Chapter 19: Week Five: Thursday

As Jason ran away from the scene of the crime and down the street with heavy breaths, he wondered to himself if he was somehow cursed. His lack of luck thus far had been, suspicious. Someone was to blame.

"It's that fucking bitch Destiny?! Isn't it?! Fucking whore!" As soon as he said that, out of thin air, a glob of green goo whizzed past him and landed on the ground a few feet ahead. He watched in amazement, as the asphalt road began melting at a fast pace.

"Hahaha! Can't kill me yet cunt! This is why Lady luck is superior!" Jason thrust his middle finger towards the sky and cackled madly as pain rocked his body. Every step hurt, and aggravated his injuries.

He took a look behind him, and noticed the dogs and cats were gaining on him. Because of the virus they had far more speed than usual. If Jason kept going at this pace, he knew they would catch up to him within 15 seconds if he was lucky.

As he tried his best to channel his inner cheetah, Jason's mind spun wildly in an attempt to form a plan that would allow him to avoid being eaten alive.

His eyes scanned all across the area as he zoomed past. Into all the buildings, and alleyways, using his limited brainpower to come up with something to escape this situation. He needed to hurry. Already he could hear the dogs snapping at his heels. Jason made an abrupt turn into an alleyway which threw the infected animals off and allowed him to gain some distance. 

Running through an alleyway is less than ideal. He constantly had to watch out for miscellaneous things by either side-stepping them or jumping over.

"By God's hairy ballsack! So much fucking trash!"

With some sixth sense instinct, Jason turned around just in time and raised his right arm to block an incoming bite from the fastest of the dogs.

He gritted his teeth in pain as he slammed it's body into the nearby wall. The dog was forced to let go as it fell to the ground. Most of it's body was destroyed due to that attack and couldn't rise again.

Unfortunately because of the distraction, the other cats and dogs showed up. Jason completely ignored the cats running rampant on his body as they didn't do as much damage as the superior pet did.

"AHHH!" A truly assholish dog latched onto his broken left arm and moved it's head from side to side in an effort to rip it off.

With all the pain and anger, Jason punched it's head with more strength than usual. Instantly the head broke open revealing brain tissue as blood poured out.

Only then, did the dog finally release. While he dealt with the other dogs preventing him from moving as they stubbornly held onto his legs, he looked down the alley to see the rest of the horde catch up.

As they rushed into the alley they constantly bumped into each other due to how narrow it was. This worked in Jason's favor as they tripped over one another. But he knew he had to move fast. Crushing the last dog's skull with his fist, he started simultaneously running out of the alley and killing the cats attacking his body. 

Once the last cat was dead, Jason emerged from the narrow hellish tunnel with a smile to his face. When he came out into the street however, his smile turned upside down into a frown. As just to the right, another horde was walking his way. And as soon as they saw him, ran right his way.

"This is just nonsense. Like... I didn't even do anything wrong. Destiny you really are pulling out all the cards huh? I swear, I'll be a good boy if you just lay off for five minutes. I need a break." As he continued his nonsense rambling, he ran away from the newer, but far smaller, horde. Honestly, he wasn't even mad anymore.

Turning his head back, he saw the old swarm he left behind join the newer one. Seeing more animals rush for him, Jason knew he had to come up with something else.

Then, something amazing happened. He had found salvation.

From a building up ahead, a woman's head peeked out of the front door. First, she looked left and saw nothing. However, she froze in fear when looking to the right and seeing a man with a limp arm being chased by a massive horde of foaming at the mouth zombies. She hurriedly shut the door and prayed the man would take them all away. 

Unfortunately, Jason would have to disappoint her like an impotent husband. With a burst of speed he didn't know he still had in him, he was able to shake the infected animals that were close on his heels for a brief window.

He ran for the door and with his right shoulder, rammed into it. Instantly, the door caved in under Jason's immense strength and momentum. As soon as he entered, he noticed the woman he saw before along with a few others. A group of survivors. At first glance he noticed about five or six of them in multiple rooms.

