Stage One: Hope in Darkness

Leaving and Old Friends (Lara)

I fired, close range with a high powered rifle, the walker's head popped open from the force. Knowing that there was finally something I could do gave me a boost. The camp is littered with the dead from both sides now, carnage and blood. Crimson staining everything it touches. What had once been a peaceful camp is now the stage of a cruel war. The air which just this morning had been filled with laughter and the peaceful sounds of people working, no filled with war cries, screams and the endless groaning of the undead.

Ryan and all the others shot down from the windows. I could still see Derek out there, giving them hell. He was firing blindly. Had the virus taken his vision or just eaten away at his mind? I had no idea what the virus did, no one really did. It had swept across the world so quickly that even the best bioengineers had little time to study it. No announcements had gone out, no You can get the cure here at your local pharmacy!!

The rippers had no idea what was going on. They started to panic, scrambling for cover. I pulled the lever back, ready to fire another shot. The bullet loaded with a clank, I took aim just like the first time. Finger hovering on the trigger. The head of the ripper splashed my scope with red, falling dead before I had even pulled the trigger. What the hell? Had one of the others shot him first? Another ripper fell dead. No shots had gone out from our side at that moment. What was going on?

Staring down my scope I searched the distance, light glinted off of something on the cliff on the other side of the city. Another sniper? Someone had come to our aid. It would have been concerning in any other situation. An unknown person with a high powered rifle aimed at our camp, right now I could only be thankful to that unknown sniper.

"Ryan, get the families to the evacuation tunnels!" Chief yelled over me. Ryan followed orders, disappearing out the door in a flash. No time to wonder about that mystery sniper. Save it for later. I moved my rifle back to the siege going on outside the school building. Firing shots at rippers and walkers alike, whatever one fell into my sights. The door below me gets shoved open, Ryan popping out followed by a crowd of people. Small children are carried by adults, and they all look scared. Not surprising.

I shot faster, keeping the rippers down and killing any walkers that got close. Giving them cover fire. All the others at the windows fired faster as well. Giving them the best chance to get out of here.

"Chief get out! You gotta go with them!" They needed him. This place did not function without him. He kept the order. He fired a scowl at me, but he could see my thoughts echoed in the faces of everyone here. He had to get out. The Chief gave a grunt, "Don't be far behind and don't die." With those words of encouragement he followed the others outside. Almost everyone left had gotten out now. Nothing more to do here.

"Let's go! It's our turn now!!" I shouted out. I waited as everyone went out before me. One last look, make sure that no one else was left. Clear.

Outside I went. I searched for Derek as I moved, there! He was just laying on the ground. He was gone. I swung the rifle around my back. Pistol in hand I moved towards him. I had given him a promise. I had to make sure that he did not turn.

A scream calls out. A growl, sounds in my ear. I turn around just as a walker dives for me. Shit! I can't get out of the way. This is going to be the end. At the last second, just before its teeth sink into me it twists. The body of the walker jerks sideways and collapses. A hand wraps around my arm,

"Lara! it is time to go!" Ryan screams at me, dragging me behind him. My eyes find the cliff as Ryan continues to drag me along. That sniper, they killed the walker. They had just saved my life.

Ryan pulls me into the darkness of a back alley before I can fully process what had just happened. Letting go of me and racing ahead to check on the others. Derek, shit. I hadn't made sure, did not put a bullet in his head. A blast of hot air rushes by me, the force of it taking me off my feet. The school building is on fire, walls collapsing in on themselves. The whole front of the building is nothing but rubble and scorch marks now. My ears are ringing, the sound of the blast went off with the explosive sound of a flash grenade. My whole body hurt, my back pressed into the wall of the building. I think I broke something.