Michael listened to HQ's command with a stern gaze across his place as the chopper whirred noisily in the background. "You're to land in Black Falls - a local town located about four hours north-west of the Hot Zone. It has a few thousand survivors from around the area living in it. It's been UN fortified and protected; but has no officials currently residing there. You're landing on your own for the moment. If deemed necessary HQ will send in support officers to aid you. Do you understand?" His earpiece clicked out, HQ waiting for Michael's verbal nod across their communication devices, "Yeah HQ" he replied with a thick Australian accent, "I get it... Anything else?"

The chopper whirred louder as the pilot in the cockpit began to slow and Michael noticed for the first time the land below him. They were about five minutes from Black Falls and Michael breathed deeply preparing himself for what HQ was expecting him to do, and alone at this point. "You know what we want Officer Faraway; Samples and data analysis with the addition of survivor search and rescue if possible." Michael breathed out heavily again and replied with a "Got it." The chopper began it's descent and as Michael leaned out the side he could see a crowd begin to gather, "Great" Michael huffed to himself, "Gawkers..." Michael held an index finger to his ear, clicking on his communication, "HQ, what do I say to the current locals?" a short pause and then a reply "Don't worry Officer Faraway, we loaded the chopper with supplies for Black Falls, that should give the civies something to do. Make contact with the leader of Black Falls, they'll be able to give you a little info on the land and it's layout before you set off."

The helicopter landed and Michael jumped out the side to see a crowd waiting idly and almost with tension at what was happening. Michael turned his head to see the two massive crates of supplies sitting next to the chopper and then looked to the pilot to see her giving him a thumbs up then take off, leaving Michael suddenly with ringing ears and a crowd of people to deal with.

Michael looked across the crowd, "Officer Michael Faraway, nice to meet you all" he said with a rushed stern voice. Addressing big groups was not his strong point. "The UN has brought you supplies and aid for the next few weeks..." Michael cleared his throat, trying to search for something to say, "Is there.. Uh.. is there anyone here who is in charge...?" Michael looked out across the group of people, searching for someone to step forward so he might hand over the supplies and get on with his mission.

Jess looked at the sky as a helicopter came and left, her shotgun in hand. To her things seemed pretty serious if there was a helicopter because that usually meant two things; one, the government was involved, or two, the military was. Of course when she thought about it the military was a branch off the government so she shrugged guessing there was truly only one reason for a helicopter. She could see the town of Black Falls in the distance as the track she was on was more outside of town, the people complaining about the noise of the engines and they moved it a couple miles away.

There had been a big race coming up and that's why Jess was visiting this town, she had come a couple weeks early so she could get a feel for the town and mostly just give herself time to goof off on the track by herself. The race was still another week away. She was working on her car's engine when she heard an emergency radio cast from Black Falls, saying something about an outbreak of what she guessed to be a fever and a warning that everyone should stay inside with all exits locked and barricaded. That's when shit had gotten real, she had ventured outside, out of curiosity and was met with, what she identified as, a zombie. It had been five months since that day and frankly Jess was surprised that she was one of the few that actually was surviving through it. Now the garage where she was on that day had become her safe hold, it was big enough for ten people, but she hadn't really seen anyone else since that day so it was just her. Every now and then she would leave her safe hold with her shot gun and plenty of bullets to go get food and drinks from connivance stores that were close enough, so far she hadn't ventured into to town at all. This was due to the fact that she hadn't seen many zombies out where she was and her common sense told her there would be too many in the town.

The period of her isolation was coming to and end as she headed to the store she had recently been using in the past couple of weeks. It was the closest she had even gotten to Black Falls, only about a mile away, and when she arrived it was clear to her right away that she had exhausted its resources which meant there was only one thing to do now; head towards town. She sighed as she resigned herself to going to the one place she was able to avoid for five months, she walked outside and began the walk towards the clump of buildings, her shot gun gripped tightly in her hand, and yet leaned casually against her shoulder. She kept her eyes peeled for any zombies and luckily enough there wasn't any that had crossed her path yet.

However that all changed when she finally made it into town. The buildings looked so different to her after the five months of being by herself. It seemed like they were all smashed in either through the windows or doors, some even looked as though there had been some fires that died down by themselves. She looked around for a grocery store or something of the sorts, but as she turned another corner in search of one all she found was a small hoard of zombies whom looked as though were just waiting around for her to stumble upon them. She froze, her eyes wide and a small smile of anticipation for the adrenalin rush crept onto her blood, oil, and dirt face.

"Easy there, easy," she said as she began to back away lifting her shot gun towards the zombies. Naturally they didn't listen and began to charge at her. She shot two shots trying to take down the fastest of the group to give her an easier chance to run away. BANG, BANG!

A young woman approached from the gathering crowd as Michael spoke, her frame was small, she wasn't typical looking of a leader. She had dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail. She wore a dark tanktop with skin tight running pants. Her eyes were stern, but she approached with a grateful look and spoke firmly, but openly, "Welcome to Black Falls..." the woman looked behind Michael to the supplies, "If you are here to bring supplies... you're pretty much too late." she said solemnly. "Black Falls isn't that safe anymore..." the woman looked behind her into the crowd then back to Michael, "What are you doing here?"

Michael was a little taken aback by the passive agression he was meeting and more so taken aback by the comment of the small, sporty looking woman Black Falls isn't that same anymore. "Uh.. ahem" he said clearing his throat, "Who are you? and who is in charge around here?" he asked a little sternly, trying to gauge her seriousness and standing within this community. The woman sized Michael over then looked back into the crowd, "Hey Kat, get up here..." the woman turned back to Michael, "You can call me Hannah.. Hannah Blackstone." As the woman introduced herself another smaller woman broke free of the crowd, this time though, the newer woman had fiery red hair and was wearing a flight suit - she was a pilot - and approached Hannah and Michael clutching her rib slightly, although it barely slowed her strong walk down. As the woman approached Hannah turned back and waved a hand to the militarized woman, "This is Kathryn... Or Kat." Hannah turned to Kat, "Is he legit?" she asked.

Kat looked Michael up and down, her eyes squinting with suspicion, "Honestly Han, fucked if I know... he looks legit enough. But really.. who knows anymore... especially with that mob back in Bridgwater Forest." Michael raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, "Hey hey hey! I am Officer Michael Faraway, I've been deployed by the UN to-" Kat cut Michael off, "So what? What good is that? Black Falls needed you weeks ago... Your supplies are next to useless now" she snapped, and Hannah stepped in front, "Kat." she said firmly, then Michael bucked up and spoke back in retaliation, "You'd have to understand better than most the difficulty the military has in deploying people..." Michael glared Kat over, "Now please, who is in charge around here... I need to talk to them and get these supplies out to the survivors."

Hannah sighed deeply, "We're in charge... if you could say that." she said solemnly, "But that's barely..." Hannah paused, "I'm sorry Michael... but... You're too late here." Michael shifted uneasily; Hannah kept talking "We've only been here for about three weeks... When we got here, the outbreak followed too... Half the town went down... We managed to kill the infected inside... but half the town has been ruined.. Everyone here is leaving for the closest living city - Lismoore." Michael took the information with distain, and thought about what he was hearing, "Lismoore is about a twelve hour drive from here though... Do any of you have working cars?" Hannah shook her head, "There's nothing we can do but leave... the infected are getting worse and staying here is virtually staying in your grave hole." Hannah looked to Kat, then back to Michael, "Whatever you're doing Michael Faraway, we thank you for your supplies, but we're not staying." With that, Hannah turned and walked back into the crowd, directing them somewhat then leaving as the crowd dispersed. Michael looked to Kat and the woman shot Michael another glare, "Whatever the governments have sent you here for, I can tell it's not to help us... Whoever still runs the world gave up on the rest of us five months ago. Leave now before you get left behind too." With that Kat turned and followed in the direction of Hannah leaving Michael a little downtrodden and staring into a crumbling town.

Michael lifted an index finger to his ear and clicked his communication on, "HQ, Michael Faraway speaking." "This is HQ Faraway, what's your report" "Command... there are survivors here at Black Falls.. But according to them it was compromised a few weeks ago. They're leaving for Lismoore, can I get permission to phone in back up to help these survivors to the city haven Lismoore?" "Negative Faraway. Your orders are to travel to the hot zone and retrieve samples. HQ will phone in help after you leave." The communication cut out and Michael sighed heavily. His mission wasn't exactly as clear as he'd like, and although he knew he was going to receive more information when he left Black Falls, he was less than excited to begin his mission alone. Michael turned on his heel, looked at the supplies then around the town, noting the lack of interest in the small help provided, "Guess I gotta get goin'." he said moving down the street towards the town's entrance.

Jess continued to run, not really paying attention to where she was running, but rather just trying to stay ahead of the zombies and not run into anything. She could hear the zombies growling behind her and she chanced a look behind her. Some of the zombies were getting to close for her liking, their hands brushing against her arms. She turned around so she was running backwards and shot the closest ones down. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG! The sound of her shotgun no doubt attracting the attention of more of the zombies, so she she sped up a maniac dare-devil smile exploding on her face. She had completely forgotten about gathering some more food by now and was only focused on surviving.

"Suck it you un-dead bastards!" Jess yelled as she took down two more just for the hell of it. She then jumped up onto the roof of an abandoned car to get out of their reach, some couldn't climb up they skin rotting too quickly, but the ones who still had their skin intact were just as easily climbing up as she was.

"Oh you think you can kill me? Huh, you freaky zombies?!" She shot three more in their heads, blood and brains blowing everywhere, even on her pants, but she could honestly care less. The shots echoing through the nearby streets. This gave her enough time to reload her shotgun, though it wasn't out of shots yet, she knew in a situation like this you would have to be well prepared in the case that there would be a big group of zombies and not a lot of time to reload. This continued for a while, zombies crawling, or attempting to, towards her and Jess blowing their heads or throats off. She was planning on taking down all the zombies that were there before calling it safe and jumping off the car.

"COME AND GET ME BITCHES!!" Jess yelled at the zombies, having way to much fun with what was happening.

Exhaustion.

He couldn't remember the last time that he had slept for more than a few hours at most, or had a hot meal. It had been a long and tiresome journey from Shreveport and Toby had been out of his element while following the rumors - were they just that, rumors - of an evac in Black Falls. He'd met a few survivors along the way, but most had been insular and nervous; some had been far worse. Smiling wanly to himself, he wondered if it was the fate of the world that all these left would be damaged in some way. He wanted a smoke, but hadn't been felt safe risking it even while giving cities a wide berth.

Despite being somewhat stooped over from the weight of the food and potable water he carried with him, he'd been making good time by the count of the stars - he felt that he'd make it to the Falls before it was too late, at least. And that was something, right? The rolling thunder of shotgun fire tore through his disjointed thoughts. Maybe he'd actually meet someone - wait a minute, gunfire..?! Whirling on his feet and pitchfork sliding easily into his hands, Toby shot a manic glance in every direction, looking for the sound of possible raiders or looters, a broken smile on his lips - it slowly melted away away as he realized the fire was not coming at him, but from far off. Perhaps... Someone was in danger?

The gear he carried with him rattling as he ran, already winded and out of breath, Toby eventually found himself in front of a ruined lot, staring dumbfoundedly as a tanned woman in a racing outfit dodged merrily around a shambling pack of the dead. In a fair fight, she might have been at a disadvantage, but by using a car as leverage, it was clear she was in charge of the situation. She was covered in blood - as far as he could tell, none of it hers. Still, that shotgun was going to attract every running bastard in the area, so a little help couldn't hurt... Fingers drifting to his revolver, Toby lined up a shot at one of the stragglers and fired, smiling contently at the smell of gunfire and the roar of the handgun. Still - it was a shortlived joy. Raising his voice as loud as he could, he yelled above the din of combat.

