No hope. No cure. No problem.
Day 16. October 4, 2009. 11:09 P.M.
Four survivors sat once again in a swaying, gray compartment. The bumpy black hills flew by below, and the steady hum of a plane engine continued to rumble through the air. Louis was busy eating out of a can of tomato soup. Bill appeared to be asleep, and snoring loudly. They'd been riding for hours in this giant, slow plane, apparently headed to the military base somewhere up in northern Pennsylvania. Fifteen minutes ago, their pilot had announced they would be there in two hours. The actual cockpit of the plane was sealed off to them, apparently to keep any infection from getting in with the pilot. Bill had nodded, explaining that the pilot would be much more susceptible to the infection than they were.
And so, they rode, finally off to rescue. Francis had joked that this plane would crash as well, resulting in a sharp jab from Zoey. Louis seemed confident that they were out of the mess. And then, the intercom rang out.
"Uhhh..." it mumbled, stuttering. Bill sat up, wide awake, and yelled, "What?"
"Well... we're going to run out of fuel soon, to be... frank. Apparently three fourths wasn't enough for the trip. We can try to land on the-"
"What the hell?" Francis suddenly cried. "You're saying we're gonna crash in the middle of nowhere?"
"Don't be alarmed! I know how to land on the highway! If I can find one and line it up well, and there's minimal debris, and the road is straight enough, it shouldn't be too... oh..."
"What is it?" Zoey said. Slowly, they heard the engine shut off. The plane began to dip.
"...oh, fuck! Shit! Hold on to something!" their pilot yelled as the plane glided towards the dark hills below. Louis frantically grabbed for the overhead bar, eyes wide with terror. Zoey did the same.
"...oh, hold on! I see a field below I can land smoothly on! Just-"
Suddenly, the aircraft jolted jarringly to the right, as a loud bang was heard on the left. "Too low! TOO LOW! Oh, shit! OUR WING!"
The plane began tilting slowly to the left, sending the survivors toppling on the floor. A loud, screaming noise was heard from the other engine as the field below seemed to fly right up to them. The floor bounced roughly, and the lights went out. A terrible skidding noise could be heard as the plane rolled over. There was a huge explosion behind them, ripping open the back of the plane. It skidded for a few more yards, and finally smashed into a rest against a squad of pine trees. Several more explosions popped after that, as smoke began flooding into the compartment. Bill coughed roughly as Francis muttered, "...god... damn it all..."
"Where is everyone?" Bill mustered, squinting in the dark. Luckily, everyone was lifting their heads up, coughing from the smoke and rubbing their heads. Francis had a long bleeding cut on his head.
With the help of each other, they exited through the hole in the back. Thick, black smoke drifted up from the craft, and a bright orange fire issued from the remnants of one of the engines. The only other sounds in the field and forest around them was the swaying of trees and chirping of crickets.
"I hate planes!" Francis declared with fury. Louis frowned thinking to himself. "Do you think the pilot is still alive?"
Zoey looked at Bill. "We should probably go check and see if he's okay," she said. She and Louis crept forward back into the craft, wielding flashlights. Bill and Francis followed, but farther behind. Louis tried the cockpit door, and found out with some degree of surprise that the crash landing had broken the lock. He opened it, and found the pilot sitting in the chair. Louis looked back at Zoey, who shrugged, and he nudged the guy's shoulder.
The man's head groggily lifted up, looking at them. "What... oh, fuck... what the hell happened?"
"Uhhh," Louis stuttered, glancing at Zoey. Zoey spoke up, stating, "We got into a plane crash. Remember?"
He rubbed at his head. "Oh, yeah, shit... god damn... where are we?"
Zoey looked around. "I'm not really sure," she admitted, staring at the field they were in. "All I know is we were heading to some military base? Up north?"
The pilot nodded, getting up from his chair slowly. "Yeah, ECHO Base. Fuck... how long was I out?"
"Just a few minutes," Louis responded. "We should probably get out of the plane. What's your name?"
The pilot began to speak, when he froze, staring at them. His eyes were wide open. "Oh, shit! Get the hell out of here!"
He shoved Zoey out, who stumbled into Louis. The door slammed, creaking back open slightly without a lock. Zoey glanced back at Bill, who was frowning peculiarly. "Uh, pilot? What's the matter? Is the plane going to explode or something?"
"Stay away from me!" he yelled at them. "You're infected!"
