Lucky Day
Ramirez and her companion an old soldier by the name of Logan had been patrolling the outer rim of the zone for the last few hours and their patrol was nearly over. And they both wanted nothing more then to be done with this boring repetitive task so they could go home. And the rain and mud they had to dredge through certainly didn't help their motivation any. They currently found themselves stud atop a large semi truck trailer that had be abandoned in a watery ditch. How it got there in the first place is anyone's guess but it wasn't likely to go anywhere for a long time. Ramirez found it to be a good vantage point and would spend most of their patrol in this sector perched upon it.
Ramirez looked out over the ditch and up towards the massive wall protecting the zone and couldn't help but wonder why they were even out here. She almost missed the times when she was fighting infected. Back then it at least felt like she was doing something meaningful but now she wasn't so sure. "I'm getting too old for this shit." Ramirez said while letting out a sigh.
"Hey you and me both, at least it's about that time. We can finally start heading back." Logan stated as he approached from behind her.
"Yeah there is that." Ramirez stretched out and released a yawn before spinning around and heading back towards the front of the semi tailor and higher ground. Both Ramirez and Logan hopped down from the top of the tailor and began walking away when Ramirez froze in place and gave Logan the signal to stop. A silent moment later and Ramirez spoke again. "Did you hear that?"
"No I didn't hear a thing." Logan responded.
"Just listen." Ramirez stated as she polled him aside and into cover.
"I still don't…" Logan trailed off as the familiar sound of footsteps entered his ears. The footsteps were soft and quick and almost unnoticeable over the howling wind and rain. He couldn't make out how many there were but there was more then one and it was coming from the ditch below. "Do you think their Fireflies?"
"Don't know, let's not take any chances. There is only one way out of that ditch and that is through that semi trailer, so you circle around catch them from behind. I will stay up here and try and get the drop on them." Ramirez responded. Logan gave her a quick nod before drawing his side arm and making his way around to drop down into the ditch without being noticed.
Moments later and Ramirez had taken up position beside the semi trailer just out of view. She could hear the sounds of the foot steps and hushed voices clearly now. One of the voices sounded young, too young to be out in a place like this. So Ramirez decided to take a risk and peek out to see the approaching party. There were two adults a man and women that looked to be in their mid to late 40s and just as she suspected there was a young teenaged girl walking along with them. "Could they be a family? What are they doing outside the zone? I guess it doesn't really matter, I have to bring them in. So I will just have to try and keep this as civil as possible." She thought to herself.
Then Ramirez heard the clank of metal underfoot as one of them stepped into the back of the semi tailer and began making their way up towards her. She gripped her weapon tightly in her hands as she ran simulation in her head of how this would go down depending on who was leading the group. Then she heard the voice of a young girl call from below. "This is slippery." The girl was quickly hushed by the person leading the group.
Ramirez now knew that the girl wasn't leading so she wouldn't have to hold back. A second later and the head of a man peeked out from inside the tailor and Ramirez raised gun and she jammed the but of the weapon directly into the mans jaw sending him to the ground. Without missing a beat Ramirez leveled her weapon and faced the rest of the group before addressing them. "Don't do anything stupid."
Ramirez quickly spotted Logan move in from behind them with his side arm draw and motioned them forward. "Move." He told them.
"Turn around, on your knees." Ramirez followed up before addressing Logan. "You scan them. I'll call it in."
"Alright." Logan responded as began directing the group. "Put your hands on your head."
Logan seemed to have it under control so Ramirez turned away and clicked on her helmets radio. "This is Ramirez at sector twelve. I'm requesting pickup for three stragglers." A moment of silence followed before Ramirez nodded and spoke into the headset again. "Understood."
At this point Logan had pulled out his infection scanner and was getting it ready to use. While he did this the women of the group turned her head towards him to speak. "Look the other way. We can make this worth your while." She told him.
"Shut up." Logan told her in dry tone. "I'm getting tiered of this shit." He said as moved around her and placed the scanner to the back of her neck. A moment later and he pulled the device away and moved towards the man of the group.
"Mm-hmm." Ramirez said into head set before glancing over at her partner.
"What's the ETA?" Logan asked as he pulled the device away from the man's neck and moved on to the young girl they had with them.
