The Infected (Book 6): Last Shot

by Gowland, Justin

  I looked up from my food “I think I’m more than likely going to need it all to blow the legs of the oil rig.” I answered placing my spoon down. “Speaking of the oil rig, I was going to come and have a word with you about it Rosa.”

  She looked up and her face looked scared for a second, Tom placed a hand on hers and her face returned to normal. It was fleeting, but I saw it and it worried me.

  “Sure!” She stammered.

  I smiled “Look don’t worry I just needed some information on what it looked like.”

  She relaxed slightly, I pressed on “Can you remember how many legs it had?”

  Her face screwed up and I assumed that she was trying to remember what the oil rig looked like.

  “I think it might have had five, but it might have only been four. I can’t be sure because when we went there it was by helicopter and I wasn’t paying too much attention.”

  Again I smiled trying to calm her down “Not a problem Rosa. We’ll just go with enough gear for five legs. Here’s a stupid question but was there any guns or anything around the outside edge of the oil rig?”

  She shook her head “There wasn’t anything like that there when I visited it, but saying that it was before all of this happened.”

  It would make sense that they had placed guns and other security measures since the virus got free. We sat quietly and ate our food. I could see that I made Rosa nervous. We chatted about what was happening here in the Bunker and she seemed to calm down. Tom was the same as usual and never seemed to be bothered by me being there. I finished my food and said thank you to Rosa for her information. I put the empty bowl on the counter and left the dining room. I got to the lifts and decided to go outside. I walked out of the hatch after a few minutes and stood breathing in the cool air. The sun was slowly setting and people were heading my way. I stepped off to the side and watched the sun slip behind the hills in the distance.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The stars started blinking into existence as the sky darkened. With no artificial light around the stars seemed to glow even brighter. The last of the workers slipped inside and the guards started to walk the perimeter when a set of headlights appeared on the road leading to the gates. The guards started to run to the gates and I followed them. I stood watching the lights slowly come down the road. Blinking against the harsh light I heard the crunch of the wheels coming to a stop.

  A familiar voice called out from the darkness “You going to open that fucking gate or what?”

  “That you Mike?” I called out.

  “Yeah, open the gates we’re starving.”

  The guards opened the gates and I stood off to one side as I watched a small Campervan pass by. ‘What the fuck!’ I thought as it passed by. I followed behind as the guards closed the gates behind me. The Campervan pulled to a stop outside where the vehicles were fenced off. The side door opened and Mike climbed out with two other people. I’d seen them around the Bunker but had never spoken to them.

  “Hey Marc, this is Tony and Angela they helped me get this.” He said slapping the side of the van.

  I shook hands with them and they headed inside. Mike closed and locked the side door on the Campervan and I followed him towards the hatchway.

  “What do we need the Campervan for mate?” I asked.

  I could just make out his smile in the darkness “Well when we head to the life boat I thought it might be safer to sleep inside than having to clear out somewhere to sleep and it’s more comfortable than the A.P.C.”

  To tell you the truth I couldn’t fault the logic behind it. “Nice idea mate!”

  We waited with Angela and Tony as the lift slowly made its way up from below.

  “Yeah, it came to me as David and I talked about which vehicle to take. David said the A.P.C made sense, but I hate that fucking thing it’s so uncomfortable. Then I remembered seeing one of those things driving around Thornton before the virus hit. Everyone knew of the dealership out near Catterick. So I asked for people to go and get one and these two stuck their hands up.” He said pointing to Angela and Tony.

  We stepped into the lift and they headed for the dining room and I decided to continue down to the fourth floor after thanking Angela and Tony for their help. The hallway was empty as I walked toward my room. As I passed Chris and Tessa’s room the door opened and Tessa stuck her head out.

  “Hi, Tessa,” I said stopping outside their door.

  “Marc.”

  “Look, Tessa, if I have hurt you in any way please tell me so I can try and fix it.”

  She stared at me “You are taking my child’s grandfather on a suicide run and the father is trying his hardest to convince me it’s the right thing for him to go as well.”

  I shook my head gently “I’m not taking Mike anywhere near that oil rig and I have all but told Chris that I don’t want or need his help.”

  “But we know that he is one of the best shooters here.” She said with a sad look on her face.

  I really didn’t know what to say considering what she said was true. I could at least hopefully ease her concerns about her father. “Look, Mike, is just coming with me to the lifeboat to show me how to use the controls. He is then coming back here whilst I go to the oil rig.”

  Her eye widened “Really?”

  “Yeah really! Tessa the last thing I want is for people to die for something that I feel that I have caused. I was never that person before the virus and I am still not that person. Anyway, I have to go and rest I need to get better for it.” I said turning to leave.

  She caught my arm and said something that knocked me for six “I’m not the only one that’s pregnant. Amy has missed her last two periods and the Doc confirmed it just before she came out to look for you. I just thought you should know.”

  I stood there in the hallway as everything fell into place. I now knew why Amy had been acting so off. I thanked Tessa and walked off to my room in a daze. Closing the door behind me I walked to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed and just stared off at the wall for what seemed a long time. Amy pregnant, how the fuck did that happen? Well, I knew how, but when? These questions and more floated through my now damaged brain. I couldn’t get it through my head that I was now a going to be a father. ‘Well as long as it was mine.’

