CHAPTER 3

Vash poked his head out the door, then made a mad dash for the jeep. He signaled for the rest to come over while he took the top down and started it up.

Peter was taking his sweet time getting across the street, because he was stuck carrying the 300-pound bag of ammo and guns.

At that moment, the first zombie made its appearance on that side town.

Peter still had to cross the street, and it lurched toward him, looking for it's next meal.

Peter tried to go faster, but it just wasn't possible with the load he was carrying. Shinji looked over, and got out of the jeep, putting down his shotgun. He didn't know what to do at all.

This...man had his lower jaw missing, along with most of his left cheek. Blood was still oozing from the wound, and Shinji could clearly see the shiny muscle tissue. Its arm was broken in 3 different places and was missing a hand. It was an impossible creature and he just stared. This could have been one of his co-workers or even a family member, but it was impossible to tell. As it got closer, the stench of it all hit him, and he almost puked. He held his lunch and still it got closer.

"Shoot the damn thing already, It's getting closer!" Peter said in a panicked voice

Shinji took out his P229 and trained the laser sight directly on the thing's heart.

Still he stared.

"SHOOT IT!!"

Shinji hoped to God he was doing the creature a favor and gave the trigger a squeeze.

*BAM BAM BAM*

He let loose 3 shots at its heart and lungs. He watched as the rounds splattered, making red flower shaped wounds. The thing staggered, and kept limping along.

Peter dropped the bag and whipped out his VP70 in one smooth motion.

*BAM* went a single shot, dead center in it's head. The thing fell and stayed down.

"That's how you kill a zombie. In the head."

*BAMMM*

They heard a dog whine and looked behind them and saw Vash hanging out the jeep's window, holding a smoking shotgun. They looked down at the dog, which was missing a chunk of flesh on its back and seemed slimy in a way. The two looked at each other, and holstered their weapons. They both grabbed an end of the bag and ran over to the jeep, where they dumped it in the tiny trunk.

Shinji ran around the front, taking his shotgun back and nodding in thanks.

Vash revved the engine and Shinji got in the back with Peter. Akito stood on the front seat, his upper body out of the top.

Peter called up to Akito "Remember, a 3 round burst to the head will drop one of 'em, so don't waste ammo on their bodies, got it?"

Akito nodded his head.

Vash shifted the jeep into 4-wheel drive and headed to the nearest school.

The closest school was one of the local high schools, called St. Iggys (It was actually a nickname) it was near the waterfront, but past the OPP building, so it was their destination.

As the jeep got closer and closer to the waterfront, the zombies got thicker and thicker.

They slowed down when they saw a large group of zombies attracted to one patrol car, in particular. Akito's attention was shifted from the mass of the undead to that car, when a shotgun blast was heard and gore from the zombies on the hood went flying. Another blast, more guts, and a single cop climbed out from the smashed windshield. Akito realized that this guy was still alive, and yelled to the cop to look out, then squeezed off a burst without even thinking about it.

The zombie that was about to bite the cop crumbled into a heap with 3 holes in its skull.

The other zombies, who had been feasting on a few of the more unlucky police, were now advancing toward the jeep, and the cop who was running toward it.

Vash tugged on Akito's arm, mentioning to him to sit down.

Vash stood up, M402 SAW in hands, and let out a primal scream.

*TATTATTTATTTATTTATTTATTTATTTATTTATTTATTTTATTTTATTTTATTTTATTTT Clickclickclickclick*

It had taken Vash all of 45 seconds to empty the entire clip, leaving most of the zombies an unrecognizable mass of bloody pulp on the ground.

By then, the cop had gotten into the jeep, sanity intact.

Vash's rampage had left 2 or more of the patrol cars spewing gasoline. Zombies that were in the area came over to feed on the remnants of their "friends", and maybe catch a live meal.

Vash pointed to the pool of flammable liquid and smiled at Akito.

The jeep sped off, and a single shot was fired, leaving anything within 50 meters in ashes.

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Steve Tribal looked around the building, and saw what a mess it had become. He was part of a SWAT team that had made it to the OPP building, thanks to the SWAT van and heavy weaponry. Steve seemed to be a natural leader, meaning he and his team covered the entrance to the building and organized everyone. Once the flow of survivors had stopped, barricaded the entrance with abandoned cars and made sure that windows couldn't be broken into.

He made sure that the wounded were taken care of properly, then took a head count of the people who made it. There were 1932 people in total. He addressed the concern of ammo and escape, splitting the people up by the weapon they carried. They ranged from 9mm semi-auto pistols to 12-gague shotguns and high caliber revolvers.

The people were equally diverse. There was a family of 4 that had made it, with the help of a 9mm, and even an old man who happened to have an old shotgun from his hunting days.

Steve couldn't bear to think about the people who hadn't made it, torn to shreds in a horrible massacre or turned into zombies themselves.

He got everyone's attention over the station's PA system.

"As you all know by now, our city is infested by, for the lack of a better word, zombies. I know everyone is eager to escape, but our safe heaven is a magnet to zombies, so we just can't go running out there, guns blazing. We need to wait for rescue. We have the radio system running destress signals at full tilt, so we must be patient. We have opened the lock to the station's armory, and will be calling down people by the calibre of their weapon. We will start with 9mm. Anyone with a weapon that uses 9mm bullets, head for the basement now. That is all"

Steve glanced over to where he thought he heard gunfire, a habit that had saved quite a few lives in the past few hours.

He then saw a large explosion a few blocks away, and even saw a zombie get thrown 100 meters in the air. On closer inspection, he saw a blue jeep speeding away from the blast, fists shaking in triumph.

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"Hey, thanks for the save. I never would have made it if it weren't for you guys," the cop said

"No prob. That's why we're out here, to find survivors. What's your name? And why were you out there?" Vash asked, keeping an eye on the road.

"Name's Matt. Matt Coral. We were dispatched to the high school not far from here, St. Iggys. There was some deranged guy attacking kids, and the lead car hit something, and caused the pile up you saved me from. I'm guessing everyone else was either killed in the crash or those monsters got 'em. My partner had a shotgun, and the glass held out long enough for me to load it. I didn't have time to bring anymore shells, and I would have been out in 5 more shots."

Shinji tossed the guy a few dozen shells while Vash told him the plan.