A New Start

Chapter 25: The Run 2 Part 1

"Hey, Emalea? Breakfast is ready you loser. Get up." Savannah said shaking me. I opened my eyes and it was blurry. My eyes finally focused on her. She was hovering over me. The way she was smiling at me made it seem like nothing bothered her. I smiled back. She moved out of the way so I could get it. "Come on, Scarlett and them are waiting for us." She said jumping up holding her hand out for me to take it. "Why not?" I thought. I grabbed her hand in return and we walked off to the lunch room. We got our food which was eggs, toast, and juice. I wonder where they got these things and how it never seemed to run out. Me and Savannah sat down at the table with the rest of them. "You guys ready for today? We will actually get things done." Cody said. "Are we still going through the tunnel?" Sophia asked putting her toast down. "Yeah, we can follow it if you guy want?" Cody said. We all agreed with him. Moments later Cole and Jason walked in with their sleeves rolled up. They must of been outside. "You think he still mad?" Nathan asked pointing towards Cole. The rest turned to look at him. Cole was shooting a glare at us. "Yeah, he's still mad." I said. "Hey, its his fault. He never gave us time to explain." Scarlett said. "What do we need to explain?" Sophia asked. "Well, he just got back from being kidnapped with Jason. I figured he would want to rest a bit." Scarlett replied. "What about Emalea? She got back from that same place and she never really rested?" Savannah said. "Well I mean she didn't seem like she wanted to. She just came and talked to us like nothing happened." Scarlett replied.
"No, way not again." Nathan said. "This so the second time in a row!" He finished. Apparently while we were talking they were playing cards. "Yeah, he does that to me." Beau said to Nathan. "What's going on?" I asked. "Its a card game. He beats me every time." Nathan replied. "Yeah me too." Beau added. "Anyways, we already have the bags packed and everything is still in it. You guys ready?" Cody asked putting the cards up. "Anybody wanna come to the bathroom with me?" Sophia asked. Savannah got up and went with. "Actually I might go to." Nathan said getting up. "So guys, how is life?" Cody asked. "Well beside everything about those things, it's eh." I replied holding my arms. Why am I always so cold? "Its okay." Scarlett replied to Cody. "Cody! We need dishes. Can you guys bring yours?" A voice yelled from the back. "Yeah, I got them." He yelled back. Without hesitation he grabbed our plates and took them up there. Since Cody got up I could see Cole glancing our way every now and then. "You know, if he really wanted to be over here he would come." I said. Beau and Scarlett looked in the direction I was looking. "He doesn't seem to really care." Beau said pushing his glasses upwards. Adorable. "Should I confront him about it?" I asked looking down at my hands. "He'll come to you if he really wants to be apart of your group again." Beau said. "What did I miss?" Cody said before anybody could say anything else. He stumbled into the seat. "Just talking about Cole." I said. "Here they come." Scarlett said looking at the door. Sophia, Nathan, and Savannah were coming back in. They finally approached us. "Well, we're done. Are you ready" Nathan said. "I am, are you guys?" Cody said looking towards us. We nodded yes and we got up. As we walked out I tried not to make eye contact with Cole. Maybe I was the wrong one here. I didn't think much about it. We got our bags and headed for the front door and walked out soundless. The person shut the doors behind us and we could hear the lock. "Here we go again." Cody said walking off. We followed behind. It didn't take long to get to the railroad tracks. "Here we are." Nathan said as we got right on the tunnel. It wasn't long and you could see the end of it. "There is flashlights in your bag. Grab them and turn them on. You never know if one of those things are in there." Cody said searching his bag. "There hasn't been much here anyways." Sophia said. "That's because we have people walk about three times a week and kill everyone they see." He said turning his flashlight on. We started to walk into the tunnel and it was dark and cold. Lovely, more coldness. What I need. All of our footsteps echoed in the tunnel. We were silent. It felt like forever before we made it out. "Whoa," I said. "That's along way." Jessie said. The first word he has said all day. I wonder what was up with him. He didn't he talk during breakfast. "Better start now then." Cody said walking. We walked in silence for awhile. "Hey Cody?" Sophia said "Yes?" He replied. "How did you become leader of the whole thing?" She asked. "Well since I lived so close to the school, this was my first idea. It was empty here. Only me, my mom, and my dad. After they died, it was just me. Either people heard around or had the same idea to come here. They came in groups, pairs, and sometimes only their self." He replied. His voice was steady. Nobody said anything. Finally we reached a part of the railroad that was connected with the road. "Hey, I know where we are at. We are close to my house." She said. "Oh, so Coles house is down that way then." Cody said pointing right. "We should go to that Walmart?" Beau suggested. "There has to be something we can use there." Nathan said. "Not a bad idea." Cody said. They really know their way around here. Without another word we started to walk straight up to road, took a left, than a right onto a long road. "Shit.." Beau trailed off. "Looks like we aren't going to to Walmart." He finished. I looked up to see what he meant. There was a horde of them miles away. "All this walking for nothing." Cody said. "Its about four O'clock." Beau said flicking his hand up to see his watch. "We can go back and take right instead of going straight." Cody said. "Where will that lead?" Jessie