As Xavier ran toward the overturned truck he noticed a struggle in the cab, he opened the passenger door and saw a woman unconscious still buckled in the passenger seat and a killer choking a young black woman in the driver's seat. The killer never even turned her head from his victim to assess the threat on her flank, nothing mattered to her but the expiration of her prey. Xavier fired his rifle into the cab and struck her in the head, the young woman hung from the seat unconscious.
He heard movement on the other side of the truck near the boy, he backed up and raised his weapon toward the noise. Moving cautiously, he walked around the truck over to the child on the sidewalk and spotted a savage moving toward him, he fired one shot to the killer's head. He ran over to the boy to see if he was alive, he was breathing, but unconscious.
Xavier was frightened, anxious and pressed for time, he had 3 unconscious people to move into his car before more killers showed up. He cradled the boy in his arms and ran to the car with him, it was very dark, and he tripped over something in the road and almost fell. As he got the boy to the car, the cabin light shined on his face and Xavier was able to get a good look at him, it was Charles. Xavier couldn't believe his eyes, but he had no time to ponder the reasoning or likelihood that they would cross paths again, he put his rifle on the dash and ran back for Lisa who was most likely the unconscious black woman in the cab. He opened the driver door and crawled in. From his knees he reached up and unbuckled her seatbelt while cradling her shoulders with his left arm the rest of her body fell into his arms and he dragged her out of the truck.
As Xavier picked Lisa up and put her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, he saw three silhouettes against the backdrop of a residential inferno sprinting up the hill for him. He ran over to the car and put Lisa in the back seat with Charles. As he laid her down, he drew his 9mm pistol and took aim at the three figures. He fired three shots at the one in the middle, and two at the one on the left before he ran back over to the truck. The pistol held 11 shots, he had five left factoring in the round he used in his apartment, he also had one extra magazine in his pocket. The killers got within 20 feet of the truck and the one on the left collapse from the gunshot wound. He fired 2 shots at the one on the right, striking it in the head once. The last wounded killer had two bullet holes, one in his belly and one in the left leg. Even with a bullet wound to the leg, the killer did not slow down, it attacked as viciously as the rest. Xavier fired once to its head as it leaped toward him, the hollow point round blew out the back of its skull out and its body slammed into the asphalt. He holstered his gun and began removing the third lady from the passenger seat of the truck, as he did she began to regain consciousness. She could barely open her eyes or speak, she groaned and swatted Xavier in weak resistance.
As he carried her to the car he heard a noise far down the hill, it sounded as though something was knocked over. He listened a little closer to the dark silent street and heard running, dozens of people running. It reminded him of the dreadful battalion runs he endured in the service; hundreds of soldiers running in formation at an agonizingly slow pace. However, this wasn't a battalion and there was nothing slow about the pace these killers moved toward them. Xavier hurried and put the woman in the passenger seat and ran back to the driver side. The source of the noise appeared within the reach of the BMW’s headlights, dozens of possessed murderers in full sprint towards them. He slammed on the gas and proceeded down the hill right towards them, he tried to keep from hitting them but there were too many, he mowed through several of them and tried to point the nose of the car toward the outside of the stampede. He hit two who got pulled under the car, he nearly lost control when the backend slid from under him and sent him up onto the sidewalk. Xavier regained control but lost considerable speed, the mob jumped on top of the car and beat it with rocks, bats, bricks and anything else they could pick up in the street. They shattered the passenger side windows and smashed the rear windshield.
They began reaching into the car and trying to pull Charles and the woman out through the window, Xavier picked up his pistol with his right hand and began firing out the rear passenger side window. He emptied what was left in the magazine, he dropped the pistol and picked up the rifle from the dash. He fired at several killers as he slammed the gas, the windshield was badly smashed and useless, he was driving blind. Out of the driver side window, he saw an open street with no obstructions, he quickly turned left. He was able to shake off most of the killers, but a few had climbed in the rear window, he stopped the car and turned his rifle toward them. He shot one in the head that was half way in the rear passenger side window, it fell out. He shot one directly behind his seat on top of Lisa, and another that was half way in the backseat and half on the trunk. He didn't have time to remove the bodies, the crowd of killers were closing in, he hit the gas and headed toward the freeway.
He barely made it a half mile east before he realized there was no way to drive out of town, every street nearing a freeway on ramp must have been a parking lot. People were dead in their cars and on the road, and hundreds of vehicles were abandoned. Amidst the gasoline and hybrid graveyard was a strange site to Xavier, the killers were destroying unoccupied vehicles under the moonlight. He watched as they beat vehicles with tire irons and their bare hands. It seemed without live victims, they inflicted their rage on anything that could be broken. They were nothing more than...savages. Xavier backed up and drove back toward the downtown area, out of options, the hospital was now their new destination.
10:00 pm
Jamal, Jacob, Mrs. Schulz and Regina sat at an empty table in the cafeteria focused on what to do next, the hospital did not seem to be the sanctuary they had hoped for. There was very little power in the hospital, most of the lights were turned off and rumors were going around that people on life support were allowed to pass. The kitchen staff seemed to be guarding food rather than giving it out, and people began to turn violent when they found out they were not allowed to leave. There were a lot of sick patients roaming freely throughout the floors, fights broke out over their close proximity to others.
