Necropolis

I sighed. Finally we were going somewhere. What the hell had been taking everyone so long? What if we’d been attacked in this? There was no hope dwelling on the past. We were moving and that was what mattered. Though…I couldn’t help but notice that everyone was getting out of the car, that everyone was packing.

I sat there looking around at everyone and then realized why they were unpacking. We couldn’t take the car with us. We’d be walking. I felt like an idiot for no noticing sooner. I shoved one box that had been resting on my shoulder and threw the bandage to the ground.

What did we need? We could only afford to take what we needed. A soft breeze brushed the cut on my head and I winced. What we needed we didn’t have. We had guns, we had each other. I couldn’t help but wonder if that would be enough and a strong sense of loneliness wrapped around me causing a violent shudder.

I was letting myself be afraid again. That never did any good. I shouldered an overstuffed black bag with unknown contents and got behind everyone else. I didn’t want a gun. Guns were almost meaningless to me. Using one just brought back memories that needn’t be brought back. Now a knife…if I’d only knew where my knife had gone.

I dug into my jeans pocket for my long lost friend but only fingered coins that were beyond ever getting out of the small space. My sweater pocket held nothing. My purse…I’d left my purse.

We started walking in a cold silence that was comfortable, and yet interrupted seconds later.

“Where are we going to go?” Abby asked, voice just above a whisper.

“The mall.” I said laughing to myself. I got a couple of worried glances and scoffed. “Well, that’s where people are usually safe…in the movies I mean. They usually go to the mall. Which, if I do say so myself, is a little iron__”

“Are you okay?” Mev interjected. I scowled

“I’m fine damn it.” Joanna looked up at my head.

“Where’s your__”

“Trashed it. It looked disgusting.” Another wondering glance and I looked down. Something gleamed on the gravel on the side of the road and I rushed over to it. My knife, though how it got there…I shook my head. It didn’t matter. I had it now.

I fell behind a little as Kev marched them sternly ahead and pocketed the small weapon into my tight jeans where I knew it wouldn’t be lost.

“Kev!” I called. Running up to the group once more. He turned around but didn’t stop walking. The wretch on his face made we wince but I gulped and continued on. “I know a place that we can go. It’s not far…it’s hidden but not far. It’s well,it was secret…and I_ seeing as how we need it now. We can use it.” He looked serious for a moment and then managed a small “smile” that you would have missed if you blinked.

“Then let’s go before those assholes see what we’re up to. We can’t take anymore than we already have.” He murmured something like not wanting to anyways but I ignored it.

“You…see, try not to be scared when we get there. It’s all in the past. What’s there, it’s all from a long time ago.” I could see Abby searching me and for a second I had the feeling she was reading my thoughts. But no, she couldn’t have guessed what was there. No one could have. I’d hidden it so well. I’d changed.

Derrik

And then Derrik was there. He stood in front of Kev’s group with his arms folded. They stopped walking and he spoke in a low voice.

“So? You’re just gonna leave?”

“No shit.” Kevin’s body language erupted in flame again. He was really not in the mood.

Too bad, thought Derrik, ‘cos I’m not being left behind.

“No, you see, it is shit.” Derrik braced himself in case Kevin’s aggression broke free, “It is complete shit. You’ll be responsible for what happens to us!”

The others stood in stunned silence. Jo moved, as if to break it up, but Kevin spoke again.

“And I care about that, because?” His voice trailed off with a dreadful finality. Derrik realised he had to act fast. He had to gamble.

The group started moving towards him. He’d blocked their exit, but Derrik alone against them was nothing to dissuade them from leaving. Kevin walked straight at him. His eyes looked straight through Derrik, as if he wasn’t there.

Kevin was big. Not fat, but well built and bulky. He bulldozed into Derrik and knocked him aside without slowing his pace. One of Kev’s group gasped but said nothing. Derrik glanced back over to where Dave holding Keri and he found a little more courage. It was all or nothing.

“Because,” Derrik blurted out as they walked on, “because you don’t want to feel responsible for anyone else’s death.”

The footsteps stopped. Kevin turned around and horror was plastered across his face. His mouth opened and he looked for words to begin, but he choked and Derrik realised his terrible anger had evaporated.

“Kev,” Derrik called his name timidly this time, sensing he’d done something way out of order, “Kev, you know, safety in numbers and all that?”

