With the survivors having fed themselves just enough to get by for the night, seven of them tried to make themselves comfortable on the floor of the safe house in order to try to fall asleep. Bill, however, stayed sitting upright, M16 in his hands in case a zombie tried to break down the door.
"Taking first watch, huh?" Coach asked him.
"Probably the only watch," Bill said. "You folks all need your rest. I'll be fine." He went to light up another cigarette before realizing it was his last one. "Shit, I gotta find me some more smokes."
"That's the least of our problems," Coach said with a chuckle. "Alright, you take care of yourself, Bill, and thanks for being on the lookout."
"You're welcome," Bill said gruffly as Coach laid down to fall asleep.
Chatter died down as the seven survivors slowly began to drift off. Bill knew he should be keeping an eye on the outside, but his attention was focused on Zoey, who was lying down next to Ellis. Her night terrors from the last time they had slept were of great concern to him, partly out of curiosity for what was causing them, and partly out of worry for her well-being. So far, though, she seemed to be resting in relative comfort.
Bill puffed carefully away on his last cigarette, trying to make it last as long as possible. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right knee, a knee that had been injured in Vietnam when shrapnel had pierced him. He started rubbing it, trying to knead the pain away, but he knew from experience the soreness was going to persist for as long as it was willing before going away. He wasn't going to waste a pain pill on this old wartime injury, not when much worse injuries could be sustained out in the battlefield.
Hell, it is a battlefield out there, Bill thought to himself. These kids haven't seen anything like this. Especially the young ones. His eyes glanced over at Zoey and Ellis again. Poor kids, they had their whole lives ahead of them, and look at the shit we're in now. At least I had my time before the outbreak. But what the fuck did I end up doing with my life? I never raised a family, I just sat there with my stiff knee and let my life slip right past me.
A low groaning from outside diverted his attention away from his own thoughts. The sickly groan sounded all too familiar to him. Boomer roaming around out there. At least we know it can't get in. He rose as quickly as his bad knee would allow him to take a look outside, just in case. Indeed, he saw the bloated zombie rambling around, oblivious to the survivors inside the safe house. The skin on his belly was sunburned, as if the Boomer had been out in the sun all day, and a creamy yellow pus was dripping from it. I haven't seen that shit before, Bill thought. Hope that thing stays the hell away from me, I don't wanna know what that pus does.
With the coast evidently clear, Bill slowly lowered himself back to a sitting position, leaning against the wall for support. His eyes began to get droopy, but he couldn't let himself fall asleep while he was on watch. His thoughts slowly became a blur until a noise alerted him.
"Hey, old timer," Francis said, startling Bill awake.
"Francis, Christ, don't sneak up on me like that," Bill muttered.
"I'm taking over your watch. Noticed you starting to doze off, we can't have that. Someone's gotta keep an eye on the outside."
"And you're gonna be the one to do it?" Bill asked.
"For God's sake, I'm not some trigger-happy lug nut. You know me better than that. Get yourself some shut-eye or you're gonna regret it in the morning."
"Fine, you can take over," Bill said. "I'm getting too old for this shit."
"Yeah, well, you haven't slowed us down too much so far," Francis said with a chuckle.
"Gee, thanks. How's that Rochelle girl I saw you talking to earlier?"
Francis smiled and shook his head knowingly. "Let's just say if it came down to repopulating the Earth, I know exactly where to start."
"Sounds terrific," Bill said with a laugh. He looked over at Zoey again, and Francis followed his gaze as well.
"You think she's doing alright?" Bill asked.
"She'll be fine," Francis said. "Girl's seen a ton of zombie flicks. She's like a walking dictionary on all things zombie."
"You know what I'm talking about, Francis. What about the nightmare she had on the train?"
"Oh, you're still on about that? Doesn't look like it's a problem anymore, she's out like a light now. Probably because her new boyfriend's sleeping right next to her."
"Keep your voice down, it's too early to tell where that's going," Bill said.
"Whatever, just do yourself a favor and get some shut-eye," Francis said, helping Bill lay down. "Let old Francis keep an eye out for Tanks and Smokers and all that shit."
