IV - Moonlight
-Day 49-
The midnight moon was full and illuminating. The group watched as the moon rose over the warehouse across the bridge. The white light was reflected in the river and created a sprinkling glow that shone beautifully. There was an intense feeling of wrecking anxiety in the stomach of each child and teenager and even a few of the adults.
"We don't know what's coming next," said Tabby.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Lori. "Your parents would kill us if they found out we let you do this."
"Yeah. I'm doing this because you guys are my family," replied Tabby, gripping her M9.
"If she's doing it, I'm doing it as well. Plus, it will make a better shot," said Liam.
"Yeah, I agree," said Zach.
"Gee, I don't know…" hesitatingly replied Lori.
"We're not just a group, Lori," reminded Liam. "Like Tabby said, we're a family."
"It's true," whispered Lincoln. "We trust each other like family."
Lori nodded and hugged Lincoln.
"Okay. Stay safe, bro."
Lincoln nodded and walked behind Sergei's car, grabbing his walkie-talkie and binoculars.
"I'm in position," said Lincoln through the walkie-talkie.
Leni cradled Lily in Vanzilla while Clyde stared out at the river, a couple distances away from the bridge. Bobby also stayed behind in Vanzilla, watching over his unofficially adopted daughter, Darcy Homandollar, and his little sister, Ronnie Anne. Lisa shone her flashlight on Luan's temple while Carol kept Lisa's sister busy by having a conversation with him. Lana stared at photos of her twin sister in the photo album that Lori kept secure in the glove department. Inside the glove department, was also Lori's phone, which had died many weeks ago and would not be charged again until humanity becomes restored and electricity becomes a priority. Lana knew that wouldn't happen, not in her lifetime.
"That's quite a walk," said David, looking at the warehouse in Hudson with his binoculars. "Do any of you know how to drive a tugboat? Or a motorboat?"
"It's a mini tugboat," commented Sergei. "I can drive it."
"I know how to drive a motorboat," said Sam. "My dad taught me. I used to drive my mother and my my brother around in the Detroit River. "
"Okay. Perfect. George, you're coming with me to the warehouse since you've been inside before."
"I want Chunk and Luna on my boat," said Sam. "And that's about everyone this motorboat can carry."
"I'm going with the Russian dude," said Tabby.
"So am I," added Liam.
David looked at Rusty and Zach, who both nodded their heads. David then looked at Lori who slightly nodded.
"I'll go with them. Make sure they are okay."
"So, that's it then?" asked David. "What about you, Wavehead and Dana?"
"We're coming with you," said Dana.
"We want to be the first ones to see our friends," added Wavehead.
"Alright. Here's the plan…" stated David.
Chunk started the engine, following Sam's instructions while Luna held a scoped M7 Hunter that she found in one of the gun crates inside Sergei's car. Only Luna and Sam were wearing life vest since none of the other vests could fit Chunk. The motorboat drifted slowly alongside the bridge and towards the warehouse. The mini tugboat followed the motorboat as Lori held her AK-47, looking at Lincoln behind Sergei's car. Each of the children inside the boat held suppressed pistols that they have been practicing with for the past few days. They also wore a life vest in the case that they had to jump out of the boat.
David, Richard, George, Wavehead, and Dana approached the warehouse while taking cover behind a toppled car. Behind the small group were corpses of killed roamers with stab wounds in their eyes. Dana sighed as she placed her long strands of hair behind her ears. Wavehead moved his dreads away from his face and sighed.
"Hey, Dana. Got an extra hair tie?" asked Wavehead.
Dana handed Wavehead a hair tie to which he moved his dreads in the back of his head. Now that Wavehead was able to see clearly, without anything bothering his face, he was ready to attack the guards defending the warehouse near the bridge.
"Do we shoot 'em now?" asked Wavehead.
The two Piranhas were sitting on their lawn chairs on top of a school bus, smoking cigars, and watching the calm river. One of the gangsters squinted her eyes and saw an approaching boat.
