Fantasy When Darkness Comes.

[Mason]

Trent stumbled out of the grocery store holding a sizeable gash in his leg. He had thought he'd cleared out the store and had started looting. Clearly he'd missed one because it had almost killed him. He had heard it and dodged to the side at the last second. In his haste he had tried to escape through the broken front window and while he succeeded it had left him with a jagged four inch long gash along his right leg. Removing his hand Trent assessed the damage. Groaning he took off his belt tying a tourniquet above the wound. The store was two blocks away from his safe house and Trent began to hobble home a few drops of blood trailing him.

 

[SuperChocoMilk]

"Name's Carter, that's James over there. And yeah, I was with law enforcement, hence the suit. Before that, I stole cars though." POW POW POW!!! Carter shot a couple shells through some more brains. "Anything to make a living, y'now?" Once they came up on a ladder leading up, Carter motioned towards the top. "Up we go!" He grabbed onto the ladder and began to pull himself up. Finally, he pushed open the manhole, and here they were. The outside world. Carter stepped out and surveyed the land. There didn't look to be anything around. He turned back around. "You guys coming?" He held his glove out to James.

 

[The J]

James took Carter's hand, and hoisted himself up.


He then grabbed the manhole cover, and slammed it on the head of Cotton.


"Stay there and die, you pile of ****" He said with disgust at Cotton.


He then moved a dumpster on top of the manhole, to keep the bastards down there.

 

[Mason]

The single story brick building stood alone on a street filled with burnt husks of former homes. It had been some sort of improvised lock shop before Trent had found it know it stood among the wreckage of the street like a lonely watch tower. Trent had set fire to all the houses in a two block radius of his safe house in the former residential area. After the he had fortified the area with traps mainly snares and pitfalls thought there were two IED's. surrounding the building was a wall of cars all of which no longer had any wheels and had been stripped of anything valuable. Trent had been living in the spot for a year the numerous bullet holes and blood stains scattered throughout the area where proof of that. Trent avoided the traps and made his way to the building. He unlocked the front door with a trembling blood soaked hand before pushing the heavy metal door in. The safe house had windows at one point all of them now replaced with an combination of metal bars and sheet metal which had been welded into place. The hose had three rooms a living room a bathroom and a bedroom. Trent closed the door and locked it quickly. Then he dropped a big metal bar into place, satisfied it would hold he focused on his wound. The gash was deep and Trent groaned no longer having the adrenaline to keep the pain at bay. Going to the kitchen he snatched a small bottle of vodka he'd found at a hotel. His vision danced as he cleaned the wound with the alcohol. As he finished it up he decided the wound wasn't to deep but it needed to be closed. He grabbed the round he'd found earlier as well as the lighter. He also grabbed a pliers. He ripped off the bullet with the pliers leaving the shell as well as primer and powder. He almost backed out as he dispensed the powder all over the wound. Trent flicked the lighter and was relived to see a small flame appear. All things considered he'd made out good he thought to himself. Four bottles of water and ten cans of food was a great find. Trying to convince himself the run had been worth it he shoved the small flame of the lighter into his wound. His leg flashed, and his vision faded.

 

[GrieveWriter]

Cotton flinched as the Manhole cover was forced into the space above him. He pouted a bit before sliding back down the ladder to Elroy, who was beating several zombies into submission using the body of another zombie.


"Where little men?" Elroy asked as he swung the body into another man.


"Ditched us." Cotton pouted


Elroy snarled and looked at the room they were in. For the record there were only a dozen zombies in there, but the horde they had attracted while running through the sewers was slowly pouring through the open double-doors into the wide,open room. Cotton let his eyes scan over the room before finding it, another maintenance door halfway along the room's left wall.


"Elroy, please take care of the dead ones over there for me."


Elroy nodded as Cotton pointed towards the door, which had several of the zombies walking past it.


