UNDER EDITING 𝐺𝑅𝐴𝑉𝐸 𝐷𝐴𝑁𝐺𝐸𝑅 | 𝐴𝑃𝑂𝐶𝐴𝐿𝑌𝑃𝑆𝐸 ✔︎

A Sad Goodbye

(Cooper's POV)

We reach Carlos' office and all havoc has broken out.

"The townspeople are going crazy! Who the hell shot off a firearm?" He growls. I'm not even a bit intimidated by this weasel. "I did. Did you know that a biter got in? I only fired it to kill the damn thing. You need to quarantine the town somewhere-"

"Don't tell me how to do my job. Most everyone is at the community center already because of straight fear." Carlos interrupts.

I nod, a tad bit annoyed. "Well that will have to do. You should probably have some of your.. minions.. inspect everyone to make sure none of them are infected." I finish.

"Cooper and I are gonna go look to see if there are anymore biters. Can you let my mom know where we are?" Lexi asks hurriedly. Carlos nods. "Sure, if I see her."

Lexi begins to turn around but stops in place. "What do you mean? Wasn't she just with you?"

"Well she only talked to me for a few minutes and then left and headed out for a stroll on the town, that's what she told me anyway." Carlos shrugs. "And I didn't see her come into the community center so..."

"So she's probably still out." I finish. Carlos nods and Lexi gives me a worried look. "We'll find her, don't worry." I reassure.

"Carlos. Make sure one of your men checks the front gate. Something obviously wasn't secure or else a biter wouldn't have gotten in." I say while sprinting away with a worried Lexi.

We run for a few minutes before turning a corner to see seven-eight biters roaming around. Lexi and I stop and back up quietly in order to not be heard. I only have my gun so I guess it's up to me to kill these ones.

I raise it slowly and fire at one after another. Each one drops to the ground and blood oozes from their undead bodies.

I let out a sigh of relief and lower my gun. The air is silent before I hear a gasp from Lexi.

I turn around quickly to see her being pinned against a building by a biter. I begin to raise my gun but Lexi stops me.

"C-Cooper no..." She begins to whimper. I give a confused look and just pull the biter off of her quickly. The creature falls to ground and looks up at us angrily.

The biter has shoulder length brunette hair with an older looking appearance. Her neck is guzzling blood every second due to a recent bite mark. Her white top pools into a dark red as her expression lightens at the sight of Lexi and I.

Ms. Ashwell.

Denise looks at Lexi and I for a short second, almost as if she was human once again. Lexi begins to weep from behind me and I shed a few tears myself.

The quiet moment ends quickly as Denise snaps back into her biter ways. She darts for me, as fast as she can at least. Lexi and I both back up, trying to stay out of her way.

I glance at my gun and then to Lexi. "I-I have to." I stammer out. She shakes her head as she squints her eyes shut and a squeak comes from her throat.

I give her one last look of sorrow before turning back to Denise and raising my gun. My finger floats over the trigger and...

Boom.

Lexi's mother falls backwards onto the road and lies there, still. The air is silent for a moment before Lexi drops to her knees and sobs into her hands.

I take a quick glance around to make sure we were safe from any biters and lower myself to her side. "I'm sorry Lex. I had to."

She cries into my shoulder and says an "I know."

After a few minutes, I decide to stand us up. We shouldn't wait next to her dead body, that'll only cause more trauma for Lexi.

"I want to go find Jasper and Noah." She croaks. I would normally argue but I understand why she's desperate. "Okay, let's check the house."

I was about to suggest we walk until Lexi started sprinting down the road. How are we going to tell the boys? Or more importantly... Noah.

(Noah's POV)

The banging on the door hasn't stopped for a good fifteen minutes.

"Are you sure we'll be safe in here?" I ask worriedly. Jasper nods. "You're safe with me, Ashwell. Don't worry." He tries to act certain but I can hear the worry in his voice.

"Hopefully those shots we heard earlier killed off the last of them. Obviously other than the ones on the porch." I mumble. The air is silent for a bit before we hear grunting outside. I carefully walk over to the window and glance out it, noticing Lexi and Cooper killing the biters on the porch.

"Jasper! They're here. We're safe." I say relieved. He smiles and stands up gratefully. "Thank God."

We walk to the front door and remove the coffee table, soon unlocking the door. The door swings open and Lexi and Cooper walk in slowly. Sadly.

"You're safe." Lexi says plainly while pulling the two of us into a meaningful hug. "Yeah... what's going on?" Jasper questions.

Lexi's gives us hard stares while biting her lower lip. "I... I don't um... I just..." She stammers. Cooper walks up and hugs her from the side a bit. "Maybe we should sit down to say this."

Jasper gives me a worried look before we both trot over to the couch with Lexi and Cooper following us. We take a seat on it while the other two sit close to us.

"What's going on?" Jasper questions again. The air is silent for quite a long time.

"Lexi, don't be sad because you were worried about us okay? We were safe and we even knew to barricade the door for extra safety. So please don't be sad." I conclude. She doesn't need to be all that worried about us.

"Noah I wasn't-"

"And Mom's with Carlos at the community center right? We're all safe. So please... don't be sad anymore."

Lexi put a hand over her mouth and begins to cry... like really cry. She immediately gets up and rushes to her bedroom.

"Did I... say something wrong?" I mumble. Cooper looks to me and decides to speak for Lexi.

"Noah... your mom... she..." He begins.

My eyes begin to water up before I even realize what I'm hearing. Don't say what I think you're saying.

I shake my head 'no' aggressively, as if not accepting what my brain is putting into my mind. "Noah... she..." Before he can finish, I stand up quickly and run to my room. I slam the door and flop on my bed, crying.

I press my head into my knees tightly while squinting my eyes shut. No. No this can't be happening. It's not happening.

Hot tears pool down my cheeks and silent whimpers escape my mouth. Why?

After a few minutes, my bedroom door creaks open. I don't dare take my eyes up from my knees. "Just go away, I don't wanna talk about it." I mumble.

My bed sinks a bit as somebody sits down. "We don't have to talk... I just want to be here."

Jasper. I raise my head from my knees, the puffiness very visible. Before I can say anything, he pulls me into a classic Jasper hug.

It's silent for awhile but he breaks it after a bit. "Your sister... I know that she wants to talk to you. She just isn't ready yet. So please don't feel bad that I'm here instead of her."

I don't say anything, just nod. I understand that completely. He pulls me into a tight hug and I cry a bit more into his shoulder before falling asleep out of exhaustion.

I love you, Mom.

A/N- I uh... so I made this chapter really sad😀 uhm... have fun with that 🥴🥴 AND IM SORRY BUT NOT ALL MAIN CHARACTERS CAN LIVE, YALL KNOW THIS.