The Sixth Level (Secret Apocalypse Book 2)

by James Harden

  We kept going. Straight ahead, directly across the road from the fuel station was the IKEA store. It was part of a huge, long rectangular shaped building. According to the massive billboard next to the building it was a ‘home maker’ super center. Next to the IKEA was a bedding store. The sign for the bedding store read; ‘Heavenly Beds. Sleep like the dead'. That was unnerving to say the least. At the far end of the rectangular building was a hardware store. The whole building was like a customer friendly warehouse.

  It was our only option. We couldn’t go left, we couldn’t go right. And we certainly couldn’t turn around.

  We ran to the entrance of the IKEA but it was locked.

  Kenji shouldered his rifle and aimed it at the lock. "Stand back," he said. "And cover your eyes."

  "No, wait!

  "What?"

  "Save your bullets."

  He lowered his gun.

  I stepped forward and kicked out with my right foot and the entire door broke off its hinges.

  We made our way into the labyrinth that was the IKEA store.

  Behind us we could hear the screaming howl of thousands of infected. Angry and hungry and relentless.

  Chapter 34

  We didn’t bother fixing the door or prop it up. We just kept running.

  "Did anyone see where Maria went?" Jack asked between ragged breaths.

  "She’s with Daniel," I answered.

  "Where are they?"

  "I don’t know."

  "Did they get out?"

  "I think so. But I didn't see which way they went."

  "Oh great! They could be anywhere! They could be trapped!"

  "They're probably on the golf course already," I said, trying to calm him down.

  "But we don't know that. And we don’t even really know who this Daniel guy is!" Jack shouted. "He could've taken her anywhere. He could’ve put her in danger. What if he’s kidnapped her so he can escape by himself and collect a reward or whatever?"

  "No, that’s stupid. He wouldn’t do that."

  But even as I was saying it I remembered what he said about getting paid for this mission, how it was a huge amount that could set him up for life. But he wouldn't abandon us would he? Not after everything that's he's been through. "No way," I said. "He wouldn’t do that. He’s lost a lot on this mission. He lost his whole squad on this. And he's smart enough not to get trapped. They'll be safe," I said trying to convince myself as much as anyone. "And besides, apart from Kenji, Daniel's the best person, the most qualified to protect Maria."

  We were running through the wide aisles of the IKEA, through all the home furniture displays. But we didn’t really know where we were running too. We had no idea where the exits were. The whole store was like a maze. Again, my chest tightened and a feeling of claustrophobia returned.

  Kenji pointed to a side door. "Over there! That leads to the bedding store. Maybe we can find a way through it and sneak out the rear exit."

  "Do you think they’ll be out there?" I asked fearfully.

  "Not sure." Kenji replied.

  "But these buildings back out on to the golf course," Jack added. "So if we can get out the rear exits we can make a run for it. We're better off in the open. There’s less chance of being ambushed or trapped."

  Even though there was more chance of being spotted, I thought. But we had to pick our poison.

  We made our way from the IKEA through an adjoining walkway into the bedding store. We could see the back exits. Unfortunately they had been barricaded shut with tables and bedding frames and mattresses. The same thing had been done to the front main entrance. The main entrance had a stack of bed mattresses and bed frames stacked up at least ten feet high.

  Although there did appeared to be a gap down the side of the barricade. It was a neat gap, wide enough for a person to squeeze through.I guess whoever had made the barricade, eventually gave up. Maybe they freaked out and decided to make a run for it. Not that any of that mattered anymore, because through the gap we could see that the doors were wide open. And outside, the horde of infected were streaming past. They didn’t know we were in here yet but it wouldn’t be long.

  At the far end of the bedding store we saw another side entrance that lead directly into the next store. The hardware store.

  We paused momentarily, crouching down behind a massive king size bed.

  "Do you think we can make it into the hardware store?" Jack asked between deep breaths.

  "We have to try," Kenji answered. "It’ll take too long to move that barricade. We gotta try the hardware store."

  If we couldn’t get out through the back of the hardware store, we’d have to go all the way back into the IKEA and try and find the rear exit or emergency exit. There would have to be one somewhere. But that store was so big and such a maze there was a real risk of getting lost or getting trapped.

  And we could not afford to get trapped. Not with so many infected just outside. And that giant spider monster. Who even knew what that thing was capable of doing? I did not want to find out.

  We stayed crouched behind the bed for what felt like a long time. Although in reality it was probably only thirty seconds. Eventually my heart rate began to slow. I was able to think a bit more clearly and process what had just happened.

  "So what the hell was that thing spider thing?" I asked. "Have you guys seen anything like it?"

  "No, nothing like it," Jack answered. "That was crazy."

  I turned to Kenji. "Did you get briefed on any mechanical spider monsters before you came out here, Kenji? You’re not hiding anything else from us are you?"

  "Ah, no," he said, slightly offended. "They never briefed us on anything like that. The virus, that's all they warned us about, that it changed people. And even then we didn't believe it. Not until we saw it with our own eyes at the immigration center. But that? That giant spider thing? You gotta be kidding me. No way. They never mentioned anything even remotely like that."

