand, as she used her other hand to wipe tears away from her eyes. "You know Dylan. He wouldn't want us to mourn like this. He'd want us to carry on."

"It's not that easy." Kelly said, her voice shaky.

"I know it's not. But in time, you'll see that everything will be alright." Jake said.

"We don't know that. Four of our guys are missing; we don't know if we'll see them again." she said, before Jake pulled her in for another comforting hug.

"We'll see them again." he said, stroking her hair. "I can promise that."

The two suddenly hear a bunch of loud, popping noises; and Jake immediately pulled Kelly to the ground, thinking they were being shot at. Olivia walked out of her room, quickly, and immediately dropped to the floor, and crawled over to them.

"What's going on?" asked Olivia.

"I don't know." Jake replied, Kelly still holding onto him. Jake crawled over to the window. quickly and slowly looked out the window. On the streets, he saw a bunch of people being surrounded by zombies. There were police cars scattered around; and Jake saw the closest one had on a bullet-proof vest.

The door opened, and Owen ran in with Isiss, Violet, and Amanda. "What the hell is going on out there?" asked Violet.

"It looks like there are-- cops here." Jake said.

"Really? Why the hell are they here and not in town?" asked Isiss.

"I don't fucking know. I'll be sure to ask them after they killed all those fuckers down."

"Well, is everyone alright?" asked Owen.

"Yeah, everyone here is good. Go check on the others." Jake said, as Owen left.

Jake walked down the road, tripping over himself as he went along. He got to his house, and fumbled with his keys before everything suddenly went dark.

Jake awoke in a hospital bed, attached to all these wires. He looked up, seeing a couple of nurses standing over him.

"He's waking." one of the nurses said.

What-- where am I?" Jake asked, barely audible.

"You were out for a few days, Jayme." the nurse said.

"Why am I here?" he asked, blinking frantically.

"You were brought in by your neighbor, Mr. Johnson. He saw you passed out on your lawn-- kid, you almost died of alcohol poisoning."

Jake looked up at the light, and didn't know what to say. One of the nurses left, and the other one went over something on her clipboard.

"When can I go?" Jake asked, looking at her.

"Jayme--"

"Call me Jake, please. I never liked that name." Jake said, interrupting her.

"Okay, Jake. You won't be able to go for a couple of days-- just to make sure that everything is good." the nurse said. "Kid, I would suggest you stop drinking, too. You obviously can't handle your alcohol."

"No-- I can't handle another goddamn lecture." Jake said.

"Well, Jake. You're going to probably receive one from your mother when she gets down here from Arizona in a couple of days." the nurse said.

"Fuck..." Jake silently muttered to himself.

"Get some rest. I have been notified what recently happened to you; and I'm sorry. Just take some time to calm yourself." the nurse said, leaving.

"He's waking." Allen said, looking over Trent. Valerie stood with him, as Langston was outside keeping watch. Trent opened his eyes, slowly, seeing the two strangers looking over him. He immediately tried to stand, but Allen put his hand on Trent's chest, keeping him down.

"Where's-- Jeremy..." Trent muttered.

"We should've done this sooner." Allen said, looking at Valerie. "Make sure he doesn't move."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Valerie, putting down her shotgun, and pushing down on Trent's shoulders, who frantically looked at her.

"What I need to do. Just make sure he doesn't move. I gotta re-brake his leg; make sure it's at least bent the right way. After that we can worry about the casting." Allen said, grabbing hold of his leg. "1... 2... 3..." Allen said, as he snapped Trent's leg back into position. There was a loud cry of pain from Trent, but Valerie held him down from moving. Allen let go of his leg, and took a step back, wiping some of the blood from Trent's leg on his shirt.

Langston ran into the room, holding his shotgun. "Is everything okay? he asked, nervously. "I heard a scream."

"We're fine, Langston. Just-- keep watch." Valerie said.

"Yeah, sure." he said, leaving.

Valerie looked over Trent, her hands still on his shoulders. His mouth was open, like he was trying to talk, but no words were coming out. His eyes were squeezed shut, and Valerie felt a lot of sympathy for him.

"What's your name?" she asked him, trying to get him to talk.

"T-Trent." he said, barely audible.

