Left 4 Dead (Closed)

Zoey went to her station with Donovan as I went to the bridge. It was clear that she had a lot on her mind, we all did. She was suffering from her personal choices, and though I and none of the crew held malice against her for taking the shot, it was a loss that couldn't be filled. I went to the bridge to let her sort through her feelings, but when she was ready to talk she knew where to find me.

We continued our course south. The seas were calm and the wind coming almost directly north that pushed us along. The shore was in view though with a light haze because of all of the fires. Watching the thin brown veil the mountains and coast it became disheartening to see that much destruction and I couldn't help but wish that our families, those that didn't take us seriously and those that we were close to, had somehow survived all of this. Going to the charts we were approximately 50 miles north-north-east of another harbor. This one was larger, it use to belong to the Navy. Might be a good place to find more equipment, but after our last run in I was reluctant to send another landing party until I thought about Zoey and her desire to be put on the line. Having her stew in the kitchen would only aggravate her doubts and her sadness. Once we get closer to the harbor I would send word for Zoey to come to the bridge and see for herself my idea and we can formulate a plan of attack, this time though it would only be a small group on one boat to be sent in.

Sitting beside the chart and looking at the numbers on the clear screen I took sip of the now cold coffee and frowned at its hard, bitter taste. At least it still had its caffeine to keep me going. Didn't think being a captain would be this hard. The movies and the books make it so invigorating and fun, but now I wish that there was someone else in charge of this.

I continued working my way about the kitchen. I cut up what veggies we had and threw them in the pot. It was best to make a huge meal and then throw the rest in the cooler for later than take up time to make individual meals, especially when we have a lot of people to take care of. Donovan stopped me from dropping in lettuce that had been frozen, "Don't do that little miss, I may not know much about cooking but that won't be good in the stew.." I looked at what I had in my hand. Apparently I had lost contact with reality and was about to screw up the meal.

"I think I need to go get a breath of fresh air, do you have the rest of it handled?" I asked him, to which he saluted and nodded to me. I smiled at that and walked out to find Robert. I needed to talk some stuff out with him. I found him studying over some charts and maps.

I didn't quite know how to start, but I found a way. "I have some family in Charleston and I know it's sudden," I started. "But I would like to take my three friends to go find out if someone is there. I know it's near an old naval yard, so maybe we could pick some stuff up from it for the trip."

"That's what I'm hoping on," I said turning to her. "You friend Bill was up here a minute ago and he said, "You should've taken a sailboat than this old thing" trying my best to imitate his snarky, tired, voice, "With that diesel engine you'll be spending more time looking for fuel'. Hate to say it, but he was right, but this engine got us out of the harbor when there was no wind."

Calling her over to the charts it showed a detailed map of the harbor depths and pointing out a grease pencil mark X and a line showing our course to that spot, "We're here and according to our charts and our speed we'll be able to reach the harbor by midnight, but i'm not going to send a party onshore in the night. We need to be able to see if we're going to fight. I wouldn't send you or your friends out there alone, but if you want to be able to find your family, and you know the way, then we'll gear you up. It'll just be the four of you. What I need for you to do is to land you and your friends at the harbor and secure a place at the dock for me to send a few more boats so we can take off supplies. Once you've done that you're free to go to the town and find your folks, but you're going to have to bring them back to the harbor so we can extract you. Once you leave the harbor, you're on your own. I can't send a rescue team to save you if you run into trouble, especially if its those damn Tanks." I hated to be this negative, but that's the way it was. We were simply too small of a force to take in securing and moving supplies in a large harbor to sending out a rescue mission, but perhaps four people would be able to move faster than a larger group.

I said to Zoey, "I can give you a motor boat, weapons, ammunition, food, water, whatever you need before you head out, but I can only give you twenty-four hours. By then i'm sure that our ship will be noticed. I'll give you a flare pistol and colored flares plus a powerful radio so we can keep tabs on one another."

