by Kempf, Shaun
In the next moment, the airman raised his head, dropped his hand and then pulled it towards himself. Even from as far away as Static was he could see the airman mouth the word ‘run’. Or perhaps he actually said it, but was lost to all of the noise of the helicopter and the Infected starting to break through the door.
It didn’t matter to Static. He pushed himself off of the door towards the airman. As his body left the door, it began to swing open violently as zombies pushed their way onto the roof. The door was just quick enough that it caught Static’s left heel as it opened causing him to stumble, but he kept his footing. Luckily for him, the zombies got hung up for a moment as too many tried to fit through the doorway at once. It was only a moment, though, and then the zombies came pouring through the doorway and onto the roof.
The gunman in the helicopter had to wait for a moment until he was sure that Static was clear before he started firing. He did his best, firing as quickly as he could, but there were so many zombies that spread out like water from a busted pipe that he couldn’t stop enough of them.
Static was running as quickly as he could. The airman was waving him on and clearly shouting at him, but he couldn’t make out the words. He was within ten feet when one of the zombies who was chasing him was shot by the gunman in the helicopter and fell forward just catching Static’s left foot. Only this time, Static knew, he wouldn’t be able to recover. He stumbled along as far as he could before he pushed off with all his might using his right foot diving for the airman.
Their arms connected. The airman grabbed a hold of Static. Static could feel as the helicopter pulled the airman up who in turn pulled him up and away from the groping zombies. As Static’s feet left the rooftop they swung downward and his stomach collided with the airman’s legs. The jolt to both men loosened the airman’s grip on the Static’s arms. He hung on as tightly as he could, but he and Static could feel the fabric of Static’s shirt sliding through his fingers.
Static began to fall. He reached out for anything and found himself catch a hold of the airman’s legs. He did his best to wrap his arms around the legs of the airman. They were now hovering out beyond the rooftop, but Static couldn’t tell if they were being raised up. All he knew was that he was exhausted. He hadn’t realized how much effort he had been putting into keeping the roof door shut. His arms quickly began to hurt from the strain of holding on. He risked a glance up and saw that they were indeed being raised, but they were still long ways from reaching the helicopter.
His arms started to give. He tried to put everything he could into keeping them wrapped around the airman’s legs, but he was losing his grip. They were finally starting to get close enough that he could almost make out the shouts of those onboard. He looked up once again and saw the face of John. John’s mouth moved and Static could make out the words, “hold on”, but in that moment his arms gave out.
Static watched as the airman who still dangled from the helicopter and the helicopter slowly got further away from him. His heart sank in his chest. He was just about to scream when the urge passed. He felt a sudden calm.
He had thought, when he joined the army, that he would die from being eaten alive by the Infected. It had kept him awake more than one night in his basic training and out in the field, but he had known that risk when he signed up. Never would he had dreamed that he would leave this world after falling from stories above the ground.
As he rushed past the skyscrapers he found himself thinking about Ben and the team. He prayed that they would all make it out alive. He knew they would mourn, each in their own way, his death. Another death to add to the list of this mission. Then he smiled, he hoped they would find a suitable radioman to replace him, but knew they wouldn’t be able to. He had mad skills.
His last thoughts were of his family. His parents, as far as he knew, were still alive in a refugee camp back in Kansas. His older brother and his wife had been somewhere in Texas when the outbreak had happened. They hadn’t heard from them since before the outbreak. Static had hoped that his service would take him out towards the last known location of his brother so that he could at least check to see if he could determine if his brother was or was not okay. Now, he was either going to meet them on the other side or find out that they were still safe. He closed his eyes and pictured everyone’s faces.
TWENTY ONE
Michael had been apprehensive about this mission from the start, but he would never tell Ben that. He owed the man next to him his life and would not walk away until he was dead. Not that Ben hadn’t apparently been trying to get himself killed probably even before Michael had met him. Of course, now, Michael watched Ben’s back and had gotten Ben out of more than one sticky situation. Then again, Ben had done the same for him.
What had started as an oath for Michael, to honor Ben as much as it was the great spirits, had quickly bloomed into a strong friendship. Michael felt blessed to have had Ben’s path cross his so that he could now call him a friend. He had wondered if they had met before the outbreak if they would have become friends, or at least as close of friends as they were now and wasn’t so sure. Of course, he wasn’t entirely sure what Ben had been like prior to the outbreak. Although the others believed he knew Ben’s story because they had been together so long, he actually knew very little. He was determined, one day, to work up the courage to ask Ben about his past.
For as close as they had become, Michael still didn’t feel that he had a right to ask. Early on in their time together as they had sat around a small fire one night, the conversation had turned to the past. Ben was relaying a story about his first date ever and how awkward it had been. Both men were laughing, but Ben’s laugh slowly died as he stared into the flames.
“Real love,” Ben had started to say softly, “the kind that you’ll know will last a lifetime. That’s a powerful kind of love.”
Ben didn’t say anything the rest of the night and hadn’t mentioned it since.
