- Chapter one -


Bis dat, qui cito dat. ~ "Help given quick is twice the help."


"Suck it, baby! HAHAHA!" Josh shouted as he fired a couple of rounds into the zombie. It fell down, inches away from him. "What do you say now, huh? Who's your daddy!?" Dan sighed. This happened every time they went scavenging. Josh would run off alone, do something to get the attention of the horde, and then run back to the group so they would have to kill them all to continue. And during the whole time, Josh would shout profanities and old quotes from Arnold Schwarzenegger and various game characters. It was annoying as heck. "Will you SHUT UP!" Kelly shouted as she put a shotgun shell in the head of a shambler. She was the only one in the group with military training, and most likely the only one in town with such a temper. But without her, the others probably would probably have died several times earlier. "Aww, come on", Josh said, while reloading his AK-47. "It's scientifically proved that shouting while you're shooting someone increases your accuracy. It's called Kiai, or something." He shot another zombie that was running towards him. "It's some japanese shit or something." Brian, the leader of the group and the brainiac of it as well, frowned. "I'm pretty sure that Kiai is a fighting technique that you use in martial arts, not in gunfights."
Josh shrugged. "Meh. Whatever. By the way, we're out of targets." He pointed down the street. Which was pretty much painted with blood and lined with corpses. Brian walked up to Josh. "Okay, looks like we made it this time. But we might not be as lucky again. I'm assuming that you know better now than to run away from the gro-" "Yeah, yeah, I won't", Josh said and rolled his eyes. "All I'm saying is that we're moving too slow! What if someone else starts looting before us?" Brian shook his head. "First of all," he said, "we're not 'looting'. We're scavenging. And secondly, we need to check these areas through slowly and carefully, so we don't miss anything. Alright?" Josh started walking away from him, muttering angrily. Brian sighed. "Kelly?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Get the molotovs ready. I'm guessing that we'll have another horde soon."

Issa kept running. She didn't even care to look over her shoulder, as she knew that her opponent wouldn't stop following her... unless she found someone else out here... A shadow appeared in the corner of her view. She looked that way, but didn't see anything. Her growing fear made her run even faster. She looked up ahead - and saw something. A group of, three, maybe four survivors were standing in the middle of the street of the intersection fifty meters away. Issa was relieved. She stopped to wave and shouted: "Hey guys, over here!" They turned to watch what was going on. Now it occurred to her that they might be zombies, but she didn't really care right now. She continued the shouting. "Over here, could you come ov-" Something big and heavy struck her from behind, causing her to collapse. She hit the ground, head first. Stunned, she felt something she couldn't see pull and tug in her labcoat. She screamed. A faint, but threatening growl made her quiet. And then, just as the thing had ripped a big hole in her coat, she felt something soft and heavy fall down her. The tugging had stopped.

"Nice shot, Dan", Brian said. It was rare that he gave compliments, but this had been a pretty good hit. "A small target about fifty meters away, with the risk of civilian casualties. Six seconds from identification to neutralization." Dan blushed, something that he wished that he wouldn't do. He always went as red as a tomato when that happened. "Eh, don't mention it. Let's go and see if that girl's still alive."
They got to her about when the shock had settled a bit and she had pulled the hairy beast off from her body. She was sitting by the pavement. Brian cleared his throat. "Umm... you okay?" he asked. She looked up at him, a little confused. Then she shined up and said: "Yeah, I'm okay." She looked at the creature beside her. "You... you were the ones who shot the wolf, right?" "Actually", Brian said, "it was Dan here who did it. And it was a pretty darn good shot, I'd say." Dan blushed again and mumbled "Was just luck... could probably not do it again..." The girl, who appeared to be 20-25 years old, stood up. "Thanks", she said, and smiled at him, causing him to blush even more. "I probably wouldn't be alive without you." She turned to the others. "My name is Issa. And who are you?" "Kelly." "Brian." "Dan." "Leeroy Jenkins." Everyone stared at Josh. "Okay, fine", he said angrily, "I'm Josh. But can't I get to use an alias at least once?!" Kelly smiled savagely. "Sure, I'll print that on your gravestone once your interest in big groups of zombies gets you killed." Brian interrupted what could have developed into a big fight by saying: "So, do you want come with us, or...?" Issa nodded. "Safety's in the numbers, right? And I wouldn't like to walk into one of these fellows again." She pointed at the deceased canine. Brian smiled at her. "Sweet. So, let's get back to the camp now before the sun goes down." He turned around and started walking. The rest of the group followed him.
"So, where is this camp of yours?" Issa asked.
"Just a few blocks away from here", Kelly answered.
"Do you know what the best part about our camp is?" Josh asked.
Issa shook her head. "What?" Josh smiled. "It's in a tank." He turned around and kept walking, still smiling.



- End of chapter one -

A story which one can read quickly and easily .I am confused 'bout this tank thing.But lets wait till the concept will becme more developed in the comming chapters

This is my first chapter, so it might make people a bit confused... :/

But don't worry, I'll post the next one as soon as possible.

