Once inside Mace yelled for John to roll the barrel to the side door as he ran for a gurney to throw the fertilizer bags on. Rob stood inside the back door, watching with psychotic pleasure as the infected raged at their own impotence. As he turned back inside, Mace’s hands were on him, grabbing him, throwing him up against the wall. His head banged hard and he could see a few stars. Mace looked ready to kill him and the sight almost made him laugh.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?! We’ve only got one chance here! All our lives are depending on this!”
He tried to push Mace off him but Mace was too strong. Mace could feel his own rage on the verge of exploding and he fought to keep it under control.
“I need you to keep it together! Just this once. You want to go fucking psycho after this you go right ahead.” He let go of Rob and Rob smiled cockily, a smile so detached from reality that Mace wanted to snuff him out right there and then. Rob looked down and tried to straighten out his shirt.
“Alright. Alright. I’m here to get this done. I’m with you.” He gave Mace a preposterous wink but Mace could see the murderous intentions brewing behind his eyes. He’d deal with it later, if there was a later. He looked at Rob in disgust.
“Grab that bag and throw it up here. Let’s get this over to the side door.”
Rob smiled again as he helped Mace load up the gurney. John had the side door opened and was waiting for help with the barrel. The three of them pushed it up into the ambulance and popped the lid off, pouring the fertilizer inside. Mace mixed it with a long piece of medical equipment that was lying on the floor, yelling at Rob as he did so. “Get some bed sheets and blankets. We need to make a wick and some torches.”
John looked up and got an idea, running back through the hallway towards the emergency room door. He reappeared a few minutes later, sweating and breathing heavily as Rob and Mace tied the bed sheets together. He was pushing a gurney with a small oxygen canister, a gas can and three crutches. He put the oxygen canister in the ambulance and grabbed one of the spare bed sheets, wrapping it tightly around one of the crutches. Mace and Rob grabbed the other two and did the same. John then grabbed the gas can and doused the bed sheets with gas, looking up at Mace as he did so. “Once we plant the ambulance, put the oxygen tank on the roof, and prop the torch in front of it. We can blow it from a distance. Let’s just get this shit over with.”
Mace nodded as they heard another window break, and he rose and ran for the Marlin with the scope. Jade emerged in the hallway as he returned with the gun and he stopped, holding her gaze for a brief second before jumping in the ambulance and shutting the door behind him. He climbed into the driver’s seat as John and Rob ran back towards the emergency exit, where they headed outside and climbed into the convertible. John got in the drivers seat, pulling out a lighter and handing it to Rob who lit their torches as he fired up the car. The car was an automatic, which made it easier to carry the torch and drive at the same time.
The anger of the infected rose as they came outside but at the flare of the torches and the raising of the headlamps, they shrunk back a few inches. John took a deep breath and put the car in drive, moving slowly towards the crowd. He hit the brights and they moved back a little further, covering their eyes and screaming in indignation. They slowly pierced the wall of the crowd, waving the torches to keep them back, and soon all they could see around them were wild, hellish faces screaming in the glow of the fire.
John was on the verge of panic, feeling claustrophobic and disoriented. He lost all sense of direction, feeling completely turned around, until the emergency lights flipped on in the ambulance up ahead and the flashing strobe enabled him to get his bearings straight.
At the flash of the ambulance light, the infected turned almost in unison towards it and the shrieking came to a sudden halt. They seemed mesmerized by the flash, and as Mace inched forward into the crowd they moved out of his way without a fight, focused and spellbound by the flashing lights.
As John drew deeper into the crowd the terror was getting harder to control. With the top down and the light of the torches illuminating the infected around him, he felt like he was being suffocated and had trouble catching his breathe. He felt like he was on the verge of hyperventilating. The car was so low to the ground that the infected towered over him. He felt small and tiny in their midst, as if they could reach down and rip him to shreds if they so desired.
He was jarred from this nightmarish reality by the rabid scream of an infected, and he turned to see Rob stretching his torch out to light one of them on fire. It squirmed and shrieked as it burned, and its eyes seemed to bore into his as it became engulfed in flames. Those around it ignored it as they followed the flash of the strobe light and John felt a flood of sweat cover him as Rob turned and smiled at him, a sick twisted smile that flickered in the light of the torches.
He sped the convertible up, bumping into the legs of the infected ahead as they followed the ambulance. He slowly pushed them out of the way, an overwhelming compulsion to be closer to Mace in the hell of this madness. They continued for what seemed like an hour until the ambulance came to a sudden halt. His heart thumped erratically in his chest.
Up ahead, Mace had determined that this was as good a spot as any. They were at least ten blocks from the hospital on the edge of the city of Colma. He looked out the window at the horrible disfigured faces staring in awe at the flashing lights and he froze for a second, unable to move. It was the decisive moment and he felt frozen with fear. He thought about his training and all that had led up to this, and he knew that this was his destiny. He needed to complete this if any of them were to survive.
