By the skin of your teeth

Welcome to my latest fic before we begin a few notes

1.I know nothing about American Law Enforcement so any mistakes I apologise in advance

2.This is a nameless town I made up so don't bother telling me it doesn't exist

3.I know nothing about Firearm Laws (Except British ones which is why this is set in the US)

4.I know some things about guns but my knowledge is limited so apologies again

5.I do not own Dawn of the dead in any way shape or form if I did I would have made Andy a survivor he rocks!

6.I know my grammar is shocking so please don't point it out

With that out the way I'll just say please Read and Review I'd like to know if this is any good before I put up any more chapters thanks in advance

Silverback

Chapter 1: The Day My Dead Grandfather Saved My Life

Bill was on his way home it was late about 8 o'clock he was taking the bus because John his normal ride had called in sick. Bill particularly hated taking the Bus because he always got stuck next to someone with bad BO but today was an exception the Bus was virtually empty save One Student at the back who was nursing a nasty bite on his Forearm his stop came soon enough and he thanked the driver as he got out. He took a slow amble to his home he thought about stopping into the Bar on his way home but decided against it because he knew he'd spend more money than he had as usual.

As he approached his House he pulled the key out of his pocket he saw someone in his neighbour's garden they looked to be having a seizure.

"Fucking Junkies"

He muttered as he walked by he had no sympathy for drug abusers as far as he was concerned they made there bed and now they had to lie in it. As he opened the door he hung his coat up and put his bag down.

"Hello Dad you here?"

He wasn't expecting an Answer his Father never usually got home before 10 but it didn't hurt to check. Even though he still lived with his Father he paid half the bills so it was as much his house as it was his Fathers he walked into the kitchen and turned on the light and started preparing himself a meal he picked up a remote and turned on the stereo he really didn't feel like watching TV at this point so he opted for his latest music CD instead. Later in the evening he was sat reading a book it was just gone midnight so he put a bookmark in and went to bed, as he was getting comfortable he wondered why his Father hadn't returned yet, it didn't trouble him too much as his Father had mentioned some important project that desperately needed finishing, he was probably pulling an all nighter.

At around 4AM Bill was disturbed by a loud crash, it sounded like someone's car hitting a wall. He snorted as he turned over he figured it was a bunch of drunks on there way home his last conscious thoughts were hoping that the car was a write off.

His next memory was of some idiot banging on the front door; he winced at the sunlight pouring in through his window and with one eye open glanced at the clock it read 10:56am in an hour it'd be Lunch time he sighed as he dragged himself out of bed and pulled a dressing gown over his boxers and t-shirt the banging was still going on.

"All right asshole I'm coming I'm coming"

He picked the keys off his bedside table and walked towards the front door still rubbing his eyes.

"All right I can fucking hear you what are you trying to do knock the door down?"

He took the safety chain off his door and put the key in the lock, the banging persisted none the less. He turned the key and opened the door whoever was knocking fell on him in a blind fury.

"What the Fuck are you doing Asshole?"

He grabbed his attacker by the throat with his Left hand while he tried to restrain the guys right hand from scratching his face, unfortunately his assailant had Two hands and with his left hand he slapped Bill across the face, Bill tasted blood in his mouth and with a strength he didn't know he possessed he threw his attacker into the wall he scrambled to his feet and looked at his attacker.

"Mr Arnold?"

It was his next door neighbour. The newly named Mr Arnold said nothing and instead charged Bill with a ferocious growl, acting on instinct Bill grabbed the nearest object and threw it, it turned out to be a vase which smashed on Mr Arnold's chest but didn't seem to slow him down at all. Bill grabbed one of the wooden chairs from the dining room and smashed the side of Mr Arnold's head with all his might it knocked him over but in a second he was already getting to his feet so Bill grabbed one of the shards of wood and plunged it through his spine and into the floor. Although he was pinned to the floor he was still thrashing his arms and legs while roaring. Bill heard gunfire and more growling outside very close by he rushed to his front door and saw Fred Hardy, another of his neighbours with a shotgun firing at some guy who was obviously mortally wounded, every time Fred shot him he just got back up after the third shot he cocked his shotgun only to find it was empty the other man charged him and went for his throat he bit him and ripped out a large chunk of flesh. Fred didn't scream but he did gurgle and struggle, then two more of the nut jobs ran and began devouring Fred. Bill slammed the door shut locked it and put the chain back on, he took a few steadying breaths then he went back into the living room circumventing the impaled Mr Arnold who was still struggling on the floor he turned on the TV and tried to tune out the growls he found a news channel quickly enough it was in the middle of a report.

Than you Dr Fitzwilliam back to you John. Thank you Sarah, we have just had a list of rescue points given to us by the government it will appear on your screen now.

A list of towns and there nearest evacuation points appeared on the screen most were large open areas like parks and meadows, some where military bases. The one closest to Bill was Cedars Park well close was perhaps a slight exaggeration with all the activity outside. The list stayed on the screen for about a minute then it went.

