Chapter 3 is here and it's super long, ten pages. Enjoy Ladies and Gent! Yeah, this is unbetaed...mkay!
Warnings and Disclaimers in chapter 1
Chapter 3
The City Is A Killer
Jeanne let out a curse as an explosion rocked the road that she and her friend were walking on. Said friend turned their head to watch as a huge smoke plume filled the western area of Pittsburgh. They inclined their head to Jeanne and said, "I feel as though it's our duty to go help out whoever the hell that was."
"No way, we're almost to the end of this godforsaken city!" Jeanne snapped, lifting her pack up, "we lost our car, thanks to those damn trap, and I for one don't want to be in city any longer!"
"Understandable, but, I am going to check it out, you stay put here, heaven knows that the damn explosion has attracted hordes of zombies, they'll be coming this way too…" Jeanne's friend said, before they were off, running to the west side of the city.
Jeanne let out a huff, before she was off as well, following behind her friend, "Wait up! I don't want to be left behind you fool!"
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"Why do I get the feeling we've been going in circles?" Stephanie asked Ranger softly, earning a hard look, "Well, I mean, we've been past this same building twice!"
Ranger nodded his head and then said, in a low voice, "I know, Stephanie, it's a trap, and we've fallen for it."
Ranger had been a bit angry for falling into the trap, but all the back roads had been barricaded, leaving only the main roads for them to travel on. He sent a message to Lester and Tank to be on the lookout, that there would be company soon. If he could, he'd find the ones responsible for barricading the god damn bypass for zombies and kill them, though, they might be long dead.
"Should we get out and walk the rest of the way out the city?" Stephanie asked softly, turning to look at Mary Alice and Lisa, "I mean, are we like fish in the barrel?"
"I hope not," Ranger confessed, before he turned again, "If we go around again, we're getting out and moving a barricade, that'll get us out of this area."
Stephanie looked down at the map, and then said, "if you keep going up this street a quarter mile, then there should be a back alley, we could use the alley."
Ranger turned to Stephanie and said, "Sounds like a plan," before he turned to look back at the road, and slammed on the brakes, so he wouldn't hit the figure that stood in the middle of it. Stephanie let out a gasp and whispered, "Ranger, it's a child….."
Indeed, the figure was a child, maybe around Lisa's age. They were on the skinny side, with pale skin that was covered in dirt. The child had long black hair that was up in a single braid. They wore an oversized t-shirt with a pair of shorts that were two times the child's size and the whole outfit was finished with a pair of tattered black sandals.
Lisa looked up to Ranger and asked, "Ranger, why are they out in the middle of the street, they could get hit!"
"No they wouldn't," Mary Alice snapped, crossing her arms, "We're the only cars in the whole damn city."
"Mary Alice, Language," Stephanie said, before she turned to Ranger, "Ranger, is this a trap?"
Ranger, shifted the black SUV into reverse, which caused Tank to the reverse the other SUV. The two cars had only began to back down the street, when shots rang out, and the SUV began to tilt, having had one of the tires flatten.
Ranger swore loudly as people began to rush out of the abandoned buildings, fuck they had been watching them this whole time! Stephanie reached for her holstered gun, but the window on her side was shattered when something blunt hit it. Mary Alice and Lisa began to scream as their windows were shattered and hands reached in to unlock their doors.
"No, let me go you jerks!" Lisa screamed as hands pulled her out the SUV, "Auntie Stephanie, M.A.! Help me!"
"Let go of my sisters, you bastards!" Mary Alice shrieked, grabbing for Lisa, only to scream as hands grabbed her and hauled her out the SUV, "Auntie Stephanie!"
"Let go of them!" Stephanie yelled, climbing out the SUV to get to her nieces, "Leave them alone!"
Stephanie screamed as hands grabbed her. She watched as everyone else was pulled out the SUVs, and one by one, they were all subdued, until it was Stephanie's turn. She heard the high pitch buzz from a Taser and let out a yelp as she was shocked, her vision blackening.
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"Let me go!" Lisa cried, struggling in her captor's arms, "Lemme go, you jerks!"
