[seconds after the group left] With a heavy thud Tommy's father shoved the dresser back into place clear minded that this was the right choice even though his wife thought otherwise.
("We should have gone with them") she whispered desperately to her husband.
("There is nowhere to go, you want to risk us for a stranger's word") he argued. his wife was about to shout back when something slammed against the door. The parents flicked their gazes at the door as panic seeped through their body. Another bang slammed into the door and the parents backed up and away from the threat. Tommy walked out of his room hearing the slams. Another slam and the flimsy door was showing damage as the mother instinctively blocked her child as the father reached for a Broom handle with a knife taped to it. Another slam and the door was slightly ajar on the top edge as the locks were the only thing holding it in place, though not for long.
Seeing that opening, hands started to reach though as shouts and yells signaled the dead had come for them. The father breathed out and looked at his wife and son. ("Go to the roof, save our son") he said resolutely as the door slowly creaked and moaned out its final resistance as the lock broke and three dead crawled into the room. The father was fast enough to stab one in the chest and then use his strength to send it to the ground and hold it. another was close behind and tackled the father to the ground teeth first. The mother saw the third heading for her and Tommy and braced to hold it firm so Tommy could run, but a muffled gunshot sent the dead to its final rest. She looked shocked and saw that Tommy had a handgun with one of those makeshift suppressors on it.
Tommy didn't hesitate and turned to the speared dead, getting back up and sending a round to kill it, before turning and ending the life of the one on top of his father. Yet, the damage was already done as his father started to twist and turn, his body trying desperately to fight the virus that was quickly killing him. Tommy breathed heavily as his hands shook seeing his father dying. His mother gazed as well, but remembered what the man she loved asked of her and grabbed the gun before taking her son's hand and running for the roof.
#####
An eerie creek echoed into the emergence stairwell as Logan opened the door slowly. like the hallway he pie-ed the door and immediately met an undead head on as it lunged at him. For the third time in this new life of his he shifted one of his arms into the path of the dead's bite and let it munch on the dense rubber. Akane shifted behind him and quickly drew her knife to end the threat with a stab to the back of its head. The death had earned a cacophony of screams from below and Logan pushed Akane forward.
"Move, move, move!" he shouted out as Gerry pushed his family to follow Akane while Logan took up the rear. Metal clanged and banged as both the living and the dead ran up the stairs, with the dead gaining on the slow moving group. It wasn't their fault as there were two children and a mother who wasn't exactly a marathon runner. Still they had a head start on the dead and managed to reach a point where Gerry saw a distraction. Just ahead of Akane was a mountain of detritus that the former tenants had likely used as a barricade for the dead.
"Karin, follow Akane!" Gerry shouted as he saw the smaller woman run past further up the stair, her gun raised as she watched for anything in their path. his wife did as he wanted while he paused at a refrigerator and let Logan pass. The Taller man saw what he was going for and nodded as he gripped the appliance with Gerry, and threw the trash down. It was none too soon as the refrigerator slammed into a dead hot on Logan's heels, while more Trash blocked off the group following for a moment. A moment that didn't last long as Logan could see them start to crawl inhumanly on top restarting their pursuit.
Logan raised his gun and dropped a few but quickly followed Gerry up the stairs to go after their wives. Even with the distraction the dead were still faster and Logan and Gerry both paused, Gerry tossing his wife the pack with the supplies, before taking a stand and dropping a few. Logan fired his gun and found the damn things too twitchy to land a clean shot as he had to kick a close one into a few more to finally get a good shot. Gerry fired his only round, unable to rack the next shot given the threat was to close. He managed to stab another in the head with his makeshift bayonet before devolving into using the gun as a club to knock another into the shaft.
Akane breached into the roof and Karin was quick to pop flares signaling the helicopter that was in the air. Bracing against the door, the asian woman shifted to her rifle waiting for both Gerry and Logan.
"Shit!" Gerry said as one of the last undead managed to knock him off his feet and try to bite him. He held it back with his gun as its blood accidently seeped into his mouth, sending him into a panicked fear as he might be infected now. Logan had dropped his gun and was now knife fighting the last of his opponents. The dead lunged like Gerry's but Logan side stepped before kicking out the dead's knee, sending it into a kneeling position. He grabbed the things head and brought his bowie into the back of its neck, finally killing it. As he pulled the knife out he saw Gerry managed to stab his attacker in the head before throwing it off. The Investigator got up and looked frazzled yet noticed two people behind Logan.
