Nightmare-Z

by S. A. Lowry

  Andrew puts up his open hand signal for halt as Riggs notices what he means. He quickly stops the group dead in it’s tracks behind Andrew as the only man with the rifle begins pyeing the corner of the wall slowly as he looks down his iron sights, awaiting to engage anything that is a threat.

  As Andrew side steps and more of the corner is revealed, he notices Cynthia and Randall laid on their backs in the grass placing their hands up signaling the bikers standing over them to stop what they are doing once Andrew has complete view of what is now on the other side.

  Two bikers stand over Cynthia and Randall while pointing their pistols at them. Andrew realizes they are about to shoot Cynthia and Randall as they beg and sob for their lives.

  At that moment, the bikers quickly notice Andrew’s presence and turn their attention to him, quickly drawing their weapons in his direction. Andrew quickly fires two rounds of 7.62mm munition into each man starting from right to left, instantly dropping them as he scores two hits in the center of the chest per man. A terrified Cynthia and Randall look up behind them and notice Andrew standing there lowering his rifle. He stares at them with contempt and moves on past their direction attempting to make it to the motorpool to hitch a ride.

  As Riggs pass them by he spits on Randall’s face as he still lies there in shock of almost being executed. The rest of the group passes the traitors by in silence as if they didn’t even know them.

  Cynthia and Randall stare at eachother for a moment. Both of them rise up without question and follow the rest of the group from behind like ducklings following their mother duck.

  As the group pushes forward, still remaining unnoticed, they realize the area that they need to cross is blocked off by a dump truck which taken out the front gate and has been smashed into the main entrance wing of the prison, in effect, leaving a large gapping hole in it’s side for anyone to enter. More bikers are seen storming in from a distance on their motorcycles with weapons drawn between their ape hangers. In addition, mobs of dead assailants begin flooding in from behind.

  Riggs and Andrew realize this isn’t good for they have been cut off. As the group is at a short hold and remains low to the ground in order not to draw attention to themselves, Dwayne notices an access door not too far from him. He tops Andrew on the shoulder signaling him to follow as Dwayne takes off an kicks in the door entering one of the maintenance rooms of the prison.

  They quickly move across and into a stairwell which only goes upward. Bodies are littered up and down the stairwell as Linda closes Young Andrew’s eyes with her hand preventing him from seeing the bullet riddled bodies as they ascend the stair case.

  Upon going three stories up the staircase and passing over a dozen corpses, they come across a loan steel door with no apparent locking mechanism on it. Andrew pushes to the front of the group as he resides near the back. Once located to the front of the door, he places his index finger up in the air so everyone can see, indicating everyone to be silent as he slowly cracks open the door with his barrel pointed out while scanning for potential threats.

  Once he realizes that the coast is clear, he opens up the door and signals the rest behind him to move forward as they follow him shaken and fearful, with the exception Riggs of course who only wishes he had a fire arm on him at this point.

  As the group breaks the threshold, they notice that they are now in one of the common areas of cell block A. Multiple levels of cell blocks, which holds the remnants of people’s families such as dressers with toys on top of them and painted walls, appear ever present as the survivors move forward upon the third level while watching down to the lobby on the look out for any threats. Nothing of danger is in sight as bodies can be seen laying in peace scattered throughout the lower levels.

  As they push forward to the staircase which brings them down to the lobby and which ultimately leads them to the exit where the motorpool resides, Lance and Tabatha, whom reside in the very back of the group, notice out of the corner of their eyes a large horde of undead fast approach them in a dead sprint out of the corner of their eyes as they pass a connecting hallway which is located at the top level adjacened to the stairwell the group descends.

  Tabatha and Lance frantically call out to the group in horror as they yell for them to pick up the pace. Everyone in the front quickly turns around as a reflex to the warning and notices the assailants sprinting towards Lance and Tabatha as they despertely try to push the people in front of them forward so they can escape.

