Alex stepped up to the door, gripping his pistol tightly. Wrapping his free hand tightly around the knob, he turned to his friends.
"Ready?" He whispered. Each of them nodded. He took a deep breath and eased the door open quietly as possible. Three infected walked past the house. Alex stared tensely as they passed, hoping they would not turn. If they did, the rest of the city would hear the gunfire. They did not have the ammo to fight half the town. They wandered past the yard and Alex sighed, and slipped through the doorway, waving the others to follow. They ducked behind the burned body of a car. Alex glanced through the front window. The street was clear for a block. "Let's go." The group leapt to their feet and broke into a sprint. It did not take long for some of the infected to take notice. Alex cocked his gun, putting a bullet into the closest monster's head. A collective moaning followed the gunshot, echoing down the street.
"So much for that." Matt muttered. He raised his pistol and opened fire on the pursuing zombies. The street where they had come from began to flood with infected.
"Keep running!" Alex shouted. They ran as fast as they could, the infected close behind. Alex leapt onto a police car which was blocking the road ahead. Jen held out her hand and he helped her over, doing the same for Matthew and Lucus Glancing over as he landed, a glass bottle caught Lucus's eye.
"There's a molotov over here!" He shouted. Scrambling to the curb, he took the bottle up.
"Matches!" He yelled. Jen reached into her pocket and threw her friend a matchbox. He lit the molotov and raised it over his shoulder.
"Look out!" He ordered. He hurtled the bottle at the police car, which nearly instantly caught fire. As the hoard gathered around the stricken vehicle, clambering over it desperately, the flames ignited the gasoline tank. The teenagers dove for cover as shards of metal, glass, and bits of flesh flew in every direction. The only sound that could be heard following the explosion was the sound of the flame crackling.
"Nice job." Alex said, breathing heavily. "That should buy us some time."
"I… hope so." The red haired boy answered, sliding a new clip into his weapon. "Now, where's this ally again?" Matt stood up and pulled the map from his bag, glancing it over quickly.
"It's about a block in that dir…" An unearthly howl cut his words off, a horrible sound that nearly rivaled the force of the earlier explosion. The four fell silent.
"What the heck was that?" Jen asked, her voice lined with fear. The ground beneath their feet began to shake.
"Oh crap…" Alex lamented. "Run." He breathed. Nobody moved. "Run!" A loud crash came from the block ahead of the group. Matt looked up to see a car in the air, hurtling towards him. He dove out of the way, the vehicle landing with a loud crash. They turned, running in the opposite direction as a monstrous infected burst through the barricade of vehicles in its path. Lucus fired several shots at the beast as he ran, his eyes widening as he saw they had no affect whatsoever. The streets began to fill with infected again, drawn by the commotion. This was not going well.
"What now?!" Jen cried over the sound of the approaching monster.
"Manhole!" Alex shouted in response. Stopping on a dime, he and Lucus tore the lid off the manhole, cutting his fingers in the process. "Get inside!" Jen slid down the ladder, Matt following close behind. Lucus glanced up at Alex. "In you go." He made his way down the ladder. Alex shot a glance at the howling beast as it barreled forward on all fours. It was an awesome sight. Dropping down on the ladder, he pulled the lid back over the manhole and slid down the ladder. It shook as a violent crash came from above. They could hear the monstrous infected banging at the manhole, trying to get inside.
"That was close…" Lucus muttered out of breath.
"Too close." Jen agreed. "That thing nearly killed us all." Alex looked over, blood dripping down his hand.
"I'm sorry guys…" He lamented. "I… I should…" Jen sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I wasn't blaming you." She reassured. "We couldn't just stay in that house forever."
"Jen's right." Lucus added. "We had to do something eventually." Alex looked up, smiling weakly.
"Thanks guys." The four sat for a moment, not minding the liquid on their shoes. Considering what they had just survived, it was the least of their worries. "Well…" Alex began. "Guess we should head for that mall then. We still need supplies." The rest of the group nodded wearily. After what they had just seen, the mall seemed to be much further away.