Later on, everyone finds themselves idling inside. Jared, his men. Eliza, Rider. And the newest addition to the group, Kim. Jared is checking over, making sure everything is as it should be. It's an old rundown motel, much like everything else around it. Old crates from The End litter each room. Each is almost impossible to open. They harbor an old insignia covered by nearly a decade of dust, and freshly dried blood. A circle, several dots on the top half, and stripes on the bottom half.

Jared then checks the outside, rotten corpses on pikes, all with the upper half of their head flayed, exposing the dried out skulls beneath. A sign of the safehouse’s previous owners, the cultists. The sky is dark, only illuminated by the still burning buildings behind the motel, the city, the first and largest deadzone, off in the far distance.

Making his way back in, he drags over a crate to the girls, and sits down. “So, mind telling me why in the everloving FUCK youre heading to the deadzone instead of standing your ground and taking back your tree?” he stares daggers into her. She glances over to Kim, and to the other raiders. His eye twitches slightly, and his leg gets restless. He stands up. “Alright, tin-man, boys, clear the room. I gotta talk to the dog.” he narrows his eyes, looking towards them. “Alone.”

They step outside, and he shuts the door behind them. He rests his back against the door and motions his hand towards her, as if giving her the floor. “After I collapsed, I had a strange dream, it felt real. Like I was there… reliving a memory.” she looks down towards her hands “but it wasn't me, it was the guy who attacked us. He was after ME, and there's more like him coming for me. I didn't want anyone else to die on my account. So i'm out here looking for a safe place to live, and he was there when we got into a bit of trouble”

“And you thought the best place was a place full of zombies, bile, smoke, methane…?” he asks, almost annoyed.

“No, I simply headed into the desert-”

“With literally no plan in mind, right? Youre lucky you got stopped by a LITERAL KNIGHT IN SHINING FUCKING ARMOR!” Jared catches himself mid lecture, he blows air through his nose, and rubs his temples. “For a fucking teacher, you sure are stupid.”

She places her hands on her head and sticks her tongue out with a cute tilt “ehehe”.

Jared stares at her, trying his best not to punch her in the face. “Look, when I got back to Mike’s I overheard some scouts say something about an underground city in the sewers and subways under the deadzone. If you're really gonna pussy out now, at least go there.”

“An underground city…? But… Most hives are themselves underground. In those exact places…?” the expression on her face changes, a whirlwind of thoughts trying to piece together if something such as that is even possible.

“If my boys say they saw it then I trust them. No point in lying to your own people.”

“Actually…” Eliza interjects. “...before I was taken in by… Mike, my brother and I were with a settlement who often made trades with ‘Metro-Men’, they said they were from an underground settlement, so it could be real…”

Rider looks to Eliza, then to Jared. And after a moment of contemplation, she stands up. “Alright let's head there then.” Jared smirks, and Eliza’s heartbeat rises at the thought of entering the deadzone.

“Great. Before we head out though, we need gas masks. Like I said before, that place is full to the brim with deadly shit. Supposedly, before this safehouse was ours or the cultists, it served as a military outpost.” he points towards the IRF crate in front of him. “No person alive has been able to open 'em without the codes, but…” he points towards Rider with one finger “you're barely a person” then points at her with two fingers “or alive.” he pushes it over to her with his foot. “Let's hope the mystery box doesn't have a teddy bear.”

She stares at the crate for a moment, looking it over, she feels it over, looking for any indents or creases. She finds one to the side of the crate, and with a firm grip, pulls open the lid, bending and distorting it beyond recognition. Eliza looks on in awe, and Jared swallows whatever he was about to say with a barely noticeable twitch to his eye. Inside the crate are several items of value. Several meds, 2 gas masks, 4 filters, 3 ammo crates, 6 first aid kits, 8 UV flares.

“Holy shit! Jack-fuckin-pot! Open another!”

The next crate had the same set of items. “Looks like they all got the same shit. I'll have my boys take the rest back to Mike’s. Grab the masks and filters, guess the 4th one will be a spare just in case.” taking a filter in hand, he looks at the label on the side. “Good for 12 hours.”

“Hopefully it doesn't take that long to find.” Rider says, clipping two masks onto some ornate loops on her pant legs.

Jared opens the door “oi, bring a car or two and take the crates back to Mike’s, looks like there's some goodies in there after all. We’re heading into the deadzone.”

“Why are you going into the deadzone?” Kim asks. Jared, once again, looks him up and down. Then looks towards Rider.

“Seriously, what's the deal with tin man?”

“He saved us from a charger”

“Well shit, imagine that! I thought that was a bit.” He walks over to his bike and turns it on.

