Breath and blood

The upper rank zombie was fit and lean, with an exposed chest and dry blood across his upper torso and his neck. A cut, red and bleeding, was under his left eye, looking quite gruesome. His skin was milky and so pale that a polar bear would have been jealous.

His eyes, however were his most striking features, so red and deep like looking into the heart of a pumping vein. It was these things that went through Liam's head as he looked at the upper rank. One could say he was in a trance and could not think straight.

Then it attacked with its horde of zombies and the trance was broken.

Rick and Martin wasted no time, shots flew like rain , high and aimed for the skulls. Liam also joined the fray, cutting off the heads of those that got too close for comfort, which was as close as possible. Ross watched them all with anger at his helplessness, his arm wouldn't even move to hold his Crux let alone the Skillet next to him.

The bullets blasted holes, severed limbs and blood and gore rained across the walls around the hall they were in. Red became a vibrant color for the dirty floor and tissue and bone decorated their surroundings with each shot.

But they all knew they were out numbered and regret seeped into their bones, especially Liam. After all he was the one that chose their mission, a surveillance mission.

Deapool-HQ had various missions for its squads. Each mission had a ranking on rewards and difficulty. The typical excursions of restocking medicine and food supplies were low ranked with a reward equal to a worker's typical minimum wage.

The more difficult ones, mid ranked and higher, usually involved high chances of death and equally high rewards. Of course Liam would not choose a high ranked mission, no matter how much he wanted his teammates to be pumped. It was better their hearts were pumping when they came back from said excursion.

So he'd chosen a mid ranked mission, a surveillance mission. This mission was described as follows;

A upper rank corpse has been spotted in the south west zone of old Grenhit.

Mission: Identify and observe possible threat.

Ranked; Risky

Rewards; 350 units (per squad member)

Requirements; Captain, Lieutenant, Support ( x 2 ) Cadet (optional)

It had taken Liam some time to find a mid ranked mission that was not ranked ' Dangerous ' or ' Hazardous ' . Those were something that he knew they currently would have been able to handle. So he'd persuaded them to sign up for the surveillance mission.

They'd been reluctant but after more pushing, technically pleading, they'd relented. So off they'd gone the next day, ready to get back into the swing of things.

The mission had shown the spot of the upper rank zombie sightings being around a certain building. Upper rank zombie's had a habit of choosing dens so it was clear that the building was where it was hiding. The building was called , ironically; The grave hotel.

It was an old building but still had the sheen of its vibrant days. They'd scouted the area, killed some roaming zombies for precaution, then they'd entered the building. It's interior was cream and velvet walls, chandeliers on the roof, a reception desk with no receptionist.

They'd been as stealthy as they could be, taking the floors one at a time, listening in for any sign of the upper rank. They didn't dare split up, that was asking for sure death. An upper rank could not be taken alone, it took four squad fighters to deal with a mundane one, and for those ones with special mutations it would take maybe ten squad fighters to have atleast a chance.

It was on the third floor that they encountered a hiccup. Or rather Ross had a hiccup, between his legs to be precise. His bladder had been holding tight since they left the safe zone but after nearly two hours, he was ready to burst.

The group had grumbled as he apologized and went into one of the empty rooms to relieve himself. Except the room he wanted to use was occupied.

Ross had opened the door to the bathroom to find the upper rank zombie sitting on the toilet seat. It had been hunched over and its head had been bowed looking down. As soon as Ross walked in, the head rose and the two looked at each other.

Ross had slowly closed the door and walked out of the room.

" You done? " Liam had asked him impatiently.

" I don't think I need to go anymore." Ross had said and a large explosion had ensued.

The squad had looked into the room and seen the bathroom had burst open like a small bomb had gone off. The upper rank stood in the debris, his eyes scanning for the human who had disturbed him.

" Fucking shit! " Martín had shouted and threw a grenade into the room, shutting the door afterwards. No one stayed around as they fled down the stairs.

A large explosion had followed their decent and hope tried to rise its head in their hearts. Until they reached the second floor, where a horde of zombies had appeared as if from thin air. That's when hope died but determination was born.

They'd fired instantly, bullets blowing brains and heads off necks. Shouting loudly they'd tried to force their way through but just when it looked like they were about to breakthrough, another mass of zombies joined their losing comrades and doubled the numbers. A moment after that,a claw like hand ripped through Ross's shoulder and they knew they were in trouble.

" Fall back! " Rick had shouted but just as they planned to escape, another horde came from up stairs and they were pushed to the wall.

Now, Liam thought, we're going to die.

Although the shots were making mince meat out of the zombies, more seemed to be coming up and taking the place of those who had fallen. They didn't have infinite bullets, and sooner than later they would be overwhelmed.

" Liam! " Ross shouted when a zombie slashed across the red head's chest.

Ross pulled him back and saw that the wound was not life threatening but definitely immobilizing. He looked at Liam as he gritted his teeth in pain and held his Crux, his eyes glaring and ready to fight even with his injury.

So stubborn, Ross thought and he smiled.

Now, one could say he was insane for being able to smile in such a situation but Ross had always been a person to think about the positive things. He was someone who likes to smile and be happy. Right then he knew they were finished, Rick and Martin would run out of bullets and the horde would be on them.

