"AAAH!!!" A sea of screams enters the locker room, where Jack and William are held captive.
"What was that?!" William questioned, eyeing the heavy door. "What's happening?"
A crowd of civilians ran past the door while gunfire continued to cry out.
"Head for the front entrance." The ranger ordered, spilling bullets into something. "Alert the commander."
Jack and William took cover behind the lockers, peeking at the door.
"We're saved!" a voice cried out, followed by a chorus of groans. "But not you."
The horde of husks and a mimic pushed back the lone ranger, their ominous shadows flooding the locker room like a sea of nightmares.
The boss and the trainee remained silent, listening to the group's groans and moans until a heavy silence finally settled in.
Jack approached the heavy door before staring through the bars. Bodies of husks litter the hall.
"How do we get out, boss?" William questioned, his eyes snapping at the corpses.
"Let me think." Jack continued eyeing the bodies. "Get away from the door. We have to wait it out."
Jack only stares, making William look away.
---
"This is your last chance." The Commander's voice rang from the fence toward the sinners down the road.
Gunshots erupt into the cloudy skies.
"Commander! There are roamers, six o'clock! We've just rang their dinner bell!" A voice breaks the Commander's walkie-talkie.
"Delta squad! Take position at our six." The Commander ordered. "They need four go!"
Delta squad and four soldiers went around the tents and parking lot of military vehicles.
"Good luck!" The sinner's head climbed into the pickup truck with his two followers. "You really need it." The vehicle took off down the street, releasing a roar and burning its tires.
Gunshots and screams cried out from within the stadium. A few civilians break out from the front doors.
"I want a few to watch the gates!" The Commander raised his voice, taking his vendetta from his holster, and paced through the rushing crowd with Amy and a few other soldiers in tow. "Ajay. Don't let anyone leave."
Amy, the Commander, and the others rushed into the stadium doors. Embracing the loud screams of guns, civilians continued to pour out.
The Commander and Amy entered the double doors, revealing a screaming man getting his neck chewed by a Husk.
The Amu eyed the civilians eating each other and the chaos brewing within the stadiums.
The Commander pops the head of the husk, devouring the screaming man on the floor. He gave the man mercy.
"Tight formation!" The Commander screams. Letting out shots into the wandering Husks.
"This way!" One of the soldiers from the Commander's squad shouts to the panicking civilians. "Move! Move!"
Their offbeat firing, mixed with the screams and other gunfire from the surviving soldiers and rangers, continued to echo the opened space.
"Push!" The Commander ordered. They slowly push to the center, denting the number of Husk and Mimics.
"Rah!" A scream from a civilian grips a soldier's ankle from under a military bed.
A purple wave separates the tight formation from the surviving members and reinforcements.
Three more followed, and Amy shielded the Commander. Taking the blast. They flew across the room before flying through the window of the medical bay.
Amy slid along the floor, smashing through the lower cabinets with the Commander within her grasp.
"Commander?" Amy voiced.
"I'm fine, " the Commander grunts before rising to his feet and stepping on shattered glass.
He looks through the shattered window at his remaining platoon, which is being eaten by the opportunists.
A soldier fired at the screaming soldier, getting eaten only for a civilian to drive her knife into her jaw.
"Come on!" The civilian screamed with a smile, soaring her eyes to her next victim.
Another civilian popped a few soldiers with a rifle. At the same time, another drove her heated arms through a Ranger's chest before separating its head from its torso.
Amy raised her white submachine gun(Righteous Defender); the guard went over her slim white fingertips while the slim barrel aimed at the posing civilian, rushing the unexpecting soldier holding his own against the walking Mimcs and Husk.
She fired, letting out three rounds. Scoring a headshot, the imposter drops along the military bed before rolling onto the bloody floor.
Amy fired another, killing another with her rifle drawn.
Bullets returned, forcing the Amu back to cover behind the lower cabinets. A cry of more gunfire continued within the dialogues, screams and groans.
"My art. Is like my dreams." Amy snaps her head towards a group of Mimics and Husks, making their way toward her and the Commander. "It's where it dies."
"Amy! Clear the tangos! Before they push me out!" The Commander remained crouched, firing at the horde, slowly pushing them out towards the other entrance of the medical bay. "We can handle the Ruin!"
