Rains of Heaven & Sprouts of Hell: by Nick Venom (ereader android .TXT) 📕

seconds. 

Once she was gone, Raife and the others stared at Franklin. “Good luck,” Chloe told him with a large grin on her face. Raife and Selena echoed similar sentiments. Franklin glared at them before walking into the hotel. He headed up to the fifth floor where their squad was stationed. The others followed him, all laughing at his expense, except for Raife. He was busy thinking about Amber’s words. Somebody’s joining our team? Why? We’re not the best scavenger team out here, so why? Is it because the others are filled or… is this person different from others? Let’s hope that they aren’t. I’m already stressed out as it is. Well, everything will be answered in the morning, so let’s get some sleep.

TBC…

Episode Four 'Mae Vega"

The next morning arrived faster than they wanted it to. They rose from their beds, getting dressed and brushing their teeth with what toothpaste they had, before exiting their rooms. They went to the eighth floor, which was a large open space where Amber was waiting for them. She waved them over to her before pointing at several wooden chairs in front of her. Madelyn was already waiting for them, sitting on one of the chairs towards the back of the pack. She glanced up at them, taking her attention off her book for a split second before going back to her book.

The others sat down next to Madelyn or in front of her. Once they all sat down, Amber began speaking. “Today, your squad will be getting its sixth member. Because of that, you guys get an upgrade.”

“We get a van?” Franklin asked with glints in his eyes.

“No. The upgrade will be that somebody gets to sit in the trunk of the car with the supplies.” She said with a grin. 

Franklin raised both eyebrows at her. “How is that an upgrade? Aren’t we supposed to upgrade what we have, not be downgraded?”

“Oh, you’re right.” She started. “Franklin, you get upgraded to the trunk.”

Franklin furrowed his eyebrows before shaking his head. “I was sitting in the passenger seat, how is the trunk an upgrade? Why can’t we get a van or something bigger than the jeep?” He asked. 

She shook her head “Because you were one candy bar short of your quota.” She remarked with a smirk. Franklin let out a sigh, thinking to himself. Why did I say anything yesterday? She’s going to hang this over my head for the next week or so. He glanced up at Amber who stared at him with a larger smirk. He shook his head again, looking away, biting his tongue. He didn’t want to run another fifty laps. 

Amber cleared her throat before continuing. “Welcome your sixth member, Mae Vega.” She said, pointing her arm towards a door behind them - the door to the bathroom. The door cracked open as a pale-skinned woman seeped out. The woman was dressed in green camouflage armor and had on thick black bracelets that went from her wrist down to her shoulder. Her hair was ocean-blue and her eyes were hazel colored, making her appear as an ocean deity. Both Raife and Franklin were smitten at the first sight of the woman - Selena and Chloe swiftly bonked them on their heads with their fists to knock them back into reality.

The squad watched as the woman awkwardly walked over to Amber, standing by her side with an uncomfortable stance. The woman looked down at her feet as Amber spoke. “She will get her armor in two weeks' time, so you won’t be going out until then. Even so, you won’t be getting any time to laze around.”

“We’ve been pretty constant with our quotas, yet we get no free time? That’s pretty unfair!” Franklin declared. He was, however, shot down by a single glare from Amber.

“Fifty laps.”

“What?”

“Sixty laps.”

“Wait, that’s not cool,” Franklin said as he shot out of his chair. 

“Seventy laps.”

“I’m going, already!” He exclaimed as he sprinted to the door and ran out of the room. He didn’t want to hear her extend the number of laps by anymore. Meanwhile, in the open room, Amber smirked as she heard the sound of boots sprinting on marble flooring. “Well… you get a half-hour to converse but, after that, you will be divided up and completing different tasks. Is that clear?” 

“Yes, ma’am!” Everybody except Mae shouted simultaneously. Mae whispered it, faint enough for it to be overwhelmed by the shouting. 

“That’s all for me. Don’t ostracize your newest member today.” She started as she walked over to the door - which had been left open by Franklin. “Eighty laps,” She whispered as she stared at the door. She then turned around to face everybody in the room, standing in the doorframe. “Thank you all for the resources you’ve gotten. You’ve been doing extremely well, Squad Romeo-Alpha-Sierra. Very well.”

 

TBC…

Episode Five "Human"

“I can’t believe we’ve been dumped on guard duty,” Franklin muttered, standing on the top of the fences. “Why couldn’t we get a more exciting one like the others? Three of them on training and the other shuttling people around? How could I not be jealous?”

