A World Reborn (Book 2): Global Outbreak

by Thompson, Chris

  Melissa felt one of the infected brush up against her as she passed it; turning, she saw it tremble and sniff at the air. It turned its head and looked vaguely in Melissa’s direction, causing her to quickly check that her collar was still functioning properly. Thankfully it was, and a heartbeat later the infected lost interest and turned back the other way. She breathed a sigh of relief and refocused on the way forward.

  The infected were more densely packed as they approached the intersection, and from what she could see, DeWitt was trying to maneuver them to allow Melissa and the others to pass more easily. She pressed on, though she felt a nauseating wave of claustrophobia at having the infected so close. She heard their low, guttural sounds, the soft murmurs and moans, and beyond the edge of the collars effectiveness, the louder, angrier sounds. Melissa took a deep, calming breath and kept moving forward. In the back of her mind however, she was aware that the sound of the helicopter was getting louder and was also certain it was heading in their direction. As it grew closer still, it began to have an adverse effect on the infected. Those furthest away from the restraint of the collars became more agitated, and when Melissa looked in the direction the sound was coming from, she saw some of them were shuffling away towards it. Melissa couldn’t see it, due to the height of the buildings, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before it was directly overhead. In that scenario, she could only imagine that the sound would be aggravating enough to nullify the suppression of the collars, just like the fire alarm had in the Seraph.

  “DeWitt!” Melissa hissed, and he turned to look at her, as did more than a few confused infected. “Hurry!” She insisted sharply.

  DeWitt nodded and Roy shuffled ahead to help him clear the infected faster. The Ancillary and Melissa increased their pace and started passing through the intersection, around the fallen barricade the police had established. Melissa’s eyes swept over it and she saw several of the police had been turned, but more than a few poor souls had been immune to the effects of the virus and were still being consumed. Thankfully, Melissa thought, they were dead and unaware their organs and flesh were being ripped free and feasted upon. She forced herself to look away and kept moving in pace with DeWitt and Roy. They were on the south road now, and the scenery didn’t improve. There weren’t as many infected as at the intersection, but through the windows of the buildings Melissa could see infected pressed up against the glass, almost as though they were trying to pass through the solid material. Melissa realized something that hadn’t quite occurred to her until now; any building that was within this danger zone could house infected. If they were forced to re-engage the Reborn, seeking shelter would be extremely difficult. There was no sanctuary, only infected waiting to pounce. Melissa pushed this thought aside and shoved the Ancillary to encourage faster movement, because something of more immediate concern was bothering her. The helicopter was at least twice as loud as it had been moments ago; the pilot was definitely flying in their direction, and when she looked behind her, the infected were becoming angry. The soft murmurs and low groans had now become louder and more menacing; some raising their hands as though trying to swipe at whatever was causing the sound that was irritating them. Others, the ones closer to Melissa and the Ancillary, were now looking in their direction; the suppression effect of the collars was undoubtedly beginning to be nullified.

  It seemed both DeWitt and Roy were aware of the situation, and were knocking the infected back with more force. There seemed to be about fifty or so infected in the street now, but spread out, giving them more room to move through them. As Melissa allowed herself to feel hopeful they were going to pass through without incident, those thoughts were suddenly dashed. Turning onto the street, a large, white van was coming in their direction. Melissa hissed at DeWitt and Roy, and then gestured for them to wait, momentarily releasing the Ancillary before grasping her again. The five of them lingered amidst the infected, watching and waiting to see what the driver of the van was going to do. It travelled about halfway down the street, stopping well short of the infected throng; the side door opened as did the driver and passenger doors at the front, and a five man team emerged from within. They wore black and were heavily armed. Melissa first thought they were FBI or local police, but she scrubbed that thought away as fast as it came; they bore no markings of authority, and although she knew little of policing in the United States, she was pretty sure they didn’t travel in plain white vans. The team raised their weapons and began to advance cautiously towards the infected, unaware they were also closing in on Melissa and the others.

  Melissa clicked her tongue quietly, attracting DeWitt and Roy once more, and gestured back with her head, indicating they should retreat a little; reluctantly they did so, fading into the crowd of infected and moving with them as they became more roused and disturbed by the encroaching helicopter. It was, Melissa thought, the worst possible timing; they needed to move forward and escape the infected before they went feral at the sound of the helicopter, but leaving the cover of the group would allow them to be detected by the Reborn. Melissa figured if they were seen, they wouldn’t open fire immediately, as they wanted both her and the Ancillary alive, but once they were forced to leave the infected, they’d gun down DeWitt and Kevin for sure; maybe not Roy, but she couldn’t be certain and regardless, she wasn’t going to let any of them die if she could do something about it. The Ancillary was being as compliant as a possible, not attempting to signal her comrades - perhaps afraid of the consequences, but Melissa doubted that. She was certain that the Ancillary was playing a different game.

  “What do we do?” Roy mouthed silently at Melissa, dragging her away from her thoughts.

  Melissa shrugged in response. They didn’t have any good options; the only solution she could see was to use the infected as a shield for as long as possible, and then emerge with guns blazing. Hopefully that would allow them to take the Reborn by surprise, and maybe that would give them the upper hand. Just like that, Melissa thought wryly to herself.

