The Dead World Ch. 05

The Hummer was loud, and not at all a smooth vehicle to ride in. As it bumped and moved along past the barricade, she didn't notice Dog in the side mirror tearing away from the building, sprinting along after the vehicle and waving his arms furiously trying to get her attention.

She rolled past the gates and the barricade of cars. Not much further to go until the bridge and the road that lead back toward the highway. All at sudden she heard a sharp, metallic clash and a sound like thunder bursting in the distance. In moments she realized what was happening—someone was shooting at her!

The spattering of bullets continued to rain down on her, and she slammed her foot on the gas pedal and gripped the wheel, jerking the vehicle to the right side as she moved onto the bridge in an attempt to gain coverage. A sudden thunderous roar was enough however to know something had now gone very, very wrong.

Delicate fingers locked in a death-gripped on the wheel as she lost control of the vehicle, the exploded rear tire quickly becoming two exploded rear tires. As she barreled into the metal frame of the bridge she screamed, squeezing her eyes shut, not wanting to see as the vehicle plummeted into the water below. It caught itself just barely on the edge of frayed metal and damaged concrete, putting Charlie at a terrifying angle gazing down at the dark blue rushing beneath her, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"F-fuck... Jesus—what the fuck?! What the fuck just happened?!" She cursed allowed as she scrambled to pull herself up into the back-cargo area, the supplies having been thrown all about, blocking her way. She threw several guns down onto the windshield, causing jagged cracks to spider-web across the surface, and the Hummer groaned as it teetered ominously on the edge of falling full over and into the rushing water below.

Once she'd cleared a space she tried to pull herself up, the sound of metal scraping metal screeching loudly with the motion. She swore she could hear someone shouting. No fucking shit, those fucking psychopaths shot the fucking tires out and are probably coming to finish the job! Panic began to take Charlie, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she scrambled desperately to get out of the Hummer and make a break for it before they got there.

Unfortunately, it seemed they were far closer than she had thought, ears still ringing from the commotion of the crash and the rapid firing of bullets.

"'AY! I got 'im, he's still in 'ere—don't ya fuckin' move ya lil' shit! Ya hear me?! Or I'll blast a fuckin' hole in ya!"

"Slow your fuckin' roll Slash, I want his ass alive—get him out of there!"

Slash stood at the back of the wrecked hummer, lowering his weapon from Charlie's head and extending an arm to the boy. "C'mon, lil' shit... don't make me come'n' git yer ass."

"Fuck you, psycho, don't you fucking touch me!" Charlie spat at him venomously, shrinking back down the way she had come. Slash grasped a box of bullets, flinging it at her—and missing, but of course catching the cracking windshield causing it to shatter entirely.

"BRING YER ASS!"

Fear gripped Charlie, refusing to budge from where she crouched against the back of the driver's seat. In a matter of moments, Slash vanished from view, replaced by a very livid looking Skully who extended an arm down into the vehicle for her, the tone of his voice dripping with bitterness.

"Fun's over, kid. Come on, before you get yourself killed." Reluctance seized her. She stared at the none too kindly Skully, glaring at her from the other end of the wrecked Humvee's cargo area.

"Do you know what happens when you drown?" His voice was a low, threatening purr. "How terrifying it is, when the water starts to rush around you... that first agonizing, burning breath once you're all the way under struggling to breathe? Stop playing games with me. You're not ready for that..."

He slammed a fist down against the metal bed of the cargo van in a solid demand which shook her from her stubborn stance, every word to follow flowing with deadly annunciation.

"Give me your fucking hand."

Slowly she began to move upwards, reaching out with a gloved hand to grasp Skully's own. He hoisted her with little effort up and out of the vehicle, and when finally on her own two feet, he twisted that same arm painfully behind her back leading her away from the wreck to the pick-up truck he and Slash had taken to retrieve the runaway with. SLAM. "Where the fuck did you think you were going?"

