Indeadpendence Day

by Gregory, S. K.

  “Do you want to stay out here?” I snapped.

  She stomped away from me and I followed her through the trees. I was just relieved that she was okay.

  “Are you injured?” I asked her.

  “What do you care?” she shot back.

  I took hold of her arm and spun her around. She had a bruise on the side of her head, marks on her face, but otherwise seemed okay.

  “I didn’t want any of this to happen,” I said.

  “You still kicked me out,” she said. She tried to sound angry, but her voice wavered as she spoke.

  “I was angry. I spoke to the general and he will let you back in.”

  She jerked her arm away, “What if I don’t want to go back?”

  “Where are you going to go?”

  “I don’t know. But if they can do that to Adam, I don’t want to think about what they will do to the rest of us. You were right about me. I can’t just lie down and die. I’m going to get Cady and Lynn and we’re leaving.”

  “They’re not going to just let you walk out with the cure.”

  “She’s a little girl. Not a cure.”

  “Let’s get back and get some rest. We can talk about this in the morning.”

  She shook her head, “No, I’m serious Gabe. They turned him into a monster.”

  “I know. Let’s get back and we can talk about this later.”

  She started walking again, but I could tell she was determined to do this. I couldn’t argue with her. Everything she said was right. They couldn’t be trusted, but how long would we last outside the base?

  We stayed silent most of the way back.

  The gate opened to allow us back inside. McCarthy was waiting on the other side.

  “My office,” he said.

  “You said I could get her once the run was done,” I said.

  “That’s not what this is about. We have a breach of security.”

  Adam.

  “Yes, I know. I’ll debrief you,” I said.

  “What do you mean you know? Did you release him?” McCarthy said.

  “Is he talking about Adam?” Rachel asked.

  McCarthy’s face clouded with rage, “Both of you follow me.”

  I noticed two guards behind us as we walked. This wasn’t good.

  Once in the office, he said, “Where is he?”

  “Dead,” Rachel said.

  “He wasn’t released, he escaped. He attacked Rachel and I had to stop him,” I said.

  “You have destroyed months of research. Who cares about her? This will set us back in everything.”

  He clicked his fingers at the guards, “I want them both arrested and put in solitary confinement. No food or water.”

  “You can’t do that!” Rachel cried.

  When one of the guards grabbed me, I elbowed him in the face then smashed his head into the wall. The other one tried to hit Rachel. She brought her arm up and deflected the blow, before kicking him in the balls. She did listen.

  I finished him off with a kick to the head.

  McCarthy reached for his radio, but I beat him to it. I pulled a gun on him.

  “Don’t be stupid, Gabe,” he said.

  I punched him hard in the face. He fell against the wall and collapsed.

  Turning to Rachel I said, “We don’t have much time. Grab Cady and Lynn and meet me out front.”

  “What are we going to do?” she asked.

  “Get the hell out of here,” I replied.

  She smiled at me and ran from the room.

  I headed for the fleet. The truck with the supplies was parked at the front and the keys were still in the ignition. Jumping in, I started it up.

  Cortez appeared in front of me. He waved at me.

  “Did you find her?” he asked, coming up to the window.

  I nodded, “I need you to walk away Cortez.”

  “What?”

  “Just trust me. Walk away. You saw nothing.”

  He nodded slowly, “Got it. I saw nothing.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief when he left.

  The side door opened up ahead and Rachel, Lynn and Cady hurried out. I flicked the lights to signal to them.

  They climbed up in the cab beside me.

  “Where are we going?” Rachel asked.

  “Anywhere but here.”

  Twenty Five

  Adam

  Dragging me damaged leg behind me, I made my way back to the base. I was still soaked from my dip in the river, but I couldn’t feel the cold.

  I was done playing the nice guy. If they wanted a zombie, they would get one. Rachel deserved to suffer like Gabe did.

  Back at the gate, there was something going on as soldiers ran around. A truck crashed through the gate and drove off. I caught a glimpse of Gabe behind the wheel.

  Soldiers scrambled around. I grabbed the nearest one and bit into his throat. Tearing off a chunk of flesh, I dropped the body to the ground.

  An all you could eat buffet.

  Grinning, I started picking them off. In all the chaos, no one noticed me at first. I made my way across to the munitions building. I found a couple of grenades. No point in giving them any advantage.

  I pulled the pins and tossed them into the middle of the room. Hurrying outside, the building exploded a few seconds later.

  The blast brought the soldiers running. I slipped into the darkness before they spotted me.

  I wanted McCarthy. Higson never made it off the boat apparently so McCarthy was put in charge. He was the one giving orders when it came to me.

  His office door was lying open and two guards lay on the ground. Gabe. I recognised his handiwork.

  There was a moan from behind the desk. McCarthy pulled himself up from the ground. When he saw me, he scrambled for a gun. I slammed a hand into his chest and he fell back.

  “Surprised to see me?” I asked.

  “Stand down, soldier. That is an order.”

  “I’m not a soldier anymore. You made me into a monster, so I’m going to behave like one.”

  “Wait,” he cried, holding up his hands, “There’s a cure. We can fix you.”

