Infected Chaos
Page 18
“We’ll need these. Be sure each vehicle has one,” Cliff offered.
He walked to the rifle racks holding the M4 rifles and ran his fingertips across them, beaming a smile. He counted three rifles with grenade launchers mounted below the barrel and wished he’d had one with grenades the last night. At the end of the row of rifles was a cardboard box. Cliff opened it.
Cliff held up a bayonet. “This will be perfect when we run out of ammo.”
“Love it,” Doug smiled. “Keep it on our hip, use it by itself, or with the rifle.”
“Absolutely,” Cliff smiled.
Galvin pointed to a hard rifle case lying on the floor marked SW24. “What’s this?”
“Sniper rifles.” He knelt and opened it.
“What is that thing?” Galvin pointed to a bulky black scope with three buttons on top. “It looks like a trumpet.”
“That is a night vision scope,” Cliff answered running his fingers over the rubber coating. “And this,” Cliff pointed at the corner of the case, “is a silencer.”
“That’s awesome!” Galvin grinned.
“I see the guns, but where’s the ammunition?” Jake asked.
“They don’t keep ammo with the riles in the armory. Usually, ammunition is kept off premises in a secluded warehouse or on a National Guard base in an ammo storage building,” Cliff explained.
“That’s just great!” Doug complained.
“We have ammo for the M4’s. Just not a whole lot,” Cliff explained.
“Let’s load what we can and lock this place back up before it falls into the wrong hands,” Jake suggested.
“Good idea.”
A howl echoed from the hallway. They each locked eyes with each other.
“Think that’s what I think it is?” Jake asked.
Cliff grabbed an M4 rifle and attached a bayonet to it.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
Cliff grabbed Jake’s flashlight and walked to the hallway. He stared down the dark passage, then shined the flashlight down the corridor. He waited for another howl. After five seconds, the same howl rolled in the hallway again; it was getting closer. There was a metallic sound coming from the same direction. He turned his left ear toward the sound.
Jake appeared from the armory room and stood next to Cliff, looking down the dimly lit hallway. The only light in the hallway was the flashlight in Cliff’s hand. He cocked his head when he heard the metal scratching sound. He looked at Cliff and mouthed, “What is that?”
Cliff shrugged his shoulders.
A growl caught the men’s attention. Cliff took a step forward; Jake followed close behind. They inched toward the approaching sound. Cliffs heard his heartbeat pounding in his ears. He readied his bayoneted rifle at his side.
It emerged from the darkness slower than other creatures. It was an infected creature wearing an army uniform. The metallic grinding sound was a rifle being drug behind the infected soldier-it’s sling had caught around the man’s belt. Half the man’s face was missing; his jaw was dangling from his neck by thin strips of skin. Cliff knew there had to be more in the building. His intuition came to light when a second infected came into the view ten feet away. Cliff was calculating his attack when a third walker followed behind the second.
“I’ll take one, you take the rest,” Jake stated.
Cliff sighed.
When the first undead neared, Cliff lunged forward with the bayoneted rifle, driving the ten-inch blade in the creature’s right eye. The second creature let out a cry and sprinted. Cliff side stepped him as it neared and struck the creature in the back of its skull with the butt of the rifle.
The third undead soldier was six inches from his face with its mouth open and ready to bite when turned he turned to face him. Cliff rushed his rifle to his chest. The horrendous smell of its rotting flesh overwhelmed him. He felt the creature’s weight against his rifle. He took one step back, trying to gain leverage, but his foot landed on top of the second dead soldier. The creature let out a high pitch scream inches from his face. Cliff jumped back losing his footing. He fell on his back.
“Help!” Cliff yelled.
Doug stepped from the armory room with Chris by his side. He tapped Chris on the shoulder and rushed down the hallway. He shined the flashlight, landing on the sight of two dead creatures.
“Cliff?”
“Here!”
“Where?” Doug asked.
