FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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~~~CHAPTER 11~~~

Zombies. Everywhere. As far as the eye could see.

They were pouring in from other holes in the main gate, as well as freely walking into and out of the base. The building that I once called my home was definitely gone. All that remained was a broken, crumbling structure that had OGD's destructive signature all over it.

But it wasn't the living dead or the ruined building that made me shudder. It was when I realized _why _they had all congregated around this location that I almost lost my focus and crashed the truck.

It was the non-living dead, plain and simple. Everywhere there were bodies of fallen OGD agents, HAC soldiers, and, as expected, fallen HAC hybrids. And they were the only things keeping the zombies from noticing us. Some were mostly intact due to the zombies just starting to tear into them, while others had been reduced to mere piles of bones, clothes, and armor. But no matter where I looked, there was something unpleasant to see. All I could hear was the sound of bones crunching and flesh being ripped and chewed, and all I could smell was the stench of death.

Whatever happened here must have been loud enough to attract several zombies, and the increasing supply of freshly killed people brought in many, many more.

My colleagues... The hybrids that I had lived and trained with all this time... I couldn't recognize anyone in particular among the dead, but I knew they were here somewhere. The brave people who, for whatever reason, agreed to become something less than human to ensure humanity's survival had been reduced to food to fuel their sworn enemies. All because of OGD, and whatever petty grudge they have against us. This isn't just an apocalypse anymore. This is murder. This is a true war now.

I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that Harry and Francis were just as disturbed as I was.

"Mother of God...." Francis uttered. "This... This is worse than any city we've cleared out. All this death... Despite everything I've seen in the last year, it's never been as gruesome as this."

Harry probably wanted to say something in response, but he couldn't find his voice. He only coughed and tried not to stare at the gore everywhere. I understood where he was coming from, though. No matter how much of this we've already seen before, all the rules change when the victims are people you knew. It just never gets any easier.

"Well, we can worry about them later. For now, we need to divert the zombies' attention away from the main entrance. And I have just the trick to do that."

I thought for a moment. "Does it involve crashing the truck and making it explode to distract them?"

Harry's ears perked up at the word 'explode.'

"Are you two thinking what I just started thinking?" he asked.

"I hope so" I replied. "Because if not, then this truck won't be the only thing blowing up."

"Don't worry, I'm on the same page as you two. How about we jump on three?"

"All right" Francis said. "One.... Two...... THREE!"

Francis and I jumped out of the truck, and used our super speed to reach the remains of the base's entrance. Harry zipped into the driver's seat, and drove into an isolated security booth. But right at the last second, he teleported to where we were, and watched the truck crash into the booth with us. He threw one fireball at it, and the resulting explosion was enough to draw every zombie's attention for a few seconds. It was all the time Francis needed to seal the entrance with a wall of ice. This way, the zombies won't know that we're on the other side of the ice wall, and won't bang on it and make it break faster. When they do start marching in, however, they'll be walking right into a narrow hallway, and be much easier to kill. If it even comes to that, of course.

I took a few deep breaths before advancing into the heart of the base.

All right, this is it. This is where I find the answer to my question. This is where I find out if life will still be worth living or not. Because it won't be without her... But whether good or bad, all I want is an answer. I just have to know...

Francis had already gone on ahead, but Harry noticed my hesitation and walked over to me, grabbing my shoulders and forcing me to look into his eyes.

"Come on, Greg. I'm confident that she's alive somewhere, and this is the only way you're going to find out. Don't think, just search. We don't know if there are any other OGD agents here either, so we all need to be on the top of our game. Do it for her _and _for us. You with me?"

Ironic that the team's goofball has become the serious one all of a sudden. But he's right. Just like always.

I snapped myself out of it. "Yes, Harry, I'm with you. I'm the leader, and it's time I acted like it!"

He smiled. "Good to finally have you back, Subject Omega Three."

