"HUNTER!" screamed Bill in his scratchy voice, spitting out his last cigarette. It pounced toward Zoey, but Francis ran in front of her and blew its face off with his shotgun.
"You OK, Zoey?" He asked, glancing back with a look of worry before wrecking a few more zombies.
"Yeah, thanks, Francis!" She said, out of breath. She reloaded her dual pistols and shot what used to be an army troop a few times in the chest. She felt hot, sticky goo slop onto the back of her neck.
"SHI-!" She began to say, shooting rapidly at the Boomer. It exploded just far enough as to not soak her in its bile.
The sound of the Horde rang in their eardrums as they fled for the safe-house. She tripped as she ran and was overrun be the soulless freaks, dropping her guns in panic. She screamed as they ripped at her skin and clothes, shoving each other out of the way. She heard the sound of multiple guns being fired and was yanked out of the way. She limped over to the spot she had tripped and retrieved her pistols. She walked, with difficulty, into the safe-house and fell on the floor, bleeding out.
She regained consciousness to the sound of Francis waking her up.
"Zoey! Your alive!" said Louis.
"Guys, I think I'm hurt really bad! "She groaned.
"Here, fix 'er up, Francis!" Bill handed him his medpack, and then started looking around for a box of cigarettes.
Francis sat her up and removed her ripped jacket. Her once-blue tank top was stained red and getting darker. He started to patch her up, and she began breathing heavily. Her vision was clouding and her heart lurched as Francis wound gauze around her ribs. She began to slow down her breathing, and the field dressing Francis had given her was stopping her wounds from gushing. The other two had set up shelves with sleeping bags to allow them to get some rest. Francis hoisted up Zoey and placed her gently on her shelf.
"When should we leave? Certainly not tomorrow based on Zoey's condition!" asked Louis.
The three made their decision as Zoey, again, lost consciousness.
"Shit," whispered Francis as he examined Zoey the next morning. Zoey groaned as she repositioned herself. She looked into Francis' eyes; they were full of worry, something she'd never seen in the rock hard, ex-biker before.
"Just leave me here, I'd rather die like this then become food for those monstrous things outside."
"No." replied Francis sternly. He began to replace the blood soaked bandages he'd put on her before, with fresh ones.
"I'm gonna die, Francis, it can't be helped." she said, her voice cracking from strain. She coughed wearily and then continued watching Francis.
"I won't let that happen," he said. He kicked open the door and walked through, slamming it closed. The muffled sound of bullets ripping through rotten flesh was heard through the door. He walked inside, grabbed an Oozi, and left again without a word. He walked through to the other door, dripping zombie blood and mowed down the zombies on the other side of the bank they were camping in.
When Francis came inside, he was dripping water from washing the blood off himself. He dried off and sat next to Zoey again.
Bill stared at Francis curiously and then looked at Louis,
"Wanna go see how many zombies Francis just mutilated?" he asked. Louis chuckled and the two walked outside.
Zoey turned her head to see Francis with his head in his hands. She tapped him gently with her shoe and he looked up. She was shocked to see a tear run down his face.
"F-Francis?" she said, he shoved aside a box of tax letters and stood above Zoey.
"I can't let you die..." he said. He took her hand and squeezed it. He sat down and watched her, holding her hand in his hands. They locked eyes and Zoey began to sit back up. Francis stood up kissed her, pushing her down. Zoey, caught by surprise, took a second to react. She brought her hands up and held behind his head.
Louis peered through the small window in the safe-house door. His eyes widened when he saw Francis leaning over Zoey.
"Whoa, I didn't expect THAT!" he whispered to Bill.
"Move outta the way, twerp!" he said, chuckling, pushing him away.
Zoey's hands dropped and Francis released. Zoey was breathing harder. Bill and Louis walked in and noticed what was happening. Zoey was paling from loss of blood, and her wounds were no longer bleeding. She began to panic, but was too weak to move.
"Guys, help, I don't want to die!" she croaked. Francis looked at the other two, not knowing how they'd react. He sat her up and held her. She closed her eyes and clenched his vest weakly. Tears streamed silently down her face.
"Zoey..." began Francis. She barely opened her clouding eyes and fixed them on him. Her head went limp and her hands unclenched.
"Zoey, no, Zoey!" he stared into her lifeless eyes and held her body close to him. He rocked her as tears streamed down his face.
"Zoey..."
-3 Days Later-
The three raced into Mercy hospital and took to the stairs. Francis reduced a zombie's empty skull to bits and pieces, each time muttering;
"That ones for Zoey."
Bill, Louis, and Francis had taken the rest of the day to mourn for her. Francis had placed Zoey in her sleeping bag and wrote her name above her on the wall.
The three survivors raced down a hallway, heading towards the elevator that would take them to the roof.
"Zoey?" He called anxiously. The other two stared at him, confused.
"I swear I heard Zoey!"
"You're crazy." said Louis. He glared at Louis and then turned back to the elevators. They ran off to the elevator and pressed the highest number available.
They stopped at an unfinished floor below the roof. A ladder shone among the unfinished rooms not too far away. The four raced to the ladder, blowing zombies out of the way as they struggled to get to the roof.
"NOOOOOO!" Cried Louis, a smoker tongue wrapped around his waist. Bill wedged his gun between Lewis and the tongue, and pulled out. The smoker dropped Louis and Bill shot it down.
"If this was a video game, I'd T-Bag it." muttered Louis. They scrambled up the ladder and got to the roof.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" said a voice interrupted by static. They talked to the guy on the radio for a minute, and the helicopter slowly chopped its way to the helipad. Bill looked over to the left and his eyes widened.
"TANK!" he yelled and they ran like hell. The chopper hovered alongside the building, waiting as the three ran towards it. They ran and shot as they got closer to the helicopter. They dove into the copter.
"GO!" yelled Francis. The chopper zoomed away with the tank throwing itself off the building.
"We made it, I can't believe we made it!" announced Louis. Bill glared at him.
"I wonder where we're going," asked Bill.
"Mackinac Island, MI" said the pilot.
"Works for me," yawned Bill.
"You should catch up on some sleep; we have a long way to go from New York to Michigan."
When they woke up, Francis turned and saw Zoey staring at him affectionately.
"Zoey?"He whispered urgently.
Louis stared at him with a look of pity, Francis growled at him and looked back at Zoey, but she had disappeared.
They must have fallen asleep because the next thing they knew, the pilot was telling them to wake up. He picked himself up off the hard floor and the three took their first steps into one of the few zombie-free places on earth. They were offered housing and they met the few people that had survived long enough to be rescued and brought here. They all received housing in the same old hotel. And it seemed quite pristine and new as it would have pre-apocalypse.
Francis asked for a two room, no questions asked, and stepped into his new home. Francis placed his guns in a spare closet and sat down on his bed. He looked across the room and saw the door to his adjoining room. He opened the door and walked in. He opened the closet and took out a hanger. He opened his duffel bag that he had found at Mercy, and pulled out a ripped pink hoodie. He pressed it against his face and noticed it smelled faintly of its original owner, Zoey. He hung up her hoodie in the closet and placed her pistols in a bedside drawer.
A faint image of Zoey walked up behind him, and looked around at his shrine to her. Francis turned around and saw her. She walked toward the closet with her hoodie and stepped inside, closing it.
"Can somebody get me outta here?" called a familiar voice. Francis slowly walked towards the closet and opened it carefully. In front of him stood a completely solid Zoey, covered in blood and wearing her ripped hoodie that she pulled off the hanger.
"Francis!" she cried, raced towards him, and clung to him.
Francis looked down at Zoey and kissed her.
"I love you, Zoey."