The group gathered in the common area, the weight of their recent decisions hanging heavily in the air. Troy, who had been unusually quiet for days, finally spoke up, his voice trembling with fear and desperation.
Troy said his throat was heavy from emotion and started cracking. "I need to talk about something," Troy said, his throat heavy with emotion. It's my sister... I can't stop thinking about her."
The room fell silent, lt spreading through the group like a virus. In the chaos of their own survival, they had completely forgotten about Troy's sister, who was still trapped in an apartment miles away.
Hruday said his mind was thinking of tons of dark outcomes and reactions. "Troy, we haven't forgotten. We'll find a way to get her back, I promise."
Michael: nodding and taking a brief pause said "We'll figure it out, man. There's less zombie activity now. Maybe we can make a quick trip out there."
But even as they spoke, the reality of the situation weighed heavily on everyone. The journey was long, the roads were dangerous, and there were too many variables. They all knew it, but no one wanted to say it out loud.
Roy said, trying to sound reassuring as he saw the tense pause. "It's risky, sure, but we'll come up with a plan.
We'll need to move fast; we can use the armored car my father has been making we will take that and go inside the church and exit from its main gate towards the abandoned college road. That's it, then. Make a right and just keep going, making a few turns along the way until we reach her place. Grab her and head back."
"Roy fell silent, thinking, Ah, 'the gate is blocked and filled with zombies and..."
The group fell into a tense silence as they realized the plan sounded too optimistic, almost foolish. The idea of making it to Troy's sister without attracting hordes of zombies or running into other dangers seemed increasingly unlikely, and coming back in the same way seemed scary, to say the least.
Michael forced a smile and said, "We'll make it work, Troy. Don't worry."
Troy nodded, forcing a smile of his own. "Thanks. I really appreciate it." which sounded more like sarcasm or a subtle way of saying I know it.
But inside, Troy knew the truth. They were offering him nothing but false hope. He could see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices. The uncertainty was palpable, and it gnawed at him like a festering wound, but he had no choice because the pain of not being there for her sister was more daunting and everlasting than the fear of uncertainty. He pretended to accept their reassurances, but in his heart, he was already planning something else.
---
The next morning, the group set out on an expedition to find and rescue survivors from the doctor's dorm nearby. The dormitory was just behind their compound, surrounded by wide gardens and tall trees, giving it a deceptively peaceful appearance. They decided to approach from the west side, using the apartment compound's higher ground to their advantage.
Hruday led everyone this time everyone was prepared by Shopia ahead of time as he had already issued a quest in the mercenary board so everyone was thoroughly prepared both mentally and physically well at least as much as they could and the recent training had made them flexible both mentally and physically getting used to this whole system and fear of not gaining points made sure to drag even the laziest once to participate.
the group as they jumped over the compound wall and made their way toward the dorm buildings. The area was eerily quiet, with only a few zombies wandering aimlessly among the trees. They moved cautiously, sticking to the shadows and keeping their weapons ready.
Hruday whispered "Alright, stick to the plan. Group A will climb the buildings, Group B will find and start the vehicles, and they will be ready to lure zombies the hard way, or we will bait the zombies away from the dorm as planned, whereas Nick will close the gate immediately as others lure them out, or just act according to the situation.
and then we'll move inside the building after locating any trapped survivors for the climbing team and getting the survivors out."
The group nodded in agreement, splitting up to lure the zombies away while the others prepared to enter the dorm. It was a well-coordinated effort, with each member playing their part to keep the undead distracted.
But they had to use both baiting methods simultaneously. First, the engaging method used various tools such as speakers, lights, and vehicles, but since another set of zombies was coming from closed apartments and inside the dorms, they had to lure them out and come back to engage the existing ones.
hruday saw some really disturbing disgusting scenes and loved the decision that he had made sure no one ate anything before this fungus growing on almost liquidated bodies that were slocked in a black water tub filled with wiggling black and crawling white worms and mosquitoes and houseflies kissing on it so bad it made hruday shudder and almost lose balance he still puked even though he hadn't eaten anything in the morning emptying his stomach.
Even though hruday had advised everyone not to look, people filled with curiosity and itchiness saw it and puked one after the other, some getting extremely disgusted. This was one of the few ones that didn't give off any smells until they got close to rest. They had since avoided it, but still, they all had to scream to check if there was anyone.
hruday saw someone who was still alive trapped in the kitchen with zombie friends. After marking a few places, they decided to leave the apartments with the zombies and disgusting gnarly corpses there. They didn't have enough fuel, time, or guts to burn them.
Meanwhile, Troy stayed back, pretending to keep watch near the car. His mind raced as he watched the others disappear into the dorm. This was his chance. He knew the risks and knew the others would be furious, but he had to try.
Troy mutters "I'm sorry, guys. I have to do this."
With everyone preoccupied, Troy quietly grabbed the car keys and slipped into the driver's seat, grabbing some supplies. His hands trembled as he started the engine; the sound was almost deafening in the silence. He took a deep breath. "God, I hope I know enough to reach there," he thought, and he drove off.