Ignoring the fact that I can't stand being called by my HAC name, I continued the conversation anyway. "Francis already went ahead, so watch our backs. If we're getting swarmed, use the same tactic we did at the supermarket and destroy the roof to make a wall. But watch out, because throwing fireballs in a tight space like this isn't something you should do _too _often. I'll stay in the center, and provide close-quarter support." I readied my blade, and the two of us hurried forwards, catching up to Francis and slaughtering some of the zombies that he had skipped. He had gained some distance on us, but pausing to kill a large group of walkers slowed him down enough for us to catch up.

Francis saw that we had made our way over to him, and gestured to the freshly killed zombies impaled with his signature ice stalagmites. "Look at these" he said. "Look familiar?"

"Yeah... They're all ours" Harry pointed out. "Scientists, technicians, and doctors. In other words, people who had no reason to die a senseless death like this. They're not fighting OGD, we are. But I guess we're all the same to those bastards, huh?"

"Looks like it" I said. "These people helped us every step of the way after we were recruited, and pulled out all the stops for us. We wouldn't be what we are without them. So now, we're going to fight to avenge every single life OGD unjustly took in addition to saving HAC and ourselves. Sound good?"

Both Harry and Francis nodded in agreement.

"All right. Getting back to the situation at hand, we're in the main part of the base now, so we need to fight our way to the main command room. They have all the computers, surveillance footage, and mission logs in there. And they're all connected to the emergency backup generator, so everything should still work. We can find out what parts of this base are clear and which aren't, and find out if anyone on our side is still alive and were they are."

Especially that last part...

Francis took over with "So from here, we need to go down two more hallways, take a left, and then a right. After that, it's a straight line to the room. There's no telling how many zombies are down there, but we can manage easily. As long as we're covered on both sides, we're golden."

Just then, Harry casually walked over to the first door blocking our path, and blew it clean off its hinges with a powerful fireball attack. I could see that the door had knocked several zombies standing behind it over, and had them pinned on the ground. Not bad, but completely uncalled for.

"Really, Harry?" Francis asked.

Harry smiled. "Come on, guys. It's been a whole day since we fought the horde, and I'm getting bored over here. Less talking, more shooting!"

It's nice to have you back to normal too, Harry.

I cleared my throat.

"Or slicing and stabbing, whichever makes you happy" Harry added.

