Chapter 3

The Journey Begins

I was panicked, I was scared. Some psycho with a hard on for murder had his gun in my mouth and wasn't going to take it away unless it was through the new hole he was going to put in the back of my head. I tried to imagine myself somewhere nice so my last memories would be happy ones. I was at Samantha's house in Riverside which had always been more of a home for me than my house. That was before I dropped out at 17 and joined the Army. My parents never forgave me for that.

The guy was a big guy, shaved head, leather vest, and tattoos up both arms. He looked like some guy out of those murder movies to me, a kind of demonic smile was on his face. Then a small hand pulled the gun away and I felt myself being helped up. I stammered out that I was alright, but they saw through my ruse as soon as I fell on my face when they let go of me. An older voice greeted my ears as I was helped up a second time. "Are you sure about that son?"

I turned to face him and tried to read his face. This old buzzard had one hell of a poker face. The first thing I noticed was that he was wearing a military jacket and combat boots, topping it off with a green beret resting on his head. A cigarette was between his lips which were surrounded by an almost silver beard. He put his hand out. "Name's Bill kid, over there are Louis and Zoey," He gestured to a guy who looked like he could be Shaun of the Dead and a woman with a red jacket and a ponytail ",and that outstanding citizen who greeted you was Francis. Now who exactly are you?" After that he drew his gun, a 1911 Colt by the look of it. He didn't raise it, but he kept it at his side finger on the trigger.

"I'm Private First Class Martin Callahan, sir." I tried to give him a weak salute and he returned it. "My unit was wiped out in front of the apartments, some giant thing made of muscles was stalking around the apartments for a week." I was shuddering now, remembering the Bastard.

Louis piped in. "You mean the tank? Was his back all scarred up, because if it was we got him for you." I didn't really feel much at that moment other than surprise. They took him down? Really? An entire platoon of highly trained, experienced military personnel got wiped out by this guy, but these four civilians took him down and acted like they did it all the time? Bill told us to move out and we did. None of them told me to stay, or go some other direction, so I just tagged along. I had a better chance of making it with these guys than I did on my own.

We trekked through the subways to a goal that may not have even been there. Bill told me that they were heading for Mercy Hospital, the last EVAC point in the entire city. After I told him what I saw he said he expected as much and we weren't changing course just because we would see a few more zombies there. That hit me hard. Zombies? What chance does humanity have now? I guess history would prove me wrong on that one, because if I was right we wouldn't be here having this conversation now, would we? My new friends filled me in on what we were up against. They told me the names of the mutated ones, what they did, how to fight them. The subway was overrun, bodies were everywhere, and there was that smell. The smell that dead bodies make, but it was a little different this time. I had become immunized to that smell overseas, but it was back in full force now mixed with something a little different. As we made our way through the darkened tunnels Francis had to support me because I was still weak, something that neither of us wanted. We reached a big generator room with a minigun emplacement on one side and the door we entered through partially barricaded. Francis set me down in the corner of the room where the gun was located as Bill barked orders.

"Francis, you get on that gun while Zoey and I cover the flanks. Louis, take a Molotov and throw it through that hole in the floor once we fire the generators up. Cal, stay safe in that corner. You're not well enough to fight yet, but if you see a shot feel free to take it. Understood?" We all barked an affirmative and Zoey, being the fastest runner of the group, started the generators and ran back to us. For the entire fight I didn't have a shot to take. The few Francis didn't tear up with the minigun were dispatched quickly, and with great accuracy, by Bill and Zoey. Louis's Molotov annihilated the horde that tried to come from below, and the only time he really did anything other than that was to pick off the stragglers from up high with his SMG. I couldn't believe what I saw, and Francis must have seen it on my face as he picked me up again. He chuckled and said "Just another day at the office. We do this all the time kid."

