Beyond the Walls

Troublesome

“Sir. they are slowing down.” A man on a headset facing a monitor showing a bird's eye view of two vehicles going slower and eventually stopping in one corner of a ruined town.

“Keep an eye on them.” Macord said and turned to another man.

“How is transport?” He asked.

“On track sir. It will arrive in approximately two hours and eighteen minutes.” The man replied.

“Good. Keep it steady and tell them to keep their distance… they are a bunch of hell of headache individuals.” He lowered his voice as he looked at the screen. Seeing one by one Gabrielle’s group getting out.

The sun was setting when the squad pulled in one corner and scouted the surroundings.

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

Alexa, Addington and Apollo confirmed and went back. Though scouting is a little easier since most of the neighbourhood is destroyed. They parked the vehicles in opposite directions but still within their sight.

“Are we going to sleep inside?” Xian asked as if he was complaining about the cramped solo space at the back space.

“Do you wish to risk outside?” Alexa sarcastically answered.

“...? Ah. Yeah. Undeads. I thought we were going to see some houses and settled into one of them… Can’t we do that? I mean it’s safer to go together isn't it?”

Alexa looked at Gabrielle who was looking at Xian through the mirror.

“I need a smoke.” Alexa went down and gestured for Gabrielle to follow.

“I’ll join you.”

“Huh? I’m going to be alone here?”

“Lock the doors.” Gabrielle said.

“Wai--”

*Bam

“What is that?”

“His father was the community leader when the apocalypse had happened. He has been a ‘Waller’ ever since.”

“Dumb people like that are the first to get killed, outside the walls. He is too sheltered, just like any Inner Waller.”

“...” She can’t refute any of Alexa’s words because it’s all true. They both look inside the jeep and can see Xian looking around boredly. He is smart but a coward and it makes him stupid at time like this. Unaware of the dangers in the surrounding.

Though he claimed to have seen several newly turned undeads and didn’t panic at the sight of it, his clueless attitude contradicts it all.

“Gabe. He is dead weight and you know that. We gotta send him back, before he drags all of us.”

“... I need him to solve this puzzle fast.”

“You are playing with fire Gabe… We both know that sacrifices are sometimes necessary.”

“Are you saying these missing citizens might be a necessary sacrifice?”

“That’s not what I am saying. It can be as simple as a missing accident or they climbed down the wall for their best interest. We’ve seen it all…”

“Shh.” Gabrielle immediately reached for her gun and still closed the flashlight.

It alerted Alexa and immediately hushed and reached for her gun.

“What is it?” Alexa said in a very low whispered voice.

“I heard something opening…”

With the dark surrounding there is a limit to how well they can see so Gabrielle put on her single night vision spectacle and throws the other one to Alexa who is watching her back.

Watching from above is a drone silently blending in the night sky and a couple other places in different angles.

“Sir, the targets were alerted.”

Macord grimaced and asked “What about the cargo?”

“It has been fully opened and released.”

“Tell him to close the doors and get out there now…”

“Yes sir… Mission Complete, get out of there.” The man at his desk replied to the order.

On his monitor, it shows a live video of a transport truck with an open door slowly closing and with lights off, turns to leave.

“Show the targets.” At Macord’s orders the video of Gabrielle and Alexa was shown again.

*Bzzz Bzzz

“What is it?” Addington’s serious voice called to the radio.

Though both girls heard it from the ear piece, they didn’t say anything and concentrated on scanning the surroundings.

*Shiiing

Gabrielle raised her gun and pointed in the direction where her peripheral vision caught something running.

“Something is here…” Alexa said in her radio after catching a split second glimpse of another one.

“It’s fast and running on all fours.” She added

“The smell?” Addington asked.

“Nothing. Can you see anything on your side?” Gabrielle answered.

“Nothing… Woah woah, Xian is getting out of the car.”

Gabrielle and Alexa make sharp turns at the location of their car and see Xian is already out.

“That dumbass!” Alexa cursed, gritting her teeth.

As if the moment had been in slow motion, Alexa is shaking her head and rounding her mouth as it tries to stop it and Gabrielle curses before she too tries to stop it.

*Bam

Xian pushed the jeep’s door to close.

