Chapter 4.

"Una!" Tim shouted out as Luke was released to the ground. Jones immediately tended to him.

Tim managed to get Una free with one, swift hit. He put the person to rest with a single bullet to the head.

It was only then, as the person turned on its back that Tim got a closer look at what they were dealing with. Decomposition was present across its face. Its nose was no longer. The cartilage structure was gone. Its eyes were a white colour, just like those they saw on the dogs that chased after them. They all looked like corpses.

He found it hard to get his eyes off such a gruesome site. However, the barks that echoed through the air made him do just that. 

A dog jumped from the bush and immediately set Luke as its target, behind it followed 2 more. Pointing her gun at the dogs, she fired bullets at the animals before... Click, click, click. 

She ran out of ammo. 

But she had a knife by her holster. Pulling it out, she approached the attackers that were on her comrade as he cried for help.

She tried her best to get the attackers off of Luke, but with him becoming mute, she knew it was too late. 

As Jones tried to save her fellow officer, four more dogs joined the attack, feasting upon Jones too. It was too late for anyone else to react.

Not that they could react anyway as more and more of what looked like humanoid corpsed approached them.

More shots were heard, but one by one, more and more of the officers ran out of ammo before they were downed and feasted upon.

"We have to get out of here!" Valerie yelled, looking toward Tim. He gave her a nod.

They tried to save whoever was left, but as they looked back, they saw Una getting pulled back by bloodied hands. "Help!" was her final scream before they took an initial bite from her neck. Blood rushed everywhere as her body seconds later became limp.

"W-we have to go..." Valerie voiced to Tim, seeing he had his eyes on Una. "I'm so sorry... but we... we have to go...".

With a group of dogs charging for them, Valerie caught sight of them and managed to down two of them, but the one that she didn't manage to get to dug its teeth into Tim's right thigh. 

With a painful roar, he pushed and dog down and as if it were to be an instinct, he raised his leg before stomping on its head, causing its head to burst and splatter everywhere. Closing his eyes to look away from the gruesome sight, he took hold of his leg before moving elsewhere. Pulling his hands from the deep injury to his thigh, he saw blood dripping down his hand when he examined the palms of his hands.

"We need to get you to a hospital!" Valerie exclaimed as she looked around her. Less of her force was alive. She wanted to help them all, but her instinct told her otherwise. It told her to run.

So, with Tim in her arms, she did just that. They ran in a direction they thought seemed familiar.

With the dogs and humanoid creatures chasing after them, Valerie often turned to shoot those who pursued them. 

What she didn't expect was for a dog, from the bushes, to lunge and both herself and Tim, in turn, downing them both to the ground. 

With both herself and Tim letting out a grunt of pain, Valerie found herself about to get feated by the dog that downed both herself and Tim. Once it reached her face, it was there where it tried to bite her face off. 

However, by defending herself with her forearm, she managed to win the wrestling before whacking the dog with the butt of her pistol and shooting it dead.

Turning her attention to Tim, she saw that he was wrestling a dog in a dire attempt to not let it bite him. Managing to get it off him, Valerie immediately aimed for its head and pulled the trigger.

Behind them, rustles, murmurs and barking were heard coming closer. Valerie knew they had to get a move on as fast as they could.

With her helping Tim up, they continued trying to find their way back. It wasn't long before they made it to the abandoned campsite. It was empty, however, not for long. 

"We're back here..." Valerie let out gently. "Do you know where we go on from here, Tim?".

Tim looked around trying to remember where they came from. However, with him knowing that they, the dead, were still behind them, his mind went blank. "I-I don't know..." he let out initially. But with him furrowing his brows, she swallowed the mere lump that grew in his throat. "But let's keep on moving. We can't stop, otherwise, they'll get us.".

Nodding, Valerie did just that, she continued moving along. They moved into the shrubs once more.

Advancing further into the trees, with them taking turns, it wasn't long before they found a muddy trail. "The trail..." Valerie spoke out. "Could it be the trail we used to get to the campsite?".

"I don't know..." Tim let out, before adding in a hiss of pain, "But there's only one way to find out.".

To their right, a scream was heard before Valerie felt a pair of hands grab her. Swiftly turning, in turn letting Tim go, she found she was held in the grip of one of the humanoid creatures. 

It was missing a lower lip as its nose was half gone. With this creature being so close to her, this was her first chance to have a closer look at it. 

Its complexion was almost that of a bruise, a deep blue with its eyes nothing but whiteness. It looked almost like a decomposed body. A corpse. It smelled like that too. And just like the dog, it was looking for a chance to weaken Valerie so it could feed on her.

Their wrestling lasted a mere few seconds before Valerie pushed the corpse to the ground. Almost immediately, pointing her weapon at it, she pulled the trigger. Click... Click. Click.

She ran out of ammunition. "Shit!".

"Val!" Tim called out, still on the ground, and threw his gun her way. With it landing on the ground, Valerie dived and collected it in her right hand.

Rolling on her back, immediately, she pointed the fire weapon toward the corpse and pulled the trigger twice, sending two bullets its way and grounding it for good.

Looking down at Tim, she saw how he embraced his leg as his face showed visible signs of the sheer pain he felt. Clenched teeth, closed eyes and scrunched brows.

She was about to help him up when he uttered, "Stop.".

Valerie looked at him, unsure what he meant. "We're nearly there, Tim...". She lied.

"No, you go... I'll only be slowing you down," he spoke out next. His eyes landed on the dead, decaying body close to them. "I nearly had you killed, Valerie...".

"No, Tim... Come on... Please. I can't go through this alone..." Valerie let out, turning her head when she heard a rustle from behind her. "You know I can't go through this alone...".

His eyes softened before he let out another grunt. "But we only have one gun.".

"Won't be a bother," Valerie responded. "We'll be out of here in no time, and then we'll be going to the hospital.".

Another rustle was heard from the bushes as Valerie kept her gaze in that direction. A moment later, with growls being heard, another dog walked out of the bushes, showing its teeth. It was half mutilated and bleeding, with it missing one eye. Its right ear was half ripped off. 

Behind it, another dog jumped out of the bushes and charged toward Valerie followed by two more before the first of the humanoid corpses managed to reach them.

Without a speckle of mercy, Valerie shot bullet after bullet, defending both herself and Tim.

Behind her, Tim managed to get onto his legs, with the mere subsiding of the pain as he managed to find something to use as a weapon.

The corpses of decayed people kept on walking out of the bushes and with it taking more than one bullet, and more than a few swings, both Tim and Valerie found themselves pressured toward the wall of shrubs behind them.

"We should go," Tim spoke out, turning around. But then, he exclaimed, "Valerie, watch out!".

However, it was too late. Before Valerie could react, she felt a grip upon her right hand. Her gaze was met by the eyes of another decaying body. Once more, a wrestle ensued, but it ended very soon as Tim took a swing of the rigid trunk he found, managing to wind the body, it let go of Valerie. And with another hit, the zombie was grounded before receiving a bullet into its head.

"We have to go now," Tim spoke as he rushed into the bushes. Valerie followed him.

They tried their hardest to find their way back to the entrance of the ominous forest.

Valerie knew that the first step of getting out was to find the yellow trail that led them to where they were a little bit ago.