“Everybody okay?” the Captain asked through the gasmasks communication device. Thick dust swirled around him, making it difficult to see anyone.
A series of affirmative answers returned, stating everyone was fine, apart from their ringing ears.
“If we give it a minute, most of the concrete dust will settle, due to its weight,” Echo announced.
Even as she said it, they could see the heavy, grey dust starting to slowly fall like a thick fog.
There was no more animalistic screaming coming from anywhere in the house. The blast momentarily took care of the mob of eaters.
“Is our exit ready Echo?” the Captain asked.
“Yes sir. I blew the hole at the same time as the main blast.”
“Then let’s move out. I’m sure this has sent out a calling card to every creature within miles.”
The Captain waited for Echo to lead the way. She swung the door open, making dust swirl across the ground and back up into the air.
They walked down a short flight of stairs, from the high tower room, down onto a landing. The stairway leading down to the next level was gone, having collapsed down along with the two floors below. All that could be seen was smoke and rubble, with an odd piece of wood sticking out here and there, along with a dentist’s chair and the remains of a light unit. There was no longer any color to anything; it was all grey due to the concrete dust.
Echo walked past the remains of a door, which was all twisted and splintered. In the room, adjoining the house next door was a gaping hole – their exit.
They filed through into the top level of the house next door, straight into a large bedroom. The bed was pushed up against the far wall, and the rest of the furniture was reduced to splinters due to the explosives used to create the hole. The bed sheets were burning, along with the curtains and some of the carpet over in the far corner. Everything was also covered in a thick film of grey dust.
They all moved through the room and down some stairs to the next floor down.
The Captain removed a small walkie-talkie from his pocket. “Coco, are you there, over.”
“Reading you loud and clear Captain. I take it you’re in the next house, as arranged if you came under attack. Over.”
“Roger that, Coco.”
“We have just pulled onto the road surrounding the park. Over.” The air filled with static for a moment. “I have a visual on the house. Move to the east-facing window on the first floor. Over.”
“Roger that, Coco.” The Captain placed the walkie-talkie back into his pocket.
“Coco and the others have returned with our transport outta here,” he stated.
They followed him into a medium-size bedroom. It looked like it was a spare room, for visitors. It had a magazine feel to it, as if to impress those who came to visit. The effect was wasted on the people who just walked in.
Echo walked backwards at the rear, in case the house was occupied and a naked creature came charging at them.
The Captain placed the container on the ground and moved over to the large bay window. He could see a large white removal’s lorry heading around the circumference of the park, racing through the torrent of rain.
In addition, there was a multitude of naked creatures heading in the direction of the sound of the explosion, and the rising column of dense smoke. There must have been at least fifty or so charging in their direction, with more appearing from adjoining roads and houses as he watched. They looked like they had just been pulled from a shipwreck, naked and soaking wet. A few skidded and fell on the wet grass, and like feral animals, they scurried to regain their footing.
The white lorry cut the corner of the park, bumping over the curb and across the grass. Some of the naked creatures changed direction, heading for the lorry when they saw it. The lorry hit two head on, as they ran directly at the moving vehicle, as if being able to stop its momentum. They disappeared under the front tyres with an explosion of blood and guts.
“Help me with this,” the Captain said.
Jimmy, who was stood closest, helped lift the firmly wedged sash window. Below was a large bay window, with a small area covered in beaten lead. Jimmy got out first, and the containers of ammo and equipment was passed to him. Then Bull passed Melanie through. She stood, leaning against the wall, covering her sensitive eyes from the dull sun. There was not room for anyone else; they would file out when the lorry arrived. The rain soaked them within seconds.
The lorry did not seem to slow down as it mounted the curb and smashed through a low wooden fence, and then rip its way through some flowerbeds, and up onto the short front lawn. The lorry skidded to a halt, scraping along the lower bay window.
They now had a large white platform to climb onto.
Jimmy climbed across, through the pouring rain onto the slippery surface that was echoing a tattoo of sound from the downpour.
Bodies slammed into the sides of the truck, jumping, trying to reach the meat above.
Coco, Trev and Franco did not bother lowering the windows to fire at them, there was just too many and would be a waste of ammo.
Everyone was now on the lorry’s roof, squatting down as low as possible, spreading out their weight.
Coco had thought of everything; a rope was tossed from one window, then over the roof, and back through the passenger side, and then tied down. Those on the roof had something to hold onto.
Just as the Captain slammed his hand on the roof, to announce they were all on, a screaming drew their attention back to the window they had just climbed out of.
A naked male ran through the bedroom. He could have climbed through a broken window, which shattered during the explosion, or he could have been in the house all along. He dived through the open window, hitting Rogers and Spice, wrapping his arms around both, while sinking his deformed teeth into Rogers’ neck. All three tumbled over the side of the lorry, into the throng of creatures below. It became a feeding frenzy – like chum thrown to circling sharks.
