My Zombie Shelter (open to everyone)

I stifled a scream as he threw me onto the roof of the car, landing awkwardly on my back, that wound started to smart again. It was damned hard not to scream but I don't think I was ever as glad to see a car in my life. I craned my neck to see if I could see anyone in the trees and felt a twinge of ... Sadness? I don't know, but something, when I saw my bat.

I knew it sounded stupid but that thing had been with me from the start. It was familiar, like an old friend. God today had been an emotional wringer. Losing it, and my backpack, nearly getting killed both by the living and the dead, and now I was having the unmistakable pleasure of this guy I either wanted to punch in the face or ... well, mainly just punch in the face actually. Anyway. He was near enough lying on top of me.

I couldn't help but smirk as the car started to drive away and I held on to the roof rack with an iron grip. I almost laughed as I lay back and closed my eyes. I could feel him on top of me. "You didn't even buy me dinner..." I breathed out and tried not to give in to the pounding in my head.

Gunshots. . . . Kristi leapt down from the tree, silently, and started running, sheathing the kukiri and grabbing my katana, fighting the fuckers in my way until I saw a car, two guys, and a girl. The girl was on her back on top of the car, and the guys were beating the shit out of the zombies. One of them decided I might make a good meal until I swung my katana expertly, cleanly severing it's head. I grabbed my kukiri and threw it at another. I decided not to use my Taurus, I didn't want more of the things, the gunfire from one of the guys was bad enough.

Here we are haulin ass down the road on top of a car and "Pan" comes across with, "You didn't even buy me dinner..."
I had to admit it, I was liking this girl more and more. We were pretty cozy on the roof and with every bump and swerve our outstretched bodies would move and rub against the other's.
"Thanks Mike! We were just about to go full apeshit makin a stand in that field when you showed up! By the way, Mike this is Pan, Pan this is Mike." I shouted through the sunroof opening.
"Did you hear that shit in the trees? Had to be someone up there, but I never..."
As I looked behind me I saw what could only be described as ninja death personified as this girl removed the dome of two walkers with one swipe of fucking sword.
She was engaged with about eight and they were gaining ground fast.
"Mike stop the car!!"
I grabbed "Pan" to keep us from flying off as we slid to a stop. I rolled off of pan and the car landing on my feet swinging my rifle to my shoulder. I took a rest off of the roof and with a quick flick of the safety I aerated two that were lined up perfectly.
"There's someone back there man!, We gotta get her!"

I groaned and sat up, thumping my hand on the roof of the car twice when he jumped off. "If he's nuts enough to go back into the fray, I vote we leave him. He's crazy anyway, not to mention gratuitously violent and handsy." I looked out at where he'd gone and there they were. I cursed again, not believing what I'm seeing. I reached down through the sun roof and lifted a rifle I found there, aiming it at a walker coming up to the right of the girl. I picked it's head right off, and was well pleased with myself.

"Who says video games don't teach you anything?” I chuckled to myself before adding, "I told you this would happen!"

I looked over in the direction of the car, which I and the zombies heard screaming to a halt. Muffler problems, was my guess. They helped me with my little vendetta and I looked at the driver, the girl, and the guy coming toward me.

"Thanks, there's more comin'," I noted as I sheathed my katana.

