The remainder of the ride was very quiet and awkward, with everyone simply sitting down quietly and waiting.
Jonas was still driving and focusing completely on the road.
Catherine was reading the map that she took out of the glove compartment, probably trying to memorize it or something.
Gabriel was watching a cartoon on his TV, with his feet on top of the coffee table.
Stephanie was awkwardly sitting beside him, watching the funny cartoon and occasionally looking at him.
She was having thoughts about that entire situation. Mostly about the possibility of encountering her family. I want Catherine to find Reggie and Malcolm, but I rather avoid finding my parents. A possibility that she would rather avoid at all cost if she could help it.
I mean... I hope they are okay but I definitely wouldn't mind not seeing them again. Those were possibilities that she hoped would be the case.
"We're almost there." Jonas announced.
"See anything?" Catherine asked since her side was covered with a curtain.
"I can see a few buildings." Jonas told her.
"The city is considerably big according to the map, so we better be careful." Catherine pointed out. "Drive slowly, since we might encounter something."
"Isn't this driveway a little too clean?" Jonas pointed out since there wasn't a single car blocking the road.
"What are you complaining about?" But Catherine was quick to wave it off since it was a good thing.
"Nothing, it's just weird." Jonas seemed on edge.
"It doesn't matter, just drive slowly." Catherine opened the curtain blocking her view of the street.
As the two fixated on the street, seemingly preparing themselves. Gabriel didn't seem at all fazed and just continued to watch the cartoon.
"Where did you get this RV anyway?" Catherine asked him in curiosity as she inspected the interior.
"From an old man that tried to shoot me with a rifle." Gabriel bluntly responded without taking his eyes off the TV.
"Was there a reason why he was trying to shoot you?" Catherine asked.
"I'm pretty sure that he had dementia or something like that, because he kept calling me Jim and yelling for me to pay the thousand bucks that I owed him." Stephanie thought that was funny and wondered how an old man with dementia could actually survive the monsters.
"What happened to the old guy?" Jonas asked in curiosity.
"I yanked the rifle off his hands and smacked his face with the stock." He replied casually.
...
...
...
"And?" Catherine seemed to wanna know what happened.
"And then I checked inside his RV and found..." He lifted his index finger. "A bed that was covered in both shit and piss." Then he lifted his middle finger. "A sink filled with half-eaten foods that had maggots crawling in it." Then he lifted his ring finger. "And the dead body of an old lady that was rotting in that seat that you are sitting right now."
"Ah!" That made Catherine stand up from the passenger's seat right away in visible horror and disgust. "Seriously?"
"So I decided that it was better to just put the old man out of his misery, so I shot him in the head with the rifle and buried him and the old lady, who I assume was his wife, together." Gabriel admitted that he killed the old man without a single indication of remorse.
"You just shot a defenseless old man?!" Catherine clearly didn't approve of what he did at all.
"Didn't you just hear him say that the old man was keeping his dead wife's body and sleeping in his own shit?" Jonas, on the other hand, seemed to agree that it was for the best.
"Still, this is just..." Catherine was visibly bothered by it.
"Not to mention that I'm almost certain that I wasn't the first one that he mistook for this "Jim" guy." Gabriel added.
Stephanie, who was completely quiet until now, decided to speak up. "Umm... What was that about the bed being covered in shit and piss?" Because that was basically the bed that she slept on and sniffed a little while ago.
"Don't worry." Gabriel was quick to assure her. "I replaced the mattress and sheets." Hearing that caused some relief. "And I also cleaned the seats too, so you can sit down." That was for Catherine.
Catherine was obviously reluctant, but she decided to do it since she already sat there for a considerable amount of time anyway.
"Oh shit..." But then, Jonas called everyone's attention.
Catherine looked forward and gasped.
Gabriel stood up from the couch and moved to see it too.
Stephanie, being very disturbed by their reactions, stood up and approached to see it too. As soon as she stood besides Gabriel to see it, she widened her blue eyes as the sight was completely horrifying.