"A couple of minutes." Ramirez responded.
Logan nodded as he placed the scanner on the girl's neck and a second later the girl began to act strangely. "Sorry!" She shouted as she pulled a small knife out of her pocket and jammed it right into Logan's leg.
Logan screamed in pain causing Remirez to spin around to see what had happened. When she did all she heard was a bang and her last thought was. "Oh…"
"Crap, I screwed up!" A young man shouted in a panicked tone while he vigorously rummaged through a camouflaged backpack at his feet. The man himself looked to be in his mid twenties and had light brown hair and dark blue eyes. The man was also dressed from head to toe in a military uniform and full combat gear. He was seated on the back of a moving military transport truck with several other men and woman with similar equipment. And they were traveling down a dirt road that was surrounded by dense woods for as far as the eye could see.
Noticing his comrade's strife another young man seated across from him leaned forward to address him. "What did you do this time Lucky?" He asked in a friendly tone.
"I forgot my snacks back at our last camp!" The brown haired man responded.
The second man began to chuckle as he responded. "Gees man, I swear you'd forget your rifle if we let you."
"It's not funny Alex. I still had some chocolates left! Chocolate I'm telling you!" The brown haired man snapped.
The second man looked taken back for a moment. "Wait a minute. Lucky, you had chocolate and you didn't share with us?!" The man known as Alex inquired.
Overhearing the conversation a female soldier beside the man known as Lucky leaned over to interject. "Yeah, that's not cool Lucky! I thought we were friends. How did you even get your hands on Chocolate anyway?" She inquired.
Lucky gave the girl a goofy smile before retorting. "Curious are we? All you have to do is know the right people."
"Oh, the right people he says. Can you believe this guy Hope?" The second man asked the female soldier.
"Hey would you kids shut it back there, were almost in Jackson so try to look like real soldiers for once!" An older man seated towards the front of the truck shouted back at them.
The three young soldiers snap to attention and spoke in sync with one another. "Yes sir!" Seeming satisfied with that response the older man returned to gazing ahead of the truck.
When he did the three younger soldiers instantly returned to speaking amongst themselves with a slightly more hushed tone. "I still can't believe that we're getting stationed in Jackson, can you say lucky?" Alex asked. "And to clarify I'm not talking about Remirez." He added in jest causing Lucky to roll his eyes.
"Yeah I know what you mean! Did you guys hear that all the houses have their own running water and electricity? I can't wait to take hot bath again!" Hope added with excitement clear in her voice.
"Hey don't get too excited yet guys. Remember the only reason Jackson agreed to open relations with us or rather the military is because the higher ups agreed that we would help them deal with their Hunter problem. If we don't deliver some results we're out of here." Lucky reminded them.
"Oh, don't be such a spoiled sport. They're just a bunch of scavengers living in the woods. How bad could they be?" Alex asked in a dismissive tone.
"Well, they are tough enough to warrant our presence. You got to remember that Jackson isn't just another small shanty town like the ones we've been to up until now. At this time Jackson is one of the largest and most well defended towns in the country outside of the military zones of course. And from what I've heard, they weren't too keen on the idea of getting us involved. So the fact that we're here should be proof enough that this mission won't be an easy one." Lucky retorted in a serious tone.
"Gees, there you go again! Does it always have to be doom and gloom when we're in the field? You need to loosen up a bit Lucky. You know, enjoy life a little while you can." Hope said to him.
"I would love to but if there's anything I've learned from my mother it's that it only takes one little mistake. Just one slip up and it's all over. And not just for you but everyone around you could be effected as well. For example, let's say you miss a small detail like locking a door behind you and one infected slips in. Then your small mistake just took everyone down along with you." Lucky explained.
When Lucky finished speaking a thick air of awkward silence soon came over the group. "Ah crap, did I screw up? I was just trying to sound cool. Maybe I went too far?" Lucky thought to himself. After a moment with still nobody speaking Lucky decided he would have to do something. "Hey guys I was just…" He began but was cut off when the truck came to a sudden stop causing everyone in to jerk forward slightly before settling back into the seats. "What the heck was that!?" Lucky shouted before standing up to glance over the side of the truck.
