Brass Cased and blood lined Chapter 12: Twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, a dawn of the dead fanfic

CHAPTER 12

CHANGING THE TIDES

Mason looked over his shoulder as the yellow-bus pulled away from the doors. It was like a break in a levy; the dead began to pour into the hall as the gap in the outer defenses was left open for them to penetrate. He looked back toward his exit door and snarled in fear disguised as anger. There were plenty in his way as well; almost too many. He shook his head. There WERE too many. They'd simply close in on him and tear him apart; regardless of the M249 in his grasp. He put his hand on the door-handle. He didn't have much of a choice. He took a deep breath. Maybe if he waited for the right moment.

"There's too fucking many!" Tyler roared to anyone who was listening; his eyes bugging out; the hostages in the bus became uneasy as at his tone. He'd dropped off Aaron close enough to the Hummer and he was closing in behind. He was seeing the same thing as Tyler. "Why the fuck didn't we just drop him off?!" Tyler slammed his fists against the steering-wheel savagely; his skin-turning a purplish-red. Was this the end for Mason Krauss? Out of the corner of his eye, Tyler noticed movement. He looked off in the distance as he rolled to a stop and his heart sank. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand and his hands began to tremble. There was a Helicopter coming toward the school.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Aaron chattered as he saw the Helicopter in the sky. If it was armed, as he suspected it was, they were going to be annihilated. Neither the armor of the Humvee, or the soft skin of the Yellow School bust would provide much resistance against anything 223 caliber or above. His hands squeezed tightly around the steering-wheel and he looked back at the M240B turret. He could go for it, but he hadn't reloaded it since his last round yet. He grabbed the M4 off of the seat beside him and looked to make sure it was loaded. He wouldn't be able to do much with the M-4, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

It took Mason a moment longer to see the Helicopter. When he did, his mind made an instant choice. He spun around and ran down the hall toward the large mass of the dead that was swarming in through the opposite doorway. When he got half-way there, he took a left and sprinted up the stairs to the second floor. He took another left down the hall, his lungs wheezing, and he shoved open the door to the make-shift supply room. There were still plenty of guns inside, and plenty of ammo that he hadn't expected them to need. He stepped up to the pile of guns; knowing what he was looking for: An "Accuracy International" AWM in .338 Lapua mag. He looked around hastily for a moment, before spotting it. He pulled it from the pile and turned his sights on the ammo. He scanned quickly; sifting through the random boxes. He was running out of time. He switched to the next box-full of ammo. He was sweating profusely. If he didn't get outside and do something about this, the school would be the last place he'd ever see.

Mason jumped excitedly when he found the half-empty box of .338 Lapua and took off back into the hall. He sprinted back to the stairs and skidded to a halt. The dead were coming onto the landing.

"FUCK!" Mason screamed as he stepped back; throwing the AWM over his shoulder painfully and raising the M249. He brought the muzzle up so he was aiming from the hip and squeezed the trigger. The gun barked and tried to climb as it fired rapidly. Mason held it down; roaring in a beastly way as he watched the devastation. The bullets made the corpses shake and spasm as they made contact; dropping bodies down the stairs only to be replaced by more. Mason let-off the trigger and went for the upward stairs again. As he got onto the landing, he pulled a grenade from his vest and pulled the pin with his teeth. He gently tossed it down the stairwell and sprinted up the opposite staircase. A loud boom followed shortly later; the closeness of the walls holding in the momentum of the blast and making the staircase clear for a moment.

Mason shoved his shoulder into the roof-access door and stumbled as his feet met the gravel that covered the school's roof. He could see the chopper closing in now; dropping altitude to take a look at the vehicles that were sitting idly on the Schoolyard. He set the legs of the M249's bipod onto the ledge and took the AWM off his shoulder. Leaning his elbows on the ledge, he looked through the 50mm Scope.

Mason took a deep breath and let it out as he saw the faces of the Chopper-Crew. They were chattering on their radios; looking concerned at the bus and the Humvee. Mason swore as it turned slightly. Now he could only see the left side of the pilot. He adjusted his aim and tipped his head slightly. He could see the gunner now too though. He was sitting behind an M240H; aimed at the bus. Mason set the AWM's sights on the gunner and took another deep breath; holding it. He set his finger on the trigger. He hoped to God that the rifle was zeroed. He pulled the trigger.

BOOM! The deep blast of the 338 cartridge made Mason wince hard. He looked through the scope again, but the Chopper turned; making what seemed like an evasive maneuver. Mason reworked the bolt and aimed again. The Chopper was moving toward the School now and climbing. Mason fired again; this time into the cockpit-window. Nothing happened.

When Aaron saw the muzzle-flash from the school-roof, he dove for the back of the Humvee. He found an ammo box for the M240B and rose through the turret; pulling open the gun's top-cover and disconnecting the empty box from the gun in almost one move. As he pulled the ammo-belt from the fresh box, he heard machinegun fire. He looked up from the M240B with scared-eyes, then sighed. Mason was firing a heavy barrage at the chopper with the M249. It was turning around now; aiming to make another round over the school. Aaron turned back to the M240B. Mason was going to get shredded.

"Fuck me." Tyler said under his breath as he heard Mason's fire. Suddenly, from behind, another machinegun began to fire. Tyler looked in the rear-view and his heart-beat became faster and harder. Aaron was firing the M240B from the Humvee-turret; delivering more wrath onto the nimble-target above them.

Mason swore as the M249 clicked empty. He dropped to his chest as the helicopter flew over him. To his surprise, no fire reigned down on him. Even as he made eye contact with the gunner, nothing happened. As Aaron continued to fire, the bird's nose dropped down and the chopper began to retreat at a high rate of speed. As Aaron and Mason continued to watch, they heard more rotors. They both looked around in confusion before they saw the source. There were two more choppers in-bound on their position.

"Oh God." Aaron swallowed. He'd seen the first chopper many times before. It was an attack chopper. An AH-64 Apache. He could see the pilot now and to Aaron's astonishment, the he waved. Aaron's jaw dropped open, and he hesitantly waved back. As he continued to watch, the chopper came to a slow stop and turned its nose, so it was facing the school. Aaron watched the chopper's 30mm cannon like it was some sort of movie. It began firing on the groups of the dead that were gathered on the school grounds. It was no contest. The HE rounds exploded as they hit the ground; causing uncountable casualties amongst the dead mass. Their bodies and limbs exploded and bodies flew like rag-dolls into the air. It lasted about two minutes and as the fire died down, Aaron raised his eye brows. It was quite the show.

Mason watched the second chopper with a grin on his face. It was a UH-60 Black-Hawk with a Mini-Gun on board. He waved happily as the Chopper came in close. His left eye-brow raised as the gunner pointed desperately behind him and motioned for him to get down. Mason spun around. The dead were coming out the roof-access doors; their eyes locked onto him. Mason dove behind the ledge and in a dazzling-display of fire-power, the gunner inside the UH-60 began to shoot the 6-barreled electric mini-gun.

Mason laughed with wide-eyes as bodies were nearly cut in half by the 5,000 round per minute fire of the mini-gun. As the bodies fell, he finished reloading the M249 and got up on his knees. He looked at the doorway and shook his head; impressed. There was hardly a doorway left. He could even see through the walls. He looked back at the gunner and gave a thumbs up. The gunner nodded as the chopper parried until it was hovering over the roof. Two ropes dropped from the chopper, one on each side, and as Mason rubbed his hands together, soldiers began to fast-rope to the roof-top. He watched in delight as an entire eleven-man infantry-team assembled on the roof and a soldier walked up to him with a very serious look on his face.

"Are you ok?!" The soldier yelled over the chopper's rotors as it pulled away from the building.

"Better than ever!" Mason shouted. "Good timing!"

"We should have been here sooner!" The soldier yelled back; reaching his hand out to Mason. Mason shook it firmly. "How many were here when you arrived?!" He rose an eye brow when Mason shrugged.

"People or corpses?!" The sound of the rotors faded as Mason snickered. The UH-60 had pulled away to provide over-watch. The soldier chuckled hesitantly.

"How about National Guard troops?!" The soldier looked over his shoulder as his squad began to fire at the doorway again. There were plenty of dead left in the building.

"Oh," Mason hesitated as he thought, "about nine or ten." He looked at his shoulder and grimaced.

"Good work. I'll have someone look at that shoulder." The soldier walked quickly away and Mason sighed. That could have been a disaster.

Mason joked as he was patched up and a few minutes later, the soldier he'd met first and foremost walked up to him again with an impressed look on his face.

"So where you from Cowboy?!" The soldier asked Mason; slapping the medic on the back as he walked away from treating Mason's wound.

"Outside Dallas, sir. Just taking a vacation I guess." Mason watched the bus and Humvee on the courtyard. The AH-64 was hovering over them; firing a short burst every few minutes at enemies unseen by Mason's eyes.

"What's your name?"

"My name?" Mason looked at the soldier. "Mason Krauss."

"I'm Lieutenant Adam Anderson; U.S. Army. You a Combat Vet?"

"No, sir." Mason shook his head. "I just got weird hobbies."

"Good for you." LT. Anderson nodded. "Well, we have to cleanse this building so we can set up an H.Q. Would you like to join us?"

"Nah, I'm good." Mason declined politely. "I've had enough killing today."

"Well I can respect that." the Lieutenant shook Mason's hand again as he turned to his squad. "We'll get your friends in here as soon as the building is secure."

"Is it just you guys?" Mason asked; confused. He had expected to see more U.S. Army troops en-mass to deal with this kind of situation.

"No." The Lieutenant shook his head without looking back. "We have support in bound."

"Sweet." Mason said under his breath; turning to the courtyard again. "Fucking aye."

The clearing of the building didn't take long, but before it was complete, more air-craft sounds began to fill the air. As Mason watched in awe, C-130's began to drop off Armored units via parachutes. The drops weren't dead on, but in a half hour 2 Armored Strykers, and 2 M3A3 Bradleys were positioned on the school-yard and the Apache had disappeared into the horizon. The area was secure for now and Mason had a warm and fuzzy feeling inside him. It looked like things were getting better. He looked off toward the building-access doors and raised his eye brows passively. He needed to talk to the Lieutenant about the Hospital. He still had a mission.

"Hey Lieutenant, can I talk to you?" Mason stepped into the room where the Lieutenant was setting up an HQ and the Lieutenant looked at him. "I'm only here because we were picking up a bus to transport some people out of the city." Mason shrugged. "Those people are still stuck in their original position."

"I'm listening." The Lieutenant crossed his arms; concerned.

"They're stuck in the Trail County Medical Center down-town. There's approximately thirty people. Men, women, and children of all ages. There's a cop armed with a single gun protecting them. It took all hell for us to get out of there."

"I'm sorry man, but I can't spare the man-power right-"

"Just have one of your big pieces of metal support us and we'll get them on that bus. We made it here and we can make it back." Mason crossed his arms and nodded confidently.

"Well," The Lieutenant thought for a moment, then nodded as Tyler and Aaron walked in, "ok. But if it looks like you're too late, don't get out of your vehicle. I know this sounds harsh, but you can't risk yourself over a lost cause. Its not worth it."

"You got it." Mason nodded; turning to Tyler. "Hey buddy-" Tyler hit him in his wounded shoulder and Mason's face twisted in pain. "A-h! What the fuck?!"

"You're an asshole!" Tyler said sternly. "You almost got all of us killed!"

"What the fuck are you talking about? I got us in touch with the real Army!" Mason pointed at Lieutenant Anderson and shook his head. Tyler stared at him; unimpressed. "Ok, ok," Mason nodded, "it did look pretty bad when that chopper was coming in." He motioned to all the action going on around him. "But look where it got us."

"Are they going to go back to the Hospital?" Aaron asked curiously; breaking the argument between his two friends. He'd gotten to know a few of the people he'd been trapped with and was beginning to worry if they'd make it back to them on time.

"I'll lend you one Stryker ICV with a mounted 50 cal. But like I told him," Lieutenant Anderson pointed at Aaron and Tyler, "Do not put yourself, or my crew into unnecessary danger. Do not get out of your vehicles. Do you understand?" Both Aaron and Tyler nodded. "Ok then." The Lieutenant shrugged. "I'll let them know that they'll be supporting you."

While things were being organized, Mason and the gang learned the gravity of the situation. Nearly all Platoons and Companies of the U.S. Armed forces that had initially been deployed to handle the "Situation" had deteriorated down to nothing. Save for Platoon-sized forces supported by Air-Power and Armor, almost all contact with active National Guard units had been severed. It wasn't until reports of National Guard units "cleansing" cities and towns that the Rear Echelon leaders decided it was time to call up Federal-Troops and put an end to what they considered an "Up-Rising."

