text:
The bus roared to life early the next morning. The group gathered the supplies and returned them to their mobile shelter, ready to go. Geoff decided to drive, as he knew the best way to New York.
"So what do we do when we get to New York?" Ali asked.
"Yesterday the radio said that they're taking people to Manhattan for evacuation. Apparently Europe is zombie free so they're shipping people there," Jasmine relayed the information she had heard on the radio the day before.
"So we're getting out of here?" Taylor asked excitedly.
"But what about our families?" Erin asked.
"Hopefully they'll be at New York," Conner responded.
"How long until we get there?" Taylor asked.
"Hopefully by the end of the day. However, Manhattan is a bit farther. Maybe by midday tomorrow," Geoff explained.
"Good enough for me," Manny commented.
They heard a thump from the roof of the bus where Tad was stationed as a scout.
"OW, Crap, guys I have to come down!" They heard him say.
He stepped down the ladder and sat in a seat, rubbing his legs.
"The medicine must have worn off because my legs hurt. A lot."
"Here, have some more," Conner offered.
He searched around in the back of the bus for the pills.
"Ali, did you put them in here?" He asked.
"No, I thought you did?"
"Oh, I might have used some," Dimitri piped in.
"What? Why?" Conner questioned.
"I like pills. What can I say?"
"Where did you put them?"
"Like I remember." Dimitri shrugged.
Conner sighed and facepalmed, "Well we need something for him."
"I'll get off at the next exit and see what we can find," Geoff offered.
They drove a little while longer before finding an exit. Geoff drove around, looking for some sort of store and came across a Walmart.
"This place has to have something useful," Conner suggested.
Geoff nodded, "Hopefully. Only some should go in though, others should stay back at the bus."
"I'll go. Who else?" Conner asked.
Taylor and Manny looked at each other and nodded, "We'll go," They said in unison.
"I should stay back with my daughter," Geoff explained.
Conner nodded, "Anyone else?"
"I guess I will go. Is my fault pills are missing," Dimitri drunkenly slurred.
"Us too. The more the merrier." Miah volunteered him and Erin.
They gathered supplies; Dimitri grabbed a shotgun and inspected it.
"This is good; I won't have to aim with this!" He excitedly noticed.
The others just shook their heads. Conner got his AK and katana, Manny his M4 and machete. Taylor grabbed an AR and inspected it nervously. She was still getting used to the whole gun thing. Miah and Erin both got ARs as well.
"Wait, we're coming too!" Jasmine called out.
They grabbed their own weapons and joined the expedition team.
Conner turned to Geoff, "Will you and Ali be alright alone?"
He nodded, "Certainly. But if you hear gunfire, we may need help.
Conner mirrored his nod, "Okay."
They approached the store slowly and quietly, guns ready. The store was silent. No advertisements flashed on the overhead televisions. The store was in shambles, most of it had been raided by other survivors. Racks of clothes lay on the ground, the unwanted clothing strewn all over. Food shelves were nearly empty, only a few packages sat where they were, most of them torn open and spilt. It wasn't a very good sign; any sort of useful item that might have been there was most likely not. Although, it couldn't hurt to search.
The group entered cautiously, unsure if there was anyone inside, waiting for scavengers like them. Of course there was also the possibility of zombies.
"Where's the medicine aisle?" Conner wondered.
"Well if this place is anything like the one back home then it should be to the left."
They made their way left, but no luck. It was the shoes aisle. In the center was a body laying on the floor.
"Shoot, back up," Conner warned and pushed everyone back.
He walked forward and poked its head with the barrel of his gun. It still laid there, unmoving. The group backed up slowly, then ran off.
"Where do we go now?" Manny asked.
"The back of the store," Jasmine pointed to the sign hanging from the ceiling.
"Well then. Back of the store," Conner affirmed.
The medicine aisle was just as ransacked as the rest of the store, with very little remaining for the group.
"I'm not even sure if there's anything left," Taylor pointed out.
"It can't hurt to look," Conner said doggedly.
They scoured the aisles for anything useful. Taylor found some cough drops, Jasmine some allergy medicine and Conner some Tums. Otherwise nothing useful and certainly no pain meds.
"Hey, I found some of these," Kyle called out.
Conner approached and saw that he found a pair of crutches.
"Those will have to do."
"Hey, here's some ibuprofen!" Taylor shouted.
"Shhh," Conner hushed, "Good, but keep it down.
A can fell off of a nearby shelf and rolled on the floor. Everyone stopped moving and stared. Time stood still. The silence was deafening. A groan reverberated through the store.
"No. Body. Move." Conner ordered.
A single zombie emerged from one of the food aisles. It was the one from the shoe aisle. It approached the group slowly, limping like the typical zombie you would see in a movie. Conner slowly drew his katana, closed the distance between him and the zombie, and buried his sword in its skull. The zombie fell to the floor and reviled a horrific sight. The entire aisle behind it was full of zombies.
"Um, guys?" Conner backed up slowly, "Run."
The group obeyed, sprinting towards the other side of the store. Conner shot at the zombies, wanting to save ammo, but also wanting to thin the herd. The zombies charged and seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Manny started trying to take out a few of them as well, but both of there efforts were fruitless as the zombies just kept coming.
"Shit, feeders!" Jasmine cried out.
The tiny zombies climbed on the store racks and attacked the group from above, just like leapers. Dimitri blew away the creatures as they came close, one after another.
"Stop sending so many! This story sucks!" He yelled.
"Dimitri, stop that!"
He only grunted and continued shooting the zombies.
"We have to get out of here, NOW!" Taylor shouted.
Miah and Erin had a system down, one shoots while the other reloads so they had an almost infinite stream of bullets.
"Go!" Miah ordered, "We can cover you!"
Conner made it with the rest of the group and they made their way to the door.
"Miah, Erin, come on!" Conner shouted.
Miah went to shoot one last zombie.
His trigger happiness cost him and Erin. The zombies bore down on them.
"NOOOO!!!" Conner yelled and shot at the zombies.
He took out a few, but it wasn't enough. A few zombies grabbed Miah's arm and bit down. His shout was enough to curdle blood.
"Miah, no!" Erin cried.
She tried in vain to push the zombies off him, but was quickly overtaken.
"No! Nononononono…" Conner was almost in tears.
"Come on Conner," Manny urged, "We need to get out of here."
They made a hasty retreat, Manny practically pulling Conner's arm. They jumped on the bus and shut the doors quickly.
"I heard gunshots, what happened?" Geoff asked.
"Drive!" Manny ordered.
Geoff started the bus and then saw what the problem was. Zombies poured out the Walmart. He shot out of the parking lot as fast as he could and made his way to the highway.
"Here," Kyle offered Tad his crutches and medicine,
"Thanks," Tad said gratefully and took the pills.
"Um Conner, where are Miah and Erin?" Ali asked.
Conner said nothing and simply put his head in his hands and cried.
Ali understood and said nothing more.
Geoff drove as far as he could away from the Walmart from hell and eventually stopped for some rest.
"We should be in New York by tomorrow," Geoff let the group know.
There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone.
"Hopefully we can get out of here," Ali said, almost to herself.
The group lay down and slept for the night…
Dimitri woke up and gathered his supplies. He left the bus quietly, trying not to alert the team. He searched the surrounding cars on the highway and eventually found one with the keys in it and with gas.
He drove off into the night without a sound.
Part 8 A New Route.
Conner stood up and stared at himself in the mirror. It had been a half an hour since he was left in the bathroom. Well, not left, more like stayed behind. He took off his shirt to examine the wound. No one had really looked at it and he wanted to see how it looked. He took some water and splashed it over the crusted on blood. Glass fell from the slice in his shoulder.
"Well shit. I'm not even bit."
He then remembered he only had about an hour to get as far away from the city as possible.
"I gotta get the hell outta here!"
Conner sprinted out of the bathroom and quickly scanned the immediate area. Nothing was left on the tables, so if he ran into trouble, he was on his own.
Luckily the building was cleared out, but when he got outside, it was a different story. There were bodies littering the ground, and the undead walking around. He looked around for a vehicle, and spotted just what he was looking for, a motorcycle. Slinking around the zombies that patrolled the area, Conner made his way to the bike. He reached it and looked around to see if he could find the keys. A movement from behind the motorcycle caught his eye.
"Huh?" He leaned over to investigate, and came face to face with the owner, or what the owner has become.
The zombie lurched toward Conner, knocking the bike on top of him. The man had his helmet on when he turned, causing his undead form to snap furiously inside it. Conner struggled to keep the snapping monstrosity at a distance, as well as trying to find something nearby to kill it with. He spotted a particularly large broken piece of concrete. He quickly reached for it, and barely was able to grab it. He had to move quickly. He reached up and yanked the helmet off the zombie, and before it could snap at him, slammed it in the side of the head with the piece of rubble.
The zombie's skull made a crunching noise and blood spewed from the wound. Conner pushed the zombie off him and crawled from under the bike. His legs were sore but he had to keep moving. He took the zombie's helmet and jacket and found the keys in its pockets. He had never ridden a motorcycle before, but how hard could it be? He put the keys in the ignition and revved the engine. Luckily the previous owner had stocked up on gas, 'cause it had a full tank. Conner hit the throttle and the bike lurched forward. It was a little difficult to drive at first, but he soon got the hang of it. He reached the end of the city when he heard someone call out.
Conner turned his head to see who it was, "Oh! It's you! Get on, quick!"
The bus was silent. No one had said anything since the bombs dropped. Geoff turned off the radio because it had been saying the same thing over and over. Tad sat in his seat, massaging his leg.
"We need to get something for that," Manny pointed out, "Geoff, do you see a town nearby?"
"There's an exit in about two miles, we can stop there to find a store."
Just then, they heard a loud pop and the bus slumped to one side.
"Shit," Geoff swore under his breath.
"What's wrong?" Ali asked.
"Flat tire. Must've run over something."
They all got out to examine the damage, except for Tad and Geoff's daughter who stayed on the bus.
"Hey, do you hear that?" Miah pointed out.
There was the sound of an engine getting closer. They walked around the bus and saw a motorcycle approaching.
"HEY!" They started shouting and waving their arms, "WE NEED HELP!"