"What?" Zoey uttered incredulously. "No, no, we're fine! All of us have been on this plane for hours and we haven't turned! Besides, we've been exposed to the infection for weeks, and we haven't turned, so there can't... possibly..."
Zoey's eyes widened. She looked down at her own clothes, and at Louis's. There were large, dried brown blood stains, but not their own. "...oh..." she whispered, and began to step back. "Uh... we should probably leave this guy alone."
"Why?" Louis asked. Zoey lowered her tone down to a harsh whisper. "We've got the infection all over us! We may be resistant to it or something, but... not him."
She then looked back at Bill, who motioned for them to retreat from the room. "Do you have a face mask in there, at least? A gas mask, maybe?" she called. There was no response. "Hello?"
Louis's eyes widened. "Zoey... let's go back. If this guy wants to get out later, he can, but... it might be too late already."
She stepped back, slowly. "No..."
"Zoey?" Francis yelled. Louis was already walking back. Her eyes began to water. "We killed him!"
The rest stared. "We could have left him alone! He would have woken up! But... we just had to give him the disease. God damn it, why?"
Louis said, "Well, maybe he didn't get infected. We only walked in. I don't think the virus is airborne."
"Then why isn't he responding?" she cried, now in tears. And just like that, there was a thump on the door.
She stepped back slowly. Another thump was heard, this one louder. Bill pulled on her arm, and mumbled, "Let's get going, Zoey..."
And after a few more moments of staring, she followed.
Day 17. October 5, 2009. 3:56 A.M.
A high campsite rested above a steep ravine. Rocks jutted out all over it. Trees on the top swayed slowly, creating a mesmerizing swishing sound. The four survivors sat upon it, resting on sleeping bags, a campfire slowly flickering out in front of them.
"What a waste of two hundred dollars," Francis muttered, gazing at the smoldering ashes before them. Louis shrugged. "Not much use for them now, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess..." Francis mumbled, drawing his knees close to him. Zoey was staring up at the sky. "Look at all the stars!" she said, pointing up. It seemed like there were thousands of stars up in the sky. The milky way could clearly be seen, a long band of glowing white that shone through the treetops. "You could never see this many stars back in Philadelphia... where are we?"
Bill looked up at the camp grounds sign next to their site. "I guess we're in the 'Allegheny National Forest'. We're way out from civilization. There's a map, but I can't really think of anywhere to go."
Louis shrugged. "That guy mentioned something about an 'ECHO Base'. Other than that, I've got no clue. And didn't he say it was about two hours away, anyway?"
Zoey nodded. "I'm just so tired of running around all the time. We got away from civilization. Great. We don't have much food, but we can scavenge. Really, I'm just so tired of trying, you know?"
Francis nodded as well. "Man, I know the feeling. I remember I would get in trouble, and then hide away from the cops for a while. But then, that got, you know... boring. I would just come out, and say, 'Alright, guys, you got me. I was kidding about being a cop. Now can you stop pointing your guns at me?' And that actually worked," he concluded with a cocky grin.
Louis rolled his eyes. "What did you actually do for a living, Francis?" he asked, looking over at him. Francis shrugged. "I used to work for a shipping company called Hersch, but... I... quit?"
Zoey rolled her eyes. "He was fired for beating up someone. Told us before you came along, Louis."
Louis began to laugh. "Yeah, that does sound like you, Francis!" Francis grimaced at that. "Well, it's more exciting than being a god damned... lawyer, or whatever you are."
Louis sat up, and put his hands on his hips. "Uh, I'm a Junior Systems Analyst at Franklin-"
Francis had clapped his hand over Louis's mouth. "Don't wanna hear it."
Bill finally turned around, and asked them, "Are you guys ready to go?"
There was silence as the three stared at him. "What?" Zoey asked.
"It's time to go. We shouldn't wait around. Look at this."
He pointed at a printed out sign on the billboard, that said in stamped text, "Please proceed to Daughtery Farm for evacuation." It then lists an address right below it. Bill was grinning stupidly at them. Zoey blinked, and said, "Are we really going to do this again?"
Bill's smile faltered. "What do ya mean?"
"Well... we've done this countless times. We know the infection is here. Every other time the military has failed us. Why don't we just stay here?"
Bill crossed his arms stoutly. "No, we're not going to do that. We're going to go to that damn farm, and we're going to get rescued. It's just four miles from here."
