The Midnight Riders

by LumpyChunks

One year on and the world is a very different place.The Midnight Riders, forming of Coach, Nick, Ellis and Rochelle are fighting a war against the infected and opposing Clans while Bill, Francis, Louis and Zoey team up to try and rescue them.

3. Midnight Part Three

The Midnight Riders

Chapter One – Midnight Part Three

Lieutenant Commander Miguel Doyle was a man who liked things to be a certain way. He preferred the temperature onboard the HMS Jaeger to be just below sixteen degrees, he liked the lighting to be just that little bit extra bright and he liked the Tactics Room to be as quiet and as orderly as possible. It would be safe to assume that Miguel Doyle was somewhat of a control freak, which is why he was finding the current situation with Madison's team to be painfully unbearable.

Miguel stared at the table display, watching uneasily as he saw his crew moving through their area at quite a high speed. Somebody out of the darkness had rescued them from the infected that had them overwhelmed and he did not like it. While he appreciated the fact that they were all still alive, he could not handle the prospect of some unknown party suddenly taking over the situation as quickly as they had just done. Miguel tapped his fingers on the side of the table nervously, his leg shaking and forehead perspiring. Feeling completely useless, Miguel stood up from the chair and moved over to one of the consoles that lined the walls. He pushed a few buttons and a monitor displayed the temperature that was exactly sixteen degrees. Miguel lowered it by a single degree and breathed a sigh of relief. While it was apparent that Lieutenant Commander Miguel Doyle disliked the current situation as he was unable to control it, it was also apparent that after many years of living like this, he knew how to cope.

Meanwhile it was clear that Madison Robinson was finding it difficult to cope with the fact that she had made such a grave error in judgement, the severe wound on Rex's arm being a trophy for her mistake. She felt guilty as she led her team into danger despite Bill's insistent warnings. As she and the others sat perched on the back of their saviours' pickup truck, she quietly vowed to herself not to let anything like this happen again.

The truck emerged from the secluded forest path and went through a comparatively open area. With the combined light coming from the moon and the truck's headlights, it appeared that in the distance were large mountains, which Miguel identified as the Blue Ridge Mountains to the team. They were headed for these mountains. Not too long after they had left the forest path they were ascending a driveable slope up the densely forested mountains. It took a short while before they reached their destination, a small cabin that was built in between two large oak trees. Looking up at the sky, all that could be seen were the leaves of the enormous oak-hickory trees that comprised of most of the mountain's forests.

'A dark, remote cabin in the middle of the woods,' Zoey remarked. 'I know how this movie ends.' The cabin appeared to have two floors and was constructed with thick wood and a stone chimney. There were a few small windows on the ground floor but none on the second floor from what anyone could see. The woman passenger with the dark hair and multiple facial scars jumped out of the trunk as soon as it came to a halt outside the cabin. She hurried her way to the cabin door as the bald driver got out of the vehicle and leisurely followed her, making no effort to help Malcolm or Francis assist the wounded Rex. After a short while, all of Madison's team made their way into the cabin, securely closing the door behind them. There came a loud click from the lock and they were all sealed inside making it unlikely for any stray common infected to break through the doors, uninvited.

It was also equally unlikely for anyone to leave unattended.

Inside the cabin was hardly warm and welcoming. The main area everyone had walked through when they entered had a stone floor, requiring a step up onto the wooden beams. To the left was a fireplace that looked as though it had not been used for quite some time surrounded by two double seated sofas, which looked far from comfortable. Further ahead beyond the fireplace was a kitchen area and to the right of that near the lounge was a large table with four dining chairs surrounding it. The table appeared to be old and well used with many large dents, scratches and discoloured patches visible on the wood. A walkway took people to another small lounge area that was more homely; with armchairs, oil lamps and bookshelves decorating the room. There was also an abundant amount of ammunition stored in the room along with numerous different types of weapons. In the main area a set of stairs went up to the second floor where there were two bedrooms.

Malcolm and Francis kicked away the chairs and rested Rex on the large table. As they let him go he curled into a ball, crying in pain. Bill examined his wound and despite the dark light could clearly see the exposed bone in his arm.

'We need to disinfect this,' he spoke to the entire room. Zoey placed her bag of equipment next to Rex on the table and retrieved a first-aid kit. She opened it up and pulled out a bottle of disinfectant, sighing as she looked at it.

'This is going to hurt,' she whispered softly to him, placing a wooden splint that she pulled from her medical kit in his mouth. As she ordered him to bite hard, Louis questioned Francis on something.

'If the Spitter spits out acid,' he queried, 'do we need to disinfect it? Wouldn't the acid have already done that?'

'The acid just burnt a hole through his skin and bone,' Francis told him. 'It needs to be disinfected.' Rex let out an excruciating scream as Zoey disinfected his wounds, the liquid searing his open flesh and raw wounds as horrifically as the acid that had caused them. Malcolm covered Rex's mouth with his hand and held onto him tight, closing his eyes and wishing that the screaming would stop. It lasted for what felt like ages until Rex passed out from the pain. The couple that had rescued them allowed him to rest on one of the beds upstairs while everyone took turns watching him.

