Fear can control us, stop us from living our lives... But sometimes it can also save us from dangerous situations, because sometimes it's just better to go away if the whole situation is too dangerous.
But betraying others and leaving them alone because of your fear can destroy the respect they had for you, the friendship you had with them, and the trust they gave you.
It can destroy anything...
So allowing fear to completely control you can create problems that will seem as insoluble...
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Here they are. Trapped...
Ben and Octavia are on the rooftop of the clubhouse sitting, and now the whole optimism Ben had before in parts is broken... He's devastated just like Octavia is.
Ben: What now? ...
Octavia: We have to figure something out... Maybe to lure those deadheads somewhere away...
Ben: I hope we'll get some sort of an idea.
While Ben and Octavia are sitting there and looking at those deadheads underneath them, the situation on the bus and inside of it seems much worse.
Kai: Come back!! Now! You fucking idiot! Chris! Damn it!
Kai seems full of rage and expresses his hopelessness with anger and hatred towards Chris, which seems quite reasonable right now for him.
Niklas: Calm down, dude. That won't help us now! We need to save Jason!
Jason underneath them tries his best to keep the door of the blue tourist bus closed to keep those deadheads away from him.
His eyes are wide open, and his hands are shaking while the sweat pours down his body, creating a wet spot underneath him.
Jason: Fuck! Help! They'll kill me! Do something! Damn it!
Niklas looks at Kai, trying to figure out what to do, as suddenly Octavia stands up and gives a loud suggestion.
Octavia: I have an IDEA! We could-
She sees the angry-looking Kai, and suddenly her words are stuck in her throat...
Niklas: What idea?!
Octavia: I... no. No! I know what to do!
Niklas! Since I want them all to follow me, I'll go down there! Into the clubhouse, fight some of them, and turn on the fire alarm in the clubhouse, which makes a lot of sound!
After that I'll escape out of the back door, and y'all take Jason out of the bus and run in the direction Chris ran in!
Kai: What?! Should we really listen to this girl?! Can she even fight? Like, at all?
Niklas: As it seems, you were blind before and didn't see how she saved our asses when the deadheads got into the clubhouse. Huh? We'll listen to her, or we will die here!
Let me know what you like more.
Kai: Okay...
Niklas gives a loud answer to Octavia.
Niklas: Alright! We'll do it!
Ben walks over to Octavia and looks at her with a serious look.
Ben: Are you sure about that?
Octavia: I am... I don't want someone of us to die today.
Ben sighs and steps aside...
Ben: You're right... But be careful.
Octavia smiles at him and says
Octavia: I will...
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~ Somewhere in the woods while the group is surrounded by deadheads at the clubhouse.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
His heart is racing, and it feels like his heart is about to jump out of his body as he runs away as fast as possible.
Chris looks around multiple times as his breathing becomes more rapid and fast, his legs start to hurt, and his head starts to spin, and after a few minutes he falls down and lies down next to a tree.
Chris: Aaahh....HH....A...
He tries his best just to breathe. His body is full of adrenaline, and his hands and legs are shaking without any breaks.
Chris: They tried to kill me! I hide...hide...
I'm scared... I have no other choice...
Suddenly a deadhead comes from nowhere and grabs him by his hand.
Chris: Ahh! No! No!
He screams and pushes it away, and then he quickly grabs his knife, and as he's about to kill it...he stops, throws the knife away, and runs again.
The fear controls him, stopping him from fighting, helping, and doing what's right. He just runs away from the deadheads...like he did with his problems his whole life.
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~Meanwhile at the clubhouse:
Octavia looks down at the ladder to get inside of the clubhouse.
Chris: Are you ready?
Octavia looks down, nods, and uses the ladder to get down, but just as she gets down, she sees an undead person... a deadhead who still looks like a human in parts...being pierced through his stomach.
Octavia: Damn...
But just as she gets distracted, he manages to get up and pull her down, and as she accidentally makes a loud sound when she falls down, the other deadheads notice it too soon and move towards her.
Octavia: Fuck...
Ben: I'll distract them!
Octavia: No! Let them... I have a plan!
Octavia quickly runs towards the fire alarm, she wants to turn on to get the rest of the deadheads away from the bus where Jason is stuck.
Her hands are shaking, and she sees the guts and blood all over the place... Killing a single deadhead before was one thing, but seeing the massacre here is just awful... A nightmare...
But here it is, the fire alarm, which has to work. But suddenly... a deadhead grabs her out of nowhere.
Octavia: Ye- Aaaah!
She quickly grabs her knife and kills one approaching deadhead. The deadhead falls back with the knife still stuck in its head.
She lets the knife inside, quickly turns the fire alarm on, which makes an extremely loud and annoying sound, and runs to the back door but realizes just now that it's closed.
Octavia: It has to be blocked from outside... Shit.
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~Meanwhile, on the bus and inside of it:
Jason: Aaaaaah! Help! I can't hold it anymore.
The deadheads keep trying to get inside but stop as they hear the extremely loud fire alarm and walk towards the clubhouse.
Jason smiles and sighs.
Jason: Thank God....
Kai smiles with surprised eyes as he looks at the deadheads leaving the bus.
The majority of the deadheads walk towards the clubhouse, while around 5 stay at the bus.
Kai and Niklas jump down from the rooftop of the bus and use their knives to kill the 5 deadheads trying to get Jason. It doesn't take long and feels coordinated without any problems.