The motorcycle came to a stop in front of them. There were two, presumably young people on, both wearing helmets and leather jackets.
"Could you help us out?" Ali asked. The driver got off the bike and approached her.
"Excuse me?" Ali wondered.
The driver took off his helmet and it fell to the ground.
"CONNER!" Ali shouted and embraced him, "Oh my god, you're alive."
"It wasn't a bite. We never actually inspected it. It was just a cut from glass."
"Oh my god, I'm so glad you're ok. Who's that?" She motioned the passenger.
The passenger got off and removed her helmet as well.
"Erin!" Miah exclaimed and rushed over to hug her, "What the, you smell terrible!"
"I know," Erin explained, "I fell into a garbage bin full of dead bodies. Luckily the smell kept the zombies away."
Miah said nothing and continued to hug his stinky girlfriend.
Conner walked up to Manny.
"Look man, what I said at the apartment-" Manny started, but Conner interrupted.
"It's fine. We're good now. So what do you guys need help with?"
Geoff, who went back in the bus to look for a spare tire, emerged from the front, "Well our tire blew out. We have a spare tire, but no way to fix it. We need a tire iron and a jack. We could scavenge some of the cars on the road, or someone can go to the town a few miles up and look for an auto repair shop."
"I'll go," Conner and Manny said in unison.
"Conner, you just escaped near death," Ali warned.
"I'll be fine. Really."
Ali gave Conner a look of disapproval but said nothing more. Manny got some weapons from the bus and they both mounted on the motorcycle. Conner with his new AK and a Judge Revolver, and Manny with an M4 and M1911. The motorcycle roared to life and they headed out. The highway was deserted, with abandoned cars on the side, and sometimes the middle of the road. Most cars still had their deceased operators still at the wheel, but neither Manny nor Conner wanted to see who really was dead. Finally, after weaving through cars, they made it to the off ramp. The little town seemed deserted, most houses had their windows boarded up and the roads were clear of all cars. Most of them were probably the ones on the highway. Conner rode down the different streets, trying to find any sort of shop or bearing they could go.
After about five minutes, they came upon a small drug store. Conner stopped the bike and the two of them got off, guns ready. The shop was nearly empty, with all of its shelves already looted. They rummaged around, trying to find anything of use, but found nothing.
"Find anything?" Conner asked when they returned to the front door.
"Nothin'. This place's been cleaned out."
"WHO'S THAT?!" A voice emanated from the back room, startling Conner and Manny.
They said nothing and pointed their guns toward the source. The doorknob twisted, but the door remained shut.
"I know you're out there," the voice warned.
Manny and Conner took cover behind empty shelves and pointed at the door. Suddenly it burst open and a man holding a shotgun came out. He was about forty with short brown hair and a large, untrimmed mustache. He was wearing a green hunting jacket and thick hunting clothes beneath. In his hands was a Remington shotgun.
At first he didn't notice the two boys, but when he did he suddenly became nervous, swinging his gun and them both.
"Don't you come no closer, ya hear?"
"We're just looking for supplies," Conner replied, "Got any?"
"Oh, don't think I don't know what you're up to! It's a conspiracy! You're from the government and you're trying to take our food and medicine so we can die, right??"
"What?" Manny asked, confused, "What are you talking about?"
"Oh my god. Shut up Dave." A female voice came from the back room.
A woman emerged this time, unarmed. She was about the same age as "Dave" with long black hair and wearing a red sweater with jeans.
"They're just trying to survive, just like us," She continued to scold him.
Conner and Manny looked at each other and Conner nodded to signal that they should put down their weapons. Dave pointed his gun at the boys again, but put it down as well after a scowl from the woman.
"You'll have to pardon my husband; he's gone a bit coo coo. My name's Misty. What do you boys need?"
"Well our vehicle broke down on the highway and we need supplies to change a tire," Conner explained.
"Oh," Manny remembered Tad, "And some painkillers. One of our friends is hurt."
"Well I can supply the painkillers," Misty shot a look at Dave, who hesitantly went into the back room, "As for the tools, you can find them just up the road at the old Conrad's. You'll have to be careful though, there's a gang running around, looting anyone they come across."
Dave came back, this time holding a bottle of prescription pills and some ibuprofen.
"Here," She took them from Dave and handed them to Manny, "We have plenty stocked up so take these. Be careful though, that prescription is Vicodin, very strong stuff. Use it only in emergencies."
Manny pocketed the two bottles, "Thank you very much."
Misty nodded, "It's our pleasure. We know what it's like to need to survive, so we're willing to help out others."
"There, you got yo' medicine. Now scram!" Dave warned.
"Dave!" Misty scolded.
"No, it's fine ma'am," Conner reassured, "We'll be leaving."
"Alright. Well good luck!"
"Thanks!" Conner replied, "And you too!"
They left the store and rode away towards the auto shop. It wasn't too far up the road when they found it.
"You should park around back," Manny suggested, "If there are gangs around, we don't want to be barging in the front door."
Conner nodded and drove around back. They dismounted the bike and approached the back of the store. There was one door, and luckily it was unlocked. Inside the store was dark, with daylight only coming through the front windows.
"Here," Manny whispered and pulled a flashlight out of his pocket.
The beam of light illuminated the dusty car care equipment and other assorted vehicle products. Manny managed to find a large bag they could put things in and they found the tire area.
"Here's something!" Conner found a tire iron.
"Good. Now we need to find a jack."
Conner went to reply but something caught his eye. A movement from the front window.
"What's wrong?" Manny asked.
"Someone saw us. Quick, find the jack."
They heard excited shouting, and a large group of people came to the window. Conner and Manny hid in the darkness and they heard the door open.
"They were near the tires!" One of them shouted.
Conner looked around for something that could help them. The walls were lined with stacks of tires and the shelves provided good cover. Then something caught his eye.
"Manny!" He hissed, "The jack."
Manny looked around and spotted it.
The gang was coming closer.
"I'll cover you, get the jack and run for the back, get the bike started and I'll meet you out there."
Manny went to argue, but the lights flicked on.
"Go! Conner ordered.
Manny obliged, running towards the jack and throwing it in the bag. Conner swung around the corner and surprised the gang with a hail of bullets.
"SHOTS FIRED!" One of the gang members shouted.
They scattered, most hiding behind the counter and some behind assorted shelves. One cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Minus the one that fell, there were about eleven of them. Bullets started whizzing by the corner and Conner backed out of the line of fire. He looked towards the back of the store and saw the back door closing.
Good, Manny made it out.
Conner waited a bit, and then peeked around the corner, firing. He wanted to conserve as much ammo as he could, as he only had a few mags in his pocket and only about a dozen shells for his judge. He hit one guy in the shoulder, the power of the AK bullet knocking him off his feet, and another guy in the sternum. Taking cover again, he switched his mag.
He was killing people. Not zombies this time, but live people. And he did it without a second though. The realization of this disgusted him, but he did what he had to do. He only hoped that his soul was spared.
"THERE'S ONLY ONE OF HIM, GET ON HIM PUSSIES!" A rather burly voice barked.
Conner saw the shadows of three men approaching, and he drew his revolver. Just then the back door flew open and shots were fired. The three shadows dropped, one of the men fell to Conner's feet. Manny came to the rescue. Conner re-holstered his revolver and swung around to fire upon the once more startled gang.
"Conner, fall back, I'll cover you!" Manny shouted.
Conner took the long way around while Manny provided suppressing fire. Conner just barely made it to the shelf Manny was behind before Manny ran out of ammo.
"We gotta get out of here," Conner pointed out.
Manny nodded. Conner stood up and fired on the gang while they both retreated out the back door. Conner's shoulder was killing him. That AK had a mean kick. Manny had already started the motorcycle, so all they had to do was put on their helmets and jump on.
"Um, Conner. Go. Now." Manny sounded worried.
Conner turned around and saw the problem: the gunfire had attracted zombies. Conner hit the throttle and quickly got out of the area. A few feeders gave chase and were able to catch up.
"Shit, Conner, we got trouble!"
"Get my revolver!"
Manny grabbed the judge off Conner's hip and shot at the running monstrosities. It was only a .410 shell, but it blew the feeder away quite nicely, and had a pretty nasty blow back as well.
"Holy shit, I nearly hit myself in the face!"
"Yeah, careful, it's a shotgun shell in a revolver. It's gunna kick."
Manny took care of the other two feeders, but the horde was still behind them.
"OH SHIT!" Conner yelled.
There was an extremely sharp turn coming up right in front of a school driveway. He quickly turned to try to avoid the school bus, but his inexperience and the high speeds they were traveling at caused them to tip. Conner and Manny spilled out onto the pavement, enough to knock them out if they didn't have their helmets.
Conner got up, and met a zombie face to face.
"Shit! Manny, get up!"
Manny quickly scrambled to his feet and shot the zombie. The hoard was closing in and they had nowhere to go.
"Quick, under the bus!" Conner quickly suggested.
They quickly dove under the bus, right as the horde approached.
"If there are keys in the bus, we can drive out of here," Conner suggested.
They crawled towards the front doors and Conner peeked up to see.
"Yes! They're there!"
They scrambled up and into the bus. Manny went to shoot a zombie but the revolver gave a click.
"Out of ammo!"
"Just get on and shut the door!" Manny obliged and locked the zombies outside.
Conner turned the key and started the engine. The bus roared to life and Conner peeled out. Many zombies had latched on to the sides and were trying to break open the windows. Manny shot many of them down, sending glass flying. Conner maneuvered the bus out of the town and made his way to the highway, but a little far ahead of where the group is stopped so as not to lead the zombies to them. They started over an overpass when there was a loud crack.
"What was that?" Manny inquired.
Suddenly the overpass gave out and the bus dropped thirty feet.
"SHIIIIIIIT!!" Conner braced himself for the crash.
"Wait, Conner, look!" Manny pointed out.
The zombies were trapped on the top of the overpass.
"I don't think they know to jump down," Manny wondered.
"Let's not stick around to find out."
Conner drove off, happy that the bus was still running.
"They've been gone for over an hour now…" Ali was starting to get worried.
"They'll be fine. I'm sure." Taylor reassured.