Elroy swung his mace into the first one before kicking it back into the one behind it as two more rounded from the left and right. Elroy swung his mace into the right one's skull as he jammed two fingers into the left one's throat and tore its lower jaw off.


The left one stumbled past Elroy as Cotton snuck over to the maintenance door. He pulled it open


and a zombie's maw dived towards him from within, Cotton slipped his revolver in between them and blew off its head before throwing the door open.


Elroy pushed another zombie into the crowd with his mace before charging into the maintenance door and letting Cotton close it behind them.


They were now in a long maintenance tunnel that seemed to go deeper into the city. The tunnel's only other occupant was a limbless zombie who was rolling on the floor in a nearby corner.


"Little men betray us." Elroy growled as he walked to the zombie and put his foot on its head. They must be destroyed for their insolence!


"Well it was expected" Cotton sighed "Just wish they'd have let me tell them exactly why I tortured those monsters specifically."


Elroy sunk his foot into the zombie's skull.


"Well, we continue as planned." Cotton said before starting off down the tunnel "Who knows, maybe we'll see them again someday."

 

[SuperChocoMilk]

"Woah, hey. I understand you were angry at him, but still. What the **** was that?" Carter walked up to the dumpster, and tried to listen for any huma- civilized being talking. If there was anything still alive, it was hard to hear over all the screeching. "Damn." Carter turned back around to James. "Look, I mean, you did the right thing from a Good vs. Evil point of view. But...everyone has a chance for redemption, right?" Carter thought back to the times he had stolen cars from people, then ended up serving in the police force.

 

[The J]

"No. He's bloody scum, and he's earned it. Those vampires he kept in cages... he as injecting them with something, and they were all covered in their own ****, and bone thin. He doesn't deserve a second ******* chance. And this dumpster's too heavy for you to move."

 

[SuperChocoMilk]

"Fine then. I can't argue with you. Let's just head back." Carter began to solemnly walk back,and hoped James would follow. Was he the only person who still had their humanity?

 

[The J]

"You think I'm not human, don't you? Because of the way I am. Because I'm a vampire. But I am. All that's different is a little pathogen inside of me, feeding on excess blood, making me run a little faster, and hit a little harder in return. And you think that I'm a horrible person for leaving them there to rot? Well what if he had been experimenting on normal humans? I imagine you'd think differently. I may be insane, but I still know a horrible creature when I see one. And I'm not talking about the zombies." Said James, going almost sane for a moment, before that wild look in his eyes returned.

 

[Mason]

Trent sat up wincing at the sharp pain in his leg. He stared at the wound a minute. The skin had been blackened and dried blood had crusted around it. Still he thought grabbing a the small bottle of liquor and pouring the rest of its contents onto his wound. It could have been much worse. Grabbing a gauze pad and a few cloth bandages he bound the wound tight. Standing up slowly he tested the leg. The wound protested sending thousands of tiny pain receptors into a frenzy. Gritting his teeth he brought himself to upright, god he wished he hadn't traded that morphine. He walked around the room until the pain dulled slightly. That'd have to do, moving into the living room he looked at the dirt bike in the corner. I need the supplies he told himself. Trent grabbed two small bottles of antibiotics, three bottles of alcohol, two cigarettes, a bottle of water, two cans of corn, and the the three knifes he'd found at the pawn shop. A weeks worth of scavenging he thought to himself strapping on his belt and slipping the D battery into his pocket. Finally he grabbed two odd looking devices one a crude home made transmitter the other looked even stranger, a cylinder attached to a wire which was connected to a button. Throwing these in a separate bag he wheeled the dirt bike outside locking the door behind him.


