Vol 2 Ch 9: Memory Unlocked (Part 1)

"It's been a while since I've last spoken to you all...The same robed figure from before, that is who I am, and shall remain...Anyway, a lot has happened since the last time I checked up on you all. Lee has reminded time for the first...yet I feel that will be happening a lot more than even I can suspect...there was also that apocalypse timeline...it seemed, off somehow, like it shouldn't have ended there...maybe there's something missing...hehe...well, that's for you all to figure out...there is one thing though, that locked memory Lee had...well, since I'm feeling...generous...I'll give it for free, no certain route needed to find it...well, Lee wouldn't have figured out he had a locked memory if this route wasn't chosen...so maybe it wasn't a freebie...regardless, I shall leave you all in peace...OH! And do let me know if you all have questions, after all, it's what I'm here for, of course, I'll answer them within reason, so don't go asking how to get the best ending...now where were those pages?...ah, here we are...it's not connected to any Journal, but I would consider this in the second volume, unless you dare disagree...enjoy...regardless"

During the Zombie Apocalypse(Sam's POV)

The air was cold, and almost every building we were surrounded by, was destroyed, walls, windows, the entire structure, shattered, broken, destroyed.

"Just a bit farther" Lee walked in front of me, he held Crystal on his shoulders, but I could tell how exhausted he was.

"What if it was already looted? If it's all gone?"

"Come on Sam, what happened to your optimism? hehe...it'll be fine...we'll make it, we always did" I could see Lee's breathing, a transparent puff every few seconds. His walking was slower than it normally is. The snow coated his sweater a long time ago. "I'll be damned, if I make it this far...make it this long into this...and die...to some fucking snow!" We continued walking...no more trudging through the snow, hoping to find our bunker from years ago. "There it is! It's still here!" I looked up after Lee spoke, the bunker stood there, it looked perfectly fine, it didn't look like someone broke in. We walked up to it, Lee let go of one of Crystal's legs, causing it to dangle, he pressed his hand against the keypad, I could tell he was worried.

"Welcome Back Lee, it's been....142 days since you've last checked in." A few months...we haven't really been keeping track of the days...But it felt like it was longer, like ten years had passed. The door opened, revealing the inside, it looked warm, and nothing was out of place. We quickly went inside, the doors closed behind us, and just like that, the warm air blasted us, it was so much better than the temperature outside.

"This...is so much better" I sat down on one of the chairs and began warming up, Lee laid Crystal down on the couch and went to the fireplace, it had wood in it already, just like how we left it. he struck a match and put it against the logs, it took a few seconds, but it lit on fire, and soon, the place was even warmer than before, it was perfect.

"See Sam...we found it" Lee went into the kitchen area and looked through the cabinets, everything was there. "And we weren't looted either!" I could hear the joy in his voice, I could even feel myself smiling. Lee walked back into the living room. "Do you remember where Nicholai put her medical supplies?" He looked over at me, still rubbing his shoulders to warm himself.

"How about you take your jacket back first?" I unzipped it and handed it back to him. "And...I think it was in her room"

"Alright..."

"I'll go grab it" I sat up, while Lee knelt beside Crystal. I opened the door to Nicholai's room and noticed something, her room was a lot different than I expected, I expected dark colors like black but it had a nice light purple look. I looked along the walls and saw one of those cabinets that hand on the walls, one of those small ones. I walked to it, pulling the handle, and was greeted with a first aid kit. I grabbed it and returned to Lee.

"Hey...I know how you are, but...I need your help for just a second" I could tell what he wanted my help for. I handed the medkit to Lee, he moved Crystal's shirt just so he could see her stomach, and a cylindric hole was there, blood was coming out of it, if not already spread around the wound. I immediately faced my back to them. "Sam, you don't have to look at it, I just need you to hold the wound open so I can pull the bullet out." I could hear my breathing, nor could I control it. "sam" I felt him grab my wrist, I turned and sat down, making sure I couldn't see anything. "i know...i can do it alone if you can't, it'll just be faster and easier if you help, but you don't have to" His voice was quiet and calming. "so? listen, you don't even have to look, i can just set your hands where I need them"

"a..a-alright..." I could hear myself, scared and shaking...I wanted to do more to help.

