Chapter 7

Nightmare

"Hey, there's lights on in that church!"

"Thank you Captain Obvious." As Bill walked by he slapped Francis in the back of the head, continuing on without looking back. "What the hell Bill?"

"Don't talk to Zoey like that again." With that the Green Beret raised his M-16 and took aim. He gave a sharp whistle as his comrades readied their own weapons and the infected milling about the graveyard looked up. They charged at the group with hunger in their eyes and bloodlust in their hearts as the survivors opened fire. In five seconds it was over and the four humans reloaded their weapons. Zoey looked around and gave a drawn out whistle.

"We're getting good at this." She looked over to Louis expecting a positive remark from him but none came. He continued on with Francis and Bill toward the church. The manager, as Francis nicknamed him, had become silent since the helicopter crash. In the short time he and cal had known each other they became good friends, one of the few bright spots in this bleak apocalypse. "You okay Louis?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I bet the military is just waiting for people like us to come through here."

"Let me guess. You got a good feeling about this too?"

"Damn right I do Francis. Teaching you to read once this is over though, that's got me a little worried." Zoey and Louis both chuckled while Francis turned back to the front, muttering curses and insults as he did so. On any other day, a normal day, they would have never dared talking to the intimidating Hell's Legion biker that stood in front of them, god forbid insulting him. But the apocalypse brought them all down to the same level in the past two weeks, and unfortunately for Francis they had made a sport of it.

"Hold up people." Bill raised his right hand in the air and formed a fist as he crouched. They did the same and listened closely. "Hear that?"

Louis was the first. "Yeah, it sounds like a person. A living person! See Francis, I told you I had a good feeling about this!"

"Yeah yeah yeah." His words dripped with sarcasm. "Hey maybe it's our long lost soldier buddy from Philly? Hey, maybe he has a cure? Holy shit, maybe he can even age Bill back a few centuries and make him young again!"

"You know who's gonna survive this thing Francis? It ain't the guy who's making jokes." Francis smirked his cocky smirk as they hustled into the church. The interior was in shambles, but they saw another safe room inside. "I think it's coming from in here." Bill knocked and was greeted with a startled yelp from the inside.

The voice was quivering with fear as it responded. "Hello? W-who's out there? Are you human?"

"We're as human as they come son, I promise you. We're also cold, tired, and there's infected in the damn woods, now cut out the shit and let us in!"

"NO! Not until I know for sure!"

Francis pushed his way past Bill and stopped at the door. "We're cops! Open up!"

"I've got a bell in here! Prove it!"

"Well I'm Officer Francis, that's Grandpa Bill, and there's zombies out here open the goddamn door!"

"No! You don't sound like cops!" They heard him moving around inside the room and talking to himself. Francis gave it one last try.

"Come on, have a heart! We got a helpless old man with us!"

"HEY!"

The church bells began to ring and a roar resonated throughout the church. "I don't think that cop thing worked."

Over the din of the bells Zoey shouted at him. "Hey JERKASS! We can make you open that door!"

"Take aim people!" Bill focused to the darkness outside the church as the horde swiftly approached and adjusted his rifle sights. "This guy's nuttier than candy bar shit." In the next moment a flood of bodies surged from the darkness and the survivors opened fire.

Zoey slung her hunting rifle over her back and took out two Colt 1911s. "HUNTER!" The hooded figure leaped through the doorway and lunged at Louis, who rolled to the left just as it landed. It swiped at him but he ducked, another swipe and he jumped back. The wall collapsed behind him and a boomer vomited all over him.

"Why the hell do they always go after me?" He wiped his eyes with one hand and wielded his Uzi with the other. The infected around him fell as Zoey charged the boomer and shoved it back. She took aim and sent two rounds through its belly and the monster exploded in a shower of bile and blood. The infected became confused as it splattered over the ground and many of them stopped attacking and looked around. Using their moment of reprieve the four dispatched the infected around them before they snapped out of their daze, and were left in a pile of bodies.

"Francis, get the door open! Zoey, Louis, cover the entrances!" Francis began slamming his shoulder into the door and swearing at the guy on the other side. No matter how hard he pushed against it, it wouldn't budge an inch.

"I'M GONNA TAKE THAT BELL AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!" He didn't hear the soft coughing from the other side, or notice the bells beginning to die down as he tried to force the door open. Another scream signaled that another horde was coming. He picked up his shotgun and prepared himself. Bill rushed over to the door and grabbed the handle. He gave a pull and the door flew open in a heartbeat. He turned around to yell at Francis, until a tongue shot out of the safe room and wrapped itself around the man's neck.

Thinking fast he rushed into the safe room and tackled the smoker to the ground. He grabbed the tongue and with all his strength he pulled. It snapped in half like a rubber band and he heard Francis gasping for air outside. "Everybody in! Go go go!" He stepped out of the door way with a fresh clip in his rifle and murder in his eyes. Nobody messed with his group and lived. He let out a yell as he fired into the horde of infected behind Zoey and Louis, who were helping Francis into the safe room. A hunter shrieked and jumped at him, but he adjusted his aim and a round smacked straight through the hunter's forehead.

