by M. Van
“Unfortunately, no joyful reunions for my two favorite subjects. We have a bit of a time issue,” Dr. David said, gesturing to one of the sedans. “I’m sure you’d wish to help your friend.”
I glared at him. The bastard refused to look at me. His gaze fell over the top of my head, the coward.
I lifted Ash off the hood, and her arms squeezed around my neck as I whispered into her ear, “Are you okay?”
“Same as you, I guess,” she whispered in return.
I followed Dr. David’s gesture and moved us around the vehicle. Three of the men in suits moved in unison with us to the same sedan, but the fourth man, who I realized had been William, went for the other with Dr. David. I stopped in surprise and watched the men step inside the car. William didn’t even look at us.
“I can’t believe I let that bastard eat our cheese crackers,” I said.
“Let’s hope they’ve clogged up his arteries,” Ash said. A man who could have been William’s brother with his wide shoulders and square jaw grabbed my arm. He guided us around the car and opened the rear door for us. I set Ash down on the seat and bent to climb inside when gunfire erupted. Before the door could close, the window shattered.
I shoved Ash to the floor between the seats and dove onto the backseat, my legs hanging out of the car. Hanging half over Ash, I held my head down. The rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire rattled my ears, the sound magnified by the emptiness of the hangar. Glass rained down on me when the back window exploded. It seemed to continue without end until the speaker voice reminded me that Garden Hose protocol would activate in six minutes. Tires squealed as the gunfire stopped. Unwilling, but with a six-minute countdown ticking in my head, I got up.
Jaw guy lay dead by my feet. Another guy hung over the hood of the car, and the other vehicle was gone.
“Help me up, will ya?” Ash said as I spotted Mars sprint to us from the bowels of the hangar. Relief washed over me followed by anger. I punched him in the arm as he stepped in line beside me, and he raised his eyebrows in shock.
“How could you leave her like that?” I said, shoving him by the shoulders.
“We don’t exactly have time-” Mars started to say when the speaker voice interrupted him to remind us we had five minutes left.
With the concerned look on Ash’s face, I relented. I had just lifted Ash out of the sedan when a voice called out my name. Over my shoulder, I saw Angie heading our way, her movement sluggish, reminding me of the zombies that had been strangely absent the last fifteen minutes, but I knew she couldn’t be infected. Angie was like Ash and me. A dark stain covered her upper left leg, explaining the limp.
“Shit,” I said. I maneuvered Ash into Mars’s hands then headed for Angie.
“Don’t you dare leave her,” I said over my shoulder.
“You don’t have to be so dramatic about it,” Ash said. I scowled at her for taking Mars’s side.
“We have to go!” Mars shouted after me.
“Then go,” I yelled when I reached Angie and yanked her arm over my shoulder.
Mars set off with Ash slumped over his shoulder. She didn’t seem too happy about that, which served her well, the little traitor. As I followed Mars, the speaker voice came to life again.
“Garden Hose protocol will activate in four minutes, repeat.”
Oh God, that voice started to get on my nerves. It sounded like one of those recorded messages that told you all their staff was currently unavailable, please hold, except this message predicted a different type of bad. Angie groaned when I increased our pace to catch up with Mars.
“This heroic enough for you?” Angie said, handing me my M4.
“Ask me when we get out of this,” I replied as I dragged her along. “Now move.”
“Garden Hose protocol will initiate in three minutes,” the speaker reminded.
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Angie clung to me as if I were a coatrack. We both breathed heavily by the time we reached a fence that separated us from the rest of the hangar. We passed a jeep and a couple of sedans before we stopped. I mentally shook myself at the sight of the massive Hummer-like vehicle that sat waiting for us. The thing was enormous. Ash sat in the back seat when we neared.
As Mars took Angie off my hands, I heard a moan. I turned in time to feel my body slam into the vehicle. Under the weight of a zombie, I sank to the floor. My arms burned from the effort of holding the M4 between us so the thing wouldn’t sink its teeth into me. Before my arms collapsed, the zombie exhibited its usual hesitation while Mars forcefully yanked it off me. He flung the body like a rag doll before placing two bullets in its brain. I sat up as the back door of the hummer swung open, clocking me in the head. I went down with an umph and landed nose first.
