Black Market Merchant

“Are you really sure that Twisted are here in the town?” Clair’s father Kirk asked once more.

John nodded while gazing straight ahead. “I can’t be more serious. They are here.”

John wanted to avoid going north with the neighborhood families because it took them too close to the dam, but going the other directions was foolish. To the east was the river and where the Twisted had come from. The south was currently burning down, and the dreaded Skull were just beyond the wall of flames. To the west of town was nothing but empty desert for miles on end and they would not survive out there for long. If they managed to pass by the dam in time and get ahead of the Twisted then his goal was to get everyone to the next closest, safe town, Grand Junction.

As soon as they left the neighborhood the group was immediately engulfed by a steady stream of people fleeing along with them. John was concerned, not just for the numbers of people moving, but for the direction they all were going in, north. Listening carefully to the people as they passed by John’s fears were only heightened. He only caught bits and pieces of conversation but the repeated use of, ‘fire’, ‘monsters’, ‘Twisted’, and ‘coming this way’, were a clear indicator that the Twisted may be on both sides of the river.

Thinking carefully, it seemed now odd to him that the larger part of town was not the first area to be attacked. The sheer numbers of Twisted and the ferocity of the baby Hoard Mother was more than enough to take over the entire town. Johns mind wandered as he tried to think of a reason.

“So why were they just on the east side? Could it be that there was no suitable area for the Hoard Mother to cross at or was the east side just where they first arrived at?” Then he remembered the fires. “Perhaps the fire was slowing the Twisted down too and we had just been lucky so far?”

There then came a sudden scream from far behind them. John looked back to see that his worries were confirmed, the Twisted were indeed here! The crowd surged forward like a wave in the ocean as everyone from the back tried to run. However, the streets were to narrow and those in front, unaware of the danger behind them, were too slow to move.

The screams and wails of the unfortunate only grew more numerous and terrifying. Then, from the building behind and to the left of John and Hanna’s group there came a loud warbling scream. Looking up everyone saw that it was a Night Hound perched on the buildings edge! Clair and Jillian were closest to Hanna at that moment and the two of them screamed as they clung to Hanna tightly. As if queued by the two girls screaming everyone else on the road panicked and tried running in all directions.

The Night Hound let out another warbling scream and then it leapt off the building and into the crowd below. It landed on an unfortunate woman and sunk its massive, serrated jaws into her stomach. This led to even further mayhem as people fled for their very lives.

“Stick near me!” John shouted as he reached back and grabbed Hanna’s hand.

The other two other girls held onto Hanna and formed a chain as John led the way through the crowd. Everyone else from their neighborhood group was also just as panicked as the rest f the crowd but seeing John remaining calm and still moving forward to the north, they all followed. John made a beeline towards an old restaurant he already knew to be empty and entered it. Once inside he didn’t stop moving but headed for the exit in the kitchen on the other end of the building. The exit led to an alley that was completely empty to both north and south directions.

“Benny, Richard!” John called. “You two stay at the rear and keep your guns at the ready.”

“On it!” Benny answered and he pumped his shotgun once to ensure that it was loaded.

“Everyone else move ahead of me and I’ll do a headcount.” John continued. “We won’t leave anyone behind.”

The screams and chaos from the streets grew steadily more terrifying as John counted a total of forty-seven people in the alley. More than he had expected to follow him, but John known all of them for years and wanted them to be safe too. He then made his way to the front of the group and pulled out his pistol from the back of his pants.

“Alright, from here on out everyone be quiet and only speak if you see danger. Just don’t yell when you do. It will attract more Twisted to us.” John said in a forced whisper.

No sooner than had he said this when the sound of Benny’s shotgun blasted out. From above them on the roof came tumbling down a Logos Cutter. Its black bloodied body landed wetly at Mrs. Goldsberry’s feet. She then clasped both hands over her mouth as she stifled a scream.

“Sorry ma’am.” Benny whispered. “Sorry to you too, John.”

“Hurry, lets move before the others come!” John said turning to run through the alley.

The group had to zigzag through the debris that were piled haphazardly about, and it made for slow going. Even though the debris was slowing them down it ended up inadvertently helping them too. The sound of Benny’s gunfire did attract the Twisted. But when several Logos Cutters and Night Hounds swarmed the area of the sounds origin, they only found the body of the dead Logos Cutter. They didn’t stick around for long, the screams of humans in the streets and their unabated hunger drew them to return to the hunt.

