What Remains: The Outbreak

by Tyler Barrett

  Before he could pull the blade out another infected had pushed passed the one he had just stabbed. He was able to get the knife free before for repeating the move on the next infected. Only five infected remained behind the door, but they were all fighting to get through the door at once, and if they did, that would mean he would be enclosed with five infected in a small yard. He mustered as much strength as he could, fighting back against the force the infected had left.

  Three heads started to poke through the door, and he jammed his knife into one of the heads, ending another infected. He shoved the door with all his might and ended up pushing the infected into the door frame stunning the two infected, and it gave him the time he needed to jab both of them quickly. One, he had to jab twice, before it stopped moving. Since he didn’t have time to move the bodies of the infected away from the door they had made a small pile.

  With only three infected left his chances were much better, but he knew he still had to be careful; one bite and he would be infected. Take a chance he opened the door to find the infected attempting to get past the pile of dead bodies. Allowing them to stumble over the pile, he took advantage of their clumsiness. Stabbing the first infected, the other two were also victim to the same affliction as the other. They attempted to clamor over the pile, but he quickly took them out like he had the first one.

  Now that the immediate danger was no longer present, he could focus on the infected trying to get in through the gate. He took a short breather and wiped his forehead with his shirt. Even though he had wiped away the sweat from his brow, he felt like he had a thousand layers of grime on him. The best part of every mission was completing it and getting back to base for a nice warm shower. The things he would do for a nice, warm, peaceful shower right now.

  The key to that shower would be through that gate, but there was still a small group of infected pushing against the gate. Even after Carter stabbed a few through the small gaps in the gate, he would have to find the strength to push the gate open or climb over. At least, he only had to deal with the small group and not the horde that had been there shortly before. He pulled out his water bottle once again, and drank deeply from it, readying himself.

  He walked up to the gate, looking through to see just how many were at it. He could count at least eight trying to make their way through the small gaps. He stabbed one of the infected through its eye socket, pulling his knife out, fresh with grimy blood and a bit of brain matter. As soon as the infected person’s body fell another infected person moved into its place, telling him there was, in fact, more than just the eight he could count and see.

  He knew he would have to climb the wall to safety, deciding to jump over into the next-door house’s yard and leave from there. He went inside the house where he had found the trapped infected and grabbed a chair from the living room. It only gave him a few feet, but that’s all he needed to catch the edge of the wall. Lifting himself up to look over the wall, he stopped, to make sure there no more infected remained. It seemed his good luck was back.

  Letting himself down into the next yard, he snuck up to the doorway that led out into the street. Knowing that the infected that were still at the next-door gate he peered around the edge, seeing them all crowded around the entrance. He slowly stepped through the doorway and onto the sidewalk and began to sneak down the street. The squeaking of the infected pressing against the gate kept their attention.

  Four blocks later and he figured he was safe enough from the growing horde at the gate. Looking down each of the three streets he made sure not to make the mistake of following the infected horde. He could see them moving down the road towards the gunfire, on his left, so he decided to keep heading the way he had before. Carter had made a promise to meet with the rest of the group earlier before he risked himself to lead the horde away.

  He hoped that he had not left them to die and that the gunfire was not them. Deciding to focus on moving ahead, he thought about back home, something to give him hope. Oddly, before when he was driving his truck to be transported to meet up with the rest of the group in D.C., he remembered the song that had been playing. All by Myself, fitting seeing the circumstances he now found himself.

  Chapter 45

  The wind in the grass

  Muller felt himself becoming less tense with each minute that passed as they were driving through the hills. It looked less end of the world apocalypse than the city. The only indication that anything had happened at all was the scattered cars on the streets, and every so often there were military camps. In between the camps, the fields looked natural, peaceful. The breeze was gently rolling through the fields, making waves in the grass, reminded him that nature would still carry on through the infection.

  No one had spoken since they had left the suburbs, barely escaping yet again another horde and a crazed shooter. They would be at the air base in the next hour or so depending on the traffic around the base. It was a quiet, peaceful drive, and for once there wasn’t an interruption, or something impeding their progress. Even though it was peaceful, Muller still held his pack snug against him, the hard drives with the data tightly sealed within.

  Muller still felt grateful that he had walked away from his escape with the scientists relatively unharmed. Thinking of his team, though, and how they had fought so hard to make sure he either made it to the end, it made him feel tainted. It was how everyone felt, whether they admitted it or not. Leaving the city behind was the first step in cleansing the taint; the second step would be to get off the island, and back to safety.

  Once they were safe Muller could hand over the data to the government, who would find a cure or a vaccine, and distribute it accordingly, saving countless lives and possibly the world. Muller would make sure this would happen because it was the right thing to do, the only thing to do. He knew Kenji felt the same way about getting Nobuto and Ren off the island, and so he felt confident that together they could make it to safety together.

  They would have to step up, now that Knight was infected. Leaderless, they would fall to the infection as everyone else had before them. Once they got to the base, Muller would look for the hangars and find a working helicopter to escape the infected. He would have Kenji find them all a place to take refuge while they waited. Finding a helicopter would be faster than trying to call for help and then waiting.

