Chapter 11

Four vehicles made their way to the first post which was a cabin that people can rent that has guides to take them up the mountain.

Monroe parked the van then shook his head looking at the tires then looked over at Lia and Taylor who walked up with their rifles while shining a flashlight around.

" Monroe I thought you said that your company hired guides for the next town over senior students" Barnes said getting out of his pick up truck looking over at the cabin.

" they did maybe they already went to another post " Monroe said telling the others to stay in the vehicles.

" ok Monroe you check the front while I go to the shed to see if we can get the generator going, Lia you and Taylor come with me to watch my back " Barnes said then look over at the two men who walked up to them, he pointed to their families in the vehicles.

" you two watch them in case others that are not those crazies come to take our stuff " Barnes said smiling at his wife who nods her head while gripping her handgun tightly looking out the window.

" wait I think we already have company " Lia said pointing at someone who is leaving against a tree, they walk slowly to the person but when they shine the light his way they were surprised to see over a dozen of those things hidden behind the man and the tree.

" shit that's one of our guides...their infected take head shots " Monroe said taking the first shot when a woman runs toward them, they all started firing at the infected when Monroe was tackled by a big bear like man who kept snapping his jaws at Monroe who held him up by his neck.

" hold on " Barnes said as Lia kicked the man in the head to get him off of Monroe then she put the gun to its head and pulled the trigger.

" did it bite you " Lia asked looking around Monroe's face and neck making sure he didn't have bite wounds on him.

They heard the horn coming from one of their vehicles and when they looked back it was surrounded with twenty of those things with the two boys now safely locked inside the truck.

" more are coming " Taylor said loading the shotgun again, she shoots at a few that's gathered making them fall back with buck shot holes in their midsections.

" Barnes let's clear these out " Monroe said pulling out his handgun taking head shots at the ones coming from behind them while the girls were clearing the ones coming from around the vehicles.

" Zack drive the truck closer to the house, Anne do the same stay as close as you can to the porch " Barnes said looking over at the infected, they heard someone shout from down the road and seen four men with back packs jogging their way.

" don't come over here...these things will kill you " Taylor said taking another shot at one of the infected that was running toward Lia.

" stop shooting them what the hell is wrong with you " one man said who was wearing eye glasses when six of the infected that were near the van ran towards the four tackling the man with glasses. One takes a bite from the man's face while his friend was trying to put one in a headlock receiving a bite on his forearm, both men started screaming and the other infected ran towards them.

" Run " Lia shouted taking several headshots, Barnes went over to the house opening the door and quickly checked the rooms.

" Alex gets them all inside grab those two back packs " Barnes said ushering them from the van and truck inside, Lia backed up looking over at Monroe.

" Taylor go inside while Monroe and I get the generator started " Lia said as she watches the others go inside the cabin, Monroe ran to the shed with Lia behind him and they poured the last jug of gas inside the generator then started it.

" Hurry...they're coming" Taylor said from the side door watching the infected running toward them, the two boys that were recently killed by those things was running fast making Taylor take a shot at one but it only grazed his head. It turned looking at her then snarled making her eyes go wide when he started running on all fours.

" Holy shit " Monroe said shooting the thing hitting it on the side knocking it over while Lia shot the other one hitting its chest.

They made it inside and Barnes checked all the windows making sure all the wooden shutters were closed and locked.

" did you see that one run all on fours " Lia said looking over at her sister who was giving her mom a bottle of water, if the woman didn't see these things with her own eyes she would never have believed it.

" Mom, you need to rest while we're here and I'm pretty sure once we started firing out weapons those things started coming out from all around us, I thought we would be in the clear on this mountain and I'm guessing others thought that maybe some was already infected then turning the ones they were with" Alex said looking out a crack they put in one of the shutters, Zack walked over with a hand held cb radio in his hand.

" maybe we can see if other survivors are close or maybe listen to what's going on " Zack said turning it on then doing a search through the channels when they heard a woman's voice on the radio.

" They are attracted to sound....don't use...guns unless you have to " The message said over the radio causing the others to look surprised.

