Day's End

Burned and Torn

          The rustling noises from Rose, Micheal, and Lidia moving about to get ready jerked Sidney out of their sleeping state, particularly the sound of Micheal dropping his bat right next to Sidney when he was attempting to wake the sleeping teen. Sidney pushed themselves up and sleepily rubbed their eyes as they shakily stood, still not entirely awake. However, the immediate burst of cold air from the opened door snapped them back to their senses, along with Rose's voice, "Good morning, Sidney. I'm glad to see you're finally awake."
Yawning, the younger responded, "Where are we going in such a hurry?"
"Lidia's taking us to that town she was talking about. It's still pretty cold, so stay close to the rest of us."
Sidney grumbled, "Alright.."
            Grabbing their gun from the ground beside them, Sidney held it in their right hand and shuffled up to Rose and her snow-covered coat. Rose greeted the other by wrapping one of her arms around their shoulders and holding them close. Micheal, who stood close behind the pair, wore his own heavy coat that they had scavenged soon after entering Michigan; Lidia herself was already outside making sure the path was clear.
              As soon as Lidia returned to tell the others that the abandoned town was safe to traverse, the four of them plunged themselves into the icy cold weather once more. The path to the city was still thickly covered in snow, and ice laced the edges of the concrete road. A few rundown, rusting cars laid unused on the sides of the path; slewn walkers' blood staining the hoods, doors, and windows. The tires were sunken in the deep snow; the frost which was hardened on the rubber and other factors giving it little hope of rolling again.
            Sidney huddled close next to Rose, their own hoodie doing next to nothing against the extreme weather. Micheal walked to the very left of the two, and Lidia walked ahead, scoping out the area for any hidden residents. The walkers, as of now, we're not of any concern for the four; any that were still up and walking were likely frozen through, glued in place. As the group moved forwards, Micheal pointed just ahead, towards multiple silhouettes, moving so slowly they could be mistaken as standing in place. Evidently, Lidia saw these figures as well and spoke up to warn them, "Just leave 'em alone. They can't do much to you in this state."
             Rose hugged Sidney tighter to herself, and, even as they walked inches away from the walkers, they didn't even seem to acknowledge their presence. Still not out of the small herd, Lidia spoke again, "The city's not that much farther; only about twenty more minute's walk. It'll probably be a little slick, so watch your step."
              The group trudged on, but they were encouraged by the sight of the city ahead of them; ice, snow, and all. Dead trees' gnarled branches climbed up buildings and burst through shattered windows; the snow resting itself from its long journey on anything it fell upon. Frost plastered itself on the things snow hadn't taken over yet and refused to shrink away, even when the heat of the group walking near threatened it to. Their scuffling feet on the ice forced echoes through the empty city, created even more ominous by the narrow alleyways laid aside the street. Small snowflakes began to fall, and Lidia certainly acknowledged them, "We should get inside. Y'know, before the snow gets any worse."
Rose, hugging Sidney close to her, asked, "Is this place you were talking about nearby?"
"Yeah, kind of. Only a few more blocks to go; don't worry."
             The four survivors were completely alone in the city; even the groaning and scuffling of walkers wasn't there to great them. It was dead silent, minus the increasingly strong wind that had suddenly picked up. Lidia still remained a few yards ahead of the group, keeping an eye out just in case the Phoenix had managed to come through here, and, by the looks of it, they had stopped by. A phoenix painted with a red substance stretched its flaming wings across the side of a brick building; its outstretched claws reached downward, and its beak opened in a screech. Below the large bird sat another metal barrel, the sides of which were smoldered, and inside laid a heap of ash; a fire put out by the cruel cold. Lidia spoke, "Oh, and, uh, a few things you should know about these guys: they never hit the head of their victims, which could be in our favor, and they often gas their victims; cruel, I know. We might run in 'ta stuff like that, so we might also need to look for gas masks and the like; y'know, just in case."
"Gas? We're dealing with gas? What kind, exactly?" Rose asked, albeit a little aggressively.
"Don't worry, Rose. I think gas is pretty cool," Sidney said cheerfully.
"You won't think it's 'pretty cool' once you're suffocating," Rose replied, roughly nudging them.
"'Fraid so, Rose. Though, I'm pretty sure they only use anesthetics," was Lidia's attempt to reassure the worried woman.
"And why did you decide to come after these people?"
"Don't have anythin' else to do."
"So this is a death wish?"
"Somethin' like that."
