Rob: All yo peeps in da hoose! sorry bout any1 waiting to see my last fanfic updated, but i got bored of it and made a better one. BEWARE possible grammar issues and lack of real care. the kind of fanfic you just start writing and get carried away with.

The blood stopped pounding in his head, his heart had been pounding for hours after fleeing the city and the carnage that had taken hold, he had seen cars driving past on the nearby motorway now and again, but now and again he would come across wreckage, people who had loaded up their trunks with food and medical supplies before fleeing, usually the people inside the cars were dead, having died in whatever crash it was that took them out, but, now and again, he would be faced with a white-eyed, half-eaten zombie, luckily these weren't the type that ran at you screaming like banshees, they were plain old dumb zombies, the best kind. As he picked his way through a field along the edges he made sure not to disturb the bushes or stick his head over them, any zombies that saw him would instantly start towards his direction, and any zombies in the vicinity would get curious, the last thing he wanted was a horde of flesh-eating cannibals sneaking up on him while asleep. When he reached the fence at the end of the field he stopped and sat down, taking out the radio he had found in a empty police car and listening for broadcasts, there was none, and all he heard was static. Sighing inwardly he packed the radio into the backpack he had with him, it also carried other essentials like food, first aid kit, a change of clothing and a stove, though he had to be careful with the light in the evening, over his shoulder he held a shovel, rusty bloodstains coated the sharpened metal spade from where he had applied a messy end to a few disembowelled zombies, purely because the thought of legless zombies crawling after him freaked him out more than normal.

From his belt hung a 12-inch bowie knife, used more as a tool than a weapon, despite it's size, and a tazer, which he had also found in the police car, and, if applied forcibly to the neck of a zombie produced the startling effect of making their eyes burst from their sockets and their brains to ooze out of their ears, luckily he had been behind the undead-policeman at the time.

He had made numerous discoveries in the short time the crisis had begun, for one, he had discovered that if you kept moving it was impossible to fall prey to their slow advances, suddenly he was struck with an idea. Taking out the radio and turning on the transmitter he said;

"This is pilgrim 5, anyone receiving me?" he asked

"This is pilgrim 1, nice to hear from you man" the guy on the other end said

"I'm going to go check out the train depot on the south side of town, see if they're still working" he said, the power had been knocked out all over the city, and he assumed it was because no one was alive to operate the gas plants

"That's a negative, me and the others are fixing up some transport… what's your position?" the operator asked, they had agreed that two people would be on the radio at all times, there were only 8 of them, 4 were going around in the city raiding for supplies and looking for survivors most of the time, more than once they had freed people who had barricaded themselves in rooms, sticking with the human instinct to avoid danger, they were operating in other groups in the city… people came and went all the time, the other person was like this one, a loner, fully capable of moving unseen through cities and countryside alike, there was a certain trick to it which usually involved avoiding clear spaces and if any signs of zombie activity were detected, they would instantly go into what everyone had termed 'animal ego', i.e both he and the other loner both went into a strange form of hyper-awareness, when in cities he never got the scent of blood away from him when like this, probably because the air was filled with it.

"About a mile or two west of town, near the motorway, when you guys moving out?" he asked

"A day or two, everyone's heading back here until then, we have all the supplies we'll ever need so we figure it's high-time to get the hell out of here" the operator told him, he nodded to himself

"Alright, I'll start heading back now, I'll come in over the roof" he said, they had a nice little set-up, having cleared the tower-block, of course, it also meant they could access it via any of the other tower blocks nearby, they had blown out all the stairs to floors 1-4 and closed the car park shutters, luckily the elevator led down into the carpark, and before blowing out the stairs they had secured the lift controls from the un-needed floors. He had a good idea of what he meant by transport, they had found a large mobile home, easily suited to about 10 people, of course, they had to deal with the undead inside first, he quietly moved on.

When he arrived at the outskirts of the city he was faced by a congregation of about 12 zombies, each one looked like it had been eaten alive before dying; they were victims of a massive flood of the undead who had just recently been revived, and as soon as the first one spotted our anti-hero it let out a low moan and all of them shifted in response, then, as one, they made for the fresh meat. He took a moment to study them. He knew that although they were missing a lot of muscle tissue that was never where their strength lay, if he could keep at the edges, disembowelling with his spade like an axe and then administering coup de gras to their heads when they crawled slowly towards him would solve the problem easily, however, it would also put him in the situation that most people dreaded; melee with a crowd of zombies, if even one of them scratched him it would be all over. Then he realised they were congregating outside a gun shop, and he caught himself expecting gunshots, with all that in mind, he set about his task, moving a couple of metres closer and letting the spade rest at his side while he drew the 12-inch bowie and held in the other

"Hey Rob, planning on taking on all of the zombies at once or something?" came a voice from behind, without taking his eyes away he said;

"No, it's just it would be easier if I had a shotgun" he said, the figure moved forward and stood by him

"Heh, you want a chainsaw to go with that boomstick?" he asked, and Rob heard the revving of a chainsaw motor, he grinned and sheathed the knife, the unknown figure was Jason, another of the lone-badasses that prowled the city looking for supplies to relay to the operator, Rob realised that he must have been told to wait here until Rob arrived, which also meant plans were going accordingly and everyone would appreciate it if no one died.

