Within the bus, there were at least 15 well armed survivors in an assortment of police, military, and private security equipment taken over the years of scavenging through abandon police stations and military bases. The small doors of the bus opened with a slam and the 15 man army fanned out, being very cognizant of not making noise, followed by the necessary means of sticking close together as zombies were far less deadly to groups rather than being alone. There was a shattered remnant of a Costco outside, so the armed force tactically fanned into place to start finding resources. The place had been picked over plenty of times during the long apocalypse as most of what could have been valuable has long since been picked clean. There were even the skeletal remains of people who were killed, some that did not zombify and died from vicious wounds or were outright killed by other desperate survivors.
“It’s really a fucking shame what happened to this city,” Buzz said, “I sometimes forget how it once was,”
“I hear that,” Said Thrill-Killer, “Dis place now just give me the fuawkin’ creeps mon. I hope the islands haven’t fallen like the rest of the world as that would be a shame. Probably easier to clean though---I miss my home,”
“Yeah? You miss pretty big butt girls and good island pussy?”
“Especially the pussy Mon!”
“Ha ha ha ha!”
Surprisingly there were a few things left within the store, particularly odds and ends items such as hoses, sources of rubber, metals, building materials where the home improvement place was, and as luck would have it, sportsman’s gear such as leftover arrows, lamp oil, and left over plastic toys that could be melted down for scrap parts.
“Man… there is some things here but…,” Buzz began to say.
“But the shit is picked clean mon,” said Thrill-Killer, “You think it’s time for us to move out?”
“I’d say,” Buzz said, “Nothing left to keep the group here for, but I think there are plans being made as we speak from what I gather from the last sustainability meet.”
“I dig that,” Said Thrill-Killer, “let’s just finish this sweep and ---,”
“Ahh shit!” Cried Buzz, “We got zombies in the back; a whole shit load!”
“Well there goes the easy mission!”
“You all need to get out of there,” said a voice over the radio, “This was a waste of time as it is, there’s nothing here to salvage at this point.”
“You’re right about that!” he cried, “Hey---fall back it’s a huge zombie nest!”
When the footsteps started to trump towards the front of the store is when the real death party started with what seemed like hundreds of zombies that poured into the place. They were desperately seeking fresh flesh to eat. They were nearly surrounded but the two files of men made a left and right flank, shooting their way out of the closing mob of zombies. The attack intensified as some were snagged into the consuming mob with their screams muffled by the roar and shredding teeth of zombies. One of the men taken had pulled the pin to a grenade and smiled before a large clump of zombies were not only blown apart, but the custom grenades they used also contained rolls of nails that ripped into those outside the blast. Buzz and Thrill Killer had made a run back to their motorcycles as the mounted machine guns that were installed on top of the patrol bus opened fire and began to cover the retreat of the scavenging platoon. The zombies fell in 3’s and 4’s until, unexpectedly, they stopped advancing towards them and actually turned to run back into the Costco.
“What the hell are they doing?” Asked Smiley
“Looks like… they are….retreating,” said RPG
“Hey look at that one over there up front,” said Showtime.
There seemed to have been a less wild acting zombie in the forefront that made motions with his rotten arm for the rest to return to the cover of the store. Its half-eaten and grizzled head looked onward at the bikers and gave a shriek, pointing at them with its buzzard like eyes. The zombie looked like he was once some sort of a lab technician with the remnant of a white lab coat and a weathered, gut splattered security card and badge still attached to him.
“Quick take that thing out!” yelled Buzz, “It’s turned self-aware somehow!”
The guns were trained on the zombie but as it was correctly identified, the zombie launched itself behind a concrete barrier and crashed through the window, avoiding the gun fire and retreating deep into the store.
“Holy shit did you see that?” said Buzz.
“That can’t be good ---,” Thrill-Killer said, “dealing with droned out killing machines is one thing but smart ones takes it to a whole other level.”
“Let’s just get the fuck out of here before we find out,” Said Showtime.
“Drive…Drive!”
The driver attempted to make a sharp turn with the bus of goods until it was side-swiped by a large Mac truck, dragging it against the side of a dilapidated building as the whole wall they hit crumbled and buried it with bricks and steel. The members of the scavenging party were caught and screaming as zombies attacked the demolished bus, dragging some from the shattered windows as others began to shoot at them. It looked like a large cloud of bees, pasting themselves upon a vat of honey, as the zombies clawed and attempted to eat those trapped inside.
“Oh shit!” Said Vamp, “One of them used a fuckin’ truck,”
“Hey Jimmy!” said Buzz, “this is some shit man --- these zombies --- they’re smart!”
“There’s that zombie again with the coat, dude!” Yelled Smiley
“What’s he doin?”
“He’s ----,”
There was a puff of smoke where they saw the zombie followed by
