Surviving, Not Living/Issue 17

This is issue 17 of Surviving, Not Living, entitled Kiss.

Issue 17:
Vicky watched as Charlotte hugged Ava goodbye and ran off with Bobby. Then, she turned around and started to walk back to the tent where she and Anthony slept.

“Hey, Anthony!” She called. “Where’s my other pair of trousers? I might go for a run.”

There was no reply. Vicky unzipped the tent door and pulled it back, peering inside. A small diary laid on one of the two blow-up beds and two blue blankets rested on top of the beds. She noticed wet boot prints on the inside of the tent where Anthony’s shoes used to be but currently were not.

“Anthony...” Vicky half-sighed, half-groaned as she got up from her kneeling position and back to the main house. She hopped up the two white steps and knocked on the door before walking inside.

In the first room, Jack sat on a stool beside Danny. Vicky watched for a second, unsure if she should interrupt.

“Yes?” Jack spoke, saving her from initiating a conversation.

“I was just looking for Anthony. You haven’t seen him by any chance, have you?” She asked.

“I think I saw him down by the river.” He told her. “Darn boy better not be peeing in the river again, we drink from that!”

“Oh, well, thank you!” Vicky sent him a light smile and walked back outside. As soon as she turned the corner, she noticed Anthony and laughed at herself for not seeing him earlier.

Vicky opened her mouth and went to call his name but stopped when she spotted some unusually behaviour. He was leaning over forwards and pouring something into the small stream.

She shook her head and called his name, “Anthony!”

As she slowly jogged over, she saw him turn around and a small glass tube falling out of his hand and shattering on the floor. A thick, liquid-like substance dribbled from the mess.

Going past Anthony, she bent over and touched the substance with the end of her index finger. Vicky quickly pulled it away as she felt a burning sensation. She stood upright and turned her head to Anythony.

Everything after that happened so quickly for her. She felt a pair of hands grabbing onto her kneck and her head throbbing as Anthony smashed it into a tree.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing down here?” He said, spitting in her face. Vicky let out a quiet whimper.

“Pathetic.” Anthony snapped, tightening his grip on her kneck. The air began to be sucked from her lungs and Vicky felt dizzy. Her vision blurred but Anthony’s wicked grin could be seen clearly.

Luckily, Anthony’s grip loosened on her kneck and she fell to the floor, coughing and splattering. The burning sensation met her hand again and she moved across, rolling onto her back.

“Don’t tell anyone about this.” Anthony said as he raised a hand and slapped one of Vicky’s butt cheeks. “Or else.”

She raised a hand to the back of her head and then looked at it, hauntingly red blood covered most of it. Vicky continued to be dizzy until her head finally gave up and she passed out on the floor.

___________________________________________________________________________

Bobby dropped the empty bullet case on the floor and quickly shoved another round into the bottom of his gun. Charlotte piveted and took down three infected with three clicks of the trigger.

“Look!” Sarah called from the rooftop. Jackie raised her head from Doug’s lap and looked across the roof and down onto the car park below, seeing their two rescuers.

“You’re going to...” Charlotte cut herself off as an infected became too close for comfort. Once she had quickly dealt with it by putting a bullet through it’s brain, she continued, “...to have to jump!”

“What?!” Doug called, almost laughing at the idea.

“It’s your best shot we’ve done our best to...” BLAAM, a walker had been taken down while Bobby spoke, “...clear this area!”

Amelia stood up and jogged to the other side of the roof. She looked back to Bobby and, sprinting as fast as she could, jumped off the end, safetly landing in Bobby’s arms.

“Nice to see you, sis.” Bobby quickly hugged her before catching Sarah easily.

“We don’t have time for this!” Charlotte impatiently tapped her foot as she tried her best to take down the four infected approaching. Amelia and Sarah took their pistols from their belts and began to take down the infected.

Doug looked at Jackie and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.” He comfortingly nodded. The pair stood up and jumped off the building together, not letting go of each other until they had landed safetly on the ground, but not before a hug.

___________________________________________________________________________

It was already night when Vicky awoke from her position face-down in the grass and Bobby and Charlotte had already returned with the others. She looked around, it seemed like someone had moved her when she was unconscious.

Vicky stood up and brushed the mud off her clothes. Luckily, they weren’t too dirty - she hate washing clothes. Then, she walked back to the group, who were enjoying a meal around a campfire.

“Jackie!” Anthony stood up and smiled. “Thank god you’re safe! I went to get the others when I saw you get attacked by infected. But, when we got to the stream, you were gone. I wouldn’t know what I’d do if you would have died.”

Vicky resisted the urge to turn her nose up, “Don’t worry, it was nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“There’s some rabbit in that tin over there.” Sarah pointed with her fork. “It just needs to be cooked for a few minutes over the fire.”

___________________________________________________________________________

Later that night, Vicky and Bobby and the last ones awake. They sat on opposite sides of the fire. Vicky sat, leaning forwards on an old, log bech and Bobby sat, lounging in a camping chair. As soon as the pair’s eyes met, Vicky burst out crying. Bobby’s eyes grew wide, not sure of what to do.

Deciding what he should do quickly, Bobby went over and and took Vicky in his arms.

“What’s up?” he asked, rubbing her back.

“It’s An-Anthony, he tried to p-poison the w-w-water but I caught him and st-stopped him. He said he’d-d kill me if I told anyone...” Vicky admitted.

“That’s what Danny must’ve meant when he said ‘poison!’” Bobby realised. But, he quickly went back to Vicky. “It’s okay... I’ll protect you.”

Vicky looked up at him, “Really?”

He took one look into her eyes and moved his head down to meet with hers. Unsurprisingly, their lips connected and a passionate kiss formed.