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Chapter XXV

Lock and Load

Ash followed through with Tesla's request. He went all over the Pokémon Center and told his friends to gather at the waiting room, when asked what for Ash simply stated that Tesla needed everyone for something important. They all agreed and eventually head to the waiting room, Ash was surprised that it didn't took much convincing to persuade them.

Once at the waiting room, Ash saw that most of his friends had gathered. Mark and his friends sat in a corner, Mark's Pikachu and Emolga sat in their laps as Plusle and Minun sat on their shoulders. Misty and Brock sat on the floor with their legs crossed. May and Max sat in the chairs and got comfortable. Iris and Cilan also sat in chairs, Axew sat on Iris' lap as she scratched the back of the Tusk Pokémon's head. Wally sat at a far corner, not saying much. He simply looked on, waiting for something to happen as the others. The only people weren't here were Delia and Professor Oak, Ash heard they were with Nurse Joy on something. Might as well leave them alone and fill them in on everything later.

It didn't take long for Tesla to show up. Once he walked into the room, everyone went silent. Ash sat in a chair and clutched his Pikachu in his arms, ready to bolt out of the room at a moment's notice.

"Okay," said Tesla, "Let's state the obvious: I have a problem and all of y'all are worried that if I loose it, because of my . . . uh, history. Is it not?"

"Yup." Mark said without hesitation.

Everyone else somewhat agreed, "Well guys," Tesla continued, "This is what's bothering me.

"My trainer, Irvin Westinghouse, had been dead for 20 years. He passed away from a sudden heart attack, you know what happens a few days after his funeral."

"You lost your sh*t and became an outlaw," Mark added, "Until Ash came along and pulled your head out of your ass."

Ash didn't say anything as some eyes glanced over him, then they turn their attention back to Tesla.

Tesla chuckled, "That about sums it up."

"So what's wrong, Tesla?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu asked as well.

"The Undead nightmare had an affected on us all. You may think it doesn't have much of an affect on me, but id did. And no, killing Iris' Emolga and 2 of my own kind because they're zombified has nothing to do with what's concerning me.

"The dead are coming back to life, they're literally crawling out of their graves," Tesla let out a long sigh, "I fear that my trainer would come back."

Tesla let it sank in for a moment before finally adding, "And I wanna go over to his final resting place, and make sure he doesn't."

"Damn," said Mark, "You were that close with him, huh."

That was no question, "Yeah," said Tesla, "Irvin's strict and a bit of an ass at times, but we were close."

Ash shook his head and stood up, "Your asking for our help on the matter?"

"Pika?" Pikachu added.

"Yes, Ash. I'm begging you for your help, cause it's suicide for me to do this alone."

"Well I'm in, we all gotta help each other at these times."

"I volunteer," said Wally, "Tesla's the only reason why I ever got into law enforcement. Besides, I was a fan of him and Irvin during their glory days in Pokémon battling."

"There's two," said Tesla, he turned to Mark and asked, "How about you, Mark? Would you help me on this?"

Mark formed a mad look on his face, he stood up and glared at the old Pikachu for a moment and said, "If it was me, asking you to put my life on the line, I would do it. There were times where you saved me and the lives of my friends and Pokémon – But," Mark shot a finger at Tesla, "I do remember the times where you endangered them, nearly killed them. And you succeeded in the case of my Magnemite!"

"I can't argue with that, but-"

"But what!?"

Tesla panicked, or looked like he was panicking, "I didn't know that you were trying to help me! I swear, I didn't f*cking know! All the other trainers used those same words Ash used and nearly bagged me, I was so deep in my own paranoia that I . . ."

Ash saw emotion in Tesla's eyes as the old Pikachu ranted along, he was serious about dealing with this reality. Mark however was still glued to the past, not letting go the times where Tesla made his Pokémon suffer as he was on the run from the law. Ash knew he needed to make a stand, he had to share his opinion on this.

" . . . I was scared," Tesla continued, "I had nobody left to turn to. It was-"

"Mark," Ash he interrupted Tesla, "Irvin's family to him. Think about it, what are we without family?"

