fi•na•le
the last part of a piece of music, a performance, or a public event, especially when particularly dramatic or exciting.
an original zombie short story
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It had taken a year of hard battles, wounds and losses to get to the safe house that they had been trying to reach and they weren't gonna make it. There were too many Stiffs and with Alex injured there was no way. The team was starting to give up hope and without James there to keep them moving forward, they were more helpless than ever.
"We're fucking dead! Oh my god, we're totally fucking dead!" Taylor was flailing her arms around frantically.
Cora grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides. "We will be if you don't shut up. Look." She took a deep breath. "Look, we can split up and go around. I'll... I'll distract them and you guys'll run the other way. I'll be... right behind you."
"Yes. We don't have much time. We can reconvene when we arrive at the safe house and James will meet us there too. As much as I don't wish to leave her, there is no choice since I-we want to survive. Taylor, you can go ahead and I will stay with Alex and make sure he doesn't wound himself more. Now, Cora, you need to go." Doc seemed very determined on staying with Alex and Cora guessed that she understood wanting to make sure he was safe but still it was weird.
"Uh... yeah." She moved towards the herd and started shooting as many as she could, the gunshots drawing the attention of the Stiffs that were outside of the group. She turned toward the people she had come to care about a lot in the almost two years they'd spent together, fully prepared to sacrifice herself if need be. "Go," she yelled and for the first time in a while she gave a large and sincere smile. She mentally said her goodbyes and readied herself for the carnage she was about to commit.
Alex and Taylor glanced at each other sadly but Doc didn't seem to react. "Let's go." He said.
So, they trudged onward for about half an hour, the final stretch so close to in their reach. Taylor jogged slightly ahead, knife in hand while Alex had his arm wrapped around Docs's shoulder and they jogged together.
"There's about a quarter of a mile stretch left, I believe. Not much further to go." Doc said. "Cut through these woods it will be quicker." Woods meant harder terrain for Alex to cross. Doc knew that. It would be louder and attract more wandering infecteds. Doc knew that. He suggested it anyway.
It was about three minutes into the woods when they saw a small group of Stiffs huddled around a deer carcass. The group's footsteps had shifted their attention and their interests peaked with the smell of Alex's blood.
And suddenly, Doc let out a yell.
Alex and Taylor looked at him, panicked because the Stiffs had now completely set on them as targets. What the hell was he doing?! Alex thought to himself and Taylor had asked the same thing aloud.
"I'm sorry but I can't have any liabilities when I get to the safe house. I need to be able to perfect the cure without anything holding me back. And I only need one person for protection. James can do that just fine and then I'll get rid of her too. But you two are useless to me." Doc said matter of factly. He pushed Alex off of him and stomped on his injured leg harshly. Alex let out a scream, only attracting the Stiffs more. They were almost here and now he couldn't walk at all. He was screwed completely.
Taylor scrambled over to help Alex but Doc raised his gun and took off the safety. "Don't try to be a hero, Taylor. He's going to join the infected but I can help him. If. I. Get. The cure."
Taylor was crying at this point, fear and confusion and betrayal mixing in her brain and overwhelming her senses. She didn't want to believe that Doc had basically killed Alex and was about to kill her but the more her mind dwelled on it, the more it made sense. He never once killed a Stiff and he even refused to call them that. They were always 'the infected' to him and he always seemed to have some sort of pity for them but she didn't think it went this far.
"I really wish that I did not have to do this but it has to be done." He heard footsteps behind him, thinking that the infected had come just in time. And a gunshot sounded.
Taylor flinched and grabbed at her chest, expecting to feel blood but she didn't so she looked up just as Doc fell to the ground. Behind him stood James. And behind her more Stiffs.
"James, look out!" Alex yelled through his pain and James, even though she was in a quite dazed state moved over to where Taylor was standing. And the Stiffs took their attacks to the helpless people on the ground. Taylor grabbed James' hand and pulled her away from the mountain of Stiffs and Alex's screams, though they were silenced pretty quickly.
They continued in the direction towards the safe house but James soon pulled them to a stop. Taylor was about to ask why they stopped but she saw James lean over and vomit. James wiped her mouth clean for the third time that day. Dry heaving a little afterwards and endlessly wishing that today had never happened. She heard more footsteps and readied her gun once more, wondering what she had done to make the universe despise her so much. But she saw Cora's familiar figure and put it down.
Cora looked at the missing members of the group and raised an eyebrow. Taylor just shook her head and put her hand on James' back since she had hunched over again. Cora let out a sharp breath and cursed.
"We need to go. Before the Stiffs find us." James said. Taylor and Cora were both surprised at how rough James' voice was but decided there were better times to question it. They started running again.
The gates of the safe house came into view about ten minutes later. And their run turned into a sprint. They collapsed when they reached the inside of the gates and James got up, slammed the gates shut and fell back to the ground again. The three passed out from the exhaustion of all the shit they just went through. They were safe. Finally.