"Hey, miss! Are you here for evac, too? We should make a run for it; if you kill everything in the area, there won't be anything left for anyone else!"

Voice hoarse from running and yelling, he spun on his feet, having already holstered his revolver and switched to the pitchfork - feet firmly in the ground before charging towards one of the flailing dead and pinning it brutally against a tree.

Michael stopped at the large metal gates that towered twenty feet high. The gates were met with twenty feet high walls that circled the central business district of Black Falls town. They provided the best protection for miles around. The UN had initiated them when the fever became rampant in the nearby city a few hours away. The UN however, weren't able to completely seal off the whole town and so much of the town that lay on the other side was fair game to zombies and anyone else that roamed the outer perimeter of fallen Black Falls. Michael looked up to the top of the gates, two men were staring down at him, looking confused and suspicious of why somebody had approached the gates. Michael and the men locked gazes for a few moments until one of the men spoke, querying why Michael wanted to go through, stating that no one goes out into the abandoned parts of Black Falls. Michael pulled out his UN badge, although it clearly wouldn't have been able to have been seen; "Michael Faraway, UN official, I'm here to help!" he called earnestly. The men looked to each other and laughed hard, "Yeah right." one of the yelled down almost viciously. Michael gritted his teeth, he was beginning to feel downtrodden by the apathy the survivors of Black Falls seemed to be showing. "Listen here!" Michael yelled upwards, "I've got shit to do.. you gonna let me through?". The men moved back for a moment and Michael could see them talking. One of the men leaned back over and shouted down to Michael, "You're death wish..." he laughed.

The gate began to whir loudly as the cranks turned and the gate opened up slowly. Michael stood back and watched as the gate opened up about two feet then stopped. Michael raised an eyebrow in confusion, the gate clearly had the capacity to open at least several feet, wide enough for even a tank to go through. Michael looked up to the two men operating the doors, "Hey! What gives?" the men leaned over and shouted down, "We don't open it more than a few feet.. if the zoms' get in we're all screwed! The noise of the doors opening always attracts the dead-heads!" he shouted. Michael's skin shivered at the thought of already coming into contact with infected. "Righto" he said firmly to himself as he stepped through the small gap and out into the street on the other side.

The doors moaned as they closed and Michael began to weave his way through the cars that cluttered the street right up to the walls of the haven. As he squeezed between two cars Michael heard the jeering of the men up on the gate, "Your bosses must hate you if you're goin' alone! Hahaha.." Michael gritted his teeth and muttered, "dickheads" as he stepped out from behind the bus, finding himself at an intersection. Michael took a left and began to walk down the street, his hand gun at the ready in case he needed it. Michael took a deep breath out of boredom; he had to admit, while the thought of facing infected people did worry him, he didn't think his mission was going to start out slow.. After all, he had been sent into once of Western civilisation's hottest Nizarri Fever outbreak zones.

Michael began to settle into false comfort when he suddenly heard a deafening crack echoe through the street, and the unmistakable jeering of a woman shouting above the noise. Michael's ears perked up as he concentrated on where the gunshots were coming from. When he managed to get a lock on the sound he began a fast jog in the direction of the noise, being careful not to put himself out in the open. Michael turned the corner of a nearby alleyway and rushed down it to find himself at a wire fence that made the alleyway a dead end; however, through the mesh Michael could see the unmistakable figure of a woman running across the top of cars in a carpark, shooting infected and enjoying it? Michael wondered in disbelief. Michael pulled his gun up and concentrated firmly as he pulled the trigger and hit a zombie in the back of the head, splattering it's brain across the front of the girl, "Damn it..." he sneered at himself, "Not a good way to make an impression.." he muttered. Michael aimed his gun again and suddenly saw the figure of another survivor across the parking lot - a man who began to speak to the woman atop the car "Hey, miss! Are you here for evac, too? We should make a run for it; if you kill everything in the area, there won't be anything left for anyone else!"

Michael watched the two for a moment, but the situation escalated quickly as suddenly a large group of zombies appeared down the road behind the man. Michael swore out loud - he was sworn to protect survivors - how was he supposed to help people when he couldn't get to them. He could technically climb the fence, but it would probably take too long. But there was a car backed up to the fence, maybe the survivors could climb over to his side? It would provide Michael and the other two a moment's time to escape. Michael shouted above the raucous all of a sudden, trying to attract the attention of the other two, "HEY!! OVER HERE! LOOK OUT BEHI -" Michael stopped mid sentence when he saw the scene behind the man at the the other end of the car park.

The small horde - consisting of about four or five zombies - behind the man broke out into a sprint, they were closing ground hard and fast. Michael pulled his gun up straight and aimed it carefully, pulling the trigger and shooting a bullet just past Toby and into the leg of one of the infected, causing it to falter and trip, taking down one of the other runners with it. "LOOK OUT! THEY'RE RUNNING!" Michael shouted hurriedly.

Jess spun on the car top when she heard someone yelling. It had been five months since she had heard let alone seen another living person. She stared at the man, her smile changing from the maniac adrenalin one to almost a victory looking one. She was about to take out the last zombie that was beginning its clamber up the car, she pointed her shotgun and was readying to aim when the brains splattered over her, the explosion caught her off guard and sent flying off the top of the car. She landed on her back getting winded and her shotgun flew from her hands landing somewhere she couldn't see.

Her breath was coming out ragged and uneven. She slowly started to sit up, her back aching, but more so that she was having a hard time breath. Then she heard another voice yell, it was different than the one that first meaning there was someone else nearby too. She stood up leaning against the car and squinting her eyes to look around, she saw a small alley way with a man shouting at her. His words sounded distant and muddled to her, but she had an idea it was because of something bad. Jess looked around some more, mostly looking for where her shotgun went, but also to see if she could find the other person she heard earlier and what this current guy was yelling about. She saw the latter two right away, there was a man that was facing her whom she guessed yelled at her before and behind him was a hoard of zombies running quickly towards him.

"Fuck it all," Jess said under her breath, even though she still was gaining her breath back she ran towards the guy and grabbed him around the wrist yanking him to where she saw the other man. She was running at a high speed trying to stay ahead of the zombies, her grip almost deathly tight around the man's wrist. Then she saw her shotgun and stopped mid-stride.

"You go to that alley there's someone on the other side than can help, I'll be right there," she said and took off running back towards the zombies and her shotgun. She dived behind another car and picked her gun up, but by the time she was readying herself to run back it was starting to be too late. The zombies were already a foot away from where she was, but she had to try. She shot one of the closest in the pelvis knocking them down along with another and darted towards the alley. One of the faster zombies was running beside her and clawed at her arm trying to get her to stop. She took the butt of her gun and smashed it into the zombies head, ignoring the pain of the new wound as best she could. When she got to the alley there was a car backed up to the fenced, she jumped up, threw her gun over the fence, and began to climb. A couple zombies grabbed her ankle trying to get a bite of her or pull her down, but she kicked them off and continued to climb. Jess finally got over and jumped down, landing gracefully on her butt.

"Thank fucking god," she said to herself, taking her visor off and taking heavy breaths, this time more from the running than when she fell off the car. She began to laugh, happy for the adrenalin rush and excited that she had made it. She stood up and hugged the guy that had been behind the fence when he first shouted. She could easily tell most anyone would find it awkward, but not her, she was just listening to his heart glad to have finally found other people who were alive, after five months of solitude where she had been the only one that she knew was alive.

Michael watched the whole scene with unbelieving eyes. The girl was like a rocket, and seemed to be so pumped up on adrenaline she was mad-dashing all around the car park. Michael heaved a sigh of relief when the guy came hurtling over the fence, but as he helped him down and turned back to help the girl he saw she was hurtling back into the runners. "Leave your damn gun!" Micahel yelled, but it was to no avail. The girl hit the ground hard and had managed to grab her gun, a loud crack filled the air dropping a zombie and causing a nearby runner to fumble when its brethren collapsed.

The girl got to her feet and bolted toward Michael and the other guy. The whole time Michael's jaw was parted slightly, disbelieving in this girls ability to survive. He turned to look at the other guy and just shook his head, then turned back to watch the girl smash the side of the skull of a zombie that lurched out towards her. Suddenly she was on the car and almost effortlessly leaped up onto the fence, her gun flying over head and landing a few feet away down the alley. The girl clambered up the fence, but a few zombies grabbed her feet. Michael whipped his gun up and shot once, distracting them long enough for her to kick free and climb over, gracefully landing on her butt.

Michael aimed his gun upright with a firm grip and shot the gun four times, dropping the zombies on the other side of the fence. The alley went quiet for a moment. Then the brief silence was broken with a "Thank fucking god." followed by an unabashed hug to Michael all of a sudden. Michael was caught off guard by the girl as she clamped around his waist. After a moment or two Michael backed out of the grateful hug and looked to the two survivors, "I take you haven't seen anyone else for a while then?" he said with a smirk across his face. "The names Michael" he said holding a hand out to shake both survivors. "Nice job just then..." He said nodding behind him to the car park "Just remember that the noise attracts others.." he said with an almost fatherly tone.

Michael was about to introduce himself further when his ear suddenly filled with static and HQ chimed in, interrupting the pleasantries; "Officer Faraway, HQ has coordinates to get to the heart of the hotzone. However, we require you to stop over in Bridgewater forest... There is information there we believe is crucial." Michael listened intently as the two other survivors were nearby. "Copy that HQ." Michael looked up, "Hey, listen... Sorry to duck out on you, but I've got someplace to be... If you go out this alley way and pretty much follow the main street you'll get to the Black Falls haven gate. You'll find safety in there."

Michael pushed past the two and out into the street. Looking back to them he felt a pang of guilt leaving them alone... But he had orders. Michael turned left and started down the road when suddenly a loud piercing scream echoed from a little ways down the street. Michael held his ears in pain. The noise wasn't close, but it sure gave a headache. When the screaming stopped he looked down the street to see a zombie clambering through the cars. It's body was tinged yellow - almost jaundice in colouring - and it had an extended throat and horrid welts across it's face and arms. As it clambered it suddenly spied Michael and stopped for a moment, looking him up and down. When the creature had decided that Michael was not friendly it appeared to take a huge deep breath, it's throat distending. The suddenly it screamed loudly, causing Michael to fall back in pain as the piercing cry overwhelmed him. "jesus christ!" he hissed; then Michael looked up at the creature and suddenly saw what it's screaming had done... Not only was it's voice debilitating, it also attracted other zombies. Some were shambling and some were running.

Michael's eyes widened as he saw the screamer inhale deeply. He didn't waste anytime waiting for the creature to scream again. Michael turned on his heels and bolted back down the street, turning a corner just in time to see Jess and Toby. "RUN!" he yelled atop his lungs, "THERE'S A WHOLE HORDE!" Within a moment Michael had reached the two and his eyes were wide with terror, "What are you waiting for?!" he shouted, "FUCKIN' TAIL IT!" Michael shouted.

Suddenly the screamer rounded the corner, shambling horridly, then let out it's horrifying scream. Michael's hands clasped quickly enough across his ears that it buffered the damned screamer's scream. Then the horde rounded the corner. "Let's go back to the haven!" Michael shouted as he began to lead the way. Michael ran as fast as he could. The screamer kept up it's howling and that alone was making it hard to run, let alone the scrambled mess of vehicles littered throughout this part of the town. Michael weaved back and forth and suddenly realised that the runners from the horde were clambering across the vehicles and just a few paces behind him. He looked around and saw Jess ducking and weaving and Toby similarly avoiding a grizzly fate so far...

