by Tim Moon
"We cleared the upstairs, but we didn't go down to concourse A or baggage claim," Officer Bailey said. "There are too many infected there."
"Then the checkpoint attack started," said Officer Vasser. "What a fuckin' mess that was. The infection spread like wildfire in a strong wind. Seriously, I had no idea it happened that fast."
"How fast?" asked Gavin.
"Once a person was bitten, it was as fast as a few minutes. Though sometimes it took much longer. Those are the ones that suffered the most." Officer Vasser stood up, shaking his head. He held his hand out like he couldn't say anything else.
"Yesterday, we had a guy in lockup that lasted overnight," said Officer Bailey. "That was before we knew about this whole thing."
"Damn, man. How long has this been going on?" asked Gavin.
"No one knows for sure, but we estimate this is the second or maybe the third day," replied Officer Bailey. "Look we don't have the manpower, or enough ammo, to clear out all these fuckers. The best we can do is get you and your buddy out."
"My girlfriend is here somewhere. She's a flight attendant headed up to Barrow for work," said Gavin. "I'm not leaving until I know she’s already left safely."
Vasser and Bailey looked at each other.
"Can I speak to you over here for a minute," Officer Bailey said to Vasser.
They walked halfway down the short hall and began talking quietly.
Discussing their options, Gavin thought.
While he waited for them, he badged open the door and checked on Mac. His friend was still hiding by the pillar.
Mac held up two fingers and made a walking motion. Two infected were walking, presumably in their direction. Maybe they would turn down B concourse. Gavin gave Mac a signal that he was waiting for the cops and then closed the door quietly.
"Okay, sorry for the delay, Gavin. We still good?" said Officer Bailey.
"Yeah, we're still good," he said. "Just gotta wait a minute."
"We haven't heard from our dispatcher since we arrived at the airport, but we know the shit has hit the fan out there. We don't have orders to go anywhere else and since it has hit the fan here too, we're okay with staying." Officer Bailey smiled. "In other words, we'll help you find your girlfriend if we can."
"Thank you. I really appreciate that."
"We’ll also try to rescue as many civilians as possible," said Officer Vasser. "After that, we’ll evacuate the building. There are too many infected here now. We saw them at the checkpoint. This place is doomed."
"Fair deal," said Gavin. "Let's go."
He unlocked the door, pushed it open and received a thumbs-up from Mac.
74
REUNITED WITH MAC, the group moved behind one of the ticket booths at the nearest gate. Mac needed to know the new situation and the police officers wanted to know where they could direct survivors.
Mac and Gavin suggested the same stairwell they'd used to hide. It was large and from there they could evacuate the passengers either upstairs or downstairs, underneath the airport or even outside onto the tarmac.
"If we take people outside we could commandeer a vehicle and get them somewhere safer," said Vasser.
Bailey shrugged. "We need to focus on getting them corralled first and seeing how many we have. But yeah, good point."
Everyone froze.
"Do you hear that?" said Mac.
The three others nodded.
There was a slight tremor passing through the floor. A roaring noise grew louder. Lights approached from outside. Then they saw that a plane was coming in low, tilting from left to right, wobbling. It flew toward the airport.
"Run," yelled Gavin above the increasing roar.
The four of them ran away from the checkpoint area. Behind them the noise grew louder, becoming deafening as the jet's engines roared. Gavin glanced back and saw the crowd of passengers beginning to move in their direction. He thought he saw John, walking as slowly as ever.
Outside the airplane dipped slightly. Gavin could tell that the landing gear wasn't down because the bare belly scraped against the ground, screeching and launching a cascade of sparks into the air, before the plane rose back up slightly and then it crashed. The wings struck first, tearing along the edges of the other airplanes already parked at the gates. It smashed through the loading-ramps and sent pieces of metal and glass flying through the air. The round nose of the aircraft punched through the windows in a massive explosion of glass and cold air.
