The town was in shambles. Cars and trucks and other vehicles were wrecked all over the streets. There was garbage everywhere. The damage from the earthquake had been made worse by the creatures that now roamed around. Fires had broken out and with nothing to stop them, had burned quite a few structures down. The most disturbing things they saw were the mangled bodies of countless victims. The walls of most of the buildings were stained red with blood. They only ran into four zombies.
Back in the cabin, they locked the front and back doors and blocked the kitchen door with the couch. Sarah turned on the radio; there was only static. She switched it off and sighed.
"What do we do now? The road is still blocked off and that's the only way out of here," said Brad.
Memories of past missions flooded Jess' mind. "I don't know. We'll just have to survive until we find a way out. This cabin won't protect us well enough though. We need to find a better building to hide in."
She grabbed all her things from her room and threw them in her bag. Sarah and Brad did the same with their own. They put their bags on the couch then stood, deciding what to do next. They settled in, sitting on the floor, to wait for an idea to come to them.
Jess changed out of the clothes she'd been wearing for the last few days and into a pair of dark, skin-tight jeans and her favorite red halter-top. Sarah changed into a long blue silky skirt and creamy colored button up shirt. Brad kept on his same loose jeans and black t-shirt.
Suddenly they heard the glass of the kitchen window break and the distinctive thud of creatures coming in. The three of them shot to their feet, guns pointed at the blocked door. They heard the creatures walk around, moaning to themselves, and begin pounding and scraping the wood of the kitchen door. The couch stayed where it was.
"They know we're here," said Jess stepping back slightly.
All three of them whipped around upon hearing the same pounding and scratching at the back door. Quickly, Jess put down her gun and began to push one of the chairs towards the back door. She had noticed earlier that the lock to the back door was very weak; it would easily give in. Brad and Sarah joined her and soon they had the door successfully blocked off.
"Phew, alright everyone stay calm," said Jess in an odd voice.
"Yeah, okay," answered Brad sarcastically.
"Whatever you say," said Sarah in an equally sarcastic tone.
Jess eyed them, walked into her room and looked in one of the drawers of the second dresser. Not bothering to close the drawer, Jess pulled out a map of Norrel that had been put in it and walked back out to the living room. She realized for the first time that the bedrooms had windows, so she shut the doors to them.
"This shows that there is a clinic not far from here. I think it's a one-story building so it will be easy to secure. It would be best to start there so let's go. Anyone have any objections?" asked Jess.
"No," both Sarah and Brad replied.
They grabbed their things and bolted out the door. There were no zombies around the front of the house or down the road so the beginning of their trek was easy.
As soon as they got on to the main road however, things changed. They ran into creature after creature, grateful to have lots of extra ammo. After thirty minutes of running around, they came to a brick warehouse less than a block from the clinic. According to the map it was just around this building a ways. Suddenly, shots rang out as they turned the corner. They all ran back around the building and waited.
Packard's voice called out a moment later. "What's wrong? Don't feel like playing? Too bad, you can't hide for long. I'll find you eventually!" he laughed shooting one more time.
"Come on guys, this way," Jess whispered as she walked to the door of the building. "It's open, let's go."
They slowly made their way inside the deserted building. Brad shut the door and locked it behind him. The room they were in was large, dark and full of boxes, crates and bags. Jess found a backpack, picked it up and decided to put her things in it. It would be easier to carry around than her duffle bag would be. There were plenty more backpacks where she had found that one too.
"Hey guys, as long as we're in here, we might as well look for things that will help us in any way," she told them, beginning to look around.
They were startled when they heard something crack loudly. They didn't see anything and after a moment, went back to searching. They had been in the building for ten minutes when they heard a window break in the back. They hid behind a large box and waited.
"Where did they go?" they heard Packard growl to himself. "They couldn't have gotten very far."
They watched as Packard jumped through the broken window and walk around. Slowly they moved towards the door, making sure he didn't see them. Jess caught sight of something moving between them and Packard but didn't have time to think about it.
They sprung at the door (there was nothing left to cover them) and opened it but were met by about seven zombies crowding around their only escape.
"Ha! I found you! Now there's no way out." Packard said, aiming his gun at them.
They quickly closed the door against the zombies, locked it again and faced Packard. They pulled out their own guns and shot at him. He dodged behind some boxes and shot back. They also hid behind boxes to evade the bullets.
Jess sat where she was for a moment, trying to figure a way out of this. A bullet whizzed off the edge of the box she was sitting behind. She shrunk to the other side and ran to another box.
Jess heard another loud crack just like the one before and turned to see a very tall shelf collapsing, right on top of Brad and Sarah.
