ZA RP

The Band Is Born

Chapter 2: Part 1/2
Trying to catch her breath, Emily put her hands on her knees and took deep breaths. “Well…” she was the first to speak, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the group, “so far my day has been full of running.” she smiled at them, trying to lighten the mood a little. She watched as Levi moved around the main entrance, looking from one end of the hall to the other. (He’s looking for something…) She thought silently to herself.
“We need a plan of action.” Levi didn’t smile, his tone serious. “First things first I suppose,” he paused for effect, “We need a leader, someone to call the shots and keep us organized.” He looked only to Darren as he said this. (He wants Darren to lead…I wonder why…) she couldn’t figure it out.
“I’m not much of a leader, so I’ll follow one of you.” Darren saw Levi’s glance, denying him instantly. “I have…too much on my mind right now…” He trailed off, not finishing his statement.
She expected him to argue, or to at least try and say something, but Levi did quite the opposite. “Alright, guess I’m leader.” She watched him, and she could tell that a sense of pride had just flushed through him. (He’s always wanted a job like his dad…) The thought hitting her harder than she had imagined. (Snap out of it Emily! Not everyone is dead…Annie, Jack…please be okay…)
“Okay,” getting right down to business, “We need to find a more suitable base than here. There are way too many exits and entrances in this place to cover effectively. But,” seeing dark clouds roll in, “We are going to have to spend one night here.” Looking at Darren, “I need you to go scout the area over there.” He pointed to the left end of the building, “You don’t have to scout the entire thing, just enough that we don’t get attacked in the dark. Make sure to take someone with you.” He paced back and forth now.
He was about to continue giving his orders when Madeline started digging through her backpack. Emily noticed him stop, and she too watched now, as a few books, a notebook of paper, a map, and a sharpie appeared from her bag. Madeline, looking up now, noticed the eyes on her. “Oh…um…well, my mom gave me a map of the town, so that I could go exploring after classes were over today.” she explained, now taking the map and the sharpie. Walking over to the far side of the room, she started drawing the map on the floor.
Emily saw Levi smirk. “Excellent.” Levi looked at the overview of the town. “Hmm…” he eyes rested on a lone square, close to the woods, but also to a car dealership. “What building is this Emily?” He knew she knew the town like the back of her hand.
“That’s an old abandoned factory.” She looked back up at him, a little confused on his interest in the building. “But there probably isn’t any supplies there…”
“That’s not what I’m looking for.” He smirked again, seeing her confusion. “We need somewhere away from the main part of town. There will be less zombies out there, not to mention any hostile survivors…” his eyes looked back to one part of the map, “I’ll be damned if we go anywhere near there to hold up…” She followed his glance and nodded her head in agreement. (Hopefully we can avoid that section of town altogether…too many gangs there…)
“Anyway, I’ll explore the cafeteria. Emily, Darren is going to need someone that knows the building, you should head out with him.” She looked over at Darren, then turned back to Levi and nodded her head.
“Do you know how to shoot?” Darren held a pistol out to her.
“Um…you just pull the trigger…right?” She was nervous.
“I can shoot.” Madeline interrupted them, flinching at a rumble of thunder.
“Is that so?” He handed her the pistol instead. “Good, you’re with us then.”
Madeline stared, holding the gun, checking the magazine to make sure that it was loaded. Seemingly satisfied, she loaded the magazine back into the gun, and clutched the gun in her hand. Emily stared at her, questioning. (She knows how to use a gun…) Making a mental note to ask her about it later, she looked at both of them, a little tense.
“Well, I suppose I’m your tour guide today.” She smiled, trying to get others to do the same. Seeing everyone keep a serious expression, she sighed. “If we are going this way, we might as well go to the nurse’s office, there might be something we can use later.” she said, starting to walk down the hall. (Even though I hope we’ll never have to use them…)
She listened to Levi give one last order before she was out of earshot. “Brandon, you and Quincy just stay here and keep tabs on the entrance. Come get me if they break through, alright? I’m going to go find us something to eat.”
“Sure thing, I guess.” Brandon sounded as though he didn’t care. “Just save me some of that food you find.” she heard his stomach growl.
Refocusing, she paid attention now to the hall in front of her. “You know…it’s a whole lot quieter without everyone here…” she peered around the corner, the hall veered right and kept going straight. She motioned with her hand that they were going right. Taking slow steps, she counted the rooms off to herself. (One…two…three…) The nurse’s office was the fourth room on the right side of the hall. She reached it, and tried the handle. “It’s locked…” she said, stating the obvious.
