Insatiable (Zombie Survival RP)

[Kuroneko Aisha]

Evelyn listened closely as Ryker told her about there possibly being spare arrows down in the basement. Nodding her head and heading for the door, she wondered just how safe it was here. It was definitely warmer than outside, and safer than being in a tree during the winter, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Going down the stairs, she turned on the basement light and ruffled around for a little bit before finally spotting some loose arrows here and there. Collecting them all up, she counted sixteen arrows, which she used to replace her rubber tips. Tossing the useless arrows to the ground, she headed back upstairs.

Ryker was at the window staring out, and she could tell from his expression that something wasn't right. A quick glance showed a large amount of zombies making their way towards the house. It seemed their escape from the park wasn't as successful as they thought, and the slow ones were still following them. Evelyn knew that things were going to be bad, and she didn't want to stick around to find out what would happen. Backing up into the kitchen area in the back, she checked outside and saw that the coast was clear for now. Ryker's attention was still on the zombies, so using that, she quietly unlocked, opened and slipped out the back before making a run for it.

Sticking close to the walls and moving silently, she heard something behind her, and saw that there was another crowd of zombies shuffling towards the house from the back. If she had stayed in there, they would have definitely been overrun. Not wanting to see what was going to happen, Evelyn slipped away and hurried onto the nearest street, Eads Avenue. Looking down the road, she could see that the nearest intersection was Eads and Nebraska Ave. She didn't know this area too well, but she knew that she had to get to a safe area quickly. Seeing a particularly dense tree near the corner and no zombies just yet, she hurried over and climbed up.

She felt somehow at peace in the tree, since she knew that she was safe from the zombies, but also hidden from sight in general. There was plenty of shade around her and she could see pretty well. At the very least, she would be able to see anyone passing by, so she would be able to flag them down, or even warn them of danger ahead. She hadn't gotten any food, and she was down one water bottle so she knew she had to be sparing with her food bars. Secure in her tree, she relaxed against the trunk and looked around. Maybe one of these houses would be safe to stay in for the night, but she couldn't be certain. It was a risk to even leave the tree, so she would leave that choice for when it became darker. The day was still young after all.

 

[warrcry13]

Darek tentatively picked his way through the hallway. Making sure to check every corpse that he passed with a poke of his crowbar. The school was dark, and the air smelled of mildew and rot. To make matters worse he didn't have a light source. Then he heard it the sound of a swinging door closing shut. "Shit!" he said as he pulled out his pistol. He crept towards the main hall every muscle tense. He entered the main hall ready for a fight....and there was nothing..nothing at all. He went to check the other halls that branched off of the main hall. Most of the halls looked similar to the one he just left. He came to one hall and was greeted by two snarling faces, and the smell of rotted flesh.

They were right on him. He pulled up his pistol in reaction and shot at them. The aim was bad, and it few past the one closest to him, but in a stroke of sheer luck blew the brains of the one in the back all over the wall. He dropped his gun, as the other got too close for a clean shot, leaped back. Having put some distance between him, and the deadhead he took a swing at its skull with his crowbar. The angle of the strike was off, and the crowbar deflected off of the things skull. As the crowbar slid down the side of its head it ripped a huge gouge of flesh out of its face, and lodged under the collarbone.

"Fuck" spat Darek as he tried to remove the crowbar from the things shoulder, but it wouldn't budge. Having given up on freeing his weapon he used the new found leverage the keep the deadhead from sinking its teeth into his face. He was looking around desperately trying to find something to finish the thing off when he saw a door that was opened slightly ajar. He grunted with effort as he pushed the walking corpse to the door. As he was trying to off balance the thing he got careless. The deadhead clamped down on Darek's hand. Darek drew a sharp intake of breath, but it didn't have the jaw strength to rip through the leather of his glove, and it only pinched the shit out of his hand. He quickly gave up trying to pry his hand out of its mouth, and stomped on its kneecap. Having gripped the things jaw he first pulled it towards him, and then shoved it with all the strength he could. The deadhead toppled backwards. Darek's hand came free as the thing fell but he still gripped the jaw. He dropped his grisly prize, and stepped behind the door. The things head was in the perfect place. So he threw his weight against the door, and it slammed the monsters skull between the door and doorjamb. The thing was stunned after the first slam. So he dragged the door open again, never letting go of the knob, and slammed his body weight against it again. This time he heard an awful wet crunching sound, and the thing stopped moving. He slammed it one more time to make sure. "Jesus Christ!" he said between gasping breaths. Over the sound of his pounding heart, and his panting he didn't hear the man hoarsely calling out Hello.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

"Hello!" shouted Ted, gripping his axe tighter. Perhaps the person with the gun had been devoured and he was just attracting the victor of the struggle to him. He was about to make a dash down the hallway when he heard a reply.

