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Description
“Everybody ready?”

Bill looked around the safe room to see the others were making last minute preparations by cramming their backpacks with as much ammunition as possible. Their customized health packs took up quite a bit of room in the bag, but it was necessary to ensure that they could patch themselves up if a zombie was able to get through their bullets. Everybody grunted a ‘no’ and kept stuffing their backpacks, so he took another look around at the place they slept in for the day.

Another survivor party before them had retro-fitted the room with iron doors to keep the zombies from bashing the doors down and stocked the room with all kinds of ammunition. There was ammo for everyone; ammo for Zoey’s scoped Ruger Mini-14 hunting rifle, Louis’s M16A2 assault rifle, Francis’s Benelli M4 Super 90 semi-automatic shotgun, and ammo for M1911pistols that everyone had two of. Bill also carried a shotgun like Francis, but found his ammo already since he got up early in the twilight hours while everyone else was sleeping.

Bill scanned the room one more time and noticed some graffiti on one wall. He stepped right up to the wall for a better view and saw a drawing of a bomb about to land on a stick figure’s head. *I hope we don’t have to repeat the end of WWII on our own soil.*

“Alright, let’s go!” Bill turned around to see Francis head over to the iron door and lift the bar off its holders so the door could open. Bill was about to argue that everyone still wasn’t ready when he saw Zoey and Louis waiting beside the door. *Oops!* Getting his butt into gear, he joined his comrades as they left the sanctity of their safe room.

--

The four survivors left the safe room and entered a garage/office room with a white van parked right in the middle. A few zombies were sprinkled around the room and were quickly taken out by Louis. After a quick check for ammo or Molotov’s/pipe bombs, which brought up nothing, the group made their way to the only door that led outside, but not before Francis spoke his mind.

“I hate vans.”

Bill shook his head before slowly turning the knob and opening the door as quietly as possible. The other side of the door revealed a stretch of street that was blocked off. A few buildings and houses were caught in this blocked off section of Riverside town. Bill looked around while the others took care of infected nearby and saw a house that seemed to be modified by the government. *Looks like they held out for a while.* He could see that there was no longer a door in the front and zombies were walking around in the front yard.

“Let’s check out that house for supplies.” Everyone else made sure any zombies around weren’t a threat to them at the moment before looking at the house Bill was pointing at. They agreed before heading towards the house with lights on its roof. Bill took a quick glance at the Army Humvee parked near the door they came through and spotted a pipe bomb on the fender. He broke from the group for a second to pick up the useful contraption and clipped it to his belt.

Bill was about to rejoin the group and watch their backs as they made their way to the house when he heard a scream that ended in harsh coughing. *Smoker!* Before he could call out to his comrades and spot the swarm of bugs that always floated above a smoker, something slimy wrapped itself around his body. He looked at his torso to see the disgusting tongue of the smoker was constricting him, making him drop his shotgun. Suddenly he felt himself being dragged away from the house towards the buildings. He looked back to see the smoker was on the rooftops pulling his tongue with his hands.

“A smoker has Bill!” Zoey took a glance back to make sure everyone was following when she saw Bill being dragged. She quickly looked through the scope on her hunting rifle and found the smoker. Taking careful aim, she fired off a shot through the smoker’s head and watched his head explode, sending a cloud of smoke out where he was standing.

“Nice shot.” Louis had looked up just in time to see the smoker go down as he and Francis made their way to Bill, who was getting on his feet again after freeing himself from the long tongue. After the two made sure Bill was okay and getting back to Zoey, they finally made their way to the house. Bodies in army clothes were scattered everywhere in the house, but the house was still in good shape. There was running water and everyone took a chance to clean their faces and any open wounds they had.

An army crate near the kitchen had ammo on it and everyone replenished their supplies. Bill finished first again and decided to explore the house. He went through a bedroom to find a small bathroom with pain pills and a health pack. “I’m going to need the pain pills.” He quickly pocked the bottle of pills and made his way back to the group with the health pack. After distributing the contents inside and hearing that Francis had found another bottle of pain pills on a kitchen counter, Bill brought out the town map.“Let’s see here. We are here, on the outskirts of Riverside and we need to reach the river here. Looks like we’re almost there.”