"That's good, let's get it over with" He grabbed both of my hands while I just looked at the floor, he moved them to each side of the wound. I looked left and saw Lee grabbing a small pair of pliers. "pull" He still spoke quietly, I assumed he didn't want Crystal to wake up. Listening to him I pulled with both of my hands, I could hear her flesh making this disgusting noise while I pulled, I just wanted to puke. Lee walked to where I couldn't see him, he was too close to Crystal. I felt pressure near my hands as I felt blood go onto my fingers, I wanted to jolt back the second I felt it, but I knew I couldn't, otherwise, Crystal could..."Got it" I heard something metallic and soon the pressure I felt before was gone. "Don't look at your hands, but you can take them off now" I did as he said, I scooted back a bit, and in one motion, raised my head and lowered my arms. I was at a distance to where I wouldn't see blood, or, at least enough to cause myself to panic. When I looked over at Lee I noticed he at this curved needle that had a thread in it...he was gonna suture up Crystal. "She's gonna wake up...isn't she?" I could hear his voice get shaky, as he gulped after the last word. All I could do was nod. "One, two, technically, is all I need" I could see him positioning himself. He took a breath, then another...and finally one more, before I could see the curved needle cut into Crystal, I could see her body move as Lee tried using his left hand to keep her still. He moved again, this time Crystal jumped up but Lee pulled the thread, clipping it, and put his hand on Crystal's mouth. "Relax! Bite into my hand if you have to" I could see Crystal's eyes go shiny, but as she blinked a few times, it went away. Lee pulled both hands away, I could see eight indents in Lee's hand, she must've bit decently hard...

"That...that burns" Crystal held her stomach. The blood had dried...it still freaked me out...but...surprisingly not as much as non-dried blood does.

"Are you alright?" I spoke finally.

"Yeah...I think so...it...it's just really painful."

"Just try not to move too much like you just did earlier, it'll break the suture, and I'm sure you don't want another one." Lee put the remaining thread inside the medkit and took out bandages, while he used his other hand to set down the needle onto a napkin that was on the table.

"No I don't" Crystal smiled.

"Stand up for me real quick" Crystal did as Lee said. "Arms out" Once again, listening. Lee began wrapping the bandages around her stomach. "Luckily the bullet wasn't too deep, nor did it hit anything vital, then again, not like it was a strong caliber, it seemed homemade."

"The hell are we, in the Metro?"

"Well, it's not like it's currency yet" I could see both of them smile, I didn't get the reference though. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from my video game collection as well?"

"Well, maybe...actually, I've wondered this" She looked over at me. "You're bad with blood right?"

"Yeah...I am, for a long time I've been"

"But you can play games that have blood?"

"Well, it's different, I know people aren't actually dying, and...seeing blood in real life...can never compare to what it looks, or even feels like in a game."

"I see...thank you for putting up with it for me then"

"You were awake!?" Lee looked up at her, finishing his bandaging.

"Yeah, duh, like I'm not gonna feel pliers, digging into my stomach to pull a bullet out!"

"Hmm" Lee stood up, putting away everything. He then started rummaging through his bag, putting stuff like food in, and taking stuff he didn't need out.

"What're you doing?" I sat on the couch with Crystal.

"Kenneth and Nicholai are still MIA, Matt as well. I'm going to go look for them." He swung the bag over his shoulder.

"Well, we're coming with then!" I spoke up.

"No! We don't need other people to go missing."

"You say that as if you're dependable on your own" Crystal sat up, still holding her stomach. "Listen, this place hasn't been raided for ages, this place is safe clearly, you also taught me how to defend myself, if you ask me, take Sam, and I'll stay here."

"But you'll be alone! We don't know how long it'll take"

"Like that stopped you before?" Lee and Crystal were staring each other down, Crystal was different, way different from her quiet self before.

"F----fine! Sam, pack up and tell me when you're ready" He walked to the exit door and leaned beside it, I didn't have much to pack up besides food, but I saw that Lee didn't take medical supplies, so I did.

"I'm ready" I adjusted my bag as I stood on the other side of Lee.

"We'll be going then" He looked back at Crystal, who was already lying down on the couch. "Certaintly ain't the same girl we protected back then...she can handle her own" He was talking to himself, it was kinda sweet in...some form of way. The door slowly opened, and the second it did, the cold air outside hit us, it almost took me off balance. "You don't have to if you don't wanna!" He shouted over the wind, he seemed a lot warmer, maybe because I didn't have his jacket anymore.

"I-i-It's fine!" I moved my feet over the vault-like door and landed on the snow outside. I began trudging through the snow just like before, I could hear Lee behind me. "Where are we even going?" I turned around and looked at him, the door to the hideout was already closed.

"There's a part of the city we haven't checked yet, maybe they're there" He took out a map and looked at it, I walked backwards for awhile before he responded. "That way" He pointed a slight bit left of where was standing. So, the adventure began, we started trudging through snow, every now and again hiding under destroyed buildings to warm ourselves up. We just kept walking...and walking....a..n...d...w.a.l.k.i.n.g...

A Day Later...