"All I need is 4 hours. They're near the coast," I started telling him, "But considering the 'stenches' between here and there, might make it eight.." I tried imitating Francis when saying 'stenches' as he had tried speaking like Bill. I had drawn conclusion in my mind that mom and dad were more than likely dead or had become 'them' already, but I couldn't hurt to check since this would be my last time this far north. "It's more than likely the guys wouldn't want to go, or want me to go as good a shot that I am, but I know if I have them backing my ass up, I'm fine.." I knew it was just being the bad-ass kid I always had been or acted like, but I was truly terrified of what I would find. There was no guarantee that they were safe or had found a way to stay away from the growing threat near them.

"I know it's a risk, but it's my dad and mother," I explained to him. "I couldn't just let them die without knowing I'm fine, besides, my dad is ex-cop and ex-military. He could help us out here." We were still looking over the maps when Francis walked in.

"So I hear that you are wanting to go ashore again?" Francis said, his arms crossed and pushing the door open revealing that Louis and Bill were standing there as well.

"If it means killing some more of those piss-fuckers, then I'm fine with it," Bill said speaking up before taking a drag on his cigarette.

"Yeah! We oughta see if your family is there, Zoey," Louis said. "I know we were caught off guard last time, but we could do it."

"I know guys, but I don't want anyone to be lost again," I said trying to reason with them.

Everyone went quiet for a moment before Francis walked up to me, "We'll clear those fuckers out before we head inland so the captain's team can get supplies at the depot there and weapons too, rations."

I looked at the three of them, not wanting to risk our lives. But my dad was an asset we just couldn't pass up. "In the morning, we head out, huh?"

"Tide and weather will be in our favor" I said, "It might be our only choice. Lookouts are reporting that the shore is clear. Before you head out, make sure to go to the supply lockers and take what you need. We'll be in touch via radio." I could feel my heart starting to sink knowing that it'll be just those four going at it alone. Part of me wanted to join them, take the fight to the enemy, but I was no fool. Four was enough to infiltrate the area.

Francis thumped his chest and smiled at us, "Don't worry, ladies, we'll clean out the area for ya".

Such bravado bordered on arrogance as Bill scoffed and took out his pack of cigerattes and looked at it, "Half a pack. Damn" before sliding it inside his left breast pocket, "Better stop at a store along the way. I'm running low."

"Bill, don't you think you should cut back on those. They'll kill you faster than the zombies will," Louis turned to his older friend with a concern look. He had been onboard for only a few hours and already had gone through half a pack.

"Son," Bill coughed, "I've been smoking since I was twelve. Hasn't killed me yet."

Calling the four back to the chart I showed them the tides and currents and pointed towards the northern most dock that was adjacent to a sandbar. "The depth here is greater. About fifteen feet underneath our keel. Too great, I think, for a Tank to get us. We'll anchor just off there and send our boats ashore to gather supplies. I want you to send a sitrep every fifteen minutes to notify us of your progress. When you have your parents and bring them back they'll have to be medically searched for any diseases or infections." I deliberately put my words of 'when' instead of 'if' to put the hope that she would find them. Many of the other sailors were worried about their family, but we were too far south now to turn back and save them. If this rescue mission was successful then it would perk morale up a little more considering how much it was sagging now.

"Aye-aye," Louis said taking the other two into the armory before they started hitting each other with the way Francis was scoffing and Bill complaining about his lack of smokes. I turned to Robert, "We're going to do this," was all I could manage to speak without getting choked up. I was terrified at this moment, my heart was going ninety to nothing just worrying about the fact this mission could kill us.

I walked out into the armory section of the ship and saw Bill counting bullets. Francis was shoving shotgun shells into the pockets on his leather vest for quick access. Louis was attaching a blade on the end of an assault rifle for the trip. I looked to them, "You know you guys don't have to come with me. You hardly know me."

"What in the hell are you talking about, Zo?" Francis started.

"Yeah. I consider you like a daughter, or a granddaughter. We may have just met in this hell, but we've been through enough that we know we can trust each others asses with the other," Bill said before taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

That almost made me cry before Louis walked over to me, "Yep, just consider me your brother..And Francis is that uncle that everyone hates.."

