Kapitel 301: fd7
Arc 1: Arrival
Part 7: Nightmare
When I awoke I lay silent inside my suit, staring at the ceiling of the Macy's.
What had I done? I had murdered another human being. Sure, he had been pointing a gun at me and trying to open my armor, but fuck that was never going to happen. Even at point blank range his gun couldn't have penetrated my armor. He was literally no real threat to me.
So why did I feel so confused over it. Now that I was fully awake, I could tell I was feeling guilt over it. But it was more the guilt that I had taken a life than that I had taken his life.
I rolled onto my side as I prepared to get up and froze. Something wasn't right. The light from my helmet showed me a floor devoid of the corpse that should have been there. I'd shot him through the skull, he shouldn't have turned. Even if he had, wouldn't he be trying to gnaw me through my armor?
I got to my feet, drawing my pistol and holding it at the ready. I didn't like this, not one bit.
Silently I ghosted through the abandoned Macy's, watching for any sign of motion. I heard a strange gurgling sound and followed it.
A minute later I found Early laying face down in a puddle of vomit. His skull was intact, his skin dirty but clearly not the grey of death.
Fucking hell, I'd finally had a nightmare in this living hell, and Early was going to choke on his own vomit.
I got to my knees, pulling out my emergency kit and rolling Early onto his side.
It would be a while before I realized I was feeling relieved to have not killed him. It would be even longer before I thought about the 'coldness' that come over me in the tense situation.
XxXxXxX
It took a while, and I was probably half-assing it since my only experience with preventing someone choking on their own vomit came from movies, but I was able to keep Early from asphyxiating like Jimi Hendrix.
I figured it was the least I could do. The man had shared his hospitality and not betrayed it. And he had let me raid Barnes and Noble, arguably one of the few entertainment venues he could actually make use of without power.
He was still definitely a druggie, though whether that was the case before the apocalypse or not was another question. He didn't look like someone who had been deteriorating from a drug addiction for years, so this might have simply been a way to escape from the horrors of his new reality.
As I sat beside Early, making sure he continued breathing around the intubation tube I'd inserted down his throat, I contemplated where I was going to go from here. Maybe after this he'd be willing to join up. I'd have to keep the medical supplies locked up though.
That was the rub, wasn't it? I didn't want to be alone, no I needed others to do anything more than scavenge and subsist in the long run. At the same time, I could feel a deep, burning need and desire for control over myself. I was no longer in a situation where I could trust others to make the best decisions for me. I'd had a hard enough time 'trusting' the government I had before getting shot as it was. In a collapsed world like this I doubted I could ever trust someone to be 'in charge'.
And I'd have to be careful about who I recruited because those who wouldn't be willing to work together or who would try to drain precious resources would have to be guarded against. It's not like I knew how to make aspirin or vicodin, after all. Which meant at some point our painkillers were going to run out.
"Chief, got some activity on the scanners. Looks like a couple of trucks coming down the road." Cortana's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"How many people?" I asked as I got to my feet.
This could be more survivors to make an alliance with, or they could be a threat.
"Eight men. All appear to be armed, and not a bit dirty." Cortana replied. "Chief, I don't like this. They are turning into the parking lot, and those not driving appear to be preparing their weapons."
"Keep me posted on where they are going to try to enter, Cortana."
Well, there went any more time I had to wait. I shook Early, slapping him across the face.
"Come on, Early, wake up. We may have a problem."
After a few moments Early snorted awake, scrambling to his feet and clearly panicking over the obstruction in his throat.
"Whoah, whoah, calmly Early. You nearly choked on your own vomit. Just let me remove the tube."
"Wh-what the hell?" Early choked out as he coughed up a bit of vomit.
"I found you passed out in a puddle of vomit. Luckily I had that in my emergency kit, or you'd probably be dead."
Early continued coughing for a few moments before accepting a towel I held out for him, using it to wipe down his face and front best he could.
