Aspen watched in horror, a zombie lunged at her from behind, due to the noise she turned, both hands gripping the handle of the bat tightly, and swung with all her upper body strength, putting a dent in the zombie's skull, she looked around wildly, Bean was nowhere in sight, Aspen then quickly spun around, where a zombie managed to get a hand on her shoulder, she swung sideways, and managed to knock the zombie over, she then beat on its chest, repeatedly with her baseball bat; until it was unmoving.
Lilac shook her head. “I can handle it. Thank you though,” she smiled a little, still holding Mori. Her arm looked like it was bleeding, as one section of her hoodie was darker than the rest. Bean rushed over to Aspen and hugged her from behind. “I’m so sorry I left you….I…I was just so focused on keeping my siblings safe…” she whispered. Luka was still carrying Kas as he hid behind a large rock. “Okay…I think we’ll be okay here for a tiny bit…”
Aspen turned around, her eyes blazing with fury "don't apologize, keep everyone safe." She said through gritted teeth, her hip stung wildly, but she kept her grip on the handle of her baseball bat, she looked at Bean, and her expression softened for a couple seconds, she loosened her grip for a couple seconds, before a zombie rustled up beside her, and she swung at its legs, hearing a faint crack, she hit the zombie right in the chest, and it stopped moving she turned back to Bean "don't focus on me, focus on everyone." She said, her voice shaking.
Kas knelt behind the rock, docking another arrow into his bow as he peered over the top of it. He pulled back the string and shot another zombie, grumbling in frustration as it only hit its shoulder. Mori gripped Lilac more tightly, his breathing erratic and shallow.
Lilac went behind a tree as she held Mori close. She winced in pain at her scratched arm. Bean stabbed a zombie with a crowbar, taking its head off. She turned to face Aspen. “I’m not leaving you here,” she whispered. Luka looked around for signs of any more danger. “I don’t see anything else….” he muttered, looking back at Kas.
Aspen sighed giving a single nod, she swung as zombies approached, she looked at Bean and winked "whatever you say m'lady" she said slyly.
Bean blushed as she smacked several zombies with her crowbar. She dodged each of their attacks the best she could and looked at Aspen. “Be careful,” she told her, getting back up.
Aspen grabbed Beans hand, helping her up "you too" she said to Bean, as she pressed her back against the other girls.
Kas climbed over the rock to shoot another zombie, managing to hit it in the head this time. The zombies were closing in, but he didn't seem to notice, just shooting every one that he could see. One jumped on him from behind and scratched him, but he managed to elbow it hard in the head before it could bite him.
After both girls got rid of the zombies surrounding them, Bean grabbed Aspen’s hand and rushed to the tree where Lilac and Mori were hiding. “There!” she yelled. Luka gasped. “Kas!” he looked at the other boy before attacking a couple zombies.
Aspen stayed surrounding the others, to make sure they were safe, she felt good, she could take her anger out by swinging her bat, so she did. She swung until she could swing no more.
Kas grimaced as he quickly made his way over to where Luka was, blood seeping through his clothes down his arm. "W-We need to get moving." He insisted through gritted teeth.
Aspen looked at Kas and nodded "do you need help, getting Kas up?" she asked worryingly "I think there's and abandoned hospital somewhere around here, maybe we could go there?" she suggested.
Luka held onto Kas, worried sick about him. He sighed. “W-We can try…” he muttered. Seems that confidence from earlier was starting to fade a little. Bean put her hand on her own shoulder, as it was a little sore. “Hey, we’re gonna be okay. We just need to get past this,” she told them and Luka nodded. Lilac was still holding Mori close as she tried to hide her pain from the kid.
"We'll be fine… they didn't bite me. Jus'… jus' a scratch… nngh…" Kas closed his eyes, starting to sway a bit. "If we're going somewhere, we need to get going as soon as we can, yeah? God…" He hissed through his teeth in pain, his legs shaking violently.
Rachel put an arm around Kas, grim determination the only thing on her face.
"Can you walk any further?" She asked.
She was exhausted, even with the mostly peaceful nights of rest she had gotten. This constant attempting to help people with what medical practices she knew. Not as much as she liked to say she did.
Earl looked behind him, torn between helping Tohru and Lis or protecting the group.
"Dammit." He muttered, unholstering his Beretta.
"I'm coming!" He started running to them, squeezing off a few shots at the zombies, hitting one in the leg.
Luka nodded in agreement. “You should get some rest when we reach the hospital, okay? You don’t look too good…” he told him as Bean nodded in agreement. “Plus, we don’t want you getting even more hurt so when we do go, Luka should carry you,” Bean said, crossing her arms slightly.
Kas glanced up at her and then back to Luka, biting his lip a bit as he considered his words. Of course he couldn't really continue walking. He'd slow the group down. But making someone carry him was almost as much of a burden. However, being carried meant he probably wouldn't die. Even if it was a minor inconvenience to carry him, it was less of an inconvenience than him dying. "I'm… uh… not sure I can walk…" He replied stiffly after a few seconds.
Aspen sighed and hitched an arm around Kas' shoulder and helping him up "alright, we should get going." She said quietly.
Luka nodded in understanding. “Alright, we’ll help you,” he told Kas as he picked him up. His sister nodded in agreement. Bean looked around as she watched the group’s backs. Lilac looked down at Mori, wincing. “Y-You okay, kiddo?” she asked, trying to hold back the pain.
Kas sighed softly, reluctantly allowing Luka to carry him. He kept his hand on his injured arm to slow the bleeding somewhat. Mori kept his face buried, not wanting to see whatever had happened around him. He didn't reply, only holding tighter to Lilac.
Luka held Kas close as he stood up. Lilac saw her brother and shakingly dragged herself and Mori over to them. Bean rushed to Lilac. “Sis, what happened?! Are either of you hurt?!” the older girl checked her sister over for any injuries. When she saw the darker purple section of hoodie on Lilac’s arm, she pulled the sleeve up. Lilac had received a pretty deep scratch from the tree. She then checked Mori over before Lilac stopped her. “H-He’s fine…j-just shaken up,” Lilac winced.
Aspen helped Kas walk, keeping her bat in her empty hand.
Tohru stopped finally, getting down on one knee to give himself a moment of rest. His arms, neck, and face stung from the scratches, and he was a bloody mess, but fine.
While he was down, he grabbed some bandages from his bag. He got back to his feet, walked with the others, and started working, untucking one arm from the hoodie to better expose the wounds and wrapping it tightly. He moved onto the other, then loosely wrapped the last bit around his neck. His face was still bleeding, all from a neat cut that reached from under his left eye, across his cheek, and to the top of his lip. He wiped at it with his sleeve, but this just made more of a mess.
Everyone was relatively okay, though. He kept to himself, feeling disconnected from the situation at present. At least they didn't need him. Not right now.
Lis jogged to catch up with everyone else again.
"Gods… how can I help you guys out? That was… what even happened? It looked like they could see us well, even in broad daylight!"
“You can help patch Kas and Lilac up,” Bean told Lis, trying to keep Lilac steady as the younger girl carried Mori. Luka nodded in agreement. “They both got scratched on the arm but one was from a zombie and the other from the tree,” he added.
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