Necrose Beginnings: Books One and Two

by Tim Moon

  Oliver squealed and pointed. “It smashed us!”

  Charlotte pulled Oliver back from the window to look out. She gasped. One of the other airplanes, presumably the one behind them in line, was trying to pass them and get to the end of the runway first. However, the fool had struck their airplane, disabling it.

  “It hit us,” a passenger behind them exclaimed.

  “Did you see that?” Charlotte asked. Tears welled up in her eyes as the realization of what had happened dawned on her.

  “What happened?” Anuhea asked.

  “The other plane hit us,” Charlotte said. “It broke our wing.”

  Ben shook his head in disbelief.

  “Now we can’t take off,” she added softly as if she still couldn’t believe it.

  An explosion rocked the cabin, tearing a car-sized chunk out of the plane several rows in front of where they sat. Air and noise rushed in. Pained shouts and screams joined the cacophony. Ben was thrown back into his seat when another massive fireball burst from the plane beside them. Debris pelted their side of the plane, heat rushed in through the gaping hole and people began to cough as thick black smoke filled the air.

  Ben leaned over, trying to shield his friends.

  Oliver yelped and grabbed onto Charlotte. The three of them huddled together. People were screaming. Ben glanced up when something hit him in the shoulder. The oxygen masks had dropped down, dangling uselessly in Ben’s face, mocking him.

  Warm air rushed into the plane filling the void left by the poor souls who had sat where a gaping hole now existed. It spread the smoke. Ben’s eyes burned from the acrid air and his mouth had a metallic tinge to it.

  Somehow, the plane was still rolling forward slowly. It suddenly lurched and the broken wing tilted down, slamming into the ground. Ben and Charlotte jerked forward against their seat belts. Ben slammed his head on the back of the seat in front of him. Oliver nearly popped out of his seat belt, with a squeal, but Charlotte had her arm around him, holding him in place. Sparks shot up where the metal scraped against the tarmac.

  Another massive explosion shook the airplane. Ben’s head felt clouded. He couldn’t hear anything even though he could see people’s mouths moving. Ty and Anuhea began to cough as smoke filled the cabin. Beneath him, Ben felt the plane grind to an abrupt stop. Shaking his head, he blinked and squinted against the smoke. He could already feel waves of heat washing over him. Then the noises began to filter in, people shouting “fire,” screaming, the roar of the flames, and bursts of machine guns along with the pop of assault rifles as the soldiers fought the infected.

  The entire plane tilted to the side at a sharp angle. Ben had to look up to his left to see Ty and Anuhea. Ty dangled in his seat and felt like his seat belt was going to slice him in half.

  Smoke clouded the air on the left side of the plane, which was now almost the ceiling. Panic coursed through the people trapped there, coughing and fighting for oxygen. One of the men seated in front of Ty unbuckled his seat belt. The man fell, bounced off the side of the seat in front of Ben and toppled backward against his shoulder.

  “What the fuck, man!” Ben shouted at the guy, shoving him away. In just a few moments, the man had scrambled away toward one of the exits.

  Ben tried to release himself from his own seat belt. But with his weight against the mechanism, it was difficult to get it unlocked. Ty was flailing above him.

  Then he heard a click.

  “Wait!” Ben shouted, throwing his arms up in defense.

  Too late. Ty fell against him. Luckily, he managed to catch himself.

  Ben’s stomach felt like it was about to burst, as he was pressed against the seatbelt, smoke wafted past his face, and he could barely breathe with Ty on top of him. He was vaguely aware of Charlotte freeing Oliver before she freed herself. Spots began to float in his vision. None of it made any sense, the attack, the angle of the plane, his inability to breathe, he felt so confused. Everything had been moving so quickly and now it all slowed down. Every breath felt like a battle. For a split second, Ben wondered if this was how he was going to die.

  Charlotte reached up to push Ty away, but then, as fast it happened, Ty was gone.

  Ben groaned and coughed. Anuhea stood over him, straddling the two seats. She squatted down, cupped her hands under his arms, and lifted him up enough for Charlotte to unbuckle his seat belt. Careful not to squish Oliver, Ben extended his legs and stood against what should have been the wall.

