by Marie Lanza
FRACTURED
The Other Side
MARIE LANZA
Copyright © 2014 by Marie Lanza
http://www.MarieLanza.com
Fractured: The Other Side, part 2 of Fractured: Outbreak ZOM-813, is an original work of fiction by Marie Lanza, who holds the sole rights to all characters and concepts herein.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are productions of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Heather,
Remember the plan!
FRACTURED: The Other Side
“They’re so ugly. The noises they make against the windows. I think they smell us,” Melody whispered softly to Harmony, hoping the infected outside couldn’t hear her and would move on.
Loud bangs, shrieks, horrible gurgling hisses moved through the walls separating Melody, Jason, and the baby from the infected.
“We won’t be able to get to our car with these things outside,” Jason informed Harmony in a hushed voice.
Melody whispered into the radio’s handset, “Harmony, we’re locking ourselves in the bedroom.”
“We’ll be there soon,” Harmony promised.
No one really knew how long it would actually take them to get to there.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to distract them long enough so that you can get to your truck,” Dan said from the background.
“OK, sounds good. Hurry.” With those words, Melody set down the radio.
CHAPTER 1
The humming of the engine was mind numbing and the motion of the truck was giving Melody a mild feeling of motion sickness. She held Aubrey in her arms and Jason sat next to them with his arm around her.
The last few hours were a whirlwind. The family had been snatched from their home by the military and now they were on the road to who knows where. Melody didn’t know whether to be happy or angry at their rescue – it felt more like a kidnapping than a rescue.
Melody thought about the final moments in their home; the infected pounding against the walls of the house, with their gurgling moans emanating from the other side of the door. They had planned to get out of the city as a family – Melody, Jason, Aubrey, Harmony, Dan. They told Harmony and Dan they were closing themselves in the bedroom. Melody had watched as Jason deftly slid his 9mm into his waistband. She felt a small sense of relief knowing that he had it.
First, they heard the rat, tat, tat of gunfire and the front door burst open, then the bedroom door. Before they knew it, they were met with guns aimed at their faces. Get up. Now! he demanded. Melody had looked to Jason and he nodded and helped her to her feet. Melody had begged the soldiers to wait just a few more minutes – just a few more minutes for her sister and Dan to get to the house. But it was as if no one could hear her cries. The next thing she knew, the soldiers escorted them to a waiting truck. The large army vehicle was covered in a dark green canvas, caked with mud and what looked like blood. Then she saw the bodies; bodies covered the street and piled on top of each other in her neighbor’s yards.
The small family was loaded into the back of the truck and instructed to sit near the cab with a small group dressed in civilian clothes. They looked just as scared as Melody felt.
What do you want with us? Melody thought to herself first as she attempted to read the body language of the soldiers. “What do you want with us?”
The soldiers didn’t respond.
“We didn’t do anything wrong. There’s no reason we should be held.”
Jason gave her a gentle squeeze. He didn’t have much to say to these men, but he appreciated his wife’s spirit.
“We’re saving your life,” a soldier said plainly as if Melody should have known that. He was a middle-aged man, with a strong, stern appearance.
He’s in charge.
“Why are you killing people? What gives you the right?”
The old soldier looked at her sternly and then stood up, steadying himself against one of the support beams that held up the heavy, dark green canvas that protected them from the terror looming outside. “All of you listen up. We don’t fully understand what is happening, but this is what I will tell you. You are all survivors. The people out there – the ones that we killed – they are infected with something. They are no longer people. We don’t know what they are. What we do know is that if they touch you, if they bite you, you are as good as dead. You will get sick, just like them, and there is no saving you. So stay quiet, listen to us, and you’ll continue to be a survivor. If you don’t listen, you will become one of them. We are all you’ve got. Understood?” the soldier slowly looked around at the eyes of the frightened people in the truck and realized most of these people will likely not survive the next few days.
Melody thought back to the news headlines – Riots, caused by some new drug that caused people to go crazy. No, that was a lie. There was never rioting. Then the virus headlines, VIRUS ZOM-813 INFECTS MAJOR CITIES – Flu-like symptoms, severe headache, high fever, agitation, confusion, attacks. People were told to stay in their homes. No one listened. Everyone, it seemed, fled. NO CURE. Then the power went out. Melody’s mind raced.
Everyone, civilians and soldiers alike, looked exhausted, stressed from the events, with blank expressions painted on their faces. Nobody tried to speak above the sound of the rumbling engines.
In the chaos, Melody had lost the only connection she had to Harmony and Dan – the radio. Now, not knowing where they were headed, the uncertainty of whether she would see Harmony again, weighed heavily on her.
“Can you tell us at least where we’re going?” Melody broke the silence again.
There was a moment of awkward looks between the soldiers before one of them, who appeared to be no more than twenty years old, spoke up. “The coast. There’s a few Navy ships still docked that are taking survivors.”
