Anvil

by Dirk Patton

  “Thank you, sir!”

  Hunt stood, coming to attention. He had gotten what he came for and was ready to get the hell out of the Admiral’s office.

  “I like her, too,” Packard said. “But don’t let your personal feelings cloud your judgment, Lieutenant. Dismissed.”

  Hunt thanked him again, turned and fought the urge to run as he headed for the door.

  44

  It seemed like it took forever, but I finally made it across the large lobby and into the cover of the new hallway. The females had reacted when I’d stepped out, several of them screaming as they pressed in tighter against the glass to peer at me. Thumps sounded from all across the front, but I forced myself to ignore them and continue on my weaving, wobbling, shambling path.

  The infected settled down quickly when I didn’t react. They were buying it. Playing my role to the hilt, I deliberately walked into the wall on the far side of the lobby. I wasn’t thinking and my damaged shoulder protested loudly with a bolt of lightning when I bumped it against the hard surface.

  I stumbled back a step, not entirely faking it. Biting my lip, I adjusted directions and disappeared around the corner. As soon as I was out of the view of the infected at the front doors, I raised my rifle and made a thorough scan of the hall I had just entered.

  Rather than plush carpet it was shiny tile, and I felt a little glimmer of hope that we were getting closer. This looked like an area where work was actually performed. Several corridors branched off and there were a lot of doors.

  Some of them were closed tightly, but many were open. I glanced over my shoulder when more thumps sounded, seeing Chico stumbling along like a drunk as he made his way across the lobby.

  Forcing myself to ignore him and trust he would make it without exciting the females, I moved several feet deeper into the hall before dropping to a knee with my rifle covering the unknown territory. Chico finally finished crossing the open space and as soon as he was behind cover, joined me in providing security for the rest of the team.

  Edwards came next, and soon after he stepped into view there were the loudest thumps and screams so far.

  “Slow down!”

  Drago’s hiss over the radio made me cringe. If Edwards lost his nerve, I had no doubt the females would see through our ruse. We were already on borrowed time, but that would drastically speed up the clock. With Chico next to me, I took the opportunity to turn and check on the Lieutenant’s progress.

  He was walking slow, but moving normally, about half way across. He had definitely caught the attention of the infected, the pounding increasing in volume.

  “If you don’t walk like an infected I’m going to shoot you in the leg. Sir.”

  This was from TJ over the radio and caused Edwards to come to a stop. Even from a distance I could see the fear on his face. The sweat soaking through his shirt and beaded on his forehead. The wide eyes. He was close to breaking.

  “Edwards,” I said softly into the radio. “You’re doing fine. Just take a slow step. Walk like you’re drunk. That’s all you’ve got to do. Just walk. Nice and slow.”

  He looked at me from across the room and I didn’t like what I saw in his eyes. Fear was turning to panic as the infected continued to bang on the glass. The volume was increasing as they began to realize things weren’t exactly what they seemed. More and more screams were sounding, muted by the heavy doors, but still clearly audible. I was afraid Edwards was about to lose it.

  “Hang in there, LT. I’m coming to get you.”

  Drago stepped into sight and the pounding on the doors re-doubled. He was moving slow with one shoulder dipped below the other, arms swinging loosely just like an infected male. I checked on Edwards, not happy to see him trembling as he stood frozen in the bright lights of the lobby.

  “It’s OK, Edwards,” I said. “Drago’s on his way to you. He’ll help you get under cover. Just close your eyes and take some deep breaths.”

  I was glad to see the young man take my advice. Maybe it would help, maybe not, but I had to try something before he bolted in panic. Not that I could blame him. I might have done the same thing if I hadn’t been fighting the infected for as long as I had. It still didn’t sound like they were seriously trying to get through the doors, but that could change in an instant.

