Looking Forward, Looking Back.

[golem3]

I don't know about a setup - it might be just a guy that wants the living people to be able to help him clean out his town. I am surprised he hasn't whittled down the dead a bit more though. Maybe he does know why the zombies are milling about his town and doesn't want to admit it. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I have to admit, Frankie did creep me out a bit with the way he was acting and something was a bit off about the way he looked at Dallas. Something didn't seem right with him, but rather than cause trouble and lose the only person who knew the town and could help us, I kept my mouth shut. I did make a few mental notes of his behavior, though. While preparing dinner, Frankie told us about how life was before the zombies showed up. His dad had been mayor of the town at one point and after he retired, he opened up the store. As the others sat around talking and eating the evenings meal, which consisted of MREs that were probably well past their expiration date, I went up to the roof and looked towards the school. Something was drawing zombies from miles away towards it, what it was exactly was still a mystery to me. Frankie thought that maybe the zombies could smell something inside the school, like a shark can smell blood in the water from miles away. Morning came early and it found me sitting on the roof once again. During the night, I watched as a single zombie made its way to the school, only to turn away and head back the way it came from.
"Something's up, guys." I said, walking back into the store.
"What do you mean, Chimpov ? Mike asked.
"Yesterday, I counted twenty five zombies go inside the school and now all of a sudden, they've stopped. Something isn't right." I replied.
"So, do you want to see what the reason behind it is ?" Flynn asked.
"I'd rather not, but we do kind of need to know just what the hell is going on. I mean, we did come all this way to find out, after all." I replied. I split the group up into two teams. Mike, Dallas and I would go inside the school while Frankie and Flynn would cover us from the rooftops. There was a storm brewing on the horizon and it didn't relent for a week. So, thanks to Mother Nature deciding to put a damper on our plans, we spent most of the week inside Frankie's shop, just sitting around talking. Again, I made mental notes regarding Frankie and the way he acted around Dallas. There was just something about this guy that seemed off. The rain finally stopped on a Saturday and that's when I decided that we should check out the school. We made our way through the school, keeping our eyes open for any zombies. It was a bloodbath inside the school. Bodies were everywhere and the stench was overpowering. Dallas dropped to her knees twice and puked up the previous nights dinner. I won''t lie and say that I didn't feel like doing the same, but I managed to keep my lunch from coming back up and got Dallas back on her feet. I radioed Flynn and Frankie, but only got static. We worked our way further into the school and didn't encounter a single zombie. Well, none that were moving anyway. Most of the ones we saw had been shot through the head, presumably by their victims. The few mobile zombies were put down with minimal effort. I have to say firing a weapon in a narrow school hallway left my ears ringing for a bit. I tried to radio Flynn and Frankie again, but once again all I got was static.
"Guys, I'm not liking the sound of this. I've tried radioing Frankie and Flynn three times now and all I'm getting is static. I say we cut this trip short and head back to where they were last." I said.
"Sounds good to me, Chimpov. I'm starting to get the creeps from this place." Mike said.

[Zombie-Writer121]

MOAR? I love it! It's is fantasically written and then suspence is killing me! I can't wait for the next update

[Mr. E. Monkey]

Keep it going, this is good stuff!

[Biggin]

Baaawwww.... I read to the end. Hurry up Chimp.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

We exited the school and I radioed Frankie and Flynn once more. This time I was able to reach them.
"Guys, we didn't find anything in the school aside from dead bodies and few zombies. Something ain't right." I said.
"No kidding, Chimpov. We spotted a large mass of zombies moving out of the south side of the school and some just dropped and didn't move anymore. It's like they died again." Flynn replied.
"Maybe the cold got to them or the virus ran its course." I said.
"Could be, Chimpov. Either way, it's starting to get really weird." Flynn replied.
"Ok, let's meet back at Frankie's shop and figure out what to do next." I said.
"Roger that, Chimpov." Flynn said. The drive back to the shop was uneventful, the three of us just sat in silence wondering just what the hell was going on. We got back to the shop and spent most of the night talking about what the reason behind the way the zombies were acting could be.
" I know I keep saying these things are smart, but what I don't get is we made a ton of noise inside the school and yet we weren't overrun by them. Two months ago, Dallas and I encountered a large mass of these things on a road 75 miles from here. They were attracted to the sound of my truck and damn near overran us. Now I could drive down the street, honking my horn and blaring loud music on the radio and nothing would happen. Something is up with these things and I don't like it." I said.
"I don't like it either, Chimpov, but what the hell can we do ? I mean it's not like we've got any zombie behavior experts here. These things didn't exist six months ago so we have no idea how they operate or even how the hell they're moving or why they attack people." Dallas said. Dallas had a point and I guess I was a bit mad that I didn't have an answer as to why the zombies were doing what they were doing. It frustrated the hell out of me, so I excused myself and went to the roof of the shop.