“Looks like the only thing between us and the river is the Riverside Park, which seems to be right behind the street we just crossed.” Zoey seemed to be the only other one interested in the map as the Louis and Francis were looking around for any horde of infected that might appear. “Come on guys, let get going!” She reloaded her hunting rifle and ran towards the back door.

Everyone else was right on her heels as they crossed the back yard and entered a wide expanse of area that was bare. A dirt road crossed the area and went in between two rocky hills before disappearing into a bunch of trees of the presumed park. A small shed with a fence seemed to be the entrance as three vehicles were parked in front of it.

Bill was leading the group through the area and was almost to the cars when he stopped dead in his tracks. Everyone else behind him stopped too and carefully walked up to Bill to see what made him stop. As the footsteps stopped a small cry and sniffling was heard nearby. “Careful, there’s a witch near the van.” All eyes turned towards the bumper of the car and spotted a pair of glowing red eyes. “Everyone go around the three cars entirely with no lights on so we don’t disturb her and Francis?” Bill turned around to see Francis staring at the witch before cocking his shotgun, but stopped looking when he noticed Bill looking at him.

“Fine old man, no dead witch today.” Bill smiled as he watched Francis go off while mumbling under his breath. Bill and Zoey made their way to the left while Francis and Louis went right. The witch didn’t even growl slightly as there was enough room to pass her by. Once they reached the shed, they quickly searched it to find another bottle of pain pills, which Louis took this time, and another med kit, which they took only what they needed before coming back to the entrance of the park.

“Riverside Park…hmm, I don’t recall seeing a horror movie set in a park of any kind. Sorry guys, I don’t have any clichéd advice for you before we go in.” Zoey turned around from the park’s sign to see the guys chuckling and soon joined them before they started trekking up the trail. A park trashcan holding a fire greeted them as they reached the top of the trail hill. Bill signaled the group to stop as he took a survey of the park.

A slightly dense patch of trees were spotted along the trail which led to a cooking area with a roof. Bill noticed a large light source coming off in the distance when he saw a house off the trail a bit and it was in the direction of the light source. An idea formed in his head and he quickly brought out the pipe bomb that he found earlier. Taking the cigarette from his mouth, he lit the fuse on top the pipe bomb. After that he turned on the smoke alarm that was attached to it and quickly hurled it down the path.

“Fire in the whole!” There wasn’t much to hide behind, but the four descended the hill a bit as they watched every infected in the area swarm to the loud beeping of the pipe bomb. Luckily, just as the last zombie made it to the cluster, the bomb went off and disintegrated the zombie horde. Those on the outside of the horde went to pieces as their body parts went through the air, along with a shower of blood. The blood shower no longer took toll on the survivors as they were now used to it raining down on them.

“To that house over there!” Everyone looked towards the house and ran for it as they didn’t want to be caught fighting zombies surrounded by trees. They quickly took out a few infected that followed them and entered the house. While everyone except Zoey took a breather, she grabbed a bottle of pain pills, looked out the window, and saw the river.

“We made it the river guys!” Everyone gave a forced cheer before going back to catching their breath. Zoey turned back to the window again, to scan the area, when she noticed a house right on the river’s edge with two searchlights on its roof and with lights on inside the house. “Hey, I think we found a safe room for tonight.” By now the other three were at her side and noticed the house too.

“That boathouse looks modified so I bet there’s a safe room in there, let’s get a move on!” Louis opened the back door and the group made their way to the boathouse when they heard someone talking from inside the house.

“If there is anyone out there, this is John and Amanda Slater. We are a small fishing vessel anchored off Riverside.”

“Sounds like someone’s inside, hurry!” Bill and his comrades made a dash for the house and looked all around but found no one at all. Bill was stocking up on ammo while everyone else was looking around when he heard the voice again.

“Come in refugees, please respond.”

Bill turned his head to see communication equipment with a microphone on the counter nearby. He quickly realized the voice was coming from there so he pressed on the button at the base of the microphone. “How ya doing?”

“Hello!?!? Hello!!!! We’re heading toward the military outpost up river. We can come get you in ten minutes. Arm yourselves for the trip and tell me when to head out.”

