Survival
CH11 – Knock-Knock
"After nine years in development, hopefully it would have been worth the wait" – Gabe Newell
Z-DAY +2 – 10/09/16 – 6:24 PM
Slowly but surely, I moved closer to the gas station, Hirabayashi and Kai still recovering from the previous battle silently in a nearby bus shelter. I quietly approached the door, only to jump back as it opened automatically.
I peeked my head through the door to see the lights flickering slightly, blood staining the isles and walls, and a lone infected stumbling around lazing, a hatchet stuck in its head.
Holstering the 'Rooty Tooty' and pulling out my P226, I slowly took a step inside the seemingly abandoned building – Most of the shelves were cleared save for a few blood-stained packages and severed body parts.
A male body was hunched over the counter, a large kitchen knife implanted in the back of his head, his lifeless jaw hanging open to show the world rotten, blood soaked teeth.
I stealthily moved further into the store, checking for any more infected – There weren't any. A body laid in full camouflage clothing next to the nearly-dead infected, the corpse missing a left arm and having a huge claw mark down his right leg.
The sole infected in question moaned silently, tripping forward slightly and turning its back to me.
Taking the initiative, I rushed forward as stealthily as possible, grabbed the hatchet before firmly putting it back in its skull. The body fell to the floor on the legs of the camo-corpse. While there was nothing on the shelves, a keyring with a large set of keys lay next to the corpses outstretched right hand.
Yanking the hatchet out of the infected skull, I crouched down next to the corpse – There was no damage to its head, which meant…
Out of nowhere the one armed corpse launched its free arm towards me and went to scratch me. Having missed, as I jumped back as it started moving, it moaned very loudly as its fingers scraped against the floor, its jaws idly opening and closing in a biting pattern as it attempted to free its legs
It never got to be free, because it got a hatchet buried in its face.
I heard the automatic doors open and spotted a group of three infected shuffling in towards my current position – I needed to be quick, and stealth wasn't going to cut it this time considering the state of Cody
I stood up after having pocketed the keys and sprinted over to the counter, my footsteps echoing around the shop, and just at the bottom of the counter sat a small, white and red box with a red cross over it. I holstered my P226 and held the hatchet firmly in my Right hand, the Medical Box in my left.
Sliding over the counter and kicking one of the infected back, I gave my hatchet another temporary home inside another infected skull, before promptly evicting it and repeating the cycle for the other two infected.
I ran out as silently as possible towards the MTVR, only to see a large group of the infected heading towards the store I was just occupying. I looked down at the hatchet in my hand, before throwing it at a parked car on the other side of the gas station.
The alarm from the car blared loudly, and the dumb infected shambled towards it, completely forgetting about the Store altogether.
I looked across the road from the gas station towards the bus stop, spotting the group still sitting there silently, a few, brand new infected corpses lying around. I pulled the keys out of my pocket quickly and began testing each of them, until one of them finally fit in the door.
Looking towards the group, I made a hand gesture for them to come over, which they did quickly, with Cody still being carried by Hirabayashi "Come on, get in the back!" I whisper-yelled to them and pointed to the tarp-covered back of the truck
They climbed in one-by-one, not uttering a word. When they had all loaded into the back, I tossed the medical box in behind them and sprinted to the front, swung open the driver's door, hopped in and started the beast of a truck.
Unfortunately, the little fuel gage was ticking dangerously low, but everything else with the truck was fine – As the car alarm finally turned off and the infected began inching towards the truck, I used what little car-driving knowledge I had to try and drive the truck.
I shot off forward and away from the coast, going up a light slope towards a house that had all its lights on at the top of the hill. While it was in our best interest to get up there before it becomes pitch-black outside, we wouldn't be able to make it there with the amount of fuel we had.
As we passed building after building, I noticed something very unnerving – there was a severe lack of infected, vehicles and bodies which could mean several things. As we approached a T-Junction on a relatively flat surface, I pulled the truck to a halt and turned off the near-empty engine, hopping out.
