Rise Of The Others

Chapter Seven

"Am I bleeding?
Am I bleeding from the storm?
Just shine a light into the wreckage
So far away, away"

"Yeah, it's true. I actually have no idea what had happened. I assume some infected got over the walls or some shit," Nate said, finishing his breakfast.

"Well, we still gotta rescue Lucas, Nick, and Frisk from the skulls, right?" Bloodrayne brought up, resting her head on her hand. "I mean, who knows how much time we have?"

"Good idea," I replied, looking at Bloodrayne. "Anyone going to help with this?"

Chloe raised her hand. "Max and I will go with you."

"I'm definitely going," Nate added.

"Mind if I go with Y'all?" Lincoln asked.

"Oh yeah, that'd be great, you sure know how to fight," I said, bringing up yesterday.

"A new mission, huh?" Max asked. "I'm going with you all, just gonna say that." He pushed someone towards the table. "Also, this one's been looking for Maxine Caufield or something like that."

"Noah!" Maxine jumped up from the table, hugging Noah.

"Hey, cousin Max," he smiled.

"I guess Noah's going also...?" Nate questioned.

"I guess so," I said. 

"What's the mission, Nate?" Noah wondered.

"Rescuing three kidnapped civilians. We may encounter infected on the way, but we don't know for sure. Want to go with us?" Bloodrayne asked, leaning back in her chair.

"Yeah, sure," Noah said, putting his backpack on the table. "We got everything we need?"

"Not yet, we still need supplies," I said, standing up from the table. "Well, its best if we get ready, don't you think?"

"Yeah, we don't want to go in unprepared," Chloe commented. "Trust me, I know."

"Okay, come on!" I shouted, walking towards the armoury, which used to be the Hot Topic.

* * *

As we loaded all the gear into the jeep, Shaun jumped into the driver's seat, inserting the key in the ignition. "I call shotgun!" Bloodrayne shouted, hopping in the passenger seat.

"Okay, can we just notice that Bloodrayne and Shaun are the only hetero couple?" Nate said. "Like, what?"

"Definitely noticed," Shaun replied, putting on his sunglasses.

"So?" Bloodrayne asked. "It just adds diversity, right?"

"And there's Lincoln, the lonely whatever the fuck his sexuality is," I added.

"Its asexual, thank you very much," Lincoln commented. 

"Alright, let's get this show on the road!" Chloe shouted, hopping into the jeep. "Come on, Max!"

As we left for the UBCO, I waved goodbye to everyone. I heard the gates open once again, hearing the screeching sound of metal against concrete. Trust me, it isn't a pretty sound.

"You know, I feel like there should be some dramatic monologue or something like that," Nate said, breaking the silence.

I pointed at him like a cheesy game host would. "Yes, totally," I thought for a moment, wondering what would be good. "Everything that we've done has brought us to this very moment. We are all completely different people and yet we are here, ready to fight for the entire world. What the apocalypse has told me is that whatever you are, wherever you came from, who you love, doesn't matter. What matters is your determination," I said with power.

"Well holy shit. I was thinking of my own monologue, then you come here already knowing what to say," Nate replied. "But seriously, you're a master of words."

"Yeah, I definitely agree. That was an amazing speech," Maxine added.

"Mind if I add my own dramatic monologue?" Bloodrayne asked.

"Go for it, Blood!" I excitedly shouted.

"Okay," she cleared her throat. "This year has been a troubled one, we've lost a lot of people to the world and a country has been destroyed, but we're still standing. Everyone has changed, for better or the worse. Yet, we're still breathing. We survived so much and we are still perceiving through the challenges that are thrown at us. We can't stop now, the future of humanity is at stake." She said gracefully.

The Jeep zoomed throughout the city, nearly running into cars and driving through bodies like speedbumps. Eventually, the Jeep slowed down and came to a stop near the UBCO.

"Well, I guess we're here." Shaun got out of the car, loading a magazine in his Desert Eagle. "Come on, we're moving on foot from here."

There was thick smoke all around us, making it rather hard to see. The entire place stenched of a rotting corpse. Well, it kind of does make sense, there were bodies everywhere, infected and human.

I looked around the area, taking out my .357 Revolver. I could see figures coming towards us, with their weapons in their hands. The wind howled as we began to approach the bridge that leads to the base. I could hear a fire cackling that blended in with the scent of rotting corpses.

 The tension began to build up, our feet treading through the water. "This place is fucking creepy," Nate said, walking faster.

"Yeah, no shit." Bloodrayne's hands began to heat up, fire forming in her palms. "Let's do this, bitches!" She started sprinting, her hair flying in the strong breeze.

As all of us ran together, there were other figures sprinting towards us. "Infected!" Shaun screamed, aiming his pistol and shooting. Soon after, the fog began to fade and runners were everywhere.

While Shaun unloaded his magazine into the runners, Caden threw multiple grenades at the infected, Bloodrayne was throwing fireball after fireball, and I was swinging my baseball bat at them.

As all of the runners died, we began to move on, jogging across the bridge. "Watch out!" Nate shouted, pushing me over. A quick time down started, and soon after, a grenade exploded. "Damn, I could've lost you there. You better be fucking careful out here."

"Yeah, thanks." I brushed off the dirt from my bday and kept moving. Our pace slowly began to rise, like a crescendo or a raising tempo.

As ass of us got to the main building, our pace began to slow. "Well, well, well..." A low and gritty voice said. They were wearing a light grey sweater and jeans. I knew this was Alexis, the leader of the Skulls. "You're finally here. I was waiting for so long," they took something from their pocket, as they smiled. "Time's almost up, Liam." In their hands was the airborne virus strain. They began to reach for their back, and then suddenly took out a revolver and fired at James.

"James!"