It was a blessing, this cloudy night. The one good thing about the undead isthat they used to be human. if Chad Jake and I can't see in the dark neither can they. We've now been hiking for hours, things well.... didn't exactly go as planned. Our caravan was heading through the pass on highway 2, we didn't expect to run into a horde that size. hundreds of them. Like usual we were the lead car and the only ones to swerve off the road, hopefully everyone else was ok, we keep a good 20yds between the head car and the rest of the caravan in case of situations like these. good thing old Buick's can take a beating. Besides a few scrapes and bruises we were fine. Just left stumbling through this forest, to tell you the truth I hadn't felt this much at home in awhile. Chad and Jake shared the sentiment also, it might have been the fact that our pursuers couldn't maneuver through the trees and brush for shit, but I'm pretty sure it was that cavemen like us were meant to be wandering through the trees. This is the reason we knew the rest of our caravan had made it out in time. Even though it has only been three days since infection, you don't last this long unless your wired a little differently. As we made our way we really had no idea where we were headed but we kept on. Realizing we needed to start carrying more on us than ammo and whiskey, we walked for a few hours without any motion besides each other until we came to the peak of a hill that opened to what looked like a shadowed valley. Until the clouds let in just enough moonlight to make out the odd shaped rooftops and dutch trimmings, it took a minute but all the way up here in the pass we realized that it had to be Levinworth. We were surprised we hadn't figured out where the horde from a few hours ago had come from until we saw the war torn novelty village. There wasn't much motion besides a few shadowed figures so I put away the pistol grip and pulled out the only thing I would trust more than the cavemen with me, there's nothing comparable to 21 inches of solid steel and knowing what you're about to do with it. The others followed suit, one of the few things we have learned in the past few days is that a few stealthy decapitations can keep you from attracting a "cavalcade of decaying flesh" as Jake likes to call it. Entering the city was easy it felt more like practice, the three of us with tandem melee attacks almost turned it into a competition of who could claim the most heads. With dried out whiskey mouths the first order of business was water, so we scavenged a subway we used to stop at on our snowboarding trips to Stevens only to find some chocolate milk and a bottle of diet coke. It was better then nothing but the shop was hardly a place to rest, Chad noticed a warehouse down a few blocks. You could see a flashing orange light in the window and it looked easily fortifiable. On the plus side the few hunched over moving shadows gave us a chance to score some more points, and hopefully we could find a cb to get a hold of everyone and if god willing some wheels. We made it to the side door of the warehouse with no problem so far we are all winning our twisted little game. The doors heavy, but easy to pry open, this could be a good thing if it kept out the former inhabitants of the town, or fuck us if the horrors of the initial outbreak are trapped in here. We keep the guns holstered as to not draw unwanted attention to our home for the night, and because we cant leave the score tied. Chad goes first with his trusty axe and Jake covers the rear with two knives that look like they were meant to kill buffalo. Once inside all we can see is the spinning orange light in the center of the warehouse that appears to be filled with unused machinery of some sort. Its quiet for a minute, until Jake closes the door behind us a little louder then expected sending the unseen flesh eaters who were waiting patiently in the dark for a meal howling at us. Between not trying to cut each others heads off while decapitating our enemy's, and that damn orange light that turned this into some kind of twisted rave that made it extremely hard to see, we had forgoten to keep score all together. After 20 minutes of fighting we made it up the stairs to some sort of office/tool shed, we couldn't see shit and decided to lock the door behind us and get some rest.
I woke up to Chad staring out the window, the sunrise was peaking over the mountains and the only word that came to mind was beautiful. That is until u look down at the blood covered streets, smashed in store fronts, and gnawed on body's. To distract my mind from the usual thoughts of anger and strange revenge I want to deal out to all of these mindless cannibals I start looking around the room. while digging through one of the cabinets Chad finds a cb, it was the perfect start to our day. As we all eagerly huddled around it switching from channel to channel is when we heard them it was hard to make out with all of the interference from the surrounding mountains, but from what we could tell our comrades were pinned between the horde that had taken my buick and seperated us from them the night before, and the angry undead residents of gold bar a town that we had passed before the incident. They were asking for help, or so we were guessing from the frantic sounds in there voices. Without words Chad and I start scanning the streets from the window, after about ten minutes of arguing the killing power between a Toyota prius and a Subaru we heard a womans shriek, as we raced down the stairs powered by some sense of chivalry we stood at the landing staring at Jake. The first thing I noticed was the biggest shit eating grin I had ever seen, I panned from his face to his hands where he was holding the tarp that was concealing the most epic fucking rotary snow plow of all time. Now that Chad and I had the same maniacal looks carved on our faces, we started loading the tools of the trade there was something about loading my shotgun, some sense of Christmas morning mixed with the suspense of rage and power balled into one. I'm sure Chad felt the same way with the way he was looking at his mp5, and Jake looked like he was holding the love of his life for this first time as he pushed the drum round into his ar15. With the recent death of my Buick I was without words nominated to be the driver while Jake and Chad took the satisfying job of standing on the side of the centered driver seat to keep stragglers at bay. We had been keeping so quiet for the past 24 hours I don't know if our body's or animalistic tendency's would have made it possible not to scream when that beast of a machines diesel motor roared to life, it felt like our battle cries harmonized with the black smoke bellowing out of the stacks. We probably could have opened the warehouse doors but we didn't think of it until we brought life back to Leavenworth with the sound of our fury smashing through.
The effectiveness of our new means of transportation was clear as the 6ft tall 10ft wide spiraling snow blower on the front mowed down the few undead bastards left in town, this beast of burden from hell would have sent any sane person running. As we left the little dutch blood bath behind the fear of not making it in time was creeping in on me up hill wasn't to slow but not fast enough, the down hills made up for it though. As we got closer it was hard to hear, but there was gun fire, we were almost there.
As we peaked the last hill we could see them held up at the base of it on rooftops. The size of the horde surrounding them could have been seen from space. It was alot more then we expected, but like the cavemen we are this only traded the fear we had for the few friends left on this god forsaken planet, with a chance to unleash the same rage that had helped us survive all this time. against the bastards who had taken our world away. Extremely outnumbered and with a cause that we were born for.
I felt two hands grasp my shoulders as I pushed the gas peddle in harder then I ever had before, and felt my whole life gain meaning as we slammed into the sea of undead flesh. We mowed through them with a purpose leaving nothing but a velvet carpet of entrails behind us. It was like riding Cerberus through a elementary school during recess.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Knumbrrrr SLEVIN aka PaleFucks (cont.)
Racing for the locker room doors we hear the first one. Hear it in our bones. The band saw sound. Half cringe, half sprint the Cavemen are running. The Cavewomen too. Six for the doors, ten guarding the doors, five guarding the Guests. Xander and I are in the first group. Always. Never send a soldier to a place you don't dare tread yourself.
"They're in! Lock down that fucking exit!!" The order comes from me but the group is already in motion. Not our first rodeo. We all have our parts. "Controlled shots! Cover the sides!"
The screeching grows massively louder as more and more funnel in. The clacking of their feet against the tile floors is a grim reminder of what's to come. We've never really fought these things. Two. Only TWO out of over three dozen were dead. Those two were hard enough.
"I'm goin in! Watch my ass!" DUDE7, in full sprint throws himself against the door. Bad move. The odd muscle structure of the creatures becomes evident at once. DUDE7 is thrown 30 feet through the air the moment the first PaleFuck charges the entrance. He lands in a sickening pile, motionless. No time now. Get to him later.