Francis scratched the back of his head. "I dunno, Bill, we've done this. What're the odds that-"
"And we'll do it again, just as fine. I don't give a shit about odds. We all know we can't stay out here forever. If rescue is here-" he pointed vigorously at the sign "-if the military is here, then that is our target. We're not going to just live it out in the wild. You know that. We're going, and that is final."
There was a long pause. Francis shrugged. "Alright. What do we gotta lose? It's just a few miles. At least we aren't in some god damn city."
And with that, they were trekking through the woods once again.
"Why does it always have to be so dark when we walk around like this?" Zoey mused, glancing up at the brilliant sky. Francis nodded. "I know!" he proclaimed, pointing his new shotgun at the clouds above. "It's like, we're always asleep during the day, or tied up in the bottom of a boat or something. I bet the sun feels nice. It would probably be easier, too."
Louis looked up as they walked. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Francis began, "vampires are allergic to sunlight, right? There'd probably be way less-"
"Francis. They're zombies."
"Zoey, they're vampires. I saw one suck the blood right out of my friend Dann-"
Bill held his hand up quickly. He cautiously stepped forward, and peered down. Before them was a huge, deep chasm, with a simple rope bridge spanning the length. The wind could be heard quietly whistling through it, increasing the suspense. Bill gingerly tested the bridge with his foot, finding that it still seemed quite sturdy. He was the first to go across, and waved the others over. "It's safe!" he called to them. "I bet this area has only been infected for a week!"
One by one, the four stepped across the bridge, and made it over safely. They continued navigating the trail, and arrived at a conveniently placed safe room inside a large metal building. Once everyone had entered, Louis shut the door securely shut. "Nice!" he said, reloading. "We didn't see a single zombie! Maybe this area isn't as infected as we thought!"
Zoey nodded slowly. "I hope these safe rooms are as common as before..."
Written on the wall, in big, black, bold writing, read the words "FOLLOW THE TRACKS". On the other wall, in smaller writing, was scribbled, "Head north to Echo".
Bill nodded slowly, looking at the wall. "Alright. I suppose we just gotta head north. That was easy."
And with that, the four survivors slowly open the opposite safe room door, and proceeded on.
They emerged into a large warehouse-type room, standing upon a high balcony overlooking the building. There were several infected down below, and one Smoker hanging out near a small door down below. Bill pointed at it, and mumbled, "We can get down this ladder..."
A gray metal ladder was beside them, allowing access the the floor below. One by one, they cautiously made their way down the tall structure, nodded, and proceeded to open fire on all of the zombies in the building.
"It's clear!" Francis hollered. They walked towards a metal door with a green exit sign above it.
"Alarm will sound... oh, god damn it..." Bill mumbled, pointing at the door. On it, was painted, "Emergency Exit Only". Below that, read, "Alarm Will Sound".
"Fuck that!" Francis yelled, and kicked down the door with his foot. As expected, a high pitched ringing noise sounded, and the four ran through.
"Damn it!" Bill kept shouting, as Francis called, "We've blown up a fucking Howitzer Gun in the middle of a town! I think we can set off an alarm in the middle of the woods just fine now!"
True to his word, only a few dozen zombies made their way towards them. The team continued on, and found themselves walking along some railroad tracks through a tunnel.
"We headin' north?" Louis asked, glancing around. There was debris everywhere, and up ahead it appeared a train had derailed.
Bill nodded. "Should be. There's an arrow on the wall over there that points this way. I suppose this would be the way to go."
It seemed reasonable enough, so they walked on, mindful of any fallen rubble. There were a few corpses in the tunnel, making the place stink to high heavens. Louis used his partially shredded tie to cover his nose as they climbed over the train wrecks.
"I hate trains..." Francis mumbled, climbing over an overturned tanker car. Zoey laughed, and said, "Yeah, Francis, I think we get it now. You hate everything."
"No!" he protested, taking care not to stumble over a corpse. "No, no, not everything. I just hate trains in general. And vampires. And helicopters... and planes... and doctors, and lawyers, and cops..."
Ahead, in the wall, sat another safe room. The tunnel ahead had collapsed in on itself, leaving the room the only option. "Wow!" Louis remarked, scratching his cheek as they entered. "I guess other people used this route, too!"
On this wall, read the words, "GO TO ECCO". Bill looked at it, and said, "Yeah, we're on the right track, for sure."
