-Six Days Later-
The morning dew gave the woodlands a moist yet fresh smell. Birds were heard chirping and crickets made their usual noise. It was as if an apocalypse never happened. But this dream, or rather a blissful train of thought, was interrupted by the groan of a roamer that lurked out from the woods. A katana was swung through its neck, causing the roamer to immediately fall to the floor.
"Got it!" exclaimed Benny.
Another roamer wandered from the woods. It must have heard Benny's sudden exclaim since it was headed towards him, keeping its rotten eyes locked on his body. Benny prepared to move closer to the half-rotten monster, but an arrow suddenly flew to its head, sending it to the dirt ground. Benny sighed and looked at Vonda. She smiled smugly and walked towards the killed roamer, picking up the arrow.
Are you guys done playing over there?" asked Tad before pointing at a building. "Found a grocery store. Hopefully, there are cans of food that had not been looted yet."
"Well, I doubt that we will find anything," said Lucy as she frowned.
"I don't know. Maybe we will be lucky this time," stated Benny.
"Last time, it was Luna who actually found a good amount of supplies. And that was because someone thought it was a good idea to stay in a guitar store in the apocalypse," Lucy said dispiritedly.
"Well is their own fault. Whoever did thought It was a good idea to stay in a guitar store when the world ended is a fool," Lola added annoyingly.
"Let's just hope we find something good," said Jason.
A roamer crawled out of the store, missing the lower half of its body. Tad took out his ninjato sword and impaled the sword through the roamer's brain, causing Benny to cringe slightly.
"Are you sure, I can't have that sword?" asked Benny.
"Pretty sure," replied Tad.
Benny sighed. He went inside the store and checked for any lurking roamers. He smiled upon seeing canned food, but he kept his watch for any potential roamer. He approached the wine section of the store and was caught by surprise. He found a large pile of corpses that were decapitated and lined up in an orderly fashion. Some of the bodies were of small children and the skin did not match the rotting of the roamers. Benny continued observing the bodies and knew that they have certainly been executed in a cruel yet organized way. He had a discomforting feeling that a group as organized as Black's rogue soldiers could've done this.
"Yo, Benny! Are you good in there?" yelled Tad in the far distance.
Tad was standing with his back against the store windows. Lucy sat on the curb, facing the empty parking lot. Vonda was wiping an arrowhead with her green handkerchief. Jason was twirled is knife, looking up at the sky. Lola sat on the ground, listening to the birds chirp. The door to the grocery store opened with Benny coming out slowly, appearing disoriented.
"What's wrong, Benny?" asked Lucy.
"You look tents, what happened?" asked Jason.
"Did you get bit?" asked Tad.
"No, no, it's just… you really don't want to see what's in there."
Tad and Jason looked back at Lola, Lucy, and Vonda who were looking at each other, puzzled by what Benny meant. They entered the store and saw a shelf that had cans of beans and bottled water. Tad walked close to the foodstuffs but noticed a pair of legs in the aisle adjacent to the shelves. Upon seeing the legs, Tad shivered and looked back at the small group. He took out his ninjato sword, the one that Benny adored, and snuck close to the legs. Benny followed him and looked around the store. Tad peeked at the aisle, gasping as he realized what Benny was talking about. Jason, Lola, and Lucy walked to the aisle curiously to see what spooked Benny and Tad.
"Well damn," said Jason.
"Oh god, this is just. Don't even know what to say about this," replied Lola.
"Hmm. Maybe you should impale the heads. They're moving, you know," informed Lucy.
"What?" asked Benny before he yelped upon seeing one of the heads wriggle violently.
Vonda quickly dashed to Benny's aid and yelped when she saw the corpses lying on the ground.
"Oh my god! What the hell is this?" shrieked Vonda. "Were they already infected?"
"I think so. There doesn't seem to be any bite marks on these guys," replied Benny.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Put them out of their misery," demanded Lucy.
"Aren't you a little unnerved by this?" asked Tad.
