Lockwood Highschool Breach

Chapter 7

Anthony

All of it had happened so fast. One moment he was sitting between Cassidy and Ashley, the next only Ashley. The car had flipped twice and skidded down the road, landing upside down with smoke billowing from the hood. He groaned and checked himself for wounds; there was nothing serious, just a few scratches from the stray glass. He crawled out through the broken window and coughed, causing a painful burn in his chest and throat. He stumbled away from the wreck​ and glanced back to see Dean getting to his feet, immediately reaching down and rubbing his left calf. Ashley and Brittany were standing on the driver's side and looking into the car.

"Lucas! Can you get out?" he heard Ashley ask. He saw movement in the car that was followed with a small grunt. He walked over to them and looked to see Lucas' legs were pinned under the steering wheel. With some wiggling and a few hard tugs from him, he managed to get free and was quick to scoot over to the passenger side.

"Macy!? Macy get up!" Lucas called out. Anthony peered past the other boy to the passenger seat and saw that the redhead was out cold, hanging from her seatbelt. The screams of zombies split the air and Lucas was quick to unclasp the belt, supporting her head and easing her down. She was suddenly dragged out of the other side, getting lifted up into the arms of Dean.

"We need to get somewhere safe before those things get here," he said as he shifted Macy into a more tolerable position. Anthony looked around frantically as panic overtook him. There was blood on the street that stopped halfway across and it was clearly from none of them.

"CASSIDY!" he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. He waited for a reply but got nothing. The first zombie came into sight by the other car that had caused the wreck. It got down on its hands and knees and crawled into the car towards the unconscious driver, biting into her shoulder. Others came running after it and joined in on the meal, tearing into the poor lady.

They hadn't noticed the teens yet so the small group took the time to gather their items and moved towards one of the houses, Ashley handling the bag with the pistol and Cassidy's katana draped over her shoulder. They went into the house and locked the door behind them. Anthony started pacing back and forth, continuously running his hands through his hair. "We need to go back out and find her."

"You know that's a dumb idea," Dean said as he laid Macy down on one of the black leather couches.

"B-But she is out there weaponless and hurt for all we know! We can't just leave her out there unprotected!"

"Anthony, we can't risk the chance so just drop it," Brittany said. The boy turned to her angrily and opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by a loud bang on the door. The wood splintered and cracked after a few fast, hard hits, a hole showing a disgusting cream colored eye peeking in at them. The zombie screamed and the punching became more rapid as more started beating the door, wanting to get in at them.

"We have to get going," Ashley mumbled.

"No no no! We need to find-" Anthony began to protest, but Lucas stopped him.

"Seriously, Anthony, if you know Cass any better you should know that she won't give up anything without a fight. She knows how to handle herself in almost any situation, especially when it comes to survival. We will find her, but now is not the time to look for her," he said. Anthony sighed and he knew he must have had such a desperate look on his face.

"Fine... I-I'm just really worried."

"We all are," Ashley said, putting on the backpack that held the gun. Dean picked up Macy again but this time she reacted, putting a hand on his chest and pushing him slightly, yet she didn't open her eyes. He let her shift in his arms as he started towards the back door with the others following. They went outside into the fenced yard; it wasn't very large but they needed to get out fast.

"We can jump it," Anthony suggested.

"How are we gonna get Macy over?" Dean asked.

"You can hand her to me when I'm over." Without waiting for an answer, he climbed over the fence quickly. He landed on the other side and turned around to see something dark run around the side of the house. Dismissing it, he turned back and gave the okay for Dean to send Macy over. He made sure her weight was balanced and held her carefully, leaning her against the fence once he successfully had her. She whimpered and her eyes fluttered open, looking around and blinking a couple of times as she rubbed her head.

"What happened?" she mumbled. Anthony only glanced at her over his shoulder from across the yard. The others landed around her as they jumped over the fence, making her flinch in surprise.

"Had a wreck," he said quietly. She looked at him with confusion, then at everyone else. Her eyes widened with fear and worry as she took a headcount.

"Where's Cassidy??" she asked, the panic obvious in her tone as she got to her feet. She saw Anthony's body tense and looked to everyone else, expecting an answer.

"We don't know, but I know she's okay," Ashley said, sounding like she was more trying to convince herself. Macy took a step forward but her right leg buckled and she almost fell, Lucas grabbing her arm quickly and lifting her back up. She straightened herself and walked forward more but stopped and lightly stomped her foot to see what was wrong. Pain shot up her leg and she gritted her teeth to prevent herself from screaming.

"What hurts?" Lucas asked her.

"My ankle. I'm pretty sure it's just a mild sprain or something, nothin' serious," she mumbled. "I had a thought as well. If the town is looking like this where there are a lot of people, we should go out to a less populated area. I think my Ranch would be suitable, since it's out on its own land. My parents might still be there if those... zombies haven't gotten that far yet like I think. We have a few weapons out there too; if you guys are okay with it, we could start heading that way."

"Sounds like a plan," Dean said.

"But what about C-" Anthony started, but stopped when he heard barking in the distance, actually sounding rather close.

"We might run into her on the way. That's a great chance, she couldn't have gotten that far from us," Ashley said. Anthony sighed and walked to the door of the house. He opened it cautiously and stepped in when he saw it was clear. The others followed after him but they stopped in the living room when Macy sat down.

"We should really rest after that wreck; we don't know the extent of our injuries even if we look fine on the outside. Just a couple minutes to be safe," Dean said. Anthony nodded slightly and sat down on a recliner, the others finding places to sit as well. He looked out of the large window across the room and ran a shaky hand through his hair, his leg starting to shake.

I hope you're okay, Cassidy... Please be okay...