"Yes!"

"Alive?!"

"Not dead if that's what you mean."

Ted paused.

"I don't want any trouble. I just want to live. I don't want to make trouble for you... If we need to part ways now, lets do it now."

This time the stranger paused.

"We might as well work together. I don't kill survivors." said the voice in the adjacent hallway.

That satisfied him although Ted never let his guard down. Coming around the corner, he saw quite the mess on the wall. One zombie lay face down, parts of its rotting brains splattered across the wall. The other was a fleshy mess between a door and the wall, it had broken under the man's assault.

"Christ... Here." said Ted, pulling a dishcloth out from his bag. "Don't get any of their blood on you."

The stranger just nodded. Another survivor. Wandering the wastes to live another day? Part of a gang? It was impossible to know. All Ted did know was that this guy was taller, probably just as strong as him and had a gun. A gun. Which had discharged.

"They probably heard that shot. I guess you had to shoot with them both there. Whatever. I know how to get to the roof of this school, we might be safe to lie low there for a bit before moving on. There's no water."

Ted thought he heard moaning.

"Are you sure you're clean?"

Their blood had destroyed the last man who had partnered with him. Didn't bother to clean his sleeves whenever he had the chance. He was always involuntarily wiping his nose with that jacket. When he turned, Ted wasn't ready. Another close encounter with death, another lucky escape.

Not happening again. I'm not letting that happen again.

 

[NeoAC]

The office was a mess, certainly not the thing that would have stood in the days before Zombies. Right now though, all Ashlyn was focused on was that rack of keys. "All right, we're in business. Now which one of you suckers is going to open up that bad boy in the back there...?" She did a quick scan of all the available options, knowing that something that size had to have a fair amount of keys on one hook. A couple of the rings were chosen and Ashlyn looked around to make sure her path back outside was still clear. "K, let's see what we got."

 

[SkyeNeko]

Naomi couldn't help but let out an involuntary "Aw, gross!" She quickly turned to the wall, putting her thumbs in her pockets. It was a gruesome scene, and she couldn't even imagine trying to find out what had happened between the family. "Come on, Naomi, you gotta get the stuff and go. Get the stuff and go. You couldn't have done anything for them, but your family is still relying on you." She shuddered again before finally steeling herself and grabbing what little was left.

It was still a nasty scene, and Naomi made all sorts of faces in disgust as she tried her best to look around the corpses for anything else she could take. Finding nothing, or quickly growing tired of mangled bodies, she ran back up the stairs. Not the best idea, considering they were rotten, made much more obvious when her foot went through one of the steps with a crash.

"Aah! Shit!" It didn't hurt a lot, but she had banged her head against the handrail too. Open wounds and having a limb out of sight were a few things that made you dead nowadays. It took a minute to get her leg free. A bloody gash now graced her calf. I need to cover this up before I get any muck in it... She rinsed it with some soap, tearing up a rag to cover it up. I need to find some glue... that would help keep this stuff out of my bloodstream...

That was enough of this house, she thought, walking back out the door and continuing down the street.

 

[Link_to_Future]

The breath was caught completely in his throat as Alex saw the shadow flit briefly from under the door. For an eternity, he stood there as though he had been immortalized in stone, frozen by sheer uncertainty. There was something behind that door. Something that moved...something quiet...

No.

Odds were good that there was something unsavory behind that door. It was a good assumption to make these days. It was also likely that any supplies in this building would have either been looted or rotted a long time ago. Low chance of reward for high chance of risk.

Blood but no bodies.

Crouching back down, he turned towards the front door of the shop and carefully walked out. If there were any supplies that remained in this husk of a gas station then they would be left to the other scavengers. Alex had not survived this long to be chomped on at the first stop in this new state. Dejectedly, he moved back towards where his car was parked. There would be other stores around. Hopefully a repository that provided more advantageous shopping opportunities could be found with just a little bit of looking around town.