They had been searching cars for the time the two had been gone. All they found was food and some gas cans. Now Geoff was checking the bus for any more issues, Ali was braiding Geoff's daughter's hair while Taylor watched. Dimitri was drunkenly hitting on Tad who was quite creeped out about it, and Miah and Erin were in the back of the bus doing who-knows-what.
"So what's your name?" Taylor asked Geoff's daughter.
"S-Sarah," She replied.
Taylor smiled, "That's a pretty name."
"Someone's coming," Geoff noticed.
A bus approached on the opposite side of the highway approached and crossed the grassy median. Taylor and Ali jumped up to meet the boys.
"Well, we made it. Barely." Conner said while getting off the bus.
Manny got off, holding the bag of supplies.
"Did you get what we need?" Geoff asked, reaching for the bag.
"Yeh," Manny said, giving him the bag, "And medicine too for Tad."
They went to the bus and Manny gave Tad the ibuprofen for now and Geoff went to work. The winter night started to approach and the rest of the group used sticks from the trees on the grass meridian and some gas from the nearby cars. Dimitri apparently knew how to siphon gas, se he got the diesel out of the bus Conner and Manny found and put it in the gas cans they found earlier. Geoff made quick work of the tire and it was on in no time. He was able to use a tire from the found bus so that they didn't need to use the spare tire yet. They retrieved their sleeping bags from the bus and set up around the fire.
"This story is coming to a close, no?" Dimitri asked, taking a swig of vodka.
"What the? Dimitri, fourth wall." Conner warned.
"I don't give damn. This is getting boring. I go to sleep." And with that, he passed out.
Ali finished putting on a bandage on Conner's arm.
"Thanks," Conner said gratefully and they exchanged a smile.
"We'd better get some rest and get out here early tomorrow," Geoff suggested, "I'll take first watch and keep the fire going."
Conner nodded and lay down, falling asleep instantly.
Ali rested her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes. It was the fastest she had fallen asleep that she remembered in a long time.
Conner stood up and stared at himself in the mirror. It had been a half an hour since he was left in the bathroom. Well, not left, more like stayed behind. He took off his shirt to examine the wound. No one had really looked at it and he wanted to see how it looked. He took some water and splashed it over the crusted on blood. Glass fell from the slice in his shoulder…
Part 7 A New Day
"You're bit."
Conner put his hands up defensively, "I know, I know."
"How can you not tell us?!"
"I didn't want you to worry!"
"What were you going to do if you turned??"
"Take care of it myself."
"You were just going to leave us??"
"Yes because I was trying to avoid this!"
Ali turned away, looking defeated, "I can't believe you would do that to us…"
"I'm sorry," Conner bowed his head in remorse.
"I don't mean to butt in, but he should really be quarantined," Geoff butted in.
Conner shook his head, "Yes, I should," He looked around for a good spot, "The bathrooms over there could work."
Geoff nodded, "Yes. I got a key so we could lock it."
Ali looked in surprise, "Lock him in?"
"It's the best thing to do."
Conner bowed his head again, "He's right."
Geoff walked him over and locked the door behind him.
Ali watched as Geoff turned the lock.
"I'm sorry," They heard Conner say from behind the door.
Tad sat, massaging his leg.
"What is matter with leg?" Nikoli asked, after taking a swig of vodka.
"Muscular dystrophy. Leg muscles are deteriorating."
Nikoli took another drink, "If you're not fit, you die."
"Nikoli, enough of that," Ali scolded.
"Who's this Nikoli?" The Russian asked, "My name is Dmitri."
Ali gave a puzzled look, "But you said it was Nikoli…"
"No. It is Dmitri."
"Riiight…" Ali shivered, "Jeez, it's cold in here."
"This place is probably on backup power. Some of us should go see if we can get the main power on."
"I can." Taylor volunteered.
"Why not??"
"I don't want you to end up like Conner."
Ali stood up, "I'll go with her."
Manny sighed, "Fine then. But if you find anything, come back here first."
Taylor grabbed her gun, and Ali got her bow.
"Wait, you have a gun now?" Ali asked.
"Yep. I feel like I can better defend myself with it."
Ali glanced at Taylor's weapon, and at hers, "I'll stick with the bow."
Taylor laughed, "Whatever floats your boat."
They started their search on the bottom floor.
"Hey, Ali?" Taylor asked.
"Are you and Conner…? Ya know?" She didn't know how to ask.
"What? Oh, no. No. We're just friends."
"Hm?" Ali was confused.
"Why just friends? I mean, yes I understand guys and girls can be friends, but in these circumstances, it helps to have someone close."
"We are close, just not that kind of close."
Taylor gave her an inquisitive look, "Uh, huh."
In reality, Ali wasn't sure. Although would it matter? Conner might be dead soon anyways.
They searched around and came across a door, hidden in a back hallway.
"Where do you think this leads?" Taylor wondered.
"Only one way to find out. You think we should go back and tell the others?"
"No. I mean, we can handle it, right? And besides, if it's not something important we'd be wasting time."
"I guess you're right."
Taylor stepped forward, grabbed the door handle and pulled. The door opened with a squeak of the hinges and revealed the room. Inside was almost completely pitch black, with only a small light shining through the windows at the back of the room. Ali and Taylor checked their corners and found nothing. The room was full of gas drums and large silent generators. The room was obviously a power room, but it was powered off.
Ali went around one generator when she heard a groan. A man dressed in a greasy engineering outfit was lying on the ground. Its arms and legs were chewed off, but its head remained, groaning and snapping in Ali's direction. Ali stepped back and readied an arrow. She was about to fire when another man came around the generator. She re-adjusted her aim and fired at the man, the arrow piercing the dead man's eye, dropping it to the ground. She got another arrow and shot the man on the ground. She inspected the man and saw something shine in the dim sunlight.
"Taylor, I found something!"
Ali picked a key ring off the man's pants. It only had one key. Engraved in it where the words Backup Generator. Poor guy probably was on his way to the generator before he died.
"Then where is the generator?" Taylor asked when Ali told her what was written.
"I dunno, let's look around."
They searched around, but didn't know which one was the right generator.
"They all look the same!" Taylor exclaimed, defeated.
"Wait, I think I found it!"
Taylor walked over to Ali wiping dust off the side of a particularly small generator. There was writing on it, but it was badly worn.
"Well there's only one way to find out." Taylor said matter-of-factly.
There was a small control panel in front of the generator that had a slot for a key. Ali slid the key into the hole and turned. A large green button lit up on the panel. Ali pressed the button and the generator roared to life. The lights in the room came on, bathing the room in light. Taylor and Ali looked around in shock. Dead bodies littered the floor, and some where moving.
"Run?" Ali quietly asked Taylor.
They sprinted for the exit, bounding over dead bodies. Some lifted their heads to snap at the girls' feet as they flew overhead. The girls reached the door and left the room, slamming the door behind them.
Panting, Taylor turned to Ali, "Let's agree to never go in there again."
Ali said nothing and nodded in agreement.
"Let's get back."
When they got back to the main room, they saw the fruits of their labor. Most of the lights where on in the main floor and the fountain in the center of the room was running. The girls returned to the camp.
"I'm assuming you did this?" Manny asked when they came up.
Taylor beamed, "Yup!"
"Didn't I say to come back to us when you find something?"
"Yes but we where fine by ourselves."
Manny shrugged, "Whatever. At least you're alive and the power's on."
"Has anyone checked on Conner?" Ali piped in.
Manny shook his head, "No. You should let him eat. We collected some food from the restaurants, so you can take that."
Ali put some food on a tray, then made her way to the quarantine. Geoff unlocked the door and let her in, locking the door behind her when she entered. Conner was sitting at the end of the room, huddled on the floor. The lights in the bathroom had been turned on thanks to the generator.
"Hi." Conner greeted.
"You brought food?"
Ali walked over and set the food down and Conner began to eat.
"Let me see the wound." Ali reached for his shoulder.
"No," Conner pulled his shoulder away, "Just don't touch it."
Ali sighed, "Alright," She stood up and went back to the door, knocking to signal for Geoff to unlock it.
Ali came back to the camp where everyone was sitting at tables eating.
"Want some?" Taylor offered.
"No thanks."
"Oh god, I stink," Jasmine exclaimed, "Is there a shower in here?"
"There's a fountain," Taylor pointed to the center of the room.
"Better than nothing."
"Wait, so you're going to bathe in a fountain?" Kyle asked surprised.
"Sure! Guys and girls can take turns."
"And we can get new clothes from the stores around here," Geoff added.
They went to the clothing stores on the top floor, getting themselves fresh new clothes. The girls went first, while the guys stayed at the food court on the top floor. When they finished, the guys took their turn. It almost seemed normal, bathing. Even though the world turned against them, they still did normal things.
The sun went down and the group decided to go to bed. They each took turns staying up for watch. Ali took first watch, her insomnia not letting her sleep, along with the events of the day. It had been a long day, and a lot was on her mind. The only sound in the large mall was the sound of the fountain of water. The lights were still on, as no one dared to enter the generator room to turn them off. Her watch carried on, each time someone got up to relieve her she sent them back, as she just couldn't go to sleep. She stayed up all night.
It was a while after sunup that the group awoke. Manny as last to wake up around 11. Ali had left food in the bathroom for Conner, as he had not woken up by then. The group sat down for breakfast and discussed what must be done.
"Today the CDC should report in about an hour," Jasmine reminded Manny.
"Good, so we can find out what to do until then."
"What do we do until then?" Miah asked.
"We should see if there's anything else we could find here. No one has thoroughly inspected the third floor yet," Geoff offered.
"Yeh, we could start there." Manny agreed.
"I'll go." Miah offered.
"I'll go with you then," Manny suggested.
They gathered weapons and ammo and made their way to the top floor.
"We never checked Erin." Miah suddenly said while on their way.
"When she fell. We never went back to see if she died."
"There's no way she could've survived.
"Then why didn't we make sure she didn't turn?"
"We couldn't go back, there were too many zombies after us, we had no choice."
"Before we leave we have to go back."
"Fine, if that's what you need."
They made it to the third floor and started searching through stores. There wasn't much of any interest, clothing stored, jewelry, and even a Starbucks. Just before they gave up, they heard a growl.
