Hope II

Assault

Apologies in advance for the length of the chapter, it is easily one of the longest. There was too much happening to shorten it, and if i split it into two it would be dragged out. Please leave a vote or a comment if you enjoy the story :) Thanks for reading.

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Aaron and Kate had left, but Brad had stayed behind leaving only the two of us in the store room alone. Before I asked what was on his mind, and why he did not want to say it in front of Aaron and Kate, he spoke up. 

'I understand why you might not want to leave this place' he said, but I was quick to intervene. 

'Brad' I said 'I'm going... Aaron's right, and our mission from the beginning was to get Kate to Vertuga' 

'No' Brad said 'It was our mission' 

We both remained silent for a moment before Brad spoke again. 

'You should stay' he said 'Stay with your brother, with Ash... you don't need to come with us' 

I know that Brad understood my predicament... but I would not stay. I would not leave Aaron go alone, he has been my best friend for over sixteen years, and still to the day I will stand by him. 

Before I could make my next statement, the store room door instantly burst open to let the light thunder in alongside Aaron who seemed out of breath. 

'Jerry' he panted, the look on his face instantly had me startled. He looked as though he had just seen a ghost. 

'Come, quick!' 

Something was wrong, and with that in mind the three of us instantly barged out into the daylight, the sudden change in temperature hit me like a brick as I ran out into a developing blizzard, heavy snow blowing against my face and when I turned the corner to the front lot of the supermarket. Then I saw Bryan, Mark, Ger and Alex with their hands on their knees, completely out of breath... they had sprinted back to the supermarket. 

My mind wandered in mystery and delusion with what the hell was going on. 

'Bryan' I said upon approach, ready to question the already answered rhetorical statement. 

'It's him' Bryan panted as the others gathered around to hear the name that was almost worse than death itself. 

'The Ripper' he said, looking at me as he panted for his breath 'He's found us' 

I quickly perked my head to my left to see Brad standing beside me and Ash coming around the corner with Sam, the two of them close enough to hear his name. 

'He's here?' Ash asked worryingly. 

'They have two heavies with machine guns, and at least two dozen heavily armed men. They have jeeps, RPG's, military grade equipment' Bryan informed me as he stood up straight having finally caught his breath. Yet all the words went through one ear and out the other. It had felt as though my mind had just left me, leaving me staring in horror to the distance before Mark grabbed my attention by saying my name, pulling me back to the horrid real world. 

'Jerry' he said, gasping for air having just sprinted through the town 'who is this guy?' 

I looked around, memories of Atlanta flooding by, the image of him standing by the school door, his threat of finding us, his monstrosity and cruelty that casts a shadow on all we have experienced in this world. All eyes were on me, the guards, Mark, my group. I looked around the secure lot, to the supermarket, to our home. 

I replied, my eyes slowly returning to Mark 'We need to evacuate the supermarket' 

I immediately turned around to face Aaron and give him an instant order 'Get the women and children as far away from here as possible, take them to the rendezvous point'