CHAPTER 19
APOCALYPSE RUN
Reighley felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Ash Fjord standing behind him. Reighley could tell at first glance that Ash was happy she came to the party. She was sipping on green tea and had a grin on her face that told him everything he needed to know.
“Glad to see you made it.” Reighley greeted.
“I have you to thank for that. Heaven knows that Freya is often stuck in her ways. Whatever it is that you’ve been doing to help Freya out, keep doing it.” Ash said. Looking into her eyes and using his Insight, Reighley saw Ash’s aura. It was a calm turquoise. Its aura itself had a shape to it for once. It had an assortment of small river-like flows that poured into her from outside of the aura. From it was tranquility. He could tell she was truly laid back and at peace with being here. It made him wish he could be as lax and worry-free as her.
“I didn’t do anything,” Reighley said. “Freya made those changes on her own.”
“Come on. You have to take some credit. She and I were like mortal enemies before you showed up.” Ash exaggerated.
“I don’t think that’s real.” Reighley laughed. “What about the others? Hear anything about their opinion of Freya?”
“Well… to be honest. Matilda warned me not to come here. She said I would be publicly embarrassed in front of everyone.” Ash said.
“Yikes,” Reighley stated.
“Samira and Yula on the other hand haven’t spoken poorly of her or anything. I think they will have a change of heart if Freya reaches out to them.” Ash explained.
“Freya just wants to make things right, you know?” Reighley said.
“Yeah. I’ve seen the change in her. I believe that is thanks to you.” Ash said.
Reighley was curious about something. He remembered the time when he used his Insight to dissect the colors from Lily’s aura and wondered if he could do that on Ash’s. With only a thought about doing so, it worked. Ash’s aura separated into two. He already knew what the result was going to be as blue and green were the obvious answers, but his experiment worked.
Freya had an instinctive reaction to become jealous. She was watching Reighley chat with Ash, and although she was happy Ash had shown up to the party, seeing Reighley speak with any girl made her feel overprotective of what was hers. Her immediate thought was an accusatory one.
“I can’t believe after inviting her out here she goes and flirts with Reighley.” Freya thought. However, Freya caught herself in the middle of this thought process. She remembered the last time Reighley had spoken to girls, and her reaction at that time only worsened their relationship. She knew she couldn’t jump to conclusions. Freya swallowed her pride and calmed her emotions.
“I… have to trust him.” Freya thought. “I know he isn’t flirting or anything, but still… I can’t help but want him all to myself.” At this moment, it was as if every guy who was at the venue was invisible to Freya. Everyone except for Reighley. They couldn’t have gotten her attention even if they tried. “I can’t control everything that he does and I can’t just overreact like last time, otherwise that will set me back to square one with him. I want to be a girlfriend he won't be embarrassed to have around him. I have to become someone he can be proud to have around his friends.” Freya patiently waited for Reighley and Ash to finish talking as she watched from the distance, while unwrapping gifts, with a less-than-pleased reaction from them.
Eventually, gift wrapping came to a close and Freya was at her limit. In all honesty, she could have cared less about the presents she received. She was grateful nonetheless as that would be rude not to thank those who went out of their way to do something for her, but to Freya, it was the equivalent of receiving a gift from one of her father's business partners. It was a nice gesture but they all lacked sincerity. Not to mention she would most likely never use them. All she really wanted was to be alone with Reighley and go on a second real date with just the two of them. Freya’s thoughts were interrupted by the commentator. However, it was not Destiny this time around.
“Check, check… is this thing on?” Isabelle asked while tapping her hand on the microphone several times.
“Yep. It’s on. You got this.” Destiny said.
“Okay. It’s me, Frizzy Izzy, and I’m here to announce it’s time to get ready for the Apocalypse Run…” Isabelle said. She still had her coy demeanor, but she attempted to give it her best shot. The chat could not help but fawn over how cute she was. Reighley, however, could only give himself a facepalm as he knew the repercussions of becoming famous were not going to be good for his younger sister.
“Her ego is already huge, as is…” Reighley thought with a sigh.
“Good work, my lovely co-host. Now, all of those who are participating in the Run please make your way to the changing room. There, uniforms and equipment have been provided for you. Afterward, line up at the starting line and get ready for the fight of your life!”