"Whatever you say," Bill said. "See you in the morning."
"Better hope so," Francis said.
The night passed uneventfully, and as the day broke the survivors woke up naturally on their own. Francis had fallen asleep on the watch, and Bill grabbed his shoulder and shook him awake.
"Dammit, Francis, I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" Bill yelled. "What happened to keeping watch?"
"Hey, you're all alive, aren't you? I'd say that's a job well done."
"Jesus, next time I'm putting Louis on duty."
"Oh, Francis, I was just getting to like you, too," Rochelle teased. "What made you do an irresponsible thing like that?"
"Hey, look, I need sleep, too. Can't fight against basic bodily functions."
"Speaking of that, where the fuck am I supposed to take my morning shit?" Nick asked. "Is there a bucket I can squat over, or do I have to dig a hole in the dirt outside?"
"That's gross, dude," Ellis said.
"There's probably a bathroom in the building next door," Rochelle said, "but you're gonna have to fend off some zombies if you wanna get there."
"I couldn't give two fucks about the zombies," Nick said, "those damned beans went right through me. I'll see you shitheads in a few minutes." Nick opened the door to the outside in search of the bathroom, and Rochelle closed it and put the bar back on to keep it locked.
"For someone who wears nice suits, that guy is one nasty dude," Louis griped.
"He takes some getting used to," Rochelle said, "but I promise he gets slightly more tolerable with time."
"How slightly?" Louis asked.
Rochelle held up two fingers about an inch apart.
"That doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence," Louis said.
They suddenly heard a chorus of guttural roars coming from the outside. On either side of the safe house, zombies started to gather, running towards and banging at the doors.
"Where the hell did these guys come from?" Francis asked.
"Doesn't matter, we have to get out of here now," Bill said. "Grab as much food as you can carry and let's go. We have to head out for that radio tower. You got the map, Ellis?"
"Right here," Ellis said, holding out the map before putting it in his pocket.
"Okay, let's clear the way before opening this door. Everyone with an automatic, on me!"
Louis and Rochelle gathered next to Bill, and the three of them fired through the bars on the safe house door at the zombies crowded in front of it. The zombies all fell down in front of the door, and as the horde died down the survivors decided to make their move.
"Everyone help push this door open!" Bill ordered. With the cluster of dead Infected in front of the door, it made it difficult to push open. Louis, Francis, Ellis, and Coach pushed at the door until it opened enough for everyone to get through.
"Shit, where the hell is Nick?" Rochelle asked.
"You would not believe what I just had to go through," he called, almost as if on cue. His rifle was smoking at the tip. "I was in the bathroom doing my business and a fucking Spitter stormed in and hocked a loogie at me while I was on the John. I had to get my feet off the floor so that burning goo shit wouldn't melt my shoes."
"Did you kill her?" Rochelle asked.
"Yeah, once I was done taking a shit I did. Fucking nasty bitch. You ever seen Spitters up in Pennsylvania?"
"Um...no," Zoey said, the first person to respond to Nick's question.
"Ugly trailer-trash looking motherfuckers, they make Witches look attractive by comparison."
Another guttural roar sounded, and the sound of zombies scrambling towards them had the survivors on edge.
"Ellis, which way are we going according to that damn map?" Bill yelled.
"Um, uh..." Ellis said, fumbling with the map and trying to get his bearings. Zoey came over and looked at the map as well.
"Up to that street over there!" she called out, pointing straight ahead. "Then we take a right."
"Better move it, people!" Bill yelled, shooting at a few zombies as he led the way up the hill to the street Zoey had mentioned.
Arranged in a circle so they could see all sides, the survivors were able to keep the zombies at bay. Zoey essentially took over map-reading duties as they made their way down the small street which would lead to the main road out of town. Suddenly a door to their left got knocked down and a Boomer was there about to hurl his bile at them.
"Back up people!" Bill yelled. The survivors moved back as quickly as they could, then Coach fired a shot at the Boomer's bloated stomach. The Boomer blew up, its body parts flying off in all different directions. A foul stench emanated from the dead corpse and yellow pus splattered on Coach's shirt and khakis.
