"Melissa, your person is from the state of California." I say as I read off a wealthy individual from the list.
"Limp dick ass munch from Los Angeles." She replies. Everyone laughs as I flip the list of Jessica's suitors over and find another. Eric shushes everyone as they prepare for the next question.
"Adam?"
"I'm ready."
"What's a suitable name for this guy in Oregon?"
"Pole riding simp from Portland." Adam states as he crosses his arms.
Everyone bursts out laughing again as I look for another name to make an acronym out of. "Lauren? What would you call this man from Oklahoma?"
"Stupid weenie whacker from Stillwater."
"At that point, you might as well have said Matt." Emily says.
Everyone including myself laughs at that one. Normally, a statement like that from Emily would piss me off, but for some reason, it's funny. Insults don't seem to bother me anymore. Intentional or not, it's like they have no value in the first place.
That morning when my parents called me a deadbeat, it hurt because not only was it true, it was coming from my own dad. Now, that word means nothing to me. Nothing feels like it means anything anymore.
Maybe it's because back then, I didn't have to worry about starving to death, dying of dehydration, getting ripped to pieces by a horde of shamblers, or being in a constant state of worry on whether someone is looking at me through a rifle scope.
The road leads us to a three way stop light. Emily weaves in between some rubble and crosses the road. The back end of the vehicle drifts, and the force of a wrecking ball spins us out of control. My weight swings to the right, and I slam into the passenger door.
Glass bursts, and the sound of aluminum crimpling like a candy wrapper drowns out anything audible. Everyone in the back jumps to life and swears from the impact. Emily tries to stay in control, but the steering wheel completely disregards her input.
The brakes finally grip the asphalt, and we come to a stop in the middle of the road. I jerk my seatbelt off and try to figure out what happened. A green sedan sits right next to us. Steam billows out of its destroyed hood, and the overpowering smell of oil and anti-freeze dripping from busted pans fill the air. Someone t-boned us at the intersection.
"Everyone okay?" I ask.
"Yeah! Just a little shaken!" Lauren shouts. Jessica, and everyone else's answers about their wellbeing lifts a heavy weight off my heart. Nobody got hurt.
Two men rub their eyes and fight to stay conscious. The driver's forehead is bleeding. Almost like he hit the steering wheel during the crash. A flash of pink breaks from behind the wall of smoke. It's a woman with short pink hair, and a black tank top. Wait, that's the girl from yesterday night!
Her dazed, purple eyes wonder up and connect with mine. A sense of surprise rips across her face. She scrambles like she's making a grab for something, but I pull my revolver out and aim. She dives into the floorboard and disappears. Silicon and padding float down as the magnum round snaps the head rest off the seat. The passenger of the other car pulls up a handgun and takes aim.
"Get down!" I duck, and the bullet flies directly over me. Emily grabs her handgun and fires back. Another gunshot sounds off and Emily squeals as she squats down.
"Shit! They got me!"
The sight of blood gushing out of Emily's arm scares me deeply. Almost to the point that everything within me freezes. Adam pulls up his AR and fires two rounds simultaneously. He fires a third time and pats me on the back. I get up and examine the aftermath.
White veins splinter out from the shattered bulletholes in the windshields of both vehicles. The man Adam shot has three bullet holes that are leaking red onto his clothes. A seatbelt holds the passenger's slouching body in place. Emily must have hit him directly in the head because the bullet is about in line where his head rest is.
The pink haired girl snags a backpack, her gun and runs off. I get my rifle and pull the hammer back. She dives behind a nearby car and hunkers down.
"Everyone stay down!" I yell as I take cover behind the sedan's engine block and peek underneath the vehicle.
A stray bullet ricochets off the ground and throws sparks into my face. I jump back behind the axle and try to come up with a plan. She's already laying down in a position where she can fire from underneath the car and still be fully protected.
"Adam! Put some rounds into that car!"
He eases out the back of the SUV and takes aim at the car. His AR braces up against the frame of the vehicle. The barrel stabilizes, and he takes a shot. The round eats a hole into the car's door as he fires again. A barrage of glass rains down from the passenger's window.
Adam takes another shot and shatters the back glass. Surely, she's not stupid enough to stick around after that. I keep my head down and get behind the back axle. The girl is shielding her eyes from the glass raining down. I steady the barrel of the rifle and take aim at her.
