What Remains: The Outbreak

by Tyler Barrett

  Knight looked back towards where Smith’s body was lying, dropping his fist and loosening his grip on Carter. Smith’s eyes were open staring at the ceiling but were stark red, filled with blood. The sickening noise of Smith dragging himself up into a sitting position gave everyone the chills. Smith’s head turned towards the closest person, who was Ramirez and started to get up fully into a standing position.

  Nobody moved, dumbfounded by what they saw, as Smith started to shuffle towards Ramirez. Knight moved towards his friend, his hands instinctively resting on his rifle.

  “Smith, buddy? You ok?” Knight asked, hopeful that a miracle had happened.

  Smith stopped and turned towards Knight, attracted by his voice. He stumbled, but slowly righted himself and started at a brisk pace again. He only focused on Knight and made a horrifying screeching moan. Knight took a few steps back, spellbound by Smith.

  The man spoke, “See, he is infected. You need to kill him, or he will hurt you. It is not your friend anymore. He is changed, different, a Yokai now.”

  Knight looked at the man, and back to Smith. He knew there was something wrong with Smith, a shell devoid of human life. The man spoke what he knew was what he should do, at least from a logical standpoint. However, Smith was his friend, someone he had served with, watching each other’s backs. They made sure that they made it through to the next day, protecting each other like they were full-blood family.

  Everyone else was still standing, rooted to where they stood, stunned by what had happened. Knight realized that he was on his own for this. It would have to be him to end Smith’s life. He didn’t want that on any of his men’s shoulders. No, it would be his burden to carry, much like every other major decision. That was just part of the job of leading these men.

  The man spoke again, “Do it! Do it now! You must, or he will be a bigger problem.”

  Knight raised his rifle aiming at Smith’s head, his arms feeling weak and shaky. Smith was only a few feet away now; it would have to be now or never. He tightened his grip on the rifle, taking a deep breath, and releasing it before firing.

  “I’m sorry, brother. I truly am sorry. I should have done better to protect you.” Knight spoke with a lump in his throat.

  A loud crack was heard, echoing throughout the colossal warehouse. The smell of gunpowder hung in the air, a thud followed a fraction of a second later. Smith lay on the ground again, this time permanently. Brain matter spread on the ground behind the body. It was done.

  Knight had ended Smith’s second life, damning him to whatever afterlife existed. He looked down at the body of his once friend. He felt dizzy and suddenly drained, both mentally and physically. He was still very angry with Carter yet was more upset at himself more than anything. His emotions flared, he started to feel his eyes tear up.

  Knight didn’t know what to do, for the first time his life since joining the military; he was left feeling empty and lost. He had no clear plan, everything had gone to shit, and he was in charge of an operation that wasn’t worth salvaging. Knight wanted to be left alone, get away from everyone in the room, left to his own devices. Knight raised his hand to his face covering it and walked away from the group of people.

  Carter tried to call after him, “Knight, I’m sorry…I…”

  Ramirez cut him off, shaking his head, “Leave him be. He needs to be alone.”

  The soldiers and the civilians watched as Knight walked off into a corner of the massive warehouse. Each of them knew that it was a hard moment, and wanted to comfort the man, but knew that he would have to sort it out on his own. The civilians dispersed, going back to their beds or other tasks they were doing. The pilots started to move towards Smith’s body, to give him a proper military field burial.

  Chapter 27

  The radio call

  Langston sat in a fancy office, staring out into the streets below. He had dug out his secret stash of liquor, whiskey. He drank directly from the bottle, passing it to Evans and Daniels, who sat next to him as well. They had given up watching the door to the stairwell, deciding that whatever happened, would happen. The news they had received a few minutes ago shook them all to their core.

  Several minutes before they had been following their standing orders given by Knight, feeling scared and uncertain. Then the radio squealed to life. Langston moved towards the radio expecting it to be Smith, giving them an update on their hunt for the pilots. He picked up the microphone and called.

  “Go ahead Smith, over.”

  What happened next shocked and confused Langston; it wasn’t Smith’s voice that he heard over the radio, but one that was deeper and harsher. Langston didn’t know the voice at the other end of the radio, but he knew it had to be one of the men they had dropped off. He was still using call names, and was calling for the base, and not Knight. This man obviously had no idea that there was no chain of command above Knight.

  Langston felt uncertain; how was he supposed to break the news to this man? How many had survived, and where were they? What had taken them so long to get in touch with the rest of them?

  All these questions swam around in his head, wanting to ask them all, but knew that he would have to tell the soldier what happened.

  “This is Langston, one of the pilots that dropped you guys in, and we need to talk. There isn’t a base, nor is there command. We haven’t had any contact with any other teams except for Delta team.”

  There was a small pause, and slight crackle over the airwaves, “Shit, the command is gone? I was hoping to tell them not to land before they got here. Warn them of the infection that has spread throughout the nation. You said Delta team there with you?”

  “Well, not right now, one of the birds had a hard landing. They went out to get those pilots and bring them back here; apparently, they encountered some civilians, though.”

