A few weeks later
She thinks she has a say in it when she doesn’t.” I said and Damian rolled his eyes.
“Hell no she doesn’t.” He said and we walked off to the cafeteria.
All of a sudden I heard an ear-shattering noise in the air. “What is that?!? It hurts my ears!!” I yelled and Damian held me as I cried repeating he didn’t know what it was.
Then it felt like the earth had exploded with a blinding light.
“Doctor, she is waking up!!” someone said. I turned my head and saw Damian laying there. On the next bed was Jay. Then Jake. What happened to us??
“Ma’am what is your name?” said a doctor that had walked up.
“Lilyann Rosalie Mandor.”
“Age?”
“16 I think.”
“Any family?”
“Yes. My little brother. His name is Jay Maxton Mandor. He is two. Now can I sit up please?”
“Yes. Of course.” He said and I sat up.
“Oh god! W-What is wrong with my arm!?” I screamed.
“Well, the explosion was far too close to that camp of yours and it destroyed that whole area. Your arm got torn off and we had to amputate the rest of it. Do you know who that young man beside you is?” He explained.
“Yes. He is my boyfriend. His name is Damian Lockwood Karmen. Is he okay?”
“He is fine. Just asleep.”
I was so confused I just passed out again.
“Lily?” I woke up again and saw Damian hovering over me calling my name.
“You’re okay!” I said and sat up to hug him... And remembered my arm and stopped abruptly. Then I looked at it.. and it was still there.
“Of course I am fine. A helicopter passed over the camp and they were making some sort of sound and it hurt your ears so much you fainted.”
“Oh,” I said and hugged him. Then realized Jake, holding Jay, and a stranger was watching me with a worried look on their face. “Who are you?”
“New recruit. Lily, Jay needs someone to watch him while I go find more resources outside of the gate.” Jake said in annoyance then handed me Jay.
“What’s his problem?” I asked Damian in a whisper.
“I don’t know.”
“I’m Jace. Anyway, Jake said someone called Lily was supposed to show me around. I suppose that’s you?” the stranger, Jace, said.
“Uh yeah. Damian can come. He has to stop where we will end at anyway.” I stood up and started the tour. Damian kept staring at me and hugging me or holding my hand.
“So we have the housing area. Those are only for sleep. No one can be in them during the day.”
“Why?”
“Because breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all done in the cafeteria. They are only open from eight P.M. and ten A.M.”
“Okay.”
“Then we have the feeding room. Everyone is assigned one animal that protects them. You are responsible for them. You will shower, feed, and walk them. They are in your house twenty-four seven and they only accompany you when you are out of the camp.”
“Cool.”
“This is the cow and sheep area. We have lost many when the wall fell and we only have a few.”
“Okay.”
“Then we have our plantation area. It has edible plants.” Just then Emerald ran up to me, “Oh hey, Emmy. Jace this is Emerald. She is my pet wolf. Emerald where is Tigres? He is supposed to be with you. Sorry, Tigres is my tiger. I own more than one animal.” Emerald started howling and Tigres ran up, “There you are. When I finish with this newcomer I can take you two out.”
“Wait, you take them out of the camp?” He said. “Isn’t that, like, dangerous?”
“Not for me. My dad is a zombie survivor and they were radioactive and then I was born and they were attracted to me but didn’t hurt me.”
“Well, we are in danger then if we are around you.”
“No, we aren’t” Damian cut in. “She is what is keeping us alive. They don’t hurt us if she is around.”
“Whatever. I am finding someone else to give me the stupid tour.” He said and stalked off, giving me a death stare.
“He is being an idiot,” Damian said and hugged me, rubbing my back. “How about I grab Tyrone and we can go out. Yes, Jay can come.” He said real fast, knowing I would ask that.
“Thanks. Tigres! Time to go!” I got on top of Tigres and pet him. “You need a bath,” I said laughing.
“Tyrone needs one too.”
