2.5

"Time to wake up princess," Victoria nudged me. When I refused to budge I felt the warm covers ripped away, exposing my bare skin to the cold winter air.

Somehow Victoria knew how to get blood out of clothes and had placed the clothes Hannah had worn the day I arrived here at the bottom of the bed. I blushed realising the underwear was included, but then I was also excited at the idea of wearing a bra that actually fit.

Not caring that Victoria still stood there I quickly dressed. Modesty was something I needed to learn to shake, this was the apocalypse. Every second counted and Victoria looked very impatient.

Once done I grabbed the blanket, trying to adjust to the temperature and fully wake up. My thoughts still lingered heavily on my weird, but vivid dreams. These were similar to the vivid dreams Lixin had given me of Zhiyue initially, only these dreams showed my body's future, not the past. A future filled with zombies, heartache, and death.

The only positive in the dream was I'd had power, plant power, allowing me to control any and all plants. I hoped it was just a dream and not a premonition of what was to come.

In the dream, it seemed like a useless power for anything but food supplies and I needed to be strong. I couldn't rely on others' goodwill. Especially if that future was what I had in store for me.

After a brisk knock at the door Jean peeked her head in, "she awake?"

"I'm awake," I grumbled before Victoria could reply. Shaking off the quilt I reached for the boots.

Luckily Hannah had the common sense to dress in her slightly tight-fitting riding gear after witnessing her first zombies.

For an irresponsible teen, who'd spent the last year skipping classes, smoking weed with the stoners, self-harming, and heavens knows what else I couldn't yet remember, she had been sensible when required. These boots were not only waterproof but had steel toe caps, perfect for kicking annoying men in the shins, or elsewhere.

"They're packing up the truck now, Noah said five minutes," Jean explained before quickly closing the door.

"Are they both still mad?" I asked Victoria unable to stand the uncomfortable silence.

"Yup," Victoria looked oh so pleased at that too.

"Can I just stay here?" I could just hide it out, Will was a big boy, he could look after himself.

"Nope."

Luckily Noah was inside the jeep, with Victoria and her twin brother she'd introduced as Rick. Using Systems handy memory sorting I realised that Noah Lee, Victoria and Rick Foster, and Tommy Sanchez were all among those listed dead during the power plant explosion.

It didn't take much brain power to put two and two together and assume the government had bombed the city after discovering the virus, just like the online conspiracy theorists had said. Little did they know it would be futile, only delaying the inevitable virus outbreak by a day.

I wondered how many more of that list would be amongst the others they mentioned meeting in Oregon. It appeared they'd all split up to look for relatives and survivors with the intention of meeting at an army base known to be secure.

There was a radio in the jeep that Noah was talking into as I entered the back of the truck. Where the supplies and 'civilians' rested.

Tommy drove as Will gazed out of the window, lost in his thoughts with a bitter look on his face. Last night he buried his mother-in-law, wife, and child in the back garden of the house he was supposed to raise his family in. He named the babe Johnathan after all, writing his name on the makeshift wooden gravestone.

Jean was sat beside me, chattering through the window with a happy-go-lucky Tommy, whilst Daniel sat opposite, staring intently at his small handgun. I felt inferior with my simple kitchen knives, which I'd taken a tiny detour to locate and strap to numerous parts of my body.

The air felt heavy as we pulled away from the small estate. The rear was covered in a green sheet, blocking out all light, except for the tiny window between it and the driver's seat. I peeked around Jean trying to make out the landscape outside.

The memories of Hannah making her way, on foot, to Ivy and Will's home was foggy and filled with fear and blood. I was not willing to probe further.

Instead of looking outside, I closed my eyes, focusing on memories of training from Lex and Meilin. Though brief, I knew deep down I knew a lot more.

Hannah had been taught to shoot a gun whilst hunting, though after Will left, she only went during the brief visits Will had returned, her gun skills getting rusty over time.

There had been a few times she had snuck out of school to go to a gun range a classmate's uncle ran. He had been trying to impress her to get into her pants. She'd had quite good marksmanship, considering she'd been high at the time. I hoped I'd inherited that ability. Muscle memory was supposed to be a powerful thing according to Meilin.

Lost in thought I hadn't realised I'd begun playing with a small knife, making it spin finger to finger, catching both Daniel and Jean's attention.

"That's a fun trick," Daniel smiled at me, making me wish I could blend into the background. Every time his eyes fell on me, alarm bells rang inside. Similar to the way I just knew Lixin meant trouble, I knew I had to keep my eye on this guy.

Pulling myself together I gave a brisk nodd, putting the knife away to prevent myself from doing it again.

The truck bumped into something and I faintly heard growling outside the material. I was glad the truck was high up with high metal sides. The fabric alone did not feel secure enough.

"Hard to get used to isn't it?" Tommy laughed through the open window, sounding so cheerful for someone who'd just run another person over, even if the other person was already dead, it was a person.

I caught his gaze through the mirror, his brown eyes did not match the smile on his lips.

In front, the dead were gathering around a large estate house that was ablaze like moths to a flame. Amongst the growls, groans, and howling wind I swore I could hear the faint cry of humans begging for mercy during their death.

"I don't ever wanna get used to it," I muttered, gripping the hilt of the blade I thought I had put away.

***

We had travelled slowly, occasionally stopping for the soldiers to clear cars and put down the dead. What should have been a brief journey North to the service station took three hours.