A few hours had passed since the arrival to the cabin. Madison was sat upstairs with Rex, her face buried in her hands. She sat in an uncomfortable chair that was placed next to the uncomfortable bed in the cramped, bare room and had been there since they had arrived. She was thinking of a plan, what to do next. With one of her team already wounded it seemed that their mission could well be over before it had even begun. There came a knock at the door and Bill let himself inside, opening the creaky door slowly as to not disturb Rex. Madison lifted her head promptly as Bill entered, composing herself before he saw her. Even though there were no physical signs, Bill could tell that she was having a difficult time. Bill, without saying a word, sat down on the bed by Rex's feet, opposite Madison. The two exchanged glances, Madison's being one of apology. Bill's look was ambiguous; one of sadness and yet one of reminiscing.

'I was in the army,' he spoke softly to Madison, making sure he would not wake Rex. He tilted his green beret at her. 'Vietnam, but you knew that anyway. You know everything about me and Zoey and the others all thanks to Doyle's little computer. Well what that computer won't tell you is that I know how you're feeling right now.' Madison's face turned from overwhelming guilt and sadness to slight intrigue. 'I was the rank of Corporal when I was discharged,' Bill continued. 'I got the whole left side of me blasted away by a grenade.' He sighed and rubbed his left knee gently.

'Fighting was the only thing I was really ever good at,' he continued to explain. 'I was always getting into fights when I was a kid so I joined the army when I was young. It seemed like the right thing to do as my options were either join the forces or become a criminal. I figured I may as well get paid to be violent.' Madison looked away from Bill with slight disgust as he spoke. 'I was on my second tour when Charlie had ambushed our camp. I looked around as I saw men; good men that I knew well just fall over dead while gunshots and explosions were everywhere. I didn't really care, though because I still had my gun and I was still able to shoot it. Anyway long story short I was with a guy called Richard, a green guy on his first tour. He looked up to me and he and his buddies became my squad as we fought our way to the landing zone to get rescued. We had just got on the chopper when it was shot down and we got surrounded by them. Richard and I; we managed to fight all of them off together, working well as a team.' Bill sighed and took off his beret, running his fingers through his white hair.

'Then a grenade landed next to us and he tried to throw it back before it exploded. Needless to say it never left his hand.' Madison swallowed hard as she heard his story. 'I watched him die in front of me. I had watched countless guys die around me and it had not really affected me. Richard was the first and that was because he was my guy. He listened to me and I was the one who got him killed.' Madison looked silently at Bill.

'I guess what I'm saying is,' Bill decided to get to the point, 'The only decisions I've ever lived to regret were the ones that involved me hurting someone else on accident. If someone got hurt because of me I feel guilty and angry with myself; it consumes me.' Madison bowed her head. 'It was only until I thought to myself "there's no point in moping around" that I finally got over it.' Madison looked up at him, interested. 'I figured that I shouldn't let the people I hurt suffer so I learnt from my mistakes. I grew because of them and made sure that they wouldn't happen again.' Bill stood up and placed his hand on Madison's shoulder. 'I'll look after him. Go downstairs and lead your people.' Madison smiled at Bill and with a brief nod she got to her feet and left the room. Bill watched her disappear behind the door and then sat down in her chair, sighing.

Madison made her way down the stairs and looked around the cabin to get a sense of where everyone was. Francis and Malcolm were at the table, Louis and Zoey were sat by the unlit fire and the woman with black hair who was named Lucy approached Madison, waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

'How is he?' Lucy asked. Madison sighed and brushed the hair from her face.

'He's not doing well,' she answered truthfully. 'There's no way an injury like that can heal out here.'

'I know,' Lucy nodded in understanding before speaking about her bald companion, Arthur. 'Art, when he was with the Clan, knew someone who got some of that acid on their leg. They cut it the whole thing off before it went all gangrene.'

'We can't do that,' Madison told her, stepping off the stairs. With a medical team standing by on the HMS Jaeger, dismembering one of her teammates on the field was simply out of the question. However, going back all that way would no doubt take a lot of time, time she did not possess. Also, she could not bring anyone from the land back to the submarine and if Madison were to announce that they had medical assistance then she would most likely be mobbed by Lucy, Arthur and any of their friends that were no doubt close by.

'Sweetie,' Lucy rested her hand on her arm. 'I know it hurts but this really is for the best, honest.'

'Well let's think about things before we do anything drastic,' Madison spoke with a tone of finality as she walked away from Lucy. She gave her a frightful look as she walked toward Malcolm and Francis. Lucy then glanced up the stairs and then toward the back area with the ammunition. She glanced back to make sure no one was looking at her and then stepped inside to join Arthur.

'They're not going to carve him up,' she told him.

'I heard,' Arthur nodded.

'So what do we do?' Lucy asked. 'We can't just let prizes like these guys just walk out of here.'

'I know,' Arthur nodded once more. 'They seem different; clean and fresh, wouldn't you say?'

'I figured that,' Lucy told him. 'What do you think it means?'

'I think it means we have some new kids on the block,' Arthur pulled out an extremely large and lethally sharp machete. 'Let's do what we can to show them how things work in this neighbourhood.' He then chuckled a menacing laugh that seemed to bleed out of the cabin and echo through the dark mountains.

