by RM Brewer
Jimbo looked ahead just as one of the virals shrieked. He'd told them to be quiet, but their brains were exceptionally small. How could he expect them to follow directions? The only thing they understood was the pleasure of killing and Jimbo couldn't stop them from expressing their elation over finding a Gypsum employee to dismember. He watched as the horde struck the engineer's car and the man with the clipboard at the same time. As the forklift approached, the driver remained seemingly unaware of the danger ahead until one of Jimbo's horde landed on top of the cage over the driver's head. The driver's scream was abruptly truncated as his head was severed from his body. Jimbo looked ahead, seeing the engineer being pulled from the car through the window, piece by piece. In the commotion, someone must've hit the throttle lever, sending the train lurching forward.
Then, it seemed like the world was in slow motion. The train lurched forward, its load of gas cylinders shifting. An entire palette of cylinders flipped over, landing upside down on the valves. The gas shot out of the broken valves, instantly filling the air with a toxin lethal to virals. Jimbo gasped, unaware that he'd just taken in a dose of death. Seconds later, he'd fallen to his knees as blood poured from his eyes and ears, splattering on the concrete. His body had crumpled, leaving his mind alive, his memories slowly coming back to him.
Jimbo could finally recall the faces of his wife and children for the first time since the day he'd been infected. He could remember his house and how his wife had made it a home. She'd asked so little in return. Why hadn't he appreciated them? Why hadn't he taken better care of them? Were they even still alive?
His memories were haunting him, making him feel like he couldn't wait to take his last breath. Jimbo recalled cheating on his wife, lying to his children, sacrificing his integrity simply for his own hedonistic pleasure. Guilt seeped into him as deeply as the gas, making him realize he didn't deserve to live. He'd ordered the deaths of thousands and had never felt a single pang of guilt. Ever. Until now. It hit him like a ton of bricks. A life not worth living, a soul not worth saving. That was him. Jimbo, the laughing stock, the manipulator, the liar.
He reached ahead of him and tugged on the electric cable leading to the rail track. The label on it said twelve hundred volts. That should do it. Jimbo pulled with all his might. As the cable tore in half, the charge pulsed through him and his body lit up like a firecracker, bouncing up and down on the track, smoking like a Weber grill. He could feel his teeth burning. Then, his vision went. The last thing he heard was the splintering of his skull as the electrical fire set off a chain explosion across the entire cavern.
* * *
Claire felt the floor vibrate beneath her and shifted to get more comfortable. She'd been dreaming of having a nice Chinese dinner with those little crunchy noodles and maybe some warm saki when she woke with a start, biting her tongue in the process.
"Shit," she said, spitting blood out of her mouth. She realized she was terrifically hungry and her body hurt something fierce. She shifted and opened her eyes, finding she was in complete darkness. Then she realized she was still inside the tank. She sat up abruptly, feeling a little woozy from the sudden motion.
"Fester?"
No one answered. The only things she could hear were the sounds of military vehicles in the distance. Claire tried to stand, immediately feeling an odd sensation in her foot. She reached down, remembering the sprain, and felt her dramatically swollen ankle. Maybe it was more than a sprain, but more importantly, how long had she been out and where in the world was Fester? She dragged herself over to the ladder and stepped on the first rung, stifling a scream. Just stepping down caused blinding pain. She reached for a ladder rung, but couldn't pull herself up. Claire was frustrated in learning that getting out of the tank was probably not an option if she couldn't make it more than one rung with only one good foot.
Claire hobbled to the driver's seat and strapped her seatbelt on. She set the brakes, started the tank and spun the turret, scanning the landscape for any sign of Fester. Turning to the military base, she noticed activity under the spaceship hovering overhead. Even in the dim light, she could see the tire tracks leading directly there. "Oh, Fester, damn you. What have you done?"
