Hey guys, its Yobloc20 here. The promised sequel is here! About time. I wanted to give more time to build up anticipation but I so badly wanted to start writing and I just ended up doing it anyway :P Well, I have it all planned out and ready to go. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I will enjoy writing it. By the way, to anyone who has just started reading, this is a sequel to my other story, Strength in Numbers. I advise reading that first before reading this. Favourite, Review and Enjoy! Valve owns all the characters besides my OC's.
Chapter 1: A new way of life
"Before we run over this bridge to the guys that have been dropping bombs on us, perhaps we should have a Plan B?"
"Well you're free to make yourself a new life right here in this room Nick."
"Okay, fine. Let's go."
Nick was always paranoid about the military. The whole time they had been in New Orleans, Nick had been contemplating whether handing themselves into the military was really such a good idea. But however, by the time he instigated it with his three friends, it was too late.
He would have nowhere to go if he didn't. The military were bombing the city to kingdom come; they had presumed that no one was still alive in it. The group of four were late, and by the look of things, they should count themselves lucky.
Bodies were everywhere. Jesus Christ, they were everywhere. So many people hadn't made it. But the military had also executed a lot of people as well.
Perfectly normal people.
The less they thought about it, the more comfortable they would be.
The group jumped back up onto their feet. This was it. Everything they had been fighting for. It was for this. On the other side of that bridge was safety. From all of this bullshit.
They wouldn't have to worry anymore. They would be safe and away from it all at last. All the fighting and violence they have been through, they would finally be able to sleep soundly knowing their lives weren't in immediate danger.
It was a concept they all couldn't wait to experience. It felt strange that this was normal only around a month ago. Now it was only a desperate wish.
Coach cracked his knuckles and stretched his back; a subtle pop sounding from the large man. The late evening sun was peering through the boarded safe house windows. The four survivors could faintly hear muffled voices outside the safe room door.
"Y'all ready to go?" Coach directed back at the three with a quick gaze, already knowing the answer. Three nods confirmed this assumption and the big man unlatched the door and burst through it, followed by the other three.
The muffled voices turned out to be chatter on a radio, which was currently sitting loosely in the hand of a bloody corpse which was sitting up against a military barricade. The two voices were talking about possible life forms on the west side of the bridge. Everyone knew what they were referencing to.
Not wanting to be the target of more bombing, Nick quickly grabbed the radio from the corpse and held it towards his mouth.
"Ummm hello?"
"Rescue 7! That's coming from the bridge!" One of the voices instantly called back.
"Bridge, identify yourself." The voice added.
"My name's Nick. There is four of us on the… on the west side of the bridge." Nick responded as he swept his hair back with his free hand.
"Bridge, are you immune?" The voice asked cautiously.
"We are not infected." Nick replied quickly.
"Negative Bridge, are you immune? Have you encountered the infected?" The voice asked again, more urgent this time.
"Yeah, you could say that." Nick answered in a more sarcastic tone.
"Rescue 7, are you equipped for carriers?" The voice asked, the way he said it was noticeably lower however.
"Affirmative, Papa Gator." The second voice chimed in.
"Bridge, we have pulled out of that sector. Your only remaining pick up is on the other end of the bridge. Our last chopper is leaving in ten minutes. You need to lower the span and get across the bridge. God be with you." The voice instructed carefully.
"Got it, give us a few minutes." Nick replied before dropping the radio carelessly onto the ground. He walked over to a panel on one of the steel girders and flicked a switch. The bridge slowly and noisily began to lower.
"You heard the man, let's go!" Nick called out as he waited for it to lower.
The bridge seemed to struggle to let down the platform that connected the gap. It squeaked loudly before dropping suddenly and emitting a huge bang which echoed loudly in their ears.
Unfortunately, they weren't the only things to hear it.
A loud shriek from further down the bridge alerted the four of the fight they had ahead of them. One last push to freedom. One more bloody fight and it was all over.
"Let's move!"
The ocean, many miles away
Zoey let her fingers run carelessly through the water as the boat carved through another wave. She sat port side of the sailboat, mindlessly watching the water go by her.
Francis was steering, it wasn't a very difficult job but someone needed to do it. He found it more interesting than just sitting around and waiting. Louis was underneath, catching up on some sleep he missed out on earlier.
Zoey was happy they had left Rayford but after two days of horrid sailing, she was already sick of it. The sickening aroma of salt constantly surrounded her. She could hardly wait to get to the Keys and ride the apocalypse out there.
Bill was not going to die in vain. She had promised herself this. He sacrificed himself so they could be here; she was forever in his debt.
However, no matter how much she tried to think about redeeming Bills' death, her mind kept wandering onto another painful topic. Something that for the past few days had been killing her.
Ellis.
Zoey still wanted him back with her, but there was something else she couldn't understand. Of course, it made sense that to her that she missed him, but she couldn't understand why she still felt guilty about something, she couldn't exactly put her finger on why this was.
Ellis and his friends were probably all fine and safe, but Zoey couldn't stop getting the impression that they were in trouble. The military had given Zoey and her group a 'hard time', but they managed to escape. Would the same happen to their group? And if it did happen, would they be lucky enough to escape like her group was?
