ZRP-2 Chapter 8: Survivors One and All

Abel had used his pistol for suppressing fire, so the group could move farther into the camp. He ducked behind a stack of crates beside a large military style tent. He peaked around the boxes and was met with automatic fire from multiple locations. Abel evaded the fire, falling on his back as the wood from the crates splintered into the air when the bullets pierced them.

"Shit! Taking fire!"

Cooper moved to Abel, gripping his shirt and dragging him backwards with one hand, a pistol in the other, though poorly aimed. Someone had a grenade, and lobbed it at the Shepherds that were entrenched. Some ran, others stayed put. Either way they were either shot or killed in the explosion, and the raiders advanced.

"There!" Sam shouted. "Over by the corner!" she said as she pointed out a machine gun toting Shepherd.

As a truck roared at the gate, Hibiki gassed it.
"Moment you got a shot Ella, light them up." She said.

Nodding, Ella swiveled the turret around and brought the gun to bear on the Shepherds, firing everything that was in the magazine into them. Many were torn apart, reduced to bloody pinatas. There was a major drawback though, to having this gun battle: it was drawing in walkers.

Abel felt himself being dragged back. When he looked up he saw Cooper holding onto him by his shirt. Abel grabbed Cooper's arm and stood up, after getting his shotgun from the ground.

"I'm good, I'm not hit."

The grenade shook the ground as Abel knelt down behind cover, releasing a magazine from his .45 and sliding his last one in.

"Yeah could have fooled me," Cooper growled. Someone shouted "Walkers!" and the group noticed the dead marching through the otherside. "Dammit we're running out of time," Marcus said. "Get the supplies and let's get out of here!"

Eve took potshots through the door, waiting. She finally saw James ans thenothers, then slipped outside. Retrieving a few arrows, she made her way over to James.
"This way daddy. Ammo is there. Fifteen slaves there." She pointed.

Abel holstered his pistol and gripped his shotgun in both hands. He began giving covering firing, sending scatters of buckshots through the air, as Eve moved to James. Once empty, Abel began reloading the shotgun with the last of his shells.

"I'm getting low. Some more ammo would be great right about now."

"Abel, over there for ammo!" James said, pointing where Eve indicated. Then he moved towards where the slaves were apparently being kept, but the moment he opened the door he heard the loud sound of shots reverberating from inside. On reflex he moved to the side, pulling Eve with him as he moved away from the door.....but there were no shots coming out of the doorway. "What the....oh no," James said, fearing the worst as he moved inward.

Eve's face paled. She unclipped Jason's P90 and yanked it from him, pressing her pistol into his hands before shooting the door and kicking it open. The bark of the P90 came, and as Eve entered, a few screams were heard.

One scream went on for a second, before a sharp gunshot ended it abruptly.

The gunfire stopped, and the building was quiet.

James went first, pistol in hand as he tried to find the source of the scream. turning a corner he entered a large room, a pile of corpses inside. All women. All shot, the shooter dead along with them. Eve was crouched over one of the girls, P90 on the ground. "Eve?" James asked, checking to see if she was alright when it was clear she wasn't.

Eve was crying.
"I promised. I...I promised."
The girl's smile still there, her limp hand against Eve's cheek. Eve had been holding the limp hand there, then set it on her chest.
"I promised they'd be saved. I told them I'd get them out." She looked at the girl. "I could save them. I knew I could."

Eve looked up at James. "How was I not able to save them?"

James didn't have an answer, as he helped Eve to her feet.....before crushing her against his chest, despite the battle outside. "It wasn't anything on your part Eve. It was just.......just bad luck."

Ella mowed down the Shepherds, but then the gun ran out. "Fuck! I'm out, and we're about to be swarmed by zombies!"

Eve sobbed softly, then...she pulled away, handing the P90 back.
"Let's get the ammo."

She went back outside and ran to the building, waving over whoever she could. "Let's get what we came for!" she called out, slipping back into the building. Three arrows later, the ammo dump was again secured.

She picked up a P90 and a few clips. Might come in handy.

"Everyone load up the cars!" Marcus shouted. While half the fighters there continued firing, they helped cover the other half who carried ammo to the trunks of the cars.