"That's better" I said. "Unfortunately for you, you're still covering our rears."

~~~

Nearly a half hour later, we had approached the long hallway leading to the control room. This was the most populated part of the base yet, with zombies from end to end just staring at us as we entered.

Awww, they think they can stand a chance against us... That's cute.

Without a word between us, we charged into the hallway, each of us killing the walking dead the only ways we knew how to. Francis created large ice shockwaves that bound the zombies to the floor, making them easy pickings for Harry and I. Several slashes and small explosions later, the hallway was finally clear.

All that remained was a single heavy door.

"Go for it" I said to Harry. He readied an especially large fireball this time, and launched it right at the door.

However, as soon as the doorway was open, we were immediately greeted with a giant surge of electricity heading straight at us! Harry immediately teleported out of the way, but Francis and I weren't as lucky. The bolt sent us flying back into a wall, rendering us both dazed from the impact and numb from the electrical attack. I couldn't move at all. I was sure this would only last for a few seconds, but time is precious in a situation like this. Fortunately for us, Harry was more than ready for a fight. As he rematerialized, he launched a volley of fireballs through the doorway, which I could now see contained a darkened figure. Well, darkened thanks to his OGD armor.

It seems that some of them were still alive after all, and set a trap for us. He wasn't wearing a helmet so I couldn't see his face, but it didn't matter, because he was undoubtedly the one who shot the lightning at us. But right as Harry's fireballs were about to strike him, they curved to the left and began spinning around another armored figure that I couldn't quite make out. Spinning, but not hitting him. He was moving his arms in a peculiar pattern, which seemed to resonate with the fireballs. He must be controlling them!

There's something very familiar about this... But what?

Whoever this other guy was, he was ready for a counter-attack, the first guy was readying another thunderbolt, and Harry had no time to react. And he knew it.

Wait a minute... Their powers... Lightning and Telekinesis.... It's unlikely, but...

"Stop! Team Lambda, we're on your side! We're Team Omega!"

I could only yell that out very weakly, but it was enough to get their attention. They quickly dissipated their respective elemental attacks, and walked out of the room. They were both wearing OGD armor, but I could now see that they were only wearing bits and pieces of the whole set. But I was right about who they were. It was a lion hybrid and a grey wolf hybrid. Subjects Lambda Six and Rho Eleven. Ross and Evan.

Yes! Oh Jesus Christ, yes! Not only does this mean they're not going to kill us, it also means that...

My hopeful thoughts aside, I sluggishly regained my footing and wearily walked towards them using my sword for support, while trying to shake the numbness out of my nerves. But as soon as they saw me clearly enough, they rushed over and stopped me from collapsing.

"Oh my God, man! I'm sorry, we couldn't see who you were from in there! We thought you three were more of those armored guys!" Evan said.

"You ARE those armored guys!" Harry shouted. "How do we know YOU are not with THEM?"

"Easy, little man. That whole attack just now was, well, an automatic kind of thing" Ross said. "As for the armor, we took it from some of their dead soldiers during the battle. Say what you want, but it sure as hell helped us out. But I hope I didn't hit you guys too hard." He grabbed my hands and pulled me up. "You're all right, right?"

I brushed myself off. The feeling was thankfully returning to my limbs very quickly. I quickly glanced to where Francis was; it looked like Harry had already helped him recover. They were both walking over to us, probably as eager as I was to learn just what the hell was going on.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. That was a hell of a blast, though. I'd hate to take one of those by myself."

Ross chuckled. "That's what sucks about my powers. More targets means split lightning and less damage. But it's still satisfying as shit to send a huge group of 'zombs flying."

We both laughed at that. But then Ross' expression turned serious. "So, wait, if you three make up Team Omega, then that must make you..." He said this with a look in his face that reflected both respect and concern. I know what he's thinking....

"Yes. I'm the Omega Three, better known as Greg Ossland. I'm.... I'm sure Kyla told you guys all about me and what's recently been going on between us."

"To be honest, not very much" Evan said. "We're guys, we don't probe too deeply. But we're almost like her brothers, so she was nice enough to fill us in a little bit."

I took another deep breath. It's finally time for the truth. The conclusion to my personal mission...

"Guys... Please tell me that she's safe. Please tell me that she's not one of the people outside being eaten right now. Please tell me she is not dead."

Ross smiled. "Don't worry, Greg. She's alive and well, along with a good bunch of us that were able to fight off those armored freaks. You sound like you were really worried about her, but she wasn't worried about you at all. She kept saying that you'd definitely come back here and save us. That you're too strong to die. That you're her one-and-only, and nobody could ever take you from her."

I was completely dumfounded. Not only is Kyla alive and right freaking HERE, but those wonderful things she said about me were making my heart melt. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but this time they were tears of joy. Even before the apocalypse began, that's something that hasn't happened to me in a long time.

And I like it. It makes me feel truly alive.

"I can keep going, but I think you'd rather let her tell you these things herself. Shall we?"

All I could whisper was "Please...."

~~~

Me and my teammates were silent as the five of us walked down a series of hallways to the safehouse, while Ross and Evan filled us in on what had happened here. OGD attacked yesterday night, utilizing their own hybrids and the local zombies, which better explained why there were so many of them around here now. The attack came as a complete surprise to everyone, but most of us were ready to fight for our home. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save the base, and the combined efforts of OGD and the living dead have essentially crippled us. Though we were able to kill every OGD agent, they had sent for reinforcements at the last minute, which will arrive any day now.

In the aftermath of the attack, all of HAC's human soldiers were either dead or zombified, and most of the scientists suffered the same fate. Most, but not all; we still had several of the doctors and technicians, all of whom proved to be vital in helping HAC's hybrids recuperate after the battle. I actually wasn't aware that this base had a safehouse ready in the event of a breach, but I wasn't going to argue. It has food, water, medicine, and other necessary things for survival, but only in a limited amount. Even if we don't run out of supplies, OGD's second wave will force us out of our sanctuary. It can stand up to zombies, but not them. We have until then to make a plan.

