Race for Safe Haven - Who's the Boss?

[Posted by Ted H]

Interviewed for a FT job last week. Still plan to keep the PT job if I get it, meaning 60 hour work weeks. Yaaaaaaaay adulthood!

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[Race for Safe Haven - Who's the Boss?]

            Rhett returned to the window to see the effect of the flare tossing. The far end of each end of the street was littered with bright red flares. The dead flocking to each flare as a potential meal, parting the area of the street the club was in like the Red Sea. Tara walked up to him to also check out the scene. "This is gonna work, right?" she asked.
            "Probably," Rhett responded.
            "Sorry about Eric. He's kind of...intense sometimes."
            "Sometimes?"
            Jenny was getting Sarah up and bringing her to the stairway entrance while Steve and Eric were pulling the last parts of the barricade away. Rhett pulled out one of his handguns and offered it to Tara. "Just in case," he said. "I'm Tara," she said as she quickly took the gun and concealed it before Eric saw. "I'm Rhett."
            "Just try not to provoke Eric too much," Tara said.
            "Don't worry. Once we're done here, we're probably going our separate ways."
            "Well," Tara said after a pause "Try not to piss him off in the next five minutes."
            "No promises."
            "We ready?" Eric announced, the door to the stairway now unprotected, some zombies pounding on the door outside. "Sure thing, boss," Rhett said with some sarcasm. Tara flashed him a worried look, then went to help Jenny with Sarah. "Steve, cover the back," Eric instructed "I'll get the door. You can take point, cowboy." Rhett smirked as he walked up and readied his shotgun. Eric pulled the door open to reveal three zombies trying to get in.
            Rhett fired and all three were thrown back and down the stairs. One was dead immediately, another broke its neck on the fall. One zombie was still alive, but tangled in the bodies of the others with a broken arm. Rhett flew down the stairs, ready for anything else that wanted to attack. "Why are two of these dead girls topless?" he asked as he looked around at the first floor.
            A bar sat nearby, stocked with bottles and glasses all marked for nonalcoholic beverages. Behind the bar was a stage with poles lining all the way back to a small DJ booth. In the back were booths and chairs, all decorated with tacky designs. The entire area was lit up by light coming in through all the broken windows in front. "We're at a fucking strip club?" Rhett yelled out, prompting a barricaded door to the back to be pounded on. The door inched forward a bit to allow arms to reach around and try to push it away. "Zombie strippers?" Rhett asked to himself with a smile.
            From the other side of the club, several more zombies took notice of Rhett and the sound of everyone else coming down the stairs. "Ladies," Rhett said as a few topless zombies made their way forward. They would have to traverse around the dance stage that was cutting the two sides off from each other. By time they arrived, Rhett and the others planned to be long gone.
            "C'mon!" Eric yelled as he came down the stairs, the girls stumbling down behind him. The front door was right in front of them an unobstructed. Rhett moved forward and opened it to reveal nothing trying to get in. "Go make sure it's clear to the street," Eric said as Rhett nodded and ran forward outside. Everyone else filed out and shut the door behind them.
            Sarah was allowed to sit down on the front steps and hold her throbbing leg while Jenny and Tara stepped away. "We're out of sight right here," Steve said as he ventured forward a bit to try to see how far Rhett had gone to scout. Eric nodded approvingly at how smoothly things had been going to this point, but he knew the hard part was still ahead.
            Sarah was infected, and there was no way he could allow for her to remain a potential danger to the group. He could explain that to Mike, but he knew Mike could be coaxed otherwise by Tara and Steve and maybe the new guy. But Mike wasn't here, and he decided he needed to make a battlefield decision. Eric turned to regard Sarah and aimed his gun at her. He shot her right in the forehead before she could even get a word out in protest.
