Sasha
It had been two weeks since Sammy had made it back to the Tower. Brecken had sent Jade to pick him up, so we knew he was in safe hands. Gerald had been away for most of that time on a courier run, over to the Far City. It was a ten day round trip, across the river to the shores lined with skyscrapers. He had to use the tunnels under the city, the network spanning all the way to the countryside.
I threw a ball against the side of the building. It bounced off at an angle and fell to the street below. I sighed and leaned back against the short brick chimney. There had been no jobs for this sector since Gerald left, some girl had been taking them all. Adelia or something, I hadn't paid much attention. That left me with nothing to do, and boredom was setting in quickly.
A hand came down on my shoulder, startling me. I flipped myself around, kicking my foot out into the persons chest. They stumbled backwards and caught themselves just before they went off the edge of the roof.
"Damn it Sash, that's not the greeting I was expecting." Gerald chuckled deeply, and rubbed at his ribs. My face flushed red as I realised I'd almost killed him. He walked forwards and pulled me into a hug, one that I quickly returned.
"Christ Gerald, I almost killed you." I mumbled into his shoulder.
"It'll take more than a three story drop to kill me." He stepped back. "Come on, I'll race you to the University."
Two Weeks Later
The zombies head flew off in a slow arc. I spun on my heel and embedded my sword in another's head. Behind me I heard Gerald's rifle fire several times. Off in the distance, I could hear the screeches of Volatiles.
"Gerald! Hit the fucking power!" I jumped out of the path of a Viral, severing an arm at the shoulder. A Volatile vaulted the fence in front of me, and sailed through the air towards me. There was a flash of blue, and the small construction yard was bathed in UV light. The Volatile screeched in pain, writhing on the ground. Huge glowing blisters broke out along its skin. It gave a final shuddering breath and went still. I jabbed my sword through its head, just to make sure, and turned to face Gerald. He was covered in blood, leaning heavily on the side of the fence, his rifle discarded on the ground.
We looked at each other for a moment, before breaking out in laughter.
Two and a Half Months Later
I dodged back out of the path of the woman's machete. I kicked at the back of her leg, sending her off balance. She recovered quickly, taking another swing at me. I deflected the blow with my sword, before using the dagger in my other hand to slice at her neck. It missed it's mark and dug into the mask she wore. She jumped back and hissed in what I assumed to be pain.
"Don't stick yourself into others business." The voice sounded familiar, almost as if I'd heard it before.
"It's my business when you come into our home!" Three black stripes lined the arm of her jacket. "Especially since Rais sent you!"
"You should have just stayed out of my way, bitch!" In one motion, she pulled a knife from her belt and hurled it at me. My eyes widened in shock, and I dived to the left. But I wasn't quick enough.
The knife buried itself to the handle in my shoulder. I let out a scream of pain and dropped to my knees. I could feel blood flowing from the wound. I felt her foot plant on the opposite shoulder. "Now stay the fuck down." The knife was wrenched out of my shoulder. My vision blurred, and the wound burned immensely. I saw a flash of movement, and felt something connect with the side of my head. And everything went black.
Three Weeks Later
"Get everyone to the next floor up! Now!" The crossbow jerked slightly as I sent a bolt through the closest zombie. I could hear Gerald firing his rifle behind me. We were getting over run, there were just too many of them. I fired another bolt, and another zombie fell.
"Everyone's gone! Get out!" One of the guards yelled at us to move. I threw my belt of grenades down the hall, hoping to block it, and ran up the stairs. The ground shook with the explosion, shaking dust from the roof. I turned to Gerald, only to see he wasn't there. I raced back down the stairs, and was greeted by a wall of rubble. It was silent, nothing moved. He was gone.
Four Days Later
An explosion echoed across the city. The top of a skyscraper in the Far City detonated in a flash of red fire. From my spot on the edge of the river, I could almost feel the intense heat. I waited, seeing if anything else happened. This many months into the quarantine there wasn't much to do.
Half an hour later, another explosion ripped through the building halfway up. The tower snapped down the middle, and I heard it collide with the near by buildings.
Whatever had happened over there, I could tell it was far from over.