DAY THREE OF THE OUTBREAK...

Swirls of red energy surrounded Bloodletter's arm as he raised his open hand toward the buses. A large crimson spearhead formed from his blood and blasted out of his palm like a rocket, colliding with the back of the bus and slicing the door clean off its hinges. Long gash marks remained on the yellow walls of the bus's exterior, and several Deadmen did everything they could to get in through the new hole. The citizens closer to the back screamed in horror and many of them began to trample over each other to get away from the creatures outside.

Jonah and Kat endlessly swore as the soldiers opened up the window and fired at Bloodletter and the other Deadmen. Many of the creatures were struck in the skulls and collapsed to the ground motionlessly before getting crushed underneath the wheels of the vehicles behind them. Bloodletter, however, did what he did best besides weaponizing his own blood: enduring gunfire as if it were nothing but a harmless gust of wind.

The bullets tore through him easily, splattering his innards all over the street and the walls of the building behind him. He covered his head with his arms to shield himself. He knew his helmet was near impenetrable, but he also knew it would be a wise move to make sure its durability lasted.

Once the gunfire had faded out, he brought his arms back down. The blood swirled out of his wounds into his infamous red spheres. "My turn," he growled.

"GET DOWN!" Schaefer exclaimed.

All of the citizens on the bus ducked for cover as multiple explosions rattled the vehicle. Glass shards rained down on the citizens, and it seemed like entire buildings were obliterated around them. Dust clouds consumed the bus like a tidal wave, but the bus moved on into the unknown. The AIS officers continued to blindly fire their guns out the window, hoping their bullets were making contact with something in the opaqueness of the dust.

"What do I do, Colonel?" the bus driver shouted. "I can't see anything with this dust!"

"Keep driving!" Schaefer replied. "As long as we're heading straight, we should be at the borders of London in twenty minutes."

"Even though it only takes one for Bloodletter to kill us all," Shaw muttered.

"Shut it, Shaw! Keep that monster off of us! I cannot let that thing get near my family!"

Shaw remained silent and pointed his rifle back out the open window. The dust was starting to clear, and the first thing the soldiers saw was Bloodletter in the distance surrounded by long floating strands of his own blood. He was running toward them as fast as he could, barely maintaining the speed of an average jogger.

"Fucking hell," Jonah said, glancing out the window. "Never thought I'd be so terrified to see a Deadman casually strolling toward us."

Kat snickered. "You make it sound like he's out for a walk in the park. Doesn't he, Aaron?" But she didn't get a response from him. "Aaron?"

She and Jonah looked at the row in front of them to see Aaron and Nika still cautiously bent over in their chairs shielding themselves from further harm. They had their arms wrapped around each other fearfully, and both of them clenched their eyes tightly, as if witnessing the horrors surrounding them would leave them blind. Jonah noticed the window to their right had a massive crack trailing down the middle of the pane.

"I think we should leave them be," Jonah said softly. "They seem prepared."

"They look adorable together," Kat added.

"That's usually not a good sign during the apocalypse," Jonah added sheepishly. "Sorry. Too soon."

"Y'know, you're really good at timing things poorly."

Jonah sighed. "I know."

A cacophonous screeching noise filled the air outside. A long crimson saw blade scraped against the exterior of the bus, shattering a few of the windows as it flew off the bus into the building beside it. Another saw blade slashed across the opposite side of the bus, destroying the windows next to Aaron and Mrs. Hecox. Both of them shielded the person next to them, taking on a brief torrent of glass, and luckily nobody got hurt.

"Sniper!" Shaw yelled, extending his arm out toward one of his comrades. The closest soldier tossed him a sniper rifle, and he stepped out of his row into the middle of the bus. He knelt down and placed his eye against the scope, aiming the gun directly at Bloodletter's head.

Bloodletter created another spearhead out of his blood and fired it at the back of the bus, leaving behind a large hole. The tip of the spearhead sliced through the outer wall, even penetrating the inside. And that's when Shaw knew when to take his shot. "Time to die," he said.

He pulled the trigger. And a mile away Bloodletter collapsed onto the pavement with a small hole in the middle of his throat.

