When the Stars Fell From the Sky

by David Spell

  The two rear Armadas backed up until they were touching the wall on either side of the door and the other two backed up until they were touching the other vehicles. At this point, McCain wasn't worried about dinging up the rental cars. He just wanted to be able to get out of this alive.

  As they clambered out of the Armadas, Chuck shone his flashlight on the hood and windshield of Andy's and Scotty's car and shook his head.

  "You just had to put a scratch on the rental didn't you, Scotty?"

  "I put more than a scratch on it, boss," Smith said smiling. "I'm just glad that windshield held or Andy would've been getting some big girl zombie love."

  "We've got a problem," said Eddie, standing next to the door, holding his ID card. "The scanner isn't working."

  He swiped his card a second and a third time but the door was still locked.

  Chuck pulled out his own ID card and swiped it, but nothing happened.

  "The green light isn't coming on. The power must be off here, too."

  "Well, anybody have any ideas?" asked Eddie. "The only other option is a frontal approach and that drone video showed the front was crawling with Zs."

  Andy walked over to the door and slipped a key into the lock, opening the door.

  "Once again, the Marines to the rescue," he announced, as his teammates rushed through the doorway.

  "Where did you get a key?" Chuck asked him after they were safely inside.

  "In spec ops they taught us to always plan on the power grid failing and to never get locked out of a place that you needed to be inside. I just told Darrell I needed a key and he gave me one."

  Chuck nodded. "Lesson learned. Ok, Dr. Edward's lab is on the fifth floor. Let's check it first. Hopefully, she's just hiding in there and waiting for us."

  The stairwell was dark but the men had flashlights attached to their rifles that allowed them to move quickly. CDC headquarters was quiet for now and they prayed not to have a repeat of the Wells Fargo building. Chuck led the way up the stairs and stopped at the fifth floor landing.

  Silence greeted them but they knew that Zs could be waiting right outside the door. The small window on the stairwell door allowed them to see a small section of the hallway. Thankfully, ambient light from office and lab windows spilled out into the corridor, illuminating it.

  After listening for three minutes, McCain had Terrence ease the door open and Chuck stepped slowly out into the hall, his M4 tucked tightly into his shoulder. He swept the flashlight around and said softly, "Clear, let's move."

  The lab they were looking for was right in the middle of the floor. They paused at the door, listening. Nothing. Chuck tried the door and found that it was unlocked. He pushed it open and stepped into the room. Daylight poured in the large windows, illuminating Salman Kumar lying motionless in the center of the large lab.

  "Body lying on the floor. Let's clear the room first."

  Half the officers went left, the other half went right, checking the lab for any threats. After they had cleared the room, Eddie pointed at another door on the side of the lab.

  Jimmy slowly pulled the door open and Eddie went in first, followed by the rest of his team. After clearing the room, they paused to look at all of the dead mice.

  "This is pretty nasty," said Chris, softly. "And look at this." He shone his flashlight onto the dead body of a white mouse laying on the floor. There was blood all around it.

  "This place gives me the creeps," said Jimmy, going back into the laboratory.

  They circled around the body on the floor. He was wearing a white lab coat and had a bullet hole in his head. Andy pulled the flashlight off of his belt and knelt down beside the body, shining his light around it.

  "Check this out," he said shining the light on the body's left hand. It was clutching a handful of long brown hair.

  "How much you want to bet this guy turned and attacked the good doctor we're trying to find?" asked Eddie. "I wonder if he managed to infect her, as well? She could be waiting to try and make a meal out of one of us."

  "But, who shot him?" asked Hollywood. "Maybe one of the security guys? We could have a zombie security guard out there, as well."

  "Hey, Boss," said Terrence, "do you think this is important?" He pointed to a memory stick poking out of a desktop computer.

  "It might be. It looks like she cleaned out her desk so maybe she just forgot the memory stick. Grab it and take it with you."

