III - Last Bump in the Road
Lori moved her arms back and forth as she ran across a quiet street, unruined by the protests that took place three years ago. The hooded stranger was in front of her. Becky, Lincoln, and Lily were behind her.
"Why the hell are we following this kid?" asked Becky.
"I don't know," said Lincoln.
The hooded survivor slowed down. Lori looked to her left, hearing the gunshots that were booming across the campus from multiple directions. Then, as soon as the hooded survivor came to a stop, everyone else stopped running as well. The hooded survivor then crouched near a body with a shotgun sitting on its chest and hovered his hands over the body.
"Linky, my legs hurt," whined Lily.
"Okay, I'll carry you," said Lincoln.
"I need to go back," said Lori.
"Save the others?" asked Becky. "I'm with you."
"You stay with Lincoln and Lily. Get them to safety. Make sure this kid doesn't try anything."
"You could stay with them. I'll go back."
"No, none of you are going back," said Lincoln, holding Lily with his two arms. "You almost died, Lori. Sure, the group needs you, but they need you alive.
"That's why I'll go. I'm a little bit more expendable."
"No, Becky. You're one of the most useful people in the group. But if you go back there— you'll just become another person that has to be saved. A burden."
"Besides," said the hooded survivor, "with what ammo are you going to save them with?"
"Oh, I still got a mag on me," said Becky.
"Kid, what are you doing?" asked Lori.
Sweat dripped past the hooded survivor's goggles as he continued to pat the jeans on the body. He then reached into a pocket and pulled out three bullets and pocketed them into his own pants. Then, he felt a hand come in contact with his shoulders, causing him to slap the arm away while he turned around, raising his pistol and pointing it at Lori.
"Don't touch me," said the hooded survivor.
Becky's finger was on the trigger, her pistol aimed at the hooded survivor. The hooded survivor continued to pat down the body behind him before he slowly stood up, keeping his pistol aimed at Lori who backed up. He stopped patting the body upon feeling the pain of his sprained arm get stronger the more he moved it.
"Enough, man," said Lincoln. "We're not here to hurt you."
"I said I know my way around here," said the hooded survivor. "Now, you guys decide to follow me— great. But don't lay hands on me."
"We understand. But you need to tell us what you're doing."
"I don't have to."
"He was pocketing the bullets for himself," said Lori.
"Bingo."
"For a kid, you seem to handle yourself extraordinarily well as a survivor. But look around you. Is shooting me a good survivor's move?"
The hooded survivor lowered his pistol and stood up. Becky took a deep breath before moving her fingers away from the trigger, not breaking her glare on the hooded survivor.
"These… Laborers seem to know about you," said Lori. "Who are you, kid? And why do they know you?"
"We don't have time. We need to move."
"Just tell me… did you do this?" asked Lori, pointing at the dead body that the hooded survivor took three bullets from.
"These people are bad. I defend myself from bad people."
Lori nodded softly.
"Okay," she said. "Keep leading the way."
"You don't want me to go back?" asked Becky.
"Becky," groaned Lincoln. "I thought I said—"
"I take orders from your sister, not you."
Lori sighed out of her nose. But before she could speak, the hum of a nearby engine caused her heartbeat to pulse rapidly. She turned her head at the direction of the engine before turning around and motioning the group to run as fast as possible. The hooded survivor sprinted across the stores, most of their entrances being shut out by metal gates or sheets. Some of the sheets had graffiti on them, showing an anarchy symbol and the number, 1312.
"Lori!" exclaimed Becky.
Lori turned around and noticed that Lincoln was far behind from her. Becky approached Lori.
"Lincoln can't catch up."
"I'll take Lily," she said. "Lincoln! Hand her over. You two, watch my back!"
Lincoln approached Lori and handed her Lily. Lori raised Lily up to her chest, groaning at the sudden increase in weight. Lily wrapped her arms around Lori's shoulder while Lori kept one arm around Lily's back and another under her legs. Becky aimed her gun at an intersection across the street, waiting for the sound of the engine to get louder and louder.
Suddenly, the rusty armored truck appeared at the intersection, its wheels skidding against the asphalt as it spun towards the direction of the group. Becky pressed the trigger and released it before pressing again. Continuing this action, she let off multiple shots, few of them hitting ricocheting off the rusty metal sheets surrounding the truck. She turned around and followed the rest of the small group into another intersection where they turned, finding themselves in a different street. The truck continued to burn fuel and moved across the street at a rapid pace, reaching the other intersection in seconds. A few roamers appeared from the original intersection, running across the skid mark, chasing the source of the noise.
