Deliquesce

Chapter 1: Ember

Rated: T

Warnings: Violence, language

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my words.

A/N: Good morning, starshine! I'm back. It's been a long time, hasn't it? You wouldn't believe how much I miss writing Alice in Candyland, so I've started a new fic. I had such a positive experience with the last one, and I hope this one would be every bit as enjoyable, for both myself and my readers. Anyway, reviews and constructive criticism would be very much appreciated.

I never wanted this. You know, the world turning to shit. The government and the military to fall like a baby off a cliff. Humanity literally tearing itself apart. A vicious outbreak of an unknown virus, just like the movies. I mean, it was always possible. Extremely unlikely, but possible, given just the right circumstances and a tremendous stroke of bad luck. Before they stopped broadcasting, there were countless reports of a deadly, mutated form of rabies. They showed the usual symptoms, except they were much more advanced, only lasting for a few hours to a day before they finally died, as expected. What they weren't expecting, however, was for them to come back.

Okay, maybe I wanted this a little. I mean, we all grew up with these fantastic stories of zombies and the undead, groups of survivors banding together and defeating the evil. It sounded fun. Adventurous. The world chewed me up and spat me out, what use was it to me, anyway?

So yeah, I did want it. I wanted to finally be part of something, to write my own tale. What I didn't want was to see these rabid fucking zombies literally eat my family before my eyes. The only reason I survived was because of the lock on the toilet door. Glamorous, I know. What wasn't so glamorous was trying to squeeze out of that tiny-ass window up the top, almost breaking your ankle when you fall onto the pot-plants your mother absolutely loved but never remembered to water, then walking inside to find your recently deceased neighbours tucking into them like a batch of freshly baked cookies. I couldn't stop them so I got the car keys, a stupid little kitchen knife and got the hell out of there.

As it turns out, the zombie life wasn't too cool after all. I just drove until the roads became too packed to move without getting into an accident. That was pretty much as soon as I made it to the main road, so I abandoned the car, kept the knife and focused on trying to obtain as many things as I could. I broke into a house, too. The people inside were already dead. They were an elderly couple. I took two backpacks, shoved as much food and bottled water in there as I could. In the other bag I put other stuff I came across. A packet of aspirin, a small but not entirely useless first-aid kit, a portable radio, a pack of matches and a pocket knife. I stole a coat, put it on, and then set off.

A month later, I'm here. Starving, frozen, arm broken, in the lovely city of London. I thought I heard it raining outside, but I wouldn't have known because I was more or less trapped in a fucking basement. I had run out of food. Tip, don't go anywhere near people. They steal all of your shit. Scumbag vultures. They stole that bag, but I somehow managed to get away with the other one. Although I don't really think I can eat a radio or a first-aid kit. Nevertheless, I managed to put a bandage over the break and take some aspirin every time the pain gets so bad I feel like I'll black out at any moment. At this point, I had four aspirins left. As for food, I had two cans of asparagus, half a jar of honey and a container of raisins I found in a work bag hanging in the wardrobe. I guess nobody liked the asparagus so they left it here. I ate half a can of peaches yesterday, deciding to finish the other can tomorrow. Outside was littered with nothing but rotting, walking corpses. In my state, I'd die as soon as I step out of there. To be honest, I'd rather have a slow, painful death in this dark basement then turn into one of them. I hated them, whatever the hell they were. I still had water, though. I had set a bucket in the backyard to collect rain and another bucket in the corner with half-melted snow I'd gathered from outside. It was kinda risky, but I could get it easily. So I could pretty much drink as much as I wanted and still have enough to clean myself. That meant I'd have maybe a month or less to live without food if my body's running off fat as an energy source, although I'd already lost a lot of weight. At least I'd die sparkly clean and hydrated I guess.

I reached over, pulling the radio closer towards me. I flicked it on with a thin, bony finger. Static, as usual. They stopped broadcasting a few weeks ago, but I still tried. Just in case. Hope springs eternal in the human breast, and all.

Creak.

I froze, wondering if I had imagined the sound. I flicked the switch off again and there was silence. Slowly, I rose from the couch I had dragged down here. I'd stay upstairs, but it was too risky. The windows were broken and I didn't have a key for the door. I didn't have the materials to board it all up, so this was my best option. The creak had been a prime example of why. It came from right above me. I walked towards the stairs leading up to the door, listening closely. As I neared the door, I heard another creek.

Suddenly, the door flew open. I was temporarily blinded by the sudden onslaught of light, but in seconds I became aware of two guns pointing directly at my face.

"Don't kill me." Was my automatic reply. There were three people. I heard footsteps in the next room. Possibly four. In front of me were two males and one female. The first guy with the gun had blonde hair and a dirty face, and the other one was a woman with long, mousy brown hair and a bit of blood on her top. The guy at the back had dark hair and a tan. There was a pause, long enough to make me wonder about what I had just said. Don't kill me. Now that I thought about it, I would prefer if they did. Why delay the inevitable.

"Is anyone else here?" The woman said, blinking large brown eyes. She had a low, sultry voice.

"No." I said.

"Do you have supplies? Food?"

"No."

"Are you infected?" She nudged the gun toward my arm.

"No."

She looked at her companions.

"Well?"

"I saw we kill her." The blonde one said.

"Do you want to die?"

"Yes." I said.

"Don't kill her!" I heard a voice call from the other room. A petite girl, maybe 15 or 16, came bounding into the room accompanied by a 20 something year old skinny male with shaggy brown hair. He didn't say anything. "She might be useful. We could always use more scavengers."

"Quiet." The woman said. "Why is your arm bandaged? Were you bitten?"

"No I wasn't. I broke my arm when I jumped from a balcony trying to get away from one of those things."

"Will you join us?"

"No. Can you kill me?"

"I thought you didn't want to die." The blonde guy smirked, nudging my cheek with the barrel of the gun.

"I guess I had a change of mind. Look, I'm starving, freezing, my arm is probably infected or some shit and I doubt there is any medical attention out there to fix it, and I'll be surprised if I last a month in the state I'm in. I won't be much help, honestly."

"No, I think you will be. Six people, that's what we need." The dark guy said. He had a deep voice, but a friendly face.

"For what?"

"We need to get over the gates of the chocolate factory a few kilometres south." He replied. "The gates are big. Our ladder's just lying outside of it, but it's not high enough. Two people will climb up the ladder. One person will give the other a boost onto the top of the gate. That person will pull the other one up and we'll move the ladder through the gaps between the other bars. Then all you have to do is climb down the ladder and you're in. Six is an even number, it'll take three trips to get it. No one will be left behind this time."

"Sounds a bit like a circus act to me." I muttered.

"It's possible. We've tried, but we can't get everyone over. The rope isn't long enough and physical strength isn't exactly a strong point with anyone who's managed to survive this far. Once we all get inside and you still want to die, then sure, we can put a bullet in your brain. The thing is, that place is completely locked up. Absolutely nothing can get inside. There's probably a shitload of supplies in there too. You in?"

"Fine." I said.

"Good. I'm Jackson. This is Daniel," he nodded to the blonde guy then looked at the woman. "This is-"

"I can introduce myself, thank you. My name is Veronica."

"I'm Briley." Said the younger girl with the short, golden hair.

"Spencer." Muttered the skinny guy.

"We're the fighters. Those two are the scavengers." The blonde guy called Daniel said in a condescending tone that made me want to slap him or something.

Jackson rolled his eyes at Daniel.

"So?" Veronica raised an eyebrow at me. "What's your name?"

She lowered the gun and I exhaled.

"Ember." I said.