Hope II

Blood, Fire and Snow

I was on my feet on the spur of the moment, as were all the others around the camp. 

Aaron sprinted for his tent and brought out weapons with Bryan. Kate immediately grabbed her shotgun and readied it for fire. 

Aaron tossed me a rifle, catching it firmly with both hands and with the thought of Ash in danger, I did not wait around. I took off in a sprint, but they were not far behind me. 

'Let's go!' I shouted, sprinting with a rush of adrenaline pumping through my veins, enough of it that I jumped and cleared the fenced perimeter around our camp, sprinting along the snowy ground straight into the foggy forest. 

They caught up to me fast, running by my side. 

Sam was the quickest as she travelled lightest, her newest toy was a waist belt fitted with pouches for over a dozen knives, grasping two knives in both hands, our hearts racing as the sounds of gunfire met our ears, and then the sight of a small horde ahead of us in the forest at the bottom of the small hill that leads up to the main road. I went to shoot one, but the very one I had my sights on was taken down with a knife in the back of the head from Sam. I lowered my sights and ran over to the dead walker, crouching slightly to grab Sam's knife from the back of the beasts head, following through with my momentum into the horde, and slicing the neck of another walker from behind, turning around full circle and kicking one in the chest, knocking it to the ground towards Kate as another walker lunged towards me, only be quickly stabbed in the head with the knife in my hand, followed by a loud shot from Kate's shotgun, ending the one I through in her direction. 

I turned to Sam and tossed a knife towards her, she grabbed it while she ran, following through with a leap that landed her right behind another walker, the knife I tossed her firm in the beasts head, simultaneously shot dead another walker, the one walking right alongside it wiped clean by Aaron's rifle. 

'GET TO THE ROAD!' I ordered in a deep and loud tone. 

Aaron, Bryan and Ger sprinted past me, avoiding the swings and lunges from the walkers, taking out several of them, though their prime intentions were to get to the road as Holly, Sam, Kate and I shot off the remainder of the horde in the forest. 

I shot three consecutive bullets from the rifle and Kate blew up heads with the violent bursts of her shotgun. 

I swung around, and with the back of my rifle I hammered it into the temple of an approaching walker, knocking him senselessly to the ground.  

'Jerry!' Shouted Kate. I instantly looked to her as she quickly tried to reload the weapon. 

'Drop it!' I shouted. She did not hesitate, she dropped the weapon immediately without question and I handed her my rifle before going for my good old friend nested in the holster. My pistol. 

'Get up to the road!' I yelled to Sam and Holly, then giving Kate a nudge 'We got this' 

I looked at the few coming towards me, and began firing at the same time as Kate. Each bullet in the chamber killed a walker, the remaining few quickly killed by Kate who violently finished them with precision shots to the head. The forest fell silent, but the road grew louder. 

Kate handed me back my rifle and I holstered my pistol before sprinting up the hill with her by my side and out onto the road, my final step had me pause for a moment, taken back with my sight revealing the view around at the rain of gunfire beneath the falling snow, and surrounding us... several hundred walkers, runners, and screamers who's echoing screeches still rang. This is no horde... it's a god damn population.

I sprinted onto the road to join the rest of the group, in unity again we fired at the hordes, keeping our distance from the high grass where they would appear from at any given moment, there was no telling where they were.