Knox Event - The Collapse - Chapters 6 & 7

[TheMitcher]

Chapter 6

 

Ross led Beth and Cindy through the streets while he carried his copious load. His legs felt they were on fire and his back began to feel sore, but he tried to keep it in his mind as an abstract for the moment. Not long after passing the area he killed the climber, he caught sight of five more walkers in the corner of his eye. Approaching the site. He backed behind the fence, holding his arm out to stop Beth and Cindy from approaching.

        "Got a bunch. Hold up." Ross said, looking around the area. He saw a small rock sitting beside the road and looked around, throwing it at the corner of a nearby house and falling back behind the fence further to keep hidden. The rock hurled in the air and hit the house with a clunk, and the group of walkers began to walk in the direction of the sound. After which, he turned to Beth.

        "You'll have to pick Cindy up and carry her. We gotta pass before they reach the other side of the house." Ross said. Beth looked over to Cindy as she took her daughters hand, nodding and scooping the child up with her free hand, and they began to quickly move across the street.

        They turned the corner and ducked behind some foliage once they cleared the fence to the recess yard and Beth kept Cindy held tight, "Are we almost there?" Beth asked as her daughter began to start fussing a little.

        "Yeah." Ross said, making his way to the wall and poking his head around the corner, "Looks clear from here. Let's get to the door." He added. Beth took a few breaths and stood back up, making her way behind Ross as they went to the door to the school. Once inside, her and Cindy immediately made their way to the nurse's office where they were told Franklin was. 

        John was helping Franklin with his intense fever, as well as changing the bloodied bandages on the location of the bite. Beth looked in terror as the realization hit her; this was real. Her husband was in terrible shape and it didn't look like he would pull through. Tears welled in her eyes as she hugged her ill husband, trying desperately not to weep for Cindy's sake.

        "I can't express how grateful I am that you brought them here, Ross... Seriously, thank you." Franklin said, his voice seeming more calm than it was before.

        "Don't mention it man. It was just the right thing to do." Ross said, shaking his head as he leaned against the doorframe, "I'm gonna look for other survivors. See if I can't get 'em to rally with us." He added.

        "I managed to snag a map from the house before we left." John said before making his way to his bags, "Give me a moment and I'll get where our friends live."

        "Alright, I'll need some time to pack up. Can I take some bandages and disinfectant with me? Maybe a thing of painkillers just in case."

        "Of course, I'll have it ready for ya while I work on the map." John said with a nod. Ross turned back into the break room to grab some sandwiches, a couple pieces of fruit from the fridge, and a Hi-Hi snack cake from the pantry to take with him, placing it all in a lunchbox which he put in his backpack. He topped off water from the fountain just outside the doctors office and returned.

        "Here's your map 'n meds." John said as he handed everything over to Ross, "Be very careful when you head out. People are scared, and they might not be as trustworthy as they used to be." He added in warning.

        "Thanks for the heads up, doc. Wish me luck." Ross said as he made his way out. He took a look at his map, and then instead of turning right; he went left toward the string of houses across the street.

        "Welp. Off into bat country, then." Ross said. He pulled his crowbar out of his strapping and took a deep breath to steel his nerves before wandering down the road. The closest house was one marked "Pete's" and Ross made his way into the yard, cautiously scanning his surroundings as he approached the door, giving a knock. An older man answered the door.

        "Can I help ya?" He asked.

        "I'm a friend of John's, shits hitting the fan and he wanted me to come bring you to our camp at the school." Ross explained.

        "Well, if John thinks it's a good idea, I'll be on my way." The man named Pete said.

        "Pack anything you can take, and bring a weapon for protection. We're anticipating a long haul kinda deal."

        "In that case I'll gather my gardenin' tools." Pete said, "Got plenty o' seeds too."

        "Alright, you need an escort?"

        "I think I can handle myself on the way there." Pete said, shaking his head.

        "Alright. I'll see you there. I've gotta round up others." Ross said before turning to leave. After giving his map another look, a man by the name of Martin was next. Ross crossed the street and headed along the road.

        As Ross passed the first house, he noticed a walker off to the right. It had noticed him and began making its way over slowly with a snarl. Ross kept low, making sure it was the only one and waited for it to approach. Once it was in range, a strike with his crowbar sent it reeling to the floor, and a follow-up strike finished it off. After the encounter, Ross walked up to the door and knocked.