  #

  Security office, CDC HQ, Monday, 1625 hours

  The red eyes blazed in the dark room and moved towards her. How did he get in? Nicole pushed herself back against the wall. Somehow, she knew that he could see her, even in the darkness. Where was Darrell?

  He was so close now that she could feel his hot breath on her face. She had to get away but there was no place to go. Even in the in pitch black room, she knew his teeth were about to bite into her flesh.

  "No!" she yelled, pushing him away.

  "Shh, you've got to be quiet, Dr. Edwards. You're having a bad dream," Darrell said softly. She felt his hand on her shoulder, comforting her.

  She was lying on the couch, breathing hard. The dream had been so real. The two survivors both had screwed up sleep schedules from sitting in the dark office for two and a half days. Edwards took a deep breath to calm herself.

  A body slammed into the office door and then another one. Growling could now be heard outside the security office. Oh no! Nicole thought. Now they know for sure we're in here. And I alerted them.

  "I'm so sorry, Darrell," she whispered. "It's my fault and I'm so sorry."

  His hand was still on her shoulder. "Well, they know we're here now, ma'am. I just hope they can't break through that door."

  The strikes on the door became more numerous as the infected who had been in the lobby began trying to get into the office. The Zs had heard Nicole's scream and now they wanted to get to their fresh victims.

  Edwards patted Parker's hand. "Thank you for looking after me. No matter what happens, you've been my protector and friend, Darrell."

  "You're a good person, Dr. Edwards. I think God's going to take care of us. Somehow."

  The older man stood and flicked his light on briefly so he could find his way back across the room. His desk faced the door and he sat in his swivel chair and waited. That metal door is pretty stout but it sounds like a bunch of those things are banging into it, he thought.

  Even if they don't get in, he wondered, how long can we hold out? For the moment, they were drinking the water from the bathroom sink, as it was still running. They would save the bottled water for later. The two of them found enough leftovers in the fridge and a few snack bars from rummaging through the other guy's desks to last a few more days, if they rationed them carefully.

  The door and now the room itself were shaking under the heavy blows. A framed picture of the CDC Director fell to the floor and shattered. That loud noise got the Zs on the other side of the doorway even more agitated. It sure sounds like a lotta zombies out there, Parker thought.

  He had reloaded both his revolver and his one remaining speed loader. His second speed loader was still on the parking deck upstairs from when he had to reload after shooting those Zs outside. Six rounds in the gun and six in the speed loader on his belt. He also had another twelve loose rounds of .38 Special from the box of ammo he taken out of his desk drawer.

  I guess we could shut ourselves in the bathroom, he mused, but that door would not keep them out. It was a just hollow wooden one that those monsters would rip right through. I'll send the doctor in there when it looks like they're coming, then I'll shoot as many as I can before they eat me. He chuckled. I hope they like tough, old, dark meat because that's what they're going to be getting.

  #

  Lobby, CDC HQ, Monday, 1630 hours

  Chuck saw the big group of Zs clumped around the security office door. The loud growling and snarling sounds carried into the stairwell. McCain had hoped they would find survivors in the security office. It l
ooked like he was right.

  "Let's go to work," he said quietly, opening the door to the lobby.

  The zombies were striking the door, over and over, now more than twenty of them. The infected crowded around, trying to knock the barrier out of the way. They knew their next meal was only a few feet away. Suddenly, one of the zombies' heads exploded, covering the three next to her with gore. The noise of their growling was so loud that it partially muffled the suppressed shots from the rifles.

  The CDC officers took down twelve of the pack before the rest realized that there were closer victims to be had. They turned and charged the police officers, teeth bared. The front three were young Mexican men from the same lawn crew. They had been working in a residential area, just half a mile a way and were attacked and infected by Zs who had walked from ground zero.

  Those three were quickly cut down along with seven others. The last two reached the skirmish line of officers, one reaching for Chuck, the other grabbing Chris' arm. Rogers felt teeth sinking into his left forearm, his rifle pinned against his chest by the Z's body. Suddenly, Terrence was there, plunging his knife into the base of the infected woman's skull. The dead zombie let go of Chris and fell to the floor. Thankfully, the kevlar-lined jacket had once again saved one of them. He would have a sore and bruised arm, but that was all.

