Chp. 3
James groaned a bit as he sat up on his cot. He smiled at the sleeping form of his little girl and gently cupped her cheek. She looked just like her mother. James shook his head, not wanting to think back on losing Myra. He stood and realized his teammates were already having some breakfast before setting out. The nearest evacuation center was a bit far since they were moving on foot. However, if the weather didn't drastically change during the trek, they may yet make it out of this alive. It was hard enough fighting the infected in a downpour. He stretched and winced, remembering his fight with the hunter from the previous night. James had no illusions that he got off easy; had that thing been stronger or worked with a pack James wouldn't be with his team.
Across from him he saw Lisa helping Zack sit up, holding a canteen of water to his lips. He drank slowly and saved some for everyone else, gently pushing the canteen away before giving Lisa a grateful nod as he tried to stand. Natalie stirred and rose from her cot; she didn't look like she got much rest. All the same, her face lit up when food was offered to her. Mark and Cassandra began to reload their weapons while Raul peered through the bars of the backdoor. He was looking out for any other infected in the area and he was happy to report most of them were common infected, and that only a few were witches idly sitting around and wailing. Shane worked on packing more supplies into the medical kits since he was worried about Zack and James' wounds.
"So what's our itinerary, boss?" Raul asked with a chuckle as he loaded his pistols, earning a snort from the older man.
"We'll head south across the bridge, there's an evac station further down with our names on it. If we're lucky, we'll be picked up and taken to a refugee camp." James replied as he grabbed his hunting rifle. A few uncertain murmurs arose from the team. They had heard of the new special infected that dwell further down south and were none too excited about encountering them. The current special infected were bad enough, but monsters such as chargers, jockeys, and spitters would only serve to make things even more difficult. Not only that but they had heard reports over the radio of tanks and chargers massacring survivors at the same time, either killing the entire group or leaving it down to one or two people lucky enough to escape.
James sensed their hesitance and spoke up, "We've all been through a lot these past three months. Many of us started out alone. Mark you were taking up shelter in an over turned RV for two weeks, picking off infected like ants before we found you. And Lisa, had it not been for you taking a bat to that hunter's head, I would be dead right now. One thing that's brought us together and has taken us so far along is the will to live. We will make it to the evacuation center."
"Shouldn't we try and see if we can't hot wire a vehicle at the very least?" Shane asked from the table stacked with ammo, "It would get us down south quicker, and we'd be safer from the infected."
Cassandra nodded, "True, it would be faster. But at the same time we have to worry about the roads being blocked by traffic. Many people abandoned their cars as the infection took over them. Not to mention if we break into a car, we risk setting off the alarms and pissing off a lot of zombies."
"We can handle the horde", answered Raul, shrugging on his jacket.
Natalie shook her head and piped up, "It isn't the horde that has me worried so much as it is attracting a tank. With all the cars laying around, we won't have to worry about him throwing chunks of concrete at us…"
A few murmurs of agreement met her and Shane idly wondered if it would be worth it at all. It was up to James to decide.
"We'll see if we can't hoof it all the way down south. If we can hotwire a car, or more likely a truck, we'll take a chance at least once", James stated as he picked up his M-16 assault rifle and slung the strap around his torso, "Now, if we're all ready, let's get going."
XX
The first thing Terra was aware of was the warm breath on the nape of her neck. As she turned over, she came face to face with a hunter. A mute scream escaped her and she crawled away, clutching the blanket to her body. It hadn't even moved, her sudden motions hadn't awakened it. Her false sense of security soon withered as the creature before her let out a long yawn, allowing its blood flecked tongue to loll out. She began to remember the events of the previous day. That thing before her had gotten her out of the basement where those monsters had kept her. But why? Hunters were killing machines, pouncing on and shredding anything that moved. But this one… It stretched out much like a cat would do, grunting a bit as limbs popped and muscles contracted with his motions.
The hooded monster turned to her and sniffed at her a moment, recognizing her scent. He turned and went about exploring the safe house. She searched for something to at least clothe her bottom half. At the very least she could tie her blouse a bit. Outside were the moans of the infected as they bumbled about aimlessly. Perhaps another day of rest would be for the best, but she decided against it. Those men could be searching for her, it wouldn't be wise to stick around and wait to find out. As she searched the house she came across a discarded pair of men's jeans. It was certainly better than nothing. As she dressed herself she felt as though she was being watched. She turned and let out a squeak of fear as the hunter stood crouched a few feet behind her. Terra backed up a bit since Skoll's presence made her nervous. He grunted and motioned to the door.
Open.
