by RM Brewer
“No civilians are allowed in this area, ma’am,” he said, unmoving.
Claire pulled out her FBI badge and flipped it open. “Not a civilian, sir. And, I need transportation. Who can help me make that happen?”
The soldier took her badge and examined it for a moment, then looked down at her feet, obviously curious about her outfit.
“Not a great selection of footwear in this airport,” Claire said, feeling her face grow hot.
The soldier smiled. “You can see if you can catch a ride with Homeland Security, but no one else is being allowed out. Head toward the office on the other side of the garage,” he said, gesturing to the double doors behind him.
Claire knew she couldn’t make her presence known to Homeland Security, but was relieved to be exiting the terminal, at least. “Thank you, sir,” she said, nodding to the soldier. Pushing the doors open, she found a garage filled with cars. If only the airport patrons had been warned of the approaching hordes, many of them could’ve gotten out. She was starting to wonder if anyone really wanted them to get to safety, though. The appropriate response would’ve been to remove people from a biological threat before it arrived.
Creeping along the wall behind a row of vehicles, Claire approached the dimly lit rental car office. She poked her head up over a car hood to see inside just as a man exited, closing the door behind him. “Yes, we’re evacuating. They’re losing the north side,” he said, talking on his cell phone, anxiety apparent in his voice. “I have to go. I’ll call you when I get to Phoenix.”
The man opened a car door, got in and started it up. He tore out of the parking lot, tires screeching. If his actions were any indication, Claire knew she had little time. As if to drive the point home, an emergency siren sounded and the fire alarm buzzers blared out, echoing through the garage. “Shit,” Claire said, running toward the office.
She grabbed the door handle and pulled, but it was locked. Looking around the garage for something to throw through the window, Claire saw the door she’d come in from open as the soldier burst through. He closed it behind him and locked it, then turned and ran in her direction. Claire backed up, thinking he was coming for her.
“We have to get out of here, ma’am,” he said. “Is the office locked?”
Claire nodded. “Yes, I was just trying --” The blast of the soldier’s gun deafened her as he shot the lock from the door.
“Grab yourself some keys, ma’am,” he said, as pounding started at the door on the other side of the garage. “I’d suggest not being too picky.”
Claire followed him into the office and reached for a set of car keys. The soldier took them away and handed her a different set. “You’ll need four-wheel drive, ma’am.” He pulled a similar set of keys off of the rack for himself. “I can show you where yours is. I did some recon on this area out earlier, just in case, you know.”
Claire was glad he did and 'just in case' was a good enough reason for her. She looked down and scooped up a pair of work boots sitting on the floor. They looked a little big, but had to be better than slippers.
As they left the office, Claire could hear frantic screams coming in waves from the terminal, then silence, followed by more screams. She knew what was happening. The soldier glanced at her, his eyes betraying fear. He pointed to an SUV. “Follow me out and don’t slow down or stop for anything or anyone. Trust me on this if you want to get out alive.”
Claire wondered how he knew this, but thought it good advice, given her own experiences. “Thank you,” she said. Then she ran to the SUV.
The soldier tore out of the garage, guiding her the wrong way through the entrance gate, smashing through the wooden arm blocking their path. As they pulled up into the sunlight, he accelerated and Claire followed his pace. Several thousand feet ahead of them lay the highway leading away from the airport. But, it was what was between them and the highway that concerned Claire.
A horde of several hundred people, all infected and seemingly crazed, shifted direction when they saw the speeding SUVs. The soldier didn’t slow as he turned off the roadway and drove over the lawn, away from the horde. Claire followed. Traveling parallel to the highway, the soldier picked up speed, sending clumps of mud and grass at Claire’s windshield. Coming to a drainage ditch, he swerved, bringing his vehicle onto a runway.
