Chapter 3 Survival

Chapter 3 – Survival

On the way, Dante, Liza, Kenn, Mia, and Zoe came across two people named Marlon and Henry, who said they had a camp.

Marlon: “Hmm… where are you from?”
Dante: “Miami.”
Marlon: “Damn… that’s bad too, I guess…”
Henry: “Everywhere’s bad…”
Dante: “Yeah… those back there are Zoe, Kenn, Mia, and Liza.”
Henry: “Hey, that blonde one over there… she’s shaking…”
Zoe: “She’s still young…”
Marlon: “Hah… yeah… I noticed that. How old are you?”
Liza: “… Se… sixteen.”
Henry: “…Whoa… that old? I mean… that young? You’re 18?”
Dante: “Is 18 old to you?”
Zoe: “Great… a pedo… let me out, I’d rather die…”
Henry: “Hey… hey… we’re in a world that’s gone to hell. Age doesn’t matter here, right? I’m 19 anyway…”
Liza: “Hmm.”
Zoe: “Stop it… you’re scaring her.”
Henry: “Is she afraid of me or something?”
Liza: “…Uh…”
Henry: “Weird girl…”
Marlon: “Stop it, Marlon.”
Dante: “…So… you’ve got a group?”
Marlon: “A small group, yeah.”

They drove through Georgia… you could say there was nothing left except broken houses, corpses, and mutants.

Marlon: “This world is screwed… I thought World War II was bad… but this…”
Dante: “Hmm…”

They drove on until they finally reached the camp.

Marlon: “And here we are.”
Liza: “Huh?”
Zoe: “Not bad…”
Marlon: “Well… better than nothing.”

They got out of the car.

Marlon: “Alright… are you hungry? We’ll gladly make you some food.”
Zoe: “…Hmm.”
Dante: “That would be very kind, thank you.”
Mia: “Mhm… very nice of you.”
Kenn: “Oh… please, no nuts—my sister’s allergic.”
Marlon: “Hehehe… okay…”

(A few hours later)

It was night… the food was ready.

Marlon: “Woooow!”
Henry: “Oh… nothing’s better than a good meal.”
Dante: “Hmm.”
Zoe: “Wow, they’re loud.”
Marlon: “Alright… I’ll introduce you to the others: that hot woman there is Natasha… a Russian… over there is Stefen… and that guy over there is Dane… and that one is Hannah…”

Hannah & Stefen: “Hello.”
Natasha: “Hi.”
Dane: “Hey…”
Mia: “Nice to meet you. I’m Mia… this is Zoe… next to me is my brother Kenn, over there is Dante… and the quiet one is Liza.”
Hannah: “What’s with that sad face… she’s creepy.”
Henry: “Hehehe… but hot… right?”
Zoe: “Hey…!”
Hannah: “What… problem, sweetie?”
Henry: “Hey… we didn’t say anything.”
Marlon: “That’s enough.”
Natasha: “Just leave her alone… some people need a long time to process things…”

They started eating… Liza ate very slowly.

Liza: “Mmm…”
Henry: “And now for the highlight… beer and booze.”
Natasha: “Yeaaahhh…”
Liza: “Ugh…”

Everyone partied… while they did, and drank, Dante noticed Liza wasn’t there anymore… when most were already drunk.

Dante: “Hey, where’s Liza?”
Zoe: “Huh?… she was just here.”
Mia: “Oh… maybe she went to sleep…”
Zoe: “…I’ll go look for her.”

Zoe went looking… and sure enough, found her.

Zoe: “Liza… what are you doing here…”
Liza: “Ghhh…”

She was holding her ears.

Zoe: “What’s wrong with you now…”
Liza: “…Ghh…”

She glanced at the drunken Henry and Natasha…

Zoe: “What is it?…”
Liza: “…Hhh…”

(Memory)

Liza’s Father: “Oh… good girl… don’t scream… don’t cry… or Daddy will get angry… and you know what Daddy does when he’s not happy… and you know what your mother does… and your brother… when you’re naughty.”

(End memory)

Liza: “Hahhh… hahhh…”
Zoe: “Hey… hey… hey… it’s okay… wait, I’ll get Dante.”

She quickly went to Dante.

Dante: “Hmm…”

Suddenly, Zoe grabbed his hand.

Dante: “Hey.”
Zoe: “Shut up and come—something’s wrong with Liza.”