  "Maybe it was just a robot or machine thing made by whoever made those other sculptures," Jack suggested sort of half sarcastically. "And maybe it just short circuited or something and it went haywire."

  It sounded ridiculous but what was the alternative? A giant spider monster, made from spare car parts and scrap metal? None of it made sense. And that scared the hell out of me. Just knowing that there was something else out there, something else to fight and fear, to run and hide from.

  "Come on," Kenji said. "Let's go, we can talk about it later. But right now we need to get the hell out of here."

  We were about to make a move. But Just then something crashed through the barricade of the main entrance.

  They had found us.

  Chapter 35

  A few of the infected had slipped through the barricade. They were squeezing through the tiny gap shoulder to shoulder, like they were racing each other and pushing each other out of the way, like it was some sick competition to get to us, to be the first one to eat us and infect us.

  Kenji raised his rifle. "Go. Get to the hardware store," he said as he fired off some rounds.

  He dropped two of the infected. And then a third one. But there were still more coming through. Although, it could've been worse, there could’ve been more but the barricade had created a bottleneck. Luckily only a few infected could fit through.

  As Jack and I ran for the hardware store I looked over my shoulder and counted maybe a handful. But just then as more and more tried to push their way through the gap in the barricade, they brought the whole stack of tables and mattresses and bedding frames down.

  This completely blocked the entry. And the collapse of the makeshift barricade crushed the ones caught beneath it.

  There was only a few inside.

  Kenji fired his rifle again, dropping one more infected. But then he ran out of bullets.

  He slung his rifle and started running after us.

  We made it into the hardware store and quickly closed the double glass doors behind us. But again we knew it wouldn
’t be long before they came and smashed through.

  We ran towards the back of the store. The back exit was right there. We would be out in the open golf course in no time. We came to the door. Kenji was out of bullets but I was confident I could kick this door down just like I’d done with the entrance door. I was really starting to get used to the NBC suit.

  We heard the infected slam into the glass doors. They started banging their heads against it, using their skulls as battering rams.

  We heard the glass begin to break and shatter.

  I raised my foot to kick the door open. Not even checking to see if it was unlocked. I just assumed it was. But Kenji stopped me.

  "Wait!" he shouted.

  "What?"

  "There’s only a few inside. Maybe four of them. We should take them out. If we don’t, they’ll just follow us. And they’ll bring their friends."

  "How the hell are we gonna take them out?" Jack asked. "You’re out of bullets. And I really don’t feel like going toe to toe with these guys."

  "We won’t have to. Check it out. There’s a whole range of ride on lawn mowers over there by the door."

  "So?"

  "So, if there’s fuel inside them we can turn them into homemade bombs and blow them up. Then we can make a run for it. It might not throw the rest of the horde off our trail for good. But it’ll give us a big head start."

  He had a point. And I hated him for it. I wanted nothing more than to kick down that door and just run for it. But Kenji knew we’d have a better chance of getting away clean if we took care of these few.

  We moved quickly, pushing three of the bigger ride on lawn mowers right up to the door. When the infected saw us move towards them, right up to the door, right in front of them, it sent them into a frenzy.

  We could see four of them and they began to smash through in earnest. The glass had completely shattered, giving the appearance of an intricate spider web. Luckily for us, it must have been reinforced.

  "Unscrew the fuel tanks," Kenji said. "We’ll have to make a trail so we can light it."

  "Wait, how are we going to light it?" I asked as Jack ran off, down one of the aisles. "Hey, where are you going?"

  "To the barbeque section!" he answered over his shoulder.

  A few seconds later he was back with a bottle of lighter fluid and a box of extra long barbeque matches.

  The infected had smashed open a hole in the glass door. The hole was just big enough for one of them to fit their head through. The glass had torn his skin to shreds. Thick, dark blood oozed down his face. He was snapping his jaws furiously.

  "All right we’re good to go," Jack said like he was excited to blow something up.

  We tipped one of the lawn mowers over on its side so that the fuel spilled out on to the floor, just for good measure.

  Kenji and I made our way back to the door as Jack laid down a trail of lighter fluid. When he finished he threw the bottle away and took out a match.

  I kicked open the exit door and Kenji took a small tentative step outside to see if it was clear. He gave a nod to say it was. Outside was a small parking lot, probably for staff and customers. And on the other side of the parking lot was the beautiful, luscious golf course.

  "Come on, Jack!" Kenji said. "Let’s go! Let’s do this!"

  Jack struck the match. But it didn’t light.

  The excited smile disappeared from his face and was replaced with a look of horror. He tried again, but the match broke and snapped in half.

  He opened the box and took out another match. But his hands were shaking so much he dropped the rest of the matches on the floor.

  The infected had broken almost all the way through. They’d be on top of us in a matter of seconds.

  Jack seemed to steady himself. He took a deep breath and struck the match. And it ignited. He threw it on to the floor and the lighter fluid caught on fire. The fire seemed to mesmerize the infected. They focused on the trail as it burned quickly and quietly towards the ride on lawn mowers.

