by NiGHTMARE-Z » Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:40 pm
"Come on Andrew it will be fine, don't be scared!" taunts Amy as she pulls on his hand attempting to drag him down the stairwell with her to the locations of Cell Block B, C and D. Young Andrew nervously looks down from the guard rail of the stairs to the lower levels where lighting is out and only darkness can be seen.
"We aren't allowed to go down there, remember? It's off limits!" Young Andrew reminds his friend Amy while attempting to offer an excuse to cover up his fear.
A mischievess Amy however, isn't buying it.
"I have been wanting to go down there since forever! I could never get anyone to go with me though. Especially the grown ups! I think you are brave enough to go with me, aren't you Andrew?" Amy suggests.
"I don't know. We could get in trouble," Young Andrew admits as he places his head down weighing his options. An impatient Amy now decides to use reverse pschyology.
"You aren't afraid, are you?" Amy says with a grin.
Young Andrew snaps back.
"Hell no! When have I ever been afraid?" he asks.
"I don't know. I'm willing to bet right now." she taunts.
"Let's go then," Young Andrew orders as he takes lead while beginning to walk slowly down the stairwell.
Amy quickly follows and grabs his hand as they guide eachother down. The further down the levels they go, the darker it becomes.
"We need a flashlight," admits Young Andrew.
Amy tells him to hold on as she reaches into her pocket.
"I got my dad's lighter, see?" Amy boasts as she lights it up illuminating a small portion of their area.
The further down they go, Andrew begins noticing a change of tempature and smell.
"It smells so bad down here. Worse than garbage," he explains.
"Yeah I know. I think i'm about to throw up," Amy says as she attempts to cover her nose and mouth with her hand in order to block out the stinch.
The pair approached the steel doors of Cell Blocks B and C. To their dissapointment, the lever which was supposed to lower at a 90 degree angle to unlock the dead bolt, failed to open.
"Looks like we can't get in. We should go back up," advises Young Andrew.
Amy isn't convinced.
"Hey scaredy cat, theres still one more level. Don't chicken out now," Amy continues to taunt.
Andrew shakes his head in disagreement.
"Okay let's go down there just to be dissapointed again," Andrew sarcastically says expecting the door to be locked.
Upon reaching the lowest level of the prison now, the darkness consumes them so greatly they wouldn't even be able to see their hands in front of their faces if Amy didn't have her father's lighter.
Once reaching the steel entrance door to Cell Block D, Amy attempts to raise up the lever. To her and Andrew's surprise, the lever shoots up instantly. The sound of the locking mechanism is heard disengaging from it's previous setting as the door creeps open slowly.
Andrew's eyes are widen now with fear and regret. He didn't expect the door to open like it did, now he has to keep his word to Amy and go in. Amy quickly jumps behind Young Andrew and asks him to go first. Andrew, trying to act brave. reluctantly walks forward through the door as Amy follows behind him holding his shoulders.
"Scary huh?" Amy exclaims.
Andrew doesn't respond. As the kids enter the corridor, they notice some flickering lights down the way illuminating parts of the hallway. Most of the lights are out. Once they reach the end, they come across a clearing in the center of the complex which appeared to be used as a common area for the prisoners due to the fact that it held old worn out couches, tables, a few book shelves and an old dusty television which probably didn't work.
Amy and Young Andrew begin looking around at the books and testing the softness of the couches by sitting on them for a brief moment. Once they are finished, Amy notices three levels surrounding the center common area. These levels can be accessed by stairs located in only one area of the complex.
"Hey let's go check out all the cells on the upper levels! Bet you we'll find something interesting!" Amy suggests with excitement.
Young Andrew isn't interested at this point and still wants to leave, however, decides to make Amy happy by agreeing with her and following her up the stairwell.
Once they enter the first level, she quickly begins testing each door to see if they would even open. To her surprise, all of them seemed to be unlocked. Her and Andrew inspected just about every single cell in that block without finding anything of interest inside. All they came across was personal hygeine items, newspapers and a few drawings. Amy seemed dissapointed.
Andrew, now ready to leave once again, suggests that they go back now. Right when Young Andrew says this, Amy spots another corridor at the third level of the cell block with large white spray painted letters on the concrete wall reading "TO CELL BLOCK C AND B".
She quickly makes up her mind at that point as she takes off running towards it. Young Andrew falls in behind attempting to keep up so he is not left alone. Once Amy reaches the beginning of the entrance, she looks back to Andrew.
"Come on let's go! We're bound to find something cool!" she excitingly states as she begins moving down the hallway at a quick pace.
Andrew finally catches up to her.
Upon entering the next cell block, it became known to them that the security level there was less than the previous one for they noticed the cells were four to five men rooms with bars encaging them in. Unlike Cell Block D, which was obviously maximum security.
Upon entering, the pair noticed the area fully lighted as opposed to the previous one in which it was so dark you could barely see five feet ahead of you. In addition, they both noticed something lingering in every cell which comprised of three more additional levels as well.
"What's in there?" Amy curiously asks Andrew.
Young Andrew can not make it out from this distance.
"Well whatever it is, it's not moving," Young Andrew reasons.
He then decides to approach the first cell to inspect what is inside.
At this point the stinch, which already was strong enough, becomes almost unbearable. Bugs and flies can be heard picking away at something, including rats as well. Once Andrew approaches the bars, he grips both of them with his hands and pokes his head in.
Amy stands back a few feet from him asking him what he sees. At that moment, Andrew begins walking backwards until he bumps into Amy.
"What? What is it Andrew?" she curiously asks.
Andrew is frozen stiff. He can not say a word at the moment for he appears to be in shock. Amy decides to find out herself as she approaches the bars in order to conquer the lack of light. Once she realizes what Andrew just saw, she backs up as well.
"Are they all like this?" Amy asks Andrew.
