Homecoming part 3 - an ATZ English Adventure

Rob “Nudger” Taylor rushed toward sergeant Thomas, raising the unloaded crossbow above his head like a club and howling like a banshee.  ET watched him all the way in with his ASP held low, behind him the skag-head who’d killed Kate had paused for breath, circling him like a hyena.  As Taylor closed in, ET swung the heavy baton at the thug’s ankles tripping him and causing his head to hit the pavement hard, dazing the old lag and causing him to black out.  Using the momentum of his swing, ET spun on his knees to face the skank and loosed his tactical pepper spray fully into the face of the disheveled addict, causing her to fall to her knees rubbing her streaming her eyes.

Around him, d-subs began stumbling toward the brawl.  ET staggered to his feet, tears streaming down his face when he looked at the ruined form of WPC Kate Dodson.  He paused to pull PC Atwell up and grab the prone form of Brown.  Between the two police officers, they dragged the inert form of PC Brown toward the “panda” car that was across the street.  More and more d-subs shuffled toward the area, drawn to the fire that had taken root in the Wilson’s house and the smell of fresh blood.

Gobbo hobbled around the back of the houses and through the gap in Mrs Nightingale’s fence, heading toward the rear entrance of the middle terrace belonging to Babs and Frank Willis – a elderly retired couple.  Turning the handle, Andy crept into the kitchen hefting his trusty oxygen cylinder.  The first thing he saw was the bloodied bodies of the Willis’s sprawled across the tiled floor, the second was the three addicts that made up the remainder of Nudger’s gang looming over the bodies armed to the teeth. 

the top row of dice are the thugs reps! the bottom row is the number of success they got on the "insight" roll. Gobbo rolled two successes.

Time stood still as the occupants of the kitchen stared at each other in shock for long seconds.  Andy reacted first, taking long strides across the room swinging his cylinder hard at the first thug – a woman armed with a shotgun, figuring it best to take her and her formidable weapon out of the fight.  With a thunk the strengthened steel cylinder crunched into her chin, lifting her off her feet to fly backward into the kitchen counter.  The other two addicts stared at the enraged EMT in horror as he used the momentum of his charge to crash into the second gang member – a dishevelled male in his 30’s. Once again, the o2 tank smashed into the face of his opponent, splintering teeth and spraying blood across the once spotless tiles.  The last of Nudger’s aquaintances – a older male, lifted a crossbow and loosed a bolt at Gobbo. 

Gobbo takes out the first....

then the second, while the third takes cover and starts shooting!

Nudger, his head spinning from the blow he’d taken spotted the retreating forms of the coppers and rolled to his hands and knees, before getting to his feet.  Staggering after them, he fumbled with the string of his crossbow finally loading the ‘bow. Reaching the end of the road, he saw the policemen loading their unconscious colleague into the back of their motor before jumping in themselves and gunning the engine.  With a loud crunch, the car was thrown into gear and shot backwards in a thick cloud of burning rubber, as the coppers sped away from the area.  Nudger stood stock still as he tried to think of his next move, his drug-addled brain struggling to formulate a plan.  A nearby groan pulled him out of his pondering as an infected closed in on him, forcing him to step back and lift the ‘bow. Pulling the trigger, he smirked in satisfaction as the heavy bolt thudded into the middle of the d-sub’s chest and causing it to fall backwards.  

the coppers make their escape

and Nudger tries to fight off the d-subs

That smirk turned to a grimace as more and more of the infected shambled toward him, surprisingly quickly for their awkward gait.  Nudger reversed the heavy bow and used the stock like a club, waving it to keep the zombies at bay.  However, the creatures were not deterred by his pitiful defences and used their increasing numbers to swarm him. First one, then a second grabbed hold of his arms and pinned him while a third latched onto his hand with it’s jaws and bit off three fingers.  With a howl, the middle-aged thug pulled back his torn appendage and tried to get away but he was held fast and more zombies were crowding in.  A searing pain in his abdomen drew his attention to an infected d-sub “digging” into his stomach with clawed hands and ripping his bowel out.  Pain flared everywhere as teeth pulled at skin and tore off muscles before a heavy blackness descended on him, the last thing he saw was the pitiful remnants of his street gang being torn apart by dozens of the foul creatures.

Nudger gets surrounded

The police scarper in a cloud of smoke

more and more d-subs are drawn into the area

Nudger gets surrounded

and gets munched.......

Andy spun around as the heavy missile crashed into the kitchen cabinet, lodging into the wooden frame.  Grabbing the bow of the now deceased ganger, he snapped off a quick arrow at the third and final member of Nudger’s gang of street toughs.  In his haste he missed, but the snap shot did distract the thug who fumbled with the string of the xbow, nearly dropping a bolt on the floor.  Using the distraction, Andy piled forward and swung the bow catching the ganger in the face and causing him to stumble backward.  Andy kept up the momentum, following the move with a series of snap kicks and blows with the bow keeping the thug on the back foot until he stumbled to the carpet of the Willis’s front room.  Wading in, Andy used the heavy steel of his O2 cylinder to bash the street tough into oblivion.

the zombies chow down on the remnants of Nudger's gang

Looking around the elderly couple’s wrecked house, Andy gathered the various weapons from the unconscious or dead gang members.  He didn’t feel remorse just yet, he’d taken human lives and that was utterly repugnant to him but he didn’t have the luxury of emotions at that time. He had to get across the road and get to his family, with the image of them held firmly in mind he strapped the xbow to his back and crossed that with the bow, stashing the quivers where he could.  Hefting the shotgun, he found a box of cartridges in the pocket of the female’s jacket and headed toward the back door a plan in mind.  Peeking around the door frame and seeing the back yard free of infected, he crept toward Mrs Nightingale’s ruined house.  The shotgun, well maintained despite its previous owner felt heavy in his hands as he broke the barrel and loaded bird-shot into the breech. Sending a brief prayer to a God he didn’t believe in, Andy reached the corner and discharged the weapon into the air. Spinning around he hobbled as fast as his sprained ankle would allow, heading for the Willis’s property.

