Chapter 2: A Reality Check
Grant and his crew made sure everything was packed before leaving the girl's hideout. Knowing they wouldn't come back, they made sure to pack all they could. The amount of supplies that each duo had was combined, and would definitely help them all last at least a few days until they had to find more. With the boys each packing a gun or two, and the girls having a bow and two pistols, they could handle whatever came at them. As they left, Grant looked back at the hideout. He had seen this building so many times in the past from taking short walks out from his and Kevin's outpost, and had never expected to find two of his best friends in this building, trying to survive the same troubles that the outside could cause them.
It wasn't too long till the crew made it back to Grant and Kevin's and packing up was even simpler than before. "So, does anyone have any ideas where we should go next?" asked Kevin, wondering what the girls knew of the outside. "I know of a town that's not too far from here. We have seen it from our place. It's a decent size, and I'm sure there's probably more supplies that we could find there," said Rose. "Yeah, and I'm guessing in a town that big they may have a car of some sort. Getting out of here and to somewhere safer is what would probably be the best bet. Who knows how long till infected find our place," stated Jennifer. "We best take caution when going there. Who knows what could be down there, or even who," responded Grant. "Then it's settled. Let's get going!" exclaimed Kevin, cocking his gun. The other three smiled and packed up, and they were soon on their way to the town, unaware of what could be in this town.
As the group arrived, they spotted a good size house that would make a good entry point to getting in the town without alerting anything in the town, whatever it may be. As they entered, they heard a growling noise, and took precaution. Grant and Rose traveled upstairs while Kevin and Jen explored the ground floor. Grant and Rose each explored rooms, and found a few supplies, but not a substantial amount. "GUYS!! HELP!!" called Jen from downstairs. Grant and Rose wasted no time getting down there, and were shocked by what they saw. Infected were crawling in through the windows of the living room of the house, and for every one that she or Kevin took out, another took its place. "We found three of them in the room, and the sound of our guns must have attracted the others!" yelled Kevin. As Grant watched the others kill off infected left and right, he turned around just in time to watch one break through the door, and try to bite Rose. Without a second thought, he shot the infected straight in the head, causing a bit of blood to spatter on Rose. "Thanks!" she said, a bit shaken up from almost losing her life. She loaded her bow, and took out at least two others who entered from the same door. Left and right, the crew was dispatching infected. Grant was shooting through the window, killing two, and then proceeded to bash another's head in that got a bit too close to him with the butt of his shotgun.. Jen kicked two in the legs, knocking them down and smashing their heads with a pipe she carried in her pack. Rose kept unloading arrows into the infected, making sure another arrow was loaded after the previous arrow hit. Kevin was hacking at infected left and right, slicing the infected's juggular or stabbed them straight in the chest with a machete in one hand and shooting at more with another. But no matter what they did, a large amount was still amassing outside the house. Kevin knew what had to be done. He backed himself up against Grant, and grabbed into the bag, still shooting at infected. He pulled out a small cylindrical object, with a ring-like pin attached to it. It was a grenade, and he and Grant had found only a few of these in their travels, but he knew that while they needed to save these as much as they could, this was one of the times it was necessary. He pulled the pin, and he tossed it out the open window, and in a moment, the house was filled with the echo of the explosion. Blood and innards splattered everywhere outside, but the sound of infected was no longer there. The door had been blown clear off the hinges, and luckily no one had been hit. It took a few minutes for the others to gather themselves together after the ringing high-pitched sound left their ears. Finally, as they gathered themselves together, Rose smiled, and hugged each of the others. "We did it guys! Look at what our teamwork can do! I'm so proud of you guys, and I'm so happy that we met again!" She began to tear up. "I've missed you two so much, and I can't wait to do more with you both! I'm gonna go see if I can find anything outside, and then we can keep on going! Together, no one can stop us!" As Rose walked out the door, it was clear that she was in the town now, with buildings left and right. She turned around to face the others, and with a big smile on her face, exclaimed, "Look out world! Here we co---." The sound of a gunshot echoed outside, and the three watched in horror, as in mere seconds, Rose collapsed to the ground, with a small pool of blood forming near her head. She was gone, and as her eyes went blank, a single tear rolled down the side of her face, joining the pool of blood.
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"See anyone out there, sniper?"
"Yes miss. There appears to be something drawing infected towards one of the buildings"
The sound of a grenade exploding echoes throughout the area.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
"It appears that whoever is in there had a grenade of some sort and killed the rest of the infected there. It's a mess out there."
"Exactly. Which is why we are in here. Keep an eye out for anyone."
"Yes miss. Wait...I see someone. A girl. She's jumping around, looking all happy for dealing with the infected."
"Shoot her"
"I'm sorry miss?"