The cause of the sudden stop was a blockage in the form of a signal large truck parked long ways across the road managing to completely block their path forward. "What the hell is this!?" Their commanding officer yelled.
"What should I do sir?!" The truck driver inquired.
Their commanding officer began looking around. The truck was quite large and looked heavy, too much for the truck to just push its way through. And going around it wasn't really an option either since they were currently rounding a cliff and going right would mean driving through a very dense tree line and left would lead to a steep drop off. "Damn, just hang tight and the boys will get that truck cleared out of the way!"
"Of course we will. Why not right?" Lucky mumbled sarcastically. Lucky's enthusiasm was mirrored by the rest of his squad as they began shuffling out the back of their truck and heading towards the one blocking their path. However while trying to step down from the truck Lucky caught his foot on the side which caused him to trip and plant his face on the ground below. "Ouch, son of a bitch that hurt!" Lucky howled while gripping the bridge of his bleeding nose and rolling around on the ground in pain.
A moment later and his two friends Alex and Hope stepped down next to Lucky and gave each other an incredulous look before shaking their heads. Then Hope stepped forward and reached out her hand to help Lucky up. "Oh stop your whining you big cults."
Lucky accepted the help and was instantly pulled back up onto his feet. "Oh shut it! I think I broke my nose. It won't stop bleeding." He complained while rubbing and prodding his reddening nose.
"Hey you can use these." Alex said as he reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a set of ear plugs. "These should stop the bleeding for awhile." He told Lucky causing him to shrug and accept them.
"Hey what the hell you lot doing!?" Their commanding officer barked as he stepped over to the edge of the truck bed above them. He then motioned towards the truck blocking their path which was now surrounded by the rest of the squad. "Get over their and help them get that hunk of junk out of our way!" He commanded.
The three soldiers let out a collective sigh before giving their superior a proper salute and responding in unison. "Sir, yes sir!"
Their commanding officer gave them an irritated look before ripping into them once again. "Don't salute me jackasses! This is Hunter territory and I'm sure they would love nothing more than to take out an officer! Remember an ambush could be waiting around any cor…" The man's rant was suddenly cut short when the crack of a rifle echoed through the cliff side and a new bullet hole appeared in the older officer's chest. The older man screamed in pain and gripped desperately at the fresh wound in his chest before his legs gave out from under him and sending him falling forward over the side of the truck.
"Get down!" Lucky shouted before him along with his two friends dove under their truck for cover.
Meanwhile the rest of the squad that was now surrounding the truck began to panic and scramble for cover of their own. And from Lucky's new position on the ground he spotted something that caught his eye. It was an unusual flashing object on the bottom of the truck that was blocking their path. It was the very same truck that many of his comrades were now trying to use as cover. So Lucky tried to focus his eyes for a better look. Then the object came into focus he felt a pit begin to grow in his stomach. "Everyone get away from there! The truck is rigged!" He warned but it was too late as the moment the words left his mouth the objected flashed before sending the truck up in a huge ball of fire and throwing heavy pieces of shrapnel in just about every direction manning or killing nearly half of the men and women unlucky enough to have been hiding nearby.
"Jesus Christ!" Alex shouted as he watched the carnage unfold from under their squad's truck.
"Hey don't take the lords name in vain!" Hope shouted disapprovingly.
"Screw you Hope! You're not even Christian!" He responded.
"Yeah well we're probably about to die so why take chances right!?" Hope retorted.
"Screw that noise I'm not dying today, no way! Lucky you're the plan guy, what do we do!?" Axel asked in a panicked tone.
"Give me a minute I need to think!" Lucky responded before he began to bit down on his thumb. After a moment of thought released his thumb and began to address his squad members in a more steady tone. "The gun shot came from the forest right? That means that's most likely where the hunters are watching us from. Maybe if we…" Lucky's train of thought was cut off when he heard a horrifying shriek coming from the woods.
"Was that what I think it was?!" Hope asked in terror stricken voice.
"Infected!" The trio heard one of their other surviving comrade's scream as a swarm of fungal infected burst out of the tree line towards the squad's position. When the infected came into sight the remaining survivors who were still able to move quickly pulled out and leveled their rifles and side arms on the approaching horde before opening fire.