Kevin breathed heavily and then reached forwards and grabbed Derrik’s shirt collar.

“What the fuck do you know, kid?” he whispered.

It seemed like Kev was about to lift the guy off the ground. Mev heard Abby whimper. Instinctively, he whispered, "Shhh..."

"I know you've lost someone," Derrik said. Kev's fingers tightened on his collar.

There was a sound, a strangled gasp from behind them. A brown-haired girl had fallen, a zombie bearing down on her. How it had gotten so close without them hearing, Mev didn't know, but that didn't matter. More would be here soon, and this girl was going to die, or become infected, if someone didn't stop the creature.

Mev aimed his gun, but they were too far away and the girl was too close to the zombie. He'd have to risk it. But what if he shot her?

There was a bang, and the thing collapsed. The girl leapt up, and stepped away from it, unscathed. Mev looked back to Kevin, in time to see him putting away his gun. Kevin glanced at Derrik, then turned away, as if he weren't even there.

"We've got to go."

"Where?"

"Out of this city," Kev said.

"We can't!" the girl who had recently been attacked said. A bruise was forming on her face, but apart from that she looked fine. She stood next to Derrik.

Kevin ignored her. "What do you mean?" Mev asked.

"The military's got it blocked. No one can get through."

He stared at her. "You saw this?"

Dave looked away from Keri for the first time, hearing town had been qurantined. "What! We're trapped!?"

Kev rolled his eyes and muttered "Dumb ass."

They all began to walk, when Dave remembered something. He coughed loudly, but Kev ignored as did everyone else. Keri turned to him shrugging helplessy. He tried once more this time coughing "Deafo."

Kev stopped and spoke calmly and quietly, "This better be good."

Dave considered not saying, but now everyone eyes were on him, "There's an abandoned maintenance pipe out the city, it's very near."

Kev eyed him with mistrust, "Do you know why these were abandoned?"

Dave stared down at the ground, "They were no longer deemed safe..."

"Hmm, it's interesting how you can know of something like this, it's not common knowledge."

Dave kept a straight face and replied, "I just know."

Kev looked at him a while longer as if he was trying figure something out then stopped, "How dangerous would this way be?"

Dave shrugged, "Probably quite, but I can guarantee it won't be guarded."

"How close is the entrance?"

Dave did a quick mental calculation, "it's just down Craig Aveneu."

"'bout a mile. On the way to where I had in mind, too"

He turned away when he got called back by Kev, "How can you know all this about a town?"

Dave shrugged and turned back to Keri, again shrugging.

Keri looked at Dave,

"We're going into the abandoned tunnels?" She gasped.

Dave scratched his head confused "Yes, we need to get out this town. Keri I'll keep you safe."

"I...I uh, is it really the best place to go?" She stuttered.

Dave looked around before answering, "No, but name an alternative, other than die?"

"I don't know any other one. But, you gotta know of another way."

Dave looked at her confused, "Keri, I promise I won't let you come to harm. Why are you so nervous? It's not like you."

"I..Uh, well, i don't like those tunnels is all." She barely wispered.

Dave hugged her close doing his best to comfort her, "Keri, you've not told me something have you?"

"Possibly.." She mumbled,

Dave leant in and kissed her pulling away with a kind smile, "I'm here for you."

"Yea, but it is kinda stupid," She sighed smiling at him, she threaded her hand in his. "Its just,"

Dave smiled encouraginly at Keri, "Keri, trust me until a not long ago, I thought zombies stupid. So nothing you can tell me is gonna seem silly."

"Well, I uh, kinda got.." She sighed, "i got stuck in those tunnels when i was little, now, I..I'm kinda scared of em."

Dave walked back in shock, "Now you say that I do remember you came back to the orphanage once really late. When I'd ask though you'd quickly changed the subject. Keri why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought it was stupid, and i didn't want anyone to know."

Dave stared at her, "How did you get trapped?"

"I was exploring a part of the tunnels I'd never been to. And I kinda got my foot jammed in one of the small spaces. It took me forever to get out." She said trying to block the images of what had happened.

Dave turned to her incrediably worried, "Did it have any lasting damage?"

"Dave it was very dark... and I was alone, so cramp so scared... only darkness... so cramped..." Keri shivered at an unknown cold.

