Rise Of The Others

Chapter Six

"I'm like a child looking off in the horizon
Like an ambulance that's turning on its sirens
Oh, I'm still alive"

"Liam..." I could hear a familiar voice in my ear. His soft deep voice kept going around my mind, but the scent. It smelt so familiar: the axe deodorant, the scent of sweat, smelt so damn familiar. The feel of his muscular arms around my waist, it just felt so heavenly.

"Nate?" I had managed to blurt out. My brain was basically functioning at 3%, so I couldn't think clearly, at all.

"Liam," I could feel his hot breath on my neck, circulating around my body. "I love you so fucking much..." Nate rested his head on my shoulder, his arms still locked onto my waist.

I slowly lifted my head, turning over to look at him. He had this golden tan, soft, curly yellow hair, a rounded face, broad shoulders, and a muscular chest.

Nate began to lean closer, his hand resting on my face. Next thing I know, our lips were pressed against one another's. I almost forgot how heavenly it felt to be kissing him.

After that, he rolled over onto his back, looking at the ceiling. "You know, Liam?" He said, turning his head back at me. "I've been waiting for so long to see you, and every day, I keep thinking you were either dead or a zombie, and now... I can finally see you again."

"I know how you feel, Nate," I replied, looking back at him. "I've been waiting for so long to get in touch with you. I've kept dreaming about seeing your beautiful face, and now, we're here," I grabbed his hand softly, inching closer.

"So, remember that night before I left?" He asked, putting his hand on my chest.

"Yeah, I would never forget it," I replied, placing my hand over his.

"Liam, I'm getting really hungry, can you show me the way, oh dear leader?"

"Oh my god, don't ever call me that again," I said, getting up from the bed.

"Okay, jeez fine," as he had gotten up from the bed, he wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his head in my shoulder.

"Come on, Nate. I gotta get dressed."

"But I like seeing you naked..." he whined, letting go of me.

I slipped on a shirt and shorts with shoes and called it a day. A basic outfit, sure, but I didn't want to do anything.

Everything else was rather chill, no attacks, absolutely nothing. I mean, so many things happened yesterday, I didn't want to deal with anything. I needed to calm down, stress levels are above the roof, I really didn't care what happened today. I was so damn tired, I had to drag myself out of bed.

"Hey hey hey, Liam!" I heard Bloodrayne shout, holding her hand out for a high-five.

"Yo Bloodz, what's up?" I said, doing our signature handshake; a high-five, fist bump, and hug.

"Nothin' much, what 'bout you dude?" She began to walk with us.

"Hey Bloodrayne, long time no see." Nate finally managed to blurt out.

"Holy shit, I heard the rumours you were here, but to actually see you? So fucking cool!" She gave him a high-five, still walking with us to the cafeteria. "So, how have you been?"

"Meh, nothing much," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, want to get breakfast?" I said, putting my arm on Nate's shoulder.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

While we were talking to the cafeteria, once known as the food court. I could obviously see that there were cracks on the marble walls, as usual, there were papers scattered across the floors, and the chairs and recliners were still all pushed against the wall.

It was a Thursday morning, so it wasn't that busy, just the occasional person carrying either a laundry basket or a breakfast tray.

I wasn't really carrying anything, neither was anyone. 

As we all walked inside the cafeteria, we saw civilians crowded at the tables, eating breakfast, laughing and talking. Each time I see these people just being who they are is hopeful. It calms me down, it gives me hope that there's a future in this new world.

While we got our breakfast, which was some bacon, hash browns and pancakes, we sat down at a table near the window. 

"Hey, Max!" I heard Bloodrayne say out loud, her mentor, Maxine walking up to the table with her girlfriend, Chloe. Maxine had short brown hair, an anime looking face, and she always wore this hipster outfit. Alongside, Chloe was the opposite of her; having this emo punk rock look scoring tattoos on her arms.

"Hey Bloodrayne," Maxine said, waving her hand. "So, have you heard about the kidnappings?"

"Heard? I saw it fucking happen," Bloodrayne sulked, letting go of her fork. "I was just talking with Lucas, Nick, and Ben, then I suddenly saw some people behind all three of them, drugging and taking them to the UBCO." I could see tears forming in her eyes, her hair covering her entire face.

"Why didn't they take you?" Nate brought up, stuffing more food in his mouth.

"Yeah, good question. They had those three, but not you?" Chloe added.

"All I could remember before passing out was them say this: 'At least we have the backup'." Bloodrayne flipped her hair back, beginning to eat her food again.

"'Backup', huh?" Maxine replied. "I think it's beginning to make sense now. A lot of people knew about your power, and I believe that if they made a mistake, you could be there to fix it. As you know, turning back time." 

"Hey guys," I heard Lincoln mumble, walking up to the table and sitting down. "What are we all talking about?"

"About you, Lincoln." Maxine pointed at him. "You could be the solution to find a vaccine, maybe a cure. I mean, you are immune to the virus, right?" She brought up.

"So is everyone outside these colony walls," I said, remembering the thousands of people outside. "There's barely any zombie threat anymore, or at least here. Who knows? Maybe there's millions of infected in like Toronto or something."

"That's a good point," Nate said, pointing at me. "And don't forget about the outbreak in Seattle."

Chloe, Maxine, and Bloodrayne both spat their water in shock. "Holy shit, what?" They shouted all at the same time.

"Outbreak? In fucking Seattle?" Chloe said, aggressively slamming her cup down.

"Its true. I was actually in the city when it happened. I was about to cross the wall with my squad when I was sent word about it. It's actually terrifying; a city that you were raised in, now torn to shreds." He sighed, placing his fork down. "What was it like when the first outbreak occoured?"

Everyone began to look at him, Bloodrayne even shaking a small bit. It was silent for a moment, almost all of the voices around us drowned out. 

"It was horrifying." Maxine mumbled, breaking the absolute silence. "We were just on vacation, wanting to get away from Oregon."

"Max and I were leaving the mall as I saw people panicking; hearing gunfire." Chloe added.

"I was at home, with Max, James, and Caden. The alert ready tones came on, and it went completely downhill soon after," I said, shivering softly.

"Me and the rest of the missing group were trying to get to Lucas' house, in the middle of the outbreak. I can't really explain how it felt to you all, but the only thing that I know is that it was absolutely terrifying," Bloodrayne commented.

"Oh my god," Nate whispered. "So many different stories, but the exact same goal."

"To survive." I replied.