At once we all open fire. Front row on a knee. Back row laying into the open doorway as they advance. One, two, three...They keep coming. Four, five, six, the bodies are starting to pile up. Slowly, methodically they approach the door. The back group of ten Cavepeople reach us just as the PaleFucks stop. Everything stops.
All at once there is a dead silence. Hearts pumping, Xander and I charge the doors. We drop our guns and take up arms. D34TH sings as she's set free. Xander pulls both machetes off his back and we are thrown into hell. Three PaleFucks break through the threshold and are on us in an instant. Fuck they're fast!
D34TH takes a Pale life as the first monster slashes at my head. It misses as I step under its arm and rise through the bloated body. For all their muscles, they don't do well against my Steel. The gut sack bursts open as the Pale falls to the floor. In two.
Xander, on overdrive, charges his knees into the chest of the next Fuck and is claiming it's head before they hit the ground. A scissor action from both machetes assured him of this trophy. The third gets away.
It's too fast for our gunners and quickly get us into a crossfire situation. Too fuckin smart too. Xander and I maintain our focus on the locker rooms while the others handle the situation behind. The straggler leaps over our lines with ease and is upon the Guests. Too close for guns.
The creature rips into a mother and daughter as they scream. The mother covers her daughter as best she can. It shows no mercy. Leading with its claws it quickly kills it's meal. The mother stops screaming. The child doesn't. The crowd panics and runs towards the back wall. It sees them. It chases them. It catches one. A large man by the name of Edward is taken down like a safari dinner. Tackled from behind he heaves as he makes contact with the court. At once the monster runs his fingers through Eddie's skull. Ed's dead baby. Ed's dead.
"FUCKER!!!" LADY2 drains the Pale with the .12 gauge and sprints towards the little girl. Stacy is only 8 years old. She's terrified. LADY2 is on her in an instant and wrapping her wounds. Stacy's bleeding from the head, arms, back. Her mother saved her life. Barely. "You're okay...you're okay...you'll be just fine. Don't worry...."
Two more Pales want to try their luck. DUDE3 and LADY3 put an end to that. One bullet in one eye each. Dead aim. I charge forward, with Xander just behind. Four more break into the gym. Too close to us for the group to open fire. So we handle it.
Two jump at Xander. One catches a blade, the other catches Xander. With a swift hook across the soft jaw Xander topples the beast. Armed with a single machete he takes over the role of Hunter. The Pale is actually running from Xander as LADY7 separates its head from its stomach. Piano wire and a weight make for a surprisingly affective medium range weapon. If used correctly. Which she does. The wire wrapped around its neck, and with a tug, trophy time.
"That was mine!" Xander loves trophies. He's smiling.
"Doors!" LADY7 yells as she throws Xan his other machete.
Back at the doors I had my hands full. The two wights charge me. One survives. I pivot passed the first and thrust into the mouth of the next. It slides down my blade and I can see it's face. For the first time. Featureless skulls wrapped in skin. Massive jaws and mandible muscles. Elongated, brown, shark teeth lined the mouth. Deep sockets containing bulging red eyes. Racquetballs. These things are built to hunt at night. Efficiently.
I can't wait another second. I continue my blade upwards through the base of it's brain and finish the job. This next Pale was a smart fucker though. Kept me between himself, and our guns. Most of which were still trained on the door.
"You good!?!?" DUDE3 yells.
"Fine for now!! Watch the door! NO MORE GET IN!!" I yell back. All focus is now on the door.
With one exception. LADY3 is running to help me. I don't need it. The maggotfarm in front of me screams as it swipes for my legs. I move in time. Just. I feel it's nails rip at my body-armor. It holds. Just.
LADY3 reaches my side and the skinny Ramone looking bastard takes notice. She stands ready just behind my left shoulder. I try to block her but it's too damned fast. It takes its shot. It hits. It pivots to its right and runs LADY3 through the shoulder. Four fingers deep. I take the thumb in my bicep.
In one, flawless, effortless motion I attack. D34TH in my right hand and death in my mind. I swing tight across my body, under the monster's right arm. I remove it. I follow the flow up and around into its left shoulder and out through the right armpit. It dies. She falls.
The four fingers that were in LADY3's shoulder are now out. The thumb is still in my bicep, deeper now. She hits the floor. I charge the door. The fear for her is hurting more then the arm. I remove the pale arm at the thumb. Not sure if it hit the artery. Not gonna take that chance. But her...
The others are already surrounding the door. They are ajar and we can see the light from outside trickling in through the dust in the air. Occasional shadows break the light. We tense up. These things are smart. Fucking smart!
I have our braces in hand sprinting towards the others. One PaleFuck rips the silence like lightning in the sky. The loudest and highest pitched yet. A horrible sound that deafens. A concussion grenade in your eardrum. We're all stunned. But even more so when the other Pales start to leave. Not quietly. Every single one of them sounding off as they exit the building. They took our numbers down. We did better.
"They're.........leaving?" LADY3 asks through the pain. Her voice distorted by the ringing. Her hair covering her face. Sticking to the cold sweat. She smiles at me. I run to her.
We batten down the doors and barricade ourselves in. They kept at it all night long. PaleFucks singing us to hell. No one slept. Not that night. Some of us didn't sleep for weeks afterwards. But it still wasn't over. Not yet. We had wounded. We needed supplies.
I was sitting with LADY3 in my arms. Gently holding her and treating her wound the best I could. She's lucky. It just got through muscle. No major damage. But she bled a lot. She's weaker then I've ever seen her. It surprises me. She sees it.
"I'm fine." she says through a meek smile. Trying to comfort me. "Really. It just hurts. I'll be okay."
"I know....I just..." She's smiling at me. I can't help but smile back. I lean in and kiss her on the forehead. She takes a deep breath.
"AAAAGH!!" DUDE7 has a few broken ribs. X and LADY1 are bandaging him. Doesn't help the mood.
"We need to get to the hospital guys. We NEED supplies."
"I agree with Xander. We need supplies bad. Plus, we can always take more for later." I tend to agree with X. That's why this works.
"Well we're not going anywhere tonight. We should wait for morning. See if they go away." LADY2 was right. She sat holding Stacy in her arms. The little,terrified, motherless girl was finally quite. Might be shock. LADY2 managed to stop the bleeding but we needed something to treat the wounds.
"If I had to make a call, I'd say their skin doesn't hold up well to the sun." LADY1 interjects.
"Or at last doesn't SEE it much..." I counter.
"If we go out, who goes?" LADY4 asks.
"Xander and I will take DUDE4, DUDE3, DUDE5, LADY5, and LADY1." Only one person questions me. X.
"You good?" referring to my arm. He already knows the answer. It's all for show.
"Course I am, asshole. " I smile. We had carefully removed the thumb from my arm when I realized my blood flow was okay. Still hurts like hell. Some kind of bacteria in there. We need Antibiotics.
"Then it's decided. All in favor of waiting out the night and going for supplies tomorrow?" Xander takes a vote. We all raise our hands. Even some Guests. They don't count. "Good. Then a small group'll go out for supplies tomorrow. The rest need to defend this shelter. We may be here for a while..."
"They're in! Lock down that fucking exit!!" The order comes from me but the group is already in motion. Not our first rodeo. We all have our parts. "Controlled shots! Cover the sides!"
