A Glimpse Of Decay (Book 1): Red Storm)

by Santiago, A. J.

  Looking straight ahead, Kozlov remained silent as he rocked with the motion of the tank.

  Chapter 3

  Day 8

  Checkpoint on the M-5 Just North of Dolgoderevenskoye, Russia

  Private Misha Lutrova squinted into the darkness as he nervously thumbed at the safety latch of his rifle. He could hear something out there, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He squinted harder and leaned forward in his sandbagged position. Sitting next to him, with his back against the sandbag wall, was his boyhood friend, Dmitri.

  The unit which the two unhappy troopers were assigned to had drawn the unwanted assignment to guard a checkpoint on the M-5 highway just outside of the city of Dolgoderevenskoye. A second sandbag position sat on the opposite side of the darkened highway and was manned by two other soldiers.

  “Settle down, Misha, there’s nothing out there,” Dmitri said. He knew that Misha was on edge and he was trying to calm him with reassuring words. “Believe me, if there was something there, our forward outpost would have let us know something by now.”

  “I swear, I hear something out there. Over there, by the trees.” Misha pointed out into the dark landscape. “It just stinks that we don’t have any night vision gear. I can’t believe that command didn’t think it was important enough for us to have anything to see into the dark with.”

  “Who needs night vision? Anyway, when was the last time that you can remember when our night vision actually worked? All the working stuff got sold off by those greedy bastards in supply. Anyway, I have the eyes of a hawk and the senses of a wolf. I tell you, there is nothing out there.”

  After several moments of frustration, Misha plopped down next to Dmitri. “What do you think is really going on out there?” he asked.

  “Well, I can tell you that I don’t think this is any kind of drill, that’s for sure.” Dmitri stood up and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his uniform shirt pocket. He lit one and took a slow, long drag. Sitting down on the waist high sandbag wall, he exhaled, blowing the smoke up towards the night sky.

  “Dmitri, you’ll get written up for smoking!” Misha warned. “You know the lieutenant tells us that you can see a cigarette in the dark over a mile away.”

  “Who’s going to see me?” Dmitri took another drag and raised his arms to his side, waving the cigarette. “There’s no one out there.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Easy. No one has told us shit, except that we are to watch this check point. But what are we watching for? We know that something is going on at Ozersk, and that probably means some kind of melt down or something has occurred. I’m sure that’s what’s behind all those explosions we heard earlier.”

  “You don’t think it’s the terrorist?” Misha asked.

  “Terrorists…no, not at all. There’s no one out there gunning for us. We’re just acting like a couple of traffic cops for the night. Hopefully someone will relieve us soon. It sucks though that the sergeant didn’t even leave us a damn vehicle so we could go into town.”

  “At least Kolya has a radio with him.” Misha raised up on the palms of his hands and strained his neck to look in the direction of the other sandbag position.

  “Shit, Kolya and Evgeny are probably over there smoking each other’s poles. I know they’re queer for each other. Just watch the way they act around one another. Total queers.”

  “I don’t think so,” Misha countered bluntly. Dmitri’s accusation had angered the young trooper because he and Evgeny were also close friends, and he had never witnessed Evgeny act the way Dmitri was describing. Dmitri could hear the disdain in Misha’s voice.

  “Oh, did I touch a soft spot there?” Dmitri mocked.

  “Don’t be an asshole,” Misha shot back. “You think everyone is queer. You even thought that the mess sergeant was queer.”

  “He has to be.”

  “And why do you say that?”

  Dmitri took one last puff of the cigarette and then dropped it to the ground, mashing it under his boot heel. “Look at all the privates who he has working for him at the mess hall. They’re all skinny, young pretty boys. He makes sure that they always stay assigned to the mess tent. Those pricks never have to be out in the field…like you and I have to. While we’re out here in the middle of the fucking night—sleeping in the middle of a bunch of shitty sandbags—those guys are back in the rear…sleeping on a nice cot. I tell you, he’s got his own private stable back there.”

  “As many times as you accuse people of being queer, you’re probably the one who is the pole smoker.”