- Chapter two -


Dum spiro, spero. ~ "As long as I breathe, I hope."


As it turned out, the camp really was in a tank. It was an M41 Walker Bulldog, a light tank for scouting perposes, designed in the US to replace the old M24 Chaffee. It was stained with dirt and rust, but there was no denying - this thing was working. Issa looked at with her mouth wide open. "How did you...?" she asked. "We just found it, really", Josh answered with a grin. "Seems like someone found it in a military base or something and just left it in the street." He jumped up on the tracks of the veichle and climbed up to the top. Then he hollered: "You coming, or what?"

Inside, it was pretty crowded. Issa couldn't stand up at all, and there would be a bit of a hassle if you wanted to move over to another spot. But it was safe, from zombies, humans and hungry, drewling wolfs. Kelly dragged a microwave out from a corner and started to pull out some food canisters from her backpack next to her. "Don't you need electricity for that?" Issa asked. Kelly glanced at her. "This thing?" She pointed at the micro. "It's plugged into the tanks battery. Didn't even have to fix any wires, it was already in the design." She opened up a can of ham and put the content of it in the microwave. Brian turned to Issa. "So", he said, "while we're waiting for dinner to get ready, why don't tell us a little bit about yourself?" Issa shrugged. "No, thanks. I'm kind of... private of myself." "Well, it's always nice when a girl talks about her privates", Josh said and laughed. Kelly hit him on the back of his head. Brian gave the teenager an angry look, and then said: "Now that the neccesary puns have been told, I think that we should all introduce ourselves. Get to know eachother a little better, right?" Josh rubbed his head and looked angrily at Kelly. "Like in an AA meeting", he muttered, still irritated about his loss of pride. Brian ignored him. "Okay, I'll start. I'm Brian, and before the outbreak, I used to be a policeman. But now..." He sighed and smiled sadly. "Now I guess I'm in charge of these guys. Trying to do a good job, that's all." There was a moment of silence before Dan spoke. "I'm Dan, and I used to study at Springford Elementary school before all of this happened." He pushed his glasses further up his nose. "I'm not really doing much for the team, but..." "Sure you do!" Brian said, causing Dan to blush once again. "You are good at scavenging, and you're also a pretty damn good shot, considering that you haven't gotten any training before. So don't beat yourself up, okay?" Dan smiled. "Sure thing boss." "Good."
Brian turned to Kelly, who was sitting with Josh's gun in her lap, attempting to fix a jam. "Kelly?" She let go of the rifle and looked at Issa. "My name is Kelly and I'm the one in charge of keeping this moron alive." She nodded towards Josh, who stretched out his tongue towards her. She continued. "I used to be in the military. Expert marksman, 35 out of 36 shots." Then she started to fix the gun again. "Would have been 36 if it hadn't been for that damn butterfly that landed on my ear..." "Yeah, yeah, boohoo", Josh said annoyingly. "If you're done with your emo crap, I'll start." He put up his arms behind his head and smiled at Issa. "My name is Josh, and I'm the badass of the team." Dan giggled, while Kelly burst out in laughter. It took her a good two minutes to stop, and when she did, she could only say: "I'm sorry... you gotta warn me before you say stuff like that..." Josh glanced at her and muttered, but continued: "So, as I was saying before miss Sarcasm here interupted, I'm the guy who makes sure the team keeps moving. And if I spot any zed's..." He paused and formed his hand as a gun. "Bam. One shot, one kill." Brian leaned backwards and turned his head towards Issa. She realised that they expected her to say something now. She cleared her throat. "Well, um... hi. My name is Issa, and I'm 25 years old. And I used to be a researcher."

Far away from the tank, a figure came out of an alley. His pants were ripped and covered in blood. So was his shoes, that leaved red footprints behind him. The chased look in his eyes made him look like a madman. Not that he wasn't one...
"Gotta' find the cure, gotta' find the cure", he kept muttering, as if saying it out loud would make it happen. He stopped and looked down. At his feet, a big wolf was lying, dead. But that was of no interest to him. What was interesting was the piece of white cloth that it held in his mouth. He picked it up, and smelled at it. Then he smiled. "She's still alive..." he said, as if he was soaring around in a happy dream. The wolf suddenly started twitching and growling. The man dropped the cloth and pulled out a Desert Eagle from his pocket. Just as the beast opened its eyes, the man shot it in the head. The blood and brain matter was added to the rest that was on his clothing. He put back the gun in the holster and started walking again. He still had three days. Three days to find her.



- End of chapter two -

This Was good man.Really i liked the fragment with the misterious man "Oh yey a zed to kill and then wooo his alive??? OMG!" I simply want to read further chapters man. Also the good thing is this latin quotation and building each chapter sort of around it i like it to .

By the way. Thnks for the comment. Glad you liked it

These smileys pretty much sums up how I'm feeling right now:











Thanks.

- Chapter three -


Fiat harmonicum, pereat mundus ~ "Let there be harmony, even if the world ends."


