III - Birth of a Warrior
Mr. Spokes panted as he leaped over the last fence. George and the others waited for him.
"Remember. Tight formation!" said George.
The group moved ahead into the church, avoiding the swarms near the intersection by the church. George ran to the door and pushed against it, but the doors were locked.
"What the–?" muttered George. "Oh hell! They locked the damn doors!"
"The roamers found us!" exclaimed Vonda. "What do we do, George?"
George jerked the door handles and shook the wooden doors, but they refused to open. The roamers approached the group just as another swarm came from the opposite side of the street.
"George!" exclaimed Mr. Spokes. "They're comin'!"
"Fuck it!" said George. "Shoot 'em. Now!"
Jeffrey stood by the doors, hesitating to open them. Some militia members and civilians stood behind the seats with a large lantern, looking at him. He raised his hands, shivering as he placed them on the door latches. He then heard gunshots, causing him to pace back away from the door. Preston approached him.
"Uncle Jeff? What's going on?"
"I have to go! Don't open the doors!"
Jeffrey ran to his office in the church before locking it. Preston scratched his head. He then heard loud knocks on the door.
"Help!" screamed Kathy. "We need to get inside! Please help!"
The group continued firing their weapons. Preston looked out the window, spotting shadows of roamers.
"I'm prepared," said Preston as he pulled out his pocket knife.
He ran to the doors and unlocked the door latches. He opened the door and found the group by the door with a group of roamers within arm's reach.
George, Vonda, Rusty, and the other survivors flooded into the church, with George pushing the doors closed. Preston locked the latch and flinched upon the explosion of knocking on the door. The door jerked in and out, causing the latch to jiggle.
"How'd you guys make it here?" asked Preston.
"Honestly, we have no idea," replied Vonda.
The roamers smashed against the church doors and scratched against the walls. The shadows passed by the stained glass windows.
Reggie whimpered and held on to his wooden chair. Rusty rubbed his head and walked up to him.
"So, how you feelin'?" he asked. "It's okay if you don't feel so good now."
"What with this herd on our ass? Or 'cause my dad was bitten? Or maybe 'cause he shot himself afterwards. 'Course I don't feel good!"
Vonda stepped next to Rusty.
"I lost my parents too," she said. "They were both unable to say goodbye. I wished I knew when my father was going to die so I could tell him that I loved him too."
Reggie scrunched up his eyes and looked away. Preston walked up to him and placed his hands on his shoulders.
"Don't mind 'em," he said. "If you want some time alone– whatever time that is– you could sit by the podium. If you don't want to fight the roamers with us, that's fine. I understand. I'm truly sorry for your loss. But don't forget… he's in a better place now…"
Preston shifted his eyes at the rocking doors.
"...I promise you."
The roamers wandered around, growling at the snow pelting them in their face. Lori, Bobby, and Benny's lips quivered as their hot breaths escaped their mouth. They moved along the herd just like Lori when the mall was packed. Or like Benny when the freshmen in his high school all filled the hallways. Or like Bobby when people crowded near the bodega.
The snow stopped. The visibility of the surrounding hills and sky were more apparent now. Now, the trio were able to see roamers flowing out of the military barracks– the former airport. And not only were the trio walking among the dead able to see, the trio in the prison tower were able to see as well.
"This storm is gnarly," said Luna.
"That's why we need to stay close," said Jace. "We cuddle up and warm each other up!"
"Nice try," said Sam. "But we could just go inside this tower office thing. I mean, what are we doing out here?"
"The door's jammed shut," said Luna. "I was in too much of a rush to get inside."
Jace opened his arms and raised his eyebrows. Luna smiled as Sam looked out the guard tower. She was ready to open her arms when Sam cried out.
"Look!"
Luna stood up and looked out the guard tower, leaving Jace hanging with his arms wide open.
"I don't remember the deadies moving that quick," said Luna. "Wait a minute…"
Benny rushed through the herd, moving his feet along the snow to catch up to the armory. Bobby grabbed his arms to allow Lori to whisper to him.
"Wait up! Not too fast!"
The roamers growled and looked around, hearing a smooth voice, one that had a hint of femininity and youth. Lori groaned softly as if she woke up too early for school. The roamers groaned at Lori and only looked at her as she passed by them.