The tense air seemed to not be cooling the group members inside the auditorium. Benny aimed his M4A1 through a shattered window, letting off a few shots, preventing the Laborers from getting too close to the building. Sam was on the opposite side of the auditorium, aiming her Glock 42 out the window near an exit door. Some of the Laborers near the exit were pinned against the cars, waiting for the group inside the building to make one wrong move.
"You made a mistake coming here!" shouted Monica, her bleeding rose tattoo covered in actual blood. "You're gonna run out of ammo eventually!"
"We can stay here as long as we want to!" yelled Vonda. "You're the ones that gotta leave! We'll keep making noise— bring the infected over here!"
"Oh, don't you worry. We're relying on that!"
A small car came into view, though its entire right side was covered by sheet metal. The driver drove along the right of the building, pulling in a swarm of roamers from the left. The Laborers suddenly got on their vehicles while the armored car braked on the street in front of the exit. Lana attempted to raise her rifle, though Sam quickly prevented her from firing it.
"Let the roamers pass," she whispered before turning to the entrance. "Benny, don't fire anything!"
Benny aimed his rifle out the window, seeing the Laborers move across the lawn from cover to cover. Suddenly, Vonda fired her bow at the Laborers, causing them to duck away from the windows. Sam watched as the roamers circled the car, slamming their hands against it.
"It's gonna move," she said.
After a few seconds, multiple horns blared from the entrance as Monica and her crew joined the other Laborers near the entrance. The roamers in front of the exit turned their attention towards the building and moved towards it.
"Shit," gasped Sam.
Monica got out of her car and mounted her rifle on top of the roof of her car. Many of the other Laborers did the same, noticing the disappearance of Benny's presence from the entrance windows. Then, they heard a few shots go off inside the building, followed by screams. The entrance door opened, causing the Laborers to immediately shoot at it. The body of a roamer dropped forward as a result. Then, more roamers walked out of the entrance, forcing the Laborers to fire at them, causing even more roamers to come out the entrance.
Gunshot after gunshot moved the roamers away from the exit and towards the entrance, allowing Sam, Benny, Lana, Vonda, Ronnie Anne, and Clyde to exit the building safely, their bodies covered in roamer blood. They made their way towards the armored car, taking advantage of the wide blind spot caused by the metal sheet covering all the right car windows.
The driver whistled over the humming of the air conditioner, paying attention to the rearview mirror on his car. Then, he heard a metallic object knock against the metal sheet on his car. He turned to his right, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. All of a sudden, a bat smashed the window to his left, catching him off-guard before a crossbow bolt was launched through the side of his neck, immediately incapacitating him. Clyde pulled the lock upwards and opened the door before Sam pulled out the driver from his seat and tossed him onto the road. She entered the driver's seat while the others entered through the back seats, with Benny climbing away from the back and onto the front passenger seat. The car then squealed against the road before driving away.
Monica released the magazine from her rifle before hearing the sound of a car driving in the street to her right. She turned towards the source of the noise, and was shocked upon seeing the armored car pass by the Laborers.
"What the fuck?" gasped Monica. "Inside your cars, now! We're ditching this shithole! Move, move, move!"
The Laborers got inside their vehicles while the roamers continued to pour out from inside the building, jogging towards them. The vehicles then drove away, moving towards the street parallel to the one Sam took. Then, the vehicles made a left turn, now moving in the same direction as Sam.
Luna cried out again. Her breaths were getting faster and shorter by the second. Her face was glowing red and a vein on her forehead was visible. Her vision was getting blurrier as she attempted to catch one last breath. And to her surprise, she caught one— a deep, refreshing breath of air, as she felt the weight of the shelf being lifted from her chest. Carol groaned, her arms tensed up from lifting the shelf away from Luna and toppling it to the other side. She crouched and grabbed Luna's arms, placing them around her shoulders before lifting Luna upright. Luna stood on one leg while the other leg remained limp, rubbing against the floor with every step Carol took. Carol then tossed Luna onto a beanbag and took out a roll of bandages from her backpack.
"I can't feel my leg," groaned Luna. "My left leg… is it paralyzed?"
"I don't know," said Carol, wrapping the bandages tightly around Luna's gunshot wound. "Probably not, it's just a small part of your skin that's missing."
"Missing? Like blown off?"
"Like it was grazed. It's a few inches. It's gonna leave a scar but that's okay. We're not that far off the Michigan Stadium. I need you to hold on for me, alright?"
"I don't know if I can."
Carol unbuckled her belt and placed it around Luna's thigh before tightening it.
