New Forest National Park: a peaceful paradise, filled with luscious trees and cut off from the hustle and bustle of city life. It was a famous vacation spot for people loking to get away. Yes, get away; now rumours of this haven attracted visitors from around the world. They wanted to get away too... just not from city life. No, they needed to get away from something much much worse...

A heavily damaged, modified Jeep Wrangler sped across the plains, its passengers white with fear. The driver, a oung female with bright red hair and pushed down on the accelerator as far as it would allow. Beside her, a seasoned man in his sixties chewed down on a cigar as he growled instructions at her.

"Faster, Faster!" 

"You wanna take over geezer! Shut it and keep 'em off me!"

Stanislav Jez grunted in frustration as he retrieved a modified semi-automatic rifle from the backseat. He turned around and stood on hos seat, thankful for the open roof. Peering through the sights, he squeezed the trigger. 

Masses of lead filled with defiance pumped tore through the plains, then plowed through their pursuers.

Undead cried out in anger as limbs were blasted off by the ridiculously large rounds. They fell in droves, but the remnants jumped over the dead and raced towards the escaping Jeep.

"What the hell's going on, Jez!? I've never seen them this aggressive." cried Alexia Small as she cut into the forest.

Jez kept silent as he watched their flank. Only when he was sure they'd lost their pursuers did he set down the rifle. "Don't know kid. You think the rumors are true?"

"What, you mean that garbage bout Enlight? Please, that's bull and you know-."

Splurt, Splatter, cough.

"No no no no," Alex cried, pounding on the steering as the car's engine died on her. "Fuck! Are you fucking kidding me!?'

Jez watched his partner's tirade with weary eyes. If she did something about her anger issues, she might actually come off cute. Sighing, he exited the car, taking his bagpack from the back seat. "No use crying over spilt milk. We're burning daylight. Let's get a move on."

"Fuck," Alex whispered, her voice hoarse from all the swearing. She took a huge breath to calm her nerves, lifted her belongings from the back seat and joined her partner. Her choice of weapon, a compound bow was folded into a portable form which she holstered on her waist. 

Luckily, New Forest's forests were not overly dense. Hence, the had more than enoough sunlight streaming through the trees to guide their path. The earth was a bit slippery, but that was to be expected during the rainy season. Speaking of which, Alex really hoped the damned sky held up till they reached their destination.

"You ready?"

She tightened her bag and led the way. "You sure this place exists? Sounds too good to be true."

"My contact's certain."

"Gary ain't a contact. He's a sleazebag who'd sell his mother for a pack of smokes."

Jez laughed, even thought the glint in the young girl's brown eyes told him she was serious. "True. But he's the best information broker in North England. He would not risk his reputation on bad info."

"Can't tarnish his reputation if we don't make it back alive, now can we?"

He sighed. "You have trust issues."

"You trust too much," she countered. 

Movement in front caught her attention; she raised a hand and Jez stopped.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"We have company." Alex grabbed her bow and shook it open; she nocked an arrow and peered into the thickets. "Hey! We Know You're There! Come Out!" 

No reply.

She let loose. 

"Woah! Calm down!" called a male voice. Out of the growth stepped a tall young man barely out of his teens. His messy black hair barely covered the greenest eyes she had ever seen. He looked a bit pale, but most people did these days. The oddest thing was he wasn't carrying. Even the dumbest of people this days carried at least pipes with them. He held nothing in hand. "Name's Loki," he greeted. 

"Loki," she parroted. "Like, the Norse god of deceit, lies, trickery... all that?"

"Very same," he said with a wry laugh. "My parents watched too many movies I guess."

"You hear that Jez? His name's Loki..." She tugged on her arrow till the string was taut. "Give me one good reason why I should not send an arrow through your brain, Loki."

"...I'm human?" 

"Not good enough."

"I'm unarmed? That'd be murder in cold blood. It'll haunt you"

"Don't worry. I'll sleep just fine. So tell me, why are you unarmed?"

Loki turned to Jez for help, but the older man just shrugged. Resigned to his fate, he attempted to appease the fiery girl. "I don't like weapons. I can run away if I'm ever in trouble."

His words must have struck a nerve. 

Her eyes cooled in disinterest as she set down her weapon. She holstered her weapon and motioned for Jez to follow, ignoring Loki as she walked past.

"H-hold up!" called the young man. "You guys are searching for Hotel Retribution aren't you?"

The travellers halted.

"I knew it," Loki said triumphantly. "I know the way. I serve as a guide of sorts for people like you."

Alex flared up. She tackled the young man to the gound and pinned her elbow on his throat, crushing his windpipe ever so gently. "You. Do. Not. Know. Anything! Now spit it out. Where do we go?"

Loki clutched her arm, struggling to get her weight off of him. "C-can't tell. Must t-take you th-there myself." He sucked in a huge breath when she released her vice on his throat.

"Fine," she relented. "Lead the way."

Loki massaged his throat, coughing as he got to his feet. "You've got issues you need to deal with."

"I didn't ask for a psych-analysis," she retorted in a dry tone. "Just lead the way."

The young man frowned at her, but chose to let it pass. "Just so you know. This path has a few zombies crawling around. Will you guys be okay?"

Jez finished his smoke and crushed the butt under his foot. "We've been through worse," he said, as he held the semi-automatic at the ready.

"Nice gun," Loki complimented.

"Only till it runs out of bullets," Alex cut in. "Now move, we've wasted enough time as it is."