We just sat on the rooftops of one of the buildings, one of the only buildings that haven't been destroyed by rioters or bandits...or any other kind of psycho you never wanted to meet. We started a fire as the snow calmed down, Lee was poking it with a stick, making sure it kept burning.

"We've almost made it to the area...how are you holding up?" He looked up at me as I sat a tattered chair.

" I'm Fine...it's terrible, seeing what this place has become" From where I was sitting, I could see slightly over the edge, I could barley see anything, at least anything other than zombies shambling, I had an idea. "What if they went back to the school?"

"It got destroyed didn't it?"

"Maybe they fixed it, it is Kenneth after all!" I heard something hit the floor, I turned over and saw Lee put his rifle near the fire.

"Think I can take the stock off and put it in the fire?"

"What about the stability?"

"Yeah you're right" He put it back around his shoulder, standing up.

"The school is nearby" I could see Lee wince when I changed the topic back onto the school. "We can at least give a quick check"

"If we go check the school, then we don't find them, we'll have to check the zone I talked about, and then we can't take breaks, we have to ration more. Are you up for that?" He leaned against the railing as he stared at my bag.

"Of course I am! They're my friends too you know"

"I know...and if you want, we c-" The railing he was leaning on broke off, I jolted up and reached for Lee, but he had already saved himself by grabbing onto the other railing and pulling himself up.

"Are you alright?" I could see Lee look traumatized, his hands were shaking and I could see a cut on his right palm, and it slowly became more red, I looked up so I didn't see anything.

"I-i...I...d..dunno....am I dead?"

"No, no you're not"

"Alright...yeah...I wouldn't die in a stupid way." I heard a loud clang, I looked over the edge and saw an incredibly small figure fall over. "We should get moving, he walked over and picked up my bag, when I got away from the edge he threw it at me. "Only more will come from that noise." He snuffed out the fire. We walked over and pressed the button to the elevator that brought us up here. After waiting for a few minutes it arrived, I could see the skepticism on Lee.

"It...shouldn't take that long if the elevator stayed on this floor right?" I only added to Lee's suspicion.

"Yeah..." He pulled out his rifle and aimed at the elevator door, it slowly opened and two people were standing there.

"Holy shit! Woah man, relax!" A blond girl spoke out, Lee lowered his rifle.

"Who's the guy?" Lee started talking to them...I guess the blond girl did look familiar.

"Cypher...the guy calls himself Cypher." Lee raised his rifle again at 'Cypher"

"She isn't lying, listen, I don't even know my own name, I was abandoned at birth, and I've been in multiple families...so yeah, I don't have a name. My group gave me the name." Lee held stern.

"What group" I walked in front of Lee, but not in front of the barrel. Cypher looked at the now calm girl. She nodded.

"We have a group stationed at the high school, It's just me, Cally" He motioned his head towards the girl, right, that's why she seemed familiar. "Cally's siblings, some weird teachers who keep asking for Lee and Sam"

"That's us" Lee lowered his rifle "so Kenneth and Nicholai are there" I turned around to see him looking at me with a smile. "Good call"

"Wait, you're Lee and Sam? I thought he said the girl had pink hair?"

"I do?" I looked back at Cypher.

"No, the snow coated your hair" From Lee's response I began using my hands to brush my hair.

"There, is that good?" I looked around at everyone.

"Ah! It is pin-" Cypher spoke up but I interrupted him.

"Hold on...what're you two doing up here anyway?" Lee walked into the elevator, seemingly with no worry. I joined him.

"We saw the fire" I heard Lee mumble under his breath while Cally said that, probably cursing himself for making the fire.

"And what are you two doing out here all by yourselves?" Cally leaned on the railing that was in the elevator while Lee pressed the ground floor button.

"We're looking for Kenneth and Nicholai, but I guess that search is over" I kept swaying as I talked, trying not to stay still and build up energy.

"I gotta go back" Lee waited on the door.

"For?" Cypher seemed to be fiddling with something before putting it away and talking to Lee.

"There's a girl, Crystal, that we left at our bunker, I'll go back on my own, the path was clear here, it shouldn't be hard to go back.

"If you say so..." I was worried, he had enough food and water to last the trip...but, I was more worried about him mentally, if something goes wrong he'll be all alone...

"You should come make an appearance at the school first, there are some people I didn't tell you about, and they don't really take kindly to random people coming up from nowhere. So at least I can introduce you first."

"Alright Cally, we'll do that first." The elevator reached the ground floor. The four of us walked out, and yet something felt off.

"Anyone else feel the floor rumbling?" I asked, it felt when an elevator first starts, and that little jolt happens.

