Desolate (under reconstruction)

Chapter Seven The Showdown

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Date: June 27th, 2136

Location: Walmart, Hibbing, MN

Objective: Resupply
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A Few Weeks Later...
    We had made it to my house with every gun we could find, including my AA-12, and back without any problems. We grabbed all of the remaining ammo as well, though there weren't many extra rounds that would be available if we loaded every gun completely. We were thankful for the ammo supply we had back at the base.
     Since then, I had been in countless runs. Some just to kill more of the creatures to reduce the risk of the back being broken into. Others were for extra food, which we went to the Super One about a mile away for. Because the store had been subjected to raids from other surviving people, at least a quarter of the food was gone. They mostly had taken the non-expiring food, which we had tried to get as much of as possible.
     With every run I became more skilled in fighting the creatures, killing them quicker and more efficiently. As well as becoming more acquainted with my sword than my guns. My friends were becoming the same way, especially Ender. When he had come with me to my house to get the guns, I had found out that his Katanas were like my sword in the way they both had an element module. His Katanas had flame modules in the hilt, which, when activated, would envelope the back blade in fire, making the blades three times as deadly.
      Ender and I were about to go on another run together, to check out the Walmart on the other side of town for anything useful that might have been left behind. We were cleaning our blades before we left. We both only packed a handgun during runs, knowing we were greatly skilled with our swords to the point of hardly needing guns. But we still packed the handguns just in case a situation got bad enough.
     Even though, weeks earlier, the forecast was for a few inches of rain, a storm was brewing outside. The biggest rainstorm in history was about to take place. It was obvious enough. Ender and I HAD to get supplies to last the entire group for a long period of time, possibly.
     I walked to the truck, sat in the passenger seat, and waited patiently for Ender to join me. While I waited, I fiddled with my hands, staring at them intently. They were callused and dirty, hardly ever being washed so that we could save water for when we needed it severely. I heard the door to my left open, and felt Ender slide in beside me. I looked at him as he closed the door, not saying a word. He turned the keys in the ignition, causing the truck to roar to life. The seat vibrated slightly under me, though it wasn't noticeable.
     As soon as the truck was on, Daniel started to raise the metal door, slowly. When it was high enough, Ender drove forward. The sun was setting, making the clouds above us turn a dark shade of red, and making the sky look as though it was covered in blood.
     Ender drove through the parking lot, which was utterly barren. None of the Roamers (our name for the creatures) were in sight. Probably, as their name states, roaming around deeper in the city. Ender and I hoped to be at the Walmart before it got too dark. Because when night came, the Roamers became more viscous, becoming faster at night for some reason. While in the day their top speed was a slow walk, at night they could get to the speed of a medium jog. Due to their ignorance of pain or ailments, they could jog forever. This made them horribly frightening.
    Another thing that scared Ender and I about the night was a roar, yes, a roar, that was different than the rest, that only went on at night. It was much louder, deeper, and less jumbled than the rest of the Roamers' roars. Ender and I found it unnerving.
    We drove on the mostly empty highway. The only things on it, other than us, being abandoned cars. And the occasional Roamer or two. We avoided them, leaving them far behind us. It was silent, and with the red sky, the abandoned city gave me a feeling of horrible sadness. For I knew of all the lives that had been taken to this epidemic, and in its wake, came a living hell: The constant reminder that we were alone. At least, for the time being. In two days we were going to call the military. We had to make some preparations before hand, and they were almost done. We hoped the military would helped. We prayed that they would, for surely we would die without it.
    After about a fifteen minute drive, the Walmart came into view. The big sign on it saying 'Walmart' was not on, meaning it had been closed before everything happened. It's parking lot was much more crowded with abandoned cars, though not hardly a sight of any Roamers. We drove down the driveway to it, slowly, as to not make much sound. We peered around cautiously, keeping our eyes peeled. We parked right in front of the door, shutting off the truck. We both got out, shutting our doors quietly and walking toward the entrance. The electric doors opened as we got close, allowing us to enter into the massive building. My heart was pumping like a cannon in my chest, like the murderer from 'The Telltale Heart', by Edgar Allan Poe, an author from nearly  300 years ago.