"Richard and I got this," said David. "You guys come in when we really need your help. For now, we keep things quiet."
David and Richard attached two suppressors to their M9s that they grabbed earlier from the crates stored in Sergei's car. David pointed his pistol at one of the gangsters.
"Yo, Jay, do you see that boat?" whispered the gangster.
"Yeah, I see it now. Is that one of ours?"
"I don't know. I'm going to ask Boomer."
As the gangster reached for her walkie-talkie, a shot went off, and the gangster groaned as the bullet struck her chest.
"What the fuck?" gasped Jay.
Another shot, this time coming from Richard's M9, went off and Jay was caught off-guard. The bullet struck him near his left shoulder. He fell down from the bus and groaned softly. The female gangster's breaths faded away while the other Piranha was gasping for mercy. The small group moved closer to the warehouse and off the bridge.
"Here's your mercy," growled Dana.
Dana knelt down and thrust her machete into Jay's head, unknowingly preventing him from reanimating. Dana pulled out her machete and placed it in a leather sheath on the side of her backpack. Noise came from Jay's walkie-talkie.
"Boats incoming. Guards in the North Bridge. Do you copy!? Hello, do you copy? Nevermind, they are changing course, they are heading for the South Bridge."
David, George, Richard, Dana, and Wavehead stood by the entrance of the warehouse. A few lamps were turned on and the lights illuminated the window in the door of the warehouse. George peeked inside and saw many Piranhas walking towards the southern part of the warehouse.
"What are we waiting for?" whispered Dana.
"We're waiting until there's a few of them left. Then we go inside and finish what they started," replied George. "Shit, someone's coming!"
The group crouched behind a couple bushes as a Piranha left the warehouse through the north entrance. Richard quickly ran towards the door and closed it while David jumped out of the bushes and aimed his pistol at the Piranha's head. The gangster quickly turned back to the sound of the door being shut and was immediately shot in the forehead. The gangster fell flat to the ground, dropped like a statue, and lied still in the grass. George nodded his head and entered the warehouse. Wavehead's jaw was left opened as he entered the warehouse, frightened to what he might encounter.
"Did you hear that? That sounded like a gunshot!" warned a Piranha.
"That's because it was a gunshot," declared George. "Stand down! Freeze and drop your weapons!"
The small group stood behind a shipping container and George was the only one standing outside of it. The four Piranhas looked at him and then smirked. They broke into laughter as they raised their rifles and started shooting at him. He quickly jumped behind the shipping container, which had a couple boxes sitting alongside them as well. The Piranhas approached the shipping container. Dana stood above the boxes and started shooting at the Piranhas from the top of the shipping container, killing their laughter. The Piranhas ducked behind a box of scrap metal.
"How many more of you are there?" asked one of the four Piranhas huddled behind the box.
"Enough to wipe out your entire organization," yelled George. "I suggest you drop your weapons and tell us where your boss hid our friends."
"I ain't going to fucking tell you," yelled the leading gangster with a burly beard.
"Having trouble?" asked a female gangster through the walkie-talkie.
"Nah, we got this. Get the guys outside first. Try to get some of the best swimmers out there as well."
"Got it. Boomer! We have a situation here!"
The tugboat and the motorboat were getting closer and closer to the South Bridge. Four Piranhas grabbed their rifles and started shooting at the boats from the warehouse watchtower. The bullets were landing in the water and splashing tiny amounts of water. Sam sped up the motorboat and escaped the wrath of the bullets that would promise death for its victims. The bullets were ricocheting off the iron mini tugboat and failed to hit anyone hiding inside the boat cabin.
"Boomer! Get the machine gun! We need to take down that son of a bitch motorboat!" yelled one of the tower guards.
"Come out now, Cane. We ain't gonna kill ya," said the leading gangster.
"Okay," replied George.
Richard came out above the shipping container and shot his Python at the Piranhas. The scrap metals bounced all over the place and a bullet pierced through the box.
"Shit! Fall back!" yelled the leading Piranha.
