Savage Mist
Page 23
A blast ripped through the park sending the two and every nearby savage to the ground. Xavier screamed, “No!” then got up and ran in the direction of the blast. Sheila got up and followed, “Xavier wait.” Several savages noticed the two running and began pursuing them.
Sheila could see the silhouette of a savage gunning for Xavier from his right flank, she ran as fast as she could to intercept it. As the savage neared Xavier, Sheila shoved it to the ground and sent it tumbling.
“Xavier stop! We’re being chased” Sheila yelled.
“I left them in that tree line, I have to see if they're still there.”
“It won't matter, Xavier st-”
Xavier turned around to see several savages piled on top of Sheila. She kicked and fought to get from under them but was overwhelmed too quickly. Xavier ran back to her and began pulling savages off her, snapping their necks once he did. He killed five of them before Sheila was able to get up and help him fight off the increasing number of savages that were drawn to the commotion.
Gunfire from the Chinese was now intense enough to keep their heads down, they were more concerned about bullets than savages. Xavier grabbed Sheila by the hand and pulled her away from the fight, they ran as fast as they could away from the battle. Both were unarmed and outnumbered, as far as they could tell, the others were either dead, or had fled the area. They headed south.
“Where are we going? Xavier said to stay here.” Lisa demanded.
“We’re going to somewhere safer, the soldiers are getting too close.” Regina said.
“What if he comes back here looking for us? With my son?”
“He won't, he’ll understand why we left. The plan was to go south, we’ll stay close, but we need to stay ahead of those soldiers and sneak around these savages. The noise from them damn Chinese should help us move without being heard.
“That's a lot of firepower they're using,” Jacob said. “We have to keep low and stay behind some kind of cover or we’ll catch a stray.”
Lisa, visibly frustrated, followed along without protest. It was becoming increasingly harder to be so close to her son and not finally have him in her arms. They made their way south, sticking to the tree line. The savages were beginning to show up in greater numbers, the fighter jets must have still been bombing civilians all over the area. The savages moved like a herd to the west, toward the gunfire and explosions. They were just people, people who had their will stripped from them and forced to sacrifice themselves to an advanced military. But for what purpose? And by whom?
The group made it around the east end of the park before they stopped to assess their surroundings. A large explosion shook the entire area, it’s epicenter near the very place Xavier left them, the very place they were just waiting moments ago. They hit the ground, covering their heads from falling debris. The group looked on, stunned by what could have been. The shock would soon be interrupted by additional ordinance aimed at their location. The park was being pummeled with mortars and rockets, while the areas further out were being hammered with artillery.
“Let’s go!” Regina screamed.
She grabbed Lisa by the arm and took off south, away from the explosions, Jacob followed behind them. The savages that weren't blown up were not fazed by the explosions, they quickly recognized the group as prey and began converging on them. Jacob aimed his rifle while running and began firing, covering Regina and Lisa as they ran. Regina fired from the hip, but her accuracy suffered. She was able to hit a few savages, but it only slowed them a little.
Too selfless to worry about the savages targeting him, Jacob was rammed by a savage at full steam. The collision separated him from his rifle and sent him to the ground. Regina and Lisa continued on, unknowing of Jacob’s fate, he lay dazed and nearly unconscious as savages jumped on him. Too disoriented to fight back, he covered his face and head and curled into a fetal position as the savages beat and kicked him. Every blow to his body was like being struck with a baseball bat, the wind kicked out of him, his ribs cracked, blood draining from his mouth. Gunfire rang out, a body fell on top of Jacob, then another, the shots increased and got closer.
Explosions continued to rattle the area, Jacob was alone and without a weapon. He only hoped Regina and Lisa made it to safety, he began to prepare himself for the inevitable. Either the Chinese find him and kill him, or he would be left unarmed to merciless savages. His only chance of surviving was to remain perfectly still underneath the two bodies that concealed him and play dead. The gunfire persisted, then, a familiar voice.
“Mamma check him! Hurry.”
Jacob could feel the body on his legs being rolled away, then the other on his torso.
“What’s his name? I don’t remem-, shoot. Honey, wake up, you alive? Please tell me you’re alive.”
Jacob opened his eyes to find Shanice staring down at him.
Jacob, still disoriented, used the little energy he had left to crawl over to his rifle. He was no longer alone; Jamal and Heather would need help fighting. He located his rifle and began taking aim at any silhouette that moved. He killed one, then another, then a third, then...click. He was out of ammunition, he got to his feet and prepared to fight. Jamal had run out of ammunition as well, Heather, being the only one really trained, was able to conserve more ammunition, but she eventually ran out. The savages had thinned out, most still headed toward the Chinese, but a group of them managed to get distracted by Heather and Jamal’s gunfire. The five of them stood with their backs to each other, Charles in the middle, prepared to make their last stand.