     We entered through the second set of doors, into the massive store. The lights glowed dimly, signifying that the store was running merely on its reserve power. I motioned for Ender to follow me, and we walked towards the food section, which was to the left of the entrance. I took a detour, breaking into a jog, and Ender followed the suit. We went all the way to the other side of the store, to the backpacks. I grabbed a big sized camping pack, Ender did the same. We slung them on our back, Ender using both shoulders while I used one. That's when I heard something.
     "H-help..." Came a quiet voice, which I almost missed.
    I looked around, confused. Ender did the same, apparently hearing the voice as well. The voice spoke again, a little louder this time. I started walking toward the voice.
   "Help.. anyone..." The voice said, rasping.
    I turned a corner, and sitting against a wall, was a girl. She was about my age, judging by her facial appearance. She had short hair, and didn't seem to be that big. Around 5 foot. I didn't recognize her from my school. I walked over to her, checking her body. No bites or scratches, but she was bruised badly in many areas. Above her right eye was a bruise the size of a baseball, and it seemed painful.
   "What... What happened to you?" I asked, rather alarmed.
    "Beaten..." She said, hardly able to say more than one word per sentence. She had a slight southern accent.
    "By who?" I asked, looking at her bruises again.
     "D-" she went into a coughing fit, sending her body into spasms.
      After a while she stopped. She looked at me, her eyes wide.
     "Dregor." She said, and the words hit me hard, for reasons I was not sure of.
     "Dregor... Who is that?" Ender asked.
     "Me." A distorted sounding voice came from behind us.
     The girl made a whimpering sound from her through, lifting up her finger, which was shaking violently, to point to something behind us. Ender and I slowly turned around, and what we saw was the most horrific sight known to man. Towering above us, at least 7 feet tall, was a Roamer. But something about it was different. Much different. It was bulging with muscle. It's scleras were blood red, and it's pupils a pale gold. They seemed to look straight through me, into my very soul.
     Behind 'Dregor', a herd of smaller Roamers was accumulating. It was like school kids crowding around a fight, except there was no antagonization for the fight. All that was heard was the sound of them moaning, and even THAT was quiet. They refused to attack us, keeping behind Dregor.
    "So... YOU are the troublesome child that has killed hundreds of my servants...." Dregor said to me, his voice sounded like a demonic whisper, though it was clearly heard.
    I got out my sword. The creatures around us growled, not liking the sight of my sword.
"Yes, I am. And I am about to add you to the death toll." I said, getting into a battle stance, but he answered with a distorted laugh.
    "Now now, do not trifle me, weak one." He growled, his voice rumbling like thunder, causing every natural instinct of running away to scream 'RUN! RUN!', but I stood firm.
    "You are the first one. The first Roamer." I said, realizing it.
    "Yes. I would have thought you knew that already." He replied, growling.
    "You are going down." Ender said, taking out his Katanas, which caused a louder growl from both Dregor and the herd of Roamers.
    "I would like to see you try, weakling." He growled.
    Before we could even react, Dregor had kicked me in the stomach, throwing me against the wall with extreme force. I heard a loud CRACK, realizing that my armor had broken. Pain spread through my body, and I slowly got up, hot tears forming in my eyes. My helmet covered this. I then reached down and picked up my sword, which I had dropped. I turned on the electric module, which crackled from the energy of the electricity as it spread across the blade. He had gotten me pissed.
     "My name is Hunter George Griffin, and you are responsible for the death of my father. Prepare to die." I growled in a low voice. (Note from author: DEM PRINCESS BRIDE REFERENCES!!!!)