Amy halted her fire at the unstoppable force before spinning on her heels. She rushed out of the second entrance, killing three, two husks, and a mimic.
Gaining the attention of the four imposters and the rising sea of Ruin filling the basketball court.
Amy snapped her aim, scoring a head and torso hit at the aggro party. Leaving two imposters.
"No! I'll Kill you!!" The woman's skin grew boiling hot, letting out steam before rushing the Amu.
Another imposter shoots lightning from his fingertips toward Amy, who dives to the ground with a heavy thud, grabbing a rifle with her right before rolling to her feet in one fluid motion.
The Amu spun on her heels before hurling the rifle across the room toward the lightning-shooting imposter, who ducks from the attempt. Amy fired her SMG from her hip.
"Agh!" The imposter screamed, falling to his knee. "No!" He fired at the approaching horde, circling him before his screams and arched lightning danced across the head of the horde, giving the Amu and the Commander more time.
"Rah!" The screaming woman lunged toward Amy with an unnatural height.
Amy rolled on her shoulder, the steaming imposter driving her fist into the bright brown tile floor. The Amu fired three rounds into the woman's back.
The imposter flinches before spinning on her heels, flashing her fangs.
Amy fired six more rounds. She sidesteps from a punch and steps back from the uppercut.
Amy stomps on the butt of the rifle on the floor, causing it to flip into the air. She caught it and slams the gun into the steaming tango's face.
The face of the rifle flies across the room while the woman hits the ground with a heavy thud. The pouring steam from her ignited pores soon calmed to room temperature.
Amy gazed at the melting rifle within her palms before stepping back, watching it hit the floor and giving off smoke.
"Amy, fallback!" The Commander fired rounds at the slowly approaching Ruins.
The Amu and the Commander retreat to the double doors before closing the doors behind them.
"Ragh!" The Commander grabs the nearest medals display shelf with Amy's help. They slam the shelf before the doors, making glass fly and medals chime." Keep it there!"
Amy followed orders, pushing the shelf against the doors. The Commander rushed towards the doors outside the stadium before pushing the door open, letting out the grey skies.
"Bishop! Nimona! Get at this door!" The Commander screamed out.
The doors jumped, but Amy remained firm. Two soldiers took their place beside the Amu.
"No. No!" The Commander raised his voice, getting Amy's glance over her shoulder.
"Commander Yuusei, you required more assistance, " the country engineer said at the doors.
"That toaster is out of commission!"
"Boogies!" the engineer shouted as he unleashed his vendetta against the four husks that had emerged from the curved hall, catching Amy and the other soldiers off guard. "We've blocked the sides but don't know how long it will hold!" He took down two of the husks while Yuusei eliminated others. "We can take this place back! Go big or go home!"
The Commander looks back outside over to Rex, keeping the steel door open.
"Rex." Yuusei snapped his fingers towards Amy. "Amy, you're with me." He looked to his engineer while Amy allowed her position to the surviving ranger, who gathered looks from the support anchors. "Wells, are there any spare Rangers?"
"No. The Rangers are either offline or on the other side of the stadium."
"Fine." Yuusei clicked his tongue. "Amy and I will find the source and plug it in. Hold out til then. Give in til the sun reaches the edge of this world. Understood?"
"Yes! Commander!" The soldiers cried out.
Yuusei walks into the curved hall with his vendetta drawn, followed by Amy.
"Hungry." A mimic cried out before Yuusei popped her.
The two eyed the hall of medium traffic. Amy and Yuusei score headshot after headshot, pushing up rapidly. They passed the bathrooms, listening to the crowd of hungry Ruin on the other side of the walls.
Amy listened to Yuusei's husky breath; they were before a blood path.
Soldiers mawed, their guts and ribcages spilled out, their faces revealing the complete set of teeth, and the Ruin either laid waste with the others or enjoyed their feast.
A husk snaps a bone in half before Amy kills him. The Ruins took notice, seeking their interruptors.
They took fire, taking out the lingers.
"Amy, tell me." Yuusei picks up a Dawn 14 (Semi-Auto rifle) before inspecting the mag. "Is there any chance I'm exposed?"
"No direct contact to your eyes or mouth is acceptable." Amy's blue eyes ran all over the crowded halls. Watching the purple blood seep within the deceased soldiers. One with her guts spilled out reached for Amy. "Or the seeds within their chest would either remain or be destroyed." Amy gave the soldier mercy.
