Fuck Atlanta. Fuck Atlanta and fuck the heat-She thought, roaming the streets of the once people-crowded city. –Yeah, and fuck the damn dead too.
Their guts were splashed all over her clothes, and even her long brown hair was dripping with their blood, making her nauseated, but invisible amongst them. It was the only way to go into the city, to scavenge for what was left of food and supplies here and there.
One shot. Two
She lost the count after the first five, almost trampled to death by the corpses who lost their shit in the frenzy of pursuing the sound.
Fuck.
Who was the asshole that was firing shots in the middle of the city?
Advancing cautiously, not two blocks away, she saw him. A cop was shooting a handgun, clearly about to be overpowered by the waves of stinking corpses.
-"Why do I have to be such a nice person?" She whispered, pulling a flare gun out of her pocket. The flare flew across the street and distracted some of the dead, giving her a chance to grab one of the rifles from her back, and blow the heads of the undead nearest to the cop, clearing a path for him, as he climbed on top of an abandoned tank in the middle of the street.
The flare had lured some of the dead away, but they were coming back, fast, and she barely made it to the top of the tank before it was overrun. The cop stared in awe, not expecting to see another human in the middle of the mayhem, let alone one covered in bloody remains.
-Are you stupid? She asked pulling him violently into the tank- or just insane?
The hatch sealed above their heads, and a mixture of fear and bewilderment appeared in his blue eyes.
What? Who are you? Why are you covered in guts?
It was my cover. They don't smell you; they don't attack you. For people that used to have brains, they're pretty dumb. Not that it matters now. They aren't leaving any time soon.
So why did you help me? Out there, with the guns, you shot them.
"I have a soft spot for humans. Living ones at least. I'm stupid like that. You checked that guy yet?" She asked the man, signaling the body of a soldier that lied on the floor of the tank, aiming the loaded rifle to the soldier's head
"He's dead"- he answered after looking for a pulse on his neck.
As if the touch had reanimated him, the soldier opened his clouded eyes, and started growling, trying desperately to bite the man in front of him.
"See, that's the problem… they don't stay dead" She laughed, pulling the trigger one more time. The soldier fell to the ground again.
The cop sat on the floor, his back to the wall –" I didn't expect there would be so many in the city- He said, running his hands through his hair-They said there was a refuge."
Her hazel eyes were halfway between dubious and surprised-"Dude, Atlanta fell a long time ago, where have you been living? Aren't you a cop?"
"I was in the hospital. I woke up to this…the dead…- he gestured to the corpse- I ran into a man who said Atlanta might have a safe place… I'm just looking for my wife and son."
His voice was deep and carried a thick southern drawl, and underneath it all, he sounded hopeful. She felt sorry for him. But false hope was the last thing anyone needed right now, and even though she regretted it the second she said it, the words still came out of her mouth-
"Yeah well, chances are they're dead. Most people are these days." He winced, as if she'd touched a nerve, and she noticed. So she continued "But that isn't our biggest problem. Problem is you panicked and fire shots and now we're surrounded."
"There must be something here that can help us out"- he said, rummaging through the tank. He found a grenade under the dead soldier.
"Can we use this?" -He showed his discovery to the girl- "like you did before with the flare… to distract them."
"Nope. There's too many of them now. And unless you can throw like a baseball pro, it won't drive them more than a couple of yards away. And then the noise will bring even more of them."
-"I have a bag of guns… it fell on the middle of the street. If we could go get it... you can shoot some of the dead to make way… you have silencers, that's got to help…"
"Hey if it's in the middle of the street, is as good as gone. I don't have the ammo to clear the way, and even if I did, the army has not the ammo for killing this herd. Didn't the tank tipped you off on that? Besides, where would we go?"
"Why do you have assault rifles by the way? Or silencers for that matter"
"My das was a gun freak. Also, he liked to hunt. So he had every gun imaginable, and he taught us to use them…"
The static of a radio startled them and what sounded like a human voice came out of it.
The cop grabbed the radio and turned the volume up –"Hey"- the voice said, now clearer – "hey, you alive in there?"
"Hello… hello"
"There you are. You had me wondering"
"Where are you? Can you see us right now?"
"Yeah I can see you, you're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news"
"Yeah you don't say," she said looking at the cop
"There's good news?"
"No"
"That was helpful," She muttered sarcastically as the cop gave her an annoyed look "What? It's true" she defended herself
"Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you, we are a little concerned in here"
"Oh man you should see it from over here; you guys would be having a major freak-out right now." The man on the radio answered lightheartedly
"Got any advice for us?" the cop grunted at the man on the other side of the radio
"Yes. I'd say, make a run for it"
"That's it? Make a run for it?"
"It's not as dumb as it sounds. You've got eyes in the outside here, she's got guns. There's one big slob on the tank, but the others have climbed down and are in a feeding frenzy where the horse went down. You with me so far?"
"So far"
"Ok, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded, if you move now that they're distracted, you stand a chance. You guys have any ammo?"
