Chapter 3: Through the Gas Works

Cole and Zeke had relocated to the rail yard which was void of any hunters, military soldiers, or infected.

"Like the St. Ignatius cemetery, the Gas Works has become a breeding ground for the infected. Properly named No Man's Land." Zeke spoke. "This is a suicide mission." Then he laughed bitterly.

"So what's the verdict then? Do we stay here and wait for another opportunity to come around?" Cole asked, while swallowing some frustration. If he still had his powers, this would be no problem for them.

"I've been waiting for years for an opportunity like this. When I went to Wyoming for the first time, I didn't want to leave. I had to because my boss would have physically chewed my ear off for bailing on him. The people I worked with weren't exactly people you wanted to cross and leaving wasn't exactly simple."

Cole immediately put it together. "The reason why Charlie is on your ass, is because you got up and said "to hell with this I'm out."? Am I in the ball park?"

"You hit a home run." Zeke responded. "I was foolish and I didn't think it all the way through. I thought that I would be able to just gather my stuff and slip out but the military was in my way. Word spread fast and I've been ducking and weaving from them ever since.

"How long they been hounding you?" Cole asked.

"Far too long brother."

"Damn." Cole muttered. He had a new found respect for him now. In Empire City, Zeke was arguably almost as useless as knife in a gun fight. But as the days went by, Zeke did try to be more of use. It was a trial and error period, though it was mostly error. Once they got to New Marais, he turned it all around. Cole may not have figured out certain situations on his own if it weren't for Zeke.

But now, Zeke has been transformed into a hardened survivor. Holding his own for 23 years. On top of dealing with the infected, he had to deal with the hunters' whose number one goal was to have his head on a platter.

"Been to the Gas Works once. Once. Just narrowly managed to escape unscathed".

"What happened?"

"New Marais was failing as a quarantine zone, and while Roger was posted here, he and I worked together me and the remaining people here to escape and head to a sanctuary up north. This was before Jackson was really up and running. Roger was going to commandeer a boat and drive us out. All we had to do was keep our wits about us and survive the trip there."

"But then that bastard Roger sold us out and when we got to the Gas Works, every member of the military was standing there waiting for us. They never gave a shit about us before and just needed a reason why to mow us down. We fought back as hard as we could but it ended up being a bloodbath. Men, women, no one was spared." Zeke's voice cracked a little at the end.

"I don't know what game Roger was playing by killing the remaining guys who were about to kill me but it was too little too late. After that plan went to shit, I got my ass out of there back to Smut Triangle. I started working more with Charlie after that, and I did some things I wasn't too proud of. I came to my senses soon enough and realized he was a little too crazy for my liking. Like I said before, I tried to leave him and his crew try to get to Wyoming. But it blew up in my face."

"From that point, I realized my situation and knew that I really had to shape up. I was stuck in a place where I would be killed if I so much as showed by foot. If I wanted to survive, I needed to get my shit together. By any means necessary."

Zeke began to reach for his neck but stopped midway. "So, if we want out, we got to keep going. We just have to watch ourselves, and we'll be okay."

Cole nodded, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride for his friend.

"Let's scour this area for any supplies. If you can, find as many as glass bottles and bricks as you can. They can be really useful in the Gas Works."

Cole entered a warehouse and found a wide range of supplies and weaponry. He found a hunting rifle with an impressive amount of ammunition. Remembering Zeke's request, he found three glass bottles along with two bricks. He also found a med kit and extra ammunition for his pistol.

He also found a note partially covered in blood.

I don't have much time, so I will make this brief.

Whoever finds these supplies, use them to your heart's content and in my honor. This is a rare rifle that can hold fourteen rounds of ammo instead of the usual six. Reload speed is quick and easy, good when in relatively rough situations. Taking that mechanics class did not fail me.

The scope will allow you to surprise your enemies even from many yards away. But be cautious as the laser can easily give away your position.

I'm done with this life, on to the next.

God speed.

~Ethan.

Cole tucked the note into his bag for future reference.

He exited the warehouse and found Zeke feeling out a shotgun he had found.

"Well it looks like we both got lucky. And damn! You've got a good one there. I've only seen one other like it." Zeke praised.

"Really?" Cole asked. "From who?" He placed the rifle in the holder Zeke had fashioned for him.

"This guy Ethan. I don't know how but he managed to make that rifle hold fourteen rounds of ammo. Guy was unstoppable with that thing. I wonder what happened to him." Zeke spoke.

Cole's face immediately paled. He considered pulling out the note but changed his mind. "I'm sure he's around."

"I managed to gather up some extra supplies. When we get out of here, I show you the life saving process of crafting."