     I lifted my sword high above my head, and slammed it into the ground, causing a bolt of electricity to race across the ground, making a shockwave, which hit Dregor in the feet, causing him to fly back into a shelf, which fell over. He roared and got up, hardly fazed. I lifted my sword, and then charged at him. Charging at me, a loud banging coming with each of his foot falls. At the last 4 feet between us, I leapt at him, taking a swing with my sword. I cut his arm, though not all the way through. The wound cauterized, but Dregor didn't even seem to notice he had been wounded. He punched me to the left, and I landed 7 feet away. My head was spinning badly, and my vision was blurry.
    My body felt suddenly colder, causing me to look down. My chest armor had broken off, and my visor was cracked. My legs and arms weren't in a much better state, missing pieces. I then looked back at Dregor, who had started to fight Ender. Ender was fighting cautiously. He would jab at Dregor, then jump out of reach. I stumbled toward Dregor, sword in hand. I got behind him, slashing straight down on his back, on his spine. His back was opened up, his spine sticking out. He roared, feeling that one. He fell to his side, and got up. He was actually in pain. He backed up, starting to realize his injury was too bad to fight. He then looked, and saw the girl, who was cowering in fear. He looked at the horde.
    "Servants! Kill the girl! And the others!" He yelled.
    The Roamers responded immediately, stumbling towards Ender, the girl, and I. Dregor smiled maniacally, before turning to walk away.
    "If I see you again, I will kill you, weakling! This is only an example of my power!" He yelled back, before disappearing behind the corner.
    Ender and I looked at each nervously as the horde closed in on us. They went slowly, tauntingly. Ender and I backed up, forming a protective semi-circle around the girl. I took my .44 out of its holster, and handed it to the girl.
    "Can you shoot?" I asked
    "Hell yes." She replied, her voice getting stronger.
    I heard her pull back the hammer of the gun with a click. She shot the gun, getting at least three of the Roamers through the head, killing them. Ender and I held our ground, waiting for them to get closer, while the girl unloaded rounds into the heads of the Roamers. When they came into range, Ender and I slashed through them, taking at least 3 at a time. Making precise blows to the head, they fell to the ground, dead. Our weapons, both being extremely hot, cauterized the Roamers wounds, making everything less messy. From the 50 that had been in the horde, none were left after 5 minutes. Piles of bodies had accumulated around us, their stench almost unbearable.
    I helped the girl up as Ender kept watch, and we started to walk towards the exit of the store, stepping carefully over the bodies. I, supporting the girl with my shoulder, walked slowly while Ender jogged ahead to check out the area for any more threats. Our progress to the door was slow, making sure Dregor was not around. We soon got to the doors, getting outside. And then we saw it.... Our truck was destroyed. In flames, hardly recognizable. On the door, engraved in the metal, was the word 'Power'. Shivers ran down my spine. I looked at Ender, who had his helmet on still. He seemed to still be looking at the truck.
     "Ender, call the base." I said.
     "Can't.. The only radio we had was in the truck.." He said quietly.
    "So.. We are stuck here..." I summarized.
    He nodded. My heart dropped.
    "We will make camp here for tonight.. Tomorrow we make the walk back." I decided.
    "Agreed." He said.
    The girl hadn't said anything. She was staring at the fire, eyes wide. Her mouth was open slightly. I helped her walk back inside the store, following Ender. We decided to go to the food section, where we grabbed some food that didn't need to be cooked. Not one of us said a word. The camp we made was flimsy, hardly able to protect us, but it was the best we could do. Ender and I decided between the two of us that we would take turns on watch.
    I went first, being the less drowsy. The watch would last for about 5 hours, and Ender would take the last 5. The girl had decided to stay up with me for some reason, and I had no objections. She sat beside me, not making eye contact.
   "I never got to say thank you." She said quietly.
    "No need to." I said simply.
   "There is. You could have left me to die. But you didn't." She said.
    "What good is it to leave someone to die? These times makes everyone valuable." I replied.