He only road the bike a block and half before shutting it down at a table the middle of the road amid some of the taller ruins.The area was well out of sight of his safe house and at the very edge of his territory facing a old road that still got a decent amount of traffic. The bike was for show technically trading ground was supposed to be neutral territory but Trent had heard of too many traders leaving to trade and being found riddled with bullets. Now with the bike people just assumed he'd traveled a distance to reach the ground. Older customers might notice something wrong with the area. The burnt buildings and the hidden traps lining but not on the road. But that was the beauty of it he didn't have any old customers. The world was unforgiving and most came two,three times at most. Slapping the cylindrical device under the table he'd spread his goods out on the table then he took out the battery. He placed the battery into the transmitter grinning as the microphone crackled to life. Looking around he surveyed the area. Nothing had changed no vantage point for miles the street ahead was clear. Looking down he smiled at the transmitter, he'd programed it to be tuned to all stations and in the apocalypse someone was always listening for better or for worst. "Attention all who are interested trading post Skelton Key is open for business". He switched the transmitter off, he'd replay the message in ten minutes. He made sure his bow and arrows were well within reach and his combat knife and hatched were loose ready to be drawn. Then reaching down he primed the cylindrical device, taking the dead mans switch in his left hand he waited for his first customer.

 

[GrieveWriter]

Cotton pulled himself out of the sewer with ease, he stretched a bit as Elroy took his time climbing up.


"Finally! I thought we'd never find another exit." Cotton sighed as he retightened the bandages around his neck."


"Little men take up time." Elroy growled as he got to his feet.


"Well its a good thing they at least tried to be civil." Cotton said "I'm sure will end up meeting again someday. Now we can continue on to the meeting place as we originally had planned."


Cotton began looking around for the tall buildings that were deeper in the city. As he did, Elroy noticed something that gave him pause.


"I think I see the building in the distance." Cotton said with a victorious undertone.


"Boss."


"All we need is to get through this section of neighborhood and-"


"Boss."


"I wonder how many of the zombies we led down there can find their way back up?"


"BOSS!"


Cotton turned back to look at Elroy, who was staring at something several houses away from them.


"Hm? What's this now?"


Starting several houses ahead was nothing but burnt out husks that could have once been buildings. They could see something deeper inside, but couldn't quite make out what it was due to the distance.


A huntsman's nest! Flush him out, we need a true opponent!!!


Elroy shook his head while Cotton squinted his eyes to see farther.


"We have to check this out later." Cotton said before turning "But for now, we need to get back to the original meeting place."


Elroy nodded, Cotton took off towards the taller structures.


Elroy cast a look back at the strange burnt buildings, then he slowly turned and followed his boss to the meeting spot.

 

[Mason]

Trent saw the two figures and was intrigued. They didn't seem to be heading his way, in fact they seemed to be going in the opposite direction towards some of the cities taller buildings. He doubted they had noticed him but the big one had been looking in his direction so he couldn't be sure. The only things in those buildings were supplies and if those two were encroaching on his territory, well he'd have to do something. Still he'd already sent out the invitation to come shop and he wasn't leaving his goods unattended. Sighing he watched the two disappear, a shame really he thought to himself he needed some new customers.

 

[SuperChocoMilk]

"Never said you weren't human. But you might as well not be one if you can live with that. People change. If you don't think they can change, you're wrong. We don't even ****ing know if what they were doing was wrong. And don't come to me the argument "even if the people in the cages were evil it's still wrong" because then you'd be a ****ing hypocrite." Carter's eyes showed anger at the ignorant boy, but he couldn't see under his suit. "You have driven me to this with your ****ing goddamn accusations! You think you're better than them? Do you think you're better than them? You're not!! YOU'RE NOT!!" Carter took out his anger on the dumpster, and punched a large dent in it. "****!"

 

[The J]

James looked at Carter. He saw in his eyes what he'd seen in many another. Frustration. It wasn't just what James was doing. It was the whole pent-up frustration at everything. At the zombies. At the lack of provisions. At everything that had happened since the apocalypse. He understood. He'd been through more than most. The transformation to vampire was never a pretty one, first generation or second.


