Nick slapped his phone shut and jammed it back in his pocket. He didn't look very happy.
"How is she?", a nervous-sounding Mike asked.
"She's fine. None of them know she's there." Nick replied, not entirely noticing his much larger friend.
"How many of them are there?" Chad asked, worryingly. Everyone had been listening very intently to how Nick was reacting during his conversation with Molly.
"Twenty-nine. And that's just what she can see.", Nick muttered, thinking of how best to proceed.
"Aw, fuck me!" Chad looked pissed. "How many of them where there last time you called?"
"Seventeen." Nick replied, looking more grim then ever.
"Fuck." Chad hissed through his teeth.
"What do you want to do?" Ashley asked. She looked more then a little bit scared.
Nick sighed, "We're going to get her. That's what we're gonna do."
"What about getting her into the bus with all those things running around?" Mike asked with a stern but logical expression. "I mean, twenty-nine's a lot."
"Working on it. We can't just pull up, and tell her to run it." Nick turned to Chad. "How close do you think you can get us to a house?"
"With that bus, pretty fuckin' close, I think." Chad answered, mulling it over.
"Alright. We'll get the bus as close to her house as we can. Then, we'll have to give her covering fire, or something, so she can get aboard." Nick said, thinking aloud.
"Is there a safer way?" Tracy spoke up.
"I dunno. Those things are pretty fuckin' fast. We'd need to get that shit done pretty damn quick." Chad replied.
"Alright, we go." Nick stated. Everyone instantly shut up and payed attention. Nick took a breath, "We pair up. I want Chad and Ashley together, Mike and Tracy together, and Myself and Ali together. The weapons and experience we have should help even the parings out."
Nick looked around at everyone, "This is a new rule: You will stay with the person you're partnered with at all times." He paused, "Does that sound fair?"
Mike nodded, and looked at Tracy, his partner. "Yeah it's fair."
"Sounds good to me, man", added in.
"Alright, good. Everyone get ready. We leave in five."
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Around five minutes later, the group had assembled by the front door, and Chad looked out one of the smaller windows that was right next the brown door, by opening the curtains slightly.
"Ah, Jesus fucking Christ." He said.
"What?" Tracy asked a bit loudly
Chad stared out the window. "They're out there." He said, as if not believing what he was seeing.
"What?" Ashley had to restrain herself from shouting.
Nick was the first person to say something that even resembled making sense. "How many?" he asked, putting an edge into his voice.
"Oh, fuck. Uh, let's see... Um, I count four." Chad said, counting the creatures. "They're all up and moving around out there, the fuckers."
"Are they near the bus?" Mike asked.
"One of 'em." Chad replied, still staring out the window.
"What do you want to do?" Mike asked tensely, as he held his 870 shotgun more firmly.
Nick quickly moved to where Chad was, and looked out the window.
No one said anything for nearly twenty seconds, as Nick assessed the situation.
"Alright, we go." Nick said, shortly and simply.
"What? No way." Tracy said in disbelief, "With them out there?"
"Yeah way. We have to face these things sooner or later, right? And my guess is we'll have to fight 'em more then once before this thing's over." Nick replied.
Chad pulled the bolt on his M1, putting the first round into the chamber. "So we take 'em?"
Nick nodded. "Yeah... Okay, Mike, I want you to get that Colt .45 on. It's your sidearm now. Chad gets the other Beretta, and Ill put that Glock in my bag."
The group did as it was told, strapping on various weapons, and packing the clips and ammo into their bags.
"Done." Mike reported, as he finished strapping on the holster for the 1911 .45 Colt automatic to his right thigh, and holstering the weapon itself.
After several minutes of silent preparing, everyone else was done as well.
Nick zipped up his bag, which now contained a Glock 17, and the three clips that went with it. The Glock 17 is common with law enforcement. It holds seventeen rounds of the small 9mm bullets.
9mm weapons tend to be pretty accurate, but the size of the bullet itself leaves a touch to be desired, and often skilled users will go for the double tap maneuver, which is a shot to the chest, and a shot to the head. Some even go for the triple tap maneuver, which is two shots to the chest, and one to the head. That is often what it takes to bring the target down with the small caliber round.
