by Damon Hunter
When he hit the button to retract the blade this time, the ambler dropped dead next to Dr. Talbot.
Talbot looked at Vance with yellow eyes and said, “Barrington can administer the shot, all my notes on it are on the laptop. I was really hoping to see if it was going to work.”
Vance did not bother answering, instead, he concentrated on reloading his weapon as he watched a purple sore grow on Talbot’s forehead. The sore popped as the infected doctor rose to his feet. Vance had managed to release the spent magazine but had yet to put the new one in when Talbot opened his mouth and grabbed Vance by the shirt.
Katelin stepped through the door and shot Talbot in the forehead as he leaned forward to bite her father.
“I thought I would enjoy that more, all things considered,” she said as they both stood above Talbot’s body. “Does this mean there’s not a cure?”
“No,” Vance said as he slapped the fresh magazine into his pistol. “Barrington can do it. If we get the chance.”
Katelin holstered her pistol and scooped up the supplies Talbot had been carrying. “Let’s get to the room. Maybe we can still save Ana.”
“Thanks for saving my ass. I was fucking toast twice if you hadn’t stepped in,” Vance told her as she started moving through the lobby.
“No problem,” she said. “And Dad, language.”
Vance almost smiled at being scolded by his daughter. He may have managed a grin if he had not looked back. At first, he thought it was more dogs, but they were bigger than the average dog, and unlike the previous packs of infected canines, these were uniform in breed. He watched for a second and realized these were not rot-afflicted pets, this was a pack of coyotes.
The lead one was bigger than the others, its front legs longer than usual, its shoulders bulkier, and it walked on paws twice as big as an uninfected coyote. Like a human who turned vampire rotter, it had the oversized jaw filled with more sharp, jagged teeth than its mouth had room for.
The beast stood on its hind legs and howled. It sounded less like a coyote and much more like a vampire rotter calling for his kind to come to the area. Seeing the infected coyotes, Vance had a good idea what had torn up the police officer laying on the sidewalk.
Vance turned and moved as fast as he could on one leg back to the room.
By the time he made it, Barrington was already giving Ana a dose of antibiotics.
“We’ve got trouble,” Vance told them.
“Nothing new about that,” Katelin said.
“No, this is new. It looks like an infected dog got into it with the local wildlife and a pack ended up infected.”
“A pack?” Barrington asked.
“Coyotes,” Vance told him as he shut and locked the door to the adjoining room.
“Maybe they won’t figure out how to get in,” Katelin said.
“It would be nice to get her stitched up as well,” Barrington said as he pulled some antiseptic out the supplies and pulled the field dressing off of her.
Before Vance could answer, they heard glass breaking in the lobby.
“What should we do?” Katelin asked.
Vance shrugged. “I guess we hope the doors hold until Bo and Torrance show up.” He looked at Barrington. “You might as well patch her up.”
Barrington started stitching up the wound as the infected coyotes began to throw themselves against both doors.
The pounding went on, but Barrington, a former battlefield surgeon, was no stranger to patching people up when chaos was going on around him.
“The doors seem to be holding,” Katelin said as she trained her guns on the main door while Vance leaned against the far wall so he could keep his weapon trained on the side door.
Vance nodded, thinking if Bo and Torrance returned with the car, they might have a chance. The room’s only window was busted in and they both turned to see the vampire rotter coyote’s bloody mouth come into the room.
Chapter 33
The Coleman House - Goodyear, Arizona
The dog let go of Torrance and turned its attention to Bo. The dog went low, going for Bo’s ankle, but he stabbed it with the blade end of the Sick Slaying Stick. He pinned it to the floor, but even with a foot-long shaft of razor sharp metal shoved through its body, it kept trying to get to him, snapping the air around him in hopes Bo would get close enough. With the blade stuck into the carpet, the dog could not get to him.
