by Tim Moon
Instead, Mac went over to the bathroom to investigate.
"Hey idiot," said Gavin. But he was too slow.
As Mac neared the bathroom door, he glanced back at Gavin and smiled.
A man stepped out of the bathroom just behind Mac.
"Watch out," Gavin shouted.
Mac whipped his head around and saw the man, his face was torn up and bloodied. Mac immediately backpedaled.
The man grabbed for him and missed. Gavin realized that it was one of the paramedics that he'd seen earlier. But hadn't they left?
"Patrol Two, return to the checkpoint immediately. Do not approach the infected. They are extremely dangerous. Do you copy?"
"Checkpoint, we copy loud and clear, over."
Mac slipped in the blood left by the injured man and fell to his knees. Gavin jammed the radio into his pocket and ran over to help pull him up.
Passengers behind them were scrambling away from the gate and running toward the checkpoint. There was a horrible domino effect starting. Once the people from that gate started running everyone else did too. Panic spread, faster than lightning.
People rushed by them, some not even knowing what they were running from, but running just because everyone else was. Screams of panic filled the air and people shouted for other passengers to get out of their way. They pushed and shoved in their panicked confusion.
A young woman accidentally bumped into the infected paramedic. He immediately reached up and his sticky fingers caught in her hair. She screamed in surprise and whirled to face the man. Her nails clawed his face but he didn’t let go.
Two more infected emerged from the bathroom; an old man - the one Patrick reported? – and a young boy, whose entrails had spilled out of his gut and dangled down his front. They wiggled, dripping fluid and swinging to and fro, as he took shuffling steps forward into the crowd.
Suddenly the boy lunged at a man's legs, like a wild animal and succeeded in tripping him up. The boy managed to grasp the leg and sank his teeth into the exposed Achilles tendon. The man screamed and kicked, but the kid had latched onto his leg like his life depended on holding on.
"We've gotta run," Mac shouted, pulling on Gavin's arm. "Run."
He was right. But where?
Then Gavin said, "This way."
He pushed his way through to the other side of the concourse next to the gates. He pulled Mac down behind a row of seats. "We need somewhere to hide, behind a locked door. Everyone is running to the checkpoint, but it's locked down. It'll be a deathtrap."
"Exactly," Mac said. "I don't want to be in with the cattle when it's the butcher's turn with them."
Gavin quickly ran through the options in his head. Several doors were close at hand. Door one led to a stairwell that only went down to a baggage carousel that was exposed to the outside weather. Neither of them wore coats, so it was too cold to go that way. Door two opened into to a medium-sized supply closet that building maintenance used. That wasn't a great choice either because it was on the other side of the concourse, where they'd just come from, it was too small and people might try to push in with them. They'd never get the door closed. That left door three, about fifty yards away, near the end of the concourse. It led to a large stairwell that connected three different floors and gave them some options, if the situation changed.
"Follow me," said Gavin.
"Where're we going?" Mac stood and ran beside him. Then he caught on. "The back stairs. Good call."
They made it to the door. Gavin pulled at the I.D. badge hanging from his shoulder board and slapped it against the card reader. It clicked and unlocked.
Gavin yanked it open. "Hurry up," he yelled at Mac.
Mac ran inside right away.
"Wait, let us in," a man's strained voice called. He was breathing heavily. With an arm slung over his shoulder, he was half-dragging a blood-soaked man beside him. They were, at least, forty yards away.
"Wait," a woman screeched at them. She popped out from behind a desk. "Don't leave me."
Gavin hesitated; his heart was racing and adrenaline was coursing through him, making his hands shake. Then he went against his heart, he slipped inside and shoved the door closed so that no one could follow them. It clicked safely shut.
Not even three seconds had passed before the people outside reached the door and began banging on it desperately and cursing them at the same time.
Gavin backed away and sat on the stairs. Tears blurred his eyes.
