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Description
Chapter 16
I could tell that I was tied down to a table. A bright light above me prevented me from seeing what was around me very well. I could hear people moving around me and talking lowly. I kept feeling a chilly metal object press against my bare chest. I shivvered a little each time. I could feel my leg being lifted slowly. I tried to pull it back down, but a sharp pain ran up and down my leg. My eyes shot open and I could tell that something was sticking out of my leg. My foot was gone and there was a metal one in it's place. I started struggling against the restraints and several hands tried to hold me back down. I could ee the faces of what looked like doctors and nurses. One free hand went onto my shoulder and I bit at it. I misses, but it scared them badly. I felt a needle enter my neck and I blacked out.

I woke up in an empty white room. There was a large one-way window on one wall. The walls were padded, but I thought that was mostly for effect. The room was very bright, but I couldn't tell where the light was coming from. I heard something bang against the window. I tried to attack through the window. I trie dto bite and pry my way in, but a voice came over a speaker to stop me. "Calm down," it said. "Relax." I stopped attacking and stood still inside the room. I heard an eruption of joy from behind the window, but I stood confused. The voice came over the speaker again. "You understand! Congratulations! You are the first of a generation of soldiers to fight for your country."

I woke up with a jump. My gun was drawn and pointing all around. I thought I had heard something moving, but I must have magined it. I just dropped the weapon to the floor, and I began to examine my surroundings. It was odd that I called this place home. The theater isn't a home. It was more like a giant prison cell in a place where cruel and unusual punishment was allowed. The only problem was that us prisoners didn't even know the crime that kept us here. This place was not a home at all. A home is supposed to be an escape. Home is supposed to be safe. Either way, home or prison, there was no breaking out of here now.

I stood up and started to paceback and forth. I was waiting for the bombings to start up again. The theaters seemed like the safest place as long as a bomb wasn't dropped right on it. I didn't have a watch on me so I didn't know when exactly the raid started, but it seemed to be a little late. I didn't hear anything that signified an attack. I moved closer to the door to check for any noises. I heard a grunting sound, almost like a groaning. I dashed back to where I had dropped my pistol, and by the time I got back to the doors, the sound was closer. I clutched my pistol tightly. I heard a loud thud followed followed by louder groaning. I took my chance.

I burst out into the hallway to find a sickly looking Travis leaning against a wall nearby. He was groaning and struggling to stand. I tried lifting my arm to take aim, but I just couldn't.I just watched as he bled over the floor. I tried to see where he had been bit. I didn't know how the zombies had gotten in, and I didn't know if Travis was the first to be bitten. I didn't see any teeth marks on him. I started to find it hard to breathe when he got to his feet. Almost as soon as he stood, he fell over.

"This fucking leg!" he cried out loudly. Relief swept over me with a crushing blow. I had to lean against a wall to get a steady breathing rhythm. My heart was beating rapidly, but it started to slow. I put away the gun as Travis rolled over and tried to stand again. He got to his feet and used a nearby garbage can to keep himself standing. "What the hell is your problem? You're not missing a chunk of your leg!" he said.

"I thought you were a damn zombie! I was about to shoot you!" I told him. "What the hell are you even doing?"

Travis grunted as he limped forward, still clutching the garbage. "I was trying to make it to the bathroom."

"Then get a cane or something. You're gonna get yourself killed."

"Fuck that. I can handle it. Think of an escape yet?" he asked as he started to use the garbage as a cane.

I thought for a minute. "We can't stay here. It's gotten more dangerous with the planes. Nowhere is safe for us. Not only do we keep the zombies out, we have to worry about getting nuked. It's too dangerous."

"No shit."

"Anyways I was thinking that we use the same plan as before, but can't we just try running instead? We'd have to at least wait until the number of zombies thinned out first, but we have enough gear to get far enough. If we need to, then we can find more ammo."