  Once the rest realize what was happening, they take off running down the staircase. Tabatha and Lance pick up the pace as the dead behind them quickly gain ground, Upon reaching the bottom lobby level, Andrew kicks open the door leading to the motorpool and sprints to the first SUV he sees. Everyone else files in behind Andrew in panic as a result of their pursuers.

  At that point, a break in the group occurs when Tabatha, whom is located at the very last of the group, trips and sprains her ankle on the very last step of the staircase. As a result, she falls face first on to the cold hard pavement of the lower level lobby area. Now inoperable and unable to stand up on her own, while laying flat on her stomach, she looks back to see the hungry mob frantically run down the circular constructed stairs as they grow ever close to their meal. Tabatha can see them hissing and foaming from the mouth as they lay eyes upon her and draw ever nearer.

  At that moment, none of the members of the group notice for they are already breaking into a get away vehicle. The closest ones left near a now dreadful Tabatha is her fiance, Lance and good friend Linda.

  Tabatha looks back to Lance, who is already at the edge of the doorway about to break through into the sunlight as she screams his name at the top of her lungs with tears in her eyes.

  “LANCE! HELP ME!” she cries in fear as she calls out to the father of her baby. Lance stops at the edge of the door and notices the mob fast approaching his fiance from behind. He stares at her for a few seconds, obviously torn apart on what to do at this moment, he hesitates.

  That is when he turns his back to Tabatha and runs outside while Tabatha screams his name with hopelessness. Eventually, her screams are drowned out by the moans and cries of the mob which quickly consume her until the voice of Tabatha can no longer be heard. Lance continues running as tears drip down his eyes.

  As he runs up to the vehicle which the rest of the group are now sitting in, he notices Linda staring at him with a cold stoic stare. She realized what he has done and he knows it.

  Lance avoids eye contact with her as she stands by the edge of the vehicle now staring Lance down.

  Andrew, Riggs and the rest begin yelling at them. “Hop your asses in the back now! Let’s get the hell out of here!” Riggs yells from the passenger side of the Ford F-150 with a 4-door cab. Lance and Linda hop in the back quickly attempting to squeeze into an already packed vehicle.

  Andrew peels out as his AK-47 sits in between him and Riggs as they make their way to the gate at a high rate of speed running over multiple hungry assailants as they sprint towards their moving vehicle moaning and hissing.

  The truck jumps up as if it just went over a series of multiple speed bumps. Riggs realizes now at this point, all of the bikers are inside the prison attempting to over run it as he notices their bikes are parked outside staggered through the court yard with nobody on them. It appears the group is in the clear and has escaped without being noticed.

  As Andrew floors it out the straight away leading out the gate, Dwayne reminds him of the tire spike up ahead. Andrew quickly reacts and takes the truck onto the grass avoiding the obstacle with ease.

  Once they hit the main road the coast is clear. Riggs, along with Dwayne and the rest begin cheering. “We fucking did it! We made it!” Riggs boasts as he begins punching in the dash board in celeberation. Lance leans up to the glass of the back door window as silent tears drip down his face, realizing that he left his fiance for dead.

  Linda, holds Young Andrew in her arms as he frantically cries and sobs into he
r chest. She strokes his hair in order to relax him and help him forget about Amy’s tragic murder.

  Once the yelling ceases, Tammy and Audrey both make an observation. “Where is Tabatha?” Audrey curiously asks the group. Tammy also asks the same question with the exact same words used by Audrey.

  Everyone looks around in the cab in horror. Riggs, realizing she got left, tells Andrew to turn the vehicle around. Without question, Andrew slows down as he goes to make a U-turn until Linda orders him to stop.

  With contempt and fire in her eyes, she stares at Lance and makes a statement, “Lance left her for the dead. She is gone.”

  Tears begin running down Linda’s eyes. Then shortly after, she goes on to add, “The worst part of it all, not only did Lance leave his fiance, he also left his unborn child.”

