An Average Day During the Apocalypse
The four survivors had been hiding out in Allegheny National Forest when they heard on the radio that there was an evac center at Daughtery Farm. Given that living under government protection was a lot better than their current situation of roughing it in the woods, the group unanimously agreed to make their way to the nearby train tracks and follow those to the farm. They had to move quickly, as they weren't certain how long the evac center would stand, or how many people they would take in. Sure, the broadcast claimed that they were well fortified and had capacity for up to thousands of people; but they'd all heard that before. And seen the ruins of other places that had made the same claims. Despite what the evac center claimed, the group knew time was of the essence.
They made sure to grab all that they could carry before leaving their current safe room behind, bringing all the med kits and bullets that they could. Bill got ready to open the door, his assault rifle's safety off. The situation started to bring up memories of being in similar situations when he was enlisted, working hard to keep his men alive. But he shook his head and tried to ward off the memories. He could reminisce about the past later. Right now, he needed to focus on the present, keep these people alive. Bill also took a moment to re-adjust his green military beret, to stop it from falling off. Francis finished up reloading his auto shotgun and futilely tried to rub some blood out of his black biker jacket. Louis had his submachine gun in hand as he attempted to re-tuck his shirt (even though it would inevitably become untucked again soon enough). Although they both were trying in vain to maintain their appearance, they both started making fun of the other for attempting to keep up appearances during a zombie apocalypse. Zoey shook her head at their usual bickering, but she supposed things could be worse. She then stood up from her spot in the corner and joined them outside the door. Zoey took a moment to make sure her hunting rifle's scope was clean of blood, as well as deciding to zip up her jacket. Her jacket may have already been stained with undead blood, but her white t-shirt could still be saved. Once the group finished their final preparations, Francis, Louis, and Zoey got behind Bill, in position to charge out after him. Bill turned to the other three and raised an eyebrow at them. His gesture was returned with a grumble from Francis, Louis giving a smile, and a simple nod from Zoey. Bill gave a grin, rested his hand on the doorknob, and got ready to start running. They were ready.
Bill yelled out, "All right, people, let's move!", and opened the door and went out.
The rest of the group followed his lead and exited the safe room, right behind him. They moved as a unit, sticking together and methodically picking off the undead who happened to be hanging around outside the safe room. They may not all have been former military like Bill, but fighting and working together for weeks during a zombie crisis does a lot to bring people together. For a while the survivors didn't have much trouble shooting their way to the nearest safe room, they had become rather experienced at this sort of thing. They knew better than to venture off from the group on their own, to be wary of setting off any car alarms or making loud noises, and to keep an eye out for any of the more… unusual infected. But mistakes could still happen. They had made it over halfway to the next safe room, when a Hunter got the drop on them. A horde was charging, and they were too occupied with dealing with the immediate threat to notice the Hunter lurking in the forest. The only notice they received of its presence was its inhuman yell as it pounced on Bill and started tearing into him. That's when it all kicked off.
The others at first attempted to help Bill, doing their best to kill the Hunter, but other threats emerged, giving the survivors further things to think about. Francis heard a familiar sound somewhere nearby, the sound of someone (or more accurately, something) crying.
He turned the others and exclaimed, "There's a Witch around here! I'll give her something to-".
Francis was cut off as a long, snake like appendage began choking him, and started to drag him away as he struggled to break free.
Zoey attempted to take control of the situation by turning to Louis and telling him, "A Smoker has Francis! I'll free Bill. You go help Francis!".
Before Louis could bring up the approaching horde, Zoey pulled out a pipe bomb and threw it as far behind the horde as she could, causing them to turn around and chase after it. Meanwhile, Louis and Zoey rushed to try and help their comrades. Zoey finished off the Hunter and helped Bill up.
He groaned, ""Godammit, I am seriously FUBAR!"
Bill was in bad shape, but he was alive and could still walk. So, he focused on more pressing matters, and they opened fire on the horde. The pipe bomb had already gone off and they'd turned their dead eyes back on the closest humans.
