ZRP-2: Chapter 5: Pariah's Warning

"I guess my gun puns are shooting me in the foot." She smiled back weakly. "I don't like pickup lines anyways...I prefer to tell you I love you and want to be your's forever."

Hibiki nodded. "I'll be here..."

(James)
=Leaving her in the lounge, I made my way back to the......well, I guess bridge of the yacht? Don't look at me like that, I'm not a nautical man=
"Hey, did Cooper tell you where we're meeting with everyone else?"

*Soldier*
"Yeah, there's a point half a mile south of here, where the train tracks and the road get close to the river. I'll pull up as close as I can, then you can get off and talk."

(James)
"Got it. Need me to do anything?"

*Soldier*
"For now, just don't touch anything."

(Sam)
"Still too cheesy."

"I'd rather be cheesy and make you smile then the alternatives." She reached out towards Sam's cheek.
"When can I leave the sisterzone?" She joked.

(Sam)
"No idea. For now, just shut up and get some rest, okay?"

(James)
"Got it. Still, maybe you can show me what's what when we have some time. Pilot this thing in shifts."

*Soldier*
"Sure."

Eve nodded, hooking her fingers into one of Sam's beltloops. She stayed silent, closing her eyes.

(Sam)
=I wish I could have stayed close, but I wasn't much use here, and the turrets were vacant. But first, I needed to speak to Marcus. So gently, I unhooked her fingers from my belt loop and walked to him=
"Marcus, any idea what our fallback plan is?"

*Marcus*
"We're going to regroup with the civilians and the train, and hopefully James and the boat. Driver knows where we're headed, so for now just sit tight. Or, if you feel up to it grab one of the turrets and keep our rear covered."

(Sam)
=Nodding, I went to the back of the bus and climbed a ladder to the turret, swiveling around to look back down the road behind us. But there was no pursuit=

Eve sniffed, shifting carefully. Wincing, she relaxed and laid there pathetically.

Hibiki curled up tighter, a fresh round of crying coming.

--Back in the City--

=The shepherds fell back into the city, securing the breaches they created and pushing back the walkers themselves, or heading them into empty trucks. Why waste valuable weapons after all. The Pariah strolled through the city proudly, clearly pleased=

(Pariah)
"Tell Abernathy I want the compound secured by sunrise, and all weapons and supplies they left secured and stored away. And as for the prisoners....."
=He looked at the line of kneeling prisoners, fifteen men and women in all, the last remnants of the fighters who tried to hold off the shepherds=

"Feed all but one of the men to the walkers. I want to question him. And as fr the ladies......boys, have some fun."
=A round of hooting cheers went up=

Before I know it, I'm asleep. The day was exhausting... all the waiting. Then the attack itself. Well, I'm surprised I hadn't fallen asleep sooner.

(Abernathy)

=He looked upon our victory with a smile. He got his orders from the Pariah, and it would be nice to know what rewards awaited them. He then issued the orders to his men=

Abernathy: I want that compound secured by sunrise, gentlemen. Find their weapons and have them secured by that time as well.

=There was a furious scramble as his men moved to carry out his orders. He looked out towards the gate, his gaze westward. He then muttered something that only he could hear=

Abernathy: *You took what was mine, and made her yours, dear boy...So I will repay you in kind. Mark my words...* Vengeance is mine, so sayeth the Lord.

=He gave a grim smile, enjoying the picture defeated expression on Andrew's face=

(James)
=At some point, I walked out of the cabin and stood on the rear deck of the yacht, looking back. It was silent outside, nothing but the sound of the engine and the sloshing of water as we continued down river. I wasn't sure how much longer before we'd meet up with everyone else, but I hoped it was soon. Because we needed to regroup, get our shit back together....=
And then take down the shepherds, once and for all.

We approached, slowly, the sun was setting, and the chill of night was slowly creeping in. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. I was anticipating violence. Or at least, a struggle, or something of the sort. By this point, most people out and about aren’t you’re average people, they’re criminals, gangsters, vagabonds, people who like to shoot, rob, and steal. Or at least, that’s what most “zombie fiction books” would have you believe. This was the very reason my heart was pounding in my chest.

The door at the back of the building opened, and light penetrated the even air, like a violent protrusion, something that wasn’t welcome in the darkness. We hid behind the foliage and the guardrail. I suspected the luminescence from the light would hide our presence, reflecting off the metal of the rail and the shrubs we found ourselves in. The reflection and absorbance of the light would conceal us. I found myself doubting anyone but me would think about that at a time like this. The silhouette of a man appeared in the doorway, the light concealing the details of his form. He walked outside like he wasn’t expecting any trouble. No fear of zombie attack. Not afraid.

