VI - Endgame

The time ticked from eleven minutes and four seconds. Lisa placed a blue wire in between her wire cutter and snipped it. She released her breath before flinching upon hearing Lori shoot her revolver. She looked at the group, who were firing their weapons at the roamers approaching through the right hallway.

"That was loud," said Lisa.

"Sorry, Lisa," said Lori. "Felt too lazy to reload my AK."

"Why is the loudest Loud complaining, though?" asked Luan. "It's in the name, Lisa."

"This is a very tense situation," said Lisa worriedly. "I have no time for your jokes, Luan."

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," said Calvin, aiming the ACE-23 at the group. "I liked that joke."

Lori turned towards the left hallway and was immediately punched in the face by Beatrice. Some of the other cannibals hit the others with their melee weapons, though their armor deflected some of the damage. However, the group were forced inside the room as the cannibals continued to shove them inside. Lori quickly stood up and aimed her revolver at Calvin, who entered the room while lowering his rifle.

"Woah, woah!" shouted Calvin.

"Lori, stop!" yelled Lisa.

Lori gulped as she walked back, not lowering her revolver.

"This is a very volatile environment! The risk of ricocheting bullets triggering the detonator is too high! Don't shoot your guns inside the room!"

"This bullet won't bounce off his skull," hissed Lori.

"Listen to your sister," said Calvin. "Everyone else is."

Beatrice slammed her PP-19 against Bobby's helmet, slamming his head against the floor as he struggled to block off her hits. Guillermo smacked the butt of his G36 rifle against Luan's vest, knocking the wind out of her and bruising her ribs. Two cannibals held Benny's arms as he struggled to fight them off, though a third cannibal slammed a baton against his thigh, causing him to drop to his knees. One of the cannibals lifted the barking Kimi and placed her hands over the dog's jaw, clamping it shut.

Calvin moved towards the detonator as the iron sights of the Python followed him. He looked over Lisa and lifted his ACE 23, preparing to hit Lisa with it. Lisa could only look up in fear.

"No!" yelled Lori, running up to Calvin while moving her finger away from the trigger of her revolver.

Calvin smiled as he turned around and lunged the rifle at her, hitting her breastplate. Lori gasped as she dodged the next lunge, before grabbing her hatchet and swinging it Calvin, who quickly dodged it while moving closer to her. She then elbowed him in the nose, breaking it as he stumbled back. Lori stood above him while she raised her hatchet.

"Bad move," whispered Calvin.

Guillermo slammed his gun against Lori's wrists, causing her to drop the hatchet before he wrapped his arms around her, holding a knife against her throat. Lori gagged as Guillermo pushed the blade against her lower jaw.

"No!" yelled Bobby. "Let her go!"

Beatrice slammed her gun against his elbow, dislocating it, causing Bobby to yell in agony.

"Bobby!" cried out Lori. "You'll pay for this, bitch! You'll pay for—"

Guillermo moved the blade slightly, causing a small cut against Lori's throat, as she was quickly silenced by her paralyzing fear. She watched as Calvin walked towards Lisa, placing his hands on her arm.

"Step away from the bomb," said Calvin.

"I refuse," said Lisa. "If you make me move, then I'll cut one of the wires and we will all experience first-hand the might of a thermobaric explosion."

"Alright, then."

Calvin placed his hand on the back of Lisa's head and softly shoved her head against the detonator before placing the blade of the meat cleaver against her neck. Lisa trembled with fear as she kept her hands on the wire cutter.

"Let go of the wires. Now."

"I swear to God, if you kill her—"

"You're not in a position to make demands, Lori."

Lisa felt her fingers shaking as the wire cutter remained on the red wire near the timer. The cold room felt hot with tension as Calvin raised his meat cleaver.

"Why did you say their names?" asked Lori.

"I beg your pardon?" said Calvin.

"Why do you insist on treating us like this? Just why? You… you didn't have to bring them up…"

"Who? Your sisters?"

