"That's fine; I think we did some damage on that group and should be able to mop them up easily if they make it to the compound," Jameson replied. Sitting back in his seat he stared down the grisly display and was curious if the same scene was playing out around the world. Closing his eyes he began to wonder how many people still lived on the planet and if the ones that had survived the initial outbreak would be able to stop the dead from taking complete control of the world. Could the four of them possibly be the only remaining humans on the planet? However unlikely that was, he was glad that Sara was one of them but wished his brother had been able to be part of it, also.
As the chopper slowed over the open area of the compound, he watched the ground gradually rise up toward them as the Blackhawk descended settling softly on the grassy field. He looked over at the heavily fortified fence line and had to laugh. Being in a prison came to mind as he stared, but in this case being inside was the place they wanted to be, behind the protective barrier that kept the dead at bay.
Hopping from the helicopter as soon as it touched ground, he brought his weapon up quickly scanning the area inside the fence, searching for any signs of unwelcome guests. Not taking his eyes off the open area around them, "Sara, please escort our guests inside. I am going to take a walk around the compound. I want to be sure that we are still secure."
"Sure will, and please, be careful," she replied as she moved up next to him and gave him a soft peck on the cheek. "I will also start whipping something up for dinner; I'm starving."
Smiling at the beautiful woman at his side he kissed her back, "I won't be long."
Stopping to watch the others walk toward the main house he waited until they were safely inside before starting his walk. From the sky the fence looked intact, but he wanted to be sure by visually inspecting the entire barrier from the ground.
A few minutes later he gazed up at the sun-filled sky, "What a beautiful day! Why does it have to be marred by the dead rising up and eating the living?" he mumbled. A rustling sound from the other side of the fence caught his attention ripping him away from his thoughts. Bringing up his AR-15 he scanned the bushes searching for what was hiding inside. "If you are human, I would suggest you come out of hiding, if not, come out anyway so I can send you back to hell," he called out.
"Please don't shoot," a female voice whispered from the bush. "I'm not one of those things."
Looking around the area near the bush he searched for any dead that were near but found none. "Alright, come out into the open; I need to be sure you haven't been bitten." He kept his weapon trained on the bush as the woman stood up and stepped clear of the brush. A tall, brown haired woman stepped out of the bushes, her long flowing hair matted down with sweat and dirt. Her clothing was tattered and covered in blood, but as best he could tell, none of it appeared to be hers. There was a familiarity about her, but he could not quite figure out why; nonetheless, he kept his guard up as she moved into the open.
"Look, I'm unarmed, so you can drop the gun," she quietly said to him. Her head and eyes darted back and forth. "Can I come inside? Those damn things have been chasing me for days, and I could really use a rest."
"The blood on you… none of it is yours?"
"No. Most of it was from a co-worker of mine. The other day we were doing a report on the outbreak when some of them jumped us. He did what he could to protect me, but there were too many to fend off, and they got to him. We finally got away hiding from them as best we could, but he eventually died from the bite and changed into one of them."
"That's all fine and dandy, but you still haven't told me how you got the blood on you," Jameson blurted out, annoyed with the woman.
"Listen, jackass, it's all from him. I had to kill him when he changed," she replied as the tears began to flow down her dirt-covered cheeks.
Lowering his AR he stared at the woman, still trying to figure out what was so familiar about her, while he moved toward the gate. "Alright, come around to the main gate, and I will let you in," he told her, just as it came to him. She was Carla Hoffman from the local television news.
Approaching the gate Jameson kept his guard up, alert to the possibility that the dead could appear at any time, and he wanted to be ready. Scanning the area behind the gate he looked closely at the woman standing on the opposite side. "I know I have asked before, but I need to be one-hundred percent sure you haven't been infected."
"Listen, kid, like I have said before – I am not infected – no bites, no blood contact; I am fine."
