Chapter 7

"Attention, attention please my people. I'm sure some of you are aware or have guessed. We are at the point in our supplies that another supply run is necessary. We will be going out in small groups to different areas in the city, of course avoid the obviously dangerous places like no man's land and cannibals park. We will be leaving shortly so get yourselves ready, thank you." The old man stated with the authority of a leader with experience.

Chatter erupted from the announcement as everyone became worried about the upcoming supply run. With the number of zombies in the city never seeming to go down and threats around every corner, the supply runs have only become more dangerous the more they go on and since there wasn't really any working refrigerators nearby they had to go on them more and more often. The survival rate for a supply run wasn't the greatest either as someone has always managed to lose their life one way or another to the run. The knight started shaking with excitement as although it was safe staying at the base always became dreadfully dull and boring after a short amount of time, recently more so with the tension amongst his group of friends which seemed to be caused by something he did or said not that he would recognize that. Everyone started to get their tools, armor, and weapons ready while The knight simply watched in silence which was a rarity for him.

"Is everyone ready now?" The old man asked the small groups after some time passed.

Everyone somberly nodded to the question as they hugged friends and family in separate groups and wished for them to stay safe. The ones left behind looked guilty and down as they knew many who went out today would not be returning and the lucky ones who did return would come back different even if only slightly they always came back different than when they had left. A positive note however was a supply run was never failed as they always brought enough supplies to last for a couple days or weeks. The knight stood with his group of friends as Crow and an old looking stranger with a very hardened face walked up to them. The knight had seen him around a couple of times, but never had the courage to talk to the man who looked as if he had seen things that would disturb even The knight's insanity filled creative mind.

"The name is Captain Judge you may refer to me as Captain or Captain Judge nothing else will be responded to. I will be your leader on this supply run once again although I see we have two new faces joining our little team. Listen to me and we might get back here alive." The captain said swiftly.

After each small group met up the old man lead them all to the outside where chaos ensued immediately. Surprising the old man and the small groups was a huge hoard of zombies seemingly waiting for them to come out of hiding and now that they were out in the open the zombies rushed them. The knight ran into the fray leaving his group who became agitated at his disappearing act and feared for his safety as he was amongst the sea of zombies away from any help. Before any more panic can come to his team Captain Judge drew their attention to an exit from the hoard so they don't get surrounded. Crow started taking pot shots with her crossbow to zombies closeby to her quickly retrieving her arrows while leaving with the group. Knuckles was in the front with the captain throwing punches with his brass knuckles left and right at the zombies closeby while the captain cut his way forward with a cutlass that was recently sharpened.

"Heyyyyy metal head where the fuck are you? Where did you goooo?" Dion started shouting from the middle of the group as his sister and Ghost protected him and Lili from the sides.

When the group escaped from the zombie infested area they found The knight slamming two zombies to the ground, one on top of the other after lifting them high into the air gripping them by the neck. Leaning over the two zombies The knight began raining blow after blow without pause until his armor was drenched in blood and gore painting it red in random spots. The group was surprised, but relieved at seeing their friend alive for only a moment as two heart wrenching screams filled the air around them. Turning towards where the screams came from they all saw two of their friends surrounded by zombies faces white with fear as tears covered their eyes. The zombies were in the process of scratching and biting bits and pieces of flesh off of them before tearing at the wounds. The last thing the group saw were their fear stricken faces being mixed with pain before their eyes lost all life as their limbs were torn from their body. The sound of gurgling blood ringed in The knight's ears as he committed the moment to memory before being pulled away by Lili. The group ran away a couple of blocks before regrouping at a playground near 96th Street and 2nd Avenue.

"We'll rest here for a moment before moving on to collect supplies in the area." The captain said taking control back after the stressful situation.

The group didn't respond as they each did their own thing to cope with the image they saw. The knight stayed unnaturally quiet as his mind kept replaying the event over and over in his mind. Dion started to drink, Sandra and Knuckles simply embraced one another, Ghost started pacing back and forth, Crow was counting her arrows over and over again before taking a book out to read, Lili just sat down and closed her eyes while the captain was reviewing a map of the city planning out which spots they should check for supplies.

"Alright now you all have had plenty of time to rest, now it's time to get a move on and start collecting supplies. You wouldn't want those two poor souls' death to have gone to waste now right?" The captain said in an attempt to motivate the group.