As soon as the second walker's knees started to buckle I broke into a dead run toward the girl with the sword. I let my rifle fall to my chest and snatched the Kimber out and ventilated one more on my way to her. I turned Bruce Willis style and scratched another as I got within five yards of the swordswoman who had dispatched another with a whirling turn that would rival a Kill Bill movie.
There was one moving in on her back side, so I swung the pistol under my armpit hoping to at least slow it down until I could get into a better position to fire. I heard a hiss followed by the report of a rifle and the forehead of the attacker spewed a black mist as the bullet liquified its brain.
I stopped and turned to see "Pan" lowering Mike's M4 and looking quite pleased with herself.
My first thought was, 'Fuck, I guess I owe her one."
The woman with the sword did one of those flippy blurry numbers and sheathed her Katana.
"Thanks, there's more comin'." she said matter of factly and looked toward the car.
"Yeah...sure thing." I managed to get out beween gasps for air. "If you wanna ride with us, there's plenty of room."
She nodded and started toward the Subaru.
I had covered almost all of the distance back to the tree line so I glanced quickly back at "Pan" and walked into the trees where her and I had struggled. The bat was laying beside the tree I had bounced her off of along with her backpack. I bent and grabbed the pack and noted the Hello Kitty picture on the back pocket.
"Jesus" I muttered to myself shaking my head. I holstered the Kimber and picked up the bat then headed back through the field of dead...undead. As i passed one it's mouth was still chomping trying to get a bite of something. I had shot him in the throat and hadn't actually killed him. Most of his neck was gone, and it body was still, but it's jaws kept slamming it's teeth together hoping for any flesh that may come its way.
I moved to stand over it with the head a little closer to my left foot. I laced my fingers around the bat and bent my knees slightly. Leaning forward I take a deep breath, straighten my arms and line up for my shot. There was a small bush about 40 yds out, so I settled into my stance.
'Head down, focus on the target' I thinkto myself. I swivel my hips and bring my torso aroung keeping my left arm straight. When I had set into my swing I release fully allowing the wrist to break at the perfect time and watched as the tip of the bat connected with the zombies temple sending its cranium flying toward the bushes.
"A little left of the pin but still good position for a run at the cup." I said softly to no one.
God I miss the world. I look back down and notice for the first time the black and white striped shirt and black pants. There were still remnants of white paint on what was left of its face.
"Fuckin mimes!" I spit as I straighten up and head to the car.

I was on my knees on the roof of the car, holding that rifle and feeling totally empowered. It was an immense feeling, picking off walkers. Reminded me of when me and my brother used to play House of the Dead at the arcades. He used to kick my ass. I wondered if he was doing alright.

The girl with the swords scrambled onto the roof next to me, pretty deftly. She was lithe, I'd say that for her. But I didn't trust folks with swords. To be honest, swords were always kind of pretentious. A little too European for my taste. They always reminded me of French nobles fighting over the size of each others moustaches.

I got kind of alarmed when that guy ran off into the woods again, I could hardly focus, and when the girl beside me asked if I was okay, I just shot her a pissed off glance, immediately felt bad about it, and then said I was fine. I didn't want him to get killed.

"Well, I'll be..." I muttered, a smile creeping across my lips as the cocky son of a bitch came walking out of the woods with my bat and backpack in tow. I shook my head as he hoisted them onto the roof and climbed up himself. I couldn't say anything, other than grin like an idiot. "That got you points, anyway."

The car started up again with a rumble and I had to readjust my balance a little. I'd been pretty cool up until now, I'd look like a total jerk if I fell off when the car was moving. I let out a sigh of relief, and swept my black hair out of my face, casting a smile at the sword-girl. "Nice to meet you. I'm Pandora." I cast a caustic glance at the guy. "Not Pan. But if it's too difficult for you to pronounce, we can work something out."

When I reached the car I threw "Pan's" bag and bat on the top, then climbed up for the ride back. "Pan" had this little smirk playing across her bloody face as she thanked me for getting her stuff.
"That got you points, anyway."
I flashed her my greasiest smile, "Well, you've been bitching about it since I met you, honestly I just wanted to shut you up."
Mike hit the ignition and once again the Subaru chugged to life.
"Pan" turned to Xena Warrior Princess and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Pandora."
She then turns to me, "Not Pan. But if it's too difficult for you to pronounce, we can work something out."
I scratched my head for a sec, "Nice to meet you Bat, name's Randy, but I'll answer to Sir, Your Majesty, or I really like Killer."
I extended my hand and hoped that it wasn't too dark for her to see me wink. She was growing on me...like a fungus, but as far as friends went I figured I could do worse. I cast a guarded glance to Xena and greeted her with "Sup?" and a nod. She was smaller in stature than "Pan", but I had seen her in action and wasn't ready for another fight. I was definitely sleeping in the guard tower tonight. I wasn't sure I'd make it until morning around these two.
"Git er done Mike!" I hollered and held on to the luggage rack as we started back to the compound.

I liked him. He was funny in an obnoxious sort of way. I let the rifle back down into the car again, and had to use both hands on the sides of the sun roof to stop from falling in. God, but my head hurt. My face hurt. My back, too. I was exhausted. I glanced over my shoulder and tried to smile.

