Dennis slept well into the afternoon once again, woken only by the bustle of people lugging weapons and ammo up and down the stairs. He had found a sleeping bag and had curled up on the floor in the upstairs of the boathouse. Some of the others had done the same, the Sheriff had people working in shifts of guard duty, setting up equipment and making trips into town for supplies. There were still zombies lurking all around and small hoards of zombies would periodically attack the boathouse in force. Two cops had been lost in the attacks taking its toll on the morale of the dwindling police force.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Dennis made his way downstairs to the bathroom. He used the toilet and went to wash his hands and face, but there wasn't any water. Sighing, he went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the supply. He stepped outside onto the upper balcony and surveyed the scene before him. Over the other side of the river the city burned, the pillars of smoke were numerous and thick. His thoughts drifted to his family and their small town. The splutter of a generator coming to life interrupted his train of thought. With a buzz of neon, several spotlights shone brightly, bright enough to illuminate the shadowy forest behind them. There were several cheers which were quickly silenced by even more hushes. The commotion attracted another hoard of zombies to burst from the forest in every direction, but they were prepared and after not even a minute of intense gunfire, the forest was once again silent.
After the dust had settled, the Sheriff met Dennis on the balcony.
"Afternoon," he said to Dennis, his voice crackled with fatigue.
Dennis nodded silently in reply. The two men stood silently for several minutes, watching everybody working below them. Many were just standing around, having done everything that needed to be done. The mood was sombre. Aside from the generator humming in the distance, it was unnaturally quiet.
"So," Dennis started, breaking the silence. "What happens now?"
"We hold out here until something happens," Michael replied sombrely. "Either the military rescues us or..." he trailed off, turning to stare at the burning city behind them. "We end up like that lot over there."
Dennis was a little shocked. "That's your plan? To just sit here?"
"Yup." the Sheriff replied coldly.
"That sounds like a shit plan!" Dennis almost shouted, only just containing his voice, but he still caught the attention of a few nearby people. "Why don't we try and find help? Hell, even driving to Mexico sounds better than just sitting here."
Michael turned to face Dennis. The man was a good half a foot taller than him and he got close to Dennis. "There is nowhere to go," he growled in Dennis' face. "This is happening everywhere," he waved his hand towards the city in the distance. "Whatever is left of the military are holding out god knows where. It would be stupid to tell everyone where they are, because everyone will rush there, bringing the zombies with them. And maybe Mexico is safe, but who knows? As far as we know, this is happening all over the world. So my plan is to build a defensive location with an accessible escape route. We just need to find a boat, and we have everything we need right here. If you want to leave, go ahead! Go out there and face the unknown."
He stepped back from Dennis, who was still slightly taken aback by Michael's imposing aura. Dennis had no reply, or plan for that matter. He had nowhere left to go. He was a realist, he knew his family were probably zombies by now, that was if he even managed to reach them to find out in the first place. He just wanted to get away from it all. The impeding gloom hung over him like a heavy fog. He was so close to just giving up, for it to all end, one way or another.
His self-loathing was interrupted by a loud crash in the distance and gunfire. A single man was running towards the cabin.
"They're coming!" he screamed.
Dennis felt a chill down his spine.
"What's coming?" Michael shouted when the man got closer.
"Zombies," the man gasped between breaths. "Thousands of them... coming from the city!"
Kate ran out of the house, shoving Dennis out of the way, more out of spite than anything.
"What do we do?" she pleaded to her husband, her tone losing its gruff edge that she had used on Dennis earlier.
"What we've been preparing for, Kate," Michael kissed her on the cheek before turning to the people on the ground below them. "Get ready!" he shouted.
As if on cue, the familiar scream echoed through the forest, as if coming from every direction at once. Michael took his place at the minigun on the balcony.
"At least I finally get to use this puppy," he grinned at Kate nervously, putting on his bravest face.
Then they came. It started as a distant noise, growing louder as they got closer. The zombies started emerging from the forest as a trickle at first. Everyone stayed in groups of three or more, covering the various flanks as zombies charged from the tree-line in every direction. Dennis stayed up on the balcony, using a scoped rifle to pick off as many as he could. He wasn't the best shot, but he was good enough to not miss too often. Michael didn't use the minigun at first, but when the trickle of zombies turned into a flood, he let it rip. The sound was incredible as it rapidly fired off into the hoard, mowing the mob to literal pieces as limbs went flying in every direction. Kate also stayed up on the balcony, dispatching the odd zombie that made it to the house with her shotgun. Things seemed to be going well, until the mutants showed up.
A long rope lashed out from behind the tree-line, lashing around one of the cops on the ground. It started dragging him away into the forest, the man screaming hysterically. His gun went off a few times by accident, send a spray of bullets that hit another cop in the arm. He disappeared into the forest, his screams eventually went silent. This clearly terrified everyone as some cops gave up their positions and fell back to the cabin. A couple of cops held their ground, but with the outside firepower reduced, the hoard were getting through. Dennis heard a strange gurgling noise to his right, but Kate was quicker. She turned and fired her shotgun instinctively at the bloated zombie that had snuck up behind them. It exploded with an almighty 'pop' sending Kate flying backwards against the rail. A gush of sticky fluids covered her from head to toe, the smell was foul.