  The big male who reached for McCain clearly wanted to sink his teeth into Chuck's throat. Normally, McCain would step to the side and throw the attacker to the floor. He had teammates on both sides of him, however, and that would not work. Instead, Chuck quickly crouched and used a single leg take down, knocking the zombie onto its back.

  As he disengaged to step back and shoot, he heard a shot from next to him. Scotty had stepped up and shot the infected man in the head.

  "I had it," said Chuck, with a smile.

  "I'm sure you did but I still need a couple more to hit my quota."

  Everyone did a quick reload and Scotty stepped over to check Chris.

  "How bad did he get you?"

  "Thank God for kevlar, "Chris said, nodding at Terrence, "and for a rookie with a knife."

  Rogers rolled his sleeve up to look. The area around the bite was reddish purple but the skin had not been broken. Smith nodded and pulled his bottle of solution out of his pack. He squirted it onto the sleeve of Chris' jacket, killing whatever residue of the virus that remained on the cloth.

  The team cautiously approached the security office. For the moment, the lobby was clear and they did not see any more infected in front of the building. Hollywood, Andy, Scotty, and Chris provided security, training their rifles towards the front entrance. Chuck knocked softly on the door.

  "Is anyone in there" he asked quietly.

  "Who's there?" a male asked from the other side.

  "Darrell? Is that you? It's Chuck. We're here to get you out."

  The door opened and the older black man blinked at the sunlight flooding into the lobby. A figure rushed by him and grabbed Chuck.

  "Agent McCain! I knew you'd come get us," Nicole said, hugging him tightly.

  Chuck was surprised, as were his men. Jimmy cleared his throat. "Do we all get hugs, too, or is that just for the boss?"

  Self-conscious, Edwards stepped backwards. "Sorry. Thank you all so much for coming for us."

  "Just you two?" Eddie asked Darrell.

  The security supervisor nodded. "That's right. Dr. Edwards' assistant, Dr. Kumar, turned into one of those things and I had to shoot him upstairs. The phones are dead, Mr. Marshall, so I haven't been able to report it to anyone."

  "Was that the guy up in the lab? We checked there first and saw him," Marshall said. "Ok, Darrell, you've reported it. Now, let's get out of here."

  Nicole grabbed her purse and briefcase and allowed herself to be placed in the middle of the line of CDC officers.

  "Back to the basement," McCain ordered. "We'll grab our gear out of the offices and get out of here."

  "We got attacked by zombies the other night when Darrell was escorting me to my car," Edwards said. "He had to shoot some of them on the second level parking deck. We dropped my computer bag and a bag with experimental samples of the vaccine we're working on. Could we get those? I hate to lose all of that work. I think we're close to a breakthrough. And, my car is out there. Can I get my car and drive out of here?"

  Chuck looked at Eddie and Andy, his two team leaders. They both shrugged.

  "What kind of car do you drive, ma'am?" asked Andy.

  "A Toyota Prius."

  Chuck shook his head. "We'll check for your bags but you'll need to leave the car. It's too small. This area is crawling with Zs and if you hit one in a Prius, you'll be dead. Sorry. Ok, let's get moving. We don't want to get stuck down here after dark," said McCain.

  The door to the parking deck did not have any windows so they listened intently for several minutes. Finally, Terrence eased it open with Chris, Scotty, and Hollywood covering the opening with their guns. Matthews was tasked with keeping the door open so they could grab the bags and get back inside.

  The bodies of the infected that Darrell had shot were still lying on the pavement but the leather computer bag and padded bag of samples were gone. There was no sign of them. The three officers did a quick scan of the area around the door and retreated back inside.

  "There were no bags out there," Scotty said.

  "But, they were right there, just outside the door," said Nicole, panic in her voice. "There were ten vials of different components that we had been experimenting with. They all contain the bio-terror virus."