We worked our way onto the street finding it a mess of broken cars. Bodies surrounded this fence in the middle of the street, near a pawnshop. The roar of a horde echoed from behind as Francis started running, not an easy task with me weighing him down. A horde came from the street behind and Zoey began to run as well. Bill and Louis backed up slowly, covering our retreat to the pawnshop. Louis took something off his belt, something that looked like a pipe with all kinds of things attached to it. By this time any other man would have been panicking, but not Francis. He picked me up, slung me on his shoulder, and broke into a full sprint to the pawnshop, Zoey trailing from behind. A sudden beeping noise erupted amidst the roars and screams, gradually becoming more of a tone. "I love this part." Francis said under his breath as he turned around. A massive explosion shook the street as body parts flew everywhere. Bill and Louis let out a yell of triumph and began running back to us, turning and firing periodically into the dust cloud behind.

We made it to another room with a red steel door, that Zoey identified as a Safe Room. Francis let me rest in the corner as they went about stocking up on ammo and supplies. I decided to break the somewhat eerie silence by talking to Louis. "Hey man, what was that thing you had out there? It wasted the entire horde!"

A smile broke his blank face as he loaded rounds into his SMG clip. "That, my man, was a pipe bomb. And our last one for the moment. I make them myself from stuff I find laying around, so feel free let me know if you find something you think I can use."

"Any suggestions?"

"Pipes might help." Francis interrupted our conversation with his smartass remark. Over the coming weeks I would find that he would do that a lot.

"Don't let Francis get you down man. It's in his nature and he can't help being stupid sometimes."

We both laughed while Francis raised his middle finger, again, something he would do more than once in the future. I cracked open one of the crates of K rations. They were these old, WWII rations for soldiers in the field. At least I think it as WWII, and they also tasted like shit. I mean like Boomer shit. Well, whatever war they were used in they would work well for World War Z, right? Good book, if you ever find a copy somewhere around. Anyways, we left the safe room with me walking on my own again. I stumbled a little bit but I managed well enough. Going through the back of a Burger Tank we came out to this water treatment plant or something. There was a small gas station at one end of it so we decided to search it for something.

Francis and Louis went in while Bill, Zoey, and I guarded the outside. Francis mumbled somewhat loudly from the gas station, a bit too loudly for Bill. He turned to chew Francis out but he forgot whatever it was he was going to say once he saw what it was Francis swore about. Zoey and I turned to see a tank, a freaking tank squeezing through the door trying to catch Louis and Francis. It burst through and we all opened up, watching our fire around the pumps. Francis turned around and began spraying shotgun pellets all over the place, and I mean that when I say it. One lucky shell slammed right into one of the pumps, sending it up in flames. The explosion knocked the tank into the other pump, which was hit by another shell. That one exploded too, sending the entire roof of the building into the air, and Zoey flying backwards into one of the semis behind us. The debris fell and crushed the tank, soon after being consumed by flames. We all ran over to Zoey, who wasn't moving as we spread into one of those wagon circle formations the pioneers had.

Bill's face was stamped with worry, and his cigarette slipped out of his mouth. He took out his first aid and tried to help Zoey. "You a medic kid?"

"No sir, sorry sir."

"Just great…" He did the best he could, but we had to move and he propped her up against himself. I offered to take her from him, with him being older than we were and all. "Kid, this was my fault. I'll fix it." I walked to a lift in the corner with Francis but the veteran stopped us cold. "That thing'll attract'em. We got to find another way in." Glancing down the loading dock we found a metal door, shut. Walking over to it, Francis deduced it was out of order by punching the panel, hard.

