The Sixth Level (Secret Apocalypse Book 2)

by James Harden

  "Will do," Daniel replied. "But don’t worry. We won’t need it."

  As we set off for the tree line I thought about how lucky we were to now have two fully trained soldiers helping us. I must admit, I thought I was going to feel kind of awkward about the whole Daniel kissing incident, that moment of insanity. I guess the possibility of death was enough to subdue those kinds of feelings. And really when you compared my stupid mistake to everything else that was happening, it really didn’t compare. It didn’t even come close.

  Plus I knew deep down that kissing Daniel was a mistake. It was a temporary lapse in my judgment, a moment of weakness. I can’t be blamed for that right? If Kenji knew, he would understand right? And I guess that was a whole other can of worms. Do I tell him? Do I even bother? Do I need to?

  The more I thought about it the more I convinced myself that all that crap could wait until we were safe and as far away from the city as possible. But then I started to think about whether or not we would ever be safe or whether or not we’d ever even make it out of the city.

  Thinking too much in this situation was a bad, bad thing.

  I looked up ahead to the tree line. "Do we run now?"

  "No," Daniel answered in a whisper. "If we run, we’ll make noise, and we might leave a dust trail. The infected might hear us or see the dust. I don’t want to take that risk. Just keep walking. We’ll be there in no time. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of danger."

  He didn’t need to remind me. I felt like my head was on a swivel. I was constantly looking left and right. I suddenly wondered if Jack or Kenji were watching our rear. I mean it’s not like we were fighting one particular front. After all, we were completely surrounded when you thought about it. So I guess it didn’t really matter if anyone was watching our rear. And I guess it was way too late to bring up that concern. We were already committed to this last minute change of plans.

  A couple of minutes later we arrived at the tree line. The trees were huge. They were maybe thirty feet high, with huge trunks. They had good, strong branches for climbing with plenty of foliage to hide amongst.

  The best thing was that they lined both sides of the road, providing excellent cover. This was a good thing because just on the other side of the road were more infected than I’d ever seen in one place. The energy they were giving off was amazing. The fact that they could sustain that level of intensity, for what seemed like forever was mind boggling.

  At that moment they reminded me of a cross between a crowd at a rock concert, like a giant, angry mosh pit and mob riot.

  The infected were constantly pressing forward, cramming up against the stadium walls. Some looked like they were pushed up on top of each other. The sheer weight of the crowd and the force of their numbers was actually pushing the closest of the infected up the walls of the stadium. I wondered how many they needed before they piled up and over.

  We could also see the cars of the convoy or motorcade or whatever it was. There were a couple of big black cars and two armored Humvees which had been flipped over. One was lying on its roof and the other was on its side. These were in amongst the crowd of infected.

  We stayed crouched at the base of the trunk for awhile. Watching and observing the horde, making sure that none of them had seen us or heard us. If they saw us now, before we started climbing we could get away easily. But if they charged while we were climbing or once we got to the top, it would take us longer to get down and away, putting the group in more danger.

  Once we were satisfied none of them had seen us. We made our move. Thanks to the suits we were able to climb up pretty easily. Once we were up as high as we could get, maybe twenty feet or so, we tried to call Maria again.

  Daniel handed me the radio. He removed it from his side pocket. Being that close to Daniel, I could just make out his shape, but it still looked weird when he handed me the black radio. It was all distorted and it looked like it was floating in mid-air as he passed it to me.

  "Time to shine," he said I think in attempt to calm my nerves. And in a weird way, I was actually calm. Maybe taking the initiative like this had a calming effect. I mean, on the one hand I was completely wired on adrenalin but on the other hand, I knew we had the element of surprise. For once we had the upper hand, well, sort of. But we were on the attack, on the move. We were doing something instead of just hiding or running away.

  And it was kind of weirdly exciting being this close to so many of the infected but remaining unseen, hidden, safe. I should've been a ninja, I thought to myself.

