ThirtyFour - Kyle

It was safe to say I found their supply station. In close to the middle of what had been one of the largest cities in the country, these people had set up a sort of headquarters. It was organized, well thought out, and well, damn it was impressive. They'd built a large fence around not just the Costco, but the entire Pentagon Centre shopping strip attached to it. The whole thing took up a city sized block and they had fencing reinforced with sandbags and wood beams (and in a few places even strategically positioned cars helped to support the fence and keep it from being easily knocked over by a horde) around the entire, damn thing. Barbed wire covered the top of the fence - it only served to deter living people from breaching their perimeter. And from my vantage point point, halfway up some left over construction that was never completed on an apartment building across the street, I could also see a few lookouts on the roof. I was sure they had weapons. Shrouded in the darkness, I was sure they couldn't see me, but it was clear they could handle and were ready for an attack.

I had no idea how they'd done it. Built up a fortress in the middle of the city. It meant one thing to me, there were a lot of people working together here. Or at least there had been at one point.

Loud crackling echoed not far from where I stood on a construction platform. The sound blasted through a speaker I hadn't spotted on the side of the building and I nearly lost footing in surprise. When the static stopped, a voice came over the speaker and I readied to make a run for it, assuming I'd been spotted. I stopped short when I heard Sevendust play through the loud speakers. They were playing music.

Their reasoning became clear when the zombies that had crowded around the entrance gate began to wander off, toward the source of the sound. A few speakers must have been set up to distract the zombies while they got in and out since not all were making their way toward me. It was enough though. More than enough.

I backed up on the platform toward the building not wanting to chance being spotted by a zombie - or whole group - that would gladly wait for me to come down if I were spotted. I'd have to find another way down. Or chance just waiting them out... however long that would take. Inching back toward one edge so I could see their compound, I watched as three vehicles drove toward the entrance. Two large SUVs and a truck - its bed piled high with something I couldn't make out in the dark - drove right into the gates. Once closed, the music cut off.

The zombies, their interest in this building now lost, began to drift aimlessly away from where I was. When I was sure I wouldn't be trapped, surrounded, and fucked, I started to climb back down the ladder. It was time to get the fuck out of here.

The dead were groaning, but otherwise there wasn't much noise after the music shut off. So when I thought I heard a scream, I stopped. I waited, listening. I might have misheard. I hoped I had. Just as I started to move again, I heard the scream again. Longer, louder. There no mistaking it for what it was.

Ignore it.

Keep moving.

I needed to get back. I was already pushing my luck on time.

I jumped off the ladder and started to walk away. Back to the house where Ella was hopefully still sleeping.

Refusing to turn around, sped up to a jog.

Confirm where they were keeping the supplies and get back. I checked out the location. It was time to get back.

Nothing stupid. No trying to steal anything. No heroics.

"Don't fucking touch her!" The shout ended too abruptly either they were fighting or something else had shut him up. Either way, I came to a halt.

"Shit," I muttered spinning on my heels. I couldn't just walk away from it. Knowing what would likely happen to people struggling against the assholes inside had me backtracking, looking for way to enter. The front gate was out and there weren't a hell of a lot of other options. The place was pretty well secured. A lap around the block revealed a couple weaker points in the back of the complex. There were some loading docks for supply trucks on the back side of one of the buildings. All the docks were closed, so I couldn't sneak into the building that way, but there wasn't much, or any, monitoring back here. I guess the guys on the roof would come over and make sure it was good a couple times an hour, but their main focus was on the rest of the building that all had more vulnerable spots to intruders of the living variety.

With this set up, they weren't too concerned with the zombies. They had figured out a good deterrent, the music, to keep them away from the entrance when needed and the fence wasn't more than a couple zombies deep around most the fencing. That still made for a shitton of zombs when it came down to it, but the fence would hold, at least. And in the back, there were less zombs. A few strolling around but without lights and activity like existed in the front of building, the back was quiet. I just had to get through the damn fence unnoticed.

Knifing a zombie that got too close for comfort, I checked doors on nearby cars. It didn't take long to find one that was unlocked and I climbed in checking first the glove box for any tool that might help me get through the fence - yeah, I was really kicking myself for leaving those wire cutters behind. When nothing aside from the owners manual and insurance papers were in the glove box, I pulled the lever by the front seat and a quiet pop let me know the trunk opened. I didn't bother shutting the door as I climbed back out and checked the trunk for tools.

Nothing.

Sighing, I quickly moved to the next car in the line. I couldn't waste any time because who knew how long the people inside had.

I was elbows deep in a sedan whose owner seemed to think trunk was synonymous with trashcan when the music turned on again, blasting through the speakers.

Abandoning the mess of a car, I edged toward the compound to get a better view of what was going on inside. As the zombies trailed toward the noise, I could see the gate being pushed open, but no cars were in sight. Avoiding the zombs - I didn't even want to risk drawing attention by killing them at this point - I worked my way closer to the entrance to better see, and hear, what was happening.

