Daniel crouched behind the car, holding his breath as he reached for the katana strapped to his back. He pulled slowly, hearing the comforting sound of the blade being unsheathed. He slowly exhaled as the sound of an unsteady foot crunching against gravel resonated throughout the driveway. He waited until he saw the toe of the foot appear around the edge of the car before stepping out and swiping the katana straight across the throat of the trespasser. He stared in awe as the corpse dropped to the ground, blood running down the shallow slope the car sat on. He looked at the katana, covered with a thin line of blood, the rest of it draining out of the man on the ground.
''Fuck, am I glad I bought you on eBay.'' He breathed out as he kicked the nearly decapitated zombie beneath him for good measure.
He glanced around the neighbourhood, grimacing at the sight of Mrs Barnsley. The old woman was staring at him from across the street in her garden, hand clutching her heart as she hid from the commotion behind the fence. Daniel hesitantly waved at her, and she promptly fainted, dropping to the ground from her knees. Daniel made to take a step to cross the road when his vision was suddenly filled with a man twice his size standing in front of him. He jerked back and held his katana up, only to stop when the man chuckled.
''Relax, kid. I'm not a corpse.'' he gestured to the zombie laying on the floor. ''But you know, slitting their throat ain't gonna do anything. You gotta really finish the job off.'' he smiled before suddenly pulling a gun from a jacket holster and shooting every appendage possible on the zombie, focusing on the chest.
The empty clips clinked as they hit the ground in the newly found silence, and in the background, Daniel could make out the figure of Mrs Barnsley fainting once more, just as she managed to pull her head above the fence.
The man turned to him. ''You're special, kid. I ain't seen no one take on a zombie 'round these parts who managed to live to tell the tale.'' He nodded, seeming to scrutinize the teenager before him. ''Yep, you're coming with me.''
He grabbed Daniel's arm and started to pull him out of the drive way and towards an older car model a little way down the street.
''Wait, who the hell are you? And- what about Mrs Barnsley?'' Daniel exclaimed, trying to shrug the man off.
The man let him go but kept walking, expecting the teenager to follow him.
''I'm the guy that's gonna train you. Now get in the car if you wanna find a way to live in this world. Don't worry about the old lady, kid. The rest of the corpse's in this neibourhood are dead. For now. The one you almost popped off was the last one. Trust me. It's my job. Now get in the damn car.''
He yanked the driver's door open and sat in front of the wheel, starting the engine. It rumbled quietly as Daniel looked back at his blood stained driveway, sighing. He looked down at his katana before he gave an almost imperceptible nod. He lifted his arm and re-sheathed the katana before opening the passenger door and stepping in.
As soon as the door closed, he heard a discernible click before the cold metal of a gun was pressed into the side of his head.
''Rule number one: don't get in a car with someone who ain't told you their name, where you're goin', what the hell is going on, or why the hell they have a gun. You got that, kid?'' the man asked in a casual tone, his eyes not leaving the road outside.
Daniel glanced at the gun pressing into his head, and pursed his lips. ''Fine, what's your name, where are we going, what the hell is going on and would you mind telling me why the fuck there is a gun pressed to my head?'' he asked, sarcasm lacing his tone.
The man smirked, not taking his eyes ''Not bad, kid. I think I like you.'' He pulled the car away from the curb and started to drive, not taking his eyes off the road, or the gun away from his head. ''One; my names Fletch, you don't got cause to know my real name. Two; we're going wherever there's trouble. Three; if you've been watchin' the news, you'll be brainwashed into thinking this is some sort of minor disease caught from foreign produce. That ain't what's goin' down. You either accept you're smack bang in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, or you die. Simple as that. And lastly; why I've got a gun pressed to your head?'' he chuckled. ''Well, lets just say you've passed the test.'' He flicked the safety back on and re-holstered the gun.
''Now, lets go find some corpses to kill.''
2 years later.
''Shoot the motherfucker!'' Dan heard Fletch yell as he rolled under the abomination towering above him.
He tossed the empty rifle away and pulled two handguns out, aiming for the head before pulling the trigger. Blood exploded from it's neck and head as it fell to the ground. He turned to his right and shot once, twice, killing the couple of corpses on their way over to him. He caught the extra clips Fletch threw at him and reloaded, turning and obliterating the crowd of corpses in front of him. He laughed as the double decker bus behind him exploded, causing a wall of hot air to pass over him, and a fireball to rise into the sky.
''Fletch, that bus didn't even have any corpses in it.'' He shook his head.
Fletch stepped onto the bonnet of the car he was standing on and sat down. ''Who's in charge of the grenades? I am, kid. Deal with it.''
''Well I'm in charge of shooting the fuck out of corpses, so would you like to come and help?'' he yelled above the sound of the newly acquired rifle in his hands.
Fletch glanced at the street covered in lifeless corpses and shrugged. ''I think you pretty much got that covered, kid.''
Daniel sighed as he reloaded, the groaning of the corpses still moving being ignored. ''I think I want a new katana.''
''Last time we broke into a weapons store, you left me outside and about a hundred corpses walked around the corner.'' He raised his eyebrows and paused as Daniel sprayed bullets into the groaning zombies making their way towards them, before continuing. ''That wasn't funny.''
''I thought your intention was always to ''go wherever the trouble is''. Daniel looked over at him as he kicked one of the slightly moving zombies in the head, snapping its neck.
Fletch paused. ''You remember that speech?''
Daniel scoffed. ''Of course I remember it. You were holding a fucking gun to my head.''
Fletch made a face. ''Standard procedure.''
Daniel chuckled. ''Whatever. Now, are we going to get my new katana or not?'' he asked, impatient.
Fletch sighed and stood up, jumping on the ground and pulling open the drivers door of the old car. ''Fine, but you can deal with any of the corpses on your own'' he said as he sat down in front of the wheel.
''No can do. It's you and me versus the world, Fletch. The two musketeers, the golden duo. Whatever you want to call it. We're partners.'' He clapped him on the shoulder as he sat beside him in the car.
Fletch paused and stared over at him, frowning. ''You're a real special kind of special, you know that, right?''
''Are you calling me crazy or stupid?'' he asked.
Fletch shrugged. ''Bit of both.''
''Then yes, I'm special. Now hurry the hell up, I want my new katana.''
Finito.
