April Fools! It ain't no joke. I'm back. And not empty-handed! I got an extra large chapter for y'all. Oh yeah, so large, I had to split it up into TEN parts! Remember what I said about these chapters being called episodes and seasons and stuff? Yeah? Forget I said any of that. Erase it from your mind. We are currently in Arc 4 of this story. Each arc is ten chapters long. So, Arc 4 are chapters 31-40. This entire story will be ten arcs long. Yeah, pretty long.
Also, since my writing skills were atrocious back then, I decided to edit Chapter 3 (just like I did with ch1 and ch2)! Felt like editing that chapter specifically because this chapter draws so many parallels and callbacks to that chapter.
I wanna give huge credits to a couple people in the order their characters appear! Awesome characters created by awesome people. Awesome people are:
MTHellhound
brizillaking1
Spose
Mademoiselle-Star2018
Huge credits to Moon7055 as well for helping me edit this gigantic chapter as well as Chapter 3!
P.S. I accidentally forgot to include Part 3 to Chapter 19 when I updated this story months ago. I fixed that.
Anyways, enough about that. Enjoy the chapter!
—
-June 1, 2033-
-DAY 6210-
Cloudy skies drifted slowly along the noiseless sky, just as it had in the past seventeen years.
Then, the image of the sky faded into darkness as a pupil continued to stare ahead. A blue iris came into view, then the sclera with a slight reddish tint. Then, the whole eye was in view, revealing a mixture of blue eyeshadow and running mascara that has dried out, along with dried blood next to the eye and temple. And now, both eyes were in view, looking out into the horizon above a highway. And on the highway, there was a herd of unprecedented size. Tens of thousands of roamers were on the highway, squeezing into every inch of asphalt they could.
Lori couldn't keep her eyes off the herd. She stood on top of the tallest hill in Ketcham Park, a park burned and bruised yet again by the inferno of another war. Next to her was a rock and a wooden cross. She moved her bangs away from her eyes as she heard footsteps behind her. Yet, the footsteps did not break her stare.
"Did you know... that the name Lori comes from the word laurel? It means victory," said a voice behind her. "Something you've been familiar with your whole life. Even after every single loss you suffered, you saw the bigger picture… and in the bigger picture… you won. Every single time. Not anymore."
A blonde woman with choppy hair going down to her neck approached Lori from behind. One side of her face was entirely scarred, as well as portions of her shoulder, arm, and right hand. Some of the burn scars showed hints of a faded bell tattoo on her arm. On her unscarred hand, she sported her main melee weapon, a Kizlyar DV-2 knife.
"Looking at it won't make it go away. Perhaps you're trying to figure out how to stop it. How to defeat it. But you can't. That's only the first wave. There will be more… millions more. It's gonna end there. And it ends with you losing."
Lori turned around, revealing the Colt Python inside her holster and her hatchet in her right hand. Her exhausted eyes harbored resentment and rage-filled hate.
"I'm not afraid of you, Krissen," she said, her voice sounding loud and clear. "I'm gonna stop you. And we're going to defeat that herd. You'll see."
"You shoot a bullet… you'll direct the wave here. You'll die. So go ahead, Lori. Shoot me."
"I ran outta ammo," said Lori. "But I'm still gonna stop you regardless."
"You're challenging me to a knife fight?" laughed Krissen. "Cyrus did that once- didn't turn out so well for him. Quentin Black, Benito Quirino, even Ash and Salah can't beat me. And they destroyed you. Humiliated you."
Lori kept glaring at her, refraining from losing her temper.
"Fourteen years ago, you arrived here," said Krissen. "You returned home. Do you remember?"
"Like it was yesterday. Wow. That saboteur really told you everything, huh?"
"Yes, Sinclair told me every single detail. Even though you lived here for seventeen years before the global infection event, it was unfamiliar to you. You even doubted this place. You tried to adjust because even for all the shitty things that happened in Royal Woods… it was still home. Home is everything, right?"
"You deserved everything that happened to you," said Lori.
