The Redemption Trilogy

by A. J. Sikes

  “Welch, you watching our ass?” Maloof asked from over his shoulder.

  “Yeah,” Jed said, turning back to look the way they’d come. He didn’t see anything so he went back to eyeballing the back of Steven’s helmet, willing the guy to just move the fuck out and bang on the fire station door.

  “Welch, last fucking time I’m telling you. Watch our ass.”

  “Yeah,” he said, catching Maloof’s eye. “Rah.”

  Maloof turned away from Jed, shaking his head. He patted the others on the shoulders and they moved up to where Bree and his guys were hiding. Maloof tapped Bree on the back and said something to him. Bree’s face pinched up fast, like he was pissed off and about to start swinging, but he went back to that goofy grin of his just as fast. Bree and Maloof said a few more things to each other; their mouths moved but Jed couldn’t hear what was being said. Then Bree had his guys come back closer to Jed, near the trashed SUV.

  “Yo, Welch.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maloof said to give me the SAW. You go on up and join them. Here,” Bree said, handing over his M16. He put it on the ground next to Jed and held his hands out for the SAW.

  Jed kept his eye on the fire station door for a beat before unslinging the heavy weapon. Bree almost snatched it out of his hands and whipped the sling over his neck and shoulders in a single motion, like he’d practiced doing it.

  Probably was a SAW gunner himself. Dude for sure ain’t no fucking Corporal.

  Jed lifted Bree’s rifle and made to move out, but Bree put a hand up.

  “Ammo, man. Give it here.”

  Bree almost had the SAW aiming right at Jed’s gut. And his finger was on the trigger.

  Jed lifted the ammo pouches off and set them on the ground next to Bree. He knew he’d just fucked himself and the rest of the team, but there was nothing he could do. It wouldn’t matter if Jed was infected or not. Bree would light him up if it meant he could get away with the SAW in his hands. The guy was nuts.

  “It needs a reload,” Jed said, moving off to join the Marines by the taxi cab. When he came up, they were talking over how to approach the fire station.

  About time somebody starts thinking. We’re fucked if we stay out here.

  “Gotta get up there. Signal them to open up,” Maloof was saying as Jed came up.

  “If they’re still in there,” Pinzler said.

  “Fuck else they gonna be?” Maloof said back, but seemed to rethink the idea a second later. “If they’re compromised, we’ll shelter in place nearby. The other teams are supposed to rally here at the intersection. We should pop smoke. Stevens, you still got it?”

  Stevens shook his head. Then his eyes met Jed’s.

  “Welch?”

  Maloof spun around. “Welch, what—where’s the SAW?”

  As one, the group of Marines looked back to see Bree and his guys sneaking off the way they’d come. At the corner, Bree turned around and put Harney down with a short burst. Bree and the others were out of sight half a second later.

  Jed rammed his elbow into the taxi cab.

  “Dammit!”

  A scraping sound shook Jed and he looked everywhere to find the source. The door to the fire station was opening. But nobody came out. No Marines to wave them inside, and no firefighters to welcome them in either.

  The street was dead silent.

  Silent like your daddy’s own grave.

  His mom used to say that to him. Back when she still wanted him around but didn’t want to answer his questions.

  You just be silent, Jed.

  He wondered why that memory came back to him right now. Of all the things he could think about, why’d he go back to his mom and how much of a bitch she’d been when he was a kid?

  The sound of rushing water broke his concentration and he looked at the fire station door again. Water poured out from under the door, but it looked dirty as fuck. Then Jed realized what he was seeing and nearly threw up.

  A flood of bloody water, mixed with bits of who the hell knew what came spilling out from under the door. It was like someone had a fire hydrant turned on in there and was shooting it out into the street the way Jed and Chips used to do when they were little kids in the summertime.

  Only this wasn’t the kind of water you’d want to go splashing around in. He could make out body parts, arms and legs, and whole torsos with limbs still on them. Except these weren’t human bodies. Some of the monsters must have got inside the station, but if they were being washed out, that meant it was still safe to get inside.

