by Tristan Vick
Barnes fired two shots through her left eye and Valentine crumpled to the ground. Looking down at her contorted body he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. Sniffling, he holstered his gun and then bent down and removed her dog tags and placed them around his neck. Peeling off his jacket, he leaned down and gently placed it over her head. It was the least he could do for the woman he had loved. The woman he had just killed.
Barnes wasn’t the cynical type, but he felt miserable, as if he had just finished a wild drinking binge and suddenly was forced to sober the hell up. Suddenly he was wide awake and the Dionysian dream was over. All that remained was the cold, vividly harsh realization that he awoke to a hellish nightmare. This was his reality now.
Barnes stood up straight, composed himself, and then left the room. He didn’t look back.
As he departed the crippled compound, he held up a small transceiver gripped snuggly in the palm of his hand. Barnes flicked open the red cover guard with his thumb and pressed down hard on the button. Orange balls of fire lit up the night sky as the entire compound exploded behind him. Welcome to the new world, he thought. The nightmare world that nobody could ever wake up from.
15
Dangerous Encounters
ABOVE THE DARKENED CITY, THE green helicopter cut across the night sky like a large mechanical dragonfly. Rachael Ramirez awoke to the loud rumble of a helicopter and the chopping sound of its blades as it made its way the night sky. She securely strapped into a seat, and her hands were bound with medical gauze. Looking over she saw Dr. Hemingway sitting beside her. “Where are we?”
“Welcome back among the living,” said Hemingway. “We are currently headed to the Bradley Air Force base located on the other side of the city. It is where the general and the rest of the remaining military personnel and survivors will convene. Believe me, it’s the safest place to be right now.”
“Survivors? Why? What happened? The last thing I remember was talking to you, then … nothing.”
“Sorry about that,” Hemingway said with an apologetic tone. “After our conversation I had to put you under to draw out a bone marrow sample. Trust me, it would have been much more uncomfortable had you been awake.”
“Well, at least that explains why every inch of my body aches.” Suddenly Rachael remembered Alyssa. “Wait, what about Alyssa? The girl I was with, what happened to her?”
Hemingway looked at her with a grave expression. “The based got ambushed by a horde of living dead. We got separated from the others. But my orders were clear. I was to get you out of there no matter the cost.”
“What? Why me?!”
“It’s your blood. It’s special.”
“What do you mean special?”
Their eyes locked and Hemingway placed her warm hand on Rachael’s arm. “You are immune to the virus.”
“Is that even possible?” asked Rachael in shock.
“Yes.”
Rachael’s heart sank. Why was she immune but her son wasn’t? It wasn’t fair. She lost the only thing she had ever loved with all of her heart, and for what? The joy of realizing how bitter it is to be the only one who cannot escape the goddamn nightmare because you just so happen to be invulnerable to the pestilence? Tears welled up in her eyes.
All of a sudden the helicopter pilot yelled out, “Incoming!”
The helicopter arched up and then took a sharp dive. Hemingway flew up and hit her head on the metal ceiling. Once the helo righted itself Hemingway smashed back to the floor, unconscious. Rachael looked out the window into the darkness of night and squinted hard. In the dim moonlit sky, she could make out a barely perceptible a smoke trail winding its way toward them. “What is it?” she asked aloud. As it came closer her eyes widened with realization. “It’s a rocket!” she screamed. But it was too late.
With a loud explosion the RPG hit the tail of the helicopter and took it clean off in a fiery ball of flame. Without the rear rotor the mammoth machine began to spin and twist out of control. It plummeted down toward a grassy baseball field in a nearby park.
Dark trails of smoke spiraled down after the plummeting helicopter. Smashing into the ground the vehicle exploded in a gigantic ball of flame near center field of the baseball diamond.
Barnes ran through the city streets, sticking to the shadows. Even though it was dark, the moonlight still lit up the roads with a moody glow which seemed less than inviting. As he came around the corner of Chen’s Dry Cleaning, he ducked into a spa called Re+Fresh.
