# Chapter 5 Rhett and Hunter stood on top of the warehouse. Below, thousands of dead wandered around aimlessly, *lifeless.* Some of the creature’s skin sloughed off, others taught. *What a world we now have.* After 3 weeks, hoards were very frequent. The two stayed silent a long while, just watching. “Rose seems to like you.” Hunter remarked, still watching the hoard. “She does.” Rhett replied. Hunter seemed to sense his uncertainty. “Unsure?” Hunter asked, chewing some jerky. *Man, he's gonna eat all that.* “I don't know what to think. Feelings can get you killed in this new world.” Hunter paused for several seconds, “It’s the only thing we still have, I suppose. Love has never been easy, but now I guess it really matters.” “Are you and Alaina a thing yet? You’re fond for each other.” “That obvious, huh?” Hunter said, sighing, “I don't know what we are.” “Ah.” Rhett nodded, “Scared of rejection. Look man, for better or worse, you're effectively the last people on earth.” “Also makes the consequences of rejection larger.” *Fair point.* Silence befell them again, if it could be called silence. The slackjaws below made their horrid gurgling noises, shuffling through the street. It was midday, sun hot in Rhett’s face. The stench was always worse in the day, but it was odd how so many of the dead would smell so little. “Rose turns 18 next week.” Rhett said. *Has to be said, I get adulthood is 16 since the war, still.* “Oh she's a little younger than I’d thought.” “When we met, I thought she was even younger. Met playing DnD with a mutual friend. Then the world ended.” “I saw Alaina for one night before the world died. We were close before, but reunited at a highschool reunion.” “Quaint,” Rhett chuckled. “Well I’m gonna head back down brother.” “Give Alaina a kiss.” Rhett said, resulting in a laugh from Hunter. Rhett felt a touch on his arm some time later, “Jesus Christ!” Rose shrank back, “shit sorry.” His fright disappeared, “Ava, you’re so silent.” He smiled, “Makeup?” “A little,” It didn't hide her blush. “I like it.” She wore thin eyeliner, ending in a small swoosh, like a cat’s eyes. It suited her, always an alternative style. Her blush deepened, and Rose stepped closer, then sat on the ground next to where he stood. He followed suit, leaning back on his palms. ___ *3 days.* There was seemingly no end to the horde. “Fuck me, man.” Rhett complained. “I’d rather not.” Hunter smiled, *Idiot.* “At any rate, we need to do something.” “We should have started day 1. Which direction are they traveling?” “Just, yes.” *Fuck.* The sea of slackjaws roamed outside, so far their isolation had been comfortable. Alaina sat leaning on Hunter’s shoulder. “Rhett?” Violet asked, interrupting his thoughts. “We wouldn’t be able to get into the dealership across the street would we?” “If we had to we probably could. Why?” “Well i was thinking, if we had a spare vehicle, we could have it blast music or something loud and lure the swarm away.” *Shit. Good idea.* “Wife,” Rhett heard from across the room. “Get me another beer.” John's words came out slurred. She quietly walked over to him. Rhett's skin began to crawl, and he followed, feigning walking over to Ava. He gestured for her to stay silent. The night before, John had slapped the shit out of Violet, and recieved a dire warning from Hunter. “Honey, I can't get you another, you’re dru-” John cut her off with a backhanded slap. “Gimme a beer.” Hunter and Rhett both walked over to him. “You don't fucking touch her.” “I’ll do what i want, she my woman.” John said, swinging a knife at Hunter, then Rhett. As Rhett drew his gun, 3 shots rang out. John dropped dead, and the entire room turned to Rose. She stood, gun still outstretched, smoking slightly. Her face was stone-cold as she lowered her Glock. “Wanted to do that for weeks.” Violet had her face in her hands, Jessie Whitaker sitting next to her to comfort the Girl. Alaina was bandaging hunter’s 2 knife wounds. John's blood was splattered across a chest of drawers and a few lamps. The saving grace was that Cody and Rowan were in the x4, organizing its tool box. *Kid will have a rough enough life. He doesn’t need to see this.* The group stayed silent a few minutes, broken by Gregory Maddox. “Bait?” “Jesus Christ Greg,” Flora gasped. “No he’s right.” Eyes turned from Greg to Violet. “He deserves it, but I have a better idea for him.” ___ Hunter, Rhett and Violet left the lot, circling the building to exit. They passed the newly erected cross and cut across all lanes. They’d waited for a lull in the crowd, and finally got it 2 hours after the altercation with John. Hunter hopped out of the bed, cutting the chains out front. Before when the crew had stolen the X4, they'd gone through the back entrance, but today they needed speed. All 3 of them made it safely in the warehouse. Violet went off to find suitable speakers, while Hunter and Rhett searched for a shitty box truck. Its only purpose was to lure slackjaws away, so there was no point in getting a nice one. The finished product looked like something out of an old apocalypse movie, and Rhett figured that was because they were in one. “Violet, ready to test it?” “Yep.” She started the engine, then cranked up the speakers. The sound was loud enough to shake the windows out front. She quickly shut it off. “Holy shit.” Rhett