A Kennedy Promise

Graveyard Shift

Disaster hit. The road was too congested to move through, and soon enough, they were surrounded. The bus had been overturned and was hanging dangerously over a cliff. The windows had been smashed in, and shards were everywhere. The survivors had nowhere to hide or run. Some were fighting for their lives, while the others had their luck run out. Helena had passed out from the impact, and Leon was covering her. At the other end of the bus, Joseph had shielded Juliet from the infected. However, he had been bitten by one of them before he had the chance to react. He kicked off the infected and smashed its head in with his boot.

"Oh my God, Joseph! No!" Juliet screamed, her eyes focused on the fresh bite mark on his arm.

Joseph quickly pulled down his sleeve, blocking her view. He pulled her towards him and shot at the other infected.

"I'm not gonna turn into one of them," Joseph said, continuing to shoot. He wasn't sure if he could look her in the eyes or comprehend the fact that he was going to die. "I promise, sweetheart."

Promise. He didn't know if he could do that, but what he did know was that he had to protect Juliet. No matter what happened. The bus began to tilt precariously, and all of a sudden, it toppled over. Joseph covered Juliet with his body, hugging her small frame while his own body got pierced with several shards. The bus landed on the ground, and the side of the vehicle got completed smashed. Joseph pulled Juliet out, while Leon did the same with Helena. Just as the four crawled out, the bus combusted into flames, leaving nothing but burning debris and corpses.

"Shit. Everyone all right?" Leon asked, quickly looking over at Juliet.

"Yeah," Joseph answered before Juliet could.

Leon nodded before talking over comms. While Leon and Helena were busy, Juliet hurriedly turned to Joseph. She tried to pull up his sleeve to take a closer look, but he wouldn't let her.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Don't lie to me!" she replied in a harsh whisper. "You- You-"

She wasn't able to complete her sentence. She was already starting to cry. He tried to wipe off her tears, but she slapped his hand away. At the same time, Leon had just ended his conversation and noticed that something was wrong. He walked over to the two.

"What's going on here?"

Juliet marched away from both Joseph and Leon. Leon looked quizzically at Joseph, who gave a tiny shrug. Helena caught up with Juliet, and the two men followed behind. They walked through the dark graveyard. The rain was pelting down on them hard, making visibility even lower. A sudden flash of lighting caused momentary blindness for the four. An undead had risen from its grave with a shovel in its hands and crept up behind them. They avoided the swinging shovel over their heads, but the muddy floor caused Leon to slip into the open grave. Juliet forcefully grabbed the shovel from it and severed its head. She threw the rusted shovel aside before extending her hand to Leon.

"Thanks, Juliet. Didn't feel like getting buried alive down there," he remarked, but she didn't answer him.

Something's definitely wrong, he thought. He tried to pull her aside to talk, but she deliberately put some distance in between them. She moved away from him and instead headed forward. There was no time to argue, so Leon pushed on. They fended against several others before reaching a gate. It was locked, so the group backtracked to a small red shed. Helena had found the key, but before she could grab it, an infected dog snatched the key and ran away with it. They had no choice but to hunt it down. Once that was done, they headed through the gate. However, an infected showed up from nowhere and pushed both Leon and Joseph down, separating them from the ladies. Joseph wrestled himself away from the infected before shooting it right in the head. However, he felt his chest constricting and suddenly he felt light-headed. He quickly shook it off before Leon could see.

"LEON! JOSEPH!" Juliet called out. "Are you two all right?!"

"Yeah," Leon coughed out, shielding his eyes from the rain as he squinted at the two figures above. "Keep moving! We'll catch up!"

Helena pulled her arm, and the two hurried off. Leon suddenly caught a glimpse of the bite mark, and he put two and two together.

"She knows, doesn't she?" Leon asked.

Joseph knew there was no point hiding it. He sighed, "Yeah. I can already feel it in me. I don't have long."

Leon cocked his head, and Joseph immediately took a step back. He raised his hands in surrender, shaking his head.

"I can't let you be anywhere near her," Leon said firmly, pointing his wingshooter at him.

"I'm not gonna turn into one of those things," Joseph countered. "I'll never put Juliet in danger. Just- Just let me see her safe in the cathedral, then I'll leave."

Leon contemplated before putting his gun down. Shit, he cursed. Joseph lowered his hands and took in a deep breath.

"She didn't take it too well, huh?" Joseph asked quietly.

"She's tougher than you think," Leon answered. "She's not the same girl she was back in 1998, though I wished she'd never gone through any of these."

Joseph stared at Leon intently. He laughed bitterly, having solved his own mystery. "She loves you, you know," he said dismissively.

Leon was stunned. He didn't know what Joseph was getting at, but he continued to listen to him.

"She's been missing you every single day. Don't let her down, and don't ever let her get hurt. Not anymore."

"...Yeah," Leon agreed.

They went quiet for a few seconds before Joseph told the older man to get moving before the women became worried. Meanwhile, the other two were fighting off against a shrieker. They had been chasing it down for a while, but its constant shrieks were slowing them down.

"Just shut up already!" Helena grumbled, aiming for its lungs.

Just before it could run away again, Helena managed to kill it. The two women looked at each other in relief before heading up the path. They reunited in front of the cathedral. Juliet felt her heart stop when she saw Joseph. He wasn't looking too well, but he was still putting on a strong front. And from the looks of it, Leon had known too, but he didn't say anything.

"Great, now that we're all here, let's finally head inside," Helena said. "I'm sick of the rain."