[jackba]

It is starting off well buddy, keep it going!

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

It is starting off well buddy, keep it going!

Thanks, I will.

I'll be posting the last few parts of the story in the coming days.

I'm glad you all like my story and I really appreciate all the comments.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

"You ok, Chimpov ?" Dallas asked as she followed me to the roof.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Dallas. I'm just a bit frustrated is all." I replied.
"I hear you on that, Chimpov. I'm still trying to cope with the fact the world around me has changed dramatically. Hell, it's been almost two months since we met and I still don't know your real name." Dallas said.
"Viktor." I told her.
"Huh ?" Dallas replied.
"You asked what my real name was. It's Viktor. Viktor Romanov. I'm named after my Grandpa Nikolai's best friend in the Soviet army." I said.
"Well, nice to meet you, Viktor Romanov. My name's Allison West." Dallas told me. "You wouldn't mind if I continued to call you Chimpov, would you ?"
"Nah, I don't mind. I've gotten used to it. You don't mind if I still call you Dallas, do you ?" I replied.
"Nah." Dallas said.
"Dallas ? You remember when I told you about my friend from back home ?" I asked.
"Yeah, I remember. Why ?" She replied.
"Well, what I didn't mention was she was the zombie I had to kill in that store awhile back. We had been talking the day the world we knew ended. We had been separated for about three years before this all happened and she wanted me to come get her and take her someplace safe. So, I gathered my things and made my way to where she had said she was going to hole up. Sometime during our trips, she got bitten and turned just before I got there. I tried to reason with her and tried to get her to come back, but she didn't. The virus kicked in and she turned into something that wasn't human anymore. So, I had to put her down. It still pains me to think that I was responsible for ending her life, but now I know she's in a better place. The really fucked up thing is that before I pulled the trigger, she looked at me and it's like she was human for one brief moment again. She looked up at me with the blue-green eyes I fell in love with and it's like she forgave me for what I was about to do. Like she was saying 'It's ok. I forgive you.' Then the silence was shattered by me pulling the trigger. That's why I didn't want to get too close to you. Because I couldn't bear having to take your life if something like that happened again." I said.
"Chimpov, you'll never have to worry about doing that. After all, you're the one guy in this screwed up world that I feel safe with. Granted, Flynn and Mike make me feel safe as well, but not like you. Hell, I wish I'd have know you before all this happened that way I could've seen you before you became Chimpov the zombie killing machine. Who knows what may have happened ?" Dallas said.
"I wish that would've been possible as well, Dallas." I replied. We continued talking until dawn and Dallas fell asleep. I sat there watching her sleep and soon fell asleep myself. A few hours later my rest was interrupted by stifled laughter.
"Well isn't this just special ?" Flynn said, trying to contain his laughter.
"What ?" I asked. It didn't hit me what Flynn and the others were laughing about until I looked down and saw Dallas with her head on my chest.
"Oh hell." I said. I guess somehow during the night, we had ended up in that position and then became a source of amusement for the three idiots now desperately trying to stifle their laughter.
"Huh ?" Dallas said, groggily. I swear Dallas almost flew across the roof when she noticed that she was using my chest as a pillow. Flynn, Mike and Frankie couldn't hold their laughs in any longer and damn near fell over as they were laughing so hard.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you jackasses." I said.