He couldn’t believe it; they were actually getting out of this hell hole! The moment passed by and he shook his head before pressing down on the button again. “Alright, come and get us, we’re good to go!”

“Alright, I’ll be there in ten minutes and clear the path. I don’t want our first act of kindness to be our last.”

By now everyone had given up the search and had gathered around Bill as he told the guy they would. Bill turned around to see everyone with confused looks on their faces and realized that they didn’t hear the first part of the conversation. “Alright listen up; rescue is on its way. All we have to do is hold up until the boat arrives.” That seemed to make everyone’s day as the three cheered in joy at finally being able to find a place that was zombie free.

The cheers were suddenly drowned out by the screams of thousands of infected some distance away. “Damn, I knew it was too good to be true!” Louis and the rest started closing doors and cobbling Molotov’s together from the liquor in the house. Bill and Francis were able to find two pipe bombs before they heard another scream from the incoming horde.

“Ok guys, pick a corner on the second floor and pray we get through this in one piece. Watch out for those freaked out infected.” Zoey made her way to the top as the guys gathered the last of their ammo and followed her up the stairs. Bill took the corner next to the stairs and held a Molotov in his hand, ready to throw when the infected breached through the door and windows.

A gurgling scream put everyone on their toes as they heard the sound of a Hunter nearby. Everybody looked around for the sound before they heard another scream louder than the last and they knew it was about to pounce. Bill looked at the window near Louis’s corner and saw the hunter jump through it. “Hunter on Louis!” The sweater wearing infected immediately went to work with its sharp claws to tear Louis apart.

Bill couldn’t drop the Molotov and grab his weapon without the bottle breaking, so he watched Francis come to the rescue. He was the closest to Louis and quickly went to his aid by swinging the end of his shotgun against the hunter’s head. The creature gave a yelp as it fell of Louis and fell to the floor. Francis quickly flipped the shotgun to position and fired at point blank range at the hunter’s head. The head immediately disappeared as blood painted the corner completely.

While Francis helped Louis up, Zoey took the moment to peak out the window the hunter jumped through and saw the horde of infected bum rushing the house. “Holy shit, incoming!” She quickly took back her position corner closest to Bill and crouched down for better accuracy.

Bill looked down to see the horde was now pounding on the door and climbing through the windows. Lighting the Molotov with his cigarette, he aimed and chucked the burning bottle right beneath the window closest to the door. Fire immediately raced across the door and floor before catching some zombies ablaze. The fire wouldn’t last long, so he took out his shotgun and aimed down the stairs, waiting for the fire to go out.

Louis and Zoey started firing away as infected had climbed the front of the boathouse and were entering the window right next to Louis. He stayed in the corner shooting the ones coming from the right while she shot the ones coming from the left, being careful in her aiming as Louis’s head was not too far away from her shots.

Francis was ready to cover Bill’s butt if any zombies came through the door or window next to him. He had the dual pistols ready as the shotgun’s blast radius might hit Bill. What he didn’t know was that the wall next to him was not as solid as the others and some infected were mindlessly hitting the wall. As more and more infected came to assist the others, the wall was becoming weaker and weaker by the second.

The fire had finally run out of fuel, even though there was wood flooring everywhere, the zombies were able to get though without dying of five degree burns. They immediately ran up the stairs and came face to face with a loaded shotgun. Bill started blasting away whenever he saw an infected try and run up the stairs. He reloaded whenever there wasn’t a zombie in his face and melee whacked them down the stairs whenever he didn’t have a round inside the shotgun.

“Finally, time to start saving your butt old man!” The zombies tried a different approach and were now coming around the back climbing their way up to the door and window near Bill. Francis had piled a bunch of pistol ammo by his feet so he wouldn’t have to reach into his backpack and was waiting patiently to kill some zombies. That time came as the infected started pounding at the door and climbing through the windows. Bullets started flying from his pistols whenever the slightest bit of zombie flesh showed itself.

“Be there in five minutes!”

A good pattern among the survivors kept the second level free of infected when a gurgling burp was heard among the cries of the zombies, signaling the arrival of a Boomer. Everyone started taking careful aim as a single misfire could hit the boomer and send gallons of bile on them, attracting the horde specifically towards whoever got bile on them.

