by Thomas Key
Chapter Fifteen: Several hours earlier
Rachel hung on for everything that she was worth as the vehicle rolled end over end. As her head smacked against her window for the third time, darkness enveloped her as she lost consciousness. When she awoke, the window to her right had shattered and was now at ground level. She spat the taste of blood and dirt from her mouth as she tried to move. Her straps had held but she felt her entire body bruised and beaten. She stirred slowly, trying to look around as she did so. The Humvee was on one side, her side. “Shep?” she whispered as she was finally able to look over at the driver side that was now the top of the enclosure. She did a double take. Shepherd was gone. Rachel felt panic begin to well up inside of her as she struggled to move out of her straps. Finally, she was able to disengage them and fell against the door. She worked at it for several minutes, righting herself. Finally, she was able to stand inside the vehicle and looked into the rear seats. The children and Atencio were still there, but unmoving. She shimmied her body into the rear seats and one by one, checked their vitals. They were miraculously still alive. She slowly shook each one and realized that the rain from the storm was pouring in from the open door up top. A large pool was forming at the now bottom of the cab. It wouldn’t flood the vehicle for a while but they couldn’t just sit and wait for it to happen either. As they each groggily awoke from their sleepy times, the children began to panic. The pain that they were all feeling would no doubt be a shock to their systems. They screamed and they cried, she tried her best to comfort them. It didn’t work very well though. Frightened children, or even happy children are the hardest type of people to try to calm down. Rachel had moved onto Atencio who was not waking up. She shook her several times, and again felt for a pulse. It was present although a bit weak. A bleeding head wound on the right side of her skull came into view. The pop pop pop of what sounded like gunfire caught Rachel’s attention. She glanced up at the driver door aka the roof and spotted something blocking the view of the clouds above. An infected was crawling into the opening. It fell in hard, causing the children to, once again, begin to scream. Rachel took action, looking everywhere for a weapon but coming up empty. She kicked at the zombie who was trying to right itself and pull itself into the backseat of the Humvee. The infected reached out on kick seven and grabbed a hold of her boot. The action took Rachel off guard and she slipped, falling down on the slippery interior. The creature, what had previously been an old man wearing khakis, a button up shirt and a tie, then had her with both hands and as much as she struggled, it would not let go. The strength of the undead man was incredible. It proceeded to pull her towards its mouth, greedily eying its prey, and it was winning the battle. A deafening shot rang out in the tiny confines of the truck. Rachel felt the undead lose its grip and let go, causing her to fall backwards and onto the kids. She could not hear anything other than a loud constant ringing in her ears, but she saw the smoke from a pistol being held up by Atencio. Her right eye had begun to swell up but that had obviously not hindered her from taking the shot.
Rachel stood back up and helped the children out of their buckles. The rain seemed to get worse much to their chagrin. They were soaked by the rain pouring in from the open windows up top. The sound of gunfire had picked up its pace and she recognized the only thing that it could be. Her friends on the road trying to take down the crowd of infected. If there were too many of those evil things, their team would be forced to leave them behind if they had to. Staying in the car overnight in the rain was a no go for her and everyone else with her. “We have to move,” she told the other occupants of the Humvee as she helped Atencio stand. She was definitely worse for wear but she didn’t quit. The woman was a fighter. They all climbed from the destroyed vehicle. From the pouring rain and into the pouring rain, only now they did not have the limited protection of the doors or the vehicle interior. As Rachel hit the ground, she looked around for Shepherd. It was dark, but using the flashing of the lighting above to her advantage, her eyes strained to glimpse anything. There was no sign of him at all. No footprints in the mud, none of his gear. It was as if he had just disappeared. The whimpering of the two children did not allow her to ponder on it for long. She took the lead as they all began to walk up the mountainside to the broken guard rail. The sound of automatic gunfire was still present, and it helped to usher them faster and faster. There was no telling when the group on the road would drive off and leave them for dead. Atencio helped to keep the kids on track, urging them along. Even battered and bruised, the children moved forward, without a single vocal complaint. As they neared the edge of the guardrail, Rachel heard shouting. “They’re over here!” It was Jaylin. Her rifle was at the ready and her flashlight shone brightly over the broken railing. It was as if it were the light guiding them to Heaven. Rachel took Jaylin's hand and with a strong pull, Rachel was roadside. A group of infected was situated in the lights of the 2nd Humvee with Kenneth, and Ashmore laying down a wall of lead. Jaylin spotted one making a go for the newly found group and drilled it through the right eye, dropping it like a rock. “Let’s go!” she yelled to the group below. They all did what they were told and urgently made their way up to the road and headed for the vehicle. Atencio, naturally was taking