Suicide Solution

One by one, the discarded bottles of cleaning fluids lined our table tops. They were examined, and all but the bleach solutions were thrown back from whence they came.

Kana took a look at the bleach, looking at the fine print to try and work out what I was up to. There were about 20 bottles, all around 5 months past the expiration date, once it goes past that date it starts to deteriorate. So why so many bottles of useless bleach?

“It doesn’t go bad, it just weakens.” I answered the unspoken question.

“Yeah?”

“So, with enough of it and the other ingredients we can get a decent amount of gas. It’d be ideal if we could make some sort of grenade out of them.”

She placed the bottles back down as she walked cautiously towards me, unsure of where I was going with this. “Hajime? Why do we need mustard gas?”

The plan we had before failed big time, Dr Kozioł didn’t have the data, or the knowledge on how to beat the waves. But he did leave a little bit of advice, though it wasn’t exactly what he intended.

“I’m going to try and find a safe zone, a real one. The doc said that there would probably be other scientists out there looking for a cure just like us. They have the smarts, but we have his notes. If we can combine the two, maybe we can find something that’ll work out.”

She was still waiting for the explanation.

“I’ll need the gas just in case I run into any of them out there. Like you said we don’t have much in the way of ammo and I’m not gonna take your rifle from you.”

That caught her attention.

“Wait wait, why would you need to take my rifle?” She asked, though I suspected she knew the answer.

It was hard to say. We had only known each other for a few weeks, but she was all I had left, the only one remaining I couldn’t lose. My hands embraced her shoulders. “Because you’re gonna stay here.”

“Like hell I am!”

“I spent so long doing nothing, while you lost everything. You don’t deserve to die in the middle of nowhere.”

“I haven’t lost everything.” She spoke calmly, “and I will not let you take the last person I have away from me.”

She held her fist out to me.

“If you’re going, I’m going with you. If you die… I’ll kill you again in the afterlife.”

There was no talking her out of it. Thinking back on it, I had no right to leave her behind. I’d feel the same way, I already have felt that, the day she left to try and save her family. Maybe I just didn’t want to think I was putting another person I loved to the sword, but it was relieving that she was there, that I wouldn’t have to travel untraveled roads alone, that I wouldn’t have to face the darkness on my own.

Leaving the place I called home for so long, the place that kept me safe… it was heartbreaking, but we both knew what we were doing was more than us.

The coast was clear outside so we made our break for it. Promising that once the rot was defeated we would come back to this place. Our home, our sanctuary and now our end goal, maybe it was meant to give us hope but the likelihood was that neither of us would return, and that sentiment weighed heavy on us both.

*-*-*

We had ran for about 15 minutes due south and a further hour walking after I’d stopped hyperventilating.

So far so good, no goop monsters for us to light up. We were in a thick forest now, a dangerous place. Not only was our sight impeded by the trees, it was also the best place to be as a rot walker. They could affect the trees and the grass below us. Lucky for us no one ever goes through these woods and end up drawing the threat away.

Crazy to think how much the landscape changed. Right where we stood was once part of the city. Yet in just a few short months, nature reclaimed its territory. It seemed so quick, maybe it had something to do with the rot?

The trees were definitely different to your walking blood bag, but they had cells nonetheless, and the rot wasn’t a picky eater.

There were quite a few of them that had been killed, with scratches and bite marks, spilling the trademark black sludge… thankfully, trees don’t bite.

The best way to avoid trouble was to anchor yourself to a sturdy tree branch, be cautious and hope to god they don’t know how to climb. We had found a good one, Kana practically dragged my lazy ass up half the way. We had packed enough rations for a week, a flashlight, a lot of rope, a lighter, the box of rifle ammo we had left, the gas canisters, gas masks and some first aid we had found lying around.

Tucking into the admittedly disappointing lunch did nothing for our morale, but at this point we expected no less. Kana had also found a map of the area in the back entrance of the base, it wouldn’t help us find the safe zone, mainly because we had no idea if it even existed, but it wouldn’t hurt… at least we’d know how to get into the city.

