Survivors: W4R

San Francisco, California, One Month Later...

 stand at the top of a hill looking out over the city. If this world was the same as about three years ago, it would be an amazing photo op. I roll my eyes and dig my nails into my palms, watching the blood drop onto the street under my hand. “There it is,” Luke says to me. I got him to feel better, and now he is helping me lead everybody. He points to the area of the city near the Golden Gate Bridge. There is smoke coming out of chimneys, and there is a mass of masked people milling around the settlement. Even the women and children wear masks and black clothing. There is a flock of jeeps and trucks, the trucks all having mounted guns on them. “How are we gonna survive this?” Luke asks, obvious fear in his eyes. “I-I-I don’t know…” I reply.

                “Alright guys, gather around! We need ideas!” I shout. Everyone forms a circle around me and Luke. Eren raises his hand and walks forward. “I have one,” he says quietly. Jess is holding on to his arm. I nod and Luke and I step back. “It’s on you,” I say. He nods and starts talking. “Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. We’ll send twenty-seven people in first to cause an initial commotion, then the other twenty-seven will hang back until the first group signals the second group. The first group will have two flare guns; a green one meaning ‘All clear,’ and a red one meaning ‘Backup!’ When the signal comes in, group two will move in. Combined, the two groups will take out the remaining forces, and this will be over.” He says, the last few words solemn. Hopefully.

                I walk into the city, followed by Doc, Jess, Eren, Sam, and some other people from Elder’s Landing. The sound of people moving around is deafening. I stop the group a few hundred yards away from the settlement, and look into the sight on my gun to get a better view. The people are almost all armed, with an officer standing above them. He is tall and muscular, like most Hunters, with an almost glistening all-white mask on. Then I realize who he it. This officer is the leader of these monsters. Rico de Marcos. He was in the military but went crazy, and when the world turned to what it is today, he jumped at the opportunity to become feared. He started recruiting instantly. This is my chance to make things right. I aim slightly above his head because of the distance, pull in a breath, exhale, then squeeze the trigger. Time seems to freeze when I see Marcos crumple to the ground, red dripping to the white on his mask. The world starts back up again and all the soldiers drop to their knees and pull their guns out, looking all around. The group behind me opens fire on the Hunters gathered around their fallen leader. All I see is blood.

                I stand up, and start to run away from the action. “Dallas recruits! Doc! Follow me! Elder’s, keep fighting!” I yell, and start to run, not looking back to make sure they’re following me. I jump back as one Hunter pops out, then shoot him. I shake my head then keep running. I hear a scream and turn around to see Eren fighting with a walker. I pull my gun to shoot it, but Doc pushes it down. “Too late! Keep going!” He shouts. Jess and Sam look up, shocked. I nod and wave my arm, then start to turn around. “I love you Jessy!! AAGGHH!” I hear Eren yell, then he’s gone. The walker just keeps eating. I grab Jess’s wrist and run ahead of her, dragging her along behind me. Sam runs beside Doc. A loud bang, and the house beside us explodes in flames. We are thrown to the side and hit another house. I hear a pop and see a hole in Jess’s head. Sam is holding a smoking pistol. I lock eyes with him and nod. “It’s okay,” I yell, then push him in front of me, firing into the smoke behind me. I see Hunter bodies piling up in front of us. I turn and sprint after Doc and Sam. More blood.

                I pull Doc and Sam into an alley and stare at them. “Sam, hide in a house, we’ll come back for you after it’s all over,” I say. “Doc, you’re with me.” He nods and follows me. Sam enters the house behind us and Doc and I run away. For an old guy, he is fast. I stay beside him, ducking to avoid flying bullets. I barge into a house, Doc following me, and stare at the pictures of the happy former owners, probably now long dead, and almost forget about the battle. Doc shakes me out of my trance and holds up the red flare gun. I nod. “Do it,” I say. He steps outside and fires into the sky. I turn around, then a kid, probably younger than Sam, runs at me. He has his own mask and black clothes. He yells and shoves a knife into my chest. I step back, surprised, then feel my knees give out and fall onto the floor. My blood. The kid stands over me, then with one pop, he falls to the ground, dead.

                I look over to him, the knife still in my chest. “D-D-Doc, it’s over, we lost. I failed,” I say in a strained voice. It hurts to talk, but I need to say goodbye. “That’s where you’re wrong, kid. You didn’t fail. We won’t quit until this threat is gone, and the only one we have to worry about is the dead. We didn’t lose,” he replies, then smiles warmly. This one looks different, though. I can see the pain and sadness, then hear more gunfire. “Backup’s here,” I say. I close my eyes and think about Jim, who I lost so long ago, about Seph, about Shadow, everyone at the cabin, even little Will, the first living human I had to shoot. I think about how I’m going to see them soon, then open my eyes. I feel tears dance at my eyes, then blink them out. I can’t cry, not now. I wince as the cold barrel of Doc’s pistol digs into my temple. “Goodbye, Doc,” I say. “Bye, kid.” He smiles one more time, then one bang and everything goes black.

As these events unfold, the second group takes down the remaining Hunter forces. When the battle ends, Luke finds the exhausted Doc carrying Sam. My name is Rian Connolly. I did survive the Apocalypse. My story is similar to many others’. I am not special in any way. I did survive. I may have died, but I did not lose to the messed up world. I escaped. The world is still messed up 20 years later as I look down at it. I think to myself that it will end someday, that my friends are still alive. I have seen some of them. Sam, Jess, Doc, most of the Elder’s recruits, Snow, and some other people. They are dead. But I haven't seen Luke or Alice. They are still down there. May God help them. Like I said. I am dead, but I'm a survivor. Even in death, I am alive…