Wood had traced her path. He sighted with one eye closed. Not for a moment did his aim waver. As always he calmed his breathing. When she was close enough to be absolutely certain of hitting his mark he gently squeezed. Her head exploded but her legs kept on moving for a couple of strides. It looked entirely surreal but only lasted for a racing heartbeat before she pitched forwards quivering on the tarmac.
It was as though this was a signal. An invite had just been issued. Immediately a man appeared at the same door and another woman at the nearer door.
“Two hostiles, twelve and two o’clock,” Lewis snapped.
As the two infected simultaneously started to run another appeared at the nearer door, and then another.
“Bannister,” Lewis barked.
“Yes sir,” Bannister was already in position.
As the infected charged the soldiers took aim. The others did not want to crowd them but shuffled forwards into firing positions nevertheless. Everyone was focussed on the figures rushing at them with murderous determination, so much so that nobody noticed the sound of breaking glass. On the upper floor a window shattered, but all too quietly and insignificantly. The sound went unnoticed.
“Steady,” Wood murmured. “On my mark. Fire.”
Lewis shot at the woman to the far left, Bannister took the man to the right. Wood picked off the third. The fourth came from the more distant door and was a few metres further away.
“I’ve got him,” Wood whispered. The others watched, hardly daring to move. He paused, closed one eye and then squeezed. The man was blown to the side, over the bonnet of a parked car.
Straddling and Berthon had been staring out of the front. The first shot rang out without warning for them, making both men jump.
“Bloody hell fire!” Straddling cursed. “That scared the crap out of me.”
The two soldiers hung out of their windows, craning their necks to look at what was going on behind them.
“Can ya see anything laddie?” Straddling asked.
“Nope. Yep. There are two more infected. No, three. Wait, there are four more, all coming towards the lorry fast.”
“Oooh, that’s not good. I can’t see them. Where are they now?”
As Straddling leant out further there was the sound of gunfire. The four shots rang out, making the two soldiers flinch.
Straddling was about to say something when Berthon yelped. “Look out!”
A young woman was running right at him. They had been too distracted and forgotten why they were there. She was almost on top of him and he jerked and recoiled with a gasp. She screamed and leapt up at the vehicle, crashing into the passenger’s side. The half-open window cracked as she lunged through the gap, trying to reach him. Her fingers swiped and grabbed his army jacket. She heaved herself up and through the window a little more. Her head and shoulders were now inside the cab. Straddling pulled away. Desperately she attempted to get nearer as she slowly wriggled through the opening, just as Straddling reacted. He leant back so that he could shift his body around, yanking his jacket from her grip, then lashed out with a boot, sending her toppling out of the vehicle. She crumpled as she hit the floor but was on her feet again instantly. Blood oozed from her shattered nose. She did not get another opportunity to attack as Straddling had already drawn his pistol and fired down at her.
There were a couple more bangs from the rear of the lorry. Two more diseased had heard the commotion and raced at them, only to meet the same fate. Straddling and Berthon stared hard ahead, looking for any more signs of movement. Breathing heavily, they saw nothing. Both men were pale and shaking but gradually recovered their composure. The silence extended into a minute before there was a thump on the metal wall behind them, making them start. Lewis’s muffled voice shouted out.
“You okay up front?”
The two soldiers exchanged a rueful glance. “Yes sir,” Straddling answered. “Just one of the mutants, all okay though. Sounds like you’ve been having a wee bit more fun back there.”
Lewis shouted out once more on the megaphone and everyone was still, quietly waiting for any further signs of life. There was no movement. Finally, Lewis sighed.
“Okay, de-bus. That’s the freebie over with. Now it’s time to enter.”
“Wait a sec sir,” said Gray. “Did you hear that?”
Everybody froze, straining to listen. There was nothing.
“What is it?” Lewis asked. None of them were in a rush to leave the safety of the Bedford and nobody had even attempted to climb down yet.
“I thought I heard someone shouting. There it is again.”
This time Lewis heard it too. He did not pause for a second, nor did he wait for his soldiers. He leapt over the tailgate and ran towards the noise. “Hello,” he shouted out, oblivious to his own safety. “Hello, is anyone there? This is Captain Lewis from Royal Air Force Headley Court. We’re here to help. Is anyone there?”
There was silence and Lewis thought he must have imagined it. Then, quietly, almost imperceptibly, there was a voice.
“Please help.”
He looked all around as his soldiers caught up, automatically taking up a protective formation about him. “Where are you?”
“Hurry,” the voice called again, more faintly this time. It was very weak and came from above. He looked up. There was a small window with a smashed pane of glass.
“What room are you in,” he asked but there was no answer.
He faced his soldiers with a look of determination. “We’ve got to act fast but we’re not going to jeopardise ourselves.” He thrust Bennett’s map into Straddling’s hands. “Work out where he is.” Then he looked up again. “Wait there. We’re coming for you as soon as we can. Just wait there.”
