The Turning End

Ch. 2 The Twins Base

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It has been almost half a month since we abandoned the 7-11. We were on our way to Los Angeles and brought the food we can carry in our bags so we wouldn't starve on the long journey. We did find an abandoned Ford F-150, it was pretty big, but we had to have some people go in the trunk, like Pear and Nova and we had everyone take turns driving the Ford. We didn't lose anyone thankfully, only some walkers got in our way but we were still standing proud, heading to Los Angeles, where the twins said it would be. It was a very long journey over there, but we made it finally.

"Are we there yet Nova? It's been a week and you said it'll take almost half a week to get to Los Angeles." Kana said, sounding bored, everyone was also tired. "Speaking of Los Angeles, we can finally find the rest of the gang! They might still be alive in LA!!" Elisa said, sounding thrilled to see her old friends, now everyone was hyped up for heading to LA, seeing their friends and their new base.

While the gang was excited for hopefully seeing their friends alive, the twins both had a sinister grin on their faces. They were planning something for the gang, especially with the Boss of their clan. The only problem is that they have to be friends with them to get on their good side, which they have since they got out of Vallejo, they made progress, but Pear wouldn't give in to the plan at all.

Time passed, almost a couple of hours on the road, having the orange-yellow sky turned into a bluish-black night sky, the stars scattering over the sky. I was driving the truck while almost everyone was asleep, Pear and Nova were still awake since I could hear them from the trunk talking, I eased in the conversation they were having. "Come on Pear, at least try to be friends with them, for me and the Boss..plea-" "I am not going to be or act soft around these pricks, especially their 'leader' of this shitty gang." Pear cutting her off, sounding way more pissed than before.

'Wait...Boss? Are they working for someone? Are they traitors??' My mind was spiraling with questions, questions about if they are gonna do something to us, if they are bad people, if their Boss is supposed to be a bad guy. I began to panic and shake, not paying attention to the road, I began to swerve the truck back and forth, Pear and Nova noticed and were yelling "HEY! Stop swerving the damn truck you ass!" I snapped back to reality and stopped swerving, but I couldn't stop shaking, I felt afraid, and I didn't know why.

It was morning finally, the sun going up and the sky, we finally made it to Los Angeles. I was awake, everyone was asleep while Brian was driving the truck humming a Britney Spears song, I began to hum with him, knowing what song he's humming to. We started to sing the lyrics, both of us not knowing how to sing, but having fun with it. Everyone was now awake after half an hour of Brian and me singing, and we finally made it to Los Angeles. Our hopes were high on finding the rest of our friends here, but first, we gotta find the twin's base and settle there.

"Alright, guys! We're almost here, do any of you know where Pomona is? Cause we're heading over there now!" Nova asked, waiting for a response. "I know where Pomona is!" Brian said, heading the way to Pomona, speeding a little, everyone hyping up Brian to speed up the truck down the road.

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An hour passed by, Nova said that their base was the Pomona Public School. 'Did they attend this school before all this chaos? How did they end up in Vallejo? Did their 'Boss' tell them to go to Vallejo? A-are they going to betray us..?' My mind was spiraling with questions, anxiety taking over my body, I tried brushing the feeling off, but I can still feel the panic linger in my mind. Even though I don't trust them one bit, I still had some belief in them that they are good.

Some time passed by and we made it to the school, excited to have a new base, excited to find our friends. Brian parked near the entrance, everything was boarded up, the windows and the doors. The entrance doors weren't boarded up, they had metal doors, enough strength to hold off the walkers. Nova hopped out the trunk, heading towards the doors, unlocking and opening them, Pear followed behind her and walked through the doors, waiting inside, while Nova was waiting for us to get off the truck. "Come on guys! I'll show you around the base!" She said cheerfully and ran inside.

All of us were still processing this, until Laura spoke up, "Okay guys, I know all of us are excited to have this base with the twins, but I'm sensing something about all this. We should still keep your guards up if anything suspicious happened, got it?" She said, sounding a bit stern. We all nodded and headed out the truck, walking through the doors and heading inside, while Nova closed and locked the metal doors, catching up to us.

All of us were now in the base, Nova and Pear are showing us around, "This was the school that we attended before heading to your school a few years back!" Nova said, her words filled with joy. "This school has a basement where we'll be resting, and the cafeteria that might still have some rations of canned beans here." Pear spoke, sounding a bit more genuine now. Pear nodded at her words "Yup! So if you guys wanna explore after this small tour then be my guest!" Nova cheered.

The gang went to the basement, the stairs creaking each step they took, praying that they wouldn't break. Nova leading them down, we asked where Pear was and she said she's keeping watch around the base outside. I wasn't fully convinced of what she said but I brushed it off, everyone finally got down to the very dark room, not being able to see a thing here. "Where's the lightswitch at Nova?" I said, trying to find it. "Found it!" Brian said, pointing up at the ceiling, which was a ceiling fan, he pulled the beaded string, having the room light up and reveal everything.

The room contained bookshelves, shelves of canned food, chairs, small tables and even sleeping bags. "Oh! There's still some stuff from the evacuation a while back!" Nova said, relieved a little. Most of us just claimed some sleeping bags and slept, getting ready for tomorrow. I know all of us were excited, everyone can finally have a break from running and relax in the new base.

While the gang was exploring the basement, Nova went upstairs, noticing Pear walking up to her with a walkie-talkie. "The Boss wants to talk to us." Pear said, putting the volume up a little to hear him better. "Are you almost near Kinneta? Do you have the group with you right now?" The Boss asked, sounding stern and impatient. "We have them right now, and we might head to Kinneta a bit late than scheduled since we have new people that will join us." Nova said maliciously, creeping out Pear a little. "Ooh, new recruiters? Sounds interesting, fine I'll let you slide this time, since we have new people joining, but you girls know what I will do if you disobey me." The Boss said, sounding more intimidating.

The girls were startled at the Boss' words and tone. They know what the Boss can do if they were to disobey, they had experienced the crucial punishments for god knows how long. "O-of course Boss, we know.." The girls said in unison, sounding a bit shaken by his voice. "Good, better have the rest of the recruiters by next week or else." He said, right after he disconnected his line, leaving the two girls in an anxious state, scared for their lives.

A few minutes passed and they went back down the basement, still feeling panicky, but now tired. They noticed the gang sleeping on the floor with the sleeping bags on, some snoring and some resting peacefully. The girls found a couple of sleeping bags and laid them down, Nova already sliding in the sleeping bag while Pear hid the walkie-talkie in one of the sleeping bag's pouch and finally slid in the warm bag, drifting off to sleep with the rest of the group and Nova.