As I wind this story down through to the final lap (Probably 3-5 chapters or so) I'd like to remind all you readers that there will be a sequel to this, which may or may not be up a week or so after I finish this story.
Special thanks to: Simeon Williams, Darrinx, Godhand's Number, Tangora, YamiDymlos, Zero-Nightmare, Longsworder, Delta Operator, Jak4, DshizNit, swiglo3000, Savior M. Ascend, Mortal Guardian, Cold-Chaos, anarcrothe, Darks00, Jokerisdaking, IncrediRaider8, Otritzi, bahamut9999, Aelis Aisling, no body, hopeless-romantic-nr-one, Chaos Blade, K-R-4-E-V-A, Kei Ikari, KPFan4Life, Leah Phillips, Draft Strangus, whitem, Uzziel, zero9g9, and surfrost for reading and reviewing.
Chapter 24
Eastbound and down…
1 hour and 55 minutes till missile strike…
"Are we there yet?" Bonnie asked for what may have actually been the fifteenth time in the last ten minutes.
"Would you just shut up! It's bad enough I have to deal with Shego's sass on a constant cycle, I don't need you whining to!" Drakken shouted.
"Excuse me?" Shego questioned, igniting one of her hands in a green mass of plasma.
"Oh…um, nothing…" Drakken flinched, expecting to be hit.
Kim's hand grabbed Shego's arm before she could strike.
"Save it Shego, we've got company"
"Company? Like what princess?"
Growling was heard behind the group, causing several members to turn to investigate.
Behind them was a rather large pack of infected dogs, or as Vin told them Cerberuses. Roughly six of the dogs were behind them, there teeth showing through their rotting flesh as it watched the group.
More growling was heard from in front (Which was now behind them), another five dogs moved in on that side. For being infected animals, they were surprisingly smart, in the short time of their little disagreement the pack had flanked them, cutting off all chances of escape.
Weapons rose to firing level in the ranks.
"KP, I think we're a little out-numbered here…" Ron said, panic evident in his voice. Rufus remained tucked into his pocket, pulling the flap over his head.
"We are Ron, but we've got guns" Kim replied by giving him a slight smirk, which instantly boosted Ron's feelings about the sitch.
One of the dogs barked at them, sending saliva and bits of its own flesh at them.
"Ew, gross!" Bonnie commented before she yanked the bolt back on her AK-47.
"Pick your targets everyone, try to conserve ammo" Chris said as he took a bead on the nearest dog to the group.
Kim pushed herself back against Ron, he glanced over at her.
"You got my back right Ron?"
He grinned his traditional grin as he brought the MP5 up to his sights.
"Always KP"
The first dog lunged at the group as the clatter of gunfire filled the empty streets.
1 hour 50 minutes till launch…
Vin slowed his walk as he approached the remnants of a police roadblock. It was an eerie sight to come upon, cruisers still had their lights going, flashing red and blue on the surrounding dark surroundings, blood smears on the black and white paint, dead officers littering the ground, the utter silence that fell upon the scene. All that could be heard throughout the area was the flashing of the LED tubes and the quiet purr of the police car engines.
He slowly stepped over an officer, laying face down on the pavement, his empty gun still in his hand. Glass crunched over his feet as he came to the open door of cruiser and peered inside.
Moaning came from down the street, in the darkened alley to his right. He brought his rifle up, but with the only lighting coming from the red and blue lights of the patrol cars he didn't see anything. More moaning came from the left, then from behind him, he was being surrounded by creatures he couldn't even see.
His eyes fell upon the shotgun still mounted in-between the seats, he grabbed it off its mounting bracket before he slapped the trunk release button on the dashboard. He quickly moved to the back of the cruiser and lifted the trunk open, scanning for what he was bound to need very shortly.
He found them next to the trunk mounted AR-15, and he grabbed the five additional clips of ammo for his rifle.
The first of the zombies started to appear from the back, left, and right of him. The number was astounding, literally hundreds, if not thousands of zombies were in the streets, all heading for him.
"Jesus Christ, they all figure out how to get to me?" Vin asked himself as he started backward, towards where he had to go.
The odds were not in his favor at all for this one, something he should really be used to by now.
He kept backing away from the approaching mass of zombies, right into the side of a patrol car.
He glanced back at the patrol car before he dove over the hood and onto the safe side.
"Yeah! Deal with that fucker!" He taunted the zombies as they bumped into the patrol cars. To his previous knowledge and experience, zombies couldn't climb over vehicles. Why exactly he didn't know, and frankly he didn't care.
However the joy of getting one over the massive crowd of zombies was short lived when one actually managed to crawl across the hood of the car. That one was shortly followed by another, and another.
