II - Wolverines

A cockroach crawled up the brick building, moving towards a poster that remained glued to the building. The poster had a background picture of a large stadium with the letter 'M' painted in the middle of the field. The large words on the poster read:

NO PLACE LIKE HOME.

THE BIG HOUSE AWAITS YOU.

BUY TICKETS HERE!

The cockroach crawled around the poster. Then it quickly scurried into a small crease in the paper that allowed it to hide as footsteps approached. A girl quickly zoomed past the poster. Then, a few other people ran past the poster.

Lori stopped by the poster and looked back and realized the library building was now a hundred meters away. She sighed in relief, though she suddenly began to feel the burden of guilt weighing her down. She turned towards the group ahead of her, who were making a turn around the brick building so that they could be out of the line of sight from the library.

As Lori turned around the corner of the brick building, she saw her group members crouching behind the shrubs, trees, and benches that stood away from the sidewalk. She quickly crouched down, not knowing exactly why. Next to the sidewalk, on the street, was a line of abandoned cars, similar to the traffic jam the group saw earlier, though less congested. And crossing the line of cars were three armed survivors, one of them holding a sawed-off barrel shotgun. Another one seemed to be carrying a pair of limbs cut off from the rest of its body. The other one— a woman— carried a blood-stained machete. They were all unwittingly approaching Lori's group.

"They're getting closer," whispered Clyde.

"Who?" asked Lori.

"The Dragons," said Lynn.

"How many?"

"Three," said Becky.

"Lynn. Take left. Vonda. Take right. Everyone— get up, but don't fire. Now, up!"

Lori quickly stood up followed by her other group members. Lynn pulled back the bow and released the arrow, hitting the Dragon on the left carrying the limbs. He felt the arrow pierce tear his arteries near his heart apart, causing him to drop the limbs and fall back. The other Dragon raised his shotgun but was quickly shot through the neck by Vonda's arrow, causing him to instinctively blast his shotgun into the air as he stumbled back onto one of the cars.

"Shit," hissed Lori as she aimed her revolver at the woman. "Don't move!"

The woman dropped her machete and raised her hands over her head.

"How many more of you are there?" Lori asked.

The woman laughed, her eyes unable to make contact with Lori's. The purple bags underneath them indicated a presence of sleep deprivation in her.

"Just kill me now," said the woman. "End me already."

"How many more of you are there?!"

"A lot more than you can handle. You have no idea what you're going up against."

"Who are you people?" asked Lincoln.

"Those who survived after the riots. The slaughter. The purge. We're the Ann Arbor Laborers. The will of the masses in one. We—"

"Tell your other Laborers to stop going after us."

"I can't do that."

"More are coming," said Carol. "From the library."

"Luna! Sam!" shouted Lori. "On the roof! We need eyes!"

Luna nodded. She and Sam ran to a nearby cafe and began to climb up the fire escape.

"Luan and I will take the bench," said Benny.

"I'll cover them!" said Lincoln.

Lori nodded.

"Lori— two of them are coming!" exclaimed Carol.

Lori held her revolver against the woman's temple, using her as a shield as the other Laborers came to a stop next to the poster. They raised their rifles.

"Stop right there!" yelled Lori. "You get any closer, I'll shoot the woman!"

The Laborers looked up at Luna and Sam, eyeing them with their rifles. Then, they looked at Carol and Becky, who were standing next to Lori and the woman. Behind them were Bobby, Ronnie Anne, Clyde, Vonda, and Lynn, each of them pointing a weapon at the Laborers.

"Well, don't you got us outnumbered," said one of the Laborers.

"What do you want with us?" asked the other Laborer.

"I need you to lay down your weapons," said Lori.

"Why would we do that? She ain't worth shit to us."

The Laborers began to move closer.

"Not any closer!" yelled Lori.

"How about you stand down? If you don't lay your weapons down, we'll—"

The Laborer turned to his right before seeing Benny swing his sword across his neck, decapitating him. The other Laborer turned his rifle towards Benny, though Lincoln quickly stabbed him in the lower part of his back with his Bowie knife while simultaneously wrapping his arms around the Laborer's neck. The Laborer folded back and fired his rifle as he fell, though Lincoln quickly turned him around and tossed him onto the sidewalk, holding his knife as the body slid out of the blade.

