-
"On zero! Three... Two... One..." Ea counted and put all her strength to the kick following. The door gave in but was left to hang from the bottom hinge, having a group of infected pushing it away from top of them.
The following moments turned into a blur in Ea's mind leaving only images from here and there. She swinging her club, kicking some of the infected on face when they tried to crawl from under the door, others coming over the door in clumsy manner, Alex's concentrated face that made him look older, Scarlet on the stairs, more kicking and hitting.
Ea worked completely on instincts and what ever she had learnt during the long years of the infected being around.
Slowly actual thinking returned little by little which wasn't necessarily even good since the group of infected was slightly bigger than they had expected and they kept coming through the door.
-
"ZERO" Alex yelled out as he and Ea kicked down the door. Regaining his stance he waited till the infected came at him. He moved quickly when they came close enough to him his movement fluid, practiced, and deadly. he leaped from one infected to the next slicing the neck open or snapping the neck.
He was numb to the world, nothing existed outside of killing the infected. getting vengance for his family. He saw nothing, only felt what he needed to. A rotting hand grabbing at him. he threw it, not caring where it landed just knowing that he threw away from the library, Ea, and Scarlet.
He began to slowdown, he could feel it. And that was when he registered where he was and how many of the infected were left. he was a few feet past the doorway but not so far that he couldn't get back if needed. He weaved and rolled back to Ea he could tell she was realizing the same thing. There were a lot of infected, more than the usual roving pack that would go after just one person..damn is there a crack in the wall? there shouldn't be this many...
-
"Any ideas? Any ideas?" Ea kept repeating when a sudden feeling of panic swept through her head. She hadn't felt worried over getting killed herself or surviving from the infected for ages and for a second felt confused about the long lost feeling. Why now? Never even with the kids... Ea gripped tighter to her golf club and got a hold of herself again.
"Alex, upstairs!" Ea suddenly ordered. She gave a fast look towards Scarlet and Alex. "We can hold them longer in the stairs, right?"
It wasn't the ultimate solution, but it was always better to fight back as long as possible. There was also the point that if they went up, Alex could protect Scarlet and she could go and check out the situation outside by climbing down the fire ladder if the area under them wouldn't be too crowded.
-
Alex had almost reached Ea when she commanded him upstairs, and so he just continued at speed past her. due to not needing to avoid infected on the way up the stairs, he was up the stairs in a matter of seconds taking the steps 2 and 3 at a time. He paused for a second the inital rush of the infected fighting leaving his mind not too far from the stairs were a few bookcases. Luckily, and unluckily, they looked heavy and great for a barrier Alex darted over to the bookshelf and pulled it over. The loud thud of the bookcase falling on it's side should have given anyone fair warning of what he was planning but he still called out "Ea! your turn! GET UP THE STAIRS! and without a second warning Alex started to shove on the bookcase and it began to inch toward the top of the stairs where it would easily cover the gap in the railing where the stairs met the landing he and Scarlet was on. The strain shone clearly on his face but he refused to pump his adrenaline to give him that extra help it gave Ea more time to get behind the bookshelf as well as he may need it if they all needed to run. Or, to be more accurate, he'd probably be carrying scarlet out while Ea followed or something like that.
-
Ea shook off the still moment from her body and shot forward to whack the point of the infected coming in as Alex ran past her. She heard a loud sound of something falling and decided that it was a sign for her to go upstairs herself.
With a speed slightly faster than jogging she came to the stairs and hopped them up at the same time looking behind her to keep on track where the infected were. There was still time. Anything from thirty seconds to couple of minutes.
"Great idea, Alex", she acclaimed while squeezing in to the other side with Rebecca. She gave a glance to the door leading to fire ladder but decided to stick around a while longer to see how the situation would develop and make sure Alex and Scarlet could deal with the attack without her.
"Any other good ideas, either of you?" Ea raised her eyebrows.
"When it comes to me, I think we could bring another shelf here too, in case we need to push the first one down to tackle some of those zombies and re-barricade."
-
Scarlet's hands shook as her eyes darted from Alex to Ea.
Dead. We're dead.
"I... I think maybe..."
If we ever make it out of here, we'll just get mauled in the street anyway.
Her voice trailed off as the doubt she felt clouded her thoughts. What killed these things? Guns... they had limited ammo. Blows to the head... they couldn't fight them all off like that. And...
