Dead In The Street/Chapter 4

This is Chapter 4 of Dead In The Street

Crazy On The Road
Jerome I can’t believe I didn’t foresee this, Jerome thought to himself. I should have known there would be someone else on campus. The news van being chased by infected had attracted the Gamma Betas. Seeing infected being picked off by high powered weapons was even more intriguing. When the men thought they could relax, they were jumped from behind like cowards. They were able to take out two before being tackled down. The betas were; however, dumb enough to leave all the weapons in the van. Jerome and Jonas were on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs, kneeling in front of the Alpha Dog, leader of the Gamma Betas. Probably the last people left on campus. The plan he had come up with was simple enough. Use the infected poor eyesight against them, having them crash against the campus’ natural terrain, then him and Jonas would pick the rest off. Jonas was a way better shot then he was and he felt he could use the practice. They would have been in and out in about 20 minutes. And we would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for these meddling frat boys, he thought. Jerome searched frantically around the frat house for someway out. Using his analyzing prowess, he gathered info from the moment he and Jonas were dragged in.

He noticed that all the windows were boarded up and doors bolt locked. The sorority girls they kept there were just as conniving as the guys, so they would be no help in trying to escape. He also noticed that there were at least twenty-five people in the house. Fifteen frat boys and ten sorority girls. Nine sororities were downstairs. Looked like four in the kitchen and the other five scattered around doing menial labor. Four frats were on the porch, two were in the living room, seven were lined up the stairs all the way up to the master bedroom, one guarded the door and the last stood in front of them; the Alpha. Next to him was the last sorority girl, she sat beside him like they were king and queen. She must be his favorite for her to have such high position. This is bad, he thought. I have no idea how we’re going to get out of this. Shit, my so called brilliant idea might now get us killed. Jerome knew they were in a perilous situation and knew that Jonas knew it as well. Things were looking grim and there was only one hope he could count on. Jerome had left drag marks from the mud on the courtyard leading up to as close to the frat house as possible. They betas were also dumb enough to keep their feet loose. He was betting on Wilson to notice them. Will seemed a little more attentive than Daniel and Natalia so it was his best gamble at this point. He was playing Hansel and Gretal with their lives, but it was his only option in the heat of the moment. Alpha Dog got up from his makeshift throne and interrogated them once again. “I’m gonna ask y’all one more time. Where…the fuck…is the rest…of your crew?” “Now was the cursing necessary, sir?” Jerome responded sarcastically. “You didn’t even ask us nicely.” Jonas snickered beside him. “Yeah man, I know your parents raised you better than that.” Jonas joined in. “Now go wash your mouth with soap.” “Bruh, you didn’t even offer us a drink. Ain’t that fucked up Jay? We sittin here parched, and can’t even get a Kook-Aid? You’re a bad host, my brother.” “Yo can we at least get a step show??” “As long as y’all don’t do any of that grinding mess. Wait until the females get here, then you could hump the couches all you want.” The two men laughed at their mocking of the Alpha, but he was anything but amused. He had grown tired of their sarcasm and insolence. They were making a fool out of him in front of his queen and he wasn’t going get disrespected like that. He looked to his left and picked up a majorette baton. I guess he’s going to try to beat the information out of us, Jerome thought to himself. He’s wasting his time though. Even I don’t know where they are. The alpha stood tall in front of Jerome with his baton ready. An imposing figure, but he wasn’t afraid. With one swift swing, he hit his midsection with a force that caused him to bow over in pain. The alpha then swung down on his back, knocking Jerome down to the floor. He moved over to Jonas and struck him across the face then his side knocking him down as well. He swung down on them repeatedly while his queen bee cackled away at their pain. THWAK! "Where?!" THWACK! "Is?!" THWACK! "Your?!" THWACK! Group?! THWACK! "Where!?"

THWACK!! THWACK!! "Where?!" THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! “That’s the best you got, you ol’ bitch ass nigga?” Jerome responded to him in obvious pain. “I’ve been hit with grapes that hurt more!” “Haha, grapes?” Jonas spit out some blood. “Drinking cough medicine is more torture.” His blood boiled over. The alpha went for another swing but Jerome rolled out of the way, causing the baton to strike the hardwood floor instead. Seeing him off balance, he kicked the alphas shins bringing him down to his knees. At that point Jonas took the opportunity to kick him in his face, which knocked him senseless for a while. The queen bee decided to get involved and rushed towards the two, but not missing a beat Jonas was able to trip her and Jerome making it to his feet shoulder dropped, effectively incapacitating her. “Well. What do we do now Mr. Genius?” Jonas asked. “Still working on it.”