heard Alaina over the radio, “that can probably be heard for miles.” “Good, we’ll be in touch, gonna make a plan of action.” “Sounds good.” Hunter handled the plotting, the gist was Rhett was to take the truck around to the east side, very slowly, then shut the speakers off, and get the fuck out of there. “So you’ll take the eastbound lanes here, which’ll be the wrong direction, but we verified it was clear last week.” “Alright.” “Guys, I just have one request, can I ride with Rhett?” Violet asked softly, “I can troubleshoot any issues that arise.” *Well she doesnt really have a reason to stay,* “Fine by me.” Hunter relayed the plan to Alaina, then walked to him, passing the walkie. “Rose wanted to speak with you privately.” He smiled. Rhett took the walkie to one of the little offices off of the main warehouse. “Ava?” “Rhett Michael Kane, if you dont get back here after, I am hunting you down.” He smiled, “Yes ma’am. I’ll have a good long range walkie on me, so we will be in touch.” “Good.” ___ Once Violet and Rhett had verified Hunter made it back to camp, Violet flipped on the speakers. They rattled her brain, though both wore her and Rhett wore ear plugs. They were to travel at the speed of the horde, which ended up being 5 miles an hour. At that rate, getting to the east side alone would take 3 hours. Every few minutes they cut the speakers, “Going to be a long ass trip.” Rhett commented. “Luckily the return trip is only like 20 minutes. Less if you're speeding.” “Y’know, i had an idea,” Rhett said, turning off the speakers again. “What if we left a generator running something the slackjaws could hear from the other side of Athens?” Violet thought for a moment, “It would have to be ridiculously loud, normal speakers can only go like 2 miles. And that's if we are lucky.” Rhett didnt say anything for a moment, then responded, “Civil war air raid sirens?” “That's genius.” Rhett took the nearest exit to watkinsville, heading for the municipal buildings. That was the nearest place to find such powerful equipment. *Why didn't I think of that. I know the war happened before I was born, but still.* Violet thought, cursing herself. *It’s because you’re an idiot.* Johns voice said in her head, *Useless woman.* Violet shook her head as Rhett and her got to work on the sirens. They ended up breaking in, retrieving what looked like replacements. They didn’t use them on the drive, rather would leave them and a generator near Athens Technical College. So the pair continued at 5 miles an hour, creeping along. The road looked largely undisturbed since Cody had last scouted. That was two weeks ago but nothing was out of the ordinary. The eastbound lanes were largely clear, westbound as congested as can be. The group hadn't been this far raiding the cars, but they'd have to sacrifice that for the heard behind them. They also hadn't raided the northern loop yet. “It's hard to believe so many people tried to go to atlanta.” Violet commented. “Well it was a ton of college aged kids.” “That's actually fair. If the construction wasn't so bad on the east side, they may have had a chance.” “It’s a shame,” Rhett said after a short pause. Now that Athens Tech was in site, Rhett kept the speakers off and drove forward, ahead of the heard by a mile. “How long do we have?” Rhett asked. “12 minutes.” “Shit.” Rhett said, leaving the engine on, opening his door. The door slammed into a slackjaw, crushing its head. Violet pulled the ramp out of the truck, Rhett immediately pulling the generator out. It was a small thing, enough gas to run for at least a day. They’d stolen it from the emergency station, along with the 4 sirens. They didnt need four, but Violet wasn't sure how long each would run continuously. She wired them each in order, that way when one failed, the next would sound. “Get some ear protection.” Violet stated, “We will need it.” Yeah?” “140 decibels.” “Sheesh.” Rhett said, walking over to the truck. Violet her growling behind her, *ugh.* She pulled a knife from her belt, plunging it into the Slackjaw. She heard a crack, *odd,* but did it again, breaking through the skull. Violet looked at the end of her blade, *chipped?* “Hey, you good?” Rhett asked, handing her some shooting earmuffs. “Knife chipped in this skackjaw skull.” “That's fuckin weird.” “Yeah I know. Anyways, we’ll need earplugs too.” Rhett produced them from his pocket. Violet prepared the sirens for the last time. Rhett cranked up the generator. Violet gestured for him to go to the truck, she flipped on the sirens, bolting for the truck. The sound was still incredibly loud, even with the earplugs under the earmuffs. But it seemed to work as Rhett and Violet drove on the northern part of the loop, westbound in the eastbound lanes. Slackjaws from all over were bee-lining for the siren. They removed the ear protection a few miles away, and Violet flicked on the walkie. “Violet to Base.” “Hey this is Alaina.” “Hey, y’all hear it?” “Sure do. Genius.” “The sirens were Rhett’s call.” “Like i said, g-” The signal cut off abruptly. “Violet to base?” No reply. “What the fuck?” The truck began to slow, “Power’s dead.” Rhett stated, Violet then felt the entire car slow as if being pulled. *What in hell?* The last thing Violet saw before passing out, was a group of young people swarming the truck. [[06 Abduction]]