Capítulo 11: Chapter 11
There are AU things.
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Paul enters the garage, carrying a gun case containing his AR-15 and Beretta. He heads towards the Humvee truck to inventory the equipment left behind. He already knows the Barrett .50 cal is inside but will be of no use where they are going in a direct assault in close quarters.
Opening the Humvee trunk, he finds in there what he already knew, the Barret 'Mamba', but also two M4A1 automatic assault rifles with scope, flashlight and grips, standard issued equipment for the army, two sets of body armor with extra clips for the rifles, M9 bayonet and helmets, a box of MRE, two boxes of ammo 5,56x45mm for his AR-15 and the M4A1 with 820 rounds each, two hundred bullet belt .50 cal ammo box for the M2 Browning and other with .50 cal ammo nearly depleted that seems to have been used for the Barret.
But what got his attention was the M67 grenade box with a few still in there, and one AT4 shoulder-fired recoilless anti-tank weapon, looking at it, it didn't present any dent or bulb so it looked good to use, he knew how to fire it but never used one, as the majority who likes guns they end knowing a little of all.
Now all seemed to fall in place when Castro and the others tried to run for this Humvee instead of the others near them, it had a pretty good amount of equipment left to use, being still early on the apocalypse the commodities are in good amount for the troops to use or maybe was because of Moyers, who knows.
Paul took the foot gear and closed the trunk and moved to the garage entrance. "Alicia, Claire, get in the car," Madison said looking at her daughters.
Paul signals to his sisters. "Wait, you two come here," he says, outfitting them with body armor, bayonets, and helmets. He also straps the ammo pouch belt for the 9mm pistol and his holster on Claire, while looking into her eyes and she does the same knowing what he means by doing that.
"What are you doing?" Madison asks, disapproving of Paul giving his sister a gun.
"Just in case. They'll be safer like this when bullets start flying or something happens," Paul explains, fastening the helmets on them.
"There you go, now instead of just two hot women, you are two cosplaying soldier hot women," Paul jokes, tipping their helmets.
"Paul, be serious, we need to get Nick," Claire reminds him.
"Sis is right, but you too, we are hot," Alicia kisses his cheek.
"Damn right, you are," Paul replies smiling, giving his mother an M4A1 rifle with two clips and showing her how to use it. "Just remove the safety, push the trigger, and the weapon will do the rest. Just try to keep it stable while using the grip. Anyway, you already know how to aim, right? "
"Right..." Madison says, conflicted about using the weapon. "We will use this Humvee, is more secure, leave the car to Daniel" Paul then teaches her how to start and drive the Humvee they'll be taking with his sisters and Chris.
"Alright, let's finish packing what's left and let's go," Madison says, not wanting to think any more about this.
Paul goes to Daniel, giving him his AR-15 with four clips on a belt and two grenades from the four left in the box as he would make better use of them than his sisters. He asks for the Beretta he got from Andrew for Alicia and gives his car keys to Daniel.
Madison sees a man walking his dog across the street. "My neighbors don't know," she says, conflicted.
"They did nothing when they came for us," Ofelia says resentfully.
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At the neighborhood fence entrance, Daniel gets out of the car to open the door, it was already long in the night, and they needed to act quickly.
"Jesus, they just left, they abandoned us," Chris remarks, seeing no guards or anything at all.
Upon reaching the stadium, Daniel exits the car, destroying the chain holding the walkers, and begins herding them toward the compound. Paul was impressed by the nerves of the old man calmly walking with them in tandem, given that he had only been in contact with these walking corpses recently.
After the gunfire starts ringing all around the place, they seize the opportunity to enter the underground parking lot next to the compound, and wait for Daniel, in that time Paul removes the ammo belt from the M2 on top of the Humvee and seals the hatch.
"I led them to the north gate, so all the soldiers are distracted. We can go now, we should move," Daniel says, taking a breath after running here.
"Well done, old man," Paul replies, readying his weapon on automatic fire.
