Is This A Plan?

Steve gave a glance down the ladder. The grey and cold bodies were quiet and just standing stationary like they were waiting for another living body to tackle and devour. Steve sat back and sighed quietly as he had noticed Clyde counting the ammunition he had left. Clyde then glanced over to steve then back at the ammo. He gave an exasperated sigh. Steve could tell that he was trying to think of a plan "...Fuck," Clyde barked softly. It was clear. Clyde could not find a solution to there problem.

Steve started to think. He tried to find a denouement by thinking it out a path backwards. The only way in and out to his knowledge is through the elevator they came in. No point in trying to find another exit. This simulation was clearly designed to contain these undead freaks. Steve stood up and looked around out of the tower to see if he can find the elevator from up here. He could see it. In fact, it was closer than expected. The whole map of the area really was not that extensive when looking down from the tower... He made a mental image of the area, describing everything that he can see. Plans started to fill his head.

Steve thought of several solutions and then broke every single one of them down, calculating how long each would take and then knowing where the dead were, he canceled the several plans down to only two plans. Steve turns to Clyde and whispers, "How much left?" Wondering the number of ammunition was left in his Mac ten. Clyde, looking defeated and somewhat uncaring, mouthed the number, twelve. Steve scoffed, suddenly realizing how lucky they were.

To there right was a two-level cabin with the roof at a jumping distance from where they were. The roof was around twenty to twenty-five feet below them. Steve could see that there was significantly less undead in that direction to the elevator, though if they were to catch one ahead of them, they would need to kill them. The path is too thin for them to elude their grasp. Steve spoke softly as he peeked down the ladder. "Is there any way to distract them? I have a plan that can work".

Clyde's eyes stared through Steve's, unsure to even take him seriously. However, it seemed Steve can survive on his own, in Clyde's eyes. "... Their eyes are glossed over. They only react to what moves in front of there eyes, but their hearing is their true sense of direction," Clyde looked down with Steve and continues, "Just get them to look the other way of where we are going to go and I'll watch your six."

Those last words had caught Steve in shock as he glanced at Clyde. It was clear to Clyde that Steve was just a tad smarter than him when it comes to strategy, Steve leaping past him on the ladder proved his imagination can easily save lives. Steve nods. "This will be quick and scary, but I'm certain it will work," Steve stood up, walked to the table that was at the corner of the tiny boxed tower. His hand's grip upon the sides of the simple table. He lifted the table with ease. he reeled the table to his right, then threw it towards the church.

In an instant, Steve's nerves shot with blood. The adrenaline started to hum in his ears with blood as he and Clyde both waited for the brief second before the plan started. The moment between, when his fingers left the small square wooden table and the table flung through the air, both Steve and Clyde could feel there hearts pumping out there chest. There was little to no time yet that moment had felt as if it lasted forever. A moment for them as they both realized, the moment that chair shattered, Steve was leading them to either the elevator or death. Clyde had no time to think at that moment he chose to commit himself to whatever Steve needed.

CRACK!!!

The table shattered and splintered off around the stoned white wall of the church next to the tower. Clyde looked down the ladder. Immediately the undead beneath them started to waddle there way out of the small space. Clyde waved at Steve, signaled an "ok" to him. Steve saw Clyde started to grab the top of the ladder, implying that he was going to climb down. Steve signaled him not to. Clyde hesitated, then stopped moving, giving Steve and annoyed and aggravated glare. Steve then pointed over the railing of the tower. pointing directly on the roof of the cabin next to them, opposite to where Steve threw the table. Clyde looks to where he points and gave Steve a look. It was as clear as day that Clyde already regretted following this plan. Steve knew he would.