Ghost and Crow got ready quickly followed by Sandra, Knuckles, and Lili, Dion was slow to get ready as he had gotten drunk once again. The knight showed no signs of ever having heard a word anybody said as he was stuck with the thoughts, images, and sounds replaying in his mind. It was like a self made prison without a key and no way out from the inside.

"Hey, hey! Snap out of it!" Lili said in front of The knight after several attempts at gaining his attention by snapping her fingers in front of his helmet.

"Hn" The knight responded slowly getting up without really looking at anyone in the face.

"Well then, now that the pity party is done and over with let's get a move on I've determined some spots we should visit to gather supplies from." The captain said with his back to the group as he still stared at the map.

The group moved with the captain taking lead to the first place they were going to check which was closeby. They visited a pharmacy one block away to get snacks, tools, and medicine. There weren't many zombies and Dion had some drunken anger to release, so the moment they walked inside Dion unleashed a barrage of empty beer bottles while using an empty wine bottle as a melee weapon smashing the jaws of a few zombies that got close enough. Sandra would finish those zombies that Dion didn't manage to kill with a few kicks in select places. The quick action between the brother and sister duo gained the captain's respect as he saw that the anger didn't blind them, but instead fueled their fire.

"Good work you two, now quickly scour the area for any potentially hidden threats before searching for and grabbing any useful supplies." The captain commanded the group after complementing the duo.

The group made quick work of the order being as safe and efficient as possible with The knight silently and blankly trailing behind them unbeknownst to the others. It was all hands on deck as each member completed a task whether it was keeping lookout for zombies or collecting supplies. While everyone was struggling with what they saw none of them struggled more than what The knight was going through.

"Why did I fucking run off? Did I want to play the part of the hero that badly? It's all my fault. It's my fault they died, if I had just stayed with the group and played defense I could've protected them all. The sounds, oh god those dreadful sounds of crunching, tearing, and squelching." The knight silently thought to himself deep within the crevices of his mind.

At the end of this place's supply run everyone had done their part and collected plenty of supplies, everyone except The knight who was still brooding in self loathing. The group gathered at the entrance to quickly leave towards the next spot.

"This was a successful sub-mission, but we're not done yet with the two soldiers we saw fall in battle that just tells me more have fallen and we'll have to pick up their slack." The captain reported to his team face hardened and serious as usual.

"As is the natural order of things." Ghost said.

"So how many more spots are we gonna check? I mean we don't want to be caught out here late at night." Lili asked raising a valid point to Captain Judge.

"If we get caught out at night so be it, we'll just camp out in the spot we'll be in when night falls." Crow wrote down on a piece of paper to relay her message to the others.

"Then that's the plan I suppose we keep working till we drop and if it gets too dark, then we rest." Dion said in between sips from a bottle he picked up from the back.

"Agreed, now let's go we're burning daylight here." The captain ordered.

Everyone nodded their heads and headed outside where they encountered the odd couple of stray zombies scouring the streets for food. Crow came to the front off the group with her short bow and started taking shots at the zombies hitting each of them in the head in rapid succession. By the time The knight left to the outside the zombies had been cleared out and Crow was collecting her arrows from the zombies' head. The group moved down the street swiftly, but carefully as The knight once again trailed behind throwing caution to the wind in his distracted state. Luckily no more zombies were being attracted to the area from The knight's carelessness. The sun was starting to set as they reached the next place they were planning on raiding. This time around Knuckles charged inside taking out any zombies in his way with hooks, uppercuts, and overhand punches with the odd kick thrown in to create space. Just as a zombie was about to get the jump on Knuckles when nobody was noticing Ghost came up from behind the zombie and stabbed it with a kitchen knife through the back of the head.

"Be more careful next time Knuckles." Ghost told his friend as Knuckles responded with a smile to the cold face of Ghost.

"Will do buddy." Knuckles replied with a chuckle while giving a thumbs up.

Sandra gave a quick look over to her husband checking for any bites of injuries before playfully slapping his arm with a lighthearted glare. The rest got to work as The knight just arrived to the area and walked inside once again unnoticed by the group as they were more worried about finishing their jobs to get back to the base safely and successful. The group repeated their jobs, but this time it took longer to find the useful supplies and food which allowed for it to turn to night outside preventing them from leaving to the next spot. As the group hunkered down to barricade the area so that they don't get ambushed by zombies in the middle of the night The knight walked outside. Still stuck I'm his head and disassociating The knight began to walk around the area as more and more zombies filled the streets.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault." The knight whispered to himself repeatedly while aimlessly walking around without paying attention to the outside world.

