Gabe shoved the body off him and stood up.
"Nice one," he said.
I turned away, gagging. I killed a man. Oh, God.
As I moved to the far side of the room I saw another door. Opening it a crack I checked to see what was on the other side. A corridor, leading to an emergency exit. And it was empty.
I signaled Gabe. The door behind him crashed open. Zombies poured into the room.
"Go!" he yelled.
We raced down the corridor, but we wouldn't make the exit. Gabe shoved me into an office and slammed the door behind us. He locked it and dragged a desk in front of it.
The zombies began beating on the door. The wood shook violently.
"That door isn't going to hold," I said.
"Yeah I know," he said. He climbed onto a chair and broke out a window set high near the ceiling.
"Come on," he ordered.
He boosted me up to the window. As I wriggled through I realized something.
"You're not going to fit," I said as I dropped to the ground.
"I know," he called. "Get out of here and find Adam. I can take care of myself."
The door broke open and gunshots rang out. I hesitated. I couldn't reach the window to get back inside, I needed to go.
I ran off.
Six
Adam
I raced down the street in the direction I saw Gabe and Rachel go in. I had been pinned down at the time but I saw the zombies chase them.
Where the hell did they go? I thought.
The whole town had gone to hell. And it happened so fast. When the first person had been infected there was an incubation period of twelve hours. The people here changed in minutes. If we didn't contain this fast, it could overrun the country in a matter of weeks.
The problem was - Gabe had the radio we used to contact HQ.
As I turned the corner, I collided with Rachel.
"Oh my God, Adam," she cried.
"Are you okay? Where's Gabe?"
"The supermarket. He's trapped inside."
I tried to move past her to go and help Gabe but she grabbed my arm.
"You can't go in there. There's dozens of them. He was trapped in a room with them. It’s too late."
Goddam fool.
I knew Gabe would end up in a situation he couldn't get out of eventually, but I didn't think it would be today. Rachel was sobbing silently beside me. There were more zombies heading our way.
"Come on; let's get off the street,” I said, wrapping my arm around her.
She led us to a bakery where a man let us inside.
"There's an apartment upstairs. Go on up," he said.
The man's wife was waiting in the apartment with Rachel's cousin. Cady toddled towards Rachel when she saw her. Sighing, Rachel scooped her up.
"Do you have a phone?" I asked the man, who had introduced himself as Gerry Mulligan.
"Yeah, but we tried it already. It's dead."
"Shit," I said. If I didn't get a hold of HQ and explain what was going on, they wouldn't be able to stop this.
"What about the CB radio?" Lynn asked.
"Show me," I said. It was worth a shot. I knew HQ would be monitoring local channels. It took a while but I managed to get through.
"What is your status, over?" a voice asked.
"We're currently located in a small town called Williamsburg. I'm with several uninfected civilians. The virus has spread throughout the town. We need immediate evac, over."
I was told to hold on while they checked with the captain. I glanced up to find Rachel watching me from the doorway.
"Are they going to help us?" she asked.
"I hope so."
"This is HQ, please be advised a vessel will be in place in the harbor tonight at 2100 hours. Can you get to the vessel, confirm. Over."
The harbor was about three quarters of a mile away. Who knew how many infected there would be by then but we had no other choice.
"Confirm. We will rendezvous with the vessel at 2100 hours. Over."
"So we wait?" Rachel asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, they'll get us out of here, don't worry."
"Worry? No, of course not. The world is being overrun by zombies, my parents are dead and I'm now the sole guardian of a two year old. What is there to worry about?"
I put an arm around her shoulders, "I'm sorry about your parents."
She leaned against me, "I'm sorry about your friend."
"Yeah, well if I know Gabe, he probably took them all out single handily and is laying low somewhere."
I knew I was just saying it to make myself feel better, but I wouldn't put anything past Gabe. He had more lives than a cat. That wasn’t military training either, it was growing up in foster homes where he learned most of his survival tactics.
We returned to the living room.
"I think it's time you told us what is going on, son," Gerry said.
I sighed, "I'm sorry it's classified."
"To hell with classified. People are dead out there. People we've known for years!"
Gerry's face had turned a deep shade of red.
"Gerry, please. Your heart," Lynn said softly.
He lowered himself into a chair, "Tell us what's going on?" he said, slightly calmer.
I sighed again, "A virus infected a doctor, not far from here, a few weeks ago. He fell into a coma. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Then he died. We weren't called in until a few days later. The husband was found roaming around in the morgue. He bit an attendant and attacked his own wife before we put him down. They died too.
"We managed to contain it and we've had doctors studying it. They seemed to be making progress. Then some bureaucrat showed up. He had no business being there. He was bit. He freaked and he ran. He was the one we were chasing here. He's the one who killed your parents, Rachel. I'm sorry."
"Don't you have like an antidote or something?" Rachel asked.
I shook my head, "They're working on it, but nothing so far."
"This is unbelievable," Lynn said.
