[Posted by Ted H]
Cold, officially over.
Inventory season, officially over.
Think it'sabiout time I started writing again...
Inventory season, officially over.
Think it'sabiout time I started writing again...
-------------------------------------------------------------
[Race for Safe Haven - Another Bar]
They weaved through alleys and cut across
streets whenever it was clear. If anything dead saw them, it was too far behind
to catch up to them and would lose them in their serpentine path through the
streets. There were time where Rhett felt like they were traveling in circles,
but didn't speak up about it. Either Jason knew where he was going and Rhett
would speak up and possibly draw unwanted attention for nothing, or Jason
didn't know where he was going and Rhett would speak up and draw unwanted
attention while the group was lost. Either scenario didn't appease Rhett, so he
kept his mouth shut and decided to just deal with the situation he was in.
At one point, Rhett could tell they were going in circles. Jason seemed to be taking them passed the same point over and over. Eventually, they made it back to the same spot and Jason stopped, allowing Laura and Rhett to catch up to him. "Problem?" Rhett asked and Jason nodded. "At the other side of this block is where we need to go," he said "But the dead are everywhere. No way I can sneak us around them all."
"Just distract them," Rhett said "Throw a bottle or something."
"We tried that before," Jason said "Doesn't work that well. Sure, some of them will follow the sound, but too many will linger around and make it impossible for us to get through unnoticed."
"I pied-pipered these fucks once already," Rhett said.
"Yeah, with a gun," Laura mocked.
"Then that's what I'll do," Rhett said as he made up his mind.
"What are you...wait, what?" Jason said.
"I pop a couple rounds off, run like hell, give you guys an opening."
"That's suicide," Jason said while Laura made no effort to dissuade Rhett.
"Where are you trying to get?" Rhett asked.
"There's a bar on the other block," Jason said "But I don't think the front windows or doors were reinforced enough to repel a siege of the dead that you'll have tailing you. Even if we get through, there's no way you can just show up with that many on your tail."
"I don't see a problem here," Laura said as Rhett made a face and thought. "There's gotta be a back door," he said "A shipping entrance or something. That could withstand a hoard."
"But they'll still follow you to the bar, They'll still get in," Laura complained.
"They're not smart enough to go around to the front," Rhett said "They follow me to a door, then that's all they'll try to follow me through."
"I'm not even sure there is a back way in," Jason said.
"Either that, or we wait out here all exposed and get discovered eventually anyway. You're call."
Jason didn't like the idea, but he couldn't think of any better plans either. Reluctantly, he nodded. "Don't move until the coast is entirely clear," Rhett said as he walked out towards the open street "And make sure someone's at that back door when I arrive."
"IF there is a back door," Jason reminded him.
"Yeah...if."
Rhett's instincts were at defcon 1. He hated this plan, and figured now would be as good a time as any to get the hell out of there and try to find his car again. The gas station might have cleared out by now and he might now be able to gas up in peace. He wouldn't lose sleep over abandoning Laura, and the world probably wasn't losing a valuable asset if Jason died, but he ultimately couldn't allow himself to leave those two hanging like that. And the prospect of hooking up with other survivors wasn't that bad of an idea. They were all undoubtedly heading for the same place anyway.
"I gotta stop being nice," Rhett said to himself as he took off running for the dead. A few noticed him right away and gave off excited moans as they shuffled to meet him. Rhett then turned and started running parallel to the hoard as he tried to get the attention of as many as possible. Once at the corner of the street, he turned back, took aim at the closest approaching ghoul and pulled the trigger.
The shot echoed like the one at the gas station as the nearest zombie crumpled to the ground, a bullet hole in its forehead. Anything nearby turned towards the sound as Rhett began sprinting down the next street. Keeping ahead of the dead behind him wasn't going to be a problem, but now everything up ahead of him was aware of him, and looking to cut him off for a meal.
At the end of the block, Rhett looked down to see the bar in question. "Can't believe I'm trying to get into yet another fucking bar," he said to himself as he started running down the next block instead of heading for the bar. At the next corner, he would turn and try to circle to the rear of the bar. Getting there would prove to be an issue since space was becoming limited from the dead closing in on all sides.
One zombie ventured too close in Rhett's way for comfort. He risked another shot as he raised his weapon as he ran and shot at almost point blank. The zombie kicked its head back as it fell over. If anything nearby wasn't aware of Rhett, it was after that gunshot. He cut over a sidewalk as he reached the next corner and turned.
