Killing Corpses (zombie novel)

Chapter Seventeen

We had stayed up all night trying to think up a plan.
I really wanted to find my brother, but I literally had no idea where he was. Or,
who he was, for that matter. I knew his name was Liam, but that was pretty much it.
"Are you sure you don't remember anything about him?" Seth asked again, scraping the bottom of the bean can for stray pickings.
I sighed in boredom, tired of being asked that same question for the last hour.
"Ive already told you guys," I explained once again. "He ran away before I was born. I have no memory of him whatsoever."
Everyone sighed.
"And you have no idea where we could find records of him? Any information?" Callum prompted.
I thought hard. "Not really..."
Everyone sighed again.
Abbie perked up slightly. "So that means we stay here? I mean... We couldn't just wander around, without a goal or anything..."
"Not necessarily," Seth said, holding up a finger. He looked around the group, everyone quietened down.
"Copsyn," He said, turning to me, dumping the empty can he held. "Didn't you say that orphanage you were at knew about Liam the whole time?"
"Yeah," I shrugged. "That's why I got so angry, because they hadn't told me."
Seth nodded. "Yeah. So, the place you were at should have records and photos of this guy, right? And if not, your mom and Dad must have something somewhere, at your house?"
Callum and I's face filled with realisation and joy, but Abbie's fell like a ton of bricks.
"Seth!" I almost screamed. "You're a genius!"
"It isn't rocket science, Roberts," He smirked. "You're just shit at this."
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"Copsyn." Seth called. I looked to see him motioning with his hand for me to come over. I obliged.
"Want to trade guns?" He proposed, shaking the hair out of his dark eyes. I thought about it. I sure as hell wasn't going to be able to shoot a shotgun again, not with that shoulder. Plus, my dog bite was still on the mend. I nodded.
"Sure."
He smirked. "Sweet," He grabbed my shotgun from the corner and admired it at arms length. He whistled. "Fine gun. Great range too. Perfect. Oh - here." He said, handing me the silver pistol he'd saved me with. I looked at the gun uncomfortably. I still didn't like the idea of shooting something.
"Oh, and here." He said again, handing me the sheath for it. I took it and wasted no time in throwing the pistol into it. He chuckled. "I'll have to give you a lesson sometime."

While Seth and Callum packed up on supplies, I decided to finally go and speak to Abbie. She was sitting in the room I got handcuffed to the wall in, huddled in a ball in the corner. I heard her sniff delicately.
I tousled my hair a bit, a habit I'd got used to when I got nervous, and knocked softly on the door. I didn't know if she wanted to be alone or not.

She stopped sniffing immediately, and wiped her tears away. I walked into the room and bent down beside her.
"Hey... what's up?"
Her sullen little eyes were tear stained, and dark circles underneath them showed her lack of sleep. She had obviously been worrying herself sick.
"Oh... hi.." She croaked.
I sighed lightly. "I'm sorry Abbie," I said, pulling her in for a hug. She accepted it. "Its just... we can't stay here forever, okay? Things will only get worse in the city. We could get overrun, trapped. Not a lot of people live out in the countryside-parts around here, we'll be safer there." I tried to convince her, but she looked as glum as before.
"I know Copsyn," She replied. "It's just... I'm not cut out for this. Callum always reminds me that its survival of the fittest but... I'm not the fittest Copsyn. In fact, I'm anything but the fittest." She broke into sobs again. "I just... I-I feel like I'm holding Callum back... that I'll get him killed one day- "

"Stop." I said, cutting her off completely. "Stop right there."
I grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, my choppy fringe falling over my face. She stopped, taken aback.
"You're better than this. Stop pulling yourself down, and start picking yourself up."
She shook again, and a tear slipped out.
I sighed.
"Abbie I know how you feel. You feel scared, worried, anxious, confused. You think you aren't ready for this, you can't do it. And so what if you can't? We're here to help you learn, and were still learning too. I'm still learning too." I said.
She sighed back at me.
"But you're brave. You're willing to go out there. I'm not."
I blew the hair out of my face.
"You think I was like that from the start? No way! I had to survive in my own for a while, with no clue what was happening. I didn't know what I was doing, where I was going. But then I met you guys, and you helped me. We all have to help each other out here, Abbie."
It took a moment for it all to sink in, but she finally nodded.
"Yeah..." she said. "You're right."
I smiled at her, and she pulled me into a small and delicate hug.
"Thank you." She half whispered. "I really, really needed that."
I chuckled. "You can always come talk to me. Don't worry about it."
She pulled away and smiled slightly, the most I'd seen from her in a long time.
"Cmon," I said, standing up. "Lets go help the guys."
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We each had our own bags to carry, and we chose what we took. Basically, if you didn't need it to survive, you didn't need it at all.
As soon as morning broke, we set out. Callum busted down the barricades he and Abbie had spent so long building up. I hoisted my pack higher onto my back and followed behind him, aiming my pistol into the dim Californian morning light. There was no-one there, despite the noise we had made. They'd be here soon.
"C'mon," Seth prompted, dipping in front of Callum in a run. "We gotta hurry."
"Whoa, wise guy," Callum sneered. "Why do you get to call the shots?"
"Because I've lived on my own since the beginning of this, while you haven't crawled out of your little safe hold for anything but runs. I know a bit more than you, alright? Now let's go."
Callum didn't bother trying to retort. He knew Seth was right.