Heather stood with her rifle in front of her and waited as a shadowy figure ran toward her, she grabbed the rifle by the hand guards on the barrel and held it above her right shoulder like a baseball bat. As the savage was closing in, she prepared to swing, then noticed another silhouette out of the corner of her right eye. She could only take one before she went down, she committed to the one directly in front of her swung the butt of her rifle across its head. She flinched and waited to be hit by the second savage, but instead was saved by someone that dived in at the last second tackling the savage. The two scuffled on the ground for a few seconds before one of them snapped the other's neck. Heather squinted to see who it was...Xavier.
Sheila picked up a rock and began bashing in the heads of any savage that looked her way, one by one, Xavier and Sheila dispatched all the savages that approached.
“Everyone okay?” Xavier asked.
“Jacob looks hurt.” Jamal said.
“I’m fine.” Jacob said. “Lisa and Regina, they kept running, south.”
“They left you?” Heather shouted.
“No, I was behind them, they probably didn’t know I went down until they were too far away.”
“Okay then, let’s go find them” said Xavier.
Xavier and Sheila each took one of Jacob's arms over their shoulder and carried him off, the rest of the group followed them. They left the park, narrowly escaping two more artillery impacts, making their way through more residential streets. They found themselves back on a main arterial and again amongst people who hadn’t been infected, however, they were no longer unfamiliar with the atrocities that had taken place to the north.
People laid injured and maimed in the streets, dead bodies littered the roads and sidewalks, shops and buildings looted or burned.
“Looks like the worst of whatever was gonna happen here has happened.” said Sheila.
“I wouldn’t say that just yet,” Heather said, “The Chinese will be here in a minute.”
“She’s right, how are we going to find Regina and Lisa before they get here?” Jacob said, worried.
Xavier scanned his surroundings and then looked back at Charles, he stared at Xavier as though he were waiting for an explanation. Xavier hadn’t had time to consider what must have been going through the boy’s mind, to see Xavier return in the flesh from what they considered a suicide mission without his reason for going in the first place...his mother. Xavier wanted to
comfort Charles, but anything short of Lisa’s presence would be empty words.
“We have to get Charles out of here, it won’t be long before they start shelling this area too.” said Xavier.
“Why they need to do that?” Shanice asked, confused. “Ain’t nothing here but hurt people.”
“The Chinese don’t know that, I’m pretty sure they’ve taken some losses and aren’t taking any more chances. They’re going to kill anything that moves.”
“That doesn't make sense, why kill civilians?”
“Can’t tell a savage from a civilian until they’re trying to kill you.”
A low whining sound preceded a heavy impact and explosion that wiped out several blocks south of the group's position. It was followed shortly by another and several more to the surrounding areas. The barrage was quick and devastating. The group was so overwhelmed by the Chinese firepower, they unwisely took refuge in a nearby gas station.
When the explosions ceased, some of the dust began to settle and Xavier peeked out of one of the blown-out windows. The wind disrupted a thick cloud of dust to reveal two women running west, back toward the park.
“Hey, that’s them, that’s Regina and Lisa.” Xavier said excitedly.
He fixed his lips to whistle and get their attention when a burst of rifle fire stopped Regina and Lisa in their tracks. There was yelling in Chinese and then the two put their hands in the air.
Xavier could barely see through the dust, he knew it was the Chinese, but how many? He looked around the gas station for something to use as a weapon; he found a box of shotgun ammunition but the gun itself wasn't there. An aluminum baseball bat sat deep in a shelf under the cash register, Xavier took it and ran toward the door.
Heather stopped him. “You’re going to take them on with a bat? Are you kidding me?”
“If I can take on enough of them and be a big enough distraction, you can get Regina and Lisa out of there.” Xavier said.
“And you?” she demanded.
“Once you get them, don't look back. Just run.”
Xavier bolted out into the dust cloud towards Regina and Lisa. There were at least 10 soldiers surrounding them as two of the soldiers moved in toward the women. Xavier swung his bat at the first soldier’s head, killing him instantly despite having a helmet on. He didn't stop, he continued onto the next soldier and did the same. He was able to take out four of them before the soldiers began to figure out what was going on.
The dust made it hard to see but it was beginning to settle, the soldiers began taking shots at Xavier. He kept on, engaging the armed soldiers head on. He made his next targets the two soldiers near Regina and Lisa, he struck one of them sending them to the asphalt but was shot by the second in the torso. Xavier didn't flinch, he swung the bat over his head and crushed the skull of soldier.
Lisa, shocked to see Xavier, couldn't help but smile at him. He had proven to be her knight several times, he was strong, capable, and invincible. Her smile was enough to distract Xavier long enough for a soldier to appear from the cloud of dust behind him without him knowing. Regina gasped, but couldn't bring herself to warn him. He turned around to face his attacker, his rifle was already pointed at Xavier's chest. He knew he could take the shot and still kill the soldier before the wound became fatal, he stepped forward to engage the soldier when several shots were fired from his left.
The soldier fell to the ground and Xavier spun around to see Regina still holding her pistol out in front of her. Several more shots rang out, this time from Heather and Sheila. They picked up the rifles from the soldiers Xavier had killed and ambushed the rest of the soldiers who were looking for Xavier.
“You don't get to die today. I’m going to need you to stick around.” Regina said.