Francis was enjoying his time saving Bill when he heard the cracking of the wall next to him. He turned just in time see the wall crumble to dust revealing zombies. He quickly dropped his pistols and brought out the shotgun. The dust was obscuring his vision, but he was able to see the forms of the infected. He quickly turned to the edge of one wall and fired at a zombie coming towards him when he noticed a swollen belly button behind the infected. Realizing what is was he quickly dived towards the middle of the room. Luck seemed to be on his side as the boomer exploded, sending bile flying from his stomach. The bile coated the wall next to the opening and on the floor where Francis was. Since it didn’t touch human skin, it didn’t discrete a smell that attracted the horde.

--

Soon the waves of infected trickled to nothing and the group finally had a chance to breath. They quickly went to the ammo and stock up just to be on the safe side. After that was done, they took the time to heal themselves wherever the zombies got them.

“I’ll be there in one minute. The boat will slow down by the pier near the boathouse, but I will not stop for any reason.”

Everyone went outside and turned their heads to the left to see a small pier a few feet away. Before they could take one foot towards the pier, a thunderous roar was heard that could only mean one thing: a Tank. Everyone turned towards Zoey, who had the last Molotov available. She nodded her head and brought it out before lighting it on fire with a lighter.

The ground started shaking before a piece of concrete landed dangerously close to their feet. There was only one place around that had concrete and that was the barbeque area with the roof a few yards in front of them. Zoey quickly made her way there as the ground shaking intensified. Everyone else readied their weapons and spread out while they waited for Zoey’s return.

“Ahhh!!!!” Bill looked towards the group of trees in front of him and watched as Zoey flew through the air before landing in front of him with a sickening crack to her left elbow and twisted ankle. He was about to go help her up when a flaming tank appeared through the trees Zoey just flew through a few moments ago. The brute raised its fists high in the air above Zoey, ready for the final smash when a spray of bullets started coating the creatures left side.

Bill watched as the burning tank turned and headed off towards Louis and Francis. He, meanwhile, went to Zoey’s aid and was able to get her up without hitting her broken arm. She refused to sit out the tank fight and took out a lone pistol with her only functioning arm left. He had a bad feeling about this but shook his head and the two joined in on the fight as the four quickly surrounded the burning tank.

They only had to draw its attention many times and wait for the fire to slowly sap the health from the infected brute. Finally the hulking mass fell to its tiny knees and collapsed on to the ground with bid thud. Not a breath was let out as a horn sounded throughout the park. Everyone looked towards the river and saw a faint light pierce the fog that was covering the river. Adrenaline fueled their tired bodies as they made a mad dash for the pier.

Zoey was in a lot of pain as she limped behind the group but was able to keep up with them through sheer determination. The group reached the beginning of the pier when a horde scream was heard close by. Bill reached for his belt and prepared a pipe bomb when horde comes for them. Another horn sound brought their attention to the fishing vessel that pierced through the fog and slowed down as it made its way to the pier. Bill looked back towards the end of the pier to see some zombies closing in on them and threw the pipe bomb towards the house. He turned back to see the ship was already crossing part of the pier. As the beginning of the stern on the ship reached the pier, Louis and Francis jumped over the railing and landed on the deck.

Bill wasn’t as nimble as them, so he waited until the door opening on the railing was near before he got on board. When it was, he quickly jumped on and turned around to help Zoey before the opening passed by. He offered her his hand and she was about to take it when something long and slimy wrapped itself around her torso. She looked at Bill and gave a weak smile before the tongue constricted her.

“Go on without me.” Bill tried to grab her free hand, but the smoker dragged her out of reach. The other two looked back to see Zoey wasn’t on the ship and went over to Bill when they saw her being dragged away into the trees were the smoker was hiding. The two tried to jump off but Bill quietly told them of her final wish. The three went to the farthest end of the ship and watched Zoey wave at them before she disappeared into the trees.

Bill, Francis, and Louis silently stared at the trees Zoey disappeared into until the fog obscured their vision as the boat headed up river towards the military outpost.