"You take those six, I'll take the other" Jason said as the first zombie lurched over the chainsaw blade idiotically, the good thing about chainsaws was the fact you could just stand there and let the undead move towards you and onto your weapon of carnage, Rob disdained it however, as it usually attracted more zombies, fortunately they had practically cleared this part of town out. Then, realising he was again lost in thought, he thrust the makeshift axe at the neck of the closest zombie, then following through, pushing through the neck to the floor as the zombie fell, then using the spade to leap through the air and deliver a skull smashing blow to the head of another, he then spun around, bringing final death to a zombie who was in the process of falling towards him teeth bared

"Heh, don't talk to the face, cause it ain't there anymore" he said as the thing slumped to the floor, the remaining part of it's brain showing cleared from the messy slice. That left two on his side, and Jason was eyeing up the three left on his. The remaining two made for Rob at the same time, and had their lives ended by a powerful backhand slice that beheaded both, watching the immediate area for other zombies attracted by the sounds of combat until Jason finished his last opponent

"Your getting pretty good with that" He commented, looking at the zombie with it's face sliced off stumble around blindly, Rob sighed and lit up a cigarette and made for the gun shop, trying the handle he found it was locked, he grinned

"Ah… after the first 9 times you do it it's no longer that fun anymore" he said, heaving a brick through the window and then smashing the jagged pieces of glass aside with the spade.

Now I'd like to take this moment to declare the usefulness of a sharpened spade; it can be used to bludgeon, cut and stab. Unfortunately it also serves another purpose i.e burial (few zombies can actually dig their way out of a grave, being freshly raised, and usually resort to feasting on their own body from hunger).

"Hey, do you actually know anything about firearms?" Jason asked, Rob wasn't surprised, it was an intelligent question

"Hell, I know you don't fire 9mm rounds out of a desert eagle, and if you try you fuck your gun up" he said, Jason was impressed

"Most people don't even know how to load the damn things, I'll wait out here in case anymore ground-lovers show up" he said, grinning, they had both spent evenings commenting on the nature and disposition of zombies, and had figured that seeing as zombies rose from the dead to eat flesh they inherently were creatures of evil, seeing as only a pantheon or illegal research had led to their creation, they both hoped it wasn't the latter, for it would doom them all to the undead god's wrath. Rob leaped through the window and brought immediate death to a zombie that looked to be in some sort of trance, he realised sadly that it was yet another situation they had seen repeated all over the city; the guy had been bitten, fled into a enclosure, locked the door, and eventually died because of whatever was coursing through his veins, all the while a crowd of the undead taunting him in his death moments. They had discovered it was almost impossible to perform research on the infected cells because they oxidised and congealed so quickly after leaving the protective shell of the zombie's body. He blanked the image in front of him and set about tooling up an arsenal of weaponry, he vaulted over the counter and pulled a large black duffle bag from underneath it, grabbed three shotguns from the shelf, one double-barrelled, three 12 gauge pump-action. He quickly kicked the ammo cabinet open and gathered about 8 boxes of standard 12 gauge and loaded the double barrelled shotgun and fired in order to make sure he had the right ammunition for it, satisfied, he unloaded it and put all three weapons and ammo inside the duffle bag. Then he took another look at the zombie, who had a .45 magnum revolver at his hip. Momentarily he considered the hand-cannon, it was a good weapon, able to punch through brick walls, and any zombie he fired it at would either lose something or end up with a hole in his chest. Then he dropped all thought of it when he noticed the Sig Sauer 950 (random number sorry xD), he had a model BB-gun at home based off of it and had spent countless hours of target practice on a target in his room, he sighed and realised it was reasonable to assume that if they were going to start using firearms it was best to get guns that were common, so there was plentiful ammunition, he grabbed 10 of the 9mm pistols commonly used by police and criminals alike, and grabbed all the 9mm ammunition he could, remembering that the brown-tipped ones were more volatile than usual, happily, he noticed there was still space in the bag for a few more treats, so he grabbed a few of the pineapple grenades that the guy had obviously collected from the World Wars, whether or not they would still work was beyond Rob. Happy he had collected such an arsenal of weaponry, he set about finding holsters and slings, he fixed two holsters to either side of his belt, and put a loaded 9mm in both, he then ditched off the backpack, taking out the radio, so he could attach the sling, and slid the empty double-barrelled shotgun in place, he grinned at the mental image and pulled himself through the window after retrieving his shovel.