Andrew remains silent and consumed with fear. Not unsure of what to do at the moment, she begins looking all around her in circles as she observes each level and coming to the realization this isn't the only one.
"There are dead people in there," Andrew states with a calm voice while still appearing shocked.
Amy now quickly turns back to Andrew, "Yeah, there are dead people in every cell."
At that moment, loud music can be heard from outside the prison walls once again. The loud rumbling of motors and gunshots follow the sounds of the music.
"We need to get out of here Andrew," Amy quickly orders as she grabs his hand and takes off running back the way they came.
Riggs accelerates on the gas. He begins reaching speeds of almost 110 mph down the freeway as he returns to Aaron's prison. The mood in the cab of the truck can best be described as furious as all of the men, including Andrew, intend to have Aaron's head on a platter for leaving them back there.
All of them remain silent during the entire trip. Obviously lost of words, nothing needed to be said at that moment. For many of them, it was their first time being involved in a firefight and many were shaken, especially Randall and Lance.
Nobody ridiculed Randall, not even Riggs for hiding at that point. Nobody like Riggs and Andrew understood the sheer terror it can inflict upon most men as some will act strangely. They already knew he couldn't be trusted in the first place, so none of it came as a surprise to them.
Andrew was never engaged in any serious combat during the duration of his tour to Iraq, however, he was definately in the right mind set due to years of service. More than what the others could say.
As they approach the prison, Riggs and Andrew, whom are in the front of the cab, begin noticing more walking dead activity along the stretch of road which leads up to their compound. Andrew has already spotted up to twenty straddlers wandering around along the roadway and the shoulder. Riggs just went around them without paying them no mind. None of the men in the group dared to comment on the change of scenerary.
Once they finally push through the wooded area, they now have the prison in plain view across the open plains. To the group's horror, they notice now even more of the undead strolling across the plains and even up to the perimeter shaking the fenceline of the prison. At this point, it seems to be just short of a hundred of them scattered all around the prison.
In addition, they also notice a mob of bikers circleing the perimeter and avoiding their hungry assailants as they drive their bikes around their reaching arms to catch up with the rest of the pack. A few of them are shooting off their weapons into the air as a black van is seen driving up and down the road to the front gate of the prison blaring music on loud speakers.
"What the hell is this!" Riggs yells as he begins punching his wheel.
Andrew tells him to calm down as he reaches for his weapon located between his legs in order to make sure he has enough rounds in his banana clip.
"Looks like those bastards are trying to attract those things our way!" Dwayne exclaims.
Lance quickly reaches over the driver's side seat to inspect the situation.
Randall, takes a good look and begins crying.
"They are all going to kill us!" he whimpers.
Everyone in the vehicle tells him to shut up at the same time. Randall ignores them and continues to sob.
Right as Riggs takes the turn onto the road which leads to the main gate, the watch towers begin opening fire on the bikers. Volleys of fire are heard being exchanged. The black van which is closest to Rigg's vehicle, now quickly stops and turns around with it's back facing towards the gate a few hundred meters down the road. That is when the duel rear doors in the back fly open as the van remains stationary.
Riggs notices two bikers laying in the prone while they are aiming down their rifles.
Riggs begins to frantically scream warning attempting to warn his passengers.
"Get the hell down!"
Everyone inside the cab sinks into their seats so their heads are not exposed.
That is when cracking sounds are heard impacting the hood and weezing through while shattering their glass windows.
Riggs struggles to control the vehicle as he accelerates on the pedal without seeing the road in a deseperate attempt to escape the barrage of bullets. Luckily, the gate guard notices the vehicle to be their own and quickly opens up so Rigg's vehicle can enter.
Once inside Riggs quickly pops his head up and attempts to reclaim control of the vehicle while depressing the brake. In effect, he skids sideways and slams the passenger side of the vehicle into the brick wall of the compound, effectively halting the vehicle immediately.
The smoke and sheer impact of the crash placed all of the passengers in a dazed and confused state. Once Riggs was able to gather himself, with some minor cuts and bruises, he kicks open his driver's side doors and proceeds to help Andrew and the rest out onto the pavement.
Everyone's injuries appeared to be minor as they laid back first on the pavement just realizing they narrowly escaped. Gunfire can still be heard from multiple directions as Riggs stumbles to each man insuring he is okay and no injury is life threatening. Once he realizes everyone is okay and just kind of out of it at that point, he stumbles into the compound to confront Aaron.
While Andrew is on the ground, he notices Riggs taking off by himself into the building. Andrew instantly realized what his intentions were as he noticed Riggs welding his XD .40 sub-compact in his right hand.
"Riggs! Stop!" Andrew yells.
Riggs pays him no mind. Andrew painfully forces himself to stand up as his cut up eye begins running blood down his face.
"God damnit Riggs! Wait for me! You need to stop!" Andrew yells at the top of his lungs back to Riggs, desperately attempting to reason with him once he was able to enter the building and get sight of a stumbling Riggs who struggles to stay erect one wall at a time.
Riggs turns around in a confused state welding his pistol.
"What do you want! I'm going to take care of this!" responds Riggs.
"Not now Riggs. He has too many people. We won't survive. Just give me the god damn gun!" Andrew orders.
Riggs stares him down with contempt then defies him by turning around and continueing to stumble towards Aaron's office in order to blow his brain's out.
Andrew begins chasing him as he limps and struggles to walk.
"Riggs! Don't shoot him! Riggs!" Andrew continues to painfully yell as he attempts to maintain his balance.
That is when Riggs collapses face first into the pavement and passes out. His gun falls to the floor and accidently discharges a round as it slides up against the wall harmlessly.
As a result of the accidental discharge, Andrew quickly fell to the ground in an attempt to avoid being hit. The bullet harmlessly enters one of the walls which is reinforced by concrete.