"No. But I do feel bad for what happened to these people."
"Of course you're not affected by this," sighed Lola.
Benny grabbed his katana and pointed the blade downwards. He walked close to the roamers' head and thrust the blade down into its skull. As he approached the small roamer, he closed and turned his head away, as if he was looking away in shame, and he impaled its brain.
"You know, it would be easier to eliminate these roamers with your ninjato sword," Benny told Tad. "My katana is curved and your sword is not."
Tad walked close to the roamers and started killing them off.
"I don't know why you are so fascinated with my sword. You have your katana!"
"Ninjatos are cooler. Where did you even get that?"
"I got it from Vonda."
"Vonda? Where did you get that sword?"
"It's my father's," replied Vonda. "At first, I thought he was just a sword collector. I mean, he probably was, since he never used that sword. But then a few days before the Global Infection Event, he told me that the sword was handcrafted by his friend. He modified a Hanwei ninjato sword to be one of the best melee weapon against a roamer. Unfortunately, he never got to use it. So, I just gave it to Tad before we left my hometown."
"No wonder! Killing roamers with this sword is so easy!" exclaimed Tad. "Are you sure you don't want it back?"
"No. I'm no good at sword fighting."
"B-b-but I am," said Benny.
"Just grab the cans and the bottles. I want to leave this depressing store," sighed Lucy.
"I agree with Lucy. This place is just too creepy," said Lola.
"Alright," said Benny.
"Your father's friend made a good sword. I made some amazing swords too," said Jason.
"Wait you know how to make a sword like that?" asked Lola.
"Not just swords but I made a lot of weapons back home that are prefect for fighting and hunting, it was a hobby I did to pass the time when I was bored. You never know what you could get yourself into when your behind enemy lines," replied Jason.
"Do you think you could make me one if I can't convince Tad to give his up?" asked Benny.
"I could but that would take some time and materials. I could turn your katana into a ninjato sword, but I don't want to ruin a perfectly good sword. So the answer is no," replied Jason.
"Dang it, alright then," said Benny.
Outside the grocery store by the highway, the empty and unzipped stretchers were lying on the damp ground. The windows in the vehicles had raindrops on them, and the road that the vehicles were parked on was slippery. A bench sat near the entrance of the store and was covered by a low concrete canopy. On the bench, Lori sat with her AK-47 on her lap. Luan sat next to her with binoculars on her lap and a knife in her left hand.
Inside the store, boredness infested the whole place. Luna and Sam were listening to Chunk talk about his life while a barely-bearded Richard placed pecans in Missy's mouth. Becky, Dana, D, Wavehead, Bobby, and Darcy were all together, discussing how they imagined their high school graduation would have been. Ronnie Anne, Tabby, Zach, Liam, Rusty, Lincoln, and Clyde were all talking together, talking about how much they miss school. Lisa was testing Carol's knowledge on how to properly perform a foot amputation. Sergei was looking inside an MRE to find out what food it contained while George curiously looked at the package. Lynn lied on Leni's lap while Leni twirled her hair. Lana was playing with Lily, in an attempt to fill in the missing hole in her life. David watched over everyone in the group while eating canned peaches.
"They're back," stated Lori in David's walkie-talkie.
Lori, Luan, Benny, Tad, Vonda, and Lucy walked inside the store. Benny and Luan were holding hands while Lucy and Lori smiled at each other.
"It's not a lot, but it's about a day's worth of food for all of us," stated Vonda.
"That's alright. Now, it's time to go," said David.
"Go where?" asked Benny.
"To our vehicles. We're going to continue our journey to Houlton."
"Missy and D are able to travel now," explained Lisa. "Much sooner than I previously estimated. However, Missy has to wear a sling on her right arm tied to her collarbone and Derrick has to use a cane for a while."
The group all stood up from their spots with the exception of D, who needed a little help getting up. Becky and Wavehead lifted him up and kept him standing as they walked to the RV. Every group member returned to their respective vehicles.