The screeching grows massively louder as more and more funnel in. The clacking of their feet against the tile floors is a grim reminder of what's to come. We've never really fought these things. Two. Only TWO out of over three dozen were dead. Those two were hard enough.
"I'm goin in! Watch my ass!" DUDE7, in full sprint throws himself against the door. Bad move. The odd muscle structure of the creatures becomes evident at once. DUDE7 is thrown 30 feet through the air the moment the first PaleFuck charges the entrance. He lands in a sickening pile, motionless. No time now. Get to him later.
At once we all open fire. Front row on a knee. Back row laying into the open doorway as they advance. One, two, three...They keep coming. Four, five, six, the bodies are starting to pile up. Slowly, methodically they approach the door. The back group of ten Cavepeople reach us just as the PaleFucks stop. Everything stops.
All at once there is a dead silence. Hearts pumping, Xander and I charge the doors. We drop our guns and take up arms. D34TH sings as she's set free. Xander pulls both machetes off his back and we are thrown into hell. Three PaleFucks break through the threshold and are on us in an instant. Fuck they're fast!
D34TH takes a Pale life as the first monster slashes at my head. It misses as I step under its arm and rise through the bloated body. For all their muscles, they don't do well against my Steel. The gut sack bursts open as the Pale falls to the floor. In two.
Xander, on overdrive, charges his knees into the chest of the next Fuck and is claiming it's head before they hit the ground. A scissor action from both machetes assured him of this trophy. The third gets away.
It's too fast for our gunners and quickly get us into a crossfire situation. Too fuckin smart too. Xander and I maintain our focus on the locker rooms while the others handle the situation behind. The straggler leaps over our lines with ease and is upon the Guests. Too close for guns.
The creature rips into a mother and daughter as they scream. The mother covers her daughter as best she can. It shows no mercy. Leading with its claws it quickly kills it's meal. The mother stops screaming. The child doesn't. The crowd panics and runs towards the back wall. It sees them. It chases them. It catches one. A large man by the name of Edward is taken down like a safari dinner. Tackled from behind he heaves as he makes contact with the court. At once the monster runs his fingers through Eddie's skull. Ed's dead baby. Ed's dead.
"FUCKER!!!" LADY2 drains the Pale with the .12 gauge and sprints towards the little girl. Stacy is only 8 years old. She's terrified. LADY2 is on her in an instant and wrapping her wounds. Stacy's bleeding from the head, arms, back. Her mother saved her life. Barely. "You're okay...you're okay...you'll be just fine. Don't worry...."
Two more Pales want to try their luck. DUDE3 and LADY3 put an end to that. One bullet in one eye each. Dead aim. I charge forward, with Xander just behind. Four more break into the gym. Too close to us for the group to open fire. So we handle it.
Two jump at Xander. One catches a blade, the other catches Xander. With a swift hook across the soft jaw Xander topples the beast. Armed with a single machete he takes over the role of Hunter. The Pale is actually running from Xander as LADY7 separates its head from its stomach. Piano wire and a weight make for a surprisingly affective medium range weapon. If used correctly. Which she does. The wire wrapped around its neck, and with a tug, trophy time.
"That was mine!" Xander loves trophies. He's smiling.
"Doors!" LADY7 yells as she throws Xan his other machete.
Back at the doors I had my hands full. The two wights charge me. One survives. I pivot passed the first and thrust into the mouth of the next. It slides down my blade and I can see it's face. For the first time. Featureless skulls wrapped in skin. Massive jaws and mandible muscles. Elongated, brown, shark teeth lined the mouth. Deep sockets containing bulging red eyes. Racquetballs. These things are built to hunt at night. Efficiently.
I can't wait another second. I continue my blade upwards through the base of it's brain and finish the job. This next Pale was a smart fucker though. Kept me between himself, and our guns. Most of which were still trained on the door.
"You good!?!?" DUDE3 yells.
"Fine for now!! Watch the door! NO MORE GET IN!!" I yell back. All focus is now on the door.
With one exception. LADY3 is running to help me. I don't need it. The maggotfarm in front of me screams as it swipes for my legs. I move in time. Just. I feel it's nails rip at my body-armor. It holds. Just.
LADY3 reaches my side and the skinny Ramone looking bastard takes notice. She stands ready just behind my left shoulder. I try to block her but it's too damned fast. It takes its shot. It hits. It pivots to its right and runs LADY3 through the shoulder. Four fingers deep. I take the thumb in my bicep.
In one, flawless, effortless motion I attack. D34TH in my right hand and death in my mind. I swing tight across my body, under the monster's right arm. I remove it. I follow the flow up and around into its left shoulder and out through the right armpit. It dies. She falls.
The four fingers that were in LADY3's shoulder are now out. The thumb is still in my bicep, deeper now. She hits the floor. I charge the door. The fear for her is hurting more then the arm. I remove the pale arm at the thumb. Not sure if it hit the artery. Not gonna take that chance. But her...
The others are already surrounding the door. They are ajar and we can see the light from outside trickling in through the dust in the air. Occasional shadows break the light. We tense up. These things are smart. Fucking smart!
I have our braces in hand sprinting towards the others. One PaleFuck rips the silence like lightning in the sky. The loudest and highest pitched yet. A horrible sound that deafens. A concussion grenade in your eardrum. We're all stunned. But even more so when the other Pales start to leave. Not quietly. Every single one of them sounding off as they exit the building. They took our numbers down. We did better.
"They're.........leaving?" LADY3 asks through the pain. Her voice distorted by the ringing. Her hair covering her face. Sticking to the cold sweat. She smiles at me. I run to her.
We batten down the doors and barricade ourselves in. They kept at it all night long. PaleFucks singing us to hell. No one slept. Not that night. Some of us didn't sleep for weeks afterwards. But it still wasn't over. Not yet. We had wounded. We needed supplies.
I was sitting with LADY3 in my arms. Gently holding her and treating her wound the best I could. She's lucky. It just got through muscle. No major damage. But she bled a lot. She's weaker then I've ever seen her. It surprises me. She sees it.
"I'm fine." she says through a meek smile. Trying to comfort me. "Really. It just hurts. I'll be okay."
"I know....I just..." She's smiling at me. I can't help but smile back. I lean in and kiss her on the forehead. She takes a deep breath.
"AAAAGH!!" DUDE7 has a few broken ribs. X and LADY1 are bandaging him. Doesn't help the mood.
"We need to get to the hospital guys. We NEED supplies."
"I agree with Xander. We need supplies bad. Plus, we can always take more for later." I tend to agree with X. That's why this works.
"Well we're not going anywhere tonight. We should wait for morning. See if they go away." LADY2 was right. She sat holding Stacy in her arms. The little,terrified, motherless girl was finally quite. Might be shock. LADY2 managed to stop the bleeding but we needed something to treat the wounds.
"If I had to make a call, I'd say their skin doesn't hold up well to the sun." LADY1 interjects.
"Or at last doesn't SEE it much..." I counter.
"If we go out, who goes?" LADY4 asks.
"Xander and I will take DUDE4, DUDE3, DUDE5, LADY5, and LADY1." Only one person questions me. X.
"You good?" referring to my arm. He already knows the answer. It's all for show.
"Course I am, asshole. " I smile. We had carefully removed the thumb from my arm when I realized my blood flow was okay. Still hurts like hell. Some kind of bacteria in there. We need Antibiotics.
"Then it's decided. All in favor of waiting out the night and going for supplies tomorrow?" Xander takes a vote. We all raise our hands. Even some Guests. They don't count. "Good. Then a small group'll go out for supplies tomorrow. The rest need to defend this shelter. We may be here for a while..."
