by Tim Moon
The gangster was quick, but Ben was quicker. He raised his rifle and shot twice just as the man noticed him. At least one struck him in the chest. Momentum from his sprint carried the gangster forward, even as his body began to slump to the ground. He crumpled forward, falling face first into the pavement, skidding to a stop with his butt in the air.
Ben let out the breath he was holding. He had killed a man, a living man, not one of the infected. There was no doubt about it. During the fight at the roadblock and Kaholo’s house, it had not been entirely clear that he shot anyone. Now it was undeniable. He was a killer.
“Thanks,” Anuhea said, glancing over her shoulder at him.
He nodded and crouched behind the truck. Killing an infected somehow felt…different. Killing a person tore at him in a unique way. The look on the man’s face seared into his memory. A shot pinging off the truck brought his focus back to the present, bringing his attention back to the enemy.
Chapter Forty-One
The Kulani Krew nearly had them surrounded. Given the layout of the docks and the pier leading out to the ship, Ben realized it was going to be difficult to retreat. Along the pier, they would be woefully exposed.
“Christ, look!” Chadwick shouted. He pointed through the window of the truck.
Ben peered through the windows of the Humvee in the direction Chadwick had pointed. Behind the gang, shadows began to move in an unmistakably irregular way. Infected arrived at the party.
“I’ll cover you,” Ben shouted at his friends. “You guys go.”
Chadwick fired off a few rounds and began to back away. Anuhea blasted through her magazine, dropped it, and reloaded. What remained of the gang was forced to divide its attention between the infected marching steadily up their ass and the terrifying blasts from Keanu’s machine gun.
Ben glanced at Anuhea. “Go, seriously. I’ve got this.”
She met his eyes and nodded.
“We’ll cover you when we get to the ship,” Anuhea said. She leaned in close and quickly kissed his cheek. “Thanks again for watching my back.”
Ben looked at her, shock plain on his face. She patted his shoulder and ran off.
Standing back up, he took a couple of quick, hastily aimed shots before moving to the other end of the Humvee. In the ambient glow of the headlights, Ben could make out a couple of forms running to one of the buildings. He fired at them. One stumbled and fell hard, rolling to a stop after several feet.
The other one made it to the door. He wore a bloodied outfit. Ben had definitely seen him at the roadblock, hiding behind the cars with a hunting rifle. The criminal looked at his friend, scowled, glanced in Ben’s direction briefly, and then shut the door behind him.
Ben put a few rounds through the door with the hope that he’d get lucky. Not that he’d go check, but it made him feel better.
The injured man continued to scream obscenities at the guy who’d left him for dead. He crawled along on the ground in a hopeless attempt to evade the large crowd of infected.
Kaholo opened the door near him, startling Ben who cursed. “Hey, infected are coming in.”
“I see that,” Ben said. “I told Chadwick and Anuhea to start backing off. We can hold the gang while they escape.”
“Or, we can use this bullet catching beast to distract those fuckers. The infected will close in on them from behind while those two retreat to the ship,” Kaholo said.
“You go to the ship too. I’ll run distraction,” Ben said.
Kaholo scowled at him. “What? Yeah right.”
“No one leaves if you get shot.” Ben scowled back at him. “You have to go.”
Kaholo let out a sigh. Ben was right and he conceded the point with a nod.
Rounds smacked against the steel armor, interrupting him. It was an unsettling sound and Ben couldn’t wait to get away from it.
“What’s your plan?” Kaholo asked. He held up a finger, stood up, blasted a few shells from his shotgun at the gangsters, and then leaned in close to be heard.
“You gave me an idea. I’ll use this thing to smash the car closest to the building over there.” Ben motioned in the direction that he shot the guy trying to flank Anuhea. “You guys can pick off a few of the gang bangers when they run out of my way. I’ll crush the other cars too. When they’re scattered and notice the infected coming up behind them, I’ll pull up along the fence, get out and sprint like a motherfucker down the pier.”
“The Humvee will provide some cover,” Kaholo said, nodding his head. “Good, good, and we’ll keep these fucks pinned down from the ship.”
