The Apocalypse Adversaries

Part 5: Chaos

Cece and Logan's guns fell to the floor as the others slowly backed away from whoever it was holding Logan hostage. Their grip was tight enough to strangle him. Whoever this was, he could tell that they wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if they felt threatened. Cassie was cowering behind Cece, hugging her arm tightly. Grace, on the other hand, stood there with a smile on her face. Whoever was behind Logan made a demand.

"You. Drop your bag."

Grace looked at them, still smiling as if there wasn't a potentially murderous person standing right in front of her.

"No. These are my supplies, and he doesn't mean anything to me. In fact, he's actually pretty annoying. Plus, he seems to be my only competition for leader of the group. So, by all means, pull the trigger. I don't care. Hell, I might even thank you for it."

The other two turned to her, appalled, as she stood there with her hands on her hips, almost daring this mystery person to kill Logan. Cece and Cassie looked at each other, but neither of them knew what to say. They didn't have much time left to negotiate. Whether this person pulled the trigger or not, Logan could still die from suffocation from the arm around his neck. His face was bright red and he was gasping for air. He couldn't speak. Then, suddenly, The gun was thrown forward and the arm fell loose. The sound of this person's body falling to the ground was deafening. Logan whirled around, looking for whatever it was that freed him. There, standing behind him, was Casper, axe in hand, tears running down his cheeks. 

He stood over the body. There was no blood. Cece threw herself to the floor, quickly checking this person for wounds. Whoever it was, they deserved a fighting chance. There was probably a good reason for what they did. They were still breathing. They weren't dead, just knocked out. Logan and Casper were still standing there, staring blankly at each other, speechless. 

"You saved my life," Logan almost whispered, his expression still a mixture of shock and terror.

"I almost lost you," Casper whispered in response, tears still running down his cheeks. He dropped his axe.

The two continued to just stare at each other for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, Casper overcame his shock and ran to Logan, hugging him tightly. Logan hugged back. Then Casper pulled away, turning Logan's face left and right.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. It's okay." 

"I hit them with the handle. I panicked and I was holding the axe the wrong way and I just sort of hit."

Cece took note of that and pulled the body through to a supply closet where she proceeded to tie it to a chair. Logan would have helped, but he was holding Casper, who had buried his face in his shoulder. Cassie quickly picked up the three guns, putting them in her bag to give out later. Grace was still standing where she was before, glad everyone was distracted, hoping that she wouldn't have to face the inevitable backlash of what she said.

Unfortunately for her, as soon as Cece got back, she had something to say. 

"Grace, what the fuck? You wanted Logan dead? That's bullshit. He's literally done nothing to you."

"Yeah, that was a bitch move," Cassie said honestly. "You were way out of line."

Casper then turned towards her, rage in his eyes. Logan had never seen him angry before. It was actually sort of scary. He picked up his axe and started walking towards her.

"I don't like you. I never fucking did. But we were all still willing to let you be a part of the group, even though you've been nothing but a bitch to us since we met you. We can handle some bitchiness. But saying that you want Logan dead? That's not okay. You can stay for the night, but after that I want you the fuck out of here. Do you understand?"

She rolled her eyes and glared down at him.

"Who's going to make me, huh? You?"

"No, me." Logan said. He'd retrieved his gun and was now pointing it in her direction. "You show your face around here again, I'll put a bullet through your skull."

She smiled back slyly.

"Fine. One night. Then you'll never see me around here again."

"Good. Cece, stay with her at all times. She's not stealing our supplies."

Cece looked back at Logan with a serious expression. 

"Okay," she said, "But you're going to need to check in on that asshole I tied up in the supply closet. They should be awake now. I'm going to tie this one to  the door handle. Just so she can't try anything."

"Fine by me," Grace smiled.

Casper walked off to find Audrey. There were no signs of her escape around the fence, so he had every hope she was still inside. Cassie and Logan headed to the supply closet. Someone had some explaining to do.

As they walked in, Logan got his first look at the person who almost killed him. She had long black hair that covered one eye, a red beanie, ripped jeans and a shirt with a bedazzled skull on it. She looked up at him, looking somewhat scared. He held his gun in one hand, not pointing it towards her. Cassie looked uncomfortable. The whole atmosphere was very tense. Logan turned his attention to the mystery girl. 

"Who are you?"

"I'm Violet," she responded, her voice quiet.

"What are you doing here?" 

"Looking for shelter."

"And why did you try to kill me?"

"Because people are threatening. Don't try to tell me that you wouldn't have pointed a gun at me if you found me first. I saw someone, I held a gun up to them until I knew I was safe."

Logan looked at her thoughtfully. She was right. He would've done the same. This girl was smart. Smart enough to defend herself. She'd be a good addition to the group.

"Do you still want shelter?"

She looked at him as if he were insane.

"Obviously. Who doesn't? Look, if you're inviting me to join your little group, I'm down. But I'm gonna want my gun back."

"Nope. You tried to kill me. I'm not trusting you straight away. We have a sports supplies closet. By all means, take a bat or something. But you aren't getting your gun back for a while."

"Fair," she smiled. "That's fair. Now can you untie me, please. This is uncomfortable as fuck."

Cassie ran over and started undoing the ropes. Just before Violet left the cupboard, Cassie grabbed her arm.

"By the way, you might want to watch out for Casper. He's the one who knocked you out and I don't think he's too happy about the whole situation, so he's probably going to be less than welcoming."

Violet nodded and the three of them left the closet and headed to the kitchen, where Casper was sitting on a table, singing quietly. Audrey was curled up in his lap. He'd found her waiting exactly where he'd left her, right next to her water bowl. When Violet walked in, his expression changed from a calm smile to a mix of anger and confusion. However, just as he was about to say something, Cece burst through the door. She looked terrified.

"Guys, I think you should see this..."