With silence filling the temporary base made by the group they each began to go into their own worlds to help cope with what they saw and heard earlier that day. Although the killing of zombies helped release their anger, their sadness and trauma still needed to be dealt with. As each member fell into their own coping method none of them noticed the currently missing member who had walked outside into the dangerous zombie crowded streets. The knight soon found himself surrounded by zombies, however he was in no danger from them due to his blood. This only enraged him as he saw all around him the very same beings he underestimated. He had forgotten that they were still a danger even if not to himself, they were a danger to his friends and so must be exterminated.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault! So allow me to correct this fucking mistake I made by giving you mercy and allowing beasts like yourselves the chance to hurt my friends! Die!" The knight screamed out with veins pulsing and eyes on fire.

The knight took the closest zombie to him and smashed its skull into his helmet covering it in dead brain matter. The next zombie to go was used as a weapon against three others by The knight. It was grabbed by the legs and swung around in a circle taking out a ton of zombies by the force The knight was putting into the spin and swing. Letting go of the zombies legs saw it turn into a missile as it collided with a small group of zombies a bit farther away than where he was standing.

"You know what? I'm done fucking around! I'm going to kill every single one of you rotten undead bastards!" The knight screamed with a vengeance looking up at the full moon above him.

The full moon only served to remind him of his kidnapping and the experiments he underwent. He thought back to the days he would stay at home just watching TV, how pathetic he was lazing around while people were struggling to survive and live. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes shut as he ran through groups of zombies only getting angrier as his thought's shifted to the fact that they had been betrayed. New York City and the people living here were betrayed by the government they put into power, betrayed by people they called friends and family, betrayed by an entire world that saw fit to leave them there to die while they moved on with their lives as if they hasn't condemned innocents to death. As his running slowed to a walk due to needing a breather he opened his eyes again to see the face of a child. By the looks of it the child was turned recently as if it hasn't been a full day since it became a zombie.

"I I'm sorry, I'm huff I'm sorry I'm so pathetic. It's all my fault and yet I can't do a damn thing to fix any of it. Maybe if i..." The knight whispered to the zombie child as tears ran down his face and his breath shortened before becoming erratic, his train of thought losing tracks to run on stopped.

The knight dropped to his knees, hyperventilating while staring at the zombie child. For five straight minutes he became a statue unable to move from his spot while his mind kept racing thoughts at 100 miles an hour. After getting control of his thoughts and his breath he pulled the zombie child into a hug wrapping his arms around its neck and back.

"I'm sorry, forgive me." The knight uttered as he put more and more pressure on the zombie's neck and back.

In one fluid quick motion The knight snapped it's neck and cracked it's spine before allowing the body to drop to the ground in a thud. He stood up slowly while turning to look at the zombies he had run over and pushed out of his way. The closest zombie to him was a massive one, it looked like it was reaching seven feet tall. The knight took one glance at it before grabbing one of it's arms and forcing it to the ground with his leg on it's back. Pulling hard, The knight ripped the arm out of it's socket before beating the zombie over the head with it's own arm. Using the hand as a handle The knight continued to swing the arm around randomly like a beginner after smashing in the head of the zombie he got the arm from.

"Wooohhhhraahhhhhh!" The knight shouted as his pupils dilated while running around swing the arm as fast and as strong as he could.

An hour passed with The knight still beating zombies heads in with the zombie arm that looks about ready to shatter. Falling to his face in the middle of a giant downward swing The knight huffed and puffed trying to regain control of his breathing. He let go of his temporary makeshift weapon to try and slowly get back onto his feet. Once up The knight simply stared at the zombie he was attempting to hit.

"Huff huff huff, you know what? You're a worthy opponent, so I now deem you Greg. Goodbye Greg." The knight uttered exhausted and ready to fall asleep at any moment.

After that exchange The knight turned around to try and sneak back into the store the others were sleeping in. Luckily for him, although he was making too much noise as his attempts at sneaking around failed, the others were fast asleep and too tired to wake up to the noise he was making. Once inside The knight fell asleep immediately passing out onto the floor making a very noisy clunk and thud. The sun rose soon enough as Captain Judge looked outside and quickly alerted everyone in the group. In the middle of the night after The knight had fallen asleep it seems as though a hoard of zombies decided this was a perfectly good street to cross. They would be surrounded shortly if they didn't move to escape right that instant. With everyone in the group now awake, but still drowsy the plan to escape with their lives had to be put into action.