Fortress of Death

Chapter 04 - Hope

Songs from the original challenge for this chapter: "Here's hope" by Owl City (maybe a bit too much of a happy song but the text fits to some scenes) and "Deadman's gun" from the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack.

And an honourable mention for "Save me" by Globus which inspired me to some scenes that happen in the town. However, I took that song out of the random songfic challenge because it was the one I clicked on so my media player would start playing and thus it wasn't one of the randoms anymore.

Pyro dragged a corpse out of the river. He let a bit more water flow by before he refilled the bottles. A noise in the far distance made him look up. He couldn't make out anything in the dark cloudy sky but he was sure it had been the sound of a helicopter. So they were still searching for survivors once in a while - good news for the camp. If only they could start moving east again, closer to where he presumed the sound to stem from.

On his way back he let his eyes wander over the grass. Medic had described certain medicinal herbs to them which they should look out for whenever they left the camp. The best option was still another pharmacy with already prepared medications since the herbs were rare in this area and they even would barely find any if they went with a lawn mower all over it but those few were better than nothing. At least no one's fever had been rising anymore, might it have been because the wounded had started recovering on their own or because of the cooling paste Medic had mixed or actually because of those little yellow flowers the mercs had found sometimes and which Pyro now was carrying home as well.

"The last drugstore is presumed to be here", Soldier said and tapped at their ten year old map as if he was pointing out enemy camps. "But remember, boys, don't go looking for it for too long since we can never be sure if it is still there. Just swarm out, enter whatever building you can get in, grab whatever you can and be back at the van within half an hour. Or earlier whenever you had to retreat from the zombies. I can't and won't give us more time in this godforsaken town."

The addressed boys were actually only one boy, namely Scout. Pyro who should have been in the team as well was still somewhere out and Spy who had appeared at the meeting because he was bored out of his mind was supposed to stay back at the camp.

Scout just silently nodded. He knew what expected him and while the thought to go back there made him sick he wanted to be with the team - to make up for his stupid mistakes which even brought Sniper into this situation.

"Our flower girl is back", Spy commented and nodded at the window.

"Good, I'll tell him that we will meet at the van in fifteen minutes", Soldier said. "Everyone can prepare by gathering a bit of the remaining ammo."

They had already needed to start using the munition of the 'cursed backpacks' as Soldier called them but that could only be used for the smaller weapons and also not all of them. Special fabrications like the Ambassador had to stay empty.

Silently Scout closed the door to the small room behind him. Currently the man inside was asleep but according to the Medic he had awoken a few times the previous night. Just like Demo's bed Sniper's was made of everything soft that could have been found in the cars. Since there was no other place Scout knelt down on the floor to his friend's right side. Sniper's hat and sunglasses had been placed next to him.

Probably it was because of the wounds and his fever - or was it actually the lack of those two trademark accessories that made him look so vulnerable. Since Scout knew him he always had been so cool, so ... aloof. In the past few weeks they had been closer together than ever before and even then the boy had felt a certain distance between them. Or wasn't that distance coming from Sniper but rather from Scout himself?

Slowly he leaned forward until his forehead rested on the mattress and his head lightly touched Sniper's side. No, this time he wouldn't cry, not in front of Sniper at least. One second later he wasn't even sure if he still felt like crying - or how he felt in general. Mainly depressed, empty but deep inside there was a mix of so much more which he couldn't quite figure out. Actually he had wanted to bury his face in Sniper's chest - why? - but then he had been too afraid - what of? - and rather settled for this position.

Something suddenly hit his head. When he looked up Sniper's hand glided off it and landed on Scout's shoulder where he probably had wanted to hover it before he had weakly dropped it. His half opened eyes were glazed from fever but he already showed a very light smile on his face.

"Hey, Boston Bunny... Smile, you won't get rid of me yet. Besides, it was giving me hope."

The corners of Scout's mouth twitched up ever so lightly – to more happiness he didn't feel able at the moment. There was way too much at stake in the nearest future - both wounded falling back into their feverish coma, their looting mission ending in a disaster, the camp being attacked while half of those who still could fight were away - and he didn't even want to think of the further future.

"I ... I'm sorry, I have to go. Our preparation time is over and the others might already be waiting for me", he mumbled. Suddenly he didn't want to go anymore - not because he was afraid of his own fate but because he didn't want to leave Sniper behind in a half protected camp.

For a moment Sniper just silently looked at him but then he said, "Well, good luck then. Guess you'll need it in that bloody town." His fingers lightly brushed against Scout's cheek before his hand slid off his shoulder again.