"You hear that?" Miah asked Manny.
"Yeah. You know what it sounds like?"
Miah gulped. He knew exactly what it was.
They cautiously followed the sound, guns raised. Something bound over head and they quickly tried tracking it. A growl emitted from behind and Manny turned around just in time to kill a leaper that jumped at them. It was the same kind of zombie they had encountered in the high rise building. Manny heard a shot and saw Miah trying to fend off a group of them. They kept jumping out of the way right as he tried to make a shot. Manny and Miah were getting pushed closer and closer to the railing. Manny managed to take out all but one. Pushed against the railing, Miah tried to take a shot. It sailed way passed the target, and the kick threw Miah into the glass railing, causing it to shatter and sending him over the edge.
Manny reached down just in time to grab his ankles. Miah's gun slipped from his hands and plummeted to the ground.
"Manny, behind you!"
Manny looked up and saw a leaper on the ceiling, ready to jump. It sprang from the ceiling and a shot rang out. Manny looked at Miah to see that he had drawn his pistol and shot the creature. Its dead body fell towards the ground and landed near Miah's rifle. Manny easily pulled Miah's small body back up to the floor.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Dang, that must have been how Erin felt… That sucks…"
"C'mon, we're almost done up here. There's one more store up ahead."
They cautiously made their way to the store and Manny peeked in, gun raised.
"Oh my god."
"What?" Miah looked in to see.
Inside where stacks of ammo boxes. There was enough ammo to supply a small militia, and with how many guns they already have, they pretty much were one.
They went back downstairs to tell the others, and they all helped bring the ammo downstairs. They each reloaded the weapons they had on them, and there where still more that had been left out in the bus.
"Guys!" Jasmine called out. A sound came over her radio.
The group rushed over to try to hear.
"A…ion those staying in [Cleveland], despite our efforts, containment has become our highest priority. At about two PM today, bombs will be dropped on the remaining side of Cleveland. We apologize for any inconvenience. Remember that what we do is for the good of all. I repeat, the remaining side of Cleveland will be bombed at two PM today. It is recommended that any persons should be a safe 50 miles away from the city. That is all for this broadcast." The radio went silent.
They sat without saying anything at first.
"So we should leave, no?" Dmitri piqued.
"Yes. Quickly." Manny agreed.
They all got into action, getting their supplies and taking them out to the bus.
"What about Conner?" Ali asked.
Manny stopped to think.
"Tell him. See what he wants to do." He finally decided.
Ali grabbed the keys from Geoff and went in the bathroom.
"Thanks for the breakfast," Conner said as she approached, "What's wrong?"
Ali sighed, "I'm going to say this now: the city's getting bombed. You can either stay or come with us."
"I can't risk you getting hurt."
"So you're just going to stay here and die?!"
"You just gave me choice didn't you!? Besides, I'm doomed anyways!"
"You don't know that! We have no proof that bites actually turn people!"
"Would you like to find out?? With my teeth in your shoulder? I'll stay, it's safer this way."
Ali sighed, defeated. Normally she would have continued to argue, but she was running out of time and had to help the others.
"I'm sorry." Were the last words she heard from him as she left the bathroom.
She made it to the tables before she broke down crying.
"Hey, it's ok," Taylor tried to console her.
Ali said nothing and kept crying.
The loading was finally finished and they were ready to go. They were about to load onto the bus when Manny noticed something.
"Shit, um guys, we've got an issue."
There had to be at least thirty of them. Zombies and feeders both, making their way to tower city.
"You think we can take them?" Taylor asked.
"We'd attract a lot more attention."
"I got this," Tad stepped forward.
"With your leg?" Manny asked.
"I got some rest; I should be good for now."
He ran as fast as he could towards the horde, firing his M4 once to get their attention.
"What the heck are you doing?!" Manny yelled.
Tad took them in circles, leading them around trees and statues, trying to get them all in a line.
"Is he… training?" Manny wondered.
It was a strategy they used in one of their zombie games, and it seemed to be working in real life. Tad gathered the horde together in a small cluster, and when he decided it was enough, he turned around. He fired on full auto, hitting many zombies with each single bullet he fired. His cluster was so tight that by the time the mag emptied, every zombie was dead.
"Well done." Dmitri congratulated, "We leave now?"
Tad returned, limping.
"Damn, shouldn't have done that."
"You did well," Manny reassured, "C'mon lets get outta here."
Geoff took the wheel this time. There was no time to set up the watch on the roof though. Geoff quickly maneuvered his way out of the city.
"Do you know the next closest 'safe' area?" Manny asked Jasmine.
"New York."
"New York it is then," Geoff called out, adjusting his bearings, "We're going to the big apple."
They left the city and were on the highway when two fighter jets flew over head. Everyone rushed to the back window. They never saw the bombs drop, only the large fireball they created. The shockwave reached them about a minute later and shook the bus.
"There it goes," Manny sighed.
Ali thought about Conner and teared up.
"What about Erin?!" Miah realized.
"We had no time," Manny explained.
"But, but, but…" He trailed off, "Erin…"
Geoff continued driving and turned on the radio.
"To all you survivors out there, remember, no matter what happens, keep going. You might get out of hell before the devil even knows you're there. It's a new day, seize it and make it yours."
Part 6 Die Rise
The man stepped from behind the McDonalds counter, his daughter in tow. Conner, Ali, Nikoli and him quickly cleared the area of the last few zombies.
"So we meet again," Geoffrey started.
Conner lowered his head in shame.
Ali nodded thankfully, "Thank you for saving us."
A loud murmur of groans emitted from deeper within the mall, followed by a loud screeching. The group turned to see what the matter was and they were met with a frightful sight. People, not rotten like the zombies, but rather they were slightly shorter than the average adult, and their skin was stuck so tightly around their skeletons that they looked like little skeletons. They ran at high speeds, veering right to left in a dizzying zigzag pattern. At times they would emit an ear piercing shriek that sounded like a demented child crying for its mother.
"Less talk, more shoot." Nikoli informed.
One creature came near the group, but was quickly blown away by Geoffrey's shotgun. More creatures closed in on the group, each met with a hail of bullets, but there seemed to be an infinite amount of them.
Manny, Taylor, Miah, Erin and Tad stopped for a breather in the high rise. They were at the top. The roof and side wall of the building was blown off, revealing the looming height. All around all they saw was carnage; buildings looked like they had been blown apart. It looked like Cleveland had been bombed. Buildings fell into the one they were in now, and some were toppled all together.
"We need to secure this area," Manny informed.
The rest of the group obeyed. The floor they were on seemed to be a small office, with a semi-circular desk in the back center. To the left was a large elevator that seemed like it would fall down the shaft if a fly landed on it. The front of the room had the one door they came in and a small set of stairs that led to a door that had debris blocking it. There was banging at the door they came in, and everyone knew that they either had to have a standoff, or somehow flee. Zombies broke through the door, splintering the wood right off the hinges.
"Damn these things are tenacious," Tad commented.
"Hold them off!" Manny shouted franticly.
They fired on the group of zombies, managing to take out a few, but they just kept coming. At this point their ammo was depleting faster than the zombies.
Manny looked around frantically for an escape route and spotted the elevator.
"Everyone, on the elevator!"
The group obeyed, piling inside. Manny held off a few zombies with his machete, and then dove in the elevator. Their combined weight caused the elevator to break free and slide down the chute. The girls started screaming for their lives and Manny prayed he hadn't killed them all. The screaming metal death trap of an elevator slammed to halt at the bottom of the shaft. It couldn't have been more than two floors, and that coupled with the friction of the chute slowed the elevator down, but the impact was still enough to knock them off their feet. Manny got up and helped Taylor, and Tad and Miah got up to help Erin.
"So what now?" Miah asked.
They were in a very small hallway, with doors on either side. Behind some doors they heard knocking and groaning. At the end of the hallway to the right, a bright light shown through.
"What's that?" Manny inquired.
When they reached the end, they found out what. The side of the building was blown off. Outside the hole was another building directly adjacent to theirs. A patch of the floor was close enough to jump to. Close, but just barely.
"We're not jumping that way!" Erin objected.
"Fine then, go check the doors," Manny offered.
They could hear groans and splintering wood.
Erin gulped and looked down the gap. It was a long way down.
"Just gotta take a great leap forward."
"I'm not going first." She informed.
"I'll do it," Tad offered.
He took a running leap and made the jump nicely, landing safely in the other building. Manny kissed Taylor and made the jump. He came just short, but managed to catch the side. He struggled just to hold on. He was fit, but the ledge was obviously not made for climbing. He could barely get a grip, and was slipping.
"Manny!" Taylor shouted frantically.
Tad ran over and outstretched his hand, which Manny grabbed. Together they were able to lift him into the building.
"Come on Tay, you can do it!" Manny encouraged.
Taylor hesitated, but took the leap, and landed into Manny's waiting arms.
It was just Erin and Miah now.
"You go." Erin told him.
"What, no! You. I'll be right behind you."
"No, please, just go."
They heard doors being ripped from their hinges, and zombies burst into the hallway.
"Um, Manny!" Tad said worriedly at the other building.
Zombies started coming around the corners of their building as well.
"DAMNIT MIAH JUST JUMP!" Manny yelled.
Miah shot a few zombies, exchanged a kiss with Erin, then leapt. His hobbit sized body flew through the air and he landed in the next building with a roll, getting up to cap a few zombies.
"Erin, now go!" He shouted.
She looked down again at the steep drop. Her bending over allowed Miah to snipe a zombie behind her that almost bit her. She looked behind her then returned her gaze to Miah.
"Thank me later, go!"
She gave herself enough room to run and went for it. She sailed through the air, frantically reaching for the ledge. Her hand hit the building and she grabbed for it, but her grip failed her. She let out a screech as she plunged towards the ground.
"ERRIIIIIIIIIN!!!!!" Miah shouted, reaching his hand out, as if he could still catch her.
He watched as gravity took her to the unforgiving pavement, her screams drowned out by the wind.
He choked back his tears, but to no avail. They dropped down to meet his fallen girlfriend. "Erin, Erin…." He repeated multiple times.
"C'mon Miah, we gotta go," Manny urged.
