-Day 50-
The clouds covered the midnight moon as the group was back in the house. David sat on the same log in the hill staring at the same abandoned town. The forests were inactive and very small figures were walking slowly towards the direction of Hudson. This time, David sat in front of a fire with his back facing the house. Lori and Jason slowly walked up to him with a wooden pole used as a cane and sat by him.
"This log is sturdy," commented Lori. "Don't you get tired after sitting here for a long time?"
"I'm pretty sure he is Lori," added Jason.
"You two should be resting. Do I need to tell you both twice about your sleep?" asked David.
"No, you don't, but I think I do. When was the last time you slept?"
"Stop worrying about me, Lori."
"I'm not the only one, David."
"Look around you," said Jason.
The entire group inside the house came outside. Richard carried a bag of nuts while Bobby carried Darcy on his back. Leni carried a sleeping Lily on her arms and smiled at Bobby. Lisa walked with Lana and Lola as they were holding the maps that David used in the RV. David was surprised to see so many people come together around a campfire in the middle of the night. He hasn't seen something like this since the night in Ann Arbor where their joyful night ended in tragedy. However, this night was different. It seemed as if the solemn night was going to end in a night of hope for the next day.
"Now that we're all together, can you tell us how you started your journey?" asked Lori.
"And just so you know, everyone wants to know. So just tell them already," added Jason.
David looked around the campfire and saw almost everyone staring at him.
"Fine. Richard knows, and Jason obviously, but I guess I'll tell it. I went on a plane from Manhattan to Flint after finding out that General Black was setting up a big project in Detroit. Richard and his wife lived in Flint, so I headed towards their home to tell them about my plan. However, after learning about what was happening in the world, I put two and two together and I figured out what General Black was doing in Detroit. I knew he was going to set up a safe-zone, but I did not know he was going to bomb it. Well, at least not yet."
"When'd you find out?" asked Ronnie Anne.
"After I grabbed the RV from my father's home, I turned on the radio to a specific channel. I heard a man on the radio on the way to Detroit. I heard about Tim Crowley from my days in the military and I just had my suspicions up. However, this man wasn't Tim Crowley, but he did tell us to stay away from Detroit. This was around Day 5, and funny enough, our RV broke down in Royal Woods. We dodged a bullet, simply because the big vehicle didn't want to run anymore."
"So, what did you do in Royal Woods?" asked Lincoln.
"The man on the radio told us about General Black's plan on conducting a huge transportation of the survivors in Detroit to another place. We didn't know he was talking about Houlton, but we assumed he meant Royal Woods since his soldiers were setting up a new base there. He called it Operation Exodus. So, Richard, Missy, and I formed a militia as you saw when you returned to Royal Woods. We simply just waited for the general to arrive at the base and on Day 10, he did."
"I still can't believe you pointed your guns at Lori and the other when you meet them, and you actually believed they were working with General Black just because they had his weapons," said Jason.
"I wasn't taking anything chance, especially since the world ended, and the type of people out there."
"Yeah I understand. But I'm pretty sure Black wouldn't use kids and teenagers as soldiers. And just because they had his weapons doesn't mean they worked for him, I'm mean seriously those weapons could have come from anywhere."
Carol and the boys looked at David and flinched slightly when they saw something above him. The nuts in the ground crunched and the sounds of heavy breathing alerted Richard. The grass softened the footsteps just enough for David, Jason, and Lori to barely notice what was behind them, but Carol, Zach, Lincoln, Clyde, Liam, and Rusty's reactions alerted them.
"You know, that's an interesting story you told right there," said the leader of the midnight bandits, a man with long hair, holding a bloody ax.
