Author's notes: so despite the lack of reviews and the fact that i have no time on my hands here is 29, also apologies for the long delay but my life has changed significantly since the last chapter was uploaded so please bare with eventually this story will be completed. With that said enjoy.

Chapter 29: A new threat

Whitaker and Rick sat in silence for a time merely breathing loudly or coughing now and then but apart from that their was silence, finally Whitaker sighed before turning to face the well dressed man who was now in his company, "so on a scale of one to ten how fucked up is America right now" he asked quietly knowing what the answer was. "11 out of 10" the man in the suit replied quietly, "and they better stop this virus soon or more than America will come down with it" he went on to say and Whitaker looked at him puzzled, "what you saying?" he asked looking suspicious of the man before him. "This virus is like any other if it isn't stopped soon it will mutate and change itself and become airborne, then once it crosses the sea it will spread to where ever the hell it goes and you know what will happen then dont you?" Rick said. Whitaker sighed in sadness, this was something he hadn't actually but too much thought into but it was a possibility and in the zombie apocalypse any possibility could bring disaster, however before he had anymore time to depress himself with any more negative thoughts Rick raised his hand as they both heard a quite but noticeable scuffle. They both quietly stood up being careful not to wake the others, Whitaker tightly took hold of his M16 in one hide while Rick grabbed hold of his Uzi with 2 hands, they had a small noise from outside, "there's someone outside" Whitaker whispered, "or something" Rick said back causing Whitaker to facepalm and sigh.

They both began walking towards the back end of the dinner behind the bar and into the kitchen, taking his rifle in 2 hands Whitaker switched the flashlight now attached underneath on and slowly and carefully walked forward in a crouch, as they entered the doorway leading into the kitchen it was then that Rick could make out the sounds of voices outside. "Hey it sounds like their is people outside" he said, Whitaker also hear it to, they both began to quietly creep towards the back door where they could now see a shadowy figure behind the door at the other end of the kitchen, Rick reached the door first and grabbed hold the handle before turning around to look at Whitaker. The elder man nodded before Rick quickly swung the door open only to be met with the buck of a shotgun to his mouth and be flung backwards onto the floor, "Shit you ok?!" Whitaker yelled helping the younger man to his feet before they both looked up at the sound of a shotgun cocking before they were staring down its barrel. "Alright you no good yellow bellied snakes hands up" said a thick southern voice, "both men held their hands in the air and groaned as a bright flashlight was shone in their face, "they dont look infected to me" said the man with a more northern american accent as he checked their eyes. "Alright then you can put your hands down" said the first man again lowering the large shotgun, "sorry about that, but you cant be too sure who's friend and foe in this apocalypse" said the second man again, "its alright, just a misunderstanding it happens" said Rick standing up as he clutched his aching stomach.

"Whats ya names"? the first man asked as he lowered his large shotgun, "my name's Whitaker i used to run a gun shop in Fairfield before the infection, now we are just trying to find evacuation, and this man right here is named Rick" he said patting the younger man next to him on the shoulder, Rick gently raised his hand causing the large man with the shotgun to nod. "Well my names Ted and this here is Jim my slightly younger friend" said the man with the shotgun pointing with his arm to the man standing behind him who was carrying a M16 much like Whitaker's, "should i go get the other's?" said Jim looking back towards the door, Whitaker could see two more figures outside slightly illuminated by flashlights and one who had a cigarette protruding from the edge of his mouth. "Nah we wont be long, we'll just get the stuff from the back and get out of here" said Ted, "stuff out the back?" Rick said with a questionable expression worried they were referring to their truck, "we have some stuff hidden in the freezer out the back behind there" he said pointing to a large silver door sealed shut, "ah i see" Rick said hiding any signs of his suspicions.

