Chapter 14: Week Four: Sunday

The group carried the half-dead Jason through the stairwell door and off the roof. Once inside they were confronted by an immediate problem, the lock and it's companion named Gate.

"Don't worry! I think I can break it from this side! Tyrone could you..."

Swapping places with Tyrone, Zach got to work in picking the lock. He went as fast as possible, desperate to save his friend, but tried not to fumble like previously.

Off to the side, Bill watched Jason like an old eagle. If he showed signs of turning, he'd put him down no matter what anybody said.

"Jesus he is fucked up. Zach, are you sure about not putting him out of his misery? You know, when someone's bit... they turn. I at least don't want to see him suffer through any of the symptoms." Lily whispered out her thoughts. She definitely wasn't keen to the idea of watching Jason's brains blown out, but it would be better than watching him suffer.

"He'll be fine, like always. In zombie games, shows, and movies, there is sometimes a person who is immune or something like that. It'll be the case for him as well. I know it will..."

In just a few more seconds, Zach broke the lock and swapped places with Tyrone once more. Just in time too, as they heard the infected begin gathering on the roof behind them. Tyrone signaled the rest with his hands, and without making too much noise, they went quickly down the stairs to the fifth floor door. He opened the door slowly, and took a peek inside with his eye. 

Immediately he saw the broke down door on the opposite side and the horde of infected rushing up the stairs into the roof. There was no way they could just casually sneak by them and not get seen. About to close the door, Tyrone halted as he saw a couple of infected break off and arrive on the fifth floor instead of continuing to the roof. He wanted to back up slowly without closing the door, as to not alert them, but didn't get his wish as one of the infected turned towards him.

Seeing a healthy human, the infected roared and rushed for the door. Tyrone was just barely able to shut the door in time. The few infected started banging on the door, trying to knock it down. The noise was sure to draw even more over.

"Shit! Let's-"

*BANG*

Hearing that loud bang made the group fear the worst. Looking down, they witnessed as numerous infected poured into the stairwell as they roared. It was a terrifying scene.

"Fuck! Let's go back up to the 6th floor! We'll be safe there!" As Tyrone finished, he was about to start moving when he noticed Lily going down the stairs. Catching up quickly, he pulled her back.

"What are you doing Lily?!"

"Alice is down there all alone! I can't just leave her there! She needs my help!"

"You won't make it, and you'll die in vain! Is that what you want?! Listen, Alice will be fine. As long as she keeps quiet. Trust her, she can do it."

Finally listening after hesitating for a few crucial seconds, she relented and together they ran after the rest of the group. Upon getting to the 6th floor, they shut the door behind them and blocked it off with whatever furniture they could find. Luckily, the infected ran right past the door and went to the roof. 

Zach and Kevin gently placed Jason down onto a bed. He looked awful. Blood was pouring out from several places on his body. His face was pale, and sweat dripped from his forehead like he had a fever. His clothes were torn to hell, and revealed the aftermath of his brawl with Scarface.

"How in the hell is he even alive after losing this much blood? Boy! What the hell happened?"

Zach looked to his friend with a worried face, but answered Bill anyway. The others had their ears perked, waiting for his explanation. 

"I-I don't know. I woke up randomly to a loud sound coming from Jason's room. After a few more of them, Jason came out of the room and behind him was that 'thing'. He said to go get my things and pick the lock while he would distract it. I heard some more loud bangs and by the time I came out of my room, he was pinned to a wall. Then... it bit him. He saw me and told me to run, so I did. I don't know anything else."

"That's impressive and all. But what the hell are we to do now? Stuck here with this ticking time bomb. I still say we put him down now, before we regret it later."

"I-I don't like it, but I think he's right."

"Calm down Bill. You too Lily. I-I'll think of something."

"We can't just kill an innocent man like that!"

"You stupi-"

Tyrone wondered off from the group arguing with whispers, hoping some masterful plan would come to him. He did agree with Bill in putting down Jason before he became a problem. But his thoughts led to Zach. If he was right and Jason really was immune, that would be a game changer. But can he really put everyone else at risk for something like that? Then there was the moral dilemma. He couldn't, in good conscience, kill an unarmed innocent man who risked his life to save his friend. It'd haunt him for life.

"Uh, Tyrone?" Kevin broke Tyrone out of his thoughts.

"Yeah Kev?"

"After a little talk with Zach, I think I have a plan to get Jason some help."

"What is it?"