“Here!” Cliff yelled again.
Doug’s eyes widened when he saw Cliff fighting against an undead. He took a step and plunged the bayonet in the creature’s skull.
Cliff pushed the limp corpse to the floor and rested the rifle across his chest. He took a deep breath and sat himself up, leaning against the wall.
“Where’s Jake?” Doug asked, scanning his flashlight around the bodies.
“What? He was right here.” Cliff looked around. “Where is he?”
Doug shined his light to see a fourth dead corpse. The whole body of the fourth moved. He readied his bayonet readied to stab it when Jake’s head emerged from under the corpse.
Cliff’s shoulders slumped forward.
“Sorry, I was busy over here, Cliff,” Jake stated.
“I thought you were gone.”
“Well, help me get this damn thing off me, Doug.”
Doug handed the flashlight to Chris, grabbed the corpse, and rolled it to the floor. He helped Jake to his feet and studied his neck and face. Satisfied he was clean, Doug patted Jake on the shoulders and handed him the bayonet. “Use this this next time.”
“What did you use, Jake?”
Jake held up a ball point pen.
Doug chuckled and shook his head.
“Lucky bastard,” Cliff sighed.
“It wasn’t easy,” Jake returned in a calm voice.
“Let’s go, guys. We need to get going,” Cliff said as he lifted himself from the floor.
“I found a rolling cart in the next room that we can use to move the guns,” Galvin offered.
Cliff agreed, “Go help him, Chris. We need to do one more thing.”
“What’s that?” Jake asked.
“Grab a Humvee or something. I’m tired of riding in Galvin’s stinky van,” Cliff replied.
Doug and Jake followed Cliff to the main hallway and turned left. At the end of the hallway, they found the motor pool. Cliff knew the maintenance sergeant’s office would hold the keys to the vehicles parked outside. He found the three-ring binder of maintenance logs for each vehicle on a shelf behind a desk. He opened one and found a key inside a pocket in the binder.
Jake and Doug stood at each side of an overhead door and raised it by hand. The rays of sunlight warmed the room. Cliff read the number on the binder and walked along the row of Humvees until he found the matching number. The vehicle was clean, as if it were ready for a general inspection. He entered the Humvee and unlocked the heavy chain that was tied to the steering wheel. He pressed the two levers on the left of the steering wheel simultaneously until the diesel engine rumbled to life. He checked the fuel gauge; it was full; he inspected the interior, then the exterior.
“They don’t have key ignitions?” Jake asked standing next to the open driver’s door.
“No, they only use keys for the chain. It prevents thieves from driving off with it because the chain won’t let you steer.”
“Too bad they don’t have tanks,” Jake joked.
“No, you don’t want a tank,” Cliff returned. “They’re noisy, they consume lots of fuel, and you’ll be cramped. Drive a tank through town and every infected ghoul will come running.”
Cliff drove the Humvee to the front of the armory and parked it next to Galvin’s van. Jake lowered the Humvee’s cargo lid after Cliff loaded the last of the weaponry. Cliff instructed that one sniper rifle be placed in the Humvee and the other in the truck, just in case they ran into trouble like they did with the Defender. Cliff hoped roaming gangs wouldn’t be smart enough or lucky to find weapons like these. If
those who attacked last night had military grade weapons, it would have been far worse.
“How much further do you think we have to go?” Jake asked.
“At this speed, maybe one more day?” Cliff offered. “We’ll be coming close to an interstate, so we’ll have to keep our eyes open.”
“What about ammo?”
“That’s the next thing,” Cliff explained. “They sell 2-2-3 ammo at Buy-Mart. I hope they keep ammo at their distribution centers. If not, we’re going to be in a world of hurt.”
Jake blinked his eyes, “We’re low as it is. If we come across a mob of infected, or come across those murderers, again, we won’t last,” Jake argued, his voice elevated with stress.