Ted led them to the freezer where they had crates of food inside, "so where are you guys heading?" Whitaker asked as Jim grabbed some of the crates and walked back towards the door leading back outside through the kitchen, "we have a small boat loaded up just down the hill where the river is, we are gonna use it to travel further north to EVAC ECHO" he said placing more crates down by the door outside the freezer. "Evac Echo where the hell is that?" Rick asked never having heard of the place, "its through the Allegheny National Forest, right on the edge of the North and South of America, the military are picking people up from a farmhouse their so we wanna get their as soon as possible" he explained as the 2 men he talked with nodded. "how many of you are their?" Whitaker asked, "5 of us altogether, but i mean if it is just you 2 you can feel free to come with us if you wish" Ted said with a genuine smile that caused both Whitaker and Rick to smile as well, even in the end of the human race there were still people thinking of others, "thanks but well pass, besides we have our own crew and transportation" said Whitaker with a simple hand shake causing Ted to nod, "they all asleep in front" he asked, Whitaker nodded, "fair enough, well weve got what we need we wont be anymore trouble to any of you, i wish ya the best of luck" he said nodding his head.

"Wait you wanna us to help you get your supplies onto the boat?" Whitaker asked, "really you dont have to do that, besides there's infected all over the place out their" said Ted, "we know but we are stuck here til morning and aint doing nothing else, and besides we can always tell the others where we are going if there is any trouble" Whitaker explained wanting to help these people get to where they were heading in one piece and infection free. Ted put a hand to his chin, "oh all right then but once we are on the boat we cant help you since you dont wanna come with us so your way back up the hill please just be damn careful" he said and both Whitaker and Rick nodded, they then went back into the other room to see Heavy was now wide awake looking in their direction. "Whats going on out there i can hear voices?" he asked as they expected that he would, "theirs some more survivors out the back, they had supplies hidden here and are transferring them to a boat down the hill behind the dinner, we said we would help cover them til they got on their boat" he explained and Heavy rose from his space and picked up his beloved minigun, "well sign me up lets go help the nice people" he said smiling as he lit a fresh cigar, "well bring a flare gun in case we get into any trouble on the way back" Heavy said revealing one from a back by Dave's sleeping bag. "All right then lets go help them get out of this shithole so we can feel good about something in this world of zombies and asshole humans" said Whitaker referring to their encounter with the angles of death.

Leaving a note in the room with the rest of their allies and introducing Heavy to Ted and Jim and learning about Keith and Mac outside the 7 survivors with Jim, Keith and Mac carrying the crates and the other 4 with their weapons equipped ready to protect their 3 allies, Heavy leading as he had the most firepower with the other 3 walking on all sides of the crate holders with Ted holding the rear with his massive shotgun. "So who's the last guy in your group" his name is Todd, hes my younger brother but he got injured meaning he couldn't keep walking up and down the hill, so weve dosed him up and hidden him in the boat and we hope he is alright" he said looking down at the ground, "there are some nasty things out here at night" he said causing the 3 newcomers to look at eachother in alarm. "What do you mean by that i mean aren't the infected just bad regardless of the type of day?" Rick asking the question that all 3 of them wanted answered, "yes thats true but out here there's mutated infected, not just the normal special infected as they are called... like actual super mutants that can do crazy shit" he said glumly as he recalled a memory from 2 days ago. The rest of the walk after that was not a pleasant one, with the dreaded thoughts of super mutant zombies in their embedded in their heads like nightmares invading even the deepest depths of their minds and with the horrid landscapes of bare trees, howling winds and the smell of death in the very air they were breathing, the overall feel had one word at best to describe it...depressing...or several more if you really wanted to think negative which unsurprisingly none of them did.

They had all failed to notice that once again a pair of crimson eyes stalked them from the covers of trees before darting off again.

...

