The Falling Stars (The Vamps and One Direction Zombie Apocalypse)

Chapter 10 - Training and Truce

I swung the axe, and it hit the dummy’s head so hard it came clean off. Sofia was staring, wide eyed as she threw knifes casually into a dart board. Emilie was doing pull ups in the doorway.

“Impressive” She raised an eyebrow

“Not bad for a guy with only 8 fingers huh?” I laughed.

“Technically you have 6 fingers and 2 thumbs” Said Sofia, sticking another knife in the dart board.

“Fingers, thumbs, same difference” Grinned Emilie, jogging over and grabbing a weight.

I didn’t know why but Emilie seemed to be looking and acting different of recent. She often made the effort to talk to everyone, and exchange pleasantries without a prompt. She now offered to help me more only not with physically demanding activities, which she point blank refused herself.

I also noticed, though I couldn’t say this, that she had put on weight. I didn’t want to ask but I wondered why.

Alex wandered in and Sofia blushed bright pink. They hugged briefly, and he came over to me, his muscled arms showing under a tight blue t-shirt which made me feel very out of shape.

“Hey Con! Still sorry about the hand and all, but the guys wanna see you in the meeting room!” He slapped me on the back.

“Okay, I’ll be down once I finished with arrows” I replied, picking up a bow and heading to the target range. I shot three out, two of them missing. I cursed, wishing I was better, before throwing it to Alex who was next up and leaving the room.

I was quite pleased with how my muscles were coming on when not comparing myself to Alex or Jake nowadays. I had definite signs of a six pack coming on and my biceps were pretty big now. Despite my disadvantage with the not having many fingers thing I think I could still over power someone easily.

I grabbed a small towel and dried the sweat off my body, before jogging to the meeting room in record time. It looked to me like I walked into an intervention. Brad and James sat with their respective girlfriends who all turned to look at me. I rolled my eyes.

“What?!”

“We just wanted to apologise,” Said James. He had his hand on the small of Lucy’s back.

“We should have listened to you Con,” continued Brad, walking over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder “we’re ready to come and look for Tris with you now”

“It’s okay,” I said, walking further into the room and sitting down in a cracked leather armchair “You’re probably right, and Tristan’s gone. I’ve just got to let go”

“You sure, we’ll go look for him, like we used to when it was just us three-“ James said, looking at me directly.

“It’s fine.” I cut him off

“C’mon Lu, Emilie will be mad at us if we’re late for training again” said Ellie “One arm and I still have to train!” I wiggled my finger stumps at her and she grinned “Not even healed properly yet! Oh well, at least I’m left handed now, I always wanted to be!” she adjusted her glasses and gave Brad a hug. “See you later guys”

Lucy kissed James sweetly on the lips, and they both smiled into it. I could practically hear Brad’s eye roll and feel the small, insignificant but perpetually there green monster shift its position on my back.

“So how you been anyway?” Brad asked, and I looked at him, puzzled. “Well you’ve been in the medical bay for ages and out of work, and James and I are still on different shifts of work and training” I remembered that James was on the night shift, “And then there’s Ellie too. I have no energy or time anymore! Seriously I’m so drained of all liquid I think if I cried I’d cry dust!”

“Woah! TMI!” Laughed James “But I know what you mean! Lucy’s kind of-“

“Stopping you right there!” I interjected “I don’t have a girlfriend guys so this is extremely awkward!”

Brad licked his lips and wiggled his eyebrows, shaking his hips and winking. I burst into the first splutters of laughter I had uttered in weeks.

“If you do that I’m surprised she’s not dumped you yet!” Laughed James, and I poked Brad in the side. He got freakishly sensitive about his sides, and doubled over with a laugh.

“I’ll have to go now guys” I said “I’m getting new bandages today” I waved my finger stumps in their bandages. They ached badly, but felt like any normal cut.

I headed over to the medical bay, where Megan was waiting with cleaning fluid and fresh bandages. Maddy was sat on the operating table, putting her own new stitches in a deep cut down her leg and the matching one on the back of her hand.

“Hey sweetie you okay?” She asked. Her long hair was tied back in a pony tail and her hands worked quickly to re-sew the cuts.

“Yeah. Cuts opened again huh?” I replied, and she nodded.

“She shouldn’t have been training on the range alone!” Sighed Megan, shaking her head as she strapped up my hand. I winced when she doused it in antiseptic. “No sign of infection Con, you’re good” She smiled.

I nodded.

“Cut myself with my sword while I was practising!” Laughed Maddy, who was washing her hands in the sink. “You done here now Meg?”

“Yeah, gotta clear out those two rooms that aren’t being used though, you know, those ones that the weird girls left”

“Oh yeah” said Maddy “Wanna help Con?”

“No I’m okay” I smiled

“Oh god sorry Madz I’m on kitchens tonight!” Megan sounded surprised

“It’s okay, I’ll go up after we eat to help” I said, privately thinking I would have nothing better to do. “You could ask Benjamin though, I’m sure he’d help you,”

***

I trudged up to the third floor corridor on the right, where the weird girls had lived. It was eerily quiet, although I could hear the light buzz of Maddy’s earphones, but nothing else.

I walked into the room that had belonged to the girl who I had been so fascinated with. It was very messy, blankets and paper and pens thrown around the room. The papers contained drawings, which I tried to see, but could not understand. I kicked a few papers out of the way, to reveal a green one. There it was again, the number 14, written in bright purple ink against the shiny green paper.

I picked it up, examining it with my eyes, hoping for some clue to what the 14 meant.

I could hear the shuffle of Maddy’s footsteps in the other room, which stopped quite suddenly. I looked towards the door, but before I could move there was a small thud and the sound of a chair scraping along the floor, followed by another set of faster footsteps, and then the ominous sound of a rope creaking back and forth from the rafters...