“I understand that. We have to hope we don’t until we get resupplied.”
“How much 2-2-3 ammo do we have?”
“There’s none for the sniper rifles, by the way. I have one hundred rounds in the Humvee. Doug says he has fifty rounds, and you say you have two magazines full in Galvin’s van?”
Jake nodded, “Yeah.”
“If we don’t get into trouble on way to the warehouse, we should be good.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“I know, my friend. I know,” Cliff replied, squeezing Jakes shoulder. “I’m worried, too. We have to make do with what we have. Let’s hope we don’t have to use much ammo until we get to the distribution center.”
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
David squirmed in pain when the antiseptic hit his open wounds. His entire body throbbed in pain from the beating he took. His cheeks and lips were swollen, his right eye bruised and swollen shut. He grew frustrated by the constant barrage of questions from the family, asking who beaten him. He didn’t know; he had never seen the man before.
Joanne dabbed a cold rag over his eye, trying to reduce the swelling. He winced every time Bridget picked gravel from his burn wounds.
“You need antibiotics,” Bridget stated. “The wounds are going to get infected if you don’t. It will all be over if gangrene sets in. You need rest, too.”
“No more going out and getting yourself hurt,” Joanne reprimanded.
David moaned. He wanted nothing more than revenge. He wanted to find those who did this to him and kill them. He wanted them to feel his pain. Their existence presented a threat and he wanted them gone.
“Dane,” David moaned.
“You need Dane?” Joanne asked.
David nodded.
She left and returned with Dane.
“What’s up, David? How are you feeling?”
“Shut up and listen,” David began.
Dane bent over and turned his ear.
“I need you to find those responsible for this. Get some rest tonight, and then in the morning, take Montgomery and look for those bastards responsible for this. Don’t come back until you’ve found them.”
Dane swallowed, “Okay.”
The next morning, Dane tried to wake Bruce, but Bruce wasn’t complying. He shrugged Dane off and rolled over.
“Get off me, Dane,” Bruce moaned.
“David wants us to look for ‘em,” Dane stated.
“They could be long gone by now. How are we supposed to find them? Just by dumb luck? Now, let me sleep.”
“I don’t know. We’ll go back to the farmhouse and start there.”
Bruce looked over his shoulder with half-opened eyes. “I’d love to know who was in that white van,” Bruce mumbled.
“Exactly! Now, get up and at ‘em and let’s go.”
“Fine!” Bruce protested as he swung his feet to the floor and sat on the side of the cot. He didn’t like it, but it would be nice to know who was the mystery man last night. They almost had them cornered until that van showed up. Now, Bruce worried, they might see them as a true threat and launch an attack on the hanger. The threat would forever hang over his head if they didn’t find and neutralize it. He understood the fear David preached; they were a threat. They did put the family in danger, and they need to be dealt with.
Bruce grabbed a quick bite to eat, then rushed to grab his backpack, rifle, and ammo before meeting Dane at the truck.
“That crap is embarrassing,” Dane announced when he shifted the truck’s gear into drive. “We had them in our crosshairs and they got away. It was a great plan, and somehow they managed to slip through our fingers. I tell you, Bruce, I want to rest, too. But, I’m dead set on seeking revenge for what they did to David.”
“I hear ya,” Bruce moaned. He relaxed in the seat and rested his head against the head rest. He closed his eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, Bruce was jolted awake by Dane’s sudden stop. “You did that on purpose!”
Dane was grinning.
“We’re here?” Bruce asked, wiping the sleep from the corner of his left eye.
“Yeah. We’re here at the farmhouse,” he pointed. “That slick SUV is still here, but there’s three infected around it. I’ll need your help in clearing it.”
Bruce yawned and looked around and saw the Defender in front of them. He reached to his hip and pulled his knife from its sheath. He gripped the handle with the blade pointing down and exited the truck.