A row of buildings attached to each other dominated the right side of Rhett's vision as he desperately scanned the area for an alley entrance. A wall to wall mass of the dead was approaching up ahead as Rhett spotted an entrance to a side alley he was looking for. He pushed himself harder as he tried to reach the alley before the mob overtook it.
He turned down the entrance with the dead right on his tail. He counted down the distance to where the bar would be and where the back door should be. "Oh fuck!" he yelled as he noticed a chain link fence blocking his path right where the bar's back door was. The alley way for the bar was on the opposite end of the block and already flooded with zombies.
A couple trashcans were sitting next to the fence. Rhett jumped on to one of them and used it as a boost. He leapt and grabbed the top of the fence. The dead were catching up to him as he heard the moans, making him barely hear the sound of the fence rattling as he dug his feet into the gaps and climbed. Zombies on the other end of the alley took notice and started making their way to meet Rhett.
As he reached one leg over the top, the mob reached the fence and started to thrash at it, attempting to go through it or just bring it down. The entire thing shook as Rhett struggled to get over and ended up falling backwards. His head bounced off the pavement as he landed, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut and grab for the back of his head. The pain drowned out all noise save for a ringing in his ears and all he wanted to do was go to sleep until the pain subsided.
Instead, Rhett attempted to crawl away. The fence wouldn't be able to hold back the dead and more and more were piling onto it. He noticed a top corner giving way as the fence began to collapse. An attempt to get on his feet only ended with Rhett falling back onto his ass. He reached for his gun and kept it aiming as he crawled backwards away from the collapsing fence. Metal clattered to the ground as the fence stood no longer, the dead no longer hindered on their quest.
There weren't enough bullets in the world to hold them back as Rhett stopped crawling and sat with his gun aimed. He couldn't decide which one to shoot, and even if her could he wouldn't be able to land a shot with his vision wavering. He briefly considered just putting one in his brain or at least shoot randomly to ensure these things would have to earn their meal a little more.
Just then, the closest zombie fell over and Rhett felt hands grabbing him. His first instinct was the dead from behind had reached him, but instead of biting, Rhett felt himself get dragged along the alley as more zombies in his view were falling over. He could make out popping sounds as he was being pulled passed a figure aiming a gun and into a building. The stark contrast in lighting made it impossible for him to make out anything except the rectangle of light leading to the outside. The figure from before entered and Rhett felt himself being released. As the door was closing and Rhett's view plunged into darkness, he felt himself drifting to sleep, a confident sense of safety washing over him. Even if the people he was with now meant him ill, at least they weren't going to eat him.
At one point, Rhett could tell they were going in circles. Jason seemed to be taking them passed the same point over and over. Eventually, they made it back to the same spot and Jason stopped, allowing Laura and Rhett to catch up to him. "Problem?" Rhett asked and Jason nodded. "At the other side of this block is where we need to go," he said "But the dead are everywhere. No way I can sneak us around them all."
"Just distract them," Rhett said "Throw a bottle or something."
"We tried that before," Jason said "Doesn't work that well. Sure, some of them will follow the sound, but too many will linger around and make it impossible for us to get through unnoticed."
"I pied-pipered these fucks once already," Rhett said.
"Yeah, with a gun," Laura mocked.
"Then that's what I'll do," Rhett said as he made up his mind.
"What are you...wait, what?" Jason said.
"I pop a couple rounds off, run like hell, give you guys an opening."
"That's suicide," Jason said while Laura made no effort to dissuade Rhett.
"Where are you trying to get?" Rhett asked.
"There's a bar on the other block," Jason said "But I don't think the front windows or doors were reinforced enough to repel a siege of the dead that you'll have tailing you. Even if we get through, there's no way you can just show up with that many on your tail."
"I don't see a problem here," Laura said as Rhett made a face and thought. "There's gotta be a back door," he said "A shipping entrance or something. That could withstand a hoard."
"But they'll still follow you to the bar, They'll still get in," Laura complained.
"They're not smart enough to go around to the front," Rhett said "They follow me to a door, then that's all they'll try to follow me through."
"I'm not even sure there is a back way in," Jason said.
"Either that, or we wait out here all exposed and get discovered eventually anyway. You're call."
Jason didn't like the idea, but he couldn't think of any better plans either. Reluctantly, he nodded. "Don't move until the coast is entirely clear," Rhett said as he walked out towards the open street "And make sure someone's at that back door when I arrive."