  Deciding he should break the silence and open his plan up to Kenji, Muller spoke, “Hey, so when we get to this base there are a couple of things we need to do.”

  Kenji who was staring out at the fields watching the wind go through the grass snapped back to the passenger seat of the truck, “Yes, the air base. I know we had decided on flying out of here, but I have been wondering where we are going to fly to.”

  Muller glanced over at Kenji, smiling, “I was hoping you were thinking about the plan as well. I thought we could find the air control tower and use the radio to call for help, or we could just find a helicopter and fly out of here ourselves.”

  Kenji looked at Muller, “I think flying ourselves would be a much better option. We don’t even know if there is anyone out there to rescue us. If there is someone, who is to say that a horde does not get to us before they get there to save us. However, flying ourselves depends on if there are any aircraft left that we can pilot out of here. I think it’s all dependent on what we find when we get there.”

  Muller starred forward, driving, “I agree, but I just want to make sure that the group doesn’t fall apart this close to freedom from this island. Knight getting infected isn’t helping anyone, and losing more people makes us more vulnerable. I guess I just want to make sure we are on the same page for when we get there; I don’t want there to be any confusion about what we are going to do.”

  Kenji interjected, “We still don’t know where we would fly to if we had to fly ourselves.”

  Muller thought about it for a second, also dodging little congestion of cars on the road, “Well we only have two choices. Either we fly out into the Pacific and try
to find one of the blockade ships, or we can fly west across the Sea of Japan to South Korea.”

  Kenji nodded, “I think South Korea would be better than hoping to find a blockade ship. I don’t enjoy the idea of running out of fuel over the ocean.”

  Muller looked back at Kenji for a moment smirking, “So it's agreed, South Korea it is.”

  A silence fell over the two men again, Muller paying attention to the roads, Kenji staring out the window. The fields looked so beautifully peaceful, wind flowing through the grass.

  Chapter 46

  The approach

  About an hour later they approached a mother city, just over the hills, that was near the base according to the map. From where they sat, stopped on the road, they could see the plumes of smoke from the town. It appeared a fire was running rampant, uncontrolled. That would mean they would have to cut around the town for fear of driving through the ash-filled air, reducing visibility.

  Ramirez had stayed in the back of the truck refusing to leave Knight, who was barely alert, but still human. Cooper had climbed out of the truck and went around to the front to talk to Muller and Kenji.

  “What’s the plan then? Are we going to go around the town?” Cooper asked, with his eyebrows raised.

  Muller, who was looking at the town through binoculars, spoke while watching, “It looks like the fires started on the western side of the town, the side closest to the base. So, if we go around the town on the eastern side, it should be clear of most of the ash and untouched by the fire. Just be prepared if we make any sudden stops, or I speed up. I don’t want to get caught by another horde in the town.”

  Kenji crossed his arms, “Also, make sure everyone has their weapons ready, just in case we have to ditch the truck and go on foot. I don’t want to have to leave someone behind. We have already left enough people behind.”

  Cooper nodded once and walked back to the rear of the truck. Muller and Kenji could hear him explaining to the others what was ahead.

  Sighing, Muller climbed back into the truck, “We better take off before sundown.”

  Kenji went around the truck and climbed in, “It's always something. At least, if it takes us all afternoon to get around the city, we can have natural light from the fires to see.”

  Muller started, “The smoke would…”, But realized Kenji was joking, “Oh, yeah it will be nice to have such a big campfire. We could round up all the infected and sing songs.”

  Turning the truck back on, the deep hearty growl was heard again, and soon Muller put the truck into drive. The truck bounded down the road towards the town, going thirty miles per hour. Bouncing over a few objects on the road, dodging cars, they weaved their way to the town.

  Chapter 47

  The Firestorm

  As they drove down the hill, the houses got closer and closer together until they had reached the town proper. The smoke was drifting towards them, and they could smell the slight chemical smell as electronics and plastics burned in the remains of the houses. Cutting around on the eastern side of town, the houses had yet to be touched by the blaze. The houses looked much like the ones back in the city, many of them had broken windows or doors busted off their hinges. However, one thing they noticed, was a lack of infected.

  Nowhere could they see an infected person, and they saw only a few bodies along the street. It was concerning, knowing that somewhere in the burning town there was probably a horde of them, most likely trapping survivors inside burning buildings. Neither option was pleasant, dying by a horde of infected tearing at your flesh, or being burnt alive; no one wanted to find out. The indistinguishable smell of burning flesh mixed in with the chemical smoke.

  Muller and Kenji got the worst of it, as the smoke invaded the cab of the truck. It got so bad that they could start to feel the tickle in the back of their throats, which sent them into small coughing fits. Slowing the truck down considerably, Muller pulled his shirt up and over his nose, creating a filter to breathe a bit easier. His eyes started to water a bit, making the already dark road blurry, and he had to wipe his eyes every minute or so to see.

