Chapter 6 - Saviour

The trio walked forward cautiously, watching their movement with alarming dedication. They soon came to a barricade made up of several cars, smashed together and on fire, blocking their way. The heat and light of the crimson flames illuminated Mandew’s face; even with the trails of sweat beginning to form, his expression remained determined despite the fear he felt. Wild noticed, impressed. He then looked at MasterGodzilla. The large man had none of the understandable caution that Mandew had, sporting a large, cocky grin. WG sighed. MasterGodzilla didn’t care about saving the baby – he just wanted to bust some heads.

“How did this kind of accident happen? Cars are spilled all over the sidewalk and road perpendicular to the street’s direction...” Mandew wondered out loud.

MG pointed to the right side of the street. “There’s a gap there with no cars. Let’s go.” He strutted out in front of the others, playing the role of leader. Mandew was focused on the distant cries of the child, and Wild considered the group’s strategic placement. If MG wanted to go up ahead, fine. He would be the one to deal with the zombies first, giving WG more time to react and survive. The trio walked through the space in between the wreckage, which was large enough for two people to go through at once. Careful not to cut themselves on the twisted metal of the destroyed cars, they continued to journey up the street.

Suddenly, MG thrust out his hand, palm facing towards the rest. “They’re near,” he said in a sly, yet energetic voice. Wild tried to focus his senses, but the background wails of the baby and the pulsing sound of the nearby flames proved to be too distracting. Mandew realized that to their right was an alleyway. Whispering “MG,” to get his attention, he motioned towards the mysterious path.

The bearded man’s grin extended to the tips of cheeks as he readied his bat. As if on cue, a zombie stumbled out. Wild’s eyes opened in surprise. It was Zombiefood. Stumbling towards MasterGodzilla, it raised its hands out in order to strike.

“Not today, chump!” MG shot out, slamming his bat into Zombiefood’s knee, shattering the alignment as the bone violently jutted out through his calf. The resulting screams were ear deafening, vividly reminding WG and Dew how human they once were – and still are. MasterGodzilla didn’t care, though. That kind of sympathy wouldn’t affect him, not on the field of battle. Raising the bat over his head like a weapon of judgment, it cracked into Zombiefood’s head violently, forcing blood to explode everywhere. It leaked out of his cranium like a broken valve, asymmetrically spreading out along the grey pavement and giving it a rose-coloured sheen.

Mandew was stunned by the brutality that had just occurred. Wild drew back his iron pole, screaming at the teenager.

“Duck!” Instinctively, Mandew hit the floor after seeing the pole stabbing in his direction. The blunt metal hit a female zombie between the eyes; its weight throwing her to the floor and leaving her slightly stunned. Her left arm connected the floor first, bending behind her back inhumanly. Looking over his shoulder, Wild saw MG catching another creature with a fierce under swing of the bat, sending it sailing through the air as if it were a rag doll. That particular undead seemed familiar. Was it Hypersonic...? No, it wasn’t; it was just a random citizen. They all looked so similar that it was hard to tell them apart at night.

Regardless, more zombies began to approach. Staying in such an enclosed area would be fatal if they were to be surrounded. “Let’s move!” MG shouted as he ran away from the alley and continued up the street. WildGamer and Mandew wasted no time following as they created distance between themselves and the no longer human.

The crying became distinctively louder. “We’re getting close,” the cook announced. “Check all of the nearby cars.”

MasterGodzilla barely registered the request. Running over to a sports car, he grinned as a zombie stalked him from the other side. There was obviously no baby inside it - the car was open - but that wasn’t MG’s standing objective. The undead crept around the red machine, stalking its prey, snarling to indicate hunger. It had a disgusting smell and old, ripped clothes; most likely a homeless man before he died. MasterGodzilla watched the corner of the car, estimating how fast it’d turn the corner. “Come and get it, you rotting sack of flesh...”

“Stop fooling around, MG! We have to find the baby!” Mandew shouted to his daredevil friend. MasterGodzilla’s attention was slightly directed towards the former survivor, giving the zombie a chance to strike. It leapt over the car, grabbing him by the neck and forcing him to the ground. MG miscalculated – it was a more vicious, running zombie. Struggling to pry the cold, dead hands – wait, they were warm...why? It should be dead, so why would it have a warm body? MasterGodzilla chastised himself for letting his mind wander. Desperate for air, he swung the bat in a body blow. It hit its mark, but didn’t throw off the zombie. With the creature on top of him and only one hand on the weapon, his attacks just weren’t powerful enough. His vision began to cloud as the hobo opened his jaws, rotten breath and saliva dripping from the orifice.