It was a good six hour straight walk from Flood Town's Rail yard to the Gas Works. They managed to avoid conflict with infected, hunters, and military soldiers alike. Along the way, the pair had caught up. Well it was mainly Cole listening to Zeke tell his survivor stories.

It was then Cole really took in of how much Zeke's appearance had really changed. He had a full but groomed beard adorning his face, a noticeable scar that ran across his cheek to his right ear and probably had more on the rest of his body. His usual sleeked back hair had been cut shorter, just slightly sticking out in the front. All those years of surviving had certainly kept Zeke in shape. He still had his trademark gut but it seemed to have shrunk a bit. He definitely had a lot more muscle to him. But the one thing that hasn't changed? Those trademark sunglasses of his.

Zeke also took note of how much Cole had changed, even his 23 years of dormancy. The light stubble beard he had had also grown in a bit. The scar he had on his right cheek had completely healed. Somehow in his sleeping state, it would appear that Cole had gained some muscle mass as well and even aged. Cole joked that all those years of wearing sunglasses were beginning to affect his vision. How could one gain muscle in their sleep?

"It'd be a god damn medical breakthrough if I figured that out 23 years ago. Obesity would have been a thing of the past." Cole laughed.

"There would have been hope for me yet." Zeke laughed while patting his stomach.

It was nightfall when they finally arrived at the Gas Works. It was next to pitch black without the moon's light.

"You got a working flashlight on you?"

"Yep." Cole pulled out his flash light. As soon as he turned it on, they were met with a runner hunched over, back facing them, groaning to himself.

Cole immediately and turned off his flash light. "Geez!"

"It's alright." Zeke whispered. "Because the fungus messes with their eyes, they don't react too well or at all to the presence of light. As long as we keep our distance and keep the noise down, we'll be fine."

Cole nodded his head and turned his flash light back on.

"You got the right idea though. Laying low is the best way to go. Keep your eyes and ears peeled. Like I said these things are everywhere and we got a long way to go." Zeke spoke while crouching down.

The sounds of moaning, groaning, clicking, and growling kept the air tense. Turning every corner was nerve wracking. Not knowing when you would encounter next was enough kept the heart pumping.

"I hate dealing with these fuckers at night." Zeke muttered.

It wasn't until Zeke and Cole turned one specific corner into an alleyway that they ran into two runners were in their way, their backs turned to them, moaning and groaning to themselves. There was no alternative way around them and going back to find another route was not an option. The pair had barely managed to maneuver around a group of five, slightly pissed off bloaters.

"I'll get the one on the left; you get the one on the right. Up to you if you want to choke him out or stab him." Zeke whispered.

Cole opted for choking the runner out. He walked slowly behind it and wrapped his arms around tightly around its neck. After a brief struggle, the runner had gone limp and easily fell to the ground. Cole had looked over just in time to find Zeke plunging his shiv deep into the runner's neck. The gruesome sight had caused Cole to involuntarily flinch.

All of them used to be people...

Afterwards, it was just a straight shot to the Ice tower. Their final destination before they reached the boat. The two of them took cover behind a car to plan.

"Alright, keep those bottles and bricks handy." Zeke instructed.

"What's the plan?"

"The boat is straight ahead. To progress, we need to lure all of them away to clear a path. Move quickly but silently. Take cover whenever possible, even if it ain't necessary. Better safe than dinner."

Cole nodded in understanding and used his radar pulse to get a better understanding of the situation. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh this plan sucks."

"Short notice man." Zeke responded with a smile. "Let's do it. I'm going to draw this first batch towards the alley way. Then grab your nut sack and make a break for it."

Zeke stood up and had to resist crying out as a clicker passed by just inches away from them.

"Jesus." He shook his head and took aim at the wall of an alleyway. Once the sound of glass breaking filled the air, all the infected cried out in harmony and began moving to investigate. Zeke signaled at Cole to move. They quickly moved and took cover behind a car across from the alleyway full of infected. From there, they were able to move about freely until they got to the Ice Tower. The area was full of stalkers, running back and forth, screeching and screaming at God knows what.

Zeke explained that Stalkers were essentially the ninjas of the infected. They could spot anything that wasn't moaning or clicking from yards away. Stalkers also moved very quickly and were skilled in the art of scaring the shit out of you. They were always moving and always hiding so it was close to impossible to predict their next movements. He instructed Cole to continuously use his radar pulse to make sure that none of them would catch them off guard.

"Zeke, this is starting to hurt." Cole normally does not use his radar pulse for a prolonged amount of time. He usually just used it to find the nearest source of electricity, blast shards, or dead drops. Sometimes to indicate where his enemies are and who they were. Increased usage like this was starting to give him a headache.