up the rear defense, and firing shots from her pistol into the horde as they did. Rachel pulled the rear passenger door open and the kids jumped in, still completely distraught. Kenneth was falling back, his rifle smoking with each round leaving the chamber. “There’s too many, we’ve got to go now!” he shouted to Jaylin. He glanced over and saw the women and children enter the vehicle and looked back at Jaylin. “Shepherd?” His one-word question was met with a slow shake of Jaylin’s head. His eyes fell from hers, and he turned and fired the rest of his magazine into the crowd before them, his anger evident. Jaylin opened the passenger door, jumping in and closing it behind her. He made it in just as the horde made it to the vehicle. “God damned zombies!” he said in frustration as he started the vehicle and began to reverse back the way they came. As soon as he had room, he made a U-turn and headed back into Albuquerque. “We’re going back?” Atencio asked. “We’ve got to find a way through that big ass group of infected. We might have to wait it out a bit,” he said. “Well, that’s just great,” Atencio blurted out. “What the fuck do you want me to do about it?” he asked, glancing at her through the rear view. “Nothing, I was just saying,” she replied, a bit abashed. “We’ve got no other choice. We’re going back,” he said matter of factly as they barreled back towards Albuquerque.
Chapter Sixteen
Several hours later or so I guessed, I awoke in a hospital bed. This was strange enough as the last thing that I saw was the asphalt coming straight up to my face. My eyes traced around the room as I took it all in. I was not a stranger to hospital rooms, as I tended to be accident-prone in my previous life. As I looked around at the equipment, I noticed that they were all in pristine condition. These were new, I thought as I looked from wall to wall. The equipment at base, while kept clean were not this nice. Especially after the last zombie attack on the base, all of the equipment got some serious use. The lighting was not bright but not dull either. Just enough to do the job without burning my skin off. Directly in front of me was a fairly large mirror, as if for some strange ass reason, I wanted to look at myself dying. Who the hell designs these rooms anyway? I questioned myself as I stared at myself in the reflection. Even with the dirt cleaned off, I was still bruised in more than one place. I felt sorer than I had ever been, as if I had run a back to back marathon while lifting weights. Oh shit, the bite. The thought popped into my head and I looked down to see the wound on my arm with a clean bandage around it. I had thought for sure that if a bite was found, I’d just be shot. This is interesting, I thought as I lay back down, wondering what the absolute hell. If they saw the bite and knew what it was, I’d be dead in a heartbeat, so what in the hell and Satan’s girl scout cookies was going on here? It was then that a woman entered the room, as if on cue. Her face was most
ly covered by a medical mask and she was wearing scrubs. Nothing besides her skin tone and her fiery blue eyes were visible. “How are you feeling?” she asked as she stood beside my bed. “I’m feeling fine, besides feeling like I went ten rounds with a professional boxer with my hands tied behind my back.” “Good. Good,” she stated, looking over the readings on the equipment around me. Wow, what a sense of humor. “Where the hell am I?” I asked her, staring straight into her eyes. “You’re safe now. You’re in the medical wing of a government facility known as DUCC NM.” I stared at her blankly. She chuckled quietly, apparently amused. “Deep Underground Command Center NM. I’m guessing you know what the NM stands for?” I nodded with a roll of my eyes. “We are just one of many former government installations build around the country to ensure the continuation of the US in the event of a catastrophe. This compound was just a lot of fancy military tech being tested outside of prying eyes. One of these bunkers was built in every state in the union.” I nodded. “I can understand that, I guess. Uncle Sam always has a plan B,” I said as I stared at her as she apparently took some notes on my chart. “Anyway, just relax and we will have you on your feet in no time. It looks like you were severely dehydrated, and you were pretty beaten up when we found you. What were you doing in the middle of nowhere in an apocalypse?” she asked, her eyes seeming to dig into me. “I was being chased by a bunch of those things. I didn’t exactly have a way out,” I told her. “Besides, it was a beautiful day for a stroll,” I said. She just nodded; her apparent humor gone. “Alright. What’s your name?” she asked. “Barnes,” I told her, giving up on cracking jokes. Some people just don’t mesh well with me. She raised an eyebrow. “Just Barnes?” she asked. “Yeah, there’s really no need for two names these days, is there?” I asked in return. “No, I suppose not. Alright, Mr. Barnes, you’ll stay here and continue to get healthy. In the meantime, I’ll report to my superiors about you being in relatively good health. They need good people to help support their cause,” she said as she turned to leave. “And what cause is that, exactly?” I asked. “To unite the world under one government,” she said as she patted my knee. “What’s your name?” I asked her just as she was leaving the room. She stopped and turned back to me. “Sydney,” she replied as she continued out the door and into the hallway. Sydney, I repeated to myself as I lay back down into the not-really-comfortable-at-all bed. To unite the world under one government. That sounded shady as hell, I thought as I once again passed back into unconsciousness, the pain from my battered and bruised body flaring up and encouraging me to go night night.