Within seconds, they were both traveling at eighty-five miles per hour toward the south end of the airport property. Claire glanced in her rear view mirror, watching the horde falling behind. Looking to the right, for the first time, she could see what had happened at the terminal. Most of the windows were broken out and pointy shards poked up from their frames, with piles of broken glass lying on the concrete below. A bloody shirt, impaled on the broken glass, hung down, swaying gently in the breeze. Bodies, or parts of them, along with luggage and a half dozen or so spilled cabinets of pre-packaged meals lay strewn across the tarmac.
The infected milled about, screaming and spitting, their clothes stained with blood and gore, torn and hanging in strips. Claire knew the soldier must have seen it, too, because he picked up speed.
Coming to the end of the runway, the soldier slowed, then accelerated again and steered toward the fence. He slammed into it at ninety miles per hour, flattening it to the ground. Claire ducked instinctively as a metal fence post flew into the air. Her vehicle was under it and gone by the time it hit the ground. The soldier braked and swerved onto the highway. She followed, holding her breath as another horde ran toward the fence ahead of them. The virals slammed into it with a fury, pushing a section of the chain link down, bending the fence poles flat to the ground. Staggering and stumbling over each other, they filed into the roadway ahead. Pushing the accelerator down, she followed the soldier's vehicle, flying along at one hundred and twenty miles per hour now, headed for the burgeoning group of infected.
Claire didn’t slow down. If they were going through this wall of infected, they were going through together. The soldier’s SUV hit the first of them, turning their bodies into pulp. Claire’s windshield was sprayed with blood and flesh. She could feel her bones ache, hearing the popping and snapping of arms and legs being pulverized beneath the SUV tires. Time seemed to stand still as the bodies thudded and smeared and exploded around them. Claire felt herself start to hyperventilate. She choked back tears that she didn’t know were coming. Then, suddenly they were out of the horde, traveling along a clear road.
They drove for about ten minutes, coming to a deserted intersection where the soldier pulled over. Claire drove up behind him and stopped, watching him cautiously exit his blood- splattered vehicle. She shut the SUV off, opened her own door and stepped down, realizing her legs were shaking. She took a few steps and turned to look at her vehicle, seeing an arm embedded in the grill. It slid to the ground, making a sloppy wet thudding noise as it hit. Claire’s vision began to darken at the edges and the soldier ran to her as she started to fall.
“Are you okay, ma’am?” he asked.
For a moment, she thought she was going to recover, but then looked at the two vehicles again, with their coating of liquefied bodies, and threw up in the dirt. The soldier led her to a boulder on the other side of the road.
“Pretty fucking ugly, isn’t it?” he asked. “This virus thing . . . I hate to say it, but I don’t think we have a chance.”
Claire spat on the ground and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “What’s your name?”
‘It’s Private Robbins . . . uh, I guess just Jason would be okay. I’m just a National Guard part-timer. You know, just wanted to make a little extra cash. I . . . I was in Vegas with some buddies when the infected came,” he said, his eyes glassy.
"You've seen this before . . . outside of Reno?" Claire wondered if the entire southwest was overrun by now.
“They took the entire city in, like . . . well, less than an hour. Me and some other guys from my unit . . . we were in this private room on the thirty-third floor. We were watching them from the balcony. They were
tearing people apart and infecting others. It seemed like only a few minutes and the whole city was one screaming mass of virals. We couldn’t help them . . . there was nothing anyone could do. We just hid.”
Claire realized the soldier was not only dealing with the horror of seeing the carnage but was probably feeling guilty as well because he hadn’t done anything to try to stop it. “I’ve seen them before, too. I hid underneath a bridge.” Jason looked at her and Claire could feel his warmth and see his relief. “There was nothing you could have done. Today, you saved me. That has to count for something.”
Jason nodded. “But, we have to warn people. They’re on the move.”
“Besides the ones between here and Las Vegas?”
“I don’t know,” Jason said. “All I know is they’re sneaky. When we were in Vegas, we could hear them coming up . . . you know, people screaming, stuff breaking on the floors below. The guys I was with and me, we piled up all the furniture in front of the door, but they never got that far. Last I saw of any of the infected, they were crawling into the sewers.”