"Hold on, let me get the others."

Once everyone was gathered, Kevin began explaining his plan.

"So, Zach told me that everything regarding medical supplies was being kept in Jason's bathroom in his apartment. We obviously can't go through the door, but what if we came in from above?"

"Above?"

"I was checking all the rooms and I noticed all the bed sheets and spare clothes were still in there. My plan is to take the lightest people in the group, tie all the clothes and sheets together to form a rope, then we climb down it to Jason's apartment from one of the balconies up here."

Everyone went silent, thinking about what he just said. Bill was the first to speak out.

"Hell. I think... it might just work. Not bad for a chinaman."

"I'm Korean."

"Whatever."

While Lily and Tyrone said positive things, the only one with a frown to his face was Zach.

"Uh, about your plan. There's a... slight hiccup."

"What?"

"Killgore. I remember Jason saying he was bringing her to his room. The moment she sees you, she'll probably alert the other infected."

Kevin smacked his forehead with his palm.

"Oh come on. I knew this keeping that thing alive would bite me in the ass somehow. But I'm still willing to try anyway. Not like we have a better plan."

"There's puttin him down. Mighty fine idea. Genius almost."

Ignoring Bill, the rest got to work in taking every sheet or piece of clothing and making a giant rope out of it. Once finished, they tied one end of the rope to a refrigerator and threw the rest off the balcony. The other end of the rope landed on Jason's balcony floor.

"Wish us luck."

Kevin was the first to go down the rope, with Lily right above him. Holding the rope, Bill spoke up to Tyrone seeing as Zach was watching the time bomb.

"You know I'm right. We should just stop all this nonsense."

"A part of me thinks the same as you. But another part is thinking that maybe it's not hopeless just yet. Maybe he is immune. Maybe he turns and kills us all. One thing I know for sure though, is that I'm not gonna kill an innocent man who might live just because I was afraid. My daddy raised me different."

Bill thought on his words for a bit. It's not like he takes joy in putting a bullet through an innocent man's skull. But it's the most logical solution given the circumstances.

'Sigh. Whatever. This kills me, and I'll make damn sure I haunt these bastards forever!'

Down below, Kevin and Lily just arrived on the balcony. Since the doors were destroyed due to Scarface, the duo could immediately see not only the apartment but the outside hallway as well. The two of them were beyond nervous because of how close to death they are, but still moved forwards. Quietly stepping inside, they made their way to the broken down bedroom door while making sure not to step on anything. 

Outside in the hallway, they could hear movement. Halting their progress, they gulped as the noise grew louder. Shambling across the hallway with it's head down was an infected. It stopped in the doorway, and the duo's breathing quickened unconsciously. The thing's head twitched, and kept walking without seeing them. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Lily poked her head into Jason's room. First she saw the destroyed room. The bed was a pancake. Pieces of wood was splattered all across the place.

'What a mess.'

Peeking to the left, she saw Killgore sitting in her slightly bent cage. Being the first time witnessing the killer hound, Lily could see the appeal. The fur on Killgore was beautiful, and her powerful muscles made Lily envious. Then again, Lily was a dog person initially. The thing that creeped Lily out, were the gnawed on bones sitting in Killgore's cage.

Luckily for them, Killgore was taking a morning nap and was deep in sleep. With new found confidence, the two of them stepped inside while being careful enough to not step on the debris. Kevin was the first to reach the bathroom door and open it slowly. Inside, there was a bag on the ground and all sorts of supplies on the sinks counter. Kevin thanked his lucky stars and quickly grabbed it all up, slung the bag over his shoulder, and left the bathroom.

'This turned out far smoother than I thought!' Kevin was ecstatic. He was thinking this was going to be a hellscape, but it instead turned out to be just a simple little milk run. 

Good times don't last long. When the two were passing by Killgore's cage, her nose twitched. Smelling something, the hellish hound opened her eyes and saw two meat sacks in front of her! The strange man had given her fresh food this time! She immediately banged on the cage and barked out a demonic sound that could be heard even by Tyrone and Bill.

"That ain't good."

"Get ready to pull them up! Zach! We need you in here!"

Lily and Kevin were scared shitless by Killgore. Realizing the danger, the two ran out of the room. At the door, the same infected that passed by slowly came rushing in. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone.

"Go! I'll be right behind you."