Mark sighed, "Well sh*t, Ash. Now that you mentioned it . . ."

He turned to Tesla and breathed, "My grandfather had been Irvin's closest friend too, and he also taken good care of you, I guess family is all that matters. Alright, I'm in. But on one condition."

"Say it." said Tesla.

Mark raised a finger, "There's a catch. You'll need police support when dealing with Faraday City Graveyard, I kinda . . . f*cked it up on the way over here, accidentally."

"Well," said Tesla, "The problems you cause were always hilarious."

"You'll need to convince my father and his father to help you, or else you'll be left without support and it wouldn't be much of a family thing. A majority of the FCPD signed up for law enforcement because of you, either they were fans and hoped to catch you or enemies who wanted to stop you for more devious reasons."

Tesla shook his head, "Matt was always a true friend, but I was always mean to his son during his childhood. Emmett just wanted to hold me, to play with me. And I just hissed at his face, showing him sharp teeth, warning him to back off."

The old Pikachu grinned, revealing now rotten enamel, "I had mellowed since then and my teeth weren't as sharp as they once were, he might get lucky now despite the change in times."

"What happened to your teeth?" Wally asked.

Tesla shrugged, "A byproduct from the outlaw years, I blame the food scraps in the trash cans."

"That's 3," said Ash, "Anyone else wanna volunteer?"

"I'll go," said Cilan, "I could help out."

"I'm in," said Brock, "I wanna see this Irvin for myself."

"I don't think he'll let you have his autograph, Brock." said Tesla.

"Okay," said Wally, "That's 5 people, that should be enough. Anymore folks and things will get chaotic and disorganized during transit."

"I know Faraday City like the back of my hand." said Mark.

"And so do me and Wally." said Tesla.

Mark rolled his eyes, "I can tell you that when I left it, it was a war zone. We might have to shoot our way in and out since it'll be infested with the Undead. And for that, we're going to need some better firepower. And we all know where to get," he let out a grin and said, "Are y'all thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I know what you're thinking," said Henry, "I can help you get the hardware."

Tesla nodded nonchalantly and looked around the room, "I think it's now that day. Suit up folks, we're going to crack open a treasure chest."

. . .

Ash cocked the .22 varmint rifle and flipped the safety back on, he checked his sights again before making a paranoid look behind his shoulder. Wally and Henry had their pistols ready as Brock and Cilan gripped tightly to their melee weapons. Brock had the usual fire ax, somehow he managed to get it clean every time he used it on the Undead. Cilan had a regular wooden baseball bat, looking closely Ash could see the tan stains of blood that no bleach could clean out.

The group sat on a roof of an abandoned store, just across the street from the Carson City police department. The police station was a large 2 story building, half the height of the Pokémon Center but had the same width and length. The station was marked with the Faraday Island police decals near the parking lot entrance and the front door. The building was dark, windows were broken, cars were beaten up and abandoned. A few rotting corpses lay here and there, some of them being devoured by the Undead.

The parking lot had a SWAT vehicle sitting in the middle of the road, with the back doors wide open. An Undead police officer wearing a bloody SWAT uniform and armor stood lopsided, staring into space with his red eyes. It eventually cricked its head towards a tasty looking corpse, it seemed a bit fresh. The Undead approached the body and got to its knees, then checked the corpse by sniffing some of the body parts.

It eventually rejected the corpse, it was too rotten to be eaten. The zombified SWAT officer got back up, cracking several joints as it walked away.

"I wonder what's taking Mark and Tesla so long." said Wally as he sat and watch the Undead roam the streets below, they didn't appear to had noticed the group yet.

"Maybe Mark and Tesla were arguing again," said Henry, "I just don't understand the two on how their relationship works."

Pikachu huddled close to Ash for warmth, the weather was getting cold again. The sun was heading back towards the horizon, signaling the day was going to end. Ash looked at Officer Wally, who unnervingly stared at the abandoned police station where he once worked, "Something wrong, Wally?" Ash asked.

