The former Dominion of King Edward, Vermont, The Time of Xir

"Tabitha!" Carol yells as she barges through the partition separating the clinic's pharmacy and the operating area.

Smoke from the molotovs thrown by Bambi begins to fill the building while flames scorch the places where they had taken root. Tabitha stands in a corner of the room holding a leather doctor's bag in her arms, a ransacked cabinet behind her. A broken window in the makeshift operating theater and the lake of fire cutting Tabitha off from the rest of the clinic tells Carol all she needs to know.

"Bambi's trying to flush us out." Carol says, as she desperately racks her brain for a way to save her friend, "His pack is keeping a safe distance from us, but I don't know how long that'll last."

"Looks like he wants to finish us off here." Tabitha coughs and rubs her chest, "Must have summoned the rest of the Herd to make sure we were cornered."

"I don't get it though." Carol huffs as she tips over the operating table, forming a crude bridge halfway over the lake of fire, "Here, push that cabinet behind you into the fire quickly. That should be enough to allow you to cross over." The baby in the sling bawls its eyes out, the smoke getting into its lungs.

"What's there not to get?" Tabitha replies, as she delivers a strong push, sending the cabinet to the ground with a resounding crash. She then steps on to the newly constructed bridge as flames hungrily lap at the edges. A shoes rap smartly upon the rapidly blackening wood.

"Bambi is a good shot with that gun of his." Carol explains as Tabitha falls in behind her, "He's killing people out there without any trouble. Bambi could have taken us out anytime he wanted. Why wait until now?"

"Don't know. Don't care." Tabitha winces from her wound as the pair make their way to the rear exit of the clinic, "Bambi is out there now. That's all that matters. But if I had to make a guess, I would say it was because of instinct."

"Instinct?" Carol repeats, her mind going blank.

"Yeah instinct. Like an animal." Tabitha explains as the pair stop at the door, ready for action, "I've seen those nature documentaries, where they show wolves stalking deer for days. You would have thought the wolves would go, hey, I've got the numbers to score a kill right now, so fuck it, right? Let's just get stuck in. But no, those wolves would keep badgering the poor deer, running it into the ground from exhaustion, before they would make their move."

"You think it's the same thing here?" Carol purses her lips, thinking.

"Maybe? I'm just making a guess from Bambi's dress sense." Tabitha coughs again before continuing, "He's lost his human intelligence, you know. Talking in that series of grunts and hoots Infected love to shout at each other."

"I see." Carol smiles, understanding dawning on her, "I think we may have a way out of this after all."

"We do?" Tabitha perks up, "Y'know, I'm really not keen on dying tonight, but I had resigned myself to it. If there's another way ..."

"I think you're right." Carol pats Tabitha on the shoulder, "Wolf packs harass their prey because they don't want to get hurt. Better to take a long time during a hunt than risk an injury."

"Duh. Wolves don't have doctors." Tabitha nods, "Pretty much common sense for them."

"And neither does the Herd." Carol declares triumphantly, "Bambi can't visit a doctor if we fight back and hurt him. That's why he pulled his pack away when I took a shot at them just now. Bambi's thinking smart, just not in human terms."

"And that helps us how?" Tabitha makes a skeptical look on her face, "He's still lurking out there, waiting to gun us down the moment we step outside."

"Watch." Carol says as she opens the door a crack, "Get ready to run on my signal."

Carol had seen stray dogs fight in a parking lot before. There was a lot of posturing and growling, with both combatants making a big show of their aggression. The only actual violence was right at the end, when both dogs pounced at each other. The fight ended in an instant, with one party rolling to the ground, showing its belly in submission. Neither dog made their move until they were confident they had scoped out the opposition. Carol hoped Bambi was thinking the same way. It was the only chance she and Tabitha had to escape this ambush.

Carol extends the barrel of the rifle out of the open door and fires off a burst with it, the gunshots joining the cacophony outside.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"That should show him that we have some teeth." Carol grabs Tabitha by the hand, "Now run!"

