Loss

"Looks like we found some, boys!!" Came a voice from the street below.

Max collapsed to his knees and took a minute to breathe properly, ducking behind cover. He tried to tune out Lorrie's screams as she pathetically crawled over to Mike's body and held him, his blood spurting onto her.

"Light em' up!" Came the voice again, followed by a barrage of bullets.

Most were blocked by the sturdy wood, while others tore right through as if their defenses were made of paper.

"FUCK! MY LEG!" Scott cried, a fresh bullet wound evident just above his ankle.

Max crawled over as best he could underneath the metallic rain, crouching beside Scott.

"I'll be ok, just bandage it up.." Scott said through shaky breath, and held the wound tightly.

"Here." Max pulled out the bandage that was used for his leg before it had been given a splint by his three, or two, new friends.

Fresh blood began to seep through the bandage once it had been applied, but was still good enough to stop the bleeding temporarily.

"Guys! We need to return fire!" Jess cried, pulling out a rifle and crawling over to the front, "Max! Here!"

She tossed a rifle to him, which he caught and crawled over to her. Simultaneously, they leaned over, and glanced through the scope. The men below looked like some kind of scavengers. Bandoliers strapped across their torso's and belts packed with ammo and guns around their waists. They were like walking gun stores. They wore leather jackets, spiked boots, and fingerless gloves. They were like a biker gang, and to back this fact up, they all rode motorcycles, explaining the sound of engines.

"Jesus...these guys look like they came out of a movie!" Max exclaimed and took a shot. He could barely get in a good hit due to constantly ducking to avoid bullets.

"They're firing too rapidly, I don't have enough time to shoot!" Jess cried and ducked back down swiftly.

They needed to find a way to take out multiple at once, but didn't have the time to process anything. It looked as if they were doomed. However, after one last glance, an idea flashed in Max's head.

"The fuel tanks..."

"What?" Jess looked over, bewildered.

"The fuel tanks! Shoot a fuel tank!"

She knew what he meant, and quickly leaned over.

"Once you shoot it, we're making a run for it. We'll jump across the rooftops and get out of here. There's a forest nearby."

"So, we're losing them in the trees?"

"Yes. But we gotta run the moment it blows. They'll need time to recover from the distraction."

Jess nodded and aimed for the fuel tank on one of the bikes, and fired. Direct hit. An explosion half as big as the building generated as the first detonation hit the fuel tank of the bike beside it and produced another explosion, merging them together in a flurry of fire and smoke as black as tar.

"ROOFTOPS! NOW!" Max whipped around and shouted to the others.

Bron grabbed Mike's body, lifted Lorrie who was still sobbing in agony, and ran.

Max grabbed Scott and ran alongside Jess. With all their strength, they pushed themselves into the air.

"Where are we going?!" Scott shouted, piggybacking on Max.

"We'll lose them in Arbor Forest and make our way to Dallas!"

"That'll take forever on foot!" came Bron from the front, shouting over Lorrie's screams.

"It doesn't matter, we just have to lose them!" Jess barked and glanced behind them.

They ran and leaped for what felt like an eternity as the smoke surged endlessly into the sky, until the forest was in view.

"How're we gonna get down?" Bron asked nervously, gulping as he looked below.

"Slide down the pipe. Luckily this building isn't too tall so it won't take that long to descend.

One by one they slid down, making a soft "tak" ing noise as their shoes safely hit the ground.

"Into the trees!" Max whispered and waved his arm.

The others followed at high speed, vanishing into the abundant greenery. It was silent beside their heavy breathing and rapid footsteps.

"Are they following us..? I can't hear anything..?" Scott whispered and glanced back.

"I don't think so, maybe they lost u-" Max answered.

A bullet zoomed past his head and dug into a tree.

"Fucking assholes, you really thought we'd let you go that easily?" Came the same cocky voice, followed by a downpour of bullets.

"SHIT! SPLIT UP!" Jess shouted and ran off.

Bron nodded and ran off with Lorrie, and Max did the same, running in the opposite direction of the others with Scott. The tromping of his pursuer's footsteps quickly reverberating behind him, which only encouraged him to run faster. Looking backward, he failed to detect the thick, low hanging branch ahead and was hit right in the head by it, sending him on his back, Scott falling with him.

"Scott! Crawl over and hide behind that rock!" Max whispered and pointed as he slowly sat upright and rubbed his throbbing head.

Scott nodded, slowly making his way behind the rock. Max dove behind some bushes and covered his mouth. It was silent for about a minute, before the faint sound of sprinting germinated.

"Where'd those bastards get off to...?" said one of the bikers, holding a pump shotgun close and thoroughly inspecting his surroundings.

Max peeked up slowly, watching him as he began to approach Scott's hiding spot.

'No...he'll find him...!" Max thought to himself.

Stupidly, he stood upright and whipped out his pistol, firing three bullets into the biker which made his body jerk violently and collapse. The sound of the gunshots had carried out through the forest, and attracted another biker who advanced on Max from behind.

"SHIT!" Max fell over on his front as the biker jumped on his back.

The two scuffled on the floor, punching and pulling at each other. It wasn't long before Max realized what ELSE the gunshots had attracted. Monsters. One missing half of it's torso wobbled over, intestines dragging on the floor like a string of sausages. Max wrestled some more until he got a good hold, and kicked the biker into the creature.

"NO! NO! PLEASE! AARRGHH-"

Ironically, he was soon advanced on and began to have his flesh feasted on, blood spurting everywhere.

"Max what the hell?!" Scott exclaimed as Max hoisted him up on his back.

"Sorry about the unnecessary noise, I should have sneak attacked him." Max apologized and adjusted his glasses.

"Yeah, no shit."