She dives into the nearby alleyway and fires off a blind shot. It comes nowhere close as I lower my rifle. She peeks out from behind the building to make sure it's clear and takes off down the street. The girl weaves back and forth in an unpredictable manner and snaps around the block.
Guilt pumps through my body, and the ability to think clearly stops. Was this the right thing to do? What if it wasn't a gun she was really going for? No. There's no way. It was either them or us. A memory of when I killed those people in the gym swoops in and taints my mind. It doesn't matter if it's justified or not, there isn't anyway to convince myself that it was the right thing to do.
"Matt!? MATT!" What are you doing!?" Adam yells as he puts his hand on my shoulder.
I snap out of my trance and realize where we are, and what's going on. Emily stumbles out of the driver door and sits up against the vehicle. She looks over and grits her teeth. The bullet didn't manage to hit anything vital, but it left one hell of a hole. Tears fill her eyes, and she tries to prevent herself from succumbing to panic.
"It hurts…It hurts…" Emily whimpers.
"Fleming!" I shout as I kneel down and put my hands on her face. She looks into my eyes and continues to whimper and cry as I do everything I can to keep her calm. "Listen to me, you're going to be alright! We got the best medic in Oklahoma in that SUV, and she's going to patch you up, but I need you to stay with me, Okay!?"
Fleming gets out of the vehicle with her field surgeon's kit and puts on a pair of surgical gloves. We can't go anywhere until Emily is patched up. Fleming takes over as I walk over and open up the sedan. Eric takes what's useful as I pull out a black case and open it up. Inside is a flare gun, a couple of cartridges, and a package of signal flares. Damnit. I was hoping it would actually be something useful.
Fleming sterilizes her gloves, a syringe, and a morphine ampoule with some rubbing alcohol. She rolls up Emily's sleeve and dumps alcohol onto her wound, and the injection site. Emily thrashes around and swears profusely. Fleming breaks the glass tip off the ampoule and fills the syringe.
"I need a place to lay her down once she's drugged!" Fleming yells as she injects Emily in the shoulder.
"I don't think that's possible!" Melissa yells as she blasts a shambler wobbling over with her shotgun. She racks the pump and hits another shambler that's following. Adam climbs on top of the SUV and sits down with grandpa's service rifle. His elbow rests on his propped-up knee and acts as a stabilizer. Jessica takes the range finder out and points.
"Fifty yards and closing!"
Adam adjusts his sight and fires. The concussive blast from the 30-06 causes the SUV to rock back. The bullet hits the shambler in the head, and the front half of its skull disappears. Bone and brain matter splatter all over the ground as it takes a couple more steps and collapses. He pulls the bolt back, and Jessica finds him another target.
Melissa is watching over Miss Fleming, Emily and Lauren. I pick up the revolver in the back and eject the shells. I dig through the spent brass and pick out the live ammunition. Two more bullets for a total of seven in reserve.
Adam fires again and drops another shambler while Melissa holds off the horde from the other side. Eric gets back into the SUV and packs up the supplies. I set my sights on a shambler closing in on Melissa and pull the trigger. The weight of the copper bullet drags the shambler's head to the right as it hits the ground and dies.
"Alright! This is what we are going to do! I want all of you to swing wide and get Emily to a safe place!" I shout as I crank the lever and drop another shambler.
"And what exactly are you going to do!?" Eric yells.
"Something stupid!" I reply.
The slide on Eric's handgun locks back as the ejector spits out the final spent casing. He takes the magazine out, sticks it in his pocket and grabs the spare.
"Fuck! I forgot to load the extra mag!" Eric shouts as he makes an attempt to open a box of 380. ACP bullets.
"Here! Just take this!" I hand him my rifle, and the last of my 30-30 rounds. At this rate, we aren't going to have any ammo left and something has to be done. Eric slams the last three bullets into the 30-30. Shamblers bust out of nearby glass displays and emerge from the alleyways that cut through the various buildings. The odds of killing them all are impossible.
"Eric, find a place where Fleming can operate!" I pop a flare into the signal pistol and shoot it at a building next to an alleyway. A red fireball sparks out the tip and explodes as it hits the side of a destroyed pawn shop. All of the shamblers stop and look in the direction of the sound.
"Matt! Please, don't!" Melissa pleas.
Eric catches my arm, "You can't do this!"
"Like hell I can!"
"But you're going to get yourself killed!"
