Marcus pushed his few remaining men onwards quickly through the rusted iron gate. Its hinges erupted in a distinct high pitched squeal, resounding off the towering brick walls of the narrow ally way. Like nails on a chalk board, its pitch sent shivers down to the tip of his already stress ridden spine. Bulbous bags hung loosely and rigid lines brought on by nearly six months of constant overexertion and anxiety stretched from the corners of his youthful raven eyes. Marcus was only twenty yet he had seen more revulsion and despair than any victim of the fourteenth century Bubonic Plague outbreak in Europe. Their band had once consisted of twelve people, a dozen well trained, mentally prepared and physically fit individuals, all united under the common banner of survival. Now only three remained and as the gate shrieked open and let out its shrill whine, those three men collectively prayed that they would remain undetected.
"Close it, quickly." Marcus whispered back to Richard who was bringing up the rear. His sole job now was to constantly cover their asses as they moved through the suburban wasteland. Another sharp screech echoed off the walls and flooded out into the streets which happened to be the home of two men unburdened by death. Bums in their previous life, they now spent their new existence in very much the same way. Lazing in heaps of garbage or in store front windows they would remain motionless until disturbed. ( It is still uncertain as to exactly how the undead hunt however based upon many case studies evidence points to the use of two out of the five senses a reanimated body possesses: sight and hearing, smell has still yet to be ruled conclusively in either direction. ) The rusted gates hair standing tone quickly reached the ears of the duo and easily rustled them into action, within moments they were both standing awkwardly on unsteady legs. It was clear that these two men had been turned during the initial wave, though they wore filth laden and tattered rags one could still make out the taut, pallid skin stretched tightly across their faces like bleached leather. Their flesh was a preternatural gray, arid cracked and hidden beneath faded thin wiry beards. Nearly skeletons by now only their bellies bulged, filled to the brim with human flesh and entrails. One wore a ratty old Tampa Bay cap atop its head which covered lanky patches of hair that stretched nearly half way down its back and tousled in an October breeze. Steadily the pair drew closer to the closed gate and the alley way Marcus and his men had entered only to find nothing, leaving the vagrants to moan profoundly at one another before turning and strolling off. One clumsily missed its footing as it stepped down off the curb and landed face first with a heavy thud on the concrete road, it would lay there until disturbed again. Its reaction time was far too slow for any real prevention of the fall although it was quick enough to hold up both hands, an action that would firmly snap both wrists from the impact. The other, capped zombie, found himself a nice blood soaked patch of sidewalk to slouch on until food passed his way once again.
"Too close..." Marcus turned to his men as they crouched behind a mammoth sage trash can lined up against the brick wall. Each wore a book bag upon their backs and one carried a large duffle bag. Richard, the one with the sack, would wait where he was as Marcus and the other armed man snuck in through the back door of a hopefully yet to be looted drug store. The plan was that both men would go in first to clear the building and bring Richard in only after it was secure. Chase rose with his leader and approached the heavy metal door that separated them from their supplies. The men quickly glanced around, checking both ends of the alley making sure it was completely empty and zombie free. Marcus nodded, giving Chase the go ahead. He twisted, bringing his sculpted arms back before swiftly driving the wrecking bar he wielded between the door and its frame.
Previous to the outbreak Chase had been a sophomore in college, a rather timid and reserved personality type. Now he was a survivor, like everyone else, forced to fight or flee for dear life, although he wasn't sure just how dear it was anymore. His days of lectures and exams were long gone, and as far as he knew they would never return. With a grunt and a nearly colossal display of might Chase had managed to pry the door open. Inside the sound of the weakened lock popping and clattering to the floor could be heard by all three men. Chase and Marcus carefully slipped in the back door, their knuckles white as they gripped their weapons. They entered the building slowly staying low and quiet as the caliginous room enveloped the two, the only light able to make its way past the thick concrete walls was that which flooded through the open doorway. Dust fluttered wildly in the air, illuminated by the encroaching sunlight as a deathly silence seemed to cling in the air yet was overwhelmed still by the stifling stench of rotten flesh, a vulgar odor once know can never be forgotten. Marcus crept into an ambush position alongside the entryway adjacent to the back door, only a few long flaps of dangling plastic covered the opening. The thought of how easy it would be for a zombie to literally just stumble in on their little raiding party was something the leader could not shake. This left Chase to clear the rest of the L shaped back room, he rounded the corner and lurked into the darkness ever so slowly with both hands gripping his wrecking bar and holding it up ready to empale a would be attacker with the sharpened wedge at the bottom.
A loud clamor erupted from behind Chase as he heard Marcus' voice ring out in pain and frustration. "Fuck!" The student spun and dashed towards his leader, eager to see what was taking place. He turned the corner and was caught of guard by what was unfolding just before him. The large black man held a corpse by its throat and had it pinned against the wall, his massive arms repeatedly brought the metal wrench down on the already severely crushed and caved in skull. The still open back door acted as a flood light, allowing both onlookers to witness a horrible scene which had become all too familiar in times such as these. Pink chunks of brain splattered to the floor along with fragments of bone and teeth, the time between each blow delivered to its face began to stretch out longer and longer until the barrage finally ceased. He released the decaying body of the store clerk as it crumpled to the ground in an ungodly mess. Marcus stood silent for a moment, breathing heavily and staring at his work while his men gazed in bewilderment. Richard stood in the doorway and gave a worried glance to Chase before looking back at his boss.
