by Park, Grant
The room was full of machines and computers that Sully would never know the meaning of, a large glass window looked out over a gangway and a pool filled with deep blue water, a series of orange warning lights were flashing through there, it didn’t look good. Only one computer screen was lit up and it seemed to be moving in sequence with the beeping; Sully moved closer.
Beep: Four....
Fuck....
Beep: Three....
....my....
Beep: Two....
....fucking....
Beep: One....
....life!
Beep: Zero!
A moment passed where nothing happened, but that moment was his last.
___________________________
Caleb burst out of the front entrance of Thorp with Cassie close behind. Straight away they were faced with a mass of broken concrete and twisted metal; the ruins of the building that Ethan had been in.
“Oh, God. You don’t think Ethan is still in there do you?”
“If he is, then I don’t hold much hope for his chances,” Caleb said solemnly.
“That.... wasn’t us, was it?”
“Not a chance. This was the work of your army friends.”
Caleb spotted movement to the left of the rubble heap and pulled Cassie away to the right.
“No, Wait!” He heard distantly, “Not that way!”
He looked back long enough to see Greg stood on top of the pile waving his arms. How the hell was he still alive?
“What? What’s going on?” Cassie said, “Is that Greg?”
“Looks like it, and holy shit, he’s got Ethan with him too.”
They ran back excitedly until they saw the state of Ethan’s leg, it didn’t look good but Ethan brushed it off nonchalantly.
“There is a breach in the fence at the shore side where that Land Rover smashed its way in,” Greg explained, “the dead are pouring in and spreading out along the west of the complex, our only hope is to head east.”
“North or south would be better,” Ethan said “The crowd is thinner.”
Suddenly the tank thundered round the corner behind them.
“Decision made!” Caleb shouted, “Let’s move!”
They all ran together towards the east of the plant, hauling Ethan along as best they could, they took a turn towards the north to try to lose the tank in the maze of buildings within the complex; but just as they turned to run down the side of the building a large dark green flash fell from the sky above and landed with a wet thud in front of them. It took a moment for Caleb to realise what it was until Cassie started screaming.
“That’s not.... is that Jim?” Greg asked in disbelief.
Caleb looked up to see a large figure atop the building above them; he looked to be pointing something.
“Move...!” Caleb shouted trying to snap the others out of it; the tank was fast approaching as he looked back.
Another dull thud shook the ground; twenty minutes hadn’t been enough, they were still in the collateral zone for the drop of Thorp, they had to move fast. The ground beneath them heaved.
“Run, R-u-u-u-n!!” Caleb shouted and finally the others started to move, “Keep to the middle of the road, these buildings may fall!”
Even Ethan managed to put his pain aside and they all bolted for the end of the road, they had to reach the intersection to be clear of danger. The sound of the cracking concrete echoed around them and the ground beneath them split into fractures, falling into nothingness behind them. Caleb snatched another glimpse behind to see the tank thundering between the crevices in the road, the ground fell away from its right and they veered off to the left nearly colliding with the building as they doubled back and round to escape falling into the pit.
They were nearing the intersection, not far till the safe zone; they called it the ‘safe zone’, but it was all just a theory, no one truly knew how far would be effected by ‘dropping Thorp’, Caleb was about to find out.
A large crack opened up in the ground in front of them, Cassie and Greg made it safely over before it opened widely and the ground sloped back towards Thorp; Ethan tried to jump, but he tried jumping with his bad leg and stumbled right in front of Caleb, leaving him no option but to slam into the back of him, pushing him over the gap. Unfortunately for Caleb, it stalled him in mid air above the rent in the earth.
Caleb’s legs fell deep into the pit beneath him, he expected to fall forever, but with a jarring twist to his shoulder he was left dangling in mid air by one hand; the Naginata had bridged the gap above him and stalled his fall, but the edges of the ever widening gap was grinding heavily against the shaft of the pole.