"Ow!"
"Sorry. We can… talk about something."
"Have I mentioned I really like your hair?" Luna giggled weakly. "I really dig it… you look like P!nk… or Halsey. Man, I always found her hot."
Carol grabbed Luna's arms and wrapped them around her shoulders again.
"Yeah, she's pretty," said Carol, walking Luna towards the hallway. "So, this hairstyle really makes me pop out, huh?"
"Oh, duh. I'm glad you didn't pull this off back in high school because, dude, Sam had like a thing for you. You were smokin' to her."
Carol blushed while walking Luna over the mangled corpse of the roamer that the armored van ran over.
"And I woulda' totally crushed on you, but you looked too much like Lori. I could see why she was jealous of you."
Carol and Luna stepped outside of the hole in the wall, the intense heat now shining on them. They began to walk away from the building, hearing the muffled gunshots echoing across the bookstore.
"Yeah, I remember…" said Carol.
"Are we just gonna leave them behind?" asked Luna, squinting with every step.
"We have to," said Carol. "You're my number one priority right now."
"Okay. Let's get back to topic…"
A bottle rolled on the ground in an alley next to a locked door. A roamer walked along the alley, stumbling towards the alley before getting caught by a mesh fence. The roamer grabbed the fence and tried to reach for the bottle, but it was unable to get past the obstacle. More roamers arrived, shoving the first roamer against the fence, forcing blood to seep out of the cuts it got in its hand. Then, the golden eyes moved its attention away from the bottle and towards the hooded survivor, now running into the alley. It also noticed four more survivors, all following the hooded survivor deeper into the alley.
"We're trapped," said Lincoln, kicking the bottle closer to the fence.
Lori looked past the fence, finding a swarm of roamers on the other side. She groaned and looked around for fire escapes. However, there were none to be found. Becky raised her pistol and aimed it away from the fence and onto the street, preparing to shoot the incoming vehicle. She then turned her attention towards the hooded survivor, who was picking the doorknob of a door in the alley with his sharp tension tool, which appeared like a knife earlier.
"You're working with them," said Becky. "You led us here!"
"I'm trying to get us out of here," said the hooded survivor.
The doorknob clicked. The hooded survivor then turned the doorknob and kicked the door in before hurrying inside. Lori entered inside while holding a whimpering Lily. Lincoln quickly jumped inside before Becky lowered her pistol. The wheels on the rusty armored truck screeched and braked in front of the alley. The gunner then fired onto the alley just as Becky leapt inside the building. She then slammed the door shut with a back kick.
—
The heavily armored van drove around the bookstore, running over the shelves and books that were neatly situated inside the building. Marv was no longer firing the MG turret. He had a shotgun of his own that he was aiming at the second floor, which was wide open and accessible by stairs. Bobby, Lynn, and Luan were running across the second floor, avoiding the balustrades that stood on the edge of the floor. The vehicle crashed through a wall, sending dust and debris onto Marv's face.
"Damn it!" he shouted. "Watch where you're going!"
The heavily armored van stopped in front of the stairways that led up to the second floor. Two Laborers got out of the vehicle and began to run up the steps. Bobby and Lynn fired their pistols at the stairs, some of their shots breaking apart the nearby wooden balustrades that stood in the way. The Laborers ducked before firing back some shots, hitting the shelves.
"Is Luna okay?" asked Luan.
"I don't know, I don't see her anywhere!" exclaimed Lynn.
Bobby turned around and saw an exit sign hanging from the ceiling near the corner of the second floor. He motioned Lynn and Luan to follow him as they crawled near the windows, keeping themselves as low as possible.
The heavily armored van then drove against the beams that held up a section of the second floor, causing it to rock back and forth before it gained stability.
"Run, run, run!" whispered Lynn.
Bobby, Lynn, and Luan stood up and ran across the floor, keeping their heads low as the Laborers on the stairs fired their weapons at them again. The heavily armored van then drove onto a second balcony, causing a section of the second floor to tilt, causing all the shelves and books to move towards the middle of the building before falling down onto the first floor.
A door with an exit sign taped onto it was then slammed open by Lynn. She ran out while Bobby and Luan were right behind her, still running down the steps towards the exit door. She then lifted her pistol towards an incoming car, armored on its right side.
"Holy shit," said Lynn. "It's Sam!"
The car braked next to Lynn.
"Get on!" Sam exclaimed.
Lynn opened the door, finding Lana placing herself on Clyde's lap and Ronnie Anne lifting herself, preparing to sit on Bobby's lap. Vonda sat herself on the floor next to Clyde's seat, allowing just one empty seat for both Lynn and Luan.