“Shut up, Franklin,” Chloe said, standing some distance to his side. They both were armed with assault rifles, holding them tightly in case of an attack. “Be happy you aren’t on janitor duty.”

Franklin nodded. “True. I don’t ever want to see those stained toilets again.”

“Yeah, the men’s toilet is even worse.” She responded, glancing at him with a smile.

He smiled back before looking away. “What… What are you doing after this?”

“Sleeping… Why? You have something planned?” She teased him.

Franklin bit his lip. She’s teasing me… why couldn’t she accept my feelings already? I’m being torn apart. He thought to himself. However, he kept his thoughts hidden under a smile. “Nothing… much.”

Chloe nodded, grinning devilishly to herself. “Oh, you weren’t planning anything?” She said, poking at him figuratively.

Franklin shook his head. “No… Anyways, have you seen any roamers yet or will it be a dry day?”

“Another dry day, most likely.” She said. “It’s been dry ever since the Attack squads went out. They haven’t left us anything.”

“Maybe we should switch from Scavenge to Attack. We wouldn’t be stuck here doing guard duty if we were with the Attacks.”

Chloe looked at him strangely. “You do realize that they don’t have the easiest lives, right? They undergo strict training and they venture too far to return for the nights. They sleep out there with the threat of death looming over them. You’ve heard of those older Attack squads being decimated by stampedes, right?”

“I know. I’ve heard those stories. Hell, I grew up with those stories. Still… I’ve always wondered if the Attack squads would’ve been a better place for me. You know? Maybe my talents would work better there.”

Chloe nodded. “I… I thought about that before, but for the Defense squads. However, I’m firm in my decision now. I feel like I belong here, because of everybody around me. Everybody, including you, has helped me grow in this squad.” She said. “I know that our situations aren’t the same, but… before you make your decision, think about what would be the best for you. Even if that means leaving the squad, as long as you’re happier. And who knows? You may come crawling back to us.”

Franklin grinned. “I’ll probably come back… but not crawling. I don’t have much, but my dignity is still intact.”

“Show me that then.” She joked.

“Ha! I will-”

“Roamers in sight - stragglers!” A guard farther down the fence exclaimed. He pointed the barrel of the assault rifle at the roamer as others followed. Franklin and Chloe joined in a few seconds after them, all eyes now focused on the stragglers. They waited for the order to dispatch the roamers. 

Chloe stared at the stragglers, noticing something weird. The stragglers trudged towards them, none of them holding anything except for a female roamer. The female roamer carried a dead baby in her arms, cradling her. She looked up at the fence, staring at the guards with consumed eyes. Her right ankle was broken, causing her to limp towards them. Every step threatened to throw the baby out of her grasp, but, somehow, she held onto the child. 

“Fire!” A guard shouted. A volley of bullets charged towards the stragglers, ripping into them. They were all killed within seconds, leaving a clump of bodies on the ground.

“W-Why?” Chloe muttered. “The roamer had a child? She was holding it like a normal baby? She… seemed special.”

Franklin heard her, shaking his head. “Roamers are roamers. Undead monsters. They’re not human anymore… Maybe they still have aspects of their lost humanity, but they’re now nothing more than killing machines.”

Chloe nodded, her gaze focused on the fully dead female roamer. “But why? They could still be human… but trapped in their new forms. Why?”

 

TBC…

Episode Six "He Was Everything To Me"

“We’ve been assigned as trainers, so we got an easy day,” Raife remarked.

“Don’t forget we have the future on our shoulders,” Selena said. She glanced behind her at Mae as she followed them, not speaking a word and staring intensely at the ground. 

Raife nodded as he walked into the training grounds. “You’re right. The ‘future’ of Winter Hollow.” He said as he approached the middle of the training grounds where the recruits they were training waited for them. “Good morning, recruits.” He started. The recruits, four teenagers, looked up at him. “I am Raife Sartori, one of your teachers. This is-”

“Selena Whittle,” Selena said, taking a step forward.

“And behind us is your third teacher,” He started, glancing at Mae. 

She stepped forward, introducing herself. “I-I am M-Mae Vega.” She said, bowing her head, before retreating behind Raife and Selena.

“Okay, now that introductions are over. Let’s start training with some simple questions. The first one is