Thanks to all reviewers for your care. Enjoy this long chapter. The action really starts here... Oh, and, the language is a bit harsher than in the previous chapters, for you to be warned.

Chapter 6 : Lock and Load

As the bus stopped near the police precinct's font door, we were already ready to jump out.

''I'll stay here, in case they come back and we need a way out...'' Tom said.

I nodded silently. He wanted to be alone, to mourn his girlfriend in peace. No one could go against this. It was normal. I had admiration for him, for being still mentally sane. In his position, I would have ended this with a bullet. He was stronger than me.

So, that's how six of us jumped out of the bus. We started walking toward the entrance door. Mitchell pulled the door open, and we all got in.

The hall was in a lamentable state. Files and various documents laid scattered on the tilling, and several spots were stained with blood. Though no body could be found, we knew a battle had taken place in the room. Shell cases and bullet marks had redecorated the room in a violent fashion. Near us, chairs and small tables were overturned, having previously been part of a barricade of some sort, for what I could tell.

As a long moan echoed throughout the corridors, I turned in the direction it had came from, and lifted my gun. I silently walked to the open door from which it came from. The minute I approached the doorway, I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. I just didn't knew to what point...

Behind a trashed desk, a violent shape leaned over something I could identify as a dead body. I flicked the light switch, but nothing happened. My heart beat rose a notch as the zombie turned around to face me. He had a large laceration spreading all over his face, making it barely recognizable. Small patches of skin hung from the deep cut, and dry blood stained it. He had been dead for a while.

I lifted my gun to level with it's head, and pressed the trigger. A metallic sound ringed in the small room. Even in the darkness, I could tell I had missed my shot. I pressed the trigger once more. A small click took several seconds to make sense in my mind. My gun was dry.

I felt somebody passing in front of me, then I heard a sharp noise. Then, I saw a body fall to the floor.

''Who... who is it?''

Mitchell stepped out of the darkness, holding his butcher knife. It was sticky in blood.

''Thanks man...''

Me friend smiled, and we walked out. Since day one, Mitchell had my back. He was taller than me, and was stronger too. He had helped me a lot in my life. He was good hearted as he was macho, but, he really cared about his friends.

We checked the few remaining rooms, without finding any resistance. The police station was fairly big, as it deserved most of the surrounding towns too. We had good chances at finding serious firepower there. If the cops had not taken it all before, that was.

Kevin pushed the door leading to the armory, and smirked.

''I guess we won't be running out of guns soon...''

I stepped in and nodded. He was right. There was a lot of weapons. But for ammo, I wasn't all that sure. We all got in, and started searching for the perfect weapon. Jen grabbed a Mac 10 automatic pistol, complete with a 32 bullets clip full of 9 millimeter enhanced ammunition. She found an extra clip in a locker.

Kevin laughed a bit as he took out a large Desert Eagle pistol. It held powerful .357 rounds. He handed it to Mitchell.

''Man, you better take that. You're the only one who won't go flying with the recoil.''

Mitch smirked and took it. He had only one clip, nine bullets. But this was enough. We weren't going head on with the zombies.

Kevin took a Glock nine millimeter pistol for himself. Josie had already taken a Glock too, and was trying to familiarize herself with it. Phil was looking for a weapon.

''Take that one...''

''Thanks..''

I threw him a enhanced nine millimeter pistol with a extended clip that held 25 bullets. The gun was a bit heavier, but it had less recoil than the standard issue 9 millimeter. I looked around for a gun for myself. In a glass case at the end of the row of lockers, two standard police-issue pump-action shotguns were neatly placed. I broke the case and took them both. Two boxes of ammunition were laying next to the case.

''Phil, help me with that please...''

''Alright...''

He took the ammo, and I carried the guns back to the bus, followed by the crew. There was no point in staying here any longer. Being stranded in a building was of no use. We had tried that tactic with the school, and it had resulted in a breach, and the death of most of us. We had to escape the city. There were no other choices.

I handed a shotgun to Tom, and Phil gave him one of the boxes of slugs. He thanked us, and the bus pulled out of the precinct's parking lot. Kevin handed me a flashlight, which he had found in the lockers. He had a second one, and that was all. This would have to do. We were out of here.

The bus turned on the highway. As small buildings and infrastructure, mostly damaged, started showing on both sides of the road, we knew we were closing on.

In front of us, many cars laid overturned, and fire was burning them down quickly. Tom turned the wheel to pass aside the first, but hit the second and lost control. The bus lost contact with the road and fell on it's side. I was knocked onto a wall.

I slowly got up. I felt pain in most of my body, but nothing seemed to be broken. I arose to my feet, and looked around. Everybody was still unconscious. Except from Tom, who was sitting in a corner of the overturned bus, playing with his lighter to kill time. In a trash bin placed near him, what appeared like paper burned, providing a dim light in the front part of the bus. He turned to me.