asked. "There is a food Save A Lot around there. We could go check there?" Cody asked. Without hesitation, Jessie started to walk in front of us and walk back. Nobody seemed bothered that he was taking the lead, not even Cody. I wonder what was on his mind. We kept walking until we hit where we needed to turn. "You still wanna lead tough guy?" Cody said walking to the front of us. He voice didn't sound mad, but the way he used 'tough' seemed a bit rude. Maybe he thought he had no idea where he was going. We kept walking with Cody in the lead now. "There's one." Nathan said pointing to a creature. "I got it." Jessie said pulling a knife out of his belt. He kicked the things feet out from under it and the thing feel. He hovered over it and moved the creatures arms out of the way. He stabbed it right through the head. Blood was pouring from its head. Gross. "Uh oh, there is more." Beau said pulling his knife out to. "Get ready." Cody said. They were tensed up. "What about us?" Scarlett whispered to me. "Just watch I guess." I replied. "What if it gets it of hand?" Sophia asked. "We help." I said to her. They started to kill those things one by one. There wasn't many. Once it was over, they were breathing heavy. "Come on... Let's go.." Cody said gasping for air. We moved past the 'dead' things and kept moving forward. "So how long until we there?" Nathan asked. "Not long." Cody replied. We passed many old houses. Some even had cars in the driveway still. My eyes crossed a building that looked familiar. "No.." I said under my breathe. I stopped. "Emalea, what's wrong?" Savannah asked turning around. My jaw was dropped. By the time everyone noticed I stopped, Nathan was stopped to. He was staring at the building I was. "Nathan.." I said. I couldn't get the other words out. "I know." He replied. "What is going on?" Beau asked turning to look at both of us. "Its my old camp, that kidnapped Emalea." He said. His voice trailed off. They turned to look at the building. "We have to go before-" Cody was cut off by a gun shot "Shit, everyone run!" Beau yelled. We all ran in different directions. There was many gunshots, more than one person. Sounds like snipers and maybe some pistols. "Get down!" Beau yelled in my direction. I ran behind a car and heard the shots hitting the car. Beau was at the other house next to me. He pulled out a pistols from his bag. "Look in your bag!" He yelled to me. I opened it up and saw a gun in there. My heart was beating faster now. "I.. I don't know how to use this..!" I said back. "Remember, target practice." Jessie said coming behind me. "Just aim and shot if you have to." He said. "Keep it steady and pull the trigger." He finished. "I don't know if I can do this." I said. "Just stay in cover and if one of those things come at you, just shoot at the head. That's all." He said. He stood up a bit and started to fire at the people above. He ran towards Beau. "Emalea." A voice said. I looked around and saw Scarlett. I motioned to her back and she looked into it. She found the gun. "Tell the others!" I yelled towards her. She nodded yes and ran towards the other houses. More shots we fired at me. I needed to move before it got worse. Where could I go? Behind the house? It seemed like the only option. As the shots slowed down I took my chance and ran behind the house. "Whoa," I said under my breathe. "I made it." I finished. I put my back towards the wall and slowly slide down it. I was breathing heavily. I looked to my right to see Savannah and Sophia huddled together. I have to get to them. I went to the edge of the house and looked out. I don't think they notice me. Here's my chance. I ran and got behind the other house. Once I got there I went straight for them. I hugged them in the ball form they were in. "There is a gun in your backpack. Use it." I said. They both reached in there and grabbed it. The sniper shots from the front got slower and slower. Were we winning? I stood back up. "We have-" I didn't get finished. There was a creature right in front of me. I rose my gun, but the thing was to close. It knocked me on the ground. "Get.. This thing... Off of .. Me." I yelled. I heard a shot and the thing landed beside me. I pushed it off. I stood up brushing off my shirt. "Who shot it?" I asked. "Me." Scarlett said coming from the other side of the house. I smiled. "Thanks." I said. The others came from each side of the house. We checked each other for any injuries. "Look, fuck the run. Let's get out of here. I am not risking my life for this shit." Beau said walking to Cody. "Fine." He said. "Jessie, stay towards the back and make sure nobody follows. Beau stay in the middle and make sure nobody gets hurt at any point. I'll lead." Cody finished. We started to run back and eventually hit the railroad tracks. "Are we still good Jessie?" Cody yelled to him. "Yeah, I haven't seen anything!" He yelled back. "Never doing this again." Beau said. It was silent most of the way until we got to the tunnel. "Nathan? Why didn't you warn us?" Sophia asked turning towards him. "Warn you?" Nathan replied. He sounded confused. "You can me from that camp. "You knew where it was.Why didn't you warn us?" She finished. Everyone stopped and turned towards him. "I only stayed inside. I was never outside. I got there by being kidnapped. Most of the kids there did, but we were all in the same group." He said. His voice was shakey. "If you don't believe me ask Hope. She was in my group." He finished in defense. Cody turned around and kept walking. It was getting dark. We followed behind without another word. It felt like forever until we got to the school. It got darker and darker by the moment. Once Jason let us in, I went straight to the bathroom. I cleaned myself up and went to go lay down. I didn't want to speak or even eat. I laid down and didn't even have trouble falling asleep. I was asleep before anybody could even talk to me about today.