Scarlet's face lit up suddenly as her eyes met with Ea's, who was looking at her expectantly, waiting for the sentence to be finished. "What if we fought them off with fire?"
Feeling rather stupid now that the suggestion was out in the open air, a groan from downstairs startled her and soon she became jumpy again, biting her lip and glancing around for any other means of defense.
-
alex looked to Scarlet as she offered the burning the zombies idea. it was a good one but, "All the books would make this place burn pretty easily.." Alex said before he looked to Ea for her approval or thoughts. It was originally her space, her choice. Then a few moment's later not wanting to just be sitting around he said "Ea, let's get that other shelf while we think about it." Alex was breathing a little heavily but he wasn't a big strong guy and the shelves were heavy for his thin frame. Alex started moving to another shelf, whatever decision they made he'd go with it and if they wet onto the roofs of the town they were going into his element and he knew where it would be safe out there. The only danger was if the city was being overrun getting out would be difficult.
-
Ea could hear the tremble in Scarlet's voice as clearly as she heard the infected getting towards the stairs worryingly fast. Alex waited for an answer too but she figured to give the gift of hope for both of them for a bit. As they started to tilt the another bookself down, she felt a little pinch in her heart. How ever, it was better to bring facts to the open before either of her companions got any funny ideas.
"Scarlet, your idea isn't a good one. Like Alex said, a library has a lot that burns easily even though most of the books and magazines are gone. This is also my place and I won't let you burn it down. It could also catch on other buildings where people are hiding and cause even more people to die", Ea explained with all the calmness in her voice and with a relaxed posture.
"But the most important reason is, - listen carefully now Scarlet, as this same idea might cross your mind at some later point of your life -, when you don't want zombies you seriously don't want burning zombies. Do you understand? They don't die to it neither they can feel pain. Sudden bright light is the only thing that wakes them up from their hungry coma but they go to a far more dangerous and vicious state. All in all, they become ten times more deadly by adding the element of fire to them."
Ea waited calmly for any possible reaction to come. She felt that Scarlet still somehow hoped for a simple solution that would make all the bad go away. Like putting on lights used to scare away all the monsters from your wardrobe and under your bed.
-
The girl could almost have growled at the tone of Ea's voice. It was too calm, almost scolding-- she was treating her like a child! Though the argument had been perfectly reasonable, Scarlet still felt contempt at being called wrong.
"Then what do we do?" she asked, frustration touching the words.
-
-
"We fight against them one by one in here or elsewhere. That's all there is to it. We all survivors of Wunsch are expected to do our best to find the leak too and block it", Ea sighed. Panicking, feeling useless, fear... All those emotions needed to be pushed away from her mind too for a chance of survival as she didn't trust in luck.
"People like gathering to this library so it could help us or put others into a grave danger. That's what worries me the most", she said looking Scarlet and Alex. She knew it wasn't a good time to talk now with the infected finally figuring out a way to get up the stairs - the stairs tripped many so others simply walked over them without having to worry about lifting their feet that much.
"Only exit route is the fire ladder door still. I'm going to help you get started with finding a good technique and then I'm going to the roof, figure out some warning signal and then try and locate the leak", she explained hastily as she looked to the front door which still let the infected in adding to the amount of zombies. It still wasn't much, really, Ea reminded herself. This was only a small horde.
-
The man wondered near the Library hearing the Moans and grunts of Undead....Maybe voices but those could be within his head....He wasn't sure but he heard the firing and spraying of a Small arm as he chould make out a woman firing into the Crowd he sighed slightly knowing that was a rather dumb mistake but he slows brings out his MK14 and takes sight.
-
Alex made his way back to the two women as he heard Ea mention the fire exit. Yep, they were going out into the roofs of the city, his element. "Roofs are usually pretty safe places..." He looked over to scarlet for a moment then. She'd need help getting around with that bad ankle.
His mind shifted to something else Ea had mentioned. An alarm, the thought never occured to him to use an alarm to warn people, gather them together, and clear out the infected. He'd been moving around soo much the switch in his head hadn't switched off "nomad" and he was just as ready to leave the building and never look back. He had to stop thinking that way. the city was safe. It just had a small leak. a little patchwork and it'd be fixed.
