He thought as if he were tied down. He was under a thick layer of blankets as well as inside a sleeping bag. It was freezing. He looked around the room noticing the pile of empty cans in the corner. All of them reading CORN. His head turned to a hatch in the floor. A hand reached up and grabbed the final bar of a ladder. A backpack was thrown up, it hit with a metallic thud. Sarah pushed herself out of the hatch and into the room. She grabbed the backpack and walked over to the table, dumping out pistols and a can of peaches. Sarah dragged a crate over to the table and started cleaning the weapons.
Cole stirred in his sleeping bag. Sarah looked back at him, his eyes were open. She put down her pistol and walked over to the sleeping bags. Cole's eyes shut as her hand touched his shoulder. She rubbed his back and lay down.
"I hope you're okay. I don't know if I can survive any longer on my own." He turned to her and placed out his hand on her face. She giggle as her vision returned. He had passed out again. Sarah sighed. No conversations, just silence. She slid inside her sleeping bag and turned away from Cole.
Cole. She liked that name, it was fitting. Her eyes closed slowly until she was in a dream state. It was a repeated movie in her head of the first helicopter she had missed.
Infected had broken into the construction yard and began to attack the civilians. The helicopter took off early leaving the remaining people to die. One of the infected chased after her. She ran into the construction yard and grabbed a metal pipe. She turned and smacked the creatures skull. Sarah repeatedly smashed the pale mans skull.
She awoke from her nightmare with Cole curled up against her. She turned around and forced her head into his chest. He was warm, warmer than the safe room. Warmer than she had been since the first days of the infection. Sarah moved his arms away and stood up. She stretched and went back to table. She grabbed a bottle of water from one of the crates Sarah went back to cleaning her guns. She packed her bag with ammunition, first aid supplies and a few cans of food. When Cole was fit to travel they would leave.
Coles eyes flashed open. He watched as Sarah approached him with a first aid kit. She wrapped his chest with the cloth and gave him a cup of water. The liquid did not sit well but he knew it would hydrate him.
"We can make it to the river in about an hour. I've seen graffiti about an evacuation point there." Her voice was hard to hear but he agreed. Cole pulled on his sweatshirt and removed the barricade from the safe room door.
Sarah grabbed a Hunting Rifle off the weapon table and looked out at the town. It was mostly clear except for stray infected on the other side of a bus pile up. They began their descent down the scaffolding. Cole climbed the stone wall to secure the area while Sarah ran for the store.
Cole watched as Sarah shot down two infected inside the building. She signaled for him to catch up. There was a sudden and chilling gust of wind that came through the broken windows. Sarah's hair flew around a covered her eyes. The wind disappeared and her hair settled back into its place. Cole was now in front of her grinning. He stared at Sarah hungrily while a smile crept across her face.
The wind started up again. They ducked into the office and Sarah put her hair into a tight ponytail and cracked her neck. There was a body on the ground up against the wall. An auto-shotgun lay next to her. Cole walked out of the room and stared at the drink dispensers. Sarah followed and sighed.
"Does it work? I could kill for a Sprite." Cole pressed the button that read SPRITE. The clear liquid spilled out onto the floor. Sarah's frowning face turned into sheer excitement. The flow of soda came to a stop.
Sarah stuck her head under the fountain and hit the button above her again. The carbonated drink filled her mouth and stopped again. Sarah swallowed and let out a big satisfied "ah".
Cole crouched down and licked at the puddle on the floor. He made a face of disgust and shook his head at Sarah who was now laughing.
"And I was going to kiss you again. Gah, that was so gross!" Sarah giggled. She kissed the Hunter on the cheek and walked out the door.
The town is clear of infected, someone must have come through here before them. There was a parking lot up ahead. A building under construction was behind the lot full of infected corpses. They heard a dog barking up ahead. The barking was cut short by loud whine. Sarah peered around the corner. A Hunter dressed in a red plaid hoodie was ripping the poor animal apart. It turned around and looked at the corner. Sarah pulled her head back against the brick building. When she looked again the Hunter was gone.
The two of them ran for the entrance. Once they were inside Sarah looked around the empty rooms for supplies. Cole stood in the opposite door watching the street. Sarah approached him from behind and placed her arm around his waist. They walked together through the deserted town. The next corner led to another parking lot. An office building now stood before them. There was no way around.