Let's just say I was grateful my suit was self-contained and leave it at that.
"So, whyd'ya wake me up by slapping me then?"
"That would be because there are currently eight armed men approaching the mall."
Cortana's voice replied inside my suit.
"Chief, they are breaching one of the barricades at the south end. There are no zombies nearby," I could detect a smug sense of satisfaction in Cortana's voice there. "So they should be the only threat. Just be careful."
"Correction," I said before Early could speak. "Eight armed men are currently breaching the southern entrance."
The look Early gave was dark, with just a hint of worry.
"Fucking rapers." He muttered.
Early sat down with a dark look in his eyes, suddenly looking older than I had originally assumed.
"These bastards found me and my daughters a week ago." Early began slowly. We were camped outside Alpharetta. We had been on our way to Atlanta when we heard that they were bombing refugee camps. Can you believe that? Bombing innocent survivors."
Early had a far away, desperate look in his eyes. I feared I now understood why he had wanted to get high. To forget. To escape the nightmare.
"They surrounded us, two of them tied me to a tree a-and made me watch. They raped both my girls! Both of my baby girls! THEN THEY KILLED THEM, left them to turn and left me with a baseball bat. I...I had to put my baby girl's out of their misery!"
By now Early was crying and screaming. I turned towards the barricaded entrance from the store into the mall. I handed Early his gun and made sure the safety was off mine.
"If these are the same bastards, then let's go get the vengeance you're daughters deserve."
Unlike my nightmare, I would feel no guilt or remorse over killing these bastards.
"I'll confront them, you get in a position you can see them from. Only fire if you actually recognize them as part of that group."
Early nodded, though whether that meant he was going to follow the order or not I couldn't tell. I don't think I even cared. How these men reacted would determine their fates.
Or, if they were the ones who had raped and murdered Early's daughters.
XxXxXxX
Early and I moved quietly along the upper floor as we neared the south end of the building. Even from where we were I could hear the men talking, laughing, joking. A loud shattering of glass came, presumably they threw something through a window.
They weren't being quiet at all. Either they didn't fear any zombies who might be attracted by the noise, or they were confident that the mall was already empty.
Neither were good signs. The former showed they were confident trending cocky and arrogant. The latter meant they had been here before and KNEW it was empty, meaning they probably knew the layout of the mall better than I did.
Oh well, I had a good grasp of cover and spatial awareness. And I had the gun that wasn't going to run out of bullets.
"Early." I said as we dropped into cover behind a bench on the top floor.
We were situated by a span of bridge across to the other side of the mall, and glancing through the bars of the railing I could see two of the men standing watch outside of a Sharper Image. The voices coming from inside the store told me that at least three of the others were inside. I scanned around, watching for signs of any others. I saw movement over near a fancy wine and cheese store and after a moment a sixth man walked out, two large bottles of champagne held in his hands.
"Hey guys, look what I found? It's the fancy shit, yo!" He called out, drawing the attention of both of the guards.
"Damnit Randall, if we've told you once we've told you a thousand times. Supplies first, booze after." One of the guards said.
The other just laughed and took one of the bottles from this Randall, popping the cork and taking a deep drink.
Besides me Early was practically vibrating with constrained anger.
"It's them!" He hissed out. "The bastards who raped my Megan and Jessica."
I ducked back behind the bench.
"Are you certain?" I asked, checking my gun.
"Absolutely. That skinny one, with the booze, he raped Megan while staring me straight in the eyes. I'll never forget that bastard, not in a million years."
I nodded my head, that was good enough for me.
"Stay here, wait for me to engage them. If they start firing on me, go ahead and fire back. We'll wipe these fuckers out."
I moved away from the bench, staying crouched as I moved away from where the bastards were still laughing around and inside the Sharper Image.
"Where are you going?" Early hissed out.
Thankfully the boisterousness downstairs kept our voices from carrying.