The situation for Federal-Troops wasn't good either though. Most Military bases in the country had been overrun or devastated to the point that they were inoperable. The only operable base in California was the Marine Corps Base on Paris Island. In the past 48 hours it had been abandoned and all of its resources relocated to Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, and Minot Air Force base in North Dakota. The mid-west was the only part of the country where any progress was being made. Its highly-rural set-up helped immeasurably. The Army, supported by the Marine-Corps and Air-Force had taken advantage by fortifying small towns and using them as Forward Operating bases. It was the only thing that seemed to be working at all. It wasn't solving the problem, but it was giving the Military something to work with.

"So what made you set your sights on Pembleton?" Tyler asked Lieutenant Anderson curiously. "Its not exactly a small-town is it?" The Name "Grand-Forks" made Tyler's skin tingle. When he was growing up in Hallock Minnesota, that was where he'd go to the movies, take a girl on a date, or just chill out. He'd been there many times. If the Military had moved a lot of resources there, then maybe that meant things were ok there.

"This is the first large city we've decided to move on." Lieutenant Anderson hesitated; looking over his shoulder as more nameless troops walked passed the H.Q. doorway. They were arriving in Squads now; ready for battle. "They're going to drop massive amounts of resources in here to attempt to regain some ground, and hopefully extra resources in return. This city has a water-way, fuel, and usable products without being too much to handle. They'd looked at Chicago, but our forces would have been overwhelmed. Once the Air-force gets on its feet again completely, then they'll start looking there… if they don't just decided to blow the whole place to hell."

"Right." Tyler nodded. "So what's the situation in the area surrounding Grand Forks Air Force base? Is it bad?"

"Look," Lieutenant Anderson said in a quiet, but serious tone, "It's bad everywhere. Anyone who was a hippy, or a liberal do-gooder is dead and its because they thought self-defense was stupid and immoral. If you ask me… I think everyone should just hop on a cruise ship and take a vacation until these fuckers just rot into nothing." He let out a sigh and shook his head. "I think we can win this thing, but we're getting weaker every day, and they're getting stronger every day. Its scary." He shrugged.

"Ok, thanks." Tyler ran his hand through his curly blond hair and scratched his beard. He had to go home, regardless of what anyone said. There was no question about it. Every waking minute, it was all he could think about.

"Roger that." Lieutenant Anderson said into his radio and he looked at Mason. "The Stryker is ready when you are."

"Awesome, thanks." Mason nodded and looked at his compatriots. "You guys ready?"

Aaron felt a flood of confidence as he looked at the Stryker pulled up behind him. He was sitting in the driver's seat of the Humvee. Mason gave him the thumbs up before mounting the Humvee's M240B; he was just one more level of support in case things went awry. A few seconds later the convoy began to roll; The big yellow bus leading the way. It was five minutes to the Hospital. This time the tension would be low, and the payback would be high.

Tyler looked around casually as he took his first left turn on pavement with the Yellow-Rocket. It was nice to not have all the hostages on board with him. They made him feel like he was responsible for them all and that was a heavy load. That wasn't the best part though. The best part was seeing that Stryker Armored Support Vehicle in his rear-view mirror. There would be no fear of masses, or National Guard troops anymore. The only fear was a stall, or an accident. It wouldn't be beyond reality with all the vehicles abandoned here and there. He let that idea escape his mind. He'd made it with the LMV without too much hell. All he had to do was be a little more careful. After all, the bus was about three times the length of the LMV.

Mason felt no fear, or worry as the wind hit him in the face. A belt-fed machinegun was enough support for him. The Stryker was just frosting on the cake. He puffed on the cigarette hanging from his lips as his eyes energetically scanned the debris and carnage of what was once a thriving city. Every few seconds he'd see two or three corpses wandering through a yard, but they weren't a concern. The concern would be the waves and waves of them on the streets of down-town and the hordes pushing to make their way inside the Hospital. He smiled to himself calmly. What would the dead bastards do? Would they wander aimlessly to the Stryker and tip it on its side? It wasn't possible. The Rolling Piece of Armor would blow them to shreds before the idea even crossed their one-dimensional minds.

Mason cracked his back and snickered at the idea as he stretched his arms carelessly. He couldn't wait to throw a couple hundred bullets at the grimy-fuckers. He loved the way they seemed to pop when he shot them. It wasn't like deer-hunting. A deer would get shot, and the blood would pour out in a calm, conservative sort of way. The corpses? They seemed to be just waiting to bleed. Their heads were the most fun though. When that bullet went through their softening little cranium it was like Niagara falls with red food-coloring.

"Hey, can you guys hear me, or do I have to change the channel again?" Tyler's voice; consumed with static, came through Aaron's radio. Aaron snatched it off of the receiver and put it to his face.

"Hey, I can just barely hear you. What's it look like up there?"

Tyler stared at the street; hesitating before he replied to Aaron's question. Everything looked the same, but it was getting dark. He wasn't looking forward to a violent battle that was going to take place in the pitch black streets.

"Its… crowded." Tyler said uncomfortably though the CB. "Otherwise it's the same as before. I'm not going to worry until I have to, it's a waste of-" Tyler stopped mid-sentence. Before him was what he had been waiting for. The dead, in a scattered mass, were approaching. He could see their empty eyes watching him. He stopped the bus and put the CB to his mouth. "Ok, they're all over the place. Get the fuck up here and see what you can do."

"Hey," Aaron looked back at Mason as Mason crouched into the cab of the vehicle, "He wants us to pass him and clear them out. I guess there's a bunch of them."

"Fucking right." Mason said cockily with a confident nod. "We'll take point. Radio the Stryker and let them know to follow behind us."

"Roger that." Aaron nodded; picking up the radio.

Mason rose through the turret again; turning to the Stryker and giving it the thumbs up. Before he could turn back around, the Hummer took off and passed the bus. Mason tossed his smoked cigarette to the street and stuck a pinch of Copenhagen Long cut into his lip; grabbing the grip of the M240B and setting his finger on the trigger. "Payback time." He spit a stream of tobacco-juice to his side and leaned forward.

Tyler watched as Aaron spun around him and Mason opened up with the Belt-fed M240B. It was strange. Tyler watched Mason as he fired. The emotion painted on his best friend's face was a confusing display of loss and turmoil that could not be explained by words. He was sure he could hear Mason's roar over the machinegun's muzzle blasts. It was a roar to God, and a cry to those who had lost their lives through the entire ordeal.

Tyler sat back and let out a tired sigh as he stared ahead. The mass didn't seem to be disintegrating even as he watched countless numbers of them seemed to fall under the direct fire of Mason's medium-machinegun It seemed with every body that fell, another rose from the shadows to replace it, or the one that went down got back up. As he looked at Aaron's Humvee, the Stryker rolled passed it. It came to a halt not twenty feet in front of the bus and its remote-operated M2HB Heavy Machine gun began to fire with a mighty-roar.

Tyler's face became blank as he watched the .50 Caliber machinegun do its business. The heavy rounds seemed to do more than their fair share of work. With every round that was thrown out, it seemed to drop at least three corpses. In unison with Mason's M240B, the mass seemed to finally begin to die down partially, and Aaron's Humvee rolled forward before the mass could recover. Tyler just let out a sigh. What an immoral show.

"I got this shit covered." Mason snickered as the Hummer began to roll over the bodies they'd knocked down. Even with all the large-caliber bullets flying around; most of the bodies seemed to still be moving. Yet, what a ridiculous show of force. Mason sneered as he let out another burst of fire at a wandering group of the dead.

"Fuck you and die." Mason grunted as his burst of forty-rounds cut the corpses to the ground. He felt no pity. There was simply no mercy to feel for such wastes of space in the world. How could he feel sad, or wrong? They'd come into his world and feasted on children, seniors, and innocent men and women of a working-class nation. Was it wrong for him to feel rage and hatred toward them? He couldn't imagine that being just. He was no hippy, no liberal "victim." He was a man of the world, the real world. Not a useless pile of waste that made up excuses for his shortcomings and was incapable of taking care of his own well-being.

Mason let loose another barrage of fire as the convoy continued to roll forward. He thought of Nanci Pelosi as his M240B roared. She had begged for the restriction of firearms to Law-abiding men; hoping she could control Americans like sheep. He let out another deep and callused roar as he fired. He imagined Ted Kennedy and Janet Reno demanding reformed gun-laws; stating that law-abiding men were the cause of social-violence and school shootings. He watched the bullets making impact and destroying the bodies of his enemies, and the enemies of man. The convoy rolled on. It wasn't the gun that was the enemy of man. Mason spat a stream of tobacco-juice. It was those restricting the rights of men to defend themselves. They were in hell now. Begging for mercy.

The convoy took a last left and Aaron's eyes scanned as they rolled up on he block nearing the Hospital-Grounds. It didn't look too bad; just the same as last time. There was an uncountable horde massed at the front doors; making their push to penetrate the inside of the secured part of the building, but they were getting nowhere. He let out a sigh as he kept his foot riding evenly on the accelerator. Maybe things could go perfectly right even in this God-Forsaken world.

Tyler's eyes didn't go straight for the front entrance. They were drawn to the emergency-exit. He could tell something was going on by the massive movements of the undead horde that had grown outside the single door. His eyes became wide and terrified as he saw the worst possible reality. The door was propped opened and the dead were swarming in.

"They're fucking going in- the mother fuckers- waste the fucks!!!!" Tyler's voice roared over the radio in broken sentences and Mason's eyes searched the courtyard. It took no less than a moment for Mason to see what Tyler was screaming about over the radio and he let the M240B talk. His face twisted as the M240B blasted; He held the aim on the emergency-exit; letting a stream of relentless fire flow out. His heart-beat climbed and his sweat poured out as he held the trigger down; blowing corpses to the ground in bloody pink-mists. A moment later; the Stryker joined and the M240B went dry. Mason ducked into the cab of the Humvee.

Tears came out of Tyler's eyes as he realized the situation. Every person he'd come to save was most-likely dead and he could do nothing about it. His heart skipped a beat as Aaron's voice came over the radio.

"Mason's going in!" Aaron's voice said excitedly. "He won't listen to me!" Tyler looked through the left-window of the bus as Mason took off toward the Hospital. Tyler just swore as he raised the M1014 from the floor beside him. Liz's face kept flowing through his mind. If anyone was going to be saved, it was going to be her. He didn't give a shit what he had to do. He opened the bus-door and jumped out onto the street. He took a left around the nose of the bus in a dead-sprint; his eyes dancing back and forth. The dead were recovering from Mason and the Stryker's barrage of fire. He had to be fast before-

The Stryker opened up with its .50 Caliber M2HB Heavy Machinegun again and Aaron's voice roared over the blast as the bullets flew passed him; impacting and annihilating flesh and bone.

"Tyler!" Aaron yelled and Tyler turned to him. Aaron threw him his M-4 and Tyler caught it. "We've got you covered!" Tyler nodded and turned back to the doorway. He was out of time.

Mason skidded to a halt before he hit the jammed-open Hospital Emergency-Exit. He carefully avoided the bodies on the ground and stepped into doorway with the M249 shouldered and instantly began firing. His legs shook from adrenaline and fear as he fought the M249's muzzle from climbing. The dead seemed to be wedged into the hall before him. There were so many in the cramped little hallway that it looked like they could hardly move; at least not until they took notice of Mason. The whole army of them seemed to swell in his direction as his gun registered in the air. His eyes widened and his hands tensed on the pistol-grip and forearm of his weapon. He jumped in surprise as Tyler stepped up beside him and began firing the Benelli at them.

Mason swore as the M249 clicked empty. He and Tyler stepped back as the flood of the dead moved toward them; now not more then twenty-feet away. Mason's hand went for his USP, but he felt nothing in his holster. His eyes widened as they went to it. He'd given his pistol to that kid! He looked up toward the door. All they had to do was coax the bastards into the open and let the Stryker take care of them. That would fix this little jam.

"Here!" Tyler slammed Aaron's M-4 into Mason's chest. "Take it! I don't have any ammo for it!"

Mason nodded as he grabbed the M-4 and went straight to shooting. He fired about half of the magazine into the group, backing up Tyler's Benelli Fire, and he slapped Tyler on the shoulder excitedly. The dead were coming through the doorway.

"Let the Stryker hit them!" Mason grabbed Tyler by the arm and they ran out of the Stryker's line of fire. From there; it was just a matter of seconds.

The Stryker's .50 machinegun roared once more, this time with what seemed like endless corpses stepping into its line of fire as it demobilized targets one after another; blowing soft-ball sized holes into corpse-bodies and removing limbs left and right. The gun fired for about half a minute before it halted; the dead still exiting the building.

"He's gotta be dry." Tyler grunted, aiming his Benelli again. The M240B on Aaron's Hummer interrupted him; throwing smaller, but seemingly effective amounts of lead into the disintegrating mass as they exited the doorway. By the time Aaron went dry, there was little movement, just that eerie silence they'd come to know so well.

"Let's kick it baby." Mason said confidently as he moved forward with the M-4 up and ready. Tyler was a half step behind; scanning everything through the Ghost-Ring sights of his semi-automatic shotgun. Before they began stepping through the piles of motionless corpses on the grass, Mason stopped.

