Chapter Text
“-co. Hey. Inco! Wake up!”
I feel so sleepy…
“5 more minutes Liv-long…”
Man, this brick wall is comf- Hang on, brick wall? I wrestle open my tired eyes, to see Olivia sitting in her wheelchair in front of me, with a shotgun across her lap. I readjust my glasses, I must be dreaming.
“Olivia, why do you have a gun?”
Olivia swings her arms around, excitedly pointing at our surroundings.
“Inco, do you recognize this at all?”
Where are we? I take a closer look at our surroundings, taking in where we are. We are on some rooftop in the middle of a city I don't recognize, the sky is overcast and it looks like it’s going to rain soon. There's a table to our side, another shotgun leaning against it. The place does remind me of something, but I can’t place it. I see Ben and Damien a few steps behind the table, each holding some gun I recognize from a few movies and games. Damien seems to be teaching Ben how to operate it in detail. Ben is paying close attention, an unusual seriousness etched onto his face. Something feels wrong with everyone around me being armed. Olivia nudges me with her tail, and I return my attention to her.
“Sorry, not really.”
Olivia frowns, and stays silent. This expression. Straight to my heart. I have to try harder. I look closer, and the layout of the rooftop is definitely familiar to me. I recognize it, but I can't remember from where. Ben looks up for a moment and noticing that I’ve woken up.
“Hey Inco, good to see you finally awake!”
He and Damien walk over to us, and Damien reaches out with his hand. I hesitate for a moment. What even is going on? How did we end up here? What-
Damien clears his throat, reminding me that he’s waiting for me. I grab his hand, and he pulls me to my feet. Ow, my shoulder. I rub it while Olivia opens her maw, and points some more around us.
“Inco, I’m gonna cut the guessing game short. You're not gonna believe this, but we are IN the game.”
Excuse me, whaaaaaat.
Olivia reads my confused expression like a book, and explains further:
“I don't know what Reed did or was in that smoke that came from our console, and I’m still gonna kick his ass for breaking it, but we are now in the game!”
She shimmies on her seat, visibly excited.
“You know, what we were playing just a few minutes ago. Before we woke up here!”
I shake my head. Us, in the game?
“That’s insane.”
Damien shakes his head too while giving me a questioning look.
“Then how do both me and Olivia know exactly where we are? This is the ‘No Mercy’ campaign. Know it like the back of my hand!”
I guess. This all seems a bit out of nowhere. I’m still not completely convinced, and now Ben chimes in too:
“Inco, I’m believing them, as insane as this sounds. They even told me word for word what the chopper pilot was about to say that flew by here, but you just missed him.”
I guess we really are in the game, huh? I must be having some sort of dream… Let's just play along for now.
“Soooo, what’s the plan?”
Olivia and Damien point at the table.
“Grab a gun, a first aid kit and make our way to Mercy hospital. Just gotta shoot a few zombies on the way, you know. Just like the game.”
Right. I grab the first aid kit and sling it around my shoulder, before pondering. SMG or shotgun.
Olivia rolls up next to me, asking me just by looking:
‘Do you need help?’
She keeps looking at me, while I try to decide what to pick. Emphasis on try, I just can't figure out which one would be better for me. Just staring at them isn't helping, so let's just skip to asking for help. No shame in that. I nod.
“Yeah, I have no idea how these work. Please help me, Liv.”
Olivia ponders for only a moment before handing me her shotgun and wheeling herself to an empty spot on the roof.
“Alright, look at that wall, I'll teach you. It’s not rocket science.”
I step up next to her before raising the gun while holding it as I imagine it is supposed to be held, only for Olivia to press down on the barrel with her tail and force it down again.
“Whoa, slow down Inco. I don't want you to shoot yourself or us. Do you even know anything about handling guns?”
Uhh… I can only think of one thing.
“Finger off the trigger until you are sure you want to shoot?”
Olivia nods, happy I have at least some common sense.
“Good start. But you should learn the other bits of gun safety before you put new holes in Damien or me. And I don't want you to shoot yourself…because that would…suck. And be bad. You dummy.”
She goes a little red, and I get the hint.
“OK, how do I handle a gun safely, Olivia?
She sighs, before listing them up using her claws:
“So, to handle guns, there are 4 basic rules: Always treat your weapon like it's loaded, know your target and what's behind it, finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot, and especially: never point a gun at something you aren't willing to kill or destroy. That includes us, and yourself.”