These questions drove the college student insane and worried her to death, but she urged herself not to get bogged down by them and to presume that they were all fine, but it kept on nagging her at the back of her mind.
Louis strolling over to her woke her up from her thoughts.
"Hey girl." He said softly with a smile.
"Hey Louis, sleep well?" Zoey returned with the same smile, glancing up at him momentarily before returning her gaze to the water.
"Well enough, the constant rocking of the boat doesn't help though." Louis explained as he wiped some sweat off his brow. "Any sign of, well, anything?" He added.
Zoey shook her head. "Nope. Just lots and lots of water." She exclaimed with a sigh.
"Shit. Do you think we're anywhere near the Keys yet?" Louis asked, he clearly hated sailing. Zoey wasn't such a fan of the water either to be honest.
"In a few light years, I think." Francis chimed in sarcastically from the cabin. Zoey gave a small chuckle and Louis just rolled his eyes.
Zoey wondered what it would be like at the Keys, would it be tropical and sunny? She honestly didn't know what they would be like and was curious enough about how it would be.
Well, whenever they actually got there that is.
Louis stood up again and offered to take over for Francis, who agreed and went underneath the boat, probably to catch up on sleep.
Zoey sighed and let her fingers dangle back in the water. It was a relaxing feeling for her, it soothed her mind marginally.
She needed to stop worrying about Ellis.
Back in New Orleans
"C'mon people! We're nearly there!" Coach barked as he fired off some shells into incoming infected. The helicopter was in sight now, they were nearly there.
There was a break in the constant assault, this was their chance. The four broke away and made a dash for the chopper. Nick protected their six, dispatching the zombies which gave chase to them.
They climbed down the ladder of the overpass; the landing pad was adjacent to it. Coach clambered down first and reached the concrete ground, waiting for his three friends to follow in suit.
Rochelle came down next, she could hear the infected coming, and from the sound of it, there was a huge amount of them. Ellis came sliding down the ladder next, a weird griping noise was heard nearby.
Nick was the last to descend the ladder. When he reached the bottom, he found Rochelle tugging on his sleeve to start running again.
"We're almost there y'all! Just keep-
Coach didn't even get to finish his sentence. In a roar and a flash, something crashed into him and carried him away. A charger had smashed into the man and carried him away.
"Holy shit! Coach!" Rochelle cried out as she ran after him. Ellis and Nick quickly glanced at each other and began dealing with the incoming infected.
They heard gunshots and what sounded like barking before Rochelle emerged with Coach limping beside her, the reporter being used as support by the big man.
"We gotta go now!" Nick yelled as he chucked a bile bomb into the distance, buying them some time to get Coach to the helicopter.
They struggled up the steps and dragged Coach to the chopper. Ellis watched as a tank came barrelling down the overpass and leaped off of it, landing and crushing a bas that was parked underneath it.
"Guys, we gotta tank!" Ellis informed as he fired at the beast. Nick glared back at it and hurried the tempo.
"Come on Coach, we're nearly there." The conman urged as he began to push Coach onward.
The door was already dropped for them when they reached the chopper. All four survivors boarded the vehicle and the door was quickly lifted back up. They felt the helicopter rise off the ground and begin to ascend.
Ellis ran over to one of the small, circular windows and gazed down at the helicopter pad. The tank was watching the chopper rise slowly into the air; it stood where they had been only a few seconds ago, furiously smashing its huge fists into the concrete. And then they were flying.
The bridge exploded magnificently as they flew by, the span they were on was completely obliterated. Ellis would usually have been surprised by an explosion, but he was honestly too tired to even react. He just slumped back down against the wall of the helicopter.
They had made it. It was only now Ellis realized how out of breath he was. He doubled over against the wall and panted heavily. He gazed over at Coach who was currently trying to convince Rochelle that he would be alright and for her not to worry. Ellis didn't even notice that Nick was standing beside him.
"We made it kid. We did it." Nick remarked between deep breaths. He had a slight smirk on his face.
"Yeah, we did it Nick. We're safe now." Ellis responded with his usual grin.
Ellis relaxed back into the wall and collected himself. He didn't know where they were going but he knew wherever it was, it would be safe and away from the infected.
He gazed back over at Coach. The big man putting on a smile for Rochelle as she rested her head gently on his shoulder; but he had a pained expression hidden underneath that smile. Coach was clearly badly injured, but he tried to play it down. They would have to get him medically checked up on at wherever they were going.
They were finally going to be safe.
The windows were now covered by a fog; Ellis presumed they were flying through some low hanging clouds. Ellis sort of expected that when they got to the helicopter, they would be celebratory. But due to Coachs' quite serious injuries, they were all quiet.
Rochelle must have seen Ellis quickly glance at her because she gave him a smile.
"We are safe now, sweetie. We don't have to worry anymore." She said softly to him as Ellis returned to smile. He could tell Rochelle was very concerned about Coach, who now had his eyes closed. Whether he was genuinely sleeping or not was unknown.
"I know Ro. We get Coach patched up and everything is perfect." Ellis replied hopefully.
Even though they didn't know where they were going, they were happy to presume that it was going to be a lot better than it was out there. As soon as they get Coach some treatment for his injuries, everything would be fine.
They had nothing to worry about.
A/N: So that was Chapter 1! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Leave a review of what you think of the first chapter.
Until next time.