Miah wiped his tears and picked himself up.
"We still need to get to Tower City. It's not far from here."
A shriek emanated from inside.
"Shit, we got company," Taylor noticed.
The little skeletons kept coming. Conner slashed at each one with his katana, Ali carefully picked out each shot with her bow, and Nikoli and Geoff shot at the creatures. Finally the creatures stopped coming. Nikoli and Geoff checked their ammo and found they were dangerously low. Ali carefully removed the arrows from the bodies and Conner checked to make sure they were all dead.
"What the hell were those things??" Ali wondered.
"I'm not sure, but I hope those are the only ones…" Conner replied.
Once they made sure all the creatures were dead, Conner turned to Geoffrey.
"Look, I'm really, really sorry-"
Geoff cut him off, "It's fine. You were just trying to protect your people. Understand."
Conner looked at his bandaged hand. Blood has seeped through and dried on the outside. It seemed like a pretty hefty bandage, allowing just enough dexterity to grip his weapon and pull the trigger.
"Is that… Ok?"
"It's mangled pretty badly, but I'll live. That's a pretty strong gun you got there."
Conner scratched the back of his head and looked away, "Yeah…"
"Well I've cleared this area pretty well," Geoff continued, "But there may be more in other areas."
"Alright, I'll go check out the other areas," Conner offered, then he turned to Ali, "Do you want to come with me or stay back?"
"I'll come with you," She looked at the older men, not wanting to stay alone with them.
They went back the way they came, checking each corner, and looking in every store to make sure there were no undead entities.
"Are you ok?" Conner asked Ali.
"Yeah, why?"
"Just that you never really liked the prospect of zombies, and how you weren't doing so well before."
"Well yeah, I'm doing better now. After all, it's kill or be killed, and I can't be freaking out when I have to survive."
"That's good. I'm glad you have been getting better. I have to say, you're pretty good at archery."
"Well thank you," she laughed and they both smiled at each other.
They continued to the next floor when they came across the Hard Rock Café.
"This place is great. We came here for my sister's 18th birthday," Conner reminisced.
Just then, they heard a noise. Weapons raised, they approached the restaurant.
"If there's someone there, shout out!" Conner warned.
"Hello?" A voice called out.
Two people, one tall boy, about 16 and a girl the same age, stepped up the spiral staircase that lead to the bottom floor of the restaurant.
"Kyle, Jasmine?!" Conner called out in surprise.
"Conner, Ali!" Jasmine replied.
"Well fancy seeing you guys here." Kyle remarked.
"What are you doing here?" Ali asked.
"We heard on the radio that this was the place to go, so we came. We found this here as well," Jasmine pulled up a little portable walkie talkie, "They give out instructions every day at noon."
"Who?" Conner asked.
"The CDC. Or so they say."
"How have you guys been faring?"
"Good. We've been camping out here, staying quiet so those things don't hear us. It was easy to stay quiet during the bombings."
"Bombings?!" Ali cried out in surprise.
"Yeah," Kyle responded, "They bombed half the city. This side was spared for survivors, but they wanted to try to contain the outbreak."
"Wow…" Ali seemed worried.
"Have you encountered a lot of zombies? Our group just had to clear an entire horde." Conner continued his questions.
"Not really, no. We've managed to keep quiet for a while."
"Lucky. We've encountered some strange zombies as well."
"The ones that jump on walls and ceilings?"
Conner turned to Jasmine in surprise, "What?!"
"THEY JUST KEEP COMING!" Taylor shouted, retrieving her arrow from another body.
The group was being attacked by strange zombies. They were smaller than normal zombies, with grey skin and no clothing. The strangest thing about them was that they would jump around the room, climbing on the ceiling and walls on all fours.
"These things are like freaking grasshoppers!" Tad noted, sniping one as it came close.
One jumped at Manny, but he quickly blew it away with his shotgun, but he was running out of bullets. He pulled out his machete, hacking and slashing his way through the jumping freaks.
"Manny!" Taylor let out a frantic scream. One had backed her to a blown out wall and she was in danger of falling. All of her arrows were spent and in various dead creatures around the room.
Manny jumped into action, cutting the creature down and quickly pulling Taylor to safety. Miah and Tad were camping out in a corner, sniping zombies. Tad pulled the trigger, but his clip was empty.
"Crap, no ammo!"
Manny threw his shotgun to him, "Here, take this!"
Tad dropped his gun, and caught Manny's. A creature jumped at him, but he shot it down, sending its body flying off the building.
"NO!" He shouted.
Manny finished off the last of the creatures with his machete and the group sighed with relief.
"Glad that's over," Manny said, re-sheathing his machete.
"Erin…" Miah repeated once again, looking towards the hole in the wall.
"C'mon, through this door," Manny instructed.
There was a sturdy door at the end of the room. Manny tested the doorknob and found it was locked. He decided to try something he'd seen in movies and games. He lifted his foot and struck the door right under the knob and it splintered and flew open. They entered the room cautiously but found there was no one in it. It was a small break room, with vending machines and three tables. On two of the tables were guns, and lots of them. Three home defense shotguns, two AR-15 assault rifles, five pistols and two revolvers, and an AK-47 assault rifle.
"Holy crap! Looks like they were getting ready for war!" Manny exclaimed.
"Looks like they all died before they could use 'em. More for us!" Tad gleefully noticed.
On the last table was nothing but ammo. Shotgun shells, pistol and revolver rounds, and of course assault rifle ammo and magazines. The group dealt out the weapons. Tad and Miah got shotguns, and Manny took an AR along with Taylor.
"You think you can shoot that?" Manny asked her.
"I think I can manage."
They stashed the rest in backpacks that were laid out on the floor. After getting some soda from the soda machines, they went to the door on the other side of the room.
"You ready?" Manny asked, hand on the knob. They could hear groans on the other side of the door.
Everyone nodded and Manny flung open the door. The group let lead fly and the dead bodies fell to the floor.
Conner and Ali lead Kyle and Jasmine in the direction of the food court.
"We're just down there," Conner said, pointing in the direction.
"Oh I see," Jasmine nodded.
"We came up to scout for any zombies. We're trying to make sure it's safe."
"We can help," Kyle offered.
"Sounds good."
They continued their search for the undead and came across a corner store. Its two walls up front were made of glass, and they could see inside. The store was a clothing store, with clothing still neatly on the racks. In the center was a group of the small creatures that Conner and Ali fought off earlier.
"Everyone, stop and stay quiet," Conner hissed.
"What is it?" Jasmine wondered.
Conner pointed.
"Oh, those are what you were talking about earlier? We call those feeders. They eat literally anything. We saw a group try to eat a chair!" She whispered.
The feeders were crouched around one point, obviously eating something.
Conner readied his weapon and whistled. The feeders popped their heads up and Conner shot each one through the open door before they knew what happened. The group went in the store to investigate. They had been feeding on the remains of a body.
"They apparently eat zombies too. Look, they even know how to kill them," Conner noticed. The head of the dead body was completely smashed.
"It's like a whole new ecosystem." Ali muttered.
The group left, but Conner stood there inspecting the dead bodies of the feeders. Their sinewy limbs lay flat and he felt like they'd spring up any second, attacking without a head. He started to get hot, so he took off his sweatshirt. He heard glass shattering and looked up to see a zombie charging toward him. He let out a startled cry and was slammed to the wall. He struggled with the zombie and felt a sharp pain on his right shoulder.
"Conner!" Ali shouted when she saw what was going on.
The zombie heard her and looked up, giving Conner enough time to pull out his pistol and shoot the zombie before it ate his face.
"Are you ok?" Ali asked, rushing over.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Conner tried hiding his left shoulder and put his sweatshirt back on despite the fact he was still burning hot, "The shots must have attracted it. C'mon, we should get back. That was my last bullet."
They left the store when Conner's phone rang. It was Manny.
"Oh my god, thank goodness you're still alive!" Conner said when he answered.
"Yeah, me too," Manny replied, "We got some more guns. It looked like some people were preparing for war. We got you another AK, this one's full auto."
Conner hesitated and looked at his shoulder. Blood was seeping through the sweatshirt, "Right…."
"We're coming up to Tower City now. We see the bus."
"Gotcha," Conner hung up and turned to Ali Jasmine and Kyle, "Manny and the others are back, let's go meet them."
They rushed to the front door right as Manny and his group entered. Tad was limping, and the entire group was covered in blood.
"There was a bunch of them on the way here. We musta gotten through the whole damn city." Manny explained the blood.
"Ah, crap," Tad stumbled, "Damn muscular dystrophy…"
Conner took Tad's arm and helped him walk.
Ali noticed blood on Conner's shoulder, "Conner, are you alright?"
He tried to act surprised, "Yeh, why?"
"There's blood on your shoulder."
"Must be from Tad." Conner looked at the four of them, "Where's Erin?"
Miah bowed his head.
"She didn't make it when we were traveling through the buildings." Manny explained.
They made their way to the food court where Nikoli and Geoff where waiting.
"Ah, good to see you guys made it." Nikoli said, obviously drunk.
Conner took Tad and seated him at the table, wincing when Tad's arm hit his shoulder.
"Conner there's something wrong with you, what's going on." Ali demanded.
"I'm fine."
"Take off your sweatshirt."
Ali turned to Manny, "A little help?"
Manny grabbed Conner by the arms and held him. He completely outweighed and was much stronger than Conner, so it was an impermeable hold.
"What are you doing, get off me," Conner struggled.
Ali unzipped his jacket and removed it from his shoulder. She saw crimson red blood on his shoulder and stepped back.
"Oh my god. You're bit."
Ok, once a week is too much. So starting February I am going to submit at the end of the month. This will also allow me to make longer, better written segments.
The sound of the glass breaking startled Manny and the group. The noise of the shattering glass was immediately followed by the moans of the undead.
"You idiots! You brought them here!" Joe screamed.
Manny turned around and grabbed the fat man, "You shut it. Is there any way to the roof."
Joe nodded furiously, "There's an emergency ladder in the kitchen."
The group ran to the ladder and hastily climbed up, narrowly avoiding the hoard that entered the restaurant. On top, they surveyed the scene. Zombies were surrounding the entire place, hundreds of them hungry for flesh.
