[b]"Shit, he's bleeding everywhere..."[/b] [b]"Just keep pressure on it."[/b] [b]"It's not fucking helping..."[/b] [b]"Just keep pressure on it."[/b] Two men stumbled slowly through the trees, a third man in between them both with his arms slung over their shoulders and his feet dragging over broken sticks and small stones. His face was awash in sweat and his eyes, half opened, focused on everything and nothing. Blood oozed from a fresh wound, drenching his clothes and dripping onto the ground, the path they made marked by the trail of red they were leaving behind. His lips began to move and his voiced struggled to escaped a mouth full of his own blood. [b]"Whuuaa.... whuuaaar they"[/b] The man on his left adjusted the weight on his back, pulling his share further up to rest on his shoulder. The man on his right did the same. [b]"Whuuaaaa-"[/b] [b]"Close. Shut up."[/b] The three of them continued moving forward trying to keep pace with themselves and not lose their footing. With their feet shuffling so low to the ground, there was the hazard of tripping over a stray branch that could be sticking awkwardly up in the air. With their strength already spent, falling would be the end of them. Not to mention how uneven the ground itself was. Every step they took was draining and the farther they got, the closer they came to dropping their friend. However they soon stumbled into a clearing and all three stepped onto what looked to be the tip of a cul de sac. Their end of the road was bare of anything but some cracked pavement and the closest house was little more than half a football field away. It was a simple two story home, fresh grey paint with five front facing windows and matching shutters for each all surrounding the single door. There was the front porch resting under the shade of the canopy, the single garage with driveway and the out of place metal fencing surrounding the front lawn. Besides the fencing... the black scaring on the second floor drew their attention. It seemed that a fire had tried to eat away at the house but hadn't quite finished the job. [b]"What do you think?"[/b] Further down the road, the dead that'd been attracted to all the noise were already amassing on the street. Any other house that may have been preferred were already being over taking leaving them no choice. ---- All eyes fell on the map of Missouri, a land mass of nearly seventy thousand square miles and a population of six million... all of which were hostile. Sprawling across the state were cities, major roads, small rural towns, points of interest most of which had been covered with a plethora of circles and X's. What had already been explored was clearly marked and what was left were blank, soon to be covered by it's own symbol. Today, three men in particular would be sent to explore part of the city of Waynesville in chase of a tip they'd received. [b]"I know we usually send you out in pods of four but it looks like we're a little short handed today. Michael as we all know fell ill last night."[/b] Some of the men nodded their heads. There were a little over ten in attendance, all of them weary eyed, ragged hair, all smelling like shit. [b]"And Candice is still recovering."[/b] [b]"Told that dumbass not to fuck her."[/b] There was this deep chuckle that vibrated through the group, most of them smiling and throwing glances at each other. [b]"Hey hey. Focus."[/b] He tapped on the hood of the car, bringing everyone's attention to him. [b]"So you two will be short by two heads which means I'll be joining you."[/b] He pointed at two men. One of them still fairly new to the group went by the name Mathew. Despite being in he middle of the apocalypse, he still had this glow in his eyes, this look of hope on his face as if things were going to get better. Abel on the other hand, had been with the group since its inception. Whatever light was there before had faded long ago, and what hope he held was replaced with a strong grasp for reality... or at least that's what he liked to call it. It's what made him the most valuable among the rest of the crew and why Billy had chosen him to tag along when he'd realized they'd be short. [b]"Unfortunately we don't have an extra hand so it'll just be us three."[/b] The two men nodded in unison, both of them realizing their handicap, Abel more so. [b]"Do I get to drive?"[/b] Mathew smiled. [b]"No you don't. My truck, I drive."[/b] Billy folded up the map, stuffing it in his pack and threw it over his shoulder. [b]"Besides you can't drive stick for shit."[/b] [b]"I'll drive [i]this[/i] stick right up your ass."[/b] Mathew jiggled the rifle around in his hand as he went through the motions of sticking the barrel through the rectum of some imaginary asshole. [b]"Just get in the damn truck."[/b] ---- Mathew's eyes opened to blurred colors, his head spinning after having suddenly blacked out. There was the grey dashboard of the truck in front of him, glove box open and hanging in an awkward position pointing upwards. The windshield was still in place however, looking as clean as ev- [b]"Wh..."