Chapter 3.11 B BEST FRIENDS EVEN IN DEATH

Crestwood, IL

Saturday, July 12th

Attention: Tactical Cache!

The cache is 6.10 miles from your present location.

“Alright, Travis, do your magic on the map. The cache is 6.10 miles from this location.”

“It’s either in Orland Park or Riverdale, captain.”

“Alright, let's head to the Orland Park location first. There are a lot more businesses that way with possible loot. Burt, can you log out and see if Travis has figured out where he is?”

“Sure.”

A few moments later, Burt shook his head.

“No can do, Collin. It looks like if you log out, you can’t come back during the play session.”

“Oh, that’s smart. People can’t communicate with others during the session. Ok, Marcus will be on his own today. We’ll figure out where he is tomorrow. Richard, Paige, are you two ready to go?”

The two nodded to Collin. The Mad Ghosts’ six members settled into seats at the two buses’ front. Collin and Stephenson were at the wheels. As soon as the group started the two diesel engines, they heard a roar in the distance. Scanning the outside area of the bus, they spotted a massive group of Zombies from the movie area running towards their location.

“Go!” shouted Paige.

“No shit, buttercup!” replied Stephenson.

The two buses took off from the parking lot and onto Cicero Ave, heading south. The group took a right onto The Midlothian Turnpike and headed west towards Orland Park. Twenty minutes later, they turned left onto Route 45. Passing the mall, they saw what could have only been described as a warzone. There were thousands of Zombies around the Orland Square Mall. Barricades had been erected at each of the entrances, with people on top fighting the Zombies.

The group dared not stop as some of the Zombies turned towards the sound of their busses. But even the fastest among the undead couldn’t keep up with them as they continued south. Coming to 159th Street, they took another left and then slowed a bit.

“Travis, which building do you think should have it?” asked Collin.

“Best guess is the donut shop or the car dealership. I’m almost positive it will be on the northside of the road if this is the location.”

Collin stopped his bus a moment later Stephanson pulled alongside, opening the side doors to speak with Collins.

“What are you thinking, cap?”

“You and the kids take the donut shop. Make sure you turn the bus around to make a fast escape. Travis, Burt, and I will take the car dealership. If you find nothing, bring your bus around to ours.”

“Sounds good.”

Stephenson, Richard, and Paige made their way over to the donut shop while the others drove into the large empty lot of the car dealership.

“It’s weird. Haven’t seen a single Zombie south of the mall,” said Burt.

“My money is on the combat at the mall pulled everything within earshot of the gunfire,” replied Collin.

The group split up and began searching the large building. Collin searched the inner offices when he heard Travis’s crazy giggling from the back room. Knowing Travis, he had found something to tinker with. Not finding anything in the current office, he closed the door and headed towards the laughter.

Coming into the large automotive garage, he found Travis stacking things on a large cart and practically dancing.

“What’s got you so excited?”

Travis looked up at Collin with a huge grin.

“Just found me a welder and tools. Along with tons of scrap metal over in the corner. I can turn our bus into a bonafide survival bus.”

“Alright. Get everything onto our bus first, in case we need to make a fast exit. As soon as we sweep the two locations, I’ll have everyone help drag the scrap back to the bus.”

As Collins was about to begin looking around the garage, Burt came running in.

“Found the cache, capt. It looks like only you can open it. I don’t have the AP for it.”

“Lead the way.”

Burt led Collin to one of the side offices. These offices were nicer looking than those on the other side of the building. Collin found a steel door and a palm reader at its center. He walked up and looked around the door but could see no tripwires or anything out of the ordinary; well, other than the palm reader. Holding his breath, Collin placed his hand on it.

Tactical Cache Lv. 2

50 AP required to unlock.

“Damn, I don’t know if that’s expensive or not.”

Collin accepted and the door unlocked with a hiss. Stepping inside, he found a large pelican-style case and two smaller ones. Opening the large one first, Collin found three military vests inside. Removing one and taking a closer look, he saw they were military issue tactical vests with ceramic inserts. Collin found three long sleeve turtle necks made out of a strange feeling material under the vests. He removed his knife and tried to slice at the sleeve of a turtleneck and found the blade did nothing.

“I got three military tactical vests with ceramic inserts and three Zombie proof shirts in the big crate.”

Collin closed the crate and picked up one of the small ones, placing it on the large. Opening it, he found two long-range scopes. The second small pelican case held about fifty flares.