Nodding his head, Kevin ran for the rope and began climbing it. Behind him, Lily pulled out her gun and started shooting the infected while backing up towards the rope. The first to fall was the familiar infected. Some of the others right behind him tripped over his body and fell to the ground, while others stepped over him and rushed to Lily. She fired a few more shots before starting to climb the rope.

Beneath her, some infected rushed over the balcony railings and fell to their demise. 

"Ha! Stupid zombies!" 

After a few of them jumped off, the rest stopped and began roaring at the climbing humans. One of the female infected looked at the rope and grabbed it. Using all of it's limited brainpower, the infected grunted and started climbing the rope.

"Kevin! You and your big mouth!"

The two climbed faster and faster, desperate to outrun the flesh eaters beneath them. More and more began climbing the rope like their ingenious sister, making the stress on Kevin and Lily grow.

Noticing the danger of having more weight added, Lily held the rope with one hand and fired her gun with the other. She missed a few times, but managed to use the rest of her ammo to knock a few of them off.

"Come on Lily!"

Looking up, she could see that Kevin had already arrived on the 6th floor. With some elbow grease, she managed to join him.

"Bill! Untie it!"

On Tyrone's cue, Bill untied the rope that was on the refrigerator. Immediately, the rope flew out of the apartment at a high speed and over the railing. Looking down below, the group watched as the infected climbers roared as they fell onto the streets and perished.

With a smack on the shoulder, Tyrone congratulated them.

"Nice work you two. We'll take it from here. Go get some rest."

Taking the bag from Kevin, Tyrone left the room for Jason with Bill and Zach in tow. Slumping against the wall, Kevin and Lily breathed out a sigh of relief.

"That was something huh? Hey Kevin, I wanted to ask you. Why did you decide to do this for Jason? Risk your life for him, even though we barely know him?"

Kevin took a few moments to reply.

"It's nothing complicated. I just wanted to help him. That's all. And, I didn't want to see Zach sad. I like him."

"Not... that way?"

"Huh?! No! I don't think of him like that. Wait... how did you know?!"

"I mean, the way you look at Tyrone is kinda suspicious. Me and Alice weren't sure. It was a little bet we made a ways back. So, it's true then?"

"Yeah. I'm gay. You?"

"Heh, no."

Suddenly, Kevin realized something.

"Wait did you help because..."

"Hm, I should go check on them just in case."

Leaving Kevin on his own, Lily entered Jason's room. Upon entering she saw Tyrone and Zach off to the side looking a little down as Bill attended Jason.

"Now this is a sight I didn't imagine seeing. Thought you wanted him dead? Now you're healing him?"

"Damn straight I want him dead. But I can't stand these two retards fumble around trying to play doctor. If it's gonna be done, might as well be done right."

As Bill patched him up, Jason suddenly started seizing. Thinking he was turning, Bill back up and grabbed his gun.

"What in the hell..."

The group looked on in horror as they saw Jason go through the odd seizure. Black veins started appearing all over his body, from his feet all the way to his head. They wiggled across his body like worms. As if they were alive.

Instead of the usual blood pouring down from the eyes, it was instead an odd looking black ooze. It seemed similair to the veins in that it looked... alive. Not only that but across his whole body, his bones would snap and pop as if they were readjusting themselves. 

The group kept quiet as Jason's body flailed around, and indiscernable whispers echoed out of his mouth. After a few tense minutes, his body started calming down and the black veins began to dissappear. 

"Look! His wounds!"

Lily pointed to Jason's numerous wounds. The group witnessed how his injuries started to bleed less than before, some of the more minor ones like bruises were even starting to heal slightly. 

"I'll patch him up. Then I'm gonna go pray to whichever God still has his ears on."

Zach had stars in his eyes while watching Jason.

'He's... like a main character! So cool!'

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After passing out, Jason found himself in a very familiar place. The place he once called home. Currently he was in the kitchen, looking at his younger self go through the fridge. Inspecting himself, he found none of the wounds from Scarface. 

"The hell?"

When he checked his hand, he found a little black spot on it. He tried to pick it away, but the spot stayed. Ignoring it, he continued watching Junior Meatball Little Jason. He didn't know if this was a memory or some kind of acid trip.

Little Jason grabbed a pizza box out of the fridge with a goofy smile to his face. He loved food, and pizza was one of his favorites. Food made him feel... good. Safe.

Plopping his fat ass onto a chair in the dining room, he opened the pizza box and what was revealed was the greatest topping known to man. Pepperoni. 

Even though it was cold, Little Jason ate it with gusto. He liked cold pizza. 