Gunshots popped off in the distance. Bullets clinked against the cars as Lori lowered herself.

"Where is it coming from?" asked Lori.

"More assholes coming from the library!" yelled Becky.

Luna looked into the scope. She saw a Laborer firing his rifle at her group. In the next second, the scope recoiled before showing blood splattering against the brick wall of the library behind the Laborer's head. The Laborer fell forward as Luna turned her scope onto the next one, ready to fire another bullet. However, Sam beat her to it, firing a couple bullets onto the Laborer, one hitting her neck, causing her to wrap her hands around her neck as she stumbled down.

"Got them!" exclaimed Sam.

"What do we do with her?" asked Clyde, referring to the female Laborer.

Lori took out her hatchet and raised it, causing her and the woman to make eye contact for the first time. Then, she swung down the hatchet, cracking through the top of her skull. As the woman dropped to her knees, her eyes staring lifelessly ahead, Lori held on to the hatchet before kicking the woman's body away, freeing the hatchet.

"Becky, where next?" asked Lori.

"What about the others in the library?" asked Bobby.

"No time."

"But—"

"They already know we're here. At the very least, we'd be inside."

The sound of the engine returned. Lori looked around, realizing that the sound was coming from the direction of the library. She motioned the group to hide. Luna and Sam climbed down the fire escape and entered the cafe— whose windows were boarded up by a metal gate— followed by the rest of the group. Lori raised her revolver and peered through one of the broken car windows. Driving across the campus field was an armored van, set up much like the first one the group encountered. However, this particular van had a small flag waving around the bumper.

Lori lowered her head and slowed down her breaths. As the air got quiet, she heard growling in the distance. She turned her head and saw a few roamers stumbling past a sorority house, walking towards the traffic jam in the street.

"Literally can't get a break," she whispered to herself.

Luna wiped the sweat off her nose before sniffling. She lowered her sniper rifle and looked back at the group.

"That van is moving way too fast," said Luna. "Can't nip it from here."

"Guys, I think some of the roamers see Lori. She's in trouble!" gasped Lincoln.

Ronnie Anne kicked open the back door and came out of it firing her crossbow at one of the roamers. Luan followed her and dragged a roamer inside the alley before decapitating it. Vonda then fired her arrow at one of the roamers. However, the arrow pierced through its mouth.

"I missed…" whispered Vonda.

The roamer failed to notice Vonda and began to pick up its pace, going from walking to jogging to sprinting. Lori quickly rolled over to the side, allowing the roamer to stumble and fall forward to the car, smashing its head against the window. The roamer growled, pieces of glass sticking out its head.

"Did they see you?" asked Lincoln.

"I don't think so," replied Ronnie Anne.

The gunner, who stood atop the vehicle and behind the machine gun turret then began to fire off some shots at the cafe. Lori swung her hatchet at the roamer and killed it before returning back to cover behind the cars.

Becky quickly grabbed Lincoln and Lily and shoved them under a large table. Luna tackled Sam across to the kitchen as Lynn slid past the bullets. Lana kicked the leg of a table and took cover behind it while Bobby placed himself against a support beam, covering his ears as the bullets struck the glass cups, porcelain tables, and silverware. Luan and Benny crawled along the windows as they moved closer to the kitchen. Carol whimpered as the glass from the windows and the wooden splinters from the tables fell on her back as she crawled too. Clyde grabbed Ronnie Anne's hands and picked her up before dragging her quickly inside the kitchen. Vonda opened the back door while keeping her head low.

"Run, run, run!" exclaimed Bobby.

The survivors in the kitchen began to run out the back door with the exception of Becky, Lincoln, and Lily. Becky lined up her eyes to the iron sights to her pistol and fired rapidly at the incoming vehicle. However, all the bullets ricocheted off the armored sheets. Lincoln kept Lily's ears covered while hiding behind the large table.

"C'mon, get outta there!" shouted Bobby.

"Just go!" yelled Becky.