"I would like a checkup."
"You were exposed?"
"No, but I want a deep scrub after this." Yuusei walked over the corpse of a husk before passing Amy, who lingered.
---
Jack and William remained behind their individual lockers, listening to the groaning and pacing of the Ruin outside their door.
Jack stares at his hands and at the red tiles underneath his sneakers. He turns his head to William and stares up at the ceiling.
A pop entered their ears, followed by a three-burst. Igniting the growling horde of Ruin outside their door. The two raised to their feet, peeking behind from the row of lockers.
Watching Husks and Mimics make their way toward the gunfire, some fell victim, forcing the duo behind cover. William kept his hand close to his chest while Jack sealed his lip.
The growls grew quiet and were replaced by the pacing of a weighted metal and boots.
"Hey. Come out." Yuusei's voice entered the locker room.
"Mr. Muller? Mr.Walker? It's me, Amy. Can we have a quick moment, if you will?" A soft, familiar voice came after.
Jack raised his finger to William, who remained concealed. The heavy door opens, releasing a heavy cry. William's hand grows glassy while Jack bites his lip.
"What is it that you want?" Jack questioned, slowly emerging from the end of the row of lockers and staring down Amy and Yuusei at the door with their guns trained.
"We came for your assistance." Amy lowered her SMG.
"Hmm? And why is that?"
"We are under attack. We came to believe the Sinners had something to do with it." William slowly emerged from the locker, getting eyes from Walker, the Commander, and the Amu.
"And who the hell are they?" Muller snapped his eyes at Yuusei at the door and Amy's green eyes.
"Do you want to die here or out there?" Yuusei cuts in. "I don't have a lot of options."
"Why?" Jack drops his hands.
"Commander?" A voice breaks from Yuusei's handheld radio. "Commander, can you read me?"
"What is now Airi?" Yuusei spoke back.
"Our wasp has gained a view of our backyard. Someone drove a bus through our back doors. They are currently lower-class Ruin there. More will likely show if we don't plug that hole soon."
"How many are there?"
"Are there any rangers with you?"
"Just Amy."
"You going to need a six-man squad. You got Amy, so make that three. And please hurry, the sun is dropping." The radio breaks.
"You either helped or got out of the way." Yuusei hooked a handheld radio on his brown hip holster.
"You know? I'm still not convinced." William crossed his arms. "Maybe...we need a little motivation."
This earns a glare from Yuusei.
"Lead the way." Walker voiced. "I'll do whatever to earn my keep."
"It'll be best to do it where I can see you." Yuusei shifts his body from the door frame.
"I have acquired weapons to defend yourself, " Amy said, holding vendettas in her palms. "I only ask that you use them wisely."
William and Jack take her offer. Jack ejects the mag, eyeing the golden shells within before checking the chamber.
"Where, too?" Jack strikes up.
"On your right." Yuusei's gaze is fixed on Jack, who moves toward the door with a pistol held to his cheek.
The boss's eyes wandered on the corpses of Ruins to his left before he broke to his right toward the hall that curved to the left.
He listened to the tapping and pounding of the four-person squad as they passed each door and an open path; they kept their ears and eyes focused before they laser towards the litter bodies of civilians, soldiers, and ruin that gathered at the opened hall between the outside steel doors and the stadiums.
A group of husks awaited their arrival, forcing them to halt. The dead walking corpses flashed their teeth while their bloodshot blue eyes lasered on them.
Walker raised his pistol, scoring a headshot on a husk. Others drop after a few pops, and the resounding drill fills the hall of the dead.
Ten husks remained, pushing Yuusei's group back towards the curved hall. A few more exit the stadium doors in tow.
A click entered Jack's ears while he eyed the pushing husk growing inches from his position. His finger pulled the trigger twice more before he stepped back.
"You don't expect us to fight odds like this with pea shooters!" Willam shouts, straightening out his palm and launching a glass shard into a chest of the husk. He flicks his palm once more, scoring a headshot, throat shot, and eye, causing it to squirt a line of purple blood onto the tan floor.
"You're open. To improvised." Yuusei swings the rifle aim, firing a single round at the aggressors without denting the numbers.
Walker crouched, grabbing the nearest rifle on the floor. He pulled the trigger, letting out swarms of bullets that dropped the first two groups before the mag grew empty in seconds.