  “The exit is this way,” Anuhea said. Her voice was strained. Several people crawled past, shoving her out of their way. She nearly fell, but pushed them back and slid forward into the seat in front of them. Her head poked over. “Come on.”

  People were pushing past, climbing over the seats in a mad rush for any exit they could find. Some of them were escaping the airplane through a gaping hole in front of them. Emergency exits be damned.

  Ben looked at Charlotte.

  “I’m fine. Go,” Ben said with a nod. He doubled over as a cough wracked his chest. The air was thick with the scent of burning plastic.

  “No, you lead the way,” she said.

  “One of you go.” Anuhea coughed, but managed to motion angrily for them to move. She held a hand over her nose and mouth in an attempt to block the smoke.

  Ben climbed up and reached down for Oliver. The boy’s brow was furrowed in frightened determination and he held Ben’s hand and scrambled over.

  Ben handed him to Anuhea. “Get him outside.”

  Anuhea was too busy coughing to respond.

  Charlotte was almost over by the time he turned back to help her over. She didn’t need help, so he began to climb forward over the next row. Charlotte placed her hand on his shoulder, following behind him. They went toward the torn section of the plane where Anuhea had already exited with Oliver.

  Soldiers formed a defensive line around the two crashed airplanes. They fired madly into the crowd of infected. All around them, a vicious battle raged for the airport. Soldiers fought to hold back the advance of infected who were attempting to push through the boarding gate. Bodies shook as bullets penetrated their dead flesh. Occasionally a head would burst and an infected person would drop, but they were like Hydra. When one head was blown off, two more would take its place.

  A soldier ran up and grabbed Ben’s shoulder, leaning close he could hear above the din.

  “Move out toward the runway and then follow the tarmac north. Soldiers are waiting there,” he shouted. “Go!”

  Ben nodded that he understood, but the soldier had already ran off to join his buddies in keeping the horde contained.

  “Out onto the runway,” he said to Charlotte and Anuhea. Ben looked around, and then pointed. “There they are.”

  “Who?” Anuhea asked.

  “Soldiers. Hurry,” he said. Ben paused. “Wait, where’s Ty?”

  “Haven’t seen him,” Charlotte said, shaking her head.

  Anuhea shrugged. Oliver sucked his thumb and held onto Charlotte’s leg.

  “Fucker just took off?” Ben asked with a growl. He couldn’t believe his friend would abandon them like that.

  “He’s probably with the soldiers,” Charlotte said, tugging his shirtsleeve. “Let’s go.”

  She was probably right. There was nowhere else to go.

  “Oliver, come here.” Ben reached out for him.

  The boy looked up at Charlotte with question marks in his eyes.

  “It’s okay,” she said.

  “Piggy back ride,” said Ben. “Hurry up.”

  Oliver reached out to his hand. Ben pulled him close and threw him onto his back. The kid was lighter than his backpack on a day hike.

  “Go! Run!” Ben shouted, leading them out onto the runway. He jogged with Oliver on his back.

  “I’m scared.”

  “I know, Olli. We’ll keep you safe. Don’t worry,” Ben said as they jogged across the runway.

  Airplane wreckage burned brightly behind them, casting their shad
ows across the tarmac as they moved in the direction that the soldier had indicated. New flares popped overhead, as the old ones drifted down lazily, and occasional bursts of light from guns flashed like malfunctioning strobe lights in the darkness.

  Chaos reigned. The infected had breached the airport itself, threatening the defenseless passenger’s awaiting evacuation. Ben glanced over his shoulder a few times and saw that the airport’s perimeter fence had collapsed under the weight of hundreds, if not thousands, of infected. Despite the soldiers’ best efforts, the infected horde continued to stream onto the runway.

  Thankful they all made it out of the plane safely. He was still fuming about Ty running off like that. Glimpses of his cowardice had cropped up before, but Ben thought that maybe it was just the initial shock. Not so, apparently Ty only cared about himself.

