Apocalypse Life/Issue 34

Preview
Walkers, all over the place. That's the summation of what Toni could gather in that parking spot. He watched as Xavier tirelessly hacked his fire axe right in front of him, clawing through the seemingly endless mound of them. He hated these situations. When there was too damn many to shoot.

"Toni!!--" Xavier calls, only managing to glance at him. "Any fucking day now!" He took some time in between his swings, but it the job of fending them off; the way he swung it at their heads without ease was what's pretty much separating him from them.

"Shit, shit, shit--" Toni muttered, taking out his pistol and unloading the clip. He's down to just three bullets. He doesn't want to call an old friend because... well, he might mess up the suit. God knows how long this shit takes cleaning it. And so he stood there for a good moment, looking up and down at the walkers and his hands.

"Toni!!" Xavier shouted, and it woke him up from his trance. Toni gives him a befuddled look and quickly stuffs his pistol back on the inner pocket of his suit. No fucking choice. The whacker's back in business.

He was reluctant in bringing his old buddy along. It made him look like a copper. But he was glad to, because this might just be the thing that saves their asses. Toni's "whacker" is a slightly rusted, stainless steel wrench, having been used on numerous heads of named unfortunates. He's shed blood with this thing even before the world went to shit.

He feels the wrench for a good moment and scurries to Xavier's assistance, swinging downward at the first walker he sees. He expected the thing to go down, with all that whacker force, but it didn't; it just made a dent on its forehead. Toni would let go of hope for a second until he eyes Xavier yet again. The poor guy was sweating out of his head, and his distressed, gyrating movement reflected all his energy being used up.

He swings downward one more time, afraid for a second that his old friend has failed him. But the sound of crackling bone and guts spilling out reinstated him back in business, just like that. Toni couldn't help but grow a smirk as he moves on to whack another walker, then another, then another.

He alleviated Xavier's workload a bit after taking down the walkers all around him. But they just kept on fucking coming.

Xavier only managed to get two seconds of breath before he returns to the matter at hand. A swing here, and a swing there. He had to have a target, or else he'd be blindly swinging, and the job won't be done. A thing he learned after weeks of practice.

With Toni's help, they've managed to move up a bit; they have a chance to clear some more room now, and even then, they had a long way to go. The prospect of this particular fair-sized market was just too good to pass up. But now they can't even get inside.

Xavier and Toni were paving their way through the mounds of walkers, the market's entrance faced on their backs. They were fighting these things because barring down the entrance was going to take some work: there was a good amount of nailed boards, shopping carts, and newspaper posts that blocked it. That, or maybe it was because they were so ignorant. Toni just suggested for them to run through the walkers and before they knew it, they were surrounded. Xavier really should stop listening to him.

The two hacked and swung their way through the walkers, with hopes of mediating the threat down. But they know their limits. A new plan was going to have to be made soon. Xavier was just the man for that.

"Toni--we need to--turn the fuck around and check the back doors--" He was nearly out of breath, but the message got through nonetheless. Toni replies with a slightly more energetic "Fuck yes." They both turn around to return to their path, but the walkers they've left behind blocked it. They've been surrounded, right under their noses.

Xavier takes the walkers toward the market's entrance while Toni kept the ones away busy. Either way, barely any progress was made. Xavier wanted to believe his side had a thinner count, but his exhaustion was screaming at him. He swung at what he could, but they were much slower than usual.

To make things worse, a walker has Toni pinned. He was face to face with its yellow, rotten teeth, clamping at what little distance it could get. Toni had it by the arms; he can only hold it in place, or else he'll be giving it the upper hand. "Get--the--fuck--" Toni swings the walker as best as he could, providing him with a bit of leeway from the other ones walking toward him. It was so damn close to his face that it could take a bite at his nose.

Xavier was his partner, for a reason. Upon swinging it toward his direction, Xavier plants the blade of his axe at the back of its head, loosening its grip on his arms. Toni pushes it away from his as Xavier pulls his axe out. "Thanks, buddy," he says to him, brushing the sides of his arms as if that was going to clean it up. Xavier was a guy he could count on, but he's aware that he's saved him just as much times.

He didn't get a reply back from Xavier, though. Instead, he just saw him slowly backing up from the makeshift wall of walkers edging toward him. "Oh, shit..." Toni mutters under his breath. He doesn't know how they're going to fight over that, and by the looks of Xavier, he doesn't know either.

They look at each other, tighten the grip of their weapons, and hoped for the best. Xavier does the honors of swinging at the first walker, with Toni following it up. But the wall was too thick.

They were about to say whatever last words they could when they hear a gunshot, louder than the collective cries of the undead. They both look at their north-east direction, where the shot came from. Nothing to see, but just the heads of more walkers.

The wall in front of them did thin down, though. A few tore away, attracted at the sound. It was enough for both of them to see through the thinning wall, where... two strangers were fast moving. They look at each other again and prepare to meet these two head on, the walkers standing in between them.

A walker to Toni's right eye has its head quickly thrown to the ground, after a fierce swing of something heavy. It came from a... dark brown-haired girl, her hair messily tucked away into a clip. She wore nearly leather everything, save for her pants, and... that sledgehammer on both her hands. Both Toni and Xavier could only stand in awe as the strangers unfolded before them in the form of killing the walkers.

The other guy finally appears before their eyes, semi-long black hair, green jacket, the whole business much like the girl right next to her. The only difference was that he had a steel bat, and it seemed to have done the job of dazing the two walkers to the ground.

"C'mon!" he shouts, not wasting any time. Behind them, the blocked entrance door never stood so clearer.

Xavier and Toni don't hesitate, and they follow the two young people, jogging right behind them. These two dressed and moved alike. Hell, they were even the same height. It was easy to assume for Toni that they're... brother and sister.

They changed into a sprint as they ran through the clear pathway for them, toward the side of the building, where a distant figure wearing a blue hoodie waited for them.