With a scoff of disbelief, Rose exclaimed, "I'm not putting Sidney and Micheal at risk for this!"
"Never said you had to, but I'd recommend coming along at least for a little while longer; just for the extra weapons."
"I suppose you're right," Rose sighed. "But we're leaving after we get them."
"Fair enough. It's not much longer now."
Sidney pinched Rose's arm, no doubt pouting.
The elder gently slapped his hand away and whispered, "You heard me. I'm not putting you in danger."
"We can't just leave her alone. She's just one person."
"Exactly, Sidney, we'd be outnumbered, and this is her choice; we're not getting dragged into it."
"But what if they have people? What if they have people that need help? People that were stolen away like Natalie?"
Rose snapped, "I said no; that does not involve us, Sidney. And don't bring her up. She's gone."
"Fine, mom," Sidney stuck their tongue out in distaste.
"You'll thank me that we didn't go."
Sidney simply grumbled in response.
Lidia stopped, holding her hand out behind her to tell the others to do the same. "Here it is. They mainly used to sell knives, but you might be able to find something else."
Sidney stalked ahead, breaking away from Rose's life-saving heat.
           Rose sighed and shook her head, following the angered teenager, and said teenager was already rummaging through the scraps left behind by raiders. Beside the pile Sidney was looking through was a glass case already smashed open. Small shards of glass were scattered across various knives, throwing knives, and even daggers. Of course, many, many of these knives had already been stolen from their origin, but some remained.
             Rose reached down through the jagged, sharp shards and slowly picked up a small case. Inside the case laid a grey, retractable knife; quite plain, if she was honest. Nothing out of the ordinary or charming abut it, which, by her, was fine. Micheal and Lidia had walked in behind the two, and the woman spoke, "Not much in here, huh? I was afraid people had looted it; not much of a surprise, anyway."
"I guess not, but," Rose held out the knife and its empty case, "I found this."
"Nice. Keep it for yourself; you'll need it. Any more?" Lidia asked, rummaging through shelves.
"Some throwing knives and a small dagger. That's about it," Rose informed. "Did you find anything, Micheal?"
Micheal nodded, holding out a bag and a half-empty, dirty bottle of water.
"Alright. If you find anything more, just put it in the bag," Rose commanded.
Micheal nodded again and kneeled next to Sidney, seemingly to help them with their search.
             The snow outside their shelter had gotten increasingly worse, fogging up the view merely a few feet ahead. However, inside the shop offered only little heat, if any. Rose and the others could be thankful of the fact that most of the windows were intact. Scratching her forehead, Rose spoke, "Do you think we should go out or wait until it passes?"
Lidia replied, seemingly unconcerned, "Wait inside. Trust me, we wouldn't last long out there."
"How long do you think it'll-" Rose paused. "The hell is that?"
Alarmed, the Sidney popped up out of their seat the first. "What is it, Rose?"
Rose squinted, straining her eyes. "I don't know; I can't see through all this snow."
Sidney tested themselves and decided to have a go at looking. "It kinda.. looks like a light, maybe."
By now, both Lidia and Micheal had gotten up, and Lidia seemed the most disturbed by their find. "Shit! We have to leave, now!" Lidia suddenly exclaimed. "Go out the side door; they're here."
           Without another moment's hesitation, Lidia practically dragged the others behind her and into the fierce cold. "What the hell, Lidia?! Who's here?" Rose demanded, tightly hugging herself from the cold.
"The Phoenix. I thought they had cleared the area out, but they're back." Lidia peeked around the corner of the alleyway they found themselves. "That light you saw was a signal to the others that some of the soldiers were heading in this direction; kind of like a checkpoint."
"Wouldn't we have been safe in the shop?" Sidney asked, personally outraged at their lack of a heavy jacket compared to the others.
"They don't just look for people to turn; they raid for supplies, too." With a smile, Lidia added, "Besides, this is our time to finally kill some of these f*ckers."
"No, Lidia," Rose said in a harsh whisper. "I told you that we weren't getting dragged into this."
"It's too late now. Try to leave right now, and you'll die. Fight on your way out, and you just might live."
With a groan, Rose wielded her hook and passed the knife over to Sidney. "What do we have to do?"
"That's the spirit! All you have to do is avoid getting caught and killed. I'd understand if you didn't want to kill them, but it'd be a mighty fine help."
Rose grumbled under her breath, "No f*cking way."
"I'll stay with Rose," whispered Sidney. "Micheal, are you fine going with Lidia?"