"Then that puts you in charge!" I rip away from Eric and run into the alleyway.
The attention is on me now. I grab my dishwasher leg and slam it into the dumpster rapidly. A monstrous, metallic thud rings out, and the shamblers fill the alley way. I jump up on the dumpster and use the fire escape to climb onto the roof.
"No!" Lauren tries to run after me but Melissa grabs her and covers her mouth.
She thrashes around and screams with a muffled tone as Eric and everyone else back away. None of the shamblers are coming after them, so they can escape safely. One by one, they disappear around the city block.
Adam is the last one. Something is holding him back though. He looks at me with an upset look on his face. Not like he's disappointed, but as in he's sad that it's come to this. Despite our petty arguments, we didn't even get to say goodbye.
He gives me a thumbs up. I throw up an okay sign, and he runs off. I leap to the next building and continue onward. The sounds of the shamblers dragging their feet and constantly clicking their teeth really makes me uneasy.
I build up some speed and bust into a controlled sprint. The lip of the building acts as a boost, and I jump from it to the next building. I roll to prevent any wasted energy and continue my stride to another rooftop with a fixed ladder leading to the next story. The outside guard on the ladder are the ruts which I use to climb to the top.
Down below, there are shamblers wondering around, consuming whatever they can get their hands on. A girl a couple blocks away is getting attacked. The horde finally overcomes her, ripping chunks of flesh out of her body. Her screams echo throughout the street and up to the rooftops. A sense of guilt grabs me as I watch the girl die from the pure agony of dull teeth.
"Oh Christ…" I cover my mouth and fight off the uneasiness as the shamblers reduce her body to nothing but snapped bones with flayed marrow laying in a pool of red.
The thought of when that asshole Blair kicked that guy to the shamblers comes to mind. I could have saved that boy. Bloody images of something like that happening to Jessica or Adam descend upon my mind. A wild throbbing tears into my skull as I collapse to my knees and try to fight off the horrific illusions. Does Eric actually have it in him to protect everyone? Because I don't really want to come back and be told someone died.
Not to mention how Emily got shot. What if they can't find a place for Fleming to operate? Is she going to die? What if the guy that shot her had the ingenuity to coat the tip of the bullets in arsenic? Something slaps me across the face with an open hand. The impact forces my neck to snap to the left as I scan all over the place and try to figure out what happened.
"You always were the worrying kind." I hear a familiar voice say.
"Samantha!? Is that you!? Where are you, and why the hell did you hit me so hard!?" I ask as I look around. However, there's nobody other than me on the rooftop.
I grab my revolver, "I don't know who you are, but you better stop fucking around! I'm on edge…"
The barrel of the revolver glides across the chest of a clean high school uniform. Gold strands flicker in the wind as Samantha reaches out and touches my face. The look in her eyes have a disappointed slant. Almost like she's mad at me about something.
"Samantha? Is that really you? What's wrong?"
"You're thinking about it? Aren't you?"
"About what?"
"Don't play dumb with me. I know all about your attempts in the past, and I'm not talking about how you were trying to run away."
"Samantha…"
"No, you're going to shut up, listen, and listen good. Those people in your group are just as scared for you as you are them. Do you think it's any easier on them than it is you? Well do you?"
"No…"
"Then why did it cross your mind?"
"I don't know okay!? Maybe because I'm sick of living! You were the only person I had before the world went to shit and with every day that passes, the continue to struggle gets more and more pointless!" I shout as I break away from her grasp and sit down at the edge of the building.
Samantha sits down beside me, "Did I ever tell you why I fell in love with you?"
"Only seven times, but it's a story that never gets old." I reply as a grin forcefully splits my mouth open.
"It's because no matter how hard things got, you always stuck it out. You were a man I could depend on. A man who would give me a shoulder to cry on when things got tough. A man that would go out of his way to see that life got better for everyone. No matter the cost."
She lays her head on my shoulder and folds her fingers into my right hand, "I know it's hard Matt. You were appointed to be a leader over a group of individuals that wanted nothing to do with you before this happened, but right now, they're scared, alone and hopeless. You are the man Eric, and the others need in their lives. They look to you because you are the only one that can give them a future. A future that's worth fighting for."
"Samantha?"
"Yes Matt?"
"I really miss you."
"And I miss you too. It's kind of boring here in Heaven without you, but I know one day, we'll be together again. Until then, you have nine futures that are worth fighting for and protecting."
