A shattering sound is heard from behind the counter as Amanda’s face turns even whiter, “Do you really think it’s possible?”
“I don’t know,” Fanny replies, “but honestly how many people thought that Zombies would be a possibility thirty years ago. And how much do we know now?”
“I guess I never really thought of that,” Amanda mumbles her face turning from white to a sickly green.
“Yeah that’s going to make it hard to sleep tonight,” Fanny nods before walking over to the table and sitting down with Hope.
“So what were you talking to Amanda about?” Hope asks after taking a sip of her soup.
“Nothing much,” Fanny replies picking up her cup and blowing on her soup. The steam blows away as she moves the cup closer and takes a small sip. She coughs as she chokes down the clear yellowish liquid. “This is worse than the stuff they served yesterday.”
“Better than the alternate,” Hope reminds.
“I guess so,” Fanny says forcing her to take another sip. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Oh it was nothing,” Hope says clearing her throat, her eyes darting around the room.
“Come on,” Fanny nudges, “I know that look, something’s bothering you.”
“It’s nothing,” Hope replies, “It was just a bad dream.”
“What happened?” Fanny asks.
“Fine,” Hope sighs, “a few nights ago, back when I was still in that drug induced coma, I had a really bad dream that has been bothering me since I woke up. I was in my room, but I wasn’t allowed to leave or get dressed but then you came in to the room in a panic. You were slurring as you talked but you made it clear that we couldn’t trust anyone here. I tried to ask you questions but I stopped when I saw blood on your hands. I tried to get up but my legs weren’t working and I fell to the ground. I crawled toward the door but you came over and blocked me. That’s when you’re eyes went lifeless, like those, creatures. Your skin started to peel off and you were grunting and groaning and that’s when you leaned in and tried to take a bite out of me. That’s when I woke up.”
“Wow, that sounds terrifying,” Fanny says with a chill running down her spine.
“Yeah but that’s not the worst part,” Hope gulps, “the worst part is when I saw you back in that control room, the way you looked and argued with Mika, I saw that side of you that I had seen in my dreams.”
“I…I don’t know what to say about that,” Fanny says her feelings clearly hurt as shown by the expression on her face.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Hope pleads extending her hands toward Fanny’s, “well I did a little. But there is reason for it.”
“What reason could you have for hurting me?” Fanny asks her face becoming red with anger. She pulls her hands away as she slides her chair back, and jumps to her feet.
Hope jumps to her feet and grabs Fanny by her arm stopping her from leaving, “HEY! You asked me what was wrong so I’m telling you.”
“No, you’re just being mean,” Fanny growls.
“No I’m trying to act like the leader you determined I was,” Hope hisses back.
Fanny pulls her arms back and stands with them crossed over her chest as she rolls her eyes and lets out a loud aggravated sigh. “You’re right. But you just don’t understand how…”
“How hard it is to be back here?” Hope mutters giving an unsympathetic look, “I’ve heard that before, since we got here actually. You know what though? I’m tired of it. Now if you want me to honestly be in charge and act like a leader then you need to back down.”
“You are absolutely right,” Fanny says with a slight nod, “I promise that I’ll back down. And if I don’t at least I know that you’ll be there to whip me back into shape.”
“Damn right I will,” Hope chuckles.
Hope pulls Fanny in and embraces her tightly.
“Hope, Fanny,” Mika calls from the opening of the cafeteria, “it’s fixed.”
“You fixed it already?” Fanny asks as they walk over to him.
“Yeah, it turns out it was easier then I first thought,” Mika smirks.
The girls follow behind Mika as his long legs guide him swiftly through the hallway. The control room is dark with light only emerging from the generator and a few controls on the radio.
“Why is it so dark in here?” Hope asks stopping in the doorway.
“The reason the wire burnt out last time was because we were using too much of the generator’s power at once so I had to shut off a few of the bunkers other electrical components to compensate,” Mika explains.
