by Damon Hunter
As they lowered to the ground, the co-pilot pointed to the liquor store and said, “Looks like Walker waited.”
“Have a crewman check him out, but tell him to be careful,” the captain ordered. “Have the other two start picking up canisters.”
The crewman yelled, “Walker,” as he approached, but Walker did not respond.
Looking at the way Walker was hunched over and his lack of response to his name, the crewman feared the worst. He put thought about pulling his sidearm but didn’t want to ruin their diversion by firing his weapon again. He drew his Sick Slaying Stick instead.
He yelled ‘Walker’ again and this time, Walker responded, saying, “TMRT.”
“Yeah, Walker, we’re TMRT. Are you bit?”
Walker turned and the crewman got the answer to his question. Walker showed off his new teeth as he crouched to leap at the crewman.
Having been briefed about how dangerous a vampire rotter can be, especially the rare few who could talk, he dropped the Sick Slaying Stick and drew his pistol. He pulled the trigger before vampire rotter Walker could leap, but nothing happened. He realized after firing his weapon on the other side of town that he had not reloaded. He went for the spare magazine in his belt, but vampire rotter Walker was on top of him before he could grab the clip.
His TMRT suit was supposed to stop bites from the infected, but Walker’s new, sharp teeth tore right through.
After tasting the crewman’s flesh, vampire rotter Walker left him and ran on all fours towards the chopper. The man on the fifty caliber cut him in half before he got close.
The gunner, along with the two crewmen picking up canisters, watched their fellow crew member rise and saw that it was clear he was infected. He took a step towards them before getting ripped apart by the helicopter gunner’s bullets.
“Bring the canisters you have and let’s get out of here,” the captain commanded as the horde they had sent to the other side of town started heading their way.
While watching the men and the horde coming from the east, none of the men on chopper saw the infected coyote with the oversized jaw come underneath the chopper from the other side.
One of the crewmen collecting canisters saw it and yelled, “Look out,” to the gunner, but the beast had come around and clamped its massive jaw over the gunner’s foot.
The crewman stopped and took aim with his sidearm. While he was putting the coyote in his sights, another infected coyote hit him from behind, knocking him face first into the street.
His fellow crewman killed the coyote with the spiked ball of his Sick Slaying Stick. He spun around in time to smack the vampire rotter Coyote which had bitten the gunner before it could take him down. It immediately sprang at him. The fact that half its face was now missing did not slow it down at all.
The crewman brought the blade end down and stabbed the coyote in the back, stopping it from getting to him. While he held it at a distance with his Sick Slaying Stick, he risked only using one hand to hold back the determined beast and drew his pistol. He put a bullet through the infected coyote’s forehead and it stopped trying to get to him.
He saw the infected gunner stand up and turn to attack the men still inside. He aimed his pistol, but his shot went wild as his fellow crewman, recently infected by a coyote, grabbed him and pulled the crewman’s arm into his open mouth.
Captain Jensen had not seen his gunner get bitten. He was ordering the man to get back to his post when he should have been drawing his gun and blowing him away. The gunner pushed the captain back into the cockpit and started digging his new teeth into the captain’s shoulder.
Compton and the co-pilot both drew side arms and turned. Before either could fire, the infected gunner pushed Captain Jenson forward. Jenson was missing a piece of his shoulder, but neither wanted to shoot him before they knew for sure whether or not he had contracted the rot. Their reluctance to shoot the young captain meant they had no shot at the infected gunner.
Compton pushed Jenson away and the question of whether or not he was infected was answered by the trio of sores growing on his neck.
“No, wait,” Jenson said as the co-pilot took aim. “Use the lockdown protocol.”
They both paused as Captain Jenson laid down on his stomach and put his hands behind his back.
They both expected the infected gunner to be behind them getting ready to attack, and were surprised to see him gone.
“Maybe you should get us in the sky,” the co-pilot said.
“Not if he is still on board,” Compton said as he rose from his seat. “Lock the captain down and I’ll make sure he’s really gone.”
The co-pilot grabbed the gag and zip ties every TMRT soldier was required to have and came out of his seat. Jenson was still on his stomach when the co-pilot put his knee in the captain’s back and put a zip tie around his wrists. He was getting the gag ready when the sound of gunfire had him looking back into the hull of the chopper. Jenson rolled over and the co-pilot tumbled off him. Before he could get back up, Jenson was biting him on the leg.
Just as Compton feared, the infected gunner had just moved to the far side of the helicopter. The gunner had the predator strain, and as advertised, they could be clever. The infected gunner was looking to ambush someone, as opposed to just charging two armed men.
Compton fired as the vampire rotter leaped. Compton put two slugs in the infected gunner’s head, but the gunner still plowed into him, knocking him out the open side door. Compton rolled away as they hit the pavement below. He aimed for the gunner lying face first in the street but the grapefruit-sized hole in the back of the gunner’s head had been enough to kill him.
