Infected

by Michael I. Rolfe

  Including Dan there were fifteen people in his group, but of these, two were children and two were over the age of sixty-five. He had given a lot of thought as to who would join the team to attack Smith and he now had a list which he discussed with Pamela and she mentioned something that he had not even considered “How do you know that the people on your list want to go on this raid? You should remember until recently these were just normal people who had never touched a gun or harmed another human being, and now you are going to ask them to get in to a fight with a bunch of hardened criminals! I understand that it must be done but asking our people to do this is a very big thing. I think you should call a meeting to emphasise just how dangerous Smith is, why we need to do this, then ask for volunteers.” From Dan’s point of view, it was simply a matter of eliminating a threat, Smith and his crooks, and the fact that “eliminating” meant killing was not something that bothered him. The opposite was true, he relished the prospect! The meeting did not go the way he anticipated, Salim did not want to go on the raid for two reasons, he had no first-hand dealings with Smith and did not want to kill a fellow human being that was not infected, the other reason was that he did not want the leave the others alone at the garage when Dan would be taking the fittest and strongest with him. Tom would not go for the same reasons. Those that volunteered were Pamela, Peter and Amanda, Janet, Kevin and the eighteen-year-old Lee. Dan would have preferred to have Tom and Salim with him, they were good men, but as Pamela pointed out it was their choice, and the people left at the garage would be safer if they stayed to protect them.

  “We hope to be back in three days.” said Dan as he climbed in to the driver’s seat of the 4x4. “Look after them!” said Salim, pointing towards the others in the raiding party. “You do the same!” said Pamela from the passenger seat. Dan had not wanted her to go on the mission, but she had insisted and would not take “No!” for an answer. Janet was sat in the back of the car with a look of steely determination on her face. Kevin was driving the road sweeper while Peter and Amanda rode shotgun and Lee was on the roof ready to man the pressure washer should they run in to a mass of Infected. Dan and Peter knew the way to John Smiths hideout, they had come across it a month or so before when they were out looking for weapons, they had seen the bodies hanging from the lampposts and armed men escorting bound women across the site, but they were not able to do anything about it then, but now they both hoped that the situation would be in their favour.

  The vehicles were hidden well away from Smiths camp with Kevin watching over them while the rest of the party walked the last two miles on foot, stopping short of their objective and hiding while Dan and Janet went closer to observe. They watched the camp for an hour, Janet indicated where Smith and his men stayed and where she assumed they were now, she also pointed towards the building that she and the other girls had been held in and pointed out the pickup trucks that Smiths men used and lastly the van that she had been taken to the farm to be thrown to the Infected for Smith’s entrainment, but then she went quiet as she remembered the abuse she had suffered and the way her friends had died.

  Dan noted that since he had last been here the site had been cleaned up, the bodies had been removed and the fence repaired, but as he watched they could see little movement. One man was on guard at the main gate, he was keeping out of sight of the Infected that were roaming around outside the camp, but Dan had seen him, however there was no sign of Smith or the rest of his men. “We will keep watching.” whispered Dan.

  Two hours later a door opened, and the large bulk of John Smith appeared, he yawned, stretched, spat on the floor then walked towards the pickup trucks and urinated on the rear wheel. “That’s him!” whispered Janet with loathing in her voice “I recognise him.” replied Dan wishing that he had not left the sniper rifle with Peter. Smith retrieved something from the pickup then walked back in to the building slamming the door behind him. Dan now had a plan, he outlined it to Janet then said, “Stay here, keep watching but keep out of sight, I’ll brief the others then return.”

  Peter had the sniper rifle and he positioned himself on the high ground that overlooked the camp. Dan positioned Pamela, Amanda and Lee so that they could pour fire on the building or anyone running from them, then he and Janet slowly made their way toward the buildings. They were half way there when they heard the noise of a vehicle approaching, they took cover, watched and waited.

  The vehicle was a large military lorry, it was being driven too fast and without any regard for safety, from his vantage point Peter watched as the truck was driven towards the camp zigzagging across the road, deliberately running into the Infected, and Peter could tell that whoever was driving was enjoying the “sport”. The man who was on guard dragged aside the main gate and the lorry sped through and screeched to a halt beside the pickups. Two armed men jumped from the cab and three more from the rear of the truck, John Smith and three others emerged from the building and walked to greet the newcomers. Crates of beer were unloaded from the truck, bottles were opened, and the contents were being consumed even before the men had made their way back into the building to start the party. John Smith drained his bottle and hurled the bottle carelessly away then let out a loud belch before proceeding into the building and kicking the door closed. Dan and Janet were close enough to see all this at first hand, and as the door slammed shut Janet said, “That man is a real pig!” Dan replied, “That may be so, but he has surrounded himself with nine other swine, all are armed’ We are out gunned and outnumbered, we will have to withdraw and have a rethink!”

