by A. J. Sikes
Maloof swung down with a butt stroke to the thing’s spine. But it had already started feeding on Tracy. Jed could see the blood and he heard the Marine’s screams that quickly turned to gurgling sounds and then silence.
“Fuck!” Maloof shouted, aiming and sending three round bursts into the monster and then Tracy.
Jed had his weapon up, and was aiming in the Marines’ direction.
Gotta be ready in case they got infected.
Maloof signaled at Pinzler and they moved toward Jed’s position. They seemed fine, and he didn’t see any blood on their faces. Jed kept watch down the street, in the direction the fire truck was pointing.
He didn’t see any movement. No flashes of white darting behind smashed up cars or into broken storefronts.
A beat later he heard the rattling of a SAW opening up from a block away, then some screams. The SAW cut out quick after that. Then more shouts and the steady cadence of boots on pavement came echoing down the street.
From down the block, at least two squads ran in their direction. Maloof shouted and went into the middle of the street to wave them in.
Jed rocked on his feet, letting the relief flow through him. He even cracked a smile. The scraping sound came again. Jed flashed a look at the fire station door, but it was still shut. Then he realized where the scraping came from. He turned back in time to see Pinzler look up at the building behind the fire truck. The Marine screamed as he opened fire. A swarm of the creatures poured from almost every window on the street.
Jed snapped off shots in every direction he could, trying to keep the monsters from getting to Pinzler. He and Maloof were both covered by the fire truck.
The other squads of Marines came running up the street, taking up positions wherever they could. Two LAWs went streaking at the buildings, blowing concrete and glass everywhere. But that only got two of the monsters. The others leaped clear in time to avoid the blast.
They jumped in time. They saw the fucking LAWs coming in and they jumped.
Jed picked them off if he could, but he mostly tried to stay hidden. He had good cover up top with an awning overhead. If he crouched down, a set of newspaper boxes would block anybody seeing him from the street.
But the monsters would get him if he stayed out here. They’d jump Pinzler and Maloof, then they’d get the others. And then it would just be him, by himself.
Jed shifted right, moving down the sidewalk to the fire station. They’d open the door again. He’d just kick it while he kept an eye on the street. He’d kick it and they’d let him in. Him and anybody fast enough to get in with him.
Upper East Side, Manhattan
Meg and Jason had their axes ready. Rachel held the chain in her hands and counted out loud.
“One. Two. Three!”
She yanked down on the chain, hand over hand, until the door was up enough for Meg and Jason to get out. They rushed under it and Meg didn’t look back even as she heard the door go down behind them.
The soldiers were going down one by one. They had the monsters kept back with two machine guns taking them out when they appeared in the windows. But then more would come from another window, or from the ground floor of the nearby buildings, and they’d get at least one of the soldiers before the guys with machine guns could move their aim.
“Fuck!” someone yelled to Meg’s left. She twisted, ready to swing her axe. A soldier was there with his back against the wall by the station. He had his eyes on the shutters.
Jason got the attention of one of the soldiers in the street. He moved to join them, so Meg stuck with the guy nearby.
“We gotta get inside!” he yelled at her.
“We will,” Meg said, hearing her own voice muffled by her mask. She spoke as clearly as she could to make sure the man could hear and understand. “We have to get the rest of your men.”
He nodded, but just kept staring at the shutters and muttering under his breath.
He’s in shock. Or scared out of his mind.
Meg thought about banging on the shutters to have Rachel open up for him, but a scream from the street put her mind back on the task.
Save as many as you can, Meg. Nothing’s going to slow you down. Not this time.
She left the scared soldier where he was, holding his gun and staring at the shutters.
The monsters had stopped coming out of the windows and were just racing around the street now, like streaks of ghostly white horror in Meg’s peripheral vision. She crossed to where Jason and some other soldiers were helping a man who’d been injured.
“Is he infected?” Meg asked as she came up behind them.
“I don’t know,” Jason said. “I think—”
A gunshot ended the conversation and Meg reeled aside as the injured man’s face exploded in a bloody mess. The man who shot him lifted his gun and aimed at a monster charging down the sidewalk toward them. He shot it and then shot another that emerged from the doorway right behind it.
“We have to get them closer to the station, Jason. They’ll die out here.”
“I’ve been trying. They’re a little preoccupied!”
The soldiers near them didn’t seem ready to hear anything they had to say. They kept their attention on the monsters, shooting, aiming, moving, shooting. Then the whole group moved forward, heading for the fire engine, and another trio came to take their place.
“Please,” Meg said to them. “We have to get back inside! You’ll get killed out here!”
“Stay down, ma’am,” the soldier said. “Out of the line of fire.”
He moved away, with the other two men. They followed the first group closer to the engine. That was where the fighting was happening now. Monsters kept leaping onto the truck only to be shot down. But the more monsters the soldiers shot, the more they seemed to ignore what Meg knew was coming.
They’re going to run out of ammunition before the city runs out of monsters.
Bullets snapped and zipped around them, and Meg and Jason crouched low as they moved down the street, away from where the fighting was centered. She’d seen more soldiers back that direction. Maybe they would listen and could get the others to retreat into the station.