Michael pulled his gun back out of it's holster and aimed backwards, shooting roughly at the runners behind him. He hit one and dropped it. His second bullet hit a nearby car and exploded the gas tank. A shard of the car hit the screamer and knocked it the ground. "Fuck you." Michael shouted as jumped over a car. As Michael slid across the bonnet, a zombie tackled him and he hit the ground, his arms outstretched as the damned thing tried to bite at him. Michael struggled for a few moments then he pushed hard, lifted his legs up and kicked violently, sending the zombie over the bonnet.

Michael dashed to his feet and bolted forward. Suddenly he'd lost sight of Toby and Jess, but that being said, cars and bigger vehicles seemed to litter the street closer to the safety gates. Michael reached the gates first. He looked up to the gates, shouting anxiously, "OPEN THE GATES!!! WE NEED HELP!" the gate keepers looked over and down to Michael and he could see they were about to start jeering at him, but they caught sight of the horde as it made it's way through the cars and all they could yell was "GET IN!".

The gates moaned as they began to open and Michael looked behind him, searching the vehicles for Jess and Toby, "HURRY UP!" he shouted as he backed towards the gate. From above Micheal heard the gatekeepers shouting at him to hurry up, but he wasn't going to leave Jess and Toby to die. As Michael made his way through the gate, he caught sight of the two bolting through the vehicles, the horde on their tails.

"GET IN HERE NOW!"

When Michael left, Jess wasn't sure what to do. Being an adrenalin junky this was always the problem, when the rush started to die down. Usually how she would deal with this would either be working on her car's engine or watch a movie and drink a beer, but as she couldn't do either of those, she was stuck. So she turned to the other man beside and held out her hand.

"I'm Jess," she said, after a moment of silence she awkwardly added, "So want to help me find some food?" Then suddenly a nasty scream echoed through the streets, making Jess flinch at being caught off guard and Michael running back screaming.

"THERE'S A WHOLE HORDE!! FUCKIN' TAIL IT!" Jess leaned around the corner and looked a zombie stood in the street, her mouth open wide as she prepared to scream again and a large horde of zombies running and crawling behind her. Jess grabbed the man's wrist and yanked him after her as she raced after Michael, her adrenalin firing back up in bloodstream. When they turned another corner with tons of cars abandoned in the street, she let go otherwise she would have lost her balance trying to run through them. The screamer still behind them and screaming, but the loud noise didn't phase her as she was used to it from her car's engine and how loudly she used to blast ACDC while working on her car with loud electric tools. A couple of zombies had gotten close to her, adding more scratches to the previous one.

"This is why I never came to town," Jess whispered under her breath as she bashed as many zombie heads as she could, not getting enough time to take aim with her shotgun needed to shoot them. She heard Michael yell incoherent words and saw a gate slightly open up ahead. She looked around quickly to see if she could see the other guy, he was making his way through the maze of cars and fending off the zombies well enough. She was finding that moving through the cars was going to slowly and she was getting too many scratches from being on the ground, so she made a snap decision. Jess climbed up on top of a car and began to jump from car to car, slipping a couple times as they were a couple yards away, but it certainly made things go faster. The zombies couldn't catch her because they would get left behind by they finally scrambled on top of the cars. Her limbs, especially her arms, were stinging sharply from all the claw marks that were now bleeding profusely onto her used-to-be white shirt. She finally made it to the gate and slid through, she would have done it safer, but sliding was more fun. Only this not only left her arms stinging, but her legs as well because of her new skinned leg.

She stood up and dusted herself, off not because it would work, but because it made her look cool; for show. She smiled at Michael, feeling the rush of running for her life and loving it. She looked back to the other guy who was still fighting his way through, "Should we go back and help him?" she asked Michael, she stepped forward wanting to go and bash all those zombie's heads in with her fist, maybe even pull a few heads off. The man was almost to the gate, the zombies almost getting him every second.

"COME ON!! FASTER!" Jess yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth as if that would make her call louder and therefore get him to run faster and make it before the zombies did. And during this high stressed situation with a life on the line, one of the gate keepers still managed to have his mind wander. Apparently, it had been a while since he had last seen a woman because he dropped something on her head and when she looked up he winked at her. She just gave him a disgusted look and took another step towards the man, really wanting to make sure he would get through the gate okay. Another thing dropped on her head, it wasn't bigger than a pebble, but it still hurt a little, causing a small sting on her head.

"Would you quit that?" Jess yelled at him, "Seriously I don't think this is the time, that man might die!"

"You meaning we can pick this up later?" the man called down.

"No! I - are you kidding me right now? Don't make me go up there and tear your eyes out because I will!"

The man just smiled and licked his lips, "That's sexy, why don't you?" Jess let out a growl, not unlike that of which the zombies were giving, rolled up her sleeves and actually started to climb the gate to get at the man so she could throw him over the side to become zombie food; and she was dead set on doing that. She was also hoping that by doing so the zombies would be distracted enough by him and would ignore the man who was currently running for his life towards the gate.

Simon's journey was overly long. It had been on foot, yes, but it was solitary and taxing. Food was scarce, and Simon avoided the zombies at all costs due to his lack of an efficient weapon. If only he had chemicals from the hospital, or a silenced firearm, or anything of the like. Unfortunately, all he had was his knife, arguably his most useful tool for tasks other than combat. Simon approached Black Falls, watching it for signs of something odd. Maybe the zombies were more intelligent than they appeared and lived here. Hopefully not, and even then, Simon realized that they could be communicated with if they were zombies. He heard someone speaking to him as he looked upwards to the voice. It was a guard on one of the gates.

"Who are you? You're awfully well dressed. Almost like a government person, but only one guy got off from that helicopter. Eh, whatever. Come on in, but there is not much to offer. Expect those clothes to degrade pretty quickly here." The guard then opened the gate slightly. Enough for Simon to duck under. Within, the throngs of civilization were a little underwhelming. This seemed to be a small town even before the plague. Now, it was reduced in splendor even further. It did not matter, though. This was more than Simon hoped for. Unfortunately, the sound of gunshots in the distance alerted Simon. Guns often complicated matters, and may end up making Simon's goals more difficult. Simon ignored the sad gazes of the people, and moved towards the other gate. Society still lived on in them, but it was still sad. As Simon approached the location of the gunshots, he paid attention to them. He could hear some people yelling. He could discern 2 males, one that sounded somewhat more gruff to Simon. The other was a woman. The gun fire stopped, then. After a few more moments of walking past the mesh of cars, Simon heard something that made his blood run cold.

The yellow, humanoid shape in the distance seemed to be the source. Simon began running back to the gate as soon as he heard the noise. He had seen one of those things before, and the scream proved his point as to what it was. Those things should only be sneaked up on. Otherwise, they could cripple anything in their sight. Simon had seen creatures in water become lacerated into several messy pieces due to that noise. Hell was that noise. Human yelling and gunfire seemed to be coming closer now, as well as several car alarms. The ringing in his ears was to great to make out what they were saying, though. Maybe it was the people from earlier, who he had wished to see. As Simon made it safely into the town, he waited a moment to catch his breath, place ripped up tissue paper from his pocket into his ears as a slight buffer against the sound, then climbed the gate. The guardsmen was too distracted to see Simon climb. Simon wanted to see what was going on. What came next was unexpected.

"Would you quit that?" Jess yelled at him, "Seriously I don't think this is the time, that man might die!"

"You meaning we can pick this up later?" the man called down.

"No! I - are you kidding me right now? Don't make me go up there and tear your eyes out because I will!"

Simon was glad to hear this. He almost forgot to have a little comedy in everything. Then he noticed the guard's grin vanish as he looked down to the hat and body of the tower. Simon looked as well. The result was seeing a woman climbing to the guard's position alarmingly quickly. Simon saw a man at the gate as well, and another a little ways back. They were probably the ones who he saw, other than the woman. He decided to stay where he was, and guard the guard, or the girl to prevent either from dying. It would be better to keep as many people alive as possible, to maximize the effectiveness of these people in the future.

Michael just watched in suspense and horror as the scene unfolded around him. The fiery girl covered in blood made it through the door in one piece, or as close to one piece as possible. Then the gatekeepers became distracted and before Michael knew it Jess was clambering up the side of the tower the gatekeepers were in, and then Michael saw him... Another man up top, looking out down the street across the wall to the massing horde. Michael heard the scream again and his gaze fell back down to the street just outside the gate. "COME ON!" he shouted earnestly to Toby as he rushed through the cars. Michael aimed his gun upwards and shot out into the crowd of infected that now moved like an angry mob through the discarded vehicles. One, two, three shots and Michael had managed to stop two out of three zombies rushing forward to Toby, the third one tripped over its brethren, luckily for Toby.

Michael suddenly heard the groaning of the gate as apparently the gatekeepers or at least one of them had turned the switch to close it. Michael looked up in shock and saw Jess and the unidentified guy were sort of shuffling around up there. Michael clasped his hands over his mouth in attempt to make his voice louder as he yelled, "DON'T CLOSE IT! WE STILL HA-" Michael was cut short as a loud thunderous boom as suddenly the cars down the end of the street erupted in fiery explosion. As the charred and dismembered bodies flew into the air Michael recoiled slightly and looked up as a fighter jet roared across the sky. "Holy jesus..." Michael called out, a small grin cracking across his face as his intercom buzzed to life, "This is HQ to officer Faraway... Black Falls is safe, it's residents have been protected. Continue on your mission, we'll extract you in five days from Alpha Point in the hot zone." Michael's grin faltered as suddenly another explosion filled the air and the screams of people a few blocks away could be heard. Another plane soared across the sky and then another explosion on the road outside the gate burst the street apart, slowing the horde slightly.

Michael's finger hit the communications button on the bluetooth at the side of his ear and he spoke loudly and angrily, "No you haven't HQ! You're bombing Black Falls! Why! The people here are not infected." More explosions filled the air as suddenly more jets flew overhead. "HQ! HQ! Come in! You need to stop bombing Black Falls! Repeat, Black Falls is ok!" More explosions rocketed, the town was being blown apart. "HQ, FUCKIN' ANSWER ME!" Michael yelled as a rocket fired from a jet overhead landed to the side of the gate on one of the protecting walls, blowing it apart. Michael fell over from the shock of the impact and landed on his arse as Toby burst through the gate just in time as the gate faltered and slammed to the ground.

Michael stood up and helped Toby up right and suddenly HQ clicked on "Officer Faraway, Black Falls has been compromised, you need to leave asap. We will not stop sanitization of Black Falls. Repeat. Black Falls has been compromised. Leave asap, don't approach further in. There are no survivors. Michael's eyes widened at the lies HQ was telling him, clicking his device on taking back, "What are you talking about HQ?! There are survivors.. you're killing them! HQ!?" more rockets hit the ground as more jet's flew over head. Michael looked up into the air and caught sight of the gatekeepers perch looking at Toby and the other guy on top. "You need to get down here!" Michael shouted suddenly. There wasn't much time... Between the bombing and the horde that Michael could now see scrambling through the destroyed part of the Haven walls, Michael didn't have time to debate HQ's choice to destroy this town.

