by A. J. Sikes
“Welch, what the fuck?”
“Sergeant!” Jed yelled. Boon’s head twitched, then his feet came up off the truck bed as his legs went stiff. He lurched up and screamed as blood leaked from his eyes and nose.
“Get ’em off me! Get ’em off!” Boon yelled, pawing at the bandages on his hands by slapping them together, like he wanted to scrape them away.
“I can’t stop them! Can’t—Get ’em off!”
Jed put a round into Boon’s chin, just like he’d done with the crazy kid before. Blood spattered out from inside the man’s helmet and he fell back onto the truck bed.
“Don’t touch it!” Sergeant Kuhn yelled. Everyone else had gone tighter up against the side of the truck, but Sergeant Townsend had moved like he would still get rid of the body. He straightened up and moved back to his position at the rear of the truck.
“Rah, Sergeant,” Jed said over his shoulder. He’d gone back to watching the neighborhood as they moved down Skillman.
“Rah?” Sergeant Townsend said, coming up close behind Jed. “You keep your motherfuckin’ eyes on your zone. Hear me? Don’t turn around now. Just listen. You watch the fuckin’ battlefield, son.”
Jed just nodded, doing his best to ignore the burn in his cheeks that had come back in force.
He’d hang with this crew until shit went bad, or he saw a way out again. Just like last time. He’d just saved their lives and the best they could do was give him shit. Just like in Boot. Just like Iraq. He lowered his head, wishing he could just jump off the truck right there and get away from all of it. But where would he go, and how would he stay alive with the monsters hiding in every dark corner?
Rainey nudged him then and said something that put his whole world on its head.
“You heard the Sergeant, Welch. Keep your eyes up and on the battlefield.”
Jed had a couple words on his tongue and got half of the first one out before Rainey cut him off.
“Corporal. Make sure you say ‘Fuck you, Corporal’.”
Jed realized he’d never caught Rainey’s rank before. He figured the guy for a private like him, maybe a PFC.
Rainey gave him a big shit-eating grin, like he was daring Jed to actually say the words he wanted to say so bad. These guys, though…they wouldn’t take attitude from him, not without giving him some serious lumps. But damn it would feel good to just tell Rainey to go fuck himself. He eyeballed the corporal, and Rainey looked like he was ready to start swinging.
Sergeant Townsend put everyone back in line before Jed could dig himself a deeper grave.
“Eyes out, men. You can kiss and make up when we get to Manhattan.”
A few chuckles went around the truck, but quieted down just as fast as they’d come.
The neighborhood swept by in front of Jed’s tired eyes. His legs still burned from the run, and he felt a nervous shake start in his right thigh.
The truck rolled to a slow stop and Jed snapped out of his thoughts. The remains of a barricade lay scattered across the roadway. Sandbags formed a couple of machine gun positions on either side of the road, but they were all knocked down, like something big had crashed into them. A concrete barrier had been shoved aside, making a path from the opposite lane.
Jed realized they were already at Queens Boulevard.
“We passed Honeywell,” he said.
“The fuck are you, a tour guide?” Sergeant Kuhn said. “Eyes damn out, Welch.”
Jed let it sink in and join the heat he already felt burning in his gut. These fuckers weren’t going to get a damn thing from him. First chance he got, he was gone. He’d take care of himself, just like always. He’d survive, on his own and without anyone around to knock him in the head just because he couldn’t make them happy.
The elevated tracks over Queens got Jed thinking differently, though.
They’ll just fall on us. Gotta be hiding up there. They’ll drop down on top of us.
“Sergeant Townsend.”
“The fuck you want, Welch?”
“What if they’re hiding up in the tracks?”
“Then we shoot them, Welch.”
Sergeant Kuhn leaned around to talk to whoever was in the cab. It didn’t take much to guess that was the LT.
Candy-ass motherfucker hiding out up there.
“Okay,” Kuhn said. “We’re doing this fast. We get across the rail yard and then it’s a few more blocks to the bridge. You see anything moving, light it up.”