"Regular Mad Max" Jason commented, Rob nodded and passed him a 9mm with some bullets, Jason unloaded the clip and started filling it, after he had done so he holstered it in his pants

"Let's go" he said, and let Jason lead the way back to the hideout.

"Damn… you guys just never cease to surprise me" Guye said in reference to the now open bag of weaponry, Rob un-slinged the shotgun and set it down

"Just where exactly are you planning on going in this armoured beast of yours?" He asked Guye, he was the operator on the other side of the radio

"Anywhere away from here man, although it would probably be best to find some kind of military bunker" he said, Jason exclaimed at that

"What so they shoot us with rocket launchers for invading their territory?" he asked, Rob sat down at the table and pulled out a saw, then set to work on the double-barrelled shotgun.

"Who says they will? Anyway, they have automatic weaponry, grenade launchers, tanks, anything they could need, why would they push us away?" Guye asked

"Infection, everyone knows it spreads through blood contact with those things, but people will be worrying about whether or not the infection will mutate" Sarah said, she was a regular chemistry whizz, aged 19, the mere fact that she knew the details of micro-biology and countless other scientific professions warranted her presence among their group, on average they were 18, though the oldest was 20 and the youngest 16. For some of the older members the judgement day had hit them hard, their lives had been torn from all of them in one fell swoop, for the younger members it was a little easier, but they had all lost people they loved and cared for, and treated each other as family… well… unless romantic relations were involved, in which case everyone was eternally thankful that they weren't related.

"She is right, unfortunately. It means we're going to have to go to some remote place and try and sit this out, anyone got that map?" Thomas asked, Jason pulled his out of his backpack and handed it over, Thomas proceeded to open it out and revealed an entire-world illustrated map, on the flipside was a map showing the various mountains and deserts of the world. While Jason held such a large map, everyone else carried smaller ordinance black books so they knew where they were. Rob rarely used maps, relying rather on his own 40/40 eyesight to gauge his position, there was a clang as the end of the shotgun barrel hit the floor.

"So your saying we should head off to Alaska for a couple of years?" he asked Thomas

"Not necessarily Alaska, some deserted island will do" he said, the four of them grinned at that

"So boat or helicopter?" Guye asked

"Boat, we can transport more food and supplies in the hold that way" Jason offered

"Though we run the risk of being stranded out at sea with no fuel and lost" Guye countered, Jason frowned

"Don't worry about it, I can navigate water quite easily, just so long as we don't head to Hawaii or something, because I can't pilot a ship so well on open waters" Rob told them

"Ahh, another skill you profess to. Is there anything you can't do?" Guye asked, Rob grinned

"Yeah, put up with your cockiness when I just spent three days killing zombies and running away from them" he said, Jason laughed at that, both Guye and Sarah fell silent

"Hey, I'm sorry you guys have to go out there but we wanted to make a sweep of the city for supplies, you'll understand surely?" Guye asked

"Don't ask us to understand why, Don't be so arrogantly cocky, and we won't ask why you're not out there with us" Jason admonished, Guye swore, then thought better for it and apologised

"It's okay, you two know how to use one of these?" Rob asked them, holding out two 9mms in both hands by the barrel to both of them

"I do" Guye said, taking the weapon and sighting down on the t.v screen, he grinned and lay the gun next to his radio, which jumped to life through static

"-re pin--- down---- Bobby was bitten…. He's losing a lot of blood… Guye, you read me? Over" came in the transmission

"This is Guye, what's the situation?" he asked, fear etched in his voice, Rob looked to Jason and they nodded to each other and stood up, each taking a pump-action shotgun and a box of shells each

"We're stuck in downtown, we were raiding a supermarket when they appeared out of nowhere, we didn't notice them until we were outside… oh god…" he said

"Name" Rob said

"We need a name Sam, quickly" Guye said

"Harrold's, it's just past the train station, are you guys coming to get us out?" she asked, her terror adding to the fear of their own

"Alright, just sit tight!" Guye shouted and got up, holstering the 9mm in his pants as Jason had

"We'll never get there in time with you two holding us up" Jason told them, it was true, both Rob and Jason were adept and charging through debris-filled streets when un-encumbered, nimbly throwing themselves over cars and treading lightly while others would pick their way through the wreckage

