Outbreak (Book 3): Endplay

by Scott Shoyer

  “Okay,” Wilder said as he looked around the room. “We’re good to go. Let’s get to the garage and meet up with the others.”

  “Where the hell are we going to go?” Cheryl asked Wilder as they made their way back through the corridor.

  “I really don’t know,” Wilder answered. “But somewhere out there has to be another safe place for us. I don’t believe the world has completely fallen.” Wilder hesitated for a second and then continued. “I can’t believe that. Besides--we have those four vials. Those might be the things that turn this war around for us.”

  “You almost sound excited,” Cheryl said.

  “Before we got to Schoepke Springs,” Wilder explained, “I thought we were living just to survive. The enemy was a virus that reanimated the dead. There was nothing to fight.

  “But now we have an actual, tangible enemy,” Wilder continued. “We have something to fight back against. This is what I was trained for. Hell, this is what you trained for.” Wilder slowed as they approached the armory. “At least now we have a physical enemy we can see and that we can kill.”

  Wilder took a quick look in the armory and made sure everything had been removed.

  “Good,” he said as they continued to the garage. “The armory was emptied out.”

  “What do you think the aliens’ next move will be?” Cheryl asked.

  “I’m not too sure, but after they breach that final security door, they’re going to have a lot of rubble to clear away before they’ll be able to get through. We’ll be long gone.”

  Cheryl gripped her nail-studded baseball bat and continued to run down the hallway.

  As they approached the entrance to the garage, Wilder and Cheryl both slowed to a jog. They both heard strange noises that came from the garage.

  Wilder held his hand up to Cheryl as he approached the garage. He placed his ear against the door and listened for anything out of the ordinary. The door was too thick to hear anything, so he cracked open the door and glanced inside. He immediately shut the door as quietly as he could.

  “What is it?” Cheryl asked.

  “Aliens,” Wilder said. “There’s seven aliens in the garage.”

  “What?” Cheryl exclaimed. “How the hell did they get in there?”

  “I don’t know,” Wilder started, but stopped before he finished his thought. “The other ship,” he finally said. “Josef mentioned that the rest of the scout ship was housed down here. Maybe there were aliens on board.”

  “Is everyone okay in there?” Cheryl asked as she nodded toward the garage door.

  “I didn’t see any bodies on the ground,” Wilder said. “I think everyone is in the armored vehicles. But what the hell are they waiting for? Why don’t they leave and get away from those things?”

  “They’re waiting for us,” Cheryl said. “They won’t leave until we’re with them.”

  “Well, then,” Wilder said as he unslung the AK-47 from his shoulder. “Let’s let them know we’re out here.”

  4

  One Mile Outside Schoepke Springs

  In the Woods

  Greg ran through the woods. He didn’t know where he was going and didn’t even know if he was traveling towards Schoepke Springs.

  He just ran.

  A small part of him felt bad for abandoning the others, but when he’d seen the aliens attack, he knew he had to get out of there.

  He knew they were outnumbered.

  He also knew this might be the last opportunity he had to have some fun.

  Greg ran through the woods, but was slowed down by the unconscious body of Kimberly draped over his shoulder. He knew he’d taken a chance when he’d knocked her unconscious and carried her away, but he couldn’t help himself anymore. The urges he’d had to hide from society no longer needed to be curbed. There was no more society. There was no one left to judge and condemn him.

  His urges were what had led him to work in prisons. He knew he couldn’t do what he wanted, but at least as a prison guard he could beat the shit out of some inmates once in a while and only get a slap on the wrist.

  His mind wandered back two years to the female guard in the prison. He smiled as he remembered her. Chaos had erupted all over the prison. The dead had come back to life. No one had cared about him and what he did.

  Or her.

  Jennifer, Greg remembered. Her name was Jennifer. His cock swelled as he remembered the things he done to her in that cell.

