by Casey, Ryan
“What is that?” Noah asked, scrambling his underwear back on.
But Paul didn’t answer.
His face went totally pale.
“Shit,” he said. “It’s…”
Noah didn’t hear if he said anything else.
All he saw were those two guards.
Lifting their rifles.
Firing.
But already too late.
Something hitting them.
A man.
No, two men.
Both of them smacking into those two armed guards.
Pinning them down.
Tearing at their bodies.
Biting at their throats.
Blood everywhere.
Screams.
The sound of flesh being torn away.
Paul backed up towards Noah and Kelly. Stared out of that door. Wide-eyed.
“Shut it,” Noah said.
“I…” Paul said.
“Shut the door right this second!”
Paul stumbled over to it.
Went to close it.
Then one of the infected turned and looked him right in the eyes.
Paul went to slam the door shut.
But it was too late.
One of the infected knocked the door back.
Threw itself on top of Paul.
Noah stood, and he watched.
He watched it press its thumbs into Paul’s eyes.
He watched Paul lie there. Scream.
He wanted to leave him there to suffer.
He wanted to leave him there to die.
But then he figured there was another option.
He lifted the pistol from the floor and shot the infected in the head, twice.
The skull split open. Blood pooled everywhere.
Paul kicked back. Rubbed his bloodshot eyes. “Shit. Shit!”
Kelly slammed the door shut.
Noah stood over Paul.
Gun to his head as that siren rang out, as pandemonium erupted outside.
“No more games, you sneaky bastard. Not if you want to live. How about we talk about getting us out of this place? For real this time.”
Chapter Seventeen
Eddie heard the snarl of an infected at the side of the barn, and he wished things could be easy for once.
It was pitch black. The stench of dead cows filled his nostrils. Everything was silent, but for that rustling of footsteps at the other side of the barn. That demented growl.
He looked across the barn at that silhouette. Just the one, as far as he could tell. But it was impossible to tell in the darkness. Impossible to know whether there were any more of those things.
And he called them things now, cause that helped him differentiate.
It helped him feel better about what he had to do to them.
Ignoring the fact that the majority of them were still living people.
He tried not to think about the dead ones.
He stood his ground. Harold one side of him. Tim the other. They watched that silhouette move towards them. Tim lifted a rake from the side of the barn. Harold held on to a hammer.
Eddie didn’t have anything in hand.
He reached into his pocket.
Couldn’t find his knife.
He was defenceless.
Didn’t have anything to fight with.
Didn’t have—
It all happened in a flash.
The infected woman—chubby, middle-aged, clearly still one of the living—stretched out a hand and reached her long dirty nails out at Eddie.
“Come here, angel. Come to mother. Come to mother!”
She launched herself at him—
And then Tim buried that rake into her skull.
Harold slammed the hammer against her.
Knocked her to the ground, frothing blood.
Eddie nodded. “Thanks.”
Tim raised an eyebrow. “Don’t mention it. Really.”
“We need to get the hell out of this place,” Harold said, looking around at the darkness. “It was safe. But… not for much longer. I…”
Cracking.
The sound of wood splitting at the other side of the barn.
More infected—two, three of them—clawing their way inside.
Eddie took a step back. “You were saying?”
Harold nodded. “I was saying. Come on.”
They turned around. Eddie looked around for anything he could use as a weapon on the way. Didn’t see anything. Fucking hell. It was supposed to be a farm. Surely farmers had tools and equipment lying around and handy?
Fuck it.
He needed to get out of this place.
That had to be the priority.
They reached the doorway to the barn.
“Come on,” Harold said. “Let’s get out of here. Let’s…”
Then, Eddie saw them.
Two of them.
Then another.
Then another.
All at the wide barn doors.
And then more splitting sounds.
“Jesus,” Tim said. “When did they learn about herd mentality?”
They backed up to one another. Stood their ground as the infected flooded inside the barn. Every corner covered. No way out. No escape.
“Anyone got any ideas here?” Eddie said.
Tim tutted. “Says the man without a weapon!”
“Trust me,” Eddie barked, as the infected continued to surround them. “If there’s one thing I’d really, really love right now, it’s a goddamned weapon.”
He stood with his back to Harold. With his back to Tim. Barney stood by their side. Growling. Kicking. Barking.
And he thought of Noah.
He thought of Kelly.
He thought of his mum and his dad and of everyone he’d lost.
Did I do you proud?
That’s the one question that stuck in his mind, more than any other.
Did I do you all proud?
He watched the infected close in.
Saw their faces. Some of them mangled and dead. Others alive. In pain.
And then he prepared to stand his ground.
He prepared to fight.
He had to.
He—
A bang.
A bang somewhere by the door.
A sudden crack of light.
Blast after blast.
The infected turned around. Their attention waned. Their interest caught by something else.
Flames.
The smell of burning.
The sound of cries like pigs squealing in an abattoir.
