The Network Inspector

Chapter 11:Road To Safety

 We all stare at West, shocked. I was told that he died. It's a surprise, seeing him alive and well.

 "I see there's a girl in the group," West says, ogling Lucy. Ricky grabs Lucy's wrist, letting West know that he has claimed Lucy already."Overprotective boyfriend, I see,"

 "I never agreed to be his girl," Lucy tells West, freeing herself from Ricky's grip. She moves closer to me, and I place my hand on her shoulder.

 "West, remember me?" Adam asks West, sounding furious."You tried killing me, and decided to murder my friend. That's why we exiled your ass. How did you survive your exile, and what is going? Who are these people who keep attacking us?"

 "Damn, you got bit," West tells Adam, eyeing the wound on his arm. My ears attune to the sound of a faint groaning noise. At the field where we were fighting for our lives, a large group of feral people are slowly walking towards us."They're coming, so we have to make this quick. Whoever wants to live, get on these buses now!"

 People start pushing and bumping into each other, determined to get on the bus West just exited. There are around six other buses, but all of us are attempting to board West's bus. Mason shoves a couple of boys out of the way, then helps Lucy into the bus.

 "I'm getting on a different bus," one boy says, sounding irritated. A couple other boys follow him to the bus behind West's.

 After ten seconds, I board West's bus. The bus is clean, and the seats look comfortable. Lucy is sitting near the front of the bus, Ricky sitting beside her. I take the seat behind Lucy's, and hope that I don't start sobbing.

 When West boards the bus, he sits at the driver's seat. He must have been the last one to enter the bus, because he closes the door and starts reverses the bus. The buses behind ours reverses as well, allowing the convoy to move backwards. The feral people are now stepping onto the bridge, leaving the field.

 West manages to get our bus off of the bridge. The feral people stop following us, realizing that they will most likely not be able to get to us. I take a deep breath as West drives the bus deeper into the city, following the rest of the convoy. I wonder who the other bus drivers are.

 "Okay, people. I'll start talking!" West yells. The teenagers who are talking, ceases their speaking so we can hear West better."You will have more information once we get to the safe zone. But I'm prepared to tell you about my exile. After I was launched beyond the large walls, I landed in a room with a large cushion inside of it. I screamed in terror, because I seen men and women with blood on their mouths. They were moving all slow, and spotted me inside of the room. Since they were outside, I had a feeling I was safe. I knew it would be a bad idea to stay surrounded by those people, so I planned on leaving the room. There were weapons inside of the room, so I took some and exited the room. After I spent awhile shooting the hostile people, I ran onto the bridge. A bus came onto the bridge, then some armored adults emerged from it. They told me they would take me to a safe place, then brought me to the place where I'm driving towards."

 That's how West survived. A group of people rescued him, and saved him from a terrible death.

 "I'm sorry, West," I hear Mason say."I didn't want to exile you, but you gave us no choice. Killing another Network resident is the biggest rule of the Network. Even though you saved us just now, I want you to know that I won't forget that you committed murder."

 No one talks to me as we travel further into the city. There are feral people in the streets, but not too many. Ricky and Lucy speak to each other as I close my eyes, a tear flowing down my cheek. When I open my eyes again, dark clouds have rolled in and rain is starting to fall.

 I view the streets, watching as a feral group of people stand in the rain. They are wet from the rain, but don't seem to care much about it. A few corpses lay at their feet. Now I can see why Adam didn't want anyone to leave the Network. The outside world seems to be a depressing, cruel place. The Network is paradise, compared to this place.   

 Desperately, I want to be back in my bed at the Network. At least there, I didn't have to worry about hostile people eating my flesh. After ten minutes of moving through the streets, the convoy of buses stop at a gate. There is a tall fence surrounding a huge building, and the wide gate is blocking our path to the building.

 One of the armored people from a different bus, heads outside of the bus. The person opens the gate, then enters their bus and starts driving again. West drives behind the rest of the convoy, then parks the bus in a nearby parking lot. The rest of the convoy have also parked.

 "Everyone, leave the bus and head straight into that building!" West shouts.

 We obey his command, then head out of the bus. I spot a armed man closing the gate, then locking it. He is holding a assault rifle, allowing me to get a sense of protection. We start moving towards the building. The building is illuminated by lights from inside of it. At the building's entrance, four armed men stand guard.

 The rest of the boys-from the other buses-join us, then make their way towards the building.The adults from the other buses also leave the vehicles, then follow us to the building. One of the guards opens the building's front door, smiling as if he is glad to see us.

 The door opens up to a luxurious lobby. Armed guards stand inside, also grinning. Why are all of these guards so happy to see us? A well-dressed man stands between two guards, waving politely at us.

 "Welcome, former residents of the Network," the man says."My name is Alvin Rate. Welcome to the safe zone set up for all of you, located in the city of Los Angeles. You are all in the state of California, which has fallen to the zombies that populate the Earth on a global scale."

 "Zombies?" I say."What does that mean?"