It wasn't much work to restock on ammo, and eat any food they might need for the energy. This was a process they'd been through at least a dozen times now. Once finished, they exited the safe room towards the other side once again, and walked through a long, winding tunnel.
"This some kind of bunker?" Zoey whispered, shining her flashlight all over the area. Bill shrugged. "I dunno. Probably not. Looks more like a service tunnel for the train tracks."
The tunnels continued on, eventually arriving at a door that let the brisk early October breeze flow in. The moon had already disappeared over the horizon, letting only the hazy milky way above light their path. Off in the distance, a light yellow began to glow against the clouds.
Louis pointed at the glow. "Do you think that's a city?"
Zoey shook her head quickly. "No, probably not. I don't think anyone has much electricity, and besides, Pittsburgh is the only city near here. I think it's almost morning."
Francis nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Now we finally get to feel the god damn sun!"
They walked on, and ended up at a small building. Inside, it led them to the tracks again, although now, they were on the other side of the debris. It was also the end of the tunnel, where the tracks ended up in the open air. Ahead, a tall rickety wood bridge rose above the tracks, creating a dark silhouette against the brightening clouds ahead.
"Keep following the tracks!" Louis yelled, running forward. There were a few zombies around, screaming at them like banshees as they passed. Ahead, several derailed train cars completely blocked their path forward.
"Damn it! There's no way past this!" Zoey cried hopelessly as the craned her head for a better look around it. Francis spun around desperately, and pointed.
"The bridge!" he called. "I bet we could knock it down!"
"What good could that possibly do?" Bill screamed, unloading his rifled straight into an incoming Hunter. Francis looked around some more, eyes wide, and slammed his hand down on a bright yellow lever on the bottom of a train car.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" he screamed at Louis, who was right in front of the slowly moving carriage, which was now unhooked from the derailed cars and speeding faster and faster towards the bridge. Louis dived out of the way, narrowly avoiding disaster, when there was a tremendous crashing sound coming from down the tracks. The wooden bridge collapsed, creating what appeared to be a ramp up to the upper levels of rock.
"This way! Let's go!" Francis called, blasting his gun straight into a zombie that was approaching. He cautiously began ascending the newly created ramp, taking care not to wobble it too much. The others followed gingerly, and soon found themselves up at the top of the bluff. Ahead, in a wooden cabin, was yet another extremely convenient safe room. "Inside!" Bill yelled, and they ran in, securely locking the door behind them.
"I think we're going the right way!" Louis proclaimed optimistically. Zoey shrugged, and said, "I've gotta agree. There's no way there would be this many safe rooms in the country side like this. If we can get back to the tracks again, I think we'll almost be there. Wasn't it just, like, a few miles or something?"
Bill nodded. "Daughtery Farm, that's it. On the map, we were about four miles from the place. It ought to be around here someplace..."
The cabin wasn't very large, and only offered a few supplies for them. Outside, they heard a low growling noise being emitted through the cracks between wood.
"Yeah, I hear a Hunter, alright..."
Francis kicked down the next safe room door, and quickly brought his boot down on a crouching, hooded Hunter waiting right outside. It squealed, and slumped down onto the pine needle-covered ground. He smirked, and kicked it out of the way of the door. "It's safe!" he yelled at them. "We can keep going."
They walked on, up to a small barn. There wasn't anything particularly useful in the building. Outside, enclosed in a wooden pen, was several cow carcasses. Zoey clamped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide in shock.
Bill grimaced, wrinkling up his nose. "It... looks like they were all recently killed. Maybe... they were infected?"
Francis's eyes lit up in delight. "Vampire cows! Oh, man, that is rad... you think there are any that are alive?"
Zoey bopped him on the back of his head with her hand. "Francis! It's not funny, they were killed to stop spreading the infection, probably. It's disgusting. Bill, can we please get going?"
Bill was staring at it, quickly snapped up, and said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'."
The four stepped down a ledge, ending up in another small warehouse. A few guns littered the tables, but nothing special. A few infected loitered the room, which were quickly dispatched with the butt of Francis's automatic shotgun. Exiting the door, they found themselves right at the other side of the train tracks.
Louis whooped, and pointed. "Alright! We're almost there, I think!"
Walking along the tracks, they found significantly more zombies. The side of the tracks to their left was completely open, leading to a huge drop off, not unlike the one next to their camp site. A few buildings were on the side, like what looked like a train station and a small house, overlooking the cliff. Along the tracks, a train had derailed, causing the cars to become jumbled, jutting out over the railings.
