Day 4 8:02 AM

"Okay, you're set to go, ma'am," Bennie whispered to Abigail.

We helped Abigail get secured in a maintenance shed behind an office building at least 200 meters away from the parking lot. As planned, after 20 minutes she will fire one round and start to lure some unclean away from the garages. Using her discretion, she would continue to fire one round at intervals to make sure the unclean kept following, giving us more time. You may think 200 meters is a bit far for a gunshot to be heard. But when there's almost nothing that makes a sound, you can be sure that the unclean will hear it.

Bennie looked at Abigail, one last time, "I'm gonna ask you to return my watch back again ma'am." he said stoically. "I will Ben, and both of you can call me Abby." Abigail, scratch that, Abby said to us. She is still shaking but I clasped her shoulder, "Keep your head in a swivel. Make sure nothing will cut off your escape route. Keep walking and don't run. It will tire you out. We will be there with you as soon as we can." I said reassuringly. Bennie nods at her.

Abigail was wearing a dark bluish matching pajamas right now. We snagged some off in Malachi's makeshift closet. We made sure to tie her hair securely to avoid getting snagged by the unclean. We let her use the Crocs slippers we found in the entrance cabinets earlier this morning. Her sandals were not made for running and our shoes were bigger. That would only hinder her movement. She could use some leather shoes used for interviews, which probably belonged to Malachi's wife but we prioritized ease of use and comfort over looks. Bennie gave her his watch to make sure she knew when to fire, Bennie's former supply bag with at least some food and water inside, just in case we got separated and lastly the pistol with all 3 full mags.

Bennie taught her the basics of shooting a gun earlier this morning, with an empty mag of course. Making sure she got them down and didn't forget it in the middle of a chase. Those clicks were a bit annoying then. Bennie was making the gun fire in her hands. "Reload, cock it, and fire." I still remember him telling Abby that. "Safety on, off" " Fire, reload, cock it, fire." again and again. Like a broken record, he kept drilling her. Heh. Drilling her. Saw what I did there?

It's her first time using a gun and we can't let her count under pressure. It would only cause a lapse in judgment. Bennie only told her if the gun clicks and doesn't fire just cock the gun, and reload. We could give her all the lessons we know about jamming but that would only overload her brain. We need her cool and calm.

Yeah, she looks stupid, but at least it will up her chances of survival. Do you know how hard it is to run with those tight skirts? Well, I'm a bit disappointed to not see her curves but I'd rather see her alive than dead. We closed the door of the maintenance shed and jogged back to the backyard alley towards the parking lot. Most of the unclean crowded the main highways and buildings but most back alleys were mostly open. Maybe because of the panic. Most people tried to drive out of the border town and that didn't end well. It's okay to drive out, the problem lies that you're not the only one thinking about that too. Add some unclean in the mix and then you get a hazardous clogged main highway, luring more and more unclean that would swarm said vehicles you're on. We got to thank the stars we didn't drive to the border town then.

Passing along some bodies of the unclean that we dropped earlier, Bennie looks unfocused. "Focus Ben. She has more chance of living if you do." I bellowed. "Y-yeah," he answered. "That way you can go back to drilling and jamming her again," I smirked. I felt a punch on my shoulder. "Ow. Don't get mad because I got a bigger dick than you." I said as I slapped him back. "Shut up," he replied while chuckling. That's it. Don't lose focus now. The more you're relaxed and on point, the bigger chances we have of getting out of this alive.

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I gasped for air and coughed a couple of times. I woke up with the feeling of the sun on my face. I lay sprawled on the side alley. My body is hurting. Everything is hurting. I rolled over to my back and assessed my situation.

"I guess I didn't make it," I said to myself grunting. I can taste blood on my lips. I can only see with one eye. Probably busted the other when I fell. I squirmed my legs. I can feel and still move it. That's lucky I guess. My other leg still hurts like a motherfucker though. I checked the feel of my arms. I can move them. I can raise my left hand. "Ahhh. Fuck!" I nearly screamed. Right shoulder dislocated.

The last thing I remember was jumping. If I got to choose to jump or be torn to shreds with at least 30 unclean in the building I was on. I'd jump all the time. I remember failing to reach the other ledge. I probably did not have enough momentum because of my busted leg. The building I was on was a 3-story apartment and my target building was a 2-story so you can imagine the height difference. Combine that with a busted leg and exhaustion plus gear weight and low perception due to darkness.

Then you'd get this. A mangled sorry of a state body. Oh, I grabbed the ledge but I wasn't prepared for the weight of my own body. I fell from said ledge and probably bounced off several fire escape stairs which probably slowed down my fall. The saving grace was I was wearing my plate carrier and helmet. Probably the only reason I didn't crush my head or broke my spine.

I checked my watch, 9:03 AM. "Can I just sleep?" I said to myself while breathing heavily.

A sudden moan broke my train of thought I raised my head and found an undead staring right at me. "Oh great! just fucking great!"

It walked towards me with its reached-out hand. It hit a trash can and fell. I crawled back hurriedly and stood up. I looked behind me again then I saw another undead, from the exit alley. Make it two more undead from the exit alley. Fucking dog shit! You just had to crash the trash can so you could call your buddies huh?

I grunted and limped to the other exit.

"4 kilometers to C3, just 4. Come on!" I encouraged myself. I exited to the main road. Straight shot to checkpoint 3. Richie said they would be there until noon. I stumbled and fell on a nearby car wreckage. With a thud, I grunted. I looked to my left and right. They hadn't noticed me yet when a hand grabbed me. I panicked. "Get off me!" trying to remove the hand that was grabbing me.

In the corner of my good eye, I saw the head of a teenage girl with a chewed face readying to bite me. It was stronger than your average girl. It's grip was tight. It was grabbing hold of the straps of my carrier and its other arm was grabbing hold of my neck. In my panic and only my left hand trying to keep it away, I swiveled my head and pounded my helmet twice right onto its face. It staggered and when I felt its grip loosening I grabbed my pistol on my left thigh and aimed it to its head.

Feeling its grip tightening again, I fired before it could even attempt to bite me again. My ears went deaf.

As the body fell limply, I stood up my right arm still screaming because of dislocation and ringing still on my ear. I looked back at the alleyway. They are swarming now. I turned around to run when what I saw sent chills down my spine.

Hundreds or maybe nearly a thousand pairs of dead eyes were looking at me. Dead pair of eyes of every gender, age, or profession. It doesn't matter how you describe them. Fat, thin, muscular, old, young toddlers. You name it, it's there. Every fucking pair. They knew I wasn't one of them. They didn't even look at who was beside them. They just fucking knew I was the target. A fucking prey.

No, a fucking meal.