Dave stared at her utterly bewildered, "Keri... Keri... I... we - All of us must face fears... I'm sorry..."

"ITs not your fault," She sighed. "Its either go in there or die."

Dave sighed looking really uneasy, "It's not safe..." Dave continued his voice hushed. "I may be leading everyone to there doom?"

"Well it would be doom either way then," She said squeezing his hand. "I rather die there then be torn apart by zombies."

Dave turned away blushing, "You're sure you don't mind that our chances of living are slim ?"

"I don't have any other choice, on one hand we get eatin by zombies on the other we go through dark... spooky... small tunnels. But with the second we just might live." She replied, "one way or the other we gotta stick together."

You're brave, I'm remembering so clearly how you always went for most dangerous thing." Dave replied grinning

"You always make a joke of things!" She grinned, "We'll survive."

"Least we've not got only Derrick to bother us." He laughed hugging her

He's a decent guy really, I do think of him as a brother, I just don't like to show it. He's a good heart."

"He's a good kid alright, though he seems to try to act all big and bad a lot." she laughed

Dave burst out laughing, "Boy you're blind, I'm pretty sure I've had my share of that."

"What??? what am i blind to??" She asked,

"That I'm basically am't perfect. Derrick just has been my shadow."

"If anyone in this group is perfect it would be you." She said smiling.

Dave blushed a deep red, "Ah.... oh damn you, you always were one to compliment me when I least expected it."

Keri grinned, "Your easy to compliment."

Dave blushed harder, "This isn't fair, you got an advantage."

"And how is that?"

Dave muttered something and turned away still blushing

"What?" She laughed putting her arms around his shoulders. "You better stop blushing 'fore Derrick sees you."

Dave smiled as he felt her hand on his shoulder, "You're hands were always amazing." It was Keri's turn to blushed mumbling something but no one could understand what she said.

Dave suddenly locked lips with her pushing his tongue inside her mouth. She stared at him and then relaxed.

Keri leaned into his kiss holding him close.

Dave kept it going feeling his heartbeat drumming against his ribcage.

Dave pulled away blushing bright bright red, Keri was in state of happiness, confusion, and utter bliss, "Uh... that went better than I thought it would..."

"be?" Keri finished for him, she kissed him gently on the lips smiling.

Dave grinned, "I've been wanting to do that for so long, after the footsie I wanted to."

Keri laughed, "I guess we think alot alike."

"That's all fine and dandy," I said, interrupting their moment. "But we need to move." I'd thought of ripping into them about their pointless, ill-timed display of affection, but there was just no time.

The zombies had taken notice, and many of them were starting to turn toward us. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Kev..." Jo's warning was not needed, but I was comforted by her presence.

"I know," I said curtly. I looked to "Dave," his protege, and the other guy and called out to them. "Dave" and the girl were still locked in an embrace.

"HEY--we don't have time for this, you fucking moron. If you're gonna show me these tunnels, let's fucking GO. If not, I'll leave you myself," I called out. I unslung the shotgun from my back and handed it to Mev.

"Take this. You're gonna need it in a second."

He grabbed it from me and worked the slide. He'd only been shooting with me once, but he knew enough to make any zombies that came close enough wish they didn't.

Dave's friend hesitated, then took a step forward to join us. At least one of them wasn't a moron. He turned back to his friends after standing at my side.

"Come on guys...he's right, we gotta go."

I unslung the rifle from my shoulder and brought it to bear.

"You--you got a gun?" I asked the newcomer.

He nodded and pulled a handgun from the back of his waistband.

"Better put it to good use--make your shots count, we don't have much," I told him.

I sighted down the rifle, brought it to rest on the head of a zombie that was closing on the two love birds, and squeezed the trigger.

Dave gaped at in alarm at the ever advancing legions. They were so horrible the nearest one he saw had an eye hanging out, a half ripped off arm, blood stained hair. It's jaw was also dislocated so when it try to speak it was a sort of gurgled strangled groan. The smell coming from it was sickening. Keri was gripping his shoulder tightly. He turned to her and screamed one word, "RUN!"

She didn't need telling twice, they turned and ran until they were behind people shooting the zombies.

Dave felt so helpless unable to defend them. Even if he had a gun, he couldn't shoot after all these had once been human. He sighed and kept an eye on the horde.