"Aww," mocked Beatrice. "You hit her soft spot."

"That's right. I did. You brought up my own daughter. You didn't have to," said Calvin. "Think about that the next time I bring your dead sisters up. And if Lisa doesn't cooperate…"

Calvin looked down at Lisa.

"There's going to be another name I'll have to bring up."

Lori felt her head getting lighter as the stress of the situation pounded against her skull. She felt her skin growing pale as Calvin aimed to butcher Lisa.

"It's okay, Lori," said Lisa, letting go of the wires. "It's okay."

Lori gulped as Guillermo began to drag her group out of the room. Calvin looked down at the cage with the white mouse inside of it as he pulled Lisa away from the detonator.

"What is little Jerry doing here?" asked Calvin. "Working on that cure, right?"

Lisa then pulled out a remote detonator from her pocket, a small box resembling a lighter with a red button on top of it.

"Freeze!" she yelled. "If you take them out of the room, I will blow up this bomb right now."

"Oh, really?" asked Calvin. "You're really not going to do it. No one works on a cure this hard only to waste it away on a… on a death wish."

"Try me."

Calvin kept his grip on Lisa's arm as he looked at the girl.

"I'm gonna kill Lori right now if you don't drop that."

"Then we will all be wiped off the face of the Earth," stated Lisa with a monotone voice. "I know how much you want to survive. Is that a risk you want to take?"

"Goddamn it! I'm gonna kill her! I swear I will! And you won't do shit!"

"My friends and family escaped this building and made it to a relatively safer place in the outside world. I apologize in advance to Lori, Bobby, Luan, and Benny, but we will be unimportant casualties compared to the likes of you and your friends."

"She's bluffing," said Beatrice. "She's just a little girl. She's not going to do it."

"I don't know, man," said Guillermo. "She doesn't look scared. She really looks like she's going to do it. Calvin, she's going to do it, man. We need to leave."

Lori panted heavily as Calvin and Lisa stared each other down. A couple gunshots were then heard coming from the left hallway outside the dark room. Calvin then released Lisa.

"Clever girl. Narrowly avoided a checkmate."

Calvin then faced his cannibals.

"Let's go. We'll be waiting outside."

Guillermo released Lori. Beatrice shoved Bobby away while the other cannibals let go of Luan and Benny. Kimi was set down by the cannibal that held her. Calvin held his rifle at Lori as he walked back, moving himself out of the room.

"Your move again," said Calvin.

He ran out of the room with the other cannibals as Lori quickly knelt down, grabbing her hatchet and revolver before running towards the exit of the room. A few bullets flew by the corridor, going in both directions. Then, a few roamers ran inside the room, shoving Lori into the ground.

"Babe!" yelled Bobby.

He grabbed his pistol from the floor while Lori struggled to fend off a roamer ripping apart her vest. He then screamed in pain as he tried to bend his arm, feeling his muscles tightening around his dislocated shoulder.

"Don't shoot!" yelled Lisa.

"Lori!" yelled Luan as she ran towards her with the katana in her hand.

However, another roamer shoved her to the ground before she had the chance to raise her katana.

"Luan!" screamed Benny.

Benny quickly lifted his katana and impaled a roamer approaching him through its stomach. The roamer struggled to run towards him causing the sword to stab further outwards as Benny struggled to get his sword out.

The roamer lifted its sharp nails and swung down to scratch Lori in the face. However, Lori blocked her face with her padded arms, though the roamer quickly opened up her arms and sunk down its jaws. Lori's terrified eyes stared directly at its golden eyes before she screamed in terror.

"HELP!"

The roamer dropped down towards her face as the sound of flesh squelching could be heard.

"Oh my god, Lori!" yelled Luan as she flailed around. "Lisa, help!"

Lisa backed away as blood squirted into the walls. Benny dropped his sword and was left speechless as he looked at Luan. He then sighed a breath of relief.