His thoughts were interruped as he thought he heard the repetitive pop of a gun outside the building "Ea...?" he questioned "you hear that too?...Sounds like someone has found out what's going on here...."
-
The man let out a small burst of fire towards the large hoard to draw a few in as he reached down and gripped two bottles hitting them together to make some noise to draw the hoard in, When a few catch the secent/Sound of him they begin to make there way as he swings the rifle across his back bring out his Echo 1 Sword Bayonet
-
Scarlet gasped at the sound of the shots, as if they had rung out in a complete silence. "I heard it," she whispered, but it went unheard; lost in the cries of the undead.
Frozen and knowing that she was useless in the situation, she prayed silently in her head for whoever was firing to come faster.
-
The man smiled slightly as his twirled his Blade between his fingers as he made way toward the crowd his feet hitting the pavement loudly.He reached the hoard to see a woman charging at the crowd and he flipped hisblade ounce more before bring it down upon an infected head not only distroying the brain but have a bloody good spray of flesh and blood as he lifted the blade ounce more hacking away at the hoard from the out layers not supid enogh to charge in but to lead them away slowly. The man gripped the Hand;e of a Para-trooper blade and drew the blade making quick work of a Infected the lunged at his feet.After he jumped back as he grunted charging sideways around the hoard surprisingly fast as he reached the Long doors he banged twice yelling quickly "open up Dammit!" His blade came down on another skull as he kicked it back into the Hoard knocking down a few zombies buying some time.
-
Ea looked at Alex concentrating to listen and then she heard it. Clear gun sounds. It wasn't that much of a surprise noticing that there were hundreds of people in the town and ammo wasn't too scarce yet to fight the infected when there was a real need - yet still Ea felt like it was just a bad joke of coincidence.
"There can't be many people... Too seldom", she noted and then burst into action.
"Let's go to the roofs then, Alex. Can you help Scarlett? I'll come after you making sure you can take your time with the ladder. Does either of you have a lighter or matches?" she hurried. Stupid people thinking they can win the infected just because they have guns.
She ran around in dashes picking up books she thought didn't look that interesting or valuable. In a some weird way she couldn't help but care for them after living such a while in this place and seeing them disappearing all the time.
"We'll light up a fire and try to shout at them. It is far away enough not to make the zombies crazy but can be seen for others", Ea explained and ran to the fire door to open it and made it stay still with kicking one of the books under it. The breeze of evening air felt comforting when it hit against her face.
-
The man barely saw people and before he could finish his thoughts he saw another Infected fling it's self at the man as he side step bring his foot down on the head of the infected. He then pushed though the doors as a few infected made there way towards the man he was very swift with his movements like a tactical genius on steroids, He spring up into the air as he land on a zombie gooey face as he launched of towards the Shadowy people a Move he learned from his old Commander. He rolled in the ground using his Echo 1 Sword bayonet as a pushed as he ran though the crowd pushing down and shoving Infected agenst each other as he was just another few feet away he stop gripping his Para-trooper knife swing in arcs to gain some breathing room as the gore splashed on his face slightly, He stopped now having a good 5 feet of space. He spoke deeply "IS there a way I can reach you! "
-
Scarlet winced, partially from the pain in her ankle but mostly from the embarrassment of needing assistance to get out of here. She stood, her face blank as a show of bravado, and hobbled over to Ea, searching her pocket before pulling out a small lighter. I knew this would come in handy, she thought, tossing it at her when she had caught her attention.
At the same moment, she heard a muffled voice call out from below. It sounded masculine, and surprisingly not panicked. She didn't catch what they had said, however, and only waited for Ea to make the next move against the horde.
-
Ea grabbed the lighter and sighed in relief, giving a quick smile for Scarlet. She turned around as someone yelled and ran to the edge of the balcony-like second floor. There stood a man with a little breathing space and quite frankly he seemed completely alright.
Before figuring out this new puzzle to solve, she nodded to Scarlet and Alex: "Go ahead! You will take a bit of time anyhow. Go!"
She didn't have time to look after them going or not, so she simply yelled a warning to the man downstairs and put their earlier plan to use. He kicked the first bookshelf in a better position and hopped to the other side to push it down the staircase.
The bookshelf slid for a while but then got caught from the corner when the speed slowed down. How come they hadn't realized this might happen? Ea went down a few steps and stupidly hopped on the bookshelf, making it slide again and stumbling on it herself targeting towards a group of infected. "Shit!"