Friday, July 23, 2010
NUMBA SIKS a.k.a. PaleFucks
It happened around Thanksgiving. We had gathered a rather large group. Too large. Not even knowing these people, we allowed them to endangered our lives. A smaller group of about 8-12 people or independent groups of 8-12 working together, like us, are the best ways of combating this horde. Any more and you may attract unwanted attention. It's the noise that does it. That many voices, all whispering. The sound really travels when people don't exist anymore. No more people. Only survivors. Of those, there are the useful, and there are the dead.
We were sneaking through the dimly lit streets of _LOCATION_OMITTED_. Passed apartments and office spaces. Passed schools and homes. The Zombies here, like in most places, took over quickly. They ate. A lot. And, when there's no more food, you don't just hang around, you go and find it. So they do. They march. They take the streets and hunt. They never get too far. Never out of their town or city. Just around and through it.
One of the eeriest things to watch, a Zombie March. Brains simplistic enough to keep to the roads and follow them to more meat. They would fill the streets. Shoulder to shoulder all trying to get food. Shuffling their feet. Moaning. All in unison. It's not a soundtrack that I ever wish to here again. But at least they leave. It is nice to see them go when you need an open path to shelter.
The group is whispering quietly to each other. Scared hushes from mothers to daughters. Trembling fathers attempting to comfort their sons. All of this will get us killed. Our group was split into two, like always. Xander with his 12 and me with my 9 plus 18. We were, after all, the group that had a majority vote FOR this. New rule: Democracy sucks in a Zombunist Society.
This mass of stupidity around me is akin to a herd of grass-grazers being led to slaughter. Thinking that just because they're following the guys with the guns that they're gonna be just fine. Hunky-Dorie. But the truth was that these people weren't of any use except becoming more ammo for the other side. I should've done them in. I should've killed them all before we ever got going.
LADY1 chimes in first. She's almost always the first to get things rolling. Even if she never really leads the conversation, her opinion is still well noted amongst us. Has been for a while now. She speaks in our usual whisper words, "Where can we go? There's way too many of us to camp out now."
"THEY ain't US. But, the only place around here close enough is the gym. We can pretty easily control those entrances and exits too." DUDE1 wastes no time in getting his opinion heard as well.
"We can even get back into the locker rooms if we have to. Barricade ourselves in. The problem would be the exit..." the guy's got a lot of pull, so when Xander agrees, it's pretty much a sealed deal.
I remind them, "We DID check the place out on the way through right? So...who went into the locker rooms?"
"Me" Dude2
"Okay, are there any windows at all?"
"I don't remember. I think so."
"Alright, think harder. Who scoped out the West side of the building?"
"I did" LADY2's confident quite voice.
"Do you remember it being a solid wall? Or were there windows? It'd be pretty obvious."
"There were, yeah. But they were near the ground. Kinda small."
"Could I-?"
"Get through? Yeah. It's some of the newbies..."
"If we have to, we leave them. End of story."
"WE VOTED! YOU CAN'T!" LADY3. It's hard to say no to her sometimes.
"Shut it! It's done! I'm not risking all of us for these people. No way. Not us. Not you. Not me. If it comes down to it, we cut them loose. Got it?" only sometimes.
"...Fine" she begrudgingly concedes. "Just promise me you'll do everything you can before that happens to help them. Okay?"
"No" sometimes. "These people are not who I-"
"Shh!"
Collectively silencing ourselves, we hear it. A sound only 21 people have ever heard. Our twenty-one. Waiting in the apartment as they passed on the street that day. Now they're back. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them. And the main coarse is on Main Street. Goddamn it. We run. All together, we run.
Xander's group takes point clearing away any stragglers that missed the march. There aren't many. LADY3 stays behind our new crowd to make sure they're safe. Not her job.
"What the fuck are you doing? You do want to live, right?" I hold back as much as I can.
"I-"
"Get to the damn gym. NOW. I've got this."
"You can't."
"I am. Go."
"Not alone. I'll stay."
"The reason I'm here is so you don't have to be. Now go. Please."
It's there in my voice. I can't hide it this time. She's never known how I really felt. Until now. I see the tear she tries to hide as she ducks her head and sprints towards the gym. It's 2 miles away. Tough girl.
"GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR!!! I'M NOT HERE FOR YOU!"
They run. Our new guests are running. For the first time showing some motivation.
A crackle on the walkie and I hear Xander, "What the hell are you doing? Leave 'em!"
"I told LADY3 I wouldn't."
"Not that shit again...FINE." the dead click on the other end was comforting. Within seconds Xander is at my side with DUDE3, DUDE5, and DUDE4. "We'll take up the rear with ya."
"Fine. but don't shoot until-"
"AAAAAAAAaaauuuuuuuuhhhhh. uUUUUUuaaaaaah." a sick chorus line of death-heaves and scraping toes. They see us.
"Shit. Rifles." with mine already out I release the bindings of the safety that have held back My Aggression. She sings. One round at a time. One skull at a time. Slowly. Methodically. Every. Bullet. Counts.
Xander and the others have already moved up and are prone on stoops and planters.
"Carefully guys. One at a time. Aim DUDE5!!! FUCK!" Xander maintains control and carefully sweeps his M1 Garand across the school of dead fish on two legs. Eight rounds. Eight kills. The clear ping of an empty clip. "Goddamn that was awesome! I wish I had more clips.." He's smiling and laughing.
I fire a round through the left eye of a charge nurse. "Maybe now you could just use it as a back-up bat!" So am I.
"Fuck that." He leaves the rifle and swings the MP5 from his shoulder as we advance up the road. DUDE4 takes down three entire rows before his clip is done.
DUDE3 takes his marksmanship a little serious. Posted up on a nearby rooftop he clears the road ahead of us. Carefully taking down targets around our 18 new pieces of flesh with his 7.62 NATO rounds. They tear through their victims like a hot knife through Zombie brain. "Guys. We're clear up here. The path for our 'Guests' is open and they're almost to the doors."
"Moving." I pat Xander's shoulder to let him know I'm there. He peels off and we're all in a dead sprint for the gym. We must've put a mile and a half of deader bodies in the street on our way up to the gymnasium. Lots of rounds...Fucking new people..."Sorry about this shit guys."
"Don't...worry about it now. We can always....find more. If we...cut the fat....tonight...we should have enough....for Us." Even in broken speech it calms me right down. Xander gets me to focus.
As we round the last corner we can see the gym ahead of us. It's what we hear behind us gets our attention though. Screams higher pitched then we've ever heard. Zombies for sure. It sounds like a band saw shredding vocal chords and gargling on the blood. A noise so loud and horrible everyone cowers. Except us. Xander and Me. We stood. We began looking down the street for the source. Half expecting something to be crawling on the walls. No such luck. Before the blackout we heard the virus can mutate the host in order to keep it alive. We never imagined this.
There were a few dozen of them. Pale. Pasty. Nearly skin and bones. Their skin is almost invisible, tightly stretched across muscle and bone, but it has a distinct sheen to it. Eggshells. Through the skin you can see the obviously defined and toned muscles beneath. They look oddly strong and agile for it looking so malnourished. Stretch marks and sores strech the length of their bulbous, blue, grotesque guts. They had large dark brown nails that resemble claws on the tip of every finger. Long, thick, jet black hairs lightly covering the head. The glowing red eyes easily visible through the parts in the sheet of hair. The other zombies didn't leave because they finished eating. They left because they were out hunted! These pale fuckers ate more then their share of this city. That was obvious.
