A World Reborn: The First Outbreak

by Chris Thompson

  “Roy?” Melissa summoned.

  “I’m here, Melissa. You made it?”

  “I did thanks.” She responded. “What’s going on with the FBI?”

  “I’ve explained to them as much of what’s happening as I can. They’re sceptical at best about the nature of the infection, but they’ve promised me that when they enter the casino they’ll take all necessary precautions.”

  “So, when are they going to breach?”

  “In about half an hour or so.” Roy informed her.

  “Why wait that long?” Melissa questioned with a frown. “They’ve been outside for a good long while now, surely they should be ready?”

  “They’re waiting for approval from above.” Roy answered.

  Melissa thought about what Roy was saying, and what she’d overheard earlier, about the Reborn having people in places of power.

  “It’s the Ancillary. She’s got someone in her pocket, someone who’s got enough power to make them hold off to give her time to escape.”

  “Maybe. Honestly, after today, I’ll believe anything.” Roy stated, though he sounded tired and as though the pain was really getting to him.

  “If I can get to her, I’ll take the bitch prisoner, and then we can hand her over to the cops.”

  “Is there any point in me telling you to be careful?”

  “What are you saying, Roy?” Melissa asked, smiling despite herself.

  “Well, every time I’ve asked you to take care or be careful, you’ve run into a more dangerous situation than the one before.”

  “I always made it through, though.”

  “That you have.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without you, Roy.” Melissa declared, her words heavy and serious.

  “I’ve done literally nothing to help you.”

  “You’ve been on the radio for me whenever I needed you. You’ve been a rock, a comfort even.”

  “I wish I could’ve done more for Donna.” Roy said quietly.

  “You did everything you could. You couldn’t have known what Jim was going to do.”

  “I guess.”

  “I know.”

  Melissa looked up at the LED display and saw she was approaching the fifty-first floor. Another couple of minutes and she’d need to be ready for battle.

  “I’m nearly there, Roy, but here’s something to keep us going. Sometime in the next few days, your doctor permitting, you, your wife and I are going for a drink and we’re going to raise a glass to the people we’ve lost. Are you with me?”

  “I’m with you, Melissa.” Roy affirmed. “And no damn doctor will stop me either.”

  Melissa smiled.

  Melissa clipped the radio back onto her belt and ejected the clip from her gun so that she could check how many bullets were left. There was a little less than half a clip, six bullets, so she slammed it back into the weapon. She felt her pockets and found she still had a pair of clips; she would have enough, she hoped, to take care of any remaining Reborn between her and the Ancillary. Melissa stood up, groaning as her muscles burned; rebelling against her readying herself for further exertion. Her breathing had settled down again and she felt as ready as possible under the circumstances. She moved to a corner of the elevator, away from the doors so that she wouldn’t immediately be in the line of sight of anyone waiting for her. When the elevator doors opened, she waited a moment, and upon hearing no gunfire, stepped out, advancing cautiously. She made her way back to the south side staircase, hearing much growling echoing up from the floors below and hoped that the infected wouldn’t pursue her any time soon. She advanced quietly up to the top floor and braced herself beside the door. This was it, she thought to herself, and took a few deep breaths to ready herself. Melissa remembered the layout of the executive suites from earlier in the night, so she wouldn’t be going in totally unaware of her surroundings. It occurred to her that she didn’t know for certain that the Ancillary would be on this floor, but it was the only one with roof access. So, even if she wasn’t here now, she reassured herself, she’d have to arrive at some point to get to the helicopter. Confident in her decision to go to the top floor, Melissa got ready for one last engagement.

