‘Alright,’ Daniel began, drawing a shallow breath. ‘This is it…’
Chapter 19
It’s late.
He’s not back yet.
Madison paced the room, unable to shake the feeling it had shrunk since that morning.
Emily blissfully slept in the corner. She slept more than she was awake.
The night was as deep and thick as any ink; a sinister dark that belied the calmness. The skies were clouded over and rain was falling in sheets. Visibility was minimal but she needed something to occupy her restless mind.
It was long past the latest Jacob had ever been out scavenging.
Madison’s stomach let out a low growl as she approached the window for another peek. They still had food stashed away, but she hadn’t touched any of it for fear it would prove the last Jacob would ever return with.
Careful to position herself between the flickering candles and the window, she lifted the heavy blanket and scanned the wastes below.
The rain feasted on the snow that still clung to the streets and trees, though it would be some time before the layers of it fully washed away. Pools of melt water collected in divots carved throughout the streets. Her eyes struggled to adjust from the dim candlelight to the encroaching black outside, but there was little in the way of movement.
She had noticed during the long forays of Jacob’s absence that the infected tended to be more active in warmer temperatures. From her little vantage, the few visible streets may as well have been the whole world to Madison.
She ran her fingers through her hair as she considered the prospects of leading Emily into the ruined landscape beyond.
Hey dark eyes grew worried.
***
As they emerged from the mess, the band was greeted by the lash of cold rain. Though the air was warm, it was scarcely sufficient to prevent the rain from freezing before it fell to the earth. In the distance, the surf lapped against the pier, its frigid waters tirelessly announcing their escape.
The compound was kept dark throughout the night both to avoid attracting unwanted attention and to preserve the limited fuel; only the infirmary and the command module were lit, and only sparsely at that. Sullivan was confident they faced little risk of being caught by searchlight.
The only real risk of discovery was the perimeter patrol.
They moved quickly to the southern fences, those that ran the border of the Coast Guard site and the adjacent cruise terminals. It offered them the most cover from the rest of the compound, but took them directly against the soldier’s quarters.
Sullivan took point and darted between buildings, peering around corners before signaling the rest to advance along the fences. The rainfall interfered with his senses, but it would also serve to muffle the sound of their movements.
An even trade.
As they rounded the second-to-last corner, they were making excellent time and faced no resistance. Now between the civilian and soldier quarters, they had complete defilade from the sniper’s nests and the shooting platform opposite.
As Sullivan leaned around the final corner, his back went flat against the wall.
Damn it, he thought to himself and signaled the rest to hold tight.
‘What’s wrong?’ Daniel whispered from behind.
Isaac turned to face the others and silently mouthed the word ‘company.’
Keeley became very aware of the sound the rain made as it beat against the synthetic fabrics of their clothes. In her anxiety, each patter of rain was amplified to deafening proportions.
Sullivan glanced around the corner again.
A single silhouette.
He guessed a man standing in the rain and staring out into the blackness beyond.
He wasn’t dressed for patrol; no visible kit.
The shadowy figure took a long drag off a cigarette, the faint orange from the flaring cherry throwing his shape into relief against the gloom. He didn’t seem to be talking with anyone.
He looked alone.
Sullivan leaned back and whispered, ‘I think it’s just one.’
‘Why can’t we go over the fence here?’ Daniel asked, eager to find a solution. Getting caught like this would have serious repercussions – there’d be no believable deception they could spin.
Isaac shook his head.
‘We’d have no cover here,’ he began. ‘We’d need to change our route... and all the nests would have a line on us.’
‘It’s dark,’ Daniel offered plaintively. ‘They might not see us, let alone have time to shoot?’
‘Doesn’t matter, he’d hear us,’ Keeley stated flatly, ‘raise the alarm.’
Sullivan considered their options. If they jumped the fence where they stood, they’d have a moderate distance to cross until cover, but face a heightened risk of discovery. If they scaled the southern fence, they’d need to cross a greater distance, but only the civilian nest would have a bead on them.
‘No, we stick with the plan,’ Sully affirmed.
Anders didn’t speak. Isaac solemnly nodded his head in agreement. Keeley shrunk against the wall and buried herself in the folds of the blanket. Daniel took a deep breath and turned his eyes skywards, welcoming the rain.
Sullivan needed to close the distance with the figure. He’d be spotted long before he ever got close from here. Sully kept his vigil around the corner while the others waited.
After several moments that seemingly stretched into eternity, the tension peaked. It became apparent they would need to force the issue.
Sullivan extended his arm and tightly gripped his fingers between the links, giving the fence a slight tug so it gently rattled. It was desperate ploy; Sully couldn’t risk another look around the corner. He’d need to trust the soldier would be drawn to investigate the sound.
Mere seconds later, the dull beam of a flashlight probed the adjacent darkness. The light was weakened by obviously failing batteries, but it had sufficient strength to reflect an eerie glow in the raindrops that sped through its focus.
Isaac unsheathed his knife and offered the hilt to Sully, who only shook his head in response.
