Chapter 10: Evolution

Hawk's POV

We searched quite a few houses in the small village, and found a small backpack, a water bottle, a compass, a few cans of food, and a dual barrel shotgun with a box of shells. I gave destiny my knife, and took the shotgun.

We just got out, when we saw something. A horde, shambling towards us, but when some of them saw us, so did the rest. But then, what I saw next made my blood run cold.

A few of them broke into dead runs. I aimed, and fired, followed by Santiago's revolver. About 6 of the 60 or so infected fell. We started to retreat, the girls stabbing a few more, when I was blindsided from my left.

The walker snapped at my neck, but then a gunshot rang out, and the creature went limp. I pushed it off me, and turned to face the man. He was somewhat short, an athletic build, full camo, and a waist pack. He had a rifle on his back, and a knife on his left hip.

He turned to the horde, fired 5 shots, downing 3. We were taking steps back, to make sure we kept out of reach. The man was a great marksman. He was downing them quick. "Back." He said, in a russian voice. We retreated, firing behind us. On my 2nd shot after that, I heard a click. I searched through my pockets, but found nothing. I crushed a infected's head in with the shotgun. I was about to be blind sided, when I heard a shot, and the walker fell. turned around, to see the russian.

"Peter. Peter Kerchov." He said, his barrel smoking. We killed the last of the infected, and looked around. Santiago confronted him. There was a long stare, before

Santiago said "Thank you."

Peter nodded. "No problem." He said. He was distant. Cold. Just like Santiago. The last thing we needed was them butting heads. Santiago sighed, and held out his hand. "Santiago." He said. We gave him our names. Peter just nodded after each one. He backed up, and disappeared behind a house. Kayly's expression was confused. I didn't blame her. Santiago… his expression was unreadable. I couldn't tell if he was confused like us, or happy that Peter was gone. It didn't matter. We had to keep moving. We went on the road, climbing over rubble and cars. We found a part of the road that was clear. I kept walking, looking around. This is who we were. The wanderers. The looters. I held my dual barrel shotgun in my hand, ready to smash any infected that came our way. We were poorly armed. We would all die if any armed bandits came our way.

"Hold on." Destiny said, out of breath. She had sweat pouring down, like the rest of us.

"Fine. We hold position at the deer stand." Santiago said, pointing up the hill. We got there, and noticed something. 4 Hummvees, all either broken in half, or flipped over, surrounded by dozens of dead soldiers. All the bodies were looted. The only thing that remained was the ripped up bodies, and their clothes. Everything useful was taken. The stench was horrible. I turned around, and threw up on the spot, along with Destiny. Santiago just looked ahead, Kayly mimicking his expression. "What the hell did this?" I said. Santiago opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I looked in the back of the humvees. In one, there was a SKS with just 10 rounds. I loaded them in, one by one.

I cocked it, and said "Lets go." We headed down, passing infected. I looked at the deer stand, thinking I saw movement. There was none after that. I shrugged, and went to go catch up with my friends. We walked along the path, it now around noon. We looked at each other, unsure. We would never know where we were going. Death was everywhere. There was no where safe- Even the military could not handle their numbers. I looked down the hill to our right. The city of Berenzino. Santiago nodded, and we headed down. We found a small house, to set up in. Outside, I heard running, so I readied my SKS. A man burst in, with a Mosin 9310, a small backpack, a splitting axe. Then I noticed something. He was wearing all black. He held his hands up, smiling. "Hello. You can call me Maverick."

….

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like a cliffhanger. Who is this Man? Friend or Foe? Stay tuned for Chapter 11: Hearts Of Darkness.