The World We Live In | 𝚃. 𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙾 ♤

Chapter 7

"Blake? Blake? You there?" Troy glared through the glass window, waiting for a reply from the other side of the line. Crackling silence was the answer. Troy's eyes narrowed. "Talk to me, Blakey. Don't go silent on me now." He chewed on his lips aggressively and gave it some more time. Then-

"Sorry, we were in a bit of a pinch." Visibly relaxing when Blake answered through a blaring noise in the background, though, Troy shared a placated stare with Cristine and looked between the mass of dead walking down again. To think they made it through that, unharmed, a laugh of disbelief vibrated from his throat. Nick was one crazy genius. "We got in. The doors were locked, but we managed to get in through one of the broken windows."

Troy thumbed the walkie-talkie. The news seemed to have put some color back in his cheeks and, with a nod, told Blake next, "okay, you'll need to head to the basement. It's where'll you'll find the backup generator. Shutting the emergency power-down will disable the alarm. The rest of us are doing a final sweep of the place. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for hostile raiders. This might be part of their plan." Troy's vision wandered down below again before it traveled to the building where the alarm was still blaring like a lunch bell summoning all the infected from miles. Whoever had done this was crazy, and that was saying something. But in this madness, Troy could detect the traces of a deliberately planned scheme. He just had this instinctual feeling more to this, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Got it. We'll keep you updated." Blake ended the communication.

"What're you thinking?" Cristine perceived the shift in Troy's vigilant attitude. He clipped his walkie around the belt of his pants and shook his head, face scrunched heavily.

"This doesn't make sense. Why trap yourself between the dead, too, for supplies? They are either desperate that deluded, or, as sure as I'm standing here, convinced their plan is that foolproof." Troy didn't believe in luck. Not after everything they've been through and had to sacrifice for the Ranch until now. Such things had never existed in Troy's mind. There was an angle in everything, whether positive or negative. As menial, everything had a cause and effect. Troy finally looked away from the scenery below at Cristine.

Cristine cocked her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She had a thoughtful look, filtering Troy's remarks and finding the irony in this particular tactic. "Using the dead to do the hard work. Wouldn't it be the first time we had to deal with people like that, right?" She referenced to Ben and what had happened what felt a long time ago now. Troy nodded, but she could still see the skepticism on his face. The same feeling as her nerves just warning her there was more to this. "We have the supplies and equipment we came for. Our rides aren't that far away from here. Maybe they know a way out of this?" Cristine straightened her body, her thoughts immediately going back to the traitor's possibility and someone perhaps backtracking intel.

"No way to know for sure. The best thing to do is to circle back and stick together until we hear from Blake and Nick."

-

Sitting by herself, Hailey was mindlessly fumbling with her knife. The groans and banging near the entrance door reminded her of those horror movies she never could finish watching. She always crawled in Cristine's bed after. A smile flickered on her lips. Her sister would whine about it, but she never denied it or told her to leave. Cristine even made her sleep on the 'safe' side of her medium-sized bed and, with their tiny hands clamped together, slept. Those were the best nights she could remember where her sister kept her safe. A curt glance in the direction of the barricaded door again, and Hailey winced. This situation was worse than those horror movies because this was real, and she was one of the characters in it. Clenching the grip of her knife so hard that it hurt, a sigh left her mouth. Hearing the even tapping of boots coming closer, Hailey looked to the person it belonged to and saw her sister head her way. Some time passed since Nick and Blake left, and she and a few guys from the militia had taken as much from the inventory as possible until ordered they regroup at their meeting point.