Troy turned left, heading straight toward the hospital and bus stand. He took a sharp left, narrowly avoiding other cars and zombies. He crushed some zombies under the tires, heading toward the church gate road as fast as he could. Beside him, he saw the college grounds, and in the mirror, zombies were running, baring their vicious, fang-like teeth. His heart skipped a beat when he saw zombies ahead of him.
Determined to crush them, Troy sped down the road. But as zombies began to appear in greater numbers, drawn by the noise, panic set in. His heart pounded as he swerved to avoid them, his vision narrowing with fear.
As he reached the turn toward the church, a group of zombies suddenly stumbled into the road. Troy yanked the wheel to avoid them, but it was too late. The car skidded out of control due to all the blood and brain matter, slamming into a tree with a sickening crunch.
The impact was jarring, the world spinning around him as the car came to a halt. Dazed and injured, Troy struggled to focus, the sound of zombies closing in from all sides filling his ears. He knew he was trapped.
Back at the dorm, the group had successfully cleared the area and was leading the survivors out when they heard the car engine revving in the distance.
Hruday realized instantly "Troy, damn it! I knew it"
They rushed toward the sound, their hearts sinking as they saw the car speeding up. Hruday quickly ran toward Roy's father's newly modified van with a sliding door. They hopped in; the van 6 seat only had two seats in the front; the rest had been removed along with useless things that once were almost basic features all removed to reduce the weight as much as possible. instead other ugly things were fitted well more like welded the windows had a steel mesh protecting it
the whole body had a protective skeleton the front and back had metallic pushers it was sturdy and heavy but the van itself was known for being heavy-duty and loved by cartels, kidnappers and goods transporters for its dual usage as for the criminals its speed and quality being top-notch even though it didn't have any advanced things operated by metal keys and with no airbags or touch screens but it was huge old and useful but the only thing was speed due to its weight tho there weren't exactly sure how much of it had reduced whatever it was it was going to drink fuel like a thirsty whore
They followed the trail of zombies leading to the crashed car near the church's second main gate. Hruday, Michael, and Roy sprinted ahead, pushing through the growing horde to reach Troy.
Michael shouted "Troy! You fucking idiot!"
They fought their way to the car, fending off zombies with makeshift weapons. Hruday reached the driver's side, wrenching the door open to find Troy slumped over the wheel, blood trickling down his forehead.
Hruday desperately pulled Troy slapping him and shouting "Come on, man, stand up!"
They pulled Troy out of the wreckage, but the situation was dire. Zombies were closing in from all sides, and their escape route was rapidly disappearing.
Roy: (panicking) "We're going to get surrounded! We need to move!"
Hruday's eyes were bloodshot as he scanned the area, his mind overclocking. He grabbed a bat and ran, delivering a jumping shot to a zombie's head. For the first time, he saw a huge gaping hole in the zombie's skull blood sprouting from it like a volcano.
He was surprised because he had always run from zombies even if he killed them it hadn't been this violent and direct all he had ever done was make it lose consciousness he quickly composed himself and smashed everything in his way, aiming at the zombies' heads to ensure they wouldn't get back up.
Roy and Michael joined him, while Mark ran toward the church gate to open it. He climbed up to avoid the zombies and prepared to close the gate as soon as the van got in.
Hruday grimly said "We're not leaving him behind. We have to make it back to the church gate. Move, now!"
They half-carried and half-dragged Troy to the van while defending him and themself, one thing that was good here was zombies had varied fighting their way back toward the church gate. The van sped through, crushing zombies in its path. When the van got stuck, they opened the windows and used pushers and emergency fire extinguishers to plow through the remaining zombies. It was a frantic, desperate struggle, with the group pushing themselves to the limit to keep the zombies at bay.
They finally made it back to the church gate. Mark couldn't close the gate, so Hruday used the van to block the entrance, then ran outside to fend off the remaining zombies still chasing them. Once inside, the rest of the group barricaded the gate, but they had lost two cars and drawn a massive horde of zombies to their location.
As they secured the area, the tension exploded.
criminal 1 said angrily "What the hell were you thinking, Troy? You almost got us all killed!"
scout leader "We lost two cars because of you! Do you even care about anyone but yourself?"
Scout Leader: coldly "This is exactly what happens when we let emotions drive our decisions. We're lucky to be alive right now, but we can't keep going like this. That's why we shouldn't let a bunch of teenagers run wild doing whatever they want
Hruday, struggling to catch his breath and control his urge, he couldn't muster a smart response. He thought, Yeah, I could argue that he lured the zombies away", but that wasn't a good argument at all. The weight of the situation was crushing, and the blame was already beginning to spread like wildfire.
Sophia: (stepping in) "Enough. We all know this was a mistake, but yelling at each other isn't going to fix anything. We need to regroup, secure the area, and then figure out our next move."
The group slowly calmed down, the anger and frustration simmering just below the surface. But the damage was done. Trust was eroding, and the cracks in their unity were becoming more and more apparent.
As they carried Troy inside, Hruday couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something much worse than the argument that was going to happen.