What Now
It had been almost a month since the five of you had locked yourselves up in that bell tower.
It took a week for the hoard to pass through – leaving you all with grumbling stomachs and dry mouths. Food and water wasn’t something you had thought of when you ran up there.
It was funny how all of you had learned to stay quiet even through the most daunting of night terrors. To you, it had become such an ingrained habit that even when you woke up with your throat raw, your screams were completely silent throughout the night. If it weren’t for your sore windpipe, you might’ve never have known you’d made a peep.
The five of you had managed to sneak back into the hideout, but there were still infected nestled inside its walls. There was also a half-eaten horse that lay out the front with footsteps smearing itself across a nearby wall as the person must’ve scrambled up onto the roof.
At first glance, there was nothing suspicious. But upon further inspection, the horse was at least a week old, the scuff marks on the wall were coated in rain – indicating that they had climbed over the wall the same night that the infected had swarmed you since it had rained not too long before then. The barbed fence was also cut open…
You didn’t want to think about who could’ve done this, so you simply ignored the green ribbon you always saw Vanessa wearing that was caught up in a tree branch.
The five of you weren’t sure what to do or where to go. Isaac was going to deliver soon and you all knew he wouldn’t be able to keep quiet when going through that sort of agony. It would also mean that soon you’d have another life to care for – a beautiful life, but a helpless one.
The earth was drying out for the cold winter as spring started to settle in. The sun’s rays bathing the land in a harsh glow, beating down on your exposed skin as you all walked aimlessly across the face of the planet.
Currently, the five of you were starting to set up camp again. You all wanted to get to one of the nearby hospitals to ensure that Isaac could deliver safely, and so far, the closest one was St. Mary’s Hospital.
“(Y/n), I need some help over here!” Isaac called as he struggled to bend down and grab some of the firewood.
“Sorry,” You apologised as you quickly came over to help the other.
“Thanks,” Isaac smiled. Nodding, the two of you walked back over to the small hut that you were staying at for tonight.
“What took you two so long!?” Harley exclaimed exasperatedly as she snatched the bark out of your hands and dumped it into the growing fire.
“(Y/n) was in her head again,” Isaac teased.
“Says the man who can’t even bend down,” You huffed, rolling your eyes. Isaac chuckled.
“I was honestly expecting more mood swings,” Harley admitted cheekily as she settled down next to the fire.
“Don’t worry about that,” Milo laughed, stepping into the room with his hands wrapped around the ears of two dead rabbits. “There are plenty of mood swings, you just don’t get the pleasure of seeing them.”
“Asshole,” Isaac muttered, but try as he might, the man couldn’t keep the fond tone out of his voice.
“Hey, Mum,” Milo teased as he sauntered up and pecked Isaac on the cheek. Harley made some gagging noises.
“Hello Daddy,” Isaac smiled slyly as Harley’s gagging noises increased into a coughing fit.
“Ew! Fuck, I don’t ever want to hear you say that again,” You whined, scrunching your face up in disgust.
“Too bad – the kid’ll be saying it soon enough,” Isaac said.
“Yeah, but that is completely different,” You said indignantly. Isaac opened his mouth to reply – probably shoot back some sort of retort – when Harley switched the topic.
“Where’s Peter?” She asked, brows furrowing.
“Um… He went off, told me to go ahead without him,” Milo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“You know he shouldn’t be out there alone,” Your voice had a reprimanding tone as you narrowed your eyes at the pack Alpha.
“He’s literally just outside, he’s fine,” Milo huffed, fidgeting with the rabbits in his hands.
“You are horrible at lying,” Isaac snorted.
“Okay, okay. Fine.” Milo conceded, holding his hands up. “We stumbled across some Fireflies and they may or may not have asked if we wanted to join.”
“So, did they want us to join or not?” Harley teased, laughing at the irritated look Milo sent her.
“Yes, they did.”
You pondered on this for a while…
The Fireflies were a rebellious group that sought to right the government and override the militaria oppression that many of the QZs faced.
You agreed with quite a lot of their morals, but you weren’t a big fan of how their group operated – or any other groups like them for that matter.
The problem with groups such as the Fireflies, meant that there was information control – leading to purposeful misinformation to certain recruits, or for lower-ranking soldiers to be prevented from seeing the big picture. It was something that you didn’t like, especially in this dystopian world. Being out of the loop cost lives and meant that you didn’t have a say – it was like being blindfolded and being told to walk in the direction you want to. There is an obvious dilemma there.
But, it would also do your little group some good to get your hands on supplies and have a safe place for Isaac to give birth in.
You let out a frustrated huff, crossing your arms as you left yourself lean back against the wall.