When Jess and the other guy hit the ground, Michael just looked at them sternly then to Toby, "We need to go asap. C'mon." he shouted as he he turned on his heels and dashed madly up the street towards the centre of Black Falls into a rushing crowd of panicked survivors. The small haven was a horrific sight; building were aflame and debris and brick was strewn across the street and survivors who had once thought their slice of safety was unbreakable. Michael searched through the panicked people running about, screaming for help. Michael turned to Simon and made eye contact and even though he didn't know him, Michael suddenly felt guilty, his bosses had just created this mess. Michael looked to Jess and Toby and the same guilt filled him, "Fuck it" He hissed as he searched through the crowd looking for something to escape on. "We need to go" Michael repeated with urgency as suddenly a chilling scream toppled the noise of the crowd. Michael looked behind him and the three others as he saw the horde from before rounding the corner of the street, "Damn it.. they got through the wall..." he hissed as he turned back to the three, he looked to Simon and Jess and Toby, he shook his head as he couldn't believe what he was about to suggest; getting out with these survivors, "We need a vehicle or something that can hold us four and get us out of here and where I need to go... Who can drive fast and well?" he asked firmly as he looked across their faces, "I'm gonna need to direct and keep our cover in case, so I'm gonna need someone to drive.."

When Jess finally got to the top she didn’t waste any time trying to attack the guy. While he was still gloating, thinking he was going to get some, Jess punched him breaking his nose on impact. Blood spurted out and over his suit. This he didn’t expect and now he was going into his defensive mode, though a little late for that was Jess’s thought. She punched him, hard, two more times before he finally fell back and onto his butt.

“That’s what get for messing with me,” Jess smirked over him and then there was a loud creaking noise that was the gates closing. She looked and noticed the other man still running towards them, “Hey fuckball!” she shouted to the other gate keeper, “What are ya doin’?” He didn’t respond and to try and help, Jess stood looking at the gears figuring out which one would keep the gates open. Instead of actually figuring it out she just picked one and pulled, she wasn’t sure what it did even after she pulled on it, but it did seem to slow the closing down a bit. Then bombs started to fall, forcing Jess off the top of the tower place she was on. She caught hold of something just before she hit the ground and instead dropped down gently. She walked over to Michael who was talking into what she could only guess was an ear-piece, that or the voices in his head.

“What’s going on?” Jess asked, he didn’t respond to her because he was yelling at whoever was on the other end of the call, someone named HQ.

He finally responded saying, “We need to go asap. C'mon.”

Jess looked to the exploding sky and could only imagine this is what World War 2 looked like to the people, the end of the world, “I’ll say,” her voice wasn’t excited or chipper like it had been the rest of that day and her smile was gone. She just couldn’t understand how other non-zombie-fied humans could do this to their own people at a time like this where other live people was a rare sight. It made her sad, especially with the old war stories her great grandpa used to tell her dad and then her dad to her. ‘And then the world was consumed in fire,’ she thought to herself before running after Michael. They got into town which was complete chaos with people who weren’t hurt or killed by the explosions running around screaming, some were even little kids; and there was nothing she could do to comfort them, only to keep running for her own survival.

They finally stopped, Michael looked around and then to those who were following him with a guilty expression on his face. Jess wasn’t sure why, but she knew enough that it wasn’t his fault, but someone else. “We need a vehicle or something that can hold us four and get us out of here and where I need to go... Who can drive fast and well? I'm gonna need to direct and keep our cover in case, so I'm gonna need someone to drive.."

This made Jess perk up a little because that was one thing she did know how to do was drive and drive fast, a huge smile spread across her face, the excitement of being able to feel the purr of the engine again after five months almost overwhelming. “You are so lucky you found me,” Jess said jumping on top of a car looking at all the others for just the right one, it was even luckier she knew how to high-jack a car as well. She found one that would have to work for now, it was a huge tank-like van, it wouldn’t be able to go very fast very quickly, but she knew the model well enough to know that it would go fast enough and that it could plow through most of this without breaking down and that was what was important.

“There!” She yelled pointing to the van, she jumped down and pushed her way through the scurrying crowd, trying not to get trampled or to trample someone else. When she finally got to the van she pulled out two small wire pieces and began to fiddle with them in the lock, feeling her way until there was a click. The door unlocked and straight away she reached under the steering wheel and pulled at some wires till they broke and fell down. “You know it’s not your fault right?” Jess said to Michael as she looked for the right wires, “This whole disaster with the bombs, it ain’t your fault and I can vouch for you if you need me two. Done!” she put a combination of wires together till the car roared to life, sweet music to the girl’s ears. “Come with me if you want to live!” she yelled and ducked into the driver’s seat, opening the door across from her for Michael.

Being behind the wheel of a car again was a miracle to Jess, even if it wasn’t her precious she had spent years working on. Her hands were tightly gripping the steering wheel, so hard that it was squeezing the zombie’s blood from her gloves. When she heard all the car doors close up she found a clear way to go where she could blast through without hitting anybody, though she knew it wouldn’t matter because they would most likely be dead soon, but she wouldn’t and couldn’t bring herself to kill someone knowingly. So she slammed on the gas pedal and the tank of a car lurched forward towards a small alley that would normally not be able to hold this big of a car, but Jess was making it work. She took all the back roads, trying to get out of the exploding town as fast as possible without hurting or killing anyone who was still alive, zombies however were free game. Then when they were coming out near the end of the end of the town, so close to making it Jess saw a bomb like thing fall from the sky heading right towards where they were heading, and if she kept with the speed she was going the speed she was on the bomb would hit them. But Jess shifted the gears and stepped on the gas even harder, the adrenalin of driving firing up her blood and dare-devil instincts. The car began to speed forward even more, slamming Jess back into her seat and permanently gluing the smile on her face there forever.

“Come on, come one, you can do it baby,” Jess whispered to the car, in her mind’s eye suddenly she was back on the tracks almost to the finish line and though she wasn’t the first place winner the competitiveness still evident. “We can make, we can make it,” and sure enough they sped passed the explosion behind them and actually pushing the destroyed tank forward slightly earning a yell of approval from Jess.

“Can I get a high-five?” Jess yelled, putting her in the middle so that anybody who wanted to give her a high-five could, “So where to now boss man?” She turned her head quickly to glance at Michael, not able to get any happier than she was at that moment.