“Is the radio really that powerful?” Fanny asks.
“No, just that old,” Mika chuckles as he turns the radio on.
They listen as the radio warms up Fanny takes the microphone and presses the button. Her eyes wander slowly to Hope who is just to the right of her. She releases the button and puts the microphone back down on the table before sliding it over to Hope.
“You should be the one to talk to them,” Fanny smiles, “you are in charge after all.”
“No, this one’s all you,” Hope smiles back.
Fanny smiles wider as she picks the microphone back up and presses the button again, “Hello, hello. Can anyone read me? This is Stephanie Goyer. I am trying to reach Damian or Joshua from Superessendam Island. Please respond, I don’t have long. Over.”
“Fanny I read you,” A male voice calls back through the static, “what happened to you?”
“We had an electrical problem,” She explains, “but quick, I need to speak to Joshua or Damian.”
The radio starts to spark, the smell of hot burning metal starts to fill the room.
“I’m sorry but neither of them can make it to the radio,” The male voice mumbles before static interferes with most of what he says next, “and he wound up in the hospital.”
Hope lets out a gasp before grabbing the microphone out of Fanny’s hands, “Who? Who’s in the hospital?”
A loud pop is heard from inside the radio before the sound of glass raining down on the metal. The smell of melted rubber enters their noses before the generator blows, freeing each of the colored wires from the massive machine. The lights outside of the control room burst, leaving only the emergency lights on. Fire starts to rise from the machine spreading quickly to the wall behind it.
“We have to get out of here now,” Mika says slamming his fist through a small glass box hanging on the wall.
An alarm sounds throughout the bunker getting louder as the trio rush out of the bunker.
“What the hell is going on here?” The Major yells meeting them outside the control room.
“The generator caught fire sir,” Mika says with a huff, “we need to evacuate the bunker.”
Chapter 10
Smoke begins to fill the bunker. The survivors cough and choke as the Major tries to guide them out and to safety. The fire in the control room spreads up to the ceiling and out of the room. A loud creaking noise is heard as the lights flicker off and on one last time before the sound of explosions rattle the underground bunker. Glass shards fly from the windows scattering around Mika and the Major’s feet.
“Everyone needs to get out of here now,” The Major calls between coughs.
“The elevator is out,” Mika chokes out, “there is no power running it.”
“Bring them to the back,” The Major mumbles through his hand, “there is a secret staircase behind the cafeteria that leads up to the street.”
“How long have you known about that staircase?” Mika asks angrily.
“For years,” The Major nods, “but we can argue about that after we make it out of here. Right now we need to get out of here.”
Mika looks at the Major with an angry look on his face but he forces himself to nod and rush down the hallway, gathering as many people as he can.
“What’s going on?” Fanny asks fanning away the smoke.
“We have to get to the cafeteria,” Mika says standin
g tall, his face almost completely covered by the smoke, “it’s the only way out.”
“I have to get to my room first,” Hope says.
“It’s not safe,” Mika shakes his head, and grabbing her arm firmly, “the fire is spreading fast.”
“My father’s sword is still in my room,” She insists freeing herself and running into the smoke.
“Hope, it’s not worth it!” Fanny yells running after her into the smoke. She stops after a couple of steps unsure of where her friend had disappeared.
“Don’t,” Mika says pulling her back, “It’s not safe. We have to get to the cafeteria.”
“No,” Fanny says starting to sob, “Hope.”
“Cry later,” Mika says, “She made her choice.”
Fanny’s face turns red with anger, her eyes still swelling up when she turns and punches Mika in the face, “Don’t you dare talk about her like she’s dead.” She continues to punch his chest, tears shimmering through the smoke and fire.
“I know this is tough for you to understand, but we have to go,” Mika says with a firm tone, “we’ll wait for her as long as we can. That’s the best I can offer.”