Luna aimed at the trio with her scope.
"It's Lori, Bobby, and Benny!" said Luna. "Eww. They're covered in guts!"
"That's Dana's idea!" said Sam. "Where is she?"
"I can't find her," said Jace. "That's some good camouflage! How come you guys never told me about this?"
"We must have forgotten," said Sam. "I mean it's been over a year since there was a mention about this trick!"
"Whatever you're doing," said Luna, "you got it, Lori."
Lori took another deep breath and noticed water dripping down her face. She knew she felt nervous enough to sweat, but she wasn't able to because of the snow, but that was before. Now, the storm stopped, the gusts disappeared.
The snow in her coat began to defrost and melt. Lori looked at Benny and found water with a tint of red in it leaking down from his coat. Her face was swamped with hints of anxiety.
"We have to go, now," said Lori. "The roamers are confused. They'll know we're here."
Lori's hands formed sweat as she moved around the slushy arms of her lab coat. The roamers leaned close to the group and stared at the survivors. The trio kept quiet until one roamer growled and limped towards them. The surrounding roamers followed it.
"Oh shit," muttered Lori.
Bobby stabbed the roamer in the eye, leaving the knife there as the body dropped. Lori raised her hatchet and chopped a roamer out of her way. Benny raised his katana and thrusted it between a roamer's pair of eyes.
The slight fresh shift in the rotten odor that hung around the roamers became more intense now that the roamers were able to notice the sweat odor of the survivors, despite it being cold enough to keep birds out of the area. The roamers chased the survivors down, catching Luna's attention.
"Oh no, dude!" she cried. "We gotta help 'em out!"
Luna raised her sniper rifle and noticed another figure moving along the herd. However, this one was easier to spot due to the armor that the figure was wearing.
"It's one of the guards!" said Jace.
"The gear looks bigger!" said Sam. "What is this guy doing?"
Luna, once again, aimed with her scope and looked at the figure. She gasped.
"It's not a guy! It's a dudette!"
Jenny moved through the herd with her riot gear armor. She shoved the roamers out of the way with a baton and ran to the armory.
The roamers by the military barracks looked at the trio and found them running to the armory. They changed directions and growled at them. Bobby took off his gloves and pulled out a Luger. He shot the roamers close to the armory, though he didn't have enough ammo to take them all out.
Lori looked into the herd and found one of the roamers particularly familiar. The roamer had a pink streak on its messy hair. The roamer also wore a leather jacket and wore white boots.
Jenny caught up to the trio and ran as fast as she could to the swarm by the barracks. She extended her arms open and tackled a few roamers to the ground, including the familiar one.
"Go! Run inside!" yelled Jenny. "Run inside, now!"
Lori, Bobby, and Benny ran to the armory and opened the galvanized door. They closed it before the herd smashed themselves against the entrance of the armory.
The roamers pulled Jenny's armor from her arms, ripping the straps and plates that held them apart. She yelled as the roamers piled up on top of her back, breaking her spine and ribs. One particular roamer tried to pull her helmet off, though it only resulting in Jenny's screams being choked out as a strap tugged on her throat. Roamer Tabby sunk her teeth into her throat and ripped out the flesh. Blood poured onto Roamer Tabby's face, as she continued chomping at her flesh.
Benny watched Jenny die in agony before the roamers covered the square bulletproof window in the door.
"Hello?" called out Lori. "Lisa? Anyone here? That's strange. The lights are on."
"Oh no, are we trapped now?" asked Bobby.
Benny continued to look out the galvanized door.
"As trapped as a bee in the claws of a praying mantis."
Meanwhile, Dana and Dr. White walked through the herd near the fences that separated the military zone from the town. Some of the dead followed the roamers that were picking up their pace near Unit A, the prison which Jenny left with her riot gear on.
After reaching an area where very few roamers wandered around, Dana and Dr. White stopped.
"How are you holding up?" asked Dana.
"I'm great," he groaned. "As soon as we get to the infirmary, I'm dropping this coat."
"Hey, did is the rotten smell going away or is it just me?"
Dr. White leaned his arm close to his nose and sniffed. He groaned and nodded.
