Survival Mode

Chapter Forty - Two

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the sun rose high into the sky. Dashi and the others grabbed their weapons and left the mansion. Today, they were going to get Tweak back.

Together, they marched to Carter's lair. Kate had an idea of where it was, because whenever she and Kwazii spoke telepathically, he always ran back into the woods. Sure enough, after walking about a mile through the woods, the group reached the lair. Dashi turned to look at the group before entering. "Does everyone remember their designated groups?"

There were yeses and nods. Then, everyone separated into 4 different groups: Tominnow, Tunip, and Heather - Malcolm and Peso - Kate and Dashi - and Doctor Wilson and Emily. Kate tapped Dashi's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "What if we don't find Tweak here?"

"Oh, we will," Dashi replied back in a whisper. "Everyone, listen up! Once we enter the building, we are all going to split up. Look everywhere. We're going to find Tweak here, I can assure you."

With that being said, the groups entered the building and split up to search for Tweak. Tominnow, Tunip, and Heather went down a hallway with several rooms. Heather put her arms around the two kids. "Stay close, you guys," she warned. Tominnow and Tunip exchanged glances. Tominnow smiled slightly at him, as if to tell him it was going to be alright. Tunip nodded and returned the smile.

"I suggest we start checking the rooms," Tominnow whispered. She went up to the first door and opened it. Nothing.

Heather went to the next door. Still nothing. Then, Tunip went to the third door. He opened it and let out a gasp. "H - Heather? T - Tominnow? You should take a look at this..." The two girls came over and gasped as well.

"Oh my God..." whispered Heather. Inside, was zombies. Hundreds of zombies inside the tiny room. Each one had their eyes closed and stood perfectly still, as if they were asleep. Heather quickly pulled Tunip away from the door and slammed it. "Check more doors," she whispered.

The two did as she said. They both went to two different doors and opened them. Nothing. Heather went to a different door and opened it. She almost screamed at what she saw. More zombies were inside, eyes closed, standing perfectly still. She immediately closed the door and went to another one. When she opened it, there was nothing.

"I think it's a pattern," Tunip suddenly said. He pointed to two doors nearby. "When we open those doors, there will be absolutely nothing inside. But, when we open a third door, there will be more sleeping zombies."

A smile formed on Heather's lips. "Tunip, you're a genius! But what do you guys suppose is the point of all the empty rooms?"

Tominnow growled under her breath. "Right after my father started the zombie apocalypse, he created this hallway. He told me all about it. The first two doors are a warning. If you don't heed the warning, and open the third door, you'd be attacked by zombies. My father thought that at some point, someone would come in the night trying to destroy him. It's a stupid trick, to be completely honest. It only works at night, too. The zombies are out at night. My father is very smart, but at the same time, very stupid," she explained.

"Does that mean this whole hallway is just a trick?" Heather asked.

Tominnow shook her head. "Not all of it. At the end of the hallway, there's a set of stairs leading down to a basement. That's uhm... where my father kept me after you guys threw me out..."

Tunip lowered his head. He felt awful every time Tominnow mentioned to him the day they threw her out like she was a piece of garbage. Heather put an arm around him and stuttered over her words. "Uh... L - Lets see if Twe - Tweak is in that base - basement. Perhaps she is?" Tominnow nodded in agreement and lead the two down the hallway leading to the basement.

Meanwhile, Emily lead Doctor Wilson back outside. "Maybe Tweak is being kept outdoors! While everyone searches inside, we'll be finding her outside." He nodded and allowed her to take the lead.

As they walked, Doctor Wilson noticed Emily was limping. He questioned her, but she said she was fine. After awhile, Doctor Wilson felt worried, and questioned her again. This time, she ignored him. "Emily," he said, "tell me what's wrong."

She let out a sigh and stopped walking. Emily turned to look at him. "When I was 8, my mother was murdered by an old coworker of hers, who was jealous because she was making more money than him. After my sister figured out he was my mother's killer, her fiancé went missing. I was so mad at everything... at the world... I used my father's cane to smash my foot because I was so angry. It hurt so bad, I passed out. I woke up in the hospital with my foot wrapped up. The doctor told me I would limp for the rest of my life because of it."

Doctor Wilson was shocked by her story. It seemed as if everyone in their group had gone through something traumatic at one point in their life. Shellington, Tunip, Kate, and Kwazii being beaten with their parents gone, Peso sold as a slave, Dashi's mother was dead and so were the two men she loved, Heather and Emily's mother was also dead and Emily had a smashed foot.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Emily," Doctor Wilson replied with a sigh. "You remind me of my daughter when she was your age. Once she hit the age 13, she wanted to take care of herself, and always insisted she was fine. She was always closer to her mother... they talked a lot about girl stuff. After she died when Dashi was 14, she was so depressed, she wouldn't come out of her room for an entire month."

Emily smiled at Doctor Wilson. "I am 13, and sometimes I do tell my father I can take care of myself..." She giggled and grabbed his arm. "Now, come on! We have to find Tweak!"

They continued walking around the building. Soon, Doctor Wilson stopped Emily and pointed ahead. There was a staircase leading downward. Slowly, the two walked down it and entered a dark room.

"What the hell are you two doing down here?" Doctor Wilson and Emily screamed in fright. However, when they quit their screaming, they saw Heather, Tominnow, and Tunip.

Emily let out a sigh of relief. "Phew. It's just you, sis. We were looking for Tweak, what are you three doing down here?"

"We're looking for Tweak, too," Tominnow replied.

Doctor Wilson smiled. "Okay. I'm scared to death. Why don't we become one big group, yes?" The others exchanged glances and nodded. "Alright," he said. "Let's find Tweak!"

With Malcolm and Peso, the two had headed down a different hallway, leading to a jail cell. Malcolm let out a sigh. "I don't think she's in here, Peso."

"You're right," Peso agreed. He shivered and hid behind Malcolm. "Dude, it's freaky in here. We should go."

Suddenly, the two heard a groan. Peso squeaked in fright and grabbed Malcolm's arm. A voice called out, "Peso?"

He let out a gasp. "Kwazii? Is that you?" Peso looked in the direction of one of the cells and saw Kwazii chained up. He ran to the door and attempted to open it, but was unsuccessful. "What happened to you?" he then asked.

"Carter locked me up," responded Kwazii. He pointed to the cell across from him. "Tweak... Have you seen her? Carter injected her with a poison that speeds up her pregnancy... In 3 days, she's going to give birth..."

Peso's eyes widened. He turned to look at Malcolm, whose eyes were wide as well. "We need to find Tweak," Peso remarked.

With Dashi and Kate, the two ran down a hallway calling Tweak's name. Kate opened one door and gasped. "She's in here!" she called to Dashi. The two ran inside and gasped together. "Tweak..." Kate whispered.

"I - I woke up like this," Tweak whispered. "Carter... he made me drink a potion that put me to sleep... Kwazii told me it was supposed to speed up my pregnancy..."

Dashi let out a sigh. "Kate, grab her. I'm going to search for the others and let them know we found Tweak. Meet me at the entrance in 5 minutes." Kate nodded and ran to Tweak. Dashi quickly ran out of the room and continued running down the hallway.

"Dashi..."

Dashi gasped and stopped. She slowly turned her head and looked inside a room. She nearly screamed, but quickly covered her mouth with her hands. Inside the room, was a man... a very familiar man...

Shellington.

And he was alive.