"Hey, watch it, wussy," Francis said.

"Guess we had better get ready to deploy into Charleston," I said taking the gun that Bill handed me.

The launch was lowered down into the calm waters and the rope ladder throw down the side for the four to board. The wind and tide were in our favor and the motor onboard would allow them to speed in and out without difficult as we came to with 200 yards of the docks. Scanning the area closing we didn't see any trace of infected nor any signs of people. The power was out but the perimeter fences appeared to be intact. Hopefully this area was overlooked, but we knew never to let our guard down that everyone turned out with their rifles.

When the four came out on deck after arming themselves we presented them with red first aid kits and enough rations and power bars to make the trip. "Remember, every fifteen minutes you give us a situation report. Your radio has already been keyed to us and have a twenty mile range and fresh batteries."

Bill looked at the radio. It was smaller than the ones he was use to in Vietnam but he nodded and put it into his pocket. Francis came up on deck with his chest thrust out trying to look like a badass with his shotgun resting on his shoulder with a scallywag swagger walk.

"We'll be here waiting for your call" I said to Zoey gently clapping a hand on her red jacket covered shoulder, "Take care of yourself out there." The rest of the crew shook their hands and bid them the best of luck.

"Yes, we will be back," I said sliding down the rope ladder into the motorboat. I looked through the sight on the rifle checking out the horizon. Fires still smoldering in the distance from the destruction caused by the infected, but nothing major. "Let's head to the Naval Yard first so it can be cleared for them to go through," I suggested for us to do. Francis nodded and moved the boat closer to shore. He hooked the rope around the post and knotted it off so it wouldn't go anywhere and killed the engine.

I jumped out first and looked through the scope again. I noticed a few infected just wandering around, not noticing them yet. I lined up the cross-hairs and popped off a few shots taking them down with ease. I moved my hand around motioning for the guys to head off in the direction of the compound. I kept a close eye on our surroundings, taking down any infected on our way. We made it to the front gate and noticed it was knocked down by a strong force. "Must have been a Tank," Francis whispered in my ear.

A large corpse was to the side. It was charred from burning but it was a Tank, no doubt. I moved in closer and looked into one of the buildings, all seemed empty except for a few zombies. I wanted to conserve my ammo so I let the guys go on ahead. They took them out with a few quick shots, not loud enough to draw anymore near us at the moment. I turned the corner inside the building and gasped standing back. Bill grabbed me to keep me from falling backwards. "One of those Spitter's, in that room," I whispered to him and then we heard a cackling noise as well. "Shit, the same noise before Joseph was killed.."

Donovan stood beside me on the bridge after watching the four go ashore. "You think they'll make it?" he asked nervously. Seemed suicide to send just four at it alone.

"They've made it this far" I said to him.

The cackling seemed faint for the moment as Bill looked through a sliver in the door. He could see the gauntly frame of a woman standing there looking away. Didn't seem to notice them. Looking back at Zoey he motioned with his hand to Francis with his shotgun to be ready to take her out. If this thing spat acid then it would have more of it inside. They couldn't afford to tackle it like they did with the Boomer. They had to keep their distance and in these tight confines the shotgun would be the best.

At the same moment Louis was nervously looking around for the source of the cackling. It seemed to be moving. A moment from one room and then from another. It was like a flea just hoping around from place to place. His hands trembled as his fear heightened knowing that he couldn't find it and he didn't want to end up like Joseph.

"I'm thinking we take her out," Bill whispered to Zoey. We have to secure the dock for the ship" his lips surprisingly empty of a cigarette so that the smoke didn't betray their position.

"I'll get her," Francis said to him, "Just find that cackling bastard." He lined up the barrel and took aim at the zombie with a long neck. It would take just one shot if it was done right.

