II - Marauded
-Day 23-
The highway was empty where Tim and Maria were walking. Carlitos looked around his surroundings, noticing a large body of water to his left. He raised his arms and reached for it as sweat slowly poured down his head.
"How long until we're there?" asked Maria. "This baby carrier is hurting my chest."
"We should be there anytime now," answered Tim as he wiped the lenses in his binoculars.
"How do you know we're not lost?" asked Maria.
"As long as Lake Erie's to our left, we won't be lost," said Tim as he looked into his binoculars. "I think we're here! But something's wrong…"
Tim removed his binoculars and ran ahead.
"Wait!" exclaimed Maria. "What do you mean something's wrong! Tim!"
Tim stopped in the middle of the highway as he looked at the toll booths that stood in the New York-Pennsylvania Borderline. Maria caught up to him, panting.
"No, no, no!" gasped Tim. "There were supposed to be people here. Oh… no. Oh, Christ!"
"What? What do you mean there were supposed to be people here? Tim, what are you pointing at? What are you–!"
Maria became breathless as she faced the ground ahead of the broken traffic gates in the ground. Two corpses lied in the ground, though they were still alive, to a certain extent. The mangled undead bodies struggled to stand up as their heads were raised up, staring at the three survivors.
Tim walked up to the mangled living corpses and removed his throwing knives from his pockets. He aimed it at the roamers in the ground and raised them in front of his face before swinging them forwards and releasing them. The knives struck the skulls of Roamer Madison, then Roamer Kevin.
He crouched and grabbed his knives before turning the roamers' heads over. He found what he needed to know.
"Can you please tell me what anything's about?" pleaded Maria. "I am getting REALLY freaked out."
"These two were Piranhas," said Tim. "The Piranhas are a group–"
"Piranhas? I know who the Piranhas are," said Maria. "I heard about them in the news. I also treated a couple of them in the hospital I worked at. I know what you just did. You looked for the piranha tattoos in the back of their necks, right?"
"You know a lot more than I thought," said Tim. "Just not the kinds of stuff that I wanted you to know about. But here's something that you don't know. Their leader… Sherry… is Vonda's mother. And from now on, she will be our ally until you find your family. Then we'll go our separate ways."
"So these two were supposed to help us out?"
"They were… something terrible clearly happened to them."
Tim turned around and glanced at the high sun.
"Look, Maria. I need you to stay by my side for the next few weeks. I know you want to go home and see Roberto and Ronalda, but you need to stay with me. The road ahead of us will be extremely dangerous, dangerous to the point where you and your nephew won't be spared by the tip of a bullet. These people are very dangerous and there is nothing they won't do to ensure their own survival at this point."
"But my children? They're out there and you're saying this area is dangerous? Why would you involve your daughter with these people? What kind of father are you? You know how worried sick she must be?"
"I know the Piranhas are dangerous, but it's not just them. Look, there has been a plan to ensure the safety of the others through means that could've arguably taken many routes. It was a planned project, and by the time we see it, we will see the aftermath of it and–"
"Tim, Tim! Slow down. Good? Good. What are you talking about?"
"The Dust Zone. Remember when I told you that the KHAN would create an area called the Dust Zone? They did that… in Day 5."
Tim cleared his throat.
"They nuked the entire city of New York and decimated tens of thousands of people in the blink of an eye… before taking out millions more soon after. There were some of the strongest radio jammers in the city and very little hidden passageways to the safe-zones of New York… yet I could've infiltrated it like I did in Detroit. The military had nothing to do with it. They weren't rogue. I could've saved their lives along with the other civilians that were in the safe-zones just by warning them what was going to happen. But you know why I didn't choose to? Because I wanted to make sure I got to see Vonda as soon as possible… you know, alive. It will forever tear my conscience down. I don't know what kind of person that makes me… but I know what kind of father that makes me."
"I'm… sorry," said Maria. "Lead the way. You seem to know where you're going."
Tim placed his knives back in his holsters before walking ahead. Maria followed him, rubbing Carlitos' head as she stared ahead, glad that she and her family didn't go to any of the safe-zones in New York. If they had, their deaths would've been a statistic for the KHAN.
-Day 780-
"Great. Just what we needed," grumbled Lynn. "Another roadblock."