"Killer, huh? Randy it is." I shook his hand, he felt pretty warm. Maybe I was just cold. It made me blush, so I looked ahead again at the massive walls, all fortified, and my heart sank. There was something about this I didn't like. At least when you were out in the open you could see what was coming. I pulled my bat close to me and looked around warily. "I'm so..." Tired, I wanted to say. Fucking exhausted. "...in need of a shower." It was true too but I'd be damned if I was going to look any more of a girl than I did already. I leaned over the side of the car, feeling kind of dizzy again, and swept a hand through my hair.

I just wanted to lie somewhere. And be clean. And maybe watch TV or read or do something normal. Maybe have dinner. I glanced at Randy again and then looked away. Maybe he was right. Don't worry about the human race, just worry about yourself. I'd worried about other people at the start of all this and it hadn't got me anywhere. I ran my fingers over the Hello Kitty badge on the backpack and the wave of nausea came crashing down on me, I sucked in air and coughed, tears pinching at my eyes. Don't you dare, don't you dare fucking cry. I balled my fists and clenched my teeth, crinkling the little badge in my hand. And I looked toward the compound's gates with as much hope as I had left.

I smiled softly. I had the feeling I was going to like these guys. "I'm Kristi. But I'll also answer to River." It was my nickname back before the world went to shit. My friends and I were all huge Firefly fans, and we all had nicknames. I was called River, 'cause I was the brightest in the bunch and because I was great with a sword.

I shifted my katana so I could sit more comfortably. "Where y'all from?" I asked.

He didn't have a good feeling as he heard the car approaching his position in front if the gate. From the sounds of the gunfire and yelling it seemed like he'd come upon some sort of deranged summer camp for zombie hunters. He was far too exhausted to make another run for it at this point, and realized that with the firepower they had, running wasn't likely to do any good.

With a resigned smirk he put he hung his pack on the end of his bat and slung it over his shoulder. With one hand out, thumb straight up in the air, the classic runaway looking for a ride pose, he walked towards the oncoming Subaru.

River? Really? I would have facepalmed if my nose hadn't hurt so much. "See, you get kudos for being a fan of Whedon, but River was his worst construction ever. Zoë was a far better character. Better to be a bitch than a total sociopath. And that's purely if you're talking about Firefly, which is great, but in my opinion not his best work." I immediately realised I hadn't let my inner geek out in quite a while and she had sort of exploded there. I gave Kristi a grin. "I'm from Arizona, originally. I was visiting family in Kansas City when all this happened." I stopped grinning, realising my face probably looked like something out of a Clive Barker novel and suddenly became pretty conscious about it when Mike slowed, approaching the gate.

I tried not to laugh as the guy thumbing the lift looked up at us. "Holy shit, it's Doctor Banner himself."

I laughed. "I personally was a fan of Jayne. However, my friends thought River suited me more." I nodded out toward the area I came. "I come from out of Iowa myself."

I saw the guy thumbing us for a ride and laughed at Pandora's comment. "Must've gotten caught with a flat," I joked, letting more of my Rocky Horror side show. "Well, how 'bout that."

I put my hand on my Taurus. Dr. Banner looked like trouble, but then again, I thought that with most survivors. However, I needed a group. Too many close calls like the one I just encountered.

I snorted. She mustn't have picked up on the Dr Banner crack. I glanced down at the man and wondered was he the one Randy had scared off earlier. I rolled my eyes at Kristi. "Look Kristi... He's shivering with antici..."

I snorted again and put my hand to my nose. Dammit! I shot a glare of inconvenience at Randy and wondered if it was broken.

I looked over at Pandora with concern. "Are you okay?" I got a good glimpse of her nose. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, who gave that to you?!"

I mentally kicked myself. "Do you mind if I take a look at it? Dr. Banner can remove the cause," I said in an attempt to make her smile.

I shook my head and laughed. She wasn't too bad I suppose, even if she was wielding the most pretentious of all weaponry. "It's fine. We need to stay alert until they open that gate, anyway. Well, you need to stay alert, I need to put my head down, feeling a little woozy." I sat cross legged, my knee poking out of the hole in my jeans. I set my elbows on my knees and drooped my head, pulling the bandage Randy had given me out of my pocket and holding it to my nose.

My gaze rested on the Hello Kitty badge again and I ran my fingers over it, smoothing it out gently. The backpack was probably the thing I looked after the most in the world, it was clean, pink, obvious it hadn't been opened by my muddy hands in a long time. I flicked a piece of grass off it, and stroked the badge again. I kept my head down, thankful for once I had my cascade of hair to hide my face.

