by JT Sawyer
Shane wasn’t sure exactly where the device was located as Duncan’s intel had only revealed it was somewhere on this floor. Behind them, Shiro and his team kept an eye on the stairwell, their spear guns poised downward.
With the replacement of his second rifle magazine, Shane yelled, “Clear,” and the shooting ceased. He stuck his head out from the last doorway on the right and motioned for Shiro to lock the exit door and rejoin them.
Shane stepped back into the spacious room, over the decrepit body of an orderly still clad in his hospital scrubs. There was hardly anything left of the diminutive creature but tendons and strands of raw muscle, and the round that pierced the skull hadn’t left much that resembled a head. Shane slung his rifle while the others moved inside behind him. He went to the window and ripped down the shades, the late afternoon sunlight pouring into every nook around him.
“Is it just me or does anyone else think this teal green color on the walls was a bad choice?” said Jared.
Shane ignored the snarky comment and proceeded to the far corner where the device from Duncan’s slideshow was located. “Alright, let’s get to work,” said Shane, removing a multitool from his vest pocket along with a set of Allen wrenches. “We need to get these two vaccine recombinators out and the rest of the portable attachments then get the hell over to the sub.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Eliza, who knelt down on the other side of the device and mimicked Shane’s movements in removing the external paneling of the cylindrical device.
Jared was peering out the window at the streets below and saw the black current of undead moving along three major streets towards the hospital. “Hey, those zombies—goryo—whatever—they’re moving this way.” His mouth went dry as he tried to force out the words. “They’re gonna converge into one group of tens of thousands if they keep at it.”
Shiro moved beside Jared. “They must have picked up someone’s scent or some noise.”
“What—these things have x-ray powers now?” said Jared.
“It must be something down below on the streets.”
Shiro glanced at the grenades dangling off of Jared’s vest. “Come with me. Perhaps we can slow them down.” He turned and ran to the wall cabinets, rummaging through the contents until he found a roll of surgical tape. “Grab as many fire extinguishers as you can find and meet me on the roof.”
A few minutes later Shiro, Jared, and Yoshi were atop the asphalt surface under open skies, each with an armload of red canisters. Shiro trotted to the edge on the east side and glanced over. He took the fire extinguishers and taped them in bundles of three. “I need your grenades,” he said to Jared. Shiro lifted the first cluster and shoved a grenade into the sticky tangle of tape and removed the pin. Then he raised it up with both hands and tossed it below onto a tipped-over bus near the first intersection to the left. “Do the same with other bundles for the other two streets. That will create a temporary wall of flame and distract the goryo.”
Jared and Yoshi raced to the other sides of the building and delivered their crimson devices onto nearby vehicles. Mushroom clouds erupted on three sides of the hospital, temporarily halting the advance of the flesh-eating current below.
Chapter 34
Carlie followed Amy back up the steps in the tunnel and into the lobby. Hadley was squatting behind a counter, his service pistol in hand. As Carlie moved up alongside him, she peered around the edge at the street. Or where she thought the street should be. It was obscured by a horde of undead so massive it blocked out most of the sunlight trying to stab its way through the windows. Strangely, there were hardly any of the usual guttural moans she was used to but instead the sandpaper-esque grating of feet being endlessly dragged along the pavement as the river of zombies shuffled along the surface. Her eyes widened at the serpent-like movement of rotting arms, decaying legs, and fractured torsos ambling as one unit in their movement north. She held her breath and felt like the shock of the plane crash was ratcheted down on the terror scale compared to this sight.
My God—how do you even fight something like that? She slunk back behind the counter, resting against the faux-wooden surface while trying to think of a way to reach the hospital.
“It’s two blocks from here, right?” said Amy.
Carlie nodded, trying to calm herself and wondering if Shane would be there.
“There’s an alley behind this building that doesn’t seem to have any creatures in it. What if we head out that way?”
Carlie looked over Amy’s shoulder at the route. “Probably our only option—let’s move.”
