Dead Frontier/Issue 114

This is a preview for Issue #114 of Dead Frontier, titled ''Strangers. ''This is the final issue in Volume 19. The entire issue is planned to be posted the week of October 07, 2013.

Issue 114 - Strangers
The front window of the store threatens to falter under the weight of the infected. By the time they realized they wouldn’t be able to hold them off any longer, too many had already approached the building, putting them in their current position. Duke stands a few feet away from the window, a revolver in his grasp. He points it at the infected, contemplating whether or not it’s worth it to fire, thus shattering the window and possibly attracting more. He decides their numbers are a little too large to risk going at them without a firearm, so he pulls the trigger.

The glass crumbles and falls to the floor with the shot, but he also hits an infected right between the eyes. Lienne, Adam, and Dean follow his lead and fire recklessly, while everyone else stands near the store’s rear, ready to intervene if needed.

It doesn’t take long for the groaning crowd to thin out considerably, until Duke stops firing and holds his hand up. The rest of the shots cease at his gesture. All it takes is for him to quickly reach to his left, towards the bag on the ground, and retrieve a rusted, red crowbar for everyone else to follow suit. Duke quickly uses the crowbar to smash in the skulls of two infected trying to crawl through the window. A few more approach, but Duke disregards them; Lienne, Adam, and Dean have fled out the front door and proceed with their assault, focusing mostly on the infected gathered around the trucks.

Duke beckons everyone from the back of the store, and if they have a weapon in their possession, they make sure to use it.

As much as he hates his cane, Cole has to admit it's got a few other practical uses. He flees through the front door behind the others, and opens the back door of one of the trucks. He ushers Ivy and Jake inside, keeping his eye on an approaching infected. Before sliding in, he swings the cane to his left; the end of it smashes the infected in the jaw, and the entire bottom-half of its face falls to the ground. It stumbles at the force of the blow, and ends up face first in the cement. Cole slides into the back next to Jake and Ivy and slams the door shut.

"Nice one," Jake says.

"That was disgusting," Ivy remarks, and Cole can't help but chuckle at her as Adam, Cedric, and Daniel enter the truck next, Adam slipping into the driver's seat. They speed off immediately, with the rest of the trucks following them close behind. Adam struggles to keep from colliding into any infected; their numbers are strong farther down the street, and he's suddenly grateful they're getting out now. He only imagine their size building into an unmanageable number as time went on.

Hunter rides with Dre, Lienne, and Duke. Duke has taken over the wheel, while Lienne sits in the passenger and Dre sits next to Hunter, a seat in between them. Hunter, admittedly, is slightly frustrated at the sour mood everyone seems to be in. He just survived a plane crash, yet compared to them, it's as if he found a hundred dollar bill on the ground. Still, he finds it isn't his place to prod, but he needs to do something to lift the spirits around here.

"So..." Hunter begins. "I've got a question."

"Yeah?" Dre says, turning to him.

"Just a thought that popped into my head...but who's up for grabs here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, only the women, of course."

"...How old are you, bro?"

"Thirty three. I'm not a fucking retiree. I'm still functional down there," Hunter says with a smile, slapping Dre on the shoulder.

"Shit, man. It's a valid question," Duke says. "You seriously only got chances with Tora and Chloe. What about Farrah, though? What's up with her?"

"Oh, Farrah pounces on anything that moves. I've gotten enough of that to last a lifetime."

"Might catch something," Lienne says. "Watch out."

"Wouldn't be surprised if I did. Girl's got a talent. She's like a...walking, one-woman brothel."

Duke laughs loudly, but Hunter is disappointed to see his remark has only elicted small chuckles from Dre and Lienne. Dre shakes his head, but he still has an amused grin on his face as he uncaps his bottle of water and takes a sip. "You sound like quite the ladies man, Hunter. Must've been easy pickings in New York, then," Lienne says.

"It was, definitely. Hard to actually find a nice girl, though. An abundance of whores is gonna get you nowhere. And when you look like me, that's all you get."

"You talking about the eye thing?" Duke asks. "No one cares about that shit. You don't need superficial bitches, anyway."

“Yeah…” Hunter says a little more solemnly, and he settles himself back in his seat.