The moans filled the city as the large hoards of undead walked along the streets; they sought out fresh blood from any survivors hiding away from the monsters that now walked the streets.

These streets were once filled of the townspeople following their daily schedules to and from their homes or workplaces all wearing happy faces, with only personal problems clouding their sunny blue skies. Most did not realize what was happening on the other side of their clear beautiful lake.

Now, the lake is black, full of ash and wasted water used to try and fight against the raging fire of the now burnt out factory. Meanwhile, the toxins spread throughout the town infecting anything it can sink into.

Howls filled the air along with the moans, the dogs stalking the streets hunting for any sort of flesh and meat to satisfy their constant hunger.

The monsters crawled along rooftops, through dark alleyways hunting for their prey killing anything that cross their path.

The croaking filled the waterways and edges of the lake alerting the atmosphere around there alerting the monsters and any survivors that a new threat loomed in the area. What the threat was no one knew or was around to tell if they could speak.

This town, once beautiful, had become a world of survival horror where anything could eat anything or anyone�

�I patched up the leaks so she should sail across the lake just fine,� Graham said with a sigh wiping the sweat away from his forehead. He silently thanked Jill for the bottle of water, and took a long drink from it.

�Do we have to cross that lake?� Jill asked quietly looking out over the lake. The water unnerved her as the large burnt out factory loomed over head, casting a dark shadow over the still water.

�We have to stay together Jill, if there is any hope for those young men then it rests within that factory.� Graham spoke just as softly climbing out of the boat, which rocked against its mooring.

Jill sighed and nodded, �You�re right, I just can�t believe how young they are.� She said seeing all but one of the team fast asleep, resting against each other for warmth and safety.

�I know Jill I feel the same way. Help me check this boat once more; we don�t want to end up stranded out there.� Graham spoke softly resting a hand on Jill�s shoulder with a small smile.

Jill nodded and started checking the boat carefully with Graham; they both knew what to do after living by the lake their whole life.

John looked up briefly from his work to check on his brothers before wiping his eyes tiredly then went back to work, stifling a cough as much as he could.

�Ok we�re ready to go.� Scott said as he climbed into the boat, it was a tight squeeze but they all had fit into the boat. Not wanting to risk having two boats they had decided that it would be better to try and fit into one.

�Great, let�s get going then.� Graham said pushing off with help from Virgil.

Gordon looked over the side before sitting back straight with a cold shudder, �Let�s just hurry across, I have a bad feeling about this lake.� He said looking across at Scott, who nodded and looked across at the lake with a gun in his hand.

Scott focused hard in fighting against the constant itch caused by the bandages along his abdomen touching his skin while holding the gun straight, ready to fire at any movement.

Glancing back briefly at John, who looked tired but fought against closing his eyes as the small movement of the boat made him drowsy. Scott glanced at his watch as their journey across the lake began with the start of the small but powerful motor.

Graham inwardly sighed as he started the motor up and felt it push the medium sized boat through the murky water towards the dark factory. It has only been a few hours but it has felt like a week amongst this living hell He thought to himself as Virgil kept the shotgun aimed at the water, his shoulders tense.

Jill and the young boy looked out at the lake seeing the ripples caused by the boat as the only noise they heard was a faint croak of an unknown amphibian close by and the motor of the powerboat.

A pair of eyes opened and saw through the dark murky water like it was glass, seeing the boat move across the lake�s surface towards the land on the other side. Stretching its legs, it was propelled forward towards the surface and towards its target.

Along side the creature more of its kind appeared, also aiming for the boat wanting to see what caused it to move across the lake and what it contained. The murky water slid along their skin like they lived in such water.

John looked over Gordon to the waters edge and winced before balancing himself out in the centre of the boat, �What were they making in that factory to cause such reaction to the lake?� He asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the silence of the journey.

�We�re not sure, all of this happened during the fire,� Graham spoke from the back as he adjusted the controls slightly eyeing John�s back.

�Wash off.� Virgil muttered looking at the murky lake before looking at the dark factory.

Scott turned around slightly ready to speak before the whole boat rocked dangerously knocking his feet out from under him.

Jill hugged the boy close to her as they sheltered in the middle of the boat, �What was that?� Virgil said hanging on to his balance but just barely aiming the shotgun at the water.

�I don�t know, from under us maybe.� Graham said holding onto the controls of the boat, focusing on not getting the engine damaged from whatever had just hit the boat.

