"Everything looks good..." Shachi muttered, double-checking the angle of the aerial fireworks they'd aimed directly at the raider house. Judging it in the darkness was difficult, but to the best that he could see, it was about where they wanted it. Hopefully the angle would still allow the gunpowder inside to light properly. They weren't exactly being used as directed.
They'd holed up in the house directly across the street as the last phase of their plan. He made sure to keep below the second floor bedroom's window line as much as possible. It wasn't likely that they'd be seen with it being so dark outside but having their cover blown beforehand would make this all for naught. One couldn't be too careful.
Behind him, Penguin nodded. "Ok, you know when to light them?"
"Yup, once you've rounded that corner." He jerked a thumb in the general direction of the street corner he would be coming from. "So long as none of them misfire things should go ok."
"Nice...now, to put it into action." Penguin let out a breath, grabbing the jacket that was too big for him and a set of pants they'd found within the house. At least those were his size, but they'd both be ruined very soon. No use in keeping them after all this.
"Screwdriver?" Shachi asked, and Penguin felt it securely tucked behind his waistband.
"Yup."
"Pistol?"
"Got it." Right next to the screwdriver.
He looked around again, patting himself down for anything he was missing. He wouldn't need much, but he didn't want to get out there and realize that the one integral part of their plan was back here with Shachi. "Shit, where'd I put the lighter?"
The redhead dug in his pocket and produced it. "Here. You left it sitting on the table."
"Thanks."
For a moment, they both stood there, thinking over their plan and unsure of what to say now, until Shachi cleared his throat. "You know...you don't have to be the one to go out there. Say the word and I'll do it, no questions asked."
Penguin nodded, barely able to see him in the darkness, but clapped a hand onto his shoulder. Through all the steps of preparation Shachi had asked if he was sure about this. Obviously it wasn't settling well with the redhead.
"I'll be alright...it'll go off without a hitch. Just watch. Besides, it was my plan to begin with. It wouldn't sit right with me if I wasn't the one putting myself in danger to make it happen."
"Yeah." Shachi said reluctantly, feet shifting in place. He knew Penguin would say that, as he did all the other times, but he also didn't cherish the thought of being fairly protected in the house while his friend was out there in the darkness. They went to separate but he reached forward, pulling him into a quick, tight hug. "Just be careful...I want all four of us getting out of here alive."
"We will." He promised, pulling away and stepping towards the hallway. He pointed back at his friend meaningfully. "Don't get killed on your way back to the rendezvous point."
Penguin stepped outside in his borrowed clothing, taking in the warm evening with a long breath. If everything worked out well, they'd have their friends back in no time, and the raiders would either be dead, or scatter enough that they wouldn't be much of a threat left. One misstep and he was zombie chow.
His portion of the plan was simple, though undoubtedly the most dangerous. But before he could begin...
He stalked through the darkness, listening for the tell-tale groaning of the undead to guide him, keeping an ear out for any alerting noise that indicated one had sensed him in some way. Finding a zombie wasn't difficult, though he needed one by itself in order to get what he needed. Running across a pack right now was bad news.
The jacket felt heavy and left him sweating, the heat from the day still lingering in the air. This was in no way weather that constituted bundling up in layers. But that's exactly what he needed right now.
The guttural growls of a zombie nearby made him look around. It sounded to his left, so he followed the faint noise to the backyard of one of the nearby houses. He peeked through the ajar gate door, glad his eyes had adjusted to the darkness.
One of the dead things stood swaying in the middle of the yard. It hadn't yet noticed him, not moving from its spot and staring blankly in front of itself, though if the wind changed so he was no longer downwind, it would smell him for sure. Well, at least it was alone. He could make quick work of it this way. Careful not to push on the gate-which was no doubt rusted and squeaky after so long in the elements-Penguin crept up slowly, knife at the ready to take it down.