The cars in the intersection were totaled as surrounding cars were abandoned, leaving four more streets at a dead end. The dead traffic lights hung from a metal pole while the power lines swayed in a gentle manner against the hot air. Vanzilla was stuck once more, and as previous streets have shown in the city of Yonkers, there was no going back anywhere else.
Lori sighed.
"We're low on gas," she said. "Going back to that empty street we saw a mile back won't be an option. We have to find a way forward."
"How about this parking lot over here?" said Lincoln.
The entrance to the parking lot was narrow– just in between two large brick buildings. But upon a turn a left turn further out, the parking lot expands to a large square with a large area of grass and a sidewalk separating it from another street. This large square with abandoned vehicles wasn't visible to the group, so it was a risk that they were taking. A risk that gambled their fuel.
Lori turned the van and moved forward into the narrow entrance of the parking lot. She wiped the sweat off her forehead as she turned her steering wheel to the left. Sure enough, the large square began to reveal itself along with an empty street on the other side and a way out, but as she turned the van more, something else was revealed.
"Of course," mumbled Ronnie Anne. "Roamers."
Lori looked back at the intersection, realizing that there was going to be no way to pass through it. She quickly faced the roamers again and placed her hands on the gearshift, moving it forward completely.
"Fuck it. We can take them on," said Lori. "Grab your weapons, everyone!"
She stepped outside with her hatchet and her revolver in her holster. She left her assault rifle behind in the van, and walked ahead with the others. The metal door banged against the hinges in the building, but the group ignored it and marched on, seeing as it was secured by a metal pipe.
Lincoln held his knife point upwards and leaned forward at a roamer, shoving his knife through his skull. Ronnie Anne aimed her crossbow at a roamer and pressed the trigger, releasing the bolt and striking it through its scalp. Lynn jumped away from the falling corpse and smacked a roamer away with her bow before Luan thrusted her katana downwards, finishing off the roamer.
Instead of marching ahead, Lori remained in the back, watching her group take care of the roamers without her aid. She glared at Lynn, Ronnie Anne, Lincoln, and Luan as the roamers from the parking lot approached them.
As the roamers began to clump up into a small swarm, Lori prepared to order the group to diverge, but Lincoln was ahead of her.
"Guys, spread out!" exclaimed Lincoln, before thrusting his knife up a roamer's jaw.
Lori stayed back as Ronnie Anne and Lynn moved apart. Luan moved away from Lincoln, luring some of the roamers towards her behind some cars.
"Make some noise, Luan!" he continued to exclaim. "Now… shoot them, Ronnie and Lynn!"
Ronnie Anne and Lynn shot their arrows and bolts at the roamers who strayed out in the open of the parking lot as the other roamers limped towards the sound of a katana handle denting a car. Lincoln killed off the roamers that had their sights locked on him, hissing in pain with every slice.
"Okay, now make some noise, guys!" exclaimed Lincoln, rubbing his arms. "Luan, fight them off now!"
Lynn and Ronnie Anne hollered and shouted, attracting some of the roamers away from Luan, who sprung up from where she stood, slicing her dead attackers with a confident spirit and a blade. Luan finished off the remaining roamers.
The parking lot was now empty, leaving just the noise of the banging door. Lori smiled softly as she headed back to the van before hearing a distant rumbling.
"Did you strain yourself?" Lynn asked Lincoln. "Ah, look, your arm is bleeding. C'mon, you should be chilling in the seat, getting some rest."
"Yeah, I guess," panted Lincoln. "Lori? Are we going now?"
Lori hushed him and walked closer to Vanzilla. The engine continued to rumble in the van, but the noise was getting louder. It was coming closer and closer, and it was not coming from the van.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Go, go, go!" yelled Lori.
The noise came closer and closer until it roared throughout the parking lot entrance. A car then another pulled up in front of the parking lot entrance as the windows rolled down. A barrel slowly rolled out of the window before it fired into the group.
Lori shrieked as she jumped behind the curve of the building. Dust blew off the shot-off brick. A few of the marauders exited their cars and jogged to the parking lot. Lori quickly ran off, using Vanzilla as cover.
Lincoln jogged to the back end of the parking lot where a mesh fence prevented the group from going any further. Luan crouched behind a coupe while Ronnie Anne and Lynn hid behind a pickup truck.