He turned to get inside but as he entered the door a great weight slammed into him from behind and he fell to the ground. He heard the door slam shut and looked to see Louis and Francis holding it closed. Zoey rushed over and helped him out from under the thing that hit him. "What the hell was that?" He and Zoey began dragging pews that had been thrown into a corner over to the door. They began setting them against the door as the infected outside tried to enter.

"Nice shot Bill!" Zoey said cheerfully. "You killed that hunter in the air. Two points, am I right?" Louis chuckled and Francis sat down. "The hunter's body hit you in the back and you fell down. You okay?"

Francis interrupted them before Bill could respond. "Lucky for you we're here, because I don't think Life Alert would've made it in time."

"Don't be an ass Francis." Bill stretched and found his rifle again. "Those bastards are still outside. Zoey, go up that ladder and see what they're up to. Louis go with her." Zoey and Louis ascended the ladder while Bill and Francis went about shoring up their barricade. The zombies weren't trying to force the door anymore but it paid to be prepared. He knew that from experience.

Zoey's rifle began firing and Louis shouted down. "Get up here guys! Something's happening!" Without hesitation the two men readied their weapons and flew up the ladder. Throwing open the door they witnessed a mass of infected, perhaps 100 of them were in the parking lot and crowding the convenience store across the street, wailing that soulless howl.

"Zoey, Louis, stay up here and cover us. Let's go Francis!" Without hesitation they leapt to the ground and plunged into the horde. Above the gunfire and the wailing of the horde they heard screaming. The sound stood out from the rest because of the pitch. It was a human, a living, breathing human. In an instant Bill was angling to get a shot, but his assailants were clustered to tightly around that shooting was impossible. The next instant he was on the ground, his rifle out of reach. The mass of bodies was trampling him to get to the scream as he blindly reached out for a weapon, any weapon. A foot slammed into his face and he rolled onto his back to get sight of his attacker, an infected who took notice of easier prey nearer at hand. He grabbed the beast's leg and pulled him down to fight him on an equal level. They rolled around knocking other zombies to the ground with them.

A loud bang erupted from nearby and his opponent's head exploded, showering him with what was left. Francis hauled him to his feet, covered in gore himself as they pressed on. Bill was using his pistols now, picking his shots carefully in between fits of coughing. When the two men reached the store the lot was covered in bodies but more of them came. Bill kneeled next to wall while Francis took on the few new attackers from behind. "I think I swallowed my damn cigarette."

"Shit old man, get inside! I ain't hauling your bony ass to the next safe house if you break your hip!" Bill's coughing began slowly subsiding as he slipped inside. He heard swearing and a scream. This one was lower, like a dying animal surrounded by wolves. He looked up and saw the one thing he expected least.

"Francis! Get the others!"

"Cal!" At the moment she screamed my name they rushed us. Gunfire was coming from the church, more survivors if we were lucky enough to get there in time. In the middle of this attack we weren't moving anywhere far like the church so we had to retreat to the only cover we had.

"Into the store!" We rushed to it, blasting any zombie that got within spitting distance of us, but they kept coming. Sam shoved the door open and I sprinted inside with the horde on my heels. We both pushed against the door with all our might, but one of them was stuck in it and it wouldn't close. "Find something we can use Sam! Hurry!" Sam rushed away to find something to help, and without her weight the door began to creep open. They were packed so tightly outside that they would spill in like a tidal wave if the door opened. The window next to the door shattered and shards of broken glass flew through the store. Sam quickly rushed to the breach and fired her shotgun into the horde. Many of them crumpled and fell but more took their place as they pushed. A pounding noise came from behind and I looked over my shoulder to see the back door begin to collapse.

Quickly Sam ran to it and tried to keep it closed, but an arm shot through and wrapped around her neck. I saw her face begin to turn blue as she struggled to get free to no avail. I threw my crowbar to her and she thrust the straight end through the hole like a spear when she caught it. The arm went limp and she backed away from the door, reloading her shotgun as she did so. I felt my own door begin to close so I looked back to see the horde becoming thinner, but they were by no means small in number. Sam gasped as she looked through one of the windows on the other side of the store so I looked too. A boomer stood there, staring at us blankly as we struggled for our lives. I yelled at her to get away but I was too late.