"Valerie, this isn't the time for 20 Questions." Allen said, looking at her. "He can barely talk, just let him rest for now."

Valerie nodded, and picked her shotgun back up. Valerie walked outside where Langston was guarding.

"You still have that walkie?" asked Valerie.

"Yeah, why?" asked Langston.

"Those people asked for a Trent. That guy just said his name was Trent. Try and raise them, and ask for a Jeremy. He kept muttering that name when he woke up."

Langston nodded, and pulled out the walkie.

Kira, Jeremy, Sean, and Owen were watching the cops take on the zombies. And by the looks of it, they were kicking some ass. Most of the zombies in the area were killed, and the cops only lost one guy; who got a little too far away from the group. Kira heard static coming from the walkie, which was on the desk behind her. She looked at Jeremy, who saw it too.

"Go take it." Kira said.

Jeremy nodded and walked over to the walkie, picking it up.

"Hey, anyone there?" a female voice asked.

"Yeah-- yeah, I'm here." Jeremy said.

"Ok, good. Now, your friend, Trent, woke up. Just wanted to tell y'all that he's doing fine."

"Oh my God... thank you. I have been worried sick." Jeremy said, happiness in his voice.

"Is this by any chance, Jeremy?" asked the voice.

"Yeah, this is Jeremy." he said, smiling.

"He kept mentioning your name. I assume you're close."

Tears of joy started to rush down Jeremy's face. "Yeah, we're very close. I just-- I can't wait to see him again."

"Of course. We'll keep you posted." the voice said, with a higher tone in her voice than before.

Jeremy set down the walkie, and sat down on the couch, as happy as could be. He breather a large sigh of relief, and watched the other three watch the cops taking on the zombies on the street.

Paul, Ike, and Tyler ran towards the gunshots as quickly as they could. They set down the supplies by the library on campus, and they were running as fast as they could. The first thing they saw was a cop taking down a couple of the infected. She wasn't facing them, and had no idea they were there. A zombie came from behind her, and slowly walked towards her. A bullet flew through it's head, and it fell on top of the cop, who pushed it off, quickly. She looked up, seeing the three looking at her, Ike's gun aimed towards her. The three could easily tell the people were all police officers. They all had on the proper attire, and the trademark pistols the local cops used.

"We've got more on my side." a man yelled, and she looked over to them, seeing around four other officers go towards him.

"Help clear these fuckers out. We'll explain why we're here later." the cop said, as more zombies approached on their side.

"Fair enough." Paul said, pulling his gun out.

"Okay, Paul. Let's go far the ones farthest away; Tyler if any get too close, take them out." Ike said.

"Sure thing." Paul said.

"I don't know who the fuck put you in charge." Tyler said.

"Just fucking do it." Ike said, and Tyler complied.

Ike and Paul shot at the zombies, who were in the middle of the pack, and left Tyler to take on the closest ones. Tyler swung his wrench, hitting a zombie in the head, and pulling the wrench back, almost hitting Ike in the face. Ike backed up, and looked at Tyler, angry he almost hit him. Tyler just shrugged it off, and kept attacking. A zombie got too close for Paul's comfort, as he hit it in the side of the head with the gun. Paul quickly pulled the gun on it, shooting it in the head. The female cop covered their weak side.

"Is that fucking Paul?" Jake asked, looking out the window.

"I think it is!" Isiss said, happily.

"Let's get out there, and kick some ass." Violet said.

Jake looked over at Kelly who was sitting next to Olivia, in the fetal position, still shaking.

"You guys go ahead. I'll stay here." Jake said.

Violet and Isiss both ran out of the room, and Amanda continued to look out of the window, keeping her eye on Paul. Jake went back over to Kelly and Olivia.

"Why don't you just go with them?" Kelly asked, her voice still shaky.

"Because, there's no place for me out there. I'm staying in here, to protect you." Jake said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Kira Fulton
 * Sean Solo
 * Tyler Blake
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Jeremy Flynn
 * Trent Jones
 * Isiss Rivera
 * Violet Middleton
 * Owen Horne
 * Amanda Dixon
 * Langston Otto
 * Allen
 * Valerie Wilson

Deaths

 * None