The RV was about to reach a city that had large buildings from afar and the street was filled with broken down cars. But what actually shocked all of them was the fact that there were more than a hundred corpses at the entrance of the city. All anchored onto the walls, with their bodies fused together by a strange gray mass that was spread around like a web that was covering the building around them.
"This is gonna be a very unpleasant question but..." Gabriel spoke up, calling up their attention. "Do any of you recognize someone?" Before he asked a question that was indeed very unpleasant but necessary.
"Oh god..." Catherine began to desperately look around the corpses to check.
Jonas began to look around as well.
But Stephanie couldn't see it anymore and immediately stepped back as the sight of all of those bodies was too much for her. "W-what- what is that?!"
"A symbiosis." Gabriel explained to her. "It basically attached itself to those people in order to sustain itself." That sounded horrifying in every possible way. "I need you two to focus," But then he spoke to them , keeping his calm and having a very serious expression on his face. "If you see anyone that you actually know, it means that they reached the city." But that was probably not a good thing either.
Jonas moved his head around until he actually stopped. "Oh fuck..." That made the very distraught Catherine look at him.
"What?" She asked.
Jonas pointed towards one of the hanging corpses. "That's the kid that worked in the kitchen."
Catherine moved her head to see it, and covered her mouth after gasping.
Stephanie, despite her reluctance, stepped forward once again to see it. And from afar, she saw the hanging corpse of a ginger boy wearing a yellow tank-top. She recognized him as Steve, the son of the cock that always helped in the kitchen. His body was completely covered in that mass, with only the fight side of his upper-half sticking out with his arm and... "Is he moving?!" With her realizing that he was actually moving his arm around.
"They are all still alive." Gabriel revealed to them, with all of them looking at him in deep shock. "It's a mutualistic symbiosis, it has no use for a dead host."
Stephanie moved her head back and realized that most of them were still moving. Like people stuck in a fishing net, trying to desperately break free.
"This is bad, that means that they have reached the city and were attacked by whoever put them there." Gabriel pointed out the facts.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god...." Catherine desperately searched around the bodies for her brother and nephew.
"We got to help these people!" Jonas was quick to declare.
"We can't." Gabriel responded casually as he inspected his surroundings.
"Why the hell not?!" Jordan asked as he continued to look around.
"It's a mutualistic symbiosis..." Gabriel repeated himself. "Once it attaches itself to someone, that person becomes just as dependent on it as the symbiosis." He explained. "Which means, even if we actually separate them, they are going to die anyway since the separation is fatal."
"Oh no!" Catherine yelled after seeing something.
"What?!" Jonas asked in worry.
"Look!" Catherine pointed towards one of the bodies. It was the body of a man wearing military fatigues. He was hanging upside down, with only his legs being attached to the symbiotic mass.
"Ah shit, That's Ronald." Jonas recognized him.
"He was in the car with Reggie and Malcolm!" Catherine declared in horror.
"Calm down, and keep searching." Gabriel instructed her. "They might have been able to get away, so don't make assumptions just yet."
"He's right." Stephanie agreed with Gabriel as she touched Catherine's shoulder.
Catherine resumed frantically searching around the bodies for familiar faces.
Suddenly, Gabriel stepped away from them and moved towards the television. Turning it off and lifting off the trunk that was under it. Stephanie moved her head to see him opening it, and she saw that the trunk was filled with guns.
He picked up the same assault rifle that she saw him carrying for several days and loaded it in preparation.
Inside the trunk there was a shotgun, a rifle, a submachine gun and four pistols strapped to the upper part of the trunk.
"Anything?" Jonas asked her.
"No, I don't see them." Catherine spoke in slight relief but it didn't mean much in the end.
"Wh-What are we going to do?" Stephanie asked them in worry.
"Keep driving." Gabriel was quick to respond. "And keep your eyes open for any car in somewhat good conditions, especially military ones, and watch out for anything dangerous like traps in the street." He instructed them as he placed some kind of sight on his assault rifle.