Big Jason had a slight smile as he watched the happy meatball eat his food. He wondered to himself when was the last time he smiled like that. To be so happy. The last time he remembers even coming close was when he got Killgore.

But he soon knew that Little Jason was gonna learn that good times never last, and he would learn the hard way. 

Little Jason's ears perked up when he heard someone come up the stairs. His eating slowed slightly, but he kept going anyway. When the person arrived in the kitchen and saw their pizza being eaten, they screamed like a banshee. Both Jason's immediately knew who it was. Their mother.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Eating my fucking pizza?!"

*SLAP*

Coming up behind him she slapped Little Jason's hand, making him cry out slightly. 

"You stupid fucking shit!"

*SLAP*

She slapped him again, but this time across the face. She slapped as hard as she could, which made Little Jason scream in pain and start crying. But the tears didn't stop her, if anything they fueled her.

*SLAP*

*SLAP*

*SLAP*

She only stopped when her hand started hurting bad. Little Jason's mouth was bleeding, and his face was covered with dark red handprints. His mother grabbed the slice of eaten pizza and shoved it into his face.

"You like that don't you?! Stupid fucking shithead! Never do anything right do you?! Eat it!"

Little Jason grabbed the slice and began to nibble on it, while tears streamed down his face. Finally content, his mother started walking off with some final words.

"Stupid fucking mistake. Never should have had him."

Big Jason remembered now. This was a fun event that occurred when he was 8 years old. He was hungry and wanted something to eat. And thus, the epic story was written.

He stopped watching the crying child and stared at the slow walking whore. Jason didn't even notice that time was slowed down. He was focused solely on her. Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.

"Kill her. You can do it. You can snap her neck as if she were a twig. Haven't you always wanted this? To gain power over the whore? So do it. Do it. Do it. She deserves it! Do it!"

The voice kept repeating over and over again. Jason gritted his teeth and started breathing heavily. His fists clenched into fists, and they were so tight that his hands started to bleed slightly.

He marched up behind her and grabbed her head. In an instant, he broke her neck by turning it to the side. He watched as his mother's body fell over, dead. Her bone protruding out of her neck.

He got on top of her and punched her face. Again and again he beat her head in with his blooded fists. And all the while, he never noticed the mark on his hand growing in size the more he beat her.

"Am I a fucking mistake now?! Huh you dumb bitch?! Fucking whore! Why did you bring me to a strangers house and leave me there for hours?! His dog fucking bit me! I was scared! I needed you! But you were too busy getting fucked like a whore! Once is fine, but four fucking times?! One of them even dropped me off in some random place and left me there!"

He finally stopped after a few minutes. Her body was mangled beyond recognition into a bloody mess. Jason abruptly shook his head and looked at his pitch black, but blood red hands.

"What the fuck am I doing?"

"The right thing. She deserved it. She was weaker than you, so she died. Those who are weak die, and the strong survive. You always wanted it. But you pushed down that predatory instinct and became a docile dog. You can be better, stronger. You can be the hunter, and not the hunted. Look, aren't there more to punish?"

The voice had returned. When Jason looked ahead, he saw a long line of people. All of whom he recognized. All of whom he hated. The first in line was his sister.

"What did she do to you? Go on. Say it."

"We were at our aunt's house swimming in their pool. I loved to swim, to go under the water and open my eyes to a brand new world. And you took that from me! You knew I loved it! You dragged me down and held me underwater! I don't even remember much else because I fucking blacked out! Now whenever I try I get a goddamn panic attack! I was 10 fucking years old you cunt!"

With a sneer, his sister replied to him.

"So what? You deserved it for being alive. God you're so fucking ugly too. How does anyone look at you and not throw up in disgust? Why couldn't you just kill yourself and save us the bother of having to look at you? Of having to take care of you? You know no one ever loved you right?"

"Do it. Kill her. Hunt her."

This time, the voice didn't have to try hard to push Jason. He ran for her and punched her across the face. She fell to the ground, dead. He didn't know that though, so he kept punching her. Only when he saw her brains pop up did he finally stop.

Not noticing again, the black ooze occupied more of his body. The more it covered him, the better he felt. It made him feel... strong.

Jason stared at the next person in line. His brother. His brother's head was turned to the side, ignoring him. The voice didn't say anything this time. It didn't have to.

