Where The Dead Men Lie (The Secret Apocalypse)

by Harden, James

  And nothing.

  No noise. No explosion.

  Nothing.

  Silence.

  I didn’t realize it at the time but this is the nature of an EMP. It’s a fairly silent and understated weapon. Nothing like a machine gun or a heat seeking missile. But boy, oh boy is it effective.

  The nano-swarm tornado that had engulfed the Humvee lost its shape completely. It fell to the desert floor in a heap. It was now just a pile of useless, black dust.

  Daniel and I both cheered.

  "It freakin worked!" I shouted.

  I hugged Daniel. We were just about to get out of the car when suddenly something crashed, loud and heavy into the rear of the Humvee. The back windshield smashed in. It was the infected. They had finally caught up to us.

  Daniel opened his door and climbed on to the roof of the Humvee. A split second later, he unloaded with his rifle.

  The infected fell where they stood.

  But unfortunately, as I looked back towards the outpost, I could see more infected were coming. Lots more.

  "What the hell is Kenji doing?" I asked

  "I guess he’s got his hands full." Daniel answered.

  Daniel jumped back in the driver’s seat. "Damn no keys. No time to hot wire. Come on, we’re on foot from here."

  "So it worked, right?"

  "Did what work?"

  "The EMP!"

  "I’m pretty sure it did. Either way, we’re about to find out for sure."

  We sprinted towards the overturned Humvee, towards Jack and Maria.

  CHAPTER 47

  The Humvee was smashed up and completely covered in black dust. As was the surrounding area. The windows were all smashed in as well. There was glass everywhere.

  Inside, Maria was curled up in the back. Jack was strapped into the driver’s seat, hanging upside down. Thank God he buckled up, I thought.

  They were both unconscious.

  "Come on, let’s get them out," Daniel said.

  I crawled into the rear of the Humvee, and shook Maria gently by the shoulders. I was too scared to think the worst.

  No response.

  I shook her more forcefully. "Maria!"

  She opened her eyes slightly and blinked a couple of times. Then she started coughing uncontrollably. A few seconds later she threw up a pile of black goo.

  "Maria, are you all right?"

  "Jack," she whispered to me.

  "He’s right here," I said as I looked up at the driver’s seat. Daniel was checking Jack’s pulse as I was reassuring Maria.

  There were a few tense seconds before finally; Daniel nodded, indicating that Jack was alive.

  "He’s fine," I said to Maria.

  She relaxed slightly. "I feel like I’ve been beaten up," she said. "And cut up. My skin, it hurts like hell. I can’t really see that well, either." Her voice was so hoarse, she sounded like a completely different person.

  "It’s going to be OK," I said even though I really had no idea of the medical ramifications of a nano-swarm attack. Was there permanent damage or long term side-effects? Now that I thought about it, I still felt like crap from when I charged right into the middle of the swarm back in Hope. My muscles still ached. My throat was still sore.

  I brushed Maria’s hair out of her face so I could check her eyes. They looked glassy and red. She looked like she had the world’s worst hangover. "Maria, that was possibly the dumbest, bravest, most stupidest thing you have ever done."

  "Is Jack all right?" she asked.

  Daniel unbuckled Jack from his seat and slid him out the driver’s side door. Jack was still unconscious. "Come on," Daniel said to me. "We need to get back inside before the infected find us."

  "Is Jack all right!?’ Maria asked again.

  "He’s fine," I said, trying to calm her down. "He’s unconscious. But his pulse is steady. He’s fine."

  "We have to get back inside. Get to a car, get out of here." Daniel said as he checked his watch. "We have six minutes before it blows."

  I was initially helping Maria, but then she brushed me off. I guess she was still angry that we had let Jack risk his life like that.

  "Be on the lookout for any more infected," Daniel said as he picked up Jack and carried him over his shoulders like a fireman.

  "You don’t have to tell me."

  The problem was, as we made our way back to the research building we had the sun in our eyes. A giant, orange fireball of a sun. This made the simple task of watching for the infected nearly impossible.