They secreted themselves along the far wall, ducking low to use the L-shaped counter for cover until they were at the rear exit. Carlie unlocked the deadbolt, noticing the single imprint of a bloodstained hand on the green surface of the door. She opened it and crept into the alley followed by the others. Craning her head in either direction, Carlie saw that the immediate area was clear but the fences on either end were clogged with more creatures. A second later, she heard an explosion in the distance followed by two more and several plumes of smoke rising upward. “Damn, that’s gotta be a sign that Shane’s back in the fight—he always did love blowin’ shit up.”
The zombies to her right began moving away. Five minutes later, the rotters had disappeared and she and her band of weary fighters trotted to the end of the alley, studying the route ahead.
Chapter 35
“I see it,” shouted Nora, who was standing on the roof peering through binoculars at the edge of Osaka Bay. Tyler was swaddled in a cloth hammock around her back, looking over her shoulder. Arisu, the nurse, who was preparing her shoulder bag, ran over, squinting into the setting sun and staring in wonder at the leviathan that had just emerged.
“What Shane said is true,” Nora said. “We are really going to be free of this prison.”
Nora panned the binoculars to the left, scanning the tunnel exits around the subway for several miles. She was searching for any signs of Shiro even though he had told her not to wait once the Olympia arrived.
“We need to go—what if the American and the others are already on board?” said Arisu.
“Shiro wouldn’t leave without us and I’m not leaving without him.”
Arisu emitted a wicked chuckle. “Shiro’s fate rests in this city. He is chained to this place with his ancient philosophy.”
“He’ll make it out. He’ll be there.”
“Crazy woman—how long have you lived amongst us and you still know so little about the Japanese soul.”
“At least Shiro has a soul. It’s yours I’m worried about,” said Nora, lowering the binoculars and retreating to the stairwell. Once below, she gathered a small fannypack of provisions and went to the lobby where Haru and Daichu were waiting.
“It’s not yet dark,” said Haru, who was holding his only hand on the knob of the door that led out to the boats. “The sun will be setting soon and we can leave then.”
“We must go now while we have light for them to see us by,” said Arisu.
“Alright, but stay close together,” said Nora, who moved up to the entrance. She re-checked the lashing on her chest that secured the cloth around Tyler then she readied the two metal pipes in either hand.
She swung open the door and bolted towards the small dock, sixty feet away. Nora glanced nervously over her shoulder at the road behind her to check on the security of the school bus blockade. No goryo—blessed be Ameratsu. As she turned to step up to the jetboat, her face became frostbitten at the sight of six creatures pulling themselves up along the edge of the dock. They must have floated over from the airfield. She saw more bloated bodies adrift in the waters around them. Nora rushed forward to greet the first one with a bludgeon to the right temple. The gangly beast’s skull crumpled easily under the weight of the pipe.
“Get the boat started,” she yelled behind her to Arisu, who had hopped on board. Nora met another one rushing forward, its face resembling a burnt walnut. She spun and smacked it hard
in the jaw, unhinging the lower mandible which got crushed under its own decrepit foot. She finished it off with an overhead blow to the cranium then kicked it back into the other creatures clamoring for her. Though her actual combat experience with the goryo had been more limited than the others due to her maternal duties, Nora’s months of grueling training under Shiro had paid off once more.
Haru, the old cook, rushed up flailing a short sword in his lone hand. He removed the head of a goryo closing in on Nora but failed to see the thin creature that had just climbed up behind him. It lunged for his shoulder and bit down hard on the soft flesh above his clavicle. He shrieked, falling sideways into the water as four other prune-faced goryo gnawed at his extremities. Nora yelled and reached out for him but he was dragged under in a gurgling cacophony. Daichu, who had been battling two creatures nearest the dock entrance, sprinted up to her side. “We have to go—now!” With the engines roaring, Arisu flung the anchoring rope off the boat and yelled at the others to hop in.