Eve provided cover firing, entirely pissed and upset to an almost impossible degree.

Abel rushed into the ammo tent and once inside he grabbed a crate and started loading ammo of all types into it. He grabbed a bandoleer full of twelve gauge shells and slung it over his head, then tossed three Kalash rifles into the crate along with a box of banana mags. Once the box was full, Abel slung his shotgun on his back and started dragging the crate with both hands, as fast as he could to one of the vehicles.

Another shot boomed from Sarah's sniping position, the machine gunner dropping like a stone as her lethally accurate shot exited his skull. She then cycled in another round. After that, Sarah's symphony of death came forth from the rifle's barrel. She was silent save for her breathing.

She lined up another shot at took aim, Shepherds that were in the open falling prey to Sarah's withering fire. Even the occasional walker went down.

Andrew helped gather the ammo and was witness to the accurate sniper fire that his sister was raining down on the Shepherds. On occasion, he stopped to take potshots at the walkers that were now starting to enter the fray.

The Shepherds weren't a threat anymore, not with their current numbers. Now it was the dead, who came swarming in through the unguarded gate in the east. Some were runners, and they ran for the raiding party, though they got gunned down by those with guns. However, one simply got hit in the legs and was sent tumbling to the ground, where it crawled forward and sank its teeth.......right into Cooper's ankle. He screamed, but despite that he shot the runners head off though blood poured from the wound, and he realized he was dead.

Eve saw it. She walked up to Cooper, covering him.
"There's some explosives in the building. Make your death mean something." She said, aiming for headshots.

"Way to show fucking empathy Eve!" Cooper shouted at her. James turned to see that Cooper.....Cooper of all people was bitten, and he very nearly froze in the middle of the fight. "Dammit!" Sam shouted as she saw what happened through her binoculars.

Eve didn't respond, she just kept firing.
Then she did.

"Because we have time for empathy when we need to secure everyone else. I'll mourn when I have time." She replied evenly.

Emma was being incredibly careful now that the attackers were loading ammo and supplies up, darting into the supply room when nobody was inside, grabbing whatever valuables she could get her hands on and darting back out. So far, she'd secured two handguns, and some ammo for her own weapon. While she'd hoped to have gotten a lot more, two weapons for trade was fine by her, yet she had seen some rifles inside, which were obviously worth more to some people.

With the confusion outside, from what she had overheard someone was dead or dying, she made a final dart in, throwing as much ammo as she could into her bag, and grabbing an Assault Rifle. As she darted back to her exit, she tripped, twisting her ankle in the process. The fall knocked the stolen rifle from her hands, sending it sliding across the floor, where it fired. Emma went cold, she hadn't thought that the Shepherds would leave a weapon loaded, and if this group came in now, she could very well get killed over it.

Sarah's blood went cold as she saw what happened through her scope. Her mind knew what would happen next. Cooper was now too dangerous to be let back into the town. He'd either have to be shot, or blow himself up to keep himself from becoming dangerous.

She then said, "I know. Let's hope they know what needs do be done. Because, however useful his death may become, someone's going to have to kill him." She then added, "And I'll do the deed myself if I have to."

Andrew, who was helping to fight off the walkers, then heard a rifle crack that wasn't theirs. He turned turned towards the gunshot, then turning his head back to the others, saying, "Anyone else hear that, or am I crazy?"

When Abel lifted the crate into the trunk of one of the cars, he heard a scream come from one of the group's people. He un-slung his shotgun and brought it to the ready. He saw Cooper finishing off a zombie that was at the Elite's feet. Abel then saw Cooper's leg bleeding. An empty feeling hit Abel, filling him with a bit of sorrow. Bit... Abel was never close to anyone in this group, but it always seemed to him that he and Cooper shared a bit of an understanding with each other.

"What if... we cut it off?"

Abel didn't like the idea, but he didn't want to see someone else die.

"We can't," James said. "It's been tried before, and it never works once it gets into the bloodstream." Cooper nodded, and grabbed James shirt to pull him down. "There's semtex in the shed. Give me some James." A fierce grin spread over his face. "Send me out.....with a bang." Estel, who had already gone back into the shed, found a girl who wasn't there before with a rifle on the ground. "Jesus where did you come from?" she demanded, though it was kinda pointless to discuss it now.

