The gravel crunched under Chicago's feet as she got out of the truck. Her leg was feeling pretty good and she trusted it to carry her through anything that came at her. Tallahassee joined her. Things were quiet as they looked at the small house that had been turned into the Red Cross station. Dad was the last out of the truck looking very tense.
"Try to keep out of our way," Tallahassee said over his shoulder. Chicago and him strode confidently to the door giving a fast glance at each other before kicking it in together. She went in drawing her sword that now hung from her belt. The first zombie was a very fat woman. Chicago timed her swing and took the ladies head off in a nice clean strike.
Tallahassee entered and with his trusted baseball bat took a scrawny zombie that came around the corner out. Chicago watched the blood splatter and noted how amazingly picturesque Tallahassee looked. The brim of his hat hid his face as he stood over his kill still holding the bat. She made a note to write it down later.
Several more zombies made their appearance and were dispatched quickly and quietly without much trouble. Dad entered after the initial bloodshed was over. He looked at the mess that had been created by Tallahassee and Chicago's perfectly choreographed fight. He seemed a little pale.
"You all right?" she asked wiping the blood off of her sword.
"I expected this to go a little more quietly," he stammered looking at the zombies. Tallahassee dropped the bat that was so dented it was near useless and pulled out his gun.
"When we bring these in it stops being quiet," he said moving past both of them. He looked up the stairs. "Two floors and maybe a basement? I'll go high," he said like a kid playing soldier. Chicago didn't argue and started to search the house. It didn't take long for her to find the payload though. Water, canned food, other non-perishables and supplies completely filled the kitchen and den.
"What now?" Dad whispered. Chicago slipped her katana into its sheath. Picking up a box of goods and pressing it into his arms she got another for herself. They moved back through the house to the front door where she backed the trucks end right up to the door.
"Cram as much as you can," she said smiling as he heaved the box into the back. They both spun on their heels when Tallahassee shouted as he flipped backwards over he banister in the foyer. He landed hard on his back on the floor below. Chicago ran in drawing her pistol. A zombie screeched as it charged down the stairs. She didn't hesitate to shoot and put a bullet right through it's head.
Turning her attention to Tallahassee she knelt beside him as he groaned starting to move around. "You bit?" she asked trying not to sound frantic.
"Nah, he just surprised me," he grunted sitting up. Chicago could tell he was hurt pretty bad. "That hurt like hell though," he sighed rotating his shoulders.
"You're lucky you didn't land on your head," she said picking his hat up and putting it back where it belonged. He adjusted it before getting to his feet. She turned her attention back to Dad. He was rooted where he stood. "We need to hurry. That shot is going to attract attention," she said feeling the urgency of the situation.
"Right," Tallahassee agreed walking gingerly towards the kitchen. He rotated his shoulders and stretched a little before he attempted to lift anything. Chicago promised she would take time to be concerned after they were out of danger.
As the truck started to fill up and the kitchen became more and more bare Chicago started to relax. No zombies had made an appearance and it had been nearly a quarter of an hour. "Go start the truck," she said handing the keys to Dad. He went of to do as she said leaving her and Tallahassee in the kitchen alone. He was leaning against the counter discreetly stretching his back again. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Fine," he replied a little too quickly. She gave him a knowing look. "Give me a break that was a good ten or twelve foot drop," he sighed. She nodded lazily poking through the last of the boxes. Not much was left in the room and in truth there wasn't much room in the truck. "I saw a bathroom upstairs. I'm gonna take a leak," he sighed. She nodded again as she contemplated stealing the computer in the next room.
Heading for the truck she stepped around the bodies and closed the hatch securing their haul. She had just opened the passenger side door when the sound of breaking glass caught her attention. "Oh no," she sighed. Hopping out she poked her head in the house. Tallahassee was no where to be seen, but the nasty arm of a zombie was clearly visible though a window in the den. "Tal! Lets go!" she shouted up the stairs.
Pulling her sword out she approached the window and stabbed blindly through the curtain. It came back bloody and the moaning stopped. She glanced up at the stairs again, no Tallahassee.
The zombie shit storm had officially kicked up again. It was all at once that windows started breaking and zombies started appearing from out of nowhere. Chicago managed to get back to the front door where Dad had locked himself in the truck as the undead started to assault the truck.
"Go! Go!" she shouted waving her arms and shooting the zombies she could. Dad caught the hint and floored it officially leaving Chicago and Tallahassee to fend for themselves.
"God damn!" Tallahassee shouted as he staggered to the stairs still buckling his belt.
"Christ what were you doing in there!" She shouted stabbing a woman in the neck. He shot another.
"Let's go," he said descending the stairs and making for the front door. "Where is the truck?" he asked shooting another.
"Gone," she said.
"Great," he sighed.
"Come on!" she said as more zombies came. She ran for a privacy fence flinging herself over the top. She landed on the other side hard and continued to crumple to the ground when her legs refused to support her. Tallahassee followed landing on his feet ready to run, but stopped when he saw her struggling.