Bo was trying to decide how to finish the dog. He felt the moment he pulled the blade free, it would be on him before he could bring the weapon down on the infected animal a second time. He thought about trying to stomp it to death, but with the way it was biting the air, he wasn’t sure he could do it without the dog getting a mouthful of his foot. He was so busy trying to decide how to handle the infected canine, he almost didn’t see Torrance lose himself to the rot and start towards him.
Bo stepped back and drew the pistol. He chambered a round as he backpedaled and fired. He never had the others’ skills with a gun, he had no military training and had not grown up around firearms like Katelin, but at this range, he was able to hit Torrance with four of the five bullets he fired.
Before being infected, taking four bullets to the chest would have dropped Torrance, but driven by the rot to spread the infection at all costs, he kept coming. Bo turned and ran for the kitchen as Torrance stumbled towards him. Bo turned as he reached the other room and watched as the effects of getting four big holes put in his chest had Torrance falling face first onto the Colemans’ faded linoleum.
“Sorry, dude,” Bo said as he stepped over Torrance’s dead body.
The dog was still struggling to get at Bo. It had pulled itself forward by nearly a foot, cutting a groove down its body to get closer to its intended victim. Bo walked up and put a bullet through the infected dog’s head. He pulled the blade from the floor and moved to the window. He knew gunfire was a magnet to the infected. He was glad to see the infected had not filled the street yet. He still had the problem of finding the right set of keys. He had to go into another house, this time by himself, and while it didn’t look like there were infected around, there would be.
Bo thought of something he hadn’t before. He went back into the kitchen and picked up the keys. Bo went to the door off the kitchen and as he suspected, the door led to the garage. He was glad to find inside was a newer model Ford Explorer. It would seat five, which would have left them one seat short before Torrance met his end.
Bo got behind the wheel and found the garage door opener. He picked up his phone and dialed Vance to let him know he was coming. The phone rang until it went to voicemail. Bo did not take this as a good sign, but went ahead and started up the Ford and opened the garage.
Chapter 34
TMRT Chopper - Quartzsite, Arizona
“Private Walker, are you bit?” Dunn asked as he watched the lone survivor from the ground crew head towards them. The man on the machine gun took aim at their fellow soldier but held his fire in hope Dunn was wrong and the blood on Walker’s body armor was not the result of a bite.
Even though Walker was positive he would have known if one of the infected managed to reach him, he checked himself. Like he thought, he was not bitten. He kept moving forward as he said, “I’m clean.”
“You don’t look clean,” Dunn told him.
“It could be because I just tore up some of my friends at close range with my rifle,” Walker told him as he got close enough so that he wouldn’t need the headset in his helmet for them to hear him.
“Stop there, Private Walker,” Dunn commanded him.
Walker kept moving, he knew the infected were moving his way. Even though the amblers did not move very fast, he did want to give them any opportunity to get close.
“I’m giving you an order, Private,” Captain Dunn told him. “Protocol is no one gets on the chopper who has been exposed without an inspection.”
“Are you serious?” Walker said as he came to a stop.
Dunn answered by getting o
ff the chopper with his gun drawn. He kept it trained on Walker as he approached.
“Put your hands up,” Dunn told him.
“Can you see the infected moving our way?” Walker said as he raised his hands.
“Yes, so let’s not waste time,” Dunn told him as he looked him over. He seemed satisfied and then commanded, “Turn around.”
Walker turned around. He could see the street was filled with infected and they were only about twenty yards away. The amblers, sensing something to bite, began to pick up the pace.
“You need to hurry this up,” Walker told him.
“You’re clean,” Captain Dunn said. “Let’s move.”
Walker turned as the gunner yelled, “On your left,” just before he opened fire.
Tan fur and blood flew as the gunner shredded two of the rapidly approaching coyotes. Unfortunately, there were four of them on the road with another four coming fast from between the buildings.