Issa opened her eyes. It was dark and warm in the tank. Josh was lying next to her, with his hand twitching as he was sleeping, dangerously close to her boobs. She sat up. The air had become really dense, and she strecthed out her hand to open the lid of the veichle. From nowhere, a hand appeared in the dark and grabbed her wrist. Issa flinched and was about to scream. Then she saw who was grabbing her; Kelly. Issacalmed down and asked: "Could you let me go?" Kelly looked at her, still a bit drowzy from waking up so suddenly. Then she lowered her hand. "Yeah, sorry about that... bad dream..."

Outside it was a bit chilly, which made the air feel extra fresh. Issa took a deep breath and smiled. During times like these, she could almost convince herself that everything was normal. "Okay, here's your cereal", Brian said and put a bowl in front of her. They were sitting outside the tank. The sun was just over the horizon, although it was hard to spot through all the concrete buildings around them. Brian sat down and picked up his own bowl. "So, I was thinking that we should make a stop by the campus. We're running out on supplies, and we've got a lot of money on our hands during this raid..." He patted the small, gray metal box that was lying beside him. "With this much cash I can probably get that new multitool Rob has been keeping in store for me." "And I can get a pleasant view over at Bud's Bar", Josh said with a grin on his face. "What's..." Issa asked, but was interupted by Kelly. "Strip club. And I've already told you, you're not waisting a dime of our money on that low-life's buisness plan." Josh started sulking, but he kept quiet. Kelly turned to Dan. "So, Dan, what do you say about we getting you a real gun, instead of that old rifle?" Dan shone up. "Can I have a Glock? I heard lots of good things about it from Jimmy." Kelly smiled at him. "Well, he's a dick, but he sure knows his weapons. Sure thing." "Thanks." Kelly whispered to Issa: "Jimmy's been pretty much like a bigger brother to Dan ever since they met. I don't like him, but heck, at least he's better than dpishit over there." She pointed at Josh, who was currently exploring the vast terrain of his armpit by sticking in his hand there. "So, everyone's finished?" Brian asked. When nobody answered he nodded and started to colect all the bowls. "Come one now, give me a hand with this. We want to get to campus before christmas."

Soon enough, they parked the tank near the entrance of the base. Issa climbed out and looked around. The area was surrounded with a big fence, with guards posted here and there. And behind the fence... "There must be hundreds of people here", Issa said and whistled. "Yeah", Brian said. "According from what I've heard, there's almost a thousand now." He jumped down from the top of the veichle and hollered to one of the guards, who came over and started to ask him questions. "Have met any zombies?" "Of course", Brian answered and rolled his eyes. The guard didn't seem to notice. "Have you come in contact with blood of the infected?" "Nope. I always try to keep them on at least a armslengths distance." The guard smiled at him. "Then you're free to enter. Just walk over to Wally and you'll-" He stopped talking when he spotted Issa. "The new girl will have to go through examination, if you want her in as well." "But-" Brian tried to protest. "No can do, sir", the guard answered. "You know that we can't allow any potentially infected individuals in here. Plus, this is standard regulations. I'm just doing my job." Brian looked down on his feet, defeated. The guard walked up to Issa. "Come with me, miss, and we'll get this thing over with", he said. "What are you going to do?" she asked. "Not much", he answered as they moved towards a small building a few meters away from the tank. "The doctor will just take a sample of blood from you, and examine if you have any scars on you. That's all." Issa nodded. "Doesn't seem too bad."

Half an hour later, Kelly, Brian, Josh and Issa were all sitting on a bench in the campus. Dan had stayed by the tank to make sure nobody stole it. Issa was staring a hole in the wall beside them. Brian cleared his throat nervously. "They do that every time a girl gets here, and I tried to stop-" "I feel violated", she said angrily. "Yes, I know, but-" "But what?! They took pictures of me! Do you think that's okay?" She stared him in the eye, making him go quiet. Kelly sighed. "They did the same thing to me. So what?" Issa looked at her, still angry, but now with a puzzled look as well. "What do you mean?" Kelly put her arms behind her head and leaned towards the fence behind them. "This is a new world. We've been living here for half a year at least, but we still aren't accustomed to it. And there will always be people who are willing to take advantage of you. So let it go, alright? Worse things could happen." She looked at Issa, who was getting a bit calmer. "You could be dead, or a zombie." "Yeah, I suppose...", Issa mumbled. "Good. Now let's get over to Robert, I'm sure he has something nice for us in stock." Josh quickly stood up. "Eh... I just remembered. I got some things to do over by... eh... the docks. So, I'll see you guys later, alright?" He ran off, quickly dissapearing in the big crowd of people. Brian shook his head and murmured something. "What's with him?" Issa asked. Brian looked up at her. "Well... Josh doesn't exactly get along with Rob." "Why not?" Brian stood up and started walking. "For starters, their personalities just don't really blend. And there's also a thing about Rob and Jake that he's..." Issa interupted him. "One second, who's Jake?" Brian stepped aside to let a muscular guy walk past him, and then continued to walk again. "Jake? Oh, he's the one getting supplies for Rob. He's pretty much the one who keep his buisness going." "And...?" "... and he's Rob's boyfriend." "Oh. So, Josh is a homophobe?" Brian looked unhappy. "I know that he's not the brightest of people, and yes, he is a homophobe, but he's a good kid. He just needs some help, you know?" He stopped and turned to a building. "Ah, here we are", he said, happy to be able to end the conversation.

