by Kempf, Shaun
“It reminds me of when my father took me on the Skyway at the State Fair when I was a kid.” The voice interrupted Ben’s thoughts. He looked toward its source and saw Twitch looking down toward the ground through his night vision goggles. Most of his team leaned toward a window and looked down, some using their goggles others not.
“Holy shit. Will you look at all of them?” Gatlin said.
“There’s got to be a reason why they stick around,” Twitch said.
“There’s no reason. They’re just wandering around randomly,” Gatling said as he sat back in his seat. “I don’t know why they don’t just torch the city.”
“They’re hoping the war will turn in our favor and that the city can be saved,” replied Ben.
“Fat chance of that,” replied Gatling.
“There’s got be a reason why they stick around though,” Twitch said as he looked at everyone. “Think about it. Outside of the city, the hordes migrate looking for more flesh. I mean that’s why people keep getting trapped in infected zones. But these Infected haven’t migrated. It’s like their looking for something.”
Looking over the side Michael said, “He could be on to something.”
“On to something my ass. There ain’t shit they’re looking for. They don’t even think. This city is so big, they probably believe there is still more flesh to be had somewhere when in fact, there isn’t.” Gatling glared at everyone, letting them know he was done talking about it.
Static broke the silence and tension, “You think we’ll have time to see a show as long as we’re in New York? I’ve always wanted to see a Broadway show.”
“I don’t think we’ll get that close to Broadway on this trip, Static,” Ben smirked.
“Damn. I was hoping to see Annie in a dress.”
“I’m not wearing any more dresses,” Annie said. “No one to impress around here.” That got the whole team laughing. Just a week before they had been on a mission and they had found a dress. When it was suggested that Annie tries it on she had responded by putting a hole through it with her rifle.
Everyone loved Annie. She was like everyone’s big sister and the guys would do anything to protect her. Not that she needed all that much protecting because she could handle herself. Ben remembered the day that he and Michael and first encountered Annie.
They had been walking through a suburban neighborhood when they heard a commotion coming from the backyards of one of the houses. They ran towards the sound and found a large sturdy wood fence surrounding the backyard where the noise was coming from. The two of them ran around the fence until they came to a gate on the far side of the house. It took them an extra minute or two to get it open as it had been fortified very well.
Once the gate swung open they raced into the yard with their weapons drawn and saw a brunette woman of her mid-thirties throw and pin a man who was infected against the wall. He flailed and chomped his teeth at her, but she didn’t waiver. She grunted as she struggled to keep the thing against the side of the house as she reached one arm behind her and pulled out a large hunting knife. She lifted the knife above her head and quickly brought it down burying it deep into the creature’s forehead. A moment later the creature stopped moving and she let it fall to the ground. Then she raised her hands to her face and began to cry.
Michael lowered his weapon and took a step towards the woman, but Ben stopped him. Michael looked at Ben who told him with his eyes to just give her a moment. The two men stood there and watched her quietly. Then just as quickly as she had started to cry, with one last sniff she stopped crying. She wiped away the last tear from her cheek and pulled the knife from the creature’s skull. She turned and was surprised to see the two men standing there.
“He was your husband, wasn’t he?” Ben asked quietly.
“We had promised each other that if one of us turned the other would kill them,” She turned her head and glanced at the still body. “I’m glad he turned first. He wouldn’t have had it in him to kill me.”
“It’s not an easy thing.”
She turned to look at the two men as if suddenly and truly aware of their presence, “Are you here to loot?” She took a defensive stance. Ben was in awe of her. Here was a woman who had just lost her husband and was ready to fend off looters with just a hunting knife even though Michael and he carried guns.
“No. We’re not. We heard the commotion and came running to help.”
“Oh,” was her only response as she relaxed a little.
Michael leaned in toward Ben and whispered, “Ask her.”
“My name is Ben and this is Michael Standing Bear. We’ve been wondering around these parts destroying those Infected that we come across and trying to help out those who aren’t infected. We don’t have much to offer, but we were wondering if you wanted to come with us.”
She looked both Michael and Ben up and down very carefully. She wiped the blood that was on the blade of her knife off on her jeans and slipped it back into the sheath that was on her belt. Then without saying a word she turned and disappeared through the back door of her house.
“Great! Now you pissed her off,” Michael growled.
“Me? I didn’t hear you open your mouth to help.”
“You should have asked her more nicely.”
“More nicely? How was I not nice?”
“She just killed her husband. You could’ve been more empathic.”
“Well, if you think you could have done better why didn’t you ask? Why make me do it.”
“Because you’re the leader.”
“The leader of what? It’s just you and me.”
The woman re-appeared with a hiking pack on her back and a rifle in one hand and another pack in the other. She quickly walked up to the two men who had shut up as soon as they saw her.
