Jessica looked around, and took in the scenery. The buildings were run down, cars abandoned, some of the trees, and brush dead, and scorched, but there still was greenery strewn about the desolated city. The ivy that scaled most of the outer walls of the buildings, along with the trees that towered over them as they walked, and the brush that had overgrown spilling out into the empty streets.
To take in the massiveness of the surrounding was a bit overwhelming. To see buildings again almost give her a feeling of normalcy that her old civilized life had brought. She remembered when her parents used to bring her to the city to eat fried dough, catch a movie, and then sometimes when they had a little extra money, they would see a ballgame.
Andrew interrupted her happy thoughts, as he called out, “Jess!”
She looked at him, “What?”
“Barry and I think that we should make our way down to the hospital to pick up supplies, and we can rest there for awhile.”
The hospital seemed like a good place to be, so she agreed with them, “Sure. You know where it is,” she half jokingly asked.
“Jupiter you good with that? This is a group, and groups make group decisions.”
Jupiter nodded his head, and reached into his satchel. His calloused hands cupped together, and pulled out more of those crimson berries he had earlier when she saw him in the woods. He offered them up to all of them. They came to meet his full satchel, and each took a handful out to eat.
“Jupe, when did you get these,” Barry asked as he popped the deliciousness into his mouth.
Jupiter replied with a mouth full of berries, “I, got, them, while, you, guys, were, sleeping.”
Jessica reached into the brown satchel, and cupped some berries of her own. She asked Andrew, “How are we going to get more food? The hospital is only good for medical supplies. Where’s the food, and water coming from?”
He rubbed his chin, and then told her, “Don’t worry about that right now, it’s shelter, and medical supplies we’re after first.”
She could see his point, one of them was bound to get injured out there, and if they were not equipped to handle it, then the chances of survival would almost certainly drop significantly to zero percent. She went ahead, and started munching on the sweet berries. They were exactly what she needed right now.
Andrew finished up his berries, and turned to Jupiter, “Save the rest of those berries. Not sure how long we’ll be without food… Barry? You, and I are on point. Jess you stay a few yards back with Jupiter.” He crouched down, grabbed a small stick, and then smoothed the dirt beneath his feet. They all watched as he began to etch something into the dirt. Whatever it was, it was not words; possibly a crude map. He finished up, looked at them, and began to explain things, “Ok, this is a map of this part of the city. Now it’s not great, it is from memory, but it’s all we’ve got to go with at this point.”
He pointed to two drawn rectangles, “These buildings should be the only ones blocking our way to the hospital. This right side of the map is where we are. We have to cross over the barriers here,” he said, as he pointed them out with the tiny stick. “Then, make our way across the main roads, here, and here. Finally we reach those rectangles I showed you already, the buildings. Barry, and I will provide cover fire for you, Jess and you, Jupiter, incase we have flesh-eaters on our tails. Once we confirm you two have made it to the hospital, we will be right behind you. Any questions?”
No one in the group had any questions, and they were all on board with the plan. Andrew and Barry got up first. They each handed Jupiter, and Jess their guns. Then they hurdled over the shaky guardrail separating the pavement from the forest. Once over, her and Jupiter hand them their weapons back. Now it was their turn to follow in their footsteps.
“You, first, Jess,” Jupiter said.
All though he wasn’t an official soldier because of his speech problem that disqualified him entrance to the military, he was every bit a soldier now. She kissed him on the cheek to let him know she appreciated all that he had done. Then she placed her hands on the guardrail, it was colder, and flimsier than she was expecting. Jess took a deep breath, looked up again at the city, then in the direction of the boys as they patrolled the area with their weapons, and she then climbed her way over the barrier.
Once her feet were planted on the other side, she bounced up, and down on the pavement. It was more forgiving than the cement, or packed down dirt of the Cluster. Now it was Jupiter’s turn to go. She held out her hand to help him over. He took it with little persuasion, and she guided him over. He too took a look around at the city, which they both haven’t seen in years. She could tell by his facial expression, that he too has some forgotten memories from here.
