Tristan:
"You have to be fucking kidding me," I say, staring at the little kid. "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? You want us to escort some little brat to the next state over? No! Fuck that."
"Hey screw you," the kid yells. "And by the way, I don't want to go with either of you two. I'm staying here with Martin."
"Bailey," Martin says, turning and getting on a knee. "We talked about this. You need to go with these two. Being with me, with any Rebels, is too dangerous nowadays. The military is hunting us down. We lost two bases in the last months and far too many friends and families. That is why I have hired these two. They are the best at surviving on the outside."
Bailey:
I look at the two, the two "best at surviving on the outside".
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Tristan: The outside is the same as I remember it. The sky is dark-red, with massive black clouds. Hiding behind the clouds is the sun, though it's hardly much more than just a pale yellow circle. Looking around, I see nothing more than miles and miles of a barren wasteland, litter with signs of what the planet used to be like. There are rusted cars everywhere, anything even remotely useful taken long ago. Fallen logs and twigs cover most of the bare dirt. The roads themselves can hardly be called roads anymore such most of them are gone, leaving giant gaps. "This is the outside," the package asks, shielding her eyes as she looks at the sky. "Where's the sun?" "It's behind the clouds of poison," I say, pulling Rebecca up and out before putting the sewer cover back.
Tristan Fenway Park is a massive stadium, a combination of old-fashioned brick walls with rusted, green beams. As Rebecca, the package, and I make our way toward the entrance, I can't help but notice all the abandoned military vehicles and knocked-over fences everywhere. "You said this was a shelter before," the package asks, examining a run-down, rusted military truck. The wheels are flat and decay, the windows are all broken and shattered, and the tarp that covered the back is ripped and torn. "Yeah," Rebecca replies. "The first few years when the chimera invasion started, the military told us to gather here. We grabbed whatever we could and carried it here." Stepping over a metal fence, we reach the entrance and walk past some booths. Careful not to make too much noise as we walk through a maze of long, dark, empty hallways, Rebecca and my lighter being our only guide, we eventually reach the seating area, and beyond that, the fiel
Tristan: "Come on," I cry, shaking my gun all over and firing. "Come on. Come on!" Shooting another bullet, this bullet hit the infected woman in the back, stunning her and giving me the opportunity I need. Pushing the infected off of me, I shoot it in the head, killing it, before facing the hoard. "Damn it!" I slam my free hand on the bottom of my pistol and start firing every bullet I have left in this pistol into the hoard. Killing a bunch of the infected and hurting a few more, I stop when I start to hear clicking sounds instead of gunfire. "Empty." Despite all the infected I killed, there are still too many to fight head-on. Tossing my gun and hitting an infected right in the head, I then turn around and start to run again. Running through the maze of tents, picking whichever direction I think is best, I finally reach what looks like the spot where I split from Rebecca and Bailey. "Home base," I tell mysel
Tristan:"Shit," I say when I hear another infected. Making out some cover in the darkness, I grab Rebecca and Bailey and pull the two toward it. The covering, apparently some trashcans, I throw the two behind it before joining them on the floor."Shh," I whisper, pointing at the dark as the infected snarl again. Thankfully, it's only one infected. Through the darkness, I can see it come close to us. Running for a bit before stopping, it drops to its knee and starts hitting the floor. Pounding the floor over and over with its fists, a rat comes out from a hole in the wall. It scurries across the floor for a bit before the infected reaches out and grabs it.Biting down and ripping out a chunk of meat, it starts to eat."Stay here," I whisper, carefully getting up. Getting up to my knees, I stay low and peek over the trashcan. The infected is facing us, but it's looking down, completely focus on the rat in its hand. Checking to make sure it
Tristan: Literally seeing a light at the end of a dark tunnel, I look behind one last time to make sure there aren't any infected to ruin the moments. The three of us emerging from the dark hallway enter what I'm guessing was the parking lot for when the military was here. There are a bunch of military vehicles, mostly jeeps and hummers, around us. What tires aren't missing are either slash or are just out of air, and all the vehicles have their hoods up, meaning the military must have stripped them of their parts before moving to the bunkers. "Holy hell," Bailey says, panting through her masks as we walk away from the dark hallway. "That was intense." "You think," I ask, resting my hands on my knees as I look around. It's pitch-black now. The sun is gone and the moon and stars are covering the night sky above. Despite how quiet everything sounds, how there isn't even the sound of the wind, I know better. "Come on," I say, str
