Chapter XXI: Escape

AN:

Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!

And that's a wrap! Another one down. This one was particularly difficult - I meandered a lot between the more zombie-esque idea and the more resident-evil vibes, and I think I settled a little too far into the resident evil side of things? I might do a sequel post-collapse that goes a bit more Walking Dead in vibe, or maybe one directly after the present-day throughline, but currently the story is complete.

Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

They sprinted back to the border, avoiding guards and the infected along the way. Their previous spot had been too exposed, so David guided them up to the second floor of a small industrial building. The windows were covered with wire mesh, and the glass was clouded with dirt enough to conceal them.

Chloe leaned in to a lighter patch to watch outside. There were still guards at the post, though not as many as before. They were throwing the bodies into a pile. Most of them did their work in staid silence, but a couple of them were loudly bitching about it.

She took the chance to scan up and down the wall. "The plan isn't gonna work."

"What?" Max walked up beside her - it had been her plan, after all.

Chloe just gestured to the wall. "Look at it. Fuckin' look at it all. There's no way we can get through."

"What's the situation?" David strode over to join Max and Chloe.

"Bunch of assholes patrolling, and the wall looks pretty damn secure." She shook her head. "I don't see how this shit is gonna work."

"That'd make our plan difficult." David agreed. "The moment they see us coming, they'll start shooting and those truck trailers aren't bulletproof."

Chloe nodded. "Unless you've got something else that can cut through the walls without making enough noise to drag all those murderous fucks over to us."

"That's-" Max froze. "Oh. That's brilliant, Chloe!"

Chloe turned to look at her in utter befuddlement. "What?"

"Look, the place is far too well guarded for a straight run with the truck, right? So, we just need to get rid of the guards. Set up a distraction." She grinned. "Make some noise, right?"

Chloe's mouth split into a wicked smirk. "Hey Rach, you-"

"Finish that sentence and I end you, Price." Rachel gave a wicked smirk of her own, turned back to Max. "Now, Maxie, what are you thinking for this distraction?"

"Fireworks. Lots of fireworks. And maybe some gunfire first, a little bit further up the wall? Enough that you could run back in- what, fifteen minutes now?"

"Yep. That we can do."

"Alright. It's a plan." Chloe ruffled Max's hair with a smirk. "Nice work, Maxie. You might actually get us out of this alive."

Max beamed.

—

She could hear the gunfire in the distance, and so could the guards. Faces popping up in alarm all over the wall, guns pointed down the way. She saw an important looking figure - suit and executive haircut and everything - gesturing and gesticulating wildly, sending troops down to the noise.

The wall was still heavily guarded, but not quite as suicidally so. The plan was on.

Five minutes later, she heard a honk and she headed downstairs to meet with the others. The truck was impressive, a full eighteen wheeler covered in fireworks. Rachel flung open the door and beamed. "Get in, bitch. We're going shopping."

Max grinned and clambered up into the cab, where Chloe was manically tapping her hands on the wheel in a rhythm she recognised as an old Led Zeppelin song. Though her street cred was slightly reduced as she'd seen it in a movie, never actually heard the song.

She strapped in at the admonishment of a violently stressed David. The man was quivering with it. The moment her seatbelt clicked, Chloe whooped and whirled the eighteen wheeler (and trailer) back around away from the border. They needed the space. She paused at the final road, a straight run through. "Everything ready?" Max asked.

Chloe drawled, "Oh yeah." and then floored it.

Their iron horse was more of an iron elephant. It slowly lumbered into motion, engine rumbling. But to the occupants, Max and the rest, it felt impressive. As the houses and shops of Boring moved past, the truck began to pick up speed. And then they let off the fireworks.

Their ride became a cloud of lights and smoke, sending chaos through the quarantine soldiers as many of them fired aimlessly into the noise while many others simply got the hell out of the way.

They jolted as the truck rammed into the wall, but only once as it plowed through and onward. The force of it brought down a significant portion of the wall, and the infected that had followed in their wake attacked, driving their own way through the barrier.

As they drove off into the distance, they saw the light of the bombs hitting behind them.

—

"And that was that." The Stranger shook her head, chuckled. "Between the bombs spreading the virus and the breaks in the barricade, quarantine was lost and the virus spread. Without enough workers maintaining critical infrastructure - like power stations - things started failing in days. It took a few years for it to truly take everything, but eventually all society was damned."

They all sat for a moment, digesting, until Andrea broke the silence, "What happened to them?"

"Hmm?" The Stranger tilted her head.

"Chloe and everyone else. What happened?"

The Stranger shrugged. "What happens to everyone, I suppose. Life. Death. All that exists in between. "

"Oh, come on, Stranger." Adi protested, "You can't leave it there! What happened to everyone?"

The woman sighed. "Alright, alright. Well, David? He's running a PMC of sorts, helping take out herds and nests of those things where he can. Rose helps out. She's kind of a badass now. I check in, every now and again. They're doing okay. Helping people."

Adi buzzed with interest.

"The Others?" The Stranger continued, "Dana, Juliet, Rachel, Chloe. They took off. They got a hint about the Prescotts and the people who caused this. Hiding off in some mansion in the middle of nowhere. I haven't heard from them in years, but I hope they're getting what they need."

"And Max - She's right in front of you." The old woman smiled, freckles evident in the low sunlight. Her eyes took on this odd, not-quite bluish hue in the light, and she almost looked washed out. Like the background of an old picture. I had to focus a bit, to properly hear what she was saying. She took a breath, paused. Thought. "I have a mystery of my own to find, but I travel a lot, mostly. Trying to see what I can, help keep hope going." (AN1)

She looked up at the sun, now rising. "You should probably get back to your settlement, if you want to return with no-one the wiser for your visit. Come back again, if you want more. I'll be here a while."

We all swore, dashed to our feet, scrambled apologies as we scrambled back to camp. The Stranger - Max - laughed lightly as we leave. We made it back to safety easily, neatly skipping around the border guards and back to our homes.

I settled back into my bed and grinned at the ceiling. I couldn't wait for another story.

—

AN1 - I don't know why, but I really enjoy the idea of Max as a sort of zombieland Doctor Who/battle grandma. Wandering around, trying to inspire people to help others and fight problems where they happen. Also yes, that is another plot hook for a possible sequel someday.