Chapter 8

At dawn, Mike insisted he take over so I could get some sleep and I agreed since I had finished coming up with the plan and was in desperate need of sleep. I woke up a few hours later, finding the others already up and talking among themselves.

When they saw me awake, they waved me over to the table where they were seated. "So, whats the plan Farah?" Mike asked. Everyone looked at me intently which made me slightly uncomfortable.

"Alright, here's the plan I came up with. If you guys have any better ideas, feel free to speak up when I'm finished." I say.

"We'll escape through the window. The windows are huge so we'll push the couch out of the window and pray to god it lands the way we want it to. We'll the jump out the window on to the soft cushion bellow. It'll hurt but no broken or sprained bones." I say.

They nod. "When do we leave?" Asks Grace, excited as usual. I look at the time on my phone and wince when I see its at two percent. "We'll leave in an hour so we can eat, drink, gather, and do anything else we need." I say.

The three of them nod and Grace and Go over to the couch and start talking. TJ hesitates and remains seated. "Can we talk?" She asked. I internally groan. "Sure. Whats up?" I ask. "I think we got off on a bit of the wrong foot-" She begins but I stop her.

"That's where your wrong. We got off on the right foot, better than most in the situation were in, however, I'm a distrustful person. I met Mike when all of this began and it took a little while for me to trust him but in situations where we struggled, he proved he was trustworthy."

"I have known Grace since I could walk. You however, have yet to prove how trustworthy you are." I stand. "When I deem you worthy of my trust, you'll know." I finish. She gulps and nods. "Okay." She says.

I walk over to where the backpacks are and try on each one to see which is the lightest and which is the heaviest. Mike comes over and stops me. "Your not a carrying a backpack Farah. Your injured." He says, taking a backpack from me.

I look in TJ's direction with a look of disdain and reply, "I'm not trusting her with a backpack full of important supplies." He nods and says, "Alright, I'll carry two then." I pat him on the shoulder and reply, "You are amazing Mike. Thanks for all your help."

He nods with a prideful smile on his face. "No problem!" He says and then walks back over to Grace. Although I feel slightly guilty at letting Mike take two backpacks, he's right. I'm injured. I sigh and look down at my hands and my stomach.

I hate having injuries. Their a huge inconvenience. I grab a clean rag from underneath the kitchen sink and head to the bathroom. I close and lock the bathroom door and wet the rag with the faucet. I put soap on the rag and wash my arms in face.

When I'm finished, I dry my arms and face and exit the bathroom, feeling more refreshed than before. "Everyone!" I call. Mike, Grace, and TJ gather around me. "Are you all ready to go?" I ask. "Hell ya!" Says Mike energetically. Grace and TJ just smile and nod.

"Then lets do this." I say. They cheer and we all walk over to the couch. Grace and I stood on one side and TJ and Mike on the other. We all lifted, and carried the couch over to the window. "Mike!" I call. "Got it!" He replies.

He and Grace switch spots and I let go of my hold on the couch, leaving him to carry the weight so I can open to window. The maneuver the couch and finally, it slips out the window. We all watch in glee as the couch lands exactly how we needed it took.

They jump up and cheer but I just smile. "Grab the backpacks." I say. Mike and Grace go over to the backpacks and sling them on. I look at TJ. "You first, Mike second, Grace third, and I'll go last." I say. They all nod. "Alright." Says TJ.

She takes a deep breath and backs away from the window. I shake my head. She's making this much more dramatic than it has to be. "Here we go." TJ says and bolts to the window, diving out head first. She flips in the hair and lands on her ass on the couch.

She hops off and gives us a thumbs up. "Mike." I say. He nods and hops out the window, Grace following shortly behind. I look out the window and the ground seemed to get further and further away each time I blinked. I shook my head, closed my eyes, and jumped out of a two story buildings window.

I landed on the couch and yelped in pain as the force of my landing caused my stomach to flare up with pain. "Shit. You okay?" Mike asks, worried. "Fine." I say through gritted teeth. I stand and wince at the pain. I take a deep breath and admire the grass beneath my shoes. "Alright." I say.

"Lets make our way to my house. We can take turns taking showers and get some clean clothes as well." I say. I can tell everyone's mood gets lifted at the thought of a shower. I sniff the air. "Mike, your going first when we get there buddy." I say.

This causes everyone to laugh. I hear a groan coming from our left and reality settles in. We no longer have walls to protect us from the infected. "Run." I say. We all bolt away from the infected, me in the rear struggling to keep up do to my injuries.

We run to the nearest house, the infected following close behind. I stop, remembering the screwdriver tucked away in my back pocket. I whip around with the screwdriver in hand. I almost drop the screw driver when I see the infected. Despite his half eaten body and his eyeball hanging out, I would recognize my father anywhere.

I hear Grace sobbing. My parents were like a second set of parents to her and vice versa. He launches himself at me head first and I parry to the left. He taught me how to parry. A few a tear run down my cheek as I step forward and bring the screwdriver down into his head. He struggles and groans for a moment before he falls to the ground, still.

I leave the screwdriver and to the house where everyone's waiting. I close the door behind me and see Mike comforting Grace in the kitchen, not understanding what was wrong.

I try to go to her but TJ pins me to the door and shouts, clearly outraged, "You asshole! Don't you understand you just endangered all of us?! More infected could be coming for all we know and it would be your fault! Why did you have to kill the infected?! Some petty vendetta?! Huh?!"

I punch her in the stomach causing her to double over. I grab the back of her head and bring it down on my knee. She stumbles backward and charges at me, tackling me to the ground. She raises her fist and brings it down on my chin. Her next fist lands on my left eye.

"Stop!" Mike shouts, rushing towards us. I spit blood into her eyes, stunning her, and bring my fist up and hitting her chin in an uppercut. Mike arrives before I can continue my attack and pushes us apart then stands between us. Mike looks at me, "Grace told me. I'm sorry."

He says. I look at him and reply, "He didn't deserve to become one and I'd be damned if I let him stay one. At least he'll get peace now." I maneuver around Mike and walk past TJ, shoulder bumping her causing her to stumble slightly, as I head up the steps.

I recognized this house. It belonged to one of my cousins. We use to play together a lot when we were younger so I knew this place, inside and out. I went to her room and looked through her clothes.

I grabbed a hoodie and some jeans along with sock, underwear, and a bra. I went to the bathroom and opened the door, almost immediately closing it. I groan. Of course my infected cousin would be in there.

I go to her parents room and luckily found it empty. I go to the nightstand and open the bottom drawer, finding her fathers nine millimeter with a case of bullets right next to it. I grab the gun and pop out the magazine and see its already loaded.

I turn the safety off and keep my hand off the trigger as I remember my father teaching me to never put my finger on the trigger unless I'm going to pull it. After a moment of hesitation, I open the top drawer to the nightstand and grab the pack of cigarettes and the lighter and stuff them in my pocket.

I then walk back down the hall to the bathroom and after a moment, I push the door open. I slam gun on my cousins head and push the barrel against her head as I fire, hoping the sound would be muffled. I sigh in relief when the sound isn't very loud.

A hear footsteps coming up the stairs and see Mike. "Can you drag this body somewhere?" I ask. He nods and drags the body away to god knows where. I immediately put the safety back on the gun, and set it down on the sink along with the cigarettes and lighter.

I grab the bundle of clothes and head to the bathroom. I unwrap my bandages, feeling really dizzy, and see all my stitches had been ripped apart. I fall to my knees and collapse as my adrenaline fades and the blood loss catches up with me.

"Shit." I mutter as darkness takes over.