As the bullet that crashed into Rochelle's chest left Henry's gun, he felt a strong and almost intoxicating sense of power. It was this feeling of power and control that had spent the majority of his new life pursuing. It was the reason why he had joined up with Thomas Galt's Clan and it was the source of his aggressive personality. It was also the motivation he had for shooting Rochelle as suddenly as he did. While he did not trust her, he wanted to show off to Coach that he was powerful and in control. Little did Henry know that as Rochelle twitched as she lay on the ground opposite the two gasoline cans, he would soon find that the tables would be turned on him and his men.

Rochelle sat up slightly, groaning in pain. Henry looked at her, shocked.

'God damn it,' she hissed, pulling open her shirt and revealing dark formfitting body armour underneath her clothes. 'Why did you have to do that?'

'I guess you were right,' Coach sighed, speaking in a light-hearted manner. 'This was a real bad idea.'

'I appreciate you saying so, Coach,' Rochelle acknowledged, getting to her feet.

'I said don't move!' Henry insisted.

'Actually you said squat,' Coach corrected him. Rochelle got to her feet and moved over to him. 'Now this is what's going to happen,' Coach continued, enjoying the look of Henry's poorly disguised anger. 'Since you've screwed us over I figure you owe us one. Now I'm not expecting you do something for nothing. I'll still honour our agreement and give you the gasoline but I will expect an introduction with your boss, Galt, and expect to be accepted into your ranks pretty sharpishly, do you hear what I'm saying?'

'That doesn't work for me,' Henry hissed. Coach's eyes narrowed as he saw Henry's armed men reach for their guns.

'Easy now,' Rochelle cautioned them.

'Here's what I'm thinking,' Henry spoke over her as his men aimed their weapons at them. 'I take your gas and I won't kill you all. How does that sound to you?' There was a moment of tense quiet. Coach and Rochelle exchanged knowing glances.

'Well we didn't come here to die,' he told Henry.

Coach took out his own gun as Rochelle ran for the motorcycle. Before anyone could act, he fired a few shots at the gasoline cans causing them to burst into flames.

The sudden blast of heat stunned Henry and his men, forcing them to recoil by stepping away from the flames and allowing Coach and Rochelle to hop onto Teek's motorcycle and get away. With Rochelle at the front and Coach holding on behind, they drove off into the forest. Henry watched them elude his clutches and spat at the ground.

'I've seen what you drive, Coach,' he muttered to himself. 'And if you're hiding out in that forest then there is only one place you can go.' He looked to his men and began barking orders. 'Assemble everyone and I mean everyone! We're going to lock them down. If he thinks he can outsmart me then he is horribly mistaken.' Henry grinned a looming glare into the fire in front of him. No matter what, he was determined to regain control of the situation.

As the noise of the motorcycle engine faded from Henry's ears into obscurity, Coach and Rochelle were having a clearly aggressive conversation as they were headed back to the bus.

'You just couldn't listen, could you?' Rochelle cried, driving incredibly fast.

'Watch it,' Coach warned her.

'I'm not one of your Rogues, Coach,' Rochelle retorted. 'You can't tell me what to do.'

'You used to be one of my Rogues,' Coach corrected her.

'I used to, yes but that was in the past! I wanted to try and help you and protect you, Coach, but you're nearsightedness has made sure that I can't do that.'

'What I did revealed that Henry doesn't think a lot of you,' Coach pointed out. 'And frankly, I can't really blame him. All I know is; you're a hell of a lot safer now.'

'Of course I'm safer!' Rochelle cried sarcastically. 'I am the safest girl alive! What could be safer than suddenly being abandoned by the people you're with and being forced to live on your own? How long do you think I can survive out here?'

'I think you'll do alright,' Coach commented, sounding as sarcastic as Rochelle did. 'You always were the kind of girl who liked to do her own thing. How's that secretive agency that you betrayed us for coming along by the way?' Rochelle launched her elbow back striking Coach in the face, a decision she soon regretted as Coach fell to one side, holding onto the bike and suddenly displacing the weight. As Rochelle began to lose control of the motorcycle, she steered heavily to the left in an attempt to compensate for Coach's weight. She managed to narrowly avoid crashing into a tree but then faced a large drop up ahead.

Meanwhile, Ellis, Drake, Danielle and Teek were stood outside the Midnight Riders tour bus.

'So do any of you know what "suck the heads" mean?' Ellis asked them.

'What does it mean?' asked Drake, sounding slightly dim.

'Don't tell him, Ellis!' Danielle ordered. 'He's far too young.'

'I'm eighteen!' Drake told her.

'Far too young,' Danielle repeated. Ellis was about to continue his explanation but was interrupted by the sound of two people crying out up ahead. Everyone looked up and saw Rochelle and Coach fly over on the bike, crash onto the roof of the bus and fall over the other side, both of them being thrown from the vehicle. The sudden impact of the motorcycle caused the bus' internal alarm to start blaring loudly.

'My bike!' Teek cried, running around the bus with the rest of the Midnight Riders, who were ignoring the alarm. In the distance, the screech of the horde could be heard as hundreds of infected began approaching their location.