  “Civilians? There are still people alive out there, how? It does not matter…I need to get to you guys; I lost the rest of my team; it's just me. Are you still at the forward operating base’s location?”

  Langston replied, “Yes, we are at the location of the forward operating base. You will know the building once you find a crashed bird. What happened to your team?”

  They didn't make it, we can talk more about it when I get there,” replied the soldier.

  “Do you need us to set a flare at the bottom to indicate the building for sure?”

  “NO, that would draw the infected. Try to find something else, like some IR strobes, place those near the base of the building. I still have my night vision goggles so I will be able to see them. Just make sure to be very quiet when you go down to plant them.”

  “Ok, we will get on that. Hope to see you soon,” Replied Langston.

  “Yeah, me too. I should be there within the hour,” Said the soldier.

  “Langston, out.”

  Langston sat up from the chair and turned to exit the office, careful to avoid tripping over the cords snaking to the communications tower on the roof. He walked at a brisk pace down the hall. Evans and Daniels sat in two office chairs watching the stairwell door. They both turned and looked at Langston as he approached, realizing his quick movement meant he had something important to tell them.

  “I just spoke to a soldier from one of the other teams! They need us to go down to the street and place some IR strobes around the base of the building. I am going to find them and grab them from the armory; lock, and load.”

  “Alright, I will go and check the stairs make sure they are still clear,” Replied Evans.

  Langston walked back toward the conference room, opening the door to the armory. After searching through various crates, he found the IR strobes. They were very convenient for night time missions. IR strobes were created for covert missions, only visible using night vision equipment; it was a great way to keep track of your troop movement while in the dark. It only made sense to use them for friendly forces to locate the building.

  He grabbed four of them, planning on place one on each of th
e corners of the building. The batteries would not last forever, but at least, for the next several hours any soldier wearing night vision goggles would be able to spot the building. The only unfortunate part of the plan was they would all have to leave their base; one of them would have to watch the main door while the other two circled the building placing the strobes.

  Langston walked back around towards the stairwell door, finding Evans and Daniels already in the stairwell. Evans leaned over the railing, rifle raised. Daniels turned towards Langston and motion for him to be quiet. He tried to move as softly as he could but made his way to them.

  “Is it clear?” Langston asked.

  Evans poked her head back towards the two men. “Yeah, the coast is clear, didn’t hear a thing. It was creepy actually; this whole city is.”

  “Alright, let’s go down there and set these up. I don’t want to spend any more time than we have too down there. I’ll watch the main entrance, you two set them up.”

  “Ok.”, they both replied at the same time.

  “Lead the way then,” stated Langston.

  Evans took the point and moved first. As they went down several flights of stairs, the echo of their footsteps gave a strange sensation to them all. They took a short break when they got to the halfway point. The three of them continued after they caught their breath. It wasn’t long before they all wanted to go back up to the top of the building and throw the IR strobes to the bottom.

  They knew that was not a viable option since the fall would break their already precious devices. None of them wanted to describe to Knight how some of their already scarce equipment took a plunge into the streets. The small banter lightened their moods a little bit, but after that thought died out, they remained silent. Not long after they reached the bottom of the stairs, they took another short break and watched the lobby.

  Nothing moved, and everything looked in place, but as none of them had seen the lobby before, so it was hard to tell. They inched out, covering the doorways leading back into the building and the front doors. Reaching the front doors, they opened them with a slight hissing noise as the brush guard at bottom scrapped across the floor. Langston went to the outside of the building so that he could hear the outside street better.

  Evans and Daniels both took two IR strobes and started to make their way around the building. Langston watched them go to each of the corners and place the IR strobes high enough for the soldiers to see. Evans placed hers on a planter with a bush in it, taking a few steps back to make sure that it was secure and visible. She started on her way around the building, and Daniels had done the same.

  Langston was starting to feel a creeping feeling that started from his lower back and ended at the base of his skull. It was completely and utterly terrifying being down in the streets, knowing that at any moment he or the other two could be attacked. He hoped they were taking their time, making sure to check their surroundings first. His mind raced with the words of the man that he had just talked to.

  The words, 'sound draws them,' kept repeating in his head. He had yet to personally see an infected person, let alone understand what horrors they could unleash. It was hard for him to believe that infected people were attacking non-infected people, and in some cases tearing them apart. Langston didn’t envy Parker and felt sorry for the man. He would have to check on him when they went back upstairs; Parker hadn’t left the office or said anything to them since before.

  Langston’s thoughts were interrupted as he saw Daniels come around the corner, and shortly after Evans came around the other side. Langston waited for them both to get close.

  “Are the IR strobes in place and secure? Any sign of anything unusual either?”

  “Nope” replied Daniels.

  “I didn’t see a thing,” said Evans.

  “Good, let’s go back up; it’s starting to freak me out being down here. Plus, we need to go check on Parker, and hopefully, he’s doing better.”

