by Aaron Guerra
“Wake up!” a familiar voice had said. Tristan opened his eyes to see Velski standing there fully armed with a shotgun in her hand. The woman lifted him up to his feet and handed him a pistol with three clips for it. “Take,” said Velski. He rubbed the back of his head and looked up at the window that he fell from.
“Did I really survive that fall?” he said in awe. Tristan looked around to see that the others weren’t outside with them. “We have to go back and save them!” he said to her. Velski broke the window near them and entered the room without him. “I guess you were going to do that already,” said Tristan. He followed after her with the gun’s safety being switched off. The woman opened the door in the room to enter the 1st floor hallway. From there they could see bloodstains that lead up the stairs to the 2nd floor.
“Look. We go up now,” Velski ordered.
The woman pointed in the direction before placing her finger to her lip. He knew they had to be quiet, or else the creatures would act up again. They slowly walked up the stairs and entered the 2nd floor to see nothing had changed since the last time they were in there. They quickly went up the stairs once more to get to the 3rd floor where some of the normal looking ones were staring down at the floor.
“It’s quiet,” she said. Velski quickly went behind one of the creatures and kicked it’s knee’s out so it’d fall down. She then used the back of the shotgun to smash it’s head which caught the attention of the others.
“Fuck it!” Tristan said. He aimed up and put a bullet in each of their heads. Some of the disgusting creatures came out of the room that they were just in not too long ago. She got in their way and aimed the barrel up near their heads when they were in range. A loud bang echoed through the hall when she pulled the trigger. Their heads had exploded as their bodies took a few steps closer before collapsing to the floor. Tristan ran into the room to see a group of them feeding on something. “NO!” he yelled. The fear of losing someone else to these devilish monsters was unacceptable.
He aimed the handgun down and started to fire at them. Velski walked in and aimed her powerful shotgun to the dead and blasted them off the corpse that they were just feeding off of. His eyes opened up with relief when he saw that it wasn’t one of the others.
“Who is that?” he asked himself. It was a woman, but most of her face was chewed off already.
Tristan stood up from the dead woman’s side and ran through the large hole that the beast had made when it came crashing in. There was nothing in there but a few old rusty lockers in the corner.
“Valerie?! Susan?!” He called out for them, but there was no answer. “Where did they go? WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GO?!” he added. Velski had grabbed him by the back of his shirt and forced him out of the room. She slapped him across the face while taking a step closer to him.
“Find later! Go now before it come again!” she told him. He wiped the sweat off his face and looked to his right to see the bag with food on the floor. Slowly he moved the woman from his sight and headed down the hallway where it was. Tristan knelt down beside it before opening the bag up to see the map from earlier. It had a red circle around the area that they were focusing on earlier.
“They left us a clue. I think I’m starting to remember this place now. It‘s the old factory that had closed down a long time ago. Some workers got in an accident and the owner decided to just shut it down,” Tristan said to her. He picked the map up and showed it to her. “I know how to get there, but it’s dangerous to go on foot,” he said. Velski took the map and examined the streets to see the fastest way to get to that destination.
“We take shortcut. Join them,” she said.
Marilyn was fast asleep on Matthew’s lap in the back of the car. Kim and Roxanne were leaning against each other from the lack of food they’ve had in them, tired and weak.
“Hey, we should find something to eat. I don’t think we’ll make it to the next town in this state,” said Cindy. She was staring at Sarah with a tired look on her face.
“There’s a new problem that we have besides our food issue,” Sarah said. The officer had pointed at the gas symbol which was leaning on the empty side. “We’re running on fumes since the police station earlier. We have to fill it up with gas before we make that journey to Travis. Up for a quick supply run?” she asked Cindy. The soldier in black looked down to hear her stomach growl.
“Yeah, we need to eat,” Cindy replied.
The blonde behind the wheel slowly pulled to the right and stopped by a few gas pumps. It was dark and quiet outside which was a good thing for once.
“Alright, I’ll fill her up while you and the others go inside the store and get some food for us,” said Sarah. She patted the seat to wake the others up from their brief nap. “Wake up and go with Cindy to get some food. I’ll fill up the car for us to get out of here,” she told them.
Matthew opened the door and exited the vehicle to stretch out his body. The other three in the backseat did the same before heading over to the store. Marilyn kept the riot shield with her while Matthew had the magnum in his hand. Kim was holding onto the large hunting knife that Christine had gave her, while Roxanne still had the handgun that Sarah gave her earlier. Cindy also had a large knife in her possession, but she didn’t have it ready for her to use just yet. It was just in it’s little sheath located to the left of her waist.
“Be careful in there,” Sarah had said to herself as she grabbed the pump and opened the hatch to the car. The woman placed the nozzle inside the hole and squeezed the bar down. Nothing was coming out of it. “What the heck?” she said. Sarah quietly slapped herself on the face after she noticed that it required money like always. “I’m so out of it right now,” she said with a light chuckle.
