The Ark Series (Book 3): The Ark of Alliance

by Kotrous, Scott

  He stands there contemplating the ramifications of getting a little baked, but then quickly dismisses the thought and stuffs them into his pockets before grabbing a couple bottles of wine off the rack and running upstairs and back to the group. “I got weed and wine . . . figure the wine will hold them over until the weed kicks in . . . just don’t get ’em drunk.” His smile quickly falls.

  Maggie looks at the packages of edibles and the bottles and then up at her uncle. She shrugs her shoulders and takes them both. “Let’s give it a try.” She hands the wine to Jen and then John hands her a bottle opener.

  Peter and Kelly run up and John turns toward them. “Hey, almost everyone’s ready to move out. How you guys doin’ over here?” Peter looks at John and waits for an answer.

  “Almost ready to go. You two start moving everyone to the Ark and we’ll be along shortly.”

  They both nod their heads and then turn and start ushering people toward the basement with Dusty barking at them and looking like he’s trying to herd them.

  John turns back to the girls, who are pushing the edibles away but taking the wine.

  He turns to look at Kristie, who’s still recovering from the gunshot wound, along with the two little girls who still haven’t left her side practically the entire time. Even though he can’t remember either of their names, the sight of the two little girls wiping the injured girl’s forehead, seemingly unfazed while in the midst of all the tumult, is something to take notice of . . . compassion within chaos is something to behold.

  He walks over to the girls and kneels down beside them. He places his hand on Kristie and almost instantly the room begins to quiet, and the yelling and screaming seem to fade into the background.

  He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, then looks at the two girls and smiles. “So, how you two little ones holdin’ up? I see you’ve been taking good care of Kristie here, which you’ve been doing a great job of, by the way.”

  One of the girls looks up at him. “I helped save her life.” She goes back to wiping her face with a cloth.

  “Oh, yeah? How’d you do that?”

  “Peter and Maggie put some of my blood in her so she can live.”

  “Well that’s a very noble thing to do. What’s you guys’ name?”

  “I’m Mia, and this is my sister Steph.” She continues to wipe the sweat from Kristie’s forehead while her sister rubs a cloth on her arms.

  “Well, Mia and Steph, I think what you two are doing is very special and I commend both of you for it. Just keep up the good work and pretty soon she’ll be back on her feet and have you two to thank for it.” He smiles and then stands up and comes back to reality as the yelling becomes audible again.

  He turns his attention to Maggie and Jen, both looking like they’re finishing up with the girls. “Any luck with them?”

  Maggie stands up and exhales loudly. “Yeah, they ate ’em . . . just told them their medicine was in the edibles . . . so we’ll see what happens, but they’ll be drunk long before they kick in anyway.”

  “Hopefully by the time we get everyone else moving and out the door they’ll be good and stoned for transport.” He looks at the girls just as one of them pukes, followed by another.

  “Oh boy . . . well—let’s just move out and see what happens.”

  He nods before addressing the medical staff to get ready to transport the sick and wounded.

  Once everyone gets into position, they attempt to pick up the girls, but are now met with intoxicated hostility and resistance, which mainly consists of flailing arms.

  They eventually get everyone downstairs and to the hatch, when John realizes a problem. “Okay, so what’re we gonna do? How are we gonna get these girls down the hatch?” John crosses his arms and looks at Maggie, and then at everyone else standing around.

  Maggie stares at the hole while tapping on her chin. “We can maybe somehow strap them onto the stretchers and lower them down vertically? Think that would work?”

  John thinks about it for a second, while multiple voices verbally agree to her idea. He wishes they could just use the slide, but he’s uncertain how to lower it since it seems to only work if a cart is present. He bobs his head and then turns toward Maggie. “You might be onto something, little lady. I think I may just have some ratchet straps in the garage. Let me check.”

