In the Clouds

        Bruiser placed his hand on Stephanie's shoulder and a finger to his lips. "Five floors," he whispered. She nodded. The noises as they moved up through the tower were deafening. Banging on the walls and doors, sounds of furniture breaking, and unearthly moans echoed though the stairwell. Bruiser could hear Stephanie's ragged uneven breathing as they reached the fifth floor. Looking back at her, she nodded, and he opened the door. 

A zombified police dog greeted them. Bruiser saw the animals as a bigger threat. Their teeth and claws were meant to pierce and puncture. He motioned for Stephanie to use her spear and keep distance between them. It worked. As the dog lunged towards Bruiser, the spear thrust into the side of the dog stopping it in its tracks. It lie at their feet. Dead for the second time. There was banging in the rooms adjacent to them.  They hoped the doors held as they continued down the hall.

Ahead of them, shambling out of the darkness, was a Police Officer and a regular citizen. Was this the man the police were after in life? They'd have time to think about that later. Bruiser hoped the same plan the worked on the dog would work on these two. He looked towards the cop and hoped he wasn't wearing any kind of protection. He wasn't sure their rudimentary weapons could handle something like that. His thoughts were unfounded as they dispatched the two, and than three additional in the span of a few minutes. Aside from the rooms, the floor was clear.

"Damn", hissed Bruiser. Beyond the elevator banks was a large sitting room with frosted windows. No stairs to the roof. This can't be. he thought. There has to be a way up for maintenance. Looking towards Stephanie, he said, "We have to clear these top level rooms. There might be a stairwell leading up." Stephanie nodded and wiped the gore from her spear on a nearby plastic plant. 

The rooms, aside from the undead, were empty. Dejected, the two headed back to the left stairwell when Stephanie grabbed Bruiser by the arm. There behind a disused vending machine was a door with stairs leading to the roof. After ascending, they both scanned their surroundings. Neither liked what they saw. Medford was a tiny town surrounded by thick forests. They both agreed previously that they should probably head north, But looking in that direction, wherever the roads lead were masked by the forest canopy. "I think North is still our best bet", said Stephanie. Your friend may still be there to offer support." Bruiser nodded as they returned to their supply filled cart.

The Tower

          "This road's pretty clear," said Bruiser. "But when we hit Medford proper, we shouldn't talk in the streets. There's a couple of houses that are boarded up that seem safe. Do you know of anywhere we can hunker down until help arrives?"
Stephanie shook her head and said, "No. I'm sorry I'm not from here. I'm from Connecticut and when things started getting weird there, I jumped on a bus and fled south only to see it wasn't getting better at all. I got here about two days before you. It was supposed to be a layover but the next bus never came and everything fell apart."

Bruiser grit his teeth. There was nowhere to go? North or South? Is the whole of the country getting swallowed up by this? If this is true, being whisked off to a camp sounds like a slow death. At least out here you can freely move and scavenge. I imagine there, it's like being on a small island slowly flooding until the inevitable occurs.
"Are you OK?"

The question stopped his racing thoughts. "Yeah. Here's what I'm thinking. We need to get to the roof of the Hotel tower and get a good feeling of what's out there. Maybe hit a gas station and see if there's any road maps for the area. Outside of that, I did see a church near the Hotel. Solid stone walls. Might be a good place until we can figure out better." His voice got softer as they rounded the bend and the first of Medford's houses came into view. Stephanie quickened her pace to match Bruiser's and together they headed towards the hotel.
The two reached the Hotel and made their way to one of the side stairwells. Bruiser suggested they head to the top, ignoring the other floors and bypassing a lot of unnecessary danger. Stephanie nodded in agreement. He warned her that the upper floor didn't look good, but since this was the highest building in Medford, it afforded them the best vantage point. Stephanie steeled her grip on the spear and said, "Let's do it, buddy." The two survivor's began their ascent.

Change of Plans

        Change of plans. Understatement of the year. Floor by floor yielded nothing but locked doors. The banging noises behind each one echoed throughout the empty halls and stairwells. It was the worst noise Bruiser had ever heard. He decided to skip straight to the roof to get a view of his surroundings when he froze in place. In the time of life, something must have been going down on the top floor. He saw no less than eight undead police and 3 dogs.  The wind must have been in his favor because nothing was alerted to his being there. He raced downstairs, skipping two and three at a time until he was back outside. He knew the way he came to get here was relatively clear, so looking at his map, he traced a path back towards the safe-house and than heading north. The ultimate goal was still the Church, but he saw something he hadn't before, a small mom and pop pharmacy a block over from a music store. Taking a last look at the hotel complex, he ran towards the treeline and along the outskirts of the town.