-Seven Years Ago-
"Are you ready?" asked Henry. "I know what you're capable of, but this is your first-time going head to head with the Piranhas. So, I ask you, are you ready?"
"Yeah, I've seen what these sons of bitches do for money. It's disgusting," responded George, while putting on his shades.
Henry and George exited their vehicle, along with four other agents. The sunlight was gleaming against the Hudson River, and kites were flown near a park. The agents walked away from where everyone else was and headed near a warehouse. They saw no one outside the warehouse, although they always kept their guard up. George looked in the river and saw nothing.
"Let's go inside!" ordered George.
The agents quietly climbed the stairs and slowly opened the door to the second floor of the warehouse. However, they were met with more empty cages and clothes on the floor.
"Looks like Sherry ain't here, dude," said one of the agents.
Suddenly, a gang of Piranhas appeared in front of the door and shot their submachine guns at the agent. His chest and face were ripped apart by the bullets as he stumbled back onto the staircase. The agents took cover behind the walls while they watched their colleague fall down the stairs with blood all over his vest. George's face broke into sweats as the bullets roared by him.
-Day 39-
"Shit," muttered David.
"What happened?" asked Becky.
"There's a suspension bridge ahead of us completely blocked by vehicles. There's no other way to cross into the highway unless we go through the city roads. And we are NOT going to the city."
David parked the RV where it stood in the road. Lori, Richard, Missy, Sergei, and Chunk left their vehicles. They looked ahead and felt stumped about their problem. David looked around the bridge to see if there were any additional bridges that he could take. But there were none.
"Why don't we circle back near Utica and take a different road?" asked Lori.
"Well, that would take maybe a day's trip and then probably much more time to get to Albany."
"Maybe we can drive these cars out of the way?" asked Sergei.
"But most of these cars are abandoned. Unlikely that we are going to find a key lying around for every car," responded Missy. "Strange. A herd must have scared the drivers away."
Lisa exited Vanzilla with the rest of the passengers. Almost every single group member exited their vehicle.
"I could perhaps construct an explosive to push these cars away, though I don't think I can acquire sulfur in a place like this," stated Lisa.
"No, we're not going to do that because we would just attract every roamer in the world to our location," replied Lori.
"Can't we just move these cars away?" suggested Leni.
"We're trying to figure that out, Leni!" exclaimed Lori.
"I have a plan," declared Lincoln. "Most of these cars are abandoned because a herd, like Missy, said, probably scared the drivers away. However, most drivers would not take their keys with them when they're in flight mode. They would just leave the keys in the car. However, they leave their keys in the ignition instead of a random place. While the herd chases the drivers and their passengers, the car remains on the bridge with the engine on. The idle car would run out of gasoline eventually, which it certainly has after a month, so no gasoline! What we can do is set the car to drive, and we can push the cars out of the roads by ourselves."
"That's genius!" exclaimed Lori.
"Wait, wait, hold on. Out of the road?" asked David.
"Well, just out of the middle road. Just so we can have enough room to cross the entire bridge. This very… long bridge."
"That's smart indeed. Did you think about this all by yourself?"
"Yeah. I mean, that's why they call me the man with the plan at home."
David chuckled. Ronnie Anne smiled at Lincoln.
"Alright, let's get to work. Now, who do you think are our powerhouses?"
Lincoln looked around the group. He placed his finger under his chin and thought about who could push small cars by themselves.
"I would say, you, of course, Richard, George, Jason, Chunk, Sergei, Bobby, Lori, Lynn, Luna, Benny, Tad, Becky, and Vonda."
"Vonda?" repeated David confusedly."If she can draw a 55-lbs bow, she can push a car by herself."
David looked at Vonda. Vonda nodded her head with a smug smile. She walked back inside the RV to place her bow in the cabinet above the sofa.
"Alright!" The following people are going to get inside a car, turn the car into drive mode, exit the car, and push it towards the edge of the bridge!
