The Ark of Asylum (The Ark Series Book 1)

by Kotrous, Scott

  Simon puts his exam gear away and then checks his rifle. “Lock and load.”

  Everyone proceeds to check their weaponry while Dave asks, “So what do you plan on doing with these samples once you’ve found them? Maybe come up with a cure?”

  “Well, once I determine what we’re dealing with, I will then hopefully start working on some kind of possible cure or immunization, but that would—

  Suddenly, from within the copse of trees erupts what sounds like screams of terror, reminiscent of those found in horror movies. They all freeze. Dave turns his head and cocks his rifle.

  “Everyone move. On me.”

  They move through the trees as fast and as quiet as possible, trying not to draw attention to their position. The screams get louder. They come upon a house from where the screams are definitely coming; they’re so loud. At the edge of the tree line, Dave crouches down, followed by the rest of the group.

  Nothing can be seen from the back of the house, so Dave whispers, “Alright, here’s the plan: Peter, I want you and Kelly to stay within the tree line and work your way around the house until you get to a good vantage point from where you can see the front of the house. Seems like they are coming from there. As soon as you’re in position, you radio us the sit rep and we’ll go from there. Copy?”

  Peter and Kelly both look at each other and nod yes. They get up and start moving through the trees as quickly as possible. They come upon a fallen tree at the edge of the tree line, and it’s just enough to see the front of the house, so they crouch down behind it. Peter takes his rifle off his shoulder and places it on the tree and looks through the scope. After he finally realizes what he’s looking at, he quickly pulls back from the scope in shock of what he sees. He has to gasp for air.

  Kelly looks at Peter. “Pete, are you alright? What is it, Pete? Are you alright?”

  Peter is shaking but again slowly looks through his scope. “Oh my God! We need to hurry. They’re tearing them apart,” he says into the radio.

  Simon looks at Dave and Jason, confused. “Okay, son, just try to calm down— ”

  Dave cuts Simon off with urgency. “Pete, just relax, and describe the situation.”

  Wiping tears from his eyes, Peter lowers his head and speaks in a strained voice. “They’re killing him. Hurry! Hurry!”

  “Pete, listen to me, Take a deep breath, and calm yourself down. You are our eyes, and we can’t go in there blind. And if we move up too fast, it could compromise our position. Now, take a second and tell me what you see.” Dave then moves into the backyard and up to the swing set, followed by Simon and Jason.

  With tears running down his face, he wipes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and looks through his scope. “There— there’s at least five total infected. Three of them are tearing a guy apart on the ground. There’s another person on the roof of the car with some kind of boat paddle or something, trying to fight two more of them off, and there are two girls in the car screaming! They, oh God, they just got the guy on the roof, and they are pounding on the window. Hurry! Go now!”

  “Copy, Pete. We’re almost in position, and keep telling us what you see.”

  Dave, Jason, and Simon all move in formation across the back yard and get up against the back of the house. As they hug the house, they move around the corner and to the side of the house. The screams become louder and more terrifying of a sound than before. Yet, they all hear it when the glass breaks, and the screams erupt into new heights of volume and pitch so desperate and scary that everyone in the group feels it resound within them as if it were amplified well above the ‘threshold of pain.’

  “Hurry! Hurry! They just broke the car window! They’re going to kill the two girls!”

  “Tell me exactly where the targets are, Pete, fast!”

  “Two trying to get into the car window. Three on the ground eating the two guys. Please hurry!”

  “Okay, Pete, do you have a shot?”

  “Yes, I have a shot. Copy!”

  “Alright, I need you to take out the one that is of the most threat to us, anyone that is facing our direction, and we’ll take out the rest. We go on your shot. Do you copy?”

  “Yes, I copy, but I don’t think I can do it!”

  Simon puts his hand on Dave’s back before he quickly says, “You can do this, son. You’re the best shot I’ve ever seen. They are not human, and if you don’t do this, the two girls are going to die. I know you can do this, son.”