  We knew there would be more coming for us but we couldn’t see them. We could hear them however. Off in the distance. Right on cue, I thought.

  I reached for my walkie-talkie so I could communicate with Kenji but it was gone. I moved over to Daniel and slid his walkie-talkie out of his pocket. "Kenji, where are you? What’s happening?"

  No response.

  "Kenji, come in. We can hear them, the infected. But we can’t see them. Can you cover us?"

  Static and silence.

  "Let’s head back to the garage on the military side," Daniel said.

  As we made our move, a brisk walk turned into a jog. Then the jog turned into a run. The howling moan, the screams of the infected became louder. Closer.

  Pretty soon we were sprinting. Or rather, sprinting as fast as we could. It felt like we were flying, but with Daniel carrying Jack, and Maria still woozy, we probably weren’t going that fast.

  I tried the walkie-talkie one more time. "Tariq? Are you there?"

  Silence.

  "Maybe the EMP killed the radio?" Daniel said.

  "Or maybe something has happened to them," Maria added.

  "Don’t say that."

  I was about to check the radio to make sure it wasn’t broken. But suddenly Maria tripped over. She skidded on to her knees, and hands. She tried to get up but as soon as she got to her feet she began to sway.

  I managed to catch her before she fell. "I’ve got you. It’s gonna be all right. We can make it."

  Maria shook her head. "I’m not so sure," she said as she pointed towards the outpost. "We’ve got company."

  I looked up. I could just make out another group of infected to our right, running around the research compound. I yelled out to Kenji to take them out.

  There was no response.

  I put my hand up to shield my eyes from the setting sun. I could just see Kenji’s silhouette. He had moved up to the nearest gun tower. He was taking forever to open fire.

  "Hurry!" I shouted.

  The next thing I knew, Maria was pushed backwards, out of my arms. I heard a single gunshot. The noise echoed out into the desert.

  Maria was lying flat on her back, clutching at her chest. She was gasping for air, wincing in pain. She couldn’t breathe.

  It took me a few seconds to realize that Maria had been shot.

  I looked back up at the gun tower. The shadow, the silhouette was gone.

  CHAPTER 48

  For a second I forgot about the rapidly approaching infected monsters. My only concern was for Maria.

  I crouched down beside her and checked for a bullet wound. Checked for blood.

  Nothing.

  She was wearing the NBC suit. It had protected her, like it had protected me once before. She sat up, gasping for air, trying to breathe but unable to. I knew the feeling all too well.

  She couldn’t breathe or speak but she pointed back over my shoulder.

  The infected were coming in fast.

  I turned, raised my rifle and opened fire. Unfortunately my aim was erratic. Before I knew what was happening, I had emptied an entire magazine. All thirty bullets gone in the blink of an eye. I had taken out a few. But there were more coming.

  I drew my sidearm, kept firing. Not much difference.

  Luckily Daniel was a better shot than me. He arrived on the scene a few seconds later to help out. He even had time to place Jack carefully on the ground. He then raised his rifle and calmly and methodically took out the r
emaining infected.

  I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if he wasn’t there to help.

  Would I have had time to reload?

  Would Kenji have done what he was actually supposed to do and cover us?

  I couldn’t believe that Kenji had missed so badly and accidentally hit Maria. Someone as good as Kenji doesn’t miss like that.

  I helped Maria to her feet.

  Daniel carried Jack. "Come on. There’s bound to be more," he said as he checked his watch again. "Five minutes."

  I helped Maria to her feet and put my arm around her to help her walk. This time she didn’t brush my arm away. She needed help. And we didn’t have time for anyone to lag behind.

  I was starting to feel like we weren’t going to make it. I looked up at the nearest gun tower. I tried to spot Kenji but I couldn’t see him. Where the hell was he?

  This was not like Kenji at all.

  Missing his target and accidentally hitting Maria?

  There’s no way.

  Maybe if he was drunk.

  And blind folded.

