Despite being brain dead, the horde worked as a hive mind. The sonuvabitches were always one step ahead of the survivors - cutting off exits, flanking window, even body-blocking classrooms.
Otis didn't know where he was going, which wasn't helping. He took sharp turn after sharp turn, bringing the trio into yet another hallway littered with body bags.
Victoria recognized the fallen homecoming banner and mismatched balloons bouncing as she ran passed - they were going in circles, again.
"We came this way already." She wheezed, her chest burning for a reprieve. "We should go back."
There was no reply, and suddenly everything seemed a little too quiet.
Victoria sucked in a breath and looked over her shoulder.
Shane was gone. So was Otis, even the walkers left her behind.
She stumbled along the lockers before coming to a stop as shadows crept from the corner of her vision. "Shit, not now. Get it together, Morgan. You don't have time for this." Victoria rubbed her eyes, desperately trying to push through her panic before another horde found her.
She couldn't double back, she wouldn't last a minute bumbling around in the dark, but the men couldn't be far.
"Escape the hellhole first." She decided. "Gotta be some giant fucking windows somewhere." Victoria dashed to the first classroom she saw - Science, read the plaque beside the door. She turned the doorknob but it resisted. "C'mon, you piece of shit, just ope- fuck!" Victoria stumbled back as the door swung open, unleashing an undead soldier from the threshold.
With a vicious snarl, he launched at Victoria. She caught him by the shoulder and brought her pistol under his chin. "Bite this, freak."
CLICK.
"Christ!" Victoria dropped her gun as it jammed, giving the bastard enough leverage to grab a fistful of her hair. Before she could do anything, he slammed her head into the lockers behind them with a gleeful howl.
Victoria's vision danced with stars.
The sound of her heartbeat pumped against her ears, drowning out a woman's scream as darkness consumed her world.
She was certain she was dead - Victoria sat against the tank as the napalm burned around her. She had Sargent Harris' head cradled in her lap, her fingers pressed against the gushing bite wound on his neck.
"D-didn't t-think it would e-nd up like t-th-is."
She winced at the blood squirting from the counter of his lips. "Stop talking, Harris." She warned, wiping the blood with her sleeve.
Over the roaring fire and howling infected, he had the gull to correct her."J-ack."
"Jack." Victoria amended. Under her fingers, his pulse staggered, weakening ever so slightly."You asshole. You just had to play the hero one last time, huh?"
His lips pulled back into a bloody grin, like she said the funniest thing. "Not gonna m-miss your attitude." He teased, raising a hand to her face. "Am gonna miss y-ou." He brushed a stray tear from her cheek, smearing his blood across her face instead.
The snarling was coming closer to the tank, the wall of fire no longer protecting them from the infected.
Victoria slacked against the tank. "We made a pretty good final stand, man." She didn't dare look back up, the remnants of the fallen blockade scattered across the pavement like flies. "I guess if I had to die with anyone-"
"Y-you're gon-na survive th-this." Jack wrapped his hand around Victoria's wrist, bringing the barrel of the pistol to his head.
Victoria furiously shook her head. "Jack." She heard herself urge. "I can't." She couldn't leave him behind. She couldn't shoot him. She wouldn't go on without him.
"Whatever the cost."
Victoria blinked, her body working against her as she slammed the walkers head into the floor with a mighty shout - again and again until the skull between her fingers was nothing but pulp.
She stood over the body but there was no time to catch her breath because all the commotion attracted another herd, and they were coming down the hallway with a vengeance.
Victoria leapt into action, snatching her pistol from the floor. The misfired bullet was still stuck in the chamber, the first time her trusty pistol was anything less than reliable. She smacked the bottom of the magazine, pulled the side back with more force than necessary and fired.
The offending bullet released and another whizzed harmlessly over the herd.
She holstered the pistol and dashed for the science room, closing the door behind her. Just as she propped a chair under the handle, the infected caught up with her.
She turned around, delighted to see giant floor-to-ceiling windows on the far side of the science room. Victoria grabbed the nearest stool and ran at the windows, unleashing a ferocious strike against the glass - fuck the apocalypse, fuck the walkers, and fuck that goddamn deer too!
With each enraged strike, the glass shattered and fell apart at her feet. Victoria chucked the stool aside, her chest heaving as she inspected her handywork.
It was a big fucking fall, at least a twenty foot drop with nothing but a few sad bushes to catch her.
"Christ, this is above my paygrade." Victoria grumbled as she dropped to her knees and began climbing out the window. "Don't look down, don't look down." She swung around, dangling off the side of the school and tried to will herself to let go. "C'mon. C'mon, let g- whoa!"
A walker stumbled over the ledge, hitting the ground beneath Victoria with a hard smack! Another walker followed, just missing Victoria's fingers on her way down. A third walker appeared above her but instead of following his friends, he reached down with decaying fingers and tried to lift Victoria up by the back of her shirt.
But Victoria let go and took the bastard with her.
She admired the beautiful night sky over the man's shoulder and sent a silent wish to whatever lucky star above that Shane would return in time to save Carl.
"Holy goddamn, motherfucking, sonuvabitch!" Before Victoria knew it, she was writhing on the cold, hard ground. "Oh, Jesus fucking Christ. Oh man, oh fuck!"
In between her moaning, the walker beside her reanimated with an angry growl.
Victoria reached for her pistol but a sharp, blistering pain stiffened her right arm. She clenched her jaw, biting down until she tasted pennies.