        The sun was going down when Bruiser reached the pharmacy. In the cover of darkness, He used his pipe to smash apart the lock on the door and went inside. Jackpot! He grabbed a shopping cart and began filling it with food, medicine, and anything else he could see being of use. In the Northwest corner was a locked door that led to the storage room. Again, using his pipe, the door opened easily and inside he hit jackpot number two. Antibiotics. Grabbing all he could he raced back to an adjacent vacant house and decided to bed down for the night. It was too risky going back to the evac shelter.

 
        Rested and healed but woken at two in the morning, Bruiser peeked out the front door and felt it was okay to leave. Grabbing his shopping cart full of supplies, he headed down the road through Medford. Distant noises kept him on guard but the trip was uneventful. He noticed the sounds of night animals, crickets and an owl, along the wooded road towards the evac shelter. Outside the door, Bruiser inhaled and held his breath as it opened inward. Stephanie was there sitting on one of the benches. Her grip on her spear loosened and she smiled rushing towards him. He nodded towards her and retrieved the antibiotics from his pocket. Taking them with some water, she asked him how she could repay him. Bruiser said ny information you can give about all of this would suffice, money seemed to be fairly useless and he didn't want to take another person's supplies. She said she can do one better and began teaching him different dodge techniques. After a few hours, they finished and Bruiser broke the silence asking if she'd like to join him until they both can figure out what they are going to do. Stephanie grabbed her few belongings and shouted an emphatic "Yes!" Bruiser grabbed his cart and pipe, Stephanie her spear, and together headed out of the shelter.

Hotel Carnage

        Bruiser was met with a zombie wearing Army fatigues. He had no choice but to fight. He needed to keep some distance between himself and the creature. Looking back on his hardcore match with the giant of the south, Big Bubba McDougal, he remembered leading the dumb oaf through a tangle of barbed wire. This effectively hindered his movements allowing Bruiser to repeatedly smash him on the head. While he didn't have any barbed wire, there were raspberry and rose bushes nearby. These zombies were about as smart as Bubba and walked right into the trap. Bruiser dispatched the soldier but he was bitten and clawed on his right arm. Thankfully it didn't penetrate his shirt and break the skin. Luck was with him as he searched the body and found some unused MRE's. Catching his breath he looked at his map. There was a hotel nearby and a Church. The hotel may have meds and gear from former residents and the church might be a good place to call home since the safe-house was compromised.
Bruiser went to the rear of the hotel and began trying windows, avoiding the street. There was a smash and the sound of glass breaking. "Come on", he uttered in frustration. Four creatures shambled out of a single room. These looked like the slower ones he fought before, so he decided to lead them into the trees and employ the same tactic he used on the soldier. It worked. No injuries though he was forced to fight an equally undead dog. They were much quicker and able to dodge his attacks. It too, however, was prone to jam itself up on terrain, allowing quick dispatching. As Bruiser headed into the broken window he was met with something he hadn't even considered. The shambling corpse of a child.
He didn't have a choice. As the door broke down and more creatures shuffled into the room, he raised his pipe and smashed the child in the head. He knew it had to be done. He knew it was no longer the child it once was. These thoughts though had no impact on the immense guilt he was feeling. The fear this boy and girl must have felt in their last moments... No. It was right to do this. They can rest now.
As more poured into the room, seemingly attracted to the noise of battle, Bruiser wondered if this was a huge mistake. One after another fell and more than one got a hit in. The last zombie burst through from a side bathroom and bit into his leg. Bruiser raged and brought the pipe down hard on the zombie, completely caving in the chest. He continued raining down blows until it was a pulpy red stain on the wood floor. Breathing hard, Bruiser lifted his pant leg and checked the wound. It wasn't deep, but it broke the skin. In the bathroom he found a small medical kit. He opened it and applied a bandage to his leg, praying an infection wouldn't set in.