73
MORE AND MORE people piled up against the door. They pounded and beat against it until it wobbled so much that Gavin feared it would burst open. He and Mac crouched on the landing, half a level above the door, just in case the people succeeded in breaking it down. It'd give Gavin and Mac a second or so head start to escape.
Meanwhile, outside the door, the frenzied crowd had simply drawn the attention of the infected to the noise.
Gavin and Mac had to listen as people were torn apart and savaged by the infected. Horrible, nightmarish sounds came from outside. Their screams echoed off the concrete. A rivulet of blood seeped in underneath the edge of the door, despite the heavy-duty weather stripping along the bottom.
Then one by one the voices died off and it went quiet.
They waited and listened. Nothing.
Gavin looked at his watch. His hands were shaking. No noise for the last five minutes.
"Oh God, I feel sick," he said. He set the radio on the stairs, sat down, and leaned against the wall. "I should have let them in."
"We had to leave them out there. If we had opened the doors, it would've been game over." Mac patted him on the shoulder. "As hard as it is to hear now, you did the right thing."
Gavin ignored him. "Should we try the radio again?"
"What's the point, man? You already tried it, like a hundred times. If anyone is still alive they're either out of range because they were smart and got out of the airport or they don't have a radio," said Mac. "Or worst ca-"
"I'm sure they got out."
Mac stood up and walked over to the window. "It's still snowing outside. I don't see anything moving on the tarmac. That's a good sign, right?"
"Hmm. Sure." Gavin picked up the radio and pressed the call button. "Checkpoint, Patrol One, this is Patrol Two. Can anybody hear me?"
Nothing.
Gavin stood and walked over to the doors, careful not to step in the blood inching its way toward the steps. He leaned his head against the door and listened hard, still no sound.
"Should we take a look?" he asked.
"No!" Mac shouted. "Don't even move that door a little. In fact, stop touching it. We don't know what's on the other side and I don't want those fuckers in here."
"We can't stay in here forever."
"True but we don't need to rush out there like idiots."
Gavin sighed. Mac was probably right. Gavin walked back, took his place at the top of the first set of stairs and sat down again, leaning against the wall.
After ten minutes had passed, they both began to feel eager to find out what had happened. Sitting there was boring and it was much colder than the rest of the building.
"If we go upstairs, how far across the airport can we get before we have to come down?" Gavin said.
"Never been on the third floor," Mac said. He looked like he was curious to find out. "I think we should check it out."
"Okay. It's better than sitting here."
"We need a weapon or something," said Mac.
"When I see a weapon, I'll tell you." Gavin wasn't so sure he was ready to start offing people, he'd fight them off for sure but there was no way he was about to die at work. Then he groaned. "Shit."
"What?"
"Dari might still be down there, man. Shit, shit! I'm not sure if her flight left before the attack or not," said Gavin.
"Hey don't sweat it, I'm sure she's fine," said Mac. "We can always check from upstairs."
"Okay, yeah. You're probably right." Gavin cleared his thro
at. "She's probably sitting on the plane already. Hopefully, they’ve locked it up."
"C'mon then, no time to waste."
Gavin stood and clipped the radio onto his belt. He turned the volume down, so it wouldn't give them away. Then he followed Mac upstairs.
The door at the top of the stairwell was also a secure door and, like the one downstairs, it lacked a window. Mac swiped his badge and opened it slowly. He peeked through the crack for a moment and then pulled it halfway open and stepped out waving Gavin through behind him.
Gavin came through the door and closed it behind him, before the warning alarm had a chance to sound. If the doors stayed open too long the blaring alarm would attract all of the attackers to them.
The hallway was open to the concourse below, on the left side. Gavin peeked over the edge but didn't see anything. On the right-hand side were offices and meeting rooms. He couldn't imagine who actually used them since the rooms’ numbered signs lacked names and logos.
"Let's go," said Mac. He set off at a slow jog.
The hall curved slowly to the right. Gavin caught up behind him and fell into the same pace.