[/b] Mathew craned his head down at his lap looking for what he thought would be glass shards from a missing window but didn't see a thing. No sparkle or glint in the sunlight, just the dark blue jeans he'd put on that morning. However, it was precisely at that moment that he realized something important. There was this force, this feeling that he was being pulled up into the air. Looking past the windshield this time, his eyes fell on a wall of trees that'd been planted... upside down. He simply stared at them for a while, his mind racing to catch up with his joggled memories as he realized what was going on. [b]"Fuck.... FUCK."[/b] He turned to his left. [b]"Billly!"[/b] He ripped himself from his seat belt, dropping onto the roof of the truck and crawled over to his upturned and bleeding figure, winching as the skin on his hands sliced themselves on shards of glass. [b]"Billy... fuck. We need to get you out of here."[/b] Billy managed a soft moan in response. He was hanging upside down still trapped in place by his seat belt, his left arm dripping quite a bit of blood from a fresh wound in his shoulder. [b]"Jesus... Jesus that's a lot of blood."[/b] [b]"I'll get him.... climb out."[/b] Mathew turned toward the back seat to see Abel coming to as well. His hand fumbled around with his buckle but when it wouldn't release, he pulled the knife from his hip and cut himself free, landing hard on his head. [b]"Shit..."[/b] He carefully unfolded and righted himself just as Mathew began kicking out the passenger window. The cabin filled with the sounds of feeble attempts to break through glass and with each kick, Mathew fatigued. Abel stopped to look at the man trying his best to remain calm and refrain from killing him outright. He was doing more harm to himself than good. [b]"The hell are you doing? The wind shield is blasted! Go out that way!"[/b] He pointed with his knife, the tip of the blade coming to a stop a little to close to Mathew's jugular. Finally outside, Mathew caught a quick break, looking around to better understand what had happened. There were skid marks along the road that lead to their upturned truck and shards of glass and plastic lying everywhere. To their right was the break of trees he'd been looking at earlier. To his North was the empty road, a turn about a few hundred yards out. Behind him however... the moans of the dead were becoming ever louder. Within a handful of minutes the first would be upon them. He turned back to the truck, and ducked down into the Cabin. [b]"Shufflers maybe four minutes out."[/b] [b]"Ya I see them."[/b] Abel pressed the blade of his knife into the edge of the seat belt, tearing into the fabric and cutting Billy free. He fell face first and screamed out as shards of glass embedded themselves in his face. [b]"What the fuck man!"[/b] [b]"Shut up and help me out."[/b] Abel fed Mathew Billy's hands before directing him to pull him through the open windshield. As he pulled, Abel did his best to support the man's weight and at the same time, push. The priority was getting him out but if he could help by preventing his already injured body from being sliced further, he'd try. A minute of careful maneuvering and lots of swearing and Billy's bloody form fell free from the truck. [b]"Holy hell he's losing a lot of blood."[/b] As Mathew spoke, two more trucks turned down their road. White in color with plates of metal wielded to the sides and bars in place of windows. Mounted to the back of the lead vehicle was what looked to be some kind of large gun. Abel didn't know what it was. He'd served no time in the military and had little training when it came to firearms save for his pistol. Although by now he was able to use it proficiently, when it came to anything else, he was clueless. However he understood whatever it was meant to kill them. [b]"We need to move now. Get him up."[/b] He grabbed Billy's right arm while Mathew jumped to his left and together they hoisted him up. [b]"Pressure."[/b] He said, nodding toward the gushing hole in his arm. Mathew's hand flew over the gap and tried to keep what blood he could from seeping out. By the time they pushed into the treeline, there was red dripping from between his fingers onto the ground below. ---- [b]"Red."[/b] Abel stared out his window at the world as it slipped past him. [b]"It was always red."[/b] [b]"I still think it tastes like shit."[/b] [b]"It was never my choice and she only ever broke it out on special occasions..."[/b] There were large empty expanses of space that would appear out of the blue at times. Nothing but green grass that seemed to flow on forever, hills in the backdrop and a lone tree in the middle of it all. Alone, lost... alive although it always seemed dead. [b]"...Birthdays, anniversaries... special dinners."[/b] Abel continued to stare as Billy nodded absentmindedly. [b]"You miss it?... Any of it?"[/b] Out there, the world seemed barren. What was left, what life tried to fill the empty space was stretched so thin it was like it didn't exist at all. They could travel for days and not run into a single person, an animal, even at times the dead seemed a rare find. It wasn't until all these things were gone that he realized how empty everything could be and as he took in the empty grass field before him, he began to wish for something he promised he wouldn't. A single shrub, a blooming flower. [b]"Lilacs..."[/b] [b]"You know what I miss?..."[/b] Mathew cut in, his over joyous tone rubbing the other two the wrong way and making Abel's ears itch. [b]"Kendama."[/b] Abel furrowed his brow as did Billy. [b]"The fuck is Kehdama."[/b] [b]"It's this con-"[/b] [b]"Sounds like some butt fuck of a religion."