Fanny hesitantly agrees allowing Mika to take her by the arm. He leads her blindly through the smoke filled hallway. Flames crawl steadily across the ceiling above them. Mika can feel the heat as his outstretched arm feels around for openings. The familiar checkered floor of the cafeteria appears below them after the short hike. There are a few survivors huddled around near the opening to the kitchen, Amanda waving them through one at a time.
“Where’s Hope?” She asks when she spots Fanny and Mika.
“She said she had to get something from her room,” Mika answers.
“That’s crazy,” Amanda coughs, “the fire is spreading quickly.”
“What about the others? What about John and Sara?” Fanny asks frantically.
“They were some of the first to go up the stairs,” Amanda answers, “The Major asked them to work crowd control.”
“Good. Now get the rest of these people up the stairs and then yourself,” Mika orders.
“What about you two?” Amanda asks.
“We are going to wait as long as possible for Hope,” Mika says.
Amanda nods before waving through the next group of people. Mika helps to guide the last dozen or so of people as the smoke and fire begin build up inside the cafeteria. The plastic chairs that once reminded Fanny of her elementary school days slowly melt as the fire inches closer to her.
“We can’t wait any longer,” Mika yells, “we have to leave.”
“No, we have to wait just a little longer,” Fanny begs, choking as she continues to breathe in the smoke.
“Everyone else is upstairs, and we don’t even know what is waiting for us up there,” Mika argues, “not to mention we’ve taken in more smoke then our lungs can handle just being here. There is no way Hope survived in the heart of it all.”
“No, I don’t choose to believe it,” Fanny says gritting her teeth, “…Hope.”
Mika grabs her by the waist and lifts her off the ground as much as he can, dragging her toward the kitchen door. Her feet flail almost lifelessly as she hangs from his arms. Her once bright eyes look dull and gray surrounded by the puffiness of her tears and the smoke swirling around her face. A dark shadow appears through the gray smoke, cutting its way through.
“Holy shit,” Mika mumbles as he watching Hope emerge from the smoke. Mika places Fanny softly on the ground and the pair walks over to and help Hope out of the smoke. “How in the world.”
“I couldn’t leave it,” Hope says holding up the sword wrapped up in its scabbard.
“I’m glad you’re safe, but we’ve got to go now!” Mika yells.
The fire roars and the flames seem to shoot out from every direction. Mika escorts the two girls up the stairs, the walls radiating heat to the point of almost melting. The climb seems endless, but they continue on, step after step, their only real solace is the bright sunlight at the end almost welcoming them. Hope, Fanny and Mika huff and puff, their lungs burning as they try to keep up with the lack of oxygen remaining inside the stairwell.
“We’re almost there!” Fanny shouts, “I can see the light coming from outside.”
“Keep going. But don’t let down your guard,” Mika struggles to call out, “we still don’t know what’s waiting for us.”
They make it to the top of the staircase stopping for only a brief moment as they try to give their burning lungs a break. Hope frees the steel of her sword from its housing and starts out into the outside.
“Wait,” Fanny says catching her friend off guard, “we don’t have any weapons.”
“Then I guess you should stay behind me and try not to get killed,” Hope chuckles.
Grudgingly the arrogant pair agrees and follows their young leader. The two-dozen survivors huddled together, not far from where they emerge to greet them. Many of them have old swords or other kinds of blades in their hands as they converge around the trio.
“Where did you get all these weapons from?” Mika asks pushing his way past Hope.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t be prepared for this? Did you?” The Major asks making his way through the crowd.
“But, how?” Fanny asks puzzled.
“That stairway was my contingency plan. I came across them about a week after we entered the bunker. I climbed them a few times. I placed some weapon caches around and started making some notes about where we came out and where we could go next just in case we needed to evacuate,” The Major smirks, “I just never imagined that one of our own would burn the bunker down.”
“It wasn’t intentional,” Mika says defending himself.
“If I thought it was intentional you wouldn’t be alive now to defend yourself,” The Major growls.
