A Regressive World: Book One

by Baldasaro, Jason

  She could feel herself getting lost in the memories, so she turned around, and saw that Andrew was already suited up, and ready to go. His suit fits him flawlessly while hers seemed to hang off her body. Before they headed off to meet Ethan, and the guys, she put on her black army boots and laced them up. She hasn't worn anything this new, and comfortable since before the apocalypse when she was thirteen. After her boots were nice and tight, they grabbed their things and headed off to meet the rest of them in Ethan's office.

  Ethan, Barry and Jupiter were already in the office when she knocked on the door. She heard Ethan’s voice telling them to come in. The three of them greeted Andrew and Jess, as they entered the room, and met them at Ethan’s desk.

  “What are we doing,” she nosily meddled.

  “We’re just running through the plan, giving these guys a refresher,” Ethan explained.

  “So, we’re definitely doing this then,” Andrew asked.

  “It’s already in motion. Rebels are already just outside the walls in cruisers, and on foot, awaiting our signal.”

  “Just wanted to be sure. You can never be too careful you know.”

  “I get it, better safe than sorry… Okay, does anyone have any questions before we head out?

  We’ve got the rainfall, and the dark skies for cover.”

  Jessica watched as no one raised their hand, or asked any questions. This meant they were all on the same page. With the questions out of the way, Ethan took some handguns out of his closet that had held the uniforms they were currently wearing. He distributed them to each person, one at a time. Jessica took the weapon and inspected it. It wasn't her Smith and Wesson, but it would do.

  Andrew asked, “What the hell are these for?”

  “They’re for the mission,” Ethan told him.

  “You want us to break into a military compound, and do it using these,” he said, as he held the pistol up for all to see.

  “That’s all we can use because –“

  "Because, the air, vents, are, too, narrow, too, fit, any, larger, weapons, through, them," Jupiter explained at his own slow pace, as he finished Ethan's sentence for him.

  “Exactly… Please, just take the guns,” he said, as he continued to hand them out.

  The logic behind these smaller weapons was solid; it just didn't make her or Andrew feel any safer heading into the compound. Yet they all went along with it and holstered their weapons to the right hip of their suits. It fit snugly into the holster like it was designed for the solely for this kind of weapon.

  “Alright, everyone set,” Ethan asked.

  “Good to go,” Barry replied.

  Jessica looked around to Jupiter and Andrew, and they nodded in agreement. Ethan turned to me, and asked, “How about you Hellcat, you ready for this?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied.

  “Okay then, everyone head outside, and meet up with the rest of the team. The first three land-cruisers are ours, so hop in, buckle down, and let’s roll out.”

  They were about to head out of the office; Andrew and Jess were the last to leave. He grabbed her shoulder, and she turns around. "Can I help you," she jokingly asked, for she knew it was Andrew.

  “Jess, are you one-hundred percent sure you want to do this? I’m with you either way. It’s not too late to back out now.”

  She placed her hand on his face gently and tried to reassure him that she was ready. With that, she could see the stress just lift off his face. Just knowing that she was in this to the death, and all he had to worry about was protecting her back when they got in there.

  “Come on, we’ve got a schedule to keep,” she said, and then she softly grabbed his hand, and guided him outside to meet the others.

  The dark clouds hovered overhead, making it feel like nighttime. The rain was pouring down, seeming to instantly saturate their clothes within seconds of stepping off the front porch. Luckily I had a hat on, or my hair would’ve gotten ruined, she knew that was such a girl thing to think, but if it frizzed up, then she wouldn’t have been able to get it under the cap.

  She saw Ethan sitting in his cruiser, and then he pointed to an empty cruiser next to his. Jessica and Andrew scurried over to that cruiser and got in. Good thing she was with Andrew because she didn't know how to drive one of these beasts. Jessica took a gander out of her window and saw the rebels that were joining us. Their numbers were great, maybe about twenty-five or so of them.