The Piranhas quickly dragged a bleeding Piranha inside a room. One of the Piranhas shot wildly out the doorway, making sure that the group would not enter the room.
"Is it time now?" asked Dana.
"Yeah. George, here you go," said David, handing a grenade to George.
The group moved in closer, to which their footsteps alerted the Piranhas as they shot more warning shots. George pulled the pin from the grenade and tossed it inside the room. He quickly ran behind the box of scrap metals and aimed his pistol at the doorway. He shot a couple times at the door, causing the Piranhas to flinch and hesitate to leave the room.
"Fuck!" yelled one of the Piranhas.
The grenade exploded as one of the Piranhas made an attempt at escaping the room, regardless of the bullets George was sending. The leading Piranha's body was tossed across the room in limbs and pieces. Dana was shocked to see the splatter of blood on the wall along with many grenade fragments with pieces of flesh on them. She looked at David and noticed he was barely affected by this grotesque sight.
"Let's keep moving. No doubt the others heard that," said David.
Wavehead and Dana looked inside the room and were disgusted by what they saw. Burnt flesh hung from the wall, and bodies were barely recognizable.
"Are you guys alright?" asked David.
"I mean, shit, you guys are only teenagers," said George. "You don't have to come with us–"
"We're coming. Just a little surprised is all," replied Dana.
The Piranhas were running to their motorboats. Rifles and ammunition were being transported into the boats. Two Piranhas hopped inside each of the four motorboats and headed towards the boats.
"Guys! You are safe inside the cabin! Just keep shooting at the tower!" ordered Lori.
"Luna, sweetheart, can you shoot the bloody Piranhas, please?" nervously said Chunk.
"I'm trying but Sam keeps moving the boat too fast!"
"Sorry! I'm just trying to dodge the hot lead!"
"Lori! There are four small boats coming closer to us!" warned Sergei.
The four motorboats approached the two boats in a V-formation and the Piranhas were spraying tons of bullets at the boats. Lori and the kids tried to fight back, but the amounts of bullets they were taking was immense.
"David! We're under heavy fire! I repeat we are under heavy fire!" yelled Lori into her walkie-talkie. "Fuck! This thing is literally not working!"
"Here! Luna! I'm going to slow down for a couple seconds!" yelled Sam. "In those couple seconds, shoot the guys in the tower!"
"Okay!"
"Now!"
Sam halted the motorboat. Luna viewed into her scope and shot her rifle at the towers multiple times. Sam moved the motorboat again.
"Did you get anyone?" asked Sam.
"Yeah, one guy! Hurry! We need to keep doing this!"
Boomer started to carry an LSAT upstairs in the warehouse tower. He heard the explosion in the warehouse and called one of the tower guards.
"Hey! Kenny! Take this upstairs! I gotta see something!" yelled Boomer.
"Sure thing!"
Boomer took out his pistol and dashed into the warehouse. Kenny carried the LSAT upstairs and was getting excited.
"Sergei! Just keep moving the boat! We're safe inside the cabin!" ordered Lori. "God, these Piranhas are massive assholes!
A couple Piranhas in the South Bridge prepared to put on scuba gear. They equipped their flippers, scuba masks, and oxygen tanks. Then they grabbed their ADS amphibian rifles and jumped into the river. They swam closer to the boats and moved in with one motive: to silently kill the boat passengers.
Sam stalled the motorboat once more and allowed Luna to take her kill. She aimed at another tower guard and shot him once in the head after shooting multiple bullets. The group was under less pressure from the tower guards, but there was still one guard shooting at them. They were unaware of the guard carrying the LSAT upstairs.
The divers moved closer to the tugboat rather than the motorboat as it was continuing its speed tactics. The divers were equipped with flashlights that allowed them to see through the river that resembled the midnight zone of the ocean. Just like their animal-counterparts, the three Piranhas moved in closer to their prey, swimming around the slow tugboat.
The enemy motorboats started chasing the motorboat that Sam was driving, causing Lori, Tabby, Liam, Zach, and Rusty to leave the cabin. They aimed their rifles at the motorboats and started firing at them.
