The Batista: No one's really at the hospital.
Al Drin Hoshizora: Uh-huh.
NexusOscura: Bill (and Jill) freezing when the emotions are having heated debates was done for comedy, and to ask what's going on in the real world while they're emotions are busy talking.
ADeckofCards1234: Would've liked your opinions on the chapter itself, but alright.
Antha1: Glad people are calling her Pale Girl instead of Whitedress. But no, I doubt she's in the mood to talk to them.
RileyA: Sure.
Burglar: Seriously, dude?
Korrasami 88: Yeah, sure.
Creamy Buttercap: Are you sure?
MrScourch: The group just formed there, okay? You mean the prison zombies will track Bill to the cabin?
Gloyd Orangeboar: He doesn't.
Bill sat in the passengers seat of the large green military truck as Joe drove it through the empty streets. Several men with tranquilizer guns were sitting in the back. Yellowjacket, on the other hand, was sitting in the rear of the truck.
"So, this is where she is, right?" Bill asked Joe for confirmation.
"We started pinpointing which direction she would go to when we noticed how the other zombies clear out when she arrives," Joe informed Bill. "Whenever she arrives at a certain location, she scares the other zombies off. That's what lets us know she's there."
Bill nodded. It was then that he recognized the area they were going to.
"Hey, that's where we used to live!" Bill pointed out, and was shushed by the rest of the group.
"Do you want Patient Zero to hear us?" Joe whispered harshly to him. "If she knows we're coming, we'll lose her, or worse, lose our lives."
"Sorry," Bill whispered back. "Me, my wife and my group were staying up in that apartment. We did notice that there were fewer zombies around recently."
"Then she is here," Joe said, and pulled out his tranquilizer. He then drove the truck behind a building.
Joe turned his head and said, "Hey kid, it's your time to shine."
In the rear of the truck, Yellowjacket shivered. She remembered Patient Zero, and the way she'd torn that man apart, and then chased her and Blackjacket out of the building. She doubted that the feral girl would listen to her now.
However, she didn't want to disappoint Bill. She nervously exited the rear, and walked up to the windowsill, and stared at Bill and Joe.
Joe shooed her off, while Bill just gave a nod for encouragement. Yellowjacket gulped, took in a deep breath, and then continued forward.
As Bill watched Yellowjacket walk, he turned to Joe and asked, "So, what's the plan?"
"Oh, your daughter will lure out the Patient Zero," Joe explained to him. "When she comes out of hiding, we can get a good shot at her. Hopefully, the Patient Zero doesn't rip your daughter to shreds before that happens."
Bill froze, and turned to where Yellowjacket was walking.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Joe reassured him. "But in the likely chance that Patient Zero doesn't trust her, then we're all screwed."
"And with all the men Patient Zero has killed," One man added. ". . .Eh, I'm sure she can handle it."
Bill turned to the man, and opened his mouth to say something.
"Don't say anything," The man snapped at him.
Meanwhile, Yellowjacket had been walking through the empty streets. She scanned the areas around her, trying to stay on alert. She knew she couldn't allow the Patient Zero to sneak up behind her.
Taking to the sidewalks, Yellowjacket passed by an alley, and stopped when she smelt rotting flesh. Turning around, she gasped when she saw a detached arm lying in the alley. She knew instantly that it was the arm of the man Patient Zero had killed.
Yellowjacket turned around, and let out a howl to draw the Patient Zero's attention. There was silence.
Yellowjacket let out a louder howl, and she was met with a piercing hiss. She instinctively dropped onto the ground and covered her ears. Her head whipped around in the direction of the hiss.
She knew that the Patient Zero had heard her. It appeared her howls had disturbed her.
Yellowjacket stared at a small store with several smashed windows. Through the windows, she could see movement within the store. A dark figure was moving from within the store, and it was nearing the window.
Yellowjacket steeled herself to press forward towards the store to get a better look. The figure's head was whirling around curiously in the store, and it froze when it saw Yellowjacket.
Yellowjacket stayed still, waiting for the figure to reveal itself. The figure in the dark paused, then it crawled towards the window. Yellowjacket took a step back as the figure slunk through the broken windows and out onto the sidewalk, and revealed itself to Yellowjacket.
Yellowjacket blinked in perplexity. The creature was nothing but a dog.
The dog stared at her, its tongue hanging out of its jaw. It panted as it stared at her, before suddenly letting out a high-pitched bark and scampering down the street. Yellowjacket watched as it vanished from view.
Yellowjacket, in spite of herself, let out a small chuckle at how she'd been so frightened over nothing. She covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. How silly she had been, to thing that the dog was Patient Zero.
"Grah."
And then the laughing stopped. Yellowjacket heard the growl. But it wasn't coming from the store.
It was coming from right behind her.
Slowly, she turned around, knees buckling, sweat dripping from her forehead, as she faced what was behind her. Her teeth chattered and her fingers twitched.
When she turned around, she saw no dog.
Dead, lifeless eyes. Stringy hair stretched over dark facial features. A small jaw hanging open. Bony arms ending with long claws as sharp as butcher knives. A pale dress that blew in the wind.
It was Patient Zero.
Pale Girl.
A female bartender in her late twenties was handing out drinks to a group of young men. She was dressed all in black, with sleeveless arms, her black hair in a bun.
As the woman passed out the drinks to each man, being careful not to mix the drinks up, she saw all the men with their friends, men with their girlfriends. People laughing with each other, having a good time. She paused for a moment.
"Hey, lady, am I getting my beer or what?" One of the men asked impatiently. The woman snapped back to reality and immediately slid the drink over to the man. The drink spilled.
"Sorry," The woman said, pulling some fallen strands of her hair from her eyes, lined with eye shadow. She wished she wasn't such a screw-up.
As the men left with their drinks, the woman whispered, "Damn, I wish I could hang out with somebody my age."
Unfortunately, one particularly drunk, overweight man heard her, and belched out, "Hey, why don't you hang out with me. I'll show you a party!"
The woman struck out the middle finger at her. She rested her elbows on the table as she waited for someone else to order a drink. As she did, she saw a man pass by the bar, carrying his young daughter in his arms.
The woman eyed the man with a tinge of envy.
How she wished she could have a daughter of her own.
She pushed the thought out of her mind. How could she support a daughter when she was a college drop-out, working a low paying job at a bar tavern with only barely enough money to support living on her own?
She knew she had to shove the thought out into her subconscious. She knew it was better to focus on reality, rather than hope for something that she knew wouldn't happen.
It was hopeless.
Ghoul woke up from her sleep. Noose was still sitting at her side, not saying a word. Ghoul stared at him, then turned around to see all of the zombies in the bar.
Another zombie entered the bar. Ghoul recognized him instantly.
It was one of the men from the apartment she, Noose and Sawbones had infiltrated not long before. The man lumbered into the bar tavern, and stopped. He turned and stared at Ghoul and Noose.
He recognized them.
The man glared at the two, and mouthed something at them. Then he continued shambling through the tavern.
Ghoul shrugged and was about to go back to sleep when she smelled something. Something new. Something fresh.
She grabbed Noose's arm and shook him, directing his attention to her.
"Freaks," She whispered to him. "They're here. We have to go find them!"
She got up and ran towards the door, with Noose slowly getting up and jogging after her, trying to keep up with the younger and faster Ghoul.
"Wait for me!" He called out as he raced after her.
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