  Peter tries to stop crying and does his best to stop from shaking. The screams get more intense and more desperate. Kelly places her hand on his arm and looks into his eyes as he looks up at her. “You can do this, Peter. You have to do this, or those girls are going to die. Now, take the shot.”

  Peter, breathing heavily, lets out a soft scream when he looks through his scope just as one of the infected begins to climb into the car. Peter yells, “Fuck!” and then pulls the trigger, sending a perfect shot into the back of the infected’s head. It shatters its skull onto the back windshield, sending the two girls into hysteria.

  As soon as the shot is heard, Dave turns the corner, pulling the trigger twice and connecting both times to the infected that is facing their direction. The shots quickly send it to the ground, head exploding on the way down.

  Jason and Simon both fan out on his flank, and each fire shots into the other two infected feasting on the flesh of the fallen man.

  The last shot comes from Dave’s gun, which removes the face of the last infected that turns in the direction of the gunfire. It falls to the ground. Dave gets up and moves toward the carnage. When he gets to the back of the car, he looks inside at the two girls cowering in the back seat, screaming their lungs out. He quickly lowers his weapon and says “clear” into the radio.

  The two girls continue hugging each other but slowly stop screaming after they look up and see Dave put his finger to his lips. “You guys need to be quiet, or you’ll draw more of them to our position. You guys are safe now. Are you bit or hurt in anyway?”

  The two girls may not be screaming anymore, but they are now crying hysterically and are unable to answer.

  “Pete, you did a good job. Now scan the area and look for any sign of a threat, and hold your position.”

  Just as Peter goes to say “copy” into the radio, a pickup truck comes hauling ass down the road toward the house. Peter yells into the radio, “Contact! Contact! It looks like that same pickup truck from before heading straight for you!”

  Dave moves to the back of the car followed by Jason and Simon. “Shit! Pete, Kelly, whatever happens, do not let us lose our weapons. We are dead if that happens. Do you understand? If we are forced to lower our weapons, make sure they don’t hit the ground. You just start shooting, okay?”

  Peter and Kelly both look at each other and say “copy” into the radio just as the pickup truck screeches to a halt on the end of the driveway. As the doors fly open, two men jump from the truck bed with one man left getting into position on the roof. The two men now flanking either side of the truck are pointing their weapons at Dave, Jason, and Simon, who are already pointing their weapons at them.

  A man smoking a cigar steps out of the passenger door. He is wearing camouflage and is strapped with a pistol around his waist. The man casually takes the cigar from his mouth and says with a southern draw, “Well, well, look what we have here. Are you the fuckers that stole our food from the market recently?”

  Dave, still aiming his rifle responds, “We don’t know what you’re talking about, asshole, and we aren’t looking for any trouble. Besides if it’s from a grocery store, I don’t think it’s your food, so why don’t you just be on your way now?”

  “Well, now that’s where you’re wrong. It is my food because this is my town; me and my men own this whole fucking area. And I know it was y’all from the other day. We found your truck in the woods over yonder, same truck we chased down the street. We heard the shooting over here, and we just knew it was y’all. So, why don’t you
lower your weapons and hand them over? Or else we’ll be forced to fire upon you, and you’re outnumbered, so it won’t end well for you boys if you know what I mean.”

  Without even blinking an eye, Dave aims down his sight with an unshakable demeanor. “Afraid we can’t do that, asshole, but you can lower your weapons and get the hell out of here. That way my snipers won’t have to take your heads off.”

  “Bull shit! You ain’t got no snipers. It’s just the three of you out here. Now all we want is your weapons and the two girls in the back seat. After that we’ll be on our way. No one has to get hurt.”

  “Yeah right! We’d be dead before our guns even hit the ground. That’s not going to happen, so just turn around and get the fuck out of here!”

  “I’ll give you guys to the count of ten to hand over your weapons, or my men are going to open fire on you, okay? So, ten, nine— ”

  Dave glances at Simon and gives him a look. He then looks at Jason, drawing the asshole’s eyes and those of his companions in Jason’s direction, who seems to be nervously contemplating whether he should set his gun down.