"At least this car has AC," said Lynn as she sat herself on the empty seat.
"What about—?" asked Luan.
"Just get on," interrupted Lynn. "The others will be fine. We need to leave now!"
"I'm going! I just need Luan to get her ass on your lap!"
Lynn pulled Luan inside the vehicle and shut the door. The car then drove away from the building.
Lori panted as she felt her lungs burning and her stomach churning. At any moment, she felt she would throw up blood. However, what kept her going was the sight of the stadium, standing right in front of her eyes. The hooded survivor ran towards the stadium. As the small group got closer, Lori noticed a battered armored pickup truck with an armored canopy that was blown open, as well as having a split turret on top of it, sitting next to the stadium. The pickup truck appeared recently singed as can be seen with the smoke flowing out of the sunroof.
The hooded survivor then ran around the stadium, passing by a multitude of crates and boxes with U.S. military markings and FEMA labels that stood outside the concessions, though they were all burnt to the brim.
"Wait," panted Lincoln. "Any of these—"
"They have nothing," said the hooded survivor. "I already checked. Trust me…"
The hooded survivor looked at the battered truck that Lori saw earlier.
"...I've been here already."
The rusty armored vehicle found its way back onto Lori's tail. As it approached the stadium, it sped up, driving along the wide parking lot filled with tents, helicopters, and tanks, all possessing burn scars or graffiti marking 1312 and anarchy symbols. The hooded survivor then ran inside the stadium, passing by the empty fast-food restaurants and bars that filled the concession areas of the stadium. He then ran towards and up the stairs that led to the seats, quickly extending his arms out to prevent the others from accidentally falling onto the field. As soon as Lincoln and Becky were on the stands, they were astonished by what they were seeing. Lori quickly ran up the stairs while being careful as to not hit Lily's head against the walls on the side. She heard a disconcerting scatter of noises coming from the field, almost as if there were actual fans inside the stadium. As soon as she made it up to the stands, her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately got light-headed.
"Oh my god…" she whispered.
Right in front of her eyes was a colossal herd packing the entirety of the field. There were fungus growing on some of the nearby seats, and fungus scattered across large areas in the field, though no signs of spores. Lori was standing above the sea of roamers, being able to take one easy step forward as there were no guardrails preventing anyone from falling in.
The hooded survivor climbed up the steps that ran along the seats until he was right next to the ceiling of the narrow concession stairway. He pulled out his pistol and held it right next to his ears as he tilted his head towards the stairway. Lori was right below him, placing Lily into a seat next to the steps. Lincoln and Becky ran up the steps on the other side, both taking out their weapons as well.
Luna groaned as Carol walked over train tracks. She dropped an empty canteen onto the ground, causing Carol to stop.
"No," said Luna. "Ignore it. Keep going."
Carol nodded before he kept on walking forward. Luna's breaths were becoming shaky as the bandage around her leg was getting redder.
"This is gonna be the hard part," said Carol.
Luna looked up, seeing a hill going upwards. She gulped.
After a few grueling minutes, Carol and Luna reached the top of the hill, making it to the parking lot near the Michigan Stadium. Despite the stadium being hundreds of meters away, it still seemed to tower high into the sky. Carol walked to a nearby Humvee and leaned Luna against it.
"Oh no," whispered Carol.
"What is it?" groaned Luna as she kept her head low.
"The Laborers are outside the Stadium. There's an armored truck out there. And…"
Carol looked to her right, seeing an armored car driving into the parking lot, where a number of ambulance cars remained scattered around. And a distance behind it was the heavily armored van.
"There's more coming," said Carol. "I think Lori might be in there."
"Let me… get some shots on them… with this baby," said Luna, her voice sounding slurred.
"Let me handle this," said Carol, grabbing Luna's sniper rifle.
"Are you sure?"
"I need to try."
"Aw man, I forgot. It's got no ammo."
"It's okay. I got the ammo for it."
Luna sighed as she placed herself down on the ground, extending out her wounded leg. Carol mounted the rifle on top of the hood of the Humvee. She then looked into the scope of the gun.
The hooded survivor looked up at the seats to his right. He heard the distant humming of the heavily armored van. He then turned his backpack around and reached inside of it.
"Don't do this!" shouted Zheng from inside the concession below the stairway. "Don't have to waste any more time than necessary! So why don't you come out? Take the child away from you. Make sure she lives!"
Lori opened the cylinder inside her revolver. All the chambers were empty.