Once night fell, we found ourselves back in the trees, hooked up in case we forgot where we were and fell. The good thing was that we were on the edge of the forest now, and though we couldn’t see the city because it was too dark, morning would light up our path.

*-*-*

When we woke in the morning, we could finally see around us.

There were a few walkers shambling around solo below us, climbing the trees last night was definitely the right call. Watching them up close, not trying to gnaw at you was a surreal experience. Almost like watching a tiger care for its young, you almost want to feel for it, until you remember it cleaning its teeth with its prey’s rib cage.

Past our immediate vicinity, the forest exit that continued into what could only be described as a bog. It definitely wasn’t there before, but I guess that’s what happens…

“How many you count around us?” She asked, monitoring the horizon through her rifle.

“3… wait, sorry there’s another one there, 4 in total.” I responded.

“There’s a horde ahead of us. About 20 of them. It’d be best to take some pot shots, try and get a few collaterals and whittle down their numbers but that’ll only catch the attention of the ones below.” Kana then took another look through her scope. There was some cover to the right we could use to sneak past, but it would be really risky. We’d have to make deadly sure there were no other walkers in that area, if even one was in there, it’d alert the horde and we’d be in big trouble.

Far to the north was the capital we left behind. Now crumbling beneath its own weight. The bright lights of LED’s were replaced by fires, the heaven piercing towers that seemed so immovable once, lay broken over the remnants of a once beautiful cityscape. What hope did we have when the great symbols of our success crumbled like drywall?

“Too far for the gas?” She asked, grabbing my attention again.

“Yeah.”

She aimed her rifle below, at the ones roaming.

“Can’t sneak past them, can’t hit ‘em with the gas, and can’t afford the ammo… only one way out then I guess.”

Before I could even stop her, she made one of them a firework, alerting the entire forest. The horde stood in place, staring right at us. Yet despite my inner, useless screams, hoping they didn’t notice, they starting sprinting towards the forest.

In the time I’d watched the horde move, she’d already destroyed the other 3 around us and was reloading calmly, like we weren’t in immediate danger of seeing the lower intestines of walkers…

“The fuck are you doing?!” I shouted.

“What? You weren’t seriously going to go down there and try to sneak by were you?”

“It was a better plan than dying!”

“Oh relax. In 5 seconds the coast’ll be clear.”

“5 seconds?”

She moved past me, grabbed a canister and laughed it in the direction of the oncoming horde. Honestly, the main thing I thought was how she had a better arm than me. But, she missed one crucial thing…

“You didn’t pull the pin, genius! Great, that’s 4 bullets and a canister wasted, then again we’re gonna die so who cares?!”

“4? I count 5.”

Just as the homemade bomb reached optimal distance, just slightly ahead of them above their heads, she fired the 5th. The bullet pierced the shell, the yellow mist burst free. What a shot!

They breathed it in, they didn’t look affected. Despite the faith we had in these things we weren’t sure they’d work, after all it was never tried. So did it fail?

Nope.

The first in the pack keeled over, smashing its head into the ground. The rest either slumped down, or fell back. The chemical targeted rapidly growing cells, like those found in bone marrow. They became lethargic… and then they were no more.

The mist worked.

*-*-*

We must have ran non stop for a full day, stopping only to take out the occasional straggler. Turns out, plastic bottles lying around on the ground make amazing single-use silencers, we had a good amount of those, even if they weren’t as convenient as movies make you think, we were still harder to trace. Anytime we ran into a grouping of them, we would suit up, full hazmats and gas masks just in case something went wrong, and launched another canister.

They were working, maybe too well, the gas would completely evaporate rot but it was still something to be wary of. Gas mask filters have limits, sure the ones we had were top of the line, clearly meant for the trillionaire that owned the bunker, but mustard gas’d eat through them soon enough.