  Greg’s smile grew bigger when he thought about what he was going to do to Kimberly. He’d come a long way since his time with Jennifer. Alone in that trailer park, he’d practiced his art on the occasional stray animal. Twice he’d even managed to capture zombies. He didn’t know whether they felt any pain, but they’d been good for perfecting his art. He’d carved them up from head to toe. He’d skinned them and learned how deeply he could thrust his knife before he’d hit a vital organ. He’d learned how to punch a victim so they would only pass out for a few minutes, or longer if he needed.

  He’d practiced on those zombies, but he’d never got what he’d been really after.

  Their final breath.

  That had been taken from the zombies a long time ago.

  When he’d seen Emily run off to the buildings in Round Rock, he’d known he’d had an opportunity, and he’d taken it. He’d left his position from the top of the bus and had chased after her. The others had been too busy with their own deaths and survival that he’d known they wouldn’t even notice he was gone.

  Mmmm, Emily, Greg thought as he ran through the woods. Not only had he got to unleash all his new skills on Emily, but he was also able to do what he couldn’t with the zombies. After Greg had knocked her out and carried her to the empty room, he’d stripped Emily down and raped her. Then he’d used his knives and cigarette lighter to wake her up. It was no fun if they were unconscious.

  He remembered Emily’s screams into the towel stuffed in her mouth and how her body writhed underneath his blades. Her suffering had been a powerful aphrodisiac and he’d propped her up so he could use her body again. As he forced his way into her ass, he’d plunged the knife an inch into her back, cutting down her back with every violent thrust he made into her.

  He’d savored her agony and pain.

  He’d relished in the fact that he no longer had to control his urges. Society had crumbled, and monsters now ruled the earth.

  Greg saw a well-covered spot on the ground surrounded by trees and dropped Kimberly. He looked down at her body and knew he was going to enjoy this. He didn’t have the time to go slow, but he wasn’t against inflicting quick, intense pain to get her, and himself, where he wanted them to go.

  He wanted--no, needed--her last breath. He wanted to time everything perfectly so that he was deep inside her as she gave up her last breath. He wanted to feel the muscles in her body relax as death took hold of her and he inhaled her last breath as his cock shot inside her.

  He stood over Kimberly and leaned down to remove her clothes.

  *

  “Where the fuck could they have gone?” Braden asked.

  The blood trail they followed had disappeared a few feet back, but Riker didn’t think if Greg and Kimberly were running for their lives that they would’ve strayed from the direction they were running in.

  If they were, in fact, running from the aliens.

  Riker tried to convince himself that they’d run because they were scared, but he knew there was something else going on here. For one, Riker had only noticed one set of tracks. That meant that either only one of them was alive, or that one of them carried the other’s body.

  Neither scenario put his mind to rest.

  “I think we’re still on their trail,” Riker said to Braden. “They were headed in this direction and the trees around here are too dense to run quickly through.”

  Riker pushed aside his bad thoughts and kept on the path. He’d find them, he was sure of it.

  But what he’d find he wasn’t too sure of.


  *

  Kimberly lay on the ground, unconscious in her panties. Greg removed his backpack and leaned the shotgun against the nearby tree in case he needed to get to it quickly. The danger of possibly being caught not just by Riker and the others, but by the aliens made Greg tingle all over. He smiled and knew this was going to be the best experience yet.

  He took out the machete he’d grabbed from the distribution center and ran the blade across Kimberly’s thigh. The blade glided over her skin. He pressed a little harder and felt his heart beat faster when a line of blood trickled from underneath the sharp blade.

  Greg’s breathing became quicker, and it took every ounce of self-control to keep himself from raping her with the machete. There would be time for that later. He knew if he started with that, she would die too quickly, and he wouldn’t get his last breath.

  He bent down, rolled Kimberly onto her stomach, and straddled her body. He pulled her head back by her hair and waited as she regained consciousness.

  Perfect timing, bitch, he thought. I want you awake for this.