“Wait up! I wanna come too!” Dang, it.
“Okay, Blair. Get up here, silly” Okay so I kinda have to watch a kid cause her mom died when the wall fell.
“Yay!”
“Let’s go.”
♦004.00♦
After we got home, I went to sleep. Jay was in a crib beside the bed, Damian was doing one last job he was assigned to, Jake was in the bedroom across from my room and Blair was in my room. And I was in Damian's room. We share a room cause Blair needed her own room.
I heard the front door open, “Damian hurry up! You are my pillow twenty-four-seven!” I called out but got no response.
I heard the bedroom door open and saw Jace walk in and close the door.
“Why are you in here?” I said.“Well I kinda, sorta am lost. The person that gave me a tour, not you, didn’t know this place well enough and forgot to show me houses.” Jace said.
“Well, it’s getting dark out so I guess you can crash on the couch. Damian will be back in a little bit. He has to make sure Tyrone is fed before they come inside. My rule.”
“When will I get assigned a pet? If you don’t mind me asking of course.”
“Probably tomorrow. You get stuck into a room with a few of the different animals and they choose you. I got chosen three times. You have already met Tigres and Emerald. Meet Talesman.” I said and a parrot flew into the room. “Talesman is pretty but deadly. Took her out of the gate and practically took a zombie’s head off when she attacked it.” I said laughing and she perched herself at the end of Jay’s crib.
“Cool.”
I heard Damian open the door at the bottom of the stairs and called him up. Tyrone was the first one in the room and he attempted jumping on the bed but missed by six inches. Damian walked in, laughed, and then stopped laughing and stared at Jace. Then at me. And at Jace again.
“Why is he here?”
“Oh, he needs a place to bunk for the night and I told him he could sleep on the couch. Then we were talking about pets.”
“Oh.”
“I'ma go downstairs and sleep I guess.” He said and backed out of the room.
“Okay, I think he is scared of you,” I said laughing again. “Now get over here cause I wanna sleep.”
“Okay, okay I’m hurrying.”
He got changed and crawled in bed while I jabbered on about random stuff.
“Okay, what if the wall falls again?” I asked him abruptly.
“I don’t know. We can do what we did last time the wall fell. Hide.”
“But I don’t want to hide. That helicopter was proof there are living people. What if it’s the army? What if it’s people who have a better place to live? That place would give us all a better home. Then maybe people wouldn’t be scared every day that they would die.”
“Great speech but I don’t think that was a rescue helicopter. I saw something on it. A skull or something. But it was on the door and I only saw a glimpse of it. Something else was in it but I don’t know what.”
“We can talk about this tomorrow I guess. Night.” I rolled over and fell asleep.
Twelve Years Ago
“Lily! Where are you?”
“Mary, she may be hiding better than we thought.”
“We give up, Lily!” Mommy said laughing, and Lily ran into her arms.
“Momma! Dadda! Can we visit Ashy?”
“Of course, Lilyann!”
“Ya-”
Lily heard a huge explosion.
“Joshua don’t you dare go into that burning building!” Mommy yelled.
“I have to help the people that are in there, Mary.”
“O-Okay. Just don’t die.”
“I won’t.”
Present Time
“Wake up, Lily. We gotta get all the kids set up with a pet.” Damian said and I jolted awake.
“I’m up.” I got up and got dressed while Damian was waking Blair up. “Are you ready to get a pet, Blair?” I asked her at breakfast.
“Yeah!”
“Well, there is a lot of responsibility with having a pet. You have to wash them, feed them, walk them, give them attention, and most importantly train them. Can you do all that?”
“Yeah!” She said and finished her breakfast.
“Okay, head to school, and then after we will get you one.”
“Okay!” She hugged Damian and I then kissed Jay on the forehead like she always does before she heads to school.
