The Undead

Chapter 23: Second Branch

--Phillips Point of View--

I stand to attack the walkers. "Woah man!" The guy says. "Woah!" I shout back. "Who're you?" "I could ask the same" "Names Phillip" "I'm Tobias" I extend my arm and we shake. "Get behind here" I say. Tobias hops the counter and hands me a loaded pistol. " Here...take some rounds too" He says. "Thanks mate" I reply. He has another pistol. "Dual wield huh?" I ask. "Gotta survive somehow....I only had one piece....Recently picked that one up from a crash site" "Crash site?" "Yeah...some cargo plane crashed a few hours ago" "That was my plane!" I reply. "No shit!" He says doubting me. "Yeah...My crew and I flew in from Alaska.....we were supposed to be in Rome....but we lost an engine and we had to abort and parachuted down" I explain. "Well then some luck....we're gonna head back there...where your crew?" "We split up.....I think we are supposed to meet there anyways....lets go" I say. We hop over the counter and I take the back of the hammer and break a zombies skull. "Nah man....like this" Tobias says taking the hammer. He throws it through the air into another walker "Shit...." "Nah...I was into throwing axes as I grew up" "How old are you?" I ask him.

"23 now...." He answers. We leave the pharmacy and there is a motorcycle. "Sorry lad, hope you dont mind" He says. I hop on the back and hold on. We drive off and he is way better at driving a bike then Kaleb. "How far?" "Few kilometers bro!" We speed up and barely miss a few walkers. "Oh shit!" He exclaims. I look ahead. roadblock. "Fuck...abort" he says. I jump off and roll on the ground. Tobias didnt think I'd listen as he keeps going without me. He applies his brake and slows down. "Shit mate...I was kidding!" I hear him shout out to me. I take the pistol and run to him. Walkers surround me and I can only take so many out. I jump back onto the bike and Tobias peels off to the left. We drive into a wooden fence smashing it to bits. "Okay, Here we go!" Tobias exclaims as we ramp off a pile of various objects. We fly over the roadblock of cars and land on the other side. 

The bike gains traction and we drive towards the crash site. "Hey...there it is!" I shout. "Damn" Tobias says releasing the throttle. We slow down and come across some burned things along with a few weapons. "Grab what'cha can......" I say to Tobias. I slide a fire ax into my hands and shoot the walkers that stray to close. I slip the pistol into my waistband and use the fire ax. "IFV!" Tobias screams in the distance. I turn to his direction and see the IFV. "No...way" I say breathlessly. 

I throw the fire ax into a walker before slipping the pistol back out. I spot walkers attacking the IFV. Tobias and I shoot at the walkers and even hit the plate metal. "Move in!" I shout at Tobias. We both run towards the vehicle and the turret fires into walkers behind us. I trip up on a piece of rubble and smack into the ground. Tobias slides in the mud to come back for me. "Thanks mate" I say to him as I get yanked onto my knees.  The IFV is a few meters away before a door opens. "Get in!" I hear Melanie scream. Shocked, I take a moment to react. I lift myself up and run towards the IFV. The cannon fires a few shots behind me and dirt kicks up. I launch myself through the air. Tobias is on the ground clenching his knee. I land and roll. 

"Tobias?" I ask loudly. "I'm hit.....carry on dude!" his voice echoes. I dont think twice before getting in the IFV. "Another man down.....where're Andrew and Britni?" I ask Melanie. "We dont know" She says shutting the door and latching it. Stevie steps down from the turret. "Holy shit...one down.....2 to go!" He says half excitedly. 

We sit for a while before the sound of nails on metal drives us mad. "We need to look for them" Kaleb points out. "Right" I agree. "What if we leave and they come here?" Melanie states. "Then we'll see'em when we come back" Kaleb says to her. I notice he holds her hand. "Well.....they ran trowards here......I dont get it" I remark. "They kept running forward..towards here....where'd they go?" "Beats me.....we should check around" Stevie says. Ryan is asleep now.

Kaleb takes off in the IFV smashing a few walkers under the vehicle. I sit next to Melanie in silence. It is quite hot in this vehicle. I feel a bead of sweat drop from my chin onto my shirt. "Is there air conditioning?" Stevie asks, breaking the silence. "Yes....but the fall must have damaged it...it wont run...in fact...the engine is going to overheat if we dont stop" Kaleb answers. We groan as the IFV slows down to a complete stop. "What weapons do we have?" Melanie asks. "Our fists" I answer sternly. Kaleb grabs Melanies hand as he opens the door. We hop out of the vehicle and take off to the streets.

As I'm running a gunshot rings through the air. "Woah...the hell was that" Stevie asks. "Came from that direction.....lets go" Kaleb says. I hesitate to follow for a second. Three more gunshots ring through the air. Kaleb and I smash two walkers down together before leading into a warehouse. "Door is locked" Melanie says. "Ladder!" I point out in the near distance. I jog over to it. "Let's go" I say climbing up. Reaching the roof I spot four men standing around with shotguns. I see two tied up people who I quickly recognize. I crawl behind a vent on the roof and Kaleb joins me. "The others stood guard" He tells me. "Dude....Andrew and Britni are on the roof......four guys with shotguns" I explain. "Fuck" I roll to another vent. I smack it to attract attention. "Who's there?" one of the four ask. I hit it again. "Not funny man! I'll fucking kill ya" He says getting closer. 

I shoot a glance to Kaleb. He nods. I see the man as he lifts his shotgun. He opens his mouth just as I kick his legs and he drops to his knees and Kaleb grabs the shotgun and I throw him off the roof. The sound of his body hitting the ground attracts the other three. "Tim?" One asks aloud. Kaleb stands with the shotgun and fires a slug into one. The other grabs Andrew and his forehead is bloody. I climb onto the vent and jump off landing a foot into one. He strikes me with his shotgun from the ground. I fall onto the floor as the world fades to black after the sound of a gunshot.