Kathryn (Kat) Lennox's Story

Kat was tired and bored. She'd been walking for days and had come across lone strangers here and there. A couple of them had promised to be her traveling companions and said they'd watch her back, but how many times had they tried to screw her over? A hand reaching out through the darkness toward her gun, well, that guy had lost an eye. Another one, thinking to force himself on her, she'd stabbed him in the crotch with her dagger. She'd had enough of traveling with lone men, but she was lonely. She had been heading toward the stadium in the city when it seemed like all hell had broken loose.

Now, the sky was darkening, a dangerous time to be out and about alone. There was a stench in the air of burning flesh, and the stadium she had been making her way to was now seemingly up in flames. She was just glad she hadn't been there when whatever had happened went down. Kat leaned up against a brick building, sighing as she watched the smoke rise up into the air. She wondered idly if there had been any survivors. Surely there had been a decent sized group in there. The woman turned and began to make her way back out of the city, leaving behind the biggest hope she'd had all week.

Kat had been walking for a few minutes when she saw the lights of a billboard flick on. Arching a single eyebrow, a slow grin spread to her lips. None of those dead walkers could have figured out how to turn those lights on. She picked up her pace, settling into an easy jog toward the billboard. She squinted, reading the words on it. Avoid downtown, hah, thanks for telling me now! she thought. B.F. Hm. She tilted her head, suddenly making out the form of a figure sitting up on the ledge. As she got closer, she realized the billboard was surrounded by the undead. How the hell did the guy plan to get down from there?

Kat glanced around, trying to find a way that she could signal the lone figure without attracting the undead. Slipping backwards into the shadow of a large tree, she pulled out her flashlight and pressed the button a few times, blinking it in the direction of the billboard. Hopefully he saw it. Hopefully he knew of others. Hopefully he didn't try to steal her stuff, like the others. She really didn't want to have to go stabbing someone else's eye out again.

Kat raised an eyebrow, watching the odd movements of the guy on the billboard. She was in luck, he had noticed the light. And now he was doing some sort of… odd dance. Pointing at the words, yeah, I got it, she thought. Did he- was that a heel kick?! Seriously, no one does that in real life. Kat let out a laugh; the sound was almost foreign to her now. It the first time she had done so in days. Maybe she had finally found someone she could travel with safely. The thought lifted her spirits, and she laughed again, but quickly covered her mouth, looking around. What was that? Shuffling? She had been still for too long, not paying attention. Good way to get yourself killed, Kat. Or worse.

She glanced around, squinting in the darkness, when she once more heard the shuddering moan and the shuffling feet of an undead human. Kat slid her flashlight back into the flight suit pocket above her knee and slipped her knife from its sheath just in time to spin away from the reaching hands of an undead. "Hell no, not tonight, you fucker!" she whispered. Moving quickly, she slipped up behind the thing and slid her knife through it's head, watching it twitch and shudder to the ground. Kat had to resist the temptation to retch up the little bit of food she'd eaten that day as she slid the blade back out and wiped it clean on the now dead person's tattered clothing.

She tucked her blade away once more, glancing up to see the dozen or so undead beneath the billboard lighting up. Kat grinned. "Clever, you are." She turned in the direction that he had been pointing, the direction of Black Falls. She would meet him in the trees beyond the clearing instead of making him double back for her. Darting out from her spot in the shadows, she headed for the trees, glancing back to make sure the guy was ok climbing down by himself. The oversized military backpack bounced on her back; it looked hilariously large compared to the tiny girl carrying it, but she had gotten used to carrying bags just like it during her time in the Air Force. She moved quickly and made it to the trees in no time.

Kat slipped behind one tree and pulled her flashlight out again. She turned, hoping the stranger was close behind, and flashed the light once to give him an idea of where she was. A grin broke out over her face as she heard his footsteps drawing nearer. But when the shadow finally reached her, she realized that he was heavily hooded and wore a strange, creepy trench coat. Oh God, please don't try to kill me, she thought desperately. I might be able to outrun him if I have to… She took a deep breath, trying to not let her fear get the best of her. He had seemed friendly enough from all the craziness on the billboard. She stepped out from behind the tree, waving.

"Good idea with the sign there," she called out. She moved closer to him. Man, he seems tall. Oh wait, everyone's tall compared to me. "Hey, I'm Kat," she said in a friendly voice, though she ran her flashlight over him, looking for any signs that the undead had torn his clothing or gotten a chunk of him. He seemed well enough, not that she could really even see his face at all. It made her uncomfortable.

Getting down the sign was the easy part. Hell, the smell of the charred bodies that he descended towards wasn't even half bad. The hard part for Pack was to decide on running back to where he had previously seen the light, or running ahead a bit to meet them further. If they made it this far, surely they hadn't wanted to wait in one place for too long. In either case, it wasn't hard to decide, since he knew they would end up going that way anyways. So, he ran. Hilariously, might I add. Every bag on his body seemed to shift his weight this way and that, even though the truth was that he was running in a straight path. As he turned a corner, a flash of light was just switching off, and he knew his train of thought had been true.

