"Huh? What the hell is that? Grrrrrgh, it's unbearable. Someone, make it stop, I'm warning you. Grrrrrrgh! That's it! If no-one's going to kill that infernal racket then I'll do it myself! Whoever is responsible is going to have hell to pay!" As these thoughts made their way through the hulk's rotting brain, his ire rose faster and faster, fueled by an out of control adrenaline system his temper was very, very dangerous. When things irritated him, things got broken.. Permanently. Inhumanly powerful, muscled arms tensed as the creature slowly lifted itself onto its hands and feet, it snorted and looked around before smashing the wall behind it. "Pitiful wall, out of my way!" These thoughts floated irrationally through its brain and although it bellowed what its brain was thinking what escaped its mouth was a long, groaning roar.
The sound of a breaking wall and the long, groaning roar of a tank did not escape the ears of the survivors atop a rather barren rooftop. Zoey paled, the last tank they had faced had taken all of the ammunition they had had back on the rooftop of Mercy Hospital in Pennsylvania, it had been a miracle that that pilot had braved hovering the chopper next to the landing pad and had battled the stormy night to get them to safety. While Zoey had a slight mental breakdown Bill and Louis scanned the area in an attempt to muster up a strategy as the growls, grunts and whoops of the frenzied horde grew closer. Francis fired a hail of buckshot down the face of the building with a yell of triumph as infected plummetted back to the ground below. Louis mopped his shiny head as he looked around. His eyes fell upon a large rainwater tank which just happened to have a barrel of volatile liquid lying right next to it, the watertank was the only feature dominating the rooftop.
"Hey Bill, maybe we can bring that rainwater tank down on its head, wha' do you think?"
The aged man scratched his grizzled beard in thought;
"Yeah, might be a good idea. Zoey! Francis! Hold up in that room over there and keep those bastards off us, keep that propane canister handy too, I don't want to use more ammunition than necessary!"
With a curt nod the muscled biker set off for the vacant room, entering he noticed that this room, much to his delight was infected free. As Zoey covered the vandalised train, Francis trained his eyes on the edge of the rooftop firing at any infected trying to scramble over the edge, heavy footsteps pounded down below as a muscled behemoth closed in on a lone rainwater gutter. Surprisingly the gutter held under the weight of the beast as it purposefully rappeled its way up the building.
"Oh man, oh man, oh man."
Louis did not like the sounds he was hearing coming from the street side of the building, the ex-IT manager mopped his brow, wiping the perspiration from his eyes. Bill trained his sights on the location of the noise and waited. Time seemed to slow down as the hulk clambered into view, its diseased muscles rippling in the late afternoon sun, it bounded with a bellow towards the source of the biting stings ripping into its bulk.
"Louis! Move, now!"
The old man roared as the giant made a beeline for the pair, the two fled across the rooftop unleashing a literal storm of bullets into the tank. The behemoth seemed to shrug off the pain as it yelled at them and gave chase. In the meantime shots ripped through the air as the brunette teen and the biker tore apart the infected who had successfully gained the rooftop, Bill and Louis made for the rainwater tank, with the beast in pursuit. A loud pop signified a Boomer's grizzly death. The creature had just made it onto the roof with a horde of infected at its back, its explosive death sent its lackeys plummeting back to the streets below and to their imminent deaths.
"Zoey! Francis! Get ready!"
The two nodded at the old man's demand and climbed cautiously out of the window, the tank had taken to chasing its targets around the rainwater tank, errant rounds ricocheted off the sides of the structure as Bill and Louis continued to fire upon the wretched creature. With a hollow click the old man's gun ran dry.
"Damnit I'm out!"
Bill quickly broke off from the roundabout dash around the rainwater tank, the tank on the other hand appeared to have set its sights on Louis as it continued in hot pursuit. The old vet scoured the ammunition pile cursing as he searched for anything that would fit an M16.
"Bill! Now would be as good a time as any!"
Louis yelled this as the tank continued in its relentless pursuit, the old man gave a satisfied grunt as he grabbed a single clip of ammunition and jammed it into his gun, yelling;
"Now!"
With that confirmation Louis clambered swiftly into the structure below the rainwater tank, the beast pursuing him sensed victory and with a triumphant roar attempted to barrel through the structure. The metal supports creaked ominously as they began to buckle under the tank's vicious assault, with almost serpentine flexibility Louis snaked his way through the structure and bolted towards the old man. The tank looked at the two as if it wanted to ask an idiot question and a split second later a bullet pierced the skin of the barrel, sparking off the metal and igniting the contents within. The tank bellowed in agony as flames ate hungrily at its flesh, the supports groaned in protest buckling under the heat, damage and strain of the mammoth burden cradled above. The rainwater tank wobbled precariously, before collapsing upon the tank with a harsh crash.
Louis waved his gun in the air and hollered: "Oh Yeah! Who's your mama? Who's your papa?"
The old man simply snickered before regrouping with the others at the far edge of the building.
"Is it dead?"
Zoey seemed unsure about whether or not the creature had actually met its demise.
"Sure it is Zoey, you should have seen it get flattened back there, ker-rash!"
Louis used both hands to simulate the rainwater tank hitting the ground to the tatooed biker who chuckled evilly at the thought. That, was when the wreckage creaked ominously. The survivors turned slowly and eyed the twisted metal, with a roar of pure rage the battered creature forced its way out from under the remains of its steely prison.
"Run!"