    "You sure do have a different perspective than most..." She said uneasily.
    "Well, I HAVE been told I am not like other people." I stated, smiling slightly.
    She chuckled slightly at this, finding it rather amusing.
    "So, where are you from?" I asked her.
    "I'm from Arkansas." She says.
     "Oh? What is an Arkansas citizen doing all the way up here in Minnesota?" I asked, curious.
     "My parents are scientists. They came up here to help with the perfect human formula." She replied to me.
     "I see. Why have I never seen you at school?"
      "I am homeschooled. We only arrived about a month ago. Before that, I went to a public school in Arkansas." She said.
    "What is your name?"
    "Leo." She said shyly.
    "Nice to meet you, Leo. I am Hunter." I said, not caring that her name was like a boy's.
    "Likewise." She replied, smiling.
     We talked for nearly my entire watch, getting to know each other better. We talked as if we had known one another for our entire lives, cracking jokes, sharing laughs and tears. The night was quiet, no sight or sound of any Roamers, which made everything easier for me and Leo as we talked deep into the night. When it came time for the watch to switch, I woke Ender up, though he was groggy and tired. He sat tall, eyes half open, as Leo and I lied down to sleep.
When I woke up, the store was still mostly dark. My body was sore from the fight with Dregor. Just moving sent slight pain through my body. I looked, and saw Ender was sitting, talking to Leo. They were mostly talking about the project           Leo's parents had been sent here from Arkansas to work on. Project Perfect Human, I overheard.
    "What is Project Perfect human?" I asked suddenly. Leo and Ender jumped, surprised I was awake.
"Salutations, Hunter." Ender said.
"What is Project Perfect Human?" I asked again.
"Um... Well.. It's.." Leo tried to say, but she couldn't find the words for it.
"Well, it was basically a project for military purposes. It was a formula intended to make its user have superhuman abilities. Super strength, speed, and intelligence." Ender explained.
"I see." I said, starting to get the picture.
"Yes." Leo said.
I got up, letting out a gasp of pain, almost falling over. My ribs were extremely sore. Ender and Leo were immediately on either side of me, supporting my weight.
"Oofta... Thanks.." I said, hardly able to speak. They gently helped me sit down, and put my head down on my pillow.
"We need to get you back to base. Daniel can help get you patched up there." Ender said.
"Yes, I agree... But... How are we gonna get me to the base? Our truck is destroyed." I asked.
"How about we get a vehicle left in the parking lot?" Leo said, looking at us both.
"Agreed. Good plan. Leo, stay here with Hunter, I'm gonna go get a vehicle ." Ender said, before running out of sight. Leo knelt down beside me.
I noticed Leo seemed to be in a bit of pain as well, her bruises from Dregor still extremely visible.
"He sure did a number on you..." I commented.
"That he did... That he did." She said, nodding.
"So.. What were you doing here?" I asked.
"Same as you. Getting some food, supplies. Maybe set camp up here." She replied, shrugging.
"This WOULD be a good place to set up camp..."
"Yes. Big assortment of food, useful supplies. I would have ridden out this apocalypse."
"Are you considering coming with Ender and I to our base?"
"Ender and I discussed that. I have indeed decided to come back."
"Good."
Ender, at that point, showed up with a worn-down car. Leo helped me up, supporting my weight. I grunted, gritting my teeth, trying not to scream. She opened the car door, and helped me in. Got me in completely, shutting the door. She sat beside me, letting the side of the truck. Ender drove forward, through the store. I stared straight up at the lights above, calming myself. As we got outside, I saw that the clouds were still cooking up a storm.
"When that storm hits.. Everything is gonna get a bit harder round here." Leo commented.
"Yeah..." I said, nodding.
"Hopefully it won't turn to a tornado..." She said nervously.
"It has its potentials to be one." I replied flatly.
At that point, Ender yelled back to us.
"I can make a weather system to check the air temperatures and pressures!"