Unaware that two of them had fallen off the roof, the lorry revved and pulled away, crushing creatures as it moved.
Everything happened so fast.
The Captain twisted and pulled his gun from its holster. As the truck skidded along the gardens, knocking down fences before bumping back onto the road, the Captain took aim and fired, first to clear some of the naked creatures that were ripping into them, then just another two shots, one through Spices forehead, and one through the back of Rogers’ head.
33
Noah
Newton Abbot
Courtney Park
12:14 PM GMT
Noah was crouched in the bushes watching the creatures run past. He could see the white lorry mount the curb and cut across the garden. He witnessed the soldier’s climb on the roof, and two of them being knocked off. The lorry then drove off in the opposite direction, away from him.
I will never be able to catch up with them; he thought. Especially with all the naked creatures chasing them. Then he had a crazy idea.
What the hell am I doing, he reasoned, as he stood in the pouring rain, behind a bush, stripping off his clothing. He knew it was a risk removing the gasmask, but he had no choice.
He heard a dull explosion from the direction of where he left Red and the others. He ignored it. Not everything that happens has to have something to do with them, he thought.
The screaming intensified as the lorry revved and drove off down the road.
Noah concentrated on the moment at hand.
If I cut across the park, I may be able to reach the lorry in time.
He was shaking due to the rain and the cold and being stark naked. He left his clothes in a wet pile, and rested the golf club on top. He pushed his hands into the mud and smeared it over his face and in his hair and over his pasty white body.
Naked, screaming creatures ran past with their feet slapping against the cold, wet tarmac.
Noah pushed aside the bushes, jumped up and ran out onto the road, screaming, fol
lowing the throng of charging creatures.
Most of the naked bodies were heading towards the remains of the house on the corner; there was a large group on the front lawn.
Noah ignored them and started running straight across the park, heading towards the lorry. He was in luck, as well as the creatures completely ignoring him, there was a car turned on its side, blocking the lorry’s exit, and due to there being a thick fence around a bowling green in the park’s corner; the driver had no choice but to turn around and head back across the park, directly towards Noah.
34
Red, Betty, and Lennie
Newton Abbot, On a Roof
12:16 PM GMT
The gas explosion ripped away the side of the building, destroying the kitchen and half the wall. The wall they crouched down behind had twisted and buckled, but intact. Small chunks of bricks and stones rained down around them, pinging off the roof tiles. Thick smoke mingled with the heavy rain.
The small dog whined in Lennie’s arms.
Betty had her head forward with her hands over her ears.
“Time to go,” Red had to shout over the ringing in her ears. The mask muffled her voice. As she stood, she could see how devastating the blast had been. Part of the house had collapsed onto itself. The back wall was also gone, blown out onto a back parking lot.
“Let’s go,” she said. “We should be able to climb down here no problem.” The wall collapsed leaving part of it behind. It would be tricky, but not too difficult to climb down.
In the distance, she could see a thick column of dense smoke rising into the grey sky; mirroring the one she had just created.
Slowly, and carefully, they climbed down the rubble. They stood looking across towards two large apartment complexes.
“We should find somewhere to hide,” she stated.
Lennie stood cradling the dog, while holding the other bags. Betty stood mute, with a little blood trickling from both ears.
“Let’s go, we don’t wanna be out in the open for too long.” Red walked at a brisk pace toward the closest building.
The other two followed.
I’m gonna have to let Noah know where we have gone. If he returns and sees the destroyed house, he would think the worst. I will look for somewhere with wi-fi and send a message with Whatapp; she decided.
They needed to get inside, out of sight. The place looked abandoned, with all the smashed up cars and littered belongings.
Red noticed a golf club on the ground. She bent to pick it up. It was scorched black, but otherwise okay. It must have been tossed by the explosion, she mused.
“In here,” she said.
They were near the closest buildings front entrance. From the intercom system, she could see there were sixteen flats in the block. The chances of running into anything inside seemed much greater because so many people had lived here. However, she knew it would be riskier standing around outside.
The front glass double doors were smashed and hanging open. Blood pooled on the worn carpet and splattered up the wall near the entrance. There was no corpse near it. Red found it hard to believe that someone who had lost that much blood could still walk away.
“In here.” Red moved into a flat that had the door wide open, and was slowly knocking against the wall from the wind blowing along the corridor.
While Lennie and Betty stood just outside the doorway, Red ran around the small flat, to check it was empty. It was not. A bloated body lay on the double bed in the small bedroom, with another bloated body, covered in puss lying on the floor, after possibly rolling off the bed. Both were moaning in pain, and vibrating, as if her presence had triggered off some kind of reaction.
Red swung around to shout a warning to Lennie and Betty, but before the words left her lips, both bodies exploded simultaneously.
