“My God, man, help them,” his manager shouted.
James didn’t.
In fact, he backed up even farther, watching his manager not only try to help, but fall victim as well.
James took off his apron and ran. He called his wife on the way to the store and told her to get the kids and get home. He was headed to get supplies and would be home. He didn’t know if he was infected because he had gotten exposed, so he planned to stay in the entranceway of their home.
He conveyed all that while moving at a fast pace, the sirens of emergency workers blaring.
Their store wasn’t packed, in fact, it was normal. James grabbed a buggy, rushing and grabbing what he could. They weren’t rich and the two hundred dollar order took all the money he had in his checking.
He’d worry about it later.
The entire time, James kept thinking. The wheels of his mind spinning.
He grabbed a can of disinfectant spray, spraying the groceries before leaving them on the back porch. The front of his home had two doors.
Their home was over a hundred years old. The first door led to the stairs out front and there was an entryway about four by four right before another door.
That was where James sat.
“This is ridiculous,” Steph told him. “Come on in. Go into a bedroom.”
“No. No. Steph, you didn’t see it.”
She would.
Like him, she immediately got on the phone.
The outbreak that was continents and a sea away was, literally, at their doorstep.
James who spent so much time avoiding information about the outbreak suddenly was clicking on every link, every bit of information he could.
The more he read, the more scared he became.
The only good news he found was that if he hadn’t shown signs within five minutes, more than likely he was fine.
The virus was that fast, that deadly. All the experts agreed that anything that spread that fast would burn out.
They were wrong, and that was before people started to rise.
In their neighborhood things were bad. Within three days there was no news from anywhere else in the country. The mayor of Pittsburgh was dead and Congresswoman Nazinski was the city spokesperson, rallying the people to stick together and beat it.
It was then, James saw the first risen.
The ‘Dada, man’ from his three year old daughter at the window, prompted James to look out. A man stood there on the sidewalk. James could only see him from behind, he wore a suit jacket and he paced side to side, looking left to right.
What was he doing so close to his home?
“Stay here,” he told his daughter, Lola, then walked to the front door. He poked his head out the exterior one, aiming his voice to the man. “Excuse me, can I help you with something?”
The man spun around, dried blood formed around his mouth and on his chest, his eyes were dark, face gray and without hesitation, the man raged toward James.
He slammed the door and locked it, but the man kept pounding against it. It sounded as if he plowed his body into the door over and over.
It went on for hours, attracting others like him.
The children were scared, but the back of the house was safe, the car was out there, if need to they could run for it.
James spent the night packing what he could in one bag, placing it by the back door.
By morning, the raging people outside his home were gone and the Pittsburgh Emergency Alert system was announcing there was safety in numbers and authorities could not keep people safe if they spread out.
They were urging people to come to the one of the survival centers set up in various areas.
North Hills, Eastern Pittsburgh and Downtown.
Downtown was closest, and after loading the car, James and Steph put the kids in their car seats and made their way to the center.
The journey was easy. Not many cars were on the road and those that were appeared to have been moved aside.
The bridges, overpasses and any other entrances into the city were blocked off. James and his family were checked for signs of infection and given a room with cots. It was safe, there were men and women with guns constantly on patrol.
They felt safe, until James knew that safety wasn’t going to last.
Each day, more and more of the dead gathered at the barricade. Soon enough they would come down, James believed and then they did.
On what seemed a moment’s notice, James had to pack up the family and follow the escape convoy going north toward Erie.
There was too much uncertainty. Steph grew nervous as they pulled out of the city. They cars moved slowly and as they embarked on the freeway, more and more clusters of cars blocked the road causing the caravan to weave in and out to get through.
She was grateful her children were so young and they couldn’t see the horrors outside the window.
The abandoned cars were nothing but a memorial to mayhem and murder. Open car doors, busted windows, blood everywhere, dead bodies everywhere, most of them torn to shreds beyond recognition.
They weren’t on the freeway for more than two miles, when the lead driver seemed to feel that the highway ahead was too dangerous. There was no guarantee they’d get through and the lead car led them off.
Not long after they exited the entire convoy of cars came to a standstill.
“What’s happening?” Steph asked.
“I don’t know.”
Glancing at the sideview mirror, Steph saw the man and woman in the white van behind them. They stepped out and walked forward.
Steph wound down her window. “Excuse me, do you know what’s going on?”
The woman stopped. “No, but we’re finding out.”
“Thank you.” Steph wound up her window, she could feel her daughter kicking the seat and the baby started to get fussy.
“Maybe they stopped to figure out the best way to go,” James said.
“Maybe.” Steph glanced out the windshield.
The white van man and woman were running.
“Go. Go. Go!” the man waved out his hand as he raced by their car.
“Shit.” James put the car in gear.
“James?” Steph asked with worry.