        "Hello? Martin? I'm a friend of Pete's! He sent me to check on you, see if you wanted to join our camp?" Ross said. There was no response. Ross tried the door to find it was locked, and looked around the yard. After seeing no windows on the front of the house, Ross decided to try the sides, making his way to his right. After turning the corner, he saw a window leading into the kitchen and took a look at the latch to see it was open.

        Ross put his hands on the top and began to push upwards, inching the window to a point he could easily get his fingers in the bottom and began to open the window the rest of the way so he could wriggle his way through. He had to climb over the kitchen sink and counter, being careful to not put any weight on the faucet to avoid breaking it. 

        His feet hit the ground and he looked around the room cautiously. The room was clean, and he looked across the kitchen and living room to see two doors on the opposite wall. He slowly drew closer, seeing a third door appearing from behind the wall on his right. After making his way into the living room, he looked right, seeing another door on the wall behind him in the furthest corner of the room.

        "Martin?" Ross called out, slowly making his way through to check the rooms. He started with the door furthest to the left. Once it opened, he looked inside to see a supply closet with tools still in the shelf, and looked to the two doors to his right, making his way into the next one up.

        The door came open, and Ross heard something shuffling in the corner. He readied his crowbar, just in case.

        "I'm a friend, are you alright?" Ross asked, slowly creeping into the room and propping the door all the way open in case he needed to back out into the light.

        "What the fuck do ya want???" A voice called out from the corner, "I wanna be left ALONE!"

        "Sorry man, John sent me out to find his friends to bring back to the school." Ross explained, "I'm not gonna force ya to come if you don't want to." He added, lowering his weapon and relaxing a bit.

        "You got supplies?" Martin asked.

        "Yeah. Found some food and medicine, even brought a bit of our own when we holed up." Ross replied in explanation, "Once I make sure our friends are safe, I'm gonna start figuring out our beds and more supplies."

        There was a moment of silence before Martin spoke again, "You got any supplies on you?" He asked. Ross seemed a little unsettled by the question for reasons unknown to him, but he decided to give a benefit of a doubt.

        "Yeah, I've got some on me, I think I can spare a lit-" He said before he was interrupted by the sound of a gun chambering a round.

        "Give it to me. All of it." Martin said. Ross's eyes widened as he fought the urge to lunge at Martin. With a defeated sigh, he took his school bag off and began to hand it over with his right hand.

        "Your weapon too." Martin said.

        "How am I gonna protect myself against the walkers?"

        "That's a you problem." Martin said, just as he was bracing to pull the trigger, he was caught off guard by the sound of his bedroom window opening. He turned around, his expression showing deep shock as a walker climbed into the window. He took aim and pulled the trigger, blowing its head off. He turned back to try to shoot Ross, only to take the crowbar to the temple, knocking him to the floor.

        "I meant no harm to you, asshole. I was tryina help, and you tried to rob and kill me." Ross said, kicking the shotgun away from Martin's hand and planting his foot on Martin's chest, pinning him to the floor, "You reap what you sew." He added before raising his crowbar to deal a finishing blow before his ear caught the snarls of incoming walkers. He lowered his crowbar and looked out the window, looking back to Martin and digging the straight edge into Martin's leg, giving an aggressive twist.

       Martin cried out in agony as the crowbar twisted, and he tried to grab Ross before getting a firm punch to the nose.

       "Sounds like your gun called more. I'm leaving, have fun cleaning up your mess." He said before walking out and locking the door, slamming it behind him before quickly racing his way outside to find a safe spot to hide for a moment.

        Ross got out the front door and looked around the side of the house through the back yard. He saw the fenceline to the school and ducked down, creeping his way in a crouched jog to get his back to safety and creep along to the fence's edge near the street. Seeing no walkers in the immediate area, he looked into his map to see Bill's house was the next closest spot. He returned his map back to his bag and made his way across the street. 
 

Chapter 7

 

        Once he was against the wall, he looked back to notice the walker that was chasing him earlier had lost interest and began following the others to the sound of the gunshot earlier. There looked to be at least twenty there now, banging their heads and hands on the windows, desperately trying to break in. Ross then made his way over to the front door and knocked a few times. Bill answered and looked over at the mob, his eyes widened.

 

        "Mind if I come in a sec? I'll explain everything." Ross asked, flicking . Bill turned back and nodded, stepping aside to let Ross in before shutting the door behind them. Once inside, Ross began to explain everything he's learned.

 

        "Sorry about the noise. Someone tried to rob me." Ross said, "Had to bug out before the walkers came around. Probably heard the shot for miles."