“Where are we?” Fanny asks stepping between them.
“About six blocks away from the church and main entrance,” The Major replies, his eyes never leaving Mika’s.
“Great,” Hope says sarcastically, “so where do we go from here? Another bunker?”
“There isn’t another bunker for at least a hundred miles,” The Major chuckles, “The best we can do is sit out here and wait for death, and take out as many of those undead fucks as we can.”
“We can find a way to survive,” Fanny says.
“No, we can only prolong our deaths,” The Major says before handing Mika and Fanny each a machete. “I know it isn’t much, but I hope you can make good use of those.”
“Come with us,” Hope offers, “all of you. Help us find the survivors and come back to the island with us.”
“That sounds nice,” The Major says flashing his first honest smile since they met, “but my duty is to my people and keeping them safe. And that’s not an easy thing to do out here. I’m better off finding them a safe house.”
“Sir,” one of the scavengers calls out. He is dressed like the other scavengers with the exception of a hood covering his face. Hope can almost make out what is hidden underneath but is startled by what she sees. “There is another bunker in Baton Rouge. My team and I have had some contact with a few of the survivors there on our outings.”
“Great. Then we proceed to Baton Rouge,” The Major says with a sigh.
“Sir if I may be so bold,” The scavenger begins, “I can lead the group. My team and I know this land better than anyone else. That will free you of your duties and allow you to stay with the outsiders.”
“But what about you?” Fanny asks, “That isn’t fair to you.”
“If and when you survive, you know where we’ll be,” the scavenger nods.
The Major extends his hand and grasps the scavenger’s tightly, as he mouths the words ‘thank you.’
“All right, we move out,” the scavenger calls, “I want three teams, the first with me, the second follows behind led by McCoy and third brings up the rear, that’s you Ransom.”
The large group slowly takes sh
ape as the scavengers arrange the homely bodies as they see fit. They watch as they disappear into the shadows one by one leaving the small group behind, each one scattered and waiting for what to do next.
“Well?” Fanny asks looking around at the familiar faces of John and Sara. Amanda makes her way past her and greets Mika with a big hug before turning back with a smile.
“What do we do now?” Amanda asks.
“We go as far as we can before nightfall,” Hope begins, “after that we find shelter. Hopefully we can make it out to the others before their time is up.”
Nobody argues with Hope’s rational instead they just follow behind as she takes lead. They walk slowly and silently out of the alley. Fanny takes one last look behind her noticing the darkness behind them. They can see smoke out in the distance where the church is placed, The Major, Mika and Amanda each hang their heads as they silently say their goodbyes to the only home they’ve known for the last sixteen years. One by one they turn away from the smoke and continue behind their new comrades.
The road is desolate with almost no sign of former life or Zombies anywhere to be seen. The sun is beating down on them harshly forcing beads of sweat to build up quickly on each of their foreheads.
“I had almost forgot what it was like out here,” The Major pants.
“Yeah this sun is brutal,” Amanda agrees. “I wish we could have grabbed some water before leaving the bunker.”
“Yeah if only we weren’t running for our lives or anything,” John replies snidely. “Actually I’ve been meaning to ask, how did the bunker catch fire?”
Mika stops in his tracks, his teeth clenched together in an almost rage as he turns around and wraps his enormous hand around John’s scrawny neck. “If you’ve got something to say, then say it to my face.”
“Let him go,” Hope says softly and slowly, the blade of her sword resting against his cheek. Mika releases his grip unwillingly, dropping John to the ground gasping for air as he backs away from his assailant. “Good. Now I don’t care about anything that happened back at the bunker, because there is no going back. All I care about right now is saving as many of us as we possibly can. Is everyone understood?” she waits for the chorus of yesses before sliding the blade along Mika’s face, “and you, control your temper or you’ll wish that we fed you to the undead. Got it?”
Omega Virus (Book 2): Revisited Page 10
