Rest in pep

Rick, Martin, Ross and Liam were between a wall and a lion, with zombies infront and a literal wall behind them. How had they ended up there ?

(Yesterday)

It all started with a rubber duck.

Liam had been at home, showering with the cold water at full blast. His heart had been heavy, as it has been since the excursion with Lesley. To think that he'd agreed to lie of Lesley's status hurt like a blunt knife to the heart. No matter how many times Rick said otherwise, Liam still wished they had stayed.

So what if it had been dangerous?

Liam knew that if he had disappeared, Lesley would have gone searching for him. Unfortunately, they were low on ammo and in zombie infested waters. Staying any longer would have been a death sentence...

" Damn it all! " He'd shouted and knocked over the rubber duck on the shower wall. It was a yellow duck like a sunflower, with a small sailors hat on it. Lesley had gotten it from his mother when he was a kid and just like the other things he'd got from his family, it stayed in its own special spot in the house.

Liam had picked it up and squeezed the plastic toy, making it quack. A bitter pain seeked to grab him right there and then but Liam fought back. He'd been crying for so long now, he thought, so why not live a little?

He was sure Lesley would say the same thing, hell Lesley would give him a smack on the head for the wasted days,so he got out from his depression and called the squad.

They had thankfully showed up at the tenth call and Liam took that as a sign that they were also moving on. After all , usually they ignored each other's calls when in the citadel, unless they called ten times , it was not important. A dumb rule that had been started by a dumb person from their past but Liam hadn't wanted to think about that. No , he had better things to do.

Like pep talk.

He could see it in their eyes, everyone was down and it kinda made him wonder if that was how he had been too. If it was anything like his was then he had a lot of work to do. They'd gathered in the weapon room at Deadpool-HQ and Liam was center stage by the table , with Ross and Martin by the bench and Rick leaning against the wall.

God help, he thought.

" Ok. I know a lot of us don't want to be here. You guys still want to spend some time alone and thinking about... Lesley. " The name came out slowly, Liam was still raw, " But I think my cousin wouldn't want us to- "

" I'm outta here. " Rick said not letting Liam finish and he turned to the door to leave.

" Wait! " Liam shouted and Rick turned around with a frown.

" For...what? " He asked with a cold voice, " You know it's hard for us to hear his name let alone think about him, so why bring him up? It's like talking about Alex. "

" That's not fair. " Martin spoke up, his voice was quiet but his face held a frown, " You can't compare this situation to Alex. He died infront of us but Lesley is still Unknown. "

" Exactly! " Rick said heavily, " We shouldn't be talking about him, unless you want us to be found out. Remember, we can't acknowledge Lesley as Missing, but dead."

" Even though we never found a body." Ross chimed in , his face was nonchalant as if being there was like watching paint dry.

" That's why we have to hold on the front of his death. If we'd found him that day, it would have changed things but we didn't. " Rick said , he looked at his hands," I didn't want to leave him but we had to go. Or we'd have died."

" I'm sure he's fine. Kid had spirit." Martin said with a positive smile. No one paid attention to the fact that he used the past tense in his last sentence.

" We also had spirit too. Come on guys, where's the squad 36 that I remember? " Liam asked looking at them all.

" Dead and probably to be buried. " Rick said , he had a cigarette in his left hand and although he had not taken a puff, the smell had enveloped half the air.

" Don't talk like that." Martin said getting to his feet, " I have to admit; being glum isn't for me. I actually want to crack a joke right now but...you guys wouldn't laugh."

" What's there to laugh about? " Ross asked folding his legs," Alex died, Lesley's gone and some guy blew his brains out two feet from me. "

" You're still sore about that? " Rick asked and it was as if a bomb went off.

" Yeah! I'm fucking sore about it! " Ross shouted as he got to his feet and glared at Rick," Hell I can't get that picture out of my head! Not like you know what a nightmare is!"