"They're coming up the ladder!" Taylor screamed.
"Jeremiah, cover the ladder!" Manny ordered.
Miah obeyed, sniping each zombie as they climbed. "There are too many of them!" He yelled.
Manny thought for a way out. He wanted to prove he could be a leader, and now he had the chance. He looked around for anything that could help and spotted Joe, leaning over the side of the roof, looking down at the hoard. Manny hesitated. Normally, if you asked him what he would do, he would tell you that he'd push Joe over without a second thought. But now that he is in the situation, he wasn't sure if he could do it. Things are a lot different when they actually happen then when it's in your head. He thought: Joe's a big man; he could feed the zombies for enough time for them to escape. Besides, they didn't know him, why should they care. Manny made up his mind. He approached Joe silently, took a deep breath, and pushed. It took more might than he thought, but he was able to get the man off. Joe screamed and cussed on the way down, then hit the ground with a thump. Immediately, like moths to a flame, the zombies surrounded his body.
"They're leaving the ladder!" Miah yelled.
"Come on, let's get out of here, GO!" Manny instructed.
They hurried down the ladder, quickly rushing out the back door into the alley behind the restaurant. Manny's phone started to ring, it was Conner.
"Manny, we've been attacked!" His voice rang over the phone.
"Yeh, same with us."
"Where are you?"
"A Burger King down the street, but don't come, it's overrun. Where should we meet?"
There was a pause. "I know," Conner's voice came back, "Tower City. Just look up, you should see a really tall tower with Christmas lights on it. Go there."
Manny looked around and found the described building, only about a mile away. A relatively short distance, but still a far walk. He pointed and let the group know of their destination and they went on their way.
Conner turned another corner, aiming for the large tower. In the back were Ali and the Russian man, whose name was Nikoli. They found out that Nikoli was part of the Russian military and traveled to the states after he was discharged. The box he had was all of his vodka bottles that he had been saving. Luckily for them, he was willing to forgive the one missing bottle. They arrived at Tower City not long after Conner had called Manny, which meant they had to wait.
"Why don't we clear out the bottom floor while we wait?" Conner suggested.
Ali nodded and Nikoli burped, then grunted in agreement.
"Right… Well we shouldn't use loud guns, so what do we have that's quiet? All I have is my katana."
"Well here's a bow, a few arrows, and a machete," Ali called out as she found them.
"Give that. Kids don't know how to properly use one of these," Nikoli pointed to the machete.
Ali hesitantly looked at Conner and handed over the weapon.
"What handguns are there?"
"Only the .22." Ali responded.
"I have this," Nikoli pulled a FiveSevenN pistol from his pocket, "Custom engraved. Got it when I came to America. However, there is small problem, I have no magazine."
"Well then it won't be of much use," Conner muttered, "Alright, well you guys ready?"
Ali nodded and Nikoli burped again.
"Right. Well let's go."
They climbed out of the bus and entered the building cautiously. Inside was quiet. Conner led them to the ground floor, as he was there only a week previously and remembered the layout. They passed the casino, which caught Nikoli's eye, but much to his dismay, it was closed and locked. They reached the main floor, and gasped. It must have been busy before the apocalypse, as the floor was crawling with zombies.
"This is bad idea." Nikoli put bluntly.
"Yeh, this doesn't look good." Conner agreed.
They stood, trying to figure out what they were going to do, when there was a loud crash in the food court. All of the zombies turned and went towards the sound.
Conner turned to his companions, "This is our chance, Ali how good of a shot are you with that?"
"Not great but Taylor taught me somewhat."
"Ok, well here's the plan, Nikoli and I will attack them from behind, and you cover us, considering you have the only long range weapon. Sound good?"
Ali nodded.
They made their way to the ground floor. All of the zombies were nearly to the food court. Conner and Nikoli turned to each other and nodded, then charged in. They silently plunged their weapons into zombie after zombie. Some zombies noticed them and turned around to attack, but were quickly shot down by Ali. Slowly but surely, they thinned the crowd. Until they reached the food court. However many zombies that they saw on the floor when they first arrived, there were twice as many at the food court. So many dead, rotting, walking bodies were packed in the small space. Conner and Nikoli killed a few, but this alerted more than half of them. A large mass of walking flesh started turning towards them. Before they had time to run, a bang rang out behind the counter in the McDonalds. The zombies turned towards the sound, and those closest to it were met by shotgun pellets to the face.
"Manny!" Conner shouted, but he was wrong.
From behind the counter stepped a large black man with one hand bandaged up, and a little girl hiding behind him.
Manny and the group ran towards the tower in the distance, with a trail of zombies on hot pursuit.
"We have to get off the street!" Miah requested.
"Here! In this building," Manny pointed to a large high rise."
They rushed in and Manny shut the glass doors behind them.
"There's no way to lock it?" Miah asked.
"Here, I got this!" Tad reached into his backpack and pulled out a roll of duct tape.
Manny grabbed a wooden chair and broke the leg off, and shoved it through the handlebars, and then Tad quickly applied layers of duct tape to secure it.
"That should do it."
"What now?" Erin asked.
The zombies banged the door in attempt to break it. The glass was sturdy, but not permanent.
"Up." Manny said only one word.
They climbed the stairs. The next floor was the typical office building, except that it was in complete disrepair. Cubicles were knocked on the floor, computers lying around the place. Most of the windows were broken, allowing the crisp December air to enter. The floor was even falling through in some places. The group treaded carefully, not wanting to fall through. Taylor stepped over a cubicle when she stepped on something squishy. Her foot slipped and she fell, hitting the ground with a thud. The group turned to see what the matter was. The squishy thing she had stepped on was a person, and a dead one at that. Or so they thought. The "person" reached out and grabbed Taylor's ankle.
"Get off me!" she screamed.
"Kill it!" Manny shouted as he rushed to help.
Taylor pulled out a large knife Manny had given her and stabbed the zombie's head. She then proceeded to stab it multiple times until Manny reached her and stopped her.
"Hey, hey, it's fine. It's dead now."
Taylor broke down in tears and nestled into Manny's arms. He held her and comforted her. They stayed like that for a number of minutes until Miah suggested they move along. They looked out the window and saw that the zombies were still trying to get in.
"It will only be a matter of time until they get through. C'mon, we'd better get higher so they don't reach us," He paused, "I had better call Conner and let him know." He dialed Conner's number and hit send.
The phone rang and went to voicemail.
"Damnit. I hope they're ok."
They continued up the high rise until they couldn't climb any longer, and waited. Like waiting for their imminent death.
Part 4: Cleveland
The sun rose slowly in a glow of amber over the lake, bathing the world with light. The bus sped along Lake Road. The group could see their destination was near, the buildings towered above them, even at a distance, and only a few miles separated them. The roads of the once busy city were deserted aside from the empty cars that littered the streets. Not a single light was on in any of the buildings. The broadcast on the radio, now two days old, seemed to be out of date. Whatever haven was in Cleveland is gone. Conner weaved through side streets, as most of the main roads were too cluttered with cars for him to drive.
"This place is so empty…" Ali thought out loud.
"It doesn't look like the haven lasted very long." Conner guessed.
"But what could have driven them away? I don't see any zombies." Manny wondered.
Conner turned down the next street and saw why. A group of zombies, no, more like a hoard. There must have been hundreds. All just standing there, shaking their heads, as if waiting for something. The group sat stunned in silence for a second.
"BACK UP!" The group simultaneously shouted, breaking their own silence.
Conner sped the bus in reverse, trying to weave through the maze of side streets. Some zombies were alerted to the group's shots Tad went to shoot at the zombies but Manny stopped him."No, it will attract the rest of them."Taylor hung out of the side of the bus and shot at the zombies with her bow. She had pinpoint accuracy and hit most of them in the head. The others that she didn't were to crippled to give chase.The bus rounded another corner in reverse, but something made Conner slam on the brakes. A man, not dead, but obviously drunk came stumbling out of an alley. Manny and Tad rushed to the back of the bus to help him on. Instead of dead flesh, he smelled like vodka and disappointment. And a bit of urine. He was carrying a medium sized box of vodka bottles, some empty, and some full of vodka and piss. Manny and Tad shut the back door and threw the man on the seat, where he passed out. He was a large Russian man, in his mid-40's with a black, unkempt beard. He was wearing some sort of military uniform with many medals with Russian writing on them.Conner turned the bus around and finally was going straight, with more zombies behind them."Wait!" Manny shouted, "I've got an idea!"He grabbed a gas can that they got back at the gas station, along with a lighter and some toilet paper. He reached into the Russian man's box and fished out an empty vodka bottle, and proceeded to construct a Molotov cocktail. Tad opened the back door and Manny quickly launched the flaming bottle out of the bus. It hit the ground in a roaring inferno, engulfing their pursuers.Conner pulled down a few more streets before stopping. The group let out a sigh of relief, then remembered their new member."Check him for bites," Conner ordered.Manny hesitated; he saw how comfortable Conner was at giving orders and didn't like it. Sure they were best friends, but there was no designated leader, yet he sure was acting like one.Manny eventually obliged and he and Tad found no wounds on the man. They found a pistol with no magazine and a small Cub Scout knife and took them."We should find some place safe to stay," Erin interjected."What about there?" Ali pointed to a large apartment building across the street.Conner pulled up to the apartment, allowing no room between the bus door and the apartment door. They used this makeshift tunnel to safely transport their supplies into the building. They only left the man on the bus, but took the keys. He was too heavy to move, so they just left him. They found an apartment close to the ground floor, so they can hastily retreat if necessary."Alright now, there are only two normal beds so some of us will need to sleep on the floor," Conner pointed out."Woh woh woh," Manny stopped him, "Who elected you king?"Conner was confused, "No one… I'm just trying to figure this out.""You've been nothing but bossy this entire time. I didn't care at first, but now I'm done. We may be friends, but I can't just take orders."Conner felt his pride was challenged, and despite his best judgment, he had to argue, "Well maybe if someone else would take charge then I would let them, but no one has!""Cause you won't give them a chance!""A chance? What do you need?!""Maybe for you to shut up for once!""If it weren't for me you'd be dead! I got the bus, I have most of the weapons, and what have you done?!""Now you're being narcissistic, I could have driven Tay and me to Gander Mountain, I could have come here, you haven't done shit!"Conner knew Manny was right, but couldn't stop,"Fine! You take the lead!""Fine! Let's go people, we should gather supplies. Conner will stay to protect the apartment.""I'll stay as well," Ali offered.Manny and the rest of the group left on foot. The apartment was filled with a deafening silence."I'm an idiot." Conner said, breaking the silence."No you're not.""Yes… I should have stopped. But I couldn't.""He was yelling at you, you had a right.""No… No, I made a mistake."………………………..…………………..…………………..………….Manny and the group stopped at a burger joint to see what they could find. Inside they found a man. He was a bit chubby and from behind, he looked like he was around 20 years old."Hey!" Manny called out.The man looked around and spotted the group, jumping in surprise."Wh-wh-who are you?" He questioned."Who are you?" Manny challenged his question."I-I-I'm Joe, Joe Shmoe. "Manny went to respond, but heard glass shattering.……………………………………………..Conner sat in the apartment in shame, staring at his katana, with Ali across from him. Neither of them knew what to say.Conner stood up and looked out the window. The city looked bleak. The factories weren't even blowing out smoke like they normally are. It was kind of depressing. He thought about the man, Geoffrey, and his daughter. He harmed the man. To a point where he most likely could not protect himself anymore, and he had a child. Conner thought, he killed him, and he killed her. He killed a child. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shaking metal. He looked down and was startled, a zombie jumped towards the window, hitting it with a force that it cracked. The zombie must have climbed up the fire escape. The zombie bounced back from the window and fell. Conner looked down on the street and saw a small hoard of zombies, seemingly waiting in line to climb the fire escape."We need to get out of here. Now." Conner said, trying to stay calm.Ali jumped up and gathered the supplies."Go, take them downstairs, I'll hold them off."Conner stabbed each zombie in the head as they entered the building, as Ali transported the supplies. Once she finished, her and Conner ran to the bus, zombies in hot pursuit. They reached the bus and jumped in. But not quick enough. A zombie jumped on the bus and lunged towards Conner, snipping at him. Conner tried holding it off, it's breath so bad it almost made him pass out. Ali turned around and went to help when she heard a voice."Duck."She obliged and a shot rang out, the zombie fell onto Conner, dead. Standing over Ali was the Russian man, holding a .22 pistol that Ali left on the bus earlier."I am missing bottle. Where is bottle."
