Ripley stopped trotting next to Derek, raising her nose in the air to decipher something Derek couldn’t detect. He stopped too, letting her work it out. The fur on her back started to rise, and Derek scrambled to get the backpack opened and get the gun in his hand. Before he had a good grip on it, several shapes came running from in between two of the homes near Derek and Ripley. They were dogs. Usually Derek wouldn’t have feared a dog, but these two were already snarling, teeth bared as they ran toward Ripley. Ripley lowered the front half of her body, preparing to spring, and Derek had fired the first shot. It nailed the lead dog in the hind quarters, and it spun around, showing it’s light brown face, covered in blood, like a wild carnivore after a meal. Derek couldn’t stand the agonizing cries coming from the wounded animal, and fired another shot, closer range, putting the animal out of its misery. The other dog was just steps from Ripley. She got the upper hand immediately against the weaker black dog, pinning it on its back almost instantly. The dog whined loudly, and Ripley let go, but did not retreat. She stood over the dog, staring it down until Derek pulled her away. The black dog leaped up and ran off towards the woods, tail between its legs. They watched it until it was no longer visible.
Derek was worried about the blood that was on the first dog’s face. What if this was a virus, some kind of contagious disease that was causing a reaction to those infected. He wished he had paid more attention in biology, he wasn’t sure of any sickness that would cause blood lust or murderous intentions. Either way, he didn’t want to make himself or Ripley susceptible to it, if it was contagious, and not coming into close contact with blood, either fresh or on the mouth of a vicious dog, was a rule he set for himself that moment. Ripley was already heading in between the two houses the other dogs had appeared from, and Derek went after her, calling her name to keep her from getting out of his sight.
The small yard between the two homes was shaded from the late morning sun. In the dark grass there was a body dressed in the Navy’s service khakis, stained with blood. Derek didn’t know how to distinguish between the different ranks of the Navy, but the disheveled hair on the head was sprinkled with gray hair, making him believe this wasn’t one of the “squids,” the young guys who joined the Navy for the short term benefits, the ones Cheryl had complained about.
He knelt by the body for a moment, then took his button up shirt from his backpack, wrapped it around his hand, and picked up the man’s 9mm pistol. He wiped the gun off and put it in his waistband. Dropping the shirt, he began running deeper into the base, Ripley on his heels.
Chapter 11.
The gas gauge was lower than Sasha had ever seen it when she got to the entrance to the base. She frowned when she saw the cars blocking most of the lanes into the base and she did not want to go on foot. After scanning the whole area, she spied a gap between the wall of the checkpoint and the car turned sideways in front of it. She turned the steering wheel towards it, and slowly pulled the hood of her car into the opening. Thankful for her small car, she slowly pushed through, scraping the passenger side of the car along the concrete of the building. The side mirror was crushed, and she cringed as the bumper of the sideways car dug a trench down the driver’s side of her car, but she was through, and could see the less congested road ahead that led into the residential area of the base.
Nora was alert, looking around hopefully. Sasha wasn’t as hopeful, this place looked like just as much of a ghost town as the rest of the area, but she could not fathom that a U.S. military installation would have been overtaken so quickly. She meandered around other obstacles on the other side of the check point, and began making a little headway. She jumped, startled as a dark streak moved near the woods to her right, but was able to exhale when she saw that it was just a black dog, frantically running out of the woods, across the street and disappearing into the brush on the other side. Sasha shivered, wondering what had spooked the dog so bad, but pushed it out of her mind and continued.
They had just made it a few hundred yards into the base, nearing an intersection, when the car began to miss, lurching forward. The gas pedal went all the way to the floor, but the car was not responding.
Sasha fought back the urge to let out a long string of cuss words in front of Nora, and slammed her hands on the steering wheel instead. She knew Nora was watching her, gauging the panic in Sasha’s face to she could match hers to it. She breathed deep, and turned to Nora to speak.
“Okay, Nora. The car is out of gas. We have to walk from here.” She saw the girl stiffen. “It’s okay, we are already on the base, it won’t be long until we find someone to help us. We are going to take our stuff and stay hidden on the road. I won’t let anything hurt you, ok?
Nora clung to the stuffed dog, but her head nodded slightly. Sasha opened the hurricane box, picking out the most important items and putting them in the terry cloth beach bag that already contained the sedatives and other first aid items from the abandoned house. She carried the shotgun, put the bag’s strap over her shoulder, crossing her chest. She stepped out onto the street, and helped Nora come out the same door. Nora had the dog under one arm, and didn’t show any signs of wanting to leave it. Sasha didn’t protest. She and Nora ran to the corner of the intersection, Sasha looked in all directions.
Two of the branches of the road led around a curve, Sasha was not able to see any further. The one to her right was straight, and she could see privacy fencing surrounding some of the base houses, then further there was a cross road. A lack of trees allowed her to see larger buildings on that cross road, near the beach. She thought that seemed like an area that would possibly have the highest chance of containing the secret navy weapons and thousands of highly trained men and women she was hoping the base offered. It was a long shot, but what other option did she have? She held Nora’s hand, running alongside the privacy fencing until there was only open area. She crouched low, pulling Nora with her, amid several large Hibiscus plants.