  Dan gathered his small group on the high ground just behind where Peter was keeping watch with the sniper rifle and said that there were twice as many as expected, Smiths group must have been joined by another and they now outnumber us almost two to one. The odds had swung in their favour, so the question is, do you all still want to attack? Without hesitation Janet said “Yes!” Pamela said, “We know the threat they pose to us and other groups of survivors, they are even more dangerous now, so yes I think we should attack.” Amanda said, “I’m with Pam!” Lee just smiled nervously and said, “Well we have come this far.” Peter was still watching the camp but the whole group heard his response “I don’t think we have a choice, we need to get this done!”

  Dan said “Okay. We hit them and hit them hard, we need to take them all out in one go, if we don’t the remainder will always be a threat to us, so we leave no one breathing. To clarify we take no prisoners, every one of them dies. And for your own sake, if you have someone in your sights do not hesitate to pull the trigger, because they won’t hesitate to kill you. Do you all understand?” This last statement brought home the enormity of what they were about to do, no one in the group had ever killed another human being, on the contrary their first instinct would be to save a life. There was silence, then young Lee said, “Like Peter said, we don’t have a choice!”

  “We have movement!” said Peter, Dan crawled up to where Peter was lying and looked towards the camp, arriving just in time to see the last of the men getting into their vehicles. The sound of the engines starting was carried on the wind toward them then the pickups, van and lorry all moved towards and through the main gate. “Did they all get in to those vehicles?” asked Dan “Yes, all of them, I counted. I wonder where they are going?” said Peter, who looked worried, very worried!

  “Let’s go. We have to get back to the garage as fast as we can, just in case they are heading there.” said Dan. When on foot it was safer to walk and not run, you could take in your surrounding and keep a good lookout for threats, you could also hear more, and should the need arise to have to run then you had saved your energy. But walking was not an option, they had to get back to the vehicles and then on to the garage quickly, because if that was where Smith was heading then the people there were in real trouble.

  It was two miles back through fields to where Kevin was waiting with the road sweeper and the 4x4, they ran as fast as they could, but they had to stick together and
so could only go at the slowest person’s pace. It was too dangerous to be on foot on your own even, in a place as remote as this. Janet was killing any Infected that they came across with her bow, while Dan cut down those that got too close with the sword. Even at their best pace it took nearly an hour to get back to the vehicles. Kevin was on the roof of the road sweeper and he saw them running towards him, he could see they were in a hurry and he had the presence of mind to climb down from the lorry and start the engines ready for a quick getaway.

  Dan wanted to drive the 4x4 fast but he knew how important it was to stick together, Smiths men were out there somewhere and in force, if they ran into them on the road they would need all the help they could get, so Dan restrained himself and told Kevin to take the lead in the road sweeper, Dan assumed the pace would be frustratingly slow but he was surprised by how well Kevin handled the larger vehicle as he was pushing the pace like no one else could have, Dan had to grudgingly admit that Kevin was becoming a surprise asset to the group.

  They drove fast for nearly an hour before they neared the garage, as instructed Kevin stopped well short and Dan pulled the 4x4 alongside “Turn off the engine!” he shouted. Almost as soon as the engines had died they could hear the unmistakable sound of gunfire coming from the direction of the garage.

  “Kevin block the road with the road sweeper, then take up a firing position over there behind that wall, kill any you do not recognise, let no one pass!” Pamela stay with Kevin but be ready to come running we may need you to attend to casualties, but don’t approach unless someone comes to get you. The rest of you follow me!”

  Peter, Amanda, Lee and Janet followed Dan in the direction of the garage as they got closer the sound of automatic weapon fire grew louder. As they approached the eastern roadblock they saw that it had been smashed, it looked like a large vehicle had driven straight through the barricade. Helen, the twenty-five-year-old that had been with Salim’s supermarket group had been on guard at the eastern roadblock and they found her body riddled with bullet holes. Her rifle was still lying on the ground next to her body and so too was the radio. Dan clipped the radio to his belt then picked up the rifle and handed it to Janet, she still had not been trained with the assault weapon, but she could still carry it and it was better than leaving it on the ground. Dan stooped down one last time and took the spare magazines from Helen’s body.

  “Wait here, I’ll be back,” said Dan and then he moved forward towards the garage and the gunfire, observing the scene of the battle, seeing that all of Smiths vehicles were there and his men were surrounding the garage. They were shooting with undisciplined abandonment, long bursts of fully automatic fire were spewing from their assault rifles, and chunks of masonry were flying from the walls in clouds of grey white dust. The rounds that were not taking chunks out of the walls were flying high over the building, this was an untrained rabble, but they were still dangerous and sooner or later they would get lucky and a round would hit home.