Pack made a bit of a light jog of the last stretch of land between he and his new companion. As he approached, he spied that his traveling partner was a woman, decked out in some military grade gear. Not that shit you pick up from Walmart for Halloween, either. Very real, very militaristic gear. Pack wasn't sure whether to jump for joy or dive behind a tree. What if she had a gun? What if she shot him! No, no, she would have done so while he was on the sign. Still, Pack was a little worried. Pack made a slowing stop about three or four feet away from her, just as she said:

"Good idea with the sign there." This brought another one of his little grins to his face.

"Thanks. I was starting to worry that it was attracting more infected than living." Pack shifted his weight from foot to foot, obviously happy to have met another person. "Listen, let's begin the formalities while we're on the move. The longer we stay right here, the closer one of those things get." The two went walking towards where Black Falls would be, dead or alive.

"Hey, I'm Kat." The woman said, sounding a bit chipper. Maybe she was happy to have found a person who had lived as well. Pack grinned again, seeing the swath of light from her flashlight move this way and that.

"I'm not bit, trust me. This coat, keeps the teeth at bay if they ever get too close. I've got two other shirts under here, and although the coat is old, it is leather. Saved me from a bite, once from a bulldog, once from one of those... well, fuck it, Zombies." Pack kicked away an empty can, as they walked through a small street. Pack made sure they avoided working street lamps, and main roads. "Sorry, you know, if I look funny. Long ass story. Where'd you get that bag? Sorry, I've got a thing for bags." Pack turned his body towards Kat to show her the twenty plus bags across his body. "It's why they call me Pack. My real name's Damien, but I prefer Pack. Suits my persona." Pack ducked under a half-assed boarded up, abandoned building's door. "Short cut, to the next street over." Pack could hear her behind him. He wasn't going to kid himself and pretend that he hadn't noticed her good looks. But he wouldn't fuck up his chance at a traveling partner by ogling all over her. "You know how to use a gun? A hand-gun? I got two left, I lost my third one. Guy was turning... thought I'd give him an alternative. Bastard tried shooting me, instead. Fucked up world, huh?" Pack stopped long enough to wrestle the gun out of his left, largest bag.

"I didn't keep it loaded, since I'm not much good with guns. But here's the couple clips I found. Take em'. Just don't shoot me in the ass or anything!" Pack knew he was rambling on, but he was glad that Kat had some good responses. He was in the mood for conversation. "When we exit this damn building, we'll be able to go straight down the side streets, and out of the city. We'll need a vehicle, though. But, assuming we won't get our mitts on one that works, we'll be hoofing it for a couple days." Pack stepped out of the window, rather than attempting the door he knew to be always locked. So far, so good. They saw only a straggler or two, one of which had been stuck under a light post. When Pack stepped out from behind a fence, he fell back over. A truck zipped by, loud music blaring from within'. Probably some drunk teens getting a kick out of the whole scenario. Pack stood from the spot he had fallen, and looked back to Kat, who was eying him curiously. Everything seemed so much brighter... too bright. His eyes began to water from the pain. Then he realized, his hood had fallen, and his pale skin was exposed to the wind and the lights down the street. He could feel his small pupils dilating, and he scrambled to get the hood back over his head. "God, it is so bright out here at night! How can you stand it?" He said, almost defensively. He turned, and pointed. "We'll go that way. The truck that just passed us, is heading for the freeway. Those punk ass kids will get out, and try to push other cars out of the way. They won't last long. We can try and save them, but worst case scenario ends up with us driving out in a fancy new ride. Win, win."

It was getting boring from up on the roof. Cold too, despite the inferno that seemed to stealthily creep forwards. The survivor(s) he heard earlier had disappeared and the world became silent. Even the infected were gone - he was truly alone. He scanned the streets more carefully, but the waning light was making it harder for him to see anything. Looking back towards the stadium, he judged that it would take between 3 to 7 hours for the fire to reach where he was at its current rate, assuming it didn't burn out, but he knew how unpredictable fire could be.

He was about to give up and head onto the streets when a noise picked up, a faint rumbling getting louder very quickly. In a distant part of his memory, he felt he recognised the sound. Looking on the streets, he was almost blinded as a truck appeared from nowhere - a god-forsaken truck! - that was seemingly driven by infected...or teenagers. It swerved left to right and music could be heard very loud, a periodic 'wub wub' almost shaking the roof. The truck passed quickly, clipping a car on its way and loosing the remnants of its bumper, then, with a turn of a corner, it was gone. Seconds later, a group of people - numbers hard to tell - appeared where the truck had come from. Infected? Was the truck escaping? He trained his sights on the hooded one.