We've just got word that Laura speeling has some urgent advice for all our viewers over to you Laura. Thank you John I'm here with Sheriff Lancet. Now Sheriff you claim to have finally discovered how to kill the creatures would you share the information with our viewers? All right if you want to take care of em permanently you gotta shoot em in the head anywhere else your just wasting ammo. And for those not lucky enough to have firearms? Then you get something heavy or something sharp and either beat them round the head till they don't get back up or stab em through the head. Thank you Sheriff anything else. Yeah my advice to communities is to form clean and sweep teams anyone who's got a gun should join and then you take back your town and burn the bodies. Thank you Sheriff back to you John.

The news anchor then began prattling on about the security of the president and which towns were affected but Bill had already lost interest in the TV he turned it off and went to the wall where Two swords were crossed through a shield they were all antiques and had been in the family for years, sure that his ancestors would understand he pulled the left sword out with his left hand it was blunt but the tip was still sharp and that was all that mattered he closed his eyes and thrust the tip into Mr Arnold's skull. He immediately stopped moving, Bill opened his eyes and was relieved to see the creature was finally dead he pulled the sword out and wiped the tip with a table cloth. He now knew what he had to do. He had to get to Cedars Park the last shots had rung out about twenty minutes ago which meant he was probably the last one left in his street if not his block, this also meant a clean and sweep team was now out of the question he grabbed his duffle bag from his wardrobe and threw some clean clothes in it and the family photo he then went to the kitchen and grabbed bottled water he no longer trusted tap water and some crisps, some bread and some chocolate bars. He went to the cupboard under the stairs and rummaged through the camping gear until he found his Swiss army knife he slipped it into his pocket he then went to his Fathers safe in the basement he'd known the combination for years but had not bothered opening it for many years for he knew it's contents and that was exactly why he opened it. He pulled out a box and opened it, inside was his Grandfathers 1911 Colt Two Magazines and some ammo the gun hadn't been fired since before his grandfather died the main reason was it was no longer licensed, but that didn't matter anymore he put the bullets into both magazines there were still plenty of bullets left in the box which he put into his bag he put one magazine into the gun and cocked it, he put the other mag into his pocket for easy access. He silently thanked his Grandfather, then he went back to the living room and grabbed the sword and put it into his back but didn't zip the bag up all the way so that he could get to the sword in a hurry. Taking a deep breath he saw the creatures milling around rattling fences and pounding doors he knew the front was no longer an option so he went for a look in the back garden thankfully it was empty, he opened the back door as quietly as possible and stepped into the morning sun.

Bills back garden had a high fence and behind it was a long dead end alley way Bill unlocked the padlock on the gate and slowly opened it he knew the gate creaked so he hoped that it wouldn't alert anyone or anything at first he opened it just a crack the alley looked empty so he opened it a little wider the alley was definitely empty so he stepped out and carefully closed the gate behind him.

By a cruel twist of fate his house was at the very end of the alley so he had to walk about 30meters to the end, the alley was empty accept for the large splatter of blood on one of the walls thankfully there was no body, for a brief second Bill considered running but he thought that would be too noisy so he opted for a power walk as he went past one of the gates he heard sobbing, Bill being the concerned citizen he was pulled a discarded packing crate up to the fence stood on it and looked over he saw A young Girl no older than Twelve behind a kitchen window she was sat on a chair sobbing over a small table Bill was about to call out for her when out of nowhere one of the creatures sprung on her and bit a chunk out the top of her head, Bill stumbled back with the shock and fell on the concrete letting out an involuntary yell of pain he quickly looked round hoping nothing heard him, but luck was not on his side as one of the creatures came charging down the alley at an unnatural speed he pulled the gun from his waistband and fired at the creature.

His first shot missed as did his second, the third hit the creatures chest it staggered but kept moving his forth shoot hit the creature right where his heart should have been but again it did nothing the fifth shot missed, then Bill remembered what the Sheriff had said so he stopped for a second and aimed he fired and got it in the nose it fell to the floor not two foot in front of him.

Bill took a deep breath and exhaled then spoke.

"Thanks grandpa you just saved my life"

Bill stepped over the body and carried on power walking to the end of the alley the end was partially obscured by overgrowing trees so Bill crouch walked to the end and using the trees for cover looked out into the street it was clear he stepped out and with the gun ready in his hand walked in the direction of Cedars park.

Bill suddenly remembered the old saying the quickest route from point A to point B was a straight line which meant cutting through the garden of the house just in front of him, besides the streets were open no cover at least with a Garden there was a chance the creatures would bottle neck, with his course of action decided he went for the house right in front of him the front gate had been ripped off perhaps during the fighting perhaps some time previously either way it didn't matter, Bill walked quietly down the side of the house the back garden was clear the fence to the field behind was low and Bill could already see there were three of the creatures chowing down on something, Bill hesitated he knew when he got to the other side of the field it was a simple case of going through the schools courtyard to get to the park, but he also knew it was a big field one wrong move and he'd alert the creatures. He pondered for a few seconds then hopped over the fence and started walking to the school keeping one eye on the creatures at all times, He was over the half way point when he fell into a muddy puddle, he scrambled to his feet he could already hear the creatures after him there growls were getting louder he could see the school fence he'd never get over it before the creatures reached him, he spun round in a heart beat, the creatures were much closer than he thought he pointed the gun at the closest one and pulled the trigger he got it in the head and it tumbled back he aimed at the second and fired, it went down as well he finally aimed at the third and pulled the trigger the gun clicked empty.

