Clash of choice

A thundering boom resonated underneath the hotel and the floor shook. The dust rose to form little wisps and cracks formed on the walls and roof. The upper rank froze and looked down at the ground, his horde of zombies also became stagnant. The squad all started looking around aswell, unsure of the new threat that was to appear. Because it obviously had to be a new threat, if it had been Deapool-HQ, they would have recieved notification from their communication devices.

Another boom, louder and closer, shook their bones and moved their teeth. Plaster started falling from the ceiling and not a person, living or undead, moved a muscle. The squad and the upper rank both had their eyes roaming, scanning the area to know the origin of the sound.

Then, with a loud stone smashing boom, a being shot out from the floor like a crocodile from a lagoon. Stone and cement were broken through as if they were a pile of twigs ,and what made it more interesting was that it was right under the upper rank zombie.

The person coming out from the floor moved quickly and formed a fist, aiming it at the upper rank zombie's head. Unfortunately his opponent had been on high alert since the second loud sound. So it was with a quick motion that the upper rank grabbed the wrist behind the fist, and with the strength befitting a monster of its caliber, pulled the person out and swung them like a ball. The wall took most of the impact and the bricks and plaster crumbled into debris. It was an attack that could have broken several ribs and caused death to most people. But it wasn't a person the upper rank threw.

Atleast not a living person.

The dust from the impact moved to let the upper rank zombie see his adversary. It was a blonde haired teenage zombie with piercing blue eyes. His face was set in an angry snarl as he looked at the upper rank zombie.

" Kin? " The upper rank zombie said to Mel.

" I'm not your kin." Mel said fiercely and he launched himself at the upper rank zombie again.

He used his left arm to punch into the upper rank zombie's chest and the power, far from what he'd had as a normal zombie, shot the upper rank through the wall behind him and into the hotel room. Mel had a bit of black blood flowing from his mouth, making him look ghoulish, and then there was the other thing.

The upper rank zombie shot out from the room as fast as a bullet and bashed Mel across the face with a severed arm, Mel's severed arm to be precise. When he'd been thrown against the wall, the upper rank zombie had not held back his strength and tore Mel's right arm off. At the moment he was using it like a hammer to beat the strange zombie before him to a bloody pulp.

The hit from his arm had pushed Mel back down the corridor but not through any wall. He was bleeding profusely from his right arm's vacant position, but to an undead, blood is of little importance. He barely felt any loss without his arm. As long as he could still move a limb and attack, then he would.This upper rank had hurt the one he was supposed to die for.

For that, it would pay.

But unknown to them, a small green spark was hovering on the roof and had been hovering for some time. However when the teenage zombie was pushed back and the upper rank zombie faced it, the little spark moved away.

There were important things to do.

...

In a hotel room, four people were anxiously walking or talking ,or both, trying to figure out how to get out of the mess that come upon them. On the bed in the room, a dead body lay on it's side. The person was red haired and wearing a dirty dark blue and red uniform. One of the four people walking in the room, kept glancing at him before looking away.

It was squad 36, they had sneaked away from the scene when Mel had distracted the upper rank zombie. Liam had been adamant about taking Lesley's body and not even Rick could deny him that. Despite the fact it slowed them down a bit, they managed to escape.

They had strangely not had to deal with the zombies, who avoided them as soon as they got near. No one brought out that it was probably Lesley's dead body protecting them, they didn't know why and were not in a safe place to talk or bring it up. Finally, after a while, they reached a space on the other side of the hotel. The sounds of fighting was still audible because of the sheer power of the fighters, but it was distinctly less loud than where they had been.

" I give up. " Ross said as he sat down on a chair, " I don't know what in hell is going on."

" Me neither." Martin said leaning against a wall, the room only had a single chair and that left the bed to sit on, but Martin did not dare until Liam gave the go ahead. It was one thing to use Lesley's corpse as a zombie repellent but to treat him like he's gone and buried... Martin would not do it.

" I wonder how he did it? " Rick asked as he looked at Lesley's dead body with a frown," Surviving here makes alot more sense now. He was not in danger from any of the zombies."

A fist landed on Rick's cheek and he backed up from the person who swung it. When he saw who it was he turned away and gave a sigh, not bothering to say anything. Apparently he'd already said too much.

Liam held his fist after giving Rick a knuckle sandwich, something he'd been wanting to do since...he looked at his cousin's corpse and gloom like a thick blanket stole his breath. He walked to the bed and, going down on his knees, he looked at the lifeless body with deep grief.

It had been easy to grieve for Lesley back in the safe zone because a part of him knew that with no body, that meant there still a chance he was alive. He had hoped, secretly, that they would see Lesley again. Even if he became a survivor rebel, it would be okay, as long as he was alive.

But it was only a few minutes ago that he'd seen his cousin's neck being snapped like a stick. There was no need for confirmation of death , they'd all heard the crunch of bones and snap of the spine.

