On The Road (A L4D2 Fiction) *DISCONTINUED*

Guns and Infection

~Chapter one~
The world wasn't the same anymore. The 'green flu', as CEDA called it, started all of this. The goddamned zombie apocalypse. First it was only a few people, and now it was most of the country. I was lucky. Immunity was on my side. Unfortunately, my friends, family, and my boyfriend.. they had not been immune as I had.
Three days ago, the last of my friends had turned. My family was gone, my friends were dead, and my boyfriend... he was missing. Presumably either dead or infected.
Because of this, I was forced to leave my home. I got dressed in a grey tank top, a red flannel over it, my favorite pair of skinny jeans, and my converse. I geared up (and by geared up, I mean I managed to find a crowbar in my shed, a medkit in my bathroom closet, and some non-perishables in my pantry) and headed out onto the road.
I turned on my car and took off, heading for the more rural parts of Georgia. I knew that the road I took would go through Savannah, and I was fully prepared for anything to happen, or so I thought. After a few hours, I had just reached the outskirts of the city when my car ran out of fuel. I cursed myself and knew that I would have to journey on foot through the infected city.
I grabbed my belongings and exited the car, making sure to have my crow bar ready, just in case. I walked hesitantly down the city streets, occasionally coming across the infected, which didn't take much effort to kill. I didn't know what was coming, but I pushed on, no matter what. Over the course of a few days, I learned that the infected I was used to weren't the only ones. There were "special infected" as well. Things called Boomers, Smokers, Hunters, Spitters, Jockeys, Chargers... and possibly more that I hadn't yet encountered.
I knew how dangerous this could be, and regretted taking the route that would go through the city. I was all alone, the only one left alive in this god-forsaken city. I had seen no other survivors.
Another two days or so passed, and I was still alone, making my way through the city. I had found out that Liberty Mall was a CEDA evac., so I decided to head there. I wandered down the lonely streets, my only means of defense my rusted and bloodied crowbar. The occasional gurgles came from the infected around me, which I didn't hesitate to silence. It was foggy that day, but in the distance, I could swear I saw the fast-moving silhouettes of survivors.
I squinted my eyes, just to make sure I wasn't looking at mere common infected. That was when I saw they were holding guns. Guns! There were four of them, four survivors! I knew I had to get their attention.
"Hey! Over here!" I yelled out, hoping to grab their attention.
I readied my crowbar in case I was stopped by the zombies around me, and I ran over to them. As I got closer, I could make out what they looked like. There was a man and woman of color (the man was larger and obviously the oldest of the four, while the woman was younger and slimmer), a young man in a yellow 'Bull Shifters' t-shirt, and a man in a suit that looked like it had been expensive.
They readied their weapons as they saw me make their way towards them. Two of them cocked their guns and I panicked.
"Don't shoot! Not infected!" I told them.
They lowered their guns. All except one, the man in the suit. The woman spoke.
"Another survivor! Oh my lord, sweetie, how old are you?" She asked me, sounding both relieved that there was someone else, and concerned for my well-being.
"I'm twenty, I look younger, but I'm alright. I'm immune. I hope you guys are as well." I answered her.
"How do you know you're immune?" The man in the white suit asked me, almost accusingly.
"I've been bit, scratched.. you name it. It's been over a week since the first bite I got. I think I would've turned by now."
The woman looked concerned.
"Sweetie, how long have you been out there? Have you been alone?" She questioned.
"I've been alone basically since first infection. My family was wiped out pretty quickly, as were my friends. I've been alone since. I haven't had anything else but my trusty crowbar." I explained to them, holding the crowbar up for emphasis.
They all had a look of shock on their faces. The woman looked concerned, and the three men looked surprised.
"Girl, if you've been out there that long with just a crowbar, kicking zombie ass, I'm afraid to see what you can do with a gun." the eldest male spoke.
"Actually, I don't know how to shoot a gun. The closest I've ever come has been a BB gun. I think I'll stick to melee." I responded.
"We'll find you somethin' better than a melee, and I can show ya how to shoot a gun later! It'll be awesome!" The younger male spoke.
The man in the suit rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath, but I didn't hear it.
"Thanks, I would appreciate that. What are your names?" I asked the four.
"I'm Rochelle. The one in a yellow t-shirt is Ellis, the grouchy one is Nick, and the other one is Coach." Rochelle spoke. "What is your name?"
I thought for a second, wondering if I should tell her my actual name or make up some sort of alternate. But, I figured I really didn't have any reason to not tell them, so I did.
"Name's Katie. Nice to meet you. Actually, it's just nice to know I'm not alone out here. Where were you heading?"
"God do you ever shut up.. Liberty Mall. There's a CEDA evac. there. Don't bother following us." Nick grumbled.
Rochelle slapped his arm and glared at him, then turned back to me.
"Don't listen to him. You're more than welcome to join our group. The more, the better."
I smiled at her gratefully.
"Thanks. Actually, I was on my way there. I saw old posters hanging around the city with information on it, so I thought that I would check it out. Worth a shot, right?"
Rochelle nodded at me. There was a brief silence amongst the four of us.
"Are we going to stand here all day long? If we are, just tell me so I can shoot myself before the zombies get us." Nick suddenly spoke.
"Nick's right. We gotta get moving before something sneaks up on us. Ellis, could you give Katie one of your pistols? Just until we can find a gun for her." Coach stated.
Ellis nodded, and handed me one of the pistols. I thanked him and slung my crowbar over my back, and took the pistol in my right hand. Hopefully, I would learn how to shoot quickly. We started moving down the city streets, making our way towards the mall.
Eventually, we came across a gun store.
"I think I'm lookin' at a little slice of heaven!" Ellis exclaimed, rushing inside.
Everyone soon followed, grabbing new guns and ammo to replace theirs. I picked up a gun (I think Ellis said it was a Desert Rifle, but I wasn't really paying attention) and immediately knew this was the one for me. I made sure to give Ellis his other pistol back soon after. Coach ended up finding some laser-sights; he said they would improve our weapons accuracy, and I took his word for it.
That was when we heard it. A radio message addressed to us.
"Hello there. My name's Whitaker. I own this establishment. Take anything you need and come on upstairs when you're done." The man over the radio spoke.
We did just that and when we got upstairs he explained that he barricaded himself in there, grabbing what he needed, but in his haste he forgot cola. There was a HUGE barricaded area blocking our path, so he offered us a deal: get him some cola, and he would clear the path.
We agreed, and before we left for the snack shop, he warned us about the alarm. It would alert a hoarde of infected. We thanked him for the warning, and went back downstairs to the run-down shop. We barely had time to prepare before Nick just decided to open the door and go ahead. Rochelle yelled at him for rushing it as we covered him (using my crowbar, no gun yet) and got the cola upstairs. A hoarde was no fun to fight through, especially with special infected.
Nick got the cola to Whitaker, who, as promised, cleared the path. We thanked him again, and continued on, eventually reaching a safe house. We decided to stay there for the night, as it was already late, and that we would leave in the morning. The mall was close, and hopefully, safety was closer.