Walker flicked his wrist, releasing a wave of ice spikes that drove into the left of the horde. The spikes pierced the three rows with untamed precision before moving into the ceiling.
"Holy shit!" William screamed as Walker stared wide eye at his left hand.
Feeling the cool kiss of crackling ice on his forearm, the fog seeps from the pores of his skin.
"Walker!" Yuusei roared through the gunfire, grabbing his attention. "Seal off! The Stadium doors!"
Walker stared from his hand at the unwarver horde making their way around the icy spike trap.
"Behind me. Mr.Walker." Amy paced up with her Righteous Defender, snapping her aim, scoring five headshots in seconds. They drive to the right of the horde, staying close to the wall before Walker's eyes glued onto the stadium doors. "Now. Mr Walker."
Jack flicked his wrist, launching another wave of spike ice into the horde from the doors. It skewered the closest of the two before driving into pools of blood and into the opened doors, plugging in the Stadium doors.
Walker's ice traps are now arranged in a bulky A shape within the opened hall. He left the surviving eaters between the traps and the warm glow of the open doors outside the stadium.
Amy spun on the balls of her feet before driving her heel into a husk head, knocking it clean off her shoulders. The redhead smacks into tan bricks, painting the wall into a red dandelion.
"Mr.Walker," Amy fired off her SMG, scoring three more headshots and rushing another. She performed a flying knee, connecting with the chin of another husk, sending the skull of a husk flying across the room. "I suggest you gather ammunition before we push for the rear of this stadium."
"Muller! Cover Amy's rear." Yuusei slowly pushed from the curved hall, popping shots and watching Amy drive her fist into a husk's skull.
"Yeah. Of course." Willam said under his breath, launching shard after shard, following the Commander's orders.
Jack rushed to the fallen soldiers who met their demise in the horde. He picked tactical vests and pockets while stealing glances at his three squadmates, dinting the swarm-piling bodies and painting the white floors purple.
Mr. Walker exchanged the magazine with another before pulling back the clip, producing a distinct clunk near his ears. He pocketed another magazine before fastening the black waist holster, which held a tactical hatchet with a black handle and a gray marble head featuring a sharp white edge.
The sounds of gunfire and the moans of the dead faded to silence behind the husk trap at the court doors. Mr.Walker tossed a pistol magazine onto the small pile of ammo, another waist holster with a combat knife clipped on it.
He squats in front of the pile before listening to steps grow near.
Jack looked up to William and Yuusei, who were fast approaching. They were stepping around and over the bodies that crowded the open hall.
"I don't have spare time to sort the extra ammo, so I throw in whatever I could." Jack grabs the holster before holding it out for William to take.
"Whatever. To help us get by." Yuusei reloads his rifle.
"Thanks, boss." William clamps his mouth, focusing on tightening his holster.
Jack only stared.
"Commander, we must haste. The Ruins are growing near." The six-foot-tall Amu stood at the open door, allowing warm lights to illuminate her feminine robotic frame and alluring curves painted in the blood of the ruins.
"We're fast approaching," Yuusei sighs, unstrapping a black tactical vest from his fallen comrade before putting it on. "Walker." The Commander locks his gaze on Jack, who stands to his feet. "I'm willing to believe you have some more left in you." The sticky straps cried out as he fastened the vest to his chest before taking some magazines from the pile and stuffing them in his vest pockets. "I want you to plug in the hole if all doesn't come to plan."
"What are you planning to do?" Jack asked.
"I'm going to take the bus that rang the ruins dinner bell. And block the entrance. If you all can keep me clear." He hanged his rifle in front of his chest. "Safe to say, your assistance will go unnoticed."
"When can we get started?" William rests his rifle on his shoulder, watching Yuusei pacing towards Amy, who gives the three a quick look over.
Jack followed Yuusei, and so did William. The Commander was first to the door held by Amy, which invited them into the warm afternoon light.
The crowd of the dead remained a foot from the doors. Through the pond of the husks that stood on the parking lot's grey concrete, a manufactured transit bus with a solid white paint job and reinforced bars protected the six side views and the driver's opened windows.
A slab of metal attached to the front bloodied bumper of the bus curved inwards into a point, and the center of it was a paint job of a black face engulfed in flames screaming in agony. The front of the rolling fence was still pressed against the front of the vehicle.
