Survival Instincts: by Nick Venom (korean ebook reader TXT) 📕

difficult parts of town. 

I was busy completing my task on a rooftop, leaving the rest to my teammates on the ground floor as Garfield approached me. He waved me towards him, leading me away. He took me to the side before replaying a message he’d received. 

“Lindsay, Silver Daggers evacuated, returning to HQ. They got scared off by the hordes scattered in their part of town. They’ve fled and the hordes they were supposed to control, are swarming towards us.”

“What happened to the Red Scorpions? Did they leave us as well?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “They’re still standing.”

“Okay, has group two return?” 

He shook his head. “Not yet. Their mission failed as well.”

“What do you mean?”

“The hordes busted the gates down; they’re flooding the place. They already lost one of their members.” He then pointed behind me as two of group two’s members raced towards us, diving into the building under our feet. 

“Inside the buildings now, large hordes are arriving.” I heard Luna shout from somewhere around us, her voice echoing off the empty town. Garfield then grabbed my arm and dragged me down, slowly crawling away from the edge.

The sounds of the horses’ cries were apparent, screams being cut off by the growling of the undead. They flooded the place and began breaking down doors. Luna shouted again, ordering everybody on the roof. Garfield glanced at me before standing up, sprinting to the ladder that allowed people rooftop access. Surrounding the ladder were a few stragglers as the majority of the undead hordes had already passed. He pulled his sidearm out and executed the undead, allowing our teammates to grasp onto safety, even if it was temporary. 

I stood up and helped my teammates onto the roof, soon having almost everybody alive with us. One person was killed during the initial undead push while another was MIA. 

In total, our group had dwindled to eight people; Cruz, Lee, Luna, Salinas, Garfield, Parker, and myself. Luna’s leadership skills jumped into action, directing everybody away from the edges and towards the middle. The plan was to wait the horde out, letting it pass us and onto a different target, perhaps the Red Scorpions. God bless them. 

Somebody started a fire, lighting a few embers that crackled in the soon starry night. Another person began telling memories of theirs, being followed up by Luna and Parker.

“When I was younger I used to follow my brother anywhere. Until the day he passed away, to normal circumstances, of course, I followed him. It’s weird isn’t it, I loved my brother dearly.” Luna said aloud. 

“It’s not,” Parker said.  “I never was on good terms with my sisters, but I always did love them even when the apocalypse hit and they left me behind. I still continue to love them.” Parker said.

 The rest continued on to tell their stories, but not once did Garfield speak up. 

 

TBC…

Episode Six "Half"

We laid on the rooftop, waiting for the horde to disperse but they wouldn’t budge. Instead, we were trapped on the rooftop, yearning for an escape. For the time being, we slept, if you could call it that, for most of the night and woke up early. Nearly all of us got a few winks of sleep, at the most. 

I looked over the edge and noticed that the horde was diminishing at a slow rate. However, the diminishing horde was scattering around, some slowly climbing onto the roof. I called out the horde’s actions; Luna jumped into action again. She ordered everybody off the roof and to escape. The only escape route was to jump off the roof, hopefully landing on the grass below. 

Everybody scrambled to pack their gear, preparing to jump off the roof. I followed their steps, lingering on the edge. I mentally prepared myself to jump when I heard a loud shout. I glanced over my shoulder as the heavy-sleeper Parker was still sleeping. The dead had already climbed to the roof, reaching Parker within a few moments. He was asleep as they tore through him. He, thankfully, never had to witness his death at the hands of the undead. A blissful death. 

I jumped off the roof, landing on the grass below with a heavy thud. However, I quickly got to my feet and began sprinting away from the building and the following horde. I glanced to my sides and noticed my comrades following me. 

“Cruz!” I heard somebody should. Behind me, Will Cruz was struggling to keep up with the others. He was the slowest of the group, something made apparent by the distance between him and the rest of the team. I looked away from Will, shielding my ears with my hands before the sounds of tearing flesh and blood-curdling screams could penetrate them.

We didn’t slow our pace, instead, fleeing to the outskirts of the town. Once on the outskirts and with a large gap between the horde and us, we slowed down. Luna gave us a short break to regain our stamina while she contacted HQ and pry more intel out of them.

Our group dwindled to five, cutting it in nearly half. We were the only survivors. Death lingered on us as the horde slowly limped towards us. It followed us out of the town and hovered over our shoulders, waiting for the time to reap our souls. Death was awaiting us.

Luna finished talking with HQ, turning to face us. Her eyes had a hint of regret and sadness. It was in contrast with her earlier happy vibe. She was no longer the same person as before. She was scarred. 

“Red Scorpions managed to complete their mission. Aside from our ravaged team, Silver Daggers had fallen. HQ wants us to go back. We’re going home, but…” Her voice trailed off.