Mary Alice turned to her sister and snapped, "Stop it, Lisa, be quiet! You're only making them madder!"
After the initial ambush, everyone but Mary Alice and Lisa had been shocked by the Taser and tied up, before being thrown into the back of a truck. The two children had been forced into another car, their captors still holding on tight to them. They were going into the heart of the city, into places that were infested with zombies.
Mary Alice looked over to her sister and then said, "Hush Lisa," watching as her younger sister began to cry loudly, asking for Ranger, Stephanie, Lester, Lula, anyone but her captors.
"Shut the kid up!" Someone snapped, giving Lisa a dirty look, "Use the Taser on her."
"Don't you dare!" Mary Alice screeched, before she used the back of head and head-butted the person who held her, "LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARDS!"
The man holding her groaned in agony, letting go of her, giving Mary Alice the chance to grab the person who was driving the car, causing them to swerve on the cracked road. She kicked and screamed, causing all kinds of mayhem in the car. She managed to grab the steering wheel and turn it sharply, causing the car to crash into a wrecked truck. The jolt of the crash had everyone jerking. Mary Alice kicked the person who held her sister in the face and opened the door screaming, "Lisa! Get out of here! Hurry!"
Lisa didn't need to be told twice and shimmed out of the car, before taking off into an alleyway. Mary Alice made to follow her, but a hand grabbed her leg and pulled her back into the car. She struggled and screamed until finally one of her captors used the Taser on her, effectively knocking her out.
"What about the littlest one?" one of the captors asked, watching Lisa scurry into the Alley.
"Forget her, she'll be eaten up by those fucking zombies." The driver growled, turning to Mary Alice's prone form, "Fucking feisty for a kid, tie her up, we need to hurry up and get them back to base, so the Boss can deal with them."
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
Stephanie let out a moan of pain, as she came to. The first thing she knew was that she was bound to a chair, the coarse ropes digging into her skin. The second thing she knew was that she wasn't alone in the room. She opened her eyes and focused them with several blinks. She was in a windowless room, with Ranger, Lester, Tank and Lula. Where were the children?! Where were her nieces?!
"Three men, two women, and a child, a girl," A voice said, causing Stephanie's head to turn, her eyes landing on a man sitting close to the door, "the women we could use, the child should be entering puberty soon, we could use her then, but the men, we don't need men…."
"Mary Alice…." Stephanie groaned, straining against the ropes, "Lisa, where are….they….."
"Ah, looks like one of them is awake," The man said, getting up and walking over to Stephanie, lifting her head up by her hair, "My, aren't you a cutie…."
'Let go of me," Stephanie said softly, earning a head jerk, "Where are my nieces…."
"Nieces, why there's only one child with you, my men lost one, while the older one caused them to crash the car, feisty little thing, she's up now, but we had to separate her, she bit off one of my men's ear."
"Good," Stephanie sneered at the man before her, earning a slap to her face.
"I see where she gets it from," The man said, before letting go of Stephanie's hair, "Now, your little friends should be waking up soon, and I'll tell you all your fates, and boy, are they good."
In the dim lighting, Stephanie took a good look at the man in front of her. He could have been called handsome, though the hardships of life must have worn him down, he looked like he was 50, with grey hair and hard green eyes. He wore a pair of jeans and a black shirt, with cowboy boots. Now that he wan man handling her, she could see the guns that he had tucked in his jeans.
"Come on now, everyone, time to wake up!" the man said, smacking his captive's faces, "this is fun part, and you can't sleep through it!"
There were groans and moans, before everyone was fully awake. Stephanie turned to Ranger and said, "Ranger, Lisa's gone, and she's in the city!"
"When we get out of this place, we'll go find her, Lisa is a smart cookie, she'll be hidden away," Lester said, as he strained against his bonds, "you ought to untie us and fight us like a real man, huh?!"
"Stand down Santos," Tank said, glaring at Lester, who deflated, "we're surrounded and we don't have weapons."
"Military men, I see," The man said, looking at them all, "Damn, we especially hate those kind of people, they're the ones who tried to drive the zombies out the city, but it didn't work, lost a lot of innocent people. That containment plan was shit."