Eventually, after following the rails for quite some time, they arrived at a drop off. The train tracks continued on a long metal bridge, but down below, was a huge ravine, larger than any they'd seen so far. On the other side were pine trees jutting up like broken glass in a shattered window. They cautiously walked along the metal structure, the wind howling through the gaps of metal. Off in the distance, on the other side, were searchlights shining up from the forest.
"I think that's it!" Zoey cried with happiness. "We're gonna make it out of here!"
After making their way across the creaking iron bridge, they found a safe room at the end of a stationary caboose car. Carefully entering, they were able to read the graffiti other survivors had written all over the walls. A few Expo markers and Sharpies littered the metal floor below.
One message wrote, "Tim, I'm heading to Albany. If you can read this, don't follow me. Get yourself evacuated with the kids. -Allison"
Another stated, "the military is pulling out of sharpborgh"
One written in red ink declared, "I heard they have cell phone reception in ohio still!"
And one more said, "WERE IS THE MILITARY?"
Bill looked at them, and said, "We keep going. The searchlights are just up ahead. I'm just hoping the military hasn't abandoned this place entirely yet..."
Louis shrugged. "We're way out in the wilderness! There's hardly any zombies around here. We'll get to them."
Francis was about to say something about that, but stopped himself at the last moment, sighing. After a few more moments of snacking and preparing, they decided to head out.
"Man, I'm sleepy..." Zoey mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily. In the east, the glow strengthened. A pink haze started being reflected from the clouds in the distance. Louis yawned, and murmured, "Don't worry, we'll be out of here pretty soon. Just think about it... an actual safe point!"
Francis laughed, clearly not impeded by any length of hours without sleep, and declared, "Yeah, and literally fifteen minutes later the bus or whatever is gonna crash into a ditch, or the helicopter is gonna land in a swamp in Louisiana, or-"
"Francis," Zoey snapped, irkingly. "Shut up. We have a really good chance here. Do you really want to just give up now?"
Francis began to say something, cast his eyes downward, and muttered, "No... not really. I'm just saying, y'know, be realistic... here..."
"All you're being is pessimistic, and we really don't need that," Zoey told him with a glare in her eyes. "If you want realism, look at the facts. We're literally right next to an evacuation point in the middle of the woods, where no zombies can get to us. Not to mention, it's the military. Not some random people on a boat, or in a helicopter or plane. If this works, we're in the loop again. We'll get evacuated."
Francis shrugged, and mumbled, "Sorry."
After a few more moments of preparation, in which nobody talked at all, Bill declared, somewhat hesitantly, "Alright, let's... just go ahead and get going. It wouldn't do us any good to sit around here any longer." With that, they proceeded on.
The tracks ended abruptly at another small collapsed tunnel, but it didn't really matter anymore; up a hill, to their left, must lead to the evacuation location. They climbed it, Bill with some difficulty, and looked on. In the distance, was a farmhouse with searchlights shining up from all over the sides. The only thing separating the survivors from safety was a large cornfield. A metal sign next to them read, "Keep arms above head at all times or you will be SHOT ON SIGHT". Francis grimaced at them, and asked Bill, "You think they're still here?"
Bill shrugged. "Probably. I would do what the sign says. Put your guns away, and hold your hands up. Come on."
They attached their guns to their straps, and held their hands up as they walked forward through the cornfield, Francis with some reluctance. They stepped forward, cautiously towards the house. The tall corn stalks were blocking their view, however, and it became difficult to navigate through the field.
Without warning, an entire flock of crows suddenly began squawking right in front of them, and flew up from their perch down on the ground. The din attracted the attention of a few zombies wandering about in the field.
"Damn it!" Francis yelled as they ran. "Can we use our guns now?"
"Come on!" Bill called. "The house is right there! Slow down, let's not alarm them!"
They slowed to a jog, hands in the air in front of the house. The zombies behind had already forgotten them, and stumbled towards a parked tractor. The lights were on inside, but no silhouettes outlined them. "Um. Hello?" Zoey asked. There was no response.
"Let's have a look inside..." Louis muttered, biting his bottom lip. Cautiously, so as not to cause alarm, they entered, looking around.
