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"Oi, Alex." Gabriel said, growing anxious, "C'mon, mate, get back from there. We need to move."

Gabriel was surprised to find himself recalling that, not all that long ago, he would have happily let this moping individual die, perhaps even have taken pleasure in it. But now something was screaming out at him, demanding that he save Alex. Because he was his friend. Not his leader, nothing like that. But his friend. And for the first time in his life Gabriel believed that this friend was worth saving.

"Fine, if you won't save yourself." he said, with a sudden narrowing of the eyes and a gritting of the teeth, "Guess it's my job to do it for you."

He moved rapidly across the floor to where Alex had dropped the chainsaw and picked it up in both hands. He'd used the device before, and had no qualms about doing so again. Rushing to the far wall, he slammed the plug into the socket and raced back to Alex's position, standing behind him like his shadow.

"Hurry up and grow a pair." he remarked, pulling the cord on the side of the machine and letting the raw of the saw fill his ears. The first zombie came slowly into range.

With a cry Gabriel lunged forwards, sticking the spinning blade of the saw as far into the first of his foes as he could. It met little resistance, cutting through
skin and organ and bursting out the other side in a shower of blood, drenching the zombies behind it. With an upward pull, the saw was freed and the head of his enemy fell from its ravaged shoulders, splitting on the ground like a watermelon. With that one out of the way, Gabriel could easily see the extent of their... infestation. The horde stretched back to the ends of the car park, a good eighty yards from their position. It was as if all of Halton and its surrounding villages had come together for a big undead party, with the three of them as the snacks. He should have been scared, something inside him commented, but Gabriel just smiled a thin smile and set upon the next of his foes.

"Fireworks?" Gabriel yelled above the drone of his weapon, "Not exactly the time of year for that, is it? Sorry to say this but all flammable stuff got swiped in the initial looting. For fuel, y'know?"

He mauled the arms off another one before taking a further glimpse outside.

"We can't go anywhere with him" (he gestured at Alex with the thumb of his left hand) "acting like that. We'll need him thinking straight if we're to get out."

With another thrust forward, the armless (Gabriel almost chuckled) zombie collapsed to the floor, trailing blood. A pair of zombies behind it slipped in the entrails, falling face first but still grabbing out for Gabriel's legs. They were quickly dispatched.

Jenny swore loudly, getting desperate she asked, “D’you have a f** lighter then?” she’d have to be careful but she could make it, “Why the hell should we care about him, he’s given up, he’s pretty much one of them now.” One of them grabbed her wrist and she yelled before punching him in the face and caving it in. The grip slackened but she didn’t notice as she had already moved onto her next victim.

She thought she heard something moving outside and nearly laughed, of course there was something moving outside, the hoards were out there.

I took the full force of the blow, and in my semi-comatose state I lacked the strength to stay standing. I fell to the floor, crying out despite myself, and made no move to get back up again.

"Th-this isn't where I belong." I whimpered, turning my face away from the accusing expressions of my friends, "I'm better off dead."

Looking back, that's not what I really felt. Seeing Mary's death had affected me more than I'd imagined it would, and I didn't want to repeat that experience. I must have thought that, by standing still and not acknowledging anybody else, I wouldn't have to see someone I felt the need to protect fall away from me.

I shuddered, as if I felt the cold, and curled up tight on the floor.

“Look, Gabriel, I saw a pile of compressed flour all in their little paper bags over there.” She yelled at him whilst cutting anything in reach, “If you can get them to catch fire it won’t be just a little whoosh of flame, this whole place will explode. If we can get them in here and find some way to get a fuse on the flour, we can escape. If not one of us sacrifices themselves and blows this whole place to hell, undead retards and all.”

The head rolled off another zombie with a fresh burst of blood, she was almost surrounded completely now, there was too many of them for she and Gabriel to hold off for long. “If we can’t find a fuse, I reckon this pillock should do it,” She said aiming a kick in Alex’s direction, “He doesn’t seem inclined to do much else.” Another zombie dropped to the floor, “Oh, and we’re gonna have to set it up soon or else we’ll never get out.”

"There was someone," I admitted, my voice barely a whisper, "but she died right in front of me. What's the use of finding someone if you can't help them?"

I looked up into Gabriel's eyes, feeling like a child trying to explain my logic to a grownup who I knew full well was right.

"I don't have anyone else, save you guys. And we're all going to die right here, aren't we?" I smiled, no longer caring how it looked or what the future held, up at the zombie army. Then it sank suddenly, and my eyes widened, as I caught a glimpse, not far off, of a uniformed figure walking slowly towards the opposite end of the zombies, gun held high. Something in their eyes...

"I-it can't be..." I stammered, the colour returning to my eyes in one quick flash, "Elise... Elise!" I cried out, taking a step foward, eyes on my sister, who I hadn't seen in... oh, how long? It, like many many things, didn't matter to me.