I turned around and helped Louis look for the thing. I knew that the little monster would be hard to kill and getting it off of you was a whole other story. I saw a shadow on the other side and put my arm in front of Louis making him stop in his tracks. "It's behind that door. Shove your blade through the slit and slice him, it will bring him closer for a shot," I whispered to him.

I pulled out the pistol for some quick action and turned back to look at Bill and Francis. "We fire at the same time so we don't draw a horde towards us." Francis nodded. "One, two.." I started while Louis stuck his blade through the space on the wall bringing the Jockey closer to us. "Three!" I screamed taking aim at the thing while Francis blasted the Spitter at the same time I put one through the head of the little monster.

"Merry Christmas!" Francis shouted as he pulled the the trigger. The OO buckshot at point blank range found its mark in the Spitter's face and obliterated it into a spray of red black as the rest of the deformed body collapsed onto the floor and the acid flowed out of it and began to sizzle.

Zoey's bullet found it mark as well creating a neat hole through the cackler's forehead and brought it down. Pulling back its blade Louis looked at the dead creature.

"Geez" he gasped in disgust, "It's ugly lookin".

"Like looking in a mirror for ya, huh Louis" Francis chuckled as he racked his weapon and shouldered in letting the red plastic case fall to the ground. That was two infected dispatched.

"Good work, kids," Bill said, "Let's get a move on. Zoey, tell the captain that we've taken care of a couple so that those sailor boys don't get nervous and wet themselves." He was Army, there was a rift between the two branches, always a lot of ribbing that hasn't died even after all of these years.

"Hey, Zoey, what's that movie that had creatures with acid for blood?" He was trying to remember what movie it was, some Sci-Fi movie that had to deal with aliens that had acid in their bodies, but he was drawing a blank. Perhaps Zoey, the film buff, knew it.

I took a breath after holding it for a bit with the intensity of it all. And we still had a ways to go. Bill had asked me about a movie in the middle of this hell. I sighed and bowed my head, "AVP, or Alien versus Predator." I took the radio from him and checked the signal to notify Robert of our position. "And it was a Xenomorph," I clarified. I pushed the speaker button, "Paging Pigeon, team alpha here.. two bogies down and others clear.. Ammo in building 2 clicks from the main gate on the left, still scouting naval yard..over.."

I handed the radio back to Bill to keep in his flak jacket so it wouldn't get damaged. "Let's go," I said motioning for us to keep moving. We needed to get this area clear so we could continue on to my parents house and back to the ship before nightfall. This place would become true hell by the time the sun goes down and we cannot risk getting left behind.

Francis was getting a little antsy and wanted to rush things, "If we don't hurry up and get past here, we might get fucked in the end."

"I know, but it's best to take our time and not go all Rambo in the process," I reassured him. I moved to open a door and look inside, "Shit, rations and food crates. Jackpot.." I took mental image of how far it was from the ammo storage so the guys from the ship didn't have to take long getting the stuff and getting out. There was a loud noise and screaming coming from the backside of the compound. "Horde incoming guys," I said taking stance next to Bill, crouching down to get better leverage on aim at the incoming problem.

"Get ready, ladies" Francis laughed as he put another shell into his shotgun. The horde flew in with a fluid motion, like a school of tuna fish, they went up and over the perimeter fence with ease and came running towards them. The men stood beside one another, Louis nervous as he held his weapon whereas Francis was a rock.

"Wait till they're in range" Bill said as he looked down his iron sights. When they were within 50 yards he squeezed off a burst and Francis fired as quickly as he could. Unlike a typical, classic zombie where only a headshot would kill them, these infected...if you shot off a leg then they would fall and bleed to death but they would still be infected. When the bullets started to fly it caught the attention of everyone on the Pigeon as they stood on deck waiting. The firing was quick and intense showing that the four were in a tight spot. We wanted to go and help them, in fact we were lowering boats into the water ready to send in more men to help, but that wasn't the plan. I stood there feeling utterly helpless just watching and listening.

"Stick together!" Francis shouted above the din. That was their only help for survival.