To be honest, your first reaction is to say no. Because there was so much that could go wrong and there were lots of messy problems that you could all run into if you wished to leave. But you all were struggling. Shelter was getting harder to clear – infected kept going after Isaac who couldn’t keep his scent in check due to the raised pheromones during pregnancy. There were only five of you and it meant that someone was always going to be on their own when you split up to gather food. Spring was starting to bloom, but it seemed that it was getting harder to find any nearby animals without having to fire a gun and alerting anyone in the vicinity. But most importantly, Isaac’s child was due soon…
You shook yourself out of your thoughts and tuned back into the conversation… except there was no conversation. Everyone was looking at you.
“What?” You asked a little harshly, unsure what they were expecting.
“What’s the verdict?” Milo asked, a fond smile on his lips – you had a tendency to get into your head.
Blinking owlishly at the other, you looked around the room and it seemed that everyone was in agreement.
“I guess we can join,” You sighed, but you couldn’t help but smile at the cheer Harley let out.
“Guess we’re becoming Fireflies today,” Isaac joked, nudging you.
“Who would’ve thought,” You drawled. “I certainly never thought that you’d have a sense of duty, Mr. I’m-too-lazy-to-get-off-the-couch.”
“I’m pregnant, I can get away with that shit,” Isaac sassed. You barked out a laugh at the response before getting to your feet as Milo gestured for you all to follow him outside to wherever Peter must be.
“Looks…We’re fi-nally here,” Joel said cheerily as you two strode up to the intimidating gate that loomed over the entrance of the Seattle Quarantine Zone.
“Guess so,” You hummed as you dismounted Mai and walked up to the big gate.
Your eyes trailed over the surrounding area and saw a landing across the top where you figured that you could jump across. Turning back to Joel who had dismounted and was now re-strapping his prosthetic, you figured that since the man had trouble crouching, he probably wouldn’t be able to jump very far…
Sighing, you turned back to look at the bridge. At the top, there was a metal platform that looked to serve as some sort of lookout. The platform itself was a little crooked, tilting to one side as if someone had jumped on to it.
You weren’t too sure it would take the added force of your weight when you crash-landed on it…
Sighing, you looked around for some sort of better solution, but your eyes couldn’t catch anything of value.
“Joel, I’m gonna go take a look over there!” You called out, jabbing your thumb in the direction of a run down FEDRA checkpoint as you walked over.
“M’kay,” Joel hummed as he tethered the horses to a nearby tree before ambling after you.
This was obviously some sort of station for stragglers. There were steel holding cells at the back with a small, drab office-looking shack plopped in the middle. Big, square barrels of hay and soil were stacked up oddly against the small building, creating the perfect ledge to help lift yourself up and over onto the roof of the office. Joel grunted as he awkwardly hefted himself over the ledge, refusing your outstretched hand because he’s a stubborn asshole.
Rolling your eyes at the petulant display, you decided to silently sass him back as you elegantly hopped across the building onto the top of one of the cells.
“Jump… Do-I can’t?” Joel said gruffly as he stared hesitantly at the gap separating you two.
“It’s fine, I’ll catch you,” You cheered with all the fake-pep you could muster. Joel just scowled at you.
“Sod off,” He growled.
“That’s oddly British of you,” You teased (Peter was from Britain and that insult was one of his favourites since he used it so much). Joel just let out a weary sigh before backing up, making sure to count his steps so he could launch off with his good leg, before doing the most awkward hobble-sprint you had ever seen. You had to hold in your laughter so you could help catch the alpha to make sure his prosthetic didn’t just slip through one of the gaps in the iron bars.
“Did it,” He cheered grumpily as he brushed you off. Smiling you danced ahead, purposefully keeping your movements light and graceful just to spite the alpha.
It was as you helped him up onto a ledge that led around the outside of the wall, that an ear-piercing shriek sounded.
Clamping your hands over your ears, you let your eyes dart around before realising that the gate was opening.
“Shit,” You whispered as you quickly hauled yourself up to join Joel on the concealed ledge.
“You got any pistol suppressors?” Joel asked quietly once you’d crawled next to him.
“Not on me, but I should have the materials to make some,” You whispered back. Joel nodded in acknowledgment.
There was a group of people that came barrelling through the gate in a ute. They immediately jumped out of the car and started to scan the area.
Although it was hard to hear them from where you two currently were, it wasn’t impossible to make out the words that were spoken.
“I doubt they're still here,” One of them huffs – a woman, it appeared, with dark skin and frizzy hair splayed out across her back.
“You know the drill, Danni. It was obvious someone had opened the gate, we’re just here to make sur—”
“Oi, there’s horses over here!” A masculine voice rang through the air and you heard Joel curse silently as the group moved over.
There were seven people altogether, and they crowded around your two horses.
“They must still be here somewhere!” Danni shouted. “Find them!”
“And you said they weren’t,” A man teased.
They all spread out and started to scout the area, their eyes determined and sharp – guns raised.
“How good’s your aim?” Joel asked quietly as he counted his bullets.
“Horrible,” you deadpanned. “But I’m a decent shot with a gun.”
Joel just rolled his eyes. “Then let’s get moving. Try and not make any sounds.”
“Aye, aye Captain.”