"Oh… shit"
As the number of zombies increased in climbing over the cars Vin opened up on them, spraying the closest ones with the shotgun. More zombies filled their spot and they too were dropped by the shotgun. This cycle repeated till the round in the shotgun were used up.
Vin used the empty gun as a club and smashed in the skull of one zombie that got too close, the force of the hit sent the creature's eye flying out of its socket.
More zombies started closing in when a rather smart idea finally crept into his head…
ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID! RUN FOR FUCKS SAKE!
Vin sprayed the zombie crowd in the legs, causing them to fall to the ground before he started jogging back down the street.
"Reloading!" Kim shouted as she grabbed another magazine out of her belt.
The dog attack was only a minute old, but she managed to burn through thirty rounds in that time, also taking out about 4 of the dogs.
It seemed relentless, they take out four dogs, and five would take their place.
Soon their perimeter was littered with the corpses of downed dogs and empty shell casings, and there was still no sign of the onslaught ending any time soon.
"We're going to have to make a break for it" Carlos shouted as he pumped two short bursts into one dog.
"Move it, everyone go, go, go!" Chris motioned with his arm as he held off the next pack of dogs.
They started heading back the way they were supposed to at a jog, occasionally they turned back to keep the dogs at bay which worked so far.
The pack hesitated from going after them, choosing instead to eat the flesh of their fallen comrades than get fresh meat. Still some dogs went after them, about seven to be exact.
Kim stayed by Ron's side as they stayed near the back of the pack, taking the job of keeping them back. Ron spun and fired a few quick bursts at the closest dog, the rounds ricocheted off the pavement and struck the dog in the legs, causing it to flip over itself as it tumbled to a halt.
Kim waited till she heard the panting of the dog before she went into a cartwheel, flipping backwards in mid tumble and fired right into the dog's skull before she finished her tumble, landing on her feet and facing the right way.
"KP that was badical!"
"And they said cheerleading hasn't been helpful" She smiled.
They sprinted on for a good three minutes, which is when the dogs slowed their pursuit, they were still back there. They ground to a stop at a very large intersection, each catching their breath, with the exception of Kim who didn't even break a sweat through all of that.
"Ok, I think we should do an ammo check before we continue on" Jill gasped, trying to slow her heart rate.
Drakken took it upon himself to check the bag of ammo, since he was appointed ammo carrier for the group.
Everyone seemed to have spent the same amount of ammo in the little scuffle, at least one and a half clip each was spent, however they still had a surplus of 5.56 ammo and 9mm which filled the empty magazines of the AR-15s and the MP5, there was still at least a box or two of .45 caliber ammo which would be good for Shego's Thompson, it was the AK-47 that ended up getting the short end of the stick, since they didn't have any additional ammunition for it, they were left with the remaining 4 magazines for it.
Thankfully Bonnie only went through one clip with the dogs, although with the extended AK magazines, that was still 60 rounds gone.
"You need to lay off of that trigger a bit Tex" Shego jousted.
"Well excuse me for not wanting to be dead!" Bonnie retaliated.
Before Shego gave a come back to her comment, the growling returned. They glanced behind them to find five heavily panting dogs standing there, ready for the next round of attacks.
Kim and Ron started to bring their weapons up when Shego pushed both of their weapons down.
"I think you two should take a break, I'll take care of this" She yanked back the bolt on the side of the Thompson as she stepped past them.
The dogs started showing their teeth as they continued to growl at her, saliva and foam dripped from their snouts as they started to bark at Shego, holding their ground.
"Hey Fido, why don't you and your friends here play dead!"
The barking was drowned out by the unmistakable clatter of the Thompson, spraying the dogs with led like a fire hose. The large caliber rounds punched through their chests, leaving gaping wounds, several of the rounds tore into their skulls, shattering them into bits and pieces as blood and brain matter spattered on the ground.
Within seconds, it was over. All five dogs lay in bloody heaps while Shego held the Thompson at waist level, smoke curled out of the barrel as the last of the shell casings clattered to the asphalt.
"Good dogs"
She turned back to them, yanking the empty magazine out of the gun.
"Dr. D, ammo me"
Drakken fished for the .45 ammo and tossed the box over to her.
As they reloaded what ammo they had Bonnie pointed out something.
"Hey guys"
The rest, finishing reloading their ammunition turned to see what she wanted; they saw the street sign above the street.
"Middleton Intl. Airport ½ mile, Exit 43"
"All right, we're close" Chris said.
"But we're not out of the woods yet, we still have to get there in one piece and deal with Wesker and your old friend. Let's tread lightly"
They started moving out again, Kim stayed back, staring at the sign before she looked back the way they came.