"What the fuck are those things!?!??" DUDE5 has a valid question.
"Dead." I fire my equally valid answer through the frontal lobe of the first PaleFuck. It dies in and equally agreeable manner. Then they're gone. In the blink of an eye the entire group was gone. "......fuck"
"RUUUN!!!" Xander gets our blood boiling and our legs pistoning towards the gym. Not far now.
We reach the doors just as we hear the first of them sprinting towards us. A sickly clattering of its overgrown toe nails on the concrete. Their speed is incredible. His reflexes are better. With a swing of the rifle DUDE3 has loaded a round and scoped his target. He drains the afterlife out of the PaleFuck four feet in front of me. Its speed causes the creature to crumble into my shins. The feeling of its skin is impossible to describe. But the feeling it gave me was undeniable. Dread. For the first time I could feel the terror of the world at my feet. Right here was why I do this. To violently rip this feeling from the face of my Earth. I pound my size 12 through its skull.
LADY2 opens the door like a bullet when she hears the gunshot. The five of us cram into the doorway and we quickly barricade it with our usual supplies.
LADY3's in my arms before I realize it. I have to cut it short. No time for this. I take her by the shoulders and stare into her. I nod and smirk. She understands.
"W-w-w-what the fuck was THAT!?!! The last note of Martha's poorly timed question gets an even poorer response.
"THAT, BITCH, IS WHAT SHOULDA BEEN EATIN YOUR ASS!!!" DUDE5 can't hold it back anymore. Like all of us, he's been pushed to the edge. We didn't make our promise to each other for THEM after all. We were in this for Us, not Them. Martha starts crying. Mr. Martha STARTS to get up. Mr. Martha looks at Xander. Mister sits down. Good boy.
"Are all the doors sealed already?" DUDE3 asks the pertinent questions.
"Me, DUDE7, LADY3 and LADY6 sealed off the gym and swept the locker rooms when we got in. We're all clear." as LADY2 said it the first PaleFuck tried the door. Throwing it's body against the doors causing them to nearly imploded in on themselves. Lucky for our homemade braces. They seem to hold just fine. We did design them for this after all.
More and more they try. Feverishly they try. Pounding the doors over and over. Wailing their malignant, throaty harmonies. Our new guests are just about pissing themselves. In every possible way the PaleFucks try to get at our guests. Every way. Except one.
The breaking of the glass can faintly be heard behind the hollow screeching outside They're too damned fast. Too fucking smart. They used our exit against us. Bastards. Pale fucks...
We were sneaking through the dimly lit streets of _LOCATION_OMITTED_. Passed apartments and office spaces. Passed schools and homes. The Zombies here, like in most places, took over quickly. They ate. A lot. And, when there's no more food, you don't just hang around, you go and find it. So they do. They march. They take the streets and hunt. They never get too far. Never out of their town or city. Just around and through it.
One of the eeriest things to watch, a Zombie March. Brains simplistic enough to keep to the roads and follow them to more meat. They would fill the streets. Shoulder to shoulder all trying to get food. Shuffling their feet. Moaning. All in unison. It's not a soundtrack that I ever wish to here again. But at least they leave. It is nice to see them go when you need an open path to shelter.
The group is whispering quietly to each other. Scared hushes from mothers to daughters. Trembling fathers attempting to comfort their sons. All of this will get us killed. Our group was split into two, like always. Xander with his 12 and me with my 9 plus 18. We were, after all, the group that had a majority vote FOR this. New rule: Democracy sucks in a Zombunist Society.
This mass of stupidity around me is akin to a herd of grass-grazers being led to slaughter. Thinking that just because they're following the guys with the guns that they're gonna be just fine. Hunky-Dorie. But the truth was that these people weren't of any use except becoming more ammo for the other side. I should've done them in. I should've killed them all before we ever got going.
LADY1 chimes in first. She's almost always the first to get things rolling. Even if she never really leads the conversation, her opinion is still well noted amongst us. Has been for a while now. She speaks in our usual whisper words, "Where can we go? There's way too many of us to camp out now."
"THEY ain't US. But, the only place around here close enough is the gym. We can pretty easily control those entrances and exits too." DUDE1 wastes no time in getting his opinion heard as well.
"We can even get back into the locker rooms if we have to. Barricade ourselves in. The problem would be the exit..." the guy's got a lot of pull, so when Xander agrees, it's pretty much a sealed deal.
I remind them, "We DID check the place out on the way through right? So...who went into the locker rooms?"
"Me" Dude2
"Okay, are there any windows at all?"
"I don't remember. I think so."
"Alright, think harder. Who scoped out the West side of the building?"
"I did" LADY2's confident quite voice.
"Do you remember it being a solid wall? Or were there windows? It'd be pretty obvious."
"There were, yeah. But they were near the ground. Kinda small."
"Could I-?"
"Get through? Yeah. It's some of the newbies..."
"If we have to, we leave them. End of story."
"WE VOTED! YOU CAN'T!" LADY3. It's hard to say no to her sometimes.
"Shut it! It's done! I'm not risking all of us for these people. No way. Not us. Not you. Not me. If it comes down to it, we cut them loose. Got it?" only sometimes.
"...Fine" she begrudgingly concedes. "Just promise me you'll do everything you can before that happens to help them. Okay?"
"No" sometimes. "These people are not who I-"
"Shh!"
Collectively silencing ourselves, we hear it. A sound only 21 people have ever heard. Our twenty-one. Waiting in the apartment as they passed on the street that day. Now they're back. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them. And the main coarse is on Main Street. Goddamn it. We run. All together, we run.
Xander's group takes point clearing away any stragglers that missed the march. There aren't many. LADY3 stays behind our new crowd to make sure they're safe. Not her job.
"What the fuck are you doing? You do want to live, right?" I hold back as much as I can.
"I-"
"Get to the damn gym. NOW. I've got this."
"You can't."
"I am. Go."
"Not alone. I'll stay."
"The reason I'm here is so you don't have to be. Now go. Please."
It's there in my voice. I can't hide it this time. She's never known how I really felt. Until now. I see the tear she tries to hide as she ducks her head and sprints towards the gym. It's 2 miles away. Tough girl.
"GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR!!! I'M NOT HERE FOR YOU!"
They run. Our new guests are running. For the first time showing some motivation.
A crackle on the walkie and I hear Xander, "What the hell are you doing? Leave 'em!"
"I told LADY3 I wouldn't."
"Not that shit again...FINE." the dead click on the other end was comforting. Within seconds Xander is at my side with DUDE3, DUDE5, and DUDE4. "We'll take up the rear with ya."
"Fine. but don't shoot until-"
"AAAAAAAAaaauuuuuuuuhhhhh. uUUUUUuaaaaaah." a sick chorus line of death-heaves and scraping toes. They see us.
"Shit. Rifles." with mine already out I release the bindings of the safety that have held back My Aggression. She sings. One round at a time. One skull at a time. Slowly. Methodically. Every. Bullet. Counts.
Xander and the others have already moved up and are prone on stoops and planters.
"Carefully guys. One at a time. Aim DUDE5!!! FUCK!" Xander maintains control and carefully sweeps his M1 Garand across the school of dead fish on two legs. Eight rounds. Eight kills. The clear ping of an empty clip. "Goddamn that was awesome! I wish I had more clips.." He's smiling and laughing.
