by C. M. Wright
"I'm not acting like a 'damn cadet', but even if I were, they are still better trained than you are."
"Well, no shit, dumbass! I'm not in the frikken military and I don't want to be! You're all freaking NUTS!" I punch his big beefed-up arm.
"Hit me again and see what happens." He shouts at me. So, I hit him again. And again. And again.
Next thing I know, Jake has his arms around me and his huge hands are clasping my hands behind my back. He sticks his face right up against mine, breathing hard with anger. My eyes are wide and my mouth is hanging open. I can't believe he just did that! Like I really hurt the big baby! He stares lightening bolts into my eyes, anger making it seem as if they are glowing.
In a growling, low voice he says to me, "I told you not to hit me again."
Trembling, I do my best to keep my mouth shut. I've never been very good at that. "Actually, Jake, you said 'hit me again and see what happens'."
I hold my breath, afraid of what he's going to do next. He leans even closer to me and my already wide eyes stretch wider. And then, he laughs! A loud booming laugh that scares the shit out of me more than his anger did. I am totally convinced he's lost it. He releases me and sits back on his side of the truck, still laughing uncontrollably. Tears streaming down his face. I slowly bring my arms back to the front of my body and rub my wrists, which are aching from the pain of his grip. I scoot as far away from him as I can, my back against the window, keeping my eyes on him. I'm scared to death! This isn't the big, bad, but sweet and caring (to me anyway), Jake I know. This dude has totally lost his effin mind!
At least a full two minutes pass before the big muscular fool stops laughing. I'm still pressed against the side window, staring at him, watching him. I wonder if I have any chance of getting those guns away from him. Probably not. Then I decide he's going to be in front of me at ALL times. He wipes his eyes with his huge hand and takes several deep breaths. He turns his head toward me and then his body. OH MY GOD! He's scooting closer. I press back harder against the door. He scoots even closer. He's looking at me like a predator getting ready to attack his prey. Oh, shit! I really didn't need THAT image! He's right in front of me now and I panic. I start kicking and swinging my fist at anything I can reach. He laughs, wraps my legs with one arm, and grabs both wrists with one hand, and pulls me down flat on the seat. I screech and try to buck him off me but he barely moves. Finally, I just give up. Breathing hard and gasping, I lay my head back against the seat, looking at him and waiting for his next move.
"You done?" He asks me.
"Apparently." I choke out.
"I'm not going to hurt you, damn it!" Uh, could have fooled me! I watch as he leans toward me. What the hell is he doing? I squeeze my eyes shut tight, and my body tenses up, waiting for whatever he plans to do next. Then I feel his lips on mine and for a second I relax, relieved he's not killing me, and then my eyes fly open. I jerk my head to the side and push against him. Now I'm pissed.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you nuts? I'm frikken married! Remember Will? You met him. Saved his damn life. Father of my kids? Yeah, that's him! Back of, Jackass!" Oh my god! I am so furious. Damn jerk! I grab my handgun and check that it's loaded. Slapping the clip back in place, I throw my door open and get out.....with major attitude. Slamming the door as hard as I can, I then stomp up to the door. I stop and listen and hear the undead just beyond the door. Jake is getting out of the truck but I'm so angry, I don't even care if he's ready. I'm ready to kill something. I grab the handle, and just as I hear Jake shout, "NO", I throw the door open, take a few quick steps back, and shoot each one in the head as they fill the doorway. After the sixth, they stop coming.
I hold the gun out for another few minutes, just in case, then turn my head slowly to Jake. He takes a step back and looks as if he thinks I'm about to shoot him next. Instead, I bring the gun up in front of my mouth, and blow a hard breath of air on the end of the barrel. Yeah. I'm that type of badass. Don't mess with me! Jake grins and gives me a nod. I nod back. Yeah. We're ok.
I reload my clip and slam it back in place. Checking to make sure my knife is still in it's sheath, I follow Jake inside. Neither one of us sees the figure standing in the upstairs window of the other building. Watching us.