  Drago finally reached him after what seemed like hours. I had no doubt it seemed even longer to Edwards. Coming up behind him, Drago bumped into his back, pausing as he turned his head away from the glass. I could see his lips moving, but he wasn’t speaking loud enough to activate his radio so I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  With another jerking motion, he bumped Edwards again, and the two of them began moving forward. One excruciatingly slow step at a time. The females were calming. Not much, but there was a slight reduction in the noise coming from the entrance. Maybe we were going to make it.

  Edwards and Drago were less than ten feet from rounding the corner into the hall when there was a scream from the far side of the lobby. The scream of an attacking female. I stood to see TJ roll into full view of the doors with a small, blonde woman dressed in a business skirt tearing at him.

  The reaction from the infected outside was immediate. As one, they screamed. The sound was nearly deafening, then fists were drumming on the glass so hard it sounded like thunder on a hot summer evening. Drago shoved Edwards towards me before sprinting to TJ’s aide. I grabbed the Lieutenant’s arm and yanked him past into the hall, stepping forward far enough to peek around the corner.

  The assault on the doors and surrounding wall, which was made of the same heavy glass, was so violent I could see the surface flexing. Drago made it to TJ in time to haul a corpse off of him. TJ had killed her with his knife and blood dripped off the tip as Drago grabbed a fistful of his vest and lifted him to his feet.

  “Run,” I shouted, checking on the integrity of the glass again.

  It was still vibrating as the females threw themselves against it and pounded with fists and forearms. We didn’t have long. Sooner, rather than later, stress fractures would appear. Then the glass would fail altogether. When that happened…

  The Rangers pounded around the corner as Chico fired several shots. I spun, seeing a female and two males drop dead to the floor. The males had stumbled out of an open door, the female charging in from one of the halls that opened off the one we were in.

  “Edwards, what are we looking for?”

  He had sunk to the floor and I grabbed his collar, jerking him to his feet. Without thinking, I’d used my injured arm and the pain reminded me to pay attention to what I was doing.

  “It will be a secure door. Look for an IT area. It will probably be somewhere near there.”

  “You heard the man,” I said. “Let’s move!”

  We set out in a box formation. The hall wasn’t wide, so we settled for two of us in front of Edwards and two behind. Chico and I took point, moving shoulder to shoulder. We ignored closed doors and gave the rooms with open ones a quick scan before pulling them shut. Despite the increasing intelligence of the females I still hadn’t seen one operate a door knob.

  When we reached the first intersection, I called a halt with a raised fist. The hall continued on ahead of us, looking the same. Just more doors. To our right it ran for forty yards, ending at what appeared to be a heavy steel door. A security keypad was set in the wall to the right of the handle.

  “What do you think?” I mumbled to Edwards.

  “Maybe,” he said. “Right kind of set up, but no way to know.”

  Behind us the booming sounds of the females trying to smash their way in still sounded. Frankly, I was surprised they hadn’t already gotten in. But then, from what I’d seen so far, this company hadn’t skimped on security and building materials. The glass was tougher than it looked.

  Moving us to the right, I motioned for Chico and Drago to trade places. By the time we covered the distance to the end of the corridor, Drago had the pry bar in hand and was ready to force our way thro
ugh. He tried the handle first, but it was secure. Repeating the process he had followed on the roof, it was only a matter of seconds before the door popped free.

  He was stepping away, partially off balance from leaning his weight onto the iron bar when the door was violently slammed open. The big Ranger was knocked back, losing his footing and falling. The heavy tool slipped out of his hand and rang loudly when it bounced on the hard floor.

  Several females rushed us, screaming as they attacked. I was too close to use my rifle for anything other than a club. Pounding one of them to the floor, I was hit and sent spinning backwards by a flying tackle. Landing on my bad shoulder, I nearly passed out from the pain as the female lunged for my throat.

  I got my good hand around her neck at the last moment, spittle from her scream spraying across my face. Pressing her away from my body, I managed to open enough space to get a knee between us and kick her clear. She turned in the air, landed on her feet and without pausing launched herself like a missile, aiming for my head.

