The Uncivil War Series Box Set

by B. T. Wright

  7

  As soon as Jake saw the mass of infected Amy was watching run toward them, his first thought was to shout for everyone to get back on the boat, shove off, and take their chances on the water. But the way the boat ran ashore, the props were most likely ruined so once they did make it out into the water it would only be a short-term fix. Eventually they would run out of ammunition and the infected would overrun them. And that was if they could even get the boat fully back out into the water. That was something they had no time to figure out.

  Jake knew the landscape around the dam. There wasn’t a lot around other than the high school, but it was back in the direction of the infected that were running toward them. He scanned his brain as he ran toward the boat. He remembered that directly down the road that ran across the bridge and over the dam they were beside was a BP gas station. He figured there would surely be cars there. Once this pandemic hit, one of the first things people would do would be to try to get gas. And the keys would probably still be in their cars. The gas station idea wasn’t much, and it was far enough away that it would be all but impossible to get to, but there was no other option.

  Amy finally registered the danger they were in, and she began making a scene, getting Tyler and the rest of the guys to look in that direction.

  “Jake!” Tyler shouted as Jake and Jess made it to the boat.

  “Amy, jump down to me,” Jake said. She did immediately. He caught her, sat her down on her feet, and looked over at Jess. She was soaking wet, heaving for air, and wild eyed. His first thought after seeing her so disheveled was that they were never going to make it to that gas station. “Jess, remember the old BP station by the highway?”

  Jess nodded.

  “You and Amy go there right now. I’ll catch up.”

  Jess looked over his shoulder. Jake’s back was to the oncoming infected, but he could see what she was seeing. The fear on her face only drove it home.

  “Now, Jess. You have to run the entire way. Don’t stop for anything. Go!”

  Jake shouting the last word jolted her to reality, and she grabbed Amy’s hand, yanking her toward the riverbank in the direction of the gas station.

  Brian had made it to them now. The rest of the swimming infected were pulling themselves out of the water and beginning to stumble over the rocks to get to them.

  Jake looked back up on the bow. “Tyler, get the Beritrix. Boys, grab a gun and let’s move.” He turned to Bryan. “Bryan, go try to catch up to Jess and Amy. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Bryan turned immediately and ran for the riverbank. Amy and Jess were just now at the top.

  Tyler came back to the edge of the boat. His face was red. “What about all our supplies?”

  “Supplies are no good if we’re dead.” Jake held up his hands, telling Tyler to toss him the bag full of Beritrix, the only thing that would keep them from turning into the things that were after them. If, of course, they could keep the infected from eating them first.

  Tyler tossed down the bag, and Mark helped Tyler off the boat. All that was left to do then was run.

  Jake put the strap of the bag of medicine around his neck, picked up a shotgun, and moved toward the riverbank. Tyler was out in front of him a few yards. Only a shotgun in his hands. With the physical shape Tyler was in, or lack there of, it would be a miracle if he made it up the embankment on his own, much less all the way to the gas station. But as much as Jake was worried about his oldest friend, he had to put it out of his mind. He had to catch up to Jess and make sure she and Amy were safe.

  Jake got past the awkward footing of the rocks, sprinted forward past Tyler, and pulled himself up to the top of the bank. In front of him he could see that Bryan had caught up to Jess and Amy. To his left he could see that the infected were only about fifty yards away now. Below him Tyler was struggling to make it up, but Mark and Jason were helping him, with TW just getting to the bank. Right behind them, the infected were running from the water. Jake was horrified.

  “You’ve gotta get going, boys!”

  Jake brought up his Beretta and fired on the first two infected men that were running up TW’s back. None of the hits were headshots, so Jake’s bullets only slowed them for a second. But it was enough. TW was in much better shape than Tyler and he was already atop the hill.

  “Follow Bryan! I’ll be right behind you!”