She was about to try and lock pick the door open when she heard a startled shriek from inside, and the sound of footsteps moving across the floor. “Hello? Is someone in there?” she tried to get the person to come to the door. “I promise, we won’t hurt you, just open the door please.” Waiting for another minute, she got no answer.
As though his rage was building, Darren started pounding on the door. “Open this door up, now!” There was another startled shriek, however the door remained locked. He turned to Madeline and Emily. “You deal with this. I’m going to explore another room.” he stalked down the hall, choosing the next door he came to on his left. Emily watched him disappear inside, and shook her head.
“Well, he’s nice…” she said sarcastically. “Anyway, let me handle this.” She pulled a bobby pin from her back pocket, and carefully worked it into the door’s lock. After a minute, and a few creative twists, there came a click, and the door opened at her touch. “Bingo!” There was another startled shriek, and the sound of footsteps moving back across the room.
Opening the door slowly, she peered into the room. The lights in the room were busted, glass spread across the floor. In the middle of the room, there was a blanket, an empty bottle of water, and a few snacks that were half eaten. “Hello…?” Emily called again, still scanning the room. There were several cabinets labeled to contain simple over the counter medicines. In the corner of the room, there was a potted plant. However, the plant seemed unusual. (Plants aren’t normally so bulky on the bottom…or have hair!?) It was then she realized the person hiding behind it.
“Hi there!” she moved carefully into the room, sensing no immediate danger. “My name is Emily, and I’m here to help you.” she smiled at the girl. (She has to be around our age, maybe younger) The girl didn’t respond, she just sat there, nearly in tears.
Reaching her hand out, she tried again. “I only want to help take you somewhere safe.” Hearing more footsteps behind her, Emily turned in time to see Darren.
“Who is this?” he pointed his crossbow at the girl. Seeing Emily glare at him, he lowered it. “What, is she scared of me or something?” he replied, not really caring either way.
“Well, look at yourself…” Madeline replied, seeing blood splattered on his shirt. His hands were now covered in blood, as were his arrows. “What happened to you in such a short amount of time?”
“A zombie decided I looked interesting….damn principal. Put him in his place though. One arrow to the head.” He imitated the scene, even aiming his bow and pretending to shoot an arrow into a zombie’s head. “But I wasn’t about to leave a precious arrow behind.” He motioned now to the quiver on his back. “Pulled the sucker out of its head, and put it away for later.” He smiled at his own brilliantness.
“Well…how about you go clean yourself up?” Madeline glared at him as he nearly touched her with his bloody hands.
“Fine…” He stalked out of the room, finding the restroom straight across the hall from the nurse’s office. He quickly disappeared inside.
Emily turned back to the girl now. “Sorry about that.” She tried again to coax the girl out of her hiding spot. A smile quickly flashed across the girl’s face, and she took Emily’s hand. She helped her step over the plant, while Madeline started digging through the drawers, looking for supplies that they could use.
“What’s your name sweetie?” Emily said, trying to make her feel more comfortable around them.
“I-I’m….Rosy…” the girl answered shyly, avoiding eye contact with Emily.
“That’s a beautiful name!” Both Madeline and Emily said simultaneously. They looked at each other and laughed.
“Come on, let me take you back to the others. They’re really nice!” Emily led her out of the room now. She retraced her steps back to the intersection and looked back down the hall. “Madeline, just make a left down here to get back to us then, okay?” Waiting for a few second she saw Madeline stick her hand out the door and give her a thumbs up, showing she understood.
Emily and Rosy made their way back to the others, without running into any further troubles. Once they were back in the main hall, she looked over at Brandon and Quincy.
“I’ve brought us a new friend guys!” she couldn’t help but smile, seeing the look on their faces.
“Ooo she’s pretty!” he stood a little closer than what Emily would consider comfortable, especially considering they had just met. Gently pushing him back a little, she smiled, laughing at his enthusiasm.
“Now, careful there Quincy, you two just met.” She looked to Brandon now, “Are you going to come say hi to her Brandon?”
He was slouched up against the wall, his feet sprawled out on the ground and his head was tipped a little forward. “Huh…what?” he shook his head, having been woken up. “Did you say something Emily?” He looked over seeing Rosy. “I don’t suppose she has food on her, does she?” Seeing Emily shake her head, “Damn…where’s Levi at, he’s supposed to be bringing supper with him!” Brandon said, a little frustrated.

Chapter 2: Part 2/2
The cafeteria had been uneventful, to say the very least. There were a couple of zombies, which Levi had quickly put down, recognizing some of them to be students he had classes with. (Damn…it doesn’t really hit you hard until you have to shoot your old friends…) After exploring, he was able to come across some frozen dinners. Everything else in the cafeteria had either been open, making it too risky to eat, or had already been looted. (Guess we weren’t the only ones to survive.) He hoped.