He carefully crawled back into his dirty Pontiac and continued his search, turning right onto Nameoki road. There were dangers to going deeper but Alex hoped it would be a far more promising prospect.

 

[warrcry13]

Darek nodded his thanks as the man gave him a rag to clean off any gore that happened to get on him. Darek was wiping down the gauze around his calves when the man said. "They probably heard that shot. I guess you had to shoot with them both there."
"Yeah they kind of got the drop on me."
"Whatever. I know how to get to the roof of this school, we might be safe to lie low there for a bit before moving on. There's no water."said the stranger.
"Fair enough let's get moving then."

"Are you sure you're clean?" The man asked. As what sounded like distant moaning started to echo down the halls. "Doesn't really matter if we die here." Darek walked over to the door and pried his crowbar out of the corpses shoulder, and checked to make sure a round was chambered in his pistol. "Now let's get the hell out of here."

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Ted was about to agree when he heard the running on the floor down the hallway. Gesturing at a corridor, he sprinted down it as fast as he could go, mindful of where his axe blade was as he ran. Through this door, around this corner, up these stairs... He heard Darek right behind him and didn't look back. It wasn't an easy route so Ted was hoping maybe the walkers behind them would get lost.

They didn't.

Maybe these walkers had been athletes in life because in death they could run fast! There were three of them. One of them looked like it had an ammunition belt around its chest but he didn't have time to gawk at that. Ted turned the corner into the room with the ladder. He closed the door the instant Darek was inside and heaved a heavy filing cabinet so that it fell in front of it. The door was a flimsy thing and an undead hand had punched through it immediately. Within seconds the hinges of the door broke off as the three muscular zombies piled into the room. There was no time to get up the ladder behind Darek.

The first one who clambered over the filing cabinet was a lean, streamlined undead machine. It actually ducked his first swing, trying to go low. Shifting back with the handle, he drove it to one side and then swung the axe head straight into the skull. It was a jarring hit.

More fresh, newly turned...

The zombie fell as Darek dealt with another with his Crowbar.

Either he wasn't willing to see me die or he couldn't get high up enough on the ladder to risk letting one of them drag him down.

Whatever his reasons for staying, Ted could definitely appreciate the powerful crowbar hits being laid across the head of the second zombie. The third zombie looked like he could have been a Football player in life. He charged in just as Darek finished off his zombie. Splitting up out of his reach, they dodged the lumbering undead monster. Darek's crowbar got wedged in the walker's neck and he fell back, sprawled across a desk. As the dead jock went in for the kill, Ted swung the axe from behind with all of his strength. It staggered to one side as the splitting axe cut off an arm. Darek was on his feet and wrenched out the crowbar, flipping it and using the flat side to break out its eyes. It roared loudly as it flailed around blindly. Darek's crowbar was thrust straight through the forehead. Ted waited until Darek jumped to the side and he decapitated the beast with a wide swing.

Ted wiped the blood off of him as soon as the thing dropped, disposing of his now filthy facecloth and replacing it with a new dishcloth. He passed a new cloth to the stranger as he saw the man tossing away the original one he had given him.

He can fight without the gun. That's good.

They climbed up the ladder, opening the steel trapdoor and hauled themselves into the fresh, chilly October air. Compared to the stink of the high school, this was heavenly. Ted closed the door and noticed that there was a table with binoculars set up with a bunch of chairs sitting around.

An old lookout post for survivors.

Further down ontop of the roof he spotted a body. Walking over to it, he examined the corpse. Shot in the head but no traces of the disease. Ted looked him over, searching his pockets.

"Survivor fighting." spat Ted, getting up. No weapons or anything valuable left on him. Ted supposed his comrades or his killers already looted him. He sat on one of the lawn chairs set up and let the cool breeze wash over him.

"My name's Ted." he muttered.

**********

Down below a zombie groaned, finding the bodies of two of its kind in the hallway. Devouring the cold flesh didn't satisfy it but it sustained it. It hungered for warmth. It smelled the warmth. It needed the warmth. Dressed in a Hells Angels biker outfit and holding a long, well used machete in its right hand stiffly, it had seen many killings in life. Now in death it moved with a swiftness unbeknown to the average walker. It traced the scent through a winding path. It found three more of its kind dead but it remained silent. The scent was strong. They were close.