No...a human, and next to him a woman - albeit a small woman in combat gear. He recognised the uniform as Air Force and remembered the backpack, comically big on the woman, as being a particularly heavy if big one. He shouted down from the roof, waving the rifle laser across the street in circles. "Hey! Up here! You mind if I come with you?", then, without waiting for a response, he sprinted down the interior stairwell and almost threw himself onto the street, glad of human company.

Kat was in awe of how much the man could talk. She had been traveling alone, for the most part, for about a week now. She had taken to carrying on full conversations with herself, but never had she been so chatty as this guy. He asked a lot of questions, too. Well, so far this guy was turning out to be nicer than some of the others. And with all those bags on his back… yeah, she could definitely outrun him if she needed to. Ah, the advantages of being small. She waited for him to pause in his chatter for a moment, then finally blurted out her answers to his questions.

"I was in the Air Force, actually. That's where I got my bag from," she said, giving her backpack a tap. At least she wasn't the only one with a bag that was seemingly much too big for her. "And yes, I know how to use a gun. I lost my damn holster, but I do have one." She kept her own 9mm in the pocket above her right knee; easy to reach for if she needed it quickly. Her knife was clipped around the velcro at her waist, which cinched her flight suit so that it better fit her slim body. Hell, they'd had the short flight suits, sure, but they still seemed to make it look like she was swimming in the things unless she had them cinched up. Sometimes she felt like a 10 year old dressing up in her mother's uniform. "Anyway, you can keep this if you want. Maybe we'll find someone else who'll need one." She held the gun that he had handed her back out to him, just in case he wanted to carry it himself.

As they slipped into the building, Kat looked around nervously. He must have known his way around here pretty well, to just expect the building to be empty. She would have stalked around corners with her knife at the ready if she had been alone. Just as they disappeared inside the door, Kat thought she heard a shout. But maybe it wasn't a shout. Could have been one of those damn zombies for all she knew, and she wasn't about to stick around.

Kat slipped out the same window that Pack had just disappeared out of, jumping backwards when the truck drove by. "Teens? You think?" she asked. "Won't they attract the zo-" She stopped, tilted her head when she realized that her companion had fallen and that his hood was no longer up. He was pale, paler than her, and she was a red-head for pete's sake. She raised an eyebrow as he slid the hood back up over his head, and she was about to ask why he kept it up all the time, when she heard footsteps in the room which they had just left.

Kat slipped her gun out of her pocket with practiced ease, flipping the safety off, and trained it on the newcomer. The flashlight still in her other hand, she held against the gun and eyed the new man suspiciously. "Hold it! Where'd you come from?! You don't look like one of them…" she commented, tilting the flashlight down a bit to look for bites. The fact that he had stopped when she raised her gun meant that he definitely was not a zombie, but she couldn't be sure that he didn't have any bites, so she waited for an answer before lowering her weapon.

He instantly lowered his rifle, then - instead of dropping it which would be a bad move were they to be ambushed - slipped it over his shoulder. He then raised his hands in a mock surrender.

"I shouted you from the roof before. Guess you didn't hear me." he sighed. "I was a guard back at that camp over there. Guess that didn't go to well..." he pointed back out the room with his thumb. "You're the second group of survivors I've seen. The first... well, they wandered off too quickly, and at any rate, I was getting lonely."

He looked over the woman, and the man when he came walked closer. "You air force?" he quizzed. She was wearing a distinct uniform. The man, meanwhile, was an enigma.

Pack had been milling the question and answer session he had with Kat through his head. He remembered that she already had a gun, which was good. He had shrugged earlier, and took the weapon back. He wouldn't know how to use it well, he probably couldn't hit a target unless it was close, but it was intimidating to other people.

"Yeah, they will attract a shit load. But we won't. We'll have to sneak-" He was turning when he saw Kat lifting her firearm. Pack raised his eyebrows, going into fight or flight mode. He clumsily went through his bag and pulled the pistol out of his left bag.

"I shouted at you from the roof before. Guess you didn't hear me. I was a guard back at that camp over there. Guess that didn't go too well..." Pack nodded sullenly. "You're the second group of survivors I've seen, The first... well, they wandered off too quickly, and at any rate, I was getting lonely."

"I know the feeling..." Pack said, remembering the few hours he spent on the sign, which had felt like centuries. The man was looking them over, and he knew what was up. Military man, military woman. Soon they'd talk about shit Pack had no idea about. They'd probably end up together. It was the cynical unconscious thought that put another grin on Pack's face. Maybe next time, Pack.