Ross had killed zombies, but Darwin's suicide had been a big pain for him. At first he thought he'd be fine , but when he got back home, the image came to life in his mind. Nightmares came unbidden to his dreams and a memory, painful and sore rose from the grave. Sure he was sad about Lesley disappearing but he also was handling seeing somebody die infront of him...again.

" Don't you dare talk me like your equal, I'm still your captain! " Rick yelled back and both men looked like they were about to lock heads. It should be noted that Ross was a head shorter than Rick and that the captain had more training. But what was that in the face of an angry individual? Ross was ready to brawl right there and then.

"DAMN IT!" a fist landed on the table and everyone turned to the owner.

Martin stood straight and livid, his face holding an anger that was very new from his usual jovial features. His fist was balled infront of his chest and Liam took a wary step back, he'd never seen Martin mad. Not ever ,in his entire time as a squad fighter.

" What the freaking hell is wrong with you two!? " His voice held an anger so palpable that the other two men felt like the recipients of a slap of reprimand.

" Ross, you're angry and I get that but remember chain of command. You aren't in a farm or a goat in a barn, follow protocol even when off duty. " He said to his supporter and the guy looked down, then Martin turned to Rick.

" Rick, you aren't doing us a favor by making us take time off. We're mad inside at you, those zombies and the damn system of things. " Martin blew out a warm breath , " It's been less than a year and we already lost another one. First Alex and then Lesley. "

The dark man walked up and took his captain's cigarette and drew in a deep puff. After a moment he breathed out a cloud of smoke.

" Cheap. Not like you." Martin said handing it over, " So, now that we all have gotten ourselves together, tell us Liam; you got something for squad 36 to do, besides waste away? "

Liam gave a small grin before opening his mouth.

" Surveillance mission." Was what he said and a pin could be heard in the left over silence.

" You're joking right? " Ross asked him but Liam shook his head.

" Those are high-class missions. We haven't done anything like that since-"

" Alex." Rick finished Ross's sentence.

" Yeah, I know and that's why I think...I know, we should do this. It will get us back in gear." Liam said looking at their hesitant faces," Come on guys, what could go wrong?"

( Present)

The squad is backed against a wall, a horde of zombies is infront of them. Ross was holding his shoulder, blood dripped from between his fingers slowly, like a worn out tap. Martin and Rick held their Skillets, wishing to fire, but knowing there was no opening available to flee. Liam held his Crux in his left hand, infront of Ross like a guard, his eyes scanning for a way out.

The horde was a collection of burnt bodies, skin could be seen ashy and rotten. The flesh had a bubbly appearance that could only come from direct contact with fire. The body's were bones in alot places and most of them had no eye balls, having exploded when they were burnt alive.

" What are we going to do? " Ross asked nobody in particular but Liam answered him anyway.

" We'll wing it and come out with a few bruises here and there but still in one piece." Liam said his eyes still searching for an opening amidst the still zombies.

That's when he saw it, a head of black hair, moving towards them. The zombies seemed to part to let this new figure through and it wasn't a minute later that the being stood infront of them.

He had a lean frame, muscular with more flesh than those behind him. His skin was pasty and pale like milk and his hair was blacker than the purest ink.Full lips and a bleeding cut on his cheek made him distinct but the most distinct thing was his eyes, they were redder than pure blood.

When the squad saw him, their hearts stopped.Ross couldn't believe his eyes and the two older men with Skillets didn't dare move. Liam was worse, his breathing was deep and he was trying to calm down. But how could he?

This was an upper rank zombie. A deadly predator that could rip them to shreds, eat and be on its way. Their Skillets were strong but against an upper rank, all four of them would need Skillets to barely make it out alive. Strangely, Liam's own words came back to him in that moment; " What could go wrong?"

" Me and my big mouth." He said under his breath and the red eyes turned to him.

" Blood." It said and it's voice was deep with a slight crackle as if a lingering accent was trying to break out.

Then it attacked.