"Storm" (Mercy)

''Two Years in to the Apocalypse Southern England''

All of a sudden, Elliot awoke. He jolted up from the bed he had been sleeping in, his heartbeat racing as though it were a horse at the Derby. Looking outside the rotten and dirty window next to him, he noticed tree branches flailing around in the wind. Sticks and leaves were flying everywhere.

A few seconds later, there was a low rumbling. Though Elliot was confused at first, it didn’t take him too long to realise there was a thunderstorm happening outside. He sighed out of annoyance, laying his head back down against the pillow, attempting to go back to sleep…

…However, he simply couldn’t. No matter how hard he forced his eyes shut, Elliot just couldn’t return to the far more delightful dream world where everything can once again be happy.

All of a sudden, the window shattered, glass shards flying in to the room. This time, Elliot really was startled. Sticks and leaves followed in after the smashing of the window.

From the hallway, a creaking sound echoed towards Elliot. Taking no chances, he immediately grabbed his knife and his revolver. He crept towards the door, hearing the creaking sound gain even closer to his room. “Biter?” He mumbled to himself. “Too fast,” He tried deducing what exactly the source of the creaking was.

Upon reaching the door, a rumble of thunder drowned out the side of the creaking. With no time left, he jumped out at the stairs, aiming his revolver down.

“Whoa! Easy there Elliot!” Gwen’s Welsh accent had a sense of alarm in it. “Christ Gwen!” Elliot lowered his revolver instantly. “At least call up to me if you’re gonna do something like that!” His heartrate was finally slowing down again.

“What is it that you want?” Elliot gave Gwen a chair to sit down on. “Sleepless night maybe?” Elliot nodded to the shattered window with torrential rain and debris flying in through it. “Something like that, yeah,” Gwen sounded concerned, which in turn had concerned Elliot.

“It’s Annabelle…” She was referring to her 20-year-old daughter. “Right? What about her?” Elliot was worried about what the answer would be. “Well, ever since Rhys died,” Gwen paused momentarily after mentioning her husband, “She just hasn’t been the same… Every morning, she complains about the previous night. Elliot, she has the same dream every time. All she ever sees is him getting devoured by the Biters, while she just stands there doing nothing. I don’t know who else to ask for help on this. You’ve been my best friend for longer than I can remember. Please Elliot, advise me on what to do now.”

Elliot truthfully didn’t know how to respond to her, but at the same time he was unwilling to let her down. “How about… I go and see her?” He was improvising his suggestion. “I mean, I guess. You’re like a brother to her. What will you do?” Gwen obviously couldn’t tell just how improvised the suggestion was.

“Well, I will… I’ll whisper a more delightful story in her ear while she sleeps… And then maybe she’ll dream about. It’s um… scientifically proven,” Even Elliot wasn’t convinced by his own lie, but it appeared to be enough to convince Gwen. “Alright,” She seemed slightly wary of him, but accepted his help anyway.

Elliot opened the bedroom door slowly, creeping in to the room where Annabelle was sleeping. She was tossing and turning about crazily, as Elliot tiptoed next to her. Gwen pulled the door ajar, watching Elliot closely – He had not expected to actually end up doing this. He took a deep breath, and used his improvisation skills once again.

Downstairs, the back door in the kitchen was made of a weak plastic material. It had taken a lot of damage over the past couple of years, and the storm blowing against it wasn’t helping that at all. The door finally gave in, as it blew into the kitchen. Through it, a biter came staggering in. ‘He’ had a limp in his left leg, as he made an air-deprived groan, lumbering further in to the kitchen and in to the house.

On the sofa bed in the lounge, Andy slowly woke up. He rubbed his eyes, getting all the sleep out of them. He looked at the arm chair on the opposite side of the room, noticing Robert slouched in it, still asleep.

“… And so, that entire group lived happily ever after,” Elliot was reaching the end of his story to Annabelle. “The couple had a baby, who grew up to become the billionaire that saved the world. He developed a cure, the Biters were wiped out, and just like that, the world was whole again.” He backed away from her slowly, determined not to wake her up after improvising an entire scenario which he knew could only happen in storytelling.

Gwen opened the door slightly further, giving Elliot room to exit again. She closed the door behind her. “Wow, she actually stopped frolicking about in her sleep, thank you Elliot.” Even Elliot was just as surprised as Gwen. “Yea, um… Your welcome, I guess. But just remember, Annabelle isn’t a child anymore, Gwen. Every time she has nightmares, I can’t just give her a lullaby. She’s a twenty-year-old woman who is growing up in an apocalypse. She’ll always be your daughter, but you do also have to be ready to let her go…” Elliot gravely informed her. “I know… I’m working on it…” Gwen had acknowledged her immature treatment of her ever-growing up daughter.

As Andy tried getting back to sleep, a groaning from behind him prevented him from doing so. “Christ sake, that you Elliot?” He asked, before turning around. Instantly, his question was answered – a Biter held its’ arms out, stumbling towards Andy. He jumped up off of the sofa and grabbed his pistol. He held it out – but before shooting it, he remembered the sound of a gunshot could drown out the thunderstorm outside which would attract more. Thus, he dropped his pistol again, but did not have a melee weapon to hand.