"You need to leave us alone!" she shouted. "You can all walk away from this!"
"Oh, we will walk away from this! I don't think you understand your situation! We got snipers coming for you from all entrances to this stadium! You may be able to tag them all, but I promise you, you won't win. And I don't see any sniper rifles on y'all!"
"You're gonna sacrifice your people to get us? We're worth nothing!"
"It's about the signs. You all ignored them. I can't seem like the type of person to let go of those who break our rules! Y'all don't seem like a friendly type of group, but I'm willing to spare that child of yours. We ain't monsters."
"I've seen what you do to people! You're monsters in her eyes. You're monsters in all our eyes!"
"I swear to God, I'll have my people shoot her in the goddamn face if you don't listen! Any time now! This offer ain't up forever!"
Lily whimpered softly as she crouched lower behind a seat, closing her eyes and wishing it to all be over soon. Lori continued to pant heavily as she tried to shake her growing feelings of fear off from herself. Becky looked around all the entrances. She then saw a figure coming up from a nearby entrance. She fired a bullet onto the entrance, causing the figure to duck back into the stairway.
"I can't keep this up for much longer," whispered Becky.
"Maybe we can pull a roamer out from there," whispered Lincoln. "Use Dana's gut trick. Then we get down there and stay hidden among the roamers."
"Dana's gut trick… no, they'll just patrol the seats— wait us out."
"There's gotta be another exit down there. That's how the players get in, right?"
"They all gotta be locked in tight if the herd is still around. No good to us."
"I'm not ready to die, Becky."
"Get a grip, Lincoln. We're not dying today."
Becky fired another shot onto the nearby entrance, keeping the Laborers inside the stairway. Lincoln then looked at another entrance to his right, seeing Laborers come out of the stairway and onto the stand. Lincoln quickly ducked and fired his pistol at them, being careful to not waste his five bullets.
The Laborers took cover back in the entrance. The bullets all ricocheted off the walls of the entrances. Then, one peeked, though she was shot at by a different gun, though she managed to duck back in time.
Becky fired one more shot, keeping the Laborers from coming up.
"I'm on my last bullet," whispered Becky. "I'm gonna crouch over there. See if I could get one of them and take their gun."
Lincoln nodded.
The hooded survivor took out two grenades from his backpack. Lori gave him a surprised expression.
"Use them," said Lori. "Use them now."
"They're for the armored vehicles," said the hooded survivor.
"Just toss one down the entrance. We'll find more grenades."
"I've already looked everywhere."
"We're gonna die if you don't toss one down there."
The hooded survivor looked down at the grenades in hesitation. Lori then scoffed.
"Alright, fuck it," she muttered, taking out her hatchet.
The hooded survivor aimed his pistol at Lori, though she quickly grabbed the barrel of the pistol and moved it away from her face, using her superior strength to pull the gun away from the hooded survivor. Lori slid the chamber of the pistol open, seeing a lack of ammo inside it. She then slid the pistol back and pocketed it before grabbing her hatchet again.
"Wait!" gasped the hooded survivor. "She's doing something. She's got a plan."
Lori eyed Becky, who was crawling behind the seats to get close to the entrance to her left.
"If something happens to her, I'm chopping your head in half," whispered Lori. "And I will take those grenades off your dead hands."
The hooded survivor nodded, his eye showing anger through the cracked len of his goggles as he fiddled with the multi-tool in his pockets.
"They're not coming out," said one of the Laborers in the concessions. "We're gonna run out of ammo soon too."
"It's cool," whispered Zheng. "The rest of the group are coming."
Suddenly, the booming sound of the MG turret echoed thundered across the parking lot as Marv was now firing at the armored car from his seat on the heavily armored van.
Sam screamed as she swerved the wheel of the car wildy, trying to use the abandoned cars on the parking lot for cover. The left side of the car scraped against a BMW. Sam then swerved to the right, scraping the sheet metal against a Mustang.
"You're gonna kill us!" exclaimed Benny.
"I'm sorry, this is my first time driving!" she screamed.
"Someone else take the wheel!" screamed Ronnie Anne.
"Calm down, Sam!" yelled Lynn. "Those things are highly inaccurate! You would have to be right on their face to hit 'em! I would know! I fired those things before!"
The turret fired the bullets across the parking lot, striking a variety of cars and asphalt, all in an attempt to hit the wildly swerving armored car. Windows shattered, metal dented, wheels popped. The turret then stopped firing as Marv reached down the vehicle in order to grab another box of ammo.
Zheng raised his bolt-action rifle and aimed it at the car. The other Laborers raised their weapons as well.