"Oh shit!"

He closed his eyes and looked away as the creature came closer and prayed it would be quick and painless.

A shot rang out and the growling stopped, Bill opened his eyes and looked round to see a cop standing in a classic shooters position with a smoking Beretta in his hand, the cop watched the creatures corpse for a second then lowered the gun and looked at bill.

"You alright man?"

"Yeah thanks"

"No problem, I'm Jason"

"I'm Bill"

The kept looking at each other for a few seconds.

"Your guns empty you might want to attend to that"

"Oh right"

Bill hastily ejected the Mag put the empty one in his pocket and slammed the full one in and pulled back the slide.

"You on your own?"

"Yeah you?"

"Well I am since my partner bought it half hour ago"

Jason started walking to the fence while Bill finally noticed that he had two Beretta's one in his hand and one stashed in his holster he figured one of them was formally the property of his partner.

"Alright what say you give me a boost over I'll check it out if the coast is clear I'll open the gate for you"

"Ok"

Jason tucked the other Beretta in his belt, Bill bent down and knitted his hand in the brace position, Jason put his foot in the brace and Bill lifted him up, Jason pulled himself over the fence and lowered himself on the other side he pulled the Beretta out of his waist band and looked around, it was clear he went to the gate but it was locked he looked around again then fired at the lock it clattered to the floor he pulled the bolt across and opened the gate Bill stepped through gun in hand.

"I think we're OK come on"

They both went through the courtyard the children's chalk drawings on the playground floor tugged at Bill's heart as he passed them, to think just yesterday these kids were all happy and now….

Jason reached the edge of the courtyard first, he could see the locked gate that leaked onto Cedars Park out of nowhere a creature came around the corner and bit into Jason's leg he screamed in pain and fired down the creature hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"You alright Jason"

"No I'm fucking not this bastard ripped a chunk right out my leg, I think he bit something vital"

Blood was pouring out the wound at an incredible rate despite Jason having his hand pressed firmly on it, Bill suspected the creature had bitten into an artery but said nothing as he pulled his bag open and took out a clean white T-shirt which he tore into a strip and began tightly binding it to Jason's leg.

"Oh no"

"What is it?"

Bill looked up to find Jason staring at the creature he looked too and saw that it was a young school boy not more than 10 years old.

"I can't believe it"

Bill pulled his eyes from the creature and finished binding the wound.

"Alright I'm finished can you walk?"

Jason tested his leg which was already seeping blood through the makeshift bandage and fell, Bill caught him.

"I'll take that as a no"

He draped Jason's arm over his shoulder.

"Come on it's not far once we get there they'll fix you up"

"Alright"

Jason said in a weak whisper, Bill looked at him he was already very pale and was sweating like a pig (AN: Sorry to any Police officers reading no pun intended). Bill started walking slowly towards the gate and then he spotted the lock.

"I'll take care of it"

Jason whispered, he then aimed his gun and fired he missed by a mile he fired two more times missing both times.

"Don't worry I got it"

Bill pulled out his gun and shot the lock off in one shot, Jason smiled weakly.

"Thanks"

They both slowly walked through the gate and out onto Cedars park.

The park was big and with Bill's current run of luck he could see one chopper with the blades slowly speeding up on the far side of the park about 200 meters away there looked to be a fire fight going on that was almost inaudible, there was also a large quantity of the creatures converging on the chopper.

"Just leave me make a run for it"

"Fuck that I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you we got together or not at all"

Bill gave Jason a fireman's lift and went as fast as he could towards the chopper. The chopper was a big military transport chopper, Bill could see they were already closing the rear hatch there were two people left outside both were trying to fight back the creatures one of them seemed to run out of ammo and ran to the choppers side hatch and climbed in the last one was firing for all he was worth the blades on the chopper weren't fast enough for takeoff yet. Jason was about a hundred meters away he started shouting and waving his free hand.

"Hey, hey wait for me hey!"

Whoever was still outside paid not attention to him as he continued firing, the blades were almost at full speed, Bill was still shouting and waving he suddenly realised they'd never here him over the chopper and the gunfire he pulled out his gun and hoped his .45cal bullets would make enough noise he started firing into the air after the third shot a SWAT officer popped out the chopper with a shotgun in hand and saw him, the officer waved Bill towards the chopper then started firing at the creatures directly in front of the chopper, meanwhile the man with the machine gun stopped firing and ran to the chopper, he tried to close the door but the SWAT officer wouldn't budge and pointed in Bills direction the man said something and started really slamming the door on the SWAT officer but the officer wouldn't budge.

Bill was close now 20 meters at most, the man was really slamming the door on the SWAT officer, Bill was close enough now to start shooting the creatures himself he heard gunfire behind him and realised Jason was shooting as well he finally made it to the chopper and dived in knocking the SWAT officer in as well, the man finally shut the door and shouted

"Let's get the fuck out of here!"

Bill felt the chopper rise almost immediately and he breathed a sigh of relief.