"Believe it. Tonight we're going to meet up with a boat in the harbor. I'll get you all out of here."
Rachel gave me a small smile. I couldn't imagine what she had been through today, but she seemed to be holding up well.
Gerry and Lynn packed up a few provisions to get ready for that night. Rachel let Cady sleep in their room for a while.
I stayed by the window to keep watch and to look for Gabe, just in case. The street below was deserted. Occasionally a zombie would shamble by. If the townsfolk had any sense, they would have barricaded themselves into their homes to wait this nightmare out.
"See anything?" Rachel asked. She took a seat on the windowsill beside me.
"Not much.”
"Was it you who pushed me out of the way before?" she asked.
I saw the bruise on her head, "Yeah, I didn't mean to hurt you, but your mother..."
She nodded, "It wasn't her anymore," she said, wiping at her eyes. “It’s just hard to believe they’re both gone.”
“I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose people you care about.”
“Your parents?” she asked.
“My father. He was killed when I was fifteen. It does get easier in time, I promise.” I squeezed her hand.
"So you're a soldier?"
"Special ops. I think they were stretching the definition by putting us on this case. What about you? Are you in college?"
"I was supposed to go in the fall. I don't know what I'll do now."
Shit, she was younger than I thought. I noticed that she hadn’t pulled her hand away from mine.
We talked for a while to take our minds off what was happening outside, mostly about our lives before this happened. I liked talking to her.
Shortly after six, there was a dull thud against the apartment door. We all froze. I pulled my gun, moving towards the door. I pressed my ear to the door, but there was silence on the other side. Did one of them get in?
I motioned for the others to stay back, my hand closing slowly around the handle. I wrenched to door open to find Gabe slumped against the frame.
"What the hell?" I cried.
Gabe fell face down onto the floor. His back was covered in blood, his shirt shredded.
"Has he been bitten?" Lynn asked, holding Cady protectively against her.
I kneeled down beside him. The marks looked like scrapes. I didn't see any distinctive bite marks.
"Help me get him up," I said.
"If he's infected…" Rachel said.
"We don't know that yet. Help."
She took his legs, while Gerry and I took his body. We laid him out on the sofa; face down, so I could check the wounds.
Lynn bought me a first aid kit and I began cleaning his back. He had a wound on the back of his head too. Blunt force trauma from the look of it.
He looked like he’d been beaten up. Zombies were more interested in tearing into flesh not kicking the crap out of someone.
When I finished cleaning up the wounds, I was relieved to see that there were no bite marks.
"I don't think he's infected,” I said.
Rachel didn't look convinced.
"We'll wake him before we leave. Let him rest for now," I said.
I saw the look on Rachel's face and led her into the other room, "Its fine, Rachel."
"But what if he turns?"
"He won't."
"But..."
"If he does, I'll take care of it."
"I'm sorry, I know he's your friend, but the thought of one of those things..." she shuddered.
"It's going to be okay," I said, "We're all going to get out of here."
I only wished I felt as confident as I sounded.
Seven
Rachel
I checked the clock for the millionth time. We would have to move out soon. So far the street below was quiet. I didn’t know if that was a good thing. It probably meant that anyone out there was already dead.
Gabe was still unconscious. I understood Adam's loyalty to him, but I saw him in that room with all those things, there was no way he got out unscathed.
Adam appeared from the bedroom carrying a brown jacket, which he held out to me.
"It would be better if we covered as much flesh as possible," he said.
I slipped on the jacket, "Yeah, I didn’t dress well for a zombie apocalypse," I joked.
Adam blushed and looked away. I didn't mind him looking, he seemed like a nice guy.
We returned to our post at the window.
"We'll need to move quickly, stay close to me once we get outside," he said.
I smiled, "Thank you for what you’re doing. I don’t know where we would be without you.”
He smiled back and I reached out and put my hand on his, moving closer to him. I felt safe with him and I needed to feel safe right now. It didn’t hurt that he was really good looking.
“We’re going to get out of here, I promise,” he said.
I moved my hand from his and onto his leg. He looked guilty and moved away.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Uh, nothing."
"Seriously, what?" I asked. He checked me out before, so I knew he was interested.
"Well, it's just; I think Gabe kind of has the hots for you,” he said.
I sputtered a laugh, "What! He pulled a gun on me."
"Yeah, but he didn't shoot you. That says a lot."
"Yeah, that makes all the difference. I'm not interested in him, are you crazy?"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."
I shuddered, "Look, right now, I'm not interested in either of you. But if I was, I wouldn't pick him." How could he think I would pick that meat head?
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you mad."
There was a moan from the couch; Adam reached for his gun. We all watched as Gabe slowly sat up. I felt my heart pound, waiting to see if he’d turned.
"What the hell happened?" he muttered.
Adam sighed and holstered the gun, "You tell us."
"Yeah, how did you get out of the supermarket?" I asked.
"That was the easy part," he said, cryptically, "I didn't know there was a group of survivors outside who don't seem to care if I was alive or undead. They attacked me."
