"there was once a tale told to those who journeyed wast from here, and it is as follows.........................., two men had already grown tired of this dying world so they decided to take a trip down west towards sartist city.., they walked for so long avoided every single danger they could find but they didn't quite get that there was something off with the place they had walked into. So their skin started burning up and soon after it got burnt off, their eyes bled and their nose seemed not to work anymore, they had lost their sense of smell and and were on the verge of death, Desperate one had to sacrifice himself for the other to make it out alive. This story is unfortunate and teaches us nothing but the endless pain we still have to endure in this world we live in"

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  THE ZONE

  "Any luck!!" Smoke asked, he was out of breath and couldn't run anymore, even though he tried his legs wouldn't burge. They had been running for a long time now with no luck finding any car while the monster swarm behind them were already catching up.

  "There's no other way" Zack huffed turning around to shoot at one of the monsters but as soon as he did it dodged it. This was unusually odd abd had never happened before.

  "We're screwed, really screwed" Zack thought taking out a cigar and placing it between his lips

  "Better late than never huh?" He smiled letting a puff of smoke escape his lip while he got ready to shoot again but Chloe stopped him.

  "Save your bullets......., it won't work, at least not against those" Chloe said taking steps behide, she was approaching them slowly while reloading her gun.

  "And how do you know that?"Zack asked he wanted to know what she knew about those things behind them, even if the information was little it'd still do him some good as he could easily come up with a plan to strike and bring them down.

  "You've seen it too haven't you?......the way they move I mean?"Chloe asked, her guns were fully loaded all she could do now was wait for the infected to approach them.

  "The way they move?.........what do you mean by that?"Zack asked confused, what did she mean by that he thought puffing out some smoke when it hit him.

  He had noticed something.

  They were fast, extremely fast which made it impossible to hit them with any bullet but when distracted, that speed of theirs get sloppy, sloppy enough for even a long range bullet to bring them down he had noticed and observed it when he killed the infected which attacked smoke.

  "With the expression you're letting out now I take it you. Understand" Chloe smiled

  "Yes.....yes I do" Zack responded, how did she know all that whe it was the first time they had seen this type of infected before, what If that wasn't the case?, what if she had actually seen this type of infected before, was it possible for that to have happened? He thought stareing at her, even though they had spent months together she was still a mystery even to him.

  "I'll get their attention......, you clear the Field......., that ok?"Chloe suggested

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  "Yh, why not?" Zack smiled letting the cigar fall straight down the floor

  "Planning without me......, I feel slightly insulted" smoked scoffed his assault rifle gripped tightly.

  With a plan already out in motion, Chloe rushed in heading towards the swarm, even if she was bitten she was sure she'd be ok, all she had to do was endure pain she'd feel from the bite.

  "And POW!, that's one down" Chloe counted taking one of the infected down as she had with a shot, Zack watched her impressed, even he hadn't done that with a shot, no even two.

  "Shes amazing...., I see why you didn't want her running off with that other guy, what was his name again" smoke joked taking another infected down while Chloe had its attention.

  "Just focus on the killing pal"Zack said changing the topic while shooting an infected down,

  "You know this isn't a competition right?" Smoke gestured taking down another infected. "Gotta loosen up alil" he continued placing a cigar I between his lip. As surprised as Zack was to see a cigar in smokes mouth, he was more surprised when he realized smoke hadn't had a smoke since they got in the highway which was unusually as he always had a cigar on his lip even when he slept.

  "Another smoke huh?"Zack huffed taking down another one "ain't a competition......., gimme a smoke" he requested taking the cigar out of smokes lip and then then taking a puff.

  So far things were going great for the crew but minutes later they're situation worsened as there seemed to be no end to the infected swarm, Chloe wasn't fully human yes, but she wasn't a machine either and her stamina was depleting faster than the were taking to kill a single infected, her body was already at its limit, she had to get out of there before she got killed. Performing some flips while still shooting, she created some distance between her and the infected, she quickly approached Zack and smoke who then covered for her by firing at the swarm endlessly until they made sure none could be seen any longer.

  "I think we did it" smoke smiled helping Chloe back up

  "Yh I think we did"Zack responded happily.

  "We didn't........, I can sence more coming......., this time bigger than the last" Chloe said exhaustedly. She was in no shape to engage in another brawl with any infected

  "If that's the case then we're dead......I'm out.......well almost" smoke sighed searching his bag for more ammunition about he couldn't find any.

  While they stood waiting for their end which seemed eminent, they heard a car approaching, the sound got closer and closer until they finally it was right Infront of them, and a lady was Inside.

  "C'mon we gotta go, or I can as well move on without ya.....it's your call"she said letting out a sarcastic smile.

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  They had been saved by an anonymous lady, although glad they were now far away from the the highway, they felt uncomfortable. Who was she?, and why did she help them?......... She was black, body well built like that of an athlete, her long black hair were tied, knotted in a way to make it easier for her to see and she wore a camouflaged combat jacket and a skinny white jean with two handguns placed side by side on her thighs. She also placed a katana beside her while she drove, Chloe found the katana interesting and the strange lady's whole demeanor looked cooler to Chloe the more she observed.

  "Brave bunch ain't y'all?"she asked her gaze still fixed on the road.

  "Never heard of anyone to come out the devil's trail alive, you guys might as well be the First........I'm Brie by the way" she introduced this time stareing at smoke.

  "Xup, I'm smoke .., that right there is Zack and the lady's Chloe, nice to meet ya"smoke introduced himself and want overboard introducing both Zack and chloe

  "So?......., where are you guys heading....., sure you wouldn't have risked getting killed for no reason right?" Brie asked

  "We're heading west,...... Past sartist city"smoke replied

  "What a coincidence, I'm actually doing the same......., heading west to avoid the horde" she said, but Chloe's reaction towards her words got her surprised

  "You know about the horde?"Chloe asked

  "Yh....every damn person who escaped the South knows about it..........., their heading north, safe to head west where the weathers against them right"Brie smiled

  "Yh..... right"Chloe responded, she was surprised someone else knew about the horde and how dangerous it could be, this made her sigh in relief as she now knew she was doing the right thing heading west but thinking about Dave's safety only made her worry.

  "Since you guys survived the the devil's trail......, then I'm sure the zone won't be a huge deal......., you got a plan on how to get across it right?"Brie asked, her words got everyone confused, everyone besides smoke, his expression Soon Changed when he figured he hadn't planned that far ahead.

  "The zone?" Chloe abd Zack asked, they had never heard of a term like that before, they could only assume it was a sector or maybe a place.

  "You're kidding right?......" Brie asked, she was surprised they were heading west but didn't k kw what the zone was, how did they plan on getting past sartist then she wondered stareing at them for a while before turning around to focus on the road.

  "What zone?"Zack asked, was there something he was missing out on, or was there something smoke wasn't telling them.

  "Y'all heading west without a plan on how to cross the zone, that suicidal even for a group of maniacs with a death wish"brie paused for a second then spoke again

  "The zone is actually the place where the first plague began........, the place with no ozone layer where the heat of the sun kills and tears apart everything that steps on that land and the

  most radioactive zone on the planet......... To elaborate , it's hell on earth" Brie explained.