To Be A Hero

Chapter 2: We Built This City

Groans. Growls. Moans. They fill the air in steady waves, the sound a rising symphony that rattles my bones.

"Everyone in position?" Sam asks.

"I'm here with Runner Five, Sam," Steve replies. "And the explosives."

"Which you have on your person at all times." It's not a question.

Steve shrugs in a smug way that makes me lean away from him. "My motto's always been, 'Be prepared'."

"Boy Scout?"

"That's classified, love."

Sam chuckles. "Hey, Janine, you and Steve here used to belong in the same Scout troop, seems like."

"His is less likely to abide to Scout's honor, I suspect," She murmurs. "Runners Thirteen and Eleven, ready?"

"I'm going to kick some zombie butt!" Kytan exclaims. "For Yang, because that's what he would have wanted."

Cameo sighs, and even through the mask she's wearing, I can see her trying to hide her pain. "Yeah, For Yang... and then we'll pick up his... his body."

"Got a fix yet, Spens?" Steve asks.

"Veronica's on the move inside the clock tower."

"The more she moves, the more poisoned air she breathes," Janine says. "She has maybe half an hour before she starts to asphyxiate."

Steve nods. "Time to move out. Everyone clear on the plan?"

"We distract some zombies," Cameo says.

"And then I do some ninja hwaa!" Kytan exclaims, kicking out his foot and nearly kicking my rebreather off my face.

"Yeah... not too much ninja hwaa, okay?" Steve asks. "We want them chasing you while I secure an exit route and Five gets to that clock tower, alright?"

"Let's do it!"

I pull open the gate, and run. The plan is to run on top of some of the flat roofs to avoid being on the poisoned ground as much as possible. The only problem is the roofs we want to run on have zombies on them as well.

Lovely.

Still, Steve and Kytan hoist me up so I can grab onto the roof and climb up. I use the rope Steve's given me to drop it down so Cameo can climb up. Two zombies turn towards me, and no matter how many times I've seen it, I still can't shake that look of uneasiness when those dead eyes turn towards me.

I swing my crowbar at them in an attempt to keep them back just long enough for Cameo to climb up to the roof with me. I keep the rope in my other hand, trying to keep my weight steady as Cameo climbs upward. I slash my crowbar at one of the undead, and it hits. It only takes a chunk out of its forehead, not destroying the brain.

Still, the force of the blow is enough to push it back as Cameo finally gets to the roof. She takes the rope from me almost instantly, turning to help Kytan and Steve onto the roof. I swing my crowbar, now able to focus solely on the two zombies.

With a rough swing I hit one of them in the shoulder. It's enough to send it tumbling off the roof and hit the ground with a splat that makes me cringe. I swing the crowbar at the remaining zom and manage to lodge the weapon into its head.

But I put a little too much force into it, and now the crowbar is stuck.

Great.

"Five, what are you doing?" Steve asks once he's on the roof. I gesture down to my crowbar, and he waves a hand at me. "Leave it. I have weapons on my person. I'll give you one of mine when we split off."