by Tim Moon
“What the hell, dude?”
Mac ignored him. Once he was in the doorway, Mac stood up and waved his arms like he was a survivor waving down a rescue plane.
It took a few tries, but Gavin saw Officer Bailey notice them; he waved back at Mac, then held his hands out like, "What now?"
Gavin motioned for them to come closer. The cops both shook their head “no” and pointed in the direction of the checkpoint. Gavin looked towards the exit lane. There was a door to the left of the exit, about twenty yards from where he hid behind the pillar.
Gavin pointed toward the door. Then traced the outline of a door in the air with both of his hands and pretended to open the door. Then he motioned for them to come over. He did it one more time, hoping that it made sense. Go to the door, I'll open it and you guys come over to our side.
Bailey nodded that he understood. Gavin hoped he did. Because there was a shit load of infected standing around by the checkpoint. They had to move quietly and carefully to avoid drawing the crowd to them. He didn't want to have to run away and leave people behind again.
"How do we get to the door without any of those things seeing us?" Gavin said.
"You could crawl across or just sprint and hope for the best," Mac said. "Or you could hide behind something and just slowly move across with it."
"Are they dumb enough to fall for that?" Gavin looked skeptical.
Mac looked at him and said, "Only one way to find out, champ."
"Rock, scissors, paper for the honors?" said Gavin. It was childish but they'd used the time-honored game since they were young, to resolve disputes.
"Fine. On three," said Mac. "One, two, three, shoot."
Mac threw down a rock; Gavin went with paper. Gavin won, so he got the honor of crossing.
With nothing to hide behind or carry across with him, Gavin had a choice: crawl or sprint. Crawling was slow and tiring.
Sprinting it is, he thought.
Mac suddenly smacked him on the shoulder. "This is back-asswards. We should be going out there to the cops, not bringing them in here."
"I'm not leaving without Dari or at least not without knowing that her flight has already left the airport."
"Damn you, hero-boy." Mac patted his shoulder.
"Stand here." Gavin scooted over to give Mac room to stand against the pillar. "I'm going with the sprinting option."
"Okay, I'll keep an eye out. When it's clear, I'll say go. You just run, don't hesitate or second guess me." Mac patted his best friend on the back. "You got this."
Gavin swallowed hard. He could do this. No problem, right? He nodded to himself. "You say go; I run like hell. Got it. Ready when you are."
"Get ready." Mac looked around the pillar at the crowd who were forty or fifty yards away. Normally a safe distance, but right then they both felt it was much too close.
One of the infected, who was facing sideways, took a few lazy steps and turned. Now he was facing them directly. Another one turned and took several shuffling steps. Then they groaned and turned again, facing the other way.
"Go," said Mac.
Gavin ran, as quickly and quietly as he could. Just like running for cover on the paintball field, only this time the stakes were much higher. He slowed and stopped himself against the wall. He turned to glance at Mac who gave him a thumbs-up.
"So far, so good," Gavin said to himself.
He pulled his badge downwards and pressed it to the card reader. It beeped and the door unlocked. Gavin pushed it open and stepped inside. It was nothing more than a short, simple hallway with a security camera overhead. He jogged across it and swiped his badge to open the other door.
Officer Bailey was already standing there in the door. He startled Gavin, but he recovered quickly.
Officer Vasser was still kneeling behind the garbage can, ready to sprint.
"Let's go," said Gavin.
Bailey waved Vasser over. Vasser stood and ran, hunched over, the gear on his belt jingling and clanking.
They all ran into the hallway and closed the door behind them. Gavin badged the other door open and peered outside.
Mac made an "X" with his arms and shook his head.
"Wait," he said to the officers. Mac waved them back. "The infected must be looking this way."
Gavin closed the door.
"What was your name again?" Officer Bailey said.
"I'm Gavin, sir."
"That's right. Gavin. So what's the situation?"
