Capsule Outbreak

22 Woman at the Well

After three days...

"Is there any human out there? This is Mr. Dawson. After ten years of evading capture since escaping jail in Little Rock, Arkansas, the serial killer Kierra, also known as Dangerous Woman, is no longer dangerous. She was shot dead by unknown passersby. Whoever they are, I can say justice has prevailed. On the other hand, Arizona still has the highest survival rate in the United States, followed by Texas.

Maggie's POV

We're heading to Austin, Texas, to meet Uncle Greg. We're all still healing from what happened three days ago. We have our food supplies and gas in the back of the car. Louis decides to drive because Allie's hand is still hurting. Charlie is beside me, sleeping in the front seat.

While driving, Louis catches sight of the water wells beside the road. There's a red liquid flowing on the road toward the wells. We hear echoes of someone saying, "Please, help! Anyone out there? Help me!" We can't just ignore it, as the pleas continue. Louis decides to park the car beside the road, and Allie speaks up.

"Do you really want to help? Can we just drive away and pretend we didn't hear anything? We're still in pain," Allie said.

"Allie, don't worry. We'll help quickly," I said.

"Count me in!" Akira said.

Allie decides to stay in the car to watch over Charlie and Duke, who's still healing from his wounds. Before I leave the car, I tell Charlie to wait until we come back. Then Akira, Louis, and I get out to help the person in need.

We cross the road holding weapons, seeing many wells. We approach one well and see clear water. We look at another, and the water is reddish-brown, likely from rusty pipes. Then we find a well full of bloody zombies, still alive and growling. We're shocked. We keep looking for the source of the screams until a suspicious man near the wells approaches us.

"Hey, you shouldn't be here! Just leave it alone!" the suspicious man shouted.

"Sorry, but we heard someone shouting for help!" I said, confused.

"That's unbelievable. Maybe it's just a zombie!" he said and laughs.

"Help, help me!" someone shouted from a well.

We immediately walk to the well where someone is shouting for help and see an adult woman struggling. She looks tortured and seems to have fallen in the well intentionally. Suddenly, the suspicious man disappears.

"Please help me!" she said, trembling. We see her forehead bleeding rapidly. She looks like she's been down there for an hour. We immediately find a rope, but it's not long enough. We decide to seek a longer rope in a nearby house.

We knock repeatedly, but no one answers until the door suddenly opens. We have to help quickly, so we decide to enter. While walking slowly, we see a rat running by. Then, the suspicious man appears out of nowhere.

"You can't help her!" the man said softly while fixing something.

"Who are you?" Louis asked.

"I can't say my name, and you can't help her!" the man shouted, suddenly pointing a gun at us.

"Easy with the gun, we're just here to help the woman in the well. What happened to her?" Akira asked.

"I'm not telling you anything. Just leave, or you'll die!" the man threatened.

"Not really. Tell us why she's down there. Was it an accident or intentional?" Akira shouted. The man immediately tries to shoot, but the gun is out of bullets.

"Hahaha! You're out of bullets? And you're threatening us?" Akira said and laughs.

The man looks embarrassed and tries to punch Akira, but Louis strikes him in the head with his skateboard, and he passes out. We immediately look for a long rope. In the bedroom, I'm shocked to see two children, a young girl sitting and watching her young brother, who is tied up and turned into a zombie. I call Louis and Akira. They're shocked too. Near the zombie is a long rope. It looks like the suspicious man, the woman in the well, and the children are a family, but something went wrong.

"Who are you? Please don't kill us!" the young girl pleaded.

"We're not going to hurt you. Come here with me," I said. She walks towards me in tears.

"What's your name, little girl?" I asked softly.

"I'm Lilac," she said, softly, tears in her eyes.

"Lilac, that's a pretty name. You're pretty like the flower," I said, comforting her.

"Lilac, what happened to your young brother?" Akira asked softly, but she can't speak, feeling melancholy and in tears.

"Lilac, don't be scared of us. Is the woman in the well your mother?" I asked, and she nods yes.

"Really? Can we use the rope near your brother to help her?" I asked softly. She nods yes, then gets it and gives it to me.

We immediately leave the bedroom with Lilac, and we see that the suspicious man is gone.

"Is the man earlier your father?" I asked her, but she shakes her head no.

"Then who is he?" I asked.

"He is my shameless uncle. He was kind and caring to both my brother and me, but over time, he suddenly changed because he became addicted to drugs. First, he killed my father by pushing him into a well full of zombies a month ago. Second, it's his fault my brother became a zombie because one time, while they were getting water from the well, zombies approached them, and my uncle did nothing and decided to push my brother to feed the zombies. I couldn't do anything; I was scared. And now he's killing my mother at the well too!" Lilac explained, trembling and sobbing, and I hug her right away.

After some time, we immediately walk to the well where her mother is. We use a long rope to pull her up. We struggle to lift her as the well is slippery and the rocks she's stepping on are falling, but after almost thirty minutes, we get her out. She's wounded and in pain but looks relieved as she sees her child again, hugging her tightly. The woman is teary-eyed, thanking us for helping her, and we are pleased to do so. Suddenly, we hear a gunshot inside their house, and the man shows up carrying the dead zombie brother.

When the mother looks at her son, she feels like her world is crumbling. She can do nothing but cry and feel furious at the man. Lilac is crying and trembling, holding onto me while looking at her dead zombie brother. The mother eventually runs to her dead zombie son and touches his face while in tears. Suddenly, she slaps the man so hard that his face turns red. The mother fights the man for her dead zombie son, and the gun falls to the ground. Louis tries to shoot the man but can't as they keep fighting faster. We want to help her, but she doesn't listen to us. Then, the man picks up the gun and plans to kill Lilac, but her mother saves her and gets shot in the chest. She is bleeding; Her last words are, "Take care of my daughter. I love you always, Lilac." Unfortunately, the mother runs at the man speedily and intentionally falls with him into a well full of zombies.