            He whirled around and aimed at Steve next, who had just realized what happened. "Don't do anything stupid, Steve," he said as Steve could only look at him with a dropped jaw. "Now then," he said as he turned to see Rhett sprinting back at the sound of a gunshot. Without hesitating, he aimed and shot Rhett, causing him to suddenly stop and sprawl backwards.
            "What are you doing?" Jenny screamed as moans of the dead taking heed to the gunshots were now approaching. "I'm not looking to kill anyone else," Eric said as he noticed Tara pull out a handgun and nervously aim it. "You're not going to do that," he said as he calmly walked up to her "Sarah was already dead, and that asshole was a danger. I just took care of business for the good of the group." He casually placed his hand on top of Tara's gun and pushed it aside.
            "I told you I'd get us out of here, didn't I?" he asked.
            "You also said that to Sarah," Tara said back.
            Eric sighed. "There was nothing we could do for her," he yelled "Not anymore. When we get back to Mike, that's what we're gonna tell him."
            "And what about Rhett?" Tara asked.
            "He sacrificed himself," Eric decided "So that we could get away. Nobody say a word about me killing him."
            "Sure thing, boss," someone sarcastically said behind him. Eric spun around to see Rhett ready with his shotgun level. He winked and pulled the trigger, blowing a hole into Eric's chest and sending him backwards onto the ground, right at the feet of Sarah's body. Rhett dropped his arms and coughed out a laugh as he walked up to Eric's corpse. The others just stared at him.
            Rhett grabbed his shirt collar with one hand and pulled down to reveal the bullet proof vest he had. "So glad I pillaged that dead cop's stuff," he said as he released his collar and grabbed Eric's leg. "C'mon," he said as he started dragging the body. He brought the body to the middle of the street as zombies approaching the gunshots could see it; an easier meal. Steve meanwhile led Tara and Jenny to the corner where Jason was suppose to be picking them up at. Tara ran back to Eric's body and began digging through his pockets. She had picked up his magnum and wanted any spare bullets he had on him.
            Crashing out of the strip club came several more zombies. Some stopped at Sarah's body, but others pushed passed on their way to where Rhett was. A majority of them were strippers, in various stages of undress. Rhett stood in the middle of the street and made no effort to move; partly because of the pain he was in, but also because he was sure this was one of his fantasies, minus the zombie part. "This is how I die," he said with a smile as a mob of nude women were rushing their way to him, arms outstretched and looking to rip him apart.
            "Rhett?" Tara yelled as she grabbed the man's arm "Let's go!" Barreling down the road was a red SUV with Jason, Mike, Laura and Matt inside. Once it skid to a stop, Matt jumped out and opened the trunk, ushering everyone over. Jenny dove into the backseat while Steve aimed his gun and readied to cover.
            The majority of the zombies giving chase stopped for the meal that Eric was providing, but enough were giving chase for the living to still be a problem. Rhett and Tara arrived at the car and jumped into the back, Matt jumping in behind them and closing the truck with him. Steve got in the backseat with Jenny and slammed his door shut. "That's all of us, let's go!" he yelled and Jason backed the car up through the street before turning it around and speeding away from the dead.
            Mike had been up front giving Jason directions, but he turned around a moment to double check everyone who had added themselves recently. "Eric and Sarah," he asked aloud "What happened to them?" No one said a word until Steve spoke up. "You might have noticed a big ass cluster of them in the middle of the street?" he said "That would be where Eric was. Sarah had her own pile not too far away."
            Mike sighed and slowly turned back around. "Jason, just get us out of here," he said. The rest of the trip out of Syracuse was in silence as they sped out of the area, the mass of zombies trailing them slowly and surely fading away. The sun was beginning to set, and they still had to find a safe place to spend the night.