Pack turned, and monitored the road, listening to the two military members speak to each other. If either had spoken to Pack, he never heard it. He was scouting out the truck. Like he said, the riders were teens. Also, they were drunk. One was vomiting on the ground, while the other clumsily killed an infected, using a makeshift spear. They wouldn't last long. Waiting a moment to let the two finish their formalities, Pack spoke up. "Name's Pack, sorry, I didn't catch your name man. Your tag says Yosef though. I like it. Cool name. anyways, there's some kids down the road, I'm sure you heard the truck go by, blasting that Skriller or Zomboid bullshit. Anyways, they're dead meat if we don't help them. And if they are dead, we at least need their ride. You all up for it?"

"I shouted you from the roof before. Guess you didn't hear me." he sighed. "I was a guard back at that camp over there. Guess that didn't go to well..." he pointed back out the room with his thumb. "You're the second group of survivors I've seen. The first... well, they wandered off too quickly, and at any rate, I was getting lonely."

He looked over the woman, and the man when he came walked closer. "You air force?" he quizzed.

Kat lowered her gun, flipping the safety back on. She smiled sheepishly. "I did hear something, but I was afraid you were one of the undead freaks." She tapped the nametape velcroed to her chest. "Yep, air force. The name's Kat."

She tucked her gun back into her pocket, still hoping she'd come across a holster one of these days. She felt so ghetto; might as well tuck the thing into her shorts. Her eyes slid over the man, and she quirked one brow. "What about you?" Any old bum could get a hold of the camouflage uniforms that military men and women wore, but this guy… He had the look about him.

After a moment, Kat glanced over at Pack when he spoke up once more.

"Name's Pack, sorry, I didn't catch your name man. Your tag says Yosef though. I like it. Cool name. anyways, there's some kids down the road, I'm sure you heard the truck go by, blasting that Skriller or Zomboid bullshit. Anyways, they're dead meat if we don't help them. And if they are dead, we at least need their ride. You all up for it?"

"Well… yeah, I think it's a good idea, but-" She turned to face the other guy. "You said you saw other survivors? Think we should look for them or hang out or something? I hate to leave others behind." Not to mention a tiny female traveling with two ridiculously tall guys wasn't the most comforting situation. Hadn't any other chicks survived out there? For a moment she thought of the few girlfriends she'd had back on the base. She'd never been too girly, but sometimes she missed the girl talk. Or just the mindless chatter at least. She hated being so serious all the time.

"Yeah, we should find them. Sorry about that... I am kind of in fight or flight after that truck flew by." Pack wiped his brow beneath his hood, he had begun to sweat. It wasn't too hot out, but hey, he carried about one-hundred pounds of miscellaneous junk in his bags at all times. "They will probably head somewhere with lots of protection, if they don't know how to get to Black Falls... I dunno' where to start, though. Should we get that truck first? Every second we wait, those guys get closer to-" a scream pierced the air. Pack whipped around, and saw one of those... things, on top of one of the teens. Huh?... That horde was too far away to be there yet...

The one tearing the kid apart stopped, and looked up. The two other teens looked baffled. One turned, and ran instantly, while the other hesitated. The infected on the now dead boy stood quickly, with great speed, and barreled towards the now running boy. "It's... fucking running... That one's running! You guys got guns, shoot that runner! Shit, do they all run? Fuck, man..." Pack was baffled. This broke the damn rules, it had to. What about Romero? Didn't he say they ALL walked? This one was like an Olympic fucking sprinter. Before any of them could make a move, the runner tackled the boy to the ground. "Shit! Let's go!"

Pack ran, and hoped to god that the others were following behind, or would pass him soon. "Shoot! Shoot it!" the boy yelled, as the infected chomped into his arm. Pack raised his weapon, but was too slow. One of his companions had already let the shot roar. Then, a second shot rang. And a third. The infected had slumped first, brains and blood pouring from his gaping mouth. The second shot split the skull of the boy that had pleaded for help. And the third shot killed what was soon to become another infected, and who had previously been the boy trying to move a car.

"Holy... Shit..." Pack slowed his gait. Eyes were blazing back and forth as he searched, not only for the third boy, but for any more running infected. But nothing was visible. "Fuck man... this sucks..." Pack slumped against the back of the truck, still warm and pulsing, due to the ignition never having been switched off. "Man... let's find the others... the other survivors." Pack sighed. Shit was going down. He could feel it. They just needed to find the survivors. "I don't know how to drive stick... someone else do it." Pack got into the bed of the truck, and sat against the back. "Any one got any suggestions on where to head first?"

Kat was about to open her mouth and mention heading toward the truck when the scream rang out through the air. She spun, slipping her hand back into the knee pocket for her gun. Her eyes widened as she watched the scene unfold before her. There was one undead on top of a kid on the ground, but at the sound of the scream, it looked up and took off running. Running. "Oh my god." The words fell from her lips in a breath. Not for the first time that night did she feel the contents of her stomach flipping and beginning to rise in her throat.

