The Last Plague

Chapter Six: Questions

"Follow me," the man said.

We all walked down the dark area. It had grown darker as time went on, and I couldn't see anything around me anymore. The unlit sky made everything around us just a faint shadow. Nothing was visible in color; just black and white. We continued walking down the invisible path. A sudden gunshot caught me off-guard. I jerked my head towards the noise and stared down the path. Several more gunshots quickly followed afterward.

"What was that?" I asked the man, who didn't seem startled by the gunshot; he just continued walking down the path.

He turned around at my question and looked at me flatly. "Do you think we'll just let the zombies into our base?" he asked me sarcastically. "We shoot their heads off before they even get close. Of course, y'all drew a couple in," he dragged out. "But we'll kill them pretty quick."

The way he said zombie sent another chill from the memories I had made. "Alright, I was just curious," I told him, trying to sound as sarcastic as him.

He just let out a grunt in response as we continued walking. After a few more minutes the man clicked on a flashlight. "Okay, you can sleep here tonight. Tomorrow, I expect you to answer our questions. We'll get you at seven expecting you to be ready. And by the way, my name is John," he said as he walked away.

Of course, this place fell—their methods are terrible. They don't do any checks or anything on them. They just let them waltz in with barely a question about whether they were bitten. Their methods are absolutely terrible.

~Trina

There was a small wood home in front of us. The night started to grow cold, so I went in it. Nick and Bethany just stood there in shock, staring at the cabin. I pushed ahead of them and opened up the door. I walked in and saw a flashlight on a nightstand. I flicked it on and saw eight beds in the room.

There was a small light hanging overhead. I found the switch above the nightstand in the corner of the room. I flicked it on and the room illuminated. I turned off the flashlight and set it back on top of the nightstand. Nick and Bethany pushed me out of the way to get in. I hadn't even realized I was blocking the door until then. Bethany walked in and looked around in amazement. Nick just walked in boringly and plopped onto a bed. Bethany soon after climbed up to the top bunk and laid down above Nick. I turned off the light and laid down in the bed in the front; Bethany and Nick were in the back.

"Good night," I heard Bethany say before I fell asleep.

Exhaustion knocked me into a deep sleep that night. I woke the next morning to a knock on the door. I had almost forgotten where I was until then. Nick was already awake and he was nudging Bethany. I started trudging out of the bed tiredly with a yawn. Another knock on the door woke me a little more.

"We'll be out in just a second," Nick said over the knocks.

"Make it quick, I told Joseph he'll see you soon." John's voice snapped back, still sounding cold. "I'll give you five minutes," he added afterward.

I had slept in my clothes and felt heavy-eyed when I woke up. I stood out of my bed and stretched. Bethany was just waking up and Nick was picking her up. She was yawning tiredly while he lifted. Bethany went down willingly and yawned again when she was set down. I started walking towards Nick and Bethany and motioned for them to come out of the door with us.

"You ready to go?" I asked Nick, standing next to him.

He looked at me knowingly. Then let out a small smile. "I don't see why not," he responded slightly sarcastically in return.

Bethany looked at me with an innocent smile. She started walking out of the door without saying a word. Nick jumped forward to catch up with her. I started following out with them. John was already waiting for us when we got there.

"Alright, follow me," John told us, already walking away.

We all followed after him quietly; our footsteps the only thing audible. John made a few turns and walked towards a small building. It was near the center of the entire area, but was made with the same wood as every other house. A light smoke rose from the corner of the home. There were two windows beside the door, but they were both covered with thick curtains. A small overhang made of the same wood covered the front door, and the grass under it was dead. John walked up to the door and knocked lightly.

"Come in," an older man's voice came in. It was scratchy and hoarse to listen to.

John walked in and motioned for us to join him. We all walked in and were met by an older man sitting in a small leather chair. He looked at us calmly and waved his hand towards several chairs in the corner. John walked over and picked up a chair, he then brought it in front of the desk. I did the same, now knowing what else to do, and everyone else soon followed. We were all sitting in front of the man uncomfortably. His eyes were darting back between us all. They were a deep green, like the forest. I immediately hated them. It reminded me of the forest and the path in the woods, where the woman, Elizabeth, was thrown out the window.

"My name is Joseph, as you may have heard," he said quietly and kindly. "I run this place. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know them. But, before you ask me anything, I need to ask you a few questions," he said, seeming to target me with the statement. "So, first thing's first, where did you come from?" he asked, still seeming to target me.

"Not too far from here," Nick said before I could get in a word. "I came from, I don't know, maybe ten miles below here," he said, his voice sounded rash and slightly annoyed.

Joseph nodded towards me. "Did you come from the same place?" he asked.

"No," I said quietly. I paused for a moment, but I knew he wanted more. "I came from at least thirty miles below here, I just bumped into them along the way," I said, trying to sound as calm and cheerful as I could. I also wanted to break Nick's cynicality.

"Interesting," he said quietly. "What do you know about zombies?" he asked again, moving onto another question.

I didn't know how to answer, the word struck me with fear again. Luckily, Nick started talking before I could. "Strike them in the heart, it'll kill them. Of course, you can shoot their head and they'll die just fine, but it's harder." Nick shared his information with Joseph.

I wanted to ask him why he hadn't told me about this information previously, but I kept my mouth shut. I was genuinely curious about why he hadn't told us. The way he had acted showed that he knew close to nothing about the creatures. Something was strange about Nick though, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Finally, have you heard of the PS or RADD?" he asked, the question seemed random considering the other questions he had asked.

"What did you say?" Nick said, baffled, but something about it didn't seem genuine.

My puzzled face seemed enough for him, he just waved off the last question. "Well then, I guess you can get a tour if you want. Also, abide by our rules. We have them for a reason, so don't break them," he said, pointing out the obvious of the situation.

John walked out of the room and motioned us to join him. "Come on, I'll show you around," he told us, not stopping to talk. He was out the door before we were even out of the small and uncomfortable chairs.

We walked out and caught up to him. I and Nick put the chairs back in the corner; John and Bethany hadn't bothered to put up their chairs. We ran up and caught them quickly.

"I guess we should start at the front, it'll be easier to know your way around from there," John said to himself. "Come on, I'll take you back to where we first met. Then, we can start looking around the area."

We all walked down towards the front; John leading, everyone else behind him. We got there and paused with a moment of silence at the gate.

"Alright, let's look around, shall we?"