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

by Kotrous, Scott

  A few people run up to them, almost completely covered in blood and not holding any weapons. One of the guys sets down a pack and begins pulling out supplies. “The military have diverted their attention to the Infected coming our way. We’ll take care of him . . . but how’s your head?” The person proceeds to fill a syringe while another threads a needle, and the other person starts cleaning the wound, which makes Dave growl again.

  Jason looks at his brother’s shoulder. “My head’s fine; just take care of my brother.”

  “I will, but he’s already lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion ASAP. We need to transport him to Medical.” The guy sticks the needle near the wound.

  “Alright. Just patch him up, and then we’ll get him outta here. Just give me a few minutes to finish off the Major while they’re distracted.” He grabs his rifle off the ground and checks the mag.

  Dave attempts to turn his head, but stops himself. “You’re not going anywhere without me, bro. Just wait till this guy stitches my arm back on and I’ll be good to go.”

  “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, bro. Besides, that piece of shit’s all mine.”

  Another group of about half-a-dozen people all holding rifles run up and crouch down next to them. One of them looks at Dave’s shoulder and flinches. “Hot damn, that’s gotta hurt.” He shakes his head and then looks at Jason. “Those cocksuckers up there are distracted; we need to hit ‘em now.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing. Let’s roll.” He pulls a mag off the corpse beside him and then some of the others in the group do the same thing to the other bodies around them.

  They discuss a plan while getting ready, and a few more men and women join them, looking just as blood covered as the rest of them.

  Dave attempts to stand up, but the two people working on him hold him down. “Hands off . . . my brother ain’t goin’ anywhere without me.”

  “Sir, please sit still; we need to stop the bleeding,” the man says before proceeding to work on his shoulder.

  “Dave! Just chill, bro. Let them fix you, and then you’ll be right behind us, okay? But just let them do their job first. Besides, I’ve got plenty of backup.” He looks over at the people crouched around them.

  Dave hesitates while he exhales loudly. “Fine, but I’ll be right behind you as soon as they’re done.”

  “I know you’ll have my back, bro, but just chill for now.” He doesn’t wait for a response and takes off for the adjacent wall, along with half of the group following him, while the other half circle around to the other side of the garage.

  Both groups move along opposite walls and make their way to the opening leading up the ramp to where the military is positioned.

  Jason peeks around the corner and sees a small group of soldiers still left standing; dozens are laid out behind them, while many more lie piled just in front of them . . . some still moving.

  Jason looks to the guy on the other side of the opening, who looks scared to death. He nods his head at the man and again looks up at the soldiers, then sees who he’s looking for. The Major turns to reload his weapon and locks eyes with Jason.

  The Major yells out to his men and then fires at Jason as soon as he steps out from around the corner.

  Jason fires his rifle from his hip before raising it to his eye and firing at his target, striking him multiple times. The Major falls to one knee and then fires his handgun, hitting Jason twice in the chest and then hitting his neck.

  The other men with him exchange gunfire with the last of the soldiers as Jason falls to his knees while blood squirts from his neck. He drops his rifle, grabs his neck, pulls his pistol from his vest, and fires it three times, striking the Major with at least two; which sends him to the ground in a heap.

  The last of the soldiers fall, only to be replaced with at least a dozen undead clawing their way over bodies to get to them.

  The bloodthirsty Incipients seem to come from everywhere as they race down the ramp, tripping over the fallen, only to be met with bullets that eventually take their cranium apart.

  Jason just sits there kneeling . . . staring at the Major . . . just waiting for him to rise.

  Suddenly, an Infected plows into him, sending him to the ground with it on top. It sinks its teeth into the fresh wound that squirts blood for a second before the creature caps it.

  The sensation is almost warming as he closes his eyes and waits for the inevitable. It pulls off a chunk of his neck and then lifts its head just as a bullet enters its brain that snaps the head back and drops it to the ground.