"It's not as putrid as before… if you don't smell it from up close. That's bad news, though."
Dana looked around. The roamers grunted at the air and turned their faces towards the two survivors. Just like with the others, the roamers hesitated to take action until one roamer growled at the top of his decayed lungs.
"Run!" yelled Dana.
Luna looked at the herd. Some split from the ones chasing Lori, Bobby, and Benny. Instead, they went after two more figures with bloody coats. She scoped into the herd and found out who the two figures were.
"They need our help!" yelled Luna.
"Who's they?" asked Jace.
"Dana and the doc!"
Sam nodded and grabbed her AR-15. Luna leaned her eyes into the scope of her M110 before Jace touched her shoulder.
"Are you sure?" asked Jace. "Don't gunshots attract the roamers?"
"That's the plan!" said Luna.
"But that means we won't be able to get outta this tower!"
"I would sacrifice my own life to save the lives of others," said Luna. "It's how I would rather go out than dying in vain."
Luna looked back at her scope. Jace gulped and rubbed his head, realizing she meant what she said.
Dana and Dr. White ran towards the infirmary that stood by the intersection. Some roamers blocked it, however, and only Dana carried a weapon.
"Stay behind!" said Dana. "If you see an opening, run for it!"
Dana held her machete up high, ready to take out the roamers. Suddenly, she was met with gunshots from behind her. A few roamers dropped to the ground after gunshots splattered through their skulls.
Dana looked back and found Luna and Sam firing their weapons at the herd ahead of them. Luna raised her right arm and pointed it to the right before going back to shooting the roamers.
"What was that?" asked Dr. White.
"She's creating an opening on the right!" replied Dana.
The roamers on the right side of the street were shot down. Dana swung her machete and took out the roamers that lunged after her as she ran to the right side of the street with Dr. White.
"There's our opening!" said Dana.
They both ran along the sidewalk to the infirmary. The roamers followed them until they were outside of the building. Dana quickly opened the door and closed it after Dr. White entered. She kept her back on the door, as the roamers continued pushing against it. Leni and Lily jumped from their seats and watched as Dana struggled to keep the roamers out.
"Let me help you!" exclaimed Dr. White.
"No! Just go help out Haley!"
Dr. White dropped his coat and took off his gloves before running off to the bathroom to sanitize himself. Lincoln, Lana, Ronnie Anne, and Clyde popped out of the room and found Dana yelling. Lincoln and Ronnie Anne ran to the door and shoved themselves against it, keeping it closed. Dana noticed the wet splatters on the door.
"Oh. That's why they noticed me," said Dana. "The snow drenched my coat!"
"This door is not going to hold any longer!" said Lincoln.
"Lincoln, you have a knife?" said Dana. "Great! Ronnie Anne, grab my machete! Lana, just stay back!"
"No way!" said Lana. "I'm not staying back! I want to help out too!"
Dr. White came out from the bathroom. He pulled out Dana's Glock from his belt and handed it to Lana.
"I was told about your work on the fences. You're a pretty good shot, aren't ya?"
Lana nodded. Dana pulled out her trench knife and backed away from the door with Ronnie Anne and Lincoln.
"Leni, Lily!" called out Lincoln. "Run inside the room!"
The roamers bursted into the hallways. Leni carried Lily inside the room. Dana stabbed the closest roamer before backing away even more. Lincoln stabbed a crawler in the floor and Ronnie Anne chopped the head off of a roamer. The head fell to the ground and was chopped again by her. Lana stepped up once again and began shooting the roamers in their heads.
George went inside the church office and found Jeffrey at a fetal position. He grabbed his suit and picked him up.
"You couldn't let us in?" he growled.
"I am truly sorry," whimpered Jeffrey. "You have to understand. Those things– the gunfire–"
"Me and Vonda coulda' died out there! What were you thinking?"
"Please…"
"Hey, can you chill?" exclaimed Preston. "Look, I know the herd is putting us all under stress, but we have to relax and come up with a solution to stop these monsters. We have to–"
The latched popped out and fell to the floor. The roamers smashed the doors open and flooded into the church.
"They're here!" yelled Vonda. "The roamers are here!"
