Tom's POV
"The elite are being sent out in squads to investigate that explosion." I told Gunther who sat across from me.

Gunther was silent. Either deep in thought or acknowledging my statement without speaking.

"You okay, buddy?"

He nodded. "Yeah. But Derek is being sent out with them. And I've got a bad feeling."

Matt's Pov
"She's really gone." I frowned.

"I'm sorry about your mom." Jessica laid her hand on my shoulder.

"It's fine. I just...wish things could be different." I wiped the tears from my eyes. I'd been crying all night. And thinking about it would only make me start crying again.

"That thing yesterday smashed most of the building. We have to go."

I nodded. "I know. But we don't know who did it." I stared at the destroyed wall of the room. One of many destroyed rooms. "We can't leave until we find the traitor."

"I guess." She shrugged. "Everyone else left. They won't wait for us too long. They'll re-elect a new leader if we take too long." She frowned.

"Yeah. I wish Zeke and Hannah were here." I sighed and looked up at the grey sky.

"Zeke. How did you guys first meet anyway?"

"Well, it's a weird story." I chuckled.

6 Years Prior
"Leave me alone." I frowned at all of the boys in front of me. I'd been so caught up in my own thoughts that I hadn't heard them approach. 9 years old. Just recently moved here. And already in some forms of trouble. None of these boys looked nice.

A blond boy walked out from the middle of these boys. "Yo. The name's Zeke. Washington. I saw you sitting by yourself and I got curious."

I simply stared at him.

"Not much of a talker, monkey?"

I think it might have been what that comment implied, but my usual calm thinking faded. My blood was boilind and I wanted to punch this jerk's lights out.

"What's the matter? Choking? Can't breathe? Just like your ance-".

I leaped up from my sitting position and smashed my fist right into this asshole's big mouth. He stumbled a bit. "SAY THAT AGAIN!" I yelled and shoved him into the dirt, kicking at his sides. Growling. Sweating. Feeling the sunlight against my face. Racism. Seriously? That actually made me kinda sad. Eventually, my blows grew weaker. Less focused and rapid. "Ass." I breathed out.

All of the other boys were staring at me with a somewhat fearful expression.

And then all of a sudden, bloody and bruised, Zeke stood up and began laughing. Cackling. "Man. YOU REALLY ARE NUTS!" He snorted. "I've always wanted a brother, and I think you're the perfect guy."

I blinked slowly at Zeke. From the looks the other kids were giving him, I'm pretty sure they all agreed with me. This guy was crazy.

Present Day
"And that was our first time meeting." I shook my head. "Zeke always was strange. But he was popular and funny. Everyone liked him."

"Uh huh." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. "I hope you live good in the afterlife." She stabbed me in my stomach.

I coughed up blood. "Jess...what? Why?" I covered my mouth and fell over.

"You and your mom stood in my way. Marywood has a new queen coming. It's a shame you attacked me and I retaliated in self defense."

"I loved you with all of my heart and you stab me IN THE BACK?" I bared my teeth.

"Technically, I stabbed you in the stomach. But see you around. Nice story too." She waved and left the room, leaving me to bleed out. I pulled the knife out from my stomach and groaned in pain.

Cody's Pov
Number One sighed as he faced our group. "I am so disappointed. I really expected better from all of you. Don't you guys know my rule? MY NUMBER ONE RULE? Pun intended but jeez. What is my rule?" He walked and brought Zeke out from the black truck, tied up like the rest of us.

I strained against the clowns holding me down against the ground. "Freaking psychos."

Number One swung his aluminum bat into the ground in front of my face. "Wrong answer, Cody. The correct answer is'Don't fuck with me'. Next time you speak without permission, this bat's gonna hit your face instead of the ground."

I heard Nathan whimper as he heard him say that. I could feel myself beginning to sweat. Nathan didn't have much good in his life. I was one of the few good things he had. If he lost me, I don't wanna imagine what he'd do.

Number One glanced at Amy. "Ms. Washington, I can't even begin to convey how betrayed I am. I didn't kill your other daughter. And how was I re-payed for my generosity? Well, Charlie killed three of my clowns. And that my friend, is not funny. I'm a clown. I love funny. So you can't imagine how pissed I am."

I glanced around at the rest of the group silently. What was this twisted clown gonna do?

Number One let out a small laugh. "So, for every clown life you took, I will beat and kill someone from your group. And because you took three clown lives, I need three lucky people to become my victims." He walked around the group in a circle. "Of course, I'm not gonna allow you to choose who I pick. Whether you like them or hate them, these three are still going to die." He placed his bat in front of Nathan's face. "Children will also be included in this equation."

Nathan nervously gulped but then stared up at the clown silently.

Number One reached out with his hand and stroked Nathan's hair. "There's a fire in your eyes that I like. You look scared, but there's something else I see in there." I clenched my teeth as he slowly stood up and walked around. "Eeeny." He held the bat in front of Amy. "Meeny." He held the bat in front of Nathan. "Miney." He held the bat in front of Sophia. "Moe." He stopped in front of me with the bat pointed at my face.

Nathan's eyes widened. He reached out towards me, looking as lost as a newcomer in a foreign country. I gave him the best smile I could, but on the inside I was drowning in fear.