  Jake had already gone against his instincts to hurry to Jess as he made sure the guys made it up the riverbank. He couldn’t save them all, and he knew it. He needed to get to Jess. No more fooling around. The infected were closing fast from their left side, but those were just the ones Jake could see. There could be more infected waiting anywhere ahead of them on the other side of the rolling hills. If Jess ran into an ambush without Jake, they were dead. And it wasn’t just the love of his life that would die, but Amy too—quite possibly the key to humanity’s survival. If that wasn’t motivation enough to run like he never had before, nothing ever would be.

  “Keep up! I can’t come back for you!” Jake shouted to Tyler. But he wasn’t sure Tyler even heard him. Tyler was too busy watching the horde of infected closing on them fast. There were dozens of them. There was little doubt in Jake’s mind that they had heard that bell ringing at the dam. And that was when Jake remembered the man who pulled the rope that rang it and realized he wasn’t with them. There was nothing he could do about it now. Jeremy was gone. But that didn’t make it any easier for Jake. What it did do was help him find top speed quicker than he ever had as he sprinted toward Jess. Jake didn’t want the same fate that became of Jeremy to fall upon him, but he would be more than willing to die before he let it happen to Jess.

  8

  Jake caught up to Bryan, Jess, and Amy just as they turned onto the road that led to the bridge behind them. The gas station was in front of them now. The road was littered with abandoned cars, but most of the shoulder was clear. That’s where they continued to run. Jake had to slow his pace to keep from running out in front of them. He glanced back over his shoulder and could see that for the moment, Tyler and company had beat the running infected to the road. Jake was running low on air; the weight of his go-bag and the bag of medicine were beginning to take their toll. But he imagined for Tyler, as the sun began to flex its summer muscle, it was all he could do to keep from collapsing.

  Jake would have been worried about his friend behind him, but there was an even bigger threat to captivate that attention now. As they crested the hill that led down to the gas station, there was more than just cars there waiting for them. Whatever the number of infected behind them, there was at least double that waiting in the parking lot that sat about football field’s length away from them. The golden sun was shining down on their worst nightmare. A crowd of infected—waiting for them. And now they were trapped. So much so that when Jess saw it, she stopped running and doubled over at the knees. Her shoulders slumped. Jess’s posture told Jake that she just realized what he had already understood back at the boat, that they weren’t going to make it.

  As soon as the infected saw Jake, Bryan, Jess, and Amy stop at the top of the hill, every last one of them began running toward them. They moved like a wave, and they were about to crash down upon them. There was nothing Jake could do. On instinct he got the shotgun he’d picked up on shore ready to shoot. He knew they couldn’t win, but Jake wouldn’t die without a fight. It was just who he was. Jess looked over at him—desperation on her face. She didn’t raise the AR-15. Instead, it swayed back and forth from the strap that rested over her shoulder.

  “No. No! We have to run!” Tyler had caught up to him. Through intensely labored breath he managed panicked words.

  Jake looked back at him. When Tyler saw the knowing look on Jake’s face, he began to cry. The infected behind Tyler ran up the side street and were racing right toward them from the back. Jake turned his head back in the direction of the gas station—to the infected in front of them. They were about the same distance away as the mass behind th
em. It would all be over in a matter of seconds.

  “I’m taking as many of these bastards with me as I can,” Bryan said.

  Jake pumped the action on his 12-gauge, brought it to eye level, and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “I love you, Jess. I always have, and I always will.”

  It was all he could think to say. Nothing else mattered to him in that moment. The infected were upon them. He heard Jess begin to cry. Jake thought of his brother, his last wish on earth was that Colt could manage to do what Jake couldn’t do here: survive. And keep his boys safe.

  Jake heard everyone readying their weapons behind him, watched out of the corner of his eye as Bryan put his AR-15 to his shoulder, and just as he went to look as to why Amy hadn’t begun to panic, like any other thirteen-year-old in that situation would, he instead could only stare at the infected as they began to slow down in front of him. His finger caressed the trigger of his shotgun, but he didn’t shoot. Instead, he watched as the crowd of aliens in front of him came to a stop entirely, not more than ten feet from them.

