The Rabid Mind Two

by Bruce Buckshot Hemming

  “Alright, but you stay back. I don’t want to see you in the front lines if anything starts.” He said and the boy nodded. They sent a scout out to the entrances of the forest, to watch for movement. So far, he reported nothing.

  ***

  The horde travelled along the direction the car had driven in. The realization that there could be survivors hidden somewhere, inspired them.

  The three they’d caught had not been even close enough to feed his Army. A small fight had started over them, but he had calmed them down. He commanded them to leave the now-dead men, they were already stripped down to mostly bones by the starving horde. And telling them the men probably had friends, and they were going to find them. So as he led, they now followed him, a moving organic mass of destruction.

  He flashed back then, and held his head. His flashbacks were becoming more rampant now. He had remembered his name the other day. It had gone now and had been replaced with harsh images of the accident. The one that had claimed his family. Him as well, if one really thought about it. The flashback went now, the memory settling down. He knew he’d tried to remember later, he would just have a headache, but sometimes, it was worth it. Remembering his old life. His wife. Martha.

  Her name came back to him, he realised. He remembered her name. Her face was now clear in his mind’s eye.

  The scene flashed. She was lying on the stretcher.

  He had to inject her. She was dying. He retrieved the syringe from his pocket and reached for her but the paramedics stopped him. He struggled but they stopped him. They said they could not allow him. His own wife? She held him. Grabbed his hand, and she called his name.

  Her voice was weak. He couldn’t hear her. She called him again.

  His head pounded fiercely now as he recalled the scene. He hadn’t recalled this one before.

  Martha. She was beautiful. It registered somewhere that he should feel bad about not remembering such a beautiful woman. He didn’t see why, now. His lack of remembrance was no fault of his.

  Wasn’t it though? A voice asked him. Well, it was a side effect of whatever he’d injected into himself.

  He couldn’t think of things like this, not now, he cautioned himself. They had more pressing issues at hand now. His feelings of painful nostalgia would have to wait. They had food to find.

  ***

  Diego looked around twenty-three fighting men and three teenagers. Against a horde of thousands? They would never be able to withstand the assault. Maybe a couple hundred they could stop, but my God, over a thousand?

  “Debbie, you go with the rest of women and children to the cliff dwellings. We’ll kill as many as we can and fall back to you.”

  “Screw that, come with us now. All you’ll do is end getting all your men killed.”

  His eyes blazed brightly. “We are not giving up this place without a fight it might hold. We have too much work building this place to just abandon it. Now move out.”

  Going through the storage for the camp they found enough to make some propane bombs, but only found enough materials for four bombs. They were going to have to place them along the road. It was just like the one he built at the house where Kevin’s group had been.

  It took them an hour and a half to set up completely and place the bombs in different locations. Two shooters armed with rifles and night vision goggles to each bomb. The eight men stayed high in the trees at an ample distance from the blast range.

  Once that was set, Diego placed more shooters in the look-out towers. More shooters behind the sand bags via shooting slots that had been constructed. After making sure everything was done right. Now they waited. Each person checking in on the other via walkie-talkies.

  The plan was to fall back for the forward shooters after triggering their bombs. If the fence failed, the vehicles were packed, and everyone would load up and head for the cliffs.

  An hour passed. Still nothing.

  Suddenly crackling erupted over the radios the forward scouts called in. “I see them. I see them. Shit, we’re so fucked. A huge army of them, larger than anything we have ever seen.”

  “Okay, return to camp now.” Diego said into the walkie. The gates were opened as the car sped towards the camp, and once the car drove in, they shut it behind them.

  “They’re about twenty minutes out. God help us.”

  So, they waited. Each man at their post uttering a small prayer.

  ***

  He saw the car kick into reverse and disappear into the forest. They’d been spotted. He halted the horde.

  So they’d sent a lookout. Meaning they were preparing for them. They were an organized lot. He scoffed as he thought about it. Their efforts, like those of the survivors they’d killed in the past, would be in vain.

  Another flashback hit him again. He was in a lab, he was agitated. How could this have happened? They’d warned him about her, but he hadn’t listened. Now shit had hit the fan. Literally. The world had just taken its first step towards the end. It would most definitely end. The incident at the airport had sealed that fate.

  Except he could do something about it.

  He quickly made some final tests on what he had been working on and decided it was as close as he was going to get. He injected himself with it. He had one more syringe.

  The flashback ended and his head pounded.

  Enraged by this new pounding, he commanded his horde to storm the Gila forest, and ran behind them. They all ran in rushing through the trees, not caring about a definite path. They were getting close. He could smell the faint smell of one. No two. Up in the trees.

  Just then, the ground in front exploded.

  ***

  “I can hear ‘em coming. They’re moving fast.” Came the voice of one of the shooters at the first bomb.

  “Only shoot when they are close. We want as many of them in the blast range as possible.” Jim instructed.

  The man was shaken by the sight of so many infected in one place, and fired too early, the bomb went off, scattering the infected in different directions. The ones outside the blast range ran on.