Terra took a step and felt the jeans fall past her hips. She gripped them and yanked them back up, her face flushing with embarrassment. After taking a bit of rope laying under a chair, she ran it through the belt loops and tied it secure to her waist. Again Skoll let out a soft yelp, motioning to the door. If she didn't know any better, it almost sounded like he'd said "HEY". After pulling on some shoes and grabbing a crowbar, she opened the door. Skoll brushed past her and began to walk down to the forest path. Terra went her own way, moving farther away from the cabin and Skoll. The hunter noticed her scent was drifting away and so he bounded back up the hill to bring her along with him.
Terra heard him taking pursuit and started to run as fast as she could down the road. She wasn't as fast as she used to be, having only rested a while and found nothing to eat while in the safe house. She let out a cry of pain and fear as the large hunter pounced and tackled her with ease. His hands were planted on her shoulder blades and his hips rested just over the small slope of her rear end. The memories came flashing back into Terra's mind and she rounded on him, suddenly lashing out, the side of her palm striking his jaw and stunning him a bit. Skoll stumbled back and let out a confused grunt as he rolled onto all fours, growling at her.
Did she not understand that he was her pack leader? Skoll growled again as she raised the crowbar with shaky limbs to defend herself. He smirked as he realized her arms were too weak to really do anything. That backlash she'd dealt was only powered by a sudden wave of panic, nothing more. He tensed his body and prepared to pounce again. Terra felt her heart racing. This thing was just tormenting her now. She stood on shaky legs and the creature watched her confusedly before mimicking her. Skoll stood a good extra two feet over Terra, making her feel like a mouse at the mercy of a lion. He bared his teeth and she cringed at the red staining them, recalling how he'd sank them into Randall's throat. The sound of Terra's stomach growling caught his attention.
So that was it. His pack member was hungry and needed food. She wanted to find prey, not leave him behind. He could hear a squirrel just behind her climbing down a tree. Without hesitation he pounced and crushed the tiny creature's body under his palm. Clenching the tail between his teeth, Skoll trotted back next to her and laid the dead animal at her feet. Terra gave him a skeptical stare, not understanding at first what his intention was with the squirrel. Then it dawned on her: he expected her to eat it. For the first time, Terra spoke to him.
"I can't eat that."
Skoll cocked his head, confused. She refused to eat what he caught for her? By her motions, he noticed she was pointing down the road. She was searching for food down that way. Perhaps it would be a good idea to head farther away from his territory for the time being; he was still healing after all. And maybe more hunters would take an interest and go back with him when he was ready to slaughter Shroud and his followers. When it seemed Skoll had relented, Terra breathed a sigh of relief and began to trek down the road, listening for other infected.
XX
Natalie was exhausted as they traveled along the highway, the sun beat down on her back irritating her further. She couldn't say anything to her father because she didn't want to hold anyone up just because she was tired. The only other thing that kept her going was the infected and getting as much distance between them and herself as possible. Besides, her dad had said they were on their way to an evacuation rendezvous; once they made it they would be carried off to safety, possibly an island. Zack fell back with her, his wounds beginning to have an effect on him. He tried to make conversation with her and noticed her responses were slow and somewhat slurred. Natalie only shrugged off his concern, assuring him she would be fine.
The group came to a stop in front of a wide range of open road. There were only a few cars piled along the road now, not bumper to bumper like it had been for the past twenty-five miles. It seemed James was willing to give Shane's idea to hot wire a vehicle a chance. The ex-librarian managed to pull it off without a hitch. One van window was rolled down just enough for him to unlock the door and climb in.
"You're serious? We're traveling down south in a mini-van?" Raul practically balked at the idea as he reloaded his gun and helped to keep watch for any infected.
"It's available, Raul," Mark chuckled as he handed the other man the water canteen, "Besides, it can carry all of us along quicker and we'll save up on ammo for the time being."
"In other words, it's better than nothing," Cassandra chimed in, stretching out her legs a bit, "Can't wait for Shane to get that baby hot wired, my feet are killing me."
She didn't have to wait long before they all heard the tell tale signs of the ignition sounding along the quiet highway. Not long after that they heard the high pitched howl of the infected heading right towards them.
"Everybody get in the van, we're taking off now!" James ordered as he ushered Natalie into the back seat, letting Shane take his place as the driver. For now at least. The van took off down the road with a whole swarm on their tail. As Natalie had predicted the rough roar of an oncoming tank erupted from behind the infected, spurring Shane to step on the pedal. Raul and Mark opened the sun roof and took aim, blasting the over muscular abomination. Even with the tank in pursuit many common infected kept pace and some managed to latch on to the bumper of the car. Cassandra had opened up the trunk window and put a bullet into their heads before they even had a chance to climb up after the two men. The tank was beginning to gain on the van, and the three shooters were becoming desperate. Mark traded his machine gun for Zack's hunting rifle; at the right moment he took a shot and struck the tank in the forehead. The great beast fell to the asphalt, dead.