  He takes off and bolts upstairs, taking two steps at a time. He continues his fast pace until he gets to the door leading to the garage and stops for a second to catch his breath before opening the door. He enters the garage, and the overhead lights turn on. He walks past a few cars, makes his way all the way to the end of the garage and over to a shelf containing various items, and soon sees some bright orange straps neatly coiled on one of the shelves. He grabs them and runs back downstairs.

  John walks closer to the group and hands the straps to Maggie and Nate, who take them and proceed to strap Kristie down while she checks on Mia and Steph, who obviously look concerned.

  Maggie pulls on all three straps and gives a thumbs up while Peter gets up and then climbs down the ladder followed by a few men, and then someone lowers Dusty down.

  John and a few other people position themselves over the hole and get ready while Maggie and Nate both lift the stretcher and carry Kristie over to the hole. They slowly tilt the stretcher and get the lower half of the stretcher into the hole when they feel a hand grab hold and take a little weight off. Once they get the okay to keep going, they lower her down while Maggie holds her head from flopping before gently letting it fall to one side.

  They almost get her completely in the hole when it happens; one of the straps loosen and her body drops a few inches, forcing her to wake up and scream in pain all at the same time.

  “Fuck! We gotta get her flat, people; get her down there now!” John holds on as long as he can before getting the okay from Peter to let go.

  Kristie cries out in pain with every movement and Nate starts to get anxious and looks like he’s panicking. “Move, move! Let me get down there!” He moves around John and tries to go down the ladder, but the guy on the ladder stops him.

  Maggie and John both grab Nate’s shirt and try to pull him back up, but he slaps their hands away and continues to climb down the ladder. The guys below yell to stop, but it’s too late. Nate slips off the ladder and falls to the ground right after Peter and his helper get Kristie out of the way. Nate screams out in pain while he grabs his arm.

  “Fuck! Man down. Nate looks like he broke something.” John looks into the hole and sees Peter checking on him. “Pete, is he alright?”

  Peter looks up. “Well, his bone is sticking outta his arm, so I’m gonna say no.”

  “How’s Kristie? Is she okay?”

  “Hold on; let me check.” He goes over to check on her and then yells up, “She tore her stitches and she’s bleeding again. She’s passed out again, but we need to get her patched up again ASAP.”

  “Fuck!” John grits his teeth and then looks at Maggie and some of the medical staff. “Get down there, guys. Patch up Kristie first, and then see what you can do about the arm.”

  Maggie and two other people climb down the ladder and start working on Kristie. John looks to Kelly and Jen, who look helpless and not knowing what to do. He instructs them to bring the girls over to him one by one. John then yells down to Peter and the guy on the ladder to get ready for the girls to be lowered down.

  They carry Tammy over first and set her next to John. John looks at Tammy. who flops her head back and looks at him.

  “Oh, hi, handsome. What’s your name?” Tammy smiles while staring at him.

  “John. Nice to meet you. Now, I’m gonna lower you into the hatch, so please try not to squirm or resist, okay? You think you can do that?”

  “Anything you want, Daddy.”

  “Okay, great. Here we go.” He grabs her under her armpits and pulls her closer to the hole. Once he gets verbal confirmation from below that they are ready, John pulls Tammy into the hole and le
ts her legs drop down, at the same time pulling her shirt up a little.

  Tammy flops her head back again and her eyes roll open. “Oh, hi again, Daddy; we gonna fuck now?”

  “Ah—no. We will not.” He tries to lower her further, but she’s not making it easy.

  Right when her head gets close to his, she stretches her neck and kisses him on the side of his lips. “Are you sure you don’t want to fuck me, Daddy? I bet you have a huge cock for my tight little pussy.”

  “No, I will not be fucking you. Not to mention, I’m married, so can you please help me so I can help you?”

  Her demeanor instantly changes and she gets angry. “Fine. But it’s never stopped any of the other married men from fucking me, asshole!”

  “Yeah, that’s great, but I’m still not fucking you.” He moves his head as far away from hers as possible and yells out, “Can you guys please hurry and take her?”