"I know the Carson police force well," said Wally, his eyes still glued to the entrance, "They're like a 2nd family. That Undead SWAT officer right over at the parking lot, that's Francis. I had coffee with him two days before the outbreak."

"He had all that armor on, how did he turn?"

"I think I saw a bite on his neck, that must had done him in."

"Had you ever been inside the armory, Wally?" Henry asked.

"I walked passed it everyday, but I didn't take a look inside. Only the quartermaster and the Chief of Police can gain access, everyone else had to get permission. I do know that the armory is right behind the quartermaster's desk, just down the hall from the Chief's office."

"What kind of lock does the armory have?"

"It has an electronic lock, it requires a 4-digit pass code. I don't know the code itself, but I do know where to look for it."

A few boards clattered to the pavement behind Ash, he spun around and saw Mark and Tesla climbing back onto the roof. Mark appeared to be carrying a red gas can, he used his free hand to help Tesla up on the roof as Emolga pulled some .22 short rounds out of Mark's pockets and reloaded her Ruger. Tesla shook his arms and legs before stretching, he looked like he had a lot of fun, "Distraction is primed and ready," said Mark, "It should last at least 2 hours, that would give us enough time to get in and hang around for a while."

"Okay," said Wally, "Set it off."

Mark pulled out a detonator and clicked the red switch, a second later the ground shook with tremendous force. 300 meters away, a mushroom cloud of fire shot towards the sky as several air horns and car alarms went off. Ash held his breath and listened, by the time the shaking stopped the moans of the Undead raised in volume.

"I love explosions." Tesla smiled.

Several zombies started climbing out of the abandoned buildings, including the police station itself. They moved their rotting limbs, almost in a soldier-like walk as they head towards the scene of the chaos. Ash was amazed at the number of Undead filling the streets, both the zombified humans and Pokémon could be expecting dinner when they homed in on the noise. No doubt every single soul and walking corpse heard and felt the explosion, this would buy the group a remarkable amount of time.

When the last of the Undead dragged their feet out of view, Mark tapped Ash on the shoulder, "Those air horns will last only 2 hours, that should give us enough time to crack open the armory like a gold mine."

"First we check all the rooms for Undead and kill any that we find," Tesla added, "Then we get to work."

Mark turn to Ash, "I recommend either using your 9mm pistol or crowbar on this one, that .22 rifle doesn't fair well in point-blank range."

"Okay, Mark."

Ash holstered the .22 rifle and pulled out his 9mm pistol, he took out the suppressor for it and screwed it back onto the tip of the barrel, "Let's make it happen, guys."

"You take lead," said Wally, "You're the one with the silenced weapon."

"Okay," said Ash, "Cover our backs, we're going in."

"Pikachu." Pikachu added.

The group climbed down as Ash lead the way to the police station, his gun cocked with the safety turned off. Ash pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on, he used his flashlight arm to support his gun arm. The bright powerful beam stripped away the darkness, revealing horrors they hide.

A couple of bodies lay on the floor, deteriorated beyond recognition from weeks of decay. The smell overwhelmed Ash's nose, Pikachu could barely stay on his shoulder as nausea gripped them both, "I know that smell," said Tesla, "Smells like one of my spicy fresh farts."

Mark and Henry burst out laughing, Ash shot a look at them, they quieted down within moments, "Um, sorry," said Mark, "That was a personal joke of ours."

"Just keep your eyes open, Mark," Ash rolled his eyes, "Okay, search the place high and dry. Don't leave any rooms left unchecked."

Mark, Henry, and Wally clicked on their flashlights and the whole room got brighter. Ash noticed Mark was carrying a red can, it glistened under the beam of his flashlight, "Mark," Ash asked, "What's that?"

"Bio-diesel," said Mark, "I siphoned it from a nearby truck."

Ash paused for a moment, "I don't wanna know how you got it, or that can, But can you tell me what you're going to use it for?"

