NOVEL WEB S1E36 – The Day Will Come
*BOOM!*
*BANG!*
As the grenade goes off, it ignites the oxygen tank as well, causing a massive explosion that rocks the room and deafens me for a few seconds, causing my ears to ring. I stand up from behind cover and have to take a few seconds to get my balance back. Looking at the bent and broken doorway, I feel an indescribable sense of joy wash over me.
“COME ON! HURRY!”
I lotion for everyone to start rushing towards the elevator back up and walk over to Jenner. The man is sweating and holding his ruined hand. Once everyone leaves, including Jaqui, I speak to him,
“Y’know, your wife would be incredibly disappointed.”
He looks at me with confusion. He had never mentioned his wife to us in this timeline, as we all took showers and ate the night before instead of chatting. I can see him having an internal dilemma, and wincing in pain every now and then. I continue on,
“Not only have you given up on life and even potentially a cure, you’ve also tried to take the lives of over a dozen people, including a pregnant woman and four children. Out of all the characters in The Walking Dead, I’d have to say you are by far the most pathetic.”
I mutter the last part under my breath where he can’t hear me, and look over to the timer on the wall, seeing it starting to click below fifty minutes,
“We’ll be outside if you decide you wanna stop being so pathetic. Only for ten minutes, though. Decide if you wanna keep feeling sorry for yourself, or if you wanna fight.”
Jenner speaks to me as I start to walk away,
“The day will come when you’ll regret this decision.”
I stop for a second and turn back around to face him,
“I regret many things I’ve had to do in this world. But, y’know, surviving sure as hell ain’t one of ‘em.”
I turn and leave the man to wallow in his own pain and misery and to think about his life. I slide over the bent blast door, which, realistically should not have bent but hell am I glad it did. I walk straight into the cafeteria and steal everything but the kitchen sink. We’ll be good on food for a good while. And booze too.
I then head to my bedroom and throw on my backpack before trying to store the entire bed, but failing due to the excessive weight. So instead, I just barely store the mattress, pillows, and sheets. I throw an M16 over my shoulder, and strap my gladius to my belt. In my holster is my revolver, with my pistol in my waistband. I figure I’ll be more in a hurry to draw my revolver than I will my pistol.
With that, I go to join everyone upstairs. The elevator ride feels like it takes for-fucking-ever this time around. The music honestly pisses me off more than anything. As the doors open, I find the group trying desperately to crack the glass to the outside. Shane even sends a few rounds of buckshot into it, cracking it, but not actually shattering it. I yell out at them,
“GET BACK! I GOT THIS!”
Shane doesn’t hear me, and fires another shot into the glass. I run up to him and pat his shoulder.
“Take cover, I’ve got another grenade!”
He nods his head and runs back to the group, specifically he runs over to Andrea and Amy. I take a grenade “out of my pocket” and pull the pin, tossing it up to the window up the short flight of stairs. I take cover behind the ledge and after a few seconds, am rocked by another blast. This time, the shockwave isn’t nearly as bad due to it only being the grenade that exploded, and the much more open space. I stand up and call out to them,
“Alright come on!”
I take my rifle off my shoulder and look out at the slowly shambling groups of walkers. Damn… Sorry Jenner, looks like we won’t be waiting. I motion for the group to go on in front of me as I start taking shots at the walkers coming towards the group.
*BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!*
Due to the semi-auto fire, I’m able to pretty easily hit headshots on the walkers. So much so that I get a status message after killing the sixth one.
[Assault Rifle shooting level up!]
I shoot for a few more seconds and notice Shane turning around with his shotgun, firing at a couple walkers. Rick also stops with his revolver to take out a couple more. Shane motions for me to come towards them, which I do. I put my rifle back on my back and take out my revolver as I pass by one of the hummers. As I do so, I feel as though time slows down. A screen pops up in front of me,
[Pistol drawn. Dead Eye activated.]
I can feel my body moving slightly faster than normal, and notice a walker reaching out to grab me on my right side. It’s face draws closer slowly. If I don’t do something, I will be bitten. I pull the revolver up as I see Shane starting to yell out,
“nnnnNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…”
I feel my muscles screaming at me as I feel my body move at nearly superhuman speeds. My bones in my arm yell out in pain as I point the revolver at the bottom of the walkers skull. As I pull the trigger, time resumes at normal speed, and I collapse on the ground, exhausted. My right arm feels almost numb, and my entire body is thoroughly drenched in sweat. I start to hyperventilate, trying to catch my breath after whatever the fuck just happened.
“HAAAH HAAAH HAAAH HAAAH!”
Shane runs over to me and notices my exhausted state. He seems to want to pick me up, but I hold out my hand and get him to help me stand instead. Luckily, my legs were unaffected by whatever just happened, so I can walk at the very least. Shane speaks to me as he continues shooting at walkers,
“Goddamn! I didn’t know you could move like that!”
I shake my head as we reach the caravan of cars,
“I can’t. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug!”
He shakes his head,
“Goddamn ain’t that the truth.”
I speak to him,
“Alright, let the group know that we’re gonna be taking the interstate. I reckon we need to get as far away from this place as possible. I can’t imagine that an explosion caused by the CDC would be a small one. The further away we are, the better.”
He nods his head,
“Alright, boss lady. I’ll let ‘em know.”
I walk over to the box truck and see Clem already climbing in. A walker is slowly creeping behind her, though. I run over, feeling completely exhausted and shoot a few shots at it with my other arm.
*BANGBANGBANG!*
The third one manages to hit the walker square in the head, killing it.
[Walkers: 9/100]
[500p]
I run over to the driver's side as Clem shuts her door, and get in. I twist the key in the ignition and hear the engine roar to life. I turn the car around, and wait for everyone else to get in line behind me. We pull out, leaving behind a soon-to-be crater.
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