His steps faltered as a second zombie emerged from the small backyard porch area, stumbling its way closer to the first in an aimless wander. Where the hell had it come from? Ah, the back door was broken and left an empty hole for it to wander through.
Fuck! He hadn't been expecting more than the lone zombie. Too late, he was too close to back away unnoticed. It turned and saw him with its dead eyes, raising its arm up to reach for him and letting out a groan of hunger.
Penguin hastened his pace to the closest threat, and swiftly brought his knife into the head of the first zombie with a grunt. It went limp, and he yanked the knife out as it collapsed into the grass, but the second was now closer than was comfortable.
He leapt left, narrowly missing the hand it swiped at him. A quick glance around confirmed that there were no other zombies in sight, so he focused back on the one that was turning to grab at him again.
Stepping forward, he placed his boot in the middle of its chest and shoved, sending it tumbling to the ground with a nasty growl. The fact that it had fallen didn't seem to bother the dead thing, instead only making it frustrated that its next meal was now further from reach and putting up a fight about it.
Not giving it the opportunity to get up, he stomped down on its neck to prevent it from biting him, then plunged the blade into the side of its head. The arms that had been reaching up to grab his leg fell limply to the ground, and it grew quiet.
"Urgh..." He muttered, pulling the weapon out from the zombie's skull. Stepping back, he looked around for any other unexpected threats though found none. Good. The night had fallen quiet again, the fence gave him a reasonable amount of cover so any wandering zombie wouldn't see him. He'd have to keep an eye on the broken back door, though.
Grimacing as he grabbed onto the first zombie's arm, he dragged it closer to the back wall of the fence. Then did the same to the second zombie, dropping it right beside the first.
He looked down at the dead people, staring with disgust. This had all been his idea in the first place. His plan. He knew he was stalling. They shouldn't waste any more time in getting Lexi and Law back from the raiders, but he couldn't help it.
Well, the good news was he didn't have a shortage of zombie guts to work with. Silver linings.
"God damn it..." He whispered, acting on his moment of motivation to just get it over with, and began cutting away at the zombie's flesh.
In this moment, Penguin really wished he didn't have a sense of smell. Though, with the horrid stench of the zombie guts covering him from head to toe, perhaps it would just burn it away entirely. Every second was a battle of his resolve not to vomit from the putrid odor, and he shakily made his way over to the first set of fireworks they'd positioned several blocks away. It took all he had to avoid thinking about whoever he was currently covered in. It brought the question of 'who are you wearing?' to a whole new sickening degree.
The jackets felt even heavier now than before, soaked in old blood and bits of someone's body stuck in the fibers. Hood pulled up all the way, he could feel the cold liquid staining the edges of his face with every step and shift of the jacket. Even from within it, he could feel the stickiness staining his actual clothes underneath. The pants were no better, and he was sure his legs would be smeared red after taking them off later.
At least this way, he'd be at no risk of being eaten by the zombies. Well, that was the plan anyway.
His feet carried him away from the edge of the neighborhood and towards the more populated streets of the city. It felt remarkably stupid to be walking alone, in the dark, out in the open like this with barely a weapon to protect himself with. He passed several zombies, eyeing them warily, as if at any moment they would suddenly jump towards him with their teeth bared. But nothing of the sort happened. The guts did their work, masking his scent to the dead beasts and allowing him to walk among them freely.
Every survival instinct was telling him to walk back to the shelter of the house and wait until first light. But he couldn't. They were already cutting it close to their deadline for providing the ransom supplies. Lexi and Law probably wouldn't survive until morning.
He passed the small convenient store that he'd set the first box near. Spotting it amongst the debris in the middle of the street, his direction changed to head straight for it. There were a few zombies already wandering the street within sight, but he'd need more attracted to it for this to work.
Stooping beside the box stiffly, he dug the lighter from his pocket and began clicking the spark wheel until a tiny flame lingered in place. Heart in his throat, Penguin backed away once the fuse caught and watched the results unfold.