The man paused and leaned down to talk to the LT in the cab again. He came back to standing and said, “Back of the truck. Sergeant Townsend?”
“Yeah.”
“LT wants you to keep watch over the buses. Give a shout if you see anything going on with them.”
“Ain’t got much else to be doing,” Sergeant Townsend said.
Kuhn grunted and slapped a palm on the truck cab.
“Hold on, men,” he said as the truck made the turn onto Queens Boulevard and brought them under the El tracks. Jed couldn’t help shaking in his boots as they came fully under the steel girders that supported the train tracks. The truck sped up and he felt his guts clench with fright.
They’re gonna drop on us. Gonna fuckin’—
And they did. Four of them just flew down out of the metal frame overhead. Jed opened up along with Rainey and the other guy on their side of the truck. He heard gunfire from the other side, too.
The monsters jerked in the air as they fell, landing on the ground in a tangled bloody heap. The truck was still rolling, and Jed was still alive.
“That’s how you do it, men,” Kuhn said.
Jed flicked his gaze left and right. Rainey looked just about as freaked as Jed felt. The guy to Jed’s right was sweating like it was the middle of summer. Or maybe those were tears on his face.
Queens Boulevard raised up in a hump in the middle as they crossed over the rail yards below. A shriek came from behind them. A hollow metallic echo followed, like one of the monsters had landed on top of a bus. Jed wanted to look back to check, but he couldn’t take his eyes off his zone. Not for a second. Small arms fire sounded out beneath the El tracks. Tight pop-pop-pops and a few seconds of chatter from the SAW up front. The truck and buses kept rolling fast. Jed could see the edge of the rail yards coming up, just empty dirt around scattered rusty piles of metal. A line of trees and bushes separated the mess from the neighborhood on the other side.
They were almost there. Just a little more to go.
Another shriek came from behind them, and then more, like a fucking roomful of the monsters were back there trying to sing a song together.
Jed tried to get a line of sight again, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off his zone. Rainey was doing the same thing: looking back the way they’d come and twisting his head back so he could focus on his zone. Jed heard a clattering and scraping overhead. He looked straight up above them and his heart almost flew out of his mouth.
“Shit!” he yelled and lifted his weapon, firing as fast as he could.
A pack of the creatures scrambled and scraped on the El tracks overhead. They moved to keep up with the convoy, leaping and racing along the tracks like a pack of freakish monkeys. Sparks flew off the girders as Jed and the others in the truck tried to shoot the monsters. Some were hit and tumbled onto the street below. But most of the shots missed.
The things seemed to know where to run, like they were moving from cover to cover on purpose.
Jed fired and fired, aiming as carefully as he could while the truck raced down the roadway. He hit one of the monsters and watched it fall to the street where it was crushed beneath the truck tires. Another leaped down several feet in front of the truck and made to jump onto the cab. The man to Jed’s right spotted it and pivoted to fire. He got it with a burst to the chest just as another one fell from above and landed on him, taking him out of the truck and to the road below. His screams followed the truck as they rolled on.
Rainey hit Jed in the shoulder with an elbow.
&nbs
p; “Eyes out, Welch!”
Jed got back on his game, sending 3-round bursts at anything that moved, but only hitting them when he got lucky. He changed magazines and kept it up. Rainey did the same. Another pack dropped from above, at the far end of the road. The monsters tore down the pavement on all fours, racing at the truck, howling and shrieking as they came. The SAW gunner gave up on fire discipline. The constant pinging of brass on the truck’s cab rang in Jed’s ears behind the dull hum from the gunfire.
The Ma Deuce opened up at the back of the convoy, chopping at the air in a steady rhythm.
Jed kept his eyes on his zone, leading the monsters as they raced along the girders, and timing his shots as best he could. The bullets sparked and splattered on the metal. Jed thought he might as well be tossing pennies or pieces of candy, like he was on some kind of fucked up parade float. Then one of the monsters leaped down toward the side of the truck where the other guy had been pulled out. Jed tracked its arc and lit it up with three to the face.