On the other side of the mirror, a man stood staring at the new patient before him. A door in the room opened and a nurse entered. The man slowly turned, nodding to her as he did so, keeping the new guest in his periphery. “How is our new friend doing?” The man, in full military uniform stood perfectly erect, his eyes staring directly at the nurse into what she felt like was her soul. “He’s fine medically,” she said, coming to stand beside the man. “General, it’s very unorthodox to let someone with a bite be unrestrained,” she said quietly. “Yes, it is. Desperate times call for desperate measures though, don’t they?” he asked. “Yes Sir,” she replied. “Besides, I’d like to see if he would be more cooperative than the others. This man and the others like him are the key for us. We just have to figure out how to wield our new weapons,” he said, a grin creeping onto his face. A shudder fell over the nurse. “What about the zombies in this wing?” “Every experiment needs a control, don’t you think?” he replied. “If anything happens…” she began to say. He cut her off quickly, “This is the most secure base short of Mt. Weather and NORAD. My soldiers have this handled,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Yes sir,” she said back, a bit mechanically. “Good girl,” he said, patting her lightly on the shoulder as he moved to walk past her. “The Praetor will see soon enough. The whole world will.” His hand left her, and he grabbed the door handle and walked out, the metal door coming to a close with a soft click. Sydney stood watching the man in the room before her sleep. He was one of five bitten but not turned people that they’ve found since everything went to hell. He was the first one that they’ve left unrestrained. There were also thirty infected in different stages being monitored in rooms just like this one. If General Hawkings wanted a weapon, odds are he’d find a way to make one here. God help us if he makes the virus go airborne, she thought, feeling another shudder of ice cold roll up her back. Her watch beeped and she sighed. Time to make the rounds with the others. She placed the mask back on her face as she too left the room.
Down the hall from Shepherd’s room stood the first row of zombie-occupied monitoring rooms. A lone infected stared into the one-way mirror, as if admiring itself for some extended period of time. As the technician on the other side left the hidden room, the infected moved to the door to its room, spending several minutes staring at the keycard reader and door handle. Two minutes later, the keycard reader turned green and the door opened with several men in full riot gear entering, followed by the technician. The infected lunged, and was rewarded with a plastic shield strike to the face, causing it to be pushed backwards, further into the room. The protected soldiers pushed the infected back until it was in the far corner of the room, as away from the door. Behind them, the tech opened the top of a cage containing several white mice and spilled the contents out. Four large mice scurried about the unused hospital bed. The tech then left the room, and the protected troops retreated, keeping the zombie in their sights. By that time though, there was no need. The mice had caught the eye of the undead and it chased and grabbed them each one by one. It fed, feeling the warm blood seep into its mouth as it bit deeply. Broken teeth tore into the flesh of the small helpless creatures, blood spraying in a small arc onto the wall closest to it. As the men filed out of the room, the infected watched the soldiers depart the room. It had been watching as the tech had scanned his key card to unlock the door on his way out. The dawn of recognition was slow to ignite in its cold mind, but eventually it did. It fed almost gleefully knowing that soon, it would not be dining on these little vermin but would soon be feasting on the humans that had just left. Soon.