  The rumbling of their cruiser startled her, as Andrew got it up, and running. Then she heard the grinding of the gears as he put it into drive. These cruisers were not in good condition by any sense of the word. The others began pulling off, and they followed. Soon they would be at the compound of The United Front. She wasn’t fazed yet, but once they were within walking distance of the headquarters, that would be a different story.

  The rain poured down, making it hard for them to see while they were driving. The land-cruisers did not come equipped with wipers, especially these Junkers. Besides the rough, and bumpy ride, all the jostling was kind of upsetting her stomach.

  “Can you slow down,” she asked Andrew.

  “Can’t… I’ve got to keep up with the pack.”

  “But this ride is making car sick.”

  “Come on Jess. We’re about to go head first into the lions mouth, do you think that that’s making you a little sick?”

  “My nerves are solid, it’s this pathetic cruiser,” She grumbled.

  “We’ll be there soon enough, just try to rest. We need you at full speed when we get there.”

  Jessica wasn't happy, but Andrew was right. They did need her at full speed; she was the crucial component to this plan. She slouched down in her seat, closed her eyes, and tried to relax. They continued driving for what seemed like hours, but the cruiser slowly squeaked, as it came to a rolling stop. This caused Jess to jolt up in her seat and looked around.

  “Are we here,” she anxiously asked.

  “This is it.”

  They unbuckled their seatbelts; opened their doors, and they get out. The rain sure hadn't let up any; in fact, it seems to be raining harder than before they left the farmhouse. She didn't think that was possible, but here as she stood, it was. Ethan, Barry and Jupiter met them at their cruiser. She wiped the rain from her face so she could see them more clearly. Jess watched as Ethan began to give orders.

  "Listen up. Just a mile up over this hill here is the headquarters. The rebels are going to wait here for our signal. You all know your parts in this mission, so no need to go over them again. Okay. Let's go."

  Ethan led them in the direction of the headquarters, and they followed. They trudged on through the pouring rain, and their boots were heavy, as they stepped through the suctioning muddy ground. Ethan wasn’t kidding when he said that the base would be just over the hill. They couldn’t have walked more than two miles, and just like that, over the top of the second hill they could see the tops of the compound’s walls peeking over the top of the hill.

  There was some cover to the right, nothing big, just some trees, and brush; Ethan headed in that direction, and we tagged along like good soldiers. Once they reached the trees, the cover from the leaves, and branches slowed the rainfall. Ethan managed to make his way through the brush, and being that it is too wet to run down the hill towards the walls, he ran and slid down the hill on his backside. Jess was the next to go. Her nerves were starting to get the best of her the closer they got to the compound walls. She backed up, closed her eyes, ran, and slid down the hill, just like Ethan did.

  Ethan caught her, for her body wasn't coming to a stop anytime soon. She then stood up and wiped the water, and mud from her face. Andrew, Barry, and Jupiter also came racing down the hillside. They were all standing there in the pouring rain, covered in cold wet mud. Ethan pointed to the side of the wall they needed to breech. He then headed quickly over to the wall. Jessica held her breath as he was dodging the rain. Finally, moments later, she let out a breath of air a
s he succeeded by reaching the wall while not being detected.

  Andrew and Barry went next, then Jupiter, and then finally Jessica made their way to the wall. They all reached the wall safely, and without any detection. Next up was to remove the grate from the vent-shaft, and Jupiter was already on that. When Jess looked over, she could see that he almost had the grate free from it's resting place. Just one more bolt to go, and he would have it free. Gently he removed the cover to the shaft, and he placed it on the ground, leaning it against the wall.

  She was the first one to go in, and thought herself, inside it was bigger than I thought it was going to be. She took out her flashlight so she could see inside the shaft. It looked like it was never ending. Cautiously she crawled in, lying on her stomach, and slowly made her way through the duct. Behind her, she could see Jupiter's light shining. It felt so good to know that you're not alone in this situation, that someone had your back.

