Reunited (Somewhat)

Greg and Guillermo had been resting in the forest for a while, till they heard multiple gunshots and what sounded like vehicles driving away. "Something's going on, do you hear that?" Guillermo gasped.

"Yeah, let's take a look," Greg said. They go to the edge of the forest, and, to their amazement, find people. "Wow, I didn't expect to find any survivors," Greg said. Although, he spoke a little too early, because said people started firing at a jeep driving away from them. All that was heard was high pitched screaming and laughing.

"We should follow that jeep," Guillermo said.

"Why, for all we know, they could be as crazy as those people over there," Greg pointed out.

"Okay, one, would someone that crazy be driving away from those people?" Guillermo said. "Two, that's her jeep." Guillermo ran to the people shooting at the jeep, until Greg ran and tackled him before he made any major distance.

"Don't run towards them, you idiot!" Greg whispered angrily. "You wanna get us killed?"

They stayed on the ground for a while, hearing bullets fly and maniacal laughter. This goes on for about ten minutes, and then another engine starts up. The sound of the laughter slowly faded, till there was nothing more than the sound of fire. Greg and Guillermo got up, and they looked over to where the jeep drove off to.

"We have to follow that jeep," Guillermo said.

"Yeah, okay, where did it go, I wonder?" Greg asked facetiously.

"Oh, about four miles away," Guillermo answered. Greg looked confused.

"Where are you getting four miles from?" Greg asked.

"Look around, Greg, what does this look like?" Guillermo pointed out. Greg looks around, only to see burnt buildings and a highway that rose over the road. He couldn't make out what it was, until he took a closer look at the highway. He couldn't believe it, it was I-75. He knew that highway like the back of his hand. He drove on it a lot, usually to meet up with family.

"You're right, she went down four miles," Greg said. They looked around to see if there were any vehicles functioning, or that didn't look like it exploded. Nothing.

"What do we do now?" Guillermo asked.

"I think there's only one thing left to do," Greg answered. He started walking.

"Greg, are you nuts?" Guillermo asked.

"Probably," Greg said.

"We can't walk all the way down there!" Guillermo exclaimed.

"You got a better idea?!" Greg asked. Guillermo wanted to speak, all the ideas he had were better. At this moment though, all he could think of was teleporting, or flying, things like that. And, as much as Greg wished they had that kind of technology, they both knew it was stupid to even think that. Guillermo started following Greg, and they pulled out their guns. They were in for a long stroll.

Back in the darker parts of Florida, a group of people, if you can even call them that anymore, were having a huge feast. Their leader, though, he was busy roasting something on a spit.

"My liege," someone said.

"How many times have I told you, this isn't Robin Hood, call me Master," the other said.

"Well, Master, we couldn't catch the bitch," the person said.

"What about the chopper?" Master asked.

"We took it down, we couldn't see any survivors," he said.

"You didn't bother to check?" Master asked.

"We shot it with an RPG, who's able to survive that?" The person laughed nervously. "Master?" He asked. He was silent. He took a pistol out, and aimed it at the person. The sound of the gun firing echoed through his ears, as the man's life ended.

"Make some burgers with his flesh," Master said. He walked out to the others, they were still munching on skin and bone. "Tomorrow, we find the bastards responsible for taking our weapons and food," Master spoke loudly. "But, tonight, we dine on the flesh of our enemies!!" Everyone screamed. "And the idiot of the pack." They laughed.

Back in New Port Richey, Greg and Guillermo had made it to the plaza where Trinity hospital was, only the windows were broken and the building itself had been in flames for a while. All they could see were scorch marks all over the building. They marched past it, into the parking lot where the publix was.

"None of this makes sense," Greg whispered to himself. They entered the store, amazed at the condition it was in, especially after a nuclear blast. It looked like it hadn't been touched. "If Russia wanted to attack us, why just the southeast?" Greg asked. "And why Florida in particular?" Greg couldn't put his finger on it. Guillermo, on the other hand, wasn't concerned about the missile strike on Florida. All he could think about was his fiancee.

"She's still alive," he thought. "She has to be." That was all he could think. It consumed his mind. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know.

