Yeah. I haven't updated in forever and a half. Sorry. If anyone still reads, please enjoy and give me some feedback.

Chapter Nine

Joe clung onto the side of the vehicle for dear life. What was once used as an armored car for a SWAT team was now a make-shift tank. The front bumper now included a large rack of spinning spikes, and a hole in the roof was now a swiveling .45 caliber machine gun. The once shining blue paint on the sides on the dented sides of the car was now dulled and tinted a dark red color.

This was the first of a series of armored cars in a caravan that charged its way into the western-most end of Tobias. Some were simply sedans that had a bit extra metal on the sides. Others were SUV's that had turned into military quality armored transports. One flatbed truck had been completely covered in metal, with rows upon rows of seats on the inside and gun ports on the side.

Joe sat in the gunner's turret of the first SWAT car. His head shook violently as highway blacktop turned to city potholes. Without even being a mile into the city, he could tell that this was a bad idea. Within the car, he could hear someone make a joke. But no joke could truly lighten the situation.

As they went deeper into the city, the true nature of their environment hit like a stone. Wrecked cars, open fires, broken windows and bodies could be seen on every block. Baracades that once attempted to close off certain roads were now open and had long since been abandoned. On a giant sign that once read "Welcome to Tobias", someone had spraypainted "Welcome to Hell". With the fires around him burning high, hot, and bright, Joe felt like no place could better describe the scene better.

A turned-over tanker blocked off a street, which naturally was the way to get to the docks. Joe's crew got out and looked for an alternate path, and he was granted a temporary reprieve from his position atop the SWAT car. The glow of the sun slowly diminished from the sky, replaced by a multitude of smaller glows from the fires in and about the city.

Joe was assigned to take the Midnight watch, which meant he had plenty of time to sleep before he was responsible for the safety of nearly 50 survivors. He sat in his sleeping bag in the SWAT car and cleaned his gun. He knew that this could a bigger difference than many people thought, such as the difference between being alive and being a human Happy Meal.

He locked, loaded, and safely put up his favored gun, a Raging Bull with a red-dot scope. It was a gift from his father, and it had saved his life on more than one occasion. His family crest was engraved in the butt, and his name was on the barrel. It was a nice gun with a nasty punch, which is what made Joe continue to use it over a rifle or longer ranged gun.

He placed it aside and picked up his journal. He wrote in his journal, as he did every night. He looked at his bookmark, which was a picture of his girlfriend, who had lived in Union City when the virus hit. He wanted so desperately to see if she had made it out alive, or if she would become another statistic.

He placed it back in the book, and began writing under the heading "Day 34". The simple journey to Tobias from Bull Run had taken nearly 5 weeks, which was much longer than anticipated. He wondered about those people he had helped save from that small town. The moment he learned that they were headed for Union City, he wanted to go with them. But he felt safer with a larger group of people.

He wrote down what had happened that day and described his diminishing hope. Slowly he began to tire, until he lay his book and pen down beside him and drifted off to sleep. His dreams were plagued with visions of his girlfriend. He saw her running from a zombie.

"Hold on! Livie hold on I'll save you!" Joe cried. He went to draw his family pistol but it wasn't there. He began to run after her, but she simply faded into the distance.
"NO! Livie come back! Livie!" Joe began to collapse into a weeping heap on the ground. Zombies closed in around him, but he made no attempt to move. He felt as if he had nothing to live for anymore.

Right before they began to maul him, he awoke to the sound of screams and gunfire. This was obviously not a good sign. He grabbed his pistol and opened the door. The makeshift camp was a war zone, and the enemy was winning. He saw his red headed leader running toward him. He aimed at her head level and she ducked as he fired. The shell shot through the two skulls of the hungry carnivoric beings behind her.

"Joe, get in the SWAT car. NOW!" She said.

"What about the others?"

"If you want to end up in the stomach of your friends then stay."

"No. Shouldn't we save who we can?"

"Ok. That would be you and me. Now get in and shoot. I'll drive" she said without a flinch.

Joe could tell that there was no compromise in this. He jumped into the turret seat of the car and began mowing down those who were his friends merely an hour ago. The car rapidly took off and ran over all in its path, infected or otherwise.

After they got out of the city, Joe turned back and looked at Tobias. The fires burned brighter than ever, and he couldn't help but remember the sign that called the city Hell. With only himself and his leader having escaped, he couldn't help agree that it was indeed a place damned by God.