System Of The Undead

Chapter 319: The Fall Of The Community PT. 3

The community was on the verge of collapse and Carl had been bitten, that should have been the end of his life but they were quick to react.

Shantel kept the zombies at bay, Lillian rushed over to his side and instructed the men to restrict the blood flow in said arm and they did that by knotting a piece of cloth tightly around his arm.

Lillian was taught the basics by her sister in case of an emergency and this qualified as such.

She took out a knife, Lillian had never done this before with a human so she was uneasy about this act but this might save Carl’s life.

If it was a virus that spread from the point of origin then they could prevent it if they sever the infected area.

Lillian ducked down and began to slice away at his arm, the chances that he would die from blood loss were high but she had no choice.

She sliced and sliced away, blood squirting into her right eye, he had just been bitten and the infection took a few hours to spread or everyone would be turning within minutes of being bitten.

Lillian’s breathing was heavy, her heart was racing as Carl tried to scream but he was not only gagged, they had to hold him down.

He struggled to break free and Shantel glanced back in horror but the focus that Lillian displayed was impressive.

She was focused and with blood in one eye, she didn’t even flinch but kept cutting away.

And in no time, the arm slid right off, she had severed it from the elbow.

"Hurry! We need to stop the bleeding!" Lillian barked but no one had any idea how to do it with the limited resources they possessed at his moment.

Carl was passed out, the pain was too overwhelming for him to remain conscious.

"Hang in there, Carl!" Lillian tried her best to reassure him but her words fell on deaf ears.

He was already passed out, the cloth that was tied previously did enough to reduce the blood flow oozing from the stump.

She had to sterilize the wound or she risked it getting infected but this was the least of her problems right now.

The main thing was making sure he could live another day and the moment the arm was off.

The men lifted him off the ground but not before Lillian wrapped a piece of cloth around.

Luckily, the cloth was clean as she had just put it on an hour or so ago but this inadvertently revealed some of the scars she always kept covered up.

Something that everyone noticed and they instantly wondered how she got them even though they didn’t verbally say it.

"Damn! Will he make it!?" One of the men asked but Lillian didn’t know because they still had a problem.

They still had the evolved zombies to worry about and that was something that they didn’t know how to handle as it took two people to carry Carl so this left Lillian and Shantel alone to defend them.

They slowly retreated, the walkers kept walking towards them and Shantel had to make every bullet count.

She had to calm her breathing as she gunned them down but they didn’t know where the evolved zombies were because they were acting like walkers.

This was the tricky part but it didn’t matter if they killed all the zombies in sight.

However, their guns didn’t have unlimited ammunition and that meant they had to reload.

The moment the zombies realized this was happening, only one of the evolved zombies dashed towards them but where was the other?

Shantel knew she was in a fix and she had to reload fast but the cartridge slipped from her hand and spilled onto the ground.

The zombie was within arm’s length of Shantel’s face but a bullet echoed and pierced the zombie’s head, killing it instantly.

Shantel was shocked, she looked back to see Lillian with a smoking pistol but Lillian’s facial expression prompted her to return her attention to what was in front of them.

"W-What is it doing?" Lillian questioned, in the distance they saw the last evolved zombie yank at the gate.

It had somehow learned how to open it but the padlock in place prevented it from completing this.

However, it was no secret that the evolved zombies were enhanced physically as they began to tug at the lock.

Lillian steadied her aim but unfortunately, she didn’t have it in her line of sight as too many zombies were in the way.

"We need to go before that gate opens up!" One of the men screamed and he was right, they turned their back and hurried away as fast as they could.

They knew that this was out of their power, Carl gave them a fighting chance as they only had a few casualties, there was no doubt it wouldn’t have been more if Carl attempted to fight the zombies head-on with all the men stationed on the wall.

That means there would be no evacuation or any of that but Carl knew in his bones that there was something off.

This instinct was what potentially saved their lives and they weren’t going to let him die without giving him the chance at life he gave them.

Mick was dead and it was his poor judgment that led them here even though it was unknown if Carl’s plan would have worked with the evolved zombies in play.

"Damn it! This is bad, this is really bad!" The man muttered but they had to get out of here.

-

Mariam was left in the community, she wasn’t stupid as to remain in the deserted place and was positioned towards the bus.

She was smart enough to know that this was something out of her power and the only thing she could do right now was hope that her son would return to her.

She waited and waited but soon saw Josephine dashing towards them, she thought everyone was on the bus already except the minority that rushed towards the gate.

"Josephine? What are you still doing out? Get on!" Mariam exclaimed.

"Mathias! He needs help, he is trying to move the patients!" Josephine responded.

"Patients?" Mariam had momentarily forgotten all about this but there was nothing she could do as the resources they had were limited.

They didn’t even have the vehicles to accommodate others so this was a tight situation that they were in.

"We cannot go back. I am afraid we just have to trust them," Mariam said. She wanted to send others to go after her son but Mariam knew this was where faith came into play.

Her boy was no longer a child and there had to be a reason he did what he did, she wasn’t going to undermine it by putting the very people he chose back in harm’s way.

Josephine pondered on what Mariam said for a moment, she was right, they couldn’t do anything but have faith that everything would be alright even though they heard sporadic shots in the distance.

This told them that they were still alive at least and that was enough.

However, they couldn’t wait around forever as there was a possibility that they wouldn’t make it.

They had to leave and the gates sprung open, much to Mariam’s surprise as she didn’t remember giving the order.

"What do you people think you are doing?" Mariam questioned, rushing to the driver.

"We cannot wait forever, we have a ten minute waiting time and that elapsed five minutes ago..." He responded. It was clear from his tone that this wasn’t something he liked himself but the majority took priority. It was ironic that it was Mariam, herself, that implemented this rule but now she found herself at the mercy of said rule.

Mariam kissed her teeth, she knew that she couldn’t stop them or people might begin to question her ability to lead but what was she going to lead if this place was gone?

Her son was gone and right now, she needed to be a mother above all else.

"Please, I am begging you, just five more minutes," Mariam pleaded, she had never pleaded with anyone before so this shocked the driver and everyone on the bus.

Mariam wasn’t coming to him as his superior, she was coming to him as a parent, something the man understood as he had kids of his own so he could understand her desperation.

And the fact that the choice was up to him made this even more difficult as the other vehicles pulled off, venturing outside the gate.

But this bus never moved, rooted in place as the man took a deep breath.

"Fine, five more minutes..." He granted Mariam her request and she thanked him profusely.

And the reality hit everyone at that moment, this situation was a lot worse than they had imagined.