In Memory of:

Zoey

Description
“Everybody ready?”

Bill looked around the safe room to see the others were making last minute preparations by cramming their backpacks with as much ammunition as possible. Their customized health packs took up quite a bit of room in the bag, but it was necessary to ensure that they could patch themselves up if a zombie was able to get through their bullets. Everybody grunted a ‘no’ and kept stuffing their backpacks, so he took another look around at the place they slept in for the day.

Another survivor party before them had retro-fitted the room with iron doors to keep the zombies from bashing the doors down and stocked the room with all kinds of ammunition. There was ammo for everyone; ammo for Zoey’s scoped Ruger Mini-14 hunting rifle, Louis’s M16A2 assault rifle, Francis’s Benelli M4 Super 90 semi-automatic shotgun, and ammo for M1911pistols that everyone had two of. Bill also carried a shotgun like Francis, but found his ammo already since he got up early in the twilight hours while everyone else was sleeping.

Bill scanned the room one more time and noticed some graffiti on one wall. He stepped right up to the wall for a better view and saw a drawing of a bomb about to land on a stick figure’s head. *I hope we don’t have to repeat the end of WWII on our own soil.*

“Alright, let’s go!” Bill turned around to see Francis head over to the iron door and lift the bar off its holders so the door could open. Bill was about to argue that everyone still wasn’t ready when he saw Zoey and Louis waiting beside the door. *Oops!* Getting his butt into gear, he joined his comrades as they left the sanctity of their safe room.

--

The four survivors left the safe room and entered a garage/office room with a white van parked right in the middle. A few zombies were sprinkled around the room and were quickly taken out by Louis. After a quick check for ammo or Molotov’s/pipe bombs, which brought up nothing, the group made their way to the only door that led outside, but not before Francis spoke his mind.

“I hate vans.”

Bill shook his head before slowly turning the knob and opening the door as quietly as possible. The other side of the door revealed a stretch of street that was blocked off. A few buildings and houses were caught in this blocked off section of Riverside town. Bill looked around while the others took care of infected nearby and saw a house that seemed to be modified by the government. *Looks like they held out for a while.* He could see that there was no longer a door in the front and zombies were walking around in the front yard.

“Let’s check out that house for supplies.” Everyone else made sure any zombies around weren’t a threat to them at the moment before looking at the house Bill was pointing at. They agreed before heading towards the house with lights on its roof. Bill took a quick glance at the Army Humvee parked near the door they came through and spotted a pipe bomb on the fender. He broke from the group for a second to pick up the useful contraption and clipped it to his belt.

Bill was about to rejoin the group and watch their backs as they made their way to the house when he heard a scream that ended in harsh coughing. *Smoker!* Before he could call out to his comrades and spot the swarm of bugs that always floated above a smoker, something slimy wrapped itself around his body. He looked at his torso to see the disgusting tongue of the smoker was constricting him, making him drop his shotgun. Suddenly he felt himself being dragged away from the house towards the buildings. He looked back to see the smoker was on the rooftops pulling his tongue with his hands.

“A smoker has Bill!” Zoey took a glance back to make sure everyone was following when she saw Bill being dragged. She quickly looked through the scope on her hunting rifle and found the smoker. Taking careful aim, she fired off a shot through the smoker’s head and watched his head explode, sending a cloud of smoke out where he was standing.

“Nice shot.” Louis had looked up just in time to see the smoker go down as he and Francis made their way to Bill, who was getting on his feet again after freeing himself from the long tongue. After the two made sure Bill was okay and getting back to Zoey, they finally made their way to the house. Bodies in army clothes were scattered everywhere in the house, but the house was still in good shape. There was running water and everyone took a chance to clean their faces and any open wounds they had.

An army crate near the kitchen had ammo on it and everyone replenished their supplies. Bill finished first again and decided to explore the house. He went through a bedroom to find a small bathroom with pain pills and a health pack. “I’m going to need the pain pills.” He quickly pocked the bottle of pills and made his way back to the group with the health pack. After distributing the contents inside and hearing that Francis had found another bottle of pain pills on a kitchen counter, Bill brought out the town map.“Let’s see here. We are here, on the outskirts of Riverside and we need to reach the river here. Looks like we’re almost there.”

