Chapter 3

(Charlie's POV, Third Person)

The sound of gunfire was the only thing that rang throughout the city; minus a few moans and screeches every now and again. Sometimes that was an annoying factor though, but thankfully there were more survivors there than probably any other place. In Oregon that had gathered about thirty survivors and made a safe house; yes made. It was originally a Military base when they were stationed there but the men had died at war against the on-growing army of undead. Metal doors that locked with a security code was perfect for them, and very hard for zombies to enter through. There were few woman alive in this city, about three out of thirty; the men went out fighting while the women stayed behind in safety.

Sitting down in a small circle Charles found himself staring directly ahead at the small fire they had created. Due to there no longer being any electricity it had grown very cold inside of their base. There was a sound of static and his head would lift, staring ahead at their own radio transmission that they owned thanks to the Military leaving it behind.

"Hello.. we're survivors from Missouri looking for any other survivors. Anybody out there?"

That angelic voice, it was so familiar to him why did it slip his mind as to who's it belonged to. Leaning forward his hand would grasp for the radio but it was stopped by another and the man stared down at him. This was their leader, sadly he had to comply with orders otherwise there would be dire consequences. "It's impossible for there to be survivors in Missouri, Charles. That broadcast must be old." He retorted and this made him grit his teeth lightly, "But how do you know that..?" The man smirked faintly and glanced downward, a few strands drifting into his face, "Because I was the leader of my own group there." That's right; the man in charge of Charles' group was none other than Alexander.

"She can't be dead... I refuse it."

Charlie seemed to have shot back, his hands gripped into fists at his own sides. Alexander shook his head and let his gaze wander off to the side, "I guess there's only one way to find out... when you see her dead body wandering for you and then biting into your flesh.~" At this point Charlie was about to punch the crap out of him but it wouldn't be wise; for some reason the people there preferred this man as their leader. May it be out of fear or not, it's just how it stood for now.

When Alexander stood and walked off it made Charles grin slightly.

Emily's POV (First Person)

I let out a sigh as I slowly picked back up the receiver from the middle of the seat between myself and Dmitri. The others were still asleep so I didn't dare wake them, they needed to be rested up, sadly I couldn't say the same for myself. I was better to kill shamelessly when I was tired ; it made most emotion leave from my very being. Lifting up the speaker again I would press the button, "We're survivors from Missouri! Is there anybody out there?" I tried again, and now heard static from the other end. "Hello, we're a group from Oregon, a group of survivors." This voice sounded so familiar to me, it brought butterflies in my stomach. "Who... is this?" They finally spoke to me and I answered fairly easily, "Emily... and I have four others with me." The other end went silent and it made my eyebrows knit together in concern. "Hello?" I spoke and it seemed that the other end started up again, "Emilia..." This made my eyes fly open, taken back in disbelief. "Charlie..?" I whispered and there seemed to be a moment of relief, we were both okay.

The others seemed to have been awake now, great just in time to tease me. Charlie and I seemed to have been taking up the line for the most part. But we had to get off of it sooner or later and I let out as mall sigh, "Charlie...I love you." I spoke softly, a small blush seeming to twinge against my cheeks. I heard a small chuckle from the other end which made me shiver in the slightest only to then hear him speak back, "I love you too, Emilia." My blush deepened in shade but our moment was ruined. Suddenly we all let out shouts into the speaker and our car flipped over, doing a few twists and turns; a fire erupting from the stirred engine. It was then that my finger left from the receiver, the shouts of my name disappearing as I slowly lost consciousness.

It felt lke my head had been cut open by a rusty switch blade; it was throbbing harshly more so than I had ever experienced before. Slowly my eyes fluttered open, my vision blurred but I heard gunshots in the distances. I was currently hung upside down, quite literally and unbuckled myself from the carseat and my head hit against the roof of the car; which was rather down than up due to the vehicle being upside down. "Ow..." Lifting my hands I would rub at the spot hit and crawl out of the car, tugging my gun along with me. The radio seemed to have been gone and I saw Stephanie having it in the bag. I noticed my teammates firing away at zombies who must have flipped the car over; I wasn't paying attention as best I should have been I guess.