  They both moved towards the front door of the building, opening it with another hiss. Together they started their climb back up the building, listening to the thuds their footfalls were making in the enclosed stairwell.

  Tonight, just keeps getting more interesting by the minute, thought Langston. Soon they would have more of the spec ops guys to help them hold their base. They would have a fighting chance with more people to help them figure out what they were going to do. Maybe they could find some operational aircraft at one of the US bases not too far from the city. Things were starting to look up for Langston.

  Chapter 28

  The man at the other end

  Muller looked at the remains of the building. The charred husk of the building, a dead scientist, and the knowledge that he was the only one of his group left alive; those were the only things that greeted him. It was a grim sight to behold, and the worst part was the friends that he had seen lose their lives helping him get here. The images were still burned in his mind like it was still happening. It played over and over in his mind, up to the point where he was now.

  Muller gripped his rifle and decided to push forward; he had contacted some form of a chain of command. He was going to make his way there, hopefully, warn them if they already did not know about the magnitude of the infection. Muller flashed to the part where he was talking to a scientist in the bunker. He remembered the sinking feeling he had when he heard the news about the infection, the facts, and statistics.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Muller was part of the group of soldiers known as Charlie team. They had landed a couple of minutes before Delta team, who was their overwatch team. It didn’t take them long to reach their objective, the local police station for the district. They had intel that located on the basement floor, where the evidence lockup was; behind this contained a secret government bunker.

  The bunker was meant to house high ranking government officials in any crisis. Supposedly, the surviving prime minister and his cabinet had retreated into the bunker, along with the top Japanese microbiologists and virologists. They would have the knowledge and skills to help prevent the infection that had wiped out an entire country in less than two weeks.

  Muller was the tech guy that was sent in to break enemy transmissions and or any other electronic passcode. He was what they called the Hacker, a generic term, but a fitting one. He wasn’t one to break into any secret government files from CIA or FBI headquarters, but the guy who made sure they could listen in on enemy transmissions and break through simple encrypted files.

  In that sense he acted like Smith for Delta team, always on overwatch, waiting until they needed his skills. It was rather odd that they would drag him along for the real deal since he was normally in the background. Muller felt it a pleasant change of pace, though, and maybe he would finally have an actual war story to share at the end of the day. He knew that the chances of his day being anything but boring were high.

  He was wrong as they approached the Police building. Some seriously bad shit had gone down here; it looked like a full-scale riot had broken loose outside the main entrance. The destruction didn’t end there and carried on into the lobby of the station. Bullet holes and scorch marks danced across the lobby. None of it fazed any of the soldiers, who were accustomed to seeing such things.

  Muller stared at the walls but did not think anything of it at the time. They cleared the lobby and found the stairwell. They took the stairs two floors down to the basement evidence lockup, which was towards the back of the floor. They walked down the hallway clearing all the side offices. Reaching the spot that the bunker was at they found a thick steel door; even if they strapped C4 to the door, it wouldn’t be enough to make the door open.

  It was Muller’s turn to use his skills, and he took out his tool, a small handheld computer designed to crack the code on the door and open it. The man leading them was Captain Lewis, the commander of the entire recon force. He was new to leadership role since Knight’s demotion, leaving Lewis to become the new captain.

  While the
y waited for Muller to open the door Captain Lewis’ earpiece crackled to life.

  “Captain Lewis, do you copy?”

  “Copy. What’s your status Delta team?” Captain Lewis asked recognizing Smith’s voice.

  “We have a problem. The helicopter deploying the forward operating base went down. As well, we saw small arms fire. How do you want us to proceed?”

  Captain Lewis thought for a moment, “Cancel overwatch and give me a sitrep on the base. We will be opening the bunker momentarily and then move to join you at the base. Advise when you arrive.”

  “Copy; will update upon arrival,” stated Smith, followed by silence again.

  “Delta team will be diverting to check in on the forward operating base. Apparently, a bird went down, so I gave them the ok to check it out. Let’s find the HVT’s inside the bunker and secure them, and bring’em back to base,” stated Captain Lewis to his team.

  A metallic click was heard of the magnetic seal disengaging, and the door slowly started to crank its way open. The heavy continuous gears echoed off the walls and floor of the almost empty room. Light from within the bunker flooded out into the room, blinding them all. Simultaneously they pushed their night vision goggles up and squinting their eyes to the bright light.

  Captain Lewis moved into the bunker, at ease, until he saw that something wasn’t right. Blood soaked the carpet in several spots, papers, and objects scattered across the room. He signaled them all to secure the room and maintain sound discipline. Muller raised his rifle, heart pounding, and followed them into the entryway of the bunker. They were about to move towards the hallway when a man dressed in a suit appeared.

  The entire front of his suit caked in blood. It was dried and had been for several days, but that wasn’t the most disturbing thing. His skin was pale and almost translucent, his veins could be seen running all over his body but were black, and the worst part was the eyes. The eyes were completely black, and the pupils weren’t visible. Shortly after the man in the suit appeared, four more men showed up.