Travis was nodding as I talked. When I finished my idea he kept nodding. "That's kind of what I had in mind. Roam the streets, and shack in a larger building when we need to rest. Our food supply is running low here. I love popcorn, but not every damn day. Let's go right now!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? That leg wound must have messed up your brain," I told him. "We can't do it right now. We need to get a map drawn of what we can see right now. After that we'll have to find an actual map. We need to be more prepared this time. We don't have to just follow a river this time. We have the whole city!"

"Well where do you suppose that we go?" he asked. "Last time there was a TV signal, they told us everyone was dead, remember? I really doubt that's changed in the last week."

"But there are planes! There's people out there!"

"Those were Navy planes. They take off from a huge boat in the middle of the ocean. It would be fine if we had a boat. We can't just go out to some boat yard and steal one. Nobody will leave the keys jsut lying around. That's just-"

"Yah well we can't just go running up to some military base. Looking like we are, they'd think we were just another group of zombies, and that's if anyone is still alive in one." I interrupted. "The same goes for any police station."

"Well how about a hospital?" he asked jokingly. "I could use somehing a little better than some shirt wrapped around this damn leg. We can go get sponge baths from the pretty nurses and eat lobsters everyday."

He laughed and started to limp away. I just shook my head and folded my arms. Suddenly a thought came to me. "Wait, that's genious!" I shouted. "The hospital. We could all use some sort of medical treatment. There's food at a hospital. There's also radios. We can try to contact somebody from there."

"Right," said Travis. He was quiet for a moment. "I bet the pretty nurses would rather eat us than clean us though. I doubt there's anyone still left a hospital by now. We'll do that then. I'll start drawing a map." He limped off once more. I shouted after him to tell Kate what was going on and that we would leave a week from today. I turned towards the lobby to try to find Amanda and tell her.

It took me a long time to find her. I searched every theater except for the one that had been hit. I searched the bathrooms and the back rooms. Eventually I just decided to check the ruined theater. I pulled out a pistol just to be safe. I opened the door slowly.

Amanda was sitting in front of the rubble. As I got closer I could hear her singing. I couldn't understand what she was singing over the sound of the zombies on the other side of the rubble, but I knew that she was singing to them. I sat down next to her and waited for her to finish. She smiled at me, and I forced one back. Eventually she stopped singing. I was about to speak, but then she started to groan. She sounded like a zombie, but I knew she wasn't.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I learned how to understand them. I can talk to them!" she told me gleefully.

"What are they saying?" I asked her jokingly.

"They're lonely. They're sad. They're bored." she listed off.

"They seem to complain alot."

"Lately they have," she started. "They're being mean."

I decided to tell her. SHe seemed to be in a sedated state of mind. "We're going to leave. In one week we're going to go to a hospital."

"The hospital? Is someone sick?" she asked seriously.

"Yes...I'm sick. Travis is sick. Kate is sick. We're all sick. We need to leave." I said.

Amanda sighed deeply and made a pouty face. "Fine."

I got up and just walked away. I didn't want to bother her anymore. Before the door closed behind me, Amanda spoke once more. "No planes today." She was right. There were no planes out today. I had gone up to the roof to see for myself. Thre were no little black dots in the air or on the horizon. They weren't attacking today. Was there some sort of pattern? Was there two days of bombings followed by two days of rest? Are they attacking another location? Are they late? Is it completely random?

I came out of my questioning to check the progress Travis had made while drawing the map. He had barely started. He had drawn the U-shape theater belowus, and a few of the surrounding roads. The parking lot looked a little oddly drawn, but I didn't care as long as I could tell what it was.

"Tell me again," said Kate from behind. "Why are we going to a hospital?"

"Food, medication, contact with other people, showers, possibly new clothes, and plus it's a big building. There's many different entrances so that means we can't get cornered. There will always be an escape." I responded.

"Many entrances for us and these zombies, right?" she asked a little annoyed. "I really don't care anymore. Live, die, it doesn't matter. I know that I can't stay here forever. Do what you have to and I'll try to help." I could tell she was giving up hope. She couldn't picture herself as a survivor in the end of this, but she wanted us to make it. I didn't know what I could say to make her feel better. Honestly I think everyone shared her view. It didn't matter if we made it as long as someone did. Someone had to tell the story.