  Melissa opened the door wide but didn’t step through, waiting to see if there were any Reborn waiting for her. A fraction of a second later, she was fired upon. Bullets imbedded themselves in the wall across from the door. The salvo was long and seemingly unending, and then quite suddenly it broke. Melissa leaned out and fired quickly, squeezing off all the shots in her weapon to force her enemy into cover. She saw two Reborn soldiers ahead of her, leaning back to screen themselves from her attack around the left and right corners of the corridor. She ejected the clip, grabbed a replacement, slammed it home and chambered the round. Then she waited for one of them to move out of cover. The one on the right showed himself first and Melissa fired at him, not trying to take the headshot now, but aiming for his leg. The bullet smashed into his kneecap and he tumbled, leaving a bloody trail as he hastily scrambled back behind cover. As the second came into view, Melissa reacted quickly and fired, missing her target but forcing him to retreat.

  She stepped out and advanced cautiously but quickly. Neither of the Reborn broke cover and Melissa was able to reach the door of the first suite on the right. She used the doorway for cover, but when she wasn’t attacked, she continued her assault. Melissa fired a spray of bullets left, in the direction of the uninjured Reborn soldier, and then hugged the wall, hurrying along until she saw him more clearly. She fired a burst of shots again, with a pair of them definitely hitting him in the shoulder, and then she aimed low, shooting his leg from under him. The Reborn closest to her, at the right hand corner, peered out, crouching low. Melissa was so close to him she was able to kick him in the face before he could bring his rifle to ready. Pressing her advantage, she swiftly approached and executed him with a single shot to the head. The last Reborn, recovering from his wounds faster than Melissa expected, brought his weapon up and pulled the trigger in one, smooth movement, hitting her cleanly in the upper thigh. Melissa fell down, twisting as she did so and immediately returned fire. A second shot from him hit her body armour, the harsh impact hurting her chest. She hadn’t been able to kill him outright, but a pair of her shots did hit his chest, winding him. Instinctively, Melissa directed her weapon at his head to finish him off, but unfortunately, he was doing the same. It was an evenly matched race, one against the other. Melissa fired, hoping and praying her aim was true. The bullet clipped his shoulder, making him wince and drop his aim. She squeezed the trigger again, but her gun was empty. Without a seconds thought, she dropped it and grabbed the body of the Reborn beside her, raising him up until he was on his side and she could tuck her head down below his. Her slight frame allowed her to protect her head and upper torso with the body of her dead enemy, with only her legs exposed a little. Hoping for a lucky shot, the Reborn fired blindly, and she felt the impacts hitting the body. When he stopped, Melissa dropped the corpse and picked up the fallen rifle, aiming and firing at the prone Reborn. She ground her teeth and managed to kill him, one of her four shots hitting his head, killing him instantly.

  Breathing deeply, Melissa released her grip on the rifle, reaching instead for the wound on her leg. She was grateful it wasn’t the same leg that had been bitten earlier in the night, but it was quite bloody. However, the wound didn’t appear to be life threatening, more on the outside of her thigh, with the bullet having passed through the meat. Thinking of her own body like that made her feel slightly sick, but she fought through the wave of nausea and pressed down on her leg. She managed to stand, but pain flooded her, so she knelt down by the nearby fallen Reborn and pulled off his belt, before using the knife to cut the arm off her jacket. Next, she wrapped the arm of her jacket around her wound, and then secured it by pulling the belt tight around it; hoping it would staunch the flow of blood. Finally, Melissa scooped up the rifle and took a couple of spare ammo clips from the dead Reborn. She decide
d it was best to check through the rooms on the way to the rooftop stairwell, just in case the Ancillary was waiting in a room.

  As quickly as she could, Melissa checked each executive suite. Inside the rooms she found nothing, except in one room, there was a broken glass near one of the windows and a glass of wine on the coffee table. Realising her quarry was almost certainly going for the helicopter, Melissa hobbled into the corridor and went for the roof access staircase. She expected to find more guards inside the stairwell, but strangely, there was no one. After cautiously going up the stairs, Melissa approached the roof door and opened it with one hand, keeping her rifle raised. The door opened inwardly and she saw the helicopter on the top of the raised helipad. A female figure was standing nearby and Melissa’s heart skipped a beat; she was still in time to catch her. She hurried as fast as she could, using all her willpower to push the pain in her leg away, crossing half the distance before stopping, all the while keeping the Ancillary always in her sight.

