Plague War: Pandemic

by Alister Hodge

  ‘Thanks mate, I bloody owe you.’

  ‘I’ll add it to the list,’ said Harry.

  Mark carefully jumped to free ground then moved the boards aside for the others. The last twenty metres before the supermarket was clear of obstacles. Mark jogged forward, angling toward a body sized door within the larger security sliding panel. He tried the handle, giving a brief rattle back and forth. Locked.

  ‘Stand clear guys,’ he said over his shoulder, then stood to the side and aimed his rifle at the lock. Sparks flew as a bullet smashed through the aluminium, breaking the simple locking mechanism apart. He shouldered the door aside, and they were in.

  Harry tried a set of light switches beside the entrance but was unrewarded. A brief scan via torch light showed they were in the right place though. At the far left of the store, the shelves had been moved aside to create an open space. Where they stood at the entrance, the aisles remained, however were picked clean of edible food. To the far right lay a midden heap of empty wrappers and cans. A cloying smell of rot filled Steph’s nostrils, but disturbingly, it seemed to come from the cleared area as opposed to the rubbish heap.

  ‘Hello?’ called out Steph. ‘Is there anyone here?’ The only reaction to her voice was the skittering of tiny feet as a large rodent bolted into the trash pile.

  ‘You reckon those rats carry the new plague as well?’ asked Jai, his eyes staring at the point where the animal had disappeared.

  ‘As long as the bloody thing runs in the opposite direction, it probably doesn’t matter,’ Harry said.

  They walked forward, checking each aisle for movement as they went until they reached the cleared area. A trio of gas camping lanterns sat on a table at the start of the open space. Steph lit all three and passed them around, providing a yellow light within the oppressive gloom. The spot had housed thirty odd people at a guess, the ground along one side of the space covered in evenly spaced mattresses topped with sleeping bags.

  Two large tables were covered in a neat arrangement of weapons: kitchen knives, homemade spears like they’d found in the outside defences, and two hunting rifles.

  ‘If that’s all they had to clear this whole complex, it’s nothing short of amazing,’ whispered one of the soldiers as he fingered one of the blades. ‘There’s got to be a hundred shops in here, and god knows how many Infected there were to begin with.’

  The smell of rot was now overwhelming. Mark walked closer to one of the beds, nudging the sleeping bag with his foot. The top of the bag fell away, exposing a body lying within. The features were swollen and unrecognisable, marbled with greenish-blue. Its flesh was bloated, abdomen bulging upward with gas like a mother carrying twins. The slight movement from Mark’s foot was more than the corpse’s tissue integrity could handle at its advanced stage of decomposition, and the abdominal wall burst, releasing a fetid cloud of gas and fluids.

  Jai gagged and emptied his guts on the floor. Steph placed one hand on his shoulder as his stomach heaved, the other was over her own mouth as she struggled against the smell. Mark left them and moved down the line of beds. Every bag was the same. A dead occupant strangled with a length of cord. He stood up from the last bed, sadness filling his chest with dead weight at what he’d found. The last four sleeping bags had held children, none of them older than six years of age.

  To the left of the mattresses was what looked like a communal area where carpets had been arranged in a large square. In the middle was a slumped figure. Mark walked over and joined Harry who was kneeling next to this corpse.

  ‘Do you reckon he killed them all?’ asked Mark.

  The dead man sat with legs crossed, held up only by the barrel of the rifle that was still buried deep in his mouth. The back of his skull was missing.

  Harry looked up at him with sad eyes. ‘One hell of a murder-suicide, eh?’

  ‘It must have been a consensus decision amongst the group, there’s no way one guy could have killed so many without help. For all we know, this poor bastard drew the short straw and got left with the dirty work. Why the hell did they do it when they knew the army base was only thirty kilometres away in Queenscliff?’

  ‘Might as well have been the moon for all the obstacles that were between the two places. The General told you it’d been a few weeks since they’d made contact, didn’t he? At that time there was tens of thousands of Infected roaming the streets outside, and no approval to bomb the swarms. You saw their weapons when we entered – useless as toothpicks against a mob of those bastards,’ Harry said.