 

        "No need ta worry." Bill said, "Ya were robbed? You alright?" He asked.

 

        "Eh, you should see the other guy." Ross said, "Walker went through the window and scared him, gave me a chance to get the drop on him." 

 

        "So you call them biters walkers?" Bill said, scratching his chin with a puzzled expression.

 

        "Yeah, walking corpses. I take it you call 'em that..." Ross started,"cause they bite." Bill stated finishing the sentence for Ross. "Yup." Bill added.

 

        "Makes sense. Anyway, I wrote everything I know about em, you wanna take a read while I help ya pack?"

 

        "Naw, I'm dyslexic." Bill replied, "Only know how to say that right cause ma taught me." 

 

        "Oh, in that case I'll fill you in word of mouth, then." Ross answered, following Bill to his bedroom where Bill grabbed a duffel bag, tipping it upside down and shaking the contents, sifting through for anything he or Ross could use.

 

        There was an empty lunchbox, a first aid kit, some clothing, and a notebook with doodles, a pencil, and some pens. Ross helped organize everything to a more neat setup, even teaching Bill how to properly roll his clothing for easier storage.

 

        "So there are walkers, Sprinters, and apparently climbers. Also with a few crawlers in the mix." Ross explained, "I've taken to calling them those because they seem to act differently. You know all those zombie movies?" Ross asked.

 

        "Not really, no." Bill replied as he shook his head.

 

        "So 'zombie' is the encompassing term for the living dead here. The names are just to tell 'em apart by how they behave." Ross elaborated, "You'll notice a lot of them say zombie in them, and while they behave the same in that world, another movies zombies behave completely differently. That isn't the case here. Some run, one climbed, but most walk, and those unable to walk, crawl... Though one seemed it actively made a choice to do so rather than waste time to get up."

 

        "I'm comin' with ya. Sounds like you can use the backup." Bill said, "I insist."

 

        "Alright, Mollie's is my last stop. You have a w-" Ross asked before Bill pulled a large sledgehammer out from beneath his bed, "Nevermind."

 

        Bill let out a hearty chuckle, "I work construction, have this when I wanna do somethin' on the house." He explained, patting the head a couple of times, "Guess it's gon' be smashin' biters now."

 

        "Try to aim for the head. But honestly, I think you can keep 'em down regardless where ya hit 'em." Ross said, "I'll take point, you watch my back."

 

        Bill simply replied with a quiet nod. Once the two had finished packing, they set off, cutting across Bill's yard to get to the road and pass a nearby fence. Upon making it to the street, Bill's eyes widened as he pointed to a number of corpses shambling their way. One took off in a dead sprint upon catching Bill's scent on the wind, charging directly at him.

 

        Panicked, Bill raised his fist and hurled it as hard as he could into the nose of the sprinter, the force of the blow knocking it flat down. Following the punch, Bill used his momentum to carry his stance through and raise his boot above the sprinter's head before coming down with all his might. The head crunched underneath, and Bill shuddered visibly, reeling back in shock as to what he had just done.

 

        "Great job, don't let up!" Ross said, jogging in the direction of the small mob of three to flank on the right. One of the walkers was still shambling to Bill, while the other two were distracted by Ross, who cleaved one in the knee with his crowbar. It fell to the ground with a loud snap, snarling louder as it began to frantically crawl to Ross. He took a few steps back before looking around to check the distance of the other, as well as spotting four across the street stumbling through the brush.

 

        "Stay frosty, got more inbound!" He said as he stomped the skull of the walker he downed, cleaving his crowbar conveniently enough into the softer part of the walker's skull. The foe slumped lifelessly to the ground with a thud, allowing Ross to change his focus on the new threat.

 

        One of the zombies stumbled over a bush, knocking itself onto the floor and staggering to its feet. As the other three came clear of the foliage, one took off at a dead sprint at Ross who readied a stance confidently. The zombie staggering to its feet took off in a sprint behind the first, stacking up on Ross quickly. He managed to strike the first one in the neck, incapacitating the rest of its body, and raised his crowbar to block the second incoming walker.

 

         All this happened in the time it took for Bill to process what had happened earlier, and as he ran to assist Ross, he noticed another sprinter barrel up and hop a nearby fence, using it's momentum to carry itself over toward Ross. He opted to go after that one instead. He raised his sledgehammer and charged, shoulder checking the sprinter just as Ross managed to push the other off of himself and cave its skull in with a well placed smash. Bill missed his strike, and the sprinter tried to grab and pull itself up his weapon, causing the large man to yelp in surprise.