“Into sewers?” Claire asked. “Like storm sewers?”
Jason nodded. Claire wondered how they would ever stop the infestation of virals now that they were in the sewer system. They could travel for miles unhindered. “How about your friends? Did they make it?”
"Yeah. They all headed east, away from Vegas. I had to report to my unit.”
‘Well, Jason, I’m sure relieved you were at the airport and that you got me out of there. I’m not sure I would’ve made it without your help.”
Jason smiled briefly. “I’m pretty happy about that, too,” he said, extending his hand. “But, we’d better get moving. Do you need an escort anywhere, Agent . . . uh, sorry, I can’t remember --”
“Hathaway,” Claire said. “But, just call me Claire. And, no, I have to catch up with the Bureau, so I’ll be heading north.”
“Okay, well, good luck, Claire,” Jason said.
“To you as well,” Claire said, reaching out and giving him a hug. “I owe you my life.”
Jason smiled broadly and waved as he drove off. Claire followed behind him for a few miles, until her road turned north. As she drove, she tried to reach Jodie but was only able to leave a message. Claire prayed her mentor was still alive and thought, if anyone could make it through the viral apocalypse, it would be Jodie. She hoped she wasn’t wrong.
CHAPTER 10
Mei managed to find a hooded sweatshirt and a pair of scrubs in what appeared to be a workout room. The layout of the ship seemed odd to her, with a gym facility right next to the cryosleep quarters. Maybe it wasn’t so strange, though. After months of sleeping in space, people would need to find some way to regain their strength and rehabilitate their bodies. She searched through the room, finding a small refrigerator filled with juice packets and a drawer loaded with nutrition bars, dried fruit and nuts. After practically inhaling one of the bars, she stripped a small pillow lying on a gurney of its case and filled it with food and water. Using a roll of gauze, she tied the bag closed, fashioning a strap that she slung over her head.
Walking down the hallway of the ship wasn’t as easy as she’d thought it would be. She found herself lifting off the floor at times, then felt the force of gravity weighing on her at other moments. She jumped, passing a window, seeing the reflection of her hair floating above her head. Other than the effects of weightlessness, there were no signs they were in space. The ship made no sound and it actually looked like a compact office building. Mei hadn't known ships like this existed and wondered if it was built using alien technology. A strange growling noise coming from down the hall changed her temporary fascination with the ship back to fear.
She crept along the corridor, hugging the wall, hoping that she could stay hidden until the ship was safely back to earth. Mei wondered whether that was possible, though, because with every step she took, the growling and spitting grew louder. She stopped outside of the door leading into what looked like another office. Sliding sideways, she came up alongside the window and leaned forward to take a look inside. Mei caught her breath at what she saw.
In the corner of the room, huddled in a ball, was a creature the likes of which she’d never known. It had seen her though, the stare of its huge elliptical eyes seeming to burn right through her. A stream of bloody saliva hung from its pale grey mouth, pooling on the floor.
Mei flattened against the wall and held her breath, wondering what to do next. One thing was for certain, waiting where she was seemed like a very bad idea. She sprang from the wall and ran down the corridor. As she passed the room, the thing inside bashed into the door and screeched. Mei didn’t look back as she turned the corner and ran into the next hallway.
The sound of voices and laughter echoed through a ventilation shaft above her head. Coming to a hatch, she looked through the thick glass window, seeing a corridor much like what she was standing in. She turned the hatch wheel, yanked it open and stepped through. The thing behind her screeched, bashing into the door to the room it was in, slamming itself against it repeatedly and finally tearing it from its hinges and tossing it to the floor. Mei slammed the hatch and spun the wheel. Then, she ran from room to room, searching for anything she could use as a weapon. What was that thing and why wasn't it caged? It obviously wasn’t human, but didn’t appear to be a life form of higher intelligence, either. Certainly, the alien life form that Gypsum was working with had to be a little more hospitable than what she’d just encountered.
