The country was a mess. It was open war in the streets. News stations stopped transmitting. Just a few replays were on the stations still operational.
The virus, which no one knew how it would evolve, was at its peek. Millions were at what was classed as Stage Two.
During Stage One, the subject was confused and blinked continuously. As the days passed, they became worse, until Stage Two kicked in, and they fell into a coma-like state, as their bodies slowly transformed. Their eyes swelled in size, and their throats expanded. Ugly, large red raw veins covered their face and neck.
The world was holding its breath as to what was going to happen next. Tens of millions of people of all ages were unconscious and slowly transforming into something else. What? No one knew.
Christmas day passed. No one was in the mood to celebrate. There was just one small, ill looking tree in the corner of the mess hall.
Coco was in Zone 9, sat in a rowing boat, looking out over the water, as the perfectly still water stretched out around him like a mirror’s surface.
"This is bloody weird," Coco announced.
Echo sat opposite. It was her idea to celebrate the New Year out on the water of the large underground reservoir. Even though, no one really felt like celebrating. It was also a miracle that they both had a few hours off at the same time.
"I just needed to get away from the mainland for a while," Echo announced as if they had paddled miles out to sea, and were far from civilization, not hundreds of feet below the Moorlands.
Coco laughed. "You’re a crazy woman, do you know that?" He held a fishing rod.
Echo made him go and request two, so they could relax out on the water. If they caught anything, it had to go to the mess hall's kitchen.
Coco was a little uneasy. He hadn't really spoken to Echo much since she returned. He wasn't really avoiding her; it was just he felt like his secret was written across his face in the victim's blood.
However, just like everyone else, Echo was distracted. The world as they knew it is gone. Now it was just a matter of time before most of humanity was simply wiped away.
Coco sat tugging on the line. He knew the vast reservoir was stocked with fish, so he wondered, do they sleep at night, and do they even know it was nighttime?
He could remember all the previous New Years celebrations. Last year, he took Echo to Hay-Tor rock, not far from where they were now, and climbed the massive chunk of protruding granite. From their advantage point, they watched all the fireworks in Newton Abbot, Kingsteignton, Teignmouth, and surrounding areas while they sat with a bottle of red wine and enjoyed the view, huddled together under a thick, army issue blanket.
"What’re your orders for tomorrow?" Echo asked to break the silence. Her father had banned her from any more away mission since she had a close call with a mob of desperate civilians in her last helicopter Adam and Eve pickup.
"We have three pickups, and two deliveries." Coco looked at his watch.
The General was still sending out munitions to nearby groups of military personnel. They had no idea what was truly happening, and he wasn't allowed to tell them. He dropped off supplies every now and then to give the pretence that they were doing their job.
So much hardware and supplies were heading towards the Moors; they had to have a cover story. The roads were full of lorries delivering, and Chinook helicopters carrying large loads suspended on metal cables. They told anyone who inquired that they were stockpiling.
"Almost time!" Coco announced after checking his watch. He wondered what he would be doing now if he had the ring, and her father hadn't duped him into the mission? Would he be giving it to her as the clock chimed midnight?
"3... 2... 1... Happy New Year!" he stated.
"Happy New Year!" Echo said back, but without much enthusiasm.
"It’s a little hard to feel like celebrating with everything that’s happening. You Know?"
Coco watched her as she gazed down into the water. Last year, he received a kiss as the clock struck twelve.
"I know," he muttered in return.
"We could break into the Captains quarters and steal some of his whisky," Echo joked with a half-hearted smile.
"Now that I would like to see." He knew given time he would forgive himself. He had to make peace before he could open his heart again. He wondered if maybe the General knew this would happen. Maybe this was his plan? Maybe he thinks I'm not good enough for his daughter?
"Well, seems we haven’t got anything to celebrate with, how about we head over to the mess hall for a goodnight coco?" Coco said.
"Sounds great."
Coco rowed to the dock and pulled the boat up onto the artificial sandy beach. They headed to the mess hall.
After they sat and drank their hot milky drinks, and were about to part to head to their own apartments, Echo leaned forward and kissed Coco on the cheek.
"Happy New Year Coco," she muttered before walking off.
Goddammit!
His mind was so messed up. For a second, he felt like chasing after her and telling her what he did. Instead, he sat on the bench with the two empty cups and put his head in his hands.
15
Friday 5th January 2013
Day 21
"Lock and load people!" the Captain shouted. "I have just had confirmation that we are going in hot. The university is under attack! Repeat, lock and load, the university is under attack by unknown assailants! Our one and only objective is to find Doctor Melanie Lazaro. She is our only priority. We have permission to use deadly force to retrieve the doctor."
The last few days were hectic. Twenty-four hours a day, they were storing stuff inside the different Zones.
Yesterday all the live animals for Zone 4 arrived. It was chaos. At least with boxes and machines they didn't fight back and make a racket, or smell bad.
Everything changed that morning when it was announced over breakfast that they had an important delivery to make.
