Melanie’s POV
With those walking meat tanks being distracted by the talking ones, this is a good time to slip away. I knew comin’ here is a bad idea. Ever since we went out on a mission to bring back as many supplies as we can, we have been losing people along the way. I questioned Joseph on whatever or not if we had to kill the ones that can speak for themselves.
I’ve watched those zombies blast against their own kinds with one of them throwing with them with her oversize meat cleaver. It won’t be long before their attention turns back on me so I need to head up to the next floor.
“Hello?” Someone is speaking to me… I look around… That zombie is pointing at his head. “Can… you…. Help us…?” It is in garble words. Is it trying to …?
I saw one zombie clench his head. Apparently that hazmat guy is giving them trouble. I should put them out of their misery rather than let those meat tanks devour them.
Making sure none of them are around me, I moved to one corner in the hallway. I aimed my rifle at them; I plan on making this quick. As I squeeze the trigger, the bullets were flying; I aimed them straight at them, not the horde that surrounds them.
Catching the bullet
However, one of them stopped the bullets as they were within their range. He is… How? As soon as he gathered them all up, he sent them flying to the one with the hazmat suit. It pierced through the stomach, legs, arms and then the head. As soon as it growled in pain, the other meat tanks are standing still, It was controlling them!
It continued to growl as if it was in pain. As far as I know, these things don’t feel pain or anything else.
“Hey! Finish it!” One of them yelled in my direction. “It is regenerating.” I saw a bullet fell off from its leg. “Hurry now!”
“Don’t you be barking orders at me, zombie!” I raised my rifle at him, which he flinched as I did. However, after seeing the hazmat meat tank is beginning to standing up with more bullet coming out of it. I quickly switch to my 45. Desert eagle took aim at its head.
As I fired on its head, one bullet made it staggered to the side, hearing that it let out a moan. I fired again and saw that the bullet came through from the other side of its head. With the blood pouring out of the meat tank, it tumbled on into the floor, and I’ve fired 2 more shot to ensure it stays dead.
The body writhed and move around, then I noticed it inflates throughout its body. The face was bigger; it was turning purple; I aim for its head again, which before I can fire off another shot; it exploded.
The explosion cause a downpour of its greenish blood to whip the zombies as well, releasing some gas in a cloud. I watched one of them whipped its self into a mad hysteria, growling as if it lost its mind. I heard a loud, sharp cry on my right, what the …?
Saved by one of the dead
One of those freaks cut one of them before it can reach me. She dashed toward one of them, biting down hard on the neck. Blood was pouring through her mouth as it screamed. Oh god…
Those meat tanks were feasting on their own kind, one of them punching one through the intestines to tear off its heart to eat. Another used telekinesis to crack open the skull to eat its brain and the other one use tentacles to get its heart, stomach, lungs.
“Watch out!” I narrowly dodge one of them as it got ready to claw my face off. As I pointed my 45 at it, the freak impale it on… some kind of blade.
I’ve double-checked to check if there was any damage to my gas-mask, I touched the sides; I took my right hand to feel any cracks, and I’ve made sure that would be a second layer of protection in the event the outer layer becomes damaged.
“You are fine by the way, miss!” The meat tank stands before me. She looks like a mess and still sees the wounds on there.
“You’re gonna try to finish the job, huh, meat tank?” I pointed my rifle at it, I am uncertain of their intention here.
“Look, please… We are not here to hurt anyone.” Someone is speaking in my mind again. “I know you may not-” I turned around and fired my pistol at the zombie.
“Stop!” The bullets frozen in mid-air. “If we were here to kill you, you would have wound up as another meal and be spiting up blood by now.”
“You’re that meat tank who pushed me out of the way.” I remember he pushed me out of the way of that massive monster.
“Yes… I am the one that saved you from getting punched.” What… What do you mean…
“Melanie!” I heard my group calling by my name. “Melanie!”
“I’m right here!” I shouted to them at my location.
Reunited with my unit
“Melanie, for fuck’s sake, why you wondered off on your own?!” They saw I was unharmed after that large zombie ambushed me and they were looking for me.
“I was looking around for supplies until I saw these being things were being cornered.” I explain on how I got myself into this mess. “Would have kept moving on.”
“You should have!” He gets close to my face, even though I cannot see his face, he wasn’t too pleased that I would be a zombie meal if they didn’t save my life.