“Okay, we have to get Jay ready for the day, too. Then we can head out cause I have to meet with Jake and Sylvia. I don’t know what you gotta do but it has to be high and mighty or something like that.”
“I don’t think feeding Jackson is high and mighty. Besides the fact he may kill me.”
“I send my prayers that you don’t die then,” I said laughing as he kissed me and headed out.
I got Jay ready then dropped him off at the nursery with my other best friend Gracie and then headed out to find Jake and Sylvia.
“-she has too much on her hands, Jake! She has Jay and Blair and then her pets. I don’t think she should be sent out right now.”
“Um, what?” I said and Slyvia looked at me sheepishly.
“N-Nothing, Lily! We were talking about the next head out. People are gonna head out to scout in two days and we need at least two more people. Damian said he would come and that you would too. I think you should stay with Blair and Jay cause they need someone to watch them.” Sylvia said and I could tell she was nervous.
“And I disagree. You should come with us. Blair should come because she needs to see what the outside is like. The dangers and the beauty.”
“So, you think she should go out when she could die before she even saw the beauty of the world? She is too young. I am going and she is staying with Gracie. Jay will be staying too.” I said and walked away forgetting to tell them that Jace needed a place to stay.
Damian caught up to me a few hours later after what he said was wrestling with a tiger.
“Jackson is a tiger, so it is wrestling with a tiger technically,” I said laughing at him.
“All I gotta say is that you look like you could kill one right now.” That made Tigress and Tyrone back up and stare at me.
“I wouldn’t kill a tiger. I’m just upset that Jake thinks Blair should go out of the gates. She could die if she did and I still need to find my mom. She could be a zombie and I would have to kill her to end her pain. Or she could be surviving out there and we need to find her.”
“I get it, but we can’t just search the whole area to find her when she may just be a zombie. She could be being held captive though.”
“I know. Let’s go get Jay and go get some fruit.”
“Okay.”
We picked Jay up and were in the middle of gathering raspberries when Blair ran up saying someone told her to run to the plantation area and stay there cause mean ones were here.
“Blake,” Damian and I said together.
“Come here, Sweetie. See that little crawl space?” She nodded. “Get into it and crawl until you get to a room. Then Jay will be behind you. You watch him until I come back and don’t come out ever.” I called Tigres and Tyrone over. “You two watch Blair and Jay. Tyrone don't go after anything unless they try hurting Blair or Jay.” Tigress and Tyrone crawled in there.
“Lily, you need to stay with them,” Damian said
“No. They have Tigress and Tyrone.” I said and tried to move around him but he blocked my way.
“You need to stay.”
“Fine! You’re staying too though.”
“If it gets you to stay, then fine.” I crawled in front of him and he crawled in after me. Only until I was in at least.
“I’m sorry, Lily. Stay here and watch them. I’m helping people. You are staying here.”
“I hate you, Damian!” I said and started crying when he looked at me shocked and hurt then ran away.
I hurt him… he hates me and I know it...
“Sissy!” Jay yelled and I jumped in surprise.
“Shh, Jay,” Blair said.
“Both of you be quiet, please,” I whispered. I was never one for yelling at kids. Parents or adults I would yell at all the time if I was mad.
“Okay.”
A few hours later and all I could hear was Jay’s soft snoring. I was wondering what was going on but I didn’t want to get out just yet.
“Can we get out yet?” Blair asked me, as if on cue.
“Not yet. Wait fifteen more minutes, then we can go out there.”
“Okay.”
I heard screaming, then feet running down the corridor, someone calling my name. My only thought was: Damian?
“Damian!?” I yelled.
“Lilyann!!”
Wait... Damian doesn’t know my real name. Only three people do.
“Ashton!!” I cried and crawled out of the space.
“Lilyann!” I ran into my childhood best friend’s arms
“Get into the crawl space!” Damian yelled and I crawled back in. Followed by Ashton and Damian.
“Where’s Xaiver?” I asked Ashton.