"I'm going to see if I can restore power in this place, if I can get the backup generator up and running again we may as well use this police station as a 2nd safehouse."

"I agree with that plan," said Wally, "Besides, without power we might not even get into the vault anyway."

"You know where the utility room is?"

"Right this way."

As Wally showed Mark where the generator was, Henry turned towards Ash, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," said Ash, he shined the flashlight at Henry's feet to avoid blinding him, "What's up?"

"Ever since your Pikachu lost it, something's been bothering me."

"What's bothering you, Henry?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.

"My Raichu accepted his fate, he ended it all without hesitation. Day after day, I puzzled to myself, wondering how my Raichu decided so quickly. My thought crossed over the day when . . ."

Henry suddenly stopped and looked around, Ash wondered what he was looking for and noticed Tesla had vanished, "Tesla locked him and your Pikachu in a cage when we pissed him off that day," Henry continued, "I wondered what he did with him during that time, since he hates Raichus."

"He doesn't actually hate Raichus," said Ash, "He just doesn't wanna become one."

"Pika." Pikachu added.

"I wondered if Tesla tortured him, and your Pikachu as well. Whatever he did to him, he wasn't the same since, even though they kissed and made up after the debacle was over."

"Henry," said Ash, "Just let it go, anything we could have done might changed the look of the outcome but not the outcome itself. It was a trap of our doing."

"Yes," said Henry, "It was. Mark indirectly got my Raichu killed by pissing off the dead in that cemetery, the same cemetery Irvin was buried. You know why I don't blame him for what happened to my Mouse Pokémon?"

"No, I don't."

"We always f*ck things up, it's just no surprise that Raichu got what he got. I'm going to miss him dearly, but I know deep down that . . . we all know what's are ultimate fate."

Ash nodded, "Thanks for sharing that, Henry."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded as well.

"Thanks," said Henry, "If Raichu was bitten in the tail, Mark would have hacked it off. He knew Raichu was a goner at the very moment he got bit, I didn't realize that until the poor thing started getting sick."

"Remember to check those rooms."

"I will remember."

As Henry walked away, Ash looked around for Brock and Cilan. They too were nowhere in sight, "Did you see where they had gone, Pikachu?"

"Pika." Pikachu shrugged.

"Keep your ears tuned, buddy. No telling what kind of horrors lay in this station."

Ash began his clean sweep of the station. He peered through several doorways with his gun ahead of him, finding the same scene over and over again. Metal desk were overturned, papers were scattered everywhere, broken furniture sprinkled here and there, bullet holes pop-marked the walls and ceiling, and many dead bodies – their heads smashed in or filled with a few bullet holes.

The Undead trashed the place like a bunch of drunken college kids on a Friday night, trying viciously to get their prey. Ash kept finding half-eaten bodies. Most of them wearing the Faraday Island police uniform. Some cops were disemboweled, but those who had a kevlar vest on had their torso spared, everything else was stripped clean to the bone by deathly jaws. Ash looked away from a face of a corpse, its head was stripped from most of its flesh – leaving behind a bloody skull. The jaws were locked open, he or she must had screamed before dying.

"I'm going to wake up any time now," said Ash to himself, trying his best to keep the gun and flashlight steady, "This is all just a nightmare, not real. Just not real."

Ash walked back into the hall, his eyes jacked wide open as his heart raced faster than a jet engine, "All imaginary, just imaginary. Sooner or later, I will wake up. And when I wake up, I'm going to climb out of bed and have a nice hot bath at the Pokémon Center. I'm going to have a big breakfast and relax in the sun, maybe train my Pokémon new moves. Yes. That I will do. I'm going to. I'm going to . . . I'm going to?"

Reality began to feel like a lucid dream within the darkness of the police station, his mind was fully alert but his body was relaxed. He stopped and stared at a painting of a beautiful ship, transfixed at the wavy patterns of the brush that made the artwork, "It's a boat," Ash complimented, "You know, Pikachu. We came on this island on a boat."

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked, probably wondering what he was talking about.

