-Day 42-
"Well, I'll be damned. Another obstacle!" exclaimed Richard.
"What do you expect, it not going to be easy going for us you know," said Jason.
"We could just use the kid's strategy again," stated David.
"You mean, Lincoln's Traffic Removal Method?" announced Lincoln with pride.
"Right," replied David.
"This is literally worse than the bridge," sighed Lori.
Lori looked into the distance. The highway was cluttered with wrecked and broken cars. Many trucks also stood in the way, even a semi-pickup truck with a mysterious container which alone gave Lori a headache. However, the cluttered cars did not extend as long as the ones in the bridge did. Lori continued to look further into the distance when she saw something move. She grabbed a pair of binoculars and saw a moving object. She looked at her binoculars to figure out how to zoom it, but when she returned to see the moving object, it was gone.
"Dude!" exclaimed Luna. "These cars are not empty!"
David, Jason, and Lori walked close to a car. Luna pointed at the window with her crowbar and showed the roamer that was inside. David opened the door and aimed his gun at the roamer. The roamer, who used to be a beautiful young woman, was now an ugly and rotting monster who slowly turned its head to David. The roamer slowly lifted its arm to grab David, but he was too far from its reach. David aimed at the roamer's head and shot his M9.
"David! What happened to not attracting nearby roamers?" gasped Lori.
"Well look around you. Would you want the roamers to stay hidden around the cars? It's better to get them out of their hiding spots rather than waiting for them to lunge at us in surprise," explained David.
"Well, that's a good point."
A few roamers stood up from where they were hiding and started walking slowly to where the group is at. Lori pointed her automatic rifle at the roamers, but David lowered the rifle slowly for her while shaking his head.
"What?" whispered Lori.
"One shot is enough. If we need another, we should use a suppressor. That way, the sound doesn't attract TOO many roamers," whispered David
Lori turned her rifle around and struck a roamer's head with the butt of her gun. Luna swung her crowbar at a roamer next to the one that Lori attacked, Jason grabbed his knife and through it at a roamer's eye, and Vonda shot an arrow at the one next to that roamer. Lori kneeled down to the road pavement and took out a knife. She stabbed the roamer in the head with full force and killed it.
"Look, see, one shot was enough. More roamers are heading in our direction," said David.
"Where did all these roamers come from, anyway?" asked Lincoln.
"That's not so important," responded Lori. "What's more important is that we kill the roamers. Look! The roamers are starting to come together as a group. They're… merging into a small herd."
David backed away and allowed the group to come in front of him. Benny walked ahead of the group and took out the roamers that were straggling ahead of the group. Sam grabbed her ice pick and drove it on one of the roamer's skull. Bobby used Clyde's hammer to bash a roamer's skull and destroy its brain. He then opened a car door and blocked a roamer from getting too close to him. Vonda shot her arrows and almost hit every nearby roamer in the head. She jogged close to a killed roamer to pick up her arrows while Wavehead dashed to kill a nearby roamer. However, Lynn flew past Wavehead and Vonda, carrying her wooden baseball bat.
"Lynn! What…" exclaimed Lori.
Lynn stopped close to a roamer and swung her baseball bat with might. The roamer's neck dislocated while its skull was destroyed upon impact. The roamer dropped to the ground, now twice as dead. Another roamer approached Lynn only to be killed off by Lynn's powerful swing. Lynn placed a lethal blow to another roamer in the head, destroying its brain. Benny observed as Lynn continued to slaughter the roamers and kept his distance, killing the roamers outside of Lynn's reach. However, most of the roamers were within Lynn's reach, and even if they weren't, she would try as hard as she could to make sure they were very well within her grasp.
"Lynn… calm down. You don't want to exhaust yourself," said Lori worriedly.
The group pushed on in the clogged road. While some of the group members were killing the small herd, the rest were inspecting the cars for any stragglers. Ronnie Anne gasped in fright as a roamer popped up behind a car window and growled inside the car. She slowly opened the car handle and looked at Lori.
"Careful, Ronnie Anne."
Ronnie Anne opened the door slowly and allowed the roamer to tumble down to the pavement. Using her small pickaxe, she was able to put the roamer out of its misery.
Lynn found a roamer with blood around its mouth. It wasn't blood that belonged to the roamer as it seemed fresh and wet. Lynn kicked the roamer to the trunk of a small car and swung her baseball at its head. In a fit of rage, she swung the bat over and over and over. With each strike, the roamer's head became more deformed and messier with its brain spilling on the trunk. Lynn yelled with each swing, enjoying seeing the roamer destroyed.
"Lynn," called David.
Lynn stopped smashing the roamer's head and looked at her leader. She panted with both exhaustion and relief.
"Was that really necessary?"