Never before had Liam felt such horror and what made it worse was that it happened right infront of him. He had been forced to watch as his cousin was killed and discarded like trash. The pain he felt was incomparable, he'd grown up with Lesley for years and they'd become each other's family, literally. There were no other Woodsman left, it had just been Lesley and Liam.

Lesley had been the only family Liam had. They were both only children, their father's were brothers, twins actually, and they'd tried to make Liam and Lesley have a strong relationship like they had. It hadn't been hard,Liam had taken the role of big brother seriously and Lesley, well he hadn't really cared about it , but he liked Liam and they became friends.

Memories of days spent sparing, chatting about good times and family days went through his mind. They were no longer snippets of fond memories but needles of pain plunging themselves into his heart.

The others saw Liam's eyes water and knew to keep their peace and not say a word. They had lost people to the apocalypse and knew the feeling of grief that came. It was best to leave someone alone when they felt that dark gloom. It was a cold blanket but it was unavoidable. Especially in the world of theirs.

Pain was everywhere. Death was everywhere. Only fools believe that they will be exempted from suffering. That's a luxury that not even all of the rich could afford. Money could save your life but not from pain. Pain is absolute and seeps into the life of a content person like trickle of rain. Slowly dissolving the peace of their lives.

But for a happy person it worse.

Pain is a knife, cutting their joy from the base of the trunk and leaving nothing but the roots behind. A laugh becomes a curse and a smile is transformed into a wince. None are exempted from this and none ever will.

These were thoughts that went through Martin's mind as he looked at the kid and Liam. He'd grown so fond of him and he'd let himself be too happy and attached. Now look where it got him.

He sighed and looked at Ross, who was eyeing the ground as if he was looking at the most important thing ever and as for Rick... Martin frowned as he looked at Rick. He'd seen something that made him curious.

He walked over to his captain and best friend in the silence. When they were next to each other he leaned against the wall and put on a nonchalant look.

" You should be there next to the bed too." Martin said," He was your boyfriend."

" I know...I'm just giving Liam time." Rick said.

" Time to mourn or...time to imprint Lesley's face? " Martin asked him with a pointed look.

" What? " Rick asked him.

" I read your lips right then. " Martin said and he moved closer so no one could hear them.

" Care to tell me why you said; ' I have to get rid of the body soon?" He asked with a frown on his face.

" So Liam can move on. We've mourned before...we should not get back there. Remember the point of this excursion? To get back to our old selves. " Rick said and Martin couldn't believe his ears.

" I was mourning with grief but I still had hope. Now that hope is dead as...you know what I mean. " He said with a sigh.

" I know and that's why I want to make sure Lesley is buried quickly. We can not get back to that. Our squad needs to get back up not down."

" Do you hear yourself? Lesley just died infront of us. Respect the dead, especially if it's your lover." Martin said with distaste.

" We broke up. " Rick said and Martin raised a brow, " We broke up before our last excursion. Nobody was supposed to know. "

" What happened? You do something wrong? " Martin asked him.

" No. I didn't do anything." Rick said shaking his head, " Lesley just wanted something else. Maybe he found someone else to like."

" I don't believe that. " Martín said slowly," He seemed to be in too deep to suddenly say he's walking out."

" Well he did and I don't see a reason for me to force myself on the- Hey! Where are you going? " Rick shouted as Liam rose up from the floor and turned towards the door.

" To get revenge." Liam said simply and they were all shocked.

" Are you insane? You'll die out there." Martin said pointing at the door. They could still hear loud sounds of chaos and destruction. From the little they'd seen of the fight, they knew death awaited anyone who got Inbetween the two monsters outside.

" I don't care. As long as I take that son of bitch with me." Liam said and he took Martin's Skillet by the wall.

" Hold it." Martin moved and grabbed his Skillet then glared at Liam," Don't do something dumb. Even with this, you know you don't stand a chance. It would take all four of us, loaded with Skillets and explosives to stand a chance."

" I can do it. " Liam said reaching for the skillet again but Martin wouldn't have it.

" Guys." Ross said softly but no paid him any heed.

" You can and will die is what will happen. " Rick said condescending," You're sad and I get it but going headfirst- "

" Don't fucking tell me what I can not do. Captain or not, that was my cousin who died. Not your rookie but my cousin. My family." Liam shouted at Rick.

" Guys." Ross tried again but things were escalating.

" So you think he'd want you to just go and die? Commiting suicide won't bring him back. " Rick said as if talking to a fool," Don't be an idiot and use your head. Lesley is dead. Nothing will change that. "

" I really hate it when you say his name now. You aren't even shedding a tear. Hell, you never sheded a tear. You," Liam went up to Rick and pressed his finger onto his forehead," are a cold, unfeeling, piece of horse shit."

" Liam!" Rick growled.

" GUYS!" Ross practically screeched to get their attention.

" What? " Martin asked him.

Ross pointed at Lesley's body on the bed and then he spoke. But what he said made no sense to the men in the room.

" He's breathing."