Dunn spun and fired, double tapping the nearest one the chopper gunner did not hit. He moved his aim to the next one and put a bullet in it as it leaped. The round he put into the infected coyote’s belly was not enough to put it down. It knocked Dunn over with its massive paws and pinned him on his back.
Walker shot the wild canine, but not before it sank its teeth into Dunn’s shoulder. Walker saw the gunner turn the other way, despite the four still coming hard towards them. Walker saw why as another quartet of infected coyotes was charging the chopper from the other side of the road.
Walker fired at the four the chopper gunner had turned away from. He took out two before his gun ran out of ammunition. Instead of reloading, he let go of the rifle, which was strapped to his body so it stayed with him, and drew his pistol. He drilled the nearest one with a bullet to the head and was taking aim at the last one when the chopper gunner did it for him.
Walker took a step toward the chopper but something grabbed him. He spun to see the open mouth of an ambler coming his way. He put a bullet between the infected man’s eyes and turned to run for the chopper. In his brief glance back, he could see the horde had closed the gap.
The chopper gunner rained fifty-caliber slugs on those nearest to him, but the belt-fed gun had seen a lot of use and the gunner used the last bullets. He felt he had given Walker enough space to get to the chopper, so instead of drawing his rifle, he grabbed another box of bullets and started threading a new belt into the weapon.Walker was concentrating on the open door to the chopper, so he didn’t see Captain Dunn with massive sores growing on his face toss the dead coyote aside.
Dunn grabbed Walker’s leg as he ran by and Walker fell face first on the pavement in front of the chopper. The impact of going face first knocked the pistol from his hand. Walker turned to see Dunn getting ready to bite him on the leg.
Walker twisted and kicked the infected captain in the face, keeping him from getting a mouthful of Walker’s ankle, but the broken nose Walker had given him with the heel of his boot did nothing to deter Dunn from lunging forward with his mouth wide open. Walker kicked again, this time knocking out teeth as he put his boot into the infected captain’s open mouth.
Dunn bit down but he could not penetrate the boot heel, but the grip of his jaw was powerful enough that Walker could not kick himself loose. The fifty caliber roared above him. At this range, the large slugs ripped Dunn apart. When Walker pulled his foot away, Dunn’s head came with it.
“Get in the chopper,” the gunner said as he left his position behind the mounted machine gun and grabbed Walker.
Walker decided to take the gunner’s advice and climbed into the helicopter with Dunn’s severed head still attached to his boot.
“Let’s go,” the gunner shouted as he helped Walker onto the chopper. They were lifting off when another infected coyote jumped into the open door.
The gunner went for his sidearm, but the coyote with the extra-long front legs and elongated jaw jumped into him as he drew the pistol. Even though the gunner outweighed the coyote, it still easily slammed him down on the chopper floor. As the gunner hit the ground, his gun went off, sending a round into the cockpit.
The chopper suddenly lurched hard sideways as the gunner’s wild round of bullets went through the back of the pilot’s head. His hand was still on the stick, and when he slumped over, the chopper went that way as well. The co-pilot pulled the dead pilot off the stick, but they had not gotten very far off the ground. He was unable to get control before the blades hit the pavement below them.
The sudden move by the helicopter sent the gunner and the vampire rotter coyote tearing into his neck out of the open hatch. They hit the ground just before the blades. Both were still alive after the fall but the whirling rotors of the chopper tore through them just after they hit the pavement.
Walker grabbed the gun as he headed out the open door but was unable to keep himself from falling out when the rotors dug a groove in the road. He would have been pureed by the helicopter blades like the gunner and the coyote, but the co-pilot yanked the stick hard the other way, righting the chopper. Walker missed the whirling rotors but still fell to the ground.
He landed on his hip and arm, both of which immediately shattered. He tried to sit up, but the broken hip did not let him. Walker looked at his foot and saw that even the fall had not jarred Dunn’s grip on his foot.
