“How are we going to do this? Vote to see who’s going out
there? Draw straws?” Richard asked, looking over the group. It was obvious from
the suggestion he was none too thrilled with the idea. While the prospect of
security stroked his fancy, being the one to actually pull the trigger was a
whole other story. “We could also pull names from a hat.”
“Seriously? No one is going to volunteer?” Dominic scowled.
“How about this,” Veronica started, before anyone else could
weigh in. “We take turns doing the dirty work. The heavy lifting shouldn’t fall
on the same person every time. And since Dom and I took care of the clerks in
the back, our names are not going in that hat. So, Kurt, JC, Richard, you three
can discuss it among yourselves.”
“The only way you’re getting me out that door, sweetheart, is if you pick
me up and toss me out and I don’t think any of you are man enough for that,” Kurt
groaned. “Ain’t nothing but death waiting out there.”
“I can’t do it,” Richard quickly spoke up. “For one, I don’t
know how to activate the rollers. I’m afraid I’d just mess it up.”
“You know what?” JC turned towards Richard. “You’ve been
pretty good at giving orders. I heard you’re in crisis management or some shit
and that’s cool and all. But in this right here, we’re all equals so at some
point, you’re gonna need to get your hands dirty, man.”
“Look, I just need someone outside to unhinge the brackets
so that I can engage the locks,” Dominic said. “It’s simple; unhook the rod and
roll down the shutters.”
“I got you,” JC replied and exhaled loudly. “But I want
anyone except that asshole on the door to let me back inside.”
“You ready?” Veronica asked as she held the door, preparing
to open it.
“Is it too late to back out?” he joked and jumped in
place, getting his legs all set to move. “I’m ready.”
“1…2…3.” The door swung open and JC bolted around the
corner. Richard and Jeremiah clanked empty tin cans against the windows,
grabbing the zombies’ attention while JC continued towards the front of the
building. “He’s there!” Veronica announced, throwing the lock in place.
“Alright, start with the doors and work quickly,” Dominic
advised as he stood near the shutter’s controls waiting to activate them.
JC reached up and tugged on the metal rod above him. It
squealed but didn’t move. Getting a tighter grip, he tried again, pulling and
twisting as hard as he could. “They’re stuck!” JC yelled, releasing his grasp
and relaxing his hands.
“What do you mean stuck?” Dominic shouted in return.
“I can’t get them to roll down! There’s too much pressure
against them. You have to move the stuff from against the door!”
Swiftly Dominic and Veronica went to work deconstructing the
barricade. “Get your ass up and help, Kurt, damn!” Dominic snarled in the
drunkard’s direction and received a middle finger in response. “First chance I
get, I’m throwing his ass to the zombies,” he whispered to Veronica who smiled
in agreement. They got the barricade off the door enough for JC to finally
disengage the rods.
Dominic rushed to the back room and shoved the lever
down. In a crash of sound, the steel shutters rolled into place, darkening the
room and securing the glass windows from the outside. “Nice work,” Richard
called down to the others. “Now we’ll be ready for whatever comes.”
From on the roof, Jeremiah stared in disbelief at what was approaching.
It was another few seconds before they clearly came into view but by then, the
fastest zombies were only a few feet away. “LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!” he yelled. JC
turned in time as three quick moving zombies darted towards him.
“JC, you need to move now!” Dominic shouted through the bars
as Veronica hurried to the back door to wait.
JC ducked as one reached out for him, scraping his knee on
the pavement. He slid away, making a beeline towards the back. Sprinting
faster, he dashed down the length of the alleyway and found himself facing two
more undead. Shit. The walking
corpses were coming in from both directions now but JC managed to see a way
out. Running with renewed energy, he dove for the ladder near the
dumpster, narrowly missing one zombie’s outstretched hands.
“He’s not at the door. Richard, he’s coming to you!” Veronica yelled and pushed the pile of boxes back against the emergency exit.
Climbing as quickly as he could, JC made it to the roof access where Jeremiah and Richard waited. “Good job.” They rejoined the others in the store and all turned to take in their efforts. A sense of hope spread through them. The shutters looked secure and they had plenty of food and water to keep them going for weeks.
Climbing as quickly as he could, JC made it to the roof access where Jeremiah and Richard waited. “Good job.” They rejoined the others in the store and all turned to take in their efforts. A sense of hope spread through them. The shutters looked secure and they had plenty of food and water to keep them going for weeks.
An explosion erupted from outside and the group braced themselves as the ground rippled beneath them. “What was that?” Jeremiah asked. Richard moved to the
windows to have a look.
“Oh come on!” he growled.
“What? What is it?” Veronica inquired.
“It’s a car fire,” he answered, watching as the driver jumped to safety. “And it’s heading right towards us.”
Continue----> (Clicking this continues the story in order. If you would like to move to the next part of this group’s story. Click the # below.)
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The polls are now open. Vote for your chance to control the action! Remember, you can add your own choice to the plot through the comments section or the poll below. Polls close at 12 noon EST tomorrow and reopen at 8 pm EST.
Send Richard. That way if he fails, Kurt will be the first to go (as he's sitting right next to all the flame propellant)!
ReplyDeleteHahaha if someone struck a match in his general direction he'd go up in flames! That man drinks like a fish :P
DeleteThank you for reading :)
If we send Drunky McDrunkard he's going to fail so I'm tempted to send someone else BUT I kind of want to see what happens when he does fail. Plus Kurt is a liability...
ReplyDeleteLol :P nice nickname
DeleteI think you're right, he's bound to fail, unfortunately for the others. But if he expects to keep breathing (and that's a big if) then he's going to have to try and help himself. He can't sit around all day drinking and think everyone is going to keep doing all the work to keep him alive. Nope! Especially with his belligerent attitude. He's definitely on the chopping block :P
Thank you for reading :)
Well damn. That was a toss up vote wise with Kurt and Richard. Like JC said, Richard wants to do nothing but make suggestions and give orders, but never wants to take action. That shit gets old real fast! I like Roni's suggestion. Take turns. So this lands on either Kurt or Richard as the others have all had a turn. I won't be sad to see either of them go, but man Kurt is an worthless piece of shit!
ReplyDeleteGlad JC made it back in and didn't get eaten by the zombies. Now they are secured in, at least for a little while.
It definitely does and from the sounds of it, JC's already had his fill of it. Lol how do you know that wasn't Roni's very successful way of getting out of going outside? She said that her and Dom took care of the clerks in back but it was mostly him saving her :P She did step up though so I'm giving credit where it's due. Roni's got a good head on her shoulders.
DeleteSo...you don't like Kurt? I'm picking up a bit of hostility there :P I keed, I keed!
Oh yeah, he did a great job. It was close there for a minute >:) But, they are safe. Unless that car reaches them. Then they'll be stuck in a fireball of a gas station!
Thank you for reading :)