Chapter 6 "Where Were We..."
Louis...
The night sang with the voices of the undead, the hum of fire and the shuffle of footsteps walking to no particular destination.
I continue following closely behind Bill as we make our way through another dark alley.
"You sure it was Zoey that fired that shot..?" I said quietly.
Bill creeps close to the corner of the wall and peeks out to scan the area. He hides along the building and turns back to me.
"You know anyone else that's alive in this area that could've fired that gun?" He said.
"Well... no, I guess not..." I said.
Bill nods and darts out the alley, and I remain at the rear, watching both our backs. We sprint forward and into another cast of shadows, treading through countless narrow backstreets to the source of the gunshot. Now, being the glass-half-full member of the group, I don't mean to sound pessimistic in doubting that it could be Zoey. It wasn't like that at all. I'm just being cautious, because if it ends up being someone other than Zoey then what?
Will Bill get shot? Will I get shot? Do we get ambushed by other people or zombies, or both? Like Bill has said many times before, and I keep thinking it over in my mind, anything goes in this world, overrun by this flu.
"Look over there..." Bill murmurs.
He bobs his head toward a certain direction. My eyes trail to it and see a horde of infected circling around an elevated stairwell. Its ladder was noticeably used to a certain extent, but that could've occurred from whenever.
"I bet my left leg Zoey's the one who did that." Said Bill.
"You think..?" I reply.
"I know."
We come out of hiding and circle around the apartment, heading for the entrance of the building.
"Infected on our left..." Bill mutters.
I see them, and I can hear how hungry they are. I halt from trotting, raise my submachinegun in front of my face and aim carefully at one of them. Bill swipes down and ceases my concentration.
I scoff. "What gives...?!" I whisper.
Bill stares at me with a creased frown.
"There's not that many of them, so we'll pick 'em off with some old fashioned CQC."
Bill pulls out the crowbar hanging from his back and throws me the bandaged baseball bat.
"Batter up." Bill smirks.
He turns back around and immediately whacks an infected on the side of its head. I look down at the bat then to the infected that's sprinting toward me. I grit my teeth and begin to run toward it as well.
"Dammit!" I roar.
I lift the bat over my head and swing down. It slams onto the infected, and makes its head burst like a water-balloon. They all drop like flies by the time I realize my grip on the bat grew tighter, and my swings gain more weight with heavy impact after each hit.
We successfully get rid of the few infected wandering the front doors of the scruffy apartment and immediately enter the vicinity. I enter first, and Bill follows closely behind. He swiftly, and carefully, shuts the door and locks it.
I look at the door then to Bill. Not sure if locking it would make a difference, considering most of the middle section is made of glass.
"Um..."
"I know what you're thinkin'..." Said Bill.
Does he..?
"It's still a door, gives us a bit of time to get those two second thoughts rolling. Thinking spontaneously is still thinking after all."
Bill looks to me with his knitted brows pressed together, in his fashionable gentle scowl, as he walks pass me. I lower my head and stare at the stained carpet.
"Come on, let's search the place. We'll start down here then move to the second floor..." Said Bill.
I pick my head back up and nod to him.
We search the small lounge and check for anything useful. We approach the front desk. I slide my hands across the papers and miscellaneous objects, while Bill walks into the backroom of the front desk. I squat down and put my hands and eyes to work. No luck.
I let out a sharp exhale and look over my shoulder to the dark room where Bill lingers.
"I got nothing." I said.
No response from Bill, he continues rustling through things in the dark. I keep at it, too, and search the rest of the drawers of the front desk. Suddenly, I hear the jingle of metal and Bill's footsteps coming out of the back room. I stand up right and turn to him. I raise my brows and shrug at him with my hands open in front of me. He raises his hand and drops a set of keys down, dangling it in front of his face.
"Bingo." Said Bill.
"Sweet!" I whisper.
We jerk from the abrupt sound of a putrid hand banging against the door of the apartment complex. We snap our necks toward the direction of the noise and notice one of the infected looking in through the glass frame. I quickly take cover under the front desk, and Bill retreats into the back room and out of sight. We wait.
After a couple more minutes of senseless banging on the glass with its palm, the infected grew bored and limped away. After waiting a few minutes longer, I slowly poke my head out over the counter. No sign of it. I let out a sigh of relief as I fall back down to the floor while sliding my back against the drawers. Bill comes out of hiding and walks over my legs. He looks to me.
"Come on, we can rest later." He said in a hush tone.
"Alright, alright." I said.
I wave my hand back and forth beside my face and rise to my feet once again. We start down the hall of the first floor.
"So what exactly did you find?" I ask.
Bill looks over his shoulder to me. He turns back and looks at the key in his hand.
"I'm assuming this is a master key..." He mumbles.
"Well, we'll just have to see for ourselves."
We wait around the first door in the hall and try for the lock. Bill inserts the key into the lock, takes a deep breath and slowly turns it. I stand beside him with my fingers crossed. The key turns completely, and unlocks the door. I practically jump in my skin as Bill opens the door to the first tenant's apartment room.
I let out an alleviating short breath.
"Phew..."
"Heh..." Bill hums under his breath.
"...?"
Bill looks to me with a wide smirk on his face.
"Now here's the fun part."
He brings out his crowbar and puts a finger in front of his lips...