'No, really,' Rochelle muttered to Teek as she got to her feet, rubbing her head. 'I'm fine.' Coach, with some effort, also managed to stand up. Teek moved past them and looked at his motorcycle. It had crashed headfirst into a large tree and was completely destroyed.

'You bastards, you ruined my bike!' Teek shouted.

'Well she was driving,' Coach pointed out. Teek looked to her angrily.

'Sweetie,' Rochelle spoke slightly patronisingly. 'This isn't the time.'

'The hell this isn't the time!' Teek was venomous with rage. 'That bike was the only thing that helped me earn a living in this shitty world. Now what am I gonna do without it? Jump in between camps like you?'

'Honey, we will get you a new bike,' Rochelle spoke as if she were talking to a child. 'However right now we need to get out of here because Henry James is now going to be after us and he is not stupid so he'll probably figure out where a bus of this size could fit in a place like this so, really, let's talk about all of this when we're on the move away from certain death. Is that okay with you guys?' There was a brief silence and everyone looked to Coach.

'Well?' he spoke loudly. 'You heard the lady!'

Everyone got onto the bus hastily and Ellis activated the engine, stopping the alarm from blaring. He put the vehicle into gear and drove away from the motorcycle wreck just as a flurry of infected emerged from the trees in pursuit of the bus. There were hundreds of different types of infected from the common to large Tanks and all of them were catching up to the bus.

Away from the infected Madison was facing a serious threat of her own, not that she was aware of it yet. Lucy had prepared a shot of vodka for everyone and was in the midst of gathering everyone together to share a toast. Malcolm had changed places with Bill and was now watching over Rex instead of him, who made his way down the stairs. As Bill set foot on the ground, he looked toward the fireplace area and saw Madison, Francis, Louis, Zoey and Lucy stood together. Lucy offered Bill a shot of vodka.

'Care to join us in a toast?' she offered.

'Where's the other guy?' Bill queried.

'Oh he doesn't drink,' Lucy told him.

'Well neither do I,' Bill declined her offer. 'I want to keep my head clear.'

'Me too,' Madison placed her shot glass on the table.

'Oh come on, guys,' Francis sighed. 'It's one shot! What's the worst that could happen?' Lucy smiled at Francis and nodded at him.

'He's right,' she agreed. 'We need to celebrate us all coming together and drink to your friend's speedy recovery.'

'I'll drink to that,' Francis smiled. 'Hell, I'll drink to anything right about now.'

'Well you can have mine,' Bill handed Francis his glass, who took it quite happily, swallowing the alcohol readily. Zoey and Louis toasted each other before doing the same with their own shots. Bill pulled Madison aside into the kitchen area to speak privately.

'What the hell are we doing here?' he asked her. 'Your man is critically wounded. He needs to be returned to the submarine. These guys can get us back to the shore in no time.'

'That's true,' Madison agreed, 'but I am following strict orders: under no circumstances are we to reveal the presence of the HMS Jaeger. If we did then we'd cause a stir; everyone would want to be rescued and we simply cannot initiate a full-scale search and rescue operation.'

'Then we steal their truck,' Bill suggested.

'Don't think I've not thought of that,' Madison told him. 'However I went to go outside to have a look and see how much gas is in the tank, to see if it would get us back to the shore and I couldn't get out.'

'What do you mean?'

'They've locked us inside,' Madison whispered. 'And they're holding onto the keys.' Bill looked over to Lucy nervously as she was laughing with the others.

'Why do you think they're holding us here?' he thought out loud.

'Who can say?' Madison shrugged. 'Maybe they're trying to keep us safe from the outside. Or maybe they're trying to just keep us?'

'We need to get out of here,' Bill looked back at her.

'I know,' Madison nodded. 'Miguel says that there are no heat signatures nearby, according to the satellites, so there are no infected out in the woods.'

'Really?' Bill questioned disbelievingly. 'How can there be no zombies out there?'

'I don't really care,' Madison spoke bluntly. 'It just means we have fewer problems to deal with.' Behind them, Zoey let out a loud yawn.

'I feel really tired,' she remarked.

'Me too,' Louis said.

'If you want you two can lie down in the other bedroom?' Lucy offered.

'Thanks,' Zoey said gratefully.

'I'll show you the way,' Lucy led them up the stairs, leaving Bill, Francis and Madison on their own. As Lucy disappeared up the stairs, Bill and Madison went for the door.

'Francis,' Madison spoke in hushed tones. 'Be lookout for us.'

'Sure thing,' Francis walked around the chairs in the lounge area and looked up the stairs and over through the doorway. 'Why?'

'Because we're going to try and break us out of here,' Bill told him, keeling by the front door and looking through the keyhole.

'How come?' Francis asked, wearily. 'These guys are really nice.' Upstairs, Lucy ushered Louis and Zoey into the bedroom. The two fell onto the mattress in a great heap and Lucy smiled sinisterly at them. She took out some rope and walked toward them. In the other room, Malcolm was sat unconscious in his chair, his arms tied securely to the back of it.