  No sooner does he get done speaking, her weight is taken off his hands and Tammy is lowered into the hole. He watches her safely get to the ground before asking for the next girl. They carry another girl over and John gets her in the same position to lower her down.

  “You are handsome,” she whispers in his ear. “Oh, and you can fuck me too.” She smiles up at John, who doesn’t say a word and just lowers her in. They get the last two girls into the hole, followed by the stretchers, and then whoever’s left topside, before he climbs down the ladder, closing the hatch on the way down.

  He climbs down and looks around at everyone, and then looks at two of the girls still looking at him with lustful eyes that make him very uncomfortable. Once Maggie and the medical staff get Kristie stitched up and Nate’s arm bandaged up, they get the girls back on the stretchers and then move out and make their way through the corridor.

  They soon get to the junction with the makeshift guard post and get confirmation from the men that there’s been no new movement coming from the military. John and Peter go over a few details with them while everyone else continues down the tunnel.

  They finish up with the men and soon catch up with everyone. They walk for a while and eventually get to the unloading area and then to the blast doors, where they tell the group to get set up.

  John walks by everyone and goes over to the emergency line, picks it up, and waits for someone to answer. “Adam . . . yeah, ah, you need to open these doors right now because we got the military coming this way.”

  “John, we’re still processing all the test samples, but are you aware there’s someone in your group that has indeed tested positive? A Peter Timmons. Not to mention, there are four girls that tested positive for numerous narcotics. So, as of now, we’re unable—”

  “Just open the fucking doors, Adam. I’m not—”

  “John, I don’t think you understood what I just informed you of. This Peter Timmons has been infected, and so there’s no way I can let him in.”

  “He’s fine. He was bit a while ago and whatever his dad gave him seemed to counteract whatever this is . . . bacteria or virus or whatever. Anyway, he’s fine; just let us in.”

  “You know I can’t do that, John. I cannot risk everyone’s life by letting in an infected individual. You know I can’t—”

  “Then quarantine him once we get in and do your own tests. But you can’t leave us out here.”

  “We’re still going through all the samples and should know more soon. But either way, John, this Peter Timmons cannot enter the Ark. The four girls that came up positive for narcotics I’ll make an exception for, since we have a treatment program for that. But I’ll let you know as soon as I get all the test results back.”

  “Just make it fast, Adam. We have two injured people in need of immediate medical attention.”

  “Copy that, John.” Adam hangs up the phone.

  John gently places the handset back and then turns to face everyone staring at him looking defeated; he tries not to make eye contact with Maggie. “Alright, people, we’re just going to have to sit tight for a little while. In the meantime, I want to set up defensive positions in this area. Find anything you can, sandbags, barrels, whatever, and make as many barriers to hide behind as possible, and let’s hope they get these doors open before the military comes.”

  Chapter 18

  The Major waits next to the hatch for his team to finish gearing up. He’s eager to get into the tunnels and finally get the chance to hopefully intercept his target. His patience is wearing thin, and his frustration level is at an all-time high.

  As soon as they’re ready to move out, he tells the private to grab Simon and the Ark experts from upstairs, and then he looks at the man standing next to him. “We advance on your order, captain.”

  “Copy that, sir.” The captain turns to address his team. “Squad, on me, move out.”

  They all climb down the ladder and regroup before the captain moves forward with his team right behind him in single file as they move through the corridor. They move swiftly and quietly through the tunnels, hugging the wall while avoiding the rail tracks on the other side. They soon get to a bend in the tunnel. The captain puts up his fist and the unit stops just before the bend. He pulls out a small camera and extends the flexible pole just enough to see clearly around the bend. He surveys the situation for a few minutes before relaying the newly gained intel to his squad.

