Oblivion {n.h.}

Chapter 60.

STEVEN'S POINT OF VIEW:

"ALLISON!" I yell at the top of my lungs, shoving the small girl out of the way and backing up far from where tons of walkers escape from the men's bathroom of the rest station.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Louis yells from the entrance of the building, his gun firing also from that end, many dead people from the outside, finding their way in from there too.

Crowded and trapped on both sides, the only option was to shoot our way through things. I back myself up against a window carefully, some of the dead wandering off toward me instead of Allison on the opposite side of the station.

"RUNNING OUT OF BULLETS HERE." Louis yells again, reloading his gun and firing over and over.

A small shatter next to my ear, present, then another, this time louder, and I then have no back support behind me.

A walker inches close and holds me by the neck, it's jaw snapping back and forth as its lip hangs low next to my ear.

"Ugh– fuck!" I groan, reaching in my back pocket, frantically trying to grab my hunting knife.

I feel the flesh tickling my ear now and the decaying teeth dangerously snap closer and closer to my head, and then I'm being pulled out of the window, but the jaws no longer snap.

Lydia stands above me, outstretching a dainty and pale hand, the fingernails painted a soft pink at me.

"Come on, up!" She orders, and I grab her hand reluctantly, practically flying through the air and onto my feet, standing by the girl's side while she shoots at the dead menacingly.

Kaya runs past quickly, and Harry's raspy voice is to be heard, shouting orders at somebody somewhere.

"Few more behind you Lou!" Allison calls from across the isles and shoots three arrows toward the last few walkers that limp towards Louis.

The boy pants heavily and looks to his right, Harry standing there and watching him, waiting for a reaction. Before the smaller boy jumps into Harry's arms and they kiss passionately.

"Where's Kaya?" I ask, peeking my head through the shattered glass window, before stepping in carefully, and grabbing Lydia's hand from the outside for her to do the same.

"Here." Her lifted voice echoes throughout the now bloody and crowded area, climbing through the top window of the bathroom and falling in. She must have taken aim from a high place in the bathroom window.

"God am I fucking glad to see you." I look to Harry, glad a not even close enough word to describe my feelings. Proud the boy was capable of protecting both of the women on his own.

"I killed Reed." Lydia spoke up from behind me, and I spin myself around the quickest I've ever done in my life, surprised I'm not sick of suffering from whiplash.

"You what?"

"She shot him, right before my eyes." Harry finishes for the girl, and I scoff in disbelief.

"That's– that's incredible!" Louis gapes at the both of them, his mouth indecisive on whether to smile or stare at them in awe, so he does both. "So we don't have to worry about anyone anymore right?"

"I wouldn't say that." Kaya replies, and as usual, I find myself turning my head toward every voice that speaks up. If I didn't have whiplash earlier, I have it now. "There was someone else ordering people after us, and no one was even phased that Reed was dead, they just followed the woman's orders."

"What 'woman'?" Allison sasses out with disgust laced in between her words.

"I don't know, didn't get a good look at her face." Lydia mentions to Allison, both of the girls knowing the group well, it'd be weird if they didn't recognize a face or person.

Allison wipes her nose with her hand and swings her crossbow over her shoulder nonchalantly, before resting both hands onto her hips.

"Everyone wanna clear the place out before it gets dark? I don't plan on sleeping with a whole bunch of walkers, put down or not." I state carefully, gaining a nod from mostly everyone, the others already taking part in helping.

We drag out most of them by their arms and legs, trying not to totally rip off their limbs or create any more of a mess than we already have on our hands.

Working as a team, the job gets done in what I'm guessing was just under an hour, but we weren't gonna finish before nightfall anyway.

By the time we weren't even half way done, the clouds had become too heavy and finally released the rain down over our heads, making it a lot colder work than it should've been.

Most people take the floor, Lydia sleeping across the couch I'd once lay on earlier today, and I take watch first, just out of pure generosity and simply not caring.

In about three hours give or take, Kaya woke up for the next shift, and then Louis, and so on.

By morning we all feasted on old, stale granola bars, but I wasn't complaining. Lydia suggested it would be best if we went ahead and left on foot by now, out of fear we may still be getting tracked or followed by Reed's people.

"Do you think anyone is already there?" Allison speaks up, all of the snow along the roads now nowhere to be seen, only the rain we'd received turn't to ice.

"I'm sure of it." Kaya replies for her, before anyone else could, let alone I didn't think anyone really was going to.

The open road ahead of us, not really open, cars, cars, and more cars.

Until the sound of crunching ice not coming from our feet, but from the North was to be heard. The sound was much heavier and fluent than any human body part could ever make.

A car, or vehicle, swerving its way through the traffic behind us, no one wastes the time to hide or run at the seams, all my group does is cock their weapons, one by one clicks all around.

A jeep, dark green 2012 wrangler and splattered with blood on the passenger side.

The large jeep stops right as it reaches my side, and I grip my weapon tightly, waiting for any sudden negative movement.

The window rolls down slowly, but before I could even make out who's face it was before me, they speak out three little words that make my stomach lurch happily at just the thought of them.

"Get in assholes."

Danielle's brown hair flowing around her face, her long curls escalating away from her cheeks as the cold wind blows, very serious at first. The music on the car radio begins to rise, and so does her smile, her white teeth pouring into me like the sun. She was more than livid.

She was alive.