The others in the bus looked back in awe as the fabled Deadman fell. Aaron and Nika slowly let go of each other as they rose up from their cautious positions, both of them turning toward the empty space where the back door used to be. As the bus continued moving forward, they could see his motionless body splayed out on the street growing further and further away from them.

"I think we might've won today," Shaw concluded, handing the sniper rifle back to his comrade. He stood back up and returned to his seat as if his actions weren't important.

An applause sounded throughout the bus as the citizens cheered at Shaw's victory. Schaefer grinned and clapped alongside the others for his ally before playfully smacking Shaw on the back. "Brilliant aim," he said.

"Thank you, sir," Mrs. Hecox said. "For avenging my husband."

Schaefer's grin transitioned into a frown. "I'm sorry, did he..."

Mrs. Hecox wiped away a tear and pulled Natalya back in for an embrace. "He died saving me and the children. Without him, the Deadmen would've cornered us in our home for days. So thank you, Mr. Shaw, for making sure he didn't die for nothing."

Shaw nodded. "The pleasure is all mine, love."

Aaron and Nika sat back into their seats, finally feeling comfortable. Aaron winced briefly due to the small cuts he received from the glass shards, mostly on the back of his neck as well as on his ear and his cheek. Nika let out a small gasp after noticing them. "Does that hurt?" she asked.

"Nah, love," Aaron replied while place his hand on his neck. "Just a flesh wound—Ow!" He pulled his hand away from his neck only to find his fingers smudged with blood.

"Bloody hell," Jonah chimed in while demonstrating a goofy grin. "Get it?"

"See? Again with the poor timing," Kat said.

"It's nothing," Aaron said. "Just feels like a bunch of paper cuts."

Nika grabbed his hand, not caring about the blood. "Well as long as you're still alive," she said. "We all get a few bruises and scratches."

And with that, a wave of comfort came over Aaron. He and his friends finally felt happy, even if it was just a little bit. At least everyone but Natalya. She had remained quiet the entire time, only taking brief glances back at the others. None of her stares were friendly.

Several more minutes into the ride, planes zoomed through the sky above the citizens. They disappeared from view within an instant as they headed toward downtown London, and soon the sounds of muffled explosions echoed through the streets. The citizens looked around to see buildings crumbling in the distance and smoke ascending from fires.

"What's going on?" Natalya asked.

"I'm afraid over a quarter of the city has already been infected," Schaefer replied. "We have to resort to sanitation bombings. We call them clean sweeps."

"But we've only been driving for half an hour," Mrs. Hecox said.

"This Deadman infection has already established itself as one of the deadliest parasites in world history. It spreads faster than any other, detects targets faster than any other, and finds creative ways of controlling corpses, something hardly any other parasite could do. Trust me when I say this city is doomed."

"But we're not doomed, are we?" Aaron asked. He didn't realize his grip on Nika's hand had tightened.

Schaefer paused for a couple of seconds. Given the fact this heroic role he portrayed was just a facade, he could really care less about everyone on these buses except for his wife and son. But he still had to make sure he earned their trust, especially Mrs. Hecox since he was talking to a child in her care. "Of course not, lad," he told Aaron.

* * *

The buses rode on for several more hours. Aside from the bombings in the distance and the occasional glimpses of the disturbing remains of the Deadmen's killing sprees, the majority of the trip was peaceful. Neither Bloodletter nor Binge Eater returned, and most of the Deadmen watched the vehicles pass by without a second thought. The AIS didn't fire their guns for at least two hours, to the point they finally exited London without resorting to violence.

Aaron and the rest of his friends found the chance to get some rest. Nika used Aaron's shoulder as a pillow as the two of them napped, and Jonah and Kat grew more acquainted with each other as the ride continued. Jonah tried to let Natalya into the conversation, but she continued displaying her newfound reserved behavior, ignoring them and stubbornly facing forward as if they had offended her.

"I think she just needs some private time, dear," Mrs. Hecox told Jonah. "But I'm sure she appreciates how much you care."

The buses were several miles outside of London. They passed through the city of Birmingham, which was almost entirely consumed by fire. Buses and police cars crowded the highways, and groups of panicked people and Deadmen ran through the streets with no sense of direction. The sun was starting to set and the sky was a bright orange, decorated by dark clouds of smoke rising from the raging infernos. It was hard passing by groups of innocent people with the knowledge that there was no more room for them.