“Well you're very persuasive, so...yeah.”
Lisa ran over to Sheila and asked about Charles, she pointed over to the gas station where Jacob, Jamal and Shanice had just emerged with Charles headed toward them. Lisa ran over to him and picked him up. She hugged him tightly and stroked his hair, repeatedly apologizing. She promised never to leave him again. Charles didn't cry, he only smiled, happy to see his mother again.
“Hey! Listen, you hear that?” Jacob said as he focused his attention toward the direction of the Chinese.
“What is that?” Regina asked.
“Run! Run now, go!”
The group began running east, away from the noise.
“Xavier what the hell are we running from?”
“A goddamn tank.”
Xavier picked up a rifle from one of the soldiers and followed behind the group. Just as he took off running an armored troop carrier turned onto the main arterial and fired its main gun toward the group. It was loud, and the rounds destroyed whatever it hit, concrete and asphalt exploded on impact.
“Go! Don’t look back!” Xavier screamed.
Regina and Xavier trailed the group, but lost sight of them when Regina fell to the ground. A round from the carrier struck a shop window and the debris exploded into Regina's face, Xavier picked her up into his arms and continued down the street. The group was out of sight and it was too late to try and tracking them down, the carrier was gaining on them.
Xavier crossed a parking lot toward a large department store, the carrier fired a barrage of rounds at them, destroying several abandoned cars in the lot. Chinese soldiers that followed behind the carrier opened fire on them as well, a hail of bullets chased them through the lot. Two helicopters arrived just as Xavier reached the front door of the store.
Xavier didn't stop running, at full sprint, he turned his back to the entrance and crashed into the doors, falling onto the tile floors. Still cradling Regina in his arms, he stood up and checked to see if she was okay. There were several lacerations to her face, but her eyes were unharmed, she wiped the blood away and told Xavier she was alright.
Several explosions knocked out portions of the walls and roof of the store, the helicopters were firing on the building. They ran to the back of the department store, Xavier kicked the rear emergency door open. They ran out of the building just as the roof collapsed.
Outside, they were between the building and a large wall, they ran left down the loading dock driveway and came to another street that ran south. Regina was winded, she ran as hard as she could, but the adrenaline was no longer enough to compensate for limited physical ability.
“Come on, hop on my back.” Xavier said as he squatted down in front of her.
The troop carrier had lost sight of them, but the helicopters were closing in. Xavier pushed as hard as he could, looking for a safe place to hide. He spotted a nail salon about a hundred yards in front of them, the doors were open. He just needed a second to rest.
Xavier ran through the doors of the nail salon just as one of the helicopters passed overhead, he wasn't sure if it had spotted them. They waited.
“If they knew where we were, they would have fired on us by now.” Xavier wheezed completely out of breath.
Regina climbed down from his back and Xavier sat down. He took in deep controlled breaths. Normally, there would be a sharp pain in his chest from being this winded, but he only noted his very fast respirations.
“Xavier, I don't know what we’re going to do, it’s like there’s no safe place for people to go. We have no protection.” Regina said.
“There's no way we’re alone, someone has to be fighting back. Help has to be coming from the east to meet the Chinese, our military can't be completely crippled.”
“Then where are they?”
The tracks from the tank could be heard faintly, helicopters buzzed overhead, and explosions and gunfire continued throughout the region. The rest of the group was long gone and probably better off, Xavier knew it was just about him and Regina for now. She was scared, but strong. Xavier knew he could count on her to keep going. Just looking at her gave him strength, confidence. He stood up and looked out the window, the troops were now in the area and they needed to move fast.
“Oh my God, Xavier, you’ve been shot.”
“I know, it was back near the gas station, I don't feel any pain. Could you imagine the damage an army could do if the soldiers felt no pain?”
“The bleeding is slow.”
“Yeah, that’s weird, I should have bled out a while ago, but I’m still here. I think whatever I’m infected with, has sped up my healing.”
“But that's impossible, right?”
“So is taking a 7.62 to the gut without medical attention and living to tell about it. Shit! Hide, they're coming.”
They hid behind two recliner chairs in the salon and waited for the soldiers to pass. More savages had found their way to the Chinese, screams could be heard in the distance, though they couldn't tell if it was the doings of savages or soldiers. There was a back door to the salon, but they didn't want to risk their movement being spotted.
The soldiers marched past the salon without stopping to investigate or clear the building. It had seemed they would go unnoticed until one of the soldiers spotted the blood in the doorway. He approached and shined a flashlight into the salon, the trail of blood only led to the window, Xavier's wound had already stopped bleeding by the time they reached the salon.
Xavier and Regina remained still behind the chairs, if the soldier continued to search the shop, Xavier would be forced to kill him. He lowered his rifle quietly and prepared to ambush the soldier if he got any closer, a stealth attack would buy them time to escape out the back. The soldier turned around and rejoined his unit outside.
“Come on, let’s go while we have the chance.” said Xavier.
Xavier opened the backdoor and he and Regina stepped outside. Xavier closed the door softly and turned around to see five people running toward them. They were savages. Regina raised her gun.