Chapter 10: The Truck Depot
The survivors were mostly silent as they sat in various places around the safe room, while they knew heading to Riverside was their best bet it was getting there that was going to be the problem, walking would take far too long they had a good ways to go along the roads ahead if they wanted to get near the town as it was, if the military was there now they would not be there for much longer, as much as Bill would've liked to of thought his fellow military personnel could hold the line, the truth was they couldn't... even being in a war doesn't prepare you for an endless swarm of brainless killing machines with no conscience... he knew they would have to fall back sooner or later if as soon as something went wrong and that meant they needed to get to Riverside and fast. Zoey had taken to looking at the posters and messages written on the walls of the safe house by other survivors, she couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head as she came across one of the most cheesy poems she had ever seen written, with over survivors also commenting it was the worst thing they had read since the virus outbreak began which she whole heartedly agreed with, as the men sat down eating the odd piece of food or cleaning and maintaining their guns she came across something they may have actually proved useful, PETER ARMY IS STILL IN RIVERSIDE WAITING FOR YOU AT THE DEPOT THE TRUCK IS FINISHED HURRY. She could not believe their luck an actual way out of town in the local area with a strong chance an escape vehicle may be found, "hey guys look we should try to find this truck depot their might be a vehicle we can use to get to Riverside" she spoke up with a positive sounding voice as Bill and Louis looked over the message on the wall as well, "that sounds like a great idea it would be much easier to get to Riverside in a truck then on foot!" Louis said ever the more positive about the good news, "we don't have a lot of options... its a best chance of finding a quick way to Riverside alright then let's do it" Bill spoke lighting up another cigarette as he stood up peering outside to the area beyond the safe room, he could not see any infected in view but he knew better then anyone that didn't mean they were not there. He pushed the door open swinging back round to face the others as they got their stuff together, "eyes and ears people eyes and ears..." he said sternly as he stepped out of the warehouse and back out into the open, the sun was beginning to set now the sky bathed in a deep orange aura as the industrial area beyond seemed devoid of life... no bodies or blood on the walls and floor and no sounds other then their own breathing, he looked over to the left in the far distance to see search lights far off, "that has to be the truck depot, lets hustle we need to get to Riverside as quick as we can" he finished as he began to march through the courtyard scanning all around him for any signs of the enemy as the team followed close behind.
Zoey couldn't help but shiver as the shadows of the buildings and the falling sun was beginning to make everything look dark... soon enough the enemy would have full advantage again as they made their way forward noticing the road ahead was blocked by a bus and an army truck colliding with one another, Bill motioned with his hand for them to stop, he could hear them... breathing and grunting to one another, he crept over to the back of the truck and climbed up looking over to the see the street ahead filled with infected, the only good thing being the seeming lack of the mutant variants as they had recently killed three hunters and a boomer, he motioned back as Louis handed him a pipe bomb, using his cigarette he light the fuse and turned on the alarm tossing the device to the right as the infected all snapped their heads to the object falling from the sky as they screamed in fury clawing at one another to get at the device as it suddenly exploded blasting them all into pieces which fell down splattering all over the car park where the device had gone off. Bill chuckled satisfied as he climbed over the jeep dropping down and walking between two idle cars as the team came to join him, they shuffled forward carefully looking around them as Zoey sighed leaning back against the hood of the car to their left, she immediately jumped into the air with a shrill scream as the alarm of the car began blaring loudly, the men looking back in horror as she scrambled to compose herself and held her hunting rifle tightly, "shit, Zoey what the hell girl!" Louis yelled as he could hear screaming and shouting all around them as Francis blasted the steering wheel of the car the alarm stopped but the damage was already done, they all gripped their weapons tightly as they waited for the approaching swarm, "Here they come Zoey just pretend they are all helicopter pilots!" Francis yelled as he shotgun boomed into action along with Bills SMG. Zoey shook her head cursing up a storm as she took her anger out on the approaching infected removing limbs and exploding heads as Louis smacked everything that came too close with the bat, spraying blood all over the ground and the bat and his shirt, Francis one handily tossed a Molotov shattering and engulfing a large area to their right in flames incinerating a large swarm of the infected menace, the group stood their ground Zoey popping a boomer which had been waddling its way towards them trying to hide amongst some trees behind a fence to their left but she had heard it coming a mile off and took it out clean as eventually the swarm came to a stop, leaving the area filled with blood parts and corpses for all the eye could see.