Hesitating for a fleeting moment he grabbed the key from his pocket and slid it into the lock, stepping back aiming his AR toward her. "Come on it but no sudden moves… I would hate to have to shoot a celebrity," he told her with a smile on his face.
Lowering her head she let out a small laugh, "I didn't think anyone would recognize me looking like this." Pushing open the gate she slowly stepped inside closing the gate behind her. "Thank you for letting me in. I don't think I could have lasted much longer out there. So what now…?"
Motioning for her to step to the side Jameson moved past her and locked the gate. "Well, we have a doctor up in the house. He will give you a once over just to be sure you are alright before we lower our guard."
The pair walked slowly toward the house with Jameson keeping his weapon trained on her, not wanting to be the one that allowed an infected into the house. Stopping just outside the door, "Hey, it's Jameson. I have a survivor out here. Send out the doc."
Carla jumped when the door quickly swung open and Sara emerged. "A survivor… how?" she asked staring at the woman.
"She was outside the fence line hiding in the bushes," Jameson told her motioning to the woman.
"Hey, you are Carla Hoffman, the reporter from Channel 5," Sara blurted out when she saw her. "I am a huge fan of yours."
"Yeah, I am and thank you; I'm glad you like what I do."
"Well, come on inside; we have food and water for you."
Jameson was shocked at how quickly Sara was going to allow her inside. She did not even worry that this person may be infected. "Hey, Sara, let the doc check her out first. We don't want her inside before we are sure she is safe."
Stepping back away from her Sara nodded to Jameson, "Right – sorry."
Doctor Munroe emerged from the house stopping directly in front of Carla. "How close were you to the infected?"
"Pretty goddamn close… This blood on me if from my cameraman."
"Did you get any into your mouth or eyes?"
"No, I am sure of that. It mainly sprayed onto my shirt."
Munroe looked closely at her eyes searching for any sign of transformation but found none. "No bites or scratches of any kind from an infected?"
"No, seriously, I am fine," she replied, not even trying to hide her irritation with the line of questioning.
"Well, Doc, what do you think? Should we let her in?" Jameson asked.
"As best I can tell without doing a blood test on her, she is fine, but I cannot say definitively."
Jameson stared at Munroe for a moment, thinking how useless this man truly was, before turning back to Carla. "Alright, we let her in, but keep an eye on her for now. Welcome, Miss Hoffman."
"Thanks, kid, I appreciate this; you have no idea what I have been through the last few days."
Sara let out a small laugh, "Listen, lady, we know; trust me… we know," she whispered before heading back inside.
"Forgive her. We lost a lot of people recently. She is taking it pretty hard," Jameson explained as he waved her into the house.
Inside the house everyone quickly took a seat in the closest chair. Jameson walked over to where the female pilot sat taking a seat across from her. "I'm Jameson Myer. Are you alright?"
"Yes, I am fine," she replied. "I'm Major Laura Smith, but please just call me Laura."
"Laura it is. I wanted to thank you for coming to save us back there. That lab was a nightmare, and we lost some good people."
"It looked pretty ha
iry from above, so I can only imagine what you people went through."
"Yeah, we lost the sheriff, the man who built this place, and we lost my brother Connor," his voice tapering off at the end.
"I'm sorry for your losses. I only wish I had gotten there sooner, but we were in a bad spot when we got the call to come get you."
Jameson nodded to her as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. Connor had always looked out for him as they grew up, and he had done it again on the roof of the lab, sacrificing his life in an effort to protect him and the others. He lowered his head and took in a deep breath before looking back up at the army pilot. "Get some sleep. I am going to take first watch. Relieve me in a couple of hours."
Laura nodded to him as she watched him walk away and head up the stairway. Sitting back in her seat she closed her eyes and started to think about her family and friends, wondering if any of them remained alive. Images of the dead began to swirl around in her mind sending chills down her spine, causing her to tighten her grip on the sidearm she held as she finally drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 22 – SWARM
The light was slowly starting to fade as Jameson looked out over the fields surrounding the house. He climbed out of his chair and strolled across to the arms locker pulling out a set of night vision goggles, preparing himself for coming darkness. So far there had been no further signs of dead roaming about the fence, but he remained vigilant in his watch. He was the one to take the responsibility and watch over the others, protecting them from the dead, hoping to make his brother proud.