The plan was simple. It would disrupt the current situation and throw the others into chaos. From there, the infected should be able to finish the gang off while they sailed away into the night.
“Demolition derby time,” Ben said with a smirk.
“You sure you got this?” Kaholo asked with a chuckle.
“Watch me,” Ben said.
Kaholo laughed again and climbed out. He pumped his shotgun, stood up and blasted a couple more rounds toward the Kulani Krew.
Just before he moved, Ben heard an odd sound like a tree branch snapping. Kaholo howled in pain and his shotgun clattered to the ground.
“Sonofabitch!” Kaholo clutched his hand to his chest and slid into a crouch behind the Humvee.
“What?” Ben asked.
Kaholo glanced down and uncovered his hand. Blood dripped and splattered against the pavement with amazing clarity given all the noise. Ben saw that Kaholo’s thumb was missing.
“Oh shit.” He gulped hard and felt his head wobble at the sight.
“Go, I’m fine.” Kaholo looked around at the ground and reached for something. Ben’s eyes widened when he realized it was his thumb. “Go!”
Ben looked at him with wide eyes, but scrambled into the Humvee, pulling the door shut behind him and climbing into the driver’s seat. He pushed the button and turned the switch that would fire up the engine. It roared to life without hesitation.
He took a deep breath and took a moment to get his bearings. Pushing thoughts of Kaholo’s mutilated hand out of his mind, he flicked on the headlights and checked to make sure his friends were out of the way.
All clear, show time!
Ben stomped on the accelerator and spun the steering wheel, aiming for the car at the end of their makeshift battle line. The Humvee tires squealed a little as it careened toward its target. It was slow to accelerate, but the Humvee outweighed the car by an ungodly amount, like a wrecking ball on wheels.
Ben braced for the collision. The car crumpled and skidded against the pavement. Rounds pelted the side of the vehicle, smashing the passenger window into a terrifyingly fragile looking mess of busted glass. Ben pressed down on the accelerator, crushing the car against the building’s wall. The cheap metal wall dented in.
There was no way the car could move. Throwing the Humvee into reverse, he backed up quickly, clipping one of the police cars. He turned the steering wheel and braced for impact again. The doors bent and the windows exploded and crashed to the ground when he t-boned the third car.
More bullets chipped away at the Humvee’s armor. Ben shifted back into drive, and raced toward the car he’d clipped. He wanted to disable it so the gang couldn’t escape.
Another loud bang as he crashed into the car. It spun sideways and rolled away. If it could roll, it wasn’t disabled. Ben drove into it again, forcing it into the wall of the building, not far from where the first vehicle was embedded in the metal wall.
Ben had his foot to the floor and this time the wall gave way with a great rending sound of metal tearing. With a loud crash, the Humvee came to an abrupt stop. Ben nearly smashed his face against the steering wheel. Without waiting, he shifted back into reverse and raced backwards through the hole in the building.
“Now what, bitches?” Ben shouted. He felt very alert and amped up.
A body stood shooting at him through the hole in the building. Whooping with excitement, Ben turne
d the wheel just enough to back over the person. The Humvee bounced slightly over the body. Considering the driver’s side was already facing the pier, there was no need to turn around. He continued backing up, rushing past Kaholo’s truck, and came to a stop after smashing open the gate in the chain link fence.
Ben shut off the engine and climbed out. A boom behind him caused him to duck. Keanu must have fired a grenade. Buzzing rounds flew overhead like a swarm of hornets as his friends gave him covering fire. He looked up at them with a proud smile, as they stood on the ship and the walkway connecting the pier to the ship and fired away at the Kulani Krew.
Chapter Forty-Two
Aboard the ship, Keanu bellowed with such a fury that Ben slowed down and looked in his direction. He spotted him in the glow of the bridge lights aboard the Kiska and the massive boom of a .50 caliber machine gun made him flinch in surprise. A bright flash of light from the barrel lit up Keanu’s face, giving him a demonic appearance.