The armored vehicle continued to fire a few bullets into the cafe, shattering a coffee machine and a few plates stacked by the tip jar. Bobby groaned as he moved away from the back door.

"We gotta get to Lori," said Bobby.

Bobby looked across the brick walkway that led to the sorority house. Across the walkway was a bookstore, along with another wide campus walkway with university buildings next to it.

"I can cover you," said Sam.

"I'll get on the other side and cover you too," said Luna.

Bobby nodded. He looked as the vehicle braked before the traffic jam, unleashing more bullets into the cafe. The bullets were now tearing through the tables, forcing Lincoln, Lily, and Becky to move into the kitchen. He sprinted across the walkway along with Luna, Carol, Luan, and Lynn. Sam peeked around the corner and aimed her rifle, firing into the vehicle as the gunner now turned its attention on the walkway.

"Oh, no," whispered Sam.

As Ronnie Anne prepared to run across the walkway, Sam quickly grabbed her shirt and pulled her back, causing the two of them to stumble back. And before they knew it, a burst of gunfire passed along the walkway, hitting nothing. Luna tried to aim at the windshield, though Lynn pulled her back. Suddenly, a few bullets struck the corner where Luna was aiming from, breaking apart some bricks.

"We're gonna find another way outta here!" shouted Sam. "Just go!"

"We're not leaving!" exclaimed Lynn. "We can't get separated. Not again!"

The wheels from the van squealed against the asphalt and moved forward onto the traffic jam, pushing the abandoned vehicles out of the way. Sam gasped as she ran away from the back door and up north with Ronnie Anne, Vonda, Clyde, Benny, and Lana. Lori opened up a door from one of the vehicles and took cover behind it as the van passed by the car. She scrunched her eyes shut and clenched her teeth as she felt the car being pushed forward slightly. She then gasped as the van ignored her and drove next to the cafe. Bobby and his small group took cover inside the bookstore as the vehicle braked along the alley and the walkway pointing southwards. The vehicle then continued moving west along the walkway, moving closer to the sorority house before making a left turn. It was now gone from sight.

Becky jumped over the table while Lincoln and Lily ran across it. They ran out of the cafe and towards the open gap in the street created by the van.

"Where, Becky?!" shouted Lori.

"Backtrack! Library!" she exclaimed.

Lori stood up and tried to follow Becky and Lincoln, the latter holding Lily's arms. Becky was sprinting as fast as she could, running past the poster on the wall. The cockroach sprinted across the walkway, moving past Lori's boots. Lily looked down at the cockroach and flinched, causing her to stumble forward with Lincoln. However, as Lori ran across the opening, she saw two Laborers appearing from the direction of the sorority house. Lori ran along the traffic jam, hoping that the Laborers would be distracted with her. And after a few seconds of running, Lori looked back, finding the Laborers following her and not Becky, Lincoln, and Lily. She then ran to her left, dodging some bullets that whizzed past her.

As she took cover behind a building, she found herself in the entrance of a small patio, filled with wide tables, chairs, and small trees not even twice her size. Across two long balconies from different buildings opposite of each other was a line of string that held up a banner across the patio. The banner displayed bold letters stating: GO WOLVERINES!

Lori looked around and saw empty red cups scattered around the ground, along with broken liquor bottles below the tables. She saw trophies standing on top of the tables, covered in bird fecal matter and dirt. She then felt her heart race faster as she saw a couple cell phones situated on the tables. On one of the phones was a blue case, exactly like the cover for Lori's phone.

She snapped out of her stupor and raised her rifle, turning around as she heard footsteps close to her. She backed away slowly and moved close to the table in the middle of the patio, feeling her heart trying to escape her chest and her blood pulsing across every vein in her body. Suddenly, a bullet shattered the cell phone next to her, causing her to drop her rifle as she ducked. There was a third Laborer on the opposite side of the patio where Lori was not looking.

Lori looked at her rifle, which was at rest behind a small tree. She quickly crawled towards it, though she flinched her hands upon hearing another gunshot from the street. The two Laborers that followed her were entering the patio, both of them aiming their weapons at Lori.