The group began to enact Lincoln's plan. Almost everyone was pushing a car by themselves or as a small group. If the group were small, it would've taken days to push all the cars in the bridge to the edge. However, even with a large group, it took many long hours.
At the end of the bridge, they encountered a school bus with an opened emergency door. David climbed inside the bus and closed the emergency door. He exited the bus through the entrance and rallied all the group members together.
"Alright, guys. Looks like pushing this monstrosity is going to take a lot of teamwork. Most of us are going to go in the back of the bus and push it towards the road, not at the edge of the bridge. Got it?" asked David.
The group agreed and began to get into position. They grabbed onto the back of the bus and started pushing the bus. While pushing the bus with the rest of the group, Luna thought about the last time she was on a school bus. When the image of a bloody face popped up in her mind, she got away from the school bus and threw up on the hood of one of the cars.
"Are you alright, Luna?" asked Lincoln.
Luna gave a thumbs up. She grabbed a napkin from her skirt and wiped her mouth.
"Sorry, dudes. I was just thinking about something disgusting. Keep pushing the bus. I'm just going to go back to the vehicles and wash my mouth."
"Poor Luna. I wonder what she was thinking about," said Sam.
"Push! Push! Keep pushing, guys!" exclaimed David.
In a few minutes, the bus was out of the bridge and into the road. The group sighed in relief and began their walk back to the vehicles. Lincoln groaned as his arms felt weak. Lana panted while she walked back to the vehicles.
"So what now?" asked Bobby.
"We continue our journey ahead," replied David.
-Seven Years Ago-
"Fuck…" whispered George.
"Come out, you pussies!" yelled Henry.
"Same could be said about you, assholes!" yelled back a Piranha.
An agent held his gun tightly and peeked at the door. A few bullets flew at him, to which he quickly dodged. He then immediately pointed his gun at the room and fired two rounds before being shot at. The agent groaned as he pressed on his bleeding chest. Henry looked at George and motioned his hands as if he was asking for directions. George shrugged shamefully. Suddenly, a grenade was thrown near the staircase. George and Henry quickly jumped down the staircase. As both men landed on the bottom of the stairs, a snap was heard from Henry's ankle. An explosion followed immediately after the snap and George saw fragments of the stairwell fly down the stairs. The body of an agent tumbled down the stairwell with fragments all over his body. A sharp fragment was stuck between his eyes and his nose was missing.
"Oh my god! Henry, can you walk?" whispered George loudly.
Henry shook his head while clenching his teeth. He quickly gasped as George lifted his shoulder up over his back. Henry limped as he and George made their way out of the warehouse.
"Is he alright?" asked one of two agents who stayed downstairs.
"Broken ankle," replied George. "I'm getting him out of here! Watch out for the Piranhas upstairs!"
One of the agents waited for the Piranhas to come downstairs. One slowly walked with each step with his pistol aimed at where the explosion came from. The other agent stayed away from the steps while keeping his pistol aimed upstairs. He watched as his partner nervously moved closer and closer to the second floor. In a few minutes, the agent peeked into the room and found no one inside.
"Agent Emery, there's no one here!" exclaimed the agent.
Suddenly, a man popped out from behind a stash of mysterious pills and unleashed the bullets from his submachine gun at the agent. The agent below the second floor heard gunshots go off above him and he prepared to run up the stairs. However, he heard a footstep and turned his head around. He saw the barrel of an AK-47 pointed at his eyes and prepared to shoot the Piranha. Before he could react, his fate was sealed as the Piranha pulled the trigger to his automatic rifle and ripped his face apart.
George heard gunshots go off from the warehouse and took one last look before he would lose sight of it. He saw that nothing particular about the warehouse changed, except George now realized that there was a small boat near the warehouse. The motorboat was the size of a small room and it was tied by a rope to a pole while it was floating in the river. George and Henry continued to make their way back to their vehicles. The sight of the boat was the flicker of George's later violent rivalry with Sherry.