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Natalia Natalia was still in shock over what had just happened. I can’t believe he just raised his gun at the professor. He must really be protective, she thought to herself. Wilson and Daniel were talking and searching the surrounding area to see if they can any sign of the two. It looked futile. The situation was becoming more and more worrisome and she found herself concerned over Jonas, wondering if he was okay and if he would even be able to survive any dangerous ordeal without any guns. She mentally kicked herself for being worried over him. Sure he became all nice when she decided to ride with them, but he was probably just wanted a piece of ass. Besides, he was with the smart one, Jerome. She was confident he would figure a way out of any dangerous situation they were in. “Talia? Hello??” Stacy interrupted her thoughts. “Huh? What happen?” she responded confused for a second. “I said how did you meet up with these dudes? Are they safe, because the one in the paramedic uniform looked like he was about to blast the professor in the face!” “He’s just really paranoid I guess. He must have gotten close with those other two that went missing.” “Still, putting his gun to her face?” “Hey I think we found something!” Wilson yelled out. The group walked over to see what he had found. Natalia braced herself for the worse news. It’s only to be expected in a world like this. They walked around the corner and found two dead bodies. They were wearing lettermen jackets with fraternity insignia. “Oh my goodness!” Sally yelled out. “Are those your friends??” “No they’re not.” Daniel answered. “Jerome and Jonas must have killed these two.” “Also look”, Wilson pointed out. “Drag tracks. It leads off somewhere. These dudes probably have tried to grab them, so they fought back. There must have been a couple more and they got hauled off.” So maybe they’re alive after all, Natalia thought breathing a sigh of relief. She hadn’t known them for long but she figured this group was her best hope of survival. Now they just had to just find those two knuckleheads and get off campus. “I know where you can find them” Stacy spoke up. “The lettermens. They’re Gamma Betas, one of the last people left on campus. They and the other frats have been snatching up girls when all this happened. I had to kill two of them myself just a while ago.” “That was YOU?” Daniel asked surprised. “Hey I wasn’t going to be a new poking piece”. She turned to Fancy, “I think they were after you.” “If you can lead us there, you’re coming with us.” Wilson told her. “That’s fine with me.” “If Stacy is going, I’m going.” Natalia added. “We look out for each other. Right, Fancy?” “Right”, her friend answered, pulling a taser stick out of her pocket. “Good. We’re gonna need all the help we can get. Hey you,” pointing to Nathan, “you know how to use one of these?” showing him a Berrata. “Man I got three of those. No pressure.” Nathan seemed giddy at a chance to fire a weapon again. “Listen, y’all not just gonna volunteer my brother for some sort of rescue mission” Keisha interjected. “Y’all don’t know what type of fire power they got or if they even alive or not.” Natalia had to admit that she didn’t think of that. Just the possibility of them being alive was enough for her to at least try. “The smart thing to do is leave now.” Keisha continued “I know how these boys are and I’m sorry but your friends are most likely dead. Gammas are sadistic. The Alpha Dog is probably beating them to death right now if he hasn’t already. We need to leave. Nathan c’,mon you not going anywhere.” “He’s a grown man! He can decide for himself!” Daniel shouted. “Was anyone talking to you, crazy man?” “ENOUGH!” Wilson took back control of the situation. “Look, I don’t know you very well, but you seem like a smart person. But sometimes, being pessimistic isn’t the same as being smart. It’s just being cowardly. My friends are in trouble. I help them. That’s it.” With that he turned his back and Daniel followed. Natalia and her friends started marching behind him and so did Nathan. The words he spoke had inspired her as it was the same philosophy she lived by. No matter how upset she became at Stacy or Fancy, they were here friends and she helped them always. Now, her new friends are in trouble. She’s gonna help them. That’s it. _________________________________vVv___________________________________ Wilson Jerome must have left these tracks, he was thinking as they followed the drag marks. He seems like the type to think of stuff like this. They were following Stacy’s directions to the frat house where Jerome and Jonas were most likely being kept. He only hoped they had reached there on time. He didn’t like having to call the professor a coward. She seemed smart and determined. And it’s not like he hadn’t noticed how gorgeous she was. But sometimes some things just need to be said. “It’s right up ahead.” Stacy told the group. When the house was in view, Wilson noticed the four frats guarding the porch. “Alright everyone, hold on.” Wilson stopped them to give some directions. He knew he wasn’t exactly strategy guy and that Jerome would have probably come up with a better plan, but he had an idea and had to make due with it. “Listen this is what we’re going to do,” he continued “these guys are looking for women right? So we’ll use you three as a distraction,” pointing to Natalia, Stacy and Fancy. “Ya’ll three lure them off the porch and when they’re close enough we’ll take them out.” “But won’t the shots attract more of them outside?” Nathan asked. “Of course. That’s the point. Once they start coming out, we shoot one by one. By the time they realize what’s going on, they would have lost a lot already. And hopefully, try to negotiate.” “Hopefully huh?” Daniel said skeptically. “Yeah. That’s all I could count on.” --vVv-- The three girls started marching towards the house, sashaying their hips to attract the attention of the porch frats. Like clockwork they took the bait and hopped off the porch and hurried the sexy young women in their presence. Wilson, Nathan and Daniel watched as the girls flirted and touched the frats faces, while the guys hands were all over their bodies. Wilson waited for the signal. Natalia made hand signs; 1…2…3. All three girls hit the deck. The crew emerged from the bushes and fired a hail of bullets at the four frat brothers. Their white t-shirts resembled fruit punch juice and the yellow on their lettermans became swiss cheese. All four fell over dead and the three girls sprinted back into position, making it behind the bushes just in time to see four more frats rush out the house. Nathan took the opportunity to show off his crackshot skills as he fired five shots. Two hit one in the chest, two hit the others in the neck and the final one hit the last frats head. The scene was horrifying, something out of the movies. Several young men were riddled with bullets and will never see the light of day again. Wilson noticed something strange though. After several minutes, no one stepped out. He figured it was time to make a move and the all six started moving towards the house. Taking a note from the movies, they surrounded the door instead of going straight inside. Things seemed eerily quiet, on Wilson ’s mark, Daniel kicked open the door and they stepped inside guns pointing and were greeted with Jerome and Jonas standing on the top steps, Jerome with a machete in his hands cutting the throat of the last Gamma left. He looked down at his friends and noticed they picked up two more girls and another young man. “Drag marks?” he asked. “Yep.” Wilson replied.

