In the darkness that engulfs Fenton, Missouri this evening, Matthew Blake sits quietly perched on the back of the driver's seat watching and listening as the thirty minute mark passes. The thin, twenty-something man pushes his ratty uneven bangs out of his face as he once again glances over to the three raiders hanging over the horde of infected that reach for them. He had walked over once remembering William Daniels words about mercy towards these men as he watched the fingertips of the infected brush along the men's feet. The conflict in Matthew's heart was painful as he looked at the men knowing they had two fates awaiting them, either hanging from the light posts and starving to death or the infected finally reach them and eat them alive. His conscious told him he should let them down and give them a fighting chance until he remembered why they ended up here to begin with. These three men were instructed to bring the party back or kill them, either option was acceptable. It was enough to make him walk away and back to the truck.
Turning his attention back to the hillside leading to the camp, his mind drifts to the people they need to rescue, one in particular being Maryia Jennings, the only camp member he knew of before the outbreak. The two attended high school together never speaking as he admired her from far away. Maryia was a cheerleader and the envy of most teenage boys, but Matthew had a chance to glimpse who she was behind the image. They had met one Friday night in September their senior year when she had drove to the rougher part of downtown Saint Louis depressed and looking for anything she could use to forget when she saw Matthew sitting around with a few friends assuming someone was dealing. They ended up spending the night talking over a few joints about life as the two realized while viewed differently, they had quite a lot in common as Matthew simply tried to help her with the things floating in her mind. The two promised to be friends after that, but as Monday rolled around the two quickly fell into their designated clique and never spoke until graduation, but always exchanging a smile that always said "Hello, you understand, goodbye".
When the outbreak first occurred, it was mere chance that the two managed to be in close proximity of each other. Maryia had simply stopped to have her car checked as it was overheating and Matthew was the mechanic on duty. She sit on a stool talking about her first year of law school as the two caught each other up to speed on the things they had been doing since graduation. Matthew smiled as she claimed his life had been more interesting as they saw the first attack happen by the gas pumps as a small group of infected ran up pouncing on a woman pumping gas screaming for someone to save her child as the flesh was ripped from her body. The two ran to the open bay door to find one of the infected leaning in the open window as a young girl's screams echo in their ears. The two ran and spent the next year watching each other's backs until a salvage party found them at a roadside diner and took them to Oasis.
While he silently prays to himself she has not been harmed, a blast echoes out from the horizon as Matthew slides down quickly starting the truck and driving like his very life depended on it as two more loud bangs echo out. He drives along with the gas pedal on the floor as his mind races through what he may find when he reaches the raider camp and the hope that Maryia is safe and unharmed, but in his heart, he doubts she will be both.
The gate comes in sight as the truck barrels down the road at full speed. Matthew slides his seat belt on as he draws closer seeing the blazing fire coming from inside the gate and along the outer wall. Nearing the gate, he can now see the quick snaps of light from a second floor window of the building the compound has been built around as he braces himself before the truck slams into the metal gate and batters through. As he brakes hard to stop, Matthew takes in the sights of his surrounding as screams echo out from under his wheels and across the wall of fire that used to be two watchtowers along the wall that now lay in rubble cutting the camp in two. Unable to see through the fire as screams and gunshots continue to fill the air, Matthew hears the screams of people from behind him turning to find a few of his people locked in cages along the wall by the gate.
Matthew grabs two pistols from the front seat as he climbs out to try and free them. He sees bodies of raiders pinned under the debris left behind from the gate as he runs towards the cages, every raider that comes between him and the prisoners is met with a raised pistol before seeing the side of their head explode as he realizes Marty is covering him. He is shocked by the lack of raiders in his area and wonders where the majority are as he reaches the cages yanking on the doors.
"THE KEY, FIND THE GOD DAMN KEY!!!" The scream of an unfamiliar man inside the cage rings out as Matthew simply raises his gun and shoots the locks off the doors. As the gates swing open and the sea of people begin pouring out, Matthew is barely aware enough to try stopping the panic of prisoners that run through the gates and out into the open. He remains oblivious to the screams of the escaping being tackled and eaten outside the gates as he tries to scan the faces looking for Maryia. Five of the seven people they came to rescue stop a few of the others convincing them to climb into the back of the cargo truck as Matthew finally catches sight of Maryia lying in the back of the central cage as one of their own attend to her. Her clothes ripped and bloody as she lay slightly whimpering in her uncoscious state.
"They used her as an example to the rest of us, but gave no warnings. They just drug her out the door in front of us and....." Matthew covers the young man's mouth to silence him before reaching down to scoop her up and carrying her out to the truck as the woman attending to her tries to wrap a blanket around her. Their walk is cut short as a burning infected runner comes leaping through the fire dividing the camp with the truck in his sights. William begins to scream out for help as it turns in his direction before a shot rings out sending the burning runner to the ground as a quick grab and drag comes from behind as Marty's voice rings out.
"Get her in the truck and get us out of here, NOW!"
Marty hops into the back helping Matthew load the young lady before Marty quickly draws her pistol shooting down the few infected coming through the gates. Slamming the gate shut, Matthew runs to the front and quickly cut off by an infected who quickly grabs him before its head suddenly pops as Marty screams out one more time, "DRIVE, NOW!"
As he throws the truck in gear and begins to drive, an explosion erupts from behind as the watchtower debris begins flying out and a man comes through the parting flames. Matthew looks up in the mirror to see the rather tall man carrying what appears to be a grenade launcher. Making sure he is lined up with the gate, he glances again as the man raises the barrel up in their direction before another man on fire pounces from behind taking him down with a blade stabbing him repeatedly. The burning man stands and begins walking towards the truck as Matthew hears Marty scream out William's name.
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