The group was surrounded by three other bandits one carrying a chainsaw, another holding a hatchet, and the other holding a spike-covered mallet. David slowly raised his hands with Richard and Jason mimicking him. Lori fearfully looked at David and raised her hands as well. Leni shivered as the bandits started circling the group, picking out their targets. All of the bandits were men, and the fact that they carried torn purses and small backpacks meant for little girls, was clear on most of the survivors' eyes. Darcy clutched Bobby, and Lily remained asleep. Jason mentally slapped himself for forgetting about the Midnight Bandits, as he was caught up in David's story.
"Look at what we have here," said one of the bandits as he rubbed Leni's hair.
Lori's anger seethed and overpowered her fear. She knows how beautiful Leni is, and that one day, this world will rip her innocence apart. She just didn't want today to be the day. Leni continued to shiver as she looked at Lori, wondering if she was going to take action. The bandit with the craggy face grinned and licked his lips as stood behind Leni with his spike-covered mallet. Leni looked at Lori and whimpered as she held Lily closer to her.
The two other bandits continued to circle around the group with their weapons in hand. One of the bandits stood behind Richard and Carol, with a hatchet in his hands. He wore a gray cap and a brown shirt. The other bandit stood behind George Chunk, and Sergei, holding his chainsaw with his hairy and muscular arms.
"So, you guys are from Michigan, right?" asked the leader of the bandits.
The bandit waited for a response. David remained silent. The campfire crackled, but it began to die. The bandit with the hatchet looked at his leader. The leader sighed.
"You guys are our largest group yet. Don't try to oppose us," said the leader. "Most of you are going to live. We just need to take out the strongest guys. And after that, you're not welcome to come with us. So, don't try to follow us. Do I make myself clear?"
The group remained silent. The man with the hatchet released his grip on Leni's shoulder.
"They're not saying anything."
"Well, that's good. It means they ain't opposing us," chuckled the leader.
"So, can we start?" asked the man with the chainsaw.
"So eager are we? Hell yeah, we can start."
The man starting burning fuel in his chainsaw. David looked around the campfire and tried to capture everything he noticed with his eyes. David then looked at Richard, Lori, Jason, and George. Richard slightly nodded and placed his hands on Carol's right leg. Carol slowly turned towards Richard.
"Duck," whispered Richard.
The bandit swung his hatchet just as Richard and Carol threw themselves to the grass near the campfire. Richard faced the campfire and saw the burning flame covering the masked leader.
The leader swung down his ax but David rolled over towards Lori, who jumped from her seat. And Jason jumped from his seat. The ax cut into the log that David sat in, catching the leader off-guard.
The bandit with the chainsaw moved it towards George but the former FBI agent quickly grabbed the handle of the chainsaw and punched the bandit in the face.
Lori lunged towards the man with the mallet and smacked him with her pole. The man grabbed his face with his free hand, just before Lori smacked the mallet away from his hand.
Leni and Bobby ran away with Darcy and Lily in their arms. The children also followed Bobby and Leni, allowing the monsters inside David, Lori, Jason, George, and Richard to be set free.
Richard grabbed his knife and ran towards the man with the hatchet. The man swung the hatchet again and missed. Richard swung his knife at the man and he missed as well. The man stumbled to the ground just as he kept dodging Richard's knife attacks.
Jason grabbed his knife and ran towards Richard and the man with the hatchet. Jason swung his knife and missed. The man kicked Jason and swung the hatchet down. Jason dodged the attack and swung his knife across the man's face. The man held his face with his free hand, just before Jason grabbed his throat and stabbed his chest twisted the blade. The man gasped before falling to the ground dead.
George struggled to release himself from the burly man's grip. Suddenly, the man gasped as Sergei shoved the knife into his lower back. The man released George as Sergei twisted the knife.
"A chainsaw? Couldn't do better?" whispered Sergei before pulling out his knife.
"Going after helpless victims? Is that what you're proud of?" said David.
"You four picked the wrong ground to attack," said Jason.
The leader stared at David and Jason, unresponsive. David and Jason then swung the knifes upwards at the leader's chest, making him cough blood. The leader groaned before passing out, before he died.