"Oh, hell, what is this shit on me?" Coach asked, trying to brush the pus off of himself with his hand.
"That don't look like your average Boomer bile," Nick warned. "Haven't seen that shit before."
"I saw it leaking out of a Boomer last night," Bill said, "but I have no idea what it does."
"It's really sticky," Coach said, trying to pull his hand away from his shirt only to find the pus stretching almost like a thick wad of gum.
"Oh, Jesus," Rochelle said. "I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Rochelle, come on now, we've seen way worse than this," Nick said. "It doesn't look like it's attracting any zombies, so why don't you just leave it alone?"
"I'd be glad to, Nick," Coach said tersely, "if the shit would leave me alone first. My hand's stuck to it."
"Oh, that shit ain't right," Ellis said, watching Coach struggle with the thick pus on his shirt.
"What the hell am I supposed to do about this?" Coach asked.
"Ignore it for now," Bill said. "Make sure nobody else touches that shit. We're short a gun now, and we can't afford to be short too many more."
They turned a corner and were alarmed to see a dead man lying on the ground. The corpse looked as though it had been out in the sun for a while, but what was more ominous was the hardened yellow substance dried on his shirt.
"Hey, that looks like the shit I'm covered in," Coach commented. "So you're telling me this shit will dry up if I wait long enough?"
"That looks to be the case," Bill said. "We still don't know if we can get that shit off of you once it dries though."
"Hey fellas, over here!" Ellis called. "Found myself a machete." He picked it up and started swinging it to get a feel for how to handle it. "Oh, this feels right," he said with a smile.
"Can I see that for a second, son?" Bill asked.
"Hell no, you can find your own machete," Ellis said.
"I'll give it right back, you nimrod. I just need to test something first."
"Alright then, but only for a second!"
Bill took the machete from Ellis and slashed at the dried pus on the man's corpse. The machete broke right through and chipped some of it off. Bill continued to hack away until the rest of the pus had been cut away from the corpse.
"Ellis, this was a damned good find," Bill said, giving the knife back to him. "We'll be able to free Coach from that shit once it dries up."
"Ah, hell, how long do I gotta wait till that happens?" Coach grumbled.
"Hopefully not too long," Bill said. "The sun's probably what dried up the pus on that man's body, and it looks like the sun's beating down strong today, so I think it should take maybe a few hours at the most."
"Hours?" Coach asked. "Whatever, I guess I'll have to wait."
"We'll have to make sure none of the other zombies gets the jump on him," Rochelle remarked. "Otherwise it could get stuck to him, and then we're really fucked."
"Thanks, Rochelle. I feel so much better now," Coach said.
"No need to feel so down!" Louis remarked. "You've got seven gunners watching your back. We'll make sure nothing bad happens to you."
"Mr. Positive's at it again," Francis said, rolling his eyes.
"Will you quit your yapping?" Bill ordered. "I think I hear a Hunter."
The survivors fell silent, and they indeed heard the low grumbling that was associated with the Hunter.
"Last time it attacked us without warning," Zoey whispered. "Keep your eyes open."
They looked through all the windows of the buildings surrounding them as they steadily crept forward down the narrow street. Bill kept an eye on the rooftops, and suddenly he saw the Hunter diving towards him.
"He's there!" he yelled, trying to shoot the Hunter in midair. It fell on top of him and started clawing into his chest. "Get this thing off me!" he yelled.
"I got it!" Ellis said, and he aimed his machete carefully and beheaded the zombie, whose body keeled over once his head had been lopped off.
"That's a pleasant sight," Nick remarked as the Hunter's head rolled in front of him. The hood had fallen off after being severed, and the head was finally revealed to them in full daylight.
"Oh shit, it looks like his whole head got burnt!" Nick commented. "And it's totally bald."
"And I thought they were creepy looking with the hood on," Rochelle said as she helped Bill up. "You okay, soldier?"
"A little sore," Bill said, "and I landed on my bad knee funny. I'm gonna use some pills. I can barely walk."
"You're not using pills," Zoey said. "I'm giving you my first aid kit."
"Kid, you're gonna need that a lot more than I will. I'll be fine."