A few of the AIS officers tried tuning in to some radio stations, continuously receiving the same messages. Deadmen have overrun the country. Hundreds of thousands dead. Reports of abnormally dangerous mutations of Deadmen exhibiting strange abilities. All of this happened over the course of three hours and thirty minutes into the bus ride.

Schaefer's bus caught up with his ally Carlyle's bus, the one carrying his wife and son. They were side by side on the highway, and some of the passengers waved at each other from across. Schaefer picked his walkie-talkie back up. "This is Schaefer to Carlyle," he said. "Can I speak to Tabitha please?"

Brief silence followed before his wife appeared on the other side. "Hello, Troy! Are we almost there?"

"Yes, dear. Matheson should be no more than an hour away. I know you and Edgar can hold up just a little while longer."

"You and the Anti-Infection Squad have been doing an astounding job. It was a smart move sending one of them to the far edge of the field. It'll help you keep track of the Deadmen."

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "But...we don't have a unit on the edge of the field."

Then a quick burst of static blasted out of Shaw's walkie-talkie. "Lieutenant Shaw, this is Richmond. We've spotted an unidentified vehicle riding in from the left field. Looks to be one of our own armored personnel carriers. And...wait a minute! Something else is coming!"

"What is it, soldier?" Shaw ordered.

"Sounds like rumbling! Almost like a stampede. It's coming out of the forest! Look outside!"

Schaefer and Shaw glanced out the window toward the forests. Nothing but towering green trees for miles. But both of them caught on to a faint rumbling sound, almost like something charging toward them. An army of something.

The more they looked toward the forest, the clearer the picture became. They soon saw an APC cruising through the woods surrounded by hordes of Deadmen running alongside it like animals in a safari. The sunlight quickly glinted on the windshield of the vehicle before glowing again on that mysterious helmet. Their enemy knelt on the roof of the APC, his hands grasping onto the gun.

"Fucking hell," Schaefer said. "It's Bloodletter!"

Then the weirdest and most horrifying thing any of them had ever seen happened. Bloodletter aimed the mounted gun toward the buses and opened fire. An onslaught of bullets rushed toward the first bus, digging through the windows and people with ease. Aaron could see copious amounts of blood splashing the windows of the bus beside him as he witnessed people being shredded apart by gunfire.

"GET DOWN AGAIN!"

Aaron, his friends, and everyone else on the bus ducked into their seats, placing their heads as low as possible underneath the windows. The bullets broke through, eradicating the remaining windows and taking out those who weren't quick enough to take cover. The kids closed their eyes as tight as they could, wishing this was all just a bad dream. And that the fluid spraying their clothes and faces wasn't other people's blood.

"Sir, the other bus has—" an AIS officer tried to speak until a bullet made impact with his skull.

"Don't fight back, lads!" Schaefer shouted. "Stay low! We'll be safer down here until..."

Schaefer paused as he caught a glimpse of the bus that carried his wife and son. It had completely stopped in its tracks and drifted further away as the bus he was on continued to drive. There was blood all over the front windows, and the horde of Deadmen started crawling in through where the other windows used to be to get their next meal.

"TABITHA!" he screamed. Then with his rifle in hand he charged through the back of the bus and jumped out, tumbling to the ground as the sounds of the others shouting at him grew distant.

The bus didn't stop. But neither did Schaefer.

He bolted toward the wrecked bus, opening fire on the undead creatures overtaking it. Even as he massacred them, none of the Deadmen seemed to acknowledge his presence. They either scrambled in or out of the bus or continued ravaging the remains of the dead citizens on the bus. However, their disinterest in fleeing gave Schaefer a better chance to slaughter them. And once he realized they wouldn't move, he started using his machete to butcher them, removing limbs and heads with ease.

"Tabitha! Edgar!" he yelled into the bus. The Deadmen were crowded around multiple corpses, and several of the dead citizens jumped back to life, at least the ones with single bite marks. And they still passed by Schaefer as if he were nonexistent.

The first Deadman he recognized was his colleague Carlyle. He recognized the mutton chops and scar across his eye, but he was disturbed to see how his eyes had no color within them. It was like his pupils had completely vanished. His flesh had become as pale as a sheet, almost green up close, and he stood up from his seat aimlessly. His lifeless eyes gazed into Schaefer's.