“Got it boss,” Straddling said, stabbing his finger on the drawing. “Probably around here I’d say.” It was half way along the building on the top floor, somewhere near the dining area.
“That looks about right.”
They moved to the nearest entrance. There was no time to procrastinate. They entered and immediately fanned out defensively. Fingers were poised over triggers. Nobody made a sound. The moment to advertise their presence was over. Now it was back to stealth.
The building was designed in a similar style to the main laboratories but this one was more modern and more austere. It was obvious there would be none of the personal apparel they had found in the various offices before. This was the business end of the company. Bennett had told them the drugs had been manufactured here and the clinical air was immediately apparent. They were in an entrance foyer with a small reception desk to the right but this was not designed to greet customers, just to direct employees. The building ran roughly north-south. They had come in the entrance half way along and the corridors stretched in both directions. The survivor was to the north so their decision was already made for them.
“Remember,” Lewis said, “no heroics. We’ll get up to that person first and then make a more thorough search later. Everybody stay sharp. I don’t want any mistakes.”
They moved to the north, through a pair of doors. Beyond it opened out into an industrialised zone. A large machine hung from the high ceiling with multiple arms extending like a metallic octopus, each limb ending in a glass pod. Wires and tubes swarmed all over it and various computer terminals were fixed at strategic points. Along the walls were banks of hard drives and monitor screens, and there were trolleys and tables with equipment stacked upon them. Much of the apparatus had been overturned and broken and there were small pools of blood on the shiny concrete floor. Lewis looked around quickly. There were no windows and their torches scurried back and forth. He stepped forwards, knocking over a jar. They all froze as it smashed. After the rush of activity and adrenalin of the past few minutes they were all on edge. Lewis had to make a conscious effort to slow down. He steadied himself and moved ahead tentatively. Wood and Matthews were right behind him. Straddling brought up their six.
The far side of the space ha
d offices with glass walls. As Lewis’s torch probed it caught movement within. The glass made it hard to see exactly what was going on and he paused. The torch beam however had advertised their presence. A woman looked up from her stupor and for a moment was dazzled and confused. Then, with a note of relish, she screamed and charged. A desk was overturned in her haste, causing her to fall.
“Defensive cordon,” Lewis barked at Bannister who immediately shoved Gray and Pellegrini into position. Straddling tore his glance away from the woman and scanned behind them in case of other hostiles. Now was not the time to lose focus. Others could deal with the woman.
Wood dropped into a crouch beside Matthews and both raised their weapons. Lewis stood nervously with his rifle aimed.
“She’s mine,” said Wood.
The crossbow made a twang and there was a whoosh as the bolt sped through the air. At over four hundred feet per second its impact was almost instantaneous. The woman took another couple of steps before staggering and dropping to her knees, clutching at the blood that spouted forth. She started to thrash around and knocked over a chair. Before she could make any more noise Wood was already behind her. He had moved swiftly and silently. With a decisive jab his knife penetrated her neck at the base of the skull. Only one attempt was needed. The woman fell forwards lifelessly.
Wood was already turning around in a crouch, now with his pistol out, looking for any other hostiles. All was silent. None of the soldiers moved, so stunned were they by this masterclass in killing.
“Strewth,” Bannister muttered to Matthews, “I’m glad he’s not pissed off with me.”
“Clear,” Wood said as he quickly reloaded the crossbow.
The soldiers moved towards him with Straddling still watching behind. Lewis was about to speak when there was a noise of scraping metal. A man from an adjacent office had been crouching out of sight. He now stood and rushed forwards. Wood had no time to aim. He fired from the hip. From such close range the bolt passed clean through the man’s neck. He instantly fell to his knees.
Wood stood poised for a couple of seconds with his knife balanced lightly in his hand, ready. The man slumped forwards and twitched just once. Satisfied, Wood sheathed the blade and again reloaded. “Now we’re clear.”
The next couple of areas presented no more surprises. They had a similar industrial feel to them with other machines that looked almost capable of artificial intelligence. It was like a sci-fi movie as the soldiers proceeded. They were indeed in a rush but there were so many places for hostiles to be hidden that they could take no chances. That first zone had given them a timely reminder of the dangers they faced, not that they really needed to be reminded.
The offices that they passed had no names on them. They were merely utilities, rooms that could be used by whoever needed them at any given time. Some had their own small adjoining laboratories, all windowless and airless. The building must have had a clinical feel to it before, with its white walls and smooth, clean floors. Now it felt cold and devoid of life, like a crypt. For a while there were no overt signs of death and it almost took the soldiers by surprise when they stumbled upon a corpse. A man lay face down in one of the inner laboratories. His clothes had been shredded and his legs were half-eaten. There was little need to prod him with a knife to check if he was indeed truly dead. Nobody mentioned the body. After nothing more than a cursory glance they continued in silence.
Despite their caution they felt as though they were moving through the building with reasonable speed. They were not stopping to search for information. They were merely ensuring that there were no threats. That was all they could ask for. After perhaps twenty minutes they had moved through several of the large, open zones, each given to some kind of scientific procedure. Finally they came to a staircase. As Lewis started to ascend there was a noise from somewhere nearby.
