Chronicles of the Fall- #1- Empty Night

Chapter 18: The Unraveling Seams

"To the observatory!" Tripp screams at Lucas, tossing him the keys. The dark-haired boy catches them deftly in the air, bounding over the stairs and into the driver's seat of the bus. Tripp pulls his gun, standing guard at the bus doors as everybody in the Council piles in. Jackson, Cora, William, Todd, and finally Tripp get into the vehicle.

    "Go, Luke, go!" Jackson yells, his eyes wide. His hand is wrapped around Cora's wrist, a subconscious gesture of protection. William lays curled in a ball across one of the seats, staring blankly at the back of the seat in front of him. Blood pounds through his veins; he feels sick.

    Todd's hammer shakes in his hand, but he sits straight and attentive, ready to fight.

    Tripp leans out the window of the bus, firing away at the horde of zombies converging on the bus. However, the bullets are ultimately wasted, because the bus is already out-distancing the infected in it's flight farther up the mountain.

    The Elites, however, are not so lucky. On foot, they stand a fair chance of getting torn apart by the lurkers.

    "Faith, come on!" Hampton screams, tugging roughly at the girl's arm. Her eyes are wide as she beholds the immense crowd of lurkers shambling towards them. Her knees lock up and her legs begin to tremble.

    Laken sees Hampton's predicament, rushing over to give him a hand. She takes Faith's face into her hands, holding it so that she can't turn away from Laken's intense, urgent green gaze. "Listen to me Faith. You follow Hampton and Talon. You run, and don't stop running until you're safe, at least a mile away from here, do you hear me?"

    "Y-You're not coming with us?!" Faith cries, distraught colouring her face.

    "No!" Laken snaps, growing impatient and agitated. These feelings within her spike to record levels when she hears a gunshot. She shoves Faith towards Hampton, who catches her gaze with slight panic within the depths of his eyes.

    "We'll be back. Find a safe landmark and stay there," Laken says. With that, she turns to regroup with DJ, to give what remained her tiny group time to escape. Her and DJ share a solemn glance before facing the lurker horde.

***

    "Hampton," Faith pants, "I can't run anymore." Her shoulders slump as she slows her pace.

    "We can't stop, we aren't far enough away. More could be following," he says shortly, jogging to a stop beside her.

    "Where the hell are we even supposed to be running, man? We can't just leave Laken and DJ back there," Talon says, taking deep breaths. Suddenly reminded, Faith's lip begins to quiver.

    "What if they're hurt?" she asks, tears welling in her eyes. She looks up at Hampton, and he responds by bringing her into a hug.

    "Faith, you've got to calm down. DJ and Laken are tough, they'll find us again," he assures her. The slight crack of a branch echos through the woods. Hampton's finger is on the trigger of his gun and pointed in the direction of the noise in milliseconds.

    "What the hell was that?" Talon whispers, his gun also pointed in his shaky hands. Hampton's eyes dart to Talon beside him and then back at the wood. Faith clutches the back of Hampton's shirt with a strong grip. Another twig snaps.

    "Come out! Who are you?" Hampton calls, his finger pressed against the trigger.

    "Please don't shoot me," a desperate voice pleads. Hampton's finger relaxes slightly.

    "Come out," Hampton repeats. From behind a tree, a figure slowly emerges. The boy slouches, holding his hands cautiously above his hand as he slinks out of his hiding place like a stray dog. One look at his face and Hampton can tell that the boy is on the verge of tears.