"You heard me. Shoot her."
"But miss...I..."
"NOW!!! OR I WILL DIRECT THOSE WORDS AT OTHERS TO DO TO YOU!!"
"Y...yes miss..."
She positioned her weapon at the window, and looked through the scope. She recognized this girl. Her face was familiar, but she had her orders. She aimed at the girl's head, and pulled the trigger. The girl dropped immediately.
"She's dead miss."
"Excellent. But how many times must I tell you? Call me by my full title."
"Yes....Miss....Miss Renee."
"Thank you. Was that so hard? Didn't think so. Now come with me....um...what's your name again girl?"
"Britney"
"Ah yes, Britney. Come with me. You are taking a group down there to see if there were any others in that building. Find any at all, bring them straight to me."
********
Before any of the others could do anything else, the door was smashed open. A man, who looked to be at least middle-aged, was pointing a shotgun at them. "Give me your supplies." "Come again sir?" said Derek, " Unfortunately, we don't have much, so you wouldn't really be walking off with---" The man fired his shotgun once upward, blasting through a few boards in the ceiling that was actually the floor for the second floor. "QUIET! I want everything. Hand it over now!" Fortunately for Natasha, he didn't notice her hiding behind the couch. She pulled out her small pistol, and aimed for his legs. As the man kept threatening the others, Natasha developed a plan in her head. She knew what was above those boards, probably barely being held up by the few that remained and that thing about the boards was a dresser. She put her plan into action. Firing at the man's legs, with the bullets reaching their target, she ran over, as the man fell backwards in agony. She quickly picked up the shotgun, and said to the man, "The only thing you'll be getting is this." She fired the shotgun at the ceiling once more, and dove out of the way. The shotgun blast destroyed the last few boards, and a large wooden mass fell, smashing the man's head, killing him instantly. The others stood there, mouths open, wide-eyed, and staring at Natasha. "What? Something had to be done." Derek was the first to speak. "I actually found it rather smashing. Especially for that man's head." Humor was an interesting way to deal with this situation, but in this case it worked. The others began to laugh. "But seriously though, great job Natasha, that was some quick thinking." said Molly, patting her friend on the shoulder. "But what about the door? It's completely off it's hinges and it wouldn't be easy to fix." pointed out Amy. Natasha sighed. She knew what they needed to do. "We need to leave. Others know we are around here, and it isn't safe here anymore." Derek frowned. "But we just got here." he said, "Where could we go?" Natasha looked at Molly and smiled. "We have friends a good walk away from here. They will help us. I hope so at least." Derek smiled once again, " And if they try to kill us, we can just drop a dresser on them again like we did that guy! Have any more of those up your sleeve, Tasha?" Natasha smiled, and laughed a bit at his little quip. "I don't think so Derek, but I'm sure we will be fine. Let's start packing." Derek looked at Amy, and shrugged his shoulders, smiling. "Already done." he said.
Gretchen was sharpening her dagger, with two pistols by her side, easily within reach if needed. "I need this dagger ready in case of any attack" she thought to herself. While she and her friend Jackie, who was on lookout at the time, had been pretty safe in their home, it was always important to be prepared anyways. She had seen many others whom she had known perish due to the lack of being prepared and being ready for anything, and she didn't want herself or Jackie, or even anyone else close to her to meet the same fate as those unfortunate others did. With her light blonde hair and blue eyes, Gretchen always made sure every area of their home was secure, and not in danger of allowing an opening for an infected to get in. She heard the sound of footsteps, and almost reached for her gun, until she realized it was just Jackie coming down the stairs. "Gretchen there are people coming." Gretchen sat straight up at this, thinking the worst. "Who are they?" she said. Jackie looked outside at the window with her dark brown eyes and black hair. "I'm not fully sure. They looked like old friends of ours. Possibly Natasha and Molly, since two of them decently resemble them. But there are two others with them. Two who also have a sense of familiarity to them, but I still can't really tell." Gretchen grinned for a moment, happy to see some familiar faces, but her face became serious once again, knowing the mission of always being prepared would come first, even if they were their friends. "How far away were they when you first looked Jackie?" she asked. "A good amount away, but definitely coming here," responded Jackie. "Then let's be ready to meet them when they get here, but don't let down your guard in case infected are out there waiting." stated Gretchen. "While they are our friends, we still need to keep an eye out for those creatures, in case they are anywhere nearby." Jackie nodded, and went back up to keep a lookout, making sure nothing was waiting for their friends, and making sure they got here safely. People whom neither of them had seen in several months were coming to their door, and while they knew it was most likely a friendly visit, and were indeed happy to see them, enemies existed outside those doors, and while friendship and company was important in this land, survival was even more.
