Apocalypse Redemption

Chapter 15: The Wharf

As the group ran blindly towards the wharf, Alex assured himself that all the tickets were secured in his pocket, for he didn't want to be the one to lose them. He looked over at Claire, who was also rumbling through her pockets for her tickets, and her face of relief showed that she had found them.

Alex looked over his group while looking backwards and was satisfied to see Darwin running up towards him.  He ran to his side and said, "It looks like a mob of people down there.  How do u expect us to get through there?"

Alex lightly replied, "Do you hear any gunshots from down there?"

"No."  Darwin questioned.

"Do you see what we have in our hands."

Darwin let out an expression of realization.  "I see.  Well then.  I have an idea of how to approach the crowd."  He showed a devious smile.

"I can't wait to hear it. You have fun with your little shotgun." Alex commented on Darwin's sawed off shotgun that he had stolen from a man further back down the street.  Darwin slowed down and returned to the group.  He let Angela and Samantha about what his plan was, and they took his words seriously.  Alex didn't believe that it would be serious, so he would take the lead at the bottom.

They passed by Ghirardelli Square, and Alex caught Chad mouthwatering at the sight of the chocolate in the shattered windows.  Alex slowed himself to get back to Chad, and pulled him along to get him out of his trance.  Chad stumbled, swore under his tongue, and then got to his feet.

Alex guided himself forward to Claire.  "I wish the best of luck when we get there.  When I count off, fire into the sky."

"I got it."  Claire replied.

Alex ran to Kathy and repeated the same thing, and stopped there, staying with Kathy, and continuing to briskly walk towards the pier.

The crowds of the wharf were coming into close proximity, and their individual shouts could be heard.  Alex prepped his machine gun for unleashing a wave of bullets on the crowd.  His plan involved mowing down the crowd, whom he assumed had no tickets and were trying to force themselves onto the boat.  He would warn them, and then unleash Hell if they failed to coorespond.

He stopped the group right in front of a group of people, who began to quiet their screams and look in Alex's direction.  He was about to raise his tickets into the sky until a gunshot disrupted the almost pure silence.

Alex fell to the ground, for he was not the source of the gunshot.  Portions of the crowd also fell to the ground, showing that they weren't armed.  Alex looked around while laying down on the ground, and saw a boot step by his head.  Claire and Kathy were both looking at the feet of the person next to Alex, and two more pairs of feet that stepped behind him.

He looked up to see Darwin, with Angela and Samantha at his side, with his shotgun pointed to the sky.  "Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up!  You see this?"  He pointed up at his shotgun.

He was not doing this.

"This...is my BOOMSTICK!!  The twelve-gauge double barreled shotgun.  S-Mart top of the..."

"SERIOUSLY CAN IT!"  Alex screamed from beneath him.  "You expect to control a crowd with a freaking Steve Cambell quote?!!"

Alex stood up and pushed Darwin out of the way.  "Now listen.  We have tickets unlike you primitive idiots.  Now move..."

"THEY HAVE TICKETS!!"  A man shouted from the crowd.

The crowd suddenly rose, and began charging forward towards the group.  The group began to stand up and aim their weapons at the crowd.  Every member fired into the crowd, mowing down those in the front lines attacking them.  Alex didn't feel bad when he killed these men, for their minds were already gone.

When the group had taken out the majority of the front lines, the crowd slowed their assult, and began to back away from Alex's group.

"LET US THROUGH, OR YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE MEN BEFORE YOU!"  Alex commanded the crowds.

The crowds continued to back up, and Alex began to move forward.  His group followed close behind as they made their way to the boat, which sat on the pier directly in front of them.  However, this happy stroll to the dock became a chaotic nightmare, when a man shouted, "ZOMBIE!!"  Alex looked back to see a giant horde of zombies running at full speed towards them.

Alex grabbed the closest members of the team and charged towards the boat.  He didn't look back, and sprinted as fast as he could, holding two people with his left hand.  He made it to the entrance to the boat, but the men who would check tickets had already jumped onto the boat.  Alex looked back to see he had grabbed Darwin and Kathy.

"GET ON!'"  He screamed.

Kathy and Darwin both jumped on, and Angela and Samantha soon emerged from the crowd of people.  They both were helped onto the slowly departing boat by Alex.  Chad, George, amd Brittany slowly made their approach to the boat, and were helped on once again.

Alex stood still on the dock, waiting for Claire.  He noticed that the boat was beginning to leave, and he knew that he couldn't wait any longer.  He leaped from the dock to the side of the boat, and clung onto the railing.  Chad and George reached out to pull him up, and they were successful in bringing him up.  He was flung over the railing into the boat, and he immediatly checked back on the dock.

He finally saw her.  She emerged from the crowd with a man grabbing onto her leg.  She kicked him off, and raced forward towards the boat, whose end was about to get out of jumping range.  Claire targeted her jump to the right side of the back end of the ship, and, with a final burst of speed, she jumped.

She landed with her right foot on the boat, but her left foot struck the engine, breaking it instantly due to the material of the engine.  She screamed in pain, but began to slowly fall over into the water.  Alex rushed to the back of the boat to save her, and he managed to grab onto her arm before she was dragged under, but it was too late.

A scream emerged from her, and Alex realized immediately what horror had occurred to her.  He foot had gotten lodged in the propeller.  He quickly tried to pull her up, but it was no use.  The water around the back of the boat soon became red with blood, and her mouth and nose began to leak the red fluid.  Her face went blank, and Alex let go as she slipped into the dark and unforgiving water.