  “Don’t move!” Melissa called out. The Ancillary turned and walked calmly to the edge of the helipad.

  “I’m not surprised you made it this far, Witness. After what we heard about you in Africa we expected a certain level of ferocity; a will to survive that would serve you well if you were to make it to the new world we’re going to create. The Teacher chose you well.”

  “Tell your pilot to get out of the helicopter or I’ll fire.” Melissa instructed curtly.

  “You won’t.”

  “You really think I won’t?”

  “I know you won’t. I’m unarmed. And although I’m responsible for what happened in there, you’d never kill an unarmed person who truly poses no threat. I’m not about to turn into one of the infected, I’m not going to do anything to harm anyone else, for now at least. Your sense of morality will prevent you from pulling that trigger. I guess that’s the difference between us, Witness.”

  “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But I don’t have to kill you to stop you from walking away.”

  Ignoring Melissa entirely, the Ancillary continued.

  “I will kill all those who deserve it. And although the Teacher told us you’re special, that you’re to see what’s to come, you’ve taken away my Sebastian. And that... well that deserves retribution.”

  “Your Sebastian?” Melissa scoffed. “What about all the other people’s loved ones you’ve killed today? Don’t they deserve retribution?”

  “Is that what you’ve become? A force of retribution? An avenger for the fallen?”

  “I’m tired of listening to your rhetoric. Tell the pilot to—”

  Melissa didn’t get to finish her demand. She felt a hard blow on the side of her head which both sent her crumpling to the ground and caused her to drop the rifle. A second blow to the tourniquet on her leg made the bullet wound flare in pain afresh and Melissa cried out involuntarily, stunned and surprised by the sudden assault.

  “Have fun, Witness.” The Ancillary imparted as she boarded the helicopter. Melissa was twisting her head to look up at the person assaulting her, when she was kicked viciously in the side. Rolling onto her front with the impact, Melissa quickly forced herself up onto her knees and turned her head to face her attacker, just in time to see a leg swinging, deliberately aiming at her face. The brief forewarning allowed her to time react; Melissa grabbed her assailant’s limb and yanked hard, sending her aggressor tumbling to the floor. Despite the pain in her leg and the disorientation from the blow to her head, Melissa rose quickly to her feet and adopted a fighting stance. She looked down at her opponent, who was hastily rising, a look of almost insane ferocity shaping her face into a murderous scowl. Melissa realized it was the same woman who had attacked her in the executive suite earlier in the night, except now she looked even angrier.

  “I’ll claw your eyes out!” She yelled at Melissa.

  “Try it!” Melissa taunted back. She heard the engine of the helicopter starting up, the distinctive whoop of the rotor beginning to turn the blades. However, Melissa couldn’t worry about the Ancillary now, as much as she hated to allow her to leave. The woman in front of her was determined to kill her, with her bare hands if necessary. The crazed female lunged at her, faking a punch towards Melissa’s gut, which she instinctively dodged, but a second later her other hand caught Melissa with a vicious swipe against the side of her head. The blow completely disoriented Melissa, making it easy for the woman to jerk free the knife on Melissa’s vest. The rabid female aimed a swipe at Melissa’s mid-rift with the knife, but she managed to dart back and avoid the low slice that would have caught her just below the vest. For the second assault, the woman lashed out at Melissa’s face, but Melissa managed to lean back far enough to avoid the sharp, cutting edge of the blade. The third attack was a thrusting stab, again straight towards her face. Melissa twisted away from it and retreated backwards a few pain-filled steps. Across from her, the woman, breathing heavily with fierce anger, tossed the knife from hand to hand menacingly, and then ceased her playacting and took a firm hold of it with her right. Melissa saw the broken finger on her right hand was crudely splinted, and recognised it as a weakness. In her peripheral vision, Melissa could see the rotors of the helicopter beginning to spin faster and faster and she inwardly cursed the imminent escape of the Ancillary. This momentary distraction was perilous under the circumstances; it allowed the woman to lunge forward, bringing the knife down in an over-head assault. Melissa raised her hand to try and grab the woman’s wrist, but whether she adjusted her move mid-strike or Melissa simply drastically miscalculated was irrelevant to the outcome: the knife plunged through her hand. Melissa screamed as the blood flowed freely from the penetrating wound. The gloating female pressed home her advantage by pushing down hard on the knife, thrusting Melissa’s hand towards her own face as she reached out with her free hand to try to grab Melissa’s throat. She succeeded, and Melissa felt the woman’s hand begin to choke her.