Entering the third room since she’d come into the area, Mei closed and locked the door behind her. Searching in the dim light, she began to quietly pull open drawers, looking for anything that might help her in her escape. She pulled open a cabinet and grabbed the pair of shoes lying at the bottom, then laid one next to her foot, hoping it would at least be close to the size she needed. As she slipped on the oversized shoe, she heard a strange noise in the hallway. Ducking behind a desk, she peeked around the side, hearing a rhythmic scraping, followed by the footsteps of something that was obviously not human. The noise grew louder and louder, finally stopping right outside the door.
Mei could feel the sweat beading up on her forehead. She pressed her trembling hand over her mouth to quiet her breathing and looked for something to defend herself with. Other than a broom leaning up against the wall, there was nothing within her reach.
Suddenly, the door rattled. Mei felt her knees shaking spastically, not knowing if it was out of fear or the effects of extended cryosleep. Regardless, she was terrified as the thing slammed into the door, cracking the window. She knew she only had moments before it would be upon her. She stood and grabbed the edge of the heavy metal desk she’d been hiding behind, trying to give it a shove, but it wouldn’t budge. Then, she saw why. It was bolted to the floor. Scanning through the room, she saw that everything – the cabinets, the desks, the side chairs – were all bolted in place. “Figures,” she mumbled.
The thing hit the door again. Mei crouched and backed up, tripped and landed hard on her back, the wind knocked out of her. As she tried to catch her breath, she noticed something. As quickly as she could, she pulled herself up on the desk and reached for the hatch in the ceiling. Opening it, she saw it was the entrance to a ventilation shaft.
The thing was banging harder and harder on the door with each passing second. Small pieces of shattered glass spilled across the floor. Mei grabbed onto the hatch and tried to hoist herself up, but she was too weak. Her arms felt heavy and powerless as she dropped back down to the desk. She stifled a scream as the thing thrust its head through the door and shrieked, its hot breath filling the room with a putrid odor.
Terrified, she realized she only had moments before it would come for her, its mouth filled with sharp grey teeth, its eyes like pools of black ink. Mei jumped as high as she could, propelling herself up into the shaft. As soon as she was inside, she pulled the hatch closed behind her and started to crawl forward.
Mei instincti
vely covered her head as gunshots rang out below her. The thing screamed in agony, while a man’s voice called out to hit it with another round. As the creature as blasted into pieces, she could hear the sound of its body splattering across the room. She covered her ears as the gunfire echoed in the vent. Then, it stopped as abruptly as it started and Mei held still.
“How did it escape?” a man’s voice yelled below her. “Check the other virals. Let’s tranq them. We don’t want another getting out.”
“Yes, sir,” another man answered. “What do you think it was after in here?”
“No idea,” the first man said. “These things are head cases. Who knows what it wanted. Better get going and check on the others. Oh, and send a clean-up team.”
As slowly and quietly as she could, Mei flipped her body around and backed away from the hatch. If anyone had the idea to take a look in the vent, she’d be found immediately. She needed to hide until things calmed down. Sliding backward about twenty feet, she came to a cross vent, where she backed in and waited. No sooner had she gotten out of sight than she heard the hatch opening. A flashlight beam flicked back and forth, reflecting across the vent walls, then went dark again. The sound of the hatch closing echoed against the metal walls surrounding her.
Mei realized she could go no farther for the time being. Exhaustion was taking its toll. She swung the bag she had around her neck in front of her, undid the tie and reached in for water, downing the entire bottle in one long swig. She slumped to the floor, her energy completely spent and her mind reeling from the lingering effects of the drugs she'd been given. She lay prone on the cool metal surface and breathed deeply, trying to stop herself from shaking. The thing had almost gotten to her this time. If she couldn't regain her energy, there would be little she could do the next time it happened. For a moment, she let her mind wander, fantasizing about the idea of Jodie rescuing her from the clutches of Gypsum, the infected virals, and the aliens that were succeeding at destroying the human race. But, her eyes filled with tears again when she felt the reality of her situation sinking in.