ZRP-2 Chapter 9: Can We Keep It?

James had the same thought as Abel, and said "What do you say that for now, we hold onto your weapons, and at the end of this when we leave, we give them back?"

"Sure man as long as you don't send me off with nothing i'm quite happy and I guess if i'm sticking around, then what the hell are you guys doing because a APC means war in several ways and depending on who your fighting i may lend a hand, just about everyone I know is dead" he looked towards the APC and back to the leader, "Hey if you need my help I was a corporal in the army and do know how to shoot a assault rifle properly" He added before looking towards his arm, "Well crap, at least I can still use a pistol." he added a little laugh at the end of it.

Abel lowered his shotgun and moved closer to the new guy and James. "We only fight the people who pick 'em." Abel then turned to James and asked. "Any luck with the comms?"

"Not yet," James said to Abel. "Waiting to see if Martha has better luck. And dude," he said, looking at the stranger, "we've got more than enough people. If what we're doing doesn't pan out, we can't afford another mouth to feed."

"I'm not asking to join, you have to many people anyway, I was just asking what you where doing sorry anyway, I don't feel like sticking around just to watch people I meet die around me, but I am willing to help, least I can do for you guys for not shooting me." He said feeling a little offended at the mans words. He got up and looked at some of the dead walkers around him and noticed one shivering a little with a arrow stuck to its cheek.

 "still alive bastard." he said before moving towards it pulling the arrow out before stabbing it in the head. He turned to the leader he presumed. "Hey, anyone need a arrow." he finished, looking around

Eve snatched the arrow from his hand.
"Me." She said. She turned and walked away, as Hibiki sighed. "Wondered what that kid was up to." She said softly. Watching the fourteen year old walk off, cleaning the arrow, Hibiki turned her attention backt o the new guy.
"We barely are able to help the people we have. Can't keep accepting every straggler." She pointed out. "If we had a static home we might." Was all she said, before heading back into the APC.

Martha emerged from the APC, looking distinctly tired. Unfortunately she'd had no luck in trying to contact anyone. Logically this could mean several things, firstly the ship was out of range, secondly there could be problems with radio equipment on both sides.
Martha would not have been surprised if they had been out of range of the ship already. Not like that she could anything about it now. Still she could hope that they would make it in time. It was then she noticed the new arrival but said nothing, letting the rest of the group deal with it.

"No luck then?" James asked as he looked at Martha. The look on her face though was answer enough, and he sighed. "Well fuck.....sorry man, but looks like you won't be staying with us." From one of the cars though, someone started shouting "Hey I see something!" James quickly went over, ignoring the guest to join the man by the car. Phil was their name, and he had a pair of binoculars aimed out to the bay, further out to the Atlantic. "I see something further out, over there," he said, handing the binoculars to James. He took them, and peered through the lenses. There was.....a shape in the ocean that was clearing up, and James could soon clearly make it out as a ship. Not just any ship, but it looked like a carrier. It wasn't the kind he was hoping for though. It wasn't some massive super-carrier, it was smaller. But still, it was enough to make him smile, and he said cheerfully "I think our ship has finally come to port guys."

"Ship, hey what are you guys doing?" he moved towards his bag and pulled out a pair of his own binoculars before looking towards the place the man was looking. 

"Holy crap, the mist just shat out your salvation I presume, well at least you guys have a home now." he said feeling a little happy for the strangers. he returned to his bag before putting the binoculars back in and zipping it up, He sat down and started to doze off a little, allowing his new friends some time without his rambling. "Heh, still never asked to join but they keep talken like I have." he whispered to himself before he sat down and started to doze off a little, allowing his new friends some time without his rambling.

But like always.....there was something that went wrong. As the ship started getting closer, James realized there was an obstacle in its path that it was not even slowing down for. The bay had a bridge, near the entrance. It wasn't a large, cable bridge like the Golden Gate or Brooklyn Bridge. I would have passed for the kind of road seen on a freeway, only there was one spot where it dipped underwater for a tunnel, to allow boats easy entrance into the bay. And the carrier was not aimed at it, not even close. The sound from this distance was muted, but James could only imagine the sound as the front of the carrier crashed into the bridge, ripping through the concrete and rebar and barely slowing down as it kept coming at them.

"Uh......is it supposed to do that?" Phil asked, and James shook his head. "I don't think so. Martha, we may have a problem."

Martha had been looking out with horror on her face, she recognised the ship from a distance having seen it before from afar. Her skin paled and she felt breathless, she could not tear herself from the unfolding nightmare before her eyes. Her hands reached for the pocket binoculars that she carried and got a slightly better sight at the hell unfolding before her. "God help us... God help America" She whispered her voice shaking.

It quickly became apparent to James, that with where they were parked......they were more or less dead-center in the carriers path. "We need to move now!" he barked. "Everyone back in the cars and back down the road. Move up the beach and out of its path!"