�Get us out of here Graham,� Scott ordered as he aimed his own gun around the boat�s edge hoping to hit whatever was attacking their boat before it struck again.

Gordon and John looked between each other then kept themselves busy by helping Jill and the young boy in the middle of the boat.

�Do you hear that?� Gordon muttered calming the chaos of the boat as it continued forward slowly along the lake.

Everyone froze and listened closely ignoring the sound of the motor of the speed boat; they could hear the moaning of the undead monsters roaming the streets of the town behind them and a low croaking sound.

�What is that?� John asked softly not recognizing the sound from their experience of tropical frogs and amphibians.

�Nothing I�ve never heard,� Gordon replied looking up at Virgil with a worried tone in his eyes.

�Can we get more speed out of this motor?� Virgil asked bending down awkwardly to check the make of the boat motor to see if he could adjust its output.

�I checked earlier when I checked over the boat, but if you think you can do something go ahead,� Graham replied taking his shotgun back off Virgil and held it close to his shoulder ready to fire.

�John, have you got that tool kit I gave you earlier?� Virgil asked his brother, who hadn�t moved from the centre of the boat.

�T-think so,� John muttered moving slowly over to the back of the boat with his rucksack clenched tightly in his hands.

�I�m going to need it, and we�re going to have to be careful as I don�t want to stop the motor for any length of time,� Virgil said quietly as they dug through John�s rucksack and found his toolkit.

�Never leave the island without it,� Gordon joked lightly, earning a small laugh from his other brothers.

The boat rocked again from another attack making everyone nearly loose their balance and grab onto part of the boat, Graham had managed to fire a shot into the ocean but he doubted that it had penetrated the lake�s surface.

�We need to buy ourselves some time,� Gordon said looking at how close they were to the lake�s edge.

�How about the bombs, would they work?� Scott asked remembering his rucksack contained several of the bombs they had made.

�They would, it might stun whatever is attacking us,� Gordon replied with a nod.

�Worth a shot Scott, we almost got this done.� Virgil added from his side of the boat with John helping him with seeing into the engine with a torch that shook in John�s hands.

�Great let�s do it!� Scott said putting his gun away quickly and dug out two of their homemade bombs ignoring the slight blurry marks in the corner of his vision as he dug out his lighter from his pockets and tested the fuses.

The boat stopped rocking and the water went still, all that could be heard was the sounds of the distant city. The people on the small boat tried to keep their breathing quiet as they stopped what they were doing on the boat.

The water lapped up against the boat and could be heard distantly lapping up against the nearby shore line, the attack had stopped.

The boat continued forward at a slightly faster pace until soon enough it bumped into the banks of the land the survivors had crossed to reach, the burnt out laboratory looming over head giving them the sense of more danger and the feel of it falling apart any second.

�W-where have they gone?� Virgil whispered as they slowly and quietly climbed out of the boat, giving John some help to get out. �T-thanks,� John whispered shaking off the tiredness yanking at him.

�I don�t know Virg, let�s just hurry up and get inside.� Scott whispered quietly keeping his gun steady after jumping out of the boat and watched the waters edge.

Graham helped Jill and the young boy climb out of the boat, �Let�s just hurry and get inside!� Graham whispered loudly. �Didn�t think we would be back here so soon,� He muttered to Jill quietly who nodded her response.

Gordon climbed out and kept close to the survivors, �I�m with Graham! Let�s get inside� Gordon whispered seeing John sway but tried to hold himself up while Virgil aimed out at the lake.

�Right, go! I�ll come in last.� Scott ordered keeping his eye out at the lake, �Get John inside Virg,� He added looking at John leaning heavily against Virgil.

�Right Scott everyone inside now,� Virgil said as he put his gun back in the holster and helped John walk towards the factory. �Come on Johnny, don�t give up� you�ve got to keep fighting!� He whispered quietly to John softly.

�V-vi-Virg-Virgil,� John gasped tiredly opening his eyes making Virgil glance over and flinched slightly. John�s normally bright blue eyes were dull and were loosing their colour making it look a darker blue almost grey.

�Stay awake for a little longer ok Johnny, for me please,� Virgil begged slightly with a small smile. John nodded and moaned pushing back the waves of nausea and bile that rose with each step he took.

Graham and Gordon led the way inside of the factory lighting the immediate area with their torches, �The fire has only scorched this area!� Gordon said as he looked around and found what appeared to be a waiting room.