"Heya, sorry about this. You'll be fine though? Right?" As he said that, Jason was already rushing past them. Then, one of the bigger men stepped in front of his path and tried to stop him.

"Hey pal! Wh-" With all his speed and power, Jason socked him across the jaw with his right hand. The man couldn't even see it.

A loud crack sounded out as his body flew across the room. When he landed, the others could see his head in an unnatural position as laid there unmoving.

"NOOO! FRED!" A banshee like scream reverberated throughout the place. The man's lover? Jason didn't care. He ran up a set of stairs and left the people to their doom. Already, he could hear their screams as the infected rushed inside and tore them apart.

The stairs had led him to another room. Within just a moment, his eyes scanned everything before focusing on the window. From where he was standing, he could see a pipe on the opposite building that hopefully led to the roof. Jason ran for the window and as soon as reached it he jumped, easily shattering the glass.

With an outreached hand he barely grabbed onto the pipe. Wasting no time, he began climbing with what little strength he had left. Although, it was a somewhat arduous without his left arm.

He looked behind him, back into the room he just left, and saw some infected running around the place in search of him. Some even saw him climbing the pipe and jumped out the window. However, they were not great jumpers and only fell to the ground with crippled legs to show for it.

When Jason had finally reached the top, he used his legs to squeeze the pipe to hold himself in place. And with his right hand, grabbed onto the roof of the building and pulled himself up. He rolled to his back and laid there, looking up at the cloudy skies as he bled all over the ground from numerous cuts that littered his injured body.

"Oh, don't tell me it's gonna rain now."

He was tired. The fight with the Juggernaut and running away from the horde had worn him out. As for the people he just killed? To him, the apocalypse was an 'Every man for himself' kind of thing. He had no guilt for that. 

"If anything, they deserved it. Here I am, being such a kind soul in bringing them more friends and they have the audacity to stop me? Some people I swear!"

There were only four people Jason cared about in this world. Himself obviously, Zach, Killgore, and Alice. Maybe Lily and Kevin too, since they went to hell to help him. 

"I still need to thank them, don't I? Ugh, what do I even say?" Jason ruffled his hair with his right hand. He wasn't good at these kinds of things.

As he stared at the slow moving clouds, a wave of sleepiness suddenly arrived and used it's power to close his eyelids. He was just... so tired.

However he knew it was bad to fall asleep now, so he slapped himself in the balls to wake himself up and kill off any of his future descendants.

"Yeah! That's the good stuff! Get up you bitch!" With motivation, he managed to get to his feet while in pain and was ready to get back home. Though, maybe waiting a little bit for the horde to move on might be best. Although some of them were crammed into the building, the majority were still waiting outside.

While Jason waited on the roof trying to think of a plan, the fat infected lady kept looking for him through the building. Any doorway barring her path suffered a cruel end. It was either being melted by her acid, or be crushed by her forcing her way through.

In one of her hands was the top half of a very familiar female corpse. A face that was filled with tears, terror, and pain. Her's was not an easy death, given the bottom half had evidence of being melted.

The land whale was smarter than the inferior common 'things' around her, and looked down on them at disgust. There was this odd feeling in the back of her mind that if she ate that weird human, something incredible would happen.

But when she failed to find him, an ugly look appeared on her face. So, she took her anger out on a nearby infected by spitting her green goo at him. Within seconds, the innocent infected had his flesh and muscles melted off. Even until his death, he was confused on why his body was disappearing.

The lunch lady look-alike grabbed the bloody gooey remnants of the poor infected and shoveled it into her mouth. Finally, she felt some relief and walked out of the building. This was the only thing they were good for.

She looked in the direction of the fallen Juggernaut. Consuming that big lug would do her some good, but it was beneath her to pick up the scraps of the lower infected. 

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When the gunshots resounded the group was forced to wait until both the horde passed and the streets were mostly clear. Instead, they prepared themselves for the journey to the outside as they waited.

Zach stood with his arms crossed as he leaned against a window, looking down into the street that became emptier as time went on. He was in his own world as he thought about multiple things. Jason's safety, traps, his body becoming better, Lily who seemed to not be interested in him. Suddenly a hand grabbed his shoulder, bringing him out of his deep thinking.

