Infected World Trilogy (Books 1-3): They Only Come Out At Night

by Guenther, David

  “Why in the hell you shooting at me?” Caleb shouted, relieved it had been only the one shot into his truck. He gave one last look at the sunrise, figuring it was a good chance it’d be his last one, disappointed that clouds were now blocking his view of his last sunrise.

  “We want everything you took out of our store, including what you put inside your truck. Then you can be on your way, on foot, as a lesson to leave other peoples’ stuff alone.”

  “Sorry, this is all I have left in the world; I’m not leaving it behind.” Three more shots were the reply to his answer. Caleb almost charged back at them in his anger and frustration, then he remembered taking the bullet the last time he charged towards an enemy. He heard the truck start up and drive closer, the shooter emboldened by not receiving any return fire. He felt anger, deep fanatical anger building. He looked to the side and could see heads peering out from the store. He opened the driver’s door and grabbed an M4.He peered over the truck bed and saw the other guy had his truck at an angle so he was well protected.

  Caleb popped up and fired an entire magazine into the truck’s engine and was back down again as he felt fear coming from the other shooter. He grabbed another magazine and fired it into the top of the glass doors of the mall. Shrieking answered his shots as dozens upon dozens of infected charged out of the store, the mob seemed to grow as they ran towards him, then the mob broke into two groups. He could faintly hear the other shooter sobbing as he tried to start his truck. Caleb dumped his carbine and charged towards the other truck, shrieking as loud as he could. Those that initially were running towards him were now following behind him, his own shrieks egging them on. The gunman fell trying to get out of his truck, then ran, his hands empty. Payback, bitch! Caleb thought as he ran as fast as he could, enjoying the burst of adrenaline from the run. He felt a couple of infected closing on him and he tensed until they passed him in the pursuit of the other man. Caleb slowed so even more would beat him to the mob’s goal.

  The mixture of emotions emanating from the hunters’ anger and excitement, mixed with the hunted ‘normal’ who emanated fear and self-pity were strong. He knew they were feeding from his fear, until one loud scream that turned to a wail, then a whimper that was cut off. Caleb didn’t want to see the results and turned back to his truck. He could see narrow, soft beams of light poking through the clouds from the sun. He started to shriek, louder than any of the others had up until them. When they looked at him in puzzlement, he pointed towards the sunlight coming through the clouds. His shrieks were picked up by all of them as they raced all out for the mall. One of the last ones to enter the mall dressed in yellow looked back and shrieked in sadness towards him before moving from sight. Well, my infected brothers and sisters gave me loving, and saved me from a normal. Now I turn my back and get to go back to spend my days with the normals. Do I really want to go back?

  Caleb looked at the new damage to his truck and couldn’t build up any anger towards the dead man, his anger being fully satisfied. Putting the truck into gear, he didn’t want to look back at either the store or the truck as he gave his full attention to the road ahead.

  Chapter 24

  Pine Haven, Wyoming. April 6, 2029

  Peters felt himself pressed to the ground while bullets whizzed past close overhead, then impacting the shipping container behind them. Werner remained on top of him and returned fire at their assailants. Only the tiniest of depressions was protecting them from the enemy fire. “Get the hell off me, Werner!” The sergeant rolled to the side and tried to find the enemy, they’d stopped firing at them.

  “Dammit! Is that all the better you can shoot! I know I taught you better than that! Now get your asses out here before I let my bodyguard go to town on your sorry asses!”

  “Is that really you?” A voice shouted out, almost breaking from the effort.” Peters almost didn’t recognize the voice.

  “Daniel, I’m losing my patience!” Peters tried to sound gruff but failed.

  “Sir, I have movement at our eleven o’clock and two o’clock.” Werner tracked both, waiting for the order. Peters popped up and jogged forward as both his sons ran to him. He thought it a cliché to say anything about how much taller and filled out they were.

  “I want to catch up with both of you, but first, what the hell is going on here, and where is your mother?” Peters asked as he hugged both sons to him.

  “When the shit hit the fan, people were running around biting and hurting each other, like a bad zombie movie. Mr. Newhart bit mom in the hand when he kicked in the front door. Mom shot him with her automatic and had us drag the body out front. Mom said the best thing we can do is stay put, so we moved everything into the containers, the doors and windows are up on them and seemed safer than the house. When mom started to take a turn for the worse, we moved her to the container by herself. We didn’t even get the door closed when she shrieked and tried to attack us. We learned from the neighbors that the infected can’t stand the light, so during the day we open the door and put in clean water and food for mom. A posse, or more like a lynch mob came for her when they found out we were taking care of her. It got ugly, but they left. Now we take turns keeping guard to protect her. Would we be better to do otherwise?” William asked expectantly.

  “I’ve heard there’s a cure, and I know someone who survived being infected. The world has turned to shit. Approximately 85% of the world has been infected. Wyoming is the only state with a functioning power grid, hell Wyoming has the only functioning power grid in the world. To tell you how bad things are, your father is the current leader of the free world until we can find a surviving member of the government to take control.”