"You lot still in the back?" I ask them loudly
I was responded by a loud groan of discomfort, probably from my terrible handling of anything that isn't a motorbike "We're fine, although your driving is terrible" I heard Hirabayashi murmur as he hopped out of the back and walked towards where I stood
"Did you patch up Cody?" I asked, looking behind him towards the truck where I saw Kai keeping watch on the surroundings
"He's not bleeding anymore, and I took care of all of the major cuts and many of the minor cuts, so he should be good" Hirabayashi responded, idly surveying the area with a great deal of interest
"Interesting…" he muttered, looking down the clear, silent streets that were slowly being shrouded by darkness
Kai walked over to where we stood as a dazed Alice followed behind "So, what's the plan?"
I looked up to the sky "It's getting dark, and fast. We won't have enough fuel to push up anywhere, so I say we fortify one of these buildings and plan what we're going to do tomorrow"
"Good idea" I heard Cody mutter
"Than- Wait, you're up already?" I asked in surprise as a weak Cody slowly climbed out of the truck, leaning on it slightly once he was fully out
"You should rest" Hirabayashi ordered him disapprovingly, to which Cody simply gave him a dismissive wave
"I'll be fine" He grunted, before standing tall with a slight smile
"I agree with Hirabayashi, but we need to move you into the house we're going to fortify anyways, so you can stay up for now…" I said with a deep frown
Kai walked towards one of the houses on the corners of the T-Junction, the door already swinging open slightly as light shone out of it.
I jogged towards him before he made it to the house and put a firm hand on his shoulder "We cant just send one guy in to deal with an entire building that might be full of infected for all we know" I told him
He pushed my hand off his shoulder before smirking slightly, walking forward "Then you're moving into the building with me!"
I sighed before pulling out my trusty P226, following behind him as he opened the door, knife at the ready.
Although there was literally no one inside – All the lights were on and most of the cabinets had already been opened. I checked all four rooms inside-out with the help of Kai and yet there was no one here, and all supplies like food or bottled water or any form of weapon asides from a single hammer that was under a bed was missing.
I motioned towards the trio that waited idly outside to come in, to which they did with slight delay thanks to Cody. Once I had made sure everyone was in, I shut the door and shoved a heavy cabinet in front of it with the assistance of Kai and Hirabayashi
I clapped my hands and turned towards the group that looked around the insides of the one-story building hesitantly "I think it's best for all of us to be in one room to avoid the possibility of one of the rooms being compromised without someone on watch in this room knowing"
Hirabayashi sighed deeply, muttering something under his breath as he went towards one of the bedrooms to presumably take the mattress, only to be seen coming out with a mattress and putting it on the floor, before going into the other bedroom and bringing out another mattress, both with their covers. When he was back, I promptly shoved a table in front of the two doors that were close to each other
"The only other room is the bathroom, which I made sure to check thoroughly to avoid terrifying jump-scares while taking a sh-*cough* poo" I told them, to which Alice giggled slightly
I Looked towards where the two mattresses laid on the floor "Cody and Alice should take priority in bed usage. The floors got a carpet, so while sleeping may be uncomfortable, it won't be like sleeping on solid wood or hard rock. Also, there's a sofa."
"That sounds fair. I volunteer to take first watch" Hirabayashi spoke to the group, sitting down on a once-vacant chair
As what could be considered a response, Cody promptly flopped on one of the mattresses, flinching slightly as he remembered that he had these things called 'wounds' on landing. Alice did something similar, minus the wounds part
"I'll take next watch" Kai muttered, sitting down on the Sofa and yawning loudly
I huffed loudly "I'll take watch after then. The time, according to the clock on the wall, is 8:02. 4 Hour shifts sound okay to you two?"
Kai nodded slightly, eyes closed while Hirabayashi simply put a thumb up. To that, I found a spot on the floor, sat down with my back to the wall and began to doze off into a restless sleep
A/N: I know that I'm probably going to keep saying this, but sorry for the delay and if this chapter seems rushed. I've been much more invested in my other stories and revising as of late. I still have a basic plot for this story set out that needs OC's, so the whole SYOC Aspect of this story is still open. On another note, please leave a review as it always helps, and ask questions through PM so it doesn't clog up the entire Review section
Danke schön