  “Shit. I only got a few, but there are still hundreds maybe thousands. They’re coming your way.” He said to the next bomb watchers, while his partner shot the ones that he could as they ran past. They clear a path and climbed down and ran for the fence.

  Back at the base, Jim heard the first bomb go off. Shots followed, and then, another bomb. The last two bombs guarding the road to the main gate.

  Diego alerted the shooters, telling them to keep sharp. Soon gunshots erupted all around the forest as they picked off the infected one by one. The forward teams fighting their way back to the gate.

  The third team waited until at least thirty had passed the bomb with another forty or more around it when they fired. The explosion shook the ground. Shrieking of dead and dying filled the air. Behind the fence, they could see the explosion as it lit up the night sky.

  The two men ran pass the fourth team.

  The horde was enraged now and raced forward. They all could smell the fresh food and like cattle long from water they stampeded forward. The ground shook as the thousands poured forward.

  The final bomb was set off. Killing another fifty or so. The team quickly climbed down the tree and ran for their lives. Two hundred yards from the gate. As they got close the men were screaming open the gate, they’re right behind us.

  The gate was open allowing the teams inside and quickly closed and locked. The bomb teams took up their fighting position behind the sand bags. The night erupted in the sound of gunfire as the fire teams poured lead at the advancing horde.

  “They’re climbing the trees. One of them is instructing them to climb the trees. Shit!” A voice screamed into the radio.

  Tyler picked his radio. “Shoot him down. Kill that son of bitch giving them orders. Without him, the others are
uncoordinated and will be easy pickings. Kill that fucking leader now!”

  Fuck, they’re loading up the trees and they’re leaning over the fence. The radio was nonstop chatter. ”They are too many the fence won’t hold. Fuck, they’re dropping in from the trees, they’re over the fence. The one sand bag team was over-run.”

  Diego gave the command. “Fall back to the cabins. Retreat, retreat.” The shrieking, the rattling of the fence, gunshots and the screams of men dying as the infected ripped into them.

  Diego called out on the radio. “If we can’t stop them here fall back to the vehicles and get the hell out of here.”

  The intelligent one watched and snarled at a group who had stopped to feed.

  Tyler waited for the shot. Come on your son of bitch leader, give me a clear shot, stand in the open. He’s clear. Tyler shot, he fell but was quickly surrounded with his Army. Please God let that be a clean kill. “He been killed? I repeat, the leader been killed?” Tyler screamed into the radio as he waited for a reply.

  “No. he has not. They have formed a shield around him. We can’t get a clean shot.”

  “Fuck I thought for sure I hit him. Everyone concentrate your fire on the middle group in front to the gate. Kill them all to get the fucking leader. The night was lit up with flashes of gun fire. White flares were shot up in the air to illuminate the battle field. It looked like a nightmare, over a thousand of them could be seen, as the defenders try one last desperate attempt to kill the so called leader.

  ***

  They were trying to kill him. They must have figured out he was special. So, they knew he was different. It’s not like he tried to hide it. As more shots were fired, he directed his horde on what trees to climb. More of his Army inside the fence.

  He directed the rest to charge the gate. They ran forward climbing over each other making a human ladder. Even as one fell he soon become one more step for the others to climb.

  He still had his protective unit around him. The shot had been close but a miss, he dropped to the ground and waited for his squad to surround him again. They did everything he asked. Did the humans really think he could be killed so easily? After everything he’d survived.

  Humans. He noted his usage of the word. Had he not been one of them before after all?

  He had another flashback then. He drove out of the complex. Riots were erupting everywhere. He had to get to her. The compound he’d come up with would counter the effects in case they got attacked and bitten. Or at least in theory, it was supposed to. He had started working on it as an afterthought to the military project. After all, why not make money on both fronts?

  What was the use of having an all-powerful virus if there wasn’t an even more powerful cure that only he had access to?

  Countries would bow to his will. Even now, with the world at the brink of an end, he still could only think about himself. How he could gain from this. He was self-preservation personified.

  He didn’t know if it would work as he hoped, but there was no more time to waste. He needed to get to her quickly. He’d called. She was home. If he could only get through this riot.

  Some people in the crowd who’d been infected started turning then, completing the three-day cycle. They turned on their fellow rioters and attacked them, causing an even worse uproar. Just then, a car driving from the opposite direction swerved and ran into him. His window exploded as glass shards flew into his face.

  It was gone again. He hated these things. Martha.

  The woman that had been his wife’s name came back to him. She was beautiful.

  The gate fell to the ground. The horde poured in like a ghoulish B grade movie. How surprised they must be by his strategy and superior mind. How could they expect to win? Stupid Humans.

  ***

  Diego yelled out. “Retreat everyone get out get out now. Jim, Tyler you with me will give them covering fire as they loaded up.”

  They stood behind the last vehicle firing at any that dare come close. They heard a gutter scream and all was silent for a moment. They stopped charging.

  They heard a deep grittily voice. “Humans. We only want your blood. Shoot yourself so we may feed.”