"It's this damn van again," said Darius, the leader of the marauders. "We got you bastards this time! Ain't no escapin' us!"
Lori peeked from the van and fired off a few shots at the marauders. She quickly went back for cover as the attackers responded with bursts of fire. As Darius and the marauders walked along the van, she held her breath and fired a shot at the metal pipe in the banging door. The metal pipe flew off and the door slammed opened, with a couple roamers flooding out of the building. She quickly ran into them, before lowering herself and passing the roamers, this time putting an obstacle between her and the marauders.
Darius fired his UZI at the roamers, managing to hit a few them in their heads. A couple more bullets flew past Lori before she jumped over the trunk of a mid-size car and taking cover behind it.
"Persistent bitch," he muttered.
"Want me to get 'er?" asked Shawn, a bruise in his right eye.
"No, check the van. Take whatever guns and ammo you can find."
The marauders jogged to the mid-size car before being met with a couple pistol bullets. The marauders quickly took cover behind a small car as Ronnie Anne ducked behind the truck.
"Just lettin' you know, we're taking that pistol and that crossbow back!" yelled Darius. "Hide all you want! We're gonna get the big guns out soon anyways!"
The engine rumbled as a vehicle moved into the parking lot entrance.
"Look, it's here already! We were just gonna take your shit, but you killed our people! So now we kill you all."
The Humvee moved up the parking lot before pushing Vanzilla ahead.
Lincoln panted as he held his bleeding arm. His MP5 was inside the van. Lynn felt sweat drip down her face as she pulled back an arrow. She then stood up and released it, shooting at the Humvee. However, the arrow was unable to penetrate through the bulletproof window.
Darius pulled out his M1911 and shot at Lynn, though she quickly ducked down before the bullets hit her.
"I can't move any further! What do I do now?" asked Lydia.
"Keep pushing the damn van!" yelled Darius.
"I can't! The Humvee's stuck!"
"Alright, just get outta there! It's fine, we can get 'em from 'ere."
A marauder climbed onto the gunner seat and aimed it at the coupe. Behind him, was another engine that roared, though none of the marauders in the parking lot realized it. But the marauders who stayed back in the streets did. They aimed their weapons at the RV, before realizing that one of the doors was opened.
The RV slowed down and Becky popped out from the door, quickly firing an IWI ACE at the marauders. Benny then jumped out the RV as well, firing his M4A1 at the marauders that Becky missed. Hana then leaped out with body armor, holding her katana. She walked past the five bodies in the ground.
"This way!" exclaimed Becky.
With the machine gun aimed at the coupe, the marauder fired the gun, aiming at the wheels as he progressed throughout the car. Luan yelled as she crawled to the car behind the coupe.
"There's one!" yelled Darius. "Get 'er!"
The marauder moved the machine gun and aimed at the new car. He prepared to pull the trigger before two shots followed by a crack exploded the marauder's brains into the machine gun. Becky aimed down at the rest of the marauders and fired at them before taking cover behind the Humvee. Darius fired his M1911 at the Humvee before Benny shot the M1911 out of his hands. He jumped behind the car as Benny aimed his gun at his chest. He dodged the incoming fire, though his fellow marauders were not so lucky.
"Run!" Darius yelled at Shawn and Lydia. "We're outnumbered! Run! That's the rule!"
Shawn nodded before dropping Lori's AK-47. Both he and Lydia made a run for it, as Darius fired his UZI at the vehicles, covering the couple. They outside of the parking lot, the path that Lori's group would have taken with Vanzilla, using the building as cover now. Suddenly, Hana made herself known and swung her katana like a baseball bat, slashing Shawn's chest. His body flung forward as he fell backwards. Hana quickly turned the katana downwards and thrusted the tip into Shawn's skull before aiming the katana at Lydia.
Lydia ran back to the parking lot, not realizing that Darius was not covering her. This led to a burst of fire through her chest from an M4A1 before Benny and Becky moved forward. Then, Darius stood up with his UZIs pointing towards the pickup truck.
"Stop! Before you shoot, I gotta let you know that there are two girls hidin' behind the truck. Want 'em to get shot to hell? My fingers are in the trigger."
Becky and Benny panted as they continued to aim their weapons at the only marauder standing.
"Drop your guns," stated Darius.
Both Becky and Benny looked at each other before tossing their rifles to the ground.