  “You already tried. You can’t reverse the tissue damage. There is no cure for me.”

  He screamed as I ripped one of his arms free from his body. I watched him bleed out on the floor.

  There was a burst of static from the radio in the corner. This wouldn’t be any fun without my partner.

  *

  Gabe

  “Are you there, Gabe?” Adam’s voice filled the cab.

  It took a second to realise it was coming from the radio. Cady whimpered at the sound.

  I lifted the receiver, “You're still alive then.”

  “Alive isn't entirely accurate. I'm back at base. I didn't exactly get a warm welcome but I had a good meal,” he chuckled.

  “What do you want?”

  “Let's finish this. Come back to base.”

  I pulled the truck over to the side of the road, glancing at Rachel. If he was going on the rampage, I had to stop him.

  “You're not going,” she said.

  “I can't just walk away while he's on the loose.”

  “He’ll kill you,” she said.

  “He’ll try. Take the truck. I'll catch up to you. There's a town a few miles from here. If you wait on the outskirts I'll be there as quickly as I can. If I'm not there in two hours, I want you to get out of here.”

  I opened the truck door and hopped out. Rachel jumped out after me.

  “You're insane. Don't do this, don't leave,” she cried.

  “I have to end it. For Adam. For all of us,” I argued.

  She grabbed my shirt, “No, I don't want you to go.”

  “You're a survivor, Rachel. You don't need me.”

  “That’s not why.”

  She kissed me, “Please come back to me.”

  “I will.”

  Twenty Six

  Gabe

  The base was in chaos. Bodies lay everywher
e and standing amongst them was Adam.

  “What did you do?”

  “What I was made to do. Destroy. I'm a zombie. And you kill zombies, so let's do this already.”

  I pulled my gun and fired off some shots at him. He threw himself behind a truck.

  “A gun, really? Scared to go one on one with me?” he called.

  “Stick your head out and ask me that again.”

  “Come on Gabe, you know you want to,” Adam said.

  I dropped the gun, “Fine, let's go.”

  He stepped out with a grin on his face, “I always wondered what would happen in a fight between us.”

  “Spoiler alert, I win.”

  He chuckled, “God, I missed that wit. We made a good team.”

  I stared him down, “What is this, Adam? You were never one to hold a grudge.”

  “No, that was your department. The truth is, I don’t want to be like this. I can’t be like this. It’s like some crazy Jekyll and Hyde in my head and I don’t know which side will win out. So we do this, we fight. If I win then the zombie side of me wins. If I lose, well, there’s no one else I would want putting me down.”

  “Sounds fair,” I said.

  We squared off against each other. Adam jabbed and I deflected. I drove a fist into his ribs.

  He hit me in the face and I stumbled. There was a lot more force to his blows, especially since he couldn’t feel pain.

  I kicked out at his leg and heard something snap. He growled at me and tried to tackle me. I spun him away and he landed on the ground.

  He rolled to his knees and got up.

  “I can really feel the anger now,” he said.

  “Bring it,” I replied.

  I jabbed him in the face, but he slammed me in the ribs hard. He grabbed me by the throat and slammed me into the side of a truck. My head stuck it and pain coursed through me. He was really strong.

  “Any last words?” he asked, hitting me again.

  “Fuck you,” I croaked.

  “Aw, Gabe. I really thought they would have been better. I bet you always thought you’d go out in a blaze of glory. Instead you get to be eaten by your former best friend.”

  I punched him in the balls. He may not have felt much, but he felt that. Before he could recover, I dived for my bag and pulled out my secret weapon.

  “Hey Adam, catch,” I called.

  As he turned, I threw him a surprise. A brick of C4 wired to a detonator.

  “Goodbye, Adam,” I said.

  I pressed the button. The blast sent me flying into the dirt. I lay there dazed for a few seconds, trying to convince myself that I hadn’t just murdered my partner. He wanted it to end, he said as much.

  I just wished there had been another way.

  *

  Rachel

  “It's been too long. He should be here by now,” Lynn said.

  “He’ll be here,” I said. He had to be. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was actually in control. I felt angry. Determined. Not that horrible despair from before. I’d given up, checked out. I couldn’t do that anymore. I didn’t want to do it anymore.

  We were parked in a lot behind an outlet store on the edge of town. We were at the top of a hill and I could see movement in the streets below. Zombies most likely. So far nothing had come near us, but I was ready to move if they did.

  We just had to give Gabe a little more time.

  Cady was starting to fuss. Lynn tried to soothe her by singing a lullaby.

  “She likes Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” I said.

  Lynn started singing it and I was reminded of the day this all started. I started crying.

  Lynn reached out and squeezed my hand.

  “I can’t lose anyone else,” I said. “I didn’t want to care about him or anyone because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing someone else.”

  “I know, sweetheart. He’ll be here.”

  I closed my eyes for a moment. Lynn screamed and bumped into me.

  Outside her window, a zombie had appeared. Its face was pressed against the glass.

  “Shit,” I cried. I reached for the key to start the truck. Before I could, my window broke as another zombie smashed through it.