"No, I'm not better than them. For most of my time during this apocalypse, I hunted down humans to survive. I didn't even find out I could use animals instead until the other day. If anything, I'm worse. But I'm trying to improve. Look at me, I'm actually sane and serious occasionally right now. And in improving, I've got to put an end to things like what he was doing. I'll bet Cotton and his thug are just going to worm their way out of there, and start again on their experiments. And I want to stop that. Is that really so bad? A vampire with a sense of morality?"

 

[Mason]

Trent looked down at the transmitter and almost lost it. One of the wires wasn't connected to the circuit board. Cursing his stupidity he started packing up, his smelter was at the safe house and now he'd have to wait until tomorrow to trade his goods. His cursing slowly faded as he looked at the spot the two men had disappeared . He packed up the table and wheeled the dirt bike back to his safe house.


Ten minutes later he was at the spot the two men had disappeared. He looked down the empty street. He knelt down and doubled checked his pack. Wire, a bottle of alcohol, two cans of veggies, two bottles of wire, a lighter, and a coil of wire. He didn't plan to be out past nightfall but it never hurt to come prepared. All he had to go on was that they had been heading towards the tall buildings before. If they doubled back or changed course he had no doubt he'd lose them. Slinging his pack onto his shoulder he set off into the city, he had a warning to deliver.

 

[SuperChocoMilk]

"Yeah, ok. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got so angry. I don't normally do that. Let's just head back to that house. Ok?" Carter was cut off from his conversation by a noise, and a small object sliding down the road towards them. It sounded like singing. Was the object singing? Or was he just hallucinating? He could hear the words loud and clear now. It was a woman singing. "Ring around the rosies. Pocket full of posies."


Carter felt disturbed by the presence of the singing object and held his shotgun up. "What the **** is this?!" The voice began to be distorted.


"Ashes. Ashes. We all fall down."


The object rolled into clear view. A baby stroller. Filled with a dead zombie, slashed into it's torso was NU. The stroller stopped moving once the distorted voice sang "we all fall down."


Carter gulped inside his helmet, and began to step towards the stroller. There was a piece of paper hanging from the body. He grabbed it and began to read. "1, 2, I'm buckling my shoe." What the hell?

 

[Mason]

Trent walked down the street looking for any signs of the two figures passing. Grass that had grown up from cracks in the road had been disturbed but that was no promise of their passing. Sighing he leaned down to examine the grass. To old he thought to himself probably a zombie the previous night. Suddenly Trent heard two loud explosions followed by the sounds of a vehicle crashing. **** Trent thought to himself quickly cutting down a well lit alleyway. There were signs posted how the **** did they miss a giant *** sign that said DO NOT ENTER. Using a rusted fire escape he quickly ascended to the top of an apartment building. He covered the remaining two blocks running from roof top to roof top. Sometimes dropping a few feet sometimes climbing eight feet up a brick wall. When he reached the edge of the block he stopped. Two blocks east the burning wreck of an armor plated SUV sat wrecked and useless. Trent did a quick head count, there were five of them. Two were vampires judging by the way they were bent over some lifeless bodies. The other three were wolves judging by their ripped pants and lack of shirts. Trent looked away from the gruesome scene realized there were two other vehicles similar to the first in model and condition though they weren't burning. The convoy must have been desperate to take such and obvious risk he thought shaking his head. Five was to many for him to fight weather they be human or not. He was about to turn away when he noticed what the shirtless men were unloading. Food, water, medicine, and small arms were nothing surprising to find a convoy carrying but what the men were unloading wasn't any of the three. Trent watched as they pulled two Barret 50. Cals, several different types of assault rifles, shotguns, handguns, explosives, crates of ammo, and something that looked suspiciously like a rocket launcher from the wrecked vehicles. Trent did a double take, the dead convoy members were dressed in combat fatigues and several bodies that were not in uniform were scattered on the sides of the road riddled with bullets. Trent stood there for awhile watching the men load enough weapons to supply a small army into a waiting truck. The most disturbing thing however was the emblem one of the men stopped to spray paint on the destroyed lead vehicle. It was a blood red set of fangs posed to strike outline with a crude circle. Trent cursed to himself, the two figures would have to wait he had a real problem on his hands.