"I'm not taking the fucking risk of one of these assholes playing possum." Mason spat; pulling a hand-grenade from his vest. He pulled the pin and looked at Tyler before letting the handle fly off of it. "Ready to run?"

"Oh yeah." Tyler said coolly. "Light em' up."

As Tyler trotted away, Mason let the spoon fly off of the grenade and he threw it under-hand into mostly motionless pile of chewed-up meat. He turned around and ran behind the Stryker; waiting patiently for the boom. A moment later; he got what he'd wanted. The explosion echoed off the side of the building and Mason grinned heartlessly as the bodies were tossed and shredded even more than before. He peaked around the Stryker, expecting nothing, and aimed the M-4. To his surprise, a single corpse was wandering stupidly through the door. Mason squeezed the trigger and the bullet punched a tiny hole in the corpse's forehead; blowing a chunk of the back of his skull onto the floor behind him. He fell forward and Mason turned to Tyler.

"Let's move." Mason spat a stream of tobacco and darted forward with the M-4 up and ready. He moved quickly with Tyler close behind; weary of the corpses lying on the ground, but more concerned with doorway coming toward them. He paused when he saw figures moving around aimlessly and as he looked through the Acog sight, Tyler passed him quickly.

"What the fuck man?!" Mason barked; irritated. Tyler didn't look back. He charged through the doorway and Mason smirked humorously as Tyler began a savage cleansing.

Tyler's teeth were clenched with rage as he began to shoot. It was strange how natural the whole thing had become. Having a gun, counting your ammo, being aware of how many rounds you'd fired. It had become a part of him; for better or worse. He began firing as precisely and rapidly as he possibly could. The sights helped. As long as that front post was inside the rear circle; boom. A head would explode. It was almost rhythmic; boom, boom, boom. Tyler took them down left and right; only misfiring once before the weapon clicked empty. He aggressively drew his Glock; aiming to do a little more precise punishment. Mason stepped up beside him and slapped him on the shoulder energetically. He couldn't let Tyler have all the fun.

Mason casually began firing aimed, semi-automatic rounds down the tight corridor. He was irritated when the rounds didn't impact on the exact area he was aiming it. He grumbled inaudible words when he'd aim at an eye-socket and hit a cheekbone; or at the center forehead and hit the side of the forehead. He knew he wasn't swaying much. He was accustomed to firing while standing. It was the damn mil-spec trigger on the gun. He shot a young man in the temple and let the gun down; staring at it as Tyler sent a few bullets out from his Glock.

"You're gun break or something?" Tyler raised an irritated eye brow as he put a fresh magazine in. He wasn't irritated at Mason exactly, it was the whole situation. Mason being finicky about something just added to the annoyance and bad vibe of the whole thing.

"Nah, the Government is just so fucking gay and uptight about everything. I keep getting bad shots cause of the shitty trigger." Mason parched his lips and shook his head as he aimed again.

Tyler just stared at him. Mason's mind was changing. He'd read about this shit before. The experience of death and killing was taking such an impact on the young man, that he was putting all of his focus on ridiculous and irrelevant things that didn't matter. It was Mason's minds' best effort to keep him from collapsing over the guilt and sorrow caused by horrendous experiences. Tyler had felt the same thing coming on slightly, but through self-coping and self-coaching he had been able to deal with it, and at least partially accept what he'd done as necessary-evil. It was stuff he couldn't have helped. Not in the modern world.

"Dude," Tyler said in a low, raspy voice, "let's just keep moving." He stared at Mason uneasily and Mason nodded.

"Fuck yeah, dude. I'm ready to kick this shit."

"Right." Tyler nodded. "Let's get this done."

They moved forward as one. The dead weren't strategic about their placement; stepping out of a room randomly and stretching their arms out excitedly. A small burst or a single round ended the threat every time; causing nothing but emotion to rise even more so than before and another wandering soul to be added to the kill-count of each young man.

"Fucking aye." Mason groaned as he stepped into the lunch-room doorway. A limited number of corpses were scattered throughout the room; eating what was left of faceless, innocent people. Tyler stepped up beside him and his breathing became ragged and desperate.

"Motherfuckers." Tyler spat; putting rounds in his Benelli. As he reloaded, Mason brought his gun up with a scowl on his face. He didn't even aim. He held the trigger and swayed the barrel of the M-4 back and forth; spraying 30 fresh rounds out and hitting the corpses randomly on their bodies. As bullets impacted their torso's, forearms, and shoulders, they didn't even look up from their meals. They just shook from the impacts and continued to eat.

"Fucking move." Tyler squeezed passed Mason and aimed the Benelli. He looked through the Ghost-Ring sights and fired; aiming slowly and precisely this time. It was horrendous. He'd shoot one in the face, and it would fall backwards from its sitting position unnoticed by the others. The effectiveness of the buckshot was noteworthy. When the tiny ball-bearing impacted, a spray of chunky gore would reign upon everything near. Tyler just continued to fire as Mason watched their back's. He ravaged them, one by one, until all that was left was twitching bodies; incapable of doing any more destruction. When the room was silent, Mason put his hand on Tyler's shoulder.

"That's it man…" Mason swallowed hard and shook his head. "We did our best. You can't do more than that, you know?" He'd done his best to not think of why they were here and why they were so intent on destroying the corpses in this building. He filtered out the faces of the people he'd come to save the best he could; disregarding the little girl who'd innocently asked him questions, and the mother who had so courteously mouthed him a thank-you. He didn't want it to sink in now, or ever. He just wanted to move on without the guilt of the reality taking permanent residence in his overwhelmed mind. He'd done so many things in the past week that he didn't want to relive. He wasn't sure he could forgive himself.

No." Tyler said flatly; staring at what was left of the entire surviving group. It was just mush; ravaged flesh and faceless bodies. "I'm not done until everything in this wing has been punished." He looked at Mason with empty eyes. "I'm killing everything."

"Yeah." Mason said sternly; slapping hands confidently with his best friend and nodding hard. "Let's do this shit, no fucking mercy."

They left the Lunch-Room doorway and approached the Nurse's desk. It was pretty much lifeless; but the hallway to where the LMV was once parked was inhabited by sporadic numbers of the dead that picked their hanging heads up as Mason and Tyler walked into view.

"Fucking prick-bastards." Tyler said dryly; stepping up to one of them as it excitedly turned toward him. He stuck the barrel of the Benelli right up to its face and pulled the trigger. The head recoiled as it was blown back by the 00-Buckshot round; the flesh and bone shattered and shredded. It almost looked like a fat-man's belly; shaking like a bowl full of jelly as the round impacted. It fell to the ground and Tyler turned to the rest of them. "Let's see how you like this."

Mason stepped up beside Tyler and a gulf of fire opened up. Mason emptied his M-4, and Tyler screamed as the twelve gauge spewed it's buckshot. Blood spewed onto the walls, ceiling, and floor as bullets and tiny ball-bearings made impact; shattering bones, and mashing brain matter like it were a natural occurrence. With smoking barrels and empty chambers, Mason and Tyler looked at each other. Tyler took a deep breath and slung his Benelli over his chest; shaking his head.

"You know, I don't think this was in our hands…" Tyler shrugged. He looked over the mess and took a deep breath.

"I don't really know anymore." Mason said quietly. "Maybe nothing is in our hands."

"I kind of… felt alive doing something for other people." Tyler smiled weakly. "I felt like I was making up for every bad choice I'd ever made." He looked at his feet; feeding fresh rounds into the shotgun. "Maybe if we'd been just a few minutes faster."

"Yeah, or-"

Mason was interrupted by the sound of a door being opened behind the Nurse's desk. His eyes snapped to it and his jaw dropped opened. The mother of the little girl he'd talked to in the lunch-room poked her head out.

"We're in here!" She sobbed.

Mason's heartbeat picked up a notch. It hadn't been a waste after all.

Tyler scanned the group of stubborn survivors as they exited the tiny room behind the Nurse's desk. He was looking desperately for Liz. He hoped to God she could be one of those few. They were such a small group compared to the one that had previously taken refuge in the lunch-room. If only they'd done more to protect them. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. The beautiful physique of an athletic girl stepped out of that tiny room with an infant in her arms. Tyler felt his arms go weak and a slap on the back. He looked over his shoulder.

"Well there you go buddy," Mason motioned toward Liz, "God always does the right thing for his messengers."

Tyler nodded at Mason's words and he casually walked up to her; feeling bashful as her saw her terrified, yet relieved tears.

"I'm sorry." Tyler said honestly as he stepped up to Liz and looked into her eyes. She shifted her child in her arms and tipped her head thoughtfully as she wiped them with her free hand.

"For what? You saved us." Liz's eyes burned into him and Tyler blushed.

"I'm sorry we weren't here sooner." He stared quietly at her and she reached her hand out and squeezed his arm.

"You got here just in time." More tears ran out of her eyes and Tyler nodded. She was right. They'd done what they could under the given circumstances. He turned to Mason. The lone ranger was staring blankly at the people gathering nervously in the openness of the hall.

"Mason!" Tyler barked; bringing Mason's gaze to him. "We just won a fucking battle. Let's get these people out of here."

"You got it." Mason nodded; his sprits lifted and his motivation reinstated. "People!" Mason said loudly; noticing sadly that Lance was nowhere in sight. "Keep your fucking eyes open and follow me! We're getting the hell out of Dodge!"

The ride back to the school was the same as before. The Stryker provided the necessary fire-support while the Bus and the Humvee escaped beyond the reaches of the masses of the undead unscathed. When the vehicles reached the school-grounds, all there was to do was celebrate. Tyler watched in the rear-view of the bus as people hugged, laughed and cried. It was that much more exciting when the back of the bus opened, and soldiers were there to greet them and escort them to the safety of the school.

Tyler climbed off the bus and watched as Liz walk into the building as the Humvee pulled up beside him and Mason and Aaron jumped out. Mason walked up and put his arm sarcastically around Tyler's shoulder; staring at the darkened horizon.

"And all…" Mason trailed off, "because he was taunted by the thrill of death." Mason snickered as Tyler threw a fist at him and he ducked away childishly.

"No seriously dude." Mason's tone changed to honesty and his face showed it. "You don't need me to tell you that you had some real balls through that whole thing. You're the fucking man."

"Hey!" Aaron said loudly with a hint of humor in his voice. "What about me ya douche? I was like… Denzel Washington in 'Training Day.' "It was amazing… really." He started laughing along with Mason and Tyler shook his head passively.

"Ok kids." Tyler said in a high-pitched, extremely sarcastic tone. "Let's go inside ya fuckin' homos."

Both Aaron and Mason snickered as they followed Tyler into the school. There was plenty going on in every direction. It seemed every room was being used for something important; from Medical-room to Operations-room. It was a real sight. They walked to the intersection of halls where the stairs were located and were stopped by the loud voice of Lt. Anderson.

"Well thank you so much for listening to my orders." Anderson stepped out of the main office with a look of discontent on his face. He crossed his arms and stared at Mason. "You got ADHD or something?"

"Well," Mason smiled coyly, "yes sir, in fact I do." He laughed as Anderson shook his head with a hesitant smile of his own.

"Well next time, its not going to be my call. My rank is being stepped on. A man named Captain Sorenson will be taking my place. So if you're looking for resources from now on, I'm not going to be able to give them to you without his word." He slapped Mason on the shoulder. "So allow me to go and tell him what a fucking-splendid job you did out there boys. Fourteen refugees is a good number."

"Refugees?" Aaron's neck straightened "This is starting to sound like a campaign to stop hunger in the Congo. Don't do it!" He yelled in a cartoon-ish voice. "The man on the T.V. is eating all the food!" When everyone raised their eye brows Aaron shrugged and kicked the floor. "Yeah I dunno."

"Anyway," The Lieutenant snickered, "I'll let Captain Sorenson know what valuable assets you are and I'll see to it that every time you step out that door, you have the assets required to do whatever you have to do. The more men like you we have around, the better."

"Fuck yeah!" Mason nodded excitedly and his eyes went to Tyler. Tyler was staring at him dully. Staying with the military hadn't been in the cards and Tyler didn't want any part of it; save for the confidence and security. "Wait," Mason said flatly, "we can't stay here Anderson. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" Anderson crossed his arms and raised a confused eye brow. The men before him had done extraordinary things in the past twelve hours. They hadn't appeared to be the type to duck out.

"I've gotta get these guys home." Mason shrugged; accepting the truth and his responsibility to his friends. "I promised."

"I see." Anderson let his head droop slightly. He needed all the manpower he could get, but he could see where Mason and Tyler were coming from. Family was number one when you had it. "You're not leaving now are you? A dark, dead-infested Urban Jungle isn't really the kind of place you want to be naked in after dark."

"What do you think?" Mason looked at Tyler and Aaron. They'd been accomplishing tasks both physically and mentally straining all day. They all knew they needed the rest and having 360 degree security in their place of shelter was a much better haven than a dark, secluded field or roadway.

"Rest." Aaron and Tyler agreed. They needed the sleep, the food, and the social interaction with people. There was no use risking mental incapacitation, at least not in the environment outside the wire. They knew they'd be put through more tests soon enough. Rushing was pointless.

