User:Shotgunchief38

This is a story I write for myself and for Squadron1111. Feel free to check it out!

Waking Up in Malton

Chapter One - Revived in Hell

Her awakening was abrupt. The darkness of Malton’s streets pressed down on her eyes; the power had gone out long ago. However, Amanda wasn’t about to sit there and wait for morning to come, she knew better than that. She stood up, unsteadily at first, but eventually gained back her balance as she turned on the light on her fire fighter helmet.

She almost wished she hadn’t.

Amanda didn’t know how she had missed the sound of them shuffling, the lows groans, and the occasional raspy growl. The zombies were all around her, surrounding her. Who the hell revived her here? Of course, the light from her helmet alerted them to her presence, or possibly just the fact that she stood up. She immediately reached for her shotgun on her back, but noticed it was out of ammo. Trying her pistol, she found the same.

Son of a bitch! She thought, knowing all she had now was her fire axe. It would have to do for now as one zombie closed in. Gripping the axe in two hands, she took a precise swing and decapitated the first undead. The others moved towards her, and she did her best to keep them back, but she could only do so much as one grabbed her from behind and plunged its teeth into her shoulder. Amanda gave a cry of pain and used the butt of her axe to knock him off. While doing so, however, another grabbed her arm and bit her around the bicep, drawing a lot of blood. No, not like this! She thought, her swings getting desperate as yet another zombie grabbed her around the legs. That was when the sound of a gunshot blasted through the night and the zombie on her arm fell to the ground with a bullet hole right through its skull. Another gunshot, the zombie at her feet fell limp.

“Come on!” shouted a voice, and turning she saw that in the nearest building the door was open and light poured from the entrance. The zombies around her, disturbed by the noise, turned their attention to whoever had shouted. Using this to her advantage, she swung her axe repeatedly, taking out as many zombies as she could. With her pushing forward and the man firing his pistol, she managed to make it to the front of the building. That was when a zombie arrived out of her blind spot and fell on her, taking her to the ground.

Fear enveloped her as she realized being on the ground in the middle of a horde of zombies was the worst possible position you could be in. Sure enough, she felt teeth and claws on her back and she cried in pain. Multiple gunshots broke the night, but she was starting to black out and the noises were fading.

“Stay with me!” Amanda heard the voice again, shouting right into her ear. She felt hands grab her and lift her to her feet, but she didn’t have the strength to stand, just enough to keep awake. She felt herself being dragged across the ground, and then heard the sound of a door slamming and many voices that came to her as a low, buzzing noise. She could feel herself losing a lot of blood, infection had probably set in, and slowly she was losing consciousness.

“Is she going to make it, Doc?” she heard someone say off to the side.

“I’ll have to work fast, but she should make it. Just in case, have your pistol ready, I’m out of syringes…” Her mind was so fuzzy that it was hard to process what they were saying; she just wanted to sleep, to black out…

And that she did.

Chapter Two - Visit from the Outside

Amanda dreamed in bits and pieces, but it was only small flashes that she couldn’t remember. Zombies lunged for her throat, her friends disappeared into the black, and she fought for her life, falling under the mass of the undead.

Her eyes snapped open.

She was instantly met by the aches in her wounds she had acquired, not terrible, but enough to make her grit her teeth. Shaking off the pain, she realized she was laying down in some kind of bed. It was the most comfortable thing she had experienced in a very long time; she couldn’t remember the last time she had laid down on something with a mattress.

Amanda tried sitting up, but the wounds on her back were too much and she fell back down onto the mattress again. However, the noise must have attracted attention because soon someone appeared at her side.

“Good to see you awake,” the man said, smiling. On a side note he added, “and not undead.”

“Yeah…” she replied simply, still feeling like complete shit. The zombies must have messed her up quite a bit; the pain was making it hard to think. “Where am I?”

“Tarasius General Hospital,” he replied. “Home of Squadron1111, we help anybody in need.”

“That’s nice,” she replied, attempting to sit up again and this time was successful. She then realized she had been a little blunt and added, “Thank you, by the way. Without you, I would have been dead…”

“No problem. It’s what we do. What’s your name, by the way?”

Not always did people give away their real names. Some did, while others went by nicknames they created for themselves or other people gave them. Hers was a mixture of both.

“Shotgun,” she answered, dipping her head slightly as a form of meeting; her arm wasn’t moving quite right yet, not after being bitten by a zombie.

