Where Do We Go From Here
Fluffy-142
Hello everyone! Sorry it took so long for chapter 6 to upload, I couldn't access my "manage stories" category of the editor. There was some rage, and bashing if fists, but come the morning of 1-8-14, it was finished. I plan to stray away from The Last of Us storyline for a while, and venture off into the world of my own story. Hope you enjoy this version better.
Chapter 7: Resupply.
We all gathered in the underground chamber that leads to the passage outside. All of our stuff was laid out on the long table in the corner of the room.
"Alright, everyone load up." Jess seemed quite at home with the damp basement. Then again she does spend all of her free time down here practicing with her weapons.
"So, what's the damage?" my voice reverberates throughout the room.
"We're running low on ammo for everything. We need supplies now." James' voice reports the situation from somewhere in the far corner.
"Ugh, how do you all see all this shit?" Rebecca walks over to the small gas generator, and pulls the string a few times. On the fourth pull, it springs to life, and the entire chamber is illuminated.
"Ah, that's better." Walking over to my backpack, I pick up my only weapon; my dad's magnum. Discarding the laser scope long before, it was in pretty good shape. Having only 6 bullets left for the only memoir of my parents left, I know we're gonna have to raid the nearest town on our way out.
"Change of plans. We're not gonna pop in on Robert today. We need supplies, and fast." My tone of voice always hardens when I talk about survival. It's no joking matter. I've seen many people die to the infected, and I hardly plan on any more of my friends to be on that list.
"So, where to?" Alyssa says, loading her 9mm with her last 14 bullets. James is groping under the table for his last shotgun shell, Rebecca is making some shivs from the Emergence Supplies box, and Jess is making a Molotov.
"I think we'll go downtown. We haven't looted the buildings there yet, and there should be-"
"There's a reason we don't go downtown, and you know it." James' dark tone emanates from where he stands, stopped half pump as he was about to load his shell into the chamber.
"Yes, I do. And that's why there's bound to be supplies."
"If you're willing to do this, then I guess there's no way to change your mind." James knows that it's better to just go with it, and try not to get killed.
"Alright, then let's get moving." Shouldering my backpack, I head towards the wall that separates us from the outside. Squatting down, and knitting my hands together, I boost up Alyssa, Jess, and Rebecca. Followed by James, he stays behind, and drags me up after him. Moving aside the plywood barrier camouflaged with vines and grass, we walk outside.
The outside world is lush with grass, and overgrown vines covering the walls of the long abandoned buildings that surrounded us now. A few cars littered the broken road; all had either been ransacked for supplies, or completely destroyed by the infected. Other than the gaping holes in the ground, and the frequently spotted wildlife, you could live here; only if you were willing to face the dangers of night.
"Well, it has been a while, Nature." Jess cooed as she fondled a lush purple flower. She normally was one to "hug a tree" if you get what I'm saying. Ignoring her fascination of the newly sprouted trees in the middle of the road, we search for the building that would lead us through to the next town.
"Found it!" Alyssa shouted at her discovery of the building.
"Great, now where's the ladder?" James' smartalec remark rang from the building opposite her. I know he's not too fond of the next town, but he should try to be at least a little supportive. But that will have to wait, because Jess is bringing over the metal ladder that we use to get inside. After we've all climbed the rickety old piece of shit, we flick on our flashlights, and walk inside.
There's not much to say about the condition of the preoccupied apartment building, but if I could, I'd say it sucks. Debris littered the floor, and you had to crouch to get into the biggest openings. The only thing abnormal was the surprise we encountered through the third right and a left of our route.
"What's that?" Alyssa's blocked view only enhanced her ability to detect the fungal aroma that filled the air before us.
"Spores! Masks on!" Rebecca called as we stopped, rooted through our bags momentarily for the chemical masks we had nicked from the soldiers 7 years ago.
"Well, that was unexpected." James' voice was muffles by the filters that protruded from his face.
"That was definitely not here last time." I said as I examined the dead clicker in the corner of the room.
"Ugh, don't touch it! It's bad enough that it about killed us!" Alyssa screamed as I started looting through the corpse. Finding 2 9mm rounds, I handed them to Alyssa.
"I don't want them! Who knows where they've been!"
"In a dead man's pocket." My voice serious again, I put them in her backpack so she can't tell which ones they are from the rest. I'm such a meanie, she tells me. It really doesn't bother me, but she could shut up and try to survive for once.
Continuing our way through the abandoned building, there really wasn't much to say, until we got the third floor.
"What's that sound?" James heard it before any of us, the screams and moans of the infected as they devoured their prey.
"Infected!" Silently but firmly, I inform the rest of us about the danger ahead.
"There's one in the next room, and two more in the opposite." Motioning with my finger, we divide into two groups: one to take out the runners, and the other to move ahead, and warn us of any more possible danger. Silently, James and I sneak up on the single one in the first room. Slowly drawing a shiv, I make my move. Muffling its terrible screech with my hand, I bury the shiv into its neck. The blood splattered my arm and upper chest, but the danger has just begun. Retracting the broken shiv from its rotting flesh, James and I stealth into the other room; pulling out our handguns, and on the count of three, we put quarter sized holes in the back of their heads.
"Well, that should be the rest of them." I heave a sigh of relief as their final screams are drowned out by the gurgling of their own blood chokes them.
"Ugh! I hate these things!" There goes Alyssa, again. Grabbing the ammo that the first runner had on his person, and handing it to James, we move on.
"Whew! That was close." Rebecca let out a long breath as we walked outside.
"Remind me again, why doesn't she have to wear an optical mask?" James peels off his own mask as we jump down back into the street. Rebecca puts her hands on her hips in an irritated way, and rolls up her sleeve.
"Oh… sorry." Sulking away, embarrassed, we round the corner, and enter the town of Waco, Texas.