Running in Hell

Chapter 13 - Rocks

Written by tikobiko333

Nathan's P.O.V

Rocks. A lot of rocks. Piles after piles - all we saw were rocks.

The water bubbled slowly with the morning sun, churning in swirls of crisp blue and white. The familiar crabs that scampered along the rocks no longer appeared due, most likely, to the outbreak that occurred no more than a year ago. Small grains of sand were scattered in between the rocks, paving way to the fact that this was once a great beach. Now however, it was merely a jumble of rocks.

"Nathan," Emily spoke, her indistinct voice blending with the smashing of the waves.

I turned to face her, shielding my eyes from the rising sun. I met her eyes, but did not speak.

"Nathan, help with the bodies." Emily repeated.

"We should be looking," I began dragging more walker bodies into the tide. I pulled up the rims of my jeans, exposing my bare feet to the coolness of the water.

"You know we are, there are people searching as we speak," with a grunt, she pulled another away. "But we have a job to do, and I'm not letting you slack off."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll do anything but slack off, its just . . ." I paused to take a breath, "I want to look, too. I just feel so useless here."

"I get how you feel, Nathan. But this is all we can do, and besides," she took a seconds pause as a wave swished through the rocks beneath her, "this is kind of fun."

I shrugged. "You know, your jokes aren't even funny. Dragging dead things into the ocean is super lame."

"Maybe I wasn't joking."

I shivered with the morning breeze. I didn't respond.

A few bodies later, we began working up a sweat. With the sun now fairly high, we decided to take a break. Emily just handed me an apple from her sack when we heard a shout.

"Guys! Over here!"

The shout was barely noticeable over the, now more powerful, crashing of the surf. I nudged Emily.

"Someone called us!"

"Oh shut up," she bit her apple, "you just want to leave to go find Serena."

I shook my head. "No I heard someone!"

As soon as I finished my sentence, we heard another shout. "Hey! Guys come here!"

I pointed to where the sound was coming from. "See!"

Emily rolled her eyes before gathering her stuff. "Come on!"

I threw my apple core into the rocks and quickly dusted off my hands. Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I began racing across the slick rocks. Somehow, we both managed to successfully get across the intricate maze of rocks and onto solid ground. Step after step, we jogged up a low hill, onto the main bluff. To mine and Emily's surprise, we saw a group of people scampering around in the middle of the field. I recognized one of the people as Ella.

"Ella!" Emily shouted besides me, across the clearing. Ella turned and jogged our way. She took a moment to catch her breath.

"Serena . . . found . . . hurt . . . " she barely formed words, obviously out of breath from her day's work.

"Serena? Is she okay?" I bent down to Ella's level, who was crouching on the floor.

"Dehydrated . . . food . . ." Emily and I pulled Ella up and began racing towards the rest of the group. As we neared, we saw a familiar girl wrapped up in the center.

"Serena!" I shouted, shoving past several people standing by.

Emily knelt beside her, feeling her forehead.

"She has a slight fever, has she been given water?"

Alex, who was tending to Serena's body, nodded.

"How about food? Does she need food?"

Alex nodded again, pointing to a bag situated on the ground. I knelt down beside it and began ransacking through its contents. I pulled out a small loaf of bread and began ripping off small chunks.

"Here," I handed Emily a piece to give Serena.

She accepted the bread and pulled back Serena's hair, gaining full access to her face. Serena began to stir slightly, showing signs of progress. For several more minutes we continued to nurse Serena with the bread and water, until she finally began to wake up.

"Serena! Are you alright?" we both asked, setting down the bread.

She blinked several times, blinded by the sun.

"Are you hurt? Serena were you bit?"

She coughed several times, shaking her head.

I glanced at Emily, and we each took one of her hands.

"You're okay . . . you're safe."

——-

The fire crackled with the slow breeze, the stars' lights casting over our camp. The darkness of the city loomed over us in the distance.

"Now that we have Serena back, we need a plan." Mike stood at the front, illuminated by the fire's flames. "The city is approximately five miles west. If we leave tomorrow we can make the journey by nightfall."

We sat, contemplating his statement.

"Once we reach the city, we can begin possibly setting up a real camp, or find other survivors. There is evidence that vehicles might still be in the city, however many were demolished when the outbreak reached the city."

The fire roared, sparks flying through the air.

"I agree with Mike," Ella raised her hand, acknowledging her appearance. "Its our only way of ensuring our safety. Out here we are vulnerable; we've already lost a few members," she glanced in my direction.

"It's settled, all in favor of leaving for the city at dawn?"

There was a silence, only the sizzling of the fire, before hands began popping up. Soon, all hands had been risen.

"Very well, it has been settled. We leave for the city in the morning."

Hello! Sorry it took awhile to upload this chapter, I hope I didn't keep all you readers waiting! I was a bit distracted by my own novel, so please forgive me =P Anyways, enjoy! And please check out our other accounts:

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BTW: Thanks for all the reads! Lets reach 300! =D