"Where the hell did they come from!? I thought they said this area didn't have a lot of infected!?" Alex inquired.
"The explosion must have drawn them here! Maybe that was the Hunters plan all along!" Lucky responded.
"We got to get out there and help them!" Hope stated as she began to scoot out from under the truck.
Lucky reached over and pulled Hope back under the truck next to him. "I still need time to think! We can't just rush out there without a plan! We'll be sitting ducks if we do!" Lucky reasoned.
"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing either! Our friends need help right now!" Hope shouted as she pulled herself out of Lucky's grip and proceeded to roll out from under the truck before drawing her weapon and joining the fray.
"Wait damn it!" Lucky shouted after her but she was already out earshot causing him to release a dry sigh. "Is she crazy!?"
"She's right Lucky, besides this truck isn't going to protect us from those monsters!" Alex shouted as he also rolled out and followed after his female comrade.
Lucky slammed his fist on the dirt in frustration before saying. "Screw it!" And rolling himself out from under the truck and jumping up to his feet. The moment he did he heard several rounds wiz past his head causing him to dived back down and dunk behind a large bolder on the side of the road. And when he did he realized that a large part of his remaining squad was also using the same stone as their own cover. He gave his comrades a quick nod before he reached for the weapon on his back and drew his twelve-gage shotgun. Then he cocked it once before popping up from behind the large stone to unload a slug into the chest of a clicker running after one of his injured comrades a few feet away who was desperately trying to crawl towards them for safety. When the slung hit its mark the clicker's chest caved and it stumbled backward before letting out one last shriek before collapsing onto the ground motionless. "God I love this thing!" Lucky cheered as he kissed the barrel of his weapon and quickly loaded in another shell.
"I got him!" Alex shouted as he ran out to grab the downed man and pull him into cover with along with them.
"Thank you!" The man said to them as he winced in pain and pressed his back against the bolder.
Then Hope popped up from behind the bolder herself to also unload a clip of her Assault Rifle into the horde only dunking back down when her clip had completely emptied. Then she turned to Lucky to continue their earlier conversation. "So you got a plan yet Lucky!?" She asked while popping a new clip into her rifle.
In response to his friends questioned Lucky popped up and looked out over the seemingly endless stream of approaching infected and then back at the few remaining members of his squad. At least a third of the ones that could still fight had leg injuries so they couldn't make a break for it and they couldn't just leave them. He figured their best chance was to stand their ground. "Keep fighting! Don't let those fungus heads get close!" He commanded and his fellow squad members followed suit with a constant stream of gun fire.
After a few minutes of the frantic bullet storm ammo was running low and there was still no sign of the infected letting up. "How is there so many of them here!?" Hope asked.
"Their sniper has been quiet for awhile now! The gun fire must be drawing them now!" Lucky responded as he took aim on another infected running towards them. He leveled the iron sights with its head and squeezed the trigger. And just like a magic trick the infected's head disappear in a puff of rotted flesh and spores.
"Still this number isn't normal even for the back country!" Alex stated before glancing over the bolder and taking a few pot shots with his 9mm handgun. His rifle was completely out of rounds at this point and he couldn't risk coming out of cover to scavenge more from their fallen comrades. Then he saw something that made the hairs on the back of his head stand up. "Umm guys, we have a Bloater!" He announced in a panicked tone.
Everyone instantly peeked out of cover to see a charging mass of fungus heading right for them. Before they could even react the massive infected launched a ball of spores directly at their position striking the top of the bolder and causing the soldiers to panic and scatter out from behind their cover. Several soldiers either weren't wearing their gasmasks or had damaged them in the explosion and we're now coughing and gasping as the spores entered their lungs.
"This isn't good!" Alex said as he began firing on the Bloater. His 9mm rounds were having next to no effect on the behemoth other than making it angry. The Bloater roared before charging towards Alex but was stopped flat when a twelve-gage slug struck it in its knee cap. The Bloater tumbled over and went into a roll. Alex quickly side stepped the beast as it rolled past him and smash through the railing separating the road form the cliff below. Then he turned towards Lucky who had fired the shot to thank him but noticed he was also being over taken by infected. "Lucky, look out!" He shouted as he raised his pistol and fired a few more rounds before hearing nothing but a click as his pistol emptied.