“You two coming,” Andrew, shouted.
They quickly gathered their wondering thoughts, and focused them back onto the plan at hand. She could see the two rectangular buildings that Andrew had drawn in the dirt. They had to be about a half-mile out. Poking into the air, just beyond the buildings, she could see the gray building. It read, WELLINGHAM CITY HOSPITAL. She grew more hopeful knowing they were close, but what was in front of them from here, and what was in between them could be the difference between life and death. Then, if they made it to the hospital, there were always flesh-eaters, dehydration, starvation, infection, and other devastations to worry about.
As they made their way through the desolated city, something just seemed off. It is said that you have a sixth sense, something in your gut that gurgles, and feels like tiny butterflies flying around in it. Those same people that say you have a sixth sense in your gut, are also the same people that say to trust it. Jessica’s gut was sending waves of signals; the butterflies in her stomach whirled around, smashing into the inner walls of her gut.
The group reached the first row of dilapidated and crumbling buildings that Andrew had drawn in the dirt earlier. The group followed Andrew and Barry’s lead. They started to get a little lax since they hit a quarter-mile into their journey, and there were no signs of trouble, or danger. The hospital was only a few hundred yards away; all could see it. The front doors became more visible, and appeared to be unobstructed. Jessica stopped to look around, this definitely isn’t right, she thought to herself. The butterflies once again danced around in her stomach, and the fight, or flight reaction suddenly kicked into her system.
“Everyone run,” she screamed, and then she bolted, making her way towards the front doors of the hospital.
Andrew grabbed her by the arm, and it snapped her back from her own momentum. “Wait up! Just hold on,” he said.
“We need to get to the hospital. Something isn’t right out here. Please just hurry,” Jessica exclaimed.
“Jess, we’re fine… Look around you, there’s nothing here.”
Barry chimed in, “Yeah, there’s the hospital, and we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Tears slowly dripped down her cheek, something inside of her was telling her this was all wrong. Then her intuition manifested itself. There from the two buildings crept multitudes of eaters. She whispered, “See.”
The group looked up, and saw the hordes of zombies beginning to surround them. No one wanted to move; breathing was barely an option at this point. The eaters seemed to look them over, and if Jessica knew eaters, they weren’t just in front of them by now. A stalemate between the two sides, neither one seemed to want to make the first move, which led her to believe that more were circling. She counted them, and from what she could see, there had to be at least, best guestimate, thirty.
“How are they thriving out here,” Jessica asked.
“I don’t know, this is like when they attacked Barry and I earlier. They are back to being in herds… Just slowly back up towards the hospital, and get inside. No sudden movements.”
They followed Barry and Andrew towards the hospital; never taking their eyes off of the eaters. There was this one eater, who seemed to be their leader. It was a female, and was half decomposed from the scorch of t
he burnt earth, and the nonstop heat from the sun. She turned to the group of eaters, and then turned back. With her boney finger, she pointed it towards them, and like a banshee, she screeched.
With that, the eaters came like a screaming rush of warm, dangerous, wind. Andrew yelled to them, “To the hospital!” He and Barry readied their weapons, and began firing upon the undead. Their bullets seemed to be of no use, only knocking the eaters down from such long distance, their weapons didn’t have great accuracy.
“Their heads Barry, their heads! Don’t waste ammo,” Andrew screamed over the gunshots.
Jessica, and Jupiter ran as fast as they could towards the front doors. She made the mistake off stopping to see how they were doing. Andrew and Barry were walking backwards as they kept up the reign of fiery ammunition. Once she knew they were all set, she continued after Jupiter, who was calling out to her.
Jupiter was almost to the front doors, when a second wave of zombies came from behind the hospital. This time she counted over twenty. Jessica looked behind herself, and saw Andrew and Barry doing their best to fight their pack of eaters off, and now these ones too, she thought.