"Jesus... you alright man?" Chase's voice broke the silence but went unanswered. Marcus continued to glare at the sickening heap of bones and withered flesh before his feet. "Sir?" he spoke once again and took a few steps closer to Marcus. "You finally loose it?" he forced a chuckle and continued to approach until he was within arms reach of Marcus who abruptly collapsed. His legs gave out under his own body weight forcing Chase to drop his weapon and rush to catch him. Richard frantically grabbed at the roll of gauze in their first aid pouch and wrapped it tightly around the blood spritzing bight wound in his jugular. Marcus' sable face was chalk pale and his eyes blankly starred off into space, a languid expression painted itself across the man's grief stricken face.
With out warning what felt like a punching bag landed on Chase's side and sent him tumbling to the tiled floor. A cadaverous hand tenaciously clenched at his forearm and dragged itself on top of the student's legs. Chase stretched for his knife that he, like an idiot, had dropped only moments ago. The weight of the dead body was enough to keep it's victim pinned, and before he was able to roll it off of himself or break free from its tight grasp Chase felt the amber teeth of his assailant clamp down tightly on his right hand. An agonizing crunch could be heard as all four fingers and the tip of his thumb were removed and quickly devoured by the attacking ghoul. Richard darted for the wrecking bar and instinctively drove the steel weapon through its eye. Before she had turned, Richard's attacker might very well have been an eight out ten, however now she was nothing more than a gruesome and disturbing reminder of what awaited them all.
"Goddamn it!" Chase shouted as he clutched at the bloody stumps he used to call fingers. "That little bitch!" he gave her corpse a hard kick to the ribs as she laid motionless next to Marcus, the two were locked in a deathly staring contest, each incapable of loosing.
"Here, let me see it." Richard pulled out the second and final roll of gauze but Chase was too delirious to pay him any attention. "I said fucking let me see it!" he grabbed the student by the wrist and quickly went to work as the thick sanguine syrup pulsed from Chase's wounds.
"Bullshit, this is fucking bullshit. Not like this man, I don't want to be one of them!" tears rolled down both cheeks as he began to loose emotional control, "I cant believe that bitch fucking bite me! Fuck that bitch man, fuck her Richard. FUCK YOU CUNT!" he screamed down at her and saw that one of his fingers still protruded from her blood drenched mouth.
They were making too much noise, by now every Zombie within a block knew something was up and had managed to belch out attention grabbing moans. "Oh shit, we got to go Chase, come on." Richard hastily shoved as many cans of beans and water bottles into his duffle bag as he could while Chase sat on the floor, hunched over and tightly squeezing his hand. The bandage had turned a crimson hue from the blood which continued to flow. "Whats the point... Im damned, its over for me man. In a few hours im going to be one." Chase motioned with his head to the three dead bodies in the room with them. He continued to sit motionless, watching in horror as Marcus slowly rose to face the opposite wall. "Richard..." By now though Richard was long gone, having made his escape unimpeded by the open rear door.
The deceased body of his once good friend sluggishly rose up and pulled itself into a squatting posture, as it moved air was forced from its lungs and filled the room with a nerve pricking groan. "...holly shit..." Chase whispered to himself in disbelief and stood to his feet, still tightly clutching at his injury he too made a mad dash for the exit and earned Marcus' attention in the process. Another moan made its way past his pallid lips before Marcus uncoordinatedly stumbled after his first meal.
Outside Chase's pupils dilated in the blinding October sunlight which greeted him with little warmth or comfort. His face was already flush from such a massive loss of blood, the poor boy always was a bit squeamish. The student felt increasingly light headed as he too began to stumble and misplace his footsteps before crashing to the ground with a heavy thump. Quickly he glanced around down the back of the alley and then towards the iron gate, hoping that Richard would come back for him, however his eyes were met with a much different scene.
Richard had opened the gate, too quickly and incautiously, an action which spelled his certain death. As the metal bars squeaked open he soon found himself caught off guard by the snuffed vagrants who inhabited the street. In a heart beat their decrepid teeth were ripping hunks of flesh from his face and arms as he desperately tried to fight them off with his bag. Chase laid on his belly powerless to help his friend while he silently cried to himself. Thick coats of blood spattered the aged brick wall Richard's back was forced against. His horrendous screams and pleas were abruptly ended as the capped zombie ripped the voice box from his throat and greedily swallowed it down his own gullet. Reduced to a pile of quivering flesh and gore Richard's bloody body slouched while his consumers were all to eager to devour his pink flesh.
Marcus meandered into the alley in an almost robotic fashion as the virus took total control of his frontal lobe. His body was now under its command, and it had but one purpose: to feed. Once sable eyes were now a bleach white as they locked onto the collapsed body near the back door. In an instant the heavy corpse had thrown itself onto Chases' back and buried its deplorable teeth deep into the tissue of his neck. The skin stretched and snapped under the pressure of the bite allowing the rest of Chases' already depleted blood to flow freely. His surroundings began to darken as tunnel vision set in, and though he fought valiantly just to keep his eyes open, Chase could not stop his life from ending.