Survival or Struggle?

"Ashley!" the lead singer and drummer shouted in surprise.

Andy got away from the wall he had leaned himself on, while CC stumbled his way to Ashley. They both got to him quickly, looking around to make sure they weren't attacked. Ashley had a hand on the back of his head, grimacing. His hand came away, but there was no blood, as they found out before. The lump from being thrown against the wall must have went down some. At least Ashley was awake. But he still looked somewhat out of it.

"Ashley? You okay?" CC asked, concerned for his friend.

"Stupid question." Ashley answered simply, grimacing when his head pounded. His words were a little slurred, but that didn't mean it would get better. They would still have to run around and fight these zombies off.

"Hey, at least you didn't ask 'Are you awake yet?' That one I would have hit you for." Ashley said, looking around for the first time he was awake. He blinked, as if getting a grip on his surroundings. And that may not be that far off to think that. He looked to Andy and CC, shrugging.

"So...what did I miss?" the bassist asked. Andy and CC raised a brow at him and CC shrugged.

"Not much really. Killing zombies, trying to stay alive. The usual." the drummer said. Ashley rolled his eyes and Andy looked around hurriedly.

"We should get going." Andy said.

"Where?" Ashley asked.

"To the hospital. Need to get that head of yours looked at." the lead singer said, pointing to Ashley.

"But I'm fine." Ashley said. Andy narrowed his eyes at him, not fooled. Ashley glared back. CC was practically bouncing on the heels of his feet. Andy looked away from the glaring contest, listening. More shuffled and moans were heading this way.

"We should get moving. The hospital is better than nothing." the blue-eyed man said. They all started to run at this point. Andy led the way, CC backing them up. Ashley stood in the middle of the three of them. Ashley stumbled when they made their way quickly out of the area, having CC snatch him before he hit the ground.

"You're fine, did you say?" Andy asked, as they paused around the corner, looking at Ashley briefly. Ashley glared at him, but didn't say anything. Like Andy said, a hospital was better than nothing. Andy motioned them that they could move, putting a finger to his lips. Knowing there must be more of those things around, they both nodded. Well, Ashley sort of did. His head still hurt massively.

All three of them made their way out into the open streets. They had spent enough time in alleyways. Plus, they were pretty close to the hospital; only a mile or so away. Andy took the quiet to un-jam his weapon, throwing away the bent cartridge. away a few feet from them. They walked in silence, hearing the moans about a street down from them.

"Wait, Where are Jake and Jinxx?" Ashley asked quietly.

"They went to make a distraction for us so we could get you to a hospital safely. There should be one just a mile from here." Andy said, pointing.

"I hope they can find us." Ashley said, though there was another implication, Jake and Jinxx's coming back alive.

"They will, they've done it once already." CC said softly, looking around as he spoke. Ashley was kind of impressed with that. They stayed quiet after that, not wanting to attract any attention. But that seemed like the silence wouldn't help, they would be found anyways. CC stopped, holding up a finger and going to a store, coming out with a weapon for Ashley. CC had his sawed-off shotgun and had retrieved his scythe before they left the alleyway. What CC had retrieved for Ashley was a semiautomatic handgun and katana. Each were better than sawed off shotgun he had used from CC.

Ashley smiled in thanks, nodding and strapping the katana to his waist. His gun loaded and ready. CC nodded to Andy, who nodded back and they were on their way again. They walked the way in silence, lost in their thoughts. Ashley thought he heard Jake shout something, but he thought he must be hearing things. So he thought nothing of it, until about an hour later. Ashley heard it again and stopped, making CC almost run into him.

"What is it Ash?" CC asked him quietly.

"I think I heard Jake." the brown-eyed bassist said.

"I didn't hear anything." Andy said, looking around. Then they heard something, a loud bang and a shout.They all readied themselves with what was coming. All of a sudden, Jinxx appeared, Jake stumbling. After Jinxx helped him, they all but booked it away from where they were. They ran past the other three.

"Run like hell!" Jake shouted at them.

"Don't just stand there like idiots! Run!" Jinxx said, helping Jake to his feet again. They didn't look surprised to see Ashley awake. But maybe that wasn't so important right now.

It was at this time that they looked the way Jake and Jinxx came from, paling. A giant zombie, about as tall as the street lights they've seen since they got here. And the giant looked like it was about to explode. Around him was a giant horde of zombies, barreling towards them. They all looked at each other, looked back towards the danger, screamed, and dashed off to catch up to the other two.

"Wait for us, you two!" CC called out as he ran to catch up. They eventually all caught up, running at different speeds. Though Jake needed to be helped by Jinxx every now and again. They all had a destination: the hospital. They didn't ask questions, just saved their energy for running. The hospital was just in sight, another few feet, when another huge zombie lumbered in front of them. They all skidded to a stop, backing up. They didn't have much space with the other side of zombies closing in. Ashley took aim and starting shooting the huge zombie in front of them. CC and Jinxx started shooting behind them, trying to lessen the zombies coming towards them. Andy helped Ashley and Jake was able to throw a grenade and get most of the problem out of the way.

Ashley got a bit disgruntled, not being able to kill the one huge zombie in front of him. But he had shot the stomach by mistake and all the gore splattered on him and Andy. Yelling and groaning in disgust, they helped a bit with the other swarm, seeing more coming.

"Screw this! Come on!" Jinxx said, motioning for all the rest of them to back off and flee the few feet they had left to the hospital. They all but sprinted into the hospital doors, having to drag Jake the last few inches, because he was limping. Once they got him inside, they slammed the doors shut, getting things to block the door and stood back. They all sunk to the floor in various places on the hospital floor, leaning against the wall.

"Nice to...see you...awake Ashley." Jake said, breathing heavily, closing his eyes in relief...for now...

The banging on the doors meant they didn't have a lot of time left. But a small rest wouldn't hurt. Throwing the gore off of his head, Ashley grimaced and tossed it in the wrecked hospital, looking at Jake and Jinxx.

"Nice to see you two alive." he said, smiling a little.

Notes