"Well they've got cots set up in the gymnasium, and the showers in the locker-room are running thanks to the Guard unit that was here before us. And there's chow too. Its just MRE's, but if you're low on energy it's the perfect thing." He took a deep breath and shrugged. "Make yourselves at home." Mason, Tyler, and Aaron all thanked Lieutenant Anderson, but as he was about to walk away he stopped and looked at them again. "Let me know when you're leaving so I can see you off." They all agreed and said goodnight to their uniformed friend; thanking God they'd come to the school before the Helicopter had done its work. It was time for rest and relaxation though, so they set their sights on the gymnasium.

CHAPTER 13

The in-between

"It's the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance and sweeps away all obstacles." -Claude M. Bristol

With little else to worry about Mason, Tyler, and Aaron walked tiredly into the gymnasium still wearing all of their gear. They felt a lot of eyes on them as they found an area with enough cots to fit all three of them, and in a obvious expression of relief, they all sat down and looked at each other with genuine appreciation. It was at that moment, Aaron noticed all the new faces in the Gym. There were people he'd never been with in the hospital, and people he hadn't seen while doing their oh-so daring hostage-rescue.

"Hey," Aaron hit Tyler in the arm, "look at all the other people. Were they here before?" They obviously weren't in the military. They were battered, tired-looking people who were doing the same as the three young comrades; just looking to get some rest.

"I don't know." Tyler said in a quiet voice. He turned to Mason. "Did you notice all the new faces?"

"The what?" Mason was brought out of his emotionless stare and looked at Tyler with raised eye brows." He hadn't put much effort into looking over the people. His brain was too overworked to worry about it.

"All the fucking people man." Tyler grunted impatiently. "Look at them all." He motioned to all of the unfamiliar faces and Mason nodded coolly.

"Yeah, weird." Mason shrugged; looking off toward a couple of soldiers that were coming out of the boys' locker-room attached to the gymnasium. "Hey guys, come here a second!" As they approached, music began to blare from the small stage at the side of the vast room. Someone was trying to make things more civil; bringing a look of discontent to Tyler's face.

"What's going on?" A very tall, athletic-looking black soldier looked down at Mason. Mason pointed at all the people and tipped his head curiously.

"Where did all these new faces come from? Did they come with you guys?"

"Uh, yeah," The soldier said "yeah" in that cliché black-guy way, but he did it in such a smooth, cool way that Mason couldn't help but grin, "We flew them in from the court-house here in town. They were trapped on the roof. Then I guess some of them were, uh, out in the country some place,. I don't know. They keep flying in little groups from all over the place." He shrugged.

"Thanks buddy." Mason and the soldier nodded at each other and the soldier walked away. Mason turned to Tyler and shrugged, but before he could say anything Liz walked up and in an instant, Tyler was standing.

"Hey." Tyler said energetically; careless to the fact that Mason and Aaron were staring at him.

"Hey-" Liz said nervously. She was shaking. "I didn't think you were going to come back." She began to cry and Tyler hesitated. He wanted to comfort her, but he wasn't sure how. He hated this part of being interested in people.

"I'm sorry…" Tyler rubbed her shoulder; shy and nervous as she stared at him with teary eyes. "We tried to come back fast, but-" He swallowed hard, "But we just couldn't get there in time."

"Come with me." Liz said in a soft, hesitant voice. She grabbed Tyler by the hand and his cheeks turned red as he looked at Mason. Mason just nodded; motioning to go on with a sway of his head.

"Ok." Tyler ran his free hand through his hair. He needed this. He needed to hang out with someone who wasn't blasting dead-peoples' brains out. His dad was one to always say "Keep your head in the game" but he was also the guy who liked to say "Isn't one of the most fun parts about getting girls, the chase?" Tyler squeezed Liz's hand as they approached the area where she was set-up with some of the survivor's from the hospital. A part of him was at ease. Finally.

"You know one of the reasons this whole thing got out of control?" Mason said to Aaron from his cot; irritated. He was staring up at the gymnasium ceiling with his hands behind his head. He finally looked like a civilian with all of his equipment off and his gun off of his chest. "Because of this, err, that fucking recession we were in." He turned and looked at Aaron who was staring at him; not sure what Mason meant.

"Well yeah," Aaron shrugged, "and the fact that the president did his best right off the bat to fuck us all over by cutting our ammo-supply in half. The cops didn't even have enough bullets and that asshole thought it was ok!" Aaron shook his head; he hated Socialists.

"No shit, but I'm not talking about that." Mason agreed with Aaron's point. The President had surely hindered the ability of the Military and the American people to defend themselves with new gun-laws and ammunition-restrictions before the outbreak, but that wasn't the issue. "Since this recession started, thousands of people became homeless. They started living in those tent-cities and all of that, you know what I mean? Those people had nowhere to run. Do you think they even knew what was going on? Definitely not on the first day, and maybe, just maybe they knew on the second day." He rubbed his nose and looked back at the ceiling. "Who knows how many of them were killed; completely ignored by the media and the middle and upper classes… assholes."

"That's why I'm libertarian." Aaron shrugged; ripping open an MRE he'd gotten while entering the big, open gymnasium. "If there were no rules, no laws, and no restrictions, then people would have popped these fuckers right from the start." He looked at Mason excitedly with wide eyes. "And we all would have had Machineguns!" He started laughing and trailed off. "God damn National Firearms Act."

"No shit." Mason yawned. He'd probably fall asleep soon. He just had to make sure he didn't focus on anything. If he started thinking about anything he'd done this week, he knew he'd never calm down enough to even get a nap in. He relaxed and started trying to remember all the last movies he'd seen in the theatre from most recent to most distant. He felt his body begin to calm itself and rest begin to set in.

"Holy shit!"

Mason sprung up at the excited sound of Aaron's voice; shooting his gaze this way and that. "What, what, what!?" Mason stammered; not seeing any corpses anywhere.

"Alcohol!" Aaron pointed to the furthest away gymnasium exit-door. A soldier was wheeling in boxes of Beer like he'd just hit the barley-pop lottery. Mason's mouth dropped open and he leaned forward slowly. He never thought he'd see Beer again in his life. And what kind was it? He gasped in amazement. It was Dos Equies.

"Aaron…" Mason smirked coolly; looking at his pal. "That shit is going to be ours… period."

"I'm down." Aaron stood up from his cot and stretched with a yawn. He bent over, poked his MRE that was warming in its water-activated, self-heating pouch and nodded. "Yeah, this'll be perfect. Grab a box of brew, come back and chow down on my "shit ready to eat" and then crash." He snickered. "I hope I don't say anything totally unnecessary."

"Oh, I hope you do." Mason smacked him on the shoulder as he walked by him. "Ready to commence "Operation beer Schmeckler."

Tyler stared at his clasped hands as Liz spoke. She had explained what had happened. All they'd heard was Chase's scream and they'd acted on instinct from there. Some of the people had been too scared to move. Some of them hadn't been able to fit in the small room they'd hid in. They'd been trapped in the little room with Lance's body for more than an hour when the shooting started. She assured Tyler that everyone thought of him, Mason, and Aaron as heroes. After all, they'd come to the rescue.

Tyler didn't know what to say. As much as his heart wanted to allow a flow of pride and self-satisfaction, his mind would not allow it. With every word of gratitude and love, came a feeling of contempt and guilt. He'd killed people. Real, live people. People who under different circumstances may have been his friends, or coworkers. He didn't feel like crying, or screaming out at God anymore. He didn't feel like punching anyone, or starting anything on fire. All he felt was an odd sickness taking over his entire being; creeping through him slowly with an empty tingling that words could not explain. He felt his entire body begin to tremble and sweat began to run down his forehead. He clenched his eyes shut and he felt Liz's hands squeeze his arms.

"Don't cry, please." Liz said in a soft, pleading voice. She let out a scared laugh and shook her head. "If you do, then I'll cry harder." She leaned forward and hugged him.

Tyler let out a relieved sigh and the tears flowed from his eyes silently. He hugged her back as firmly as he could; pulling her into his chest. The release was bliss. He felt the sickness, the emptiness inside him fizzle away. It was a euphoria of feelings he wasn't sure existed. He let himself relax and exhaled a deep breath. Even through the darkest, dirtiest buildings, light always found a way to shine through the cracks. Life was one of those buildings. Liz was one of those cracks.

Mason finished a beer and set the empty bottle at his feet. It hadn't taken much to get the soldier to let him and Aaron take a box over to their sleeping area. Mason had just told the soldier how well he knew Lieutenant Anderson and what exactly Mason and his crew had done that day and the soldier had handed it over. Of course, to be polite, Mason had told the soldier to join them. He'd passed politely. He was on duty.

"You know what's fucking terrible nowadays?" Mason said as he lit a cigarette and shook his head. "How like… really, really young girls dress like they're hookers." Aaron snickered and Mason shrugged. "No, I'm serious. You know you'll be walking along in the mall or something, maybe scoping for single women, and some chick walks by. And you know, she looks good. And you say something like 'Wanna get down tonight baby?!' and suddenly you're being interrogated by the mall cop." He looked at Aaron dully and took a puff of his smoke. "If they're dressed like that, their parents shouldn't be all upset when some guy older than them pops a chub. It's fucking primal-urges and all of that shit. We can't help it." He shrugged; looking across the gym at some girls who were in a little group. "Now you see them?" Mason pointed at them and Aaron nodded; motioning that he'd like a cigarette. "You see if it were like, I don't know, the way it was before," He gave Aaron a smoke and lit the end; putting his sights back on the young-looking ladies, "I'd be like 'Hey, you're an adult right?' because you really can't tell. And that doesn't get you far with the smart ones."

"I don't like going out and getting into a relationship." Aaron said seriously; smoking his cigarette contently as he watched the girls. "I like strippers. You know why?" He looked at Mason and Mason shrugged. "Because it's a business transaction. In a business transaction you get the service you pay for. I give them the money, they give me the body. No need to bring emotions into it." He laughed quietly. "I like to get them to whip me with my belt. Its fucking awesome!" He just nodded as Mason laughed with a shake of his head.

"You are one seriously fucked up individual. Wouldn't you rather meet a chick you like, and think is hot and fuck her all the time for free?" Mason wrinkled his nose. "That's what I want. A hot chick, with the ability to take care of herself, that I can fuck all the time regardless of if I have 500 dollars for every half hour." Mason's eyes went to those young girls again. His body wanted sex; more sex than it had every wanted before. He took a deep breath and let it out slow. He didn't want to fan the flames and make a tent in his jeans.

"I'm not worried about it." Aaron shrugged; not noticing Mason's obvious discomfort. "If I can have fun in the V.I.P. room then I'm never in a bad mood. They can't fuck me over if I stop seeing them either. Like, they can't take my house, or my dog, or my car. It's all business. No bad feelings or contempt involved." He looked at Mason and Mason nodded.

"Well if we're lucky," Mason fought as he took another hard look at the girls, "There will be far more women left than men after this apocalypse and we'll be the most attractive guys left."

They both nodded in agreement and began to drink again. Cigarette smoke billowed from their area as they drank more and more barley-pop and began to get loud. They didn't have enough to get completely shit-faced, but they had enough to get obnoxious. It only took a half-hour for Mason to wander his way to the stage and wave at the guy running the shitty-selection of hip-hop music.

"Hey asshole," Mason shouted plainly, "you got any 'Boston' or maybe some 'Hendrix'?" Mason felt a hand on his waist and he turned with a scowl on his face.

"Aaron, that's not cool man-" Mason stopped; wordless as "Peace of mind" by "Boston" began to play over the speakers. He looked at the person who had their hand on his hip with wide, shocked eyes. Could it be possible?

"Oh my God," It was Aya, at least it seemed to be, but could Mason trust his now buzzed and ungodly tired mind? He hand went to his bandaged shoulder. "What happened to your shoulder!?"

Mason grabbed her by the belt-loops of her jeans and pulled her against him; ignoring her worries. He looked into her eyes with compassion, then kissed her. He held it, not caring if it was some sort of hallucination. All he cared was that it was a person, and he thought it was her. That was good enough for him under the circumstances. A moment later he let her go, and she looked at him in a half daze then smiled.

"I thought I told you to ask the next time you did that?"

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Mason said; suddenly infuriated. "Leaving the fucking farm without us. This isn't some fucking civil-war where you can barter your way out of a bind with some cute words. You could have fucking died-" Mason paused. "I thought you were fucking dead. Everyone did!"

Mason watched her as Aya shifted uncomfortably; not acknowledging his point, but obviously considering the possibilities with her body-language. She looked at him with sad-eyes and slid her hands into her pockets; looking at the floor.

"I couldn't stand being alone. I kept thinking about everything. My family… my dad, my brother. I thought if I was persistent, driven, I could make it through anything."