  Andrew now stops the vehicle to a screeching halt. Andrew and Riggs looks back to Lance as everyone else in the back does the same. Lance remains stoic and void of emotion. The only indictator of remorse and sadness that can be seen are the constant flowing tears which runs down his flush facial features. He continues to stare outside the window without addressing or looking at anyone.

  Riggs, could not bring himself to say a word. Neither can anyone else.

  Andrew decides to resume moving as everyone stays silent in the cab. The only sounds which can be heard at this point are the cries and whimpering of Young Andrew. Some time on the road goes by. Andrew is anxious to make it to the Fort Hood area and finally find his sister in-law, his nieces and nephew. He is immensly worried about them. His promise to Trevor still stands as he is still fully able as ever to fulfill it. Nothing will get in his way at this point he concludes as he reaches a hypnotic state as he stares at the road in front of him. The thought of Tabatha being eaten alive and also, secretly pregnant without Lance realizing it, completely broken his heart. The foundation and importance of family has never been as strong before in his heart until realizing now just how vunerable it is. He will stop at nothing in order to make it to them now.

  Nobody has seemed to pursue their vehicle as the members of the group are able to relax and calm down. Andrew, as well as some others, needed to take a quick bathroom break. Andrew spots an abandoned gas station along side the road as he notices food and various other items stocked up on the shelves inside as he slows down and looks into the window from the driver’s seat.

  He suddenly turns off and parks the truck on the side of the building so everybody can hop out and stretch their legs. Andrew leaves the assault rifle with Riggs, who keeps watch from inside the truck as he walks up to a male bathroom door located outside on the side of the building. Andrew opens the door slowly to inspect what is inside before stepping in. Realizing it is clear, he walks in to do his business.

  Cynthia, whom walks to the edge of the woodline by herself, is followed by Linda, Audrey and Tammy. Now appearing irritated, Cynthia quickly turns around as if being annoyed by the women’s close presence behind her.

  “What do you want!” she suddenly screams.

  “We need to have a talk,” Linda declares.

  “I got nothing to say to you people!” Cynthia responds.

  “Well we think you do. How about explaining why you left us back there?” Tammy adds with sarcasm.

  Audrey chimes in as well, “You got a lot of explaining to do girl if you want to make things right with us!”

  Cynthia rolls her eyes in contempt carelessly. Linda doesn’t let up as she grabs Cynthia’s shoulder as she attempts to ignore and turns her back to them. Cynthia quickly shrugs her arm up, violently releasing Linda’s grip and turns around to slap Linda across the face ferociously.

  “I lost my family! What do I care what you think of me!” Cynthia yells into Linda’s face.

  Linda raises her hand up in the air and slaps her back across the face, instantly dropping her to the ground.

  A shocked Cynthia, now on her back, looks up Linda in fear of being hit again.

  “We are your god damn family now! Get over it!” Linda furiously declares as she walks away from Cynthia leaving her on the ground. Tammy and Audrey stare at Linda as she walks off towards the front of the gas station store.

  Dwayne, Lance, Randall and Riggs watch the altercation unfold from the cab of the vehicle as they lean out with their doors open. At that point, Randall makes a sarcastic statement.

  “Looks like the power squad is back in charge,” exclaims Randall.

  A disgusted Lance silently walks off into the female bathroom, attempting to avoid Andrew who is in the male stall. As a result of Randall’s comment, Rigg’s eye brows shoot up as he snaps his head back towards Dwayne. The pair stare at each other for a moment, obviously syncing there thoughts for that split second.

  Seconds later, Dwayne grabs Randall by the back of the neck and shoves him outside the cab of the truck as Randall lands violently on his chest. Riggs hops out of his seat and begins violently stomping on a screaming and begging Randall. Dwayne proceeds to assist Riggs. Audrey, Tammy and Cynthia look on in horror as Dwayne and Riggs continue to violently trade off kicking a still stationary Randall on the ground as he attempts to curl up in the fetal position to protect himself.

  As this goes on for a full minute, a loud and thunderous gunshot is heard. Riggs and Dwayne stop what they are doing as they look back towards the bathroom stalls.

