NOVEL WEB S2E48 – The Dredges of Society
*BANG BANG BANG!*
This is the sound that we hear for the next few hours as gunfire rips into the store from various angles. It’s become clear to us that holding up in the store was not a very good idea. Luckily, none of us have been shot so far other than a few grazes. It seems that the show characters do indeed get a bit of protection.
As I creep through the front of the store, I can just barely see through a gap in the newspaper covered windows. I see a guy aiming his rifle down from the store across the street from us. I aim my DMR up at him and pop off a shot, slightly hurting my ears.
*PSH! CRACK!*
[Human Killed x2 - 200p]
[1830p]
As the bullet goes through the window, I dodge out of the way, making sure not to expose myself as the glass comes crashing down. And just in time,
*BANGBANGBANGBANG!*
More shots ring out as bullet rip through the front of the store. I run back to the back with the rest of the group. I speak to them in a hushed tone,
“Shit. We gotta get out of here. All these gunshots are gonna draw in a herd of walkers too. This trip was a bust.”
Gerard nods his head,
“Yeah. The second we saw those executions we shoulda left.”
I shake my head,
“Nah. A group like this would’ve eventually caused problems for us. It’s better to nip it in the bud sooner rather than later.”
Andrea, who seems to be the most shell shocked from all the gunfire says,
“I’m with Gerard on this one. This is way too dangerous for four people to handle. We just need to go.”
I begin to feel frustrated as the image of what happened flashes into my mind. However, I know that I’m acting with my emotions rather than my head.
“Fuck… Alright… We’ll find a way out of here. Tell you what, you guys keep an eye on the back door, I’m gonna head up to the roof and see if I can clear out the alley.”
The two mod their heads but Shane protests,
“Not while we’re in a firefight! I’ll go with you!”
I shake my head,
“Out of all of us, you have the most experience with guns. You gotta be here with them. I’ll be fine. If there was anybody on the roof of this building, they would’ve dropped down already.”
Shane looks upset by this, but nods his head,
“Five minutes. If you ain’t back in five minutes I’m coming up there. Ima beat you to death if you get yourself killed, alright?”
I chuckle at this,
“Alright mister muscles.”
With that, I leave the group behind and head into the back room. I spot a ladder that leads up to a plastic hatch. Making my way up the ladder, I see that the hatch is locked shut by a rusted padlock. I take out my pistol and shoot the chain, causing the entire thing to fall down to the ground below.
I pop open the hatch and peek up, finding the roof to be clear. There’s a small ledge around the entire roof, just barely tall enough for me to crouch behind. As I crawl up the hatch, I make sure to keep my body low to the ground so as to not be spotted from any of the surrounding buildings. Luckily this is a small town, so the pharmacy and the building across the street from it, which looks to be a bank, are the two tallest buildings around.
I make my way towards the back, shuffling there and then peeking above the ledge. I spot a group of two gunmen looking down the alleyway towards the door, taking cover behind a dumpster and a crashed car. I also spot another gunman on the rooftop across the alley, also trained on the door. Shit. I’m glad we didn’t just leave.
I slow my breathing and sim my DMR at the rooftop guy first.
“Hoooooooo…”
*PSH!*
[Human Killed - 100p]
[1930p]
I quickly turn my attention to the two down below and pop a few shots at them,
*PSHPSHPSHPSH! CLICK!*
I hit both of them, but only manage to kill one. The other is hit in the thigh.
“God dammit!”
I run out of ammo, so I quickly reload my mag as gunshots ring out from down below, cracking the bricks in front of me. The gunshots perfectly cover the sound of footsteps coming from behind me. By the time I do hear them, it’s too late. I feel a sudden yanking sensation as the walker that come up from behind me pulls me back by my ponytail,
“GRAH!”
I call out in pain as the walker pulls me back. I fight against it, trying to pull my hair away from it, but the walker continues to pull me in closer. As more shots ring out, I do the only thing I can think of. I pull out my knife and quickly cut through the ponytail, causing my hair to fall down to just above my shoulders.
I quickly flip around and drive my knife deep into the walkers skull. It’s then that I notice something. This walker is… a girl around my age. Her body is thin as could be and is stripped naked. Her skin was baking in the sun.
“Jesus fucking Christ. These guys are worse than I thought.”
I look away from the walker with a scowl and walk over to a different part of the ledge, spotting the injured gunman hiding behind another car. However, I also spot another thing. A group of three walkers headed straight for him.
“Good. I don’t have to waste a bullet.”
I stand there, watching as the walkers make their way towards him. One of them spots him and begins to make its way towards him as he scrambles to try and patch up his leg, oblivious to the walkers around him. Finally, he spots them, but just a little too late. He shoots the first one and hits it… just not in the head. I hear heavy footsteps coming up from behind me as Shane’s voice enters my ears,
“Jesus, Penny. I told you you get five-“
Shane’s interrupted as he hears the screams coming from down below. I watch as the walkers tear into the body of the gunman, ripping him apart as though he were paper maché. Shane watches on in horror, while I keep a straight face. I motion to the walker I killed and say,
“These fuckers deserved worse. Let’s get out of here.”
I turn around and see my ponytail still in the hands of the walker as strands of it begin to fly loose in the wind.
—---------------------------------------------
AN: Penny was too angry for her Walker Sense to actually help her. It did tell her it was there, but she subconsciously ignored it. Basically I’m making up excuses since I forgot about that skill.
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