After hearing this and several other facts, Francis shared what we learned from interrogating Smith earlier today. Apparently, nobody here thought it'd be a good idea to capture and force information out of an enemy hybrid, so our information was very valuable. All they knew was that OGD was the name of our new enemy. There's still a lot we don't know, but interrogating more of their soldiers can quickly change that.

At long last, we came to a huge, safe-like door in one of the farthest wings of the base. It was nearly two stories tall, and could undoubtedly stand up to any number of zombies in the event of an emergency. But as impressive as it was, this door wouldn't last long against our new enemies at all.

Especially that napalm guy... I'm certain we haven't seen the last of him, since he seems to really have it out for me the way he kept staring at me....

But my uneasiness was gradually washed away as Ross and Evan used their keys to unlock the door, which led to another, much shorter and narrower hallway. Several unimpressive smaller doors and one bio-scanner later, we were finally inside the safehouse, surrounded by our fellow surviving hybrids and the brave (or just lucky) humans that managed to survive and fight back with us.

And there she was.

Alive and unharmed.

Sitting alone at a table just like she was two days ago, but minus the book.

Harry patted me on the shoulder. "Go get her, man. It's been long enough."

Holy SHIT do I intend to...

With my heart throbbing, I took two steps forward.

"KYLA!"

She turned and saw me standing in the doorway, and her beautiful, yet tired-looking eyes instantly lit up like fireworks. She jumped out of her chair, nearly falling over in the process, but managed to catch herself in time.

"GREEEEEEG!!!"

I dashed towards her with all the speed I could muster, picked her up by the waist and swung her around in a 360, both of us laughing and crying with pure joy. I set her down and we looked deeply into each other's eyes.

"I knew you'd come back, Greg. I knew you wouldn't die on me."

"I died thirteen months ago, Kyla. But your love brought me back to life, now and forever."

"Oh, Greg...."

I wiped a tear from her eye as I spoke. She did the same to me.