"Taking the stairs down. I'm going to approach them from the north, draw their attention. Make sure we've got all eight of them located before we take them down."
I looked back towards Early.
"Trust me, if I seem like I'm friendly with them, it's just an act. We need them all exposed if we're going to take them down."
Early nodded as I turned away, continuing my crouched journey towards and down the nearest stairwell.
XxXxXxX
By the time I reached the ground floor and began to stealthily make my way towards the Sharper Image another dirty guy had joined the trio out front. That meant that I knew where four of the bastards were now.
"Cortana, did all eight men enter the mall?" I asked as I watched the quarter from the shadows.
"Negative, Chief. One of them stayed with their trucks." Cortana replied.
I grinned. "Why don't you start the convoy moving, provide a distraction. I'm going to deal with the ones inside."
"Roger that, Chief. Cortana out."
I raised my gun as I stepped out of the shadows. I was on the opposite side of the mall from Early's sniper perch. Hopefully I could keep their attention on me and Early could get some shots in around whatever cover they tried to use.
"Who are you?"I asked loudly as I stepped forward, turning on my external speakers.
CRASH
One of the guys dropped the bottle of champagne he'd been holding, ignoring it shattering and spilling bubbly all over his shoes. The other had enough sense of mind to set his bottle down before drawing his pistol.
Both the others had turned and placed their hands on the pistols stuck into the waistband of their jeans.
"Who the hell are you?" One of them asked in response.
He was a big white guy, burly with a full beard and a face only a mother could love. All four were watching me warily.
"Hey, Gary." Big man called out over his shoulder. "Get your sorry ass out here. Bring Michael with you."
That's seven of them accounted for I thought to myself as a tall blonde man who looked like a rocker-biker hybrid sauntered out. He was followed by a lanky teenager with enough similarity I felt confident in assuming it was his brother.
"Well, what have we got here, then?" he asked, leaning against the wall of the Sharper Image." I was surprised, despite him and his brother looking like eighties metal rockers crossed with Hells Angels he had a strong British accent. "Looks like some pansy paintballer pretending at being a big man."
"How many of you are there?" I asked, ignoring his attempt to rile me up.
Keep calm Alex. I thought, working to keep myself as steady as possible. I needed to find that eight man before I could engage.
"Heh, six." Gary said, a cocky grin on his face. "And you, I take it you're alone punk."
I decided that two could play the misleading game. If I said I was alone he might not believe me. If I pretended it was irrelevant, he'd take my attitutde as a sign that he was correct.
"THat's none of your business." I replied. "What are you doing in my mall?"
Gary stepped forward, a mock incredulous look on his face as he gestured around him.
"Your mall, mate?" He said with a laugh. "This ain't your mall, you piece of shit. This is our mall. My mates and me, we cleared it out after the National Guard pulled out. It's ours now, ya dig? So why don't you put that little airgun of yours away, turn around and walk away. We'll let you live another day. How's that?"
I cocked my head to the side, turning off my external speakers for a moment.
"Cortana, can you get anything with my suit's scanners? Any sign of that eighth man.?"
Cortana's reply came a moment later as a seventh enemy ping appeared on my hud.
"He's behind you, by the entrance to the bathrooms."
I grinned. Perfect. I reengaged my external speakers.
"Sorry, I can't do that." I said, lowering my weapon while I said so but chambering my knees slightly to begin moving. "I've got unfinished business with Randall over there."
I pointed directly at him with my left hand, allowing my right hand to drop to my side. The slight shift of stance meant that it disappeared from their view, and put the bathroom within my arc of fire if I raised it.
"Cortana, gonna need your help aiming this shot." I muttered.
"Roger that, Chief. Assuming control of right arm for a moment."
I ignored the minor jolt of anxiety that Cortana could do that. If I couldn't trust her I was already dead anyways.
"When I give the signal." I replied to Cortana before taking in Gary's response.