"Give them hell!" I said taking out the pistols after taking about 15 down with one clip from the rifle. I started blasting away at them. They were running at full hilt causing them to slide past us when we brought them down. We were doing so good until I heard a coughing noise. Bill got snagged by a smoker's tongue, "No Bill!" I said pulling my rifle back around to take aim at the damned infected mutant on the roof. "You're not taking him!" I said pulling the trigger causing the smoker to explode in a poof of smoke. Bill ran back up to us, "Thanks, kid.." he said rubbing his hand on my hair.

We had thinned the rest of the horde down to nothing. "We need to get going. Only a few left here," Louis said moving on. We took the rest of them down with quick bursts of gunfire. Most of them were in uniform. We found another building with rations and supplies. It had been 15 minutes since our last communication with the ship. "Paging Pigeon.. Last two buildings, one 400 yards from last location of ammo.. supplies.. Last one is 100 feet from the back gate, mix of supplies.. all clear..moving out into town..over and out.."

We left out the back gate since it lead to the main street of Charleston. "I'm coming Mom and Dad.." I thought to myself. "Let's go guys.." I said to the three of them heading out. "Let's kill some more of these stenches," Francis said running ahead making me shake my head. "Damn he's going Rambo," Louis said. We continued on, running to catch up to Francis.

There was a collective sigh of relief on the ship when her call came in. They were alive and now the area was cleared. "Send the boats ashore and we'll bring the ship into dock." As she was sending in her reports I had drawn out a map and a list of the buildings she indicated and what their contents were; so many supplies that we could live for years! That was joyful. The boats were sent on their way as I gave a quick prayer for Zoey and her companions as now they were beyond our range.

Going down the road and sticking to the shoulder the group was moving at a steady pace. The road was full of disabled and wrecked vehicles, a few scattered bodies and dried blood and the shoulders and median had already tall grass growing in. Bill motioned for Zoey to lead the way as she was familiar with this area. "How far is it to your parent's place?" the old man whispered as his eyes carefully scanned the area.

Off to their right they could see staggering figures about, but they were too far away for his shotgun, but Francis wanted to gun them all down. Ten more kills meant ten less infected to worry about as Louis brought up the rear. His red tie was hanging low around his neck. In all of this excitement he had forgotten to take it off.

"If they aren't a bother to us right now, then we don't need to draw attention to ourselves," I told Francis trying to get him to chill. I turned back to Bill, "3 miles off of Main Street, like I said, not too far from the coast.." We continued on our way and heard crying. Chills were sent up my spine when I heard the crying, that meant a witch is nearby. "I don't like knowing where she is," Francis said, showing signs of worry. Those things were a pain and known to kill you if they got their hands on you.

I shh'd them and pulled the scope up for the rifle. I looked around and she was behind a building, down the alleyway next to Burtman's Pharmacy. "It's alright as long as we don't go near her. We're turning right up around the corner anyway, let's go." I led the three of them along, they followed me like old puppy dogs not knowing which way to go. But I had grown up here and could go through the town blindfolded. Well, not now considering the destruction, but back when, yeah.

We passed my childhood friend's house. Glen's figure was on the porch. I thought he might still be alive but when I got close, Louis pulled me back. "Look," he said pointing at the figure. It was no longer my friend and I silently pulled the pistol from my pocket to take aim at his head. I fired off the shot and his body went down, I sighed watching his brain splatter across the whitewash of the house as we continued on our way.

**********

"Carolyn, you've got to listen to me. We don't have the time to argue over the issue about Zoey," Thomas said to his wife. Sure they were worried about their daughter at Aldrich but they needed to get the door barricaded to keep out the zombies.

"I know, Tom, but damn it, she doesn't even keep up with her grades, all she does is watch those stupid ass movies you got her into," Carolyn tried reasoning with him. A bump came from the back door and she gasped turning to face an infected that had somehow broken in. "Thomas, help me!!!" she screamed out, backing away.

"Carolyn!!!" he screamed out, trying to reach for the gun, but the zombie was already on top of her.