“My husband and I were planning on bugging out soon anyway. I’ll tag along for a while and see what you two can do,” She handed Michael the pack and walked past them toward the gate. “The names Melissa Wilkson by the way,” she didn’t turn back as she walked out the gate. Ben and Michael chased after her.
She had proven to be a valuable asset to the team as no one else had proven to be as accurate or deadly with a scoped rifle in their hand. That is how she had gotten her nickname, Annie Oakley, but it was just Annie that had stuck. Her shooting had saved Ben and others number of times.
“Two minutes,” The pilot shouted back quieting the team once again.
The team checked their weapons and equipment quickly, but carefully. The smiles they had been sharing moments before disappeared. When they finished checking their own gear they made a quick check of the gear of the person next to them. It was one of the habits they had been taught during boot camp that they had adopted. It ensured that nothing was missed in a moment of nervousness and helped keep the strength in their team bond.
Ben turned to look over his shoulder and out the front windshield. The pilot had headed a little south of the building before banking back towards it so they were just passing over Bryant Park. The building they were going to be landing on was now straight ahead. It was almost as nondescript as most other skyscrapers in New York. It was not the tallest building in the immediate area, nor was it the shortest. What Ben was able to notice was how the bottom of the building appeared to flare out, like a giant had pushed down on the top of the building after it had been constructed. Of course, the other unique thing about the building was the plane that was buried a few floors down from the roof.
From what Ben could see it had not hit the current building in its center; instead it had come in off to one side as one whole wing was sticking out the side of the building. The tail of the plane was also sticking out. It was an odd sight. It had either been really good flying by the pilot, or he got really lucky. Either way, Lieutenant didn’t think anyone could have placed the plane any better. Perhaps, someone did survive, he thought.
He felt the helicopter rise slightly as the pilot brought the helicopter up to match th
e height of the building. The pilot and the Captain double checked their alinement to the roof top constantly as they descended. There was no helicopter pad on top the building, but there was just enough flat surface for the Black Hawk to put its tires down. Annie was leaning out the now open door hatch, weapon up just in case there was any type of unwelcoming committee. The roof was empty and clear for the moment. The pilot brought the helicopter down for the landing, which was rougher than Ben had expected. He wasn’t sure why. The Army and all other divisions were running out of experienced pilots and could not train new recruits fast enough.
As soon as the helicopter was solidly on the roof the team quickly jumped out, weapons up and formed a defensive position. The last one out of the helicopter was Captain Perret. He joined the rest of the team that was crouching on the pilot’s side of the helicopter, which was closest to the doorway leading down into the building. Using a hand signal, Captain Perret indicated that they were ready to go. The team made their way to the roof access door.
The pilot stayed in the helicopter with the propellers turning. The plan was to get in and out as quickly as possible. The team had decided to take no more than ten minutes to get inside, locate the survivors and get back to the roof. The helicopter had more than enough fuel, but the quicker the mission the less of a crowd they would draw. The noise from the engines of the Black Hawk was already beginning to draw the attention of the Infected down on the street. On the way in, Ben had seen the Infected look up and follow the noise with their heads before beginning to follow it by foot. No reason for the team to overstay their welcome. So, they had decided to keep the blades turning in hopes for a quicker exit.
Ten minutes was not a lot of time, but Ben knew that his team was aware of the urgency of this mission. More so, his team, including him, didn’t want to be here any longer than they had to be. Depending on the layout of the building’s interior, finding the wreckage and getting inside the plane would hopefully be the longest parts of the mission. Ben’s team was prepared to carry survivors out of the building if they couldn’t walk themselves. Of course, that wasn’t taking into consideration any major injuries and the risks involved with moving someone with serious injuries. Ben tried not to think about that possibility. He was shooting for the best scenario possible, but was prepared for the worst.
FIVE
Gatlin reached the door first. He grabbed the knob and tested it to see if the door was open. It turned easily in his hand. He let the knob turn in his hand re-engaging the bolt and stood there waiting. Static, Twitch and Standing Bear formed a firing line a few feet from the door. When they were in position the signal was giving and Gatlin pulled the door open wide; taking a large step back in the process.
The open doorway revealed nothing but an empty and dark stairway. The firing line approached the entranceway carefully. Through their night visions goggles, they could see the concrete stairs leading down into the abyss of the building. They stood there listening as much as they were watching. The Infected couldn’t seem to move without making a sound. They were all like grunting old men as they moved, which had its benefits.
Once they were sure that the stairs immediately in front of them was clear they quickly began to make their way down the steps with the rest of the team following. The stairs were the typical type that Ben had expected to find in a skyscraper made of cold concrete and metal railings. A flight of steps took them down to a landing where they then would turn around and head down the next flight. Every other landing had a doorway to the interior of the building. At first, the only sound in the stairway was that of the team’s boots as they hit the cement steps. The sound reminded Lieutenant of days past when he used to work as a customer service representative for a mechanical manufacturing company. He spent most of his day at his desk and on the phone. On occasion, when he had to travel to another floor, he had taken the stairs rather than the elevator. It was a little strange to find himself on the stairs holding an assault rifle rather than paperwork. He pushed the memory quickly from his mind. He needed to be here, at the moment.
