Legends ➸ Ben Parish

11

DUMBO, POUNDCAKE, ZOMBIE, AND Nugget were all standing by the door. I guess they planned on fighting. Everyone was totally ignoring our third option.
"I get it. We run, we die. We stay, we die. Before we do something we'll regret, why don't we consider our third option, we blow it up." I gestured to the capsule.
Zombie was shaking his head, "And who's going to breathe on it and get blown to bits."
Cassie stepped in, "Human breath isn't the only source for CO2."
"Coke." Dumbo added.
It's be near impossible to find a Coke bottle. Along with alcohol, soft drinks were among the first things people stole during the first wave.
I perked up, "The canisters for the fountain drinks at the diner next door. They're probably still there."
"Attach the bomb to the canister. Rig it to dispense CO2, but in a confined space." Evan continued.
"The elevator!" I finished.
Zombie sighed, "How does this solve the problem?"
"They'll think we're dead!" Nugget pointed out. How could a five year old understand what was happening better than Zombie.
"Wheb they check it out, they won't find any bodies. They'll know." Zombie said.
"It'll buy us sometime. And by the time they realize what's going on, it'll be too late." Evan smiled grimly, "Because we're going to the very last place they would think to look."
Almost immediately Zombie and Poundcake left to get the canister, Dumbo guarded the hall, Nugget watched over Megan, and the lovebirds just sat there. They were whispering about something, but I was too occupied with packing my bag.
After a little while, Dumbo poked his head through the door, "They're back."
"Do they have a canister?" I asked.
He responded quickly, "They're putting it in the elevator right now."
Within moments he was back in the doorway, but this time held by a tall blonde woman.
"Hello, Evan." she said. Her voice was deep and scratchy.
"Hello, Grace." he replied.
That's what he was talking about. All of us thought he was talking about saying grace before a meal or some amazing grace shit, but Grace was a person. A silencer.
She took our weapons and made us throw them out of the window. She then motioned for us to sit with Dumbo's rifle. We did what she said, mostly because we didn't want to die.
She took a moment to greet Cassie.
She sat next to Evan, "Did you tell her? Does she know how all of this ends?"
Cassie took a moment before she shot up and charged her, "Like this you extraterrestrial bitch."
The impact knocked Grace sideways into the closet doors. The fight ended up with Cassie being thrown into a wall.
I could hear a door fly open down the hallway.
"Get out Sam! Get Zombie! Get-" Cassie shouted, but was interrupted by Grace breaking into a sprint toward where her brother hid.
I was up before Cassie so I grabbed her and we pursued the space bitch. As Cassie tried to open the door to the room her brother was in, she was hit in the back of the head, sending her nose into the door.
I knew the crunch wasn't the wood. She stepped back, revealing blood gushing from her face. The same force sent me flying to the end of the hallway.
My hair was wet with blood. I raised my hand to touch the back of my head and when I brought it back to look at it, it was covered in red. I groaned.
Cassie was thrown to the other side of the hall.
"Stay there." Grace glared at both of us.
"Leave my brother alone." Cassie barked through the blood pouring down her face.
"The adorable little boy? Oh I'm sorry Cassiopeia, I didn't know." Grace didn't try to hide her grin, "He's already dead."
The next things happened so quickly. Cassie tried to charge her again, Poundcake entered the hallway to stop her and point his gun at Grace, and Evan crawled out of the room behind Grace.
The stairway door opened again and Zombie shouted, "Freeze!"
Nobody froze. Especially not Grace, who was gone. I struggled to get up. Zombie helped me before racing off to the room across from Nugget's, "She's in here."
Cassie had a breakdown at Nugget's door when he replied to her. The rest swarmed at the door where Grace fled to. even Cassie joined them at one point. They discussed what was happening next until the sound of an attack helicopter was audible.
"Shut up!" I shouted and pointed to the window.
Suddenly, a spotlight hit. The bright light flooded into the hallway. Zombie yanked me back to my feet. I grabbed Cassie, who tried to get Evan, but he refused to go.
"Get your brother." I let go of Cassie.
"We can't run now. They're here!" she stared at us in disbelief.
"What's your plan?" Zombie shouted over the roar of the helicopter. It was directly over the hotel now.
Nugget burst out of him room, hand locked around Megan's wrist. We ran. Cassie joined us a minute or two later. She had the kids, but Evan decided not to join us after all.
Zombie was stuck carrying Poundcake. As soon as we were halfway across the parking lot, he went down under the weight. I stopped in my tracks, but didn't go back.
At one point he began yelling. That's when I ran over. His face was contorted by fear, rage, and pain. I ran my fingers through his dark hair, "It's over."
Cassie took off after her brother, who was hauling ass back to the hotel. Before she could return with him, the hotel blew apart in a ball of neon green. It knocked all of us off our feet. That's when the debris started roaring toward us. A block of wood hit me in the back of the head, knocking me unconscious.

     I ran. I didn't know where I'd go or what I'd do when I got there, but I ran. Patches followed closely.
     "Hey!" someone shouted behind me.
    That made me run even faster. I couldn't trust anyone anymore. The 3rd wave hadn't even hit yet and most of our humanity was already gone. Another gun shot rang out and Patches stopped following me. He was laying down. It took me a second to realize why.
He got shot. I didn't stop running though. I knew if I did that the next shot would bring me down. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I ran.
The sadness was quickly replaced by rage. The others had taken everyone I knew and loved.
I ran until my legs gave out from underneath me. The man that shot Patches was approaching me now.
"I tried to get you to stop. I was aiming for your leg." he told me.
"Go to hell." I muttered through gritted teeth.
"We're already there." he picked me up.
I kicked and swung my arms, hoping I'd hit him hard enough for him to drop me, but it didn't happen. He carried me a few blocks from where I lost Patches.
I could hear other voices now.
"I knew you needed help." he whispered, "I was trying to bring you here."
I turned my head just enough to see a refugee camp. Kids ran around the tents laughing, men and women washed clothes, and I stared. It's what my parents and I had been searching for.
"Who's this?" a woman in her forties asked.
"Found her a few blocks away. She had a dog with her." he responded.
I swung my arms again, this time hitting him in the throat. Of course he forgot to mention the part where he killed Patches.
"Calm down." she instructed.
I snapped, "Don't you dare tell me what to do! Did he tell you about how he killed my dog and then kidnapped me? I guess he must've 'forgotten'!" I turned to face him, "Or was it just not important."
Another man came running past us with a little boy in his arms, "We need help!"
"What's wrong, Zachary?" the woman gave up on trying to help me.
"I found him unconscious right outside of the gates. I don't think he has much more time" Zachary told us.
I stepped back, despite the obvious danger of leaving, I knew I couldn't stay here with Patches's murderer.
I was at the gates when the camp burst into a giant ball of green.
The kid was implanted by the same capsule Megan was.

Zombie was next to me when I woke up. He sat watching the sunrise with his rifle in his lap. The hair on the back of my head was matted with blood. And not to mention hurt like hell.
I turned my head when I heard the leaves crunching in the woods. Zombie swung his rifle toward the noise, but lowered it when Cassie motioned for him to.
"My ankle's broken." her silencer said.
"Then I'll come to you." and she did.
I looked up at Zombie, who was already looking at me.
"You think we're safe?" I asked.
"Not at all, but I'll be fine as long as you're here." He pulled me closer.
     Maybe everything could work out. Just maybe.

EDITED

Okay so that was the end of book two, The Infinite Sea. So we're heading on to the last, The Last Star.

As always, if you enjoyed this chapter make sure to vote and leave a comment!