Melody just nodded, acknowledging his statement. She looked up to Jason, who gave her another squeeze for some comfort, then down to her baby girl sleeping peacefully in her arms.
The tranquility of the moment was broken by the high-pitched squeal of breaks and the sudden slowing of the truck. The soldiers shared another look amongst themselves and stood up together, ready for whatever they were about to face. They seemed prepared, armed with their M4 rifles with attached bayonets and Beretta pistols strapped to their sides. They filed out of the truck one by one, weapons at the ready.
Melody clenched her daughter close to her chest and held her breath, expecting shots to ring out.
She was startled by abrupt movement as Jason stood up and moved towards the exit.
“Where are you going?” Melody asked.
“I just wanna see what’s going on,” Jason said as he moved the canvas cover to the side and peeked out.
“Anything?” Melody asked.
“More survivors.” Jason continued to watch outside the truck. “Shit! Shit! The infected people are behind them.” He pulled his gun and swung his body off the bed of the truck and onto the bumper.
”Jason, what do you think you’re doing?” Melody shouted.
As Jason disappeared from view, Melody heard him shout to the soldiers, “Behind you! Look behind you!”
Gunfire.
Melody and the other survivors crouched on the floor of the truck. Melody held tightly to her daughter, who let out a small whimper as she woke, and with her free arm, Mel
ody reached out to comfort a woman next to her who was crying in a man’s arms.
“We’re going be OK,” Melody said over the sounds of gunfire, not even believing her own words.
Too scared to move, Melody watched the small opening of light in the canvas at the back of the truck, waiting for her husband to come back through it. The wait was agonizing.
The gunfire began to slow. There was no screaming so Melody hoped that was a good sign.
Then the gunfire stopped.
There was nothing from outside.
The woman whimpering tried to catch her breath.
“Clear!” a voice shouted outside.
“Clear!” another responded.
No one moved from the floor of the truck.
The canvas opened and Jason was the first to enter. Melody stood up with Aubrey still in her arms and slapped him several times in the shoulder and arm.
Jason was so caught off guard from her anger that he laughed. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Don’t you ever do that to me again! Ever!” Melody sat down on the bench, and rocked Aubrey, hoping to soothe her.
The soldiers filed back into the truck and took their places on the benches that surrounded the truck’s bed. The survivors, who were still on the floor, also made their way back to sitting.
“Honey, what do you want from me?” Jason sat next to her.
“I need you to live, Jason. I don’t need you out playing hero,” Melody fired back.
“Nice work out there.” The soldier who Melody assumed was in charge, broke up their argument.
Melody shot a look of anger towards him. “Thanks,” Jason said.
“Major Tyler Beck. Friends call me Beck.”
“I’m Jason, my wife Melody, daughter Aubrey.”
“This is Sergeant Mike Towers. Or just Mike.” Beck pointed to the younger soldier that had spoken to Melody earlier when she asked about their destination, “This is Sergeant First Class Paul Thomas. Paul.”
They all acknowledged each other with nods.
“Keeping things casual these days?” Jason asked with a semi-sarcastic tone.
Beck didn’t need to say a word to address Jason’s question. He merely chuckled. “Where’d you get your training?” Beck asked.
“My training?”
“With your aim.”
“Former military,” Jason said. “Army Infantry. First Lieutenant.”
From his facial expression, Beck was very pleased. “And before this hell came on earth?” Beck asked.
“An ER doctor.”
“We could definitely use more guys like you.” Beck extended his hand and Jason accepted it.
The ride to the coast was slow. The convoy would stop often, looking for new survivors. Each time, the soldiers – without Jason – would file out of the vehicle, and each time they came back without more survivors.
At every stop, the soldiers would kill any infected, pile them up, and burn their bodies. At times, the convoy would come across hoards of the infected, but rather than stop, they would plow through the mass of bodies. From inside the truck, the survivors could hear the loud thumps, growls, and snarls of the bodies as they were pushed aside by the massive trucks. Everyone knew when a large group was ahead, as the trucks would speed up to ensure they could cut through the horde. They never stopped when large groups of infected were in the area – they seemed to accept that there would be no survivors.
Hours passed and they repeated the same steps, kill the infected, burn the bodies, search for the living, and plow through the hordes.
The roads began to twist and turn. Melody assumed they made it to the canyons that would eventually take them to the beaches. There weren’t many stops in these areas. These roads didn’t have many residents, which meant there weren’t many infected to kill.
When the trucks slowed to a stop again, no one moved. Everyone just assumed it was part of the routine that they had been going through over the last several hours.
But this time, the truck driver’s doors opened.
Jason looked at Beck and the other soldiers in hopes for a sign as to what was happening, but they appeared just as confused as everyone else.
More truck doors opened, and Melody heard muffled voices over the sound of the truck engines.
Beck stood up and exited the back of the truck. Mike and Paul followed close behind.
