by Tim Moon
His face looked strained and Ben couldn’t help but feel that he wasn’t happy about what was essentially stealing the ship.
“Thanks for the help,” Ben said.
Kaholo nodded and continued toward the truck.
“All that’s left is the stuff in the truck,” Anuhea said as she walked toward the Kiska. She put the stuff on the deck and walked back.
“If we all make one more trip, we’ll be ready to shove off,” Kaholo said.
Keanu continued whatever he was doing in the engine room, while the rest of them followed Kaholo back to the truck to get the last bits of food, water, and equipment.
The dock was long and dark. Their specific pier was fenced off from the rest of the docks. A tall chain link fence topped by concertina wire barred entry to a wide area that could be used to stage vehicles or equipment. That was where they had parked their truck and the Humvee. Roughly one hundred yards away was the main fence separating the docks from the public road.
Ben nearly choked on the saliva in his mouth when he saw vehicles parked outside the main gate. They sat one hundred yards away, but he immediately knew they belonged to their pursuers.
“Look,” he croaked, pointing toward the gate.
Kaholo slowed as he followed the direction of Ben’s finger.
“Take cover,” he hissed at them.
“Behind the vehicles,” Anuhea said.
They rushed forward to take cover, quickly closing the twenty-yard gap.
Headlights snapped on, flooding the entire area with light. Ben squinted against the brightness. It looked like they’d used their high beams. He bumped into Anuhea and fell to his knees.
“You muthafuckas have a lot to answer for,” a voice shouted. His words boomed off the surrounding buildings and structures made of metal sheeting. “You can’t run from us now.”
The gate began to clatter and grind. People began to walk in around the gate. An engine revved noisily and the light beams began to bounce around.
How many people did they have? Ben wondered. He heard Kaholo urge them to get to cover again.
“Why can’t they leave us alone?” Chadwick asked. He crawled up behind the truck on his hands and knees. “Piss off already.”
Kaholo opened the rear door of the Humvee and slid inside. Ben figured he must have been going for the machine gun. Unless a belt of ammo was left loaded in the machine gun, he wouldn’t have any ammunition, since they already moved all the spare ammo. Spare guns and ammo had been the first things put on board the ship.
The cars stopped and doors clicked open.
“One of you fucks killed my brother,” the same voice shouted at them.
“And our friends, you animals,” a woman’s voice shouted.
The first voice, a man’s voice, called out to them again. “Before we kill you all, I want to see the tall white boy that killed my brother. Step out where I can see you,” he said.
Anuhea looked at Ben. “You?”
Ben shrugged. He wasn’t even sure he’d shot anyone at the roadblock and he hadn’t done much shooting during the chase, although it was possible he killed several people at Kaholo’s house. In any case, Ben was tired of running and he was sick to shit of these assholes chasing them around. He unslung his rifle, took it off safety and began to stand up.
“What? Stay down,” Anuhea hissed at him. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down.
“He wants to see me? Fine. It’ll be the last thing he does,” Ben said, grateful none of his friends could sense the swarm of unease fluttering around his chest cavity as he contemplated what he was about to do. Taking a deep breath, he stood up.
“Are you talking about me?” Ben asked with more attitude than the felt as he emerged from behind the truck with his rifle held at the ready. He scowled hard in the direction of the voice although he couldn’t see shit. The people were merely silhouettes.
“You the one,” the man said, sucking air through his teeth in disgust. “My brother and I survived years in prison, break out, and survived days of attacks from these assholes runnin’ around eating people, and then he bites it because of you… Ain’t that some shit?”
Ben shrugged. “Guess you should have left us alone.”
“Naw, man. This is our island now. Kulani Krew runs this shit now, and I’m here to avenge my brother.” The silhouette moved suddenly and all hell broke loose.
Ben saw a flash at the same time as he heard a loud crack as the man fired at him. In response, Ben fired three quick shots in the direction of the voice. It was impossible to tell if he hit the man before Ben sprinted across the gap between vehicles to take cover behind the Humvee, following the direction the silhouette went. Shots cracked and buzzed all around him.
Kaholo popped up, spun the turret and lit up the night with a loud burst of 5.56mm rounds from the machine gun. Glass shattered, metal tore, and screams filled the air.
After emptying his magazine, Ben ducked down to reload. He leaned against the wheel well, fumbling with the clasp on the ammo pouch. Chadwick lay down on the ground and fired from underneath the truck, its impressive ground clearance giving him plenty of space to fire while still providing some cover.
Anuhea stood behind the rear wheels, firing over the bed of the truck. Her shots were slow and methodical. If anyone was dropping bodies on the other side, Ben figured it was her.
They shot out almost all of the headlights by the time Ben loaded his rifle and turned back around to shoot. Bright spots still floated in his vision when he blinked. He squeezed his eyes shut and then blinked quickly trying to clear the annoying glow. The spots began to fade.
To his left, Ben thought he saw movement. He squinted, but didn’t see anything for several long seconds. Chalking it up to the spots in his vision, he was about to turn away when he saw the distinct shape of a person move. Someone from the other side was creeping around the edge of the firefight, along the wall of the nearest building. It looked like they were trying to sneak around the back of their truck. That would give the person a clear shot on Anuhea and the others.
Anuhea was so focused on her targets that she didn’t see the person coming. From where he was, Ben couldn’t do anything. He’d be as likely to shoot his friends as he would the enemy.
Without a second thought, Ben sprinted across the pavement, the rifle swinging back and forth like a pendulum as he ran. As he neared the truck, the person stepped away from the wall to cross the gap and close in for the kill. Closing the distance between them, he caught a glimpse of the man’s face in the light from the headlights, before the last one burst into hundreds of pieces. He wore a bandana and had a tattoo under his eye.
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.
58
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 Cha
dwick 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 turned 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.
59
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.