"You okay?" he said sounding 100% concerned.
"Yeah," she said taking his hand and getting back to her feet. A zombie tore down one of the fence boards. Tallahassee looked over his shoulder and shot in one flowing motion. Chicago forced herself back into a run knowing that stopping wasn't an option.
They opened the gate on the opposite side of the yard and ran through several more gardens before they found a main road. Together they ran ducking and dodging through all the trashed cars and rubble that littered the road.
The fence had slowed down the horde, but slowly they were catching up and their ranks were growing. "Here, here, here!" Tallahassee said grabbing Chicago and pulling her towards a Rural King. As fast as they could they pried open the automatic doors. Tallahassee muscled them shut again just as the zombies reached them. Chicago watched as the undead beat against the glass.
"Great we have thirty or forty seconds," she sighed pulling out her katana again.
"Thank god we're in the heartland!" Tallahassee exclaimed as he looked in towards the store putting his back to the monsters at the door. Chicago spared a glance over her shoulder.
"You thought a farm store would be a good fortress?" she asked.
"Yeah," he smiled taking off.
"Where are you going?" she called.
"Buy me some time!" he said as he disappeared into the warehouse like isles. She rolled her eyes. Putting her back into a corner so no zombies could get behind her she drew both of her pistols from the holsters on her thighs. If she could pile up some bodies it might slow down the attack.
Cracking her neck she took a deep breath as the glass cracked and shattered in a beautiful spray. She opened fire making each shot count as best she could, but there were so many to keep from mauling her she had to settle for simply stopping their forward movement, killing them had become a secondary concern.
When she ran out of ammo she drew her sword just in time to stab an oncoming zombie through the neck. Chicago had a fraction of a second to think about the issue of what had just happened being a lucky occurrence instead of a skill based one before she kicked the offender backwards into the mob.
The bodies were piling up but the attack wasn't slowing so she retreated back into the store. Diving into a checkout booth she used the counter to keep some distance between the zombies and herself. Underneath it she found a pump shotgun and prayed it was loaded as she raised it and fired. The recoil nearly took her shoulder out and she dropped five zombies. Cocking it again she fired at a new crowd of zombies that crawled over the bodies of their fallen comrades.
When she tried it a third time a disappointing click was all that met her and she jumped backwards to avoid the clawing hands of the undead. Chopping a hand off at the wrist she realized there were too many and retreat was her only option.
She fled back into the store with no idea of where she was going or how she would get out. "Tallahassee!" she shouted hoping he hadn't been eaten yet. Her leg was on fire and Chicago was growing more and more sure that collapse was immanent. Making a full circle around the rather large store she headed for the front hoping the doors would be clear enough to let her back out onto the street.
As she ran down an isle something flew over the shelf and landed on the floor in front of her. It was a container of fluid and there was a flaming rag sticking out of the top. Chicago jumped it like a hurdle and sprinted as hard as she could. It was a fair explosion causing the zombies to slow slightly as the flaming ones staggered around in the way of the still functioning. She toppled to the ground coving her head before immediately scrambling back to her feet.
She spun around getting her bearings and spotted the front door. It was less than clear and as she started to let out an endless string of profanities another bomb landed near the doors. Chicago watched as it exploded then realized that a revving sound was coming from inside the store. She jumped out of the way as Tallahassee flew past on an ATV. He drove it out of the store right through what was left of the doors and over the zombies giving the thing a new coat of red paint. He stopped looking over his shoulder at her.
It took way too long for the cue to sink in and Chicago felt like an idiot when she realized he was waiting on her. The zombies were just starting to charge again when she sprinted for him. She jumped on wrapping her arms around his waist as he revved it up and sped off.
The flesh hungry zombies were still too close for comfort though. "One more," he shouted over the noise as they swerved around the debris in their way. Tallahassee handed Chicago the last bomb.
"Lighter?" she asked.
"Back pocket" he replied trying to focus on driving. She reached down and wiggled the lighter free from next to his duct tape wallet. Lighting the rag she looked backwards and threw it. One of the zombies kicked it as they ran past and the bomb skidded under a nearby car.
"Shit!" she hissed.
"What?" he asked. She didn't have time to answer before it exploded and turned the car into a great big fireball.
"Never mind," she said holding onto him. She rested her head against his back catching her breath, but after a particularly bad turn she looked up again. "You do know how to drive one of these don't you?" she asked.
"Well I've never actually done it, but I was going to buy one. Then Buck came along and I had to, you know, divert my funds," he shrugged. She gripped him a little tighter.
"I didn't just survive that to die on this fucking thing you know," she said.
"Relax babe," he replied. She wasn't comforted.
I just wanted to say I'm going to start listing the "soundtrack" to my story. It's the music I write to. I've always said that if I get published for real I want a cd with every book because songs can fit with books just like movies :D
When I'm writing thats not always the case but I guess it's kinda mood music for your enjoyment :D
I do not own anything.
This Chapters song was:
'Given Up' by Linkin Park