Shortly after, some of Aaron's guards come running up with rifles in hand while aiming down their sights. Once they realize it's Andrew and Riggs they quickly drop their weapons.
"You guys alright?" asks one of the guards as he leans over and attempts to pick up Andrew.
Andrew explains what happened and tells them there are more outside in need of medical aid. A few of the guards run outside to help the others as gunfire ceased along with the loud annoying music. The motorcycles outside can be heard going away as the noise fades off into the distance.
Andrew, Riggs and the rest are helped up by some of Aaron's men and taken to the infirmary. Linda along with Audrey and the rest of the women, with the exception of Cynthia, come running to the infirmary once they got word about what has happened to them.
A few hours go by as sporadic gunfire can be heard coming from the outer perimeter, obviously Aaron's guards are trying to thin the ranks of the dead which are growing vast in numbers around the walls. Riggs still appears to be knocked out as the rest of the men are doing quite fine. Andrew got the cut above his eye flushed out and cleaned, then secured with gauze and medical tape.
Linda and Audrey took some chairs and made themselves comfortable beside Andrew as they began to talk to him. Tabatha won't give Lance any breathing room as she smothers him with hugs and kisses and Tammy waits beside Riggs for him to wake up.
"What the hell happened out there?" Linda asks in a worrisome tone of voice.
Audrey asks a similiar question with concern, then reiterates how grateful she is for their safe return.
"Long story Linda. Sure you want to know?" Andrew warns.
Linda and Audrey nod their heads impatiently.
Dwayne appears finished at this point as he only had some minor bruises. He decides to walk off and reside in his lonesome. Nobody in the group pays him any mind.
After an hour goes by of Andrew explaining what had happened, a shocked and disgusted Linda and Audrey weigh in their opinions. That is when Young Andrew comes running up to Linda and goes straight into her arms.
"What is wrong hunny? The loud noise is overwith now, nothing to be afraid of," Linda states as she attempts to comfort Young Andrew in her arms, shortly followed by another sporadic gunshot out on the perimeter.
"There is something you have to see. It's really scary," Young Andrew claims.
Linda, not realizing the ramifications of what the boy is trying to tell her, assumes the child is going to show her a body laying outside or a dead rat.
"Where is this scary thing you want to show me?" Linda asks.
"Down stairs. In the blocked off cell blocks. You have to see it," Young Andrew exclaims in terror.
That is when Andrew butts in, "Hey buddy, you aren't allowed down there. I think you're going to be in big trouble with Linda!"
"No, you have to see this. I'm serious please believe me," Young Andrew pleads as he tugs on Linda's arm.
Audrey rises up from her chair and places her hand over Young Andrew's shoulder.
"I will go with you. Let's go kiddo," she encourages.
Linda looks concerned and then nods her head.
"Just take him back down there to confront whatever it is so he sleeps better tonight. Let's not ever go back down there again though, okay champ?" Linda persuades as she looks back to Young Andrew.
Young Andrew places his head down in defeat and nods his head while giving up on the chance of anyone believing him on how important his discovery is. Linda decides to stay with Andrew and talk some more until Riggs can wake up. Once he does, Linda intends to have a long talk with him.
Andrew as well.
"Come on Audrey, hurry!" Young Andrew urgently suggests as he attempts to run while pulling her arm down the flight of steps. He takes her the exact same way her and Amy went. As they enter the restricted area Audrey begins complaining about the odor.
"Oh yeah I also forgot, i'm not supposed to tell anyone this. Amy made me promise," Young Andrew adds as he guides her to the next entry way.
Audrey begins to use her wisdom and attempts to coach Young Andrew on the importance of keeping promises to a person, until she stumbles upon what the children have not too long ago.
"See. I told you. Do you see it?" Young Andrew exclaims
"Oh my god, Andrew!"
Audrey walks from cell to cell closely inspecting the horrific scenes each one has to offer. To Audrey, it appears there are piles of bodies in every single cell, no more than ten and no less than five for every living area.
All of them appear to have been shot in the head execution style. Some of them wear prison guard and staff outfits as others are wearing bright orange prisoner jump suits with the prisoner codes embroided on their backs.
The rats can be seen nesting in some of the cells and using the corpses as food. This places Audrey into an uncontrollable state of panic as she grabs Young Andrew and runs off back to Linda.
"Hey mister, had a pretty nasty fall didn't ya?" Tammy taunts as she stares down at Riggs as he begins to open his eyes from bed while she strokes his hair.
"You're fine now. We're all here. Just relax," Tammy adds with warmth in her eyes. Riggs, not realizing how to react at the moment, smiles back at her affirming his mutual affection for her. Tammy can dig it, as she begins grinning.
"Andrew! Where the hell are you at!" Riggs yells from his bed with his eyes closed.
"I'm right here you hard headed son of a bitch. You calm down yet?" Andrew sarcastically asks from his bed. Linda smiles as she been doing a lot lately.
"Piss off. I'm always calm. Okay, maybe not that time. I'm fine now," Riggs adds.
"Well that's good. Now maybe we'll all live a little bit longer, what you think?" Andrew jokingly suggests.
"Sounds like a plan," Riggs responds in a low tired tone of voice.
That is when Audrey comes storming into the room with Young Andrew by her side with tears in her eyes. Everyone rises up and draws attention towards her.
Once the rest of the group inspects the restricted cell blocks, they instantly head back to their living quarters in order to grab up their personal arsenal and quickly arm themselves. When Riggs enters his cell and goes below his bunk to pull out the duffle bag, to his dismay, he realizes there is nothing there. Aaron's men obviously confiscated them. Whenever they did is unknown to him.
As a result, Riggs and the rest of the group have a quick meeting in order to figure out what should be done from here.