A few people were already doing that, engines turning. Cars began moving and James stayed with the APC while it began to slowly move. The carrier kept getting closer, and as the APC picked up speed, there was a loud, thunderous sound as the carrier came ashore and crashed onto the beach. Sand and water were thrown up as it made landfall, a tremor going through the ground.

He awoke to the sound of cars and everyone was kinda panicking and leaving. "What the hell?" He turned after the APC and climbed atop of it pulling out his binoculars, he saw what everyone was worried about."Um, Driver could this thing move a little faster and sorry for sitting on top of your tank but I don't feel like walking that's gonna create more noise than any gunshot could."

~X~

I walk along, staying away from most of the freaks that I see. It is a long road, but not as long as the road I'll have to face now that Matt is gone. I start to wonder what would've happened if I didn't leave him.
"It was the right thing to do," I tell myself quietly, reassuring myself. I look up to see another freak.
Slowly walking up to it, I pull out my knife. It starts to come toward me, and when it gets close enough, I shove it back. It comes at me again. This time I kick it in the chest. He falls to the ground. He starts getting up again. My foot slams into his face, sending him back down. I'm about to scream at it when I hear a voice in the distance. And some cars. Immediately, I stick my knife in it's head. Enough fun. I jog into the nearby foliage and hide behind a bush, trying to get a better look.

Abel had entered one of the cars right as the situation was clear and they had to get the hell out of the way. He was riding in the backseat, with the window down he could hear as the ship beached itself. The sounds of docks cracking and succumbing as the carrier crushed through them, then the following screeches of twisting metal made Abel cringe.

~X~

More cars are turning on now. And more voices. I slowly move forward, sticking to cover. If I'm getting anything from them I can't show myself. I get close enough to see that it looks like they are moving everything they have.

Hibiki is driving. She can't hear the guy on top at all. "Hang on!" She guns it, heading to the front of the convoy. She taps the radio. "James, we're heading to the junction. Where do you want us to go?" She asked.

Eve had sat on Sam's lap.
"...no breaks. meh."

"Nowhere," James barked. "We're staying here to check for survivors or secure the ship.mhibiki, pull us around and get us as close to the ship as you can. We'll park and stay tight, but we'll need someone on a bike to head back to the group and get them over here."

~X~

I keep getting closer and closer, just out of the range of detection. There's some sort of SWAT vehicle there, that looks heavily armed. There's a pretty large group of armed people too. It's going to be a huge risk, but these people must have the supplies I need. Now I just need to wait for nightfall.

"Hold on, there are going to be more walkers than a 50 percent off everything back there" he said, thinking about hoping off before realising that they could use all the help they can get and he didn't mind if they kicked him out later. "Arr god dam me and my fuking mind, hey i'm gonna need my gun for this." he finished, knocking on the the roof of the APC. 'Man this is gonna suck'

Abel sat in the parked vehicle for a moment.  He figured they were gonna check the ship out, they couldn't really afford not to.  Even if they don't find any survivors, they would find plenty of weapons and maybe even some food.  The only problem was that every walker in the city would've heard the beached ship and there was no telling what was onboard. Abel exited the vehicle, shotgun in hand and scanned the area. He could hear the moans of hordes gathering in the distance.

~X~

Then I notice the boat. A large one. I don't know how I missed that before. Some of the men turn their attention to it, while others stay on guard. There's a footstep behind me. I spin quickly, putting my knife in its head, and going back into cover in one swift motion, to stay out of sight.

Abel thought he heard something a little ways away from the caravan. He kept his shotgun trained outward toward the buildings. Being watched? Abel thought. Could be friends of the newcomer, acting as a ploy.

'Hm a noise.' "Hey shotgun guy, you hear something" he said looking towards where he had heard the noise. "Might be a walker or someone else, have something I can bash a head in with." he said hoping off the APC to walk next to the man. "Alright, you take left i'll take right, move slowly maybe hes distracted." he finished looking around, scanning though the bushes, 'god I hope they don't think i know this fellow.'

When the APC stopped and the door opened James marched out. A few people still looked shocked of what had happened. Hell who could blame them? But he couldn't afford to be as shocked, and he started looking at faces and snapping orders. "Everyone get ready to hold off the horde! Get behind your cars and ready your shots. I want a messenger on bike now heading to the others, we need more people to secure the place."

~X~

Still watching from the bushes, I see two men walking a few feet apart, a fair distance to my right. I know I must have made some sort of noise, but they probably heard a freak moving over there. That's right. The freaks. These guys are making a lot of noise. They're going to be here any second. This is more dangerous than I thought. I turn behind me. There's already a lot there. I can't run that way, but if I show myself to those guys, there's no way I can rob them.