“I really, really, hate running.” Reighley thought. He looked over at Freya who was still the center of attention and using Insight, saw that her aura had shifted along with her eyes. Both were moving and directing him to participate in the run. “There is no way out of this, huh,” Reighley asked himself. He knew this was something he must do, in order to give Freya the best night. He also couldn’t justify learning how to dance just for someone else to slow dance with Freya before him. “All right. I’ll do it, but only because she wants me to.” He lied to himself to bolster his resolve.
Both men and women alike made their way backstage to the changing room. Before arriving, all participants had to sign a waiver indicating that the run was not responsible for any injuries. Freya signed and then disappeared from the crowd for the duration. She went to a disclosed area to get ready. Once their paperwork was taken care of, Reighley and Ulysses both quickly got changed.
“Freya made sure to get something in my size,” Ulysses said, shedding a single tear of appreciation.
“This gear seems very… fitting,” Reighley said. He and every other contestant were given a briefcase with their name on it. Inside on the bottom was an outfit, while their equipment was hooked to the top of the interior. Reighley’s clothing was ripped linen and torn cloth. He strapped on knee and elbow pads as well as a vest. The vest had the letter Z spray painted on it. He then pulled his laser tag gun out. It appeared that the L for “laser” on the weapon was now a red Z. He could tell it was an impromptu switch at the last minute. He gave his outfit a good look in the mirror and couldn’t help but feel cool. He used his hand to block out the reflection of his face. He had always wondered if he would do well in a Zombie Apocalypse. He was self-aware that he didn’t have typical leadership qualities. He knew his strengths were his ability to come up with solutions on the fly, as well as being extra critical about survival choices. As far as speeches go, charisma was something he lacked.
“Wow, the production crew went all out,” Ulysses said. He was wearing a black unbuttoned trench coat, with a black shirt and matching cargo pants. He wrapped a headband around his forehead as well. He strapped on the same equipment as the rest and walked up next to the mirror with Reighley. “Yo, Aniki. Check it out, man. I look like I’m ready for anything!”
“You look like a juggernaut.” Reighley complimented. Ulysses flexed in the mirror and the fibers of his coat began to stretch to their absolute limits. Tears could be heard from the coat.
“Such filthy wretched outfits. Please, do stay out of my way. I plan on taking the prize right from under your feet Mr. R.” Deven said.
“Uh... what? Are you talking to me?” Reighley asked.
“Oh. So you don’t know. You must have been living under a rock. That explains why that outfit looks so fitting on you.” Deven flipped his hair. He was wearing an orange track uniform that had not a single spec of dust or grime on it. “You’ve been the talk of the town for the past few weeks. The whole internet had been waiting to find out who Freya’s boyfriend was. She called you R. I too was very interested in the person Freya Young ended up choosing. Personally, I was disappointed.”
“I guess some people can look good in anything. ”Reighley replied snarkily. “Have you ever met Guinevere? You guys would be perfect for each other.” He couldn’t care less what Deven had to say. He couldn’t believe someone could exceed the self-entitlement he experienced from Guinevere.
“I have no interest in the Ice Queen,” Deven answered. “Besides, if Freya knows what’s good for her, she’ll dump a loser like you and get back with me.”
“Yeah, and hopefully your next attempt will last longer than twenty-four hours,” Reighley commented. Ulysses was watching the two converse back and forth. He hadn’t realized how bold Reighley had become as of late.
“Whatever. You’ll regret speaking to me this way when I steal your girl.” Deven threatened.
“That was pretty cringe,” Reighley said. Deven stuck his nose up until he saw Jim standing nearby. His demeanor was like someone who acted like a teacher's pet. He headed towards Jim, ready to clean his boots if he needed to.
“Oh! Mr. Young! It’s an absolute honor to meet you, sir.” Deven said.
“Who are you?” Jim asked.
“My name is Deven Stallik. I’m just someone who admires your hard work ethic and diligence. I would love to work under you someday. Freya and I have a history you know.” Deven complimented.
Jim looked the boy up and down and saw how pompous the kid was. Deven's outfit was an expensive one from a rival company. He knew his sincerity was disingenuous.
“Leave us,” Jim said coldly.
“Certainly… Don’t forget to contact me if you need an intern!” Deven scurried off. Despite his attempts to plead with Jim, he was terrified by the look he had just been given.
“Great... I have another punk kid I have to worry about.” Jim said. He walked up to the two boys and straightened up his tie. Jim was still in his dress attire. “Hello, Ulysses. How are you doing son?”
“Oh! Hello Mr. Young. I’m doing well. Thank you for asking. And about Deven, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about him.” Ulysses replied, abruptly ending his flexing in the mirror.