"Looks like we got here in the nick of time," said Luna.

Luan shoved the dead roamer away from herself as Sam held out her arm and helped her up.

"Nick of time…" said Luan, "...I feel like I have a pun on the tip of my tongue that I just can't grasp."

"Timing literally couldn't have been any better," sighed Lori, looking at the roamer on top of her, noticing an arrow through its head.

"And you told me I couldn't be useful anymore," said Lynn.

Lori stood up and looked at Lisa, who placed the remote detonator in her pocket.

"Were you really going to blow this place up with us in it?" asked Lori.

"W-What?" gasped Lynn.

"Negative," said Lisa. "This micro-sized detonator does not function at all. Lily found it and handed it to me after pressing it more times than I can count on my hands. She complained that it did nothing."

"Oh my god…" whispered Lori.

"Oh," said Luan, "this whole thing just reminded of me of— haha— of— HAHA!"

Luan started laughing hysterically as Lisa looked at her with concern. Lori then approached Lynn as Luan kept laughing hysterically.

"Where's Preston?" asked Lori.

"With Carol Pingrey," said Lynn. "I don't know where she's taking him. I don't know if they're safe."

"Oh, they're safe alright. Pretty safe."

"Can someone help me?" asked Bobby, grabbing his dislocated arm.

Lisa ran up to Bobby.

"Get on your knees," she said.

Bobby knelt down. Lisa pulled his hands away from his left shoulder and placed her own hands on it.

"How much will this hurt? Like a little or like a— AH!"

Bobby groaned as Lisa rubbed her hands. Lori grabbed Bobby and rubbed his shoulder as he sighed in relief.

"Oh, that feels much better."

Lori then faced Lisa, who was back to cutting wires.

"How much time?" asked Lori.

"Six minutes," said Lisa. "You guys need to leave. Just in case."

"We just ran all this way for you to turn us away?" asked Luna. "Hell no!"

"Hell yes if you wish to survive. This isn't up to debate. The whole confrontation prior to your arrival has cut a significant portion of time I could've used in defusing the bomb charges. I can't tell you the chances I'll be able to defuse this, but with you people in here, I will only be stressed out of my mind. Without you guys in here, I'll be able to proceed in a more relaxed manner. So just go. Lock the doors on the way out."

Bobby took out his earpiece and handed it to Lisa.

"Contact us when you're finished," he said before facing Lori. "She's gonna be fine. We have to go. We'll only stress her out if we stay."

"Okay," said Lori. "I get it. No pressure, Lisa. We'll leave."

Lisa continued snipping the wires as Lori, Bobby, Sam, Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Benny walked out of the room. They slowly closed the door and walked to the left hallway. Then, as soon as they were more than a couple meters away, they ran at top speed.

The machine gun continued to rain bullets through the doorway, causing Lana and Lily to cover their ears. The smell of smoke and gunpowder lingered in the corridor while Vonda looked around, trying to find another means of escape.

"What is it gonna be, Jace? We talkin' or not?"

Timothy pressed the trigger and allowed the buzzsaw of a gun to eat away at his bullets. Then, he began to shift it to his left, allowing the bullets to tear through the weaker interior walls. Jace placed his hands against Lana's chest and moved her back as the bullet holes got closer and closer.

"Alright, alright!" yelled Jace. "We're going to talk! Just stop!"

"Good. Throw your weapons where I can see them. Bow and arrows. AK-74 carbine. Vepr-12 shotgun. Hell, even the baseball bats and knives. And don't think I forgot about your Px4 pistol, Jace."

Jace looked back at Vonda and the children, nodding softly.

"Do it," he whispered.

"Jace, we can find another way out!" whispered Vonda loudly.

"Seriously, Jace. You don't have to do this," said Lana.

"I do. I do. Just trust me."

Jace removed the AK-74u strap out from his chest before tossing the gun to the floor by the doorway where Timothy could see it.

