Finding A Safe Haven

Chapter Two

1. Kill or be killed.

2. Have no pity with anyone.

3. Don't trust even the kids.

4. Don't go out alone or die.

5. If you have no weapon, run for your life

Considering I was new into their group only a few days ago, Nicholas had made sure to informed me of how the three of them had lived until now together.

The five rules is the first thing he forced for me to plant on my head.

Morning mist blurs my line of vision as Nicholas and I stride on the way to the far end of the farm the three of them has been staying at. The coldness of the metal in my hand kept me awake as this stoic guy didn't care waking me up at dawn. He will be teaching me something for today, he said.

And that is how to use a gun.

Once we reached the wooden fence starting to decay by a lack of care fpom a farmer, Nicholas picked something from the bag he brought. Old tin cans we find on the basement of the farmhouse where we all sleep. He set it up on the top, placing it with a big space next to each of them.

He fished his own gun out it's holder strapped in his belt. Not knowing what do next, I watched him lock the slide back, so the ejection port is open and I I can see through the magazine how it's empty.

"Remember I will only say every instruction twice. If you failed to do so, you can say your goodbyes to us and I'll be making sure you'll not see us again"

I gulped at the clear threat from him. He is really determined not to let his two friends be endangered just because I was ignorant to use a gun.

Within three hours, I spend it learning a lot from Nicholas even though he repeatedly snide at me a lot.

"Now that you finally correct how you hold it. Pull the trigger and target that one", Nicholas pointed in the nearest tin can to your left.

"How do I pull it? Like this?", I demonstrated, wincing when he slapped the side of his face in disappointment.

"Are you not watching any action movies? That's how they pull a trigger. Press it and the bullet will shoot out ", he sounded so annoyed as he said it, frowning deeply.

"Oh, right", I cluelessly pulled on the trigger, pointing it directly on the tin can and the weight of the gun did almost make me fall down to my knees. Still, I hold myself upright to be acceptable in his eyes.

"Great. Look at where you shoot at. I'd never thought you were a born sniper. We could make a killer machine out of you with that skill"

Sarcasm filled his voice letting me know that I failed and glancing on the tin can I was upposed to destroy, my ears redden in embarassment. Instead of there, the bullet mark was on the fence and because it was already rotting in the first place, it broke down on the impact.

Clearly frustrated at my lack of development, Nicholas snatched the gun from my hand and gesture for me to come closer. He then stood behind me, rendering me speechless for having him this close to me.

"When I tell you to fire, pull the trigger, okay dummy?", he whispered into my ear, his warm breath tickling the hairs on my neck.

And he did not stopped from there. He carefully grabbed my hands with his own, and tightened them around the gun he placed in my grasp, making sure that I had a firm grip before aiming the gunpoint in one of the can.

"You must always make sure the gun is loaded and always pointed in safe direction but not on the zombies", he continued lecturing me. He got much closer suddenly, the heat from him being absorbed by my back and the contact typically makes me anxious.

"And posture, as I'm sure you're aware is the key", he whispered causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise and sending shivers down my spine. His hands came to rest down my waist as he gently righted my posture from being hunched to straight.

"Now for your eye that you will be using everytime"

My relief was not for long as his head now rested on on my shoulder and his warm body pressed even more on my back, leaving me in a very uncomfortable situation as I tried hard not to comment on it.

"Look directly where the gun is pointing at and never hesitate, okay?", he says and I did as he said, ignoring the feeling of him.

"The target"

"You see, that's where you're wrong", Nicholas pointed out what I didn't know. "You have to aim and feel whether the target would move or not. Besides, you can't always depend on how focus you are especially with a living dead chasing for you", he added, never getting further away from me, making me more anxious than before.

"Now fire!", Nicholas commands, almost sounding like he was excited as his eyes watch the closeness of my face while I pulled the trigger and he was there to keep me up right as the bullet whizzed through the air and I gasped as the tin can falls down to the ground.

"Yes. Yes. I shoot it without a fail, Nicholas!", I scream in delight, jumping up and startling Nicholas, who took a step back from me, smiling at my kind of reaction.

"I did it. I did it! have to tell this to Howard and Takashi later!", I exclaimed, punching my fist in the air and smiled widely at Nicholas's way.

"Yes, for a first timer, you did good, Angela", he smiled at my enthusiasm. "And if you ever need more shooting lessons, you know where to find me"

With that, he left me there still celebrating for my achievement.

His back was turned as he leaves me, I I couldn't see the massive grin on his face at what happened between us.