When John and the others reached the end of the alley, they found themselves on the far side of the market area. All that lay ahead of them were a few streets of businesses and storehouses, the dam, and finally the northern wilderness. John looked both ways before running across the road to see a lot of people around but far less than before. He was about to run out to lead the way when an uncountable number of gunshots riddled the air.

The cause was many armed individuals coming down the road towards them. Looking briefly at them and seeing their markings John cursed his misfortune, they were Mad Dog gangsters. The Mad Dogs were not only coming their way, but they were being chased by Twisted in numbers even greater than those attacking the people in the previous streets!

“Quick, run as fast as you can! We need to stay ahead of the gangsters if we want to make it out of here!” John yelled back before sprinting out into the street.

…

“I am going to kill that brat as soon as I get my hands on him!” Hugo shouted before breaking out into another fit of coughing. “Ernest saw us coming and they still closed the gates on us.”

Hugo and the others had come to a stop in the middle of the street when the compounds gates close just ahead of them. They then watched with dismay as the Twisted Hoard swarmed the metal walls and started encircling the perimeter. At first the Twisted tried to find a way inside on ground level, but there was no such place to be found. Then being attracted to the gangsters shooting at them from the guard towers, the Twisted started to climb.

The pining of the Twisted’s claws puncturing the metal as they climbed was like rain drops striking a metal roof during a downpour. The defending gangsters shooting never stopped once and the bodies of the Twisted were knocked from the walls in droves. The sight reminded Hugo of Fall leaves tumbling to the ground. It was truly a sight to behold.

“Should we try to go around to the back entrances?” The blue bandana gangster asked.

“No, we are going to cross the dam.” Hugo replied through gritted teeth. “Look, the Twisted ahead spotted us.”

Sure enough, a group of Twisted was already breaking away from those assaulting the compound and were now charging their way. The gangsters started to turn back when the Twisted that had been chasing them since the stadium rounded the street corner ahead. They were about to be pinched from both ends.

“Go down that narrow road heading north!” Hugo shouted.

The gangsters readily obeyed. The road already had several towns people ahead of them and so they knew this route would be safe to take for the moment. They had only gone a block when the first of the Twisted caught up to their tired forces.

“Turn and shoot a volley!” Hugo ordered.

Responding immediately all the gangsters stopped running, turned, and fired. The nearest twisted were mowed down instantly. Those that were not killed right away jumped onto the nearby building’s walls or into the gaps between building to avoid being shot. This gave the gangsters some breathing room.

When they turned back to keep running, they were bewildered to see a large group of townspeople had appeared and now were impeding their route of escape. Every one of the people in this group was carrying their belongings which further slowed them. This group was none other than John and the rest.

“Push by them and keep heading for the dam!” Hugo shouted.

John heard him say that and looked ahead up hill at the powerhouse building that had now come into view. “They must think that its safe to cross there, but its not. In fact, it is even more dangerous to go there. Should I warn them?”

Then he remembered that Lisa was still going to be there guiding the eastern townspeople across the dam. If the Mad Dogs saw her doing this, they might try to get in her way and make the situation worse. He had to decide fast for the desperate gangsters were about to pass them.

“Wait! Don’t go to the dam.” John called to them without slowing down.

“Why is that?” Hugo yelled back. He was kind of surprised to hear a warning from someone not affiliated with the gang.

“The Twisted are already on the other side of the dam and trying to cross over.” John replied between breaths.

Hugo glanced up hill at the dam and he took note of the barbwire fence that ran around the property. “I think we will go that way anyway.”

“What, no, its not safe!” John replied anxiously.

“I hear gun shots coming from there and that means help.” Hugo replied sounding just as winded from running as John was. “We won’t be able to outrun these monsters. Joining up with other armed people is our only hope now!”

It was then John notice the gunfire coming from the dam and that could only mean the Twisted had arrived there. John looked back at the terrified neighborhood group and the exhausted gangsters, and he knew Hugo was probably right. Going north now was going to be impossible. They were going to have to pin all their hopes on Lisa and the dam’s defenses.