"Nine? But there's only…" I look over to finish my statement and she's gone. Vanished without a trace. I have no idea what just happened, but Samantha told me something that needed to be said. That moment I collapsed to my knees, it felt like sticking the gun to my head and pulling the trigger was the only way to make it stop.
I wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. It'd all be over, but the oath I took on protecting Eric and them would have been for nothing, and the idea of being remembered as a liar by everyone as I lay there dying would hurt more than the actual bullet wound itself. Samantha is right. Even if she was a hallucination. No matter how hard it gets, or what happens to me, I have to finish what was started.
Most of the shamblers are on one side of the building. While the other side looks completely devoid of life. I check below and climb down into an alleyway. Abandoned cars litter the street along with hundreds of dead bodies. The urge to vomit is overwhelming, but I fight it off and press on.
There is no way to determine if one of these things will come back to life, so I constantly look over my shoulder as I search through a car with a busted window. Everything, including the glove compartment has been stripped of anything useful. Although the paper can be used to start a fire. If it wasn't so loud, I'd remove the door and make some kind of make shift shield out of it.
The next car over looks promising. Inside, there happens to be a first aid kit. Completely intact and conveniently sitting in the passenger seat. Wait… Something isn't right here… Completely intact? Here?! Out of the pure paranoia that swims around my consciousness, I jump backward.
The sound of a suppressed gun slide flies back, and a brass shell ejects out of the chamber and bounces across the pavement. The front part of my right shin burns incredibly hot as I land on my back.
"Shit!"
I get up and take off limping into the nearest building. Every step I take sends a shockwave through my right leg as I try to keep all my weight off it. I turn over tables and dive down on the ground as more suppressed rounds hit all around me. The footsteps of my attacker grow louder.
I get on all fours and crawl into the nearest room. The door has been ripped off its hinges, and the way out back has been barricaded with tables and lockers. Even the windows are boarded up with plywood. I grab my revolver and turn over a table. My attacker storms into the room with her gun drawn. Her eyes meet mine as she points her handgun up at me. Her short, pink hair matted with grit only makes her look fiercer.
"I'll damn us both if you take one more step!" I yell as I pull the hammer back on my revolver and threaten to shoot.
The girl backs out of the room and takes aim at the table. We both stare one another down from the safety of our cover. Right now, we are at a stalemate. The moment she tries anything, this entire building will turn into an echo chamber that is going to draw a lot of unwanted attention.
"What do you want from me!?" She yells.
"Wait… What?"
"Don't play stupid with me! You're from that group on the bus! The ones that chased me here into this hellhole called Coaltown!"
"I have no idea what you are talking about!"
"You know damn well what happened! Your group savagely dismembered my best friend, fed his lover to the croakers, and took the meds I collected from the clinic! I barely made it out of there, but you must be the one he sent!"
"And I suppose those guys you were riding around with aren't from Blair's group!?"
"Those were some guys looking for supplies! I told them I'd be willing to share if they took me to the pharmacy! That was until you came along and fucked everything up! How many more of you are there by the way!?"
"There are only seven people in my group! Eric, Melissa, Miss Fleming, Lauren, Jessica, Emily, and Adam!"
"Well, you better write those names on a tombstone, because they're next!"
"Sounds like you're the one from Blair's group! Making threats with such promise in her voice! How do I know you're not the one hunting me!?" I reply.
She grinds her teeth and tries to get a better angle where she can shoot at me, but if she leans out any further, I'll be able to hit her in the chest. However, that's just going to draw a lot of unwanted attention, and with this injury, I won't be able to maneuver well enough to escape.
Not to mention our conversation isn't deescalating at all. If anything, she's even more angry than before. There's got to be something that will make her back off.
"Hey pinky pie!"
"Shut up!"
"Ask yourself this, if I really was trying to kill you, do you think I'd be doing it by myself!? I mean, I'm traveling on my own, and if I were from that group, don't you think it'd be more beneficial to hunt someone down as a pack!?"
The fire that storms in her eyes burns out as she lowers the gun, "How do you know this!?"
"Because he's after me too! I stood up to him and his group because they were abusing an eighth grader! For that, he's sworn to hunt me down!"
The girl keeps her gun on me as she slings her backpack off onto the ground. The girl digs through her bag and pulls out a red box. Something that sounds like pills in a bottle rattle within as she skids the med kit across the floor.