Pushing myself over I would lift my gun and start firing, but my vision was still blurred so I wasn't exactly aiming very well. Instead of hitting them in the head I was hitting their shoulders and arms. This made all of us back up against each other and fire in different directions as we were slowly being surrounded by the zombies who were walking straight at us. Thankfully my vision came back to me and I was hitting in their heads once more. But there were too many, it seemed like an endless army almost like that time on the highway. This made me wince inwardly at the thought but pushed it aside. I wouldn't let any of these people die; they were all important to me.

"Shit, I'm out of ammo... Steph, toss me some." Dmitri called and she did as such and he reloaded and in that time that's when my mother and sister too ran out of ammo. The zombies grew smart at that point with their ceased fires and raced straight for them as everyone tried to reload in time. The sounds of screams now caught my ears and my head turned behind me, two familiar bodies hitting the ground which made a scream emit from my throat. My mother and sister had been bitten and were practically being eaten alive. "NO!" I continued to scream and raced over, but Dmitri grabbed onto me and dragged me away while Stephanie followed us. All the zombies were focused on my family ; all ganging up to feed upon them with glee.

A hand was slapped over my mouth and I was dragged away into the distance.

God... help us.

It felt like a hole had been ripped open into my chest; no better yet it felt like my heart was being squeezed to death, I was suffocating. "Emily," there was silence after that as I stared off to the side, a hand cupping my cheek while my other arm laid across the counter top beneath of me. We had managed to find an old diner and stepped inside for food considering we hadn't eaten in about a week. My gaze was emotionless and it automatically made them not talk to me as they ate in silence. But I couldn't stomach the food, it was all still too much, and to make matters worse the radio had been ruined in the wreck. Charlie probably thought I was dead and who knows what he's probably done because of it.

My arm gave a twitch and a tug and I lifted up my shirt slightly to stare down at the wound that had stopped bleeding. My flesh around there was still a deep pinkish red, like it was still infected; the virus must be working slowly on me. The sooner I got my two friends to safety the better, their lives were more important to me than my own. Moving my shirt back down it made Dmitri's eyes shift away from me after seeing the mark I had been branded with, it even made him feel a bit uneasy I'm sure. "You sure you aren't hungry?" I heard Stephanie speak up and I turned to face them, offering a faint smile. "No. There were only two boxes left anyways, you two fill up." I pushed myself up to stand and walked outside, the bell on the door softly ringing as I did so.

I walked out into the winter wonderland, snow was falling all around us, but it wasn't even considered to be winter time. The seasons were messed up, everything was out of order. It was strange to think that human lives on the planet could effect so much to the world around us. My eyes stared ahead as both hands fell onto my arms; hugging myself for warmth. The bell chimed again and the two walked up from behind, moving to either side of me. "We need to find a car, it's going to be more difficult traveling in this weather..." Dmitri muttered through chattering teeth and Stephanie nodded, "We should reach Oregon in about five more days..." This made me sigh and ring a hand up through my own hair, we still had decided to go to Oregon it at least gave us a destination; something to work for. It kept us going.

Ring Ring...

Ring...

All of our eyes shot over towards the payphone just off to the side, making me frown deeply. "Let's go, before the sound attracts them." I spoke and started to walk and they followed from behind. The phone continued to ring and I let out a frustrated groan and lifted it off of the receiver, "Hello?" The other end was silent at first and suddenly a deep voice came from the other end. "You require help... you're going in the wrong direction..." My eyebrow raised as he spoke, "No, we already have a destination." I hung up the phone and walked off which made the phone ring once more and I lifted it, "What?" The man laughed from the other end, "You're going the wrong way. Don't make me send them after you." This made me laugh now, "You think you can control the zombies?" There was silence again at first before he spoke again, "No, but I can send them there."