Kim puts his hand on his shoulder “take me with you.” his grip gets stronger

“Don't suppose all that armor can stop a slug can it?” Kim looks down, Jared’s gun is aimed directly at his dick.

“Please, I have… unfinished business there. This might be my only chance.”

Jared looks towards Rider “he did save our lives. Plus we could use his sword.”

Jared screams internally. “FINE” he pulls back his gun, and Kim loosens his grip. Rider tosses him a mask after putting on its filter. “Hop on, and the moment I feel something stiff on my ass you're zombie food.”

“I… what? I like girls, mate.”

“As opposed to women?” Jared lets out a wicked laugh and rides off into the deadzone, with Rider following close behind.

As they approach the outskirts of the deadzone, Jared stops his bike, and Rider stops hers. “Going forward we’re on foot unless you want to be swarmed.” The bikes would make way too much noise in a compressed environment. “Gas masks on”. They all put on the masks, and snap on the filters. “Tin man, you're in front, dog in the back, slave behind me. Stay close.” Kim’s eyes narrow in response to Jared’s demeanor towards the girls. He unhooks a spare shield from his back, and holds it out in front.

Together, they step in. The deadzone is desolate. Corpses and tattered vehicles litter the streets. Pools of blood and bile, methane in the air. Just as Jared had described. No one could survive in these conditions. It's a wonder how this atmosphere stays contained in the city. The gasses are dense, quickly fogging up the masks. They need to wipe it off every few minutes. Massive stretched out tendrils cover the buildings like webbing. The deeper they go the more noticeable it becomes. The strongest point seems to be its origin. They look upwards, a massive hive has taken over the tallest tower. “That's the Black Rose Hospital” Kim whispers out. “But… the name there- on the side, it's… changed…? What the hell is the ‘IRF’?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Several gliders swoop down from the mid to top sections of the tower, however they are cut off from sight due to the buildings in the way. A small explosion can be heard from a distance away, deep grunts and guttural screams. “Busters over there, it's best to keep away from the tower.” Rider says. “How do you know so much about the deadzone?” she asks Jared.

“I used to be a scout back in the early days. I’d do what you used to do, scavenge and recover what I could, but only for the sake of Mike’s. Then I got enough rep to grab the best job in the world. Then you came around and fucked it all up.” he stares back at her, glaring.

“Sorry I asked...”

“Uh-huh. Just keep an eye out for the biters.” As of now they're just walking in a straight line. No real sense of direction. “Look for a street called ‘Clair’ and turn right.” Eliza perks up at the mention of the street name. There's something familiar about it, but she can't exactly remember why. Continuing to walk forward, they see a crashed helicopter sticking out of a building. From the looks of it, it's not the same chopper as before. Next to it, is an upside down tank lodged into the crumbled remains of an apartment. A glider’s remains are stuck in the heli’s rotors, and on the ground floor is a dead buster.

They walk past the scene of battle, carefully surveying the area and looking out for any hazards. Upon reaching the cross street, Eliza remembers something, but it escapes her before she could understand what it was. They turn, and see a horde of rats tear down a chaser in the blink of an eye, before dashing into a sewer grate. “Alright, quick note, stay away from the fucking rats.” Jared whispers, tightly clutching his shotgun as the others nod stiffly in response.

As they carefully walk wayward through clair, the memory gets stronger. There was something familiar about this street. Like she’s been here before, but not in years. Her eyes scan the environment, trying to tug on that sense of deja vu, as her eyes pass over the street walls, she quickly looks back to a gate leading into a neighborhood.

And then it clicks. “I used to live there,” she says, pointing at the gate. “Before it all started.”

Jared turns to her, raising an eyebrow. “Woop-dee-fuckin-do. I lived near here too. Now shut up and keep walking.”

Eliza glares at him, before sighing and looking back at the neighborhood, whatever retort she had dying on her tongue. She slows down a bit, staring at the houses, the bricks, the road and the grass. It all looked dead.

Unsurprising considering the circumstances, but it was a shock to her to see her old home now a graveyard. She shudders quietly, tears threatening to leave her. Sniffing, she looks back to see Rider staring at her. “I’m okay.” She says, quickly catching up to them.

Rider shakes her head, waving down the rest of the group. “We can check here for supplies. Eliza should know the best places.” She smiles underneath her mask at Eliza. While she didn’t know where she came from, Eliza does. And it's worth the detour with a little under 12 hours to spare.

Jared looks back at them, taken aback in disbelief. His eye almost goes bloodshot again. “Better… be worth… the fucking trouble, otherwise… it's your ass.” his words are shaken by his compressed rage. He statically turns around, pulling the knight with him. After a loud ghoulish sigh, he says “Same formation.”