"You're going to patch yourself up, and then you're going to help me kill that son of a bitch, but no funny stuff! The moment you step out of line, I'll end you!" She yells.
As bad as my leg hurts, there's no way I'm going to step out of cover. That girl intentionally placed it in the middle of the room.
"What are you waiting for!? Get it!"
"NO! You're going to shoot me the moment I come out!" I carefully point at a broom that's near her. "Push it closer!"
"And what? Step out of cover so you can shoot me!? Go to hell!"
"Either you push that med kit closer, or we'll sit here!"
"Fine by me! I can wait all night!" She replies.
"You'll get bored eventually!"
The both of us stare at each other with malicious intent. I don't trust her, and she doesn't trust me. Although if she would do what I told her, I wouldn't open fire. Chances are that box is filled with rocks, and the real med kit is still in that car.
She thinks that by baiting me into stepping out, she'll get free supplies. However, that little bullet grazed me. Not enough to penetrate, but far enough to leave a nasty laceration. I can wait. Even though the pain is amplifying with time.
The sound of glass crunching underneath someone's foot catches the girl's attention. She snaps to the left and fires at something. A distinct sound of a groan sends chills down my spine. My cold blood curdles and obstructs the ability to properly think.
The girl slides across the ground as someone slams into her. She locks up and attempts to resist, but her attacker wins the test of strength and trips her to the ground. The guy leaps on top of her and wraps his hands around her throat.
"I got you now, you stupid whore!" He shouts as the girl helplessly struggles against her attacker.
"Get…off…me…!" She thrashes around and tries to fight back.
There's only one way out, and of course, they have to be in the way. I put my revolver away and grab the dishwasher leg off my backpack. She digs her finger into the guy's face and desperately fights for her life.
"She given you trouble?" Someone asks.
"Yeah! The stupid bitch is still fighting with everything she's got! She'll be dead soon enough!"
"Well hurry up! I want to get out of here!" The out of sight voice answers.
I make a mental note where her gun is and prepare. Alright. Time for a tactical retreat. I ease out from behind the table and skitter across the floor. The bulk of the dish washer leg slams into the back of the man's head. A brutal crunch from his neck snapping bounces off the walls as he grunts and falls on top of the girl. I scoop up the suppressed 22 and take aim at his partner.
The guy turns around as I aim low and pull the trigger. The gun barely kicks as the tiny round hits him in the gut. He staggers back, and I slam the dishwasher leg into his face. The guy spins around and turns over a nearby table.
Plastic cups filled with watered down soda and soured tea scatter all over the floor. I eject the magazine from the 22 and pull the slide back. The chamber spits the live round out as I toss the gun and magazine to the ground.
"You alright in there? I thought I heard something." Someone outside says.
I charge up and slam the dishwasher leg into his arm. He drops his gun and stumbles back. I snag hold of the man and press my hunting knife to his neck.
"Let him go!" A guy on the other side of the street yells as he aims a hunting rifle at me.
I force the captive between me, and the guy with the gun. There's a squeak, and a tiny brass shell bounces off the concrete sidewalk. The guy with the rifle slumps over as two more streams of blood spurt out of the exit wounds on his head. The girl emerges from the restaurant and looks around for any more threats. She lays eyes on me and takes aim.
"I'll end him if you don't back off!" I say as I press the knife closer into the guy's throat.
"Then allow me to do you a favor!" She replies as she fires several times.
The guy shouts in agony as a series of tiny bullets pepper his body. Well, that was a stupid move on my part. I shove the guy forward and dive into the street. The girl sticks the suppressor of her gun to his head and pulls the trigger. Blood speckles part of her face as she looks over at me. I get up and take off running towards the department store across the street.
"Come here! I just want to talk!" She yells.
She isn't shooting, which means she's got something even worse lined up for me. I don't know what it is, but the way she shot that guy point blank range and didn't even flinch leads me to believe that hanging from a tree and getting disemboweled is only the beginning. The sounds of her approaching footsteps get louder and louder as we enter the store.
A heavy weight hits me from behind and nearly throws me off balance. She tries to wrap her arms and legs around me, but her legs slip back, and she fails to get a proper hold around my neck. I duck down and scoop her up in my arms. The both of us hit the ground at the same time.