[golem3]

Would have been funnier if her head was in his lap - on the shoulder is just "cute" . Thanks for the story updates. I really look forward to this one also.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

After the guys stopped laughing, due in part to Dallas threatening to shoot them if they didn’t, we went back inside and planned our next trip out.
"You think we should check out the school again, Chimpov ?" Mike asked.
"No, we already checked there and didn't find anything aside from some bodies. I say we head back to Farmer John's place and just forget about this. We'll deal with the zombies as they come and if anything changes we'll make a note of it." I said.
"Uh, guys, I think you should check this out." Flynn said. I walked over to where Flynn was standing and peered out the window. What I saw was another lone zombie, watching the store like the one near Farmer John's place had watched us. I borrowed a hunting rifle from one of the gun racks in the shop and wasted no time going up to the roof. I watched the zombie through the scope on the rifle and if the bastard twitched wrong, I'd shoot him. I must've stood on that roof for a good hour before the zombie started moving again. This time I wasn't going to let him get as close as the other one and I splattered his brains on the asphalt with a .303 round. "We need to get out of here. " I said, walking back into the shop. "Frankie, you're more than welcome to come with us if you'd like."
"I may just do that, Chimpov." Frankie said.
"Great, I'd prefer if we left today. Pack up some stuff and meet us outside." I replied. I went outside to put my gear, along with a few items and a couple cases of ammo I took from Frankie's shop, in the truck and check over some things. As I was loading the ammo cases into the truck, I heard Flynn and Mike pounding on the door, yelling at Frankie to open it.
"You see, boys, I'd love to, but I'm afraid I can't. I figure you all took some supplies from the shop and I'll be keeping Miss Dallas in exchange for said supplies. Now, we are going to need some privacy, so why don't you all go away." Frankie said.
"Frankie, open this door or so help me I will tear this building down around you, you little bastard." Mike said.
From inside the shop we heard Dallas yelling at Frankie to get away from her. Just as I was about to smash the door, we heard a single gun shot ring out. Needless to say, that gave me even more reason to bash the door down. We finally got the door open and the sight that greeted me was one that made me drop to my knees.

[Bearcat]

I FUCKING KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!! Why didn't they just shoot the lock?
ETA: MOAR NOW!

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

What I saw was Dallas, laying on the floor with a gunshot wound and Frankie running out the back door. I yelled to Flynn and Mike to take care of Dallas while I went after Frankie. I took off in pursuit of Frankie and lost him near the school. Back at his shop, Mike and Flynn tried everything they could to save Dallas and while they were able to stop the bleeding, Dallas was still unconscious.
"Get her back to Farmer John's place. Radio me along the way with a progress report on how Allison is doing. I have something I need to take care of." I said, tossing Flynn my truck keys.
"Who's Allison ? Never mind that. Chimpov, don't be stupid, Frankie knows this town better than any of us and who knows what he's capable of. Come with us, Dallas will be pretty pissed if she wakes up and you aren't around." Flynn said.
"I know that, Flynn. Frankie doesn't know what I'm capable of and I'm counting on the fact he's going to make a mistake and when he does, I'll be waiting for him." I said. "And Dallas' real name is Allison."
"What if something happens to you, Chimpov ? What are we going to tell Dallas and the others ?" Mike asked.
"Should anything happen to me, I figure it's best that you all should at least know my real name, in case you have to carve a tombstone or something. It's Viktor, Viktor Romanov."
Flynn, Mike and Dallas left me behind at Frankie's shop and after I saw them disappear into the morning fog, I made my way to the diner where we had first met Frankie. Looking back on that, had I known he would pull that stunt, I would've put a bullet in his head then and there. I must've spent half the day looking for Frankie and when I was about to give up, the little bastard made himself known. He was standing in the middle of the street, with his rifle in his hands. As I walked out into the streets, the sky began to darken as if the land itself was setting the stage and anticipating the outcome of our meeting. Rainclouds opened up, sending their contents out in the world and drenching the two of us.
"Looking for me there, Chimpov ?" Frankie asked.
"Yeah, actually. I figured you and I could have a chat." I replied. "Before anything else happens, though, I want to know why you did all this. Why act all friendly and then turn around and stab us in the back ?"
"You want to know why I did all this ? Well, since I'm going to kill you anyway, I may as well grant your last wish. The reason I did all this is because I wanted Dallas all to myself. You see, I'm getting a might lonely all by myself out here and when I saw Dallas, I just had to have her. And when I told you all that you could have whatever you wanted from my shop, I figured I'd set the plan in motion. You see, you were all supposed to die in that school. Well, except for Dallas, of course. She was to survive and I was going to swoop in and be her new hero. But you fucked that all up by surviving. And now you're going to die." Frankie said.
"Well, I knew I should've just shot you and saved my breath for more important things." I replied.
"Oh really ? You think I'm just going to let you do that ? " Frankie said.
"Well, either I kill you or the zombies behind you can do it for me." I said. Frankie turned around and saw the mass of zombies slowly approaching us. He turned three different shades of scared and tried to take a shot at me, but I was quicker. I fired a shot from my 1911, catching him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and dropping him to the cold, damp pavement below. I walked up to him, kicking away his rifle and slamming the buttstock of my AK in his face. I then pulled his gun belt off and picked up his rifle, slinging them over my shoulder.
"You won't be needing these anymore, Frankie. Not where you're going. " I said. I stood over Frankie Whitmarsh as he drew pained breaths. My bullet had struck him in the ribs and had probably punctured a lung.
"Go ahead, kill me, Chimpov, if it makes you feel better. It still won't change anything." Frankie said through bloodstained and gritted teeth. As I stood there, contemplating whether or not I wanted to splatter Frankie's brains all over the road, I smiled as I thought of a much more suitable punishment.
"You're right about that, Frankie. It won't change anything except for the fact I'll still be alive at the end of this, but I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to let the zombies do it for me. I figure they ought to be here soon enough." I said.
"God damn you to Hell, Chimpov." Frankie screamed.
"Too late." I replied as I walked off. I turned and walked away, the entire time Frankie was screaming curses at me, but the thunder, lightning and moans of the approaching zombies drowned him out.