It was a renovated gentlemen’s club, back from the day when such things still existed. Now it was a health and beauty spa. Barnes had agreed to meet Valentine here if anything went wrong. It was her idea. Something about the long shelf life of nutrition bars and vitamin jellies. He loved that about her. Always planning two steps ahead. When she didn’t show he went back to look for her. But Barnes had to know. A woman that meticulous doesn’t just disappear. She either was trapped alive, dead, or worse.
Of course, now he wished he hadn’t gone back and found what he had. But maybe it was for the best. Not knowing would have haunted him. Worse, it would have driven him out of his mind. Ripping the bandage off was more painful in the interim, but a lot less hurtful in the long run. At least now he could put the past in the past.
Carefully opening the door, Barnes slid into the building without a sound. He headed down to the basement, where the old bathing chambers were. They were laid out to look like Greek pools. They even had Greek styled pillars installed for added authenticity. The pools were still steaming hot since they were fed by a natural underground hot spring. Being two floors underground was perfect as a hideaway. The basement walls muffled any noise and allowed them to use lights and remain safely undetected by the swarms of living dead that roamed the streets above, searching for their next meal. Their next victim.
As Barnes entered the main pool room, light seeped in from the adjoining room illuminating the walls with nice soft blue hues that rippled and danced. The entire floor and ceiling were completely laden with turquoise tiles imprinted with flower patterns. Soon enough Barnes came upon a soft yellow glow.
Barnes stepped into the well lit room and heard the clack of the hammer of a handgun slowly being restored followed by Noble’s foul mouthed cussing. “Goddamn cock-sucking mother-fucker, I just about blew your mother-fucking head off.”
Barnes didn’t respond which tipped Noble off that the rescue did not go as planned. Instead, he just stood there in numb shell-shock. Noble holstered his weapon and went over to his ruckus sack and began fishing through his belongings.
Zanato came out of the men’s room with a stupid grin on his face.
“You look happy,” Noble said. “Did you finally you’re your penis?”
“Haha, very funny,” Zanato replied. “I know it’s nothing permanent, but it’s like seventh heaven down here. I think if we stay here we can probably hold out until help arrives.”
“I hate to break it to you, little man, but helping you escape the onslaught back at the base was it. Nobody else is coming.”
Zanato looked at Noble with a petrified gaze. “Well, what do we do?”
“We’ll continue on to Bradley’s Air Force Base in the morning. Then we’ll hook up with the rest of our unit and receive our orders.”
Jennifer Hurley stepped out from behind one of the pillars and tossed a military issue duffle bag down next to one of the pools.
Unbuttoning the top button of her white collar blouse, she looked over at the boys and asked in a sultry voice, “Anybody up for some skinny dipping?” She flashed them all a devious smile and began to slowly unbutton the rest of her shirt.
“Go for it,” Barnes said as he tossed his gear down. Then he turned toward the restroom.
“Wait, you’re not going to join us?” Hurley asked playfully, hoping to lighten his mood a little.
He looked back at her with an expression run dry of emotion, and then without so much as a reply he marched into the men’
s room.
“What crawled up his ass?” Zanato asked.
“His woman got turned and he had to put her down,” Noble answered dourly. “Best give him a little space to grieve in his own way.”
Zanato looked back at Hurley who was still standing there staring at the men’s room. Just then, Jennifer followed after Barnes.
“Wait,” Zanato began, “Weren’t you listening? The guy needs his space.”
“You macho men are all alike,” Jennifer said. “What he needs is a shoulder to cry on.” Without hesitating, she pushed her way into the men’s room.
Zanato turned to Noble and asked, “Can she do that?”
“She just did, bro.”
“Well what the hell are we supposed to do now?”
Ulysses Noble stripped off his clothes. “Like the lady said, time for a mother-fucking bath.”
“Hey, I hate to break it to you, but I ain’t gay. There’s no way I’m getting naked and climbing into a tub with another dude.”