Jamal made several attempts to call his mother, but he still couldn't get through on his phone, it seemed a lost cause. Regina leaned over to ask Jacob what he felt about the hospital, he didn't feel any safer there than he did in the skyscraper downtown. The police seemed to only answer to themselves, there was no more police department. There were no calls over their radios and no organization amongst them, they had gone completely rogue. Regina noticed the slim medical staff, most of them had fled during the initial attack or became infected themselves. She began to worry about Jake and Sheila, if the police were accountable to no one, they may harm anyone they consider a risk. Regina turned to Jacob, “Maybe we should leave,” she crossed her arms and brought them up to her shoulders, as if to hug herself. “This place feels funny.”
“Where exactly are we going to go Regina?” he said without looking her.
Jake and Sheila began looking for a way out, they were locked in a room with potentially infected people, if not with the mystery virus then with some other pathogens that would spread like a bad rumor in these close quarters. One of the other quarantined patients approached Jake, he was a tall white man with red hair and glasses. He was wearing jeans with a red flannel shirt and worker boots.
“Excuse me, did you just arrive here at the hospital?
“Yea, us and a few others.”
“Is it as bad as the cops say it is out there?
“It's hell, we were just a beating away from making it here.”
“I want to leave and get home to my wife, but they won't let me go. It doesn't feel like they're looking out for us, it feels like we're prisoners.”
“That is what it feels like.”
“They took a couple of the really sick one’s a while ago, they never came back… most of us are beginning to think they killed them.”
“I’m Jake, this here is Sheila.” Sheila started to offer her hand and quickly
pulled back, remembering they were among the sick.
“I’m Tim Colton.”
“Well Tim, we don't plan on being here very long, we’ll probably need all the help we can get. You in?”
Tim agreed to assist them and began working on a plan, it would require arming themselves. There were two officers just outside the doors, if they could get them to come in, they could over power them and get their weapons. Once they were armed they would still have to make it back to the second floor to warn the rest of the group. Tim asked how many officers were in the hospital, he recalled seeing as many as 5 or 6. It would be risky, but the police were clearly outnumbered, they just needed the element of surprise.
Tim took a position about 10 feet from the door, they were glass, so the officers had an unobstructed view of him. Sheila blended with several other patients against a wall towards the rear of the office about 15 feet from Tim, she would be able to help Jake disarm the officer if the need arose. Jake was standing near Tim, as he faked a medical emergency, Jake would attack the officer while he was preoccupied with Tim. Everyone was in position and understood their roles, the two guards were just outside the office talking to each other.
Jake gave Tim a nod to signal the start of the plan, Tim began to scream as though he were in pain and then collapsed to the floor. Jake rushed to his side and then began yelling for the officer’s help, the officers looked into the office and hesitated before acting. Only one guard unlocked the door and entered the office, the other stayed and watched. The officer approached cautiously and asked what was wrong, Jake shrugged his shoulders and claimed he didn't know. Jakes acting was horrible, Sheila nearly laughed as Tim flopped around on the floor like a fish out of water while Jake played an idiot. The officer knelt down beside Tim and that's when Jake moved in, he grabbed him from behind in a choke hold and rolled on to his back. Tim got up and pulled the gun from the officer's holster and held it to his head, the officer surrendered and put his hands up.
The other officer ran to the door to help with his weapon drawn but halted after realizing his partner had given up, he began yelling for Tim to drop the weapon. Jake, maintaining a light chokehold on his partner, spoke to the officer:
“Okay here's the deal sir, you're gonna drop that pistol and lay on the floor with your hands behind your head. If you don't, Tim here is going to put your partner down. You’ve been holding people hostage without cause, which makes you not a cop anymore as far as we’re concerned. You’re outnumbered, you're out of options...oh, and I’d keep my hands off that radio too if I were you.”
The officer, not wanting to gamble with his partner’s life, placed his weapon on the floor and laid on his belly. Sheila ran from the back of the office, picked up the weapon and removed the officer's radio.
“Lady, do you realize the crime you're committing?” the officer asked.
“I have a feeling I’ll walk on this one.” Sheila replied.
Sheila told all the patients they were free to go and once the room was cleared, she locked the officers in the office. Jake had the patients stay on the floor until they were able secure the weapons from the remaining officers. The three took the stairwell down to the second floor.
They walked out into the cafeteria trying as best they could to hide in plain sight, they needed to find the others and warn them. The group was still sitting in the cafeteria, Jake and Sheila quietly sat next to them. Although, they were perfect strangers to each other just hours earlier, they were happy to be united with one another. Jake wasted no time in telling them the plan, they needed to move fast before the officers discovered what took place upstairs. Jake told them what transpired, and what needed to happen.
The plan was to get as many of the officer’s weapons as quietly as possible, it would require stealth. Sheila gave her weapon to Regina, Jake and Sheila would form one team and Jacob and Regina would form the other. One person would briefly distract the officer while the other pulled the gun on them, once they secured the officer's weapons, they would be taken upstairs where Jamal and Tim would hold them with the first two officers. The group split up and moved to their positions.