I nod, trying to burn them into my head.
“As long as you remember those, we should all make it out alive. Come on, let’s practice a bit so you aren't as useless here as you are with a controller.”
Ouch, my ego. I hear Ben racking the charging handle of his gun from across the roof, and firing a few bullets into the wall. Seems like his and Damien’s training is well underway. I raise my shotgun towards the wall, and Olivia corrects my posture with her tail and arms until she is happy.
“Alright, hold it tight, and squeeze.”
Alright, here goes nothing. I grab the gun tight, and slowly put more and more force onto the trigger.
BANG!
“Whoa!”
Olivia giggles.
“Go on, a few more, and you'll have it.”
I rack the shotgun, grab it a little tighter this time and shoot again. Again, and again, until the gun goes *click*.
“Damn. That wall didn't stand a chance, Inco, well done!”
She actually claps her hands mockingly. I give her a stink eye over my glasses, and she cuts it out.
“OK, now to reload, grab towards your left hip, and shove the shells in there.”
I look down, and see a pistol magazine and a few loose shotgun shells floating to the left of my hip. A pistol I havent noticed before is floating next to my right hip.
“Huh. That’s…weird.”
Olivia chuckles.
“Video game logic, don't question it.”
My view wanders over to Damien and Ben, who are getting busy lighting up the wall in front of them. Ben seems to be getting to grips with his SMG quite quickly, he makes it look easy.
I grab the shells, and am seriously impressed with how easy they are to load. Just stuff them into the hole until no more shells go in, and pump. I raise the gun, imagine a zombie, and squeeze the trigger again.
BANG!
And pump, and reload.
“I think I got it.”
Olivia flashes me a smile.
“You got it! If you're ever in a pinch, just remember: switching to your pistol is faster than reloading.”
I lower my glasses and look at Olivia over them.
“Really?”
Olivia grins, knowing damn well what she did, and I can see Damien and Ben grab some more ammo from the table. Ben notices me looking and is the first one to speak up:
“Are we ready?”
Damien closes the gap to us, and he and Olivia share a knowing look. More unspoken questions, with some gesture from Damien? Olivia shakes her head, and Damien shrugs.
“Nah, you'll figure out the rest on your own. Just keep an eye out for the special infected.”
Ben raises an eyebrow and asks:
“Special? Like that little gremlin that jumps on your back and steers you into the other zombies?”
Olivia leans back in her chair, with a smug expression.
“Wow, you actually remembered something, Mr. What’s-a-video-game.”
Ben takes the playful ribbing with dignity, and simply nods. Olivia continues:
“Don't worry, you'll recognize them when you see them. They all look different from the regular ones. They can appear over and over, so don't think because you shot one they won't show up again.”
I nod, trying my best to remember the information.
“Alright, let's go!”
Olivia rolls up to the roof access door, shoves it open, and stops.
“Inco?”
We march over, and stop next to Olivia, with her eternal enemy looming in front of us.
“Well shit. Stairs.”
Olivia turns her head to look at me, and I already know what's coming.
“Inco, there are some meanie stairs here. Would you please carry me?”
I sigh. Can’t resist her pleading eyes. They are my kryptonite. I can hear Ben hold back a laugh, but choose to ignore it.
“Yeah, I will.”
Damien grabs the wheelchair by the back handles, and I pick up Olivia. She slings her arm around my shoulders, and I feel my heart racing just like the first time. Holding her has gotten easier since she started exercising with me and losing some weight as well. Who knew swimming could be fun when you do it with someone you love?
Ben goes down the stairs first, with the rest of us closely behind.
It doesn't take long for us to encounter our first zombie. He slowly stumbles around the corner, a human too. He’s covered in blood pouring out from a head wound, where it looks like he’s been bitten countless times on his scalp. He slowly looks at us while struggling to walk in a straight line, before Ben takes a few steps forward and suddenly shoots him in the face.
He drops dead on the spot, and I feel a little sick. Ben huffs, not even a little shaken.
“Huh. That was easy.”
I shake my head. You always remember your first one, or whatever that saying was.