Lori grabbed the spiked mallet as the bandit struggled to pick himself up and run. Lori swung the mallet at the bandit's left calf. The bandit yelled as he fell to the ground. Lori crawled towards the bandit and picked herself up slightly.
"Please. Mercy! Make it painless!"
"No mercy for you," hissed Lori.
She swung the mallet at the man's face over and over. The bandit's eyes splattered in the brutal beatdown, his nose ripped apart, and his cheeks were torn open. Lori kept swinging the mallet on the bandit's face. His face was unrecognizable, and Lori started to beat his brain into mush. David walked towards Lori, but she stopped before he could confront her. Lori grabbed her cane and stood up when she noticed how many eyes were set on her bloody face.
"I'm sorry. I know I went kinda far. But he deserved it. All of them did. You all saw it," said Lori as she continued holding the mallet.
"I saw it," said Leni.
Lori frowned. Bobby and Darcy continued to stare at Lori. Rusty faced away from Lori while Lincoln couldn't stop looking at her.
"Thank you, Lori," said Leni, still tearing up.
Leni walked towards Lori as the group remained silent. Lori dropped the mallet to the ground as it stuck itself into the dirt. Leni wrapped her arms around Lori, not caring about the blood in her shoulder, face, and shirt. Lori hugged Leni back looking at Bobby and David. Bobby hugged Darcy and nodded.
"It's okay. I understand that they pushed you to your limits," said David. "I know the feeling.
"So do I," added Jason.
"Lori continued to hold Leni tight as she closed her eyes. Lori's tears ran down her cheeks, becoming red as they fell to Leni's back.
-May 30, 2016-
"A zombie?" exclaimed May.
"Yes. Most likely that Cassandra will succumb to the infection that turns these people into zombies. I know it sounds really hard to believe, but–"
"No, I believe you. It's just… there's an infection going around the world. And I believe it just hit New York. If she turns… we are fucked."
Cassandra stopped breathing. George's heart started beating faster. He began to breathe heavily as she continued holding the girl.
"What's wrong, George?" asked May.
"She died. I failed Cassie."
May and George held each other in the prison as they comforted each other.
Meanwhile, Sherry climbed up the stairs when she heard a group of agents talking.
"What's taking May so long? It's been an hour!" said an agent.
"We couldn't find her upstairs," said another agent.
"Try looking downstairs," said the other agent.
Sherry heard a group of agents walk down the stairs. She slowly walked back into the basement where she walked slowly towards the tunnel. The footsteps began to get louder and louder. She then ran into the tunnel.
"I think I heard someone!" yelled an agent.
"There!" yelled the other agent. "Son of a bitch. That's Sherry!"
Sherry gasped and activated the magnetic lock on the tunnel door. She then shoved her knife into the wiring that unlocked the door. The agents ran inside the tunnel with their guns in their hands. Sherry wasn't smiling as she ran into the room. She pulled the door and slammed it shut. The agents halted as the looked at the door. There was a small hole in which they saw Sherry inside the room.
"Come out, Sherry!" yelled the agent. "We're going to get inside the room, whether we have to rewire whatever you stabbed or if we have to bust our way in!"
Sherry smiled. She was glad she bought herself enough time to progress the plan. George and May stared at her.
"Did you just lock yourself in?" yelled May.
"Shut up," hissed Sherry.
"You're going to get caught, Sherry. This is your endgame? No, this is the end for you," said George.
"The end? No, this is only the beginning," said Sherry.
"Hey, can you rewire this shit?" asked an agent.
"Yeah. Just in case I can't, can you get someone who can bust open a metal door?" asked the other agent.
"I'll get someone," said another agent. "I'm very claustrophobic."
The agent dashed out of the tunnel. As he walked up the stairs, he was faced with a sight that he wouldn't forget. There were many zombies roaming around in the warehouse, attacking the agents. The man froze as he looked around the warehouse. Suddenly, a zombie bit him in his neck, causing blood to gush out.