System Of The Undead

Chapter 17: Fight-Or-Flight?

"What was that?" General X questioned, he heard the gunshot as it echoed throughout the building and a series of gunshots soon followed.

This put everyone on guard and even the sniper that was watching what was happening outside noticed the zombies were pouring in.

He knew that there was no way the doors would hold with that many zombies pushing against them.

He also knew that it wouldn't make any difference to waste bullets, it wouldn't dent their numbers.

"IT WAS A GUNSHOT!" Bella freaked out because she knew what this meant, she wanted to rush to the door to find her way out but she was halted by Sam who grabbed her forearm.

Bella tried to wrestle her way from his grasp but even with her build, this proved to be impossible.

"We cannot go outside when we don't even know what is going on!" Sam cautioned her.

Lillian embraced her older sister because she feared the worse.

Rachel was scared too but she had to put on a brave face; the military men didn't share this fear as they simply armed themselves to the teeth with what was left.

They planned on going out fighting if they were going to die as they gave the ladies pistols to defend themselves should they need it.

"Remember, the last one standing puts a bullet in each of our heads," General X said in a calm tone and the tone of his voice showed the battles he has won in his life.

"Ladies, lock yourself in here and pray to whatever God you serve..." Sam said, heaving a frustrated sigh.

He couldn't blame their current misfortune on the ladies because it was Clementine that didn't sweep the building properly.

X led the way as the door was slowly opened but there were no zombies in sight showing that they were yet to reach this far even though the building would soon be swarmed.

They could have slipped out during the zombies' comatose state but they remained because they understood that if they could provide useful information to their other bases then they might stand a chance to survive this.

They were willing to sacrifice themselves if it meant saving humanity, they wanted to study the zombies' behaviour because they hadn't seen anything like this up until now.

-

The men moved in formation, X took the lead as he led the younger men into the hallway, they walked fast but quietly, he didn't want to make any noise that they didn't need to.

"Where is Clementine?" Sam asked but he got no response because no one knew if she was even still alive, they had to focus on their survival first.

X was a true veteran, the way he moved was that of a warrior but the other two behind him didn't move that way showing that they didn't have the same experience.

The first set of zombies appeared and precise shots to the head eliminated them before they could even take a step towards them.

"Move..." X commanded as they advanced. If they encountered zombies first before Clementine, that meant that wherever she was, if she was even still alive, the zombies had somehow flanked her. Closing off her return path meant that they were stranded somewhere.

X was killing the zombies with precision, killing the zombies with Sam and the other person saving their ammunition. X knew it might be best to spread out to cover more ground but he knew that this would all be nought if Clementine was dead.

A zombie lunged from one of the corridors behind them, it managed to grab the sniper from the back but due to its position.

It not only made it impossible for the men to shoot the zombie but it also made it hard for the sniper to defend himself against the zombie,

It had grabbed his neck and the protective gear made his body heavier so he was wrestled to the ground. Before X knew it, more zombies poured out from the section.

"Go on ahead!" X commanded Sam as he took out a dagger to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

The first zombie tried to grab X but this was a piece of cake for the military man as he sidestepped the zombie while simultaneously decapitating it with a single strike.

"You have no idea how many men I have killed but never would I have realized that I would be killing the dead!" X joked as his big gun was not ideal to use in close combat, he knew he had to rescue the sniper but the last thing that Sam saw was their position being swarmed right before obeying his General's order.

-

In a dark room, space was tight and two bodies were pressed up against one another.

Clementine and Jason had taken cover after they found out that the zombies had made their way around them.

They hid here but something told them that they wouldn't be coming out anytime soon.

If the zombies heard any noise, there was no telling what they would do.

Jason's heart was beating but Clementine remained calm, she wasn't frightened one bit even though Jason could tell by her heartbeat that something was making her nervous.

"Are you alright?" Jason whispered and Clementine nodded but this only made her heart race even more.

"We need to get out of here," Clementine muttered.

"Is it possible for the zombies to communicate?" Clementine asked because she felt uneasy, she suspected that it was the zombie down there that called the rest and not her gunshot but Jason knew if it was a new type of zombie then his system would have alerted him of this threat.

"I don't think so..." Jason responded but this didn't ease Clementine's worry.

"They are being drawn here... They have been coming here for hours..." Clementine whispered.

"What do you mean?" Jason wasn't following what she was saying or trying to suggest.

"The zombies... They communicate!"