No Mo Gas!

Midway through the morning, someone hops on the radio to report that they're running low on fuel. About ten minutes later, someone seconds that. By noon, Captain Pacco calls for the convoy to hault.

You and the others pile out of the vehicles, awaiting an order.

"Alright, listen up," Captain Pacco says to you, Betty, and two other soldiers.

"The fuel issue is critical... According to my maps, there's a small airbase to the northeast. Hopefully they still have a fuel truck or two. I want you guys to go check it out and bring them back with you. I've been trying to raise the base on the radio all morning. So they're probably all dead," Captain Pacco says.

"Sir, we're ready to go," Betty says.

"Alright, dismissed. Try to keep together," Captain Pacco says. The four of you pile into Betty's Humvee and begin moving out in the direction of the airbase.

"So, did you two have a history before the outbreak?" one of the soldiers asks from the back seat.

"No, not really. Drako was Captain Pacco's best friend and we saw eachother, but never really talked," Betty answers.

"...Guess we just never had a reason to," you add.

"Oh, yeah! What was your previous relationship with Captain Pacco?" the soldier asks.

"We were high school friends. When we graduated, he went into the military and I... did other things," you say.

You arrive at the outskirts of the airbase. The runway is destroyed and you see wreckage of a crashed plane everywhere. Several buildings are demolished as well. But the hanger, control tower, and garage are intact.

"Do you think there's still somebody here?" one of the soldiers asks.

Betty parks just outside the entrance and steps out. It's beginning to rain.

"There's only one way to find out," she says, shouldering her gun.

You and the other soldiers follow her into the airbase. The air is stale and wet, and your throat is dry. You move slowly, gun at the ready. You see several mangled corpses in various states of decay littering the airbase. Some are half eaten and ripped apart by zombies. Others have been shot up and stabbed repeatedly.

You step over a pile of human corpses and enter the control tower. You find the zombie shambler sitting in the corner of the room. It looks up at you and moans. You put a bullet in its head, silencing it once and for all. Then you enter the tower's lounge. You find a large group of zombies trapped in a small room.

"Don't waste your bullets," Betty orders.

Content that there are no survivors, your group quickly moves on to the the base's maintenance garage.

"No more survivors here, either," you call out.

"On the upside, it looks like this one's full!" one of the soldiers says, banging his rifle butt on the giant tank of a refueling truck.

"Let's hurry up and get back with it," the other soldier says, yanking the diver's door open.

"No!" you call, but it's too late.

A zombie lunges out and sinks its teeth into his neck. You see bright red blood spray from the soldier's neck as he lets out a yell of pain. The soldier throws it off him and plants two bullets in it's head before slumping down against the truck, holding his neck. A moment later, he falls over dead. The rest of the group rushes over to help, but you hold them back.

"No... wait," you say.

Moments tic by and then the soldier gets up again. But he's not human anymore. He's a zombie. The group lets out a mix of gasps. You knew this was how it worked, but to actually watch it happen was unsettling. As it shambles toward you, you and Betty both shoot it. It staggers back, both bullets penetrating it's skull. It makes a horrible growling sound before going down.

You look at the man you've just killed. He was a comrade just moments earlier.

"Let's get out of here," you say.

You help the others get the garage door open. Then the soldier starts up the refueling truck and drives out into the pouring rain.

"That was carelessness," Betty curses.

"It was," you agree.

"Drako, if you ever let one of those... things kill you, I'll never forgive you," she says.

You hold her hand until you get back to the Humvee. You don't bother saying much. The whole thing was such a blur, and you're just trying to process it.

When you get back to the convoy, soldiers begin hurriedly refueling vehicles. You and Betty tell Captain Pacco about what you saw.

He looks grim.

"Another of our men, gone...," he says. "But the mission was a success. Get ready to move out."

"Yes, sir," Betty says.

Captain Pacco returns to barking orders at his men.

You get ready to move out. But Betty stops you.

"Drako, let someone else drive your Humvee. You can ride with me," she says.

"Why," you ask.

"Just... let someone else drive," she says.

Reluctantly, you hand the Humvee over to one of the others. You and Betty hop into hers and the convoy starts up again.

You find yourself riding in silence for a while. You don't know what to say, and she looks like she wants to say something, but she doesn't.

Finally she speaks.

"Look, I know how this sounds but I want you to hold my hand," she says.