-
"Ea!" she screamed, her voice shrill with horror. No, this couldn't happen!
She looked wildly at Alex, hoping he would do something before Ea was attacked. Where was the man who had yelled to them? She wasn't willing to see someone else die, not even this woman who she had just met.
-
The man didn't have time to wait for them to think of something so in a moment like this he did the worst thing you can do....The man began to coil his legs like a spring as he grunted releasing them sending him flying thought the air on top of a book case as he yanked it down causing the Infected to come to the loud noise as he made way to the stairs...He then jumped on another spring himself on the Railing (If any) to pull himself over and fall on the other side bring himself to his feet, He smiled slightly as Waved to the people causally, He spoke with a Low voice"Hello...Friends."
-
Alex darted over to his bag he had a zippo in there but by the time he'd gotten it out Scarlet had gotten one over to Ea. Alex completely ignored the sounds of the people fighting the infected to get to them. while the bookshelves where there the infected still had a considerable amount of work to do to get to them.
Then Ea went and became an idiot knocking the first shelf down and sliding it towards the infected. If that wasn't bad enough Ea jumped onto the shelf and slid herself into a more dangerous situation. "Idiot..." Alex muttered grabbing Scarlet's wrist and pulling her to the fire escape."Come on Scarlet.."
A really loud bang alerted Alex to one of their saviors pulling down the other shelf. Alex looked forward without waving back to the man muttering under his breath "Feckin, idiot" still pulling Scarlet to the exit, it was getting too crowded in here for his tastes and he didn't care if Scarlet twisted out of his grip he was getting out of there. He called back to the man still not looking to him "Help her" clearly referring to Ea.
-
The man let out a groan slightly as he Looked down at the Woman as he Ran toward the woman and just Jumped toward her as he Tackled her using his Weight as he BARRELS into a group of infected as he rolls with the woman in his arms knocking infected down tillhe reaches a book shelf which he surprising lifts the woman up onto as he Speaks "Stay.Now."...He then Look toward the others and he ended up removing his Sword Bayonet he Begun to effortlessly Slice the zombies in Brain While slicing a Straight path towards the Stairs as The zombies become more intense he Ends up Removing his Paratrooper knife for backup as he releases this is useless without help he Jumps sideways Punching a Zombie As he Groans he Kicks it as the zombies tumble on each other the Man looks...Amused...He finally runs up the stars as fast as he can and speaks a little Winded "Can...You...Fight..?" The man Smiled slightly as he looked back at the zombies and the woman on the book shelf.
-
Scarlet allowed herself to be led by Alex away from the scene, but she couldn't help but turn to watch in awe as the two outsiders fought through the horde.
"Alex, wait!" she said, gesturing, "I think they might have it under control--"
-
The man wouldn't wait for a answer as he gripped his Bayonet sword as he Lifted himself up over the people as he spoke "Linsten your friend don't have long...DO what I say and we WILL make it Now..." THe man eyed the Other man and woman as he walked to the stairs looking down....
-
Alex let go of Scarlet and turned to face everyone in the room. He didn't like the guy who'd shown up. The man was trying to force his will upon everyone in the room. Alex didn't need the man's help to get out. The fire escape, and therefore the roof, was a few feet away and there hadn't been a single person, infected or not, that he couldn't get away from when he was running the roofs. "Scarlet...If you want to go with them...fine.....Ea... told me to help you out of here through the fire escape...and if you want to go that way I'll help...but I'm not staying here...." Alex put emphasis on Ea's name when he said it. A subtle hint on who Alex placed his respect and trust.
Alex then turned to the man who was acting the hero trying not to look too disgusted at the man. "I can get out of here fine...I don't NEED to listen to you..."Alex paused to gesture to the fire escape "There IS another way out...." Alex didn't care that he was giving the man an attitude, he didn't like anyone trying to control him or what he did, it was one of the reasons he pranked the people in the safe town. They wanted him to behave and follow the rules and he hadn't met someone in town he respected enough to listen to those rules.
It may have seemed cold but nothing sparked through Alex when the man said his friend didn't have too long. It was a zombie apocalypse, one day you're making friends the next day your slicing their infected but to pieces. Regardless Alex stood there and waited for Scarlet to make a decision. Either he helped her out on the roofs or she followed the other guy and Alex hit the roofs alone, and he doubted anyone would follow him. Not like they could if they wanted to.