"It almost made me snap," Mason pulled her against him again, "We left you with little fuel, little ammo, little anything. We left you in the shitter and it could have killed you. Do you know how guilty we felt?" A single tear ran down Aya's cheek and Mason wiped it away with his thumb; bringing his face close to hers. "I went crazy… I didn't care about anything. I just started killing everything, everyone… I did some shit I'm not sure that I should have done." The image of shooting the young soldier in the side of the head by the stairwell flashed through his mind and his stomach lurched. "I didn't know what to do."

"I'm sorry." Aya said softly and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back and kissed her on the side of the head. "I needed some answers. I just… didn't want to feel like I didn't even try to find my family." She cried as Mason held her.

"You're doing everything you can." Mason said softly; rubbing her back. "None of us can do this on our own. If we could we'd all have gone our separate ways by now." He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "If we want to find our families, then we need to stick together. We don't have a choice." He stared into her brown eyes and his lip trembled as he watched the tears ran down her cheeks. "Stop crying." He grinned; this time kissing her on the cheek. "Tell me what happened. I really gotta know."

Tyler wandered up from Liz's sleeping area; his eyes locked tiredly on Aaron. Mason was nowhere in sight. He walked up to his cot and sat down on it hard; noticing the extreme exhaustion that was overwhelming his senses.

"Where's Mason?" Tyler yawned; looking over to Liz's area and smiling as she looked over at him.

"Oh," Aaron shrugged; looking up from his disassembled M-4A1-Masterkey, "some girl walked up to him and they hugged and all of that stuff." He pointed over to a set of doors that was beside the stage. "They went in there." He looked back at the pieces of his rifle and continued to rub the carbon off of the bolt-assembly. "Shit, I really need some dry-lube or something."

"What did she looked like?" Tyler asked curiously; rubbing his now-bearded chin. He had no idea who the hell Mason would be talking to. He wasn't smooth with women; especially under pressure. There was only one possibility.

"Oh, I don't know," Aaron shrugged, "She was maybe 5' 5", nice wrack, tanned, pretty damn good-looking for a white chick. It kind of looked like he knew her." He didn't look up from his weapon. Even at the sound of Tyler's voice.

"No fucking way." Tyler shook his head. There was no way it could be Aya. If it was… then good for her and good for Mason. Mason's mind needed the positive vibe. But why the hell had they gone into the hallway? He rubbed his chin and shook his head. Who could be fucking in this kind of situation?

Mason listened quietly as Aya told the story. She'd made it a good distance with the nearly-empty squad-car almost to a small town south of Pembleton. When she'd run out of gas, she'd gone out on foot. It hadn't taken long for the corpses to sniff her out, but she was able to out-run them; just staying at the pace of a jog or fast walk. It wasn't until she heard a rifle-blast that she'd re-directed herself to a small farm-house just outside of the town. When she got there, she was welcomed with open-arms by a family of three. To her surprise, the father of the household had admitted he'd actually shot at her; not knowing she was alive. She'd stayed with them for several hours in the darkness of a home not nearly as protected as the one Mason and Tyler had taken the time to Armor-up. They'd had a ham-radio. One with very little range, and few variables to deal with. When the night had been drawing in, and military chatter had begun to rumble from the depths of the speakers, they'd been able to contact a man claiming to be from the army. The rest was just history. She'd ended up at the same place as Mason.

Mason stared at her silently. She was so… beautiful. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her hips. The only thing he could think of was how happy he was she was there. He pulled her up to his chest again and kissed her passionately. This time, the feeling of sensuality was present and undeniable. He took her by the hand and smiled at her.

"Come on, let's go somewhere else." Mason looked down the hall. There was a hall that turned right to a door that read "Janitor." Who would come looking for them?

"He'd better be getting a blow-job cause she was hot." Aaron laughed; looking off toward the set of doors Mason had disappeared through. He didn't really like white chicks, but that girl looked like something from an expensive porno.

"Yeah no shit." Tyler snickered; still doubtful. Who else could it be though? Mason usually scared girls into the darkened corners of a party-space when he decided to talk to them. But how could it really be her? It would have to be the direct will of God for it to happen. Tyler smirked. If this ray of sunshine could come true for the guy, than damn it if Tyler wouldn't congratulate him. Mason needed it after all. Just like everyone else needed a little motivation to carry on.

Mason ran his hand through Aya's hair. She was staring at him tiredly. They were both scantily clad on the floor of the Janitor's room; listening to "Aerosmith" drift half-assed through the closed door. Mason leaned down and kissed her and laid down on his back; looking up at the ceiling.

"The worst thing on my mind right now is the fact that you can't fit on my cot with me." Mason wrapped his arms around Aya; trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder, and she giggled as he kissed her neck.

"With enough blankets,: she said sensually, "we can figure something out." Aya writhed and laughed as Mason pinned her down and rubbed the stubble on his chin against her neck. She pushed him away and he grinned as he collapsed beside her.

"You know, it's pretty hot how you kept your socks on when we did that." Mason slapped her bare thigh and she gasped with a big smile. "Pretty cute."

"Yeah," Aya shrugged, "I kinda liked how you had nothing on." They kissed again and Mason sat up; looking at the door. "You know," he looked at her seriously, "We should probably go out there. I bet Tyler would be pretty happy to see you."

Aya sat up; looking for her pants. "Ok, I'm cool with that." She smiled at Mason and he beamed as he pulled his jeans on and found his t-shirt. "But no kiss and tell."

"Hey, don't even act like I'm going to talk about it." Mason grinned an evil grin. "It's not even worth talking about." She smacked him in the arm as he laughed sarcastically.

"You dirty fucker. That's the last time that happens." Aya pulled her t-shirt on and wiggled into her jeans; Shaking her head with a smile as Mason moved toward the door. He looked at her and frowned.

"You always like to be last don't you?" He grinned again as she flicked him off.

"Fucking country music," Tyler swore as "Garth Brooks" "I've got friends in low places" played through the stage-speakers. His spirits were picked up when he saw Mason approaching. He had his arm around Aya's waist. It was true; she'd made it. She smiled at Tyler and held her hand out as her and Mason stepped up to his cot.

"Hey honey." Aya said softy. Tyler grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight as he shook it.

"You are a miracle." Tyler shook his head. "A retarded one, but that's ok." He stared at her for a moment. A part of him felt kind of bad for leaving her at the farm-house alone. The should have known better. They were under pressure though and at the time, it had seemed like the right thing. All they could do was be thankful that she'd made it through alive.

"I wont do it again." Aya gave Tyler a thumbs-up; winking at him cutely. "Promise."

"Yeah, I trust you about as far as I could throw you." Tyler grinned. "But I bet I could throw you a good distance." Aya bit her lower lip and gave Tyler the middle finger; swinging her foot at him playfully as Aaron sat up a little straighter and looked at Mason with raise eye brows.

"Oh, shit!" Mason grunted apologetically; noting the look on Aaron's face. "Aya," Mason motioned to Aaron, who was grinning, "This is Aaron Riesen. He was one of the survivors in the Hospital. He's a good fucking shooter and he came in really handy when shit went south of Heaven."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Aaron nodded as he shook Aya's hand. Mason couldn't help but snicker. Aaron was usually being sick, or making a joke, but suddenly he was all polite and meek. It was weird what women could do to a man.

"Where the fuck did you guys get beer?!" Tyler suddenly said in a mix of shock and anger as he picked up an empty bottle; breaking yp the introduction Mason was politely giving Aaron. Tyler looked over to the head of Aaron's cot and spotted the big, mainly-empty beer- box. "You dirty fuckers!" He got up and marched to the box and pulled two bottles out; scowling at Mason. He wrapped the bottles in his arms and let out a monster-like hiss as he sat down and twisted the cap off of one. He drank it down with wide, defensive eyes and let out a pleased grumble as he rested the bottom of the bottle on his thigh.

"I swear he's a socio-path." Aaron said honestly then began to laugh as Tyler's eyes shot to him and another mock-monster growl escaped his lips. "Well…" Aaron responded to the growls in a hesitant, yet relaxed voice. "That just doesn't sound good at all."

"You have no idea." Mason sighed; sitting on his cot and patting on his thigh. Aya sat down on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

"What, are you guys getting fucking married now?" Tyler shook his head; beginning his second beer. Aya just rolled her eyes as he swallowed half of it while Aaron pointed at Tyler's Glock.

"Have you had any trouble with that Tyler?" Tyler burped as he turned to him.

"What? No." Tyler shrugged; finishing the second beer quickly. "The trigger feels all mushy and shit though. Not like Eric's 1911's-" He stopped himself there and Aaron frowned.

"Who is Eric?" Aaron looked at Mason and Mason just shook his head sadly.

"Nobody…" Tyler shrugged. "You wanna hand me another one of those beers?" Aaron nodded and fetched another one; handing it to Tyler happily and sitting down again. Tyler just carried on the conversation as if nothing had happened. "No, it works when it has to and that's good enough for me. I haven't shot a lot of handguns… just some with, err, a friend of mine. He had a bunch of 1911's. This Glock's trigger feels pretty gay, but its works all right. You know?" Tyler sighed and started the third beer. He was drinking them like water and he could feel the cloud of happiness engulfing him from the center and out; making his eyes feel puffy and his spirit happy.

Mason listened to the conversation quietly as he squeezed Aya and rubbed her thigh. He hated Glocks with an arrogant passion. He wanted to shoot down anything good Tyler had to say about them and talk up something else that was more accurate and even more reliable. He held himself back. His gun-talk wouldn't help anything. Everyone just needed an honest conversation. It was keeping a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

"Well I don't want to say they suck," Aaron carried on, "I have a Glock 17 and you know… I don't think I've cleaned it once. Wait, I did clean it once." He shrugged. "But see, they're good for guys who don't care about guns, but want one because you can take care of them like you take care of the push-lawnmower you bought at Wal-Mart. Plus, if you shoot a guy who breaks into your house, the cops will probably take your gun and you'll never see it again. Well so what? It costs 400 bucks, so just buy another one."

"Yeah…" Tyler trailer off impartially. He wasn't really into guns. He'd never really thought of carrying one for self defense, or having one in his house in case of a home invasion. It just wasn't him. He really wished he'd maybe thought that through a little differently. Maybe they'd be in a different place then. Then again, Eric had always thought about that and he was dead.

"Well I want to go to sleep." Mason yawned; kissing Aya on the cheek. "You guys want to keep drinking, or what?" He really needed to lay his head down. His body was begging for it.

"Nah," Tyler shook his head as Aaron agreed. "I gotta sleep too; especially if we're going to hit the road tomorrow." He rubbed his eyes; looking off toward Liz's sleeping area. She was obviously in bed. There was no movement in the area.

"All right then." Mason ruffled his hair; watching Aya throw blankets out onto the gymnasium floor. "Whenever we wake up then, lets hit it hard." He sighed and looked over the large group of people that was scattered throughout the room. Maybe things weren't so bad. Maybe they did have a chance.

Chapter 14

Scum of the Earth.

Tyler didn't wake up calmly and neither did the people around him. Suddenly, the entire room seemed to be vibrating. They could hear explosions and small arms echoes coming from beyond the gymnasium doors. Tyler looked to his left where Mason's cot was. He saw nothing, just Aya waking up; looking for her lover.

"Fuck." Tyler groaned; looking at Aaron as he came out of his own slumber. He wasn't looking forward to playing "Where's Waldo" with Mason; not right when he woke up. He scratched his head and his heart rate began to increase as the sounds around him began to sink in. There was a full-scale battle raging outside.

"Jesus." Mason grumbled as the wind blew through his hair. He was on the roof with the D.P.M.S. S.A.S.S. he'd found in the supply-room; watching the distance explode in a magnificent array of fire and destruction. There were planes flying overhead. They couldn't be seen or heard really; only the destruction on the ground could prove their existence.

"Why are they doing this now!?" Mason yelled over the roars of explosions. It seemed every house and building within viewing distance of the school was being blown down by the reign of fire dropping from above.

"We want a clear line of sight so we can engage at extended distances!" A blond, young-looking soldier responded. "Especially the mortar teams! If we can't pinpoint where the enemy is, then we're sitting ducks! We need our forward observers to be able to see those fuckers, so we can mortar their asses back to hell!"

"Fuck yeah, dude!" Mason nodded as the wind gust from a very large bomb hit him and he took a deep breath. Why hadn't he joined the military? He knelt on the roof and watched in the distance as a soldier behind him turned on a stereo system and the song "Heavy Metal; Taking a ride" began to play as massive Mk. 82, and 83 unguided bombs began to fall wherever the eye could see. It was the Air Force's attempt to remove all defilade and make clear-sight for the soldiers on the ground. The bombs seemed to do their work. The buildings seemed to be exploding left and right. The destruction was magnificent and disgusting. Human ingenuity was ridiculous.

Mason continued to watch as the distance was cleared. Fire had engulfed everything. It was like an urban forest-fire. All the buildings were either crumbled or up in flames, but it didn't stop there. Mason could see the masses of the dead everywhere. It wasn't just in the front of the school, it was behind it too. The dead had formed a giant horde together and they were coming from all sides. He could see them swarming in from everywhere. They came through the fire; their bodies burning. It didn't stop them. They just kept on coming.