The baby cried and James jerked the wheel and hit the gas.
Steph clutched the handle above the passenger’s door as James pulled out of the line of traffic and drove to the side of the road.
Turning slightly in her seat, Steph looked behind them. The van followed, doing the same thing.
A few cars up, James hit the brakes when another car in the line cut him off, swerving outward madly and then going forward.
“Go, James, go,” Steph told him. She turned her head to look out when one of those things slammed into the window causing Lola to scream.
James jolted the car forward, following the vehicle in front. The previous cars in the convoy weren’t so lucky, they were swarmed with the dead.
Steph brought her hand to her mouth but couldn’t help but look. Her heart not only beating faster but feeling as if it were going to rip from her chest as she watched people pulled from the cars and others tackled as they tried to run.
They were free and clear, traveling fast. The visions of the chaos and dead getting farther and farther from sight in the side view mirror. That was where Steph’s focus was. Watching to make sure they put distance between them.
For miles she watched that mirror, feeling better, safer and more relieved every second they drove.
Until, James shouted, “Shit.”
Steph felt the force of the slamming brakes and looked up in enough time to see the tail end of the car in front of them. The car had stopped moving and even though, James swerved, the side of their vehicle slammed into the back end of the car.
The kids cried and Steph hurriedly looked back to make sure they were fine.
“Steph, you okay?” James asked.
“Yes. Yes. Why did they stop?”
&nb
sp; “They hit something. I think.”
A tap on James’ window caused them both to jolt.
The van man was there. “You guys alright?”
James nodded. “Yeah, we are, thank you.”
“Good. Why don’t you guys just join us in the van?”
“Thank you, that might not be a bad …” James’ speech slowed down. “Idea.”
Steph looked. The drivers’ door of the car in front was open and the driver staggered out. She knew immediately by looking at him, he was one of them. He was covered in blood and looked around in confusion. When he spotted them, he moved rigidly and slowly, unlike the ones that chased them.
“Let’s go. Hurry,” van man said and raced away.
“Grab the baby,” Steph said. “I’ll grab Lola.”
James jumped out, immediately opening the rear door behind him.
Lola was screaming, “Mama and Dada.”
Steph had a little bit of trouble. It was her door that smashed into the car before them, but even in her rush, she managed to open the door. She was barely out of the car when she heard the grunts and groans, causing her to pause.
“Steph, come on!” James yelled, he had the screaming baby in his arms, and shut the back door.
Reaching for Lola’s door, Steph saw the van man and his wife were surrounded.
She wanted to yell for James to get in the car, to drive, but he was already on his way, and those things saw him and the baby. They started to chase him and he just took off running with the baby in his arms.
Drive away. Drive away. Steph thought. As she made the decision to do so, she saw the dead coming.
She could hear Lola screaming and Steph reached for the back door. By the time she did, at least four of them were upon her. She couldn’t get to Lola and the only thing she could think to do was draw them away from her child.
Even the ones that tore apart the van man and his wife, moved toward her car, giving up their quest for flesh for another … Steph and her daughter.
“Here!” She waved out her arms, jumping and yelling to get their attention. “Here. Chase me!” They turned away from the car slightly.
She had them. She’d lead them away and three of the four came for her.
Backing up toward the van, Steph thought of what she could use for a weapon, anything, just bash them. In the city survival camp they told them how to defend themselves.
Scared and frightened for her family. She took another step, readied to run, spun and slammed into one of them.
It snarled at her and she pushed it away, it didn’t do much. Trying to side-step and go around, another appeared. They came for her.
She couldn’t run back, she couldn’t run forward. This was it, she thought, the moment of her death. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.
One more second, one more step toward her, Steph prepared to be grabbed. Instead, suddenly, through the face of one of the dead emerged a long, metal object and a blade slice through the head of the other.
Both of them dropped simultaneously exposing a woman and younger man, both wearing green uniforms.
Shaking, her eyes widened as Steph looked at the pair.
“You alright?” the woman asked.
Steph nodded fast.
The woman backed up, opened the back van door, then came for Steph. “Here,” she took Steph’s arm. “Get inside.”
“My family. My daughter is in the car.”
“We’re on it. Get inside.”
Steph hesitantly did, and they shut the door.
Coming around the van, Kasper watched Barry spear down with the forked end of a hammer into the skull of the recently risen van man.
“Big B, hit the woman, too,” Kasper said. “She still has a lot left of her and she’ll get up.”
“Got it,” Barry replied.
“Meet you at the car.” Kasper, with Rachel right with him, raced to the car where at least six were pounding on the windows.
“They aren’t thinking or they’d open the door.”
“We have to get them before they figure it out.” Kasper could hear the child’s scream of fear even through the moans of the stiffs. He didn’t hesitate when he arrived, he stabbed through one that was climbing on the car.