Stepping back to the wall he gazed out to the front gate, "What do we have here?" A walker was strolling up to the gate, stumbling over the uneven ground. Grabbing his rifle he peered through the scope, zeroing in on the forehead of the zombie. Flipping off the safety he slowly drew in a breath and exhaled as his finger tightened on the trigger.
"Hey, what are you up to?" Sara called out from behind him.
The shot rang out muffled by the silencer but still audible enough. The bullet slammed into the body of the creature taking a large chunk of rotting flesh from its torso, knocking it to the ground. Spinning around, "What the hell?" he started to say but stopped when he saw Sara's beautiful face.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were about to fire," she giggled.
"Its fine," he replied turning back to the zombie and taking careful aim as it started to climb back to its feet. "I just need to get rid of a problem." Another shot burst forth from the rifle. This time the bullet slammed into the forehead of the zombie removing the upper part of its head, ending its reign of terror.
"Nice shot, kid," a different voice said from behind him.
Turning back he saw the major standing behind Sara. "Thanks, I have had a lot of practice of late."
"I'm here to relieve you. Why don't you get some rest," Laura told him reaching her hand out for the rifle.
Reluctantly he handed over the weapon, smiling at her. "Don't feel much like sleeping but I will give it a try. The night vision goggles are next to the chair. You may need them shortly."
"I got it, kid; go rest," she replied patting him on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Major."
"Come on; let's go," Sara said grabbing him by the arm and leading him inside. "You look exhausted; plus, I have some dinner ready for you downstairs."
Sitting down at the table he devoured what she put in front of him, hungry from what seemed like days of fighting the dead. Once his plate was clean he got up from his seat and walked over to Sara, "Thank you for that," he whispered to her giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. "I am going to get some sleep. Wake me up in a few hours so I can take over for Laura."
Placing her hand on his, "I will, now get some rest," turning and giving him a quick hug. She watched as he walked up to an empty sofa, grab a blanket and lay down. She loved him for all that he had done for her and the others. The crush that she had always had on him seemed so fresh in her mind, and now she had more than that with him. They were a couple but for how much longer with how the world was collapsing around them. She felt a pang in her heart as she stared at him wondering what she would do if she ever lost him and how she could possibly live without him. Breaking away from Jameson she turned back to the dishes, quickly cleaning up from their meal, and making sure the leftovers were warm and available to the others when they wanted them.
Looking over at Munroe and then to Carla she wondered how many others might still be alive out there and if they could ever rise from this and recapture the world from the dead. Munroe had been a major cause of the outbreak, and she hated him for it. His desire to fulfill his task of creating a new type of soldier had backfired on him and doomed the planet. If he had only shut down the program, like the military wanted and not continued by experimenting on his fellow scientists, none of this would be happening. She fought with the urge to walk over to the smug bastard and put a bullet in his head, but she knew he was the only one that had a chance to fix this, and that kept her from satisfying that urge. Shaking the thoughts from her head she finished her work before taking a seat in an oversized chair and drifting off to sleep.
Gunshots woke everyone up from their nightmares, and they all quickly grabbed their weapons preparing themselves for the worst. Jameson was the first on his feet as he looked over at Sara making sure she was safe before searching for the source of the shots.
"Up top," she said looking up toward the third floor observation deck. "Laura must have run into some trouble."
The pair sprinted up the stairway as the gunshots continued. Bursting out onto the roof deck Jameson looked over at the major, "What's going on?"
"We have a lot of company out there," she replied while firing at a few more zombies. "I didn't see them all until the sun rose. There have to be hundreds."