"What's that sound?" Zoey said suddenly, and ran towards a radio on a dinner table in the kitchen. The other three followed, looking at the device. It declared, apparently on a loop, "This is an emergency broadcast from the U.S. Military, please respond," over and over again. Bill approached it, apprehension in his eyes, and spoke into the transmitter, "Hello? We're four survivors here!"
There was a sudden pause in the audio clip, and then it blared out, "Jesus christ, Lieutenant! We got survivors out there!"
Zoey gasped, and clapped her hands together. Bill yelled into the microphone, "Yes, yes! We're out in the Daughtery Farm evacuation site! Is there any way you can pick us up?"
There was a pause, lasting around three seconds. It then declared, "We read you loud and clear, survivors. We are prepping an extraction team. Prepare yourselves and radio back when ready."
Bill nodded slowly, disbelief in his eyes and a wide smile on his lips. Zoey hugged Louis, who then whooped. "We're getting out of here!"
Francis chuckled, stroking his goatee. "I'd never have thought it. Looks like this plan might actually work."
"Well?" Louis asked, hands waving in the air like a madman. "Radio them back! We can't be abandoned out here!"
"Oh! Yeah..." Bill realized with a start, and leaned back over the equipment. "Uh, we're ready now, if you are! How long 'til you arrive?"
There was a long pause. "Alright, we're heading out now! We'll probably be there in about... fifteen minutes! Hold out until we get there! This is Rock, out."
"Rock out too, brother!" Francis yelled, pumping his fist in delight. There was a brief silence, interrupted only by a small chirping from a cricket. Bill sighed. "Well, we might as well get-"
There was a huge roar of infected, all simultaneously from the forest around the edges of the farm. "Oh, god DAMN it! What did we do wrong that time, huh?" Francis screamed. "Yes!" Zoey cried, with a hint of irony in her voice. "Yes, Francis! Get angry at the zombies!"
A giant wave of zombies flooded over the hills in the distance, running through the cornfield towards them. "Oh, fuck! Guys! Let's go upstairs!" Louis screamed. They scrambled up the flight of stairs. "Shit!" Zoey said, running her hands through her pony-tailed hair. "What do we do?"
"Shoot, damn it!" Bill cried, blasting his assault rifle away at a stair-ascending zombie's chest. It fell over backwards, bowling into the others, giving time for the survivors to reload and start firing. "Die, motherfuckers!" Francis screamed at them. Three survivors backed up into the parent's room, as a stand.
Francis reached into his pocket, and withdrew a gray tube. "Ha hahh! Time ta play fetch, ya friggin' dumbasses! Throwin' a pipe!"
He tossed the pipe bomb back into the hallway, where it landed with a muffled thump. "God damn it."
Zoey laughed as she shot away with her pistols, and said, "Nice one, Francis. Maybe throw the bomb out the window next time."
Francis shrugged, and pumped his shotgun. "Zoey, you might not watch a lot of baseball... but it ain't good for a man's pitchin' arm when a zombie's hangin' off it by its god damn teeth."
"Damn it!" Louis cried, and kicked a zombie in the crotch. "Now they're all coming up here!"
"Yeah, I know, Louis," Francis yelled, punching a Boomer away from him. "Tell ya what, next time I'll throw it up your ass. Then you can just clench and- agh!"
Francis fell over, a zombie strangling his throat. A quick pull of the trigger saved him, but he muttered, "...hate... zombies... so much..."
There was a huge, searing explosion from the hallway, sending wallpaper, wood, and bodies everywhere. Zoey leaned out the window, and called, "Well it's about fucking time... guys! Rescue's here! Army's here, guys! Let's get moving!"
A mechanized military truck rattled past her, coming to a stop in the driveway. Francis struggled with a zombie, and screamed, "I'm comin', I'm comin'! C'mere, ugly..."
A pistol shot blasted through the infected's head, sending it sprawling to the floor.
Zoey leaned in the window, and yelled, "Seriously, guys, let's move! Where's Bill?"
"White haired old mummy? Smokes a lot, hates stairs?" Francis asked, knocking back another zombie.
"Francis, where is he?"
"By the stairs."
"Is he okay?"
"I look like a staircase to you? How the hell am I supposed to know?"
Zoey ran into the hallway, muttering, "Oh, for christ's sake... guard the room! We'll leave through the hole. I'll be right back!"
"Think we should go with her, man?" Louis asked, shooting away with Francis. "Maybe Bill's in trouble."