 

[The J]

"NO! NO! STOP! PLEASE GOD NO MAKE IT STOP!" James screamed at the nursery rhymes, curled into a foetal position, clutching at his ears to block out the sound. He was crying like a baby, memories spilling in from when he was a young boy in England, before his youth was stolen from him, and he was forced to become an adult, survive, and go insane enough to kill people for his own sustenance, never being allowed to live a full teenage life.


"CARTER! PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!"

 

[SuperChocoMilk]

"Jame, James, James!! Calm down, it's over. It turned itself off." Carter turned back towards the baby stroller, and looked around. "Whoever the **** you are, you better back off! You're a sick ****er, you know that? You piece of shit!" Carter looked back at James, who was balled up on the ground. "Come on, get up. It's gone. The faster we get away from here the better." Carter took a mental note of the letters NU, and pulled James up. "Let's go." Carter stepped past the creepy stroller, and led the way.


* * *


After about 2 hours of walking back towards the house, they came upon a church. Of course, there was sound coming from it. It was like a rustling about, then a loud slam. Carter motioned towards the church, and brought out his shotgun. James followed behind. Carter was glad that James hadn't ditched him. It was a bit terrifying out here alone. Carter opened the big doors, and peered inside. Another woman's voice, along with what looked to be a human hung from a cross. He had been nailed up by his hands and feet, and also had a crown of thorns on his head.


"Jesus of Nazareth." Carter stepped over and listened to the music.


"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine! Oh this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine! This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine let it shine let it shine!!"


Once again, the voice became more distorted as the song went on, until it eventually stopped. Carter stepped up to the cross, and grabbed the note off. "3, 4, I'm opening my door." Who the hell was this guy? Carved into the humans torso was a "R" and Carter made another mental note. "NUR. Hmph."

 

[Zak Knight]

Watches the car drive off with 5 people "Three werewolves and 2 vampires... Damn I should thrown a rock over the-" Looks at the alleyway and notices a man stand there then gets down as a low as possible but still looking at him trying to see his weapons and what he is carrying Can I kill him? thinks to self

 

[Yuiop705]

*BANG**BANG**BOOM* Alex jolted awake with a start and he quickly looked around from his perch in the trees. He knew better than to move as in most cases movement drew the attention of the eye. So Alex sat very still confident that his cloak would blend him into the trees. He calmly looked for the source of the sounds as he knew what gunfire usually meant. He waited a few seconds and his assumption was confirmed as a small group ran into view with a horde of zombies behind them. He was a little surprised that there were people this near to him as he was quite a few miles out into farmlands and he tended to go out of his way to avoid areas that might have people. He fortunately could see the nearest farmhouse from his perch. He had climbed into the tree the night before so he could scout out the farmhouse before he went to scavenge what was inside. He felt content with overcautious behavior as he quickly understood what situation he would be in right now if he wasn't. If he wasn't so cautious he would be inside right now watching the group run up to the house with a horde of zombies in trail. He then would be stuck inside with them helping deal with their "problem" but he knew the odds against a horde of that size. Alex watched as the group got about halfway through the fields they turned around and started firing on the zombies. The sound of two pistols, a shotgun and an assault rifle reached his ears. Alex cringed knowing that all the gunfire would bring more zombies from the surrounding area close making it a lot more difficult to move. After a few seconds the sounds of the assault rifle and shotgun stopped and two more pistols joined. Alex assumed that they had run out of ammo for the weapons and had switched to their back up guns.