  The other vehicles were driving off. Only the last truck was left the three men climbed in.

  Jeffery called out. “Wait for me. He ran between the building and they heard a strange grunt and the shriek as the attack started again.

  “Run boy faster.” The truck was running in gear. Diego called out. “Wait, one more.”

  Faster, come on one of the infected quickly closing the gap behind the boy. Jim leveled the Ak-47 and pulled the trigger click. “Shit, I’m out.” Tossing the gun behind him in the truck he pulled his knife out. Jeffery turn around and saw the thing a few feet behind him the adrenaline rush gave him a burst of speed and he leaped for the truck. Ty and Diego each grabbed an armed and pulled him in. “Hit it.” Diego yell. “Go, go, go, floor it, man.”

  The truck spun out throwing gravel and Jim almost fell out of the truck, his knees smashing into the tailgate. He dropped his knife using both hands to keep from falling out. The infected leapt and grabbed Jim’s coat collar. He hung on for dear life as the truck bounce off down the road. The infected swinging its other arms plummeting Jim’s head. Jim pushed his weight down on his knees and let go with his right hand and punch the thing back in the face. But it had super human strength, it would not let go.

  Tyler crawled up and pointed his pistol at the thing and started firing. But the truck was bouncing all over the dirt road and he keep missing. Jim yelled, “Hit the damn thing, I am losing my strength.”

  Tyler laid his arm on Jim shoulder and steadied the pistol and shot it in the arm. It jerked and opened its hand and fell off.

  “God Damn that was close, thank you.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Retreat.

  His head pounded as another flashback came. He was starting to think it was the noise that stimulated them. He opened his eyes. The case with the other syringe lay on the floor of the passenger seat. He retrieved it. The crash had thrown the driver of the car through his windshield. Idiot.

  Served him right for not looking where he was going.

  He kicked open his door, and staggered out. He walked to the man and checked him. He seemed dead.

  Good. Asshole. That would teach him to drive without looking again.

  He looked around trying to see how fast he could get home. Just then the man woke up, and grabbed his hand, which was still on the hood of the car and took a bite at his hand. He withdrew his hand quickly as he looked at the man in surprise. The man’s eyes were red, and he was frothing in the mouth. Shit.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. There was no turning back now. The compound had to work. It just had to.

  He had to get home now. A discarded motorcycle lay on the street, and he lifted if, kicked started it and raced home.

  Paramedics were in front of his home. How? Martha. He saw her on a stretcher.

  She had been attacked. He ran towards one of the paramedics and inquired what happened. They told him.

  One of the neighbors had turned and attacked her. Shit. He had to give it to her now.

  He ran to her. She was being loaded into the back of the ambulance. She called his name.

  Her voice was faint. She was dying. He brought out the syringe and tried to give it to her. They stopped him. The bastards stopped him.

  What did they know? They did not understand. She would turn. Or die. He had to give her the cure. Before it was too late.

  He hadn’t mentioned it was the cure though. Even then, his sense of self-preservation had trumped his love for his wife.

  She called his name again, as they shut the door. This time, he heard. He heard her loud and clear. “George…”

  It all came back to him now. The shooting had stopped totally. They gav
e way and his horde waited for their orders, but he was deep in thought.

  Of course, he remembered his name now. His former name. He didn’t have need for names anymore. They were a human thing, and after all. He was not human. Not any longer. His former name.

  Doctor George Grey. He walked in through the gates now. Nobody moved. Some members of his horde lay strewn all over the ground.

  He had one more surprise for them. “Feed my Army, enjoy the ones you have killed.”

  ***

  “Did you hear it talk? Just what exactly was going on here? It can talk?? Jim asked incredulously.

  “Called us humans? What the hell does that make it? Beast? Half human?” Diego said.

  Tyler said. “It was clearly in command. Somehow it could talk to the others and they always did what he told them to do.”

  They reach the trail to the cliff dwelling. Parked the truck next to the others. “Everyone take a few minutes reloaded your magazines. Pack the rest of ammo. We leave in five.”

  Diego walked around counting people. They had lost seven men and two of the teenagers. Sixteen fighting men left. Plus, ten women that can fight. No chance against a horde like this.

  He picked two men to stay behind. “Listen up, the second you hear or see them, beat feet to the ladder. We will leave it down until you’re both up.”

  They loaded up all the gear and ammo they could carry and headed out. Climbing the ladder to the top Diego looked out in the dark night. How long could we hold this place? How long before they starve us out. Hopefully after a few days they will move on. It’s our only hope. Unless the General can get down here with a Machine gun to save us. But what does he have, another twelve or so fighting men? Twenty eight men against a thousand. At best, we killed what maybe three hundred. If it was only one thousand they still have seven hundred left.

  Seven hundred or more. Now he was sorry he called the General. They will be walking into a death trap.

  ***

  Matt set up the cannon in the school football field. He opened the valve and counted one, two, three, shut the valve off to the propane. He walked back behind the sand bags. Ok, ready to see what happens? The ladies said. “Fire.”