  Kenji had proven to be a rock for us, for me, time and time again. I don’t know what had happened but I was determined to find out.

  About a minute later we finally made it back to the garage. We put Jack in the rear of the remaining Humvee. This would be our getaway car. I hoped it worked. I hoped it was supercharged or something.

  "Kenji! It's time to go!" Daniel shouted into his walkie-talkie.

  But just as before, there was no response.

  "It’s no use," I said. "It's busted. We gotta go get him."

  Daniel swore and threw the radio into Humvee. "Rebecca you're with me. Maria, stay here. We’ve got three minutes."

  Maria wasn’t really paying attention to Daniel. She was too concerned with Jack. She was holding his face, checking his pulse, picking glass out of his hair.

  Daniel put the key in the ignition and turned the engine on. "Good. It’s got a full tank. Maria, if we're not back in one minute you need to go without us. Do not wait."

  That got her attention. "What? Are you crazy? I’m not leaving without you guys."

  "This place is set to blow. If we’re not back in time you have to leave, drive as fast as you can. Get away from here. Do you understand?"

  "Just hurry," she said.

  Daniel left the engine idling so it would be ready for us when we got back. Or ready for Maria to drive.

  We sprinted over to the research compound. "We’ve got two minutes," Daniel said. "Keep a look out for infected. There could be more."

  As we made our way to the garage, Daniel loaded the grenade launcher attached to his rifle. "Get behind me."

  He took aim, raising the barrel slightly and fired.

  The grenade was lobbed in a high arc and detonated right on target, exploding right up against the roller door of the garage, tearing a hole big enough for us to duck through.

  We ran through the garage and up the stairs.

  "One minute, forty-five seconds," Daniel said.

  "He better be ready," I said as my mind was still trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

  Maybe he was just tired, I thought. That’s why he missed, right? He was dehydrated. Starving. Surely that would mess with your concentration and your aim.

  Daniel entered the mess hall with his rifle up to his shoulder raised and ready. "Kenji!" he shouted.

  No response.

  "Tariq!"

  No response. Nothing. Dead silence.

  Tariq should’ve been in the communications room. But he wasn’t. Kenji should’ve been ready to go. But he was nowhere to be seen.

  Something was indeed wrong. Something had happened. Something was messed up.

  The smell of burnt flesh filled the room.

  Daniel picked up the blow torch that the last surviving soldier was going to use to cauterize his wound.

  "This is hot."

  "Huh?"

  "Someone has used this. Very, very recently."

  "Who," I asked as I turned around in a slow circle, looking for the guys. I looked at the tables of the mess hall. "Hey, where’s Ben?"

  Blood stained the table he’d been lying on. The big man was gone.

  Daniel checked his watch. "This is bad. This is so freakin bad. One minute, thirty seconds."

  "Where the hell did they go?" I asked.

  There was genuine fear and panic in my voice. My heart was beating loud and fast. There were too many damn questions. Not enough time.

  Daniel double checked the communications room. "Yep. Tariq is definitely gone."

  The computer monitors all showed an aerial shot of the outpost. The images were streaming live from the surveillance drone.

  Daniel's watched beeped. "One minute, twenty seconds."

  "Where are they? I asked. "Where is Kenji?"

  We quickly looked outside, checking the walkways that connected the gun towers.

  "Kenji!" I yelled.

  No response.

  Daniel’s watch beeped again. "One minute, ten seconds."

  "He's ... he's gone," I said.

  "Look, we gotta go," Daniel said. "Kenji can take care of himself. So can Ben. We have to assume they’ve already left. Maybe they got scared. Left without us. Maybe they assumed we could get to safety easy enough. They probably escaped back through the rabbit hole. That’s what I would’ve done."

  "We have to find them."

  "We don’t have time!" he said as his watch beeped. "We have approximately one minute before this place blows."

  I was shaking my head. I couldn’t leave without Kenji. I couldn’t.

  Where the hell did they go?

  No Kenji. No Ben. No Tariq. Too many damn questions.

