TeenZ

Flares and Fireworks

Between the 3rd of June and the 10th of June we weren’t able to leave, the wind was too strong and a storm was coming so there was no way we could safely move across the bay so we remained in the town. The farm was supplying the majority of the food for the town so canned food was rarely used. Some people were working in the farm, gathering food while others were cutting down a few trees for use of building or for warmth. On the 5th I walked into the general store, the now familiar bell jingled as the door opened. Boxes of food lined the walls, more than enough food to keep the town going for months on end if the farm suddenly became unavailable. Sarah was standing behind the counter again, keeping a checklist of what supplies we have “Next run you make could you grab some antibiotics and some care batteries. Everything else is secondary” She said tearing off a page from a notebook and handing it to me “Ok, I’ll see what we can do, but it will have to wait till tomorrow, the ferry won’t be able to move during the storm.” I said folding the paper and putting it in my pocket. “How is Lisa going?” I asked “Good, she is due next week” Sarah replied “We should probably keep Dr Kelviche close by, just in case” I suggested. Dr Kelviche had been performing an autopsy on a young man when he came back to life and attacked a nurse. He loaded the recently deceased man with enough anaesthetic to put a horse to sleep but he continued feasting on the nurse. He fled and had been running since until we found him one day hiding in restaurant in Mornington. “Has there been anything sighted on the shore?” I asked “No, it’s been pretty clear, a few zombies wandering around but nothing that will prevent us from taking the ferry to Crib Point” She replied, the bell rang above the door. I turned around “Hello Sister Maggie” Sarah said to the new guest “Hello Sarah, sorry to interrupt but Phillip passed away last night” Sister Maggie said quietly “So the cancer finally got him.” She sighed “We’ll set up another grave…” Sarah said quietly, Sister Maggie nodded and left, the bell jingling as she let the door close. “Phillip had cancer before this whole thing started, he had almost completed his treatment then this happened…” Sarah said quietly, “I’ll have to go let David know” Sarah said stepping out from behind the counter, she handed me a box of food and water “Here is the supplies for your group” she said passing me the box. We both walked out of the door, the bell jingling behind us, she went right I went straight on into town. The streets which were empty of life when we first arrived were filled with people going about their day, all people who had suffered losses but were living. I wandered through the town, checking up on everybody and helping where I could. The storm clouds rolled over and thunder began sounding, the clouds blocked out the sun and made the sky dark. I hurried back to the guest house before it started raining. Shae, Jess, Tom and Shiro were already inside, sitting beside the fireplace. I walked over to the fireplace and joined the conversation. “What I probably miss most of all is chocolate. Knowing that chocolate could possibly never be made again is heartbreaking” Jess said. The front doors opened as James, Ebony, Kaycee ran inside, Kaycee stopping to hold the door open for Sister Maggie. Sister Maggie walked down the hallway to her room as James, Tom and Kaycee came and sat down with us. “What are we talking about?” James asked “We’re talking about what we miss most, from before everything” Shiro replied, “I miss video games and freedom, may seem silly but I don’t care” Shiro added “I miss the internet…” James said bluntly “I miss my phone, not being able to contact the outside world is weird” Ebony said “Same” Kaycee added “I miss family…” Shae said quietly, everyone looked at the ground silently, none of us had heard anything about our families, “We all do…” Tom said “I miss normal, I miss home, I actually even miss school” I said laughing slightly at the fact that I was missing a place which I practically dragged myself to 5 days a week. The sound of a gunshot tore through the sound of rain outside. Everyone instinctually turned, I stood up and walked to the window. I pulled the curtains apart slightly and stepped back.
A massive horde of zombies was marching towards the town, “Shit” I said loudly stepping away from the window “What?!” Ebony asked “They’ve made it to the island, we need to alert the town.” I said running towards my room. I practically threw myself through the doorway, I dropped the ground and pulled the wooden box under my bed, I grabbed my gun from the drawers and my machete from the doorway as I heard everyone running around. I picked up the box and lay my machete across it as I ran back into the front room. I dropped it on the floor and pulled out a box of matches and some fireworks, everyone shortly came back into the front room ready for a fight. “Ok, we need to set up these fireworks behind the house, someone needs to let Sister Maggie know and everyone else needs to pack up supplies” Shannon ran to warn Sister Maggie and Shiro and James stepped forward to help me set up the fireworks, everyone else began collecting supplies. I handed 2 fireworks each to Shiro and James and pushed open the back door. The sound of rain drastically grew louder once we opened the door, we quickly ran onto the back patch of grass, puddles splashing up as we ran through them. I quickly pushed a firework into the ground, struck a match and lit the fuse, it burnt up quickly and launched into the air, illuminating the sky a light green, I slammed the other firework into the ground and ran over to Shiro, I struck another match and quickly lit the fireworks, then lighting the fireworks by James. They exploded loudly, illuminating the sky with different colours. “I hope that is enough” I thought to myself, we quickly ran into the house again and closed the door. Suddenly the sky was filled with the sound of gunshots, all sounding from the town. Everyone was gathered in the front room, everyone’s bags were filled with food and everyone had their weapons ready. I grabbed the flares from the wooden box and put them in the drink bottle pocket of my bag. I grabbed my machete and looked at everyone to make sure they were ready. Everyone had bags filled with food and water and their weapons ready, Sister Maggie had her shotgun on her back and a pickaxe in her hands. James removed an arrow from his quiver and sat it on the bow string. I walked over and peaked out the curtains, the majority of the zombies had left, heading towards the gunshots and the town. “Ok, we get to the ferry and we wait there, people will just have to try to make it to us, Shannon, Ebony, you two get the bus and get it to the ferry.” I said to the group, I pushed open the door and we stepped back outside.
The rain was coming down heavily, the combination of rain and wind made it freezing to be outside. I quickly moved over to a zombie that was close to the door, I embedded my machete into its head, killing it for a second time. An arrow flew by my head, smacking a zombie in the forehead. I started running away from the town as the bus drove forward towards the ferry, killing zombies which got in the way. We hurried onto the ferry. Everyone gathered at the front of the ferry killing any zombies which tried to come aboard. Screams combined with gunfire in the distance, I looked in the distance, people were sprinting towards the ferry, ducking and weaving between zombies, desperate to get off of the island. Sarah was running, killing zombies as she went desperately trying to save the other survivors but she knew that to stop would be suicide. We defended the ship as survivors piled aboard, masses of bodies gathering on the edge of the dock. The rain continued beating down, causing the blood of the zombies to run down our weapons. I looked off in the distance, the only movement was the zombies moving towards us or towards the town. “I think that is everyone!” I shouted slamming my machete in the side of a zombie’s head, I turned and ran into driver’s box, I started the engine and moved away from the dock. Suddenly the ferry jerked backwards, “We’re still tied up” I shouted out the driver’s box, trying to be heard of the torrent of the rain. Kaycee quickly sliced through the rope, leaving speckles of blood on it. I turned back into the driver’s box and set off away from the island.