[Bearcat]

Too bad there ain't enough time to take all the shit from the store.

[Mr. E. Monkey]

Nice.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I walked back to the diner in the rain, went inside and sat down at the bar, putting my head in my hands. The thought of losing Dallas was one I didn't want running through my head and I'd have given anything at that point to make it go away. I sat in silence thinking about what I had done. Killing a zombie was something I was almost used to at that point, but shooting Frankie was something I never expected to do. I basically condemned him to a slow death after I shot him and left him to the zombies. Yet, in some strange way, it felt right as if my actions were justified. I honestly didn't know what to think at that point. As I sat in the empty diner trying to make sense of things, the radio on my belt started buzzing and I heard Flynn's voice saying, "Chimpov, if you can hear me, pick up."
"I'm here, Flynn. What's up ?" I replied.
"Well, we're about halfway between where we left you and Farmer John's place. You wanted me to check in every so often and tell you how Dallas is doing. Right ?" Flynn said.
"Yeah, how's she doing ?" I asked.
"She's awake now, but she's a bit groggy from being out as long as she was. Her wound wasn't as bad as we originally thought, but she did get a pretty good bump upside the head from when Frankie clocked her with his pistol. We cleaned the wound a bit better when we pulled off to the side of the road just after we left you. It looks like he just grazed her, but it could've been much worse had he been a better shot. " Flynn replied.
"That's good to hear, Flynn." I said.
"Did you ever find the little bastard ?" Flynn asked.
"Yeah, I found him. He won't be bothering us anymore." I replied.
"That's good to hear, mate." Flynn said. "By the way, you want us to swing around and pick you
up ?"
"Nah, I'm sure I can find something around this town that'll get me back there. You guys just Dallas back to Farmer John's. I'll see you guys there." I replied.

[black71label]

Great read so far. Chimpov is quite the badass. Haha. Keep it up.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I found a vehicle behind the diner and checked it out. It had gas and I found a spare key hidden in one of those ridiculous "hide-a-key" things every gas station sells. It started up with minimal problems and I left the town behind after stopping at Frankie's shop for some dry clothes and a few other things, then made my way back to Farmer John's. The drive seemed a lot longer than before, but then again my worrying about Dallas combined with the fact that I killed someone who wasn't a zombie was probably getting to me. I got back to Farmer John's around midnight and was greeted by John, Mike and Flynn.
"Took you long enough, Chimpov." Mike said. "How's Dallas doing ?" I asked.
"Oh, she's doing fine. We got her upstairs in the spare bedroom. Harpo's taking care of her." Farmer John replied. "Come to find out she knows a good deal about gunshot wounds and such." I walked into the spare bedroom to see Dallas talking with Harpo.
"So you finally got her to talk, huh ?" I asked.
"Yeah, it was the strangest thing too. Flynn and Mike put me in bed and she starts giving them orders like she was a doctor or something." Dallas replied.
"So, what is your name, young lady ?" I asked Harpo.
"Well, it sure as heck ain't Harpo. My name's Katherine, but y'all can just call me Kat. No sense being formal anymore." Kat replied. I walked back downstairs and told Farmer John about our little adventure in the next town. He asked a few questions about the town and if I thought it'd be a source of supplies.
"Probably not, John. Granted I never really got a chance to actually look, but I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon. Besides, there's still plenty of places in this town to look. We only scratched the surface during our first trip." I said. What I didn't tell John was I really didn't want to go back to the other town. I just wasn't ready.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Alright folks, here's the final update to "Looking Forward, Looking Back". I had a great time writing this story and I hope you all enjoyed it. It kind of saddens me that I have to end it, but like the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end."