Suddenly, an iron bar indented itself into the zombie’s forehead, throwing him off MG and against the back car door. The crimson taint of blood stained the bright red car. WildGamer gripped his weapon even harder and attacked again, caving in the victim’s skull.

“I’m not saving you again. Stick to finding the kid, and stop fooling around,” WildGamer muttered as he helped his friend on his feet.

MasterGodzilla gave Wild an annoyed look, irritated at his saviour. “Thanks,” he reluctantly replied after a moment of silence.

“No problem,” WG responded. “I always wanted to do that to Vilo.”

“Guys!” Mandew alerted from the end of the street. “I found it!” He was beside a green SUV, slammed into a fire hydrant. The driver’s door was open with the partially-eaten and now malformed woman hanging out of the seat. The scene of a mother who died trying to defend her child sealed itself into Mandew’s head. He chose to go around to the passenger door instead, unable to bear the sight of LostTriforce’s remains.

Wild and MG came to the scene, careful not to be ambushed by any other hordes. “Cover me while I get the baby out,” Mandew said. He opened up the passenger door and took a look inside. There he was: in the back seat, a baby boy crying his heart out. He struggled constantly against his booster seat. Mandew gave a heart-warming smile as he moved himself into the back. Leaning his shovel against the car seat, and removing his gloves, he started to undo the various belts that held the child down.

“It’s okay, you’re going to be all right...” he whispered softly to quell the baby’s tears. It managed to quiet him for a few seconds before the wailing resumed.

“I’m going to get you out of here...” Dew continued, speaking more to himself than to the child.

WildGamer glanced at MG. “We can’t go back the way we came,” he noted, seeing the growing number of zombies coming from that direction. “And it looks like we can’t go up the street into the next intersection, either. More of them are gathering.”

MasterGodzilla tapped his red-stained bat on the floor. “It seems so,” he agreed, watching a few more infected slowly creep their way towards the SUV. “They’re attracted to the crying.” Smiling, he rushed towards the closest group, WG following closely.

The gamer thought to himself, as he lunged towards the enemy. ‘Let’s pray that Mandew gets that baby out quickly...’

Mandew never turned around so quickly in his life. An ear splitting screech behind him forced him to make a quick 180, as LostTriforce’s corpse began to move. He didn’t think that she could still function after being so horribly disfigured, but this whole night had been one of disbelief. Frozen with fear, what once was a mother grabbed onto his wrists, trying to force her mutilated body onto him. Her grip was strong and Mandew couldn’t manage to throw her off...

WildGamer ducked under a zombie’s lunge, stabbing his iron bar straight through the stomach of his victim. Just as quickly, he pulled it out and aimed for the head, throwing it off balance. There were too many to keep track of, though, allowing one to get its hands on WG’s forearm. MG came to the rescue with a well executed hook towards the creature’s face.

“Thanks,” was the immediate response. Wild looked around. If it dragged on any longer, they’d soon be surrounded. Time was running out.

MasterGodzilla wasn’t smiling.

The zombie edged herself closer to the boxed-in Dew. This was it...he was going to get eaten alive...

The baby cried extremely hard, his screams piercing Mandew’s mind and snapping him to his senses. He struggled much harder, bringing his hands together. He clasped them and pulled, ripping them from LostTriforce’s grip and falling backwards onto the backseat. He saw his shovel out of the corner of his eye and grabbed it with surprising speed. The zombie struggled to get up with her decayed body, stuck between the middle seats of the car. Mandew drew back his shovel and stabbed her, the sharp end running through her skull. The relatively new garden tool ripped into her cranium as the stainless steel became coated in blood and brain matter. LostTriforce’s body slumped down; Dew pushed the body over to the side with the gardening tool reluctantly. Hearing an increasing amount of groans outside, he immediately returned to freeing the baby. They had to get out as soon as possible.

MG and Wild stuck to each other back to back, weapons held up. The lumbering zombies began to close off the distance between them.

“A gap between the zombies on your right, WildG,” MasterGodzilla said quickly. “The third and fourth ones.”

“Okay,” the teen simply replied. “Wait for it...”

The hoard moved in slightly closer.

MasterGodzilla instantly swerved around, unleashing a devastating upwards swing to catch a zombie in his chin. WildGamer followed up, taking out the one beside him with a harsh hook. With two of the zombies down, a large opening became available. The duo ran as fast as possible, knowing that anything but would get them killed.