"Randall?" He asked before turning towards his men. "Looks like this punk wants to take out our dear Randall here. What's our answer to that boys?"
The big man drew his pistol with an evil grin.
"We send them to hell!" He yelled, raising his pistol with surprising speed for such a big guy.
I was faster, especially with Cortana's help. My right arm rose, aimed and fired a shot that took the hidden spotter straight between the eyes. Even as the shot left the barrel I was diving to my left, rolling behind one of the pillars supporting the bridge above me.
Pistol fire filled the space I had been for a moment, before a louder shot rang out.
CRACK
"Fuck! There's two of them!" One of the guys cried out.
More firing continued. They were aiming towards Early.
As soon as Cortana returned control of my right arm I took a two handed grip on my pistol and leant around the side of the pillar. I ignored the bullets that sparked off my kinetic barrier and calmly fired. One shot took Gary through the left knee, blowing out his kneecap. A second caught michael in the neck, piercing his throat. He was going to die choking on his own blood.
CRACK
Another man went down, one of the unnamed ones. I could see another laying on the ground staring blankly at the sky. So Early was two for two then. I'd bagged Michael, and the guy by the bathroom. That left Randall, Gary, and the last of the unnamed bastards left to deal with.
Gary was currently aiming towards me in anger, attempting to unload his clip into me. Randall was turning and trying to make a break from the entrance of the mall.
CRACK
The third guy went down as he tried to dodge, but the shot only hit his hip. He rolled onto his back in agony, but managed to hold onto his pistol.
"You bloody wanker!" Gary yelled, charging me as his pistol had emptied of ammo.
I decided that it might be useful to interrogate one of them.
He tackled me, trying to push me backwards.
"When I'm done with you I'm going to find any women you're hiding and rape them to death, you wanker!"
Or not, that was too much for me.
Calmly, and not regretting it, I raised the pistol to the side of Gary's skull.
I noted how similar this was to the moment when I had killed Early in my dream.
CRACK
XxXxXxX
The man who had gone down with a bullet through his hip was dead when I got to my feet. Early had put one straight between his eyes. Michael was silent, having suffocated on his own blood. I idly put a bullet through his skull. No sense having a zombie at my back later.
I looked around, trying to find the source of the screaming I was hearing.
"Sfucking bitch!!"
I found Randall ducked behind a planter with a tree in it, near the entrance.
"Fucking shit!" He cried out. He was holding his thigh, trying to staunch a bullet wound through it.
"Well, glad I could find you Randall." I said, standing over him.
He immediately tried to raise his pistol to aim it at me. I didn't let him get the chance. I kicked his hand, breaking it and sending his pistol flying.
"FUCK!" He cried out.
I reached down and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up until I could look him straight in the eyes.
"Megan and Jessica were innocents, you bastard." I hissed into his face. "You raping, murdering, fucking bastard."
He tried to protest around the grip I had on his throat, but I could see it in his eyes.
"Early sends his regards. Enjoy hell." I raised my pistol to his forehead and pulled the trigger.
I let his body drop like the garbage it was, turning towards the bridge. I couldn't see Early, but the balcony near him was pockmarked with bullet holes.
"Hey Early!" I called out.
No response. This wasn't good.
XxXxXxX
I found Early on the ground behind the bench. His gun was on the floor beside him, and his hands were busy trying to staunch a wound in his chest.
I knew it was too late even as I dropped beside him, adding pressure with one hand while clasping one of his hands with the other.
"Hold on Early, just hold on." I muttered. I couldn't lose the first survivor and possibly friend I'd found, not like this.
"Di-did you get the bastard?" He hissed out.
His eyes were already starting to glaze over.
"Yeah, I got him Early. I got all of them."
"Then Megan and Jessica-cough-have their vengeance. Thank you." He coughed out, bloody spit following. "I-I never asked your name."
"Alex." I told him "My name is Alex."
He smiled sadly.
