Zombies Vs Aliens: Respawn

Chapter 6.1

Chapter 6

            "It's just floating there." This was my astute observation. We'd watched the spaceship for a while, letting the Muppets and Wolf Girl out to stretch their legs as we sat on the hood of the wagon, planning our next course of action. In our scenarios of what we'd find when we hit a city, aliens had cropped up a few times. Spaceships had not. The triangular monstrosity was much bigger than the scout ship Fred sent crashing into a haystack. It took up a few city blocks, hovering low enough to scrape against the tallest roofs. Like the scout ship, it was sleek in design, reminiscent of the flat saucer-like discs from old movies.

"It's like a flattened Star Destroyer," Fred said, waving his hand toward it. I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Oh, come on, you don't remember Star Wars?"

            "Delinquent, nerd, you are a man of many faces, Fred."

"Shut up."

            We stared some more. Wolf Girl crawled up behind me at some point, leaning her head on my shoulder. It was a small gesture, but in that moment, I realized if Rochester was crawling with aliens, my little feral friend would be in a shit load of danger.

            "Maybe we should keep going until we hit another city."

            "We don't have enough fuel to make it to the next city." Fred looked at us from the corner of his eye, his pale fingers running through the light blond stubble on his chin. "I could go scout the city, see if I can siphon some fuel for us."

            I thought about his offer. I'd witnessed Fred's crazy strength for myself first hand; he could probably handle any aliens he ran into. I also remembered how that tripod fucker tossed him like a rag doll, and the alien was dying at the time. No, I couldn't send him in alone, not when we didn't know how many were out there.

            "We stick together, watch each other's backs."

            He chewed on his lip, casting a worried look at Wolf Girl. "Think we can keep her alive?"

            "Maybe, maybe not, but the Muppets will help protect her too. You've seen how they are around her." Like guard dogs.  

            "We should go in on foot, the wagon's kinda noticeable." Once it was decided, we moved fast, strapping on our gear. The city was a couple miles away. We stuck to the woodsy embankment off the road. The ground was actually smoother than the road. There was no point in trying to keep our movements subtle. The Muppets were not built for stealth, crashing through the foliage with complete abandon. Our journey was tense, Fred and I walked with a weapon in hand. The others picked up on our worried demeanor, following close behind us.

            Our entrance to Rochester was further complicated by the barricade.

            This sucker was not some haphazard construction of shopping carts and boxes. This was military grade, a solid wall of steel sheets bolted together, covered in rusted stains, surrounded by abandoned vehicles. Fred pushed a rusted blue truck against it, giving us enough leverage to scale over the top. I volunteered to go over first, machete up and ready for ravenous zombies or pissed off aliens. Ducking my head over the wall I saw...

            Nothing, the streets were abandoned, at least in this section of the city. I gave the all clear, vaulting over so Fred could hand me Wolf Girl. He heaved the Muppets over before pulling himself up. Bert and Ernie landed in a graceless heap beside us, the impact echoing through the empty streets. The lack of sound was unnerving, each grunt of effort, the scrape of our shoes, the clink of the chain at my waist, all the little sounds amplified until my nerves were taut as piano wire.