"Why're you on your own, Kristi? You don't look that old."

I sighed softly. "I did start out with my group of friends. We were travelling one morning- on foot, like usual. A horde of the things attacked us. Only two of us made it out, and we were a band of six. The other one who survived didn't last very long, he had gone a mite crazy. Ended up putting him out of his misery. Been on my own ever since. You're right, I ain't that old, I'm only nineteen." I ran my fingers through my hair, remembering that morning. "I'm surprised I've survived as long as I did, I've had way too many close calls, like the one you guys caught me in."

It wasn't a very long ride back to the compound, but as it goes the girls wasted no time bonding. I suppose that is the way it goes for some. We all had spent so much time alone that the minute that someone, anyone showed the least bit of normalcy that a person can't wait to find a connection. I on the other hand had never been comfortable in groups. I learned a long time ago that the one person that would never let me down or fuck me over was me. I had learned this lesson way before things went to shit and it had served me well so far.
I did learn a bit about the two of them as I sat listening to them chatter. They both obviously spent way too much time watching the Syfy Network. Xena turned out to be Kristi, but wanted to be called River.
'A nickname? Seriously?' I thought. As fucked up as that seemed at the time, I realized that somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my head I was jealous.
'Why don't I have a cool nickname?' I wondered. 'I could be Maverick, or Ace, or Sgt. Sugarcookie.'
But no, I was plain old Randy, oh well. Kristi was from Iowa and Pan was from Arizona. Two western girls stuck with the redneck from West Virginia, figures. They went on and on regaling each other with their knowledge of pop culture and how the had ended up here.
Pan for her part didn't mention that I was the reason she had the cut on her nose. I felt bad about it more and more. She was obviously in a lot of discomfort and although I couldn't kiss it and make it better, I felt that a proper apology would be in order when we got back.
We hadn't made it very far when we all noticed the guy standing at the side of the road. On instinct I grabbed my sidearm, and laid it against my thigh. I had had my fill of asskickin and lightning cordials tonight, so I wasn't about to take a lot of shit from "the new guy".
I had a feeling that he was the fucker that had been talking to Pan before her and I...well, before her and I met. In my warped logic that made him partly responsible for my still sore fingers, so stomping a mud hole in this guy's ass and then walking it dry just might, square things.

It wasn't long before the gate made a loud grating sound, starting to open. It was this point I started to feel most nervous. In case something happened, or there was a horde. My heart was racing and I looked around in a panic. I held the backpack close to me as Mike started to drive through the gates. I immediately felt claustrophobic as they started to close behind us. I wanted off this car, I wanted to just get my nose and my back sorted, just to get a wash, maybe a beer.

God. Beer. It had been so long since I'd had a beer. I looked down at the backpack and saw a piece of brown fur sticking through it. I ran my fingers over it as I heard the gates clang shut. I looked up at Randy. We were in. We were "safe". I looked down at the brown fur and bit my lip. What now?

It was nice to be back at the compound. I had just arrived this afternoon, but it was the closest thing that I could even imagine calling home. When the car stopped, I slid down and felt the ache in my body after sitting for a while. I looked up to Pan and offered her a hand to help her down. She had seemed to sadden as we made our trip back, and she clung to the backpack that I had retrieved for dear life.
"Pan...c'mon, let's get that cut cleaned up."

I lifted my head and forced a smile across my battered face. "Look at you, being all gentlemanly. Pity you couldn't have been like that before you broke my face." I held onto the backpack tightly, and the bat too. I took his offered hand to help me down and as my feet hit the grass, my knees nearly buckled and my hair just flew everywhere.

What a mess. I leaned back against the car to steady myself, and winced as my back hit the metal. I sighed. He mentioned getting my cut seen to. "Sure, I mean, you can't really make it any worse, can you?” I half smiled.

Pan? Randy had said her name was Pan? Like in Peter?

Whatever.

And then he said stop the car. No, he pretty much told me to stop the car. So, I did. The Subaru's antilock brakes pulsed and put the car at a standstill on the road. I was about to pop up through the open sunroof when Pan reached down and grabbed my rifle.

Whoa, chick, NO ONE touches my rifle!

I didn't even get the chance to protest. Randy had cleared the roof of the Subaru and was engaged offensive with the creatures. Pan showed some definite skill then with my M4. I drew my Glock 21 and kept cover as she worked.