I fire a round through the left eye of a charge nurse. "Maybe now you could just use it as a back-up bat!" So am I.
"Fuck that." He leaves the rifle and swings the MP5 from his shoulder as we advance up the road. DUDE4 takes down three entire rows before his clip is done.
DUDE3 takes his marksmanship a little serious. Posted up on a nearby rooftop he clears the road ahead of us. Carefully taking down targets around our 18 new pieces of flesh with his 7.62 NATO rounds. They tear through their victims like a hot knife through Zombie brain. "Guys. We're clear up here. The path for our 'Guests' is open and they're almost to the doors."
"Moving." I pat Xander's shoulder to let him know I'm there. He peels off and we're all in a dead sprint for the gym. We must've put a mile and a half of deader bodies in the street on our way up to the gymnasium. Lots of rounds...Fucking new people..."Sorry about this shit guys."
"Don't...worry about it now. We can always....find more. If we...cut the fat....tonight...we should have enough....for Us." Even in broken speech it calms me right down. Xander gets me to focus.
As we round the last corner we can see the gym ahead of us. It's what we hear behind us gets our attention though. Screams higher pitched then we've ever heard. Zombies for sure. It sounds like a band saw shredding vocal chords and gargling on the blood. A noise so loud and horrible everyone cowers. Except us. Xander and Me. We stood. We began looking down the street for the source. Half expecting something to be crawling on the walls. No such luck. Before the blackout we heard the virus can mutate the host in order to keep it alive. We never imagined this.
There were a few dozen of them. Pale. Pasty. Nearly skin and bones. Their skin is almost invisible, tightly stretched across muscle and bone, but it has a distinct sheen to it. Eggshells. Through the skin you can see the obviously defined and toned muscles beneath. They look oddly strong and agile for it looking so malnourished. Stretch marks and sores strech the length of their bulbous, blue, grotesque guts. They had large dark brown nails that resemble claws on the tip of every finger. Long, thick, jet black hairs lightly covering the head. The glowing red eyes easily visible through the parts in the sheet of hair. The other zombies didn't leave because they finished eating. They left because they were out hunted! These pale fuckers ate more then their share of this city. That was obvious.
"What the fuck are those things!?!??" DUDE5 has a valid question.
"Dead." I fire my equally valid answer through the frontal lobe of the first PaleFuck. It dies in and equally agreeable manner. Then they're gone. In the blink of an eye the entire group was gone. "......fuck"
"RUUUN!!!" Xander gets our blood boiling and our legs pistoning towards the gym. Not far now.
We reach the doors just as we hear the first of them sprinting towards us. A sickly clattering of its overgrown toe nails on the concrete. Their speed is incredible. His reflexes are better. With a swing of the rifle DUDE3 has loaded a round and scoped his target. He drains the afterlife out of the PaleFuck four feet in front of me. Its speed causes the creature to crumble into my shins. The feeling of its skin is impossible to describe. But the feeling it gave me was undeniable. Dread. For the first time I could feel the terror of the world at my feet. Right here was why I do this. To violently rip this feeling from the face of my Earth. I pound my size 12 through its skull.
LADY2 opens the door like a bullet when she hears the gunshot. The five of us cram into the doorway and we quickly barricade it with our usual supplies.
LADY3's in my arms before I realize it. I have to cut it short. No time for this. I take her by the shoulders and stare into her. I nod and smirk. She understands.
"W-w-w-what the fuck was THAT!?!! The last note of Martha's poorly timed question gets an even poorer response.
"THAT, BITCH, IS WHAT SHOULDA BEEN EATIN YOUR ASS!!!" DUDE5 can't hold it back anymore. Like all of us, he's been pushed to the edge. We didn't make our promise to each other for THEM after all. We were in this for Us, not Them. Martha starts crying. Mr. Martha STARTS to get up. Mr. Martha looks at Xander. Mister sits down. Good boy.
"Are all the doors sealed already?" DUDE3 asks the pertinent questions.
"Me, DUDE7, LADY3 and LADY6 sealed off the gym and swept the locker rooms when we got in. We're all clear." as LADY2 said it the first PaleFuck tried the door. Throwing it's body against the doors causing them to nearly imploded in on themselves. Lucky for our homemade braces. They seem to hold just fine. We did design them for this after all.
More and more they try. Feverishly they try. Pounding the doors over and over. Wailing their malignant, throaty harmonies. Our new guests are just about pissing themselves. In every possible way the PaleFucks try to get at our guests. Every way. Except one.
The breaking of the glass can faintly be heard behind the hollow screeching outside They're too damned fast. Too fucking smart. They used our exit against us. Bastards. Pale fucks...
SHORT PIECE NUMBA FIVE!!!
...My legs are on fire as I come across the clearing. It's the first one I've seen in miles. It's large and mostly circular. Surrounded on all sides by the same dense forest I just emerged from. I can barely make out the boulder at the far side in the pale moonlight. It's perfect. I can take cover, take a breather, then make for the other side without them seeing me. It's only another 300 yards away. No time to rest. Gotta get there. Fast.
I can hear the meatsacks behind me breaking branches and collapsing in the thick brush. Zombies aren't good at navigation. But they don't have to be when they don't need to rest or sleep. 200 yards.
The first of them appears at the tree line just as I spot it. The boulder. It wasn't a boulder at all. It stood up. VERY up. Roughly 8 feet tall and weighing half a ton. The biggest zombie yet...WAS A FUCKING BEAR!
I fall as I plant my feet and take a header into the mud. I rise in time to see his glowing red eyes as he lowers his head and begins to charge. My Legs act independent of my body. I'm on my feet in an instant, turning and running up the hill towards the tree line. Towards my former followers.
All I have is D34TH. So I get up close and personal. The curved edge of the Japanese sword is beautiful as it slices through a body. The lack of blood spray means the victims are a bit harder to get through. But, when you're fleeing like a child from a flu shot the sized of a VW van, you get PLENTY of adrenaline to aid in the endeavor.
An unholy howl billows through the trees. Not caused by the dismembered visages in front of me. Not from the hulk behind me. From within me. My body is on fire. Any thought of control is thrown out the window. From now on, I deal in instinct alone. I allow my body to defend itself. Allow my brain to shut down all unnecessary paths. This is not an act of savagery. It is a game of survival. They lose.
The bodies fall around me like leaves in the wind. I cut one diagonally from it's right hip to it's left shoulder blade then through head of the next one in the way. I grasp the blade in my cold, hard, hands and drive it through the head of the elderly woman in front of me. She still smells of moth balls. Damn. A quick twist of the wrists and she slides free of the blade. Surprisingly soft skulls at that age.
I continue the blade from the left shoulder to the right arm pit of "Eric" the mechanic. Then a single-handed beheading of a husky housewife into a vertical cut from the katana-gash of zombie stripper #13 through her right breast implant and shoulder. Right in half. I smile as I watch the Saline glimmer against the Japanese Steel. Then I run as I see the reflection of Dead-Bear in the newly cleaned blade.
It continues on like this. Seemingly forever. I swing, they die. Simple concept really. Swing at the neck. It's the quickest way to dispatch them. Or just take them out at the feet. Not going to be a huge threat on stumps. A construction worker decides to bite my blade. Bad move. I pop his top. His massive bloated tongue hangs down beyond what's left of his mandible and he collapses.
