by John Darling
“You know if we keep going Trevor, we’re putting our own lives at risk too.”
I stared out into the distance and understood what Derek had meant by that. However, I was not going to give up searching for her just because I was dehydrated and tired. There would be no turning back and if that meant that I had to struggle against the elements of this desert along the way, then so be it. If I was alone, scared and wounded after a battle all the way out here, I would have wanted someone to fight the odds to get to me.
Just then, I spotted a dark spot in between two sand piles up ahead. It looked like a rotor of some kind. Unsure of what it is, I started running toward it. It felt eerily like the first simulation I had been in a few months ago; running toward that flicker of light hoping that something good was waiting for me. Maybe this was the same situation. I was surprised that I could make a connection already to those simulations because, to be honest, they had seemed more of a scare tactic than a training tool.
I blinked several times but the black dot didn’t go away. Maybe it was a mirage or perhaps I was imagining it entirely. Derek claimed that he couldn’t see what I was seeing and I turned around. I jogged over to the Humvee and convinced him to get in.
We drove toward the dot and as we got closer, it became darker and bigger. It looked like a rotor or giant piece of metal sticking straight up out of the sand. I suddenly spotted more black objects surrounding the rotor as we came within a few hundred yards. It looked as if there had been some sort of explosion or something was shot down. This couldn’t mean anything good. I started yelling out the driver’s side window but no one responded. What if Jemma had been in that aircraft?
I parked the Humvee next to the farthest piece of debris and started scanning everything sticking out of the sand. We ran over to each bit of wreckage and began uncovering them from their blankets of sand. First, I found an assault rifle, a helmet, and then a hand. My heart stopped and I called Derek over. We carefully uncovered the entire body limb by limb. As we gently handled the corpse, I prayed that this was not the one person I’d been looking for. The short hair and bigger build confirmed that it was not. Judging by this man’s outfit, he had been the pilot of the crashed helicopter. He was a big man, easily over two hundred pounds. We turned him over onto his back but he showed no signs of life. I checked his pulse to confirm my hunch. As I had suspected, he was no longer among the living.
I had never been too fond of the sight of death so I quickly re-buried him with sand. There were several other objects sticking out of the sand and we continued searching through them. Unfortunately, we found three more Stormers, none of whom are alive. One of them had been the other pilot, and the other two looked like Strike officers. From the patches on their sleeves, we confirmed that they had been part of the Plague Killers, the team that Scarlet was on. Derek had panicked as soon as he saw the patch, but all of the people we found were men which was good news. I wished I knew what team Jemma had been a part of. I still don’t know why she had never responded to any of my calls or messages after she left the Eye.
So far we’ve searched through just about all the objects sticking out of the sand and found nothing more than death and evidence of a helicopter explosion. The scorching heat was really bothering me but we had to keep searching. I got back down on my knees and brushed sand off what appeared to be a grenade. Carefully, I patted around it and discovered that the grenade was attached to a belt. Continuing to dig, I started to outline a body. The person was face down in the sand but I noticed the torso move slightly upward.
As fast as I humanly could I brushed all of the sand off. My heart beat faster as I rubbed my hand gently through her long dark hair. The movement seemed to be breathing, but how was this person breathing while face down in the sand? Just then, I noticed a long tube connected to her K-pack that ran all up to her head. I gently rolled her over and ripped off some sort of oxygen mask that was covering her mouth. I froze for a moment to marvel at the treasure I had just spent hours looking for in this god awful desert. I had found her. I couldn’t believe it but I had found her.
“Jemma! Wake up! I’m here. Jemma, I’m he—”
Gasping for breath, she shot up, grabbed me, and started yelling.
“What’s going on? Where am I? Lieutenant Jazer!”
She yelled out for a bunch of people that I assumed to be members of her team. Jemma was obviously extremely disoriented but I was so happy that it was her. It was an extremely banged up and horrible looking version of her, but I didn’t care. I called out her name over and over in an effort to calm her down.
“Jemma, it’s OK! I’m here. Relax, it’s me, Trevor. You’re going to be OK.”
I had to say it a dozen times before she finally caught her breath and realized it was me.
“Trevor, thank God. Where’s my team? What happened with the mission? How did you get here? How did you find me?”
“Jemma, I’m not sure what happened to your team. What’s the last thing you remember?”
She clenched up and closed her eyes tightly.
“They told us to evacuate because the Army had spotted us. Three Strikers next to me all got bit by a sudden attack of zombies and committed suicide. Then our helicopter arrived. Moments after I got on board, someone told me to put on my oxygen mask and then they pushed me back out. While I was down on the ground, I called in the Code Frostbite and passed out. I don’t remember anything after that. Trevor, what the hell is going on? Where is everyone?”
I re-positioned my body on the other side of her and told her that we hadn’t found any other survivors from the crash. Derek introduced himself and put out his hand for her to shake. She reached out with hers and then screamed out in pain, revealing a huge wound in her left thigh. I slowly moved closer to her and peeled back a ripped piece of her combat suit and found a huge gash in her thigh. The skin and flesh had been ripped apart. I went to touch it more but she grabbed my arm and forbid me from doing so.