Gavin leaned against the wall, then sat down. Officer Vasser was already kneeling. Officer Bailey remained standing, but he leaned up against the wall.
"My friend and I made a security patrol, after we locked the checkpoint gate. Some infected came out from one of the bathrooms and started attacking people. Other passengers freaked out and everyone ran toward the checkpoint. Mac and I hid in a stairwell and waited for...I don't know. Twenty minutes? When we thought it might be safe, we came back around and saw that most, if not all, of the passengers had been infected and were bunched up near the checkpoint," said Gavin. "We saw you guys and waved you over. How's the front of the airport?"
"We cleared the upstairs, but we didn't go down to concourse A or baggage claim," Officer Bailey said. "There are too many infected there."
"Then the checkpoint attack started," said Officer Vasser. "What a fuckin' mess that was. The infection spread like wildfire in a strong wind. Seriously, I had no idea it happened that fast."
"How fast?" asked Gavin.
"Once a person was bitten, it was as fast as a few minutes. Though sometimes it took much longer. Those are the ones that suffered the most." Officer Vasser stood up, shaking his head. He held his hand out like he couldn't say anything else.
"Yesterday, we had a guy in lockup that lasted overnight," said Officer Bailey. "That was before we knew about this whole thing."
"Damn, man. How long has this been going on?" asked Gavin.
"No one knows for sure, but we estimate this is the second or maybe the third day," replied Officer Bailey. "Look we don't have the manpower, or enough ammo, to clear out all these fuckers. The best we can do is get you and your buddy out."
"My girlfriend is here somewhere. She's a flight attendant headed up to Barrow for work," said Gavin. "I'm not leaving until I know she’s already left safely."
Vasser and Bailey looked at each other.
"Can I speak to you over here for a minute," Officer Bailey said to Vasser.
They walked halfway down the short hall and began talking quietly.
Discussing their options, Gavin thought.
While he waited for them, he badged open the door and checked on Mac. His friend was still hiding by the pillar.
Mac held up two fingers and made a walking motion. Two infected were walking, presumably in their direction. Maybe they would turn down B concourse. Gavin gave Mac a signal that he was waiting for the cops and then closed the door quietly.
"Okay, sorry for the delay, Gavin. We still good?" said Officer Bailey.
"Yeah, we're still good," he said. "Just gotta wait a minute."
"We haven't heard from our dispatcher since we arrived at the airport, but we know the shit has hit the fan out there. We don't have orders to go anywhere else and since it has hit the fan here too, we're okay with staying." Officer Bailey smiled. "In other words, we'll help you find your girlfriend if we can."
"Thank you. I really appreciate that."
"We’ll also try to rescue as many civilians as possible," said Officer Vasser. "After that, we’ll evacuate the building. There are too many infected here now. We saw them at the checkpoint. This place is doomed."
"Fair deal," said Gavin. "Let's go."
He unlocked the door, pushed it open and received a thumbs-up from Mac.
Chapter Ten
Reunited with Mac, the group moved behind one of the ticket booths at the nearest gate. Mac needed to know the new situation and the police officers wanted to know where they could direct survivors.
"If we take people outside we could commandeer a vehicle and get them somewhere safer," said Vasser.
Bailey shrugged. "We need to focus on getting them corralled first and seeing how many we have. But yeah, good point."
Everyone froze.
"Do you hear that?" said Mac.
The three others nodded.
There was a slight tremor passing through the floor. A roaring noise grew louder. Lights approached from outside. Then they saw that a plane was coming in low, tilting from left to right, wobbling. It flew toward the airport.
"Run," yelled Gavin above the increasing roar.
The four of them ran away from the checkpoint area. Behind them the noise grew louder, becoming deafening as the jet's engines roared. Gavin glanced back and saw the crowd of passengers beginning to move in their direction. He thought he saw John, walking as slowly as ever.