“Excuse me, man! We’re-” He raised his gun at the man.
“Excuse me what, you dead corpse?” Dick points his gun closer to the meat tanks. “Thinking about having a snack today? I bet you planned to eat our comrade as well.”
“First off!” The meat tank suddenly generates long-blade arms on her arms. “We are not here to eat anyone, we are here to wait until the mist vanishes just like you.” Now, Tommy is pointing his rifle at her.
“If you are thinking about slicing up with those blades, darling… I suggest you put them down. I don’t want to put down a beautiful woman like yourself.” Tommy… Now you are flirting with dead corpses, too?
“I’m not dropping them, how about you put the rifle away, and maybe I won’t have to chop your arm off?” This is getting out of hand.
“Okay, first off, Dick, these things had saved my life.” I pointed at the group.
“You forget the part that Jason saved your life twice in a row now. So I think you owe him some gratitude.” That meat tank thinks it is funny?
“We owe you nothing, abomination. You don’t belong in this world.” Jean-Sean is pulling out his shotgun, eye on the woman who made that comment. “You dead monstrosities are a defilement of nature.”
“First off, we may be corpses, empties, meat tanks, zombies, sentient or ‘abominations’ if you want to call it. My name is Jason by the way, and we saved your comrade life.” He pointed at me. “And she saved our lives in return, which she could have simply walked away and do what she needed to do. And you would repay us by what? Pointing your rifles and ending us like any other ‘dead’ corpse to deal with?!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, dead corpse! I didn’t think you have feelings on the matter.”
“And I’m sorry that she almost got punched by one of those corpses who was a big, hulking brute.” Dick looked at me as if they punched him in the gut. “I distracted it, so she doesn’t get eaten up by that thing.”
“Is that true, Melanie?” He is whispering, lowering his voice when he gets frustrated.
“Yeah! And I had to take out the one with the hazmat suit. The meat tank reflected the bullets to that thing.” Jean went over to the corpse, he took out his latex gloves while examines the corpse.
“Nothing… A well place shot to the skull.” He took out the bullet from its cranium. “These monsters… I know it is not your handwork.” I nodded… It ain’t.
“I had to contact her in order for her to help us.” One of them stood forward in his group.
“Your the leader of those pile of corpses?” Seriously, Dick?!
“The pile of ‘corpses’ are my friends who traveled with me. But look, we are here in the Inn trying to stay until the mist passes.”
“Enough, Dick! They saved my life, and I saved theirs. Would you prefer me eaten up?” I step closer to his face. “If Jason over there, haven’t pushed me out of the way of that hulking creature or I have not fired a shot that at hazmat meat tank. I would have been dead by now or you have to deal with it when gets near everyone and turn them into goo or more ‘corpses’ in the matter.” Tommy laughed his sock off when he saw me getting started on dick. It is not the first time I had to chew him out for that.
“Alright… You want us to work with these corpses so they don’t eat us, huh?” Jean-sean steps beside him.
“I would give them a chance, boss. They help Melanie when they didn’t have to, and we are blind with no additional intel inside or outside of this place.” Why is he changing his mind? He normally despised the dead as they are.
“And I can shape-shift and the lady in Red can use super speed.” That meat tank sure has a lot of confidence in her friends.
The Truce between the living and the dead
“Okay then, Brad, was it?” I watched as two men make plans for what we need to do. “What are your plan on waiting out the Green mist?”
“For starters, I can have Jenny and Samantha cover the area around the Inn so we can more information to work with.”
“Tommy & I will explore the 1st & 2nd floors for items, foods, valuable that we can take with us to the community.” Dick is suggesting they should check the floors from where we at.
“The better idea is to have Samantha & Tommy explore the 1st & 2nd floors since she can clear more ground and alert him to any zombies inside the area.” Jason actually proposes a better option.
“And I’ll go with my mister dickhead on the outside to see how many zombies out there. Maybe make sure no one takes our vehicles.” Dickhead… hah! I notice Dick is mumbling under his breath when called him that.
“I’ll go ahead to the basement and look for supplies. Already got the key to the place.” I recall I took it from a dead receptionist earlier when we came in.
“I’ll go with you, Melanie.” Jean-Sean block his way.
“You stay here, I don’t fully trust you yet.” I left the room since I need to get to the basement and look for any valuable items. I got my radio if I needed some help… Hopefully, I won’t run into another meat tank on my way there.