"We had no part in that plan," Ranger started but was cut short by the butt of a gun hitting his face, earning a cry from Stephanie.
"Fucking liar, it's the government's fault you know, for all of this, it's always the government's fault," the man raged, looking at Ranger, who spat out a mouthful of blood, "Did it hurt? Good, I hope it did, I was going to have mercy on you men, but not anymore, the women we'll keep, they have their uses…."
"I ain't going to be no toy for a bastard-" Lula started, but Tank shushed her up sharply.
"And you three, I was going to shoot up between the eyes, yeah, but now, I've a better idea, I'm going to feed you to those fucking zombie, the ones you tried so hard to contain!'
Stephanie's eyes widened and she said, "You're mad! Just let us go, we didn't do anything to you, let us go damn it!"
"We'll be back for you soon, enjoy your last few moments of life, men, better make them count," The man said, before he left the room, slamming the door shut and locking it.
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"So this is what caused the explosion," Jeanne said, walking up to the smoldering remains of two SUVs, "Shit they must have taken all the supplies from the trucks, and torched them…."
"And took the occupants too," Jeanne's friend said, picking up the burnt remains of a child's jacket, "There were children in these cars, but there are no bodies, they must have taken them to their base."
Jeanne sighed and said, "Thank the stars we fell for the abandoned trap, our asses would be grass by-"
A high pitch scream filled the area, making Jeanne and her friend turn. Jeanne's friend turned to a barricaded road and said, "It came from over there, come on, it looks like they've just moved this barricade."
Jeanne raced after her friend, hoping that whoever made that cream was still alive.
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
Lisa had tired to follow the car and truck that had her sister and aunt, but then they went into an area she couldn't reach. When she couldn't follow them, she tried to make her way back to the SUVs, hoping that they would still be there. Instead of finding the SUV, she found zombies, dozens of them, in an alleyway. She had fled, of course, but those zombies were fast, her little feet could only go so fast. She ended up hiding in a car locking all the doors and hoping that the zombies wouldn't make their way into the car. The zombies were now trying to force their way into the car, and the window were about to give way.
Lisa let out a scream, and covered her ears, crying loudly, she wanted her Aunt, she wanted her sister, and she wanted Lester. She was going to die, and they would never see her again!
Lisa screamed as the windows gave way, shatter around her, she kicked at the decaying limbs that reached out for her, she may die, but she wasn't going down without a fight. She hated the stench that the zombies gave off, they smelt like road kill.
Lisa screamed as a hand grabbed her leg, and began to pull her to the window, but a flash of something metal caught Lisa's eye and then the grip on her leg went slack, and she watched as the zombie's hand was cut clean off the zombie's body. Lisa watched with wide eyes as the zombies fell, one by one, their heads flying all around the car.
"Hey kid, are you alright?" A woman's voice asked, causing Lisa to look out and to see a blond woman looking inside the car with bright green eyes, "You weren't bitten or anything, right?"
Lisa shook her head, before she launched herself at the woman, hugging her and crying about how these bad men ambushed them all and how her friends and family were going to die because of the bad men. The woman sputtered and tried to console Lisa, but Lisa continued crying until a firm hand to her back had her stopping.
"Now, stop your crying, if you continue to cry, we can't save your friends," The person with the firm hand said, earning a head nod from Lisa, "Now, can you lead us back to where they took your family?"
Lisa nodded her head and said, "It looks like an old warehouse, please hurry, They have Auntie Stephanie, M.A. and Ranger!"
The blond woman looked over to her friend and echoed, "Ranger?! No way….that could be anyone…..well kid, come on…let's go save your group."
The blond woman picked Lisa up and the three began to the short trek to where the people were holding Lisa's group. Lisa took a good look at the blond woman's friend. The person was a woman, a beautiful woman with long black hair that was up in a single braid. She had skin the color of milk chocolate and dark amber eyes. She was short, if the woman stood by her Aunt Stephanie, she'd barely reach her neck. She wore a pair of blue jeans, a white tank top and a long sleeve blue flannel shirt that was four times her small size. The only weapons the woman had was a sword strapped to her back and what appeared to be a boomerang.