It could wait.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

[HEADING=3]Herman[/HEADING]
The streets seemed clear so far, still and quiet, a comforting scene in these dark times. It was almost beautiful with more of the sun's light making its way through the thinning low clouds, but the charred, rusted, and otherwise totaled cars didn't offer much in the way of sightseeing. A nearby corpse that was pinned between two fenders wasn't exactly an appealing sight either, not with the open sores and the moist, fleshy stump of a wrist. However, something was off about the cadaver. It looked...fresher. Almost preserved, somehow. It didn't take long for him to realize why as the fleshy stump, aided by the hand opposite, slowly propped up the torso of the dead man who turned towards the onlooker with fogged eyes and an open mouth. It almost seemed to grin as it reached out for Herman, a sight made more gruesome by the stripped lips and scraggly chin caked in dried blood. It reached it towards the man with its arms, fruitlessly grasping at the air before it started to groan, almost as if in frustration. It only grew louder as its grin turned into a pained and hungry grimace, vying to get warm flesh into its body.

[HEADING=3]Ashlyn[/HEADING]
The highway in front of the lot's offices was clear of most signs of life, but further down the road, some commotion could be heard. The unmistakable, raspy groan of the undead reached Ashlyn's ears quite easily in the stillness, and it would most certainly reach those of any bodies nearby. Only a quick look would let her know just what was going on, and a few moments' time would reveal just what kind of attention the noise was attracting...

[HEADING=3]Evelyn[/HEADING]
In that tree, everything seemed so calm and peaceful, which was more than one could say for Ryker who was now being stripped of his flesh on his own carpet. Fortunately for him, he was already dead, though not before he experienced some of the most excruciating pain imaginable. But it was not the time to dwell the passing of a short-lived companionship, only to make plans for her journey from that tree, and hopefully to a safer place. It seemed, however, that the universe wouldn't let her off easily, for there were a dozen Walkers approaching from the south and west. It was evident they hadn't quite noticed her being there, otherwise they'd be crowding the tree in no time, but if she was to find a more secure location, her window of opportunity was growing smaller by the minute.

[HEADING=3]Ted & Darek[/HEADING]
There was the sound of creaking lumber, and the ruckus of snapping plywood soon followed. Rooms that were previously boarded up now had members of the undead, invigorated with the prospects of a good meal that came with the sound of gunfire and the brutal end of a chase. Some tore through the timber, some from outside found glass doors to smash open, but each and every one of them came for the food that the two strangers did not want to become. From the rooftop, small groups of Walkers could be seen coming from the north and east, from the fields and trees around the rail-yard. Unable to stay there for long, they'd need to find some way down to safe grounds. With the large canopy that shaded the front of the school, it was possible they could clamber down with little to no risk of injury. Otherwise, they'd have to chance going through the gauntlet of the undead that was an empty collection of hallways just an hour before.

[HEADING=3]Naomi[/HEADING]
The residential streets seemed bare as she drew nearer to S Mason Road, almost untouched by the whole plague, but the illusion's curtain was pulled back as she saw the pileup the occupied the southbound lane of the main road. The paint on some of the vehicles was masked with scorch marks and much of the glass was blackened and shattered. Further south, there were several zombies surrounding what appeared to be a freshly killed deer, preoccupied from the looks of it. They presented no immediate danger, but there was no telling when or even if one would pay Naomi any mind, perhaps wanting to claim his own meal rather than settling for whatever meat wasn't taken by the others.

[HEADING=3]Alex[/HEADING]
That Pontiac's fuel gauge began floating a little too close to 'E', the driver had noticed, and it wouldn't do him any good to let it run dry. He hadn't come up and on gas stations and there were no signs indicating any nearby, which meant only one of two things: either ditch the car in hopes of finding another, or siphon some fuel out of what vehicles he could. Seeing as finding another charged and functioning car battery anywhere within a hundred miles would be nearly impossible, the latter of the two options seemed the most viable of solutions. The only problem with that was the fact that, strangely enough, cars were very sparse along that particular stretch of road. It was quite possible he'd have to find some place to park his car while he ventured off to collect whatever fuel he could find. East of the road, there were plenty of houses that would likely prove to be fruitful prospects, though if the dense area wasn't deemed suitable by the man, he recalled a car lot he'd seen about a mile back, Tri City Motors as the sign indicated, which was sure to have what he was looking for, provided it was cleaned out already.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

Dana smiled when she saw the car. Someone had the right idea of how to design a vehicle. It wasn't as good as another lorry, but it would have to do. It could probably mow a few zombies down, or at least get them out of her fucking way. She almost prayed that it worked, but stopped herself before she did something she'd regret later. God didn't exist, and even if he did she should worship the other dude. The one in hell.