  I clicked the button on the side of the radio and whispered into the speaker. "Maria. Are you there? Come in, Maria."

  Static.

  We waited a few seconds before I tried again. "Maria. Are you there? Come in."

  Finally a reply. "Hello? Who is this?"

  "Maria! It’s Rebecca. Where are you?"

  "Rebecca? What… how.. What are you doing here? Where have you been?"

  "It’s a long story."

  "Are you with Jack?" she asked. "Is Kenji there? Do you know where they are?"

  I thought I could hear a strain in her voice, a slight tremor. She was frantic, afraid.

  "Yes, we’re all here."

  "Oh, thank God. They’ve been gone all day. I’m starting to freak out here. Something terrible has happened."

  "I know. We can see that. We’re here to rescue you."

  "What? What do you mean? Where are you?"

  "We’re right outside?"

  "Outside? But they’re out there!"

  "We know that already. But it’s OK, we’ve got a plan. We can pick you up; we can get you out of there. But you need to get to the middle of the cricket pitch."

  "Down on the field? Are you out of your mind?"

  "Trust us. We’ve got a plan. We've got an armored Humvee. We’re gonna smash through the horde and then smash through the emergency access tunnel. We’ll meet you in the middle of the field, pick you up and make our getaway before the infected can pick themselves off the concrete."

  There was a slight pause. "I don’t know. It's getting pretty dangerous in here. They’ve been going crazy for hours now. They won’t stop," she paused again weighing up her decision.

  Then the connection went hazy. There was more static.

  "Maria? Are you still there?"

  "Can – hear me? I’m scared. Some – inside. On field. Open... out there… don’t want to be exposed. Won’t last long. Rebecca? Are you there? Hurry! Please!"

  "Maria, if you can hear me. We’ll be there in two minutes. Be on the field. Be ready. We’re coming for you!"

  Chapter 29

  There was no time for quiet and careful. It was time to move. We climbed down a few branches and then jumped down from the tree not caring if we landed with a thud. We must’ve dropped about fifteen feet but the suit absorbed all of the impact.

  We started running back for the Humvee.

  "Do we switch off the cloaking device?" I asked as we ran.

  "No. Not until we get closer."

  I snuck a glance over my shoulder. Luckily we weren’t being chased. We still had the element of surprise.

  About fifty yards away from the Humvee, Daniel switched off his cloak. He shimmered back into sight.

  "Time to go guys," he said to Kenji and Jack "We don’t have much time."

  Kenji was off the roof in an instant. We weren’t even all the way in before Jack took off straight for the stadium.

  "So what happened?" Jack asked. "Is she all right?"

  "Yeah," I answered. "But she’s scared. She’s worried about being out in the open. She doesn’t like that idea at all. But I said we'll be there in the middle to meet her in two minutes."

  "But she is going to meet us there on the field, right?" Kenji asked.

  "Ah, I think so. Yes."

  "What do you mean, you think so?"

  "Well, the radio connection was a bit distorted. I couldn’t quite make out what she said. But I’m pretty sure she agreed to the pla
n."

  "So we don’t’ even know if she’ll be there?

  "I... I’m sorry, it was.."

  "Don’t worry," Jack said as he floored the accelerator. "She’ll be there."

  I glanced at the speedometer; we were up to sixty miles per hour already. The massive engine was working overtime. It was redlining. I almost felt sorry for anything that got in our way.

  Almost.

  We crashed through the tree line with the engine roaring, the tires screeching and the horn blaring.

  Our plan was to do a lap of the stadium first, to get them away from where we wanted to enter on the northern side. So we headed off in a counter clock wise direction.

  But then Jack actually slowed down.

  "What are you doing?" I asked in disbelief.

  "Need to make sure they're following us."

  It was weird making this much noise and actually trying to get spotted after sneaking around for so long. Now we were going in with our guns blazing our horn blaring. Full throttle. Everything, decidedly not stealth.