Claire moved ahead slowly without turning on the interior lights. She knew enough about how the tank operated to feel her way in the dark. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things when shadows passed in front of her. Then, when she'd almost run over one, she realized she was in the midst of a viral horde, running toward the loading dock. As she drove, they moved out of the way and let her pass, but she was surrounded by thousands. "I sure hope they’re Chuck’s." She backed off on the throttle, letting them pass by. They didn’t’ stop or try to get at her in the tank. They had to be Chuck’s horde. He must have called them. They probably had business to attend to and Claire sure didn't want to get in their way.
The brakes set, Claire unbuckled and stood up. She wanted to scream from the pain but realized that might not be the best course of action to take when surrounded by several thousand virals. Grabbing the stair rail, she gritted her teeth and waited for her nausea to pass. Then, she looked at the rack of missiles in front of her. "Time to get creative," she muttered.
She'd need easy access to the missiles as she was operating the tank and the gunner's store was too far away to reach. Setting six missiles on the gunner's chair, she bound them together with her belt and strapped them in with the seatbelt.
"Well, not perfect, but it'll have to do." Then, she sat back down in the driver's seat and waited. The first of Chuck's horde were almost to the loading area, yet thousands more were still passing by. It was an impressive sight. She prayed Fester would be safe, no matter where he was now, and that he'd somehow know she was waiting for him. Hopefully, he'd be alive to join her.
* * *
Fester sneaked over to the ammo truck and got in. Feeling around in the dark, he came upon a canvas tarp, which he pulled over himself. This should be good, he thought. Unless someone needs a tarp, of course. He held his breath. Someone or something was rustling outside of the truck. It didn't sound like someone walking. It was more of a scraping, shuffling noise. Then, he heard it. The growing stampede of stumbling and staggering feet. They were coming closer, near enough for him to make out their spitting, coughing, and barking. They bashed into the truck as they went by, grunting and growling as they pushed and shoved each other.
It was Chuck's horde. It had to be. That's why Chuck told him to hide, wasn't it? Suddenly, someone screamed and gunshots rang out. He held his breath again as one pinged off the truck. That was a little too close, especially given the cargo he was lying on top of right now. He waited quietly under his tarp, hoping Chuck had the situation under control.
It seemed an hour had gone by and the horde was still coming. When they were back on the road, Chuck had told him there were tens of thousands. Even though Fester had seen the horde with his own eyes, it was an altogether different experience being trapped in the middle of them. Suddenly, he felt the jostling of someone climbing into the back of the truck.Fester could see the beam of a flashlight bouncing over the contents of the truck. He thought his heart might just leap out of his chest.
"Fester, my boy, where are you?" Chuck called out.
He recognized Chuck's voice immediately and pulled the tarp back. "Here. I'm here," he said, crawling out of his hiding spot.
Chuck's arms were open as Fester fell into them. "I was so worried about you," Fester said.
"I know, me too. About you, I mean." Chuck looked around in back of Fester. "Where's your sidekick? Claire? Where is she?"
Fester looked away from Chuck. "I had to leave her," he mumbled. "I went out to get my backpack and hitched a ride on this truck."
Chuck looked at him, a confused expression on his face. "Is she safe?”
“Yeah, I think so. I mean, I sure hope so.”
“Well, that sounds like an interesting story that you should probably tell me later. Did you t
wo do all this damage to the base?"
Fester nodded. "Claire . . . she drove the tank and I loaded the ammo. She was really good at driving." He felt himself blushing.
Chuck grabbed his shoulder. "Well, I'm proud of you, Fester, but where did you leave her?"
"Who?" Fester asked. "Oh, you mean Claire. I left her in the tank because she sprained her ankle and couldn't walk."
"Well, there can't be many places as safe as the inside of a tank, but you'd better go find her when we're done here, okay?"
Fester looked embarrassed. "I didn't know what to do. I was worried about you and Jodie. Where is Jodie, anyway?"
Chuck laughed. "I had to leave her, too. She's on the ship, taking a nap."
"She's taking a nap? Now?" Fester wondered why in the world Jodie would stop to rest in the situation they were in.