She opened the door to The Tenderizer and got behind the wheel. The key was in the ignition and luckily it started on her second try. Well, it didn't stop it from breaking down as soon as she got onto the road or out of the garage. Maybe she should find something to sacrifice to the devil, for good fortune or whatever.

The drummer got out of the car to open the garage door, then went back to the driver's seat and really hoped that it wouldn't break down as soon as it got the perfect opportunity to do so.

 

[NeoAC]

As Ashlyn looked back out the windows, the streets seemed to be clear, but there were noises in the distance. Inhuman noises. Hell. Well these better be the ones then.

She took her keys with her as she charged back across the parking lot towards the Triple E with her head on a swivel. I ain't getting bit now. Not after being holed up in Wally World all that time. She made it to the door in one piece, and immediately brought up the first key ring up to the hole. She started plugging keys in, not bothering to check what they looked like, just looking for one to fit. All right, come on.....nope, next.......nope, next........dang it. All right, winner's gotta be here somewhere, just gotta keep trying...

 

[KelevraBD]

Herman had been walking for a short while when he saw the corpse. A pitiful looking thing with only one hand left, and most of its flesh peeled, ripped, or rotted off. It swiped out at him hungrily, locking its eyes on him like a dog locks eyes on a squirrel.The shape that thing is in, it's harmless. But if it keeps on moaning like that it'll attract more, and the ones it attracts will probably be a bit more dangerous. You should hurry and take it out before it rallies the troops. Herman shuffled quietly over to the corpse as it's moans grew louder, and once again readied his pipe to crack into the skull of the beast. This time he felt different however. A moment of hesitation rushed over him, watching that rotted defenseless thing bat at him with one hand, helplessly stuck between two cars. This one seemed more human than the one he'd beat down in the Animal Hospital. That one was stronger, and more aggressive. This one was weak, trapped, struggling with every ounce of it's being to survive one more minute, to find one more meal.Just like you.

Herman finally mustered enough courage to smack the corpse across it's rotted skull, and with a mushy sort of snap the moaning ended. Unfortunately, he'd been too slow. Turning around, Herman saw two very healthy looking corpses shambling in his direction. Healthy looking, for a couple of dead guys anyway. RUN! Looking around, Herman realized he wasn't that far off from the lot. Get inside, go! GO! Herman vaulted over the two cars that had pinned the first corpse down and smudged it's bloody fleshy remains all over his pants as he slid off the trunk of one of the cars. He pumped his arms back and forth furiously, making a bee line straight for the front door of the RV Lot. No doubt the corpses would be behind him the whole way, but he was well practiced in putting distance between himself and the dead.

 

[NeoAC]

Ashlyn tried another trio of keys before she started wondering if it was worth attempting any of the others. That's when she saw the note on the window:

Roy,
Keys are in my office if you need them. And don't forget, the float charger is still on the battery. Just make sure you put it back with the others if and when that thing sells.​

Well that would have been nice to spot a little earlier. Determined to curse herself for it later, Ashlyn headed back into the abandoned building. The office was in behind the overturned key rack, and the door was open. Upon examination of the remarkably well-kept workspace, the keys were nowhere to be found. None hanging on anything. "Are you kiddin' me?" she softly exclaimed as she went searching around. "They gotta be in here." She got confirmation upon spotting the labels on the desk, one of which clearly read "RV Keys".

"All right then." Ashlyn went for the drawer, but it was locked. She tried bashing the bottom corner of the drawer with the end of her rifle, and on the third try, it got pried out enough that a sizeable crack was made. Sticking the end in, she turned her gun into a makeshift crowbar to pop the weakened drawer out. "Jackpot." There was only the one set of keys inside, which eliminate any guess work this time. Scooping it up, she started back out towards the parking lot where her machine awaited, but something stopped her. The groaning sounds she heard we still faint, but now audible inside the building. The rifle was shifted from battering ram to boomstick mode. I told you, I ain't getting bit now.