"Listen very carefully to me, guys…"

Timothy saw a wooden baseball bat rolling across the floor. Then, he saw the shotgun tossed in front of the doorway. Then, a bow. Then, a quiver full of arrows. Then, he saw Vonda sprint across the doorway wearing clothes as opposed to the armor he was used to seeing on Lori's group. He turned his machine gun to the right and fired through the walls, attempting to hit Vonda as she kept sprinting ahead, dodging the blind bullets spitting out of the room. In an instant, Jace appeared from the edge of the doorway with his Px4 pistol out in his hand as he fired multiple rapid shots at the machine gun.

"Fuck!" yelled Timothy as he ducked for cover.

"Go!" exclaimed Jace.

Clyde ran across the doorway, grabbing his baseball bat. Lana was behind him, grabbing her AK-74u while Lily, who was next to her, ran past her sister. Jace kicked the bow and arrows away from the doorway as he kept firing his pistol at the machine gun. The gun sparked before the grip was disassembled and the gun collapsed to the floor. Timothy stayed behind cover as the roamers tore through the barricade. Jace heard the clicking in his pistol and ran ahead, following Vonda and the children, leaving the Vepr-12 shotgun on the floor. Some of the roamers broke from the swarm and ran inside the Roosevelt Room as Timothy yelled. Jace did not look back.

Ronnie Anne looked at Lincoln and saw him tilting his neck. He then widened his eyes, to which she responded with a slow nod. She moved her long ponytail in the outer surface of the chair as she tilted her head backwards and placed her hands on the chair. Lincoln turned around towards Raphael.

"Would this be a right time to tell you... that I got bit?" said Lincoln.

"What?" gasped Ronnie Anne, standing up and leaning forward.

"Hey, sit down," said Raphael.

"I think I got bit," said Lincoln, pulling down his back collar and revealing a claw mark. "Maybe scratched. I don't know. Someone please check it out."

Ronnie Anne's eyes widened as she saw the claw mark on his back below his neck. Raphael refused to budge. Moose then approached the boy.

"Shit," he said. "It's a scratch mark. That's damn tragic."

"What?" gasped Nora, placing her hand over her heart.

"Kid's got a scratch mark," said Moose as he looked closer at his back. "Though, the marks look kinda big, not gonna lie. And they look kinda old."

Lincoln moved his right hand away from his back collar and down under the table. Moose grabbed the boy's shirt collar and looked around his back, finding more scars.

"Wait, these aren't—"

Lincoln took out his Bowie knife and stabbed Moose in the waist as Ronnie Anne leaped off her chair and ran to the other side of the table. Lincoln let go of the knife and ran to the other side of the table too as Raphael raised his CZ 97B pistol and fired at the kids. They ducked underneath the swivel chairs and wooden table, taking cover from the bullets that tore through the table and sent wooden shrapnel at the chairs. Ronnie Anne reached her hand out and grabbed the M1911 and her crossbow. She attempted to grab her pistol before a shot fired by Raphael caused her to move her hands back under the table.

"Fucking hell!" yelled Moose, stumbling back.

"Told you, Nora," said Raphael. "Kids are nothing but little mean assholes."

He kept on firing at the table as he moved closer and closer. Lincoln then aimed his gun through an open area between the chairs and the table and fired at his legs. Raphael ducked as the bullets smacked against the chairs and table, before a bullet struck his right kneecap.

"Ah! Fuck!" screamed Raphael.

Nora grabbed her PA3 shotgun but Ronnie Anne quickly stood up and fired a crossbow bolt at her right shoulder, causing her to stumble back before falling. Lincoln stood up and continued firing his M1911 at Raphael, who was on the floor, though the cannibal fired back, causing their shots to be unfocused and wild. The bullets struck some of the monitors and continued hitting the table and chairs. One of the swivel chairs fell down as Raphael crawled towards the children, his gun raised at the boy. Lincoln fired off two more shots, causing Raphael to hide behind a swivel chair. He panted and caught his breath, taking out a magazine from his pocket before he turned around, when suddenly, Lincoln kicked him in the face, breaking his nose. His CZ 97B pistol dropped to the floor while the magazine slid across the floor and under the table.

