The Quiet Before The Swarm

Chapter 4

There are, of course, a bunch of zombies on the staircase. I just use my twin pistols for this.

I walk around the corner and I shoot a Zombie in the head. I panic. It doesn't die! He just turns and looks at me. His blank, icy stare bores into my eyes. His decayed skin is starting to rot off of his face. Just plopping right onto the linoleum.

"What the hell?" I shoot him again as he slowly staggers toward me. I shoot him several times. He barely has a head left, brains practically leaking out onto the floor as easily as liquid.

"DIE, PISS ANT!" I cry out angrily.

I snatch the axe from Peggy's hands and I slam it into his body, slicing him in half. He finally dies.

"Holy shit! What the hell is wrong with these things?!" Mark exclaims.

"I-I don't even know... Aim for the chests, see how that'll work!" I shake my head, scared.

"We need to continue through here." Ashton states.

"Why?! Are you senile?!" Peggy cries.

"Possibly. But... We need to rid the world of these things. The military won't. They'll handle this stupid shit as they do everything else. Pass it off as a crisis, blame someone else; most likely another country... Nothing will actually be done. Humanitarians will bitch and complain for a cure. No. We're the only ones who can help." Ashton sighs, taking his hat off and running his fingers through his thick dark hair.

"I agree with Ashton!" Mark nods. I nod.

"Peggy, stay with me. I may need your axe a few times and I'll protect you in return." I lead her up to my side.

"Let's go!" Ash smiles and we walk on. A shotgun. Those things practically blow these Zombies apart, no matter how many at a time.

"DIE, YOU BASTARDS!" I yell as I shoot a doctor Zombie who tries to take a big ol' chunk out of Peggy.

"JUST DIE!" Ashton yells as he slams a crowbar into a sickly Zombie.

"Get to the next floor," I order as we run. "NOW! HURRY!"

We run up the stairs, smashing through any Zombie who dares be in our way.

We run through a doorway. We go around the corner. And I stop instantly.

A bald, slobbering, blood-puking, gaunt Zombie version of my delightful Aunt Patty stands there. She sees me and she tries to walk toward me.

Tears sting their ways into my eyes.

"Patty..." I whimper.

"Oh dear God..." Ashton gasps and Peggy covers her mouth with her hand. With a pained groan, my Aunt Patty staggers towards me, her leg dragging behind her. That's where she was bit. Her leg is barely even attached to her thigh.

"Please, God, why...?" I mutter to myself.

She reaches her boney hand out to me. I back away, sobbing as her fingers brush my shoulders.

"No, no, no, no! Please, no, no, NO!" I cry, tears streaming down and dripping off my chin. The woman who practically raised me is now trying to devour my flesh.

She stops, an axe lodged deep into her spine. She hits the ground and Peggy stands there. Innocent little Peggy looks at me.

"I'm so sorry, Nikki..." She whispers. I shake my head as I sigh shakily.

"No. I need to get my shit together." I hug Peggy tightly. "I'm very proud of you, Peggy. Thank you. I was weak."

"It's extremely understandable. The very idea of eliminating a family member is taboo in of itself, but this.. You can obviously have a minute." Mark nods to me. I eye him suspiciously.

"Thanks. But we don't have time. We need to keep going." I nod with a slight smile.

As we walk, this floor absolutely abandoned, Ashton hugs me tightly.

"You've been absolutely fantastic and brave throughout all of this. No matter what. I just wanted to let you know... You're my idol..." Ash whispers as he pets Poopy's dumb ass behind my back.

"Thanks. You ready for this?" I ask.

"I'm always ready!" He smiles at me.

We walk on and my adrenaline stops. I hit the wall right on my shoulder. I haven't slept for literally 5 days straight. Not a wink. I've been functioning only because I've been running on straight adrenaline. It just ran out. That spurt of crying...

Everything is blurry and I can barely move.

"Nicole, are you okay?" Mike asks, his voice sounding awfully suspicious.

"M-muscle fatigue... I can't..." I breathe. "I can't move..." I hit the ground.

Everything goes black.

I wake up several hours later in a daze. I'm slung over Ashton's shoulder. He's still shooting and taking down an entire horde.

They all fall and I get off of his shoulder. When I look around, I see we're on the roof.

"You guys took down the rest of the eight floors?" I inquire.

"Yeah, what happened back there?" He puts his hand on my shoulder.

"I haven't slept in days. I've been running on pure, uncut adrenaline. And that spurt of crying just cut me off." I tell him.

"You okay now?" He asks me.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine now!" I nod with a smile. He kisses me.

"Good..." He kisses me again and I smile.

"Well looky here..." I hear. We jump and look over. Mark is standing there.

"Oh! Mark! Uh, great news, man! We're literally a city block from the City Hall! We'll be rescued and how great is that?!" Ashton says with red cheeks and a shy smirk.

"That's great! So, you find that information from the view of the rooftops... Or did you find it inside Nicole's mouth?" Mark asks.

"What kind of wise crack is that? Look, just drop it." I tell him gently, my hand out.

"I know now why you two are always awake." Mark nods as if he knows everything.

"Whatever! Look, I-" I look around. "Where in God's name is Peggy?!"

Mark looks around.

"Who knows."

"EXCUSE ME?!" I scream. I walk around and look for her.

She's laying there, blank look on her face. She was hit in the head. Knocked out cold.

"MARK, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" I cry. He pulls out a gun and holds it against Ashton's head.

"I'm leaving you all behind. You're all going to either surrender all your supplies and weapons... Or you'll die." Mark snarls.

Poopy then dives out of Ashton's pack and digs his teeth right in Mark's neck. Mark tries to shoot him, but I've already put a bullet between Mark's eyes.

Poopy rushes over and licks Peggy's face.

She awakes and looks over at Mark. Her jaw drops.

"Fuck..." She mutters. "This entire thing is seriously going straight down to Hell..."

"He went crazy. I knew I couldn't trust him..." I run my fingers through my hair. "What a tool!"

"Well... We're close, right?"

"Yeah. Only about a city block. Given, that's if we make it out alive. The next town over could be fucked. We just have to try." I nod.

I put Poopy in my backpack and we get a move on.