Sully once again fell flat against the wall, careful to ensure no part of him was exposed about the corner of the structure. He wouldn’t be able to hear the figure’s footfalls as he approached, but he strained his ears for the sound of the rain against his clothing.
The beam of the flashlight darted about, but graciously revealed only emptiness beyond.
Keeley and Anders kept a close watch beyond the fence – they didn’t want to attract unwanted attention. The longer the flashlight was lit, the greater their chances of discovery… and the greater the chances a group of passing corpses would be drawn to it.
Sullivan took a final deep breath and tuned his ears around the corner, doing his best to shrug off the muddling sounds.
The flashlight continued its mad sweep. The beam seemed to narrow and intensify, leading Sullivan to the conclusion the figure had taken the bait.
Sully came off the wall a few inches and changed his stance. Speed would be the essence here.
Speed… and ferocity.
With a brutal right hand, Sullivan stunned the soldier. He fell backward into the chain link, but kept his footing; the fence cried out as it responded to the crashing weight. The flashlight spun wildly, its beam throwing a dizzying display into the night air as it fell to the snow. On instinct, the soldier rebounded and clinched with the Irishman, but his dazed faculties were no match for the coming onslaught. As the two grappled, Sullivan won the better of the exchange, landing a few short shots until he had the soldier’s back pressed against the wall. One final, savage elbow crumpled the soldier, sending his head snapping back against the brick and into the depths of unconsciousness.
Sullivan veered around the corner and was relieved to find the soldier had
been alone. Isaac immediately set about turning over his pockets as Daniel grabbed the flashlight and clicked it off.
‘Let’s go, let’s go,’ Sullivan signaled back to the group and Keeley and Anders rushed up to join him. Anders and Sully boosted her up and she threw the tattered blanket over the razor wire, pausing a moment to carefully arrange it. A serious gash going over the fence would slow them considerably, if it didn’t mean leaving someone behind altogether.
Isaac was frustrated the only items the man carried were the flashlight, some wet cigarettes and an engraved lighter. Knowing his absence would soon be noticed, the group closed ranks at the fence and set about their escape.
Daniel and Sullivan did the lifting as Keeley, Isaac and Anders were sprung from the compound. Sully then boosted Daniel to crest the fence, where he paused to offer a hand and haul the Irishman up behind them.
The blanket would be left behind, bearing final witness to their desertion.
The first leg of their journey would take them to the ruins of the cruise terminals.
Privately, it seemed poetic to Isaac he would now be crossing the very earth where he had shot – and likely killed – desperate survivors as they fled for the supposed safety of the Coast Guard site. Despite his every attempt to deny them, the memories of that night forced their way into the forefront of his mind. Pools of rainwater dotted the yard in pits of uneven snow, and in the deep gloom of the night they appeared to him as if gathering pools of blood. Isaac shook the disgraceful mirage from his head and focused on moving his feet.
There was little benefit to any feelings of remorse, now.
There was yet several dozen meters left to cross when the first shot split the air. Though muffled by the rain, it was unmistakable. It sailed overhead and buried in the snow beyond.
‘They’re shooting at us!?’ Anders exclaimed between panting breaths, disbelieving the words even as he spoke them.
‘Don’t stop moving,’ Sully called back – not that it needed to be said.
The group sprinted with abandon.
Several rounds thudded about them, causing bits of snow and sleet to erupt from the ground.
Daniel was the first to make the structure and dove in through the space where a great window had once been. Wet from the rain, he slid across the stained tile and scrambled on his hands and knees out of the line of fire.
Immediately he noted the vulgar stench of decomposition.
The rest fell in behind him, the chorus of sporadic gunfire chasing behind.
The group was split in two, huddled behind the stone walls on either side of the window frame. Hearts pounding, their breath was hurried and erratic, disrupting the relative tranquility.
No more shots pursued them.
‘We need to keep going,’ Isaac pleaded, pushing them on. ‘We can’t stop here.’
‘Will they follow us?’ Keeley asked, wiping the rain from her face.
Anders shot her a plaintive look.
‘Doesn’t matter, he’s right,’ Sully affirmed, motioning to Isaac as he moved about the building. ‘Our best chance of escape is distance. We need to cover more ground.’
‘There might be some stuff here we can use,’ Daniel offered, clicking the flashlight on and surveying the interior.
Rows of corpses, mostly consumed, sprawled out before them. The spray of old blood and small arms fire painted the walls. Furniture was overturned and spilled about. Shards of shattered glass littered the floor throughout.
‘Salvage has already picked through this place,’ Isaac replied.
‘After they cleared the bodies from the yard,’ Keeley remembered, though she wished she couldn’t. The morning after the line broke, she stood at the fences and watched as a group from the compound stacked the bodies from the yard. They burned some before the rest were dumped unceremoniously in the harbour.
‘Yeah,’ Isaac muttered dismissively.
‘So why is this place still full of corpses?’ Daniel pondered.
‘We got tired of moving bodies,’ Sully responded heavy-handedly.
Anders leaned out to survey the yard as another round struck the brick a few inches from his head. The shot caused the frame to splinter with an audible crack that echoed off the vaulted ceilings, sending a chunk of brick skittering across the floor. Anders fell backwards away from the window; a thin streak of red lit his cheek from where a splinter of the shattered rock had cut him.