  As they slowly went deeper towards the town, cutting through side streets to stay on the outer edge of the town, as well as dodge car jams, they had yet to see a horde. They crept through the town, making sure to drive slowly just in case. It was not long before they had made it halfway through the town, and the houses started to turn into buildings, offices, and shops. They began to drive by another school, and Muller couldn’t help but see Daniels’ head explode.

  He stared at the school, not taking his eyes off it as they slowly drove past it. It didn’t have bullet holes in it as the other one did, but he could see blood stains on the doors, so nonetheless something terrible had happened there.

  “Hey! Watch the road,” exclaimed Kenji.

  Muller swerved the truck to miss the parked bus in front of the school, “Sorry. I was thinking about earlier.”

  Someone in the back of the truck swore loudly, but the truck didn’t stop. Muller put his eyes back on the road ahead of them. The wind blew from the west, pushing the heavy smoke right into their path; it had now reduced the visibility to around thirty feet in front of them. Muller decided to slow the truck to about fifteen miles per hour, which turned out to be a good idea. As they approached the next intersection, they finally found the horde. Infected filled the street to the left, all of them focused on a building in the middle of the block. It looked like the horde had trapped someone inside the building, and with no way out would surely burn once the flames reached this side of town.

  Muller stopped the truck, “We should draw the horde away from that building. It will help the people trapped in that building to escape.”

  Kenji rubbed his neck, “I don’t know. I really wouldn’t like the horde somehow following us to the base. But, I don’t want to leave those people if there is anyone, to die in that building.”

  “I’ll just honk the horn and start driving down the right; I can lure them down the street a bit and then just as easily give them the slip. I’ll just drive down several streets to lose them, don’t worry,” Muller said confidently.

  Muller turned around and banged on the side of the truck, and Cooper stuck his head out from behind the tarp. “Hey, we are going to lure those infected away from that building, there are people trapped in there. Bang on the back here if they start to get to close to the back,” Muller yelled to Cooper.

  Cooper looked at the sea of infected around the building and then back at Muller, “Uh…ok. Just make sure that we don’t get surrounded. We would be like canned food for them back here.”

  Muller pulled down the street they would be leading the horde, and then began to honk the horn. The sound was very annoying and loud, a shrill beep continuing for far too long. Muller and Kenji both hung their heads out of the windows looking back at the infected; it was one movement made by the entire horde at once, heads turned towards them in unison. It was a chilling sight to see and one that Muller almost instantly regretted.

  Muller took the truck out of the park and into drive. He let off the brakes allowing the truck to coast forward at an extremely sluggish pace, giving the infected horde time to start moving towards them. Now that they were driving away from the building it was clear that there was over a two hundred infected, all of which were now following them. Muller gave the truck a little gas putting some more distance in between them and the horde.

  They drove slowly through two blocks, occasionally honking the horn to keep them interested in them. Muller took his chance, making the next available turn left heading back south again. He did not wait for the horde this time, however, driving as quickly as he could in the dark streets. Soon they found another problem, this one in the form of their path to the south and west blocked by a military checkpoint, that they had not bothered to remove the vehicles. Muller was forced to turn back west towards the fire.

  It wasn't long before the streets were heavy with smoke, and they could start to
feel the heat. Muller was forced to slow down once again, making it hard for him to see streets that he could turn down, and not have to come back running into a roadblock.

  They navigated the streets for the next hour, avoiding traffic jams, and importantly the fire. The fire was still spreading, the rain from two nights ago did nothing to quell the fire’s advance. Eventually, the smoke started to clear up a bit, then it cleared to the point where they could see almost double what they had been able to. A brief time after the smoke started to clear up they found they had made it to the other side of town; they continued past the edge of the town and back into the countryside.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  They had made it out of the town, and now they were stopped on top of a hill overlooking it, about a mile out. Below them, half the town was engulfed in fire while the other half awaited a similar fate. Winds from the sea blew inland, creating great gusts of fire. Giant billows of smoke and flame shot up across the city fueled by the air brought by the wind. The once peaceful town was now a giant firestorm, consuming everything in its path.

  Muller hoped that the fire might get the horde, engulf the horde of infected in the town. Wipe the infection from the town; create a small area where there wasn’t a horde. Everything that had gone wrong had been because of a horde, and if there were one less infected that would mean one less terrible day for someone. In the end, the forces of nature would wipe clean the infected, continuing the cycle of life with or without humanity.

  Chapter 48

  Dying light

  As the last dregs of light pockmarked the landscape, they saw a large sign, Atsugi Air Base. Another sign indicating that a military checkpoint for entering the base was ahead was beside larger one. Knowing no one would be there to greet them, wanting them to produce military clearance I.D. badges, they drove onwards until they met with the traffic that had once had tried to get onto the base. Soon the cars became more densely packed, their once occupants trying to get as close as they could to the base without having to leave the safety of their vehicles. With no way for their truck to get past the vehicles, Muller took the truck off the road sending everyone bouncing.