Todd grumbled as he awoke from inside the boat, unlike his much older and much more confident brother Todd had always been the loser in life, barely any friends, picked on by the jocks in school and college and never had a girlfriend ever, he sighed recalling his stupidity getting his waist injured badly, he winced as the thought of his injury spiked a wave of pain to flood his torso causing him to clutch it in a vain attempt to numb the pain. He the froze when he realised something that utterly terrified him... he was alone, the other 4 had gone up the hill to the dinner to get the supplies and due to him being injured choose to keep him in the boat out of view of any infected, he sighed as he realised that being alone meant no infected. He then heard something that truly made his blood run cold, he heard a quite but noticeable hiss from just outside the boat, not a growl, not a scream, a hiss, but he knew one thing and one thing only, it was not his brother or his friends, he then gasped audibly and covered his mouth in horror as lightning suddenly flashed overheard followed by a loud thunder clap, the lightning lit a shadow in the doorway of the inner cabin of the boat, something was on the boat with him and he heard another hiss as the lightning struck again, but this time there was no shadow. He gently stood up as he walked to the middle of the room all the corners becoming even more terrifying as he began to imagine what lied in wait in the darkness ready to pounce on him and feast on his soul.

Then he froze again as he heard the hiss for a third time, then the thunder struck again and he did something he knew may have cost him his life... he screamed. he covered his mouth and began shaking in terror but the damage had been done, the figure outside that was hissing stopped and then began to snicker, with a cold, quite and utterly terrifying sound, Todd was sweating uncontrollably. He then began to back away from the doorway as he then heard footsteps above him and realised someone may have discovered where he was, he continued to slowly back up and then froze as terror struck his very core at its highest ferocity, as the lighting flashed again a shadow... standing right behind him was illuminated, he then shook with terror as he slowly turned and confirmed his worst fears as standing right behind him was a figure with glowing red eyes and bloodied teeth beard in a horrid smile as he realised it was the figure that snickered. He backed away from this figure that slowly moved forward to keep the distance between them close, "you cant esssscape from me little boy" the figure said with a very quite female voice, the creature was a WOMAN! he thought in horror before something hit on the back of his head and he passed out unconscious the figure snickering as it caressed his check with a clawed hand. "Take him to the queen, he will life to serve usssssss" it hissed as the figure behind him revealed to be a common infected with red eyes picked him up and carried him out of the boat. The figure simply sat in the middle of the room, the same horrid smile on her features before it began to cackle with mad glee. The very thought of the boy being 'converted by the queen' satisfying her to no end as she realised that soon she and the rest of her kind would potentially rule the entire planet, the woman infected began cackling much louder as the lightning and thunder rose louder to match her horrid terrifying laughter.

...

When Todd awoke again he realised something was very wrong for a few reasons, for one he could hear savage snarling and growling all around him, meaning he was surrounded by infected causing his to glue his eyes shut, however he also came to realise he was sitting in someones lap, a clawed hand gently caressing the back of his head as the figure observed him with curiosity. He then went to scream but the woman whoever this one was placed her hand over his mouth and chuckled slightly at his attempt to call for help, "now, now little Todd, we dont need to do that" she said with a surprisingly posh voice, "finally Todd decided it was time to ask a question, "w-who are you?" he asked stammering a shaking violently as the infected woman gently rested her hand on his head her talon like fingers flexing in front of his face, 'sh-she sh- she's a WITCH!' he thought in terror as she giggled before speaking again with the same sickly sweet and posh voice, "i am the queen" she said giggling at his confused face. "T-the queen of w-what?" he asked as she gently stroked his check her claws still in full view of his face, "the queen of the soldiers of the green flu virus, the guardian of my kind and the most powerful infected individual to ever exist" she said as she gently hummed waiting for his next question, "b-but how is that possible, everyone has said that virus can only cause basic infected mutations b-but your not basic at all" he said causing all the infected including the 'queen' to laugh. "I am anything but basic and what i say is true, but your point is valid, although i was created by the very people who are supposed to be helping you" she said resuming her creepy but strangely soothing him, 'wait SOOTHING HUMMING, her humming cant be soothing me...can it', "b-but why would CEDA do this" he said. "Because they though they could control the green flu virus and use the controlled infected to rule the world" she once again causing all kinds of deranged laughter to occur from all around him, the infected obviously found the thought of being controlled amusing, he thought which he had to admit was interesting.