"Hey Tyrone." Seeing his friend, Zach couldn't help but let a smile loose.

"Hey man. Whatchu you thinking about? Worried about Jason?" Tyrone asked with a concerned look. He too was worried, but he knew Zach was much closer with Jason and cared a lot more.

"Well, yeah. That's one of the things. I've also been thinking about traps."

"Traps? What do you mean?"

"I mean, something to defend us against both bad people and infected. I was thinking that maybe we take some of the wood from furniture or the floor boards and sharpen them into spikes. Then we dig out a hole in the ground behind the barricade, fill it with said spikes, and cover it up with something so people can't see it." As Zach explained his thoughts, he stared down below with glassy eyes.

Hearing him, Tyrone was a little shocked but thought about what he said nonetheless. Traps would be important. Although he doesn't want to hurt anybody, he knows that some bad people will eventually come around looking for trouble and try to take the things they've got. Even if they didn't do anything wrong. What happened to Alice could happen again here.

"I guess it could work. But we need to find tools to dig through the concrete."

"Maybe even like this. Have something sitting at the top of the stairs waiting to fall down. At the barricade, have a tripwire set up so that when someone barges in they trip it and make the trap fall down into them. It would also warn us as well." 

"I'd say these are good ideas. Why don't we work on it together when we get back?" Hearing Tyrone support him, Zach bloomed like a flower.

"Thanks!"

"Hehe, no problem." Tyrone smiled as they both looked down into the nearly empty street.

"Looks like it's almost time."

With that, he left Zach to his own devices and started preparing himself both physically and mentally. 

After a few more minutes, the group gathered up in Bill's place to arm themselves with guns. Although their melee weapons would probably do all the work, it never hurts to be prepared. Bill was going to be using his trust M16, Lily got the shotgun as she has training, and the rest got handguns.

"If you are gonna use them, make them count. I don't have unlimited ammo. Here, let me give you some tips before you blow your fool heads off." While Bill gave the basics to Tyrone and Kevin about how to shoot, Lily did the same with Alice.

"And that's about all there is to it. Hm? What's wrong Alice?" Lily asked.

"Jason. Do you... think he's alright? I'm worried about him." Alice replied with a sad face. Suddenly, she felt her big sister hug her once more. Sometimes, she thought her sister was obsessed with hugging her. Not that she disliked it.

"I'm worried too Alice. But I'm sure the overgrown gorilla bastard will be just fine. I doubt after surviving one of those 'Night Hunters' as he calls them, he would die to a couple normies. Just believe in him." Lily gave a kiss to her little sister's forehead and released her. Alice herself did feel better. She should just trust him. He'll be fine.

"We all ready to go?" Tyrone asked. After getting confirmation from the others, they all walked down to the first floor together. They moved one of the stairwells barricades out of the way and stepped outside.

"Be careful everyone!" Zach waved to them as they walked down the hallway.

"Heh, you too Zach. Don't let any strangers in." Kevin replied to him with a chuckle.

As the group headed into the empty lobby, they could hear Zach moving the barricade back into place. 

"Let me scout ahead for anything. I'll signal you if it's all clear." Alice said as she started walking out of the lobby and into the street. Lily wanted to say something, but decided not to.

They only had to wait for a few seconds before Alice returned.

"There's only one in the road."

When the group stepped out into the street, they found that she was right. Only one of them was standing there with his back turned towards them. He was easily killed by Tyrone wacking him upside the head a few times.

Thanks to Jason clearing the road beforehand, and unwillingly leading all the infected away whether it be by horde or from inside the nearby buildings, the group found the journey far smoother than they initially thought. Up until they got to the graveyard left behind by Jason and the Juggernaut. They all crouched behind a car to hide as they stared at the scene of carnage.

"Holy hell. He did all this?" Bill said with slightly wide eyes. 

