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" Ca.can….can't run…..any longer ………….l……..l…….leave mehere". With a shallow flop John fell face first into the mud like a wounded cow. He was tired beyond belief andbroken inside as well as out. " I aint leavin you bro…..you're all I got left.Get up man….GET UP!!" Rich struggledwith the tears beginning to push their way past his eyes. They had been throughso much and he didn't want it to end this way ….he didn't want to end up alone.Had John given up then Rich knew the choices well. Stay and share John's fateor run. " C'mon" Rich pleaded desperately as he savagely jerked at his friends arm hoping to get him back on hisfeet. " We gotta keep moving……find some kind of shelter……anything to hide inbefo……". Rich was cut short by the echoing of a deep soulless moan through theair. It was distant so there was stilltime……but it was running out fast . "PLEEEASEEEEEE!!!!" he cried out indesperation " GET THE HELL UP MAN!!!!" Rich's insides churned with turmoil. The instinct to flee was strong butloyalty held him foolishly in place. He choked down his fear and scanned John'seyes hard to find some bit of fight deep in him. All Rich got in return for histroubles was defeat. "MOOOOOAAAAAANNNNN!!!" The zombie's howls of blood lustwere steadily growing in intensity . Soon its wails would attract the rest ofits brethren. Like a cattle call or the way an ice cream truck would attractmasses of kids with its beautiful music. Moans almost always meant food. Richknew it , John knew it and so did the rest of the zombies. " Leave me man" Johnsaid softly " I'm already dead. With that said John pulled the mud up to hishead and shaped himself a cruel earthen pillow. He slowly let his head sinkdeep into it. John had made his "bed" now he was ready to lie in it for hisfinal rest. ' He don't even have the will to kill himself' Rich thought gazingdown on his defeated comrade with pity and remorse. The sound of numerous unsteadysteps squishing towards them quickly shook Rich back to grim reality. His pityand remorse were changed for disgust and hate. Rich kneeled next to John wholooked up with a faint smile on his mud caked face. As if to thank him for possibly staying with him to the end. Thatsmile soon disappeared as Rich began rummaging through Johns pockets lookingfor anything of use. A knife and a few bullets were added to Rich's possessionsas well as the boots John had been wearing. With that done he left his "friend" with some parting words " You ainteven worth the bullet" and with that he was off. The rain was beginning to pickup as Rich made his way out the clearing and into the woods. It pelted hisexposed skin as it picked up in speed and ferocity. " Won't be long now' Hethought quickly walking to his unknown destination. "No..NO……..NOOOOOO!!!!!!!ARRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH….." Rich stopped for a second . Thetortured screams and sounds of bone flesh and tendons being ripped apart by theprimal savagery of teeth and claws . 'Never gets easier to hear…….' he thought' but I gotta move on". Rich knew , though they were mostly slow and simple , afew of their sense were razor sharp. They would soon pick up his scent and beon the hunt. Rich felt a vague twitch in his soul which tried to show him thesense in going back to help John. " Like hell I'm goin back" he mumbled tohimself and started to run.

They had been trying to locate a rumored " safe city" inthe west . An actual city with humans in it. The idea seemed laughable in thesetimes. No cities had been safe since "The Fall". In 2001 a bio-weapons assaultwas launched on the major cities of the world. There had been rumorscirculating for months that a then unknown chemical agent created from sporespossibly from Pluto had been found on the moon and used to make a verydangerous and unpredictable viral agent. Weeks later came news that a terroristcult had come into possession of a sample of the spore and were planning onusing it in their " Righteous cause" of destroying Capitalism. The media played it off as a hoax and many spins wereput on the story to hide the cold hard truth. It existed. And in the months tocome slowly major cities were being overrun by a seemingly endless populationof the undead. We learned soon on burning and sharp blows to the head wouldkill them off easily. Like always things happened too little too late. Withinthe first few months the zombies numbers swelled drastically. Many beganleaving the cities to avoid what wassoon called a "plague" . The last few months were the worst. When he red tapewas finally cleared martial lawcouldn't save us. Even the militias and gangs were decimated by the relentlessghouls and soon all was lost . Thebigger countries soon fell within a years and the rest of the world followedsuit. " It's just like that guy in X-Men always said bro" John would always say. " It's survival of the fittest . Those who can survive will ……those who can'twill get trampled on".

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