“Looks like the only thing between us and the river is the Riverside Park, which seems to be right behind the street we just crossed.” Zoey seemed to be the only other one interested in the map as the Louis and Francis were looking around for any horde of infected that might appear. “Come on guys, let get going!” She reloaded her hunting rifle and ran towards the back door.

Everyone else was right on her heels as they crossed the back yard and entered a wide expanse of area that was bare. A dirt road crossed the area and went in between two rocky hills before disappearing into a bunch of trees of the presumed park. A small shed with a fence seemed to be the entrance as three vehicles were parked in front of it.

Bill was leading the group through the area and was almost to the cars when he stopped dead in his tracks. Everyone else behind him stopped too and carefully walked up to Bill to see what made him stop. As the footsteps stopped a small cry and sniffling was heard nearby. “Careful, there’s a witch near the van.” All eyes turned towards the bumper of the car and spotted a pair of glowing red eyes. “Everyone go around the three cars entirely with no lights on so we don’t disturb her and Francis?” Bill turned around to see Francis staring at the witch before cocking his shotgun, but stopped looking when he noticed Bill looking at him.

“Fine old man, no dead witch today.” Bill smiled as he watched Francis go off while mumbling under his breath. Bill and Zoey made their way to the left while Francis and Louis went right. The witch didn’t even growl slightly as there was enough room to pass her by. Once they reached the shed, they quickly searched it to find another bottle of pain pills, which Louis took this time, and another med kit, which they took only what they needed before coming back to the entrance of the park.

“Riverside Park…hmm, I don’t recall seeing a horror movie set in a park of any kind. Sorry guys, I don’t have any clichéd advice for you before we go in.” Zoey turned around from the park’s sign to see the guys chuckling and soon joined them before they started trekking up the trail. A park trashcan holding a fire greeted them as they reached the top of the trail hill. Bill signaled the group to stop as he took a survey of the park.

A slightly dense patch of trees were spotted along the trail which led to a cooking area with a roof. Bill noticed a large light source coming off in the distance when he saw a house off the trail a bit and it was in the direction of the light source. An idea formed in his head and he quickly brought out the pipe bomb that he found earlier. Taking the cigarette from his mouth, he lit the fuse on top the pipe bomb. After that he turned on the smoke alarm that was attached to it and quickly hurled it down the path.

“Fire in the whole!” There wasn’t much to hide behind, but the four descended the hill a bit as they watched every infected in the area swarm to the loud beeping of the pipe bomb. Luckily, just as the last zombie made it to the cluster, the bomb went off and disintegrated the zombie horde. Those on the outside of the horde went to pieces as their body parts went through the air, along with a shower of blood. The blood shower no longer took toll on the survivors as they were now used to it raining down on them.

“To that house over there!” Everyone looked towards the house and ran for it as they didn’t want to be caught fighting zombies surrounded by trees. They quickly took out a few infected that followed them and entered the house. While everyone except Zoey took a breather, she grabbed a bottle of pain pills, looked out the window, and saw the river.

“We made it the river guys!” Everyone gave a forced cheer before going back to catching their breath. Zoey turned back to the window again, to scan the area, when she noticed a house right on the river’s edge with two searchlights on its roof and with lights on inside the house. “Hey, I think we found a safe room for tonight.” By now the other three were at her side and noticed the house too.

“That boathouse looks modified so I bet there’s a safe room in there, let’s get a move on!” Louis opened the back door and the group made their way to the boathouse when they heard someone talking from inside the house.

“If there is anyone out there, this is John and Amanda Slater. We are a small fishing vessel anchored off Riverside.”

“Sounds like someone’s inside, hurry!” Bill and his comrades made a dash for the house and looked all around but found no one at all. Bill was stocking up on ammo while everyone else was looking around when he heard the voice again.

“Come in refugees, please respond.”

Bill turned his head to see communication equipment with a microphone on the counter nearby. He quickly realized the voice was coming from there so he pressed on the button at the base of the microphone. “How ya doing?”

“Hello!?!? Hello!!!! We’re heading toward the military outpost up river. We can come get you in ten minutes. Arm yourselves for the trip and tell me when to head out.”