“Better hope that actually was a-”
I don't get to finish, before a horde storms around the corner and begins surrounding a screaming Ben, who begins blindly firing into the crowd. Damien slams the wheelchair down at the bottom of the stairs, and I set Olivia down as fast as possible into it. Damien starts shooting the zombies around Ben, taking extra care to not hit him. Just as I bring up my shotgun, Ben shoves the last zombie away, and empties the rest of his magazine into him, until the gun is empty. Damien rushes past us, and begins patting down Ben.
“You ok?”
Ben seems mostly fine, except for his clothes, which are a little dirty from the blood.
“Yeah, just a few scratches and bruises, I’m just glad I didn't get bitten.”
He shudders. With that scare over, we all reload our guns and take a careful step around the corner, on high alert for more zombies.
I turn the corner into a kitchen, and meet eyes with my soon to be first zombie kill, some brown scaled dino lady. I hesitate for only a moment. Do it for Olivia. I gotta protect her. I raise my shotgun and shoot the zombie center mass, and she goes ragdolling against the door frame. Goddamn, this shotgun is really working well. I take a deep breath, and the smell of guts and bone hits my nose properly. Smells absolutely disgusting. Urgh. Better not get any of that stuff into my mouth.
One by one, we get our turns in shooting zombies, an unspoken agreement between the guys to keep Olivia out of trouble. Damien's first kill is a zombie leaning against the wall, a bit lame, but we all start somewhere. I shoot another two dinos, before Olivia shoots another one sitting on the floor. We continue on, room after room of zombies, all quickly dispatched one by one with either a blast of the shotgun or a few bullets from someone's SMG. Damien opens the door to what looks like a bathroom.
“One sec, brb.”
He closes the door, and I share a look with Olivia. Really? Now of all times? Seconds later he returns with a bottle of painkillers in his hand, handing them off to Ben, who musters the label closely.
“For when things get rough and you’re hurt. Should keep you going for a bit, in the game it’s like temporary health that slowly drains over time.”
Ben nods.
“Thanks.”
We make our way through the building, shooting every zombie we come across, until we stop in front of yet another set of stairs. I don't even need to look at Olivia to know what she wants from me again. She likes being carried by me, so I'll have to carry my cute gator gf as often as she wants.
Damien and Ben clear the staircase, Ben keeps watch while Damien comes back up to carry the wheelchair down.
After a repeat of the first song and dance, Olivia rolls on ahead, left hand on the left wheel, right hand onto the gun, using her tail as a backup hand for the right wheel. She's having to put in a lot more effort, having to use both her tail and hands for the gun and her basic movement. I should give her a tail massage after this, just in case. A cramp at just the wrong moment might get her eaten alive. Even so, she's smiling earhole to earhole as she shoots the zombies, having the time of her life. I swear to myself to protect her smile with everything I've got. More zombies come out the rooms, and I manage to dispatch most of them, with Olivia getting the ones that get too close to me. I feel like I’m getting better at this.
“You know, this is actually kind of fun! If we ignore the smell of blood and the fact we are shooting people…”
Damien pats me on the shoulder and holds out his hand for a brofist which is a bit awkward with him holding a pistol in his hand. He’s smiling too. I return the brofist carefully, but leave my smile at home. Guns aren't toys, Damien.
“See? I knew you'd enjoy this game!”
I nod, and Ben joins in on the brofist, making it a three part star. Ben is also holding a pistol, but at least keeps it pointed away from us.
“Come on Inco, you gotta also do it with your pistol. Then it's the ultimate apocalypse brofist!”
"Uhhh…" Damien? What about gun safety?”
“What gun safety? The first rule of handling guns is to have fun!”
I share a VERY concerned look with Olivia.
The moment gets interrupted by another group of screaming and snarling zombies, coming from where we just cleared the rooms. Everyone swivels on the spot, and begins firing into the horde. Ben swings his gun side to side, firing his bullets at head height. I crouch down to give him more room to aim freely, and begin kneecapping the group with focused shotgun blasts. A few splatters of blood and guts hit me, but that’s life. Better to be alive with dirty clothes than dead. Not a moment too soon, the last of the group is shot to pieces, and Damien goes on ahead.
We round a corner, and Olivia’s eyes lock onto a TV displaying a test image, and I can’t quite make out her expression’s meaning.
“Inco, can I shoot the TV?”
Well. I don’t see why not.
