The Corruption

Chapter 7 - The Dark Zone

"Get out of here with that stupid crafting bag already, Liam, it's not even important," Nate argued. "Maybe not to you, but to me it had everything WE needed to survive out here in this hell. Don't come crying to me if you need tape, cloth, metal sheets, scrap metal, axes, or rifles." "You didn't have rifles or axes in that bag though," Nate stated. "Well I would've put rifles and axes in it if I still had it!" "That's not how it works-" "So?" Nate fell silent and shook his head. "Would you two quit arguing?" Derek groaned, "Yeah, geez.." Kaleigh whispered. Liam and Nate exchanged angry looks and continued walking down the traintracks of the subway tunnel. "How much you guys wanna bet a train comes racing down here and ends us all?" Liam questioned. "That's highly unlikely," Nate said. Liam shrugged and said, "Anything can happen." "Neither of you are getting hit by a train, but you might be hit by me if you don't shut up," Kaleigh growled, turning her head to the side, still walking. Liam and Nate were expressionless but kept walking behind Derek and Kaleigh. Derek gave Kaleigh a "not-bad" look and Kaleigh smiled shrugging. They kept walking for about five minutes until they literally started to see light in the tunnel. Derek pointed and said, "Just through there, should be the first gates through Blackwell." "Well let's quit lazy-ing about and get a move on!" Liam suddenly started jogging to the outside world as if he hadn't seen it in ages. Nate quickly yelled, "Wait you idiot-" but went after him. Derek and Kaleigh kept walking at their own pace while dumb and dumber ran for their lives. "How did you keep up with those two while I was unconscious?" Kaleigh said, looking at the ground, kicking tiny rocks in her way. Derek laughed softly and said, "How do I keep up with them now?" Kaleigh laughed along with Derek and they both eventually caught up to them. Derek and Kaleigh looked at Nate and Liam as if they were naked. "What's so funny?" Nate asked. "Nothing," they both said. Liam and Nate exchanged confused glances.

"I'm cold." Kaleigh said, frowning a bit, looking up at the gray, lifeless sky, squinting. Derek squeezed her hand tightly but then let go, and went over to Liam who was wearing the jacket. He whispered something and Liam shook his head in frustration, looking over at Kaleigh, then back at Derek. Derek gave him a stern look but then shook his head and gave up the jacket. Derek smiled, took his jacket, and walked back over to Kaleigh. The entire time Kaleigh was watching with a peculiar look on her face. Derek put the jacket over her, "Here." "But why?" "Liam can last longer in cold weather than you. His massive amount of chest hair confirms it." Kaleigh rolled her eyes smiling and put her arms in the sleeves of the jacket, looking over at Derek. "Better?" he asked. "Mhm." Liam went over to Nate with an angry look on his face, pointing at Derek and Kaleigh. Derek assumed he was upset about losing jacket so he smirked. It seemed obvious Nate didn't really care, as he wasn't looking Liam in the eye. He was busy searching for items. Suddenly Kaleigh saw a large wall blocking the snow covered highway. "Look. Is that what I think it is?" she pointed, still hugging herself with the other arm. Derek and Nate looked up while Liam pouted over his jacket. "The Dark Zone." Nate whispered to himself in awe, a shocked look on his face. "But that can't be, we haven't even passed the first gates to Blackwell yet." ".. Or maybe, we just did." they all turned around to look at the sewers they just came out of, realizing that above it were the first gates, infested with undead all around, Smokers walking slowly next to each other, sniffing the air. ".. How the.." Liam said in awe. He turned again, except Kaleigh, Nate, and Derek were already climbing up the wall to the Dark Zone. Liam sighed and followed.