That's when I hear him. For the first time in what feels like forever. After this complete cluster-fuck of asinine bull-shittery, I'll never fight will him again. Fuck that. I'd rather be wrong then raped by a bear AND skin-walkers.
"Xander!!!"
"HERE!!!!" he hears me immediately.
A few more strides. A dozen or so more deadites. I swipe low on an especially lanky zed and take him off at both femurs. I'll never forget the odd sound of cutting through a femur. When you feel the blade quiver there is no doubt that this is the strongest bone in the body. Best to stay away from there.
The next six go down without a hitch. The seventh and eighth were works of art. Managed to get five good cuts through each one's face before any others were on me. I've never been a fan of Abstract pieces. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. I finish the next group in record time and finally see my brother again.
"I'm sorry man!" we say in unison. Him, covered in mud and sweet. Me, covered in mud, sweet, blood, and my own piss. ZOMBIE. BEAR. Fuck you.
"There are a shit-ton behind me still and a fuckin BEAR."
"I know. What the fuck though? A bear? At least it stopped at the edge of the clearing. He's eating the people zombies."
"Well? Any plans? My arms are on fire here. Not to mention my legs and balls..."
"Balls?"
"I blasted myself tryin one of those samurai moves."
"Throat?"
"Not yet. Chest."
"Let's go then!"
"Where?"
"Follow me!"
So we ran. More and more fucking running. I'm a truck. Built for power. Not mileage. I'm dyin here. But we ran. Fans in tow. Like the zombie Beatles. Up hills, through trees, under logs. Soaking wet. Caked in mud. We came to it. A massive clearing ending in a 500 foot shear cliff edge. A nice comfy bed of death waiting on the rocks below.
"Here...Here!" he thrusts a rope into my hands.
"Shut the fuck up. Where's the camera? This is a fuckin joke right?"
"You have to man. I know you can." at least that's one of us...
"Fuck. Me. I can barely hold D34TH. How am I supposed to do this?"
"You just man handled a good FIFTY zombies in one sitting. While being chased by a zombiebear...UPHILL. You can climb down a fuckin rope, pussy." he always know just what to say.
"At least hold my blade bitch." we both smile.
"Don't worry. I've already anchored 'em. There's plenty of slack so just go when you're ready."
As we go over the edge we see the dead nearly on us. Greedy as pigs. That's what kills 'em. Off they go. No real concept of depth I guess. They all just jumped at the empty space where meat used to be. One by one.
We found a small ledge to stand on and watched. Zombie base jumping. Xtreme Edition. Two by three now. There must have been dozens more. All following a pack mentality. One of our basest emotions. No real thought of our own. All just...jumping. If every zombie in your class jumped off a ledge, would you? Yes. Turns out, yes, you would.
It wasn't long until we started making wishes. Shooting stars and meat-eor showers...
I can hear the meatsacks behind me breaking branches and collapsing in the thick brush. Zombies aren't good at navigation. But they don't have to be when they don't need to rest or sleep. 200 yards.
The first of them appears at the tree line just as I spot it. The boulder. It wasn't a boulder at all. It stood up. VERY up. Roughly 8 feet tall and weighing half a ton. The biggest zombie yet...WAS A FUCKING BEAR!
I fall as I plant my feet and take a header into the mud. I rise in time to see his glowing red eyes as he lowers his head and begins to charge. My Legs act independent of my body. I'm on my feet in an instant, turning and running up the hill towards the tree line. Towards my former followers.
All I have is D34TH. So I get up close and personal. The curved edge of the Japanese sword is beautiful as it slices through a body. The lack of blood spray means the victims are a bit harder to get through. But, when you're fleeing like a child from a flu shot the sized of a VW van, you get PLENTY of adrenaline to aid in the endeavor.
An unholy howl billows through the trees. Not caused by the dismembered visages in front of me. Not from the hulk behind me. From within me. My body is on fire. Any thought of control is thrown out the window. From now on, I deal in instinct alone. I allow my body to defend itself. Allow my brain to shut down all unnecessary paths. This is not an act of savagery. It is a game of survival. They lose.
The bodies fall around me like leaves in the wind. I cut one diagonally from it's right hip to it's left shoulder blade then through head of the next one in the way. I grasp the blade in my cold, hard, hands and drive it through the head of the elderly woman in front of me. She still smells of moth balls. Damn. A quick twist of the wrists and she slides free of the blade. Surprisingly soft skulls at that age.
I continue the blade from the left shoulder to the right arm pit of "Eric" the mechanic. Then a single-handed beheading of a husky housewife into a vertical cut from the katana-gash of zombie stripper #13 through her right breast implant and shoulder. Right in half. I smile as I watch the Saline glimmer against the Japanese Steel. Then I run as I see the reflection of Dead-Bear in the newly cleaned blade.
It continues on like this. Seemingly forever. I swing, they die. Simple concept really. Swing at the neck. It's the quickest way to dispatch them. Or just take them out at the feet. Not going to be a huge threat on stumps. A construction worker decides to bite my blade. Bad move. I pop his top. His massive bloated tongue hangs down beyond what's left of his mandible and he collapses.
That's when I hear him. For the first time in what feels like forever. After this complete cluster-fuck of asinine bull-shittery, I'll never fight will him again. Fuck that. I'd rather be wrong then raped by a bear AND skin-walkers.
"Xander!!!"
"HERE!!!!" he hears me immediately.
A few more strides. A dozen or so more deadites. I swipe low on an especially lanky zed and take him off at both femurs. I'll never forget the odd sound of cutting through a femur. When you feel the blade quiver there is no doubt that this is the strongest bone in the body. Best to stay away from there.
The next six go down without a hitch. The seventh and eighth were works of art. Managed to get five good cuts through each one's face before any others were on me. I've never been a fan of Abstract pieces. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. I finish the next group in record time and finally see my brother again.
"I'm sorry man!" we say in unison. Him, covered in mud and sweet. Me, covered in mud, sweet, blood, and my own piss. ZOMBIE. BEAR. Fuck you.
"There are a shit-ton behind me still and a fuckin BEAR."
"I know. What the fuck though? A bear? At least it stopped at the edge of the clearing. He's eating the people zombies."
"Well? Any plans? My arms are on fire here. Not to mention my legs and balls..."
"Balls?"
"I blasted myself tryin one of those samurai moves."
"Throat?"
"Not yet. Chest."
"Let's go then!"
"Where?"
"Follow me!"
So we ran. More and more fucking running. I'm a truck. Built for power. Not mileage. I'm dyin here. But we ran. Fans in tow. Like the zombie Beatles. Up hills, through trees, under logs. Soaking wet. Caked in mud. We came to it. A massive clearing ending in a 500 foot shear cliff edge. A nice comfy bed of death waiting on the rocks below.
"Here...Here!" he thrusts a rope into my hands.
"Shut the fuck up. Where's the camera? This is a fuckin joke right?"
"You have to man. I know you can." at least that's one of us...
"Fuck. Me. I can barely hold D34TH. How am I supposed to do this?"
"You just man handled a good FIFTY zombies in one sitting. While being chased by a zombiebear...UPHILL. You can climb down a fuckin rope, pussy." he always know just what to say.
"At least hold my blade bitch." we both smile.
"Don't worry. I've already anchored 'em. There's plenty of slack so just go when you're ready."
As we go over the edge we see the dead nearly on us. Greedy as pigs. That's what kills 'em. Off they go. No real concept of depth I guess. They all just jumped at the empty space where meat used to be. One by one.