The bus was stationary, covered in bullet holes, surrounded by military tents and signs of death from both machines and humans. Behind them was the opened fence leading to the city streets, letting groups of infected enter.
The Commander let out the first gunfire, igniting the groaning dead within Military grounds. The bullet traveled into the dome of a husk.
William, Jack, and Amy followed suit, unloading their magazines into three rows of the dead before pushing up. Jack fired single shots slowly and proficiently, following Yuusei's style of choice.
Jack snapped his aim, firing bullets into a husk's torso before lighting up the next one, causing a pool of purple blood to erupt from its skull.
"This is fucking crazy!" William gave a mouthy smile, firing down on any opportunist.
"Keep a tight formation!" The Commander popped a husk before popping another.
The four-person squad dropped the ruins like flies, briefly pushing them to the center, where the modified transfer bus remained parked.
"Hold!" The Commander shouts as his squad remains beside the bus. He aimed his dawn 14 at the opened doors on the empty driver seat before slowly climbing the three steps.
He aimed his muzzle at the spine of the bus. The seats were ripped out, but what only remained were three dead bodies, and one held a gunshot wound to the cheek. The other two women were bloody and filled with gunshot holes in their shirts; one revealed a side nipple.
The Commander approaches the driver's seat, listening to the continued gunfire. He eyed the empty key ignition before looking underneath the chair.
Yuusei stood to his feet before quickly glancing at the head mirror. The two bodies filled with bullet holes were the ones sneaking up on him.
He spins around, only to have his rifle kicked from his hands, sending it tumbling out the doors. This catches William's attention.
Sinner one drives her shoe into Yuusei's gut, only for him to elbow her leg.
.
"AH!" The sinner cried out as Yuusei pushed her, causing rolling onto her back
"The bus!!" Wiliam shouts, getting Jack and Amy's attention.
"Commander!" Amy shouts, making haste towards the doors.
A cylinder filled with holes smacked onto concrete in front of Amy, letting out a hollow tick. Amy, in mid-step, dropped face-first onto the concrete, letting out a heavy thud.
Gunfire breaks into chaos while Jack swings his arm. A line of spike ice shields them from more fire.
"Are you hit?!" Jack screamed to William, patting his body.
"Fuck! Fuck! I'm fine! Fine!" He peered behind the ice to two sinners erupting from a tent.
"You guys are fucked!" Screamed a sinner, grabbing the spine of the offline ranger without its legs, using it as a shield while his rifle hung on the edge of the ranger's arm. He slowly pushed forward while another sinner fired at Jack, who remained covered.
Yuusei pulled his sidearm while Sinner Two grabbed the mouth of the gun. He fired, causing a chunk of her palm to explode.
"Agh! You!" She shifts the hole in her hand into the gun's frame, and she twists his aim before throwing a hook. "Mother!" The Commander covered his head before hooking his arm around her swung arm. He headbutts her face. "Ugh!"
He sweeps her leg, throwing her over his shoulder. He popped the sinner in the head.
The other sinner roared, dropkicking the Commander's chest, who flew across the bus before crashing at the butt of the bus's reinforced steel bars.
He falls onto the floor, crashing into his arms.
"Agh." Yuusei groans.
Jack fired at the sinner, who took cover behind a supple crate in front of the kitchen tent, before staring at the group of Husks approaching the opened fence.
They growled, making their way to Jack, who frowned his brows. He looks to William, who fires around his cover without aiming.
"Boss!" William shouts, locking eyes with Jack, who approaches. "He carrying a shield!" He breathed out.
"Cover. Me." Jack ordered.
"Ah!!" William roared, shooting around his cover again at the sinner with a bot shield, tanking the shots while growing closer to their cover. "Mother fuckers! When I die, I'll take you with me!"
The bot shield sinner grew a grin growing inches from the arm of the jagged ice wall. Walker appeared from the cover, launching his arm.
Summoning his spiked ice, the sinner tank the hit yet flew from his feet and crashed onto his back, sliding a few inches from a tent.
William rushes to the dazed sinner before aiming at him from a distance.
"Wait." The sinner cried out only for William to end him.
The other sinner took the opportunity before taking a shot at William. Mr.Walker shoulder-shoves William out of the way, taking the hit at his hip.