He couldn’t believe it; they were actually getting out of this hell hole! The moment passed by and he shook his head before pressing down on the button again. “Alright, come and get us, we’re good to go!”

“Alright, I’ll be there in ten minutes and clear the path. I don’t want our first act of kindness to be our last.”

By now everyone had given up the search and had gathered around Bill as he told the guy they would. Bill turned around to see everyone with confused looks on their faces and realized that they didn’t hear the first part of the conversation. “Alright listen up; rescue is on its way. All we have to do is hold up until the boat arrives.” That seemed to make everyone’s day as the three cheered in joy at finally being able to find a place that was zombie free.

The cheers were suddenly drowned out by the screams of thousands of infected some distance away. “Damn, I knew it was too good to be true!” Louis and the rest started closing doors and cobbling Molotov’s together from the liquor in the house. Bill and Francis were able to find two pipe bombs before they heard another scream from the incoming horde.

“Ok guys, pick a corner on the second floor and pray we get through this in one piece. Watch out for those freaked out infected.” Zoey made her way to the top as the guys gathered the last of their ammo and followed her up the stairs. Bill took the corner next to the stairs and held a Molotov in his hand, ready to throw when the infected breached through the door and windows.

A gurgling scream put everyone on their toes as they heard the sound of a Hunter nearby. Everybody looked around for the sound before they heard another scream louder than the last and they knew it was about to pounce. Bill looked at the window near Louis’s corner and saw the hunter jump through it. “Hunter on Louis!” The sweater wearing infected immediately went to work with its sharp claws to tear Louis apart.

Bill couldn’t drop the Molotov and grab his weapon without the bottle breaking, so he watched Francis come to the rescue. He was the closest to Louis and quickly went to his aid by swinging the end of his shotgun against the hunter’s head. The creature gave a yelp as it fell of Louis and fell to the floor. Francis quickly flipped the shotgun to position and fired at point blank range at the hunter’s head. The head immediately disappeared as blood painted the corner completely.

While Francis helped Louis up, Zoey took the moment to peak out the window the hunter jumped through and saw the horde of infected bum rushing the house. “Holy shit, incoming!” She quickly took back her position corner closest to Bill and crouched down for better accuracy.

Bill looked down to see the horde was now pounding on the door and climbing through the windows. Lighting the Molotov with his cigarette, he aimed and chucked the burning bottle right beneath the window closest to the door. Fire immediately raced across the door and floor before catching some zombies ablaze. The fire wouldn’t last long, so he took out his shotgun and aimed down the stairs, waiting for the fire to go out.

Louis and Zoey started firing away as infected had climbed the front of the boathouse and were entering the window right next to Louis. He stayed in the corner shooting the ones coming from the right while she shot the ones coming from the left, being careful in her aiming as Louis’s head was not too far away from her shots.

Francis was ready to cover Bill’s butt if any zombies came through the door or window next to him. He had the dual pistols ready as the shotgun’s blast radius might hit Bill. What he didn’t know was that the wall next to him was not as solid as the others and some infected were mindlessly hitting the wall. As more and more infected came to assist the others, the wall was becoming weaker and weaker by the second.

The fire had finally run out of fuel, even though there was wood flooring everywhere, the zombies were able to get though without dying of five degree burns. They immediately ran up the stairs and came face to face with a loaded shotgun. Bill started blasting away whenever he saw an infected try and run up the stairs. He reloaded whenever there wasn’t a zombie in his face and melee whacked them down the stairs whenever he didn’t have a round inside the shotgun.

“Finally, time to start saving your butt old man!” The zombies tried a different approach and were now coming around the back climbing their way up to the door and window near Bill. Francis had piled a bunch of pistol ammo by his feet so he wouldn’t have to reach into his backpack and was waiting patiently to kill some zombies. That time came as the infected started pounding at the door and climbing through the windows. Bullets started flying from his pistols whenever the slightest bit of zombie flesh showed itself.

“Be there in five minutes!”

A good pattern among the survivors kept the second level free of infected when a gurgling burp was heard among the cries of the zombies, signaling the arrival of a Boomer. Everyone started taking careful aim as a single misfire could hit the boomer and send gallons of bile on them, attracting the horde specifically towards whoever got bile on them.