  The metal vent-shaft twisted, and turned, and went on forever in her eyes. When will this end, I thought to herself as she army crawled through the narrow shaft. Suddenly, she felt a light cool breeze whisking softly across her face. She shut off her flashlight, and up ahead she saw light at the end of the duct. She holstered her light and continued to crawl with her arms towards the glorious opening.

  Once she reached the metal vent cover, she pushed as hard as she could with her arms. The grate didn’t budge at first, but after a few extra pushes with all of her might; it moved. That boosted her confidence, and maybe Ethan was right, maybe the grates on the inside didn’t have bolts, he did say that they were latched, and she just had to keep at it to free it from its hold. Her arms flexed as she gave it one last shove. She could feel her arms straining under the pressure. Then there was a pop, the grate gave way, and swung downward, banging off the wall. The rain was loud, so it muffled the echo of metal on cement.

  She looked out the opening, and she could see the courtyard. As she looked around, she could see that there was no one around. The rain had forced them to retreat to the inside shelter of the compound, and she couldn't wait any longer. Jessica felt Jupiter touching her feet as he waited for her in the vent-shaft. She couldn't stall much more; she had to get out. Jessica began her crawl, as she crept out of the shaft like she was being birthed, and then she landed on the muddy ground just below.

  One after another the boys followed her lead, each landing in the soft mud. She stayed low to the ground in a crouched position, so that she wouldn’t be detected. While the rain hadn’t let up any; it had warmed up. Across the yard were the doors that she and Jupiter needed to breech in order to reach the comm room. Andrew, Barry, and Ethan were standing guard with their weapons drawn.

  Ethan met her eyes, and motioned with his right hand, signaling them to move out. She took a deep breath, adjusted her cap, withdrew her weapon from its holster, and then slowly made her way to the door with Jupiter following closely behind her as they made their way to the comm doors.

  __________

  In another building at a different location, both Cunningham and McHale sat in the security room of the building. They were both watching a live feed of the security film from the main headquarters that Jess and the boys were currently occupying. McHale watched intently as he saw Jessica and Jupiter making their way across the yard.

  “What should we do Sir,” Cunningham asked.

  Calmly he answered, “Just wait, and see.”

  With Barry, Ethan, and Andrew covering them, she felt a bit more comfortable as they reached the comm room doors. She counted down on her fingers, showing Jupiter her hand so that he could see the countdown clearly, three, two, one. Jupiter breeched the doors; they both stood in the doorway holding their guns, ready to fire at anything that moved. As they looked around, the only problem was that they saw no one in the room.

  Jess cautiously entered, noticing that the computers were powered up, and running. Monitors showed images of the compound’s different areas. Jupiter went to the left, and she took the right as they split up. She could hear a faint thudding sound coming from the far side of the room. Inching closer cautiously, she made her way to the epicenter of the thudding. She figured out that it is coming from the double doors on the opposite side of the room from which they came in at.

  Jupiter heard it now, and he met up with her in the middle of the room. Together with guns drawn, they made their way towards the double doors where the noise was erupting. Jessica’s heart raced with the uncertainty of what was behind those doors. She gripped her weapon tightly, with her finger on the trigger, making sure she didn’t have to waste any extra time pulling the trigger in case of an emergency.

  This was it, they finally reached the double doors, and the thudding and soft scraping were clearly coming from behind them. She cautiously reached her towards the metal handle. With no windows set in the doors themselves, there was no way of knowing what was behind them.

  It could've been the missing soldiers needing help, or something worse. She wouldn't let her mind run wild with this, because she could have spun the situation into something that it was not. Her hand gripped the metal handle of the door tightly. She looked over at Jupiter and saw that he had her back with his weapon steadily drawn, and aimed at the doorway. He nodded his head letting her know it was time to open the door.