“Well, we are apparently inside a videogame. This is about the one time you can do it consequence-free. Go ahead. Show that TV who’s the boss”
I don’t have to tell her twice. She blasts it, shattering the screen everywhere, and the smell of burnt plastic hits my nose. She’s grinning earhole to earhole, this was probably something she’d been wanting to do forever. I put on a fake military accent, and tease her:
“Nice shot. It didn’t stand a chance.”
My comment earns me a tail smack, which at this point has become more like playful teasing. Damien chuckles at our shenanigans, and moves on ahead. Ben follows closely, and we follow after them. We make it through no more than three rooms before the only way forward seems to be a big hole in the floor. Olivia seems personally insulted by the non-wheelchair friendly level design.
“God dammit. I hate stairs. And I hate stupid drop holes!”
Damien and I start blasting the zombies that are gathering around the hole and trying to climb up it, and when everything is clear we all stand next to it, unsure how to continue. Olivia takes a swig from her water bottle, and seems just as lost as everyone else. Ben scratches his head, and proposes his plan:
“How about… I drop down, make sure it's clear, then Inco follows, Olivia carefully lowers herself down the ledge into Inco’s arms, and then Damien hands us the wheelchair before jumping down?”
Unable to figure out a better plan, we do exactly that. Ben drops down, takes a good look around the room, before flashing us a thumbs up. I jump down next, and reach my arms out towards Olivia. She gets out of her wheelchair, onto her knees, puts her shotgun on her back, and then carefully swings herself down the ledge towards me. I carefully reach out with my arms.
“On three. One. Two-OOF”
Olivia falls into my arms one count too early. OK, let's not do that too often, my bicep feels like it's gonna explode from the sudden weight. Damien hands Ben the wheelchair, before jumping down himself. Good thing we aren't currently getting attacked by zombies. I set down Olivia into her wheelchair. slinging her tail through the gap of the seat and backrest with ease. She does seem a little red.
“Thanks Inky.”
“No problem, Liv. I’ll catch you every time.”
Ben takes the lead, with Damien close behind. Olivia rolls herself in front of me, pushing herself along the floor with a lot of effort using her tail, while keeping two hands on the shotgun. She notices me looking, and turns to me:
“Should have taken the Uzi, I could shoot that one-handed. Truly, hindsight’s a bitch. Let’s-”
Damien screaming like a banshee makes us both jolt, and we hear someone’s lighting up whatever caused that scream a few rooms over.
I bolt over, with Olivia in hot pursuit, only for us to find Damien standing over a smaller zombie’s corpse, with Ben looking properly shaken right next to him. Maybe because Damien just screamed like into his ear. Ben coughs when he opens his mouth, and it takes him a second to find the words.
“Sorry Damien. That smaller zombie was a bit faster than I thought and I got scared. Was just surprised that-
Damien whips around, and with a horrified shock to my system, I recognize the smaller zombie.
“VINNY?”
Damien looks beyond furious, as we all take a closer look at the corpse. Oh no. Not Vinny!
“YOU SHOT MY BROTHER!”
That really is Vinny. A zombified, deformed, even smaller version of him. Now that I look at the zombie a bit closer, he just about barely resembles Vinny. Olivia snarls at Ben, who is raising his hands apologetically.
“He attacked you! What was I supposed to do?”
Damien and Olivia stay silent, and I can feel the room temperature drop by a couple degrees. Flared tempers combined with guns are not the greatest of combinations. Better stop this soon. Both Olivia and Damien are staring down Ben, and I can see Damien’s brow twitch.
“Guys, aren't we in a game?”
Everyone whips around to look at me, and Olivia looks especially angry.
“What do you mean by that?”
Better choose my words carefully, unless I want to find out how sharp those teeth are. I swallow, before speaking slowly and deliberately, giving myself time to think while speaking.
“We are the only ones who still look like us. There are zombies all around, and you already mentioned special ones, Olivia.”
She narrows her eyes to a judgemental gaze. I swallow, and continue, while Ben is frozen like a statue.
“So ergo, everything that isn't us and looks like a zombie, has to be a zombie. Also, Vinny wasn't with us when the smoke got us, so I don't think that was actually him.”
Olivia takes an angry swig from her water flask, while Damien seems to be torn between shooting me or Ben.
“You also said there's multiple of those special infected, so if we run another Vinny, we know for sure that wasn't the real one.”
