Chapter 8 – Haley
Everything was fuzzy and swirling. Nothing seemed familiar or real. The only thing I could think about was where I was.
“Oh, so they are all awake now” a voice boomed over the intercom that was in the top corner of the room. “Good morning Mrs. Taylor, how are you faring from your nap?” the voice continued. The voice sounded familiar, thought I couldn’t put my finger on it. The only thing I could think about was where I could be and how to get out. I looked around, but the only things to be found were 4 white walls, a white floor & ceiling, fluorescent lights above, and the intercom in the corner.
“What’s happening?” I managed to croak out.
“What’s happening is your little group has provided us with food for months, we would be fools to pass it up.” I then realized the voice talking to me over the intercom was the voice of Harold Lunsford. I should’ve known better, every group that is overly genuine are either stupid, or bandits. One thing was for sure now, I had to get out of here and help my friends……assuming they were still alive. I used what Jeremy had taught me about seemingly closed rooms; there is always a door. I put my hands to the wall and held my face about 2 millimeters from it. I started to slide along the smooth, cold wall trying to find anything resembling a door. I noticed a very thin line that looked out of place, if it weren’t for me being so close I wouldn’t have caught it. It was so thin that I couldn’t even feel it. I checked my pockets to see if anything was left. Sure enough, the only thing they didn’t take was the one thing I needed. An eraser cap that was actually a camouflaged grenade. Ryan was in the military during the outbreak and used his status to get us some fancy toys to defend ourselves. This thing would explode 5 seconds after a pencil is put into it with the force of an actual military grade grenade. I stuck my pinkie finger in and heard a microscopic “click”. Hurriedly, I stuck it into the thin crevice and dove to the back of the room. A huge boom shook the room as the door was blown off the wall and into the next room. I brushed off the dust and plaster on me and rushed out the door. Before I even got 2 feet into the next room I was met with a fist. I fell backward and landed on the half-destroyed door. Mr. Lunsford was now standing above me.
“Oh it’s going to be delightful eating the meat from you, Haley” he taunted “So much fire, spice, adrenaline; just how I……….” he was interrupted by his daughter walking in.
“THAT’S what we’re doing to these people?” she screamed “EATING them? You told me we were examining them for diseases, and I thought holding them like this was wrong THEN!” She had so much fire in her eyes, so much passion to do what was right. She reminded me of Jeremy in a way.
“Dear daughter” Lunsford chimed “we need food to survive, what happens when the food we have runs out?”
“Then we find more, we don’t act as if we are one of the infected!” She yelled back.
“Naïve child, not everything in this world is picture perfect as you would want it to be, things change and we must adapt. We must fend for ourselves and not live in some juvenile fantasy!” Lunsford was starting to raise his voice.
“But father, this is not right!” she screamed, clutching her father’s arm. He then shoved her aside and she fell to the ground. He didn’t hesitate that he just knocked his daughter to the ground; he immediately turned back to me. I hopped back up to my feet and stood in a combat stance. He tried to rush me, but I rolled out of the way, sending him sprawling into the prison chamber. I looked over at the control console for the room and saw a button labeled “Emergency Lockdown”. I didn’t know what it would do, but I hoped it was useful. I pressed it and watched solid iron bars drop down from the top of the room’s doorway. Lunsford lunged to beat the bars before they reached the ground, but just as he reached the doorway he was kicked in the face and forced back into the room. He sprawled backwards and landed on his back just as the bars reached the floor. I was stunned to see Ashley standing next to the bars, my only explanation was that she was probably finished with taking her father’s punishment.
“I’m sorry he did this to you and your friends” she muttered as she walked closer to me. “Here, this will help you rescue your friends, just insert it into the card slot of every cell and they will open.” She told me, handing me her security keycard. We turned toward the prison cell and shook her head. When she turned to walk away I blurted
“Come with me.” She turned back to me in shock as if I had just yelled at her.
“You want me to come with you?” she asked, obviously confused.
“It’s the least I can do for what you have done for my group, and I promise we eat real food, not people.” She smiled and gave me a hug.
“Thank you” she whispered “I would like a real family.” It had only just occurred to me that maybe the violence from her father happened more frequently than was let on. I felt bad for her, and so I felt no regret inviting her into the group. We then turned and walked down the corridor to find my friends. She knew this place inside and out. The place was huge, but she never got lost. We went to each cell and got each of my friends out. They were all obviously shocked to see me, but they were even more shocked to see Ashley helping us. Part of the group was a little against the new addition, however, one of the strongest supporters of Ashley’s addition was Jeremy.
“She was obviously brainwashed by her father, she really means well.” He argued. “How do you know she’s not just staging it Jeremy?” Weir argued back.
“Because I know her type, I used to be just like her.” Jeremy responded. Everyone looked puzzled. As Ashley led us out of the facility, Jeremy explained his ordeal that was similar to hers. “When I was a kid, I got involved in a really bad crowd, like a gang crowd. Basically the only reason I did so was because my mom was on drugs and basically was an utter bitch that wanted me dead and made my life hell. I had a longing for an actual family, much like Ashley. Trust me guys, I can see it in her eyes. All she wants is a family.” Jeremy’s speech touched everyone; they all ended up dropping their resentments and apologized. Ashley forgave them, and thanked Jeremy for defending her.
“I’ve never had anyone stand up for me like that before, thank you.” She sounded so sincere, as if she’s never had anyone talk even remotely nice to her in her life. We certainly had a lot to learn about his girl. Ashley led us out of the underground fortress and back into the gas station. I almost forgot that there were more goons than just Ashley’s father. Her brother and 3 other guys still remained browsing the gas station.
“I wonder when Harold’s going to call us down for dinner, I’m starved.” One of them complained.
“Just shut up and stock idiot”, replied another. They were stocking the shelves with goods they got from the RV. Ashley walked out from behind the counter we were hiding behind.
“Hey guys, my dad said dinner’s ready! Ribs, steak and roast!” She exclaimed. All of the goons dropped what they were doing and rushed to the door to the underground fortress. The entire group worked together to push the band of goons down the stairs as they rushed passed us. Ashley ran up and locked the door from the outside. “They won’t be bothering us anymore.” She bragged, clapping the dust off her hands. The group then started gathering the goods from the gas station and returned them to the RV. We all piled into the RV, Jeremy taking the wheel once again, and drove away vowing never to return to this godforsaken place again.