-
The man Yelled "It is not the will of one that pushes Humanity My friend but the will of many!" The man was not concerned but as he saw it if he left even one zombie people would die...Period...He made his way with his Sword Bayonet as he Begin to throw Vertical slashes toward the Infected as he Pushes one down slightly and lifts Ea up with his hand placing her on his back as he forced him self to run even though he was tired he held Lives right now he knocked a infected down and slammed his foot on his head crushing it as he set Ea down net to Scarlet "Well...I say there about 30...40 more to be dealt with-" The man ducks as a wild shot nearly takes his head off from the other woman eariler...He spoke ounce more "If you must leave though the...Coward way but if wish to make use I Can provide Limited weapons to You..But if you die you die."
-
Ea had really ruined things for herself. She was in a shocked still state for a decent while from bumping her head quite hard. She saw and heard everything but didn't process much anything than her free flowing thoughts. I wonder if this is how they feel... But with only hunger and not thinking...
Before properly gripping to this thought, Ea realized blood rushing on her head as she was being carried and ache slowly creeped on her head. She kicked warningly in the air to indicate to that someone let go of her.
Ea heard some new woman voice and sighed on her mind. Heroes and heroines everywhere.
When she was put down on the floor she recognized Scarlet next to her.
"You still didn't go? But... Let's all go... Or all can stay too if they wish so", she laughed and felt how every sound whacked her head like a hammer.
"I'm not much use anymore after that... Slip...", she reasoned and started crawling towards the fire ladder. She wasn't going to kill herself even when certainly would have deserved it based on her stupidity.
-
Ea looked up to the stranger and a sudden rush of self hate fueled her deep into her most common way of behaviour. She hadn't lately been much like her usual self but right now it felt the safest and helped her own miserable and messed feeling.
"Are you too scared to fight zombies yet need to look useful?" she asked with a cold voice with a small amount of mockery in her tone of voice.
"If I can't deal with a bit of floor and few steps of ladder I'd sure be ashamed."
Ea got new strenght from being able to be angry and she crawled towards the ladders faster. She didn't dare even to think what it'd be like to try and walk but climbing the ladder would also give a good image of it for sure.
This old way of acting, pushing others away, was so easy way to deal with people. She usually had a voice in her head letting Ea herself know that she actually wasn't like that but right now it was too tired, maybe even dead from the bump.
-
Behind actual brick and cement walls is an area including a few apartment buildings, old City Hall and a beautiful little park with a working fountain and swingset for the children. People living in here used to be rich and respected and they still like to consider themselves rich in a world where money really doesn't buy anything.
The all in all amount of inhabitants in the Inner city is around 60 and they live tightly together but they're safe and relatively content. The guards walking around the little area go un-noticed when you've seen them so many times. Neither the dozen of guards on the main gate cause any kind of problem as no-one wants out unless they're forced to and they sure keep the poor and possibly infected people out.
-
The man looked at them and grunted speaking Loudly with A slight hint of anger " You all bicker and argue when we all know we need to survive I try to help you dare insult me and her When the Blanket of death befalls you Who will be there for you...I sure hope some one is for me. " The man end with a slightly sense of regret as he lifted his blade As he made way towards the stairs his own anger clouded his mind as he glared lifting his blade towards the infected he then ran towards the crowd sendig his blade at them in wild arms sending Limps and heads flying into the air before long he was wearing a Deep coat of red on his face and clothes, He grunted and rolled forward towards a zombie jumping up in a arc slicing upward He had only left a few zombies left in the wake of madness he dropped to his Left knee and panted slightly looking at the 13 infected left.
-
A mixture of disgust and fear formed a lump in Scarlet's throat as she listened to all the bickering around her. She wasn't the most patient of girls, but she knew when she couldn't be easily annoyed. Now was one of those times.
"Alex, wait, I'm coming with you," she called, following him. She felt as if spending any more time with everyone who was arguing and competing for team leader would just drive her insane.
-
Ea fell into a soundless laughter from listening to the girl who she so easily pushed into being mad at her. It was a real wonder that such a person had survived for so long. The problem with all these people were that they used threating another's life as their best weapon. "If you don't do like I say I will help Death to pick you up." Really isn't a punishment, is it?