"Sorry, sorry. Just hold on." Zeke was looking around frantically trying to find a way around the stalkers. Due to their erratic behavior, distracting them had a very high probability of back firing. Taking them head on was not an option but was stilled ruled as an absolute last resort.

"Zeke!" Cole whispered.

"Okay, okay. Um let's climb the ice tower to get a batter vantage point."

Cole exhaled loudly and rubbed his temple to soothe his throbbing headache. They slowly made their way around the ice tower to the ladder. They climbed up and crouched behind a railing that would mask their presence.

"Any ideas?" Cole asked.

"Nothing yet. Stalkers are tricky bastards to maneuver around." Zeke responded while looking around them for some sort of answer.

"You're telling me" Shutting out the pain caused by his throbbing head ache, Cole activated his radar pulse once more to try to find a hint out of this predicament.

"The building behind us is in pretty good condition and so do the other buildings near it."

"You do say?" Zeke pointed his flashlight to the building Cole was suggesting. The building was partially crumbled but the rooftop appeared to be more or less stable.

"Alright, I'll follow your lead."

Cole crouched walked to the railings that were across from the building. Cole climbed on top of the railing stood on it with little to no effort. There was quite a bit of distance between him and the building but they were still fairly level. He jumped forward, grabbed firmly onto the edge of the roof and pulled himself up.

"Still got it." Cole whispered with a smile.

"Nice one brother! Not sure I'll be able to replicate that though. I'm still not a seasoned urban explorer like you are."

"Let me see if I can find something that you can walk across on. You practice balancing on that railing in the mean time." Cole responded.

"Yes sir."

Cole looked around the rooftops and found a plank. Just the right size, not too thin, but not too wide either.

"Hey Z? Think you'll be able to handle this?" Cole turned around and presented the plank to Zeke. His eyes widened when he found Zeke had managed to balance himself on the railing. He was still a bit wobbly, but he was managing much better than he had anticipated.

"It'll have to do. Send it here."

Cole lifted up the plank and then laid it over the edge of the roof top. He pushed it until it reached the railing.

"Take your time." Cole instructed.

"I got it."

After about a minute or so Zeke made it safely across the plank and to the rooftop. He gave Cole a high five once he made it.

"We're still pretty agile for a couple of old geezers." Zeke laughed.

A random noise next to them had alerted the stalkers. The simultaneous screech that had echoed through the air was enough to send chills up and down both Zeke's and Cole's spines.

"Oh man." Cole whispered.

Zeke looked over at where they just were to find a stalker…

Climbing up the ladder.

"What the f-"

Cole quickly placed his hand over Zeke's to stifle his outburst.

This was getting strange.

A clicker had climbed onto the rooftop, looking around furiously for its prey. What the hell was going on?

Once he was sure Zeke would not make any more outbursts, he removed his hand from his mouth.

"Get down." Cole whispered. "Okay this plan went down the shit hole fast. What now?"

"I don't know I've never seen the urban explorer species of the infected." Zeke responded. "How's it looking down there?"

Cole activated his radar pulse. "If we continue on to the next building and drop down there are less infected on the streets. We just have to sneak around them.

"We'll have to take it. Sit tight, I'll take care of this one." Zeke crouch walks to the clicker and stays still to time it right. Once the clicker has his back to him, he grabs it and plants his shiv into the clicker's neck, killing it, and subsequently breaking the shiv.

"Jesus Zeke." Cole whispered.

"Come on, we're clear. We can make our way down with this fire escape here."

The two of them made their down and stayed as close to the buildings as possible. The infected mainly roamed in the middle of streets rather than the sidewalks.

"There she is." Zeke pointed to the boat that was just a few feet away from them. They were approaching an alleyway.

Just as a bloater was making its way out.

Zeke and the bloater had collided into each other. The bloater immediately grabbed Zeke's face placed its hands into his mouth, and began to pull.

Cole, without thinking it through, ran and tackled the bloater to the ground. The bloater had managed to overpower him forcing Cole onto his back. The bloater was without a doubt looking to bite him but Cole used all of his strength to prevent that from happening. Unfortunately, the bloater was just that much stronger than him.

"Damn it!" Cole exclaimed through his strained voice. He was losing the struggle.

The only melee weapon that could bring a bloater down was Cole's amp and it just had to be completely out of reach.

Bullets, even from a shot gun, wouldn't be strong enough either.

