February 7, 2012 by Mark Lidstone

Zombies II – Chapter 9

This is the ninth chapter in my Vote Your Own Adventure series. You are in control. Vote on the options at the end to decide what happens next. A new chapter will be posted every Tuesday and the voting will end every Friday. Read chapter eight here.

This is the FINAL voting chapter.

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VOTING FOR THIS CHAPTER IS NOW CLOSED. A NEW CHAPTER IS POSTED EVERY TUESDAY

The gravity of the situation rapidly overwhelms Victoria and she finds herself unable to move. The sound echoes through the hallway again – something heavy, crashing against metal. The Savage is here and it won’t be alone for long. If the zombies don’t finish her off, Project Gerra will.

Victoria is pulled out of her daze when a hand firmly grasps her wrist. Elizabeth tugs her arm and drags her a few steps but Victoria can only stare back at her.

“Come ON,” Elizabeth shouts.

Victoria is jerked towards the door. Her feet stumble at first but she quickly regains her footing and joins Elizabeth in the run. Her head begins to clear. They need to get away.

The two women burst out of the room and into the hallway. As they do, there’s another loud crash. They pause for a brief moment and glance at the exit door. The metal buckles as it’s hit from the outside and streams of light burst through the cracks.

Elizabeth tugs on Victoria again and pulls her down the hallway and away from the door. Everything is silent for a moment. They can’t hear anything but the sound of their heavy breathing as they run through the hallway. They pass the door to the armory and the dead man. He now lays on his side and the skin is torn from his face. The remains of Elizabeth’s snack.

Another loud noise erupts from behind them. A loud slam mixed with grinding, twisting metal. Finally, the sound of the door’s bolts giving away and the metal hitting the floor.

A blood curdling screech fills the hallway and Victoria glances back to see Dunville’s large form standing in the doorway. His body is silhouetted by the sunlight behind him but his white eyes still glow. They stare directly at her. Dunville drops to all fours and charges down the hallway toward them.

“Faster,” Victoria says. Her voice is low and breathy. She can feel the fear building up in the back of her throat. She turns her attention past Elizabeth and to the hallway in front of them. “Run faster.”

The pounding of Dunville’s feet and hands against the floor is getting louder. He’s much faster than the both of them. There’s no way they can reach the exit first.

Hand in hand, they manage only a few more steps before the sound of Dunville’s breath rapidly grows louder. He’s caught them.

“Down!” Victoria screams.

She throws herself to the floor and her hold on Elizabeth’s hand breaks. She hits the floor hard but Elizabeth hesitates before attempting to do the same. Dunville’s foot hits the floor inches from Victoria’s head as he passes her. Before Elizabeth can get down, his massive body crashes into hers and both of them tumble down the hallway, leaving Victoria behind.

Dunville lays on the floor in front of Victoria, blocking her path to Elizabeth. She wants to go to her friend but Dunville is already pushing himself to his feet. She’s forced to run the other way. She only gets a few feet before she’s grabbed by the waist and jerked backwards.

Dunville spins her around until she’s face to face with him. He stands upright as he holds her, his broad shoulders nearly touching each side of the hallway. His dark skin is covered in blood and blue veins bulge from his neck. He roars in triumph, spattering Victoria’s face with thick saliva. His breath hits her like a warm wave that smells of rotted meat.

She struggles to break free of him but he slams her to the floor. The wind is forced out of her and the back of her head slams against the hard tile. Through starred vision, she watches as he leans in closely, his mouth gaped.

She can only watch as the monster’s sharp teeth press against her cheek. Victoria closes her eyes.

Nothing happens.

Victoria slowly opens her eyes. Dunville’s face is pressed tightly against hers. She can feel his breath against her skin as he pants in anticipation. After a brief moment, he closes his mouth and pulls away. He lets go of Victoria and stands upright, staring down at her.

Elizabeth squeezes around Dunville, her face winces in pain as she does. The left side of her blouse is covered in blood. She reaches for Victoria.

“Come on,” she says. “We’ve got less than fifteen minutes.”

“Are you…are you doing this?” Victoria asks.

“Yes, but I don’t know how long I can keep it up. Come on.”

Victoria pushes herself to her feet and rushes to her friend.

“You’re bleeding,” she says.

Elizabeth winks back at her. “I’ll live.”

The two quickly move towards the beaten exit door at the other end of the building. Elizabeth hobbles behind Victoria with an arm around her ribs. They exit the building, leaving a dazed Dunville behind.

Victoria quickly searches the area. The sun is rapidly setting in front of them, stretching the shadows of the trees. The fence completely surrounds the building at the back but is damaged directly in front of them. Cement chunks litter the ground near a hole where Dunville must have broken through. They run through the hole and stop momentarily on the other side.

“Where are they?” Victoria asks.

“Who?”

“The runners.”

Elizabeth closes her eyes to concentrate but shakes her head in frustration.

“I don’t know,” she says.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“Give me a break,” Elizabeth squeals. “I’m new at this.” She looks around the area.

“I can hear them but I can’t pinpoint them. It’s like they’re…” Fear flashes across her face. “They’re everywhere.”

“What?”

“They’re all around us.”

“Can you stop them?” Victoria asks. Her voice shakes as she speaks. “Like you did with Dunville?”

“Not all of them,” Elizabeth answers. “Maybe one or two.”

Victoria struggles to think of a way out. There’s no way they can fight them off. They have to run. Get to the extraction point.

“We have to run,” Victoria says. “The extraction point is on the other side of that hill. We can make it.”