  Jack turned and ran towards us. We all jumped out of the exit and kept running.

  Behind us the entire hardware store erupted in a fiery explosion. The noise and the force was enough to knock us off our feet. I guess, maybe three full tanks of petrol and whole bottle of lighter fluid was overkill. But it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Fire and smoke billowed up and out of the exit we’d just ran out of.

  There was no way the infected had survived that explosion. On the downside, the rest of the horde definitely would’ve heard that, assuming they can hear. But at least we had a head start.

  We picked ourselves up off the bitumen of the parking lot and started running for the golf course.

  We were running down a fairway, when we suddenly realized we were out in the open. So we all moved over to the side, to the tree line that followed the fairway.

  We were running pretty fast. I could hear the guy's frantic breaths as they struggled to take in as much oxygen as they possibly could. I was breathing hard as well but I was gliding along. I wasn’t really winded or tired. I felt like I could've run forever.

  I kept looking over my shoulder to see if we were being followed but I think we were safe for the moment. The fire and the smoke from the explosion and the actual building itself provided good cover for our get away.

  We ran down another fairway when we felt like we had put enough distance between us and the explosion and the infected. So we stopped behind a raised sand trap to catch our breath and collect our thoughts.

  "What do we do about the others?" Jack asked as he was doubled over. "Where do we wait for them? Where do we even begin to look for them?"

  I was about to offer a suggestion when Daniel jumped out of the sand trap appearing out of nowhere, completely covered in sand. He had his rifle raised, ready to take us out.

  We all froze. I think I actually raised my hands above my head.

  Was he going to shoot us? Were Jack’s paranoid fears about Daniel wanting Maria for himself actually not paranoia at all?

  But then Daniel lowered his rifle and relaxed. "Thank God you guys made it."

  We inched closer to the bunker, still a little unsure at that point.

  "Where’s Maria," Jack demanded.

  "I’m right here," she said.

  She was buried in the sand. Completely hidden. She stood up and shook the sand out of her hair. Jack ran over to her and picked her up and hugged her.

  "What the hell happened?" Maria asked. "What was that explosion?"

  But before anyone could answer her there was another loud eruption from the hardware store. We all ducked instinctively. I guess some other fuel tanks or lawn mowers, or maybe gas bottles, had caught on fire. There would be no shortage of explosive materials in a hardware store.

  Daniel looked through the scope on his rifle, back towards the giant wall of smoke rising into the air. "What caused the explosion?"

  "We blew up some lawn mowers," Kenji answered. "To buy us some time."

  "How long do we have?" Maria asked as she shook more sand out of her hair.

  "Not long," Kenji said.

  "Yeah, it was a close call." I added.

  "Too close," Jack agreed.

  The black smoke continued to billow up into the sky from the hardware store. It seemed to mix in with the red dust, turning it a darker color.

  "We gotta get out of here." I said.

  "Where? How?" Jack asked. "We’ve lost the Humvee."

  "We don’t need the Humvee," Kenji said. "Let’s stick with the plan. We follow the connected golf courses and head for the airport."

  We all nodded our heads in agreement.

  And we all knew we couldn’t keep doing this. Even stopping for fuel was a dangerous, life threatening exercise.

  Earlier, Daniel had said we needed to take calculated risks. He said we needed to be smart. But sooner or later we would risk too much. We would gamble our lives and we would lose.

  We needed to get out befor
e that happened. We needed to get Maria out before that happened.

  Chapter 36

  It wouldn't be long before the infected pouring out of the underground road found us. They would zero in on us like some sort of wicked, heat seeking, biological weapon of mass destruction. So we all started running down the fairway of the golf course, sticking to the tree line. Just in case.

  After a few minutes, Daniel and I were a fair distance in front of the others, so we had to slow down. And every now and then, Daniel would stop altogether to make sure Jack, Maria and Kenji were all right. He would hang back and make sure we weren't being followed and then he’d catch up.

  I’m not sure how fast we could ‘jog’ in the NBC suits. I say jog because that’s what it felt like. It felt like a light and easy and enjoyable jog. But in reality, Daniel and I were probably running at least twenty miles an hour.

  I was just getting into a rhythm when the golf course ended abruptly and suburbia started. I crouched at the edge of the course. I stared at the houses and the nice cars and the neat driveways. It looked so empty, so completely void of life.

  Kenji, Jack and Maria caught up to me. They crouched down, breathing hard. They studied the suburban streets with worried expressions on their faces.

  They knew what a place like this could be hiding. They knew better than anyone.

  Daniel was still behind us somewhere. I looked back down the fairway but I couldn’t see him. He may have had his cloaking device activated.

  I checked the GPS again. The little blue ball was sitting at the edge of the first golf course. In front of us was about four or five blocks of houses and then the next golf course started.

  Daniel eventually caught up to us. "There’s nothing back there," he said. "We’re in the clear."

  "Not, necessarily," I said pointing towards the houses.

  Daniel checked his GPS device. "OK, we’ve got a few blocks of suburbia before the next golf course. No big deal."