"Please" Tommy's mother begged as she held her son and gun. Logan and Gerry didn't hesitate as they pulled the mother and son forward while running behind.
"Living, Living, Living!" shouted Logan as he knew his wife was waiting for a threat. Akane heard her husband shout and dropped her gun as Tommy, his mother, Gerry, and finally Logan rushed past her. Gerry ran to the edge of the building as Logan and Akane slammed the door shut and braced it with their bodies. Tommy and his mother huddled with Karin as she screamed at Gerry who was counting to twelve. The Chopper was starting to land when Gerry stumbled back onto the roof.
"I, I got in my mouth" he said, spitting as he breathed out in relief at not being infected.
"You're fine!" Karin stated firmly as she refused the death of her husband. She needed him for the family and for her sanity to stay intact. As the chopper landed the door was slammed into and Akane and Logan stressed their muscles.
"Gerry, get to the Chopper!" Akane shouted with a slight accent making Logan snort.
"Wrong movie hon," He said as Gerry ran with the others to the chopper. "Go, it's easier if I'm last," he said and Akane nodded. She pushed off the door and booked it to the chopper as Logan held the door with his bigger size. The security glass shattered and he felt pressure on his arm guard as a dead tried to bite him. Akane made it with the group and one of the soldiers jumped from the copter and shouldered his rifle as he readied for the small hoard. Logan saw this and with a breath he broke from the door and ran, the door broke open not a second later and out came the dead.
His peak fitness had him running fast and moving by the soldier fast enough that the man could start to backpedal before the second dead fully made it through the door. Tommy's mother, Maria, gasped as the first undead was her husband, fully gone to the virus. she shed a tear as the soldier put him down with a shot to the head and Tommy blinked shell shocked yet still had the forethought to hug his crying mother. Logan hopped in and the lone soldier joined him soon after. The copter took off as the rest of the dead stormed out, a few hopping onto the bottom trying to kill the living inside. A firm boot to the face sent them to the asphalt below and the copter took off to safety.
##### Side story #####
The dead ran left and right to the consonant sounds around them, their instincts telling them to find the next living to infect. Among them was a black man, alive, walking through the hoard with an old shopping cart. The cart was filled with everything he owned, and his clothes told of wear and tear that most homeless had. His cart's squeaky wheels would cause the dead to turn towards him and semi lunge, before pausing and losing interest. over and over they would track the black man before ignoring him and his noise.
"Guess God finally gave me a blessing" the man said as he roamed the streets among the dead. He pushed it all the way to the NJ Mart, a place his cart came from a few years back. entering the store he found more of the dead roaming but again they didn't care for him and left the man to his wants. the world was in shambles and that meant none would mind as the man started to fill his cart with bread, cans of food, sweets, meats, and more booze. he ripped open the box of sweets and munched on good clean food as he put a tent into his cart while spotting a cheap grill on display.
Leaving the store with both the cart and a grill he spotted a nice sized truck and walked over. using the back as a table he pulled out his food, put charcoal in the grill, and started to cook. The smell and sight brought back memories of his childhood, a time when life was so easy. a horrid cough came from his lips and his lung shook in pain, yet he was used to the feeling at this point. throwing a nice juicy steak on the hot grill he turned to a nearby undead.
"Well, it's not the best company, but better than no company" the man said as he set up his new tent and chair he found in the truck bed. he pulled out a nice bottle of booze and chugged some, his body relaxing as he saw a copter flying off in the distance. "I hope those folks made it to safety, they seemed like good people..."
"Jerry?" a man said and Jerry turned to see his friend Larry. he was a younger homeless man, pocked marked from drug use and missing an arm. The man was a vet and looked worse for wear no matter when you saw him.
"Larry!" he said and put another steak on. "Come join me for the end times" he said with a smile and Larry did just that. The two men sat down as the dead roamed around them, both talking into the day and enjoying themselves as long as they could.