In the Rooker Family household, Jason and Bill are finishing the last of the wooden barricades in the windows. Dale is upstairs, keeping watch inside the Attic.
Elise Rooker, Jason's mother, is reading a book on the sofa. Several shamblers roam outside of the heavily boarded up and fortified property. The constant, unending moans of the undead begin to take a hold on the survivor's psyche.
"Damn. There's got to be at least 20 of 'em out there, maybe more." Dale said, keeping watch from the attic with his binoculars.
As the zombies continue to aimlessly wander about, he notices a fast-moving quadrupled figure run into a nearby bush. The only notable features he witnessed were it's massive, anglerfish-like teeth.
"The hell?"
He swiftly, but quietly hurries down the stairs to warn the others of what he had witnessed.
Ryder's Bunker, Dallas, Texas: 5:23 am
In his laboratory, Dr. Ryder is currently replacing the teeth of Kami with razor-sharp nails. Though unable to feel pain in his undead state, the monster violently jerks about in his restraints out of instinct, almost seeming aware of what he has become.
"Damn it, more of my beasts are trying to break in again. But not to worry my child, your modifications are almost done."
Kami can only let out a moan as Ryder applies the rest of his new teeth. After the nearly 15 minute bloody process, Ryder stands both hands on his hips as he admires his work. The creature now sports a hideous artificial grin as it continues to quietly snarl at his current predicament.
"Look at you, my beautiful creation."
He then proceeds to remove the maggots devouring portions of his left shoulder, forearms, and left pectoral. An expression of pleasure appears to form on his face as he removes the rest of the maggots. His joy is short-lived however as he sees the undead's forearms eaten almost to the bone by the larvae.
"You've got to be joking? Oh to hell with it." He said, preparing more metal parts to replace them.
In Florida, the Rangers and Dr. Shofer are currently in the middle of acquiring fuel for the Helicopter. After a somewhat long drive, they finally make it to the massive airport. They remain inside the vehicle, looking for fuel. No zombies were present, so far at least. Doug thought to himself they probably avoided the airports as freakbags couldn't fly no planes. Whatever he thought could put his mind at ease he supposed.
As they enter the airport they for now split into groups. Python/Chris enter the airport to look for supplies while Brooks, Doug and Shofer look for the helicopter fuel.
"You guys have any idea where they have confiscated items? There might be some useful shit in there." Doug said
"Though I'm no expert on airports, there may be some sort of TSA office inside. But this place is too huge to perform a full search." Shofer replied
"Python and Chris are already on that smart guy." Brooks said
Some more walking later and they stumble upon a massive storage shed, containing a small plane as well as fuel. A small amount of infected TSA agents and workers are lumbering aimlessly. A worker actually picks up the hose, shambling towards the plane almost as if to refuel it. Brooks and Shofer look on in amazement. The Z's seemed to retain some aspects of their human lives. Brooks knows full well this display of intelligence will be a problem in the feature.
The men raise their weapons as they gun down the undead. Utilizing their combat training the two rangers are careful to not shoot any fuel canisters.
"Guys, we found the gas, a couple clicks away. Rendezvous here with the van quickly before more gutbags show up." Brooks radioed
"Roger that Sarge, inbound to your location. ETA 6 minutes." Chris said
"Okay I'm quite confused here. What does "ETA" mean?" Shofer asked
"Estimated time of arrival" Doug replied plainly
After loading the correct fuel for the chopper they floor it on the roadway. Running down any zombies in their path they eventually make it back to the Heli. MacMillan stands in his Ghillie suit, already having disposed of several zombies.
"Bout time you blokes got back here." MacMillan spoke.
"Piss off." Brooks replied, smirking
As the rotors of the Heli spin up, the Rangers are shortly welcomed by an absolutely enormous zombie horde attracted by the sound. Their shambling pace is strangely more intimidating than their sprint.
"Holy Christ" Doug said, his brown hair blowing in the wind as he raised his weapon.
"How much longer?!" Shofer hollered
"Almost done!" MacMillan said, pouring the fuel in.
"Hurry up dog shits getting ugly down here!"
As they gun down the infected, a zombified German Shepherd attempts to tackle Brooks from behind, only to receive a bullet to its skull.
"Bad doggie"
He swiftly turns to see Dr. Shofer waving his pointer finger at him as he reloads his pistol.
"You're welcome." He said as he continued his carnage.
"Okay she's ready, get your asses in here!" MacMillan ordered as they hurriedly entered. The Helicopter swiftly takes off, temporarily freeing them from the hell on earth.
Inside, Shofer puts his face into his palms as he decides to speak for the first time in hours.
"The virus was not intended to do this"
"The hell do you mean?" Chris asked as Shofer waits a couple seconds to reply
"It's original purpose was to grant soldiers increased endurance and the ability to heal from extensive wounds. It would've revolutionized warfare forever. More families would've been spared from burying brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers. Thanks to that, cocksucker Ryder, it's become our doom, creating these beasts we fight now."
"You're not innocent either." Doug said
"I'm aware. If I had known what Ryder really created I could've stopped him sooner. I failed him as his mentor, and now the world is paying the price." Shofer said
"So that bastard was your protege huh? Of course." Brooks said
They all fall asleep shortly after night looms, needing as much sleep as possible for what horrors tomorrow will bring.
"Shitloads of teeth you're saying?" Bill asked
"Yeah, thing looked like some deformed monkey or some shit. That's all I could see." Dale said
"They're changing" Jason chimed in
"What do you mean?" Bill said
"I don't know alot about viruses Pops, but I know it needs to make sure it can get more hosts and spread faster. So the zombies will get tougher." Jason said.
"That's crazy" Dale said
"As crazy as the literal walking dead out the door?"
"He ain't wrong" Bill said, drinking a beer.
"Want one guys?" He asked
"No thanks Dad" Jason said
"Sure, I can definitely use one." Dale said
Outside, the quadruped returns, gritting it's sharp teeth as it hisses.