Ben heard the rounds whizzing past him. A shiver ran up his spine at the experience. He couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder. The rounds punched through the husks of the gang’s vehicles and the Humvee. Chucks of concrete kicked up around the Humvee and one round tore through a Kulani Krew member that was coming around the Humvee, firing wildly. Ben saw the man’s body erupt into at least two pieces as the round tore through his chest.
“Run!” Kaholo shouted. He’d taken his t-shirt off and wrapped it around his hand to staunch the flow of blood from where his thumb used to be.
Rounds cracked the air around Ben. He sprinted as fast as he could.
Something smacked him in the shoulder and he spun, losing his balance. A burning sensation lit up his shoulder and searing pain raced down his arm. His rifle clattered to the ground as he fell.
“Ben!” Ty shouted.
Ben’s vision was blurry, but he managed to look up and see his friend push his way across the walkway to the pier. Ty ran, limping, toward him. Ben felt dazed. He rolled onto his back and reached over to his shoulder. His hand came up bloodied.
“Shot…I’m shot,” Ben groaned with pain. Now both of his shoulders bled, although the first one was barely more than a scratch. This one was serious and he squeezed his eyes shut as if that would block the sensations. Sweat covered him and he felt woozy, like he might get sick. “Those bastards.”
Chadwick and Ty were suddenly over him. It took Ben a moment to realize they were talking to him.
“Are you okay?” Ty asked him. His eyes were wide and glinted in the faint light. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah,” Ben said, even though he wasn’t sure he was okay. His head hurt and he began to wonder if he’d hit it when he fell over. Rubbing his head, he looked at Ty. “Is it bad?”
Ty looked at the wound and made a face, but he just shrugged at Ben. “I’m no doctor, but I’m sure you’ll live.”
“We have to pick you up, mate,” Chadwick said. “This may hurt.”
Ben nodded and gritted his teeth as his friends helped him up. His legs felt weak when he tried to take his weight, he stumbled into Ty, bumping his arm. The injury burst with fiery pain that radiated down his arm.
“We’ve got ya,” Ty said.
Another burst of machine gun fire whizzed by overhead. Chadwick stopped, turned and fired a few times.
“Hurry, we’re almost there,” Ty said. He had his arm around Ben’s waist and hauled him along.
“I’m good.” Ben could walk just fine. He just had to hold his arm still.
Chadwick cried out. Ty and Ben whipped around and looked at their friend, who was rolling back and forth on the ground, holding his leg to his chest.
Ben cursed. “You shoot,” he said to Ty.
Ben ran over and helped Chadwick up. Blood poured out of his shin onto the concrete pier.
There was a thunk followed by a loud boom behind them. Ben glanced back as he held Chadwick as another thunk sounded, followed a moment later by another boom. Kaholo’s truck exploded into a ball of fire.
“Oh God, it hurts,” Chadwick groaned.
“We just have to get to the ship,” Ben said. He threw one of Chadwick’s arms over his good shoulder and helped him along as best he could without aggravating his own injury. The Brit was thin and light. Limping along, leaving a trail of blood, they rushed to get to the walkway.
Both of them groaned in pain from their injuries.
Anuhea ran over to help. Chadwick threw his arm over her shoulders and the three of them quickly covered the remaining distance. Ben looked up and saw Kaholo operating the .50 cal machine gun and Keanu alternately launching grenades and shooting at their attackers.
They reached the walkway and Chadwick grabbed the railings and hobbled across the walkway. Charlotte helped him across and knelt down beside him as he plopped down on the deck.
“Let’s go Ty!” Anuhea shouted at him.
Ben turned to see what Ty was doing. He had assumed his friend was right behind them.
Ty was kneeling on the ground, shooting back the way they’d come. Ben was impressed that he was shooting, much less out in the open fighting. There was too much noise, Ty couldn’t hear them. Ben held his arm against his chest, gritted his teeth and started to jog toward his friend.
“Ty, let’s go,” he shouted repeatedly.
Ben pulled out the pistol that 1LT Franco gave him. He fired once every few steps, just to distract the people shooting at them. Once Ben had crossed almost half of the distance, Ty seemed to hear his shouts, not to mention his shots. His head snapped around and looked at him. Ty looked shocked to see Ben walking toward him. Seeing that Ty heard, Ben slowed and waved his friend on to follow him back to the ship.