Suddenly Mac stopped. Gavin almost ran into him. Strange noises were coming from up ahead. Gavin couldn't tell if it was on this floor or below them in the concourse.
Mac peered over the edge. "Down there," he whispered.
Gavin looked over.
A man, or what remained of a man, was pulling himself along the floor. Both of his legs were gone. Trails of dark blood marked the path behind him like a slug’s trail. His body squeaked against the floor every time he pulled himself forward.
"Go," said Gavin.
Mac nodded.
They continued jogging to the end of the hall. Gavin used his security badge to get through the next door, which led to another staircase, very similar to the one they'd left behind. Gavin led the way down the stairs while Mac eased the door closed behind them. They both instinctively knew that their survival depended on stealth.
Of course, it didn't hurt that they had experience of working together, tactically. The two of them had played competitive paintball together for years and this was similar to clearing a structure, looking for the enemy.
Gavin waited for Mac before he badged in at the next door. Mac nodded. Badge to the card reader, click of the lock and Mac slowly eased the door open, checking the concourse for any infected. Nothing was moving, which was strange. Gavin had expected to see something.
Mac shrugged at Gavin, looking just as surprised. Then he stepped out.
Gavin followed and the two of them moved to the gate side of the concourse which gave them something to hide behind if needed.
"Where did all those fuckers go?" Mac said softly.
Gavin shrugged. No employees stood at any of the booths by the gates and no one was standing near the shops. They'd all managed to close up. To the left, down C concourse, Gavin could see bodies strewn about on the floor. The crawler they'd heard earlier was nowhere in sight.
"Let's go," said Gavin.
"Okay. Lead the way."
Gavin started. Then Mac yanked on his sleeve.
"Wait."
"What?" Gavin shot him a glare.
"Where exactly are we going? And what the fuck are we doing? Is this our Shawshank or what?"
"What?"
Mac sighed and looked at Gavin like he was stupid. "Are we escaping or what?"
"I'm looking for Dari and we just need to see what's happening...you know, in general. Like what the fuck is going on and where in the hell are those two cops, Vasser and Bailey?"
"Okay, okay. I just wanted to be clear."
"Do you want to leave?" Gavin asked.
"Are you kidding me? Let's go." Mac smiled and waved his hand.
They were almost all the way across the airport before they heard a chorus of groaning coming from the direction of the checkpoint. As they walked closer, they saw people standing at the checkpoint, milling around like bats in a cave. Not just a few people, either. It was a huge crowd.
Gavin ducked behind a large concrete pillar. Mac crouched behind a garbage can.
"What the fuck? Did everyone get infected?" Gavin asked astounded at what he saw.
Mac made a face and shook his head.
"Now what?" Gavin said.
"Do you see Dari?" Mac asked.
Gavin peered around the pillar. There were tons of people standing there. Too many to pick out anyone in particular and none of the ones he could see was his girlfriend. He turned back to Mac and shook his head.
"Too many people and they’re all bunched up. They all look infected to me."
"Hey, look," said Mac. He pointed over toward the exit lane.
Gavin looked and saw the two police officers from earlier, hiding behind a garbage can and a small pile of luggage that they must have stacked up.
Behind them Gavin saw dark shapes moving outside in the snow, slow and meandering.
Were the infected outside too? Fuck.
"We should get the cops' attention," said Mac.
Before Gavin could respond, Mac crawled backward toward a closed shop's doorway.
“What the hell, dude?”
Mac ignored him. Once he was in the doorway, Mac stood up and waved his arms like he was a survivor waving down a rescue plane.
It took a few tries, but Gavin saw Officer Bailey notice them; he waved back at Mac, then held his hands out like, "What now?"
Gavin motioned for them to come closer. The cops both shook their head “no” and pointed in the direction of the checkpoint. Gavin looked towards the exit lane. There was a door to the left of the exit, about twenty yards from where he hid behind the pillar.
