Risen from the Grave

I've fallen enough for these knees to give in

title from 'Spiderwebs'

A/N: calm before the storm... (i say that, this chapter isn't actually very calm but it is in comparison to the next one...)

The drive towards the enemy camp was almost silent, save for Luke's occasional questions about aiming and reloading the gun. "What if I die?"he suddenly asked, turning to look at me. I quickly glanced over.

"You won't,"I responded, returning my attention to the road.

"But what if I do? What if they find me and kill me?"

"I won't let them. I promised Reggie I'd take care of you, I'm not gonna break that promise." Luke went quiet and turned back around to look out of the window. I watched the trees go past, waiting anxiously for the abandoned car, which was the only landmark I remembered to tell me the location of the warehouse. Finally, it came into view, and I slowed down, stopping the car just next to it. "It's through those trees,"I said, stepping out. Luke followed, Alex's gun tight in his hand. We made our way through the forest, dodging fallen trees, the infected and thorns. Eventually, we reached the warehouse, and I took him around to the window Julie went through. It was closed, but I soon managed to force it back open. I nodded at Luke, squeezing his shoulder to comfort him. He smiled back at me, and I felt the weird feeling in my chest again. I kneeled down, giving him my knee to step on an climb up through the window. I watched him go through and pulled up my own gun, aiming it towards the corridor in which the men had come through before, reading to shoot if needed. I glanced over at Luke, who was slowly making his way through the chains with a knife, carefully cutting through it. I smiled before returning my attention to the corridor. Finally, I heard the reassuring sound of chains breaking and a door opening. I looked over to see Julie run out and hug Luke as a thanks before going back into the cell. Luke followed her, and moments later they re-emerged with a pale, dehydrated Willie, who was clearly very unwell. Gently, the two of them brought him over to the window and I helped them lower him down to the ground before assisting them out themselves. Together, the four of us made our way back to the car, me and Julie carrying Willie and Luke keeping watch.

Not long later, we exited the forest, only to find our car missing. "Shit,"I muttered, carefully lowering Willie to the ground before running down the road and looking out to see if someone had taken it and was driving away, but to no avail.

"We could try this one,"Luke suggested, gesturing towards the abandoned two-seater. "We won't all fit comfortably, but it would work as an emergency vehicle." I sighed, walking back over and inspecting the vehicle. There were no serious fault with the car, just a few scratches and bumps, but that's to be expected. I pulled open the driver's side door and got on my knees, trying to find the wires needed to hijack the car. I heard Luke walk over to Julie and Willie.

"I haven't had one for over twenty four hours,"Willie admitted. "Are there any left? At home?"he questioned.

"I think so,"Julie replied. "My dad had some spare ones at the hospital house." Willie nodded, resting his head on her shoulder. I carefully removed myself from underneath to find Luke standing over me.

"You okay?"he asked. I nodded, sighing.

"It's stupid,"I told him. "Who would've taken our car? There's no houses around for ages, and most people are fucking dead, so who the fuck took our car?"I almost yelled, kicking the floor.

"Maybe it was them,"Julie suggested. Panic shot through my blood.

"They might be heading to our base,"I added. "We need to get back now, they can't defend themselves. They... they know... fuck." I headed back under the steering wheel and continued to mess with the wires until finally some life sparked into the car. "Pile in, it's gonna be an uncomfortable ride."

We ended up with Luke partially on my lap, but not fully so I could still see the road. Julie was sat beside me, Willie curled up on the floor by her feet, barely awake. I sped back to our cul de sac, trees rushing past us as a green and brown blur. When we finally arrived back, we noticed there was no sign of our old car. "They aren't here,"Julie stated, getting out. Luke and I got out together, heading around to assist Julie with Willie. Together, we made our way closer to the house Dad, Alex and Owen were camped in, carefully keeping an eye out for the infected. Luke opened the door to see Dad sat at the dining table, head in his hands. Alex was lying on the couch, probably asleep and Owen was doing a puzzle at the coffee table. Once we stepped in, Dad looked up and smiled relieved before he saw the state of Willie. He quickly stood up and went over to our cool box, retrieving an insulin needle and handing it to Willie, who quickly used it. We gently placed him down on the couch next to the sleeping Alex. Owen quickly got up and hugged him once he spotted us, wrapping his small arms around Willie's small waist.

"Hey buddy,"Willie whispered.

"You're okay,"Owen replied, his voice hoarse as if he was about to cry. Willie nodded before carefully placing a hand on Alex's hip, rubbing it slightly.

"Where did you find him?"he asked, looking over at me.

"In the forest,"I responded. "He collapsed in front of us and was limping before." I looked down and spotted a bandage tied around his thigh.

"Must've cut himself in a fight or something,"Dad said, noticing I'd spotted it. I nodded, before turning to Luke, who was looking longingly at Alex.

"You alright?"I asked.

"I wish I could sleep like that,"Luke replied, smiling. I chuckled, putting an arm around him.

"You can now. Well, you can soon,"I corrected myself. "It's only a matter of time before they realise Willie and Jules are missing. They know where our camp is... we have to leave." I turned to look at Julie, who grabbed the map from earlier.

"There's a-"she began, before she was interrupted by a brick being thrown through the window. I rushed over to Luke and stood in front of him to protect him from the shards of glass. Alex was immediately woken up, but he didn't have time to greet Willie as another brick was thrown at us. Quickly, we opened a back window and started crawling out one-by-one, Owen first, followed by Willie, then Luke, then Dad, then Julie, then Alex, then finally me. Once I emerged on the other side, I only saw Alex, who was looking out into the forest. He grabbed my shirt and we started running.

"Where are they?"I panted.

"I just told them to run, there wasn't time for them to wait,"he explained. "If we're fast enough, we can catch up." I soon noted we wouldn't be, due to Alex's severe limp from his thigh injury.

"Dude, sit down,"I said pulling him to the floor. He collapsed beside me, breathing deeply. "We're not gonna catch up."

"They'll wait for us,"he said through pants. "They have too." We went silent, hearing the sound of footsteps. I peered out around the tree we were leaning against and saw Ben rush through with his gang. I quickly pulled myself around and slapped my hand over Alex's mouth, stopping him from speaking. He glared at me, slightly confused. Once the footsteps faded away, I removed my hand. "What the hell dude?"he accused.

"It was Ben,"I told him. "Willie and them lot won't stop to wait for us. They can't." Alex nodded, resting his head against the tree.

"This is such bullshit,"he whispered, and I saw tears start to trickle down his cheek. "Why can't they just leave us be? They've already killed Caleb, what more do they want?" I nodded, carefully putting an arm around him. He rested his head on my shoulder, and I put mine on top of his. "Luke has my gun,"he said. "How much ammo have you got?" I pulled out my gun and checked.

"Ten rounds,"I told him, suddenly remembering that's how much Reggie had left before he... died.

"Well then, we better hurry our asses up." Alex gently stood up, using me and the tree to support his weight. I put an arm under his and held him up as we began walking in the direction the others had supposedly gone.