"We won't be holding you up, we're taking that armoured beast you so fondly spoke of" Guye said, Rob grinned, regardless of how fast they could run through the streets, a veritable armoured battering ram would handle the situation much easier

"Let's go then" Sarah said, picking up a 9mm for herself

"How's he doing?" Scott asked Sam, who was kneeling over the one called Bobby, their remaining comrade, Vincent, was staring a zombie point blank in the face through the window

"He's unconscious at the minute… I'm glad we brought those field dressings" she said, Bobby's arm and torso had been heavily bandaged where he had been bitten, but his condition was deteriorating, and all of them knew what that would mean soon.

"They won't get here in time…" Vincent said, still watching the zombies as they pressed themselves against the double-glazed window

"I know…" Scott told him, Sam looked up at them both, confusion mixed with tears, then Bobby coughed, spluttering blood over his chin and neck like a fountain

"I… was bitten?" He asked calmly, Sam smiled despite herself, Scott merely looked, unable to answer

"Then I'll be one of them soon…" he said, Scott nodded, Bobby sighed, bringing forth another spout of blood

"Well… you know what you have to do" he said

"What? No!" Sam shouted

"I wasn't talking to you…" he said sadly, he knew she loved him, and he loved her too, which made this hard.

"He was talking to me…" Scott said, a dead look in his eye, almost as if he had turned into a zombie too

"No! This is wrong!" Sam shouted, crying

"You don't have a choice, it's kill or be killed" Bobby told her, smiling at that

"How do you propose I do it? I'm not breaking your neck and I don't have a gun" Scott told him, Bobby nodded and sat up painfully

"Hey Vince!" he shouted between coughs, Vincent was the youngest member of their troupe, and didn't need to see this

"Yeah?" He asked, kneeling down next to him

"Be a good kid will you? Go fetch me a can of cola… I'd rather die with a sweet taste in my mouth" he said, Vincent stared at him a moment, then ran off silently, Bobby could feel the pain of the boy as if it was a psychic bond

"Hey Scott…" He said

"Yeah?" he asked, kneeling down next to Sam

"Take care of that kid will you… it's a hard world after all" he said, and the hacking cough returned, this time more violently, his bandages were already wet with red blood, Sam wiped the blood from his face, but Bobby pushed her away

"Come on Scott, be a man!" he shouted, which brought about more blood, Sam ceased trying to keep his face bloodless and kissed him hard, tears forming again in her eyes, then went off to find Vincent. Scott looked uncertainly at him

"What are you? Chicken?" Bobby said, Scott looked away

"Your mother was a whore!" Bobby shouted, then grinned when Scott looked back, his usually stony gaze moistening

"It's not hard to kill, I've killed before. It was a child, only 8 years of age, she followed me home and I didn't know what to do…" he said, smiling, Scott stared

"It's so easy to maintain a visage when everyone around you is dead, is it not?" he asked, then coughed again, Scott felt an odd feeling inside, very cold, so cold it infected his heart and reached into his soul, and he knew what it was he had to do. He straddled Bobby's chest and put his hands to his throat, then squeezed with all the strength he could muster, hoping that crushing his windpipe would provide quick release, Bobby was smiling all along up until the final second, where he whispered;

"I lied." He said, and died.

Scott stood up and walked quietly to the toilets, his face pale, he began washing his hands and looked himself in the mirror, staring himself in the eye, suddenly he felt very sick and threw up. His hands and throat felt as if they were on fire, burning with agony at having destroyed someone's life… he walked out and over to the window Vincent had been watching the Zombies out of it

"You're all the same… aren't you…" he said to himself, watching as they scratched on the window, trying to feed on him through the invisible barrier

"Is… he dead?" Sam asked quietly

"Yes…" Scott told her, she nodded silently

"Where's Vincent?" He asked, she looked at him squarely

"Crying… he wanted to be alone…" Sam said

"I can understand that… he's dealt with a lot of death for his age…" Scott said

"We all have" Sam told him, he nodded. Then a scream cut through the air, and Scott swore, recognising Vincent's voice, he quickly ran to where the scream had come from, only to find Bobby standing over the child's bloodied body… or at least Zombie-Bobby, No, Scott realised, this thing was no longer Bobby, only like those outside, and he charged it, delivering a punch that sent the zombie crashing through shelves, he quickly ran over to deliver his boot to the zombie's head when it moved with inhuman speed and grabbed his leg, ripping a large part of the muscle from it, he screamed and crushed the zombie's head, then he looked over to Vincent and broke down

"He's… dead… I'm worthless…" he said, shaking, Sam arrived and gasped in horror at the sight, she looked at Scott and saw a suicidal glint in his eye, he stood up and walked over to the fire axe, again using his boot in order to acquire it, he then turned and walked towards the exit

"Scott… No!" Sam said, barely managing to keep up

"This is Freedom…" he said, and unlocked the door, Sam could only watch in despair as he hacked his way through the first three zombies, only to be overwhelmed and eaten alive by the 40 that stormed through.