  Greg took one of his clean shirts from his backpack and stuffed it in her mouth. He reached to pull her panties off when he heard a noise. His fingers were hooked underneath Kimberly’s panties, but he didn’t move. He felt the warmth coming from her skin and caressed her hips.

  He looked around and didn’t see anything and started to pull her panties off when a hand reached down from the tree he was under and grabbed his head.

  Not a hand.

  A claw.

  Greg tried to scream, but the clawed hand snaked under his chin and pushed, closing his mouth. His muffled screams did little good other than wake Kimberly.

  *

  Kimberly’s head was pounding and she was groggy. She pulled the shirt out of her mouth and remembered what had happened to her.

  Greg.

  That bastard.

  When the aliens had attacked, he’d hit her in the side of the head with the butt of the shotgun and carried her off. She panicked as she realized she was half-naked and Greg was on top of her with an alien’s clawed hand around his neck.

  She kicked Greg off of her and backed up against the nearby tree. She didn’t care about the screams coming from Greg, but she knew the alien would be after her when it was done with Greg.

  The alien pushed Greg violently against the tree and gracefully jumped from the branch it sat on. Greg reached for the shotgun while never taking his eyes off the creature. He patted the ground as he searched for the weapon. His blood turned ice cold when he heard the familiar clicking sound as a round was chambered in the weapon. He looked at Kimberly, still half-naked against the tree, and smiled.

  Then he realized the gun was aimed at him.

  “Shoot it!” Greg yelled. “What the fuck are you waiting for, you stupid twat?”

  “That’s a good question,” Kimberly said as she pulled the trigger and shot Greg. She’d aimed low so the buckshot hit Greg in the lower abdomen and his groin.

  Greg screamed and immediately fell to his knees.

  The alien jumped toward Greg and pushed its razor-sharp claws into the shotgun wound in Greg’s abdomen and grabbed ahold of his intestines. It yanked his guts out and reached back in the wound for Greg’s stomach.

  As it pulled Greg’s stomach out, its claws punctured the organ. Partially digested food and liquid dumped out of the punctured stomach. Kimberly covered her mouth and nose with her arm as she turned her head. The odor of the worst vomit belch reached her and made her recoil. The smell of stomach acid overwhelmed Kimberly as it mingled with the smell of shit from Greg’s torn intestines. Kimberly gagged and watched the alien open up Greg’s chest with its claws as it continued to eviscerate the man.

  A loud snap filled the air as the alien effortlessly broke through Greg’s rib cage. Kimberly couldn’t hold back her curiosity and looked at Greg. Through the blood and broken ribs, she saw his exposed, still-beating heart. The alien wrapped his three-fingered claws around his heart and tore it from Greg’s chest.

  The alien turned toward Kimberly. She watched as Greg’s heart fell from the creature’s hand. She knew she was going to die, but felt a certain contentment that it was the alien that would take her life and not that other monster.

  She pushed back against the tree as the alien took a step toward her. If she had the strength, she would have pressed herself into the center of the tree.

  She closed her eyes and waited for the death blow, but instead heard the unmistakable thunder from a shotgun.

  Kimberly slowly opened her eyes.

  The alien was about six feet away from her and on its knees. Whoever had fired the shotgun had aimed for the creature’s legs.

  Kimberly heard a scream that she imagined many a warrior bellowed as they raced into battle. She saw Teagan with a machete in each hand. Teagan jumped in the air, and as she descended, she brought the two machetes down into both sides of the alien’s neck. Kimberly saw the alien’s eyes bug out as the blades hit whatever it was inside those things that was bone. Teagan twisted the blades and then jumped out of the way.

  Behind Teagan, Braden ran forward, and in one fluid motion, placed the barrel of a shotgun against the back of the creature’s head, screamed for Kimberly to duck, and pulled the trigger. All at once, the alien’s eyes exploded out of its head, its sharp teeth burst out like they were made of delicate glass, and the thing’s forehead disappeared behind a mist of alien brains and blood.