**********

We heard shots coming from the direction of my parents house. "Fuck, they're still alive!" I said, my face lighting up from the promise that my family was still alright. I saw zombies around the house as we were heading there. "We have to take them out before we go in," Francis said, pulling the barrel of the shotgun down to get ready to shoot the dead down.

"Let's go, ladies!" Francis smiled as he began dealing his death. The infected had burst through the back door and were funneling in, but the fire outside had alerted those still outside as the four survivors blazed away. Louis was on the far right of the line, taking his time and firing carefully watching the spray of dried blood and brains as hits were made, but he was also scared that one of the special infected would be lingering on their flank or behind them, but the four were determined to get inside the house.

Bill's aim was true. His rifle was an extension of himself from all of his years in MACV-SOG in Vietnam so where ever he looked his bullets would go. Compared to Francis' shotgun that was a wild spray. When his magazine was empty he dropped it from the well and let it fall to the ground in a clatter. There was no time to pick it up as he pulled out another one from his pocket on his thigh and slammed it inside and released the bolt. "Go forward!" he yelled at them, "Louis, watch our backs."

Spinning around the former office worker looked up, "I'm on it!" smiling as he swept the area with his eyes and found nothing, the roof tops and the streets were clear and he could feel his heart release a little bit, but his ears were ringing from the din of fire.

"I'm empty!" Francis called out as he pulled shells from his vest and began loading them into his weapon. "Cover me."

"Keep pouring it on" Bill encouraged as the field in front of them was slowly being paved in dead.

It seemed like the flow of undead was non-stop at this point. The zombies kept filing into my parents' home. It was unrelenting. I could hear gunfire mixed with ours coming from inside the house. One by one, ten by ten, the fuckers kept falling from our gunfire. "If we don't make it in there soon and kill all these punks, we're not going to have enough ammo to make it back to shore!" Bill screamed out while reloading.

I looked back at Louis who was having a tough time keeping sane in this mess. I moved a bit closer to him just as I noticed a Hunter coming up behind him. "Louis, look out!" I screamed at him just as the monster jumped over him, me bringing it down with just one shot. I helped him up and got him to his feet, "Thanks Zoey." I turned back around, "Not a problem."

"We're almost through, get ready to go in," Francis said before pushing a bunch of the bastards back before firing his shotgun.

"Dad, if you can hear me, get mom and get ready to go!!" I screamed over the noise of the horde, hoping my father was still alive by the time we get in there.

**********

"Do you hear that, Carolyn?" Thomas said holding his wife in his arms. "It's our baby girl. She's here to help us." Carolyn's breathing was strained as he held her, rocking back and forth barricaded in the room under the stairs. Carolyn's breathing stopped and her wounded body went limp as Thomas pulled his gun up and pushed his wife's body to the side, prepared to shoot her if need be.

Almost there. A few more feet and they'll be inside the house. Bill darted the last few steps and stood in the doorway with a full magazine and shot three infected in the back and watched them drop. Behind him Louis stepped up and covered his back with a spray of buckshot, but his weapon was now empty. An ugly looking infected with no jaw lunged at him but Louis swung the skeleton stock of his shotgun and struck the temple of the infected with a sickening crack and brought it down to the ground. Rising up his boot Francis roared and stomped on it, breaking the bone and watched the eyeballs pop out. "Don't lose your head" he sneered.

Louis helped by pushing Zoey over the mangled bodies around the door and got her inside, "Find your parents. Francis and I will watch the door."

Shoving shells into his weapon after pulling them off his vest Francis growled at the sickening stench arising from all of the mangled bodies. There were several more coming down the street, but their numbers were thin. "How many you think we've gone through. Five thousand? Six?"

"Uh" Louis replied puzzled as his brown eyes surveyed the carnage they just stepped through, "I don't know, Francis, but I don't think the body count is that high."

"Okay," the biker shrugged his powerful shoulders, "I'll settle for four thousand."