  The people within the garage were holding their own but only just, the rate of fire pouring forth was almost overwhelming and Dan cold tell that Smith and his men would soon be able to rush the building. Dan quickly assessed the scene then withdrew to join the others. “Peter, you take the sniper rifle and get to a firing position on the other side of the building then fire on them as soon as you can, Amanda go with him, Go! The rest of you come with me but keep low.” Dan made his way forward again then left Lee in a fire support position behind a grass bank “So that we don’t advertise our presence too soon I’m planning that Janet and I use the bows to take out some of the enemy first, so don’t fire until you see me use my rifle or you are shot at.” Lee nodded, and Dan continued “Remember take no prisoners, shoot to kill!” and then Dan moved on with Janet following close behind. Smith had left one man to guard the vehicles, but he was too intent on watching the unfolding battle to notice anyone approaching from the rear, Dan signalled Janet to stay, he then made his way toward the guard, the noise from the weapons fire covered any sound that Dan may have made, and the man did not suspect the death was bearing down on him. Dan slipped his right arm around the man’s throat and grasped his own left bicep, placing his left hand on the back of the man’s head and squeezed hard. Dan had practised this move countless times in marshal art classes over the years but as he walked up he wondered just how effective this technique would be in this a very real scenario, and whether it turn into the brawl to the death, so Dan squeezed, and he squeezed hard. He need not have worried, the man’s neck snapped like a dry twig and Dan, dragging the body out of sight, marvelling at the ease of the death and he savoured the moment whilst he could. He motioned Janet forward and she did not even give the body a second glance, he pointed out the two nearest enemy, both had their backs to them and were intent on firing wildly into the garage. “You take the one on the right, I’ll take the one on the left, ready?” said Dan, Janet did not flinch as she nodded, they both drew their bows and Dan said “Three, two, one, shoot!” both arrows flew and found their targets, Dan’s went in under the left shoulder blade and penetrated the heart. Janet’s arrow struck home directly into the back of the head, dropping him instantly, the body had hardly hit the ground before a second arrow was nocked and she was looking for another target. Dan said, “Three down…” but the Amazon Ice Queen Janet finished his sentence for him “Seven to go, that should even the odds!” she said as she shot another arrow “Make that six.” she said without a trace of emotion, Dan was starting to wonder if he had found a kindred spirit…

  Dan took the radio from his belt and called into the garage, but he was not surprised when he did not get a response as he doubted that they would hear the radio over the sound of gunfire. He clipped the radio back on to his belt, then signalled to Janet to move forward when a shot rang out from Lees rifle, Dan glanced towards him to see what he was shooting at then looked towards where his rifle was pointing. “Down!” shouted Dan as he saw one of Smiths men about to fire in their direction. Lee fired again, and the shot must have hit home or at least dissuaded the man from firing because nothing came in their direction, however he now knew that the element of surprise was lost. “Time to scale up.” he said as he put the bow to the side and hefted his own assault rifle. With four of Smiths men down the rest were having to protect their rear the rate of fire directed at the garage was greatly diminished, enabling those within the building to raise their heads above the parapet and return fire at a greater rate. Dan passed the radio to Janet and shouting over the noise of the battle said, “Get back to a safe position, then keep trying to get our friends in the garage on the radio, tell them we are here and where our positions are and make sure they don’t fire on us, go!” he then moved forward.

  Dan heard the unmistakable sound of the sniper rifle, Peter and Amanda were at last in position on the far side of the garage and were engaging the enemy, the tables had turned, and the advantage was now firmly in Dan’s favour and Smith’s men knew it. One broke from cover and ran towards the vehicles, Dan aimed, but before he could pull the trigger the runner was hit from at least two directions and his body disappeared.

  There was no way of knowing how many of Smiths men were down, but it was at least five and probably more. The rate of fire from both sides was slowing now that that the remainder of Smiths men were more concerned about retreating, knowing they were beaten and just wanting to get away. Reasoning the enemy would try for their vehicles, Dan moved back towards pickups to wait for them, Janet had the same idea and when Dan saw her he asked, “Did you get through on the radio?” she replied “Yes, they know we are here.”

  The firing intensified from the garage and a man ran into view, on seeing Dan and Janet he changed direction and run straight towards Lees position, Lee shouted to him “Stop, drop your weapon!” Having no other option and no place to run the man did as he was ordered and put his hands in the air.

  The firing stopped altogether, another prisoner was taken on the other side of the garage, Dan t
ook the radio and spoke to Salim “How many enemy bodies can you see on at the rear of the garage?” he asked. There was inevitable confusion in collating the number of Smiths men that had fallen but after ten minutes of cautiously searching and checking it was determined that seven were dead and two had been taken prisoner, however Smith himself was not amongst them. This worried Dan because Pamela and Kevin were still out there on their own beyond the eastern roadblock. Salim voice came over the radio “Dan, we have wounded here, we need Doctor Pamela and Amanda.” Dan said, “Okay I’m on my way to bring in Pamela, you get to the roof and signal Peter and Amanda to come in but keep an eye out for Smith!”

  Dan was not pleased that Lee had taken a prisoner, but there was no time to deal with him now, Dan would lead this one and the other prisoner away and dispose of them later, but for now the priority was to get Pamela safely back to the garage so she could help the wounded. Dan pointed to the prisoner that Lee had taken and said to him “You, drop your trousers to your ankles then sit on the floor, close your eyes, don’t talk and keep your hands on your head.” there was no time to tie him but with his trousers around his ankles the prisoner would not be able to move quickly so that would have to do for now. Then to Lee and so the prisoner could hear Dan said, “If he moves kill him, if he speaks kill him, if opens his eyes kill him, you okay with that.” Lee looked directly at Dan and said, “I have no problem with that, you go and do what you have to, and I’ll can take care of him.”