A final group of five soldiers huddled behind a linen service van that had crashed on its side, blocking the sidewalk. They had a man on his back and were using linens from the van to put a tourniquet on his leg. It was missing below the knee.
“Was he bitten? Did one of them do this?” she asked.
“Grenade,” one of them said. “He dropped it.”
Jason set his axe down and moved to help the soldiers. They’d tied the tourniquet, but it hadn’t been enough to stop the blood loss.
“I’ll get a trauma bag,” Meg said, and pivoted to look back down the street to the fire engine. The soldiers seemed to be holding the engine safe from the monsters. They’d lost a lot of men. Only two groups remained that she could see. But they still had the engine as cover, and that meant Meg could get what they needed to help the injured man.
Nothing’s going to slow you down, Meg.
She moved out.
☣
Jed crouched down against the wall. None of the monsters had seen him yet. They’d stopped coming out of the windows, but he could still hear their screeching and snarling. And the clicking sound of their joints as they moved.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Gotta get inside.
He shifted to his right, but he’d move out of his covered spot if he got closer to the fire station door. He could sneak out though, just bang on the door and jump back behind cover.
Jed moved to see around the newspaper boxes and came face to face with a monster’s puffy lips and yellow eyes that dripped blood down its cheeks. It shrieked at him and he put a bullet into its face. Another one across the street snapped its head up from where it was feeding on a dead Marine. It shifted around and finally spotted him.
Oh shit no. Oh no oh no oh no.
☣
Meg came up behind the monster right as
it lifted its head and twisted to look at the soldier hiding by the station. With a grunt, Meg put her axe into the monster’s head, nearly taking if off at the neck. Another one sprang down from above and landed in front of her, hissing and smacking its puffy sucker lips together.
Her axe was still stuck in the first one, and she felt her guts almost let go as the second monster jumped toward her. It jerked to the side in mid-air and fell flat on the pavement at her feet.
Meg staggered back and yanked her axe free. The soldier on the sidewalk by the station waved at her, and then he dropped down out of sight again.
Fine. He’s hiding, but he’s helping at least. Not like Rex.
Double-checking the windows above her for movement, Meg moved down the street, keeping her eyes on the trauma gear spilling out of the engine up ahead. Three soldiers leaned up against the truck, firing into windows in the buildings on both sides of the street. One man with a machine gun kept back a few feet and aimed over their heads at anything that leaped up onto the engine.
Four men. Is that all that’s left?
The bodies around the street confirmed her worst fear. They’d already failed to save most of the soldiers. And some of the bodies had begun to shudder as the infection spread into the injured men who hadn’t died yet. Meg crouched and moved forward, aiming at the trauma bag she spotted on the ground next to the engine. She came up beside one of the soldiers.
“Ma’am, you need to get out of here,” he said.
“I’m here to help.”
“With what?” he said, still shooting.
“Changing!” another man near the truck yelled. Meg twisted her head to look over her shoulder. The man was reloading. The monsters were coming slower now. Only a few appeared in the windows and were quickly shot down.
Or they’re sneaking back to hide inside, hoping these guys will run out of ammo.
The thought scared her. The monsters had shown they could still think. But could they really plan like that?
“You’re going to run out of ammo if you don’t get inside!” she yelled, hoping they all heard her. “And some of these bodies are going to turn. Go to the fire house. We have someone inside to let you in.”
Meg grabbed up the trauma bag by her feet and raced away from the engine. She sprinted down the street to where the others were hiding by the linen van. Half way to their position she stopped running and dropped the trauma bag.
Oh, God. Where are they? Where’s Jason?
All Meg could see were bloodied bodies and monsters feeding on them.
“Hel— Help!” Meg screamed, backpedaling for all she was worth.
☣
Jed watched the lady firefighter grab the medic kit and run away from the firetruck. She crouched down and ran like hell, like she’d been in combat or something. She knew how to move, or wasn’t afraid to try at least.
He was glad he could save her back there when the thing was about to jump her. Fucking monsters were taking them all down. Only half a squad was left, and the guy with the M27 in the street, he was about to get it if he didn’t find some cover soon.
Jed popped two rounds at a creature trying to crawl around the side of the fire truck. The guys there didn’t even notice, just kept shooting every time one of the monsters came into view.
“Y’all fall back! You gotta fall back!” Jed shouted. If they heard him, they didn’t show it.
Fine. Fuck it. I gave you the call.
Jed looked for the firefighter lady again. She was headed down the street, back the way she’d come from. A second later, she dropped the medic kit and screamed.
Jed moved out of hiding and lifted his weapon. He heard another scream from behind him and pivoted to watch the guy with the M27 go down under two of the monsters. Their claws raked into him and he roared as he tried to fight them off. But it was no use. They ripped into him while he thrashed. Jed had his weapon on them, but the firefighter lady was screaming for help down the street. Jed spun in her direction and saw her running backwards. She whipped around, half stumbling up the street and aiming for his position. She got her feet under her and ran full tilt, waving her axe in the air.