A little early because i missed last week. Part 4 should be ready by tomorrow
Part 3: The road to Cleveland
The gas station was quiet when the bus pulled in. The group all had things to do. Half grabbed supplies from inside, others got supplies from around the station. Conner stayed back to fill the bus. The world was quiet around them, only the sound of birds in the distance. Manny was searching a car when he heard a familiar sound, the groan of the infected coming from behind him. He reacted quickly, taking his machete out of its sheath, and planting it into the zombie's head. The creature fell in a pool of its own blood. Manny didn't know what to think. He'd always fantasized about the zombie apocalypse, but he wasn't sure he liked being in it. He looked at the dead zombie. The dead person. He shivered and walked away.
The bus was filled, and supplies were gathered. They pulled out of the station and headed towards Cleveland. Conner tried to see if he could get a GPS on his phone, and while cell service was available, 3G wasn't. However, he still knew that he could simply follow the lake and make it. The bus was well fortified, Manny watched the back, Erin watched the front, Ali and Taylor took the sides, and Jeremiah and Tad had overwatch on the roof. It was December, so the weather was chilly, but luckily they all had thick coats from Gander Mountain. The hatch on top was open, but the ladder inside was up, thanks to Tad's duct tape work.
The road to Cleveland was long and boring. The radio offered no help, as there were no DJ's and the only broadcast was the now 12 hour old emergency broadcast. Soon, it got dark.
"We should get off the road and sleep," Taylor suggested.
"Yeh that sounds like a good idea," Conner agreed.
He drove a bit farther and pulled into a side street. He shut off the bus, lights, heat and all.Tad an Miah came down from the roof and joined the rest of the group in bundling up for the night.
"We should take shifts on watch," Conner added.
"I can go first," volunteered Tad, "I'm not very tired."
Conner would be after, then Manny, then Miah, and finally Ali, Taylor, then Erin. Tad grabbed his rifle and went to the roof.
"Hey, Tad, take these!" Conner handed him a box of Monster energy drinks. Normally Tad wouldn't bother with one, but he knew he would get tired and didnt want to fall asleep on the job. His job went without incident. No zombies, no humans, not even any wildlife.
Tad's shift ended when the alarm Conner left on his phone beeped. He got back in the bus and swapped out. Conner went on the roof and sat down. He cracked open a Monster and took a large sip. The energy drink didn't do much, as he felt himself slide out of consciousness. He was startled awake by a bright light coming from behind. He stood up and readied his rifle and saw the source, a lone silver car driving down the road. He stood there, hoping they wouldn't be seen. The car passed by the bus, but before Conner could let out a breath, the car stopped and backed up, stopping at the bus. Conner backed up and trained his sights on the vehicle. The door opened and a man stepped out. From the brights on the car, he could make out a large black man. The man approached the bus cautiously and peered in the windows.
"What are you doin'?" Conner called out.
The man was startled and looked up to see Conner.
"Hey man, I ain't doin' nothin'!" He claimed, putting his hands up, "The name's Geoffrey, what's yours?"
"That doesn't really matter," Conner didn't know what to say, his gun trembling in his hands.
"You got food in there?" Geoffrey asked.
"Not enough for you."
"Come on man, I got people to feed!"
"So do I."
Geoff turned towards the car then back at Conner, who readied his weapon. Conner saw him reach into his pants and pulled out a pistol. Without hesitation, Conner shot at his hand, hitting the mark. The man dropped his pistol and reeled back.
"GOD DA-, What the… Damnit…"
Just then, his car door opened. A little girl, barley 5 years old, stepped out.
"Daddy? Daddy are you ok?"
Geoff ran to the car and shooed her back inside.
"Yeh baby daddy's alright."
He then quickly got in his car and drove away. Conner sat there stunned at what he just did. Then realized that they needed to get out of there. He jumped into the bus. The occupants were already half awake thanks to the loud shot.
"What's going on?" Manny groggily asked.
"We gotta get out of here." Conner Started the bus and drove onto Lake Road, and sped towards Cleveland, not wanting to be around when the zombies would conjugate around the area where the loud noise was.
Miah's house, nothing. Ali's house, nothing. Tad's house, Erin's house, nothing. Everyone's families, gone. The group finally made it to Conner's house. His mom's van and dad's truck stood in the driveway, giving hope that someone may still be there. They walked inside and called out.
"Mom! Dad!" "Mr and Mrs. Hosier?" No response.
His pets weren't even there.
"Where the HELL is everybody?" Conner shouted in frustration.
"I'm not sure, but I'm starting to get freaked out." Replied Ali nervously. Conner looked around and spotted his dad's keys.
"Maybe they at least left us some weapons." He said, swiping them.
He went downstairs the the weapons cabinet and opened it with the keys. Inside where three shotguns, two hunting rifles, and a muzzleloader. On top of the cabinet was a safe for handguns, inside was a small personal defense 9MM and a .22 pistol. The group doled out the weapons, Conner and Erin got the shotguns, and Tad and Miah got the rifles. Conner handed Ali a shotgun, but she refused.
"I can't shoot them." She said, backing away.
"You need protection." Conner insisted.
"I can't."
Conner sighed, "At least take this," he handed her the .22.
"Fine." She gave in, and took it.
They collected as much ammo as they could. Each of them grabbed hunting vests and stuffed them full of ammo. Then they needed food. There where large shopping bags which they filled with food and water.
"Where to now?" Miah asked.
"Manny's. He's got weapons and ammo as well. Then we need to get supplies." They left the house, but Conner stopped to grab a crossbow and compound bow.
Tad looked at him questioningly, "Why would you need those?"
"We might need silent weapons." Conner put the weapons in the back of his dad's truck and everyone got in.
"We might need this too," Miah found a pair of bolt cutters and put them in the truck.
Ali in the passenger seat, Erin in the back, and Tad and Jerimiah in the bed of the truck. Conner called Manny as he pulled out of the driveway.
"You got everyone you need?" "Yeh," Manny's voice rang over the phone, "It's just me and Taylor though." Taylor was Manny's girlfriend.
"Alright. How long can you hold up?"
"Well I have all of my dad's guns and there aren't any zombies here yet."
"Alright, I'm going to make a quick stop. We're getting a bus." Conner's mom was a bus driver, and lucky for them, she left the keys to the bus garage.
They headed in the direction of the garage. The streets were completely devoid of life. The only things on the road were abandoned cars, and corpses. That's right, corpses. Dead bodies were scattered around, on the road, the sidewalk, the grass, even some cars had their deceased operators still at the wheel. Conner did his best to avoid the bodies on the road. Ali buried her head in her hands, sobbing.
"All these people…" She muttered.
In back, Jeremiah and Tad kept watch with their rifles. Tad recognized one of the bodies, his mom's fiance, Brandon in one of the cars. He had to quickly look away, and he wondered, if he's there, where is his mom? He was afraid of the answer.
The truck sped down the road, finally reaching the bus garage. The group got out and stood cautiously scanning for hostiles. There was one zombie towards the back of the building. Jeremiah took aim and shot, hitting just below the sternum. The zombie dropped to the ground in a pool of blood.
"They must not be zombies like we imagine them, they don't need headshots." Miah said questioningly.
Conner used his mom's key to get in the garage. He remembered where the office was from previous visits and lead the group through the maze of buses. They turned a corner and stumbled across a man, who looked like a janitor. He had headphones on and was sweeping the floor, seemingly oblivious to the chaos going on in the world. Conner went over and tapped the man's shoulder, with no response. He tapped the man again, this time the man looked up. He had no skin on his face, only the muscle over his skull. It groaned and went after Conner.
Conner jumped back and drew his 9MM, putting a bullet through the undead's face. The group hurriedly ran to the office and retrieved a bus key. They found the right bus, opened the garage door, and got on. He had picked a handicap bus so there would be room in the back to put food and excess weapons.