  I looked out my window, behind us. It was a sea of infected. And every single one of them was coming for us. Every single one of them was hungry.

  Jack picked up the pace as we drove right around the stadium.

  When we approached the northern access tunnel he took the Humvee out nice and wide so we could get a good run at the gate.

  The gate was about fifteen feet high and consisted of black metal bars that had been sharpened into spikes. I remembered hearing a story on the news about a drunken guy who tried to break in one night because his friend dared him to. He climbed to the top of the gate, lost his balance and his grip. He fell and sliced of his pinkie. To make matters worse, on the way down one of the metal spikes stabbed his leg, impaling his calf muscle. He was stuck there, hanging upside down for an hour before the security guard found him and called an ambulance. Apparently the grounds keeper found his pinkie the next morning.

  I braced myself for impact as we sped towards the gate. We must’ve been going at least sixty or seventy when we smashed into it. The gate never stood a chance.

  Unfortunately, when we smashed into the gate, it went flying back into the tunnel and bounced off the walls. It landed awkwardly. When we ran over it, it got stuck up underneath the body of the Humvee.

  We had to stop. We had to dislodge it.

  Both Kenji and Daniel jumped out, wasting precious seconds. But eventually they were able to remove it.

  They got back in the car and Jack accelerated for the secondary gate and the makeshift barricade they had put there. But we couldn’t just smash into it. The barricade would destroy the car. Jack had to slow down so we could try and nudge it and push it out of the way.

  Again, this was wasting precious time. It was kind of ironic that something that was put there to protect could now cost us our lives.

  It was taking too long. Any second now the horde would catch up with us. They would come charging into the tunnel. And we’d be done for. And how much longer was Maria prepared to wait out in the open for us? What if she had freaked out and gone back into hiding?

  I don’t know what came over me. I wasn’t trying to be a hero or anything. Looking back on it now, I guess it was pretty stupid. But in my mind, at that point there was just no other option. I had to go in and get Maria. Before it was too late.

  I was wearing the NBC suit. I could get in. I could squeeze through the tiny gap in the makeshift barricade.

  I got out of the Humvee without even telling anyone what I had planned. Another stupid thing to do. But I didn’t want to waste anymore time arguing over whether or not I should go. Besides, I was pretty sure I was the only one who’d be able to squeeze through the tiny gap anyway.

  Kenji initially opened the car door to protest and to get me back in the Humvee. But I was up on the barricade, squeezing through before he could say anything. And once I was half way through, I think he realized what I was doing and that I was the only one who was able to do it.

  "Just be careful," he finally said.

  After I was through, Jack revved the engine again and continued pushing the barricade out of the way inch by inch.

  I landed on the ground on the other side of the barricade. The dust seemed to have intensified again. There were actually mini-tornadoes and mini-twisters swirling around inside the stadium arena. I couldn’t see Maria at all. But I couldn’t see very far. Visibility was back to a few feet.

  I had no choice but to keep going. And like so many cricket players and football stars before me, I made my way to the middle of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

  Chapter 30

  I took off at a sprint. I was running as fast as I could, which in the NBC suit was pretty damn fast. The grass was coated in the red dust, slightly over grown but not too bad. I don’t know why I was thinking about the state of the field. Again I think it was the adrenalin. I read somewhere that it makes you hyper sensitive, like you’re able to take in more details and process them in your brain or something. I probably should’ve been more focused on what I was doing but I couldn’t help it.

  A few seconds later, I’d run from the boundary fence into the middle of the field. Probably some sort of world record I thought to myself. And as I was thinking about that stupid thought, I nearly ran over and stepped on Maria.

  To my surprise she was lying on her belly. It looked like she’d rolled around in the dust to completely cover and camouflage herself. It was pretty clever. I almost didn’t see her.

  When she saw me she jumped up. "Rebecca! You came! Bloody hell, I was so freakin scared. They're everywhere in here. It’s not safe."

