People are screaming, running, and someone is firing gun shots nearby in pure fear as the infected rip through the barricade. Lily's call to rally the people against the monsters seems ineffective for the most part. Only one man stands steady next to her with a baseball bat in his hand. "John", he offers, "guess this is end huh"?
The wounded cop Chuck had saved earlier after the battle has weakly propped himself up next to a column, sweat dripping from his forehead, and pulls out his gun attempting to hold it steadily. The odds did not look good as the pandemonium increased, most of the civilians were now huddled against the back wall. Lily suddenly feels a surge of contempt. Could not these people even fight for their lives?
Suddenly a horn is honking nearby. Lily looks out a window to see a school bus pull up in the parking lot. The school bus honks it's horn again and some of the infected turn to see a man inside the bus. Lily thinks he looks familiar from where she's standing. At least some of the infected pull off the door now and rush the bus in a frenzy to get inside. The school bus immediately spins it's wheels as it surges forward and slams into the infected. Although not going very fast, getting hit by a bus going twenty miles is still twenty miles too many. The bus runs them down, slightly bumping as the bodies go under the wheels.
One clinging to the front, attempting to climb onto the windshield receives a bullet through the windshield to the head before going down. The school bus screeches to a stop, sending the body flying onto the concrete and messily sliding across the asphalt. The side door creaks open and out steps a man. A man Lily had seen before. Lee, the mentally unstable man from Hudson's gun shop. His head is shaved now and his dark brown eyes still carry a dangerous glint. He is adorned with guns.
He whistles loudly and the remaining infected at the door all turn and screech, then run towards him. Lee pulls the machine gun off his back and roars firing round after round until the infected all lay dead at his feet. Inside people have stopped screaming and are looking out the window with hopeful eyes. Some of them even begin cheering. Yet Lily's intuition tells her that everything is not okay.
Lee looks up to the police station and gives a small smile. But the smile never touches his eyes. He then returns to the bus. He comes out with a burlap sack, carrying something that is thrashing around inside. He walks up to the front door and begins kicking the weakened barricade. The civilians look at each other confusedly and one moves to let him in but he simply breaks through and walks in like he owns the place. Lee smiles at them and from this close Lily can see insanity burning in his eyes. Great, just after one psycho was killed she has to deal with another. Too soon, too soon.
"Hello all", he says calmly, as if he is not holding a sack that is thrashing around under his arm. "When I saw the infected trying to get in I knew there were people inside. And people are in high demand right now, seems like everyone's hiding somewhere". He walks over to the corner and puts the sack down, pulling it off to reveal a girl.
Not just any girl mind you. An infected girl bound in ropes, eyes red and broken from mutation, teeth and claws sharp and blood all over her chin, neck, and little blouse. People begin screaming again. One man yells, "What the hell are you thinking"? And others begin to rally behind him, demanding information.
"Well this is just my daughter", Lee beams proudly, "Isn't she cute"? He looks over and recognizes Lily. "You. The girl from before with Hudson. Where is that son of a bitch anyway"? He looks around suddenly, the slightest bit of worry on his face before regaining himself. "No matter, he isn't here apparently".
The man who had the hand gun from earlier steps forward. "Are you out of your god damned mind? That's not your daughter anymore. She's one of those monsters! She could get loose and attack us and I've seen what happens if you get bit". He turns to the others for support. "You turn into one of them. We've all seen it, haven't we"? The people begin nodding and shouting support but Lee remains calm. In fact, without a word he lifts his pistol from his side holster and in one fluid motion fires, the bullet slamming into the man's skull. The fellow hits the ground, blood pouring from the missing chunk where his left eye used to be. People begin screaming once more, even more so in terror as Lee walks over to the corpse, pulls it over by the leg, and sets it near his daughter who falls over on the corpse to begin eating it.
Lily is nearly paralyzed at first. This couldn't be happening. Lee turns and smiles at her. "What's wrong? My little girl has to eat too? I guess she's just growing", he turns and looks at her, "She sure does eat a lot. Picky eater too", he guffaws loudly as if someone had just told him a hilarious joke. He turns and looks at the people, who are now huddled against the wall together in fear. John has not moved, but stands next to Lily still, tense. The wounded cop has his gun at his side, perhaps waiting for his chance. Lee turns and looks at him as if he knows what he is thinking. He smiles the cop as if daring him to make a move. Lee touches the machine over his shoulder before turning back to Lily.
"Where is Hudson anyway, weren't you traveling with another man as well"? He asks as the sounds of his infected daughter in the background eating cause many a stomach to churn.
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Both Hudson and Chuck can clearly hear the growling of many, many infected approaching. Hudson looks ahead to see several of the monsters come across an intersection. He swears he sees them sniffing the air, noses held high in the air as they look in all directions. For the moment, by the grace of God, they haven't seemed to notice him and Chuck crouched among the ruins of former men and women.
"We may not want to stand in one place too long. We're going to have lots of company I think", Hudson says. Hudson also notices there are several shops nearby on each side of the street and three alleyways with dumpsters and doors built into the brick walls.
