We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Fifteen

Boston, Mass

          Cora stared down at the street. She held her gun tightly in her hand. Megan was on the other side of the roof, also watching the chaos on the ground. There wasn't anything living down there anymore, not that they could see. It was almost calm with the zombies slowly wandering the streets, and the bodies that were too far gone to change laying out in the road, on the sidewalk, in the bed of a pickup truck. The zombies shuffled around slowly, completely opposite of what Cora had seen of them before. They looked slow, injured and defenseless. She knew that wasn't true. She shivered suddenly. She was trying to keep calm, but every time she saw one of them, she felt sick. It wasn't as bad on their way to the apartments, because they were focusing on just getting there. But now... This can't be happening. It's not real...

          "Shh, it's okay." Cassidy whispered to Ben as she held him in her arms. Cora looked over to see them sitting up against the door to the roof. Jay and Mica were talking to Avery and Nick, and Jack and Megan were whispering to each other, although Jack looked like he was trying to keep his distance, standing a good 3 feet back. Cora wasn't surprised. Megan seemed paranoid, and Cora felt uncomfortable with everyone being around her. She seemed open to Jack, though, so maybe as long as he was with her it would be okay. Hopefully.
          "So what do we do now?" Cora looked over at Mica, who directed the question at Megan. She looked at him, confusion written on her face. "We can't just stay up here. We'll starve to death if those things don't get us first. I think we should get going to Ohio. That's where the safe haven's supposed to be, right?"
          "We're not going anywhere right now. We don't know how many of those...are still inside. We'll get killed before we even get outside the building." Megan replied defensively.
          "I counted up the bodies that we passed. There were 10, plus Ben, that's 11." Cora said from her spot on the roof.
          "And there were 12 other people. That means that there's still one inside that could kill us all." Megan was raising her voice now; Cora knew she was getting frustrated.
          "I only said I counted 10. The other one was probably just in one of the rooms, out of sight. If it was alive, wouldn't it have attacked us on the way up here?" Megan opened her mouth to talk, but then closed it again.
          "We can take Mica's truck." Cassidy added. "We could set Ben and a few others in the cab, then the rest can sit in the bed of the truck. That could work, right?" Megan tried to talk again but was interrupted by Mica.
          "Yeah, I've even got the keys with me. The truck's parked right out front, so it'll be easier to get to."
          "So are we going right now then? Might as well get it over with." Jay said.
          "We're not going anywhere yet!" Megan was yelling now. Cora watched the gun in her hand, wondering how much self-control Megan had. Her grip on the gun seemed to be tightening, though. That's not good.
          "Who put you in charge?" Mica stepped towards her, and Cora also stepped closet, watching the two carefully. She noticed Jay move up too.
          Megan held the gun out in front of her. "I'm the only one here with a gun."
          "Cora's got a gun!" Mica said in a challenging voice, and Cora felt panic rising in her chest. Someone was going to get hurt if this kept up. She heard a slight whimper and saw Ben hug Cassidy tighter.
          "Both of you shut up!" She let out a sigh of relief as Jack ran between them before they could do anything. He gave Mica a pleading look. "Can you please try to avoid a fight, just once? You're gonna get yourself killed." Then he turned to Megan and talked in a more soothing voice. "We can't stay here. The longer we stay, the more time they have to find us. If Mica's got a truck and we have a good opportunity to go, then we have to go. Now." Not waiting for a reply from her, he motioned to the others to follow him. Megan, not wanting to be left behind, jogged to the front of the group.
             They walked down to the main hallway, Cora and Megan ready with their guns. They had to spread out in the narrow halls, so Cora lead at the front while Megan stuck to the back. Cora tried to avoid looking at the bodies scattering the ground, but some she had to step over and couldn't do that without looking.
          "Guys..." Avery sounded panicked. "I think someone was here..." Cora turned and saw the blood stained carpet in front of Avery. The stains almost made the full shape of a body. A body that Cora remembered had definitely been there earlier. A body that was now gone. She noticed Megan hold her gun up and look around.
          "Let's just go." Jack answered, fear evident in his voice. "And watch out." This was a new side of Jack. Cora had never seen him get really serious before, but now he seemed confident despite the danger they were in. Without another word, they followed him downstairs, and Cora was starting to think that they would be fine. But she knew it was too much to ask for. She spun around when she heard the scream behind her. Avery was leaning against the wall and crying as she watched Nick struggle with the attacker. It didn't last long. The zombie didn't seem to notice them at first as it dug into Nick's stomach, eating--actually eating him. Megan was in a trance, the gun shaking visibly in her hands, and Jay had pulled Avery closer into the group. Cora lifted her gun and shot Nick's attacker. To their horror, though, Nick was still alive, gasping for breath and feeling around his stomach with his blood-covered hands. Cora hesitated, frozen in place by the sight. Avery was screaming now, and Ben was crying in Cassidy's arms. Megan seemed to gain control of her shaking, and she shot her rifle, putting a bullet in her own head. Cassidy screamed too this time, and it broke Cora from her own trance. She shot Nick, then called to Mica.