"It's been a long day, Fester. She's not feeling well. I'll tell you more later. Now, show me what you have here."
"What about Mei? Did you find her?"
Chuck looked away from Fester. "She was infected. There was nothing we could do."
Fester felt his hands tighten into balled fists. Gypsum had to pay what they did. He knew he couldn't cry right now, but was having a hard time holding back.
"We'll talk about it later," Chuck said. "We have work to do."
Fester took a few steps back. "This is the first one I saw," he said, pointing to a box. On the outside, a radioactive symbol was plastered on the crate every few feet. Fester pulled back the cover, revealing a missile about five feet long.
Chuck bent down to inspect the bomb. He shined the flashlight on a warning sticker on the side. "That's some serious weaponry, Fester. Even though they're small, one of these goes up and we all go up. How many are there?"
"I think, like fifteen, or something. And a lot of machine guns. At least I think that's what these are." Fester pointed to another box and lifted the cover, revealing a massive gun with a harness and sighting gear.
Chuck's eyes grew very large. "Wow. Well, that should be enough, alright. Jump in the front seat. I'm gonna drive this right into the ship's bay and we can unload there."
Fester followed Chuck as he jumped out of the truck, at first scared that he might be jumping down into a nest of virals, but the horde was nowhere to be seen.
"Where are they?" Fester asked as he closed the passenger door.
"The horde, you mean? Well, they're gonna take a ride to see their relatives. They're on the ship." Chuck glanced over at Fester and grinned. "I thought it would be a nice trip for them."
Fester didn't know if what Chuck was saying was actually funny, but he laughed anyway. "You got all hundred or whatever thousands of them on the ship?"
"Sure did. Good thing they don't eat anything except Gypsum people or they'd run out of food." Chuck laughed heartily.
"How about those other things . . . the super virals, or whatever?"
"All gone for now. Some went underground and the others were wiped out during the battle. It seems Claire got the lot of them and most of what was left of the military by blowing up that building." Chuck pointed at a pile of rubble. "At least, I can't hear anyone's thoughts except what's coming from my horde. So, now for our other problem, Fester. Where are the keys?"
"Gosh, I don't know. That soldier guy must've taken them with him."
Chuck turned abruptly and looked out the window as Fester felt the entire truck start to vibrate.
"I think your date has arrived," Chuck said, grinning.
Fester pushed himself out of the seat and leaned over to look out Chuck's window. "Claire," he yelled, then realized she probably couldn't hear him.
"I like her wheels. See if she can give me a pull up the loading ramp, okay?"
"Yeah. Sure." Fester was eager to see Claire and apologize. He opened the door and jumped down, went around the truck and climbed up onto the tank. He yanked on the hatch, suddenly realizing he'd left Claire in the tank without locking it. Now, he felt even worse.
He jumped down into the cockpit, missing the ladder completely, landing at her feet. Fester looked into her eyes, certain he'd never met a prettier woman. "I'm sorry," was all he could blurt out before she grabbed him and pulled him into a half-standing, half-sitting hug. She pushed away and Fester could see she'd been crying.
"You'd better be sorry, buster," she said, hitting him on the arm.
"I am," he said, desperately wanting to kiss her in that moment, yet knowing it would be the wrong thing to do. She was so much older than him. Besides that, Chuck was waiting. "Is your foot okay?"
Claire gestured down at her enormous ankle, the swelling beyond anything Fester had ever seen.
"Wow. That's so cool," he said. Then, remembering himself, "That looks like it really hurts. I'm so sorry that happened to you."
Claire waved him off and sighed loudly. "So, what's up with Chuck? I saw him get into the truck and both of you get out. Where is Jodie? Did they find Mei?"
"Jodie's inside the ship yet. Chuck has to go and get her. She's sick and Mei got infected. Chuck said there was nothing they could do for Mei, whatever that means. He said he'd talk to me later."
"Oh, God. Is Jodie infected, too? What's going on?"