Walker watched as the chopper pilot struggled to keep himself airborne with bent and broken rotors. The pilot lost control and careened into the restaurant on the other side of town. Seeing the fireball the crash created, Walker was actually glad he was thrown from the helicopter for a second, before he realized the horde of infected was descending on him and there was nothing he could do about it.
Chapter 35
Room 12 - The Ramada Inn - Goodyear, Arizona
The vampire rotter coyote focused its yellow eyes on Katelin. From his spot on the wall, Vance was able to put a bullet through the infected animal’s head before it could come inside.
Katelin stepped forward and shoved the dead coyote out the window without putting down one of her pistols. The second it fell, another one was leaping for the open window. Katelin raised both guns and fired with both hands, taking the beast out of the air. She alternated firing with each hand as more coyotes and a handful of dogs rushed the opening.
She left a pile of dead canines but they were still coming when she ran out of bullets. She holstered the empties and drew the other two pistols just as the front door to the room began to crack.
“I’ve got this one,” Vance yelled as he trained his gun on the door. While he was waiting for the front door to go down, the side door began to splinter.
“You have her stitched up yet?” Vance asked Barrington.
“Just about,” Barrington said.
“When you’re done, grab a gun and cover a door,” Vance told him as the snout of an infected coyote pushed through the crack in the front door. Vance put a bullet in the wet black nose and the rotter coyote fell back into the hall.
“I’m going to need to reload,” Katelin said as she watched more infected beasts come running towards the window.
Barrington grabbed a rifle and stepped to the window as Katelin stepped away and put fresh magazines into all four of her pistols.
She was going to replace Barrington at the window when the side door fell down.
Barrington took aim, but before he fired, he saw the Ford Explorer come speeding up to the side of the building. Infected canines either bounced off the bumper or were ground under the wheels as the SUV pulled up to the window.
The passenger window went down and Bo yelled over to Barrington, “Climb in.”
Instead of climbing through the window, Barrington threw the rifle inside and grabbed Ana off the bed.
“Help me,” he said to Bo as both Katelin and Vance opened fire on the infected canines coming through the busted down door.
Bo left the Ford in neutral and scooted across so he could pull Ana into the vechile.
She
was still weak and the antibiotics hadn’t kicked in, so her fever was still running high. She tried to help but could not do too much besides holding herself up. She reached out and Bo grabbed her arm and starting pulling her into the cab.
None of them saw the small, infected Chihuahua come under the Ford. Bo had pulled right up to the wall of the hotel, scraping paint off the front quarter panel as he looked to put no space between the Ford and the hotel. Somehow, the small dog squeezed into the gap and started inching his way up. The tight squeeze broke the Chihuahua’s ribs and crushed his insides, but driven by the rot, it kept pushing up the side of the car.
Bo pulled Ana in just before the tiny dog reached the window. Barrington saw the dog with green pus covering its brown fur reach the window, but he had no weapon, all he could do was yell, “Look out,” as the Chihuahua jumped onto Ana’s lap.
Bo responded quickly, grabbing the infected canine by the jeweled collar it still wore and slamming it into his window. When the dog kept trying to twist around to sink its needle like teeth into him, Bo decided he didn’t want to risk busting out the window smashing the dog against it and instead pounded the dog’s face against the steering wheel until the Chihuahua stopped squirming. By the time he did that, the mass of bloody fur in his hand no longer resembled a dog. Bo lowered his window just enough to toss it out.
He looked over to Ana and saw she was climbing into the back seat. He decided she was moving to make room for the others and yelled into the motel room, “Come on.”
“You’re next,” Barrington said to Katelin between shots.
“Fuck that, I’ve got a weapon. You go.”
Barrington decided to take his own advice to Vance and not argue with a teenager. He had all Talbot’s medical gear packed and ready to go. He threw that in first.
Katelin and Vance moved to the window as well, putting their backs against the wall on either side so they could defend the exit from the non-stop flow of coyotes and infected pets trying to get into the room.