"You see dear Todd , the green flu isn't what it is made out to be, it in an intelligent organism if mutated in the right way, the best example of the right mutation being me of course" she said gently lifting his head up to bear on her, he gasped as he looked at her face, unlike other witches who had horrid scowled on their faces and looked generally freaky and terrifying. The 'queen' looked mostly normal with the exception of the big red omens she now had for eyes, even her teeth looked pretty normal as she smiled down at him, "are you afraid of me now Todd" she said gently humming and rubbing his check, "you know the answer to that" he said looking away. "You know you dont have to be afraid" she said smiling as she grabbed hold of his chin and forced him to look at her as she hummed, he tried to shake away but couldn't her grasp being too strong, "in fact why dont you join us"? she said smiling as she succumbed to her charming humming... just like the rest of them as his eyes went pale white. She then smiled before cuffing his neck in her clawed hands before leaning in and pressing her lips to his, the femae infected who found him snickered as the saliva from the queen transferred the green flu into his unimmune system and began to do its magic as she dropped him and he began to cough and sputter blood, "welcome to the winning team... my dear Todd" she said as he let out an ear splitting scream as the flu consumed his mind, he was one of them now... one of 'her' minions...

...

The survivors froze as they heard the ear splitting scream from buy the lake, "that sounded like Todd" said Mac, "Todd!" Ted yelled as he charged forward the others, "noooo wait!" Whitaker cried as they tried to keep up with him as he prowled to the bottom of the hill, however they all stopped when they saw the scene over by the dock and the boat itself. The lightning flashed and they all gasped in horror as dozens of red omen eyes illuminated at them as the lightning flashed, another set rising up by a pair that were situated into the middle, then a lantern by the eyes switched on and revealed the queen with a male and female hunter either side of her and many red eyed commons at her feet with Todd facing away from them now. "Welcome, my dear little rebellious survivors, allow me to introduce myself as the ruler of the army of the green flu, i am Mercy, queen of the infected" said the queen in her accent, the survivors froze as the witch spoke, "SHE SPOKE" Rick cried in shock as the survivors edged back in terror as the queen stroked Todd as he rose and turned to face them, blood now dripping down his chin, skin pale white and eyes deep red.

"Whitaker observed the queen and the 2 hunters, the male hunter wore a black hoodie and had his eyes covered by a black bandanna and had black jeans with pure black converse on his feet, he was leaning against a beam supporting the pier they were on with a bored expression and shock his head and looked at the female hunter, she wore a long red dress with her arms and legs exposed with red converse and small white socks on her feet, she smiled and bared her bloodied teeth as she inspected the talons of her left hand before also looking at the queen. Then their was the Witch herself, or the so called queen, this witch wore a deep red dress, that exposed her arms and sharp claws, but unlike normal witches she had black tights covering her legs but didn't wear shoes, she had deep red eyes like most witch's but her face looked mostly normal save for the pale skin. She strangely had deep brown coloured roots soiling around her left arm leading to somewhere on her back, she then rose her arms to the sky and began to sing alloud, they could only watch on horror at what happened next.

As the lighting flashed over and over, many more pairs of red eyes began to emerge from the woods and the pier as well as rising from the water itself... they were now surrounded on all sides except the way they came, the witch now lowered her arms as her army now surrounded her new victims as a devious smile appeared on her face, "and welcome... to your doom" she said with a savage tone as she burst into maniacal laughter as the lightning above flashed and the thunder boomer casting the setting of doom over the survivors...

End Chapter

Author's notes: Well, well, well i got time to finish another chapter and its ended on a cliffhanger, so im so sorry for the late upload but ive been soo busy at work lately that i have been too tired to upload, but for now please enjoy the new chapter and please be patient i do plan on finish this story at some point.

So no infected led by Mercy the queen infected witch? Who is she and how was she born? Well i will tell you... in good time.

For now thanks for reading and please comment and review any suggetsions and ideas and also critque my work, without straight up flame please.

Thanks you all and see you next time

Adios :)