Ash drift into another room where . . . of course, another body. This one was wearing a bloody police uniform. It was propped up on a chair with his head hunched back, mouth gaping wide open. It was as if he was passed out drunk. Ash cocked his head to an angle and gave it a curious look, he blinked hard and stared at it for a second.

"Not very lucky, huh?" Ash spoke to the corpse, "You sitting comfortably in your final resting place?"

The corpse was unresponsive, sitting there, completely inert. Ash didn't seem to notice, "Not the talkative type , are you? Are you even awake, hello?"

The corpse finally stirred. It slowly straightened its head, letting out a hiss as it gave Ash its full attention. Bright evil red eyes stared into Ash's, yet he wasn't intimidated or scared.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, tapping Ash's head to remind him what was at stake.

Ash grabbed Pikachu, pulled him off his shoulder, and dropped him on a nearby desk. The Mouse Pokémon bounced on his rear, making a loud metal thud on the desk. He shot back to a far corner, his fur shivering all over.

When Ash refocused on the zombie, it started to get up. It stretched out a rotten arm and moaned, trying to make a sluggish grab for Ash. He grinned and smashed the butt of his pistol into the Undead's face, it slammed back into the wall and fell out of its chair. Just as it tried to get up, Ash stomped on its neck and pinned it down.

"I had sideswiped death many times in the past," Ash told the zombie, "Some of those times I actually died, but came back. My friends were worried at some of those near death experiences. I somehow became petrified from getting into the crossfire of Mewtwo and Mew. You know what it feels like to become stone?"

The Undead growled and snarled, more concerned in getting Ash than his story.

"It feels like being locked in ice," Ash explained, "Everything freezes, everything stops. Like falling asleep, when you wake up you wonder what had just happened."

Ash stomped on the zombie again, snapping its neck with a loud crack. Its arms and legs went limp, no longer controlled by the dead brain, but the thing continued to growl and moan with a snapping jaw.

"I get it, I get it! Just what are we without family? We're nothing, of course. But what are we with a family we just duct taped together? They don't share a lot of our beliefs. We share common sense and ideas obviously, but not at heart."

He stomped on the Undead's skull, breaking its jaw in three pieces, the head bled little as the Undead continue to gurgle and groan. Now sounding like it was trying to scream for relief, "I had made a lot of friends, yet I don't get to see most of them! They're probably barely survivor or dead, like the friends I luckily have with me!"

Ash stomped again, cracking the Undead's skull, "And what about all the Pokémon I caught, kept, and released over the years? Most of them now gone forever, because of this plague of Undead. The ones I have left could barely keep themselves together!

Stomp!
"Then finally there's my mom, who still treats me like a kid!"

Stomp!

"I couldn't – no, I lost count on all the times everyone and my own mother asked me if I'm alright. We're in the middle of an apocalypse, of course I'm not alright!"

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Ash stepped back and saw the zombie, its head squashed in. Dead. But Ash wasn't done yet, he grabbed the corpse by the collar of its bloody uniform and pulled it back on the chair, "I'll tell you this," Ash spoke in a whisper, "Was it Mark, or was it Tesla, who said the dead always win?" He snorted, "Win what? There's nothing to gain from the lost of lives. Well, I'll tell you what. If we're all going to wound up Undead in the end, I'm making sure everyone is getting a little surprise."

Ash clicked the hammer of his pistol back and aimed it at the corpse's squashed head, "Over my dead body will I loose my memories and reason when I turn!"

He squeezed the trigger and put a single bullet straight into the corpse's shattered face, spraying black blood onto the white dry wall behind it. Ash pant heavily as he lowered his gun, relaxed that he let out all of his stress in one go.

"Damn, Ash."

Ash spun around and saw Tesla standing by the doorway, his eyes somewhat lit up from shock but he seemed quite mellow about what happened, "You went all out on him, did you get out what you need to get out?"

The Pokémon trainer blinked and glanced back at the corpse, "Yeah, I did."

"You gotta let out all that stress sooner or later," said Tesla, "can't blame you for that."