She yelled as she released an arrow from her bow. A roamer dropped dead and spilled blood onto the carpet. Jeffrey gasped as George pulled out his shotgun and blasted it at the entrance, hitting many of the roamers trying to get in.
The militia grabbed their guns and began firing at the roamers, shattering the windows, walls, and seats in the church. The roamers dropped to the ground, and the militia were killing more roamers than those that could enter the church.
Jeffrey sat down, closing his ears and watching in horror as blood flew around the church. He closed them as tears flowed down his face.
Meanwhile, Lori, Bobby, and Benny looked around the dimly lit armory, their coats lying by the entrance. All the storage rooms were empty, much like the ammunition.
"There's no way out!" exclaimed Bobby.
"This can't be the end!" cried Benny.
Lori looked around. She walked towards a box and found few grenades inside.
"I have an idea," said Lori. "Why don't I use these? I could open the door and use a couple of these to kill all the roamers near the armory. You guys will stay back!"
"That's so risky!" said Benny. "Plus, you risk bringing the entire herd here!"
"I have to do something!" said Lori, her voice breaking. "These people… they look up to me! I'm suppose to be their leader! But the truth is… I've been too caught up in looking for David and Black! I should've spent more time with everyone! I could've prevented this!"
"Stop that!" said Bobby. "Stop beating yourself up, Lori!"
Lori looked at Bobby, unable to utter a word.
"You aren't at fault for David's disappearance!" continued Bobby. "You aren't at fault for what happened to your parents! You aren't at fault for what the rogues did! You didn't ask for any of this! But you still took the leadership mantle! Why? Because you are the only one brave enough, strong enough, caring enough to look after all of us! This place needs you!"
Lori grabbed Bobby and kissed him.
"I love you so much," said Lori. "Thank you."
Lori grabbed a grenade from the box. She lent one to Bobby and Benny. They walked towards the galvanized door, with Lori holding Bobby's hands. She decided that if they weren't going to make it out, they would at least not make it out together.
Lori tugged on the door handle, taking a deep sigh.
Suddenly, a large explosion showed its fiery blast through the glass window.
"Holy shit," said Lori. "Is that…?"
Another explosion went off, killing all the roamers huddled up in front of the amory. From the distance, an M60 Patton tank aimed its gun at the herd by the military barracks.
Kotaro cackled as he fired another missile into the herd. Sergei loaded another missile and climbed up to the turret seat where he told Ted to fire unto the herd by the east fences. Lisa, sitting in the driver's seat, turned the tank around and moved towards the fences. Ted fired the turret and destroyed the swarming herd outside, each of the roamers' heads exploding like watermelons.
Lori, Bobby, and Benny walked outside with their weapons out, finding a hot crater of corpses lying in front of the armory. They found the rest of the herd from the prisons following the tank along the runway.
The roamers stepped on a piece of wire and set off all the nearby incendiary barrels. The trio in front of the armory quickly ran inside and shielded themselves from the raining drops of fire.
"Did you see that?" exclaimed Jace.
"Oh my god," gasped Luna. "That is definitely Lisa and Sergei's handiwork!"
"Look, the tank is coming over here!" said Sam.
The tank turned around and rolled towards the prisons. The burning flesh of the roamers were stuck on the pavement, preventing the monsters from moving. A few of them turned into crawlers, though their attempts to bite any of the survivors were futile. They raised their arms and growled at the tank, only to be ran over by the crushing weight of the tank.
"Fire the guns!" ordered Sergei.
Ted laughed as he fired the turret at the roamers near Unit A. Luna, Sam, and Jace covered their heads as the bullets tore through the undead corpses and splattered them against the walls of the prison.
"Da! Da! DA!" cackled Sergei as Lisa turned the tank towards the infirmary.
Lori, Bobby, and Benny escaped the armory and ran behind the tank, following it until they reached the prison. Bobby, using a G3 rifle that he found in the armory, fired onto the shot-but-alive roamers, shooting their brains and killing them. Luna, Sam, and Jace waved at the trio below before climbing down the guard tower.
Buck and Pike escaped the prison where they were holed up in, meeting Luna, Sam, and Jace as they ran towards Lori, Bobby, and Benny. Luna hugged Lori. As the tank fired another missile, Luna held Lori tighter. Benny looked at the corpses as they were launched into the air, burning even after they splattered into the ground.
