Dead Blood

Rogue Party (Separated)

Back in the more desolate part of Texas, where it was nothing more than fields of fire at this point, Guillermo had just ran out of gas and sat in the truck. The virus had only gotten worse, since he was now hacking up blood mixed in with bile. "I'm turning..." he whispered to himself. "I can't die like this... why didn't I listen to Greg?" He stepped out of the truck. "What do I do?"
"The answer to that is simple," a voice said.
Guillermo had been too busy trying to keep himself alive to notice someone was behind him. So, when this person spoke, he jumped a bit. He turned around to notice a tall man with glasses. He had a beard that made him look like he was homeless, but he kept himself clean, surprisingly. "Who are you?" Guillermo asked.
"I'm known by many names," the man said. "But you can call me Greg."
"Greg?" Guillermo looked in confusion. "But you can't be Greg. He can't grow a beard to save his life, it's just chin hair on him." He coughed up more blood.
"Right now, your body is trying to keep you from turning," 'Greg' said. "And it's only getting worse. If you want to live, I suggest you come with me."
Guillermo laughed in pain. "And just why would I do that?" He asked in a smartass tone. "After all, there's no cure, so I'm gonna die anyway. Let it be among the abundance of shuffling corpses."
'Greg' smirked slightly. "That's a lie," he said in a deep voice. "There is a cure. And if you want it to have any effect on you, come with me, now!" His voice was stern, with a hint of anger in it.
Guillermo sighed as he followed. "Well, I've got nothing to lose."
'Greg' nodded as he led Guillermo to his vehicle. He opened the door to the back seat and let him sit. After Guillermo was in, they drove off. "Perfect. Now I have a new Guinea pig. It's a shame that the last experiment got blown up by that bastard child of mine. But now, he will finally have met his match," 'Greg' thought.
The next morning, Greg woke up feeling sort of energized, and kind of happy. He looked next to him to see Star slowly waking up, smiling at him.
"Good morning," she said with a bright smile on her face.
Greg couldn't help but smile at that. It was the first time he had heard those words since his parents died. "Good morning," he said as he brushed her hair back. "How do you feel?"
She smiled brightly. "Not bad, for the end of the world," she snickered a bit.
Greg chuckled a bit. "Well, we should probably get up," he said as he stretched out. "After all, we've got a lot of ground to cover." He stood up and put his clothes on.
Star stood up and put her clothes on, then came up to Greg and rest her head on his shoulders. She felt safe, calm, and peaceful. Even though the world was gone, she knew that she would be okay.
Greg smiled as he kissed her forehead. He took a look at his phone to see the time, and saw a green light flashing from it. "That's weird, most of the cell service is dead. Who texted me?" Greg asked aloud. He took a look, and almost accidentally threw his phone.
Star took a look and almost freaked out. It was him, it was Guillermo. "Take a look, what did he say?!"
Greg opened the message, and his excitement turned into anger. The message wasn't from him, just his number.
"Its been a long time, Greg," the message started. "So glad to see that you're still alive after your match with my pet. You remember? That big thing that looked like it had overdosed on steroids? Yeah, that was him. No hard feelings on that, though. After all, I have a new experiment to tamper with. Your friend here seems to be turning into one of those infected. I can prevent that, but I have a feeling you won't like what happens if I do. So, I'll give you a choice. If you want to save your friend here, then you'll go to this building. It's an abandoned compound that was used by the CIA in the 70s, during when they were still using MK Ultra. Hurry, your friend is waiting."
Greg growled in anger as he loaded up his weapons. "Let's go," he growled.
Star, who was still freaked out, stopped him and shook her head. "Greg, we don't know who that was. It could be a trap," she said.
"It is a trap," Greg responded. "And I know who it is."
They both went outside, everyone else was waiting for them. Natalie, who seemed in shock, snapped out of it as soon as they walked out. She saw Greg's face, and ran up to them. "Greg? What happened? You look like you're gonna rip the tail off of a gator," she said.
"We need to go, I know where Guillermo is," he stepped toward the Impala. "He's with my father."
"WHAT?!!" It seemed like everyone had shouted simultaneously. They were in shock. How was that possible? Greg's father has been dead for eight years now.
"How the hell is that even possible?" Natalie asked. "Your dad died when you were ten."
"I have a feeling that was all a lie," Greg said as he opened the car door. "But Guillermo's about to turn, and he's with him. That's all I know right now. So, are you coming?"
They all nodded and piled into the Impala. The engine turned over, and they drove off.
The drive was long, and all Greg could do was focus on the road. He was burning with rage. Not only was his friend about to turn and he left, his father gas also been alive, and is apparently holding him hostage. "Fucking great," he said, trying not to explode.
"Greg, it'll be okay," Natalie said.
"No Nat, it won't," he responded. "Because my dad is alive, and he's got Guillermo. I wouldn't be surprised if he either turned or was ripped up and put back together again."
"Greg," Star chimed in. "I don't think that happened. We'll find them." She held his hand gently.
Greg sighed as he looked down for a minute.
Heather, who saw what was going on, screamed out loud. "RPG 12 O'CLOCK!!"
Greg shot up and saw it darting straight for them. He swerved out of the road, barely dodging the missile. He peered behind him, checking to see if the missile was out of sight. It was. He let out a sigh of relief, but that was short lived as he kept speeding.
"TRUCK!!" They all screamed as they braced for impact.
The crash had knocked the wind out of them all, and caused a couple scrapes and bruises. They all crawled out of the car as fast as they could, on different sides. Greg and Natalie fell to the left side, coughing and wheezing as they crawled away from the crash. As they got up and regained their strength, they saw that they were surrounded by automobiles, and that the Impala was on fire.
Greg took a look and stepped closer, which wasn't the greatest decision. The Impala exploded and sent him flying onto the ground next to Natalie. He coughed more as he got back up. "STAR!!" he screamed. "HEATHER!! BRANDON!!"
"We're okay!!" Brandon screamed back. "A little banged up, but we're okay!!"
They all sighed and looked around. They couldn't find any openings to regroup.
"There's no way we can get around this," Natalie said. "We're separated."
"That's all right," Greg said. "Keep heading for the compound, we'll meet up there!"
"Got it," Brandon said. "We'll see you there."
"Star," Greg called out.
Star looked back. "Greg?"
He smiled and tossed her something through the flames. It was one of his pistols, his personal favorite, a Beretta. "Don't die."
She caught it and nodded. "I'll be waiting for you," she responded.
They went their separate ways, to the same destination. Even though they were separated, they knew that they would be reunited soon.