A wave of explosive energy slammed them to the marble floor, as fuel from one of the wings ignited, sending a giant fireball through the airport and up into the night sky. The noise was incredible. Somehow the engines were still screaming.
Gavin curled into a ball hoping that nothing would kill him. He just wanted to survive.
He could feel the heat from the burning aircraft even though he was a hundred yards away. He saw debris strewn about the concourse; the ceiling had collapsed in on the airplane and part of the roof above it had caught fire from the fireball.
The plane had pierced the airport like an arrow. The cockpit had gone right through the wall on the opposite side of the concourse and hung outside. The body of the plane between the cockpit and the wings had torn open inside of the concourse when the wings sheared off. The remnant of the exploded wing twisted back at an odd angle, barely clinging to the fuselage behind where it had torn holes in the side of the aircraft itself. The wings had stopped it from flying completely through the building.
With its entire structure compromised, the weakened fuselage had snapped. The back half of the plane angled down towards the ground, about twenty-five feet below.
Gavin stood up and looked for Mac. His friend was five yards away; a row of seats from the waiting area was over the top of him. He was trying to push them off but he was stuck. Gavin scrambled over and lifted the seats off. Mac pulled himself away.
"You okay?" Gavin said. He had to yell above the engine noise.
Mac nodded and rolled over onto his back.
Gavin looked around at the others.
Bailey knelt on the floor staring at the airplane; his hand was bleeding. Vasser was holding his forehead, his face was smeared with blood and small rivulets ran down his face and dripped from his jaw.
Gavin looked down at himself checking for injuries. He had a few cuts on his legs where glass had cut him, but nothing major.
Flames were spreading through the concourse.
"Sonuvabitch," Gavin yelled, his hands balling into fists. Being cut off meant their mission to find Dari had just ended.
Groans filled the air, adding a chorus to the roar of the flames and the pings of warping metal.
Gavin squinted at the airplane. He glanced at Mac and saw that he’d noticed it too. There was movement inside the airplane.
"Survivors," Officer Vasser said, running forward. Officer Bailey went with him.
Unlikely.
They could only go so close, because of the heat from the flames. Vasser raised his arm to fend it off and tried to push on towards the airplane, but it was too much. He backed up just as a chunk of something heavy fell from the ceiling, crashing to the floor with a loud thump.
Gavin watched in horror as people slowly stumbled out of the burning wreckage.
Survivors? Gavin didn't think so.
Some of them were burning. Others cut open badly, beyond the point where they should be walking. They were infected and they were heading right for them.
Before Gavin could say anything, Officer Bailey came to the same conclusion. He yelled, "Infected. Back up."
Vasser must have heard him because he began backing up. Infected crept out of the wreckage. A rush of dread poured over Gavin at the sight, but neither one of the officer’s turned.
Officer Vasser fired off a couple of shots at the nearest infected. The scorched body crumpled to the floor, tendrils of smoke curling into the air as it lay smoldering.
Mac stood beside Gavin. Between coughs, he said, "We shoul
d go, man."
The carpet near the gates was on fire, filling the air with dark smoke while the surrounding area was glowing bright orange. Flames crawled along the ceiling and spread in both directions. The stench in the air was nearly overwhelming. It stank of jet fuel and burning plastic.
Then the lights went out.
Gavin looked for an exit. He saw a sign glowing in the distance but it wasn't the one he wanted.
"Hey, look," said Gavin, coughing from the smoke in the air. He pointed to their right where a gate door had just opened. A sliver of light cut across the floor.
A person, no two people, stumbled out, backlit by the flames shining through the torn-open sky bridge.
"Survivors," said Mac.
The infected from the airplane were getting closer. Officers Bailey and Vasser fired a couple of times each at the nearest ones. Bodies hit the floor.
"Look, two survivors," shouted Gavin, pointing at the two people. There was no way they could have been on the crashed airplane. Had they been hiding in one of the parked jets?
Officer Bailey looked and shook his head. He started to back away from the airplane.