As they entered, a loud voice was heard. "You a zombie, or just another brainless customer?" Brian smiled. "Braaaaains." A thin guy with stubble on his cheeks came out smiling from a door behind the counter. "Brian, you nut, where have you been? The last days buisness has been pretty much dead without you attracting all the ladies." Brian shook his hand, still smiling. "I've been busy making money, pal. Don't worry, I'll give you your cut if you just hand me that multitool over there." Robert laughed. "Heh, sure thing." He reached out for the tool on the shelf behind him and put it on the counter. "Normally I'd charge you a pretty big deal for a good piece of equipment like this, but for you, I'll give you a discount. 450 dollars, please." Brian took out some notes from his pocket and put them on the counter. "I know that I'm being scammed right now, but to heck with it. I couldn't take away the opportunity of an extra beer from one of my oldest friends, right?" Rob took the money and grinned. "That's my boy. Now take your little trinket and get out of here, before you brake something." "Sure thing."

The moment they went out from the shop, Issa started to giggle. "What the heck was that?!" She laughed. "What?" Brian asked, with a smile on his face. "Just because the man is gay doesn't mean he can't have straight friends." "Yeah, but the way you were talking to eachother... ''I couldn't take away the opportunity of an extra beer from one of my oldest friends, right?'" She kept laughing. "You sounded as if you were stuck in the fifties, god." Brian frowned and started to walk away from her and Kelly. Issa followed him, still smiling. "Aww, did I hurt your feelings? Don't be that way, we got your little trinket, right? Wait up!" Kelly smiled at both of them and followed them into the crowd.



- End of chapter three -

As one of my lecturers say : "So far so good" BTW did you listen to "We are Alive" it is a great zombie audio drama.(I tell you this if you find yourself deserted by the muse of inspiration someday.)

Thanks for the tip.

I haven't had time to check out the Zompod stuff you told me about, but I'll do that the moment I lose inspiration.

Zed Rayadon, over and out.

- Chapter four -


Audiatur et altera pars. ~ "Let the other side also be heard."


It was night. Darkness filled the streets, as there weren't any streetlamps to light them up. Here and there a zombie would slowly wander around aimlessly, confused by its lack of sight. High above all of this, on the top of a high-rise, the man with the torn and bloody clothing sat and warmed his hands by the campfire. A hooded figure was leaning towards his backpack on the opposite side of the man, keeping his face away from the light from the fire. The man with the bloodied clothes looked up at the other man and smiled. "It was really nice of you to let me up here. It's pretty cold tonight." The other man didn't respond. The man with the torn clothes nodded and looked back into the fire. "I understand that you don't think much of me. I wouldn't if I were you..." He looked up into the dark sky. No stars were shining. He sighed. "But it wasn't like this before. I were someone. I had a wife, two kids that were as sweet as little angels, a job..." He smiled bitterly. "I guess I had a life... just like everyone else in this god forsaken city..."

A scream was heard in the middle of the night. The man with the tattered clothes trembled, but calmed down quickly. "Another one who just realised that walking around in the dark isn't a very good idea. Too bad he won't be learning anyone else about that." He looked at his hands. "Sometimes I wish that I hadn't spent so much time at my job. I could have done so much with that time... Not that I didn't like my job of course. I got to do something I loved with people who understood me. But..." He sighed again. "I've always wanted to be like the heroes, you know, the guys you used to hear about in the newspaper. Everyday persons who would do whatever they could for others. Firemen, policemen, even lawyers and teenagers who would risk their own lives to save someone elses." The man in the darkness made a small movement, as if he lowered his head in understanding. The man with the bloody clothes continued. "I always pictured myself as one of those guys, who would do whatever he could to help others in need. I thought that if I only had the chance..." He looked at the other man.
"And then this happened. A real life crisis, happening where I lived. And I blew my one chance to act like a hero." He clenched his hand so hard it went white. "I became a coward. I hid away with my colleagues at work. I didn't try to find my family. I didn't help anyone in need. In fact, when I took the courage to actually leave my work station, I took benefit from people who were better than me. I'm not even sure if they're still alive now..." The fire sizzled a little when a tear fell into the heat and was dissolved into the air. The man kept sobbing quietly for a long moment. When he was done, he continued with hoarse voice. "I guess I'm still a coward. Even after I was bitten, I continued with my injustice. I guess I've even taken advantage of you now. I mean, you're sharing your food and fire with me, and I can't repay you the slightest..."
He looked at the man in the darkness again. "But I think... I think that if I get another chance... I might be able to do it all over, the right way. I could help people..." He looked up at the sky again, that was still as dark as it possibly could get. "That's why I need to find this girl, you know. I used to work with her, and well... She might be able to help me. Give me a second life, if you will." He smiled at the figure across the campfire. "I guess that we both could use that now, wouldn't we? I mean, technically you're dealing with the same problem as me. The only differance is that I might have a chance to walk out of this alive." He sat there quietly with his companion for several more minutes. As time passed, the air around them got a kind of grayish tone. The sun peeked over the horizon of the damned world they were in. The man with the torn clothing stood up. "Well", he said, "I suppose this is it then. It was nice to meet you, and you were very kind to listen to an old mans senseless chatter." He turned away from the figure who sat still by the fire and walked towards the stairs. He stopped to pick up his Desert Eagle that was lying on ground. He wiped of the blood on it and walked down the stairs to the next floor.

