The Outbreak

Chapter 6: Wild Roses

Leslie and Jesse's possible kiss is interrupted by a sudden banging on the door to the building. Luckily, it's just one of the dead. They both pull out their weapons before looking at each other, and each letting out a small chuckle. "I suppose we should take care of this, shouldn't we?" Jesse asks, already walking up to the door. He opens the door, just enough to let the single dead out, before shooting it in the head.

(Present time) Leslie gets out of the car and follows Alex towards the seemingly abandoned gas station. "There's more to this than just looking for supplies, isn't there?" Leslie asks, walking up behind Alex. "My brother, he might be here. That's all. I know I shouldn't have told you otherwise" he says, trying to open the door. "I get it. It's important to stay honest with each other". Alex doesn't say anything back. "Right?", Leslie says, a bit louder. "Uh yeah. I guess you're right. Hey, do you mind picking the lock? Rumor is you've done this before", he says, backing away from the door. "I suppose I could try". Leslie walks over to the door and picks the lock within minutes. "Voila", she says, standing up. Alex smiles at her before taking a step towards the door, reaching for the handle.

(Flashback) Jesse opens the door for Leslie to go first. She enters the building, holding her gun tightly. She's never been so scared. Jesse pulls out a knife so they only need to use the gun if absolutely necessary. They both walk around the shelves in the dark, making sure it's clear before they take anything that might be left. They split up and each started checking opposite

sides of the gas station. Leslie finishes clearing her side of the building, but she sees a door, and decides to check there too. She opens the door slowly, pointing her gun through the space now separating the doorframe from the door, itself. She continues to walk slowly, but it's a lot darker in this room, causing her not to see as well. She squints her eyes, trying to focus on what she's looking at. As she's walking, she notices a box of bullets on a tall, metal shelf, under a flickering light. Without thinking, she runs over to the shelf and starts to climb, but before she's able to reach the box, the shelf tips, throwing her onto the ground, as it crashes down on top of her, along with everything else that was on it. She tries to get up, but struggles fiercely. "Jesse...!", she tries to yell his name, but she can barely talk. She thinks for a second and realizes that she's not alone in the room. She feels a presence there with her, but it's not Jesse. She tries to stay as quiet as she can, when one of the dead wanders into the light from the shadows. She panics, thinking it might see her, but then it crosses her mind that she's still in the light. She continues to stay quiet, but the dead notices her, and begins making its way over, growling. Leslie is now terrified, and she tries calling out for Jesse one more time, while struggling to get free. "Jesse! I need help!", she cries, almost unable to move. She then remembers that she had her gun, and she begins to search for it with her free hand. Just as she reaches the gun, touching it with her fingertips, the dead falls on top of the shelf she's trapped under and tries to bite her. She takes her hand off of the gun to protect herself, but just before she can get bit, Jesse starts banging on the door to the room. "Leslie? Leslie, what's wrong? Are you okay?". He tries the doorknob, but the door won't open. "Jesse!! Help me!", she cries, struggling, trying to breathe while being crushed by the shelf, and one of the dead. "Leslie! Hang on, I'm coming!", he says, now using all of his force to kick down the door. After finally breaking through, Jesse pulls the dead off of the shelf, not thinking about his own life. He then struggles to reach for his knife, before a gunshot goes off. Leslie had picked up her gun and shot the dead. As its body drops to the floor, Jesse rushes to Leslie's aid. "Leslie? What the hell happened, are you okay?", he says, taking her hand. "I would be a lot better if you could get this thing off me". Jesse nods before putting his hands under the shelf, and lifting it off her. He puts his hand out, offering her help to stand. She takes his hand as he puts her arm around his neck, and walks her to the car. He helps her into the passenger seat before walking around the car to get back to the driver's seat. Before he gets in the car, he sees something on the ground. He picks it up before getting back into the car and handing it to Leslie. "I got you something", he says, handing her a couple of wild roses. "Oh, thanks", she says, taking them and putting them up to her nose to smell. Jesse then starts the car, as he drives them back to the house.

She hasn't thought about that in a while. After remembering what happened the last time she was here, she looks at Alex and starts to speak. "Hey, uh, Alex? I think I'll just wait in the car, if that's okay?" Alex looks at her to see she seems sad. "Yeah, sure. If that's what you want. I'll be quick, okay? He then starts to make his way into the gas station. Leslie gets back into the car and waits for what seems to only be a few minutes before she sees Alex coming back to the car. He gets in and without a word, starts driving. "Alex?" Leslie asks. "Hm?" he answers. "Why did you want to go to that gas station so bad?", she asks, looking over at him. "My...the person I was close with, we agreed to meet here if we ever got separated. I come back to check every time I leave the community. You know, just in case". Leslie doesn't answer. She just nods and leans her head against the window of the car. When she wakes up, she's back in the community, but Alex is no longer in the seat next to her. She looks around, but it's dark. She doesn't see anyone around her. Suddenly, she sees Alex approaching the car. "Hey. We gotta go, Les", he says, hopping back into the car. "Go? Go where? We just got home", she says, confused. "It's Gwen. She ran away", he says, starting the car. "What? Why would she do that? She doesn't know anything about survival. She knows it's not safe to be alone out there", she yells. "I know that, and so do you, but it seems Gwen forgot". They start driving slowly along the road, yelling for Gwen. But there's no answer. Leslie starts panicking and thinking to herself. What would she do without Gwen? As she thought more about it, she realized that she couldn't live without her. She didn't want to live without her. Gwen is the one good thing in the world that made Leslie want to live. Because Gwen showed her happiness. Something she hasn't had in a very long time. She didn't want to go through that again. First her family, then Jesse, now Gwen? She couldn't handle it. The world around her was falling apart. Just when she was about to give up hope, they heard yelling coming from the woods. Without thinking, Leslie opens the door and jumps out of the car before rolling down the small hill, into a shallow ditch. "Leslie!" Alex yells, but it's too late. She's already gone. Leslie runs through the wood, faster than she's ever run before. As she gets closer to the screaming, it becomes more clear. "Help me, please. Someone!" It's Gwen. Leslie runs even faster now that she knows for sure that it's Gwen who needs her help. As she's running, she becomes much closer to the sound of Gwen's screams. Before she knows it, she breaks through the branches into a small open space to see Gwen who's pinned against a tree, trying to fight off two of the dead. Leslie looks around to see a big branch lying on the ground. She doesn't think before picking it up and charging towards Gwen, before she hits the dead that Gwen seems to be wrestling, and it falls to the ground. She then looks to the ground to see another one of the dead, who seems to have a hold of Gwen's leg. Leslie doesn't hesitate to stomp as hard as she can on its head. It only takes a few stomps before its dead. Out of breath, Leslie leans over, putting both hands on her knees, before standing back up again. Right as Gwen makes eye contact with Leslie, she collapses onto her, hugging her while crying. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." she says as she cries into Leslie's shoulder. "It's okay...it's going to be okay...", she says, comforting her.