  The bodies and blood continued to spill into the street until the flood suddenly stopped. The door didn’t go back down right away. Jed wanted to run up there and tell whoever was inside that they were out here.

  The crunch of glass under boots came to his ears and Jed snapped his head up. He and the other Marines all scanned left and right. Maloof shuffled forward, around the cab’s front bumper.

  “What do you see?” Stevens asked.

  “Nothing.”

  Jed had grown pretty damn sick of waiting for dudes with no rank and no sense to tell him what he already knew. And this waiting shit, plus they were down a SAW because of fucking Five-Finger Bree… No, because of Jed’s stupid ass letting it go. They were out in the open and under-armed.

  “We gotta get inside. Let’s go, man.”

  “We’re supposed wait here for the other teams to rally,” Pinzler said. “Then we go in.”

  “Nah, man. Let’s go already.”

  “Keep that attitude under wraps, Marine,” Maloof said, coming back from around the cab’s bumper. “We were told to hold, we hold.”

  Jed had it, right there.

  Marine? I ain’t no fucking Marine.

  “This ain’t the Corps anymore, man. Look the fuck around you and tell me where you see the Corps. Tell me where you see anything, but shit or hell. Man, fuck this.”

  Jed ignored Maloof’s face and the hand he put up. With a grunt, Jed moved out into the street. The fire station door was going back down now. He jogged toward it, but froze after a couple of steps, stopping in the middle of the street. A shriek sliced into the silence around Jed. He spun around to see a monster on top of the fire truck; it was wearing a ripped up ACU and still had boots on. The thing stared down at the other Marines.

  Another shriek followed from about a block away, echoing through the urban canyon between the buildings. Jed lifted his rifle, aimed, and squeezed the trigger.

  Nothing happened.

  That sonofabitch!

  Jed backpedaled like mad, dropping the magazine as he moved. Maloof and the others came up and fired at the thing on the truck. It went down, but two more leaped up to take its place. They’d been hiding behind the truck.

  Fucking waiting us out. Shit!

  Maloof got one of them on the truck, but the other one leaped and scrambled to avoid the Marine’s shots. Pinzler pivoted and fired just as Stevens dodged to one side. Pinzler’s shot went right into Stevens’ back. Jed couldn’t move as he watched the Marine go down on his face.

  “Fuck! Watch your fire!” Maloof shouted, twisting around Tracy and letting off a burst at the thing just as it jumped from the truck to the top of the taxi cab. Every bullet missed. It flew forward then, launching from the cab in a jump to land behind the Marines, putting it between them and Jed.

  “Welch, move it!” Maloof shouted. He, Tracy, and Pinzler held their aim on the thing, but they couldn’t fire with Jed standing behind it. The Marines shifted to their left. The monster followed their movement so it was still in between them and Jed.

  Things are smart as hell. This is not real. This cannot be real.

  Jed shifted left and then right, backing up as he moved, but the monster must have heard him moving, or somehow sensed where he was. It stayed smack between him and the other Marines. Jed was on the sidewalk now, and had fished a new magazine from his pouch. It was his last one.

  He could run and hide somewhere.

  Jed
ditched the thoughts of abandoning the other Marines. He’d do what he could to help them out, but he was still getting inside the fire station whether they came with him or not. He slammed his mag home and charged his weapon. The monster in the street leaped toward the other Marines with its clawed hands out. Tracy’s face went white and he dropped his weapon, putting his hands up like he could hide from the monster. It tackled him, putting him on his back right between Maloof and Pinzler.

  Maloof swung down with a buttstroke to the thing’s spine. But it had already started feeding on Tracy. Jed could see the blood and he heard the Marine’s screams that quickly turned to gurgling sounds and then silence.

  “Fuck!” Maloof shouted, aiming and sending three round bursts into the monster and then Tracy.