Up at the building, the man who had so carefully stayed away from the campfire seemed to lean a bit more to the right. Then he fell over sideways, with his head right next to the sizzling remains of the fire. The surprised look in his face was covered in the partially coagulated blood that had been pumping out through the crack in his skull. The glimpse of life in his eyes had been extinguished hours ago.



- End of chapter four -

I know that repeating the same compliments over ad over again may become boring ,hovever THIS IS JUST so very very good! Zed."the other side be heard concept is just great.Im no expert in the matter of literature but i suggest you should get your story into paperback !!

Thanks for the support man, I really appreciate that you enjoy reading this story as much as I do writing it.
But I don't think it's worth getting it on paper. I really don't get why I should...

Anyway, don't worry about complementing me and the story too much. I have a huge ego ( ) that requires positive (as well as negative) feedback to get inspiration for the writing.

On a sidenote, I've also started a view map for the story. That should make it easier for me to keep all the elements of the story together.

ok so here goes another compliment "ooo a view map o the story i is t so...[put any string of words of apreciation here]" ,but seriously think about it man unless it is a pgiarism ( I STRONGLY DOUBT IT) So write some more chapters here and after some time think about making it paperback. IDK how the matter of realeasing a book in the US looks like but i think it deserves something .I have no difficulty with keeping up with the srory Zed but your idea is quite practical it is good to have some kind of "mental map" of the story to keep track of everyting.Meybe that is why i stopped writing mine story cause it was at rndom I had som ideas i wrote wrote and ...the ideas ended so did the story there was aso a "spiritual factor" of the story which made me to stop writing it.

O.O i think i said this to someone on the old forums as well, make more sections, its hard and exhausting to read.

other then that, its.. ok, i didnt manage to read it, but it looks good :o

Okey, I'll try to make more sections.

But I'm pretty sure I'd end up getting sued somehow if I tried to sell this story... After all, the location they are in is after all based on the map of this game. Plus, I'm not too sure about how many people here in Sweden like zombies. :/

- Chapter five -


Gratiae veritas naturae ~ "Truth by the grace of God and nature."


The pavement was once again splattered with blood. A now deceased zombie fell to the ground with a moan. Josh pulled out the fireaxe from his victim's head and put it back into his backpack. Issa frowned. "Isn't that insanitary? If you have any food in there it's going to be contaminated by the blood." "Eh, don't worry about it", Kelly answered, "we don't let him carry around anything valuable. After all, he's a moron. I wouldn't want to lose my dinner in case he goes and gets himself killed." Josh turned around and glared at her. "Hey, I've stayed alive so far, and that ain't no luck. I've got skills, bitch, and I'm-" Kelly quickly took a step forward and lifted the teenager up in the air with one hand. She had a mad look in her eye. "What... did you just call me?" She stared him right in the eye. Josh looked as if he had been struck in the back of his head with a brick. "I asked you a question: What did you just call me?" Very quietly he answered: "Nothing, ma'am". She let go of him. "Thought so. And from now on, it would be nice to hear you being a little more respectful."

Brian, who had been waiting for the for the fight to stop, kept walking along the sidewalk. The rest of the group followed him. "Okay", he said, "we've already checked the eastern area near the campus before, so I say that we keep following the southern road here. I heard some rumour about the docks being untouched. It's probably just bogus, but we might find something along the way." He took a drink from his water bottle. "Besides, we won't find anything worth selling unless we check the areas further from the campus." "But shouldn't we have brought the tank then?" It was Dan who asked. Brian gave him a quick glance. "Well, I would have done that, but SOMEONE-" He looked angrily at Josh, who still seemed to be a little shocked from being humiliated by Kelly. "Someone had to test if sugar can be used as fuel. So now it's in for repairs." Suddenly Kelly stopped. The others kept walking for a moment, but then stopped. "What's wrong, miss?" Josh asked. He was determined to pay back for the incident earlier with extreme sarcasm. "Have you perhaps stopped PMS'ing?" She ignored him and pointed towards the alley across the street. "There... do you see him?"