Giving Zanato a once up and down Noble replied, “Don't talk crazy-shit, pretty boy, cuz you’re gayer than a fucking rainbow cookie.”
“Fuck you.”
“Thought you said you weren’t gay?”
“You’re just a regular comedian, aren’t you?” Zanato replied in his driest tone.
Noble stood naked before Zanato, showing off his Herculean form, and let it all hang out. Zanato couldn’t help but look at Noble’s stallion-sized, big black Johnson.
“You say you’re not gay, yet you’re staring at my cock like you want to wrap your mouth around it. You’re practically drooling.”
Zanato turned away and pouted while Noble got into one of the pools. Water flooded out and got Zanato’s feet wet. “Hey! Watch it.”
From inside the bathroom, Jennifer could hear the two big kids in the other room splashing each other. She rolled her eyes. They had no idea what it was like to lose someone. Approaching the last stall on the end, Jen put her hand on the door, and said, “Jared, I know it’s probably the last thing in the world you wanna think about right now, but if you want to talk about it I…”
“Leave me the hell alone,” Barnes barked angrily. “I don’t need your sympathy.”
Jennifer gently pushed open the toilet stall’s door and looked down to see Jared sitting on the toilet with his head buried into his palms. “You really loved her, didn’t you?”
“I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.”
She stepped closer but Barnes stood up to block her from entering the stall with him. His sudden counter move startled her, but she gently put her hand on his chest. His heart was pounding furiously.
“I know you must be hurting.”
“Don’t,” he said.
She stared at where her hand was then looked up at him. There was an awkward pause, then, without warning, their lips came together. Barnes grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into the side of the stall. As he choked her he forced his mouth onto hers. When he realized she wasn’t resisting him, he suddenly became frightened and let go of her neck. She gasped for breath.
Jennifer sensed his confusion and before he could straighten out his emotions her fingers found his erection. Her uninvited advance merely made him angrier, and he grabbed her neck and squeezed again. Again, he slammed her hard up against the metal stall. In his rage, he choked her until she seemed on the brink of consciousness, then he let go.
As she clutched her throat gasping for breath he grabbed her by the hair and forced her to bend over the toilet. Holding her by the back of her neck he reached down and tore off her skirt and violently stripped her bare. Still she kept silent.
Unzipping his pants he grabbed himself and put his raging hard phallus against the opening of her vagina. Heat radiated off of her with a fiery yearning. Barnes forced himself into her and still she did not protest. However, this time he managed to get a small grunt out of her. Whether it signaled pleasure or pain, he didn’t care. She let him have his way with her—and he relentlessly pounded her like a jackhammer.
Jennifer enjoyed the rough sex best of all, but, looking over her shoulder at him, what really got her off was his face, wrought with pain. The anger, the sadness, the stress of desperately fighting back a torrent of tears, all written across his face, while he fucked her raw ... as wrong as she knew it was, his pain excited her more than words could convey.
As he finished inside her, Jennifer said in a soothing voice, “It’s okay.”
He pulled out, zipped himself up, and shoved her away rudely, as if to say, “I’m done with you.” Barnes exited the restroom without so much as a thank you for the pity fuck. Jennifer began to chase after him but when she saw herself in the mirror she suddenly froze. Something in the mirror caught her eye. Slowly she made her way toward the mirror. For a second, she thought her image flickered. Cautiously she stepped closer to the mirror. She reached out and touched the cold glass. Rubbing her fingers along its smooth, hard surface she searched for anything that might reveal what she had seen. Nothing.
It was just her mind playing tricks on her. With a sigh of relief, she turned to leave when she heard the melodic sound of a mocking laugh. It was hard to make out at first, but pausing, she listened attentively enough that she could hear a woman’s voice. It slowly grew louder.
Jennifer turned and looked hard at the image looking back at her. Suddenly her reflection’s eyes widened, as if she were suddenly being possessed by a foreign spirit, then the reflection calmed down and stared at her with those eyes that didn’t seem her own. For some strange reason she felt the eerie feeling that the Jennifer Hurley on the other side of the mirror was a separate person.