“Movement,” hissed Pellegrini, pointing along the part of the corridor ahead that they had not yet explored.
Wood positioned himself and Matthews at the bottom of the staircase. He took up his now familiar crouching pose as he sighted along the crossbow. All eyes were turned in the direction Pellegrini had indicated, all apart from Bannister who nervously checked the other direction. Pellegrini’s torch was joined by others, weaving back and forth. After a short corridor, the next space looked a little like a school chemistry laboratory. There were dozens of work stations all down the centre with assortments of glass jars, Bunsen burners and petri dishes. There were a few windows but the blinds were drawn making it gloomy and although they could see no one, it was impossible to be certain. Anybody could be lurking just out of view.
Wood looked at Pellegrini questioningly.
“I’m sure I saw something move,” Pellegrini whispered but no longer sounded confident.
Wood nodded and maintained his stance.
Lewis had ascended several steps, almost to the next level. He was looking down at his troops, but looked back up the stairs just as the doors at the top opened with a creak and a figure shambled into view; just as things below also started to get interesting. A man in tatty overalls had come through the doors above Lewis. His face was scarred and bloody and it contorted with rage the moment he saw Lewis. His limp seemed to miraculously disappear as he threw himself forwards, almost diving from the top step, right onto his quarry.
On the ground floor Matthews had just started to relax. “There’s nothing there,” he muttered.
As he started moving away there was a shift in the shadows again. A woman must have been skulking out of sight and now revealed herself only a dozen paces away. Wood’s finger tightened on the trigger but there was the unexpected sound of a gunshot from Lewis that distracted him. He jolted and the bolt flew marginally wide of its mark. The woman screamed and ran at him.
The man had virtually stumbled right on top of Lewis and his shot missed its aim. The man crashed into him and he fell, dropping his rifle. The man also stumbled but reacted faster, rage spurring him on. He got to his knees and launched himself forwards, landing on Lewis’s feet. He grabbed whatever he could and started to scrabble his way up the legs of his victim. Pain shot across Lewis’s chest and ribs, making him gasp. The man bit down on Lewis’s leg. Lewis twisted around frantically and kicked out, catching the man in the chest. He forced him back with a foot across his throat. Fortunately the man’s teeth were too few and the cloth of the military trousers too thick for him to penetrate. The man screamed again and clawed at his prey but Lewis quickly drew his pistol and fired.
Wood dropped the crossbow. There was no time to reload. His rifle was slung over his shoulder and would take a moment to extricate from the knapsack he always carried - a moment that he did not have. His hands went to his sides, one to his knife, the other to his pistol. He was drawing both when Pellegrini fired. His rifle was on automatic and traced a line up the woman’s torso and into the ceiling as she was flung backwards.
Despite his training Bannister’s attention was drawn to the fracas. He flinched when Lewis’s rifle sounded and then was distracted by the activity around him. He glanced back just in time to see two infected along the corridor. They were already running hard at him.
“More hostiles,” he barked. He dropped to one knee as he had seen Wood doing many times. Before anyone had a chance to join him he sighted carefully and fired. Two shots rang out in quick succession. Each found its mark.
Silence descended for a moment. All of them had ringing in their ears. Everyone was stunned by the sudden onset of action and danger. They had gone from silence and stealth to frenetic activity in a heartbeat. Wood was on his feet immediately. He rounded the troops up, spurring them to activity and propelling them up the steps. When he got to Bannister he paused.
“That was some shit-hot shooting. Good work.” He did not linger for a reply. He also did not see Bannister’s hands trembling.
Lewis struggled to his feet, wincing as he panted for breath.
“You okay there boss?” Straddling asked. The
discomfort on his commanding officer’s face was clear.
“I’m fine,” Lewis replied gruffly as he retrieved his rifle, ignoring the pain. Stepping around the body of the man he had killed, he urged his troops on. “We’ve got to get out of here ASAP, before any more come this way.”
As Bannister at the rear made his way up the staircase there were noises from below. He paused at the top. Crouching down, he could just see some of the ground floor corridor. He caught a glimpse of a couple of people lumbering nearer. Raising a finger to his lips, he slowly moved back down two steps to get a better view, remaining on his haunches. They all waited tensely. He was in time to see the backs of three diseased shuffling by. He froze as the last one slowed, distracted by something. The other two did not stop. Blood was oozing from the skull of the man Lewis had shot. It had run down the edge of the stairway and dripped down the wall and onto the floor. As the man sniffed at it, his attention gravitated upwards, into the startled eyes of Bannister above, only a few feet away. In triumph the man opened his mouth to shriek. No noise came out though. Before he could swipe at the soldier, or even make a sound, the crossbow bolt from Wood’s bow silently found its target with lethal force. He staggered back and fell, his body rigid until he hit the floor.
Twice Bitten, Twice Die (The Blood of the Infected Book 3) Page 21