As she left the building, she could see what was making the noise. There were three figures, all moving towards her position. The leader seemed to be human, but one couldn't be too careful when it came to zombies. She brought the rifle up to her shoulder to aim. She had the heads in her sights, but whether or not the gun would cooperate would determine how this played out. "HIT THE DIRT!" she shouted, before waiting two seconds. Once the grace period was over, she fired three shots.

 

[KelevraBD]

Herman was a few feet away from the entrance, still being chased by the beasts that had heard the calls of their dying brother, when something surprising happened. The doors swung open and a figure emerged, holding something in its hands. Can't be one of them, they can hardly hold their heads up, let alone keep a grasp on something Reflexively, Herman tried to halt himself, flailing his arms and legs as he ran to slow himself down. Though he didn't want to run face first into this new figure, he was still mindful that there was a very real threat behind him as well. A moment passed and he was able to get a better look at the figure in front of him. Is that...a girl? Is that a GUN!? Herman dove to the side, obeying the woman's command to hit the dirt just as she fired three shots from her rifle. Three shots. One of those was meant for you.

Memories of the last time he'd encountered another person flashed through Herman's head at a million miles an hour. Three shots. He placed his hands on the back of his head, frozen in fear and not even bothering to check if the corpses pursuing him had been stopped by the bullets Three shots. Herman squinted, pressing his eyes shut tight, trying to get his head back together. Waffles. Three shots. His muscles ached, he smelled the decay of the bodies around him and his throat seized up. Get up or she'll kill you. Try as he might, Herman could not get to his feet. The most he could muster up was the strength to turn around, open his eyes, and crawl backwards away from the woman with the gun. His pipe was still in his hand, his fingers wrapped around it so tight his knuckles turned white. Three shots.

"P-please. I ju-just need a v-va-van. Waffles." Herman used the bloody pipe to point down the street towards the waffle house.

 

[NeoAC]

Once the shots were fired, Ashlyn allowed herself to drop the weapon back to it's relaxed position. All three bodies appeared to have dropped to the ground, but as she looked the bodies didn't line up. The front one was off to the side, while the back two where right in line with where she fired. No zombies got the lateral movement like that. Then the front body started to move.

Ashlyn brought her gun back up and slowly walked towards the front body. By the time she got to him, the man had flipped over, but he was starting to crawl towards the others. Why? What are you doing?

"P-please. I ju-just need a v-va-van. Waffles."

Then it dawned on Ashlyn that the pale lady with the gun might be a little more frightening to the man than the now deceased zombies. Especially considering she just tried to shoot at him.

She blew back the bangs that had settled in front of her face. "A van? Good luck finding the right combo. Keys in there are all over the place. You probably wouldn't have much of a shot till more of those buggers come running." After tucking the rifle back into the holster, she bent down, offering a hand to the disheveled man. "Here, come on up. I ain't gonna shoot ya. You passed the zombie test when you weren't stupid enough to stand in my line of fire."

 

[SkyeNeko]

Uh-oh... I don't think I can make it past them... Naomi took a quick look around. She decided to go around, making her way behind the houses. A big jump cleared the fence, and she was in the backyard. This continued for a while, hopping over the fences separating the houses. Most of them were bare, save the few times she had to go back out to the street to avoid a backyard zombie. Unfortunately, she found nothing useful as she made her way through the grass and forgotten play houses and swings. The doors that weren't boarded up were wide open, and a quick glance told her there probably wasn't much left inside.

Finally the houses started to thin out, replaced by buildings and stores. Still good cover. She took the back alleys, staying clear of the empty street. "Hum... hmm hmm hmm... hmmmm..." she hummed softly, nervously, to herself. They won't bother me... they won't bother me...
"Oauuugh..."
A zombie shuffled up from his seated position.
Time to run!
Naomi bolted down the sidewalk. She couldn't run too close to the doors in case one burst out at her, but that also meant she was out... in the open. She had to get back to some cover. Even if the blood from her leg wasn't seeping out, she had no doubt they could smell it if she got too close.