Steve took the few amounts of steps he could make, back and then ran forward and lept past the railing. Steve's legs were side by side as they swept over and he started falling. This felt a bit scary at first. Everything inside him was lifted from the inertia of his fall. He did not fall straight down. He was a bit over the roof of the cabin. He then shifted his legs a bit forward, making sure the first thing that would touch the roof would be his feet. His feet then touched the roof, with ease. He tucked in and rolled into his landing. It did not make too much noise, so no decaying ears heard him.

He stood up to see Clyde, once again. He stared at Steve. Confused and angry. He knew he had to do the same thing. It was clear by now, it was too much of a risk to go down the ladder. Too much time would be wasted and the zombies would probably head back to the tower by then. The plan was clear to Clyde, at this point, except a simple factor was not known to Steve when he had made this plan. Clyde does not like high places. Sure, the tower was a very tall place, but it was literally the only safe spot in the simulation. Jumping out of the highest spot in the simulation to another area significantly lower was a bit jarring for Clyde. He's a big boy, though. He simply reenacted how Steve had done it. Get a running start from a five by five-foot space, jump out of that space and drop down twenty feet to a relatively old and delicate roof... Simple

Clyde then did as such. He took three steps back, then bolted forward. He swept his feet over the rail. He then let inertia and gravity lead the rest of the way. He did not move fast enough. Steve's leap was significantly faster than Clyde's jump. They both could tell... Clyde would not make the jump. Almost immediately, Clyde started to fall straight down. The gap between the cabin and the tower had a tiny wooden fence, probably designed to hold chicken near the cabin. The fence was damaged and spiked. If Clyde fell on that, he would die.

Steve acted fast. He ran to Clyde in his fall. Steve timed it perfectly and tackled Clyde, mid-air. The tackle broke the speed of the fall and pushed them both out of the way of the fence and fell next to it. Steve was under Clyde, using himself as a pad to break Clyde's fall. Clyde was heavier then he looked. All of his weight pummeled Steve's belly and left him Gasping and coughing. Clyde stood up, clearly in fine condition but Stared at Steve as if the pain he was feeling at that moment was well deserved. His coughing echoed, which made them both covered his mouth out of fear of the undead hearing Steve. Clyde's eyes stared into Steve's, giving this look of sheer fear and hesitation. The look showed everything that drifted in his head. The thought of killing Steve there and then, just to be able to escape the simulation more easily. He then hesitated to even dare to do it. Whatever reason it was, Clyde slowly removed his hand from Steve's mouth and left the top of Steve.

Clyde stood and glared at Steve. "Thank you for breaking my fall," Clyde said softly and quietly. His teeth were gritted as he spoke. Steve breathed heavily as he nodded to Clyde. The guy was stubborn, having him thank someone let alone someone inhuman must be just the worst for his pride.

Steve stood up after him and rubbed his chest and the stinging sensation soon left him and felt normal again. This healing factor over his body was a bit scary for Steve. The conception of being able to heal over something potentially fatal for someone normal made him want to think that he is indestructible, but the pain before the healing proved he is still mortal. something too sudden to fast could easily kill him. That, or will take a lot longer to heal and will hurt longer too. Steve took a deep breath before he turned to see if they heard him at all. There was nothing coming from the corner of the tower.

Steve signaled him to move forward to the right path that led to the back yard. Clyde nods and ran on. Soon after, Steve followed, keeping himself about two to three meters behind Clyde as they ran ahead to the path that was reaching the elevator. a fork in the path was met and an undead person was standing at the other end of it. It saw Clyde pass its decaying self, and began to groan and waddle forward and stumbles onto Steve as he passed by. The dead fingers clenched and the groans turned into a gurgling mess of yelling and barking. Steve gasped unsure how to react. He shoved his hands on the shoulders of the moving dead, thinking that could keep the dead mouth away from him. The zombie's head turned towards Steve's arm and immediately tried to dig its teeth down on him. That moment the stinking decaying head had blown a gaping hole revealing so much of its dead innards. A gunshot from Clyde's gun left the zombie slumped over as it fell to the ground.