"Kick it over 'ere," he said.
Both survivors kicked their rifles towards Darius, though friction stopped it in the middle of both opposing sides. Darius slowly walked towards the rifles before lowering himself.
"You two are very good at following rules," snickered Darius.
He looked back at the parking lot, realizing that he could still shoot up the pickup truck. Then, he started to wonder where Lori was, unaware that Becky was unholstering her sidearm. The hammer cocked, causing Darius to quickly look back before being met with a sudden flash of gunfire that splattered his brains into the pavement. His body dropped with the UZIs.
Benny took a deep breath and picked up his rifle before running past a bleeding Lydia, checking to see any surrounding marauders.
"Looks like there aren't anymore of them," said Benny as he turned around.
Becky walked forward with the Glock in her hand.
"But our people's gotta be close by," he said. "He mentioned that there were two girls behind the–"
Becky aimed her pistol at Lydia and fired a shot to her head. Benny gasped, watching as Becky continued moving forward to the parking lot.
"Guys!" yelled Becky. "We killed them all! You can come out now!"
Benny stared at Lydia's corpse before facing the parking lot. He slowly dropped his rifle as a soft smile grew on his face.
Luan stood up with a white shirt covered by smoke stains and her sweater tied around her waist. She opened up her arms with a wide smile as Benny ran up to her and hugged her, lifting her up a little.
"I can't imagine how much you went through," whispered Benny.
"Too much," whispered back Luan with tears forming around her eyes. "But you're here now!"
Luan sniffled and continued smiling as she then kissed Benny. Lori, Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, and Lynn then revealed themselves. Lynn ran up to Benny and gave him a bro hug as Lincoln gave him a thumbs up.
Lori and Becky walked up to each other and have each other an embracing hug, sharing the pain of the most recent loss of their lives. They released each other, with Lori now standing next to Ronnie Anne.
"Wait, that Humvee looks familiar," she said as she glanced at Lynn, who nodded back.
Both girls ran towards the Humvee, opening the door. They opened the glove department, and found David's M9 inside. Both girls lowered their heads in despair as they realized the loss of their beloved friend, Haley. Ronnie Anne took the M9 and placed it in her backpack, not removing her P220 from her holster.
She then heard a bark and turned towards the source. Her mouth opened softly as her eyes blinked rapidly before she placed her hands over it. And a smile grew from everyone in the group.
"Bobby!" she cried out.
Bobby opened up his arms as Kimi walked next to him, wagging her tail. Ronnie Anne placed her arms around him, smiling with her eyes closed.
"I almost died without saying goodbye to you," said Ronnie Anne in a low voice.
"I'm sorry for everything that you went through," said Bobby. "I'm just so glad you're safe."
Kimi ran ahead and leaped up to Luan, licking her face before running back to Hana. Ronnie Anne released Bobby and looked back, seeing Lori walk slowly towards the both with a somber expression. Bobby then began tearing up, as he walked up to her, giving her a reassuring hug as Lori closed her eyes.
"I can't imagine how much you have suffered these past weeks…" said Bobby, reassuring a mournful Lori. "It's okay. I'm here now. Everything's gonna be okay."
"It doesn't feel okay," said Lori, a pain with every swallow in her throat. "Did you see her? Did you see what… he did to her?"
"She's resting peacefully now," said Bobby as Becky approached them. "We made sure she had a proper burial."
"She didn't deserve it you know," said Lori. "Let's just go. We have to hole up somewhere before it gets dark."
Lori, Bobby, and Ronnie Anne walked back to Vanzilla. Luan and Benny followed them as Lynn and Lincoln prepared to return to the van.
"Who's she talkin' about?" asked Lynn.
"We'll talk about it later," said Lincoln. "Come on. Stitch my arm up in the van."
"I'll be with Hana," said Becky. "We'll follow you, Lori. Anywhere you go."
Lori nodded as she closed her door. Vanzilla and the modern RV headed out the parking lot through the sidewalk and into the road. A couple roamers strayed into the parking lot, dropped down to a couple corpses, and ripped out pieces of flesh before shoving it in their mouths.
The spotted stars were stuck in the night sky as Lynn looked out with wet eyes. The candles flickered in a table in the kitchen, away from the windows. The doors were barricaded with sofas and couches, and the curtains covered all of the windows except the one that Lynn looked out of.
