Author's notes: I'm back! Sorry for the (VERY) late update, I'm getting used to this whole online college thing. Also, the next three chapters are just one big chapter, but I separated it into three so the POV switches won't be dizzying. I'm in summer classes right now so maybe I could conjure up more creative juices and more chapters : Stay safe and thanks!
"...seventeen, eighteen," Zoey counted in a whisper, loud enough only to be heard by the rest of the group as little mutters. "...nineteen, twenty." She let go of her grip on the overturned tanker's chassis and held up two fingers in her right hand and did an o-shape with her left to show to Bill. Louis and Francis slightly wobbled beneath her as the young lady stood on their shoulders. "There's probably more of them up ahead or inside," she said to herself as she grabbed the tanker again to regain balance, continuing to survey what lies ahead.
The constant moaning that never left them sounded more ominous out here, echoing against the once bustling city streets that, much like the mindless army that patrol them, are now ultimately lifeless and empty. Just a few meters ahead, however, on the wall beside the subway station's entrance, Zoey saw reassurance: the sign of salvation, written in bold black spray paint. But before she could announce the news to her companions, her thoughts were interrupted by a light tap to her ankle. She turned her head and looked down at Bill.
"Any bodies in uniform?" he mouthed to her, gesturing to the blood-stained military jacket he was wearing.
Zoey stared blankly at him for a moment. Raising her eyebrows, she tilted her head while doing a slicing motion at her neck with a free hand.
The old veteran nodded. "For ammo," he mimed while showing her a finger gun gesture.
"Oh," she replied, the slight tinge of disgust never leaving her face. Compared to the others, she felt that she isn't getting used to death just being there all the time. The thought of staring at a hopefully lifeless corpse's eyes and not feeling anything terrified her, but they all had to learn that eventually, she supposed. "Nothing." She mimed back.
Bill nodded and gestured for Zoey to come down, pressing a finger to his lips. The two men slowly knelt to the ground, allowing the young woman to get off silently, and they huddled together behind the tanker.
Zoey was the first to speak up. "Here's what I saw up ahead." She collected a few pieces of rubble and arranged them in the asphalt. The others looked onto the makeshift diagram as she explained it. "This tile here is the subway station. This bottle here is us. There are three cars up ahead of us over here," she went on while pointing to three small rocks in between the tile and the screw, following an S-shaped pattern, "but I don't know if they're alarmed or not."
Bill took notice of the spaces between the pieces. "These two cars here," he pointed to the first two rocks beyond the screw, "how close are they to each other?"
"Close enough to pass through undetected." Zoey immediately understood where Bill was getting at. "But this car at the end here," she pointed to the farthest rock, "pretty far away from the other two. If we make it there though, the station is just straight ahead."
"If." Francis commented. "We get caught somewhere in between here," he waved a hand above Zoey's rubble collection, "we're surrounded from all sides with just a handful of ammo."
"No but if we get a head start by sneaking through," Louis quickly defended, "then that's a shorter run to the station."
"That too. What if we get down there, and we find 15 more vampires waiting for us?"
"Then we were screwed from the start anyway," Bill joined. "If we can't get to the subway, we ain't getting to the hospital tonight."
"There's something else you should know." Zoey re-entered the discussion with a short smile on her face. The others silenced and focused their attention, waiting for her to continue. "There's a safe room down the station." She described the graffiti, a cross inside a simple house along with an arrow leading down the station staircase.
Louis' eyes widened at what he heard. "Thank god!" He exhaled while letting out a wide smile, looking around their small circle and seeing the same small hint of relief in his companions' faces. "You think there's someone down there?"
"Man, screw who's down there," Francis chimed in with the same enthusiasm, "I just want the door."
Huh, haven't seen one of those in a while, Bill thought. "Okay, let's go over this again. We stay quiet, stay low, get behind these cars... SUVs?" he asked Zoey.
"Sedans."
"Two at a time then." He continued, "And if we get far enough or all hell breaks loose, which is bound to happen anyway, we run down the safe room, shut the goddamn door." The others nodded in agreement. "Any questions?"
"We're doing this by pairs, right?" said Francis, patting Louis' shoulder. "I'm with the guy with the most ammo."
"No, you're with me," Bill replied in a scolding tone, "I'll make sure you don't do anything stupid."
Zoey put Bill's 1911 in her holster and cracked her knuckles.
Louis sat beside her. "We ready to do this?"
After receiving nods from everybody, Bill lifted from his sitting position into a low crouch, machete in hand. "Francis and I go first, I'll tell you two when to move. Keep it quiet."
"Got your back, sir," Francis said sarcastically as he and Bill peeked out the side of the tanker, spotting a black sedan a few meters ahead of them.
"Heh, you better."