The officer turned over to look at the town that she grew up in. It was quiet, dark and depressing. There were random bodies along the road with crows pecking at them.
“They destroyed this place so fast…” she sadly said. Sarah patted her front pockets then to her back to feel nothing in them. “I need to find some money to use for this gas pump,” she told herself. She slowly walked over to one of the bodies that was near by to examine. The crows flew off when she waved her hands around to scare them away. Her hands went down it’s pants to find a fat wallet inside. Sarah pulled it out and opened it up to see what was inside it. It had pictures of little kids playing with an old man. “They must’ve been his grandchildren,” she had said. They looked so happy together, which made her sad feelings that she kept down, find it’s way back. The woman placed her hand on her mouth to cover the weak sobs that had escaped. The thing started to twitch and move below her which made her drop the wallet and pictures. It reached up towards her with it’s mouth biting the air. Sarah crawled back to see that it couldn’t move much. He must’ve been run over many times when people were trying to get out of town. “I’m so sorry,” Sarah told him. She dodged it’s hand when she went in for the wallet again.
Slowly she pulled out a couple of bills from the wallet and placed them into the machine‘s slot. The sound of something activating inside caught her off guard again, causing her to jolt up for a brief second. Quickly she grabbed the handle to the nozzle and squeezed down to allow the gas to flow into the tank inside vehicle. She stood there for nearly two minutes until some of the liquid started to leak out of the hole. The woman released her grip and tossed the nozzle away before getting into the vehicle.
“Where are they?” she had asked herself.
The corner of her eye caught movement from the distance. It was two women with a young child running down the street together. The thing following them was something she saw earlier that day at the Courthouse. It was a larger version of the normal creatures she’s fought so far. The sight of it made her body tremble with a new kind of fear. The thing stopped in it’s tracks and slowly turned to look at the gas station. It sniffed the air when it caught a strong scent that was coming from there. It slowly turned it’s body to face the area she was in before
it let out a horrible scream. Sarah couldn’t help but cover her ears from the intense sound it was releasing.
Marilyn and Matthew quickly ran to the front of the convenient store to look out the window. They pointed at the monster that they’ve come across many times in the other city.
“That ugly thing followed us here?!” Marilyn said while holding Matthew‘s hand tightly. He broke loose from her grip and went outside as Cindy followed after him. The look on the soldier’s face was new to him when he turned to face her. She was terrified to see the beast in person.
“It killed a lot of our friends already. Good people that wanted to live!” he yelled. Matthew had a tight grip around the magnum’s handle as the large monster roared again. Matthew’s attention turned over to the horde of hungry creatures that were coming from the other side of the street. “We need to get out of here now before it kills us as well. Come on!” he told them. Matthew lead the way to the vehicle where Sarah was still sitting in the driver’s seat, staring at the evil thing.
“Don’t!” Sarah suddenly said.
He backed away from the car to smell gas coming from it.
“Let us in! We have to get out of here now!” he told the officer. Sarah opened the door to get out of the car while staring at the beast still. She never broke eye contact with it.
“We won’t be able to escape from it,” she replied. The woman pointed over towards it’s body to notice something about it. “Unlike the other ones we’ve fought, this one looks like it can chase this car down if it wanted to,” she said. Matthew looked back to see Marilyn with the others near the store.
“I take it you have a plan then?” Matthew asked. He took a step closer to the woman, but she pushed him back with enough force to bring him down to the pavement.
“I do have one, but it doesn’t involve anyone but me. When you see an opening, run. Take them and get the hell out of here!” she had ordered. He quickly got up off the concrete and took a few steps back.
“You must be out of your mind!” he said.
The woman went to the back seat to retrieve Luke’s weapon. She made sure the gas cap was open still before entering the driver’s side.
“Crazy enough I hope,” she said to herself. He watched as the officer drove off towards the monster with the headlights off. The beast had roared again but this time Sarah wasn’t phased by it. She kept driving forth until she turned the bright lights on to blind it.
The woman planted the metal pipe between the pedal and the seat before jumping out. Her body spun around on the hard cold road as the vehicle crashed right into the creature, keeping him pinned against the building behind it. Kim grabbed Cindy’s hand and took her over to where Matthew and Marilyn were standing. The four looked around to see the horde of monsters stumbling over to where the car collided with the beast.
“Was that her plan?! She just wrecked our only way out of town!” Marilyn said as her hands went straight to her face. She tried to process what had just happened.
Roxanne came out from the store with four large plastic bags filled with supplies. The woman looked back at the store to see some of the slow white eyed creatures coming out from the sides.
“We have some company here!” Roxanne told them. Everyone turned around to see more of the monsters creeping out from the shadows when their rotting bodies entered the light. The soldier in black ran over to the teacher to help her carry the bags.
“Everyone let’s hurry up and leave the area before that thing gets loose!” Cindy said. Kim ran back into the gas station to acquire two things that she needed. Cindy and Matthew fought off the dead that tried to follow the girl into the store.