I nodded to the guys and started searching through the house. I heard a noise coming from under the stairs. Dad had hollowed out that area and made it bigger, sort of a hidden bunker for emergencies. I opened the door and saw that he was struggling with a stench. I pulled my pistol out as I looked at the hair and saw it's red hue. My heart sank. "Mom?" The zombie turned around, eyes bloodshot and discolored. Her beautiful figure covered with bite marks, blood no longer flowing from the wounds. Her skin now pale and grey with pure death. I fell to the floor on my knees and saw dad pushing her back with his baton that he had used during his police days.

"Zoey, please help me get her out of here..I don't.. I don't want to shoot your mother..Please.." Tears were coming from his eyes. I pulled the radio out, "Paging Pigeon, numerous dead killed at target's location, target 1 turned, target 2, working on getting him with us. Over and out," I said as I sent the normal 15 minute interval report.

"Dad, she's gone.. We have to or she's going to kill you.. I don't want to do that, but..."

"I know, we have no choice," Thomas said pushing her back into the room, closing the door. "Please..just...I can't, Zo.." My father was just too distraught. The zombie that was my mother forced her hands through the damaged door and grabbed Thomas. "Dad!!" I screamed fumbling for the pistol, it dropped, all the ammo being released from it. I pulled the rifle around to take aim just as it bit my father. "Noooo!!" I screamed..

"Aahhhh!! Don't let me...ughh.. turn into one, baby girl.." he said after screaming in agony, the pain and virus taking him over faster than normal. "I can't.." Francis and the guys appeared behind me, "What th--- oh fuck..."

"P-please," Thomas begged, coughing up blood. "I know yo-you..can..y-you can shoot...better..ecckkk...th-than me.."

I held up the rifle and pulled it to his forehead so it was even with what was once her mother, "I love you both.." I said, tears falling from my eyes. I pulled the trigger, the large bullet blasting through his head and my mother's skull, their brain matter scattered.. I fell to the floor again, my heart broken.

"Sweetheart, we have to get going, more coming.." Bill said to me, pulling me up to my feet. "Yeah, let's go," I said responding to him, my heart sinking further but my mind becoming dark.

Half Pulling her along until they reached the outside the four paused for a moment to survey the scenery. The area was carpeted with dead, mutilated bodies and the stench was overpowering. Having seen and heard what happened in there all of the men wanted to console Zoey who was straught with grief, but didn't know how to form the words. Bill knew what it was like to lose loved ones from Vietnam, Louis lost his parents just before the outbreak and Francis lost many of his biker brothers to many causes, mainly the police, but when they saw Zoey kill her own parents...there was no words that could help her.

It was Bill that spoke first, "We better get back to the Pigeon. ASAP,"

The normally perky Louis could only lower his head in sympathy as he clapped a hand on Zoey's shoulder, before he moistened his lips, "Zoey...I'm sorry." It was all he could say.

Francis turned away pretending to be watching his sector, holding his shotgun tight to his shoulder ready to deal death, but they couldn't see his hardened face contort to sadness.

"Let's go, boys and girls" Bill said, "Those sailor boys are waiting for us. We get back to the ship and shove off and it's the tropical beaches for us." That was his method of dealing with loss, putting the mission first. There would be time to mourn later, in safety, when they get back to the ship.

I couldn't focus on what was going on around me. I just had to kill my parents. I truly had no one left in this world -- no family, nothing. The thought of pulling my rifle up to my own chin crossed my mind then I looked to Bill who said we must continue on. He acted like a father to me and the two guys were like my older brothers. I did have family, even if they weren't blood.

We could see the ship within our sights. "We're almost home free," Louis said. Then there was a roar. I turned back and started running, "Tank guys, book it!" I fired off a few shots and then kept running. Francis tripped backwards trying to take aim at the mutant zombie. I ran back with Bill and helped him up. "We gotta get to the boat," Bill screamed. "But if we don't kill it, it will murder us," Francis said curtly.