Micheal nodded at his young friend, ruffling their hair.
Sidney offered a characteristic smile. "Be safe, brother."
"You both be careful," Rose said, a dead serious expression plastered on her face. "That goes double for you, too, Sidney."
"Alright, alright, I know."
              Rose nodded to Lidia and Micheal and pulled on Sidney's sleeve as a sign to follow her. Down the back of the alleyway the pair went, and Sidney watched as their dear friend disappeared behind Lidia into the thick, blinding snow. Peculiarly, Sidney felt something they couldn't exactly explain, but the feeling forced a smile on their face despite their hands shaking. Sidney looked forward to meet Rose's grim, serious face. "Are you ready, Sidney?" She whispered, gently holding their shoulder.
"Yeah.. Yeah, let's go."
"I need to ask you something first." Rose's face suddenly went from serious to anxious.
"What is it?" They asked, becoming a bit impatient.
"Promise me, that no matter what happens to me or anyone else, or no matter what happens around you, you'll get somewhere safe; somewhere out of the city."
Their hands still shaking, Sidney responded without hesitation, "Y-Yeah, yeah, I promise, Rose."
"Good. Stay close to me."
        Sidney nodded, swallowing thickly as they directed their shaking grip to the gun they held. Rose crouched and strained her eyesight to see through the thick snowfall. Looking back at Sidney, she pushed onwards, now and then checking back to make sure nothing had happened to them. Rose, as Sidney did, felt the nervousness, but hers was felt twofold. She had let Natalie down, but she was sure as hell not going to lose Sidney; not now.
               Staying low and as close to the cold, brick wall as they could, Sidney and Rose eventually made their way to another shop of some kind. Its windows were completely shattered; shards of glass flung on the inside of the building as well as the outside. Rose laid a hand on Sidney's shoulder and stopped, listening. Footsteps broke the tense silence as they crunched down on the broken glass; the noise almost akin to stepping on the snow. Rose went out on a limb and peeked over the edge where the window would've been, but, unfortunately, the Phoenix member had barely caught her in their peripheral vision.
"Someone there?" The man spoke out, cautiously walking over to the door.
"Show yourself; I know someone's over here."
            The man looked through the doorway and to his side, where Rose and Sidney sat. Before the man could shout for help, Sidney lurched forward and clung onto the man's back, placing their hand firmly on the man's mouth. The man slammed his back onto the edge of the doorway, and Sidney let out a muffled shriek as they desperately dug their nails into the man's shoulders. Rose came to her senses and kicked the man's feet as he lost balance to Sidney's weight. Panting and nearly shaking, Sidney took out their knife and plunged it into the back of the man's neck.
               As the stranger gasped for breath, Sidney stumbled backwards, their breathing panicked and ragged. "Ro-Rose.. I-I just.."
Rose enveloped them in a tight, warm hug, but their shocked form hardly reacted. "I know. It's fine; you're okay."
"I just.. killed someone, Rose."
"I'm sorry, Sidney; I know how it first feels, but we have to get out of here. You need to be prepared to do whatever it takes."
"Yeah.. We have to get somewhere safe.. And we'll be back with Micheal and Lidia, right?"
"Yes, exactly. Don't worry, they'll be-"
              Rose fell limply against the brick wall, her torso beginning to bleed as it stained the snow a deep red. "Rose!" Sidney shouted over the ringing of their ears; the gunshot still imprinted in their mind. Out of the misty grey of the falling snow, a man strolled up to the pair, firearm in hand. "Get up," he gruffly said, feeling no sympathy for the crying teenager.
"Stupid kid.." He muttered under his breath. "I said get the f*ck up!"
"R-Rose! Don't.. Please don't!" Sidney pulled and tugged on Rose's limp arm.
The man roughly shoved Sidney towards himself, pulling them up with plenty of resistance on the kid's part. "C'mon, now, don't make this hard on me."
Sidney thrashed around, scratching on the man's hand; the knife laid just beside Rose. "Rose! Rose, wake up, please!" They shouted desperately, which only earned a slap from the angered man.
"I said let's go! We have a special place for you, kid."      
          The man practically dragged Sidney on the ground; all the while the other thrashed and kicked in rebellion. Soon, Sidney simply went limp, refusing to offer the stranger any cooperation, even if it meant subjecting their legs to the agonizingly cold snow. However, the stranger managed to force him through it all; until, finally, they stopped at the front of a large building. The man muttered, "You'll just make it harder on yourself, kid."
