Fighting for Survival

Chapter 15

With all of us finally in a group again- Er.. the four of them... They started making a plan to look for Hanna, Ilsa, and Reese, who they assumed were still in the forest.
"Well, they're sort of good at finding their way around! I don't think they're in the forest anymore." Anna said, crossing her arms and staring up at the sky triumphantly.
"Ilsa and Reese literally run into walls in their own homes, I don't think they've found their way out yet." Juliette retorted. Anna's arms fell as she hung her head.
"Oh. Good point," she sighed in defeat. Her head popped back up when she remembered Hanna's with one of them. "Hey, but Hanna's with one of them! Surely whoever she's with has managed to get out." Juliette shook her head.
"And what if she's by herself? Even if she was with one of them, I'm sure they'd try to rebel," she air quoted rebel, "and do the opposite of what she says. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if we found all three of them dead." The three stared at her in confusion. Did she seriously think that lowly of them? Anna opened her mouth to lecture Juliette about being rude to their friends, but gets stopped by Henry slapping his hand over her mouth. He silently points to a group of zombies stumbling about near the tree line from over the tree tops and down at the zombies around the shed.
Anna narrows her eyes at him and licks his hand. Henry retracts his arm away, wiping his hand on his pants. "Ew.." I still laugh at that, to be honest.
"Anyways, we still need to find Hanna and Reese and Ilsa. I think the first problem we should tackle, is getting off the shed's roof safely. Then we can worry about them. They're good at fighting anyways, they'll be fine." Anna said. Owen and Henry nod in agreement. Juliette rolls her eyes in annoyance.
"Fine. Let's just get off this stupid roof and get it over with." She grumbled, walking to the edge of the wood and jumping over to a sturdy tree. Henry shrieks in panic.
"WhaT-?!"
   "Relax, West!" Juliette yelled up to them. Henry and Anna peer over the edge to where she jumped, finding the lanky girl standing safely on the tree. She grins at them. "We can just swing or jump or some shit from tree to tree." Anna nods her head in excitement, finally being able to know what being tall feels like.
Fifteen uneventful minutes later, they're still climbing across trees. Zombies still speckled here and there, but despite all the rustling, none of them payed attention to the group in the trees. That was, until a tree branch loudly snapped under the brothers' weight. Giving out a quiet shriek, both the boys gathered their footing as fast as possible.
Anna, on a lower level of the tree, almost got hit, but managed to avoid it. However, as soon as she dodged it, the branch thumped onto the ground, catching lots of attention. Zombies' heads snapped to Anna, and like a song on replay, they were caught in the midst of a herd. But this time, it was different.. very different.

Reese and Hanna sprint to the nearest house to take cover. Kicking down the locked door as quick as she could, Reese hurries in, Hanna not far behind. "Barricade the door," she says, voices hushed to a whisper. "And cover the windows so they can't see us or whatever. I'll search the house for zombies." Nodding, the two go to do their jobs.

Hanna pushes the decently heavy couch in front of the door, locking the unbroken lock and tying a secure knot around the handle. Tossing a couple extra chairs on top for some added weight, Hanna turns in time to see Reese walking back into the room, wiping a bloodied pocket knife on her jeans.

Hanna tilts her head in confusion. "Where'd you get the knife from??" Reese looks up at her and points the blade up the stairs, behind her. Sitting down with their stuff on the now emptied out living room floor, she grins as she hears Smudge mewl.
"Some kids upstairs, found it in the hall's drawer or whatever. They probably panicked and locked everything up." Reese pats Smudge's head. "I'll go get some towels and blankets to cover the windows." Hanna nods and looks outside. Zombies began swarming past outside behind the window's broken blinds.
When Reese came back with blankets, they began pinning them in front of the horrid sight outside. Too short to reach the top of the windows, Reese stands on the window sill to help Hanna pin up, however she regrets it when a dead and rotting zombie's hand slams on the window near her foot. Startled, she jumps and ends up falling on her back on the floor.
Hanna cackles quietly at her. "What turned you into a little scaredy cat??" Reese glares up at her from the ground, regaining the wind that was knocked out of her.
"Have you seen some of the zombies in the herd? They're not.." she pauses and sits up. "They're not normal." Hanna turns back around to her after finishing covering up the front window.
"That's because it's an apocalypse. None of this is normal." Grabbing another blanket, she walks over the the side window and gets to work on pinning it up. "Hell, everyone was laughing at The Walking Dead season six about a week or two ago!"
Reese stays silent, crawling over to the covered window. Leaning against the wall, she lifts the corner of the blanket to glance outside. "I know that.. It's just..." she observes the hoard that has begun to slowly make their way past their new fort.
Really focusing in, she spots a few zombies, bodies fully intact. They most likely died from something that wouldn't show physical trauma. These monsters, they weren't like the rest of them. Gradually passing up many, they were inhuman, even to the rest of the zombie's abilities. "It's just that.. you haven't you noticed? They're not all exactly the same.." Reese drops the curtain to give a hard stare at Hanna. "Have you noticed? Some... they're running."

R.I.P
Juliette's belief in Ilsa