Lincoln walked to Lynn and stood next to her, placing his elbows on the window stool.
"I know you probably want to be alone for a little, but if you want to talk, just know that we're all here."
"Lincoln… you know I'm not much of a talker about feelings. It just hurts. Hurts a lot."
"We're all sharing the same pain. Never feel alone, Lynn."
"At least that son of bitch got what he deserved!" hissed Lynn. "Tell me, who nicked off his limbs?"
"You found him?" asked Lincoln. "Did you–?"
"Finish him? The dead version of him? No, Santiago did. So, who finished the… alive version of him?"
Lincoln tilted his head towards Luan, who rested her head on Benny's arm. Lynn let a tear fall from her eyes.
"I'm jealous. She beat me to it," Lynn sniffled. "I would've made sure he suffered before shoving my arrow into that other eyehole of his."
Lincoln, knowing that it was not the right time to bother his sister about acting civilized, simply remained quiet, glancing at Lynn before staring at the night sky with her. Then, his eyes shifted downwards. The buildings in the distance were wrecked and only the steel structure of the remaining buildings stood. Lincoln then realized he was looking at New York. Looking at what remained of the city.
-Day 60-
Tim shut the door to the car along with Maria, who was holding Carlitos on her back. The breeze blew strands of hair from both adults as they looked onto the warehouse that stood next to the docks. Then, they began walking towards it.
"The plan was for my daughter and I to never find out about this place," said Tim. "But Sherry saw it as a necessity to tell me about her business when the first roamers were created. That was the moment she knew… all my 'conspiracy theories' weren't too far from the truth."
Tim walked passed stained blood in the pavement while Maria couldn't help but feel nervous as she got closer to the warehouse.
"She never shied away from the fact that she was involved in this roamer business herself, and that's exactly why she felt obligated to tell me. For her own safety. To make sure she wouldn't risk her life or risk her crime business."
Tim opened the door to the warehouse. Maria looked around the dark-red mess that was plastered on the floors and walls of the warehouse.
"Her partnership with Quirino gave her connections with the KHAN. And with those connections, she was able to acquire a roamer herself, months before the Global Infection Event. Now, I'm not exactly sure what she needed a roamer for, but it was very important that she had one. It helped with my own studies."
Both adults walked down a corridor before entering a door to their left.
"I don't know how, but the KHAN must have figured out that Sherry and I were working together. So they stopped sending her more of the infected. But she kept studying the roamers themselves. And she did study the one thing that no one else did, not even I, for I was too focused on the scientific stuff about the roamers. She studied their behaviors in regards to the passage of time. After all, she did have time. Lots of it."
Tim lowered himself by Sherry's table, reaching the bottom drawer before asking Maria for a hairpin. She gave him her hairpin, and moments later, the drawer was unlocked. Tim then lifted a small journal in the air.
"What is that?" asked Maria.
"Her studies. I wasn't too sure myself as she was very discreet about it. But one of the things I learned from her? The longer a roamer goes without their vision, the more they rely on their hearing. And vise-versa. Adaptation. Signs of evolution."
Maria placed her fingers on her temple and began massaging it.
"This is a lot to take in," said Maria.
"It is," said Tim. "People are crazy. Nature is crazier. I got what I needed. We can head out now. Find a place to hole up in. Think your neighborhood's safe?"
"I think so," said Maria. "Maybe it is safer now."
The furnitures were moved to block all the entrances and exits in the bodega. Then, the candles that belonged to Rosa flickered in the living room. Tim lied down in the living room couch and made himself comfortable before falling asleep. Maria placed Carlitos in his crib.
She looked around. There were candles in the dinner table. There were clothes that Maria wasn't familiar with. Towels of blood were scattered around the kitchen. Empty bottles of antibiotics and painkillers in the once-empty trash can. And no note.
She opened the door to Bobby's room. The bed was made. The clothes were in a nice stacked pile. Everything seemed unmoved.
Then, she opened the door to Ronnie Anne's room. The bed was unkempt. The clothes were scattered all over the place. Everything was messy.
With welling drops of liquids in her eyes, Maria sat down on the bed with a pen. She looked out the window, staring into the dark neighborhood, before writing into the sheet of paper. And she kept writing, unaware of the eerie quietness of the city.