We'll be waiting Vin, don't let us down…
1 hour 35 minutes till launch…
Vin took a breather shortly after he ran away from the massive onslaught of zombies. Normally he wasn't one to run from a fight, but he was one man, facing impossible odds, had he stayed and fight he'd be dead by now. Death by zombie hoard was not something he wanted, that and he had a promise to keep.
He was almost halfway through the journey, and by looking at his watch he mentally kicked himself for not taking one of the cruisers back at the road block. It was taking him too long to get there, and he still had a mile to go, not to mention whatever the hell else decided to come out and attack him.
Thinking about it wasn't going to ease his mind, so he started to walk briskly down the road again. He checked every vehicle he came across for one that was in running order, and that had the keys in it, so far he was turning up nothing useful. He could jog back to the roadblock and take one of the cruisers, but the mob was probably still there, and there was no telling how much fuel was actually in those cruisers, so even if he managed to get back there alive, he wasn't guaranteed to get out again.
Hissing was heard off to his left, his eyes darted over. He quickly spotted the licker clinging to the side of an overturned panel van, it was an Alpha Licker, and by the looks of it, it was very hungry.
Vin personally didn't have much experience dealing with the Alpha Lickers, but he knew they had the same weaknesses as the regular licker, so he didn't expect that much of a change in the usual outcome.
The Alpha's split tongue flickered about as it crawled off the van, strolling slowly towards Vin, who didn't move.
He let the licker get close while he slowly moved his left hand into his jacket and grabbed the stock of the .45. The Licker's tongue brushed against his foot, he slowly lifted it, allowing the tongue to feel the bottom of his shoe before he smashed his foot down on the split tongue. The Alpha shrieked as it started to pull its tongue back, but the delay was all Vin needed.
He quickly drew the .45 and without even looking fired two rounds that hit directly in the Licker's brain matter, it died almost instantly.
"Not so tough now"
He holstered his weapon as he continued down the road, he stopped again when he saw a large blob in the road, and several split containers littered the ground around it. Obviously the group had been through here, so he knew they were still alive.
He was just about to continue when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A Dodge dealership.
"Well, there's my transportation" He said quietly as he turned to the dealership.
Instead of settling for what he found, he could pick out exactly what he wanted; he allowed a smirk to cross his face as he crossed the used car line.
Some things in life never change, that holds true with crossing the line into a dealership. As soon as he passed the used car line, four or five salesmen came out, heading right towards him. Now the usual tactics for keeping them back wouldn't work, mostly because they were zombies now, but Vin didn't see much difference.
The first one came at him, groaning. Vin just fired a short burst into his chest, sending it reeling into the side of a used car before it collapsed.
"No thanks, just browsing"
As predicted the other salesmen didn't alter their route, still they came at him.
"Guys can't take a goddamned hint" He fired another burst into the next one, catching it in the skull and shattering it instantly.
This repeated another three times till all the salesmen were down for good.
Too many of these damned leeches out here, better hope the showroom is less infected…
Vin quickly crossed the remaining rows of vehicles as he entered the showroom. Immediately after he entered he found the perfect car for him. Sitting right in the center of the showroom, facing the front windows (and thankfully a clear path out) was a black metallic Dodge Charger R/T.
Vin circled around to the window sticker, seeing what options the car had and what it cost. Not that it mattered, he wasn't going to pay for it or be in it that long of a time. The car itself was well optioned, Road and Track handling package, satellite radio, leather seats and of course the 5.7liter HEMI under the hood.
"I'll take this one, you accept…nothing? You do? Excellent." Vin spoke to himself, after all it wasn't a car shopping experience if you didn't talk about money, even if no one was alive to hear you, or even care for that matter.
He un-slung his AR and Springfield and placed them in the passenger seat while he climbed into the sporty bucket.
"Damn, forgot to get the keys"
He started to climb out of the car to search for the keys; he stopped when he looked at the visor.
"They didn't…"
He flipped the visor down, sure enough; twin sets of keys fell down into his lap.
"They never change…"
He grabbed one set as he shut the door and turned them in the ignition. The Hemi rumbled to life, bringing the gauges to operational status and revealing the half a tank in gasoline the car had.
Before he started out, he clicked on the radio, tuning in to find some station to listen to while he cruised down to the airport. He settled on some classic rock station as he clicked the car into drive and turned the Traction Control off.
"Lets motivate"
He nailed the gas, squealing the rear tires as he smashed through the glass window of the dealership and rocketed into the street, he cut the wheel, fishtailing the car as he kept his foot on the gas. Once he straightened out he turned the volume up as he hummed along to 'Running with the Devil'
"There it is guys, we made it" Chris said, pointing to the large center terminal of the airport.