''Hey...''

''I was... unconscious for long?'' I said rubbing my temples.

''Not much. Fifteen minutes...''

''Not that bad... The others?''

''They are all alive. We just have to wait for them to...''

A noise was heard behind us. Jen walked passed us to gaze out the window.

''Good morning Jen...''

''Yeah... It's three in the morning...''

She had a tired look on her face. Mitchell groaned and got up, his massive shape drawing shadows in the faint light provided by the fire.

''Good to see you're still alive...''

He checked his heart beat and laughed.

''Yeah, I guess I'm still alive...''

We did not laugh much. We were not in a situation to do so. These things out there were to silent. It was way to calm to be true. They were out there, waiting for us. But in the bus, it was whole different atmosphere. Calm seemed to flow in every bit of light we absorbed.

''Hey Matt...''

I felt hands around me neck, and turned around to meet Josie's gaze. Our lips met for a few seconds.

''You okay baby?''

''Yeah...''

Kevin and Phil finally woke up within a few minutes. We all found our weapons at scattered intervals throughout the vehicle. I passed Tom his ammo box.

''We'll need something to carry it...'' I stated.

''Let's just tuck it in our pockets and throw the box away. It'll be lighter that way.''

''Good idea.''

After everything was back in order, I got up slowly. I punched the side window which was now on top of us, and placed my hand on both sides of the frame. I pulled myself upwards and landed on the top of the bus. I turned around and helped Josie up.

''Thanks...''

''You alright? You seem a little bit down?''

''Yeah... Well my plan for the ride wasn't crashing and walking miles on foot, but we'll have to do with it...''

''We'll make it out of here, I promised.''

She nodded and we helped Kevin and Jen on their way up. Mitch climbed up easily, and helped Phil. Then Tom joined us.

From our vantage point on the top of our destroyed vehicle, we could not see anything more than pitch darkness. The morning would come within a few hours, but we couldn't wait for it. After a silent approval by every people in the team, we jumped down the wreck onto the street. The highway was silent, and the dark envelope that was formed by the night was cutting our line of sight down to a few meters.

Kevin's flashlight clicked on, and mine did so a few seconds later. The faint beam of the low-quality lights unraveled our deepest fear. Literally hundreds of zombies were walking at an alarming rate toward us. One even made a run for us.

I heard a gunshot and turned to face Tom. He had blasted the thing to oblivion. Mitchell was already firing with his Desert Eagle. He would not last long. He blasted two of them with a single bullet. I pumped another one's head full of lead. As I pumped back my shotgun, I realized we weren't going to make it that way.

Jen fired her automatic in a way only her could. A determined look on her face, she fired at the crowd of opponents, blasting several zombies to the ground.

''Let's get the fuck out of here!''

I heard Josie firing a few shots. A zombie dropped, followed by a second. Phil was being cornered by four zombies. He took aim and picked off the first one's head in one blow. He aimed at the second, and blasted it with three solid shots to the torso, then one to the head. Kevin put à bullet to the third one's head, while Phil finished the last one quickly. He was doing pretty good, considering the situation.

A fifth zombie grabbed Kevin from behind. Phil aimed and pressed the trigger at the opponent, but nothing came out of his gun. He lifted his hand and hammered the creature in the face with his gun. It fell to the ground in a fresh puddle of blood.

''Thanks...'' Kevin squeezed out, breathless.

Josie followed me closely, sometimes shooting at a few creatures that tried a sideway assault on us. For my part, my shells took care of everything that came in our way by the front. One of my slugs hit the knee of a zombie, and the bone crushed. The leg folded backwards, and he fell roughly on the asphalt. I shot him to dead afterwards.

A screeching sound was heard throughout the highway. On top of the bus that was now thirty feet from us, some kind of creature in the shape of an human, but with gorilla attributes, was getting ready for the attack. As my light beam uncovered it's body, I could see his greenish scales-like skin. In it's killer eyes, I could only see one thing : murder.

He jumped off the bus, and landed a few feet from us. We all took a while to draw our weapon, struck by the 30 feet leap the creature had just done in front of us. Gunshots boomed, but it was too late. The creature was too close for safety. With it's razor-like claws, it slashed Phil in the abdomen. He fell to his knees. Kevin ran for him, trying to return the favor, but before he could reach him, the gorilla's right claw dropped on Phil's head. It started squeezing the poor guy's head until bones cracked. Phil's head was literally destroyed. Blood splattered all over the street, and the now headless body fell down in slow motion.

''Fuck!'' I cursed.