I took more shots and then a screaming sound echoed around us. Another horde. "This is where we make our stand before getting to safety," I said. "Unleash the hell to them!" I screamed, shooting the dead around us. We could not die. We just cannot die. Not now. Not ever! This was where we turned everything around and made it to paradise.

Louis pulled out a pistol and started shooting at the other zombies while Bill, Francis and I took on the tank. We were each others back up and we would make it. "Paging Pigeon," Bill paused to scream into the radio, "We'll be there in 10 minutes, get the engines going, over!" He threw the radio on the ground and started firing at the rampaging Tank.

It was barely taking damage, but we were doing damage to it. "It's coming down!" I screamed just as I took aim with the rifle at it's head bringing it down. Now just to clear up the rest of them.

"This is the Pigeon. We have a boat at the dock waiting for you. Can you get to it?" a voice came over the radio.

Picking up the radio Francis couldn't help but laugh, "You ladies better be ready. We're bringing the party to you and we're about to ram it down your throat." The body of the tank fell into the gate gap creating a slight barricade that forced many of the infected around it slowing them down a bit.

Having heard the roar and the gunfire we had already shoved off having covered the deck in crates and barrels of supplies all finely marked for the government. Now we were looters.

We couldn't see them because of the buildings but we could see the flash of their fire. "Attention, Team Alpha. Pull back towards the dock and we can give you some fire support."

"Fire support? What's that?" Francis asked.

Turning his head around Bill said, "Those boys get some guns on that boat?"

On deck we didn't have a cannon but we did have the next best thing; a large sling shot. Originally used to hurl water balloons we found this in a break area in one of the buildings and while we were loading supplies we also made some Molotov cocktails to set some fires to destroy some hordes.

Donovan and Geoff were on the bow holding the two sides as sailor Ryan loaded the gasoline filled glass bottles into the sling and lit the cloth wick and let it burn brightly.

"I say again, Team Alpha. Pull back to the dock and we can give you fire support."

"I think we better do what they say" Louis replied as he loaded a fresh magazine into his weapon.

"Let's head there ladies," Francis hollered at us. There was so much blood around us and the stench was horrible. We just got to the dock when we saw a light coming from the ship flying over us. It crashed into the horde and all of them were set ablaze. "Fucking hell!!" Bill yelled.

We got into the boat with the other guys that had come for us and headed back out to sea, shooting more of the dead as we continued on our way, just until we were away from shore enough where our shots wouldn't hit anymore. We got back to the boat and I climbed to rope ladder only to meet Robert's face. I turned away and headed to the bunk area to lay down. I couldn't face anyone right now.

Robert turned to Bill and looked at him for an answer but Bill shuffled away moving to take the guns below deck for refilling.

Louis was sad and sat down on one of the crates looking out over the water.

Francis walked up to Robert, "She had to kill her parents. Best to watch from afar so she doesn't do anything stupid.." he said as he shoved past Robert, not letting anyone else see how his face was somber.

I wanted to go talk to Zoey. We had a huge haul! Enough weapons, ammunition, food, spare parts, and other essentials to equip a small army, but all of that was dashed at the news of her parents. I didn't tell this to the rest of the men even though they came up to me asking for answers. "It's best that you wait for awhile" I said. The only others that knew of what happened all separated and went to different parts of the ship, sitting in silence. Bill found his own bunk and laid down puffing on a smoke despite the warnings around him to the contrary. "Fuck it" he growled, "We're all going to die eventually."

"Francis went to take a shower to remove the stench from his body and Louis sat next to the fantail watching our wide wake of white cresting waves slowly disipate behind us.

The Pigeon puttered out into the deep waters and continued its southern journey. The sailors continued their work in opening the crates and organizing everything as I waited on the bridge allowing Zoey some time alone until I thought it was right and headed down below where I found I found her still in her bunk curled up in the fettle position.

"Zoey?" I said softly, "Zoey, it's Robert. Listen, Francis told me what happened. I'm so sorry" wanting to reach out and touch her shoulder but rejected it knowing that she might snap thinking it was an infected. "I'm here if you want to talk."