With that one, panic stricken word the world was thrown into chaos. Dave and his woman bolted, and instantly Adara and newkid followed. Jo and Mev looked to me, me with a flabbergasted look on my face.

"Morons. Utter. Morons," I said.

"Let's go! They're unarmed....gonna need our help," Mev said.

"Idiots don't deserve to live. Clearing the gene pool," I grunted.

"German heritage showing through?" Jo asked.

I narrowed my eyebrows.

"Maybe."

I leveled my rifle again and took another shot, this one taking the closest zombie in the eye. It dropped without a sound, instantly dead...again.

"Let's go, then. Lead on, I'll cover you. Catch them and then stick together for Christ's sake. Think you can handle that?"

They both nodded and hurried after the others. I watched them run and then set off a casual jog. No sense wasting energy on a panicked flight.

Mev didn't like the idea of going anywhere near the mouthes of the tunnels. They gaped widely, the darkness almost spilling out of them. Mev couldn't see any light from the other side; he supposed they had all sorts of twists and turns.

"How long does it take to get out of the city with these?"

"On foot?" the guy called Dave said. "Three, four hours. Maybe less. I'm telling you: these are the best."

"If you're a criminal, running from cops maybe," Mev snapped.

"Sounds just right for us. People without guns, stay in the center. Mev, you guard the back. Derrick, in front with me."

"Yeah." Mev moved to the back of the group, waiting until they'd all entered. Kev and Derrik were out of sight by the time he stepped off the street and into the tunnel. After a few meters, all light disappeared.

It was warm, and the air was stale, and humid. The metal floor was damp; Mev felt moisture seeping into his sneakers. Their footsteps made splashing sounds. Someone was whispering, but Mev couldn't tell who it was, or what they were saying. Mev wished someone would start talking. Trying to make a plan would be useless until they had more information, but at least discussing the situation would make him feel better, and give him something to listen to other than the splashing and dripping and breathing.

The metal of the gun had warmed to his temperature. If anything attacked him, he'd have to fire in the dark. What a stupid idea.

The tunnel seemed to go nowhere. I couldn’t see anything if my life depended on it which meant that they were either long as hell, or they turned somewhere. Objects darker than the black around us scuttled along our path. Rats. I wondered briefly if their were zombie animals running around, it wouldn’t have surprised me.

A cold hand grasped my shoulder and I flung around swinging my fists violently to hear a dull thud and then a yelp of pain.

“What hit me?” said a new voice. I was about to swing again when I realized 1. I didn’t think that zombies talked, and 2.The voice belonged to one of our newcomers, Derrik.

“Sorry.” I said in a tone not to bothered. “You grabbed my shoulder though, didn’t you?” I was followed by silence and looked left and right. “Who grabbed my shoulder?” No one spoke. I walked a little fast with quicker shallow breaths and then my head collided with a hand.

“Shh.” Kev had stopped. We stood there completely quiet, my heart leaping in my chest. It was so loud I thought that everyone would hear it…I froze. Someone was coming closer to us. I could feel another presence in the tunnel. The scent of rotting flesh filled my nostrils and I struggled not to gag.

“Do you smell that?” I whispered. I couldn’t even hear the shallow breaths anymore. Were they even there? I pulled out my knife and spun around in a circle to cover any of me I could. Someone grabbed my hand and I sighed in relief. “I thought you left me.” I said, lower this time. I was yanked forward and my nostrils flared in disproval. There was more than one in there, that was for certain. I struggled to keep up with the leader but my hand slipped and I fell in the water by a gang of squeaking rats.

“Adara!” I heard, though I couldn’t distinguish the voice. Someone was in front of me and the voice had come from further away. I swung my knife meeting flesh and hearing a growl in protest. I’d only grazed it. It grabbed around my middle and I was pinned but swung the knife again until I heard a pop as it met bone. I jumped up and ran towards the voice and footsteps echoing loud ahead of me. It sounded like they were in trouble, Abby’s whimpering led me to them. As soon as I caught up I tugged random sleeves to run faster. There were a lot more.

Derrik’s chest heaved and cold air scratched its way into his lungs. He hated the tunnels. He’d been there before in the day, but it was worse at night. Much worse. His feet crunched on loose stones beneath his feet and he stayed at Dave’s side as they guarded the front of formation.