Picking up the two smaller cases, Collin left the room. Burt was right behind him with the larger case. The two men walked back to the bus to find Stephanson already parked next to his. Travis was in the middle of packing the back of their bus with the many tools he had found.

“Burt, Stephenson, Travis. Take a military vest. Richard and Paige take a turtleneck.”

“Turtleneck? In the middle of the summer?” asked Paige.

“Their knife and probably Zombie proof. Will stop you from getting cut or scratched, maybe even bitten by a Zombie.”

Richard and Paige didn’t have to be told twice. They, along with Collin, each put one on. The clothing seemed to shrink or enlarge to the wearer. Collin split the flares between the two busses and handed Stephanson the long-range scope.

“You’ll be our overwatch, Stephenson. Find a way onto the roof while we start packing the busses with the metal scrap and anything else we find. Did you and the kids find anything at your location?”

“No, empty building.”

Stephenson attached the new scope onto his rifle and ran for the building. The rest went into the garage, stacked all the sheet metal onto a cart, and carted it over to the bus. The group was on their fifth run’s return when they heard Stephanson calling down to them from above.

“You need to hurry up. A large group is heading this way. ETA, five to seven minutes.”

“Alright, everyone. This is the last trip. I don’t want to lose anyone,” said Collin.

The group finished stacking the sheet metal into the busses and were just climbing in when they heard the first shot. Turning around, they spotted the horde coming from behind the building. Stephenson’s second shot rang out as a Zombie hit the ground.

“Everyone, on the busses! Stephenson, get your ass down here!”

Burt opened the door at the back of the bus, and kneeling, began to fire single shots into the now running horde.

“We need to clear them so Stephanson can get to the doors!” shouted Collin.

The group of thirty or so Zombies was now halfway across the parking lot, with three or four hitting the ground every second from the gunfire. By the time the last of the horde reached the buses, they were dead. Stephenson was now running out the front entrance at a fast clip.

“Loot them, Collin! There’s an even larger horde coming this way from the mall!” shouted Stephanson.

Collin ran towards the building to loot the bodies that had fallen first and then made his way towards the busses. The captain had looted thirty-four more cores and AP. After everyone was safely loaded back on the busses, they got onto 159th and took a left. Collin wanted to head back towards their start point in the hopes Marcus had found his way there.

As the buses passed Cicero, the group looked over to the facility they had started at. The group could see the grounds were filled with roaming zombies. Collin kept the bus going east, eventually turning into a forest preserve. They drove slowly, scanning the area for any signs of danger. As they came to the end of the parking lot, Collin drove the bus through the metal chain that blocked the hiking path onto the large prairie.

Coming to the top of a hill, he backed the bus up and turned it around. Stephenson did the same and parked next to Collin's bus. Everyone but Stephanson exited their vehicles. Stephenson climbed up on top of the bus to scout the area.

“How are we looking?” Collin asked.

“No movement on the field up to the forest perimeter. We should have plenty of time to scramble from this location,” replied Stephenson.

“Alright, everyone, get some sleep. It’s going to be dark soon. Stephenson, you take first watch. I’ll take second. Travis; you got third tonight. In the morning, we’ll begin work on one of the busses.”

The night passed without incident. As the first rays of sunshine peaked over the forest to the east, Travis had everyone get up.

“Alright. Travis, get to work on Stephanson’s bus first. Make it as secure as you can. Have the kids help you out.”

“You know, we’re not kids. I’m 24, and she’s 22,” said Richard.

The four men began laughing.

“We’re all over 80. So to us, you’re still kids.”

“Damn, you look good for a bunch of older-timers,” said Paige.

The four men stopped laughing.

“Bah. Help Travis out, please,” said Collin.

Over the next few hours, Travis, Richard, and Paige cut and welded sheet metal over the bottom of each window, as well as at the back of the bus. The limited supply of expanded sheet metal was used to cover the driver’s window, windshield, and door.

“Why don’t we weld or make spikes that stick out of the button of the bus, so we can drive into a horde of Zombies and take out their feet?” asked Richard.

“Oh, I like how you think!” replied Travis.

“Keep at it, guys. Burt, stay with them. Stephenson and I are going to go back and circle the facility. I’m hoping Marcus made his way back there. We’ll do some recon around the local community as well, see what we find,” said Collin.