“f**k!” Alexa and Gabrielle give identical reactions.

“I’ll cover. Go!” Gabrielle said but Alexa is already running towards Xian.

*Thud thud thud thud

Multiple incoming running sounds come in.

“UWARGHHHHH!” A loud animalistic sound came out one of the destroyed walls just a metre distance from the jeep. It dawned on Alexa's side, taking her away.

*Bang Bang Bang

No time to put silencer, the gun shot was loud in the empty streets. Gabrielle tried to shoot the undead that took Alexa away towards the inside of the crumbled structure. With walls hindering her sight, even her night vision can’t help her determine the situation.

There was no shout nor gunshots coming from Alexa’s side too.

“Go back inside to the car now!” She has no time to deliberate, she immediately spotted three more undeads closing in.

Xian, who was too shocked, came to be and shakingly reached for the back seat door.

*Growl

A stench of breath came to Xian’s cheek as an undead was too close to him, a forehead taller than him with a blackened mouth and red bloodied eye with scarring deep stitched face.

“Ahh!” Xian froze in place.

*Bang

A perfect headshot ended the undead.

Xian loses the strength on his limbs when another one is jumping to above him, He backed out more. “Ahhh!!” He shouted with all his might before passing out.

The undead died as a bullet passed through it’s temples.

Finishing a blow and retrieving her blade, Gabrielle looked at the direction of the bullet coming through, with her night vision she could see a figure sitting comfortably on top of the jeep.

The drone focused on that man’s figure.

[Adam Addington, 48, Former Special Force Member. Resident of Wall 30. Specialty: Excellent Marksman.]

“Duck.” Adam Addington calmly said in his radio as he watched Gabrielle on the scope of his sniper gun.

*Swish

Gabrielle didn’t duck, instead she swung her sickle short sword to her back and sliced the neck of the undead, it didn’t totally come off now the head is hanging weirdly.

*Bang

Adam killed it, almost grazing Gabrielle’s arm.

*Clap clap clap

“That’s my girl.” Alexa showed up with a messed up hair, all bloody and carrying a bolo.

“...”

“Your posture is just wrong, that’s why you didn’t cut it in one go. You should go like this... put the force in your...”

As Alexa demonstrated the proper posture in swinging a weapon, Gabrielle pretended to be listening.

Looking behind the very chatty woman are four undead bodies lying. All with severed heads.

She never doubted that this woman before was endangered, she was confident that those levels cannot kill this woman.

Afterall, she is the former Captain of Renaissance Force and her mentor.

“I will be taking him.” A man's voice came that made two of them jump and gripped their weapons.

“Can you at least make a sound, Apollo?” Alexa said, relaxing her shoulders.

Apollo looks in another direction as if he doesn’t want to promise while Gabrielle is staring at him. In his arms is the currently passed out Xian Lee.

She went and checked Xian’s condition and for bite marks.

“He is clean. I checked.” Apollo said. It made Gabrielle for different reasons.

“When did you get in here?” She asked.

Both cars were parked on different sides but facing each other and for this man to cross the distance without her noticing, what did he do?

“Did you go around?”

“Yes.” Apollo short answered and walked past them.

Watching him leave, both women gave him a scrutinising look as they turned around and walked to their jeep.

“Did you see him?”

“Nope.” Alexa immediately answered.

“How did you find that guy anyway?”

“I didn’t find him. He found me.”

*Click

On the other jeep, on the wheels already is Adam. “That was fast, Dude. You should've joined the military with that skill.”

*Bam

Not answering Adam, Apollo closed the back seat door after he let down Xian.

Going around, he stopped midway and turned at the mostly destroyed second floor a few metres away.

*Hikkk

The soldier watching them from the screen gasped reflexively as if he had been spotted.

“What is it?”

“Ah… It’s nothing sir, … it’s just that I thought he spotted the camera.”

Putting it on the screen, the soldiers had seen Apollo intently looking straight at them before he fixed his coat and climbed inside the car.

It generated mutterings and small talk about it.

[Apollo Victorwood. 29. Resident of Wall 61. Occupation: Blacksmith [...] ]

“How can a simple blacksmith find out about the camera…It must be pure luck…”

One after another agreed but Macord.