"Redhead, white-haired kid, and a little blonde girl," said a blue-haired Laborer into his walkie-talkie. "Do not let them get away."

He then lowered his walkie-talkie.

"My, my, my. Looks like we got ourselves a blonde one! Not too many of 'em these days."

Lori placed her hands on the ground and looked down at her knees. She glanced both ways and found herself surrounded by three Laborers.

"Is that a ring I see on that finger? Where's the husband? Did we… get him already?"

The blue-haired Laborer then raised his finger and looked up as he heard the sound of the armored vehicles firing their MGs in the distance. He chuckled softly before looking back down at Lori, holding his rifle firmly.

"I… I think we just got him," said the Laborer. "Who knows, maybe we got the rest of your group. Who knows!"

One of the Laborers picked the AK-47 off the ground. Lori looked as he and another Laborer stood next to her.

"AK? Break that shit."

The Laborer tossed the rifle into the ground before stomping on it, breaking the barrel and iron sights.

"Grab her."

The two Laborers each grabbed one of Lori's arms and picked her up, as she tried to resist. However, their strengths were too powerful for a malnourished Lori to overcome. One of the Laborers grabbed Lori's revolver and pocketed it. Lori groaned out of frustration before looking at the knife holstered on the blue-haired Laborer's belt.

"We're not gonna kill you," said the blue-haired Laborer. "Consider yourself lucky! We're gonna leave a message, bring you back to someplace where we usually hole up in— not our home, no, that'd be stupid of me to do. But someplace, I'll keep you alive, well-fed, hydrated."

"Are you going to rape me?" asked Lori.

"Why does everyone assume that? My main man over there's got a wife back home. Man to your left's ain't into your type. I personally will not touch an inch of your skin. Hell, you gotta be around my sister's age."

"'Not too many blonde ones these days.' What did you mean by that? Those your types?"

"Just making simple conversation. Breaking the ice. I mean, your group just capped some of our friends, so I sensed a lot of tension between our people. Still do. But I need you to understand something. Just because I won't touch you, and just because they won't screw you forcefully doesn't mean someone else won't. If someone else wants to penetrate your little asshole until you bleed and cry, I won't stop them. We ain't really a big fan of rules. And I sure as hell won't enforce them."

Lori glared into the blue-haired Laborer's eyes, breathing heavily as if ready to snap any second now.

"I'm gonna play businessman," said the Laborer. "With you alive, I'll make a deal with your people. I'll get 'em to stop killing my people by telling them a little something… if they kill anyone else… I'm gonna kill you. They'll come looking for you… and once they arrive at our scheduled meeting place… we're gonna make an example out of all y'all. After all… when you entered the city, there were warnings everywhere… where we told you to walk away. Yet, you didn't. Those warnings were there for a reason. This whole place, the campus, the roads, the streets, the whole ENTIRE city… belongs to us. This is our turf. We worked hard to keep this place habitable for us— as our name implies. The spikes, the cars, the gates… we labored to keep it that way. We put up a sign warning you that you'll die if you enter— a very urgent no-trespassing sign. And what does this blond girl do?"

Lori's eyes quivered in fear before looking down at the Laborer's knife.

"And now—"

A few gunshots went off coming from the direction of the walkway where Lincoln, Becky, and Lily were at.

"Oh, damn," chuckled the blue-haired Laborer. "There goes the three of them."

Then, the gunshots got louder before they all heard the sound of glass breaking, followed by the sound of a young frightened yelp.

Lori looked above at one of the balconies and saw a small survivor falling from the balcony and onto the ground near the first Laborer. The survivor braced himself as he landed onto a table, which toppled over, then causing the survivor to drop to the ground. He groaned in pain as he held his sprained left arm close to his chest.

The blue-haired Laborer looked at the survivor, who was covered in a green zip-up hoodie. He then began to walk away from Lori and towards the survivor.

"What in Jesus's name do we have here?"

The survivor groaned in pain as small drops of blood dripped from his lips before he tried to crawl towards his pistol.

"Ah, ah, ah," said the Laborer.

The Laborer placed his boot on top of the pistol and bent down to grab it.