 

[warrcry13]

Now that they were safely on the roof Darek took of his hat, and stuffed it into a side pocket of his pack. After two fights and a chase he was sweaty, and the cool air felt good on his face and sweat lank hair.. "My name's Ted." muttered the man sitting at the table. Darek walked over to where Ted was sitting, and placed his pack on the ground. "I'm Darek. Thanks for pulling my ass out of the fire back there. I'd probably be dead if you hadn't known how to get up here." Darek tossed his gloves down next to his pack and started rummaging through it. He fished out his bag of beef jerky, and grabbed a couple pieces. "I don't know when the last time you had some protein, but we're gonna need our energy." He tossed the bag onto the table. "Help yourself."

Darek walked around for a bit, trying to figure out the best way to get out of the bind they now found themselves in. There was a canopy on the front of the school. It would be a bit of a drop, but he figured they could make it down off the roof easily enough. Darek walked back over to his pack grabbed his canteen, and sat down in one of the chairs. After a couple moments he said "There is a canopy on the front of the school. Looks like we could make it down, but these shambling bastards are tickling in from the streets, and the woods behind the school." Darek took a drink from his canteen. "We could always chuck this guy down to the corpses to distract them while we get away. What do you think?"

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Ted took the bag and grabbed a few pieces. It was hard knowing what was too much. He was entirely too hungry to be restrained. He took five pieces, looking at Darek for approval. When he had it, he carefully chewed them all down slowly to savor them.

Now to find a way out of this.

As Ted listened to Darek's suggestion thoughtfully, he noticed a skylight. He had the germ of an idea pop into his head...

Yes, that could work.

Darek finished talking and Ted pointed out what he had been thinking about.

"Some of these emergency systems for schools are active even when the power is out. I was thinking that if I can get you to hold my legs..."

After explaining his intention and getting a skeptical agreement out of Darek, Ted smashed the skylight out with the head of his axe. Zombies from below looked up and roared, pointing. Getting Darek to hold him up, Ted crawled through the skylight to poke his head upside down along the ceiling of the auditorium. Taking out the school blue prints and striking a match, he lit it on fire right underneath a sprinkler head.

The sprinkler system shuddered violently and then a jet of water rushed out... for fifteen seconds. No alarms went off and the zombies beneath merely got a little wet. Getting pulled back up, Ted scratched his head.

"Well.... there... there goes my idea. No alarms. Thought we could get ourself a loud distraction if it worked... I guess we'll try your idea... Let's get ready."

*********************************

The Hell's Angel zombie had pushed open the trapdoor. The prey was gone but it stayed quiet. Heaving its rotting flesh up through the entrance, it closed the door behind it. There were still the instincts of a contract killer in this zombie. It had to get its prey, had to set a trap, had to get that flesh... Leave no trace. When he was alive, many zombies had failed to bite him by leaving a clue.

All except the one that bit him.

Stumbling over behind an air conditioning unit, the biker ghoul checked its hand to see if it still had the machete. It was there.

Soon.

 

[Link_to_Future]

Tension seemed to build in his chest as Alex drove onward through the desolate streets. His eyes keep glancing quickly to the pointer of his fuel gauges as it inched dangerously in the wrong direction. The poor machine hadn't had a drop to drink since he'd siphoned off a half a tank back near Kansas City. Fuel had become an incredibly difficult commodity to come by after the days the power went out. With no electricity, there was nothing powering the fuel pumps save the odd generator he had found providing backup at a very few gas stations he had stopped at along the road. Anymore Alex just obtained his fuel by siphoning from vehicles abandoned on the side of the road. Unfortunately, his darting eyes were unable to spot anything that would carry the precious gasoline he needed. Most everyone had probably tried to skip town when the end came about. The only options would be to drive or to walk. From his observation, Alex figured most had tried to drive and had at least succeeded on making it far enough away to put a heavier burden on the shoulders of the fool trying to make their way INTO St. Louis.

His eyes scanned the scenery desperately as he tried to find any meaningful opportunity. He had passed a car lot a while back that might provide the necessary fuel but a niggling doubt about that place hung over him like an anchor. If anyone was looking to scavenge vehicles or gas, a car lot would be the first place they would look. This meant that there was a higher chance that the place was either empty or filled with shufflers who met an ill fate in the face of an optimistic prospect. And even in a best case scenario, Alex knew that most car lots didn't keep their vehicle fueled more than the bare minimum to ensure that no one drove off the lot for good without signing a contract. Even if they hadn't been tapped, Alex would be standing in the open draining mere drops from the cars parked there. Alex couldn't risk that; he needed to get his gas in "bulk" and then move on with haste.

