Angels and Saviors and Whatnot

My feet crunched the dead leaves as I stumbled through the forest, cold, tired, and hungry. My stomach was angry with me for not eating in a while, and my head was spinning due to lack of food, as well. It had been maybe 2 days since CC left, and I was growing weaker by the minute.

"CC! CC please! I can't go on much further." I wimpered the last part, desperate for my friend to come back and save me.

I stopped and listened for any crunching leaves or a sign of a living being anywhere in the thick woods. Maybe a couple hundred feet away, I heard the faint sound of -CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH- through the trees. I strained my ears, and listened harder.

"Alli!" It was a girl voice, a fimiliar voice.

"Alli! Alli Cat!"

Sandra!?

"Sandy!?" Her voice had sent a burst of energy through my body and I ran towards her voice, not knowing which direction to turn. I just kept running towards the sweet sound of my best friend's voice.

"Alli! It's Sandra! I'm coming to get you!" Her voice was loud now, and very clear.
I kept crunching through the leaves, until I saw the figure of a 5'1" high school girl wearing a studded black leather jacket and sunglasses.

"Sandy!"

She turned around and a look of pure happiness washed over her face. She ran towards me, almost knocking me over in a tackle hug and screamed "I found her! My best friend! She's alive!"

I laughed and sighed as I hugged my best friend. I hadn't seen her since the Knives and Pens video shoot, and it was good to have someone on my side. She let go and started to tell me everything that's happened with Black Veil Brides since I've been gone.

The band has made an entire record, including the songs Carolyn, The Mortician's Daughter, and Knives and Pens. They named the album We Stitch These Wounds, and it was rocketing its way up the charts. People all over were recognizing who they were, and the message of their band. They've put on shows for all the teenagers who cared to listened, and connecting with the fans has been amazing for them.

"Sandy this is amazing! How's Andy?" He hadn't called me since the incident a couple days ago, and I was worried.

"He's okay Alli, he misses you, you've been gone for 3 months."

3 months?

"Have I really been gone that long? What day is it?"

She pulled out her phone and told me, "Thursday, April 18th."

I raised an eyebrow and let out a deep breath. I've been gone for 3 months. In that time, Black Veil Brides had managed to produce a full album, make 2 music videos and have at least 3 major concerts.

"Sandra, while you were looking for me, did you see a boy, maybe Andy's height, black hair, skinny, and ripped up clothes?"

"I dont think so, I'm sorry Alli." She took her phone and dialed a number into the keypad, then pressed the device up to her ear and waited for the person to pick up.

"Andy! Hey, guess who I found!? Yes! Okay, sure." She placed a hand over the speaker and whispered "He wants to talk to you."

I held out my hand and took the phone from Sandra and pressed it to my ear.

"Andy?" My voice broke as tears fell down my face, happy that I get to hear his voice.

"Alli! Baby, I've missed you so much, we've been looking everywhere for you! Did Sandra tell you how BVB is doing?"

"I missed you too, and yes she did, I'm so proud of you," I said, the tears still rolling.

"Alli, are you crying? What's wrong, are you hurt?" His concerned voice only made the tears more frequent and I replied.

"I'm so happy to hear your voice again Andy. I've been gone for so long, I was beginning to forget. Those head conversations have nothing on this." I wiped the tears away with my hand and sniffled, laughing at how pathetic I sounded.

Just then, my head jerked in the direction of snapping twigs and leaves. The smile on my face was replaced with horror as Sandra and I stood face to face with the twisted, zombie version of my mother.

"It's so good seeing you again, Alli. I have quite the revenge planned for you." Her slimy voice was ragged and raspy. I looked beside her and on his knees was CC, with the pistol from my dreams to the temple of his head.

"Alli," he said, giving me a pleading look and squeezing his eyes shut when the zombie cocked the trigger.

"Andy I have to go," I said. I dropped the phone, not even hanging up, I was too focused on CC to remember to push 'End Call'. It toppled to the ground and landed in the leaves with a -thud-.

"You leave him alone. He has nothing to do with this. Let him go, you freak of nature." Sandra's voice came out more confident than she looked. Her hands were trembling and so was her bottom lip. Her breath was shaky, and I think the zombie could tell she was nervous.

"Well, seeing as how he pushed me from trying to get to my daughter, he deserves to pay for it, don't you think?" She pressed the gun further into his temple and placed a rotting finger on the trigger.

"NO!"

Sandra lunged, knocking the corpse to the ground. She wretsled around with her until she finally got the gun away. She stood and pointed the loaded gun at the head of my zombie mom. CC scrambled away, running to me and dragging me backward so the zombie couldn't reach me.

"Take another step and I'll shoot you." Her dangerous voice cut through the air like a blade and you could tell, now, she was pissed.

"You don't have to. See, while you were taking the gun...I bit you. Should be about 5 minutes now until you are just like me."

The zombie's words were true, Sandra's skin was turning a rotting yellow and her flesh was starting to peel off. She looked down in horror and tossed the gun behind her. It bounced across the wet leaves and landed at my feet.

"Alli?" Her voice was beginning to sound just like the corpse's, and I picked up the gun, knowing what I had to do.

"You can't stop the transformation unless you kill her," Zombie Mom said, and she cackled, throwing her head back. I took this opportunity to pick up the gun, point and shoot. The force of the gun made me stagger back, but I steadied myself and looked at my now yellow skinned, rotting flesh, yellow eyed friend.

Sandy dropped to the ground and started to crawl towards me, her fragile bones snapping under what was left of her body weight.

"Alli you need to. You need to shoot me, I don't want to be a zombie, I can't hurt you." Her eyes pleaded and she kept crawling closer and closer. Her body dragged over the phone, which was still connected to Andy. I could hear him screaming "Don't! We need her! Make her fight herself!"

I closed my eyes and let a single tear fall down my cheek. "I love you Sandy."

The sound of a gunshot rang through the trees, and I fell to ground, sobbing uncontrollably. CC picked me up and held my face to his chest, rubbing my back trying to get me to calm down.

But I will never forget the look on her face when I released her from the horror inside herself.

Notes

So, there's going to be another chapter or two and then, that's it, the story is over. I'm looking forward to writing another story for you guys, you have been so faithful to me(: I love every one of you Pinjas! <3