“Give me your hand!” Cassie called, her beautiful face appearing above him. Caleb reached out and grabbed her slender wrist, swinging himself to the edge and allowing him to be hauled up by numerous hands. Just in the nick of time he reached back and snatched the Naginata from the abyss just before it fell.
Caleb looked round to assess the damage; Thorp was gone, taking most of the buildings around it with it, the billion pound complex was reduced to nothing but a hole in the ground topped with rubble; a large red section of the roof was still poking out but that was the only bit he could recognise.
“What now?” Cassie asked.
“I guess we keep heading north.” Caleb said and looked to Ethan for confirmation who nodded his head while wincing in pain as he put some weight on his injured leg.
Just as they turned to move off a bullet ricochet off of the ground beside them; Caleb looked up to see the same looming figure still atop the building across from where Thorp stood, it looked like it was sitting at an odd angle now, the figure dropped something to one side and bent to pick up something else. Everyone turned and ran at the same time.
“It’s Knox,” shouted Ethan as he limped along, “He’s not much of a sniper but he will be switching to a fully auto. Get round the side of the building and we should be safe!”
They rounded the building but dared not to stop again, they slowed to a jog to match Ethan’s pace, he looked to be moving as fast as he could.
“If we take a right at the end here we may be able to lose them further in,” Caleb said, “But we have to take a left next to avoid the main reactor drop site, we don’t want to go anywhere near there.”
Caleb lead them further through the maze of buildings that was Sellafield, all the while he could hear the engine of the tank racing between the buildings searching for them; they had to hide more than once to avoid capture but eventually they neared the north gate.
Caleb could hear the moans of the dead long before he saw them; they rounded the corner, on the verge of freedom, only to be confronted by swathes of rotting corpses pushed hard against the fence to make a solid wall of writhing fetid flesh.
All four of them skidded to a halt.
“Shit!” said Greg, “What do we do now?”
“I guess we look for another exit,” said Cassie.
“Another exit, and where are we going to find one of them?” Greg said sulkily.
“Well let’s look at our options shall we?” Said Ethan, “The place is surrounded by the dead, but the majority of them are to the east so that’s a no go, the south of the plant is far too far away to get to, plus we would run the risk of Michaels catching us if we went back into the centre.”
“If the dead are coming in through a gap in the west,” asked Caleb, “wouldn’t that thin them out, couldn’t we fight our way through them there? The Infected will be inside already from that are so it should only be the husks we have to deal with.”
“What if we were to work our way along the outer fence from here to the gap in the west?” asked Cassie, “That would keep us away from the rest of the plant at least. Then we could fight our way out somewhere where there are less of them.”
“Well that brings me to our next issue,” said Ethan, “What kind of weapons do we have? I lost my rifle and my sidearm when the building came down; all I have is this bl
unt knife.”
“I got an iron bar from where I found Ethan.” Greg said lifting up a section of bent steel reinforcement at around a foot and a half long. Ethan winced for some reason when he looked at it.
“I still have the pistol,” added Cassie, “but that’s all.”
All three of them looked to Caleb. “Well I got the staff, obviously, the machete and a selection of other blades; but I lost my rifle when we were attacked by Harper.”
“Harper attacked you?” Ethan asked Cassie, “What happened?”
Cassie’s eyes widened and she looked incredibly uncomfortable with the question, Caleb decided to answer for her, “Cassie, uh.... took care of him.”
Ethan looked shocked but not as shocked as Cassie herself; she only now seemed to be coming to terms with taking another human beings life.
“Right, we had better be moving,” Ethan said changing the subject; but as they all turned to head back the way they had come the Land Rover turned the corner at the end of the road, Caleb turned in the opposite direction but the tank rounded that corner too, finally he turned to look in the third direction, a lone figure stood there in the middle of the road slowly walking towards them.