Regina and Jacob moved to the 4th floor, which normally housed X-Ray and radiology but today it was just more people seeking refuge. They slowly walked the floor in search of the officers and an opportunity, the goal was to disarm them without injury. They spotted Officer Smith in the X-ray lobby, she was attempting to deal with a woman who was apparently having a breakdown. She was extremely unprofessional and hostile to the woman, she began threatening violence if the woman didn't cooperate.
Regina approached Officer Smith silently from behind and stopped on her right side with the gun pointed at her “Don’t move.” Jacob snuck behind Officer Smith as she turned to Regina, he grabbed her in a bear hug. She began to kick and resist until Regina moved closer and pressed the cold barrel of the gun to her left eye, she surrendered, and Jacob removed her service weapon. Some of the people on the floor applauded, no one protested the takeover. They escorted her down to the third floor with the other officers. Jacob handed Officer Smith's pistol to Jamal, he felt uneasy about handing a teenager a loaded gun, but Jamal had more than proved himself today. Officer Smith was placed in the office with the others, Jamal locked the doors and continued his watch. Regina and Jacob moved on to the 6th floor.
Jake and Sheila searched the 5th floor for officers, it was quiet and empty. The walls were yellow, and the white floors were buffed to a shine, there was a large waiting area in the center of the floor and it was one of the few floors with good lighting. The laboratory and the Pharmacy were on this floor, they were probably trying to prevent looters from taking vital medical supplies and narcotics. They knew if they didn't get the drop on him, they’d end up in a standoff or worse, a shootout. They needed a plan, they needed the element of surprise against a highly trained police officer.
Jake hid with the gun in a nearby bathroom, Sheila would play a lost patient. She stayed near the bathroom and called for help, while Jake kept the door cracked and watched over Sheila. Before long an officer came running down the hall toward Sheila, he immediately got in Sheila’s face and grabbed her by the arm. Jake couldn't see the officer's face, but he recognized the tattoos, it was Officer Williams. Jake stepped out of the bathroom and pointed the gun at him, he heard the door open and turned to strike Jake. He punched Jake in the face nearly knocking him unconscious, he fell against the bathroom door and dropped the gun. Sheila hurried to pick up the gun while Officer Williams continued to attack Jake, she picked it up, pointed at him and told him to stop. He turned and reached for his gun, Sheila didn't want to kill him, she fired one shot into the floor next to him. The bullet ricocheted off the floor and echoed the hall, they all flinched and froze in place. Officer Williams put his hands up and stood up to face her. She backed up to create distance between them and told him not to come any closer, “Jake, get his gun.” They began escorting him to the stairwell to take him to the 3rd floor.
Jonathan had been on the 2nd floor when Jake and Sheila returned to the group, he watched as they congregated and parted ways from the cafeteria. He quietly followed Jake and Sheila to the stairwell, he knew they were up to something. He ran to Dr. Washington’s office, Sgt. Brent was there with her.
“Sergeant Brent, the people I came here with, I think they’re up to something.”
“What do you mean, up to something?” Sgt. Brent said as he rose to his feet.
“The two you took to quarantine, I saw them talking to the others, then they all split up. I think they attacked one of the officers.”
Sgt. Brent slammed a fist on Dr. Washington's desk. “Where are they?” he demanded.
“Two of them went up to the fifth floor.”
Sgt. Brent got up and ran down the hall to the cafeteria, he only saw Mrs. Schulz. He walked over and grabbed her by the arm, yanked her to her feet and nearly dragged her to the office. He interrogated her briefly, trying to learn the whereabouts of the
rest of the group. She was scared and still broken up at the loss of her husband, as far as she was concerned the police were still the proper authority and they were to be respected. She told him the plan and where they might be, she asked that he not harm them. He pushed her into a chair and scoffed. “Your friends brought this on themselves.”
As Jake and Sheila entered the Stairwell with Officer Williams, a voice came over the radio, it was Sgt. Brent.
“This is Sgt. Brent, I am aware of the violence taking place in this hospital against my officers. Any threats made against my team are taken seriously and dealt with promptly, I have already taken steps to bring an end to this incident. Make no mistake, you have bitten off more than you can chew. I have here a sweet old lady, her name is Mrs. Schulz. As far as I’m concerned, she’s one of you. You are a threat to this hospital, my officers, and the people sheltered here. If my officers are not released and you do not surrender, I will put a bullet in the back of her skull. You have 5 minutes.”
Landfall
“What the fuck!” George exploded as he burst into the command center. “When did they start mobilizing?”
“Approximately 7 minutes ago sir.” A young woman at a computer terminal answered.
“Why the hell and I’m only getting this news now? Who fucked up?”
“Sir, no one did, we’ve been having satellite issues for hours now.”
“How long was it down?”
“Two hours sir.”
“So, when we lost communication with our only operational satellite, it didn't occur to you that I might need the heads up?”
The woman hesitated, “No sir.”
“Do you know what that’s called sweetheart?”
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