One of the people in the group nodded, rushing to get the bike down from the harness on the APC. They mounted it and started to move, but James shouted "Wait!" Looking back, the rider, a short haired young woman named Stella, asked "Why?" He gave it a moment's thought then said "Tell the group to send the bulk here, but have three of them split off with the explosives we have. Go through the city and make a lot of noise, get the horde distracted and maybe divided; that'll make it easier on us." She nodded, and kicked off and drove away, the bike's engine making loud sounds as it drove. In the meantime, James looked to the turret on the APC and said "Someone get on the turret and hose down the walkers. Don't focus your fire, just play the sprinkler to their grass!" Marcus got to the turret first, mounting the heavy machine gun atop it. The cars were moved into a tight crescent shape, impromptu sandbags really, with the APC at the center while the group got behind their cars and readied their guns. They didn't have the ammo to take down a whole city.....but they had to hope that the diversion that was planned would help.

There was a screaming sound from ahead, and the first of the dead came at them, one of the new runners. Sprinting at them, arms flailing before it as its legs pumped into the sand, a James squeezed off a burst from his submachine gun and took it down. Then came twelve more.

~X~

Just when I think I'm going to have to show myself, they a bike starts up, heading away into the city. It distracts some of them, but most of the ones near me have their sights set on me. They start moving in. Then the gunshots come. Bullets spraying here and there. One bursts through the bush, just to my left, landing in the dirt. This is either going to save my life or kill me. A freak drops dead a few feet from me, which makes me notice they're getting closer. I sit down behind the bush, completely out of sight of the people, slouching a bit to avoid bullets. I slowly pull out my gun, with it's precious few bullets left.

Abel racked his shotgun, ready for the incoming corpses. As the first one showed itself it screamed but was quickly silenced by a burst of automatic fire. There was a moment of silence as a few more of the dead came into sight, before everyone began firing into the corpses. Machine guns ripped rotten flesh apart and shotguns decapitated any corpse that got too close to the fire team. Abel picked his shots carefully, loading a shell into his shotgun whenever he saw an opening.

~X~

The gunfire suddenly picks up. The infected must be getting close to them now. They're also very close to me, but the bullets are rarely coming in my direction anymore. I definitely don't have enough ammo for this. I have to move. Slowly, I peak over the bush, and see that they probably aren't going to notice me. Jumping to my feet, I see an opening. I narrowly make it through another crowd, and sprint away from the gunfire.

Stella raced away, weaving through the crowds of undead and dodging the runners as they came. She managed to skim the city a little, as she got to the preserve and found the rest of the convoy. Delivering James' message, she led them back down the same path while three groups of two went in cars with explosives to lay the groundwork for the diversion.

More zombies were coming out of the woodwork, while the machine gun turret continued to fire and mow down the oncoming horde. But there still so many.

~X~

Finally away from the freaks, I stop to take a breath. I continue on, making it into the nearby town. Then I hear the bike they sent out a few minutes ago getting closer. I sprint across the street, going through a couple yards, then emerging on the next street. There are a few freaks following me now. I ignore them, and start heading down the next street. The bike is very close now. That's when I see it coming down the street at me in the distance, with multiple cars. I'll never handle them. My only choice if I want to remain hidden is to pretend to be a freak and shamble off the road. That's exactly what I do, and I do it quickly. As soon as I get out of sight, I sprint to cover, in case they are the type of people to kill every freak they see.

"I knew this was a bad idea" he said hitting a walker over the head with a 2 by 4 he found before coat hanging a runner and curb stomping its head. "Hey leader fellow, tell your distractions to hurry or else they will find nothen much if they get here." he said smashing another walker in the head dropping the plank. "I need something smaller."

"How the hell can I tell them?" James screamed. "Not like I have a fucking walkie-talkie or anything!" Bullets still flew as more and more shots were fired. Zombies were still coming, whether they walked or ran it barely made a difference. They still fell, piling on the ground as bullets tore into them. Some were still moving, the bullets missing their heads and just ripping apart legs and making them crawl. The convoy was getting closer though no one else knew since it was out of sight. As for the distraction teams, they picked spots at random, setting down whatever they had that was an explosive, and setting it off from a safe distance. Loud, thundering booms resounded from the city as their diversion went into motion.

"Well that about do it, shall we stop using guns and start beating skulls in or else well just be back where we started" he said picking up a screw driver from a dead walker and stabbing another with it. 'well this might work'

"You wanna wade into that with a screwdriver be my guest," James snarled. There were simply too many for that kind of tactic, though there was a loud sound from ahead, behind where the zombies were coming from, and three plumes of smoke could be seen rising up. Still, there were a large number of the dead coming for them but now it seemed like the numbers of new dead were slimming.

"No problem mate, it would be my honor" Jack said kicking another walker in the knee letting it drop to the ground before finishing it off. "Hell this is the only thing i can use with my arm mangled" avoiding another runner before stabbing it in the back of its head. 'well at least new walkers won't be a problem just need to deal with this group of arses.