"Were you bit?" Adam asked.
Gabe shook his head, "No."
Adam filled him in on the plan, "Can you make it?"
"A couple of rednecks aren't going to keep me down."
Half an hour later, we grabbed our things, ready to go. Lynn was carrying Cady, while the others armed themselves.
"Right, move fast and as quietly as possible,” Adam said, “Don't fire unless you have to or you'll draw the rest of them. Let's do this."
*
Gabe
Crouching behind an overturned hotdog stand, I watched two zombies fighting over the remains of a man. Or it could have been a woman. At this point it was hard to tell.
I looked away. Adam and Rachel were huddled against a tree together. They seemed pretty friendly. It figured, while I was getting the crap beat out of me and being left for dead, Adam was cozying up with the girl.
I really hoped I ran into those rednecks again so I could get a little payback. Or we could just drop a nuke on the town and that would fix it.
When I escaped from the supermarket, one of them hit me over the head. Before I could retaliate they started kicking the crap out of me. I was pretty sure I had some cracked ribs. I think those assholes were just using the chaos as an excuse to do what they wanted. I wondered what they would have done if they had caught up to the girl. Nothing good, that was for sure.
The sun was setting and it would be dark soon. We needed to get to that boat fast. While one of the zoms was distracted, I snuck up behind it, decapitating it with one blow of my machete.
The other stopped chewing long enough to watch its buddy's head roll towards him. It tried to make a noise, but its mouth was full. I terminated it too.
We moved on. I hated having to move so slowly but we had no choice with the old couple and the kid. If she started crying, she would draw every zombie in town. So far though, she was contentedly sucking on a cookie the guy, Gerry, had given her.
As we neared the edge of the park, Rachel tripped over a body and went down. I moved to help her up, but Adam beat me to it.
"Are you okay?" Adam asked.
"Yeah, what did I trip over?" she looked down at the mangled remains of a woman. Her eyes widened in recognition, "Is that...my mom?"
She swayed and Adam grabbed her. She buried her head in his chest, sobbing.
"We need to move," I said.
I was the one who took out the mother. She had run at Adam and he’d gotten off a shot to her shoulder which didn't even slow her down. I dragged her off him, before shooting her. Obviously the zombies had gotten to her since then.
I felt a stab of sympathy for the girl but I buried it fast. I needed to stay frosty or we would never survive this.
Eight
Rachel
I struggled to keep moving after seeing my mother like that. All the adrenaline had left me and I just wanted to collapse.
"How much further?" I asked.
"Not too far now," Lynn said.
I couldn't help but wonder if this had spread beyond the town. If one of them escaped, it could just keep going. I’d seen enough zombie movies to know that they never ended well for humans.
We reached the road that led to the docks. As Gerry was climbing over a low fence with Cady in his arms, she dropped her cookie on the ground.
I watched as she threw back her head and opened her mouth, "No, Cady," I cried.
Cady began wailing into the night.
"Shut her up!" Gabe snapped.
I rushed forward to take her. I bounced her on my hip, trying to calm her down but I’d been on the receiving end of one of her tantrums before. She could cry for hours.
I was tempted to put m
y hand over her mouth but couldn't bring myself to do it.
From the darkness behind us, came a chorus of moans. They grew louder as a group of about eight zombies came towards us.
"Move!" Adam barked. We took off running down the road.
Cady was bouncing wildly in my arms, she continued to cry. I could see the dock up ahead and the boat. A couple of soldiers stood on the dock, waiting.
"Hurry," one of them yelled.
As I reached the dock, I heard Gerry cry out. I glanced back to see that he had fallen. Lynn rushed back to help him. I stopped too.
"Get up," Lynn urged.
Gerry was clutching at his chest, panting heavily. He didn’t seem able to move.
"Oh my God, help him," she cried to Adam and Gabe.
They each grabbed one of his arms and hauled him to his feet as the zombies reached them. The soldiers opened fire, taking out two at the back of the group.
I tried to shield Cady as best I could. Gabe let go of Gerry to strike out at one of the zombies. Gerry was yanked from Adam's grasp and pulled to the ground.
"No!" Lynn screamed.
One of them sank their teeth into his leg. Lynn tried to get to him but one of the zombies bumped into her, knocking her over.
Before it could attack her, Adam pulled her away, "Get to the ship, now!"
I grabbed Lynn's hand, trying to pull her away, "I can't leave him," she cried.
I kept pulling, "Please Lynn, there's nothing you can do."
She looked at me, her face stricken. Then she glanced at Cady and nodded, shoulders heaving as she cried. With one last glance at Gerry, who had disappeared under the group of zombies, we ran for the ship.
The soldiers ushered us on board. A few minutes later, Gabe and Adam followed.
The captain got the boat moving. Lynn and I were led below to a small cabin. Once we were safely away from the dock, I set Cady down on the small bunk and slid to the floor. Maybe now we would be safe.
*
Adam
Indeadpendence Day Page 3