So, no matter where Ben went, Michael would follow. Still, this mission, above all others had had him on edge ever since the MP’s had approached them back on the base. Now, standing in this sewer tunnel only seemed to make it worse. The green tint of tunnel created by the night vision goggles didn’t help matters at all. Michael had never, and probably never would, get used to the green tint that night vision google created. However, it was better than staring into the full darkness of the tunnel trying to get if anything was approaching them. Michael was a little hesitant to agree to join the army, but the toys they had provided them was a nice benefit.
Michael stole a glance at his watch. It had been nearly two hours. The boats should be arriving soon and they should have heard from Static or someone by now to confirm the incoming help. He turned to say something to Ben when he noticed that he was tensing up and focused. Michael followed his line of sight and saw an Infected woman in a torn dress slowly appearing from out of the darkness. Michael knew that Ben was hesitating because if he did fire and other Infected were nearby, they would be drawn to them. So, if this Infected woman was alone they’d want to dispatch her as quietly as possibly. If not, he would fire.
The only other worry that shot through Michaels mind was that the survivors of them wouldn’t think of that and just fire in panic. Michael was quickly able to realize that was actually nothing to worry about just yet as the survivors didn’t have night vision google and couldn’t see as far into the darkness as Ben, Annie and Michael.
The Infected woman, continued to shuffle forward. Michael was sure that she couldn’t see them, yet. Many times while out in the Infected Zone, even before joining the army, they had been able to ‘hide’ from the Infected during the night. The Infected’s eyesight had not improved after being re-animated. They guessed that, if anything, it had gotten worse. The Infected relied more on sound and movement to lock on to their potential targets. This explained why the woman was slowly shuffling down the tunnel towards them. If she knew they were there she would be moving as fast as her decaying body
would allow.
He was about to lower his weapon to grab his knife to take her out silently when from behind her he caught sight of movement. Another Infected appeared from the darkness. This one a young man, apparently a bicyclist as he still wore his spandex and helmet, but one of his arms was missing. He too was followed, but by two. They were going to have to start to open fire.
“Try to kill them all in the same spot, we’ll see if we can’t create a kind of body barrier to buy us time,” Ben whispered then opened fire.
The woman quickly fell, followed a moment later by the bicyclist. Ben, Annie, and Michael fired into the growing numbers of Infected doing their best to kill them in the general area that the first woman fell and was doing a pretty good job. The survivors next to them had tensed when they heard Ben whisper, but still couldn’t see anything to shoot at.
Michael realized that if they wanted to ensure that they were able to keep the Infected at bay, even in these tight quarters, which would work to their advantage, it would be best to get the survivors in on the fight. He paused his firing and switched on his light exposing the Infected horde that was approaching and in the same motion flipped the night vision goggles back up onto his helmet. Realizing what he was doing, Ben and Annie quickly followed suit and the three survivors that were with them also began to fire.
As they had hoped the Infected began to pile up. Within a few moments, they were taking turns firing as the bodies of the Infected had created a barrier that filled nearly half of the tunnel causing the Infected to have to climb over, which they were slow at doing. With the firing more sporadic, Michael could hear the rest of the survivors behind them. There were murmurs and some people were crying.
“What’s going on back there?” Captain Perret asked over the radio.
“We’ve been discovered by some of the Infected that were in the tunnels,” Ben answered.
“Your gun fire has attracted the attention of some of the Infected outside,” Captain Perret responded. Michael couldn’t be sure since the Captain’s voice was coming through the radio, but he was pretty sure the Captain sounded perturbed.
“Sorry about that, couldn’t be helped,” Ben said sarcastically. Apparently, he had heard the same thing that Michael had.
“If those birds don’t show up soon, we’re . . . “ there was a break in the transmission, then the Captain’s voice came through loud and strong, “Every down, incoming!”
For the briefest of moments, the sounds of jet engines could be heard coming from the exit of the tunnel. However, these were quickly drowned out by the loud explosions as the bombers dropped their payload onto the ground just outside of their position.
The ground shook beneath their feet. Dust and dirt feel from the top of the sewer tunnel as the Earth was rocked by the explosions. Michael fell to his side against the curve of the tunnel wall. He watched as the bodies that had been built up shook and fell as if being sifted. The Infected behind were doing their best to keep their footing while also still trying to get over the bodies to the group of still living survivors on the other side. Michael would have opened fire, but it would only be a shot of luck to take down or even hit one of the Infected as the Earth shook. He’d have to wait. Currently, their only saving grace was that they Infected were having a hard time traversing all the bodies with the ground shaking.
Then as quickly as it had started, the barrage stopped. It took a moment for the trio to realize that the Earth beneath their feet was no longer shaking. The Infected did not take that moment to hesitate as they continued their forward push towards the group.
“We’re moving,” Captain Perret shouted through Michael’s ear piece. His announcement was followed by gunfire as they attempted to clear the tunnel’s opening.
