Arc 2 - Chapter 20: Three Dudes and a Bike

(Quintiles 29, 59 / 8:15PM)

“You sure know how to drive this thing?”

“I’ve driven helicopters and planes before, I think I could handle it.”

“Like that time that you drove a motorcycle? You couldn’t walk straight for a week.”

A bike rode through the glass-covered pavement, while passing through many shops and businesses. Combined with the barely dimmed streetlights, along with the glass shards spreading amongst the sidewalk, it created a sense of fractured loneliness. And on this bike, was a spiky haired man with glasses, a man wearing a miner hat, and a chubby one.

With the sun starting to set on the decaying city, as the last of its rays hit the top of the buildings, they noticed no refugees or civilians running. Abandoned, they all gulped and looked straight forward.

Fred was the only one to glance right, and watched the passing black asphalt with his blue eyes.

‘Their army is super small compared to the number they did on Ticia. Using liches instead of normal zompires? How did they bring in such a small force in the first place?’

Scratching his head, his low-edged fingernails scraped off dandruff within his hair. Lifting his head, he looked at the sky, the smoke already pinching his lungs to make him cough.

‘They’re using liches that we knew, using it against us in whatever way they can … Almost as if this little invasion is connected to us … but for what—’

Gary and Diego turned their heads toward Fred, and noticed him clenching his eyes shut while he thought hard. Scratching his head harshly, balls of scalp leaped from his hair, leaving the two of them to raise their eyebrows.

“Stop scratching your head! You’ll make a bald spot!”

Raising his hand, he then smacked the back of Fred’s head, eliminating the train of thoughts Fred had. Jostling his entire body in a cold shiver, Fred lifted his head to look at Gary with flared up nostrils. He then thrusted his hands up toward Gary’s collar, and glared at him with narrowed eyes and huffing breath.

“Hey! Can’t you see I was thinking here!?”

“Let go of me you bastard! I just prevented you from going bald, and this is what I get!?”

“Can you guys be quiet? I’m trying to—”

““Shut up!””

Diego pushed his lips into his mouth, and sealed them shut. His grip on the motorcycle handles loosening, his eyes began to water. Both men turned to look at the 20-year old man, who began to break down. Letting out a collection of sighs, Gary sluggishly looked at Diego with raised brows, as he continued to hear his whimpers.

“Don’t tell me you’re crying…”

“N-No, it’s just the smoke…”

“Look, Diego, sorry for overreacting, but I was thinking about our situation at hand, and—”

A loud static buzzed throughout their ears, which came from none other than Fred’s pocket.

Taking out the mini radio, he placed it in between his chest and Gary’s back, and carried it with both of his sweaty hands. Turning the small knob counterclockwise, the ear piercing static soon ceased.

“Attention all units! The Union of Ordered Governments declared the presence of two main zompire groups!”

The three of them leaned closer to the radio set, followed by their ears perking up from the man’s voice. Sounding to be a radio communicator, Diego continued to push the pedal to the metal, while looking up at the night sky.

“General zompires, like the ones from six years ago, are confirmed to be pouncers! If you see one, don’t hesitate to shoot on sight!”

The radio began to go into static again, with the high squeal pitching becoming even louder. Turning the knob once more, Fred did a full circle with it, leaving them to hear a blockade of many different statics all at once. Wrinkling their faces, the static ceased once again as they returned back to the original channel.

“But if you see a zompire that has no skin, and emits steam, then they’re classified as steamers. Be warned men…”

An abundance of high rise buildings can be seen from the distance, which was none other than downtown Lagefor. Seeing the buildings to their right, smoke began to cloud the top of the buildings, leaving the entire city to be flutter with an orangish glow.

Which caused their stomachs to churn down.

“Steamers explode when shot down, and they charge faster than pouncers. Under any circumstances, no matter the amount of pouncers, steamers are priority one!”

________________________________________________________________________

(Quintiles 29, 59 / 8:30PM)

“That’s the military base!”

“The base is only 1/4th of the complex. If you combine the international museum, and the UOG and Kepputhan government buildings, then that’s the whole complex.” Said Gary.

‘So this place is huge…’ thought Fred.

Passing through an open gate, a four lane bridge awaited them to the complex. The concrete bridge being a mile long, and a small river disconnecting the facility from the main city, it made the government isolated from its civilians.

Barely seeing the darkened river, gushing in bits of ash and debris, Gary patted Diego’s shoulder.

“We’re heading into the East gate where the museum is. The West gate is the military base, along with a military community of families. And the center is both the UOG and Kepputhan government buildings.”

“Good to know Gary.”

Driving through the large bridge, the sun was nowhere to be seen amongst the western horizon. A smokey sky bleeding into the night, they all glanced around the many abandoned jeeps and trucks littering the black asphalt. As the smell of gunpowder ruminated the air, gunshots began to pinch their earlobes.

They saw a gate broken into, and they catched a glimpse of a fight ensuing far into the distance.

“Diego, full speed! Now!”

He felt a hand stuck to his shoulder, leaving Fred to turn to look at Gary’s wrinkled face. His chubby face burning in sweat, his breathing was also irregular, as he looked into Fred’s determined eyes.

“Just hold on! We don’t have any blessings! Let alone have the combat skills to fight!”

Having his face turned to Gary’s, his narrowed eyes sunk deep into the chubby man’s soul. Hunching his back forward, he didn’t bother to thrust his hand to grip Gary’s collar. Instead, he raised his voice, as if an inferno burned deep within his abdomen and stomach.

“Those soldiers need our help! If we got to use our brains, then so be it! And besides…”

Halfway toward the military complex, Fred turned his eyes to the main gate wide open and broken. The battle, soon being enclosed in a smoke filled cloud that dimmed their visibility, Fred straightened his back along with his legs.

Pushing in the smoke filled air into his lungs, he pushed it all out through his nostrils, as the sounds of death burned his ears.

“If Gemma was still human, she wouldn’t have let me sit this battle out. She would have dragged me by the ear to do so.”

He felt his lower eyelids begin to dampen, leaving him to glance down to the fastening asphalt below. Using his right sleeve, he swayed away a couple of hidden tears, and shook his head before returning his stare to the military complex.

“I don’t care if I die. I don’t care if I’m beaten to a bloody pulp. As long as those soldiers, and all of our friends make it out of this, then that’s fine by me.”

“Yeah … but try not to actually die …”

“Yeah man …”