Jameson grabbed a rifle from the locker and made his way to the wall. He looked out at the fence and was shocked at the sea of dead that surrounded the compound. "What the hell! How did they find us? Sara, get the others up here; we need all the firepower we can muster."
Both he and the major opened fire on the dead taking down several on the first volley of shots, but it was not doing enough; there were just too many. "Any ideas…?" Jameson asked Laura, just as the others stepped out onto the rooftop.
"What about the gun on the helicopter?" Sara asked.
Laura turned to her, "Sure, it will help us a great deal, but I am a bit concerned about fuel. We didn't get a great deal in the tanks at the airport."
Jameson listened to the exchange between the two and knew right away that he needed to go with her. The helicopter was not more than a few hundred yards from the house, but with the crowd of dead growing at an alarming rate, it was safer for Sara to stay put. "Alright, Sara, Carla and Munroe stay here. I will go with Laura to the chopper. If the dead look like they are ready to break through at any point, concentrate your fire on that spot until we get airborne."
Watching Jameson and the major leave the observation deck, Sara wondered if they would survive this latest brush with the dead. Her eyes began to tear up as she gave a wave to Jameson praying that he returned to her safely. She had fallen in love with him, wishing that times were different and there was hope for a future together, but the ever increasing throng of dead encircling the compound made her think that the future was all but lost for them. Reaching into the weapons locker she plucked out a sniper rifle and a few magazines. Loading the weapon she moved to the wall and peered through the high-powered scope. She watched as the pair emerged from the front of the house, sprinting across the open space toward the Blackhawk.
"Where the hell are they all coming from?" Carla blurted out as she clumsily took aim and fired. The zombie she had in the crosshairs fell back against several others as the bullet tore into its torso. "Shit, my aim stinks."
"Exhale when you pull the trigger; it helps steady your aim," Sara told her. Breaking away from Jameson and the pilot she turned her attention to the fence and gasped when she sa
w a familiar zombie standing near the gate. "Oh my God! I thought he died back at the lab," she whispered.
"Who died?" Carla asked.
Sara pointed toward the front gate, "That zombie with half its face missing is Connor, Jameson's brother." Looking through the scope she zeroed in on the former friend of hers and could clearly see that he indeed was one of them. The pale complexion, a white colored eye and missing left side of his face only enhanced the fact that he was one of them: one of the walking dead here to kill them all.
"Shoot the damn thing!"
Turning to the woman next to her Sara's face flushed red as the anger surged through here. "Listen, bitch, he was a close friend of mine and shooting him, no matter what the circumstance, is not an easy thing for me." Looking back through the scope she again found him in the crowd just as his head erupted in a grisly and bloody explosion. "What the hell? Who shot him?" she screamed out looking at the two next to her.
Carla shrugged her shoulders, "Neither of us fired. The shot came from somewhere else."
Looking around the open area below her she saw Jameson knelt down next to the chopper, sniper rifle in hand, as the rotor began to turn. Grabbing some binoculars from the ledge she quickly brought them up zeroing in on him. "Oh my God! Jameson shot him," she whispered. She could see the tears making their way down his face as he lowered the rifle, shaking his head in disbelief.
Jameson wiped the tears from his cheek before tossing the rifle into the helicopter and climbing aboard. He knew in his heart that the creature he killed was not his brother, but it still hurt seeing what used to be Connor standing just outside the gate among the hundreds of dead. "Let's go," he yelled out to Laura, and the Blackhawk lifted off the ground.
"They are airborne," Sara announced watching as the sleek, black helicopter moved out over the fence while she kept the binoculars trained on Jameson.
Carla saw the hinges on the main gate begin to strain against the assault as the creatures surged forward trying to force their way inside and get to the living. "The front gate is starting to give way," she yelled as she shot a few more to the creatures, finally grasping the correct way to shoot the rifle. Both Munroe and Sara quickly turned their attention to the front of the compound and concentrated their assault on that spot dropping several in the first volley.
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