Brian walked up beside her. At first he couldn't see anything in particular. But then, something in the shadows moved. Out from the alley a bloodstained man came stumbling. His clothes were torn and ripped, and marked with dirt and coagulated blood. His face was concealed by a hood.
Brian, Dan, Kelly and Josh quickly readied their weapons and pointed them towards the stranger, who stopped walking towards them immidiantly. He put his hands up in the air. "Wow, wow, take it easy! Don't shoot!" Brian kept aiming at him. "Who are you, and what buisness do you have here?" He asked. The stranger shook his head. "There, there, I can ensure you that my intentions are purely noble. You see I was heading towards the campus, and-" He lifted his head so the hood fell down, so that his face became visible. Issa gasped.

"Oh my god!" She cried, making everyone look at her for a moment. "Brent? You-" The man took advantage of the confusion among the group to rush forward. In the blink of an eye, he moved across the street and knocked Issa over. She hit her head into the ground, hard. Everything went dizzy... A few seconds later, when her mind had cleared and the ringing noise in her ears had stopped, she heard the man speak: "...ome any closer, I'll put a bullet in her head, I swear!" Now she felt the cold steel that was pressed against the temple of her head. She instinctly knew it was the barrel of a gun. Brian was standing behind the man with his M16 rifle pointed towards the man's head. "Drop the weapon, and step away from her", he said in a surprisingly calm voice. "I know that you may be a little confused right now, but I promise you, I will not harm you as long as you don't do anything rash." The man who stood above Issa looked at her and smiled with a crazed look in his eyes. "I knew you were still alive", he whispered. "You can help me, can't you? Of course you can, you-" He closed his eyes, as if he was experiencing extreme pain. He shouted to the others: "Stay away from her! I'll shoot her if I have to!" "No, he won't", Issa said. She felt almost a bit numb. "He needs me."

Dan seemed a bit puzzeled, just like everyone else. "What are you talking about?" He asked. The man kept smiling. "Haven't you told your friends here? About the tests, about your past?" "Wait, what are you-" Kelly asked but was interupted by the man again. "I'm Brent, if that matters to you. And the little lady that you have been dragging around in the city, is more important then your own lives." He took a deep breath and continued. "We used to work together, in the same lab actually. We studied the growth of viruses, and how they could be implemented into everyday medicine. We didn't have many breakthroughs... but our work was neccesary to give basic informaation to other branches of research." He moved himself so that he could stand behind Issa, while still being able to point the gun towards her head. Brent looked up at Brian. "Then the outbreak started. We hid in our lab together with a couple of co-workers. We worked hard on making a cure, or at least a vaccine. And we made progress..." "Wait", Josh suddenly asked, "are you saying that you... managed to create a way to stop the spread of the virus?" Brent smiled at him savagely. "That's what I don't know. One day, a group of zombies broke through the barricades we had set up. I fled with an employee, who died during the escape attempt. Everyone else stayed, and faced death..." He looked down at Issa, who sat quietly without doing anything. "Or so I thought. A few months later, I heard a rumor about survivors from the lab. I also heard it told that they had managed to make a cure for the early stages of infection." He pushed the pistol harder towards Issa's temple. "So did you? Did you find a cure? And do you have it here?"

Issa just sat there quietly for a very long minute. Then she suddenly spoke. "No. I'm sorry, Brent... but we couldn't..." The man got a frenzied look on his face. He grabbed a hold of her hair and started shaking her head. "What do you mean?! You had a month! You-" He closed his eyes and let go of her hair. His gun fell to the ground.

He stood up. The world was going blurry. He staggered to the left and and spewed up blood. Then he fell to his knees and looked up at the sky. A sound was heard, so low-frequent that it was hard to tell if it really was there... Then he realised that it was him screaming. He screamed and screamed and screamed and all that existed was the screaming and the pain and everything was agony and screaming-

Josh breathed heavily after he had pulled the trigger and ended the man's life. Brian patted him on the shoulder. "Calm down, now", he said. "You did the right thing there. He had probably been infected at least a week ago, there wasn't anything we could do." Josh kept breathing. Then he looked at Issa. "You okey?" He asked. The arrogant expression that usually occupied his face was completely gone. Issa nodded. "Thanks", she said. He nodded back at her.

"So", Kelly said, "you were working on a cure, right?" Issa stood up. "Yeah, and we made some progress too. But everyone fled that night when Brent went off on his own..." She sighed. "We still hadn't gotten the test results from the last test we did... butat least we made it out ali-" "One second", Dan interupted. "You're saying that there's a small chance that you found a cure?" Issa backed off a little. "Well, I suppose, but it's practically impossible to-" "Oh my god", Brian said. "If we could find a cure... that would be amazing. We could help so many people..." Issa seemed to be a little anxious. "But there's no point in trying to do anything, we used rats that are most likely dead, and-" Kelly stepped forward and grabbed both of Issa's shoulders. "Listen up. If there is even the slightest chance of finding a cure, then we should jump at it." "Shouldn't we let Brian decide this?" Issa said, desperately trying to avoid what was going to happen. Everyone looked at the retired policeman, who stood there quietly. For a moment nothing happened. Then he asked: "How far is it to the lab?"