Bailey: Yawning as I stretch my limbs, I hear my bones crack while realigning themselves. Tilting my head and cracking my neck, I turn back to Tristan as he shuts the doors to the hummer. Loading the empty tin cans into his backpack, he tosses it onto his back and looks at Rebecca and me. "Are you two ready," he asks. "For a day of non-stop walking," I say, "Oh yeah." Hearing a sigh through Tristan's mask and seeing him shake his lower head, he nudges it a few seconds later and starts to walk. Rebecca and I follow after him, he guides us out of the parking lot and onto the deserted Boston streets. "Rebecca," Tristan says, turning back to her. "Listen, I know how to survive on the outside, but this is your city. You know it better than I do. If there are any places we passed that might have anything valuable, I want you to tell me. Okay?" "Got it," Rebecca replies, shooting Tristan a quick wave. "There might sti
Tristan: I pull out one of my pistols and aim it at the infected incoming. My finger on the trigger, I'm about to fire but stop. Rebecca is in the way, she's blocking my shot. "Damnit," I cry, running to the right. Now at a better angle, I aim at the infected once more. Closing one eye, I aim at the first infected's leg and fire. The bullet piercing a hole in the infected's leg, it leans over and drops off the sliver, plunging into the water below. Two more infected reach the sliver and I do the exact same. Shooting bullets through their legs, they groan as they drop into the water. "Hurry up," I yell, shooting a third infected. "This is only going to draw more attention." "I'm hurrying," Rebecca yells back. Rebecca: Sliding across the tiny sliver of leftover road, I eye the infected as they try to reach Bailey. Still sitting down, her face hidden behind her legs, I say fuck it to sliding and start running. Extending my arms so they're all the way out, I start running in a str
Rebecca: "How was the history lesson," Drifter asks, looking at us as we walk back into the room. "It was very educational," I answer, Bailey herself walking in and taking an empty seat. "What about you? Did you find anything useful?" Drifter reaches into his pocket and pulls out a few bullets. "That's not much," I say. "Maybe but it's still something." Drifter walks up to me and gives me the found bullets. "Here," he says, "I still got plenty of bullets from all these guns I took from Rex's goons." "Thanks," I say, reaching for my own gun. The clip drops out, I count the bullets inside. "Damn," I whisper, "Not even half a full magazine." Loading the bullets, I shove the clip back into my gun and toss it back into my pack. "It's late so you two go to sleep. I'll take the first watch. See you in two hours. Also, change the filter for your gas masks. This place isn't sealed." "No dinner," Bailey asks while digging into her pack for spare filters. "No," Drifter says, "No din
Tristan Harlow:"Get out of here," Marcus screams before swinging his hand. Looking right at me, I stop sneaking toward the soldiers and look closer at Marcus. He's holding up his hand, and I can see something small and silver hanging from his finger.Just as I realize the thing hanging from his finger is a pin, an explosive kicks me into the air and knocks me back. Screaming as I hit the ground, a loud ringing sound pierces my ears."Ahhh," I say, slamming my hands against my ears. "Fuck."Despite the ringing sound in my ears, the overwhelming headache, and the aching chest, I still push myself up."Marcus, what the...hell?"As I push myself up and look, I don't see Marcus anywhere. Instead, I see three dead soldiers lying on the ground near me."These are the three soldiers that surrounded Marcus," I think, "But where the hell is Marcus?"About to run to where I last saw him standing, I stop
Rebecca:"What the hell are you talking about," I ask. "Marcus, come on! Get over here.""How," Marcus asks. He lifts his camouflage shirt and shows me his bloody chest."Son of a bitch," I say, covering my mouth as I step back. Marcus's stab wound is worse than I expected. Even though it's wrapped, there is still blood flowing out of it. The area around the wound is black. Looking at Marcus, I finally notice him. He is barely standing straight. His body and face are drenched in sweat and he's as pale as a ghost.Biting his tongue as he pulls down his shirt, Marcus looks to the right."There," Marcus says, pointing at one of the bunker's walls. "That, over there, is the maintenance tunnel I mentioned earlier. 20 years ago, when the bunker was being built, the construction workers used it to move supplies and vehicles in and out of here. Afterward, the bunker was constructed and they sealed the entrance.""They sealed the ent
Marcus Fellow: "Get down," I yell, jumping over Rebecca and shielding us. A second later, gunfire destroys the wooden pallets, and wood chips are raining down on us. Staying on top of Rebecca, doing my best to protect her, I look behind when the wood chips stop raining. Pushing myself up, I look through the wooden pallets and see the soldier who was shooting at Rebecca dead on the floor. As I look at his dead body, I see his weapon, an assault rifle, lying beside him. "Rebecca," I shout, "There's an assault rifle! Grab it now!" Rebecca nods her head and hands me her double-barrel shotgun. "Cover me," Rebecca says. Running directly into the line of fire between the bunker people and the traitorous soldiers, I do my best to cover Rebecca. Runni