Elizabeth gives her a doubtful nod and the two set off towards the grassy hill in front of them.

Victoria helps Elizabeth climb the steep hill as she favours her wounded side. Once they reach the top, the extraction point comes into view. In the distance, the silhouette of a helicopter sits on a cleared area.

“There,” Victoria says. “It isn’t far.”

“We aren’t going to make it,” Elizabeth says.

Victoria follows Elizabeth’s gaze to the thick forest that sits nearly one hundred feet to their left. The trees sway and the leaves rustle as the runners burst through one by one. The same rustling can be heard from their right as more burst into the opening and towards the two women.

High above the helicopter is a tiny white light. It’s much brighter than any of the freshly emerging stars and appears to be moving. Project Gerra.

This time, Victoria is the one to grab Elizabeth. Elizabeth yelps at the pain in her side and struggles to keep up with her. Dozens of runners chase after them and more break through the trees on either side. It isn’t long before more runners enter the path in front of them, surrounding them completely.

Elizabeth digs her heals into the ground and tugs on Victoria until she stops running.

“We can’t get past them,” she says. “Not like this.” She closes her eyes.

“We have to,” Victoria says. “We didn’t come this far to stop.”

Elizabeth doesn’t answer. A few of the runners are faster than the others and are no more than twenty feet away now.

“Elizabeth!” Victoria screams.

Elizabeth’s eyes shoot open. She grabs Victoria and pulls her close. The closest runner stops in his tracks and stares at them. Elizabeth’s head turns and she faces another one that’s only a few feet away. It, too, stops in its tracks.

Victoria stares in silent amazement as Elizabeth stops the entire first wave of runners. They surround the two women like a wall but the other waves are quickly approaching.

Elizabeth moves around Victoria, shielding her just as the next few hit the wall of zombies and stumble over them and falling to the ground. The crowd stumbles over each other but it only slows them down a moment before the regain their footing. The bodies slam into Victoria and Elizabeth, knocking them to the ground.

Victoria is knocked away from Elizabeth and half a dozen runners pin her to the grass. Each one stops moving before it can bite her. They can only stare at her intently, drool oozing from their parted lips. More runners pile on top but the ones pinning Victoria keep them from getting close. They moan intently and try to push past their stunned friends.

“Elizabeth!” Victoria cries. The response she receives isn’t Elizabeth’s.

A familiar roar overpowers the low moans of the Zombies piled on top of her. Dunville’s roar.

One by one the zombies are torn away from Victoria in a familiar fashion. This is the second time she’s been saved by a Savage.

Victoria scrambles to her feet as Dunville stays close to her, fighting off any runner that gets close. His arms swing furiously, grabbing at them from all angles and tossing them to the side or effortlessly tearing them to pieces.

“Victoria,” Elizabeth runs past Dunville and pulls Victoria into an embrace.

“You’re doing this?”

“I think so,” Elizabeth says. She grins wildly. “I think it’s something I did back in the base. When I stopped him from attacking you, I think I convinced him that you needed to be protected.”

“Whatever you did, I’m thankful,” Victoria says. “What about you?”

Elizabeth shrugs. “They didn’t attack me. They just pushed me aside to get to you.”

The helicopter isn’t far off. Victoria can see its blinking lights and hear the blades of the propeller slicing through the air. With the runners contained, they can make it.

Victoria looks into the sky at the small light. It’s right above them, flying through the night sky towards the dormitories.

“Come on,” she says.

Once again, the two break into a run. One of the runners sprints towards Victoria but Dunville quickly grabs it by the leg and tosses it away before moving on to the next one.

“Hurry,” Victoria yells. Elizabeth’s side slows her down and she struggles to follow Victoria.

“I’m right behind you. Don’t stop.”

Tears of joy trickle down Victoria’s cheeks as she sees the three men standing by the helicopter. Two are in military garb and one of them is holding a rifle. The third is a middle-aged man with a white beard. His arm is in a sling and blood soaks the shoulder of his shirt. The bearded man catches sight of her.

“Wait,” he yells to the others.

The two military men turn to Victoria. One waves at her, motioning for her to hurry. She’s only a few feet away when the third man lifts his rifle with a panicked expression on his face.

“Runner!” He shouts.

Victoria quickly turns, expecting to see one of that one of the zombies had somehow gotten around Dunville. The only one behind her is Elizabeth. In the darkness, her white eyes glow intently. She hobbles towards them as fast as she can with her injury.

Victoria throws herself at the man with the rifle but she’s grabbed by the other soldier and pulled aside. He holds her in place with his arm around her waist.

“It’s OK, Ma’am,” he says.

“No!” she screams.

The man with the rifle lines his sight up with Elizabeth. His finger moves to the trigger.

Victoria struggles to break free of the man’s grasp to save her friend but he holds her tight. As she struggles, her hand whips back and brushes the cold steel dangling from the man’s belt. His gun. Victoria could use it to stop the rifleman from shooting but would they really let her on the helicopter after that? She can’t convince them to let Elizabeth on, she’s sure of that now. Either way, Elizabeth will be left behind and Project Gerra gets closer and closer to the dormitory.

She looks at Elizabeth. She doesn’t seem to notice the man with the rifle and continues limping towards them. Maybe she could try and warn her. Tell her to turn back. But she’s already in the rifleman’s sight.

VOTING FOR THIS CHAPTER IS NOW CLOSED. A NEW CHAPTER IS POSTED EVERY TUESDAY

What Does She Do?
A: Pull out the gun and use it to save Elizabeth
B: Try and warn Elizabeth