"I'm alone…" she said, and she no longer cared or even perceived that the Zombies had already ceased feasting on Scott and were moving towards her, she only remembered her mother's caring embrace, ruby-red sunsets from some unknown memory, she knew peace.

When Guye cannoned through the collective mass of zombies, smashing skulls apart and crushing bodies using the 10-ton armoured mobile home, both Jason and Rob were ready to move before the door opened, and both let loose a torrent of shotgun blasts, ripping through skulls and flesh alike, Sarah came over and started putting bullets into the fight as well, and Rob was abruptly aware the Zombies had somehow broken into the supermarket and were making their way through the shop

"Cover me!" he shouted, Jason and Sarah took up position on either side of him as they blasted their way through the circle of death, Guye appeared at the door and unleashed the remaining shotgun on any who dared try and enter the vehicle, as soon as he saw an opening, Rob dropped the shotgun, drew both 9mm pistols, and ran forward, putting bullets into the heads of every zombie he saw until he could set a perimeter between the zombies and the rest of the store, he grabbed Sam by the shoulders, snapping her out of whatever trance she was in, her eyes glazed over momentarily and she grabbed him, crying. Behind he heard the collective gunfire protecting the perimeter, most of the zombies were trying to get into their mobile battering ram now

"Where is everyone?" he asked her, she looked up

"They're dead… all of them…" she said, he nodded silently and helped her stand, but she didn't let go, rather she just let him support her arm over his neck while he used one of the pistols to cleave a path through the ranks, Sarah and Jason both picked up that it was time to leave and pressed hard, driving the Zombies away from Rob and Sam until they got to the vehicle, then they all piled in, Jason blasting a few more before closing the door

"Where to Captain?" Guye asked

"Away from here! Just get us out of the city!" Rob shouted, helping Sam to one of the beds, he set her down, and yet she didn't let go

"What happened?" he asked, she just cried, He understood what she was going through, she had watched two of her remaining friends and the man she loved die in the most grotesque way imaginable, she only rolled over, Rob sighed and made to stand when she grabbed his hand

"Don't leave… please…" she whispered between sobs, he lay down next to her and laid her head over his neck

"Shh… it's okay…" he told her trying some vain attempt at comforting her, And Sam was reminded again of happier times. And again she broke down.

"He… turned into a zombie after we…" she said, sobbing, he realised how it had happened, everything had gone completely wrong, pulling back he kissed her forehead, her red hair covered in blood from where she had tried to heal Bobby, he looked her deeply in the eyes

"You are alive. You are still Sam. Just more fucked up than usual, understand?" he told her, she frowned, then nodded, her tears subsiding a little, but she still looked pale, and sorrow filled her eyes so that all she knew was pain, he held her like that for hours without moving, letting Jason and Sarah navigate for Guye.

She woke up in his arms, and wondered if she were being dishonest to Bobby's ghost by sharing the bed with him, but she realised that was stupid, here was now and now was here, she sat up

"How do you feel?" Rob asked without opening his eyes

"How do you do that?" she asked

"Do what?" he replied

"Talk through your sleep" she said

"Easy, I just never assume that I'm asleep" he said, and opened his eyes, brown usually but they took a golden sheen in the morning light, matching her light blue, he sat up

"I asked you a question" he said

"I feel terrible…" she told him, he nodded

"That's expected, just tell someone if you need a hand, okay?" he told her, she nodded and smiled, although it was hollow, he stood up and walked over to the others

"Where are we?" he asked

"Somewhere between loser-Ville and the beach" Guye said in reference to their previous home

"We need to make for a coastal town where there'll be a dock and supplies, how long were we asleep?" he asked

"Just overnight, how is she?" Sarah asked

"Pretty fucked up, but she'll live" he told her, she stared at him a moment, then nodded

"We used up a lot of ammo getting her out" Guye said, Jason slapped him over the head, at 17, he was the new youngest member of the group, and would be treated accordingly

"You've got a lot to learn boy. We'll start with your tongue" he said, grinning, Sarah smiled, Rob just went to check on the ammunition. However casual, Guye was right, they had used up half of their entire armoury on that horde of zombies.