We found a small ledge to stand on and watched. Zombie base jumping. Xtreme Edition. Two by three now. There must have been dozens more. All following a pack mentality. One of our basest emotions. No real thought of our own. All just...jumping. If every zombie in your class jumped off a ledge, would you? Yes. Turns out, yes, you would.
It wasn't long until we started making wishes. Shooting stars and meat-eor showers...
Thursday, July 22, 2010
=======EXCERPT FOUR============
"This is the place..." He sounds amped. Ready for anything. He wasn't. Neither of us were.
As we approached the bodyshop we could here the buzzing almost immediately. But the smell...For the first time I knew in my heart that smell was one of Ours. It had to be. I always hated being the realist. We hadn't seen or heard anyone for miles. Just the low hum of the dead off in the distance. Not a good sign. Now this?
"There. The bay door. It looks like it's open a bit. Let's go!"
"ZOM. BEES. Dude." His emotions are running high. I need to stop him. "Seriously can't afford to be emotional right now. Just calm down and BREATH. We do this like always. Slow."
He said no more as we came upon the doors through a shroud of insects. I placed myself to one side of the door and began lifting. Xander covered me with the pump action. The door was heavier then I thought it would be. X quickly grabs something to prop the door open and the two of us slowly advance through the small opening.
The floor was slick. There was oil everywhere. Or at least what we thought was oil. I found a light switch almost immediately but to no avail. They seemed like the rest of the World, either dead, or dying. We waited nearly 4 minutes stumbling around in the dark before the lights began flickering weakly. Struggling to illuminate the horror before us, one florescent turned on, one light was all we needed...
There _NAME_DELETED_ was. Dried patches of blood matted in hair. Limbs broken and twisted in unnatural angles. Large chunks of flesh missing from various places. Apple on the arm. Steak on the thigh. But the face. Strangely untouched. Almost peaceful. _NAME_DELETED_ wasn't coming back as one of them. ___ was dead-dead. So really, ___ was in the better place.
He looked, for the first time, broken. His reflection in bloody pool was accurate. We were Red. The Rage came upon us almost immediately. If they weren't lifeless, brainless, murder-machines, I'd almost feel sorry for them. For what we were about to do to them. I could feel the heat growing in me. The hatred. The desire to kill. I wanted release. WE needed it, and we were going to get it. _NAME_DELETED_was one of Us. They were all gonna die for this.
"Shit man." He snaps me out of it.
"What?"
"Some of these bites are fresh..."
"You thinkin Return Feeders?
"Can't be many"
"Too bad. I'm REALLY in the mood to FUCKING KILL!!!"
We storm out the door when we hear the first of them come. Xander with the pump action in hand and Machete on deck. Me with my MP5s. Dylan to his Dutch.
"FUCK!?!" it surprised the shit out of me. "'Can't be too many'. You just HAD to fuckin say it!"
"Shut up and shoot!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
As it builds in us we begin to enjoy what we're doing. We're almost laughing as we gun them down. Children. All of them. The body was too decomposed and gnawed upon to tell that they were little zombie kiddie teeth. There had to be 30 or 40. My prayers were answered. I was looking for a slaughter. Some were very young and thin. Malnourished zombies. Not hard to tell that they didn't even have enough mature teeth the survive. Which would explain why the body lasted this long.
"Jimmy! Aaron! Becky! Kacey!" he screams out names for each one he takes. And it only got worse from there.
-----------STAY TUNED---------------
******NUMBER THREEEEEEEEEEE******
"What are we gonna DO!?! THEY'RE ALMOST IN!" damn children...they never just shut the fuck up.
"Shut the fuck up and let me think!" thanks X. "It's not like there's a secret 'Zombie Repellent' you little shit! We should just throw you out and run for it!"
Now we have a crying, scared, pissing child. Great.
"Every one calm. The fuck. Down. We ARE the Goddamn repellent!"
Both barrels are on fire as the door implodes on us. Masses of rotting flesh collapsing and clambering through the narrow death hole. Quickly reloading the .12 gauge I witness the piss soaked boy being bitten. No thought. Just reaction. One barrel for the dead women with the full mouth. One for the former child and future blood stain.
"What are we gonna DO!?! THEY'RE ALMOST IN!" damn children...they never just shut the fuck up.
"Shut the fuck up and let me think!" thanks X. "It's not like there's a secret 'Zombie Repellent' you little shit! We should just throw you out and run for it!"
Now we have a crying, scared, pissing child. Great.
"Every one calm. The fuck. Down. We ARE the Goddamn repellent!"
Both barrels are on fire as the door implodes on us. Masses of rotting flesh collapsing and clambering through the narrow death hole. Quickly reloading the .12 gauge I witness the piss soaked boy being bitten. No thought. Just reaction. One barrel for the dead women with the full mouth. One for the former child and future blood stain.
::::EXCERPT TWO::::
It took over 12 hours. Somewhere, we knew the sun had come up. We just couldn't see passed It. 12 hours. TWELVE godforsaken hours...and the climb seemed to take even longer. On the other side was The End. We knew. We could feel it. One way or another, this was it. So, limbs shaking, hearts pounding, exhausted, muscles tight, we climbed. One by one. We climbed. It was an odd feeling, the wetness. But we kept at it. Then, at last, we came to the top.
Looking down, we could finally grasp it. The pile was at least 2 stories high. Not to mention what the floor consisted of. Good news was there was finally more light coming from the other side of the stadium. The sun was there. We already knew it was. Just lost for a while.
"Is it ova?" the rage once again brought out Bawstin.
"I...think so..." he can sense my hesitance. Always can.
"You bit?" for the first and last time, I hear concern in his voice.
"No.....you?" same.
"Nah...what the fuck...." an odd sense of defeat on his breath.
"I think we killed 'em all..."
"Whaddya mean awl?"
"All of.......THEM."
"The zombies? No fukkin way?"
"Do you see anymore?"
We stumbled down the heaping, slippery, red mass of bodies, weapons in hand. We can't have killed them ALL. We knew that. Of course we did. We didn't survive this just to get picked off by some half-assed-fatty-str
Breaching the double doors of the stadium we stood. Examining. The sun was hot, but, the air billowing from the stadium was hotter. The stench of death was undeniable. But once you've been fighting for as long as we have. It's just another warm breeze.
The soft touch of the sun on what little skin was exposed was welcoming. We can feel it as it cakes and dries ours victims to us. Who were they kidding? They came in here with no weapons, some with missing limbs, and expected what? Mercy? They were all pussies. We had their number. Knew where to hit. Cut. Bash. Shoot. These ASSHOLES killed ___*spoiler*___! We'll never get them back. Some we even had to give BACK to Death.
You should all be here today. But that wasn't your story, it was ours. For that, we are truly sorry. To all that have left us and all that remain. We love you. As Men would. All of this....is for you.
At the entrance we stood. Still clinging to our last lines. Machete. Katana. Our hacking friends. Then it struck us. There it was. Nothing but bodies. For miles. We did what we came here to do. Now's it's ours.
"We challenged...and they came. We won." the confidence back in my throat.
"...xtreme"
Not a whisper. Nor mumble. Spoken as if to conceal darker means. Weak, but more powerful then any word uttered before it. The only word worthy of the exploit.
"Time for phase two..." he says through a tired and battered head. His smile, bigger then ever....
That was an excerpt from "Xtreme: The Origin of the End of The World". More to be followed. In book form.
TVOG
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