  “Ooh, I did hit a sore spot,” Dmitri said, giggling. “I’m just fucking around with you, comrade. Don’t get pissed, you just need to—”

  “Hey!” came a voice from the second position. “What is that?”

  “What is what?” Dmitri yelled back.

  “Look at the city,” Kolya said.

  Misha stood up and turned to look towards Dolgoderevenskoye. Dmitri stepped out of the bunker and stood in the middle of the highway. In the distance, the lights of the city twinkled, but in the midst of the glimmer of street lights and illuminated buildings, the orange glow of a fire could be seen lapping up at the darkness overhead.

  Kolya and Evgeny trotted over to Misha and Dmitri. “Wow, looks like a big fire,” Evgeny said.

  “And you haven’t heard anything over the radio?” Misha asked as he pointed to the pack radio on Koyla’s back.

  “No, nothing at all. Earlier I heard some broken up transmission that mentioned something about a ‘dead plague,’ but I couldn’t get anything else from the radio.” Kolya took the hand mic and held it out in front of him, shrugging his shoulders at the same time. “See, nothing.”

  “Well, try to get ahold of someone…see what’s going on back there,” Dmitri grunted. “We don’t even have a fucking vehicle here. And what the hell is a ‘dead plague?’ ”

  Misha could hear a twinge of uncertainty in Dmitri’s voice. This unsettled him because he had often thought of Dmitri as their leader, usually unshakeable and always in control of himself.

  “Hey!” Evgeny yelled. He had startled his fellow troopers with his loud exclamation. “Who are you?”

  Misha, Kolya and Dmitri turned to see who Evgeny was talking to. In the darkness, the four men could see several individuals approaching their position. Misha unclipped a flashlight from his belt and flipped it on. He pointed the beam at the people walking towards them and he saw a man in a military uniform stop and then turn in the direction of their light.

  “Where are you coming from?” Evgeny asked. The approaching man didn’t answer. Evgeny noticed that he was walking with a slight limp and that his uniform was tattered and dirty.

  “Hey, what’s the matter with you?” Dmitri asked. “Why don’t you answer?” He looked over at Misha and said, “Shine the light in his face.”

  Misha focused the beam at the man’s head and they could see that his face was covered in blood and dirt. “Look at his eyes,” Misha blurted, “they’re white…and they’re not squinting.”

  “He looks like he’s injured,” Kolya said. “Are you from Ozersk?” he called to the white-eyed man.

  At first, the limping man acted as if he wasn’t aware of the presence of the four soldiers. He continued to limp towards them, but as Misha called out to him again, he raised his arms and reached in the direction of the group. He began to moan and gasp and his pace quickened.

  “Look, there’s more of them,” Evgeny noted. Several more shadowy figures were starting to emerge from the darkness, making their way down the highway and towards the checkpoint. Misha directed his light onto them and noticed that they all had the same tattered and disheveled look about them. One woman began to rush through the crowd, and as she made her way through the slower moving people, she began to scream and shriek.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Kolya asked. The woman’s screams were unnerving the men and Misha was tempted to turn and run.

  Dmitri turned on his
own light and a movement at the edge of his beam caught his attention. He shined his light to his left and off in an open pasture, he saw what must have been hundreds of people walking past their position. “What the fuck is going on here,” he mumbled to himself.

  The running woman shoved her way past the limping soldier, knocking him face down on the ground. To the horror of the stunned troopers, they saw the back of the prone soldier—his battle blouse was ripped and shredded and a large portion of the flesh on his back was missing—Dmitri could actually see some of the man’s spine exposed through the ravaged musculature. The soldier began to painfully get back to his feet, his nails scratching at the pavement of the highway.

  In an instant, the woman was jumping onto the wall of the sandbag position, lunging at Kolya. Misha, with his light still fixed on the woman, jumped back as she landed on the stunned radio operator. Kolya and the woman tumbled to the ground and his rifle fell from his hands.

  “What the fuck!” Evgeny yelled. “Get off of him!”

