Chapter 101

I am starting to feel a little burnt out on the story, hence why I have been releasing later and later these days. Next week, I am planning to take the week off, just to plan, storyboard, and recover mentally. This will be my first break since I started this story back in late November, so this had been a long time coming. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

The paws of the wargs smacked against the pavement as they ran down the street. However, even if one listened closely, that sound was barely audible in comparison to the thunderous sound of the running zombie horde. While the gap between them was widening, the undead did not slow or deviate, chasing the group in front of them. As Nat looked back from atop of Luna, she saw the moment when the horde reached the narrow single lane bridge that spanned the river. Instead of funneling into a point to cross, they continued unabashed all around it. And while Nat could not see exactly how, they came up and over the banks on this side. Water did not turn out to be any sort of effective deterrent to keep them away, and it was a race against time. Sol was already breathing raggedly as he ran, exhausted from all of the running that he had already done that day. But every second they were travelling ten times as fast as the horde chasing them. All they needed to do was break away and not be seen, and they would be safe.

Turning the corner, their line of sight with the zombies broke. However, none of them celebrated, as the sound of their feet still sounded out. Even with line of sight broken, the zombies continued after them. Quickly, Shannon and Natalie racked their brains, trying to figure out a way out of this. As they were passing by an apartment complex that sat beside the road, Shannon called out for Nat. Following her mate, Luna ran after them up to the far side of the complex. Upon being led there, Nat figured out Shannon's daring plan. It was extremely risky, but it may be the only way out of it right now. Sol looked ready to just collapse on the ground, and Luna was still at the point where she was working to wean her pups off her milk, causing her to be extremely drained. Seeing that the two wargs were both on their last legs, Nat had them go back into the Soulscape and decided to risk everything with this idea.

As was common in cities, there was a fully enclosed area to hold the garbage bins set up. This was mainly to keep animals away, while keeping the area looking good. Now, it was going to be used as a hiding space of last resort. As the sound of the horde came nearer, the two women went in and closed the gate behind them. Together, they crouched down behind the bin and waited. They barely breathed, terrified of alerting the monsters to their location. Minutes passed by, the sound getting louder and louder as the seconds seemed to drawl on. Shannon reached out and enclosed Natalie in a hug, shivering like a leaf in a gale. While surprised by the gesture, Natalie returned it as tightly as she could. Right now, she was Shannon's anchor, her safety. While there was nothing more she could do, Natalie did her best to relay a sense of calm and security towards her terrified partner.

And then the horde came upon their little hiding hole. As the sound of the running corpses seemed to go around them, they both jumped in fright when the first one slammed into the gate. By the shadows that the eastern sun was displaying, they could see the zombie get up and move around the closed off box. For minutes, the sounds of thousands of bodies running past their hideout continued to go off like a continuous rumble, with the occasional crash of a zombie running into either the gate or side of the box. Natalie quickly got used to the sound and sudden impact, but Shannon jumped with every hit, scared that this one will break through. Finally, after over a dozen zombies had crashed into the gate and more into the brick sides of the box, the sound of the charging undead horde started to peter out and fade towards the north.

As the last sounds of running passed them by, there was one crash of a zombie running into the gate, coupled with the sounds of wood breaking. Right on the other side of the bin, the sounds of a zombie came out. Slowly, Shannon and Natalie stood up, and moved out around either side of their hiding space. As they did, they came to see that a zombie had broken through the gate, but had broken its legs in the process. His shins were ripped to shreds, both from the wood and the broken bone shooting through his skin. He groaned as he attempted to get up on his feet, stumbling each time due to the lack of support his legs gave. As he noticed the two people, he opened his mouth to shriek out, to alert his zombie brethren to their location, but was cut short by an axe to his cranium. Shannon's fire axe sunk easily into the corpse's skull, spraying a bit of grey matter and cranial fluid out onto the concrete and garbage bin.

Shannon held onto the axe that she buried into the zombie's decaying skull, waiting for a scream to come up from one of the zombies that they just avoided. When no sounds came up aside from their breathing, both her and Natalie let out a long sigh of relief. Zombies apparently got angered by one of their zombies getting killed, but only if they had witnessed the murder. Extracting the axe from the now eliminated corpse, they cautiously peeked out from the broken gate, making sure the coast was clear. When neither saw any more monsters, they left the enclosure. Slowly they headed out back onto the road. Moving out, they came to see that the zombies had stopped running out on the open plain and started milling about north of the town. Seeing that the way was blocked, and not wanting to have to run away again, the two of them moved across the ditch and down Longview Trail, in a hope to be able to move around the zombie swarm.

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!

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