Lauren N. helped Devin up who had fallen running away from a zombie that was ready to attack her before LeAndria shot it from behind. Both Sarah and David rejoined the group and everyone else was dusting themselves off or wiping their weapons clean from the blood and black ooze.
"Who was that?" Lauren H. asked about the person who had shot Nuria dead. "Someone or a group of people are hiding around us and we don't even know where they went."
"Should we work together until we figure this out?" Christa asked Elizabeth. Elizabeth just glared.
"I said we would help kill the zombies..." She began, "We'll be fine without your help on this one...plus she killed one of you guys...it's no concern to us."
"Nuria was my friend!" Kelly said.
"Shut up!" Elizabeth snapped at her. "Come on...let's go."
"Where is your shelter?" JC asked wiping his bat off clean.
"Why? So you can take that away from me too?" Elizabeth said. JC looked confused as they watched the others go.
"What was that?" Owen asked.
"Dude, I wish I knew." JC said and walked back to the group to help them out.
The group buried Nuria under a pile of rubble by the trees near the grocery store.
"No matter how hot it gets in the summer or in the chill of the winter nights, she will rest in peace and be shaded from it all." LeAndria said leading the sermon. "6 days have gone by and the world has changed completely. God made this world in 6 days and rested on the 7th...let us pray that tomorrow there will be peace. If God is willing, let there be happiness again."
The group cried, a few for Nuria, a few for the situation and still others cried for themselves. But no matter the reasons, they all needed that release. After the funeral all the women walked back to the store while the three guys scavenged around for food. They knew the grocery store was empty but the houses at the edge of Friendship Heights might still have had something worth taking.
The girls walked together in a tight group as the sun began to soften in the afternoon glow. Sarah slung her machine gun over her shoulders, Christa dragged her metal bat along the ground and Mel polished off her knives with a tattered handkerchief she had found.
"Do you think they'll find any good food?" Caroline asked.
"I'm craving some pizza right now." Susie said.
"Oh god, with extra cheese!" Devin added. The girls laughed at the fact that for even one moment they could unwind.
But it was only for a moment.
A shot ripped and ricocheted off the dirt by Susie's feet, missing her by mere inches. Another shot embedded itself into the side of the building, causing a piece of break, dust swirling around. That shot had missed Devin's head by inches as well.
"Scatter!" LeAndria screamed and all the girls ran in different directions to cover themselves from three more shots that nearly hit Lauren N., Mel and Nina.
From behind a tree Christa tried to see if she could spot a shooter but all the roofs were empty. Where was the shooter? She thought. Another set of shots were fired, all hitting a garbage can that Susie was hiding behind. Susie was crying hysterically and begged for Christa to help her.
More shots were being fired at the garbage can...the shooter had their target chosen and Susie had no where to run. Christa had to think as she looked around. Caroline was hiding behind the tree with her, to their right Mel, Sarah and Lauren H. were hiding behind a building.
"Where are the others?" Christa whispered to Caroline who shook her head furiously not knowing.
More shots. Susie didn't have much time left...the garbage can she was behind started to crumble from all the damage it sustained. The minute an inch of her became visible, all hope of her escaping was gone. "Please help me!" She shouted at anyone who would hear.
"What do we do?" Caroline said looking up at Christa. She looked around and realized that Devin, Nina, LeAndria and Lauren N. were hiding behind a brick wall.
"WHAT DO WE DO!" Christa shouted across to the others.
LeAndria whispered with the rest of the group. "SHE HAS TO RUN FOR IT! WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE." She motioned for Nina and Lauren N. to head around the other way, to make sure they weren't seen. The two of them disappeared through a set of trees.
"Susie!" Christa yelled. Susie was crying hysterically. "I don't want to die!"
"LISTEN TO ME SUSIE!" Christa said. "You HAVE to make a dash towards LeAndria and the others. You have no other choice."
"I'm scared!" Susie cried.
"She's not going to move!" Caroline yelled.
"You have to Susie! You have to try!"
The garbage completely collapsed from all the damage, exposing Susie.
"RUN!" Christa and Caroline both shouted. Susie began to run towards LeAndria who had stepped out from behind the wall to shoot indiscriminately towards the direction of the shooter.
Susie had 40 yards to run. A shot fired feet in front of her causing her to stop and backtrack. Another shot landed behind her and she froze.
"Susie no! Run!" Devin yelled. Susie looked up at where the shots were fired. For a brief second she caught a glimpse of the shooter, smiling. "It can't be..." She started. "You guys! It's!..."
BANG. A bullet went straight through Susie's head and she collapsed forward. LeAndria had to hold Devin back who tried to run towards Susie crying hysterically. "Calm down! You'll get shot too!" LeAndria said.
An hour passed since the last bullet was fired. All the girls were still on alert and had communicated with to each other without saying a word. Christa and Caroline made a mad dash towards LeAndria and Devin. No shots were fired.
They waited a few more minutes. The rest of the girls ran, finding quick hiding spots in between until they reached the wall. No shots were fired.
"This is a giant game of cat and mouse." Sarah voiced.
"But the gunman is too much of a coward to even reveal to us if they're a cat!" Lauren H. added.
"We can't worry about this now...we can make our way back to the store without being seen. If the gunman wants to challenge us there, they'll have to fight us to our deaths." LeAndria said.
"What about Susie's body?" Mel said. They all looked out to where Susie was lying.
"We'll have to leave her here..." Christa began. "We'll send someone out early tomorrow to retrieve her body...it's too dangerous now."
"What about the other two?" Caroline asked.
"Devin spotted where the sniper was firing from." Was all that LeAndria said.
***
"This is the right one?" Nina asked.
"It looks like it..." Lauren N. said. "There's no way the sniper can escape us. You have your weapon ready?"
Nina lifted her shirt just enough to reveal the Magnum she had packed in her belt. "Ready. You?"
Lauren N. hit her machete against the wall to show its sturdiness.
"I thought I would only use this thing to slice zombies." Lauren N. said. "Never in a million years did I think it would taste human blood."
And the two girls ran into the building and up the stairs.
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