"I'd say it was an honor working with you," Schaefer said, grasping the handle of his machete. "But given the fact you were associated with me, it's not like you were gonna live long anyway." And with that statement, he plunged the blade of the machete into Carlyle's skull.

Once he let Carlyle's body collapse to the floor, he sheathed his machete and pulled out a road flare and a lighter. The small flame birthed from the lighter gained the attention of every Deadman on the bus, and they almost looked afraid of the tiny thing. But once he set off the flare, all of the creatures scurried out of the bus, making horrific screeching noises like scared animals. He almost thought one of the Deadmen darting out of the bus was Edgar.

Now he was alone on the bus with the bodies of the citizens mutilated too violently to come back to life, one of which was his wife.

"Tabitha!" he shrieked. He ran over to her body. There was a tear in her throat so deep, her head was dangling off her neck by a single piece of flesh. An expression of pure terror was permanently frozen on her face, trapped in a silent scream. Bite marks were visible all over her shoulder and arms, and she reeked of the scent of corpses.

Schaefer would've held her in his arms, but he'd have to put her pieces back together first. There was too much blood to find a clean part of her, and he still wasn't sure if she would revive as one of those monsters. So he shed a tear and mournfully stepped out of the bus, leaving his wife's body behind with the others for good.

He stood alone in a field, greenery spreading for miles around him. He and the bus remained still on a road leading into the Forest of Bowland one way and back to London the other way. Motionless bodies were splayed out in the meadow like dead cattle in a drought. The whole place was the site of a massacre, but it would be debatable to refer to the casualties as people. Schaefer and the survivors had seen what they had become.

Schaefer looked to the west. The Deadmen were racing into the forest like if it were their natural habitat. In the distance he could see sunlight glint off the tip of Bloodletter's helmet as he wandered into the woods. If Schaefer was lucky, he and the citizens would never have to see him again. The only thing Bloodletter left behind was the APC he rode in and used to destroy the bus. Schaefer was planning on using it to meet up with the others in Matheson.

It took several minutes to reach the vehicle, which gave Schaefer plenty of time to comprehend the violence that went on around him. Aside from Tabitha and Edgar, he could care less about those who perished, but he still needed some people to be around to make sure his false heroic reputation would live on. Plus, he wanted to see how long it would take for people to discover the true cause of the Deadmen. It would be fun seeing their theories play out, blaming God or global warming or an evolving parasite without an origin.

He approached the vehicle and opened the door. All he found was a woman soaked in blood, mumbling an inaudible song to herself. "Beware the brain-dead's bloodletting butchery," she repeated in a shaky, unhinged voice.

"Who the fuck are you?" Schaefer replied, aiming his gun at her.

"Colonel Schaefer in the flesh!" the woman replied, followed by an out-of-place chuckle. "What a pleasant surprise! The name is Lavinia Dyer. I used to work as a nurse back in Longridge."

"And what the hell are you doing in here?"

"Well now I'm a cabbie apparently." She chuckled again. "Those Bloodletter and Binge Eater fellows ordered me to take them to London. They seemed kind, so I thought 'Why not'?"

Schaefer shoved his gun against her temple. "You're the reason why my wife and child are dead?!"

"Of course not, silly rabbit. I'm the driver. Mr. Bloodletter was the one firing."

"So you like driving, huh?!" He pushed the gun deeper against Lavinia's cranium. "Take me to Matheson Babel Tower right now or I'll blow your fucking brains out!"

"Death threats," Lavinia replied nonchalantly. "That is unoriginal. And given what's going on, is dying peacefully really such a bad thing?"

"Fine. How about I shoot you in your elbows and kneecaps and abandon you in the forest with the rest of the Deadmen?"

"See? That's way more creative!" Lavinia chuckled. "Get in the car, sir. Just tell me where to go."

Schaefer placed his gun down for a few seconds as he entered the vehicle. He brought it back out and aimed it back at Lavinia once he was in his seat. "I admire the camouflage," he said. "Deadman blood, isn't it?"

Lavinia smirked. "Most of it."

And they drove on into the forest to their new lives.