“Whoa! She’s infected! You have to get out of here before she turns and kills us both!”
Derek suddenly reacted to her wound and pointed his rifle at her. I urged him to put it down, informing him that she had been wounded from the crash, and not from a zombie, however, Jemma quickly corrected me. She said she had been bitten when the zombies had attacked before she boarded the helicopter. Derek told me to leave her, but I hadn’t come all this way to turn my back on her now. How could I?
“Trevor, he’s right. You have to shoot me. I’m going to turn into one of those things. You’re better off killing me now.”
“Jemma, I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to get you help. You have my word.”
“Yeah, I’m sure about that. Where is Scarlet?!”
Derek took two steps closer to us and re-emphasized his threat. Jemma informed Derek that Scarlet had been in charge of the first assault team that had gone in. They had captured their target and immediately flown back to their base, the Pit.
“Great, well Trevor if you’re staying with her, then it’s your funeral.”
Derek lowered his rifle and ran off toward the Humvee. I questioned his actions and asked him to come back, but he didn’t listen. He ran around to the driver’s side of the Humvee, got in and drove away. I chased after him for a few seconds but it was no use. He was not coming back.
Not knowing what else to do, I rushed back over to Jemma’s side. She thanked me for finding her and I assured her that we would find a way out of this mess. Despite my attempt to instill confidence in her, I could tell she didn’t believe me. Even though the situation was looking pretty gloomy right now, one of us had to stay positive if we were going to survive. I just don’t know how much longer we had before the infection took over.
Jemma let out a huge scream and fell flat on her back in the sand. We needed to move now. I was not sure where to go but it was clear that we couldn’t stay here with her in this condition. What we needed to do now was get her medical attention… and fast. I rewrapped
the scraps of clothing around her thigh and put pressure on her leg. After another minute, her pain seemed to temporarily dissipate.
“What are we going to do, Trevor? I’m dead and now we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere.”
Her eyes began to water: “You’re going to have to… kill me,” she sniffled.
“No, absolutely not! I will not! Jemma, look at me.”
I leaned forward, brought my face close to hers, and looked directly into her eyes.
“You’re going to be OK. You are not going to die. Here’s what we’re going to do. We need to start moving now. I have a little water and some food, but it’s not going to keep us going for long. We need to get you to safety.”
Jemma kept repeating that she was going to die and it took a few more pep talks to finally calm her down. I knew that the only way she was going to get anywhere was if I carried her. She was too weak to walk on her own. I ditched my K-pack and shoved the remaining supplies, as well as my V-pod, into my pockets. I would need both arms if we were going to cover any sort of distance.
“All right, we need to get moving. I don’t know if you’re going to turn or not but I don’t want to sit around and wait for you to. There’s an Army base near here and I can ask FAITH exactly where it is in a few minutes. Let’s see if we can get some medical help from them.”
I knew that going to that base could be risking everything. As soon as I resurfaced on the grid, I was probably going to be brought in by someone from S.T.O.R.M. Jemma didn’t know that I had disobeyed orders, and I was not ready to tell her. However, if getting arrested was the result of Jemma getting medical treatment, then the risk would be more than worth it. I kissed her on the forehead, looked right into her eyes, and promised her that everything would be OK. We might have been stranded in the middle of the desert and low on supplies but we were going to survive, even if it took every last ounce of strength I had.
Chapter Thirty-Six: Head East And Pray
Trekking through the desert was no easy task, especially with Jemma on my shoulders. Every ten minutes or so, I had to stop for a moment to catch my breath. Occasionally, I put her down to give my arms and shoulders a break. Had I known that one day I would have to fireman carry someone through the desert, I would have built up more upper body strength. On the other hand, I was thankful for the strength I had, because without it we would have most likely been still be back at the crash site.
After only a few hours in this intense heat, Jemma and I became extremely dehydrated. I only had one water pod left and we decided to take turns sipping it. I purposely took as small of sips as I could so Jemma could have more. She needed it way more than I do. Besides, if I lost her before we made it to the base, then there was no point in even coming all this way.
Shortly after we had begun walking, I asked FAITH for the location of the Army base. She informed us that it was twenty-eight miles northeast of the crash site. We were able to track our progress for a little while, but soon my V-pod’s battery ran out. I kicked myself for ditching my K-pack because I could have used it to charge my V-pod and continue to track our progress. Although we weren’t completely out of options for navigation. I came up with an idea shortly after we had lost our electronics.
Back at Kings Point, I had taken a Celestial Navigation course and learned that the Sun rose in the east and set in the west. As long as we kept the sun to our backs, we should come within view of the base. I imagined it was pretty big and if anything we might spot a Humvee on patrol. From what I can tell it was about three o’clock in the afternoon right now and hopefully this was as hot as it was going to get.
We found cover under a small abandoned shack and I lowered Jemma off of my back onto the ground. Jemma closed her eyes for a few minutes while I wiped the thick layer of sweat from my forehead. I didn’t want to, but she forced me to drink the rest of the water pod. That small parcel of water was the best liquid I had ever tasted in my life. I finished it in seconds and I really wished it hadn’t been our last. Our supplies were minimal, and all we had left was two small packs of food. We needed to find the base and fast.