'Well we can't stay any longer,' Madison explained. 'We need to get Rex out of here pronto.' She was interrupted by a loud thud. Turning around, Bill and Madison saw Francis lying unconscious on the ground. They moved to help him but Arthur emerged from around the corner holding a double-barrelled shotgun securely in his hands. Bill and Madison lifted their hands as he stepped toward them.

'You couldn't have just drunk the drink, could you?' he muttered, cocking the weapon. Bill and Madison looked at each other worriedly. 'Lucy! Get down here. Two of them tried to leave.'

'Did you stop them?' Lucy asked, walking down the stairs, holding some rope. Listening in on what was going on, Miguel put his hand to his chin, worriedly.

'Of course I stopped them!' Arthur told her. 'They're right there for Christ's sake!'

'Well I'm glad you didn't shoot them like the last bunch of people we brought back here,' Lucy said gratefully. 'They don't stay fresh for very long.'

'What are you doing?' Madison asked. Lucy walked up to her, putting her face close to Madison's.

'We're surviving,' she told her. With that, Lucy knocked Madison in the back of the head and then did the same to Bill. As the two lay unconscious on the ground, Lucy smiled at Arthur, pointing to Madison. 'You can have your way with this one while I cut up the other.' Arthur grinned a sickening smile. He put the shotgun down and moved over to Madison, dragging her away into his room.

When Madison opened her eyes she found herself lying on a bed in the cabin's side room. Up ahead were stacks of ammunition and also a dark figure. Arthur turned around. He had removed his shirt and his slightly flabby skin had several scars and marks on them. Some appeared to be teeth marks and others looked like fingernail scratches. Madison began to struggle in the bed. Her arms and legs were tied with rope securely to the four bedposts. She struggled like mad in an attempt to loosen the ropes but had a horrible feeling that she would not be able to break out as the half naked Arthur stood over her, pulling out a sharp knife. Madison could see herself in the reflection of the blade.

'Are you ready to have some fun?' he asked her as he began climbing onto the bed.

Outside in the main dining area, Bill woke up and found his arms tied to a small wooden chair. His legs were free and he looked up over to see Rex lying on the dining table that was covered in a large sheet. The sheet was white but there were many bloodstains embellished on the fabric. Some looked rather old. Lucy was stood over Rex, a large axe, the sharpest one Bill had ever seen in her hand. She smiled warmly at Rex who was breathing slowly, resting peacefully. With one quick swoop Lucy swung the axe onto Rex's neck, instantly decapitating him. Bill let out a loud scream as he saw the mortifying sight. Blood surged from Rex's neck wound and Lucy knelt down so that her face was splattered with it. She opened her mouth to taste the blood and let out a pleasurable moan, enjoying the taste of his blood and the sensation of it splattering all over her body. Bill looked away from the grotesque show but the image of Rex's head being sliced off his body and the sickening sound of tearing flesh and bone was imprinted on his mind. A tear fell from Bill's eye.

As the blood fountain began to stop, Lucy brushed her damp hair from her face and jumped onto the table, mounting Rex's body. She rubbed the corpse amorously with her hands.

'He's a big, strong guy,' Lucy told Bill. 'They always taste the best. It's a shame that we have to kill them first thought, just in case they try and break out. I always wanted to save some for later.

'You're one fucked up bitch!' Bill spat.

'Art's the fucked up one,' Lucy chuckled. 'You should see what he did to the last girl we brought in here. After about ten hours she wished she was dead but he managed to keep going, bless him, for another twenty before he killed her. Now he brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "having your brains fucked out", you know what I'm saying?'

Arthur climbed onto the bed as Madison continued to struggle. He put his hands on her leg and stroked it as she thrashed about. She was still fully clothed but that was how he liked it. He wanted to slice the fabric away with his knife but first he wanted to get into the mood. He unbuttoned his trousers and sunk his hand down his pants.

'Open your mouth,' he instructed. Madison's eyes widened with the request. She kept her mouth tightly shut. 'You're going to open your mouth,' Arthur explained to her. 'And I feel any teeth then I'll simply pull them out.' He nodded over to the left wall. Madison looked over and saw several necklaces made out of full sets of teeth. It was a shocking sight but what was more shocking was the fact that there were over twenty necklaces hanging on the wall.

Lucy savoured the slices of the axe into Rex's bones while Bill attempted to break out of his restraints. He could hear Arthur in the other room and needed to help Madison by doing anything that he could. Shuffling his chair closer to the table, he looked up and saw Lucy cutting off Rex's leg. She looked up and saw Bill moving close to her.

Arthur perched himself on Madison's chest and pulled down his pants, pushing his bare crotch into her face. He covered her nostrils with his hands and waited for her to take a breath.

'Don't fight it,' he told her, holding the knife menacingly.

'Don't be silly, now,' Lucy hopped off Rex to talk to Bill, leaving the axe with the blade in the table standing upright between Rex's bones. She stepped close to Bill to speak softly to him. 'You don't want to have this done to you while you're alive. We're not bad people, really.'

'Yeah right,' Bill muttered as he jumped to his feet and spun his body around, crashing his chair into Lucy, making it shatter. She let out a cry and it was heard by Arthur who looked around, hopped off Madison and punched the knife into the mattress next to Madison's leg. He grabbed the shotgun, pulled up his trousers and moved into the other room. He saw Lucy lying on the ground and Bill standing up over her.