The fountains began shooting upwards in a brilliant display of light, reaching as high as 8 feet in the air if he were to guess. The sparkling showers of light illuminated the faces of the buildings closest. If the situation wasn't so dire he might have stopped to appreciate the view, as grim and dilapidated as it may be.
Quiet pops of the gunpowder were all the noise it made, but combined with the lights it was enough to attract the attention of the zombies nearby. They trickled over, in twos and threes. And then, as he'd hoped. Several more emerged from side streets and small alleys between the businesses at the edge of the city.
"Come on..." He muttered, backing away as the crowd of zombies drew closer to the now spent box of fireworks. They didn't last very long, but they seemed to still be effective. On to the next one, which was a few hundred feet away.
They didn't have too many boxes of the fireworks to use, but they had enough for what he was hoping for. Reaching the second box, he lit the fuse and stopped, eyes watching the growing numbers of zombies as they noticed the new source of light as they shot several feet into the air.
"That's right...bright and shiny." He said, relieved to see them following dutifully, drawn to the light and faint sound of the firework. He counted something close to 20 zombies now stumbling towards him, but they still had a ways to go before reaching the house. With luck, he could get an effective horde going.
In a disturbing rendition of a death parade, Penguin marched the growing group of zombies closer to the raider house. They were all growling and groaning and causing quite a bit of noise now, with them all gathered together. He hoped the sound wouldn't ruin the result he was hoping for, scaring the raiders off before they got a look of the building threat.
So far so good. They didn't seem to pay him much mind, what with him smelling like month-old roadkill that had sat in the sun too long. His movements may have pegged him as human, but they no longer possessed the cognitive function to question such a juxtaposition. Penguin could feel himself practically sweating to death underneath the hot jacket and hood, his face slicked with sheen.
By the third round of fireworks, he'd managed to amass a good 30 or 40 zombies, all ambling with half-hearted purpose in the direction he guided them. Just one more to go. Penguin's anxiety was through the roof, hoping the smell of death masking his mortality wouldn't wear off somehow. Every glance behind him carried with it the fear that the mob would swarm him, realizing him to be not one of their own. But they were only passively following, unconcerned with their destination or him in general.
The edge of the city morphed into the beginnings of the neighborhood, street lights and benches changing into grass and gentle, decorative hillocks. He passed by the stone sign indicating the subdivision's name, knowing that there was no turning back now.
Law and Lexi jerked awake as the door to their room burst open. They could see two men in the darkness of the doorway. Their eyes were adjusted enough to see that the group's leader walked further inside and grabbed onto Lexi's arm roughly. She grunted and tried to get away to no avail.
"Hey!" Law called, trying to get up to stop him but the second raiders shoved him back against the wall none too gently, keeping him there with a boot on his chest. Lexi was dragged in the center of the room by the leader, whimpering and struggling all the while.
"Alright..." The leader began in frustration, "Seein' as your friends ignored my message and didn't deliver the supplies for your ransom, we're goin' to move on to somethin' different."
He drew a knife from his back pocket, holding it against Lexi's throat threateningly. She stilled, feeling the metal against her skin.
"Don't tell them anything-ahh!" The leader brought his knee into her back, knocking her breath away.
"Shut the fuck up." He demanded, staring at Law with a severe expression. "I'm not gonna sit around any longer to wait for your friends. They ain't comin' back. If they were smart, they'd have high-tailed it out of town to fend for themselves. Which leaves me with you two, and whatever's left of a pile of food and water somewhere out there, right?"
Law was silent, though his gaze was locked on Lexi, who stared back at him. She was scared, of course, but above that he could see the desperate plea that he say nothing, that he let whatever was about to happen just happen, not to spare her over what would amount to everything they had to their name. The foot on his chest pressed harder, making him look back up.
"So, we'll make this simple. You tell me where the supplies are, or she dies. And we ain't playin' any of those 'I'll take you to them' games or...let us live and we'll split it 50-50. Uh uh."