"Dennis!" Michael shouted, not daring to stop firing the minigun. "Help Kate!"
Dennis ran over. She was still conscious, but dazed by the impact.
"I can't see!" she screamed, trying to wipe the sludge from her face.
It was sticky and was difficult to wipe away. Dennis used his jacket sleeve to wipe as much from her as he could. When she could finally open her eyes again, she looked up at him and for the first time, she gave him a thankful look.
"Up you get," Dennis held out a hand to her.
She took it and he helped her to his feet. As she stood, she shoved Dennis over, just as a surge of zombies flooded the balcony right into her. Dennis watched helplessly from the floor as she was swept away by the wave of bodies that flew over the balcony. She disappeared from sight as the mob buried her on the ground below them. Michael shouted out to her, finally releasing the trigger on the minigun. He ran over the balcony edge, reaching out a hand, as if she would be able to reach up and be pulled out of the writhing mass of zombies. Dennis got up and pulled him away from the edge, trying to console him. A few cops appeared on the balcony and one jumped on the now empty position on the minigun. Michael, distraught, grabbed Kate's dropped shotgun. He turned to the zombie crowd and fired haphazardly into them, his eyes filled with tears and rage.
There was nothing but zombies out there now. All the cops were either barricaded inside or had been overwhelmed by the hoard. Michael fired the pump-action shotgun until it was empty, tears rolling down his cheeks. He threw the shotgun into the crowd below. Turning he walked towards the rear stairs, grabbing a crowbar as he went.
"Where are you going?" Dennis called.
"To get Kate back," he called without looking back.
Suddenly, the ground trembled slightly. The mob of zombies started to thin as the cops in the house fired out of every door and window they could. A deep angry roar bellowed through the forest and one of the cops on the balcony shouted, pointing to the path ahead. A massive hulking creature was thundering towards the cabin. Bigger than any man, its huge body charged towards them with incredible speed. The man on the minigun turned it towards the creature, but all it seemed to do was piss the creature off. It reached over and grabbed a nearby boulder, hurtling it towards the minigun. Stunned, the man didn't move in time and the boulder smashed straight into him, crushing him under its immense weight.
Then it all went to hell. The creature smashed straight through the front door. People scattered in all directions in fear. Some were caught off-guard by the much lighter trickle of zombies that were still swarming from the forest. Dennis was left alone on the balcony, only occasionally have to fend off a zombie that had taken interest in him and not the group downstairs. He dared not go inside, the roars of the creature and screams of people were enough disincentive. He didn't know what to do. He felt his knees start to weaken in fear, which was throwing his aim off. The frustration of missing was compounding his feeling of helplessness.
Then suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him. He turned to look to see the woman who was with him in the van, her face still obscured by her now blood-covered visor. Without a word, she pulled him towards the edge of the balcony, where she jumped off. Dennis barely managed to avoid landing on his face and scrambled to keep up with her as she landed graciously and continued running back towards town without missing a beat.
"What about the others?" Dennis cried.
She didn't answer, instead tightening her grip to the point where it was physically hurting Dennis. He looked back, the cabin now completely swarming with zombies. He saw Michael fighting off zombies with the crowbar while he held his wife's body in his arms. Finally there was nobody left 'alive' inside and the zombies started to spill out. The hulking zombie walked out of the front door and saw Michael. Roaring, it started to charge towards him. Michael, put his wife's body down carefully and stood, raising his crowbar to strike, roaring almost as loud as the monster. The last thing Dennis saw was the two of them connect before the tree-line obscured his view.
The woman dragging him had her pistol out and was easily dispatching zombies as they ran. There weren't many around anymore, but the odd zombie jumped out at them. Once they were back in town, Dennis managed to yank his arm free. He was exhausted and puffing from the run, wishing he was more fit.
"Wait..." he gasped. "I just need a minute.
"We don't have a minute sweetie," a familiar voice chirped happily.
Dennis looked up as the woman removed her helmet. Charlotte's glowing blonde locks spilled out of the helmet that had barely contained them. She smiled at him sweetly, while he returned the look with one of surprise.
"You!" he said in disbelief.
She blushed. "Aww, you're so sweet."
"You were in the van with me!"
"Yeah," she said cheerily. "I was undercover, so I had to keep quiet."
Dennis was confused. She wasn't in the van on the way there, it had been the other woman. He decided to confront her.
"What happened to the cop I was with?" he asked, trying not to sound accusing.
Charlotte clearly didn't like that question. "We don't have time for this sweetie," reminding him that they were still standing in the quiet street.
She grabbed his hand again and pulled him towards the church. Dennis was thankful for the slower pace, but he didn't trust Charlotte. There was something she was telling him and he needed to figure out what her game was.