That's the best I can come up with, but neither Olivia or Damien can argue with that logic. He still looks angrier than I’ve ever seen him before.
“Doesn't change the fact you shot me as well!”
He whips around to Ben, who raises his hands just a little bit higher. Wait.
“Hang on a minute, you got shot and you're fine?”
Damien nods, not breaking eye contact with a squirming Ben. A movement from the corner of my eye tells me Olivia is up to something. I look over and see her putting down the shotgun across her lap, careful not to point it at one of us. She quickly pulls out a pistol from her hoodie pocket, and shoots Ben in the arm before he can react.
“OW! YOU SHOT ME! HAVE YOU GONE NUTS?”
Ben clutches his arm, and I expect him to fall over in pain. But that doesn't happen. Wait a second. His arm isn’t bleeding. His sleeve isn’t even damaged. I can see Ben realize he’s alright in real time. He pats the spot he got shot, not believing his eyes. Olivia seems satisfied by the result, and puts her pistol back.
“OK, we are really working on game logic. That didn't seem to hurt too bad. Arm still good?”
Ben gives Olivia a mean glare, before testing his arm’s motions. He carefully moves it back and forwards, then a bit more, before throwing a punch into the air.
“Yeah, actually. I think the bullet didn't even go through my scales. But it still hurts, so don't do that again.”
He rubs his arm where Olivia just shot him, while I shake my head in disbelief. This is just getting crazier and crazier.
I can hear another crowd of zombies stomping, and not a second later we are surrounded by another group of zombified dinos and humans, trying to tear the meat off our bones. Olivia whacks one with her tail before shooting him. I lose sight of her behind a blurry mess of Tails, claws and fists trying their hardest to tear us apart. An especially angry looking dino hits me a few times, before I can get the shotgun between him and me, and shoot him, sending him ragdolling to the floor. I start shooting blindly into the horde, every shot killing at least two zombies, sometimes three. Ben has immediately begun covering Damien, who I can just about make out through the mess of limbs, kicking and punching anything he can get his hands on, his guns forgotten for the moment. Olivia is slowly moving backwards with every shot she fires, which would look quite comical if it weren't for our life being on the line. The moment I get smacked in the face so hard I see double reminds me to stop staring and start shooting again. When the last zombie has been shot to pieces, we stop and take a breather.
Ben leans against the wall exhausted before sliding down it, ignoring the blood and guts he is sitting down in. Ben points at Olivia using his free hand, making sure his gun is pointed away from any of us.
“Don’t shoot me again, please, I’m just trying to survive here.”
Olivia wipes some blood off her wheels, then gives Ben another stink eye.
“No promises. Until we see another Vinny, you're on my shit list.”
Ben rolls his eyes, but keeps his answer to himself. Damien takes the lead, wordlessly storming off, frills angrily flapping around. I don't think I’d take well to getting attacked by my younger zombified brother and then have him shot just seconds later, either. He kicks open a door labeled exit, and begins blasting some zombies outside. Ben gets up, and we follow closely behind, trying to gather our bearings. Ok, we are in some sort of back alley, with Mia charging-
I can’t even finish the thought before a grossly malformed Mia slams into all of us, knocking Olivia out of her wheelchair, grabbing Damien, sending me tumbling into Ben, and we all go down somewhere between doorway and alley in a mess of tangled limbs and tails. Olivia's wheelchair hits the wall with a terrible noise as she is thrown out of it. I can hear Mia growl almost as bad as she did when the glitter got into her eyes and chased us down the hallway.
I struggle to get air into my lungs for a moment, but eventually manage it. Once my eyes have focused back to reality, I see Mia slamming a helplessly thrashing Damien into the floor repeatedly. Her right arm is massive, having grown to multiple times the regular size, it’s so big it has burst the sleeve of her jacket. Her left arm has shrunk to less than the size of a T-Rex, barely poking out of her ripped sleeve. Olivia shooting at her from the floor rips me out of my daydream, and I begin to shoot Mia as well. Ben is still struggling to get up, slipping on the spilled blood from the normal zombies. After a hail of bullets has slammed into Mia, she finally crumples over, and Damien is left lying on the floor, looking like he just got run over by a truck. He barely manages to squeeze out between coughs:
"Ow. Help guys.”