With his free hand, he grabbed a folded up piece of paper from his shirt and tossed it to the ground between him and his prisoner. Law's eyes were drawn to it for a moment, but then he looked back up at the leader. "You're gonna mark on that map exactly where it is. Then my boys are gonna go lookin' for it in the mornin'. And if they find nothin' there, we'll throw you out to be zombie food."
"You'll kill us either way. Why should I bother telling you anything?" Law questioned, and the leader shrugged nonchalantly, gently drawing the knife's blade across Lexi's neck. Just soft enough not to cut, but showing them both how easy it would be. They both saw her shudder.
"I'll give you a choice of how you wanna go. A quick shot to the head, or torn apart by the dead out there." He said simply. "I know which I'd choose."
The options swirled in Law's head, die quickly but doom Shachi and Penguin, or give them a chance of escaping at the cost of an agonizing death for the both of them. An impossible choice. Another rough press of the boot's sole into his chest, making it difficult to breathe.
The raider grabbed Lexi's hair, angling her head back and pressing the knife at the perfect angle to slash her jugular wide open. She whimpered, pressing her lips together in a thin line to stop any further sound.
"Come on now, I ain't known to be a patient man."
There it was. The final fountain box sat in the street one house behind the one Shachi was currently holed up in. A small army of the undead at his back, Penguin quickened his pace to reach the box before the horde did, setting fire to the fuse until it sparked and hastily shortened.
He stopped a few feet away, watching as the fountain shot up it's quiet lights, inciting the zombies to follow. He waited until they were level with him, careful not to get too ahead and have Shachi shoot off the final aerials too early. They only had one shot at those and they couldn't afford to fuck it up.
Gathering his remaining nerves, Penguin waited for the zombies to close the distance between them, until he turned and walked with them towards the direction of the house. To an onlooker he was just another zombie shambling along. But Shachi would know. And then he'd fire off the aerials.
Finally, the house came into view, and he swallowed nervously. Hopefully the darkness would mask their presence for long enough to get close. He couldn't see well enough into the window of the house to know if any guards were watching the front at the moment, but they had to assume someone was keeping a watch. They'd be stupid not to.
He stared at the corner in particular that would serve as the signal for Shachi to light them. 20 feet away, and then only 10. Several steps more and he'd crossed over the threshold of their designated line. Penguin tensed, waiting for the-
Pssshh! BOOM!
He heard the zip of the first firework as it shot across the distance between the houses, then a magnificent scattering of multicolored lights as it hit the front facing side. The boom was thundering so close up, and Penguin flinched at the sound. A second aerial followed right after it, exploding in a shower of colors and lights as it too found its target.
The effect was immediate. The zombie horde Penguin had been leading began veering off the straight path they'd been following up until now, their attention now solely focused on the front of the house where the commotion was taking place. Several more aerials were to follow, if the number of tubes included in that final box was anything to go by. The next hit against the window and broke it, the shattering of glass loud in the night air.
Between the sounds of the booms, he heard loud cursing from inside, shouts for people to wake up and get their asses up front to help. Hearing the noise, and perhaps seeing or smelling the occupants inside, the undead creatures began groaning and snarling with gusto, invigorated by the promise of food within.
Penguin continued straight, praying that the raiders wouldn't see him slip around to the back of the house while their attention was on the zombies out front. Hopefully the horde was big enough to warrant their full, undivided attention.
All four occupants of the room nearly jumped from the sounds above them. They all looked at the ceiling, as if that alone would help them discern what the cause was. They could hear men shouting, stomping and running feet on the floors, and plenty of cursing shouts. The leader glanced over at his man, jerking his head and a thumb towards the door. "Go find out what's happening."
The man paused, looking down at Law. "But, what about him?"
"He won't try nothin' when I've got the girl. Just go." He bit, anger rising up with each new boom that sounded above them.