Mason felt his heart-rate increasing. How could they still be coming? Massive bombs were being dropped, but their bodies continued to move forward; their gazes locked on the school.

Mason turned his head as he heard soldiers began to speak quickly to each other.

"Range, 982, charge 4, elevation 1882." They were dialing in an M120 120mm mortar system along with several other mortar teams. The mortar-tubes didn't all appear to be the same size. There were at least eight different teams; every couple a different size. Mason just watched. He wanted to see the damage delivered in the distance. Far away from the safety of his perch.

Mason winced as deep thumps began to erupt from the mortar tubes. He stared, wide eyed, into the distance as the explosives landed amongst the crowds of the dead. In unison with the explosions, bodies disintegrated, or flew into the air, but the crowd kept moving forward. Their seemed to be no end to them.

"Keep it going, keep firing! Let's fucking go!" A soldier roared. He threw his arms in the direction he was facing. Mortar tubes kept roaring and the distance kept exploding; but the dead kept moving.

As Mason's nervous breathing continued, his eyes went to a soldier near him. He could hear him talking calmly into his radio.

"Almighty, this is Fist Alpha, I need a M.O.A.B at position-"

Mason wrinkled his eye brows as he listened. He'd heard that before, but where? He stared at his hands. It sounded so damn familiar. Then his eyes widened. It meant "Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb" also known as the "mother of all bombs."

Mason's eyes widened at the thought. That bomb was the biggest unguided, non-nuclear bomb in the arsenal of the United States. It's blast extended out to one-mile in every direction; destroying everything in its path. His arms began to shake and he took a deep breath. He hoped to God they wouldn't drop it within a mile. His eyes went to the guy on the radio again. He was asking for other things as well. J-dams, close air support, and a bunch of other numbers and codes that Mason couldn't understand. His heart was pumping so hard that he wasn't sure he'd be able to kneel for much longer. The explosions broke his train of thought.

Mason wasn't sure what it was, but an uncountable number of medium-sized explosions began to echo in the distance. He watched their flashes within the hordes of the dead that were approaching. More bodies flew and more bodies were forced to the ground, but even more continued. How could there be so many? The city wasn't that big, but they just kept pushing forward.

"Prepare for impact; thirty seconds!" The radio-soldier yelled from his position. The soldier scanned the distance nervously; watching with wide-eyes. "Fifteen…ten….five, four, three, two-"

Mason winced uncontrollably as the distant explosion roared. It wasn't a quick one either. He fought to keep his eyes opened as the ball of fire and force ripped toward the school; eating up everything in its path. He could hear its hungry growl approaching him. It kept coming, and coming, and coming; bringing a thick cloud of gray-smoke with it. Mason clenched his eyes as it hit him; blocking his view and making him wonder if he was dead. As the cloud passed he let out a sigh and opened his eyes; his entire body shaking uncontrollably.

"Keep it fucking going!" An unknown soldier screamed and the mortars began to scream again. Mason just watched in awe. Explosions erupted everywhere in the distance with a rice-crispies-like snap-crackle-pop. His legs shook and his mouth gaped opened as his eyes scanned. Nothing could survive. It would be ridiculous.

Mason turned his head as deeper, more rapid-fire began to erupt. The Armored vehicles in the front yard were firing now too. Mason closed his eyes and let the "thumps" echo through his head. It was everything he'd every dreamed it could be. He grinned, then a laugh began to echo through his lungs.

Mason watched the distance. Everything was smoking. The fist of God had slammed down upon the surface of the earth; delivering a blast un-seen by the eyes of ordinary men. But his heart stopped as he continued to watch. The dead were still approaching in hordes.

Tyler threw his Tactical-vest on and looked at Aaron. He was just as prepared; looking at Tyler as he zipped the front zipper of his own vest and picked up his M-4.

"Sounds pretty fucked up." Tyler grunted nervously as he checked the chamber of his Glock and looked at Aaron.

"Let's just see what's happening before my balls erupt in my stomach." Aaron shrugged. "Snakes alive with a forty-five."

"Huh?" Tyler asked; confused.

"Nothing." Aaron shook his head. "Let's go see what's going on."

They both walked quickly to the gymnasium doors and stepped into the hall and stopped momentarily. Every soldier in the hall was moving quickly; seemingly unaware of Aaron and Tyler's presence. The two young men took a right toward the stairs, but before they could get far, Mason stepped out of the stair-well and his face lit up as he saw them.

"Just go back into the gym." Mason said nervously as he walked up; looking over his shoulder. "Just do it."

Tyler and Aaron didn't put up much resistance. They just walked along, taking cover in the gymnasium again due to Mason's worried tone. The door closed behind them and Mason shrugged; looking passively at the refugees and the soldiers guarding the open-room.

"Its all hell out there." Mason crossed his arms; repositioning the S.A.S.S. over his shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked nervously; scratching his nose as Tyler stared emotionlessly.

"The corpses are everywhere… like a fucking tidal-wave. Did you hear the fucking blasts? They're dropping the entire fucking U.S. arsenal on top of them and they're still fucking coming." Mason looked over his shoulder at the gymnasium doors again. How could it really be?

Outside things were less civil. Soldiers on the roof-top were dropping laser-guided munitions, and un-guided bombs one after the other; delivering an explosive punishment not seen since the second world war.

Voices roared over the explosions as Mk. 81, 82, 83, and 84 unguided bombs were dropped in the open; sending tidal waves through the air; shattering foundations, kicking up dirt, and blowing bodies into nothing, but the corpses didn't stop. Their numbers only seemed to grow as more was thrown at them left and right.

"Napalm, napalm…" A soldier said as he put his radio to his face again. "Almighty, this is fist-alpha. I need as many Mk. 79's as you can deliver at previously established coordinates-" The roar didn't stop as he barked into his radio. The teams on the roof and the ground continued to precisely deliver 60 mm, 81 mm, and 120 mm High Explosive mortars onto the crowds of the dead approaching. It wasn't enough. They kept coming; pushing to get closer and closer, trying to close on their final objective.

The soldiers all looked up as they heard Jets in the air. Several aircraft came low, and as dozens of sets of eyes watched, multiple large-canisters were dropped to the ground.

A wave of insatiable flames roared through the air and across the landscape. The soldiers watched as corpses were engulfed into flames and while still on fire, walked toward the school as if untouched. It was disgusting. Their arms continued to stretch outward before them, but in minutes, the insatiable flames ate them down to nothing; turning them into charred pieces of debris left to be walked on by their brothers. And yet, the corpses behind them continued. Their eyes locked on the school.

"Its time to get our shit together and get the fuck out of here." Mason said sternly as he looked around nervously for his Commando. He spat as he realized he'd left it in the supply room. It might be hard to convince someone to let him leave with a weapon that was possibly confiscated by now. He looked at Aaron, Tyler, Liz, and Aya. They all looked worried.

"So…" Aaron trailed off. "Is it pretty bad outside?"

"Uh," Mason hesitated; looking at all the innocent people in the gymnasium, "Not bad enough for the Military to give up I don't think." Mason's eyes danced around for the kid he'd given his USP to. He needed it back since he had the ammo and magazines for it.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Tyler slammed Mason in the shoulder with a closed fist. "Tell us exactly what the fuck is going on. What the fuck are you acting like such an asshole for?" Mason turned to him and his eyes widened. He grabbed Tyler by the shoulders and leaned in.

"Dude, if we don't leave now then we might be fucked for good. Are you fucking reading me?" Mason's eyes emitted a terror Tyler had never seen and he backed up slowly; his eyes wide. "Get whoever you need and get to the LMV. It's parked outside the North-side doors. Move the stuff from the bus into the LMV and OUR HMMWV. You got me?"

"Yeah." Tyler nodded. "Yeah, we'll get it done A.S.A.P."

"Good." Mason nodded at Aaron and hugged Aya. He looked at her. "Just go with them honey."

"Ok." She nodded; noting the look on his face. There was no way she wasn't going to take him seriously.

Tyler, Aaron, Liz, and Aya walked through the gymnasium doors and set their sights on the set of northern exit-doors. They all walked calmly down the hall, not looking at anyone until they got near the exit. That's when everything took a bad turn.

"Hold it." A soldier said sternly as Tyler reached for the door. "Nobody leaves right now. Its Captain Sorenson's orders." His eyes dug into Tyler's and Tyler shrugged his shoulders nervously and took a deep breath.

"Do you know who I am?" Tyler asked confidently; huffing up his chest. "Do you have any idea what I've done in the past twenty-four hours?" He stared; trying to be laid-back as two more soldiers came up; relaxed, but ready.

"It doesn't matter, sir." The soldier said calmly and politely with his finger on the trigger, but his weapon down. "Its our job to keep you safe, and that's all we're worried about. Please go back to the gymnasium."

Tyler took his hand away from the door and nodded. He didn't want to fight with the good-guys. He'd simply have to do what they said and then eventually move out when the chance came up. How else would it work? A gunfight with Allied Forces could do nothing but-

"Private," Lieutenant Anderson's voice caused Tyler's respectful gaze go away from the soldier. As Tyler watched, the soldier's eyes went to Lieutenant Anderson and he saluted, "These men are to be treated with the utmost respect. If Captain Sorenson knew that you'd troubled them, he would be surely upset and ready to penalize you for your misgivings. Do you understand Private?" The soldier nodded with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know Lieutenant!" The soldier said nervously and Lieutenant Anderson nodded. "Carry on." The soldier and his team-mates walked away and Lieutenant Anderson turned his gaze to Tyler, Aaron, Liz, and Aya.

"You guys take care now." Lieutenant Anderson smiled. "I'm not supposed to let civilians leave, but you guys… You've got something right about you and I don't want to fuck it up. I hope you make it to where you're going and find what you're looking for." Lieutenant Anderson grinned when Mason stepped up next to him with an M-16A4 hung over his chest and a different gun in his leg-holster.

"I stole some shit from you Cowboy. I hope you don't mind us expanding our collection by two guns. Just figured I needed to top it off with something good." Mason rubbed his nose and spat a stream of tobacco on the floor before smiling a big toothy smile.

"I see," Anderson grinned at Mason and patted him on the shoulder; looking over the weapons. "I don't think we'll be missing two. I just hope that your greedy gathering of ammunition won't come back to haunt me." He shrugged. "Then again, I have an ammo drop this afternoon. I hope I don't have to send anyone out to find it." He smiled and looked down the hall to where a small group of soldiers were getting a hasty briefing. "I gotta go." Anderson huffed up his chest. "Duty calls."

"By the way," Mason beamed before Anderson walked away, "I'll never forget your stylish arrival. It was like… Michael Jackson-esque."

"Fuck you," Anderson beamed while everyone chuckled hesitantly. "Get your asses out and find your families." He looked over everyone seriously. "All of you… find your families… make sure they're safe. And most of all, take care." He shook everyone's hand and smiled hesitantly. "Watch your asses on the way out. See you on the other side people."

With speed in mind Tyler, Aaron, Mason, and Aya loaded supplies and ammunition from the bus into the LMV and HMMWV. Liz stood by watching. Tyler made her look after Carter rather than bothering herself with any heavy-lifting. It didn't take long for the once fully-loaded yellow-bus to be empty and the two military-vehicles to be stacked.

As Tyler closed the back of the HMMWV, Aaron glanced at Mason's sidearm. It obviously wasn't the USP he'd gotten so used to seeing.

"What did you pick for you backup?" Aaron tipped his head and Mason just smiled softly and walked passed him calmly.

"Smith and Wesson Model 39 baby." He halted and turned to Aaron; pulling out a black thing that looked like a little pipe. "With a fucking silencer!" He gave the "suck-it" sign and grunted. "The Army rules the fucking earth baby!" He climbed into the passenger-seat of the HMMWV and slammed the door. "Let's kick it!" He slammed on the side of the door wit hthe palm of his hand and let out a holler. Aaron just shrugged. They minus well take off before anyone got pissy.

"You got point man." Mason said into the C.B. as Aaron climbed into the HMMWV. "Let's just head north on any highway or interstate and get the fuck out before the tidal-wave of hell rolls in." Mason was in the HMMWV alone with Aaron and the two girls were in the LMV with Tyler. It seemed the safest since the HMMWV had an M240 on it. That way, if the LMV crashed, or stalled, the LMV could support them while they escaped or repaired. And if the HMMWV crashed or stalled, they could support themselves while they repaired or escaped.

"I've got the route planned out already." Tyler's voice came flatly through the radio. "Just follow me and I think we'll be ok." He paused for a moment, then cleared his voice uncomfortably. He was looking at Liz. "Dude, we have an obvious problem though."

"And what would that be?" Mason asked dully; his heart was increasing in rate again as his eyes scanned the horizon. The explosions were still roaring everywhere, but he could still see countless corpses making their approach. They were closer now.