I grabbed Phil's pistol, and tossed it into the back of my pants, after having pulled on the safety. I lifted my shotgun in the creature's direction and shot it once. IT stumbled a bit, but was nearly unaffected. Surprised, I had no time to pump back. It dove for me suddenly, and I dodged sideways, it's claw almost cutting me in half. Mitchell shot it a magnum bullet to the torso. It fell to the ground on it's back, but immediately tried to come back on it's feet. Tom pumped a slug into it's head. It screamed as Josie finished it with a few bullets.

''Let's... get the hell out of this shit...''

''Yeah...'' Jen said, looking back at the dead corpse of our comrade.

''We can't do nothing more for him...''

We blasted our way through the remaining zombies to the side of the highway. There was no point in staying on the road, with this great number of zombies lurking around. We could not stay here and mourn for Phil. Josie passed in front of me.

''If something happened to her... I'd become crazy...'' I thought.

Kevin and Mitchell were checking around for Phil's weapon.

''I already got it...'' I said.

They nodded. Then, in a split second, a zombie dog came out of nowhere and jumped on Kevin. He dodged, and the dog landed on his leg. My friend screamed as the dog's teeth dug their way through the skin and flesh, then crushing the bone. I lifted my gun but reminded me of the inaccuracy of the slugs. I heard blasting behind me, and turned around to see Mitchell, holding his still-smoking magnum.

I ran for Kevin. He had fallen and was bleeding from the wide open wound that the dog had inflected him. As blood dripped on the concrete and started forming a puddle around my friend, I knew it was over for him. He wasn't going to pull through that one. The wound was very deep, and it took nearly the entire leg. I didn't knew what to say. He broke the silence.

''I ain't... going to make it... this time...'' He said, pain deforming his face. Suddenly, I felt a chill down my neck as he said those words.

''But...''

''No, look... you know it was much as I do... I'm not going to... make it...''

I did not answer. There was no answer to this. It wasn't a question.

''Just... make sure Jen gets out of there... Keep an eye on her...''

''I'll do it... You got my word on that man...''

I would have liked to help him, to tell him everything was going to be alright, but he was no fool. He knew he was going to die. He handed me his Glock, which I stuffed in the front of my pants. Then, his once blue eyes turned into a shade of gray-white, emptied of any kind of humanity. He was dead. His skin was as gray as his eyes, and he seemed to rot straight in place. The thing that had made the cadavers lift up and become zombies was in him.

I back off from the corpse.

''Kev!''

Jen pushed me aside and came to hug Kevin, tears in her eyes. She bounced back screaming when she say him from closer. She started screaming like mad, and her nerves went out. She kept screaming and screaming until Mitchell took her and held her solidly.

''Look girl, we have to get out of here.''

His tone of voice left no place for arguing. She tried to dry her eyes, but they refilled with fresh tears the second she passed her arm over them. Mitchell looked around once more, to make sure none of these things got closer. He blasted one that was threatening us by it's proximity. I helped Jen to climb over the railing that limited the highway.

''I'm sorry...''

''So am I...''

She let some more tears out as she waited for us on the other side. Mitchell jumped over the fence. Josie came by me.

''You okay?''

''Me, sure. But you? You're best friend just...''

''I'm trying not to think about it...''

I could not let the anger take me over. I had to stay calm to ensure Josie's safety. Kevin was important to me. We had been friends since I had moved in when I was five. But nobody was important in the way Josie was. She was the only thing normal, the only thing happy that had happened to me since a week.

Tom bounced over the wall, and we all walked to the closest building. It was a rather slummy apartment building, complete with rusty dumpsters and trash cans. I broke in and opened the door. Everybody came in and the door shut back. Mitchell pulled a large sofa in front of it, and blocked the handle with it.

''Everybody alright?''

Each survivor answered in a different manner. We were all shook up by the death of our two friends.

''What we got for ammo?''

''I still got plenty of shells...'' Tom said.

''I'm down to three bullets.'' Mitchell explained. I threw him Phil's pistol.

''Still alright with that.'' Josie said, and sent a 9 millimeter clip to Mitchell.

''Jen?''

Then, in the silence that occurred next, my head clicked suddenly. Kevin's last words kept playing in my head as I saw a door finishing shutting. I ran into the door, ramming it open, and busted into the room. Jen was sitting on an old bed, her gun lifted against her temple.

''Nooooooo!!!''

I ran to her and punched the gun to the floor. The gun fell on the wooden floor, and a bullet came out, crashing in a nearby mirror. Jen looked very pale, and violent shocks animated her body as if she had been struck by thunder.

''Calm down... Everything is gonna be alright.'' I said my voice unequal due to the stress.