  Ducking and slipping to the side, I captured her head in the bend of my good arm as she flew in. Tightening my muscles, I savagely jerked to the side and snapped her neck as another female took my legs out from under me. I came down on top of her, hands grabbing my vest as she tried to pull her snapping jaws to my throat.

  All around I could hear the sounds of the other men fighting with the females. Screams from the infected. Grunts of pain and exertion from the Rangers. I had no time to check, but hoped we were holding our own. The female beneath me wasn’t screaming as she struggled to reach my flesh. And she was strong, especially when I couldn’t bring my damaged arm into the fight.

  I battled for a few moments, shifting to keep my body weight on top of her, pinning her to the floor. Throwing two, hard and fast punches, I hoped to either stun the bitch or maybe even knock her out. She absorbed the blows without any apparent ill effects.

  Flailing to keep her mouth away from my body, my hand slipped to the top of her head and into a thick mane of hair. Grasping a fistful, I started slamming the back of her head onto the hard floor. On the fourth impact she stopped struggling and her eyes rolled up in their sockets. I’d felt the back of her skull crack open and figured she was done, but lifted then bashed her head a final time. Bright red blood began spreading out beneath her limp form and I rolled to my feet and pulled my Kukri.

  The battle was over. Drago and Chico were both bleeding from bites to their hands and arms, but were on their feet, rifles up and scanning for more threats. A total of seven females were lying dead in the hall, and so was Edwards. TJ was kneeling over him, hand extended towards his ravaged throat as if he wanted to check his pulse.

  “What the fuck do we do now?” TJ asked as he stood up and looked at me.

  “We find the server room and call someone who can tell us what to do.”

  It was the right answer. The only answer I could give. We hadn’t come this far and lost two men to give up now. TJ nodded, bending and retrieving Edwards’ pack. Now all we had to do was find the server room.

  From the lobby there was a loud crash, the sound of screaming females suddenly increasing dramatically. They’d broken through the glass. We were out of time. I gestured at the open door and Chico stepped through, Drago tight on his back. TJ and I followed, pulling the door closed behind us.

  45

  The door let into a massive space that was used for manufacturing. Lining the far wall were a series of clean rooms where sensitive electronics could be assembled without worry of contaminating particles. Closer, suspended from chains attached to large steel girders, were two large somethings. Scaffolding surrounded them, providing access for the workers. I had no clue what they were.

  Each was round and over forty feet long and at least half that wide. On the tapered ends facing us were thirty-six holes, each about a foot in diameter, making the device look like a massive Gatling gun. I only had a minute to look around before the door behind me shook as females slammed against it and began trying to batter their way through.

  This one didn’t concern me. Much. It was steel, set into a steel frame. And it opened out, towards them. I didn’t see how they could get through. Still, I wasn’t happy to have them this close.

  “There,” Chico said, pointing at the far wall.

  I followed his finger, seeing another door that looked identical to the one we’d just come in. Scanning the perimeter of the cavernous space I didn’t see any other exits with the exception of a huge roll up door that was large enough to accommodate the equipment dangling over our heads.

  “Let’s go,” I said, heading for the door at a trot.

  The Rangers fell in behind me, all of us running with our rifles up and ready. I didn’t really expect to encounter any more females in this area. If there were any that could attack, they would have shown themselves.

  “Maybe,” I thought, reminding myself of the smart ones that would lay in wait and spring an ambush.

  Keeping the thought in mind, I didn’t slow as we made our way through a labyrinth of equipment. Behind, the pounding on the door continued and I was worried we wouldn’t be able to find the server room before the infected completely flooded the interior of the building. And if we did, I didn’t see how we weren’t going to be trapped.

  We reached the far door, quickly stacking up and preparing to go through. We’d made a couple of critical errors so far. First we hadn’t thoroughly cleared the executive area, and the female’s attack on TJ had alerted the infected at the entrance to our presence. Second, we hadn’t been ready for an attack when Drago forced the last door open. That sloppiness had cost Edwards his life, and might very well doom our mission to failure.