Description
Chapter 16
I could tell that I was tied down to a table. A bright light above me prevented me from seeing what was around me very well. I could hear people moving around me and talking lowly. I kept feeling a chilly metal object press against my bare chest. I shivvered a little each time. I could feel my leg being lifted slowly. I tried to pull it back down, but a sharp pain ran up and down my leg. My eyes shot open and I could tell that something was sticking out of my leg. My foot was gone and there was a metal one in it's place. I started struggling against the restraints and several hands tried to hold me back down. I could ee the faces of what looked like doctors and nurses. One free hand went onto my shoulder and I bit at it. I misses, but it scared them badly. I felt a needle enter my neck and I blacked out.

I woke up in an empty white room. There was a large one-way window on one wall. The walls were padded, but I thought that was mostly for effect. The room was very bright, but I couldn't tell where the light was coming from. I heard something bang against the window. I tried to attack through the window. I trie dto bite and pry my way in, but a voice came over a speaker to stop me. "Calm down," it said. "Relax." I stopped attacking and stood still inside the room. I heard an eruption of joy from behind the window, but I stood confused. The voice came over the speaker again. "You understand! Congratulations! You are the first of a generation of soldiers to fight for your country."

I woke up with a jump. My gun was drawn and pointing all around. I thought I had heard something moving, but I must have magined it. I just dropped the weapon to the floor, and I began to examine my surroundings. It was odd that I called this place home. The theater isn't a home. It was more like a giant prison cell in a place where cruel and unusual punishment was allowed. The only problem was that us prisoners didn't even know the crime that kept us here. This place was not a home at all. A home is supposed to be an escape. Home is supposed to be safe. Either way, home or prison, there was no breaking out of here now.

I stood up and started to paceback and forth. I was waiting for the bombings to start up again. The theaters seemed like the safest place as long as a bomb wasn't dropped right on it. I didn't have a watch on me so I didn't know when exactly the raid started, but it seemed to be a little late. I didn't hear anything that signified an attack. I moved closer to the door to check for any noises. I heard a grunting sound, almost like a groaning. I dashed back to where I had dropped my pistol, and by the time I got back to the doors, the sound was closer. I clutched my pistol tightly. I heard a loud thud followed followed by louder groaning. I took my chance.

I burst out into the hallway to find a sickly looking Travis leaning against a wall nearby. He was groaning and struggling to stand. I tried lifting my arm to take aim, but I just couldn't.I just watched as he bled over the floor. I tried to see where he had been bit. I didn't know how the zombies had gotten in, and I didn't know if Travis was the first to be bitten. I didn't see any teeth marks on him. I started to find it hard to breathe when he got to his feet. Almost as soon as he stood, he fell over.

"This fucking leg!" he cried out loudly. Relief swept over me with a crushing blow. I had to lean against a wall to get a steady breathing rhythm. My heart was beating rapidly, but it started to slow. I put away the gun as Travis rolled over and tried to stand again. He got to his feet and used a nearby garbage can to keep himself standing. "What the hell is your problem? You're not missing a chunk of your leg!" he said.

"I thought you were a damn zombie! I was about to shoot you!" I told him. "What the hell are you even doing?"

Travis grunted as he limped forward, still clutching the garbage. "I was trying to make it to the bathroom."

"Then get a cane or something. You're gonna get yourself killed."

"Fuck that. I can handle it. Think of an escape yet?" he asked as he started to use the garbage as a cane.

I thought for a minute. "We can't stay here. It's gotten more dangerous with the planes. Nowhere is safe for us. Not only do we keep the zombies out, we have to worry about getting nuked. It's too dangerous."

"No shit."

"Anyways I was thinking that we use the same plan as before, but can't we just try running instead? We'd have to at least wait until the number of zombies thinned out first, but we have enough gear to get far enough. If we need to, then we can find more ammo."

