章節 48: 2.17
"Why am I such an impulsive idiot?" I groaned, massaging my sore lower back. It hadn't stopped at once more. Was this usual for college boys?
I know my hormones certainly influenced my decision-making skills, they say men take longer to mature than women…
"Focus," System nagged, reminding me of the twelve men around me, gearing up to leave for possibly their last time.
Yes, I needed to focus. Each one of their lives was precious and fleeting. Even if this was a trip for the greater good of the group, it was one I'd called for, if any of them die… I did not want to finish that thought.
Not to mention the two teens I was leaving behind.
Leo had been in a mood all morning until I fished out one of the guns Noah had given me and some ammo. I recalled he had gone on a hunting trip between the Clark's and Branson's after Ivy and Will's engagement. Despite being young Mr. Clark had handed him a hunting rifle.
With Holly's weak and innocent nature, I really felt a blade was not something she could handle, so I'd given him the task of teaching the basics to Holly. Not to mention it was a good way to keep them distracted whilst I was away and out of trouble, hopefully.
"Ready?" Alex asked, his hand resting naturally on my aching waist. I blushed, taking note that eleven pairs of eyes were watching.
"Yes," my swords were at my hips, and my backpack had spare clothes, a water filter, protein bars, and some camping tools, just in case we got separated. Though the journey wasn't long, it would be filled with the dead, and we were on foot. Shit happened.
The meteorite had landed about an hour's walk up the coast, right between the college and the nearest town. South of the college was a slightly smaller town. It was drawing the dead from both places.
First, we needed to head to a small bed and breakfast next to a boat dock, where tourists could rent them for fishing.
The walk there was around half an hour, which would have been shorter but I counted at least forty dead we'd killed between us just getting there. How many more would be ahead?
We split up into two teams on two boats and made our way further North, eventually stopping just off the coast of a tiny, C-shaped beach.
Both sides had a rocky cliff that gently slopped into a forest. Despite all the rocks and trees, there was still a decent amount of sand and a large field on the other side of the sand dunes.
Almost every inch of green grass that had once been the perfect, hidden picnic spot, now had the shuffling feet of the dead wandering it.
The once confident smiles amongst the group were now gone. One boy leaned over the edge of the boat throwing up. I could only estimate just over a hundred in my line of sight, heavens knew how many were amongst the trees.
"Go over their powers again please?" I asked Alex, trying to go over the game plan Alex had confidently spoken of back at the dorms in my head. With my inner panic, I struggled to remember who was who and doing what under the pressure of the situation.
"Matt, Sammy, Jack, and Wyatt all use fire, they'll be focusing on the ones that make it onto the sand, last thing we need is a forest fire with no fire services," he pointed each one out, though, at the mention of their names, I recalled each of their faces.
"Ethan and Jax use air, they'll be on the boats, the waters are shallow here, we need to make sure the boats get away quick enough if we get overwhelmed. They can also cover with the guns."
I nodded. Though they were reluctant to use them, they had a few hunting riffles and it looked like both boys knew what they were doing.
"Then we have Hunter who uses metal and swords, and lastly Theo who is just like me and will be working on defense."
I vaguely remembered Theo mentioning he was an architecture student alongside Hunter, between them they had actually done most of the walls, not Alex.
I went back to studying the terrain as the other boy's boat pulled right up to ours so we could all talk without shouting.
"Listen up," Alex called out, yet his hand rested on my lower back. I inched away to make space, wanting to focus. "I know there's a tad more than we expected, but remember we're here just to thin the herd, not completely obliterate it. Once we've done what we've come for, we'll leave, so stick next to the shoreline at all times, ready for a quick retreat."
They nodded their heads murmuring to each other and stripping their clothes. Before we'd left Alex had made us all change into surf suits as we'd have to enter the water in the middle of winter. Plus the material was perfect for protecting our skin against gore.
I stripped off my many layers reluctantly in the cold sea breeze, then reattached my swords to my waist, worrying at how the salt water might affect them.
The water was freezing, much more than I'd anticipated, I couldn't help but let out a little squeak before breaking into a fast swim to the shore. The water was shallow enough to walk in, but swimming was much faster.
The sand wedged between my toes as I dodged the rocks hidden under the frothy shoreline. I recalled that this was my first time at the beach. Not Hannah's, but mine.
How nice it would have been to come here in the summer to relax and surf. Damn this fucked up world. I found myself praying for the next one to be in a state of peace.
A sword flew past my head impaling the zombie that had wandered to the sound of extra splashing. I glanced back at Hunter who was smirking as he stood in the water, four swords still hovering around him, pointing in the direction of the dead.
The sword pulled back out, just missing me with a spray of its rotten dark blood, joining the rest. Fuck I should have gotten him to float mine over to avoid the seawater.
"Pay attention," Alex chided, walking past me in his Saturn mode. He flung wet rocks at any who dared to wander too close to him, clearing a path for the rest of us. Theo followed him, both of them stopping a few meters right from the rest of us.
"Watch our back," he turned to order before both he and Theo crouched down, fingers digging into the dry sand. I nodded, decapitating the one nearest to me, a small teen.
Though young and thin, surely they should have survived the fever. Damn meteorite. I needed to prevent Leo and Holly from succumbing to the same fate.
The ground rumbled as sand began to fill in on itself in front of Alex and Theo. In time their hole grew and grew in depth and width, spreading from the sea to the dunes and filling with water. It reminded me of a moat you'd see around a castle.
Now we only needed to focus on upfront. There were none, for now, on the rocky cliff to our left and the ones on the right fell into the deep pit, that even though it was filled with water, they couldn't reach the edge to climb out even if they were alive. I made sure to steer clear of its edge, not wanting to accidentally fall in.
Though between all ten of us, we made light work of the zombies spilling over the dunes to the sand it was never ending and it was only a matter of time before we were all too worn out to continue. At this rate, we'd never make it to the meteorite and I wasn't pulling them away from their escape route.
I made my way over to Alex, scrunching my nose at the scent of charred decomposing flesh. It reminded me of the last time I was overwhelmed by the dead, separated from Will.
"There's too many, to risk crossing the dunes," I stopped beside him cautious of the flinging stones.
He nodded in agreement, face twisted in thought, "do you know where the impact site is?"
I stood on my tiptoes, trying to peer over the dunes, on the boat I had seen the muddy crater.
"Yes," my eyes drifted up the cliff and then along to the trees that surrounded the field. I needed to get to them. "After I leave fall back, and wait for me on the boats."
"Is that you trying to date and ditch me?" he joked, though I saw the fear and hurt plain on his face.
"I have a plan, I'll be fine," hopefully, "just, wait for me here beside the boats, try and use projectiles once you see me, and for the love of God, stay away from the trees."
He nodded reluctantly.
"Also, if, and I mean if, I don't make it back to the boats, you should know there'll be people coming for Leo, my brother, and his teammates should appear eventually." I began to make my way toward the rocks.
"Your brother?" Alex kept pace with me, clearing the dead before I even had a chance to, he appeared a little miffed.
"Yeah, he's called Will, there's also a Jean, Victoria, Rick, Tommy, and Noah," the last name felt bitter on my tongue.
Just as I raised a hand to climb the rocks his hand firmly gripped my elbow stopping me. I looked up at him puzzled.
"I'm not leaving without you, so make it quick," he then let go to rest his hand on the rocks, making a few jut out to ease my climb. When I didn't move, a bit lost in thought he kissed my lips, then murmured, "get going then," then smacked my butt and turned away to speak to Matt.
It took me a few moments for my brain to catch up with the events and my mouth to finally curse him out, ignoring his laughter I began the climb.
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