Hibiki picked them off as good as she could, then tossed a spare knife to jack.
"Knife incoming!" She called. Taking another shot, she grimaced. "James, got any more bright ideas?" She called. "Because we're gonna be firing for much longer."

He let the knife fly by him before letting the screw driver into his pocket and picking up the knife "Thanks, this should be easier" he said attacking some walkers that were close to the APC "oh, no you don't" he growled before kicking the back of one walkers knee and stabbing its head before stabbing the 2nd, 3rd and moving back to the front area where most of the walkers where. "Well at least their were less than then where before."

"We can always fall back to the carrier and try reaching the weapons," James suggested, though it was a fools gambit: they had no idea if the ship had weapons, if they worked, or why the ship crashed. The crew could have been zombified for all they knew.

"Hm, that’s a good and bad idea, good because it allows them to come from one side plus we got gods knows how many supplies are aboard that ship but we don't know if there is anything on that ship plus if the crew is undead.., Oh god, James if the crew on that ship are zombifyed and with the amount of noise we are making than we're surrounded man" he said before charging a walkers chest, knocking it down before finishing it off with a stab to the head. "Hey, can I have my gun back by the way."

"It's a little late to back out now. The carrier was a risk from the beginning. We either get the hell out of this city or head to the ship, 'cause if we stay here then we're just gonna draw the army of undead right back."

Abel put his two cents in before pulling out his pistol and giving a walker two new breathing holes.

~X~

Hiding behind a dumpster, I breath a bit and wait for the cars to pass. Meanwhile, a freak slowly strolls toward me. I pull out my hunting knife, and as soon as they pass, I jump up and kick it in the stomach.
"Why?" I yell, kicking him while he's down.
"You took EVERYTHING from me! My life was starting to take a turn for the better! But NO. You have to show up and kill my family and friends. Whoever you didn't kill I had to get rid of just to survive! My best friend is dead now because I had to leave him! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME?" I scream as I beat the body to a pulp.
My knife stabs into his chest multiple times, spraying blood everywhere. His arms are broken, as well as his legs. I put my sunglasses over my eyes, and my sweatshirt over my mouth and nose, and stab the knife into his throat. blood gushes everywhere. I keep stabbing, then hear something behind me. something grabs my shoulder.

"Then let's hope they're locked inside," James shouted back. There was some good news though: the convoy finally arrived, the line of vehicles moving in from down the road. At the same time the number of zombies was finally dropping, and it looked like the distraction worked, as there were no more new zombies moving in. "Hold on to your bullets: switch to melee weapons and stay in tight groups," James shouted down. That was why they needed the caravan really. More numbers--the current group was too small to try using melee based attacks, otherwise they'd have been swarmed too easily. Whittle down the current numbers then wait for backup to mop up with up close attacks.

~X~

I spin around. There are three freaks there, ready to dine. I shove the one grabbing me back, then stab the one I've been torturing in the head. Jumping up, I run forward. More freaks come around the corner. I'm surrounded now.
"You think I'm going down that easy?" I yell, pulling out my pistol. I drop a few, then a few more. That's when I spot the ladder lying on the ground. I pick it up quickly, and lean it against the house next to me. I climb up to the top, and kick the ladder down before the freaks can follow.
"See, Will? You would've been dead if you were still with me," I say, lying down on the hot roof.

"Finally the sound of bullets has gone" Jack said to himself, kicking another walker in the knee to down it before finishing it with his knife. "Alright this should be easy now guys." he finished, grabbing a nearby walker by its neck and stabbing its forehead before letting it drop to the ground.

~X~

The gunshots slowly die out in the distance as I lie here, staring into the sky. As I get ready to leave, I realize how dry my throat is. I sit up, and pull a water bottle out of my pack. I slowly start drinking, saving most of it for later.
There are still quite a few freaks down there, so I need to find a different way out. I start looking.

With the walkers dealt with and the noise level.....acceptable, James started snapping off orders. Well, both he and Marcus anyway; they both had people either moving to secure the area to make sure they couldn't get overwhelmed....or if they did, that they could make a quick escape, and others looking for a way aboard the ship.

Eve was walking around the edge of the aircraft carrier, frowning. It was huge....there. a small, jutting part with a gate. She waved over to someone. "Tell Marcus we got a gate! We just need a rope or ladder or something a couple stories tall!" She shouted over to him.

Hibiki was next to James, not exerting herself at the moment.

James took a moment to quiet himself, and when he realized Hibiki was standing next to him he smiled, gripped her hand and asked "You okay?"

Someone was searching with Eve, and nodded at her orders and ran back to Marcus. They informed him, but the problem was they didn't have a rope of that size. At least, he was pretty sure they didn't.