  A quick check to make sure everyone was ready and I tapped Chico. He turned the handle and pushed the door open, the rest of us with our rifles up and pointing into the new hall. It was empty, for the moment. We rushed into it and TJ gently closed the door behind us.

  More offices, and a large area filled with a whole bunch of cubicles. I paused when Drago pointed at a discreet nameplate affixed to a door.

  Tim Shamburg – IT Manager

  Well, at least we were in the right area. I took a moment to look around, spying a set of double doors protected by an electronic keypad on the far side of the cubicles. Just like what Edwards had described.

  We moved through the open space, rifles ready as it was a rabbit warren of waist high walls that could conceal any number of infected. Many of the desks held pieces of computer equipment in various states of assembly. Several of them had small libraries of well worn paperback books with titles like The Linux Bible and The Existential Coder.

  What the hell was existential about coding? Guess that was for bigger minds than mine. At least it confirmed we were in the IT area. Maybe if I survived this I’d write a book about fighting the infected and call it The Existential Shitstorm.

  These doors were solid wood, not steel like the others we’d encountered. I had no idea if that meant anything, but it presented a problem. The steel doors Drago had pried open had enough flexibility in them to partially spring back into place and allow the lock to reengage once we passed through. Where steel flexed, wood would break.

  And, these were hinged on the sides and locked in the middle where they met. If we forced them, we wouldn’t be able to secure them behind us. With a whole tide of females rushing into the building, that was problem.

  We were very lucky we hadn’t been found already, and eventually there wouldn’t be an inch of floor space that wasn’t occupied by infected. Unless it was behind a locked door too stout for them to break through.

  I quickly explained the dilemma to the team after stopping Drago from using the pry bar. Glances were exchanged, but no one had any good ideas. Turning, I winced when I heard screams from another area of the building. The females were coming, and they were way too close. Ignoring the swiftly approaching danger, I stepped to the doors and looked them over.

  They were sm
ooth and featureless with only handles set on the inside edges for pulling them open once the keypad released the lock. The lock would most likely be a powerful electromagnet that held tight to a metal plate attached to the top of each door. Punch in the proper code on the keypad and the magnet would be turned off long enough for the door to be pulled open. By the time the door swung shut it would be back on.

  Grasping the handle on the right hand door, I pulled. Hard. The door flexed slightly, the bottom edge moving an inch, but the top didn’t budge. This didn’t really do anything other than confirm my theory. Which didn’t help. We were still locked out, weren’t positive this was the server room, and the screams were getting closer.

  “Anyone know how to defeat a keypad?”

  I didn’t bother to turn around. If one of them had that particular skill, I would have been surprised.

  “Electromagnetic lock. Right?”

  I turned to see TJ staring at a spot above the doors.

  “Yeah. You got an idea?”

  “Magnet needs power. Power needs wires. This isn’t an outside door. Wires should just be routed behind the drywall.”

  He pointed with his knife at the spot he’d been looking at. Realization of the simplicity of his suggestion to open the door hit me and I grabbed a rolling office chair and wheeled it into place. With Drago and I holding it steady, TJ climbed up to stand on the seat as Chico kept an eye on the area to our rear.

  First, powdery white dust, then chunks of drywall fell as he broke through. It didn’t take him long to find the wires, sticking his knife through the opening.

  “Don’t cut them,” I said quickly, TJ’s blade freezing an instant before he began slicing. “Try to disconnect them so we can reconnect from inside and keep the infected out.”

  He grunted, sheathed his knife and stuck his arm into the wall, feeling around. While he worked, Chico began firing as the first females appeared at the far edge of the cubicles. Telling Drago to stay put, I moved next to Chico and added my fire to support him. It was a trickle of females at first, quickly becoming a flood. In only a few seconds we went from targeting lone runners to shooting into a seething mass of infected.