“Good. Your mother and I were just chatting the other day. She said you had grown quite a bit since the last time I saw you.” Jim stated.
“You spoke with my mom?” Ulysses asked.
“Yes, and your father as well. You look a lot like him.” Jim said. Reighley looked over at Jim with confusion. He noticed that Jim only put on the vest and pads for safety, but left the outfit to the side.
“You’re not going to get changed?” Reighley asked.
“I have a meeting after the run. I’m just here to make sure no one else wins.” Jim said as he holstered his Z-blaster in his belt buckle and walked out the door to the runway.
Reighley was hoping to use Insight to get a feel of what Jim was thinking, but he didn't have a chance to as Jim never once looked Reighley in the eyes.
It was finally time for the event to start. All the contenders lined up at the starting line. The track had a multitude of obstacle courses thrown in the way. Fake houses were set up for looting, as well as broken-down cars. The stop signs that were placed had additional things written on them like “STOP, TURN BACK”. It was almost believable. There was an eerie feeling in the atmosphere that came from a single question in everyone's minds except for Jim.
“Where are the Zombies?” The participants thought.
Meanwhile, hidden and scattered about the runway, were the 100 security guards now dressed as zombies. They were added to the run last minute by Jim Young.
“Omega Z Squad, this is Alpha Leader with the Delta Z Squad. Do you copy? Over.” The Alpha Z and Delta Z squads were crouched behind a house while performing radio talk.
“Omega leader here. We hear you loud and clear Alpha Z. We are with Epsilon Z Squadron. Over.” Omega Z and Epsilon Z squads were on top of high points, like artificial trees and or buildings.
“Make sure you let your men know that Zed said we needed to go all out on this mission. No one gets past the finish line. Period. So no holding back, is that clear? Over.”
“Copy that. Over.”
Reighley noticed that everyone's attention diverted from the mile-long street back to the venue, as a group of people came from it. It was Freya and class 2-D. They all walked in unison towards the starting line. Jim’s jaw could only drop from seeing what his daughter was wearing. She looked like a biker leading her gang. They all had matching black spiked gear on to match their outfits.
“Freya! What is the meaning of this?” Jim tried to stop Freya in her tracks but was completely ignored by her. Freya walked past Jim, towards Reighley and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“So… what do you think?” She asked. Reighley looked into her eyes and used Insight to see her aura. It looked sporadic in nature. Like electricity was flying chaotically from it. He thought the way she acted was similar to when she first asked him out at school. However, this time he didn’t mind it as much. Instead, it sort of worked on him as he became flustered by her touch.
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“You… look… uh… strong and independent?” Reighley said. Insight broke as he had trouble looking her in the eyes. “She’s too close…” Reighley thought. He felt like the best way to describe her was like Freya had been slapped by a punk metal album. However, Reighley preferred Freya in her flowery gown.
“Freya. What on earth are you wearing and who are these people? Did you hire actors to come out on display?” Jim asked. Freya turned towards her classmates, completely ignoring her father.
“Just ignore Jim, he has a bad habit of judging people by appearance and not by their character," Freya said, looking back at Reighley.
Suddenly it all made sense to Reighley. Freya was trying to use him and her classmates as an act of rebelliousness towards her dad. He guessed it was her way of saying she wanted to be with him regardless of what her father wanted. He had to stop this. He didn’t like the feeling of being used by her to get back at her dad.
“This is getting unhealthy…” Reighley thought. “That’s enough,” Reighley said quietly. He gently grabbed her wrist and moved it off his shoulder.
“What?- What’s wrong?” Freya frantically asked.
“You shouldn’t disrespect your dad in front of all these people,” Reighley said as he looked at the crowd of people watching. “These are his coworkers and his friends,” Reighley said quietly to her.
“But… you’re supposed to be on my side-” Freya was interrupted by the speakers outside. From it, the commentators interrupted the two.
“All right, survivors! It's do-or-die time! DJ Destiny here will explain the rules.” Isabelle announced. A projector screen that displayed Destiny and Isabelle was cast on a nearby wall. The two were standing parallel together and had fake blood splatters on their faces. Destiny had put on her blue biker jacket to show her support to Freya and Isabelle was wearing a similar jacket but was in her favorite shade of pink.