 

        Ross pierced the skull with the straight edge of his crowbar, and let the dead zombie fall lifelessly to the ground.

 

        "You good, big guy?" Ross asked, turning to check his friend for any injuries.

 

        "I'm good, a lil shaken up, is all." Bill replied.

 

        "We should keep moving, not long before more show up." Ross said cautiously as he looked around before peering in the distance to spot a number of walkers up the road. Afterward, his attention drew to the house nearby where the final walker that Bill dealt with came from, "Let's see if we can hole up here and get our bearings." He said.

 

        With a nod, Bill followed and the two scanned their surroundings as they crept low, taking advantage of their window in the chaos to move slowly and undetected. They drew near the house and Bill knocked.

 

        "Woah, shit!" Ross whispered sharply in surprise. His stance spun to face Bill who was previously behind him and took a deep breath to calm his nerves, "We don't know if they're hostile!"

 

        "It's alright boss, I know this 'un." Bill said. The reassurance seemed to make Ross calm down a little, however he still seemed a little uneasy.

 

        "This already changed people into what we wouldn't think them to be. Are you sure?" He asked.

 

        "Yeah. He's a close friend from work. Known 'im fer years." Bill replied, "Been through a lot, he an' I."

 

        Shortly after, an African American man with a shaved head and short beard answered the door, "Bill? Man, I didn't think you were alive! Get yo asses in here." He said, giving Bill a high-five and a brotherly hug before beckoning Ross and Bill inside.

 

        "Ross, meet Jack, Jack, this is Ross." Bill introduced. The two shook hands and Jack pointed to the end table where the visitors could place their bags and tools.

 

        "Need anythin' to eat?" Jack asked.

 

        "Nah, we've actually got some. Thank you though." Ross said, "I won't lie, after seeing the sprinter out there, I wasn't sure anyone would be alive.

 

        "He gave us a little trouble, but thankfully my son Damian took metalworking. It was his idea to put up the corrugated steel from the shed." Jack said .

 

        "Sounds like a brilliant kid." Ross said, "But isn't the noise just gonna draw more?" As he held conversation, he got a grilled cheese sandwich and a burrito he found among the food and began to eat.

 

        "It can, but it holds a lot better than wood. Learned that the hard way." And the noise ain't a bother so long as you keep on top of em."

 

        "Are you guys looking for a safe place? We've got a camp at the school. Got supplies and defenses." Ross asked after swallowing his bite, taking a swig of water to help wash it down.

 

        "We'll do alright on our own, don't wanna be a burden." Jack said.

 

       "You sure? Would be nice havin' ya 'round." Bill said, "You wouldn't be a burden, promise."

 

        "Hey, HEY! GET YO ASS OVER TO THE TABLE TO EAT!" A woman's voice called out sharply, though not quite yelling as to avoid drawing more zombies.

 

        "Sorry! Sorry, I should have asked first, sorry!" Ross yelped almost timidly at the sudden outburst, quickly taking his food and making his way to the table. Jack began to chuckle at the sudden outburst and Ross' knee jerk reaction before his wife approached him.

 

        "Why didn't you stop him? You know I don't want crumbs an' shit all over my furniture!"

 

        "Sorry, I didn't think it'd be a problem with it being the end of the world." Jack replied.

 

        "Still gotta worry about bugs, gotta deal with rats! Whatchu gon' do if they come in and eat all our food cause we had a cookie trail?"

 

        "I... I'd say that's actually a damn good point." Ross chimed in, surprised by the forethought.

 

        "I heard y'all talkin' about goin' to the school. You got the stuff to take us in?" The woman asked.

 

        "Yeah, we had some stuff from the school and our own homes, we could pool." Ross said softly.

 

        "How safe is it?" She asked.

 

        "My brother fortified it while I stood guard. It's clearer than up west. Still wanna keep your heads on a swivel til ya get there." Ross said, "Get anything you can use as a weapon. And the zombies seem to beeline to noise. So don't use any guns if you have any. Not unless you have to."

 

        "I've got the heat in a safe in the bedroom. Ain't much, but we'll bring it with us. Could come in handy." Jack said, "Pam, could you get the boys ready? I'ma get our things packed and get the axe."

 

        "Yeah, I'll do that now." Pam said with a nod before making her way back off to the bedroom.