Stephanie moved her head to look at the street and to her surprise, most of the city was relatively destroyed. Some of the buildings are falling apart, the streets are completely damaged and there are a lot of bodies scattered around.
Jonas continued to drive forward, eventually reaching a corner and being forced to turn around because the street was blocked by a pile of damaged cars. However, there was clearly something wrong with that street, as it was completely damaged and it was clearly done on purpose.
Passing through that street proved to be quite the task due to the size of the RV. The car was shaking left and right, giving the impression that it may turn over.
Stephanie looked back to see if Gabriel was going to say anything about it, only to realize that he wasn't there anymore. "Huh?" She looked back and realized that the door of the bedroom that she left open was closed now. But, it didn't stay closed for long, because Gabriel came out a second after, wearing the same pants and boots that he was when they were following him on foot.
Gabriel rushed towards the three of them. " They damaged the street on purpose to force the cars that come through to slow down." He pointed out what Stephanie herself was wondering.
"What are we gonna do?!" Stephanie asked him in worry.
"Try not to get stuck." Jonas responded.
Gabriel began to search around, looking at the windows of the buildings around them. Until he actually frowned and turned around to go grab his assault rifle. Then he pulled the coffee table all the way towards the spot where Stephanie was and stood on it. When she looked up, she realized that there was a roof window above her.
"What are you doing?" Catherine asked him.
"The fifth building on the right." He responded.
The three of them immediately took a look and they saw a strange flash of light coming from the building. It was coming from the fifth floor of a building that the wall seemed to have collapsed.
"Is that-" Jonas was about to say it, but Gabriel spoke up first.
"Sniper." By revealing it what was happening. "It's going to take a shot as soon as you get close enough." Gabriel then placed his eye on the sight that he just attached to his assault rifle and prepared to take a shot. "Keep driving." He warned them.
Unsurprisingly,all three of them became nervous by that information. With Stephanie stepping away from the windshield in fear. Catherine had the same urge, but she remained seated, probably trusting Gabriel's words. Jonas gripped the steering wheel tightly in response.
Gabriel crouched down and said. "On five, stop the RV." "What?!" Jonas asked in clear confusion.
"Just do it." He instructed them as he stood up.
Stephanie moved her head to look at him. Gabriel had his left hand on the roof window and his right was holding the assault rifle. By the looks of it, he was going to open the window and shoot the guy as soon as Jonas stopped.
"One.... Two....Three....Four...." Stephanie covered her ears in preparation. "FIVE!"
Jonas hit the brakes as soon as Gabriel yelled. Stopping the RV in the middle of the road. As soon as it did though, Gabriel opened the roof window and stuck his upper half out. Immediately taking aim and firing his assault rifle towards the shooter.
Three shots was all that she heard and it took a few seconds for them to know that the shots landed. Because all three of them saw someone falling into the ground and Gabriel crouched.
"Nice shot..." Jonas commented as he looked at the dead guy.
It looked like a middle-aged guy that was only wearing a camouflage coat and his weapon was indeed a rifle. But there was something really off with his face.
"What are you waiting for?!" Gabriel asked Jonas. "Hit the ga-" He was trying to tell Jonas to drive, but then he frowned.
Stephanie looked forward and realized that there were several men sticking out of the buildings. Several armed men to be more precise.
"Dammit!" Catherine screamed as she stood up from the passenger's seat and immediately pushed Stephanie into the ground.
Because the group man began to fire at the RV.
Jonas reacted by putting his hands on his face to try to protect himself from the bullets.
"Ahhh!" Stephanie screamed as Catherine shielded her from the bullets.
"What the hell are you doing?" Gabriel asked in confusion.
Hearing that, Stephanie moved her head to look at Gabriel, who was just standing there unfazed as the gunfire came their way. Before moving her head to look at the windshield, realizing that the bullets were hitting it, but it wasn't going through.
"Is this... Bulletproof glass?!" Jonas asked him in deep confusion.
"Strong enough to stop an Anti-material rifle." Gabriel revealed to them. "The armored plates aren't just for show either." By the looks of it, the entire RV was bulletproof. Because they kept shooting at it but to avail.
