by Lee Emerick
Ely managed to roll onto his side and shouted after the creatures to finish him off. He hurled insults and abuse but the mob ignored it and ran off through the destroyed barrier.
Going limp Ely blacked out, his heart rate slowing until finally it beat for the last time.
Barrier guards ran and screamed as infected individuals had broken through. Suppressing fire was spread across the infected but to no affect. They just kept coming.
The order for grenades to be thrown into the crowds was issued to slow them down. Abruptly, explosions went off all over the place. Limbs, flesh and bone were sent flying, landing in clumps on the ground. Even after horrific maiming the mobs were not sufficiently slowed down. They kept coming in larger and larger numbers.
"Fall back!" was shouted across several megaphones.
In a panic N.B.C. suited individuals ran up the streets, abandoning their positions. Numerous barrier guards lay strewn across the floor, their suits ripped exposing them to the spores or badly injured through friendly fire. It was a mess, with no time to check targets; a lot of people were laid waste by friendly grenades and gunfire. Through the fog, the mobs charged out following their human prey.
People fell in panic and were swamped by mobs or were simply chased down when they became exhausted. Only the fittest managed to outrun the mobs. Now low on resources and security, the quarantine was severely compromised.
Ely's eyes flicked open. They were milky white in colour. Open sores on his face oozed as boils broke out across his skin. He sat up and looked down at his hands. They itched. Everything itched. He cried out which came across as a groan. Getting to his feet, his bones cracked but there was no pain. He felt cold to the touch but the itching made him warm. He could feel it under his skin. Ambling forward he knew he had to get to higher ground, that was where he should be. He entered a tall building across the road and lumbered up the stairs. His bones cracked every time he took a step but he pressed on, he had to be high up.
A strange sensation came over his abdomen. It would be here soon so he had to be high up. He reached the top of the stairs and knocked the roof door off its hinges. He ran outside but it was not high enough, his stomach needed to be higher. He held onto a large communications mast and slowly pulled him self up as far as he could. Once near the top he turned himself around and hooked his arms and legs round the beams. He was high enough now, he felt good.
Suddenly he felt pressure in his gut. With a groan, his abdomen erupted releasing a cloud of spores that fluttered freely into the air. His head slumped forward. He had done well.
Chapter 12
General Virgil looked on displeased. They were rapidly loosing control. He had managed to cordon off the city with the State Army Reserves being called in to fill the void in manpower. Since the initial outbreak, he had asked for a large fence to be constructed around the city outskirts just in case the situation spiralled out of control. Good thing he did he thought to himself. So many people had been lost to the outbreak, many of his men too. In the distance, he could see a plume of spores belching into the air above a tall building. The fungus was trying to spread he thought. It had to be stopped.
The whole city had been blocked off now, nobody was allowed in or out without his express permission. Civilians lined up at the boundary gate begging and pleading to be let out but it was quite impossible. Soldiers with megaphones addressed the crowds.
"Please return to your homes. It is not safe outside. The city is under quarantine, we are unable to let you out, please return to your homes now!"
It made no difference. More and more people arrived at the perimeter.
"I need these people cleared back," the General barked.
“I can not risk contamination this close to the barrier as it risks a spread of infection."
The General reached for his radio.
"Armoury, begin issuing flame-throwers. I need at least twenty meters from the barrier to remain clear at all times. Flaming on civilians within twenty meters of the barrier is authorised providing they have been forewarned and given time to back away. If they continue towards the barrier then use force."
He hated to do it but it was necessary. The risk of this spreading outweighed the lives of those behind the barrier. It was them or the entire human race.
Soldiers lined the perimeter armed with flamethrowers and rifles. The General picked up the handset to the now operational loudspeaker system and addressed the crowds.
"By my authority this city has been placed under quarantine," the General said whilst looking over the crowd. He made sure he had their attention.
"We will get to you as soon as we can but I must ask you to move twenty meters behind the barrier. Failure to do so will be met with deadly force" he placed the handset down.
He was met by stunned looks from the civilians. Like cattle, they did not know which way to turn. Some of them began to back away but there were dissidents among them who thought they had a better idea.
"Who the hell is he to lock us all in here?" someone shouted from the crowd. "They have no right to treat us like animals!"
Commotion began amongst the civilians and from it, a group charged for the fence. Flames streaked out from flame-throwers amongst short bursts of gunfire. The situation was dealt with swiftly and deadly. Bullets riddled them as they charged the fence followed by the deadly fire from the flamethrowers. Bodies fell to the ground burnt and on fire.
