Low on Time/Issue 23

This is issue twenty-three of Low on Time, entitled: Henry.

Issue 23; Henry
Trent and Kelly immediately jumped up, looking into the crowd of incoming zombies. Both looked terrified to say the least. Trent immediately reached his shaking hand into his back pocket, taking out a pistol. He tried to shoot at them, but his aim being completely off from the shakiness of his hand. Kelly stared not knowing what to do. The front door opened, and Langston came out with Violet and Jessica.

"Holy shit. Jessica go warn the rest." Langston said, raising his shotgun, firing into the crowd, as Jessica ran back into the house. "Girls, go get some guns." he said, looking at Kelly and Violet.

"Fuck that. Don't waste the ammo, we have to go." Kelly stated.

"Fine, get the car keys and fill up the food and all our shit then." Langston said, as he fired another shot into the crowd.

Kelly and Violet both ran out the front door, as Jake, Jessica, Emily, and Valerie ran outside.

"We have to go." Langston told them, as Trent still fired blindly into the crowd.

"We can't go back on the road." Valerie demanded, shooting into the crowd, killing three zombies.

"We have to, or we'll die."

Valerie sighed, and nodded her head. The rest of the group was making their way outside at this point, Paul and Olivia carrying the container full of food, Owen helping Ike walk, and Amanda carrying a box of ammunition. They had three cars out in the front, and the group split up into the three cars. The first one, was a light green SUV, that Valerie, Amanda, Paul, Olivia, Kelly, and Jake all got into. The second one was the Humvee, that Langston, Trent, Owen, Violet, and Ike got into. And the third one was Allen's pickup truck, that Jessica, Emily, Sean, and Kira got into. Valerie quickly led the pack back onto the road, and just like that, the group was back on the road again.

Back at the house, Isiss put a small black backpack on her back, and running out of the front door. She looked around, seeing all the cars gone, and all her friends gone too. "Fuck me." she muttered to herself, as the zombies got closer and closer. She quickly turned around, and ran back into the house, going into the kitchen which led to the back door. She ran out of the backdoor, and ran across the yard to the wooden fence, which she hopped over, not looking back.

Valerie drove quickly down the highway, until they came across a huge blockade of cars. She parked the car, and the six got out too. The other cars pulled over and they all got out as well, looking around at each other.

"What's wrong?" asked Kelly, emerging from her car.

"We're running on fumes. We could get around these easily, but we need more gas." Valerie said.

"I can siphon some." Owen said, stepping up.

"Yeah, sounds good." Valerie said, going into the truck of the SUV pulling out a couple of gas cans. Valerie walked over, and gave him the cans, and Jake looked at Owen, suspiciously.

"I'll go with him, just to make sure he stays out of trouble." Jake said.

"Wait, no one wants to talk about what the fuck just happened?" asked Olivia, who sounded pissed off.

"There's nothing to talk about. We're all okay, we just need to keep going." Valerie said, picking up a shotgun. "Let's see what we can scavenge from the rest of these cars, maybe food or water or something."

The rest of the group dispersed going their separate ways. Ike stayed at the cars with Amanda and Kira. Ike watched Amanda as she slowly slumped against the car. Ike slowly walked over to her, and bent down next to her.

"You know, I'm sorry." he said, patting her shoulder.

"No you're not." Amanda said, not looking at him.

Ike scoffs. "Of course I am. Just cause you don't like me, doesn't mean I don't have emotions or feelings. I just want you to

know, I feel really bad, I always have."

"Why are you telling me this now then?"

"Cause, I really had feelings for Isiss, you know the blonde chick? And she died today, and I realized I could go at anytime, so I just wanted to apologize."

Amanda looked at him confused. "Isiss didn't die." she said.

"Then where the hell is she? I didn't see her in any of the cars." Ike asked.

Amanda stood up, and looked around, looking to Kira.

"Have you seen Isiss?" Amanda asked.

"She went to get her backpack-- wasn't she with you?" Kira asked.

Amanda shook her head.

"Shit." she muttered.

Owen and Jake walked over to a car, and opened the gas tank. Owen put the clear tube into the gas tank, and started sucking out the gasoline. When it came up, he removed the tube from his mouth and put in into the gas container Jake was holding, as Owen spit the gasoline out of his mouth. Owen looked up at Jake, who was looking at him.

"Do you think Violet might think it's weird how good I am at sucking?" Owen said, smiling.

Jake laughed, patting Owen on the back. "Nah, I don't think so, bro." he said. "Just don't tell her."

Owen nodded, and when the gasoline stopped pouring out, Owen removed the tube.