One after another, they got killed.
As Jason gets out of the bus, he sits down and leans his head against the bus.
He tries to catch some air and takes a water bottle he found in a backpack and drinks from it.
Jason: Aaaargggh... ah... aah... Thanks for saving me...
Niklas: No problem.
Kai: Did you find something?
Jason: Just some medicine in a backpack there... It seems like one had health problems here.
Kai: Hmm, okay. It's strange that so many appear here. I mean the village or small city doesn't have a huge population, and there are around 50 of them right now here.
Niklas: There was a place where many beggars live to hide nearby... They got infected first, as it seems, but lived in a somehow closed place... It seems like someone opened the gate...
Niklas looks towards the clubhouse, and his eyes look worried.
Niklas: Octavia isn't coming... I'll go and get her. And you, Kai, and Jason will take care of Ben jumping over to you two.
Kai sighs in an annoyed tone but complies.
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~Meanwhile, inside of the clubhouse
Octavia: Fuck, fuck, fuck. Open!! You stupid door.
She sees the door she came in before, but now she took too long and is stuck in this clubhouse. She can't rub towards the door, or she'll have to fight through 20 deadheads.
The deadheads approach her, so she just takes her knives since she knows that her crossbow won't help her in this situation at all.
She puts the knife inside of the head of one deadhead, but just another one attacks her.
She kills them, the blood splattering across her face, and the still human-looking faces are full of their own blood now.
But after a few kills, she sees a change... She sees deadheads with old clothes, with holes in them and not the usual clothes tourists wear on them.
Octavia: Wha-?
Two of them grab her, and she just kills one after another, which makes the whole scene turn into a massacre. The blood is on her face, on her hands, on her legs, and on her clothes.
But she knows exactly that it's just a matter of time till she gets bitten and eaten alive, till she'll see her own guts in the mouths of these human eaters... Just a matter of time...
She walks back towards the blocked door behind her and tries to push them away while this bunch of deadheads surrounds her. They grab her arms, and as she uses her knives to fight back, she accidentally cuts her own hand.
She sees her cut but doesn't feel the pain since she knows that she will die now for sure and is in an adrenaline rush anyway. The fire alarm is loud and slams against her eardrums.
She knows that she will become just like them... Like the undead, like the deadheads, like a monster. A monster some random person will put down while having a disgusting expression at how the eyeball hangs out of the head of the deadhead he killed. How only half of her hair will be there, everything rotten, and she would be just a mindless, walking, human-eating monster...
Octavia: Noooo!!! Nooo!
The deadheads grab her by her arms and are about to bite her while she presses her body against the back door. The door, she thought she could escape through, the door that was blocked now by a car, or an engine, or a huge piece of metal. She wouldn't know, but she would know what would happen to her in a few seconds. She was getting tired, but she kept fighting.
She thought she could save everyone, but all she did was to kill herself with this act. Maybe Kai was right when he didn't want to follow her; maybe she overestimated herself... Maybe she ended her life she was building up for so long in seconds.
All these deadheads here... These infected, these undead people had lives... had children they were taking care of. A job they loved or hated... But a life... And it all ended in a second, just like her own life will end in a few... What if her dad was always right when he said she was weak...? She can't win this fight and has to die a brutal death now, seeing her own guts being ripped apart...
But she hears a car driving away, falls back, and sees Niklas, who opened the door and shot at the deadheads with a shotgun he found.
He quickly dragged Octavia away, pushed those deadheads back, and closed the door as fast as he could.
As he looks down, he sees a girl covered in a huge amount of blood all over her. Almost no dry spot on her body is left.
Niklas: Oh...damn...
He takes her hand, but she backs away for a second as she looks at him, but quickly stops her behavior and stands up, looking at him.
Octavia: Thanks for saving me...
Niklas: It's... okay. I felt like something was off, so I came to look after you... It was a car standing here... I also found the shotgun here.
Octavia: Oh... Okay...
Niklas quickly takes a bottle of water out and gives it to Octavia.
Octavia pours the water down her face and washes the blood away, but she's quiet now, silent mostly... She almost died right now. An experience that can change everything.
As he sees the cut, he opens his backpack, takes the first aid kit out, and takes care of her wound on the hand.
Niklas: Damn...you cut yourself... It doesn't look so bad... But keep the bandage on it, okay?
As she looks at Niklas she sees a man, who could hurt her, abuse her, beat her or rape her. It can be possible... But he doesn't... He literally gave her a second chance in her life. He saved her. He took her away from the grip of death. And now gave her water and treated her wound. Without expecting anything back from her.
Maybe he's different...or maybe that's just foolish and naive hope...
But in fact, he saved her, and that is true.
Niklas: I'll bring you to the group, and we should get away now... The alarm will just attract more deadheads or even people.
Octavia: Oh, yeah. Let's... let's go.
They walk towards the woods, and after some time they find Kai, Ben, and Jason.
Kai: Oh... She looks awful...
Niklas: I'm glad you listened to me before.
Kai: Now we just have to find that asshole, Chris. Octavia almost died because of him!
Niklas: Yeah... If you stopped me there and didn't listen, then it would be your fault too.
Kai: Hmmmppff
Ben quickly runs towards Octavia and smiles at her.
Ben: I was so worried about you... I thought you got stuck. Oh God, thank God you're alive. You look so stressed. Maybe we should take a break...
Niklas: We need to go now...
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