"So did you. And now… you're going to watch that herd rip into the walls, destroy everything you love… slaughter everyone you love. You'll watch all of it. I'll make sure you will."
Krissen brandished her knife.
"And I'm gonna enjoy every second of it. So go ahead. Take one last look."
Lori tightened her grip on her hatchet before taking one last look at Royal Woods, now battered, burned, and thrashed.
Chapter 33: Homeland
I - A
PRESENT DAY
-June 1, 2019-
-Day 1096-
A mourning dove landed on top of a rock on a hill in an overgrown Ketcham Park overseeing the suburbs of Royal Woods. The dove moved its eyes around the sheet metal wall surrounding a large section of the suburbs in search of food, but the bustling activity it saw behind the walls made it more difficult to find a worm wiggling its tail in the ground. The dove then flapped its wings and flew away.
The dove continued to fly until finding a medium-sized city where it can scavenge food much like their genetically-related yet extinct relatives, the feral pigeons. The dove landed on top of a green street sign that was on the ground instead of standing, stating 'N INGALLS ST'. It looked around the streets of Ann Arbor before sensing more activity in the area. And just as the dove prepared to flap its wings and leave, a large .50 BMG bullet tore it apart. A couple more shots flew in rapid succession past the floating feathers around the street sign. The feathers then dropped to the ground. A dozen meters away watched a man with combed-back hair and a trimmed beard. One his wrist was a silver watch, showing that it was 3:33, and above it was a hand on the trigger of a machine gun turret attached to the bed of a pickup truck. The pickup truck was covered in thin steel sheets with slight hints of rust around its body and windows, only leaving a small slit in the window by the driver's seat. The windshield was the only area of the truck that was not protected by the rusty sheets.
"Sal! The hell are you doing?" shouted a voice near the vehicle.
The man with the silver watch turned to his left, while holding a hand over his eyes, the watch reflecting the strong sunlight. He saw a woman with a pixie cut and a bleeding rose tattoo on her forearm carrying an M4A1. The woman looked at him in anger as other people around her snickered.
"Monica, that you?" exclaimed Sal.
"Who else? What are you doing?"
"My bad, I thought I saw 'em."
"You shot a bird, dumbass."
"I heard it then I saw its movements and I shot it, I thought it might've been one of them assholes. Sun's bright up here! Couldn't tell it was a bird. I mean, we just saw the assholes a couple minutes ago. They should still be around here."
"Keep firing like that and I'm gonna throw your ass outta that seat."
"We can still eat it. The bird, I mean."
"Well if you want lead poisoning, be my guest. Go and pick it up."
Sal shook his head before sputtering one last word.
"Bitch."
Monica continued walking around the street— a street filled with shops, stores, and restaurants— along with a dozen other survivors. They were all equipped with rifles and handguns, with the exception of a man in cargo shorts and a yellow basketball shirt, who held a bolt-action rifle. He had slicked-back hair and a golden necklace with a compass attached to it. A dragon tattoo wrapped around his neck and went below his collar to his back, barely visible through his loose basketball shirt.
"Zheng, I don't think they're around here," said one of the survivors.
The man with the basketball shirt turned around. He then nodded.
"Looks like they aren't," he said. "Monica, pick two and regroup with our people back at the cemetery. Tell them to move south, then you move back to me. But don't come back here. We'll be heading down southwest. Meet us at the Walgreens we saw earlier."
"Got it," said Monica. "Vera and Ayad, you two are with me. Let's go!"
Monica, and the two named survivors jogged with her in the direction of the cemetery until they were out of sight. Zheng and his group began to move away from the street, leaving the abandoned area until all that was left were the crumbled papers, wrappers, bottles, and other pieces of trash, all coming from a pile of trash bags that covered half of an alley. Silence filled the air. But somehow, tension lingered.
Lori suddenly peeked out the alley and into the street, moving her long bangs away from her blue eyes. She then placed her bangs behind her ears and next to her messy bun, which held together the long hair that has grown over the winter and spring. She wore a blue tank top, gray jeans, and black boots with blue shoelaces. She opened up the chamber to her revolver and placed two bullets into it before snapping it back into the gun, bringing the total to five bullets. She then raised her fingers and motioned the group to follow her.