“Okay runners, listen and listen closely because I’m only going to tell you this once. There is a whole horde of infected people up ahead of you. The only way forward is through! You’ll have your trusty Z-blaster at your side to help get you there. The infected are wearing suits that will indicate whether or not you shot them and will flash red on a hit. Each zombie has a fixed amount of bullets he or she can take, and that number is not displayed. Once a zombie has been shot past that point, their suits will display a red color indicating they are dead, locking up the body suit for the remainder of the run. Your suits are similar. If you get tagged by a zombie, your suit will light up green. Assuming you escape the zombies' grasp, you have one minute from that point to find a sterilizer to neutralize the infection. Know that the timer will not reset even after you heal up, so if it took you thirty seconds to find and administer first aid, you only have thirty more seconds to find your next for the remainder of the run. Keep in mind ammo is limited. One Z-blaster magazine carries twelve charges. The houses ahead have all sorts of loot, like other weapons, but don’t take too long because there is only one winner. Last but not least, friendly fire will be disabled for the first half of the run; however, once you reach the Dead Man Zone, it's game on.” Destiny said, wiping the sweat from her brow. “You got anything to add, Frizzy Izzy?”
“Yes and good work DJ Destiny. Be wary survivors. The trials ahead of you are broken into three sections.” Drones began to cover the skies giving a birds-eye view of the course. The screen showed the location the runners were starting and had a tag on it that said ‘Area One’. The drones panned across the first section and showed broken down vehicles, and houses with crushed rooftops, and stopped at a roadblock. “The first zone is called Dead Residents. It is where the majority of your loot is going to be found. Keep a watchful eye as the undead can reside anywhere in and outside these houses.”
The image switched to ‘Area Two’ showing a military base that covered the entire path. One of the drones showed a med bay area, and another showed a gun vault. “The second zone is the Risen Army Base! There won't be much loot lying around, instead, the best equipment will be located in the gun vault and med bays. Keep in mind there is no way around this structure. You’ll have to navigate your way through and get to the final zone.”
The drones then switched to ‘Area Three’. The display showed a wasteland of scorched earth. Many of the buildings were burnt down and the area gave off an abandoned western theme. “This is the Dead Man Zone. Where player versus player is allowed. It’s the last and most dangerous of obstacles between you and victory. Survivors, please heed my warning… There is one zombie you must avoid at all costs. They call him Z.E.D. You’ll know him when you see him.” Isabelle added. The display changed to a blackened silhouette of an incredibly muscular person briefly, only to switch back to the girls. “You all signed the waiver before coming right? We are not responsible for any injury sustained by this. Also please refrain from assaulting your other contestants as that will result in instant disqualification.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Destiny nodded. “All right, you guys have five minutes to get in places before we start.”
Right after Reighley looked back at Freya.
“Wow… she’s really getting into it, isn't she?” Reighley said lightly. He tried to change the subject as Freya’s expression was progressively flashing from confused, to hurt and coming to a rest on upset.
“Reighley…” Freya muttered with her head down.
Reighley looked over Freya towards Jim and noticed agitation from the man. However, it was different this time. Reighley didn’t need his Insight to see the pain Freya inadvertently caused her father by seeking comfort from someone other than him. Reighley could see the disheartening look in Jim’s eyes become more permanent. Reighley looked back at Freya and lifted her chin upward. Her eyes were vulnerable.
“Hey… keep your head up. I am on your side.” Reighley replied.
“I hope you win,” Freya said. Reighley realized he would have to address Freya’s actions later. This one hurt him. Seeing her like that was incredibly difficult for Reighley. He realized he was failing at making tonight a good night for Freya.
“We’re on your side too.” Ulysses chimed in. Ash, Herald, and Ulysses walked up to the two.
“Yeah. We’ll do whatever we can to make sure Reighley gets across the finish line.” Ash said. She was holstering two Z-blasters and wearing a cowgirl hat and a sheriff's outfit.
“Howdy partner. Where did you get the second blaster?” Freya asked.
“Oh, I just asked some guy to give me his so I could have two. He gave it up after I sweet-talked him a bit.” Ash explained.
“Smart gal,” Freya said.
“Wow. Poor guy. I hope he can run fast.” Ulysses said.
“Hey. Sometimes you have to take advantage of the womanly charm given to ya.” Ash said. “And Reighley, you should be a little more concerned about the competition. Look around. Everyone has their eyes on you.” Reighley took a look down the starting line in both directions and noticed that faces, both familiar and unfamiliar to him, were all competitively looking at him.
“Looks like I’m common enemy number one…” Reighley said. He looked over and noticed someone in particular was glaring at him. It took him a second to recognize who the stranger was but after a moment Reighley realized it was Guinevere's butler.