The sound stayed steady as the sun rose above the Farland city skyline. He sat there on the roof of the west wall listening to the city breathing. It was echoing, erratic, and vast like the sound of an ocean shore. The sound grew louder as the sun rose stirring up the sounds source below. James sat there on his stool hunched over slightly in his hooded leather jacket. The silver duct tape wrapped around his forearms and lower legs he made for protection glistened in the sunlight. He tried to focus on the sun raise but couldn’t shake that sound. He looked to the horizon and watched the smoke from destroyed building covered parts of the lost city. Where he sat was the Fine Art Center(FAC), one of the few buildings left standing. He bent further to look over the edge of the roof to see the reason for the destruction. The source of the sound. Just outside his fortitude was what was left roaming the city. Below wondered the undead.
It was a mixture of breathing, grunts, and groans from the undead that engulfed the city. The sounds came from all around and never really stopped. The sound bothered James of course, being an eerie white noise, but he preferred it from the sounds of screaming he heard from the start of the outbreak. He tried to escape in the evacuation when it first started but the outbreak hit so hard and so fast in his area all he could do was hide. James held up here in the cities college campus in the sculpture rooms of the art building, and managed to make it safe for the night by using all the tools he found in the room. As the days past he pushed his fortification outward to the rooms that conjoined to the sculpture room. Using the tools he found he managed to fortify the Studio room, where the Juniors and Seniors of the Sculpture Department were allowed to work and stay in. The students had put in a small fridge, coffee maker, and microwave that no longer worked due to the lack of electricity, but a mattress that was used by late night working students like James. As well as a clay room that had potters wheels, a clay chemistry lab, large canvas tables, and three electric Kilns and one gas Kiln. And lastly the Court yard, that was used for wielding, the gas kiln, cutting metal, and any other hazardous tools. It was a walled in outdoor area with only two doors. One door entering the sculpture room, and the other entering the clay room. There is a covered walkway that covers half of the court yard from the weather. On one wall is a 20 foot wide 15 foot high metal gate that allowed professors and students to park in the courtyard and drop off heavy materials into the studio. Jay now uses it as a parking place. James put up a wire near the top of the gate that stretches from one side of the gate to the other, and has draped a green tarp across it to keep him out of sight of the undead, even though they could not break that gate down.
He never wanted to stay here, but do to the amount of undead roaming the city, and with the conditions of the roads he has been forced to stay. He spends his day gathering what food he can (mainly vending machines from the campus), and working of his fortification. Now, this was the safest place for him, and at the rate he has been working on the fort its being to look like a plausible home.
James stood up and walked back to the edge of the wall facing the inside of his gated court yard. He went to the ladder propped against the wall and climbed down into the court yard, which was hidden from the undead eye. He went through the large double doors located in-between the court yard and the sculpture room. Upon entering the sculpture room he looked around and checked his barricades. Fixing anything that needed it and moving through each room making sure it was secure. Since he had been held up in the FAC he had tried to keep himself working. James loved to work with his hands, and loved to be creative with them even more. He put together some weapons with the tools he had on hand. He cut some sharpened tips of half inch thick rebar into knives and spears, wielded nails and one of his rebar knives onto a metal pipe making it a spear and mace, carved out wooden knuckles and drilled 4 inch screws into them, and made the belt he uses to carry all these weapons with out of duct tape. Anything that he finds, James tries to make good use out of it. It saves him from having to risk his life try to find already made weapons when he is able to forge his own.
James grabbed his gear, a galloon glass jar from the clay chemistry lab, and a rubber hose. Today he planned on going out to find some more medical supplies and food because he was running low on snacks. But to do so he needed gas, and his Camry was dangerously low.
Going back into the court yard he saw that it had begun to sprinkle. He pondered for a moment if it was smart to scavenge during a storm but figured that if he went fast enough he could beat the rain. He pulled a wire hanging from his tarp the covered the gate. Like curtains, the tarp opened up revealing the city outside the metal gate. He peeked through the bars and saw only a few undead roaming the streets yards away. He went to the center of the double door gate and unlocked the padlock chain wrapped through the gates bars. Placing a precautionary Rebar Spear he kept near the gate he ventured outward into the city shutting but not locking the gate behind him.
He walked west down the street heading to the car he had yet to siphon. Crouching behind anything he could find and slowly making his way down the street. He hunkered behind one car and waited for the undead to walk past him on the other side. He peaked through the car windows as it past and grabbed hold of his screw knuckles, and slid his fingers through the holes. As the roamer came around the corner James cocked his hand back and was about to attack when something pulled him down.
A half of a man from underneath the car and yanked on James’s right leg and tripped him down making him let out and unfortunate yell. The Undead thing attempted to bite through his ankle but couldn’t penetrate the jean and duct taped he wrapped around it. James bent over to try and strike the thing with his spiked knuckle but couldn’t reach well enough under the car. That’s when the roamer from before piled onto James after hearing his yell. James placed his left arm above himself to attempt to defend himself, and the roamer grabbed and bit at his arm. This roamer couldn’t bite through the leather and duct tape wrapped around his wrists either, but both of the undead had begun tearing away at the duct tape.
With his left leg he kicked the half man off and pushed against the car with his free legs to get some distance. With the roamer pulling and biting at his arm, James fought back trying to let out the least amount of noise as possible. He thrust his arm up into the roamer, throwing it off balance, and then yanked the roamer to the ground. James sat up as the Roamer sat up with him and began to reach and grab for his face. James managed to grab the roamers collar and dug his spiked fist into its skull. By now the half man crawled its way up to James, but could not grab a hold of him before James sent a barrage of jabs into its head, leaving 9 mangled holes in his wake.
James quickly stood up and found that the fight lured a 3 more undead his way. James ran to the car he hadn’t siphoned yet a used his rebar knife from his belt to pop open the gas lid. He throw the gas lid to the side and slid the rubber hose into the tank. He made a quick turn to face an undead just seconds from him, and drove his rebar knife into its skull. The other two undead where approaching quickly screaming and grunting for James. This caused more undead to pop out around nearby alleys, and from behind buildings.
James quickly sucked out the gas from the tank and gagged and coughed as the gas entered his mouth. Gas poured everywhere before he attached in to his gallon jug. Letting the jug fill on the ground, he went to face the nearby undead. He unlatched the Pipe mace from his belt and wielded it in his right hand and in his left was the spiked knuckles and rebar knife. With a huge swing he sent the mace into an approaching undead woman, and kicked down her undead friend. Mounting the second undead, he slide his rebar knife through her chin and the tip poked out of the skull. Standing up quickly, he grabbed his mace from the first undead head and drove the spear tip into the next undead that approached.
More and more came out of the woodwork as James fought them off. The street started to get too packed for James to handle and after thrusting his fist into another undead skull he went to grab the, now over flowing, jug and hose. He put a cork into the jug and sat it on the car next to him. He sent his knife into another undead head, but couldn’t free it from the skull. Quickly he left the knife behind, knowing he had more, and grabbed the jug with his left hand. He sprinted back to the Gate of his fort and ran across car tops to try and distance himself from some undead. Making it back to the gate in a matter of seconds he placed the jug down to fight off more undead.
Punching and swinging his mace around killing off one undead after the other. He tried to kill off the close undead so he could safely enter his fort, but the horde had grown to fast. He grabbed the jug and made his way through the gate. Quickly he grabbed his spear he placed near the gate from before and pushed out an undead that tried to follow him inside. He Closed the gate fast and with trembling hands latched the pad lock back on the chains. The undead crashed against the gate only moments after, but the 4 Undead on the other side couldn’t knock the gate down.
The bars of the gate where very narrow, and most large undead couldn’t fit their hands through the gate. Those that could reach, could not grab James through the gate. All of them however pushed their faces against the holes of the bars and bit ferociously at James.
James sat on his cars trunk inside the court yard and tried to catch his breath. He examined his torn duct tape guards and found that he was unbitten. Once he caught his breath he went up to the gate and pulled the tarp shut. Now the undead couldn’t see him, and he hoped with some time they would forget and leave him be.
He picked up the gas jug and placed it on top of his trunk. Getting ready to open the gas tank lid he was stopped when one of the undead pulled down the tarp from the right wall, revealing James once again.
“DAMN IT” he shouted. “LOSY SON OF A BITCH!” He quickly went and grabbed his rebar spear and yelled “FUCK YOU, YA PIECE OF SHIT! AHHHHH!” and drove the spear through the culprits head.
He was beyond pissed at this moment. Being scared to death and almost eaten alive was bad enough but for some reason ripping down his tarp made him furious. He began screaming with each thrust he sent into the skulls, one after the other. Through a woman’s eye, then an old man’s mouth, a child’s forehead, a teens cheek. One after the other, and more and more came.
As he speared, his yells became more like whimpers, and eventually into a cry. He fell to his knees and began to bawl into his hands. He looked unto the pile of dead he created, and watched the undead horde walk on top of them. Reaching and biting for James. Never stopping.
“..Damn it…” He spoke softly with a hurt voice. James felt that he was losing this fight. Safe in these place, but trapped within the city. He feared he wouldn’t last long on his own.
He tried to calm himself down, and stay focused. He looked up the hole in the wall left from the wire on the pulled down tarp. He saw something that needed fixing, and suddenly got the focus he needed.
Grabbing a measuring tape, hammer, and nails, went to fix the wire. He propped up the ladder unto the wall, and climbed up onto the roof dragging the wire and tarp with him. Once on the roof he measured the length of his arm and then bent over the edge to measure the same distance away from the gate. Adding on a few inches he made his mark where the nail was needed. He hammered a nail through into the wall, and attached the wire and tarp to it. While doing this it had begun to rain. He carefully climbed down, and moved the ladder to the opposite wall to adjust and move the other end of the tarp. He couldn’t climb on the roof for this side so he stood on the ladder and measured the same distance from before away from the gate. He hammered a nail into the wall where it was needed and moved the wire to the new hook.
“Easy fix.” He said softly. From the top of the ladder he looked over the tarp at the undead on the other side of the gate. There had to be around 6 by now, pushing and reaching for James. “The gate will hold.” He said to himself and began to climb down.
The rain made the metal steps of the ladder slippery, and with a gasp James’s leg slid through a hole in between the steps and sent James plummeting below. He landed on his back next to the gate, and his head whipped down onto the concrete.
He looked up to the rain and saw the faces of the undead press against the gate as his vision went black…
…
… he began to fade in and out of consciousness with the rain pouring harder and harder on to his face. Barely seeing the hands reaching for him.
…
… Hands shoving and grabbing him, he thought of his mother trying to waking him up for school…
…
the Sounds finally woke him up.
He came to and fought off the hands reaching for him. Standing up he saw the crowd he had drawn. There had to be near 30 or more pushing and fighting their way to him, pushing the gates to its limits. Quickly James got into his car, and backed in up against the gates and pulled the parking brake trying to barricade the gate.
He moved back into the covered walk way, looking in horror to the hoard, and then ran inside the sculpture room. He shut the doors and placed a plank of wood across the doors to secure it. He wasn’t sure how long the gates would hold and might have to hold up here.
He felt the back of his head and found blood. He ripped off some of his plaid shirt under his jacket and tied it around his head as a bandage.
James sat and listen in the dark room to the sounds of the hoard outside. He waited to hear the loud breaking sound of his padlock and the rush of the hoard coming to devour him. Minutes passed by and the sound hadn’t come. Instead he could hear the distant sound of gunfire. His heart stopped as the undead suddenly became quiet. He and the hoard listened carefully. Bang bang. More gun fire in the distant. The undead weren’t quiet for long, but their voice began to fade away.
James moved the plank and opened the sculpture door. He went outside in the court yard and found the gate was still standing. He also found that the Undead were no longer at his gate, but were instead heading to the source of the sound.
“Oh thank God.” He said, feeling somewhat safe. Then it hit him. Whoever is making that noise is going to have a hoard of undead heading their way… A hoard he created…

Michael sat rigid the entire ride through the destruction of Black Falls. His eyes were widened with terror and his mouth dropped agape when Michael looked forward and saw the missile flying directly towards them. He looked to Jess in horror as he saw a smirk appear across her face and a determined pout to beat the explosive hurtling through the air. "Oh god... " Michael muttered as he leaned over the passenger side trying to take control of the wheel. Before he could do anything though, Jess was saying "We can make it, we can make it" and sure enough the van they were riding to hell in zoomed forward and the missile explosion behind them sent the van forward, violently lurching and causing Michael to fall back into his seat, completely flabbergasted. Jess had a self-impressed grin across her face and Michael sat gripping his seat tightly as they hurtled through the town and out onto the open highway, leaving the smoldering, destroyed, hopeless Black Falls to become nothing.

Michael looked forward, still rigid as Jess asked if she could get a high-five and where to next. Michael just turned to her, that same grin across her face and he nervously laughed. "Straight... uh... forward" he muttered still bewildered. Michael began to settle as he reasoned within that this girl Jess was more than capable of keeping them safe in this deathtrap of an escape. "Uh.. thanks for that" he said breathing out heavily, "Impressive driving..." Michael looked to the back of the Van and made eye contact with Toby, "How you goin'?" he asked with a warmer smile, trying eleviate any tension he might have.

As Michael looked back to Toby it dawned on him for the first time the other guy they'd run with wasn't in the van. "What happened to other guy?" Michael asked worriedly and with a pang of guilt. "Damn" he cursed, "He must've been separated from us... the poor bastard..." Michael's fist clenched at the thought of letting someone senselessly die. Michael turned back around and faced Jess, "You need to keep going down this highway... It won't be long before we hit Bridgewater Forest.. it's about an hour and half trip through that forest then a two hour trip after that to the city... that's where I've gotta go.. that's where HQ will..." Michael trailed off, a concerned look came across his face. "HQ..." he muttered under his breath, "Just keep going forward... I've gotta get in contact with someone." Micahel said sternly as he raised a finger to his ear...

"HQ, this is officer Faraway, what the HELL was that?" he said sternly. A few moments of silence passed as Michael sat in growing rage, "HQ" he repeated, "Why did you sanitize Black Falls? There were survivors there an-" He was abruptly cut off "Officer Faraway this is HQ... Black Falls was sanitized due to infection contamination. Proceed to point Alpha in the Hot Zone and you'll receive further instruction" Michael hit his fist on the dashboard, "No HQ, I want answers! Black Falls wasn't compromised until you fired your damn missiles on it.. why did you do that!? What's goin' on?" Michael asked frustratedly "You're not telling me everything!" Michael held his finger firmly against the communicator on his ear but HQ remained silent, he'd either hit a nerve with them or they were deliberating the perfect response.

When no more but silence filled his ears Michael turned to Jess. They were just entering the outskirts of Bridgewater forest. "Here we go..." Michael said breathing deeply. "Be careful driving..." he said with quiet tone, "It should be a smooth ride through..but you never know." Michael settled back into his seat as he caught a glimpse of the morose smoke plume behind them in the distance.. "We're gonna get answers when we get to the city... I promise you that" Michael said sternly as the trees slowly grew taller.



The woman moved silently through the street with determination and fearlessness. She wore tight fitted cargo pants with a long sleeved skivvy, the sleeves pulled up slightly so her forearms were shown slightly. She wore combat gloves and had a knife holster belt tied firmly around her left arm, a hunting knife firmly clasped into it. Her skin was a light tan colour and her eyes were a dark caramel brown. She was slim and curvaceous, and very attractive, but her face was stern and cold to look at. Across her torso was slung duel gun holsters with two handguns stuck into them, tightly clasped much like the hunting knife strapped around her left arm. As she moved long dark hair swished about her back, held together in a tight ponytail, but long enough that it sat just midway down her back. Sweat was beginning to form across her brow as he dodged in and out of cars, trying to avoid sight of anything that might pose a threat to her mission at hand.

As she pushed past a bus and out into an intersection, suddenly her ear was filled with jumbled transmissions "Agent...You... Fara... Approaching... Falls... San... Suarez..." The woman stopped in the middle of the intersection, a pained look smeared across her face, she spoke firmly and hastily, looking around her constantly checking for enemies, "HQ, you're cutting in and out.." her voice had a heavy latin accent to it, "HQ? What is it you want me to do? I'm almost at rendezvous point ALPHA... Come in HQ?" a thick silence filled the air as the woman waited patiently, but nervously. She didn't like being out in the open. Suddenly a moan filled the air nearby and the woman turned to see a shambling infected woman coming out from the bus the woman had just moved out from behind herself. "Damn it" she cursed, pulling a gun from one of her holsters. "HQ, I really need to know what it is you want me to do?" She shouted hastily into her communications device, the shambling woman was soon accompanied by a small horde appearing from between the abandoned vehicles down the street, "fuck it" the woman shouted as she fired her gun off a few times. One, two, three infected dropped to the road, small bullet holes between their eyes. "Hah!" the woman gloated.

[i]"Agent... Fara... orest... Hour... Go.. To Point Alpha... wait for...ommand" The woman rolled her eyes and fired two more times as more zombies began to appear, "Alright command... I'm heading to point alpha and I'll wait for my next directive.." The woman turned on her heels and fired once more, this time the gunshot echoed loudly across the seemingly hollow city, filling the air with a cold bang as the woman dropped another infected.