  ‘Knowing the army, they wouldn’t have committed to a deadline for extraction either. There’s no food left here. Maybe this type of death was seen as a kinder option to that of watching the children starve. Either way, it’s fucked up,’ said Mark, straightening slowly from where he’d squatted. ‘There’s nothing we can do here; we should probably get moving to be ready for Vinh when he breaks through.’

  Mark gathered his small squad together, taking the opportunity to evenly share out the remaining ammunition. He emptied his two magazines, giving a handful of rounds to replenish those that had less than a full mag remaining. Steph accepted the extra rounds, slotting them into her magazine with practiced efficiency, while Mark moved onto the others in the group to spread the meagre supply around. He was now down to a handgun and sword, preferring to ensure his soldiers had fully primed rifles for the engagement to come. He reached behind his head, grasping hold of his sword’s handle and loosened the blade within its scabbard.

  A low growl rumbled from the darkness, the contours of the shop bouncing the sound so that it seemed to come from more than one direction. Harry felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. That had been no ordinary dog. He’d heard that growl before, back at the research facility. The rest of the squad had frozen at the sound, any sparse conversation as they reloaded and prepared, abruptly silenced. A clicking of overgrown claws issued from beyond the meagre glow of the lanterns as the heavy animal paced forward, the faint noise seeming to mesmerise the soldiers.

  From the inky gloom two slitted eyes reflected against the lamp as a broad head and body emerged. The Rottweiler was huge, eighty kilograms of lean muscle driven to violent insanity by the Lysan plague. It stopped for a moment, tail stiff as the square head slowly turned to inspect and choose its first victim. To either side of the dog emerged the rest of the pack. The Rottweiler’s lips drew upward in a quivering snarl, exposing needle sharp canines.

  Jai rammed a magazine home into his rifle, and the spell was broken. The dogs launched, flowing forward to attack with practiced efficiency. Half the pack centred on the closest three soldiers who’d been squatting on the ground while they serviced their rifles. Only one managed to get off a shot before they went down under a hail of teeth and claws, the beasts tearing chunks of flesh with every vicious snap, eating their victims while they still fought and screamed beneath them.

  Other dogs swerved around the melee, bounding forward to attack Jai who fired a burst of ill aimed rounds as a German Shepard leapt for his throat, the bullets punching through the chest of the animal. Mark was knocked from his feet, landing on his arse as he tried to un-holster his pistol. He kicked out with both feet, fending away a Pit Bull that tried to dodge around and reach his face. Finally, he cleared his pistol and brought it to bear, firing three rapid shots into the dog.

  Mark kicked the carcase off his leg and rolled to his feet, scanning about for the state of his squad. Both Jai and Harry were standing, their attention gripped as they shot at three dogs trying to reach them. A scream of terror jerked Mark’s gaze to the right. Steph had lost her rifle and was being dragged out of the ring of light by the Rottweiler, its massive jaws clamped about one heel. Mark raised his pistol but couldn’t get off a shot safely as Steph blocked his target with her struggles. He swore in frustration and ran forward, drawing the sword from over his shoulder. As Mark approached, the dog released her foot and turned to face him. With a snarl it launched forward, jaw wide, teeth ready to
clamp about his leg. Mark punched ahead with his sword, the point burying into its neck. The force of the dog’s leap drove the sword deep, onward into the chest cavity to puncture the heart. He placed a foot on the now inert dog’s shoulder and wrenched his sword free.

  Harry and Jai had successfully killed their attackers. Steph picked up her rifle and now the four friends turned to fight off the last of the pack, still feeding on the downed soldiers. The dogs were oblivious to their approach, attention held rapt by the bloody mess under their jaws as they were shot to death. Mark picked up a torch and scanned the darkness surrounding for any further sign of movement.

  ‘I think that’s all of them,’ Mark said, breathing heavily as he turned back to the three soldiers lying on the ground. Their injuries were horrific. One man had borne the brunt of the dogs’ attention, disembowelled and throat torn free. The other two still drew shuddering breaths, but it was only a matter of time before they joined their comrade in death, such was the degree of injuries sustained. Every moment of life was now but another minute of torture.

  One of the injured soldiers looked up at Mark, eyes wide in agony. He coughed, mouth crimson with blood. ‘Just hurry and do it,’ he groaned.

