Undead Or Alive

Chapter 4

When the group appeared before me, sat by the lapping water of the tiny lake, on a small pebble beach, I felt scared. Nervous. These were all people I didn't know. What if they didn't like me? Shunned me? Maybe I should have kept to her rules?

Well it was too late now. They were gone. Burned out in that fire with my mobile and... I pushed the image away and swallowed, and somehow Jay could see I was nervous, and he smiled at me in reassurance.

Turning back around, something blurred towards me and practically tackled him to the ground. He gained his feet and composure, laughing, when his face was grabbed and a blonde girl kissed him, giving me a sideways glance.

Well, that put me in my place.

Rolling my eyes, I carried on walking, and Jay caught up, the girl clinging to his arm. So this was the worried girlfriend. God she reminded me of the kinda crap I'd had to deal with at school. Needy, possessive, and entirely distrusting of the fellow female populace.

So I decided to focus my attention on the group. There were five of them, not including Jay and the blonde. Three boys. Two girls. The tallest was looking me over, and I stopped and looked him over right back.

"You sizing me up over there?" He chuckled.

"Might be," I said flatly. He was too smug, and he looked like a scarily, slightly older version of Jay.

That's when I knew. That was his brother.

Oh wonderful. They're both gorgeous.

"So who have you brought here then Jaydan? A stray?" He mused.

"Hey don't be such a dick, she's lost people..." Jay said, frowning.

I suddenly remembered what Jay had called this utter douche.

"Nice to meet you Legend." I said, smiling. "I'm Violet."

"Like the small flower?"

"What?"

"I think I'll call you little flower... Lil' Flo. I like it."

I stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"Unfortunately, yes, he is," Jay said. "Guys, this is Violet. Violet, this is Gee," he said gesturing to the blonde limpet on his arm. "That's my older brother Ledge," he said waving his hand at his taller, douchier, older, counterpart, and Ledge smiled and waved. "The girl next to him is his girlfriend Didi," she was like a caramel goddess. Skin, hair, eyes, smile. She was gorgeous. Not that Ledge wasn't attractive either, but he sure didn't didn't give the right impression like Jay did.

"Next to her is Enoch." He was quite tall, dark hair cut into a buzz cut, green eyes, and olive toned skin. He kinda reminded me of an Italian boy in school. He just gave me a half smile and Jay gestured to the next person in the group.

"Then we have Yehuda." A slightly shorter, skinny, Indian boy, that I could only really compare to what I would perceive Aladdin to look like in real life. He waved a little gingerly, and then Jay stopped on the last person in the group and grinned.

"And this little munchkin is Uri," he said. She was very short, petit, with clean cut, short dark hair, big dark eyes, and a very passive aggressive look to her face. She reminded me of Heather when she was little.

"Nice to meet you," I said.

It was like a cricket chirping sort of silence that followed. All you'd need was a tumbleweed and it would be almost comical. I chewed the scab on my lip and Jay and I exchanged glances, which he alternated with the others, but none of them met my gaze.

I felt alienated. Which was understandable, I was an outsider. Maybe even a threat. But Jay hadn't made them sound like this. Reality was always different. Reality was always harder, and I needed to get that into my thick skull now more then ever.

If the standing in silence wasn't going to incite something from them, my big mouth would have to do instead.

"I know you probably don't trust me-"

"Ha! Yeah, that's an understatement," Gee scoffed, and I shot her a look. I did not appreciate being interrupted. "Don't look at me like that. I don't know you, and you come waltzing over here with my boyfriend like your queen off the zombie slayers-"

"Have you killed a zombie?" I asked her.

"What?"

"Have. You. Killed. A. Zombie?" I asked her again, this time much slower with pauses in between, and she looked like she wanted to rip my head off, but she remained quiet.

"Have any of you killed a zombie?"

Jay raised raised his arm in the air along with everyone except Yehuda, Enoch and of course Gee.

"And how many of those were loved ones?" All hands lowered and mine remained upright. "Because I have. And trust me when I say that it changes you. But I need you to believe me when I say I want to help. If I didn't, I would have stuck to my original plan of going solo."

"Where are you headed?" Ledge asked.

"North. To find my sister. We have a plan. I'm meeting her in Inverness."

"And then where?"

I hesitated. I didn't know. I didn't know what after Inverness. I didn't even know why she wanted to meet in Inverness. Or where we would go after. I hadn't thought about it... but had she?

"I don't know..."

"Well we can help you find her. She can't go to Inverness alone. We have to make sure you find your sister safely, right bro?"

Ledge rubbed his chin and looked at Jay who was beaming at me with that smile that made me feel so at ease. I barely knew him and I already trusted him. What did that say about me? Well for one, I couldn't follow three simple rules.

"I suppose, and if you have no plans after-if you're as good as you make yourself out to be. I'm sure I can find it in me to let you stick around," Ledge said casually.

"Cheers... I think."

"You're welcome."

Jay moved away from Gee and came to see me as the others grouped together. "Don't worry, they'll see that you're a badass zombie butt kicker like me," he said confidently. "Trust me Vi," he said, and dragged me to the group by the sleeve of my coat.

A thoughtless gesture to Jay.

"Guys, Vi has the route all mapped out, show them," Jay said grinning.

In my excited giddiness I began pulling it out, and then stopped. "Hey, how did you know about my map?"

Jay turned a little pink and I must have turned pinker, because he let out a shout off laughter.

"You rifled through my things?! I had underwear in there, god dammit!" I yelled, and went to smack him but he darted out the way.

"YOU LOOKED THROUGH HER UNDERWEAR?!" Gee screeched.

Oh boy.

We decided to sit down as Jay was chased, while attempting to grovel and apologise to Gee. I showed the others my plotted route, and I spoke to Yehuda about the original plan. It seemed he was the brains behind the operation, and a bit of a zombie nerd.

The conversation was cut by a scream, and I looked up to find a mini horde heading towards us, and I grabbed my machete and readied myself.

Jay armed himself and stood in front of us all. "Don't worry guys I'll deal-"

"No Jay, you'll calm down Gee and not burn down a nature reserve," Ledge sighed and tossed me a metal baton.

"Time to put your money where your mouth is," he grinned.

"Ten quid says I kill more zombies than you," I drawled.

"You're on little flower."

And so in we went. Into the thrall of danger, fear, adrenaline and death.

And it was weird because I had never felt more alive.