***


    A while later, when the helicopters and soldiers have left, the remaining ninety or so survivors have been left behind, to defend themselves from these deadly creatures called zombies who are approaching the community walls in a few hours.


    Most of the remaining survivors have decided top remain behind and protect their home with everything they have, while others, have taken their stuffs and left the community behind, walking in the woods, on the streets and down the river, to a safe location from the horde.


    Only sixty survivors have remained in the community, those sixty being mostly people that suffers from disabilities, wounded and old frail humans who would be taken down even by a breeze. From the sixty left, not many had any faith they will live, but it would be better to fight than run.


    ***


    A while later, the group of five survivors hidden in the cave, were soon awaken by a survivor from the community, who is with other six people. He is looking at the survivors hidden in the cave, then asks them.


    "Who''s your leader?"


    "Leader?" asks Daniel looking around. "We don''t have one, George."


    Daniel knows that man who is in front of their cave, having a group of people after him, four females and two males. And he knows all of the people he is following. People who would share their breakfast and lunch on the cafeteria and meeting on his daily walk on the streets of the community.


    "What happened?" asks George looking at an injured Petre, who is feeling better than before.


    "He was beaten by the soldiers." says Ramus to the people outside the cave.


    "I see." says George. "What are we going to do?"


    "We?" asks Ramus. "You guys want to go somewhere else?"


    "Somewhere far from the horde direction… I know a place. We stay there for a few days, then we will come back to community."


    "Sounds like a plan." says Petre after a few minutes of silence, he woke up from his sleep, and raise up, feeling better. He looks at George. "Where are we going?"


    "Bratesti." says George to the survivors in the cave.


    "That will be a long ride." says Petre who remembers they had a mission in Bratesti weeks ago. "But if we will be safe from this horde. We''ll take it."


    The group from the interior of the cave did not discuss more about this. They all agreed to do this, rather than staying here and waiting to be eaten by the zombies or die of starvation.


    The group of survivors, who are now eleven people, are getting out from the cave, and starts walking a few more kilometres to another village that is not well known by the people from the community, Bratesti.


    ***


    Minutes of walking have passed for the group of eleven survivors. They managed to get out of the forest zone, and now are walking up the hills that are leading to Bladeni village. They could not take the roads since these were all infested with wrecked vehicles, and corpses that are moving around with no sense of their surroundings. Corpses that can be a danger for the group of eleven people with low ammo and weapons.


    The leader of the group is Daniel, who is familiar with this zone because he is the one who has worked on a map for the community who has been left back in the community. But thankfully, Daniel has memorized the map he made for two weeks straight.


    Their walking to the high point of the hill is taking them minutes. It was a big challenge for Petre, who couldn''t move so much because of the wounds. The painkillers are starting to wear their effects on Petre with every step he takes.


    "Here we are here." says Daniel to the people who have come after them.


    "So, what?" asks Ramus to Daniel.


    "We are going there." says Daniel pointing on a village, who is barely visible from the hill, an abandoned village who has been left since the beginning of the apocalypse. "We may be safe if we are staying hidden in there for long enough until the horde will disappear."


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    "Good idea." says Maria.


    "Look." says Gancea looking back, and from the top of the hill, he sees the horde who is walking toward the community walls.


    The horde is located far from the group of eleven people. All are looking at the size of the horde, feeling scared and anxious as they are looking at the horde, who is advancing on a slow march. A horde like this one can be stopped by rockets, but it will not be stopped by a few mere survivors with little fighting experience like the ones who remained in the community. All the things survivors from the hill could do at this very moment is to seek refugee and protect themselves from the attacks of the dead corpses.


    Six of the survivors decide to turn around, walk downhill and ignore the horde situation. Most of them are feeling terrible of leaving their people behind, to fight that massive horde advancing toward the community. As the group is walking down the road, they spot one zombie who is walking to them, on a slow walk.


    "I got this one." says George to the survivors, he takes from his sheath a hunting knife he carries with him since he left the community.


    As he is walking toward the zombie, he notices the thing has a knife in his left hand. This made George feel a little worried at first. He stops from his walking. The zombie continues to advance to George, holding the knife in his left hand.


    "What is it?" asks Gancea to George feeling worried.


    "That zombie has a knife." says George.


    "So. Take him." says Ramus.