And with a room full of people watching us, we kissed with enough passion to make the first one look like nothing.

~~~

It's a damn good thing this safehouse has small individual bedrooms for people, or this next part would've been impossible.

With Kyla in my arms, I kicked open the door leading to one such room, and we both plopped down onto the bed, still engaged in an intense game of tonsil hockey. She eventually broke the kiss off, but only to catch her breath. That was fine with me, since I was close to passing out from kissing her so hard. I walked over to the door and shut it so we wouldn't be disturbed. Harry, Francis, and the other guys can do their own thing, but this is time for us now.

I sat back down on the bed and held Kyla close to me, to which she responded by holding me just as tightly, neither of us wanting to let the other out of our sight again. I wanted to just sit here all night long, holding her and running my fingers through her hair, but I realized that I had a ton of questions for her, too. I needed to know how she had survived the OGD invasion, and why she and her teammates were here rather than on a mission in the first place.

But that can wait for a few seconds...

"Did you really mean those things you said about me?" I asked after a long silence.

"Oh yes, Greg. I meant every word" Kyla said. "I wasn't sure what you and your teammates' situation was, but I just knew you'd make it back here. That you'd do anything to see me again, regardless of the difficulty. I know because I'd do the same for you."

She looked into my eyes with the utmost sincerity as she said that.

"And you're absolutely right" I said. "The thing is, though, I'm dying to know why you and your teammates are even here in the first place. We were on a mission in Boston, and the OGD agents they sent after us got the drop on us. If I didn't notice a sniper rifle dot on Francis' head, then they probably would've taken us all out at the same time. That's why I was so worried about you; we survived thanks to a fluke. If you guys were in the same position, odds were that they wouldn't mess up twice."

"Well, I guess the reason is that it was another fluke, actually" Kyla explained. "The helicopter that was supposed to take us to our drop zone malfunctioned, and we had to wait around for another one to return. By the time it did, it was shot down before it could land, which seemed to be the first shot being fired on OGD's part. We fought back as hard as we could, but in the end it was the zombies that did us in. They disoriented and scattered us, and OGD took advantage of that. But it was still enough to drive them away for now, though they promised to send reinforcements soon. After assessing the damage done to the building, the safehouse was the only place we could go. We left the zombies outside to serve as an early-warning system for when OGD gets back. There's no way the living dead can get in here."

I thought that over for a second. It seems that luck really is on our side sometimes. Why it couldn't have been on Z-Day is another story...

"Were you all right during the attack? Did you fight?"

Kyla looked unhappy to answer that particular question, but she pressed on anyway.

"No, Greg. I was scared out of my mind. I hate admitting it, especially to you, but it's true. Even if you were here, I wouldn't have had it in me to fight. Our battle against the living dead is one thing, but this... This is something I'm just not ready for. It's not in my nature."

I gave her a reassuring hug. "You think I would judge you on something like that? No way! In fact, I'm glad you didn't fight. I was beginning to think I'd go crazy if I lost you."

Kyla sighed deeply. "But the real problem is that I'm still scared Greg. I'm scared of what the future has in store for us, since the zombies aren't our only problem anymore. I mean, it wasn't an easy life up until right now, but I liked how I could just wake up and know exactly what's coming that day. Now, anything could happen. We know another attack is right around the corner, and since we barely endured this one, who's to say we'll be as lucky next time?"

I also sighed deeply. "I know exactly how you feel, Kyla. Believe it or not, I'm scared too. When I saw what was outside this base earlier, I realized that this is a full-blown war now, and we're right in the middle of it. All we have left is a small amount of time to make a plan, and we're going to use it wisely. This is far from over."

That seemed to cheer her up, knowing that she wasn't the only one afraid of the unknown and that all wasn't as lost as she though. Granted, I was still in super-happy mode right now, but I'm just as worried about the next few days as everyone here. But that's nothing compared to how worried I was yesterday.

"But" I continued, "I will promise something to you here and now, Kyla. I promise that as long as I'm here, nothing bad will EVER happen to you. I will fight to the death to protect you, and I will burn with a smile as long as you're safe. Because I love you so much, Kyla."

She was awestruck at what I just said, and the new tears of pure happiness in her eyes confirmed it. It seems that both of us know exactly how to pull each other's heartstrings with our words...

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be that overly dramatic, but I--"

Rather than let me explain myself, Kyla silenced me with another deep kiss. But this time, she broke it off early, and pushed me down onto the bed with a mischievous smile.

Wait... Are we...?

She positioned herself over my body and laid down on top of me, resuming the kiss while grinding against my pelvic region. I returned the favor by grabbing her ass and giving it a generous squeeze, causing her to moan. Automatically, I moved my hands to the bottom of her tank top and slowly pulled it towards her head, which made her break the kiss again to rise up and take it off, throwing it to the floor.

"Hang on... Are we really ready for this step yet? I mean, we said we were going to build on our relationship first."

That made Kyla giggle. "Don't be coy, Greg. We both know we were just saying that to be courteous. And judging from the feel of things, I'd say you're just as ready as I am." And to prove her point, she said that while unhooking her bra and tossing it onto the floor, revealing the most beautiful pair of solid-B breasts I've ever seen.

I was totally right about her knocker size after all...

Now I was giggling. "Okay, you got me." I reached up and groped her breasts, both of which fit perfectly into my hands. It sent a wave of pure pleasure through her body, causing her to moan even louder.

"I knew it" Kyla said after recomposing herself. She leaned down to face me on an eye to eye level, with strands of her blue hair falling into my face. We both smiled like kids on Christmas morning.

"Get ready to be devoured" she said.

"I could say the same thing to you" I replied.

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Well, the semester's over, and it feels great to get back to writing. Except, of course, when I get such a bad writer's block that it limits me to only a few paragraphs every day... But the important thing is that the story must go on!

I plan on uploading one more part before 2011 is over, and it might just be the best one of the series thus far. As for right now, I'm wishing everyone a merry Christmas, or happy miscellaneous other holidays.

Remember to give the gift that keeps on giving, and rate, comment, or subscribe!