As Collin and Stephanson left, the group got back to outfitting the bus. Travis and Richard began making a cowcatcher at the front of the bus. The idea would be to push oncoming Zombies to the side where the spikes could get them. They used up a large portion of the stock steel in doing so, but when they were finished, it looked like a pilot you would find on the front of an old school steam locomotive.

“Now we just need to find some red spray paint for it,” chuckled Travis.

By this time, Paige had gotten bored and was sitting on top of the bus with Burt, keeping watch over the fields. As the men began to grind down the rods for the blades they were going to weld onto the frame, Burt spotted something out in the field.

“I’ve got movement, 11 O'Clock!” shouted Burt.

Travis grabbed his M4 and swung around.

“What is 11 O'Clock?” asked Paige as she pulled out her Glock and searched in the direction Burt was looking.

“Think of our position like a clock. The front of the bus is 12. The back of the bus is 6.”

Paige caught on and looked a bit left of the bus’s front.

“I don’t see anything?”

“It’s there. I’ve seen it twice now. Almost like it was hoping. There!”

Paige and Travis saw it that time.

“I think it’s a dog,” said Travis.

The group watched as the dog would leap into the air, turn its head towards the bus, and then a few seconds later jump into the air again. Each time it did this, the dog got a bit closer.

“If it looks infected at all, we kill it. Don’t take any chances,” said Burt.

As the dog drew closer, it looked like any old border collie, complete with its tongue hanging out. The dog stopped at the side of the trail and sat down, looking at the group intently while tilting its head.

“It doesn’t look dangerous,” said Paige.

Paige climbed down into the bus. Grabbing some beef jerky, she exited and walked towards the sitting dog. The collie didn’t move from its spot. It just kept tilting its head, left, then right, as Paige drew closer.

“You hungry boy? Here, have some jerky.”

Paige stopped a few feet from the dog and extended her hand with the jerky. The dog got up and slowly approached her, sniffing at the dried meat. The collie bit down on a piece and pulled it away from her hand. The dog then went back to the edge of the path and began to gnaw on the jerky.

“It looks like it’s a she. And she seems to be fine, maybe a bit thin for a dog,” said Paige.

Travis made a loud noise behind Paige, startling the young woman. Turning around, she caught Travis just as he finished opening a can of something. The soldier drew within a foot of the dog and dropped a paper plate onto the ground. He began scraping out what looked to be raw meat onto the plate with his utility knife.

“Here, girl. Try some of this.”

The Dog picked its head up from the jerky and sniffed the air. With a leap, she left the jerky on the trail, cozied up to the plate of meat, and went to town. When the dog finished the food, she went up to Paige and licked her face, causing the girl to laugh. The dog then went up to Travis and began to lick his hand.

The dog then circled a few times and began barking at the two before running into the field. A few moments later, the dog returned to the edge of the high grass and barked at them again.

“I think she wants you to follow her,” said Burt from atop of the bus.

“Is that wise?” asked Richard.

“I’ll go with Paige and keep her safe,” said Travis.

Paige and Travis followed the canine into the grass. The dog would jump into the air to see where the two were every few seconds. After about twenty minutes, the two were led into a small clearing not far from the forest’s edge. There, they found the remains of a long-dead body. The dog lay next to the corpse and whimpered.

Travis signaled for Paige to stay put as he trained his M4 on the remains. Getting closer, he saw the body had been decomposing for a while. Looking around the clearing, Travis saw the makeshift camp was made up of a collapsed tent, a cooler, and a pile of dirt with a shovel next to it.

“Is that a gun in his hand?” asked Paige.

Turning back around, Travis went to the side of the body and, upon closer inspection, saw the corpse did have a gun in its right hand. The soldier bent over the body and pried the weapon loose. Dusting it off, he placed the weapon inside one of his vest pockets.

“I think this is some type of quest or mini-event. I’m going to dig up that pile of dirt over there. See if you can find anything inside the tent and cooler.

Travis spent the next ten minutes digging the pile of dirt and was rewarded with a small pelican case for his troubles. Opening it, he found three glass vials with no opening. He saw what looked to be a rolled-up piece of paper looking inside.

Pocketing the three vials, he checked with Paige, but she hadn’t found anything of interest. The two dragged the body’s remains to the hole and buried it. As the two made their way back to the bus, the dog went over to the grave and wined sadly for a few seconds before running off to catch up with the duo.