She rolls across the floor as I get back up and try to run. Extreme pain rushes throughout my injured leg as she grabs hold of my wound and trips me back to the ground. I bring my free leg back and kick her in the chest. She let's go and falls over.
Pain rushes through my body again as her hands grab hold of my shoulders and shifts the weight onto my bad leg. My body locks up, and I can't fight back. The girl hits me in the ribs and drives us both into a fitting room door. The weak wood snaps off the brass hinges, and we hit the room's back wall. The sheetrock between the wooden studs spray white dust and bits of plaster on us.
She clubs me in the back of the head with a balled-up fist. I spin around and push her up against the wall. She yelps and more sheetrock caves in from our weight. We both place a hand in each other's face and try to break free from each other's grip. She staggers and I swing. The girl throws up her guard and blocks my attack with her forearm.
She pushes me away and drives her elbow right on top of my head. A quick flash of white mixed with stars speckle in my eyes as I block her follow up and force her off balance. I sweep her legs and take her down. The both of us roll across the floor and try to overcome one another. The girl loses her grip and stumbles. I close the gap and get a knee on her shoulder.
"Let me go!" She tries to reach out for the gun, but I force her arm behind her back and grab it first.
"Wait! I was just trying to help!" She cries out.
"Help me!? By trying to shoot me!? By beating the hell out of me!? Why should I believe you!?"
She opens her clenched fist and shows me a package of sterile bandages. The girl sniffles, "Please… Please… Don't kill me…I made a mistake…" She whimpers in-between tears and huffs of sorrow.
What do I do? She could turn on me if I don't kill her, but at the same time, she sounds pretty convincing. I don't think these tears can be faked.
Suuuppp!
The bullet strikes the tile as I throw the gun across the room. The girl shrieks from fear and breathes heavily as she was expecting to die. I let go and get off. She stands up, and I lean up against a nearby wall and fight the stress pushing me to the edge of sanity. My fingers comb the knots and pain out of my eyes as I rub them.
For this, the chances of me surviving are zero now. Who is to say that this act of mercy is not going to kill me? Mercy in the apocalypse is certain death. Adam, I am sorry I failed you. The burn of alcohol sears the abrasion on my shin, causing me to look up from the shock. The girl is cleaning the wound she inflicted.
"I thought you were one of them from the other night. That was until you crushed the skull of the man trying to strangle me. He was the one that took a hatchet to my best friend, and then fed his girlfriend to the croakers." She finishes wrapping my wound and pulls the leg of my denim pants back down.
I flex my knee. Soreness still bites my leg, but the sharp pain that did exist is now somewhat dim. "Yeah, that sounds about like them."
The girl holds out her hand and helps me stand, "I'm Kate."
"Matt. Nice to meet you. Thanks for not blowing my head off."
"I could say the same. Why don't you come with me? I know a safe place." She answers.
"Is the military present?"
Kate picks her gun back up and carefully looks outside, making sure there are no shamblers or other survivors around, "No. The military abandoned that part of town because of the rise of croakers."
"Makes sense."
"However, we need to get moving. The rest of that group can't be too far behind."
"Fuck…Then that means Blair isn't far behind."
"Yeah. That douchebag." Kate says as she peeks outside and urges me to follow.
I stick close to her side where she can see me, but I have a full view on her. I don't know if she can actually be trusted, or if she trusts me, but it would be best if she has the impression that I'm not trying to get behind her.
A grey blanket overtakes the pace of the sun's orange glow as Kate and I press forward. It's getting dark. The good thing is the shamblers are going to go dormant before too long, but that also means the flashlight will have to come on, and a human will see that quicker than any shambler. If the moonlight is good tonight though, then we can limit the amount of time the flashlights stay on.
"Listen, that camp is pretty far away, but I know a place where we can get a car if we follow the river back into west side."
"Where's the car?"
"A convenient store."
"If it's the place I'm thinking of, then I'll be able to hotwire it since it's an older model vehicle."
"Good." She answers.
Up ahead are a group of shamblers pacing around the street. Kate cuts through an alleyway between a bakery, and a Mexican restaurant. She keeps her gun up and continues on as I keep an eye on the back, and the rooftops.
The alleyway leads to an intersection that branches off in four different directions. Kate rubs her chin and thinks to herself as she tries to determine where to go. The sound of a gunshot muffled by brick barrels towards us. I hunker down and look in the direction the noise came from. That was close. Way too close.