“Good to meet you, Shotgun,” the man replied, not at all surprised to get a nickname in response. It was a common practice in the city of Malton. “Dr. Coriell, at your service.” It was odd encountering such formalities from a survivor. Most of her time had been spent in Pitneybank either fighting to defend Giddings Mall or Fort Creedy, whichever needed it most. There hadn’t been much time to get to know the other survivors, they came and went too quickly, whether it was their own choice or not. She’d made a few friends, but the old pang of grief met her as she knew they were gone for good, lost among the masses. Amanda was on her own now, and she planned on keeping it that way.

“Well, thanks again for saving me,” she said. “I’ll be moving on, however, once I’m able to get going.” Coriell raised an eyebrow. “So soon?”

She shrugged, “I move around and help whoever I can, it’s what I do. I don’t have anywhere to stay at this point.”

“Tarasius is always open.”

“Sorry, just never really been a group kind of person,” she stated, and it was true. It had always just been her, and her friends Armand and Kal fighting together and that was the biggest it got. When they disappeared into the horde, she had tried finding them, but had never been able to. Amanda decided at that point she would keep to herself, and travel from suburb to suburb healing people, shooting zombies, and just trying to help. When she would stumble upon a group, she would contribute where she could but would end up moving on in the end. She never got too close, not after what happened.

“Well, if you change your mind, we’re always here,” Coriell said, gesturing behind him and through the door. With that, he nodded and left the room, leaving her on her own. Deciding that there really wasn’t much else, and the fact that she was tired as hell, she laid her head back down on her pillow and went to sleep, feeling safe for the first time in months.

---

Amanda woke up to the sound of gauze tape being pulled from its roll. Blinking open her eyes, she saw it was late in the day as bright sunlight was shining through the cracks in the barricaded window. Turning her head she saw the source of the noise as an unknown doctor patched up a man who was bleeding from the arm.

She sat up on her elbows and asked, “What happened to you?” Both guys turned towards her, startled to see her awake.

“Sneaky zombie bit me in the arm,” the guy replied, lifting up his forearm so Amanda could see the bite. “Can’t believe I didn’t notice it…”

“It happens to the best of us,” the doctor replied, resuming his patching of the man’s arm. “Nobody saw it get through that window, so somebody must have missed the barricades. Tassa gave it a bullet for its troubles though,” he laughed.

“No kidding,” the man replied, smiling. He then turned towards Amanda, “The name’s Cameron Shelley, by the way. Good to see you awake, you really took a beating from those zombies the other night.”

She became curious. “You were there?”

“Yeah, got a few with my axe,” he replied proudly. “Could teach you a bit about technique, if you don’t mind.”

Feeling slightly offended she said, “I think my axe work is fine, thanks.”

The doctor laughed again, “You haven’t seen axe work until you’ve seen Cameron with an axe.” He turned towards her and gave a nod, “The name’s Xuanwu, welcome to Tarasius.”

“Thanks,” she replied, and then stated, “You guys have a lot of doctors around here.”

“Well, everybody knows how to patch somebody up,” Xuanwu replied, “though we do have our zombie research center here.”

“Zombie research?” she asked. “Like a vaccine?” Before Xuanwu could provide an answer, however, the door to the room slammed open and a man entered, holding a pistol in one hand and a spare clip in the other. From the way he looked, it seemed like he had once been a soldier at some point, with civilian clothing and a helmet.

“Xuanwu, we’ve got another break-in,” he said breathlessly, reloading his pistol as he talked.

“How many?” Xuanwu asked, standing up while Cameron did the same.

“Fifteen, and we’re really low on ammo.”

“Well, this sounds perfect for me,” Cameron stated, moving past the new guy with his axe and heading out to the hallway.

“Alright, Mike, you stay here with Shotgun, Cameron and I will help with the break-in.” Mike nodded, and Xuanwu followed Cameron, shutting the door behind him.

Chapter Three - Safeguard

The noise from the gunfire outside was deafened by the closed door, everything sounding muffled. However, despite the wall in between, Amanda could still hear the loud groans from the zombies that sent chills down her spine. It was too close to her attack, and she could tell there were a lot of the monsters outside, trying to take down the survivors who had taken refuge here.

She looked over at the man named Mike, who seemed tense as he watched the door. Amanda noticed that on the side of his helmet it read, “Get me outta here!”, which showed her how he felt about the situation. She could tell he wanted to go and fight, and that being stuck in here with her while his friends defended with their lives was the last thing he wanted.