Outside the airplane dipped slightly. Gavin could tell that the landing gear wasn't down because the bare belly scraped against the ground, screeching and launching a cascade of sparks into the air, before the plane rose back up slightly and then it crashed. The wings struck first, tearing along the edges of the other airplanes already parked at the gates. It smashed through the loading-ramps and sent pieces of metal and glass flying through the air. The round nose of the aircraft punched through the windows in a massive explosion of glass and cold air.
A wave of explosive energy slammed them to the marble floor, as fuel from one of the wings ignited, sending a giant fireball through the airport and up into the night sky. The noise was incredible. Somehow the engines were still screaming.
Gavin curled into a ball hoping that nothing would kill him. He just wanted to survive.
He could feel the heat from the burning aircraft even though he was a hundred yards away. He saw debris strewn about the concourse; the ceiling had collapsed in on the airplane and part of the roof above it had caught fire from the fireball.
The plane had pierced the airport like an arrow. The cockpit had gone right through the wall on the opposite side of the concourse and hung outside. The body of the plane between the cockpit and the wings had torn open inside of the concourse when the wings sheared off. The remnant of the exploded wing twisted back at an odd angle, barely clinging to the fuselage behind where it had torn holes in the side of the aircraft itself. The wings had stopped it from flying completely through the building.
With its entire structure compromised, the weakened fuselage had snapped. The back half of the plane angled down towards the ground, about twenty-five feet below.
Gavin stood up and looked for Mac. His friend was five yards away; a row of seats from the waiting area was over the top of him. He was trying to push them off but he was stuck. Gavin scrambled over and lifted the seats off. Mac pulled himself away.
"You okay?" Gavin said. He had to yell above the engine noise.
Mac nodded and rolled over onto his back.
Gavin looked around at the others.
Bailey knelt on the floor staring at the airplane; his hand was bleeding. Vasser was holding his forehead, his face was smeared with blood and small rivulets ran down his face and dripped from his jaw.
Gavin looked down at himself checking for injuries. He had a few cuts on his legs where glass had cut him, but nothing major.
Flames were spreading through the concourse.
"Sonuvabitch," Gavin yelled, his hands balling into fists. Being cut off meant their mission to find Dari had just ended.
Groans filled the air, adding a chorus to the roar of the flames and the pings of warping metal.
Gavin squinted at the airplane. He glanced at Mac and saw that he’d noticed it too. There was movement inside the airplane.
"Survivors," Officer Vasser said, running forward. Officer Bailey went with him.
Unlikely.
They could only go so close, because of the heat from the flames. Vasser raised his arm to fend it off and tried to push on towards the airplane, but it was too much. He backed up just as a chunk of something heavy fell from the ceiling, crashing to the floor with a loud thump.
Gavin watched in horror as people slowly stumbled out of the burning wreckage.
Survivors? Gavin didn't think so.
Some of them were burning. Others cut open badly, beyond the point where they should be walking. They were infected and they were heading right for them.
Before Gavin could say anything, Officer Bailey came to the same conclusion. He yelled, "Infected. Back up."
Vasser must have heard him because he began backing up. Infected crept out of the wreckage. A rush of dread poured over Gavin at the sight, but neither one of the officer’s turned.
Officer Vasser fired off a couple of shots at the nearest infected. The scorched body crumpled to the floor, tendrils of smoke curling into the air as it lay smoldering.
Mac stood beside Gavin. Between coughs, he said, "We should go, man."
The carpet near the gates was on fire, filling the air with dark smoke while the surrounding area was glowing bright orange. Flames crawled along the ceiling and spread in both directions. The stench in the air was nearly overwhelming. It stank of jet fuel and burning plastic.
Then the lights went out.
Gavin looked for an exit. He saw a sign glowing in the distance but it wasn't the one he wanted.
"Hey, look," said Gavin, coughing from the smoke in the air. He pointed to their right where a gate door had just opened. A sliver of light cut across the floor.