Mr.Walker fired at the opportunist, who took a hit to the chest. The sinner falls to the ground, crying out in pain. The group of husks took this as their dinner reservation.
"Boss!" William cried out from his elbow. "BOSS! BOSS!" He jumps to his feet and rushes Jack, who grunts through his teeth.
"Don't look after me. Help the Commander." Jack paced toward the hungry customer, popping shots.
The sinner slashed her kitchen knife at Yuusei, who stepped back. Yuusei rushed, grabbing her armed knife while shoving her against the hull of the bus.
His left hand held her armed wrist while another had her face, pushing in another direction. He slammed her hand into the hull with strong slams, causing the bus to shake.
Something made Yuusei's eyes pop out of their sockets.
"Agh! AH!" He screamed as the sinner that was pressed against the wall took a chunk of his right thumb right off his hand, causing his red blood to paint her black face. "RAGH!!!" Yuusei slammed her hand, dropping her knife.
He drives his fist against her jaw before doing it again and again. Breaking skin, he grasped her dark green shirt before hurling her into the hull behind him, causing the bus to rock.
Yuusei huffed, staring at the red meat posing as his thumb, squirting his blood all over the floor. He clenches his hand into a fist before picking up the chef's knife. The Commander takes a knee, slitting the throat of the battered sinner, watching the pool of blood gush out and onto the floor.
Yuusei breathed into labor before listening to rushing weight, making the bus shake on its suspension. He flashes his bloody knife and teeth.
William stared wide-eyed before lowering his rifle and listening to the gunshots nearby. "Ugh." He watched the Commander rip the piece from the red and white checkered flannel off the sinner he had just finished off before wrapping the fabric over his gushing thumb.
"Key." The Commander winced, clenching his lips. "See what you can gather."
"Of course." William rushed over to the nearest sinner at the spine of the bus. He took a knee, staring down at the wide-eyed, warm white skin sinner with a bullet to her skull attached to her rosy hair spread out on the bloody floor.
A stream of blood rushed down the hole to her freckles across her cheeks.
William patted her down before fishing his light brown fingers into her pale blue butt shorts.
"I got nothing." William squeezed a breath out, staring at the Commander, searching for his fill.
Yuusei hissed before another broke into the environment.
"Commander. Do you read me?" Wells breaks into the commander channel. "Commander?"
"Yes?" Yuusei answered his coms.
"Reinforcements is closing in on your position. Whatever you did. You stall; the Ruin enough for our surviving members to recollect themselves; how's everything on your end?"
The bus shook again as Walker climbed the stairs, his pale hand smeared with red liquid, leaving prints on the supporting railing, while his pistol hung at his hip.
"It's done." Jack locked eyes with the Commander, who stood to his feet before pacing toward the butt of the transit bus and staring through the metal bars.
A crowd of corpse angels gathers at the opened fence in front of it, a spike of ice as tall as a light pole. The leaning ice points its crowded protruding pikes toward the city streets, catching its meals for the day.
With Jean's help, Shaun wandered into the Main hall, surrounded by screaming and hollering residents. The shutters slammed shut, not denting the commotion.
"Are you crazy?! " A slim Japanese young adult with a mohawk screamed out from the crowd. "They could've gotten in!"
"L-look." A teen with a claw-end hammer dressed in his white dress shirt and black slacks in his school uniform with a logo of a baby chick and underneath with the name Hatchling High. The Japanese boy stutters before voicing. "He has been bit! He's bitten!"
Out of the crowd, the Student and two more people emerged with weapons. Staring at the hanging hunk of flesh and streams of blood rolling down Shaun's arm and to the white pepper floor, leaving bubbles on the floor.
"Woah! Hey! Stop! Stop it!" Jean and Dallas shouted over the crowd, shielding Shaun, Alice, and Gabriel.
"Hey! Hey!" Dallas raised his tone before pointing. "Kouji, is it?" The teen remained quiet. "You have no business jumping to conclusions without my say-so. "
"You, out of everyone, know what happens when someone is bitten!" Kouji spits. "You catch a fever, you die, you come back as them!"
"You don't know that." Jean countered. "He could be fine."
"No Offense. That's Stupid." The Mohawk Young adult watches Gabriel pace himself from behind Alice and towards the crowd. The same cat breaks through the left of the crowd, making his way up the staircase towards Nami climbing down. "Are you serious? They're still out there?"