He gathered his strength and moved slowly to the back, waiting until the lights of the Miata came to a rest on his bumper. He slowly opened the rear door and what he saw prickled all the hairs on his body. In the glow of the torches with the red flash of the emergency lights, it looked like he was staring out over the very existence of hell, lost in a dark sea of demons. He shuddered again and looked down at the glowing faces of John and Rob, whose expressions were complete polar opposites.
John was clearly scared out of his wits and looking extremely uncomfortable, while Rob was staring up at him with that same cocky smile, twisted and defiant in its madness. Mace looked around at the infected, who were all still focused on the movement of the lights. The longer they stared at the lights, the more they fell into a trance like state, especially those closest to the vehicle.
Mace reached inside and pulled out the oxygen canister, hoisting it up to the roof. He was covered in sweat and it almost slipped out of his grip, but he was able to get it up and into place. He could hear some growls emanate from the crowd as he blocked the direct view of the lights, but they quieted down once he stuck his head back inside the ambulance.
He emerged with the crutch/torch, and realized he didn’t have any matches. He looked to John, who looked gray in the flicker of the torch light, and John caught on immediately. He slowly dug in his pocket, looking around at the slack jawed and bloodied faces around him for any sign of movement, then pulled it out and gently tossed it overhand to Mace. Mace flicked the lighter and the torch whooshed up. A few of the infected pulled their heads back and let out an angry groan, but made no other movement. He lifted and tucked the crutch into a bar that ran across the top of the roof, securing it a few inches away from the oxygen canister.
The shrieks started to grow as the light interrupted their peace, and Mace quickly stepped onto the hood of the convertible, carrying the Marlin as he walked over the seats and onto the back of the car. There was no back seat, so he sat on the small luggage rack that was attached to the trunk.
John started to back up slowly, and Mace reached over and grabbed his torch, jabbing it at an infected that was growing angry by the disruption. It shrieked and covered its face, and the crowd slowly began to give them room to turn around.
Once they were able to switch into drive John tried to drive a little faster
, wanting to get away from there, but the infected reacted with increased animosity and began moaning in defiance. He slowed the pace and they settled down, moving around the car as it gently pushed them out of the way. The further from the flashing lights they traveled, the more dispersed the infected became. They were also more easily bothered, and threats of attack steadily grew as more focus was paid to them then to the lights.
Mace finally decided that they had traveled far enough and wanted to get the shot off before something happened. He handed the torch back to John who felt relieved to have it back. It was a small night light in a vast closet of monsters.
Mace tried to line up a shot, but couldn’t see the oxygen canister due to the low height of the car. He turned to face John and Rob, whispering, “I’m going to have to stand to take the shot. Cover me. Once it blows you’d better drive like hell.”
Mace slowly stood up on the trunk and placed his feet inside the luggage rack for footing. His height created a more hostile target and the infected reacted to his presence. Those closest to him turned their focus away from the lights and began to move towards the convertible. As Mace put his eye to the scope and concentrated on a shot, John and Rob pulled their weapons at the infecteds’ approaching assault.
Even with the scope, Mace could barely make out the target, and with the distance, the infecteds’ heads blocked the shot with their slightest movement. As he tried to focus, he could hear John and Rob scream “Shoot!” before they opened fire on those first attacking. Feeling the pressure for action he fired, watching in disgust through the scope as the back of an infected’s head blew apart.
He cocked the gun and put his eye back on the scope, trying to zero in on his target before firing again and missing a fraction to the right, blowing out one of the ambulance lights and creating a stir among the infected. He could hear the shrieks growing in volume as shots rang out below him and he concentrated and cocked the gun once more, feeling desperation mounting as the infected once again blocked a clear and decisive shot.
John and Rob were frantically waving their torches at the infected as they raged towards them in a unified front. They fired their weapons whenever they could get a shot off without losing the power of the torch. Every time one went down they screamed louder and the number that surrounded them grew.
Mace thought he finally had a clear shot and fired, but once again an infected’s head moved into the path and was shattered by the bullet. As he cursed in frustration and cocked the gun again, Rob angrily glanced up and almost shot at him for taking so long.
With Rob’s attention momentarily diverted, an infected grabbed a hold of his shirt, ripping it wide open. Rob turned and shoved the torch into its face, and it shrieked before he popped two shots in its face. Looking down at the tear mark in his shirt he started laughing madly, emptying his gun at the infected around him in psychotic grandeur and screaming, “Come and get me you fuckers! I’ll kill every last one of you!”
He started taunting them as he moved away from the car, swinging his torch in circles around him, keeping them at bay. He finally jabbed his torch forward into the face of another one and took off at a run. Dodging through them, the infected shrieked with blood lust as they chased him down the darkened street, his laughter drowned out by a mass of violent screams.
On the other side of the car John could barely fend them off, not wanting to fire his gun for fear of running out of bullets. That thought seemed worse than not having the gun at all. The infected looked like a swarm of angry bees to him, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was stung. The only problem was that their sting caused psychosis, torture, and death. Their numbers began to thin and he hadn’t yet realized that they had left in pursuit of Rob.