"What? Not gonna say anything? No different than before. Tell me you bastard, what the fuck did I do wrong to have my own brother ignore my very existence? At least Sarah was a little better, if she only talked to me to insult me. But what about you? Shit, we lived together for 18 years and we were practically strangers. We even shared a room for some of those years."

He wasn't expecting an answer, so he was plenty shocked when his brother turned and looked at him.

"Isn't it obvious? Well, I wouldn't expect a retard to get it. Because you were born. Our life was fine and dandy until you came along. Sure, mom and dad didn't have the best marriage. But at least he was there. I was born, a few years later Sarah, then... you. You were born. That's when he left. Because of you. That's why we ignored you, you deserve it. That's why I beat you that one time over nothing. Because you deserve it. Mom didn't even punish me for that. Just made a show of telling me off. Ever wonder why? Because no one loved you, trash."

"You fucking cunt!"

Jason rushed for him and tackled him to the ground. A knife appeared in his hand out of nowhere, and he stabbed his brother all over his body. His chest, stomach, throat, and face. Even when he died choking on his own blood, Jason refused to stop.

Looking up from the blooded mess, he stared at the long line of sinners and rushed for them as well. Each person he killed, the black ooze on his body grew more and more. The more it grew, the more he enjoyed it. When he killed the last one, he was covered in the stuff. The only place left untouched was his head.

"Didn't that feel good? Feel right?"

Turning around, Jason saw another figure. But this one was completely covered in black ooze. 

"Who... are you?"

"I'm you."

"You're me?"

"Yes. I am you, and you are me."

The figure grew closer, and grabbed his hand.

"Together, we will be complete. Together, we will be one. Won't it feel great? To kill them all?"

"Who?"

"Humans. They deserve it don't they? You've seen them for what they are. You've seen their flaws. Disgusting and weak parasites that destroy anything around them. They are inferior to us. And we... we are perfection."

Jason stood there for a while, thinking. His mind became more and more clouded as he stayed in contact with the mysterious being.

The other black figure stood there patiently. It needed this. It needed him.

"Yes... they do deserve it. But-"

Hearing his partial acceptance, the black figuring starting melting and fusing into Jason as it kept speaking.

"We'll kill them all. Replace them. They deserve it. Inferior beings. Not just them. Everything..."

Jason's vision started to fade, and he fell unconscious. He constantly whispered 'They deserve it' and other words to himself as the black ooze fused with him.

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Alice sat in the corner of the room curled in the fetal position as she stared at the closed door. She could hear the monsters just outside the door. They were rushing for the roof no doubt. For her sister. She wanted to do something, anything to help. But she couldn't. She wasn't like her sister.

Alice got to her feet and looked out the barred window into the street below. A horde of bodies filled the roads, and a chunk of them rushed inside the building.

'Is this the end? Is everyone dead?'

Depressing thoughts echoed throughout her mind. Especially after the gunshots disappeared. She kept thinking they were already dead, and she was next. Alice moved away from the window and sat on the couch. There was no plan she could think of that could involve her surviving. If she dared to make a noise, the infected would break the door down and consume her.

After a few minutes of sitting there, she noticed a silence coming from the hallway. Were they no longer there? Tip toeing her way to the door, she looked through the peephole. Nothing was there. Just as she was about to back away, a bloodied head took up her entire view. It scared her so bad she stumbled back and yelped in fright. She held her mouth, praying that the infected outside the door didn't hear her.

Her prayers went unanswered, when the door started creating loud bangs. Outside the door, the infected roared as he smashed his own body into the object in front of him. He headbutt it, punched it, threw his elbows and shoulders. The commotion brought others in the hallway to join him.

Alice hurriedly backed up and tried to find a hiding place. But it was too late. The door broke down, and the many infected rushed inside desperate to find a healthy organism to eat. She watched them rush in and froze in fear. The terror consumed her, in body and mind, and kept her standing in the middle of the living room unmoving.

She was expecting to be attacked. To be thrown to the ground and eaten alive. However, that failed to happen. The group of infected that ran inside searched for anything to eat, only to find nothing.

They brushed past and ignored Alice entirely, as if she wasn't even there. Although it had decreased, the fear she felt was still there and kept her stuck in place. She noticed how when they didn't find anything their hyper state became more, docile. A few of them just stood in place while the rest wandered the room at a snails pace. It seemed like the fierce energy they had just drained out of their body.

Gulping, Alice took a few steps forward cautiously. When they refused to react, she started becoming more bold. She was just about to step out of the door, when she accidentally bumped one of the female infected. Alice froze in place, nervous.