Nick put his backpack back on, and noticed the weight of it, plus his M4, plus the M4's extra clip vest. All together it weighed quite a bit. He stood up, and glanced around at this rag-tag, very tense looking group.
"Alright, Mike. I'll take the double barreled shotgun. I'll sling it on my shoulder." Nick said, picking up the weapon.
The double-barreled shotgun in just that. It has twin, side by side barrels, and this model is a "coach" design, meaning the barrels are somewhat shorter the most other models. It is chambered in the .12 gauge shell.
"Chad, would you get the 30-30, please?"
"Sure, man." Chad replied, grabbing the lever-action weapon, and slinging it on his shoulder.
The Winchester 30-30 is a hunting rifle. It fires six of the large 30-30 size cartridges before needing to be reloaded..
Nick finished with the double barreled shotgun, and swallowed hard, and tried to say something, but no words came. He paused for a moment, as the group silently turned to hear what their leader had to say. Nick closed his eyes, and opened them. Gunshots and screams could still be heard from all over. Especially when the group was silent, as they where now. Nick took a breath, and with a shaky voice, began speaking.
"Alright, everyone. What we're about to do is leave the safety of this house. We won't return. After this we will be on the run, with those things running around. There's at least four of them out there right now. And we're gonna have to kill them." Nick looked around and everyone. Ashley and Tracy looked scared, and pale, but they seemed ready, Chad and Mike most definitely were ready, and Ali looked indifferent. She was the hardest of the group to read.
Nick looked around at the five teens who we're all that remained of all he had known in his previous life. The teens' new life began today. "You all ready?"
"Bring it." Chad said, raising his M1 carbine. His new weapon.
"Fuck it. Let's do this." Mike said, getting his 870 into a ready position as well.
"Yeah." Ali whispered.
Tracy's look did a dramatic change from fear to calmness. "Hey, if we die, we die. Fuck it. Open the door."
Ashley seemed to absorb some of her best friends courage. "Yeah, let's do this." she said, holding her Ithica 37 shotgun.
Nick nodded. "Alright, stick with your partner. Mike, Tracy, Ali and Myself will be out the door first. It's our job to clear a path." Nick turned to Chad. "Chad and Ashley, get to the bus, and get it started. Once they do that, I want Ali and Tracy on the bus. Mike and me will be the last in. Ashley get on that door and close it as soon as we're on. Everyone got that?"
"Yeah." Chad said.
"Alright, if T.V. was right, only a headshot'll do shit against them. We gotta hit 'em in the head, okay?"
"Let's fuckin' do this thing, man. The fucking suspense is killing me." Chad said, cracking a smile.
Nick nodded, and decided not to stall any longer. "Chad get the door. You're last out, and you get your ass to the bus and get it started. Don't bother closing the house door. There's no point."
"You got it, man.", Chad said, as he pulled out the bus keys and put them in his mouth, biting on them. Much how Mike had done with his keys when they first arrived at his house.
Nick looked around at everyone again. "Everyone stick close. No one dies today, is that understood?"
"Yeah, man." Mike said.
"Okay, me and Ali'll cover the left side. Mike, Tracy: The right. Chad and Ashley, just get to that bus and get it started. We'll cover you."
"You don't, man, Ill kill you." Chad said, managing a weak smile.
Nick nodded, and took a breath. Now or never. "Chad open the door."
Chad moved to the main door, and un-bolted it.
Nick turned to Ali. "Stay with me, okay?" he said softly.
She small red-headed girl turned to him. "Okay." she whispered, looking more small and frail then ever.
Chad opened the door, and Nick raised the M4. He would finally get a chance to fire it.
Light shone through the open door, like it was the stairway to heaven, just waiting for the six teens to climb it.
It was at this point, that things seemed to slow down.
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I can't stall anymore. Next chapter, the real action starts!
Thanx for the immense support I've gotten on this story! It's really more then I could've possibly asked for! And everyone will be thanked in what Ill call the "credits" of the story, which will be the final chapter. Which hopefully won't be for awhile.
Stay tuned! Next chapter, stuff really starts happening!
Oh, Figure14, thanx for those websites. They are extremaly interesting to look through, and they're something I highly doubt I'd be able to find on my own. Thanx again, mate!