Lynn looked at the group, who were all stunned, except Sam and Benny who were focused on blocking the roamers inside the cars with the car doors. She then looked at her bat, which had blood pouring from the end of it. She gasped softly in shock before looking at the roamer she killed. Witnessing the roamer's body without the head, she smiled.
"Yes. Yes, it was. For me, at least," replied Lynn before heading to the RV for a drink of water.
Blood dripped down the pavement, leaving a trail, as Lynn headed away from the group. Lincoln followed her back to the RV. The group continued their push on the road, killing the roamers.
After half an hour, the group returned to their vehicles to discuss a plan on how to remove the vehicles in the most efficient way possible. Lori talked about the possibility of moving all the cars to the side, but David dismissed that possibility since there would be too many vehicles cluttered against one another. Richard suggested that the vehicles be moved off the road, but then quickly shut down his idea when he saw guardrails on the side of the road. Lincoln came up with a new plan.
"I got an idea. How about instead of moving all the cars to one side of the road, we move a group of cars all on one side and another group of cars onto the other side. When the cars get too cluttered on one edge, we start pushing the cars to the other side so we create a snake-like path!"
"Hmm. Yeah, let's try that for a couple of minutes and then test it out by driving through this… snake-like path," replied David, rubbing his stubble.
The group was ready to push the vehicles to the right side of the road. After they did so for a number of vehicles, they moved on to push the vehicles to the left side of the road. David entered his RV and drove for a couple minutes around the path.
"It works! It's time-consuming to maneuver around this path, but it sure does work!" declared David. "Let's keep going!"
"Hey! I think I know where all these roamers came from…" blurted out Tad.
The group focused their attention on him. He crawled between two cars, rummaged through the litter in the ground, and grabbed an empty cylindrical canister. The cylindrical canister had a sinister gray color to it and had drops of greenish liquid on the tip of its opening.
"Poison gas…" whispered Richard.
"Yeah. Wonder where that came from..." sighed David. "Son, you might want to take your hands off the canister."
"Oh! Well, no big deal, right?" nervously chuckled Tad as he dropped the canister.
"I'm sure it's not."
Lisa picked up the canister by pinching it as if she was holding sticky gum. She demanded a flashlight as she studied the color of the liquid. Lori handed her a flashlight. She shone the flashlight inside the canister and studied the residue.
"Chlorine gas. No doubt that the rogue soldiers were responsible for this."
"It could be the Piranhas who was able to get their hands on military weaponry," said Richard.
"Whatever it was, this is no place we want to stay at," said David. "Let's keep moving."
-Six Years Ago-
George smacked his hands as he swallowed the last bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth.
"Alright, honey, I gotta go now," said George.
"Okay, bye!"
George leaned close to his wife and kissed her when his daughter walked to the kitchen. The small six-year-old girl had brunette hair in pigtails and was holding a toy police officer. She yawned and walked closer to her father.
"Good morning, daddy! Are you leaving already?"
"Yes, sweetie, you woke up late. It's almost noon already."
"What time will you be back?"
"I'll actually be back tomorrow. Daddy's got a long day ahead of him."
"Will you still be here with me and Mommy to eat breakfast?"
"Of course I will."
"Awesome! You see this toy? That's you! Fighting bad guys and saving the world! I want to be just like you!"
George chuckled and knelt down to give his daughter a small kiss on her forehead.
"Bye, sweetie. Don't let Mommy allow you to make a big mess."
The girl giggled and ran to her mother. George stood up and smiled at both his wife and daughter. He held his suit in his hands and waved at his family before he left the house.
The door busted open as Henry, George, and two agents entered a room. One was a Deputy Assistant Director, a complicated and prolonged word for a special agent, meaning she had control over her three agents.
"Bye, sweetie. Don't let Mommy allow you to make a big mess."
The girl giggled and ran to her mother. George stood up and smiled at both his wife and daughter. He held his suit in his hands and waved at his family before he left the house.
The door busted open as Henry, George, and two agents entered a room. One was a Deputy Assistant Director, a complicated and prolonged word for a special agent, meaning she had control over her three agents.
"On the ground, now!" yelled May, the Deputy Assistant Director.
"Alright, alright, don't shoot!" yelled Gus.
May looked around and lowered her gun as Gus knelt to the ground.
"You know your friends did some fucked up shit, right?"
"Yeah, I know…" whispered Gus.
The four agents heard some footsteps getting louder. Suddenly, a door was opened where many Piranhas came out with guns pointed at the four agents. Sherry stepped out behind the Piranhas and walked behind Gus. Gus stayed on the ground and smiled smugly at the four agents.
"Is this another fucking ambush?" hissed Henry.
"No, unless anyone of you tries to do something," answered Sherry. "I need to send you guys a message."
"What message?" asked George.