She heard Pack screaming something next to her, but it was the boy that had just been taken down who pulled her out of her thoughts. "Shoot! Shoot it!" the boy yelled, as the infected chomped into his arm. Kat sprang into action, running toward the teens, just a few seconds behind Pack. She raised her gun and closed one eye, staring down the barrel. Breath in, breath out, pull. Sweet relief to the boy who had been getting his arm chewed off as the infected fell. As she took another breath and prepared to pull the trigger again, the kid who had been attacked turned and locked eyes with her, pleading. "I'm sorry," she whispered, letting lose a bullet that went right into his head.

A third bullet whizzed past her head and she knew that the new guy had finally moved out of the window he'd been standing in. Kat finished her sprint to the truck. "Man... let's find the others... the other survivors." Pack sighed. "I don't know how to drive stick... someone else do it." Turning back to look at the new guy, Kat said, "I'll drive, you go back with Pack in case there are more." Kat was a good shot, but this guy had said he'd been security… on the roof. That meant he was an even better shot. "Any one got any suggestions on where to head first?"

She was about to answer when she heard a shuffle and a soft sob. She turned and spotted the third kid, ducking behind a broken down car. "Kid! Come on, we've gotta get out of here! Get in the truck!" she called out to him.

But the boy was stuck, frozen. He shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. Kat knew that the gunshots they'd just let off would attract more of the undead. They had to get out of there, and now. She stomped over and reached out to grab the boy's arm, trying to tug him up and toward the truck when he gave her a fierce shove, causing her to stumble back. The momentum and the oversized bag at her back caused Kat to fall backwards to the ground and she sat there a second, glaring at the kid.

That's when she heard one car alarm go off, further back in the city. She quickly pushed herself up and spun around, looking in the direction, her long red ponytail flicking forward over her shoulder with the movement. "That's gotta be them, right?" She tilted her head when another alarm went off just moments later. "That has to be them!" Forgetting the kid, she stepped up to the side of the truck, eyeing Pack. He had seemed to know his way around the city pretty well. She certainly didn't. "What's back there? Where could they be headed with those alarms? They're obviously trying to draw the freaks away…"

Pack's thoughts were churning heavily. The kids they had tried to save were reduced to one, and he was already fucked up after witnessing all this violence. Luckily for Pack, he had been used to the violence by now. When the infected stormed the main streets in huge numbers, he had fled to the back alleys. A few chased, but they were slow, and he easily lost them through the labyrinth-like alley paths. In the past few days, he had only seen a few, here and there. The horde under his sign was the biggest since the first days. Now, running zombies. Fucking runners. Maybe it was just a couple, but still... that was fucked up.

A car alarm, and a surprised Kat woke him from his thought process. "That's gotta be them, right?" She tilted her head when another alarm went off just moments later. "That has to be them!" Pack looked up, and saw that Kat was looking to him for a guess at where they were. As if to confirm, she said "What's back there? Where could they be headed with those alarms? They're obviously trying to draw the freaks away..."

Pack though for a moment. "The alarm is coming from further in town... Not too close to the main street, but close enough that the alarms would attract a shit load of those things, and any other that watched them wander would follow suit. It has to be near a park, or the zoo... listen to how the alarm echoes through the leaves, it would sound less muffled if it were by bare city walls... Fuck, man, the park would be safe, but if they had been there, they would have been able to read my sign, and they wouldn't continue in that direction... they had to have headed North-East rather than North-West... putting them in the zoo... That's our best bet." Pack sighed, letting his mental map take a breather for a couple seconds. "This truck can fit nicely through some of the alleys, I'll give directions as we go. We'll be there in ten minutes, considering we won't have to plow too many undead and Prius's over."

Pack looked around, and saw a few straggling zombies that had followed the runner into this general direction. "Some are getting here... We should move. Conserve ammo. I'm no marksman, but I think we'll need all the bullets we can conserve. If you guys run out, holler. I've stored a shit ton of ammo, after I raided the gun store with my friends. All the guns were gone, but a lot of ammunition had strewn the floor." I talk way too much... Pack thought. "Sorry... just rambling... lets go."

Kat listened to Pack think out loud, figuring out where the other survivors might have gone. When she'd first met him, she'd thought him really odd. She'd even wondered if he would be of much use to the group, since he couldn't shoot a gun- heck, he couldn't even drive stick. Though, if he was a city boy, that didn't surprise her. How many times during deployments had Kat made fun of her city boy pals who couldn't drive the trucks around base? Half of them had never even driven at all until they'd joined the military. She'd always been thankful to be a down-to-earth country girl.

But now that she listened to his thought process, Kat thought that Pack was probably quite a clever guy. He had done the whole billboard deal, and that had worked out, hadn't it? Not to mention the five billion different bags he had on his back. How many did he have exactly? And just what was in them all? Yes, she thought. He'll definitely be a useful guy to have around. She looked forward to getting to know him- well, and any other survivors that might be out there.