The group members then came out of the alley and crossed the street, following Lori as she walked across the sidewalk close to the campus grounds of the University of Michigan. Next to her was Bobby, who wore a Hawaiian shirt— in an attempt to keep himself cool from the hot sun— navy blue jeans, and white sneakers. His hair was tied up into a man-bun and his face sported a small mustache and goatee, as well as a growing stubble along his jaw. He held a Glock 17 upwards in one hand and a tactical knife in the other as he carefully moved quickly across the sidewalk.
Ronnie Anne also held out a tactical knife while carrying her crossbow across her back. She stepped over a crumpled newspaper with her black and red shoes— Vans specifically— while she crossed the street, leaving herself completely exposed as anyone in the distance can see her red-purple shorts and denim shorts. She sprinted across the street, causing her long ponytail to swing from one side to the other across her back.
Lincoln made it across the street at the same time as Ronnie Anne, though he generated more sweat on his face— where his acne is visible. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and back neck— which was covered by his long thin hair. He took a deep breath as he looked above, finding a pedestrian bridge connecting two buildings of a children's hospital across and above a street at an intersection. He shielded his eyes with his hands, one of them holding his M1911 pistol. The sunlight reflected off his bright orange tank top, navy-blue jeans, and black and white Vans. He then lowered his head and followed his group.
Clyde looked back at Lincoln and placed his hand on his shoulder, giving him a few words of motivation. Lincoln nodded before picking up his pace. Clyde then gave his aluminum baseball bat a spin and picked up the pace, letting his black and white Converse shoes to run him across the large street. Sweat dripped from his messy buzz cut hair, appearing in his armpit stains on his yellow polo shirt. Suddenly, the group quickly moved into the sidewalk, taking cover behind a few cars, prompting Clyde to place his hand on the holster on his gray cargo pants for an M9 pistol he carried.
Lynn followed suit by hovering a hand over her PPK/S pistol. She then noticed Lori shaking her head at her, prompting her to reach for an arrow instead. Remaining crouched, her blue eyes stared intensely at the road ahead of her, scanning around the tall and wide buildings lined up street after street. Her choppy bob hair— barely reaching her neck— did not budge. The breeze blew softly against her red basketball jersey and black shorts. Then, as she heard the footsteps grow louder, she slowly moved her white sneakers.
After a few seconds, a roamer revealed itself from the corner of the intersection, wandering around with one burned arm. Then, as fast as it appeared, it fell down after an arrow pierced its skull. Vonda lowered her bow and stood up, flattening her red sneakers that matched the color of her hair— which was tied into braided buns. On the arm that Vonda lowered, she sported a black laced arm guard, used for protecting her arm from the quick recoil of the string from her bow. She then moved closer to Lori, allowing the breeze to move around her tube top shirt and her mother's blue leather vest, and calf-length jeans. She faced Lori and gave her a slight nod as she waited patiently for Lori to give the order to keep moving. And she did.
The group kept moving forward, with Vonda picking up her arrow. Benny followed them as they came across a large traffic jam on a highway planted in the middle of the city. He then began to walk through the traffic jam, aiming his M4A1 at each car he passed by. Some of them were abandoned, but some were occupied by roamers. Their growls were not audible and they posed no threat, though Benny couldn't help but stare at them. He looked at his reflection on the car windows, looking at his white T-shirt, which had an exclamation point logo on it, his blue shorts, his gray sneakers, his ninjato sword on his back, his long curly hair, and his short yet untrimmed stubble.
Luan approached him and placed her hand on his chin and smiled. She then walked away as Benny followed her. He looked around her double ponytails, her white V-neck shirt, her yellow shorts, and her brown hiking boots. He then saw the forget-me-not flower necklace that he gave her as a Christmas gift two winters ago. He smiled. Luan smiled in return. Her smile then quickly disappeared as she quickly moved her head down and crouched with the rest of the group. She pointed her katana behind a car trunk as she stiffened her body.