Eve got in front of Cooper and James. "I'll cover you two." She said tersely. "But hurry, I'm running out of ammo."

Nodding, James helped Cooper to his feet while Estel dragged out a random girl from the shed. Not bothering to ask questions, James said "Get her in the back of the pick-up and move Estel!" She nodded, following the order while James helped Cooper to the shed. Before they got inside, Cooper stopped him. "This is far as you go James. I'll take it from here." He extended a hand, which James briefly shook. "Take care of them kid........that's your responsibility now."

Eve backed up.
"Oorah to ashes." She said. "Thank you. For everything."

"Thank me....by getting out of here," Cooper said. James nodded, and grabbed Eve to pull her back. "Let's go people, we need to get out now!" Some nearly objected to leaving Cooper behind, Marcus being one of them. But they realized, as painful as it was, that it was for the best. Piling into the cars, they started to leave though the undead still focused on them, and not Cooper.

Eve let James pull her away,
She didn't cry...but she did feel this welling sadness in her gut.

Abel climbed up the side of the truck's bed. Once inside, he fired his shotgun into walkers that got too close. He held on as the vehicle started to move, then started reloading shells into the shotgun from his bandoleer. He looked back to Cooper, who was getting farther away with each second that passed. It felt as though there was a dry rock lodged in Abel's throat, but he forced himself to shake that feeling off.

Everyone began to drive away from the camp, as more of the undead poured through. Not all the explosives were taken however; there were still some grenades, and even two sticks of dynamite. So Cooper shouted a wordless cry of defiance at the undead, as he fired his MP5K at them, emptying the magazine and getting their attention as he led them to the shack. "YEEEAAAHH! COME ON YOU ROTTING MOTHER FUCKERS!" he yelled, taking down the last of the runners while the swarm of walkers kept coming at him. He was limping backwards, until he reached the door of the shed and pulled himself inside, falling backwards to the floor and kicking the door closed, keeping his foot there to hold them back, even as they pressed themselves against the door and tried to force their way in, shoving it open by inches and thrusting their faces through the cracks. In one hand, Cooper held the small block of Semtex, the fuse set and ready. In the other......wasn't the detonator, which was in his pocket. He held a picture, of a family: a husband and wife, and a single daughter. He had once been the husband, his family long since dead. Here I come Lily, Cooper thought, releasing the Semtex and pulling the detonator from his pocket, right as the horde broke through, the first of them falling onto him and biting into his flesh. He gave one last cry of defiance, the device held high......and his thumb pressed the trigger.

As the convoy drove away, James saw through the tiny frame in the tank door as the shack exploded in a ball of fire and smoke, the shockwave knocking down the other undead like a line of bowling pins. From the cliff Sam and Sarah were perched on, Sam no longer needed her binoculars, seeing for herself exactly what happened as tears ran down her face.

Sarah took her eyes away from the scope of the rifle, closing the bolt as she put the weapon on safe. Nothing more could be done on their end, and she knew it. Although she didn't show it, she was just as sad as Sam was. Sarah put on her jacket, and then slung the rifle back over her shoulder.

She placed a hand on Sam's should as she stood next to her, saying, "You can drive on back to meet the convoy. I'll ride backseat."

Sarah walked away and said in a voice so soft no could hear, "This world has too many dead heroes."

Sam nodded, albeit with tears on her face, and she climbed into the seat of the dirtbike, waiting for Sarah.

In the tank.....James pounded on the bulkhead of the door, yelling through clenched teeth. It made Ella shout at him "James enough, you're going to break your hand."

Hibiki gritted her teeth, but remained silent. Eve looked scared as James went crazy, and slightly moved closer to Hayley. The medic blinked and looked away as the tank moved quickly.

Sarah then slipped onto the bike's back seat, giving Sam a gentle tap on the shoulder, signalling that she was good to go. She took one last look at the now ruined building, snapping a quick salute to the man that had willingly died to buy them more time. However, Sarah couldn't bring herself to say anything.

I didn't know him like they did. I have no right to sympathize or grieve with them...

Andrew looked to James with a slight bit of worry, but didn't say a word to the man. James was in a dark place, and he didn't want to do any thing that would tip the even more over the edge.