The group then suddenly started running towards the farmhouse again. They were almost through the fields and Alex could now see them as they were getting closer. Looked like a group comprised of two males, a female and a young kid. The group was almost to the open gate Alex could see the exhaustion on their faces from his vantage point. The two males turned and started firing again on the horde as the child and woman ran ahead through the gate towards the house. Alex knew that was going to be a costly mistake as he could see another horde coming into view from behind the house. Unfortunately the group couldn't see the new horde and were still all heading towards the house seeking shelter. The males were still firing at the zombies but were quickly being overwhelmed. The few zombies that were ahead of the majority of the horde finally reached the males and descended upon them. One of the males started fighting with his hand ripping zombies apart by his brute strength alone. Alex figured that the male was a "changed one". The other male had fallen to the ground and was fighting for his life against one of the zombies. Upon seeing this the female screamed and yelled the male's name. Alex frowned at what was happening in front of his eyes but he understood that this was the way the world was now. Alex kept watching the males defend themselves against the oncoming horde. The male on the ground finally was able to kill the zombie as he got up and took off running towards the female ditching the other male. The "changed" male looked back at the running male with what Alex thought was a look of disgust. Alex figured he was not happy about being abandoned to his fate because the "changed" male then drew his pistol and shot the running male in the leg. The female went hysterical upon seeing that screaming and running back towards the male. Alex shook his head in disapproval that was one of the reasons he tried not associating with others.He knew that others were unknown factors and things went astray when unknowns were thrown in. Alex sat still determined to wait this "problem" out.


He watched as the child and female ran up to the gate to aid the injured male they started dragging the male towards the house. The "changed" male ripped apart the last zombie within his reach then the male shifted form into that of a wolf. Alex watched as the wolf took off at full speed pass the rest of the group and house towards the woods behind the house. Alex knew that mistake was going to cost him his life as the wolf rounded the corner of the house he ran straight into the other horde. The whole horde quickly descended upon the wolf blocking him from Alex's view all that followed was a spine chilling howl of a beast in great agony. The female stopped pulling the male towards the house and saw a few zombies from the new horde come from behind the house towards the rest of the group. Alex felt a little pity for them as he figured that he knew how this was going to end. They more than likely were going to seek refuge in the house end up being overrun and trapped inside not such a great way to go. He watched as the male and female started talking, then crying and finally they hugged. The child and female then took off running towards Alex's direction. Alex smiled slightly as he was a little surprised at them leaving the man behind but understood the logic behind it.


The female and child ran the half mile to the treeline as fast as they could. The ran without looking back even when they heard the male's gunshot ending his own life preventing him from becoming one of "them". Alex knew the pain of losing loved ones and how bad it hurt. The female and child finally ran up to the treeline panting out of breath just a few feet down from Alex's tree totally unaware that he was there. They stood there crying and trying to catch their breath unaware that a few of the zombies were slowly making there way over towards them. Luckily for them the majority of both hordes were preoccupied with the two males that had perished. Alex knew that every second that the female and child stood there was wasted time that they could be spending distancing themselves from this "problem". He knew that the "problem" wasn't going to wait that it was coming for them sooner than later. Alex always tried not to interfere when it didn't directly concern him. But the few zombies that had followed them were almost half way from the house with their turned backs not noticing them at all through their crying. Alex figured that the mother probably was in some type of mental shutdown from the trauma she just went through. If they were to die here so close to his tree then that would cause all sorts of problems for him. "What the hell sometime to break down Ill have to give her a nudge to get her back on her way" Alex thought to himself. He didn't mind indirectly helping but he wouldn't directly help like getting down and helping them to safety to many unknowns. "HEY!! Lady you better get your move on your not even watching whats happening behind you." the woman swiftly looked up in shock into the trees "What? Where are you?" Alex knew better than to get into this any deeper he had to end this quick and get things moving again "It doesn't matter who, what, or where I am. All that matters is that the kid needs you and you need to get out of here so you better start running and fast towards a safer place." Alex saw that what he had said was sinking in as she started looking less withdrawn from reality. "Where are we suppose to go I just lost my husband!!" Alex though for a brief second then figured that they would need to find another group to help support themselves as they wouldn't make it on their own. "Lady run through these woods and you will reach a road. Go right on the road and it will eventually lead you to the highway from there its your pick. Although it would probably be best if you went and found another group in some city. Now you have to go those zombies are almost here and its best if your not here when they get here." Alex was getting a little agitated at how much time she was wasting as she hesitated. He knew the closer the zombies got the longer it would take for them to get far enough away from him to move. "Please I don't want to get lost will you help us?" Alex felt his heart tug as his old morals would have had him say yes. But he knew better than to put himself in dangerous situations. "Lady if you don't get Ill shoot you and your kid for making "problems" for me. You can do this just don't mess up think smart and good luck. NOW GO!!!!" The female and kid took off at Alex yelling at them to go he hoped that they would make it and survive another day.


