Running in Hell

Chapter 5 - A Familiar Ambience

Written by CharlieDog10115

Emily's P.O.V

Dozens of walkers surrounded us as everyone mourned for their lost friend. They were getting closer, and closer, and looked as if they were to trap us any minute now. Until the car arrived. It was a large pick up truck, like those ones you see on the freeway delivering things. Five people came out, two women and three men, and started shooting at the walkers with guns. We're being saved, I thought, my heart beat becoming steady. 

"Get in the car!" one man said, who had a muscular build.

"Who the hell are you?" I heard Mike growl beside me.

"Get in the damn car, we're saving your lives, here!" the man urged for us to go in, but quickly said, "Look, I'm Adam. Just get in the car then we can explain ourselves. It's not safe here."

The five people who came out to kill the walkers went inside the truck, so I guessed we had to go in the back. I went in first, being the youngest, then Serina sat next to me, then Luke and Ella followed by Tyler and Tanner, and Mike came in last after killing a few walkers coming our way. Luke had brought a dog with him, a giant Labrador, which didn't help at all with the tight spacing in the back of the pick up truck, but I decided to let it go for now. I tried getting a good look at the people in the truck, and managed to make out three girls and three boys, all in their twenties or thirties. 

"Ah!" I yelled out as there was a sudden bump. I managed to relax myself after a few minutes of more bumps on the road.

I jumped as I heard Serina say next to me, "That was scary."

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"Someone your age shouldn't see something as gruesome as that. Lexi getting shot in the head..."

I recalled to the violent death that happened only several minutes ago. The way Lexi's legs jerked when she died... To be honest, I couldn't care less. I didn't know her anyways, and she was quite rude. But for Serina's sake, I nodded my head.

"Well, I didn't really pay attention much, so I couldn't see every detail of her death." That was a horrible excuse, but she bought it.

"That's good."

It took me a while to realize we were the only ones talking, so I shut up and thought about the events that recently happened. The war, the bombs, the infection, the woods, the house, the van disappearing... The van! What had happened to the van? Just as I was about to mention it, I could feel myself becoming tired, so I decided not to. At least, not now, not when everyone's relaxed. They were having a hard time staying awake.

To pass the time as we were in the back of a pick-up truck driving to wherever, I looked up at the night sky. The stars in the sky were nonexistent, as between us arose puffs of gray. Those balls of cotton seen during the day shifted into streams of the color of ash and soot. They blanketed the sky, hiding the full moon in it's full glory behind them. The clouds stretched over the sky, giving it a hazy, ominous feel. 

The car came to a sudden stop. It lurched forward, startling everyone in the back a bit. Adam walked towards us, opening the back of the truck. We tumbled out and came to see a worn-down cabin by a lake. The tall, dead grass brushed against our legs as we walked.

"We're safe, hopefully," Adam said, "first, let us introduce ourselves. You know me, Adam. This is Jessica, my, uh, girlfriend."

He gestured over to the girl with curly, sandy brown hair, who seemed to be about thirty. She had high cheekbones on her tan oval face. Her emerald green eyes seemed to sparkle in the dark night. Jessica smiled and waved, "Nice to meet you all, glad there are some other normal people besides us."

"This is Jadin, one of our best fighters. He went to boot camp a couple years ago, so I guess you could say he's a natural with guns." Adam referred to the boy in his mid-twenties, standing a few feet away from the group. His dark hair went over the forehead of his pale face. He had that look that told people to stay away and leave him alone.

"And I'm Alex!" a dark haired girl in her early twenties yelled out, "why, aren't you a cutie?" She patted my head, messing my hair. I scowled at her, but she didn't seem to care.

"Alex," said a voice, making Alex immediately stop patting my head, which I was thankful for. "You make people uncomfortable."

The girl turned to me, apologizing, "We're sorry about that. Alex can be... immature. I'm Luxa, my apologies." She seemed to be in her late twenties, though acted as if she were in her thirties. Her chesnut hair was tied into a simple ponytail, though a few strands fell over her face.

"Now, come on, let's go in," Adam said, looking up at the sky, "it's late, and we wouldn't want to be caught by those things out there."

"The walkers?" I said out loud without meaning to.

"That what you call them? Huh. Well, we call them the infected, but that works, too. Whatever floats your boat."

I followed behind Serina, though Mike pulled me besides him. Glancing behind us, I noticed a boy in his teens, only a year or two older than Serina and Nathan. His black, shaggy hair made him look as if he'd just gotten out of bed, and his skin was ghostly pale, like he was afraid (though, who wouldn't be in this situation). He had suspicious, nervous dark eyes that wandered all over the place.

I was about to ask for his name, but Mike yanked my arm and whispered, "Don't trust any of these people. We don't know 'em."

"Bu-"

"Shut up! You're so loud."

Look who's talking, loud-mouth, I though, grunting as we went inside the cabin.

I went over next to Serina and Nathan, who were investigating the wooden lodge. Serina seemed impressed that this place still stood sturdy after the past couple of weeks happened, but Nathan had a gaping look on his face. His dog (or at least I think it's his) stood next to him patiently, wagging it's tail excitingly.

"Uh, you okay there?" I asked.

"T-this place... It's where my grandfather and I stayed before it was overrun by walkers," he said quickly, like it was some top secret.

Serina looked at him, clearly shocked. I guess she knew the same thing as I did: His grandfather was probably dead by now. Nathan's eyes were watery, until Serina tried to be positive about it.

"What if he's still alive?"

He looked at her as if she were crazy. "No, no he isn't. I saw him die."

"Really?"

"Well, no, not really... But he told me to run, and I did."

"Then he could be alive."

Nathan seemed to struggle in believing which theory was true. Was his grandfather alive or not?

"Hey, I'll tell you what. We can find him," Serina smiled.

"Y-you can?"

"Yeah, I promise."

Nathan gawked at Serina, his cheeks reddening. I couldn't help but smirk a bit.