Daniel was amused by the little guy, then his expression faded upon not seeing the prisoner. "What did you do?" he asks Travis.
"He told me where to find them," Travis explains slowly.
"He told you?" Daniel asks, not believing what he is saying.
"Yeah, I believed him, okay? Like you believed him," Travis replies.
"It was the right thing to do," Madison tries to help Travis.
"You'll see what doing the right thing gets you," Daniel says, smiling.
"There's nothing we can do, Travis already let him free, let's go. Girls, don't move from my side, always stay within my sight," Paul orders his sisters.
"What are you doing, Paul? Your sisters will stay here, safely," Madison interjects, as she moves in front of her daughters.
"No, I will not leave them here to their luck. Anything can happen. Being in my sight, I can help them. Being away, they're on their own," Paul insists, not wanting to hear anything more.
"Mom, let us go," Alicia pleads.
"We can't waste time like this, Mom. Nick is waiting for us," Claire adds.
"Alright, but don't get away from your brother, don't expose yourself, and... I don't like it, but get the pistols ready, just in case." Madison concedes.
"Yes, Mom," Claire and Alicia reply happily not being left behind.
"Chris, if things go sideways, if you see anything, you drive. Take the Humvee, get inside, lock the door, and you drive to the campground. Nothing will hurt you being inside that truck. If we're more than 30 minutes, drive," Travis instructs his son what to do.
"Dad, don't leave me here. I can help," Chris insists. Not liking a bit what he is hearing, even more after seeing the girls be allowed to follow them.
"Let him come, is not safe for him to be alone, with us, we can take care of him," Paul speaks for him, supporting his decision.
"I want to. Let me go, also I don't drive yet" Chris pleads quickly seeing Paul help.
Travis mused for a moment before relenting to Chris begging, "Alright, you win, but don't separate from me." then he loaded the shotgun he was using.
"Let's go," Ofelia urges.
"Oh, my God," Madison gasps, seeing the horde of walkers striking the front fence.
"Hold the perimeter!" a distant soldier cries.
"We need more men!" another distant soldier calls.
"The hard part is done," Daniel says, as he starts cutting the chain blocking a side entrance into the compound.
"If the infected get in, how do we get out?" Ofelia wondered seeing the great amount of walkers.
"That would be the harder part," Daniel replies.
"This is like a walk in the park, all the troops are desperately trying to hold the horde," Paul comments as they enter a room. "With a little luck, we will not need to fight against someone who can shoot us back"
"This must be the checkpoint. Andrew said there'd be a sign marked administration," Travis notes.
"It's here," Madison points in one direction.
"Wait, Mom," Paul takes two helmets from the desk, straps one on her and the other on him just in case, and gives an axe in the wall to Chris to use. "Bash at the head only of the turned people if you see one, no other place works."
"Let's go. Girls, don't separate from me, always in my sight, alright?" Paul looks to his sisters.
"Yes, don't worry," Alicia says.
Claire just chambered the pistol, she was more like him after following him and being close all the time since being a child, Alicia was the same.
"Good," Paul comments seeing them both ready the pistols to fire.
"Jesus," Going through that hallway they enter a big room where there are people in cages, a little space separating them around a fence, this is more like a concentration camp than a quarantine zone.
"Nick," Madison starts calling for him.
"Nick!" Alicia and Claire call out.
"Griselda!" Daniel shouts.
"Mama!" Ofelia cries.
"Help us!" the people inside the cages start pleading to them, seeing the newcomers.
"Mama!" Ofelia calls again.
"Nick Clark." Madison keeps screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Nick, where are you fool" Paul also started yelling for him in the sea of people detained.
"Hey, please help us" Paul looked at the blonde woman who called for him, his face twisting with confusion as he recognized her, though she shouldn't be here.
"Please, help us, my sister is not feeling well being in here" The woman keeps pleading to him.