After the deadly display, people screamed and cried. Slowly they backed away twenty meters from the fence. There was no choice.
Shaun and his team headed deeper into the quarantine zone. From the GPS they were nearing the last recorded position of Erik Evander. It was difficult to see anything under the thick blanket of spores. The closer they got to the epicentre the thicker the cloud became. The floor was carpeted in fungus, which was rapidly growing, eating through anything that lay in its path.
It was deadly quiet. So far, they had not seen anything, although they could barely see past several meters. Shaun stumbled and fell to the floor. He looked at what he had caught his foot on and noticed an arm. He followed it back to the body, looking around he noticed the silhouette of several others.
"Looks like we are near the epicentre" he said over the radio.
Carefully they moved on to find their target. His team consisted of four heavyset soldiers who were chosen for strength and tenacity rather than intelligence Shaun thought. It was nice to have some cover though. In his previous missions, he was used to working solo.
It should have been an in and out operation but this thick cloud had seriously slowed them down. They were ill prepared for fighting blind, good thing it was quiet so far he thought. Closing in on their target they carefully approached. Shaun called in to the General "Virgil, we have the target insight," he said.
General Virgil picked up his radio. It looked like something may be going right after all, he thought.
"Roger that Shaun. Proceed with extreme caution. Can you tell me anything that you have seen there, over" There was no reply.
"Shaun are you reading? Report the situation, over!" He was met only by static, something was wrong. He picked up the telephone. "Put me through to transport, I need a chopper now!"
Lieutenant Laraine was standing by the side of the General. She looked concerned. If the sample was not retrieved then the situation would be out of control soon she thought. She turned to the General.
"Sir, if the research team are gone we need to strike now. I recommend napalming the city. It is the only way to contain the situation."
"Get the jets on standby. If the helicopter crew find nothing at the extraction point then we will strike."
Chapter 13
Shaun picked up his radio from the floor. When he had called the General, it had slipped out of his hand and smashed on the floor due to the cumbersome suit he was wearing. He tried to get it working but it was no use, it was totalled.
"I take it no one else brought a radio with them?" he
asked the team but was met shaking heads. Marvellous, he thought. They would have to hope Erik Evander’s remains were directly ahead. From the silhouette, it looked in a most peculiar position. The back was snapped backwards, arms and legs touching the floor. A large protrusion had sprouted from the abdomen. It stood several meters in height.
He shone his torch over the bizarre sight.
"What the hell happened to you?" he said aloud to himself. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a sample retrieval device.
"Looks like it will be easy pickings to get a sample," he said under his breath. He held onto the growth with one hand and sunk the probe into the centre of it. A milky discharge oozed from the entry point and the corpse below twitched.
"Err... Shaun" said one of the men. "The arm is moving!"
Shaun looked down and saw the corpses eyes open. They were pure white. He leapt back pulling out the sample probe the creature let out a shriek, which was met by loud groans coming from nearby. Shaun backed up to the team who were looking all around for movement. The creature lifted and placed down its arms and legs as if testing they still worked. After it was happy with its mobility, it turned to face Shaun.
The creature let out another loud shriek and charged at the team. Shaun brought his arm back and smashed it into the creature's abdomen but the momentum of the creature knocked him to the floor. The creature slid to a halt next to one of the team. He took aim and fired with his assault rifle but it had little effect. The creature pounced on him pinning him to the ground. It clawed at his suit trying to rip it apart.
Footsteps could now be heard all around. Through the cloud, silhouettes of figures could be seen moving towards them. There were hundreds Shaun thought. They stood no chance out in the open. Together they all raised their rifles and shot at the creature but it would not budge. It simply kept tearing at the man pinned beneath it. Blood and gore splattered all around from the attack. The soldier screamed as he was ripped apart which brought more and more infected towards them.
“Time to leave” said Shaun whilst placing the sample in his bag. He pulled out a grenade and removed the pin.
"Get to the extraction point" he shouted.
"There's nothing we can do for him now!" He carefully rolled the grenade towards the felled soldier trying not to get the attention of the creature pinning him down. Once in place he ran after the other soldiers to a tall building, which had been agreed as the extraction point.
They burst through the doors. Shaun slammed them closed behind them. With a boom, the grenade went off sending remains and gore flying all around. Seeing the commotion the infected now charged for them running towards the doors. Shaun jammed his rifle between the door handles to hold the door closed. The rifle was useless against them anyway.