"Fine," Loki surrendered. "Anyone ever tell you you're bossy?"  

She flashed a sarcastic smile his way.

Loki held back a laugh, turned around and led them through the forest. The silence was so deafening, he attempted small talk. "So tell me. Where'd you guys come from?"

Alex's eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know?"

"Jesus girl, relax for a second. Just making idle chit-chat here."

"When we are safe, you can talk about rainbows and dollies. For now, focus on getting us to the hotel."

"Wow. You've got that bow of yours buried deep up your a-" The cold steel of an arrowhead pressed against his throat shut him up... temporarily. Realizing he was getting nothing out of the fire demon, he turned his attention to Jez. "Your accent. What's that.. Russian?"

"German," Jez corrected. "Lived there till the day the sky turned red. Then I hopped around Europe for a while. Met Lexi in London."

"Heeh? How long ago was that? You guys seem close."

"Almost four years now. Met her beating down a group of thugs that had been trying to rob a store."

Loki raised a brow in disbelief. "She didn't strike me as the good samaritan type."

"Oh, she wasn't. Apparently she'd been casing the shop for a while and was pissed someone else beat her to the punch."

"Wow," Loki said, glancing at Alex, who was clearly not interested in their conversation. "Do you th-"

"Shh!" Alex interrupted. "We've got multiples closing."

"What?" Loki whirled around, eyes squeezed shut in concentration. "I don't hear anything."

"You'll get used to it," Jez said as he released the safety on his rifle. "She's got the sharpest senses I've ever seen."

Alex frowned. "Five, no seven on foot. Gaining fast. Judging by the speed, definitely zombies. We can't outrun them."

Jez sighed. "You mean I can't outrun them. You probably could."

"Jez"

"I know, I know, young miss. No self-sacrifices."

Loki looked from the girl to the old man, stricken with fear. "I-I'll just hide over there if that's all right with you."

"Do what you want," replied Alex, disgusted by his cowardice. 

She  nocked an arrow and trained it at the silent forest. Three, two, one.

Fwoosh!

Her arrow bore through the head of a zombie as it and its companions emerged from the forest. A follow-up arrow took the legs of another off the ground. She managed a third shot into a third's head before they were surrounded.

She jammed her bow into the head of the closest, bent low and flipped another over her shoulder into a fifth. She kicked it in the midriff and it fell over. she released her bow, and withdrew two arrows from her quiver.

The sixth charged her and bit into her arm. 

Alex gritted her teeth and headbutted it. It staggered back and she shoved an arrow from below its throat through its head. She lifted it above her and tossed it onto the fifth and fourth which were in the middle of getting up. For the last, she spun around and  close-lined it with her elbow. It was swept off it feet and fell to the floor. She crushed its head under her feet.

Retrieving her bow, she finished off the rest before they could regain their respective balance. The entire exhange had lasted about twelve seconds.

Jez replaced the safety with a wry smile. "I understand we have to save ammo, but could you let me get off the occasional shot at the very least?"

"Next time," she said. "Now help me search them."

"Whatever you say kiddo," replied Jez as he rifled through the clothes of the fallen. "Got nothing. You?"

"Found something," she replied. "Here, check this out." She handed over a worn-out journal.

"Hmm... Interesting," Jez mumbled as he flipped the pages. "Our friend Simon was an occupant of Hotel Retribution. There's all sorts of information an... Dear Lord."

Alex's forehead creased. "What's the matter?" She stood up and looked over his shoulder at the book.

ENLIGHT. EVERYWHERE. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. BEWARE.

Who do I trust. They look like us, sound like us, walk like us, smell like us. I can't take it anymore. Greg got turned yesterday. He/she is turning us one by one and we've no idea who it is. It's only a matter of time at this rate. Shit, shit. shit... The ramblings went on for pages, all on Enlight. 

Jez closed the book and rubbed his eyes. "Guess the rumors are true then. The Enlight are real, and they're in New Forest."

"Doesn't change our mission," said Alex matter-of0fact. "We set up at Retribution and gather intel on the surrounding threats. Enlight included."

"You're right."

Loki exited his place of refuge and walked up to them. 

"Glad to see you finally joined up," Alex said, dripping with sarcasm.

"What can I say, I suck at fighting. Come, we're almost there."

They walked the rest of the way in silence, each engrossed in their own thoughts.

The trio walked into an open field where they paused, mouths agape in awe. 

Hotel Retribution was protected by giant walls with barbed wires along its perimeters. The building itself was a thing of beauty even from their location. 

"This is unbelievable Loki," Jez muttered. "Loki?" He looked around but the young man was nowhere to be found. "Loki!?"

Alex shook her head. "He's a grown up. We don't have time to search for him."

"He was probably scared off by a certain someone."

"He's a wimp. He's useless."

Jez felt uncomfortable leaving the boy behind, but shook it off. The kid had run off on his own accord. In this world, everyman was entitled to live by his own choices. Hands tight on his rifle, he followed Alex into Hotel Retribution.

Later that night, the solar generator hummed to life, providing the stronghold with electricity. 

Its first occupants in years slept soundly for the first time in months.

***

Zombies lulled aimlessly around a nearby town, eyes bereft of purpose.

Loki sneaked past them, humming a tune under his breath. He entered the city hall and walked to the mayor's office. 

Seven individuals sat in the dark room, red eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Get rid of that, Loki."

"As you wish," replied the young man. He reached into his eyes and removed a pair of contacts. He blinked several times, then opened his bright red eyes.

                                                                                    To Be Continued...