Unhhh hunhh hunhhh….
Exhausted, Miller squinted and studied the far wall. Then she grinned and felt her heart leap with hope. She pointed. “Fuck me running!”
Scratch and Rolf followed her gaze and her finger. Across the holding tank, lit by its own overhead light, was another hatch much like the one they had just come through. There was nothing else over there but a glass fire hose box and some other related emergency equipment. Miller wanted it. She waved her arm this time, making the instructions abundantly clear.
“That’s our exit, people.”
“Christ,” Piper said, “All the way over there, and right through them?”
Scratch clutched the M-4 he’d taken from McDivitt, as if already anticipating her order. Rolf stood as if glued to his side. The others had Mak-90 rifles or M-4s of their own, and each carried their own wicked bayonet. No one had much ammunition left. Miller studied the terrain ahead and tried to imagine the battle and what the zombies were likely to do. She remembered something she’d read about the Roman legions once, the way they had formed circles and moved as one, used their shields to form turtles, or some damned thing like that. Terrill Lee would have known, but Miller had never much cared for history. She considered their options. This would have to be fast and perfectly executed to work, but they had no other choice.
“We’re going to conserve ammunition as much as possible,” Miller said. “Fire only if you have no other choice. We don’t know what is on the other side of that door. Just remember it can’t be any worse.”
“That’s nice to know,” Scratch said, dryly.
Unhhh hunhh hunhh. The creatures began to advance. Their terrifying cry filled the confined space.
“Fix bayonets,” Miller called. “We conserve the rest of our ammo in case we need it for each other. Here’s the drill.” She took a deep breath. “You can knock them over for a while, but eventually we have to kill them. Remember to stab right through the skull into the brain.”
Piper said, “Huh?”
Miller said, “Their bodies are rotting and soft in spots, you should be able to nail them through the brain with a good thrust. Go up under the chin or straight through the sinus cavity or the eye socket if you can. Form up and stay together in a circle, back to back. No matter what, we keep the circle, bayonets out. Remember, we’re headed for that door, so keep your feet moving that way, one step at a time, all together on my command. Copy that? We move only on my command.”
They all formed into a tight circle with their bayonets out like the spines of a porcupine. Miller and Scratch stood side by side, with Rolf on Miller’s left. Then came McDivitt on the other side of Rolf, and then Bean and Judy tight together, and finally Scobee, with Piper next to Scratch. It would have to do.
Unhhh hunhhh hunhh…
“Step,” Miller called. They all moved in unison. “Step. Step.” It took a moment but the group got used to the idea. They looked like a clumsy middle school marching band. Their wicked blades gleamed like sharp, feral teeth.
“That door is our life. Every step closer is one step closer to life.” Miller declared, pointing over the heads of the zombies again. “Once last time, that’s where we’re going, that is our exit. Move on my command. Step. Step.”
McDivitt found a reload somewhere, and slid the magazine into the butt of his pistol. He fired two shots at the nearest zombie, a man in bloodstained t-shirt and boxers, taking it down cleanly. “Save your ammo, Major,” Miller called, annoyed by his disobedience. McDivitt got it and pulled out a saw-toothed hunting knife instead. Miller wondered if he would use it when the time came. The next zombie was a young, once-pretty female in uniform. McDivitt stabbed her through the top of the skull. The blade went in smoothly and she dropped, but McDivitt wasn’t expecting the body to take the knife with it. He struggled to extract the blade from the zombie’s skull. While he was screwing around, the next zombies tripped over her prone body. The others got the idea.
Miller exchanged a glance with Scratch, and then Rolf. Scratch winked. Rolf nodded solemnly. Miller felt her heart warm to their presence. She smiled at them both. She was so proud to fight at their side. She looked at the others, willing herself to project confidence and calm. For their part, Scobee and Judy damn near saluted her.
“Step. Step.”
The circle moved steadily toward the exit. They fell into a smooth rhythm. Miller could smell the fear in their sweat. She thought McDivitt looked the weakest, perhaps ill from the stench as much as the stress, but everyone else was working smoothly as a team. Bean and Judy seemed to gather strength from one another. They moved. Covering ground, step by step by step.
