The Undead

Chapter 17: Friendships Cannot Be Replaced

The Helicopter is silent. I know everyone is upset. Britni leaving Andrew. Stevie sad about Kelly. I hope they can manage. I miss them. Holding back my thought I remember Cole. We shared so much and he chooses to stay behind. I keep the chopper steady in the air. California. I wonder what lies there. I always wanted to go there. 

The flight is lengthy and boring. The ground is dotted with splotches of walkers. I fly lower to the ground after a couple hours to spot any state borders. Thats when Stevie points out the military base. "Holy shit! Right there!" He shouts. We all cock our heads. Damn. Jets and everything. I recognize the Jets from previous times. I see militia men walking around before spotting us. They take aim at us.

"State your intent Helicopter!" They say over a PA

"Just survivors finding shelter.........We'll be on our way" I say over the INTERCOM.

They talk amongst themselves for a few before signaling us to leave. We decide against a fight. I hover for a few seconds before they take aim on us again. "Thirty seconds or we will take you out" They say to us. The others try and rush me. The chopper tilts to the left and we go towards the ground. "Jump out!" I shout. We take shelter behind a building before they jump out as the bullets rain at us. I lift back up and fly towards a Humvee in the back. Bullets are flying past me as a hand touches my shoulder. I turn to face Stevie. "You man the .50....I'll drive us" He says to me. I slam into the sands and we hop out swiftly. Bullets are slicing throught the windshield of the chopper. Stevie and I climb into the nearest Sand Colored Humvee. The keys already in the ignition as Stevie lets the engine roar as bullets try and pierce the thick metal platings. I climb in position and load the .50. I take my position and Stevie drives by and I throw bullets into bodies.

I think of all the protection we'll have once we take this base. I spot the others who are shooting at soldiers and they spot us aswell.I signal them to pile in. "Stevie get the others!" I shout to him. He whips the Humvee and I open a door. They cram in one by one making it a tight squeeze. I unload more bullets into the mini army that is appearing. Bodies are dropping. Stevie runs over some that I miss and we circle the base over and over before there remain only two men. I keep the .50 trained on them. Stevie gets out and picks a AA12 up off a body and trains it on them too. "Hands behind your back. Get on your knees." He commands. Phillip steps out and searches for some rope. I see Britni and Ryan join Stevie. Ryan is confused. Britni comforts him. I  see Melanie step out and walk towards the group. Phillip returns with rope. He wraps them up tight after stripping them of their weapons and anything sharp. We move them to the barracks which are old homes. We ask them all they know about anything.

"There is a base in Alaska. 10 times the size of this one.  But with the same amount of people. They arent willing to help survivors. They care about themselves. We've tried to combine forces with them but they declined. We were supposed to take it by force soon. So If you untie us we'll help you do it." The male says. "John....are you fucking retarded." The female groans. "What...they'll let us free now since we are gonna help" He says innocently. "No...now they'll just kill us like the others." She replies. He is dumbfounded.

"No...we wont kill you. We'll just leave you for the walkers. And we'll be taking your F-35's since they can hover and destroy. I'll be taking an apache. So thanks." I say to them.

I have Phillip spend the next week learning how to control  one of the F-35's before teaching the rest of us. They're only 3 Jets and one Apache.  I practice with the Apache day in and day out. It has enough space for our stuff and newly gathered resources. The prisoners we keep  are close to starvation. 

Weeks ensue

--------------Andrews Point of View-----Day of abandonment---------------------------------------------------------

I argued with Stevie. We all did. I didnt trust my own bestfriend anymore. Even after Stevie swears that she was bit. I dont believe Kalebs story at all. He's been acting weird lately anyways.

I see Kaleb approach us with a menacing stare.  He speaks of leaving as he gathers his shit and his little brother. He gets into the Helicopter and asks for anyone to join him. Stevie joins. Then Phillip. I feel Britni let go of my hand. "Babe....no?" I call out as she stares at me before  saying goodbye. Kaleb starts the chopper and Melanie joins last second. I watch as they take off leaving Cole, Kelly and I.

I miss her already. But I decide to take my role as leader. "Ok....they're gone...I doubt they'll be back. So let's just go to fishing and keep at camp." I say to the others. I decide to stay just incase they do return. Its heartbreaking that we came this far only to be split. But Kaleb has lost it.

I walk on the sands with Furball and Cole. We have all decided to fish for the day. Kelly walks around crying over Stevie. I let a few tears drop for Britni. Cole seems upset aswell. I think we all are. But the day rolls on and we make dinner and munch on delicious fresh fish. The walkers in the trench are starting to become annoying.

I become closer friends with Kelly and Cole over the next few weeks. We spend our days pillaging and fishing. We all spend nights sleepless. Everynight I worry about Britni. I know we all worry about someone. 

One day we wake to another horde of walkers. They are chasing someone down. I think fast and grab a gun and start to shoot. Cole joins in and we take the horde down. I see the person exhausted. I run over to help. "You okay?" I ask her. "Oh shit.....survivors?" She says to me. "Do you know a cure to this?" She asks. I quickly note that she is dumb. I have to act fast. We cant have one infected with us. Cole comes up.

"So where were you bit?" Cole asks. "My shoulder." She answers him. Cole looks at me waiting for me to make the decision. He sees that I am clueless. He lifts his pistol. "We need Kaleb back" He says before pullling the trigger.

I feel defeated. I know he is right. Kaleb was a great leader. We also did better with the others. I also miss the others. I go back home with Cole and Join Kelly and the dog who are now playing fetch. "What happened?" She asks us. "Walkers we needed to kill" I say. 

I sit and pray. "Please return for us!" I scream out.

The moment I say that I spot two Jets zoom past.  I stand up. "Holy shit!" Kelly says. We look in the sky and the jets are joined by an attack chopper and another jet. They circle overhead before hovering and slowly descending.

"Miss us?" Kalebs voice rings over the intercom. "No fucking way" Cole says softly.

"Now get in" He says as the back drops open. The cockpits pop open and Britni gets out of one and runs into a full embrace with me. I see Stevie hop out and embrace Kelly. The last cockpit opens and Phillip gets out and runs to Cole. "Missed ya bro" He says before pulling him into a bro-hug. Melanie, Ryan and Kaleb all step out of the Apache and greet us. "We decided to come back for ya guys.....since we need just about all the firepower when we overrun another army base....in Alaska" Kaleb says.

We gather our stuff and get in the Chopper as the three return to the jets. We take off and I talk to Melanie about Alaska.