  Two gunshots rang out then Mark turned away from the scene, blocking out the mercy killing to focus on Steph. ‘Sit down, we need to check your ankle.’

  Steph looked back, her face drained of colour as she obeyed and allowed Mark to roughly undo the laces of her boot.

  ‘They were infected with the plague, weren’t they?’ she asked quietly. ‘Harry, you were doing your research on these dogs. Are they like human Carriers, can they transmit the virus when they bite?’ Her eyes pleaded the doctor for a negative answer.

  Harry refused to meet her gaze, mutely nodding an affirmative. Laces now undone, Mark ripped off her boot and sock, shoving her trouser leg up to her knee to expose the skin.

  ‘Bring that light closer, will you?’ he muttered as he searched her foot and ankle for signs of trauma. Harry sat the lantern on the ground as Mark ran his fingers over her skin once again. Next, he picked up her boot, fingering the puncture marks left in the leather ankle guard.

  ‘I think you’re in the clear, babe,’ he said, finally allowing himself to sigh in relief. ‘I can’t find even a graze on you, and to back that up, the teeth didn’t get all the way through,’ he said, showing her that the inner side of the boot was still intact.

  Steph blinked rapidly as she stifled a sob, tears coming unbidden as relief flooded her system. ‘I thought that bite had killed me,’ she said, her voice thick as she hugged Mark. ‘If you hadn’t come when you did, it would have...’

  ‘But it didn’t, ok?’ Mark said, cutting her off gently. ‘You’re safe now.’

  ‘Guys?’ Jai said urgently. ‘I think we need to clear out.’

  Mark looked around quickly, ‘Is there another one in here?’

  ‘Nope, but I think the bastards are starting to come back for a second round,’ he said, a slight catch in his voice as he looked wide-eyed at something. The other three friends followed his gaze to where the first dog to be killed lay. Its back leg twitched once, then abruptly the dog lurched upwards, pushing the front half of its body off the ground.

  ‘Harry, can plague infected dogs reanimate?’ asked Mark.

  ‘We never tested to find out, but I think you’ve got an answer.’

  The dog had now pulled its back legs underneath and stood drunkenly as if the nervous system was relearning how to control its body. The limbs on a second dog started to twitch.

  Steph grabbed her boot, stamped her foot back into it and started doing up the laces at speed. ‘Somebody kill the fucking thing already,’ she said.

  The dog turned its head at the sound and its eyes locked onto her. One side of the beast’s mouth curled upward in a stroke-like snarl and it started to lurch toward her.

  Harry lifted his rifle and fired a short burst. Two of the rounds connected, hitting the animal in the gut and chest. The force of impact knocked the animal to the ground for a moment, but showing no signs of pain, it immediately sought to stand once more. Boot now on, Steph sighted along her rifle and fired a bullet deep into its brain. This time, the corpse stayed down.

  ‘I don’t think we have enough bullets left to take them out a second time. Let’s get the hell out of here,’ Mark said.

  Steph and Harry had already started jogging toward the supermarket entrance. Mark waited for Jai to follow suit then he closed in behind, bringing up the rear. As he reached the doorway, he turned and shone his torch back to the gore of the battle. The light flashed back off the eyes of the Rottweiler who had just regained its feet. The animal snarled and started forward in an ungainly trot. Mark had no intention of waiting; he turned again and took off after his mates.

  Mark thanked his foresight to push aside the Punji stick boards as he dived flat under the tables holding the spears and rolled back to his feet. Jai had a ten-metre lead on the group as he took point, his rifle raised while he ran. More Carriers had emerged from the depths of the shops on either side, hammering at the roll down barriers and screaming anger as they sprinted past.

  Jai passed into the open area where they’d found the signage for the Coles store, turned the corner to head back to their original entrance, and ran straight into the arms of a Carrier. The creature clamped onto his left hand and yanked him forward to its exposed teeth. Jai screamed as fractured teeth bit down, puncturing deep into his wrist. Blood spurted from his radial artery as Mark finally closed the intervening distance and stabbed through the thin temporal bone, obliterating the Carrier’s brain.