  Jed had his weapon up, and was aiming in the Marines’ direction.

  Gotta be ready in case they got infected.

  Maloof signaled at Pinzler and they moved toward Jed’s position. They seemed fine, and he didn’t see any blood on their faces. Jed kept watch down the street, in the direction the fire truck was pointing.

  He didn’t see any movement. No flashes of white darting behind smashed up cars or into broken storefronts.

  A beat later he heard the rattling of a SAW opening up from a block away, then some screams. The SAW cut out quick after that. Then more shouts and the steady cadence of boots on pavement came echoing down the street.

  From down the block, at least two squads ran in their direction. Maloof shouted and went into the middle of the street to wave them in.

  Jed rocked on his feet, letting the relief flow through him. He even cracked a smile. The scraping sound came again. Jed flashed a look at the fire station door, but it was still shut. Then he realized where the scraping came from. He turned back in time to see Pinzler look up at the building behind the fire truck. The Marine screamed as he opened fire. A swarm of the creatures poured from almost every window on the street.

  Jed snapped off shots in every direction he could, trying to keep the monsters from getting to Pinzler. He and Maloof were both covered by the fire truck.

  The other squads of Marines came running up the street, taking up positions wherever they could. Two LAWs went streaking at the buildings, blowing concrete and glass everywhere. But that only got two of the monsters. The others leaped clear in time to avoid the blast.

  They jumped in time. They saw the fucking LAWs coming in and they jumped.

  Jed picked them off when he could, but he mostly tried to stay hidden. He had good cover up top with an awning overhead. If he crouched down, a set of newspaper boxes would block anybody seeing him from the street.

  But the monsters would get him if he stayed out here. They’d jump Pinzler and Maloof, then they’d get the others. And then it would just be him, by himself.

  Jed shifted right, moving down the sidewalk to the fire station. They’d open the door again. He’d just kick it while he kept an eye on the street. He’d kick it and they’d let him in. Him and anybody fast enough to get in with him.

  — 29 —

  Upper East Side, Manhattan

  Meg and Jason had their axes ready. Rachel held the chain in her hands and counted out loud.

  “One. Two. Three!”

  She yanked down on the chain, hand over hand, until the door was up enough for Meg and Jason to get out. They rushed under it and Meg didn’t look back even as she heard the door go down behind them.

  The soldiers were going down one by one. They had the monsters kept back with two machine guns, taking them out when they appeared in the windows. But then more would come from another window, or from the ground floor of the nearby buildings, and they’d get at least one of the soldiers before the guys with machine guns could move their aim.

  “Fuck!” someone yelled to Meg’s left. She twisted, ready to swing her axe. A soldier was there with his back against the wall by the station. He had his eyes on the shutters.

  Jason got the attention of one of the soldiers in the street. He moved to join them, so Meg stuck with the guy nearby.

  “We gotta get inside!” he yelled at her.

  “We will,” Meg said, hearing her own voice muffled by her mask. She spoke as clearly as she could to make sure the man could hear and understand. “We have to get the rest of your men.”

  He nodded, but just kept staring at the shutters and muttering under his breath.

  He’s in shock. Or scared out of his mind.

  Meg thought about banging on the shutters to have Rachel open up for him, but a scream from the street put her mind back on the task.

  Save as many as you can, Meg. Nothing’s going to slow you down. Not this time.

  She left the scared soldier where he was, holding his gun and staring at the shutters.

  The monsters had stopped coming out of the windows and were just racing around the street now, like streaks of ghostly white horror in Meg’s peripheral vision. She crossed to where Jason and some other soldiers were helping a man who’d been injured.

  “Is he infected?” Meg asked as she came up behind them.

  “I don’t know,” Jason said. “I think—”

  A gunshot ended the conversation and Meg reeled aside as the injured man’s face exploded in a bloody mess. The man who shot him lifted his gun and aimed at a monster charging down the sidewalk toward them. He shot it and then shot another that emerged from the doorway right behind it.