If that's how it is, Ross thought as he looked at Liam, then maybe I can...

" Liam, " Ross touched the red head's shoulder to get his attention.

" I know it's my fucking fault. Don't say it!" Liam said to him but Ross just shook his head.

" Not that." He said and placed a hand on Liam's cheek.

The foreign touch froze that moment between them and Liam's eyes widened in shock. His mind could not understand what was happening. Ross saw the look on his face and smiled wider.

" I wanted to say, I love - "

" WAIT! "

A bright wave of red hair appeared from the horde and entered their small circle. When everyone saw who it was , their minds couldn't believe it. The same red hair albeit unkept, the same green eyes and freckled face.

"Lesley?" Liam turned from Ross to look at his cousin in disbelief.

" Liam , hey." Lesley said breathlessly.

" You're ali-"

" No time. " Lesley cut Liam off and moved to Rick and Martin who were still firing like hell on the legion of horrors.

" Stop firing." Lesley told them.

" Kid is that you? " Martin asked but didn't let up his onslaught.

" Martin stop firing. " Lesley said and the black guy could not believe what he heard.

" Are you crazy!? We'll die! " Rick shouted at him but didn't turn his back. It wasn't just the risk of not firing that made him not turn around, he just didn't want to look at Lesley. Heaven alone knew how he even survived the horde from the wall.

" Stop firing or I'll jump into the shot zone." Lesley said. He sounded serious, they thought in shock.

" What !? " Liam had heard what he said, " Lesley get away from there. "

" Last warning. Stop firing." Lesley said ignoring his cousin.

" If we stop they'll rip us apart! " Martin shouted as he fired harder and yet was forced to take one step back. The horde was gaining ground and their circle was shrinking.

" That's it. I'm going in! " Lesley shouted and he jumped infront of their Skillets.

Instantly they stopped firing and moved back, closer to the wall and Ross and Liam. They were waiting for the undead monsters to swarm them.

But the zombies didn't move.

Lesley stood infront of the group, his arms outstretched like a shield. Although the corpses growled and moaned, none dared to move forward.

" I fucking told you guys to stop. " Lesley said without turning his back. His eyes stayed glued on the zombies, watching to see if they'd attack.

" Nice trick." Martín said , he was the first to break out of shock.

" Thanks. I wasn't really sure if it was going to work though." Lesley said honestly.

" What!?"

It was true, Lesley had been running to the hotel when he encountered a small zombie horde. They'd left him alone and actually kept their distance as if Lesley had the plague. This made Lesley think and wonder if he could shield someone with his body and if the zombies would not attack. Unfortunately he had not had anyone to test his idea on , nor the time to.

When he saw the Rover hidden in the alley, his heart had jumped through the roof. His squad had come! Maybe Rick had said something or Liam had decided to search for him, he'd thought. So it was with haste that he ran harder into the hotel , searching for them.

When the zombies began moving in a certain direction, he followed suit and heard gun fire. That's when he'd spotted them and rushed to their aid.

Honestly though, he thought as he looked at the corpses, they were lucky. This idea could have led to only Lesley being spared and them being torn limb from limb. Judging from their faces, it was obvious this thought was doing marathons in the other's minds.

Lesley breathed a sigh of relief, " Okay. So here's what we are going to do. You'll stay by the wall and follow my steps. One step me and one step each of you. We'll go upstairs, and try to reach the fire escape. Ready? "

" Yeah, I guess." Liam said .

" Hope you know what you're doing kid. " Martín said.

Ross nodded his head but Rick said nothing.

" Me too. " Lesley replied.

Okay, he thought, one step here we -

" Huh? "

A figure had just come from the zombie horde and stood infront of Lesley. It had black hair, red eyes and skin so pale Lesley would have thought it was a vampire, if it wasn't for the scent of decay and the cut under it's eye.

" That's an upper rank." Liam warned and Lesley swallowed.

He wasn't sure if his gift of protection worked on upper ranks. The red eyed zombie tilted it's head left and right, looking at Lesley as if from different angles.

" Green." It said , a harsh sound like a static infested radio.

It's arm shot shot out and grabbed Lesley by the neck in a strong grip and he was lifted off the ground, choking.

" Lesley! " Liam was ready to charge but Rick held him back.

" You can't help him. He'll die and we'll be next. You go over there, you're just running ahead of the race. " Rick said to him.

Even though it was true Liam still struggled to get to his cousin, but with his wound and fatigue from the fight, he was not going anywhere. So it was with tear stained eyes that he looked at Lesley choking to death.

" F...uc...k" Lesley swore as his vision started to go black.

The upper rank tilted its head once more and tightened it's grip, snapping his neck and killing him instantly.

" No! " Liam screamed as Lesley's dead body fell limply from the upper rank zombie's hand.

Martin turned his head away as a pained look came across his face and he swore under his breath. Ross looked at Liam and Lesley with sadness and pain. Rick still held Liam, although it was too late for anything now, his eyes fixed on Lesley's body. His face held guilt, shame and regret and he bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

" Kill them." The upper rank zombie said and the zombies began to walk slowly, closing the circle.

A small green light was...