"What's your name lady?" Paul approaches her fence and asks, still skeptical and doubtful of what he is seeing.
"Andrea, please my sister Amy is not feeling well, please let us out" Andrea still pleads with him.
"One second" Paul saw Amy and was the same as Andrea, but this pair of sisters should not be here, this got so weird, but not having time to think about it in this place he just broke the lock easily with his strength.
"What will you do now? the compound is already invaded by a horde of turned people killing anything that is breathing" Paul asked Andrea who was helping her sister.
"We...we don't know, please" Andrea looks at him with misty eyes.
"Please help us" Amy too pleads to him
"Alright, but no funny business, be near me and my sisters, keep quiet, and listen to any orders," Paul says to them as he keeps looking around for Nick.
Alicia and Claire go to help Andrea with Amy who doesn't look so good.
The rest kept yelling as they advanced to the last places to look at.
"Who are you looking for?" a woman asks Madison.
"I'm looking for my son, he's 19," Madison replies fastly.
"There was a boy with the suit," the woman says.
"Who?" Madison asks.
"Rich guy stuck in here with us," the woman answers.
"Where'd they go?" Madison asks.
"We'll tell you. Let us out," the woman demands.
Madison starts hitting the lock with a hammer to no avail. "Paul," she calls for him. He takes hold of the hammer and does a single swing breaking it apart.
"Whoa, whoa, wait. Where, where?" Madison stops the first one to get out.
"Strand took him out the back," the woman says quickly wanting to run as fast as her legs could from this place.
"Keep moving! There's no time," Daniel urges the group, given that the walkers must have started to swarm inside the facility by now.
"Let's go girls, move faster" Paul protects from the back as the four run with Madison in the front.
"Chris, move!, keep being closer," Travis says.
"There is no time! Ofelia," Daniel insists, with her daughter who was lagging still looking all around.
"Go, go," Madison urges them onward, her arm extended to indicate the way. The group moves quickly in the direction she's pointed.
They burst through a door and into a hallway. Directly ahead, Nick along with another guy are trapped behind a locked door midway down the corridor, with a horde of walkers hot on their heels, closing in.
"That's unfortunate," Strand lets a frustrated sigh at the locked door.
"Let's get us out of here!" Nick screams seeing them coming from the other side of the corridor. "Mom! Mom!"
Paul takes impulse while running and kicks open the door, destroying it using his wolf strength making it impossible to lock again. Left with no other option, he shouts, "Daniel!!!" and takes a grenade, with Daniel following and dropping them in the hallways.
"DOWNSTAIRS!" Paul shouted urgently. "GET OUT! GRENADE!" The group swiftly made their way down the nearest staircase, entering a nearby kitchen. Just then, Liza appeared from their back, hotly pursued by a large group of walkers. "Watch out, here they come!" she screamed, her eyes filled with fear and desperation.
Going downstairs, they enter a kitchen as walkers start appearing. One goes for Liza, who is in a hurry and uses a food cart to block the walker, Chris quickly goes to help his mother with the axe.
"Girls on my back," Paul pushes all the girls on his back so he can block all the walkers from the stairs that got left and the sides with Daniel who also is looking there.
"Mom," Alicia calls to Madison, who is looking around.
"Hurry!" Daniel urges.
"Mom, look out!" Claire yells after seeing a walker taking hold of Madison's legs through furniture. But another one started approaching from the front, Madison choosing first to take care of it with the M4, seeing it could not bite her the one in her legs.
Claire with trembling hands shoots the walker on her legs a few times until she hits it in the head, killing it and releasing Madison.
"Hurry, we're wasting a lot of time and ammo here," Paul screams while changing the magazine as he keeps piling bodies down the stairs.
"Come on!" screams Ofelia after killing the walker blocking the way to the exit.
"Move!" Travis orders.
"Come on, you guys. Let's go. Run," Madison urges everyone as she stays beside Alicia and Claire along the pair of sisters.
