Hope {z nation - 10k}

2x9

Previously

"My name is Ophelia. Renfield is my husband."

"I'm so tired." This makes him chuckle a little. "I know to get some rest," he says as he brushes his fingers through her hair and smiles as he sees her eyes shut.

...

We drive down the long dirt road in our new Jeep. Well, it's not new. It's just something new to drive. My hair whips behind me in the wind. I have tried to put it back in its bun, but what's the point? I close my eyes and enjoy the breeze on my face and the music in my ears. That is until the music starts to cut out. This wasn't radio.

This was a tape. I open my eyes, finding that odd, but nobody says anything about it. "Wait. What's that, " Murphy says as we approach a Z. Tommy grabs a flashlight and shines it over my shoulder to get a better look at it. The Z was cut into five different pieces.

" That is a new one."

" Well, I want whatever did that."

"I second that." Tommy looks at me and smirks at my little comment. He removes one of his guns, aims, and pulls the trigger.

"4234. And a third."

" Take the whole kill. You deserve it, kid."

...

"Thirty- five." I kiss him on the cheek and snicker as I watch him blush. "Show off." We then started talking about UFOs and mutilated cattle. He made a good point when Murphy called it science fiction, and Tommy quickly quipped what people used to say about zombies. The music then stutters and stops. "Who keeps fuckin with my tunes?" And then the whole car stopped and wouldn't start.

You have got to be kidding me. Looking behind us, I see a bright light flying over our heads and a Z ahead of us on the road. A beam cuts up the Z, and the light takes off. The music and the car turn back on as soon as it leaves. "Like I was saying." We all debated on if aliens even existed. Warren believed, but others, including Murphy, thought otherwise. "I'm telling you." Murphy cuts off Tommy, "Don't make me bite you.Kidding."

The next day, we pulled up to a tourist motel with a UFO on top and boarded-up windows. We walk in and look around. "Are you here for the visitors?" Murphy caught on that this guy was talking about the aliens. The men talk about whether or not we were "supposed" here. Addy motions Tommy and me over and puts a pair of alien eyeglasses on him and a couple of bobbly ears on me. She laughs as she sees the result of her work in front of her. Tommy then decides to buy into the conversation, "We did see some extraordinary lights in the sky last night, though."

"Everything's strange to you. You grew up in a cave." I mean, technically, Murphy wasn't wrong. When Tommy, his Dad, and I were together, he didn't get the references or jokes that I made. Sometimes, I even had to explain them to him. But he caught on further into the apocalypse we got. Later in the day, everyone was inside while Tommy and I were outside on Z control. He picks up his sniper, aims, and fires, taking one out. "4239." He aims again and pulls the trigger. "Tommy. I want you to promise me something. If I die and turn or if I get bit. I want you to mercy me."

...

"No."

"Why no?"

"Because I love you, Lana. And I know that you love me cause you said it a while ago. I already mercied my dad. I can't do that to you, too." I grab his hand and intertwine our fingers. We sit in silence for a while, and then we go inside. A tall, lanky man opens the door, leaving the building while we walk past him. We grab two chairs and sit at this place's only table with the group. We all talk about an abandoned Air Force base; maybe they left something in there that could help us out.

"I can show you." The sudden Southern accent makes all of us jump out of our skin. Vasquez pulls out his gun and aims while I draw my knife and put it against this woman's throat. I look next to me to see that Bernadette chick that can "talk" to aliens. "I can show you where the base is. It's not far. I go there all the time. That's where they contact me." Warren liked this idea.

"Who knows, we'll find a plane and a radio.

"Or Bigfoot.

" Hey, don't laugh. My uncle had a Sasquatch pelt." I chuckle as Murphy looks at Tommy, that screams that he is getting on his last nerve. But he just kept on smiling, knowing that it was bothering Murphy.

As we drive down the long road, Addy looks to the side and sees a Z with a triangle carved out of it. " Those things are really starting to freak me out."

"I've seen chainsaws do that. Sort of." Bernadette claims that the "visitors" won't let anything wrong happen to her when we walk in. Warren, Addy, and I stay in the main room while the others leave. A Z comes from a doorway, and all hell breaks loose. Warren stabs that one, but another comes out and roars, summoning others. "Addy get Bernadette." Addy protects Bernadette while Warren and I kick ass. I broke a Z's legs, so it went to the ground. Then I lifted my heel into the air and slammed it down on its skull, causing its head to cave in.

After following Bernadette and listening to her crazy bullshit, we enter a room. The door closes on its own. Addy picks up a cup on a tray, and it sticks like a magnet. "That's weird," Bernadette keeps pushing Doc to try gum out of this machine. I watch her only to see her strap a seatbelt around her. Doc pulls a lever, and we start to go down. "Why the hell are we in an elevator!" When it stops, it dings, just like an elevator. When we walk out, the door slams behind us again. "Guess we're not going back that way."

Bernadette takes off again in the direction of the voices she hears. "Crazy bitch," I mumble while we go after her. "They're here. Just like they said. Aren't they beautiful?" Behind her, a human-like creature uncurls itself from its crouched form. Murphy yells that something is wrong, which draws the " alien's attention." As it slows towards us, we all open fire on it. But the kill shot was a shot to the eye from Tommy.

...

The group's girls go to it to ensure it's dead. The "alien's" body starts to beep like a bomb. "Get down!" And like a bomb, the body explodes, leaving behind a mix of guts, blood, and green goop. In the distance, we hear more faint beeping. "We'll check it out." Addy and I walk ahead. " Warren! Look at this." In front of us was a blue control panel of some sort. I put my hand on it, and stuff starts to move around. "Holy shit, it's interactive."

"Way cool," Addy chimes in. "Wait a minute. It's a Unix system. I know this."

"Really?"

" No. I went to art school." Warren then looks at me, waiting for my answer. "I was just a kid." They leave us behind to figure this out and contact Citizen Z.

I got lazy, sorry. I've been writing this chapter for two days.

Ultimately, it was just this guy from a place called Zona. Whatever the hell that is.