The enemy closed in from all sides, forcing them back towards the barred gates that separated them from the hoard outside. Nor the roof gun or the rifle held in the hands of the mountainous man striding towards them strayed from them as they approached.
A million thoughts flew through Caleb’s head as they slowly closed in on them, a million missed opportunities to lead them on a different path to deviate from the situation that was now unavoidable, but not one thought of how to escape it.
The tank stopped to their left, the Land Rover to the right with Knox in the middle.
“So here we are,” said Knox in a low grumble, “the traitor, the nerd, the bitch and the.... I don’t know who the hell you are buddy but you landed yourself in the wrong crowd, now drop the stick or you lose your head; all of you, drop your weapons!”
Caleb reluctantly dropped the Nanigata with a dull clang onto the tarmac and the back door of the tank slowly opened; two soldiers stepped out, with rifles trained onto each of them, followed by an older man with a barrel for a belly and a moustache that took up most of his face, it must have been Michaels.
“Well done, Staff Sergeant, I’ll take it from here thank you,” Michaels said pompously and stepped slowly up to Cassie, “So, Miss Fosters, You really have given us quite the run around haven’t you? Been quite the thorn in our side,” Cassie didn’t answer, “You do know that you are responsible for the deaths of many of the men under my command don’t you? All of this, all of it, is because of you!” he said getting heated, “We could be safe and sound inside of the bunker right now, couldn’t we? But no! You decided that you knew better, you even turned several of my troops against me, created an uprising before my very eyes and destroyed all that I had built! You, you are a vile temptress and you must be tamed!” Caleb could see Cassie’s arm twitch as she tried to stop herself from laying a fist into Michaels’ face, “And you will be tamed, Miss Fosters, believe me, you will be tamed!”
Michaels took a step to the side, “And then we have the traitor, a man so repugnant that he would turn his back on his own country for the sake of a woman!”
“I turned my back on you....” Ethan shouted, “....you bast....” Knox stepped forward and laid a crushing blow to Ethan’s chest knocking him to his knee and the wind out of him, the big guy winced as he delivered the blow though; he was bleeding heavily from a wound low on his right shoulder.
Michaels seemed satisfied with the result and stood over Ethan, “I sentence you to death for your betrayal, soldier, you will stay on your knees where you belong!”
He then stepped over to Greg, “Ah, Mr Woodward, it can only be god’s will that you have survived this far where so many have fallen in your stead. I would happily have you killed for your betrayal, but I feel that we may have some need for you in days to come, you may live; I can’t, however, promise that it will be much of a life for you, you will be little more than a servant to me, but I have a feeling that a coward like you would accept this curse gratefully. Would you not?” Greg did little more than bow his head to look at his feet.
“What a reunion we have here!” Michaels bellowed dramatically turning away from them and waving his hands in the air like he was conducting a grand symphony, “I do love reunions; and speaking of reunions.... Barnes, retrieve Miss Fosters father from the Land Rover!”
Cassie started at the sudden revelation.
The soldier climbed into the back with a grimace and rattled about for a minute or so until he appeared from the back dragging a sorry excuse for a human being behind him on a lead; the shredded rags of clothes hung from his stooped frame and where skin was visible there were deep lacerations in his flesh, his grey hair was wild and he had a good growth of beard, Caleb could smell a strong scent of excrement from him as he was tugged in their direction; the smell reminded him of his parents house. Cassie was visibly shocked by the sight of her father and as she stepped forward Caleb noticed the pistol tucked into the back of her belt.
“Dad, Dad!” she shouted, but her father’s wide eyed stare was ever distant.
“We don’t know what happened to him,” Michaels said mirthfully, “he was attacked by one of the swift buggers, but it didn’t eat him, it just toyed with him a little, it was the damndest thing; he hasn’t spoken since.”
“Dad...?” Cassie said tentatively taking another step forward putting the pistol just out of Caleb’s reach, “can you hear me, Dad?” her father seemed to stir from the slumber in his mind.