  “Move,” I cried as we clambered into the back of the truck. The zombie who smashed my window was trying to get inside.

  “What do we do?” Lynn cried.

  I spied a crowbar lying on top of the canned food that was stacked up. I lifted it and swung it into the zombies head as hard as I could. It fell backwards out the window.

  “Rachel,” Lynn called as another took its place.

  She pointed to a hatch above her. I climbed onto the cans and opened it. Heaving myself up, I pulled Cady up after me and Lynn quickly followed. We slammed the hatch shut.

  I moved to the edge and found a dozen zombies around the truck.

  “What now?” Lynn asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  Where the hell was Gabe?

  Twenty Seven

  Gabe

  I crested the hill on the motorbike I’d taken from the base and spotted the truck. The first thing I saw was Rachel and the others on top of the truck. As I got closer I could see why.

  It was surrounded by zombies. Rachel fired off a few shots and took out two of them. How was I going to get close enough to them?

  Stopping the bike, I checked out the area. The truck was parked close to a shopping cart bay. If I could get up on top of it, I could jump to the truck.

  I moved around, keeping an eye on the zombies, but they seemed to only be interested in Cady’s wailing.

  As I climbed up into the roof, I felt a stabbing pain in my chest, definitely some broken ribs.

  Keep moving.

  I got to the top and realised I had misjudged the gap. It was too far to jump.

  Rachel spotted me, “Gabe! We’re trapped.”

  I pulled out my gun and started shooting. Every bullet hit the target but there was still a crowd gathered and the noise had attracted more of them.

  When I ran out of bullets, I threw the gun at one of them. It smacked it right I the face and the gun clattered to the ground. The zombie didn't even blink.

  Rachel quickly ran out of ammo too.

  “What do we do?” She called.

  I lowered myself onto the roof, feeling exhausted all of a sudden.

  “I don't know,” I said.

  “Are you hurt?” she asked.

  I looked up at her, “I'm fine,” I winced.

  “Liar.”

  “Just give me a minute to catch my breath, then I'll lead them away and you can get back in the truck.”

  “Don't even think about it, you wouldn't make it five feet.”

  “I’m fine,” I said. I tipped forward almost falling off the roof. I caught myself just in time.

  “Gabe!” Rachel cried.

  She came to the edge of the truck and crouched down. She reached out a hand towards me.

  I scooted back from the edge, “It’ll be okay,” I said.

  Lynn cried out as the truck lurched. The zombies were banging into it causing it to rock.

  Rachel fell onto her side, her gun went over the edge.

  She scrambled up and backed into the middle with the others.

  “They’re going to knock it over,” Lynn cried.

  She was right, they would eventually tip it. I had to do something. I could lead them away. It was the only choice.

  Now if only the ground would stop moving. I stood up and steadied myself.

  “Gabe, don’t you dare,” Rachel yelled.

  The truck lurched again, actually lifting a few inches off the ground. They all screamed.

  “Rachel?” I called.

  She looked over at me, “Get ready. Don’t hesitate.”

  “No, Gabe.”

  I jumped to the ground, my whole body jarred painfully from the impact.

  “Come on, you fuckers!” I yelled.

  They caught my scent a
nd turned on me like a pack of wild dogs. I started running across the parking lot with them on my heels.

  Spots appeared in front of my eyes and I started to slow down. I couldn’t run anymore. I just hoped they made it.

  Falling to my knees, I pitched forward onto my stomach and lay there.

  My vision swam and in the distance I could hear what sounded like gunshots. I blacked out.

  *

  Rachel

  I watched Gabe go down and felt my heart lurch. We were already back in the cab, the engine was running.

  I spun the wheel, determined to get to him when a loud crack sounded and one of the zombie’s heads exploded.

  Slamming on the brakes, I watched as the rest all went down in a hail of gunfire. Had the soldiers from the base caught up to us? There couldn’t be many of them left and why would they save us?

  When the gunfire stopped, I opened the door.

  “No, Rachel,” Lynn cried.

  “I have to see if he’s okay,” I said. I jumped out and raced towards him, hoping nobody mistook me for a zombie.

  “Gabe!” I cried, dropping to his side. The zombies hadn’t reached him, but he must be really injured.

  “Gabe, can you hear me?” I said, checking he had a pulse. He did.

  When I looked up, a dozen men in black were surrounding us with automatic weapons.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  One of them stepped forward, a tall man in his forties, “Miss, has any of your party been bitten?”

  “No, we haven’t. Are you from the base?”

  “We just arrived in this town. My name is Colonel Jacobs. What base are you talking about?”

  “It’s back that way,” I said, pointing in the direction, “We left it. Do you have a doctor on your team?”

  One of the others stepped forward, he was carrying a medical case.

  He rolled Gabe onto his back. Gabe groaned loudly.

  “What’s his name?” the medic asked.

  “Gabe. Is he going to be okay?”

  I waited while he checked him over, “He has some broken ribs, multiple abrasions and a concussion. We can move him to our headquarters.”

  They lifted him off the ground and carried him towards a truck on the other side of the parking lot. Lynn and Cady joined us.