Sarah climbed onto a van for access to the roof. She climbed up a ledge and over a metal fence. The main office was empty as well. The next room had a bathroom and cubicles. Cole jumped through the doorway from the street and crawled into the next room. He eventually disappeared into the darkened room. There was a shriek of pain followed by absolute silence.
Sarah waited for a moment. She swallowed and took a step forward. She continued walking into the darkness. A streetlight created shadows of the office space on the wall. With her pistols raised she aimed into the bathrooms. Nothing. Her head turned to the right and spotted the shadow of a Hunter on the wall. There was a conference room partially lit by the street light. The Hunter was crouched on the table. Only after moving slightly closer did she notice the red plaid pattern of the hoodie.
A second Hunter, this one dressed in Cole's black attire leaped from outside. Cole slammed the creatures skull down into the wooden table. The red Hunter swiped his claws up, scratching Cole across the left eye. Cole grabbed the Hunter's arm and slammed the elbow down on his knee. It made an unpleasant crack that Sarah's mind replayed over and over. Cole took hold of the Hunter's throat and smashed his head down onto the table three times before seeing the blood spatter across the horribly lit room. The monster was dead. Cole hopped of the table and walked over to Sarah. She stared at the scar across Cole's eye. He grabbed her hand and together, they walked out of the building and down to the street.
There was a mountain of rubble at the far end. Sarah grabbed a health kit and some pills from supply crates below the office. They set off for the mountain. A forklift was crushed by concrete. It formed an easy path over the rubble. Sarah began to walk up when Cole threw his arm in front of her chest.
"What are you-," Cole placed his index finger on her lips. Sarah quieted down and finally understood why he was so concerned. They both crouched down and peered over the hill. It wasn't the biggest group they'd seen but for such a small area the mass of infected was frightening. A Tank was whipping its muscular arms behind an evacuation bus. Cole grabbed Sarah's shoulder and motioned her to hide behind a corner.
The street was scattered with supplies. Cole kicked a few gasoline containers and propane tanks near the wall. He slowly rolled them down the other side of the hill and waited. The infected remained silent while he did this. There was a single molotov on top of a supply crate. He grabbed the bottle and walked over to Sarah. She lit the rag and curled up against the brick building. Cole walked back into the street and aimed the bottle above his head. He threw it.
The next few sounds were the howls of infected as they burned together in one large group. There were then several explosions, Sarah's ears began to ring. She quickly placed her palms over her ears and yelled for Cole. He was perched atop a street light watching as the corpses fell at each others feet. The Tank behind the bus began to move. The fire finally reached the massive beast and he too was engulfed in the flames. The Tank began to run toward the hill. Cole jumped over to the corner where Sarah remained, palms pressed against her ears. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up taking off towards the collapsed walkway.
Most of the infected were dead, lying on the pavement surrounded by fire. The Tank climbed up behind Sarah and Cole, swinging its arms in attempt to kill its prey. One swing was just over Sarah's head, smashing into the wall. Cole jumped backwards and slashed the creature across the face. The fire that had engulfed him faded, leaving his skin charred. The slash caused it to trip and fall backwards onto the street below. Just as Cole and Sarah began to run again a horde broke through the fences at the far end of the street ahead of them.
Cole grabbed Sarah by the arm and jumped down into the street. The infected grew closer as they turned the corner into a deserted alleyway. The massive horde smashed into the bus before turning and chasing after Cole and Sarah.
They took a sharp left and jumped through a broken window. There was a flight of stairs leading to a makeshift path across buildings. Sarah could see the safe room door at the far end of the alley. Cole jumped over and cleared the small area. Sarah joined him. The Tank smashed through the fence. Cole pushed Sarah into the safe room and jumped out of the Tank's path. It smashed into the wall. Cole came up behind it and with his sharpened claws, swept down upon the creature's skull.
The behemoth fell to the ground. Cole walked into the saf room and sat next to Sarah who was breathing heavily. They sat there for a moment before Cole stood back up and shut the door, placing boxes and shelves in front of it.
Sarah sat in a stool next to a bench of guns. She rested her head on the cool surface. She turned to the right and watched Cole rock his head back and forth. He looked up at her and flashed a smile. Sarah pushed herself up and grabbed the two pistols she had placed down. She took an axe from the corner and a molotov cocktail. Sarah was relatively clean of wounds.
The safe room exit was clear. The two of them walked out into the street. A small crowd of infected stood around a corpse. Sarah took out the molotov and lit the rag. She threw the bottle at the crowd and watched as they burned, then they heard the scream. Witch.
