Chapter 9: The Streets
Bill slowly scaled the slick ladder, trying to ignore the smell that lingered on his clothes. Everyone was rather eager to get out of the sewers after the "scheduled morning walk".
"Next time, I'm in charge of the itinerary," Louis had said.
Bill carefully slid the manhole cover opened and peeked out into the outside world. "All clear," he called down to the others after a few tense moments.
Not a second was wasted getting out of the rank sewers. As she climbed, Zoey felt miserable. She was cold, damp, her hair was a terrible mess (although it was still miraculously held in a ponytail), and she was pretty sure that she stank of the sewer. As much as she used to enjoy her zombie movies, being a participant was not quite as much fun as being an observer.
As she looked around the ruined street, she could feel her heart sink. The scale of destruction throughout the city was unprecedented; countless wreckages of cars, buildings and people served as testament to the wrath of the Green Flu. Perhaps what was more terrifying than the destruction was the silence. The distant sounds of sirens and clattering gunfire had finally died down, leaving a horrifying stillness in their wake. Were they the only ones left in Fairfield?
Don't think like that, she scolded herself.
"Alright, we got orders for a short hike to the hospital," Bill said slowly, bringing her back to the present. "We've got plenty of daylight left, so we can make good time. Stay close, keep low, and for God's sake, keep quiet."
The little ragtag group carefully made their way through the street, staying close to the buildings on the left-hand side of the road. They were nearing the city centre; a number of high-rise buildings towered above them, along with various derelict apartment complexes. Although the sky was littered with clouds, the sunlight filtered through drearily.
The survivors walked in complete silence, under Bill's strict orders. However, the dead quiet put Louis on edge. It was not just the fact that his group was not talking, but it was so damn quiet.
"I don't like this..." he murmured softly, ignoring a scathing look that Bill shot over his shoulder. "Where is everyone?"
"Dead or infected," Francis said bluntly.
Zoey choked back a strangled noise at that statement. All of her friends, her teachers. They were all gone. And her pare –
No.
She shook her head clear of these counter-productive thoughts. She had to stay focused and keep her head in the game.
"Even if they are infected, where are they all?" Louis was saying. "The entire city is deserted."
No one had anything to say to that troubling observation. The sun continued to beat down on them as they walked, stopping at every intersection, where Bill would slowly creep up to the crossing street as the others covered him. A quick scan of the area each time left him satisfied that there were no enemies in sight, at which point he ushered the others forward.
It was a slow and tense march, and Bill found himself increasingly troubled by the lack of... well, anyone in the streets. Had the Infected moved on from the city because of dwindling food? Perhaps they were lurking inside the buildings, watching them. He cast a wary eye to the dark windows of the surrounding buildings.
After a while, the veteran halted the group again to scout out another intersection ahead. The others watched as the old man crouched behind an abandoned car, looked around and visibly stiffened.
"Oh, that can't be good..." Louis muttered.
"We've got a problem," Bill said carefully upon his return. "Infected. Lots of 'em, all over the street."
"Well, we had a good run," Francis said unhelpfully.
"Can we go around them?" Zoey asked carefully, to which Bill shook his head.
"It's wall-to-wall up there."
"How can we get to the hospital then?"
Bill motioned at the large amount of cars abandoned in the middle of the street. "We can sneak through."
The look he received from Francis made it clear that he was under suspicion of losing his marbles. "Are you serious, old man?"
The man in question scowled in challenge. "Got a better idea? Either we go through, or we go back."
The following silence implied that no one had any desire to return to the sewers. Her heart pounding in her chest, Zoey followed the others to the traffic intersection, and she felt her blood run cold. Everywhere she looked, there were people hobbling and ambling around aimlessly. There were so many of them...
"Get down!" Bill hissed at her, and she immediately crouched down next to the car. "We cross one at a time, a minute apart," he said slowly. "Keep low, and move as fast you can. Don't stop 'till you're on the other side." He nodded at Francis. "You're up, hotshot."
The burly biker grimaced and, gripping his shotgun tightly, made his move across the street in a dash, staying low behind cars. Bill found himself slightly impressed. He could not have done it better himself.
Louis went next, his clumsy crossing causing several close-calls of being discovered. Zoey's teeth hissed with several sharp intakes of breath, while Bill's jaw tightened as he watched. He noticed several Infected nearby pausing to look in their direction, and he slowly raised his M-16. He hoped to high hell that it did not come to a fire-fight here. Thankfully, after several agonising minutes, the ex-business man had joined Francis on the other side, and they still had not been attacked.
Bill nodded at Zoey. "You're up, kid."
She moved into the street with her heart thumping so hard, she feared it would burst out of her chest. She was amazed – and appalled – at how stressful this was. She was well into the intersection when she heard the sound of shuffling across the asphalt right behind the car that she was cowering behind. She looked back at Bill to see him urgently motioning for her to stay still. The sound of shuffling feet drew closer; Zoey knew that if she looked through the windows of the car, she would be face-to-face with certain death. In a slow careful movement, she extracted her pistol from its holster and held it down to her side as her arms trembled. There was a tense moment of stillness –
Zoey nearly jumped at the sudden sound of retching as the infected person vomited right on the other side of the car. She crinkled her nose in disgust as the vile smell wafted through the air. The footsteps resumed as the danger shuffled away, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Without wasting another second, she continued her crossing.
Louis was giddy with raw emotion when Bill finally joined them on the other side. "That was bloody crazy."
"Yeah, but it's done," the older man replied, fighting the urge to light up a cigarette. Not here. "Let's put as much distance between us and them as possible."
Everyone was rather shaken up by the events at the intersection. However, fortunately, the Infected were now few and far between, lurking mostly in grim alleyways, making it easy enough for the survivors to sneak by.
Francis' mood grew increasingly sour as he fought a losing battle against his hunger. Just as he was about to curse loudly – Infected be damned – he saw it.
"Oi, there's some sort of shop over there," he said eagerly, pointing across the road.
"The windows are all smashed. It's been looted already," Bill remarked, keeping his voice controlled.
"It's worth a look! Dunno 'bout you, but I'd feel pretty stupid if we left and there was food in there."
"It's not even midday yet," Louis chimed in, tapping his watch. "We've still got plenty of daylight."
Bill considered their options. They were out of food... well, nearly everything. "Alright, but we make this quick," he said with a reserved sigh.
With that, they approached the quaint little convenience store. Well, it was not quite so quaint anymore, what, with the smashed-in front windows and various corpses littering the pavement in front of it.
That's never a good sign, Zoey thought grimly. The inevitable supply run, which will probably lead the main characters of this gripping tale into an empty store, a zombie ambush, or both. Cue eerie and suspenseful music –
"This place better have some beer," Francis muttered, breaking her out of her reverie.
"You've gotta be shittin' me, Francis," Bill growled in response.
They slowly approached the glass door which, strangely enough, was not smashed in like its neighbouring windows. Bill moved forward cautiously and nudged it open with the muzzle of his rifle. It swung open, giving access to the dim store behind it. They were immediately met with a disturbing sound. Chewing.
Francis raised an eyebrow, while Zoey tried to stifle the sickening thoughts of what, or who, was being chewed on. This was such a risk. Why did they have to enter a building which very obviously had infected people inside?
'Follow me,' Bill mouthed, putting a finger to his lips.
He led the survivors inside, his gun trained toward the nauseating crunching that could be heard nearby. The sound appeared to be coming from the left side of the shadowy store, near the back. Francis hung back slightly, covering the door with his shotgun. The last thing they needed was someone ninja-striking from behind. In a curious turn of events, Bill slung his assault rifle over his shoulder in favour of his combat knife. He noticed Zoey's perplexed expression.
"We have to keep quiet," he whispered to her, his voice barely audible. "Any noise could attract others."
With that, he turned and moved down an adjacent aisle in a crouch, still mildly surprising the college girl with his spryness. She realised that the move down the aisle parallel to the one which was compromised was a tactical decision; an approach that would bring them as close as possible to the culprit of the noise without being seen. They were surrounded by shelves with a mess of items on them, but there was no time for that right now. While Francis covered the entrance, Zoey and Louis followed Bill's crouched form through the store, staying low, until they were finally right next to the source of the noise in the aisle to the left, just around the corner. The wet crunches and cracking were making Zoey feel sick.
'Cover me," Bill mouthed. 'I've got this.'
His compatriots nodded in understanding, with Louis turning to cover the way that they came, while Zoey turned to the right, guarding the back end of the room. Bill lurched into action with surprising speed, considering how silently he moved. The moment he passed out of sight, there was the sound of a brief struggle. However, he emerged from the aisle moments later, wiping the bloody knife on his pants.
"Done deal," he said quietly. "Let's secure the rest of this store."