And what a formation it was. In the light, it would have been hard to keep everyone together, but with the darkness pressing in on them it was a shambles. Members were strewn in clumps between the front and rear guards, the guards being anyone with a weapon. Both flanks were open but in the tunnel it was unlikely they’d be attacked from there.

“Derrik?” A light voice slipped from the shadows. Only the direction gave away the speaker. Derrik would never have guessed it was Dave from the nervous whisper.

“What is it?” he replied surprising himself when he sounded almost the same as Dave. Neither of them were happy there.

“Do you … do you smell that?”

It was noticeably thicker than the air and stung the back of his throat when he breathed. Of course he smelt it, Derrik thought, it’s just realising what it was that made him squirm.

The putrid decay. The dying flesh. Dead shapes stood here and loomed around them. With the poor light it was a scene out of a horror movie. Derrik has frozen as the thoughts gripped him, and although it was only a brief pause, it was long enough for one of group to brush past him.

Shit.

Someone in front of him meant someone in danger. With his free hand, he reached out in the dark and grabbed a shoulder. The owner of the shoulder fought back.

Derrik flinched back even as the first hit sailed into his jaw. What light there was seemed to dim for a second before the other fist connected hard with his nose. He felt more than heard the dull crack as it broke. The pain came instantly.

“What hit me?” he yelped in confusion before he realised what had happened. Derrik heard the muttered apology but ignored it. It was one of the girls. He felt the bruised surface of his face and bit back an unhelpful retort before elbowing himself ahead of her again colliding with the bulky frame of Kev.

“Shh.” Derrik wasn’t sure who he was talking to but shut up anyway. This man was dangerous, he could feel it, and as he could get to the front of the pack without Derrik noticing, he was deadly too. But, the main reason he kept quiet was the feeling of betrayal.

It had been as he imagined. Derrik and Kev had stood side by side, gun next to gun. It had been exhilarating but foolish. He hadn’t been ready for what he was facing. The horrors had clumsily advanced towards him, relentless. At the sound of Kev firing, he’d flinched. He’d flinched away from it, the spell broke and he ran for cover.

No. You fled for cover.

As always, his conscience was correct.

“Adara!” Derrik surfaced from his memories with a snarl. Someone needed help, he would not be afraid this time.

He ran forwards stumbling on the uneven ground. Another shout from the front gave him more speed and he pushed himself harder, narrowly missing other members of the group. His lungs burned. Gulps of the putrid air did little to help.

"Keri please not now, just picture wide open spaces, please don't panic now!" Dave's pleading voice echoed out to Derrik but he couldn't gauge where it had come from. He looked back and slowed to a jog.

He only noticed the water when he slipped over in it. Hands slipped instinctively to break his fall dropping his handgun which fell before skittering across the ground. Nursing his grazed palms he groped the floor for the familiar shape of his gun. In the dim light, he didn’t see a ghastly figure loom over him.

As he scrabbled around him he noticed the appalling odour increase. Cursing, he searched further away from where he’d fell, turning in a circle to avoid missing it. Behind him, a blood red mouth began to descend.

Finally, he felt the grip of his handgun beneath his fingers and hauled it out from the puddle in which it lay. Grimy water glugged from the barrel and Derrik quickly holstered it. He’d not risk firing and ruining it completely in this state.

He shuffled forwards and moved to stand up when Derrik saw Kev standing with his gun levelled over him.

“Don’t move an inch,” Kev’s voice was tight with concentration. If there really was something in the dark behind him, Derrik hoped Kev would shoot before it got too near. After seeing the fate of those who get bitten, he didn’t fancy trying it himself.

“…Kev?”

“MOVE!” Derrik heard the order and dived forwards beside Kev as he fired. The sound of the shot in the enclosed tunnel was immense and he began to wonder if he’d been hit too.

A crumpling moan was testament to Kev’s shooting and Derrik had only begun to mouth an apology when he was dragged to his feet and shunted on down the corridor. The push was strong and Derrik only just managed to keep on his feet as he started off down the tunnel again.

“MOVE GUYS MOVE!” Kev’s commanding yells continued. Obviously the dark had only slowed down the zombies, not put them off altogether. In the cramped conditions of the tunnel, it would be almost impossible to fight them all off.

So, thought Derrik, we’re making a break for it!

As he ran he started panting again. Here he was, one of the younger members of the group, panting. Struggling to control his breath he kept running, fiercely determined to retain his pride.