The music prevented me from hearing much at first, but soon the screams were more piercing than the distracting sounds. I watched in horror as a dozen men worked together in groups, each lifting something off the ground. It took a minute for me to realize what it was they were carrying. It wasn't until they were outside the gate turning the crosses vertically that I realized they had tied two people to posts in the same way they had to Ella. Except based on the sounds and the way the men were struggling - I thought I saw limbs kicking out - these people weren't paralyzed by whatever had kept Hunter and Ella unable to fight.

They were carried, guarded by a handful of guys ready to kill zombies in their path, in a grassy courtyard across the street and set into the ground; hole had, apparently, already been dug to hold the crosses in place. How many times had these people done this sort of thing? Once set, the men darted back into the safety of their gates and music shut off.

The only sounds now were the people yelling for help.

And the dead took notice.

They seriously needed to shut the hell up.

As the zombies closed in on them, so did I. But I couldn't just John Wayne this shit unless I wanted to be killed too. I was sure the sadistic assholes behind the fence had a view of what was happening. Besides that, I was one person about to run head first into a horde of zombies with no backup and unable to use a gun.

But this could work. I wasn't Joel, but I could sure as hell move faster than the zombies. I could cut them down and as long as they weren't too injured hopefully we'd all get out of there alive.

Taking the path of least resistance, I made a run for the pair strung up on the crossed, they were much closer to one another than Hunter and Ella had been, so I hoped that I could manage to get them both down before we were all eaten alive. I really didn't want to be ripped apart by the living dead tonight. One grabbed my sleeve, halting my progress, but not for more than a second as I spun to face it. I grabbed the collar of it's shirt and stabbed my knife into its already decaying head. As I turned back, another blocked my path, every bit as horrific as the first. These guys weren't fresh kills. I bet they'd been wandering around the city since early in the outbreak.

Not wanting to waste time to kill it, I shoved it out of the way and ran past another to get to the guy who'd been closer to me. The ones nearest us were a couple yards off still. I had time. Not much, but some.

"Help her first," he said.

I hated myself a little for doing it, but I looked at the woman, evaluating my options. She was older than I expected, early forties probably and scared. I looked at the mass around me and considered the men who might be on their way back here to kill me for ruining their fucked up game. If I had to choose one to save and one to lose, I wanted the guy on my team. He was middle aged too, but strong. We had a better chance together.

"She's my wife," he said understanding what I was doing. "Please."

I guess I'd be starting with her, then.

"She needs to stop yelling."

Not that it would help now, we'd all been spotted. They weren't going to stop now just because we stopped making noise. I move to where she was. Rope was around her waist and arms. Rope. Thank fucking god. This would be easier. I could actually do it by myself.

Hopefully.

I put the grip of my blade in my mouth and jumped up to grab onto the horizontal beam her arms were tied to while her husband tried his hand at calming her down. I pulled my self up, kicking a zombie that tried to grab onto my foot - I needed to move a lot fucking quicker. With my left grip solid, I let go with my right and and grabbed the knife from my mouth and got to work sawing at the rope. The womans arm fell free and I could hear her sigh of relief despite the zombies getting closer. I instructed her to hold onto the two by four with her free hand while I cut the rest of the rope. When it was free, she jumped, landing on the ground and I followed.

Her husband's pained shout was drowned out by the horrified scream coming from her. I got to my feet to see the zombie latched onto his leg. He was wearing pants that may have protected him from the virus, but the bite wasn't good.

"Can you kill them?" I grabbed onto the womans shoulders and shook her. "Can you kill them?"

Snapping out of it, she nodded. "Just get him down. Please."

I pulled another knife and gave it to the woman before climbing back up the other damn cross. I didn't take my time, or warn him like I had for the woman, we didn't have time for all of that. He dropped in a heap to the ground, his leg not wanting to support his weight.

Landing on my own feet, I looked up.

I had done my part. I gave them a chance. I had never worked so quickly in my life, and I had saved both of them. I'd even left them a weapon. Now it would be faster to leave them - part ways. I could move quicker on my own. I needed to get the hell back.

"Help me," the woman cried out as I took a step to run, leaving them behind.

I turned around to see her fighting off zombies while her husband unsteadily got to his feet. Grabbing his arm, I supported the weight his injured leg couldn't and dragged him through the zombies. I wasn't in much a position to fight them off while supporting the man, but the woman took up the slack. The group was large, but it wasn't dense. They hadn't closed in so completely on us that it was over. We slid through the gaps that we could, fighting only when we needed to. Adrenaline, or maybe shock kicked in and it didn't take long for the man to be able to support his own weight, leaving me free to clear a path.

When we broke free from the horde, far enough that we could afford to catch our breath for a moment, the couple with me stopped.

"We gotta keep goin'," I said. "If those people haven't already realized I got you down, they will soon enough."

Out of breath, they both nodded and moved their feet again, doing their best to keep up.

As if I fucking cued it, the music started again. They knew I'd gotten them down.

I guess the whole thing was too easy anyway...

"You know the state of the metro?"

"Haven't checked it out," the man answered shaking his head.

If they were coming in cars, I'd rather take our chances in the subway tunnels. It should be a straight shot too. Easy. Quick.

"Let's go."

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AN - Hey!! Really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it was so much fun to write (and what's coming next..... ahhh!) Sorry for the delay! I'm going to be real honest, I've spent too much time this week catching pokemon and not enough writing. But my eevee army is growing nicely!!