Drake and Chris had finally arrived at the construction site. They chatted throughout their walk trying their best not to expose the schemes they had in mind.
The heinous fiend had the luxury of time to follow them all the way there and didn't seem bothered or in any way interested by their conversation.
It only felt impatient as it licked its parched lip with earnest hunger to devour its prey, but it knew better than to wait for the best moment to strike. As soon as Chris and Drake entered through the restricted gates into the construction site they both stood casually at its main center. They were surrounded by huge machinery, layers of building blocks, and heaps of sand.
Before them stood the mother lode of all the machines, about five hundred feet above ground. It was the humongous crane they had long since been eyeing. It looked worn out by time.
Chris and Drake both nodded slightly to themselves. They both knew the chances of their plan succeeding were very slim but they still went on with it. What other choice do they have?
The remaining part of their conversation was still littered with surreptitious talks. 'Hey, so where are the others?' Drake asked.
Chris scanned the area and nodded. 'I can't seem to find them, I remember leaving them here.' he answered. 'I am guessing they must have gone out to look for us, since we took much time to return. What do you think?'
Drake wandered around for a bit as if searching for someone, then returned. They both began the pretense of searching and calling out the names of their team members.
'Rose!!!'
…
'Diana!!'
…
'Michelle!!!'
…
..
'Michelle!!!!'
'It's like no one is around, you could be right.' Drake said. Chris stroked his chin in thought and replied. 'I bet I could find them if I climbed up that crane.' He suggested.
'You sure? It doesn't look safe.' Drake asked.
'Pssh. This is nothing, in some of my previous ventures I have scaled mountains way higher than this. Don't worry about me, just focus on keeping a lookout for zombies in case they arrive.' Chris said.
'But how are you going to locate them when you get up there? You and I know that you are short-sighted.' Drake reminded him.
'That's why I have this.' Chris took off the sniper rifle and showed it to Drake. 'I can use the scope to scan through a fifty-mile radius, surely they wouldn't have gone far.'
'That's a good idea. Okay, I leave you to it.' Drake said. Chris nodded and began to climb the crane. The Riptoid listened to their conversation and scratched his scaly back, filled with slimy worms.
Meanwhile, back at the Cafe, two men, together with a young lady, walked past the kitchen. One could notice how they just waltzed in casually from the pass through.
They arrived at the counter and walked right into the center of the dining area. There, they saw three confused ladies and a smug-looking guy. Without much haste, the guy in the front raised his shotgun up and pointed it at the odd faces.
'Who are you punks and what are you doing at our base?!' He shouted.
'Your base?!' Diana exclaimed.
'Shut up and answer the darn question or I will blow your freaking heads out.' He snarled.
'Whoa whoa! Holds up. No need to be so quick to send us to our grave, we've only just met.' James said, minding his words, as he looked straight at the furious man's face. This man kind of resembles Drake in some way, except for the fact that he had long beards and wore a sleeveless winter jacket along with a baggy cargo pant.
This made James' face twitch a little with a wry smile. He held out his hands, revealing he had no weapons, as he awaited the man's response.
…
'Look, my bro, we ain't here looking for trouble. We are just seeking shelter from those…things, just like you guys'. James continued
…
'*Sigh* Okay maybe it's because we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm James, the cool awesome leader. The one far behind is my dumb sister Michelle. The loose mouth over here is Diana...'
Hey!! Diana exclaimed.
'Shut it!' James ordered and continued. 'Cu-hum and the last of us is our little crybaby, Rose.' He finished introducing them to the man and the girls all darted at him angrily.
The man glared at them apprehensively and sighed. He then proceeded to lower his gun. 'I'm Johnathan but you can just call me Joe. Right behind me are my buddies, Anna and Ted. You all seemed to be outsiders, seeing how you are behaving.' He responded.
'What do you mean by that?' Diana asked him.
'Oh, the loose mouth. Based on that question you asked, you just proved my point. All of you seemed oblivious to the fact that we are in a game.' he responded
'A game?!' Rose asked, wondering what he meant.