Those thoughts were soon set aside after they heard a clatter on the far left side of the store. Their heads snapped toward the direction it came from, and they jogged silently. They came close to it, only a few feet on their right. Greg halted, and hid behind the counter before turning. Guillermo followed him and stood behind him.

"On my signal, we move," Greg said. He waved his hand, and jumped to the side. They pointed their firearms in front of them, and couldn't believe their eyes. In front of them was a tall blonde, a few inches under Greg and Guillermo, built like a model. In Guillermo's mind, she looked like the kind of girl who you would want to take home to meet your family. Although that's not what he was thinking at the moment, but, I'm not gonna dig into his brain. Oh, and the reason he thought that, it's pretty obvious.

"Star, you're alive!!" He shouted with joy. It was his fiancee.

"Guillermo!!" She screamed. They ran towards each other, and their lips locked. It was beautiful, a happy reunion, even Greg couldn't help cracking a smile. Greg looked toward the other girl with her, a brunette, she wore glasses and had braces. Yet, somehow, that still made her attractive. He knew who it was, mostly from her sass back in high school.

"Madison," Greg gasped.

"Holy crap, if it isn't agent Adler," she said. They laughed.

"I'd love to catch back up, but, now's not the time, do you have a vehicle?" Greg asked.

"Right outside, we just finished grabbing more food," Star said.

"Then let's get outta here, where are you staying?" Guillermo asked.

"At my house, it's close and has a lot of locks on it," Madison said. They ran out and jumped into the car that Star had gotten. It was too banged up to tell what it was, but, it still ran, which was the important thing. They drove back to Madison's house. Greg had only been there a few times, same with Guillermo. They arrived at her house, went in, and locked up everything.

"How much ammunition do you have?" Greg asked.

"Very little, rifle and pistol mostly," Star said.

"Damn, I've only got four mags on me," Greg said.

"Shit, I've only got two," Guillermo gasped.

"That's not important now, we just need to rest," Star said.

A few hours passed, Guillermo and Madison were asleep. Greg was up, sitting in a chair, depressed. He didn't know what to think. Sure, his best friend was reunited with the love of his life, they found their friends, he should be happy. But, he couldn't get his mind off of his girlfriend, who was missing.

"I miss you," Greg said.

"Greg, you okay?" Someone asked. He looked behind him, it was Star.

"Star, I need some closure," Greg said. "On what?" Star asked.

"Alicia, is she alright?" Greg asked with tears in his eyes. Star looked outside for a minute, she knew what happened to her, but didn't know whether to tell the truth or lie.

"Come with me, Greg," she said as she walked towards the garage. Greg followed her, not knowing what to expect. They went into the garage, and what Greg saw was traumatic, his mind went all over the place. He didn't want to believe it, but, the truth laid there, pale, cold, and lifeless. "Dear god," he said. In front of him, was the corpse of his girlfriend. "How long has she been dead?" Greg asked. "By the looks of it, twelve hours, Rigor Mortis already set in," Star said. Greg stood by the body, he wanted to kiss her, but, he wasn't going to.

"I want to bury her," Greg said. He grabbed the body, Star grabbed a shovel, and they went outside. The digging of the hole felt like it took forever, maybe because none of them wanted to do this. Burying someone you love, it breaks you in more ways than one. You feel like you could've stopped them from dying. You feel like dying alongside them. But, most of all, you feel like it should've been you going into the hole, not them. That's exactly how Greg felt right now. "I'm so sorry, Alicia," Greg cried. He dropped her in the hole, and filled it back up. Tears rolled down his eyes with every single shovel motion. After it was over, they went back inside. Greg was overwhelmed with sorrow, at that moment, he wanted to die. It didn't matter what else happened, at that moment, all he wanted to do was put a bullet into his skull. Then, he thought of Guillermo, Star, and Madison. They were his best friends, and only family now. His parents were murdered when he was ten, so, he lived with his friends at a young age. He could never forget that day. "It's been seven years," Greg said. "First them, now Alicia." Greg looked over at Star, she sat on the couch. He looked at the room where Guillermo and Madison slumbered. "I can't leave them behind," Greg thought. He sat with Star, and sighed.

"At least we found each other again," Greg smiled.

"Yeah, we missed you both," Star said. They drifted off to sleep. After a long, long day, they needed it.

"Nobody deserves to go through what I went through," Greg thought.