by Brett, Cal
‘Still not a problem,’ she decided as she continued on her way. Arriving at the next intersection, she didn’t see anything and bolted quickly across. Behind her she heard the crashing glass of something breaking through a window on an upper floor. It made a loud whump when it hit the ground as if it might have been an old couch. She knew anything close enough to hear it would come looking, hoping for an easy meal so she picked up her pace. It was just a little further to the condo.
As she passed a rusted airport shuttle with flat tires, something struck the inside of its mold covered windows, causing her to jump. She skittered away through the clumps of grass growing up from the street and hoped whatever it was couldn’t get out of the van. The scare caused her to lose focus for a moment in an effort to quickly get away and she stepped out into the next intersection without her usual diligence. Half way through, motion in the cross street caught her eye.
A mob of undead stretched across from sidewalk to sidewalk only a few dozen yards away. She did the math and figured this to be the tail end of the big group she had been dodging. They may have been trailing the pack, but they didn’t hesitate when they saw her and instantly increased their clumsy forward motions. Several fell over as they overreached on brittle and unstable legs.
Kelly bolted towards the condo, knowing they would probably follow her the rest of the way. Disregarding her usual caution, she ran full tilt towards home. At the next intersection a few more stragglers joined the mob hoping to tear her apart. These moved a little faster than the main group, but she felt confident she could stay ahead of them if she didn’t pull some stupid horror movie chic move and twist her ankle. With this thought suddenly in her head, she began paying very close attention to where she was putting her feet.
Finally, she burst out onto the street in front of the condo and corrected her direction in a wide arc towards the open garage. In a few seconds, she ducked into the entrance, did a quick scan of the inside to make sure there weren’t any waiting for her and spun around to find the door control. Luckily, the key was still in her pocket and she jammed it into the metal plate just as the first of her pursuers emerged from the crosswalk. She paused for a second, wondering if she should just run inside where it was safe, but she knew if she did her whole trip would be wasted and she might not get another chance. She turned the key and prayed for the mechanism to work.
Corporals O’Reilly and DuPree slowly scouted their way up the ramp of the car park with their rifles at the ready. They were grateful for the overhead lights, even though the florescent bulbs flickered and hummed. Without them, they knew they would be in total darkness. Keeping several shoulder lengths apart, they moved in their well-practiced heel toe step that kept the sound of their boots nearly imperceptible, even in the echo chamber of the concrete garage. Each watched their individual “lanes” of fire ready to engage, in an instant, any threat that might come at them. The unmoving corpses of several of the now twice dead creatures lay scattered behind them as proof of their lethality.
At the bottom of the ramp, the rest of the Royal Marines refitted themselves into their personal armor and other gear as they emerged from the shaft. When Robbie crawled out, he noticed the soldiers had set up a kind of assembly line with all the gear they had dropped down lined up neatly against the wall. Robbie watched as the men quickly snapped and secured all the bulky and heavy looking items back onto their bodies. When their preparations were done, they silently stepped over and took positions facing out from the broken interior wall.
The two officers stood nearby, whispering to each other as they pulled on their own gear. The man they called Clark was a few steps away, already outfitted, his pistol held down at his side, he stared out into the vacant garage.
Robbie made his way over to the men. “I swear there were a few hundred down here!” His confused voice broke the near silence.
The Major’s eyebrows jumped and he said in a low voice. “Steady lad. Keep your voice down. I believe you. These things can prove quite unpredictable.”
“We’ve sent a team up to recon the car park,” the Leftenant added in a whisper. “So far they have only run into a few stragglers, but we will know more when they get back.”
“Just the two here though,” Clark added quietly as he pointed to the bodies of the things that had been pulled into a corner.
“But…” Robbie said exasperated.
“It’s ok, lad,” Clark put his hand on Robbie’s shoulder and cut a smirk at the officers, “Damn things probably heard the His Majesty’s Royal Marines were coming and ran off to cry to their mothers.”
“Bloody right,” one of the men, kneeling at the wall, within earshot whispered.
The Major glared but the man was looking in the other direction and didn’t get the rebuke.
“Well, in any event,” Clark continued under his breath, “I usually think - the fewer reanimated corpses around trying to eat me, the better.”
“Indeed,” the Major agreed pulling at the shoulder straps to adjust his body armor. Then looking past Robbie he nodded and said “Ah, I see the Color Sergeant has decided to join us.”
Robbie turned to see the big man ungracefully dragging himself out of the narrow opening in the wall. He realized the man’s size must have made getting down the shaft difficult, even without his armor. Regardless, the Sergeant quickly righted himself, grabbed his gear from the row just as if he expected it to be sitting there and made his way over to the group. “What’s the story, Sir?” He asked quietly as he began pulling his armor back on.
“Just what you see here,” the Major answered, “We’ve sent O’Reilly and DuPree up the ramp to scout the rest of the car park. No real resistance yet.”
“Thank God for that,” the big enlisted man said hoarsely as he looked around seeming to assess how his men were positioned.
Chapter 23
The Major turned to Robbie, “Mr. Bruce do mind showing us how you got the power on?”