  When they reached the shockingly small group of people, the four soldiers guarding them shouted to the group to get up. The soldiers escorted them further north toward the darkened end of the runway.

  “Where are we going?” Ben asked.

  “Somewhere safe, sir,” a soldier said.

  Ben saw her nametape, which said Franco. “Fair enough, Franco. I’m right behind you.”

  A few people had children, but everyone jogged. One bigger gentleman stopped and started walking. He was wheezing so loud, Ben worried the infected might hear him. Franco slowed down to help him along, but there wasn’t actually much she could do. The two of them standing side-by-side was like a Chihuahua urging on an English bulldog. Under other circumstances, he would have smirked and possibly laughed. As it was, she couldn’t carry him. So all she could do was yell at him. The other soldiers already had their hands full, one with a kid, and the other carried a large machine gun. It was too dark and Ben was too preoccupied to notice which model. Occasionally, the soldier with the machine gun would turn, take a knee and watch behind them until the group passed by. Then he’d jog past them with the big gun and repeat the process.

  “How….much….farther?” the wheezing man asked.

  The entire group slowed to let him catch up. An older woman made a tsk, tsk sound in disapproval.

  “We should keep moving,” she said. Others nodded.

  Ben ran back to help Franco with the man.

  “Let’s go, man,” Ben said. He looped one of his massive sweaty arms over his shoulders and started helping the man along.

  “I’m so tired,” he wheezed.

  “Better tired than dead.” Ben didn’t slow down.

  “Thank you, sir,” Franco said. She nodded at him with a grim look on her face before she jogged ahead to her soldiers. “Keep everyone together. We’re almost to the other group.”

  “You hear that? We’re almost there,” Ben said. “Keep moving those legs.”

  He could see the man look over at him out of the corner of his eye. Gasping for air like a fish, he managed a weak smile.

  “Th-th….thanks.”

  “Sure thing,” Ben said between big breaths.

  22

  Approaching the other group of soldiers and survivors, Ben immediately spotted Ty kneeling on the ground among the other civilians.

  “Oh good, you guys made it,” Ty said, panting. He gave a lazy wave.

  A rage Ben didn’t know was possible boiled inside of him like molten rock from Kilauea. He set Oliver down on the ground.

  “What are you doing?” Ben demanded as he strode up to Ty.

  Ty snapped his head up, staring at Ben with shock plain on his face.

  “You just run away and leave us? You left us to die; to be eaten by these…infected…these zombies!” Ben shouted. He grabbed Ty, lifted him up and shook him hard. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

  “Sir, calm down,” said the soldier standing near them, moving in to separate them.

  “I- I’m sorry….” Ty sputtered.

  “Bullshit!” Ben stepped back and raised his hands to show he was done. Everyone’s survival was at stake. He could argue with Ty later.

  Turning away from his friend, Ben walked to the group they had joined where Anuhea, Charlotte, and Oliver quietly stood. Disappointment shone in Anuhea’s eyes as she stared at Ty.

  Ben glanced back; he didn’t want Ty near him right now, but he hadn’t followed. Instead, he shrank back from Anuhea’s powerful glower.

  Behind them, the sounds of battle raged. Ben turned and watched while the two groups waited. Several airplanes, including theirs, had burst into flame. Soldiers shot rapidly at the seething mass of infected, but it was clear they were forced to move back. Several more loud blasts echoed in the night.

  A Humvee sped out from between the wreckage, moving onto the runway for some space. Once it was clear of the mob, it turned and the man in the turret opened up with a .50 caliber machine gun. The heavy thuds of the rounds were reassuring. A trail of infected followed in the wake of the Humvee, but they were quickly cut down. At least one remained partially mobile and crawled toward the Humvee.

  “They’re leading them away,” Anuhea said beside him.

  “Kind of looks that way,” Ben said turning to the soldiers guarding the two groups. “What are we waiting for?”

  “Sit tight. Transport is coming to extract us,” the soldier named Franco said. She said it with confidence that wasn’t reflected in her eyes. Franco turned and waved over one of her soldiers. After a brief conversation, the other soldier spoke into his radio.