She blinked a few times, pulling herself from her thoughts. Her military buddies were likely all dead… or undead by now. Kat nodded when Pack said he had a ton of ammo. She would be concentrating on driving for the most part, leaving the security of the truck to Pack and the new guy. The thought of going gangster style on some zombies made her crack a little grin, though. "Sorry... just rambling... lets go." "Right. Going," she agreed.

Kat hopped into the truck, slamming the radio off, and slid the back window open so that Pack could give her directions through it. She checked the gas situation. Almost full. Those teens hadn't been complete idiots after all. Taking a deep breath, she put the truck in reverse and turned around. She prayed that she wouldn't regret going back for these other survivors. It had sort of been her idea, and if they got bogged down by the hoard, these men's deaths would be on her hands. Not that she'd be alive much longer to regret it were that to come to pass. "Here we go boys!" she called out, putting the truck into gear and hauling ass back down the road the way it had come.

Runners. Fucking runners! Steven had mentioned a rumour about them, but the idea of zombies was a bit of a stretch. The idea of those ruined legs running... He aimed from the doorway, trying to locate the infected attacking the boy, though before his sights could find it the infected was shot down by the woman, quickly followed by the boy himself. It didn't take him to long to muse over the reason. He had a perfect sight for another potential infected candidate, the boy pushing the cars and had since been bitten, and let loose. The boy fell behind some debris. He ran to catch up, knowing the sound of his rifle would bring the hoards running.

"I'll drive, you go back with Pack in case there are more." ordered to woman, to which Marcus gladly obliged. Climbing up alongside the man he assumed was 'Pack' he aimed his rifle back down the street. As soon as he was in place, as if on cue, an alarm lit up in the distance, quickly followed by a second one. Too far to attract any nearby infected but certainly a good diversionary tactic. The third kid seemed to be refusing to go with them and, after pushing the woman over, cowered between his arms bringing his knees up to his face. "We have to go, now!" he said to nobody in particular.

"Some are getting here... We should move. Conserve ammo. I'm no marksman, but I think we'll need all the bullets we can conserve.
"Well lucky for you, I am a marksman. Keep an eye out over the sides of the truck for anything getting close. I'll cover the back and and she should be able to ram anything in front. Feel free to change as the situation changes."

The pulled out and made a quick u-turn, heading back the way the boys had come. Ahead formed a small group of infected, but nothing special, while behind was the rubble and debris pile of cars and the boy.

The boy

He didn't watch them as they drove off, leaving him with the corpses of his friends.

As Kat weaved her way through tiny alleys at Pack's direction, her mind went back to the kid they had left behind. She'd tried to get him to come with them. Hell, there were so few real, live people left in this world, they needed to save every one they could. But he'd been adamant about her leaving him alone, had pushed her over, even. So why did she feel so terrible? He'll be dead in no time… He probably won't even move when that hoard comes through. We should have tied him up and brought him along. Anything to save him. But they hadn't had time. Her mind argued back and forth this way while she drove.

She was brought abruptly back to the present, though, by an infected making its way straight at the truck from the end of an alley… and fast. "Oh fuck, another runner!" she called out, warning the men in the truck bed. Kat knew she could just ram the thing, but then he'd probably do considerable damage to the truck. And right now, this thing was all they had to get them as far away from this hoard as possible, once they picked up the other survivors. "Hey, uh, Yosef?" Oh hell, was that the name Pack had read on his tag? Whatever. "I can't aim from back here while I'm driving," she said, tilting her head toward the open back window so the men back there could hear her.

Kat hadn't realized she was holding her breath until she heard the shot from the new guy's rifle and watched the head of the runner in front of them explode. Man, he's good. Lessons, anyone? she thought. With no room to maneuver in the small alley, she ran right over the body, glancing back once to make sure the guys were fine in the back. Finally they pulled out of that alley and Kat could see the zoo ahead. "Pack, how about a service entrance or something? I don't wanna leave this truck if we don't have to…" She was hoping they could find some way to drive right into the zoo, pick up the other group wherever they were, and get the hell out of dodge.

"Oh fuck, another runner! Hey, uh, Yosef? I can't aim from back here while I'm driving," cried the woman from the cab. Tapping Pack to watch behind, he stood up and took aim at the infected - another runner. Within a second the runner's head had disappeared and the truck rocked from driving over it's body. He thought about that, for a second, both runners appeared to be male. Was the virus picking out those physically stronger by nature to be specialised? Not the time to dwell on such things. He crouched back down and continued scanning the surroundings.