'You really don't know?' Ted, the obese guy in the back, asked curiously, flicking his swirly glasses. He had smooth silky black hair with the front tip pointed up. He also wore some type of anime T-shirt over his chubby body that stopped above his belly button and a tight skinny jean that was trying its best not to get ripped. He held onto a book that had a dark brown cover with an intricate design.
Joe closed his eyes and nodded. 'Word of advice to you guys. All of you should get the heck out of this city before you add more to their numbers.' He urged them.
'What are these crazy people talking about?!' Michelle thought.
'I want to ask. Are you people even familiar with the term zombie tactics?' Anna spoke. She had long black hair and a pretty doll face. She wore a light pink gown, over it a brown leather jacket and she also had on blue denim shorts. As Anna spoke those words their faces immediately lit up.
'Who exactly are you guys?' Michelle asked, stepping forward but that brought Joe's attention to the door behind her that was barricaded.
'On second thought, Joe held his shotgun up towards them again. You fools ain't leaving here with your brains still intact...'
Back at the construction site, Chris had managed to reach the top of the crane and was now standing on the narrow ledge of the operator. He looked at the chaotic landscape of the city from the wonderful vantage point and appreciated the beauty of the apocalypse. He got a whiff of fresh breeze as the wind tossed his coat to and fro. He then proceeded to take off his sniper rifle, brushing off the dust and blood stain left on it.
'It won't be long till the rest figure out that we are in the middle of a battle royal. Before they do I ought to teach them everything I know.' Chris mumbled to himself.
He looked through the scope and proceeded to clean the scope lens with a small blue rag he had in his pocket. He gently laid the rifle on the railing and looked through the lens.
First, the focus was far away somewhere in the city where he saw a group of zombies, but he brought the focus to a point right below him where Drake stood. He saw Drake moving about on high alert as he followed him with the lens. Can I sense that thing's blood lust from way over here?
He scanned the area around Drake and couldn't spot it or sense its blood lust. He then began setting the plan in motion. He made a loud whistle, one Drake could hear from far below.
Drake heard the whistle and picked up some gravel and began tossing them in different directions, intermittently. Seeing this from his scope Chris nodded.
'Drake, I really admire your bravery to trust me enough not to betray you. Now if you just manage to hit that thing with one of those rocks and reveal its location, that will be the end of it. But if not, I will just have to rely on my senses and shoot regardless.' Chris muttered. He knew that missing a shot could put Drake's life at risk by revealing their plan, but at the same time, the Riptoid reappearance could give him its appropriate location to target.
I can't afford to take my chances with that monster. I know firsthand what that creature is capable of. Its intelligence surpasses that of most people, especially James. The more we waste time with it, the greater the chances of it figuring out the plan rise. He thought remembering that dreadful day as if it were yesterday.
The day the one he always looked up to had walked through those doors. It was a truly horrific experience filled with bloodshed and torn-up body parts.
Chris knew from that day onwards, as blood splashed on the surveillance camera, that this type of zombie wasn't just some third-rate zombie to be messed with. To summarize, it was best known to be full-blown psychopaths. So he was prepared to sacrifice Drake for his own safety.
…
...
After some time the sun began pouring out beams of scorching heat that covered the entire area. Sweat droplets trickled down Chris's face as he stared intensely through the scope. Then suddenly the watch on his wrist began beeping at 12:00pm on the dot.
Chris signed and decided he couldn't wait any longer. But as soon as he was about to pull the trigger he heard a cold raspy voice behind him.
'Oh darn! It's twelve o'clock already. I'm freaking late?!'
This shocked him to the very core. He could immediately sense its blood lust like roasted chicken calling from the grill stand.
It was able to hide its blood lust from him right up till that moment, not just once but twice!!! How does it do it?! Chris thought as intense fear quickly built up within him.
This prevented him from turning around to face his opponent. The only thing he could do was grit his teeth.
'Arriving at this position twice in a row is just too embarrassing at this point.' Chris told himself as the monstrosity stood menacingly behind him. 'And why does it always happen at the end of the chapter?!'