Undead Rising

"You guys ok?" Bron said suddenly as Max and Scott emerged from the bushes.

"Yeah, don't worry we're good." Max nodded, looking around, "Where's Jess?"

The moment her name was presented, she emerged from the left.

"Everyone all right?" She sputtered, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"Everyone seems to be ok..." Max began, and looked over to Bron.

He was gently shushing Lorrie as she hugged him tightly and cried into his shirt. Her sorrow reflecting in his eyes and conducting tears.

"It's ok...at least he didn't die painfully...he's in a better place..." He said to her softly, his voice cracking as he too began to gently cry.

"I hate them...I wanna make those bastards pay..." She finally said, surprising the others by her sudden speech.

It had been a while since she finally spoke, slowly pulling away from Bron's large arms.

"We will get revenge. Next time we see them, they're dead." Jess growled, holding Lorrie's hand in attempt to comfort her.

"Good..." She sniffed.

"Now what? We lost our base." Scott asked, looking over Max's shoulder.

"We stick to the plan. We make our way to Dallas."

"Are you sure? Maybe we should stay somewhere close..." Bron notioned, looking around nervously.

"We can't do that. We have to leave the area. If we stick around in, the bikers will find us." Jess barked, "We need to get as far away as possible."

"But we're in no condition to travel. We have injured." Bron pointed to Scott, "And Lorrie isn't going anywhere in her state."

"Alright, Alright. Let's have a vote." Scott spoke up, "Who thinks we should stay?"

Bron and Scott raised their hands.

"Who thinks we should leave?"

Jess and Lorrie raised their hands.

"Max hasn't voted." Jess muttered.

Instantly, all eyes were on him, piercing his soul like knives. Now the pressure was on. He could vote for one side, and have the other hate him for it. And what if this desicion had a bad outcome? He sighed and spoke up.

"Maybe we can have both. We definitly can't stay here, but we're in no condition to travel."

"Yeah, we covered that." Jess muttered again.

He rolled his eyes and went on.

"Let's move a little bit in the Dallas direction, but we'll camp somewhere when we think we should stop."

"So we'll travel, but not far?"

"Basically."

"I guess that works.." Bron nodded, a satisfied grin befalling his face.

"Alright! Let's move!" Scott perked up and pointed triumphantly.

"I still think we should head all the way to Dallas..." Jess sighed, fixating her eyes to the floor as she walked along.

For most of the way it was silent, for they didn't want any unwanted attention from creatures, or bikers. The often tweeting of a bird, or the scurrying of a rodent made them jump and go on gaurd.

"Is that light?" Bron suddenly said, breaking the silence.

They all looked up, light shining through the trees, and voices followed it.

"Survivors. Perfect, they might have a camp and let us stay." Max smiled.

"Yeah right. These days everyone is hostile." Jess added.

"You're one to talk."

She scowled and crossed her arms.

"Let's just check it out. If we aren't wanted we'll go." Scott suggested, which satisfied the others.

They slowly moved in, the light growing brighter and the voices growing louder. Max lead the way, and was the first to get a good view. A campsite sat in the clearing. Large tents stood tall, and lamps hung from posts. A raging campfire billowed in the middle, with the camp's inhabitants sitting around it. There were piles of rocks that formed small walls around the camp, which provided cover in case of a battle.

"These guys look like they're prepared for anything..." Max said, turning to the others.

"Max, you're good at talking. Head in and ask if we can stay." Scott whispered.

He nodded and gently set Scott down, crouching and slowly walking into the clearing.

"Be careful!" Jess whispered after him.

With a thumbs up, he approached the camp and alerted them to his presence.

"Hello?"

One of them walked over to the edge of their camp and faced Max.

"Who are you?" He boomed.

"I'm Max, me and my friends are in seek of refuge. We have injured and could really use the help."

Silence.

"I don't like this..." Jess whispered, watching from behind a rock.

"Why would we let you in?"

"We're good with firearms. We could hunt! Or fight off monsters."

"Yeah right. You probably couldn't hurt a fly." the man scoffed.

"No really, we can be of use!"

Jess suddenly widened her eyes, noticing the other men in the camp shifting around. They were taking out their weapons. She scooted over to Bron.

"Do you see that..?" She asked him.

"Guns...!" He gasped and stood up, "MAX, WATCH OUT!!!!"

He turned.

"Wha-"

A bullet zoomed past him and collided with a tree.

"Shit!!" He cried and fell over, crawling to the others as bullets began to fly once more.

"You sons of bitches!" Scott shouted, firing his rifle like a madman, "No one hurts MY buddy!"

"MAX GET OVER HERE!!" Jess screamed at him and waved her hand.

"I'M TRYING!" He shouted back as he crawled, narrowly avoiding bullets.

He dove behind a rock and began firing his rifle. One by one the men collapsed as bullets pierced their heads and sent them tumbling on their backs.

"Keep firing!" Max shouted, ramming a shot into a man's head.

"You assholes!" Jess screeched, hurling a knife through the air, which pierced one guy in the c.h.e.s.t.

The violent shootout was droned on for what felt like hours, until all the camps inhabitants had fallen and laid limply in pools of blood.

"Jesus....Two shootouts in one night." Scott sighed and wiped his forehead.

"Well, at least we won this time." Bron grinned, retrieving his machete from one of the bodies and wiping the blood off, "We can take their camp!"

"Perfect." Max smiled, and turned to the others, "We've done it. This, is our new home."