  His heart was thudding in his chest.

  Dozens of black eyes were staring back at him, their bodies not making a move.

  The air was dead around them. Not even the wind managed a whisper. Every inch of Jake’s body was on fire, tingling with adrenaline and fear. Then the first sound made it to all of their ears when Amy dropped to her knees beside them. When Jake turned toward her, he saw her eyes roll back in her head. Her long blonde hair was matted to her with sweat, her face red as a beet. But her eyes were entirely white.

  Jess looked up at Jake.

  “Leave her,” Jake said.

  “What the hell is going on? What are they waiting for?” Tyler’s voice was trembling.

  “Quiet,” Jake commanded as he watched Amy. He looked back up at the wall of infected in front of him, and every single pair of their black eyes was now looking at Amy. It was as if Jake and the rest of them around Amy didn’t even exist.

  “She’s saving us,” Jess finally spoke.

  “Jake, what do you want to do here buddy?” Bryan had yet to lower his gun.

  Jake didn’t respond. He just moved his shotgun left and right along the crowd of infected in front of him. They were close enough now that he could smell them. The disgusting scent of their foul body odor, or their hosts body odor, however it worked. He glanced down at Amy, her eyes still rolled back, but she was starting to shake. Just as he was about to say something, a few of the infected in front of him began to move. He twitched his shotgun to the ready. Bryan did the same. But it was almost as if the infected were moving in some sort of trance. A few of them moved to the left and a few of them moved to the right, a gap formed in the middle of them, but their eyes never left Amy.

  “What’s happening?” Tyler walked up beside Jake. “Why are they making a path?”

  Jake looked down at Amy. She was shaking harder, and a trickle of blood began to run from her left nostril.

  “Jake, something’s wrong with Amy,” Jess said.

  Jake looked back up in front of him. Now there was a fully cleared path in between the infected. Dozens of them had moved aside, and Jake could once again see the gas station beyond them. He turned and looked behind his group. The infected there were standing in the same trance. Listening.

  “Jake?” Jess prompted.

  Jake looked down, and now the blood was gushing from Amy’s nose. Whatever she was doing to create this moment of opportunity for them, it wasn’t going to last much longer, because it was clearly killing her.

  “Okay.” Jake handed Tyler his shotgun, freeing up his hands. He moved over to Amy and scooped her up in his arms. Her face and eyes didn’t change, neither did the blood coming from her nose, and she was now shaking even more; almost to the point of a seizure. He continued in a soft, even tone. “Nobody make any sudden moves. Do not touch them. Don’t even look at them. We are going to walk right in between them, then we are going to find a truck and get the hell out of here before this kills Amy. Understood?”

  “We’re going to walk right in between them?” Tyler was visibly shaking.

  Jake held Amy across his arms. “Yes. Just follow me. When we get beyond them, all of you run for it and find two SUVs. Make sure they have plenty of gas.” Jake started walking toward the infected. “If I think I need to wake Amy up before we lose her, I will. Just be ready to have our backs if I need to come running.”

  No one responded, but he knew they understood. That was when he passed by the first row of the infected. The stench was almost unbearable. Jake’s eyes began to water, but he just kept his head down. He made no eye contact with any of them. He maintained a steady stride, but he didn’t know how much longer he could move slowly. Amy was bleeding so bad that he was going to have to try to wake her up.

  9

  Emily gave the white-walled lab a once over. The moment was more than surreal. A couple of weeks ago she was in Syria, giving soldiers routine check-ups while avoiding every one of their advances, now she was looking at three alien creatures dressed as humans all sitting beside each other—chained to their chairs. The fate of humanity was quite possibly hanging in the balance. Life had always seemed strange, how it could all change in an instant, but this was ridiculous. And how she got here, a syringe in her hand, six black eyes staring lifelessly back at her, was the craziest twist of all.