It was enough clear for even her fuzzy and aching mind that there was a tense athmosphere around her. That was what you always got from suddenly putting multiple new people together in a stressful situation especially. It was one of the reasons Ea rather kept alone and minded her own business.
It took her a while to finally pass the door and come to the ladder because saving strength was essential. She couldn't care less of the strange snobby girl and stood up against the ladder slowly. It was one of the worst feelings she ever had lived through but she managed to keep from chucking up.
Ea grabbed to the first pin and from pure stubborness started climbing up. I actually can do this now that the worst is over, she thought and a wave of relief ran through her.
-
Alex nodded to Scarlet and braced her again so they could move quickly and out to the fire escape. He completely ignored the man's coward comment and the other individual scenes happening within the library. The man was calling Alex a coward when he was the idiot that went a little too enthuaistically right into the infected crowd.
Alex had a job to do,Let the man kill himself trying to be the hero, Scarlet had a bad ankle and it wouldn't help anyone if she got bitten because she was limping. Alex may be pretty anti-social but nobody liked seeing a survivor become an infected.
When he and Scarlet got outside he climbed a few feet above them to where he could help her climb up too. His gut reaction was that since he was out on the roofs was to get away and warn people. The other people of the town may hate his pranks but they knew he wouldn't joke about a breach, but right now his priority was helping Scarlet. "Ankle doing ok?" he asked her after a bit of climbing up.
-
"Y...Yeah," she said, asking herself the same question, "Don't worry about it, it's not that bad."
How did I even twist it? I don't even remember now. God, am I stupid.
The danger was gone for now, giving her time to let self-hatred and hatred for the bickering in the library to take a hold of her. "Damn it! Why can't they just work together? Ugh, if meat-head alpha male didn't burst in, maybe they wouldn't have been so... so..."
She paused, not really knowing how to finish the sentence without sounding childish, and continued to follow Alex, the occasional sharp pains in her leg only adding to her anger.
-
The man smiled widedly to him it was a job ...an occupation he killed let other people get away he was born into a Militia and he should have died there with his brother but fate had other plans for him so if they wish to leave and let infected kill others fine by him but he knew this was a easy challenge to him there already mindless corpses but they were at one point humans people with familys lives and now There just walking dead...He stood up Placing his sword bayonet up removing his EBR MK 14 and took aim letting 13 rounds ring out as they drooped dead with loud thuds he then made his way up the stairs and looked down at the girl "You only made this worse "He spoke With little emotion as he looked outside seeing the mess he left behind In his wake he removed a Cigarette placing it in his mouth as he his moved downward to his lighter flipping the cap to light then putting it back.
-
Wenda sat on the small balcony of their apartment. The night was already landing across the world and she could see some stars up on the sky. It was a bit chilly evening so she had wrapped herself on the blanket from her bed and sipped warm juice. It's beautiful in Inner. I bet I can hear the fountain too if I listen hard enough.
Wenda had just finished her mug when a loud noise carried with the evening breeze to her ears. The noise came closer and closer as the alarm hopped from a watch post to another. When it finally reached the gate of Inner, Wenda could see a few flashlights sending morse messages to watchmen on the Inner's streets. There was no sound alarm here because the people of Inner needed sleep to deal with the rough world of daytime. Worrying about the infected outside Inner was pointless. They were already carrying all sorts of diseases and killing each other anyhow.
Wenda grew tired to the annoying sound soon, stood up and went inside closing the balcony door tight with her mug and blanket on the other arm.
-
"I'm fine!" she called a little too loudly down to the girl who had asked if she needed help. She continued following Alex with little interest in where they were going. Up was direction enough for her.
-
It hadn't been a long climb, not really. She just needed to make sure never let go her grip no matter what she felt like and keep pushing forward. Once she reached the roof she wobbled on the western edge and it suddenly struck her.
I forgot the damn books! I have the lighter but nothing to burn!
Ea started looking around her and most she saw was just solid flat roof. Then her eyes hit a long forgotten bird's nest under the small pipe of the ventilation system. It would be a good start but definitely more would be needed.
As she light up this treasure like finding, she tried to yell to the others towards the direction where the ladder was. "Fire! Something to burn! Books! Fire!"