  Ben watched carefully to discern their situation.

  “My ears hurt,” Oliver said.

  “Let me see,” Charlotte said. She gently touched each ear with a finger. “You’re not bleeding. That’s a good sign. I know it hurts, but the ringing will go away.”

  “What did you do?” Ben asked.

  Charlotte stood up. “Checking for blood in case his ear drums were perforated,” she said softly.

  Ben nodded.

  “Fuck this, I’m out,” a man said suddenly. He stood up and started to walk away.

  “Sir, you need to wait,” a soldier said, the same one that told Ben to calm down earlier.

  A woman stood up and grabbed his hand. “Don’t go,” she pleaded.

  “I’m not gonna just sit around here and wait to die,” the man said.

  “Let them go,” Franco said to the other soldier. She looked at the man. “The only way out, if you leave us, is the way we came.” She gestured back toward the burning wreckage. The flames spread to the buildings and a massive inferno lit up the night. “Be my guest.”

  “Well then do something,” the man said impatiently.

  “Okay,” Franco said. “Get away from the fence.”

  The man looked confused.

  “Travis, come back here.” The woman holding his hand urged him back to the safety of the group.

  A large, dark form moved in the parking lot. Then they heard the rumble of the engine. A crash of metal on metal and broken glass announced its approach. It was one of the deuce and a half trucks cruising toward them with its lights off.

  “Look,” Ben said, pointing.

  The truck’s engine roared as it crashed into a pair of short concrete poles, forced its way between them, and hopped the curb. It had slowed, but the driver gunned the engine and charged across the grassy area between a pair of small buildings. Chunks of grass and dirt flew up behind it, joining a growing cloud of smoke coming from the engine.

  “Get back!” Franco shouted.

  Everyone ran away from the fence onto the empty runway.

  Ben spotted infected lurching through the parking lot behind the deuce. He ran to Franco and pointed them out. “Infected,” he said.

  Her face hardened and she nodded.

  “Koch, Gibson, we’ve got incoming behind the deuce. Light ’em up,” Franco ordered.

  Glancing down at her collar, Ben noticed she wore the subdued insignia of a First Lieutenant.

  Koch and Gibbs ran at an angle away from the approaching truck and knelt on the ground. The man wit
h the machine gun started firing, blasting short bursts of rounds at the infected coming toward them. The other soldier was more precise and fired at a slow, steady rate. Several of the infected collapsed to the ground.

  With a loud crash, the truck plowed through the tall, chain link fence. Sparks flew up from the ground where metal ground against the concrete. One of the poles spun up and smashed through the windshield of the truck, there was a brief scream as the truck began to slow.

  “Shit. Secure the truck,” 1LT Franco said. She raised her rifle and fired a few rounds at the infected as she walked forward. Dozens were now slowly making their way around the building, drawn by the noisy truck.

  “Let’s go,” Ben said, looking back at his group. They began to run toward the truck.

  Koch and Gibbs kept firing, stopping only to reload. Two other soldiers ran to cover their flank. Even with all the other noise, the gunshots had somehow drawn the attention of the mob near the wreckage.

  Ben looked around, panic burning the back of his throat. He realized they were fenced in, other than the opening made by the truck, and a hundred or more infected were now converging on their position from two directions.

  Anuhea grabbed his arm. “Get in the truck.”

  “You go, I’ll catch up.” Ben ran over to the soldiers firing at the seemingly endless stream of infected coming around the building. Some had made it halfway to them. “Hey, more are coming,” he shouted above the din. Ben pointed south toward the inferno. A dark mass of bodies shuffled toward them.

  The machine gun wielding soldier shouted, “Watch our flank.”

  “Goddamn it,” one of the others yelled. He turned to fire at the mass of infected that Ben pointed out.

  Having done his part, Ben turned his attention to the truck where Franco and Anuhea were removing the pole that had killed the driver. He couldn’t see Charlotte and Oliver, but figured they’d already climbed into the back.

  Ben raced over to help get the truck ready. As he did, he saw that one of the front tires had gone flat.