"No!" exclaimed Zheng. "Keep your attention to those inside the stadium!"
The hooded survivor overheard Zheng. A Laborer fired at Becky, causing her to fire back from across the stadium. He could see her cursing angrily in the distance as she then took out her fire axe. He grabbed his grenades and handed them to Lori.
"Just use them," said the hooded survivor.
Lori nodded as she grabbed both grenades.
Zheng lined up the iron sights to his eyes. The iron sights were locked onto the windshield of the armored car. He placed his finger against the trigger and pressed it.
"Sam!" gasped Benny. "Watch out—!"
A bullet broke through the windshield, striking Benny. He let out a heavy gasp as Sam turned the steering wheel to the left, shielding the group from Zheng's group.
"Oh my god," gasped Sam.
"BENNY!" screamed Luan.
Splatters of blood stained Benny's shirt as he groaned.
"Oh god," he groaned. "That one hurt."
"Are you alright?" exclaimed Luan.
"Heart's still beating. Lungs' still breathing. Yup. I'm alright."
"Are you sure?" asked Bobby.
"I think it busted my rib. Oh god, it hurts."
Zheng slid the bolt back before aiming at the wheel of the car. Then, a bullet whizzed past him, striking a glass bottle that stood on top of a bar table. He crouched behind an empty crate, along with all the other Laborers.
"Where's that coming from?" yelled Zheng.
The turret began to fire again, forcing Sam to turn to the right, headed straight for the stadium. She drove towards Zheng's group, forcing them to move out of the way and take cover in front of a crate, exposed to Carol, or behind the bar tables. Zheng kept himself low before being struck in the ankle by Carol. He screamed as the car approached. Then, the grenade was tossed down the stairwell, near the presence of a few Laborers. The armored car then drove past the grenade, keeping it hidden from the Laborers for a split-second before driving away.
"Grenade!" yelled one of the Laborers.
The grenade exploded, killing two nearby Laborers and destroying their guns in the process. Zheng crawled away from the concession and into the parking lot as another sniper shot was fired at them.
"Crap," muttered Carol. "Luna, I don't know how you do this."
Sam screamed as she pressed on the brake of the car. Two Laborers, one of them holding a sniper rifle fired at the incoming car before they quickly dodged it by climbing up the stairway and onto the stands. Suddenly, one of the Laborers was struck in the side of his neck with the fire axe. The other Laborer raised her sniper rifle before being cut in the arm by Becky's dagger, causing her to drop the gun. She was then kicked onto the field by Becky.
The roamers all huddled up and grabbed the Laborer as she fell, causing her to dive onto a multitude pair of hands, all preventing her from touching the grass in the field. She screamed as the roamers tore onto her flesh, ripping it apart with high intensity. One of the roamers then stuck its hand into her screaming mouth, before pulling back with immense strength. Her head was being pulled upwards as her mouth was being opened wider and wider, her neck stretching and stretching.
Becky grabbed the sniper rifle as she heard a large crack coming from the field. She looked at the field and saw a pair of cowboy boots being tossed around while ripped limbs were still attached to them. She smiled, her eyes reveling at the sight of the roamers being painted red over their shoulders.
The heavily armored van braked in front of Zheng, shielding him from Carol's line of sight. Behind the heavily armored van was Monica's car.
"Get in!" yelled Monica.
A few Laborers entered the heavily armored van while others dragged Zheng into Monica's car. She then drove away, leading the other vehicles behind her. Becky came out of the stadium and onto the concession, firing a shot at the escaping Laborers.
"Damn it, Ayad!" yelled Sal. "Get in!"
Lori came out of the stadium firing a shot onto the gunner's seat on top of the rusty armored truck. Sal quickly ducked, taking cover from inside the vehicle. Meanwhile, the hooded survivor slowly crept out of the stadium, the grenade in hand. The sound of the truck's engine hummed louder and louder as he got closer to it, intensifying the sweat forming on his face and on the palm of his hands.
Lori fired another shot, preventing Sal from returning to the gunner's seat. The hooded survivor watched as Ayad ran towards the armored truck. He took cover behind one of the back wheels, causing Ayad to fail to notice him. He then heard the sound of the driver's door opening. He realized he only had mere seconds to take his chance. He grabbed the trunk and climbed onto it before ducking down, dodging an incoming bullet.
As Sal tried to get up through the sunroof, Lori fired one more shot, keeping Sal inside. The pistol's slide slid back, revealing an empty chamber. Lori eyed the driver through the windshield, seeing his indignant eyes looking back at her as she lowered her pistol. She slowly backed away from the truck before running back into the stadium.