“What the hell is she doing?!” said Marilyn as she had used all of her strength behind the shield to knock two to the ground. Marilyn had saved the woman in red from their failed attempt to grab her.
Sarah slowly stood up from the road as her left arm started to bleed. She looked over to the right to see the group of flesh eaters coming closer to the car. The beast that was pinned by it tried to push it back, but the vehicle was still driving forward against it at full speed due to the pipe that was still keeping the gas pedal down.
“You’re not going anywhere! Never again! The look on your disgusting face shows that you’ve taken many innocent lives!” Sarah had told the beast. The officer lifted her arm up and pointed to it with pure hatred coming from her green eyes. “I hope you burn in hell! I want you to tell the Devil himself that I sent you!” she said.
The pale monstrosity let out a final roar when a flaming bottle came out of the air from behind Sarah. She watched as it shattered near the gas cap with the flames entering inside. The woman covered her face with her arms when the explosion lifted her up off the road. She slowly got up with her left arm twitching a little from landing on it. The flames were reflecting from her green emerald eyes as she watched the thing fall apart from the fire consuming it. But the normal rotting fiends near by turned to face her now. They brought their arms up and started to move a little faster to where she was standing. The officer kicked one back which knocked a few of them down.
“I’ve come too far to die!” Sarah said to herself. She turned around to see that the others were already gone. Just more of the stumbling fools were breaking into the gas station to look for anyone that might’ve been in there. Once again the officer was alone, and she was a little glad about that. Injured and in pain, she continued on foot to find a safe place to rest.
Chapter 8
Time passed since they last heard the nightmarish scream come from behind them. It was dark and hard to see through the powerless neighborhood that they‘ve entered. They couldn’t smell any of the horrible smells that came from the creatures, which meant that they were finally in the clear to catch a break.
“You think we’re safe for now?” Valerie asked while holding Susan’s hand. She had looked around in the quiet dark neighborhood. The child pointed towards a dark blue van that was parked near by. Rebecca went first to see if it was safe for the other two to follow. From upon inspecting the vehicle, she noticed that the back right tire was slashed. Bloody handprints were all over the side of the van along with some strange claw marks.
“It’s safe to come out. There‘s nothing here anymore,” said Rebecca. She waved her hand in the air to signal them to follow. Valerie looked both ways before leaving the tree that they were standing under. Susan ran with her to the van to see the side covered in blood.
“Damn,” Valerie sadly said. She noticed that the tire was useless, which showed that it was useless altogether.
“It’s okay Val. We’ll find another car,” the little girl had said with a bright smile. Valerie knelt down to face the young girl, face to face with the smile coming from her.
“I’m sure you’re right. I also know for a fact that Tristan and that other woman will find us too,” said Valerie. She gently placed her finger on the girl’s nose to get a giggle out of her.
Rebecca couldn’t help but give a soft chuckle as she brushed her hand through her long black hair.
“Let’s keep moving. We’re not that far from the factory,” Rebecca had told them. She pulled out another piece of paper that she had found on a dead OPC soldier along the way. “It says that a rescue team should be arriving there shortly. If we can get there before they leave, we’re home free,” she said. Susan pumped her little fist up high with excitement. Valerie stood up slowly to face Rebecca seriously for the first time.
“You know what I’ve done. I’m sure I’ll be taken into custody as soon as they figure out who I am,” Valerie said. Rebecca looked away for a moment before simply nodding.
“Yes, I’m sure they will do that. I’ll probably join you since I’m the reason this started in the first place. If I only I would’ve stayed alert when transferring that thing, none of this would’ve happened. But being taken in due to delivering a suspicious package was probably going to happen either way,” Rebecca said. Valerie pointed to the woman while til
ting her head slightly.
“If you’re part of that OPC group, why didn’t you just show them your badge or other form of government ID? Unless you never had it to begin with…” Valerie had said to the woman.
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed when she mentioned that minor detail. The woman quickly pulled out her hidden pistol and aimed it at the one she was facing.
“Pretty clever for a stupid girl,” she said. Susan looked away from the scary woman and held onto Valerie tightly. “Too bad you two won’t make it out of this alive. I have to locate that alien first before the OPC does. That‘s my real purpose here,” Rebecca said.
She brought the gun up higher to aim at the blonde woman’s head. Valerie held onto Susan tightly while closing her eyes. A loud gunshot echoed throughout the neighborhood which silenced the young girls sobbing. Valerie opened one eye to see Rebecca walking back with blood coming out of her left shoulder. The woman looked around to see who fired the shot, but it was too dark. The wounded one tried to go for the gun she dropped, but it was shot out of her reach from a precise hit.
“Who’s out there?!” Rebecca let out as she took another step back when two soldiers came forth from the opposite side of the street.
“Rebecca Lee! You are wanted by the OPC for causing the destruction of two cities and endangering the earth,” a man’s voice had said. He came out of the shadows with a long rifle in his hands. The soldier beside him had a machine gun aiming towards Rebecca with her finger resting near the trigger.