After a while of no high-fives for her amazing driving skills, Jess brought her hand back onto the wheel and stared straight ahead. Even with being left hanging on the high-five, Jess was feeling proud and happy at herself for making it. She continued straight ahead, checking every now and then on the gas level. It was fairly low and she wasn't sure if it would make it all the way to the city, but she was hoping to get them close enough before it ran out, so they wouldn't have far to walk if they had to.

She heard Michael say, "Impressive driving..."

Jess smiled at the compliment, "Well it should be, I mean I have won some metals after all." After that she shifted gears and sped along the highway, tuning out everything else since she didn't have to look for corners to turn on. There was a moment however, that her foot slightly lifted from the gas pedal as they passed her hideaway, and her race car. Even though she hadn't driven it for months, it was still sad to leave it behind for her. She looked out the window to her left at the building, her smiling faltering a bit and a small, almost silent sigh escaping her as she said goodbye to her car in her head. Even with the slight change in speed, they still sped passed it quickly and so her eyes woefully returned to the road straight ahead, flickering back to the side mirror to look at the building fade into the distance. She promised that someday if she survived this that she would go back and get her car to start a new life, if it was still there when she got there, and who knew when that would be.

Michael began to yell into his earpiece at 'HQ', the same person who set the orders to bomb Black Falls. A vein in Jess's forehead pulsed thinking back to the kid she saw on the street and what had inevitably happened to them and the others. 'Whoever that HQ person is, is no better than Hitler,' Jess thought to herself. She tried distracting herself from these thoughts by just focusing on the road ahead and the purr of the van as it flew on the road well over what the speed limit would be if society hadn't crashed.

After some silence when they entered the forest Jess worked up the courage to ask Michael, "Who's HQ?" She glanced at him quickly to see if she over stepped her line, though she wasn't sure where that line was she knew that with Michael you wouldn't want to over step it. Though her curiosity at who this person might be was burning too intensely inside her for her to just ignore the question. After thinking that long HQ had taken a form that was like a mixture between Darth Vader and werewolf; that was her imagination, weird and with no clear pattern. Glancing at the gas meter she noticed they were almost out, the light to tell them they needed to refill had been on for a while now and she wasn't sure how much longer they would have. It seemed they were in the middle of the forest and Jess could already tell that they were beginning to slow, though it was very subtle.

"I don't mean to alarm everyone, but we're almost out of gas," Jess informed the others. She kept her glance on ahead and her hands firmly on the steering wheel. She knew that the others might get frustrated with not getting to the city, but in all honesty Jess was pretty impressed with how much gas there actually was in the car because leaving it outside for five months she would have figured that most of it evaporated already. She did figure this would happen when they first set off, but kept it to herself not wanting the others to start yelling and making a bad situation worse. However, now that the car was slowly beginning to loose speed it was hard not to let them know. Pretty soon they would have to get out and start walking, Jess only hoped she got them close enough to the city that the walking portion wouldn't be too long since they didn't have any supplies other than weapons and whatever they could pull from the car.

Simon had blacked out for a short moment. He was curious as to what that girl was thinking, to hit him. At the same time, he wished he had anticipated her action. Maybe the lack of interaction with others was finally getting to Simon. In the past, everyone he killed, or spied upon or fought who wasn't an agent had been an ordinary civilian. Maybe he should have known that whoever was a civilian in the last world who was left in this world was most likely good at surviving. Oh well. Next time.

Simon heard a noise above him. A grunting, gasping, moaning sound. He opened his eyes and saw the town in flames, in the corners of his vision. More apparent was the green, rotted face approaching his. Without a sound, he quickly swung his knife at the thing's neck, and removed it's head from it's body, kicking the limp body away from him. He got up, and observed. The town was on fire, and not a single living person was in sight. Simon hated to see so many people dead. He almost wondered why that government plane would do such a thing, before remembering that, whatever the case, he knew how stupid governments could be. Many killed on suspicious. After all, a town was tiny and inconsequential in their eyes, compared to their interests. It was like a stronger version of a mob, at worst, and calculating, at best.

The girl who knocked Simon over the edge and the others outside the gate were gone. Simon found a welcome sight. A motorcycle, surrounded by zombies who were having at the pilot's meat. This would be annoying. Simon ran quickly into the home behind the motorcycle. He checked to make sure nobody was inside before he exited, and kicked out a wooden beam supporting the balcony. The flames had sufficiently weakened it, and the balcony fell onto the zombies and motorcycle, dispersing them. Simon ran to the vehicle and quickly searched the motorcyclist's belongings. He took the key, and seeing as there were no zombies around, checked the pilot for life-signs. There none. Oh well. He wished he could escape with other, but even he was not crazy enough for that. He activated the engine, and set off down the road. The motorcycle had a good amount of gas remaining. He took off down a road. He took off to go to Bridgewater forest. The forest seemed as safe a place as any. Maybe he would meet some funny people. Maybe he could even find those people who were running into that gate, and maybe he could find that girl again. Simon sped along, humming a merry tune, holding his hat in one of his coat pockets, as the forest came into view, and a white van materialized in the distance in front of him.

James watched as the distracted undead dispersed completely from view of his gate. The green tarp was dangling and blowing in the wind from one the nail on the right side wall. He must have torn it down again after falling off his ladder.
A pulsing pain rung in his head. He wondered if he had a concussion or not from the fall. He tapped the back of his head and cringed slightly as he did. He looked at his hand and saw that his temporary torn shirt bandage was already being bled through. He had hurt himself many times throughout his life and had an alright knowledge of how to treat most wounds, but he feared this cut would be a difficult one to mend alone without any first aid. And if he indeed had a concussion, he wasn’t quite sure what that could mean for him down the road…
Bang… Bang…
Gun shots rang through the air. “Freaking idiot.” He murmured. He thought to himself ‘most people who where foolish enough to fire a gun in a city like this would have died off mouths ago but somehow this genius managed to keep themselves alive somehow’. This thought brought back horrible memories of the sounds of the city within the first days of the outbreak. People did in fact pay for being so foolish. ‘Real people’ he thought. He imaged their lives. This was something he often thought about when it came to dealing with death. Be it hearing someone being eaten alive, and being able to do nothing about it, or even killing the undead. Every one of those undead is no different from him he thought. Just a bite away. They grew up with a family, a mother, a father, siblings, cousins, grandparents. They lived there whole lives working day to day, getting through school, making friends along the way. Thinking their biggest worries in life was what job they would get, one of his own worries in fact. Then worrying if they would meet Mr. or Mrs. Right.
He glanced to the bodies that lined the outside of the gate, and walked closer to them. He grabbed the bars. And looked down closely at one.
Bang… Bang…
She was a beautiful girl he imaged. About his age he presumed. Her face missed its lower half. Most of her cloths on her were torn from her, and where they were torn sat gaps in her body where other undead ate through her until she herself turned. He thought to himself how pretty her face was, along with her hair. She had large eyes that where left open starring down at his direction. Stuck, and lifeless as the rain fell on her wet corpse. He thought to himself, if things were different. If he met her in a different life he might have asked her out. Got to know who she really was. Maybe fall in love with her. Have kids… Grow old… but he felt nothing for her. She was a corpse. He would never know her. She had no name.
Bang…
Next to her was a kid dead lying face down. If this happened 10 years before, it could be him lying there. Or 10 years from now it could be his son. The boy had holes throughout his back. Five bullet holes that would have done nothing to stop him. Nothing to stop this undead child. He wondered if it was his parents that shot him. Shot him with the family revolver they bought to protect him from the horrors of the ‘real world.’ How awful this real world had become he thought. He counted five shots… his imagination created a short film inside his head of himself married to the dead woman who lied next to the boy. He saw him and her huddled in the corner of their house as their undead son approached them. He saw himself forced to fire his gun at his son trying to protect what was left of his and his wives lives. Panicking and wasting all but one shot at the boy. He imagined that the boy wasn’t alone, but had a group of undead with him. The same group that made him perhaps. They could not face them all with one shot. He tried to imagine, but could not quiet fathom, having to put that last shot through his wife’s head to save her from a worse fate, and then having to suffer that fate alone with his dead wife’s hand in his, and his son slowly eating him alive.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
The gun shots rung through his pulsing head, as he gripped the bars tighter. He cringe his jaw and gritted his teeth. Shaking in anger with every shot he heard, knowing that this person would soon be dead. It was inevitable. One simply couldn’t move through a city shooting thousands of the undead. He was furious because he knew he wouldn’t go help this person. Despite how he hated the situation of the world, he knew if he wanted to stay alive. He would have to stay within this fort.
Bang. Bang bang bang. Bang bang bang.
He looked down at the dead girl and wondered if someone could of accidently saved her like this gunmen accidently saved his.
Bang.
‘No.’ he thought. He ran from the gate and into the sculpture room. He grabbed a back pack and started to shove whatever he could find in there. Rebar knives, pencil rod, a hammer, a mallet, hand saw, duct tape, chain, box of screws and nails, bottles of water and the gasoline jar from before. He through the backpack on, and grabbed a spiked knuckle, granola bar, a lighter and put it in his pocket. He grabbed one spear and his pipe mace, and ran to back to his gate. He unlocked the gate, and removed the chain, and stuffed it into his back pack. He had every intention of returning to this safe house, but packed this bag just uncase he couldn’t.
He swiftly moved to his car, through it in neutral and pushed it through the gate. The rain started to come down hard. He closed the gate again but did not lock it. He thought to himself that he must of had some sort of brain trauma if he really was going to risk his life for this. He got into his car and turned the key. Rolling down the windows and turning off the radio, he listened for the gunshots. Ran poured into the car as he waited for another shot. Seconds felt like hours, and a rush of fear hit him. ‘Was he too late?’
BANG BANG
The shots went off and sounded closer than the last. He punched the gas and drove towards the sound. He drove down the road, weaving in and out of motionless traffic. Soon he came across a few undead moving slowly to the gun shots. Some turn and looked to him as he drove past. He hit one that went right under his car banging him around in the driver’s seat. He hit another that flew over his hood and smacked into the right side of the wind shield busting that side, and rolled over the top. More and more undead filled the streets as he got closer to the sound. He was avoiding the undead if he could, but would hesitate to run over them.
He didn’t hear a shot for a few seconds and wondered if he was in the right direction. He was about to hit another undead when its face lit up from the gun she fired. It was not undead but in fact the living gunman, and James just barely swerved to missed her. He then hydroplaned into a light post. He shook off the crash the best he could and pulled it into reverse. The car made horrible sounds as it unhinged from the poll. He put the car in park and stepped out. He looked to the woman popping off round after round at the gathering hoard. He swung his mace into the closest undead walking his way. He looked to her and shouted “GET IN!”
She didn’t do as he said at first and from what he could tell was baffled by his presents. That’s when he saw the hoard he created from before coming around the corner from wince he came. They had grown to about 50 or more on their walk over. His eyes widened and he pointed them out to her. “DAMN IT, IF YOU WANT TO LIVE GET IN!” he yelled, and got into the car himself and waited.

As the van passed through the forest, Michael sat in quiet silence trying to figure out what HQ was doing, and why they had done what they had. When Jess spoke up and asked about HQ Michael sat up rigid, but answered her questions, in all fairness, what they had done at Black Falls, they deserved to lose Michael's confidence and he didn't feel the need for secrecy around anyone at the moment...