Waves slammed into the side of the ferry, causing people to fall and slide across the deck, I could barely see and was hoping that we would reach the mainland eventually. The ferry continued onward, the storm causing the waves to splash onto the deck of the ferry. We continued forward until a survivor spotted the dock in the distance. I slowed the ferry and pulled up to the dock. There were no zombies in sight, everything was clear except for the constant rain pouring down. I turned off the ferry as Shannon drove the bus onto the dock. I walked out of the driver’s box and onto the dock. “We can’t tie it up so I guess we just have to leave it…” I said looking back at the ferry, waves pushing it against the dock, I turned and walked over to the bus, they were about 6 other people not including our group, Sister Maggie, Sarah and four other people who I hadn’t really talked to. “So where are we going to go?” I asked the group.
“Had there been any talk on the radio Sarah?” Shiro asked “Not a lot really, mostly static but for a little while there was radio chatter of the army holding Station Pier in the city, they were loading survivors onto a ferry but were being attacked from the city. It went silent after that.” Sarah replied “It’s all we’ve got, maybe they are still loading survivors” Tom said hopefully “But, there isn’t enough room for everyone in the bus…” James pointed out “We need to find another car then” Shae said looking around the immediate area “There isn’t anything nearby that has fuel, we’ll just have to bunch up until we find something” Jess said “Looks like we are having to go back to the city…” Shannon said remembering how many zombies there were last time.
Everyone climbed into the bus and either sat on the seats or semi-crouched somewhere between the seats, Ebony and Sister Maggie climbed into the driver and passenger seat. I climbed in after everyone and rolled the door closed. As soon as the door was shut something started scratching at the door, I opened the door and Kimmy and Scarlett jumped inside the bus “They must have been hiding on the ferry” Kaycee said giving Kimmy a scratch on the head. I closed the door again and pulled the map from my bag, passing it to Sister Maggie. We set off through Crib Point heading North towards the city, slightly happier that at least the animals survived.