Michael quickly stood and starting firing. He was only second to Ben. Annie was delayed as she had to get one of the survivors who had fallen onto her legs off before she could fire.
“We hold the line here as long as we can,” Ben shouted as best he could over the gunfire. Even so, Michael almost didn’t hear what he had said. It wouldn’t have mattered, Michael wasn’t about to leave Ben’s side.
They started the same process as before trying to create a barrier. Once they felt that a suitable barrier had been created they turned to retreat down the tunnel. The large group was pouring out of the tunnel as quickly as possible, but it still didn’t seem fast enough. The trio took the opportunity to reload their weapons.
“I’m getting low,” Annie said slamming a clip into her assault rifle.
“Going to have to make every shot count,” was Ben’s reply, which told Michael that they were all low on ammunition.
“This is going to be close,” Michael said as he looked back at the body barrier. There was one or two Infected still trying to get over the top, but he was more concerned with how the bodies were beginning to sway.
“Almost there,” Ben said glancing over his shoulder at the nearing exit.
The exit was getting closer in what seemed to be only inches. Michael knew that was only just the beginning. They still had a hundred yard dash ahead of them just to make it to the boats and would have Infected coming at them from both sides.
An odd thumping sound, like that of a multitude slabs of meat being slapped against the ground, could be heard as the barrier collapsed from the sheer pressure of all the Infected pushed on it. Michael turned, they were steps away from the exit.
“Hold your fire,” Ben ordered. “Let’s lock them in.”
They stepped out into the open air. They pushed the barred gate closed again. Ben looked around and found a piece of wood, Michael couldn’t tell if it had been driftwood or some man-made object blown to bits by the explosions, but he guessed that probably didn’t matter. Ben shoved the wood through the holes that connected the door to the frame where there had previous been a chain. Michael grabbed the loose chain that had been cut off and wrapped it around the bars. He wasn’t sure if it would help, but it made him feel better.
Then the trio turned and began to run for the water. Michael had believed that Ben had come up with the best plan possible and had been at least relieved when he heard that Static had actually gotten the radio to work and made contact. What he, and probably Ben, hadn’t planned on was the number of craters created by the bombs. There were deep divots everywhere in the Earth.
These craters were making traversing the hundred yards to the boats, which they could see sitting on the bank of the river, difficult to say the least. Instead of the survivors making a straight line dash for the river bank had to spread out as they attempted to run around the holes. Some had lost their footing and had fallen into the craters. Those with weapons did their best to keep the approaching Infected at bay, but they were also just as concerned about making it to the boats as everyone else.
As the trio ran, they took those shots that they felt were necessary to try to help the survivors make it to the boats. The sailors that had arrived with the boats had also opened fire, but their fire was concentrated on the area closed to the boats, which was still long ways off.
The Infected were getting closer from both sides. They were being squeezed in and their route to the boats was narrowing. Michael saw a man off to his right being tackled by one of the Infected and they both fell down the embankment of one of the craters. There was nothing they could do, so they ran on as hard and as fast as they could.
The screams of a woman pierced Michael’s ears as he ran. He looked over to see another survivor being attacked by three Infected. One had her leg in its mouth and was pulling the muscle from her calf away from her body. Another was trying to tear through the woman’s shirt and the final one had one of her fingers in its mouth. Michael paused for just a moment and fired his weapon putting a bullet in the screaming woman. It was the kind of shot that Michael hated taking the most, but rationalized it in his mind that he was doing the woman a favor. He hoped that the great spirits would agree with him when he met them.
Hi
s pause to take the shot caused him to fall behind the group. He took off once again, trying to keep close knowing he probably wouldn’t be able to catch up. He was surprised as he watched Ben veer off from the direct path to the boats. Michael looked in the direction that Ben was heading. There was a woman, who Michael assumed was the mother of the two children that she pulled along with her. She ran only just a little faster than their short legs could go, unwilling to leave them behind. Infected were closing on their position quickly.
Ben intercepted one of the Infected, catching it by surprise as he body checked it into a nearby crater. He then fired his weapon at another approaching Infected man, the back of the man’s head exploded as Ben’s shot hit its mark dropping the Infected man immediately. Ben ran on attacking anything that got close to the family.
Michael had seen Ben defend survivors before. He had seen Ben go to great lengths to keep survivors of every kind safe from nearby dangers. However, he had never seen the determined, borderline crazy, look in Ben’s eyes as he defended this family. It was almost like he had tunnel vision. Michael raised his weapon and fired killing a zombie teenager that had been closing in on Ben from his blindside. Ben made no indication that he heard the shot or saw the Infected fall. He was still busy savagely attacking other nearby Infected. It was clear that Ben had one purpose and that was to get this family to safety. Michael knew that Ben would die trying, but he wouldn’t let it come to that.
As Michael began to catch up to Ben who had already reached the family and was escorting them towards the boat. Together both men fired at the Infected chasing them until they were out of bullets. By that point, they were close enough to the boats to hear the sailors calling to them.