"You don't have to watch me," Amanda stated, throwing back her covers and swinging her legs off of the bed. She ignored the stab of pain that went up her back as she continued, "I can take care of myself."

"Not like this you can't," Mike replied, turning towards her. "Don't feel like a burden, it's not so bad being stuck in here. What's your name, by the way?"

"Shotgun, and I CAN fight," she said, standing up and looking around for her weapons. Looking down, she realized that her clothes had been changed and replaced with new ones. It had been a long time since she'd had clean clothes.

"Name's Mike D. Stewart, just call me Mike. Also, knowing the 1111, we won’t have to fight at all," Mike said with a grin. He placed a lot of confidence in this group here, and Amanda felt a pang of longing as she remembered the trust she had placed in her old friends. However, she didn't want that again after the pain she had went through. Or did she?

"It doesn't hurt to be ready," she stated, limping over and grabbing her fire axe.

"You're in no shape to fight."

"If it comes to that, I'll be fine," Amanda said, then added, "and from the sound of it, it won't come to that." Mike raised his eyebrows, then shook his head and laughed.

"Fine, I can't stop a woman when she's determined. Just don't come crying to me when your wounds reopen."

"Deal," she replied, nodding. Mike opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off as the sound of shattering glass filled the room. They both whipped around and faced the windows, Mike aiming with his pistol and Amanda with her axe. A zombie was making its way through the barricades of the window, letting out a long, mournful groan as it dropped to the ground. Knowing she could easily take on just one zombie, she started forward, but stopped as Mike laid a hand on her shoulder. She was about to snap at him when he noticed his intense look.

"Wait," he said, pointing down towards the pitiful sight. "Look at his wrist." She did, and noticed a bright orange tag that hung around it. Amanda didn’t know what that meant, and turned towards Mike with a questioning look.

"You must have been out for a long time," Mike started, explaining the tag. "If a zombie has an orange tag hanging around their wrist, they're friendly and want revived. It's a system they implemented about a year and a half ago."

"What if it's hostile and faking it?" she asked, keeping an eye on the zombie incase it made a move towards them. However, it just stood there, letting out another slow moan that sounded like, "Mrrrrh."

"Then I'll be pissed because this is my last syringe," Mike replied, pulling it out of his pocket. Amanda still wasn't convinced that this thing was friendly, but didn't stop the man as he plunged the needle deep into the zombie's neck. There was a hiss, a groan, and then the zombie fell to the floor with a loud thump, its body starting the regeneration process. The two of them stood silently for a moment, watching in fascination as the zombie slowly turned back into a human, it's skin changing color and it's eyes brightening. After a little bit, Mike went into motion, grabbing the now forming man and setting him on the bed.

"Should be awake in a few hours," he stated, taking a few steps back as the man let out a half groan, half yell as the painful process continued. Amanda shuddered as she remembered when she went through the regeneration; each time it was as painful as the last.

There were footsteps outside in the hallway and a moment later xuanwu and somebody Amanda didn't know came into the room. Their eyes opened in surprise as they registered the scene; the man regenerating in the bed and the broken glass on the floor.

"The window?" xuanwu asked, and Mike nodded.

"Wanted a revive, and I used my last syringe on him," Mike replied. "I'll have to head to Flooks to get some more."

"I'll go with you," the guy standing beside xuanwu said. "They call me Raving, by the way. Short for Raving Lunatic,” he said with a wink.

"Shotgun," Amanda replied by way of introduction, though felt a bit uneasy about his nickname. "Is the attack over?"

"Yep, we fought them off and got the barricades back up," xuanwu replied. "Wasn't too hard, they were pretty wounded by the time Cameron and I got there, we were able to finish them off and get the barricades back up. Everything fine in here?"

"Just that zombie, but everything else is quiet,” Mike replied. Xuanwu then nodded towards Amanda.

“You should be resting.”

“I’ll be fine,” she replied, ignoring the pain of her bites and scratches that told her otherwise. She then gestured to the man on the bed, “Besides, I won’t get any sleep with him screaming his head off."

“You won’t get anywhere with her, she’s stubborn,” Mike stated, grinning.

“I have an axe,” she replied with a fake threat.

Xuanwu laughed, “Looks like we have a fighter here. Alright, we’ll show you around. I’ll get Cameron and Bucky to patch up the window.” And with that, she followed them out of the door and into the lobby.