Zombies

III

Ashley: 

New York soon became a deathtrap. Helicopters brought in horrifying footage. The mutants sprinted down Broadway, chasing civilians.  A mutant caught a young girl, and dragged her to the cement. It quickly became a gory mess, and I turned my head, unable to watch. New York City was deemed infected. In the back of my mind, I knew it would only be a matter of time until the mutants reached New Jersey. New York had fallen, but there were too many infected people to contain it now. “What do we do? Do we stay here and hope for the best, or do we try to get out of here?” Mitch asked Jerome. “I…I’m not sure. Should we wait? We can decide later if conditions worsen.” Jerome stuttered. How much worse can it get before you make up your mind? I thought furiously. I never knew how blind he could be. “We should go to the Safe Camp that the government set up. They’ll protect us, right?” Louise suggested. Mitch shook his head quietly for a moment. “Sorry Louise, but if the government couldn’t control containing a single mutation in New York, I don’t think they can control a million of them flooding in from NYC.” He replied. “I think it would be a smarter option to rely on each other for now.” I mentioned. Louise looked distraught. “No. No you guys are wrong. You don’t even live in America. I’m going to the Safe Camp. Jerome, are you coming with me, or staying with your friends?” She demanded. I couldn’t imagine the amount of stress Jerome felt at this point. I knew Louise needed him, but it would only be amateur of time until the Camp was overrun by the mutants, and Jerome knew that. Besides all that, he didn’t want to leave us. “Louise, we need to stay here.” His lips trembled. “It’s a trap, I think. I bet its a big walled in area, in hopes that when they all get infected, they’ll be in a small, contained place. Stay with us. We’ll defy them.” I said. Louise shook her head and denial and made her way to the door. “You-you’re wrong!” She screamed. Jerome lurched forward and grabbed her arm. “Let go of me! I said LET GO!” She screamed, trying to pull away. “Stop!” Jerome screamed back, so loudly that she stopped resisting. “I don’t want to loose you!” The room went deathly silent, and I saw tears roll down both of their faces. “Jerome…” she began weakly, caressing his cheek. “I wish I could stay with you guys, but lets face the facts. You record video games for nine year olds. All of you do, and I’m not going to trust a group of gamers over government officials.” With that, she pulled away, and stormed out. Jerome didn’t chase her again. I felt so much pity for him, and ran forward. I wrapped my arms around him, and hugged him tightly. “Ashley?” he choked, trying to bite back the tears. I didn’t respond. Jerome had been one of my closest friends since I had discovered Youtube, and though I never considered liked him in a sexual way, I still loved him, in the way one loves a dear friend. “Don’t leave us Jerome.” I whispered into his ear. Then, Ryan showed himself from the shadows. “Don’t worry about her, man. All girls are bitches deep down.” He said. I knew he was directing his sneer at me, rather than comforting Jerome. What had happened to our friendship? “Well, not all girls.” I heard Mitch reply quietly. Was he supporting me, or thinking of someone else. 

After an hour or so of waiting and comforting, we decided to shower, dress, pack up, and eat. I didn’t know where my next meal would come from, or if I’d ever have one. Once we had finished our chores, we gathered around the television. The mutants had invaded New Jersey, and there was nothing that could be done. “We can’t wait around any longer. I say we head west.” Mitch advised. Nobody replied to him. “Louise…” Jerome mumbled. “I have to rescue her. She’s going to die if I let her.” In my mind, I knew that would be a suicidal mission, but in my heart, I knew we needed to try. “I’ll come with you Jerome.” I stated, gently resting my hand on his shoulder. Through his terribly sad eyes, I saw a glimmer of gratefulness. “Ashley no- I mean, you and Ryan should stay here, and we’ll do it.” Mitch spoke up. I looked at him, and saw compassion. However, I would have rather been mauled by a mutant rather than staying with Ryan. “I appreciate you looking out for me, but I need to go. If you’d like, I’d love you to come with us.” I coaxed him softly. “I’ll be coming with you two then.” He sighed. I had a glimpse of optimism, but terror struck me hard, when out of the corner of my eye, in a window, I saw a bloody hand press against the pane.