Shaun's eyes met Nami's as she broke through the crowd.
"If this is not proof enough, we'll start by —" Dallas turns to Shaun's unwavering eyes on Nami to the person staring right back. "Hey!" Dallas steps into Shaun's view. "Your name."
"S-Shaun." The ex-employee stutters with a hint of a blush spread across his face.
"Are you feeling funny? Nauseous? Maybe a little hungry?"
"I feel quite pitched, actually. Nothing stops a man's heart from finding love, even in this hellhole they call apocalypse."
"The hell he's on about?" The Mohawk adult cocked a sharp brow.
"Get him out of here!!" Kouji screamed with his hammer raised, sparking an uproar among residents.
Shaun jolts, eyeing the three aggressors surrounding Dallas, who soon becomes six.
"Enough!" Dallas roared. "We'll lock them up in the meantime. I'll give it a day."
"His wounds!" Jean raised his voice. "It's going to get infected!"
"Right! He's right!" Shaun adds, wincing. "At least throw me some alcohol."
Dallas turns to Shuan, Jean, and Alice.
"Right. This way." Dallas spoke, his strong jaw tense, making Jean smack his lips. "It's either here or out there."
"That's right." Someone in the crowd remarked.
"That's not fair!" Alice shouts, only for Shaun to press her head to the ground.
"Cut it out." Shaun let out a sharp whisper. "Lead the way then." He opened his hand to the left of him.
Dallas remained silent before staring at the crowd ahead.
"Make way, " he gruffed, walking straight toward the crowd with Shaun, Alice, and Jean behind him.
The sea of people split in two, watching them enter the lobby's first hall. They soon followed.
Shaun and others followed the blue doors of the apartments before reaching the push-steel door, which let out the warm afternoon light.
Dallas pushed it open, letting out a click. Shaun's black dress shoes clicked on the cement before he stared ahead over Dalla's shoulder.
They stood by a private leisure pool with a five-foot-deep body of water. Along the edge of the pool, they walked past ten white lounge chairs.
In one corner of the expansive space stood a pool slide that extended up to the blurred glass ceiling, letting in the warm orange light of the afternoon. This slide offered two experiences: a blue swirling slide and a straight yellow slide leading into a second pool, perfect for adrenaline seekers.
In the middle of the two attractions is a vast storage shed that contains blue metal plates and two doors. On its left, it is a person's size, and on its right, it is as tall and wide as an object too big.
Dallas pulled a ring of keys from his belt and sorted through them. He selected a bronze key with white tape on its head and used it to unlock the door.
As he pushed it open, the door let out a creaky whine, inviting Shaun and Alice into a dimly lit room filled with shadows. The space was cluttered with various pool supplies, including pool rings, lounge chairs, and other miscellaneous items.
Shaun sighs, biting his lip. He makes his way towards the door.
"Up. Up." Dallas's voice breaks Shaun's focus. He stares over his shoulder at Alice, who's looking up at Dallas, whose hand grasped her arm. "Not you."
Alice's fox ears and tail stood stiff, her ears dropped, and her red eyes slit.
"Let me go." She flashed her fangs, making Dallas raise his brows.
"No way." A resident commented, watching Alice pull from Dallas's grasp.
"The hell they put in those rocks?" Another comment.
"That's it. I'm staying."
"Your bag." Jean voiced, getting Shaun's eyes. "You'll get it back when you get out." His eyes bounce from the fox girl and Shaun.
"Alright. Okay." Shaun winced, rolling his strap off his shoulder with Alice's help. He grabbed a handful of the head strap, setting it on the cement before entering the dimly lit shed. "Just fucking great." He whispered.
Alice followed Shaun.
"Stop! Not you." Jean stood between the door and her.
"Let her." Dallas looks between Jean and Alice.
"I'll keep an eye on eye her."
"Jean. I'm not asking."
"I'll watch her, " Mei said, standing from the crowd. "I help keep an eye on her; just don't let her in with him."
"Fine." Dallas breathes out before pointing towards her and Jean. "The exits remained shut until tomorrow." Dallas turns to the residents. "The same goes for you all." He closes the shed door on Shaun and locks it. "I'll pick some people on watch. And the rest of you spread the word and let the others know we have a curfew. Demissed." He swung his arms, sweeping away the crowd.