HR's story part 3

HR and Jim had been together for some time now, ever since they met at that house. Together they were heading east across the continent they lived on.

"It's been some time" Jim says.
"Since what?" HR asks.
"Since we saw any of those creatures"
"Yeah…..hopefully they're all dead" HR laughs, "maybe they've eaten each other".
"Hopefully"

The two of them walk across the desolate landscape, the silhouette of a city in the distance.
"How about checking it out?" Jim asks.
"Hey kid, remember what I told you. If you wanna live, stay away from the cities" HR said as he suddenly stopped.

Jim walked a few more steps before stopping as well. "What now?"
HR grinned and nodded, and Jim turned and saw what he was looking at; a food factory!
"Come on, there's bound to be some canned goods in there" HR said licking his lips.

The both of them walked up close to the factory, circling it.
"Seems clear" Jim says.
"It always does" Hr says and bangs on one of the front doors. "Get back" he tells Jim as he runs away.

They hide behind a car parked outside the front doors, its door is missing. HR aims his rifle at the front doors of the factory, having it across the hood of the car.
A few minutes pass without anything happening.
"You think it's safe?" Jim asked.
"Give it a little more time" HR said.

They waited a bit longer but nothing happened, so they entered the factory. The sunlight shined through the dirty and broken windows. HR and Jim walked up on a second floor, which overlooked the whole factory.
Suddenly HR yelled and Jim looked at him.
"What are you, crazy!?"

Hr looked at him. "It's better if WE detected THEM before THEY notice US"
Suddenly a noise was heard, something scattering away.
"It's just a rat" HR says. "They taste just like chicken" he says and walks past Jim who doesn't see his smug smile.

They walk down to the factory floor and HR stops, shining a flashlight on something.
"What is it?"
"A can. It's been……chewed open"
"By what?"

"I would guess…..by that" HR said, shining his flashlight over a dead monster. Jim looked away at the gruesome sight of the half rotten monster.
"Now I guess we know what that rat was eating when we interrupted it"
"How do you think it died?"

"I don't know, but hopefully it was painful" HR says as he goes over and picks up a canned food. He tosses it to Jim who catches it and places it in his bag.
"Hey lucky day!" HR exclaims as he finds a whole bunch of canned goods.
"That's a lot, we're gonna have to get it all at least twice"
"Yeah we will" Hr says, grabbing as many cans as he can.

It was late afternoon, and HR and Jim were sitting on the roof of the factory, eating the canned food and looking out over the suns setting behind the city in the distance.
"You think there's anyone else left?" Jim says as he looked down into his empty can.
"Maybe, maybe not. It's a big planet after all"

There was a little pause before Jim spoke up again.
"That night I met you…you told me you wanted to die"
HR looked down and placed his empty can on the floor.
"Why didn't you just…you know…..take your own life?"
"Because…..because I'm a coward" HR said, looking away.
"You? Are you kidding me? You're one of the most brave people I've ever met"
"No" HR said, turning and shaking his head at Jim, "don't mistake bravery for…something else. I'm not brave, and I'm certainly not a hero! I'm just…a coward" he said looking down again.

"What makes you say that?" Jim looked puzzled at him.
HR bit his lip. "Because I could have saved my family…and I…..didn't"
Jim was about to say something again but Hr told him to shut up.
"Why? Wha-"
"SHHH!" Hr motioned for him. Now Jim heard it too, some strange noise coming from the side of the factory.
HR and Jim grabbed their guns and went over to the edge and looked down.

"What the fuck?" HR said flabbergasted as they looked down at a creature climbing the wall. It growled at them and both HR and Jim looked at each other.
The both of them started firing their weapons at the creature, it screamed as bullet after bullet hit it and eventually it lost its grip and fell down. With a loud THUD it hit the ground below.

HR and Jim turned around just as they saw a clawed hand grabbing the top off the roof on the other side of the building. Another creature appeared and snarled at them.
"Uh oh" Jim said as it leaped onto the roof and ran at them!

Both HR and Jim fired at it, and it fell to the ground, gasping for breath just a meter before them. Hr put his gun to its skull and pulled the trigger on the rifle as it stopped breathing.

HR groaned and saw another creature come up on the roof, and then another.
"Ahh shit!" HR said as he and Jim ran to the door leading up to the roof. They quickly closed it and heard as the monsters clawed at it, and saw how it shook at their attempts of getting in.

"Get down there!" HR yelled at Jim who ran down the stairs. Jim looked back them, still hearing the sounds of the monsters and no sign of HR.
He was getting worried but then HR came down the stairs.
"What took you so long!?"

BOOM
An explosion was heard in the hallway.
"That"
"You…you blew them up?"
"Hell yeah"
"But, but, but…..what if there's more!? They can get in there now!"
"They would have gotten through eventually. That door wasn't gonna hold them forever" HR says, reloading his rifle. "Come on, we gotta leave"

As they came out from the factory another monster leaped onto the car they hid behind earlier and shrieked at them. HR shot it with his rifle, sending it flying back off the car.
"Shut your ugly mouth" he says as more shrieks can be heard, closing in.

"Fuck" Jim exclaims as the monster Hr shot gets up and staggers towards them.
"Fuck indeed" HR says, shooting it again as the two head back into the factory.
They close the front doors and barricade them as much as possible.
"You think that's gonna hold them?" Jim asks
"No" HR says, looking for another hiding place, somewhere else to go, something to help them.

"FUCK!" HR shouts in despair.
"Hey maybe we can go in here?" Jim says looking at a room that looks like an office.
"It's better than nothing" HR says as they both go in there and lock the door. There's a single window in the office, and the glass is broken. "Go check that out" he tells Jim, who pulls up a chair and stands on it, looking out.

"I don't see anything" Jim tells HR as HR looks at the door.
"Sounds like they're getting through" HR says as suddenly Jim screams.
He sees Jim's body get dragged up through the window as HR runs over and grabs him! A quick ripping sound is heard outside as Hr falls back with Jim's headless body on top of him, blood spraying everywhere and running onto HR's face!

HR throws his body away as one of the creatures break through the window, it's too big for the window so it gets stuck as it tries to crawl through.
"YOU FUCKER!" Hr screams as he begins to beat the monster to death with the butt of his rifle! Even more blood sprays over HR as the monster snarls in pain!

Then the door bursts open and one of the creatures growls at HR!
HR quickly turns around and shoots it, over and over. It falls to the floor as another one appears! HR shoots it, again and again, it falls to the floor but gets back up again and charges at HR.

HR throws his rifle at it and pulls out his shotgun, shooting the damned thing. It flies back as another appear! HR shoots it in its knee, causing it to fall to the ground, squealing. HR shoots it in the head, causing it's head to rip apart from the shot gun blast, and HR walks over the corpses and out into the factory.

"Alright, which one of you sons of bitches is next!?" he screams as two more monsters charge at him. He fires at one of them, but then he's out of bullets, so he throws his shot gun at the other and pulls out a machete from a sheath on his belt.

He runs up to the closest one and rams the machete down its arm, severing it. It screams as its arm wiggles on the floor and blood spews out from its severed limb. It looks at Hr just as Hr plunges the machete through its chest. Blood gurgles up from its mouth as HR pulls the machete out and throws it at the last monster as it gets back up. It gets hit in the stomach and Hr runs over and jumps at it, kicking it back to the floor.
He then pulls out the machete and rams it into its head! HR pulls it out as the creature falls to the floor, dead.

And then he was alone….