Compton got his feet and jumped back into the chopper as he saw the horde closing in fast. He slammed the door shut and locked it, feeling lucky he had gotten in before the infected outside had reached him.
He was planning on getting the hell out of there when he saw both Captain Jenson and the co-pilot standing in front of him with sores blowing up and spewy milky gobs of thick, greenish pus all over their faces.
The co-pilot reached for him and Compton put a bullet in his face. He pushed the dead co-pilot aside but before he could aim, Jenson plowed into him. The co-pilot had bound his hands but had not gotten the gag over his mouth. As Compton fell to his back, he managed to get his hand on Jenson’s neck and hold him back.
Compton’s right hand and his gun were pinned under the knee of the infected captain, who pushed against Compton’s free arm to get some part of Compton within biting range. Compton was able to hold him at bay, but could not get his other arm free. He tried to wriggle loose, but could not get out from under the infected captain. He knew the rot-afflicted Jenson would not tire and not stop until he either died or sank his teeth into Compton.
Chapter 39
Interstate 10 - Quartzsite, Arizona
“She was bitten by the sporting goods store,” Katelin told Vance as they pulled into town. The horde was all around them. They were looking for any sign of Donna, but had not seen her. Quartzsite was not a big town, but it seemed every citizen had been afflicted. They were looking at several hundred infected in front of them.
“With any luck, she is still close,” Bo said.
“And if she is not?” Barrington asked.
“We’ll worry about that if it happens,” Bo told him.
They heard gunshots by the helicopter and the horde began to move away from them.
“Should we follow?” Katelin asked. “If Mom is still here, she will be in the horde.”
“If she is in the middle, we will never find her,” Barrington replied, “and even if we do, with this many infected around we will never be able to isolate her. I know how much this means to you, but the odds are impossibly low.”
“I don’t like it,” Vance said, “but he’s right. We all have enough experience with a horde to know how dangerous they are. Fact is, if a vampire rotter spots us, we are in trouble being this close.”
“So, you just
want to give up on Mom?”
“No, I don’t want to. I don’t want to get us all killed either. If she wasn’t in a horde, we would have had a chance, but this way I just don’t see it.”
“I hate to say this,” Ana said, “but he may be right. Even if we found her, I don’t see how we could get her two shots of the antidote without drawing the attention of the others.”
“We have to try,” Katelin said as the horde kept moving towards the gunshots fired from the other side of town. “Maybe they will disperse and then we can look for her.”
“Maybe,” Vance told her, though his tone didn’t sound like he believed that would work.
“Hey,” Ana said, “look at the rock shop across the street.”
They all looked to palms and a face pressed against the glass window of the shop. The window had the names of the rocks and minerals the shop had for sale painted in big, colorful letters so the face was impossible to make out.
“Could it be her?” Ana asked.
“She was bitten right here by the gun shop,” Katelin said. “We never went in the gem shop.”
“But she disappeared on us,” Bo said. “She could’ve gone in there.”
“Seems unlikely,” Barrington replied.
“It does,” Vance added, “but it would be a shame if it was her and we didn’t bother to look.”
Bo pulled the Ford right up to the building. The face in the window had been torn up by the popping sores, but the hair was Donna’s. The height and weight looked correct as well.
Before anyone could say anything, Katelin was out the door. Bo and Ana followed. Vance limped out of the car as well.
Katelin saw both Bo and Vance had their Sick Slaying Sticks and said, “What are you going to do with those?”
“It may not be your mom, and she may not be alone,” Vance told her.
“We’ll keep the blades and spikes inside,” Bo said.
Katelin went back to the car and Barrington gave her two syringes.
Bo and Vance positioned themselves to hit anything not Donna while Katelin stood in front of the door with a syringe in each hand and her thumbs on the plungers.
Ana had her hand on the door handle, but instead of opening it, she went back to the car. She took her phone out of her pocket and after bringing up the camera, she handed it to Barrington.
“If we are going to honor Talbot’s request, we need it on video,” she told him.
Barrington took the camera and set up so he could film the whole thing. They all waited until he was filming and then Ana pulled open the door.
Ten-year-old Gavin spilled out, looking for someone to bite. He must have been pressing on the door the whole time, and without the door to hold him up, he fell face first at Ana’s feet. Bo put his foot on his back and held him in place.
Bo looked at Katelin and said, “It’s Gavin. Give him a shot.”
“I need these for my mom.”
“He’s a kid, give him a shot.”
“No.”
“We have two more,” Bo told her.
“We don’t know how many my mom may need.”
“Ana only needed two.”
“She wasn’t infected near as long.”
“She might be right,” Barrington told them.
Katelin looked at the window where they saw the figure. She was no longer there. They looked to the door and saw Donna coming out with her mouth open.