A person, no two people, stumbled out, backlit by the flames shining through the torn-open sky bridge.
"Survivors," said Mac.
The infected from the airplane were getting closer. Officers Bailey and Vasser fired a couple of times each at the nearest ones. Bodies hit the floor.
"Look, two survivors," shouted Gavin, pointing at the two people. There was no way they could have been on the crashed airplane. Had they been hiding in one of the parked jets?
Officer Bailey looked and shook his head. He started to back away from the airplane.
"C'mon we need to go now," yelled Vasser.
The two people walked slowly toward them. One was limping. Gavin thought it was possible they were infected. But they'd opened the door, right?
"Fuck it, let's go," Gavin said.
Mac was moving slowly; the chairs had messed up his ankle, so Gavin helped him along.
Officer Vasser turned, stood beside them and fired at an infected woman closing in on them. At least eight of them were only about ten yards away with dozens more behind them. It seemed like they'd traded one massive horde for another.
"Hurry up you two," said Officer Vasser.
Gavin heard a high-pitched whistle starting outside the window then there was a whoosh and a massive thumping boom as the other wing exploded, followed by another blast lower down, near the ground. The blasts smashed the remaining windows, shooting shards of glass throughout the concourse. Gavin barely had time to raise his arm and turn away. Beside them, Officer Vasser's body acted as their shield. The hail of glass and debris shredded his body, sending him to the floor.
Mac and Gavin were knocked over. Smoke was thick in the air.
Covered in blood splatter, they both scrambled up to continue their escape. Behind them, they could hear moaning from the remaining infected, who'd also been shredded by the spray of glass. It had killed some of them, but not all.
Officer Bailey had been farther down the concourse, protected by another tall concrete pillar. He turned and saw that his partner was down. He grimaced at the sight of Vasser. Gavin glanced back at the body to check if he was moving even though he knew it was obvious the man was dead.
He coughed from the smoke again and pulled Mac along with him, glancing over to see what had becom
e of the two apparent survivors they'd seen earlier. He couldn't see anyone other than the infected walking toward them, slow and determined.
"Wait," said Mac. "Grab the cop's gun."
"No time," said Gavin.
"Do it, hurry," Mac yelled. He pulled out of Gavin's grasp and kept hopping forward.
Gavin turned and scrambled for the gun. Vasser had dropped it when the glass tore his hand apart. Gavin could see shapes moving through the smoke toward him. He crouched low and finally found it. He flicked away a piece of finger that was lying on top of it and gripped the sticky gun.
"Watch out," said Mac.
Gavin looked up, raising the gun. It was the two people he'd seen earlier, so he lowered his aim just a little.
Now he could see it was Dari and that pilot, Rick, that he'd talked to, the one that had reported the drunk downstairs. Dari hadn't recognized Gavin though. Smoke and smudges of smeared blood darkened her face. Rick's right leg was bent oddly, so he leaned on Dari for support. The two of them stumbled forward awkwardly.
"Get down," Officer Bailey yelled at Gavin, then he fired three times.
Gavin flinched at the noise, but saw Rick jerk a little as the rounds hit him. He slipped out of Dari's grasp as his dead weight became too much for her. She screamed.
Gavin leapt up, shielding her with his body. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. An infected was within arm's reach but Gavin twisted Dari away and shot him in the face. He dropped, joining Rick on the floor.
"Dari, let's go," Gavin said, burying the shock he felt at what he’d just done.
She was staring fixedly at Rick's body on the floor. She reached down for his hand, but Gavin pulled her back.
"Oh my God! Let's go," Mac shouted in frustration. He grabbed Dari's other hand and all three of them rushed toward Officer Bailey, who stood still, dumbfounded. He must have realized that he'd shot a man, not one of the infected.
Chapter Eleven
Mac slammed the door shut behind him and slumped against it, breathing hard. His face was streaked with soot, blood and sweat. His uniform was a mess and torn in several places.