Mace took in a breath and held it as he steadied the scope, aiming at the torch and canister. The flashing of the ambulance light made the shot that much more difficult, but he saw with clarity the path of the bullet as he squeezed the trigger. Through his scope, he could see the oxygen canister jump a little, and before he could even lower the scope, he could see a burst of flame jump out from the top of the ambulance.
“Get Down!” he yelled as he jumped off the back of the trunk and jabbed an infected in the face with the butt of his rifle.
John started shooting at those that were closest as a bright light flashed out of the corner of his eye. A split second later, a much stronger and brighter flash followed. It was then that he heard the roar of the explosion and felt a great, hot force that slammed into him and sent him flying off his feet. He crashed to the ground a good ten feet away, hitting the ground hard. Disoriented and stunned, he tried to get his bearings when he saw Mace sprawled out amongst the infected five feet away.
They both started to rise at the same time, shaking their heads and blasting away at any infected that even so much as twitched on the ground. They were both dazed, and as they staggered to the convertible a huge chunk of metal crashed down next to the car a few feet from Mace.
Chunks of flesh and metal started hitting the ground all around them and they huddled as close as they could to the convertible for protection. Once the heavy objects stopped, pieces of clothing starting drifting down around them like giant snowflakes, and Mace slipped into the driver’s side of the convertible, yelling something to John. John couldn’t make it out. The explosion temporarily deafened him and his head was pounding from the vibration. He climbed into the passenger seat and put his head back against the headrest; feeling bruised and in shock as the infected that hadn’t been killed began to rise off the pavement.
Rob felt the ground shake from the explosion as he raced frantically down a darkened street, his torch the only light. His laughter was replaced by cries as the infected stormed after him, trailing by only a few feet. The incredible boom that followed a split second later seemed to momentarily stun them, and they slowed down enough for Rob to toss the torch aside and run into the black of night. Finding a garbage bin to climb into, he shut the lid and hid. The infected screamed and shrieked as they searched for him throughout the night.
Mace hit the gas as he and John peeled rubber towards the hospital, where their small group of comrades anxiously awaited the outcome of their mission. The majority of the infected had been vaporized in the blast, leaving many more badly wounded or further bloodied and battered.
Chapter 35
(One Month Later)
“I think I’m pregnant.” Jade was propped up on an elbow next to Mace in their hospital room bed, searching his eyes for a reaction. The news was a complete shock to Mace and his eyes told her all she needed to know. She lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He watched her for a few seconds, trying to process the information.
“You sure?”
She continued to stare at the ceiling, slowly nodding her head. “Yes.” Tears began to rim her eyes as she turned her head on the pillow to face him. “I want to keep this baby. I want you to be its father and I want us to have a family.”
Mace was still dumbfounded and having trouble expressing how or what he felt. “This world we live in. It’s not exactly a paradise. How could we possibly raise it?”
She grabbed a hold of his hand and held it tightly. “We’ll give it love and teach it to love in return. This isn’t the end of the world. It’s just the beginning of a new one. You’ll see to that.”
She searched his eyes again, probing them for a hint of acceptance. “We’ve got some time to put things right, Mace. Make it a world worth living in again.”
As she searched his eyes, she could see a light begin to emerge as Mace fully realized the extent of what she was telling him.
“I don’t know. This just seems so crazy.” He looked at her in complete confusion. “I could have a son?”
She felt a hint of excitement in her chest. “We could name him Jason.”
As Mace pondered the news, he felt his life begin to take on new meaning. In the darkness of the night, the light was still shining through. He smiled
uncomfortably. “But what if it’s a girl?”
“I was thinking we could name her Agnes Gertrude.”
He got a look on his face like he’d just eaten a lemon. She laughed. “Just kidding. We’ll think of something.”
He reached over and embraced her, allowing himself to give in to the moment as his love for her swelled in his chest. They ended up making love long and tenderly, holding on to each other in the hope of a better life and world.
“How are you feeling John?” Maria had just entered John’s room. His temperature had finally settled to a constant 101 and his appetite had improved vigorously, but nightmares and ocular disturbances still plagued him.
“You know, I’m ready to get up and get active. I’m sick of just lying here. The funny thing is I just can’t seem to eat enough right now. I feel like I’m starving.”
It had been five days since John had been bitten. It had happened when he’d opened the driver’s side door of a backhoe in the graveyard, eager to dig up space for the corpses that occupied the freezers.
He’d been attacked immediately by what they assumed had been the driver, who had jumped out and mauled him before he’d been able to get off a shot. It had ripped a good chunk of flesh from his bicep and he’d gone into shock almost immediately after he’d dropped it. The antidote had saved him from turning, but the foreign amino acids that invaded his blood stream created havoc with his system. His temperature had risen to a high of 104 and he’d been delusional for a good 12-hour stretch, crying out at the horrid visions that flashed unceasingly across his consciousness.
Maria had checked on him regularly, and over the last few days had spent more time tending to his needs and listening as John struck up conversation. She was just turning to leave when he stopped her. “Maria?”
Mace of the Apocalypse Page 16