Bullets continued to fly by the truck, forcing the hooded survivor to remain hidden inside the trunk. He clutched the grenade tightly before looking through the back windshield, seeing Sal beginning to move back into the gunner's seat. The hooded survivor closed his eyes and pulled the pin on the grenade. He then reached for the roof of the truck with one arm while keeping his body laid down on the trunk bed. The invisible timer in the grenade ticked as he was unable to reach for the roof.
"Screw it," he whispered.
The hooded survivor quickly stood up, jumped up towards the roof of the truck and tossed the grenade down the gunner's seat and into the sunroof, hearing a shout inside the truck. He leaped out of the truck as the bullets returned to attack him and landed behind the back wheel. As Sal and Ayad shouted, the hooded survivor took a quick breath and ran as fast as he could back to the stadium.
"Becky!" shouted Sam.
Becky turned around, seeing Sam come out of the crashed car by a Burpin' Burger concession stand. Sam dragged Benny out from the passenger seat, causing the car to blare its horn for a second while Luan, Lynn, Ronnie Anne, Bobby, Vonda, Lana, and Clyde all got out of the vehicle in that respective order.
"Where's Carol?" asked Sam.
A large explosion boomed behind Becky, causing her to turn around. The turret snapped and fell off the rusty armored truck while part of its sheet metal bent outwards. The windshield was completely shattered, with red glass shards falling onto the ground. The wheels flattened as fire lingered on the truck, now completely disabled.
Becky and the rest of the group quickly ran towards the disabled truck, checking to see if there were any remaining Laborers. Becky sighed in relief. The Laborers all fled.
"They're all gone now!" exclaimed Becky.
Lori peeked her head into view. Bobby squinted as he raised his hands in an attempt to cover himself from the sunlight, which gave his wedding band a glint. Upon seeing Lori, a smile formed on his face. Lincoln sighed in relief as he walked over to Lily, slowly reaching for her hands. However, she kept herself hidden behind the seats.
"It's okay," said Lincoln. "The monsters are gone."
Lori took a huge breath of relief as she stepped down the stairways and into Bobby's arms.
"We won, babe," he whispered.
"Thank god," she sighed.
"Umm, I hate to break up this reunion, but Benny needs some help," said Lana. "Like, right now."
"It's fine," said Benny. "I'm not bleeding out. The bullet's just stuck inside my ribs."
"Still," said Ronnie Anne. "We have to get you to Carol."
"The gang's all here," said Lincoln, coming out of the stadium with Lily in his hands.
"Not everyone," said Sam. "Where's Luna? Is she with Carol?"
"Umm…" stammered Bobby. "I hate to break it to you, but…"
"...we're right here," said Carol, holding Luna upright.
Luan gasped as she saw Carol coming into view away from the burned truck. Luna groaned as she hopped slowly across the ground, holding onto Carol.
"Looks like I pulled the hottie first," smiled Luna before coughing.
"Oh my god, what happened to you?" asked Sam.
The hooded survivor slowly walked down the stairway, looking onto all the faces of each group member. However, what caught his attention were the three near the battered truck. Sam grabbed Luna's right arm and held it across her shoulder while Luna's left arm remained around Carol's shoulders.
"I'm good," said Luna. "I just need to rest."
"No, she needs a blood transfusion," said Carol.
"What about Benny?" asked Luan.
"Let me see."
Benny lifted up his shirt, revealing his ribs again.
"I'm getting some deja vu vibes, right now," said Benny.
"Your wound is closed. You're good for now, but I will have to remove the bullet later. Luna, do you know your blood type?"
"I do not, my good lady."
"Lori, do you know?"
"I don't," said Lori.
"Are any of you O-negative?"
"My dad was O-negative," said Vonda. "But I don't know about my mother."
"Too big of a risk, then," said Carol. "Lori, you and I need to go back to the campus. Remember the medical center by Palmer Field?"
Lori nodded.
"Becky, you know how to get to Vonda's house?" asked Carol.
"I do," said Becky.
"Good, you're with us," said Carol. "The rest of you, go back to Vonda's house. Sam, be careful with Luna. Keep her distracted, and whatever you do, do not open up her bandage. For those who have ammo, we'll—"
"Hey," said the hooded survivor. "Can I… go with them?"
"Who are you?"
"He saved us," said Lincoln.
"Eh, I'd say he helped us," said Lori. "Save's too strong of a word for this stranger. Speaking of, you can go now, kid. We're good now."
"I can't come with?"