Eddie stood. Back pressed against Harold. Against Tim. All of them looking on as the chaos unfolded. As infected went up in flames. As more and more blasts echoed out all around them.
And Eddie couldn’t help smiling.
He couldn’t help laughing.
Staring death in the goddamned face and he should have known that it’d be a deus ex machina that bailed him out.
He watched as the infected fell, one by one, and then he saw her.
By the door. Silhouette in the moonlight. Looked like some kind of cool, badass post-apocalyptic hero.
She stepped forward. Dressed in a long mac. Looked in her twenties. Short, jet black hair. Mean-ass face, with a long scar from the bottom of her right eye, right to her chin.
Shotgun in hand.
Grenades dangling from her waist.
“You guys waiting to die or what?”
Chapter Eighteen
Noah held the rifle from the fallen guard to Paul’s back and nudged him towards the cell door.
The alarms inside this prison rang out loudly, blaring in his ears. He could hear muffled noises outside. Gunfire. Sounded frantic. Like people were fighting. Trying to get things under control. He didn’t know how many infected were out there. He just knew something was wrong. Something had gone down. There’d been a meltdown. Some kind of breach.
He didn’t know what that meant for this place. Didn’t k
now what kind of contingency measures they had in place in case of outbreak.
But he knew one thing.
It made him even more eager to get out of here.
Paul stood with his hand to the cell door. Noah could smell his sweat and hear his shaky breathing. Kelly stood just by Noah’s side. On the floor of the cell, the blood-soaked body of one of the infected.
“This is how it’s going to go,” Noah said. “No more games. No more fucking around. You’re going to get us out of this place.”
Paul shook his head. It sounded like he was sobbing. “You’ve no idea how difficult that is.”
“I don’t give a shit how difficult it is,” Noah said, pressing the rifle further into Paul’s back. “If there’s a way out, you take us out.”
“This place. It’s guarded. It’s—”
“I think if there’s some kind of outbreak in here, the guards will be more preoccupied, don’t you?”
Paul looked around at Noah, then at Kelly. It’s like he was actually looking for sympathy. Like he was actually begging them for mercy. “I know you don’t believe me. And I know you think how I’ve acted is wrong. And it is. Believe me; I know I could’ve done better. We all could’ve done better. But when I tell you you’re in this place for a reason, you need to see it from my perspective. You need to believe me.”
“It’s hard to see anything from your perspective when you won’t be damned straight with me. Now open that cell door.”
Paul turned around. Lowered his head. “Do I have a choice?”
“If you want to live. If you want to get out of this place. That’s what you’ll do.”
Paul paused a few seconds. Hesitated. For a moment, Noah thought he might just try something else.
And then he just lowered his head.
Sighed.
And then he opened that door.
The second they stepped outside, Noah knew things had changed.
The red flashing lights. That alarm siren, ringing in his ears. There was a taste of fear in the air. People running across the metal walkways. Blood soaking the floor. Everyone in a state of panic. A state of frenzy. Trying to get things under control. Trying to understand the scale of the situation here.
“The doors,” Paul said. “The cell doors. There’s been a malfunction. A breach. A—”
A blast over to their right.
A woman standing her ground. Firing at two infected running at her.
“Shit,” Paul said. “Shit…”
Noah pressed the rifle to his back. “If you don’t want that to be you next, you’d better get a move on.”
Paul nodded, clearly caught up in the drama now, clearly putting his life first for a change and forgetting the fact that Noah and Kelly were enemies in his eyes. He rushed down the metal corridor. Almost slipped on the blood. Noah followed closely behind. Kept his rifle raised. Kept his eyes on those open cell doors. Kept his eyes on his surroundings at all times.
He heard something else over his shoulder. A shriek. Another infected. Frenzied. Alive or dead? Impossible to tell.
“What is this virus?”
“You’ve no idea,” Paul said. “Truly. You’ve no idea. Quick. This way.”
They took a left at the end of the corridor. Reached a door with a keypad. Paul hurriedly entered a few keys.
“Drat,” he said.
“What?”
“The key code. It’s not working. They’ve shut it off.”
“No chance,” Noah said. “There has to be another way.”
Paul shook his head. Eyes wide. Clearly terrified. “There is. But… but it’s at the other side of the compound.”
“Then that’s where we go,” Noah said.
“You don’t understand,” Paul said. “That’s where we… that’s where we do the more serious testing.”
Noah frowned. He really didn’t understand. Serious testing? What testing?
But he didn’t have time to mull it over.
Because two infected appeared at the end of the corridor, right opposite them.
A man and a woman.
The man stripped totally. Lashings of bruises and open, pus-filled sores across his body. Eyes rolled back into his skull. Face smeared with blood.
The woman in quarantine gear. Similarly psychotic.
They raced towards the group.
Noah lifted the rifle and fired them both in the heads.
He watched them hit the floor before them both, sudden as that.
“Well shit,” Kelly said. “Never thought I’d say it, but you look kind of hot when you’re wielding an assault rifle.”