Ben slips once again next to me, and I pull him to his feet. He nods as a silent thanks, and I turn to help Olivia. She’s lying on the floor shivering, her wheelchair toppled over next to the wall. I grab the wheelchair, and give it a quick look over. Doesn't look like it is damaged but there's a bit of rubber missing from the left handle where it hit the wall. Ben limps over to Damien, and pulls him to his feet, while Olivia crawls up to me, and heaves herself into the wheelchair, her face scrunched up. She isn't too badly hurt physically, but that really scared her, I can tell. Before i can comfort her, she locks eyes with me and almost screams at me in something close to panic:
“Sorry Inco, should have paid more attention. We almost all went down. Damien was looking right, I was looking at Damien, and then Mia just came and slammed-”
I shake my head, grabbing her by the shoulders, cutting off her rambling.
“Hey hey hey, Olivia, it’s fine. We're alive, aren't we?”
Olivia looks away. I know that face. She knows it's not her fault, but she still feels guilty. Her quick breaths begin to slow down, and I squeeze her a little tighter.
“Hey, we’re OK. We're in this together, and I wouldn't leave you behind for the world.”
She pulls me into a tight hug, and we both are just glad the other one is still OK. I pat Olivia on the back, and she hugs me a little tighter. Did seeing Mia again spook her so much? Or was it being thrown from the wheelchair? I will hug her just the same. The moment is interrupted by a yelp of pain from Damien. We break off our hug way too soon, and both take a look at the duo in front of us.
“Hold still! Stop squirming or I’ll mess this up!”
Ben is healing Damien, wrapping his arms up with some bandage from the medkit. It suddenly disappears from his hands much to Ben's confusion, and Damien sighs a sigh of relief.
“Aaahhh, much better.”
Ben takes another look at Mia’s grotesque corpse on the ground, lost in thought.
“I don't like this one bit. It’s like every special infected is someone we know.”
Olivia wheels herself over to Ben, and stops next to him.
“Yeah, it’s really strange. We gotta stay on high alert until we get to the saferoom.”
“Saferoom?”
Olivia facepalms.
“Right, I forgot.”
She catches herself, before counting with her fingers.
“So right now we are in level 1. This campaign has five levels, with saferooms serving as the end goal, and at the end, a helicopter. In the saferooms are weapons, ammo and first aid kits. They serve as loading rooms too. And they are safe from the zombies, they can't get in until we open the door. Sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier.”
Ben chimes in.
“It’s fine. At least we're even now, right?”
Damien raises an eyebrow, and the mood swings back into almost hostile immediately. Even Ben realizes that was far too soon for cracking a joke.
“I think shooting your abusive ex isn't quite the same as you shooting my younger brother.”
Ben visibly crumples, and I decide to intervene before we start arguing again.
“Damien, the saferoom isn't too far from here, right?”
Damien nods, a bit peeved about my interruption, but not too much. He spits out some mix of acid and blood, and turns to me:
“Yeah, not too far from here. Out through the alley, then two corners around the street, and we'll be at the subway station.”
I nod.
“OK. Let's work together for now, and discuss any further disagreements in the saferooms, alright?"
Damien hesitantly nods, and takes the lead. At least he does until Olivia interrupts him.
“Wait! One more thing.”
We turn around, and Olivia rolls up to Mia’s corpse. Before anyone can interrupt her, she blasts Mia’s corpse with her shotgun, once, twice, then one final time. I had no idea shotgun shells were hot enough to start a smoldering fire in a leather jacket. Wow, this smells gross. Olivia leans back in her wheelchair, looking much more relaxed.
“Ok, I’m good now.”
Ben is obviously not pleased.
“Thanks for shooting Mia. Saved me the effort.”
Olivia smirks, before dunking on Ben with zero mercy:
“Ben, she beat up with your bouquet of flowers on Valentine's Day when you officially asked her out.”
I imagine it. I can totally see Mia doing that.
“She did?”
Damien holds back laughter, while Ben visibly cringes.
“You should have been at St. Hammonds earlier, that would have been such a good picture!”
“Don't remind me.”
Ben is clearly unwilling to get dunked on any further, and takes the lead.
We make our way through the back alley, before getting spat out right on the main street. There's a ton of zombies just lingering around, and we begin to shoot them one by one. Damien is nailing headshots, but Ben is already mirroring him closely. If I didn’t know any better I’d guess Ben has trained with firearms before. He’s way too good at this for a complete beginner. Our progress is swift, until we come around a corner with the subway station right across the street.
