Fragmented Zombie

Hell Storm

After getting past the witch and spector, the survivors found themselves surrounded by abandoned storefronts. Looking around, the survivors noticed something odd about the storefronts. Some of them had broken windows while others were missing windows entirely. The interior in some of the stores appeared untouched while others looked as though they were ransacked. Peering through the window of one of the stores, the survivors saw that various clothing racks had been knocked over. Clothes had either been taken or knocked off several shelves. The floor was littered with clothes and shoes thrown haphazardly. It looked as if the people inside had left in a rush.

Becker backed away from the window, focusing their attention on the sky. Becker didn't understand much of the sky and weather patterns, but they did know enough to predict when it was going to rain. While Becker's back was turned to the others, it pulled its mask down to get a better feel for the air. The smell of rain was stronger without the mask. It took Becker's face no more than three to four seconds to respond to the cold air. It wasn't exactly cold enough for it to snow, but it wasn't too hot for it not to either. Becker's senses told them there was a chance it was going to hail. Becker put its mask back on before looking around.

Some of the windows appeared to have rocks thrown through them. As for the windows that were missing entirely, Becker wasn't sure what happened to them. It may have been possible that they were removed as a safety precaution. Becker didn't find that to be too surprising as the people that lived there were in a panic based on the state of the stores. Based on the stores themselves, it was possible that what caused the damage was the same reason the dead end and flaming barrels existed.

At the sight of the first raindrop, Becker knew the storm was starting. However, it hesitated before ushering the others into the store. Becker wanted to see how bad it got before doing so. It started with the rain, which didn't appear to be that bad. Then came the first golf ball sized hailstone. That hailstone on its own told Becker how bad the storm was going to get.

"Shit! I need all of you to get inside! Now," Becker commanded.

The other five survivors stepped into the store without saying anything. Becker ushered the others away from the window once it got inside. Becker looked back at the window. The storm was getting heavier. The sound of hail hitting the building the survivors were in was getting louder. Becker held their breath, waiting for the first sign of a horde.

"Becker? Are you okay," Kandace asked.

"Nothing good ever comes out of a storm like this," Becker answered, remaining fixated on the window.

The other survivors whispered to each other, not knowing what Becker was talking about. They were aware of how dangerous hailstones were, but knowing Becker, there was a high chance it meant something entirely different. The other five survivors were trying to make sense of what Becker meant. But they couldn't. The five didn't put into account one thing; the infected were attracted to noise. And what did severe thunderstorms do? They created a lot of noise should they create hailstones.

Just like Becker had predicted, there was a loud roar, indicating that a hoard was heading to their location. Becker readied their knife, waiting for the infected to get closer. Without fully understanding why, the others pulled out their weapons. They looked at each other, wondering if the horde was the very thing Becker was referring to. Albeit, they had the feeling that the hail would kill the infected before they could get to the survivors. That may not have been true for the tanks but even then, hail based deaths were rare.

Two minutes passed and the infected started barreling through the busted window. The infected were tripping over each other trying to get to the survivors. Given the cramped space due to the scattered clothing, the survivors spread out to deter the risk of hitting each other. Becker jumped on to a counter to make it easier to aim for the infecteds' heads. Vere, unlike Becker, had to shove the infected back in order to cut their heads off. The sound of breaking bones and torn flesh filled Becker and Vere's ears. The other four had no issues with shooting the infected. Albeit they were slowed down by the need to reload their guns. Charli eventually got tired of having to reload and switched to her baseball bat. Charli found it a bit odd that he found the sound of wood coming into contact with skulls to be satisfying.