Lisa looked up at the woman who was carrying her and took a good look at her as well. She had short blond hair, bright green eyes and soft pale skin. Unlike her friend, she was tall, maybe six feet tall. She wore a pair of black pants, and a black tank top. She had several guns attached to her body, and along with the guns, there was a large pack perched on her back.
"You're lucky kid," The blond woman said, as they got closer to the warehouse, "If It wasn't for the fact that we couldn't get past those damn zombies on the bypass, we would be long gone by now."
"Don't tell her that, Jeanne," The other woman said softly, before she stopped and said, "Jeanne, we can't go any further, they have snipers posted at the top of every building surrounding the warehouse."
"We'll be killed on the spot," Jeanne cursed, before she turned to her friend and said, "Sweetness, how are we going to do this?"
"I say…" Jeanne's friend started, looking around, "We give them a distraction, a living dead distraction…"
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"Aunt Stephanie," Mary Alice sobbed, hugging Stephanie, "I thought you were dead!"
"You have blood on you, is it yours?" Stephanie asked hugging Mary Alice tightly, "Did they hurt you?"
"No, but I hurt them, bit the ear off of one of those bastards," Mary Alice said with a smile, before it faltered, "Lisa' gone, she managed to escape, but in this city, she could be dead by now, I should have never told her to escape!"
"Lisa is smart and small, she can hide in places where those fucking creepers can't get to her." Lula said, hugging Mary Alice, "For now, we have to worry about us."
"Where's Ranger, Lester and Tank?" Mary Alice asked, looking over Lula and Stephanie's shoulder at the door, "Aren't they going to put us together?"
The three jumped as the door to Mary Alice's jail opened and the man that had manhandled Stephanie walked in, giving them all feral looks. Stephanie placed Mary Alice behind her and asked, "Where are the men at?!"
"Getting ready to die, we just needed to come and get you ladies, after they're dead, you all will have to start pulling your weight around here, the little lady is a little young, but that means you both have to do double time for her."
"What does he mean, Aunt Stephanie?" Mary Alice asked softly, causing Stephanie to press her against her.
"We'll see," Lula said as the men grabbed them, leading them out the cell and into the dimly lit hallway.
They walked a little ways before climbing up a set of stairs that led to the catwalk of the main floor of the warehouse. Stephanie's heart leapt to her throat, seeing Ranger, Lester and Tank, on the main floor. There was no one else down there, seeing as everyone else was up on the catwalk, looking down and leering at the men. Two men stood next to a chain and pulley system, which would open the main doors of the warehouse, letting in the zombies.
"Now, my dears," The man said, giving Stephanie and Lula looks, "the fun can begin, you all can watch as the men die such a horrible death."
"Ranger!" Stephanie yelped, trying to reach the railings of the catwalk, only to be forced back by a group of men, "Let him go! Please! We'll do what you want, just let them live!"
"We don't let the government pigs live!" a voice shouted in the crowd, "Kill the pigs!"
"No! Please, let them go!" Mary Alice begged, watching as the metal doors were slid open, to reveal six zombies, dragging their broken legs into the main floor of the warehouse, "NO! let them go you bastards!"
Though they were injured, the Zombies moved quick, which had the three men dodging and running away from them. There was nothing that they could use as a weapon, the people who held them captive made sure of that. The extra doors were boarded up shut, and all loose items were gone. The ony thing that remained were the metal stills holding up the catwalks, and the old blood that smeared the walls from other people who died from being eaten by zombies.
Ranger let out a curse as he kicked away a zombie, they were not going to last long, at this rate. Ranger turned his head sharply, hearing Lester say, "Ranger! Look up!"
Ranger looked up at the catwalk, and paused, seeing one of the metal bars that was used for the railing hanging off. It was obviously broken, if only they could get it. Ranger turned to see Mary Alice struggling in the grip of one of her captors, "Mary Alice, over there, get that bar for us!"