Luna peered into the distance by eyeing into the scope of her MSR-10 bolt-action rifle. Although she had her hair tied into a low bun behind her neck, a couple hair strands still dripped near her eyes. As she peered into her scope, only her head was visible. Her dark-purple tank top, her navy-blue jeans, and her black rocker boots that nearly touch her knees were all hiding behind the trunk of a Corvette. She then moved her eyes away from the scope and placed the gun back across her back before grabbing her crowbar. She looked at Lori and shook her head.
Sam sighed as she began to backtrack with the rest of the group. She did not want to, but after seeing the other group patrolling Palmer Field from the scope of her AR-15, she knew the group had no choice but to move in a different direction. She passed by a car side mirror, reflecting her black Nirvana T-shirt, her burgundy jeans, her dark-blue boots, and her pigtail high buns, with hair still hanging down from the buns to her back. While backtracking, she carried her small Glock 42 pistol and remained low, hidden by the cars.
Lana followed her and Luna while carrying her AKS-74U, her nervous eyes glancing back at the field where she saw the armed strangers. She moved away from the traffic jam and back into the intersection, with the sunlight reflecting off her golden hair— which were tied into pigtail braids. However, she felt hot and flapped the collar of her dark-green T-shirt softly. Her baggy jeans, brown boots, and fingerless gloves all trapped heat, and she knew it, though she did not feel like removing them. The sweat never bothered her anyways.
The group then moved deeper into the campus grounds, moving closer to the main university buildings. While following Lori, Lily looked around in wonder, looking at the buildings surrounding her. There was a library to her right and a greenhouse to her left. She then came across a mirror on the side of the parking lot they were crossing, showing an obscene spray painting of a woman's breasts. She curiously looked at it, seeing her pixie cut hair— one like Luna's old hairstyle before the outbreak— and her lavender tank top, cargo shorts, and pink sneakers. She then looked away from the mirror and continued to follow the group.
Carol also had a pixie cut, though her reasons were less sentimental than that of Lily's. She simply wanted to avoid being confused with Lori for when she arrives at Royal Woods, hoping to see some people she knew back then. But after the months that passed by from DC to now, her hope has run dangerously low. She looked at a daycare center near the campus. She stared at it, leaving herself exposed. Her purple tank top, her black jeans, her black sneakers, her LCR-22 snub-nosed revolver, her trench knife, were all visible to anyone within 100 meters of her.
Becky then nudged her a bit, snapping Carol out of her trance. Carol faced her, eyeing the burn scar on her throat before looking up at her green eyes. Becky motioned her to follow her. Carol then glanced at Becky's arm scar before finding a roamer on the ground next to Becky's black boots, merely inches away from her. Her eyes grew as Becky rubbed her dagger across her black skinny jeans. She then looked at the blood splatter on Becky's green striped tank top. It matched that of the color of Becky's messy hair, which covered her shoulders. Becky then placed her dagger back into a holster on her leg and took out the fire axe from a sheath in her back. Carol then nodded as Becky looked forward at the campus.
"I'm leading now?" asked Becky, her voice sound slightly raspy.
"You know the area more," said Lori. "You're leading now."
Becky smirked and turned around. All eyes were on her as she observed the reactions of every member of the group. They all appeared compliant, except Benny and Lana. Benny appeared indignant while Lana appeared uncertain. She turned around again and faced the campus buildings, which was surrounded by abandoned police cars, ambulance trucks, barbed wire, picket signs, empty bullet shells, broken bottles, and even a singular tank. Certain areas of a nearby building seemed scarred by fire and riddled with bullets, contrasting the overgrown grass, weeds, and flowers that sprouted out of the campus sidewalks and fields. There were also decayed corpses scattered around the campus.
"Alright, people. Follow me," ordered Becky.
Becky walked ahead, taking one of the sidewalks close to the buildings. Lori looked at the boy's main dormitory and saw the same message on the wall she saw three years ago painted into the wall. However, the years have seemed to cause the message to fade heavily, as it was barely legible until Lori was standing next to it. The message read:
AWAY WITH HOMELAND SECURITY!