He slowly made his way down the hall now, thinking to himself in silence. (Frozen dinners aren’t any good to us…we’d be damn lucky to find a working microwave now…) He assumed that the power had probably been cut, or power lines were down. (Wouldn’t surprise me any…)
“Damn…where’s Levi at, he’s supposed to be bringing supper with him!” he heard Brandon complaining. (Of course he’d only be concerned about the food…)
“Relax Brandon…” Levi said, walking into the main part of the hall now. Looking around the small team, he noticed a newcomer. Walking up to Emily and her slowly, he smirked and held out his hand.
“I see we have a new addition to the team.” he waited until she took his hand. “My name is Levi, and I’m the leader of this small band of survivors. Mind if I ask what your name is?”
“Her name is Rosy!” Emily smiled, seemingly happy that he had returned, unhurt.
“Rosy huh?” he looked at her, then back to Emily, “Em…where is Darren and Madeline? Weren’t you supposed to be guiding them through the school, seeing as how neither of them actually know the layout like we do?” he didn’t glare at her, but he did give her a stern look.
“Um…well…you see…” Emily started, looking as if she was trying to think of what to say, “Madeline and Darren told me to bring her back, for safety…” he could tell she was making stuff up off the top of her head.
“We has pills!” Madeline said, walking into the main hall, followed by Darren.
Levi watched Emily sigh in relief, then she turned back to smile at him. It was the look a child gave a parent after they knew they had done something wrong, only to have things be okay after all. “See Levi, they’re okay!”
“Right…”
“Where are you going?” Darren spoke now. Levi looked over to see Rosy backing away from everyone, obviously frightened by something. (Maybe she’s just antisocial…) He looked over at Quincy, who was still looking at Rosy creepily. (That…or Quincy is somehow responsible for it.)
Rosy didn’t respond to Darren. “You can’t go out there without something to defend yourself with.” Levi focused on Rosy now, noticing her pull out a little folding knife.
Darren couldn’t help but laugh. “That won’t defend you from anything…” He paused, pulling a machete from his backpack. “Here, take this.” He handed it to her, and smiled.
“T-thanks…” was all Rosy could muster the courage to say.
No sooner did Rosy put her hand on the machete that Quincy had run over to her, grabbing her arm and getting on his knees. Looking at her like a small child, he spoke. “You’ll protect me, won’t you?”
Darren laughed again. “She doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to!”
Shaking his head, Levi turned his attention back to the door. Zombies were still trying to break in, however the door was sturdy enough for now to survive the relentless pounding. As he turned his attention to the door, he couldn’t help but look out the window as well. The sky was still dark, however the storm had passed now. (Great, getting dark already…just another reason to hate fall…short days…)
“Alright, we should probably set up a watch.” Everyone looked at him, confused.
“Oooo you mean like, we’re gonna make a watch!” Quincy got excited, running over to Levi and jumping up and down.
Taking a deep sigh, Levi continued. “No Quincy…I mean like two of us watch over everyone else, while everyone else sleeps. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and we’ll need to have plenty of energy to survive out there. That factory is on the other side of town, so I’m hoping to find a working car. If not…be prepared to walk.” Finishing his thought, he quickly added, “I’ll stand first watch, I just need one other person to with me.”
“I’ll do it.” Darren replied, after everyone else remained silent.
“Alright, everyone else settle in, and try to get comfortable…” Levi looked around apologetically, seeing them all lay down on the cold, solid floor. “Maybe use backpacks or sweatshirts as pillows?” He tried to help everyone, but alas, he knew it would be a rough sleep. (Couldn’t have asked everyone to be ready for the damn apocalypse though…we’ll just have to learn the hardships that come with it.)
Finding a chair in the office nearby, he pulled it over and sat down, checking his gun’s magazine. (Wish I hadn’t shot those two zombies now…two shots each leaves me with eleven in this clip.) He noticed Darren do the same, pulling a chair up and sitting down, a look of depression creeping across his face.
“Hey…” Levi looked up at him, leaning back in his chair and smirking, “don’t worry too much, okay? I got this covered. We will all be okay, I promise.” Seeing his little pep talk did nothing to cheer Darren up, he sighed and tried again. “What’s on your mind?” he asked, keeping his voice low so that the others could sleep.
“My brother…” Darren started, pausing to take a deep breath. (He’s obviously been holding this in for some time…) Levi thought, waiting for Darren to continue. “He turned…and I had to kill him…” he trailed off, looking at the floor.