  We hugged and I cried. I suddenly realized how much I missed her. I mean, I missed Jack and of course I missed Kenji but I think because we had become so close over the past year and maybe because she was a girl I felt like I was closer to her than I was to Jack. I guess she was my bestie. My BFF.

  "What the hell are you wearing?" she asked.

  I could see that she was crying. Her tears were actually turning the dust on her face into red mud.

  "It’s a protective suit," I said. "I’ll explain later."

  "Where are the others?"

  "They're still in the tunnel. They’re trying to get past the barricade but it’s proving to be quite difficult."

  "Yeah, that steam roller thing would be pretty damn heavy. Wait, maybe we can drive it out of the way. It’ll probably still work. That’s how we got it there in the first place."

  Of course! It was so simple. We could just drive it out of the way.

  But just as we were about to head back to the barricade we heard the screaming howl of the infected.

  "We better hurry," Maria said. "Some of them are in here."

  Just then we heard rapid footsteps. Out of the dust, maybe twenty feet to my right was an infected and undead monster. Its arms outstretched, broken teeth bared and ready to bite.

  For some reason, the cricket stumps were still in the ground. I guess they were about to play a match before everything went to hell.

  I grabbed one of the wooden stumps, sliding it out of the ground. I’m not sure what happened next. I think I stepped in front of Maria, acting as a shield. I closed my eyes, that much I do remember. I know you’re supposed to keep your eyes on the ball, eyes on the prize but I couldn’t help it. I guess I kind of flinched as I stabbed outwards with the pointy end of the cricket stump. The infected man ran at full sprint impaling himself really. The wooden stump went straight through his mouth and out the back of his skull. As it was impaled I sidestepped out of the way and its own body weight sent it crashing to the ground, sliding half way down the cricket pitch.

  I think we were both in shock. I don’t think I’d ever killed one before like that. Certainly not up close and personal. Maybe I’d gotten lucky with a stray bullet but this was totally different.

  "Well, we’ll have to go to the third umpire but I’d say that was a run out," Maria said.

  "What?"
>
  "Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting you don’t know anything about cricket."

  "You’re making jokes?"

  "No. Well, maybe. Look, we better get out of here. There’ll be more coming soon."

  We ran back to the barricaded tunnel. In no time at all I was at least thirty yards in front of Maria. When I got to the barricade I could see that Jack had made some headway. The Humvee almost had at least half of its hood past the barricade. But it still wasn’t enough.

  I shifted a ride on lawn mower out of the way. The ease of moving it surprised me and I nearly lost my balance.

  Kenji had his door open slightly. I could see him through the gap between the tunnel and the barricade. "Did she make it? Did you get her?" he asked.

  "Yeah. She’s fine. We’re gonna try and move this steam roller. Maria should be able to drive it out of the way."

  "Yes! Good. Hurry. They’re coming."

  Just then I heard gunshots. And screaming.

  Daniel was standing up through the man hole in the roof of the Humvee. He was providing cover fire. I heard Kenji tell Jack to stop driving while we moved the roller. And then Kenji started shooting as well. At first he was shooting in short and controlled bursts like Daniel. But then after a few seconds they started to unleash. They both reloaded and started shooting again. They couldn’t keep that up. There was no way. We didn’t have the ammo. I really wished that giant machine gun was working.

  Maria jumped up on to the steam roller and sat in the driver’s seat. She was out of breath. "Damn, you’re fast!"

  She fumbled the keys for a bit and then finally turned them.

  The steam roller came to life and she was able to slowly drive it out of the way.

  Once she was clear, I gave Jack a wave and a thumbs up to let him know he could try and break through again. But the rest of the barricade was still pretty heavy. It consisted of a couple of trailers, another ride on lawn mower, a vending machine, tables and chairs, even a fridge.

  Jack tapped Kenji on the shoulder and signaled something with his hands.