As they descended, a methodical thumping could be heard. Ben wanted the sound to be of survivors pounding on the door of the floor they were on, but he knew better. The sound was too distant. It was coming from the deep dark reaches of the floors below. It was more likely Infected pounding on the door at the ground level. They had seen and heard them land on the building and wanted to get to them. Their ten minutes were going to be tested further by how long the stairway door could hold out and from the thunderous booming he guessed it was even more unlikely they actually had ten minutes.
They reached the landing with the door that had a large forty-one printed on it, the floor on which the plane had crashed. Static stepped forward, took off his helmet and put his ear to the door. He stood there for a moment, eyes closed listening. He had seen Static listen to a door before, in fact, it was Static who had developed this strategy when entering houses. It always appeared to Ben as if he was sleeping and his waking was a great act in of itself.
As he watched, suddenly an un-natural fear built within the pit of Ben’s stomach that when Static would open his eyes they would no longer be the soft clear green, but instead, they would be bloodshot and gray like one of the Infected. Ben didn’t understand this moment of irrational fear that was suddenly gripping him. Perhaps it was because he found himself in the middle of New York inside a dark abandoned building. Or perhaps it was something more that he couldn’t understand.
The instant Static opened his eyes and Ben saw their shining quality again, the fear disappeared as if it hadn’t really even occurred. Static nodded his head that all was clear as he stepped back and put his helmet back on. Twitch took his place and pulled opened the door. He entered quickly and quietly with his weapon up, stopping just beyond the doorway as the rest of the team began to file in.
As the Captain entered, he turned to Twitch and, without saying a word, indicated that Twitch was to stay and watch their exit route. Twitch nodded understanding and the team moved further inside the building.
They carefully moved down the hall and past two elevator doors. There was an eerie whistling sound that was drifting through the building, which Ben assumed was coming from the big hole that had been created by the plane. Either the building was smaller than had been expected or the plane was bigger because they almost immediate began to find signs of the collision. Random rubble knocked over chairs and some wires hanging down from the ceiling. The stairwell had let them out near the tail end of the plane as it was the first thing they were able to see through some knocked down walls. The wing that had entered the building had been totally destroyed on entry, but bits and pieces of it could be seen lying around in twisted heaps here and there.
Annie motioned that she had found a way around the rubble, which was heaviest now that they were so close to the plane. They had to crawl under a boardroom table to get passed a collapsed wall. If they had to get anyone out, crawling under the table would slow them down. There might be a chance that there was another route back to the stairs, which might cost them some time, but if it was more open, would make it easier getting the injured out.
On the far side of the table, they found themselves in a short hallway that lead down to the front of the plane. A figure stood at the end of the hallway with its head down casting a shadow towards the team. With the moon to its back, it was hard to see who was standing there, but Ben could just make out the uniform of a pilot. The pilot wasn’t standing completely still. He swayed ever so slightly as if he was drunk. Or perhaps, he was dead tired on his feet from standing watch for so long, afraid that at any moment the nightmare on the streets below would rise up and carry them off. Not knowing the mental conditions of the pilot, not to mention his passengers meant they would need to proceed carefully. The last thing he wanted was someone to get unnecessarily wounded.
“Identify yourself,” Captain Perret’s stern voice broke the silence.
The shock of the
sound caught Ben off guard and he nearly jumped. He looked unbelievingly at the Captain, who was either ignoring him or didn’t notice him look at him. Ben looked back down the hallway. The man had raised his head, but wasn’t answering.
“U.S. Army Rangers. Identify yourself.” The Captain demanded again. Suddenly, the man let out an un-human scream and charged down the hallway. “What the hell?” Ben heard the Captain say.
A single shot rang out. The pilot’s head jerked back and he collapsed into a heap on the ground. Ben didn’t need to turn to know that it was Annie who took the shot. Although his team had gotten very good with the accuracy of their shots, as a necessity to survive, that shot had been right between the eyes. With that thing on a dead run; only Annie would have been able to hit it with that much accuracy.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Shouted Captain Perret at Annie. “That was a government pilot. You can’t just go around shooting whoever you want!”
“He was infected, Sir,” Annie calmly replied. It amazed Ben how much Annie could say just using her tone of voice when saying a simple word like ‘sir’.
“Lieutenant,” Captain Perret turned to Ben, “I thought your team would be under control.”
“They are, Sir. She saw a threat and took it out,” Ben did his best to control himself.
“A threat?” The question was more a challenge than anything.
“Looks like she made the right choice, Sir,” Standing Bear said causing both men to look at him. He was bent down next to the corpse with Gatlin standing nearby giving cover.