END MARTIAL LAW!
AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
WEAR A MASK PEOPLE!
Lori stared at the message until Benny tapped her elbow, prompting her to face him.
"Are we really following her?" Benny whispered to Lori.
Lori nodded.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," whispered Lori. "Trust me."
"Alright."
Benny continued to follow Becky along the dormitory, using the buildings as cover, before he stumbled a bit. He looked down, finding a picket sign with a number on them. 1312. He then looked up again, finding a swarm of roamers in the distance. He closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration. He then opened his eyes and looked at Becky, who seemed to pay no mind to the swarm.
Sam looked at the tank that sat in the middle of the field. It was spray-painted with the number 1312 along with an anarchy symbol. All of a sudden, she felt uneasy as she saw numerous messages painted along the sidewalks. Then, as she passed by the girl's dormitory building, she saw a corpse lying against the door with its hands tied behind its back, a bite mark on its shoulder, and a bullet hole on its forehead.
"Jeez," said Sam. "This one looks fresh."
"Look at the bumps on the poor fucker's head," said Becky. "Chick's been through a beating. An interrogation. Blood on the wall behind it is definitely fresh."
"Jesus, think the Dragons did this?" asked Lynn.
"The who?" asked Lori.
"Y'know. The Dragons. The people we're tryna' avoid."
"Oh boy," said Lincoln, his voice sounding deep.
"I really wanna know how you came up with that name," said Sam.
"Well, the main guy had a dragon tattoo on his back. I think he's the main guy, the way he's bossin' 'em around like that. No, I know he's the main guy. Plus, he doesn't seem like the creative sort, so I'm bettin' this dumbass called his group… the Dragons."
Lori rolled her eyes.
"Very intelligent observation," quipped Vonda. "Where could we possibly be without you?"
"Alright, alright, we can't keep calling 'em assholes. As fun as it is," said Lynn. "It gets dry. Real fast."
"Well, Dragons sounds stupid," said Ronnie Anne.
"I like it," said Becky. "It makes communication easier. You find a Dragon— just shout Dragon. It's so much easier."
"I'm not calling them Dragons," said Ronnie Anne. "Luan's gonna make some stupid pun."
"Oh come on, at least I'm not dragon this conversation on!" giggled Luan.
Lori groaned.
"See, Lynn! I told you!" exclaimed Ronnie Anne. "I said it didn't—"
The sound of a vehicle entered the quiet atmosphere that the group were used to hearing. Then, they heard the engine come to a stop. And after a few seconds, they heard gunshots in the distance, echoing across the city. Then, the engine roared again, the sound coming from their left, getting louder by the second.
"Shit!" whispered Luna. "It's getting close!"
"We have to get inside!" said Carol.
"I'm calling the shots here!" exclaimed Becky. "But you're right, Carol. We're getting our asses inside this dormitory. Let's go!"
Becky opened the door to the dormitory, causing the corpse to fall back. As the group members entered the dormitory, Bobby grabbed the corpse and dragged it outside before running inside. As he grabbed the doorknob, he looked at the corpse lying on the ground, its eyes looking upwards at the sky.
"I'm sorry, random… dead lady," whispered Bobby before he shut the door.
The corpse of the woman continued to look upwards as the headlights from a vehicle came into view as it approached from the south of the campus.
Lori peered out the windows while squinting her eyes and saw the vehicle approaching the building. She grabbed her revolver, preparing for an inevitable firefight to ensue. But after a few seconds passed by, her suspicions were proved wrong. The vehicle kept on moving, passing by the dormitories as it headed towards the traffic jam up north in the road. After a few seconds, the sound of the engine faded into nothingness.
"It's gone," said Lori. "We can keep moving."
"We need to pick up the pace," said Becky. "We don't wanna be caught outside when it comes back."
The door opened and the group made their way out of the building. They jogged towards the large library that sat in the middle of the campus block, towering above all the buildings nearby. The wreckage of a helicopter crash remained perched at the roof, appearing small from the eyes of the survivors, who were still hundreds of meters away from the building.