Meanwhile, Louis was laying into the Smoker with his bullets, trying to stop it from choking Francis to death. Fortunately, he managed to slay it before it could crush Francis' airway, leaving Francis to fall to his knees and take a second to have a coughing fit. Louis stood guard while Francis recuperated, weary of more special infected making an appearance. And he was right to be, as a familiar yell rang through the air and the ground started to shake.
Francis eyes widened and he yelled, "TANK!" and the creature then burst through the tree line, coming right for Louis and Francis. Bill and Zoey rushed over ignoring the horde for the moment and focusing on the much more deadly and demanding menace.
As Francis got to his feet, he pulled out a Molotov and threw it at the Tank, setting it a light and yelling "Burn you vampire freak!"
Louis felt the need to tell Francis, "They're not vampires, they're zombies!".
Then Bill ended the short argument by yelling at them, "Argue about what to call the damn things later. Shoot that goddamn Tank NOW!"
But even with all of their firepower combined it wasn't enough to kill the behemoth in time before it reached the group. They attempted to back up as they shot but ended up with their backs to the building they'd just left. Resulting with them being stuck between the building to their backs, and the Tank in front of them, along with what remained of the horde that was still lingering behind the Tank. They desperately continued to shoot at it, but it reached them in time to take a swing with its giant arm, and knocked Louis back into a window behind them, sending him flying into a wall with a crash. The situation just got worse as he lay there getting onto his hands and knees and looked up to see the Witch that Francis had warned them about earlier staring him down and growling. He tried to slowly back up and keep the Witch from losing it, but it was too late, as it suddenly began to scream and pounced on him with its razor-sharp claws. However, it didn't have long to tear into Louis before the other survivors gunned it down. Zoey ran over to help Louis up as the other two finished off the horde, the Tank having been killed by the fire.
Trying to reassure Louis and herself, Zoey told Louis, "All right, tiger, up and at 'em. Nobody's leaving anyone behind. You're gonna be fine, but we gotta keep moving."
Louis managed to get to his feet, but he was unable to walk on his own. Zoey had him put his arm around her for support, with his other hand ready to make use of his submachine gun. While Zoey spared a hand to make sure Louis stayed up, she also made sure to keep a hand free for a weapon; although she had to pull out her pistol. After all, her hunting rifle wasn't really meant to be fired from the hip. She and Louis made their way out of the building while Bill and Francis made quick work of the remaining stragglers from the horde. However, as Zoey helped Louis steady himself, she failed to notice the Boomer that turned the corner behind her and was approaching. Louis, still getting his bearings back, noticed the Boomer at the last second, and couldn't get out a warning before it vomited all over her. He could only take a slight side-steep to lean against the wall, narrowly avoiding the vile stream of bile.
Zoey struggled not to throw up, yelling, "Ugh, yuck! Not again!"
She yelled this both because getting vomited on by a Boomer would always be gross, as well as to get Bill and Francis' attention.
Her efforts worked, and the two of them (who had just finished clearing the area) quickly went over to defend Zoey and Louis from the new horde that charged toward the group. Luckily, none of them managed to get close enough to start swiping and biting, although they were about out of bullets at the end of it. They then went as quickly as they could, with Bill and Louis limping, to the safe room, their asylum from this world of nightmares. After all that had gone down, they were on edge and keeping a sharp eye out, but the rest of the trip there was peaceful. Or at least as peaceful as things could be in a world with a zombie virus. It seemed that whatever God was up there had decided that they'd had enough for the day. Bill somehow managed to get to the safe room first and waited for the others to get in before slamming the door shut behind them and locking it.
Once inside the safe room, they all took a moment to finally breathe. Zoey immediately searched for some spare clothes lying around, and started looking around for a separate room attached to the safe room, one that she could change in. Louis gingerly sat down on one of the few chairs and made use of his med kit as best he could. He also planned on making use of some painkiller pills he'd been holding onto. Francis sat down on the floor to massage and rub his neck, and breathe in and out, making sure his neck was still in working condition.
Bill just slid down with his back to the door, opened his med kit to get to work on his wounds, and sighed, muttering, "What a day."
Despite the group's entrance, the room remained mostly quiet, the silence only occasionally interrupted with the sound of bandages being applied, grunts of pain, and Francis complaining about Smokers under his breath.