  She swallowed the lump in her throat, and slowly turned the handle. She could hear the clicking of the mechanism of the door unlatching from the doorframe. The door was loose; she just had to pull it open. Carefully she had begun to pull the door towards her. As it swung open, she peeked around the door itself; there was only darkness and nothing else. Now that she knew it was safe, she opened booth doors, exposing the darkness of the room.

  Once they were opened, Jupiter noticed something on the inside of the doors. He pointed out what appeared to be scratch marks, and dried blood. Jess examined it closely, and she agreed with him, she too did think that they were scratch marks and blood. The room was all but empty, so where could these marks have come from? She decided to try the light switch in the dark room, but it was blown out. With that, she grabbed her flashlight, turned it on, and shined it in the desolate room.

  After examining a little bit of the room, seeing only boxes of wires, reams of paper, and other various boxes. It appeared to be a supply room of some sort. Her beam of light slid effortlessly across the room, finally landing on the back wall. What she lit up took her by surprise. There in her beam of light, unable to hide in the shadows, were three flesh-eaters. Their faces savaged with torn skin and bloodied mouths. Their ripped and tattered clothes were saturated in maroon stained blood.

  They looked up from the carcass they were feasting on. Their eyes locked onto hers, and all three of them leave their feast and focused on her and Jupiter. She asked Jupiter while trying not to make any sudden movements, "What do we do?"

  “On, the, count, of, three, we, shoot, our, way, out, while, we, head, for, the exit,” he replied.

  “Okay… Ready? One, two –“

  Before she could say three, the flesh-eaters were barreling down on them. They began to fire as they tried to make their way out of the comm room. They were faster than she imagined, and

  way more terrifying. It’s one thing to run in a straight line, but they found themselves jumping, dodging, and hopping over desks, chairs, and other debris that had fallen from the workstations. It was like a mini warzone, except if you got caught the enemy was going to eat you alive.

  Over in The U.F.’s second compound, McHale was still watching Jessica, and Jupiter on the monitors. He wasn’t impressed by their efforts, and now that they were in the midst of fighting the zombies, he was just counting down the moments until they died. The zombies closed in, and surrounded both Jupiter, and Jessica.

  McHale was intrigued to see if they made their way out of this one. He watched as both Jupiter, and Jessica fired round after round into the three zombies. None of the shots were affecting them, that was until Jupiter buries one
into the skull of flesh eater. It dropped like a sack of sand to the ground, and yet this didn’t stop the other two from closing in. The monitors didn’t have any audio, so McHale had to read the situation the best he could.

  Out of bullets, Jessica threw her pistol at the eater, hitting it right in the face. She then turned to run, but tripped over a fallen soldier. Before Jupiter could get to her, the flesh eater was already at her, and sank its teeth into her arm. McHale could see the pain on her face as she tried to get the hungry beast off of her. It was no use, it was more powerful than she was, and fighting it, just seemed to make it worse.

  As she struggled to get it off of her, she heard a shot, and then the zombie fell to the floor as it released its grasp on her arm. McHale raised his wrist, and started the stopwatch on his watch. He then called out to Cunningham who is sitting at the console next to him. “Cunningham!”

  He popped up out of his chair, “Sir?”

  “I want an immediate recon team sent to our headquarters to clean up the mess that was left behind, and to get rid of those rebel scum.”

  “Yes of course Sir,” Cunningham replied, and turned to assemble a team for immediate deployment.

  Jupiter and Jessica scrambled to get out of the comm room, while she hurried the best she could, but the pain from the bite was almost too much to bear. She could feel her vision blurring, and sweat dripped down her face. She wanted to stop to vomit, but she couldn’t slow Jupiter down anymore than she already had. Once they made it out of the room, Jupiter was carrying her, more than she was walking on her own.

  Andrew, and Ethan could see that she was hurt, and they rushed across the yard to meet them. Jupiter carefully laid me down on the ground, and the rain thankfully had let up a bit. She held her arm tight, trying to hide her wound. She knew it was only a matter of minutes until she turned flesh eater on them. Andrew knelt down, “What happened to her?”