"Well," Tyler grumbled, "There are bombs exploding in just about every direction… In case you didn't notice. How they fuck do you want me to get through this? What if a napalm bomb lands right the fuck on top of us? I can't just drive through that stuff." He wasn't irritated, he was just worried. While the Military was doing its best to neutralize the growing threat, they were also boxing Tyler and everyone else inside the shrinking safe-zone.

"Just wait," Mason said through the radio excitedly, "wait for the next set of explosions in whatever fucking area you're planning on going through. I hope to fucking God its north man, because that looks a lot clearer than everything else and I don't see a lot of shit landing over there. We gotta go that way anyway so…" A string of explosions erupted in the area Mason was talking about and he put the radio to his face again. "Never mind."

"Fuck it!" Tyler barked inside the LMV and hit the accelerator. The LMV tore forward; catching Aaron off guard. He quickly followed; his hands shaking from possibilities that lay ahead. This wasn't his idea of a party.

As the vehicles hit the pavement of the city-street, Mason climbed into the back and rose through the turret; putting his hand on the grip of the M240. He took a deep breath and leaned his head back; taking a deep whiff of the smoky air. Aaron glanced back at him as he started to sing the lyrics to "The Immigrant song" by "Led Zeppelin." He couldn't help, but chuckle lightly.

Back in the LMV, things weren't so cozy. Tyler's eyes were gaping and dancing back and forth like some sort of marionette; controlled by something other than him. The smoke was billowing from everywhere; he could see flames raging and burning bodies walking toward the street. He wasn't worried about them. They would take too long to get in his path. It was the scattered groups of them already wandering along the pavement that he had to cautiously avoid. An impact with one, or more of them at fifty-five miles-per-hour could pose a real danger. Their increasing numbers forced him to drop the speed down to twenty-five miles-per-hour. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. A bomb could hit any second.

Mason was nervous too. A multitude of possible scenarios were skimming through his head with no end in sight, plus the reality of how retarded he was for having the most vulnerable half of his body sticking nakedly through the top of the vehicle. His hand went shakily to his vest and he pulled out his pack of Marlboro Reds. While the entire show of American firepower was glorious and impressive, he couldn't get over the idea of how pissed he'd be if he was killed by friendly-fire. He lit his smoke and ducked back into the cab. He'd get back on the gun when he had to.

"This is not cool!" Aaron said as Mason sat down beside him. He scanned a corpse in a Minister's outfit nervously as he rolled past it. God really wasn't messing around. Apparently no type of person was immune from the world-wide cleansing.

"No shit!" Mason yelled and winced as a reasonably large explosion ripped through the air behind them. He looked in the rear-view mirror. And then turned his gaze back to the street; his eyes wide. "We gotta get this fucker moving!" He grabbed the radio and put it to his face as Aaron weaved around a small group of corpses that were coming off of the sidewalk.

"Tyler, Tyler," Mason chattered, "We gotta move man. A whole bunch of shit just exploded right behind us. I've got a bad fucking feeling creeping through me starting at my balls!" He winced as he heard more explosions around them not far off.

"Keep it in your pants Maci!" Tyler responded excitedly; his adrenaline ripping through his system like a hard street-drug. "We're fucking moving baby!" He crushed a dead woman that he could have sworn was pregnant and pushed harder on the accelerator; putting it out of his mind. They needed to get the hell out. That's all that was important.

Aaron matched Tyler's speed; his heart rate increasing so his eyes felt like they were going to explode. He didn't want to be here. In fact, he wished he'd never gone on vacation at all.

Who the hell takes a Spring vacation anyway? Wasn't that something that a person saved for summer-time? A bead of sweat ran down the side of Aaron's head as he mimicked one of Tyler's swerves around a pickup that was wrapped around a tree and sticking half-way into the street. If he hadn't gone on vacation, he'd be at his family-farm with 33 handguns, thirty-seven rifles, and uncountable rounds of unfired and reloadable ammunition. His grip tightened on the steering wheel. The area he lived in might even be completely under control. The population was so small, and everyone had a gun. Who was to say they hadn't banded together into a huge hunting-party and gone out shooting? It sounded reasonable to him. He just couldn't imagine people sitting around and letting things go to-

"Dude, don't get so fucking close." Mason warned; bringing Aaron out of his private-talk. Aaron took his foot off of the accelerator and let the speed drop. He'd come pretty close to Tyler's rear-end. That would have been a great way to end the trip.

"Sorry, I'm a little fucking tense." Aaron said in a mock grimy, high-pitched voice; bringing laughter from Mason's mouth.

"Man, that fucking reminds me of someone…" Mason trailed off.

Tyler's teeth clenched as he flew through an intersection littered with debris and abandoned cars. It reminded him of "I am Legend" with Will Smith. Just vehicles and calm looking buildings with garbage littering everything. He wasn't upset about the obvious litter-control problem though. It was the completely jammed intersection that was coming up straight ahead.

"Oh fuck." Aya said flatly as she leaned forward in her seat. Tyler just glanced at her as the LMV closed on the line of parked and crashed vehicles and cramped the wheel left; swerving the big vehicle into an alleyway and pushing even harder on the accelerator. The vehicle roared down the alley, crashing into several full trash-cans and sending them flying, and erupted out the other side and back into the street. Tyler glanced to his right. The intersection was still blocked by vehicles. Hey stayed the course; bringing the LMV into the next alley. He slowed down to forty miles-per-hour as he saw several corpses begin to move around stupidly; wandering into his path. He slowed down a little more and his body tensed as he hit them. The LMV shuttered and swerved a little, but he kept it under control; glancing in the rear-view to see Aaron run over their immobilized bodies and keep them down for good. He grinned. When metal met flesh and bone, metal usually won.

Tyler slowed the LMV down as he came out of the alley and looked to his right again. The intersection wasn't completely clear, but there were several spots where it looked like he could squeeze or force himself through. He took a hard right and got back onto the street. He glanced at the street-sign. It said "Cherry Street." Where had he heard that before?

"Cherry Street, Cherry street." Mason said in a gruff, old-man voice. "I once knew a girl who lived on Cherry street." Him and Aaron both began to laugh. That was one of Charlton Hesston's lines from "Wayne's World 2." Mason just shook his head. How could that be funny?

"You know, that's so fucked up… but its still fucking funny." Mason shook his head. "That's… not as bad as one of those dead baby jokes though I guess. I don't know if I could laugh at one of those, since we're surrounded by dead cannibals." He snickered and put a new cigarette in his mouth; watching ahead as Tyler shoved a couple vehicles out of his way with the LMV.

"They're not technically cannibals." Aaron said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Cannibals eat their own. They don't eat each other, they just eat us." He looked at Mason and shrugged. "Not so… cannibal…y."

"You're fucking weird." Mason smirked. "Like one of those lesbian biker chicks." He looked around. He could hear explosions, but they weren't just yards away anymore. They were blocks away; landing in the same area as before. It seemed they were safe; at least from U.S. made dumb-bombs.

"Well I'm not a chick, and I don't ride motorcycles anymore." Aaron brought the Humvee through the gap that Tyler had created and shrugged his right shoulder. "I had one for like two years, then I was driving in Thief River Falls Minnesota, and these retarded teenagers cut me off in a mini-van. I had to set her down and I broke my left shoulder, my right arm, and my right thigh."

"Fuck," Mason spat, "I hate fucking teenagers… How about a Lesbian S and M chick then?"

"Yeah, I suppose that would work if you took the whole penis-thing out of the equation."

"Wait!" Mason gasped smartly. "You're a boy?"

"Fuck this shit, right up the ass!" Tyler looked at Liz, then at Carter, then at Liz again. "Sorry." He didn't want to be teaching some little kid bad words right off the bat. He had more class then that.

"Just focus on the road honey." Liz said sarcastically. "Chase said worse things then that around him."

"Right." Tyler nodded as Aya turned back from the front seat and started a light-hearted conversation. Tyler let out a shaky breath. He didn't know exactly where they were, but if he kept north, he knew eventually they'd find their way to the highway. He snaked through a small bunch of empty vehicles and shook his head. How was this for a fun drive? Back before things went to hell, hitting up the Highway to cool off was something he'd loved to do when he had the money for gas. Now that wasn't the problem. The problem was people trying to eat his face, or blow his brains out the back of his skull. It was funny how things changed.

"The only bad thing," Tyler heard Liz say in humor, "is how I have to watch my diet to make sure he's getting all the nutrients he needs."

Tyler's heart nearly stopped. His hand went to the radio as he begged God that Mason, or Aaron had stolen at least a few MRE's from the school.

"Mason." Tyler said with no emotion. "Do you have any food in the Humvee?" He waited for a moment before Mason's voice came back.

"No, I figured we could cover that on the way. Why?"

"Because I have a woman who is breast-feeding in the fucking vehicle!" Tyler slammed the radio down and looked at Liz in the rear-view. "Don't feel bad. This is our fault. We didn't plan ahead because we're fucking retarded." He put the radio to his mouth again and let out a sigh; slowing the LMV down. "Keep your eyes open for a grocery-store, or something. We need to get whatever we can."

"Roger." Mason responded. "I could go for some Doritos anyway."

Tyler's focus went back to the road as his eyes searched. Pembleton didn't seem to be set up in a real intelligent way. Sort of like Crookston Minnesota. Once you've driven through it, you're convinced that the designers were on Meth when they sat down and put it on paper.

"If you take a left here and go down three blocks, there's a "Superfoods" and a "Wal-Mart." Liz said softly. "I live here, remember?"

"Fuck yes!" Tyler beamed at her in the rear-view. "Fuck… yes!" He took a left and took the LMV onto the sidewalk. The area they were in almost looked rural. There was a gas-station on the left, and what looked like a cheap farm-coop on the right, but there weren't any abandoned vehicles. Just a partially abandoned parking-lot about two hundred yards down on the right in front of what looked the be the "Superfoods" and even further down was the "Wal-Mart" parking lot. There were plenty of vehicles still in the parking-lot there.

"I see a "Wally-World." Mason snickered over the radio. "If you want shit in large quantities, I'd say let's do that shit man… Uh, over."

"Roger." Tyler said; letting the radio drop to the floor. He accelerated down the open-street and took the LMV up the curb, over the sidewalk, and into the parking-lot. He rolled to a stop outside the doors and a moment later, Aaron did the same. Mason popped through the turret and smiled as Tyler and Aya climbed out.

"You and Aaron, inside." Mason pointed at Tyler. "I'll keep an eye out and, uh, keep the ladies company."

"Keep it in the pants." Tyler eyed Mason seriously as Aaron walked up to him with his M-4 slung over his chest. They both looked over the parking-lot silently for a moment, then Aaron shrugged.

"Looks like a free-for-all." Aaron looked at Tyler and Tyler nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know. A lot of things look that way." He looked at the doors of the Wal-Mart and sighed. It was dark. "We're not going to be able to see shit."

"I have an idea." Aaron smiled. "Tell Liz to get into the Hummer."

"Okay…" Tyler tailed off; puzzled.

The LMV exploded through the front doors of the Wal-Mart and into the isles. Aaron hooted as they ran down racks of clothes and exploded through the Jewelry section; reigning down shards of broken glass onto the hood.

"Isle nine, soup." Aaron pointed and Tyler halted; keeping the lights on the isle.

"You know," Tyler said honestly as they both climbed out, "we really should have grabbed a cart." He looked over the hood as Aaron walked up to an abandoned cart and wheeled it up to the isle.

"Good to go?"

"Good to go." Tyler nodded; listening closely for any shuffling feet. A shiver ran up his spine and he looked eerily at Aaron "We've got five minutes. Let's do it quick."

"Now set your finger on the trigger and when you're relaxed, take a deep breath and fire." Mason had his arm around Aya as she looked through the scope of the S.A.S.S. and put her finger on the trigger. The gun barked and 225 yards away, a body dropped. "Great job babe. See, its not that hard once you have it dialed in. That's where people get all fucked up and think they suck at shooting." He took the gun from her and kissed her; turning his eyes to Liz.

"Hey Liz," Mason turned the safety "on" on the rifle and smiled, "have you ever shot a gun before?"

"A couple times." Liz pulled Carter against her body. She was breast-feeding him. "I'd love to try it out, but its kind of a bad time." Her and Aya laughed and Mason nodded; getting the point.

"Next time." Mason chuckled; turning away and focusing his attention at a cluster of corpses that were walking toward the parking lot about 250 yards away. "Damn it." He sighed; setting the S.A.S.S. on the hood. "I really hate using all of the M80 ammo up out here when we're going to take off in a minute." He wandered to the back of the Humvee and opened the back; his eyes lighting up as he looked at the guns. "Oh, for crying out loud." Mason pulled a Howa 1500 from the pile of guns. It was in .223 caliber. He had plenty of that here and there. He pulled back the bolt and walked to the front of the Humvee; placing it next to the S.A.S.S. He took a 30-round AR-15 magazine from his vest and took 5 rounds out of it. He put the magazine back, then loaded the rounds one by one into the Howa. He leaned on the hood and looked through the scope. It was a fairly nice one, a Nikko-Sterling Night Eater in 50mm.