'Bastard!' he screamed, firing a shot at Bill, who ducked under the table. Grabbing the axe from the table, Bill threw it at Arthur, the blade slicing into the shotgun barrel and severely damaging the gun. Arthur dropped it and Bill moved around the table to get past him and help Madison. Arthur had other plans and punched Bill, knocking him back as he tried to get into the area where Madison was being held. The two began to brawl with each other.

Madison, hearing the struggle, decided that she needed to act fast. Stretching her right foot forward and back, she managed to loosen her shoe on her foot and it fell to the ground. With her bare foot exposed to the world, she began pulling on her leg. As her shoe was bulky, she was able to slip her slender foot through the ropes with little problem. Now the new problem was what she should do next.

Arthur grabbed Bill by the neck and began choking him, pushing him onto the dining table. Bill grabbed Rex's dismembered leg and whacked Arthur in the head with it, knocking him back slightly. Dropping Rex's leg, Bill used his own to kick Arthur backward to the head of the table. Arthur slipped on the large pool of blood that was left there and landed on his back, crying out in pain. Bill turned the assist Madison but Arthur grabbed Rex's head and threw it at Bill's striking him in the back of the head and knocking him down.

Madison used her toes to hold the knife near her foot and cut the ropes that held her other foot so secure. As she freed her legs, Arthur stepped into the room, glaring at her. Madison was able to throw the knife at him but it stuck into his leg. Arthur looked as the knife stood in his skin on its own and began to chuckle.

'Why don't we just skip the foreplay and get right to it?' he walked over to her, not bothering to remove the knife. Madison kicked him away at first but then Arthur grabbed a hold of both of her legs tight. He put her bare foot to his face and ran his tongue over it, savouring the taste of her skin. Madison kicked him in the face and wrapped her legs around his neck, squeezing tight. Suddenly caught off guard, Arthur reached for the knife in his leg but Madison wrapped her legs around his neck carefully and with one quick squeeze there was a satisfying crack and he fell limp, dead. Not using the moment to rest, Madison used her legs to pull Arthur's body up onto the bed and took the knife from his leg. Thankfully Madison was flexible and she was able to bend her leg upward to her arm and cut herself out of the other ropes.

Walking into the main room, Madison knelt over Bill to make sure he was alright. She let out a gasp of horror as she saw Rex's decapitated head lying next to him and stumbled back, laying her hand on a bloody axe that was stuck in a shotgun. She let out a cry and threw both items forward, over Bill and landing near Lucy. She then stood up and saw Rex's decimated corpse and let out a cry as the gruesome sight sank in.

'What kind of country has America become?' she wept to herself.

'A desperate one,' Lucy replied, holding the shotgun up at her. Madison noticed the damaged muzzle and barrel of the weapon and put her hands in front of her.

'Don't shoot,' she cried.

'I'll shoot if I want to,' Lucy cried. 'What have you done to Arty?'

'He's dead,' Madison told her.

'No!' Lucy cried. 'No! I can't be alone! You fucking bitch! What have you done?'

'What have you done?' Madison responded. 'You've butchered one of my soldiers!'

'He was dead anyway,' Lucy spat. 'No one can survive that acid. Besides, if he was a solider can't you just get more in?'

'I liked the one I had to begin with,' Madison answered coldly.

'Here's what's going to happen,' Lucy diverted the conversation. 'You're gonna take me back to wherever your reinforcements are based and you're going to get me out of here. I want to be rescued. I can't take anymore of this shit!'

'If you think I'm going to help you then you're as crazy as you are fucked up,' Madison retorted. Lucy's eyes narrowed as Madison stepped to the head of the table, separating herself from Lucy who was stood by the foot of the table.

'Then you can die you bitch!' Lucy cried, pulling the trigger of the shotgun. Madison kicked the bottom of the table sending the whole thing into the air, protecting her from the blast. As the shotgun was damaged, the entire weapon exploded and killed Lucy as she pulled the trigger. As she fell dead, the table crashed on the ground and the bloody remains of Rex's body splattered onto the ground. Madison was breathing heavily as she fell to the floor, covering her face with her bloody hands as she allowed what had just happened to sink in.

In a different forest, the Midnight Riders tour bus was being driven down a small dirt path. Ellis sat behind the wheel looking incredibly stressed. The dirt road had many twists and turns, preventing great speed. There were thick trees on each side that also prevented any form of creative thinking for their current problem. Behind the bus was a rapidly approaching horde of infected, now even greater in number than before when the bus' alarm attracted them. Ellis wiped some sweat of his brow as he looked worriedly ahead. He had other reasons to be concerned as, aside from the infected, there was another danger nearby.

Up ahead was the perimeter of the forest and beyond that was a large open area with fields and roads that offered a great escape route. However there was a problem, Henry James was waiting on the other side along with his entire Clan. The army he had gathered together to take over Thomas Galt were now positioned just a short distance away from the tree line. A great number of vehicles, from cars to vans, trucks to buses and motorcycles to jeeps formed a large line of defence that was thick, with other vehicles and people holding back and adding substance to the defence. In the middle was Henry James' jeep and he held a radio to his mouth as he began to talk to his people.