Travis was nodding as I talked. When I finished my idea he kept nodding. "That's kind of what I had in mind. Roam the streets, and shack in a larger building when we need to rest. Our food supply is running low here. I love popcorn, but not every damn day. Let's go right now!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? That leg wound must have messed up your brain," I told him. "We can't do it right now. We need to get a map drawn of what we can see right now. After that we'll have to find an actual map. We need to be more prepared this time. We don't have to just follow a river this time. We have the whole city!"

"Well where do you suppose that we go?" he asked. "Last time there was a TV signal, they told us everyone was dead, remember? I really doubt that's changed in the last week."

"But there are planes! There's people out there!"

"Those were Navy planes. They take off from a huge boat in the middle of the ocean. It would be fine if we had a boat. We can't just go out to some boat yard and steal one. Nobody will leave the keys jsut lying around. That's just-"

"Yah well we can't just go running up to some military base. Looking like we are, they'd think we were just another group of zombies, and that's if anyone is still alive in one." I interrupted. "The same goes for any police station."

"Well how about a hospital?" he asked jokingly. "I could use somehing a little better than some shirt wrapped around this damn leg. We can go get sponge baths from the pretty nurses and eat lobsters everyday."

He laughed and started to limp away. I just shook my head and folded my arms. Suddenly a thought came to me. "Wait, that's genious!" I shouted. "The hospital. We could all use some sort of medical treatment. There's food at a hospital. There's also radios. We can try to contact somebody from there."

"Right," said Travis. He was quiet for a moment. "I bet the pretty nurses would rather eat us than clean us though. I doubt there's anyone still left a hospital by now. We'll do that then. I'll start drawing a map." He limped off once more. I shouted after him to tell Kate what was going on and that we would leave a week from today. I turned towards the lobby to try to find Amanda and tell her.

It took me a long time to find her. I searched every theater except for the one that had been hit. I searched the bathrooms and the back rooms. Eventually I just decided to check the ruined theater. I pulled out a pistol just to be safe. I opened the door slowly.

Amanda was sitting in front of the rubble. As I got closer I could hear her singing. I couldn't understand what she was singing over the sound of the zombies on the other side of the rubble, but I knew that she was singing to them. I sat down next to her and waited for her to finish. She smiled at me, and I forced one back. Eventually she stopped singing. I was about to speak, but then she started to groan. She sounded like a zombie, but I knew she wasn't.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I learned how to understand them. I can talk to them!" she told me gleefully.

"What are they saying?" I asked her jokingly.

"They're lonely. They're sad. They're bored." she listed off.

"They seem to complain alot."

"Lately they have," she started. "They're being mean."

I decided to tell her. SHe seemed to be in a sedated state of mind. "We're going to leave. In one week we're going to go to a hospital."

"The hospital? Is someone sick?" she asked seriously.

"Yes...I'm sick. Travis is sick. Kate is sick. We're all sick. We need to leave." I said.

Amanda sighed deeply and made a pouty face. "Fine."

I got up and just walked away. I didn't want to bother her anymore. Before the door closed behind me, Amanda spoke once more. "No planes today." She was right. There were no planes out today. I had gone up to the roof to see for myself. Thre were no little black dots in the air or on the horizon. They weren't attacking today. Was there some sort of pattern? Was there two days of bombings followed by two days of rest? Are they attacking another location? Are they late? Is it completely random?

I came out of my questioning to check the progress Travis had made while drawing the map. He had barely started. He had drawn the U-shape theater belowus, and a few of the surrounding roads. The parking lot looked a little oddly drawn, but I didn't care as long as I could tell what it was.

"Tell me again," said Kate from behind. "Why are we going to a hospital?"

"Food, medication, contact with other people, showers, possibly new clothes, and plus it's a big building. There's many different entrances so that means we can't get cornered. There will always be an escape." I responded.

"Many entrances for us and these zombies, right?" she asked a little annoyed. "I really don't care anymore. Live, die, it doesn't matter. I know that I can't stay here forever. Do what you have to and I'll try to help." I could tell she was giving up hope. She couldn't picture herself as a survivor in the end of this, but she wanted us to make it. I didn't know what I could say to make her feel better. Honestly I think everyone shared her view. It didn't matter if we made it as long as someone did. Someone had to tell the story.