I hung up again and walked off the others following with me. The sound of wind moving was heard next and we all stared up at helicopters hovering over us. We all took a few steps back and Stephanie seemed to have been trying to signal for them; but they didn't budge. Suddenly a few men dropped down from the chopters and grabbed onto Stephanie and Dmitri while I stayed back. They seemed to be Military Personnel. Finally I was grabbed and we were all set aboard the helicopters.

After traveling a bit of a ways we arrived at a Military base, it was a large building set along an open field with guards standing ready to shoot down zombies trying to penetrated their strong hold. Walking down along the field we noticed the men standing ready for us and I let Dmitri and Stephanie go on ahead and they were checked for bites. Finally they noticed how far ways off I was and turned to face me, worry on their faces. "Emily, come on!" Stephanie called and I simply shook my head, "I can't." Lifting up my shirt I shouted the infection and guns were pointetd straight at me. This made Dmitri grasp onto a gun from the man beside him, "If she was going to turn she would have done so already!" The man yanked away, "it is a risk we cannot take." I nodded and walked away, "What makes you think we'll let you go!" They opened fire and suddenly warmth over took me, blood spilling from my body and I dropped down to my knees. But fire still continued; it must have been Dmitri and Stephanie this time.

Staring down I noticed bullet holes in my shoulder and a graze against my neck, blood seeping out of the wounds and through my clothes. Running footsteps came closer and I was lifted up and carried onto Dmitri's back as he and Stephanie ran, the men behind us still firing but not giving chase due to the chance of running into a hoard of zombies. A clearing was found and I was set up against the nearby tree, letting out a groan as clothes were pressed up against my wounds and tied there to stop the bleeding. "What are you, stupid? Why did you try and leave us there?" I stared up at Dmitri who looked more hurt than angry. "For your own safety." Stephanie shook her head now, "We're not leaving without you. Don't think otherwise." I sighed in defeat and closed my eyes, a smile sticking to my face, "You two... sure are stubborn." And I heard chuckles admitting from them both.

We were on the move again and finally had found a car to steal. Our destination stayed the same; we may have been further off from Oregon now but it didn't stop us from trying to get there. This time we were sure not to be taken off guard by zombies overthrowing us. Dmitri sat in the seat beside me, tinkering with the radio and trying to get it to work again. Stephanie was in the backseat, counting up the ammo and weapons we had left; sooner or later we would have to switch to melee weapons for close combat.

"Emily...what is THAT?"

This made me blink and slowly shift the mirror to gaze behind me, only for my eyes to widen. A large creature was chasing after us on their feet, arms swinging around aimlessly. Minor zombies were following it and loud screeches were heard, making me curse just under my breath. "I don't know...ah!" The car was rammed into and we all let out shouts, nearly losing control of the vehicle. Dmitri opened his window nad hung out from it slightly and opened fire, trying to slow it down. It was then that I realized what it was and cursed, "It's a tank." Dmitri hissed and kept firing while Stephanie turned around in her seat and watch. I continued to drive, trying to lose it, out running it was usually best if you didn't feel like you could defeat it.

Suddenly Dmitri's gun left from his hands, a long red tongue curling about it and yanking it away. This made him curse and get back inside the car fully and roll up his window quickly. "Dammit!" Dmtri called and reached into the bag for anything else and found a grenade and bit the top off, quickly rolling down the window and tossing it back behind us. I cursed and sped up and then there was a loud explosion, making the car fling forward but we managed to not roll over this time. Now staring back behind us it almost didn't surprise us to see that the chase hadn't ended.