Melody looked at the two other soldiers in the truck, then to Jason.
Jason’s face was tense and took in a deep, slow breath.
“What is it?” Melody asked.
“Do you smell that?” Jason took in another deep breath.
“Yes, I do now. Is that smoke?”
Jason stood up and walked to the exit of the truck. Melody sat, nervously rocking Aubrey in her arms, watching Jason’s every move. He stood there. What was a few seconds, felt like long drawn out minutes as Melody’s stomach twisted with the sensation of a roller coaster ride.
The other survivors in the truck were quiet, waiting for anything, anyone to tell them what the next move would be.
The truck engines shut off.
“Get everyone out,” a voice from outside could be heard shouting.
Jason looked back at Melody. She was already walking over to him.
“Mel, let me take Aubrey.”
Melody didn’t question him and Aubrey didn’t protest as she was handed over to her dad.
“Hey, sweet girl. Hold tight to Daddy, OK?” The little girl snuggled his neck and he turned to look into Melody’s eyes. “Mel, it’s bad.”
Melody swallowed hard and nodded. From the look on Jason’s face, she quickly made an effort to prepare herself for the worst possible scenario.
The other survivors were all standing and ready to get off the truck.
Jason carefully jumped out of the truck with Aubrey, and turned around to assist Melody. As soon as she stepped out, she saw the dust clouding the roadway, so thick she could taste it in the back of her throat. Then the smell hit her; a powerful mixture of sulfur and burned wood with a metallic hint – blood.
It was only after she was on the ground and walked off to the side of the truck, that she saw the bodies. Parts of bodies, guts, lay sprawled all over the road. It didn’t appear anything was left whole.
There was another truck behind theirs also unloading civilians. A woman stepped off and immediately screamed, causing a frantic stir among the soldiers who tried to get her to quiet down. The next man down began to vomit at the sight of the carnage.
Bodies were everywhere. Some looked infected, others looked like healthy, unlucky individuals.
“My God, what happened here?” Melody looked to Jason.
“It looks like a bomb went off. The tunnel just ahead collapsed.”
“What are we gonna do?” Melody asked even though she knew Jason didn’t have an answer.
Beck was jogging down the convoy, making his way towards Melody and Jason.
“What can you tell us?” Jason asked, forcing Beck to stop.
“They blasted the tunnels. We knew this would happen, we just thought we’d make it through before they did. We’re on foot the rest of the way.” Beck didn’t hang around for any more details. He continued his jog to the last truck only pausing to give orders along the way.
Jason grabbed Melody by the hand, and the family made their way to the front of the convoy. Melody stayed close behind her husband, keeping her eyes locked on his back and trying to avoid looking at the carnage sprayed over the road. Jason seemed unfazed, never pausing as he stepped over pieces of an arm or a leg; just pushing forward towards the front. Melody knew Jason had experienced war and had seen plenty of death working in an ER, but she had never really quite absorbed just how much until this moment.
“This is a two-part tunnel system, stretching about a quarter mile each,” Paul, the Sergeant First Class, holding a laminated map, explained the lay of the land to the group of other soldiers and a few of the civilians that had crowded
around. “We’re assuming just this tunnel was blasted. So we climb, descend, then we can use the road to go on from there…” He continued to explain while frightened whimpers became an ominous score to their reality. “We just have to hope the second tunnel is open. If not, we’ll have to climb again. Regardless, it’s only a half mile past the second tunnel until we get to the beaches. There we’ll load onto boats that will take us out to board the ships,” Paul continued.
“Jason, what about Harmony and Dan?” Melody asked in a whisper, not wanting to bring attention away from the soldier giving directives.
“Let’s hope they made it to the boats. If this is where survivors are being taken, maybe they’re already there.” Jason tried to give some comfort with his words, but they rang hollow as Melody knew the odds were slim at best.
“Let’s move people!” another soldier shouted the orders like a drill sergeant might yell at new recruits in boot camp.
This was no leisurely walk up a hill. The group set out to climb a wall of dirt, brush, and rocks, using their feet and hands to move forward. The soldiers were dealing with average civilians. Not fighters, not super athletes physically prepared for a strenuous climb, just average people.
“You got her?” Melody asked Jason, looking back at Aubrey still cradled in his arms.
“Yeah, don’t worry about us, worry about getting up this thing.” Jason swung Aubrey around to his back. “Hang on sweetie, OK? Hold tight to Daddy. We’re going on a piggyback ride.”
Aubrey was at that perfect age of holding a special innocence. She was completely clueless of the dangers around her. To her, she was on an adventure with Mommy and Daddy, and even more exciting, she was getting to ride on her dad’s back as they climbed a mountain. She didn’t understand all the death surrounding them, nor had she shown any signs of being frightened of it.
A few soldiers lead the climb, the others stayed just behind the group, patiently assisting those who were struggling.