Clyde, whose voice was also deeper, though it had more cracks, glared at the swarm that Benny saw earlier. The swarm was coming from the parallel street opposite of where the vehicle drove by, causing the roamers to jog across the campus field and brick walkways. Suddenly, the roamers caught sight of the group and began to move their legs faster and faster until they were sprinting at full speed.
"Runners!" yelled Clyde.
"I see 'em," said Becky. "Go left, get inside that building."
The group suddenly changed direction, moving towards a nearby building that stretched across the block, connecting itself to a perpendicular square building, which itself was connected to the library. In reality, it was all just one long building. The nearby building had a burnt US flag flying on top of the entrance, where Lynn quickly arrived. She tried opening the doors, but they appeared locked.
As the other group members arrived, she held the barrel of her pistol and slammed the grip against the window to her left, shattering the glass and allowing her to enter. Becky looked at the window and saw the many shards that stuck out from the frame. She then turned around and held her axe tightly, prepared to fight the incoming swarm.
Then, the locks unclicked and the doors opened.
"Get in!" shouted Lynn.
The group members hurried into the building, with Lori refusing to move until everyone was inside. One of the roamers, ahead of every other roamer in the swarm, lunged towards Lori, though she quickly defended herself by swinging her hatchet halfway across its head, dispatching it.
"Lori, c'mon," groaned Lynn.
Lori looked back and ran inside the building as Lynn closed the door before the roamers slammed themselves onto it, trying to get inside. They growled loudly as they slammed their hands against the door, shaking it.
Becky looked around the area, dimly lit by the sunlight passing through the windows near the ceiling. She recognized the wide hallway that stretched across the building, having closed doors on its sides, hiding the large classrooms that were behind. Suddenly, the sound of the engine came back. This time, the engine felt like it was right next to the building.
Then, although barely able to make it out, Lori heard a voice coming from outside near the entrance.
"Holy hell!" shouted the voice. "Marv! Shoot these ugly fuckers down!"
"Hear that?" whispered Lori.
"Yeah," said Becky. "Everyone, move quietly."
The moment the group started walking forward, a cannonade of heavy gunfire commenced, the sounds echoing across the hallway. The group continued to follow Becky as the gunfire ripped through the limbs, torsos, necks, skulls that belonged to the swarm. Then, after a few seconds, the gunfire ceased, leaving only the sound of the rumbling engine.
"What were they slammin' at?" asked Marv.
"Don't know. Dumbasses probably saw a squirrel get in."
"Think anybody is inside?"
Becky's heart skipped. She placed her axe against the wall and raised her Glock 17 pistol, pointing at the entrance doors at the end of the hallway. Lori followed suit, placing herself in front of the group as she motioned them to keep moving.
"Maybe," said the unnamed enemy. "Not looking to die today, though. If someone's in there, let someone else handle 'em. I'm tryna' get home today."
"So we tell Zheng nothing."
"Right. We weren't even here."
Lori let out a sigh of relief as she heard the engine move past the building and southwards, deeper into the city. However, Becky was still sweating profusely, refusing to lower her pistol.
"They're gone," said Lori. "There's no threat anymore."
"There's always a threat," said Becky. "It's just farther away."
She then lowered her pistol and turned around, picking up her axe and moving away from the entrance doors. Lori followed Becky, reluctantly placing her revolver back into her holster. They jogged across a narrower hallway, catching up to the rest of the group who were already on the other side of the narrow hallway.
"What's on the other side of the door?" asked Luna.
"One large room," said Becky. "It's a study room connected to the giant library we saw in the middle of the campus. Luckily, we don't have to go inside the library. If I remember correctly, there's an exit close to us."
"After you," said Benny.
"I'd prefer you go first. We don't know what's on the other side."
"You're the leader."
Becky smiled, feeling the contempt and mockery behind Benny's words.
"You're the one with the sword."
"Ugh, let's just go," said Luan. "It stinks in here."
"Wait, Luan—!"