"Somehow the creepy atmosphere of the police station had amplified my thoughts," said Ash, "I just didn't know what was I doing until you came along."

Tesla smiled, "You're not alone, Ash. I almost lost my head in the next room, but I got distracted from your meltdown."

"How much did you see from my . . . episode?"

"When the cop came back. From what I heard, its safe to say we have some things in common."

Ash turned to Pikachu, his eyes was wide from terror as his body shook with tremors. When Ash held up a hand, Pikachu stepped back and crouched as small as possible. He looked at his trainer like he didn't even know him.

"Sorry you have to see all that, Pikachu." Ash apologized.

"Pika Pika Pika P Pika." Pikachu muttered.

"He said his meltdown was much worse than yours." Tesla translated.

"Chuuuu." He let out a soft cry.

Ash picked up Pikachu and held him close, the Mouse Pokémon calmed down and relaxed but his eyes remained locked open. After a moment, Pikachu climbed back on Ash's shoulder and got comfortable, "Time to get back on track," said Ash, "How many rooms have we checked?"

"I got at least half of the rooms," said Tesla, "Smashed in a few skulls from several bodies, just to make sure."

"With what?"

Tesla held up his ice ax and grinned, the hook-shaped blade was soaked in blood, "Oh," said Ash, "That thing."

The ceiling lights came on without warning, and everything went white. Ash covered his eyes as his night vision was immediately shattered, he looked up at the ceiling and saw the florescent bulbs were on and glowing bright, "Looks like Mark got the power back up and running," said Ash, "That was a major relief, we needed that."

"The power of light," said Tesla, "Drives the darkness back."

Ash and Tesla head back to the lobby. When they got there, they saw the HDTV was turned on. It showed a blue screen with the words "No Signal!" printed in the center. Ash approached it and turned it off, no use for television these days. He stepped back and looked off towards the entrance, the air horns and car alarms were still blaring. There was still more time to check everything and secure this place."

"Hey, Ash," said Mark as he came back into the room, "The power is back up and running, it should last for a few hours if we're lucky."

"Okay," said Mark, "Where's Wally?"

"He's at the armory door right now, this way."

Mark led Ash to the entrance to the armory, it was a solid stainless steel door that looked like it can withstand explosions. Sure enough it had an electronic padlock, and requires a 4-digit combination to get in. Wally was going through all things in the quartermaster's desk, he slammed a drawer shut and stood up, "The combination's not here," he said, "It had to be somewhere!"

"We'll keep trying, Wally," said Mark, "We'll get that door open eventually."

"HELP!"

Everyone turned towards the end of the hall, the sound of glass breaking and furniture overturning made everyone jump, "That sound's like Cilan!" cried Ash.

"Pikachu!" cried Pikachu.

Ash drew his gun and ran down the hall, "Ash, wait!" cried Mark.

"Emolga!" Mark's Emolga cried.

He ran towards where he thought he heard the cries for help were coming from. Ash ran into the room and saw Cilan grappling with a zombie. The zombie had Cilan pinned against the wall, his baseball bat lay across the room out of arm's reach. Brock's ax was wedged into the wall, he tried his best to muscle it out but it wouldn't budge. Ash took aim at the Undead's head and fired a round, the zombie's head shot back and it released its grip on Cilan. It hit the floor with a thud.

"Thanks, Ash," Cilan breathed, "He surprised us there."

Brock finally got the fire ax unstuck from the wall, he turned around and shook his head, "The zombie popped out from underneath that desk," he gestured towards the overturned desk, "I almost had him with the ax, but I missed. He was on Cilan within a second."

Wally examined the corpse, "This is the quartermaster, I guess he didn't make it."

"There's a bite on his arm," said Mark, pointing to the horribly necrotic bite wound, "It's necrotic, he turned because of the infection from the bite."

Ash crouched down and searched the body's pockets, he pulled out the quartermaster's wallet and searched the contents for anything useful. After flipping through the credit cards and cash, Ash found a slip of paper with 4 numbers on it, "One misfortune is everybody's lucky day, I think this is the combination for the armory."