Katelin stepped forward and jabbed both syringes into her mom’s shoulders and pressed the plungers as Donna grabbed her hands, looking to pull Katelin’s wrists into biting range.
Katelin pulled away before Donna could grab her, leaving the syringes stuck in Donna’s flesh. Donna kept moving forward, looking to spread the infection. She took two steps and stopped.
Katelin watched the yellow fade from her mother’s eyes and said, “Mom.”
“What the hell is going on?” Donna asked.
“You can talk,” Katelin said. “Talbot was wrong.”
“Of course I can talk,” Donna said as she stepped outside.
“You’re okay,” Katelin said.
“I guess. I feel kind of funny. I think…” Donna started to say, but she stopped as her eyes turned yellow once more.
Vance swept her legs as she stepped toward her daughter with bad intent. He used the heavy ball end to keep Donna on the ground. While Donna struggled to get up and bite someone, Katelin went back to the car and grabbed the last two syringes.
“One at a time,” Barrington said.
Katelin grabbed her mother’s leg and gave her another dose.
She stepped back and watched the yellow fade from her eyes again. The new sores which were starting to grow on her neck receded.
They watched her for nearly a minute. She did not turn back. Donna looked at Katelin and said, “It feels different this time. I don’t feel like I did after I got bit anymore.”
Vance moved the Sick Slaying Stick and allowed his wife to stand. She walked over and hugged her daughter. When they broke the embrace, she looked at the syringe in her daughter’s hand. She noticed she had two of them in her chest and one still in her thigh.
“Is this what cured me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have more?”
“This is the last one.”
Donna held out her hand and Katelin gave her the syringe. Donna walked up to Bo and Gavin. She stuck the last syringe into the boy.
“He’s lighter, maybe one will be enough,” she said as she moved her thumb over the plunger.
“Don’t,” Barrington said. “We may still need it for you.”
“Is there any chance at all this will work for him?”
Barrington was slow to answer, but eventually he said, “Yes.”
“Then I have to try,” Donna said as she shot the antidote into Gavin.
Chapter 40
TMRT Rescue Chopper - Quartzsite, Arizona
The dull ache was replaced by numbness as Compton’s arm began to shake. Compton knew he couldn’t hold his infected co-pilot off much longer. He began to consider giving up. All he was doing was prolonging the inevitable.
He was so busy concentrating on holding off the infected co-pilot that he did not hear the gunshots on the other side of town or hear the door to the chopper slide open. He did not realize someone had come in and stabbed the infected co-pilot through the neck until the blood dripped on his face.
Compton looked up to see one of Vance’s friends, the one with the long hair, pulling the dead co-pilot off of him.
“Thank you,” he said as the man helped him sit up. He looked out to see a Ford Explorer had pulled up next to the chopper.
Vance’s wife got out. Her face was still marked with rot sores but otherwise she looked fine. Holding her hand was a ten-year-old boy with similar spot marks but clear eyes.
Vance limped around the other side and said, “I was hoping to get a ride.”
“I don’t see how I could say no,” Compton replied.
After everyone was aboard, Compton asked, “Where to?”
Barrington said, “Oregon. I have someone waiting to smuggle us through the checkpoint.”
Compton nodded and took his seat. He noticed one of the young women was messing with her phone. Before he could comment, Ana looked up.
“If you’re wondering, I just uploaded a video which shows Dr. Talbot invented a cure.”
“In other words, she might have just saved the world,” Vance added.
Compton nodded and looked at Donna and the kid. “It worked on them?”
“Yes,” Ana said. “It worked on me as well.”
Compton wanted to ask if they were sure, since he was about to be stuck in a helicopter with them, but decided since they saved him, he would take the chance. He strapped in and took the chopper up. Once he hit the right altitude, they started north.
* * *
WHAT'D YOU THINK?
First of all, thank you so much for giving my work a chance.
If you enjoyed this adventure, then I would be extremely grateful if you would consider writing a short review for the book on Amazon. A good review means so much to every writer, but means even more for self-published writer like myself. As it allows new readers to find my books, and ultimately allows me to spend more time creating stories that I love! :
You can do so directly down below:
US Review Link
UK Review Link
CA Review Link
AU Review Link
* * *
READY FOR THE NEXT MISSION?
If you are ready for the next adventure in THE ROT SERIES, then you can continue reading right now! (FREE for those in Kindle Unlimited). The links are down below:
US Link – Click Here
UK Link – Click Here
CA Link – Click Here
AU Link – Click Here
* * *
WANT TO BE KEPT IN THE LOOP?
If you sign up for my VIP mailing list, and I'll be sure to send you a quick heads up whenever my next book is released! Your email will be kept 100% private, and you can unsubscribe any time. You'll only hear from me when I have a new book finished and that's it. If that's something you'd be interested in, then just tap here and sign up!