"Let fucking go of me—ouch!—you're HURTING me you fucking asshole!" Charlie's vicious snarl came with defiant irritation as he shoved her roughly against the hood of the vehicle, patting her down briskly and removing the hunting knife she had on her. It landed with a thud onto the gravel path, before he secured a zip-tie tightly around her wrists.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are—frankly, I don't care... but ohhhh, you've fucked up now! Not even Oz can save you this time..." All at sudden, Skully trailed off, with Slash training his eyes out into the foliage toward the edge of the forest, on the other end of the bridge. They could see the movement in the trees. They could hear the dull thumping of their feet... they could smell the decay in the air. One by one they began to appear, stumbling out of the dim lit foliage, snarling and growling and grasping ahead of them as they did... and they kept coming... and kept coming. There were far too many of them to count, and they were advancing quickly, the sea of dead from the trees.

"Fuckin' hell... c'mon boss, fall back!" Slash hopped into the passenger seat of the Yukon they had brought out well prepared to chase down the runaway youngster, and Skully was quick to force Charlie into the backseat, not caring to wait around and see exactly how large of a horde it was. The scent of rancid flesh filling the air said enough... there were enough bodies here to be very, very dangerous to a handful of survivors. There wasn't shit they could do about the Hummer right now.

Her hands were still bound tightly in front of her, yet instinct told her to throw them out in front of her as she was tossed to the ground. The men had gathered in the lobby once again, with the exception of Slash, and Ruthless. The approaching swarm of the dead had to be dealt with accordingly, and so they tightened the alignment of the cars barricading the resort and pushed back up the broken chain fence. Weak defenses. They retreated before the stumbling mass could pinpoint where they had gone... the smartest thing they could do was fall silent, not draw any attention, and pray the horde would move along. The gunfire had most certainly drawn them in this direction to begin with.

"You've got a lot of fuckin' nerve..." Skully hissed at her lowly.

She slowly moved to her knees, her dark eyes vivid with disdain for this man as she slowly rose to her feet. Those deep brown eyes passed around the gathering—settling first on a sullen, armed Ruthless at the front desk, before shifting to Dog who stood at the far wall, the toothpick between his lips shifting anxiously. He too had his firearm draped over his chest, at the ready. He had an appearance to maintain.

He couldn't do shit for Charlie if they thought he had a hand in the little joy-ride fiasco. Diablo had positioned himself near the elevator, his arms crossed gently over his chest as his eyes darted toward the entrance, hoping the head of their group would soon make an appearance. Skully handled things in his absence, yes... but Skully was positively fucking livid, and he was far from the diplomatic sort when he was like that. Oz was absent along with Slash. There was heavy tension in the air.

"Where were you going? Who were you trying to meet?" The sharp notes of Skully's aggressive demand nearly caused her to flinch. The men stirred uncomfortably.

"Man, c'mon... you know we need Oz here at least—" Diablo started softly only to be directly cut off by a fierce snap from his comrade.

"I don't give a fuck what my fucking brother's gotta say. He's not the fucking law, here. I have a right to know, just like the rest of you... how the fuck are we going to leave now with the Hummer fucked halfway to hell? Assuming it's not drifting off into the fucking sea!"

"We wait for Oz. Enough." Ruthless tapped the butt of his weapon against the wood behind him, observing their second in command's temper begin to flare. Skully reached out and shoved Charlie's shoulder roughly, sending her stumbling forward, before the muscular blond narrowed his icy gaze at him. The slender youngster with his back turned to the quietly raging Skully stood motionless once he regained his footing, much resembling a terrified little deer in the headlights. "Leave him."

The only one downright reckless enough to question Yuri's word was a fool. He was easily the largest man here and wouldn't have a hard time putting anyone on their ass in a short amount of time, if necessary. His mellow, dark gaze had settled on Skully's own stark blue eyes, his strong features an unreadable brood, his thin lips pressed into a frown.

The entrance doors parted suddenly, and once inside, Oz flipped the switch to cut the power to the motor causing it to open automatically.

"How bad is it Boss?" Diablo inquired once both men were inside.

"Bad." Oz's tone was calm, but not at all pleased. He seemed irate, which was not something Charlie had yet seen on the usually grounded, level headed leader of the group. "This horde is massive—lots of live ones... we're grounded for a few days if we're lucky. Maybe a few weeks if something doesn't pull them off in another direction... we'll talk about defense and possibly drawing it away, tomorrow. Won't be any clearing them though. At least two hundred bodies there... and right now, we've got an issue to address."