“Don’t worry about him, Master Summers. I will handle it. From one butler to another.” Herald said. “You just worry about getting to the finish line.”
“Boss, Odysseus Sir, what do you want us to do?” The red headband student of class 2-D asked. Class 2-D were up and arms ready to fight. They had all come fully prepared to fight for Freya. Freya looked towards Ulysses and nudged him on.
“Go on, give them an order, ‘Odysseus.’” Freya said. Ulysses stopped and looked towards his friends and knew he could do anything if it was for them.
“We’ll protect Reighley with our lives!” Ulysses ordered.
“You heard the man! Let’s show these zombies why they call us the misfits of Gilford High.” The headband student said.
“Sir, yes sir!” Class 2-D cheers.
It was time. Five minutes had almost passed and as the contestants lined up, Destiny and Isabelle began to count down in unison.
“All right survivors, the run starts in 3… 2… 1… Go!” The two girls said. At that moment the 200 contestants who were lined up, took off down the runway. There were several houses nearby, many looked to be abandoned. Some contestants headed directly down the center of the track while others took a rather methodical method by attempting to scavenge loot in nearby houses.
“Here goes nothing… Come on guys let's go!” Reighley said as the group began to follow him. Reighley knew that he would have to come up with a plan while on the move. “What would be the best strategy for success?” He quickly began to attempt to calculate his odds. “What should I do? Think Reighley, think! No precedent for the infected has been set as of yet. We don’t know anything about them as of yet. Each person only has twelve bullets in their Z-Blasters and we have thirty-three members in our group. The group consists of Class 2-D, which includes Freya and Ulysses. Add on Herald, Ash, and I, and in total that is three hundred and ninety-six charges of ammunition. That combined with Ash’s additional gun she managed to snag off a contestant makes a total of four hundred and eight charges. That is plenty to start, the only problem is, we don’t know what the average bullet count is to take out a zombie. We don’t know the effective range or accuracy of our current weapons. Also, more people we have means less loot to split between the group.” This was all happening in the span of ten seconds. Finally, Reighley decided on what to do. “All right, here’s the plan. Hey headband guy?” Reighley shouted. He wasn’t sure if he could lead everyone or not, but he had to try.
“Yes? Also, my name is Arend Selkie, Sir” Arend replied.
“Okay, Arend. You and the rest of class 2-D go on ahead and take out as many infected as possible, but don’t get eliminated. Try to thin the herd while gathering information. Retreat if you have to. Freya and Ulysses, you come with Herald, Ash, and I. The five of us will try to get better equipment in the houses just up ahead.” He said.
“Got it! You heard the man. Charge!” Arend shouted. He and class 2-D began to take off ahead, while Reighley and the rest turned towards a nearby house.
“You’re amazing.” Freya thought. Watching Reighley lead, made her heart flutter. “Whether it's for me, or a stranger, you give it your all. It’s my favorite thing about you.” She thought with a smile while tailing behind Reighley. Before they could even reach the house, however, the five of them heard screams coming from the distance. Their attention turned down the street as Destiny and Isabelle began to announce what had happened.
“Uh oh! Looks like some contestants are already infected.” Isabelle said.
“That’s right. Now they have a minute before they are eliminated and look at those zombies! They’re huge!” Destiny said. She pressed a button and on the bottom left corner of the screen displayed a number and text.
(Remaining Survivors: 200)
“Looks like we're in for a blood bath, make sure you have your umbrellas ready, kids!” Destiny shouted.
“Uh, Reighley I don’t think that we are dealing with normal zombies,” Ulysses mentioned. The group paused at the infected ahead. It was one undead and it wasn’t acting like normal zombies like the ones in a video game or movie, instead, it was swift and tactical with its takedown tagging six people in the span of a few seconds. Doing all while preventing any injury. It was using objects to hide behind total cover and vaulting over obstacles in their way at extreme speeds. Its appearance was undesirable to look at as well. The infected looked incredibly lean and physically fit. While their makeup and effects on them made them look like undead, they were still wearing tactical suits underneath the disguise. Finally, after tagging ten people in small groups the zombie's suit locked up and it went down.
“That’s all right! Let's worry about our gear first.” Reighley reassured. “Looks like I made the right choice to air on the side of caution.”
“That one took thirty-four,” Herald said. He paid close attention to the amount of bullets it took to take him down and counted each time the zombie's suit flashed red. “It took thirty-four bullets to finish the zombie.”