  What was I thinking it had to be mine if she had missed two periods that would have placed conception back when we were sleeping together? All I could do was sit and think of all the fights and such we had. Amy must have been thinking about protecting her child’s father instead of just being selfish. I could understand her point of view, but it made the task I had even more important the last thing I wanted was for my child to be born into a world that was controlled by Benton’s. Because I knew that if he/she survived then they would be either enslaved by the company or used to experiment on.

  God I was getting myself down just thinking of all the problems and trials that came with them. I lay down and closed my eyes and let my mind off. I dreamt of Amy walking hand in hand with a small girl. The little girl looked the spitting image of her mother only with my eyes. She had her hair pulled back in a small ponytail and had a yellow summer dress on.

  The day was all blue skies and fluffy white clouds. They looked happy to be outside in the sun. I watched them walk toward me and then they walked through me as though I was a ghost. I saw a shadow leave the trees in the distance and stagger toward them. I screamed for them to run, but they just continued to walk toward the staggering figure. As I got closer I saw it was an infected version of me. I could see the hunger on its face. Amy never slowed and the child just looked up at her mother with love and trust in her eyes.

  My infected corpse staggered across the grass toward them never slowing, only stumbling on the odd stone or root. It was only feet away when Amy looked up at the infected and smiled. Instead of screaming and running away she let go of the little girls hand and opened her arms to welcome my infected body into her arms. My infected double tore into her neck and other
bare places on her body. The blood flowed all over and covered the little girl that was still standing beside her mother as the infected ate her alive. Not once did Amy cry out or scream for the little girl to run. But my ghostly form was crying out and screaming myself hoarse trying to get her to run away. Only when Amy’s last breath escaped her body did the infected take notice of the small child. It reached out and she smiled up at the infected. That smile remained on her face as the infected leaned forward to bite at her tender flesh.

  I woke covered in sweat and with tears streaming down my cheeks. I never saw the infected version of myself bite the little girl and I am grateful to whatever is out there for not letting me see that. I lay on my back afraid to close my good eye. I shook with a shiver that started from my soul and made my body crave to be up and away from my bed and this room. I felt as though the room had closed in on me to the extent that I was finding it hard to breath. I nearly fell off the bed and staggered to the bathroom.

  I splashed cold water from the sink onto my face and looked at my face in the mirror. To be honest I’ve looked better and the bruising and closed eye didn’t make me feel any better if anything it made me think of the dream and the infected version of me. A hard knock on the door startled me and I walked to the door whilst drying my face with a small towel.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Marc I need to talk to you.” A low rumbling voice said from the other side of the door.

  I pulled it open and Chris was standing in the hallway. I stepped to the side and said “Come on in, mate.”

  He saw the towel in my hand “Not disturbing you am I?” and walked past me.

  I shook my head and closed the door “Nah mate just washed my face. The sleep in the corner of my closed eye is a fucker.”

  “Yeah sorry about that.” He said with a sheepish grin.

  “Fuck off you’re not sorry at all.”

  A large grin spread across his face “Your right I’m not sorry.”

  “What were you after Chris?”

  “Shit almost forgot. Jake came across another message from the oil rig and that fucker Dr Jackson. Somehow they have found out that someone is going to make a run at the oil rig. Dr Jackson was talking to their security about making sure the oil rig is fastened down and all approaches are covered.”

  I started to lose my temper “How the fuck did they find out?”

  “I think we could hazard a guess as to who might have a vested interest in her father surviving any attack on the oil rig.”

  I shook my head “I can’t see how she is getting the information to them.”

  “Not sure but it might be a good idea to keep an eye on her up until you and Mike leave.”

  “Honestly I can’t see her doing this. She is happy here. I think we might need to cast the net a little wider. I’ll have a chat with Tom later on and see if he has noticed anything.”

  Chris sat down and rubbed at his arm “Are we sure we can trust him either? After all he used to work for her dad.”

  He did make a point. Plus he had access to the radio equipment that we kept in the armoury; I grimaced at the idea that he had access to radios and the explosives. SHIT THE EXPLOSIVES!

  “Dude the explosives!” I shouted turning and running for the door. I pulled it open and let it bang off the wall and ran out into the hallway. I heard Chris curse loudly behind me and heard his heavy footsteps thundering behind me. He reached the lifts just as I did and we waited for it to come. I was shaking because the way the explosives had been set up it wouldn’t be too hard for someone to set them up and wipe out the whole Bunker. The doors to the lift opened and we stepped inside. I jabbed the button for the second floor hoping to make the lift move faster. The doors seemed to take forever to close and the jerk of the lift moving dragged. Chris’ face looked just as worried as mine probably did. The door opened and we turned onto the hallway. I was the first to see Tom walking out of the armoury; he had his head down and was looking at the floor.

  I slowed down and called out “Hey Tom!”

  His head shot up and I could tell just by his expression something was up. His eye’s widened when he saw Chris’ mass behind me. He turned to walk the other way.