The man nodded and left out the door, leaving the three of them behind in the dark room. He looked back at Law, eyes narrowed. "This's your friends' doing. I just know it."
Again, Law said nothing, listening intently to the sounds above them. After hearing it enough times, he had determined the booms to be from the fireworks Lexi had found and held onto in one of the houses they'd scavenged a few weeks back. He only wondered what Shachi and Penguin were doing with them like this.
Then, cutting through even the booming explosions was the tell-tale groans of the undead and the sounds of frenzied gunfire from the raiders in the house. All three of them froze, suddenly on alert now that the zombies had been introduced into the mix. From the sound of it, there were many, many dead things up there and eager for a meal.
Law looked to Lexi, feeling a strange sense of impending doom. Should the house be surrounded, none of them would escape alive. Her eyes were wide as well, but then she glanced down at the hand holding the knife to her throat. The raider's momentary distraction from the zombie above had made him loosen his hold on her, and the blade was no longer pressed right against her skin.
Her eyes flicked back up to him, and he saw a spark of action. That momentary snap of decision that passed across her expression. Her eyes narrowed, mouth set in a firm line. And in the next instance, she brought her mouth down to his hand in a vicious bite, sinking her teeth into the fingers that held the knife close enough so that he couldn't twist it to stab her in the face.
"AHHH, FUCK!" The raider cried out in pain, dropping the weapon to the ground out of reflex of trying to get the pain to stop. He yanked, scratching her face in the process, but she didn't budge. His other hand grabbed onto her hair, pulling roughly to stop the attack. However, Lexi didn't let go, sinking her teeth further into his flesh as hard as she could to prevent him from getting away, leaning forward so they both tumbled to the floor in a heap.
Not letting the opportunity slip past them, or for Lexi's moment of rebellion to go to waste, Law leapt up from the wall with bared teeth and sailed his foot directly into the man's crotch, putting as much force behind it as he could.
If Lexi's bite had forced him to the ground, Law's kick was keeping him there. He whimpered and sobbed out, the hand holding her head suddenly reaching down to try soothing the ache in his balls.
But the doctor wasn't done. Unsatisfied that the man was still conscious, he kicked at the man's head brutally, over and over again, hearing a crunch of bone as something broke within his facial structure. The sobs turned into gurgled moans, and after several more kicks, even those went quiet.
Lexi unclenched her jaw, releasing the man's hand and allowing it to drop to the floor. Her teeth left behind a crescent moon impression on the knuckles of his fingers, and trails of blood from the marks. She spat, no doubt having gotten his blood in her mouth. Law stepped back, unbothered by the fresh red blood now staining his shoes.
They both panted out tired breaths, suddenly spent from their moment of attack and still very weak from a lack of food and water. Still handcuffed, even, they'd managed to take the man down. It had been a decision born of impulse, but perhaps it would serve them in other ways as well. Law dropped to his knees beside the dead man in a mixture of light headedness and to do something important, turning in place so his hands could reach his clothing.
"Look for the key...to the handcuffs. If anyone has it, it's him." He whispered, and Lexi shuffled her way over to his other side, hurrying to aid in the search for what would free them both.
Their eager hands searched through each pocket and fold of fabric, ignoring the warm, sticky feeling of blood as the man bled all over the carpet. Law wasn't sure if his kicks had damaged the brain enough to prevent him from turning over, but he wasn't willing to wait and see.
Law moved from the man's jacket to his pants pockets, scrabbling blindly behind him for anything that remotely resembled the shape of a key. The sense of urgency was heightened as they continued to hear the sound of zombies overhead, and the frantic sounds of gunfire as the raiders attempted to hold their positions and protect the house. Neither of them wanted to think what would happen once the shooting stopped.
"Back pockets." Lexi suggested, still not finding any sign of the key. Law nodded and turned around, using his feet to roll the man over to his stomach so they could check the last of his pockets. Their desperation was clear at this point, hoping that this one last hurdle wouldn't be negated.