"Kids shouldn't play with guns."

The hooded survivor groaned as he looked up, his goggles— one of the lenses cracked open from the fall— partially covering his baby blue eyes.

"Oh, shit!" chuckled the Laborer in a mocking tone. "You're the little shitbird who's been giving us hell these past few weeks! What a surprise for you to drop in. Guess, now's the time to get your wings clipped, eh?"

The Laborer pocketed the hooded survivor's pistol and aimed his rifle at the child, who clutched his arms in pain.

"What do we do with her?" asked another Laborer.

The blue-haired Laborer turned around and groaned out of frustration.

"We're taking her back," said the blue-haired Laborer. "Just give me a minute. So, shitbird… I take it you're alone. Which makes blowing up one of our vehicles much more impressive. One of our best works in fact. Doing it alone… unlike blondie here who can't destroy a single vehicle… it's quite an achievement. But now… no one's coming to rescue you, shitbird."

A roamer suddenly fell from the balcony to the toppled table, the sound of bones cracking being heard. As fast as it dropped, it picked itself up, its bones popping as the roamer straightened itself. Dark blood leaked out of the roamer's chest and broken waist, but the grotesque sight was quickly forgotten as it lunged towards the Laborer to the right of Lori.

The Laborer screamed as the roamer dug its nails deep into his neck, tearing a chunk of its jugular out before the roamer tackled him to the ground. The roamer then began slashing deeper into the Laborer's neck, causing the Laborer to flail his legs in pain. Lori and the other Laborer holding her flinched in shock.

The blue-haired Laborer aimed his rifle at the roamer, though the roamer moved its head incredibly fast. He had trouble locking on to the roamer's skull. But then, he felt a blade pierce deep into his leg, causing him to scream as he fell down, never having felt pain like this in his life.

"You little—!"

The hooded survivor removed the small knife from the Laborer's leg and stuck it deep into the Laborer's neck, causing him to scream once more, though his scream quickly died out as he began to breathe for air. He clenched his teeth and reached for the hooded survivor's goggles, clawing away at his face as he started to choke on his blood. However, after a few seconds, his movements stopped. The hooded survivor shoved the Laborer's hands away and grabbed his pistol back from him.

Lori elbowed the Laborer holding her and grabbed her hatchet, turning around at a rapid pace. She swung her hatchet down at the Laborer's face paralyzing the man before she kicked his chest, removing the hatchet as he dropped down. She turned towards the roamer and held it up, ready to kill it as it looked at her. The roamer pounced after her, though a bullet quickly tilted the roamer's head and dropped it inches away from Lori's boots. She turned towards the hooded survivor, seeing his goggles slightly stained by blood. The hooded survivor had his gun raised, smoke coming out the muzzle.

The hooded survivor then pointed the pistol at Lori as they both heard footsteps coming from one of the patio entrances. She faced the source of the noise, seeing that it came from Lincoln, Becky, and Lily.

"Hey, drop that shit!" Becky shouted, aiming her gun at the hooded survivor.

Lincoln ran inside the patio as well, aiming his pistol at the small survivor, who was about three-quarters his size. Lori tried to look into the survivor's eyes, though it was hard to look through his circular goggles, and it was hard to look at any other features as they were covered by his green zip-up hoodie. She looked at the small backpack the survivor carried, which seemed to have a water bottle hanging from it, immediately catching her attention. Lincoln looked down at the survivor's gray cargo pants and his dirty sneakers, noticing how worn out they appeared.

"Just for the record…" said the hooded survivor, his voice sounding high-pitched and smooth, "...I saved your life."

"That's true," said Lori.

"I don't want any trouble. Just let me on my way out of here."

"You've already asked for trouble," growled Becky.

Lincoln then lowered his gun and motioned Becky to do the same. Lily kept herself hidden behind Lincoln's legs.

"Becky… lower your gun," said Lincoln before shoving Becky's arm down. "You don't have to."

Becky panted as the hooded survivor lowered his pistol.

"Where the hell are we?" asked Becky, not having been at this patio before.

The survivor looked around and groaned as he pressed against his arm.