Rebecca: I scream as I crouch down and cover my head. "Fuuuccckk," I yell as the soldiers keep shooting at us. They keep Marcus and I pinned down, not giving us a chance to fire back. Among all the gunshots, I can still hear footsteps quickly approaching. "They're advancing," I think, crouching down even further when a piece of the wall comes off and almost hits me. Still hiding behind the wall, I stick out my hand and blind fire. I fire two shots and then pull back my hand. "I'm not even sure if I hit anyone but at the very least, I stop them a little." I look down at the handgun. "I can't waste shots. I only have half a clip left." Listening to the footsteps as they keep advancing, I look at Marcus who had his back slammed against the wall. He keeps trying to fire back but is always forced back into hiding. "Marcus," I yell, cupping my mouth. "Marcus!" Marcus looks at me and I point at the two of us before swinging my hand. Marcus stares at me for a few seconds before finall
Jacob: I scream as I pull back my head. My cry echoes throughout the bunker as I look down and see myself bleeding. "Ahhh," I yell. I slam my hands on the bullet wound and push down. I stop screaming and bite down on my lips as I try to endure the pain. While enduring the pain, I look up and see the barrel of a handgun pointed right at me. "Why were you trying to steal food," Jim yells. I try to answer him but when I open my mouth, all that comes out are screams. Jim shakes his head as he shoots in the leg. I scream even louder as blood pours out from my leg. "Why were you trying to steal food," Jim yells again. He aims his handgun at my head. I can't answer him. I want to answer Jim but I can't. It hurts too much. My body is on fire. Everything burns, and all I can do is shake uncontrollably. "Come on," Jim says, waving his gun in front of me. "Say something! Why were you trying to steal food?" I look around a
Marcus Fellow: Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I then shake my hand clean. From high up, I keep a close watch on the soldiers guarding the motor pool. Looking at the old commander's building, I smile and nod my head when the bunker's bell rings. "Midnight," I say. "Finally." Inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I prepare myself and push myself up. Biting my lower lip as my waist burns, I fight through it and walk toward the others. "Hey," I say, lightly kicking Rebecca on her leg. "Hey!" "What," Rebecca says, her eyes snapping open. "It's time," I answer. "Wake up the kids." Rebecca rubs her eyes and cracks her neck before getting up. She walks over to where Nicholas and Bailey are and lightly shakes them awake. "Hey, kid," Rebecca says as she shakes Bailey. Not responding at first, Bailey slowly opens her eyes. She moans as she places some fingers on the bandage around her head. "
Marcus Fellow: Pushing Rebecca and Bailey into the empty apartment room as fast as I can, I turn around and slam the door shut. Grabbing a nearby plank, I place it underneath the doorknob. "Marcus," Rebecca says as soon as I turn around. "What the hell happened here? I mean, we weren't gone for that long! A few hours at most!" "Yeah, well," I say, putting my handgun in my back pocket. "A lot happened in those few hour--" As I walk toward the kitchen, a sharp pain kicks me to my knees. I cry out and slam my hands over my stomach as I drop down. "Marcus," Rebecca yells. She runs to me and helps me back onto my feet. As she helps me up, she must have noticed the bloody bandage around my stomach. "Okay seriously," she says, lifting my shirt up to see the bandage. "What the hell happened here?" "It's that damn soldier's fault," I answer. Taking in many deep breaths, I limp over to an old, rusty table and chair in th
Tristan: As the soldiers open fire on me, I keep running while keeping my head low. "Crap, crap, crap," I shout as I run for my life. Having to jump left and right as bullets hit the ground and throw dirt into my face, I reach the city and turn a corner. Crouching down as the soldiers keep shooting, I cover my head. "Ahhhh," I scream, squeezing my head in between my hands. As the gunfire dies down, I look around the corner and see the soldiers all reloading. They switch the empty magazine for another magazine and run toward me. "Crap," I shout again as I look around. In what looks like a small neighborhood with makeshift houses, I turn around and see myself against a small house, not even half my height, made from sheet metal and broken wooden posts. I look through a nearby window and see
Tristan: As I slowly push the manhole cover up, I look out and scan the surrounding area with my pistol. Thankfully, I don't see any more infected wolves. "It's clear," I say, looking down at Rebecca. Rebecca nods her head and I push the cover off entirely. Throwing it to the side, I climb out first before turning around to help Rebecca up. Wiping her sweaty forehead after climbing out of the damn hole in the ground, Rebecca looks around and sees a very familiar forest with red smoke everywhere. "I can't believe I'm going to say this," Rebecca starts, "But I've missed this place." "You know what? So have I." I take a few seconds to enjoy the peace and forget about the damn sound of howling and gr