“Cass.... Cassandra, is that you?” he said in a withered voice, raising a stump of an arm towards her; the flesh burnt and blistered from recent cauterisation.
“Yes, Dad, it’s me! Oh, Dad, what happened to your hand?” she asked with tear filled eyes.
“Oh, Cassie, you shouldn’t have come, you shouldn’t have come,” he sobbed, “Go!” he burst out flailing his hands in the air wildly, “Go now, run!”
Knox just swatted him to the ground and grabbed Cassie, spinning her round so his arm was around her neck; she struggled ferociously and skilfully, using many techniques that Caleb himself would have used to try and free himself from the same situation, but ultimately Knox was too strong, and with some struggle held her there.
“Take Miss Fosters into the TC, Knox,” Michaels ordered, “Barnes, take Mr Foster and Mr Woodward into the TC also, tie them together.
“Now, what do we do with you two?” Ethan pulled himself to his feet and gave Michaels a murderous stare, “Turn around! Both of you; turn around and face the fence.
Both Caleb and Ethan stood their ground.
“Boys....” Michaels said in a menacingly calm tone.
Two of the soldiers stepped forward the more slender, almost weak looking lad came for Caleb whereas the larger one stepped around the side of Ethan; both of them took a crack to the back of their legs dropping them to their knees, they were then dragged round to face the fence.
As sharp stones dug into Caleb’s knees he watched the Infected swarm outside of the gate, having their prey so close was driving them into a frenzy, the constant swarming mass was only flawed in one part and it drew Caleb’s eye; one of the creatures wasn’t moving, it just stood there staring, staring right at Caleb. It bared its teeth as Caleb stared back; it looked to be snarling with its blackened twisted face, or was it a smile?
Caleb looked closer to this strange Infected. Was it an infected? It didn’t look quite the same as the others. It was wearing camouflage clothing though it was burnt away in areas, it had one hand behind its back and one hand on the gate, no, it was on the gate latch; slowly it slid the blot to the side, not quite all the way. Caleb looked back to the creatures face.
“Prepare to fire on my command!” Michaels shouted.
‘It can’t be’ Caleb thought.
“Ready”
‘It’s the ears that give it away’
“Aim”
Frank gave Caleb a cheeky wink before he slid the bolt all the way open.
Chapter
27
Army of the Dead
It was still dark when Frank had pulled his broken and burnt carcass from the cold waters of the lake and slumped himself on the grassy verge. He was feeling faint from the loss of blood; the icy water had pulled at the blood flow from the wound in his shoulder as he swam to the shore pushing him dangerously close to passing out.
‘Speak to me my brethren,’ he begged the angels but received no response. Frank felt abandoned. Had he failed them, was that why they refused to speak? ‘Never mind the Angels,’ he thought, though not too loudly, he had a direction, ‘I know your plans you treacherous fool’.
Frank had managed to sneak back after being chased into the night by the men who had come to Caleb’s aid, Caleb made for a very poor watchman, especially when talking to women. He knew every detail of their plans now, and he had a head start on them. The thoughts gave him renewed vigour and he craned himself back to his feet; he felt every movement he made due to the burns and blisters over his face and body, the cold soothing of the lake had blanketed him from the pain in his shoulder but he felt it in full force now, with what scraps were left in his small clear plastic medical bag he dressed his wound; he shook himself off and started walking away from the lake; the sun wouldn’t be long in rising and he had a very long way to go.
As the sun rose above the hills behind him, Frank approached a small town called Hawkshead; the name struck a chord with him, he had always had an affinity for place names, he would spend hours just pouring himself over maps as a child, imagining visiting all of these strange and wonderful places but never actually being able to because of his mother; but even when his mother left him he never ventured very far, until now that was.
He was out on a grand adventure for justice, to avenge himself against the man who had twice tried to kill him; justice, honour and right was on his side, even God himself blessed Frank and his cause, the day would be his in the end.