"Drive." He ordered Jonas calmly as he moved towards the roof window once again.
Jonas decided to comply and immediately accelerated the car again. With the group of men continuing to fire towards the RV with pistols but to no avail. After shooting at the car for about a minute. They suddenly stop, probably because their guns ran out of ammo. However, the moment they did, Gabriel took his upper body out of the roof window again and unceremoniously fired at the man. With the three of them watching as Gabriel shoots each of them before they even had time to reload or run.
Once they were all down, Gabriel closed the roof window and got off the coffee table.
"Who were they?" Stephanie asked.
Gabriel just put his coffee table back in place.
"That was probably just a crew responsible for ambushing travelers that come through here." Jonas responded.
"But how...?" Stephanie asked since it seemed like they knew they were coming.
"They ambushed the soldiers and the people from the shelter." Catherine was quick to respond, as she rubbed her eyes in visible frustration.
"And they were probably waiting for more people to come this way as a result of it." Jonas added, realizing the situation.
"Chances are, they didn't actually ambush the first ones that reached the city though." Catherine was quick to present a theory. "They simply adapted to try to ambush the ones that arrived after, like us."
"But why?" Stephanie asked in confusion.
"Food, meds, guns, ammo, women." Jonas listed the things that those men could be after. "And there's all of that inside of this RV."
"Ummm..." Stephanie actually looked nervous because she actually got the implication.
"We don't know how big the rest of the group that just attacked us is, but considering the number of people back there, it's probably not a small one." Catherine pointed out as she made her way to the passenger's seat. "And they will probably come looking for the ones that Gabriel just killed, so we really need to be away from this area when it happens."
"You think they are the ones that put those people there?" Stephanie asked Gabriel in clear confusion.
"Unless those people purposely attached themselves to the symbiotic mass, yes." Gabriel clearly believed that.
"But... Why would they do such a thing?!" Stephanie asked in deep shock since that looks unbelievably awful.
"You don't wanna know." Gabriel apparently knew the reason but decided not to tell her. "The reason would probably give you nightmares."
...
...
...
"How do you know that?" Jonas asked him.
"How do you not know that is a much better question." After Gabriel said that, the RV was able to reach the end of that street, allowing them to drive better. Jonas immediately turned around the corner and was able to reach another street.
"Holy shit..." That street was clearer than the previous one, still damaged but easier to go through. However, as soon as they entered, they noticed a detail.
In one of the buildings on the right, there was a military vehicle that had collided with the wall and was half-way through it.
"That's the car!" Catherine yelled as soon as she saw it. And she proceeded to make her way to the RV's door.
"Cat, wait!" Stephanie yelled as she opened the door to run.
In her worry, Stephanie ended up following her out of the car and stepped outside.
"Hey, wait!" Jonas yelled at Stephanie.
The moment she did that, she realized how cold it was outside and there was a very strange smell in that street. But she ignored and only followed Catherine as she approached the military car that had crashed on what appeared to be a coffee shop.
Catherine wasted no time in entering the shop through the front door to inspect the car.
"Ah..." But Stephanie grunted as she approached the door because there was something on the floor that appeared to be a dead body. "Catherine?" So she called out for her as she stared at the dead body that seemed to be a woman.
Suddenly, Gabriel walked past her with his assault rifle at hand and entered the coffee shop. Stephanie looked around and she wasn't comfortable at all standing there, so she decided to just force herself to endure the foul smell and follow Gabriel.
Upon entrance, however. She realized that she was right and it was a dead body. "Oh no..." A dead body that she recognized.
Gabriel approached the body and got to one knee to inspect her. Touching her head gently before checking her arm, then he inspected her torso. Stephanie slowly approached to see it and he moved his head to look at her. "You knew her?"
"Her name is Abigail," She revealed to him. "A Seamstress that used to make clothes for the people back in the shelter." Being the one that actually made Stephanie sweater. "How did she..."