Fester sighed, wanting not to have to answer questions like these. "I really don't know. But, that truck is full of weapons and Chuck wants to drive it into the ship, but he doesn't have any keys to start it. He wanted to know if you could give him a tow."
"Yeah. You bet I can. Hang on." Claire pulled forward ahead of the truck, then backed up and stopped. "By the way, what kind of weapons?"
"Oh, there's just some nuclear warheads and some really cool machine guns. I think I wanna take one."
"A warhead?" Claire asked, clearly shocked.
"No . . . uh, no. One of the machine guns."
"Okay, fast draw Fester. Let's get Chuck on that ship. Then, we can all get out of here."
The tow into the loading bay went smoothly with Fester up in the turret, helping to guide Claire. Once they were inside and parked, Claire shut down the tank and Fester helped her up the ladder.
"Nice to see you, Claire," Chuck said. "It looks like we need to find you some crutches. That must hurt."
"Good to see you, too. And yes, it does hurt. I thought I sprained it at first, but now I'm pretty sure it's broken."
"Well, you just sit to the side while we take care of unloading. Fester, hurry up and get Claire one of those guns you like so much, won't you?"
"Yeah, sure," he said, excited to be able to unpack the machine gun. He grabbed a box for Claire and helped her sit down. "I'll be right back." Fester jumped in the back of the truck and unpacked one of the crates, a little jealous that he wouldn't be the first to try out the weaponry. He slung the harness over his shoulder and brought Claire the gun, strapping the weapon and the head mounted sighting gear to her. Unless he’d known she was under all that equipment, he would’ve never recognized her. Once she had adjusted the outfitting, he handed her a full clip, which she slammed into the gunstock. "You look like a badass." Fester knew at that point that he really was in love with Claire. For sure. Maybe she would be willing to wait for him. He'd have to work up the nerve to ask her that later.
"Fester, boy, time to stop ogling and give me a hand," Chuck called out from a forklift sitting idle in the corner.
Fester looked over at Chuck, feeling his face flush. Even though Chuck sounded like he was trying to be funny, the expression on his face told Fester he was dead serious. He made a move to leave and stopped. "You gonna be okay here by yourself?"
Claire laughed. "I don't think anyone will mess with me, do you? I'll be fine. You'd better get going."
"Uh . . . okay. Yeah," Fester said, wishing he could find a way to stop staring at Claire. He felt a foot kick him in the shin.
"Go, Fester," Claire said, smiling at him.
CHAPTER 21
Jodie came to, hearing the muffled grunting of someone calling out. It sounded like they ha
d a mouthful of cotton. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, trying to focus. Then she heard it again, along with the noise of something banging on metal. She stood slowly, still a little dizzy, but feeling much better than she had previously. Other than being incredibly thirsty, she didn't feel bad at all. She ignored the noise and went to a refrigerator in the corner of the room she was in. Before she did anything else, she needed to find some water.
Looking around, she saw this was a different place than she had fallen asleep. Chuck must've brought her here, but where was he? Opening the refrigerator door, she spied bottled water in the produce drawer. She grabbed three of them, downing two. Then, she heard it again. The noise sounded like it was coming from a cabinet in the next room.
Jodie crossed the hallway and entered the room. She approached the cabinet slowly. "Is someone in there?"
Whoever it was responded with more grunting and banging. Jodie opened the cabinet door slowly, revealing a bound and gagged Hana. Her legs and arms were wrapped with duct tape, too. Jodie realized by the bruise on Hana's forehead that she had been banging on the door with her head. She weighed the idea of just closing the door again with Hana inside. The woman was nothing but trouble.
Tears ran down Hana's face and Jodie swore under her breath. "You're not going to make me feel sorry for you."
Hana choked out something that Jodie couldn't begin to understand. She pulled the gag down, out of Hana's mouth. "What was that? More lies?"
"I said, we have to get out of here. The whole ship is filled with virals."
Jodie turned around quickly and walked over to the door, looking out the small glass window. "I don't see anything," she said.