The Virus Within- Changing

The Fight

Everyone around me woke up to the sound of the bleep of the wake-up call at six. It was earlier than usual, as Bennet wanted everyone to be wide awake when the assault started. I had woken two hours earlier. I didn't want, get, or need a lot of sleep. Everyone got to their stations, and I got ready, too. I got to my room and took all my stuff. Then I looked for the boy I had seen earlier. He was obviously an Assassin. Thankfully, he didn't match the description of the other boy that had broken the Stronghold.

I never found him, but I did find a stash. Under one of the trashcans. There was a handgun with ammo, a pocket knife, and a utility tool. I took all three. Then, ten minutes later, there was an alarm. Two short beeps, then two long beeps.

I quickly headed to the safe room. There were already two adults and fifteen kids there. We would stay there unless they broke the wall. Then we would either go in or evacuate.

I spotted Jack and Jake. Jack had his baseball bats and his bite-proof gear.

"Hey!" I walked over.

"Hey." Jake absentmindedly said before turning to Jack.

"You seriously think we'll get face to face with a zombie? The chances are one in a million. We'll never." he said.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Better to have it when you don't need it than to not have it when you do." Jack shot back.

"So true," I said.

We headed to the front of the group. Mr. Hamble, my school studies teacher, was organizing the kids.

"Okay, guys, the small kids, less than ten, you go to the very back, okay? Yeah. Ten and eleven-year-old boys and girls, stay where you are. The oldest, the teenagers, get to the front."

We moved accordingly and I found myself at the front. Mr. Hamble was right in front of me, and he turned.

"Help me watch these kids, okay?" he nodded towards the mob of teens and toddlers.

"Okay," I said. I moved away from him a little. He greeted people coming in. I scanned the crowd, looking for the mysterious Venta. I looked in vain. I kept looking, and when I didn't find him, I looked at the newcomers. I still couldn't find him, and I resorted to scenting.

"Hey!" A messenger boy ran at me. He stopped just before colliding and yelled. "Bennet wants all the teens able to fight to come to the wall."

I joined the group of teenagers that were heading out to one of the exits. The person at the front started running, and the rest of us followed. I joined them, keeping stride easily. We ran through an exit and immediately split into groups. I strode out with Jake and Jack. We headed towards the north wall, like most of the other groups. Once we reached the wall, I went straight to the outer ledge and gasped. There were a lot of zombies.

Despite the original reports of only five hundred in Kindlewind, with about four hundred turned, the horde had doubled again and again, most likely gaining numbers from stragglers or other hordes. There were way more than five hundred. I rushed to the nearest person.

"How many are there?" I asked with dread.

"Cap'n says there's 'bout ten thousand of the walking dead out there." The man replied with a grimace.

By perspective, there were only about one hundred people on the north wall.

I looked at the battlefield. Many were stuck in the mud pits, and they would reach the wall in ten minutes. In the meantime, the people on the wall were waiting expectantly for the mudslide.

Nobody was pulling the net. I ran to the zip line. The man in charge of the mudslide was nowhere on the hill. I watched in despair. The undead would certainly storm the wall. I was just about to climb the zip line when a blur jumped down the wall and ran to the hill. Towards the horde. Toward death. I watched, and with my enhanced eyesight, I was able to make out the face of Venta.

He was obviously an Assassin.

He reached the steep hill and, on an almost vertical slope, positively jumped up five feet, slapped onto the hill, and flew up the slope. In seconds he was in position. Venta waited until most of the dead was lined up to the hill and pulled the net. The mud slid down the hill, going slow and then gaining speed, until it reached the horde and buried maybe an eighth of the horde.

He jumped onto the zip line, and right before reaching the wall, jumped onto the ground and climbed up the wall, acting so fast the people near me stumbled back. He leaped over me, and I swear I saw him wink.

He swarmed into the town and nobody looked for him, as we had more pressing matters.

I joined the others with my baseball bat, knocking zombies down the wall. A zombie was able to climb over and bite someone, but he immediately gave himself the cure after sending the zombie back down the wall. After fifteen minutes of constant swinging, a Runner leaped over the edge and attacked the nearest person. Me.

It had a rotten leg that was sticking out at an odd angle. I dodged its swiping claws and tried to hit it with the bat. It stumbled back and I cried out.

"Runner!"

 Dillon was there in a flash. He took hold of the Runner and shattered the neck. Then he threw it over the edge.

Gradually, I had to rest. I had killed approximately thirty of the undead. My back was aching, and I took a quick shower and a small meal and stepped into my room. I had a black outfit with a mask and hood. I put it on and then headed out.

I zipped amazingly fast across the wall. Zombies were reaching out, and people were getting overwhelmed. Someone had set fire to a zombie, and it was running about on the east side of the north wall, setting zombie bodies on fire. The entire wall reeked of burnt flesh. Weirdly, the fire zombie still hadn't collapsed. I ran over to it. It didn't even look burnt. I grabbed a piece of wood and slammed it over the side of the wall and into the growing pile of bodies outside the wall.

I looked over and almost puked. Zombies were climbing over their fallen comrades. One lunged for me and I slammed my palm into its face. it collapsed and tumbled down the mountain of bodies, rolling over three other regulars in the process.

I looked side to side and a man saw me.

"Who are you? Take off that mask!" he demanded. I was gone in a flash.

I paused. At the east wall, a hideous zombie with huge hands bigger than its face was punching through the wall. It had blue-green armor plates protecting his entire body. Several were shooting at him, but they pinged off the armor plates harmlessly.

I snatched a big club tossed to the side and jumped down. Zombies attacked me, but I swung and bowled over three. I let my scent go and they stopped attacking me. The armored zombie swung towards me though, and I slammed my club into him. He was thrown back but came in again. He dodged my next attack and retaliated.

A blur smashed into my club and it flew off into the distance. I rolled at the next punch but was still clipped in the shoulder. I was flung back. I recovered and grabbed a regular zombie and swung it. He took off the head of the zombie, but the body flew onto him. I kept throwing, grimacing as I did so. Eventually, the hands were buried under, and I slit his throat. Then I fled as a bullet whistled past me.

I took care of more zombies, and some were... weird. One of them had a tail and was whipping it around. One had snake fangs, and one was faster than a cheetah.

I saw Venta a few times, and we teamed up to fight a flying zombie, but we rarely talked. When the fort could hold its own, I went back to my room, changed costumes, and fought again, this time without the strength of an Assassin.