‘Naida,’ he cursed aloud as his hand instinctively rose to the gash.
‘Look, we’ll pick through it fast, catch our breath for a minute,’ Daniel reiterated. ‘Surely you could have missed something.’
Neither Sullivan nor Isaac appreciated the remark. They always made a point to be thorough. The road can be challenging, neither were sure if Daniel truly appreciated the loosely organized chaos of scavenging in the wasteland. Still, they had to admit it was entirely plausible to have overlooked something valuable, especially considering they now found themselves essentially destitute and without provisions.
In any event, time was a luxury they couldn’t afford.
‘We don’t have time to catch our breath,’ Sully continued as he produced a flashlight from his jacket.
It looked vaguely familiar; Isaac grinned wryly.
‘Kept that one, did you?’
‘Thought it might come in handy someday,’ Sully replied with a shrug as he ran the flashlight between the jagged rows of dead, ‘besides, I didn’t think Quinn would miss it.’
Daniel’s face grew hot at the mention of Quinn’s name.
Anders rubbed the blood from his cheek between his fingers.
‘The shots will draw them,’ Anders remarked, shivering slightly.
Sully nodded and turned his torch to the far end of the terminal, the meager light scarcely able to illuminate the distance.
‘That’s our path,’ he began. ‘Gives us cover from the compound, they won’t be able to see where we head from there.’
Sullivan turned to the others as a signal it was time to get moving.
‘Turn your lights off,’ Isaac ordered, ‘no need to paint them a target.’
‘Stay close to the walls. Keep in cover and don’t venture into the middle of the room,’ Sullivan added.
Daniel clambered to his feet and both flashlights clicked off. The group momentarily allowed their eyes to readjust in the crushing darkness.
With only the faint natural light bleeding through the skylights and blown out windows, the rows of bodies on the floor were mere shapes; lumps and heaps haphazardly arranged, eerily reflecting the anarchy of their deaths. Most wore tatters of civilian clothing and nearly all were gnawed away, just the ghastly leftovers from some cruel feast.
The terminal was gallows silent, its depths disturbed only by the elements and their own footfalls as they stepped over the dead.
As Keeley negotiated the space between what she thought may have been a man in a suit and half a woman in the remnants of a uniform, her ears seemed to be playing tricks on her. She froze in place and held her breath, hoping to divine the source.
A gentle rustling; something stirred.
Daniel and Sullivan were ahead of her, Anders and Isaac behind. Panicked, her eyes scanned the floors for any indication of movement. In the bleak mausoleum of the terminal, nothing was apparent. Keeley backed up until she was flat against the terminal wall.
‘Hey,’ she whispered harshly, loud enough for all to hear, ‘something’s moving.’
Their progression came to halt. They were spread out, staggered amongst the columns of dead. Everyone froze.
For a moment, there was nothing.
The rain continued to tap against the skylights.
The wind continued to gust through the broken windows.
Their pulses quickened.
‘I don’t hear anyth
ing,’ Daniel whispered from somewhere ahead.
‘There’s nothing here,’ Sullivan agreed.
‘I’m telling you,’ Keeley continued, the second burst of adrenaline hurrying her speech, ‘something’s here.’
Isaac bounded ahead a few quick steps and fell in beside Keeley.
‘C’mon love,’ he whispered into her ear, ‘we need to go.’
‘I’m telling you…,’ she pleaded.
‘I’m not arguing,’ he began with a reassuring look, ‘all the more reason to move.’
Keeley nodded nervously and placed a hand on Isaac’s shoulder to steady herself. Isaac turned and peered ahead, vainly attempting to penetrate the shadow.
Somewhere beyond them in the darkness Sullivan and Daniel began to trudge ahead.
Suddenly very unconfident his position at the rear, Anders picked up his pace and closed ranks with Isaac and Keeley.
Daniel’s eyes were taking much longer to adjust to the darkness than he liked; he cursed himself for staring into the beam of his flashlight as long as he did. The floor was uneven with bits and pieces of people and debris throughout. More than once his footing was tested.
Tiptoeing through a graveyard, he thought to himself.
Another few unsure steps and a much more audible rasp greeted his passing.
Maybe even a minefield.
Daniel’s boot came down on a creature’s arm. As his heel slipped off the rancid flesh, he tumbled to the floor. He lost the grip on the flashlight on the way down and watched helplessly as it launched into the pile of dead somewhere beyond his sight.
As Daniel came up to his elbows, something coiled around his ankle.
In the absolute dark, he couldn’t see what it was, but he could guess.
Fingers wrapped around his leg.
Panicked, Daniel cried out in alarm and kicked with his boots. Though unseen by the others, the scuffle was unmistakable.
Being the first to detect the movement in the terminal, Keeley was the fastest to react. She leapt ahead and grabbed Daniel by his jacket and tried to haul him away from the ghoul’s fumbling grasp. Sullivan came pounding back and stomped repeatedly on the wrist and elbow of the creature, the dried bones crunching beneath the weight of each strike.
The Decline Page 17