Turning back to the Biter, it grabbed his shoulders, as Andy fell back on to the ground. The Biter tried moving its’ head down to Andy’s neck. He pressed his hands against its’ forehead to keep it off of him. “Robert! Gwen! Someone help me!” He was losing strength quickly.

His luck had not run out just yet however. From behind, one swoop knocked the Biter off of him, throwing it against the sofa – Robert had woken up and hit the Biter on the side of the head with the butt of his shotgun. The Biter held out its’ hands at him, unable to hoist itself back up.

“What are you waiting for man! Finish it!” Andy hid behind Robert like a scared child. “How? I don’t have a melee weapon!” Robert responded. With quick-thinking, Andy pointed to the butt of the shotgun. “Just do that again!” He suggested.

Robert nodded, and whacked the Biter with his shotgun once again, then a second time. When it got back up, he caved the shotgun in on its’ head a third time, then a fourth time, and then finally a fifth – the Biter was dead at last. Robert tossed his shotgun over to the sofa, headed back to the armchair. “Right, night then.” He jokingly said.

“Wait!” Andy recalled him, “How the hell did that thing even get in the first place?” He enquired. Robert raised his finger, trying to answer it, but couldn’t thinking of anything which didn’t involve him staying awake. “Good question. How about you go and find the open window slash door or whatever it is, and I’ll stay here, looking after the shotgun?” He was desperate to go back to sleep.

“No you lazy bastard!” Again, Andy stood in his way. “This is a job which requires two of us! Now come on, let’s go!” This time however, Robert was the one that stood in Andy’s way, ironically. “Two of us?” He taunted Andy, “You mean you’re just a little bit too scared to do it by yourself. Is poor baby Andy scared of the big bad undead?” He said with his bottom lip exposed, mocking Andy.

“No… Yes…” He admitted while unnerved. “Knew it! Alright, that’s all I wanted you to confess to. Let’s go,” Robert grabbed his shotgun, now agreeing to assist Andy in his search.

Elliot and Gwen rushed down the stairs, noticing the Biter next to the sofa. “Oh hey! Bit late you two!” Andy called out to them. “What the hell happened?” Gwen’s eyes were wide, as she seemed utterly astounded. “Had a bit of biter trouble,” Robert answered. “It’s ok, I dealt with… Honestly, what would you people do without me?” He tutted, mocking them jokingly.

“You better watch your lip bud. If it wasn’t for me you’d be walker meat right now,” Elliot reiterated with raised eyebrows. “Hey, chillax,” Robert raised his hands, “I was just kidding.” He tagged Andy lightly, “Come on, this open window ain’t gonna close itself.”

Elliot picked up the walkie talkie from the table. “Reed? Zach? You guys out there?” He spoke down it, but the only response he got was static. He adjusted the frequency slightly, “Erica? Tina? Where are you guys?” Elliot had sent out two supply run teams.

“We’re here, we’re fine,” Erica responded down the radio. “Oh, thank goodness.” Elliot responded. “Is your girlfriend with you?” A few seconds passed, presumably the radio was being passed over.

“Uh, hey Elliot. Is everything ok?” Tina’s voice returned down the radio. “Oh thank goodness you two ladies are alright… Ok now, listen to me. Wherever you are, stay there. It’s too dangerous to travel right now. It’s night time, there’s a thunder storm over our heads, and it’s destroyed some of the windows over here. Are you guys at a place that you can hold up in until morning?”

“Well not really, we’re in a car right now, Elliot.” Tina informed him. “Dammit,” He put his head against the radio, knowing a car wouldn’t hold up in such damaging weather. “Alright, sit tight. I’ve got a plan. In the meantime, I need you two to try and get in contact with Reed and Zach. You got that guys?”

Several seconds passed. “Acknowledged, we’ll do what we can,” the radio had been passed back to Erica. “Over and out.”

Elliot put the radio back on the desk. “Right Gwen, I need you to keep in contact with Erica and Tina. Keep yourself updated.” Elliot headed towards the front door, his revolver in one hand, his knife in the other.

“Wait, Elliot… You’re not seriously going out there are you?” Gwen sounded just as concerned about him as she was about Annabelle. Elliot titled his head at her, as if to suggest exactly what she was thinking. “Shouldn’t you take the radio then? If Reed and Zach have one and Erica and Tina have the other, shouldn’t you have it to keep in contact with them?”

Elliot saw the logic, “Good point, cheers,” he put his knife on his side and accepted the radio. As he prepared to open the front door, Gwen had one last thing to say, “Elliot,” he turned back to face her, “Be careful, ok?” She warmly smiled at him, as he nodded in affirmation.

Switching out his radio for his knife, he opened the door and slipped out, closing it behind him again. As he became covered in rain, he saw the group’s pickup truck on the pavement, with several Biters on the lawn between him and it…