"What's wrong with you stupid!? You're going to bring every dead one right on top of us!" Someone from inside a nearby building shouts.
I open a dumpster gate that's next to the bakery and hide inside. Kate rushes over and takes cover with me as I carefully peek through the little gaps in the wooden gate. The back door to the Mexican restaurant slowly opens, and a head carefully peeks out.
He opens the door all the way and makes a motion with his hand. Seven more people armed with weapons ranging from hunting rifles, handguns, and shotguns exit into the alley's intersection. Kate leans over me and takes a quick look. She sighs and falls back where she's sitting. "Fuck me!" Kate whispers.
"I told you to keep it quiet!" The guy in the armor scolds one of his followers.
"I panicked okay! The thing was right on top of me!"
The group argues back and forth on whether or not shooting the shambler was justified or not. Even with the element of surprise, we couldn't win this fight. It's two on eight and those are not good odds. Not only that, but one guy has armor. Something within my mind clicks. This guy was the one on the bus. He's the one that wrenched my arm. In fact, they were all on the bus.
"Look what you've done!" The guy in the armor points at the end of an alleyway.
I can't see, but it's safe to assume that there are shamblers closing in. He pulls a machete out of his sheathe and stands at the ready. I remain as quiet as possible as the man drives the blade through the throat of the female shambler and kicks her lifeless body to the ground.
"See? It's not that difficult." He wipes the blood off the machete and puts it back in his sheathe.
"Alright! I made a mistake! I'm sorry!"
"The good thing is, nobody got hurt or bit. When we've finished our search, I'll lend you a round or two. That's if I haven't used them all."
"Ah my god! What makes you think she's still here? She's probably halfway to Brookhaven by now!" The girl with a shotgun groans.
"She seemed pretty fond of that medicine from the clinic, and I saw a pharmacy when we first arrived. There's no way she'd leave Coaltown without checking it. The sooner we find her, the sooner everyone can sleep better."
"Yeah. I guess I don't really want to be looking down the barrel of a gun when I wake up in the middle of the night." The girl replies.
"Alright then. Let's get going."
The group hustles down the alleyway farthest away from us and disappears around the corner. Kate and I peek out and make sure it's clear. Blair being this close makes me uneasy. Especially with how big his group is. Yes, we took a couple out earlier, but there's no way of telling if that will really make a dent considering Blair has the resources and influence to bring more people to his cause.
I ease out from behind the gate and move down the alleyway in the opposite direction of Blair's group. Kate gets ahead of me as we press forward onto the street and run across to the adjacent alleyway. Being out in the open like this drives me crazy. Especially since Blair's group is extremely close.
Kate rounds the corner and disappears, "Oh shit!" She exclaims. A suppressed gunshot rings out, and the sound of a bullet striking something solid fills my ears. A man yells in agony as loud as he can. Kate flies back, and the man she shot holds her down.
"I found her! Hurry!" A pain ridden shout leaves his pursed lips as the both of them wrestle over Kate's gun. Adrenaline and fear that Kate is going to die fills my body, and I take off running. My boot connects with his face, and he rolls off of her.
I grab him by the collar of his shirt and slam his head into the brick wall. I don't know if that killed him, but that will hurt like hell in the morning. Something snags my neck and yanks me back where I can't swing to the side and trip my attacker.
"Shhh… Just go to sleep. We'll discuss more when you wake up." Blair's voice whispers in my ear. He strokes my brown hair as I try to claw and punch at him.
"Boy, you are a feisty one, aren't you?!" He tightens his grip and it gets even harder to breathe. My strength is rapidly failing, and my attempts to hit him fade into weak spasms.
"Let him go!" Kate yells as she pulls her gun up. Someone with blonde hair wraps their arms around her throat.
She tries to fight back, but he leans back and places his knee underneath her and wrenches. Kate flails her legs around and tries to stand back up. She attempts to aim the gun behind her, but the guy knocks it out of her hand and restrains her arm to quell the ability to resist.
"Don't worry, neither of you are going to die here, because we have something special planned for you both." The guy says with a sadistic smile. He lays Kate on the ground and ties her arms behind her motionless body with some zip ties.
Despite all the rage fueling me, it feels like I'm falling asleep. A black abyss dotted with orange fills my vision as star shaped dots burst and reveal the outline of the veins in my eyes…