The pair jog frantically down the drag, heading deeper into the settlement, back towards the market square. Carol raises her weapon high and fires another burst from it. As the gun's bark rings out into the night, several pursuing figures dart back into the shadows, sinking out of sight.

"Its working." Carol cheers, "Bambi is telling his pack to back off. He's not suicidally brave like the rest of the Herd."

"Funny." Tabitha pants in exertion, "Someone actually being too smart for his own good. But where are we heading to?"

"The market. Remember when we were first brought here?" Carol tugs Tabitha harder as their feet pound relentlessly at the ground.

"Trucks. Of course!" Tabitha exclaims, "We make our way to the garage at the market!"

"God provides." Carol agrees as the pair make a beeline towards their destination, the bonfire illuminating everything in an eerie glow.

Darting around the bonfire and the sickeningly tantalizing smell of roasting human meat, Carol and Tabitha make out the settlement's garage, a squat but broad wooden building, resembling a barn. The settlement's vehicles were all housed within it, to keep them safe from the weather as well as from possible thieves. Cars and trucks that could actually run were becoming something of a hot commodity in the virus waste. The settlement's fleet of trucks was something of a point of pride among the residents. If America had carrier battle groups, King Edward had the equivalent, but counted in trucks and cars.

Not that it did much good for him in the end.

"RAARGHH!" an incoherent scream comes from behind Carol and Tabitha as a man shambles from the other side of the bonfire, wielding an ax. From the shadows around them comes a nasty chuckle.

"NO!" Tabitha cries out in despair as the man, dressed in a soiled hospital gown and dirty pink slippers, raises the ax high.

There's no time to dodge, the attack had been too sudden. Carol curses herself deep in her heart. She had badly underestimated Bambi's cunning. Bambi had pulled some of his pack away, but set up an ambush once he realized the direction his prey was running in. Carol had been careless, and now Tabitha would pay the price.

Tabitha shuts her eyes, waiting of the end. But instead of the ax coming down, the infected roughly kicks her aside, sending the girl sprawling into the dirt before bull rushing Carol. In pure blind panic, Carol opens fire with the rifle. Straight from the hip, but point blank range does the work for her.

"Oh shit ... shit ..." Tabitha mutters as the infected staggers backward from the bullet impacts before falling dead into the dirt. From the shadows emerge their stalkers, leering nastily at the pair.

"Who wants to die?" Carol yells in defiance, waving the rifle at the pack in challenge. From somewhere in the darkness, Bambi begins hooting again and the pack melts away into the shadows.

"Alright." Carol sighs in relief as she helps Tabitha to her feet, "Let's just get out of here. They won't stay scared for long."

"No, something's wrong." Tabitha observes, turning about, "You hear that? Bambi is still doing that weird call of his."

And sure enough, Bambi's cries gain urgency, an edge of eagerness. Just as Carol is about to urge Tabitha to focus, the harsh tramp of feet comes from the darkness, rapidly approaching their position.

"I don't think Bambi's talking to just his pack." Tabitha stammers, the gravity of their situation hitting with full force.

From the distance Tabitha and Carol see the townsfolk fleeing towards them, completely routed, the Herd hot on their heels. Fires had broken out all over the town, a spreading tidal wave of destruction. The guns of the militiamen, proudly signalling the settlement's resistance to the Herd just a few minutes ago, had gone completely absent. As the townsfolk retreat in blind terror, those that lag behind are snatched up by the Herd, trampled in the stampede. And as one, the Herd shouts towards the heavens.

"THERE IS NO CURE."

A young boy turns around and starts firing blindly into the Herd with his gun. No one bothers when he is swallowed up by the advancing mass.

"THERE IS NO VACCINE."

A husband and wife embrace tightly, and the Herd reciprocates, welcoming the new members of their family.

It was too late. The line had broken.

"And there is no hope." Carol whispers as the voice in her head taunts mercilessly.