Audrey believes they aren't normal people at all. She thinks they are the actual prisoners who took over and killed the staff. Dwayne believes they just execute who ever crosses them and doesn't play ball.
"Those bastards took my pistol too. I want it back!" an angered Riggs adds.
Linda decides to weigh in, as everyone gives her their undivided attention as they normally do for her, "They all knew about it. Everyone here did. We can't stay here any longer."
Many others, dropped their theories, however, one question still remained ever important. How will they react when they are confronted with it? Dwayne and Tammy desperately attempts to convince Riggs to just leave now, with whatever they have. A stubborn Riggs, refuses to leave without his guns and to settle the looming question as to who they really are.
"Jesus Christ man, we are dealing with a bunch of murderers here! Executioners," a frieghtened Randall adds.
Lance chimes in, "Yeah, I mean, how do you think a bunch of murderers will react when you accuse them of murder?"
Everyone appears even more freightened than they were last time. Tabatha, along with everyone else, just wants to leave at this point. The only one who completely agrees with Riggs is Andrew.
"We need to get our weapons back and find out why they killed those people. We can not let this bullshit fly," Andrew confidently states in anger.
Riggs looks at Andrew for a moment.
"You with me?"
"Hell yeah i'm with you. Let's go," Andrew boldly states.
Both of them rise up and walk off together.
"Oh no, somebody stop them now! Don't do anything stupid!" a concerned Linda yells to them as they walk off. The rest of them remain in the cell looking puzzled and afraid of action.
"They are crazy!" Randall claims. Cynthia stares him down as if he were a coward.
The pair march down to Aaron's office while coaching eachother's strategies on how to approach the confrontation. Riggs and Andrew are both ready for a fight at this point and will not back down. They do not intend on leaving Aaron's office empty handed.
As they walk down the corriders, some of Aaron's men approach the pair attempting to stop them and asking them what they need. Riggs and Andrew ignores them as they proceed to the steps of Aaron's office.
One of the men attempt to place his hand on Rigg's shoulder in a bid to stop him when Riggs quickly turns around and knocks the man in his temple with a right hook, instantly dropping him to the floor. The rest of the guards pull out their pistols from their leg holsters and draw them on the pair as Riggs belligerently slams Aaron's office door open.
Aaron is there sitting as his desk calmly while two guards stand behind him with black beanies on welding shotguns.
"Did I invite you?" Aaron asks in anger.
"No you didn't, but we are going to talk anyway!" Riggs aggresively responds as him and Andrew pull up chairs to the front of his desk. The guards from outside Aaron's door walk into Aaron's office with their weapons still drawn on Riggs and Andrew from behind.
Aaron places his hand up signaling them to go back outside. The men follow suite.
"How can I help you boys?" Aaron sarcastically asks.
"First of all, fuck you for leaving us and your men back there. We thought we knew what type of treacherous, unreliable assholes you guys were, but today we are clueless," Riggs states.
"What ever do you mean, Mr. Air Marshall?" Aaron questions with more sarcasm.
His guards grow anxious to attack Andrew and Riggs as they stare them down and position themselves in an aggresive posture, just waiting for Aaron to give them the go ahead to assault.
"Those bodies on the lower levels. The ones whom have been executed. Why did you do it? Are you all really the prisoners?" Andrew interrogates.
Aaron starts to bust out laughing. His guards are now laughing as well.
"Shut the hell up! Where's our guns too? You stole them from us! We want them back so we can leave!" Riggs orders.
Aaron begins clapping, obviously taunting the two. Riggs rises up from his chair as if he were going to attack Aaron when both of his guards point their shotguns at him. Riggs pauses instantly in his stance.
"You and your friends will be going no where. Sorry to break it to you," Aaron calmly informs.
"What the hell are you talking about, you sick bastard?" Andrew adds with contempt.
Aaron begins to explain himself further, "Those 'people' you talk about down there on the lower levels, most of them were prisoners we found still locked up in their quarters when we took over. We didn't know what they were capable of and most of all we couldn't trust them. Of course all of them claimed they were innocent, but the risk out weighed the good intentions. We decided not to take a chance with any of them."
Andrew and Riggs stare on in disgust.
"You are sick man," Riggs states.
"Think what you will. This isn't a time for good will and humanity. Right now as we speak, the dead amass along our walls. I ordered my men to hold fire and conserve their ammo. Blood thirsty killers surround us as we speak," Aaron goes on to explain.
"It's all about survival right now. Some of our people didn't agree with my decision and decided to cause problems. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have enough reasonable men around me to see beyond the cruelty and realize what I was doing was for the benefit of the group as a whole. We had to dispose of the ones who opposed as well. Oh, also one more thing that I forgot to mention. There are many members of The Death's Head down there as well whom were serving out life sentences. Mainly the majority of their leadership," Aaron continues.
Andrew and Riggs stays silent realizing the entire picture unfolding before their eyes.
Aaron now begins laughing once again, then goes on to add, "They didn't take it so well when they found out what we did to their friends when they came looking for them once all hell broke loose."
The pair are now apalled.
"You are the one who started all this craziness with them. Now we are caught up in the middle," Riggs says as he glares into Aaron's eyes.
"I suppose so. However, I am going to fix it," Aaron declares.
"Yeah whatever, Aaron. We want out. We are leaving right now!" Andrew yells from his seat.
"If you two attempt to step out that door we will shoot you both where you stand," he warns.
Riggs and Andrew sit there with cold stares unphased by Aaron's threats.
"Your women are mine. We are going to work out a deal with The Death's Head so this bloody war stops. We're also going to throw in Teresa so we meet Trim Vain's quota. Your child will become Amy's brother. Your weapons are mine too. As for the rest of you, well, I guess ya'll just be hanging out for awhile in your quarters until I can find a use for you or until I feel like throwing you in Cell Block C," Aaron concludes.