Steve's face was pelted in green and red chunks of inner liquid, much from the debris of the gunshot. it left a rather unpleasant expression from Steve, as he attempted to keep in the bile from leaving his stomach. He slowly turned to Clyde revealing the mucky mess that had been bestowed upon Steve's gorgeous face. The mess gave Clyde such a satisfied grin. He then ran to the elevator. Steve shivered as he wiped the aged skin and flesh off of his face as he then followed Clyde.

They both reached the elevator and pressed the down button. Both panted and was in sheer shock to how easy that was. They both stared at each other. The moment they both saw each other unscathed, they chuckled and giggled to such an achievement, but their joy was suddenly shriveled the moment they had heard a groan, then another, and another. They both slowly turned their heads. The path that they had ignored, that led to the center of the village revealed a crowd of at the very least twenty, maybe thirty of the undead viral freaks that would waddle to them with excitement and hunger. Steve's eyes had widened at the crowd and quickly mashed his index finger upon the button. An action that clearly makes no sense since an elevator does not move faster upon the number of times the button was pressed. Some simple-minded part of his head thought it would make the industrial elevator get to them faster.

Soon after, the big metallic square rose up and reached the ground that they were on. Clyde instantly lept to the elevator and Steve soon followed. Clyde pressed the Down button firmly and the ground under the shook as it slowly started to lower. It was not fast enough. The dead were about to get to them. They stood there and stared at the crowd of groaning bodies as they slowly walk, slump, and waddled their way to Steve and Clyde. Both boys checked their guns. They had no ammo left. Clyde Growled in irritation and pulled out a combat knife that he had hidden under the strap of pants. He stood there prepared to die from zombies falling onto him as they reached a level under. The moment the elevator was lowered past the ground of simulation a metal grate fence then slid closing off the passage between them and the zombies from above. The moment the fence closed the zombies growled loudly as they all fell to their knees, huddling up to one another, shaking the gate violently and angrily as they visually begged for their bellies to be filled.

Steve stared up at the monsters crying hard and upset that he and Clyde had gotten away. Before Steve could even say anything to Clyde, Clyde shoved the MAC10 he was using onto Steve. "Like I said before. Don't shove me into this again," Clyde said with a grumble of exhaustion. Steve gave a chuckle and nodded as he grabbed the gun off Clyde.

Steve had noticed Clyde being winded, again. Like at the tower. This, to Steve just confirmed even more than the virus in him is helping him stay sharp. That and how he had lept from tower to roof with little to no problem, yet an ex Spec Op had failed so gloriously right behind him. This virus has cursed away fifteen years of his, life yet had gifted him several new attributes to his physical health, maybe even mental health. More time to experiment, now that he and Clyde survived their idiocy.

Once Clyde had caught his breath, he spoke up once more. "For a dumb kid with no knowledge on the SimGym, or how to use a gun, OR on formulating an escape plan for two... You did a pretty damn good job for your first try," the smallest of a smile had grown from Clyde's expression when he looked over to Steve. Steve was a bit shocked once again. To hear those words come from, what he thought was a close-minded, jarhead.

"Thank you... Clyde," Steve said a bit coldly.

The moment the elevator had reached the ground floor, both boys saw a person stood from afar. Ada glared at the two of them as if she was a mother ready to scold her youngest boys. Her glare was mostly towards Clyde, to which Clyde had a bit of a scared and submissive look, playing the role ever so perfectly. Steve just had a simple puzzled look. He really did not grasp the situation at hand.

Ada spoke. "How did you two survive the hardest level?" Steve's eyes then widened as he heard the words, the hardest level. Steve's head slowly turned, giving the exact glare to Clyde that Ada was giving.

"Hardest level, huh?" Steve said aloud. Ada's glare got worse as she heard Steve's statement.

"Wait," Ada paused before continuing. "You didn't even let him know he was going into the hardest level?" It was not that difficult to see, Clyde was about to be in big trouble.