Chapter 53 No One will be Left Behind

I never want to leave Roanie but while Jayson"s pulling me away from the apartment, I look at her sad smile as she watches us go.
No matter how much we wanted to save her, she still chose to stay with her mother even though it already turned into a Creeper. My heart feels so heavy knowing she is still hoping that her mother will turn back to normal even though we all know that it"s one hundred percent impossible because all her mother"s organs had already been eaten slowly by the virus.
"Jayson, maybe there is something we could do about it?" I ask him while feeling bad that we can"t do anything for Roanie. He looks at me with the same worry in my eyes and he sighs. I could also feel the heavy feeling of Timothy and the others and I wish there is something we could do about it.
Jayson looks at the faces of each of us who seek advice from him on what else to do for Roanie and he looks down like he doesn"t like the thought that is running in his mind, "If I could do Roanie a favor, I would kill her mom and tell her it"s for the better so she won"t suffer any more pain."
"Ohh goodness, it"s the worst suggestion I have ever heard from you, Jayson," Timothy said to Jayson, the one side of his lip lifted, and gave him a scornful look. Jayson just shrugged his shoulders to Timothy as if he couldn"t help himself about it and the rest of us shook our heads.
"I think we just have to respect what she wants, Tim. If we cannot force her to come with us, that is because her mind"s already made you. There is nothing we could do about it."
"Maybe it"s the universe that she led us to. See these wonderful weapons? We don"t have to get anxious or scared anymore if some Creepers appear suddenly again!"
"Like those?"
All of us look at Timothy who is standing beside the balcony. His eyes are wide as he looks down at the streets.
The three of us quickly moved and looked at where Timothy"s eyes were pointed and saw hordes of Creepers walking slowly on the streets, moaning, looking for a living prey to spread the virus from their dilapidating body. I cursed under my breath as I looked at Jayson whose face was in fighting mode again, thinking about what we should do next.
"There is more reason not to leave Roanie now," Timothy told us as the smell of rotting flesh reached the balcony of the fourth floor.
Jason sighed once again and helplessly nodded at us, "Fine. Let"s go and get her."
Tim and I smiled while LI groaned. He must be thinking that as we waste time convincing Roanie, there would be a lot of Creepers going in this place and I know that no matter how many bullets we have, there is still a possibility that we might encounter one that we don"t expect might happen.
Just like meeting Roanie who, in the love of god, has the most amazing weapons which we are lacking now. I don"t want to think that everything is just a good coincidence but I think we are all just lucky.
But not that lucky enough because the Creepers must be already down the lobby of the tenement building, searching for victims. I wonder how we are going to escape this building without those monsters noticing us. We don"t want to waste unnecessary bullets for all of these Creepers. There is more danger ahead and we have to think smart and not act foolishly.
We all went to their apartment, finding Roanie putting bullets on her gun. She must have seen the Creepers on the window and prepared herself if any of the monsters reach this floor of the building. She looked so surprised when we all came back and smiled, her eyes were teary.
"Let"s go, Roanie. We can"t leave you here. We won"t let you die here alone." Timothy said to Roanie in a manly voice that even Li had noticed the change in Timothy"s look. There is a feeling in me that he likes Roanie and I"m happy about it.
"Oh, god I thought you really already left me here!" Roanie ran toward Timothy to embrace him but her gun was on the way and Tim became wary of it.
"Ohh, be careful of that," he said smiling and she put down the gun on the floor carefully and embraced him tightly.
"I"m so glad you changed your mind because I don"t think we have much more time for the persuading session," I said smiling and he nodded at me, mouthing thank you.
"How about your mother, Roanie?" I asked.
She pulled herself from embracing Timothy and took the gun. "If someone has to end her suffering. I think I should be that person. I can"t let her leave being tied like this."
It sounds really awful but she"s right. When she took her gun, she went straight to the room with a face that looked like it was the end of the world already and I accompanied her with hurried feet, not letting her do it alone.
She looked at me before she pointed the gun at the head of her infected mother who was still wriggling on the top of the bed upon seeing us both standing in front of her. It screamed but the cloth that was in its mouth was muffling the sound so we never had to worry.
Roanie put a suppressor on her gun and pointed it at the forehead of her mom with shaking hands. I helped her steady her hand by holding it and at the same time, she pulled the trigger and shut her eyes tight as she cry on my shoulders.
"I-I understand, Roanie. I"m so sorry about your mom but we have to go." I whispered to her as she sob silently at me, her tears drenching my jacket. "But we have to go. As seconds pass, there are more Creepers coming to this place to look for people who are still staying in this city. Let"s go."
She pulled herself from me and with a sob, she nodded and went to her own armory which is just a closet.
"Here, take all the weapons you can carry." She told us and Jayson quickly stepped and walked towards it, taking every knife and machete, pistol, and rifle he could carry. Li and Mona also helped carry some ammunition while I hooked on my shoulders the two shotguns I saw.
"Let"s not carry too much weight. It will slow us down," Jayson hissed as he made a short look at the window. We have to go."
All six of us hurried but Roanie gave a last look inside their apartment and then ran after us, trying to catch up with our pace. Mona and Li have no complaints about us being too fast because it"s easier to go down these stairs rather than taking the fire exit like what we did the last time we escaped from the top of the fifteenth floor of a building.
I could hear the moans and howlings of the monsters from the lobby and when we reached the second floor, Jayson stopped and looked at us, trying to tell us to get ready as he held a gun with a suppressor in his right hand, ready to fire it at any Creeper that will come our way.
Thankfully, the floors are a little well maintained because they didn"t creak from our weight, and even we are half running down the stairs. I could feel the tension in the air and I worried about Roanie if it"s her first time seeing a horde of Creepers. I hope she won"t panic about it though but I know Timothy will take care of her well just like how he took care of me all this time.
I, Timothy and Roanie did the same while Li and Mona are in the middle of us four, me with Jayson at the front and Roanie and Timothy at the rear.
Jayson gestured that I and he would go first and that they should be fast after we clear the way outside the building.
With a deep inhale and a nervous exhale, both of us quickly stood with guns in our hands. We scanned the lobby and with a fast reflex, we both fired our guns at the ones who saw us first and attempted to attack. There are almost twenty, crowding the lobby. Jayson was quick and he killed eleven of them while I only had five.
I couldn"t focus well because my mind was distracted by the safety of my friends and the Creepers scared me. I can't understand why I am feeling terrified this time. Maybe I thought about how Col. Morgan became one of them after he got bitten and I couldn"t help but imagine myself being one of these monsters.
"Focus, Cassy. What is happening to you?" Jayson murmured to me with a worried look.
"I-I"m sorry." I just answered between my breathing, cold sweats appearing on my forehead.