Apocalypse Redemption

Chapter 14: The Push

Running past falling debris, Alex brushed the dust off his shoulders and continued rushing through the demolished building, following his friends away from the Bandits and towards the wharf.  The building behind him had been shredded to bits and pieces had extended as far down the road as three blocks.  The group manuevered out of the building and continued running down the streets, smacking the hoods of devastated trucks and SUVs that had been left out.

Another heavy explosion sounded from behind the group, as the bandits excavated another building by tearing it to pieces.  Fearing being too close to the debris, Alex sped up to get ahead of the group, and he caught up with Darwin, who was still barely managing to fold the map.  "How much further?"  Alex yelled.

"Just a few more blocks.  The pier should become visible in just a few blocks from here.  We're making good progress for not losing anybody."  Darwin responded.

"Let's not push our luck.  Those Bandits are tailing behind us pretty close, and I'm fearing that they might take action against us."  Alex replied.

"Don't worry about it man!"  Claire told him as she rushed past him.

Looking behind him, Alex saw the rest of the group keeping up nicly in spite of all the running they had been going through.  Alex slowed down and began to run to the side of Kathy.  He kept his gun aimed down the different alley ways that they passed, and made sure that he protected the one that he cared about.

In desperate times, he wasn't afraid to express his feeling through thought.

A loud explosion sounded far down the street in the opposite direction the group was traveling.  Alex grew into a full out sprint along with Kathy, and they both ran ahead of the rest of the group.  Alex looked back towards the explosion and saw that two bandits were rampaging through buildings and intersections, and they were heading their way.

"WE GOT TWO BANDITS COMING OUR WAY!!"  Alex screamed to the group.  "Don't fire unless you have to."

He kept running forward, but kept his gun aimed back at the two charging bandits.  He quickly glanced back at his front and saw three men about to run to a barricade in the middle of the nearest intersection.

A massive explosion ensured, as the men that ran to the barricades were unaware of the mines that lay beneath.  Their bodies were torn to shreds and flung around like ragdolls.

Alex directed the group along the crosswalk of the intersection, avoiding the center.  He looked back to see the bandits not slowing their assult after them.  He hatched a plan of how to deal with the bandits, a sinister plan, but a genius plan.

He told Kathy to continued running ahead, and Alex slowed himself down, dropping back to the back of the group.  Angela and Samantha gave him crazy stares, but continued.  Alex ran into the middle of the crosswalk, and stared the two bandits down.  They continued charging, and when they arrived at the intersection, they didn't stop.

One activated their flamethrower, while the other slammed his mask down.  But it was too late for both of them.

A violent explosion sent fragments of the bandits' suits across the intersection as the men were burned at the stake.  Alex was flung backwards, his back slamming into a barricade.  He cried due to the sharp pain in his back, but continued to catch up to the group.

He clutched his gun in one hand, which clutching his back with the other, rubbing the new cuts that were starting to stain his white shirt he bare.  He rushed up to Kathy, and told her to stop running.

Kathy listened, and the group slowly followed, coming to a stop. They were nearby Ghirardelli Square, which was a chocolate store not far from the wharf, which appeared to be clustered with groups scattered at each port. The wharf had a large group of people surrounding the boat that the group would take to Hawaii, and there appeared to be much violence occuring around that area.

"We did it!!!! WE DID IT!!!" Chad cheered from the back of the group.

"Not quite." Claire told him. "We still have to make it through the wharf, and get around those guys down there. I don't think we have much time before the ship departs, so we need to get going."

"I agree. We need to go." Alex agreed.

The group continued running as the crowds at the wharf began to cluster together at different positions, making a human shield around each enterance to the wharf.