Movement beside the Humvee drew his attention away from Ty and he frowned when he saw two attackers jump between the vehicle and the damaged fence. They ran shooting at them wildly.
The two men ran toward them, but to Ben it looked as though they moved in slow motion. Their mouths opened in battle cries as they fired wildly in his direction. Ben watched for a moment, shocked, but quickly snapped out of it when he saw the infected hot on their tails.
Ben fired the 9mm pistol until it was empty. None of the rounds found their mark, but it slowed the two men down a little.
Facing the massive horde of infected behind them, taking their chances on the pier must have seemed like the wisest choice. Although Ben might have gone for one of the buildings, like the other guy did.
Ty stood and began to run, limping, toward Ben and the ship.
Ben stepped to the side of the pier and levered his rifle under his good arm. He felt like a 1980’s action star, firing from the hip like a nut. The gun recoiled in his grip, but he managed to fire it just fine. Blood trickled down his injured arm.
Gritting his teeth, Ben brought up his hand to help steady the rifle. He wanted to drop the guys before they got too close. The .50 cal fired a burst that stitched a path up the pier in front of the men. One dove out of the way, but the other was too slow and he caught a round that obliterated his torso.
Ben’s mind had a hard time processing the way the human fell apart like blocks knocked over by an angry toddler. He pushed it aside and focused on what he could do. Infected began to crawl through the gap, pursuing the men onto the pier.
Lying on the ground, the survivor growled in rage and fired his gun.
Ben shifted his aim to shoot him.
Ty sprinted down the pier as fast as he could move. Adrenalin must have deadened the pain in his leg, because he was hauling ass. Then his body twitched, a shocked expression twisted his face and he looked at Ben as he slowed down. A red stain grew on his shirt and he fell to his knees.
“Ty!” Ben dropped his rifle and ran to his friend. It was a mere ten yards, but it may as well have been one hundred.
Skidding to a stop beside his friend as another burst of .50 cal rounds buzzed past them tearing apart the shooter, Ben knelt beside Ty.
“Come on, buddy. We have
to go. Let’s get you to Charlotte,” Ben said, tears filling his eyes. “She’s a…she’s a nurse. She can help…fix…help you.”
“Ben…” Ty said. He pulled his hands away from the blood soaked shirt and stared in surprise at his hands. “The fucker shot me.”
“You’ll be okay. I’ve got ya.” Ben tried to lift up Ty, but his friend cried out in pain.
“No!” Ty panted in pain. He looked pale. “I’m sorry…”
“What?”
“I’m sorry for being a dick. I broke the…” Ty gasped for air, blood bubbled in his mouth. Tears filled his eyes. “…golden rule.”
“Don’t be a dick.” Ben smiled through his own tears. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
“For…forgi-”
Ty let out a breath and slumped forward, collapsing into Ben’s chest.
Tears dripped down his face as he caught Ty.
“No, Ty! It’s okay, man.” Ben shook him. “I forgive you. It’s okay. Don’t go.”
Ty didn’t move. A tiny ribbon of blood trailed out of the corner of his mouth and a tear slid out of the corner of Ty’s lifeless eye.
“No!” Ben shouted.
Chapter Forty-Three
The cool breeze dried the tears on Ben’s cheeks. He sat on the ship’s deck beside the covered body of his friend. Ben couldn’t bear the thought of the infected defiling his body, so they’d brought it on board to bury him at sea.
The pier was far behind them. They watched it recede in the distance as the fire consumed the husks of the vehicles and some of the infected as well.
Anuhea sat beside Ben, although he hardly noticed her presence. Charlotte was tending to Chadwick below deck, patching up his leg.
So much pain and death, Ben thought. A sick feeling crept up inside of him, burning its way up his esophagus at the thought of what survival meant, the sacrifice it required. Anger over Ty’s death washed the doubt away though. It made Ben wish he’d killed more of those fucking gang bangers.