Salinas rested on a nearby boulder, looking up at Luna. He shook his head, anticipating her answer. “What do they want us to do?”

Luna took a deep breath in before exhaling. “They want us to complete the mission. They’re gonna send us back out.” 

“They want us to go back? They’re crazy!” I shouted, not realizing the anger that was building up within me. 

“She’s right, it’s impossible. What can five people do against a town of the undead? It’s a suicide mission.” Salinas shouted.

Luna shook her head. “What can we do? They saved and fed us. We have to resolve the debt that we owe them. Otherwise, we’re as good as dead.” Luna told us. “We can’t do anything, so suck it up and let’s get back.”

“Fine,” Salinas muttered as he stood up, eyeing the nearby horde. “They’re going to catch up soon, let’s go.” 

“Yeah, they’ll be here soon,” Garfield remarked. “Let’s get going.”

“Life isn’t getting any better, that’s for sure,” I remarked. 

“We’re in the apocalypse, we’re dead anyway.” Charlie Lee muttered. 

“Warriors, let’s get moving.” Luna directed us. We continued the walk of shame towards HQ, missing half of our members. Nobody’s spirits were at a peak, instead, at a valley. Nothing was going our way. 

 

TBC…

Episode Seven "Goodbye"

We headed back towards HQ with our tails in between our legs. We couldn’t do anything but obediently return to the people that fed and clothed us. None of us were happy about it, but there wasn’t anything to do aside from following orders.

As we walked back towards HQ with our heads facing the ground, ashamed of our failure; we stopped at a cabin on the side of our path. Our legs grew tired and our eyes became heavy. We were halfway in our adventure back to HQ, but we were still worn out. The adrenaline had died during their walk of shame, leaving sore joints and hungry stomachs.

“We’ll stop here. The horde isn’t too far away, so we’ll have 5 - 10 minutes to rest.” Luna told us. 

“What if we sit here and wait for our deaths?” Lee asked, catching a lot of confused stares. None of us ever thought of peacefully accepting our deaths and allowing the zombies to tear us apart. The visions of Will Cruz’s death were enough to deter me from dying. Cruz, Mccormick, and others lost their lives for the mission. I didn’t want to disrespect them by killing myself - throwing myself into the zombie horde.

“Shut up, Lee. We don’t need negative thoughts, right now. Let’s focus on surviving this and move towards our next goal.” Garfield remarked. 

“I agree with Alvarez-” Salinas pointed at Garfield. “-right now, we should focus on getting out of here. Many have already lost their lives, let’s not lose ours.”

The team nodded simultaneously. We then rested by the cabin’s, somehow, sturdy walls. I glanced up at the zombie horde periodically before turning off my mind for a second. Garfield would then prevent me from entering a deep slumber by shaking me. 

This pattern continued for six minutes before Luna ordered everybody up. “We’re leaving, get packed up.”

“Yes, squad leader.” We said simultaneously. 

Luna nodded, turning to face the horde as it neared us. Afraid of being surrounded, we continued to move towards HQ. When we arrived at HQ, we were safe. Or that’s what we believed.

 

 

***

 

 

“Alvarez, any news on Red Scorpions? Are they in a better place than us?” Luna asked, glancing over her shoulder at Garfield.

Garfield looked down at the walkie-talkie before grabbing it and bringing it up to his mouth. “This is Alvarez from the Warriors reporting in. What is your sitrep?”

“Alvarez, this is Red Scorpions leader, Hugh Hackman, reporting in. Do not return to HQ!” He shouted.

“Hackman, what is happening? Why shouldn’t we return?”

“HQ has abandoned us. My scouts were sent ahead to ensure our path, arriving at HQ, and were viciously gunned down by the 101st.”

“101st?” Salinas questioned.

“That’s the elite force, right?” Luna asked. “Why are they gunning us down?”

“Confirm, HQ is gunning us down?” Garfield asked.

“Correct, do not return to HQ. They have betrayed us.”

Garfield glanced up at me, raising an eyebrow. He then looked back at the walkie-talkie. “Understand, we’re rerouting ourselves.”

“Good, now keep radio silence. Discard your walkie-talkie and flee. We’re no longer wanted by our superiors.”

“Discard them?” Salinas questioned. “We’re throwing our lives at Alpha Fox away?” He asked. Alpha Fox was the name of our base, but people rarely use the name. Instead, many called it Headquarters or HQ, for short.

“Discarding walkie-talkie. I wish you and your men the best of luck.” Garfield responded.

Hackson didn’t immediately respond, hesitating. “Good luck, Warriors. I’ll see you again on the other side.” A bullet could be heard being chambered. 

Luna placed her hand over her mouth while the others looked away or tried to cover their ears. 

“Goodbye,