'They're coming,' he announced. 'Everyone get ready.' His people began loading their weapons, cocking their shotguns and arming their assault rifles. Others carefully loaded their RPG launchers while some looked through their rifle scopes up ahead into the trees. The Midnight Riders bus suddenly broke through the trees and was slowly heading toward them. 'Get ready to fire!' Henry ordered. Inside the bus, Coach and the others gasped as they saw the reception that Henry was offering them.

'Shit...' Coach muttered. 'Now what?' Henry watched them approach, grinning with arrogance.

'They're not even slowing down,' he chuckled to one of his men. 'What does he expect, that we'll let him through?'

The tree line behind the bus was torn apart by thousands of the infected storming from the forest. Henry's smile faded as quickly as the infected had appeared. Hordes of common infected were charging after the bus and toward Henry's defence. Suddenly from both sides more infected appeared, heading for Henry's Clan in every direction. Someone asked for instructions.

'Just shoot,' he cried into the radio. 'Someone fire at the zombies!'

The person holding their RPG aimed it at the approaching bus. As they fired the shot, the rest of Henry's people took it as a signal to start their own attacks. Ellis pushed his foot all the way down on the accelerator pedal and the bus engine roared as it began speeding toward the front line. Narrowly missing the RPG round, the Midnight Riders approached Henry's people head first. The RPG exploded apart a group of the infected but more continued to run forward. A sickening feeling sunk into some of Henry's people, a feeling of uncontrollable hopelessness. Deciding to flee instead of fight, they backed their vehicles away and attempted to drive off. However the infected swarmed Henry's barricade and the entire scene quickly became one of anarchy. Inside the bus, everyone looked worried as they began to drive through Henry's front lines, everyone except for Ellis who was gripping the wheel tightly.

'I am a leaf on the wind,' he muttered to himself. 'Watch me glide.'

Ellis spun the wheel and sped past several upturned vehicles. The occupants of one car fell to the ground as a Tank lifted it up but were then crushed underneath it as the beast slammed it back down on top of them. A Spitter launched some gastric acid through the window of another vehicle and the occupants screamed as their skin was dissolved from their bones. Gunfire and explosions filled the air as everyone attempted to defend themselves. As the bus drove on a Charger crashed into a man who was about to fire his shotgun at it. While being slammed repeatedly against the ground, the man fired a blind round that obliterated a nearby Boomer, sending bile everywhere. Some of the bile splattered onto a large petrol tanker and some of the infected crashed into it as they ran for someone to harm. A Spitter's acid eroded a hole in the side of the tanker and as gasoline began to pour out, a flaming vehicle thrown by a Tank landed nearby and igniting the leaking petrol. The following explosion sent a shockwave over the people being mauled by Hunters, strangled by Smokers and being torn apart by the horde and made everyone on the bus shake slightly.

Up ahead the view was forbidding. Some of Henry's people who had attempted to flee were now paying for their betrayal dearly as now that they were gridlocked, they could only wait for something to come and kill them. For some, a Hunter dived through the windshield and viciously clawed everyone inside. For others, a Tank slammed its fist through the car, crushing the vehicle together as if it were in a car compacter, with the live people inside screaming in agony as pieces of metal tore through their skin and crushed their bodies. Others were simply swarmed with the common infected, pulled from their vehicle and brutally massacred.

'It's like lambs to the slaughter,' Coach remarked, standing apprehensively behind Ellis as he drove. A Tank threw a crushed car at the moving bus, it crashing into the side but then falling to the ground. 'What the hell was that?'

'Don't worry,' Ellis told him with a slightly shaky voice. 'I'm a leaf on the wind.'

'What the hell are you talking about?' Coach questioned.

'You watch way too many movies, Ellis,' Drake remarked. Ellis allowed Drake's comment to fly over his head as he skidded the bus around a large pileup of vehicles in the middle of his path. Driving through some of the infected and bashing some smaller vehicles out of the way, Ellis managed to pull the bus out of the danger area and onto some clear roads. Everyone sighed a breath of relief as they escaped the devastating battle behind them.

A bullet shot through the back window, leaving a hole in the cracked glass. Behind them was a jeep and Henry James was in that jeep along with a few of his men, chasing after them. The look on his face was one of absolute rage. He and his men were shooting at the bus, attempting to stop them from getting away. Rochelle ducked down with Nick and the two took cover at the seating area by the back window. They began returning fire and shooting at Henry James' jeep.

The jeep was a lot quicker than the bus and Henry drove so he was not behind the Midnight Riders but running parallel to it. Norah kicked open the door and began firing a shotgun at the jeep, causing Henry and the others to recoil slightly. As Norah pulled the trigger and went to pump another round into the weapon's chamber, Henry swerved the vehicle toward the door of the bus, slamming it shut as he crashed into it. He then fired on the door, the close range allowing the bullets to tear through the metal. Norah dived out of the way before she was hit.