The dented wall, crushed up bodies, blood, bones, and guts everywhere, and even cracks in the road due to the Juggernaut's fists. The group was awed by it. This was something you only see in movies. Especially when they saw the Juggernaut. Despite multiple infected chowing down on him, he was a sight to see.

"What I'm really wondering, is how his pants stayed on?" Lily asked with a weird look. 

"Guess it's like the hulk maybe?" Kevin answered her, with the same face.

"Enough with the nonsense you two. How are we gonna handle this?"

As the group whispered to each other plans on how to deal with the numerous infected, Alice decided to take matters into her own hands. She knew the last time she did this, it didn't go so well. But she believed with a bit more caution, everything would be fine.

When she stepped out from behind the car, the group silenced themselves. But before Alice could even take five steps, she felt a pair of familiar arms roughly pull her back.

"What in the fuck are you doing?! You said that big fucker on the ground saw you right?! So why are you trying this shit again?!" Lily harshly whispered into Alice's ear. Alice tried to remove her big sister's arms, but even with her mysteriously increased strength couldn't make her budge.

"Lily it'll be fine! Trust me! I'll be more careful. Besides, won't you be here? You'll protect me, right?" Thr puppy dog eyes struck again, making Lily loosen her arms.

"Fine. But at the first sign of trouble you run your little ass straight to me!"

"Sir yes sir!" Finding a chance to break free, Alice ran off away from the group giggling to her self silently. Lily was fuming hearing her little 'Sir yes sir!', but had no choice but to let it go. For now.

Alice composed herself and walked slowly towards the group of hungry infected. The way they ate the now dead Juggernaut was weird. It was like they couldn't get enough. Although she was a good distance away from the infected, she didn't call out just yet. Only after looking around the area and making sure it was safe for her, did she yell out.

"Hey!" But surprisingly, they didn't move. All they did was move their heads towards her direction, but ignored it and continued eating. 

Alice was baffled. Was the Juggernaut that tasty?

"Hey you fucking morons!" 

"Over here!" 

"Your mother sucks healthy human cocks!"

Only after she called out multiple times did the infected finally start rushing towards her. As Alice led them away, the group made their move. While Tyrone was picking up one of the packs of water, he felt something poke his back.

"D-Drop the food! And the water!" A terrified but firm voice came from behind him. The rest of the group turned towards him and raised their guns at him. 

The man threatening Tyrone was extremely thin, as if he hadn't eaten properly in a long time. What he held in his hand was just a simple kitchen knife. If Jason were here, he would recognize it as one of his own and probably call him a dirty little thief.

Seeing the guns trained on him made him even more scared, enough to piss himself, but he had no other choice. They needed these supplies, and he would die trying to get them.

"Calm down man. Why don't we talk about this, huh? Don't wanna do something we both will regret. I'm gonna turn around now. Just be cool." Tyrone said as he signaled the others to stand down.

"I-I need this! Please!" The thin man said with a shaky hand. He didn't want to do this. To rob innocent people. But what choice did he have?

"Listen here. We need these things too. It's hard out here you know? But ma-" Tyrone halted when his eyes moved from the man and into the building. Inside he saw little heads poking out from behind a corner. Children, and from the looks of it they were very malnourished. Instantly, Tyrone's heart softened.

"I see you got some little ones inside. Listen man, we can't give you everything. We need this to survive too. But maybe, we can give you some stuff. So you can feed your children." 

"You, would do that?" The man asked stunned. After all, he just tried robbing him.

"Yeah. I would. Here take some of this." Tyrone handed off a bag of food along with one of the packs of water.

"Th-Thank you! You've saved us. My children especially." The man said, tears running down his face. No longer does he have to watch his children starve. No longer does he have to see them in pain. Well, for now at least.

The man walked back inside and spoke to his two children.

"Thank the kind man."

It took them a few seconds to muster up enough courage.

"Th-Thank you mister."

"Thanks."

Their voices were hoarse and their movements weak, making the group feel they did the right thing even more. The man closed the door with a rare smile to his face. Ever since his wife was captured by those awful men a few days ago, he had never felt any sort of happiness. Except now.

They would eat well tonight.