Low on Time/Issue 33

This is issue thirty-three of Low on Time, entitled: Stay With Me.

Issue 33; Stay With Me
As Jamie's lifeless body collapses. the group doesn't have time to see what's going on as more bullets came flying through the house. Manning, watching as his mom falls to the ground, drops the bowl onto the ground, and collapses. Ella and Julia get down next to him as more bodies fall to the ground. Manning, barely being able to see his mom's lifeless corpse, crawls over to her body, tears flying down his face. As he gets to her body, he just leans over her face, and helplessly tries to get her up. He looks as if he was trying to get his dead mom to get up; as if she wasn't actually dead.

"Mom?" his quivering voice asked, tears still flooding down his face. "Mom? Wake up, mom."

In the background, the screams of more survivors are heard; but Manning can't hear them. He just looks down on his dead mom, crying, as a bullet whizzes pass his ear. He is suddenly pulled to the ground by Grace, who's hiding behind the counter with another survivor. Manning tries to push away from her, and to crawl back to his mom, but Grace holds onto the young man. Unable to anything, Manning just watches his mom's body and screams.

Ella and Julia, hiding behind the plain wall, is under constant fire, as bullets fly past them. The two girls hold onto each other, as Ike runs into the room, holding a pistol.

"Get the fuck up!" he yelled, firing through one of the windows.

The scared girls reluctantly hop up, and run behind the counter where Manning and Grace are. Ike hops over the counter, where the six survivors were hiding, Manning still screaming at the sight of his mom.

''Jamie, Manning, and Oscar sat in an old abandoned house, dust all over the walls. Oscar hid under the blanket, as Manning watched from the window as zombies flooded the streets. And Jamie, was playing a dusty piano, trying to ease the tensions between the family.''

''"Where's dad?" Manning asked.''

''"He'll be back." Jamie said, not breaking her glance from the piano.''

"But-- he left yesterday. What if he won't?"

''Jamie shot up, walking over to Manning. "Don't you ever say that." she said, in a dark and serious tone. "Your father will be back. Just give him some time."''

''Manning sighed, walking away from the window. Jamie pat him on the back of the head, and kissed him on the forehead. "You have nothing to worry about." she said.''

''"How come dad killed those guys?" Oscar asked, from underneath he blanket.''

''Jamie sighed, and looked to the ground. "They were bad people." she said.''

"But-- they just came to ask for help."

''"I know. But they turned out to be bad." she said, sitting next to him.''

"But, why'd he kill them?"

''"Oscar, it's getting late. Go to bed, honey." she said, kissing his forehead.''

''Oscar reluctantly turned over on his side, and Manning just watched as his stressed mother left the room. Manning quickly followed her, leaving the room as well.''

''"What was that?" he asked, but she just kept on walking. "Mom." he said, and she spun around. "What really happened to dad?"''

''"He's gone." she plainly said.''

"What do you mean 'gone'?"

"I had to make him leave. He killed two innocent survivors who came to us for help. Killed them in cold blood and took their stuff. He's not a safe person to be around."

''Manning put his hands over his head, and appeared visibly stressed. "He could've protected us!" he practically shouted.''

"No, he would've turned you into something horrible."

''Manning turned around, and in anger, punched the wall as hard as he could. Jamie just watched silently, as Manning paced back and forth.''

''"When were you gonna tell us? Huh?" he asked, his face turning red.''

"When you were ready."

"Like we were ever gonna be ready?"

''"I don't know!" she said, starting to cry. "I just wanted to protect you."''

''"Yeah, of course you did." he said, in disgust walking away. "I'll protect Oscar. You, don't worry about it."''

Jamie just stood in the hallway, sobbing softly, before sitting back against the wall, when the sound of gunshots rang through the streets.

Kelly and Langston, still in the cellar stood silently, listening to the gunshots from outside. Kelly was on the verge of crying, as Langston just listened in shock.

"We gotta get to them." Kelly said, running to one of the tables, and picking up a shotgun.

"No." Langston said. "It's safe down here, we gotta stay."

"Our people are there!"

"So, you wanna run out in the snow, to get to the house, with bullets flying at you?" Langston asked, almost in disbelief. "Nuh-uh, we stay here."

"What is wrong with you, Langston?" she asked, walking slowly towards him.

"We won't make it to them. Trust me, the bandits will go home eventually, they ain't gonna charge us in the snow."

"But it doesn't hurt to speed up the process." Kelly said, walking to one of the windows. She aimed her gun out of one of the windows, and looked for the closest bandit; although it was near impossible to see. Langston just watched Kelly, as she finds one of the bandits firing on the house. She takes a deep breath, and fires a shot off. She can't help but smile as the bandit fell to the ground.