Ellis gasped as he saw what was ahead; a bridge over a small canyon. However the bridge had collapsed leaving nothing but a large gap to jump across. Ellis glanced to Coach and then back to the road, thinking of his options. He began accelerating as much as he could, pulling away from the jeep slightly. Henry, who was not watching what was ahead, continued to fire on the bus with his men. Danielle, Drake and Teek lay on the ground covering their heads with their hands. Rochelle leant out of the broken window and fired a few shots into the jeep, killing one of Henry's men. She then looked ahead and saw the edge of the canyon rapidly approaching. She cursed as she leant back inside.

'Hold onto something!' Ellis ordered. He slammed on the bakes and began steering to the left. The jeep pulled out ahead slightly as the bus slowed down. Henry looked ahead and saw the large drop before him and slammed on the vehicle's brakes. The skidding bus that was now moving along the ground sideways crashed into the back of Henry's jeep, using its back end to nudge the vehicle forward. Henry let out a scream as he and his men fell along with the jeep over the edge of the canyon. The jeep spun as it crashed into a rock and tumbled down the rocky slope before landing in a mangled flaming heap on the ground. Everyone inside was dead. The Midnight Riders bus came to a complete stop just by the edge of the canyon, facing the direction of the pandemonium. The frightful sounds of terror echoed across the area. Coach looked around the bus, making sure everyone was alright and then patting Ellis on the shoulder, commending him on his driving skill. Ellis then pulled the bus away from the edge of the canyon and drove off away from the destruction of Henry James' Clan.

Parking the Midnight Riders tour bus safely away from the carnage, everyone stepped outside to assess the damage and try to take a quick breath. Most of the windows were shattered, the entire bodywork was damaged, dented or shot and the interior was in complete disarray due to the high speeds and quick, sharp turns. Drake and Danielle stood away from the bus to evaluate the damage while the others remained close to take a closer glance at their home.

'What are we going to do now?' Teek asked Rochelle. 'Thanks to you and Coach, I no longer have a bike or a way to make a living.'

'You can come with us,' Coach spoke up. 'We'll take care of you.' He glanced over at Rochelle. 'Both of you.'

'Are you serious?' Rochelle asked.

'Seems to me that we all have to stick together if we're going to survive this,' Coach told her. 'Henry James is dead, meaning Thomas Galt's Clan has lost a lot of people. The only thing that we can do now is try and wait out the storm that coming. Thomas might come after us for killing Henry but I doubt that'll happen. He'll be too preoccupied with other people invading the area and trying to take over.'

'You really think that'll happen?' Drake asked, stepping in with Danielle.

'We need to get out of here before we get caught in a war,' Coach said.

'And you'll really let me come along?' Rochelle asked. Coach looked her up and down.

'I trust you,' he told her. Rochelle smiled at him and looked over at Nick who briefly smiled back before everyone started to talk about the new plan with Coach being the centre of the discussions.

Desperate to escape the warring Clans that were destined to battle each other for control of the infected-riddled areas of the United States, Coach spoke with every member of his team to make sure that they all agreed on what their next move would be. As they discussed he noticed something about the people he was travelling with, something about each of them he had never truly perceived until just now.

Coach admired Danielle's caring nature as she looked over everyone's various injuries. He liked Drake's courage for standing up to him in the meeting they had back in the airfield Haven. He also appreciated Norah's loyalty toward him and her invaluable assistance in keeping everyone together. He felt bad for dragging Teek along with him against his will but at the same time felt happy now that he knew that he could be looked after and was no longer on his own. He saw how Nick had been able to let go of his anger and how Ellis had grown from a naive young man to a strong, brave and valiant one. Coach felt a twinge deep down as he saw Rochelle who after everything that had happened between her and the various members of the Midnight Riders, still wanted to come back and make amends by trying to do something for the greater good, even if it did not end as well as she had hoped. Most of all, however, he was aware of everyone's desire to keep alive and work together to do so. Somewhere along their journey, though, they had stopped being teammates and had instead become good friends. Coach felt good that he was in control of this group of friends as he felt sure that he would do whatever it would take to keep them safe.

However, far away from the Midnight Riders, Madison stood outside the isolated cabin with Bill, Francis, Louis, Zoey and Malcolm. She had used a Molotov and watched as the cabin began to burn before their eyes with the three bodies inside. She felt horrific that she had let her friend die in such a horrible way in there. No matter what, she could never lose control of a situation ever again. As Miguel informed her that the mission was still active, Madison prepared herself for the journey ahead, although she felt that she could not handle it. Bill placed his hand on her shoulder and she knew right then and there that she could trust him completely. Bill also knew that he needed to take control of the mission to find Coach and the others.

The road before Coach and Bill was a long one, fraught with danger, pain, horror and difficult sacrifice. However the road also held love, compassion and potential success if he was successful. Bill needed to find Coach. Coach needed to keep his Clan safe. With the stronger infected making other Clans nervous and life in general that much harder, Coach and Bill had their work cut out for them. One thing was for sure.

Their journey would not be boring.

And so it begins... again. My final serial fic has started with what I hope was a bang. This was the first chapter split into three parts. I'd love for you guys to review and let me know what you think of it. I'm always trying to improve so any comments are greatly appreciated. I've got a lot planned for our favourite survivors so keep an eye out for regular Midnight Riders updates.

Andy