The thing exploded where it stood, shattering nearly every window in the store with the blast, Sam screaming as its bile covered us both. The horde poured in through the new openings, knocking over shelves and displays as they came. One instant we were side by side unloading into them and the next we were surrounded by the horde. Their wailing grew louder as they sensed their victory at hand. I wasn't going to go down without a fight so I jumped behind the counter and reloaded. Sam was being pushed back into the back room, covered in boomer bile and using her shotgun as a club. She stepped through the doorway and vanished from my sight as more of them rushed in. I fired my rifle into the mass of bodies as they stopped momentarily to decide which one of us to finish first. That moment of hesitation cost them as I mowed them down in a second and rushed to the door. Sam's shotgun thundered from the next room as she screamed. "CAL! SAVE ME!" I shot the remaining infected between me and the door after I jumped over the counter and rushed to the door. The door itself was destroyed, laying smashed and broken on the ground inside the room. The floor was covered in bodies from the struggle, some of them having been blown completely in half by her shotgun blasts. She was grappling with three of them next to the wall, it was a losing battle if I ever saw one. The one closest to her was leaning in, craning his neck to bite her. She looked past her attackers and into my eyes with a look of primal fear as I looked back into hers. I raised my rifle and sighted in on the one about to bite her, the red dot resting right on his temple, a perfect headshot. I pulled the trigger. Click.

The moment after that he lunged and took a chunk out of her neck. Blood spurted and Sam fell to the ground as the three set to work. They were punching and clawing and biting her while I stood there trying to reload my rifle. I looked up and saw the blood still spraying from them, her struggles barely visible anymore. I dropped my rifle, rushing them and throwing them off one by one with animalistic force. I shot two of them with my sidearm as the final one stood up. His mouth was dripping with blood and he had flesh between his teeth as he lunged at me, earning a hole between his eyes for it. It was done. I dropped to her side and tried to stop the bleeding but it was coming from too many places at once. She was bruised and battered and covered in her own blood as she lay there, my hands becoming covered in it as well. "Fuck, stay with me Sam! You're too damn tough to fucking die, come on! Oh shit oh shit oh shit, what do I do? What the fucking hell do I do?" She let out one last, low and painful cry as she huddled against the wall streaked with crimson and drew her last breath.

I stood up and actually began crying. My tears mixed with the gore on my face as I stared at my hands as they shook uncontrollably. A fit of coughing erupted from the doorway, and I could nearly feel the smoker's gaze burning into the back of my head. I turned around and my remaining strength drained from me as I waited for the smoker to finish it. Only it wasn't a smoker.

"Francis, get the others!" Bill was coughing as he walked over to me and led me out of the store, supporting me on his shoulder. The other three ran to me as the old man led me to the church through a parking lot full of bodies. He stopped and talked with Louis as Zoey continued to lead me to the church and I saw Francis and Louis run into the store. We entered the church as they led me to a safe house and set me down on a sleeping bag, scrounging food from the cans scattered around the floor. Zoey picked one up and threw it to Bill, who caught it and began opening it with a knife he took from his boot. When he was done he passed it to me, but I set it on the floor next to my foot. I wasn't hungry.

Bill went back to trying to cough up his intestines as Zoey began talking. "I can't believe we found you! Bill and Francis thought you were dead! So did I and I think even Louis did too! What happened man?"

I didn't want to talk about it so I changed the subject. "What's up with Bill? He swallow a bug or something?"

His voice was hoarse as he replied. "Cigarette. My last one to boot."

"Oh." Zoey was about to speak again but was interrupted by Louis and Francis re-entering the room. Louis held a duffel bag in one hand and Sam's bloodstained shotgun in the other. He glared at Francis, who motioned at him to begin filling the bag and he began to do just that. "What'd you guys find?"

Louis set the shotgun down next to me as he filled the bag. I picked up the can of cold beans and started scooping them into my mouth with my hand. I forgot about the store for a second as I prepared for Francis's report on the store. I wasn't disappointed.

"I found this duffel bag in the back room of that store. It looked like something we could use to keep our supplies and stuff in it while we move. Everyone can pile their crap in this thing and not have to worry about it, and Louis even volunteered to carry it for us. Thanks Lou, now let's go."

"Hold up bike brain. I found the bag, and it was my idea to take it with us. And I didn't volunteer to carry shit."

"You're right. You volunteered to carry our stuff, now let's go guys."

"No I didn't. I got winded carrying this damn thing across the lot. I say you carry it. Who's with me?" Zoey, Bill, and I raised our hands in unison.

"C'mon guys, can't we just take turns?"

Bill spoke up. "That was my first idea, but I remembered those old jokes you've been making. Have fun jackass. Let's move out people." I finished the can and stood up weakly as I slung the shotgun over my shoulder. Francis took the bag full of supplies and the rest of us readied our weapons.

"You were going for the river weren't you?" They nodded and I turned my head back to the front. "Don't worry. I'll get us there." I stepped back outside and the others followed. A large roar filled the air when we got to the street and I flicked the safety off on my gun. Whatever the hell it was, I was going to kill it. After what happened, I was going to make these infected bastards pay.

I was going to kill them all. Even if I had to do it with my bare, goddamn hands.