Outbreak! Virus 'Z'

Chapter 16: Family before fries

Batter's P.O.V.

Emma wouldn't look away from Gaby's arm, the one that got bit. Why is she acting like this? Gaby's not gonna turn, we already know this! Gaby grunts in pain as her arm twitches uncontrollably. We should be helping not watching! I see Emma slowly reach towards her back. Then out of nowhere she pulls out a gun. WTF?!?! When and where did she get that thing?! She doesn't hesitate to aim it at Gaby's head. No... She wouldn't! Emma quietly mumbles to herself. All I catch are a few words like 'family first' and 'must be done'. I start to panic as she takes the safety off. Gaby slowly stops twitching and is completely still. Then she opens her eyes slightly. Emma's finger that was on the trigger starts to squeeze. I panic again and try to grab the gun. The trigger us pulled and a loud noise rings through the room. Emma doesn't move.

Rage fills me as I punch her and rip the gun out of her hand. She isn't fazed. I look around the room to see everyone with their hands covering their ears an crouching down. No one is hurt. I quickly avert my eyes towards Gaby and see if she is okay. She seems dazed by the way she lazily looks around the room. Everyone slowly gets up and takes in everything. Larry and Cathy walk past Emma and up to Gaby to see if she is okay. I join them. I had kept the gun in case Emma tries something again. Gaby is fine and we help her up onto her feet. She's a little wobbly so Larry helps keep her up straight. We all turn to Emma as she keeps her head down. None of us say anything as we head for the door. We don't even take a single glance as the door is shut. Sam-Sam was patiently sitting near the gate, as if she knew this would happen. I open the gate as we head out into the sea of darkness.

It was still really late and the sun won't be up for a long time. "Should we go back to that one guy's house?" Cathy asks. "N-no, we keep m-moving forw-ward." Gaby manages to speak. "But what about Emma?" Larry asks. "We leave her. If she's smart enough she will come find us. If she stays here she will become weak from depending on the houses defense." Gaby speaks a lot more clear now. We all nod knowing that we will have to leave Emma behind. We take our time navigating the town. Me and Cathy protect Gaby and Larry. There aren't many raised but still, they are here somewhere.

Archer's P.O.V.

As we walk agonizingly slow through Shadow town, I have been gifted the job if helping Gabberdink stay standing. I can tell that she' trying her best to stay up but if I let go of her, she will immediately fall. Gabberdink's not the lightest she can be but since I'm the man of the group I have to do the heavy lifting. Bobo is behind us while Cathy is in front. Eventually we make it to the outskirts of town. That's when the sun finally stops playing hide and seek. As light streaks from the horizon we walk along a dirt path towards the next town. We walk for 2 hours before Gaby needs a break. She plops to the ground, panting. She grips here arm. "Does it hurt?" Bobo asks. "Not really, it just stings a little." Gaby responds. After we rest for a while we continue on. We're back in farmlands with fields of fruits can be found. We don't take any this time around. We walked for a few more hour until Gaby needs another break. It's not her fault.

We continue on again. Nothing new. It slowly starts to turn dark. We reach an orchard where we decide to sleep for the night. Once all of us have eaten dinner, we watch as the sun dips beneath the earth. We say our farewells to today as we all claims into our trees. Me and Bobo help Gaby into her tree. It was dark by the time we all got in our trees. The only source of light was the moon high in the sky. There were no stars tonight. Unable to sleep I looked around. I notice Cathy looking out at the road and spotting a few raised. She was about to go take care of them until more appeared behind them. She stayed in her tree. I look over I see many more appear behind the others. Eventually I loose count of how many there were. It turned into a sea of raised. They all walked right under us and straight to Shadow town. Straight to where Emma was. No, I won't let them. After they pass I silently hop out of my tree and follow them. The others won't notice that I'm gone. I just need to make sure that Emma is okay.

Batter's P.O.V.

I woke up to the sound of someone falling out of their tree. I open my eyes to see everyone was on the ground, except me. I sit up and slide off the tree. Big mistake. I get a splinter on my hand and leg. I bite my lip to keep from crying out. I look at the scene in front of me. Larry is tied to a tree while Cathy just stares. Gaby is right in front of him with a menacing look on her face. "I told you that we leave her behind and that means we don't care about her anymore." Gaby speaks in a powerful voice but I can hear her voice waver slightly when she said we don't care anymore. Larry lowers his head. "I'm sorry but I had to make sure she was okay." Larry whimpers. "Do you know what would have happened if I let you run into that herd? You could have died or get bit!" Gaby I now yelling. Wait, did she chase down Larry? Larry doesn't say anything and just sits against the tree. "Alright fine, one day is all she gets. One day and we're on the road again." Gaby says with irritation thick in her voice. Larry raises his head in disbelief. "Really?! You mean it?!" He speaks. Gaby nods and walks away from him. She climbs back into her tree and not even seconds later, falls asleep. Well that was something.

To be continued...

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