The zombies continued to shuffle forward. They broke naturally when running into the circle of blades. They flowed around the group and soon the survivors were completely surrounded. The humans stabbed and stepped and stabbed and stepped. Bean and Judy nailed two zombies simultaneously, Judy up through the chin and Bean through the nose and into the brain. Rolf didn’t fire a shot, he and Scratch worked smoothly to both slaughter the undead and protect Miller, who didn’t mind the support one damn bit, and certainly not under the circumstances.
A dead girl with long brown hair and thick eyebrows came quickly at them. Bean speared her through the intestines without thinking, but her momentum threw her up and over their position like a pole vaulter. She slid down his bayonet, her soft insides split open. Bean froze. The girl snarled and snapped and bit at Bean’s face. The girl was awkwardly dangling above them all, and they broke the circle.
“Drop her, Bean,” called Miller. “Let go!” She stabbed a woman in a business suit who was missing her right arm and part of her face. Bean was losing it.
Bean let the thing come close enough to grab him. He dropped his rifle, blade and all, and the zombie latched onto him. She bit him quickly in so many places Miller couldn’t keep up. Bean grunted as his throat spurted blood. Judy broke ranks and tried to get behind the zombie, gaining the angle she needed to blow its head off. Miller let Scratch and Rolf close ranks. She reached over and yanked Judy back to safety. Meanwhile, poor Bean fell forward, clutching his throat, already bleeding out on the cement floor. The gutted female zombie placidly chewed on his shoulder. Bean clawed at the air with his free hand.
Scobee watched in horror as his friend reached out for help. Much to Miller’s surprise, Scobee stepped closer, aimed his rifle at Bean’s skull, and fired once. He looked up at Miller with a confused expression. He’d done the right thing, but he’d also just murdered his best friend. Miller nodded respectfully. She knew the feeling all too well.
Judy sobbed once and then her face locked into a frozen mask of rage. “Motherfuckers! I hate you!”
“Then fight, damn it.” Miller yanked the woman back into position. Judy looked like someone on the edge of insanity, which was certainly understandable. Bean was dead at her feet. They were surrounded. The circle of living humans waited for her orders. Miller forced her way back into their ranks, kicking and stabbing with her blade. Unhhh hunhh hunhh was all around them like the low rumble of thunder from a summer storm. She had to get them moving again.
“Step!” Miller shouted, and they moved again. Their bayonets and blades stabbed and stabbed. “Listen up everybody, just stay together. We’ll live through this. We fight. We improvise. We are almost home. Step. Step.”
They had learned their lessons, and they made it to the hatch without another loss, a miracle in itself. Scratch ran ahead. He decapitated a fat zombie in a dressing gown and spun the wheel on the door to let them file through to safety. Scratch and Rolf went through, and Scratch helped the others get through quickly as Rolf stood guard. Judy had a strange look in her eyes. Miller wondered if she’d lost her mind. She broke down again.
Miller grabbed the sobbing Judy and shoved her into the hatch, and Scratch tugged the poor woman the rest of the way through. They all were soon standing in yet another long corridor, this one brightly lit. Judy’s disintegration, while understanda
ble, was already starting to grate on Miller’s nerves. She needed to suck it up or they’d all end up like Bean.
Unhh hunhhh hunhh…
Miller stepped through the doorway. She slammed the hatch closed, spinning the wheel just as she had done before. Then she bent down with her hands on her knees, and caught her own breath. Fighting off that particular mob of zombies had turned out to be more difficult than she’d thought. I must be getting old.
“Penny? Look.” Scratch sounded pleased for a change.