He didn’t retain it for long.

Derrik didn’t see the rubble before he’d hit it. The jarring stop left him bruised on the floor. His pride left with the pitiful sob that slipped from his raw lips. He looked twice at the pile of rubble before he believed it.

The thick pile of rock and bricks reached the ceiling of the tunnel. The exit was blocked.

They were trapped.

"Keri please not now, just picture wide open spaces, please don't panic now!" Dave said pulling Keri with him as they ran, she was having a hard time breathing, there wasn't enough air. She steadied her breathing.

"Go help the others, I'll be fine. " She said,

"Like hell you will," He said,

"GO!" She said running into the darkness. She regretted it now. There were shots around as she ran. She didn't know where Dave was, hopefully not worrying about her. She would stay with the group but not close to hte zombies. Her heart was pounding as she ran, man it had never been this hard to run.

Keri looked around, it was so black. The smell was terrible and didn’t help her any. Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t seem to get a hold of her fear. She had told Dave to go help the others that she was fine, she knew he didn’t believe her but she had made him leave.

She held her knife out in front of her as she followed the others. She quietly walked with the others, shaking and screaming inside. She ran into something that stunk worse then anything! She quickly started jabbing at it with the knife and then took off tears falling down her face. She ran into a wall and screamed. She quickly put her hand over her free hand over her mouth and tried to settal her breathing. She reached out and felt a wall to both side, then ROCKS! This was where the entrance was supposed to be. It was blocked off.

She tried to wipe the tears from her eyes as she slowly tried to get air. There just wasn’t enough. She looked around. It was getting darker; at least it seemed to be.
‘I’m suffocating,’ the thought terrified her even more, the smell in the tunnel was getting worse and worse. And all she could hear was the dragging of dead feet. Where was Dave, why had she told him to leave. She groaned to herself and gasped for breath, she didn’t want to die in theses stupid tunnels. ‘If he dares die before me I’m gonna kill him.’ She yelled in her mind, she laughed inwardly at the thought so she wouldn’t use up air.

She took another breath and held it, oh how it stunk. Her mind was flying with things that could happen and that just unnearved her even more. 'Why did we come into theses stupid tunnels again, we're all just gonna die.'

There was a gun shot and she jumped her breath coming even faster. She tried to look around but she still couldn't see anything, she stood up and grabbed at the rocks. She started flinging them trying despretly to get away, tears streamed down her face as she quickly dug through the pile. She hit a bricked wall and hit it trying to get out. Her heart was pounding, her mind racing, nothing was going right. She wasn't supposed to be happening to her. She wasn't supposed to die. Heck, if a zombie even dared get close she would kill it. No, it would kill her, she pounded at the wall and moved to another side pulling at more rocks. Stupid zombies, they all deserved to burn.

"Keri?" Someone called from behind her, a hand went on her shoulder and she spun around with a scream her fist hitting flesh, but it was hard flesh, not the zombies flesh. There was a grunt and whoever it was grabbed her fists and kept her from pounding the life out of them. "Keri, its me, calm down." It was Dave's voice. Keri slumped back shaking.

"Everyone shut the fuck up. NOW." These fucking morons were going to get me killed.

"Dave, congratulations. If we get out of this tunnel alive, I am officially kicking your ass. You've led us into one helluva clusterfuck here."

The group fell silent and listened.

"This is a tight spot. It's dark as shit and there's a few shamblers, but we're okay. Just shut the fuck up and listen to me, and we'll get out without a problem.

"Everyone get behind me. Derrick, I want you at my left flank, Mev at the right flank. Everyone else pile in between the three of us. Jo, I need you right behind me to hold this."

New kid cried out in surprise as I lit the small flashlight on my keychain, but otherwise the group was silent. With the light aimed at the ceiling, reflected ff the metal paneling, the tunnel was a bit brighter and I could see their illuminated faces.

"We're going to move quickly. If you fall behind, I will leave you. No one cross the path of the flashlight or I *will* shoot you. You stay between us three or you die. Got it?"

They all nodded.

"Here, JojoBean."

I handed her the light.

"Aim it over my shoulder so I can see what I'm shooting at. Derrick, Mev, shoot anything in front of you. Don't hesitate or we're dead."

"Let's move."

Jo took the light and positioned herself close behind Kevin. Everyone piled together and Kev started forward.