"IF there is a back door," Jason reminded him.
"Yeah...if."
Rhett's instincts were at defcon 1. He hated this plan, and figured now would be as good a time as any to get the hell out of there and try to find his car again. The gas station might have cleared out by now and he might now be able to gas up in peace. He wouldn't lose sleep over abandoning Laura, and the world probably wasn't losing a valuable asset if Jason died, but he ultimately couldn't allow himself to leave those two hanging like that. And the prospect of hooking up with other survivors wasn't that bad of an idea. They were all undoubtedly heading for the same place anyway.
"I gotta stop being nice," Rhett said to himself as he took off running for the dead. A few noticed him right away and gave off excited moans as they shuffled to meet him. Rhett then turned and started running parallel to the hoard as he tried to get the attention of as many as possible. Once at the corner of the street, he turned back, took aim at the closest approaching ghoul and pulled the trigger.
The shot echoed like the one at the gas station as the nearest zombie crumpled to the ground, a bullet hole in its forehead. Anything nearby turned towards the sound as Rhett began sprinting down the next street. Keeping ahead of the dead behind him wasn't going to be a problem, but now everything up ahead of him was aware of him, and looking to cut him off for a meal.
At the end of the block, Rhett looked down to see the bar in question. "Can't believe I'm trying to get into yet another fucking bar," he said to himself as he started running down the next block instead of heading for the bar. At the next corner, he would turn and try to circle to the rear of the bar. Getting there would prove to be an issue since space was becoming limited from the dead closing in on all sides.
One zombie ventured too close in Rhett's way for comfort. He risked another shot as he raised his weapon as he ran and shot at almost point blank. The zombie kicked its head back as it fell over. If anything nearby wasn't aware of Rhett, it was after that gunshot. He cut over a sidewalk as he reached the next corner and turned.
A row of buildings attached to each other dominated the right side of Rhett's vision as he desperately scanned the area for an alley entrance. A wall to wall mass of the dead was approaching up ahead as Rhett spotted an entrance to a side alley he was looking for. He pushed himself harder as he tried to reach the alley before the mob overtook it.
He turned down the entrance with the dead right on his tail. He counted down the distance to where the bar would be and where the back door should be. "Oh fuck!" he yelled as he noticed a chain link fence blocking his path right where the bar's back door was. The alley way for the bar was on the opposite end of the block and already flooded with zombies.
A couple trashcans were sitting next to the fence. Rhett jumped on to one of them and used it as a boost. He leapt and grabbed the top of the fence. The dead were catching up to him as he heard the moans, making him barely hear the sound of the fence rattling as he dug his feet into the gaps and climbed. Zombies on the other end of the alley took notice and started making their way to meet Rhett.
As he reached one leg over the top, the mob reached the fence and started to thrash at it, attempting to go through it or just bring it down. The entire thing shook as Rhett struggled to get over and ended up falling backwards. His head bounced off the pavement as he landed, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut and grab for the back of his head. The pain drowned out all noise save for a ringing in his ears and all he wanted to do was go to sleep until the pain subsided.
Instead, Rhett attempted to crawl away. The fence wouldn't be able to hold back the dead and more and more were piling onto it. He noticed a top corner giving way as the fence began to collapse. An attempt to get on his feet only ended with Rhett falling back onto his ass. He reached for his gun and kept it aiming as he crawled backwards away from the collapsing fence. Metal clattered to the ground as the fence stood no longer, the dead no longer hindered on their quest.
There weren't enough bullets in the world to hold them back as Rhett stopped crawling and sat with his gun aimed. He couldn't decide which one to shoot, and even if her could he wouldn't be able to land a shot with his vision wavering. He briefly considered just putting one in his brain or at least shoot randomly to ensure these things would have to earn their meal a little more.
Just then, the closest zombie fell over and Rhett felt hands grabbing him. His first instinct was the dead from behind had reached him, but instead of biting, Rhett felt himself get dragged along the alley as more zombies in his view were falling over. He could make out popping sounds as he was being pulled passed a figure aiming a gun and into a building. The stark contrast in lighting made it impossible for him to make out anything except the rectangle of light leading to the outside. The figure from before entered and Rhett felt himself being released. As the door was closing and Rhett's view plunged into darkness, he felt himself drifting to sleep, a confident sense of safety washing over him. Even if the people he was with now meant him ill, at least they weren't going to eat him.
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