Damned Are We

by Durman, Jason

  "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

  A shril scream shattered the silence as an infected woman leapt from the darkness behind them,

  wrapping her arms around Jacob, and, without the slightest hesitation, sank her teeth into his

  shoulder.

  Chapter 21

  Jacob felt a sharp and terrible pain as the crazed lady drove her teeth deeper into his flesh.

  " Fuck! Shit, get her off! "

  The thought of stepping toward an enraged, bloodthirsty animal would have made some shy away

  from the task. However, Markus stepped forward without question and swung his fist, punching the

  infected woman in the face with a sharp thrust. She snarled in fury but did not relinquish her grip on

  Jacob.

  CHOOM!

  Samantha whirled to the sound of Corvo's shotgun going off to see him facing three dark shapes

  hurtling toward them from behind the fallen helicopters. One went down, but the other two leapt at

  the old man, howling in ravenous delight. The foremost one crashed into him and drove him to the

  ground, clawing and scratching furiously.

  Samantha quickly raised her weapon and let fly with a short burst of gunfire, splattering the other

  one's blood across the helicopter behind it and sending it crashing to the ground. However, before

  she could go to help Corvo, she whirled toward the sound of rushing footsteps and her terror

  became extreme when she was met with the sight of a large, blood-covered

  man diving through the air at her.

  The young woman took hasty aim and fired a hail of bullets into him, spurts of blood gushing from

  several wounds that opened up in his face and chest. However, bul ets can only do so much to slow

  momentum, and the infected man ploughed into her, knocking the Uzi from her hands and sending

  her stumbling back into the helicopter. She gasped as the wind was knocked from her.

  Despite being hit in mid-air with a number of bul ets, the man snapped his jaws and gnashed his

  teeth inches from Samantha's face, and it was al she could do to press both her hands against his

  chest, desperately trying to hold him back. The freshly-inflicted bullet wounds on his face spurted

  blood, and finally seemed to take their tol . The light of ravenous hunger and inhuman rage dimmed

  in his eyes, and he slumped forward with a growl of finality.

  Corvo grappled with the assailant on top of him, desperately trying to fling him off. However, the

  infected man slashed his arm, and then bit into his forearm. The war veteran roared in pain and

  made a panicky grab for his shotgun. However, it had been thrown clear when he had been tackled to the ground, and now lay beyond his reach.

  "I said get her the fuck off me!" Jacob bellowed, still wrestling with the woman hanging off his back.

  Markus punched her in the face again, this time causing the infected woman to rear her head back

  and snarl at him warningly, her mouth smeared with Jacob' blood. The enraged biker took the

  opportunity to throw her over his shoulder, slamming her into the ground at his feet. He stomped his

  boot down on the woman's chest and thrust his shotgun in her face.

  "Eat this, bitch."

  The buckshot tore the woman's face apart, leaving only a grisly crater of blood, brain and shattered

  skul fragments.

  Corvo roared in pain as the man overhead bit him again. The fiery pain radiated through his arm,

  and he could feel the warm, sticky sensation of his own blood trickling from the wounds. He was at a

  loss of what to do. Both his shotgun and sidearm were out of reach –

  Just then, he heard Samantha utter a war-cry. She rushed at the creature and delivered a kick to its

  midsection, hard enough to throw it off balance and knock it away from Corvo. The infected man

  screeched in anger and turned back toward her as she thrust her pistol forward. They both acted at

  once; the Common Infected leaping forward as Samantha squeezed the trigger, shooting it

  continuously while uttering a gamut of curses as though she was trying to inflict equal mental

  trauma. Her clip ran dry just as the man pitched forward with a petulant wail.

  "Are you okay?" she asked, turning to help Corvo up. She saw the bloody scratches and bite-marks

  al over Corvo's arm and blanched.

  "Stil in one piece, thanks to you," he replied, nursing his mauled arm.

  "What about you guys?" Samantha said, turning toward the others and retrieving her dropped Uzi.

  Markus was unscathed, but Jacob was holding a hand to his shoulder, where blood leaked freely

  between his fingers.

  "That crazy bitch got me pretty good," he growled.

  Taking cover by one of the fal en helicopters, Samantha opened the first-aid pack and started

  rummaging for bandages and antiseptic, while Markus covered them with his Uzi. Although, at first

  glance, Jacob' shoulder looked pretty bad, the bite was not too deep. Samantha cleaned and

  dressed the wound fairly quickly, before moving onto Corvo's bloodied arm.

  As she dressed the wounds, she could not help but wonder if she should perhaps back away to a

  safe distance from him and Jacob. However, she pondered the situation. Corvo had been scratched

  nearly 48 hours ago, but had not turned. Although they could not be completely sure that he was not

  going to become a blood-thirsty maniac from that wound, she guessed that it was fairly safe to say that the veteran was immune to scratches.

  Thank goodness!

  A bite on the other hand…

  Then again, why should it matter? This was not some game of rock-paper-scissors, where "bite

  trumps scratch". Hel , in 28 Weeks Later, that guy kissed the infected woman and turned –

  Shut up, you idiot! Samantha scolded herself angrily. This isn't a stupid movie! It's life-and-

  death, and Corvo and Jacob have been bitten !

