The atmosphere was humid, and dark clouds shrouded the daylight. All around the road were wrecked cars, some of which were even turned upside down. The road was littered with abandoned equipment, broken devices, and dead bodies! The devastated buildings all around appeared desolate.
Amid all this, six groups of travelers threaded down the obscene road, each wielding various weapons. The tall, muscular guy in front of the rest held a standard rifle fully loaded. He had blond curly hair and wore a dark rain jacket.
Beside him was a stunning beauty. She was equipped with a bow and a quiver, which was filled with sharp, pointy arrows. She had red hair and a cherry complexion. She wore a blue denim jacket above her pink blouse and had on a black mini skirt. With her free arms, she interlocked hers with those of the guy as she stared fondly at him.
Lagging behind them were the other four. One well-toned guy held a nail bat with some of its nails bent, which was likely caused by a forceful impact. The bat and some of its nails were stained with dark, bloodstained areas. He wore a black tank top and blue jeans. He sauntered along with a girl by his side.
She was petite with short brown hair and a fair complexion. She wore a loose t-shirt and tight jeans. Her armament was a short machete. The boy and girl seemed quite distant, even though they were very close to each other.
'Hey Michelle, you still haven't responded to my question,' he asked the girl. 'Responded to what? I don't know what you are on about,' Michelle asked, slightly annoyed by his complaints. 'Tch! Don't act like you don't know.' He clicked his tongue. 'Know what, James?!' She snapped at him.
'Hey, you two, keep it down! You don't want to attract the zombies.' the guy beside them urged. He wore black trousers and a brown trench coat over his white blood-stained t-shirt. He held onto a chain with its end attached to a razor-sharp sickle.
'Mind your business, trash!' James gnarled at him.
'Hey! What's your problem?!' The boy turned towards James, ready to confront him head-on. James rested the nail bat on his shoulder and turned around to look at the guy condescendingly. 'What is it, homeboy?' he asked in a cold voice. The boy was livid as he gritted his teeth, ready to attack James at any moment.
'James! Chris! Shut your darn mouths, or I will shut them for you' the guy at the front with the hot lady ordered the two. They both fell silent before continuing their walk. 'Tch…' James scoffed from behind.
'Babe, don't hurt them until you hurt me,' the hot lady said, seductively biting her lips, making the man blush a little.
'Why does he get to be the leader?' James grumbled. 'Well, he is the only one with a gun, duh,' The girl beside Chris said after overhearing his statement. She wore a black hoodie and a face cap covering most of her white hair. She had an oddly white complexion that contrasted with her dazzling ruby eyes. She held on to a long staff made of strong metal.
'Who gave him the gun in the first place?' He snarled.
'I dunno, ask him and find out.' She responded.
'I don't know Diana, if I had a gun, I would consider' James exclaimed.
'Too bad you are stuck with a bat then,' she giggled. 'Laugh all you want, but we both know it is still better than wielding a stick. What are you going to do with that thing? Spank the zombies to death' he retorted, and that made her laugh all the more.
…
The six continued their trek down the desolate and gory road until they arrived at a bend leading off to the next street. 'This is it, guys, we are here. From now on, we are in the enemy's territory.' The guy in front announced.
'Hey blockhead, care to give us a plan?' James called from behind. The guy's veins immediately bulged out from his head, seeing that James was referring to him as a blockhead! James
'I thought I told you to stop calling me that! I have a name, you know.' He snapped at him. 'Why should I? I think that name fits you perfectly, seeing that you are always rough around the edges.' James jittered, fueling the guy's anger all the more.
An insult upon insult, this was humiliating! This time, the guy's face was fuming with rage. 'You got a death wish or what, punk? He growled, pointing the muzzle of his rifle at James' skull. 'You wouldn't want to pull that trigger with those things hanging around the corner.' James insinuated, glancing sideways.
'Ohh…You think because those things are here, I don't have other ways of hurting you?' he glared at him.
'Yep! I figured that gun is the only thing you have to your name. That's the reason why I left you when you ordered me to shut up like a darn mutt. But now you have nothing, and so basically I can insult you as much as I want BLOCKHEAD.' James jeered at the guy once more.
'Is that so?' The guy swiftly flipped the rifle to the other end and jammed its stock straight into James's gut, making him crouch down and throw up his lunch. He held his stomach and writhed in agony as the guy watched him contemptuously.
'James!' Michelle hurried towards James' aid, but he slapped her away in bitterness. Why you… James tried to recover while swaying and glared at the guy straight in the face with great anguish.
