Beautiful Remains

Descending the fire escape silently proved a task, but I eventually succeed. Either the living or the undead could have heard me,but with some luck I could-

“Who's there?!”

Well, that checks off the living.

“A survivor, no one else.” I responded before turning to face the source of the voice.
My gaze met the stare of a thin man with gray eyes and a rounded face, etched with determination. Behind him, five figures wandered into the entrance of the alley, watching eagerly. It was then that I saw just what bad shape the team was in. Rags for clothes, dirty faces and thin waists seemed to be the norm amongst them--not a good thing.

“What were you doing?” the man from before asked, gripping his weapon threateningly.
Surrender isn’t my way, but I lifted my hands up in a motion of surrender. Without that much of a gesture, the gun would never be lowered.

“I only want to help and I don’t have a gun… ”

Indecision flickered in his eyes, the man inched farther away from his group and towered over me menacingly. The cranks in his mind were flying, trying to think fast and do the smart thing.

“Jinx,” one of the men spoke from behind him,”the sniper?”

The man in front of me broke eye contact with me for a second, just to send his friends an undecided expression. Jinx scanned me and my surroundings with a look of longing as he hesitated to lower his gun.

I have to calm him down, I observed.

“I am the sniper.” I said,”It might not sound good coming from me, but I saved you. You can trust me.”

The weaponry lowered. Heartbeats that didn’t belong to me thundered in my ears as the group approached guardedly. Trusting a stranger was taking a humongous risk, but even the quality of their posture indicated a need for rest.

“What's your name?” the man that suggested me as the sniper questioned.

“Andrea.” I stated, returning my raised hands to my side.

“How do we know we can trust you completely?!” Jinx suddenly barked.

“You don't,” I soothed as best I could.

Feet shuffled and uneasy mutters were voiced. Finally, Jinx roughly shoved his MK-47 over his shoulder, though I took note he kept it in his reach. No one trusted me, that much was painted all over their faces.

I really am terrible with people.

I sighed loudly in relief.

At least my brains are still in my head.

“I'm Jinx, the jerk that asked your name was C.C.” Jinx began motioning to worn faces as he listed everyone's name,”Ashley, Jake, Andy and...” he pointed to the woman, cuddled in Andy's arms,”... Juliet.”

As he vocalized her name, she stirred a bit before letting out a pained whine, making everyone's face droop. The corners of my own mouth turn downwards as I thought, these people are really out of shape.

“Where are you traveling from?” I questioned, leading them around the clinic to the back door.

They followed gradually, moving one by one.

“We started in Florida, walked our way to New York and now we're hoping to reach the quarantined settlement in Virginia... Um, where are we now?”

“Delaware. You doubled back. You could have just stayed in Virginia when you passed through.” I responded, halting in front of the back entrance and its devious, board lock. Thankfully, two of the guys pitched in. Jake and Ashley, I think, lifted the plank from its seat in front of the door.

“We went to get Juliet in New York, now we’re tryin-getting back in one piece.” Jinx faded off.

That made sense, but why had they attempted something so dangerous? I stopped and scanned the group. Hearts like theirs had lost a lot in this age. Why put their own lives in possible peril? Then my scanning stopped at Andy. The broken-hearted frown on his face was enough to convince me that they had reasons of their own.

Notes

Poor heartbroken Andy :(

Everyone is so out of sorts, but who wouldn't be after an undead epidemic?