Apocalypse: Branch Chapter Three
#3 of Apocalypse #1 Branch
Apocalypse: branch chapter three
I slowly opened my eyes. Looking around the darkened room I could see the others were still asleep. I noticed a faint flickering glow outside one of the window. I got up slowly and walked over to it stretching as I went. My jaw went slack when I looked outside.
A group of hundreds of zombies, mostly the shamblers but some of them were runners. I even saw a few of the larger, mutated zombies. A few of the zombies were actually on fire creating the glow I had seen. The creepiest thing about the situation was how quiet it was. I could barely hear them walking down the road. Normally they would be moaning or roaring.
They were simply walking down the street, wandering as a group. I almost shit my pants when I heard Pyro yamn and say "What's goin' on?" loudly.
I looked down at the crowd of zombies in horror. Several of them had heard him and were heading into the lower level of the building.
"FUCK! We need to get up to the room now."
I grabbed Jens half sleeping form and things dragging them toward the door. Pyro was already out in the hallway waiting for the zombies to find their way upstairs. We heard a loud screech and several gunshots as we finally got to the roof. Seconds later Pyro came sprinting through the door yelling.
"GET DOWN!" as an explosion rocked the building.
"Fuck man what was that?"
"M-67, one of those big fuckers came in." He said shrugging.
I crawled over to the edge and looked down at the entrance. The zombies were pushing into the building as fast as they could.
"Shit, their coming."
"How many?"
"You don't want to know."
We checked our wags and took cover taking aim at the door. As three zombies shambled through the door their heads exploded and their bodies fell backward down the stairs limply. Soon there was a steady stream of them flowing onto the roof and the bodies were mounting up fast.
"Hey Jen will look for a way to get out of here?"
She got up and looked around the edges of the roof and the surrounding buildings.
"Looks like we can either jump roof to roof and try to get away or we can climb some pipes down the back and take the jeep." She said.
"I vote for the jeep." Pyro cut in.
"Alright Jen you go first I'll go second and since your big yep got us into this mess you can go last Pyro."
"Fine I got this anyway just go I'm running low on ammo."
Jen ran over to the edge of the roof and swung over sliding down to the ground silently. Pyro came over and crouched next to me.
"Your turn big guy, lets go."
I swung myself over the edge hanging onto the pipes as tight as I could. I slowly slid down to the ground and threw a rock up at pyro to tell him to come on. He didn't come down at first. We were starting to worry when we saw him climb over the edge and slide down.
" We need to go now!"
We climbed into the jeep and I floored it heading out of town as fast as I could. As I looked in the mirror I saw a large explosion destroy the building be had been in.
"Did you do that?" Jen asked.
" Ya, I figured why not take a few of em out while we were there."
"Next time save it. We might have need those explosives down the road."
I pulled off the road after awhile and cut the engine.
"lets sleep in shifts. Ill take the first one." I said.
"Ill take the second." Jen offered.
"Well I guess that leaves that last one to me." Pyro said.
They fell asleep quickly. I knew I wasn't going to sleep that night so I decided not to wake them when their turn for watch rolled around. I started up the engine at dawn and started driving west.
"I guess we wont be safe anywhere." I thought aloud.
The others didn't wake up till around noon.
"I don't know about you guys I'm starving." Pyro said.
"Well then I guess we should go looting and find some." Jen said.
"I like the way you think." He replied chuckling.
"There should be something in the town." I commented.
We drove into the lot of the Wal-Mart superstore. I had never seen one so deserted before. All the cars were gone and the carts had all been put away.
"So what's the plan?" Jen asked.
"We should stick together till we find some flashlights, there's usually some by the checkouts. Then we split up and grab what we need and get out as fast as we can. I don't like wandering around in dark deserted stores."
"I agree lets make this quick." Pyro said.
I backed the jeep up to the front doors and we piled out heading inside. We managed to find some LED flashlights pretty fast.
"I'll head over to sporting goods and see if there's anything we can use. You guys should grab carts and fill 'em with drinks and canned goods." I said.
"I call cans!" Jen shouted happily.
"Damnit, I always wanted to scoop the cans into the cart." Pyro said.
"Hey Pyro grab me some IBC and don't forget plenty of water." I said.
He saluted me before turning around and heading off into the darkness with Jen. I walked over to the sporting goods area grabbing an empty cart along the way. I waved my light over the shelves searching for anything worth the weight. My eyes came to rest on a laser sight with a barrel mount right next to several red dot scopes.
They weren't top of the line but they would work. I grabbed three of each and kept looking. As I walked along the handgun case I spotted a 9mm glock.
"Well that could be useful." I said searching for more behind the counter. I grabbed two of them and twelve extra mags. I started browsing through the stacks of ammo. Only finding hollow points I dumped the entire stack into the cart.
I decided to go ahead and load one of them and slid into the waistband of my pant. As I turned to leave I heard a low growl from behind me. I slowly turned back around and saw a large pitbull standing there looking at me like a fat guy looks at cake.
I brought my rifle up and took aim wondering why he wasn't attacking me. He was obviously a zombie, there was a large bite shaped piece of his neck missing. I was hit from the side right as squeezed trigger. The round went wild missing the pitbull completely. I grabbed my new glock and put it under my attackers chin.
"DON'T SHOOT! Oh god please don't shoot." The small collie cried. "He cant hurt you his leg is chained to the back wall."
"Who are you and why shouldn't I shoot your pet over there?"
"I'm Nicole and He is my older brother Brad not my pet."
"Oh fuck. Look I'm sorry but he's not your brother anymore we need to put him out of his misery."
"No, please no. I'll do anything if you don't kill him."
"Fine I wont. How long have you been here anyway?"
"Since the hoard came through, infected everyone, and left."
"Have you ever shot a gun before?"
She blushed some in the faint light. "N...no......He always protected me."
"You should come with us. We can protect you and your brother will be safe here by himself.
She nodded sadly and got up. I went back and grabbed two more glocks and the rest of the mags. I led her to the jeep where Jen and Pyro were so busy loading the food into the jeep they didn't even notice nicole.
"Hey guys meet Nicole my new friend, and the newest member of our little group." I said getting their attention.
Jen and Pyro introduced themselves and we all finished loading the jeep. I handed everyone a glock and six spare mags. Hopped into the drivers seat and headed to a motel I had seen on our way into town. We decided to stay there for the night.
I kicked in the door to office scanning the room. I headed behind the counter and managed to find the keys to a room with two beds and a fold out. We took in enough supplies for the night and barricaded the door and windows. Me and Jen climbed into the first bed while Pyro hopped into the second.
Nicole walked over to Pyro blushing heavily and asked. " C c can I.... maybe.....uh.....sleep with you?"
"Feeling a little frisky?" He joked
Her blush deepened. "N no it's......It's just that im too scared to sleep alone anymore."
Pyro's muzzle lowered and his tail drooped. "I'm sorry. Of course its okay and you don't have to worry, I wont try anything."
She slowly climbed onto the bed and curled up against him. I smiled at Jen before relaxing and falling asleep.