  "And that really sucks," said Jimmy. "Like we need some more crazy people running around with the zombie virus."

  Smith handed Parker his empty speed loader that he had picked up outside. The older man smiled and slipped it into his pocket.

  "Thanks, Mr. Scotty. I was thinking that maybe it's finally time to retire my revolver and get me one of those semi-automatic pistols."

  #

  Chuck's house, Northeast of Atlanta, Monday, 1910 hours

  The four Nissan Armadas had driven as fast as they could on the semi-deserted streets, escaping the city. The officers had killed seven more zombies that had either smelled them or heard them loading equipment and weapons into their vehicles. After leaving the CDC compound, they retraced their route out of the city. Thankfully, the team had not encountered anywhere near the numbers of infected that had overrun them on Saturday.

  Dr. Edwards' apartment was in Buckhead, an upscale community right in the zombies' path, so for the moment anyway, she was homeless as well. Chuck kicked Scotty out of the guest bedroom and gave it to Emily and Nicole. Darrell's son and daughter-in-law lived twenty minutes away and picked him up from Chuck's home, after much hugging and hand-shaking to thank McCain and the others for saving their father.

  As the emotionally and physically drained officers, paramedics, and a recently rescued scientist sat around McCain's living room drinking bottles of water, they conducted a debrief of the operation. Chuck, Andy, and Eddie were all happy with how smoothly this one had gone.

  "Andy, call the rental car place tomorrow," Chuck ordered, "and have them come get the one Scotty tore up and bring us another one, if at all possible. If they don't want to rent us a replacement, find us another one with another company. We're going to be doing more rescue missions and we need cars with the windshield intact and preferably without zombie blood and guts strewn about," he said, winking at Smith.

  "Boss, didn't you say we were getting another helicopter?" Jimmy wondered.

  "That's what I was told," answered McCain, "but they said it might take a few days."

  "I have a question," said Hollywood Estrada, staring at Matthews. "What's up with the rookie trying to one-up me with a knife kill on his first day?"

  Up to that point, Alejandro had been the only CDC officer to kill a zombie with a knife, several weeks earlier. He had been on a packed airliner, thirty-five thousand feet in the air, and had had no choice. He could not ta
ke a chance on using his pistol in such a crowded environment.

  Terrence looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, man. I didn't want to shoot so close to Chris' face. I was scared he might get some infected blood in his mouth or eyes. I don't really know how this virus works and I was trying to be careful. I wasn't trying to one-up anybody."

  Hollywood stared at Matthews for a couple of seconds more and then broke into a big grin.

  "I'm just messing with you, amigo. You did really good. That was nice blade work. Do you have any Latino blood in you?"

  "No, I don't think so."

  "That's too bad. Anyway, your first day on the job and you take out a Z with a knife. Pretty impressive. I'm renaming you: 'The Blade.'"

  "Oh, I like that," said Jimmy. "The Black Blade. Kind of sounds like a urban superhero."

  Everyone raised their bottles of water and said it in unison, "The Black Blade!"

  Emily and Darnell had cooked a large pot of chili which everyone devoured after the debrief. Afterwards, Emily showed Dr. Edwards the upstairs area they were sharing, and Nicole took a long, hot shower. Chuck asked Emily to search through his closet to see if he had anything suitable for the tall, curvaceous scientist.

  Edwards came back to a quiet living room wearing a much too-big pair of Chuck's sweatpants, a black t-shirt, and a University of Georgia sweatshirt. Her long brown hair was wrapped in a towel and she saw that Eddie, Jimmy, Andy, and Chris had left for the night.

  Hollywood, Scotty, Terrence, Darnell, and Emily were seated on the leather couch and chairs, talking and sipping from bottles of beer. They smiled at Edwards as she walked into the room.

  "How you feeling, Dr. Edwards?" Hollywood asked.

  "Please, call me 'Nicole.' That shower was one of the best experiences of my life. Other than you amazing men saving my life today, of course. And thanks for finding me these clothes, Emily," she said laughing. "They're just a little too big."