The infected lady she bumped twitched and looked around the room, before returning to her groundbreaking important task of staring at a wall. Alice breathed a sigh of relief and kept going. She wasn't going to push her luck by messing with them and testing her newfound... power.

She wasn't surprised by the lack of infected inside the hallway. Coming up on the broken stairwell doors, she saw infected on both sides. As soon as she saw them, she froze once again in fear. But when they didn't so much as glance at her, Alice hyped herself up and went into one of the doorways. She needed to find her sister. Dead or alive.

She tried to get a grip on her nerves as she went up the stairs with the rest of the infected. They moved a lot faster than her and would sometimes push her into the ground by bumping into her. But every time she fell, she got back up on her feet. Determined to find Lily.

While making her way up she was startled by gunshots. She was both happy and fearful. Happy because that meant either Lily or someone else was alive. Fearful, because of the infected in the stairwell. When hearing those shots, the infected were riled up and knocked each other over to get higher up. Fearing for her life, Alice made the decision to make a pit stop on the fourth floor before going up anymore.

Once she waited for another ten minutes, the stairs were finally empty enough for her to pass through without becoming a human pancake.

Alice had finally made it to the fifth floor where Jason and Zach were suppose to live, but instead found it overrun with infected. She was upset about this, but continued on nonetheless. When getting to the sixth floor she tried to open the door and found it unmoving. Excitement flowed through her body. 

'They have to be here!'

With that thought driving her on, Alice went to knock on the door but stopped herself. If she made any noise, wouldn't she kill them like this? Especially since there were infected not 3 feet from her. Not to mention the number lingering on the roof.

She had to think of something. A way to lure them all out of the building. But how could she? The only thing she could think of was creating some loud noise in the streets which would hopefully lead many if not all of the infected out.

Suddenly, she smacked her forehead with her palm.

"Of course, Bill's pistol."

As she walked away, the infected that were near her looked at her previous spot in confusion. They had clearly heard something, but nothing was there. Unable to find anything, they went back to their menial tasks of standing still or banging their heads against a wall. To them, this was needed.

The way back down the stairs proved far easier to manage, what with most of the infected in other floors. In just a few minutes she was already standing in the entrance to Bill's apartment. Peeking inside, she saw that the group of infected who had originally broken in were still there. Alice stood there for a few seconds before walking inside. Her goal was Bill's bedroom. She had heard him talk about owning multiple guns, but seeing how they aren't anywhere else they must be in the one place nobody else goes to besides Bill. 

But when she came to the bedroom door, she was faced with a conundrum. An infected male was standing right in front of the door, banging his head against it. There was no other way into the bedroom than this door. And it's not like she can go around it. 

Taking a chance, Alice poked the infected's shoulder with her finger and backed up. Although it had already been proven otherwise, she thought he would turn around and pin her to the ground as he ripped her throat put. Luckily, that didn't happen. The infected turned around and stared at Alice, but wasn't actually looking at her. He turned his head to the other direction and made a slight groan in confusion, before slamming his head back on the door.

Through the whole ordeal, Alice held her breath unconsciously and only released it when he went back to headbanging. Filled with new confidence, she shoved the infected and felt a new fear rise within when he barely budged. He could probably easily overpower her and she wouldn't be able to do a thing.

The infected turned around and huffed in annoyance. Once again seeing nothing behind him, he turned his attention to a nearby infected that just so happened to be passing by. He had found his culprit, the bastard whose be stopping him from his incredibly important job!

Rushing for him, the headbanger jumped onto the shambler. Startled by the sneak attack, the shambler helplessly fell to the ground with the headbanger on top of him. The headbanger reached down and bit into his throat, shaking his head side to side like a shark in an attempt to rip it out. The shambler tried to fight back by grabbing his opponent's ear and tearing it off, while using his other arm to attack with his nails.

This failed to stop the headbanger who successfully managed tear a massive chunk of his opponent's throat out, making it bleed profusely like a fountain. Next, the headbanger began raining punches down onto the shambler and would even switch to using his skull as a weapon.

Watching the whole spectacle caused by her hands, Alice nearly threw up at the gore but barely managed to hold it in. Turning around she opened the door, walked inside, and shut it behind her. Though, she did find a strange sense of pleasure in manipulating the two infected to fight.