He grinned madly again. "I got this. Cover me." He backed away, then ran straight at the door, bashing it in with his shoulder. He staggered on the other side of it and dropped his shotgun on the floor. 11 of them were inside the room and Louis and I stepped up to the plate. I laid into them with my M4, dropping three before they knew we were there. Louis took down two with his SMG, then drew his pistol and took out another two. Now they were running at Francis, seeing easier prey in sight. My M4 clicked empty and I pulled out my 9mm and popped 3 in the head. The last one was right on top of Francis, but he leaped up and grabbed her by the throat with one hand, and punched her with the other. She bit his hand when it connected with her face, causing him to yell and drop her. She bit him again, in the arm, as Louis dashed to my left. I had no shot. The bullet would hit Francis. I tackled the thing away from him and heard soft whimpering as blood began to pool beneath him. A hard fist slammed into the side of my head and I saw stars. The bitch leaned in to get a bite out of my neck, but a figure stepped up from behind and thrust something at her.

It slammed into the back of her head, coming out the eye socket and killing her instantly. Louis withdrew the metal pole form her head and dashed to Francis. I ran to Bill and Zoey, who was conscious now and weakly demanded to know what Francis had done this time. Bill laid her up against the wall and told me to watch her. They dragged Francis over who was now covered in his own blood. Just like with Zoey, Bill and Louis tried to disinfect the wounds and wrapped gauze around his arm and fist.

He was conscious the whole time, playing the tough guy and telling them when they did something wrong, which was whenever they tried to do something. He bit his lower lip as they finished and stood up, wobbling on his feet. Picking up his shotgun, he brushed it off and checked his shell count. Satisfied he began to forge onward, stopping only to tell us to "hurry the hell up, Bill's not getting any younger." We followed him, and I was surprised yet again by this man's endurance. Where anyone else I knew would need two of us to carry them Francis was, well, strolling through the warehouse and the alley behind it. We reached a red-lit room after descending a staircase with a half eaten corpse at the bottom of it. The poor bastard was gripping a pistol in his hand and looked to be in the early stages of infection. Entering the room itself we found that it led nowhere except down, into the sewers. Ever the leader Bill took point, followed by Louis, Francis and Zoey. I prepared to drop down as I heard a wheezing cough from behind. Looking back I saw a figure standing in the doorway we had just come through, wheezing and coughing. I shouted down, "Guys! I found someone up here and he looks like he needs help! He's coughing really bad."

I rose to go meet our new companion as Zoey shouted from below. "SMOKER! RUN!" My eyes widened and I inhaled sharply, but my breath was expelled as I felt a tongue wrap around my torso. It began pulling me toward it, and I knew if I lost my footing I'd be done for. So I ran straight at it and tackled it to the ground, freeing my left hand. I grabbed for something, anything to fight it, and my hand came to rest on something heavy and cold. I snatched the pistol from the dead man's grip and shot the tongue, severing it from the smoker. I ran back to the sewer entrance firing shots at my assailant as I went. One hit him right between the eyes and his head snapped back right before he exploded into a cloud of smoke. I grabbed my M4 and jumped through the hole and landed in the sewer water.

I felt something caked on my face as I pulled myself from under the muck and wiped it away as I began spitting into the water. I hoped that none of it was in my mouth, but it was open when I landed…

I pulled myself onto the concrete walkway on the side, still spitting shit out of my mouth. I looked up to see Francis and Zoey standing on either side of a closet while Bill entered with Francis's shotgun. I heard a loud bang and a scream, then he walked out with blood on the front of his jacket. Zoey looked at me plainly and said "Witch." Going through the sewer we came into a room with a bottle of painkillers and a Molotov on the floor. Louis pocketed both and gave us a look that said "What?" as we eyed him disgustedly. He screwed the lid off the pill bottle and threw two to Francis, who caught them.

"What? You are nasty man! I ain't eating shit pills from the sewer." Bill gave him a stern look that said "Oh yes you will" and Francis looked away defeated. Swallowing both, and nearly gagging, we set out again.

"Mercy Hospital should be right above us guys! I got a good feeling about this." Louis gestured to the manhole above us and I volunteered to go first. Peering over the lip of the hole I saw zombies roaming the street around the hospital. I climbed back down and reported.