Bill hadn't moved from his position by the door, sitting with his back to and patching himself up from where the Hunter's claws had torn into his chest. He was still somewhat annoyed with himself for not noticing the Hunter in time, but after a couple of minutes he let go of his frustration. Spotting a Hunter before it attacked was no easy feat. They weren't like the other special infected, most of which made noise that could warn survivors of its presence. Smokers coughed, Witches cried, and it was never hard to know when a Tank was coming. If the inhuman yelling didn't tip you off, the way the ground itself started to shake was a pretty obvious indicator. And although Boomers didn't come with any obvious warning signals, given that they couldn't move quick, needed to be close to someone to vomit on them, and have rather noticeable girth, it was hard for a Boomer to be able to sneak up on someone. As Zoey had recently experienced, that didn't mean it was impossible for them to be able to catch survivors by surprise, but it was rare. Hunters, however, also gave no warnings, besides the scream they let out when then pounce. And if you heard that scream, it tended to mean that it was to late to dodge. Their silence combined with their speed and agility, resulted in Hunters rarely being seen until they attacked. So, Bill reminded himself of these facts to reassure himself that he was still capable, he could and would continue to fight. He didn't live this long to die in what may be the biggest battle of his life.
While Bill mused about failure, age, and war, Francis continued to go on and on about Smokers. Mainly about how stupid they were. It especially pissed Francis off how the Smokers fought from a distance, and how besides their little choking tongue gimmick, Smokers were easy to shoot down. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, this whole vampire virus was really fucking annoying and frustrating. If these vampires would just die easier and quicker, life would be awesome. With the whole collapse of society and whatever, there was no one to stop him from getting into bar fights anymore. For that matter, forget bar fights, he didn't have to worry about paying for anything anymore. Francis could just stroll up to any old store and pick up a nice flat screen tv, and it was his, no fuss. Sure, he'd need to find a source of electricity, a tv in working condition, move the tv, but those are minor details, the small picture. The larger picture was, once all the vampires were dead, or he found someplace safe from them, Francis would be living the dream! Or they would, he supposed. It's not like he'd be opposed to the others coming with him. Louis was annoying, but he could be worse, …somehow. The fact that Bill seemed to think he could boss Francis around was frustrating, but he had to admit he had some respect for the old man. Because he seemed to never feel his age, and never let it slow him down when they were killing vampires. Also, Bill had a sense of loyalty to the group, he didn't want to leave anyone behind. And considering Francis was part of those people, he could appreciate that. That left Zoey, who was the only one Francis didn't have any issues with. The girl could kill vamps just as well as the rest of them, and she wasn't super optimistic and annoying like Louis. All in all, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have some company when this was all over. And hell, Francis could have worse company, at least he knew these guys. Although it would mean putting up with Louis for the rest of his natural life…
In contrast to the other two's thoughts, Louis was thinking rather practically. He'd spent a good ten minutes or so trying to work out how he was going to patch up the wounds on his back. At first, he'd attempted to handle it himself. However, it quickly became clear that he wouldn't be able to. Louis had recalled that Zoey mentioned there being a tiny bathroom attached to the room, before she sequestered herself in a closet attached to the room. So, he staggered over to the mirror in the small bathroom, in case being able to see the injuries would help. But it was of no help. Louis just couldn't get his arms to reach, and he kind of needed to make sure all his back was good. After all, he'd gotten a lot of glass shards embedded in his back when that Tank hit him through a window. Using the mirror, he managed to get most of the shards out, but some were out of his reach. Not to mention he'd need help wrapping a bandage around his back. Louis looked back to the room and considered his options. Bill was still making use of his own med kit for all the injuries the Hunter had left Bill. And while Louis was tempted to just wait Bill got done and then ask for his help, Bill seemed to be staring off, distracted. So, it'd probably be a while until he was done dealing with his own wounds. That left Francis, since Zoey was still changing. Francis, who'd made it very clear over the course of their journey that he didn't get along well with Louis. Which made Louis almost decide that he should wait until Zoey got done, safe himself and Francis from an uncomfortable situation. And he probably would've waited, but the glass shards in his back were starting to become rather painful, with his adrenaline rush finally wearing off. Which is how Louis found himself reluctantly approaching Francis to ask for a favor.