Andy discharges the shotgun, in hindsight of course he could have at least taken a shot at a zombie for the same effect....

and attracts the entire horde....

Gobbo hobbles to the front door and waits for the right moment to sprint across the street

Making his way through the house, Andy realised just how exhausted he was.  He had been up for over 36 hours now, first dealing with the effects of the “Mother of all Storms” and then the long fight that had got him to this point against the infected or “d-subs” as the coppers had taken to calling them and now the killing of human beings, actual human beings! Albeit ones that had shot at him and tried to kill him first… Andy brushed away the tears that threatened to come, forcing the rising emotions back down as he thought of his family and how they needed him, how he needed them! Standing behind the closed front door to the house he tried to judge the perfect time for his “dash” across the street.  When he thought the d-subs had probably moved far enough he flung open the door and took his first step outside....

just as he's about to go, a black dog runs up the street pulling four zeds in its barky wake!!

As his foot touched the path, a loud barking caused his heart to leap into his throat.  A large black dog, possibly belonging to the Millers from over the way, ran up the road - howling and barking madly.  Following closely behind WERE the Millers, or what was left of them! The whole family – infected, chased after their cherished pet as it scampered away.  Gobbo winced as the noise resounded around the close packed buildings, the sound of a living creature would draw the zombies to it and undo his clever distraction.   Andy was about to step back into the house and try his ruse again, when he spotted a twitch of the curtains in the house opposite – his house!

Clamping his teeth against the pain, Andy hobbled as fast as his busted ankle could take – he had to get across the road, he had to get to his house and get to his family. “Fuuuuckkk!!” he screamed as the pain intensified and slowed his flight to a crawl.  Only yards away, zombies were spilling back around the corner drawn by the sounds of living, breathing creatures. The pain was excruciating, his ankle felt like it was made of jagged glass as hundreds of splinters of pain pierced his ruptured joint every time he put it to the floor.  Tears ran freely down his face as the familiar front door loomed in front of him, only feet away when he felt the hand of the closest infected pulling him back…

and pulls all the zed's attention back to the front of the buildings

who then spot Gobbo as he races (with a sprained ankle) to his front door

hordes of infected scramble toward the living desperate to feast...

Screaming his frustration, Andy spun on his torn ankle – fresh pain flaring hellishly from the insult to his already damaged ligaments.  The blood-spattered oxygen cylinder once again coming to his aid and crushing the temporal lobe of the ragged creature. “Fuck off!!” he bellowed madly in the face of the next closest zombie, pummeling the d-sub with the blunt end of the steel tube, the loud crack of broken bone accompanied by the worrying hiss of compressed gas leaking from the badly abused piece of medical equipment. With a grunt he threw the fractured cylinder at the nearest zed, hefting the shotgun he’d liberated from Nudger’s junkie buddy, prepared to sell his life dearly.

Andy fights off the closest d-subs

Suddenly, the door behind him was flung open causing Andy to fall into his hallway with a thump.  The door slammed shut and Andy watched as his son, Stephen threw his burly bulk against the door bracing it against the press of infected bodies pushing up against the gate to the Wosa kingdom.   Andy crawled on hands and knees to slump with his back against the heavy wooden door, further barricading it and glanced around the neat little house.  As the zombies banged against the front door, intent on gaining entry and snacking on the Wosa men, Andy openly bawled huge tears of joy as his beautiful wife and his awesome daughter – Lisa and Astrid, crowded into the narrow hallway and hugged the battered EMT.  His stoic son, back against the solid wood of the door held on to his shoulders as if to share his strength with is exhausted father.

The Wosa family watch the street fill up with the dead...

Andy falls into the hallway and braces the door with Stephen's assistance

desperate for the flesh of the living, the d-subs batter at their front door

As ever, it was Lisa who bought Andy to his senses.  “Right, up you get Gobbo, off your fat arse and let’s get out of here!” Pulling him to his feet, she relieved him of the xbow and threw it to Astrid who checked the bolt was firmly in place before making her way through the house toward the back garden.  Snatching the bow from him, Lisa followed her daughter knocking an arrow onto the string as she went.  

Stephen nodded at his old man, “Let’s do this!” the youngster yelled over the cacophony of the gathering zombies. Thrusting Andy’s pride and joy replica gladius into his hands, Stephen hefted his baseball bat in his own and sprinted after the girls.  Andy drew a deep breath and leaving the infected to batter down his front door he ran after his family….

from L-R, Astrid Wosa, Andy "Gobbo" Wosa, Lisa Wosa, Stephen Wosa

hope you enjoy
dGG

Epilogue:

Curious eyes followed the family as they ran down the rubbish strewn alleyway that backed onto the property.  In the fading light of the day, those eyes could just make out the tired EMT as he stumbled after his kin toward the ambulance he had abandoned earlier that evening.  Behind those eyes, a brain whirled with a mix of emotions and random thoughts as it processed the day’s events. Finally with a small nod, those eyes turned away and focused on the narrow streets that made up the sprawling estate that Gobbo lived near, narrow streets that led back to the hiding place the owner of those eyes had discovered when the shit had hit the fan and the world, at least this corner of it had come to an end!