  “We have to get them closer to the station, Jason. They’ll die out here.”

  “I’ve been trying. They’re a little preoccupied!”

  The soldiers near them didn’t seem ready to hear anything they had to say. They kept their attention on the monsters, shooting, aiming, moving, shooting. Then the whole group moved forward, heading for the fire engine, and another trio came to take their place.

  “Please,” Meg said to them. “We have to get back inside! You’ll get killed out here!”

  “Stay down, ma’am,” the soldier said. “Out of the line of fire.”

  He moved away, with the other two men. They followed the first group closer to the engine. That was where the fighting was happening now. Monsters kept leaping onto the truck only to be shot down. But the more monsters the soldiers shot, the more they seemed to ignore what Meg knew was coming.

  They’re going to run out of ammunition before the city runs out of monsters.

  Bullets snapped and zipped around them, and Meg and Jason crouched low as they moved down the street, away from where the fighting was centered. She’d seen more soldiers back that direction. Maybe they would listen and could get the others to retreat into the station.

  A final group of five soldiers huddled behind a linen service van that had crashed on its side, blocking the sidewalk. They had a man on his back and were using linens from the van to put a tourniquet on his leg. It was missing below the knee.

  “Was he bitten? Did one of them do this?” she asked.

  “Grenade,” one of them said. “He dropped it.”

  Jason set his axe down and moved to help the soldiers. They’d tied the tourniquet, but it hadn’t been enough to stop the blood loss.

  “I’ll get a trauma bag,” Meg said, and pivoted to look back down the street to the fire engine. The soldiers seemed to be holding the engine safe from the monsters. They’d lost a lot of men. Only two groups remained that she could see. But they still had the engine as cover, and that meant Meg could get what they needed to help the injured man.

  Nothing’s going to slow you down, Meg.

  She moved out.

  ***

  Jed crouched down against the wall. None of the monsters had seen him yet. They’d stopped coming out of the windows, but he could still hear their screeching and snarling. And the clicking sound of their joints as they moved.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. Gotta get inside.

  He shifted to his right, but he’d move out of his covered spot if he got closer to the fire station door. He could sneak out though, just bang
on the door and jump back behind cover.

  Jed moved to see around the newspaper boxes and came face to face with a monster’s puffy lips and yellow eyes that dripped blood down its cheeks. It shrieked at him and he put a bullet into its face. Another one across the street snapped its head up from where it was feeding on a dead Marine. It shifted around and finally spotted him.

  Oh shit no. Oh no oh no oh no.

  ***

  Meg came up behind the monster right as it lifted its head and twisted to look at the soldier hiding by the station. With a grunt, Meg put her axe into the monster’s head, nearly taking if off at the neck. Another one sprang down from above and landed in front of her, hissing and smacking its puffy sucker lips together.

  Her axe was still stuck in the first one, and she felt her guts almost let go as the second monster jumped toward her. It jerked to the side in mid-air and fell flat on the pavement at her feet.

  Meg staggered back and yanked her axe free. The soldier on the sidewalk by the station waved at her, and then he dropped down out of sight again.

  Fine. He’s hiding, but he’s helping at least. Not like Rex.

  Double-checking the windows above her for movement, Meg moved down the street, keeping her eyes on the trauma gear spilling out of the engine up ahead. Three soldiers leaned up against the truck, firing into windows in the buildings on both sides of the street. One man with a machine gun kept back a few feet and aimed over their heads at anything that leaped up onto the engine.

  Four men. Is that all that’s left?

  The bodies around the street confirmed her worst fear. They’d already failed to save most of the soldiers. And some of the bodies had begun to shudder as the infection spread into the injured men who hadn’t died yet. Meg crouched and moved forward, aiming at the trauma bag she spotted on the ground next to the engine. She came up beside one of the soldiers.

  “Ma’am, you need to get out of here,” he said.

  “I’m here to help.”

  “With what?” he said, still shooting.