  Jai clamped down on the wound with his free hand, blocking the haemorrhaging artery with his thumb. Mark ratcheted the tourniquet within his uniform sleeve tight to help stem the blood flow. ‘With any luck that will slow down the virus as well,’ he said, pulling the young man to his feet.

  ‘Bullshit,’ said Jai. ‘You know as good as me – I’m fucked. That was a major blood vessel.’

  A moan issued from behind them, cutting the conversation short. Both men looked around to see more Infected stumbling along the hallway toward them. The doorway forced open by the dog pack had been found by Carriers.

  ‘Vinh’s supposed to be meeting us at the north entrance anyway,’ Mark said, turning away from the approaching mob as if it was nothing more than an inconvenience. ‘We’ll get you to the truck, and then sort the wound. Don’t give up while you’ve still got breath in your lungs, Jai.’

  The group cut across the open area, angling toward a hallway signposted as an exit. Light at the end of the corridor beckoned as the mingled cacophony of barks and snarls drove them to greater speeds. Two glass paned doors blocked the exit. Harry wasted no time, smashing the glass from one panel with the butt of his rifle. Fresh air hit the sweat on Mark’s face as he ducked through the gap, bringing up the rear.

  The street was empty. No Carriers or dogs, but more importantly – no bloody truck. Mark swore to himself. ‘We’ll have to move to him...’ he started to say before a noise caught his attention. The sound of a truck gearing down made his heart leap, and he looked up to find Vinh’s semi-trailer rounding the corner, not forty metres distant. They ran to meet him. Behind, a dog careered through the gap in the window, catching a foot on the bottom rim of the doorframe and flipping forward to smash its face into the ground. The other door’s window smashed in a shower of glass, punched free by a Carrier.

  The truck braked heavily, wheels screaming as they skidded the last two feet on the tarmac. The four survivors clambered up the outside of the cage, Jai awkwardly climbing with only one functioning hand, biting his lip in determination as he scaled to the roof. Vinh was in the cage, and unlocked the manholes in the roof, allowing them inside before fastening it once more.

  Without a word of greeting, each had a loaded rifle shoved in their hands.

  ‘We managed to push through,’ said Vinh, ‘but the rest of the swarm’s not far behind.�
�

  On cue, the first of the Infected trailing the truck lurched into view around the corner. The soldiers took up positions, aiming through the cage, ready to engage the enemy. The radio clipped to the Sergeant’s chest crackled into life, and he lifted it to his ear. A broad smile cut across Vinh’s features as he listened intently.

  ‘Best news I’ve heard all day, it’ll be a pleasure fighting with you, Sir. Out,’ he said, hooking the radio back onto his shirt.

  ‘Well?’ asked Mark, one eyebrow raised.

  ‘Some other trucks have broken through. We’ll have support shortly, Boss,’ Vinh said. ‘Have to say, it almost pisses me off. After what we’ve been put through, seems a shame to share the credit for clearing the centre of town.’

  ‘Fuck the credit,’ grated Mark, daring to hope for the first time. ‘If the rest of my squad can make it home, they can own the whole damn day for all I care.’

  The snarls of the approaching Infected grew in volume, they were now less than twenty metres distant. Mark fastened his mind back to the job at hand and took a deep breath.

  ‘Fire at will!’

  ***

  Mark clipped the radio back to his chest. Word had just come through that another truck had reached the car manufacturing plant, securing the location. The operation as a whole had therefore been a success, and yet the taste of this victory made him want to spit.

  Mark mopped sweat from his forehead, leaving a smear of dirty ash beneath the hairline. Exhaustion sat in his chest like a ton weight as he surveyed the street. What had been an empty road, now lay as a feast for crows. Inert corpses, returned to death, lay knee deep for blocks. His remaining soldiers, half of what he’d left Queenscliff with that morning, sat slumped amongst the spent ammunition boxes on the floor. At the end of the block stood two other trucks, teams that had joined them in culling the swarm from both ends, stamping out the plague abomination until nothing moved.

  Mark sighed, knowing that he couldn’t delay his next duty any longer. He walked to the back of the cage, where Jai sat propped with his back against the wire. His eyes were closed, breathing laboured as sweat dripped in heavy beads from his face. Harry and Steph were both with him, one on either side. As Mark squatted down at the young man’s feet, Jai’s eyes opened a crack.