"Bill?" Francis asked with disbelief. "Nah. He's been in one of his Vietnammy moods all night. Two things I learned about Bill these last few weeks... don't make fun of his old guy goat beard... and never interrupt him when he's workin'."
Bill was standing at the base of the stairs, blasting away at the incoming infected. He swung his assault rifle into a zombie's skull, sending it to the floor. Zoey appeared at the top of the stairs, and called, "Bill? Rescue's here! Bill?"
He ignored her, kicking the zombies away. She ran down, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Bill! We've got to go upstairs, man! Rescue's here!"
Bill turned to her, and muttered, "I heard you the first time, kid. I just wasn't finished." They began to walk up the stairs together, and Bill said, with a chuckle, "Heh. I don't suppose there's any way we could leave without-"
Zoey interrupted him with a laugh. "No, Francis knows it's here." Bill nodded, reloading his gun, and said with a slightly sarcastic sigh, "Ahhhh, alright."
Upstairs, Louis guarded Francis with a shotgun, and yelled, "Francis, when you gonna stop punching that thing in the head, man?" He turned to Louis, and declared, "Dunno. Soon as it gets boring." He concluded with several more punches to the dead zombie, and muttered, "Nope. Still fun."
Bill appeared in the room, and yelled, "Let's move! I leave you ladies for five god damn minutes and you forget how to run to a rescue vehicle! Zoey, you take point. I'll cover the..."
There was an ominous rumble from downstairs, and Bill muttered, "Ah, fer christ's sakes..."
A Tank exploded into the room, roaring in rage. "Tank!" Bill screamed, holding a molotov cocktail in his hand, ready to be thrown. "Bill!" Zoey screamed, looking at the new monstrosity.
Bill started shooting away at it with his rifle. "Don't worry about me, kid! Fall back to the roof!"
He lit the molotov with his cigarette, as Zoey ran out with Louis and Francis, and muttered, "I swear to god I musta killed fifty of you sons of bitches by now... you'd think one of you'd have the common god damn courtesy to go down easy."
He threw the molotov cocktail at its face, causing the flames to explode all of the the creature. It roared in agony, and swiped towards Bill.
Louis emerged quickly, and tossed a large white cylinder at the monster, crying, "Throwin' propane!"
"Got it!" Bill yelled, and shot the can. It exploded on the Tank, leaving all four survivors to simultaneously shoot at it until it knelt over, dead. With a sigh, Louis said, with anger in his voice, "Alright. Now can we all get the hell out of this farmhouse?"
They jumped off the roof, straight towards the waiting military truck. Zoey covered them as they ran in. "Move! Move!" Bill yelled, inside the small compartment. "Francis, hurry up!" Zoey called.
He was lagging behind, flipping off a Smoker in a tree. "Hold on, I gotta give this zombie the finger."
Suddenly, the Smoker's long tongue shot out, gripping onto his foot tightly. He was ripped off his feet. "Agghh! Shit!"
Louis grabbed onto his hands, with Bill and Zoey reinforcing Louis. "I got you!"
"Don't let go, dammit!" Francis commanded, the Smoker pulling tighter. "I ain't lettin' go, man!" Louis called back.
"I take alla that nasty crap I said about ya!"
"Hold on. You been sayin' nasty crap about me?"
"DON'T LET GO DON'T LET GO DAMN IT DON'T LET GO!" Francis screamed.
Zoey emerged with a sniper rifle, and aimed it at the Smoker perched above. "Don't worry, Louis! I'm on it! Alllmost..."
The gun cracked, smoker trailing out the tip. "Gotcha, freakshow." The limp body fell from the tree limbs, and Francis was able to pull himself to his feet and into the truck. The door slammed shut, and the vehicle cranked up, driving through the hordes of zombies. It drove along the road, and smashed through the barrier, straight into the bright yellow sun rising above the treetops in the distance.
NOTES: Yay! Wow, that was a long time. I wrote on this chapter for literally three hours straight. Was it worth it? Please check for grammar errors, since I was rushing to get it done on a Friday. How do you like it? After this chapter, we will have a ton of interludes, absolutely jam packed with exclusive content and stuff. And by exclusive content, be prepared to see an entire chapter based on the Sacrifice comic. And by based on I mean almost copied from. Hey! I'm trying to keep it canon. And, I don't actually claim to own the Sacrifice comic; everything in the next few chapters is pretty much owned by Valve. Don't worry, after Millhaven, there will be the completely new story. And the new survivors! Keep checking for updates!