"Nothing on her, so I think she either had a heart attack or a stroke and got left behind." Gabriel revealed to her as he stood up.
"What?!" Stephanie cannot believe her ears.
"If there were guys with guns chasing after them, there was no way they could carry an elderly lady that just became incapacitated." Gabriel explained.
"Jesus..." She touched her face in response. Despite the fact that it was a pretty awful thing to do, she actually understood.
"Find anything?" Then Gabriel turned around and moved towards the car that had knocked over several of the tables and chairs that were around the coffee shop.
"Nothing!" Catherine yelled as she stepped away from the door and began to search around. Realizing that the only exit was the front door. "Shit!"
"Stop yelling and come on." Gabriel calmly told her as he made his way to the front door.
Stephanie followed behind him right away.
"Guys, come on!" Jonas yelled at them to get back to the RV, which they did right away with Catherine being the last one to enter.
"Keep driving." Gabriel instructed Jonas. "If they left through the front door and ran, then they probably ran towards the opposite direction which they came from."
"Probably?!" Jonas didn't seem to like his choice of words.
"We're gonna spend this entire situation relying purely on probability, because we have no idea what the hell happened." Gabriel was quick to calmly point out their current situation to Jonas. "But, if you have a better idea, I'm all ears." She genuinely doesn't know whether that was a serious question or a sarcastic question.
Before Jonas could reply however, Catherine made her way to the driver's seat and hit the gas in order to get the RV running again.
With that being taken care of, Gabriel moved towards his trunk of guns again. Picking one of the pistols that was strapped on the top side of the trunk. "SIG-Sauer P226 Elite." Then he handed the pistol to Jonas.
Jonas looked confused at first, but he accepted the pistol, checking by removing the magazine of it.
Gabriel then grabbed another pistol. "Smith & Wesson M&P9." He handed it to Jonas after signalling towards Catherine."
"Here." Jonas took the hint and handed the pistol to Catherine, who immediately put it inside her jacket's pocket.
"Beretta 92X." Then he handed one to Stephanie.
"Ummm...." Stephanie was a little reluctant to take it.
"She doesn't need one." Catherine was quick to declare.
"You're either delusional or crazy if you actually believe that." Gabriel was quick to rebuff. "Take it." He ordered Stephanie.
"Look man, I don't think it's a good idea." Jonas joined Catherine in arguing against it.
"The fact that you let that shitbag that nearly killed her have one is proof enough that your definition of a good idea is very unreliable." Gabriel shut Jonas down right away. "Unless you can actually present to me a very good reason why she shouldn't have a gun on her, I don't care."
"Jonas and I know how to use one, she doesn't!" Catherine was quick to respond to that.
"Again, that is not a good reason." Gabriel pointed out. "But alright," He placed the pistol inside of the trunk. "If you want to take responsibility and babysit her while you're busy searching for your nephew and brother, be my guest." Then he proceeded to point out the major problem with that decision. "I mean, I'm sure that if the rest of that group that just attacked us get their hands on this very cute teenage girl, they're not gonna make a line that reaches the end of the street to have their way with her." The sarcasm in his voice was apparent.
Hearing that disturbed Stephanie beyond belief, with Jonas frowning at Gabriel in response. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He asked angrily.
"Nothing, because that is a possibility whether you like it or not, which is why she should have a fucking a gun." Gabriel bluntly rebuffed, showing no shame whatsoever as he held the pistol up again.
The disturbed Stephanie heard him loud and clear, so she got to one knee and picked up the pistol that Gabriel was holding for her. "Thank you."
"I didn't save your ass, just so you could get a much worse alternative." Gabriel declared, which made Stephanie smile, a very weak smile but a smile nonetheless. "Best case scenario, you won't have to use it anyway, but it's always good to have a weapon on you." Then he grabbed the last pistol that was strapped to the trunk.
"What kind of pistol is that?" Jonas asked in curiosity.