'No they did not, they just slipped by really close but you aren't sure of they actually touched, are you?' Scout's mind said. 'Stop reading things into something that never happened.'

But why would he even read anything into anything? Quickly he stood up but then he tried to leave the room not too hastily. He didn't want to make it look as if he was running away from Sniper. Or from something else.

Soldier was already waiting in front of the van and talked with Engineer.

"Make sure Pyro doesn't use his flamethrower more often than absolutely necessary", Scout heard the Texan say. "Fire is one of our most important things right now, not just as an attack. We can't always use the van's gas tank to refill his weapon."

"I'll try but I can't promise." He turned his head when he heard the steps. "Ah, the boys have arrived."

Soldier was driving and Scout had taken the passenger seat so actually Pyro could have stayed in the back of the van but he rather preferred to stand right behind them.

A few zombies were crossing their path from time to time but Soldier never avoided them and just mowed them out of the way.

"I hope you just do that because they are zombies and did not drive like a fool before", a well-known voice with a French accent suddenly said behind them.

The two passengers in the back were nearly catapulted forward when Soldier suddenly slammed the breaks. He didn't completely stop the van though but let it continue rolling slowly.

"What are you doing here?" he exclaimed. "You should have stayed back in the camp?"

"And to do what? Frighten the zombies to death when I suddenly appear behind them? They can't be stabbed and my pistol is as empty as our stomachs. In that case it doesn't really matter if there is one man less in the camp or not when he isn't of much help when it comes to defending it."

"Well, fine, I don't want to turn around again anyways and I also can't let you walk back."

"At least you would have cleared the obstacles out of my way."

"But I'm expecting this mission to be even more successful. If we are just easier noticed because there are running way too many humans around in this town now then it will be your rations that will be kept short."

"Good, at least I will get short rations instead of nothing at all for the fifth day in a row. I'm forgotten so often, it's like I'm invisible."

"Hud huh!" Pyro suddenly shouted and it sounded somewhat like 'Shut up!'

For a few seconds the others stared at him then Soldier and Spy decided it was better to delay their discussion.

When they left the van the town looked as calm as at the beginning of Scout's and Sniper's first visit. Three of the mercs swarmed out as planned - Scout to the east, Soldier to the west, Pyro followed Scout for a bit but then took a street leading north - Spy just disappeared.

The automatic doors of the store were jammed permanently open. Zombies were feeding on the remains of the poor unfortunate soul who had been lured into that death trap by the hope to find leftover food not long ago only to end up in a zombie nest and become their food. One of the creatures further inside the shop lifted up its head when it sensed some other living being nearby but when it couldn't make out anything it continued rooting the shelves as if it expected another human in there. One of the things was suddenly ripped out of its hand, floated in the air for maybe a second before it disappeared.

"Parfait, exactly what I needed. Merci, mon ami", the air said.

The zombie furiously lunged forward but Spy quickly evaded it and continued his stroll down the shelves.

'Now I only need to push a shopping cart and this théatre grotesque would be perfect', he thought. He knew he was moving on very thin ice where every wrong step was deadly but the thrill was a welcome change after sitting at the camp for days doing nothing. Why didn't more zombies stare in his direction yet because they could hear him? His steps were silent as ever and he also could control his breath but his heart was booming so loud he presumed the kids of the next town had already started a rave party.

'Crema liquore', Spy read from the small bottle he had just grabbed and made a step to the side so a zombie wouldn't walk into him. Well, not exactly what they needed but some people would surely make good use of it.

Somewhere outside a shot rang out and suddenly every creature inside the shop that wasn't busy with the carcass started moving. They didn't care anymore what they rammed so Spy could quickly continue his shopping tour even though that meant he had to deal with being crowded by zombies and pushed around by them sometimes. Was there even the need to stay invisible all the time? By now he must have looked and smelled like one of them. He did it nevertheless to be on the save side.

A shiver of disgust went through his body as soon as the worst was over and he could move freely again but instead of staying in the nearly empty store he followed the crowd. A shot could mean another unknown survivor or - what was rather possible - one of his team mates and since Scout only had taken his bat and a flamethrower normally didn't make such noise it wasn't hard to figure out who would soon be in more trouble than he had shot himself out of.

From the look of it Scout was in a residential district. Nearly every window and door he had come past was boarded up but aside of that unfriendly look nothing else strange was seen on the street. Since he would probably only run out of time if he continued following the street he picked one of the houses and pulled at one of the boards until it became loose. The window behind it could be smashed. For a few seconds he stopped to listen if he had drawn the attention of any zombies. There were silent noises but still further away. Another board came loose then the gap was already large enough for his scrawny body to fit through. The stale air inside made it nearly impossible to breathe for the first few seconds but then his lungs got used to it and could filter out the oxygen again. Or maybe it was because of the fresh air flowing inside.