"Teresa? Who?" Riggs asks with a confused face.
That is when without warning, Andrew rises up to attack Aaron as Riggs jumps across the desk to pull him inward. Aaron's guards quickly intervene and butt strokes Riggs and Andrew across their heads with their shotguns. Andrew is knocked out instantly, while Riggs is dazed as he stumbles around attempting to stand up off the floor. The guard finishes him off from behind with another blow to the back of the head, in effect putting him out instantly.
Some time goes by until Riggs is awakened by Andrew slightly slapping him across the face while he lies back first on a mattress.
"Wake up Riggs. Come on, snap out of it," Andrew encourages.
"Uh, my head. Hurts like hell," Riggs describes as he comes to and slowly rises up from the bed. Andrew can feel his pain as well, for they have been unconcious for a few hours.
Riggs awakes to the surrounding eyes of all the members of the group, with the exception of Young Andrew, Cynthia and Randall.
"Where's the boy? Why is everyone hanging out around me?" Riggs curiously asks in confusion.
The women are now crying. Some of the men are attempting to comfort them, however, with little to no success. Dwayne informs Riggs of the situation with dread as he quickly darts up from his bunk and attempts to slide open the cage without success.
"So they locked us all in here? Where the hell are the others?" Riggs angrily asks.
"Randall joined them. So did Cynthia. The boy was forced to go with Amy. They came in here with their weapons drawn on us and asked who wanted to join them. Of course, it's obvious who wanted to," Dwayne explains further.
"That scum bag. First chance I get, his ass is mine," Riggs declares referring to Randall.
"With Cynthia, well, guess I could of saw that one coming," Andrew adds as he takes a seat on the cold hard pavement and leans his back up against the solid wall.
"Screw her!" adds Riggs.
"Did you tell him the rest of it, Dwayne?" a saddened Linda asks. Dwayne stares on in silence.
"What?" Riggs orders.
"Once Aaron's boys rounded us all up and locked us in here, they told us the women would be offered over to the bikers and the men will be shot some time this week," Lance adds in intense dread and anger as he tries to comfort Tabatha in his arms as she begins crying relentlessly.
The news did not startle Andrew and Riggs, for they already figured that much at this point. Now coming to a realization, Riggs places his head down as emotions overwhelm him.
"I want to thank all of you for not abandoning me and Andrew. All of you are true friends," Riggs confesses. Nobody says a word in response because their eyes said enough.
Riggs takes a few minutes to gather himself.
Moments later, he tries to keep the group's hopes up by desperately trying to devise an escape plan. However, failing miserably, many of them realized it was just to keep their minds occupied in order to avoid the inevitable.
Linda began opening prayer sessions with some members of the group and invited them all to join. Only a few joined in, however, as the days went on without given any food or water, almost all of them were now praying with her in a desperate attempt to make their last peace. It even got to the point of where Tabatha stopped crying as she accepted Lance's and her own fate. She just wanted to enjoy the rest of the time she had with him.
Even Andrew and Audrey began cuddling up next to eachother, resting in eachother's arms. Tammy saw this and decided to crawl over to Riggs as she grew weaker and couldn't bring herself to stand. Riggs accepted her into his arms as he leaned up against the wall attempting to conserve his remaining energy.
The guards which stood watch constantly mocked them and even urinated into their cell numerous times. Disgusted as Riggs and Andrew were, they attempted to attack the men numerous times from the other side of the bars and were only met by cattle pronges shocking them to their knees through the gaps.
One night, one of the more friendly guards, was on watch in his chair looking into their cell. When everyone inside was asleep, with the exception of Andrew, who had his arms wrapped around Audrey and lost in his own thoughts of his brother, noticed Young Andrew walking in with Amy holding an entire loaf of bread and two large gallon water bottles.
The guard rose up from his seat and told them to leave, until Amy pleaded with the man. She told him they were her friends and just wanted to give them some food so they wouldn't die.
Once Amy told the man this, he quickly avoided eye contact with her as he already knew that their fates were sealed anyway.
As persistant as Amy was however, she offered the man a carton of Marlboro Reds, which ultimately sold him as he allowed the two to pass.
Andrew removes Audrey's arms and gently places her down on her back as he crawls up to the edge of the cell and pokes his head out towards Young Andrew and Amy.
"Hey soldier. Haven't seen you around in awhile. How you been?" he asks with a hoarse and tired voice.
"I'm alright. I miss you guys. Please hang in there. I am going to get you out of here, I promise!" Young Andrew vowes as he hands the loaf of bread and water to Andrew. Amy stares on in silence.
Andrew stares at the bread and water with widened eyes and thanks the young boy as he squeezes his shoulder displaying his affection towards the child.
As a result, Andrew holds back his tears.
"You're one tough soldier I tell you what. Now what you got to do, is soldier up and stay tough. Even without us. You got your whole life ahead of you and you better damn sure well make sure you value it. Now go on. Get out of here before you get in trouble," Andrew says attempting to value his last words to Young Andrew.
"I know you don't believe me, but you'll see," Young Andrew reiterates with confidence.
Andrew shakes his head in acceptance and rubs the top of the boy's head real fast in a playful demeanor. Amy takes the boy by the hand and walks off as Young Andrew looks back to his hero with tears in his eyes.
Andrew feels his eyes become watery as he continues to prevent himself from crying and sobbing as he places his head down to gather his bearing. Once he is able, he turns around to wake up the rest of the group to share the food and water.
Once the loaf is depleted and the last drop of water is consumed, they all return back to their corners with their company in arms. A lonely Linda, distraught over missing Young Andrew's visit, curls up to Dwayne out of friendship and the looming fear of possible death. She laid her head on his shoulder as she began to cry.