Leaving the alley took forever, but finally the buildings gave way to an open street and, ahead, the archway of the zoo. He scoped it out while Pack and the woman conversed about possible entrances. "They're there alright, or have been recently. The main entrance has be blocked," he announced to them. He looked around the zoo boundaries and, upon reaching the edges, something caught his eye.

"Oh god..." he said, as the biggest mass of infected swung into view. The car alarm had stopped, the car itself already smashed to pieces, and the infected were beginning to disperse, but not quite fast enough. "Away!" he hissed, "Drive round the other side, just get this damn noisy thing away!" He watched as some, including runners, began to peel away in their direction.

Kat let out a groan, for she saw the blocked entrance just as Yosef pointed it out. Her eyes scanned along the small buildings, the gates, looking for any way to get in. Nothing. "Away!" he hissed, "Drive round the other side, just get this damn noisy thing away!" Kat glanced backward to see what the man was looking at, and her eyes landed on the hoard. And the runners. More fucking runners. This has got to be a joke. She raised her eyes up toward the sky, her teeth bared. "So basically, you've said fuck you humanity, huh?" she said quietly, speaking to whatever deity might be up there. "Hold on!" she called back to the two men.

Putting the truck into third gear, Kat slammed on the gas and turned to follow the road around the zoo. "Look for the survivors!" She had to concentrate now, dodging a few cars here and there, and searching for some sort of service entrance or another gate to the zoo. The place was huge. Those people could be anywhere. She just prayed that those runners weren't fast enough to keep up with the truck.

She was running high on adrenaline, but she could still feel the fear that gripped her chest. We should have gone… We should have just left. I'm going to get all three of us killed now. Damnit. Why the hell did these people run into the fucking zoo, of all places?! Kat just concentrated on the road, leaving the search for the survivors up to the men in the back. God forbid she got distracted and ran one of them over or something.

Pack could feel adrenaline coursing through his veins, and the two companions he had must have felt the same. But, oddly, he kept a small level of calm. As they came into view of the zoo, he though. The truck was swerving this way and that, dodging undead and vehicles. Pack even noticed some undead plummeting from the buildings along the roads, smashing through windows and leaping from rooftops, only to splat or break limbs on impact. But he though. He remembered. "Kat! Hey, there's a weak fence on the east side of the perimeter! I had a couple friends who were using it to sneak in at night to feed animals. Anyways, it is so weak that this truck could easily plow through it. It's near a construction site, they were starting the Penguin exhibit. Slam through it, and we can search for any survivors. If there aren't any, we'll go out the south exit, by now that end has to be cleared by the car alarms." Pack looked to Marcus. "Hey man, when she goes through, duck, we don't want the weak fence pieces to shred us."

Pack felt the weight of the truck shift as it turned, and went around a wall in between some trees. The fence loomed feet to their left, while trees undead were to their right. After traveling down the fence for a few seconds, the torn part of the fence came into view. "There! Hit it at an angle, so it won't pop the tires or stick to the truck so bad! Get down, Marc!" He ducked low, and heard the fence tear away under the fast truck's power. "Ok, there is a main hub area, where I bet a lot of people would go if they were here. It might be infected, but it also might hold survivors." Pack's words became louder in his own head as the truck slowed and quieted more and more. "I am guessing they'd be there, if it is clear, or the big cats house, or reptile house. The aquarium is too damned dark to be in, and the monkeys area smells like ass. You're drivin', so I'll leave it up to you." Pack sighed once more, and began to scan the area.

"Shit, looks like the aquarium is full of those things..." Pack saw hundreds of human-like silhouettes shining against the frosted window. Lights were on inside, and they were showing the shadows of a large group of the infected... he could tell by their gait. "Let's hope they didn't try there." Pack kept looking out again. He saw a couple broken down vehicles, and a couple of broken down booths... but no people, yet. "Look sharp, they are coming through the North entrance... I say we got about ten minutes before this place is too full of fuckers for us to even keep driving straight."

Kat followed Pack's instructions, checking quickly that the guys were down before she plowed through the fence. Once she was through, she slowed down a little bit, giving them time to look around and for the people to catch up if they spotted the truck first. She heard Pack talking about the aquarium and she slid her eyes in that direction, shuddering when she saw the undead pressed up against the glass. She wanted nothing more than to just step on the gas once more and get the hell out of this place. Head for open air where they couldn't get trapped by the hoards.

She continued driving, dodging booths and other small things here and there, when finally, she caught sight of a group of four people passing between buildings. They weren't shambling along. They were running, but they didn't have the cold, grey look of the undead. "There!" she called out. Kat thought that her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. She swerved toward them, taking out one stumbling infected that had been following them. "Get in!" she shouted out the window at the four. No time for introductions. They had to get the hell out of there.