“Nora, I want you to stay right here.” Nora’s grip on Sasha’s hand tightened, and her eyes begin to fill with tears as she furiously shook her head.
“It’s okay, I’m not going to leave you. I’m going to go make sure it’s safe for you, then I am coming back to get you. You’ll be able to see me, I promise.” Sasha tried to explain to her. She felt so guilty for making Nora so upset, but she couldn’t imagine bringing the girl out in the open, with no place to hide, nothing to keep them from being seen by anyone – or anything – that was in the area. She pulled her hand away from Nora’s, backing up, reassuring Nora that she would be right back.
She got up, holding the shotgun ready, and jogged a little ways up the road. She looked back at where Nora was, and could see Nora watching her, the stuffed dog tucked under her chin. She looked petrified, but was obeying Sasha’s directions to stay put. Sasha’s heart was pounding, she almost feared that it was so loud that it would give her away. She crossed a sandy lot, cutting the corner to the cross road, staying low although she didn’t feel like that gave her any more cover out in the open like this. Her shoes crunched the sand, it echoed in the still, salty air.
On the other side of the lot, patchy grass covered the ground between her and the cross road. She was thankful for the silence of her feet on the grass, and continued jogging ahead, turning back to look at Nora again. She couldn’t see the child very well anymore, but she knew she was still crouched between the blooming flower bushes. She knew Nora could see her, though, and nodded her head. She had made it to the road, and was crossing over the blacktop to the other side, where there was a large building, a warehouse of some kind. She ran through the parking lot, close to the massive rolling doors on the front, and realized she had stepped out of Nora’s line of sight. She set her bag down on the side of the building, behind a large metal dumpster. She ran back to Nora, lighter now that she was only carrying the shotgun, and holding Nora’s hand, led her through the same way she had scouted out, through the sand, over the grass, across the street and to the dumpst
er on the side of the warehouse. They knelt there, protected by the huge bin and the wall of the building.
“See, I told you I wouldn’t leave you. I came back, right? Okay, we are going to do it again. I want you to stay right here, I want to see if there’s anyone inside this building that can help us. Don’t come out, no matter what, until I come back, okay?” Nora nodded, still scared but not as panicked as before. She hugged the stuffed dog and sat cross legged behind the dumpster, leaning against the building.
Sasha sat the bag near Nora, and then stood up again with the shotgun to go around to the other side of the building, where she was hoping to find windows or a door to the building. As she was stepping around the edge of the building and in front of the rolling doors, she heard a startlingly loud pop. She automatically dropped, her body reacting before her conscience had a chance to realize she was being shot at. She tried to stay low and run back towards Nora, but another pop made her freeze. She had nowhere to go, her only chance was to shoot back. She was prone on the ground, arms and shotgun out in front of her, but she had nothing to aim at. Suddenly she saw a brown flash, a dog, running across the street from where she had just been, headed straight for her. She jumped to her feet, but fell backwards, still trying to get away from the approaching animal, crab walking.
She saw a figure rise from behind a car near the intersection.
“Ripley! No!” The man yelled, beginning to follow the dog. The dog had made it across the street and was coming through the parking lot, closing in on Sasha. Sasha froze, covered her face with her free arm, and waited for the attack. Instead, she felt a cold, wet nose, and opened her eyes to see the dog smelling her up and down, apparently not threatened by her. She exhaled and slowly began to stand.
The man was slower than the dog, he was still crossing the street, and when he was within speaking distance, he yelled to Sasha.
“I thought you were one of them. Are you hurt?” His voice was labored, he was out of breath.
As Sasha stood, she looked back towards the dumpster. Nora was still hidden. Good. She shook her head as she dusted herself off, and the man slowed to a walk to approach her.
“I’m so sorry. I got scared. I’m Derek. “ He was almost within a few arm’s lengths. Sasha didn’t loosen her grip on the shotgun, but Derek was holding his pistol down at the ground, the trigger was not being touched. She wanted so much to be able to trust him, anyone. But she was already scarred by the events in the last few hours to know who or what to believe in.
“I’m ok. I’m Sasha.” Her tone made Derek stop where he was. He looked her over, and Ripley came trotting back over to him, her tail making relaxed swishes.
“My dog thinks you’re one of the good guys.” He tried to make the tense air lighter with a half smile. Sasha’s body relaxed, he didn’t seem threatening. She lowered the shotgun and was about to answer him, when something hit her from behind and sent her crashing into him.