" well now we know they came after the shots and those men screaming attracted them " Monroe said taking a drink of coffee he just made, he looked over at the children who was sitting on the couch and he pulled out a deck of cards waving them over for a game of go fish.

" well if it wasn't for those boys I dought we would have gotten everyone inside...what happened to the other two" Taylor said smiling at the kids who were enjoying their game together.

" they ran into the woods..well we'll rest tonight then everyone needs to be as quiet as we can do some of these things disperse and if not I guess one of us will have to draw them away until we get everyone safely inside the cars" Barnes said looking over at the other two vehicles they'll need to take since they can't take the van now, Lia nodded her head in agreement.

" I'll think of a way we can do that " Lia said looking over at an old cd player sitting on the counter then smiles at Taylor knowing exactly how to do that.

" I'm going to try the CB to see if anyone knows what's really going on, I'm sure everyone is on guard right now so asking for help is out of the question so I'll just try to share some info about myself plus what we've seen so far " Alex said smiling while sitting down.

" My name is Alex...I'm not asking for someone to help or for anything except some info on these things and what we need to do to survive...Ill first share with you all about a newly infected that ran on all four limbs and actually showing signs of anger when it dodged a bullet from hitting its head.." Alex said when he heard a woman's voice on the radio.

" it actually showed an emotion...it ran like an animal that is weird to say the least, well from what I learned they are attracted to sound, smell and lastly sight so we are at a big disadvantage. If what you're saying is true make sure to not underestimate them since they're showing some intelligence, hell they might be able to open doors soon or make surprise attacks" Tai said over the radio sitting at a window on the second floor watching the grey clouds over head, That night she got to know Alex pretty well and they both shared personal things about each other.

When morning came she kept glancing at the radio and then picked it up.

" Alex I'm going to let you know how to move up the mountain to get to post four, my group will be here for a while to wait out this storm. If you're at the post one there should be a trail map on the wall that will show you where I'm at, I can try to head halfway down to meet you but be careful of others especially two men who use children to trap innocent people...He did have a group of a dozen but now they only have two men and one boy...." Tai said sighing since she's breaking one of her rules for a new friend she just made.

" That's great news Tai we will head out in a minute and I'll be on this channel if you need me but I don't want you to risk your safety to meet us, from what I seen on the map it'll take us a couple of days to get where your at that is if we take only a few breaks...I'll let you know when we're headed that way and be careful Tai " Alex said as everyone packed up any useful supplies from the cabin but left some things in case someone else needed help.

" Ok everyone be ready by the door, when Zack and Lia tell us to go...you all keep your eyes open and get inside the vehicles, Monroe check the cars before getting inside in case one of those things managed to get inside " Barnes said looking back at Alex and Taylor who was at the side door with the radio.

" ok when the music starts to blast make sure nothing stays behind, they all should run to the noise but be careful just in case " Lia said nodding her head at Alex who patted Taylor's back while she slowly opened the door, she runs over in the nearby trees setting the CD player down and Alex gave her the go ahead so she pushed play with the volume turned all the way up.

" come on Taylor " Alex said looking at a bunch of those infected heading toward the music, Taylor ran back inside while Lia watched the last infected run around the house.

" move out " Lia said looking around while the others check the vehicles and loaded everyone inside, they quickly drive to where they have the SUVs parked so Lia and Zack check inside plus quickly load everyone into the two vehicles while throwing the supplies in the back of the truck.

" WAIT PLEASE HELP US !" a man shouted and Lia looked back at the infected that ran on all fours that was now watching them as if they were prey.

" he's bitten we can't help you....let's move out, here the van can give you cover and there's a bag that has some stuff. I'm telling you now if one of you was bitten you'll be like your two friends " Lia said hopping inside the driver seat after tossing the man keys to the van, he quickly drags his friend inside the van while he hopped inside to and the infected quickly swarmed the van.

" Shit hold on Lan I'll get us out of here " he said looking over at his friend, he had to cover his nose since they were in a closed off space.