“Sweet. We're almost done.”
I take a quick glance at the advertisement in the bus stop to my right. ‘Give blood. Save lives.’ Sorry, kinda need my blood inside my own body right n-
Something moves in the corner of my eye, and I catch a glimpse of some sort of malformed zombie coming up the subway station’s stairs. Before I can get a proper look at it, the zombie hides behind the car with flashing lights parked right in front of the stairs, and I’m not sure if my eyes played a trick on me.
“Damien, was that your-”
Olivia interrupts me:
“ACID!”
The zombie stands up for a short moment, and spits out a green ball of something. It splashes down in front of our feet, immediately beginning to melt the asphalt.
“Holy shit!”
Most of us take cover behind a car, and peek through the windows at the new zombie. I think that's… Oh. Oh no. It’s Sophia.
Damien keeps standing there, completely out of it.
“Damien? What are you doing?”
I hear the zombie spit again, but it's Ben who manages to drag Damien into cover just in time, the acid spit flying past us right where Damien just stood. Ben shakes Damien, trying to snap him out of it.
“What the hell, just shoot her if you have a clear line of sight!”
Damien returns to reality, more rattled than I've ever seen him.
"Dude, that’s my mom, I can’t shoot her!"
This is not the time to argue! I cut in between the two, before they begin arguing.
"I know Damien but she’s spitting acid at us!"
As if to emphasize my point, another green ball slams against the car we are hiding behind, and I can hear the metal begin melting away. Ben takes a peek over the trunk of the car, then goes right back into cover, clearly a bit rattled:
“Guys, she's hiding behind a car. I can't shoot her from here.”
Olivia takes a glance over the hood, and crunches her face when the smell of melting metal hits her nostrils.
“I think we just have to rush her down. Sorry Damien.”
Damien crosses his arms.
“What is this, some sort of sick joke? Who's next, my dad as the boomer?”
Olivia snorts. What's so funny about that? Another ball of acid slams into the car, and we take it as our sign to go. Me and Olivia on the right, with Ben and Damien going left. We circle the zombie, dodging another shot of acid, before she has nowhere left to hide.
“Sorry Sophia!”
I blast her with the shotgun, but she barely reacts. I rack it, and shoot again. She bursts at the stomach, and spills more acid onto the floor, missing my shoes by less than an inch. I take a clumsy step back trying to protect my toes, and my finger slips. The gun goes off, the car alarm following not even a second later, together with some infernal scream from some zombie up on the rooftops. I hear Olivia curse behind me.
“FUCK! What did I say about gun safety?”
I wince. Damn it, I messed that up. Olivia wastes no time in grabbing onto me.
“Quick, down the stairs!”
I raise her from her wheelchair, trusting Damien to grab it right after us. I carry Olivia as quickly as I can down into the subway station, while Damien and Ben shoot the zombies somewhere behind us. We round the corner, and more zombies are rushing toward us. I am defenseless, both of my arms occupied with carrying Olivia. Olivia lets go of me with one arm, and shoots two with one blast of the shotgun, before realizing her mistake.
“Quick, set me down!”
I set her down as fast as possible without breaking her bones, and scramble to get the shotgun into my hands. I manage to just barely in time, and begin blasting the zombies. Together with Olivia. When my shotgun goes click instead of boom, I realize my mistake. Damnit, I lost count! A few zombies slip past me, and start kicking and punching at Olivia, who has drawn her pistol and has begun shooting the zombies surrounding her.
I grab a few shells and shove them into my shotgun as fast as possible, before pumping a shell into the chamber. Get off my gator GF!
BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!
The final zombie gets a cheap hit in on Olivia, kicking her in the hand, causing her to yelp and drop her pistol, before I splatter his brains against the wall. Damien and Ben come down the stairs, in hot pursuit by an ever-growing horde.
“GO GO GO GO GO!”
Damien grabs Olivia off the floor and almost throws her into her wheelchair the wrong way up, and we run as fast as possible towards the saferoom. Ben has turned around while running and is shooting into the horde while moving backwards. I turn around right at the saferoom door, and fire off a few shots into the horde, before Ben grabs me by the collar and pulls me into the saferoom, slamming the door shut behind us.