  Kolya struggled with the crazed woman as he fought to push her off of him. “Get this bitch off of me!”

  Evgeny reached down and grabbed the woman by her shoulders and tried to pull her away from Kolya. Dmitri, stunned and speechless, continued to look at the passing people. After regaining his composure, Misha attempted to help Evgeny, grabbing the woman with his free hand as he continued to illuminate her with the flashlight. Struggling, Evgeny was eventually able to grab ahold of her long black hair and he pulled her head away from Kolya.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Kolya screamed at the woman. She began to violently swing her head back and forth, ripping her hair free from Evgeny’s hand. In one lightning movement, she dove at Kolya and sank her teeth into his left bicep. She began to chew on his arm as he screamed out in pain.

  “What the hell!” Evgeny yelled. He backed away and unslung his rifle. With one swift stroke, he sent the woman reeling as he hit her on the side of her head with the butt of his rifle. Kolya, blood spurting from his wound, writhed in pain as he clutched at his mangled arm. He frantically tried to take off his radio pack to free himself from its weight. Out of breath, Misha flashed the light over at the still woman and saw that the entire left side of her head had been caved in.

  “Dmitri, where are you going?” Evgeny shouted. Dmitri was slowly walking off towards the dark pasture, his light illuminating the grass around him.

  Misha knelt down next to Kolya and checked on his wounded comrade. The bicep was ravaged and shredded and blood was streaming down his arm. “What the fuck is going on?” Kolya groaned.

  “Dmitri!” Evgeny screamed out. “Come back here!” Dmitri’s beam flashed back and forth in the pasture, and Evgeny could see a group of shrouded figures walking in and out of the light. A moment later, a pained scream rang out from the pasture, but it was quickly drowned out by a growing chorus of moans and wails. The flash light fell to the ground and the beam went dead as the light was smashed underfoot by the horde.

  “Hurry, get up!” Misha told Kolya. He reached under Kolya’s arms and helped him up to his feet. A loud boom echoed from behind them and the three soldiers turned towards the city.

  A second, larger fire was reaching up into the dark and an orange radiance was illuminating the night sky. As the shocked men watched the captivating play of the fires and the amber city lights, a moan from behind them startled them and Misha spun around with his flashlight. His light illuminated the limping soldier with the white eyes. He was reaching towards Misha. His mouth was wide open and the terrified soldier could smell a vile stench coming from the man.

  Misha froze in horror as the tattered soldier grabbed onto his tunic. In the next instant, the air erupted in a loud staccato of gunfire as Evgeny fired his rifle in full auto mode at Misha’s attacker. The flash from the end of the barrel lit up Evgeny’s face and the reanimated soldier was knocked back as the bullets tore into his body. Kolya stumbled forward and dropped to one knee. Evgeny stepped up next to Misha as he let loose a second burst. The body of the limping soldier was obliterated as it crashed to the ground. Evgeny lowered his rifle and fired one more burst into the attacker, and this time a bullet struck the forehead, blowing the top of the cranium into a thousand pieces.

  Evgeny jumped back and slapped a new magazine into his rifle. “Let’s get out of here!” he yelled.

  “To the city?” Misha asked.

  “Yes, just go. Take Kolya and go!”

  Misha sprinted forward and grabbed up Kolya by his good arm. The two began to run towards the city and Evgeny remained behind as he tried to hold off the attackers. He fired in the direction of the approaching mob, looking out to where he had last seen Dimitri’s light. He took a few steps back and fired at another group. Thinking it was better to use the darkness to conceal himself, Evgeny decided to operate without a light, and in the dark, he thought that he had seen several of his targets fall to the ground. He reloaded his rifle, keeping his eyes fixed on the advancing attackers. To his dismay, several of the downed figures began to get back to their feet.

  Evgeny turned and trotted down the highway about twenty yards. He realized that although the group was moving at a steady pace, none of them had exhibited the speed of the woman who had attacked Kolya. He turned to take aim at more of the people following him, and as he struggled to see in the darkness, he heard some movement coming from his right side.