" that smell is bad...hold on they left some medicine and I'll do your wounds " He said when he noticed his friends breathing is getting shallow, he noticed how the infected wasn't paying attention to his friend moving to his side of the vehicle.

" Shit...shit " he said starting the van and slowly turns on the road trying to follow where the other cars went, he turned to look at his friend who has now stopped breathing.

" Lan come on stay with me " he said when he heard a loud groan from his friend who quickly sat up making all of his bones creak and he quickly grabbed his friend's neck when he lunged toward him.

" Lan stop please " he said when he accidentally pushed the gas pedal speeding up when the van went off the side of the road hitting a tree making Lan go through the windshield while he was dizzy from being hit by an airbag.

The boy fell out from the van landing on his knees and trying to stop the blood from coming from a gash on his forehead, He heard a low growl and turned to see his friend from earlier standing on all fours while drool was dropping from his mouth.

" Shit " he said before standing to run away which wasn't really fast since he now had injuries from the wreck, he felt a weight land on his back making him fall face first on the ground then felt a pain from being bit on the back of his neck.

The creature backed off after giving the man his bite then walked back over to the van window sniffing the dead man hanging out from it.

It snaked then ran away on all fours down the road where the other cars went, he barely managed to crawl back to the van sitting inside while his body felt like it was on fire.

" I guess I'll be like my friends now " he said looking at his friend's lower body that was still inside the van when its leg started to twitch followed by the rest of its body. The man stared at the convulsing body when he heard flesh rip while he watched his back move up and down like something was trying to get out of the flesh.

He gasped out when he seen a small claw like hand ripped out from it's back, it looked like it had greyish toned skin with some sort of scales on its tiny arms.

" what the hell " he said when he watched something with an elongated head with long ears push through, it looked to be only a couple of feet long then he noticed a long tail that had some kind of needle like thing on the end of its tail.

The creature looked at the man then hissed as it crawled through the broken window putting its face close to his, he noticed it had four sets of irises inside it's two eyes and he flinched when it opened it's jaws that split on the bottom making two with rolls of razor sharp teeth. The creature then slid it's claw of four across his face leaving gashes behind making the man groan out in pain, he could swear that he saw a delighted look on the things face before it ran off as its tail whipped back and forth in the air.

Lia sighed while driving looking back in the mirror for any sign of the van, she knew his friend was infected and there was no way they would risk their family by bringing them both.

" Lia we don't even know if he was bitten as well, I dought he would of left the other man...at least you gave them supplies and the van so they could make it down to safety or at least as far up as the van would have made it" Taylor said rubbing her thumb in circles on Lias shoulder, She looked back to see Lukas little sister and mother sleeping with Barnes children and wife.

Alex picked up the radio to try and reach his friend he made in the radio while he looked at the map he took from the cabin, they noticed a tree across the road so they stopped to check the map.

Monroe picked up his radio inside the truck waving back at the other cars who also had one since it was the sheriffs vehicles.

" theres a trail that has a rougher road but it should take us straight to post four " Monroe said looking to the left where the trail is located, he looked over at the tree trunk and noticed that it seemed to have been cut down.

" it seems either someone is trying to block us from the next post or setting us up to go into a trap, I want everyone to keep their heads down as much as possible while on this trail.

" keep your guns ready just in case and Alex let your friend know that we might see her by the morning if we take no breaks and using these SUVs instead of ATVs will take us longer since we need to move slower.

" Tai we have to take trail 302 since we can't go on to post 2 " Alex said waiting for Tais reply and after a few minutes he heard the radio squak.

" Alex just be careful it seems we have a lot of infected up on the mountain...I don't know how or where they're coming from plus keep a look out for two men plus a small teen they'll kill you all to take the women with your things....be careful Alex do not drop your guard " Tai said when Ali was leaning against the doorframe listening, she walked inside the room then closed the door.

" your going to go meet them on the trail aren't you " Ali said making Tai frown, she expected Hino to be mad but not Ali.