Bill grunted marching off as he glanced at Zoey briefly shaking his head as Louis chuckled walking behind him, Zoey glanced down at the ground out of embarrassment, she grunted as Francis slapped a hand on her back with a chuckle, "hey don't worry about it no one got hurt... we all make mistakes that's how you know we are still human" he said patting her as he walked ahead she sighed, mentally thanking him as she made to keep up with the men their goal still being quite far off as the sun continued its decent from the once bright sky, Bill was silent as he pushed up a street filled with bodies and cars taking out the infected in the area although there was only a couple of them, the road ahead was blocked meaning they would be forced to go left again in between some factories one of which was a metal supply plant. "Metal supply oh thank god I was running low on metal" Zoey remarked as they moved through the courtyard no infected in their path as Zoey spotted a paper factory, "oh free coffee paper sweet the apocalypse was totally worth it" she said again as Louis chuckled however Bill was not impressed, "kid we need to make as little noise as possible, not cut out the shit and keep moving and do not lean against anymore cars!" he snapped before stomping off towards the other end of the courtyard as she kicked the floor out of frustration, "hey come on girl have it out with the old buzzard when we find the truck or something" Louis said as Francis shook his head as the three of them made to keep up with the veteran.
Bill stood at the mouth of a shipping container which gave them access to the next area, "come on through this container the depot is getting close" he said sternly marching through and dispatching of some infected on the other side, Bill pushing them quickly and efficiently through the courtyards and warehouses around them as he knew that the chances of Riverside holding out forever were simply not existent, they had to move fast and once they had procured the truck they had to get the hell out of the shithole they were in now, infected seemed to be few and far between but he knew that was mostly because Zoey sent them all after a car alarm... none the less he hoped there would be no complications and that they could just grab the truck and go, pushing up by some left behind lorries he noticed they were further up the road that had been underneath the train bridge and in front of him he could see the search lights of the truck depot dead ahead. "The depot is dead ahead so lets move it out people" he said pushing back out onto the road and looking for a way to get over the chain link fence ahead of them, "look we can use that truck to get over!" Louis said as he and Bill climbed up the front pulling Francis and Zoey up with them as they used the back of the truck to get over the fence Francis noticing a recycling facility to their left, "wait a go on saving the planet recyclers mission accomplished" he sneered as they dropped down into the depot, Bill marching ahead of them noting the area actually was pretty dark as the sun had now almost set fully.
...
Bill stood at the entrance to the interior of the truck depot seeing a truck high up on a lift, it had a plow with spikes on the front and was covered in metal all over, the windows had been sealed and the back was reinforced with a metal door, "now that is a badass truck" Zoey said as Francis whistled Louis and Bill both noting they couldn't get it down from its current height, "I say we steal that truck step on the gas and not stop until we see the army!" Francis said loudly as Louis noticing a wire coming off the lift going to a generator behind them to their left, "we can't just take it from up there we need to power up the lift and lower it down before we can get moving" he said walking over to the generator as Bill grunted, "there has always gotta be something in the way of just straight up leaving hasn't there..." he remarked seeing two gas cans next to some bodies on the ground near the lift with the truck. "Those must be the poor bastards that built this truck... seems they never got to leave with it" he said taking off his beret and bowing his head as he and Francis picked up the cans and made their way inside, "we'll set up and then you switch that thing on and come straight to us we don't know how much noise it is going to make" he said as Louis nodded, he waited for 30 seconds anxiously glancing around him as he thought he could hear grunting nearby, "alright son we are up on the catwalk behind the truck switch that thing on and get up here!" Bill yelled as Louis pressed down on the button. "Come on generator catch for me baby..." he said as after several stalls it roared to life bathing the whole area in light as the lift roared to life making a ton of noise, "shit god damnit that is loud!" he cursed looking behind him in terror as dark figures began charging towards him screaming in fury.