“Whore! That’s what daddy always said you were. He was right, you know? All that boyfriend swapping. All of those one-night stands. The whole lesbian episode in college. None of it meaningful. You didn’t love a single one of them. You can’t love. You’re incapable of it.”
“Shut up,” Jennifer said to her doppelganger.
“Want to know the real pathetic thing? Nobody will ever love you either. You’re damaged goods. Fucked twelve ways to sun down, just like that guy who you let abuse you just now, you slut.”
“Shut up! Leave me alone,” Jennifer said, gripping her head as if she had a horrendous migraine.
“How about you stop fucking around and start listening to me for once? Or have you forgotten our little deal?”
Jennifer paused and stared at herself staring back at her. Then in a composed voice, she answered, “I haven’t forgotten.”
“With you spreading your legs for anything that wags its filthy cock at you, I was beginning to wonder,” the reflection said, with an unveiled loathing.
“I haven’t forgotten my promise. I’ll deal with it, like I said.”
“You had better. Now stop fucking around and do what you set out to do. And don’t let us down this time, or so help me God I will leave you for good.”
“No, wait. I’ll do what you ask. Just don’t leave me. Please.”
“Fine. Just make sure you fulfill your end of the bargain. You do your job and I’ll do mine.”
“I will. I promise,” Jennifer said, reaching out to touch the Hurley on the other side of the glass. But before she could touch the glass, her doppelganger spoke.
“Good. Now get going, before someone overhears us.”
Gathering her things in a rush, Jennifer walked as quickly as possible out of the rest room. She tried to compose herself by taking in a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders, and putting on a fake smile. For the most part, it seemed to work even as the feeling of dread loomed over her, as if she had just seen a ghost.
Entering into the main room, Hurley stripped down to her birthday suit, leaving her clothes in piles as she went, and then climbed into the same bath as Noble. Sinking into the hot water felt great on her weary body. She let out a sultry sigh and then playfully splashed some water at Noble.
“Screw this!” Zanato exclaimed, and he tor
e of his clothes and marched to the tub and promptly got in.
“Took you fucking long enough, princess,” Noble said sarcastically.
Pointing at Jennifer’s naked body he said, “If she leaves, I do too.” Looking at Jennifer, Zanato smiled coyly. “So, what did you guys talk about in there anyway?”
“None of your business.”
“Fine, be that way.”
Barnes looked over his shoulder at everyone, but ignored their laughter and went back to packing up his gear. He picked up his rifle case and turned to head out. Noble stood up and called out to him. Coincidentally, his large Johnson dangled right in front of Zanato’s horrified face. Jennifer couldn’t help but snicker.
“Hey, wait up big guy,” Noble called out motioning for Barnes to hold up a minute.
Barnes looked over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back.”
Ulysses Noble watched Barnes walk out. Still standing in front of Zanato’s face, he waited there with his giant chocolate colored cock dangling in front of Zanato’s nose, taking his sweet time to do anything.
“Hey man, what gives? Are you just going to stand there, or what?”
Looking down with a big pearly white smile, Noble asked, “What’s the matter? Am I making you uncomfortable?”
Several dark figures approached the burning wreckage of the helicopter. They carried small firearms and were all dressed like hicks, sporting flannel shirts, baseball caps, and blue jeans. As they approached the burning rubble one of them put up a hand.
“What is it, Hank?”
“Ah thought ah heard sumptin.”
“Yuh sure it ain’t just yur imagination?”
“Nah, man. I’m tellin’ ya. I heard sumptin rustlin’ round.”
The other men paused and strained their necks trying to listen to the thin air. Suddenly there was a crash, as a panel of the helicopter fell to the ground with a clang. The five men jumped in fright, but managed to aim their weapons squarely at the area where the noise came from. But after a moment of stillness, they settled back down.