"Do you know how to drive this thing?" Erin asked Conner.
"No. But how hard can it be."
The bus roared to life as he turned the key, and he pulled out of the garage. The bus was difficult to operate at first, but eventually he got the hang of it. Outside the garage, they saw the zombie that Miah shot. It was moving again.
"Look!" Miah exclaimed, "It's still alive!"
It looked like they still need headshots.
The road to Manny's was quick. They spotted many zombies on the way. It was horrifying, many were already decaying. They reached Manny's house within 15 minutes, where him and his girlfriend, Taylor, were waiting.
"Hey," Manny said as they approached, "I grabbed all the weapons i could."
Laying on the driveway where two shotguns, one pump and one double barrel, a .357 magnum, a small sword, a large katana, and a machete.
"I can't use a gun though. I would rather use a bow or sword." Taylor interjected.
"Well you're in luck, I brought bows." Conner reassured.
They loaded the weapons in the bus, along with some more food. Then Manny had an idea.
"What if we had a ladder inside to get on the roof?"
They got a small ladder and brought it in the bus. It fit perfectly, but was in the way in the walkway between the seats.
"I got this," Tad offered, "Got any duct tape?"
He constructed a hinge system and a way to secure the ladder to the roof so it could be easily accessible.
"Where now?" Manny asked.
"We need survival supplies. Let's go to Gander Mountain." Conner suggested.
The group agreed and they went on their way. Miah and Tad this time went on top of the bus to provide lookout. Tad constructed hooks out of duct tape to secure their feet, so they wouldn't fall off while driving. They went on their way to Gander Mountain. It was another 20 minutes until they got there. It was now 12:00. They were plunged into the apocalypse only four hours ago.
They entered Gander Mountain cautiously, but didn't see anyone, or anything.
"We should split up," Conner suggested, "Some of us get supplies, and the rest get weapons."
They formed two groups. Group one was Conner, Tad, and Ali. Group two was Manny, Taylor, Miah, and Erin. Group one went to the gun section. Conner used the bolt cutters to cut the locks on the rifles. They got 3 AR-15 civilian rifles, two 12 gauge shotguns, and an AK-47 assault rifle (the civilian semi-auto version).
"Hey, check this out!" Came Tad's voice.
Two .50 caliber bolt action Sig Sauer rifles equipped with scopes. They also grabbed bag fulls of ammo of all kinds.
"Hold up a sec," Conner had an idea.
He smashed the glass counter with the bolt cutters, reveling the handguns beneath. He grabbed two m1911's, two .357 magnum revolvers, and one Judge shotgun revolver.
The two groups reunited. Group two got heavy coats for all of them, along with as many sleeping bags, and a cooler. Along with those, they got a small generator and a propane tank. They went to leave when they heard a voice.
"What the hell do you kids think you're doing?"
A very large man approached them. He was wearing an employee's uniform and was toting a hunting rifle.
"Sir, you don't understand, outside-" Conner started.
"I know damn well what's going on out there. Them dead start walkin'. And then you hooligans come in and loot my store?!"
"We were just trying to get supplies!" Manny interjected.
"I don't give a damn what you're doing, those are my supplies!"
He lifted his gun when a shot rang out.
The group ducked in fear, then realized who shot. Jeremiah had used his new rifle to shoot the man in the shoulder. The man fell backwards, screaming in agony.
"Come on let's get out of here." He said calmly, his badassery not matching his short stature.
They hurried out of the store, loading supplies on the bus. They got on and Conner realized Ali was sobbing.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"We SHOT a man!"
"This is a new world Ali, we have to do what it takes to survive."
She returned to her sobbing and Taylor went to comfort her.
"Where to now?" Tad asked as Conner started up the bus.
Right then, the radio started up, and a man's voice came from the speakers.
"…any survivors hearing this message, there are safe zones at these designated areas: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus. This message is [8 hours] old. If area's are compromised, do not fight. Leave to a new area."
"Well," answered Conner, "Looks like we're going to Cleveland."
(NOTE Yes, I researched all weapons that appear in this segment, so they all exist in Gander Mountain.)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
15. Cam Newton, Panthers
14. Matthew Stafford, Lions
13. Matt Schaub, Texans
12. Michael Vick, Eagles
11. Matt Ryan, Falcons
Thoughts: This will probably be the last time you see Cam Newton outside of the top 10 on anyone's list. The kid is going to be a star. He's probably going to be a top 5 QB for a long time.
Putting Matt Ryan at number 11 is the perfect spot for him. He's an excellent talent but falls just short of being a truly elite QB. Ryan is good, but not a threat to win a title by any means. But he is young and only getting better, so maybe this is the year Matty Ice breaks through.
10. Tony Romo, Cowboys
9. Joe Flacco, Ravens
8. Jay Cutler, Bears
7. Philip Rivers, Chargers
6. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
Thoughts: These QB's seemed to be ranked appropriately and I don't have much of a thought about them, but my wife was furious that Jay Cutler would be ranked number 8. It had nothing to do with the fact that she's been a life long Packers fan but more with the fact that Culter married Kristen Cavallari the mortal enemy of Lauren Conrad of the Hills. Women have the best sports logic in the world.
5. Eli Manning, Giants
4. Peyton Manning, Broncos
Thoughts: I think Jaws is showing a lot of faith in Peyton Manning and this ranking might be based on reputation alone. Even if Peyton comes into the season 100 percent it still might take him the majority of the year to get accustomed to being an NFL QB again. I think at this point a number 10 ranking is probably more appropriate.
This ranking is about right for Eli. I would have put him at number 4, but that's just nitpicking. Most analysts laughed last year when Eli said he was an elite quarterback and in Tom Brady's league. But after last years playoff run I doubt anyone doubts Eli now. On any given day the top 6 quarterbacks on Jaw's list can play like the best QB in the league.
3. Tom Brady, Patriots
2. Drew Brees, Saints
1. Aaron Rodgers Packers
Thoughts: As great as Brady and Brees were last year, there should be no question who is the best QB in the league at the moment. Rodgers put up a regular season for the ages last year, and won his first MVP in the process. That does not mean that either Brady or Brees cannot overtake him this upcoming season. Both QB's are talented enough to be called the best in the league.
Whether are not you agree or disagree with Jaw's list, there is one thing that is certain: football season is almost here- and I couldn't be more grateful.


text:
— Peter Parks shipped several images from this center in China, where numerous people who lost their limbs in last year's earthquake are rehabilitated. It reminds me of the phrase "signature injury," used to describe the brain trauma suffered by US troops in Iraq.
Discuss as:Tuesday May 12, 2009 8:00 PM


text:
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Book your room at Sleep Inn & Suites Riverfront
Standard Room, 1 King Bed, Non SmokingMax Occupancy: 2 guests (up to 1 child, 1 infant)
Standard Double Room, 2 Double Beds, Non SmokingMax Occupancy: 4 guests (up to 3 children, 3 infants)
Ellenton hotel with an outdoor pool
Situated in the city center, this hotel is close to Prime Outlets at Ellenton, Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex, and Gamble Plantation. Nearby attractions also include Gamble Plantation State Park.
Hotel Features
In addition to complimentary wireless Internet access, Sleep Inn & Suites Riverfront provides a 24-hour business center, laundry facilities, and a computer station.
Room Amenities
Televisions come with satellite channels. Guestrooms also feature complimentary wireless Internet access, refrigerators, and microwaves.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!
Sleep Inn & Suites Riverfront
At your hotel
A computer station is located on site and high-speed wireless Internet access is complimentary. This hotel offers access to a 24-hour business center. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast. Event facilities measure 400 square feet (36 square meters). This Ellenton hotel also offers an outdoor pool, multilingual staff, and coffee/tea in the lobby. Complimentary self parking is available on site.
- Complimentary newspapers in lobby
- 24-hour business center
- Conference space size (feet) - 400
- Conference space size (meters) - 36
- Computer station
- Free Wi-Fi
- Outdoor pool
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- 24-hour front desk
- Total number of rooms - 67
- Number of floors - 4
- Coffee/tea in lobby
- Free breakfast
- Elevator/lift
- Laundry facilities
- Multilingual staff
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Free self parking
Stay connected
Available in all rooms: Free Wi-Fi
Available in some public areas: Free Wi-Fi
Park your car
Free self parking
In your room
- Connecting/adjoining rooms available
- Cribs/infant beds (complimentary)
- Free Wi-Fi
- Rollaway/extra beds available
- Pay movies
- Air conditioning
- Phone
- Satellite TV service
- Coffee/tea maker
- Complimentary weekday newspaper
- Desk
- Free local calls
- Hair dryer
- Iron/ironing board
- Microwave
- Refrigerator
Eat and drink
Guests are offered a complimentary buffet breakfast.
To make requests for specific accessibility needs, complete the "Special or Accessibility Requests" section of "Trip Preferences" when you book your hotel.
- In-room accessibility
The fine print for Sleep Inn & Suites Riverfront
When you arrive
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
When you leave
Check-out time is 11 AM
How you can pay
Accepted at this hotel: American Express, Carte Blanche, Diners Club, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, JCB International
Your pets
Pets allowed, Maximum number of pets per room 2, Pet maximum weight in lb is 70
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
- Pet fee: USD 20 per day
- Rollaway bed fee: USD 10.00 per night
We should mention
The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation.


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Japan is home to some of the world's most exotic tuning companies and certainly, there are some that prop out of the woodwork now and then. Turns out, a new tuning company has just opened shop in Osaka, and they're preparing a program for the almighty Nissan GT-R as their introduction into the world of tuning cars.
In its attempt to catch the tuning world's attention, BenSopra is developing a ridiculous GT-R that's bound to blow the roof off the Tokyo Auto Show in a few months time.
BenSopra is keeping full details of the car under wraps, although renderings of the project have made their way on the Web. As far as the aerodynamic kit is concerned, the BenSopra-tuned GT-R appears to have massive rear fenders and a new rear wing and diffuser, among other things.
For whatever extreme looks it possesses, the BenSopra-tuned GT-R is highlighted by what's rumored to a massive engine upgrade that takes Godzilla's output all the way up to 1,000 horsepower.