Without further ado, here's the end of "Looking Forward, Looking Back."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weeks went by and Dallas was back to her usual self, but I still couldn't get over what had happened. I made my usual patrols around the farm while either Flynn or Dallas joined me. Kat eventually told us why she was in the daze she was in when Flynn and Mike found her. She had been at home with her boyfriend when the zombies came. He fought valiantly to protect her, but in the end he succumbed to them. He turned rather quickly and she had to kill him. That's what put her into the daze. Everything went smoothly for awhile, but the fact I couldn't find out what the deal with the zombies moving east started to bug me again.
"John, I've got an idea. It might be crazy, but I'm not going to get any rest just sitting here waiting for the next zombie to show up. I went to the other town to find out what the deal with the zombies was, but I didn't find out what. Frankie kind of screwed that plan up." I said.
"Chimpov, you do what you have to do in order to stay sane. It's pretty easy to go crazy these days." John replied. With his advice, I packed up some supplies and left the farm. Dallas punched me in the arm as I got in my truck and I saw the look in her eyes, as if she was afraid I'd never come back.
"Don't worry, Dallas. I'm just heading to town to get some answers to a question that's been bugging the hell out of me for the last couple weeks." I said.
"You sure that isn't a cover for you wanting to leave me here ?" Dallas said.
"Dallas, if I was going to leave you, I'd have done it the night we met Farmer John. I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I'll be back in a couple days." I said.
"You better come back, Viktor." Dallas replied.

I drove to town and only spotted one zombie, who looked very familiar. A quick shot to the head ended that encounter. I had no idea if it was going to turn into one of those running zombies or one of the slower dumb ones, but I sure as hell wasn't going to stick around to find out. I did a search of the town, making sure to avoid the school and Frankie's shop. I turned my truck back towards Farmer John's farm and headed off into the sunset. My time was better spent with the others and I wasn't going to find any solace in what I did that day. I just had to learn to live with it. I drove down the road to Farmer John's and thought back to the day I met Dallas and how even though the world had gone to hell, she still had a sense of optimism about her and an attitude that masked her real feelings. My own emotions were numbed to a degree that I never showed them even in the face of danger. I never showed any real emotion until the day Dallas got shot. Then all the emotions I had forgotten about came back. Had I not chosen to go after her shooter, I'd probably have sunk to my knees and began crying, but I didn't. I went from sad to angry in record time and I was going to make sure I got revenge. Like someone once said in a movie a long time ago, "Revenge is not a valid motive, it's an emotional response." They were right. The motive I had for going after Frankie like I did was unclear at the time, but now I know the reason behind it. He hurt someone very close to me and I couldn't let him get away with it. As to why the zombies acted the way they did, well, I never did find out the reason for that and while it continued to bug me for awhile, eventually it was forgotten. Just like how life was prior to the zombies coming into existence. I snapped out of my daze as I pulled up to Farmer John's porch and saw Dallas waiting for me.
"You ok there, Chimpov ?" Dallas asked me as I got out of my truck.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Dallas. I'm just fine." I replied, smiling.

THE END

[GotMak]

Nice story!

[Mr. E. Monkey]

Bravo, Chimpov!

[black71label]

Well done!

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Thanks, folks.

I'm glad you all enjoyed the story.

[golem3]

Thanks for the story. It was very entertaining. The ending seemed a little short - maybe it could have been stretched out a bit more (like MJOTZY), but thats my only complaint - no MOAR?? Can't wait to see what you come up with next.