Race for Safe Haven - Big Man in Charge

[Posted by Ted H]

Everything hurts...Why do I work? Why can't I play the lotto or rob a bank like normal people?

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[Race for Safe Haven - Big Man in Charge]

            "Next time I'm staying in the car," Steve said as Rhett looked around the roof. The area they were on was flat and it extended to the other side of the building. "Gotta be a way off this roof," he said as he began walking. "Besides the expedient way?" Steve asked. "We need that cable," Rhett said "There's no other way to climb down."
            Rhett returned to Steve and the two of them tried pulling the cable away from the zombies, but they wouldn't let go. Both pulled back with all they had only for the cable to snap, sending them flying back. "Fucking zombies," Rhett said as Steven pushed him away and stood up. "Now WE need rescuing," he said as he put his hands on his sides and sighed. "It's just a two story drop," Rhett suggested "Can't be that bad."
            "You're an idiot," Steve snapped. "Yeah, let's just sit up here and wait to die instead," Rhett yelled. He stormed off to the other end of the roof. Looking down, he noticed two things; there were no zombies on this side of the building, and there was also a window ledge just below. He sat down on the edge and hung his legs down.
            "What are you doing?" Steve asked as he ran over. "There's a window here. Might be no zombies on this end after the commotion we caused. Either way, it's less of a drop down if we jump from this ledge." Steve made a face, but nodded as Rhett dropped himself on the edge and held on with his hands. Even dangling as low as possible, it was still a bit of a drop to the ledge that Rhett could swore looked bigger before.
            He dropped himself onto the ledge and gripped the shutters on each side of the window when he landed. "Easy," he told himself as he then began to wonder how he planned on opening this window, or how to turn himself around if he had to jump to the ground. As he glanced down to the window, he realized someone was looking out at him from inside.
            "Uh...hi?" he said to the woman looking up at him. For the moment he wasn't sure if it was another zombie, but her eyes were normal looking. "Lil help?" The woman immediately began messing with the window until she was able to push it up. Rhett was able to crouch down and slide into the building.
            "Holy shit!" another woman said as Rhett stood up. "Hold it!" someone yelled. Rhett looked to see a man pointing a gun at him "Where the hell did he come from?"
            "The sky," Rhett said pointing up.
            "Were you the one making all that noise up on the roof?" the woman at the window said while pointing up. "Yeah," Rhett said as he put his hand up to calm the guy with the gun down "You guys must be the rest of Mike's group."
            "How the fuck," the man said while he walked closer, gun still raised "Do you know about us?"
            "Because I'm here to rescue you, dipshit," Rhett said.
            "Eric, put the gun down," the other woman said. "Shut up, Jenny," Eric shouted "I don't trust this prick."
            "Rhett!" Steve called from outside "What's going on down there?" Rhett put his hand up to Eric. "Hold that thought," he said as he went back to the window. "Drop the shotgun to me and come on down," he said while looking up "It's alright. They're here!" Steve dropped him the shotgun before preparing to drop down himself while Eric and Jenny continued to argue. The sight of Steve suddenly dropping into view ended the argument. Steve almost fell backwards after landing, but Rhett was able to reach out and grab his arm. He crouched and tumbled in through the window. "Graceful," Rhett commented, earning a middle finger from Steve.
            "Holy shit, Steve!" the woman said as she helped him up and hugged him. "Hey, Tara," he said as he looked around and smiled. "What is happening?" Eric asked as he finally put his gun away and walked up to Steve. "The shittiest day of my life to date," Steve said "Is everyone alright?" Eric shrugged "All things considered? Yeah."