[/b] Abel let the words slip to Billy's delight. He let a smile appear on his face as he turned to look at Mathew. [b]"So that's it then... Kehdama. How long have we been trying to figure out what he used to do?"[/b] [b]"More interested in the reward actually. Narrowed it down at least... Maybe altar boy?"[/b] Abel pulled himself from the window as he began to think up other possibilities. He knew none of them to be correct but he was hardly one to pass up a good conversation. It was in his genes to continue. [b]"No fucker. Kendama... It's like this contraption that you know... you throw around and shit."[/b] His hands made a flurry of circular and thrusting motions as he tried to reenact playing with one. [b]"Has a ball and some cups and stick poking through a hole and it's shaped like a cro-"[/b] [b]"Wow, sounds like my kind of religion... how big are the cups?"[/b] [b]"No no.."[/b] Billy started. [b]"I think he means which hole?"[/b] [b]"Ookay. Fuck you both."[/b] Mathew turned back around and faced forward in time to notice the tip of a small town coming into view. [b]"I don't know man. It was just something I enjoyed doing when trying to pass the time. It certainly beats sitting in this car with the both of you."[/b] [b]"Aaahh see? You hurt his feelings."[/b] Abel said with a smile. Outside his window, the first small houses began to pass them by. These were the furthest from the center, old and decrepit up crops of a home that did little when it came to shelter. Most of them had been entirely boarded up while the rest that weren't could barely stand on their own foundation. [b]"I'm sorry Mathew... Just you know... warn us before you start jerking your dick."[/b] [b]"Ya we're stopping here. I'm getting out you assholes."[/b] [b]"Awww come on."[/b] Mathew gave them both the finger as he stepped out of the truck and started toward the closest house. [b]"You two are on your own."[/b] ---- [b]"I got you..."[/b] Abel and Mathew doubled timed it toward the house, the dead closing in from the road and more slipping through the trees. They struggled to pull Billy up the driveway as his weight began to bear down on them. It was clear he was losing consciousness. [b]"We're almost there..."[/b] Abel was the first to reach the door, kicking it in without checking to see if anyone or anything was waiting on the other side. It swung open a little to quick to have been closed properly. Stepping in, the three men found themselves standing in a quaint living room. There was the white carpet on the ground, a sofa pushed into the corner of the room. To their right hung the mount to a TV that was no longer there. The room itself turned into the kitchen with a bar counter separating the two. At the very back was an odd looking door. Along the walls were the telling signs of missing pictures frames. Every now and again there would be an almost pure white square stain where some image use to hang. Perhaps a picture of the small american family: a wife and husband, single child and their one dog all packed neatly into a box. A memory packed away. Abel recalled how many of the homes he'd entered after the rise were missing the same things. Pictures... [center][i]...People...[/i][/center] All three of them staggered further into the house before deciding to prop BIlly against the counter. [b]"As soon as we put him down..."[/b] Abel began as they lowered him delicately to the floor. [b]"I want you to remove your belt and tie it around his arm... above the hole."[/b] They set him down and leaned him against the counter. [b]"Do it quick."[/b] He got up and moved toward the door, shutting it just as the first shuffler tripped itself up on the porch step. Moving toward the sofa, he picked up his end and began pulling back toward the door... until something burst through the wall just behind his head throwing dry wall, paint and dust into his face. He immediately dropped the sofa and hit the floor. [b]"Shit!"[/b] Another bullet smashed through the house, burying itself in the open refrigerator. A third. Suddenly the door was pushed open and a the first of the dead stepped inside. Abel rolled onto his back, kicking his foot out and catching the shuffler across the shin, it fell forward and hit the ground hard. He followed up with his knife, shoving the tip through the back of it's skull and burying it in the brain. Before he had to time recover however, a second wandered inside. It turned toward Abel as he fought to pull the knife from the corpse but just as it was about to fall on them both, it's head exploded. His arm shot up over his face instinctively as brain matter showered the white walls and rugs and left blood all over himself. [b]"Close the damn do-!"[/b] Mathew was cut off by the sound of a fourth bullet smashing through the door. This time he fired at the window, dumping four rounds through the glass hoping to hit something on the other side. [b]"Close it!"[/b] Before Abel could comply, two more shufflers pushed their way inside. [center][i]...Shit...[/center][/i] He shoved the door against them with his heel, stunning them and giving himself the chance to vault to his feet. Mathew managed to clip his second kill in the shoulder before nailing it in the head. It buckled over the other two corpses just as Abel disappeared into the other rooms. [b]"The fuck are you going?!"[/b]