The zombies reached the tree line a few minutes after the two had left and started searching the area for them. "Might as well get rid of these" he thought to himself as he slowly reached behind himself and into his backpack's side pocket and pulled out and old alarm clock. He wound up the clock and tossed it as far as he could back into the field. Alex waited a few moments until the clock started ringing drawing the nearby zombies attention. The nearby zombies all started towards the ringing to investigate it source to check and see if it was edible. After a few minutes the ringing stopped and the gather zombies now having forgotten about the female and child started back towards the males. Alex was glad to see them go he made a mental note to retrieve the clock before he left the area. He figured when he left he might as well had towards a nearby city as he needed to restock up on things that were much more common in the city than in rural farmhouses. Alex sat and watched the hordes interact with eachother and things as he often did when zombies were nearby. He figured that the first step in defeating an enemy is first to understand the enemy. After awhile when the sun was an hour or so away from dusk Alex leaned back against the tree he brought out some snacks and water out of his backpack. Alex decided that tomorrow he would set out towards the closest city to resupply. After dinner Alex closed his eyes and started to sleep as being well rested always gave an advantage to being tired. Alex's last thoughts were " Well Tommy Ive survived another day."

 

[Mason]

Trent looked at the wreckage of the convoy mind already furiously at work. He needed those weapons at the very least he needed to get them out of the fangs hands. It was no secret were the notorious gangs base was. A fortified factory at the edge of the city covered with thier insignias. Mind working in over drive he turned to see a man looking at him. Slowly moving his hand to his quiver ready to draw he called out cheerfully."Wouldn't happen to be in the market for military grade weapons would you?"

 

[GrieveWriter]

It was an old office building several stories high. Cotton had already set up a chair near a window on the seventh floor. It had to be the seventh floor, all the others were infested with the dead excluding the home floor. Elroy had gone to get the truck he'd hidden when he'd came round the first time. Cotton enjoyed a can of salmon, it tasted horrible. But it was food, so he ate with greed. Looking out the window, he saw the explosions take place and smirked.


So those guys were still in operation eh?


The truck rolled toward the office building with silence, due to the repressors that were installed to its engine. Elroy drove it to the underground parking lot before loading the supplies in it on to a cart and removing the spark plugs. He then wheeled the supplies into the building.


Craven had some fresh meat. It tasted delicious. The cooked fat on it was simmered to perfection. He was on a roof several blocks from the office building, and was much closer to the explosion. He'd barely moved, so engrossed in his meal was he. When the vehicles had sped away, he took the time to overlook the wreckage. Just as he'd thought, the noise had attracted a small horde of zombie. While he was viewing their stumbling, he heard a noise behind him. Instantly, the eye on the back of his head opened. It was a crow that was trying to peck through a cage at something.


He looked away from the horde and chased the crow off. It squawked in irritation before taking its leave. Craven looked down in the cage. Inside were several human bones that had been stripped of their meat. Stupid looters trying to get into his safe house. They didn't put up much of a fight in the end. Cannibalism wasn't his only option for eating. but it helped lessen the dent he put in his food supplies everyday. Nobody will miss them, so no harm done. Craven went back to his meal. He should probably get going soon before the crowd around the building gets too big. He finished off the cooked human flesh. He then picked up the small cage and chucked the bloody bones over the opposite side of the building, letting the smell attract some of the zombies to them before walking down the stairwell and grabbing his duffel bag from the side of the door and exiting. He had to get to the next Safehouse by nightfall. He let the extra eyes on his head and arms open up so he could view his surroundings as he walked.