“Oh God, I’m sorry,” Ash called when I looked up at her from the concrete. I groaned, shaking my head. I rubbed the sore spot and watched Ash sport a sheepish grin. She reached a hand out to help me to my feet.
“Move!” Mars said.
I narrowed my gaze at Ash with a pointed finger before I closed her door, walked around the tank, or Hummer or whatever it was, and climbed into the passenger seat. Ash and Angie had all but disappeared into the spacious interior of the vehicle.
My gaze went to Mars, who stood at the control panel for the garage door. As he pressed a button, the door started to lift. They weren’t the enormous doors used for planes. Still, these were big, and they took their time opening while the speaker voice reminded us we had one minute left. My body tensed at the sight of the slow-moving door. As soon as it had lifted an inch off the floor, I could see the shuffling boots on the other side. Dozens of bodies dressed in military camouflage pressed against the door. A few dropped to their knees and crawled underneath the lifting door.
“Mars,” I shouted. Time was running out on us. He fired several round before the zombies reached him. This set them off in a frenzy. Soldiers in full assault gear reached out with bloodied hands to grab Mars. I lowered the window on my side to aim the M4 and fired. This time, I had a firm grip on the weapon and managed to take two down without shooting up the garage. With their helmets and body armor, most of these zombies were a lot harder to take out, but the M4’s firepower made sure their bullet-riddled limbs wouldn’t get to Mars.
He jumped in, and the engine roared. My eyes widened when the garage door clanked open and I could see past the zombies clawing at our vehicle. The football field–sized parking lot lay surrounded by a tall barbwire fence. The field, aided by floodlights that illuminated the parking lot as if several suns had come up, revealed the zombies hovering at those fences, and they seemed to have found a new interest in us.
“That’s a goddamn army!” I yelled when more of the zombies flocked our way. Mars turned to me, his expression grim before he floored it. Understanding dawned me at the sight of the infected in green uniforms. Once again, my mouth had outrun my brain.
We hit several zombies as we left the hangar. Fortunately, the Hummer-like vehicle was so big that its windows sat higher than the average person’s or zombie’s head. Their bodies crunched as the hummer rammed over them, but there were so many. Something must have gone wrong, evacuating the building. With the zombies now drawn to us, I could clearly see the fence surrounding us and the military vehicles behind them.
The M4 roared in my hands. I managed to stop a few from getting too close to the car. Human bodies didn’t seem to be a match for this vehicle, but they kept Mars from gaining speed, and we needed to get away from the building. The vehicle shook us with the effort, and I tried not to imagine the bodies being crushed underneath its wheels. Behind me, I heard the speaker voice start a countdown. I didn’t catch the numbers it called. Subconsciously, I started a countdown from ten in my head. The weapon in my hand clicked empty by the time I reached zero.
My clammy hands released the weapon as I glanced around the car. Mars seemed tense in his own calm and focused manner. Ash watched me with big eyes, her shoulders tight. On the other hand, Angie had, except
for some pain flashes across her face, the same tense calmness that Mars had looming over him, which started to annoy me. How did they do that?
“Here, take mine. Take out what you can,” Mars said. His weapon had a grenade launcher attached that I probably shouldn’t touch.
Angie grabbed my empty M4 and started to reload. Zombie fingers clawed at the doorframe of my open window, and I squeezed the trigger. The bullet struck the zombie in the head. Half of its skull disappeared when the head splatted open. Its body forgot to react, and we dragged it along for a few feet. As Mars pulled away, I dared to smile at that.
“I’m getting better at this,” I said as I fired. The shot went wide.
“Focus,” Mars said as he plowed through the masses like a lawnmower. I forced myself to do just that. I fired several shots and then turned to see the building behind us growing smaller as we gained distance.
“Keep firing. We need to get past the fence. Cleanup will do the rest,” Mars said. At that, I glanced at him before I viewed the building in the side mirror.