Lexi dug in the right side pants pocket, touching something small and cold, then gasped out a breath. "...found it...I found it! It's here!"
"Unlock me." Law said, thrusting his arms behind him so she could reach. Both of them trembling with the excess of adrenaline coursing through their dehydrated veins and the sudden prospect of survival, she slotted the key into the hole as quickly as her shaking fingers could and turned any which way so it would unlock.
Law felt a monumental sense of freedom feeling the right side of his cuffs break away, and he whipped his hands forward, feeling the shooting pain as his shoulders uncramped and flexed forward. The sensation was blissful despite being horribly painful and uncomfortable at first.
A particularly loud scream nearby made them whip their heads towards the door. The squelching sound of flesh tearing and the eager gurgling of the zombies was terrifying and nearly paralyzed them.
Ignoring the pain in his arms, he turned and grabbed the key from Lexi, wasting no time in setting her free of her restraints. She let out a pleased and painful groan as her body was allowed to relax back into it's natural position. He reached for the second cuff of her handcuffs when they heard a sound at the window.
They stopped, fearful that the zombies had already made their way to the back of the house. If so, they were trapped and most assuredly fucked. Through the darkness, they could make out what looked like the grate above the window well being lifted, and a figure popped down right in front of the window to crouch in plain sight. He knocked on the pane urgently with the end of something in his hand.
"Penguin!" Lexi recognized after a moment, smiling at the sight of his signature hat. Law ran forward unlatching the window just as Penguin was tearing away at the mesh screen on the opposite side and tossing it somewhere above him.
"Are you ok?" Penguin asked breathlessly, helping Law pushed the window all the way open.
"We're fine, but we need to get the hell out of here." Law replied fervently. He looked behind him, mindful that the zombies could break through at any minute. "Where is Shachi?"
"He's fine, but come on! They're bunched up at the front but that horde is gonna make it to the backyard any second."
Penguin reached down a hand to help him up, but Law grabbed Lexi's shoulder and moved her so she was first. The brunette was surprised for only a moment but then disregarded the sentiment, eagerly accepting Penguin offered hand and lifted herself out into the window well, then above that to the backyard grass.
Law was only a moment behind, going back only to grab the raider's discarded knife and make sure he had the handcuff key before returning to Penguin to get out of the room himself.
They emerged into the backyard, where the sounds of undead at the front of the house were amplified. Men still screamed inside the house, and sporadic gunfire rang out in the midst of the chaos, but nothing meaningful or organized to be the signs of an effective offensive. The raiders were losing this battle, certainly.
"This way." Penguin called, running towards the back of the fence and they followed after him. Lexi couldn't help but look back, fearful that she'd see a dozen zombies chasing after them. But the backyard was still clear and devoid of the undead things.
Reaching the fence, Penguin cupped his hands, ready to help them vault over the top to the other side. "Come on, up and over!"
"I'll clear it before you send her over." Law said, holding up the knife he'd taken from the raider's body, and Lexi nodded in agreement to the sentiment. Even dehydrated, hungry, and exhausted, he was intent to get them all out of there. He'd push through his limits to get them to safety if it was the last thing he did.
Lexi and Penguin watched as he disappeared behind the fence, and Lexi was next to go over just a moment later, ignoring the smell of his jacket and hood smeared with guts. She nearly stumbled after swinging to the opposite side, but Law grabbed onto her waist to steady her and prevent her from hitting the ground too hard. Her eyes met his in silent gratitude, then panned around but found no evident threat nearby.
Penguin joined them and urged them towards the street. "Shachi will meet us at a house down the street once he's able to get away. We'll hide there until the horde passes."
Without any complaint, he lead them away from the chaos of the house and towards the rendezvous. They ignored the sound of screaming and the groans of the dead, not looking back at their former prison.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