"West of the library," said the survivor as he began to walk away.

"Not so fast," said Lori. "You seem to know your way around here. Can you help us out of here?"

"I already saved your life. I did enough."

Lori looked at Lincoln, both of them seeing their opportunity slipping away.

"We have someone who can help with that!" said Lincoln. "What do you got, a sprained arm?"

The hooded survivor turned around, his goggles reflecting the image of the small group.

"You want passage out of Ann Arbor?" asked the hooded survivor.

"We need to get to the stadium," said Lori.

"Alright. Stadium it is. Follow me."

Lori looked at her broken rifle on the ground, feeling her heart sink with pain. She walked up to the bitten Laborer and swung her revolver down at his head before grabbing her revolver from his pocket. She then holstered it back on her and followed the hooded survivor. Becky and Lincoln looked at each other and nodded before following Lori, with Lily following them.

Running footsteps paced across the sidewalk as Benny continued to run further south. Sam suddenly lifted her rifle and zoomed ahead, noticing armed survivors in the distance running towards them.

"Everyone, stop!" shouted Sam before taking a labored breath. "Stop running."

Benny, Vonda, Ronnie Anne, Clyde, and Lana jogged back to where Sam stood— which was next to a sturdy polished brick sign stating 'Hill Auditorium.'

"What is it?" asked Benny.

Sam continued to look into the scope before quickly leaping down onto a set of outdoor stairs covered by a brick wall behind the handrails. Ronnie Anne quickly took cover next to Sam while Clyde frantically looked across the sidewalk.

"Cover, cover, cover!" screamed Sam.

Benny grabbed Clyde and tackled him onto the stairs while Vonda ducked behind a car parked next to the Michigan Union building. She flicked her hair away from her face and looked at the tall brick building, finding the exterior scarred by fire damage. She then flinched as a bullet struck the side of the taillight of the car where she was taking cover. Another bullet was fired, whizzing past the survivors. Two more shots were fired, both hitting the brick wall, sending tiny pieces of dust into the air.

Clyde groaned in pain as Benny kept himself above him, shielding him from the incoming gunfire. Ronnie Anne raised her pistol and fired onto the direction of the gunshots, firing a couple gunshots herself. She then crouched again before a few bullets whizzed above the brick wall.

"Benny," groaned Clyde. "My back. Ow."

"Back against the wall," whispered Benny.

Benny rolled away from Clyde, who quickly rolled towards the brick wall before Benny rolled back to his previous spot. Clyde sighed as he rubbed his fingers against his back, feeling a sharp pain.

"Sorry, Clyde," said Benny.

A loud gunshot caused the survivors to flinch before the opposite brick wall suffered a large crack.

"Thank you," said Clyde.

Suddenly, the number of gunshots increased, though the bullets were not flying past them. Sam peeked above the wall and saw the Laborers firing at a swarm of roamers that were coming their way.

"Run to the building!" yelled Sam. "I'll cover you guys!"

Sam picked up her rifle and mounted the bottom of the barrel on top of the brick wall as she aimed at the Laborers in the distance. However, they were all moving too fast as they were fighting off the roamers. Ronnie Anne grabbed Clyde's hand and picked him up before running towards the entrance. Benny stood up, though keeping himself low as he waited for Vonda to cross the sidewalk. Sam fired a few shots, striking a stop sign near a Laborer. She then moved her scope to the left and let out a second burst of shots. The second burst of shots all missed as well, hitting the leg of a roamer instead. She then focused the crosshairs onto the head of another Laborer. She pulled the trigger, though nothing came out of the gun.

"Shit," gasped Sam.

Benny and Vonda slammed the entrance doors and ran further inside the building while Ronnie Anne was shouting at Sam. Lana quickly ran across the front yard, making it inside the building as well.

"Let's go!" she shouted. "Get your ass over here, Sam!"

Sam flung the rifle to her back as she held the gun strap across her chest and began to run across the front yard and towards the building. Bullets began to fly by the building again, missing Sam entirely as she sprinted as fast as she could. She then leaped over the small stairs near the entrance and ran inside the building.

"Oh my god!" panted Sam. "Holy— mmph! That was too close!"