He screamed running inside to see the three of them up above him he clambered up pointing behind him, "they're coming!" he yelled as they opened fire, "get on the minigun and shred them up!" Bill yelled unloading as Louis dove onto the minigun placement to his left and spun the weapon to life, it spat flames as it disintegrated anything in its path dropping blood and guts all over the ground as the noisy life began to lower to the ground however Bill could see that the bloody thing was moving very slow, he paid that no mind however as he had to concentrate on keeping the swarm at bay firing round after round ejecting and slamming in new mag after mag without hesitation as the onslaught continued not showing signs of slowing down as the bodies at the entrance to the depot pilled up more and more as they infected clambered over the metal fences around the building screaming and yelling as they charged blindly forward eyes full of rage and hate snarling teeth in a foaming mouth as gunfire continued to cut them down. Louis looking at the entrance and over to the left as infected tried to push to them from all around, they were pissed and this place was now lit up like the fourth of July meaning they had no choice but to stand their ground as they anxiously waited for the escape vehicle to lower to the ground for them to use when the time came, Zoey and Francis blasted limbs as infected stormed from all angles smashing through an upper doorway to their right and jumping down onto the catwalk Francis took them head on as Bill and Zoey dealt with the front entrance the smell of death and blood in the air becoming overpowering as they corpses piled up, a hunter screamed loudly as it jumped from the darkness above and landed on Francis who cried out. Zoey rammed into its gut and blasted it but it jumped away leaving a wall of infected from the doorway charging for them, "shit!" she yelled firing as Francis clambered to his feet and joined her.
Louis was doing a fairly decent job of holding the line with the minigun however it wasn't perfect and Bill was having to fire more and more in different directions to keep the infected menace from climbing up onto the catwalk, with Zoey and Francis blasting away at the horde off to the side, Louis never stopped however glancing only at the truck that had almost lowered to the ground at this point, they just had to hold out a little longer so that they could take the truck and get their asses off to Riverside, nothing could stop them now, more then ever they were determined to escape this nightmare world they now lived, Bill tossed a Molotov to the entrance temporarily blocking off the main point of entry as he heard Louis cry out a tongue wrapped around his body as the offending smoker was high above attacking him from a large window above them he moved to help only for the the Hunter that attacked Francis to land between them. It growled aggressively as he drew the combat knife from his holster twirling it with an angry glare on his face, "try me you son of a bitch!" he said with a evil glare as the hunter lunged forward... but this time the veteran was ready, catching the hunter mid lunge he jammed the knife up into its throat pulling out and tossing the corpse off the catwalk with a smug grin before marching forward and slicing the smokers tongue in two, it hissed in pain before running out of view, he pulled Louis to his feet who gave him a thankful nod, "remind me to never piss you off on a battlefield" he said as they two men shared a chuckle before the situation got worse quickly. Suddenly the whole depot went pitch black as the generator had stalled and turned off again the truck was almost lowered to the ground but it still had a little way to go and now they were plunged into darkness as the horde was hot on their trail, "damnit the generator stalled, we need to get it back on they are still coming!" Louis yelled jumping back on the minigun and firing everywhere as Francis and Zoey regrouped switching on their flashlights, "cover me I'm getting this shit back on and then get ready to get on that damn truck we are leaving now!" Bill shouted over the gunfire as Francis tossed the last bile bomb out the entrance away from the generator seeing all the dark figures moving away from them and outside clawing at each other to get to the horrid gas rising to the sky.
