Survival or Struggle?

"So, lumber mill. Any other areas we could find useful?" Jinxx asked after they were walking about two miles into their five mile walk.

They had been killing stragglers, but other than that, nothing really dangerous had happened...yet. It didn't make sense. They all knew that these things were all around this area. Where could they all be hiding? And if they were hiding, waiting for another meal, where were they then? CC and Ashley shared a look with each other, both sending relieved and tense looks to the other. There would be a few gross surprises waiting for them. There wasn't much to do but make sure they weren't going to be lunch for any number of these things.

"Uh, a hardware store up town. We can get some tools to build it. Also, there's a weapons depot, we could raid whatever we can find in their. Stock up and make sure to give the other survivors some weapons." Jake said, looking at the map again while looking up every so often.

They were all on alert and tense, for good reason. A thought occurred to Andy, who was leading the other four on the journey.

"How are we going to transport all of that? I mean, we can't carry lumber on our own. And if we raid a weapons depot, we would have to leave the lumber behind." Andy said, thinking a little logically. The others nodded agreeing.

Ashley looked around, spotting several cars in a parking lot they were passing by. He shrugged and nonchalantly asked, "Hot wire a car?" He nodded his head in the direction of the parking lot they just passed. The others stopped and looked at Ashley and back at the parking lot. They seemed to think about the idea before saying anything. They all agreed, in various ways, that getting a car would make their mission a lot easier. And cause less of a headache.

They started for the parking lot, entering it quickly and looking around at several abandoned cars. There was a blue convertible, a beige station wagon, a red jeep, a ford pick up truck, a Prius, a couple of motorcycles, and(surprisingly), a freaking school bus was parked there as well. The five of them looked at each other, already knowing the two candidates. Not hard, considering they needed the vehicle to survive. They wouldn't get anywhere with their supplies otherwise.

"Bus or truck?" CC asked.

He looked between the two vehicles before looking behind him to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. But nope, all the was quiet. It was too quiet, and it made everyone anxious as well. But they needed to think about this, think what is best from each of them. They weren't going to die because they picked the wrong car. They needed to be smart, but quick. The others looked at the two choices before shrugging.

"They both can carry a lot." Jake said softly.

"Yeah, but the bus might not be a good thing with how big it is. With the truck, we could weave past things, and ram these things easily if need be," Jinxx said.

"The bus can take a lot more than the truck though. The windows are harder to get at. And there's more space to ram." CC added.

"What if the bus is harder to hot wire than the truck?" Andy asked.

"And the bus door is easier to take apart." Ashley added quickly.

"Not if we reinforce it." CC said.

"With what?" Ashley asked, brows raised into his hairline in an incredulous expression.
"You know something I don't?" He asked.

"No, I'm just full of ideas." CC said sarcastically with a sarcastic grin to match.
"Glass spray." he said simply.

"How would that reinforce the door?" Jinxx asked, looking around a little before looking back at the group.

"Find a spray that makes glass nearly unbreakable." CC said, shrugging.

"Is there such a thing?" Andy asked. CC nodded simply.

It should be in any hardware store." CC said. Well, that settled that.

"To the bus we go." Ashley said, making his way towards it, his semi-automatic rifle raised, just in case.

The others followed close behind, raising or unsheathing their weapons in case one of those things got the drop on them. Ashley was the first to hop inside after pushing the door open. The others followed quickly but stopped. Ashley hadn't made it very far in. And there was a reason for it. The bus driver was slumped over in the drivers seat, a rifle on the ground at his feet and a bite mark on his shredded arm. It was easy to see what had occurred. Ashley picked up the gun and set in down on the first seat while he went and cleared the bus. Once Ashley gave an all clear, CC and Andy dragged the poor bus driver off the bus and dropped him on the ground outside of it before hopping back inside.

"Damn, you'd think we'd get used to this after a while." Andy said quietly, shaking his head. CC just nodded somberly.

"The keys are still in the ignition. Fire it up and get to the hardware store first. Make this thing a fortress before we get to the more bloody stuff." Jinxx said softly, sitting down in a seat near the front.

CC nodded and sat down in the drivers seat, looking at the others.

"I start her up, those things are coming. You all ready?" He asked them.

They all nodded silently, each taking a seat next to the other(minus Jinxx because he had already been sitting). CC nodded and turned the key over and the bus started easily. The bus showed a full tank upon everything lighting up. But that's not that CC, nor the others, were focused on. The zombies had indeed come out at the loud noise. But before anything were to happen, CC spun the wheel and they were out of the parking lot, having to hold onto their seats because CC whipped out of there so quickly.

"Whoa! CC, I don't need another head injury. Try and warn a guy next time." Ashley griped as he righted himself. He had almost been flung out of his seat if he hadn't of clung onto the leather.

"Sorry dude." CC called back to him, looking a little apologetic.