Chapter Seventeen
Back in Albuquerque, those remaining survivors of the Cannon AFB group sat huddled around a small fireplace. After returning from losing one of their own, Kenneth had found a secluded house in the northeast heights to rest up. After unloading all of the occupants, and clearing the house, room by room, they then retrieved whatever they could of value. From canned corn to firewood, it was all gathered in the home’s living room. Although they were able to change out some of their clothing, the icy feeling of cold from the rain had been felt down to their bones. In hopes of fixing that, Rachel had ordered a fire made. Kenneth disagreed, saying that it would draw attention. It was the children though that Rachel was concerned about. They were still shaking from the cold and they did not make this trip out here just to lose the four kids to pneumonia. Eventually, Ken relented, and the fire was made. Slowly, everyone inched closer and closer to the fireplace until they were just a big blob of humanity, trying to get every bit of warmth that they could. After what felt like hours, everyone had fallen asleep, with the heat continuing to hug them in its warm embrace. While everyone slept, Joe and Raul had made their way out of the pile of people and slowly made their way out of the house. Joe, the older of the two children, led his younger brother quietly out of the back door and into the cold of the night. These adults almost killed them all and they were safer on their own, he had told his brother. The other children, Cara and Cayden did not feel the same way and they wanted no part in leaving. That was fine, thought Joe, two less other kids to worry about. As he led his younger brother from house to house, he walked into an open parcel of land with a large ‘for sale’ sign still hung up on the side facing the main road. They walked in the pitch dark, the remnants of the storm not far off in the distance. A quick flash of lighting silhouetted the horde fro
m earlier that day. They were less than a mile away on the main road; Tramway. Uh oh, he thought as he grabbed his brother’s hand and tried to move them along in another direction. As they trudged through the dirt lot in that direction, he could hear glass breaking and the moans of several infected from just across the street. They, once again, halted in their tracks. The younger of the two children began to cry, with Joe feeling lost. He turned to his left to head back in the direction of the house that they had come. His brother’s hand clenched tightly in his as they began to walk back and a lone figure stood directly in their path. It had appeared almost as if from nowhere. The lone figure stood up straight and tall as the rain once again began to fall. Whatever it was did not move an inch as it stood like a statue before them. Joe spoke up. “Hello?” he asked the figure, trying not to shake with fear as he did. He could hear the moans of the infected as if they were all around them, seeming to get closer with each moment. The children had to leave; Joe knew, but this man was in their way. Was he here to help? “Can you help us?” the child asked. The figure shook its head from side to side and took a slow step forward. The two children took two small steps back, recoiling. The moans around them now seemed to be at a crescendo. “They’re everywhere!” Raul yelled out while his tears flowed like the rain continuing to fall around the two boys. Joe once again took the little boy’s hand and tried to make it past the figure in front of them. With amazing speed, Joe was pulled into the air and with unnatural force, was thrown back into the dirt field. He landed with a loud thump and an audible crack of his left leg. The field was now completely surrounded by infected that were slowly but steadily making their way towards the small food before them. The younger boy stood stock-still and cried, having just watched his older brother tossed like he was a rag doll. The figure walked to and then stood next to the young boy and placed its large hand on the boy’s shoulder as if to comfort him. The boy could not move, the fear enveloping every fiber of his small being. He was then unceremoniously picked up under his armpits and raised until he was face to face with the figure. The figure resembled that of a middle-aged man and even now, seemed like one. His short black hair, dark brown eyes and creases from years of happy retirement. To the young boy though, he was scary. Far scarier than the zombies approaching around them. The man smiled, and opened his mouth wide, broken teeth shone brightly with the illumination of a quick flash of lightning. He sank his teeth deep into the young boy’s throat, the child's screams cutting off almost immediately. The figure held the child with its strong arms and bit into him, enjoying every moment of the warm blood pouring from the boy who thankfully fell into unconsciousness. The wound was not a traditional feeding by any means and as it felt the boy's life drain away, the monster unceremoniously dropped the child into the dirt and watched in fascination as the older boy attempted to run away, with the rest of the undead zombies in close pursuit. With a broken leg, he would not get far. Watching the small prey struggle only made him hungrier, but he knew he had plans and would wait for this human child at his feet to turn. Then step two of his plan would be ready. He grinned as the older boy dodged an outstretched arm, then another, but was hit from the side by a previously unseen infected. The boy gasped; the air being completely emptied from his lungs. A zombie took a bite out of one of his arms, and the boy screamed, only to be pounced on by two more undead. With relative ease, they took him to the ground and began to ravish the young body under them. The long figure stood watching, knowing there would not be much left to turn. More and more zombies showed up to dinner and pushed and shoved to get whatever pieces of the now dead boy. By his feet, the younger boy began to stir. Good, the figure thought. Time to get the rest of the humans out of that house and into my stomach.