Bill took his chance jumping down and running fast back to the generator looking around briefly he pushed his thumb down on the button hard cursing up a storm, "I'm getting too old for this horseshit" he cursed as the the generator returned to life, he turned around yelling in shock as all the infected had turned to his direction screaming and shouting, he began to fire as the hunting rifle and minigun also tore into the grey wall of flesh heading his way seeing an opening he tossed a pipe bomb and ran back into the depot as the truck finally made it to the ground... "get your asses here now its time to leave!" he yelled sliding the back door open as Francis jumped down and moved inside as did Louis as the pipe bomb went off showing blood and body parts all around them, Zoey cursed and yelled as a tongue wrapped around her, she thought with it only for it to snatch the hunting rifle from her grasp and pull back up onto the catwalk, she moved to chase it only for Bill to grab her hand. "Leave it there are more infected coming we are leaving now!" he snapped pushing her into the truck as he closed the back door behind them hearing banging all over the truck, "Francis get us out of here, plow through the fence out the front and turn right and don't stop for anything!" he snapped as Francis jumped into the drivers seat, taking the key from one of the bodies earlier the engine roared to life as he stepped on the gas, Zoey and Bill thrown onto the benches in the back as he floored it towards the front of the depot, Louis opened the back door and tossed a Molotov out engulfing a large area of the courtyard in flames as Francis smashed through the front fence and sharply turned right throwing Louis to the ground. He stood back up his blood running cold as Francis began to drive away from the depot up the road passed the recycling plant, "holy shit move it as fast as you can!" he hissed as Bill and Zoey stared in terror at the solid wall of infected that were now charging into the street trying to chase them down, but Francis did as he was told flooring it all the way as the mass of infected got smaller and smaller behind them until he turned onto a slip road and made his way up onto a highway Louis closing the back door and slumping down onto a the bench sighing with relief, "phew thank the heavens we got out of there just in time... now let's get the hell out of here and get to Riverside we need to find the military and fast" he said as Bill nodded Zoey resting her head on the old man's shoulder as Francis silently drove on weaving through abandoned cars and running over any infected in the way...
...
Bill and Zoey had drifted to sleep as Francis had left the highway quite a while ago now moving through different streets as the houses and buildings were replaced by trees on both sides, Louis sitting in silence before a loud bang shook the whole truck and he yelped as Zoey and Bill also woke sharply gasping as Bill looked to the front, "if you could avoid crashing into other cars that would be great..." he mumbled as Francis sneered from the front, "hey if you don't like it you can drive, the amount of cars in the way is getting heavier and heavier, we are getting close to Riverside but first we have to get through this woods up ahead" he growled from the front clearly annoyed as he barely missed another car, there was another bang followed by more shaking as Francis was losing his patience seeing more and more cars in his path as the sun had fully set leaving them surrounded by barren trees and darkness. Bill shook his head grunting as suddenly they were all thrown to the ground as Francis slammed the breaks on hard, Louis climbed to his feet, "what the hell is wrong with you!" he yelled as Francis stomped to the front of the truck and threw the back door open switching his flashlight on his shotgun on and stomping outside, "what happened we out of gas?" Bill asked stepping out as they could now all see the problem, the road ahead was completely blocked by fallen tress even the truck would not be able to get pass, "anymore questions you old fart or would you like to tell us the next plan of action now that we have lost our wheels?" Francis said as they stared in disbelief, "well shit now we are gonna have to carry on without a truck, maybe there is another car beyond the trees?" Louis asked as Bill shook his head. "Most likely not one that we can use, besides we are not sure how much debris is on the road ahead, if a truck can't manage then a standard car certainly couldn't..." Bill said as Francis grunted, "well no sense of waiting here to die in a forest that will surely be filled with infected let's get moving the sooner we find the military the sooner we can get away from all of this" Francis said taking charge of the situation and marching passed the trees and flashing his light into the darkness beyond, frowning as grunting and breathing could be heard in the distance out of his lights range... the infected were out there waiting for them...
End Chapter
Authors notes: Well looks like I will get Crash Course done quick after all, with that being said next time we will be starting on Death Toll so hopefully I will see you all then.
Have a great day.