Chapter 22
Jake and I get in our butt-to-back position and we start clearing rooms. This time, we can't just pass the closed ones. Someone alive is in here, and ready to kill. The first floor was empty. Jake, Will, and Dad had killed ten from the other building, I killed six at the back door. Nine left.
Jake stops and listens at the door to the stairs. I'm still watching behind us when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I jump ten feet in the air, then whip around ready to kill Jake. He's grinning but, holding a finger up to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I give him a 'go to hell' look and he grins wider.
He points to the door, letting me know someone is behind it. I mouth "undead?" to him and he nods. I mouth again, "how many?" and he holds up one, then two, then three fingers, then shrugs. Ok. So he doesn't know. Great.
I hold up my gun and move to the opposite wall directly across from the door. Jake gives me a look that asks if I'm ready and I nod. He throws the door open and immediately I see an undead. I let it move a little more into the doorway so that his body will stop the door from closing all the way, and then I fire. We had put the silencers back on, since we knew we had at least one shooter in the building, and I am so very, very grateful, as my head is pounding. Another one appears and just as I shoot, he falls over the first zombie, causing my bullet to slam into the metal stair's handrail with a very loud clank.
My head whips toward Jake as fear washes over me. After he puts a bullet in the zombie's head, he grabs my hand and pulls me behind him, against the wall. We stay this way for several minutes, just listening. Finally, he leads us to the stairs, taking each step slowly, quietly, cautiously.
We reach the top and Jake listens at the door again. We move to the far corner, away from the door.
Whispering, Jake says, "I hear movement, moaning, and grunting, so we know what that means. I just don't understand why, if the guy that shot at us has a weapon and obviously bullets, he hasn't killed these things."
I whisper back to him, "Well, I can't answer that question. Doesn't make any sense to me, either. Funny how he will try to kill us but not them."
"Yeah. Listen, don't take any chances and never let your guard down. Right now, the zombies are the least of our worries. At least they are predictable. Alright. You ready?" Nope. Sure ain't! But I nod anyway.
We go back to the door and I grab Jake's shirt and hold up a finger, telling him to wait. I pull out a full clip, slide it into place, and nod that I'm ready....now. He turns to the door and I back up to the wall next to the stairs and directly in front of the door. Jake stands to the back of the door, so when it opens he will be protected. Pulling out his knife and swinging his rifle around so that he can get to it fast if need be, he opens the door, pulling it back against him.
And then the action begins.
I let them get inside the stairwell, way to close for my comfort, and then shoot. They practically fall at my feet, which makes me nervous as hell, in case I hadn't killed them. I keep waiting for teeth to clamp on my leg. But I can't do anything about it as they keep coming. I kill five total, which leaves two unaccountable for. We know one is alive, or at least was alive just a short time ago. Now to just find them and stay alive ourselves.
Jake and I walk slowly through the hall, listening at each door, then clearing the rooms. We come to the second hall in the squared layout of the building, and at the first door on the right, just past the turn in the hall, we hear noise from inside. It sounds like someone sobbing. Jake looks at me and I look back at him. Slowly, Jake turns the knob and we enter the room. My mouth drops as I see a woman pressed into a corner, knees up to her chest, arms up and covering her head. Naked. She looks up and pleads for Jake not to hurt her. I don't think she even notic
es me.
Jake raises his hand towards her, but stays near the door. He tells her his name, that it's ok, he's not going to hurt her, but she doesn't believe him. I step in front of Jake and tell her we want to help her, we just got here, don't know what is going on, but she won't be hurt again. I ask her if I can go over and sit by her, and she finally nods after a few moments of watching me. I slowly move toward her and sit about five feet from her. Since she is sitting in the corner, and it's dark, I didn't see the horrifying bruises covering her body and her face. I suck in a breath from shock.
"Pretty bad, isn't it? I can't see it, but I can damn sure feel it. You don't look so great yourself." She says to me.
"I just didn't want Jake to be intimidated by my natural beauty. He has this belief he's the best looking thing around. You know how it is with men and their egos." She gives a small, weak giggle, and then relaxes a tiny bit.
"What's your name and how did you get here, anyway?" I ask her.