The houses that popped into the left corner of his eye bared a little more promise. Alex was always skittish about venturing into residential areas but his luck had always favored them. Perhaps it was because looters preferred to head towards commercial zones in hopes of commercial levels of goods. Perhaps it was simple luck siding with the young man. Either way, Alex had been able to find better supplies in the lands where the people used to rest their heads.

On the other side of the coin, he had also found a lot more Shufflers there too.

But his eyes kept darting towards the fuel gauge, constantly working its way towards empty.

After an eternity, his hands suddenly jerked the steering wheel to the left without his mind fully comprehending the weight of his decision. He just knew that he needed the fuel and the supplies. He just knew that if he were to find them, they would be in the places that people had lived in the before time. He just knew that suddenly, he was walking towards the homes with a plastic fuel can held in his right hand, his revolver firmly clenched in his left, and the yellow tubing wrapped around his shoulders.

He knew the risk of what he was doing. He just silently prayed to God that it would be worth it once again.

 

[warrcry13]

"Alright man I'll get the body. See if you can't find a good place to drop him." Darek began to walk over to where the body was. He passed by the trap door, and continued walking. A chill went through his body as the hairs on his neck stood on end. He slowly reached for the gun in its holster, and turned around. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. So he passed it off as nervousness from the gathering horde around the school. He turned and began to walk back to where the body, and more importantly his gear was. He came up on blocky air conditioning unit when he was hit by the same sense of trepidation. All the sudden a raging monster burst from behind the AC unit. The sight of one of the deadheads on the roof stunned him for a moment. "What the fuck....." he said in surprise. As the monster raced towards him in a lurching gait, and brandishing a machete. The thing was moving much faster than any other he had seen before. By the time he recovered from his shock it was almost on him.


He scrambled for his gun as the thing came within blade distance, and swung the machete. Darek had his gun half way out of his holster when he was forced to jump back. Much to his horror his grip wasn't good on his gun and it slipped out of his hand as his feet hit the gorund. "Ted!" he shouted "We got one of these fuckers up here with us!" He sidestepped an overhead swing, and pulled his knife, but the zombie kept up it's swings apparently impervious to fatigue. Darek couldn't get close enough to make a counter attack. So he continued to give ground making sure he didn't get hit by the things unstoppable flailing. He could see Ted sprinting over with his axe in hand, when his luck ran out. He took a step back and suddenly there was no more ground. He fell backwards his hands reflexively making a clawing gesture, and he cried out as he fell.


He hit the lower roof with a jarring impact. It wasn't a long drop, but it was unexpected. The impact blew the air from his lungs, and he laid there stunned for a moment. He stood up, and looked for a ladder or something to get him back up to where Ted was. He didn't even know if there was a ladder, and he could still hear a struggle above him, so he ran over to one of the AC units up against the wall. He climbed onto it, and scrambled his way back onto the raised roof.


Apparently Ted had removed the blade wielding arm from the things torso, but the thing was in under the swings of his axe trying to tear a chunk out of Ted's face. Thinking quickly Darek pulled his jacket off, and twisted it around with a couple of flicks. He sprinted over to Ted and put the loop down around the dead things lower face, and neck and pulled its head back with one hand. As the thing's face was slowly pulled away from Ted's it started to become over balanced. Darek stepped on the back of it's knee and it dropped down onto its knees. Then Darek took his knife and started slamming it down on top of it's head. Sadly the knife wasn't meant for stabbing, and all it was doing was cracking the skull, and ripping huge chunks out of the things head as it glanced off the skull.

"Stand back." Darek heard Ted say so he let go of the jacket, and kicked the thing in the back. The ghoul dropped to its chest. Its face slamming against the roof with a wet thunk. Ted brought his axe over his head like he was splitting a log, and split the ghouls skull. As the threat was ended Darek sat down. "Holy balls." was all he could say for a moment. "How the fuck did that thing get up here?" he said to himself more than anything his voice high from fear, and adrenaline.