After The Fall

Finding Safety Once Again

Cry's group walks along the inner tree-line, the sky a darker gray than the day before. A thick scent of rain fills the air and the friends walk in dreaded silence. They don't want to be out in the open when the rain finally falls. The wind picks up and Ohm shivers, crossing his arms.

They trudge along in silence, thunder rumbling in the distance. Minx sighs, leading the group alongside Cry. Ohm walks behind them with Dave and Signe. Dan, Entoan, and Phil follow up the rear. The sound of the infected are steadily growing louder, their shapes in the trees coming their way.

Dan frowns, "We need to get out of here. I don't know if those things know we're actually here or not, but they're heading in our direction."

Phil looks around, looking scared. Entoan looks at them before jogging a few steps to where Cry and Minx are, "Hey, we gotta get a move on. Infected are heading our way."

Cry look back at him, nodding, "Let's pick up the pace."

Entoan looks back and makes a hand gesture towards the others and everyone starts jogging. Still, the sounds of the unread rise around them. The group is uneasy, jogging faster. A screech suddenly rings out and a small group of infected come sprinting towards them.

Dan grabs Phil by the arm and pulls him along as he starts sprinting. Everyone sprints as well and Entoan aims his gun to shoot one of them, sprinting backwards. Cry takes his pistol out as well, taking up the same position. They shoot down three of the sprinting infected, but more come sprinting from the horde forming behind them.

Entoan shoots another before turning back to the others and running as quickly as he can while reloading his shotgun. Cry looks back at his friends, "Just run!"

They do as Cry says, all sprinting as fast as they can while the infected continue to chase them. Phil trips and Dan gasps, trying to pull him back up. Signe turns at the commotion and moves back to help them. Entoan looks back, eyes widening, "Signe, come on!"

"Come on!" Signe groans, helping Dan pull Phil back to his feet.

Not fast enough, though as the first sprinting zombie reaches them, snatching Phil from Signe and Dan, sinking its teeth into Phil's throat. Dan's eyes widen as Phil's broken scream fills the air, his expression a mix of fear and pain. Dan pulls out a gun and shoots the infected that bit Phil.

Signe grabs Dan, and despite his angry cries, she manages to get him to run back towards their friends. They quickly catch up with the rest of their group, and the horde behind them stop chasing to feast on Phil. They quickly leave the woods, continuing to run, hoping the trees will keep the infected from seeing them for at least a little while.

Cry spots a house in the distance and leads his friends in that direction. When they finally get to it, the door is locked. Ohm steps up and starts picking the lock while Cry keeps a lookout. The rest of the group gather around and Dan glares at the ground. He's shaking, his hands clenched tightly, his knuckles turn white. Signe looks at him with a sorrowful expression.

No one says a word. Saving Phil just wasn't an option. The infected were too close, and his death allowed their escape. They all know this, but they won't say a word of it. It's still a tragedy, one they hadn't seen coming. Minx, Cry, and Ohm hadn't lost anyone since Krism, and her death was somehow deemed a better outcome than Phil's. More words no one will say.

Ohm gets the door open and they all pile inside. They check the place for survivors or infected, and find no one. Another family who never made it home. They work to fortify the place a bit, but with the horde they know isn't far behind, they know they won't stay here long. It's just another haven for the night, Ohm sighs as he takes a look around, Might be able to stay until the horde passes us.

Dan shuts himself in one of the rooms, no one tries to go after him. Signe sits on the couch, sighing heavily as she covers her face with her hands. She starts crying and Entoan frowns lightly, sitting beside her, "Hey.. It's going to be okay.. It.. Could've been a lot worse.. You and Dan could've died, too.."

"That doesn't make it any better..!" Signe's cries are muffles by her hands.

Entoan sighs softly, looking away. As true as his words were, he feels terrible for saying them. He's upset about losing Phil, they all are, he just doesn't know how to react. The only other person he had lost.. It was different. He leans back and stares at the newly boarded up window.

Dave sits on Signe's other side, just rubbing her back quietly. Ohm, Cry, and Minx move into the kitchen to check for supplies. They go through the cabinets in collective silence for awhile. There wasn't much left, so they ended up just sitting at the table quietly. Cry sighs after awhile, "That.. Got bad way too fast.."

"Yeah.." Minx groans, "It's like they came out of fucking nowhere. And now Phil is dead.."

Ohm nods, rubbing his eyes, "It's.. Just terrible.."

He props his elbows on the table and leans in, resting his head in his palms. Minx looks at him, "You okay?"

"Yeah.." he replies, "Just tired."

He looks back at his friends, giving them a tired, weak smile. He was tired, but more than just exhausted. He was tired of everything. They had been fooling themselves the past few months, he knew it. There is no going back to normalcy. It doesn't exist anymore.

"I feel ya," Cry smiles softly, "There's another room over there if you wanna take a nap. No one will stop you."

Ohm chuckles softly, "I just might take you up on that offer. I'm not feeling that great honestly."

He moves and rubs his eyes again, blood trickling from his nose. Minx frowns, "Uh, you're nose is bleeding."

Ohm quickly wipes it away on his sleeve. He smiles lightly back at his friends and stands, "Really not feeling well, I guess. I'll be taking that nap if you need me."

He quickly heads to the room and once he's gone, Minx turns to Cry, "You think he's okay?"

Cry crosses his arms, "I'm sure he's fine, he's just exhausted. He couldn't have gotten bit or anything, he was nowhere near the infected. If anything Dan and Signe are in more danger of being infected over Ohm."

Minx slowly nods, "Yeah.. You're right. We could all use some down time."

Cry nods and he and Minx get up and go back to the others in the living room.