The cop looked at her and she nodded "Yeah, I've got ammo. Not too much though, that's why I came to the city. I was trying to find more"
He went back to the radio "She's got some. I had in the duffel bag I dropped out there. And guns. Can we get to it?"
"Forget the bag ok? Is not an option. What do you have on you?"
"Hang on"
He passed the radio to the girl next to him and looked for his gun. The clip was full.
"With ammo? A shotgun, an M16 and two guns, each with about 3-5 rounds left… He's got a berretta with one clip. 15 rounds "
"Ok. Make them count. Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction, there's an alley up the street, maybe 50 yards. Be there"
The cop looked to his companion, trying to find reassurance
"You up for this?" he asked her
She shrugged her shoulders and exhaling deeply, she answered
"We don't have much of a choice. Let's give it a shot"
She gave one of the shotguns on her shoulder to the cop.
"Hey… wait. If we die… well, I'm Alex." She stretched out her hand to him. He shook it back and said-"Rick."
They made their way out of the tank, and started clearing a path, running towards the back exit of a building, as indicated by the guy on the radio, shooting as many corpses as possible, but it was nearly impossible to stop to catch a breath.
The metal gate opened violently, startling bot the cop and the girl, and behind the gate a young Asian man screeched – "Not dead! Not dead! Come on! Come on!" He was fast, and Alex could barely keep up wit the both of them. Before the end of the alley there was a bright yellow fire escape, which they all started climbing franticly, escaping from the raging herd of zombies that was starting to pile up at the base.
Once they were out of immediate danger, the Asian guy talked, barely catching his breath "Nice moves there Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff? Riding in to clean up the town?" And you-He said looking at Alex- are you insane?
"It wasn't my intention" the cop answered, short of breath himself.
"Yeah and in my defense-Alex said- I probably am insane"
"Well, whatever, you're still dumbasses" the boy retorted
"I'm Rick- he said- and this is Alex. Thank you" he extended a hand out to the boy
"Glenn" he said, shaking both their hands. "You're welcome"
"And now what?" Alex asked Glenn
"Now we climb"- he said, looking up the staircase, and then to the bottom of the street, now flooding with corpses- "Look at the bright side. The fall is what will kill us". A slight smirk ran through his lips- "as you see, I am a glass half full kind of guy"
"Yeah you don't say" She muttered, swallowing hard. Heights were not her favorite thing.
A few minutes later, they were all in the upper floors of the building.
"Did you barricade the alley?" rick asked
"Somebody did. I guess when the city got overrun. Whoever did it was thinking not many geeks could get through"
"Geeks?" Alex intervened
"Yeah. The dead. That's what we call them." Glenn kept running, guiding them somewhere. Alex wasn't very sure to trust him, but she decided she had no solid reason to doubt him. He had helped them after all.
"Not much of a name. –She told him- "I prefer corpses. Or dead assholes… a more accurate description"
Glenn laughed lightly and whispered, "You're probably right."
As they continued their way into the building, something wandered Rick's thoughts and he asked blatantly- "Back at the tank, why'd you stick your neck out for us? He glanced briefly at Alex.
"Call it naïve foolish hope, that if I am ever that far up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me. Guess I am an ever bigger dumbass than you two"
"Is not a guess -Alex laughed- but thank you"
They followed Glenn through a gate in the floor, and started going down again. Glenn took out an old radio and started talking to someone.
"I am back, I have guests. There's four geeks in the alley"
As soon as he finished his sentence, Alex's gun was already aiming for the nearest corpse. But Glenn grabbed her shoulder and stopped her. "Wait. We'll need that ammo later. Don't waste it on this. Just wait"
Two people came out of a side door on the opposite side of the alley, heads covered and sporting baseball bats. They quickly disposed of the geeks in the alley as Alex and the other two went inside the building.
Once everyone was inside, the welcome party was less polite than Alex assumed
A blond chick threw herself to Rick and pointed a gun at him. She was clearly upset, her words agitated and urgent
"son of a bitch we ought to kill you! We're dead! We're all dead"
The people inside the room were all trying to calm her down, to no result. She was bent on making a scene, and her trembling hand kept the gun an inch from Rick's face.
"Chill out Andrea, back off" a guy said, frightened by the sight of the disturbed woman holding the gun
A short haired woman that stood in the back took a chance – "come on, ease up"
"Ease up? You're kidding me right? We're all dead because of this stupid asshole"
"I'd be more wary of whom I call an asshole. This is no way to greet new people blondie" Alex's voice pierced the air in the room, as loud and clear as the click of the gun she had pointed to Andrea's head.
Everyone were dead silent, and Andrea's determination wavered, as did her hand.
"Drop the gun. Now."
Andrea was borderline crying and she was surely a minute from falling apart, but she didn't move.
"Wanna shoot him? It'll be the last thing you do. I swear. I'm running out of patience here. So drop the fucking gun. Now!" Alex's voice was way more intimidating than anyone in the room expected, and Andrea finally gave in. Her sobbing intensified, and she finally lowered the gun.