.. how long has it been?

Chapter 9: Carry On

"Let's go!" Francis screamed as the elevator door pried itself open. If anything it would break down the next time anyone try to do anything with it. It did not matter though. They were on the ground floor, and it would now be the time to make a run for it.

Zoey could have very well slapped the biker for being so unnecessarily loud, but it mattered little now. The crashing lift gave the Infecteds a lot of heads up already. It was not like banging his gun into the wall would have made much difference at all. She let her rifle run over the closest to the door even without her actually knowing it. Headshots after headshots, she has been doing this for too long under too harsh the circumstances to mess up at something like this. They had already gone over the plans, and now it was time for her to put it to perfect execution. Running forward, Zoey leered at the surrounding enemies with nothing but death and precision in mind. Francis followed her suit, arming himself with the newly reloaded shotgun but holding in the firing. The Assault Rifle was doing most of the work, sniping off the closest of the hordes of enemies approaching them at speed. She did not want to waste a lot of bullets, and more so for the Pump Shotgun the biker was holding. Seconds later they had already reached the door to the store through which they came in, only this time a lot more populated and, even littered to an extent, with Infecteds of all shapes and sizes. They did not care about any of that, as all they wanted was to escape.

"Swap," quick and clean Francis rolled up to the front. They were outside now, with a distinctively cluttered crowd awaiting their presence, and not the happy kind. This was when the shells would come in handy. If the biker didn't know any better it would have felt like his birthday, using his favorite weapon to blast open some zombies had got to be one of his birthday wishes a few years back. Only now, his wish was actually becoming true. Of course, as he laughed up the world and cleared out the way for their retreat, Zoey was much more worried about so many other things. However, nothing would be much more relevant than not getting your face bitten off at this very moment, so she would believe just thinking about it another time would be much more appropriate.

The gun slinging would not stop soon however, as they were still a full ten minutes before reaching the shore. They could make it to the water for added safety but no one knew what was lurking under the surface, nor would they want their guns to go defunct and their ropes to be even heavier than it needed to be. Most of what Zoey was doing now was to look out for Special Infecteds than actually trying to kill those things chasing after them. As long as they were careful the horde should not catch up in time, unless they were snatched by an incoming Hunter or something.

"Look out Zoey!"

"Oh hell." As the teenage girl realized there was something she had failed to account for, it acted up. The shotgun was too scattered for Francis to kill the attacker, but he managed to dodge the leap. This, however, left Zoey in the way of the pounce, as she could not react fast enough, facing backwards to the threat. The Hunter got her just as she turned back, knocking the gun right out her hands as its overwhelmingly strong limbs pinned her to the ground and its claws tore right through her jacket and dug into her skin as her arms tried their best to stop the flaying, largely to no avail. Francis, having recovered from the stumble, cussed through his teeth as he had to draw out the axe behind him, as to not risk hitting Zoey by accident with the shotgun shells. One quick swipe and the Hunter's head flew right off, but the damage was already done.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just stick to the plan and we'll get out of here." Zoey, with all her mental strength, collected her lost gun and followed the worried biker, as he resumed his position in the front lines unleashing arrays of bullets onto the enemy. She wished she could have done that with a little more finesse, as the blood had already been leaking out the holes of her ripped shirt. If that would have had her dying then she would have been able to live until now, however. Her mind was her own pain placebo, as she continued the operation as if nothing had really happened. Francis was still much pumped, as the adrenaline driving him was simply surging. Hers, however, was lacking due to the mental fatigue. Her shot was getting slightly off target, her eyes were getting blurry and so was her mind. She pressed on, however dangerously so.

"We're almost there!" The biker was completely right, as per his memories the boat waiting for them would only be right behind that huge container now standing before them. Zoey did not manage a response, only a slight smile when Francis turned back to check on her. He knew she was in pain, but there was nothing he could have done, as this was no time to stop to apply a first aid kit. They just had to push on, and she knew it as well. However, their train of thought was disrupted by a roar of something much, much larger. Francis looked to the side, and all he could see was a myriad of Infecteds being knocked to the side by the rampaging Charger that was heading right his way. "Shit."

As the passing Charger swooped by, Zoey was knocked off her feet and flung back a distance. She did not know what happened to Francis, as her pain and her consciousness were simply screaming at her from all directions, so much so that it appeared she would be going quite deaf. Caught off guard, she failed to realize how the next wave of Infecteds was already moving close. She could not see to save her life, but simply fired the rifle and varying degree as her instinct told her to. That did not do much good, however, as she soon found her neck being wrapped with a slimy rope-like object, suffocating her breathing.

"I can't die now."

It started to squeeze harder.

"The boat's just right there."

She began to be pulled back.

"Francis needs my help."

The road burn applied as she was being dragged.

"Louis is waiting."

Her mind was going blank.

"Cindy..."

…

"Did you hear that?" Louis was startled as the sound of gunshots started to blow up the silence of Rayford. He could certainly notice the massive amount of Infecteds literally swarming towards the source of the noise with every shot fired. Above everything else, it gave him extreme nervousness. For one, it was almost blatantly obvious that it was the signal of Zoey and Francis returning to their boat. Still, it did not make him any less worried, accounting that big a horde running at his friends. Second of all, he could not ignore the fact that there might just be a negative reaction coming out from Cindy, considering how they knew nothing of her mentality when it came to being exposed to her kin. "Cindy?"

"Zoey..." Turning around, he could see the Witch leaning anxiously forward, facing the direction of the sound of gunfire. For all he knew, she was not transforming into a bloodthirsty vampire and tearing him apart at the first sight of the Infecteds, and that was about as good as he could ask for.