"What are you doing here, sweetie?" Liza asks worriedly to her son as she checks him after they leave the kitchen, and gladly also because he saved her from being almost bitten.
"We've got to find another way out of here now," Travis speaks as they move.
"Get back to the medical ward. We get back there; Exner will know," Liza tells him of a possible solution.
"Who the hell are you?" Madison asks, looking at the man who was with them, that Nick brought with him.
"This is Strand, he saved my life," Nick explains.
"And you girls?" Madison asks Andrea and Amy.
"They were retained with Nick and Strand. I released them," Paul says speaking for them.
After passing a locker room, they enter the infirmary where Exner is supposed to be. Paul hears Daniel asking Liza about his wife in the back as they pass by.
"Liza, where is my wife?" Daniel asks her.
"I'm sorry, Daniel," Liza replies.
Daniel looks shocked and starts crumbling.
"Where is she? Tell me," Ofelia asks, becoming aggressive.
"A heart attack took her. Everything that could be done was done. It was just too late," Liza explains quickly, excusing herself.
"Where? I want to see her," Ofelia insists, her eyes a little more aggressive this time and starting to mist.
"Ofelia," Daniel doesn't know how to start comforting his daughter while also hurting at the sudden notice.
"No, Papa, no. Papa, no, no..." Ofelia starts crying. "We must go, I want to see my mother."
"There's nothing left to see. I'm sorry," Liza says, moving away quickly, in case they blame her.
Inside the room, Exner is sitting in a room full of dead bodies on stretchers with a punctured head from a pneumatic pistol.
"Andrea, you look for medicine for your sister," Paul says while taking Amy on his shoulders.
"Right, thanks," Andrea goes to look for it, and Madison starts taking medicine from the cabinets to carry away for Nick.
"Doctor... we need a way out," Liza says.
"You should have gone when I said," Exner replies a little tired, gone was the attitude she carried just a night ago.
"Help us. I'll take you with my family, but we need your help," Travis pleads.
"Where do you think your family's gonna go?" Exner asks him instead.
"There has to be somewhere," Travis insists.
"Anywhere but Los Angeles. I don't want to be present for when Cobalt goes active today," Paul says hinting to her, that they knew about it.
"There is a way out, past the ICU, the set of stairs down, takes you through the sublevel, you can get out. But there's nowhere to go," Exner explains resigned.
"I'm sorry," Madison says to Daniel about his loss.
"Okay," Daniel replies like the notice still doesn't come down on him in full.
"Come with us. There are people you can still help," Liza says to Exner trying to persuade her as they start leaving.
"Liza, we have to go. She's lost; come on." Madison says, leading them away.
"So, what's the master plan? I assume one exists?" Strand asks as the group moves into the parking lot where they left the vehicles.
"What do you mean?" Madison asks.
"Have you settled on a destination, an endpoint?" Strand inquires.
"We're heading east, the desert. It should be safe there," Madison answers.
"It's not," Strand retorts as a matter of fact.
"Then what do you suggest, Mr. Strand?" Madison asks, looking at him.
Strand pauses before replying, "Go west."
"What's west?" Madison asks intrigued at his answer.
"I have a home on the water. I have supplies. I'm prepared," Strand explains.
"Do you have enough room and supplies for all of us, Mr. Strand?" Paul asks, looking at him now.
Strand pauses, considering. He had seen Paul in action and how he had gotten them free from the locked door, the group wasn't bad at fighting. "Yes... there is enough for all of us," he concedes.
"Good then, let's do it your way. Anything is better than being here. We need to get out of Los Angeles fast," Paul says taking on his offer.
"You girls, what would you do?" Strand asks Andrea and Amy.
Amy looks at the people, then at Paul. "We will go where he goes. I trust him," she says.
"Yes, we will go with him," Andrea agrees.
"Alright," Strand says, though not entirely pleased to have so many people. Because he sees no benefits to that but resigns himself to it, he needs this group.
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