'Shut your darn mouth, mutt!' The guy ordered James, who was ready to launch at him.
'Guys, guys, I know you both are eager to chew each other to bits. But I am begging, let's focus on getting the supplies first before both of you get us killed. I don't need to tell you that zombies are attracted to sounds, do I?' Chris exclaimed.
'I think Chris is right, this job is high-stakes, we can't afford a fight amongst ourselves at this place.' Michelle added.
Pumpkin pie, you should relax. We will eat James's entrails together after this mission. The hot girl said, wrapping her slender arms around his neck, pulling his attention towards hers.
'Rose, I hear you, but…' The guy, looking deep into Rose's alluring brown eyes, sighed and gave in to her coaxing.
'Fine then! Anymore of that from you, James, and you are dead meat, so dead even the zombies will find you too disgusting to consume.' He threatened.
'You must be crazy to think… urk!'
Before James could continue his statements, Michelle drove her elbow into James's hurting stomach, intensifying his pain all the more. 'Don't make things worse for yourselves.' She warned him with a stern look. Seeing how she looked straight at him, he gritted his teeth and kept silent.
'Drake, sorry about my brother's stubbornness. He can be a jerk at times… I mean most of the time.' Michelle told the guy in front.
'Hmp!' Drake scoffed and turned towards James. 'Just so you know, if those things have heard us and are on their way here as we speak, trust me on this, I will make sure you will be appointed the first line of defense. If you catch my drift, click click.' Drake insinuated by brandishing his rifle in front of James's face.
James cut the hint. He was probably implying that he would shoot his leg, rendering him incapable of outrunning the zombies, and this would buy others time to escape.
'The first?' Chris tilted his head, concerned about the other part of his statement.
'So back to the main deal.' Drake continued. 'We are in enemy territory, so we ought to be extremely careful. There will be no time for foolish jokes or senseless mockery that would cost us a great deal of this mission.'
'Commander Hector has entrusted us with this assignment of retrieving the resources from the store. This isn't something we can afford to lose. The whole shelter depends on us. If anyone hinders us, I will make sure that the person doesn't return to base. Do I make myself clear!' Drake exclaimed.
The rest nodded reluctantly, apart from James, who just stared coldly the other way. 'Give the dude a gun and he starts acting like some big shot. Tch'
Ignoring his insubordination for now, Drake continued. 'So Chris, do you mind explaining the plan we'd discussed earlier to the rest?' he asked.
'Certainly!' Chris replied. And he stepped forward and faced the rest of the crew with a huge smile on his face. 'What is so funny? circus freak.' James wholeheartedly insulted Chris after everything Drake had said a couple of minutes ago, and Drake, at this point, was a ticking time bomb.
Chris, on the other hand, ignored James' rude remarks and continued. 'As we all know, we are in District 7, a district well known to be called Zombie town. That's because it is swarming with zombies like tiny ants on fresh sugary bread.'
'Our main aim, as we all know it to be, is getting to the store. Not just any store, but the one at the very center of this district. Our mission, of course, you've heard, is to stockpile all necessary resources from there that would sustain our base long enough to last through this coming winter.'
'This is pretty much a suicide mission if you think about it, but before I go on, I would like to commend everyone here for volunteering to risk your life for the sake of the others back at base…'
'Hey, dufus, hurry up! You are boring everyone with your cheese talk.' James scowled.
Ignore him, Chris… ignore him. Chris calmed himself while Drake glanced at James with cold eyes, signaling his discomfort. But James paid no attention to any of this.
'Go on.' Drake gestured for Chris to continue, and Chris went on.
'So, as the one planning this operation, all I can say is that this operation will be a very treacherous one, with a survival rate of no more than 10 percent. But one thing's for certain is that the gain is very much worth it.'
'The enemy groups we are competing against in the first reach the store, are on their way to the location, so to speak. We have to get there as fast as possible. But we are a small group, and compared to the other groups, we can't easily fend off the zombies. Ignoring the fending aspect, I don't even think we can even survive.'
'So what's our best bet? Well, we can't be too bothered by the two opposing parties, can we? So here's my suggestion. Why wear ourselves thin when we can pin one enemy mob against the other?'
'You don't mean?!' Diana asked with her eyes wide open
'Your thoughts exactly! We are going to use zombies to attack other groups as we make our way to the store.' The rest, apart from Drake, stared surprisingly at Chris as he renounced their suspicion. Then he continued.
'After all, the popular saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.'