Invasion of the Undead

Chapter 5

The next day.....
Nicole and the others spent the day preparing for the evening's upcoming mission. As nightfall approached, everyone was ready. Liz and Kelly had decided to stay at the house and be ready to treat any injuries. They had taken the large parlor on the main level and transformed it into a makeshift emergency room prepared to treat the injured. The room was lined with cots and small tables with essential first aid supplies laid out in order of necessity. Smaller bins below the tables contained surplus supplies for more minor injuries.
"OK.," said Aaron, as he prepared to open the main door. “Stay close and watch each other's backs.
Everyone nodded.
"Let's go," said Nicole, as she moved past him and opened the door.
One by one, they filed out the door, cautiously taking in their surroundings. They were ready for a fight. There was a chill in the air that night. They all walked slowly with their eyes searching and scanning for any movement. Their bodies were tense and alert. Then out of nowhere, Brandon appeared in front of them.
"Hello, Nicole." he sneered, “I see you've brought some new friends."
“Shut it, Brandon."
“You never were one for small talk. Very well, let the battle begin."  No sooner had the words left his lips than a wave of vampires moved forward from the dark shadows, behind them zombies ready for battle. Nicole and her group took a step back and braced themselves.
“Take 'em out!" yelled Aaron.
With guns blasting and blades flashing, they charged the hoard of undead, tackling them one by one. Every blade that hit its mark was followed by a round from a shotgun or pistol. One by one, the zombies and vampires fell. Somewhere in the melee, Nicole lost sight of Aaron. As she slashed through another zombie, she spotted Lexi flinging liquid on a vampire, Holy water. She’d have to be sure to inform her later on that it simply didn’t work on vampires. It was just a myth. 
Slowly but surely, they made headway through the throngs of zombies.  Finally, the last one fell.  Nicole looked around. There were bodies everywhere. Had they gotten all of them? The vampires too?  Picking her way through the bodies, she collected knives as she went. She could see Jason and Lexi off near an old broken car. Shawn and Max were making their way to them from the other side of the row of houses. Where was Aaron? Where were the others from their group?
"Where are the others?"
"Not sure." said Jason, "We got separated."
With the four of them following her, she continued to search for the rest of the group. A few minutes later, and two houses down from the central fight zone they found Leeann, Hannah, James, Jacob, and Edward. They were sitting in the shadows between a garage and another house.  They all looked tired and had cuts and bruises from the fight.
"Where's Aaron?"
"We tried to help him, but there were just too many of them," said James, as Leeann held a cloth against a wound on his head.
"Is he dead?"
"No, the vampires took him."
"We have to rescue him. We have to find where Brandon is hiding."
"It's almost daylight. We have to rest and regroup."  Jacob insisted.
"We have to go now."
"Nicole." said Jason, "Aarons a strong guy. He’s gonna be OK."
"But we can't desert him."
"Yeah, but we can't go after them unprepared." said James, "Then we'll all die."
"Your right. Alright, we rest, we prepare, and then we find their hideout and rescue Aaron. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” They all replied together.
Then they headed back to the house, to Kelly and Liz. They would bandage up their wounds and hopefully have something hot to eat that would replenish their energy as well.

On the other side of town, in a run-down house, Brandon was causing another disturbance. He was pleased with himself, having managed to snatch Aaron out from under Nicole’s nose. It had cost him a few bodies to leave when he did, but seeing Aaron chained to the wall of his hideout made him smile both with pleasure and anticipation.
"Hello, Aaron," said Brandon.
"You'll never take this city," said Aaron.
"You think your friends can defeat me."
"I don’t think. I know."
"But will your friends have the guts to kill you if they must?”
"They will do what it takes to save the city."
Brandon’s intensity died down only slightly when a beautiful dark-haired girl stepped forward. Her large intense brown eyes focused on him, and he felt a bit more resolve die down under the sense of growing fear.
"Hello, Bella," said Brandon.
"You called for me master," she said, as she looked longingly at Aaron.
"Yes, dear one."
"He smells delicious. Can I play with him?"
"Now, Bella, we don’t play with our food."
"Yes, Master," she said, with a slight frown on her face.
“Oh, I can’t disappoint my best girl.”
Then Brandon snapped his fingers, and two more vampires entered the room.
"Unchain him and bring him over for our young Bella."
"Yes, Sir."
Bella smiled.
Once the chains were released Aaron lunged forward, seizing the moment to attempt an escape.
"Catch him," yelled Brandon.
Aaron raced toward the door reaching for the handle. He managed to grab it before a loud crunch echoed in his ears, and the room spun into darkness.


Nicole sat longingly on the log next to the tree line. Before her, she could see the entire neighborhood. She had no idea where Brandon was or if he was even close by. She let out a sigh; this was not going to be an easy task. They had no idea where to start looking.
"You OK?" Jason asked as he walked up to her and handed her a water bottle.
"Yeah, I just hope Aaron’s OK.," said Nicole.
"You guys are pretty close, huh?"
"Yeah." she said, “He’s the only person I have left from before all this started.”
Jason nodded, "Well, Lexi and James just got back from scouting, and they said they have news. “
“Well, bring them over, and let’s hear it.”
Jason nodded he walked off a short distance and gave a loud whistle, and then waved his arm in the air.  A few short minutes later, Lexi and James joined them.
"We believe we found where Brandon is hiding,” Lexi told them excitedly
"Yeah, we were scouting out on the north side, and we came upon this old, abandoned house,” said James.
"What makes you think it's where he's hiding?"
"Well, all the windows are blacked out like they are trying to keep sunlight out," said Lexi.
"More importantly, the place is surrounded by zombies. It's like they're guarding it," said James.
"That has to be it. How much longer till sunrise?"
"About an hour," said Jason.
"Have everyone ready in an hour. We're going on a rescue mission."
"You got it."