As the jetboat blazed away from the dock, Nora dropped the soiled pipes on the deck and glanced around at Tyler, who had cried in her ear during the entire ordeal. “It’s OK, my sweet son,” she said, unwrapping the boy and pulling him into her bosom. She held him tight, trying not to weep and upset him further as she glanced back at the place where Haru had disappeared.
Nora moved alongside Arisu, who was gripping the steering wheel with both hands as the wind wrestled her raven hair from its bun. “Hey, you’re alright for an eccentric Japanese woman.”
Arisu gave her a sideways glance, managing to push out a faint sneer from the corner of her mouth. “If Shiro does make it out of this, he would kill me for leaving you behind.”
Nora raised an eyebrow and clenched her jaw. “Always driven by duty, even now.” She shook her head. “Yeah, I love you too.”
The jetboat hummed along the choppy waves until they were within a hundred yards of the submarine while Nora continued her furtive glances at the distant subway exits.
Chapter 36
By the time Shiro and the others had returned from the roof, Shane and Eliza had finished removing the critical hardware from the machine and were carefully wrapping everything in towels and old garments.
“I just bought us twenty minutes, at most,” said Jared.
Shane looked at him then frowned, nodding over towards Shiro whom he knew deserved all the credit.
“That’ll give us enough time to get back into the tunnels and over to the boat,” said Yoshi.
“Then let’s save the high-fives for later,” said Shane, hoisting the heavy pack onto his frame while Eliza did the same.
They retraced their steps, making it to the first floor stairwell only to see that the passage below had collapsed, obscuring the security door to the sub-basement. Dust from the drywall rubble was still floating in the air, causing everyone to cough.
“Shit, those explosions on the street must have done this.” He looked up at Jared. “Nice going, ace.”
“There is another route through the back alleys,” said Shiro. “We should be able to re-enter another set of tunnels from there.”
Shane heard a plinking sound coming from the silver metal door beside him that led to the first floor, like rain pelting on a tin roof. He heard the shrieks of creatures being torn apart followed by more pelting on the walls and door. He motioned everyone to move up one flight of stairs to the landing. The last thing he wanted to do was open the door into whatever was unfolding on the other side. A moment later there was silence followed by the door handle below slowly turning. Shane aimed the rifle-mounted flashlight towards the opening and saw Carlie emerge from the shadows.
“’Bout damn time you showed up, girl,” said Shane, who was already walking downstairs. He placed his arms around her neck, then they moved out into the small reception area where both groups were reunited. Jared moved up to Amy while she was still swapping out a magazine in her rifle and grabbed her around the waist, giving her a quick kiss.
Carlie pulled back from Shane and ran her gloved hand across his cheek. “I’m still pissed as hell at you,” she said. “But, it’s sure good to see your mug.”
Shane smiled and then moved over to Matias, grabbing his shoulder with a firm grip. “These muchachas ain’t been pushing you around too much, have they?”
“The plane ride took care of that for me,” he replied, pointing down to his ribs. “Feel like an MMA fighter but without the cash prize.”
Carlie pointed to the back of the building. “Whatever you guys did with those explosions provided us with enough of an opening to get here. Now we just gotta get the device.”
Shane swung around, patting the pack. “Already done. I told you we’d get her done.”
Shane did hasty introductions between the others and then asked Shiro about his advice for their egress. Carlie’s group was the least thrilled after hearing about the proposed route along the familiar underground corridor.
“I saw a small railcar there. Is that functional?” Carlie said.
“Yes, we can use that to get most of the way back towards the airfield. Then hopefully your submarine will be where you say,” said Shiro.
Chapter 37
Carlie retraced their steps through the lobby, stepping over splattered bodies and crunching over bone fragments. She pried open the rear exit door and scanned the alleyway.
“Go right—there is a shortcut,” said Shiro, who was behind her.
“We came from the left.”