"Ok!" Leo yelled in reply.
The rest of the drive was silent, except for the constant sound of the car's engine. Occasionally there was the sound of a lone Roamer, but no more. The Roamers tended to stay away from the highway, because anything living was mostly in the city. As we drove, Leo was looking at the buildings surrounding the highway. With each bump in the road, I grit my teeth in pain.
"How could it have gone so wrong..." Leo said to herself, under her breath.
"How could WHAT go so wrong?" I asked.
"The perfect human formula." She replied.
"How did it go wrong?" I was confused.
"The creatures... They are the result of the formula. Dregor was the first to get it. He infected everyone..." She said.
"Wait... You mean to tell me... The perfect human project, is this?" I asked, my eyes growing wide.
"Yes."
I was stunned. My brain was sent into a turmoil of thoughts, all coming to me so quick I couldn't make out any of them, before they were gone as fast as they came. I didn't speak for the entire ride home. To think, a formula meant for good, had turned into something so bad.
As we entered the truck bay, I looked at Leo, who was looking around the tuck bay in amazement. She seemed nervous seeing all of my friends, who were standing by the store door. Ender stopped the truck when we were in the truck bay completely. He turned it off, before stepping out of the car. He opened the door, helping Leo get me up. I groaned, my muscles tensing up involuntarily. Leo and Ender supported me, walking me over to the rest of the group.
"What happened to him?" Daniel asked, alarmed.
"I will tell you later. Get him checked up on." Ender said, backing away so Daniel could take his place.
Allie came to take Leo's place, but Leo didn't move. Daniel motioned for Leo to walk forward, to follow his lead. Eventually, they got me to the medical rooms. They set me down on the bed, Daniel immediately started working. He pulled out a I.B.S (Internal Body Scanner), which was a simple seeming machine. It was about a foot long. It had a handle big enough for only a single hand. There was a 3 inch wide and 6 inch long glass panel. Inside of it was a image receptor, as well as a light build that shone a bright blue light. Daniel turned it on, and held it inches above my stomach. He moved it across my midsection 2 times, before shutting off the machine.
He took out a microchip from the machine, and put it in the monitor. An internal picture of my midsection, showing I had three broken ribs. One of them had scraped my liver. It didn't puncture my liver, but I was internally bleeding. Daniel's expression grew nervous. I knew what was happening before he even told me.
"We need to do a Carrate procedure." He said.
A Carrate procedure was the replacement of surgery, which had been dropped by hospitals 30 years ago, due to the dangers to patients it caused. The Carrate procedure was temporary transparency. Transparent of anything really. A human, a tool, a replace organ. It made it transparent long enough to get into the human body, and be put in the right place. In my case, I was going to get a cauterization Carrate procedure on my liver, to stop my internal bleeding.
Daniel gave me two pills, one for sleeping and one to slow my digestion tract, so my liver wouldn't be moving much during the surgery. My eyes started to droop shut. My heartbeat slowed, and I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was alone. I looked over at the heart monitor, seeing my heart was only a little below the normal rate. The pain in my midsection was mostly gone, but there was still some left. I slowly started to sit up, hardly having trouble. At that moment, The door to the room opened. Leo stepped in. She looked at me, not speaking for a moment.
"How long have I been out?" I asked her.
"Two days." She said.
"anything major happen while I was asleep?"
"No. Everyone has been going on about their normal business."
"Any complications during the Carrate procedure?"
"One. Your heart stopped completely for almost a minute. Everyone was pretty frightened it wasn't going to start again. Daniel believes it was an allergic reaction to the heart slowing pill."
"My heart STOPPED?" I was stunned.
She nodded her reply.
"We had to stop the procedure for about an hour. We started your heart again with an electric shock." She said.
"I've never been known to have allergic reactions to anything." I replied, shaking my head.
"Daniel was going to take some tests on you once you woke up. He put me as watch over you." She replied.
"Lucky me." I say, smiling.
