Bill stood at the bottom of the ladder and watched Zoey climb up, the conversation the others were having behind him only holding half his attention.
Louis was looking at the Hunter with interest, the poor thing shuffling back and forth behind Bill in some demented semblance of pacing, his eyes also focused on Zoey as she climbed.
"I think we need to give our newest team member a name." He mused, Francis grunting in reply and giving him a look that hinted the biker thought he, too, had lost it. "Seriously, we can't keep calling him 'The Hunter,' can we? We should name him."
"Why not call him Rover. Or Rex?" Francis grinned, Louis shaking his head.
"No! We need to give him a human name."
Bill glanced over at them, then down at the Hunter, who was now growling at the back of his throat in agitation. He looked back at the other men, turning his eyes back up the ladder as he spoke.
"Call him Ishmael." He murmured, the other two glancing over at him in surprise. "It suits him."
"Ishmael." Louis mulled the word over, then smiled and nodded, moving to stand closer to the Hunter. "Ishmael." He pointed at the Hunter, who tilted his head to the side. "Louis." Louis indicated himself, then pointed back at the Hunter. "Ishmael."
The Hunter, Ishmael, let out a frantic, bubbling growl, looking back up the ladder once more, Louis laughing and giving up for the time being, returning to his spot.
At that moment, Zoey slid back down to join them, her face white. She leaned against the ladder weakly, eyes closing as she spoke.
"We're fucked…"
"What do you mean?" Bill put his hands gently on Zoey's shoulder, Ishmael leaning up to put a hand on her arm despite Bill's efforts to get him to keep his distance and give the girl room.
"There are infected all over the road up there. And the Witch is right in front of the hospital." Zoey pushed her filthy hair from her face. "We can't sneak around her, and there's no doubt in my mind we'll attract her attention by killing the other infected."
"We're not through yet, we can figure this out. Who has what?" Bill looked around the group, who gathered a little closer, producing what little they had left to fight with. Francis had been hording molotovs, ending up with three of them, while Louis had one of the bombs he had managed to rig up left. Bill and Zoey were running low on ammo for their bigger guns, but everyone had plenty for their pistols left.
Not wanting the Hunter to feel left out, Zoey turned to include him in the conversation and the count, only to find him being sick nearby and grimacing.
"That's another problem…" Bill murmured softly. "Ishmael's too sick to fight and he's gonna be a burden to us if we have to run."
The old man ran his hand over his hair while muttering to himself, and Zoey turned to look at the others.
"Ishmael?" She echoed, Louis offering her a smile.
"We named him for you." He patted Zoey on the shoulder, the girl's face lighting up, both of them laughing when Francis spoke beside them.
"I wanted to name him Rex, but they shot that idea down."
"Focus people, please. We've gotta figure this out, we can't sleep down here." Bill hated to end their light heartedness, but business had to be done before they could relax. "Zoey, do you remember seeing any cars out there with alarms? I think I have an idea."
"Use the car alarm to attract them all and set the bomb off underneath them?" Louis suggested, Bill grunting and giving him a nod. "Solid idea… if it works, we might be able to take all the lessers out before focusing on our Witch problem."
"If it works." Francis muttered, putting a few more rounds in his shotgun.
"I can check again for a car alarm." Zoey said, politely ignoring Francis' muttering. "Back in two seconds."
When she climbed up the ladder again, Bill moved to check on Ishmael. He was huddled around the corner, shaking badly now, his clothing soiled and soft moans of pain escaping his throat. The adrenaline he had been running on this far was obviously wearing off, and if they didn't get him some help soon, he wasn't going to make it.
For once, Ishmael didn't snap at him when he put his hand on his shoulder, either a good sign or a very bad one. Bill said his name softly, drawing the gaze of those dark eyes, a stern look on his face.
"C'mon. Don't give up yet, we're gonna get you fixed up, alright?" He murmured, Ishmael tilting his head to the side with a look that he didn't understand. When Bill took his arm and tugged him to his feet, he huffed a breath out in irritation and discomfort, moving to the ladder as Zoey came back down.
"Left side, looks like there's one near the entrance. We should have a clear shot if we're careful."
"And we only have one shot." Francis said below, Zoey nodding at him.
"I can hit the car without being seen, and I can throw the bomb when they've got their backs turned. The smell from down here should be enough to keep them from noticing us." Zoey actually looked at Ishmael as if to confirm this thought, but the Hunter obviously didn't understand what they were saying, gazing up at her anxiously from his spot next to Bill.
"Right… no time like the present." Louis replied, pulling the bomb from his belt and handing it up to Zoey. She climbed up half way and looked back down at them.
"Get ready to run." She said.
None of them needed reminding…
Zoey poked her head out the manhole very carefully, bringing up the hand with the pistol and taking aim at the car she had spotted.
She sucked a breath in, then fired, the result instantaneous.
The infected screamed from every side, rushing quickly towards the car, leaping over the manhole as she ducked back inside and paying no mind to the survivors below. Zoey peeked back again to see what the Witch was doing, the female infected still crouched behind the ambulance, glowing red eyes fixed on the manhole.
She had to do it now, or there wouldn't be another chance… so Zoey triggered the bomb, wound up and threw it towards the already bleeping car, more of the infected swarming over it, fighting to get to it.
She ducked back down again briefly, then gestured to the others and pulled herself out, whipping her rifle out as she ran. She couldn't shoot it very well while running, but she was going to give it her best shot.
The others climbed up behind her as quickly as they could, Bill lingering over the manhole and shouting curses as he fired at the infected who hadn't been killed in the blast that rocked the area a few seconds before. Zoey looked over her shoulder, scanning the street for any sign of Ishmael.
Where was he?
…
Bill glanced down after he had climbed the ladder, seeing Ishmael lagging behind them. The Hunter was unable to put pressure on his bad leg, which was considerably slowing the time it was taking for him to climb, so Bill hovered over the hole and shot any of the infected that got close, making sure their new team mate was going to be able to escape with them.
"C'mon! C'mon, bastards! Give me your best fucking shot!" He shouted, his gun spitting fire as the infected charged towards him.
Behind him, the others were handling the Witch alone. She had been on her feet when they climbed up, but hadn't attacked just yet…
Until Francis threw a molotov at her.
Screaming in pain, flaming as she chased him down the street, he leapt onto a car to escape her, the other two firing at her as she ran.
Below him, in the hole still, Ishmael let out a sudden scream of warning, the Witch's head snapping to the side to face the source of the noise. She changed direction, racing towards the hole while making noises like a wounded cat, knocking Zoey out of the way as she attempted to reach Ishmael.
Bill turned his gun on her as she approached, their combined efforts managing to fell her just before she reached Ishmael and the hole, her body crumpling lifelessly to the ground in flames.
Louis and Francis rushed to assist Zoey to her feet, Bill reaching down to haul Ishmael the rest of the way up, seeing that the Hunter's ascent had completely stopped.
They regrouped before moving towards the broken, open doors of the hospital, grabbing some supplies from the ambulance before entering.
"Secure a room for us, somewhere we can get clean and treat Ishmael!" Bill shouted, the others searching all the different rooms in the immediate area and shooting any infected that hadn't rushed outside to join the swarm. Bill kept his eyes open for the familiar fire red door of a safe room, knowing full well that they couldn't survive another attack.