  Kenji can take care of himself, I thought.

  "Kenji can take care of himself," I said out loud, trying to convince myself. "He’s smart, he’s strong."

  Daniel pushed me out of the room and down the stairs. We ran out of the garage, across to the research side of the compound.

  Maria was just about to climb into the driver’s seat and take off. "Oh thank God!" she yelled. "I thought you weren’t going to make it. I was about to drive off. Where’s Kenji? Where is everyone?"

  "We don’t know," I answered as we jumped in the Humvee.

  "What? What the hell do you mean?"

  "They’re gone," I said. "They must’ve left back through the rabbit hole."

  "Buckle up for safety," Daniel said. "This is gonna be a bumpy ride."

  He floored the Humvee and we took off into the desert. He was right, the ride was definitely bumpy. The Humvee got airborne multiple times before Daniel finally found a dirt track.

  His watch beeped. He glanced at it. "Thirty seconds."

  I looked out the rear windshield. The outpost, shrunk away in the distance. I couldn’t help but feel we had just left Kenji to die.

  "So where are the others? Maria asked. "Are you sure they made it out?"

  Jack was lying unconscious on the back seat.

  "We don’t know."

  "Excuse me?"

  "They must’ve left already. Maybe they thought we were cutting it too close."

  "They can take care of themselves," Daniel added. "Especially Ben. He had obviously woken up. There's no way they carried him out of that room."

  Beep.

  "Twenty seconds."

  Daniel had a good point about Ben being too heavy to move. I guess that meant he had woken up. Maybe he was the one who told them to get out. Maybe he knew something we didn’t. Like whether or not the self-destruct explosives were nuclear.

  "Ten seconds," Daniel said. "Guys, don’t look. If it’s nuclear, the flash will blind you. Close your eyes."

  I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands, hoping that we had done the right thing, hoping that Kenji was all right, that he had gotten out in time and that he had made it to a safe distance.

  Daniel floored the accelerator. The engine of t
he Humvee responded and we continued to pick up speed as we made our escape into the desert.

  Behind us, the outpost erupted in a huge fireball.

  As the shockwave buffeted the car I convinced myself that Kenji had made it out. I convinced myself that he was alive, that he was most definitely not vaporized into ash.

  I had convinced myself that Kenji was indestructible.

  Even though deep down, I knew better.

  CHAPTER 49

  Daniel drove for another few minutes. He made sure we were a safe distance from the outpost before he stopped the car so we could have a look back at the aftermath.

  "Was it nuclear?" I asked.

  "I don't think so," Daniel answered. "Would’ve been bigger."

  We argued for awhile about what to do. Do we keep driving? Or do we go back and try and figure out what happened?

  Daniel wanted to keep going. Get as far away from here as possible. But in the end, Maria and I forced him to go back and look for Kenji and the others.

  We drove through the smoldering ruins of the outpost. There was no point in stopping. Nothing remained. Daniel suggested we make our way to the entry of the rabbit hole. If Kenji and the others had escaped, that is where they would be.

  He maneuvered the Humvee into the dried up river bed. But when we got to the entry point, we could see that the rabbit hole was caved in. Blackened scorch marks stained the ground near the entrance to the tunnel. This meant the explosion had raced through there, burning everything in its path.

  "Where did they go?" I asked out loud to no one in particular. "What the hell happened!?"

  There were so many questions racing through my head. Did Ben get them out in time? What about Tariq? Did they untie him?

  "I don't trust him," I said.

  "Who?" Maria asked.

  "It was him," I said. "Tariq. He was behind it. He…"

  "He what?" Maria asked. "He was nothing but helpful."

  Daniel was shaking his head. He was at a loss. He couldn’t explain it.

  Something wasn’t right.

  Kenji was gone.

  Ben was gone.

  My head began to throb; the orange desert sky began to spin. My vision narrowed. I don’t know if it was because everything was starting to hit me, or maybe it was the cut to my head, but I suddenly felt light headed.