Bells went off in my head, this would not be easy. I wanted to tell Sapphira that we should keep moving, that this place would lead us into trouble, but as night was falling, I already knew her response. We need cover for the night, we needed to get out of the cold. We’d freeze if we stayed out. As the man came closer, he swung something over his shoulder, I recognized the object as an assault rifle. He unzipped his pants, and walked over to the tree that I was sitting very still behind. I could hear his breathing, and his piss hitting the tree. His piss smelled of beer. Hopefully other people indoors were drinking, and drunk, that would make things infinitely easier.

One could hope.

A fox, or some creature, scurried out of it’s hole, stirring the shrubs Sapphira was hiding behind, and the man saw her. He didn’t panic, or freak out. He finished his piss, and then brought his gun around front, and nodded toward her, while gesturing with his gun. She stood up slowly. With her arms up. “Whas a pretty y’ung thing like you doin’ ou’ here?” She looked him up and down, and remained silent. There was a ruffling of branches of a tree not far away, I used that time to stand up. Trying to make as little sound as possible. I peered over the side of the tree, far enough so that Sapphira could see me, but not the man. She looked down and away from the man, bring her hand up to her neck, touching her necklace. “I ain’t gunna ax you agi’n girly.”

I could see the gears in her head turning. Thinking. “I-I’m lost.” She said, with false meekness. The man wiped his nose, and pointed to the building, “ovah der” I assumed he was pointing to the back of the building. I watched her begin to walk to the building and then stop, “up against the wall.” I couldn’t see what he was doing. I knew she was armed, if he tried anything, she could defend herself. I didn’t want her to have to though. My heart starting feeling scratchy. “take off your coat” I could barely hear him as they got closer to the building. The farther away they got, the greater the margin of error got. The greater the chance of me losing my element of surprise.

I  moved from behind the tree, stepping as quietly as I could over the rail, and began my approach. Then, someone in the house closed the door. Sudden darkness temporarily blinded me. I blinked rapidly, in the hope that my eyes would adapt to the lack of light faster. I had stopped in my tracks, and when the man heard the door close, he yelled out, “Ay, I’m still out ‘ere!” Someone retorted from inside, “don’t leave the door open!” the man shook his head, and looked back at Sapphira, his back was to me, and he was whispering to her. The only reason I knew, was because as I got closer, I could see his mouth moving. I took out my hand axe, as I crept up behind him. As he stepped back, he put the gun to her head, and put a hand on her waist, I heard her gasp. He chuckled, in my empty hand I picked up her discarded coat, and then boldly stepped forward, the next events happened so smoothly, like I’d rehearsed it. I threw the coat into his face, and he swatted at it with his hand, and groped at it to get it out of his face, he stepped back, I stepped forward and swung the hand axe over my head like a windmill and planted the axe between his eyes. His skull cleaved, he fell to the ground, my axe still sticking out of his skull. I picked up Sapphira’s coat, and tossed it to her, and then knelt over the man. He was young, black, probably from the hood, I don’t know, he had an Ak, or some similar assault rifle with him.

I retrieved my axe, and wiped the blood off on the kids shirt. Sapphira looked at me, her coat on, and I looked her in the eye. We’d had this talk before. About what it’s like to kill someone. What the aftermath would be. How I’d feel. How she’d feel. How we’d feel. I broke the gaze first, and looked at the dead kid. Specifically, I looked at the wound, his skull was cleaved, blood was steadily flowing out, the brain tissue would suffer more damage as it was suffocated by blood. Not that it mattered, he was dead.

The silence was broken by someone from inside, “Hey, you alright out there?” Sapphira and I both turn as the door opened up. I turned to pick up the gun, not wanting to be shot, but Sapphira was ahead of me, she had her handgun up and pointed at the doorway. The man who stepped out was white, and holding a shotgun, The crack of a gunshot was deafening, especially to my sensitive ears, my whole body involuntarily cringed and convulsed in response to the sound. The man slumped down, leaving a blood smear along the door. The gunshot would’ve alerted anyone who was inside to our presence, the element of surprise, lost. If there was anybody inside. I didn’t pick up the gun, I just had the axe in my hand. I didn’t like guns.

There were two other people in the building, we dragged their bodies outside, and moved the bodies of the dead to the forest, where we left them half buried in the dirt. As a precaution we barricaded the doors. It was probably too cold for zombies to move out there, or become zombies. But, safety first.

After we finished, I searched for food, which, whoever these people were, had plenty of. I didn’t eat much, just enough to satisfy, and then sleep. And we didn’t get a peaceful sleep that night.