"My name is Sara and I came here because my husband, Mike, works here. I thought it would be safe here but they had let a couple infected guys in, not knowing what was going on at that point. They just wanted to help someone who was hurt." I look back at Jake and he looks at me. So, two we hadn't counted on we here, besides Sara."When I got here, everything was fine. Then they turned and bit the three men in the room with them. One who was my husband. After that, the men went down pretty quick. One of the guys from the garage building came over to get lunch and was bit. He ran out and I assume went back to the other building. I don't know what happened to him after that. I hid in this room. I was so terrified. After a few hours, my husband's friend came in. He didn't know I was here and almost shot me before he realized I wasn't like those things. Now, I wish he had killed me." She lets out a couple more sobs.
I ask her if I can help her get cleaned up and dressed and she nods. I hold her hand and help her up. Her legs are almost unable to hold her up, so I have her put an arm around my shoulders while I support most of her weight. My own body screams in pain from the extra weight, but I manage to get us to the bathroom. When we walk in, I flip on the light, and am relieved to see it has a shower. I have her sit on the toilet while I get the shower ready. After adjusting the water temperature, I turn back to her and all the air leaves me in one big whoosh.
She has so much trauma on her body, but what was most horrifying, were the bite marks that covered her body. Deep, bruised, and bloody. I back away from her, lifting my gun and pointing it at her, and her eyes widen. She looks down at her own body, then back to me, shaking her head furiously.
"No! No! These aren't from those things. They're from my husband's friend. Please! I swear. And he's not infected, either. I'm ok. Really. I'm ok!"
Hearing her raised panicked voice, Jake runs into the bathroom. He sees me with my gun up and whips his head toward Sara. I hear his own breath leave his lungs. Sara is still pleading for her life and I don't know what to do. I look at Jake and he's already looking at me. He tells her to get in the shower and we'll be right outside the door. I watch as she tries to stand. But her legs start shaking from the weight of her and I know she can't do it herself. Sighing, I hand Jake my gun and start toward her. Jake tells me 'no' but I have to.
"Just keep the gun on her," I tell him. He doesn't look happy, but does it anyway. I grab a thick towel and lay it on the shower floor. Helping her in, I suggest she sit down on the towel so she doesn't fall, and she does. I hand down a bar of soap, some shampoo and conditioner. Then I grab her a washcloth. She smiles up at me and tells me thank you.
Walking back to Jake, I take my gun back and we exit the bathroom. We leave the door open a crack so we can hear her.
"What the hell are we going to do, now? We can't take her back to the others. What if he was infected when he did this shit to her?" I ask Jake.
"What are we supposed to do with her then? We can't leave her here alone. But you're right, I don't want her attacking any of us." We become quiet as we think about what we should do. I snap my eyes up to Jake's and tell him my idea.
"How about we tie her hands and put something over her mouth?" He thinks about it for a moment then shakes his head.
"After everything I imagine she's gone through, that may be too much for her. But, I can't think of anything better if she really wants out of here, and wants the safety we can provide, I guess that's her only choice, besides trying to survive on her own."
Decision made. We lean against the wall on either side of the door, Jake's eyes on the main door into the room, and mine on the bathroom door. Eventually, we hear the shower turn off and I go inside. Sara is now standing fairly well and drying off. She notices me and tells me she feels a lot better, cleaner, anyway. She says her legs work now and is relieved about that. Yeah, Honey, My bruised and beaten body is, too. She finishes drying off and wraps the towel around her, tucking it in at the top. I tell her we will find her some clothes soon, but first, we have to find the others before they find us.
She swallows hard and nods. We exit the bathroom and prepare to leave the room. I go to the door and look down the hall. Seeing and hearing nothing, I turn back to the room and listen as Jake tells Sara what we had decided she has to do if she wanted to stay with us, at least until we know she won't turn. Jake's facing my direction and Sara has her back to me. I see Jake look my way, his eyes widen, and just as he says, "Look out!" I feel a boot in my already tender back, kicking me hard inside the room. I go flying and crash to the floor in front of Sara, who is whimpering in fear. I hear the door slam and Jake is running to it. He twists and pulls the knob but it doesn't open. He kicks it, punches it, but it does no good. The door is too strong, and the fact it opens inside the room, means we can't bust it out. I just lay on the floor on my side, unable to move. I think my back just told me "screw you!"