They were trapped like dogs, nowhere to go; just stuck surrounded by the hordes of eaters, to determine their ugly fate. As the group of zombies got closer to Jessica and Jupiter, the eaters started to move in on them like a slow painful checkmate in a game of chess. Jessica reached down, un-holstered her weapon. She wanted to make sure that she had at least two bullets left for Jupiter and herself. Anything would be better than being eaten alive, and then becoming one of them, she thought, as she tossed the idea of dying around.
Jupiter wasn’t stupid; he knew what it was that she was doing. She looked up at him, and he was looking at her gun. He then meets her steely eyes, he nodded, and she placed the gun against his temple. She cocked the hammer back, as he closed his eyes. The thing about eaters is that they don’t care if you are dead or alive; they just eat. Her right index finger wrapped around the steel trigger, and she gripped it ever so gently, with just enough force for it not to go off. She whispered to him, “I’m sorry Jupiter.”
Before she could pull the trigger, making it a humane way of dying, she heard more gunshots coming from rooftops, the ground, and all around them. She pulled the weapon away from his head, and turned to see eaters dropping like bricks. Even Andrew and Barry took a pause in their all out assault to see what was going on. With their bullets not whizzing into the eaters, they were still dropping, and the, POP…POP…POP, sound could be heard all around them like loud fireworks going off in the night’s sky of the Fourth of July.
Where was this all coming from, she wondered, but her train of thought soon was broken when Jupiter grabbed her hand, and pulled her to the front doors of the hospital, while the zombies were occupied with the mysterious shooting. Andrew and Barry stopped shooting, and hustled their way to meet up with Jessica and Jupiter in the lobby of the hospital.
“What the hell’s going on out there? Where are those shots coming from,” Jessica asked, as she did her best to catch her breath.
Andrew readied his weapon, pointing it to the outside through the front doors. “I don’t know, but I’m not buying it. Until I see who, or what is on the other side of those shots.”
Barry also geared up for a firefight, “I’m with you Andrew, something ain’t right.”
They all huddled up with each other, and reserved their ammo. Then there were explosions from what must have been grenades. Jessica clutched onto Andrew’s arm, and pulled herself in close. If she were going to die today, she was going out wrapped around this guy… As the firefight went on, they stayed close to one another, but they also took assessment of the area.
To her right was what was once a waiting room; to the left was where the ambulances dropped off patients. Behind her, there were elevators, which did not work anymore due to the lack of power supply. She did not notice the doorway marked STAIRWELL. With all her daydreaming, and snooping, she blocked out the firefight going around her. Soon, there was quiet, peace that she hasn’t felt since her times in the church when she was a child, and sitting on those wooden pews.
Andrew placed one finger to his lips, to hush them. He made his way closer to the front doors, and Barry covered his back, while never lowering his weapon. Andrew dodged his way with his head trying to see through the broken glass in the front doors.
Just as they all thought… They were safe, that is until the front doors smashed open, and soldiers flooded the lobby. Jessica and her friends tried to scramble, but were blocked off by more troops. No matter which direction they tried, it ended up obstructed. Once the soldiers gathered their footing, they then had their weapons drawn on them, and vice versa. Soon they were back-to-back, helpless, with nowhere to go.
“Put your weapons down,” the soldier screamed.
Andrew yelled back, “Andrew Simmons, and Barry Reynolds with the Fourteenth Brigade, of The United Front Military.”
The soldier lowered his rifle, and he again ordered, “Weapons to the ground!”
Jessica knew this was a very serious situation they were in, so she tossed her gun to the floor, and then Andrew and Barry followed. Their guns clanked off the tile floor, and bounced once. Two soldiers came, and collected their weapons from the ground in front of them. Once disarmed, the soldiers lowered their weapons too.
Cunningham made his way to the front. He looked them over, and could tell that they didn’t belong out this far. Of course he took out a clipboard, and began looking it over. Like an open book, he read from it, “Cluster Two, right,” he asked, and they nodded, “Good… The only survivors, right –“
No one answered his questions, because they didn’t know if anyone had made it out. Then he pointed to one of his soldiers, and motioned him to their huddle. The soldier grabbed Jupiter by the arm, and pulled him tightly into his chest. Then he removed his sidearm, and pressed it against Jupiter’s head. Jupiter didn’t show fear, nor did he try and struggle.