James soon stopped what he was doing, as he realized how pointless it was. Sitting back down, he massaged his fist as the tank shuddered over the road. Ella sighed, and went back to manning the gun. They got as far as the meeting point, before the tank stuttered and came to a stop; they were out of gas. Sam had parked the bike by the road, waiting for the group to come over when she saw the way the tank stopped, and noted that it couldn't be good.

Hibiki cursed in Japanese. "No gas. Dammit." She kicked the side. "Domwe have any extra gas? Did we pick up any before the walkers arrived?" She asked, not pissed.

"There wasn't enough time," one of the occupants said. "Not when those things came in." James stood up and said "Okay, here's what we do: for the cars we can afford to lose and that aren't carrying anything, we empty their tanks and pour what they have into the tank. And for everyone that loses them......they walk."

"Its all we can do. Everyone out and get to work. Ella, man the gun still. I'll stay here and make sure we can drive away at moments notice. James, you direct. Move!" Hibiki ordered.

The door opened, and several people were already out of the cars, Marcus among them and already headed for James, his expression......gone. He looked like a man with little to no blood in his entire body. "James......Jesus, Cooper..." James held up a hand and shook his head, the message clear. Now wasn't the time, and he soon started snapping off orders. Every car that wasn't either being used to carry wounded or supplies was to be emptied of fuel and diverted to the tank and the vehicles that were carrying the supplies. It was a slow process, but the fuel was transferred......in time for them all to hear a screech of a runner, and turn to see several running towards them. "Fuck! Get the supplies out of here now!" James shouted, bringing his gun up to fire. Sam was about to fire as well, but he shouted at her to run for it and keep the supplies safe. Estel stayed behind, along with Aiden and Marcus.

Eve stepped up next to Estel, taking shots with her P90. She wasnt wasting ammo, being careful with where she shot.
"This went from shit to hell." She muttered.

"No shit," Estel said as she fired her own gun, the revolver making 'wham wham wham' noises with every shot. The fire though was attracting more of the undead, with walkers and runners coming out of the trees at them, and some following them from the Shepherd camp. "Dammit, we need to move now!" James said.

Hibiki revved the engine. "We're good get in!" She screamed as Eve took down a few more walkers.
"Go Estel. I'll cover you." She said, firing a few rounds off into a small crowd.

Estel was about to turn and run, before a runner broke through the gunfire and slammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground and making ready to bite her before Aiden stepped in and pulled it away. "Get. Off. Of. Her!" he yelled, throwing it aside, right before another one grabbed him and bit into his neck, blood gushing from the new wound as he screamed in pain. James turned to fire, but was too late as Aiden was yanked to the ground by more runners, fingers curled into claws and ripping open the mans shirt and stomach, pulling out loops of flesh that were his intestines as they clawed into him, killing him. "NO!" Ella screamed, as did Estel.

Eve sprayed the undead and yanked Estel back, emptying her clip. "Move! Don't stay in shock Estel, or you'll die too!" She shouted. Fumbling, she reloaded and began dragging Estel to a truck as Hibiki revved the tank again. "GET IN OR WE ALL DIE!"

James began moving back to the tank, but the truth was that there were too many of the undead. Some even began swarming in front of the tank, and they were going to block it from moving. So James ended up doing something really stupid: he started shouting and making noise, drawing attention to himself. Marcus saw what he was doing, and did the same. "Come on fuckers!" he yelled. "Come and sink your teeth into some white meat!" James yelled, running away and to the forest. Estel.....followed suit, waving her arms and running from Eve as she drew more attention.

Eve followed, taking a few potshots at the zombies. She saved breath, just keeping themmaway from her and Estel with care.
She couldnt risk shooting at James' prusuers. She might hit him.

Abel had retreated into one of the vehicles that had a trunk full of supplies when the walkers began overwhelming their defenses. Multiple undead slammed themselves repeatedly against the car's windows, which were finally starting to crack when Abel drew his pistol and aimed it at the zombie outside of the driver's side window. But before he fired, he heard someone yelling outside, then another. Most of the walkers outside started to follow the shouts, save for the few that were still devouring one of the fallen comrades and the one that was staring at Abel through the glass.