Dead But Not Gone

Arrival

Hazel

After a long couple hours, I finally figured out the cause of the spreading infection. A pathogen was brought here by an animal we took in and killed. Someone consumed the tainted part and got sick, then spread it to somebody else unknowingly. I informed Maria about it and she was speechless. I also told her about the new official vaccine that would work and she was on board to try it.

I injected the new serum into the sick people and their fevers quickly faded away. In excitement, I continued the process until all the remaining survivors were better. Once I concluded that the vaccine worked, I checked on Star. When I walked in the room, Star was sitting up and her eyes widened in happiness when she saw me. I quickly ran towards her and wrapped her in a hug.

"You're okay! Thank God!" I cried in relief.

"Yeah and its all thanks to you." Star responded.

We let go of each other and I smiled at her. Her skin was back to its rich brown color and her skin wasn't sunken in anymore. I brought her back to the medical tent and showed her how I made the new medicine.

"I used some of our real wiz touch, combined it with some ground up herbs, added some painkiller dust and boom, we got a vaccine that works on everybody." I explained while I shook the bottle of liquid.

"Well this should make life easier then," Star said. "but where's Derek and Xander?"

"They went out on a medicine run because I thought we'd need more but I was wrong. They should be coming back soon."

Just then, I heard the loud blare of a boat and looked out of the tent. In the distance was the Hope and it made its way through the dark night into our docking station. Maria anxiously walked onto the deck with her men and waited for the ship to come to a halt. I joined Maria and Star followed me.

The Hope inched towards the end of the dock and slowly stopped. The blades whirred in the water creating an almost horror like sound. I waited as the bridge extended to us.

"Long time no see Zoey." Maria shouted as she walked towards the metal bridge.

Instead of an answer, something was thrown out of the ship in a knapsack. Maria looked confused and picked the bag up, opening it. Inside was Zoey's head and before Maria could question what was happening, a flash bang was thrown into the crowd of people on the dock. My ears rang violently and I tried my best to see through the shining white light. Star dropped beside me and then everything went in slow motion. Maria motioned for me to follow her but I didn't wanna leave Star behind. Maria pulled me away from Star's lifeless body and took me into the building. Gunshots started firing from both sides and I ducked my head for safety. Maria and I finally made it to the main hallway where our soldiers were waiting and took cover behind a box. She pulled out her walkie talkie with shaky hands and turned it on.

"This is Maria from Blinkesville attempting to reach The Revolution! We're under attack by an unknown threat and we're requesting immediate assistance!"

After a pause of silence, John's voice came from the radio. "Maria! How many enemies are there?!"

"I don't know. Bullets are flying everywhere. I'm sitting next to Hazel and we're crouched behind a box."

"Damn. I'll see what I can do."

The gun shots stopped and everything fell silent.

"Just hurry up and get here! Please!"

A man came from behind the box and dragged me over by my hair. I fell face first into the white marble floor and immediately tasted blood. Maria was yanked from behind cover and had the walkie talkie taken away. As I looked up, I heard a terrifyingly familiar voice.

"Yes, come help. I remember you buddy. You fucked it up for me last time and it won't happen again. I advise you stay as far away as possible fuck face." It was Rodney speaking into the radio.

"No! John help us!" Maria pleaded.

There was silence from his side once more. Then, John said, "I'm sorry. This isn't my fight and I can't do much. I'm sorry."

Rodney smiled and turned off the radio. He noticed me and walked my way. His boots slammed into the floor until he stood in front of me. He violently grabbed my chin and made me look up at him. His grey hair covered a side of his face and he stared hard at me.

"I missed you Hazel. Once I found out you were still alive, I hoped we'd cross paths again. A little birdie told me that you'd be 'far away' from us but little did I know that you were only a couple of hours away! What a small world." He released my face and chuckled. "So uh...where's Derek? Is he dead or is he hiding?"

"He's dead." I lied through gritted teeth.

"Aww, fuck me. I wanted to make that asshole rejoin his brother but I guess that can't happen since he's dead."

"Wait...brother? What do you-"

A man with an eye patch walked inside the building with Star hung over his shoulder. He placed her against the wall and walked towards us. As I looked closer, I noticed who it was.

"Danny...?"

Derek

We heard gunfire coming from Blinkseville. Xander and I ran to a hill that overlooked the whole camp and saw the Hope releasing people with guns into the camp. I noticed Hazel run in the building with Maria and saw Star laying motionless on the cement. Then, I saw him. Rodney casually walked out of the ship with a pistol, finishing off those who were wounded.

"What the fuck!? Xander we gotta get down there and help them!" I shouted in anger.

"We can't. There's too many of them there. We gotta wait." Xander disagreed calmly.

"Are you fucking crazy?! Our friends are down there! Alessandra is there and so is Stella. They all need us!"

As I went to walk down the hill, Xander grabbed me violently. He pulled me back and threw me to the ground. "Listen here! We can't save them if we're dead! They need us alive and we're gonna stay alive. Let's wait for a little and see what Rodney does. I'm sure Alessandra is fine but right now, we need to make sure we get down there without getting detected. Snap out of it Derek."

I nodded my head and Xander helped me up. I looked down at Blinkseville and saw fire licking at the tents. My heart ached but I agreed with Xander. We needed to be alive to save our friends. Anger boiled inside of me and I knew who I was going to take it out on. It was only a matter of time until I made that asshole suffer like we did.