  Dave rushes to his side and immediately grabs Jason’s neck. “Oh, fuck! Bro, can you hear me? Jason, can you—”

  His voice starts to trail off and become inaudible as the world begins to close in around him, narrowing his field of view. The pain soon tapers off and his brain begins to get flooded with endorphins, sending him into a state of comfort. He can see Dave attempting to do something, but he just looks like he’s panicking, something he hasn’t seen from his brother since they were young.

  “I—got ’em bro.” He gasps for air. “I got ’em.” His eyes look in the direction of the Major and then smile when he looks at his brother.

  Dave looks at the Major and then back at his brother. “I know you did, bro . . . you got him.” He lowers his head and tries not to cry.

  He takes a few small, shallow breaths. “David, I—love you, bro—I love you. Just—get—the—door closed.” He takes one last gasp for air before his eyes freeze in time as his soul leaves his body.

  Dave drops his head and cries.

  He puts his hand on his brother’s face and closes his eyelids right before an Infected leaps on his back and bites his shoulder, sending shockwaves through his body. They fall to the ground and the creature releases its grip on his shoulder before slamming to the concrete.

  Dave tries to get up, but another Incipient jumps on his back and another bites his leg. The bites puncture separate parts of his flesh at nearly the same time, which brings him to his hands and knees. He tries to fight off the one on his back, but its grip is too deep on the back of his neck, and he can’t shake him off.

  He punches the one on his leg multiple times before it eventually releases from his calf.

  He suddenly hears a gunshot, followed by two more, and the creature on his back stops moving, but he can still feel it latched to his neck. He attempts to reach his arm around his back while looking in the direction of the gunshots, and sees the Major lying prone while pointing a handgun at him.

  Dave reaches for the creature on his back one more time, when another one side tackles them and the clenched jaws rip from his neck.

  The Major shoots it before it has a chance to get up, and then shoots another one charging them.

  Dave’s adrenaline takes over and he’s able to dive for his handgun and swipe it off the ground before pointing it at the Major.

  “Hey, whoa, slow down there, cowboy. I just saved your life.” The Major holds up his hand.

  “You killed my fucking brother, asshole; you’re definitely gonna die.”

  Dave sees something move out of the corner of his eye and he turns toward it and locks onto a charging Incipient. Just as he goes to pull the trigger, he hears a shot, followed by a slug hitting his right flank like a heavy weight boxer landing a body blow.

  He crunches over right as another bullet flies overhead just grazing his only good shoulder, right as he fires two shots into the Major’s head, connecting both times, leaving the body motionless.

  The charging creature slams into Dave, knocking the gun from his hands and sending them both sideways and to the ground. The wind thrusts from his diaphragm and out his lungs, forcing him to gasp for air while flailing around on the ground for a few seconds before finally regaining his breath.

  He hears the creature screech, followed by gunshots, and then the sound of it hitting the ground. He looks up and sees the man who stitched him up, along with a few others who turn and unload on whatever’
s coming at them.

  He flips on his belly and the pain from his side returns, feeling worse than when he initially got shot. He clutches his side while searching the floor for weapons and eventually finds both his handgun and rifle. He searches around for more ammo, but he’s unable to find any.

  He crawls toward a pile of bodies in a corner of a makeshift barricade set up by the military. A break in the gunfire enables him to hear the faint sound of someone still alive.

  The break doesn’t last long, and the gunfire erupts again just as an Incipient steps on his leg, and then another onto his back, slamming him to the ground as they run past. He finally manages to crawl out of the path of oncoming Infected that continue to flood the area.

  He pulls himself over to where he heard the noise and then flips onto his butt and pulls himself back to the corner while aiming his pistol at the passersby.

  Dave gets up against the wall and continues to aim his gun while whispering, “Is someone alive? Hello?” He sees a hand moving under a pile of bodies and he reaches for it; it grabs his. He gets closer to the pile and then pushes the corpses off that are lying on top of a blood covered body. “Simon, is that you?”