Ignoring the weird sensation she felt, she rummaged through the room in an effort to find a gun. It didn't take her long. She opened a closet and found it contained multiple guns. A sniper rifle, shotgun, handguns, and other weapons she couldn't name. There must have been eight in total in this closet. Taking the same gun as her sister, the Glock 19, and grabbing a full magazine, she opened the door to see the headbanger eating his fallen foe.

The shambler's head was cracked open revealing his brains. His face was already ripped off, and his throat was mostly gone. This time Alice couldn't hold back and threw up on the floor. Especially after seeing the headbanger take out the brain and start taking chunks out of it.

Hearing the odd noise the headbanger looked over in confusion with pieces of brains still stuck in his teeth. Noticing nothing, he happily went back to his delicious meal. Who knew eating his own kind would be such fun?

Alice immediately left the apartment and headed to the stairs. Upon reaching the first floors broken down door, she looked inside and saw nothing. She stepped in and walked down the hallway and into the lobby. Down to the left was another hallway with a couple more apartments and some infected idling around. To the right were the broken lobby doors which led into the street. Already from here, she could see the mass of flesh occupying the streets. It terrified her. She had seen what these monsters had done to healthy people like herself.

But still, she walked forward with a slight tremor in her legs. The sheer number of them made it seem as though they were endless. 

She stopped just before the horde of infected. With a deep breath in and out to psych herself up, Alice started pushing her way through the mass of bodies. Wherever she would pass, the infected would look around to see what hit them. Usually they would go back to their mindless activities, but sometimes they would fight amongst each other. Again, that weird sensation came about her. But she ignored it and focused on her task. 

Her goal initially was just to fire a few bullets in the middle of the street. In hindsight, she thought that was kinda stupid. If she shot in the middle of the street getting the infected riled up, would she not be pushed down and killed by them stomping on her unknowingly? Would be an embarrassing death.

Thus, her new plan was to go to the building opposite of theirs and fire a few shots. Then she would hide in one of the rooms until everyone calmed down. Alice could only pray that everything went swimmingly.

What would usually take a few seconds to walk, eventually ended up taking nearly 5 minutes to wade through the bodies. But finally, Alice was through the meaty field and out the other side. She wiped herself down slightly in vain and continued forward into the building.

She was easily able to find the nearby stairs and start her ascension upwards. The only problem was, how far should she go up? It didn't feel right to just sit on the ground floor and pop some shots off. What she desired was their building being empty, and this one full.

After walking up a few flights of stairs, she decided to stop on one of the floors. It wasn't too far from the roof. Moving a confused female infected out of the way, Alice opened the door and stepped inside. As this was another apartment building, what she saw was a long hallway with multiple doors on either side. Some were open, some broken down, and some were closed. 

First and foremost, she needed her hiding place. It didn't need to be anything complicated, just a room with non-broken down door. Even if the infected break down the door, that won't matter to her as she'll be hiding in either the bedroom or the bathroom.

Unfortunately, Alice failed to realize a simple fact. If there were healthy humans in her apartment building, why wouldn't there be at least a few here?

If only she looked through the window that night, she would know this was the building that the Night Hunters went into.

Alice, thinking only infected called this place home, carelessly opened one of the closed doors and walked inside. She was immediately greeted by a bearded man standing in the hallway as he looked at her in shock, while she did the same. The man was the first to break out of the shock. Within a heartbeat, the man closed the distance and put a hand over Alice's mouth. She wanted to scream, but didn't when the man put a finger over his lips.

He quietly shut the door she entered and released her mouth

"Who are you little girl? Holy... You packing?" The mystery man asked in a hushed voice. He was nervous about her gun and if she could use it.

"I-I'm Alice. And uh... yeah." She was nervous being in such close proximity to this stranger. 

"What are you even doing here? And how did you get here? Wait, let's move away from the door before those zombie bastards hear us. Well? Come on."

The man waved his hand and walked deeper into the apartment. Alice was hesitant, but the man was right. She won't be in any danger but she would certainly get this man killed, and Alice definitely didn't want that. So, she followed the man. Both him and his apartment gave off normal vibes. As for the man himself, he didn't look the part of some crazed pyscho. Except maybe the unkempt beard.

Because of the normality of the apartment, Alice unconsciously lowered her guard against this man. Holding the glock also gave her a sense of security, that she shouldn't fear this unarmed man. He stopped in the middle of the living room and looked to her with his arms crossed, clearly waiting for her to speak.

"I'm tr-trying to help my sister. As for how I got here? I don't know, just walked around I guess?"