"No, you won't. Those are serious wounds on your chest and they need to be patched up. I know we've been fighting a lot lately, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna leave you behind. We take care of our own, remember?"
Bill fell silent, and didn't object when Zoey started patching him up.
"How saccharine," Nick commented.
Rochelle hit him on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" he asked.
"Coach, how's it going with that pus? You think I can break it off now?" Ellis asked.
"Nah, this shit's still gooey as hell. You'll just get your machete stuck in it. Be patient, it'll dry eventually."
Francis and Rochelle were keeping their eyes on all sides, making sure no other zombies came to ambush them in the alley. Francis started to hear a low grunting sound.
"The fuck is that?" he asked. "Sounds like a dying cow."
"Oh shit, not one of these things," Rochelle said.
"All patched up," Zoey said, helping Bill stand upright. "Feeling better?"
"I will be," Bill said, "after we found out what the hell is making that groaning sound."
"Maybe it's Coach's stomach," Nick said with a laugh.
"No, you idiot," Rochelle said tersely. "That's a Charger."
"A what?" Francis asked. He turned behind him and saw the zombie with the hefty right arm. When the Charger looked back at him, he made a guttural mooing sound and started running forward at breakneck speed.
"Shit!" Francis yelled as he dove out of the way. The Charger blew right past him and into the wall of the building behind him. It started to stagger around as if it was dizzy.
"Now, now, shoot the Charger!" Rochelle ordered. She and Francis unloaded their weapons, and the Charger soon fell limp to the ground.
"And what would have happened if that thing had gotten me?" Francis asked.
"A concussion, if you're lucky," Rochelle said.
"And what if I'm unlucky?" Francis asked.
"Honey, you don't want to know," Rochelle said, patting Francis on the arm. He chuckled.
"Shit, there's zombies everywhere," Ellis said. "We've gotta keep moving."
"Lead the way, son," Bill said. "You've got the map."
"Okay, uh...this way!" Ellis called, leading them forward down to the end of the street. They came out to a much wider street running perpendicular to the one they had been on, and they saw old evacuation signs leading them out of town.
"Are those signs pointing in the direction we want to go?" Bill asked.
Zoey went over to Ellis and looked at the map. "Looks like they are," she said. "It'll be a slight detour once we leave the city, but for now those signs are our best means of navigation."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Francis asked. "Follow the signs!"
They made their way down the streets, paying careful attention to the map and keeping an eye out for zombies. They didn't run into Special Infected, but there were plenty of Commons to kill between them and the radio tower. Pretty soon, though, it became relatively quiet, with few zombies in sight.
"It's quiet," Ellis noticed, looking back down at the map to double check where they were.
"Too quiet," Zoey replied, keeping her pistols held up.
Suddenly they heard a smashing noise, and a car came hurtling towards them through the air.
"Watch out!" Coach yelled.
The car landed about a couple of feet in front of them, but then the survivors saw a Tank barreling towards them, making the ground shake as he charged.
"Shit!" Nick yelled as the Tank charged towards him. He ran backwards as fast as he could while shooting his hunting rifle, and as the Tank got closer the other survivors began shooting as well. The Tank was too fast for Nick to escape, though, as he took a swipe at him and sent him hurtling through a window into a dark building.
"Nick!" Ellis yelled, alerting the Tank and making it run towards him instead.
"Oh hell no," Rochelle said. "Over here, you ugly son of a bitch!"
"Rochelle, are you crazy?" Ellis asked.
The Tank was indiscriminate in who he attacked, but it seemed with the survivors split up that he couldn't decide on a target. He lifted up a chunk of the road and hurled it at Francis, who ducked as it narrowly flew over his head.
"Shit, I hate these things!" he yelled.
"Somebody please tell me this thing is on its last legs," Zoey pleaded.
Suddenly they saw a Molotov cocktail fly through the air and hit the Tank dead on, setting it ablaze.
"Where did that come from?" Rochelle asked.
"Over here, princess," Nick teased, crawling out of the building he had fallen into, appearing as though he was in pain. More importantly, the Tank was in pain as well, but it still charged forward towards Louis this time. Louis unloaded his sub-machine gun into the Tank, and it finally fell over dead.