In a run, gladius in hand, Rachel raced by the hoard on the passenger’s side of the car, bringing the blade to the leg and sliced behind their legs. One by one, like dominoes their knees buckled and they dropped down. Kasper followed through with head kills using the honing rod.
Rachel ran to the other side of the car. She saw it through the corner of her eye. The slow moving one approaching. “Barry, get the one late to the party.”
She saw briefly as Barry moved by her and Rachel took out the final one as he reached for the door handle. Immediately, she opened the door.
The little girl was hysterical.
“Oh, sweetie, it’s okay. You’re okay.” Rachel crawled in and undid the car seat. “Come here. It’s all right. I’ll take you to Mommy.” She reached and grabbed the child, cradling her in her arms.
Top speed, Rigs and Charles chased the group of stiffs that pursued the man and the baby across the field. The last thing he wanted to do was fire a weapon and draw even more in. But the relentless stiffs were gaining ground and all it would take is one trip, one fall, like in any bad horror film, and that man and the baby were goners.
“Kasper!” Rigs called into the radio as he ran. “Help us out if you can.”
“Roger that.”
Rigs knew he just had to push, push a little more to get to the dead. Calling out to get their attention didn’t work, they were focused on that crying baby. He just needed to get closer, and Rigs noticed Charles had stopped. “What are you doing?”
“Keep going,” Charles ordered as he reached behind him for his bow. He was quickly upon it, loading it, drawing back.
Rigs watched the first arrow as it burrowed into the head of one of them, then the other.
“Dude,” Kasper said over the radio. “Way to play the Katniss card.”
By the time Rigs cut the distance, close enough to attack, Charles had taken down five of the eight.
He lifted the hammer from his belt and tossed it like an ax, it spun, hitting the dead man in the back and sending him down.
Rigs lunged his way, then plunged the sword into his head.
Turning, he saw the last remianing one had stopped. The man and the child must have fallen.
Drawing his gladius, Rigs raced over, and with both hands on the sword, he swung out like a baseball player, behind the stiff.
The body of the stiff dropped to the ground, exposing the father, protectively cradling the baby.
Hearing the snarl of the still active head of the stiff, Rigs raised his sword but before he could impale it. Kasper did.
“Nice,” Kasper. “You guys were cool.”
Out of breath Rigs extended a hand to the father. “Are you two alright? Are you bit? Scratched?”
He shook his head, catching his own breath, “No, we’re fine.”
The radio crackled and Rachel spoke. “All clear, Rigs. Mother and child secure and fine.”
“Same here,” Rigs responded.
The man stood with the baby. “Thank you. Thank you so much. Who the hell are you guys?”
“Dude,” Kasper replied. “We’re the Eliminators.”
“I’m sorry …” he shifted his eyes from Kasper to Rigs then Charles. “The what?”
EIGHT – BREACH
Westview, PA
It was obvious to Rachel, and probably everyone else in the vehicle, the Eliminators were in some sort of trouble with command.
Rigs spoke on the field phone and after informing Command of the four survivors, the remainder of Rigs conversation were a series of ‘yeah,’ and ‘I understand’ responses.
He spoke for a while in the driver’s area of the RV.
After the rescue they moved on to a safer spot only a few miles from where they rescued the fa
mily.
The toddler had calmed down, but the baby was miserable.
Rachel wondered if it was teething.
Sandy took time to examine each person in the family and was with the mother, Steph, longer than the others.
Barry had made sure they had food and were emotionally alright as they waited in the RV. Kasper and Charles were cleaning weapons and putting them away.
Finally, Rigs hung up and returned to the group in the main area of the RV.
“All done?” Barry asked. “We ready to roll?”
“Uh … yeah.” Rigs said. “Yes.”
“Where are we taking them?” asked Barry.
“To Franklin. They’ll send a retrieve team for them.”
Rachel folded her arms. “Why are we in trouble?”
“We’re not,” said Rigs.
“You were doing a lot of simple responses, almost as if you were being scolded,”
“Oh, I was,” Rigs replied. “No need to repeat what was said. What’s done is done. We move on. They didn’t understand how we got so far off track, going south east when we should have gone north.”
“Obviously,” Rachel said. “We were the only team headed north or they’d know that all the roads to the highway going north were blocked.”
“I explained that to them.”
“And that was all they were angry about?”
“No,” Rigs replied. “They felt we didn’t need to stop to help. That it put the mission and team in danger.”
Rachel released a ‘ha’ and shook her head. “We are here to be target people. Special forces of the apocalypse. So basically we can take out the dead to clear a town; but not to save people, let them go.”
Rigs shrugged and lifted his hands. “We’re not worrying about it.”
“What happens if we run across someone in trouble again?”
“We help them,” said Rigs. “We just … we just don’t tell Command that it was a rescue we tell them we found survivors. Which isn’t lying.”
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