Though the coastal road was mainly surrounded by nature, there was a small town nearby and a shopping estate. Noah had warned us there was a risk of a horde, so unsure of how many would be there, we pulled off the road towards the woodland, parking out of sight from the highway. The vibrations of going over the loose soil made my already numb butt sore.

The fresh, salty air was refreshing as I jumped out of the back of the truck. Will was already out, having snapped out of his trance and waiting for me, standing guard.

I noticed once they got out of the vehicles they simply geared up slowly, with Will and Tommy standing either side guard. Noah then proceeded to remind everybody of the safety rules, I found it hard to focus on his words when listening to his voice. Confused about how his voice made my heart skip a beat, but also made my stomach churn with anger.

I noticed Will and Noah were still not seeing eye to eye which bothered me. Teamwork made dreamwork. I needed to protect this big brother of mine. Even if he was taller, wider, and much meaner looking than me, especially whilst holding a large, metal baseball bat.

I noticed all five of them had melee weapons, the ammo was precious, the guns were loud, and though the dead could not see well they could certainly hear.

Speaking of which, a few stragglers had been attracted to the sound of engines and began wandering out of the tree line. It was then that Will showed me his mutation, either metal or telekinesis. As the metal baseball bat in his hand flew directly towards their skulls bouncing off their skulls whilst crushing them to hit another until it eventually returned back to his grip. Please let me have the same powers.

None of his teammates batted an eye, though Noah did nodd his head in appreciation, that was progress, right? Both Daniel and Jean looked as surprised as me, like me they'd survived the fever but still had not figured out what had changed about them yet.

After twenty minutes of ensuring there were no more and then another quick once over of the plans, we made our way through the woods where Noah's friends hunting and camping store should be. Helpfully, it was also just beside the large service station, which was our second goal, where they hoped to find food, medicine, and fuel.

As we reached a chain link fence I heard the sound of groans before spotting the dead walking aimlessly between the many cars. It appeared people had headed towards the store to find it closed with heavy metal shutters blocking all entrances, leaving them all to either leave or die outside. Despite the many cars, I counted much fewer zombies walking around.

"System, can you scan the building for any survivors' souls?" I asked, wondering if that's why the shutters were closed with dead lingering nearby.

"None," System replied dejectedly. Cruel world.

Will walked to the front, one hand on the fence and it contorted leaving a large hole for people to walk through. I found myself disappointed it appeared to be metal he could manipulate, though anything seemed better than plant power. I found myself praying to my body to take after its brother, not the dream.

"Don't be such a pessimist," System tutted.

Noah brought me back to reality as he made some hand gestures, which I did not understand one bit, before taking the lead, Rick following second. Victoria then ushered me, a slightly trembling Jean, and Daniel through. Tommy followed with Will taking the rear. Crouching, despite their blindness, we made our way through the cars around the building, Noah was aiming for the employee entrance.

I caught the sight of a zombie crawling from the car beside me, I swiftly pulled the knife out of my right boot, sliding it through its temple. The cold had done well to preserve the flesh, had her eyes not been so obviously clouded over I could have mistaken her for being alive.

The entire event had happened on sheer instinct, leaving no room for thinking before the blade slid in like butter. Similar to when I'd used a dagger in my last life.

"Can you sense any more hiding?" I asked System, crouching to look low under the cars in front, ignoring the curious gaze of a few in front.

"I'm unable to detect things without a soul," System explained bitterly.

"Fuck," I cursed out loud in a whisper before pushing myself back to the semi-crouched state and following the rest who had gone on ahead, ignoring Will, who had remained beside me, cold gaze on my back.

At the employee entrance, Noah casually walked up to the door, his hand resting on the keypad. He quickly entered the four-digit code, giving a green light as the click of the lock sounded, letting us know the door was open. It seemed the power was still running luckily.

Swiftly he walked in and turned to the right, running up a small flight of stairs leaving us all behind. Will gestured for Jean, Daniel, and I to remain at the closed door whilst he, Victoria, Tommy, and Rick walked down the hallway, opening door after door, gesturing clear before closing them again. For a moment I felt like I was simply the audience in a really realistic movie theatre.

To be honest, this entire process since waking up just felt like one really gory horror movie. I was doing my best to just waltz through it dejectedly, hoping to make it through to the end.

I knew I'd die again. I'd be reborn again. Everything felt numb.

Noah returned to the top of the stairs, a rag cleaning his blade, I guessed he'd found his friend.

"Status?" he asked Will. I noticed that despite my brother being the youngest on the team he appeared to be second in command. It was good they were showing signs of getting along now.

"Cleared the employee rooms, just the shop floor to check."

Noah nodded, "I doubt there's anyone else here, but just in case be on guard and make a sweep of the shop floor, I just need a minute."

Will rested a hand on Noah's shoulder, giving him a nod before leaving us civilians with Noah and following orders.

A short while later Tommy's glorious voice came through the door to the shop floor, interrupting the awkward silence, "clear."

Noah let out a sigh, tossed his dirty rag into the bin, and finally put away his knife to join his teammates. I found my stiff muscles subconsciously relaxing as he left the room, though noticing both Jean and Daniel were watching me my muscles tensed again on guard.

"We should go too," I cleared my throat, almost bouncing my way through the door.