A faint rotten smell coming from upstairs told him something or someone probably had died up there but since he didn't hear anything it was either locked away tightly or dead for good. Scout's guess was on the second, that the owners of the house knew they were dying and wanted to make sure they didn't turn - by committing suicide with a headshot for example. If he had been in such a situation with no way out would he have been able to pull the trigger and set an end to it? Probably not but he couldn't be sure since he never had been there. There had always been a way out and even when the feeling of numbing emptiness had taken over again there always was something - or someone - left to live for.

He decided not to go up there unless he really had to.

Scout started searching the kitchen for something edible but of course he only found trash. A bitter laugh suddenly escaped his throat. He never had been one of the rich kids but at least he never had to search the trash cans for food like a hobo - a quite common practice in the district he had grown up in - and now he was doing exactly that. If only his mother or brothers could see him right now. At least they were living far north and still in safety.

The next room was a bathroom - with a mirror cabinet that still held a few medications. Most of them were expired since the former owner probably didn't need them often and didn't care to restock in time but they possibly could still be used. Aspirin, painkillers, different tubes with creams - everything was stuffed into the backpack. They might not be able to cure an infection with it but at least it could help against fever or other things that came with it.

A sudden noise made him spin around and the same second he cursed himself for not making sure if there was another exit. Also zombies were thin enough to fit through the gap at the window and the first one had just dropped on the floor. He could still smash that one's head in but others were already waiting outside and pushing through the hole.

Scout rushed through the rooms. Of course all of the other windows and the backdoor were boarded down. There was no time to push them off, not with zombies following him so there was only one way left. He raced upstairs and ran against a few locked doors until he finally found one that budged. Ignoring the dead body with the bullet hole in his temple lying in the middle of the room he ran towards the non-boarded window, only stopped for a second to pick up the gun on the ground - not of much help in this case since it probably only had very few shots left. Looking down from the window he only hesitated for a moment until he heard the first few creatures entering the room then he climbed onto the windowsill and jumped. The grass in the backyard was soft but nevertheless his landing was a painful reminder he wasn't in the safety of the gravel pit anymore where anything could just be healed anytime. His limbs were hurting but he couldn't stop yet. With a high jump he reached the edge of the fence, pulled himself up and dropped on the other side - to find himself on a street together with a good dozen zombies which were all staring at first but then coming in his direction. Scout could have screamed. He had escaped so narrowly only to jump right into some others arms. But instead with a grim look on his face he lifted up his bat. If he already was supposed to die he wouldn't do it like a child on his knees - he would take a few of them with him.

Suddenly a blast of fire hit and burned down the closest zombies. Pyro stuck to the order. He didn't use his flamethrower - he breathed fire. Whatever he blew at the torch made out of trash he was holding in front of his mask, it was just sending another fireball against the living dead.

"Aw geez, man", Scout said and let out his breath in a sigh of relief after the last one on the street was down and he had made sure none of those from the house followed them. "I have never been so happy to see you."

Pyro just shortly nodded to show he appreciated the thanks.

Soldier wandered through a rather deserted looking area of the town - deserted regarding the amount of buildings, not the zombies. A few houses, gas stations, a construction site, a highway bridge leading over the area. The only store he had come by a while ago he had ignored - too many of these creatures inside. But at least they all stayed in their nest and kept the streets clean of their presence. A scratching sound was heard once in a while as if a body was dragged along the street but this probably only was one of the crawlers - the kind of zombie that couldn't walk anymore and either crawled or dragged themselves over the ground. Not really a thread since they were slow and their heads could be bashed in easily.

Soldier neared one of the stations, tried out the fuel pumps. Nothing worked, of course not without electricity. He tried to remember how Engineer had gotten gas out of them anyways but he had never watched him close enough while he did so.

The scratching noises became a bit louder. That thing had to be just somewhere around the corner. Probably it was better to just ignore it and move on - or he should get rid of it after all before it could get an annoying problem that always tried to follow him and drew unwanted attention.

Soldier silently walked to the building and leaned against the wall, gun in shooting position, before peeking around the corner carefully. His guts suddenly felt as if someone had poured icy water into them. Yes, he had known that some of the REDs had turned - Scout had told him - but Soldier never had thought that he could have been among them. Indecisively he made a step forward and out of his cover. RED Demoman hissed and stretched out and arm when he saw the living being in front of him but since they were still good two metres away from each other he only grasped the empty air. Soldier just stared down on him. Somehow he had known that his former best friend was dead but this wasn't how it should have ended. Lying dead somewhere in a gutter also wasn't a glorious death but it was better than ... this. He couldn't kill his friend, just didn't want to - but actually it was for the best, better than letting him crawl around as a mangled creature for all eternity. Soldier pointed his gun at him, closed his eyes then pulled the trigger.