The half naked infected sprinted towards them, bladed hands raised. Sarah ran back to the safe room and slammed the door behind her. The Witch's arms went through the barred window. The Witch waved her bladed fingers around attempting to kill the frightened girl. The hands were pulled back. Sarah could hear the screams as the Witch was ripped apart. Cole had pounced on top of her. Sarah stood up and watched her savior. The Witch went silent. Sarah opened the door and Cole seemingly appeared in front of her, holding her tight. He kissed her hard on the lips and then turned his head to the streets. There were spotlights moving around in the sky. That was their evacuation point. They couldn't be left behind.
Sarah grabbed Cole's arm and sprinted back into the road. She fired her pistols at four infected that roamed one of the suburban houses. After exiting the house there was a large open field covered by a light fog. There was a white van in the center near a small building. Sarah took a few steps forward when she heard the strangest sound. Cole was thrown into the air while Sarah was grabbed at the chest. It stopped sprinting ahead and lifted her into the air. Sarah was slammed down into the ground and then into the trunk of a tree. The abuse stopped. Sarah stared at the severely deformed monster. It's nose had faded away. Cole stretched out his hand to help her up. Sarah's nose had started bleeding. She held the sleeve of her hoodie to her nose. They continued walking into the field. There was a path lit by fires in the left corner. They Evacuation Zone was a boat house. It looked like a campground, cabins around the property.
Cole wondered the area first. He took down several infected and went into the house first. Sarah entered shortly after. It was comfortable. A counter and radio to the left. A kitchen table and stairs to the right. Boxes of ammunition and supplies were stacked the the corner to the left of the door. A medical cabinet was mounted on the wall near the counter. Cole walked upstairs and out onto a deck. Sarah went up as well. There was a dock in the water off to the right. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
"See those gas cans? I'm gonna make a ring around us on the dock. We can wait it out until rescue gets here alright?" The Hunter nodded. Sarah ran downstairs to the radio. Cole finished his search of the house.
The breeze from the water made Sarah's breath clearly visible. There was a line of gas cans and propane tanks lining the shore. She looked over at the radio and clicked a button. A man's voice came from the speakers. He spoke of rescue. They were in a small boat off shore and would be there in ten minutes.
"We're all set up here, please hurry," Sarah turned to Cole. "Ready?" He nodded.
The sound of a horde echoed through the hills. They were approaching from the town. Sarah took her stance on the stairs of the dock. She placed her rifle on the platform and raised a hunting rifle from the house to her eye. Sarah took aim at a propane tank in a clearing. When the first group of infected came into view she fired. The explosion took out the entire group, just as several more came in from over the biggest hill on the right. Sarah fired again sending limbs flying.
The sound of infected died down. Sarah started running back to the house for ammo. She heard the pounding of a Tank in the distance, but then it faded. There was gunfire coming from the town. She slowed down her pace. Pistols raised she entered the house. A huge pain hit her in the gut. The butt of a shotgun had smacked her hard.
Large gloved hands grabbed her by the shoulder. Another hand covered her mouth as she tried to scream. Four men. The one behind her removed the hoodie and shirt with ease. Another dropped his gun and removed Sarah's belt. The man behind her pushed her over the kitchen table. The fourth man simply watched. Her jeans were just past her hips when everything stopped. She stayed still as a line of blood was spurted against the wall.
Sarah turned around in time to see Cole smashing one man's face into the edge of the counter repeatedly. She was horrified at the mass amounts of blood. It pooled and dripped off the counter. The wall covered in vertical red streaks. Cole finished his brutal murder. Two of the men were dead, ripped apart by Cole's claws. The last man was sitting against the wall, coughing. Cole walked over to him, sending his knee into the man's skull. Blood splattered the wall behind him. Cole picks her hoodie up off the floor and hands it to her.
Cole wraps his blood arm around Sarah's back and pulls her close. He places a kiss on her neck and his head shoots up. Lights from a boat emerges from and clears the fog. Sarah puts on the hoodie and grabs Cole by the arm, leading him to the door. She picks up her pistols on the way out. They wave down the boat while a horde breaks through the trees.
The horrifying scream of infected echoes once again. The boat pulls up on the dock and Sarah turns to face her fear. Cole stands next to her as she fires a shot. The shore ignites in a magnificent orange. The fire quickly spreads to the trees and house. Cole and Sarah back onto the boat's deck. Cole removes his hood and turns to her, smiling. Sarah pulls Cole close and kisses him hard on the lips.