"Go to hell," Sidney snarled back.
"The f*ck did you just say to me?" The stranger demanded, kicking Sidney square in their torso, which forced a grunt from the considerably smaller.
"You heard me, asshole!" Sidney shouted and bit the man's arm as he reached down to grab them.
"Gotta lotta guts for a shrimp," the man grumbled, rubbing the bite.
"Impressed? I would be," Sidney remarked, flashing a smug smile.
"You really don't know when to stop do you?" The man taunted, driving his foot yet again into Sidney's stomach and chest.
              They coughed at the sudden, harsh pressure, and specks of blood dotted the snow beneath them. The elder yanked on the younger's arms, nearly flinging them inside the building and allowing them to land harshly on the cold floor. Sidney scrambled up on their feet and clutched their sore, bruised stomach. "This way," the other demanded, roughly redirecting them.
              The two passed 'soldiers' along the way to wherever the hell this stranger was taking them, and, from the looks of it, this building was some kind of headquarters for these Phoenix people. Sidney's thoughts, however, lingered on Rose, even when surrounded by their enemes. 'Damn!' They had dropped the knife at the shock of Rose being shot. 'No, no, don't panic. Rose said I needed to get somewhere safe, right? Whatever it takes, she said; whatever it takes.'
              After being pushed through hallways and up stairs, Sidney was finally stopped at the outside of a door. "In there, he'll know what to do with you," the stranger informed, pushing open the rather large, daunting door. Inside sat another man behind a desk; however, this man carried obvious authority. His orange hair and moustache sharpened his features, and his icy, merciless blue eyes cut Sidney every time they fell upon them. The man pushed himself up from the desk with his muscular arms, smirking. "My, my, and what do we have here?"
"Just a kid, sir. Found him with a woman, but she was taken care of."
"Excellent, and what is this boy's name?"
"Hasn't spoken but to call me an asshole yet."
"Fiesty one, he is. I can see it in his eyes."
Sidney spoke, "Don't know why I'm trusting you f*ckers, but I'm Sidney. And, please, respect pronouns much?"
"And there it is. Didn't think it would take much to make you talk." The man's icy eyes trailed Sidney's form. "Off you go. I can handle him."
The man nodded and left promptly.
"Now, then, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Nicholas; it's nice to meet you, Sidney." The emphasis placed on their name forced chills down Sidney's spine.
Turning fearful, Sidney sputtered out, "What are you planning to do to me?"
"It depends on your behavior, so you'd better behave yourself." Nicholas sat back behind his desk. "Please, sit." He gestured to one of the not-so-comfortable looking chairs.
Sidney simply did as they were told.
"Now, this woman you were with.. Who is she, and why were you two in this city?"
"Her name is Rose, and we were just passing through."
"Of course, I don't know if you aren't lying, but I'm trusting you, Sidney. Do you trust me?"
They scoffed. "Not in the least, but let's get something straight. One, you don't have to talk to me like a two-year-old, and, two, don't you dare even touch Rose."
The man chuckled deeply. "Promising, you are. I suppose I guessed correctly. I have a knack for looking through people, and, believe me, I'll know when you lie."
Sidney swallowed nervously, and, even in the freezing cold of winter, their hands began to grow hot.
Nicholas opened his mouth to speak, but a loud knock on the door prevented him. "Come in."
The door slid open, and Sidney turned to face the two men that had just entered. One man, the tallest, was scarred, and one of his eyes was misty; most likely because of a prior accident. The other was- Holy shit.
Sidney's jaw literally dropped open as they muttered those two words. They could only stare at each other in moments of disbelief, before Sidney managed to choke out, "D-Dad?"
"Sidney?" The man held out his gloved hands as the others witnessed the reunion.
However, Sidney refrained from jumping out of their seat. Instead, tears welled in their eyes. "This is what you abandoned me for? You abandoned me to become a murderer?"
"M-Murderer? Son, no, we aren't-" The father stuttered, at an utter loss for words at the sight of his returned son.
Slow clapping ripped them out of their trance. "How very heartwarming; a reunion. Now, what was it you two wanted?"
The other man answered in place of the overjoyed father, "I came to inform you that we've found wounded."
"Wounded? Let me see."
         Nicholas nonchalantly pushed the man out of the doorway, and, even when their father was right in front of them, Sidney caught sight of Rose, unconscious and being wheeled somewhere.