Jo kept her free hand lightly on Kevin's back to make sure she stayed close. The light was small and nowhere near a nice Maglite, but it was a definite improvement to the pitch black of the rest of the tunnels. She kept the light moving, scanning for anything out of the ordinary.

Something jolted her arm, and she almost dropped the light.

"Shit," she said, realizing it was the new girl to her right. "Don't ever fucking do that again, or I swear I'll grab the gun out of Kev's hands and fucking shoot you." She almost felt bad as she saw the girl shrink away, but at the same time, there was no room for error here. Jo planned to live, thankyouverymuch.

"No need to grab it, doll. I'll hand it over willingly," Kev said darkly. "Shine the light straight ahead, I thought I saw something."

Jo refocused the light, but saw nothing. They kept moving forward, slowly, all their senses on alert. Nothing revealed itself.

Underneath her hand, she could feel Kevin tense up. He started scanning quicker, his gun at the ready. "I don't like this. We should have seen something by now. They were fucking everywhere. Where the hell are they?"

She gave his shoulder a light squeeze and leaned in to whisper so only he could hear. "It'll be okay. I promise." He nodded once, curtly, and Jo returned to sweeping the area with the light.

They walked on in silence, ragged breaths and crunching gravel the only sounds echoing through the tunnels. Jo didn't even know if everyone was still with them: after the new girl had bumped her arm, they had all spread out to give her space.

Jo quickly scanned a pile of rubble they were approaching, shining her light in every crevice. It fell on a mutilated face, half eaten away. The three boys in front shot the hell out of it, and the tension was relieved.

"Never thought I'd be happy to see one of those motherfuckers," Kevin muttered, leading the group on.

Derrik

Damn, he’s fast!

Derrik’s heart was thumping on his ribs, like a caged animal trying to get out. The adrenaline fuelled beat felt loud enough to scare away anything that was in hiding. He’d lost his cool when they’d found the first zombie.

Compared to Kev, he was a slug. By the time Derrik had squeezed the trigger, Kev had already fired twice. Both of his bullets crashed into the disfigured face. Derrik was stunned.

No one could be that fast.

The light shook slightly as they fired, but soon regained its controlled sweeping movement as the spotlight, lighting the way. They met the next two as they walked round the bend.

Derrik didn’t see them until one was only a few feet away from him. The torch beam flashed over at them, and all hell broke loose.

“Down, Derrik!”

He was already crouching as Kevin’s warning reached him. Twisting backwards into an absurd crouch, he fired twice at the oncoming zombie’s head. He missed.

“Shit!” Derrik yelped as he shuffled backwards, trying to stand up. The zombie growled loudly at the light in its eyes and lunged towards him.

Derrik threw himself back into a pair of legs and they toppled to the floor. Jo swore from the ground beside Derrik and hastily pointed the light back at the zombies. Kevin took the chance and fired.

Two bullets embedded themselves in its head, but it carried on towards them. Then, Mev let off a few shots and hit it in the chest and leg. The monster groaned and hit the floor.

The silence afterwards was almost worse than the noise before it.

“Everyone alright?” Although the question was directed at them all, Jo knew that Kev was most anxious about her.

“Sure. We’re ok, Kev,” she spoke quietly, but the acoustics of the tunnel made her reply echo over and over. Kev breathed out in relief and started reloading.

“What happened to the other one?” Derrik asked from the floor. It was Mev who answered.

“I got it.”

“And some shooting it was too,” Kev grinned. Derrik thought he could hear a measure of pride in their leader’s voice.

“I,” Mev frowned and looked cautiously at the heap in front of him, “I’ll check if it’s actually―”

He was interrupted by a grisly roar. The zombie next to Derrik reared up. Jo screamed as it dived towards her.

Kev’s face paled and he turned towards it, but the air was like glue. Derrik heard her scream bleed out into the air in a strange, detached sense. For once, he knew exactly what he had to do.

He threw himself at Jo’s feet and leant backwards, shielding her. The mangled corpse moved inexorably closer. The smell rushed into his clear mind, but he pushed the though away. It was almost on top of him. He brought up his gun.

The first shot bit at its neck. The second severed it.

As he fired, everything slid back to normal again. The headless zombie fell heavily on to him. He felt the torchlight on his eyes and heard the shouting voice of Dave before he fainted.

The darkness rushed into him.