“Sure,” Robbie answered and then hesitated. He considered that he still knew little about this group, and wondered if there might be a danger in showing them anything other than how to escape the building.
“Well?” The Major noticed that he had paused.
Robbie decided a group like this could probably find the big ON and OFF switch without him so he may as well act helpful, at least for now. “Right over here,” he walked them over to the big box marked ‘DANGER.’
“McGregor, we need you,” the Color Sergeant said prompting the tall soldier to rise up from his firing position and join the men at the electrical box. “Can you take a look at this equipment and let us know if you can operate it?”
“Aye, Coohlars,” the man said in his thick brogue and he popped open the door.
“Mr. Bruce do you mind showing the Corporal around?” The Major asked. “Since this is your place you may be able to help him find his way.”
“Sure, but I don’t really know much,” Robbie contended.
“Good,” the Major ignored Robbie’s protest of ignorance and acted as if it was decided. He then turned and he, and the rest of the small group, made their way back to the broken down front wall.
Robbie stood there as McGregor nosed around in the box for a few seconds and then looked up at the big wires running into it. He followed the lines with his eyes and then turned and began walking towards the back of the room. The tall soldier stopped at a bank of computers anchored to metal shelves and began looking closely at each one. Robbie hadn’t noticed before but each one had a small monitor on the front displaying green and white graphs.
“Ohh thas na gaod,” McGregor said.
“What?” Robbie asked, not sure what he had said.
“Yer baudries narly daed,” the man looked at Robbie and pointed at one of the displays.
“The…battery…is… almost…dead?” Robbie slowly translated the heavy accent.
“Oh aye,” McGregor answered. “Mebe morean howr, mebe too.”
“Ok?” Robbi
e said as he tried to work out what the man said.
“Coohlars,” McGregor directed his voice to the small group of leaders who seemed to be in deep discussion near the wall.
“Yes, Corporal?” the big Sergeant looked up.
Robbie only understood a few words, as the Scottish Corporal explained the situation in his thick brogue. The Sergeant seemed to have no problem translating, however, and afterward turned to the two officers. “Gentlemen, if we are going to stay here I suggest we turn the system off for the night,” he advised. “It’s been off a long time with no maintenance and it’s a miracle that it works at all, but even more miraculous that nothing has exploded or burst into flames yet.”
The Major looked at the Leftenant who nodded his agreement. “Right, you’d better turn it off then. But first, I think most of us should get out of this cave or we will have to feel our way up in the dark.”
“What’s going on?” Robbie asked.
“Oh yes,” the Major put his hand on Robbie’s shoulder. “Look Robert, I hate to be a bother but it’s late in the day and we need a secure place to bunk down for the night. Would you mind if we stay here? We need to keep moving, so we will likely be out again early in the morning.”
“Sure, I think that would be ok,” Robbie answered. “But what was that about the lights?”
“Yes, about that,” the Major continued, “I’m sorry but we need to shut off your power. McGregor there,” he pointed, “is an Army Sapper with the Royal Engineers assigned to four-three Commando…”
McGregor’s assignment meant nothing to Robbie, though he tried to look like it made perfect sense, but he was still confused as to why they wanted to turn the power off.
“He’s a trained electrician among other things,” the Major went on. “He says we need to shut it off because it’s a fire hazard, this system has been off for years and likely has all sorts of problems. Brittle wiring, water damage, rat’s nests in the works, you name it. Sending high voltage electricity through old worn lines is a recipe for disaster I’m afraid.”
“Not to mention,” Mr. Clark injected waving up as if to imply the sky, “it will be dark in a few hours and if this building is lit up like a Christmas tree it will attract every madman, living and dead, within a hundred miles.”
“Oh,” Robbie sighed, “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” the Leftenant said consolingly, “I quite imagine you didn’t expect it to work at all. I wouldn’t have.”
“I really didn’t,” Robbie agreed. “I was shocked when the lights came on.”
“It’s settled then,” the Major decided, “Color Sergeant please have Corporal McGregor shut off the power but give us a few minutes to get to the top before you throw the switch. We will drop chem sticks along the way so he can find his way out” the Major added. “Fair enough?”
“Roger that, Sir,” the Sergeant responded, “I’ll stay with McGregor. You take the rest of the squad and we will meet you on the top level. Hopefully, the group Robert told us about has moved their party down the street.”
“Indeed,” the Major nodded and then turned to the junior officer, “Leftenant, would you mind forming the men up to move out?”
“Not at all, Major,” the red bearded man consented. He then turned to the row of Marines kneeling along the wall and said in a low, gruff voice, “Right! You heard the man, form up, let’s get moving. Mr. Clark and Mr. Bruce, stay close if you please.”
The Marines began moving out of the enclosure in a well-practiced formation and slowly advanced up the ramp in ranks of two. Robbie and Mr. Clark fell in beside the Leftenant when he stepped out into a position near the center of the group. The Leftenant got their attention and used hand signals to point out where he wanted them to be in relation to him. Robbie checked his footing and moved into the spot just behind and to the left of the red bearded officer. Clark seemed to already be familiar with this procedure and slid easily into his position on the right.
