Survivors (Paily)

Ch.5 Tess

Rain heavily hits the ground, causing a tense atmosphere as each small raindrop seemed to get louder by the second. The chilly air whispered words as everything seemed to be in slow motion. Almost dreamlike.

"Please, put the gun down Paige."

Emilys pleas snap Paige back to reality. "Paige, what are you doing? Just shoot her for fucks sake, she's already infected." Tess yells.

"Please, I can explain." Emily says. The desperation clear in her voice. "Talk." Paige said, no hint of emotion in her voice.

Relief fills Emilys face as she pulls up her sleeve, a clear bite mark on her right arm. "This was 3 weeks ago." She says.

"Bullshit," Tess automatically replies. "Everyone turned in 2-3 days, so stop bullshitting."

Emily shakes her head. "I'm not! This was 3 weeks ago, I swear!" She looks at Paige. "Why would I lie to you?"

Paige opens her mouth to respond but gets cut off by Tess alerting them of the military trucks coming their way, "Paige! We gotta move!" Tess yells, she runs to the direction of some rubble to hide behind.

Paige quickly turns to Emily, "Hurry! Get up!" She pulls Emily to her feet and pushes her to the direction of Tess as they sprint for cover behind a car. Paige ignores the glare Tess shoots her way when she notices that Emily is still with them.

There's a loud beeping sound in the distance, the military alarm for intruders. There are soldiers searching with their guns and flashlights everywhere, frantically for them. "Shit," Paige curses as she notices soldiers searching near their only exit. "Okay, we're gonna have to run for it." She points at Emily, "You, stay close to me. Don't go into the light and you should be fine, alright?" Paige states firmly. Emily gives a quick nod, then they're running.

After successfully running from two more patrol teams and ducking into the sewer tunnels, they finally escape to the other side. Paige and Tess is looking at Emily, unsure about what to do. Tess speaks first, "So, what was the plan? We deliver you to the Fireflies and then what?"

Emily sighs, "Marlene then brings me to a research lab. Marlene said there's a group of scientists that are trying to find a cure," Paige scoffs, Emily glares at her, then returns her eyes back to Tess. "And that whatever happened to me, is the answer to a vaccine."

"Ha. What a load of crap." Paige says, she notices how silent Tess has gotten. She glances to her, Tess has a thoughtful expression on her face. Paige breathes a humorless laugh, "You can't be seriously thinking she's telling the truth." She's met with silence. "It's a load of bullshit, Tess!"

"What if it's not?" Tess says, "What if she's telling the truth?" Paige shakes her head disapprovingly, "We're already this close, let's just finish it." Tess says.

"Do I need to remind you what is out there?" Paige motions to the ruined city.

Tess sighs at Paiges reluctance, "Well, I'm finishing it, and I don't care if you come or not... because I'm not a coward. I finish what I start." And with that Tess and Emily are walking away.

Paige sighs heavily, "Fucking stubborn asshole," she knows she going to regret it but she follows after them anyways.

They walk through ruined cities, buildings are leaning against each other, broken glass and rubble are at their feet. Abandoned, rusty cars are littered everywhere, the rain hitting the cold metal gives off an eerie feeling. They stop at a dead end, Paige finds an alternative route by going through an abondoned building. They all enter.

"Holy shit," Emily says as she sees a dead solider leaning on a door with weird looking mushrooms sprouting from his head. "What happened to this guy?"