Moose grabbed his QBZ-95 strap and pulled it forward, moving the gun to his hands before Ronnie Anne swung her crossbow at him, knocking him to the ground. Ronnie Anne stood above him as she pulled back the string of her crossbow, reloading it with a bolt. Moose then kicked her shin, dropping her to the floor as her teeth smacked against the table.

"Ow! Shit!" groaned Ronnie Anne, holding her bleeding jaw.

Lincoln dropped to his knees and crawled underneath the table, reaching for the magazine before Raphael grabbed his foot. He pulled back as Lincoln fell on his chest, his arms extending outwards in an attempt to grab the magazine with the tip of his fingers. However, Raphael kept pulling back, forcing Lincoln to kick back, dislocating the cannibal's thumb. Raphael screamed as he pulled away his hands, holding his thumb in pain. Lincoln reached for the magazine once more.

"Fuck it," hissed Raphael.

Raphael once again grabbed Lincoln's foot, fighting against the pain of his dislocated finger. He pulled the boy away from underneath the table and grabbed his arm, turning him around. Lincoln faced Raphael as he extended out his right hand, aiming the barrel of his loaded pistol on Raphael's face.

"Thanks," whispered Lincoln.

Lincoln pressed the trigger, sending a bullet straight through Raphael's face and dropping him to his legs. He kicked the cannibal away from his body and leaped on top of the tables as he saw Moose reaching for his machete. Ronnie Anne remained stunned as she continued holding her bleeding jaw, giving Moose the chance to raise his bladed weapon at her. However, he remained frozen as he saw Lincoln running across the table and leaping straight towards him, dropping the both of them to the floor.

Lincoln slammed Moose's face against the floor before getting up. He lifted his pistol and aimed at Moose before seeing, from the corner of his eyes, a barrel aimed at his direction. He looked up and saw Nora aiming her PA3 at Ronnie Anne.

"That was hot," said Nora, gasping for air. "But enough flexing. Get your meathooks off Moose and I promise not to let this gun go bang on your slut friend."

"What's wrong with you?" asked Lincoln. "You're nothing like the reporter I've seen on TV."

"I might be a little unhinged," whispered Nora. "But it's fine, baby. I still got it."

"This bomb is gonna blow up any minute now. You really intend on keeping us here?"

"Nope. We're gonna head out in a few. But I'm going to give you and the whore a head start. If you let Moose go— I'll let you and her go. How's that for a deal, baby?"

"You're just gonna let us go?"

"Yeah. You're a really cute boy and it'd be a shame if someone like you died like this."

Ronnie Anne glared at Nora, panting heavily and angrily. Lincoln nodded and released Moose from gunpoint, pulling his Bowie knife out of the cannibal's waist. Moose screamed as he placed his hand over his knife wound, pressing against it as he sat himself against the wall. Lincoln picked Ronnie Anne up and grabbed the machete and handed it to his friend. He held her hand as he began walking out of the room, not breaking his glare at Nora.

"See you next time, Lincoln," said Nora, winking at the boy.

Lincoln opened the door and let Ronnie Anne out first before he walked out of the room. He slid it closed and looked out into the darkness of the hallway. He faced Ronnie Anne.

"Are you okay?" asked Lincoln.

"My gums are bleeding," said Ronnie Anne. "She called you cute. That's so fucking lame."

"Yeah, whatever," said Lincoln before hearing the growling of the roamers in the distance. "We need to leave, now."

"Crap. I left my gun back there."

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne ran ahead into the ground floor lobby, making their way to the staircase as the roamers continued to growl in the distance.