"Stay quiet ok?" With his index finger shushing her, Louis slow reached for the Sniper Rifle and held it up before his sight. Looking through the scope, he realized that a largely part of the offshore was blocked from his view by a giant container, and unless the other two make it through he would not be able to assist them from the boat. At least iron sight had been helping him keep tab on the amount of incoming Infecteds. His heart was pumping repeatedly as the sound of gunfire moved closer and closer on the other end of the container, as sweats started to drip down his face.

He shook, as the roar of the giant-arm mutant beast slashed through the air like an angry train track. He could not see the perpetrator from this end, but he could certainly hear its voice breaking it its own vocal chords and, a few seconds later, the loud crashing noise it made as its humongous arm slammed into the wall on the far side. What really got him, however, was something in his sight, instead. Standing from the far back of a nearby billboard, there it was, the beastly abomination full of lumps and appendages, readying itself in striking distance. In an instant, its whip-like tongue shot out into the blocked combat zone, as it appeared to have latched onto something. Two seconds later, the tongue was started to be reeled back in, and Louis no something was wrong. He could both wait here and do nothing, hoping that the other two would be able to take care of themselves, or killing the Smoker and risk compromising his defensive position. He knew he did not have enough time to think about it, however, and he had to do what he had to do.

"Shit" The bullet burst out the rifle with a cloud of fiery smoke as it surged through the air and landed a clean shot right into the abomination's head, turned it into a pile of intestines and exhumed smoke. The tongue, as expected, snapped. Louis hoped he had made the right, choice, as the nearby Infecteds turned their heads, as it was obvious they were drawn to the shot coming from his general direction, and seemed to have all of their attention onto him and the boat. "Shit"

…

Zoey felt as if she had just gone to hell. As the flesh whip unraveled in her hands, she dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Blinded temporarily by the lack of blood circulating her brain, Zoey frantically tried to reach for her gun as a first reaction. It did not take too long for her to clear her head, but it was far from over. A quick moment of observation revealed the predicament that she was in. Francis, despite being able to dodge the charge, was still being chased by the beast, while she had been surrounded by the next wave. Ammo was running low, and things were definitely not looking good. Clucking her teeth, the teenager pulled a Pipe bomb out of her pocket and aimed it as far away as possible, giving an almost impossible throw towards the end of the opposite sidewalk. It worked, as far as she was concerned to tell. A few rounds of bullets were able to save the biker from the rampaging mutant.

"Can we move now?" Francis smiled, coughing through his teeth, as his fatigue was starting to kick in. They had a few more seconds until the Pipe Bomb explodes, and that was about all they needed. Zoey, without too much energy to speak, lightly slapped him the back and started moving. Francis took that as his queue, pulling out the axe to replace the dry firing he had done for the last minute or so. Leading the charge once again, his job would just be to clear out anyone coming towards him. "The boat should be just beside the container!"

Zoey nodded, even though she knew fully well Francis could not see her do so. It was more of a reassurance to her than anything. However, as she ran, she noticed a strange phenomenon. The nearby Infecteds were simply much scarcer than before. It was a good thing as far as she could tell, but there was a part of her knowing that there was something wrong. Francis did not seem to pay much attention to it, but then again she knew he was focused on different things, mostly trying not to get killed.

The situation soon revealed itself to the two of them, as they realized that their ship was being attacked from the far sight. Louis' shot that saved Zoey unfortunately draw the next horde towards him instead. It was much too hard for him to handle the entire swarm by himself, as he had to look out and dodge Special Infected as well, although none had actually spawned yet. He was too busy firing to notice the two running at them, at least not yet.

"Louis!" Francis screamed as his friend from the boat immediately turned his attention towards the biker. They all smiled, as finally they had reinforcements to watch their backs. Zoey did not give too much of a thought for Louis, for she knew he could take care of himself as much as anyone, even with a disabled leg. What she was looking for, unsurprisingly, was Cindy. After not too long, she spotted the Witch coiling into a corner near the sail, eagerly awaiting the teenager's return. A moment passed before the two of them established eye contact. A smile finally began to creep onto Zoey's face, as her weak body was already starting to give out. Her smile quickly disappeared, as she saw the abashed terror in Cindy's face. It was at that moment when the ground was starting to shake. Zoey knew what was about to happen, as she turned around as fast as she could, facing the imminent threat. In front of her eyes was an abandoned fast food joint. On top of all that was the titanic flesh crusher that she had feared all along.

"Get on the boat!" She screamed and Francis followed suit. Slashing his way towards the last bastion, he was helped by the cover fire provided by Louis, which made the trip all the more easier. However, due to the lack of a long range firearm, only Zoey was able to focus her fire on the Tank, and it was definitely not enough. Francis got onto the boat not so long afterwards, as a giant chunk of concrete followed his general direction. Noticing the projectile flung at her, Zoey was forced to backtrack to dodge it. However, the Tank was no longer so dormant with its positioning. Jumping from an impossibly high angle, it was looking to crush the teenage girl as it landed. Acting quickly, she was able to roll away from impending doom, but found herself without a gun against a ten feet tall monster that could break her bones by just slapping randomly. Louis, having noted the danger at hand, diverted most of his fire towards the Tank while Francis, being safely on the boat, reached for a gun of his own.

"Zoey" The Witch's eyes widened frantically as she realized the danger her friend was in. With that bloodied physique, none would expect her to outrun a rampaging Tank, and she simply could not. One punch from the hulk sent her flying back towards the harbor and away from the boat. The array of bullets followed the Tank's movement and was able to take it out before it could cause more problems. However, the damage was already done.