  Meanwhile, Simon, who is standing further back nearer to the house, whispers into the radio, “Pete, Kelly, get ready to unleash hell on these assholes. Start shooting in five seconds. Take out the guy in the truck bed and the driver.”

  “Five, four, three . . . Alright . . . if that’s how you want it . . . Boys, take ‘em— ”

  Shots ring out from the woods, striking the man in the truck bed, forcing him to drop his rifle just as the driver grabs his shoulder and dives back into the truck. The man on the other side of the truck ducks, takes cover, and then shoots at Dave, Jason, and Simon, who fire back. The man with the cigar pulls out his pistol and ducks behind the door and shoots at Dave.

  As the man on the outside of the car falls to the ground, the cigar man jumps back in the truck and yells to the driver to get the fuck out of there. As the driver puts the truck in reverse and slams on the gas, bullets shatter the windshield and pepper the hood. The truck drives in reverse until it spins around and drives away as fast as it can. They all stop shooting and wait for the truck to get out of view before lowering their weapons.

  Dave yells over the radio, “Is anyone hit? Is everyone alright?”

  Jason checks his chest and soon feels a searing pain shooting from his arm. “Fuck, I’m hit. They got me in the arm.”

  As Dave goes over to check on his brother, Kelly vaults over the fallen tree and runs as fast as she can toward her husband. “Jason! Jason, are you okay? Are you okay?” She runs up to him and drops her rifle on the ground and grabs his arm. “How bad is it? Let me see!”

  “It’s fine, damn it. If you’d stop grabbing my arm! It’s just a flesh wound. It didn’t hit the bone. I’m fine.”

  Kelly rips his shirt and starts crying as blood runs down his arm and onto the ground. Dave takes off his pack, pulls out some paracord, and gently moves Kelly over. He takes the cord and ties it around Jason’s arm above the wound, tying it fairly tight. Simon takes a roll of bandages out of his pack and throws it to Dave, who wraps it around the wound.

  “That wound needs to be cleaned and stitched up, but we can’t do it here. They might come back with reinforcements. Get the two girls, and let’s get the hell out of here. Now, let’s move!”

  Peter comes running up to the group and looks at the two bodies on the ground and then up at Jason. “You guys, we need to get out of here. I heard some movement and rustling of leaves behind me in the trees. I think there’s something moving toward us through those woods and very fast. We need to leave now!”

  Simon goes over to the car door and looks in the back seat at the two girls still crying, shaking, and holding each other, obviously traumatized. “Girls, my name is Simon. I’m sorry about who I assume were your relatives, but we need to get out of here, and we can’t leave you two behind. Those men might come back, and we don’t want to be here when they do, okay? Grab what you need, and let’s go.”

  The older of the two young girls sits up and wipes her eyes. She grabs her sister’s hand, and they step out of the vehicle. They look at the dead man lying ripped apart on the ground. “Daddy! No! No!” The younger one lets go of her sister’s hand and begins to run over to her father.

  Simon lunges for the girl and grabs her by the waist. “No! Don’t touch him! I’m sorry, honey, but he’s been infected. You can’t go near any of them. I’m sorry.”

  The girl cries and struggles to get away from Simon so she can get to her father, but Simon doesn’t let go. The older sister rushes over and grabs her, pulls her close, and hugs her.

  Dave goes over and opens the trunk of the car and pulls out some suitcases that look like they would belong to the two girls. “Are these your bags? We need to get out of here. Girls, are these your bags!”

  The older sister looks up and nods her head yes and then puts her head back on top of her sister’s.

  “Alright then, let’s go!” Simon puts his hand on the older girl’s back and starts to move them. “Crap! Wait, the samples. I almost forgot all about them. I still need to get some samples!”

  Dave lets out a sigh and looks up at the sky. “Damn it, that’s right. Alright, Kelly, you get the girls and help them get their belongings. Peter, you just help my brother out with getting to the back of the house. We’ll all head back to the truck together shortly. I’ll keep watch. Simon, you get those samples, and get them fast!”