"Get up the stairs now!" he shouted. In a panic, they all raced for the staircase. Taking two steps at a time Shaun powered up the stairs. He had always kept in shape from his military days. Even as a police officer, he never knew when physical fitness could come in handy. The infected mob could be heard bashing the door down. With a crash, they burst through and followed the team. Barging each other out the way they trampled over their fallen comrades all wanting to lay chase to the healthy humans running up the stairs.
"Keep going, they are right behind us!" shouted Shaun. The lead soldier passed through the roof door, which was already open. It appeared to have been bashed in already. Once they were all on the roof they tried to force the door closed which barely fit the frame any more. It sure had taken a pounding thought Shaun. They managed to force it back into the frame and the three remaining soldiers held it shut with all their might. Banging could be heard from the other side, the infected had arrived.
"I don't know how long we can hold this for!" shouted one of the soldiers, putting all his weight on the door.
Shaun looked around. The air was a lot clearer up here. He could see lights in the distance moving towards them, and then there was the faint sound of a helicopter beating towards them.
"The recovery copter is on its way lads," he shouted. Another five minutes and it should be here!"
Ely opened his eyes. He looked around. There was something down there. He felt he had to move but struggled to unhook his limbs from the mast. He pulled on his arms and managed to get them free. His upper half fell forwards with a snap separating from his lower torso and legs. After falling several meters, he landed in a heap on the ground. He then managed to lift him self onto his hands. There was something here he needed, he had to get it.
He hobbled on his arms towards the noise. Its back was turned to him but he could tell he was clean. He needed to spread the fungus. That was what it wanted. He reached for the leg and clasped his hand.
Shaun felt something on his leg. He turned whilst drawing his pistol and pistol-whipped what ever it was around the head. With a loud crack the pistol butt cracked and sunk into its head, the creature fell to the floor in a pool of blood. Shaun looked down and looked it over. There was not much left of the thing he thought. With a sickening crunch of bone, he stamped his foot down hard on the creatures head.
The helicopter was close now. The soldiers battled to keep the door closed but they would not be able to hold it much longer. The helicopter came over the building and hovered near the side. Two men stood ready in the passenger area waiting to help the soldiers aboard. Shaun removed his second grenade and pulled the pin, he shouted to the soldiers.
"When I give you the signal I want you to leave the door and run for the Chopper. He let the handle ping off the grenade.
"GO!"
The soldiers pushed off the door and ran for the helicopter. The unrestrained door burst open and the creatures piled out. Shaun threw the grenade into the centre of them and ran to the helicopter him self. He jumped off the side of the building and was caught by the waiting helicopter crew who pulled him aboard. In a flash, the grenade went off maiming numerous infected individuals. Blood and gore showered the side of the helicopter as it flew off back to the safety of the barrier.
Chapter 14
Sydney departed the helicopter and made directly for the General. He had been advised that the sample recovery team had been retrieved and were currently being decontaminated. The sample was now available. He carried a metal case in one hand and a pile of paper work under the other arm. He ran as fast as he could to the General, he had to stop the napalming of the city.
General Virgil stood in the Temporary Command Centre. Although the sample had been recovered, he was under pressure from command to napalm the city immediately.
He lifted the telephone and asked to speak directly to the lead jet pilot.
"Napalming has been authorised, fire at will." At least his team was safe now. He had lost enough men already.
Sydney burst through the door, papers slipped from his grasp and spilled on the floor.
"General!" he shouted.
"Call off the jets, its going to make things a lot worse!"
Panting, he set his case down on the ground and ran over to the General. "The heat from the Napalm will spread the spores further out from the city, you risk infecting other population zones."
"We have to try something Professor, we risk loosing containment of the city any moment!"
"Now you have recovered the sample I will be able to neutralise the city," panted Sydney, clearly out of breath from his run across to the General.
"Give me little time and materials and I will be able to sort the situation out within the hour."
The General thought it over and lifted the telephone.
"Call off the strike. Repeat call off the strike!" he placed the phone back down.
"Professor you have an hour. If I do not have a solution in that time then the city will be napalmed. You are authorised for what ever you require!"
Sydney was quickly brought the materials he had asked for. He inspected the materials as they were brought in and set the team he had been assigned to work preparing what he required. A devic
e was brought in that was conical shaped and had a radiological warning sign on the side. It was set down in a harness ready for modifications to be carried out. A team assembled around the warhead and began removing the outer shell.