          "Get her gun." Her voice shook when she said it. Jack was the one to grab it, his eyes wide as he hesitantly reached for the rifle. He stuck to the back of the group after that, as if trying to keep Megan in sight as long as possible. Because he cared or he was wary, Cora didn't know, but she didn't press. As she led them outside, she noticed her own body was shaking. The tears she'd been trying to hold back had broken through, but she tried to hide them, refusing to let them pour out. Once they were outside, Mica ran to his truck and helped Ben and Cassidy in. He also offered for Cora and Jack to squeeze in, but they both denied.
          "There won't be enough room. We'll sit in the bed, if any get too close we'll take care of them." Cora told him.
          Mica turned to Jack. "You know how to shoot that thing?" Jack just nodded without saying anything and climbed into the back with Cora. The ride was quiet for the most part. Every once in a while they'd have to shoot anyone attacking the truck, but none got close enough to do any damage. Cora snuck a few glances at Jack, but he always had a serious look on his face, and the Megan's rifle never left his shoulder. Cora hadn't known him that well, but she remembered the few times she met him. He was always joking around and there was always a smile on his face. He didn't mind talking to the four, and he was one of the few people who knew about their train surfing. The last time she saw him was just a few days earlier when he was teasing Cassidy about Mica. He'd changed so quickly. Even when he led them up the stairs earlier that night, when everyone was scared and confused, he seemed to at least be trying to stay optimistic. Now he stared blankly out of the truck, shooting anything that got near them like he was swatting flies. Like they had never been alive in the first place. He looked almost scary.
          Cora was brought back to attention when she noticed the truck slowing down. She looked in through the back window. Avery looked like she was asleep in the passengers' seat, and Cassidy was sitting in the back with an also-sleeping Ben. Jay was leaning forward in his seat, probably talking to Mica, who pulled the truck into a run-down gas station. It looked run-down, anyways. It used to be one of the more popular gas stations, and they'd been there plenty of times. When they stopped, Cora jumped out of the truck to talk to Mica and Jay. Jack didn't move, aside from scanning the area with his gun.
          "We're almost out of gas." Mica said as she walked up.
          "Yeah I was wondering about that." Cora replied. "Do you think these will still work?"
          Jay answered as he jumped out behind Mica. "Let's hope so." Cora walked around to jump back into the truck, but stopped when she heard her stomach growling. When was the last time she'd had anything to eat? She hadn't even thought about until now.
          "Hey, I'm gonna go inside and see if I can get us some food."
          Mica looked at her. "I don't know... If anything happens..."
          She interrupted, knowing he was thinking about Nick. "I'll be fine. Jay can come with me, and we'll just stay in the front where you can see us so you can help if anything goes wrong. Jack will be out here, and I don't want to wake the others. We'll just be real quick." She left without waiting for an answer from either of them. Jay, of course, followed her. Mica may be the leader, but Cora still had some 'authority' in the group. Mica sighed behind her but didn't say anything. He knew it was pointless arguing with her, and she knew that he knew it. She walked into the store first, since she had the gun. Jay followed with his crowbar raised, ready for anything. They quietly made their way around the store until they confirmed that it was empty. After that, Cora grabbed a bunch of plastic bags and tossed half to Jay.
          "Have fun." She said before wandering to a corner and grabbing huge handfuls of candy bars and packs of beef jerky and stuffing them into the bags. Jay just smiled and went to another corner, grabbing hot dogs that were now cold and little bags of chips. After a few minutes of searching and filling their bags, Cora walked over to Jay, who was stuffing soda and energy drinks into the last of his bags.
          "I think that if we're gonna be running around, we might want something to drink besides soda." She said.
          "Whatever, says the girl stashing all the candy bars. Plus, there's energy drinks. We'll be fine." He laughed and stood up. Despite the statement, he picked out a few water bottles. Cora also grabbed some and started towards the entrance of the little store. Then she stopped short, causing Jay to bump into her.
          "What?" He asked in an annoyed voice. Cora was about to reply when she saw his expression change, and she could almost feel him tense up. Right outside, Mica was still by the truck with a pump in it.
       Something was different though, because this time he had his hands held above his head, and Jack was standing on the other side of the truck. Both had guns pointed at their heads.