  "Markus," Corvo said, wincing from the stinging sensation as his brutalised arm was cleaned and

  wrapped in gauze. "The next few minutes are critical. Make sure you are keeping an eye on Jacob

  and me. If we show even the slightest signs of turning…"

  Everyone paused at those words, before the black man gave a curt nod, gripping his Uzi tighter.

  What if Corvo and Jacob did turn? He had only known these people for two short weeks, but he

  already trusted them with his life. What if he had to kil them?

  At that moment, a bone-chil ing screech cut through the night. Answering howls rose up, rending the

  stil ness of the night. There were infected people nearby – a lot of them.

  "Aw, hel …" the war veteran muttered.

  "Those Common Infected that attacked us weren't alone," Jacob growled in frustration. "There are others still out there."

  "Shit…" Markus breathed. "They must have heard al that shooting just now. They'll be on us any minute!"

  Samantha looked painful y at Corvo and Jacob. Would they have to part ways? The howling grew

  louder – the Infected were closing in.

  Corvo looked up at Samantha. "Leave us."

  "What?" she whispered.

  "We don't have time to wait and make sure Jacob and I aren't going to turn. You and Markus have to

  go now. We'll hold them off."

  The biker opened his mouth to object, but then sighed in begrudging agreement. "The old man's

  right. Get going, Samantha."

  She was distraught at the situation. They were right, of course – they could not afford the risk. But

  she could not do it –

  "Go!" Corvo roared.

  "No way in hell, we're not leaving you two!" she cried.
She hauled him to his feet and handed him his shotgun, before turning to Jacob. "Get your ass up!"

  "Samantha, you're crazy!" Corvo uttered furiously. "It's too dangerous – "

  "I don't give a shit! We're al leaving here together or not at al . Now quit wasting time arguing! We

  make for the truck depot!"

  Chapter 22

  The four survivors hurtled through the scrapyard, surrounded by the cal s and cries of the Infected.

  There were no doubt a lot of them, and they were close behind. Compromised, Corvo and Jacob ran

  out in front so that Samantha and Markus could also keep an eye on them as they ran.

  This unfortunately put them closer to their pursuers.

  "Look out!" Markus exclaimed, half turning and firing a panicky burst from his Uzi. Samantha looked back, but did not see what he had been shooting at. She had no desire to hang around and find out

  what it was.

  "Come on, you two!" Corvo cal ed, waving them forward.

  At that moment, Samantha saw a dark figure appear to his side, approaching rapidly. Without

  hesitating, she stopped, took aim, and dropped the creature with a storm of bullets. As that

  happened, Corvo raised his pistol and fired two shots at something off to her left. She looked over to

  see a ragged-looking man slump to the ground.

  "Thanks," she panted, resuming the run.

  "We've got to hurry," Corvo barked, running out in front to keep his gun trained on Jacob in case

  anything happened. "If the faster ones are already on us, al the rest can't be too far behind."

  The ragtag little group sprinted through the rest of the scrapyard, fortunately not being attacked by

  anything else. However, the cries of the incoming horde continued to draw nearer. Perhaps they

  were tracking their prey by scent.

  "There's the truck depot!" Jacob called from up ahead.

  The others looked to see the outline of a large structure looming ahead in the darkness. As they

  approached, they could discern that it was a large shed, several stories tal , painted in an off-white

  colour. A large roller door stood open, leaving a dark, gaping hole.

  He and Corvo led the way across a small yard and past a smal mobile lighting tower. The lights

  were off, leaving the area in total darkness. While Samantha and Markus covered the front door,

  Jacob and Corvo made their way through the open door into the parking depot and shone their

  flashlights around the cavernous building cautiously.

  The war veteran's frown deepened as he surveyed the place. There was no way they would be able to hole up here. It was too open – even if they managed to get the main door closed, there were

  other places the Infected could come from, assuming that there were none already inside the

  building somewhere.

  His eyes flicked to his compatriot when he heard the big biker cough and slowly redirected his

  shotgun. "How are you feeling there, Jacob?"

  "Fine," he replied, raising his shotgun defensively. "What about you, Corvo? Your arm got mauled pretty badly."

  "This isn't a competition! We have to consider the safety of Samantha and Markus."

  "Yeah, wel maybe you idiots shouldn't have been talking so loudly back at the crashed helicopters,"

  the biker said slowly, stalking forward dangerously. " That's how those Commons found us. Now I

  could be turning into one of them because of you."

  Too close for comfort. Corvo stiffened and pointed his shotgun directly at Jacob' chest, while the

  latter returned the action. The two hardened men faced each other down in a silent standoff for a ful

  minute.

  "Wel are you?" Corvo said finally.

  "No. I don't feel different at all. Guess I must be immune."

  "I remember how open-minded you were when Markus put that same motion forward when he was

  staring down the barrel of your shotgun," the war veteran retorted. "What was it that you said?

  'Everyone's different'? 'You might take longer to turn than everyone else'?"