After walking several miles over the span of a few hours, there were no signs of civilization. Even by using the sun for navigation, I was becoming doubtful that we would find it before either of us passed out from heat exhaustion. I took a moment and prayed that we were going in the right direction.
The sun ducked behind a rare patch of clouds, causing a brief moment of shade. I kneeled down next to Jemma and checked on her, as well as the status of her wound. She leaned up and gave me a very perplexed look as I re-wrapped her leg. She was still bleeding but it seemed to have mostly clotted. Then again, I wasn’t a doctor, just someone doing his best to keep her alive. It was nothing shy of a miracle that she hadn’t turned yet, and I was guessing that might have been why she had such a confused look on her face.
“So, why are we going to this Army base? Isn’t someone from S.T.O.R.M. looking for us? They must realize that we’re gone.”
I had been afraid Jemma would ask about that. I didn’t want to have to explain that I had been a fugitive ever since I’d decided to disobey orders and rescue her, but I knew I was going to have to at some point. It was probably better to get this conversation out of the way now.
“Well, someone might be looking for me, but I’m not sure what’s going to happen if they do find me. I sort of came back for you ill-advised.”
I explained what had happened. At first she was upset with me, and then she got upset that no one had thought to go back for her team except for me and Derek. She thanked me for being brave and standing up for her when everyone else was content with listening to Stormers’ cries for help over the radio. I also told her about the Emergency Containment Squads that were supposed to be out here cleaning everything up, but they must be running late because we haven’t seen anyone else out here.
Before we could discuss the subject any further, Jemma started to yell out again from the pain. Her condition was worsening and we were running out of time. A huge part of me was afraid that she would turn soon. What if I did have to kill her? I still had my sidearm strapped to my leg and it does have a few bullets left in it. That would be plenty in the unfortunate event that I had to put her down. I just kept silently praying over and over that I would never have to.
The yelling got worse and I helped her to her feet. It was time to start moving again. The temperature felt a few degrees cooler but that could just have been because we were in the shade. As soon as we went back out into the sun I was going to be sweating buckets again. Regardless, I propped her up on my back and began walking again. That base had to be around here somewhere.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Where’s The Base?
Hours passed without any sign of the base and my pace was slowly coming to a halt. My strength was fading and Jemma was passed out on my back. I urged her to stay awake as long as I could, but she had eventually stopped responding to my questions. I’d been wanting to wake her, but I also didn’t want her to fall off my shoulders. If she did, I was not sure I would be able to pick her up again. Without any supplies remaining, we were desperate to find anything at this point. I had to keep going or she might wake up a monster, and I would be her first victim.
The sun had set and we were now making our way under the night sky. I was not sure if we were heading in the right direction and with only starlight it was difficult for us to see. Sweat dripped off my entire body and my clothes were stuck to my skin. My aching thirst was by far the worst part of my condition and I would have done anything for a drink of water. As we approached a huge hill, I found myself struggling to move my feet up the incline. Every inch was a chore and every step had become a battle. Somehow, we had to get up this hill. We had to keep going. I had to find a way to save us. We have come too far to give up now.
Halfway up the hill, I looked up and saw what appeared to be a group of white lights. My pace increased for a moment but I became skeptical as to whether what
I saw was actually real or not. It was possible that my mind was playing tricks on me again. Throughout our journey through the desert, I had seen several mirages. I knew they were fake, even though I had desperately wanted them to be real. The heat seemed to have affected Jemma as well, because at one point Jemma had called out to her mom, acting as if she was out in the distance somewhere. Thankfully, it only lasted a few minutes.
I kept climbing and it only took a few more steps to prove that the light actually did exist. In fact, there were several lights in view and I immediately recognized what they were coming from. I leaned down and let Jemma slide gently off my back. She remained unconscious as I stared at the massive port ahead of us. The lights were coming from all of the ships, container cranes and vehicles moving containers around the yard. It was the most beautiful sight I have seen today, beside Jemma’s face. A few seconds later an idea hit me; this could be our ticket out of here.
“Jemma! Jemma! Please wake up. I have a plan but we need to act fast. It’s crazy, but I think it just might work.”
Her eyes opened after several more minutes of nagging. She said she feels very cold and weak, which can’t be a good thing. However, after hours of being in a sea of sand without any sign of life, we now have a chance to escape and more importantly, hope.
I estimated that the front gate of the port was about half a mile ahead of us and was manned by what I assumed were security guards. From what I could tell, several ships were docked along the pier to load or unload cargo. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? Getting onto a ship wouldn’t be easy, and surely there wouldn’t be the same medical treatment options as an Army base, but it would be a lot safer for everyone in case Jemma did turn. For my own sake, I knew that S.T.O.R.M. would have a much harder time tracking us down in the middle of the ocean. This was turning out to be the perfect escape plan. But just which ship as going to be our best hope for an undetected escape?