"Thank you Alex. I can die at peace now. I'll see my girls soon. Megan, Jessica, I'm coming to you babies. I'll be with you soon."
I sat by Early's side as he slowly passed into death. Then, tears in my eye, I completed the image from my nightmare. I ensured Early wouldn't turn.
It was the least I could do.
XxXxXxX
After Early's passing Cortana confirmed that she'd taken care of the eighth man. He'd been heading towards the mall entrance because of hearing the shots, and she'd been able to run him over with the APC. Then drove over him again to crush his skull and prevent him turning into a zombie.
I was now certain that Cortana had a sense of smug satisfaction in her voice. Good girl.
"So," I started as I looked around the mall. "Where do we go from here?"
"Well, if you're thinking what I'm thinking." Cortana asked over the comms. "Then if those guys were part of a larger group then they probably told them where they were heading looking for supplies. When they don't return, someone might come looking for them."
I nodded as I looked around the silent mall.
"Yeah. And I rather not get into a war. Not after seeing what it can cost."
I closed my eyes and took a breath.
"Cortana, what do the vehicles available outside look like?
"Well, there's two trucks sitting in the loading dock. I'm not sure what the contents are, but they are already in position to be loaded or unloaded."
I cocked my head and looked around me. That was when an idea occurred to me.
"Cortana, bring the truck back to the loading dock. I'll meet you there.
XxXxXxX
My truck was mostly full at this point, but the other two at the loading dock were perfect for my needs.
One was completely empty, which meant I didn't have to do anything else beyond installing a drone system into the rig to make it ready for use.
The other was still full of wrapped pallets containing electronics and cases of other items intended for Best Buy. Which single handedly doubled the electronics I had available for me. I'd found a manifest for it on a clipboard inside the cab of the truck and taken a close look at it.
"Plasma televisions, delivery of movies, laptops, other miscellaneous electronics. Jesus christ this is a gold mine."
I grinned as I returned to the loading dock.
"Cortana, I'm going to take the rest of the day to fill the back of this third truck with anything else I think is or may be of use. We'll make a pitstop by the grocery store we passed on our way into town, just in case there's anything to be salvaged from there. We can return to the mall later, but only once we're more secure."
"What are you going to grab from the mall?" Cortana asked as I reentered the main body of the building.
"I was thinking I'd start with hitting the clothing stores, and anything else that might be useful or might be hard to make or acquire later."
I stopped by the Sharper Image as I exited an employee's only door.
"Starting with some of the gadgets in here."
XxXxXxX
By the time I left Dawson the sun was already lowering in the sky. I'd scavenged some breakfast and lunch from the mall while I worked, gathering a wide selection of clothes in my size along with a selection across the board. Boots and other shoes. Some more survival gear from a shop I passed on my way to the grocery store.
A memory from one zombie show made me check the baby section of the grocery store too, as well as raiding the pharmacy for whatever was left behind. I figured that just in case I encountered survivors with a baby, it might be a good idea to have a store of baby formula.
Just in case.
Besides, it was a sign of hope in this hopeless world wasn't it?
XxXxXxX
The trip home was quick and relatively zombie free. I stopped to move some vehicles back into the way of the road out of Dawson as the road crossed a creek. I figured it would hopefully dissuade anyone from following the road towards me.
For good measure I kept the keys, sticking them in a compartment in the APC.
Once back safely inside the gates of my compound, with Shep very grateful to be free to run around again without supervision, I had Cortana return our convoy, including our two newest acquisitions, to a designated segment of the parking lot. After refueling them, of course. No sense in having a convoy ready to go if they weren't fueled up.
Again, I considered the viability of somehow installing a gas pump into my tanker. It would certainly make fueling up my vehicles a lot easier.
WOOF
I smiled sadly and scratched Shep behind the ears.
"Another day, another step towards survival girl. Let's get us some dinner and get some sleep."
I prayed I had no dreams. Today had been nightmare enough.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein