AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Were you April-fooled by the fake Chapter 36? Go on, you can admit it!
Ahem. And now, the real conclusion to the campaign.
Chapter 36: The Last Stand
The howling was bone-chilling. Bill set down the sniper rifle on the ledge at the top of the lighthouse and lowered his eye to the scope. The lights throughout the area showed many dark figures coming up the hill toward the house.
He lined up with one of the foremost attackers, leading the shot. He slowly exhaled, and then squeezed the trigger.
Louis jumped at the sound of Bill's sniper rifle going off upstairs with a sharp CRACK. More shots followed. The former office worker narrowed his eyes in concentration and peered through the cracks in the boarded-up windows at the dark yard outside.
Francis covered the barricaded front door with his trusty shotgun. "Let them get close before you detonate those propane tanks."
Zoey nodded jerkily, scared out of her wits. She took a deep breath to calm herself. Easy... Remember what Dad taught you... Lead the target... Short bursts... Squeeze the trigger, don't pull...
Bill's brow creased in grim concentration as he lined up another shot. He was anxious at the amount of people appearing from the withered trees, threatening to envelop the house.
Francis, you son of a bitch. Why did you have to set off that car alarm?
He stole a glance back at the blinking lights from the boat in the river far below, and hoped that they could hold out. A din of bloodthirsty snarls rose up into the night.
The loud CRACK of the sniper rifle rung overhead continuously.
"The old man must be having a field day up there," Francis muttered to the others.
At that moment, Zoey spied a dark figure rushing up the path toward the house and promptly squeezed the trigger. Muzzle-flashes lit up the room as her and Louis' M-16s spat flame. The Common Infected running for the house saw two star-shaped bursts of light from the barricaded windows, moments before they were cut down by bullets.
"Reloading!" Louis yelled over the roaring gunfire.
"Hurry up!" Francis yelled. "More coming!"
The combined fire of two M-16s and a sniper rifle were able to take down several more attackers, while Francis blew away anyone who got too close to the front door. However, more Infected were emerging from the woods, and the sounds of pounding reverberated throughout the wall of the house as they set about making their own doorways.
"Are you guys gonna shoot the tanks or what?" the biker bellowed, firing off a round that tore an infected man back from the doorway in a hail of blood.
"Alright!" Louis yelled. "You get the right one Zoey! I'll take the one on the left!"
"I'll take my shot after you!" she shouted back over the roaring gunfire, not too enthusiastic with the prospect of getting a face full of shrapnel.
Louis levelled the sight of his M-16 with one of the discarded propane tanks lying outside the house. "Take cover!"
BOOM!
A deafening blast shook the front of the house as the tank exploded upon impact with the bullets. The shrieks of the Infected caught in the blast radius ceased immediately, followed by the dull thuds of flying body parts and pinging shrapnel.
Zoey waited a few moments before bringing up her rifle and drawing a bead with the second propane tank lying in the yard. "Stay down!"
A second small explosion obliterated the remaining Infected outside the lighthouse in a flash of light and smoke. Countless shards of metal peppered the window boards, smashing several completely. The survivors cowered below the openings, taking cover from the destruction that ravaged the face of the house. Presently, they all climbed to their feet and resumed defensive positions. The wave of Infected had been decimated by the two explosions, and the remaining attackers were dispatched with relative ease.
The Infected in the distance roared angrily, further agitated by the loud explosions that had gone off recently. But for the time being, their prey welcomed the slight reprieve.
Bill took a moment to reload the sniper rifle. Although the timing of detonating those propane tanks could have been better, his companions downstairs were still doing a good job of defending the lighthouse. He finished reloading and moved up to prepare another shot.
SHLKT!
A long tentacle whipped out of the trees below with terrifying force, wrapping itself around his wrist.
"Son of a bitch!" he shouted, wrestling with the tentacle-like tongue.
The force at which it had grabbed him nearly broke his arm. He struggled, but could not free himself, and could feel the Smoker pulling him toward the edge.
"Oh no you don't!" he shouted, dropping the rifle and using his free hand to draw the combat knife from his belt.
An inhuman shriek of pain bellowed from the trees when the war veteran slashed through the tongue, freeing his arm. Without wasting a second, he picked up the sniper rifle and took aim into the trees. After a careful minute of searching, he spied the offending Smoker lurking in the undergrowth.
"Gotcha, freakshow."
The loud gunshot of the sniper rifle was instantly followed by a cloud of dark green smoke billowing out from the trees.
"Everyone okay?" Zoey asked shakily as she reloaded her assault rifle.
"I think I caught some shrapnel," Louis panted, feeling a burning sensation radiating out from his left forearm.
"What? How?"
"Just lucky, I guess."
Zoey momentarily left her position and came over to her friend, frowning at the sight of several bloody-looking wounds in his arm. "How bad is it?"
"It's not gonna kill me. Just wrap them up, and we can get the shrapnel out once we're safely on the boat."
The howls of the incoming horde drew closer as the young woman hurriedly reached into their rapidly-dwindling medical supplies for some wrapping, and haphazardly bandaged Louis' arm to stem the bleeding.
"Thanks, Zoey," he said gratefully, to which she nodded and returned to her window just as Francis fired off a shot at something outside.
The two M-16s opened up with a withering burst that intercepted the Common Infected in a hail of blood and fire. Dead bodies were trampled as the others scrambled their way up the hill toward the lighthouse. Louis' terror became extreme when he saw a solid wall of dark figures rushing at them. Though their desperate defence was felling many of the attackers in droves, it was nowhere near enough.
"Keep an eye on all sides!" Francis yelled over the roaring gunfire as the incessant pounding began once again all around them.
Louis followed the advice and looked over to see a hand plough through the boards covering up a window on his left with a splintering crack. He drew a bead and fired, killing the offender quickly. Zoey let loose with an extended burst of gunfire, eradicating several Common Infected in front of the house, and then ducked down below her window to reload.
She screamed when a bloodied fist smashed through the boards right over her head. The hand began to flail around, grasping for a throat to tear out. However, Francis promptly stepped in front of the window, took aim with his shotgun and fired.
"Come on, reload faster!" he yelled, running back and forth between windows, blasting attackers away from them as the covering boards were gradually smashed and knocked aside.
Lead the shot… Squeeze the trigger… Eject spent casing… New bullet… Select a target… Lead the shot…
Despite the fact that he was grossly underqualified to be using a sniper rifle by military standards, Bill figured that desperate times called for desperate measures. His performance with the weapon back at Riverside Church had proven that fact, and their current predicament was no exception.
Though he was clumsy with many shots, the sheer number of Infected storming up the hill toward the lighthouse allowed him to fire hastily and still take down many of the attackers. However, the situation was going down the crapper, and fast. The Infected had enveloped the front side of the house, and were rapidly moving to surround them. He could hear smashing and pounding below, and knew that they were slowly breaking in. Two bright flashes accompanied the tinkling of glass and WHOOSHING of fire as two Molotov cocktails exploded in the yard, setting a number of Infected on fire.
Bill kept a calm and composed demeanour, and continued to fire killing shots into the crowd below. There were so many, but one more dead Infected meant one less rabid maniac chasing them down when they made their escape. Speaking of which…
The war veteran paused for the briefest of moments to glance over his shoulder toward the inky blackness of the river below. He could see that the blinking lights of the Saint Lidia II were just about at the shore.
Time to get the hell out of here.
"They're inside!" Zoey yelled, firing upon several people climbing in through a window which had its blockade of boards torn away. They howled in pain as they collapsed to the floor of the house.
"Would those boat people hurry the fuck up?" Francis shouted. He looked in alarm to see the barricade of furniture assembled in front of the door being rapidly battered aside by a flurry of clawing arms.
Icy weights wrapped themselves around Louis' heart as several fists and hands smashed through the remainder of the boarded-up windows. The Infected could now enter the house from any direction they chose.
"Oh, SHIT, we are so screwed!"
"Everyone alright?" came Bill's voice from the stairs, and three sets of eyes snapped in his direction immediately.
"Are you here for what I think you're here for…?" Louis asked hopefully, turning back toward the front end of the room and shooting down several more Common Infected climbing in through the windows in a long burst.
"The rescue boat's at the shore," Bill shouted over the deafening cacophony of weapons fire, inhuman screams, and cracking wood. "Everyone follow me! Once we're outside, stick together, watch each others' backs and do not go down!" He slung the sniper rifle over his shoulder and drew his pistol, heading over toward the chosen escape window.
The others covered him while he viscously kicked out the boards covering the opening. Zoey and Louis coordinated their reloads so that someone was always providing long-range cover across the room with their M-16, while Francis took down any Infected that got too close with his shotgun. Just as their escape route was cleared, many attackers entered the house from several different windows, and the hastily-assembled barricade in front of the door was knocked aside completely, allowing even more to charge in.
"Bill, we've gotta go!" Francis shouted urgently. "They've broken through!"
The survivors quickly climbed through the window to find themselves around the back end of the house, on a strip of cliff above the river far below.
"Now where?" the biker yelled.
"Follow me!" Bill led the way toward the path he had seen earlier, firing several shots and killing a number of snarling figures that came around the corner of the house. "Don't waste your time shootin'! Only kill the ones directly in your way!"
Francis hurled their last remaining Molotov into a crowd of approaching Infected, and then followed the others as they sprinted desperately across the yard and down a narrow rocky trail that wound its way down the cliff. They made their way down the path in a fighting retreat – the two leading combatants would pause and cover the others as they ran past them, and then turned and overtook the other two while being covered themselves. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book, but proved to be very effective at holding back their snarling pursuers.
The group presently found themselves at the end of the trail, which had flattened out onto a sandy beach at the bottom, with a small wooden dock extending out into the water. There, at the end of the dock, were the lights of the Saint Lidia II. Zoey was running on pure adrenaline, but the sight lifted her spirits dramatically.
"Haul ass to that boat!" Bill shouted. "RUN!"
The team abandoned their defensive shooting and broke into full sprint across the dock, finally crossing onto the steel deck of the fishing vessel. Once they were all on board, they resumed firing at the Infected charging at them along the dock as the hum of the boat's motor increased dramatically to a roar. As it pulled away from the shore, several infected people continued their relentless pursuit, diving into the water and swimming clumsily after it. One unfortunate individual was sucked under the rear fan with a sickening flurry of slicing. The dark water churned red.
Zoey, Bill, Francis and Louis stood alert in the middle of the deck behind the superstructure, waiting for the hands of attackers to begin appearing over the sides of the boat. None did, and they slowly allowed themselves to relax. Zoey abruptly giggled, giddy with raw relief.
"I can't believe… we got out of that mess…" Louis panted.
"It sure was a shit-swarm of Infected we held off back there," Bill grunted in agreement. He started forward toward the superstructure of the Saint Lidia II. "Let's go thank the Slaters, shall we?"
Zoey and Louis followed him, eager to meet their rescuers in person. Francis cast one last look back at the lighthouse, its lamp still shining like a beacon in the darkness, and the howls of the Infected now swarming it still audible in the distance.
The fishing vessel sped southwest along the river, leaving the doomed town of Riverside behind it.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
As much as I hope you all enjoyed the 'canon' version of The Last Stand with my little April Fool's joke, I hope that my alternative take on the level was just as good.
We are nearly at the end of Death Toll. There is just one more event to wrap up.
As always, reviews are appreciated.