"HQ are my bosses - Head Quarters - They tell me what to do and when to do it..." Michael looked down the road, grimacing as the van was beginning to visibly slow, it was taking time for it to do so, but he could tell they were dropping speed. "I've been sent here... to Black Falls, I mean, on an information and recovery mission by HQ.. I'm supposed to go out to the city, take samples of infected, record their habits and so on... then I'm to return to.. what was... Black Falls, get picked up and take what i've learnt back to them." Michael chuckled sarcastically, "HQ told me my secondary mission was to rescue survivors if I found any..." Michael looked back into the van to make eye contact with Toby, and then looked to Jess with a confused face as he continued to speak, "I just don't know why they sanitized Black Falls... They knew it was a safe zone... One of the safest zones. It doesn't make sense... And when I asked them why? All they did was tell me it was compromised and to continue on with the mission... Something isn't righ-"

Suddenly the van completely halted and Michael looked to Jess disheartened slightly. "Damn... guess we're walking." He said as he hopped out of the car. As Michael exited the vehicle he felt the cool air brush across his face and for the first time, noticed that the forest was eerily silent. "That's odd..." Michael said cautiously, "We need to stick together, and I think it'd be best to follow the road for the meantime..." Michael looked to Jess again, "Thanks for driving... I'll make sure HQ looks after us when we get to the city..."

Suddenly Michael's earpiece buzzed to life "Officer Faraway, why have you stopped proceeding to point Alpha in the hot zone... it is imperative you get there asap." Michael gritted his teeth, trying to hold back another outburst at his bosses. "Because HQ, i'm stranded at the moment with two civies. Our transportation broke down..." Michael thought about it for a moment and then bit the bullet, "HQ, why was Black Falls -" Michael was cut off abruptly, "Proceed two miles down the road and turn left at Lauderdale Junction.. There's an old estate down that way, maybe you can find transportation there." HQ cut out and communication ceased.

"God damn it" Michael cursed, kicking his foot to the ground in frustration. "I just don't get it... There's somethin' they're not telling me." He said looking to Jess and Toby. He sighed deeply and shook his head, "Fuck it." he said, "We gotta go two miles down the road and turn left at some junction... HQ says there some kind of estate thing... maybe we can get another ride there..." Michael looked up to the two again, "I'm sorry..." he said apologetically, "I'll find answers as soon as I can and we can get outta here..."

Michael turned on his heels and began the walk down the road.




The woman was fighting off the oncoming horde with one bullet at a time. Her training had paid off and two out of three infected dropped like led balloons on the first time most of the time. "HQ, this is Agent Suarez, i've been cornered by a horde, I need immediate evac." The woman pointed her gun firmly at a fast running zombie and let the trigger go as she stopped it in its tracks. "Hah!" she chided the horde as it closed in slowly, "You think you can beat me!?" she taunted in her thick latin accent. She backed away a little more, trying to provide herself with as much space as possible, but she soon found herself backed against a nearby building, "HQ! I need evac..." she said firmly. The woman showed no sign of panic.

A nearby zombie lunged out and the woman ducked swiftly, bringing her leg up and around to connect with it's skull, causing the creature to hit the ground with a blood curdling crack. "Fuck you" she spat as she turned to see the horde going into a frenzy. Any sign of blood and that triggered them like sharks in chum. "Damn it" she hissed as she holstered her gun and removed the knife from her arm. "Let's get personal." she said as she began a fight through the crowd.

The woman picked a lighter patch of the crowd and ran forth, pushing over the first few infect and managing to make her way into a small clearing amongst the horde. Her clothes were made of a tough material, teeth had a hard time tearing it.... But it wasn't indestructible. The woman slashed her knife back and forth, the horde seemed to be cognitive that Agent Suarez wasn't an easy meal. She stood firm, ready to fight off any attack, unsheathed her gun again, sensing she needed all the help she could get and fired once when suddenly the horde went flying through the air and a car broke into the woman's circle and narrowly missed her as it turned to avoid hitting her.

The woman made eye contact with the driver as he swerved around her. Her face was emotionless, but her stance was that of someone frightened. Pulling her arms back to avoid having them ripped off, she jumped backwards just in time. The car hurtled into a lamp post and for a few seconds there was still. A man stepped out and yelled "GET IN!" but the woman just looked at him, this time a more baffled expression across her face. She looked him over and his car too, deciding that she'd rather take her chances elsewhere, but as she turned to make a run for it, leaving the man as her bait for her escape she saw the horde she'd created had now nearly tripled in size from his car antics. The woman turned around to look back to the man, that's when he shouted more urgently, "Damn it. If you wan't to live get in!"

The woman turned back to the horde and fired twice into the crowd dropping two infected, starting a mild frenzy within the horde who became slightly distracted by the officially dead zombie. She turned to the man ran to his car, opening the backseat door and diving in. "Ok, go!" She shouted firmly, "get us out of here!"

Jess looked behind them at the road they had just come from before jogging to catch up with Michael after saying quiet goodbyes to the car, "I know you're only trying to help, but if you plan on meeting up with 'Head Quarters' again then I'm going to have to split. I don't trust them, not after what they did to Black Falls and all those people. Honestly, I rather take on the zombies by myself than be in the same building as them." She turned her head away, feeling as though she had almost insulted Michael. In fact, the more she thought about it the more she realized how bad what she just said sounded. She quickly turned her head back to the man walking next to her with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, I'm not blaming you, I just don't think we should trust people who just bombed survivors for no apparent reason and who keep secrets about it. It's not safe and I know you're just trying to help, but you shouldn't trust them either. That's just asking for trouble. When we hit the city I'm splitting and going on my own."

With that she rubbed the back of her neck and sped up her walking so she was a couple ahead of the other two. It felt secluded enough for her and was still safe in case they got attacked. Jess couldn't shake the images of the kid crying in the middle of the street as the sky dropped bombs on them and world collapsed into fire and rubble around them. It was exactly how her grandfather described World War two and it was exactly why Jess couldn't trust HQ because in her mind they were the bad guys, they were the nazis and the zombies were just wild creatures they had to watch out for. There was no smile on her face now, but there also weren't any tears; though her body language would give off that she was sad or upset, her face was was set in a slight scowl as she watched the ground at her feet. And even though she was walking in front she didn't know where she was going, she figured that either Michael would yell at her if she started to go the wrong way or she would get lost, but even if the latter were to happen in her mind it was better than heading to the city with HQ.

Her mood was sour and taking a few deep breaths wasn't going to make it go away, so she did the only thing that ever made her calm and that her grandfather did whenever he started thinking back to the war, she started sing. "Leaves from the vine, falling so slow. Like tiny fragile shells, drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy, come marching home. Brave soldier boy, comes marching home," she sang, closing her eyes and thinking of when her grandfather used to sing it, "Those leaves did grow, from branches overgrown. Drifting slowly down, resting in the loam. Little soldier boy, taken from home. Forced to fight a war, that's not his own. Leaves from the vine, falling so slow. Like tiny fragile shells, drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy says, 'Carry me home.' Sleeping soldier boy, is carried home."

Simon rode past the white van. He decided to make his way to Farland city. He had a safe-house there, and it was on a high floor of a building. Hopefully, his equipment was there.. It likely was, considering the electric security system that should have come into place. As far as he Simon could tell, nobody turned it off, so any creatures that attempted to get near would likely get toasted. Besides, he doubted Zombies could use elevators. Simon rode on through the forest, until he saw some familiar faces. They looked like a poorer gentleman, a soldier, and a girl in rather sporty wear. Specifically, the girl who punched him in the face earlier. He slowed down to make it seem like he did not want to crash into a tree, and waved at the group as he passed them by. It was a motorcycle he was riding, but if the fact that they were walking was any indication, they seemed not to have a ride. He would rather have them all together in one place, in close proximity of each other, so that they could survive more easily, while he himself kept the motorbike. He also didn't feel like stopping to socialize yet. And so he rode on. Maybe they were headed the same way he was. Maybe then, he could repay them, or join them. Maybe.

Simon stepped off of the Motorcycle, and rested it against a tree while he stopped to take a break.The forest was calm. It was another one of those peaceful moments that could rarely be achieved outside of the mass extinction of large groups of humans. The peaceful silence was deafening. It was glorious. Magnanimous. Downright freaking awesome. As Simon's reverie subsided, he decided to be content enjoying the woods. The light filtering through the trees was amazing-looking. So was a structure that seemed like a tunnel through the forest, despite how flimsy the tunneling made some of the trees is was tunneling through. Was this made by a third-grader with a giant drill? Simon hoped not. Then he heard what appeared to be the calling of aboriginal tribesmen, and the thumping of feet on dirt. A spear and a few arrows shot around Simon. He remained still, so that the safely passed to his sides and punctured the trees on those sides, then he got the bike, and drove. He did not need to say hi to the degenerates of society. As far as he could tell, they may have decided to become tribal as soon as the disease broke out. Simon rode away from the forest, before coming to a town.

Within the town, it was lively due to the undead. What a funny oxymoron. Simon continued to drive through the city on the elevated roads of the highway until he came to within a short distance. Then he heard weapon fire nearby, and turned to it. He could see a woman fighting a group. He decided to leave her to her own devices. She looked like a professional. entering the building, he made his way up to his safe-house. The building was tall, and the safehouse, just an elevator ride to the top, was simple to get to. The path was devoid of zombies, and short enough. It wasn't so much a house as it was a compartment. It was located slightly above the elevator's stopping point if it went to the top floor. After getting on top of the elevator after he stopped it, Simon began to retrieve more supplies. It was not much, but he switched everything he needed over to a larger briefcase. Included were more medical supplies, and even a silenced handgun with ammunition. Good for Simon. He descended to go back to the motorcycle. He could go off and find more supplies elsewhere. Then, he got a better idea. He looked back to see if the woman was still there, and saw her trying to get into a van. Simon smiled like a snake, and prepared to follow the van with the motorcycle. He liked company, and maybe they would be nice.

James jumped into the car at the same moment the woman darted for the back seat. She shouted “Ok go, get us out of here!” Once she was in James floored the car in reverse into a 180 and punched it forward. They sped past a small group of the undead, but couldn’t get through the large 50 or more undead horde. James quickly turned in front of the horde, smacking the side of the car into a few and then drove off down a tight alleyway. The car lost its side mirrors and got bagged up a bit in the narrow path, crashing into garbage cans and undead. James managed to escape and burst out of the alley way onto market street. James was completely out of site from his previous location, and left the large horde funneling through the narrow alley. James turned left and drove down the road.

For a moment he looked at the review mirror to the girl in the back seat. They made eye contact but only to read each other’s faces for a moment. James felt a strange sense of connection to this person and security. That he could trust her right now not to harm him. Maybe its because they are surviving together and have a common enemy, perhaps it’s just because she is the first living soul he has seen since the outbreak started. He starred for a moment into her eyes, not saying a word, and then they were back on the road.

The car clinked and clacked as it drove. The front tires shook making the remainder of the car ride bumpy and shaky. Steam started to come out of the hood and James figured he busted the radiator in the crash. ‘just a little further’ he thought to himself and made a few more turns on some streets. He had arrived to his street, and could see that the unlocked gate had not been touched. With a loud crack and a rough jerk the cars steering wheel seized up and the engine died. James through it in to neutral and let the car roll down the hill. The car shook back and forth as it fell and the left tire went flat. James’s safe house was coming up and he quickly turned into the gate without stopping. The car smashed the gate open and once inside James slammed on the breaks coming to a complete stop.
Quickly James jumped out of the car grabbing his mace from the passenger seat. He went to the gate, and sunk his mace into the undead trying to get in. With a hard kick, he knocked the dead back away from the gate and moved quickly to shut it. Once closed he tied the thick chain around the gates bars and locked the padlock. The gate was secure and nothing would get in.