"Nice shot, son," Bill said.
"Here, found a couple more in that building you guys can hang onto," Nick said, passing cocktails out to Francis, Ellis, and Louis. "Can someone patch me up with my First Aid kit? I feel like shit."
"I gotcha, Nick," Ellis said, taking the kit from Nick and beginning to wrap him up. Zoey looked at the map and smiled.
"We're about to leave town," she said, "straight ahead, and then the radio tower is not too far from there. We've almost made it, guys."
"Almost isn't gonna cut it," Bill said.
"Let's get our asses moving then," Nick said. "I hate this fucking city and I want to be out as quickly as possible."
After the Tank had been taken out, there were few other zombies around, just some stragglers dispatched by a few bullets. They finally reached the outskirts of town and saw woods up ahead of them.
"We have to be careful," Bill warned the others. "Once we step foot in those woods, it could get real easy to get lost."
"It's okay, Bill. Look!" Louis pointed upwards, and they saw that one of the tops of the trees looked artificial, surrounded by real looking trees. "If we keep our bearings, we won't get lost getting to that tower."
"Okay, then, hopefully you're right, Louis," Bill said. "Let's move, people."
As they made their way through the woods, they started to hear a hacking cough.
"God damn Smoker," Coach whispered. "Keep an eye out."
Louis peered over and saw a gray haze emanating behind a tree. "I think he's there," he whispered.
Sure enough, the Smoker stepped out from behind the tree. Louis took aim at his head and dispatched it quickly, sending smoke into the air where he had been standing. The shots triggered a flock of birds to fly from out of the trees, cawing loudly and making all kinds of noises.
"Oh, shit, that can't be good," Ellis said.
"Keep moving, people," Bill said, but then they heard zombies hollering and making their way towards them through the trees. "Keep moving and keep firing!"
They hustled as quickly as they could through the woods, but the Infected were quicker, and they had to dispatch them as they moved towards the radio tower. A couple of zombies almost overran Coach, but Ellis dispatched them with his machete.
"Now or never, buddy," Ellis said to Coach, taking a swipe at the pus that looked like it had dried up. Indeed it had, as it began to chip off, and after a few more swipes Coach was finally freed from it.
"Oh hell yes!" he called as he fired his shotgun at some zombies that were approaching Ellis from behind.
"Thanks man," Ellis said.
"Thank you, Ellis," Coach reciprocated.
As the survivors made their way to the radio tower, the horde of zombies began to thin, and once they arrived at the base there were none left.
"Don't waste any time, people, find some communication devices and let's hear what the hell's been going on," Bill ordered. They entered the radio tower, and a foul stench hit them. It was also pitch black inside, so they had to use their flashlights to look around.
What they saw through the darkness was a place that appeared totally abandoned. They searched the premises and found a few broken radios on the floor, but what concerned them most were the dead corpses of what appeared to be employees who had been working there.
"Shit, what the fuck happened to these guys?" Ellis asked.
"Doesn't matter," Nick said, "because we aren't gonna be able to find a God damned working radio in here. This whole trip was a waste of time."
"Are you serious?" Rochelle asked with a groan.
"Looks like Nick's right," Louis said, "unfortunately. There's nothing here."
"We better get the hell out of here then," Bill said. "I don't want to be helpless here in the darkness in case a Hunter decides to jump us."
They made their way back outside, and it was already starting to grow dark as the day was coming to a close.
"Well, I hope you liked camping as a kid," Nick said, "because it looks like we aren't going anywhere else tonight."
"Dammit, I thought this was a good idea, too," Ellis said.
Zoey gave him a pat on the back. "We couldn't have known better, Ellis. This wasn't anyone's fault."
"Ah, hell, guess you have a point, Zoey," Ellis said with a smile.
"Come on, you two lovebirds," Nick teased. "Time to set up camp somewhere where the big bad zombies won't eat us alive."
Zoey and Ellis blushed as they followed the other survivors, looking for a place where they could camp out for the night. They were disgruntled that the day had been a waste, but determined to figure out what their next move was. Hopefully it would be one that would keep them alive.