As they kept walking, Issa thought for herself. Should she tell them? She looked at Brian, who was walking beside her. She sighed. It was probably better to just tell them later... Hopefully they wouldn't find anything there. That would mean disaster.
They might even kill her.



- End of chapter five -

c'mon c'mon where is the next part?!! the section devision is good ,the story is good & hell yeah everything is good Gimmme next part soon man !!

Sounds like someone's having a bad case of reading addicition... XD

Great that you like the story, man, I'll write the next one as soon as I can.

*drools while looking at his lapto screen*
-MOORE PAARTS!!
* looks aroud nervously as if being awaken from deep slumber*
-Huh? Umm is this so visible??
*Tries unsuccessfully to change the subject*
-Haha.. i mean nice rhyming man xD

Now up to the point finally. Yeah i said then enough about your writing,and my case is preety much a lost cause

Wait a little...

Hey, that did rhyme!
I create poetry by mistake, lol.

- Chapter six -


Hic et nunc. ~ "Here and now."


"Where's the damn microwave, punk?!" Kelly pushed the hooded man towards the wall. "I-I don't know what you're talking ab-", the man studdered, but was interupted by the furious ex-military who punched him in the stomach. He fell to the ground, groaning. "Tell me where it is, damn it!" She shouted and put her foot on top of his back, preventing him from getting up.

They had gotten back from the Zed-Zone, as some people called the unsafe areas filled with zombies and loot, just to discover that the security in the repairshop was horrible. Someone had snuck in there and taken the few items they'd left in their tank - including the microwave. Luckily, by talking to some people working there, Kelly managed to get a good description of the guy, and had finally managed to track him down.

"Kelly, calm down, this might be the wrong guy", Brian said, stepping forward to take action. "Shut up!" She shouted, pointing at him. "He matches the description perfectly, and I can tell you that he's a slacker. Slackers don't work, they steal to get their money." "Hey, I only steal to-" the man started to say. He bit his lip when he realised that he had said too much. Kelly looked down at him. "So you admit that you took it, huh?" He didn't answer. "Huh!?" She knelt down so she could grab a tight hold of his neck. The man started to squirm. "Okey, okey, don't strangle me! I've got in my van, a'ight?" "Take me to it", Kelly answered and got off his back. She turned to Brian and smiled. "And that's how you get information."

About an hour later, they were back in the tank, driving out of the campus. Issa sat next to Dan in one of the passenger seats. Brian was in the drivers seat, Kelly was the gunner, and Josh was in control of the main cannon. Of course he wasn't allowed to touch it, explaining the angry expression on his face.

"Dan?" Issa asked. He turned to her and answered: "Yeah?"
"Don't you think she went over the edge a bit when she interrogated that thief?"
"You mean Kelly?"
"Yes."
Dan scratched the back of his head. "I suppose so. But she's always like that, doing things most wouldn't even think of, or dare to." He stared at his shoelaces. "That's probably why she's so much help to our team... I mean, without her, we would have been dead months ago." Issa glanced at him. "Yeah, but... she got really violent. Why is she like that?" Dan sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. But as long as she helps us get through the day alive, I'll keep my questions to myself."

Suddenly, the veichle stopped. Brian got out of the driver's seat and said: "Come on, let's take a look around here and set up camp. Driving this thing can be pretty tiring."

Once outside they started looking around for supplies. Josh found a couple of chairs to sit on, and Dan found a couple of food canisters in a backpack. Soon enough, they sat down to eat some microwaved hotdogs. "So", Issa said while taking another bite of her hotdog, "the lab should be somewhere up in the northwest. I think it should be pretty close to the Church." The Church was the common name for the religious headquarter for a cult that worshipped some guy called Charles. "Okey", Brian said, "but I think we'll have to go around the northwest area here." He pointed at a map, which he had put up on an up-side-down trashcan that he had found lying in the street. "From what I've heard, there's supposedly a big gang of slavers there. We'd better stay away from those guys, they are pretty well-armed from what I've heard."
Kelly shook her head. "Some people just take every advantage they can to get money, even if it includes tormenting others for the rest of their lives." "Thank goodness everyone isn't like that", Dan said. Josh quickly agreed with him.
"Yeah, I mean, there's still people like us around, right?" "You mean people who rush around with blazing AK-47's whilest screaming profanities and vague references from various computer games?" Kelly asked with a cynical smile on her face. "Then may God have mercy on us all..." Josh frowned. "Can you shut up for at least a moment?"

He turned to Issa. "Anyway, as long as there's some nice people in this world, I say that everything isn't lost yet, right?" Issa nodded, but Brian sighed. "Well", he said, "there's a whole lot of scumbags in this world... And I'm not sure wether the nice ones will last much longer." Josh gave him a pat in the back. "Hey, don't worry about stuff like that, boss. You have to see it from the bright side. Carpal diety, and all that spanish stuff." "I'm pretty sure you mean 'carpe diem'", Dan said with a smile, "and it's latin." "Hey, I'm not a bookworm, like some people around here", Josh answered, making Dan quit smiling at once. Brian interupted the conversation by saying: "Come on now, kids, finish up now so we can go to sleep. We still have a few days of travel before we get to the HQ."