As dawn loomed, Riggs and the rest of the group remained asleep as rays of sunlight broke through the cracks of the walls and through the windows into their cage. All is quiet until the sounds of automatic gunfire erupting suddenly awakens them from a dead sleep. Shortly followed by the sound of a large vehicle knocking down the front gate or one of the walls on the perimeter as chunks of concrete are heard seperating in multiple directions. More gunfire can be heard followed by the sounds of roaring engines and motors all around the perimeter. Moments later, screams can be heard coming from inside the prison as the alarm is sounded. Even the guard in front of their cell takes off out of sight.
Everyone who is confined, quickly stands up and begins pacing around and trying to poke their heads through the bars in order to find out what is happening. The sounds of gunfire grow more frequent and violent as it appears the whole prison is in a call to arms.
A few minutes go by until the area sounds like a complete war zone. Screams, automatic fire, shotguns, a few explosions on the perimeter can be heard as Riggs and the rest of the group feel helpless and desperately attempt to yell out to be released.
While they hear the chaos ensue from their confined space, a few men with tactical vests run past their cell in a dead sprint holding assault rifles with their barrels pointed into the air. The situation seems so serious at this point, Riggs goes as far as to say that the whole establishment is being over ran.
Twenty minutes go by as there is no end in sight. The gunfire grows ever closer towards them from inside the prison. The loud echos of weapons being expended in the general area inside the compound grow more deafening by the minute.
Linda instantly panics while worrying about the where abouts and safety of Young Andrew.
"He needs me out there! He's all alone! For the love of god let us out of here!" Linda frantically yells out into the hallway. Nobody outside the cage can hear her.
At that point, moans are heard off into the distance. The group realizes whatever just came into the compound, possibily the bikers, something else was let in as well. All of them realize it at this point as the gunfire, the screams and the moans grow ever closer.
Riggs and Andrew decide to take a seat beside eachother and allow the situation to unfold. They realize that they are helpless at this point.
"You can't give up! Stand up and help me!" Linda desperately cries out to the pair as she continues to shake the bars and scream to the top of her lungs. Lance, Tabatha, Audrey, Dwayne and Tammy decide to follow Riggs and Andrew's path as well as they take a seat on the floor and await whatever is coming in ease.
That is when Amy and Young Andrew are seen sprinting up to the doorway and into the hallway. Young Andrew is in the lead as he holds a large set of keys on a giant metallic ring. Amy is right behind him.
Linda is the first to notice him and calls out his name. Everyone else inside the cell, whom are startled by what Linda called out, quickly stand up on their feet.
"We got the keys! We got the keys!" Young Andrew yells at the top of the lungs with anticipation and excitement as he approaches the lock to the sliding door. Everyone else inside quickly runs up to the bars and begin welcoming him back.
Young Andrew quickly flips through the keys as he places them into the lock one by one attempting to open the door. Everyone else encourages him on to move quicker as time is running out.
Andrew looks at Amy from inside his cell for a moment.
"How did you two get these?" he curiously asks, while anxious to be released.
"I stole it from my father's office. These keys are to all the cells, including the vehicles in the motorpool," Amy informs with a sense of pride on her face.
Rigg's eyes, along with everyone else's light up with hope. Riggs tells them, as soon as the gate is open, that they are headed in the opposite direction of the battle and will escape out the back side to enter the motorpool. Once they do this, they will steal one of the parked vehicles and attempt an escape.
Everyone is on board as they anxiously tell Young Andrew to hurry up. Right as he is still going down the line trying one key after another, Amy remains still, with widened eyes as she looks down the hallway into the direction of the main door.
Nobody notices her change in facial expression as they are too focused on trying the keys to open the door. That is when a loud and thunderous voice can be heard from down the hallway.
"Amy! What the hell do you think you are doing!" the man from down the hallway exclaims in a furious tone of voice. Everyone stops in dead silence.
Young Andrew looks down the hallway, then turns back to the keys and picks up the pace trying to unlock the door.
Amy now begins crying and sobbing.
"I am sorry daddy, I didn't mean too. Please don't hurt me!" Amy pleads as she is drawn to her knees. Young Andrew is still attempting to open the door while ignoring the unfolding situation beside him.
At that point, Riggs and Andrew realize who it is. Aaron is seen, in his black fatigues with his tactical vest, welding an AK-47 as he draws it on his daughter as he slowly walks forward. He is bloodied and seems disoriented.
"You little whore! You are just like your mother, an unreliable traitor! A liar! A sneak!" Aaron continues to yell on as he approaches her closer and closer with each passing step. Her sobs grow louder as a result. Her face leans closer into the ground in shame as he approaches.
"You've betrayed me!" Aaron continues in a fit of rage.
Andrew along with the others begins yelling at him to put the weapon down. Riggs, realizing Aaron came back here to kill them, is the only one to notice the boy finding the right key at the last second. As a result, the locking mechanism pops free as Riggs doesn't waste any time to push forward and break through the breach.
That is when Aaron pulls the trigger. He shoots Amy three times execution style as she knelt on the ground crying and attempting to apologize to her supposed step-father. Amy's lifeless body falls flat onto the pavement as she ceases to move.
Aaron stands over her in disbelief at what he has just done.
Once the shots were heard right behind Young Andrew, he quickly falls sideways attempting to avoid the intensity of the nearby rounds ripping into his friend Amy.
That is when Riggs charges out of the doorway the boy had just unlocked for him a second ago and tackles Aaron to the ground in a dead sprint as Aaron attempted to point his rifle towards the others in order to finish them off.
The AK-47 falls to the ground out of reach of a murderous Aaron. Riggs acts on the oppurtunity as he is on top of Aaron and begins pummeling his face in with fist after fist of striking blows to the face and head. Everyone else screams in horror as they run out of the cell. Andrew instantly goes for the rifle and picks it up as he sets up a defensive posture on Aaron who is being brutally beaten to a bloody pulp by a furious Riggs.
