One Shot 》 Z Nation (Discontinued)

Eleven

I hate looking for Murphy. I really do. If he would have just stayed with us, then we could have been a little bit closer to California. But, no, he decided to go to Minneapolis for that stupid Z weed. I thought I could tolerate him, but I seriously wanna punch him in the face. I felt someone shake my shoulder, breaking me from my peaceful sleep. I slowly blinked my eyes open to find my head on 10k's lap.

"We're here," he said.

I let out a small yawn while I nod in thanks. We all jumped down from the truck and got closer to the gate.

"You guys harvesters here for the cure," the guard asked.

Warren nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

"You're armed."

Addy looked around us. "Uh, yeah," she said as I placed my rifle on my shoulder. And here I thought we were wearing these as a fashion statement, note the sarcasm.

The guy nodded his head before opening the gate. "Good. Harvesters wait in the garage until you're called. The others inside will give you the rundown."

Addy sighed as we walked towards the garage. "You think Murphy's here?"

Warren started looking around the place. "Yeah, he's here. I can smell him."

Doc placed his hands on their shoulders. "I think you're smelling the Z weed." He gestured up ahead to show these two guys loading the van with that stuff.

"And when there's Z weed, there's Murphy," I mumbled. "Dumbass is going to get us killed one day."

Then there was this cry. The group and I looked towards one of the tents to see a woman being dragged back by a Z...wrapped in vines. Freaking vines. The girl kept screaming for help as the Z kept pulling her back. We ran towards her until Vasquez was close enough to shoot the Z. He hit it, but it kept going after the girl. I used the knife end of my rifle to cut around the vines while he swung the butt of his gun on the Z's head. I closed my mouth as the Z juice started flying everywhere. I swung the knife one last time for the girl's leg to get free. Vasquez held the gun up high as he repeatedly bashed the Z's head.

"Hey!" We heard the guy yell. He came over with one of his little friends, guns ready to fire. "Told you people to move into the garage where it's safe."

"Safety first, huh?" Doc mocked.

The guy took a threatening step towards Doc until they were neck to neck. "You got a problem?"

"No, no brother. Just here for the cure."

I got in the middle and pushed the guy back. "And until then, learn to respect your elders." Unless it's Murphy. The guy glared at me. I could see his hands tighten around his gun. My head tilted to the side as I copied his stance. "You got a problem?" A satisfied smirk came to my face when he didn't reply. "Didn't think so."

I made sure to bump my shoulder with his as we walked. The women kept wincing as blood pooled out of her thigh. When we made it towards the garage we spotted a little girl in bed, sick.

"You alright?" Warren asked.

The lady nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

Doc started searching through his duffel until he found a pad. Warren gave him a seriously look, which made Doc shrugged his shoulders. Hey, it absorbs blood, so why not. Doc placed the pad on the woman's open wound.

"Mama," the little girl mumbled.

The woman smiled. "Hey, baby. Hey." The little girl sat up and the mother pushed her hair back. "Mama's here. I came back to you just like I promised."

"Did you find it?"

"Not yet sweetie. But we're getting close." I could see the saddened look in the little kid's eyes. "Okay. Lay down."

The little girl slowly laid back down until she fell back to sleep. Vasquez and I exchanged a look, but I shook my head at him before walking towards the entrance. I couldn't exactly leave. The whole idea was to surprise Murphy and tie him up to the car before we left.

"I'll be back, mija," Vasquez told me.

I nodded my head while I held my pinkie up. "Promise?"

Vasquez chuckled at me before wrapping his pinkie around mine. "I promise."

I shook those words out of my head. No, no, no. I'm not going to have a flashback with Vasquez in it. Promise after promise until he couldn't keep it. 10k came over and stood next to me.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "What are you doing?"

"Helping," he replied. "And to hold you back if you decide to shoot Vasquez."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not going to shoot him...yet."

"Yet being the key word, Ry." I gave him a look. "One Shot."

I sighed. This is the first time someone else calls me by my real name. It feels nice when 10k says it, for some weird reason. But I've been called One Shot since the virus spread, I'll die as One Shot. The only other person who calls me Ryder is Vasquez and look how things turned out.

"Don't take it personally," I said. "It's just..." I trailed off.

I felt his hand grab mine. "You don't have to say anything. I get it."

I gave him a grateful smile, feeling my cheeks heating up. "Thanks."

Then we were look out. We scanned the camp for any signs of Murphy. We listened in on Warren, Addy and Doc. The woman said that she's not really the little girl's mother. The girl's parents had to be killed. The woman devoted her life to protect that child which made me admire her. I wanted to cheer when Addy found out that there was a radio in one of the tractors. 10k removed his hand from mine, warmth leaving me, and patted my shoulder. He pointed up ahead and I see Cassandra sitting outside a tent with two guards. He spun around to let out a whistle, making Warren and Vasquez come over.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I think I know where Murphy is," 10k said before pointing ahead.

"Cassandra."

Vasquez nodded his head. "Kid's right. Murphy won't be far. Must be in the greenhouse."

I looked towards the tent. "What's he doing in there?"

Well, with Murphy, he could be doing anything. That's not good.