For a few seconds he remained standing still, gun lowered again, his eyes on the limb body.

'There you have it, you old witch', he grimly thought when he remembered things of days gone by. 'I killed him with my own hands. You happy now?' Actually he had expected to be struck by grief but now after it was over he only felt peace. A strange, empty kind of peace but nevertheless, it was peace. He took off his helmet, pressed it against his chest and knelt down beside his friend to pay his last respect to him. Rasping sounds were heard and steps quickly came closer but actually he didn't care. At this moment nothing mattered anymore. If they killed him he at least would die side by side with a friend.

"Get back to your feet and move your ass, private! This is an order!" a voice suddenly shouted.

Maybe the man had given up but the army man was drilled to keep going beyond his limits whenever he was ordered to. Slowly he forced himself up, raised his gun and fired at the incoming enemies.

With a flicker Spy became visible, grabbed a zombie's head, dragged it back and sliced its throat open before dropping it like a hot coal. He turned invisible again but a permanent flicker often gave away his position even when he didn't decapitate someone. Since he had to move permanently and fast his cloak barely had the time to recharge.

"Get outta here as long as you still can", Soldier shouted over the heads. He knew that alone, encircled by opponents and with only a few more rounds left he never stood a chance but he surely didn't want to risk the life of team members when they still had the chance to escape.

"The hell I will do! Oh zut alors..." The cloak failed completely and soon Spy found himself surrounded by zombies as well.

"Here, catch!"

He could just reach out a hand and grab the gun flying towards him in time and fired at the closest enemies.

Scout tried to get closer to Soldier by jumping from head to head. One of the zombies broke down way too early but a double jump prevented him from drowning in the sea of walkers. He landed in the middle of the small ring of free space which Soldier had created around himself, smashed in the heads of those which just were about to enter it and which Soldier couldn't fend off anymore in time.

"Pyro will soon be here", he called out. "Ya know, he's not much of a sprinter."

Not even a minute later a fire blast drove through the crowd.

With the teamwork of the four mercs the zombies were defeated within minutes.

"Are you ... feeling alright?" Spy asked.

Soldier knew he had seen him kneeling next to the RED Demoman but probably Spy just asked because he thought Soldier had had his breakdown thanks to the similar look to someone he was worried for and not because he somehow figured out this RED once had been someone Soldier had cared about. No one had ever found out and he also didn't want to rub it into their faces now.

"Yeah ... I guess so", he just answered before continuing with something else. "Without Pyro's and Scout's help we might have never made it out alive. How did you guys even know we needed reinforcements?"

"We were already back at the van waiting for you", Scout explained. "Then we heard shots in the neighbourhood and guessed you could be in some kind of trouble. Geez, I hope we can leave this town for good now and never return to it anymore. Did we all at least find something useful? I got some drugs the doc could need and Pyro got a bit of food - already roasted."

"I was on a shopping trip in the food store but I think they should restock more often. Their shelves looked nearly empty if you don't count the zombies that were sitting on them", Spy said dryly. "I got a full bag after all but this definitely won't fill the stomachs of nine people, especially not when our rations should last for longer than a few days.

Soldier sighed. "The first thing I tried to get was fuel but I didn't know how to get it out and then the zombies were already there."

Something knocked against his back and when he turned around Pyro shoved a full jerrycan into his arms. The fuel pack for his flamethrower was likely also refilled.

"Uhm ... thanks", Soldier said and blinked at Pyro in mild confusion. But then again their fiery friend spent loads of time with Engineer and presumably had also learned a thing or two from him.

When the van rolled into the camp area Engineer and Heavy were about to repair parts of the fence.

"Some of the runners broke it down and made it inside", Engineer explained to the four returning. "We could fend them off without problems and also the damages can be repaired for now but when there will be more attacks our stockade might not last for too long anymore. As much as I hate to say that but we probably have to get moving again."

Pyro mumbled something and the Texan translated for him.

"Pyro says he heard helicopters somewhere in the east. When the rescuing teams are still circling over those lands once in a while we have to find them."

Most of the team might have been in favour to move immediately so they could get even further away from that bloody town but they couldn't transport the wounded and sick in that van unless they were lying on the floor and everyone else except for the driver and a co-driver stayed outside and followed on foot.

"As soon as our sick have recovered", Soldier agreed.