"You're not the only one" Lee prepared his rifle, this floor was mostly glass, yet, some of them were covered in rubble. Then we all a part of the thing making the noise, The rumbling got louder, and we all focused on it, a massive barrel coming around the corner.

"I-is that a-!" Before I could finish my sentence a hand came over my mouth and all four of us were against a wall.

"don't say a thing" I could hear Lee whisper. I moved my head up and down slightly and the hand came off my mouth. Just like I thought, it was a tank...out of all the places there was one here. They began speaking something, yet it wasn't a language I understood, I turned to look at the others and I saw Lee and Cally looking at each other, with Cally taking out a notepad as response. She walked into the middle of us and began writing.

1: That fucking bunker is gonna see its final opening soon!

2: Don't get carried away, we need the supplies inside

3: Exactly, it'd be a waste if we just blew it all up

2: At least someone can show restraint

1: Aww come on! Who's gonna have the balls to fight a goddamn tank!

2: There are many foolish people here, many people who should've just
off'd themselves the second this whole thing started, would've allowed the people
who wanted to live more food.

Cally flipped the notebook closed as they got farther.

"Didn't you two mention you left someone in a bunker!?" Cypher spoke, and Lee immediately started panicking. As both of them started to speak at the same time, the same voices that were on the tank grew louder again. It sounded like the tank went into overdrive, and next we knew, the tank came barreling through the wall beside us.

"Fuck! Move!" Lee grabbed my arm and started bolting, Cally and Cypher soon joined us, after we began sprinting together Lee let go. And the only thing I could hear behind us was something coming down. I didn't want to, but I did it anyways, I looked behind me, not only to see the tank taking aim, but the building we were just in coming down.

"Inside!" following Cypher's voice we quickly swerved to the left entering inside a building, I was going to keep running until I was grabbed, Lee grabbed me, and the next thing I knew, a large amount of smoke and dust took over the air.

"Here" Lee crouched in front of me and wrapped a cloth around my mouth and nose. "We didn't take the gasmasks, so this will do, try not to breathe in anything. I began to hear yelling outside.

"Let's bail before they get wise, or before the dust settles" Lee's voice was muffled thanks to the cloth we all had on around our mouth and noses, but it was still clear enough to hear if we were close to each other. We all went to the backdoor and exited the building, almost immediately I could feel that it was harder to breath, not even just that, but seeing as well. I began to realize that Cypher and Cally were missing, but I knew better than to go looking for them in...this.

"Let's wait it out there!" Lee led me into another building, farther from where we were before. This place must've been some hotel, there were carts with spoiled stuff on them, not just inside the hotel but outside as well, I checked the boxes...spoiled just a few days ago...We kept looking around, until Lee sat me down outside of a room. "Listen...Sam, the floor isn't rumbling anymore so they have to be far, Crystal is in danger...I need to go"

"Can't I just go with you?"

"If I get there too late" He took out a gun. "Then there's going to be a lot of risk, and blood...and Crystal...may already be dead if we arrive too late, and I don't want you to see that...trust me, just this once. I know I made a promise to you, and I know I'll be going against it...but this will be the only time...I promise"

"What if they left the tank and are on foot? What if they come here while you're gon-" Lee took his rifle out. "Y-You're not..."

"If you see them outside the window, then shoot them, or if you hear them outside the door, then fire. You won't see blood either way" He put his right hand on my shoulder while extending the rifle to me with his left. "You remember how right?"

"Lee! This is different! I'm killing someone!"

"And if you come with me, it's almost guaranteed you'll see death, be killed, or have to kill someone, at least this way it isn't guaranteed...Sam, a day, just a day I'll be gone, maybe even a week, but that's it! If you feel unsafe, then take my rifle and run to the school, just keep the area around you in mind...okay?" I took the rifle

"yes" I spoke quietly and went inside one of the rooms.

"I'll be back, I promise" And with that Lee ran off, as I just locked myself in a room, it had only been a few seconds before I felt alone...I pulled out my bag, if he'll only be gone day...then maybe I should eat something...we were meant to eat on the rood after all, I looked through my bag and saw something wrapped and covered with paper. I pulled it out and unraveled the paper.

'If you feel panicked, or alone, use this, it's fully charged, and has multiple games in it, I'll be back...I promise' That's what it said. I looked at my knees where I left the wrapped item, I took off the wrapping and saw a small gaming console, one of those handheld ones...It even had a charger with it and a little box that showed 100%, I guess if it runs out of power I could use that to recharge it.

It was all I did...play a few games...for hours...and hours...no one came by...no one returned...days passed...soon those days became weeks...and eventually, with no more battery, with no more way to get rid of the loneliness...two months had passed