  “Follow.” Melissa mouthed back to Roy. She pushed the Ancillary and moved past him, taking point. She crouched a little lower and forced the Ancillary to do so, advancing through the denser groupings with half an eye kept on the Reborn squad. They had spread out into a firing line; the one in front had advanced more than the others, and Melissa suspected he was surveying the infected, looking for them. Melissa figured the only reason they hadn’t advanced directly into the group was because the helicopter would be on them in a matter of seconds, and they knew just as well as Melissa that it would be too dangerous to be amongst the infected then.

  Slowly, methodically, Melissa led them around to the other side of the street. There were no more dense groups to take cover in, no packs that could conceal the movements of the living amongst the undead; they were nearly at the point of battle and Melissa’s heart was pounding in her chest. Melissa looked over her shoulder and saw DeWitt directly behind her, Roy at his side and a very nervous looking Kevin bringing up the rear. She raised her rifle and nodded at them, a gesture Roy returned. They were ready to engage in combat... and it was then that the helicopter moved quickly overhead. The baying of the infected reached fever pitch and the closest turned to regard the feast amongst them with a new interest.

  “Now! Run!” Melissa yelled, shoving the Ancillary forward. She momentarily let go of her prisoner and gripped the rifle in both hands, charging forward. She took a series of aimed shots at the two closest Reborn; executing one with a clean headshot and winding the other as two of her shots hit his upper body armor. Roy and DeWitt moved away from the infected, the former’s movements slowed but still determined. They were following Melissa out, engaging the Reborn as they did so. Kevin was firing at a few of the infected that were trailing them, ensuring they weren’t attacked from the rear, while Roy and DeWitt each fired another salvo at the Reborn. The black clad soldier Melissa had winded was clipped in the throat, while the front man of the team was hit in the shoulder. The remaining pair began t
o return fire as they retreated towards the van, with Melissa firing at them as she continued moving forward. She was bumping the Ancillary to keep her moving as they pushed away from the incensed swarm of infected that were in the rear. DeWitt finished off the downed front man while Roy clipped one of the retreating figures in the back, his body armor preventing a fatal wound. Melissa risked a look over her shoulder and saw the mass of infected were beginning to move in their direction, arms swiping and jaws that were already covered in gore snapping in anticipation of the meal just beyond their reach. Kevin did his best to kill the frontrunners, but there was no way he could kill them all. Looking up, Melissa saw a news helicopter hovering over the intersection and tried to wave them off, but they continued hovering. Melissa cursed the pilot and then refocused on escaping from the maddened horde behind them. They ran up the street, firing at the van to keep the pair of Reborn pinned behind it. In retaliation the latter fired a few shots blindly, which harmlessly shattered windows in the stores beyond their targets.

  “To the van!” Melissa ordered, briefly grabbing the Ancillary and spinning her towards their destination, shoving her roughly to get her moving at a faster pace when she appeared to ignore the urgency of her command. Looking again at the infected, Melissa saw that more than twenty were now following them, with others turning to pursue, attracted by the gunfire.

  There was still a little under half the street to run along before they reached the vehicle, although reaching it safely was reliant upon the two soldiers showing themselves long enough for a kill shot. There was also the concern that there might be more Reborn concealed on the rooftops, but in that moment there was nothing to be done about that possibility. Melissa heard her weapon click empty, and quickly began to eject the clip while grabbing a spare from a pocket on her vest. She slammed it home, chambered a new round and then kept pushing forward. Melissa glanced back at Kevin and saw that he was walking backwards, lining up headshots to kill the swarm before it could reach them – the only problem was he was falling behind, and the infected were getting closer.

  “Move, Kevin!” Melissa barked at him before looking back towards the van. One of the Reborn was ducking out from behind cover, weapon rising. Melissa prepared to take the headshot, but Roy beat her to it, bringing down the Reborn soldier before he had a chance to take aim. Suddenly, glass shattered and rained down onto the street; it was followed moments later by a loud thump on the sidewalk. Melissa reacted, turning towards it just as a second disgusting thump hit the ground. The infected in a building to the left had managed to break an upper story window, no doubt wound up by the gunfire and the helicopter, and were swarming out. Their legs were broken by the fall, or fractured at the very least, Melissa thought. This wasn’t stopping the infected from crawling towards them however, dragging their broken limbs behind with a trail of coagulated blood painting the sidewalk. DeWitt responded to this new threat by trying to execute the nearest creatures excitedly surging towards them, but more were dropping down to replace those he killed. Worse, the growing pile of infected was acting like a cushion for the newly fallen, allowing some of them to immediately start walking towards their targets. Melissa fired a few quick shots in unison with Roy and DeWitt, but soon refocused on getting to the van. They were so close now that Melissa began to hope they could escape before they needed to concentrate on slaying the swelling numbers of infected encroaching on their position.