"It's been kind of nice that we are playing this game of cat and mouse. Makes me feel very important."
Sherry laughed and fixed her belt. She then started playing with her hair.
"Shit's too tight. Anyways, it's kind of funny how I'm seen as such a terrible and unreasonable person when I'm not. I do things for a reason and I would like it if you guys backed off! I'm a very reasonable person! It's also funny how you guys think I'm the mouse, hiding from big ol' Tom! That's not true. A mouse wouldn't be able to craft a mousetrap."
"The message, Sherry!" yelled George, losing his patience.
"Christ, Thomas! I mean… George. Let a girl finish her story. But you know what? I lost my patience too. I'll just tell you straight up. I need you guys to stay away from my organization. If not, then the people closest to you… your loved ones will perish in this war that you started with us. And just in case you guys don't think I'm being serious, I need to make an example out of one of y'all."
Sherry looked at May, dead in the eye. She smiled and caused May to get angry.
"Seems very unreasonable to me," said May. "Going after my family? Really, Sherry?"
"Oh, not yours. And I AM reasonable! I could've killed you guys. But instead, I'm going to have George's family killed!"
"What? No! Don't fucking do that, I swear, I will kill you!"
George prepared to lunge at Sherry when she pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Henry.
"Nope! You won't! I'll kill your partner here if you try to do anything to me! And that's a promise!"
"No… please don't kill my family!"
"There's a price to be paid for being a traitor, George. But don't worry. You will move on… eventually," reassured Sherry menacingly, before turning on her flip phone. "John. Andrew. Eliminate the Canes."
"NO!"
Sherry turned on the speaker mode on her flip phone and allowed the four agents to hear what was occurring in the house. Windows shattering was heard through the phone. A woman's voice was heard. A little girl's yell gave chills to May and the screams that were released from his daughter would haunt George for the rest of his life. Gunshots roared through the phone. George collapsed to the ground and started tearing up.
"Deputy Assistant Director May Hannas. Tell your other agents to leave our organization alone. Or else. Today's your lucky day, May, Henry, and Martin. Now leave."
The Piranhas allowed the agents to leave the empty fish market. Gus stood up and stood next to Sherry. George left the market and got inside his car.
"Agent Cane, wait!" yelled May.
Too late. George drove away.
"Ever since May of last year, violence between law enforcement and the gang known as the Piranhas escalated into dangerous levels. The first victims of the ensuing violence on the law enforcement side are Zachary Goldman, Vincent Hansen Kal, Clint Haywood, and Franklin Emery, in which all four were killed in an ambush in Hudson, a city 30 miles south of Albany. Over the course of months…" reported an anchorwoman in the TV.
George wandered around the dark living room which was only lit up by the TV. There were shards of glass on the floor. George kneeled down and looked out of the window. He stood up and continued walking slowly throughout his home. The inconsistent lights from the TV gave George chills and he felt like turning away from the kitchen and leaving the house, never to return.
"Mary! Emma! Please be okay…"
George turned on the kitchen lights and instantly regretted it. He broke down in tears and fell to his knees. His wife's body lied still on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound below her wavy brunette hair. His daughter's body was lying on the floor next to her mother. There was dry blood on her mouth. George crawled to her daughter and noticed that she was holding the toy police officer figure in her left hand. He grabbed the toy, which was hit by George's tears. He then lifted her right hand which was on her stomach. After lifting her hand, a gunshot wound was revealed on her stomach. George cried on her chest as ambulance sirens and police sirens blared in the distance.
-Day 44-
"Just slide the magazine in and place the partially-filled magazine away! Make sure that the magazine is fully in! Try it!" explained Richard.
Benny, Bobby, Becky, Wavehead, Sergei, and Lynn practiced tactical reloads while the others were receiving basic gun training.
"No, no, no. That's not how you hold a gun," sighed David, while moving Liam's arm.
"What? That's how they do it in the old Wild West movies!"
"Well, this is not a movie! Ammo is like water these days. We don't have too much of it. You gotta keep your arms straight, like this!"
David set Liam's arm straight, with his gun pointing at the beer bottle.
"Got it?"
"Yeah."
"That reminds me, I got something for you Liam," said Jason.
"What is it?"
Jason walked over and handed him a Peacemaker.
"Wow! Where did you get this revolver?" asked Liam.
"I found it on a dead roamer a few days ago," replied Jason.
"Thanks. It looks like it's new, I think I can get used to using it, Thanks partner," said Liam.
"Don't thank me yet, let's see how you shoot with it."
"Alright."
Liam aimed at the beer bottle, held his breath and than pulled the trigger hitting his target.
"Good job man," complimented Jason.
"Thanks I feel like I'm in one of those western movies I watch," said Liam.
