Killing the Dead *Discontinued*

Chapter One: The Bride of Boise

Allyson's P.O.V

"Allyson......Allyson....ALLYSON!!" 

"Wha..." I slur blinking the sleep out of my eyes. The grinning face of my semi-annoying hunting partner Robbie materializes into focus in front of my face. 

"Wake up sleepyhead," he sings prancing about the room, "We have a big day ahead of us, got to walk all 350 miles to the San Francisco camp." 

"Oh right that," I say struggling out of my worn sleeping bag, "What time is it?" 

"Dawn," he replies dropping a bundle in my lap, "And if I were you I would get my butt out of bed, Nathaniel wants to talk to us about a job." 

I instantly bolt out of bed and fumble for my boots, pulling them on while simultaneously undoing the mysterious bundle. To my surprise, a gleaming silver pistol pistol falls neatly into my palm. I look up at a still grinning Robbie. "Oh wow...Robbie.... where did you you get this?" 

"Nathaniel," he replies, "As payment for taking care of the Z's that attacked the camp last week." 

"Nathaniel sure has good taste," I say priming the weapon, "How many shots?" 

"Twelve. Apparently the army had a whole shipment of these that were set to be delivered to the Middle East, of course, the truck carrying them was ambushed by Z's on That Night. This is one of a kind." 

"Well I'll be sure to thank Nathaniel," I say buckling on my weapons belt and slipping the pistol inside an empty holster, "Without him I would still have needed to replace the one I lost last week, now I have my normal five." 

"Well if you want to thank him we better get going, he'll be expecting us soon." Robbie says buckling on his own belt. 

Robbie opens the door and we start down the hallway. I suppose we're some of the lucky ones, since we're only passing through Nathaniel -the head of the Los Angeles Refugee camp- gave us the best room in the house. It also helps that we're hunters, the people here view us as gods. We are the only people brave enough to take on the Z's after all. 

Robbie takes the front and leads us down yet another hallway. I'm not sure why Nathaniel insists on living in the building with the most twists and turns, Z's can get in one way or another. They don't care how many hallways there are. The only thing extra hallways do is make it harder for the living to get out alive. 

"Allyson, Robbie, how nice to see you on this fine morning." Nathaniel says as we walk through the door. 

"Cut the formalities Nathaniel, me and Robbie have to be out of here before the sun's all the way up. What do you want us to do??" I snap. Nathaniel is the type of person that would talk for hours about his many endeavours before and after That Night, brusqueness is the only way to get an answer out of him. 

Nathaniel doesn't seem taken aback by my rudeness, I've done it many times before, instead he leans calmly back in his chair and coolly replies, " When you get to the San Francisco camp, I want you to deliver my regards to Jay and tell him to inform the refugees that the Boise camp was overrun by Z's last week." 

"And.....??" Robbie prompts. I know he's thinking the same thing as me, if Nathaniel wanted to talk to us personally, he wanted us to do something really important. 

"And I want you to take care of a certain Z." 

I lean forward from my position on the wall, "What Z?" 

"Last year a hunter in Albuquerque spotted a Z whom he called The Bride, more recently it has been called The Bride of Boise. She was responsible for the fall of the Boise camp, and personally took down over 50 hunters since the first sighting." 

"So it wasn't a That Night changeling?" Robbie asks. 

"Oh no, not at all." Nathaniel says gravely, "It was one of the first ones converted, before the virus infected full-strength, The Bride of Boise still has mental control which makes it even more dangerous than the average Z." 

I nod confusedly, "So why was The Bride only sighted last year?" I ask. 

"That's what makes her so elusive," Nathaniel says, "The Bride still retained enough mental capacity to hide from the living." 

"So why do you want us to catch her?" Robbie asks, "If she was in Boise last week then she can't be anywhere near here or San Francisco." 

"Tell that to the two new Z's at the San Francisco camp." 

"Wait, how can a slow, 2 miles per hour Z get from Boise to San Francisco in less than a week!?" I say 

"Nobody knows." Nathaniel replys 

"Ok, we'll take down the elusive Bride of Boise, what do we get out of the deal?" Robbie asks 

"I think this will be sufficent." Nathaniel says throwing a bag onto the table in front of us. 

Greedily Robbie reaches for the bag. Pulling the drawstring open, our eyes sparkle as four knives and 10 bullet catridges topple out, a small fortune really. 

"Deal," I say grabbing Nathaniel's outstretched hand, "The Bride of Boise better enjoy her last few days as a Z."