The concrete space was empty. It was just a long corridor with yet another corridor veering away at the far end. This must be the escape tunnel that McDivitt was angling for. Miller decided to give them all a short, badly needed break. Scratch and Rolf stood guard on each side without being asked. Scobee, Judy, and Piper clustered together, with Piper and Scobee offering Judy what consolation they could. Whatever they said to Judy, the woman stopped crying. The cold, angry expression returned. Miller sensed something was off. She looked up to find McDivitt standing in her personal space, and he did not look like he was about to give her a hug. She never liked people getting too close to her, and she resisted the urge to punch him in the face. She’d need him to get them all off base safely after they finally killed the Triad, so physically assaulting him didn’t seem like the best strategy.
“Just what the hell was all that, Sheriff?” McDivitt kept his voice low. His cheeks were red with anger. Miller knew the others could hear the conversation.
“All that? That was me and my people saving our asses, McDivitt,” Miller whispered. “Look, I’m sorry about Bean and all, but if we had stayed where we were and tried to stand up against base security, we would all be captured by now or dead anyway. Those planes that we failed to destroy would take off and complete their missions. The Triad would survive to finish the job, and that wouldn’t do the human race any good, now would it? Hell, now that I think about it, you’re the one who led us to that door in the first place, or don’t you remember that?”
McDivitt opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He looked around, as if searching for a response, but evidently he couldn’t find one. Eventually, the Major just said, “The way I see it, you just screwed up. From now on, I’m giving the orders. You got that?”
“No.”
McDivitt blinked. “What did you say?”
“I said no. Not from now on, but I’m dog tired. We can’t be squabbling over command all the time. I will make you a deal, Major. As long as you give orders that are worth following, we’ll follow them. However, if you endanger any of my people again, like you did when you almost broke down back there, or when your explosive charges didn’t go off, I’ll just shoot you myself and take over. Do we understand each other now?”
“Fuck me,” Scratch said, loudly and clearly.
“What?” Miller snapped.
Then they all heard it, a low throbbing noise from the far side of the corridor. Rolf’s attention was fixed on that other end of the hall, and suddenly even he seemed terrified. That alone was enough to make the hairs on the back of Miller’s neck flutter to attention. Rolf was insane, but she had never seen him act quite this scared before. Seeing her face react to his, Rolf sprinted the few yards that separated them. He stood right next to her. His wide eyes had gone to the moon again, and his soul seemed to be hopping up and down through the craters.
“Chosen One, your next test is fast approaching. Steel yourself.”
“What kind of test?” Miller sighed. “Can you give me a hint, Rolf?”
But she didn’t need a hint, because the noise grew louder. Miller recognized the clatter of military boots clattering on cement. And just moments later the end of the corridor was filled with security forces. They were heavily armed and well prepared. A virtual firing squad lined up against them. In fact, Miller expected them to start shooting, or at least shouting orders to drop weapons. Instead, they just formed two lines, one kneeling and one standing, and waited.
Scratch didn’t even try to lower his voice. “Penny, now would be a good time for a great idea.”
Before Miller could respond, a woman in a gray pinstriped business skirt suit stepped out from around the corner. She seemed ridiculously out of place in this environment. She stood in front of the waiting security forces, apparently unconcerned for her own welfare. She was either suicidal, or she was the person in charge of this world. Miller guessed it was the latter.
“Game over,” said McDivitt, mostly to himself.
Miller turned to him. “Who is that woman?”
“Dr. Charlotte Williams,” McDivitt said. “She’s in charge of the Triad.”
“O Chosen One?” Rolf laid his hand on Miller’s shoulder. “It looks like your next test has begun.”
Miller shook his hand off. She had no doubt that her attention needed to be on the other end of the corridor, not on Rolf’s silly-assed games. She studied the women in white with fire in her eyes.
“You may as well lower your weapons, Walter,” Williams called. “I’m reasonably certain you’ve already figured out there’s nowhere to run.”
McDivitt turned to Miller. “Let me handle this.”
“You’re the one who wanted to give orders,” Miller said, dryly. She turned to Scratch and mouthed the word, “Walter?”
Scratch only shrugged. The surprises just kept coming.