Paul, Amanda, Ryker, and two other survivors were in Amanda's room, shooting down at the bandits from the windows in the room. Ryker, dropped back to let the four others do the work, as he fell on the bed. Paul looked back at him.

"You fucking lazy-ass kid. C'mon!" he said, looking back at the bandits, who were still focusing on the lower levels of the house.

"Paul." Amanda said, quietly. "He isn't a good shot anyways. He'll just take up room."

Paul sighed, and took another shot, hitting a bandit square in the chest.

Trent and Kira, rushed inside the house, getting shot at by the bandits. As they got into the house, they immediately dropped to the floor, as they saw the carnage around them. Many of the survivors were still alive, but there was a lot of blood from the dead and the wounded. They watched as Drew, Patricia, and Trevin all lied on the ground, Patricia putting pressure on a survivor's bleeding stomach. Trevin saw them lying there, and started crawling towards them, army-crawl style.

"Where's everyone else?" Kira shouted.

"I-I don't know. They don't give us an inch of fucking room to move!" he said back.

"Fuck, man." Trent muttered.

"We gotta get to the weapons cache in the cellar." Trevin said.

"But-- we gotta go fucking outside to get there!" Kira said.

"I know, but unless they give up soon. I don't see a choice!"

Kira and Trent both looked at each other, and before they could talk to each other, another bullet flies into the room, just missing Trent's head.

Olivia and Jake stare blankly as the kids they were watching screamed and cried. One of them were dead, but the two just remained in extreme shock. As Olivia just looked around the room, not sure what to do, Jake snapped out of his thoughts. He pushed Olivia onto the ground, and jumped down too, as bullets flew into the room. Oscar and Sam lied under the bed, both not looking at the rest of the room. Olivia looked at the dead kid's body, no older then eight years old. Jake looked back at the windows, with now shattered glass.

Kelly, and now Langston, stood at the windows, firing at the bandits. The cellar door suddenly flew open, and the two quickly drew their guns. Trent runs in, tears in his eyes as he falls to the ground.

"Oh my God, Trent?" Kelly asked, running up to him.

"What's wrong, man?" Langston asked.

Trent turned his head towards the cellar door, and soon enough, Trevin runs in, a bloody Kira in his arms. Kelly and Langston both stood in shock, as Trevin put Kira gently on the floor, a bullet hole in her stomach.

Kira watched, her vision blurry, as Kelly, Langston, Trevin, and a crying Trent stood over her. She was cold, couldn't feel anything, just the cold breeze from the open door, which was quickly closed by Langston. Kira slowly felt the life fading away, and she tried saying something to them, which just came out inaudible. She felt an enormous amount of pressure on her stomach, and saw the blurry face of Trevin trying his best to help her.

"Don't close your eyes, Kira." Trevin said, just loud enough for Kira to make it out. "C'mon, just hang in there..."

After the shooting had stopped, Ike got up from the floor, slowly, just peeking his head out. He slowly walked up to the window, pulling the curtains out of the way. He looked around, but there were no sight of bandits anywhere.

"They're gone." Ike said, sighing as he did so.

Grace, who was holding onto the crying Manning, let go; and he practically flew to his mother's body. He lied down next to her body, holding onto it tightly. Julia, Ella, and the other survivor stood up, and examined the room. Three bead bodies lied there, Jamie's included. Ella started to cry, as the other survivor tried to comfort her. Julia quickly left the room, and ran as fast as she could up the stairs. She immediately sees Paul, wiping blood off his hands with a towel.

"Have you seen Ryker?" she asked, in a crazed panic.

Paul doesn't say anything, but he points to the room he was in previously. Julia runs past Paul, into the room, seeing Ryker sitting on the bed, next to Amanda, his inhaler in his mouth. Julia ignores the two dead bodies, and runs to him, hugging him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're ok." she said, not releasing her grip. Ryker just smiled, putting his arm around her. "Not really." he said, looking at the body one of his fallen survivors; feeling great remorse. Julia just looked back at the body, and sighed.

"It wasn't your fault." Amanda said.

"Yes it was!" Ryker spat, standing up, breaking away from Julia. "I had to take a fucking break so I could breathe, and they both die!"

"No, it wasn't." Amanda repeated. "If you were there, you would've just been another casualty. There was nothing you could possibly have done."

"That's bullshit, and you know it!" Ryker cried, storming out of the room; Julia close behind him.

Olivia sat on one of the beds, hugging a crying Sam, and a surprisingly calm Oscar. Jake watched from the doorway, and couldn't help but just feel bad. The kids didn't deserve any of this.