            "Sarah's been bit," Jenny said, pointing to the blond in the corner with her head down, a trail of blood leading from her to a larger puddle. "Damn," Steve said, his smile quickly fading. He walked over to Sarah and forgot all about the rest of the room. Eric looked back to Rhett. "Rescue, huh?" he asked "So you two have something planned?"
            "Something like that," Rhett said as he looked out the window for the building Mike said he'd be waiting in. There he spied in a window Mike watching with his binoculars. Rhett flashed a thumbs up. "Now we wait for the right moment to escape," Rhett said. "Escape how?" Jenny asked "Jump out the window? We already tried heading for the fire escape."
            "Yeah, we know that isn't an option," Rhett said "We could always try the front door." Eric shook his head. "Absolutely not," he said "We were chased up here and had to barricade the doors." Rhett looked to the stairwell barricade. "More than there were heading for the fire escape?" he asked.
            "No," Eric said "But there's only so much we can do when all we had was my one gun." Rhett smirked "I got a shotgun," he said "You got a gun, Steve's got a gun. We got guns now." Eric stared at him a moment before sighing. "We don't have a choice here, do we?" he asked. "Nope," Rhett said "You want out of here, now is the time."
            Tara walked up. "Got any guns for the rest of us?" she asked. Before Rhett could answer, Eric stepped forward. "No," he said "I can handle things."
            "Are you serious?" she asked as Jenny grabbed her shoulder. "Don't worry," she said "I need your help carrying Sarah, anyway."
            "She's not coming," Eric said as everyone looked at him. "Why?" Jenny asked after a pause. "She's infected," Eric said with a serious look on his face "She's just holding us back at this point."
            "I'll carry her myself," Steve said as he offered his gun up. "No," Eric said "I need you up front, helping us push through or no one makes it."
            "I'm not leaving if Sarah's still alive," Steve said, locking stern looks with Eric. "She's as good as dead," Eric said "We only have one shot at getting out now, I'm not letting her jeopardize our chances." Steve shrugged his shoulders. "Tough shit," he said.
            "Fine," Eric relented "But I need you shooting." Steve nodded as he gave Sarah a reassuring smile.
            Rhett knew these people for only a few moments, but he already didn't like most of them. "I just had to stop for gas," he said to himself. Outside, the sizzle of a flare sounded, and Rhett looked to see the diversion tactic already starting. Mike with Laura were tossing flares on one end of the street while Matt was doing the same on the other.
            "Alright," Rhett said "Let's get this-"
            "Who the fuck put you in charge?" Eric snapped "You want to stick around and survive with us? Fall in line!" Everyone else in the room grew silent. "And what if I don't?" Rhett said as he stepped to within a couple feet of him. Eric smirked as he reached for his gun and went to point it at Rhett again. Before he could snap his arm into position, Rhett grabbed the gun and pulled it from his hand.
            An initial shock washed over Eric's face as Rhett brought his arm back around and smacked Eric in the side of the head with the handle of his own gun. Eric was about to recover himself and rush Rhett when he noticed the man had flipped the magnum around and was now pointing it at him. Everyone else kept their distance and Steve had his hand on his gun just in case.
            "Let's get one thing straight," Rhett said "You want to be the big man in charge? Fine. But you pull a gun on me again, I can promise you it'll be the last fucking thing you ever do." Rhett dropped the magnum back on the ground and walked away. Eric just stood there, fuming, as Steve went over and picked the magnum up. "We don't have a lot of time," he reminded him. Eric snatched his gun back as he stared. "Help me open up the stairway," he said sternly as he and Steve went to work.