"C'mon we need to go now," yelled Vasser.
The two people walked slowly toward them. One was limping. Gavin thought it was possible they were infected. But they'd opened the door, right?
"Fuck it, let's go," Gavin said.
Mac was moving slowly; the chairs had messed up his ankle, so Gavin helped him along.
Officer Vasser turned, stood beside them and fired at an infected woman closing in on them. At least eight of them were only about ten yards away with dozens more behind them. It seemed like they'd traded one massive horde for another.
"Hurry up you two," said Officer Vasser.
Gavin heard a high-pitched whistle starting outside the window then there was a whoosh and a massive thumping boom as the other wing exploded, followed by another blast lower down, near the ground. The blasts smashed the remaining windows, shooting shards of glass throughout the concourse. Gavin barely had time to raise his arm and turn away. Beside them, Officer Vasser's body acted as their shield. The hail of glass and debris shredded his body, sending him to the floor.
Mac and Gavin were knocked over. Smoke was thick in the air.
Covered in blood splatter, they both scrambled up to continue their escape. Behind them, they could hear moaning from the remaining infected, who'd also been shredded by the spray of glass. It had killed some of them, but not all.
Officer Bailey had been farther down the concourse, protected by another tall concrete pillar. He turned and saw that his partner was down. He grimaced at the sight of Vasser. Gavin glanced back at the body to check if he was moving even though he knew it was obvious the man was dead.
He coughed from the smoke again and pulled Mac along with him, glancing over to see what had become of the two apparent survivors they'd seen earlier. He couldn't see anyone other than the infected walking toward them, slow and determined.
"Wait," said Mac. "Grab the cop's gun."
"No time," said Gavin.
"Do it, hurry," Mac yelled. He pulled out of Gavin's grasp and kept hopping forward.
Gavin turned and scrambled for the gun. Vasser had dropped it when the glass tore his hand apart. Gavin could see shapes moving through the smoke toward him. He crouched low and finally found it. He flicked away a piece of finger that was lying on top of it and gripped the sticky gun.
"Watch out," said Mac.
Gavin looked up, raising the gun. It was the two people he'd seen earlier, so he lowered his aim just a little.
Now he could see it was Dari and that pilot, Rick, that he'd talked to, the one that had reported the drunk downstairs. Dari hadn't recognized Gavin though. Smoke and smudges of smeared blood darkened her face. Rick's right leg was bent oddly, so he leaned on Dari for support. The two of them stumbled forward awkwardly.
"Get down," Officer Bailey yelled at Gavin, then he fired three times.
Gavin flinched at the noise, but saw Rick jerk a little as the rounds hit him. He slipped out of Dari's grasp as his dead weight became too much for her. She screamed.
Gavin leapt up, shielding her with his body. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. An infected was within arm's reach but Gavin twisted Dari away and shot him in the face. He dropped, joining Rick on the floor.
"Dari, let's go," Gavin said, burying the shock he felt at what he’d just done.
She was staring fixedly at Rick's body on the floor. She reached down for his hand, but Gavin pulled her back.
"Oh my God! Let's go," Mac shouted in frustration. He grabbed Dari's other hand and all three of them rushed toward Officer Bailey, who stood still, dumbfounded. He must have realized that he'd shot a man, not one of the infected.
75
MAC SLAMMED THE door shut behind him and slumped against it, breathing hard. His face was streaked with soot, blood and sweat. His uniform was a mess and torn in several places.
Gavin sat on the stairs with an arm around Dari's shoulders. She leaned into him, sobbing.
Officer Bailey came down from upstairs. "Too smoky up there."
He thumped down the stairs past Gavin and continued down to the next level which led to the basement, or outside, depending on which way they turned.
"We need to get out of here, like way the hell out," said Mac. "This place is a deathtrap with the fire and so many infected; there's no way we can stay and search for survivors."
Gavin nodded. "We should go to my brother's house."
Mac looked at him curiously.