“Now how is that fair? I don’t even have that many bullets in my two guns combined.” Ash mentioned.
“We can’t slow down. Come on let's get inside” Reighley said while opening the door to the house the group was standing in front of. The house had broken windows. Once the group entered the living room through the entrance they quickly scanned their surroundings. Inside the living room was shredded furniture. There were bloodstains on the floor, when Freya saw it she visibly became nauseous.
“Reighley, somethings not right… I hired actors to play the zombies, not super soldiers.” Freya explained.
“You think your dad tampered with the run?” Reighley asked while reaching his hand towards a door knob leading to a bedroom.
“I don’t think it would be past him to do something like that,” Freya said. Suddenly from down the hallway, an undead came running towards the group after bursting through a different bedroom door. The noise scared Reighley causing him to trip backwards. The group turned their weapons towards it and unloaded them at it. It was mere inches from reaching Reighley before Ash was able to unload both of her Z-blasters at it.
“Dang it!” The zombie thought as he collapsed playing dead.
“Phew! That was close.” Ash said, helping Reighley up.
“Are you okay?” Freya asked Reighley. She was concerned for him.
“I’m all right… It looks like this zombie wasn’t an elite like the one we saw earlier. More importantly, look.” Reighley pointed. In the room where the zombie came from he saw a care package of supplies. The group quickly cleared the rest of the house and found two supply crates. Inside one loot crate Reighley found a Z-Assault Rifle and a single infection sterilizer. Inside the other, Ulysses pulled out the Z-Buckshot, a shotgun, and four more Z-blasters.
“You should give Freya the shotgun, and me the rifle. Herald said. “Shooting is something I am rather good at. Not to mention Freya has joined me out to the range plenty of times in the past.”
“Right, right, ex-assassin.” Reighley thought.
“Got it.” Reighley agreed, handing the weapons over to the two. He expected this. Once the team was locked and loaded they headed back outside.
“It looks like our favors to win have just exited their looting building!” Isabelle said. “You got this Reighley.”
“Isabelle! You’re not helping!” Reighley shouted at the screen. He noticed something worrisome. The amount of people left had dropped at an alarming rate.
(Remaining Survivors: 157)
“Forty-three down already? The game just started!” Ulysses asked.
“It’s all right they potentially took down some zombies with them. It will make it a little easier for us down the road.” Ash said.
“I think we should move on ahead. We are already so behind.” Freya said, pumping her shotgun.
“I agree. The longer this is drawn out the more difficult it will be.” Herald advised.
The group pressed onward, managing to pick up three more Z-blasters off of the floor where contestants had lost. Most weapons were empty on arrival. The team stumbled upon Lillie Two, who was completely alone and out of breath. She was hiding behind a vehicle wearing a black poncho. When she noticed the group she beckoned for them to come over toward her.
“Lillie Two? What happened to everyone else?” Freya asked with concern.
“I don’t know… As far as I know, Arend and Joy went on ahead.” Lillie Two explained.
“Why did they leave you?” Freya asked.
“I had to tie my shoes…” Lillie explained, “But it’s too late for me, I just got infected…” She pulled her poncho aside and revealed a green light on her vest.
“Wait, we have a sterilizer!” Reighley said he pulled out the device and quickly tried to hand it to Lillie, but she stopped his advances with her hand.
“Save it. Don’t waste that on me. Your life is more valuable than mine.” Lillie said. Suddenly Lillie looked down at her vest and the green light turned red and a buzzing sound went off.
“I just… wish I could have been… more… useful…” Lillie said, closing her eyes and slumping her head over.
“We’ll avenge you, Lillie… I promise.” Ulysses said. The thought of protecting his friends filled him with a burning passion to win.
(Remaining Survivors: 156)
“Why is she playing dead?” Herald asked.
“Don’t take this moment away from her!” Ash said. Freya walked over and took the time to tie Lillie’s shoes which were still untied, for her.
“Thank you for your help Lillie Two. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.” Freya said with compassion.
“For goodness sake, she is not dead!” Herald complained.
Lillie then pretended to rise up as a zombie and walk back towards the starting line of the race.
“Attention all survivors… Z.E.D. has entered the fray.” Isabelle said. “Avoid at all costs. I repeat, avoid at all costs.” The group looked up at the display as it switched to a horrifying scene. A monster of a man was holding two people off the ground in separate hands. There was no mistaking it. This was him.
“Wait… is that?-” Reighley stuttered.
“Dad…” Ulysses muttered while his heart sank.