They had about an hour and twenty five minutes before the place ceased to exist, hopefully it would be enough time to get their families and get out of there.
"Keep your guards up, we know they're expecting us" Jill said as they started cautiously towards the main entrance of the terminal.
Everything was quiet, too quiet. No one liked what they were about to get in to one bit, but they didn't have a choice.
They scanned the terminal through the large exterior windows before they came to the large glass doors.
Chris gripped the center section of the sliding doors, because the power wasn't restored here, they had to pry the doors open.
"Ready?" He whispered back.
Kim gripped her gun tightly; Ron placed his hand on her shoulder, his serious face on. Everyone looked equally as determined.
"Let's do this"
Inside the waiting area of the airport, closest to the boarding ramps to the planes Wesker and Will stood watch while the four remaining guards watched over the frightened families.
Wesker's lips curled upwards in a smirk as he turned towards Will.
"Mr. Du, it appears our guests have arrived, take the guards over to the entrance to greet them will you?"
Will grinned back, his eyes staying permanently red from the procedure. He motioned for the guards to go with him.
"NO, you can't!" Mrs. Possible shrieked.
"Don't worry my dear lady; they shall not be harmed, yet. You see I want you all to be together when this city is completely decimated."
"You MONSTER!" Mr. Stoppable growled.
"Now, I'm not completely a monster, if I was then I'd have Will kill them all instead of capturing them. Don't worry; this should be a relatively easy decision for them, if they value your lives."
He turned back to Will, putting his arm around him,
"I don't want them harmed, just disarm them and bring them back here, got it?" he whispered.
Will grunted in disappointment.
"Don't worry; you'll get your shot a Vin after we have him under our watch, ok?"
Will smiled a little as he nodded his head before he took off with the rest of the guards.
Jill, Carlos and Chris carefully scanned all around the empty terminal, looking for any sign of Wesker, this guy Will or the families.
"No sign of them, you think they're being held inside one of the branching terminals?" Jill whispered.
"I actually think they're all dead, but that's just me" Carlos said quietly so that only Chris and Jill heard him.
"No way, while it would give Wesker joy to kill the innocent, it's not his style. They're alive" Chris said scanning the lower the escalators.
"Of course they're alive, if it we're up to me then they'd all be dead" a voice said from above.
Kim's gripped her gun tight enough to turn her knuckles white.
"WILL" She hissed.
Everyone brought their guns up, leveling the sights on Will.
"Now, now amateur, I'm under direct orders to capture you, now where's your fearless leader?"
They were all so focused on Will they didn't notice the four guards move in around them until it was too late.
"I suggest you drop all you're weapons, if you weren't amateurs then you would have realized I was just distracting you so these guards could surround you." Will said, grinning.
They quickly looked around surmising the situation, they were surrounded and had no way out. If they attempted anything there was no doubt that they'd be cut down with little haste.
"Do it" Chris breathed as he started placing his weapons on the ground, the others followed.
"Sidearm too"
Grumbling, they each removed their seldom used sidearm and placed them on the ground.
"Your headsets too"
The earpiece and mic set was added to the pile.
"Good, now move it"
Two of the guards jabbed their muzzles into their backs, forcing them to walk down after Will, and towards their families.
No one noticed the naked mole rat that hid under one of the seats, watching as his friends were led away to what would probably be their certain death.
Rufus wanted to do something to help, but this was one instance were he couldn't do anything. He couldn't carry any of their weapons as they were too heavy for him to move, he just watched as they moved out of sight before he ran over to the pile of guns.
He looked out to the large windows, hoping that their new friend would come to their rescue.
Vin stopped the Charger at the top of an overpass looking down on the Middleton International Airport, where his team, their families and their freedom waited for him.
He turned the volume down on the radio, which was currently playing ACDC's 'back in black' and clicked his headset on.
"Team leader to all members, what is your location?"
He waited for a reply, all he heard was the quiet rumble of the HEMI. He checked to see if he had it on the right frequency and tried again.
"This is Team leader to all members, what is your location over"
Again no response.
He un-holstered his .45s and checked their ammo before he tried again.
"This is team leader to all members, what is your location? Ron, Kim, Shego, can any of you read me? Over"
Suddenly the channel crackled to life, Vin heard frantic squeaking, and he knew exactly who it was.
"Rufus? What happened?"
Left on the edge of suspense, yet again. Man am I evil or what? (If you want to live don't say what. ;) )
Next chapter will be the much anticipated Will vs. Kim fight, although don't expect it to be similar to the Resident Evil Apocalypse movie fight scene, as it will have some fair share of surprises for you all.
Read review and get a response, otherwise I'll send you're address to Apotheosis. ;)