Beside the Dying Fire

Sarah's POV

I had spent the last few days with Sree and Laila. They were there when Sydney and Hannah died, so they understood me. We were just sitting in the living room of Sydney's apartment, trying to forget everything. She had the entire Harry Potter book series, so I binge read them all in the past few days without Kai or Savannah. After I had finally finished them all, I felt like there wasn't much else to do in that apartment.

"I'm booooooooored!" I lay down on the couch. Sree and Laila seemed pretty out of it, as well.

"What do you wanna do, then?" Laila asked.

"Hmm," I thought. "We could go see Danny while he's recuperating."

The other two agreed and we went to the hospital.

We walked into the lobby. Leo passed by.

"There you are, Sarah!" he exclaimed. "Kai has been-"

"Where's Danny?" I cut him off, not wanting him to talk about our problems.

He rolled his eyes.

"3rd floor, room 18."

Leo walked out the front doors and went out of sight. The three of us used his intel to meander to the room where Danny was. He had a bandage wrapped around his forehead and one on each arm. Otherwise, he seemed fine.

"Oh, hey guys," Danny greeted us.

"You seem a lot better," I smiled at him.

"I've had a few days to heal. Savannah really did a number on me. I was getting ready to finally go home when you guys showed up. Leo gave me a clean bill of health and left to go restock his medical supplies elsewhere."

"So you can go home?" I questioned him.

"Correct." Danny looked around, seeming confused. "Where's Kai and Savannah? They're always with you."

"Not anymore."

"Did something happen?"

"Listen, I don't wanna-"

Bang!

Bang!

Two gunshots rang out. We all got alert on the spot. Sree pulled out her kitchen cleaver and Laila her tire iron.

"Danny, does this room have a gun?" I asked.

He pulled open a drawer and showed me a 1911 pistol. He tossed it to me and I pulled out the ammo clip. 7 shots. The four of us slowly walked to the lobby to investigate what was going on about 7 minutes after the gunshots. We walked into the streets. To our left, nothing. To our right, an incoming horde of walkers. Among the herd, 4 of them were too close to us, almost close enough to grab us. I pulled out the gun and aimed at their heads.

Bang! Headshot.

Bang! Headshot.

Bang! Miss.

Bang! Headshot.

Bang! Miss.

Bang! Headshot.

After those four were down, I was left with one bullet.

"Danny, grab one of those bodies and bring it into the lobby!" I commanded.

He did as I said and the rest of us followed him. Once inside, I demanded that Sree use her cleaver to cut open the guts of the walker. I had each of us smear the walker's insides on ourselves. The smell was so putrid, my eyes got watery. And the sound... oh, the sound of rubbing the guts on your clothes made you want to puke. Once I was sure that we would fit in, I told everyone to follow me into the herd. Our plan was to get outside of the walls, then get help from there on.

By the time that we made it out, the very front lines of the parade were with us. So, we were still slightly in front of them all, just as we would want. After moving to the end of the block, I noticed someone. A man was running away with zipties binding his hands together. I assumed that that meant that he was a prisoner. He looked as if he were running to the armory. I aimed my gun at him. I placed my finger on the trigger, but I didn't fire. I felt like I would need that bullet later on.

Speaking of needing that bullet, I heard the sound of metal hitting the concrete road. I turned around and saw Laila struggling with a walker wit her tire iron on the ground. I guess she dropped her weapon accidentally, for that walker knew she was human. She was behind all of the rest of us, so by the time we got to her she would have been bitten on her calf. I aimed my gun at the walker's skull and fired.

Bang!

The corpse flew to the side. She picked up her melee weapon and began to catch up. That gunshot attracted the entire crowd, so the 4 of us began to sprint. The dead were still tailing us very close behind. Once Laila was next to me, she looked at me.

"Thank you, Sarah. I owe you my life," she told me.

"It's fine. I would've done it for anyone else."

"It's not fine, you endangered your life to save mine. For that, I am eternally gratefully."

I smiled at her and she smiled back. We made eye contact, but that was soon disrupted.

Bang!

A bullet passed through her chest, causing her to tumble backwards. The screaming for the gunshot soon intensified as the walkers began to tear into her.

"LAILA, NO!" Sree began bawling.

My heart felt like it skipped a beat. She just kept screaming. I turned back around. The man that I had let go, he held a rifle which had smoke emitting from the end. He killed Laila. The prisoner ran away towards the wall of San Diego.

I had no more bullets to end her suffering. I couldn't get close enough to stab her brain. All I could do was leave.

I grabbed Sree by the wrist and yanked her away as I followed Danny, who was to lead us to safety.

"NOOO! WE NEED TO DESTROY THE BRAIN! WE CAN'T LET HER TURN INTO ONE OF THOSE THINGS! SHE WAS THE BETTER SURVIVOR IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME! IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME!" she cried out, trying to resist my grip. I would not let her go. I wasn't going to let anybody else die today.

Once we reached the back gate, Danny sprinted for a sedan that was conveniently parked there. While he started the vehicle, Sree gloomily got into the backseat and I slid the gate open. On the other side of the wall, there were a few lurkers. I slid over the car hood and got into the passenger's seat. Danny floored the pedal and ran the biters down. I don't know where he was driving, but by the glint in his eye, he was just trying to get away from the emotions that he left behind there. I don't blame him. I just wanted to escape, as well. It's just too bad that when you're damned to Hell, you will live there forever.