Luan opened the door, revealing a giant room with the ceiling being a couple stories high. There were many tables with textbooks, novels, laptops, backpacks, papers, essays sitting on them. Luan gazed in wonder as she saw how brightly-lit the room was, with the many windows taking up the entirety of the entrance wall. And next to her leg was a roamer sitting against a wall, fungus plates growing out of its head. Its eyes were closed before detecting movement, when it suddenly opened its eyes and reached for the source of the movement.
"Luan!" gasped Sam, raising her rifle.
Benny lowered his sword close to the floor in an act of rapid reflex and swung his sword against the roamer's head, barely cutting through its mouth. The roamer kept biting into the sword, making it tough for Benny to remove the sword.
"Guys, it's not letting go!" yelled Benny.
Lori then swung her hatchet down, breaking through the fungus-plated skull and making a large cut on the top part of its brain. The roamer slowly dropped to the floor, with Lori struggling to remove her hatchet. She then pressed her boot against the roamer's neck and pulled the hatchet out with great force. Luan moved forward before Benny pulled out his sword, swinging it back where Luan stood.
"Dang," said Clyde. "We found ourselves another lurker."
"Same like the last one," said Bobby. "Plates all over its head. They look like flat mushrooms."
"Yeah, and they're really tough," said Lori. "I swung my hatchet down with all my strength, and it barely cut through."
Lincoln then pointed out the black moss growing on the wall where the roamer sat against. Small particles seemed to fall from the moss, floating in the air for a few seconds before sticking to the floor.
"Look," said Lincoln. "What are those?"
Lori squinted at the small particles, moving close to them before flinching back.
"Back away," said Lori.
The group glanced at Lori before moving deeper into the study room. Lori exhaled deeply before facing the group.
"They're spores," she said. "Back in New Jersey, right after we left the Dust Zone— after I got sick— Lisa found a police car completely filled with spores inside. When I recovered, she showed me the car. She said it was most likely from radiation. And if that put me into a coma… then I can't imagine what roamer spores can do."
"Roamer spores…" whispered Sam. "Oh boy, this world just loves giving us surprises, doesn't it?"
"Sure is a fun surprise," said Vonda. "What's next, roamers that spit acid and gunk all over your face?"
The group members looked at her.
"What?" she exclaimed. "Don't tell me that can really happen! Will it? Oh my god, I just jinxed it."
"Without Lisa here, there's no way to tell if that's a possibility," said Carol.
"We've been doing fine without her. Six months without any casualties. Credits where credit's due. Lori got us this far, not Lisa."
"You're wrong," said Benny. "We had one casualty."
Becky stared into Benny's eyes, unable to think of a level-headed response. Sensing tension between the two, Carol sought to break it.
"Look, we're too exposed standing right here," she remarked. "We need to leave. Becky, how close are we to Vonda's house?"
"Still got a mile left," Becky answered, breaking her stare. "Let's move it."
Becky then opened the doors to exit out of the study building. She then realized just how familiar the place was. She looked to her left and saw the school bus parked right behind the large blockade of cars that ran across the street. She began to walk towards it before pausing.
"What's wrong, Becky?" asked Bobby.
Becky then turned to her left again, seeing the hidden mini-alley where she and Tad made out. Where Dana showed her the video of her high school descending into chaos during Day 1. Where a roamer, missing its lower limbs, had its arms chained to an unlit lamp, leaving the body of the roamer hanging from it. It growled as it stared at Becky, its eyes being at the same level as hers.
"Jesus," said Lynn. "They really ain't messin' around."
"These assholes are some real sickos," said Ronnie Anne.
Becky then walked towards the roamer and raised her axe, letting out a scream. The axe cut halfway down the roamer's body, completely piercing through its head. She pulled out the axe before swinging it down again, cutting the roamer in half. Intestines and other organs spilled out of the roamer as both halves of its body swung around, the chains rattling as they pulled against the lamp.
"Hey, Becky!" whispered Lori loudly. "The hell are you doing?"
"Tad was one of the good guys," answered Becky. "And all I did was hurt him. I had a chance to make it right with him… but assholes like the Piranhas and the Dragons… they end good people like Tad. None of them get to live. Alright?"