  “At times I feel like a dictator who can do whatever he wants. I’ll talk to Mr. Ivanov and let him know that if he tries to fuck with you, and what he calls a demon, he’ll answer to me. You both know how to get to the city of Douglas, right? That’s where the military is billeted until we start taking back more towns. For the time being we’re not taking prisoners, so I’ll need the two of you to stay here and take care of your mother. I’ll…”

  “Company sir, coming up from the east out of the woods. Looks like at least a dozen.” Werner announced.

  “That’s them, again!” Danny looked panicked and ready to run for cover.

  “I said I’d take care of this. All of you stay here.” Peters raised his left arm as a wave while holding his carbine barrel down like a hunter. He made it twenty feet towards the group, when a shot rang out from the woods behind the others.

  “Sniper!” Werner shouted, and then knocked both boys to the ground. He saw Peters collapse in the tall grass while he was hustling the boys to the cover of the shipping container.

  “You could have given up the demon and been done with things. Now you have to be punished!” The old man shouted as his group was still over a hundred yards out and calmly walking towards them.

  Werner walked over to the side of the container to use it for cover. He flipped the selector to ‘auto’ and let loose with a full magazine to let them know they’d screwed with the wrong people. He was sure he saw two or three fall in the grass, but wasn’t sure as they all hit the deck. He went back to the kids who were sitting there with glassy eyes. The shock of watching their father shot in front of them now had them frozen in place. Werner looked at their weapons, a .22 rifle and a shotgun, they’d be less than useless.

  “Boys, I need you to both take cover where they won’t find you. I’ll stay here and distract them. Now move!” Both boys sat there looking at him. The lights were on, but nobody was home.

  “Goddammit! I just lost your father, and I’m sure as hell not going to lose both his sons. Now start fucking crawling towards the house and then disappear in the woods on the other side. I’ll come find you later.” William grabbed his brother by the ear, bringing him back into the present. Werner watched them both disappear after twenty feet in their old hunter’s cammies. What the fuck am I still doing here? He thought as he inserted anot
her mag and did another spray and pray through the grass. He reached into his leg pocket and pulled out the satphone General Davis had given him and prayed that it worked.

  “Over there!” William pointed to the front of their drive way. “That must be dad’s ride. Looks like it’s bulletproof.”

  “No, it’s armored, probably can take a .50 cal round. Let’s take it and go back and help dad’s man out.” Danny replied. He then ran over to the truck and noticed the bags in the cargo bed. “Keep an eye out.” Danny tore into the closest A3 bag and saw only uniforms, then saw a tan magazine, pulling it out he recognized it as either to an AR15 like the neighbors or to an M4. He dug a little deeper and was rewarded with another magazine and the muzzle end of a barrel. He pulled it out and whistled when he saw the selector switch had auto on it. He reached for the other bag and wasted no time finding another pair of loaded magazines and an M4.

  “I tell you what. You drive like a bat out of hell towards those fuckers and I’ll hunker down back here on top of these bags and shoot them up. Now hurry before they get dad’s Army guy.” William fought the urge to correct his little brother, but accepted the plan. The driver’s door was obviously heavy when he tried to open it. After getting in, he was surprised how simple it’d be to drive, and it was an automatic instead of a stick!

  William was still making himself familiar with the truck’s controls when Danny pounded twice on the roof of the cab to move it.

  Werner finished crawling towards one of the other metal buildings. He silently went in and found the window facing the forest. From his slightly higher elevation he was in a better position to look down on the hostiles when they got closer. He cursed when he couldn’t see Peters’ body. I just need to wait now for everything to come together. Slowly opening the window inwards, the outside screen hid his presence until he was ready to fire.

  The wind carried the unmistakable sound of his truck. By the time he could see the truck, it was obvious the boys had disobeyed him and went on the attack. Well, those boys are ballsy to go against that many men with only a shotgun and .22. The assorted pops and bangs of shots directed at the armored pickup truck received short bursts from an M4 in return. Little bastards went through my bags, good on them.

  “I can’t see where any of them are!” The seventeen year old cursed to himself, and increased speed so they couldn’t jump out of the high grass at him and his brother. The uneven ground was surprisingly smooth as he compared the ride to his four-wheeler over the same ground. The truck bounced hard and he fought to correct the wheel as he saw men popup and run from the truck.

  Danny was thrown from his perch behind the cab to the back of the bed and narrowly missed being catapulted out of the truck. He regained a semblance of balance and fired into the men as they scattered and dove for cover, like a video game, except he heard men swearing and firing back at him. A mixture of sounds from missed shots that sounded like bugs to smacks as bullets impacted the armored truck body.

  Werner was incredulous, he watched men jump out of the way of the truck, with the boy in back calmly firing short bursts into the men, while taking fire at the same time. The driver sped up as he headed straight back to the containers, a few men rose to fire at them and the boy bouncing around in the back of the truck appeared to have figured out he was wasting ammo every time he tried to return fire.