  “Oh my God,” Teagan said as she ran to Kimberly. “Are you hurt? Did he touch you?”

  “No,” Kimberly said, her voice shaky from fear. “The alien interrupted him.” Kimberly nodded to the tree. Teagan looked at Greg’s disemboweled body, walked over to it, and spit on his remains.

  “That motherfucker,” Teagan said. “I hope he suffered.”

  “He did,” Kimberly said as Teagan helped her gather her clothes and get dressed. Kimberly was torn by her feelings. She never thought she’d celebrate the death of another human being, but she’d enjoyed watching the alien as it tore Greg’s insides out.

  “Can you walk?” Riker asked. “The noise from the shotguns are going to bring more of those fuckers around.”

  “I’m good,” Kimberly said. “I just have a horrible headache.”

  “Here,” Braden said as he handed her a bottle of Advil. “Ex-Boy Scout… be prepared and all that shit.”

  Kimberly managed to smile and took the Advil.

  “Let’s go,” Riker said. “The main entrance isn’t far from here.”

  Riker, Teagan, Braden, and Kimberly ran off into the woods. As they moved past Greg’s body, Kimberly looked down at what remained of his body. A chill ran through her body as she saw what looked like a smile on Greg’s face.

  What the hell was your last thought, you sick fuck? Kimberly thought as she ran past his body.

  Chapter Twelve

  1

  Sub-Facility, Schoepke Springs

  The Garage

  Wilder and Cheryl leaned against the door that led into the garage. The aliens hadn’t seen Wilder when he’d peeked into the room and knew that they still had the element of surprise. The only problem was: they had limited options. Wilder had a few grenades on him, but the creatures were all around the armored vehicles. In order to take out the aliens with the grenades, he’d risk damaging the vehicles.

  “What the hell are we going to do?” Cheryl asked.

  “We go in there with guns blazing and hope the others are in the armored vehicles,” Wilder said. “The armored vehicles will stop the bullets from our guns.”

  “What if they’re not all in the vehicles?” Cheryl dared to ask.

  “Then whoever is running around in the garage is most likely going to die,” Wilder said flatly. “I’m gonna count to three and we’re going to barge through the door. We enter shoulder to shoulder. You take the left side of the room and I’ll take the right.”

  “Let me guess,” Cheryl added. “Shoot anyth
ing that’s not human.”

  Wilder looked her eyes and nodded.

  Cheryl hooked Stevie to the belt holder Steele had made for her. This way, she never had to put down her nail-studded baseball bat when she used a gun.

  “One… two,” Wilder counted down, but never made it to three. Inside the room, what sounded like thunder boomed and echoed. The sound repeated itself several times.

  Boom

  Boom

  Boom

  Wilder and Cheryl looked at each other. “Let’s go in low,” Wilder said, and opened the door. They ran into the room, crouched down, and scanned the scene around them. Almost at the same time, they each saw the source of the thunder. Steele stood on top of the Wisent armored vehicle and fired an automatic shotgun into the aliens around the trucks.

  Wilder took advantage of the aliens’ focus on Steele and crept closer to them. He leveled his AK-47 and opened fire on a pack of three. The weapon roared in his hands as the bullets tore into the aliens from behind.

  One of the creatures turned and ran toward Wilder. He kept his position and fired the weapon at its torso. The bullets ripped into its chest and slowed the thing down, but it still made its way toward him.

  Wilder’s magazine was almost out, and he knew the second he stopped firing to slap in a new one, the alien would be on top of him.

  Before the magazine was empty, Wilder dropped the weapon to the floor, and like lightning, drew his Beretta and continued firing. This time, he aimed for the creature’s head. He could’ve sworn the bullets were just bouncing off the thing’s skull until he lined up a shot and hit the creature in the eye.

  When the creature leveled its head at him again, he put two more bullets in its eyes. The creature dropped. Wilder grabbed his AK-47, inserted a new magazine, and moved toward the other creatures.