Betty slowly got back to her feet; the blast tossed her backwards. Lennie was groaning to her left, with the small terrier stood next to him, licking his face. Bits of plaster rained down from the ceiling.
Betty felt dizzy and disorientated. The air around her was filled with black spores, which was being sucked out the front double doors by the strong wind. Even though her nose and mouth were covered, she still held her breath.
Lennie slowly sat up and picked up Charlie.
“Stay here Lennie.” Betty slowly walked through the doorway into the small flat.
The blast was so powerful it had stripped the wallpaper off the walls, and blasted the wooden floor black in places. Glass was sprinkled everywhere from the shattered windows. However, what was most disturbing was Red’s motionless naked arm, lying on the floor, poking out from the bedrooms doorway.
35
Doctor Lazaro and the Squad
Newton Abbot
Courtney Park
12:18 PM GMT
Melanie was soaking wet, cold, and frightened. The lorry was bouncing, wheel spinning and skidding along the wet grass. She was lying on the roof of the lorry, holding onto a rope for her life. She could hear the naked creatures screaming around her from all directions. With her other hand, she held onto her jumper, because underneath was the plastic sheath containing the folder, and all their hope.
The Captain knelt holding onto the rope with one hand and a container with another. He kept seeing the look of horror on Spice’s and Rogers’ faces as they were being ripped apart.
He knew he had no choice; he knew he had to shoot them, stop their suffering. He just hoped that when the time came, someone would do the same for him.
The truck jolted to one side, making them all leave the roof for a split second before they slammed back down. The driver had to swerve around the rut churned up by the helicopter.
The rain pelted the windscreen hard, blurring Coco’s view as he tried to miss bins and ditches. He did not bother avoiding the naked creatures. Blood constantly splashed up over the windshield.
“Get back to the road,” Trev screamed.
“What the hell do you think I’m trying to do?” Coco yelled back, while swinging the wheel to one side to avoid a shallow dip and a tree root.
Franco looked like he was going to throw up at any minute. He did not look like he could get any paler.
The truck bounced up onto a wide concrete path that ran along side the large pond. Suddenly, the front wheel dipped, and then caught something. Within a fraction of a second, the truck tipped over, tossing everyone from the roof into the pond. It skidded along, after spinning around when hitting the thick pond wall. It slid along the wet mud, churning up grass. It halted when it slammed into a large oak tree.
One minute Melanie was bouncing on a truck roof, the next she was under water. Her head broke the surface.
Jimmy was floating face down in the water next to her. With what little strength she had left, she rolled him over. She could not tell if he was breathing.
Bull pulled himself out of the pond. His machinegun was clipped to his armoured jacket so it hung by his side. He shook the water from his eyes and gripped the weapon.
The Captain pulled himself out next to Bull. He could hear Echo’s voice off to the right.
The creatures caught up with the crashed lorry, and were charging straight at them.
“Doc,” Echo shouted, as she pulled Jimmy over to the edge of the freezing cold pond. With the Doc’s help, Echo rolled Jimmy onto the wide concrete edge of the pond. Melanie started to give CPR while stood it the water, leaning over him.
A loud creak announced Coco had kicked the twisted door open. The truck was wedged against a tree on its left-hand side. As Coco slowly pulled himself out, he noticed Trev and Franco were not moving.
“Shit!” Coco shouted.
However, he did not have time to check them, because the screaming of the naked creatures running towards them drew his attention.
It had all happened in a mere minute. One moment they were free and getting away, the next they had crashed into the pond and was surrounded by a frenzy of charging creatures that would give no mercy
and leave none alive.
36
Noah
Newton Abbot
Courtney Park
12:19 PM GMT
Noah could not believe what he had just witnessed. The lorry had tipped and slammed into the pond before skidding along to hit a tree.
He halted in his shock, before continuing to run again. The rain pelted his bare body.
The naked creatures that charged past him completely ignored him.
The survivors of the crash gathered around the pond firing into the mass of charging creatures.
Even with their hopeless predicament, they were still his and the other’s best chance of survival.
As he got closer, he slowed down and started shouting, so as not to be shot by mistake. He waved his arms and screamed, “Help me. I am not one of them. I need your help.” He was close enough to get their attention.
A female soldier knelt on the pond’s wall, next to woman giving CPR to another soldier. The soldier raised her rifle and pointed it directly at him. Their eyes locked.
“I’m not infected. I need your help,” he screamed, just as Echo pulled the trigger and fired.
PART THREE
Infested
37
Noah
Newton Abbot
Courtney Park
Friday January 5th 2013
12:22 PM GMT
Noah closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable bullet that would end his life. He could see the image of the soaking wet female soldier taking aim and firing, and he knew it would be the last image he ever registered.
The Sixth Extinction & The First Three Weeks & The Squads First Three Weeks Omnibus [Books 1-10] Page 12