Six to One

Chapter 9: Hordes

After around an hour of slow driving, they reach a ruined port. "There sure are a lot of ports here..." "That's what happens when you have a rich economy..." Mei and Botany look outside in awe, Kiln still silent. She wasn't depressed, but also not happy. Just then, lasers get pointed at them as six men spring their heads up, aiming at them. "Halt! Who goes there!" "We don't want any trouble, we're here from the main port!" "That so? Please stay in your vehicles and we'll radio them to confirm it." They come out of their hiding places and walk closer. "Are you the only ones here?" Kiln speaks with a monotone voice, not looking at them. "We sure are, we're guards here. It's a difficult job." "Good... I'll see you in hell." With no warning, Kiln step out of the truck and began shooting each one of them with her newly earned gift until they're all dead, while the rest watch in horror. "No more roadblocks, let's go." She sits back in the truck, looking as dead as she was. "Kiln?! What in the world is wrong with you?!" "Let's go I said." "Fine, but if they ask, you're answering to them." "Whatever." They slowly drive towards the end of the port where they see the water. Along the way, they spot a balloon as promised, but no boat. It must've been used for something. As they step out, the smell of rotten eggs fills their nostrils. Usually, Kiln would hate it. This time, she had no reaction, which is a strange sight. They walk towards the balloon, but it's still deflated. They didn't like how the balloon is located near a water tower that is taller than the cranes they see, especially with bars and pieces of metal bars sticking out. They tried contacting the safe area to see if they could get picked up, but there was no signal. They even tried connecting the truck to a nearby signal tower, but even that couldn't help since the signal tower was too damaged and wouldn't even power on. As they kept exploding the old port, they heard a little girl crying. "Guys, is it me or does the crying sound a little fake?" "Fake or not, someone is here, so keep your head up."

Moving around boxes, Kiln puts up the shotgun she had, ready to aim and shoot. "Keep the gun down! What if she's just a little girl that's lost?" "What if she's just a zombie luring us in? You heard what that guy said." Wanting to argue against it, but also considering that it may be true. As they move around the corner, they see a little girl, with her skin looking so moldy and clothes looking wet and dirty. "Hey... You alright?" The little girl turns her head around, hissing at them. Evade backs off, surprised at this act as the girl slowly morphs into an infected. With no hesitation, Kiln takes several shots at it, killing it eventually. Murky, maroon, liquid flows out of the wounds. "What the- Huh?!" Evade was taken by surprise, flinching. "Told you, thank me later." Kiln walks away with no reaction. "What's gotten into her?" "I don't know, but I don't like it. I hope she doesn't decide to do anything stupid soon." Evade looks at Kiln who was sitting at a dock near the water, looking down at it. "I think we give her some space..." "As much as I want to follow that, Mei, I need to find out what's going on. At least try." While Mei and Botany goes to look around more, Evade sits beside her, accompanying her. "Hey, what-" "Shut up." "But I-" "Leave me alone." Interrupting Evade constantly. "We-" "Go away." Evade sighs in concern but gets up to leave anyways. "Fine." He walks away, leaving her alone near the water. "That was quick, what did you get?" "Nothing. I think she needs to process her mind. We've gone such a long way, she must hate making all this progress without the people we lost." "That's understandable." They all look at Kiln, who began crying and sobbing, repeatedly saying, "I'm sorry... So sorry..." As much as they wanted to accompany her, they couldn't.

Taking them by surprise, a sudden roar fills the air, filling them with anxiety. "Please tell me that was one of your stomachs..." "None of our stomachs sound like that, are you crazy?!" "For action, yes... For death? Quite the opposite." "Not the time for jokes!" "Sorry!" Botany looks around to find any infected Zombies chasing them, only realizing that they are surrounded. They start opening fire at the horde, trying to move forward. Kiln runs away while the others are stuck. "What the- Hey, where's she going?!" "Focus on the Zombies, then we focus on her!" They couldn't move forward at all. In fact, they were slowly cornered into a wall. Before they get close enough, Kiln throws a Molotov, setting the Zombies on fire. After that, she throws an alarm clock to the dock. After a few seconds, the alarm clock starts to ring, bringing the attention of the Zombies to it. All the infected Zombies chase after the alarm clock while the group shoots them down until each of them are dead. Before they could do or say anything else, another roar can be heard, bringing in another wave of a horde. To avoid the next horde, they look for a higher platform to stay on nearby. The only option they had was a shipping container, so they all climbed it. Unfortunately for them, the infected Zombies can climb, so keeping them away was difficult. The horde finally ends, but another roar is heard, bringing another horde in. "We need to light up that balloon and escape!" Kiln takes out a lighter, ready to get going. After taking out the last of that horde, they quickly sprint for the truck to grab more bullets. Another horde start cornering them as they struggle to defend themselves. "We have to get to the balloon!" "We know! I don't think we're making good progress!" "I'll make some progress then!" Evade gets in the truck and starts ramming all the infected Zombies. This isn't just a normal raid, this is an entire army assault. There are hundreds of them, maybe more, too many to count. There were too many, but their numbers started to go down. Before they can recover, another roar is heard, bringing in another horde. However, this horde is different. As they heard screaming, shouting, and high-pitched gibberish in the distance, slowly getting louder, the ground shook, slowly getting more violent. "Guys... I think it's time to go... Light the balloon! I'll guard!" Kiln, Mei, and Botany head towards the balloon while Evade defends the balloon.