"I can't get a clear shot at the Piranhas," said Tabby.
"Just keep firing your gun until you hit one," suggested Liam.
"That's how you waste ammo, Liam," sighed Zach.
"Guys, we still have that nutjob shooting at us from above," said Rusty.
Liam, Rusty, and Lori aimed at the tower concentrated as they focused their sights on the tower guard. Lori and Rusty fired their guns at the same time, in which Lori's bullets hit the Piranha while Rusty's bullets hit the lamps. As the man in the tower perished in the firefight, a diver spotted his prey standing on the edge of the tugboat. He took out his knife and went in for the kill.
"Just keep driving away, Sam! I think Lori shot the guy in the tower!" yelled Luna.
The Piranhas kept up their relentless shooting on the motorboat, one destroying the boat's controls. The engine was also shot multiple times, which caused the boat to slow down. Kenny reached the top of the warehouse tower, and he started setting up the light machine gun on the window stool.
Just as Lori and Rusty stopped firing at the tower, assuming that the problem was solved, they started to shoot the motorboats that were chasing Sam, Luna, and Chunk. However, Lori heard a splash of water and looked at the end of the tugboat from the corner of her eye.
The diver sprung from the river, thrust his knife on Liam's chest while wrapping his hands around his mouth, and dragged Liam down into the river. Liam's muffled screams alerted the group in the tugboat, although Lori was the only one who saw what happened. Tabby gasped and wondered how Liam fell into the river.
"Lori? What happened to Liam? He just fell! I heard him!"
Lori froze and was unable to tell Tabby what happened. However, she quickly realized the threat that they currently faced and she quickly pulled Tabby backward by her shirt. A couple bullets came from the river as Tabby sat on the deck, speechless. Lori loaded her AK-47 and started firing into the river. She wasted her entire magazine shooting at an invisible enemy. She crouched down towards the end of the boat, pointing her flashlight at the water, wondering if she had killed the diver.
"Lori? You know we still have a problem to deal with…" said Sergei. "Are you looking for the little boy? He didn't come up yet. And he had a life vest."
Tabby was tearing up. Rusty and Zach looked at each other and struggled to hold their tears. Tabby dropped her pistol and broke down in tears. Lori continued to stare into the water when suddenly, a knife swung down to Lori's right foot. She yelled as the diver grabbed her neck and dragged her into the river. The kids gasped as the small waves in the river began to fade and the sound of Lori's scream faded away. Sergei looked back at the main deck and saw a bloodcurdling sight. The lifeless eyes of the boy stared at the midnight sky as his body remained afloat. The blood continued to pour out of the boy's chest.
A sheer rush of fear and adrenaline activated Lori's survival instincts as she faced the most desperate struggle for her life. Lori held her breath and slowly opened her eyes, although she barely saw anything. She only saw the shadow of the diver trying to kill her, and that was enough to keep Lori active. The diver swung his knife at Lori over and over, but the teenage girl kept swimming backward. Lori extended her arms to get a hold of the diver, but she was met with a slash to her left palm. Bubbles came out of Lori's nose as she finally got a grasp of the diver's hand. Her blood continued to pour into the river and onto the diver's hand. Lori pinched the diver's arms which caused him to loosen his grip on the knife, loose enough for Lori to get a hold it. Lori grabbed the knife and slashed it at the diver's throat. Lori started suffocating as air bubbles began to escape Lori at a fast rate, so she grabbed the dying diver's rifle and swam up to the surface.
Lori coughed and gasped as she moved her hair away from her face. The tugboat was a couple meters away, and she swam towards the boat, sniffling silently as her right foot and left hand sizzled with pain. Two of the enemy motorboats headed for the tugboat. Lori looked at Liam's floating body and sighed. She then looked at the tower and saw a figure that she didn't see before.
"Guys…" coughed Lori. "There's a fourth guard on the tower!"
Kenny aimed the LSAT at the river and began to press the trigger.