“I’m so sorry, Lilyann.” That was all he said.
“No,” I said and started crying. Ashton sat beside me and tried comforting me and calming me down. And then I fell asleep.
I woke up to Jay and Blair asleep, Damian and Ashton giving each other death stares, Tigress and Tyrone watching Damian and Ashton giving each other the death stare, and Jake watching me with a worried look on his face.
“Alright, can ya stop staring at each other like that, please?” I said after a few minutes.
“Yeah, yeah.” They said at the same time.
“Okay so tell me what happened to Xavier, Ashton.”
“So it was before all this stuff happened -zombie apocalypse and all- and me and Xavier were playing basketball-”
“Cut to the chase.”
“Okay. He was gathering water and fell into a zombie trap and he warned me not to go near it but I did and he and I ended up getting caught in it and then the people who ‘collected’ us thought we survived a zombie bite. We tried telling them we weren’t bit but they wouldn’t believe us. Long story short they fed him this human repellent stuff that killed him. Then they tried killing me but I got away.” He said and I was silent for five minutes straight.
“You okay, Lily?” Jake asked me and I curled up beside Ashton and stayed quiet, trying to process what Ashton just told me.
After a few minutes, I said, “I’m just fine. My childhood BFF totally didn’t just get killed because they thought he was a zombie! They should have caught me! I would have been of more use than him.” I said and Ashton hugged me.
“How long have you and Ashton known each other?” Damian asked me, staring at Ashton.
“Our whole lives. His mom knew my mom.” I said and the memory of my mom brought tears to my eyes again. “Are you sure Xaiver’s dead?” I said slowly, testing the words. They sounded so unnatural.
“I’m sure, Lilyann,” Ashton said and I hugged him again.
“I-It’s just ‘Lily’ now.”
“Well, you’re still Lilyann to me.” He said.
“Okay, can y'all stop talking, please? I wanna sleep.” Jake said.
“Nope. He and I got a lot to talk about.”
“Speaking about talking,” Ashton said. “Any boyfriend yet?”
“Yep.”
“Who?”
“Damian.”
“Ooo.”
“Shut it, Ashy.”
“Ey! No calling me ‘Ashy’!”
“Nope.”
“Yep.”
I smacked him. “Nope. I am calling you ‘Ashy’ until I die.”
“Ow. And fine. I guess.”
“Do yall do this twenty-four-seven?”
“I mean, sure.”
“Definitely.”
“Okayyyyy.” Jake dragged ‘okay’.
“Okay, can I go out yet?” Blair asked. I guess she woke up.
“How is it out there, Ashy?”
“I mean the attack is over but we got here and there were, like, five zombies,” Ashton said. “So it might be safe. Might not.”
“Okay. Jake, this time you’re staying with Jay and Blair. Ashy and Damian are coming with me. We will find Emerald on the way out.”
“This time?”
“Oh yeah. A huge group of zombies broke the northern wall and attacked the camp. Jay, Jake, Damian, Blair, Tyrone, Tigress, Emerald, Talesman, and some other people survived. Mother didn’t. Well, she did but she was kidnapped.”
“Oh. Who’s Emerald and Talesman?”
“My wolf and parrot.”
“Cool. Why do you have a parrot and a wolf?”
“Because they chose me,” I said and he just nodded into the abyss.
“Will I get chosen if I stay?”
“Yeah. Everyone here gets chosen.” Damian said.
“Okay.”
“We gotta head out, guys.”
“Okay.”
Aston, Damian, and I head out and kill a few zombies that we spotted.
“Okay, so, Ashton, you and I are gonna go gather survivors. Damian, you go gather animals.”
“Why can’t I go with you?” Damian asked me with a sour tone.
“Because I want to hang out with Ashton, Damian.”
“Fine.”
“C’mon, Lilyann.”
“Okay, Ashy.”
Recommend Reviews (1) Write a ReviewReport
United States • 16 years old