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Jonas He recounted to them everything that had transpired. They had just took out the king and queen of the frat house when the gunshots from outside. This distraction gave Jerome and Jonas enough time to look around the room where Jerome had found a machete near the closet. It was still in good shape and he used it to cut them out the ropes that tied them. Jonas looked around and hit the mother load; brand new .40 Smith & Wesson with a suppressor. They then tied up the still unconscious alpha dog and queen bee and made their move. Jerome stabbed through the door, killing the guard. He then quickly opened it giving Jonas the chance to pop off four single shots taking down the entire hallway. Jerome quickly sprinted towards the last one and sliced his throat, when the group came in. “Don’t pretend like you not happy to see me” he said to Natalia. “Ugh, whatever boy.” But in all honesty, she was happy to know he was ok. “It looks like all those sororities just up and cleared it when the shooting started” Jerome commented on the now empty house. They started out the door. “Shit, that’s better for us.” Jonas replied. “Let’s get the hell outta here. You know if you didn’t drag your feet we would have probably never been found. That was a good idea man.” “Honestly, I thought it was a horrible gamble.” “Yeah but it worked man, we found you.” Daniel told him. “Oh and by the way, these are Natalia’s friends; Stacy and Fancy. And this is Nate. He’s the brother of some other lady.” “She’s a professor” Nathan corrected. Jonas noticed Jerome’s eyes wander up and down Stacy when they greeted each other. Uh huh. So he found one he likes too, he thought to himself. This is gonna be an interesting ride. But where the hell are we even going?

“Hey Mr. Genius,” he called towards Jerome, “so where the fuck we goin now?”

“Well,” he responded, “we should look for a stable place to stay. Probably a warehouse or storage felicity. They're walled off, roomy, run on their own generators and most likely have refrigeration.”

“That sounds good” Daniel added. “So what do you think? Oh fearless leader.” He said now speaking to Wilson. Wilson looked around and noticed everyone was now looking at him for confirmation.

“Hold on, since when was I the leader??” He asked.

Jonas replied with a simple, yet accurate response. “You just are.” _____________________________________vVv_____________________________________

'''THE ROAD - 3 WEEKS LATER

Sally''

She couldn’t sleep that night. They had parked deep in the side of the road, where they couldn’t attract too much attention. The moonlight was bright and beautiful that night and there was just enough of it for her to write in her daily diary. She’s been meaning to catch up.

Dear Diary, ever since the fever hit, the people who were infected have gone insane and started killing and eating innocent people. I feel so bad for them. When I look into the eyes of an infected, I can tell there’s still something there, some parts of their personality but the sickness has taken over their bodies and mind. No one knows where this sickness came from, but I think it’s something satanic. They can believe in their science all they want, I know the dark lord has taken over this world and this is God’s punishment for the way we lived. I miss my family. My mother, father and brother who moved to Boston. We didn’t even go back to look for mine. They claimed it was way too dangerous of an area.