  Shit, they had gotten on his flank. He turned to run again and saw several shadowy figures lumbering onto the road behind him. He flipped his rifle to semi and he raised it to his shoulder, drawing a bead on the closest silhouette. Based on its thin frame and long hair, he guessed that it was a woman. He squeezed off two rounds and both bullets struck the upper torso of the dark shape. The woman didn’t go down.

  “What the fuck!” Evgeny yelled aloud. He tried to maintain his composure, turning to run out towards the pasture that Dimitri had disappeared in. He knew that there was a patch of woods at the far end of the field, and he thought that if he could make it to the safety of the trees, he could make his way back towards Dolgoderevenskoye. He broke out in a full run, dodging several of the slow movers. When encountering a group that he couldn’t get past, he used is rifle butt to clear the way.

  He stopped to deal with one last group, and as he raised his rifle butt to deliver another strike, he heard the rush of someone running up to him. A snarl and shriek announced the presence of a runner, and a heavy set man lunged at him, taking Evgeny down hard. The trooper’s rifle went flying into the darkness and Evgeny rolled over on top of his attacker. In one fluid movement, Evgeny drew his combat knife from its sheath and plunged it down into the chest of the man, twisting and turning the blade. After two more stabs, he pushed himself away from the still body and he sprang to his feet.

  Evgeny turned to regain his bearings, but before he could resume his escape, he was blindsided by a slow mover. He twirled to face this new threat, attempting to push away from the attacker, but a sharp pain shot through his left hand as a set of teeth crushed down across his knuckles. Infuriated, Evgeny struck out with his knife, and the blade met its target. The combat blade sank down into the head of the unseen attacker, and he could feel the skull crack as a warm fluid covered his knife-wielding hand.

  Evgeny pulled his gnawed hand towards him and he continued his run towards the trees. He glanced behind him to see if he was being pursued, but the mass of moving shadows was still making its way towards the lights of the city. As he ducked into the cover of the woods, he took refuge behind a fallen log. He covered himself with leaves and grass and branches, concealing himself.

  Fuck, I hope I gave Misha and Kolya enough time to get away. Evgeny held his chewed hand against his chest as a burning sensation ran up and down his arm. He knew that the wound would cause him pain, but he couldn’t understand why his neck was starting to stiffen. He began to experience a painful pounding in his head and his vision began to blur. His chest tightened and it became difficult
for him to breathe. He could hear his heart thumping and he found himself talking out loud—but he had no idea who he was talking to.

  Stand up. Start walking…just start walking. Evgeny began to walk back into the field, and before he knew it, he was amongst the mass of dark forms that was walking towards the city. He was amazed that he had not been pounced on immediately, and it looked like no one was even paying any attention to him. A runner went dashing past him, screaming and wailing in a guttural tone—it was a teen girl with a horrible gash across her face. She glanced over at him as she passed him, and as she disappeared into the dark void, he also began to run.

  He was angry, but he didn’t know why. He could see the lights of the city and he could hear the thud of his boots. He then focused his anger on his friends—no, those cowards—Misha and Kolya. They had left him behind, and now they were probably safe in the city. He had to find them to tell them how sorry they were. No…he had to find them…to show them how sorry they were. He had to hurt them…he needed to hurt them. He wanted to kill them…and he wanted to see the city burn.

  Chapter 4

  Day 10

  35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean in a U.S. Air Force transport plane

  Doctor Irene Hopkins sat in her seat and was fidgeting nervously as she clicked and tracked her way through the numerous files and reports that were on her government issued lap top. Doctor Michael Robinson sat next to her, reading the data that was scrolling across her screen. Flying always made her nervous and edgy, but what really had her tense was that no matter which report she read, she found them to be eerily alike; they all had the same common denominators—mass hysteria, civil chaos, confusion and most disturbingly, the lack of any real-time information or data.

  Michael took off his glasses and rubbed his weary eyes, closing them for a moment. He then ran his hands through his dark beard and yawned and sighed at the same time. Both doctors had been going on nearly thirty-two hours without sleep and Michael was starting to feel the effects of it.