  “You two ready?” Doctor Kendall asked.

  When Elaine looked over at Emily, Emily could see the excitement on the doctor’s round face. She was thin as a rail, probably always had been, and the few lines on her forehead seemed to have deepened, even though Emily had only met her a few days ago. She was asking Emily and Doctor David Saunders if they were ready to inject the Beritrix into the infected that sat in front of them. All three doctors held their syringes in hand, and both Emily and David nodded that they were ready.

  Emily wasn’t sure she was ready, however. Injecting the infected with Beritrix could have any number of effects. It could do nothing, it could cure them, or it could kill them. The anticipation was clearly exciting Doctor Kendall, and her excitement was infectious. As Emily took a step toward her infected, Karen, her heart seemed as if it was going to beat right through her chest.

  “This is exciting,” Doctor Kendall stated. Then she spoke to the cameras. “9:00 am, July 3rd, 2019. This is Doctor Elaine Kendall. I am joined by Doctor Emily Fraser and Doctor David Saunders. We are about to proceed with our first injection of Beritrix on our three captured infected. We will be administering two CC’s of Beritrix, the same amount that Doctor Emily has been taking daily her entire life for the WD17 virus, and the same amount we survivors have been taking daily since the alien virus began to spread. We have no hypothesis on what might happen to the infected once injected, but all of us are hopeful that this will lead us to a way to remove the aliens and possibly bring the humans back to their original state.”

  All three of them were right in front of their subjects now. Karen’s midnight-black eyes stared straight ahead at Emily’s chest. No blinking, no emotion, nothing at all. The other two infected both shared Karen’s lack of enthusiasm.

  “All right,” Elaine said as she placed her thumb on the plunger of the syringe in her hand. “Let’s see if we can make history.”

  Emily placed her thumb on the plunger of the syringe in her hand as well. The same hand that was shaking with anticipation. Or maybe it was from the third cup of hangover-coffee she’d had. She would never know. Either way, she felt sweat pooling under her arms and glistening at her brow.

  The three of them moved forward, and then immediately took two steps back. The three infected in front of them, all at the exact same moment, tilted their heads upward, staring at the ceiling. Doctor Kendall held out both arms, silently telling Emily and David to wait and see what was happening. It was the first time since the three of them said “Amy” in unison, all while in different rooms, that they had done any other kind of synchroni
zed activity. Emily’s mind was racing. Was it because the “collective” of the aliens knew that Beritrix was about to be injected, and they knew it would cure the infected? Were they receiving some sort of transmission from whatever was in charge of them somehow? Either way, it was excruciating just standing there watching the three of them stare up at the ceiling.

  David spoke first. “What should we do—”

  “Ssshhhh,” Emily said without thinking. “Just. Wait.”

  And they did.

  Finally, the second movement came. All three of the infected’s mouths opened at the same time and stayed open as they maintained their upward gaze. Their necks strained to tilt their heads parallel to the ceiling. Emily didn’t understand everything she felt in that moment, but she understood the fear. Absolute fear as she waited on what might happen next. Her hands were shaking badly, and the rest of her body trembled as well. She couldn’t shake the feeling that all three of the infected were hearing or seeing something. The same thing. Like they were tuned into some sort of live feed.

  “This can’t be good. Should we stop them?” David spoke again.

  Emily was about to shush him again, but she had just had the same thought. What if they were getting some sort of kill order? Or maybe they were going to be terminated remotely so that Beritrix couldn’t be tested on them? She thought they absolutely should stop them. But curiosity was winning. It was apparent that Doctor Kendall was curious as well, because she didn’t so much as flinch when David spoke she was so focused on the odd, seemingly cosmic show in front of her.

  The intercom speaker in the room beeped twice, and all three doctors nearly jumped out of their skin. Emily could hardly catch her breath she was so completely startled. The three infected maintained their pose and then they heard a voice through the speaker.

  “Doctor Kendall, we need the three of you immediately. There is something you all need to see.”