“Mandew!” WildGamer shouted. “We have to go!”

Mandew rushed out of the trashed SUV, a bundle tucked safely between his arms. “I got the baby,” he said. “Let’s make a run for it!” The infant’s tears had long since dried out, and he innocently laughed under the sheets that cradled him.

They began to run back the way they came, in order to quickly get into the car and escape. They could see a couple of wandering zombies near the gap that they originally used, but the teens knew that they wouldn’t be a hassle. More and more zombies began to congregate in the area, lured by both the previous cries of the baby and by the whole commotion that the survivors had caused. It was getting extremely dangerous, but as long as they could get back to the car through that gap, they’d be fine.

Hungering roars began to rip through the streets. Mandew and the others hadn’t a moment to think before a pack of infected – a group of five - burst through the alleyway near the same gap and made a dash for their prey. The same one that Zombiefood had first come through. The lone zombies that littered the pathway - the same ones that WildGamer and MG considered going through – were violently shoved aside by the running undead that quickly closed the gap between them.

“RUN!” MG surprisingly said as he turned heel and moved even faster than he did before. Even he knew when he was outmatched.

Couldn’t go up the street, because there were too many destroyed cars and a growing number of infected. Couldn’t go back, or their flesh would be a great meal for the running zombies. The sides had a number of alleys, but they could be a dead end...

They had to take a chance. “Over there!” Mandew shouted as he pointed towards the nearest one, clear of any undead.

They turned rigidly, ignoring their tiring bodies that craved rest. The adrenaline that pumped through their veins made them forget everything that wouldn’t let them survive. Wild didn’t want to look back, but he had to know the distance between them and the formerly human. He took a quick peek, realizing that they were faster, and put even more energy into running. It almost felt like they were Olympic athletes, putting every breath and every bit of effort into making the goal.

They were stopped by an eight-foot fence.

MG gasped for breath “FU-“

“Just keep moving!” WG screamed, jumping onto the chain linked barrier and climbing for his life. MG followed, but the narrow alley only allowed two to climb. Mandew gritted his teeth as he heard the footsteps behind him grow louder and more numerous. Unlike WG, he didn’t dare to look back. Once MG crossed over, he simply dropped down to the floor, but Wild climbed all the way down on the other side.

“Toss the baby over!” Wild suggested in the heat of the moment.

Mandew gave him a look that couldn’t believe the suggestion, let alone the notion of tossing an infant.

“Are you crazy?!?” he screamed. “What if you don’t catch him?”

WildGamer almost considered adding sarcasm to his rebuttal. “You don’t have any other options! Throw him or you both die!”

Louder footsteps. Mandew lifted the baby over his head and tossed. MG caught him, causing the child to giggle uncontrollably at the exciting game. Dew jumped on the fence for his life. He climbed like a madman, but a running zombie got to the dead end early and managed to grip his ankle. WG wasted no time, stabbing his pole through the mesh to target it straight inside the dead man’s mouth. Choking on it, the creature fell back as WG pulled back the bar. But the sudden release of Mandew’s leg had the teen sway over suddenly; he fell over the other side, WG barely managing to break his fall by throwing his body in the way. In response to the missed meal, the pinkish zombies violently thrashed against the fence, but the bolts were sturdy and held it strong. Mandew forced himself up and shook Wild to help the man regain his senses.

MasterGodzilla thrust back the baby upon Mandew. “He’s your problem,” he quickly explained, earning a dirty look from the cook. They started running down the alleyway once more, slightly more sluggish from the weaning adrenaline and thought of being safe.

“They’re too dumb to get past it,” Dew said in between breaths, the thought almost bringing a smile to his face. He looked back at his pursuers.

Wrong.

They began to scale the fence. Mandew never knew that his eyes could open up that wide.

But grace came to the survivors in the form of selfishness. The narrow alley only allowed two people to climb the fence at once, and all of the pack wanted to go at the same time. They pulled each other off in an attempt to go first, and draw first blood from the humans. The intelligence that could’ve allowed them to capture the still-living was overshadowed by their own gluttony.

Almost at the end of the alley, the group’s running slowed into a tired walk. Energy spent, and knowing that they were safe, they moved much slower in order to take in some oxygen.

“We’re alive,” WildGamer said at last. “I don’t know how, but we are...”

An ear-deafening howl split the air the moment those words parted from his lips, as if in some kind of cruel irony. The rabid undead against the fence stopped in their tracks.

It wasn’t over yet.

Previous | Next