Meanwhile Lucky fired a round into one of the infected but was grabbed by another. "Crap, let go!" Lucky shouted as he struggled to break free of its grasp. Then another infected caught him from the side and knocked him off his feet. "Damn!" Is all he could manage before the three of them went into a similar barrel roll the Bloater had taken only moments ago causing them to barrel right off the cliff and into the tree line below it. When he fell Lucky let out a desperate scream as he felt the sudden rush off air overtaking him. And the whole way down the infected were still holding onto him while they thrashed and snapped at him trying to sink their teeth into whatever body part they could but the ground was coming up quickly. Lucky figured he could kill three birds with one stone and angled their decent so that the infected would take the brunt of the fall. First he smacked into the side of the cliff throwing one infected off and then bounced into a nearby tree hitting several branches on the way down. The second infected got caught on a branch about half way down the tree but Lucky's momentum kept him going down towards the ground. And when Lucky finally made contact with the ground he landed square on his ass with a loud thud and felt the air rush out of his lungs so fast he became dizzy and before he could even think about getting back up again he past out slumping back against the tree that had broken most of his fall.
Several hours later and Lucky finally awoke from his pain and trauma induced black out to complete silence and darkness. The sun had set and the battle had ended. He could only make a guess as too the outcome since there was no way to make it back up the cliff to check it out. However since nobody came to collect him, he had to assumed that it wasn't favorable. Lucky groaned as he tried to pick himself up off the ground. Every bone in his body was screaming at him to stay down but he couldn't. He pushed himself up against the tree for support and glanced up at the cliff. "Maybe they didn't come for me because they didn't think I would be alive. Seriously how did I survive that fall?" He asked himself. "I guess I may really be Lucky after all." He mused as he finally pushed himself back up onto his own feet and felt a sharp pain shoot through his left leg. "Ouch, shit did I break it!?" He roared before glancing down to inspect the wound. And when he did he felt a pit form in his stomach. There were teeth marks, he had been bitten. "Son of a… I take back my earlier statement. I'm never lucky."
Then Lucky fell back down to the ground defeated. "Well this is just great! You make one little mistake, isn't that right mom!? Yeah I know I'm a screw up! Now what do I do? I can barely walk and I'm miles away from anyplace that possibly help me. And if it's already nightfall I probably only have a few hours left before I turn." Lucky asked himself before letting out a long sigh. "I guess there is really only one option."
Lucky then reached for his side arm. He pulled the 9mm handgun out its holster and began examining it in his hands. On the handle of the gun there was an R carved into it. This was his mother's handgun, she had taught him how to shoot using it and it had been the last birthday present she had ever given him. Some would see it as a strange gift to give a young boy but it was also to celebrate his graduation from military school so it was good timing. "Well I guess this is it then." He announced in a slightly somber tone before he switched off the safety and pressed the barrel of the weapon to his temple. His hand began to shake as his finger rapped around the trigger. Finally after a long pregnant silence he squeezed the trigger… and nothing happened. "What the hell?" He said as he examined the gun again. It was loaded and the safety was indeed off. Then he realized that the damn thing had jammed. It was an old gun sure but it never jammed on him before, not even once. The realization of this fact caused him to break into manic laughter. "Of course it would jam! That's just my luck isn't it!? Screw this crap!" He shouted in frustration as he threw the gun against the ground in front of him causing it to misfire and hit him right in the shoulder. Lucky fell back against the tree and gripped his new wound tightly as he screamed in pain and once again the shook caused him to pass out.
A few more hours passed before Lucky came too again. This time the darkness had risen as the sun peeked out over the horizon. "What, is that the sun? Does that mean I'm still alive?" Lucky asked himself before the sun was suddenly obscured by what appeared to be a young red haired women who stepped out in front of him. "Wait an angel? Never mind I guess I'm dead after all."
The girl's eyes were wondering as if in search of something and when she finally turned them towards Lucky and found him under the tree they widened drastically. Then she turned away towards a second figure that was slightly obscured by the light of the sun and shouted. "Joel, come quick I found another one! He's still alive!"