"As Luan would say… tank you," chuckled Benny.
Lori chuckled.
"C'mon," she said. "Let's get to the infirmary!"
Kotaro and Ted were unable to fire more ammunition.
"We're out!" said Kotaro.
"No problem," said Sergei. "Time for me to play."
Sergei opened the hatch for the tank and pulled out an RPG. Kotaro and Ted scrambled inside to grab the rockets near the rear door of the tank. Sergei aimed at a swarm near the intersection and fired the RPG. The rocket exploded and blew the roamers into many pieces.
"Whoo!" shouted Sergei. "We're invincible in this tank! Hand me another rocket!"
In the church, George and the militia fought their way out of the building. Then, they heard the explosions.
"What was that?" asked Rusty.
"Sounds like an RPG," said George.
Vonda, Rusty, and Preston all looked at each other.
"The Piranhas used it before," he said. "Courtesy of their Somalian friends."
"What kinda gang did you guys go up against?" gasped Preston.
George fired his shotgun at a roamer in the ground.
"A gang who couldn't handle these things," he replied.
George, Vonda, Rusty, Mr. Spokes, Preston, Kathy, and the rest of the survivors in the church with the exception of Reggie and Jeffrey fought against the roamers in the streets. Many of them were led away by the explosions near the infirmary, though the explosions were getting louder and louder.
After a few minutes, George saw the tank coming from the corner of the street.
"Everyone!" yelled Sergei. "Go inside the church! I'll take care of this for you!"
George and the others listened. They ran inside the church and hid behind the seats, with some of the survivors looking out the hole in which there used to be a door.
Sergei fired another rocket and destroyed what was left of the swarm outside of the church. George came out from the church, looking at the burnt street. Sergei coughed as he looked at him.
"We going to the front gates! We're taking out all the roamers from here to Medway!"
George placed a thumbs-up and led the militia into the streets. They ran off in different directions, paired up in smaller groups, but powerful groups to take out the roamers infecting the town.
Lori and the others fought their way to the infirmary. One of the last remaining herds stood close to the infirmary, which Sergei refused to shoot as it would be risky for the patients inside the building. Now, it was up to Lori and her small group to fight off the roamers.
Lori shot the roamers with her reloaded revolver. Bobby landed more headshots with his G3 rifle. Luna hip-fired her sniper rifle and let out a few bullets. Sam tore through a couple roamers with her AR-15. Buck and Pike stabbed the roamers in their sides. Benny walked behind them, covering their backs as he did for the past year and a half.
Buck and Pike ran off to clean up the town, leaving just Lori, Bobby, Benny, Luna, Sam, and Jace to enter the infirmary. The infirmary hall was left with corpses on the ground, with no one in sight.
"Oh no…" Lori gasped. "No, no, no!"
Lori ran across the hall and opened the door, raising her hatchet up to fight off the roamers that have no doubt infected the people she loved. But she was met with something else entirely.
"Don't worry!" said Lincoln. "Just look at this!"
Lynn looked at Lori and smiled. Dr. White wiped off the sweat from his face and sighed happily, something Lori has never seen to this degree. Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, and Clyde wiped their hands on their clothes, stained with roamer blood. Lana held her hat and couldn't take out the gleeful smile off her face. Leni held Lily on her back, both of them giggling in merriness. Dana wiped her eyes with her arms and giggled, moving out of the way for Lori. Haley took off her gloves and handed Lori a damp towel.
"Careful with your hands," mouthed Haley, smiling afterwards.
Lori placed her hatchet on her belt and placed the towel on her eyes. She teared up… but no tears of grief fell down her face.
Carol lied on the bed, sighing as she held her baby daughter. The baby was asleep on her arms, and wrapped up nicely in a pink blanket.
"Say hi to Zoey!" she said, her voice so low that it sounded like the explosions hundreds of meters away. "Isn't she beautiful, Lori?"
"She has her mother's eyes," smiled Lori, lying her head on Bobby's shoulder.
Bobby and Carol squinted at Lori, getting a laugh out of everyone in the room.
"One day," said Lori. "One day."