At Bill's command the survivors bolted across the planks onto the adjacent rooftop, the tank seeming to sense their plan charged across the roof as it gave chase. The foul beast dislodged the planks with a loud clatter as it bounded across to the next rooftop. This was when Bill had an idea.
"Francis! Set the propane canister on that scaffolding over there, we'll get that son of a bitch when he tries to follow us! You got it?"
Huffing from the exertion of sprinting the biker managed a mock salute which brought a scowl to the face of the Vietnam vet.
"Everyone over the scaffolding! Go! Go! Go! Haul ass!"
The survivors fled across the scaffolding while Francis tied the propane canister onto the supports connecting the scaffolding to the wooden makeshift structure attached to a block of dilapidated apartments. The tank had just reached the semi-steel structure as the team scrambled up the only staircase accessable from their area. The tank had made it halfway across when a shot ripped out of Francis's shotgun. The propane canister exploded with so much force that the tank stumbled backwards before precipitating with a loud yell to the alley below. The scaffolding teetered before toppling over, collapsing on top of the unfortunate creature.
"Die you son of a bitch." The biker sneered before joining the others, making his way over to his friends Francis looked over his shoulder at the cloud of dust rising slowly from the now cluttered alley. "Now if that didn't kill it, what will?" He wondered to himself. The rest of the team had made their way onto a wooden platform connecting two blocks of dilapidated apartments, hastily attached barbwire festooned the rooftop above them while a banner hung limply from a nearby section proclaiming: 'NO HELP COMING! SHELTER HERE!' Bill called the team to a halt.
"Okay people, ammo check. Zoey, what's your situation?"
The pretty brunette dug in her pockets and checked her weapon before replying: "Bill, I have about five bullets in my rifle and a clip in my pocket so that's about twenty five in total." The old man sighed; "I'm at twen'y-nine, Louis, Francis?" The dark man looked up from his weapon and heaved a desolate sigh; "Fifteen man, that tank-" He left it at that. The biker cracked his neck and groaned; "Nineteen shells grandpa Bill." The vet ignored the remark and heaved his shoulders in a long drawn out sigh of his own. He motioned slowly with his weathered hand and drawled; "Right, let's keep moving."
As the survivors made their way along the wooden walkway a sense of lost hope seemed to cling to this desolate block, the doors had been bashed in, presumably by infected looking for an easy snack, apparently all attempts to barracade the entrance had been in vain. to the left of the doorway there appeared to be a small kitchenette. On the right a large pile of boxes had been wrapped in a large white sheet. Blood splatters and dust marred the tattered rag.
"Poor bastards tried to barracade themselves in here, all it must have took was one infected."
The aged man shook his head ruefully as he examined the remains of some survivors who had attempted to hold out with a frying pan and a baseball bat. Meanwhile Zoey and Francis had scouted the adjoining rooms in the hopes of finding any ammunition. Francis returned first; "Floors gone in the next room, we can get down over there." He gestured vaguely towards a darkened doorway.
"Guys, I found some Ibuprofen in the bathroom, anyone need?"
Zoey had returned from scouting with a small plastic bottle of pain relievers in hand. Francis smirked; "Give 'em to Louis, he could use 'em."
Zoey giggled and motioned Louis over.
"Hey Louis, I got a present for you."
Waving the plastic bottle in front of the dark man his eyes lit up as he eyed the bottle hungrily. Tossing the bottle to her friend he managed to grab the bottle and make it disappear in one fluid motion, it looked like a magician's trick.
"Oh man, Pills!"
The brunette teen tittered, the way he said pills literally sounded like he had added a "z" for emphasis.
"You really should lay off them Louis."
"Ur-hm-hm-hm!"
Clearing his throat loudly The old man gestured toward the drab doorway;
"Okay people, times wasting and I ain't getting any younger, let's move it out."
Dropping through the throat like hole, the next room appeared to be in similar disrepair. A small ladder broken beyond use lay twisted on the grubby floor, the staccato dripping of a tap elsewhere in the apartment marked the passage of time. A small room off to the side contained a large, dusty pile of old boxes. Moving cautiously through the dingy apartment it appeared the area was utterly deserted. Reaching a small galley kitchen, dust motes drifted lazily in the filtered, afternoon sun. Dead ahead a doorway, the door torn off its hinges gave way onto the collapsed scaffolding from before.
Peering gingerly around the corner, the aged vet motioned the all clear as the group filed out onto another weathered, wooden platform. Something snarled in a room up ahead.
"Guys, hunter. Can you hear it?"
The three men nodded grimly before taking up positions on either side of the door. Slowly turning the handle a blur of black, claws and teeth screamed through the fragile door, however the hunter had miscalculated its leap and crashed through a febrile wooden railing plunging past and smashing into the wall of an adjacent building. With a splintery crack the doomed hunter let out a soft yip before continuing it's journey to the waiting alley floor.
The strapping biker's booming belly laugh filled the air, the team cracking up over the unfortunate hunter.
" Ha, ha, ha! Frikkin wuss!"
An thus, Spirits lifted the team entered an otherwise non-descript apartment. What lay ahead down below? Would they make it to the 84th Precinct ? FInd out next time in: "The Road to Precinct 84."
Phew, it has been a while since I updated this one hasn't it? Blame that on hard work, my interest in Kenkou's Monstergirls, An old New World and gaming.
I always enjoy writing these chapters, but especially enjoyed writing this one. The four are well on their way, but will they make it?