Once Riggs is finished, he stands up over Aaron with him between his legs.
"You son of a bitch. I'm going to kill you!" Riggs yells in pure hatred. He then proceeds to stomp his face in with his boot. Andrew jumps in and begins beaten him in the torso with his rifle as Dwayne and Lance come running up and begin taking turns kicking in Aaron's head into the pavement.
After each striking blow by the group of men, Aaron grows less and less in tune with his surroundings as he begins to drift into nothingness as he stares up at the ceiling beside his daughter who lies in a pool of blood as a result of his action.
Once the men calm down and cease to strike him, Riggs walks off swearing in frustration at witnessing Amy's murder. Andrew, without saying a word, stands erect over Aaron as he places the barrel of his own rifle up to the center of his forehead and pulls the trigger. Brain matter and blood splashes in every direction peppering Linda and a nearby Tammy on their shirts as they watch in horror.
Young Andrew, after witnessing what just happened to his friend and the girl who possibily saved them all, runs up to a lifeless Amy as she lays face first into the pavement.
Tears runs down his eyes as his little face grows beet red. He begins sobbing over her body as Andrew and Linda pull him away.
"Come on! We have to go! We have to go now!" Yells Andrew as the gunfire becomes even closer at this point.
"No! No! We can't leave her like this!" Young Andrew screams, kicks and bites Andrew as the boy is dragged down the corridor to safety by Andrew.
Once Linda has control of him, Andrew runs back to Aaron's body and takes the remaining magazines he has out of his tactical pouches on his vest. Andrew uncomfortably stuffs four banana clips into his pockets and turns around to catch up with the group which has already taken off in a dead sprint.
As they run down the corridor which leads to the cafeteria, they come across multiple four way intersections. As they run by them, they can see a good distance down the hall from either side as they see stumbling assailants whom appear to have already reached the state of rigor mortis.
Once they all make it into the cafeteria, the group notices a group of three bikers in the middle of the food court hiding behind concrete pillars firing off their weapons towards the upper level balconies which overwatch the food court. Members of the prison are locked into heated battle with The Death's Head over the right to the facility.
It is clear to the group now as they stop dead in their tracks and flank around the ensueing firefight behind serving stations as they use it for cover to move by the engaged individuals. All of them stay low as they quickly move into the kitchen where they notice multiple afflicted women feasting on what Linda believed to be Teresa, the woman she spoke with earlier, whom is being eaten alive as she screams at the top of her lungs attempting to escape her attackers. The dead rip into the flesh of our thighs and work their way up as she punches them, kicks them and scratches them. Welding in no results.
Teresa notices Linda sneak by her as they exchange eye contact. She puts up her hand and reaches to her for help as Linda quickly turns away and keeps moving with the rest of the group who attempts to go out the back entrance unseen.
Once they reach the exit door and run down the fire escape steps, a full on firefight can be seen in the courtyard as members of The Death's Head and Aaron's men hide behind concrete serpentine barriers for cover and exchange heavy volleys of automatic and semi-automatic fire.
Riggs yells at them to keep moving as they hit the pavement and begin following the brick wall to the motorpool as they stay low and Andrew maintains lead with his rifle up. They move a good few hundred meters unnoticed until Andrew has to turn an unseen corner outside the wall which ultimately leads towards the motorpool as Riggs quickly attempts to identify a vehicle key while on the move.
Andrew puts up his open hand signal for halt as Riggs notices what he means. He quickly stops the group dead in it's tracks behind Andrew as the only man with the rifle begins pyeing the corner of the wall slowly as he looks down his iron sights, awaiting to engage anything that is a threat.
As Andrew side steps and more of the corner is revealed, he notices Cynthia and Randall laid on their backs in the grass placing their hands up signaling the bikers standing over them to stop what they are doing once Andrew has complete view of what is now on the other side.
Two bikers stand over Cynthia and Randall while pointing their pistols at them. Andrew realizes they are about to shoot Cynthia and Randall as they beg and sob for their lives.
At that moment, the bikers quickly notice Andrew's presence and turn their attention to him, quickly drawing their weapons in his direction.
Andrew quickly fires two rounds of 7.62mm munition into each man starting from right to left, instantly dropping them as he scores two hits in the center of the chest per man. A terrified Cynthia and Randall look up behind them and notice Andrew standing there lowering his rifle. He stares at them with contempt and moves on past their direction attempting to make it to the motorpool to hitch a ride.
As Riggs pass them by he spits on Randall's face as he still lies there in shock of almost being executed. The rest of the group passes the traitors by in silence as if they didn't even know them.
Cynthia and Randall stare at eachother for a moment. Both of them rise up without question and follow the rest of the group from behind like ducklings following their mother duck.
As the group pushes forward, still remaining unnoticed, they realize the area that they need to cross is blocked off by a dump truck which taken out the front gate and has been smashed into the main entrance wing of the prison, in effect, leaving a large gapping hole in it's side for anyone to enter. More bikers are seen storming in from a distance on their motorcycles with weapons drawn between their ape hangers. In addition, mobs of dead assailants begin flooding in from behind.
Riggs and Andrew realize this isn't good for they have been cut off. As the group is at a short hold and remains low to the ground in order not to draw attention to themselves, Dwayne notices an access door not too far from him. He tops Andrew on the shoulder signaling him to follow as Dwayne takes off an kicks in the door entering one of the maintenance rooms of the prison.
They quickly move across and into a stairwell which only goes upward. Bodies are littered up and down the stairwell as Linda closes Young Andrew's eyes with her hand preventing him from seeing the bullet riddled bodies as they ascend the stair case.
