Doomsday

Kirsten shrieked when the Insurgents got close. Alan gritted his teeth and got ready.

Then, with all of his might, he practically yanked Tanner up to them. He sat down next to Kirsten and panted quite heavily from a mixture of adrenaline and the effort of lifting both Kirsten and Tanner.

But after a while, he stood up and gently picked up Kirsten again.

"Alright. Lead the way." he said with a nod. After Tanner began moving, Alan followed shortly after.

Kirsten, however, kept her gaze fixed on her leg with a worried and confused expression.

Katie grabbed the phone and dialed Alan, but was only met with voicemail.

"He's not picking up," she told her dad. Up ahead came a barbed wire fence that looked very hazardous to the pickup truck. Her eyes widened when she realized that they would have to traverse on foot. The TMC was still a ways to go plus the journey back? They wouldn't make it halfway without passing out.

"Hang on, sweetie!"

Tatum knew that they would have to get out of the vehicle or find another way around if they ever hoped to pass through that fence. Unfortunately, both of those options were a high risk of death. He didn't want to leave the safe vehicle, so he pressed on the gas and rammed through it. Literally ripping the sturdy blockade off the ground and pushing it further and further through the alleys, the truck seemed to be invincible. To their dismay however, he had to pull over at the sight of a large concrete wall that conveniently blocked their advance. As the tires screeched to a halt, the fence the pickup carried slammed into the ground after the loss of momentum.

"Great," Tatum groaned as he glanced angrily at the wall. "Now what?"

Katie grew a little more nervous. Her hand gently wrapped around her father's left shoulder and she nudged her head against his right to offer some support. It seemed to work because she could feel his manly palm stroking her hair.

"We can't ditch this truck, daddy. Surely there must be another way around this wall."

"I know sweetie," Tatum responded, resting his head on top of hers. "I'll find one in a minute."

Tatum scanned the area briefly before locating another path towards the TMC. To his luck, one narrow path came into view a little ways behind him, but a tall and lanky man stood in the way.

"Eureka," Tatum shouted as he climbed out of the truck. "Stay in there, Katie."

Tatum slowly approached the man blocking the way.

"Hey! Hey sir, you're standing in the way!"

Tatum felt surprised and a little uneasy when the figure up ahead slowly turned to face the man. His rotten skin seemed to nearly be peeled off and blood coated the mouth of this inhumane creature. It's ripped clothes were the least of Tatum's worries. The heavy breathing man slowly began to linger over to him.

"Sir," Tatum asked in shock before the person threw himself on top of Tatum. "Sir!"

The teeth of the person snapped and snapped, centimeters away from Tatum's cheek. The burly hands of Tatum were barely able to fight off the creature's advances, but a shot rang into the attacker's skull, causing him to slump on top of Tatum.

"Katie," Tatum asked in disbelief as he pushed the man off of him. "Why'd you kill him?!"

Katie's face turned from scared to angry after Tatum asked her that question.

"You're welcome for saving you," she replied before putting her gun away. "What was that guy?!"

She then tried Alan's phone again, but to no avail. An odd vibrating sound did catch her eye. The source of the sound came from outside the truck so she climbed out and almost immediately spotted a cellular device sitting next to the pickup's front tire. Katie picked it up to see that this was definitely Alan's phone. The phone identified the number dialing it to be Tatum, so she felt slightly joyous to discover a clue. Unfortunately, the screen that appeared after the ringing stopped made her jaw drop.

Okay we're headed to

Alan never finished his text. This was something that she had to tell her father once he got back to the truck. Katie entered it, waiting for him to join her.

Tatum looked at his daughter after inspecting the corpse with a nearly horrified expression. He couldn't believe what he'd seen.

"I have a few ideas," Tatum explained grimly. "Human ain't one of them."

Katie took in the words as a group of people that looked similar to the one she shot began closing in on her father.

"Dad," she called out as her Glock slid back into her hand. "Behind you! Run!"

Tatum, wide-eyed at the sight of the group approaching him, tossed out any ideas of negotiating and just booked it over to Katie. Luckily for him, the people following them were only walking so they were able to escape through the narrow path unscarred.