We all flounced up the subway stairs as a group, aiming our weapons at any possible enemies. But there were none.

"Right," Seth said. "Follow me."

We all kept pace with his brisk jog, bouncing into a building and up some stairs. And some more, and some more. I knew exactly what he was doing.
Yet again, we ended up on the roof, only small gaps separating us from the neighbouring building. I face palmed. No way was Abbie going to agree to this, I thought.

But I stood corrected. In fact, she was the first to jump over to the next building, surprisingly. Callum stood dumbfounded, but shook back to take the leap of faith himself. Seth went, then me.
I jumped like I had last time, and landed straight in front of Seth, tuck and roll (which I actually hadn't intended)
"Not bad," he commented, pulling me up. I did a sarcastic, half curtesy, and watched Callum and Abbie laugh. It was so good to see them happy again.

We repeated this pattern several times across the buildings, and at the end, we were all masters of the jumping-across-a-roof art. He finally stopped us at a random building in the kinda outskirts of California.
"Wait," he said. We stopped.
"What is it?" Abbie asked, peering over the edge.
Seth pointed to a pickup truck, down below us. Callum gave him a skeptical look.
"Are you sure that thing works?" Callum said. Seth smirked.
"This is my truck." He stated proudly.
From what I could see, there wasn't much to be proud of. It was a ratty, beaten down, dark green pickup truck, which had more bumps and bruises than a 5 year old's leg. But at least we didn't have to walk anymore.
"Okay," Callum said. "One problem."
"Huh?" Seth questioned.
Callum pointed down below us. "Them."
It was only then we noticed the swarm of Reapers circling the vehicle. There were at least eight - more than I had ever willingly taken on.
"So, how do we take care of them?" I asked Seth. He smirked at me, like I was a child was asking a cute little question.
"Well," He began. "Remember how I said I should give you a lesson sometime?"
I nodded.
He exhaled deeply. "Here goes."
And with that, he leaped off of the building roof, landing on the awning of the shop below, and rolling off of that with a neat tuck.
I turned around and looked at the others - their expressions matched mine. Astonished.
I shook back to my senses. "Cmon, lets go help."
They nodded, still in shock.
I took my chance, and jumped off the building too. I rolled off of the awning and landed on my healing dog bite arm, which didn't hurt anymore. I was closely followed by Abbie, then by Callum.
Seth was busy killing them off elsewhere, and it wasn't long until one started approaching me. Its rotting flesh, the putrid smell... I couldn't wait for this disaster of a young woman to be abolished.
I drew out my pistol and loaded, aiming at her head. She rasped and groaned, desperate for a bite of me. I wasn't about to give her it.
With gritted teeth, I pulled on the trigger, sending a bullet satisfyingly through the centre of her skull, the infected body falling limp at my feet. I breathed heavy. What a rush!
I quickly moved on to my next target, a man this time, with only one arm. Maggots and grubs clung to the open wound where his arm should've been, eating away at already dead flesh. I disposed of him quickly.
I felt some remorse for these people as I picked another two off. Technically, I was killing people,infected or not. Although, that thought didn't register while blood pumped furiously through my ears.
Soon enough, the area was clear, and Seth applauded the three of us. We were splattered in black blood, but we were alive, and that was all that mattered right now. Abbie was out of breath and pale, but she looked alert and aware, better than she ever was in the subway. I saw she was holding a bloody knife, which was weird to see.
"Okay," Seth said, slapping the hood of the truck and approaching the driver's seat. "Hop in."
"Whoa whoa whoa," Callum butted in. I looked at Abbie, who looked worried. I hoped to god Callum wasn't about to start an argument.
"How do we know you aren't going to drive us off a cliff? Kill us in our sleep, steal our supplies?" Callum listed. He had a point.
"Cmon dude," Seth whined, raising his hands up in mock surrender. "Im just tryna' survive like you. Besides, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now."
There was a short silence, and Callum looked at Abbie and I. I gave him a pleading look, and hoped Abbie was doing the same. She must have, because Callum sighed and turned round to face Seth.
"Fine." He agreed. "But I call shotgun."
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HAI GUYS

Sorry for the lack of uploads, to you that read this novel
Ive been pretty busy planning the rest of the story, and this took FOREVER to write.
So yeah... Just wanted to apologise.
*APOLOGY*
There :)
See y'all later! Please let me know if youre enjoying the story in the comments, or by voting!:)
BAI

H x