She just shook her head with a good-natured grin.
"Your friends were right when they told me you had an interesting form of humor." She commented.
"Oh? Anything else my friends have told you?" I asked, interested.
"I have heard a lot, but only the good things. I wanted to hear from you personally of your NOT so good sides.
"Oh but where to start...." I say.
At that point, Daniel walked in.
"Ah, you are up. I am guessing Leo filled you in?" He said
"Yes. Test away." I said merely.
"Mostly we are going to go through cardio tests, as well as some allergenic tests." Daniel reported.
"Fine."
Daniel hooked a bunch of wires to my chest, which I had taken my shirt off for. I looked down at my stomach, past the entanglement of wires, seeing my stomach had sustained a relatively large bruise.
Leo had left to go help the others with their jobs, still needing to be assigned by me. Daniel had recommended to me that she would be good on the run group, for supplies.
As Daniel monitored my heart, he also started testing my allergic reactions. We quickly found out that, indeed, I was allergic to the heart slowing pills. This had a possibility of being bad for me, because the Carrate procedure wouldn't go as smoothly without my heart being slowed.
"So.... This means...." I said, drawing a complete blank.
"This means that we have to find other methods of treating your internal injures, or we need to give you a big dose of anti-allergens before we give you the heart slowing pills, which can't exactly guarantee your safety." Daniel says sadly.
"Oh." I said, understanding.
"Well, you can think about it, and reply to me when you have thought of your answer." He replied to me.
He took the wires off my chest, handing me a shirt. I put it on, before standing up. My legs wobbled beneath me, causing me to put my hand on the wall for support.
Leo and Daniel rushed to help me, but I gestured them away.
"I am fine, I can walk." I say, before starting to walk on my own. My legs wobbled, and threatened to fall out from under me, but I just continued forward, walking out of the clothes department. As I walked through the store, I caught the glances of my friends when I passed by. I went to our camping area, getting into the tent that I had made. I lied down, letting out a strained, painful groan. My entire body was stiff as a board, and it seemed to be working against me.
I closed my eyes, letting my thoughts slowly ease through me. I had my eyes closed for quite some time. I opened my eyes for a moment, sensing something, I looked at the entrance of my tent, seeing a shadow behind the fabric. I was puzzled, so I sat up, opening the door. Before I knew what was happening, something was on top of me, pinning me down. I tried to resist, but whatever was pinning me had quite some strength. I looked up, and saw that it was Dregor. His eyes were red.
I kicked him off me with new found strength. It seemed almost unreal. I sprinted out of the tent, running toward our weapon lockers, where Daniel had put my sword and guns. I heard Dregor roar in frustration, and start to sprint after me. I noticed that the sky was a a kind of red-grey, illuminating the entire L&M. I tried not to pay much notice to it, trying to use every burst of energy I had to get to the weapon locker. I quickly got there, opening the door and running through. I stopped dead in my tracks. Standing there, were my friends. But it wasn't them. They were... Turned... They all looked at me with a hungry look, no light in their eyes. Suddenly, Dregor broke through the door, punching we against the wall. He grabbed my throat, making me gasp for air.
"I told you I would be back." He growled lowly, before lunging at my throat.
I woke up, screaming. I sat straight up, trying to get out of the tent. I was in a panic, gasping for air, my heart pounding against my chest, threatening to burst out of me. My eyes were wide, and I started looking around wildly. The store looked normal, and there was no sign of Dregor. I heard someone yelling, though my mind was so far out of reality that I couldn't tell who was doing it. I only saw Leo, but I didn't understand her. She ran towards me, followed by all of my friends. They all were at my side, speaking frantically. But all I heard was babbling, not complete words. Sweat came into my eyes, blurring my vision. I was gasping for air. I faintly remember seeing Leo and Allie crying. Ender and Joel had horribly frightened and nervous expressions on their faces. Jerome and Daniel seemed more confused than anything. My vision slowly went black.