When I looked over to Randy, he was doing the zombie dance with another female. I shook my head, wondering quietly to myself where these girls keep coming from. This one was armed with sword and knife, and she sure as fuck knew what she was doing with them. I was impressed.

I don't impress easily.

"Ya'll quit fucking around and get back in the car!" I shouted.

I pressed the trigger of the Glock to the rear and watched one of the creatures that had gotten too close for comfort fall back onto the road. It started to get up, and I had time to really aim the Glock's Trijicon sights. I pressed the trigger again and its head came apart. Gotta love a .45. Like a brick through a plate glass window.

It wasn't but a few more seconds when Randy rejoined us, along with the new girl. I learned a lot about both of them in the short time it took us to reach the compound. Pan was actually Pandora, and Kristi was the new girl but she went by River. This, of course, started a whole discussion about Serenity and Firefly, which I wasn't interested in engaging in right now. My one objective was to get us back to the gate safely. We could talk about movies and TV shows later. And for the record, I always liked Gina Torres' character.

As we neared the gate, I saw the guy who bombed me and Max with the distraction device thumbing a ride.

"You've got to be shitting me," I said out loud. I yelled up to Randy through the open sunroof. "Heads up! Contact close, safeties off!"

I wasn't the type to shoot first and ask questions later. That was the cop in me. However, lately, I had reverted back to training and tactics that had been implanted before I ever began law enforcement. The navy had taught me, above all else, the mission must be completed. Right now my mission was to see these people, one of which I very much thought of as a friend even though he and I had just met, back to safety.

Any obstacle to my completing that mission would be removed.

I stopped the car about 20 yards from where he had walked into the road. I was out and holding Max by his collar within a few seconds. Getting out of the car with my dog at the ready was something I had done so many times before.

Max immediately sounded off, barking and lunging, begging me to release his thick leather collar. I held him in my left hand, my arm tensed and my feet planted solidly on the ground.

I knew two things: one, this guy had some explaining to do and two, Max's barking would draw those things to us.

The gate began to open. The people inside knew we were back.

"Stay here," I told the flashy-bang-bang dude over Max's barking, "we'll be right back!"

I put Max back in the car and drove us through. As soon as we were in, I put the car into 'park' and took the keys out of the ignition. As Randy and the rest were dismounting the car's roof, I stepped out and grabbed his arm. "Let's go check this guy out," I said to him. "He's the dude with the distraction device that was in the Subaru when we made contact."

I was walking out the gate when I turned back to Randy. "He looks scared, bro," I told him. "Just like all of us."

"Look at you, being all gentlemanly. Pity you couldn't have been like that before you broke my face." came her reply.
"Well, not to be picky, but I just pushed you. If you had been watching where you were going you might have seen that tree."
She held onto her stuff as I helped her down and nearly collapsed when she hit the ground.
"Sure, I mean, you can't really make it any worse, can you?”
'What a bitch!' I thought as I took a few steps closer, our bodies almost touching.
"Actually it might have helped with that thing you got goin on right there."
I waved my hand around in front of her face as if indicating the area I was talking about. Of course there wasn't anything there, but I roll like that sometimes.

Did he just call me ugly? I think he did. I had to resist the temptation to kick him square in the nuts, and instead tried to screw my face up and stick my tongue out but that failed epically and only made my nose bleed harder. I looked at the gate where Mike was headed to exchange words with the new guy. I didn't like him either. Mike I liked, but that was based on the dog. Guys with dogs were okay. Guys who throw you face first into trees, not so much.

"So are you going to stand around and smart mouth me or fix what you did?" I folded my arms and scowled at him.

She seemed incensed by my comment, she wrinkled her face and stuck out her tongue, but then winced and regretted it
"So are you going to stand around and smart mouth me or fix what you did?"
She was actually kind of cute standing there, arms folded, pouting.
"Oh don't be mad Sweet Pea." I said as I turned and headed to the door of the main building.
At the entrance I turned, "Mike, I am gonna see if I can help Pan with her face thing. Be back to help check the perimeter."
He just shook his head and resumed talking to the new guy. I started through the door and grabbed the lantern that I has set aside when the three of us had started to the car. As I lit it my thoughts wandered to Alli. 'I wonder where the fuck she went?' I thought as I turned to see Pan still standing outside the doorway.
"C'mon darlin, we don't have all night. There's no trees in here to be afraid of."