“Inside! Inside!” she yelled. Her mask muffled her voice, but not so much that Jed couldn’t hear what she was saying.
He dodged to the side and aimed in her direction. Four of the monsters charged up the street behind her like a pack of wild dogs. He knew he should shoot them, but a heavy fear held his finger away from the trigger.
What if he missed them? What if he hit her?
But he had to shoot now. If he didn’t, then this was it for Jed Welch.
“Now or never, Jed. Now or fucking never,” he said to himself as he forced his finger around the trigger.
He squeezed off a shot and put the first monster down with a hole in its face. He did the others just the same. One, two, and three.
The guys from near the fire truck ran over beside him right as the lady firefighter came up. The monsters were still out there. Their shrieking and scraping claws seemed to echo off of every wall. Broken glass tinkled and cracked somewhere nearby.
“We gotta go,” one of the other guys said.
“We’re US Marines, ma’am,” Jed said to the lady firefighter. She looked around the street like she was stunned.
“Ma’am,” Jed said again. “We gotta get inside. You got people in there, right? People can let us in?”
“Yeah,” she said.
They moved back toward the fire station door. Jed kept his weapon up. The other guys had theirs up, but one guy only held it ready, not up and aimed out.
“Eyes out, man,” Jed told him and motioned with his weapon for the other guy to bring his muzzle up.
“I’m out, man. Got no ammo.”
“Shit. Guys over there still have it on them. They didn’t even get a shot off, right?”
“They’re covered in blood,” the lady firefighter said. “You can’t touch them. You aren’t wearing gloves.”
Jed looked at her. She had her axe in both hands and stood ready, like she’d move out into the street. One of the other guys, the one who still had ammo, came up next to her. He dropped his mag and handed it to this buddy, then popped his ammo pouch open and took out his last one.
“I’ll cover you. C’mon.”
She nodded at the guy and they stepped off together, aiming for the first bunch of bodies right across the street.
“Get what’s in their weapons,” Jed yelled after them. The guy next to him slotted the half-empty mag into his weapon and charged it.
A shriek put them all on alert and Jed whipped his weapon up and around the street, looking for whatever made the noise. He couldn’t see it, though, just busted out windows, blood everywhere, and bodies on the ground.
The guy next to him opened up, firing over their heads. Jed spun around. Three of the things were crawling down the wall of the fire station right at them.
Upper East Side, Manhattan
“Run!” Meg yelled, shoving a hand against the Marine’s shoulder. “Back to the station!” He stumbled away for a step, then lifted his rifle and started shooting.
“No!” Meg yelled, but it was already too late. Three of the monsters jumped away from the building and landed in the street, surrounding the young man. He spun to one side and fired, but he missed the monster. Before he could shoot again, the other two tackled him and ripped into his body with their clawed hands.
Meg charged with her axe up and swung at the one nearest her. She sliced the top of its head off and followed her swing around as she jumped over the dead man at her feet. She landed facing off against the remaining two monsters with her axe at the ready. The nearest monster reared up and the one behind it began circling around Meg to the right.
It went down with a bullet hole in its chest, and the one nearest to her flinched, backing up a step and looking around her shoulder.
It knows. It can tell where the threat is coming from.
“Get inside!” Meg y
elled as she stepped backwards, keeping her axe up to guard against the thing in front of her. It’s puffy mouth popped and smacked in a sickening rhythm that turned Meg’s stomach. She swallowed against the urge to vomit and focused on the weight of the axe in her hands. She’d have to time it right, but she’d kill the monster and then they’d get inside.
The monster leaped away, to the side, and then raced forward and leaped again. Meg turned in time to see another of the Marines taken down in a snarling mess of blood and tearing claws.
The Marine who had been hiding fired at both of them, the monster and the man it tackled. Meg rushed forward as two more of the monsters dropped down beside the shutters, penning them in.
☣
Jed slammed his boot heel into the steel shutter door behind him. The lady firefighter had her axe up, and he had his rifle at the ready for a butt stroke.
Goddamned bone dry magazine. We’re gonna die.
The door creaked behind him, but it didn’t move. The monsters kept circling him and the lady firefighter, sometimes lifting their heads and sniffing. The one in front of him bit its own hand and chewed out a bunch of muscle and blood. It puckered its mouth.
“Oh hell. Oh hell oh hell oh hell,” Jed said.
The lady firefighter got in front of him and Jed instantly spun around to make sure the other one didn’t get him from behind. But it was on the ground with a deep cut down the middle of its face.
“You—You saved me,” he said, backing up against the shutter and banging on it with his foot. The lady firefighter kept dancing with the one in the street. It tried to get around her and she put her axe up. Then it skittered the other way and she spun to match it, step for damn step.
“Keep banging on the door,” she said.
Jed did what she said, slamming his heel into the door again and again. He only stopped when he saw the faces in every window in the building across the street.
☣
Meg darted forward with her axe, trying to feint at the thing to get it to commit. She’d learned a little about how they moved in just the last few minutes. Wherever they saw a threat, they’d go for it. As long as she looked more threatening than the man behind her, she could save him. And she was confidant she could take the monster out this time.