 

[SuperChocoMilk]

"Anybody else want to drop another nursery rhyme on us? If you're in here, no wait, I know you're in here! Come out now!" Carter got no response. It was just him, James and a dead guy hanging from a cross. "God dammit. God dammit! First I have to deal with the freaks who put people in cages, and now I'm going against this jackass?! God dammit!" Carter put his head to his temple in dismay. This was just too much stress on a guy. Two serial killers in one day. In the apocalypse. The apocalypse of zombies, werewolves, vampires and cat people. "James. Let's just go, okay? This guy is obviously here just to joke with us. But his jokes suck." As he walked up to the front doors, Carter noticed a familiar click sound. A lock closing. They had left the doors open, but now they were closed. And on them, there was a note.


"You think I'm a joke? Don't worry, it's all good. You won't think that for much longer."


Suddenly, the sound of doors opening and squeaking echoed across the sanctuary. Carter turned immediately and saw 6 deformed werewolves. Each had strapped to their back a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story. They all looked hungry. The werewolves just stood there, staring at the two people.


That's when the story reached it's most hated part, or favorite to some.


"My, what big teeth you have!"


The werewolves lunged.

 

[GrieveWriter]

Cotton checked the bindings again and smirked. Elroy and him were standing atop the roof of the office building, it was free of any undead. Well, all of them except the one Elroy was restraining at the moment. The creature snapped its jaws, but Elroy held its head in place while Cotton went about tying its arms and legs with rope. The other end of the rope was tied around a stake that Elroy had hammered into the ground. Once its arms were secured Cotton stood and picked up his cane. He drove the bladed end of it directly into the zombie's skull. The creature ceased its movements instantly. He pulled out the cane and nodded to Elroy.


Elroy growled and tossed the corpse off the side of the building. Cotton watched the pile of rope at his feet diminish until it reached the stake. It pulled tightly and, for a moment, Elroy was worried that it might snap. The rope held, Cotton gave a chuckle. Elroy looked over the side and saw the corpse hanging from the building, hanging beside it were several dozen more. All of them were zombies. Turns out that not many survivors traveled by these parts.


But Cotton knew that with gang activity so close, they'd have to disguise their current residence. So they were hanging zombie corpses all over the outside area, had to make it look like a savage lair. Savages were the more crazed survivors, if one could even call them that. Most of the well informed tend to stay clear of where they slumber due to them being highly violent. Most of the time they don't even have anything worth looting, its pretty sad actually. They had a few more bodies to set up, people needed to feel the psychosis in the air.


Craven cut deep into the scavenger with his hunting knife, the large blade dug into the flesh. The scavenger died instantly upon the severing of his spinal cord and dropped like a pile of rocks. Craven was disappointed by this lack of challenge. He was hired to kill this guy by order of one of the many religious groups that were scattered around the outskirts of the city. Apparently he'd stolen some things from a chapel near them and they wanted his 'divine retribution' to be carried out. Craven knows its a bunch of bull, but they've got the supplies to pay. So he hunted them man down and murdered him. Craven licked the blade, the blood was reasonably warm. Craven kneeled near the man's corpse and began sawing off his head, as per the requirements listed by those religious fanatics. Craven pulled out a large plastic bag and dumped the head in. He made the trek over to the drop off point, some closed trading post by the name of Skeleton Key. It looked pretty abandoned at the moment, he didn't know why they wanted it there of all places. Something to do with this guy being a customer there or something. The area it was in was strange, almost as if it had been purposefully altered to serve the greater needs of the one who changed it.


Craven knew better, some parts of this placed seemed like death traps. His many eyes scanned over the place before turning and making his way back to his safe house to collect the reward.