Our next break was here, luckily we had arrived at the gates to the city. There was a watchtower placed on the outskirts, broken down and void of the life it once protected. It was the perfect spot for an afternoon snack… you’d be forgiven for forgetting the whole rot walker thing.

From the vantage we could scan the city. It was as we expected, but it did seem a little quiet. Usually that would mean the rot were hidden in the buildings, ready for a careless stranger to wander too close to escape. If not that it could just mean that there really was no one left here, the walkers left to search for more living cells to infect. If that was true, then it meant bad news for us. Sure, hardly any walking corpses trying to convert us to their grizzly religion, but it also meant that the likelihood of a resistance, whether that be gangs or a phoenix city (AKA a safe zone), was very low.

“You see anything?” I asked, Kana was still scanning the area through her reticle.

“There’s a few hanging around on the streets that’ll be annoying to deal with.”

“How bout the base?”

“Not sure. There’s nothing close by, but it’s a bit less destroyed near the edge of town. There’s a chance it’s that but I’m not sure. Are you absolutely sure it’s not going to be hidden or underground?”

“Yeah.” I assured her, “if it’s hard to find there’ll be less survivors, and you need all the help you can get in a zone like that.”

She took my word for it, and we set off again, scanning by rooftop when we could.

*-*-*

Each turn we made, there were more after us. Initially we tried slipping past, but there were just too many of them. Kana took every shot perfectly, multiple kills, exploding through the heads. When things looked bad we used our ace, luckily we had our masks but even then, they don’t last forever.

Finally we reached the first building we pinpointed as a possible safe zone, a skyscraper in the centre of the city. They are easy enough to fortify as long as you take out the staircases and house the survivors on the top floors. Tokyo, amongst other cities throughout the world, had gotten really into the rooftop farm fad from 2060. Taking over a skyscraper like this one would most likely grant you access to foods similar to what we had back at the base so it should have been perfect.

…

The glass smashed, and they poured out like a river. The biggest horde we had ever seen!

Six of our canisters were used just there.

*-*-*

They just kept coming! We ran and ran but we couldn’t shake em. Didn’t matter how many we killed, there were always three more on the hunt like some twisted hydra.

Our list of potential safe zones was all but gone, just one more remained, it was the one at the edge of the city. We were close, close enough to touch it. Would it really be a safe zone, or did we just risk everything for a city in ash, with the only life remaining being those who take it?

Ahead of us was a giant wall, blocking our path, behind us they were charging.

Kana aimed at those approaching, firing at the two at the front. The next wave was approaching, when they were dead we could continue on…

She pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. In the panic we lost count of the rounds fired, there weren’t any left in the box. I could use the last canister but we were upwind. We could put on the gas masks, but that stuff burns into the skin as well… we could be caught up in it.

But before we felt the pain of skin ripping and teeth tearing, there were gunshots.

I checked if it was Kana first, assuming she found another round and fired but she was as confused as I was.

Then, a spent shell landed beside me. We both slowly, cautiously, looked up.

Not 600 metres away, we saw sanctuary, and the sniper that saved us on the wall, waving to us.

We reached our new sanctuary, protected by its absurdly tall walls and a main gate that took 3 grown men to open, lord knows how many to tear it down. It was like our own garden of Eden, a small green island in a sea of dirt and death. A reminder of what life was like before we had to fight for it, back when we took everything for granted. Now, everything seemed that much more vibrant, more beautiful.

Inside we were the inhabitants, cautiously watching the pair like they would a dangerous animal. At this point I don’t think either of us cared, we had done the difficult part. Now all we needed to do was find someone smart, give them Kozioł’s research and let them find the answer.

The guard aimed their weapons our way, as they scanned us with a device I’d never seen before. After about a minute it flashed green on both of us and we took that as a good sign.

“Safe.” He announced. The crowd relaxed a little but we’re still watching us carefully. “State your business.”

“We’re here to help find the cure.”