— 21 —
Upper East Side, Manhattan
Eric had the hose at full throttle, directing the stream at the side of the plywood Rex and Rachel had nailed up. The monsters were scrabbling to get around the wood that they’d shoved out from the wall. The boards were split down the middle and it was only because Rachel and Jason pushed against them that the monsters hadn’t completely broken into the floor.
The survivors had all crowded together at the very back of the floor in the corner where the punk girl had been sitting. She was wrapped up in a turnout jacket now, and had a mask on. Only her blue hair gave her away.
Abeer, Dayone, and their children, were crowded together around Mrs. Cannady, who stood tall and with her feet firmly planted, like she’d see hell before she let anything happen to the others.
The cots made an obstacle course for anyone wanting to get to them.
Or for them to get out of there.
Meg grabbed a pair of gloves and her axe from where she’d set them down by the staircase and ran to help Rachel and Jason.
Eric kept his aim on the space the monsters had broken through, and it was working for now. They couldn’t get past the stream of water.
Unless they make a bigger hole.
The boards shuddered and Jason nearly lost his footing on the wet floor. Rachel was crouched down beneath him and only just held the boards down as clawed arms reached through the space, swiping at the air and trying to grab either Jason or Rachel. So far, they’d kept themselves clear by kicking at the arms the instant they came through.
“Axe!” Jason yelled. Meg ran behind Eric and came up to the wall opposite Jason and Rachel’s position. The heavy stream of water roared between them, and Eric stepped a little closer to put more force into keeping the things back.
Meg swung down with her axe at the reaching arms and connected with two. Shrieks sounded from behind the boards and the arms retreated immediately. But they were just replaced by more a second later. Meg swung again and missed, slamming the axe into the concrete floor. The blow sent a ringing pain through her hands and she had to fight to keep hold of the axe handle.
The boards shook and creaked again with another blow from the other side. Jason screamed for Rex to bring a hammer and nails.
More arms came reaching through and Meg swung at them, hitting one and taking it off. The thing on the other side roared, and Meg paused with her axe at the ready. She felt guilty for what she’d done, like she’d just maimed a helpless animal.
A second later she regretted her hesitation as one of the creatures rocketed through the gap in the boards and skittered through the pooling water on the floor. It slid across the floor and to the opposite wall where it quickly scrambled up and twisted its head around to look at Meg. Its ugly yellow eye slits opened and closed and it gave a horrific hiss.
Meg had her axe ready to swing down in case another one came through, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the one on the wall. It stared at her with its bloody yellow eyes and popped its sucker mouth, making a disgusting web of saliva in front of its needle teeth.
The survivors screamed at the back of the floor. Jason yelled for Rex to bring the hammer again. Rachel yelled for him then, while Eric kept spraying into the gap in the boards. The thing on the wall moved its gaze from Meg to Eric.
Oh shit!
She moved a second too late. The thing leaped, and not for Eric. It landed on the floor a few feet behind him next to the hose. Before Meg could reach it, the monster slashed a clawed hand at the hose and ruptured it.
Water sprayed out as the severed hose went haywire, spinning and flipping like a sea serpent. And the monsters came like a wave through the gap in the boards. Rachel was thrown backward as the boards bucked and were shoved aside. Two of the monsters crawled in and immediately up the wall beside the boards. Jason reeled away and grabbed an axe off the wall.
Eric backpedaled, dropping the broken hose.
The people at the back of the floor added their screams to the din around Meg. She raised her axe as she approached the one that slashed the hose, but it leaped around her. She tried to pivot and her feet went out from under her on the wet floor.
Meg landed hard on her hip and cried out. She rolled to the side and used her axe handle for support to stand up. When she got to her feet, she nearly fell backward again. The monster leaped for Eric. He had his arms up, but without a weapon he was a sitting duck. Meg rushed forward and used the axe to shove the monster back toward the boards.