Dane walked to the first undead on the left side of the SUV and slammed his knife into its eye socket. Before the first creature fell to the ground, the second undead grabbed Dane’s free arm. In one fluid motion, Dane jumped back and plunged the knife into the second’s skull. The third creature let out a loud roar then sprinted toward him. Dane tried to move but the second creature had its dead grip around his arm.
“Um, Bruce! Help me!”
He looked to see Bruce running at the approaching creature. Bruce lowered his left shoulder and ran into him like a linebacker, sending the infected to the ground. Bruce spun and slammed the blade of his knife into the creature’s ear.
“That was close,” Bruce stated as he stood. He walked over to Dane and pried the infected corpse’s grip from his arm.
“That was crazy. I didn’t think you knew how to play football,” Dane lifted an eyebrow.
“I don’t.”
“Maybe you should’ve,” Dane smiled. “Let’s see if we can find anything important in this thing.”
Dane searched the cab and Bruce searched the cargo area.
“Damn, it’s amazing they escaped!” Bruce blurted. “Look at all the bullet holes.”
Dane scanned over the doors and interior. He counted twelve bullet holes on the Defender’s left side with four holes in the left front fender well.
“They sure were lucky. Not a drop of blood, anywhere! Lord knows, if it was me driving, I wouldn’t have been so lucky,” Dane said.
“Well, they left without taking some supplies. This water will come in handy.”
“There’s a lot of ammo and food, too. Be sure to take it with us.”
“Got it!” Bruce exclaimed.
“Got what?”
Dane walked to the rear of the Defender where Bruce was holding a piece of paper in his hands. “What is that?” Dane asked.
“It’s a map. It looks like we know where they’re heading,” he said handing the paper to Dane.
He looked over the map and smiled. “It can’t be this easy? Who would leave a map?”
“Um, we were shooting at them,” Bruce rolled his eyes.
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
Cliff yawned. It had been four hours since they left the armory. He looked over his shoulder; Cassidy and Jonathan were sound asleep. It’d been over a decade since he had driven a Humvee. The memories rushed back to him; the bad memories were more vivid in his mind.
He looked at his watch and yawned. It was almost ten o’clock. He shook his head, trying to retain alertness; it wasn’t the first time he had to be vigilant while driving a Humvee even if it was only twenty to twenty five miles an hour.
“You okay?” Jennifer asked.
Cliff turned and smiled. “Yea. It’s just been a long twenty-four hours. I’m tired, but ok.”
“I’m sorry,” she blurted.
Cliff turned to her. His right eyebrow shot up. “For what?”
“For leaving you like I did,” she answered calmly. “You’re a good man, Cliff. At the time, it felt like the right thing to do. But—”
Cliff tilted his head. “No, it was my fault. I don’t blame you. I think I would have left myself, too.”
“You’ve become you again.”
Cliff shrugged. “No, I’m the same me but without the alcohol and I regret what I done.”
She ran her fingers across his arm. “Since the outbreak, you have been the man I feel in love with all those years ago.”
Cliff smiled. “So, I was right.”
“Right about what?” she chuckled.
“You have been checking me out.”
Jennifer laughed and blushed. She turned away. “Let’s start over.”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No.” She laughed. “We have the kids. It’s not like it’s new between us, but let’s start over and leave the past in the past. If we get to wherever we’re going, let’s try to become the family we once were.”
“I think that makes me happy,” he smiled at her.
Jennifer leaned over the gap between their seats and kissed his cheek. She returned to her seat and reached for his hand.
“You make me a happy man, Jennifer. I know I messed up. I can’t ask you to forgive me, but know that I can make this right. I want to be the man you fell in love with all those years ago. I still love you.”
“I know you do.”
Cliff wanted her to say the words, but she didn’t say it. He thought maybe she would in time.
Jennifer didn’t want to say it. She was getting sleepy and didn’t want to say anything she might regret later. Maybe he’s grown up? Maybe he can see what I saw and realized his error?