Boomer held his UZI as he moved silently in the warehouse. He found the body of a Piranha with two bullet holes in her stomach. Another Piranha coughed as he dragged his bleeding legs towards Boomer.
"It… was… Cane."
Boomer held his breath and let out a deep sigh. He shot the Piranha in the head and ended his suffering. He looked at his UZI and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he was smacked in the head by a Python, and he lied on the floor unconscious. Richard placed his revolver back into his holster and signaled the group to come out of from a corner of the warehouse.
"He will tell us where our friends are," said Richard. "This place is enormous, there is no way we're going to find them fast enough."
"So what do we do about the situation outside?" asked Dana.
"It sounds like our group got it. We got to trust them–"
The sound of roaring gunfire thundered above the warehouse. David ran towards the entrance to the warehouse tower and headed upstairs.
"What? Where's David going? Do we follow him?" asked Wavehead.
"That's the sound of a machine gun. Definitely not one of ours. Let's follow him," answered Richard.
Kenny continued raining hell from the tower on the river. He aimed for the motorboat and its passengers that were responsible for killing his friends. The bullets from the machine gun created huge splashes of water before tearing the motorboat apart.
"Sam! We gotta ditch the boat!" yelled Luna.
"Great plan! Everyone, swim towards the tugboat!" shouted Sam.
"I can't half-swim, mates! I've been knackered by those bloody Piranhas in the leg!" yelled Chunk.
The machine gun began rocking the motorboat apart as the enemy motorboats moved away from the gunfire.
"We'll help you, Chunk! Just jump!"
A bullet pierced through Chunk's back and out his stomach. Then another one. And one more. Chunk dropped to the river with his stomach shredded by the machine gun. Blood poured into the not-so-innocent river adding to those of the Piranhas and Liam.
"Chunk!" yelled Luna. "No–"
The gunfire tore the motorboat apart. Luna and Sam dropped to the river together and remained afloat amidst the gunfire that sunk their boat and their friend. Two swimming Piranhas spotted their dying friend and proceeded to finish off Chunk. Chunk, passed out from the blood loss, was drowning, although he did not die yet. What delivered the final blow to the British man was the stabbings of the Piranhas. After executing Chunk, the divers moved towards the two teenage girls who were unaware of the divers. As they proceeded to take their prey, they were suddenly engulfed in a storm of bullets.
"What the?" gasped Sam.
Two bodies floated to the surface of the river and displayed their bloody diving suits. Lori pulled herself up to the tugboat and nodded at Luna and Sam.
Kenny halted the firing of the machine gun. He heard footsteps and questioned the disorganized sounds.
"Boomer? I think I just killed three people. I can't get the others cause we got them surrounded already."
Kenny moved slowly down the stairs in the warehouse tower. The footsteps got louder but slower. Kenny stopped where he stood. He peeked from the corner of the stairs and saw a group of survivors that did not wear blue, black, or purple-dominated clothing.
"So you killed someone? And you surrounded my group?" asked David.
"Shit!" gasped Kenny.
He stumbled and clumsily ran up the stairs. David chased after him. Kenny tripped on a step and David pulled out his M9. Kenny cowered behind his own hands as he started breathing quickly.
"Where are our friends?" asked David.
"In Albany."
"We were just in Albany!" yelled David. "Who did you kill?"
"It was some big man wearing a vest, I think. And two girls, one with brunette hair and the other… was blonde, I think. They were on a motorboat. Sorry! I was just acting on orders! I'm sorry! I really am!"
"So am I."
David raised his M9 and shot Kenny in the head. His blood spilled into the stairs. Dana and Wavehead watched the blood pour into their shoes.
"Over here!" shouted Lori.