Not only have people become infected, but those who aren’t infected have become sadistic individuals as well. They’re just picking up weapons and straight up murdering these sick people! It’s horrifying. Right now, I’m traveling with a group of people who seem to relish in murder. Oh God, I don’t know how long I can stay with them. I love my professor Keisha and her brother Nathan is really nice. Plus my classmate Renae is with us and she’s been really supportive. But the others…I can’t be with them for long. Right now a man named Wilson is leading our group, but he just listens to whatever Jerome says. Apparently, he’s supposed to be the smart one but he’s killed so many people. They both have. I don’t think I can trust them. Jonas delights in shooting his guns. These are the people who are leading us! Well, there’s Daniel, the so called medical expert. He pulled a gun on the professor the first time we met, but he seems calmer now. He’s studied medicine so maybe he’ll understand that we need to find a cure instead of killing people. I can see it. Maybe one day, he can see too.

--vVv--

“Sally. Sally wake up.”

“Hmm?” She awoke to see Natalia looking down at her.

“C’mon, we’re going on one last run before we start moving again.”

Sally really didn’t like these supply runs. They would usually run into infected and the others in the group would kill them before she could attempt to help the poor sick bastards. She gathered some empty bags but once again, no weapons. There were two groups on this run; Ranea, Nathan and Sally in one group, Natalia, Fancy and Jonas in the other. The last supply run they had found some radios and were taking it with them on the run.

“Don’t be gone too long” Wilson instructed. “Thirty-minutes max, and then we move out. Go to the designated areas in a straight line, check the stores we saw and make it back. Everyone understand?”

“Got it.”

“We understand Will.” Nathan and Jonas responded respectively.

“Alright, Jay & Nate; you two are leading this. Keep in contact every five minutes. Jerome mapped out where you’re supposed to go, just grab the essentials and make it back.”

The two groups headed out in opposite directions down the long winding road. They were just outside Ft. Pierce and were getting low on supplies. They had passed a few supermarkets and hoped they had not been stripped clean already. Sally just wanted it all to be over with quickly. She did not want to run into anymore infected and see them brutally slaughtered by this bunch. It had been about ten minutes and they haven’t run into any, and she thanked God for that. She overheard the conversation Nathan and Jonas kept through the radio contact and it seemed that Jonas’ group had run into a few. She could hear him bragging about “bustin’ they heads wide open.” She felt disgusted.

They had finally made it into the supermarket Jerome pointed out to them. It looked like it wasn’t raided too badly, as some materials were still on the shelf.

“Aight, y’all heard what Wilson said. We got about 15 minutes left. Lets just grab as much as we can and head back.” Nathan instructed them.

Sally had gone into the feminine hygiene aisle to get some essentials. The ladies had talked between themselves and it seemed their cycles will all be coming soon. She poured as much products as she can into her bag and then noticed something out the side of her eye. The figure was moving slowly towards her, but there was no doubt about it. It was an infected – a little girl. She must have gotten abandoned by her parents. The little girl’s skin was pale; iris glossed over gray and teeth an ugly yellow. Sally however didn’t see a monster. She saw a sick little girl.

“Come here, little girl. It’s okay I won’t hurt you” she called to her. “C’mon lets get you some help. Maybe if we start feeding and medicating you, we can cure you of this virus.” She was optimistic this would work and maybe the other can see the infected still have some life left in the. The little infected could only say one thing.

“Meeaattt…meeeaattt.” She inched closer and closer until she let out a blood curdling scream and lunged towards Sally’s jugular, ready to have its feast. Sally fell back as the little girl jumped towards her and watched in horror as her head was pumped full of bullets.

“Sal, are you fucking crazy??” Nathan asked from behind. “That thing could have killed you!”

“It was a little girl! Maybe she was just scared…”

“Yeah scared it couldn’t eat you in time.”

“What happened? What’s going on?” Renae asked as she ran over.

“Sally is on that bullshit again about the infected being alive. Those gunshots were probably heard by a hundred of those things. C’mon lets get back to the camp – “

Nathan was cut off by the sound over the radio.

“[static] – Nathan come in.” It was Daniel’s voice.

“Yeah go ahead D” he answered.

“Hurry up and get back to camp. Jonas and the others found something…[static]” “What is it?”

“[static]…That Publix supermarket Jerome saw on the map, it wasn’t a supermarket. It was a warehouse. He thinks we can stay there for a few weeks, months. Hell maybe forever… [static]…get back here...[static]…Wilson wants to have a meeting before we go there…[static]…said it was roaming with infected.”

Renae helped Sally up and they started moving out the store and back to camp. Sally took one look back at the infected little girl with her head blown off on the ground. Still feeling pity for the monster that almost killed her. ___________________________________________________________________________________