Safe House

Bruiser could tell from the amount of shuffling that there were more than one of these things coming up behind him. His options at that second were limited. Racing forward and using his shoulder, he rammed into a steel door to what looked to be a second abandoned house. The door swung open. Unlocked. The momentum carried him into the opposite wall and as he fell, he used his feet to strike the door, closing himself off from one world and into another. He hoped the door would hold. Bruiser could hear the sound of his blood pumping. A rhythmic whooshing sound in his ears that alerted him that things for the moment were alright. There were no noises outside the door and the house was quiet.
Bruiser gripped his steel pipe like a baseball bat. His knuckles white and breath held as he opened each door. This house wasn't abandoned. It was obviously barricaded from the inside. It was clean. Everything in it's place. There was a little food in the kitchen, cleaning supplies in the bathrooms, and evidence that the inhabitant was either wealthy or an opportunistic thief. Bruiser found expensive looking jewelry and silver stashed in several drawers of a bedroom alongside a makeshift knife. There were two doors that were locked. He needed to open these doors if he was to clear the house and use it as a place to stay. At least for the time being. It seemed a safe alternative to bedding down at the evac shelter with Stephanie and her illness.
Bruiser disassembled the stove in the kitchen. Destroy is a better description. He took some small metal scraps and made some crude lock picks. As he was doing that, he heard the sound of glass breaking in the northeast bedroom. Behind a wardrobe he could make out the broken window and faintly hear shuffling again. He didn't think they could push their way in. He's got to be more quiet. Retreating back through the house he managed to pick the first lock. It was a small closet holding the home's water heater. Tapping it with his pipe, a hollow clang filled the room. It was almost empty. Someone was definitely using this as a safe-house and this was their water source. Almost empty. He moved to the last locked door, steadying his breathing, and pressed his ear to the wood. Nothing. This was a harder lock to crack. After destroying several picks, he heard it give, gripped his pipe and opened the door. It was a large living room with a fireplace. There were remnants of cooked scraps of food, several novels, and not much else. The house was empty. The front door was bolted and barricaded shut. The only exit was the steel door he entered in from. There were no antibiotics for Stephanie, and with what he could discern, at least 2 creatures outside waiting. He'd have to chance it. Marking the safe-house on his map so he could return when night fell, Bruiser opened the door and ran.

First Blood

         Leaving the shelter, the first thing Bruiser noticed was the silence. No cars traveled the road, no sounds of the people of Medford, and no ambient animal noises. It was strangely claustrophobic. The second thing he noticed, just off the road, was the body of a woman. He watched it for awhile, looking for any signs of life. Creeping slowly towards her, Bruiser sees that she has been dead for quite awhile. Her possessions rifled through and her body just left abandoned. It was both an insult to the life she once lived and an ominous reminder that he has been forced into a situation way over his head.
Forcing himself to move on, Bruiser spots a house on the outskirts of the town. Peering through a window he sees they've been boarded up from the inside. He couldn't tell if it was abandoned or a purposeful fortification. He slowly moved through the yard and around to the side of the house. That is when he heard movement on the other side of the fence. Eight feet of whitewashed weather-beaten pine separated him from whatever was out there. He reached out for the gate when it burst open revealing the unreal. This man was dead and grasping at his clothes. Bruiser swung. That bought him enough time to climb the fence opposite his attacker.
Ahead of him was a huge crater. Bomb? Explosion? How long was this going on with him ignorant to it all just a few states away? He needed answers and he knew he needed help. If he found those antibiotics maybe Stephanie could fill in those blanks. One of these houses should have some medicine.
Bruiser was attacked from behind. Reflex saved him from an initial blow and his pipe smashed the head of the zombie...the zombie assailant. Two more followed and he quickly put them down. This was moving way to fast. Within a few hours of arriving here he was a murderer. Did this count as murder? His body was freezing in the early spring air. A chilled breeze dried the sweat on his head as he struggled to calm his breathing. His chest hurt. There was rustling in the brush behind him. These things were pushing him deeper into town and away from the evac shelter. The shelter may not have been a perfect safe-house, but there was another person there that could calm the screaming internal panic. The wrestler, Chris 'Bruiser' Balducci was in trouble and each confrontation held more weight than the ten pounds of gold.
 

Between times.

       




The Shelter was a mess. Bruiser arrived with the other passengers amidst a cacophony of panicked voices. Strangers huddled together, finding safety and comfort in numbers. One voice called out above the others silencing the the group. They were told to remain calm as the authorities would send transport to take them to a nearby FEMA camp. In the meantime,  head downstairs to rest and stay away from the windows.








Bruiser didn't know how long he slept, but he was alone. He ventured up the stairs and saw a lone woman named Stephanie Standing near a shattered window. Everyone else was gone. She turned to him and said, "What are you doing here? You should have left with the others. No matter, There are no more buses out of here. You best arm yourself and take stock of your situation. Things are bad."





Remembering his big match against Dick Darling, Bruiser grabs a metal pipe and steels himself against his own frayed nerves. He notices graffiti on all the walls, each decrying the state of the government. One catches his eye. "There are no buses. They are coming to clean house." Stephanie breaks his thoughts with a request for help. "I need antibiotics", she says. "If you go to the roof you can see Medford. There should be something there. Please hurry. I don't want to turn into one of them."