  The pain from her wounds was taking a heavy toll. Melissa was fatigued, the assault was ferocious and Melissa felt pin-pricking doubts creeping into her mind that she would survive the encounter. She was however, determined to keep fighting, and this fierce resoluteness in the face of such a strong adversary prompted her body to release a powerful surge of adrenalin, which both boosted her confidence and her flagging energy. With her free hand Melissa reached across and grabbed the up pointing, splinted broken finger of her opponent and twisted, making her scream loudly as the broken bone was wrenched beneath the binding. The grasp around her throat diminished a fraction, so Melissa grabbed her opponent by the wrist and twisted it away from her throat. Although it was agonising to do so, Melissa then forced the knife, which was through her left hand and inching slowly towards her face, to move out of the way, giving her the space she needed for her next attack. Pulling her head back, she thrust it forward, butting her antagonist’s face as hard as she could. She heard the female’s nose break, and when she looked up, Melissa saw two rivers of blood streaming from her nostrils. The strength had ebbed away from the woman’s arms, and though she hadn’t let go of the knife, she was clearly not holding it as tightly as she had been. Melissa followed up her assault by releasing the woman’s wrist and slugging her as hard as she could; a tooth-loosening blow that sent a stream of blood and teeth flying from her mouth. The woman let go of the knife as she stumbled backwards. Instantly, Melissa pulled the knife free and advanced towards her enemy. The woman was recovering, looking up at Melissa through watery eyes, the tears running down her cheeks and mixing with the blood staining her lower face.

  “I’ll rip you open!” She yelled; her pure, unadulterated hatred giving her the force to surge at Melissa, who raised the knife and plunged it straight into her chest.

  “Not today, bitch.” Melissa retorted. Her antagonist’s face sagged, but her eyes still radiated an unnatural anger. Melissa looked at her without mercy, then twisted the knife, forcing it in as far as she could. As the woman died, Melissa pulled the knife free and
slammed it overhead into the top of her skull, just in case she was equipped with the same virus injection system as the Reborn soldiers. She dropped to the ground and bled profusely. Melissa let go of the knife and went over to the rifle, picking it up and hobbling towards the stairs leading to the helipad. The rotors sounded incredibly loud, and as Melissa struggled up the stairs, she saw the helicopter lifting away into the near dawn light.

  “No!” She shrieked, hurting, bleeding and filled with fury that the Ancillary was escaping. The helicopter was turning away and Melissa could’ve sworn she could see the Ancillary smiling at her out of the window. She raised the rifle and thought about firing, but the helicopter was already away from the top of the building. It was over the city now, and if she hit the wrong part, if a bullet penetrated the armour and clipped the fuel tank or some important mechanical component, then it could go down over the city, and then she would be responsible for the casualties. A part of Melissa realized that she couldn’t fire on the helicopter for another reason. The Ancillary was unarmed, she was fleeing, and killing her wouldn’t be an act of self defence; perhaps it would be an act that would protect others, but if in killing her it led to more innocent deaths when the helicopter crashed, Melissa couldn’t live with that. She lowered the rifle, and slumped to her knees on the floor, feeling pain from every wound she’d suffered between now and when she first woke up and discovered everything had gone to hell.