Mary Alice looked down at Ranger, and then over to where he was pointing to. She was right beside it! If she could just reach it! Mary Alice let out a growl and bit the man holding her, causing him to yelp and let go of her. Mary Alice slipped over to the broken bar, and with her foot, kicked it off the rest of the way, causing the heavy metal bar to fall down onto the floor below them with a loud clang. Tank grabbed the fallen bar, and when a zombie came charging up to him, he swung with all his might, hitting the zombie in the head, smashing it in.
"You little bitch!" Mary Alice's captor growled, grabbing the girl and with ease, tossing her over the catwalk, making her fall onto the floor below.
"MARY ALICE!" Stephanie screamed, watching with horror as her niece fell with a loud scream, landing with a thud on the floor, her small frame not moving, "NO!"
Mary Alice let out a moan, lifting her head up and screaming as a pair of zombies came charging after her. Ranger, Lester and Tank wouldn't make it to her in time, she would be eaten up! Mary Alice closed her eyes, expecting her fate, but two gunshots rang out and the zombies fell down, dead. Mary Alice opened her eyes, and watched as the rest of the zombies that hadn't been killed by Tank were killed by a phantom gun.
Everyone was silent, looking around and trying to figure who killed the zombies. They didn't have to wait for the person for long, because, two figures jumped down from the rafters, landing on the catwalk. Lester let out a whistle and said, "Well, I'll be damned is that Borrows!?"
"Well I'll be damned, it's the same Ranger and his merry band of fools," Jeanne sighed, before pulling Lisa off her back, "Pardon us, kid, but we have to beat the bad guys."
"Auntie Stephanie!" Lisa said, running over and hugging the surprised woman, "you're still alive!"
"Kill these bitches!" The man in charge roared, pointing to Jeanne and her friend, who took out her sword, "Kill them all!"
Jeanne's friend didn't hesitate, she moved swiftly, barely moving her blade to slash open the men who tried to shoot at her. She moved with ease, dodging flying bullets and baseball bats. Jeanne herself took out her guns and began shooting at the people who scrambled to get weapons. She turned to Stephanie and Lula and said, "You need to get down there, and find a way out, we may have let in a dozens of zombies, purely on accident, by the way….."
"You what?!" Stephanie asked, giving Jeanne the stink eye, "Are you trying to kill us all?!"
"We had to get in somehow," Jeanne said, shooting a person, "Shit, come on Plum, get your butt in gear and get these girls out of here!"
Jeanne gave Stephanie a coil of rope, before she joined her friend in killing people. Stephanie turned to Lisa and Lula and said, "Okay, let's climb down," before she tied one end of the rope to the railing, "We have to hurry!"
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
Okay, maybe blowing up the front entrance of the base, and letting in hundreds of zombies hadn't been one of the best plans they could have come up with, in fact, it was downright dangerous. Jeanne's friend had been thinking on her feet, and made a lot of noise, attracting several zombies, and the like. She then told Jeanne to get the rocket launcher and blow up the entrance. Lisa had been excited to see the rocket launcher and made a loud noise when it went off.
Not one of their greatest ideas, Jeanne will be the first to admit that one. They went storming in, guns a blazing and hundreds of zombies chasing after them and anyone else with a pulse. They had to climb up into the rafters to prevent themselves from being eaten. They traveled through the rafters and over to where all the noise was coming from. As it turned out, it was the main floor of the warehouse, and there in the middle of the damn floor was-
"Fuck, it's Manoso," Jeanne hissed, watching the three men fight zombies, "And they're going to get eaten!"
"Well, the child that those men just threw off the catwalk is going to get eaten first," Jeanne's friend said, pulling out a pistol from Jeanne's pocket, "We can't have that now, can we…."
"No way they can't eat my sister," Lisa hissed from her perch on Jeanne's back, "Kill 'em!"
Jeanne's friend fired four shots, killing the zombies that tried to eat the child, and then the other zombies that the men didn't kill themselves.. The two then jumped down the rafters and onto the catwalk, where Jeanne's friend took out her favorite weapon and went to town on the group, killing everyone. Jeanne had given some rope to Stephanie and told her to find a way out, before the zombies came and got them all. Jeanne and her friend would follow behind, once they were all out of the main floor of the warehouse.
