Jack slows the jeep down as they approach their destination.
“A grocery store?” remarks Lea.
“It has seen better days.” Jack says as he cuts the engine and lets the jeep freeroll into the parking lot. “You know the drill. Pete, stay here with six. We’ll signal once it’s clear.”
Jack, Lea, Quinn, and Ruby quietly exit the jeep. Winding through the abandoned cars. Quinn signals to the other three that she sees lights inside. Taking their time. Going from cover to cover, they make it to the front door. The automatic door is shut off but unlocked.
Jack pushes through the door then signals the others to proceed. They position themselves along the ends of four aisles. Feet scuffing and muffled shouting from the back of the store. Louder and louder, then, sliding out from an aisle, a small beaten to hell young man slams into the checkout lane. Seeing Ruby, he takes a chance.
“Help me. Please.” he whispers to her and the others.
Ruby looks at Jack. he rolls his eyes then nods. The foot stomps get louder and louder until they are deafening.
“Where did you think you were gonna run to? You little twerp!” easy enough to know who ever it is, is within range.
The four whip around, Ruby and Jack grab the closest guy, punching as hard as he can into their stomach as Ruby smashes their face into the shelf. Lea takes out another with a swift hit of the blunt end of her rifle to their temple. Leaving the third and final one for Quinn. She struggles for a moment then twists her body around them and slams her foot into the back of their head.
Ruby kneels down to the scruffy man that asked for help, “is that all of them?” she whispered and in an overly loud voice he exclaims, “yes! Oh my god. Thank you so much. They had me trapped in here for a week!”
“You are welcome.” Ruby says as she extends her hand to help him up. “I am Ruby, that is Jack, Quinn, and Lea.” Quinn leaves to wave Pete and Six in.
“Now you wanna tell us exactly what we just saved you from.” Jack asks as he crosses his arms.
“First, I’m Scout. Second, as my name suggests, I make a habit of gathering information and selling it. These a-holes are the Children of Darkness.”
“Look like goth kids to me” Ruby comments as she examines the unconscious foes.
“Yep, still dangerous though. They wanted info about some ridiculous story about becoming true undead. You know, brain eating mindless rotting corpses. When I told them that I didn’t, they tied me up and tried to force me to say.” he kicks one of them. “A-holes!”
“Anyway, I don’t believe we know each other, you guys just got into town?”
“Yeah, there were a lot more of us but they got wiped out by a hoard up on the hill.” Jack states with a touch of aggression.
“It’s Sunday already? They had me locked up for a week and a half then. Very sorry to hear that. For future reference, the Wild Hunt uses the cliff as a dumping ground for zombies once a week.”
“The Wild Hunt?”
“Cult of hunters. Their whole deal is that they try to prove they are bigger, badder, and deadlier than anyone or anything out there. There’s even a rumor that they found a way to make zombies scared of them. They have these weird skull masks and ride horses.”
“I knew that was real!” Pete says as he enters, carrying Six.
“The grim reaper Six saw?” Lea recalls.
“I saw it too!” Pete exclaims as he lays Six on a conveyor belt.
“I’m gonna kill those bastards.” Jack says through gritted teeth.
“Despite their vibe and all, they’re decent people. Willing to lend a hand at times too. I’m sure they didn’t know before it was too late. Say, what are you all doing all the way up here anyway?”
Lea pipes up first, “Jack here sold us on an idea of rebuilding humanity and using Iliad as a staging ground. I believe that’s still the plan but he seems to care more about revenge at the moment.” she says as she nudges him.
“Well, before these douches took me, I was setting up a kind of headquarters in the abandoned high school. That might be a good place to start your plans at. Sounds productive and lucrative.”
“That is not a bad idea actually. Lots of space and it could be fortified easily enough. Let me be clear. If you do this then you are effectively joining us and becoming a member of our team. Is that okay with you?” Jack asks Scout.
“As long as I have the freedom to build my network and move freely then you got a deal.” he says as he extends his hand to Jack. “sounds fair enough.” Jack says as he returns the hand shake.
“Tie those three up in the back then let’s get some rest for the night.” Lea says as she gestures to Pete to hog tie some goths. And before they knew it, with camp set as well as it can, they drift off one by one for a night of much needed rest.
In the morning they find that the goths are gone and so is their jeep. “Those a-holes! They stole the jeep!” Jack says as he stares at the empty spot where they left it.
Scout walks up to Jack and places his hand on his shoulder, “it’s okay bud. We’ll just walk. It’s not far.”
Jack glares down at him, “don’t touch me.”
“Not a touchy guy. Got it.”
Jack and crew, with a hungover Six following behind, head out to the school.
After what seems like an hour of quiet walking, Jack notices not one zombie at all. “Okay, what is the deal. Where are they all? Scout? Where are all the zombies?”
“I told you, the Wild Hunt rounds up the lone wandering zombies and lures them to the cliff. Not many are left in the town. The buildings have to be swept but the streets are a lot safer now. Except for those guys.” Scouts says as he points out the two men in the distance wearing all white suits with hundreds of red crosses painted on them. “Another cult, the Forgotten. They believe that they were left behind to prove they were worthy of paradise. Not friendly but they don’t go out of their way to attack anyone but zombies so they should be alright.” Scout says with an unconvincing shrug.
After a few more minutes, the team makes it to the school. “Lets head in and take account of the place then we will make a game plan for moving forward.” Jack says as he leads the group forward. “Wait!” scout says as he pushes Jack away from the door. “Look, in the window there.” through the dirty window are three shuffling zombies unaware of their presence. “They must have snuck in when the Wild Hunt were doing their rounds. What now?”
“We do what we do best. Kill some zombies.” Jack says as he pulls out his pistol and military issue knife, with a smirk on his face.
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