That previous tongue shot forward again and grasped onto one of the wheels of the car and we all let out a scream as we flipped over again, and then there was a smash as the Tank crashed right into us. The glass broke and splattered into our faces, and we all screamed in pain and then everything went still and silent. After that there was nothing but then the car was lifted up into the air and we just couldn't shout anymore. Staring through the window was the Tank and he seemed to be trying to smash his way through to us. Pulling out a katana from the bag of weapons I lunged forward, out of the car's broken front window and let the blade stab right through its eye. It let out a screech of pain and we both fell over together as the car fell right side up again, Dmitri and Stephanie leaning forward to see what had happened to us.

All that was heard were my screams and Dmitri and Stephanie rushed up with the last ammo and guns, firing away at the Tank which was laying its foot directly on top of my body as I laid on the ground. The minor zombies were inching closer, trying to eat me but the bullets were knocking them away. Finally the Tank went falling after what felt like hours of firing at it and I rolled out from underneath, whimpering and grasping onto my ribs which felt like they were broken. I was lifted up onto Dmitri's shoulder and led back into the car, resting in the backseat this time while Stephanie and Dmitri took the front. I laid on my back, head fallen to the side with gritted teeth, a blood puddle almost starting to form within the backseat itself.

"We're almost there to Oregon, hang on, Mimi." I let a faint smile appear over my lips and my eyes fell down to a close and this made Stephanie lean back toward me, "No! Stay awake, you hear me...?" I let out a soft sound and my eyes don't budge, I can't open them, I felt way too weak at that point.

"Look, we're there. I think I see their base." With a thunderous sound another Tank started to give chase along with other special infected and all seemed lost. Dmitri grabbed onto the radio, in hopes that it worked. "Oregon Base, this is the Missouri survivors. We're at your base but require immediate help. I repeat, immediate help!" I heard his voice echoing and suddenly I just couldn't stay conscious anymore and lost it right there.

Normal POV

Alexander shook his head and opened the gates, "Let's move." With that everyone ran out with their guns and saw the car nearing and they stood at the border from their city. "Sir?" "Not yet, they aren't in Oregon yet.~ It's not our problem until then." Finally growing annoyed Charlie and his gun smacked right upside the man's head, knocking him out. "All units, fire!" Charlie called and all fire were aimed toward the Tank and zombies and the car soon screeched to a stop off to the side right near the others. Charlie and a few other men ran over and helped them out, but Charlie was the one to lift Emily up into his arms and stare down at her. "Thank God you're alive..." He whispered and leaned down to press his lips against her forehead. "Sir, go on ahead inside we'll hold them off!" Charles nodded toward the man who had shouted this and ran inside along with Dmitri and Stephanie who were to be treated for their wounds. Now noticing that they were out of harms way that was ironically when Alexander stood back up, a frown on his lips.

"All units, retreat."

The men continued to fire but were inching back into their base, unable to kill all of the zombies that had been chasing after them. The doors slammed shut after everyone made it back inside alive. Alexander walked over toward where Charlie and Emily lay and frowned down at them, "let me see her." Leaning down he searched her body for just about anything and finally lifted up her shirt slightly, noticing the bite mark set into place. "She's infected, send her out of here." Charlie shook his head and the other men seemed to have been frowning. "Throw her out of here, I said."

Charles now stood up, carrying Emily in his arms still, "We're not throwing her out, Alexander." Dmitri now stepped up, "She's been infected for about a month now, she would have changed already but she hasn't." Alexander smirked once more, "Can't take the risk." Suddenly Alexander was knocked out by a punch by both males; Charles and Dmitri. They threw Alex outside with the zombies instead; who started to feed on his body.

It was now that blue eyes started to flutter open, "Charlie..." Emily let out as she stared up towards the man above her and he let a smile appear over his lips and lean down to press them back to her forehead once more. "Mm, we're really here... I'm glad..." Lifting Emily up into his arms again he would face the others, "Let's all head to bed now, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Everyone nodded in agreement and found their beds while Charlie brought Emily into his own room, laying her down upon the bed before following, simply holding her close throughout the night.

Even in the worse circumstances of them all, in a Dark Hellish void like this; perhaps there is still some light somewhere...

TBC.