  “Hold up Tom!” Chris’ loud voice cried out in the hallway.

  Tom started to run.

  “Chris, get in there and check the explosives,” I said as I ran after Tom. I wasn’t up to any form of a fight, but I had to stop him. I really needed to ask him some questions.

  Chris grunted and ran to the armoury and pulled the door open and ran inside. I watched Tom duck through the doorway and into the gym. I slowed to a stop at the door and waited to hear anything on the other side. The good thing was he was cornered in there. There wasn’t any other exit other than this door and this hallway. Putting my back to the wall I reached out with my good hand a gently pushed on the door. I heard the shots and jerked my hand back as two holes appeared in the door itself. I flattened myself against the wall and waited for any more shots to come my way.

  I heard a door open further up the hallway and saw Chris quickly look out. When he saw it was just me in the hallway he leaned out.

  “Is that fucker shooting at you?”

  I nodded.

  “Two seconds!” he disappeared back inside the armoury.

  I stood there waiting for either more shots or for Chris to return. After a few minutes, Chris looked back out. He crouched down and slid a Browning 9mm automatic down the hallway floor. I stopped it with my foot and lifted it up. Pulling the slide back, I made sure it was loaded. Releasing the magazine I checked the load and slammed it back in the pistol.

  “How are the explosives?” I asked him.

  Chris shook his head before replying “He started two blocks on a twenty-minute countdown and placed them on top of the others. It’s a bloody good thing that I set them up because I managed to disarm them. If it had been anyone else but me the Bunker would have been fucked.” He disappeared back inside the armoury.

  “TOM! I JUST WANT TO TALK!” I shouted out.

  His reply was two more shots and two more holes in the door to the gym. I heard running and turned toward the noise with the pistol in hand. Amy and David pulled to a stop and held their hands up.

  David slowly lowered his hands “What’s happening? Jake managed to raise me on one of the radios we keep in my office he said there was shooting outside the radio room in the hallway. Amy was coming out of Doc’s office and we headed straight here.”

  I turned back to watch the door “It looks like Tom has decided to work for Benton’s again.”

  “What the fuck are you going on about Marc?” Amy said.

  Just then, Chris came out of the armoury carrying an MP5 and was just pulling back the charging handle. He beckoned Amy and David over and started talking to them in a hushed whisper.

  “TOM! COME ON MATE, I JUST WANT TO TALK!” I shouted at the door.

  “Fuck off you all want to kill me” a muffled reply from inside the gym.

  “Look if we don’t settle this reasonably, then yeah you probably will end up dying. Come on talk to me.” I heard a murmur of whispered voices and turned to see that a crowd had gathered further up the hallway. David and Amy were talking to them and Chris was standing a few feet away from me with his rifle.

  “Look, Tom, we are starting to get a crowd out here. It might be easier if I came in there and we can talk properly.” Out the corner of my eye, I saw Chris shaking his head.

  “Send them away!” Tom’s voice cried from inside the gym.

  “Chris, see if you can get to David and Amy to shift them further back. The last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt if this turns into a shooting match.”

  Chris looked at the crowd and then at me “Don’t you fucking dare go in there. For all we know this was all too just kill you.”

  I just nodded my head. He turned and slowly walked up the hallway and started talking with David, Amy and the crowd. I could see some panicked faces amon
gst them and Amy looked really pissed off. That was actually something that I was starting to get used to. After perhaps five minutes of conversation, Amy and David started to move people away from the gym and toward the lifts.

  Chris made his way back down and stood holding the MP5 in the crook of his broken arm. His face looked like thunder and I knew that if I let him in the gym with Tom then we would end up with a dead body and no answers.

  “Are you going to talk to me Tom?”

  “Have you sent the others away?” He called out through the closed door.

  “Yeah, they’ve been told to leave. Now can Chris and I come in?”

  There was a large pause from the other side of the door.

  “Come on Tom there is no way you’re getting out of there, not the way things are heading.”

  “Ha! If you both come in here one or both of you are going to kill me.”

  I had to admit he had me on that one. I knew Chris wanted to kill him as soon as he saw the little shit. The only thing stopping him going in there and trying to kill him was that fact that he wasn’t in tip top condition. I was about to point this out to Tom when Mike came trotting down the hallway.

  “Is it fucking true?” He asked stopping on the other side of Chris.

  I nodded and Chris started to whisper what had happened up until now. Mike’s face went hard when Chris mentioned the explosives in the armoury.

  “Marc?” Tom shouted.

  “Yeah?”

  There was a slight pause “Could you come in by yourself?”

  Chris started to wave his hands saying no and Mike was doing the same. To tell the truth I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do at the minute, but the idea of just trying to starve him out seemed to come to mind. As soon as I thought it I regretted even thinking it. How could I explain to Rosa that we had starved her boyfriend to death?

  “Look I would love to but you and I know that I am the main target for Benton’s and therefore you,” I said.

  “That might be true Marc but I wanted to live after killing you, but it doesn’t look like I am going to get that choice. If I kill you, Chris and the others are going to come in here and fuck me right up before killing me.”