The walker reached out again, lips curling back into a snarl. Victoria steeled herself and fumbled for her holster with her other hand.
With a sad shriek, the walker slumped against the concrete with a bullet in his skull - dead, for good this time.
"Good try, asshole." Victoria rolled on her back, crying out as another round of pain shot down her limp arm. She dropped her head, struggling against the battle of exhaustion - she just need a minute...
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
Victoria opened her eyes just in time to watch a fourth walker jump from the second story window.
The police officer landed in front of her with a thud - the cracking of his fragile bones rattling in Victoria's ears - but the fall didn't deter him. He rose to his knees with a yowl and flung himself at the survivor.
Victoria kicked out and caught the walker by the neck with her boot. She shot him, the bullet piecing between his eyes, and kicked off his dead body.
A new problem presented itself - the other suicidal walkers were contorting their broken bodies across the lawn, racing each other to Victoria.
She pulled herself up, wincing at the odd angle her arm hung from her shoulder. It definitely wasn't supposed to look like that.
As Victoria turned to flee, the crack of gunfire ricocheted into the night. It was followed by two more bursts of rifle fire.
She whipped around, a spark of hope blossoming in her chest as a fourth shot echoed. It was Shane and Otis - it had to be!
As fast as her exhausted body would take her, Victoria chased the gunfire around the building.
"Holy shit."
Over the horizon, a giant horde was marching alongside the stadium ahead of her. They were clustered down the road until they disappeared into the mist a mile away - it looked like every civilian in the tiny town was infected.
Victoria chewed on her bottom lip, biting back a scream - why couldn't she catch a break? Now, she had to double back around before the horde caught wind of her - hopefully she could still catch up with Shane and Otis.
She turned to flee but something in the mist caught her eye - a strikingly familiar outline of a muscular man limping ahead of the horde.
Victoria squinted, desperation getting the better of her as she shouted, "Shane?" Her raspy voice echoed down the road but her reply was silence. Oh, god, what if it was Shane and Otis but they were-
"Victoria?" Shane was alive! Victoria nearly collapsed with relief. "Victoria?" He shouted again, increasingly more agitated as yelled, "Victoria!"
Her body lurched, her legs moving before Victoria realized she was running.
The men were a sight for sore eyes, despite being drenched in blood and injured - Shane was limping, hopping to her with his left leg raised - but they were alive and still had the bags slung over their shoulders.
"I'll be damned." Otis breathed.
"I thought we lost you." Shane grunted, his sweaty, disgruntled face a beautiful sight to behold.
With an impish, almost hysterical grin of her own, Victoria shrugged. "I'm hard to get rid of." She wrapped her uninjured arm around his waist and tried to balance him as they continued alongside the stadium.
"Don't think your arms supposed to fall like that." Shane pointed out.
"We'll put it on the list of shit Hershel owes us for, man." Victoria glanced at Otis, her expression hardening. "Tell me we're fucking close."
"There's a parking lot down the hill you just came from."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"It loops around back to the truck, trust me."
Victoria fought the urge to smack him in the mouth - they were going to die before Otis figured it out.
"You disappeared on me." Shane complained, shifting his arm around her. "Can't say I'm surprised thought. You bolted like a bat outta hell."
Victoria rolled her eyes at the cheeky, albeit strained grin tugging on his lips. "Next time, we're not volunteering for an emergency supply run."
"Next time?"
"Dude, your group can't stay out of trouble for more than like, ten minutes." She offered him a challenging glare, which he replied with his own humorless laugh.
"Tell that to Rick."
Over the hill. Down the stairs. Across the parking lot. It was a never-ending stretch that was killing them.
"Otis, dude, c'mon-"
"Oh shit." Before Victoria could stop him, Shane toppled and dragged her down with him.
A burst of white seared behind her eyelids as her injured arm twisted awkwardly under her. "Fuck." She spat, grimacing at the bloody saliva dripping from her lips.
"Shit, sorry."
Victoria sat up, pulling her limp arm against her chest. "Otis, look at us. We can't keep running."
Otis braced himself against his knees with a deep breath. "Got to get back to the street. Double back to the truck."
"Fuck the truck!"
"Look," Shane croaked, beginning to strip himself of his bag. "we ain't gonna make it, okay?"
Victoria restrained herself from stepping on his hurt ankle. "Shut the fuck up." She met his eyes, glaring at the defeated expression flitting across his face. "We didn't make it this far to give up." Just to prove her point, Victoria lifted herself back up with a challenging sneer.
"Come on." Otis offered his hand to Shane. "Get up."
The wounded man looked up at Victoria with dark, teary eyes. "You're gonna take this bag and you're gonna go."
"Haven't we been through this already?" Victoria leaned down and grabbed him by the bicep. "No one's leaving anyone behind."
Shane stared up at her before smacking the road with an irate snarl. "Okay." He let Victoria help him to his knees before glancing over his shoulder, the horde was catching up, as they always did. With a creased brow, Shane looked between the survivors. "How many rounds we got left?"
Victoria dropped the magazine from her pistol. "Seven?" She popped it back and unholstered Rick's gun. "Magnum's loaded."
Shane slung the shotgun over his shoulder and pulled a small pistol from the waistband of his pants. "Five and one in the pipe." He got back to his feet Victoria's assistance.
"You still got my back, Deputy?"
"If you got mine. Let's move."