�Must have had a good sprinkler system� Graham replied following Gordon towards the room and looked inside, �Looks intact� He said looking at Gordon, who nodded and led the way inside.

Gordon slowly opened the door keeping his body low to the ground as Graham aimed his shotgun into the room they entered the room and checked every corner.

The room was disorganised with magazines and newspapers thrown everywhere, in the corner a desk had been knocked over and was full of scratches and bullet holes. The rest of the room was filled with blush chairs including a long couch covering half of the wall with the other being covered by a large bookshelf.

�Clear,� Graham said as he locked his shotgun onto safety and helped Jill set camp up in the corner of the room, using the desk to block up the large window that led into the large reception area of the factory.

�Guys in here,� Gordon called from the doorway happy to see a small fuse box that would supply the room with emergency power.

Virgil came in and led John down on the couch, �Johnny listen to me,� Virgil said softly and sternly. �You�ve got to keep awake ok?� He said looking at John carefully.

�I-I�ll try� John responded quietly gulping air to fight the nausea building up inside of him.

�Ok John, try and have something to drink ok,� Virgil suggested shrugging his pack off his back and left it by John.

Scott soon joined them breathing heavily and slammed the door closed, �They returned and trashed the boat,� He reported leaning against the door as he reloaded his gun.

�So we�re stuck here?� Virgil asked in a low voice as Gordon tugged at him to show him the emergency power supply.

�There must be a sewer line for emergencies or something that goes under the lake,� Scott whispered back and bent down, resting against the door hiding his head into his legs.

�I�ll find out in a minute hopefully,� Gordon muttered and finally showed Virgil the power supply unit.

�Great Gord, let�s get to work on this so we can save our batteries while we rest in here.� Virgil said with a sigh of relief.

Scott groaned as he got up onto his feet and removed his rucksack, walking across the room to join John on the couch. �Hey bro how are you feeling?� He asked softly taking his gloves off and rested the back of his hand on John�s forehead.

�Tired but promised Virgie that won�t sleep,� John croaked tiredly leaning into the back of the couch, a bottle of water in his hand.

�Just hold on and we�ll get out of this, we will get through this.� Scott said with a small smile as he pushed John�s blonde hair back before rising up off the couch to join his other brothers back by the fuse box.

�This isn�t good guys, he�s burning up!� Scott whispered as he slipped his gloves back on trying to hide the shakes that had appeared in his hands, telling himself that it was just the adrenaline rush.

Virgil glanced up at Scott then across to Gordon, �I know but there�s not much we can do at the moment.� He muttered keeping his voice low.

�There has to be something here that we haven�t seen or heard of,� Gordon muttered his reply as he looked up from working at the laptop. He had dug the laptop out shortly after giving Virgil his tools as his brother worked hard at the circuit breakers to see what was wrong with them.

�I�ll give you a hand, better give Virgil some space,� Scott said quietly glancing over to the small group of survivors, who had set up a temporary camp with tables sheltering their sides with blanket draped on the floor and along the table edges.

John took slow deep breaths keeping his eyes closed away from the spinning sensation in his head that he could see whenever his eyes were open, he felt the bile building up along the back of his throat as he continued to breath slowly.

Leaning back into the couch John inwardly groaned as his stomach forced him to bed double, hiding his face into the back of the couch hoping that the stabbing pains in his stomach would go away like the constant urge to sleep or the itching along his arms. His uniform helped with the itching as the flight suit underneath wouldn�t irate his skin to let him itch.

The bile rose up along his throat and into the back of his mouth making John gasp for air, with a small moan he turned over facing the rest of the room opening his eyes slightly, barely making out Virgil across the room while Scott and Gordon were bent over the laptop studying something on the screen.

�G-guys,� He gasped croakily with an almost whisper to his voice before falling off the couch landing hard on his hands and knees.

The small muffled thud got everyone�s attention causing them to jump to their guns and feet, �Johnny,� Three voices called and rushed over to their fallen brother�s side.

�Let�s help him back to the couch,� Scott said holding onto John�s shoulders as Virgil moved around to check on John himself.

�Johnny, you ok?� Virgil whispered quietly not liking how pale John had become or clammy his skin was.

�N-no,� John gasped in reply before throwing up everything he had in his stomach and fainted into the darkness that called him.

�John!� The brothers cried holding onto him, rolling him over onto his side away from the new mess on the ground.

But it was no good, John had fallen unconscious his body fighting against the illness that plagued his system.

To be continued