  They quickly sprint up to the men’s bathroom and check on Andrew, as he sits on the toilet with his pants down holding tissue paper in hand with widened eyes.

  Realizing Andrew is okay, Dwayne and Riggs turns around to run back outside to check the female bathroom. Once they enter, they can see Lance laying on the ground with his back slouched up against the wall with a chrome .38 smith and wesson revolver sticking out of his mouth. His firing hand is still emplaced as it sags down from his jaw hanging by the front sight post of the pistol up against his bottom front teeth. Riggs knew nothing about Lance posessing a firearm. He figured he secretly pulled it off one of the corpses on the way out of the prison.

  Splattered blood stains the walls behind Lance’s head as a gapping hole tore out a piece of his upper forehead where the bullet cleaned straight through. Lance was gone and there was nothing they could do about it. Dwayne backs out of the bathroom slowly. Once he is outside, he begins puking onto the pavement. Riggs stands there and stares at the kid with pity and remorse. Once he works up the courage to approach Lance’s body, he takes a knee and pulls the gun out of his mouth. He then proceeds to place his hand over Lance’s as he lowers his head in silence and says his good byes to the tormented teenager.

  For the first time since this NiGHTMARE started, tears of sorrow run down his eyes as everything has finally caught up to him.

  CHAPTER 7

  occuPied The flight is endless. Many attempt to get some much needed rest, only to become twarted by the screaming sounds of soldiers with bullet wounds and lacerations to their torsos as a handful of medics and CLS(combat life saver) certified Air Force guards attempt to prevent them from going into shock and stop their bleeding. Three of the afflicted have already passed on as a result of their wounds in the middle of the walk way during treatment.

  World Airways complimentry blankets for passengers were placed over them to cover the bodies as they were dragged into the back of the plane where no one resided. That is where they decided to place the dead as their final resting ground.

  Trevor and the rest of his men were seated near eachother as they desperately attempted to sleep. Many of them tossed and turned and couldn’t keep the horror out of their mind in order to relax. Price continued to complain about the vivid images in his head of rotting corpses and shooting attackers off the truck with crew served weapons point blank as they were in reaching distance to grab him. As a result, Price could not keep his eyes closed for more than twenty seconds at any given time.

  After narrowly escaping Iraq and Kuwait, however, some what of hope fills all of the soldier’s hearts. A underlining hope which has not
been deminished yet. It still sits there lingering as they clinge on to it for survival. Hunter has not said a word since they escaped ‘The Highway of Death’, as many of them keep talking about their fallen soldier.

  Hunter remains stoic and void of all social interaction between everybody. He also begins to grow paranoid each passing minute every time Price looks in his direction. Other members of his squad just believe that Gilroy’s death affected him greatly, which may be true in a way.

  With deep regret, Trevor feels ultimately responsible for losing him. He was his responsibility. Trevor has never left a soldier behind, until now. Regardless of the circumstances, the point remained. He still attempts to cope with it in his seat as he is located right next to Christopher, his team leader and friend.

  After many passing failed sleep attempts, both Trevor and Christopher resorted to conversation amongst eachother. It first started with reflection, then led into something more. Both of them found it mutually theraputic reminicsing over the events which have transpired over the pass few days.

  Reagal can be seen slouched into his seat attempting to cover his ears from the moans of the wounded soldiers. Jokeless as he was, even Reagal has no room for humour at this point. Price usually depends on Reagal to set the mood and cheer him up in desperate situations, even now. Coming to the realization that the group is safe for now, Price still impatiently awaits Reagal to emit a sarcastic funny comment to lift his spirits.

  Ringo is the only one who is fast asleep. He wasted no time either. Not even what happened nor the grim sounds coming from inside the plan, hampered his ability to get some much needed rest.

  “That sick bastard is sleeping like a baby!” Reagal repeated multiple times as he raised up from his seat and addressed members of his squad behind him.

  “I’m jealous,” he adds.