All eyes seemed to turn to little Charlie. Skully seemed all but dying to lash out once again at the foolhardy youngster, restraining himself only with the presence of his sword-wielding elder brother.

"This little fuckin' snake is up to no good, and has been since the moment we got here—he hit the inventory hard. He stole over half the supplies. He made a break for it with one of the largest vehicles in our group! OUR vehicle. He's out. He's done! He should be grateful I don't slit his pathetic fuckin' throat—" The raking of steel being drawn from the sheath as Skully withdrew the large hunting blade caused Charlie to instantly turn to face the aggressive older man, backing away rapidly. Dog tried to mask the concern he had, unable to stop himself from stepping forward several paces as Charlie sunk back toward him, his weapon ready in his arms. The other men stepped forward as well, unexpectedly prepared to defend the youngster.

"You know we don't work like that—you need to relax—hey. Put it down." The solid demand from Oz caused him to seethe quite visibly, the long hunting blade thrust back into its sheath as his vicious gaze turned on his brother.

"This is fuckin' bullshit Oz, and you know it. No fuckin' slap on the wrist for this shit! He's a thief, and a liar... I can't believe you want to consider this little fuck as one of us—He doesn't deserve judgment he needs to be strung the fuck up for the dead heads!—"

"Shut the fuck up Colton." Oz snapped, interrupting the erratic younger man's tirade. He paced the floor, with Charlie standing anxiously now at Dog's side. Slash seemed edgy as well just behind the other, all but feeding off that jilted energy... he wouldn't mind five minutes alone with the little punk, himself. He was certainly turning out to be more trouble than he was worth for all of them.

"Let me remind you that several of you have been acting like fucking animals—especially toward this kid—from the moment we arrived. That ends tonight. I've taken time to talk with him and he's been more than generous to us. He is one of us now..." Oz's voice thundered over the crowded lobby, Dog slowly drawing an arm in front of Charlie to guide her back behind him as Oz settled the tension, with only Skully still clinging to his aggression.

"Whether you like that, well, let's not say I wasn't fucking crazy about bringing every one of you into this group at one time, either... but here you fuckers are. So stop. I won't have a scared fucking kid bullied by a bunch of grown ass men. If he's trying to run for safety, who would blame him... with the way you act?"

"He's trying to run to his people—"

"Enough."

Oz's focus was on his brother the entire time, and Skully held his gaze with mounting irritation. He stood square before the slightly older man, staring him down, itching almost to draw a fist and punch him hard in the jaw. As silence settled in they stared down one another for a long few moments, yet the men began to relax, all but Slash who stood near behind the fuming Skully idly tossing the bison bone hatchet from one hand to the other as his gaze flickered between the brothers. Back and forth... back and forth, a smirk tugging the corner of his lips.

"Well... I guess there we have it then. Our great 'leader' has spoken... go on then, call Judgment on the little bastard for theft and insubordination, so we can rest up to deal with the fucking mess he made, tomorrow, Boss." He advanced upon Oz, who stood his ground bitterly with a hand resting languidly on the hilt of his broadsword. Slash stepped forward briskly tugging the younger brother from his challenging stance, who shoved the other man away as he jerked his shoulder free... and slowly moved away from Oz.

"Well? The fuck you waiting for?"

"Charlie... you've been accused of theft and insubordination. You stole the Hummer and took supplies without clearance. I'm not exactly sure where you were trying to go, or what you were trying to do... but as it stands the offense is punishable. You'll be first wave of watch over the horde drawn by the gunfire on the graveyard shift. You'll do so for the week on half rations and bunk the northern tower until the debt is paid. Fair?" He turned his eyes on his group, and no one objected.

Skully himself even remained quiet, which was not at all comforting to her. She could still feel his eyes attempting to burn a hole into her forehead through Dog, who had relaxed now as it appeared Oz had roped tempers in and finally had it under control. Just because he didn't speak out did not necessarily mean he thought she was being treated fairly... It was worrisome. Charlie didn't seem to know the first thing about patrol, or firearms. She nodded her head, avoiding their gazes, accepting her "punishment" with fear pulsing in her chest.