"I don't know why anyone would put a 50mm scope on a .223." Mason shrugged; still staring through the scope at the moving targets down range. A gun blast made him jump and he looked, wide eyed, over his shoulder. Aya was aiming down her Glock's sights. They were centered on a now-downed corpse body.

"A fucking sneaky bastard." Mason nodded; turning back to his scope. "Nice shot honey."

"That one might have given you a run for your money Mason." Liz said cutely from the car; snuggling Carter against herself as Mason snickered.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." He rested his elbows on the hood of the Humvee and centered the crosshairs on the chest of a very determined looking, yet very dead man in a business suit. The white shirt he was wearing was soaked in blood; though it had turned into a blackish color over the course of his decay. Mason took a deep breath and held it. BOOM! The gun echoed off of the Wal-Mart and the sharp crack roared across the parking lot.

"Four inches high and about five right." Mason smiled at Liz as he screwed the elevation and windage caps off of the scope and looked down at the adjustment knobs. He clicked them each until he was satisfied and set his elbows back onto the hood. He centered the crosshairs on the businessman again and sighed. "I think I'm going to let him go. I didn't get his head, so he gets to keep munching on people. It's a fair game." He moved the crosshairs to a woman who was a few feet from the businessman and grunted. "Women and children first right?" He squeezed the trigger and the gun echoed again; as Mason recovered from his wince, he saw her body ending its short tumble to the concrete.

"Man, I'm fucking good." Mason boasted with a big grin. He turned to Aya and Liz and bowed. They both rolled their eyes in unison and Mason just shrugged; turning back to the other corpses who were wandering in their direction. "I'm surprised they even know we're here… You know? I mean, all you can hear in the distance is that fucking air-support. You think they saw us? I don't. I think they just know. Somehow, they just fucking know." "You're thinking about it too much." Liz said confidently. "It really doesn't matter, so why bother yourself with the burden of questioning? If you let it just be, and move forward anyway, your load will be lightened and you'll go further with your own drive." She brought Carter away from her breast and repositioned her shirt. Mason nodded and walked to the back of the Humvee; putting the Howa rifle back in its place.

"You big into poetry?" Mason asked through the rear hatch. Liz just turned and smiled at him. "Or are you a big theology-type?" He smiled smartly back; putting his arm around Aya as she walked up to him.

"You're just mad that a girl can make more sense of this than you can." Aya kissed him; beaming as his cheeks turned red.

"I love poetry," Liz nodded, "but most of the bad things that have happened to me I've been able to deal with by reading the quotes of scholars and other people that have had a big impact on the world. Like Winston Churchill." Liz tipped her head thoughtfully then shrugged. "I guess I don't know all that much about anything particular, but I do know the words to keep a person's spirits up."

"Well you better talk a lot to Tyler because he hates the world and everyone in it." Mason nodded confidently; crossing his arms and checking their surroundings slowly. "If you don't believe me, just have a conversation with him that lasts more than five minutes. He'll be sure to let you know how everyone on earth is useless and everyone who ever gave a damn has been dead a long time." He shrugged a shoulder. "I couldn't disagree more, but I love the guy anyway. He's got a bad habit of bringing you down… emotionally." Aya just nodded in agreement as Liz smiled softly; looking off toward the broken Wal-Mart entrance.

"I like him." She said in a relaxed and satisfied tone. "I like him because he doesn't go with the flow like other people and the consequences don't frighten him. He's his own man who wants to make his surroundings a place to be proud of. I can see it in his eyes."

"Fucking poetic." Mason looked at Aya and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you mad that I can't talk like that?" Aya just shook her head.

"I knew you were an idiot the second I met you. Don't let it bug you honey."

Liz's eyes didn't drift from the doorway, but her imagination wasn't there. It was in the past; reliving the decisions she'd made with Chase and remembering how extremely they'd effected them both in the relationship. He had been such a nice and caring guy in the beginning. She'd never really been into younger guys, but he'd had such innocent and good-hearted charm that she'd fallen for him almost right away. It had stayed that way until the baby. That's when things had taken such a harsh turn. With so much responsibility, Chase had changed. He became harsh and detached from everything he'd treated with such care and as a result he'd quickly drifted from both her and Carter.

"You ok?" Mason's voice interrupted Liz's train of thought and she shook herself out of it; looking up at Mason in surprise.

:"Sorry, I was just thinking about… everything." Liz shrugged. "Just recollecting on the times." She smiled her warm, caring smile and Mason's worries melted from his face.

"You're a tough chick- I'll bet you're tougher than me. Whenever you need anything at all that you can't get yourself, then you tell one of us boys and we'll make sure its at your disposal. You hear?"

"I know." Liz nodded. "I'm not worried about it." She looked back at the doors. "I'm just thinking about what could be."

"Right on." Mason nodded. "I got nothing bad to say about that." He walked to the front of the Humvee and opened the passenger-side door. He grabbed his M16A4 and cleared his throat as he reached for his pack of Cigarettes. "I'm going to go work on some reflex-shooting. Are you ladies alright on your own?" He watched as Aya looked at him, unimpressed, and pulled out her Glock.

"Well I'll be right back then." Mason smiled. "Don't take off without me."

Liz and Aya watched as Mason walked across the parking lot to within thirty-yards of the closest group of wandering corpses. He stopped there and let his rifle hang across his chest.

"How quick do you think he is?" Aya asked seriously; looking at Liz with a slight smirk on her face. "I honestly haven't seen him in action." Liz looked up at her and wrinkled her nose.

"Fast." Liz patted Carter's head gently. "Tyler has assured me."

As they both watched, Mason's rifle sprang up. The rifle popped four times within three seconds, hardly moving from the recoil as three bodies dropped. He began to move and continued to fire; his large frame keeping the muzzle-rise under control. As several more bodies tumbled lifelessly to the ground, Aya smiled to herself. Her boyfriend was "Rambo."

Liz and Aya continued to watch as Mason walked back toward them. He didn't have a smile on his face, but beads of sweat were running down his forehead. He marched up to them and shrugged as he dropped out the magazine and put it in his vest. He replaced it with a new one.

"I know it wasn't that quick. I think I'm losing my edge. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation. I should have been faster." He aimed down the red-dot sight and shook his head.

"Do you have any fucking idea how fast that was?" Aya asked; shocked. "My brother can't shoot that fast and its his fucking job. Are you mental?"

"No," Mason said as he let his rifle hang and pulled out his sidearm," I'm just that fucking competitive." He checked the M-39's chamber, then screwed on the suppressor; looking down the sights. "If I'm not fast, then I'm not anything; just a guy." His eyes connected with the stares of both the girls and he shrugged. "I don't just want to be some guy with a gun. I want to be a professional." He let out a sigh and looked at his feet. "I never said I was normal."

"You can fucking say that again you strange little man." Aya smiled as Mason's eyes locked onto hers. He didn't seem as excited about her humor.

"I know what you're saying is a joke," Mason swallowed, "but it's the only thing I was ever good at." He put the M-16A4 in the back of the Humvee and slammed the hatch shut; his eyes locking onto another corpse that was wandering along the side of the Wal-Mart. A few more were coming around the corner; following their rotting friend.

"Fucking aye," Mason grumbled and opened the rear hatch again. Instead of grabbing anything big; he picked u pa bolt-action Remington .22 caliber rifle. Mason looked at it for a moment, then pulled one of the tubs of ammo toward him. He glanced at the corpses as he dug through the tub; searching quickly for the .22 Long-Rifle ammunition. After a few moments he found a half-empty, plastic-container with lead-nosed .22 L.R. rounds inside and he dumped them all onto the floor of the rear-cab. He quickly put ten into the magazine and slammed the bolt; turning to the corpses.

Mason leaned up against the Humvee and looked down the old-style rifle sights. They were clear as can-be, but he was worried about its accuracy. Whoever had it before him hadn't been real worried about keeping the weapon clean and maintained. He squeezed the trigger and the gun chirped with its girlish little muzzle blast. Mason worked the bolt and watched the zombie he'd shot it. He walked a few more steps as if nothing had happened, then slumped against the building and slid to the ground; his shoulders twitching as he stared into nothing.

"I guess it works." Aya said optimistically as Mason looked at her and nodded in a serious manner.

"Yeah, I think we ought to stick with that small stuff as much as possible We might as well save the higher-power stuff in case we run into any real dilemmas… or militias, or gangs… or any fucking thing on the long list of hell's creation."

"No shit." Aya agreed dryly; looking up as she heard the LMV's engine revving inside the Wal-Mart. She reflexively took a step backwards as the huge, black vehicle tore through the front doors and screeched to a halt next to the Humvee. The window rolled down slowly and Aaron stuck his head out. He was wearing sunglasses. He reached his hand out the window and Mason grinned as he saw he was holding a cigarillo.

"Cigar?" Aaron cackled as Mason grabbed it from him and put it in his mouth. He lit the end and shook his head as he let the smoke roll from his mouth.

"You ok Tyler?" Mason asked; looking at Tyler's sweaty forehead. Tyler looked over at him and shook his head.

"It was dark in there. Scary as hell." Tyler shivered and puffed the cigar he had in his hand. He looked through his window toward the corpses that were wandering along the side of the building and pointed at Liz. "Come on Cutie Pie, let's go." He looked at Aya too. "That means you too Hollywood."

As the girls moved toward the LMV, Aaron climbed out and wandered to the driver's side door of the Humvee. He climbed in and rolled his window down as Mason continued to talk to Tyler. He drew his sidearm and aimed it at one of the corpses; his elbows leaning comfortably in the windowsill. He squeezed the trigger and its head lurched back; the body falling into a pile. He moved his sights to the next one and took a shallow breath; following along with the target as it slowly moved he let his body completely relax and he depressed the trigger. The gun barked again and he let out his breath as the goo from the corpse's head erupted behind it and it fell almost on top of the one he'd shot only moments before.

Aaron let out a sigh and looked to the next target. His finger ran along the out line of the trigger for a moment and he gritted his teeth slightly. As he relaxed to aim again, a figure lurched out from his left and grabbed his arms.

"Ahhhh," Aaron roared as he pulled back into the cab. A corpse had snuck up on them, and now it was wrestling for Aaron's arm; pulling at him with all of its might. "Oh fuck!" Mason spat as he heard Aaron yell. He saw what was happening through the passenger-window and ran around the front of the Humvee; raising the .22's barrel as he walked up. He couldn't get a shot at its head; it was leaned in through the window. He swore as he threw the .22 onto the hood and ran directly up to the corpse. He thrust-kicked in it the side, but it hardly moved. He immediately grabbed it by the shoulders and began pulling it backwards.

"Get it off me man, get it off me!" Aaron hollered as he fought to keep it from coming in for a bite. He'd never looked at one so close before, and he'd never found one to be so frightening. Its eyes were burning and its lunges were desperate. He could smell its rotten mouth so clearly that he began to gag. Behind him, the passenger's door opened and Tyler climbed in. He kicked the corpse in the face with all of his might and finally, it lost its grip on Aaron's shirt and was forced back out the window; tumbling to the ground with Mason.

As Mason turned to face it, the corpse lunged at him with alarming speed. As it grabbed his arm, he grabbed its neck with his free hand; holding it back with all of his strength. His arm trembling with adrenaline and fear, the corpse changed its grip to Mason's fighting hand, and suddenly its head erupted in unison with a gun blast. The corpse fell to the ground; a pool of blackish blood forming underneath its shattered skull.

"Fucking punk bitch!" Mason roared; spitting on the corpse and holding his shoulder with clenched teeth as he climbing to his feet. Aaron walked up to the corpse and looked at it, then at his gun. The bullet had went through its right eye-socket and exited at the base of its skull. Its hands were twitching.

"We gotta go." Tyler said tensely. The corpses had grown in number around them; many coming from the road now and even more coming around the side of the building. They were scattered amongst the cars and trucks in the parking-lot; moving quickly toward their prey.

"Assholes." Aaron grunted as he climbed into the Humvee's driver seat. Mason climbed into the passenger's seat as he winked at Aya.

"I'm ok babe. See you at the next stop." He slammed his door and the engine roared to life.

"Ok, let's keep driving until we're too tired." Tyler's voice said over the radio. "We'll head straight north, cutting west when we get to the boarder. Let's move it."

"Copy that." Mason responded and stretched his arms. Finally they'd be back to their original goal, and maybe finally they'd get some closure.

Hey guys… I know you're probably all pissed that it took me so long to update, but I couldn't help it… I got a girlfriend. She's taking up a lot of my writing time. I've tried to make her understand that I need to get this done, but she's a red-head and doesn't care. Lol. I'll get it done though and I want you to know that the next couple of chapters have some real twisted shit in store. I can't wait to write it and get it out here so you can review it.

P.S. I know there are some inconsistencies here and ALOT of spelling errors, but they will all be fixed in my final copy. If you notice one or two or three things wrong, then send me a private message and I'll fix it as soon as I can. Thanks guys.