She saw some hesitation on their faces, but the stragglers from the hoard were almost upon them, and their choice was made for them. Once everyone had piled into the truck, some in the cab with her, the rest in the bed with Pack and Yosef, Kat changed gears and almost floored the gas pedal once more. "Pack! Need you to give me directions!" she called out through the window.

Christian wasn't really listening as Hannah introduced them to the strange girl that appeared from around the corner and her even stranger companion, whose companion was a guitar. He flashed them a smile before a scowl deepened on his brow, a strange muffled sound echoing through zoo. There was the sound of struggles outside, the moans of the horde shuffling, the cries of uninfected humans meeting their bloody doom, that truck slamming on it's break. But that was not the sound Christian was focused on.

The noise was unnatural, disturbing. It was coming from within the zoo and Christian found himself moving toward it, curiosity killing him as if he were a feline. His hand's curled around the bloodied crowbar, his steps slowly and his eyes sharp. The frightening sound was starting to volume and when Christian strode slowly a corner, he had to nearly bite his tongue off to hold himself back from screaming. The chimpanzees in the cage before him were shrieking now they had laid their eyes on him, their flesh rotting and their stumped arms clobbering at the glass. Christian stumbled back and then forward when the sound of a pained elephant's roar was heard. Christian spun around, his eyes wild and hands trembling as the bull elephant whose wrinkling skin was drooping and torn, a black ooze seeping from their eyes, ears, mouth and nose. The elephant screamed in rage and barged toward the gates of it's enclosure, the metal groaning as it collided with it, the chains lashing into it's face, drawing more of the black tar from the wound. The elephant shrieked, throwing it's decaying trunk up, unaffected by the injury, frustrated that it couldn't reach Christian. Who was cussing under his breath.

"Oh what the fu-" Another ram at the gate, another groan under the weight. And when Christian heard the foundations begin to shatter, his eyes shot open in horror and ran back to the others, the crowbar shaking before him as he sprinted. "THE ANIMALS! THE ANIMALS HAVE IT!" He shouted just as the piercing crash of an enclosure reverberated and the unholy roar from the elephant sounded, Christian grabbed Hannah and pulled her to the side, his body shielding hers. The undead creature came thundered shakily down the cobble road just as the truck came squealing into sight and someone yelled for them to enter. Christian knew it was too late, they were all stuck between the bio-hazard and their escape route. The elephant did not stop and within seconds collided with the truck, the mental crumpling and slicing into the beast's flesh. It threw the truck to it's side, the wheels spinning as the elephant bellowed, stamping down on the side of the truck. Christian's eyes were wide in realisation, he had left those others to die. Instead, he stood and waved his arms frenziedly, trying to distract the elephant from crushing those in the truck. He looked at Hannah and Carrie and the other man.

"FUCKING HELP. DO SOMETHING!" He cried.

Pack's life flashed before his eyes. His childhood. His growing up. Everything. Four strangers had fit their way into their truck, just before a giant... something... Pack had no idea, he never got a good look... but it tossed them. They had gone scraping across the ground. Everything was so bright. "What... the..." Pack let out through now bloodied lips. "Holy... fucking elephant..." Pack saw it. It's eyes were puffed out, one had exploded into black goo. Torn skin littered it's body, and black ooze was coming out of the rips and shreds. "It's... Infected? The fuck..." Pack turned his head around. The four people they had picked up had died. On impact, Pack would guess. Kat and Yosef were either dead, unconscious, or just as baffled as Pack.

"FUCKING HELP. DO SOMETHING!" A voice rang out nearby. Pack moved his now stabilizing vision over towards where he had heard it. The elephant shifted it's head to look at the man who was yelling, but turned back to the truck, and began to make a charge. Pack panicked, and looked around. Kat hadn't moved yet. Or at least, he hadn't seen her move. He had no idea where Yosef was, he could still be in the cab for all he knew, just behind the other side of the truck's paneling. Pack got up as fast as he could, and saw the Elephant was maybe twenty yards away. The pachyderm like screech, mixed with the howling undead pouring through the south entrance, was getting on his nerves. Pack was bleeding from his arm, and his head felt wobbly, but he managed to unhook Kat's seat belt, and pull her out of the truck. She felt light weight to him, seeing that he was used to carrying twice her weight in bags. Pack turned, and ran away from the truck.

BOOM! The truck soared into the air, flipping around and launching chunks of metal about. Pack felt metal scraps were puncturing his bags, but they kept him from being severed. Pack made sure Kat couldn't get hit by any of the metal on the way. If she had woken up at this point, Pack would let her down to run along side him, if she weren't harmed. "Hey! HEY! Where the FUCK do we escape a FUCKING ELEPHANT!?" Pack yelled to the man, who seemed to have some company with him by now. Pack ran behind a smaller building, just so that the elephant would lose sight. It looked occupied with the truck, and was still flipping it, but that could change soon. "Fucking damn... what else can happen to ruin this lovely day?"