Francis was enjoying his time saving Bill when he heard the cracking of the wall next to him. He turned just in time see the wall crumble to dust revealing zombies. He quickly dropped his pistols and brought out the shotgun. The dust was obscuring his vision, but he was able to see the forms of the infected. He quickly turned to the edge of one wall and fired at a zombie coming towards him when he noticed a swollen belly button behind the infected. Realizing what is was he quickly dived towards the middle of the room. Luck seemed to be on his side as the boomer exploded, sending bile flying from his stomach. The bile coated the wall next to the opening and on the floor where Francis was. Since it didn’t touch human skin, it didn’t discrete a smell that attracted the horde.

--

Soon the waves of infected trickled to nothing and the group finally had a chance to breath. They quickly went to the ammo and stock up just to be on the safe side. After that was done, they took the time to heal themselves wherever the zombies got them.

“I’ll be there in one minute. The boat will slow down by the pier near the boathouse, but I will not stop for any reason.”

Everyone went outside and turned their heads to the left to see a small pier a few feet away. Before they could take one foot towards the pier, a thunderous roar was heard that could only mean one thing: a Tank. Everyone turned towards Zoey, who had the last Molotov available. She nodded her head and brought it out before lighting it on fire with a lighter.

The ground started shaking before a piece of concrete landed dangerously close to their feet. There was only one place around that had concrete and that was the barbeque area with the roof a few yards in front of them. Zoey quickly made her way there as the ground shaking intensified. Everyone else readied their weapons and spread out while they waited for Zoey’s return.

“Ahhh!!!!” Bill looked towards the group of trees in front of him and watched as Zoey flew through the air before landing in front of him with a sickening crack to her left elbow and twisted ankle. He was about to go help her up when a flaming tank appeared through the trees Zoey just flew through a few moments ago. The brute raised its fists high in the air above Zoey, ready for the final smash when a spray of bullets started coating the creatures left side.

Bill watched as the burning tank turned and headed off towards Louis and Francis. He, meanwhile, went to Zoey’s aid and was able to get her up without hitting her broken arm. She refused to sit out the tank fight and took out a lone pistol with her only functioning arm left. He had a bad feeling about this but shook his head and the two joined in on the fight as the four quickly surrounded the burning tank.

They only had to draw its attention many times and wait for the fire to slowly sap the health from the infected brute. Finally the hulking mass fell to its tiny knees and collapsed on to the ground with bid thud. Not a breath was let out as a horn sounded throughout the park. Everyone looked towards the river and saw a faint light pierce the fog that was covering the river. Adrenaline fueled their tired bodies as they made a mad dash for the pier.

Zoey was in a lot of pain as she limped behind the group but was able to keep up with them through sheer determination. The group reached the beginning of the pier when a horde scream was heard close by. Bill reached for his belt and prepared a pipe bomb when horde comes for them. Another horn sound brought their attention to the fishing vessel that pierced through the fog and slowed down as it made its way to the pier. Bill looked back towards the end of the pier to see some zombies closing in on them and threw the pipe bomb towards the house. He turned back to see the ship was already crossing part of the pier. As the beginning of the stern on the ship reached the pier, Louis and Francis jumped over the railing and landed on the deck.

Bill wasn’t as nimble as them, so he waited until the door opening on the railing was near before he got on board. When it was, he quickly jumped on and turned around to help Zoey before the opening passed by. He offered her his hand and she was about to take it when something long and slimy wrapped itself around her torso. She looked at Bill and gave a weak smile before the tongue constricted her.

“Go on without me.” Bill tried to grab her free hand, but the smoker dragged her out of reach. The other two looked back to see Zoey wasn’t on the ship and went over to Bill when they saw her being dragged away into the trees were the smoker was hiding. The two tried to jump off but Bill quietly told them of her final wish. The three went to the farthest end of the ship and watched Zoey wave at them before she disappeared into the trees.

Bill, Francis, and Louis silently stared at the trees Zoey disappeared into until the fog obscured their vision as the boat headed up river towards the military outpost.

In Memory of:

Zoey