  Simon pulls off his pack and rips it open, grabbing his test kit. After he puts his gloves and mask back on, he then kneels down next to one of the infected and cuts off a tissue sample and takes some blood. He then tries to gather some saliva but has no luck there because of the head being half taken off. He looks at the other bodies, but they are all in the same condition. He proceeds to take the same samples from the girls’ father when he jumps back. “What the fuck? He just moved! His body just moved!” Just as he gets finished saying that, the body lets out a gurgling sound and begins to twitch its feet.

  The older girl turns around and lights up with hope. “Daddy? You’re alive, Daddy?”

  Dave walks over to the girls and pushes them along. “Get them out of here, now, damn it!” Kelly hurries the girls around the side of the house to head back to the truck.

  Dave walks over to Simon and looks at him, and Simon looks back up at him, not knowing what to do. The body begins twitching all over and moving its hands. Dave pulls out his knife and looks at the body. Just as it opens its eyes, Dave thrusts his knife into its skull. The twitching stops. He pulls the knife from the skull and then goes over to the other man’s body, not waiting to see if it exhibits the same behavior, and plunges his knife into its skull. Simon watches silently as Dave once again pulls his knife out of a skull, wipes it off on the corpse’s clothes, and puts it away. He walks over to Simon, who simply nods in acknowledgement. Dave grabs him by his shirt to help pull him up. “Let’s go.”

  Simon grabs his gear, and they move in the direction of the rest of the group. They abruptly come to a stop as they hear branches breaking and leaves crunching behind them. They turn around just as a small group of infected appear out of the trees no more than fifty yards from them.

  Dave looks at Simon, and they start running. “Contact! Fifty yards behind us. Everyone move it, now!”

  As the rest of the group hear the call over the radio, the girls start running into the woods, but Peter and Jason stop at the edge of the trees, fan out, and crouch down, pointing their weapons toward the side of the house. Simon and Dave soon appear around the back of the house, running in a full-out sprint toward the trees.

  The first of the pursuing infected turns the corner of the house, and Jason and Peter open fire, taking it down quickly. Just as Dave and Simon run past them, the rest of the pack of about a dozen infected turn the corner. Peter and Jason begin firing again. Some fall, but most keep coming.

  Once Dave and Simon get about twenty yards behind them, they spread out an
d crouch down and yell “move” into the radio before they begin shooting. Peter and Jason get off the ground and run back into the woods.

  As they run past Dave and Simon, Peter yells, “About a dozen, moving fast.” Dave and Simon continue unloading round after round. The infected hit the tree line and are falling rapidly, but some make it through the shots. Peter and Jason stop at a tree and reload as quickly as possible.

  “Ready to fire! Move!” They begin firing again just as Dave and Simon get up and run. When they get to Peter and Jason, they stop and crouch down next to them.

  Dave reloads and looks around the tree. “Hold your fire. Hold your fire. I think we got them all!” They all stop shooting and listen and look for any movement in the trees. They hear a little rustling around but see no movement. Dave gets off the ground and takes a few steps backwards.

  “Everyone back to the truck.”

  They all get off the ground and run for the truck. Dave follows behind, still moving backward to look for any pursuing infected. He soon turns and runs as well. They finally get to the truck to find Kelly kneeling in the back of the truck bed, pointing the rifle in their direction, and the two girls in the backseat of the truck. They all double over, trying to catch their breath.

  Jason reaches up toward his wife when she yells out, “Get down!”

  They all four hit the ground and turn around to see an infected sprinting at full speed right at them. A shot is heard as they fumble for their weapons, and the head of the infected snaps back, sweeping it off its feet and sending it flying to the ground no more than ten feet from them. Kelly continues to point her gun in its direction as the four men get off the ground and look at it and then at her in complete amazement. Kelly’s eyes look surprised, but she grins at them.

  Jason puts his hand on her rifle and slowly lowers it. ”Great, baby. You got it.”

  Dave shoulders his rifle and walks back to the truck. “Nice shot, sis, not bad at all. Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

  They all load back into the truck and drive away, leaving a trail of bodies behind them. Just as they pull up to the road, three jets fly overhead, and they stop the truck. Dave and Simon get out.