  Once his team knows the plan, the captain turns back to the tunnel and yells out, “This is the United States Armed Forces. Lay down your weapons or you will be fired upon. You have ten seconds to comply.” He turns back to his team and waits ten seconds before yelling out again, “I repeat, this is the United States Armed Forces . . . surrender your weapons or we will be forced to fire upon you. You have ten seconds to comply.” He waits another ten seconds and then gives new orders to his team.

  He pulls a can of smoke from his vest and throws it into the tunnel, followed by a second one. He waits for the hiss of the escaping gas to start before showing the finger countdown to his team.

  He points forward and then turns the corner and starts laying down blind cover fire into the cloud of smoke that instantly gets returned upon. Bullets whiz overhead as more of his team crosses to the other side of the tunnel, firing with every step they take.

  Additional smoke grenades are thrown into the fog, but much farther than the first ones. They attack from both sides of the tunnel, laying down a hailstorm of bullets on their target as they slowly move forward while staying crouched down. They are now fully devoured by the smoke and visibility is extremely limited.

  They continue to fire blind as they get closer and closer to their target, and the return fire gets fewer and further between. They can tell the hostiles have moved back by the sound of their rifle reports echoing down the corridor, and they soon come upon a junction in the tunnel containing a few makeshift sandbag barricades and two dead bodies lying just behind them.

  They cease fire as Agent Smith looks at the blueprints on his tablet and then lets them know which way to go before two more smoke canisters are thrown down the tunnel.

  The captain instructs a three man team to branch off to clear the corridor leading to the main house, while everyone else holds their position and waits for the team to get back with the ‘all clear’ before moving forward.

  They continue through the tunnels without any return fire, which enables them to pick up their pace slightly.

  The dimly lit tunnel soon starts to brighten and appears to open up just ahead. They stop along the wall just feet from the open area and hold their position as Agent Smith lets them know what’s ahead.

  The captain asks for the tablet and reviews it with his men before motioning for a squad member to move forward.

  The soldier crouches down and then quietly duck walks along the wall until he gets to the opening; then he instantly stops and drops to his belly when the gunfire coming from the open area erupts.

  The entire team hits the deck and gets into a prone position while the bullets fly overhead. They rec
eive hand signals from a forward team member to stay put, warning that he doesn’t have visual confirmation of the hostiles.

  The captain slowly crawls backward and eventually gets to a safe area where the Major and Agent Smith are. “Sir, we are currently completely locked down and without visibility have no viable means to advance. What are your orders?”

  The Major looks at him with disappointment and frustration lingering behind those eyes. He gets prone and crawls forward a few feet to get a better view. After a few minutes to survey the situation, he crawls back to safety and looks at Agent Smith. “Time to earn that expert tag, Agent. How do I get in?”

  Agent Smith taps on his tablet and then shows it to the Major. “Every house, building, etcetera has an evac point, thus, it also has a tunnel; you can double back and flank them from another tunnel.”

  The Major thinks for a second and then starts to move backward. “Captain, I want you and your men to hold this entrance and keep their fire on you, and I’ll head back to base house and gather a team to find another tunnel. We still don’t have comms back, so be prepared to move out as soon as you hear our attack. I’ll send someone your way once we’ve established our objective and when we plan to carry out our assault. So, for now, stay put.”

  “Copy that, Major.” The captain gives a quick nod before returning his attention to the hostiles.

  The Major and Agent Smith take off down the corridor, move through the tunnels, and eventually get back to their base of operations. They quickly climb the ladder, get upstairs, and enter the house with the sound of gunfire all around them.

  A soldier runs up and salutes the Major, then proceeds to debrief them on the situation. The Infected have started to overtake the virtual wall of military vehicles that stands between them and the undead, and they’ve managed to slowly move around the vehicles and are starting to get close to the house.

  The Major moves around the soldier and runs upstairs to the master bedroom. He goes over to the window and looks out at what’s unraveling right before his eyes—the flooding of Infected almost overpowering his troops, some getting dangerously close to their base. He grabs the binoculars and proceeds to follow the streaming pack of Infected pouring into the gates without a break in sight even outside the gates.