 

        "Alright, I'll see you guys at the school. I've got one more stop and then I'll head back." Ross said, looking over to Bill,"You got this, big guy." He said after noticing his friends nervous expression. He had long since finished eating by this point and made his way to get his crowbar and supplies. Afterward heading out the door and to Mollie's. Having remembered her as the host to the potluck, he was particularly worried about her and her family.

 

        Ross' feet hit the ground after hopping back over the fence and his eyes looked around cautiously. He took a breath to steel his nerves and continued along the yard. The sound of a pair of engines roared, and a Chevalier cerise Flips onto its side in an attempt to swerve out of the way of an oncoming D6, which ends up plowing into it anyway. The driver of the pickup was dead at the wheel, blood running down his neck. Ross recoiled a bit as a result of the impact. He wanted desperately to leap in and help the person in the Cerise, but upon seeing a group of incoming sprinters hellbent in finding the source of the crash made him reconsider.

 

        "Fuck, I'm so sorry..." He whimpered helplessly as he turned tail and ran toward the back of the house. There was a zombie hunched over a corpse, voraciously having at the innards strewn about the yard. Without a thought, Ross put it down with his crowbar and looked at the person who was being devoured. It was a woman, not much older than 21. It looked like she was in the midst of a date night and got bitten before running off. She hadn't turned yet, and Ross contemplated putting her out of her misery or timing her. He went with the latter, pulling his watch up to his eye and ticking the amount of time that passed until she began to reanimate.

 

        After giving out a soft, raspy breath, the woman began to try to stand to her feet, only to have her head smashed in by Ross' crowbar. He then kept an eye on his surroundings while he took out his notebook to jot down that he's noticed a trend of reanimation anywhere from 15-30 seconds to take place. After making note, he turned and made his way to the back door and gave his usual knock in the hopes that Mollie would recognize him as friendly. And more so that she won't be hostile. The older lady answered the door and smiled when she noticed her friend.

 

        "Ross! Come in and get washed up, you're covered in blood!" Mollie said as she stepped aside, beckoning Ross to enter. Ross came inside and looked around before looking to Mollie.

 

        "The boys okay? John sent me to see if you guys wanted to come with us to the school.

 

        "Yes, they're fine. They're just coloring over there." Mollie replied as she nodded to the corner where her grandsons colored the pages in their books, waving to Ross, "As for your offer, we planted the garden this year and we're getting ready for a harvest. We'll need the food more than ever now, but if y'all can provide protection, we can provide food."

 

        Ross scratched his chin for a moment as he pondered. In regards to personnel, there was himself, Russel, Bill, Jackson who would be willing, with Beth, and Pam filling the rest of the able bodied category. He didn't want to make Cindy an orphan, so Beth was out of the question. He would have to leave it up to Jackson and Pam on who would do so between them.

 

        "I'll have to have a chat, but I've got about four or five people I can try to train up and send out, including myself. But if things get too hot or the plants don't make it, we'll have plans to fall back. Otherwise we'll have ya come in for the winter." Ross said after reaching his conclusion.

 

        "I'd say that sounds fair. Let me give you some things for the road, you came all this way." Mollie said in reply, making her way to the kitchen to pack some dried lentils and beans, some ham and onions to wrap up. And while Mollie was in the kitchen, Ross took the moment to get the blood and matter washed off of him. He then met Mollie back out in the living room where she gave him the ingredients.

 

        "Stay safe out there, y'hear?" She said with a motherly tone as she gave Ross a hug.

 

        "You too. You want any help boarding up?" Ross asked.

 

        "Nah, the boys helped me with that earlier. An' I got the shotgun in case one comes in."

 

        "Be careful about that... The zeds seem drawn to noise." Ross warned, "Blunt weapons seem to work quite well."

 

        "I got a hammer, I'll use that." Mollie replied with a nod, "I'm guessing y'all got kids at the school?"

 

        "Yeah, Link, Cindy, Damian and Michael." Ross said with a nod.

 

        "Millie isn't with you?"

 

        Ross fell silent and looked down, an expression of sadness and guilt tore across his face, "She turned... She wasn't bitten and she turned..." He said, "I had to put her and Kate down."

 

        "You poor thing..." Mollie said as she gave Ross another hug, "I'm sure you did what you had to do, don't beat yourself up."

 

         "Alright... In any case, I kept ya long enough, I gotta head back to the

school." Ross said.

 

        "Don't be a stranger!" Mollie said as Ross left, closing the door behind him before making his way back to the camp.