The two walked over to another car, and started the same procedure.

Valerie and Jessica were going through a car's trunk, and Jessica pulled out a nice blue dress.

"You like?" Jessica asked, putting it against herself to see if it would fit.

Valerie looked at her, and shook her head. "We should be looking for food, not clothing." she muttered.

Jessica put the dress into her backpack, regardless. "You're almost as much of a hard-ass as Em." she said.

"I'm trying to keep us safe." Valerie said.

"I know, but damn it, lighten up. You don't have to be a dick to rule us."

"Tell me, why should I listen to you?" Valerie asked, crossing her arms.

"Because, I was a champion hunter. I cam get us food with ease if needed, I don't think you can. I could easily survive out there on my own, and I'm staying, not for you, but for Paul and my friends."

Amanda and Ike ran over to Valerie, both looking worried. Valerie and Jessica both looked up at them.

"What's wrong?" asked Valerie.

"We left her." Ike muttered.

"Left who?"

"Isiss." Amanda said.

Valerie and Jessica both looked around, looking for her.

"Fuck." Valerie muttered.

"We have to go back." Ike said.

"No, we can't."

"But-- we can't just leave her!"

"I'm sorry, Ike. But she's not there anymore. She's either dead, or she left the area. There's no way we can possibly find her."

The sound of an approaching car, interrupted the talk, and all four got behind the closest car, and looked for the car. Off in the distance, they could see a small car driving towards them.

"Go around, Ike. Me and Jessica will cover you." Valerie said.

Ike nodded, and walked around the cars, as the incoming car came closer. Ike lifted his shotgun, ready to attack.

Trent sat on a car, looking into the sky. Emily walked over to him, and threw a water bottle on his stomach, and he sat up, looking at her.

"Drink that and let's go. I wanna take you hunting." she said.

"C'mon, my leg's hurting..." Trent said.

"No, you're coming." she said, interrupting him. "Now let's go."

Trent sighed and stood up, hopping off of the car.

As the car came closer, Ike was ready. He jumped over the hood of the car, in front of the incoming car, with the person inside quickly slamming on it's breaks. Ike pointed the shotgun to the car, "Get out." he yelled. But the person wasn't getting out. Ike walked over to the driver's seat, and opened the door, pulling out a young teenaged-girl. He could hear heard breathing coming from in the car, as the girl fought back Ike, hitting scratching, anything.

"What the hell is in there?" he asked, trying to intimidate her.

"Fuck off." she yelled, pushing Ike away.

She quickly ran to the car, and Ike followed her, looking into car. He saw a fair-haired teenage boy who was slightly younger than her, who was gasping for air, as the teenaged girl was going through a small brown bag. He watched as the girl pulled out an inhaler, and gave it to the boy, who tried to get his breathing under control. Ike pointed the shotgun to the back of the girl's head.

"Get away from the car now." he said, as the boy's breathing slowly went back to normal. "You too." he said, pointing at the teenage boy, who was looking at Ike.

The two got out of the car, and Ike pointed to the ground. The boy walked next to the girl, and the two got on their knees.

"I--" the girl started to say.

"Shut up." Ike demanded, interrupting her. "Hey Valerie." he called.

Valerie, Jessica, and Amanda emerged from behind the cars, Jessica holding her crossbow and Valerie holding her shotgun.

"Remember, breathe slowly." the girl said, looking at the panicking boy.

He nodded, and closed his eyes. Jessica lowered her crossbow when seeing they were just kids.

"Who the hell are you people?" asked Valerie.

"Please, don't hurt us, we'll go just--" the panicking boy said, but was interrupted by the girl.

"Shut up, let me talk." she muttered to him. The girl looked up at Valerie, slowly. "I'm Julia Riley, and this is my friend Ryker Daniels."

"How old are you?"

"I'm 17, Ryker is 15."

"And What are two kids doing out here in Hell?"

"Trying to survive."

Valerie nodded, approving those answers.

"What's wrong with you friend, Julia?" Ike asked, gun still pointed at them.

"He's got asthma." she said, looking at him.

Jessica looked at Ike and Valerie who had their guns fixed on the two still.

"They're obviously fine, they're not going to hurt us, clearly." Jessica said.

"What are we supposed to do? Send them back out on their asses to die out there?" Valerie asked, but Jessica gave her a daring look.

"Oh no, we can't take in an asthmatic kid and some girl."

"Why not? They'll die out there!" Jessica insister.

"I agree with Jessica." Amanda said, quietly.