Levi nodded his head, but didn’t say anything, giving him a moment of silence. (We all lost people Darren…Payton…I wonder if you’re still alive…) The thought crushed him, and he threw it to the back of his mind. (Forget about what you can’t change…It’s not your fault you weren’t at home when things went to hell…) He fought with himself, shaking his head and looking back to Darren, who was now oddly smiling.
“You know, I’ve never been around so many youngsters in my life…” Darren said, looking over the sleeping forms of the others. “How old are all of you again?”
“Well, Emily is 18, Quincy is 15, Brandon is 19, Madeline and Rosy I really don’t know to be honest…” he looked over at them now too. “Just met both of them today. How about yourself old timer.” He joked, happy to have something other than his sister to think about.
“34.” He paused, thinking. “You know, I give you credit, taking over like this.” He was now grinning at Levi, “You really took charge.”
Nodding his thanks, Levi replied. “Hey no worries. I get it naturally from my dad’s side. But…it’s not all that great. It definitely has some drawbacks…” He saw Darren raise an eyebrow, so he continued. “Just the thought that at any moment…if I make a bad call, it could cost someone their life…” He looked back over the others, his eyes resting on Emily. “I don’t know what I’d do honestly…” he paused, looking over to Madeline and Rosy, who appeared to be whispering to one another.
Motioning for Darren to be quiet, they listened.
“You don’t talk much do you…?” Levi heard Madeline whisper. “It’s alright…I don’t either most of the time.”
There was a long pause, but then another voice was heard. “I’m…just thinking about my family…they were, killed in front of me…and I’ve been alone ever since…” He could tell it was Rosy. (Can’t be Em…she’s sleeping. Process of elimination…) Unknown to her, Levi gave her a moment of silence as well.
“I think we need to get something to put in front of the doors, Levi.” Darren was standing now, looking at the front door.
Standing himself, he looked over and frowned. The front door, that had just a little while ago looked sturdy, was now showing signs that it was breaking. Splinters were slowly flying from the door with every pound from the zombies.
“I’ve got the perfect idea.” Darren ran from the main hall, down the hallway that he had took earlier.
“Darren, hang on a second!” He ran to the beginning of the hallway, looking back at the sleeping forms. “Well…I guess Madeline and Rosy are awake anyway, so why not..?” he whispered to himself, chasing after Darren.
He followed him into an office. He recognized it immediately as the principal’s office. In the middle of the floor, laid the principal, a hole in the middle of his forehead. Smirking, he looked at Darren. “A friend of yours?”
“Oh yeah…he tried to give me a hug, so I put him down.” He smiled, strapping his crossbow to his back. “Help me move this.” He took one end of the small metal desk and started to lift. Running over to the other side of the desk, Levi holstered his pistol, and grabbed the desk, lifting.
Carefully, they moved back down the hallway, and into the main hall, dropping the desk in front of the main door, which had weakened more in their absence.
“That should at least hold them ‘till morning.” Darren looked over at Levi, looking for his opinion on the situation.
Glancing at the door, he tried to guess. Before he spoke, he noticed that the pounding had died down a little. Raising an eyebrow, he looked back to Darren. “Perhaps they’re giving up?”
“More like they’ve found someone else…” He trailed off, bringing his crossbow to his hands again, listening closely for footsteps or gunshots.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do for them…” Levi moved back to his chair, and leaned back.
The next couple hours were quiet, aside from the occasional whisper from Madeline to Rosy and back again. Trying to use the moon as a guide for the hour, Levi stood when he noticed the moon high in the sky. Whispering to Darren, “I suppose it’s about midnight. That gave them about six hours to sleep, good enough. Let’s each wake someone up.”
Moving over to Emily, he shook her gently. “Em…wake up.” he used a soft voice.
She groaned, looking at Levi with one eye open. “Ugh…Levi…what’s wrong?” he voice suddenly worried.
Smirking at her, he spoke, “Nothing’s wrong, I just need some sleep is all. I need you to watch for me, okay?”
“Sure thing Levi.” She smiled at him, getting herself in a sitting position.
Levi watched as Darren walked over to Madeline and Rosy. Raising an eyebrow, Levi couldn’t help but think that Quincy hadn’t been that close to Rosy before.
“You two are going to be tired tomorrow!” Darren gave them a serious look. “Levi needs one of you to watch over us. I’m getting some sleep!”
“I’ll do it, I’m not even tired.” Madeline said, getting up. Levi couldn’t help but chuckle to himself a little, seeing her bloodshot eyes. (Sure you aren’t Madeline….)
Seeing Emily nod to him that he was okay to go to sleep, he moved over to the wall, sat down, and leaned his back against the wall, tipping his head forward just a little, and fell asleep quickly. His last thought before passing out was his sister. (I won’t let them down….not like I let her down…)