¹epiphany ─ j. miller

It's Best This Way

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
FALL
IT'S BEST THIS WAY

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Elva, Joel and Tommy ran out of the door, being met with a smoke bomb a few feet away, where the workers were before. They yelled out profanities as the three ducked down beneath a few generators.

"Stop 'em!" One of the workers yelled. "Don't let them get into the building!"

They fired a few shots at the bandit in the plant, Tommy pulling out his rifle and taking a clean shot on his head. That wasn't the last of them. Another one came out from behind the corner, shooting one of the workers dead. Elva took a few shots with her handgun until the bandit fell to the concrete floor.

Bandits were everywhere. Joel took out one that had been shooting from above before Tommy continued pressing forward, killing another one.

Elva tossed a molotov up onto one of the platforms, killing a few of the enemies. Tommy breathed heavily as they ran up the stairs. "Let's get a move on!" He yelled.

Joel pulled out his shotgun, taking down another bandit. Tommy used his rifle and shot one of the enemies in the thigh, letting Elva take her shotgun and cleanly decapitate the bandit.

The third one in the control room was taken care of by another worker, letting Elva, Tommy and Joel make their way through the room. They scouted for supplies before pressing through.

"You guys see anything?" Tommy asked a few of the workers.

"We got 'em." One replied.

"Let's get to the bridge."

Tommy's radio began fuzzing, Maria's voice calling through. "Bandits, they're breaking into the building!" She yelled, her voice broken up by the static.

"Can you get out of there?" Her husband asked.

"No, we're trapped."

"Ellie." Elva breathed.

Tommy's panicked intakes of breath were heard from miles away, he was scared. "We're gonna come to you, just stay-"

"They're here!" Maria yelled. "Ellie, hide!"

"Maria!" Tommy spoke, only for the line of the radio to go dead with faint static and buzzing. "Goddamnit." He exclaimed.

They ran out onto the balcony, ducking behind a few plastic canisters. "They're fighting on the bridge!" One of the workers yelled. Said bridge was directly in front of the group of three, and they could see a few enemies on the ground, as well.

Joel grasped onto his scoped revolver, shooting down one of the bandits. Elva took out her bow, killing another one. Tommy had already made his way below the bridge, narrowly avoiding molotovs as he shot another one dead.

Elva snuck up behind Tommy, hiding behind a few wooden boxes as she fired her handgun at one of the bandits, once, twice, dead. One of the others noticed their accomplice had fallen, spotting Elva and throwing a molotov. She dodged it, running up the metal stairs and slamming the man's body down to the ground, crushing his head with her foot.

"That's all of those sons of bitches!" The worker from before yelled.

"We gotta get to the girls!" Tommy exclaimed, joining back with Joel and Elva in front of the door to the plant. They entered into a cafeteria, another load of bandits shooting at the group from below. A few more workers had joined them, their yellow hardhats making it easy to separate the good guys from the bad guys.

Tommy took out his rifle, shooting down one of the bandits, Elva doing the same. They made their way down to where the dead bodies lay, Joel shooting another enemy from behind the door frame.