"Jake..." Ike said, walking towards him.

"What?" he asked.

"As far as we can tell, we lost five, maybe more. Not everyone is accounted for, and there are a lot wounded."

"Add three more to that list." he says in anger, looking at the dead kid, and the two survivors who were trying to help push them back, before kicking the wall.

"Yo," he said, looking at Oscar. "Is that the Manning kid?"

"Yeah, why?"

Ike looked to Jake, and sighed. "His mother was killed, man."

The two both looked at Oscar, and then looked down to the ground as soon as Oscar made eye-contact with them.

"Who's gonna tell him?" Ike asked.

"I guess we'd have to ask Manning."

Manning remained weeping over the dead body of Jamie, as Ella and Nolan watched on. Ella, looking from Nolan to Manning, started to slowly walk towards Manning. She got on her knees behind him, and tugged on his arm.

"What?" he asked, angrily.

"I'm so sorry," she began, "but, she's going to come back soon. We gotta let someone put her down."

"No... she'll be fine." Manning said, not taking his eyes off of his mother.

"Manning, c'mon. Let Nolan put her down."

"But-- she's not dead!"

"Yes she is." Ella said, firmly. "Please, would you rather remember your mom like this, or as one of those... freaks?"

Manning looked back at her, tears in his eyes. "But--"

"Kid," Nolan started, walking towards the pair. "I'm sorry, but it has to be done."

Manning painfully nodded, and stood up, not taking his eyes off of his mom. Ella brings him over to the back of the kitchen, and hugs him as he watches Nolan put his crossbow to the forehead of Jamie, and shoot the arrow.

Grace has her arms full as all of the wounded survivors are rushing to her for help. With no one else, besides Kira, having any medical experience, she is alone in trying to save too many people. Right now, she's trying to save a young blonde girl, a gunshot wound in her shoulder, and one in her chest. Vince and Patricia, acting as helpers, passed her any medical supplies when needed, and Vince was applying pressure to the chest wound.

"We need anesthetics!" Patricia called.

"No, we can't do this." Grace said, setting her tools down.

"Why not?" asked Vince.

"To even do this we'd need to know her blood type, and then someone else would need to have the same blood type."

"So, what do we do?"

"Get me the next one. Maybe I'll be able to do something to help them."

Kelly, Trevin, Langston, and Trent with the little medical experience they had, were trying their hardest to bring back the dying Kira. As Trent held his shirt to try and stop the bleeding, the rest quickly left to find Grace. He looked over her, as her eyes slowly opened, her hazel eyes and dilated pupils still intact.

"T-Trent?" she asked, almost inaudible.

Trent looked at her and forced a smile, but the tears were still in his eyes. "Kira... just hang on in there, you're going to be just fine."

"Am I-- am I gonna die?"

"No, no, no, of course not, sweety." he said, using his free hand to brush through her hair.

"Can you-- can you stay with me?" she asked, squeezing her eyes close.

"Of course, just hang on in there." he said, as now his voice started to quiver, with tears going down his face.

"Thank you."

Oscar sat on the bed, Sam next to him; the two kids holding each other tightly. Manning, covered in blood, entered the room, Ella and Jake close behind him, but stopping at the doorway.

"Sam, can you come here?" Jake asked.

The little girl released her grip on Oscar, and walked towards Jake and Ella. From the doorway, the three watched as Manning and Oscar hugged, before Manning, who still looked like a complete wreck, got down on his knees, looking up at Oscar. They watched as Manning told Oscar about Jamie, and as the young boy broke into tears, embracing his brother, both Jake and Ella looked down, saddened.

Kelly, Langston, and now with Grace and Patricia ran through the snow, to the cellar. Kelly quickly opened the door, leading them inside, to see Trent still with Kira, silently weeping to himself. Grace, gear in hand, quickly ran towards them. She gets on her knees, to get started, but the distraught Trent still stares at Kira's motionless face.

"Trent!" she said, trying to grasp his attention, but to no avail. "Trent!" she repeated, this time getting it.

"Give us some room, honey." Patricia said.

Trent reluctantly nods his head, and backs away. He silently watches as, the two try to save Kira.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Kira Fulton
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Amanda Dixon
 * Langston Otto
 * Julia Riley
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Trevin
 * Grace Rutherford
 * Nolan Fitzgerald
 * Manning
 * Oscar Manning
 * Sam
 * Drew Radke
 * Patricia Amador
 * Vince Dallas
 * Ella

Deaths

 * Unnamed Survivors
 * Unnamed Bandits