Zeke picked up a nearby baseball bat. It wasn't enough but it would have to do for now. He stepped back and with as much strength as he could muster, he swung at the bloater's head. The bat broke and the bloater fell to the side, but wasn't dead yet. It stood up and turned its attention to Zeke.

"Bring it on you ugly son of a bitch." Zeke raised his shotgun.

Cole, remembering the technique Zeke had taught him, took out his amp. He firmly gripped the middle of the amp and placed his palm at the bottom. He reeled back as far as he could and plunged the prongs of the amp into the bloater's head. The prongs had gone straight through the bloater's head and killed it instantly.

Once the bloater laid flat on the ground, Cole used his foot to pull his amp out of the bloater's head.

"Ugh grody…" Cole muttered, noticing the blood and the fungus that still stuck to the amp.

"Now that's how you do it." Zeke praised.

Cole smiled but once he looked behind Zeke and spotted a runner glaring right at them, his smile immediately dropped.

"We gotta go!" Cole exclaimed.

Zeke looked behind him and saw the runner and several other infected coming towards them.

The both of them broke out into a full on sprint.

Cole looked behind him and saw the infected were quickly catching up to them. He pulled out his pistol and began to shoot at them. With impressive accuracy, Cole managed to hit five of the infected directly in the head, one clicker, three runners and one stalker, killing them instantly.

"Save your ammo brother, we're just about there!" Zeke exclaimed.

Once they reached the dock, the immediately jumped onto the boat. Zeke ran to the control room while Cole stayed behind on the deck.

Zeke burst into the control room and found Roger sound asleep.

"Roger! Get your ass moving! We got to motor and I mean that in every literal sense!" Zeke exclaimed.

Roger was startled out of his peaceful slumber and nearly fell out of the driver's seat.

"Come on!" Cole exclaimed. He had his rifle out, shooting at the infected who were trying to get onto the boat.

"Don't let them on!" Roger said as he went to try to start the boat. Zeke ran over with his shotgun to aid Cole.

Cole reached into his bag and pulled out a nail bomb. "Here goes nothing." He tossed it at the hoard of the infected and the nail bomb exploded once it made contact with one of the infected. As promised by Zeke, the nail bomb shred up everything in sight.

Except of course the bloater.

"One more Molotov cocktail should do the trick." Zeke said. He reached into his bag, pulled out a Molotov, and lit it up. Cole did the same.

"One is fun, but two is a blast." Cole stated.

They both threw their Molotov cocktails at the bloater, but at the same time, the bloater had thrown a spore bomb directly at them. Zeke had barely managed to get out of the way but the bomb had hit Cole directly in the ribs.

Cole was surrounded in the dense clouds of spore throwing him into a violent coughing fit.

Roger who had peered out of the control room saw everything and scrambled to get his gun out of his bag.

His search was interrupted by a direct, yet indirect bullet that was fired right at him.

"Zeke! What the hell man? He's infected!"

"Start the boat Roger."

"But-"

"Roger I swear if you do anything other than start that boat I will use your sorry ass and legs as a rowboat!" Zeke barked.

Roger immediately scrambled to the boat's controls and soon had the boat speeding away from the new group infected that had begun to pursue them.

Once the cloud of spores had cleared up completely, Zeke walked over to Cole and knelt down beside him to check on him.

"You alright brother?" Zeke asked.

Cole was still coughing violently, rendering him unable to answer.

Zeke took off his bag, reached in and pulled out a bottle of water; a rare commodity. He opened it and guided Cole to drink from it.

"Oh God. I forgot how great water is." Cole said between coughs.

"Well drink up, all yours." Cole took the water bottle and thanked Zeke. He quickly gulped down the water, breathing heavily.

Zeke stood up and walked back to the control room to check on Roger. "How we doing here Roger?"

"We should arrive in Texas sometime tomorrow. Bypassing the blockade should be easy."

"Good, good."

"Zeke, take the scanner and check."

"Roger-"

"I'm serious Zeke! I don't want to take any chances here! If his ass is infected, toss him overboard."

"If anyone's ass is going to be thrown overboard it'll be yours if you don't watch it." Zeke responded. Roger remained silent but rolled his eyes.

Nonetheless, Zeke complied with the request and grabbed Roger's scanner.

Zeke returned to Cole and found him still on his knees trying to recover.

"Hey uh Cole? Sorry I got to do this again. Standard protocol."

Cole nodded and remained on his knees. Zeke went behind him, placed the scanner on his head and sincerely prayed that Cole was not infected. He was told that the spore bombs thrown from Bloaters were usually not infectious, but no one knew for sure. Despite that, he still prayed to whoever was listening for Cole to not be infected.

He wouldn't be able to stand losing his brother a second time.