Cunningham went on, “Okay, so like I was saying, no survivors. Yes?”
Still the group had no answer to this impossible question. Cunningham nodded to the soldier holding Jupiter, “Kill him.”
“No, wait! Wait,” Jessica screamed.
Cunningham motioned to let Jupiter go, and he is tossed back into the huddle. Then by the tone of his voice, they knew it was the last time, Cunningham asked, “Survivors? Yes, or no?”
Her eyes began to tear up, while she was doing her best to not show fear, but she didn’t think she was portraying that very well. Jess answered with a bit of raw emotion from seeing her friend almost killed in front of her, “No! No, survivors!”
Calmly he jotted the information into his book. Then he adds, “That makes our jobs easier.”
Andrew stepped up slowly in front of Cunningham, “Permission to speak Sir?” Cunningham looked him up, and down, and then gave him the okay to speak. Andrew continued on, “Sir are you a rescue team?”
“Not likely.”
“Then why did you save us out there, amongst the flesh-eaters?”
"Weren't sure who, or what you were? Couldn't let precious cargo just go to waste, now could we?" He tucked his notebook, and a clipboard under his arm, and had his men force them up the stairway. Andrew didn't like what he was witnessing, but Cunningham calmly barked orders at him, "Get back in line, or you all die here."
“You can’t do this to us, we’re United Front,” Barry yelled out.
“You’re no more U.F. than those things out there. Now, I’m going to say it one more time, and one more time only… Get, back, in, line!”
Andrew grabbed Barry by the shoulder and pulled him back into their little circle. Never once did Jessica see Andrew or Cunningham break eye contact during the entire ordeal.
Cunningham apparently didn’t like the disrespect that Andrew was showing him, so he socked him in the side of the face. Andrew didn’t go down, in fact, he took the punch so well, that Cunningham’s
men took notice. With a slightly swollen, red cheek, Andrew just stood there, and spat in his face. Not only was it spit, it was more of a mixture of blood, and saliva.
Cunningham dropped his clipboard and rushed Andrew. Barry held Andrew back, so he wouldn't get himself, or everyone else killed.
“You think you’re tough,” Cunningham asked angrily.
"Well, you did just hit a restrained, unarmed man with a sucker punch. You must feel great in front of all your men. Did I mention, I'm still standing," Andrew said calmly with that trademark smile, and a touch of blood trailing out of the left corner of his mouth.
Cunningham stared directly into Andrew's eyes, never breaking his stare, which had a glimpse of hate about it. Jessica could tell that Andrew was getting under his skin, and whatever buttons that Cunningham had; Andrew pushed them all. Even though this was her time to die, here in this desolate condemned hospital, what was unfolding here in front of her made it a heck of a way to go. She just hoped Andrew got his shots in before she was offed.
Cunningham backed out, collected himself, picked up his clipboard, and wrote in the notebook. When he was finished writing, he closed it, and turned to his troops, “Kill them all.”
“No,” Jupiter yelled.
Jessica had found some deep down dignity, and decided to go out with her head up, and a smile on her face. Six of the soldiers made their way over to them. Two grabbed each arm on both Barry, and Andrew. They did try to struggle, but it was to no avail. Another soldier grabbed Jupiter by his right arm, spun him around, and used the butt end of his weapon to force him to his knees by slamming it into the backs of his legs. As for Andrew and Barry, the four large soldiers mustered up enough strength to manage to get them both to their knees and turned them around. Jessica was last. The soldier that came for her was smaller, possibly even female, she could tell because there was a red ponytail peeking out the back of her helmet.
She grabbed her arm gently and spun her around so that she was facing the wall like the others. The soldier tried to push her to the floor, but Jessica pulled away, “I’ll do it myself,” she said.
A Regressive World: Book One Page 7