"So, how far to the hardware store?" Andy asked, looking to Jake as he was getting his map out.

"About a ten minute drive by bus. But we'll need to only have one or two of us go in for this one. Get what we need and get out." Jake said.

Andy nodded, looking behind him and gulped audibly. There were none a few seconds ago. Now, there were many. The zombies had probably become bored and got alerted to the noise the bus made. To them, it must signal a meal. But Andy was happy he was in a bus and not on foot at the moment. The ten minutes seem to pass by quickly and CC pulled into a hardware store. CC remained at the wheel, looking at the others. Ashley got up immediately, Jinxx along with him. Ashley nodded to Jinxx and they silently walked off the bus as CC opened the door and closed it behind them.

"Know what we need?" Ashley asked. Jinxx nodded silently.

Ashley went inside, Jinxx right behind him, shooting at a few zombies already appearing. Jinxx went to one end of the store and Ashley went to the other. Ashley had quickly picked up a discarded basket and began filling it with tools and other things they would need. That included the glass spray that CC had mentioned. They were in and out in less than five minutes, sprinting as hard as they could with what they carried as they heard the horde they brought with them come closer. They just made it when the horde advanced on the bus, luckily the door had been closed and CC mowed down the few that he could as he went further into town.

"Start spraying the glass Ashley!" CC called to him as the bus roared down the road.

Ashley nodded, got out the spray, and did just that. He opened one of the windows once done to air out the bus slightly. He hoped it worked, or they would be sitting ducks at the lumber mill and weapons depot. Ashley sat back down in his seat, fist bumping Jinxx with a smile. They did good, and with minimal shooting. That would stop once the lumber mill came into play. They sat in silence as they made it to the lumber mill. This time, they all got off, CC pushing the door shut behind him, unsheathing his weapons. He didn't really need guns like the rest of the guys. As they walked towards the lumber mill, they heard the groans and got their weapons ready.

"Okay, two carry the lumber. The others cover them." Ashley said, as another horde came around the corner of the building. The others nodded and Jinxx and Jake grabbed the lumber nearest them and lugged it towards the bus.

Ashley and Andy began shooting, while CC just went right up to them and started slicing the zombies nearest him to pieces. Ashley would have asked how the hell CC was able to do that and not be totally terrified. But then again, CC and him were in a similar situation with that crazy doctor. So he said nothing and kept shooting. Jake and Jinxx got a few and then walked back to the others.

"Switch?" Jake asked. Ashley and Andy looked at each other and nodded.

"Keep CC with you, he's doing better than all of us right now." Ashley said.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say the guy is having fun." Jinxx said, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

Andy and Ashley shook their heads and made their way towards another pile of lumber and lugged one between them towards the bus, Andy had to drop his end in order to open the bus doors and lifted it back up and carefully up the stairs. They set it down at the end of the bus and walked out and closed the door. Repeat about five times. Once their turn was over, CC just made his way on his own and lugged one onto his shoulder and strode to the bus easily.

"I'll have what he's having." Jake said in awe.

"Trust me, you don't." Ashley said, a look coming across his face Andy couldn't identify before Ashley hid it.

CC actually was doing great. It didn't help when the zombies started coming on all sides though. Andy and the others formed a semi-circle and cut down any zombie in their path. They were separated quickly as the horde got bigger. Once Ashley ran out of ammo, he got out his katana and started swinging. Blood and gore splashed all over him in streams. But he cut through each of them easily. Everyone had their own little pocket of zombies to deal with, when suddenly Ashley heard Jake scream. Ashley dispatched another before looking where he last saw Jake and saw Jake get grabbed by the ankle and dragged off.

Ashley shouted to Jinxx, who had a few moments before another few zombies converged on him. Jinxx turned and readied his crossbow and killed the zombie that was dragging Jake towards a separate horde and helped him up. Andy was holding his own, but he was out of ammo and using his shotgun as a battering tool. He was pretty good at it. Ashley backed off his horde after a little while because he began to grow out of control. They needed to get out of here, and quickly. But the path was blocked by so many of these things. Suddenly there was a shout.

"Throwing a pipe bomb! Everyone take cover!" Jake shouted.

Everyone paused for a second after Jake threw the pipe bomb away from the area as far as he could. Only the beeping of the pipe bomb broke everyone into seeking shelter. CC was already near the bus, so he was safe. Andy and Jinxx booked it onto the other side of the large building. Jake cut across to Ashley, running with him into a ditch Ashley had discovered. And just in time too, the beeping intensified before all there appeared to be was smoke, fire, and gore. Then silence...absolute silence. Everyone came back from their hiding places, covered in gore and breathing heavily upon meeting each other.

"Weapons depot?" Andy asked breathlessly.

"Weapons depot." Everyone else said in unison, nodding and heading back towards the bus.

Notes