Gavin pointed toward the door. Then traced the outline of a door in the air with both of his hands and pretended to open the door. Then he motioned for them to come over. He did it one more time, hoping that it made sense. Go to the door, I'll open it and you guys come over to our side.
Bailey nodded that he understood. Gavin hoped he did. Because there was a shit load of infected standing around by the checkpoint. They had to move quietly and carefully to avoid drawing the crowd to them. He didn't want to have to run away and leave people behind again.
"How do we get to the door without any of those things seeing us?" Gavin said.
"You could crawl across or just sprint and hope for the best," Mac said. "Or you could hide behind something and just slowly move across with it."
"Are they dumb enough to fall for that?" Gavin looked skeptical.
Mac looked at him and said, "Only one way to find out, champ."
"Rock, scissors, paper for the honors?" said Gavin. It was childish but they'd used the time-honored game since they were young, to resolve disputes.
"Fine. On three," said Mac. "One, two, three, shoot."
Mac threw down a rock; Gavin went with paper. Gavin won, so he got the honor of crossing.
With nothing to hide behind or carry across with him, Gavin had a choice: crawl or sprint. Crawling was slow and tiring.
Sprinting it is, he thought.
Mac suddenly smacked him on the shoulder. "This is back-asswards. We should be going out there to the cops, not bringing them in here."
"I'm not leaving without Dari or at least not without knowing that her flight has already left the airport."
"Damn you, hero-boy." Mac patted his shoulder.
"Stand here." Gavin scooted over to give Mac room to stand against the pillar. "I'm going with the sprinting option."
"Okay, I'll keep an eye out. When it's clear, I'll say go. You just run, don't hesitate or second guess me." Mac patted his best friend on the back. "You got this."
Gavin swallowed hard. He could do this. No problem, right? He nodded to himself. "You say go; I run like hell. Got it. Ready when you are."
"Get ready." Mac looked around the pillar at the crowd who were forty or fifty yards away. Normally a safe distance, but right then they both felt it was much too close.
One of the infected, who was facing sideways, took a few lazy steps and turned. Now he was facing them directly. Another one turned and took several shuffling steps. Then they groaned and turned again, facing the other way.
"Go," said Mac.
Gavin ran, as quickly and quietly as he could. Just like running for cover on the paintball field, only this time the stakes were much higher. He slowed and stopped himself against the wall. He turned to glance at Mac who gave him a thumbs-up.
"So far, so good," Gavin said to himself.
He pulled his badge downwards and pressed it to the card reader. It beeped and the door unlocked. Gavin pushed it open and stepped inside. It was nothing more than a short, simple hallway with a security camera overhead. He jogged across it and swiped his badge to open the other door.
Officer Bailey was already standing there in the door. He startled Gavin, but he recovered quickly.
Officer Vasser was still kneeling behind the garbage can, ready to sprint.
"Let's go," said Gavin.
Bailey waved Vasser over. Vasser stood and ran, hunched over, the gear on his belt jingling and clanking.
They all ran into the hallway and closed the door behind them. Gavin badged the other door open and peered outside.
Mac made an "X" with his arms and shook his head.
"Wait," he said to the officers. Mac waved them back. "The infected must be looking this way."
Gavin closed the door.
"What was your name again?" Officer Bailey said.
"I'm Gavin, sir."
"That's right. Gavin. So what's the situation?"
Gavin leaned against the wall, then sat down. Officer Vasser was already kneeling. Officer Bailey remained standing, but he leaned up against the wall.
"My friend and I made a security patrol, after we locked the checkpoint gate. Some infected came out from one of the bathrooms and started attacking people. Other passengers freaked out and everyone ran toward the checkpoint. Mac and I hid in a stairwell and waited for...I don't know. Twenty minutes? When we thought it might be safe, we came back around and saw that most, if not all, of the passengers had been infected and were bunched up near the checkpoint," said Gavin. "We saw you guys and waved you over. How's the front of the airport?"