"It's a custom built 2011 pistol." The pistol had distinctive patterns of banding and mottling reminiscent of flowing water. "Twenty-one round capacity magazine with a built-in compensator for virtually no muzzle flip, fiber-optic front sight, ambidextrous safeties, flared magwell for faster reloads, two-pound extreme trigger." After giving a detailed explanation of his pistol, he picked up what appeared to be a holster and put it on his thigh. Alongside what appeared to be ammunition pouches that he attached to his belt.
"Hey!" Suddenly, Catherine called their attention as the care turned to the right on the street.
Gabriel, Stephanie and Jonas moved their heads to look through the windshield and to their surprise, they actually reached a commercial area. With several desolated stores and businesses, but what stood out for all of them, was the fact that all of the cars from the evacuation were there. Spread around the street, completely open and empty.
Stephanie recognized the bus that her parents and sister entered when she purposely separated herself from them.
"Shit, where do we go?" Jonas asked, because there were a lot of ways to go and seeing how the cars are spread, it could only mean that they could have gone anywhere.
"That's weird..." Gabriel then spoke up.
"What?" Catherine asked.
"The cars look fine, why did they leave them?" Gabriel pointed out as none of the cars seemed damaged or anything.
"He's right, wh-" Jonas was about to comment about something, until he noticed something. "Shit!" And pointed towards it with his index finger. "Look!"
Everyone moved their heads to see what he was pointing at, and to their surprise, they saw someone crawling from behind one of the cars.
Catherine immediately drove all the way forward in order for them to reach the individual.
Gabriel and Jonas looked at each other before they made their way to the door.
Stephanie walked to the door and stood there.
"Ahhh...." A grunt of pain escaped the wounded individual. Taking a good look at him, it was obvious that he was a soldier since he was wearing fatigues. He was in his early twenties, with blond hair cut in a buzzcut, a clean-shaven face that had a bit of a double chin, one of his teeth was missing and his face was covered in bruises.
"Hey, can you hear me?" Gabriel asked after him and Jonas crouched down to check on him.
"Ahhhh.... Wh-" He tried to speak but he was having a lot of trouble. "Who are you?"
"My name is Gabriel and I need you to answer my questions now," Gabriel inspected his torso to look for injuries. "Can you do that?"
The soldier took a deep breath, visibly struggling. "Yes..."
"What is your name?" Gabriel asked.
"Ph-phil...." He responded.
"Phil, what happened to the soldiers and the civilians that you were escorting?" Gabriel went straight to the point.
"We...We were... We were ambushed..." Phil revealed it to them.
"Who ambushed you?" Gabriel asked.
"A....a...a monster...." That was the last thing he said before he passed out.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Jonas asked Gabriel.
"No." Gabriel bluntly responded as he opened his top and revealed that there was a very deep cut in his stomach. "He already lost too much blood, he's experiencing hypovolemic shock."
"Can't you do something?!" Stephanie asked him in fear.
"This is something that only a professional medic in a well equipped hospital would be able to handle." Gabriel pointed out to her. "I know first aid, but there's no point in even trying to patch his wounds since he would need a blood transfusion to even have a chance to survive."
"So you're just gonna let him die?!" Jonas asked him in shock.
"He is going to die no matter what I do." Gabriel declared, before moving his head to look at a trail of blood in the street that was probably left by Phil. "I guess we got a trail now." He declared as he stood up. "It's-" But then he widened his eyes and grabbed Jonas. "Come on, come on!"
"What?!" Jonas asked as Gabriel pulled him into the RV.
Stephanie stepped back as they entered with Gabriel closing the door behind him.
"What is it?" Catherine asked in worry.
Gabriel didn't even need to answer. Because they all became paralyzed after they all began to hear a very disturbing noise.
Slowly, Gabriel made his way to the window after pulling his pistol out of the holster.
Stephanie, although disturbed, approached the passenger's seat and moved her head to look at the window to see it too. Having to cover her mouth to keep herself from gasping when she saw what was making that noise.