"We don't know you. I really don't wanna do this today, so just go."
"But—"
"Go. Before I make you go."
"I'm not going."
Lori hovered her hands over her hatchet as she clenched her jaws. The hooded survivor then removed his hood, revealing his creamy blonde hair, the same shade as Sam's. He removed his goggles as well, revealing his baby blue eyes, once again, the same shade as Sam's.
"I'm going with you… Sammy."
Sam stared at the survivor in confusion. Her eyes concentrated upon his face and his body. She then focused on the sound of his voice that bounced around her head. Her lips opened softly as her heart skipped a beat. She shook her head softly before unwillingly muttering out a name.
"Simon?"
The survivor nodded as he smiled. He let out a small giggle as tears swelled up in his eyes. He then ran towards Sam, who released Luna's arm and knelt down. A tear ran down her eye as she wrapped her hands around the survivor.
"Oh my god," said Sam. "A-Am I dreaming? I-Is this really you?"
"I must be dreaming too," said Simon. "Oh, Sammy. I missed you. It's been too long."
"It has," sniffled Sam. "It really has. I-I thought you… died…"
"I thought you died…"
Luna looked down at the two siblings, the heartwarming moment killing her pain faster than any distracting thought could. Lincoln smiled, though scratching his head at the same time.
"W-Wow. You got skinnier," said Sam.
"Perks of the apocalypse, right?"
"Oh, Simon," sniffled Sam, hugging Simon tighter. "You poor thing, you must've been so scared without your big sister around to help you."
"This is sweet and all…" said Lana, "...and again, I hate to break up this reunion, but Luna's bleeding out, man."
"Y-Yeah, of course," said Sam. "Lori, Simon's coming, right?"
"Without question," said Lori, who couldn't help but smile.
"Wow, I still can't believe it!" giggled Sam. "You're alive!"
"I know!" smiled Simon.
"Y-You remember Luna, right?"
Simon looked at Luna, whose face was turning pale, though sweat still dripped down her clammy skin. He tried to focus, but his mind was blank.
"N-No…" answered Simon.
"W-Well, that's okay!" said Sam. "We're going to Vonda's house."
Sam then pointed at the redheaded girl carrying a bow while covered in roamer blood.
"That's Vonda. We're going to her house and we're going to help Luna out? Okay?"
Simon nodded. He placed his goggles into a pocket in his hoodie and holstered his pistol. Sam grabbed Luna's arm and placed it around her own shoulder again as Carol released Luna's arms from her shoulders. Luan placed Luna's free hand over her shoulder, now helping Sam.
"Do we walk from here?" asked Lincoln.
"Yeah. I think these assh—" said Sam before looking at Simon. "These Laborers shot up the car. Fuel's leaking."
"C'mon, we gotta go now," said Vonda. "My house isn't that far."
"Be safe," said Lori. "If you find more of these Laborers, do not confront them. We don't have the ammo for it."
"We should be okay," said Becky, dropping the sniper rifle onto the ground. "Those assholes don't have the ammo for it either."
"We'll be okay," said Bobby, giving Lori a kiss. "Get back safely. I love you."
Lori placed her hand on Bobby's face before backing away. Carol and Becky jogged into the parking lot as Lori looked at Luna, who kept her head low. Then, Lori turned around and followed Becky and Carol, picking up her speed. And after glancing behind herself, she found out that the rest of the group also hurried to their destination.
"I threatened to kill him," said Lori, feeling guilt creep up his spine.
"Who? Simon?" said Becky, receiving a nod from Lori. "Yeah. I almost killed him."
"Think Simon's gonna tell Sam?"
"We'll tell her our side. Make her understand."
"And if she doesn't?"
"Worried that Simon coming back will create problems?"
"Worried how I'll phrase it," said Lori, taking a pause before continuing. "I would've done it. He had those grenades on him but he didn't want to give them to me. I would've killed him for it. I literally would have. If I have to be honest with Sam, then I don't know how she'll take it."
"If you were to tell me that you killed Tucker… I would've gotten upset with him."
"Who's Tucker?"
"Her little brother," said Carol, taking a turn at an intersection near the traffic jam.
"I told you about Tucker, Lori."
"I-I'm sorry. I remember now. Go on."
"If you killed him… I would understand. Anything you do, I'd have done it with less mercy. I haven't heard his voice in three years. I already accepted that he's gone. It's all about who your family is now. Sam will understand. If she doesn't… we'll make her understand."
Lori found herself agreeing with Becky. She continued to run along the streets, passing by abandoned vehicles and empty plastic bottles.