  Werner used the distraction from the truck to head back to the container. The moment he broke cover he could feel the near misses, and then he felt the punch to his chest as he was knocked off his feet. He lay on his back looking up, appreciating the blue sky and the breeze blowing through the grass as he tried not to think about the excruciating pain in his chest. He finally gathered up his courage and looked down where he could see where a round had gone through the ammo pouch. Pulling out both magazines, he saw where the hole went through them both. Dropping them both at his side, he reached in and pressed his finger through the hole in the vest until he felt the bullet where it had stopped after hitting the ceramic plate. The entire area was a dull throbbing with the pain expanding out in all directions. His entire side felt like it’d just had a knife plunged into it, as he rolled over on his front, to crawl towards better cover. Once behind the container, he let William help him to his feet as the pain made him want to cry out, and he almost blacked out. William helped him loosen up the armor and he looked at where he was hit and was surprised to find two huge bruises. He checked the vest and found the other impact had taken out the satphone. Realization of what he had to do shouted at him. He stumbled to the vehicle and got in on the passenger side. He quickly brought the radios and command system back online as he heard radio chatter, then acknowledgement they could ‘see’ the truck on their screens. Before he could pick up the handset, the ground shook as an Apache gunship narrowly passed over. The blast of wind from the propellers knocked William over as Danny shouted in glee. A second later another helicopter followed the first.

  “Attention on the net. This is Rainbow 6 Romeo. We are taking fire from the grass 30 meters to our south. The boys watched as the two Apaches did a leisurely turn to the right then felt the air being beat as a pair of Black Hawks set down in the grass along the tree line. Gunners on both helicopters returned fire into the tree line decimating the trees before lifting off after disgorging their cargo of infantry. There was only the sound of the wind and the helicopters circling high above. Voices could be heard arguing from the grass, then a single shot rang out. “We surrender!” Seven men slowly rose from the grass, their hands high above their heads. The troops spread out abreast and slowly made their way towards the group. Both boys rushed towards the men, each aiming their M4s forward. Werner thought it would be a bloodbath.

  “Here’s his trail,” Danny shouted to William as he followed the bent and broken grass, while still keeping his carbine trained on the men, wishing for them to do something stupid.

  Fifty feet later they found the general. He was on his back, passed out. There was no sign of blood but he was pale white, the tiniest of movement from his chest confirming he was still with the living.

  Werner followed after the boys after establishing that he and the boys were accepted as friendlies, with the two squads heading their way. With his chest and gut on fire, he followed after the boys, making sure they were not in the way of him being able to fire on the surviving attackers. When one of the boys shouted he’d found their father, still breathing, an ugly thought the NCO was having was dismissed.

  Werner managed to get the body armor off the general and saw two huge bruises, bruises that he’d seen before. “Medic! On me!” Werner shouted, looking up and seeing both squads had reached his attackers. One squad was checking them out while the other provided security. He wasn’t sure if there was a medic until the order was repeated by the squad’s own NCO, and a specialist sprinted towards him.

  “You see that? I think he may have broken ribs keeping him from breathing, maybe even a punctured lung. He’s going to need a medevac.” Werner said while trying to remain calm. And wishing the medic didn’t look like he was sixteen.

  Werner thought he was going to have an attack of his own as the medic examined the general, then removed his stethoscope. “You may be right but I’m more worried about blunt trauma to the chest possibly causing an arrhythmia to the heart. His irregular heartbeat needs immediate attention. His breathing is labored, but he’s breathing.” The young specialist looked over to his sergeant and waved him over.

  “The General’s looking bad, we could lose him at any moment. We need an immediate AIREVAC. The sergeant here needs to be on it, too.” Werner looked at the kid like he was crazy. “I can see the holes in your vest and detect you’re having respiratory problems. Now, get ready to fly out with the general.”Werner heard both kids gasp behind him at the news.

  Werner took the general’s weapons and ammo, then pointed to both the sons. “I’m going to make sure your dad is okay, and stays that way.” He handed first the general’s weapons and th
en his own to the boys. I’ll see to it that everything works out. Take my truck and park it in the garage out of sight. I’ll see to it that you get some rations. Just because there’s no one to stop you, don’t think about looting the grocery store, and just because you have better weapons, leave the Zs alone if they come sniffing around unless you have to shoot.” Both boys almost stumbled under the weight of the additional weapons and ammo. Werner went over to the sergeant as he finished coordinating the AIREVAC.

  “Staff Sergeant Smythe, those boys have to stay behind to guard that conex. Help them improve their defensive position and release any extra supplies you may have for them. They are going to keep the utility truck. Make sure they know how to use the radios, and get them situated with a call sign for this location. I don’t know how many regs we’re talking about breaking here, but those are the general’s sons and they sure as hell aren’t a pair of candy asses. They must stay here, and that’s straight outta the general’s mouth.” The sergeant started to argue the many problems with the idea when they were both almost knocked over as the Blackhawk flared for landing.

  “Screw it. You’re taking my ride, so while I’m stuck here waiting for it to return, I’ll keep my people busy. Now, get on your ride.” The sergeant held out his hand and Werner pumped it before following the team moving the general.”

  Chapter 25

  Surprise, Arizona, April 6, 2029

  Gloria continued driving on the sidewalk another hundred feet all the while holding down the truck’s horn until she got to the clinic door. Dr Walker rushed out with an orderly, annoyance immediately changed to concern when he saw Gloria.