Chaos ensues as the group fought and shot their way through the hotel. The amount of undead inside of one building was head spinning. Not long ago, this hotel was lively and clean, now there was monsters everywhere. Blood splattered on the floors and walls in almost every room. Even when they reached the lobby...they found a blaze. Somehow a fire had broken out on the first floor. Once everyone got outside of the hotel, they made their way into a building next door and barricaded the door behind them. Making sure there were no windows or other entrances for the zombies to break into. The group of survivors decided to take this moment to catch a breath before they set foot out there...in the apocolypse.
Jack sat on the cold tile floor, setting a fire axe he had found on his way over to this small conveniance store that the group hurried inside. Asa laid out his body, still keeping a baseball bat his wrestled out of a zombies hand. George sat in the corner of the room, keeping an eye on all possible entry points. A gun in hand, ready for anything that might break inside and attack them. The two women of the group were a little further away, talking amongst themselves. "Well...seeing as we are going to be working together. How about we introduce ourselves?" Jack talked more to the two people he didn't know in the building. "My name is Jack Lane, I might have been a custodian until a few minutes ago but I know how to use a gun and...that's...it really..."
Asa then leaned against the baige wall behind him. "I'm Asa Champion, I'm cute. But that's not very helpful in this situation but I do have some leadership skills. I was assisant manger at Bendy's before!" Asa tried to act casual in front of everyone but his voice was shaky as he spoke.
"George Hanson, I'm a trucker but I'm experienced with a gun and I trained as a boxer." George spoke matter of factly but there was an air of confidence in the way he sat, it seemed he was unfazed with what was going on around them.
The blonde young woman decided to go next, "My name is Scout, I'm from the town of Beltbuckle. Now I may not look it, but I can handle myself. My and Tiara here have been through way worse."
The white haired woman, perked up upon hearing her name. "I'm Tiara by the way, I'm skilled in sniping and my owl can aid us as well ara~."
"Right...looks like we got quite the group here." Jack nodded at everyone, "I think now that we have the moment we should come up with a plan. As of right now...I think it would be best to leave the city. George, you drove here didn't you? Does your truck have enough room for all of us?
George shook his head, "Can't...from what I could see the loading dock at the hotel was completely overrun. We need to find another ride which...will be hard considering everyone and their grandma will be leaving the city as soon as possible. There's also the fact that the roads will be jammed with so much traffic. It's probably better to find something big enough for all us."
"Well...I guess we will have to find a SUV somewhere...walking certainly isn't an option and there's no train that goes through the city either."
"Hey Mr. Janitor? I hope you have an idea to find this SUV of yours...it almost sounds like you're expectin us to relay on luck."
Asa butted into the conversation, "Actually, there's a mall a few blocks away. It usually has a couple of those cars you can win inside. We might find one in there?"
"Hmm, heading to the mall might be our best course of action." Tiara crossed her legs as she sat on top of the counter.
"You mentioned an owl...where is it?" George asked.
"I sent Uhu away, better for him to be far away from the zombies."
"Can you owl...like...act as a scout? The mall we will be heading to is still quite a walk and with everything going on...it would be nice to have an extra pair of eyes. Especially in the sky!" Asa's mood was improving the more they talked and planned out their next course of action.
Tiara nodded, "I can have Uhu lead us away from any danger."
"Wait. Assuming that we do find a car inside of the mall...what if it doesn't work? They can't be very well maintained if they're inside a building all day." George questioned.
"Eh, that won't be a problem. Just get me some tools and I'll set it straight." Scout gave a proud smile."
"Alright. So, we have a plan then. Get to the mall, find a car, fix it if needed and then get the hell out of here." Jack went over their idea one more time, "If there's no other objections, we should head out."
"Why?" Tiara asked, "Is your government going to nuke the city!?"
"Not likely, it hasn't been a day since the outbreak started. If anything, they will only nuke the city if the infestion cant be contained inside of Lone Star City." George reassured Tiara as he stood up from his chair. "Either way we should get going like Jack said. It would be very bad to get overrun by the undead here."
"Actually, quick question here. Is there a gun shop between here and our goal? Or am I going to have to hit every flesh eating green skin with a frying pan?" Scout frowned as she lifted up her blood stained frying pan for all to see.
"Well we're in Texas. We're bound to stumble across a gun or two." Asa sighed as he braced himself for what they were about to do.
Everyone got up from their spots as they slowly walked toward the front door. The glass of the door was barricaded with shelves. Sliding the shelf aside, Jack and George peeked through the glass. Keeping an eye out for any danger. Thankfully, there were only a few zombies walking around. None of which were paying close attention to them. This was probably the best time for them to move. Jack and George peeled away the defense they set up in haste. A few of the members secretly hoping that luck would be on their side and they would just happen upon a pick up truck with a full tank of gas and keys in the ignation.
There were a few undead littered about the streets, though they were far enough away to not gain their attention. Tiara kept her eyes to the sky for her bird who was now leading them towards the safest path. The paths they took seemed eeriely quiet, no other living thing in sight. It was strange seeing such a large city be so devoid of life. Before this sudden disaster happened you couldn't go two steps without seeing another person. Now they are all hiding or trying to escape. Or even worse, some may have met a terrible fate. The group tried to make as little noise as possible while heading to their objective. Some time had passed and their goal was in sight, the mall that was called The Citadel. From where they stood it was quite the big building, but it was there only chance.