Miller counted the men standing at the other end of the corridor. There were eleven. That was just too many. Between Miller, Scratch, and Rolf, they may be able to take out four or five before their side would be slaughtered wholesale. Not a good plan in the end, Miller thought grimly. None of this is good. Same old same old.
On the other hand, if what Miller just heard was correct, that woman was the bitch she’d been searching for: The one who had commissioned Colonel Sanchez to begin searching for a super-soldier serum. The woman who had done nothing to stop the spread of the zombies once they started taking over her home state of Nevada. Miller gauged her chances. She was pretty sure she could hit Williams in the head with a hip shot. Of course, that would lead to all seven of them being captured or killed, but it still might be worth it to take the shot. She was so achingly close to the finish line. Hell, they were likely to be captured or killed in the next few minutes anyway.
McDivitt stepped forward. “It’s over, Charlotte. We are getting the word out. In a few hours, the eyes of the world are going to be fixed on Mountain Home Air Force Base, and then they will be focused directly on you.”
Williams seemed amused. “Really? Exactly how do you plan to pull all that off?”
“We bought enough media coverage to make you the most infamous woman of all time. Everyone in the world is going to know about the zombies, and they’ll know it was your program that created them. I’m pretty sure that the Special Assistant Biological Weapons won’t want that kind of attention—especially after the President finally figures out what you’ve been doing with your appropriations all these years.”
Much to Miller’s surprise, Williams actually seemed to consider McDivitt’s words. She looked down, almost as if in shame, and nodded solemnly. “Well, that’s it, then.”
McDivitt’s jaw dropped open. His eyes darted about.
Williams sighed. She turned to one of the nearby soldiers, and said, “It’s all over, Lieutenant. We’re out of business. Order your men to lower their weapons.”
Miller could only stare at Scratch. What did she just say? She watched as the security forces relaxed just the slightest amount. Scratch shook his head slightly and Miller nodded, as one or two soldiers looked around. What they definitely didn’t do was lower their weapons.
Williams shrugged dramatically. “It seems they don’t believe you either, Walter.” She gave a slight gesture with her right hand, and the lieutenant barked an order.
“Prepare to open fire!”
Miller made an executive decision. She stepped in front of McDivitt.
“Hey, look,” Miller said, holding her bayone
t high above her head. She waved it in the air and then slowly lowered it and dropped it to the ground. The bayonet hit the cement with a clanging sound. “I don’t know what kind of bad blood you two are trying to work out right now, but there’s no reason it should get the rest of us killed. We surrender.”
The soldiers did not change positions. They were all aiming her way. Miller turned to look behind her. The other members of her band looked confused and afraid to lower their weapons. Some had a few rounds left. They were murmuring amongst themselves, trying to come to a consensus. McDivitt appeared angry enough to shoot Miller right then and there. Miller opted take the risk of McDivitt doing something stupid over Williams doing something decidedly cold-blooded.
“I said we surrender!” She snapped a look at Scratch. He bent down and placed his rifle on the ground. She gestured for him to move against the wall, and he did. Rolf followed suit, and stood next to Scratch.
Miller held her hands up. She turned to look at McDivitt. “You’re endangering my people, Major.” Miller put her hand on McDivitt’s gun hand, and pushed slowly down. “We can’t win this one. Order your friends to stand down.”
McDivitt held her eyes for a long moment and then glanced at the soldiers who were preparing to fire. She tried to communicate with her face that things would work out. They’d get away again somehow. Apparently he saw the light, because he relaxed his gun hand, and slowly placed his pistol on the ground.
Scobee and Piper got the message, and dropped their weapons as well. They all went to join Scratch and Rolf against the wall.
Rolf said, “Chosen One?”
Miller turned. Judy stood her ground. Her face was red and contorted with rage.
“Payette!” snapped McDivitt. “Drop your weapon. We’re done here.”
“It’s her fault,” Judy said quietly. “He’s dead… they’re all dead… because of that bitch.”
“Judy, now’s not the time for heroics. Lower your weapon.”
The Hungry (Book 6): The Rule of Three (The Sheriff Penny Miller Zombie Series) Page 14