"Go! Go! Go!" Shouts Johnnie as he heads into the vehicle.
Patrick follows Alex as he fishtails towards Dave's pickup location. He attempts to get his Anaconda readied while keeping close to the Camaro.
"OK folks get those lead pushers ready! Dave might need a little cover fire if those Zs get any closer!"
While jiggling everything Patrick's elbow jogs the iPod dock. The small device chirps irritably and begins an incongruous song for the moment.
["OK folks get those lead pushers ready! Dave might need a little cover fire if those Zs get any closer!"
Sam pulls the SIG from it's holster and winds down the window, ready to shoot at the Zombies if they get too close to Dave or the cars.
Mike manages to keep control of the car (barely), but in the process, jars the tape deck, causing this to begin blaring from the speakers.
"MOTHER OF GOD! NO!"
Johnny and Sam prepare themselves for gunplay while Sarge, jaw clenched and knuckles white, contemplates making war deathrace style.
As the van sways wide into the alley Mike brakes and swings the passenger door of the Z28 into Judd’s path, reaching over and pulling the latch as the car comes to a stop, sending the door swinging open like a whip and throwing himself uncomfortably over the gearshift. Michael Sweet croons unbearably as he pulls himself back into the driver's seat... Judd dives.
20 famished and infectious cannibals lope hunched over and snarling after Judd with no hope of catching him in a long footrace, but then he might miss his dive into the passenger seat so there's hope of them getting a little taste, yet. One of them screams like an enraged chimpanzee.
Johnny takes a shot at the lead Z, taking care to aim for its head.
Judd hears a resounding boom in front punctuated by a moist thud behind.
"Run!"
Patrick concentrates on getting Lucretia in alignment as Judd dives for the Camaro. The snarls of the approaching zombies counterpoint with the radio.
"I'm walkin' on sunshine ...Woaoah!"
Dave dives for the door as if his life depended on it – which it may well.
He gets himself and the rifle through the door, catches it and slams it shut behind him. "Gun it!" he yells.
Sam watches Johnnie make the shot and sees the lead Zombie's head explode. She silently wills Dave to hurry up and get in the car, while keeping an eye on the rest of the Zombies.
She hears Patrick's enthusiastic singing and carefully places one of the ear pieces from her ORokr's into her ear. Patrick can just make out some music coming from the other ear piece.
She sees Dave make it to the car and is relieved that they can easily out pace the Zombies now.
Patrick sees Judd make a nice leap into the Camaro's driver's seat and lets out a sigh of relief. Then the snarls of the approaching zombies hit his endocrine system like a double shot adrenaline espresso.
"Roll them windows up folks! Let's kick the tires and light the fires!"
"Hang on, friends!" Johnnie shouts over the rumble of the engine.
The whiny Stryper ballad malingers out into the parking lot and alley as Judd slips into the Z28 like a football star into a homecoming queen – the door clicks home - Mike guns the engine and pops the clutch whipping black strips into the parking lot asphalt and kicking pebbles out at the charging horde of zombies. After he clears the alley Mike stabs at the CD player and yanks out Stryper.
Johnny kicks the side door of the van shut and falls back into the seat as Sarge pilots the van about and back out of the alley to the west, getting a now familiar whiff of Primex powder. The hot shotgun shell tinkles hollow and metallic around the floor of the van. Sam stares back at the zombies, their howling expressions contorted in agony and hunger.
You lose sight of them around the corner.
Relax. Breathing slows down. Stress drains. The eerie quiet of epidemic streets returns.
Still in the commercial district between the gun shop and the mall, north takes you to Marine drive where you’ll find all the high access merchants like grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations and so forth. Farther north, past marine drive is the Trans-Canada Highway after which the slope increases up into the northern mountains, with high end residential areas at their feet. To the south west is the gun shop and south will take you to industrial docks and a great view of downtown Vancouver accross the inlet.
You have full face gas masks, rubber gloves, isopropyl by the buckets, generators, ranged thermometers and an infrared visualizer, if I remember correctly.
...
She hears Patrick's enthusiastic singing and carefully places one of the ear pieces from her ORokr's into her ear...
Patrick trips the WT
"All good over there guys?" He asks
as Judd slips into the Z28 like a football star into a homecoming queen
Sam slowly eases her head back into the van and winds the window back up, sticking the SIG into open glove box in case she has to grab it in a hurry. She switches off the ORokrs and turns to Patrick, smiling. "Don't you have any decent music? I don't suppose you'd consent to letting me slip my iPod into your dock would you?"
Without waiting, she grabs her satchel and pulls out her iPod, pulling out Patricks and inserting hers. Pushing Random, she smiles as the music starts to blare.
Clicking on the WT, she speaks to Dave, then addresses the group.
"That was some hot moves there Dave. So where to now fellas. how are we looking for petrol? Should we stop somewhere and fill up while we have a chance, or leave it. Personally I'd rather not let the tanks get below halfway, as we don't know when we'll be able to fill up and I'd hate to run out in the middle of Zombie Town, Population 10,000 Z's and Us."
“Nice driving there Alex,” Dave smiles over weakly at Mike as he adjusts his position in the seat then pulls up his pants leg to look at his ankle. A bit sore, but doesn’t seem sprained or anything.