Noah shook his head. “Come on. Let’s get out of this place. Paul? You know where to go.”
Paul nodded, shaking. He stepped over the fallen bodies, filled with uncertainty. Noah followed him closely. Kelly beside him. Behind, it sounded like the people running this place were getting shit under some kind of control.
But Noah, Kelly, and Paul kept racing across the metal walkway. Then headed down some steps, down to the lowest level. Every dark corner of this room felt like it could be hiding someone. Every shadow felt dangerous. Threatening.
Noah kept his focus as much as he could. Constantly on guard. Ready for whatever came his way.
“It’s over here,” Paul said, running over to another door. “But… but you have to believe me when I say we shouldn’t be doing this. None of us should be doing this.”
“Just open the goddamned door,” Noah said. “And if this is some kind of trap… believe me when I say you’ll live to regret it.”
Paul shook his head. Looked back at Noah, a slight confidence to his eyes. Like a part of him was enjoying this. “If it’s some kind of trap, you’ll be the ones who regret it.”
And then he opened the door.
It was dark inside. Noah couldn’t see anything. No red lights in here. Not a thing.
Just windows.
Windows lining each side.
“Please don’t look through the glass,” Paul said. “Not if you want to preserve your sanity.”
But Noah couldn’t help looking.
When he did, his stomach turned, and he regretted it right away.
There were people in these rooms. Some of them were clearly dead. Their organs were hanging out in various states beside them. Some of them had their intestines splayed in containers. Others looked like they’d had arms and legs sawed off. Stitched to their torsos.
“What the…” Noah said. Almost vomiting.
“I told you not to look,” Paul said. “But we have to do everything we can. We have to try everything. To protect humanity.”
They reached the end of the corridor. Noah didn’t look through the glass again. He didn’t need to. He dreaded seeing anything else. He’d seen enough. More than enough to know what kind of place this was.
They reached the end of this dark corridor. Paul stopped at the door. Keyed in some codes, which mercifully worked.
“Quick,” he said. “We don’t have much time.”
They shuffled through the door to another door. Same setup. Noah kept watch over his shoulder. He could hear movement somewhere in the darkness. Something shuffling their way.
“Hurry up,” he said.
“I’m trying here, okay?” Paul said. “I’m…”
And then it happened.
Light.
Light and fresh air.
Noah turned around. He stepped out of the compound. Felt concrete under his bare feet. Saw sun beaming down from above. Felt its warmth on his skin. He heard birdsong. Smelled the warmth itself.
And as he stood there, facing a chain metal fence before him, he couldn’t help smiling.
Paul keyed in some codes into the panel on the outside. The door slid shut.
“We need to get moving,” Paul said. “We’re on our own at this point. We—”
Noah looked around at Paul and lifted his rifle. “Give me one good reason not to gun you down right now.”
“Noah,
” Kelly said.
Paul held up his hands. “Do it. If it’s what you want to do, do it. I’m as good as dead anyway. We all are.”
His heart raced. The veins in his neck throbbed. He felt anger. Anger for what happened to Jasmine. Anger for what these people had done to him and Kelly. For what they’d done to everyone.
“Noah,” Kelly said. “Don’t shoot him. He could be useful.”
He wanted to pull that trigger.
He wanted to put this smug bastard down.
He wanted to make him suffer.
“Fuck,” he said.
He lowered his rifle.
Let the anger and the violence pass.
“You’re living,” he said. “For now. Until I decide what’s best for you. Now come on. Get us the hell out of this place.”
Paul looked back at the compound. Smiled.
“I’ll see you again. I’m sure of that.”
Said those words a little too confidently. Creeped Noah out.
And then he turned and joined Noah and Kelly as they ran off into the sun.
Chapter Nineteen
Eddie ran as fast as he could in pursuit of the badass who’d just saved his life.
It was dark and hard to make her out properly. But she wore a long mac raincoat, far too excessive for a warm night like this. She had short black hair. Pierced nose and eyebrows. And she looked mean as hell. She walked fast, wore tight black jeans. He didn’t know where she was going. Didn’t know why she’d just appeared with a shotgun and armed to the tilt out of nowhere.
He just knew he was grateful.
’Cause if she hadn’t turned up, him, Barney, Harold, and Tim would almost certainly be dead right now.
“Wait up,” Eddie called.
She glanced over her shoulder at him like he was a piece of dirt on her shoe. “Keep up. Not my problem you’re so slow.”
“I want to thank you,” Eddie said, gasping for air. “For saving us back there. We really appreciate it.”
“Yeah, well. You were foolish. You were noisy. I could hear you for miles. If you want to avoid getting their attention, you need to learn to be more quiet.”
Eddie picked up his pace a little. He didn’t want to let this woman leave without asking her who she was, what her deal was. He was a little cautious, naturally. The last time he’d blindly followed someone he was interested in, he’d ended up almost getting Kelly killed by that nutter, Bruce.