Sorry about not getting this chapter up sooner. I've been busy lately, busier than usual. I've never been a fan of smart zombies and yet there are always exceptions. You can yell at me if you want. But this idea came and I just had to write it. And besides they're not really smart they are sane. I'll explain more in the next chapter. I was confused myself when the idea came to me but I wrote what my heart. Besides I love dogs. And I thought it interesting to make it an ally.

Chapter 7 Old Friend Of Mine

April 3rd Very Early morning

Leon had indeed fixed the problems with the dogs. There was a large bulletproof door in between us now. Having thought I was a little more safe, I pulled Sophia into an old wheelchair I had found in the small room. She looked bad, I knew she could turn anytime but I didn't care. I'd seen too many people die thanks to Umbrella. Her eyes were closed but looked as if they might not open again. I wasn't going to let them go with a little hand slap. I still don't understand why Leon thinks he can take out the Hive. He'd surprised me with that Neo-Hive comment. Umbrella were monsters.

"Holllllllandd." Sophia uttered.

I dropped to my knees because her voice was so soft. Her eyes were not even open.

"Ki...llll mmme." She tried to shout but it came out a little stretched.

"Leon, can you hear me? I'm past the first set of office spaces. There's a four way stop. Left,right, or straight?"

"...cchchchchch." Nothing but static.

I slammed the radio down. As I was about to head left I spotted a zombie coming for me. I pulled out the gun and shot it in the fore head. It hit with a grotesque thud and took a part of the brain matter with it. Blood oozed non-stop from it's wound and it still kept coming at us. I shot agaiin scoring the other part of the intact brain and watched it splatter the walls behind. The trunk of the body finally fell limp to the ground.

"Zombies for a late night snake anyone? No?" I said and pushed the wheelchair to the right..

Sophia moaned loudly. I prayed that she wouldn't turn before I got there. The Bio labs weren't that far from the office spaces. I pushed the wheelchair as fast as I could kind of using it as a shield. This was shameless but I had to get to the antidote. We came to another stop and I went straight this time.

"Ah, give me a break already." I said as I heard the omnious sound of wet canine feet hitting the floor behind me. I couldn't tell how many were behind me. And I didn't want to turn around. I knew I had to. But then one of the dogs let out a yelp. I spun around to see a dog, an actual live dog fighting the zombie dogs off. Wait a minute! I said to myself.

"Soldier?" I called without thinking.

The dog paused and glanced up at me. I let go of the wheelchair and pulled my other pistol out. I took careful aim at the three zombie dogs and pulled the trigger emptying all six round into the canines.I aimed at their legs and watched them fall uselessly to the ground. Seeing the limps of any kind of dog pulled at my heart strings. But this dog looked like Soldier. A small doberman puppy I had saved a year and a half ago. The dog ran up to me and stopped. It licked my hand as soon as I lowered myself to his level. I started to pet Soldier. He had grown monsterous since I last seen him. I thought I had saved him from Umbrella but they took him from me, saying that I was not authorized to take property from the Compound. He wagged his stub happily and we headed back to the wheelchair with Sophia. I was frightened when Soldier growled but he started to whine and paw at Sophia. She opened her eyes and almost cried with fright when Soldier licked her face and then her wound. I wasn't surprised that the wound was open. We'd fought so much in the last day or so.

"Huuuh? A dddoooggg?" Sophia asked softly.

"It's my dog. His name is Soldier. I can't believe he's still alive."

"Heeee isssnnn'ttt." She stated.

"What?" I questioned and bent down to look at my dog.

She was right, he was dead. And yet he seemed like his old self. The more I studied him, the more I was confused. I checked for a heartbeat, no heartbeat. I sat back and watched him, he wasn't breathing. I couldn't fathom why he was still moving and not going crazy. And from what I noticed he didn't have any wounds. He didn't looked starved. And yet everything else suggested he was indeed the living dead. He turned around and walked over to me slowly. His eyes told me he was still himself. He sat by me and nudged me with his nose. His nose was clammy, not really cold or warm. I stood up.

"I'm feeling a little better now, Holland." Sophia spoke softly still but her words weren't slurred.

"...Shelly.Holland...they're coming...get back Now!" Leon's voice was floating in and out.

"Yeah, I'm coming." I didn't even push down the talk button, no use.

I went to the wheelchair and Soldier followed. I had a bad feeling about going back but I couldn't leave Leon behind. As I pushed the wheelchair, Sophia sighed a little. What had happened to turn her around? Here she was on the edge of life, about to die and becomea member of the living dead. She was alert and looking around.

"There's like a horde of zombies coming this way. I'd suggest we hide or take that path." She pointed to the left where I had shot the zombie previously.I paused and she seemed to predict my reaction. She knew whatI was thinking.

"I'm dead. I died10 or 15 minutes ago. I was about to turn when Soldier came up and licked my wound back there. You've akready noticed Soldier's dead. It's like a dream. I can feel their pain, their hunger. It's terrible. We need to destroy this place. Along with everyone and eveything in it." Sophiasaid to me and stoodup from the wheelchair.

"Let's gohelp Leon."

I stood there in amazement when I felt a cool clammy tongue lick my hand. Soldier was peering up atme, telling me that he was going to fightuntil the end. I felt myself smile.I hadn't smiled in years.

"Come on boy, let's go kick some zombie butt."