"Becky…"
"Before we make it to Royal Woods, after we make it— whenever, it doesn't matter— we need to come back… and end every one of these assholes. In order for all of us to live… none of them get to live."
"Yeah," said Lori. "We'll stop them. In due time."
Becky let out a deep sigh before clearing her throat. She then looked away from the roamer and looked at the school bus. She lifted her free hand and pointed towards the direction of the school bus.
"We keep running straight ahead, we'll reach the stadium before we know it," said Becky. "Once we get there, all we gotta do is head west."
"Exactly," said Vonda. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
Becky placed her axe on the sheath across her back and took out her dagger, now walking to the nearby school bus. The rest of the group followed her, trying to take cover from the trees that grew along the sidewalks. Lily scratched her arms while she walked through the overgrown lawns, each tall grass prickling her skin.
Lori looked ahead at the traffic jam, noticing many roamers attempting to escape from their windshields or from their cars. Some were crushed in between cars, unable to escape from the grip of the metallic wreckages. And many roamers appeared unmoving, though there were fungus growing out of them.
"We can't pass through this," said Lori. "We'd be making too much noise. It would take too long to pass through. We'd be exposed."
"Alright, we need to backtrack a bit," said Becky. "We're gonna have to take the long way."
Becky sprinted away from the bus, moving towards the giant library building that stood in the center of the campus grounds. She ran to the driveway that led from the parking lot outside the study building to the campus field where the swarm came from earlier. Above them was another pedestrian walkway, connecting the study room with the library building. As they were ready to cross below the walkway and onto the campus field, they heard screaming.
Becky came to a stop and planted herself along a wall, forcing the others to do the same. She took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her forehead using her arms as she unholstered her pistol.
"Stop! Don't do this! Please!" yelled a voice inside the library.
Becky peered into one of the windows inside the library. She then glanced at Lori and Carol and motioned them to look inside as well. Lori and Carol peeked into the windows, keeping themselves as hidden as possible. Inside the library, they saw that the screaming voice belonged to a woman being held back by two armed women. In front of them was a man beaten to a pulp, blood leaking from the bruises that covered his face. Carol's eyes grew wide as she noticed the man's shirt remained on his body, covered in blood around the waist, but he had no pants on. In fact, there was nothing on him below the waist.
Lori looked at the man above him, sporting a dragon tattoo around his waist that went down to his groin, the dragon's mouth located in a very inappropriate area. She saw the man chuckling as he pulled up his pants and buckled them on. The man then spit on his victim before turning around. Behind the man were a bunch of armed survivors, each holding a survivor at gunpoint. They were all covered by bookshelves, though Lori was barely able to see them.
"That was my cousin, you motherf—!"
One of the armed women behind her closed the survivor's mouth with her hands as the other armed woman began to hold the survivor's left arm out. The armed man then took out his machete and began to swing down at the unarmed woman, causing her to scream and cry, though her screams were muffled.
"Oh my god," gasped Carol.
"How are we doing this?" asked Becky.
Lori looked at Becky with visible confusion.
"What?" she whispered.
"We're taking these people out, right?" asked Becky. "How are we going to take them all out? 'Cause I got a plan. See those—"
"No. They're distracted right now," said Lori.
"We have just enough firepower to take them down."
"I know. I know, that's the problem. We start spitting bullets— we let their whole group know we're here. They come— they stop us. And they end up killing the people we're trying to save. People… people that we don't even know. We need the ammo."
Becky clenched her teeth and lightly tapped on the trigger guard of her pistol. Lana took heavy and distressed breaths as she remained standing below the windows, unable to shut out the screams of the woman being chopped by a machete. Ronnie Anne held out her knife, as if ready to strike.
"Come on, Becky," said Lori. "Lead us out of here. Away from them. Quietly."
"Fine," she whispered. "Everyone— stay low. Away from the windows."
Each group member crouched and began to walk slowly against the wall, keeping themselves below the windows. The screams continued, now belonging to a different voice.