Uhu flew back down, it looked like the only way for them to progress was to go through the parking lot which sadly had a large horde awaiting them. "Well...damn..." Jack whispered as he peered out from behind a dumpster. "There's no way we can just go through them."
"We're going to have to draw them somewhere else." George suggested.
"Hey...can't we just take a car from the parking lot?" Asa asked, which prompted everyone to look around for any working cars. It looked like there were a few still around, though one or two seemed totaled while trying to get away from the monsters. A red two door car was slammed into the side of a fast food place while some of the other cars looked like the driver was pulled out and torn apart. It was difficult from where they stood which ones were in good condition or if somehow the creatures damaged them in some way.
"Well does anyone know how to hotwire a car?" Scout asked.
Everyone looked at eachother, waiting for one another to answer. But no one answered.
"Well...let's get moving then. The sooner we get on the road the better..." George suggested.
"Any suggests on how to distract these guys?" Jack asked, he was looking about trying to find something that could make a loud noise.
"Easy. I'll just go somewhere close and fire my gun in the air. I'll just have to meet you guys inside."
Just when George was about to move out, there was a loud banging sound. It sounded like it was coming from the east, the sound itself sounded metallic. It was a steady beat too. Thud...thud...thud. It felt purposeful. The source of the noise however was not visible to any of them. But it was the perfect distraction, the horde of undead slowly shambled toward the sound.
"Huh...I guess someone had the same idea." Scout commented before running out toward the mall.
"Hey wait! We should wait until it's all clear." Jack called out to her. Seeing that Scout wasn't going to wait around everyone followed suit. There were a few a few undead that spotted them and tried to reach out to them but they were quickly beaten over the head with different objects. Everyone hurried across the parking lot and busted through the doors. They find themselves inside a clothing shop that was completely empty. Some of the clothing racks were knocked over. Clothes were on random parts of the floor as well. Splatters of blood on the walls and floor of the store. Evident that the inside was just as dangerous as outside.
"Alright, where is this prized car we're stealing?" Scout turned to Jack and Asa.
"Um...well I usually see it between the Hot Topic and Spencers." Asa walked over to the mall map just outside the clothing store, "So...it should be around here...ish." He pointed to the general area on the map. Which is a wing on the opposite side of the mall.
Even outside of the clothing store, the large corridor seemed lifeless. Besides the 5 of them there wasn't any sign of life or undead. There were signs of a struggle...quite a big one in fact. Benches looked like they were pushed aside, some of the windows on the second floor were shattered, some parts of the floor looked cracked too. But whatever was the cause of such damage wasn't present. Or at the very least wasn't present to them. George looked around the area, taking note of the carnage. "Something isn't right...it looked like a bull ran through here."
Asa seemed a little uneasy from what George said, "Maybe survivors came and fought back. Maybe they forced them outside? I mean they were all outside right?"
"No, I don't think zombies would've been easily pushed back like that." Jack said.
"Oh!" Scout shouted suddenly, "Guys! Gun store!" Scout was already running towards the store near the far end of the hall. The store itself looked mostly untouched. Some of the glass casings holding the weapons were cracked. Whatever guns that were mounted on the wall behind the counter were also missing. "Boys, care to help me with this?"
Everyone gathered around the cases, trying to unlock them or pry them open. Inside were different types of guns. Ranging from desert eagles, rifles and shotguns. After fiddling with the locks for a bit they were quickly opened. Every looting the weapons inside. Searching the store some more, Tiara found some ammo. Everyone took this chance to load their weapons. Jack seemed to be deep in thought as he looked out the cracked window of the store they stood in.
Asa looked toward his coworker, "What's up?"
"It just feels...off. It's really quiet in here. No zombies but no people either. If the zombies were all outside then shouldn't there be other survivors inside? What did all this damage? If it was a horde where did they go?"
"You think too much." Scout dismissed his worries, "Right now we should get moving before those flesh eatin beasties catch up to us."
"I'm just saying we should be careful..."
"Way to state the obvious Sherlock."
"Seriously? We don't even know what's out th-" Before Jack could finish his sentence, George shushed them.
Speaking in a quiet tone he ducked behind one of the counters, "Guys shh...do you feel that?" Everyone was quiet and still as they felt a faint rumbling. The ground shook a little, there was a thud that could be heard from a distance. Slowly it was getting slightly louder. The shaking they felt got stronger too. Everyone quickly followed suit, crowding behind the only protection they had. More sounds could be heard as the booming footsteps drew closer, like heavy breathing from some kind of animal. Carefully peering from the corner, Tiara caught the sight of what was making such a commotion. This creature was unlike any undead they came across so far, it was a towering presence. It's arms alone was larger than any of them. The thing used it's massive arms to walk, it's legs limb and useless as they were dragged across the floor. It's face was missing it's lower jaw, leaving a gaping maw. The bottom half of it's face had blood dripping down onto it's chest. There was no way to tell if it was blood from it's missing jaw or something else entirely. Tiara held her breath as she watched the creature drag itself through the hallway. Tiara slowly returned to cover, trying not to make any sudden movements to alert the monster. Everyone held as still as possible. Silent as they could hear the thudding away. Any sense of safety melted away in that instant.