Race for Safe Haven - That Only Works in the Movies

[Posted by Ted H]

Act one of this story: done! Not that I'm anywhere near posting that part here. Def need to overhaul the end of it because it feels rushed and forced at parts. Whatever, I'll probably get around to that right before November. Until then, I'm looking to start my "Demons Ascension" universe short story...

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[Race for Safe Haven - That Only Works in the Movies]

            "Well, it's not like we can go back now," Steve said as he went for the window. He easily slid it up and stuck his head inside. "Clear," he said as he climbed in. Rhett followed to find himself in a small bathroom. "This place has not been cleaned in a while," he said as he wondered if the brown colored sink and toilet were once white. "It's a good thing I'm used to shitting in the woods now," Steve said as he went for the door and slowly opened it.
            Outside the bathroom was another small room. It was dark, so Rhett pulled out his flashlight and searched the room. On the ground by the far wall was a zombie with its arms handcuffed behind it. Reacting to the light, it moaned and tried to move on its stomach to get at Rhett. "I got it," Rhett said as he handed Steve the flashlight and pulled out his screwdriver "No need to risk a bullet."
            As Rhett stepped forward, sudden footsteps caught his and Steve's attention. Steve panned the light over to reveal an approaching zombie, dressed in a police uniform. "Oh shit," Steve said as Rhett, no longer visible in the darkness to the zombie, circled behind the slow moving attacker while Steve backing into the bathroom. As it went to enter the bathroom, Rhett threw an arm around the zombie's neck and used his other arm to ram the screwdriver into its ear.
            Blood spurted out, but the zombie was still active as it now tried to reach behind itself to get at Rhett. Rhett pulled back to get the zombie off balance as he pondered how to quickly and quietly deal here. The idea of snapping its neck seemed solid, but Rhett remembered that he never tried something like that before, and that it might only work in movies. Instead he planted his feet and used both arms to steady himself against the zombie.
            Even in the dark, Steve's wild aiming of the flashlight notwithstanding, Rhett still had an idea of where he was in the room. With the screwdriver still sticking out of the zombie's ear, Rhett shifted himself towards the near wall, then threw the zombie with all his might into the wall screwdriver first, causing it to embed itself even deeper into the zombie's head. With its brain sufficiently screwed, the zombie slumped down the wall and didn't move again.
            "Are you okay?" Steve asked as he came back out of the bathroom. "Yeah, I'm awesome," Rhett said as he gripped his screwdriver and pulled it back out with a grunt. He could still hear the other zombie in the room struggle to get to him as it flopped on the ground. "I'm so glad I brought this," he said as he motioned Steve to follow him with the flashlight.
            The handcuffed zombie had made no progress in its attempt to move. As Steve lit its face up, it snapped its mouth at the light, as if it might be edible. "Let's try this again," Rhett said as he dropped one boot on the zombie's head to keep it steady. He then crouched down and rammed the screwdriver into its ear, killing it instantly. "Better," he said as he slid the tool out of the corpse's ear. "I'm sure you'll get better with practice," Steve said sarcastically. Rhett ignored him as he put the screwdriver away and walked.
            "I don't like this," Steve said as he followed Rhett with the light back to the cop "Two zombies out in the open? Right by where the fire escape is?" Rhett shrugged as he searched the dead cop. "Unless you see a familiar body..." he began as he pulled out the cop's handgun. It was the same standard model as the other gun he had. "Keep it," Steve said as Rhett held it up "I have some extra ammo. You could use it."
            "Suit yourself," Rhett said as he checked the clip then put the gun behind his belt next to the other handgun. A little more searching revealed two extra magazines full of bullets. Rhett offered one to Steve. "Those are nine mil rounds," he said, again refusing what Rhett offered. "I use .45. Completely different from yours."
            "Man, you think movies and video games would cover shit like that," Rhett said as he pocketed the spare ammo. He also pulled a second flashlight for himself. "We ready?" Rhett asked as he switched his flashlight on. "Your turn to go first," Steve said as he motioned with his light to the other door.
            "Right," Rhett said as he walked over and placed his ear on the door. The door wasn't in that good of condition, yet another thing in this building that needed replacing, but Rhett still couldn't make out any noise on the other side. Keeping his shotgun aimed with one arm, he reached out with the other and turned the doorknob. He then flashed his light through as he slowly opened the door more, before quickly stepping back and pulling the door closed with a slam.
            "The fuck?" Steve asked. "Get back to the bathroom," Rhett said as he backed up before something large outside slammed into the door. "How many?" Steve asked, knowing right away that more zombies were attacking. "Too many."
            The door shook from another pound at it, this time accompanied by the sickening crack of the door frame. Whatever was pounding at it was joined by more as the door shook from the constant strikes of the dead trying to break through. "Go!" Rhett yelled as he readied the shotgun while keeping a constant light on the door. It wouldn't hold much longer.
            Steve was long gone as Rhett slowly backing towards the bathroom, never daring to take his eyes or light off the door. When the door finally toppled out of the frame, Rhett took a shot, his gun sending out a tremendous roar as the dead up front were blown back and away. Rhett then turned and sprinted through the bathroom and was out the window in an instant.
            Back on the landing, Rhett immediately noticed a lack of Steve. He looked down the ladder to see the same sea of zombies reaching up. "Where..." he began when her heard Steve call him. He looked up to see Steve climbing the cable off to the side and onto the roof. "C'mon, man!" he called as Rhett looked back in the window to see the zombies after him.
            He pocketed the flashlight and climbed onto the railing. The first of the zombies was pushing its way out the window when he grabbed the cable. Using broken areas of the brickwork as footholds, Rhett tried climbing up the building, awkwardly trying to hold his shotgun as he ascended. Halfway up, he almost fell because his hands were so preoccupied with the weapon.
            "It's not worth it, just drop it!" Steve yelled down. "After what I did to get it?" Rhett called back "Never!"
            "Then fall and die," Steve called. Rhett held on with his left hand while he reared back his right with the shotgun. "Catch!" he called. Steve rolled his eyes as he held his hands out. Rhett hurled the gun up and Steve caught it by the business end as he disappeared from view. "Now move your dumb ass!" he yelled out.
            Rhett felt the cable tighten as he glanced down to see zombies pulling on it. "How much weight can this thing handle?" he asked himself as he picked up the pace. "Steve?" he called as the man reappeared and threw a hand out to help him with. Rhett grabbed the hand and let himself be pulled up. On the roof, they scrambled away from the cable as the dead continued to pile on and pull on it. "You need a strap or something for that thing," Steve said as Rhett grabbed for his shotgun nearby. He could only nod as both men got up.