"Come on now!" Jeanne snapped to her friend, watching her kill the last person, "Those fucking zombies are coming and we need to split!"
Jeanne's friend raced back to her and together, the two jumped down onto the main floor, taking the same route that Stephanie and the others took.
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"I'm fine," Mary Alice said with a smile, as Stephanie checked her over for injuries, "I was just jolted around a bit."
"I don't care if you're fine, I'm not fine," Stephanie said, before she hugged Mary Alice, "Thank goodness Jeanne and her friend popped up, or else we would all be dead."
Stephanie turned to where Jeanne and Ranger stood. They were talking in hushed voices to Jeanne's companion. They had managed to escape the heart of the city, and were now in the outskirts, looking for a working vehicle that they could drive out of the city. By the sounds of the conversation, Ranger, Lester and Tank wanted Jeanne and her friend to join them, by the sounds of it, Jeanne wanted to accept the offer, but her friend wasn't budging.
"No," Jeanne's friend said, shaking her head, and looking over to the men, "We can't join, we have to get to D.C.."
"You can't get into D.C.," Tank told the woman softly, his eye hard, "They bombed it a week after the zombie outbreak, it's been flatten to oblivion."
The woman turned her head and then said to Jeanne, "Where would they go, then?! Where?!"
"The mountains, or someplace cold," Jeanne said to her friend, wrapping her arms around the small woman, "Look, we'll join Ranger and his ragtag group, go out west and hopefully find what we're looking for."
The woman sighed and then said, nodding her head, "Fine, we'll join them, but once we find what we're looking for, we're splitting up."
Jeanne nodded her head and then said to Ranger, "We'll join you guys on your little Oregon Trail thing, but then-"
"OH BOY!" Lisa squealed, hugging Jeanne, "I'm glad you two are coming with us, you both are so strong, those creepers aren't going to mess with us now!"
Lisa let go of Jeanne and turned to the smaller woman, "I like how you know how to use a sword, can you teach me how to use one?"
The woman blinked, before she smiled and said, "Of course, you're not a real woman without one," placing a hand on Lisa's head, earning a smile.
"What's your name, you never did tell me your name!" Lisa said, hugging the woman tightly, "I can't call you lady all the time!"
"My name is Heidi," the woman said before she turned to the group, "We should really get going, if we're to find a working car and leave this place."
Stephanie walked over to Ranger and asked, "Are you sure we can trust Jeanne and Heidi? I mean, they're quite powerful…."
"I'd rather have them with us, than against us, we'll be fine with them," Ranger said grabbing Stephanie's hand, "Come on Babe."
"We'll have to go supply hunting now," Lester said walking up to Jeanne and Heidi, "We might be able to find a gun shop around here, and maybe a store as well."
"We might," Jeanne said, giving Lester a smile, "I could use something to eat…."
"I could go for a burger!" Mary Alice said, from her perch on Lester's back, "We French fries!"
"Me too, and Ice cream!" Lisa said, grabbing Lester's hand, "We should find a McDonalds!"
"ya'll need to stop talking about food, you're making me hungry!" Lula said, walking ahead of the group, "Besides, why McDonalds, I was thinking maybe like a five star restaurant!
"Children, they're all children," Ranger mused, earning a giggle from Stephanie, "Let's just hurry up and get the hell out of this place…."
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"Shit, like I know where they are now," A man said from his perch in a jail cell, "After all, you're the jackass that tried to kill us…."
'I wasn't trying to kill your friend, I was trying to kill you," a rough voice said, earning a look from the man in the jail cell, "But, this works in my favor, seeing as your friend will move heaven and hell to get to you."
"yeah, that's the problem," The blond man said, leaning back against the wall of the cell, his blue eyes closed in thought, "Though, I'm sure my friend will have no problems killing you."
"We'll see," The man's voice said, fading away as he walked away from the cell, "We'll see….."
The man in the cell opened his blue eyes and sighed, "If you know what's good for you, you better not come and get me...you damn fool."
TBC…
(Reviews are loved, I love your feedback!)