He turned back to see she had stepped out of the car. The rain had stopped but the storm clouds still hovered overhead and made the courtyard darker than daytime. He now noticed her fully now, and saw how attractive she was. With great curves and a athletic body. He was also more surprised how clean and healthy she was. James hadn’t managed the best hygiene in this apocalypse, and lived off a small amount of food. This woman had survived better off than he was he thought. A sharp pain throbbed from his left arm. He must have hurt it in the crash. He walked up to the smooth olive skinned woman, placed his pipe mace on the roof of the car, and put his right hand out. “Hi. Names James… I’m glad we got you out of that mess.”

Michael was a little taken aback when Jess said she'd go her separate way when and if they made it to town due to her not trusting HQ, and Michael was struck speechless when she suggested he discard them altogether. When the woman walked ahead and began to quietly sing to herself Michael just walked back a few paces taking in the harsh, but possibly true words of the woman.

Michael turned back to look at Toby and they exchanged a small glance of solemn woe. The truth of the situation, while it stung Michael like a wasp, was that; HQ wasn't telling him everything, but did it mean that he shouldn't trust them. All his career and most of his adult life he's been under the command of someone else. Michael has had to follow orders practically his whole life, and never has he had any negative impact or outcome because of it. He constantly put his life on the line for someone higher up, who always provided him with direction, reason and praise when he followed through with what he was told perfectly. But now... Now Michael was stranded in the middle of humanity's greatest shit storm. "What are you doing to me HQ?" he thought to himself.

As the group marched on down the road in a sad line, with Toby silently bringing up the rear, Michael had to turn his head as the distant roar of a motorbike grew louder and louder. It was only a moment or two after the noise first reached his ears when the biker raced past, slowly just long enough for Michael to glimpse of the rider - the man from the gate at Back Falls. Michael let out a "hey!" but the man was well and truly gone before Michael could even ask for his help.. Then again, what was Michael going to ask; "Give us all a ride will ya?" Michael bowed his head in frustration and just sighed as he exchanged a keep walkin' look to Jess and Toby.

As the sun arched upwards, higher and higher into the sky Michael began to grow restless as he realised patches of the forest were periodically going quiet. He looked up towards Jess, she seemed ok, then back behind him to look to Toby to see if he noticed anything and that's when Michael saw them... Just down the road; 400 or so metres. Standing about the trees, watching them silently - people. Michael stopped mid walk and mumbled out forward, "J-Jess..." he looked down the road towards the woman, she hadn't initially heard him, "Hey! Jess!" He turned back to look to Toby, "Can you see them?" Michael asked nodding down the road. Toby turned but suddenly there was no one to see. "They were there.. two seconds ago!" Michael turned his head back to Jess, "Did you see them?" Michael looks back down the road, "There were people, standing in the trees just down there... But..."

Suddenly the forest calm stops and the birds begin to sing again, filling the cool afternoon air with a sweet scent. The tension that had been hanging over this patch of the forest highway had lifted and Michael felt a cold shiver run down his spine. "We need to keep moving... Who knows what kind of crazy is sitting out here in the forest..." Michael moved past Jess and took the lead again, walking for about ten minutes when the group intersects a crossroads. "Left here..." he mumbles as he turns down a road and ten or so minutes later a stopped short by an elaborate iron gate that leads down an equally elaborate driveway of some sort. "Looks like a private estate out here..." Michael says out loud. He pushes the gate open and the group of three makes their way down the driveway for about fifteen minutes until suddenly a break in this part of the private forest lands reveals a huge dark grey structure that towers well and truly into the sky, casting an ominous glower across the forest. "Black Falls State Prison" Toby murmurs as the three pass a large sign denoting the structure before them.

Suddenly Michael's intercom bursts to life "We think you may have a usable vehicle in cell block D Officer Faraway" Before Michael can even reply HQ cuts out and his ears go silent. "What the hell is going on?" He asks back to HQ, but once again, no reply. "You might just be right..." Michael says grimly glancing to Jess and then Toby... "Whatever is going on... We have a vehicle in cell block D... come on." Michael says briskly as he steps through the initial the doors of the prison and into whatever lays inside...



The woman stepped out of the car slightly disorientated. The turmoil of an escape drive back to James' hideout knocked her around a bit. While tough, she wasn't indestructible and she smashed her left hand under her bodyweight against the back of the drivers seat... For the moment, it was useless. The man before her was more than keen to say the least to meet her. He introduced himself eagerly and extended a hand, "“Hi. Names James… I’m glad we got you out of that mess.”

She looked him up and down. "Barely and adult" she mocked sighing quietly. She pushed past him to take in her surroundings, eyeing his makeshift safe house with fascination, silent admiration, although she'd never show it, and disgust at how messy it was in some places... Mostly her disgust was aimed at the blood stain on the concrete nearby where a few undead, lay dead, for good now, on the other side of a fence.

She turned around and looked him back up and down, "I've done worse..." she says shrugging coldly. "You can call me Sierra Suarez" she says curtly. "I suppose I owe you a thanks..." she adds further, "Sincerely too" she added. "What is this place?" She moves around the courtyard initially, taking it in, the somewhat collapsed tarp that hangs across it, "Nice set up you have here" she says in a thick accent which masks too much whether or not she was using sarcasm or sincerity. "How long have you been here for? Surely not five months?"

Sierra moves forward to a nearby door and peeks inside to the pottery room. "An art studio?" She pulls her head out and looks him up and down, "I should have guessed" she says nonchalantly, "I guess it's true what they say... anyone can surv-" Sierra is cut off suddenly as her earpiece buzzes to life, "Agent Suarez... repor.... upda...Alpha... Far..y.. Companions... Test phase... don't...ort...Stay put."

Sierra sighs heavily leaning against a wall, grooming herself by rubbing off the blackened tar that is undead blood from her clothes. "Whether you like it or not..James" she says with a pur, "I'm going to be your new flatmate for a while..." She smiles coyly at James and turns away stretching. "So are you going to give me a grand tour or what?"

“Barely an adult” she said with a sigh and walked past James. James stood there still with his hand out in shock and confusion. It took a moment for him to register the meaning behind her words. His mouth dropped for a moment realizing that she was implying something about him ‘not being old enough,’ then could only assume she thought he was hitting on her. To his knowledge he made no pass at her of any kind and was offended that she assumed otherwise. Then for a moment was he offended that he was shot down so quickly as well.

James dropped his hand to his side but his mouth remained slightly opened in awe and confusion of this woman who so far was all but polite to him. She looked and examined his fort as if to critique it rather than appreciate its safety. She gave a disgusted look to the bodies that lay just outside the gate and then turned to James saying “I’ve done worse…” Shrugging and with the thickest accent “You can call me Sierra Suarez.”

"I suppose I owe you a thanks..." she adds further, "Sincerely too" she added. James was glad to hear her thank you at least.

"What is this place?” she said then adding “Nice set up you have here… How long have you been here for? Surely not five months?"

“God… has it been that long” James said quietly and looked down to the ground with a sudden drop in his spirit. James lost track of the days in the early weeks of the outbreak and had since didn’t bother with keeping track.

“An art studio?” she claimed, then looked at James the same way she looked at his fortification and said “I should have guessed. I guess it's true what they say... anyone can surv-“ She was interrupted by someone in talking to her in what seemed to be an ear piece. James was curious as to whom she was listening to, but was more focused on her words said to him. He was baffled by how and why she judged him so harshly. Who did she expect to find out here? He was glad to be alive. Heck, even though she sounded cruel he still was glad she was alive. Why cant she just be glad they were both alive? James had forgotten how cruel people were, and was just in shock as to how that sort of behavior could survive in a world like this.

"Whether you like it or not... James" she says with a pur, "I'm going to be your new flatmate for a while..." He gave a small chuckle. It was almost funny how absurd she was.

She turned away from him and started stretching. "So are you going to give me a grand tour or what?"

He had no words… He lifted his hands up in a ‘what in the world’ sort of motion, but said nothing mouth still left slightly open… She was just inviting herself to stay. But James was hurt, possibly still bleeding from the back of his head, and he was tired. He wasn’t against having extra hands around to help out either. So he thought he would give her a few nights, at least so she could get on her feet again. But if she became more of a burden than a blessing, he would get rid of her somehow.

He grabbed a lantern and brought it with him. “There is no electricity or windows, and this place is pitch black at night.”

“Well…” He said with an irritated tone. “This is the cities collage. Particularly the Art building.” He pointed to the clay room and said shortly, “This is the clay room.” He walked into the door way of the studio room and said even shorter and more irritated sounding, “Studio room…”

He pointed to a mattress, and said “there’s where I sleep…” He paused for a moment. Even though she had been rude to him, her behavior had not shadowed his own innate generosity. So he said rather reluctantly “Your welcome to it.”

Pointing to the next door ahead he said, “That’s the sculpture room… my only rule here is don’t touch my things without asking…”

He looked rather annoyed at this point with how she acted and said “If your staying I need to trust you… Who was that you spoke too?”

As Simon drove, what appeared to be a box wrapped in newspapers crashed into his face. Simon did not crash, and swerved only very slightly for for the instant it took him to remove the box. He kept it under his arm after shaking the box to determine that the contents were not heavy, like some types of explosive. Simon thought of how it might still be an explosive: It was something that had to be concealed with newspapers, after all. If someone wanted to confuse him with whether he should throw the package away or not, it worked. Sort of. Simon kept it.

Simon followed the car to it's destination, avoiding any of the creatures along the way. The man who stepped out of the car with the latin-american woman locked the gate as he made his way to within it. Oh well. Simon was used to being locked out of people's homes. He stopped the motorcycle, the whir of the engine ceasing slowly. As he came to a stop, and parked the motorcycle by simply leaning it against the side of the building, Simon reached into his pocket for his trusty lockpick before realizing he did not have it., It was lost sometime he could not remember. The time had to do with last New Years', and a funny situation with zombies and fireworks. Simon smiled for the happy memory. Things like that kept him going, no matter how cold or rough life would be to him as he pursued more memories like that. You could only experience so many things while well-fed. Checking the contents of the box, Simon found what appeared to be a box of beef jerky. Neat. He had been wishing for food, and something that would expand in a stomach was good for traveling with. Why else would so many people have dried food in the past? And now, the world is, unfortunately, more primitive again. Long story short, Dried food is amazing. Simon looked up the gate, and decided to trespass a little.

Simon climbed the gate instead. Breaking the lock would not be something that would be beneficial to anyone at this moment. He landed as quietly as he could, out of old habits of stealthiness tempered by a need for sneakiness in his former occupation and times he used to play pranks on others. Pranking was a nice hobby. The two appeared to have left, the only sign Simon had that their exit inside was not a mirage, besides the lock, was that he had heard conversation. He didn't hear it very well, but no matter. Gazing at the handicraft of makeshift buildings reminded Simon he should not enter it. Rube Goldberg might have traps for him in there. Who knew what makeshift traps people would make? Simon didn't, and that is why he stayed out. Instead, he turned his attention to the pile of corpses in the exterior courtyard. Raising his knife, he decapitated each and every single one, just to be sure they were dead. It was a simple matter. Simon cleaned the blade using one of the disposable rags from his suitcase, and then searched each body. finding nothing substantial, and letting curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to enter the building. He waved his hand out from behind the first pathway curve, and called out into the building.

"Hello?! Anybody here? I was walking by, and think I could be of use, a little, sort of. I am a doctor, or could be, kind of...I have beef jerky!" Simon mentioned. Simon waited in the entrance, waiting to see if anyone would come.