In addition, reports were coming in that the Stage Two infected people were waking up. That's when the messages started becoming confusing. The newly awoken infected were supposedly attacking people at random. A surge of these reports was happening around the world, as if it was some kind of coordinated attack. However, that was impossible, how could the infected across the world be doing the same thing?
Then, while en route to drop containers full of munitions to the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth; they were rerouted to Exeter University, to make an emergency pickup of a scientist who claims to have found a cure for the spores.
Coco checked his weapon as he glanced at Echo. She wasn't meant to be on the helicopter, but she jumped on at the last minute.
The Captain pretended he didn't notice.
The main door was wide open, ready for a quick disembark. The wind lashed around inside the hold. It was bitterly cold.
Out the door, Coco could see the city of Exeter. The place looked like a war zone. Fires burned; sirens rang out, and the streets below were littered with rubbish and belongings. Coco couldn't believe it could change so quickly. Only three weeks and the world is unrecognizable.
The University was getting closer.
Spice pointed below.
There were hundreds of naked people running in the direction of the University.
What the fuck?
The chopper headed over the buildings and settled down in a car park behind a large hall of some kind.
They jumped to the ground and set up a circle for cover. The Captain shouted names, separating them into four groups of five, and then sent them out to look for Doctor Melanie Lazaro.
Franco and Poe were left in the pilot and copilot seats, ready to take off at a moment’s notice. Also, Trev and Jimmy were left with the chopper to watch over the transport, and so the medic would be in a fixed location if his expertise was required.
"Keep in radio contact," the Captain shouted as they all ran off in different directions.
Coco headed off aroun
d to one side. He watched Echo head towards the large hall.
"Stay in formation! Gillett, watch our six!" The group of five vanished around a corner.
"Incoming!" Finch shouted.
Coco didn't know him too well, he, along with Gillett and a large guy called Spud, were new.
Coco spun around to see what Finch was on about.
Surely, those naked people hadn't reached the university already?
Unclothed people were running directly at them. For a split second, Coco was confused and horrified by what he saw. These humans were mutated. Their eyes were larger and bloodshot, with wide, oval mouths with broken teeth sticking out in all directions. Their enlarged, vein covered throats looked raw and alien.
"What the fuck?" Spud shouted as he fired on the figure closest to him.
Coco shook the shock off and opened fire.
They were around one side of the large hall, and they could see holes cut through the wall, with medical tunnels protruding from them that went into large white trailers.
The group circled, while firing on the charging creatures.
Coco knew the spores would slowly wipe out the human race, but he was surprised that rather than just dying after Stage Two, they were transformed into these deformed figures. He couldn't work out why.
Why not just kill us? Why turn us into these things?
They were boxed in. The trailer and plastic tunnel blocked their path. Behind, around the corner was the chopper; to the left was another car park. The naked creatures were pouring over the abandoned vehicles.
Coco was amazed at how fast they could move, and how far they could jump.
A middle-aged woman charged at him. He took off the top of her head with a quick burst.
He continued firing into the mass of bodies charging at them. He quickly scanned around, trying to find a way out of the situation.
"Cover me," he shouted; he clipped the rifle to his flak jacket, and released it. It swung down his side. He then removed a long knife from his belt and ran to the long polythene tunnel. In one long swipe, he sliced down the material. It was thick, but the knife sliced through easily.
"Follow me," he shouted as he climbed through the hole.
They were quick to scuttle through. However, Spud, a large beefy man, who was too slow, was struck as he tried to climb through last. He was knocked sideways.
Gillett and Finch fired through the plastic wall, but it was too late; Spud was ripped apart by powerful hands.
Coco watched in horror as one female, no older than ten or so, used her deformed teeth to rip through Spud's clothing and tear open his stomach. She was frenzied in her attack. Coco knew there and then that there was no humanity left inside the creatures; they had become something else.
The four remaining soldiers ran along the medical tunnel.
In the distance, in the large hall, Coco could hear screaming and gunfire.
As he pushed through the long, hanging plastic strips, he exited into the large gym. The sight before him made him stop dead in his tracts.
16
The gym was in complete mayhem. Coco could see the area was transformed into some kind of medical facility, with equipment, and chambers and glass pods set up, but what made him stop was the gym was full of creatures. They looked like they had escaped from the shattered pods.
There was a large separating wall, which obviously split the gym in half. He couldn't see what was happening on the other side clearly – blood was splattered along the lower half of the separating wall.
There were a few soldiers on this side. Some were in Hazmat suits, others were in fatigues, and all were being attacked.
There were no doorways on this side of the gym, only tunnels cut through the wall into the car park. They needed to be on the other side of the partition.
Echo should be over there, he reasoned.
"Let's go! We need to get to the other side," he shouted once the shock wore off.
They stood in the shape of a compass, one to each side, walking and firing at the mass of creatures.
Coco noticed that some were charging through one of the other tunnels, they had obviously found a way in. He pointed to it, and motioned for Gillett to toss a grenade.