  Grabbing the Ancillary by the elbow once more, they ran past the front of the van to the still open side door. Melissa roughly shoved the Ancillary inside before approaching the rear of the vehicle. She peeked around the corner and saw it was clear, so quietly shuffled around. She knew the last Reborn was waiting beyond the next corner, and so, after a deep, steadying breath, she launched around it with her weapon blazing. The spray of bullets hit him just about everywhere, including his face as he fell. Melissa’s attack was so swift and so deadly, he never even had a chance to return fire. Looking beyond him, she was alarmed to discover the infected were closing in, and so was the helicopter; it had drifted forward, perhaps so that the news crew within could get a better shot of the battle happening below them... for whatever news station was still on the air. The knock-on effect was that it was drawing infected in from all directions towards the van - leading them right to their next meal. Melissa shot the closest few infected, and then nearly shot DeWitt as he passed around the front of the van.

  “I’ll drive.” He declared as he slid into the driver’s seat. Melissa let out a grunt of frustration and started back around the van.

  Having done all he could to ensure they were not overwhelmed before they reached the vehicle, Kevin now turned and started running towards them. Melissa checked on the Ancillary, and found she had moved to a sitting position with her back against the opposite side of the van. Melissa hopped in through the side door just as Kevin clambered into the passenger seat at the front, then DeWitt turned over the engine while Melissa helped Roy to climb on board. She slammed the side door shut, and a second later, they began to reverse quickly while the infected swarm, shuffling as fast as they could towards the last place they’d seen their victims, began to sink into the distance.

  “Hold on!” DeWitt exclaimed, and Melissa reached up and grabbed a fabric strap hanging near the side door while Roy got into a sitting position beside the Ancillary, who regarded him with a curious look that Melissa couldn’t interpret. DeWitt spun the van around and then turned to the right. Melissa didn’t know if he was simply trying to get away or if he had a specific destination in mind, but they were now heading down a road that was free of the infected.

  “At least that damn helicopter isn’t following us!” DeWitt exclaimed, and then his eyes flitted towards the side mirror. “Oh hell! Another vehicle is in pursuit! It’s got to be more Reborn!”

  DeWitt made several sharp turns at speed, causing Melissa to fear they were going to topple over, but his expert driving kept them on the road and moving. It seemed he had been hoping to shake the Reborn, but judging by the angry curses being expelled loudly from his mouth, he hadn’t been successful.

  “They’re gaining on us!” He declared angrily. He was pushing the van as hard as he could, but whether the gunfire had damaged some component in the engine or it was simply an inferior machine, it seemed inevitable to Melissa that the Reborn in pursuit would catch up with them. As she looked at the speeding view through the front window, she realized that abandoned cars littered the street; their doors wide open showing their drivers and passengers had attempted to flee from a voracious horde of infected only to come to a sudden halt, perhaps crashing, perhaps the engine had stalled and they had attempted to escape on foot... only to be overwhelmed. It didn’t help DeWitt choose his route. They blurred past, but Melissa couldn’t help but notice the sprays of blood and gore coating both vehicles and the street, and because of her experiences at the Seraph, was wholly aware of the horrific fate which had befallen their occupants. With the precision only afforded to an expert driver, DeWitt weaved the van between the wrecked and abandoned cars, somehow finding a gap despite the seemingly packed sections.

  “Brace yourselves!” Kevin warned, and Melissa tightened her grip on the fabric. A moment later, the loud sound of metal hitting metal echoed through the enclosed backspace of the van as it shook violently. Only able to see through the front windshield, Melissa saw them spin to the right, but DeWitt quickly corrected their course and while there seemed to be no immediate damage, Melissa didn’t relish the thought of a continued assault.

  “Here they come again!” Kevin reported, and then the van was hit more violently than previously. DeWitt had a harder time righting the vehicle and keeping it moving this time, so he barked angrily at them.

  “Do something, damn it!”

  Looking on somewhat helplessly, Melissa saw Kevin open the passenger door and lean out. Moments later, a loud volley of gunfire sounded. It was long and drawn out, as though he was spraying his weapon on full automatic. F
rom behind, she heard fire being returned, and instinctively, Melissa ducked low. The bullets hit the metal chassis, no doubt leaving impact marks in the rear. Kevin had leaned back in to reload, and moments later, a loud crunch from behind and a violent pitch forward hailed another ramming attack from their pursuers. Melissa saw Kevin leaning out again to return fire - just as the van was slammed once more. He scrambled, but miraculously managed to avoid pitching out of the open door. DeWitt fought to steady the vehicle then pulled out into the middle section of the road, avoiding a pack of infected that were shuffling out of a ransacked store on the left.

  “They’re coming around the other side.” Kevin announced. DeWitt glanced into the side mirror and Melissa heard the roar of an engine coming along the left side of the van. DeWitt spun the wheel and slammed their vehicle into the Reborn, jostling Melissa, Roy and the Ancillary as they rammed into them. He pulled away and then slammed into them again and then, a second later, a volley of gunfire shattered the driver’s side window. DeWitt groaned and Melissa saw a large spurt of blood erupt across the dashboard in front of him. Despite whatever injury he’d sustained, DeWitt slammed on the brakes and the Reborn vehicle overtook them. Although wounded, DeWitt managed to bring their vehicle to a stop without losing control, but through the front windshield Melissa saw the Reborn stop and begin to come around.