"Had to be," said Wally, "I knew he wrote it down somewhere."

"You want to do the honors in typing in the code?" said Mark.

"Yeah, why not."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded with a smile.

Cilan picked up his baseball bat and examined it, "I think I'll try my hands at a firearm now," he said, "Or at least get a better melee weapon."

"Let's see what we have then." said Mark.

The group head back to the armory door and approached it, Ash glanced at the small slip of paper again. He typed in the numbers in the keypad and pressed enter, a green light appeared on the keypad and the locks disengaged. The vault door slowly swung inward, Mark's jaw dropped as he stared inside.

"Hey guys," said Henry, "I checked the basement, there were a couple Walkers but I-"

He stopped short when Mark grabbed his chin and turned his head towards the armory's interior, Henry's jaw dropped as well, "The motherlode!"

The armory was the size of a medium-sized bedroom, the walls, floor, and ceiling were made out of complete steel. The room was loaded with all types of firearms, handguns, shotguns, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles, mounted on the walls and floor of the armory. Glass cabinets mounted on the walls were filled with all types of ammunition on design and measurement. All the calibers and millimeter rounds had their own cabinets, everything else was divided up by the type of individual ammunition. Tesla stepped forward, his jaw dropped in awe from the countless number of weapons at his disposal, "Mark, Henry, I think we're in gun-nut paradise."

"Okay, guys," said Mark, holding his arms back to prevent everyone from rushing in, "Let's be gentlemen here, we can't afford to become greedy at this critical moment."

"Look at this," said Tesla as he grabbed a sub-machine gun from the rack, "An M3A1 submachine gun, selective fire!"

"All guns on the island are capable of fully-auto are selective fire," said Wally, "Pick out what you want, then we'll begin boarding up the station."

Ash went through the racks of guns as everyone else took their pick, his eyes centered in on the AR-15. He picked it up and checked the sights. Yes, this would work. He turned towards the rest of the group, Henry grabbed a SPAS-12 and began loading it with shotgun shells, Cilan and Brock sheepishly picked out some submachine guns. They checked their weight and get a feel of the grip, looking for weapons that were comfortable for them. They each picked out a PP90M1, then checked the guns, "What ammunition do these use?" Brock asked.

"9mm rounds," said Mark, "We have plenty of them around here."

Mark grabbed an AR-15 and loaded a magazine into it, then cocked it, "Looks like we finally get an AR-15 after all, Henry."

"This SPAS-12 can take a head off someone's shoulders," said Henry, "I'll go with this gun . . . on second thought, I'll go with a submachine gun since silencers don't work to well on shotguns."

Mark opened up a box of suppressors from the corner and went through them, "Many different types here," he said, "Here's a couple that can go with the AR-15."

He screwed a suppressor onto his rifle and tossed one to Ash, he caught it and attached it to the end of his barrel as well, "Everybody get a suppressor," said Mark, "Or else the noise would attract the Undead."

The others grabbed a suppressor from the box and attached it to their guns, Wally grabbed an M3A1 and attached a suppressor to it before sliding a magazine in, "Is everyone done?" he asked as he chambered a round into the weapon.

"Yeah," said Ash, "I think we're done."

"There's some wooden planks in the garage, we can spend the time cutting those down to size and board up the windows. We'll start by boarding up the windows on the outside, I'm not too worried about the sound of a hammer banging away as long as Mark's distraction keeps on blaring. We work fast and get a chain going, Tesla you get a sniper rifle and be our lookout since you're the best shot here."

"I know where to aim," said Tesla as he strapped his M3A1's gun sling over his shoulder, "Just make sure you take care of the zombies I happen to miss."

"Will do."

Ash got out the .22 varmint rifle and handed it to Tesla, "Here, Tesla. I don't think I need this anymore."

"Thanks, Ash."

Tesla took the rifle without question and head up to the roof.

TO BE CONTINUED...