  Simon inhales large deep breaths for a few seconds before raising his head ever so slightly and looking at Dave. “Dave . . . where’s Peter?”

  “I’m not sure, but I know he’s alive. They went to test his blood to determine if he carried a cure . . . that’s the last time I saw him.” Dave flinches when an explosion on the other side of the barrier shakes the foundation as concrete rains down from above.

  * * *

  Simon reaches around to his side and grimaces in pain when he touches a gaping wound that’s pierced his flank. He can feel the blood oozing from the wound at an alarming rate, and he knows his minutes are limited. He sees Dave and a handful of others firing their weapons toward the other side of the barrier, from where the undead are coming from. He attempts to sit up, but the pain is just too intense, and he only manages to prop himself up on a couple dead bodies.

  He coughs up a decent amount of blood before trying to speak. He spits out the last of the blood in his mouth while reaching around for any kind of weapon.

  The group of people fighting alongside Dave has so far created a barrier between them and the Infected, but with every person that gets taken out, the barrier gets weaker and weaker.

  “Dave . . . Dave, find me a weapon, I—” Simon coughs up more blood and then looks up to realize Dave probably couldn’t even hear him. He attempts to yell as loud as he can, but not much comes out. “Dave . . . Dave, I need a gun.”

  Dave fires off a few more rounds before glancing back at Simon and then finishing off his mag. He crouches down and winces in pain when he gets to his butt. He props his rifle in between his legs and then slides the pistol from his vest. He pulls his fucked-up arm to his lap and is able to use the hand that’s surprisingly still operational to check the mag. It’s not full, but it will do for now.

  He slides it over to Simon and then hears screams coming from behind him. He spins around on the ground to the sight of everyone still holding the line tumble to the ground, instantly getting swarmed by Incipients.

  He backs up and gets against the wall close to Simon. “It’s just you and me, buddy. Watch my back while I search for ammo.”

  Simon bobs his head and tries to lift the gun, but he’s unable to. He somehow manages to sit up a little more and is able to prop the gun on his leg.

  Dave nods and then lunges into a pile of bodies and searches around for any type of weapon or ammo. He finds a rifle and quickly checks the mag right as Simon starts firing his weapon in slow, steady, single shots, a few seconds apart.

  He slams the mag into the rifle and then spins around and holds it with his legs so he can pull back the slide. He then pulls his leg up, props the rifle on his knee, and sees numerous Infected bearing down on Simon.

  Dave fires his weapon, but is only able to take down a couple and slow a few others which direct their attention toward him. He pulls the trigger as fast as he can before holding down the trigger and letting the automatic tear into the flesh of the attacking beasts. Some fall, which makes others fall over them, which only slows them down, and it’s not long before he hears the click.

  Two Incipients lunge at him, but he’s able to get his rifle up and block their attacks. He’s forced onto his back while holding back the hungry mouths snapping their jaws at his face as another one piles on, forcing his bad arm straight to the elbow while his good arm slowly gets lower and lower.

  He tries to push up with one arm, but then just drops it to his elbow and holds them off with just his forearms while their saliva and blood splatter from their mouths.

  He looks over at Simon and sees multiple Infected on top of him, but he appears to be fighting them off. He spits out the fluid draining onto his face when another one jumps on, and his wrists start to give out.

  Their faces get closer, and Dave attempts one last push, but it doesn’t work. Right when he’s about to lose strength, he hears multiple gunshots coming from behind and then sees the creature fly off his rifle, followed by a leg following through on its kick.

  The man fires his rifle four successive times and then turns to finish off the ones still left attacking Simon. He then turns toward the oncoming Incipients, who are getting mowed down as fast as they run up.

  The amount of gunfire is like music to his ears, and Dave takes a deep breath. He sits up and then sharply turns his head toward the pile of bodies. He dives for it and searches for weapons again, when he feels something move from underneath the pile at the same time he puts his hand on some steel. He pulls at the gun, but it takes a few times to pry loose. He leans back and checks the rifle when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees a few feet start to twitch.