Sara drops to the floor beside me, asking me if I'm ok. I can't answer her, for the intense pain that is shooting through my body. Jake hears her and looks back. Seeing me on the floor, practically paralyzed, hell, I may very well be paralyzed, he runs over and kneels down on the other side of me. He asks me what's wrong, what's hurting and I want so badly to give a smart ass remark, but I just can't talk. He wipes my hair out of my face, and just sits beside me, holding my hand and telling me I'm gonna be ok. I might have believed him if he didn't look as if I was dying. He asks Sara if there is any bottled water in here and she says no but she can get some out of the faucet. She stands and grabs a paper cup from a stack sitting on a shelf and fills it with cold tap water. She hands it to Jake and he digs out some more pain pills from his pocket. Holding my head up a little, he places the pills in my mouth and tips some water in. I swallow the pills and water. I wonder how many pain pills within such a short time my body can handle before I can't move.....well, guess I can't move now anyway, huh?
Chapter 23
I hear voices. They sound so far away. A man and a woman. The woman sounds like she's in front of me. The man sounds as if he's behind me, close. I can't move or open my eyes. I feel a hand, calloused and large, gently rubbing the side of my face as he's talking to the woman. What are they saying? I can't understand them. It sounds like when a radio station is out of tune. What's wrong wi....
I feel like I'm under a lot of water and trying to swim back to the top. Eventually, I make it enough to hear what's going on around me. Same woman I heard before, same man. This time I can understand what's being said. I open my eyes, then slam them back together. I open them just enough that a small sliver of light comes in. Ok. That's not so bad. Very slowly, I open them just a tiny bit at a time. Finally I have them half opened. Good enough.
I just look around with my eyes, not even attempting to move my head, and try to remember what the hell is going on, where I am, who I am, and who the hell these people are. I'm sitting and leaning against someone. Muscular, hairy arms are crossed across my chest. Black fatigued legs are raised on each side of me. I notice I have the same kind of black fatigues on my own leg
s, as well. And then something catches my attention. The man's voice. Jake!
I open my mouth, but I can't get any words out. I try to raise my arm but all I can do is slide it. So I slide it into the inside of his thigh, the only place I could. I hear him stop talking and his body tightens behind my head as he leans forward to look at my face. Seeing my eyes are open, he grins at me and asks if I'm thirsty. I nod my head. He lifts a cup to my mouth and I drink until he takes it away. I let the water slip down my throat, soothing and delicious. Finally, I can at least get a whisper out.
"Thank you," I half whisper, half croak at him. I hear him ask Sara if she would go in the bathroom so we could talk.
"Alright." Not sounding very happy. As she walks by us, I notice a quick dirty look being shot my way. What the hell was that all about?
"Hey, we missed you." Jake's says in a low voice. Um, not so sure everyone did. But I just smile at him, my throat killing me to much to talk.
"You've been out for three hours." What the...? Really? "I know who her husband's "friend" is. He's the same guy I always had problems with every time I had to come here. I always felt something wasn't right about him. He hated me. He felt like I didn't deserve to be in the position of Sergeant Major, but he did, though he never made any effort to do more than he was told to do. He's lazy and doesn't take commands well. His name is Tony and I thought more than once that he would kill me if he got the chance. I guess he's got his chance." My eyes widen in fear and I croak out, "NO!" He just gives me a slight smile.
"He hasn’t come back in but he has come to taunt and threaten us from outside the door. Sara told me what he did to her. Rape. Torture. You name it, he did it. Sick son-of-a-bitch." He's quiet for a minute and I just look up at him, waiting.
Jake looks down at me and rubs my cheek, lightly. "So, all together, we've been in the armory about four to four and a half hours. And you've been sleeping like a baby for most of that time." I grin and shrug my shoulders. He gives me another drink of water and I test my throat out, again.