_______________________________________

The next day, Nicholas told me that he and Howard were already friends even before the beginning of the rising dead. They were in school practicing for the Sports fest when a lone student suddenly bited one of the teachers and the chaos started.

As for Takashi, they found him inside his own family's house hiding on the basement and starved for days.

Despite all of the times I spent with him, he didn't bother to get close to me Howard and Takashi on the other hand, were too happy for a girl joining them.

They said it would be less lonelier that way.

When the night time came, Howard invited me to join him for a walk outside the abandon farm house and his reason is to distract me from the problems out there. Nicholas and Takashi was still out on their everyday food hunt in the nearby suburbs.

"Did you lost anyone close to you because of this apocalypse?", Howard asked out of the blue, slapping me gently on the back to get my attention. "I lost my whole family to tell you the truth"

"My mother. It's my fault that she died", I told him, looking down as the two of us continued walking.

Howard smiles sadly and puts a hand on my shoulder, patting it. "You don't have to tell me what happened. Everyone has a scary story to tell that they cannot explain how to begin it and with this new world, I'm sure it's all a nightmare anyway"

I nodded gratefully to him and was flad for someone to understand how I feel.

We stopped in front of the rotting fence and both jumped to sit on the top before gazing up at the stars up in the sky.

"Can I ask you something, Angela?", Howard looks at me and I nod for him to continue, "What do you think about Nicholas?"

The question has certainly a hidden meaning in my opinion that it made me look up to him. Howard's face had not hidden anything. His expression says it all. He wanted me to think better of his friend.

If he only knew how I feel for that distant guy.

"Truthfully, I have nothing bad to say to him", I began, tilting my head to look up properly on the sky. "If anything, I admired him for being too direct and not sugarcoating any words. In this new life we all had, we really needed someone like him if you want to survive long"

Howard lightens up at my answer. "I love what you think of him. For me, if he's not here on my side, I will not survive until to this day"

"What about Takashi? What does he thinks of our leader?", I questioned, nudging him on his elbow and laughed when he almost fall out on his perch beside me.

Howard pushed me a little playfully as as a revenge but not too hard to make me fall down the muddy grounds.

The two of us go at it within a long time, glad that for a moment, I can forget what's lurking out there and as I watch him laugh, I wish for him as well to survive.

This world needed more Howard.

But I stopped laughing with him as I spotted some shadows moving through the shadow of the trees before us. My stomach tightens as I signal for Howard to be quiet, and he quickly understood.

From this distance, I can see the tell-tale sign of a zombie. Their movements swaying of like a drunk and the walk is so slow, Howard and I were able to jump down from the fence to hide ourselves.

Suddenly, a lot of zombies from all sides rushed out from the trees without even trying to give us a warning as to how I didn't manage to see it.

"Run!", I yelled for Howard and grabs his wrist in alarm.

We run along the length of the farm, keeping an eye on the pack that keeps on multiplying hidden in the woods. The snarls from them scared me so much that I think this is the hardest I had run.

As we reached the farmhouse up on the hill, I screamed for help, hoping for Nicholas to be there, but to no avail, it looked like they hasn't return. There's no familiar head peeking out of the windows when they usually do. I realised with a shocking jolt of how Howard and I were now on our own.

"Where should we go?", I asked him loudly, looking back at him as my hand is paling at how hard he holds onto it.

Howard opens his mouth to answer, his big eyes looked so scared, but whatever he said, I didn't hear it. All I hear is the ghoulish moans of the horde and I really wish I heard it as that was the last word he could ever spoke of before the unexpected occured.

It all happened so fast to even apprehend the inevitable. We were coming out on the road together when two of usbwere met with a truck sudddenly getting out of control and I caught quickly as to why, there was a zombie woman hanging on the windshield, biting on the driver's neck. His blood is sprayed out on the mirror. And then I couldn't have foreseen it when Howard shoved me to the side.

His body got smashed by the impact of the truck colliding on the column at the other side of the road. As I came to my senses, my jaw dropped to see him crawling towards me. Even in his badly injured state, Howard still had the strength of wanting to survive.

I almost went for him, ready to help but the zombie woman jumped down from the truck and lunged for Howard. She bites his throat, then peers up at me, snarling as if threatening me to stop or I'll be next.

A realization dawned on me in that moment as I watched it all. I failed my mother before and now I failed another. Would Nicholas and Takashi still welcome me even if I let their friend died?

After I hear the howls of the zombies that were chasing for me moments ago, I turned to run with only one thought in my mind.

I cannot face Nicholas again.

I cannot return to them anymore. I will only be the cause of their death if I continue staying on their side.