“The right will not risk exposing us to the main street. Plus there is a gauntlet between the cars that we arranged for slowing down anything that comes after us.”
“Very well.” She began walking out only to jolt her head to the left at a lone zombie walking towards her. It had peeled off from the crowd floating through the street at the front of the hospital. She raised her M4 to snipe it but it had already begun shrieking, alerting the others. She popped off a round into its greasy yellow forehead and then started running in the opposite direction as the rest of the combined groups of fighters followed on her heels. Rounding the corner of a grocery distribution center, she peered around the side. Ahead was the tight passage of vehicles that Shiro had mentioned. Each delivery truck was intentionally positioned so it only allowed for a single person to shimmy past it. This went on for sixty yards until it opened into a fenced yard lined with razor wire.
“Please, Carlie-san, let me lead,” said Shiro, indicating several jagged rows of angled rebar sticking out of the frames of each truck, pointing towards the opening by Carlie. “If we are not careful, we will be the ones that get trapped.”
There was little time to debate as Carlie began hearing the sound of suppressed rifle fire. As Shiro led the way through the spiky passage, she turned and caught a glimpse of Shane and the others sniping through a crowd of forty creatures flowing into the alley, splintered heads and rotting limbs flying to either side like a street plow was pushing through the enraged horde. She ran back and grabbed Shane and Eliza. “You two have to get moving—that equipment you’re carrying means you go first. I’ll cover you.”
She saw Shane start to unsling the pack. “Forget about it—I’m staying to cover you now get your ass in gear.”
Shane fired off another round and then gave her an irritated glance. He tapped Eliza on the shoulder and nodded for her to follow him. They slid into the gauntlet behind Shiro and his people, who were nearly all the way through. Carlie, Matias, Jared, Amy, and Hadley stood shoulder to shoulder, sniping the desiccated freaks that had begun climbing over the headless corpses. Each one that was dispatched was quickly replaced by two more as the sickening noise of destruction and gunfire had drawn the hungry creatures from every avenue near the hospital. As Carlie dropped in another magazine, she tapped Jared on the shoulder and told him to retreat into the gauntlet. With only forty feet left behind them to withdraw, they began using short bounding movements with two people firing while the others peeled off behind them t
o reload and prepare for the next wave of attack. Carlie kept this pattern up until their weapons were nearly depleted and each person was safely in the slender passage. After plugging two more creatures with headshots, she removed a grenade from her vest and tossed it into the alley. Then she fled into the gauntlet between the trucks, walking slowly backwards while trying to avoid getting snagged on the sharp rebar. She kept her rifle trained on the rear, hoping the explosion had created enough of a jam to buy her some time. What she saw next resembled a black tidal wave as several hundred zombies bulldozed around the building and slammed into the derelict rows of trucks. She fired off several more rounds while continuing to backpedal. This blocked the gauntlet but the pulse of body mass pushing against the vehicles began boring open the passage like a petroleum drill punching through the earth.
She neared the end of the passageway and felt her vest being yanked on from behind. She turned and saw Matias. He was standing in the fenced-in corner of the alley. “Down this way,” he yelled. The others were filing into a manhole entrance in the street. Yoshi and Jared were guiding people into the aperture.
Carlie heard the trample of feet on metal and then Matias’ eyes went wide. She felt him shove her out of the way and swing his rifle up, firing off several rounds. Two zombies with splintered skulls rained down behind her. Dozens of corpulent creatures had climbed on top of the delivery trucks and were hurtling themselves into the enclosed area where she stood. She pivoted and arched her body back, shooting up at more of them. She caught one flying freak in the shoulder. It crashed into the brick wall and slid down, shearing off the skin from its face so it looked like its features had been removed with a giant eraser. It landed beside Yoshi and clamped its rotting teeth on his ankle, biting hard enough into his Achilles tendon that teeth broke out onto the pavement. Carlie slammed it in the head with the butt of her rifle then grabbed the screaming man and slid him down into the arms of the others below while Matias covered her.