"Liam was in the Army, remember? He has guns, training and a big truck," said Gavin while rocking Dari. "We can go to our cabin. All of us. There's plenty of space."
"That's a great idea. Get isolated." Mac nodded.
"The hall down here looks empty," said Officer Bailey. He stomped up the stairs and looked at them all. He ran a hand through his dirty, sweat-soaked hair. "Ma'am, I'm so sorry for your loss."
Dari shot him a tear-filled glare. "You killed him. You, you-" She choked back a sob. "You stupid bastard."
She turned and slumped back down on the stairs.
Mac mouthed, "What the fuck?"
Gavin shrugged at him. Seeing a co-worker be shot was undoubtedly traumatic, but it's not like they were close friends. Gavin had never even heard Dari talk about him, so he was just as surprised as Mac that she was so upset by it.
Gavin sat down and tried to put his arm around her shoulders again but she shrugged him off and turned away, leaning against the cinder block wall. He stood back up.
"I deserve that." Officer Bailey frowned and adjusted his belt. There was a moment of silence and then he cleared his throat. "We really should go. We all need some medical attention and some goddamn safety."
"Roger that," said Mac.
"Babe, we need to go. C'mon. It's not safe here."
Dari squinted up at him then nodded slowly and stood up. She flinched away when he tried to hold her hand. He frowned and stepped away, focusing on getting them out of the airport.
Gavin was the one with the most experience working downstairs in baggage and on security patrols, so he led the way. He swiped his badge against the card reader and pushed the door open, leading the group deeper into the bowels of the building. Inside, the hallway was quiet. Gavin saw that two recessed hallways branched off the one they were in. He led them past the first one.
Mac shouted in surprise.
Gavin spun around, expecting something awful like his friend being attacked.
"Don't move," Officer Bailey's voice boomed.
Someone was hiding in the hallway.
"S-s-sorry," said a man's voice.
Gavin recognized him as the newsstand guy he told to close up and leave.
"What the fuck are you doing down here?" Gavin said. "How'd you get down here?"
"Does it really matter how?" the man said. "I saw what was happening up there."
"Answer the
question," Mac said, stepping closer to the man.
The man cringed and held up his hands. "Fine, fine. I needed to get to a safe place so I paid a baggage handler to get me out of there, but the bastard left me locked in this stupid hallway. Piece of shit took my money and ran." The man’s lower lip stuck out when he frowned like pouting child. He looked at Officer Bailey who held his hand up and shook his head.
"What's your name?" said Mac.
"Andrew Jameson," he said.
"Okay Andy, you're coming with us. Stay quiet and don't cause any problems," said Gavin.
"Let's go," said Officer Bailey lowering his gun.
"Thank you so much, you guys have good hearts. God bless you," Andy said.
"Better save those prayers, Andy," said Mac. "Because the shit out there is more fucked up than you can imagine."
"We'll go to the baggage claim area and exit through there. We can get to my car in the employee parking lot," said Gavin, gesturing with his hand.
"Shotgun," said Mac, raising his hand in the air.
They all looked at him.
"What? I'm not taking the chance that one of you fuckers will call it."
The basement of the airport was a maze of conveyor belts, baggage trucks and secured hallways. They didn't run into anyone, which was fine with them. Their party was already at maximum capacity.
When they reached the door that opened into the baggage claim area, Gavin warned them to be quiet.
"Keep your eyes open for infected," he said.
Then he badged the door, the lock clicked and he opened it quietly.
Officer Bailey went first. Gavin had passed Vasser's gun to Mac, who went second followed by Andy, Dari and finally Gavin.
A few infected were there, downstairs, but they were at least forty yards away and hadn't spotted their group yet.
"Shit, man, look at that," said Mac. He pointed outside.
A quick count revealed that eight infected were milling about just outside the doors. Beyond those eight, were at least another dozen in the road that they could see. It was possible that a concrete staircase, a smoking shelter, and several nearby structures could be blocking others from view.