“Hey Sam, thanks,” he says into the WT in reply to Samantha. “Petrol – or gas or whatever they call it here – is probably not a bad idea. Let’s head for the hospital as we planned, but stop if we see a place on the way. I picked up some lengths of hose from that first hardware store, so if we get really desperate, or the pumps aren’t working, we can siphon fuel from other cars.”
“Nice driving there Alex.”
"Thanks," Mike mumbles, his face the color of spoiled milk. He keeps mumbling, nearly unintelligibly.
"Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, 'cause "the West is the best." And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the Great White North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild. Alexander Supertramp, May 1992. F+#~..."
"Sorry mate, missed that?"
"Sorry mate, missed that?"
"Nothin' bro... I f%$#ing hate driving..."
“I’d rather run than drive – but I’d rather drive than be a passenger. You’re doin’ fine, but if you want to pull over we can swap.”
Zombie Town, Population 10,000 Z's and Us."
Pretty soon that should be more like 500,000, assuming each zombie eats one whole person or more.
“Petrol – or gas or whatever they call it here – is probably not a bad idea. Let’s head for the hospital as we planned, but stop if we see a place on the way. I picked up some lengths of hose from that first hardware store, so if we get really desperate, or the pumps aren’t working, we can siphon fuel from other cars.”
You’ve only driven a few blocks and the hospital isn’t that far, once you get across the bridge. We’ll hand wave the fuel at 3/4 of a tank.
Patrick glances at Sam as she switches iPods out. He smiles at her music choice.
"That's fine Sam. Don't judge me too harshly on that last choice. I dowloaded the Katrina and the Waves song in a fit of nostalgia. I've got something like 30,000 different songs in that lil' bastard.."
The smiles runs off Patrick's face like it was being chased by zombies.
"I guess it's time to try the hospital."
Patrick reflexively checks his cell phone. If there is no message he texts to his Aunt Terri.
Coming 2 yr position. We R mobil now. Will txt when closer. I luv U -P.
Coming 2 yr position. We R mobil now. Will txt when closer. I luv U -P.
There are two ways to get to Vancouver proper by land. You can go east to the Trans-Canada highway and take the Second Narrows Bridge, that's the long way. Beside it is a train bridge.
The short way is to take the Lion's Gate Bridge south into Stanley Park and then follow the causeway into downtown Vancouver, and through the core to the hospital. The bridge is impressively high and takes you well into the park before you leave its gates in the park.
The alternative? Well, I'll leave that up to you....
The two routes look something like this:
The red X at the top indicates where Grainger supply is. The bottom X is Vancouver General Hospital... which, as Johnnie can tell you, just happens to be across the street from the Canadian Center for Disease Control.
Grocery shopping for Klein? Drop off one of the generators?
There are some grocery stores up on Marine Drive.
"I suggest we get Pat's aunt first then shop later. That way we don't have to waste time. Besides, if we do shop before getting your aunt, Pat, the vehicle might be full of supplies."
“I’d rather run than drive – but I’d rather drive than be a passenger. You’re doin’ fine, but if you want to pull over we can swap.”
Mike pulls over and lets Dave drive.
Patrick mulls it over
"Yeah, I don't want to leave Aunt Terri stuck in zombie Hell. OK, let's head for the hospital, then we can do the groceries."
Patrick pulls behind Mike/Alex when he pulls over to let Dave drive to guard his back.
“You probably should take the lead here,” Judd suggests to Pat when he gets out of the car briefly to take over driving. “You and Johnnie know your way around this town better than the rest of us I reckon.”
It's settled then, off to the Lion's Gate.
Johnnie checks his cell. Damn the battery's drained. He considers how Mary Ann's doing. She'll be alright.
It’s quite a few blocks to the bridge.
You turn on to Marine Drive heading west and before long the unmistakable thunder of a squadron of helicopters rumbles loudly from behind, finally flying by, following Marine drive in the same direction as you. Cars pass in the opposite direction, the drivers lift their hands and nod as you pass. A motorcycle flies through an intersection ahead of you and disappears, heading north toward the Trans Canada highway. Now and then you see people on rooftops, a few of them conspicuously bearing arms. People barricaded into small buildings look out from second floor windows furtively, faces lined with terror.
As you pass Safeway, a Canada wide grocery chain, you get a sobering look at looting gone bad: eviscerated bodies, skulls cracked open, rivulets of blood washing into the sewers in the light rain - walls pocked with bullet holes. A police car is parked in front, doors open, engine running, and empty - but lights still flashing. So you’re not the first to have need of groceries.
As you pass the ubiquitous MacDonald’s you slow when you see a fat little girl frantically scrambling over the remaining shards lining the front plate glass windows, something moving toward her from behind panics you: she looks like she’s trying to escape. As your caravan pulls to a stop you realize she’s salivating and snarling, trailers of foam slipping off her chin onto her Hello Kitty t-shirt. She's looking at you.
Ahead. Smoke. Fire. Exploded pumps at a gas station burn out of control, rammed by a pickup truck that has careened out of control. The rent and dismembered bodies of something’s meal litter the ground nearby.
Pulse quickening glances of people moving in the shadows between buildings and in the thick clusters of trees that lend North Vancouver its famous natural beauty. Finally a snarling platoon of zombies you estimate to number in the 40s or 50s gives chase and you gun forward weaving through jams, abandoned cars, and burning wrecks. You leave them behind.
Affirmative.