Luna and Sam swam towards the tugboat. The enemy motorboats were circling the tugboat, but the Piranhas were not firing their weapons. As the two girls swam closer to the boat, the Piranhas circled faster and faster around the boat. Their faces were intimidating and grim. Luna held the main deck of the boat and looked around for Sam. Sam was behind her, grabbing her waist. Lori extended her shaking right arm into the river. Luna grabbed Lori's arm and grabbed the rails of the boats and pulled herself up. Sam released her grip on Luna's waist and grabbed onto Lori's arm as soon as Luna was on the main deck. Sam climbed into the main deck and looked around the boat, only to see that the motorboats were slowing down.
"Holy shit," whispered Sam.
"Everyone! Raise your hands in the air and surrender yourself to us!" yelled a Piranha.
The motorboats were still, and every Piranha stood up from their seats, pointing their rifles at the group. Lori looked at the tower and then looked at the group.
"Duck," whispered Lori.
The Piranhas prepared to shoot the group when they were suddenly struck by a sleet of bullets. Machine gun fire rained on the Piranhas, slaughtering the men and women that committed hideous crimes. The motorboats were shredded by the machine gun and the bodies all dropped into the river. Lori and the group held their arms above their heads as pieces of flesh and blood rained over them. Sergei peeked out the tugboat bridge and gazed at the river turning redder than ever, and he looked back at the warehouse tower.
David waved his hands and turned on his walkie-talkie.
"Sergei. Are you guys okay? You should've contacted us to help you out."
"We did. Our walkie-talkies didn't work. But it looks like we still got some help."
"It's not over yet. We still need to find Sherry and the others."
David grabbed the LSAT and carried it down the warehouse tower. Sergei began driving the tugboat towards the warehouse. The boat swam over the river filled with thirteen souls. The group in the warehouse continued to travel through the building that inhabited about eight souls. At last, the group in the tugboat arrived at the warehouse. Lori, Tabby, Zach, Rusty, Luna, Sam, and Sergei got off the boat and entered the warehouse. They reunited with David, Richard, George, Dana, and Wavehead.
"David," panted Lori. "I need to go back to the cars. I can't hold on any longer. My right foot and my left hand are killing me."
"Sure thing. Sergei, take the girl back to the RV."
"But first," said Lori. "I want to know where my family and friends are."
"Well," said George. "That's up to him."
George walked over to Boomer and dragged him to the group. Boomer swung around like a tied-up wild animal and hissed at the group.
"Boomer! Where is my group!"
"They ain't here!"
"Boomer," said David. "I want you to know that we eliminated all of your friends in the warehouse. We will let you go to continue living your life if you cooperate with us."
"No! We're not going to let him run around free," exclaimed George. "This guy is a rapist, murderer, and just a mindless drone under Sherry. He is not Bruna."
"You killed all of my friends? I would rather die! But since you wanna know where your people are, then…"
Boomer paused. He continued talking.
"Sherry never took them here. She took YOUR PEOPLE further down south. I believe she's heading for the dust zone."
"What's the dust zone?" asked Lori.
"It's New York City, sweetheart. Now, if you're going to let me go, give me a gun so I can unload bullets on your asses."
"What do we do with him?" asked David.
"I think we can keep him, prisoner," suggested George.
"Or we can do this," said Richard.
A gunshot exploded into the group's ears and caught them off-guard. Richard continued to hold his Python in the air. Boomer's forehead contained a bullet hole where blood leaked out slowly.
"We're not going to waste our food just to keep this bastard alive."
The midnight moon shone through the window of the warehouse at David and Lori's face. They both looked drearily at each other and stared at Richard. Lori looked at the full moon as she was carried away by Sergei. Filled with conflicting emotions, she realized to the full extent, that sometimes, the enemy must die so that the good can live.
The search for the captured group member continues! We lost three group members. How many more people will the group lose to save the hostages? Find out in the next chapter where we get a closer look at the hostage's situation. I will try to keep my promise to post more often. If you enjoyed the story, and want to get alerted whenever I post a new chapter, make sure to follow me and favorite this story! Leave a review if you want to compliment and/or critique my story. Suggestions are always welcome. See y'all soon!
P.S. this chapter just beat Chapter 2: Exodus, for the longest chapter in the story.