"Eat this, $%^*&i" I shouted as I grabbed the zombie which had just charged me by the neck, stuffing the barrel of my carbine down its throat and pulling the trigger.

Some would call me insane. That's not true, not really; I just preferred....less conventional methods in combat. You couldn't rely on the same tactics the military would anymore - you had to fight any way that worked. I preferred to have the beast's mouth over my weapon when I killed them. I was trying to study them, though - I needed a way to stop this.

I grabbed the lone zombie, now lying face-first in the muddy field, by the leg and tied a rope around it, then attached the opposite end of the rope to my motorcycle and sped off. When I arrived back home - which was technically a department store, filled with food, entertainment and a small section for guns and archery - I dragged the zombie to the back and began to slice open its head. Then, suddenly, I heard frenzied pounding on the reinforced glass double doors at the front of the building. Cursing under my breath, I charged to the front, fully expecting to be faced with a horde of infected trying to tear down the fortifications I'd added to block entry to the place. Instead, I saw a human - a girl, standing about five feet or so, with tousled black shoulder-length hair and tanned skin.

Approaching the door, I took note of the shotgun slung across her back and the baseball bat in her hands. I could rule out the chances of her being a zombie, then, and she probably wasn't a feral because she used weapons. That didn't mean she wasn't a threat. I couldn't take the chance of her being a raider.

"Step back from the door," I shouted so she could hear me through the thick glass, pointing my sawed-off shotgun in her direction and making my assault carbine very visible to ensure cooperation.

"Okay," she mouthed, stepping back, dropping the bat and holding her hands up. This girl was very cooperative - I almost felt safe around her without a gun pointed at her.

Almost. I still held my shotgun up to her as I checked her pockets for concealed weapons, took her shotgun, and looked around to be sure she'd come alone. That was when I spotted the infected coming our way, stumbling so it came as fast as though it were charging us. I raised her shotgun, lined up my shot, and fired twice. Two identical holes appeared in the zombie's forehead, and it dropped to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, making a point not to sound too threatening while still making sure she understood I was the one in charge. "Why did you choose to stop here? You're well-armed enough, and there's another store a couple of miles down the road from here."

"I stopped here because it's getting too dark to travel much further, and I've visited that store. It's been raided, and the place is crawling with infected. Not to mention raiders made a camp near there."

"Alright," I said, deciding she couldn't do too much harm if I kept an eye - and a sight - on her. "Come on in. I'll show you where you can set up for the night." I handed the girl back her shotgun and bat, apologizing for the formality of disarming her and checking her pockets. "So, what's your name?"

"My name's Amy Carter. I came from Eastbrook, just Northeast -"

"Yeah, I know where Eastbrook is. I grew up there, myself, actually."

"Really? Small world."

"Yeah, I guess so," I answered. "Here's your improvised living space, until we can get you set up in a real....uh, room-type setup."

Laughing, Amy responded, "Okay, sounds good. Nice....improvised living space you've got set up for me here."

I grinned and gave her a look that said, I'm glad you like it, then continued, "Stay out of the back, that's my...area. Other than that, what's mine is yours. And yours only. No funny business, please."

"Alright, I promise to be a good girl. I haven't even seen anyone else - except for the raiders."

"Okay, good." I stood there awkwardly for a second before saying, "How about something to eat?"

"Please," Amy said pleasantly.

I grabbed some bottled water off of a shelf, then picked up some microwaved dinners and set them to cook in a microwave I'd taken off a shelf in the first days of the pandemic. "Hope you don't mind," I said, "we have a little limited variety of food here, so we're mostly going to be stuck with stuff that can be prepared in a microwave."

"That's fine," she said, seeming perfectly content with anything edible.

A short while later, the two of us picked up and got ready to go to bed. I had set all of the motion sensors and other toys I'd brought with me around the perimeter, so we would be alerted of any intrusion.

"Goodnight, Sam," Amy called out to me as I walked to the back.

"Goodnight," I called back, and let the doors swing shut behind me.

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Author guidance for This exercise

A bunch of people band together to survive in a post-zombie-apocalypse world.

Strikethroughindicates this character is dead.

Characters:

Name: Sam Keller
Age: 22
Physical Description: Just above average height, beefier than some but not quite like a wrestler's build, dark brown hair, green eyes.
Preferred Weapons: AKMSU assault carbine, sawed-off shotgun, machete
Role(s) in the Group: Doctor, combat leader
Personality: Sam revels in gratuitous violence and the thrill of the fight. He does things that make others dislike him, but at the end of the day, he'll do the right thing. The others think he's just another person caught in the swarm of the living dead, but little do they know he has a dark secret...
Author: Ty694

Name: Dwayne Middleton
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Preferred Weapons: A katana he calls Takeshi and Bolt Action Sniper
Appearance: Short blonde hair with side fringe that just reaches his nose and goes over his left eye. His eyes are a darkish blue colour and he is quite pale. He has an average body, he isnt bony but he hasnt got muscles either.
Personality: and he also loves seeing a good bit of gore. He has no quarrels about re-killing the zombies in any way he can think of. Very hot-headed. Also very agile and flexible which is a good combo when it comes to using his katana.
Author: Mr. Fisherman

Name: TJ Ryan
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Physical description: TJ was a slim boy and had dark black hair. He was of average height. He is a boxer and so has good upper-body strength. Possesses a few facial scars from boxing injuries.
Personality: Comedic, resilient, innovative, tough. Takes orders from no one and prefers to go it alone. He will put himself out there to protect those he cares about.
Weapons: Flick knife in back pocket, 2 Colt.45 pistols, double barrel shotgun, Aka 47, Machete.
Author: Colm

Name: Amy Carter
Age: 17
Preferred Weapons: Classic baseball bat and a .45 automatic shotgun
Role(s) in the Group: Doesn't have any significant roles, however does like to try and keep the peace to avoid internal struggles.
Physical description: Quite tomboy-ish. Slender figure, 5 foot 5ish. Jet black hair that falls just past her shoulders, looking a little tousled. Dark eyes and tanned skin.
Personality: Very level headed and calm under dangerous situations which proves to be a major advantage. Likes to think of herself as the peace-keeper in the group, she does this so the group doesn't face internal struggles as well at the threat of zombies. Always puts others before herself which could be a disadvantage when the first priority is survival. However, she still sometimes feels as though she has to prove herself because she's a girl.
Author: xkatieshepherd

Name: Greg Mumble
Age: 15
Preferred Weapons: Bag full of Petrol bombs. Quite a good shot with a pistol.
Role(s) in the Group: Baby on the group. Doesn't slow the group down but in no way keeps them going
Physical description: Quite short and slim. Straw blond short hair that flops around. Dark Green eyes and lots of freckles.
Personality: Very immature and whingy. Knows when to shut up and behave but often moans and panics under pressure. After a life of being fed with a silver spoon, he's determined to prove he can cope, although he knows he really can't. Good with emotional support.
Author: Treeternal

updated Aug 22 '11 by Ty694