Eliza’s eyes widen in a weary form of joy. She can't remember the specifics, but if she had a home, she had a family. So far, she only remembers her brother.

“So, how do we open this fucking thing.” Jared looks towards the Knight “Think you can cut it down?”

“No, iron is a lot harder than bone. But I could try to pry it open.” Kim sticks his sword between the gaps of the gate, yet it won't budge “No luck.”

Jared then looks at the group, then at the gates. He jumps up to the walls and climbs over, carefully making his way back to the gate. “Can’t find anything. Tin-can, think you can climb over?” He asks, watching as the two females of the group easily climb over themselves.

Kim frowns, shaking his head. “Cool, that puts you on guard duty, enjoy it.” Jared laughs out. Kim sighs in disbelief, before caving in and standing by the gates, eyes peeled open.

Eliza, now inside the gated neighborhood, scans the surrounding homes, looking for her own. Each house had differing amounts of wear and tear, broken windows, crumbled walls, and splintered doors. And then she finds it, the living room window, smashed outwards, and a light flickering on and off inside.

“Is that…?” Rider asks.

“Huh, cake. With candles.” Jared looks at Eliza. “Happy ninth birthday, slave.” He says, with little heat or humor to his voice. Signs hung above, with discarded party hats and confetti littering the ground, and finally a chair.

“Daddy…” a tear falls down her face, pooling in the gasmask, as she sees the skeleton of a man rotting in a chair with a camera around his neck. She steps closer, vaulting through the broken window, careful not to cut herself. She walks closer to the skeleton, and picks up the digital camera. She looks through the photos of happier times, with her family. Her mother, her brother, her father. They all smiled at her through the photos. And seeing their faces again filled her with sorrow, but she was happy to be reunited with them again in some way. She hugged the camera tight, lightly sobbing to herself.

Rider vaulted the window quickly, Eliza turning back round in surprise and confusion. Rider’s sprinting towards her, and Eliza gets pulled out of the way of a rotting hand swiping at her. She lands against the bottom of the window. The zombie is punched against the wall, insides splatting against it, and then tears out its throat, causing the head to fall onto the skeleton father’s lap.

Eliza looks at the head, tears welling up even further. “Mama...” She gets up, and coughs, once, twice, before it develops quickly into a spree. it was harsh as she gasped for air, clutching at her throat. Rider runs over, looking her over. The mask was loose. No- even worse. It was torn. Her mother sliced it in the attack. She quickly takes it off, replacing it with her own.

Eliza quickly takes in a deep gasp, heart beating hard and fast. Rider feels it, in her eardrums. Mouth salivating, she feels the hunger pang deep within her. She needs to stop herself, but she doesn’t know if she can. Quickly picking up Eliza, she tosses her through the window, into Jared, who barely manages to catch her.

“What the fuck, woman!?”

Rider kneeled on the floor, hunched over and clutching her head. It's almost bursting at the seams, the pain threatening to take over. And in the last second of her consciousness, she lets out a small gasp of relief as all feelings stop.

Her eyes snapped back open, darkened and her veins quickly blackened. She shrieks like a banshee, curdling both of the audience's blood. As the revenant awakens, a second zombie appears. One Eliza is unfamiliar with, but recognizes. The man who destroyed her family. Pained flashes of memory remind her of the monster who started it all. The man who jumped through their kitchen window and tore out her father’s neck and sliced her pregnant mother’s stomach open.

The revenant, smelling the threat, leaps over, blood flowing out of her hands into crystals, as she tears apart the zombies head, and then gutting him swiftly, while ripping out his guts with her teeth. She reveled in the hunger, the blood soothing her. And for a moment, the darkness fades.

All the pain is gone, but her mind is clearer than ever before. Looking down at her friend on her hip, she picks up the plush off of her belt, and falls over. Hugging Frankie.

“Son of a bitch!” Jared swears, holding Eliza up, as she winces in pain from being thrown around like a ragdoll. “Right, I ain’t dragging her out of there.” Anything else he would want to say, dies on his lips as a moan comes from Rider, as she slowly rises up, shambling over towards the window, Frankie in her arms. “Right, you’re... Whatever you are. You can breathe fine.”

Silence.

“Well that's a welcome change of pace. You coming? We need to get out of here before more freaks show up.”

Rider, once again, doesn’t respond, just blankly staring at them, as she stands by the edge of the window.

“Shit. I think she’s braindead.” Jared groans in annoyance.

“What in the hell is going on here!?” He turns round, and the tin can is right there, staring at all the bullshit going on.

Rider walks forward, tripping over the open window and face plants outside, a groan leaves her mouth.

“Ah. fuck.”