Bill thought deeply for a moment, then looked up. "Alright, there's no way through this without a fight. Cal and me will draw them to us on one side, and Louis will take you two around the other. If we're still fighting when you get them to the safe room Louis, shut them in and come back out to help us. Keep sharp people, we'll do this in ten."

"Why not have Mr. ESP over here blast them away with his mind?" I shut my mouth as no one laughed. I cleaned my M4, still dirty after my fall as Louis came over to sit by me. "Hey man. You ready for this? Why are we waiting, and in a sewer of all places."

Louis thought for a moment. "I don't know man, I really don't know. I guess Bill just wants this to go off without a hitch and wants us rested?"

"Maybe. What's his deal anyway? Did he ever learn to smile?"

Louis lowered his voice to a whisper and glanced around before turning back to me. "Bill knows best man. He and Francis have had hard lives, so don't take it personally if they don't like you at first. Francis still doesn't like me."

"So Bill…was he military or something?"

"Yeah, he was in Vietnam. Lost some friends over there and doesn't want to talk about it. That's where he picked up the limp."

"How did you find out if he never talks about it?"

"Francis knew already man. He and Bill go way back, before this whole thing started."

A soft kick in the back startled me out of my focus. "Time to bond in the safe room guys, let's go." Zoey checked her rifle one more time and motioned me over to Bill.

"Ready kid?"

"Ready sir."

We scrambled up the ladder and ran to one side of the area. We opened fire, hitting any of the bastards that got close. I shot one and he crumpled to the ground holding his gut, and hit another in the leg sending him flying forward and into the pavement. He didn't get back up. "Reloading!" Bill threw suppressing fire down for me as the majority of the undead started to run at us. He yelled for the others to go and we them run behind the horde and into the hospital. Bill hit one in the face with the butt of his M-16 and finished it as it hit the ground.

I was so caught up in the battle I didn't realize the fat one sneaking up to the hospital in the background. Weird right? Louis ran out, weapon in hand, when the thing opened its mouth and green liquid spewed out and covered the businessman. The horde diverted its attention from us to him as he put some rounds into the things belly. It exploded in a shower of blood, the force knocking Louis onto his back.

Bill and I unloaded into the horde, but more came from the buildings all around and began to swarm to him. Plucking the Molotov from his belt, we immediately made for the hospital entrance as it became airborne. Bill just made it inside as it shattered, bathing the entire outside in flames. The puke had literally slid off Louis now as the horde ran through the flames. Charred hulks of flesh came through the fire, some dropping right at our feet while we watched. A roar and a shriek were heard simultaneously and a Hunter pounced on Bill from the wave of fire.

The hunter itself was on fire and Bill's clothes were beginning to smoke. I ran up and punched it in the back of the head sending it flying off Bill and back into the flames. My hand was singed and throbbing as the roar was made known again. Bill ducked just as a flaming fist came through the flames and into the space his head once occupied. The tank screamed again and began to flail, knocking over the supports to the overhead outside. Louis and I put rounds into it as Bill pulled himself off the floor as the concrete ceiling outside began to crumble. With a loud crash it collapsed into the fire, burying the tank underneath it. We dashed into the safe room out of breath and sat on the floor as the door slammed behind us.

Zoey was supporting herself on the wall, her face lined with worry. "What happened guys? I thought you were gone for sure!" She was trying to hide tears from us, but came over and put her head on Bill's shoulder. He looked at Louis and I and began to laugh. We started laughing too, and couldn't stop until Francis interrupted us again.

"So…was it fun?"

We started laughing again, and this time the others joined in too.

Author's note: Chapter 3 is up! At the end, to erase any confusion, Zoey puts her head on Bill's shoulder because he is like a father to her. Anything else would be nasty. I know Francis wasn't funny in the end but bear with me. My parents were raised with no sense of humor and I have their genes. Please read and review, and tell me where I need to improve. Thanks guys!