Benny slammed the doors shut. Vonda looked around, trying to find a way out of the building, and found herself in an indoor auditorium.

"Bar the door!" exclaimed Luan.

Luna looked around the Barnes and Nobles store, only finding books on shelves and wooden chairs next to tables. She pulled out her crowbar and placed it between the doorknobs, keeping anyone from entering the building. The roamers then slammed against the doors.

"Hallway!" exclaimed Lynn, pointing to the group's right.

The hallway was covered by a brick wall on its right, and was completely covered by glass windows to its left, showing a large black cube statue standing in the middle of the patio. The group members jogged across the hallway as Luna patted against the pockets on her pants, not finding anything of use. She reached into her backpack, trying to pull out a magazine or two, but was unable to find anything.

"What's wrong?" asked Bobby.

"I'm out of ammo," panted Luna.

"I think I got some. What kind of bullets?"

"Umm. .308, I think. Yeah, .308 Winchester."

Bobby reached into his pocket and pulled out two magazines. One was marked by a Sharpie as '.45 ACP' while the other was marked '9 mm.'

"I don't have any .308. Sorry."

"What about you, Lynn?"

Lynn stopped in her track as she heard a low humming noise get louder by the second. Her eyes widened as she opened her mouth.

"I got some," said Carol. "Here you go."

A van crashed through the brick wall, sending many bricks and limbs flying across the hallway. Lynn dropped to the floor while shielding her face with her arms. Luan fell back as the earth-shattering noise caused her heart to jump. Bobby yelled as he crouched, covering his eyes from the dust flowing against his face. Luna ducked as the long fluorescent light bulbs swung across the ceiling before falling down, shattering like the glass windows. Blood splashed against the wheels of the van while the cracking sounds of bones popped like bubble wrap.

"Oh my god, Carol," whimpered Luan.

"Run back!" screamed Lynn.

Lynn quickly made their way back across the hallway as the cover for the MG turret seat opened. Bobby grabbed Luan's hand and picked her up before sprinting across the hallway. Luna felt shivers run through her spine before she quickly turned around and ran past the debris and towards the bookstore back near the entrance. The gunner then stood up and placed himself behind the MG turret and turned towards the bookstore. Lynn, Bobby, and Luan quickly ran away from the hallway and towards the shelves, shielding themselves from the patio. Luna quickly turned to her right and jumped behind the wall. The gunner squeezed the trigger and fired a multitude of shots across the hallway. The first bullet struck the corner of the hallway and split into many tiny bullet shrapnels, one grazing Luna's ankle. She yelped as she crawled forward, dodging the bullets fired across the hallway. She stood up, feeling a huge pain across her ankle, though not paralyzing.

Luna saw Bobby, Lynn, and Luan running across the bookstore, using the shelves as cover while the turret began to fire across the glass windows in the bookstore. Luna jogged slowly towards the shelves as the gunfire was distracted with the group members. Suddenly, the van backed away from the hole in the wall and then drove forward again, crashing through the glass wall, driving into the patio. The armored van crashed into the statue, breaking apart the concrete pedestal, dropping the statue onto the ground and cracking the cement ground. The van fired onto the shelves, the bullets tearing through the wooden planks and hardback covers. Pages and splinters flew across the air as Luna tried to outrun the bullets. However, one of the bullets ripped through her lower left limb, cracking her shin and tearing apart a chunk of her calf.

"LUNA!" screamed Luan.

Luna felt the breeze of the air run against her face before slamming faceforward onto the carpet floor. A shelf fell above her, causing a pile of books to shield her from the eyes of the gunner. Her eyes were still wide open, tears flowing out of it as she felt a paralyzing and agonizing pain throbbing across her left leg. Her heart was beating at a rate unlike anything she ever felt before. She tried to scream, though she felt her lungs being compressed by a heavy weight on her back, causing her to let out a weakened cry. The armored van crashed through the glass wall of the bookstore and began to drive around, ignoring the pile of books above Luna. The van then began to drive deeper into the bookstore in search of the rest of the group, all while blood squirted onto the open pages of a book above Luna's leg.