  Dave sits back and then hears shouting coming from a few of the gunmen while they continue to fire off round after round. He spins around and can see the reason for their shouting, as slower-moving zombies enter the ramp.

  Multiple explosions follow what look like RPG rocket fire streaking overhead the military-made sandbag barricade that surrounds them, except for the sections that have already toppled.

  He checks the rifle, then looks around and finds a couple mags, right before someone grabs his shoulder.

  “Are you alright?”

  Dave turns and is surprised to see Peter crouched next to him. “Peter? Is that you? Holy fuck, man, is it good to see you.”

  Peter smiles for a second before directing his attention to Dave’s shoulder and then yells at someone else, “Maggie, get over here!” He looks at Dave. “We gotta stitch that up or you’re gonna bleed to death.”

  Dave pushes his hand away and points. “Over there. Help your dad.”

  Peter’s face blanches and his mouth gapes right before he looks in that direction. He then leaps off the ground just as Maggie gets to them. He runs over to the pile of bodies and starts ripping them off one by one.

  He pulls off the last body and then drops to his knees when he sees how bad his dad looks. “Dad . . . can you hear me? Dad?” He reaches in to feel a pulse, and his dad grabs his arm.

  Simon slowly opens his eyes as his grip loosens on his arm. “Son, is that you?” He tries to smile once he recognizes his son. “Are you alright, son?”

  Peter looks over his dad’s body. “I’m fine, Dad. But you don’t look so good.” Tears start to form in his eyelids when he realizes his dad isn’t going to make it.

  “Son, listen to me.” He coughs up some blood. “Son, I need you to know how much I love you, and I just only wanted what was best for you. I’m sorry how hard I was on you at times.” He coughs again. “I just wanted what was best for you, to prepare you—”

  “It’s okay, Dad. Your toughness on me has enabled me to stay alive to this day, and for that, I thank you. And I love you too, Dad.” More and more tears pour from Peter’s eyes as he tries desperately to control his emotions, but he knows he�
��s failing, and he lowers his head to his chest.

  “I’m so proud of you, son. And your mother would have been even more proud of you if she were here.”

  Peter abruptly lifts his head while gritting his teeth through the most painful smile of his young life, as an onslaught of emotions devour his entire being, rendering him motionless.

  Simon’s shallow breath turns to a gulp of air. “You need to get this door closed or no one is going to make it.”

  “I’m not gonna leave you, Dad. I’m not gonna leave your side.” Peter gets as close as he can while tears stream from his face.

  “That’s not an option, soldier.” His face freezes while his last breath expels from his body.

  “Dad, no . . . Don’t leave me . . . please, Dad.” Peter cries harder than he’s ever cried for a few minutes, before he just abruptly stops and stands up while grinding his teeth. His breathing gets heavy before he turns toward the Infected as he pulls out two knives and holds them, blade down, and lets out a low growl.

  His eyes tighten when his adrenaline spikes, sending him into a rage like none before, taking over any and all sense of control he thought he once had.

  He sees two get over the wall and lock onto him almost instantly. They quickly get off the ground and are soon sprinting toward him. The creatures seem to slow when he lets out a breath and lowers his head.

  One lunges for him that he easily brushes aside, while he quickly spins and stabs the other Infected in the back of the head and then throws it to the ground. Before the other creature can get up, Peter lunges in the air like a basketball player going to dunk, and plants his blade deep into its skull, rendering it mute.

  He lets the body fall before kicking the head off of his blade and then spins back around right as one tries to grab him. But he’s able to keep the spin going and slices the creatures stomach open, followed by its intestines pouring out onto the floor. He follows it up with a kick to the back of its leg and a knife to its temple.

  He pulls his knife out of its head right as the gunfire becomes audible again. He turns to the sight of numerous zombies pouring into the barricaded area, along with multiple Infected coming right at him.