Right outside of the RV, there was a bizarre looking gray monster coming their way. With a head that was rounded with "eyes" made from sacks containing some kind of gray liquid with a round mouth filled with long flytrap-like teeth, separated by large fleshy openings down its crowned forehead. But what really stood out was it's body, which was crustacean-like with several blade-like arms that it was using to move.
The thing slowly approached the wounded soldier named Phil, who was still breathing, although barely. Once it got close enough, Stephanie realized that it was larger than the RV. The soldier just laid there unconscious as the creature got on top of him and to her horror, it opened it's chest cavity and a bunch of small tentacles began to descend from it. The tentacles then detached themselves from the creature and began to move on their own. Slowly making their way into the open wound that Gabriel was expecting a minute ago.
As soon as that was over with, the monster began to walk again and to their horror, it actually climbed over the RV. With Stephanie almost letting out a loud scream as a result and only stopping because Gabriel covered her mouth and signalled all of them to be quiet.
It turned out to be the right decision as the monster quickly moved past the RV and made it's way towards one of the buildings. It took a few minutes before it was completely out of sight.
Gabriel removed his hand from Stephanie's mouth and sighed. "Watch out, the guy outside is-" He attempted to tell them something, but then, out of complete nowhere.
The RV's door opened.
And the soldier named Phil entered.
"What?" Jonas asked in confusion since he was severely wounded.
"Watch out!" Gabriel yelled at Jonas.
"ERRH!" Because the soldier went berserk and immediately attacked Jonas. Tackling him into the wall and attempting to bash his head into it.
"Hey!" Catherine stood up from the driver's seat to try to help Jonas.
"AH!" Jonas yelled in pain as Phil hit the back of his head against the wall.
Catherine punched the back of his head, but it didn't seem to do any damage, as it immediately turned around and attacked her, pushing her and causing her to collide with the driver's seat.
"Crazy motherfucker!" Jonas then grabbed a hold of him, by having his hands extended upwards under his armpits, holding the neck with a palm-to-palm grip.
While he was doing that, Stephanie noticed that his skin was now grayish and his eyes looked like one you would see on a deadfish.
Gabriel then approached him and smacked his forehead really hard with the bottom of his pistol, opening a very deep cut. Before he grabbed him by the shirt, prompting Jonas to let him go, and shoved him out of the RV, causing him to fall into the ground right in front of the door.
"ERRH!" Letting out a pretty inhuman sound as it attempted to stand up from the ground.
"Adios." Only for Gabriel to shoot him in the head as soon as he was up.
"Ahh..." Catherine grunted as she held her rib in pain.
"You okay?" Stephanie asked as she helped her stand.
"Yeah...Yeah..." Catherine reassured her.
"What the hell just happened?!" Jonas asked in deep confusion, because that guy was about to bleed out and suddenly, he was up and running, attacking them like a maniac.
"In a nutshell..." Gabriel decided to answer after he closed the door of his RV. "The Hive that you just saw basically turned that guy into a zombie."
"The Hive?" Catherine asked in confusion.
"That's what I call it." Gabriel explained. "That monster is practically a living hive that controls the creatures in a symbiotic relationship."
"Those.... Man back there...?" Stephanie noticed that there was something off with them and it was the same with Phil.
"Hive Zombies." Gabriel confirmed. "They usually go bezerk at first, but after a while they retain human-like behavior." Which explains why they were able to use guns.
"Does it also control those skinless monsters?" Catherine asked him in curiosity.
"No... The Bloodborne are completely different monsters." Gabriel informed them. Apparently, he calls the monsters that killed the rest of their group, Bloodborne.
Stephanie, Jonas and Catherine looked at one another with terrified expressions as they all came to a horrible realization.
"How... How many monsters are there?" Stephanie reluctantly asked him, despite being afraid of the answer.
"Loads, I don't even think there is ever going to be an exact number though." Gabriel confirmed their worst fears as he made his way to the driver's seat. "And the ones you guys saw so far are the tamed ones."
That was the last thing that Gabriel said, before he turned on his RV and began to drive, leaving the three of them completely speechless as his words left an air of dreadfulness that overwhelmed them completely.