They quickly went to her… when they found her, Liza was breathing hysterically, eyes wide open in fear.

Liza: “Hahh… hahh… hahh…”
Dante: “What’s wrong… hey…”

He held her shoulders.

Dante: “What happened, Liza?… Zoe, what happened to her?”
Zoe: “I don’t know… she panics when she sees those drunk ones.”
Dante: “The drunks…”
Liza: “Hahh…”
Dante: “I get it… hey… Liza…”

He held her cheeks.

Liza: “Hahh…”
Dante: “Calm down… calm down… they won’t hurt you… and if anyone comes near you… I’ll protect you… so calm down…”
Liza: “Hahh… will you…”
Dante: “I will… I promise you…”
Zoe: “…Hhh…”

Liza calmed down…

Dante: “Now go to sleep, okay…”
Liza: “Okay…”

She lay down, and Dante and Zoe left her.

Dante: “Her father… was a drunk… that’s the reason.”
Zoe: “…Oh…”
Dante: “A drunk who touched his daughter… trauma… can be bad… especially if you endured it for a long time…”
Zoe: “I understand.”
Dante: “I have a favor to ask you.”
Zoe: “Hmm?”
Dante: “Can you sleep near her?”
Zoe: “Why me… I don’t want to take care of others… I don’t care what she’s been through… you do it.”
Dante: “I can’t… Zoe… I know you care… do it, stay with her… with me she’s still nervous, probably because I’m a guy… she’s afraid of everyone who’s drunk…”
Zoe: “…Ahh. You’re not drunk… but okay… I’ll do it.”
Dante: “Thanks.”

(That same night)

Hannah: “Oh… damn… hehe… I gotta pee… hahh…”

She went toward the fence.

Hannah: “Ha…”

She squatted down.

(Patch!) (Patch!)

Hannah: “Ahh… Henry, is that you?… say something…”

(ROAAAAAARR!)

Hannah: “Huh!… Aaaaaaaahhhh!”

It was a mutant. It attacked her.

Hannah: “Help!… Help!… Help!”
Marlon: “What’s going on…”

They saw it, ran quickly, and killed the mutant… but more appeared. The fence had a hole.

Marlon: “Since… since when has there been a hole…”
Henry: “Damn, we patched that with wooden boards… how did they break without us noticing…”

The fence held for a while, but more and more came until it collapsed.

Dante: “…Hahh… damn!”
Zoe: “…Ugh…”
Liza: “…Ghh…”
Kenn: “We need to get out of here… fast.”
Henry: “But Hannah!”
Marlon: “Forget it… she’s dead… come on, run!”

They ran and shot at the same time.

(Bang!) (Bang!) (Bang!)

They kept running and shooting…

(Click!)

Dante: “I’m out of ammo.”
Marlon: “Me too.”
Zoe: “…No choice then!”

She pulled out her knife and stabbed them in the head.

(SPLASH!)

Zoe: “Then like this… hit the heads… or the legs first, then the heads…”

They did so…

Liza: “Ahhh…”
Kenn: “Liza… watch out!”

He knocked the mutant away.

Liza: “Thanks.”
Kenn: “…Gahhh…”

One grabbed him, and he fell to the ground.

Kenn: “Ghh… get… off me… get off!”
Liza: “Ugh…”

She found a wooden board, grabbed it, and smashed it over the mutant’s head.

(CRACK!)

The mutant fell to the ground.

Kenn: “Hahh…”
Liza: “Ugh…”
Dante: “Come on… damn it, there are too many…”
Kenn: “Hahh…”
Zoe: “Over there… there’s a ladder—quick!”

They rushed to it.

Zoe: “Get lost, you freaks… over there… see that?”
Dante: “That’s a tower… if we climb it… they can’t get up!”

They quickly climbed up…

Dante: “Hahh…”
Zoe: “Oh… that was way too close.”
Liza: “Hahh…”
Mia: “…This is insane…”
Kenn: “At least… we survived…”
Henry: “All except Hannah.”
Marlon: “Hey… you know that’s just how it goes in this new world… hahh… damn, we should have secured the fence… that was Hannah’s task for the week.”
Henry: “You saying it’s my cousin’s fault? Damn it, I promised my aunt I’d protect her… she doesn’t even know she’s my cousin because she lost her mother early… she thinks I’m her brother… ahh… Hannah… damn it…”
Marlon: “Hahh…”