"Well keep practicing, you need ready for anything alright,"
"Okay"
"Luan, try breathing slowly," said Lori. "Focus on your target and fire when you feel comfortable."
"Okay. But I don't think that's going to work…"
Benny walked behind Luan and lightly grabbed her arms as she aimed with her pistol. Luan lied her head on her shoulder and onto Benny's cheek.
"Feel relaxed?" asked Benny."No. How could I when I go crazy everytime you're around?"
Benny softly chuckled. Luan giggled and her face flushed as she lifted her head from Benny's face and focused on her training. Benny kept her arms steady while she aimed with her sights.
"Now… go!"
Luan shot her pistol and failed to make the beer bottle splash with alcohol pouring out. She frowned slightly and lowered her gun, taking her finger off the trigger.
"You know, if it makes you feel any better, you can have my katana if anything ever happens to me."
"If anything happens to you?" anxiously repeated Luan. "Benny, don't say that!"
"Alright, I'm kidding. I don't want to jinx anything. But I am considering dropping this weapon for another. And when I do, I want you to use it."
Benny eyed Tad and made him know about his desire to take his sword. Tad smiled and slowly shook his head as he tapped on his scabbard. Luan smiled and kissed Benny.
"Oh, Benny! That's so lovely of you! But I don't know how to use a katana! I think it's best that you keep it. You're such a badass with it."
"It's alright. I'll train you with it. Although, it's not exactly samurai training. It's… fencing."
"Oh, that's good enough for me. As long as it keeps you and me safe from the roamers, it's alright!"
Benny and Luan hugged as Lori watched them happily.
"Luna, great job!" complimented Lori. "You hit two bottles already!"
"Yeah, I'm telling you guys! It's not that hard!"
"Well, I disagree with that! My bullets don't go where I want it to go!" complained Sam.
"Well, your sights should already be zeroed. Maybe you need a closer target," said Lori. "David, let's move these trainees closer to the targets!"
"Sure thing. Everyone! Ceasefire! We're moving closer to the bottles!"
"Luna, you can go with Richard to get more advanced training," said Lori.
A roamer appeared from the woods where the missed bullets would fly. The roamer resembled a fisherman with its clothing. The roamer could've been easily mistaken as a human, but all roamers have decayed teeth, clumsy footing, and golden pale eyes that reveals them as the living dead. Richard approached his trainees.
"Perfect. Now, practice hitting a moving target. Let's see who can kill the roamer first."
Bobby aimed at the roamer and shot his shot. The multiple bullets he shot did not hit its head. The knockback from the bullets was not as strong as the kids expected since the roamer kept his footing, despite being very clumsy. Suddenly, a bullet made its way to the roamer's head and deep into its brain, killing the roamer.
"Boom! Got him!" cheered Luna.
"Hmm. There's another one."
Lynn and Sergei raised their pistols at the second roamer. However, Luna already had the roamer's head in her sights and shot her pistol. Sure enough, the bullet penetrated through the roamer's decaying skull and killed it instantly.
"That must have been about a hundred meters away. Impressive shot, Luna!" complimented Richard.
"Thanks. Looks like rocking instruments aren't my only skills."
"You can say that again, your skills with a gun is great, Luna," complemented Jason patting her on the back.
"Thanks dude."
More gunshots were heard. Lily cooed as Leni and Darcy watched out the van windows. Darcy giggled as Bobby nervously fumbled through his pistol magazine, inserting bullets.
"I know, Lily," sighed Leni. "Those gun thingies make me feel a little nervous too. I'm so glad Lori doesn't make go near them. I would probably cause some harm with those guns. And causing harm to anyone is the last thing I want to do."
"My Grandpa told me that guns are supposed to hurt people," said Darcy. "But only the bad guys. Grandpa was going to tell me more about guns, but my mommy didn't want me to know more about it."
"And it's probably the best thing for you," said Lisa, popping out from behind a seat. "The only thing you need to know about those firearms as of right now is that you must not touch them unless there is danger. And when there is danger, you hand the gun to someone else, preferably anyone who knows how to operate a gun. That goes for you too, Leni."
"Gee, Lisa, you're smart," said Darcy.
"I know right?" added Leni.
"Don't mention it," said Lisa, looking at George, who was teaching Vonda how to repair guns.
Lisa was unable to make out what George was telling Vonda but through a thorough examination of what they were doing, she understood what they were doing, step-by-step. Vonda pointed the gun at the ground and carefully slid back the pistol chamber. However, the chamber slid back, causing the gun to go off and a bullet to launch itself to the grass, catching the group's attention.
"Sorry!" exclaimed Vonda.
Vonda's words began to drift off of George's ears. He stared blankly at the beautiful girl, reminded of her daughter, and what she would have looked like, had she not perished at a young age.