A wave of immense heat went over her body, followed by an incredible pressure and a roar that threatened to deafen her. She was thrown, along with Derek, across the parking lot, and they both crashed to the concrete, skidding and rolling several more yards. Almost as soon as it had begun, the heat and roar died, and the silence scared Sasha into thinking she had been killed. She opened her eyes, seeing gravel up close. She was face down on the parking lot, something was holding her down. She tried to move, and the weight let up. It had been Derek, his entire body had been across hers. She jumped to her feet at the same time he did. He yelled for Ripley, and they both turned towards the building.
It was gaping open. The edges that were still standing were burning, and coming from behind the vehicles were several people, hair and clothing on fire, running in what seemed like slow motion. Sasha’s brain worked to unravel the scene before her; an explosion, those black-eyed monsters falling as they burned, screaming with a surreal edge to their voices. The realization threw her into hysteria.
“Nora!” She screamed, racing around to the side of the building where she had left the girl hiding. The dumpster was on its side, the contents scattered out in front of it, some of it smoking. Nora was laying next to it, face turned up, eyes closed. Sasha fell to her knees as she was running, sliding to Nora. Her hands were frantic, looking for signs of life. The child was all in one piece, and was breathing. She was trying to sit Nora up, when she noticed Derek falling to his knees beside her. She hadn’t realized she was crying, and she tried to wipe away the tears when Derek looked into her face.
“Is she breathing?” He asked. Sasha nodded. Derek put his hand on Nora’s chin, turning her head, and they both saw the angry red gash above her ear. Sasha’s hands covered it, trying to stop the blood that was oozing out, her fingers turning red. Derek’s recent fear of coming in contact with blood was the only thing that kept him from covering Sasha’s hand with his own. He searched the ground for anything to use, and saw the terrycloth sports bag that was filled with Sasha’s things. He grabbed it by the bottom, dumping everything out on the ground, and wadded it up, pressing it to Nora’s wound. He put his arms under her neck and behind her legs, and stood up with her, pressing the makeshift gauze into his chest to keep it against the gash.
“Where do we go?” Sasha asked breathlessly, wiping her hands on her mother’s shirt she was wearing. Derek looked further down the street, to another building, indicating with his head that they might find shelter there, and Sasha was already on the ground picking up the items dumped from the bag. Derek turned his back to her, so she could add them to the contents of his backpack, and he called for Ripley.
Ripley had been thrown by the blast as well, and was limping slightly, but was either not hurt badly, or too stoic to show it. Derek, holding Nora, ran towards the back end of the building, which was still intact after the explosion. Sasha followed closely, her shotgun raised and pointing in every direction. Coming to the edge, they were startled by the sight of a man in light blue, unaware of them and running from the back of the building. The rolling door was up on this end, and hearing scuffling inside, Derek and Sasha moved away from it.
The man was running in the direction Sasha and Derek were headed, and he looked back and slid in the sandy grass, almost falling, trying to come to a stop when he saw them. His mouth opened, and his voice was carried to Sasha and Derek in slow motion.
“Run!”
Sasha already had a hold on Derek’s backpack, she pulled hard on it as her body followed the command the unknown man had yelled at her. She had barely had a chance to take a handful of long strides away from the side of the building, when it exploded. The wave sent her flying again, this time Derek slammed into her, but surprisingly the only thing going through her mind was ‘Please don’t drop Nora.’
When she was able to control her movements, she got to her knees, and saw Derek, laying on his side, sheltering Nora from the flying debris that was raining down on them. She saw Ripley, who had been further away from the blast than any of them, running towards them through the smoke that was enveloping them all.
“Derek!” She yelled, and he turned his head to her in response, his brown eyes alert. He jumped up, putting Nora over his shoulder, and grabbed Sasha’s arm to pull her away from the burning building.
There was a small storage building close to the beach access walkway, and Derek stopped beside it. He laid Nora gently on the ground, and pushed Ripley away from the girl’s face as she tried to lick the wound. Sasha was watching the man in coveralls run towards them.
“I didn’t see you.” He said angrily, coming to a stop. Sasha was intimidated by his large build, but tried to remain steady.
“What are you doing? Where is everyone?” She asked.
The man took a few moments to look over Sasha, Derek, and Nora. He frowned when he saw Nora and realized she was unconscious.
“She’s not going to make it. You should put her out of her misery.” His eyes looked distant as he raised the gun. “Back up.”
Sasha screamed
, and Derek leaned over Nora’s body. Ripley stepped forward, growling, and the gun moved to her.
“Don’t!” Derek yelled, rising to his feet. Everyone was frozen in their positions, and the man took a few steps backwards. Then he lowered the gun and turned to walk the other way. Sasha and Derek watched in disbelief, Derek holding onto Ripley’s collar so she couldn’t follow him and attack.
Sasha knelt back down, and Derek followed. She was on the verge of tears, not understanding what had just happened.
“He was supposed to help us.” She said, fighting back sobs.
“Well he didn’t. That could have been bad. We need to take care of your daughter.” Derek had turned his attention to Nora again. He dug in the backpack and pulled out a water bottle. He poured a thin stream of the water onto Nora’s wound, washing the blood and dirt away.
The Loki Variation Page 6