Francis was still cursing out Smokers, although he'd started to include other special infected, when Louis walked up to him. Louis stood there for a bit, unsure about how to start this conversation. Most interactions between the two of them ended with Francis and sometimes Louis annoyed at the other. Normally this didn't bother Louis too much, as he knew it wouldn't be an issue while they were all out there fighting zombies. For all the bickering and disagreements, they'd had, Louis knew that when push came to shove, he could trust Francis to have his back out there. But in the safe room, where there's no immediate danger, an argument was more of an issue. They couldn't just distance themselves away from the other when the room was only ten by ten feet, at the most. Any argument was likely to escalate, what with the enclosed area. He could maybe rely on Bill to break up a fight, verbal or otherwise, but with him still injured from the Hunter…
Louis was still running through scenarios and phrases, trying to decide how to start talking to Francis, when Francis noticed him standing there.
And Francis, not dealing with the same dilemma, bluntly asked him, "What?"
Louis took a second to get out of his mind, shaking his head, before turning to face Francis.
Nervously scratching the back of his neck, Louis got right to the point, "I've got some glass pieces stuck in my back from that Tank hitting me through a window. I need a hand getting out the bits I can't see or reach, and some help with the bandaging."
Francis took in the room, and noticing he was the only one Louis could go to help for, reluctantly agreed, "Well…alright, I guess. Might as well do this in the bathroom, the lightbulb in there working?"
After waiting for Louis to nod, Francis continued, "Yep, bathroom's the best bet then, it'll give me some light so I can see and pick out them shards in your back."
The two went into the bathroom, Louis took of his shirt and faced the wall, back to the mirror. Seeing how many glass shards had been in Louis back, and how many were still there, Francis couldn't help but be somewhat impressed. With how naïve and optimistic Louis was, especially given that he tended to be that way most of the time, had left Francis with the opinion that Louis was a bit of a weenie. Looks like he'd been proven wrong on that. It wouldn't stop Francis from making fun of Louis (teasing really, although he'd never admit it), but it was surprising to see he was tougher than Francis had given him credit for.
Slipping on the green hoodie she'd found; Zoey was relieved to have a moment of peace and silence. And for finding a clean pair of jeans that fit her, especially since she wasn't a fan of green. Don't get her wrong, she didn't mind being around the others, they were a pretty good group of people to be stuck with during the end of the world. But still, she could only take so much of Francis starting arguments, Louis arguing back, and Bill breaking up the fight. It didn't affect their ability to kill zombies and survive, which was good and important, but the routine was starting to grind on Zoey's nerves a bit. It made her really appreciate a moment of being able to just think. Until she started thinking about her dad, how she couldn't save him from getting infected, and what she'd had to once he'd turned. Then she suddenly decided that she' had enough solitude and that silence and peace were both highly overrated. Zoey quickly exited the closet and found a pleasant distraction in Francis and Louis about to get into an argument. She walked over to see that Francis was picking some glass out of Louis' back, and how Francis was calling him a wuss for he kept squirming and yelping in pain. With Louis arguing back that he was reacting normally, and that Francis was just a weirdo. Distraction found, Zoey leaned against a wall and amusedly watched the slowly escalating argument and wondered if Francis would get all the glass out before the fight became a yelling match. She was betting he wouldn't, but hey, at least she'd be here to take care of that glass once the argument was over.
Bill finished up bandaging his injuries and snapped out of his reverie when Zoey came out of the closet to watch Francis and Louis provoke each other. He smiled at their antics; glad they'd all found each other. But he'd been thinking about war, and this reminded him of something. One of the main objectives for a squad leader, besides stopping the countries' enemies, was making sure you kept all your people alive, that they all got back home safe. As Bill knew all too well from experience, that sometimes, despite one's best efforts, they can't prevent something from happening to the people you oversaw, your people. His people. And watching them all mess around, relaxing, made Bill decide to promise something to himself. He hadn't been able to save his last group, his last squad. But this time he'd make sure that they all stayed alive. No matter what it might cost him, Bill refused to fail the people who trusted him. Not again.