    George looks at the zombie. He takes deep breaths, let it out and continues to advance close to the zombie. He holds the hunting knife strong. And he is about to stab the creature''s head. But as the knife of George was about to contact the zombie''s head, the zombie manages to stab the lower body, near the appendices zone. But the knife of George has stabbed the head of the zombie, but the stabbing was not deep enough to kill the creature.


    George backs away from the wound, screaming of the pain and trips on his back. And the zombie is walking toward George. Right before when he was about to catch the leg of George, the zombie is getting stabbed again in the head, by Ramus who came fast to aid George. The stabbing zone, now is deep enough to kill the creature.


    "This zombie is a smart type." says Petre shocked.


    George continues to scream, the other survivors are quickly going to him, to see if they could help to his aid. But, seeing the knife is having zombie blood on the dip, it will be pointless to save him now. Seeing that George proceed to lose consciousness, and calls for help.


    The survivors know this will be impossible for George to live.


    Ramus decides to get the knife from the zombie head, after he took the knife, he is looking at George, who continue to cough blood as he is saying in a low tone pitch voice "Help.". The survivors are looking at Ramus, who all agree silently to let him do this. Give mercy to one of the survivors they knew very well for almost a month.


    "I am sorry, George." says Ramus to George, who is fading consciousness.


    Ramus stabs the head of George, on the brain zone where the transformation will not happen to his soulless body. After he killed George, the survivors are continuing their walking to the village.


    "What do you mean that was a smart type?" asks Gancea to Petre, who is next to him.


    "Is a new zombie variant my people found." says Petre to Gancea and to the five people who are listening from the group of now ten people. "One of our soldiers told us these kinds of zombies are carrying tools with them. Tools like that knives, rocks, scissors. One reported that he saw one carrying a handgun. But he couldn''t use it, which was a good thing. But he did try to smash the said thing into a soldier face who has tried to approach it, but failed it since that said soldier wore an anti-bite helmet with visor."


    "These things may be in the horde." says Daniel to Petre.


    "Possible chances." says Petre. "All I know is that most of the cases were reported when zombies with this variant were all alone."


    The group of then people are crossing the road. Head toward the nearby car, that is off the street. They are searching the interior of the car. First thing they see in the car it is a walkie-talkie on the front passenger seat. Petre takes the station, turn it on, calibres a little, then he says on the walkie-talkie.


    "Can anyone hear me, over."


    Then, in a matter of seconds, a voice is heard on the walkie radio.


    "Petre?" asks a familiar voice, a female voice.


    "Mihaela?" asks Petre on the walkie-talkie. "How are you?"


    "We are on the plane. The plane is full of doctors and soldiers. Where are you? Over."


    "I was left behind." says Petre. "Like the rest of us. Over."


    "Rest of us?" asks Mihaela.


    "They did not tell you? They left the people back in the community. Fend to themselves."


    "No. They did not tell us any of that." says Mihaela sounding shocked. "They really left you behind?!"


    "They also beat me and tied me in the woods to be zombie meal."


    "How cruel… Look. I am sorry."


    "Not your fault." says Petre on the walkie-talkie. "You weren''t any part of this scheme. You have been taken by this plane with a false leavening."


    "What can I do, Petre?" asks Mihaela sounding worried. "What can I do to help you?"


    "Where are you right now?"


    "I am in the plane, in the bathroom. Found tis walkie-talkie in there and received your contact."


    "Aha. Great. Listen. Keep that walkie-talkie hidden. Okay? You keep it hidden." he looks around, he notices how the sunlight is slowly disappearing, meaning the night is about to appear. "We will talk later, alright."


    "…Alright." says Mihaela. "Over."


    "Over." says Petre.


    The soldier turns off the walkie-talkie. he looks at the other nine survivors, who have checked the car for any goods in there. Unlucky for them, they did not find anything useful to them, only useless photos, papers and phones didn''t run for four months.


    "Let''s get in the house." says a survivor with black hair and glasses, pointing on a nearby house, up on the hill. "The cold has struck us."


    The survivors are walking toward the house, that is located at around hundreds of feet from them. All are getting in this house, and when they''ve entered it, they are closing the door and rest in there for a while. House that wasn''t inhabited by anyone since the begging in of the apocalypse.