Valerie looked at Ike, who looked at Amanda. Ike slowly lowered his gun, and Valerie reluctantly lowered hers too. Jessica walked over to the teens, and motioned them to follow her.

Isiss ran through the woods, being chased by a group of four zombies. She was breathing heavily as she ran, her jeans covered in broken leaves. She tripped over a big branch, which was hidden by the leaves, and she fell face first into the leaves. She quickly turned around, and stood up again, her head covered in leaves, and she began running again. She turns around, seeing a branch lying on the floor, and she quickly picks it up. She looks at the incoming zombies, and she winded up, before swinging, hitting one of the zombies head off. She dropped it, and quickly started running away again. She got behind a tree, and took her backpack off, going through it. She pulled out a picture frame, which had a family picture of her brother and her mother with her during her birthday. She stared at it, reminiscing, before quickly smashing it against the tree, shattering the glass. She picked up one of the larger pieces, and jumped out from behind the trees, stabbing one of the zombies in the head, bringing it to the ground. She got on top of it, and stabbed it repeatedly in the head. She looked up, seeing more zombies coming towards her. She heard a gunshot, and the closest zombie to her fell. She quickly turned around, seeing a couple of men with rifles shooting at the surrounding zombies. She quickly picked up her backpack, making sure to grab her family picture, before running towards them. The men covered her, killing any zombies that came close to Isiss. When she got to them, one of the men took her by the arm, and quickly led her through the woods, and the other man quickly behind them. The three ran into town, and ran through the alleyways, until they got to a fire escape, where they stopped.

"What were you doing out there, alone?" asked the man who let go if Isiss' arm.

"I-I was not out there by choice." she said, breathing heavily.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Isiss."

"Names Jerry, that's my brother Monty." Jerry said, looking at the man who was pulling down the fire escape ladder.

"Thank you for helping me."

"No problem, Isiss."

"I got it." Monty said, climbing up the ladder.

Isiss climbed it too, followed by Jerry, just as zombies turned into the alley. The three kept climbing the different ladders, until they got to the top floor. Monty knocked on one of the windows, and it opened. Monty went in, followed by Jerry, and last but not least Isiss. When Isiss got in, she saw a kid jumping around, playing, and a couple of women talking. The man who opened the window, was a young man, who was watching Isiss closely. The two women looked at Isiss, and slowly stood up, and soon enough, all eyes were on her.

Jessica sat with Ryker and Julia. She made sure her crossbow was in plain sight, just in case they got suspicious, but she had no intention on hurting them.

"How did the two of you survive together?" asked Jessica.

"When everything went to shit, a handful, around 70 of the students didn't run like everyone else. We stayed and we fought. Ryker was one of the ones who tried to run, but his asthma led him into the care of me and my friend. The 70 of us, led by a few seniors, were able to protect the school and keep us safe. Until one asshole, this one freshman, I think his name was Henry... he killed himself, he couldn't take it. My friend found him hanging there, and when she got him down, he turned and almost everyone died. A few of us got out, and lived in the woods, until Ryker and I were separated from the rest. We lived alone together for a week, until, well right now."

"Wait--" Jessica said, thinking to herself. "How'd the kid turn first?"

"He killed himself." Julia said.

"But-- was he bit?"

"No." Julia said, looking at how confused Jessica was. "You mean, you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Everyone's infected." Ryker said, speaking up for the first time.

"It's not just the bite?" asked Jessica, who was not buying it.

Ryker just nodded his head, slowly. Julia patted him on the back, trying to comfort him, who was clearly uncomfortable. Jessica hopped off the car and ran over to Paul who was with Kelly and Olivia. Paul turned around, hearing her footsteps and saw the two teenagers for the first time.

"Who the hell are they?" asked Paul, looking at them.

Kelly and Olivia both turned, looking at them too.

"That doesn't matter." Jessica muttered, looking back at them. "Get everyone together-- I have a-- important message to tell them."

Olivia ran off, with Paul, but Kelly looked at Jessica, no intention on leaving.

"What's this about?" asked Kelly.

"Those two told me that they saw a guy turn from not being bit." Jessica said.

Kelly looked at her, unbelievingly.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Kira Fulton
 * Sean Solo
 * Paul Alexander
 * Ike Dennis
 * Trent Jones
 * Isiss Rivera
 * Violet Middleton
 * Owen Horne
 * Amanda Dixon
 * Langston Otto
 * Valerie Wilson
 * Emily
 * Jessica
 * Julia Riley
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Jerry
 * Monty

Deaths

 * None

Trivia

 * Although not dead, Isiss will not be appearing in any upcoming issues of Low on Time, despite that she was last seen safe.