Rise

Chapter 9

I can't help myself in my mind he'll always be Carter. He's not Derek to me, so I don't even want to call him that. His hand sits gently in mine and memories flood back as we fly towards his home. He glances over at me and I turn to face him.

"You remember writing those poems?" he asks.

"Yeah, I think so," I say.

"Where have you been all of these years?" he asks.

"My mind is still fuzzy on that, but I did end up in New York for college, NYU like we said..."

"Me too," he whispers.

"Wait what?"

"Mostly online classes, but yeah," he says.

"I..."

I start to say something but the helicopter dips. The wind is pretty wicked from the storm and I'm pretty sure we are going down. My grasp tightens around his hand and he squeezes back comforting me.

"Everything okay Ralph?" he questions.

"Ralph?" he questions when there is no answer.

"Stay here," he whispers.

He stands trying to keep balance and ducks his head as he makes his way to the front.

"Who the hell are you?" I hear him say.

I look down as the house comes into view and I can't help but have a sinking feeling. There are strange black cars parked all out front and the iron gate is wide open allowing zombie's free range. I hear a scuffle and turn my attention towards the front. The helicopter drops again and I scream.

"Hold on Alice," he says fighting for control.

If we were in one of those action movies we would crash, but somehow survive. Only this isn't a dream, it isn't an action movie and I'm scared shitless. I hold on my stomach feeling sick from all of the twists and turns. A loud thump startles me as a body lays on the floor. Where the hell did he learn all of this stuff?

The chopper lands, but it's a rough landing and shakes me up a bit. Okay not just a bit, I rush out of it and start vomiting all over the grass. Screw having a weak stomach. As I'm vomiting I hear a grunting noise. Feeling around my pocket I feel the knife and pull it out. He stumbles close and I strike, the smell causing another round of puke.

"We've got to get inside," he tells me hoping down.

"No shit," I choke.

He grabs onto the infected arm and I scream from the pain. He stops tugging and looks down. Lifting his hand he notices some blood.

"You're bleeding," he says.

"I'm fine," I say tugging my arm back.

I know there are other zombie's around and we probably shouldn't be out here doing this right now. He doesn't seem to care, he takes my arm and pushes the sleeve of my jacket up.

"You were bit," he says looking at me. His eyes glass over and for the first time since coming here I finally see the boy I once loved.

"I'm fine," I tell him.

"My dad will help you, but first I need you to help me. You think you're up for it?" he questions.

"Yeah definitely," I tell him.

"Okay, so there's an entrance through the green house on the west side," he says. "My dad had it added just in case we had to escape," he tells me. "You go in through there, I'm going to head through the front," he says.