“About that,” I said, “that last minute should be up by now.”
“Did the voice say detonate?” Mars said a little too sarcastic for my taste. Annoyed with him, I shot Angie a questioning look.
“Garden Hose is the countdown to the countdown, it adds two minutes,” she said through gritted teeth.
“And you didn’t think it important to tell us,” I said. Instead of waiting for a reaction, I decided to take it out on the zombies. I shot anything in our path until the rifle clicked.
“Reload,” Mars said.
Over my shoulder, I saw Ash ready with a loaded M4, and we switched. From the back, Angie’s M4 roared out of the window while Ash started to reload.
The vehicle barreled over two more bodies, flattening them underneath the tires before our path cleared and Mars accelerated. The distance from the zombies following us grew. With my limited skills, it felt pointless to waste bullets. I watched the building grow smaller as we distanced ourselves. A two stories high square building stood fused to the hangar. Most of what must have been the lab was hidden underground in the bowels of the basements. It hadn’t blown up yet. Relief settled over me at the growing distance even though there were still zombies gathered along the fences of the field.
Mars steered us toward the exit. Goo on the windshield obscured my vision, and I stuck my head out the window to see out the front. Without the intensity of firing an automatic weapon, my other senses kicked in. I felt the warm damp air caress my face.
“Why is it so goddamn hot outside? Did they add a global warming problem to our zombie problem?” I yelled over the warm gust of wind that didn’t do anything to cool my overheated body.
Mars gave a strained laugh. “Uh, yeah, I forgot to say: you’re in Florida.”
I glared at him until I heard Ash call out, “We’re what!”
“Florida,” Mars repeated.
“Why the fuck are we in Florida?” Ash said, clearly not amused.
“It wasn’t exactly my idea,” Mars said. “It’s where Warren had his lab.”
Distracted, I stared at the upcoming exit. A fence about two meters high with barbwire strewn on top loomed before us. Clusters of zombies seemed to have overrun the guard post. A truck surrounded by zombies blocked our way out.
“I think it’s safe to say that the base is lost,” I said in a low voice. Mars shrugged.
“Yeah,” he said, “but there is another line of defense, and Garden Hose will clean up the mess any second now.”
“Then shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” Ash yelled from the backseat after she stopped muttering about Florida.
Mars made a hard turn and steered us away from the exit.
“You better buckle up,” he said.
When I locked my seatbelt into place, I glanced over my shoulder. Ash gave me a strained look. I wanted to reach out to her, but the damn car was too big.
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Mars accelerated, and for a large vehicle, it had quite a kick. I swallowed hard at the upcoming fence, even harder when I realized Mars would not slow down. A stray zombie disintegrated on impact as it crossed our path. Warm splatters of blood and goo caressed my skin. The gore on the windshield was immense. I dabbed my face with my sleeve, expecting a sarcastic remark from Ash, but as I dropped my arm, the fence was upon us.
With a yelp, I raised my arms to cover my head. The car slammed into the fence with a clank and the screech of metal on metal as I was lifted out of my seat. The seatbelt held me in place as we hit the uneven ground. Angie grunted in pain as the impact reverberated through the vehicle. The hummer had completely dislodged a section of the fence before we skidded from the grass onto the asphalt. In the distance, I could see the lights of several vehicles trained on us.
“What the hell is that?” Ash yelled at the roar that fell over us.
“Cleanup,” Mars said focused on increasing our speed. The thunder of jet engines shot over us, and I turned to see out the back window. Nothing had happened. Ash’s legs bent awkwardly when she pulled herself up over the backseat to follow my gaze.
From a distance, the low buildings looked peaceful except for the figures milling around the open field. Then everything flashed bright white, hurting my eyes. A gold-red inferno came down on us in the shape of a tornado on fire. I had just caught a fear-stricken glance from Ash when the back of the car bounced off the ground. My breathing stopped at the sight of the flames that started to engulf the Hummer. Mars cursed as he jerked the wheel. Angie screamed at Mars to get control. The back tires touched the ground, and Ash cried out when she slammed into the back of the front seat. I tried to reach for her, but gravity threw me against the door. Time seemed to slow down as the world spun in an endless circle while the heat of the flames reached me through the open window. Fire licked at the back of my neck as I cringed behind the door. Tires screeched until the Hummer came to a stop.