Number One shook his head at me. "Sorry. You seem like a nice kid. But.....no exceptions." He lifted the bat high above his head and swung it down on mine.

Amy's Pov
I felt myself shaking as the baseball bat smashed into Cody's head. Nathan let out a shriek and screamed out for Cody. Tears that had been in his eyes flowed out rapidly. Cody lifted his head groggily. Blood dripped from his head and ran down his face towards his chin. He sputtered and coughed and one of his teeth flew out from his mouth. And his right eye was swollen and red.

Number One let out a loud laugh. "Damn. I'd be a great baseball player. They should call me bat-man. Number One, warrior of Gotham's little league. Not because I'm a kid or anything stupid like that. Nah. The kids are the balls." He giggled.

Nathan's face was a blend of emotions. There was sadness, anger, confusion, and he still looked lost. He looked Cody in the eyes and his lip trembled. He let out a whimper.

Cody lifted his head higher and looked at Nathan. He opened his mouth. "Na......th....a....n". He paused and then opened his mouth to say more.

Number One smashed the bat into Cody's head again. More teeth and blood flew from his mouth. "Cody, I already told you." He lifted the bat and hit him for the third time. At this point, Cody's face was a bloody mess. "DON'T SPEAK WITHOUT PERMISSION!" He hit Cody's face about nine more times. Cody's head was a massive mixture of blood and pieces of brain at this point.

I gasped and felt like I was breathing with a large rock stuck in my throat. I couldn't even speak. Even if Number One gave me permission to speak, I likely wouldn't have been able to.

Number One lifted the bloody bat upwards and hit the remains of Cody's head one more time. "I'd say he's got a good head on his shoulders, but that's clearly a lie." He chuckled and walked over to me. "The greatest torment must be knowing how sad and broke you look in front of your group. That false sense of confidence you had earlier is gone." He wiped some of Cody's blood on my cheek using the bat and I shivered.

The other clowns let go of Cody's body when they saw that Number One was done.

Number One let out a yell. "WHO'S NEXT?" He ran over to Ed and swung his bat into his skull. "YOU ARE!" He cheered as blood flew from Ed's mouth.

Lucas opened his mouth to scream. He let out a massive yell and began crying.

Number One smashed the bat down across his mouth before Ed could say anything like Cody had. "Peace and quiet is so great. But screams of pain and agony are better." He repeatedly bashed Ed's head in until it was mostly blood and brains, just like Cody's had been.

Number One shook the brains and some blood off from the bat. "Second kill was even better than the first one. Let's see if our third victim can prove to be the best."

I stared blankly at the ground. This man was even worse than the monsters. He was on Hitler level. No. He was worse. He was even willing to kill children. Why? To teach us a lesson? To have fun? I was sweating heavily and my breaths were quick and frequent. Why did someone like him exist? How could he be alive, and one of my own daughters isn't? That's not fair. Why is this world so cruel? I looked back up for his final victim.

Number One then walked over to Zeke. "No games for you." He kicked him in the face and there was a loud cracking sound. Teeth and blood flew from his mouth.

I felt my eye twitch. Zeke. Zeke. NO! I clutched my head and began to tremble.

Number One leaned down and licked the blood off of Zeke's face. "Goodnight, Zeke. You got away from me last time, but your luck has run out. Just like my patience." He walked behind Zeke and place both hands on the sides of Zeke's neck.

Zeke glanced at me and Charlie. Poor Charlie. He was crying his eyes out. Biting his lip to keep from crying out. He gave us both a thumbs up.

And then Number One twisted his neck harshly to one side, and quickly to the other. Snapping it and ending his life. My vision quickly became far too blurry with tears. Tears of sadness, and rage.

"That was fun. Hope you all learned your lesson." Number One smiled. "Next time you mess with me, I'll kill everyone." He let go of Zeke's neck and watched him fall to the floor. "See you all later." He waved and jumped back into the drivers seat of the truck as his clowns followed suit, getting into the back of the truck and pulling the doors.

One clown moved his mask up and winked at Nathan. "Daddy's back." He smiled. "Shame about Cody." He pulled the doors closed.

Number One let out a loud cackle as he drove off. "See you kids later!"

I blinked slowly. Would he kill Layla now? I felt sick to my stomach as my thoughts swirled around in my head.

"That bastard left us tied up." Maxine frowned.

"That's not all. Listen." Charlotte said. Her voice low and angry.

I shifted my ears out to listen. At first there was silence. But then I heard it. Intense groaning. There was only one thing that groaned in eternal hunger like that. Zombies. Number One and whatever caused that explosion had made more than enough noise. It had likely attracted thousands of them. And now there was a giant burning hole in our only safe haven. And our hands and feet were tied up. "That fucking bastard!" I growled. We'd lost. He'd left us no escape options and a slow painful death by undead freaks. We all let out a collective sigh as we waited for our impending doom.

Author's Note: I felt sad writing this chapter. It was kinda depressing because I really liked Cody. He was the hardest character I killed in this chapter actually. I sympathized with him. He had a crush on someone who never knew and didn't exactly like him back(Alex FYI if you couldn't tell). He was quiet and chill and was an overall nice person. But in times like these, the nice people go first. R.I.P. Cody Doman. You were a good boy and a fun character to write about. I wonder what will happen to Nathan now.