" yes I'm going by myself, I need the others to be here in case those things or men try something....Alex told me about how some newly turned was acting different like one running on all fours plus showing aggression with them...hell it even avoided a shot to its head so something is going on with them so make sure the doors are locked and all the windows, don't think they're just mindless things anymore." Tai said picking up Ali's bow gun then looking over at the bow that Ali brought as well.

" to keep the noise down we will use the bows and we will collect the arrows if and when we can " Tai said handing the bow gun over to Ali who smiles while taking it.

" well I'll keep my bow gun while you'll take the bow " Ali said handing her the bow plus a half box of arrows that had fifty arrows inside.

Ali pulled Tai in for a kiss then smiles leaning her forehead against Tais, she then stepped back and walked over to the door and when she opened it they seen Len, Calista, Lillian and Hino standing there.

" Tai...I know you won't listen and you'll go find those people even if I think you shouldn't, but you need to take someone with you so you'll have someone to watch your back. I know I need to stay so choose someone that can come with you also I want you to keep us updated, more than likely that man will see you as an easier target than our large group so be careful. I'm Having Six load your jeep with supplies as we speak, hell it's the end of the world I guess we need to have people to start a new with right. " Hino said as Tai pulled her in for a kiss and a tight hug, while the other girls glare at her.

" keep them safe Hino and keep yourself safe, I'll be back by tomorrow night " Tai said as, Lillian walked over to her with the other three as well with their arms crossed.

" I'm coming with you " they all said at once making Hino roll her eyes while she seen Joe ease dropping so she pulled her out from behind the door.

" Joe don't even think about it, plus your my second who will help me keep the others safe if you plan on going with Tai....she trusts you so that's why I made you my second and need you to help monitor the cameras with me " Hino said making Tai smile seeing how good she is with Joe, she walks over then picked Joe up.

" well you've got a big promotion Joe so I need you to look out for them while I'm gone, plus out of those four ladies I need you to pick one to go with me " Tai said making the others look at her confused, Joe smiles saying ennie, Minnie, miney, moe that lands on Ali who high fives Joe while the little girl laughs.

" so not fair " Lillian said but smiles at the little girl then patted her head, Tai pulled out .38 with a box of Ammo.

" while I'm gone when your not busy helping Hino or Winter I want you to learn how to handle this...now we won't be able to let you fire off any rounds cause of the noise but I want you to know this weapon inside and out before I return. You are not to leave Winter or Gino's side for anything ok " Tai said giving Joe a firm look making the girl nod her head in agreement.

Ali got dressed wearing a bullet proof vest and a black clothes like Tais.

" be careful Ali we will be waiting for you " Lillian said as she hugged her then Len and Calista who then all hugged them one by one then walked out carrying her bow gun in hand while she had her rifle sling on her shoulder with a Glock in its holster then a .38 on her ankle.

Tai looked over the weapons and Ammo inside plus other nessities for their travel, Winter and Hino was watching the surroundings when she spotted the two men watching Tai leave so she radioed Tai from her ear piece.

" it seems they're going to follow you then, they have a busted up four wheeler it seems to be on it's last leg " Winter said as she watches them head down the mountain driving recklessly.

" where's the boy " Tai said driving down the trail at a slow pace to give them time to get further away, she looked over at Ari who kept gripping her gun tight.

" he's not with them..I bet they stashed the boy somewhere knowing how you noticed the one man looked and cared for him." Hino said over the ear piece then looked over the screens she set up on a large TV I. the living room.

" Joe take those big binoculars that's on that tripod and view each section of that forest until each timer goes off" Hino said as Joe nods her head then does what she said since those are high powered lens that's also hooked to the computer that will mark any living or non living thing that it'll come across except for trees and plants that all will be marked with what they are also the locations of each thing.

" I see a cave, oh wait there is an old shed over a dozen Mike's out that has one heat signature and it seems one cold which means the boy is with an infected" Winter said as she watches her screen after two hours of scanning the forest.

" good job Joe now keep doing what your doing...Brax you and the other two need to head to this location but don't risk your lives if you can't save him but if you do then check him good for a bite mark just in case that sick son of a bitch wants us to bring him in for him to change while with us." Hino said as the three men pull out three dirt bikes from a shed, they smile then each get on one.