The survivors settled down as the horde began to slow down and lose interest. After about a half hour, they had lost sight of the infected. Natalie sighed with relief and slowly closed her eyes, falling asleep to the hum of the vehicle's engine. James gave Shane a pat on the shoulder and a friendly smile to which the youth returned. The sun was beginning to set, allowing some of the survivors to rest in the back as Shane and James stayed alert. The two said nothing for a long time but as the evening wore on into night, the sound of thunder brought them to attention.
"Fuck, a storm's brewing…" Shane grumbled as rain began to patter against the windshield, "And we're running low on gas."
James muttered a curse of his own as lightning flashed across the sky, "There's a gas station up ahead, just take the next exit. I'll get everyone up."
The sergeant unbuckled his seat belt and turned around, gently shaking Mark's knee, rousing him from his sleep. James urged him to wake up Raul and the others, explaining their situation. Within moments everyone was fully awake, weapons loaded, their faces determined. James couldn't be any prouder of his team; there was not a word of complaint, not even from Zack. Shane soon pulled up to the gas station and gave the convenience store the once over. Inside, the lights were flickering; despite the attention it would probably attract, it was a sign there was still power. The group stumbled out of the van, checking for signs of infected nearby. So far there were no threats to be found and so Mark began pumping gas into the van.
"Let me try and find a gas container or two," Raul murmured to him, "There's bound to be a few laying around. It would be for the best to get what we can and stop as little as possible."
"Not a bad idea," James agreed, checking the safety on his pistols, "Let me come with you. This place is too quiet for its own good."
Once Mark was done filling the tank, he followed the other men while the others stayed behind to search for food and drinks. Raul felt the same as James, the place was definitely too quiet. There had to have been something lurking in the dark waiting for them… He swallowed nervously as they went around the back to find several dead bodies; upon further inspection, they discovered the cadavers were that of the infected. That didn't make any of them relax, though; these infected hadn't been shot but instead slashed to death.
"Witch… Lights out," James muttered, feeling his blood chill. As they went on towards the storehouse, they spotted her just sitting in the threshold. The constant crying and sniffling as she hugged her seemingly frail body would have been enough to make anyone think she was docile. At least until she turned rabid and had to be put down. While it was a morbid thought, they had gas tanks to find and she was a nasty obstacle. Before James took aim to try and crown her, Mark put his hand on the sergeants arm, stopping him.
"Wait, we can do this without setting her off… Let's try and see if we can't go around first. If we can't, then we'll cap her," he offered glancing nervously at the bawling, infected woman. After a moment James relented and led them around the side of the storehouse. Sure enough there was a door, it was locked, but James managed to kick it in right off the hinges. They aimed their weapons, ready for anything, but no, nothing was there save for the witch. Lightning continued to flash, illuminating their way through the storehouse. Something red flashed in the sudden spark of light and they discovered four empty gas tanks.
"Alright, grab them and let's get the hell out of here…" Mark murmured quietly as he kept a lookout for any other infected. James and Raul took two cans each as Mark kept them covered on the way back to the van. They returned to find the rest of their group carrying an icebox loaded with a little bit of food mainly comprised of frozen hotdogs and bags of beef jerky. Perhaps stopping here wasn't so bad after all, James thought to himself as he started pumping gas into the two cans. Natalie handed him a bottle of water and smiled wearily, her tiredness was beginning to show through. He had her go back to the van as he finished off the second tank and carried them back to the trunk.
"We managed to grab some ice, it should keep the hotdogs preserved a bit longer. The chicken they had sitting out was spoiled, unfortunately. There was plenty of water so we should be set on our way down…" Cassandra read off the list as James took the wheel for Shane.
"I found some pills," Lisa piped up from the very back, "and I found a few medical supplies. Nothing like what we found at the hospital, but it should suffice."
"Think we'll make it, sergeant?" Zack asked from behind James.
"We'll get as far as we can with the van… I'll be honest though, I don't think gas is really going to be that much of a problem," he replied quietly, pulling out his pistol.
"What is the problem then?" Zack asked, panic rising up in him.
James turned the ignition and flicked on the headlights at their lowest level to reveal a flock of infected standing in the rain, "That…"
/
Alrighty, here is chapter 3. I'm trying to keep the story of James and his survivors balanced out with Terra traveling with Skoll. I'm not sure if I'll ever have them meet up with the survivors from Left 4 Dead/Left 4 Dead 2. As always, read and review. And don't be shy to offer constructive critique.