I leaned against the door, gasping for breath, watching the smoke rise from the car’s bodywork. Mars looked out the front window. His hands held a firm grip on the steering wheel. A moment later, he let out a deep sigh and turned to me with a thin smile on his face. He nodded, and I returned the nod like a little kid, unsure what he’d meant until he gestured behind me.
I pried my back from the door to look at the inferno going strong beyond the concrete field. My heart stopped at the sight of the destruction that Mars had simply called cleanup. Then my heart stopped again when I didn’t find Ash behind Mars.
“Ash,” I said. Releasing my seatbelt, I climbed between the front seats to find her.
Angie groaned, “Get off me, kid.”
Ash let out a moan followed by, “I’m not a kid.” I found her behind my seat. The same force that had slammed me into the door had sent Ash flying over the middle console, into Angie’s lap. I grabbed a fist full of her green army fatigues and helped her up.
“What did I say about wearing seat belts?” I said.
She ignored me, her gaze shifting to the window. “Next time, I promise,” she said, waving me off with a hand.
I glanced at Angie to see whether she was okay. She dismissed me with the same gesture.
Vehicles flashing sirens approached us at high speed. Mars checked on Angie and then ordered Ash and me to stay inside the car as he stepped out. I watched him deal with the situation for a minute, gesturing, talking, and barking orders. Unable to follow the conversations, I climbed into the back to see whether I could help Angie with her leg. I wasn’t a doctor, but I assumed she would live. She hissed when I pressed a field wound dressing against her leg. Then she looked up with a grin.
“I’m saying, pretty damn heroic,” she said, slapping my shoulder. I glanced at my shaking hands holding the dressing then peeked over my shoulder at Ash. These mere strangers had risked their lives for us.
With a smile, I said, “Pretty damn heroic.”
A soldier knocked on the window. He had that same patch the medic o
n I-678 had had strapped around his arm.
“That’s my ride,” Angie said when the medic opened the door. “It’s been a pleasure.” She raised a fist to Ash, who bumped it with her own.
“You stick with this one,” Angie said to Ash while nodding in my direction. “She’s got your back.” Ash glanced at me sideways with a half-smile.
“So this is good-bye again,” she said. Angie let out a breath and placed a gentle hand on Ash’s shaven head.
“No promises, remember,” she said. “They work best.” I didn’t understand the comment, but Ash must have because she grinned from ear to ear.
Soldiers helped Angie onto a stretcher, and I turned to Ash. “You’ll have to explain that to me sometime,” I said.
“I think she has commitment issues,” Ash said. I raised an eyebrow at her serious expression. It wasn’t long until her mouth twitched and she started to giggle.
“You’re a strange k—” I said. I met her expectant gaze as I hesitated, and we both broke out in a snorted laugh.
“Whatever,” I said.
I stepped out of the car, and when none of them raised their weapons at me, I figured it to be safe to ignore Mars’s order.
“Why would you risk that?” I said as I stood next to Angie lying on a stretcher. “You don’t even know me.” She laughed and extended her hand. I took it.
“You didn’t know me when you stomped that zombie into the concrete,” she said. I remembered the incident at the church and a thin smile formed on my face. “Besides,” she said, “I owed it to the kid.”
Angie barked at a medic when he poked her wound. “Watch it.”
“So I’d say we’re on even ground, Margje Vissers,” she said with the same hurling sound Dr. David had made. I frowned at her, which made her laugh harder.
“Listen,” she said after she composed herself. “Don’t kid yourself. This is not over.” She glanced at the medic who just walked out of earshot when she pulled me down by the collar. Near my ear she said, “Dr. Warren wants that serum, and he’ll do anything to get his hands on it. He needs it, and not just as a means for a cure. That man is low enough to let a priest do his dirty work, so watch your back.”