"Hm. I see. You trying to find her or something?"

"Y-Yeah. She left a while ago and didn't come back. I got worried and went to look for her."

"How'd you get past all the zombies?"

"Oh that? There weren't many at all. And I was able to sneak past most of them easily." She felt a little bad about lying through her teeth like this. Although she didn't see any in the hallway, there were definitely more than a couple in the stairwell.

"Well... that's good." Hearing that there weren't many infected around, his voice changed ever so slightly. But Alice wasn't able to pick up on that. All she did was smile a little and nod in response.

*GRUMBLE*

"Haha. Sounds like someone's hungry? Let me make you somethin to eat."

"N-No you don't have to..." Alice could practically feel her cheeks heat up in shame. 

"It's no problem at all, truly. The best I can offer you is some recently cooked beans. I got some soda too, or would you rather prefer water?"

"Uh, I'll take the soda please."

"Hm... good choice." 

Already at the kitchen, the mystery man got to work in preparing their meals. Once he was done filling two bowls halfway with cooked beans, he got two glasses and poured soda into them. He took a little side glance at Alice and noticed that she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at a picture of him and his friend side by side on a snowy mountain.

He chuckled a little as he set the food and drinks on the dining room table.

"Ever been skiing before?"

"No, but I've always wanted to go."

"Well, it's a hell of a thing. Just something about it. Makes you feel alive, free like a bird flying high through the sky. Here, come take a seat."

"Who's the other guy in the picture?" Alice asked while she sat down and started eating the surprisingly good beans.

"That guy? Hehe. Name's Richard. Crazy guy that loves doin all kinds of dangerous stuff. Even convinced me to try this one hallucingen named 'Mind Rape'."

"Heh. Doesn't sound pleasant." Alice washed down the food with her drink.

"Hahaha! No, no it was not. Made me see all kinds of shit for hours."

For a few minutes, the man kept rambling on about not only his experience with the drug but all kinds of wacky adventures him and his friend got into. Alice was enthralled as she listened to the man go on and on with his stories.

Weirdly, Alice noticed her vision getting blurry and her mind was becoming cloudy. She tried to keep listening, but couldn't when the symptoms got worse. The man noticed her problem when she held her head and acted concerned for her well being.

"You alright? Darling?"

Ignoring the strange 'Darling', Alice responded with a slurred speech.

"Y-Yesh? I- I don't unde-" She halted abruptly, and stared at the man with wide eyes. She saw a grin plastered on his face.

"Finally noticing huh? Little tip from a pro: never accept a drink from a stranger. Especially when you didn't see him make it. Wish I could thank Richard right about now. Gave me these new ones, so much faster acting."

Alice clumsily reached for her gun that was sitting on the table, but the man was faster.

"No, no, no! Don't need that now, do we? Here I thought we were getting along so swimmingly too. You're breakin my heart. Darling."

She tried to get off the chair and run away, but didn't make it more than 5 feet before tripping over herself. Her legs and arms felt like they were submerged in water. They weren't functioning like they used too. On the ground, she turned her head and saw the man approach her slowly while unbuckling his belt.

"N-No..." She clawed against the floor in an attempt to get away, but barely moved an inch.

Her eyes were drooping low, and she was... so tired. A part of her just wanted to take a little nap. But she knew she couldn't, or else something really bad would happen.

He got on top of her and turned her over so she faced him. While pulling his pants down with one hand, he started groping her breasts with the other.

"Oh, it's been too long!"

"H-Help..."

"Shh, shh. Don't fight. You won't even remember it."

She didn't want this. This couldn't be her first time. Getting raped by a stranger because she was a dumbass. With the last vestiges of her willpower, she bit her tongue in an effort to wake herself up. Then, she screamed as loud as possible.

"HELP!"

Alice felt the same hand groping her shift and come to her mouth, stopping her screams.

"Shut up you stupid bitch! You want both of us to die?! Just let me have my fun, and you can live another day. Okay?"

Seeing her dwindling strength, the man smiled. But that smile left his face when he felt a searing pain erupt on his hand. He had no choice but to lift it up because Alice was biting his hand with all her strength.

"AHH!"

One more time. That's all she needed.

"HELP M-"

*SLAP*

"Stupid cunt! That fucking hurt!" He slapped her across the cheek in retaliation.

The last thing Alice saw was the man's face in anger and pain while he held his bleeding hand. Then, she blacked out.