The Major was the last to leave the enclosure. Tapping the Sergeant on his shoulder he quipped. “Don’t dawdle, Color Sergeant,” as he ducked through the broken doorway to follow behind the main group. About half way up the ramp, he pulled a small green stick from his pack, cracked it, shook it and tossed it to the ground.
The line of Marines moved slowly as they worked their way up each ramp. The only sound was the gentle crunch of their boots on the dirty concrete floor and the occasional whisper from the Leftenant giving them orders. “Check your targets,” he advised in a soft but clear voice. “Don’t forget two of ours are ahead of us.”
Robbie watched and tried to mimic the way the men walked in a kind of hyper alert intensity. He could tell these men had been working together for a long time as they moved with little instruction or interaction. They seemed to know what one another was going to do before they did it and instantly took up positions to support one another. Clark, who didn’t seem to be a soldier, moved as they did but seemed more focused on watching the blind corners and large columns. He acted as if something might be hiding there, waiting to jump out, even after the other armed men had gone by.
As they walked, Robbie began to notice the details of their uniforms and equipment. The helmets had short sides, reminding him of backwards facing, bicycle helmets. Their rifles were short and black, with fat looking extensions attached to the ends of the barrels. The camouflage of their uniforms had a distinctive black, green, brown and white splotched pattern. Underneath, their boots were brown suede.
They all had narrow patches on their chests that he thought probably was their rank but it made little sense to him. The Leftenant’s patch depicted two squares pointed up, over the letters RM. He had noticed the Major’s was a small crown over the letters RM, while the Color Sergeant had three chevrons under a small crown. The other men had one, two or three chevrons with no crowns or letters. He had seen enough war movies, before the rise of the undead, to guess that these were the lower ranks but he couldn’t be sure it was the same with these Royal Marines.
The gate squealed and Kelly winced at the loud noise. If the hungry creatures in the street didn’t know where she was before, the grinding of gears and turning of rusty sprockets certainly gave it away. The rattling metal gate began to slowly roll downward and she prayed it would move fast enough to cut off the things that would now be rushing towards her. She was able to lean back and see through the narrow decorative gap in the concrete wall that the front of the group at the street corner had turned and were leading the others towards the garage.
“Damn it!” She shouted at the gate as it inched towards the ground. “Hurry up you fucker!”
The lattice of steel shuddered down its track while Kelly watched the ravenous creatures drawing ever closer. At the half way point, one of the things had reached the edge of the sidewalk where the driveway began. Kelly estimated it was about 20 feet away. Behind it, another dozen stumbled and lurched forward. Her hand had started to ache from holding the key turned so tightly and accidentally discovered with a fright, that if she let off it turned back to the start position and the gate stopped moving. This cost several seconds and brought the creature close enough to see the gaps in its gray skin.
She breathed a sigh of relief when the thing hit the grates face first. It made a terrible clatter but the gate continued down. Although there was a foot or so still open at the bottom the thing didn’t grasp that it could duck under and instead began to thrash desperately against the bars trying to reach Kelly who stood only a few feet away. The gate closed just as the larger group began to arrive.
Kelly pulled out the key and jumped back as the things began to press and hammer against the steel barrier. She shook as the adrenaline and fear of having narrowly escaped them ran through her. Gasping for breath, she remembered she still had to close the lower level. She spun and almost lost her balance as she began running towards the river side entrance.
O’Reilly and Dupree had been moving slowly up the
ramps having only a few contacts with hostiles. Fortunately, the ones they had come upon were slow and not very observant. The two soldiers had been able to dispatch them with little effort.
O’Reilly pulled his bayonet from the skull of one of the creatures he had discovered lurking behind one of the support columns. The human like figure slumped to the ground leaving a streak of slime down the grey concrete’s facing.
“Not very sporting, mate,” Dupree whispered from a few yards away, his rifle at the ready, while he covered his squad mate. “You caught him taking a piss. Doesn’t count towards your total, that one.”
“The hell it doesn’t,” O’Reilly responded as he wiped his blade on the jeans of the downed corpse. He slipped the knife back in his sheath, pulled his rifle back up and motioned that they should continue up the next ramp. “You’re just jealous I got more kills than you.”
“More?!” Dupree questioned, “How do you figure?”
“I took out at least 50 in that supermarket,” O’Reilly smiled.
“I told you,” Dupree protested, “knocking down the whole bloody building on top of them doesn’t count. Besides, it was Bradley pulled the switch on that.”
“Aye,” O’Reilly grinned, “but who set the charges?”
DuPree snickered, “Fair enough, you get half credit.”
“Bollocks!” O’Reilly growled and was about to tell his friend where to put his half credit when a noise above them made them both stop in their tracks.
It sounded like rusty gears grating on metal as if a cart without wheels was being dragged across one of the upper levels. The grinding continued as the two carefully watched the narrow gap between the ramp coming up and the one going down. Nothing seemed to be coming down but they knew the noise would attract any hostiles to whatever was going on up there.
“That’s not good,” Dupree said.
“No, but we better get up there and see what it is before the Color Sergeant gets here,” O’Reilly suggested.