''What? Calm down? This is impossible! We are in a fucking crazy city filled with freaking zombies, we are hungry, tired, and we just lost two people to those shits! How for Christ's sake do you want me to calm down?''

''Everything is gonna be... alright...''

''YOU ALREADY SAID THAT ONE! THESE SHITTY SENTENCES ONLY WORK WITH YOUR BITCH!!!''

My fist hit the nearby table in violent thud, and I stood up, the fire of hatred burning in my eyes.

''Don't you fucking talk about Josie like that!''

''Yeah... And what you gonna do if I do so?''

I didn't knew what to answer. I had been too emotive. It had been stronger than me when she had talked about Josie that way. Before I could react, she grabbed the Glock that was in the front of my pants and pulled it to my head.

''Get out of my way!'' She barked as she pushed the door open. She got out of the building. I tried to follow her, but a bullet flew by and landed in the door, at about an inch of my face. When I popped back out, she was gone.

I shut back the door.

''Fuck!''

''You did all you could...''

I had not been able to protect Jen. Now, she was out there, alone, and in great danger. I had to keep my promise to my dead friend. But, on the other hand, running after her would have left the others alone. I would not be able to stand it if Josie would've got killed while I was gone. I wasn't going to get her. She had made her choice. I had remorses, but it would get worse if Josie would get eaten by these freaks.

I turned around to the chosen of my heart.

''Everything alright?''

''As long as you're with me...''

Her gaze met mine, and there was no need to talk. I felt tears running down my cheeks as she pulled me in a tight hug. Then I knew I had made the right choice.

''Mitchell, Tom, you two go get some sleep. I'll keep watch.''

''No way man... You did more than enough. You and Josie go get some. We'll be alright.'' Mitchell said.

''Yeah... We'll keep a close eye on things... You don't have to worry.'' Tom added.

I nodded and Josie followed me into one of the first-level apartments. I shut the door back after out passage. Josie leaned on the bed. The same bed that Jen had almost given herself death on. A chill went through my neck at this thought. Other than that, the room was boring. Dark wooden floors, dark walls with brownish wallpaper torn off at certain spots and a few old chests of drawers were all that was in the room.

I got closer to Josie, and felt her body against mine. Her angelic face next to mine. From there on, I felt asleep, exhausted by the day of hardness we had, thinking that the next one could be the last one for us.

I woke up, and the world around me was a blur made of brown wallpaper. As my sight went clearer, I could see that the place next to me in the bed was empty. Josie must've gotten up before me. I jumped out of bed, realizing that the door the the adjacent bathroom was half-open. Light came from under the door, passing around the heavy wood door. I pushed it slowly, and my heart nearly stopped.

In the bath tub, a girl with blond hair was standing, fully dressed, what appeared like a radio in her hands. My eyes rapidly followed the cord that was linked to the radio. It ended up in a wall plug nearby. She prepared to throw the radio in the bath. About a feet of dirty water was in the tub. The person was going to commit suicide.

''Why?'' I said, my voice cutting short by the emotion.

The person turned her head around, and, to my surprise, it was Jen.

''You let me die. Now, your bitch is gonna pay!''

She started laughing almost demoniacally. Her face shifted, becoming Josie's face. A look of surprise took place on her soft face, and she dropped the radio into the water. An electric shock passed through her entire body. She was shaken violently. Her skin blackened at some spots, burned severely by the electric current. She gave me one last look, imploring for help. But I could not reach her. My feet were stuck into the tiles of the bathroom.

The electrocuted body of Josie fell out of the bathtub. Her eyes turned white, emptied of all humanity.

''Nooooooooo!!!''

I stood up in the bed, sweat dropping down my face.

''Matt, you alright?''

I did not have the force to answer. Josie kept looking at me, concern in her green eyes. The same eyes I had seen death in. But this was only a dream. An horrible nightmare.

''Yeah... Just a nightmare...''

I did not mention that my nightmare was about her dying. That would have scared her, and I didn't wanted her to be scared more than necessary. I walked out of the room, trying to chase the image of Josie dead from my mind. In the hall, Mitch was asleep against a wall, and Tom kept a close look on things, his shotgun on his lap.

''You can got get some sleep.''

''Alright...''

He got inside another room.

''So, what are we going to do after we all got some sleep?''

''We could keep heading downtown. The cops there will be better equipped, and chances are the cop stations will have survived the attack.''

''Yeah... But how?''

''We can make it by foot. We are not that far. If we use the back streets, we will evade most of these things. If I'm right, it'll take less than an hour.''

''Yeah... The sun is almost up... It'll help to see further than our noses...''

''Sure will...''

I had said that in a persuasive way, but I was anything but sure if my plan would succeed. But we had to try. All those deaths had to serve something. We had to escape. For them as much as for us...