But it was too damn fast.
It sprang forward and tackled Eric, pinning him to the floor.
Behind her, Meg heard Jason and Rachel yelling, and the unmistakable sound of an axe splitting a skull. She raced toward the thing that had Eric. It had one clawed hand holding Eric’s head to the floor and with the other it swiped and raked at his coat until it made a hole and reached in.
Eric howled in pain right as Meg reached them and swung her axe into its neck. She shoved it aside and leaned down to help Eric, but he stayed curled up in the fetal position, holding a hand against his ribs. Blood stained his coat and spilled onto the floor, mixing with the water.
“Rex!” Meg yelled. “Trauma bag!”
She turned to see if he’d heard her and felt her throat clench up tight.
One of the things that got in leaped from the wall and tackled Rachel from behind. She’d been helping Jason kill the other one. Jason rushed forward and grappled with it. He put his hands around its neck and squeezed. It scraped a clawed hand at his trouser leg and ripped through the material, but Meg didn’t see any blood. And Jason didn’t let go. He gave a jerk and lifted the thing off Rachel, then swung it around in a headlock and twisted his upper body.
Meg heard a loud crackling sound and looked at the boards, expecting to see more of them coming in. But it was just the sound of Jason snapping the monster’s neck. He threw the body away from him. It landed in a heap near the stairs.
A haunted silence spread across the bay. Water trickled and dripped from the walls and across the floor. Eric rolled and groaned beside Meg.
“Rex! Goddammit, bring the trauma bag!”
He was by the hose valve with his hand still on the lever. He must have shut off the water after the monsters got in.
At least he’s good for something.
“I’ll get it,” Jason said.
“Behind the staircase. The cupboard there,” Meg told him, pointing.
Jason helped Rachel to her feet and went to retrieve the bandages and other backup gear from the cupboard. He and Rachel had both taken some scrapes. Their turnout suits had rips and tears in places. But Meg didn’t see any blood.
While Jason dug through the cupboard for the trauma gear, Rachel grabbed a hammer and some nails off the cart and set to repairing the barricade.
“Eric,” Meg said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to be all right.”
He nodded, and she could see he was holding his face tight against
the pain. Whatever the thing had done to him, it had to be serious. His face was pale.
Oh shit, is he turning into one of them?
Meg gripped her axe tighter and held it ready. She couldn’t believe it, though, that her best friend was going to turn into…
“Eric?”
“Yeah, Meg. I’m—I’m fine. Losing blood, but—”
He coughed and Meg began to cry. She put her axe down next to him and slowly rolled him to his back. Jason came up beside them with bandages. Meg undid Eric’s jacket and carefully peeled it from the wound. Blood flowed steadily from his side. His shirt was one big wet mess, stuck to his skin. Meg ripped her gloves off and snatched up a pair of neoprene ones that Jason had brought. He already had a clean pair on and slapped a compress against Eric’s side.
Eric’s face went tighter still and he grunted against the pain. Then his legs shook and he whipped his head side to side. Jason kept pressure on Eric’s wounds while Meg held her hands on his shoulders.
A thud broke Meg’s concentration. She looked to the barricade just as Rachel was thrown backward and the boards came down on top of her.
— 22 —
Long Island City, Queens
Jed watched the monster fall away from the truck as they sped down the roadway. A few of them were still scrambling around up above, sometimes racing ahead and hanging upside down, like they were taunting Jed and the other guys, daring them to take a shot. Jed did once or twice, and the SAW gunner kept going cyclic every chance he got. Finally, Sergeant Kuhn called for a cease fire.
“Wait until they’re on the ground or making a jump for us. I think they’re testing us, trying to get us to waste ammo.”
“You think they’re that smart?” Sergeant Townsend hollered up from his position. “I say that’s bullshit.” Jed turned to see the man scanning the gridwork of steel above them, popping off a round here and there. He hit one, but didn’t kill it. The thing just skittered up and around the girders so it was out of view.