  "That could be the case with you as wel ," Jacob shot back. "Just 'cause you're stil human after that pretty little scar the Leaper gave you, don't mean it's permanent."

  There was another moment of silence as they glared at each other.

  "I ain't gonna die in this shed, old man," Jacob said presently.

  "You wil if it's required."

  "Oh yeah? Are you gonna be the one to shoot me?"

  "If I have to."

  "Not if I take you first."

  "What. The. Hell? " Samantha's voice rang out from across the depot floor. The two men turned to see her storming toward them furiously. "We have a goddamned horde of Infected on our asses! We

  don't have time for this 'macho alpha male' bul shit!"

  "Stay out of this – " Jacob started to say, but she cut him off.

  "Zip it! We've found a truck, but we need help. Stow your lover's spat until we're safe."

  The news perked Corvo's interest. "Where is it?"

  "Over here." Samantha led them across the depot to a large truck that was mounted on a workshop

  hoist.

  Markus was standing nearby looking up at it, and turned when he heard the others coming. "There

  you are! Watch out for the bodies." He gestured to three limp forms lying on the ground nearby. They

  had al been torn to pieces. The cement floor was slick with dark blood.

  Corvo shivered involuntarily at the gruesome sight, and then shone his flashlight up to take a proper

  look at the vehicle. "Hm, I think we just found our ticket outta the city. We'll need to lower the hoist first though, or the suspension will be wrecked if we try to drive it off."

  The four cones of light revealed what used to be a camping van, in al of its glory. It had been heavily

  modified and armoured, and there was even a large V-shaped tray welded to the front of the truck,

  similar to that of a bul dozer. It now resembled an armoured military personnel carrier more than the

  leisure vehicle that it had been in a previous life.

  "We found the keys for the ignition on those dead bodies," Markus said. "Poor sons of bitches." He had to raise his voice to be heard above the bloodthirsty din drawing ever nearer.

  "Yeah, and while you two were arguing like an old married couple, we found the power supply for the

  hoist." Samantha motioned to several power lines snaking away along the floor.

  They followed the power lines back outside the workshop and came to an aging generator sitting

  directly below the lighting tower they had passed earlier in the middle of the yard. The cries of the

  Infected were deafening now. Corvo estimated that they had less than two minutes. It was now or

  never. He immediately flipped open the control panel. It took a few tries, but the ailing generator

  finally roared to life, giving power to the lighting tower, which lit up the yard. Inside the workshop, the

  hoist slowly began to lower the armoured truck to the floor.

  "Let's get inside," he said, pointing up at maintenance shed attached to the main depot. "If we get on that roof, it wil give us a commanding view of the yard."

  With that, the ragtag group turned tail and fled back into the truck depot, past the slowly-lowering

  workshop hoist, and up a set of steel stairs. They made their way along a catwalk running along the

  outer wal of the depot and soon found what they were looking for – an open doorway leading out

  onto the roof of the maintenance shed.

  "I'l cover the door," Corvo said, aiming his shotgun at the dark doorway behind them.

  "We should kil the lights," Markus suggested, gesturing at the lighting tower.

  The older man shook his head. "Sons of
bitches are easier to shoot when you can see 'em. And they

  already know exactly where we are." He looked each of his companions in the eye. "We've come too

  far to die here. We're getting the hell out of this city tonight."

  Chapter 23

  The inhuman howling echoed al around the survivors, chil ing them to the bone. There was no

  tel ing how many Infected were coming, but it had to be a lot. The four gripped their weapons,

  peering out into the darkness, as the howling grew louder and louder.

  "Guys, remember to keep and eye Jacob and me," Corvo said careful y.

  "Hey, you both stil seem human to me," Markus said encouragingly. "Maybe – OH SHIT!" Whatever he was about to say took a backseat as he opened fire; the courtyard lighting up with the flash of fire

  as he aimed at a fleeting shadow sprinting across the ground. It convulsed as bul ets slammed into

  it.

  "Over there!" Corvo yel ed, pointing a couple more figures out to Samantha. He and Jacob' shotguns

  were useless at this range.

  The college student raised her Uzi, exhaled slowly and squeezed the trigger. The muzzle spat flame

  and bullets, sizzling through the air with a sharp whistling, fol owed by wet THWACKS as they threw

  up gouts of blood and dirt.

  "More over there!" Corvo yel ed, pointing across to a different corner of the yard as more Common

  Infected spilled out of the darkness and into the glare of the lighting tower.

  Markus immediately redirected his aim and opened fire on the intruders, who shrieked with anger as

  they fell under a hail of hot lead from above.

  "You guys are doin' great!" Corvo cal ed encouragingly to Samantha and Markus.

  "Yeah, a little too good," Jacob moped. "Leave some for us!"

  At that moment, a large crowd of people spil ed into the yard below, screaming bloody murder. A

  number of them fell under gunfire, but many of them broke through the initial storm and began to

  claw their way up the walls in a bid to reach the survivors.

  "Be careful what you wish for, asshole!" Markus yelled.

  "Yeah! That's more like it!" the stocky biker hol ered, blowing a woman away from the wal in a blast of blood and flying bone fragments.