Gillett unclipped one from his belt and pulled the pin. He then tossed it down the tunnel to their right.
"Grenade!" he shouted.
The detonation incinerated a naked female who was racing through. The vibration shook the hall. However, it was soon lost to the screaming and shouting.
Coco took down a man covered in blood who was charging at him with only one arm. The body twitched on the floor like a wounded animal, as blood and black-yellowish pus poured from its wide-open, deformed mouth.
Finch was hit from behind; he went down hard. The male who sat on his back twisted his head, snapping his neck, while he sunk his teeth into his cheek, ripping it away along with part of his tongue.
Coco could see a soldier dead on the floor, close to the last pod that looked like it had exploded. From the markings on his shoulder, he could see it was a general.
Coco, Rogers, and Gillett made it to the fumigable transfer hatch and quickly ran inside. Rogers slammed a hand on the recycling button. A cloud of vapor poured over them all.
"Shit!" Coco shouted.
The doors slid open to the other side of the gym. This side was just as chaotic.
17
Coco spotted Echo. Then he heard her over the radio.
"I have the doctor. Repeat, Doctor Melanie Lazaro is inside the large gym. Over." Echo said over the radio.
"Roger that Echo. Get her to the chopper, ASAP," the Captain ordered.
"Over there!" Coco shouted above the screaming and gunfire.
Gillett was limping. Coco saw blood on his thigh. It looked like a stray bullet had hit him.
Just as he was halfway across, making his way towards Echo, those with her rushed towards the exit with somebody on a metal gurney table.
Coco knelt and steadied his aim. A group was chasing after Echo. He took them down one at a time, while Rogers watched his back.
The three gave chase, trying to catch up with echo and those remaining in her group.
God their fast, Coco thought as another group of naked creatures raced through a smashed open doorway that led to the rest of the building.
He slammed on the side of his rifle; the magazine clattered to the floor. He forced another into place. He only had one more magazine left.
Roger exited first, with Gillett's arm over his shoulder. Coco watched their backs.
He gave one more scan of the gym. He was shocked at the amount of dead littering the floor. It was a blood bath.
He gave chase to Rogers and Gillett.
More naked infected was heading in their direction.
Coco was confused as to where they were all coming from.
Why would they all be heading here? Maybe they followed the helicopter.
They rounded a corner. Everyone else was back at the chopper. Echo stood next to the gurney. Spice was helping her lift a woman in. The rest of the squad was in a semicircle protecting the new passenger.
"Everyone in," the Captain shouted, as Echo and Coco covered them as they climbed aboard.
As Bull and Trev climbed in last, the chopper was already lifting into the air.
Suddenly, there was an explosion. The helicopter banked to one side. It sounded like a grenade.
Coco could hear the sound of solid objects pinging off the tail section.
The helicopter pitched to one side from the shockwave, but then righted itself. If the chopper was still on the ground, the tail section would have been destroyed; completely ripped off by the blast.
Coco watched Echo pull the sliding door closed and then move over and dropped down next to him.
Coco couldn't see Gillett. Rogers was lying on the floor.
He watched as Jimmy forced an IV drip into a soldier’s arm. The soldier lay upon a stretcher next to another who
Jimmy was trying to stabilise.
Bull and the Captain were strapping the doctor into the seat webbing. She looked like she was slowly coming around.
Why was she on a gurney and unconscious, he wondered?
Coco could see the Captain was talking to her, but over the sound of the engine, he couldn't hear them.
Coco rested his head back.
That was a complete clusterfuck!
He felt like he had just run a marathon. He prized open his eyes and looked around. Most of his squad was still here. A lot of newbie's were missing.
He couldn't wait to get back to The Ark. It was obvious the spores were winning. He pictured the deformed infected. He gave a shudder. All he wanted to do was get back below ground and get that bunker sealed. Before he couldn't imagine being locked below ground for twenty years. Now he couldn't wait.
He had also made up his mind, as soon as they got back to The Ark; Coco was going to tell Echo everything. He was going to explain what he did in London, and if she forgave him – realising he was a pawn in her father's master plan – then he would pour out his heart and tell her exactly how he feels about her. He was ready to tell her he loved her, and she meant more to him than anything else in the world.
Just as he was thinking that, a loud pinging sound started to echo throughout the hull.
A young soldier Coco didn’t recognise stood and went into the cockpit. Within seconds, he was back.
"Brace yourselves everyone," he screamed, "we’re going down!"
"Jesus Christ, now what?" Coco muttered through gritted teeth.
###
If you have enjoyed the ten part English version, then why not check out the new twelve part series set in America. See how the American’s are dealing with the end of the world.
A whole new group of characters set in new deadly situations.
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION AMERICA
Omnibus – Books 1 to 12
(Over 1,200 words in the Kindle format)
The Sixth Extinction & The First Three Weeks & The Squads First Three Weeks Omnibus [Books 1-10] Page 57