" ok these are alot quieter than a normal bike so we do not need to worry about the sound " Six said while smiling, Brax shakes his head then looked toward the direction they need to go.

" it's electric well beggers can't be choosers " Brax said nodding at Olivia who rolled her eyes, he then took lead while Olivia followed second with Six behind her.

It took them another hour until reaching the shed where they spotted a few infected banging on the door.

" take them out with the bow guns " Olivia said taking the first shot followed but the others killing the infected, after a couple minutes the door opened revealing the small boy who tried to run back inside but Six grabbed him tying his hands behind his back.

" it's ok boy we're here to help you " Olivia said as Six walked in the shed seeing the other boy thrashing around, he looked closely at the boy noticing something moving under his skin and he quickly backed away when thousands of worm like creatures started coming out of his flesh.

" get that tank off the bike quickly " Six said as Brax Gabe him the small jug of gas to which hie poured out throwing the jug inside then throws down a lit match when they heard thousands of small screeches and popping sounds coming from the fire.

" was you near that boy inside " Six said walking closer to the young boy with his hand gun out, the boy falls back tripping on his own feet.

" no-no I didn't go near him, I was going to leave but those things showed up " the boy stuttered out while Six helped him up, then helped him on his bike then gets on in front of him.

They pulled up to the cabin with Joe watching them on the screen and listening to what they're saying, they was cleaning out the trailer then setting up bedding plus a heater.

" he'll stay here until we know he's not infected...Six since you seen those things and was close to them set up a tent on top of the trailer since you'll need to be in isolation as well. Don't worry we will watch for any infected coming close to you all...I'm sorry Six " Hino said as the boy went into the trailer quickly grabbing some of the food they set for him.

" thank you " he said with a smile then quickly ate the food while Hino smiled at him then they left the two outside, Six sighed then played down on top of his sleeping bag while staring up at the sky.

" Six why did you all come for me " Jr said while flipping through a coloring book they left for him with other things a kid his age might play with.

" well we wanted to help you plus my boss saw how your father was treating you and she knows his kind since her own father was like him so she wanted to save you and give you a better life even though this shits going on at least you'll have a better life " Six said while playing with his knife.

" thank you for helping me, I was planning on leaving and to let your friend know he plans on cutting them off with nails on the road causing them a blow out " Jr said making Six smile.

" Hino let Tai know that the kids father is planning on blowing her tire to get her to stop " Six said over his ear piece.

" hey Six could you ask them to at least try to save the man that's with my father...the older one " Jr said playing with a crayon while a tear slipped from his eye.

" yes if she can " Six said passing on the boy's request, he smiled after hearing Six at least the old man can survive if he gets away from his father.

Night time came while Tai was taking her time watching the road carefully for any parts of the road being disturbed or something that wasn't supposed to be there.

" the boy seems to want away from his father so that's a good sign...those things Six told Hino about, we need to be careful around the infected for now on " Ali said looking ahead while Tai nodded in agreement.

" when can we stop for a small break " Ali said holding Tais leg while smiling when Tai blushed then held Ali's hand.

" Tai that bush is oddly placed...don't you think " Ali said grabbing her rifle then Tai slowed down swerving around the bush going on ahead , She watched in the rear view mirror seeing a man come to the edge of the road waiting for them to go around the curve.

" that's them well let's put some distance between us I'm sure they'll head straight down the mountain at the next bend of the trail " Tai said while they drive another hour then pull off, she gets out placing several different electronics plus cameras on top of the jeep then opens several screens on the dash board that had sensors setting up a perimeter a mile out from the vehicle showing any movement, heat signature or anything that might seem like a threat.

Ali quickly straddles Tais lap and kisses her passionately while grinding against her, a moan slips from her when Tais hands slip down squeezing her ass.

" I've missed you so much Tai I thought I wouldn't see you again.... especially when dad told me about what's going on " Ali said kissing Tai's jawline all the way to her neck where she left a hickey.