"No! Move guys! MOVE!" Jess screamed at them, but they didn't hear her.
They were buried underneath pile after pile of bags, boxes and whatever else had been on the collapsed shelf. She realized a little too late that she had jumped up, completely exposing herself to Packard's bullets. She felt a sharp pain in her left arm and was suddenly lifted off her feet. She hit the ground with a thud, knocking the wind out of her.
She shook her head to clear it and slowly stood up. She watched Packard run out into a hall that she hadn't previously seen. She cursed then noticed that Brad and Sarah where climbing out of the rubble. Finally, she turned around to see who had knocked her over, quite possibly saving her life.
He was lying on his side on the ground, apparently out cold. He had been shot in his left shoulder in two places and once in his left arm. She checked his pulse; he was alive and breathing; his wounds didn't seem life-threatening.
"Who's he?" she heard Sarah ask from behind her.
"I don't know but he saved my life," replied Jess picking up her gun again. "Are you guys alright?"
"Yeah, just a few cuts and bruises. Nothing bad. Where did Packard go?" asked Brad.
"Down that hall over there. Pursue him, I'll catch up," replied Jess.
"Alright," said Brad turning towards the hall.
"Hey, can you leave the first aid kit? I'm going to wait here," said Jess.
"Fine. Here," said Sarah taking it out of her pack, tossing it to Jess and following Brad down the hall.
Jess fixed up the man, laid him on his back and then wrapped her arm.
She stared at him for a while. His brown hair was cut to his ears. He was wearing a light grey shirt, (that was now covered with a bloody bandage) a brown suede jacket, and black pants. She noticed he had a large knife and a couple guns on him. Was he another agent? He looked young, no more than Brad's age.
She looked away from him and put the kit in her pack. She stuck her gun in her jeans and leaned against one of the boxes. She heard the zombies pounding at the door, thankful that it was thick metal and holding fast. It wasn't long before the man stirred, and woke.
"What the?" he said as he came to. He caught sight of Jess and asked, "Hey, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for saving me," she answered. She felt herself blush, and quickly asked, "How're you doing over there?"
"It was nothing. I'll be okay. It's not the first time I've been hit. My name's Leon by the way," he said trying to get up.
She smiled at him. "Mine's Jess. Stay down for a while; you don't want to put too much stress on yourself just yet. I'm here with my partners. I think I can trust you, we're on a mission," she said, moving to help him. "What are you doing here? If you don't mind me asking."
"The same reasons as you are. I'm here alone though. I'm guessing that you're after Rowley and Packard then?" asked Leon getting to his feet anyway.
"Yeah, though we didn't know about Packard until he had already blown up our HQ and stolen the things we'd come to get," said Jess frowning. "He posed as one of our newcomers."
"It happens to everyone. Let's say we catch up with your friends," he suggested.
"Sure lets go, you can join us in getting out of this place if you like," said Jess picking up her things. She supposed he was right, they were human after all and humans had a knack for being imperfect. She blushed again and hid her face as they walked down the hall together.
They each pulled out their guns as they turned the corner down the dark, musty hall. They heard gunshots and yelling and began to run. Ending up in a small, equally dark and musty room, Sarah and Brad turned to look at them. Packard lay dead on the floor in a large pool of blood next to the corpse of a zombie.
"Packard ran in here not looking where he was going and was attacked. We checked him for the samples, he doesn't have them." reported Brad. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Leon. Leon, this is Sarah and Brad, my team," said Jess introducing them. After a brief pause, they made their way to the clinic, as had originally been planned. They made it there without too much trouble.
Once inside, they quickly secured the building and began looking around. It was a mess, just like everything else in the town. Everything was dirty and there were many places that were stained with blood. Papers and medical instruments were thrown all over the floor. Curtains and bed sheets were everywhere. A light that had been hit by something long gone flickered on and off, casting unusual shadows all around the main hall. It was very still as they walked along the halls and into the rooms. Jess began closing the doors to the rooms that she found empty.
She walked into the last room on the left side of the clinic, sweeping the beam of her flashlight slowly along the floor. She walked over to a large wall cabinet and opened it, looking for any more supplies they could possibly use. A middle-aged man fell to the floor, cowering before her.
"Please don't shoot, I'm not one of those things," he begged. "Please don't kill me!"
Jess lowered her gun from his face and helped him up. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help. I came with a bunch of friends and we're getting out of here as soon as possible. You can come with us if you'd like," she told the man. He looked for a moment as if he would refuse her offer but then told her that he would go with them.
"What's your name?" she asked him.
"Benny Wilcote." The two of them rejoined the group and she made the proper introductions.