Issa was lying down in the tank again. As before, Josh's hand was twitching dangerously close to her boobs. But she had more important things to be concerned about. Such as the lab, and what she should do when they got there...
The worried look on her face was replaced with a smile. She'd figure it out. For now, she would just live by the moment and enjoy the time spent with her new friends. Carpe diem, was it?.

Seize the day.



- End of chapter six -

- Chapter seven -


Extra ecclesia nulla salus. ~ "There shall be no salvation outside the church."


The tank stopped in front of the old, gray chapel. Dan climbed out from the veichle, and looked around. "Clear!" he shouted, letting the others know that the area was free from zombies. Soon, he was accompanied by Brian and the others. "Okey", Brian said, "you know the drill. We'll stock up on some supplies, and then head straight towards the lab. Don't have eye contact with anyone, and make sure to not reveal where we're going. I've got no idea what these wack-jobs might do if they find out..."

Issa followed the others through the entrance. She gasped when she saw the inside of the church. There was a huge amount of space. The walls were covered with messages in red, simple sentences like "CHRIST WILL SAVE US" and "FOLLOW THE PATH OF GOD". People with masks covering their faces looked towards the small group. Issa quickly looked away, remembering Bryan's advice. She whispered to Kelly: "Who are these people?" Kelly glanced at her. "People who can't handle reality", she answered. "They went nuts after the outbreak, and stayed in the church, praying all night long. Eventually, some guy called Charles took advantage of the panic and confusion. Now everyone believes he's God, or something, and that he'll bring the end of the zombies." Kelly snorted. "Looks like we'll have to wait a long time for that to happen."
Issa anxiously looked around. There were people sitting on the ground, with their eyes closed, constantly muttering prayers.
"So he's just some sort of charlatan?" Issa asked. Kelly smiled bitterly. "I'd say he's worse than that. He's using the trust of hundreds of people for his own personal gain. He's a little cockroach." She shrugged. "But at least he has mananaged to bring some hope for these people. He's organized them, and made sure supplies are divided equally, so he can't be that evil. Well... he's at least not stupid."

They had arrived at a table, where there was lying a bunch of weapons and other items. The man standing behind the table seemed to not care much about them, until Brian asked if he had anything edible to sell. "I have a few food canisters left. You're lucky, they're the last ones." Brian smiled. "So, how much are they going to cost me?" "Sixhundred dollars." Brian's smile dissappeared in the blink of an eye. "Are you insane!?" he shouted. Immidiantly, hundreds of eyes looked in their direction. Brian calmed down a bit, and continued. "You have got to be kidding me. How can you possibly charge so much for just a couple of food canisters?" The man shrugged. "It's all about supply and demands. I'm trying to make a living here." Josh stepped forward, and slammed his fist on the table. "Now you listen to me-" "No", the man said, now clearly irritated, "you're going to listen to me. I'm the only person willing to sell you anything in this whole complex. And if you're not interested, I suggest you take a hike. So, are you going to buy something, or are you just wasting my time?" Josh stood there quietly, with an expression that clearly said what he'd do to the man if they were alone. Brian sighed. "Alright, I'll pay for it... But don't expect us to come back again." He gave the man some notes, which he put in his pocket quickly. "Here you go." Brian took the cans and put them in a plastic bag he had brought with him. He then turned around... and frowned. He asked: "Where's Dan?"

They found him sitting on one of the church benches, talking to some girl. Brian took ahold of his arm and pulled him on his feet. "Let's go. Now", he said. Dan looked at him angrily. "Why now? If you didn't mind, I was in the middle of a-" "-conversation, something that I specifically told you not to do." Brian stared at him. Dan looked down at his feet. Kelly started walking towards the exit. "Come on now", she shouted, "we gotta get moving before the sun goes down." Brian followed her, along with Issa and Josh. Dan turned around, and said: "I'll see you some other time, Laura, okey?" She smiled at him. "Anytime!" Dan smiled as well, and ran after the others. He felt like he was soaring on clouds.

Charles was sitting comfortably in his red, stuffed chair. In his hands, he held a lit cigarr, and in the other he was holding a small glass of Smirnoff. He looked at the person at the other end of his desk through the glass. "So", he said, "they're going to the lab, huh?" "Yep. He also mentioned something about that girl they brought with them. Apperently she used to work there." Charles took a pause to think. If they knew something about the work over there... it might be worth checking out. In the best case, they might find something valuable. In the worst case, they'd find nothing. He took a sip from his glass and smiled at the other person. "I'll make sure to take care of this matter immidiantly. And thank you for your information. It will be remembered, when we've taken care of this zombie menace."
Laura smiled back at him. "Anything for you, my God."



- End of chapter seven -