Dog couldn't remember feeling this panicked ever before. He tried his best to reach her, and warn her... he'd spotted the pair on the move as he headed back into the courtyard, sprinting past him with weapons drawn and scolding him for failing his duty as her tail as they hurried into the Yukon to take off after her. They didn't linger. He had slid dangerously beneath their radar then—and just now, it seemed. Skully's focus was almost entirely on the itching impulse to attack the newcomer. He had been on that witch hunt since they arrived, and for whatever reason... Charlie hadn't given him up as her accomplice.

The men began to fan out, with Oz and Diablo breaking off to speak to one another. Ruthless joined them soon after down the right wing corridor. Skully and Slash had vanished from the group up into the southern tower's stairwell to do God only knew what, leaving Dog and Charlie standing there with frayed nerves, and a fragile sense of calm.

His eyes spoke for him. 'This was too close.' Charlie nodded her head in gentle agreement, swallowing hard, the lump in her throat and dryness of her mouth an unfortunate lingering reminder of how shaken she still was. Oz had gone easy on her, she knew it... if you could call being kicked out of your home and forced to be look-out for the fucking army of the dead slowly piling up against the vehicle barrier but a few meters away from her home.

"Smartest place to post up would be the first floor... that way if there's trouble you can get back to us, quick." Diablo advised her as he and the three men who'd been speaking in the hall began to disband. Dog placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze, before guiding her toward the elevator.

"You're grounded, Charlie. No luxuries for the week. Take the stairs up to get clothing and what not so you can get set up tonight... here." He handed the youngster a rather large, black handheld device. "We're on channel eight, but all lines are open. If there's any trouble you let us know. If we have to, we can defend this place... but if things become too dangerous, I'll be working on a plan to safely evacuate. You're our first line of defense, Charlie... don't let me down, kid."

The sullen expression on the tired older man's face said he wasn't exactly pleased with Charlie, but he still trusted the youngster to do what was right. She set her sights on the stairs as Oz disappeared back out the main entrance, only to be halted by Dog whose deadpan expression was ever so slightly hardened. He mashed the button to bring the elevator down defiantly, taking Charlie's hand and drawing her inside.

"The other tower isn't secure at all... I... I haven't been that close to them... not in a really long time..." She mumbled fearfully, not drawing her hand back from Dog's. He squeezed her little fingers gently as the elevator slowly came to a stop.

"...I really fucked it up... didn't I?" The ever quiet Dog kept his honesty to himself, squeezing her hand once again to draw her gaze to his as if to reassure her. She stared back into the younger man's eyes for a few moments. She felt nauseous. The crash was still fresh in her head, just as much as the aggressive tension between the members of the group, and Skully's vicious threats. As the elevator lurched to a stop, and the door opened, Dog led her out and to her room, not wanting to alarm her any more than she needed to be.

He would have to make his way to the northern tower to keep an eye on her without alerting the other men. He recalled distinctly that Slash as well was placed on watch as earlier punishment for roughing up their host, and it made him all the more uneasy... Charlie would wind up in some serious trouble down there, with him, by herself. He would have to keep Slash distracted without making it look like he was going against Oz's declaration that she be isolated.

He knew he could wind up in some serious shit himself if he crossed either of the brothers at this point. Watching as she disappeared inside to gather what she thought she would need while staying in the decrepit front building of the resort, he took in a slow and deep breath, and dug his final cigarette out of the pack in his jacket pocket. Some small part of him was happy to have her here, still... but the rest of him knew it grew more and more dangerous for her the harder she tried and failed to get away.

Once escorted downstairs by the younger man and off to the northern tower, Charlie chose the nearest room to the main lobby down the hall not crowded with the makeshift barricade of luggage and furniture leading to the ballroom—it was still heavy with the scent of charred wood with the lingering essence of death on the other end. The ballroom had been all but burnt to nothing, a massive hole where one of the frantic refugees had driven into the wall left the tower insecure... not that the glass sliding doors inactive with the power cut to the building would do much good to keep out the dead if they broke through the narrow barricade before the bridge