Upon going three stories up the staircase and passing over a dozen corpses, they come across a loan steel door with no apparent locking mechanism on it. Andrew pushes to the front of the group as he resides near the back. Once located to the front of the door, he places his index finger up in the air so everyone can see, indicating everyone to be silent as he slowly cracks open the door with his barrel pointed out while scanning for potential threats.
Once he realizes that the coast is clear, he opens up the door and signals the rest behind him to move forward as they follow him shaken and fearful, with the exception Riggs of course who only wishes he had a fire arm on him at this point.
As the group breaks the threshold, they notice that they are now in one of the common areas of cell block A. Multiple levels of cell blocks, which holds the remnants of people's families such as dressers with toys on top of them and painted walls, appear ever present as the survivors move forward upon the third level while watching down to the lobby on the look out for any threats. Nothing of danger is in sight as bodies can be seen laying in peace scattered throughout the lower levels.
As they push forward to the staircase which brings them down to the lobby and which ultimately leads them to the exit where the motorpool resides, Lance and Tabatha, whom reside in the very back of the group, notice out of the corner of their eyes a large horde of undead fast approach them in a dead sprint out of the corner of their eyes as they pass a connecting hallway which is located at the top level adjacened to the stairwell the group descends.
Tabatha and Lance frantically call out to the group in horror as they yell for them to pick up the pace. Everyone in the front quickly turns around as a reflex to the warning and notices the assailants sprinting towards Lance and Tabatha as they despertely try to push the people in front of them forward so they can escape.
Once the rest realize what was happening, they take off running down the staircase. Tabatha and Lance pick up the pace as the dead behind them quickly gain ground,
Upon reaching the bottom lobby level, Andrew kicks open the door leading to the motorpool and sprints to the first SUV he sees. Everyone else files in behind Andrew in panic as a result of their pursuers.
At that point, a break in the group occurs when Tabatha, whom is located at the very last of the group, trips and sprains her ankle on the very last step of the staircase. As a result, she falls face first on to the cold hard pavement of the lower level lobby area. Now inoperable and unable to stand up on her own, while laying flat on her stomach, she looks back to see the hungry mob frantically run down the circular constructed stairs as they grow ever close to their meal. Tabatha can see them hissing and foaming from the mouth as they lay eyes upon her and draw ever nearer.
At that moment, none of the members of the group notice for they are already breaking into a get away vehicle. The closest ones left near a now dreadful Tabatha is her fiance, Lance and good friend Linda.
Tabatha looks back to Lance, who is already at the edge of the doorway about to break through into the sunlight as she screams his name at the top of her lungs with tears in her eyes.
"LANCE! HELP ME!" she cries in fear as she calls out to the father of her baby.
Lance stops at the edge of the door and notices the mob fast approaching his fiance from behind. He stares at her for a few seconds, obviously torn apart on what to do at this moment, he hesitates.
That is when he turns his back to Tabatha and runs outside while Tabatha screams his name with hopelessness. Eventually, her screams are drowned out by the moans and cries of the mob which quickly consume her until the voice of Tabatha can no longer be heard. Lance continues running as tears drip down his eyes.
As he runs up to the vehicle which the rest of the group are now sitting in, he notices Linda staring at him with a cold stoic stare. She realized what he has done and he knows it.
Lance avoids eye contact with her as she stands by the edge of the vehicle now staring Lance down.
Andrew, Riggs and the rest begin yelling at them.
"Hop your asses in the back now! Let's get the hell out of here!" Riggs yells from the passenger side of the Ford F-150 with a 4-door cab. Lance and Linda hop in the back quickly attempting to squeeze into an already packed vehicle.
Andrew peels out as his AK-47 sits in between him and Riggs as they make their way to the gate at a high rate of speed running over multiple hungry assailants as they sprint towards their moving vehicle moaning and hissing.
The truck jumps up as if it just went over a series of multiple speed bumps. Riggs realizes now at this point, all of the bikers are inside the prison attempting to over run it as he notices their bikes are parked outside staggered through the court yard with nobody on them. It appears the group is in the clear and has escaped without being noticed.
As Andrew floors it out the straight away leading out the gate, Dwayne reminds him of the tire spike up ahead. Andrew quickly reacts and takes the truck onto the grass avoiding the obstacle with ease.
Once they hit the main road the coast is clear. Riggs, along with Dwayne and the rest begin cheering.
"We fucking did it! We made it!" Riggs boasts as he begins punching in the dash board in celeberation. Lance leans up to the glass of the back door window as silent tears drip down his face, realizing that he left his fiance for dead.
Linda, holds Young Andrew in her arms as he frantically cries and sobs into her chest. She strokes his hair in order to relax him and help him forget about Amy's tragic murder.
Once the yelling ceases, Tammy and Audrey both make an observation.
"Where is Tabatha?" Audrey curiously asks the group. Tammy also asks the same question with the exact same words used by Audrey.
Everyone looks around in the cab in horror. Riggs, realizing she got left, tells Andrew to turn the vehicle around. Without question, Andrew slows down as he goes to make a U-turn until Linda orders him to stop.
With contempt and fire in her eyes, she stares at Lance and makes a statement, "Lance left her for the dead. She is gone."
Tears begin running down Linda's eyes. Then shortly after, she goes on to add, "The worst part of it all, not only did Lance leave his fiance, he also left his unborn child."
Andrew now stops the vehicle to a screeching halt. Andrew and Riggs looks back to Lance as everyone else in the back does the same.
Lance remains stoic and void of emotion. The only indictator of remorse and sadness that can be seen are the constant flowing tears which runs down his flush facial features. He continues to stare outside the window without addressing or looking at anyone.
Riggs, could not bring himself to say a word. Neither can anyone else.
Andrew decides to resume moving as everyone stays silent in the cab. The only sounds which can be heard at this point are the cries and whimpering of Young Andrew.