Damned Are We

by Durman, Jason

  Infected here and there he could handle, easily dispatched quickly and quietly with a broken neck.

  But aside from the overwhelming carnage, the streets were empty.

  His frown deepened as he thought of the large numbers of people they had to flee from quite

  recently. They were definitely out there. The question was where? The hairs on the back of his neck

  stood on end whenever they passed a doorway or window. He wondered if the Infected had retained

  the thought process and higher brain-function to comprehend taking cover inside buildings, to avoid

  smoke, and visual detection.

  It was a troubling thought, in more ways than one.

  16 HOURS UNTIL FAILSAFE

  The group remained in tight-knit formation, covering each other as they followed the streets for

  roughly five kilometres. The war veteran's apprehension manifested itself in a spine-tingling chil

  whenever they passed al eyways, windows, doorways and other possible points of ambush. Even

  though they had yet to be attacked, he could not shake the feeling that they were being watched.

  Was it the two Leapers from earlier? Or something else?

  Maybe it was nothing…

  "They blocked off the street," Markus' quiet voice broke him out of his reverie.

  He looked to see a grim concrete partition spanning the length of the road ahead, its top festooned

  with barbed-wire. Two abandoned machine-gun emplacements were positioned on top of the barrier,

  and the barbed-wire was choked up with bodies.

  "What the hel is this horseshit, another barricade?"

  "Great," Jacob growled. " Now where to?"

  Corvo found himself eyeing a building on the corner of a nearby intersection. He could make out

  more barbed-wire strewn across the edges of the roof. "Tactics for this situation cal for slowly taking control of the streets, setting up forward points at various key locations. The roof of that building over

  there was probably a spotting post or command centre. The army would have set up a safe avenue

  for their soldiers to move through. If we get to that rooftop, we'l be able to find it."

  "Fuck that. Look over there. That's gotta be it." The biker pointed down a narrow street just to the west side of the barricade, the road liberal y covered with bul et-ridden bodies.

  The older man had to hand it to him – he was probably right. The street was narrow – a perfect

  choke-point, where snipers could rain down fire from high windows and rooftops. Heading down that

  street would probably be their best bet.

  "I stil want to check out that spotting post, though," he said curtly, crushing his cigarette under his boot. "There might be useful information up there, maybe even a radio."

  Jacob grumbled but led the way back to the building regardless.

  "Stay positive, guys!" Markus cal ed out. "I've got a good feeling about this."

  "You're probably right, for once," he said casual y as he opened the door. "We haven't seen any Infected in a while. There probably won't be any in here."

  He received a savage growl in way of a response as the door swung open to reveal a man crouched

  down in combat-readiness.

  "Oh, fuck! "

  A blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the streets as the Leaper pounced, tackling the biker

  several metres back and into a car.

  It also just so happened that the car was alarmed.

  The piercing wail rose up into the air as the side-lights flashed, and the look of horror on everyone's

  faces grew more and more pronounced.

  Jacob, on the other hand, could care less about the alarm. "Get this fucker off me!" he roared, feeling a stab of pain shoot through his arm as the Leaper's claws dug into it. Its other hand was

  raised as it prepared to tear his throat out.

  It never got the chance, as a wel -aimed pistol shot, courtesy of Corvo, splattered its brains across

  the car windshield.

  "How's that good feeling treatin' ya now?" Jacob growled as he stood up, brushing himself off.

  "We've gotta get away from here, now!" Markus shouted over the shril car alarm.

  The rest of the group was in agreement, and they took off down the road and turned left at the

  barricade into the chokepoint, in an effort to put as much distance between them and the car as

  possible. However, steady streams of Common Infected had already begun to spil out of doorways

  and from further down the narrow street. The four survivors immediately opened fire, the thunder of

  their guns adding to the already-incredible noise.

  "Let's move, people!" Corvo barked, swinging the assault carbine around in a wide arc that cut down a multitude of ravenous humans. Bullets sparked the road and walls, amid flowers of blood that

  erupted from torsos and limbs.

  The situation was going to hell in a hand-basket very quickly.

  "Where to?!" Markus yel ed, gunning down three Common Infected bearing down on them with a

  short burst of fire from his Glock 18 machine pistol.

  "Into that hotel over there!" Samantha called as she ran toward the front steps. "Quick! Get inside!

  We'l be able to fight them off from in here!" The others made to fol ow her, but were taken aback by

  her dashing back out a moment later. "Oh, shit! Do NOT go in there!"

  A cacophony of howling and screaming rose up as a large crowd people came barrel ing out of the

  doorway after her in hot pursuit.

  "Holy fuck!" Jacob cried. The barrel of his MP5 spat flame as he unloaded an entire clip into the

  horde hot on Samantha's heels.

  "Stand clear!" Markus cal ed out. "Throwing pipe-bomb!" He armed the device, initiating a blinking red light and a loud series of beeps. I hope this works… he thought grimly, throwing it as far down

  the street as he could manage.

  The result was instantaneous.

  The Infected in the immediate area tilted their heads to the sky as one, seemingly in search of the

  infernal beeping racket that was disturbing the peace they so desperately desired. It was incredible –

  the thunder of guns and car alarms was enough to draw them in from far off, but the beeping of the

  pipe-bomb stirred them into a frenzy. They raced toward the bomb, clawing at each other to be the

  first to get to the noise – to tear it into tiny pieces and make it stop –

  BOOM.

  The survivors did not see the explosion – they were too busy running for their lives into the nearest open doorway to take cover from prying and ravenous eyes. But they sure as hel heard it, as wel as

  the dul thuds of countless body-parts that had been thrown clear of the blast.

  "Stay down and keep quiet," Corvo hissed as they took cover behind a receptionist desk. "That pipe-bomb ought to have distracted them – no more shooting until they lose interest."

  "We'd better not be found then," Jacob muttered.

  The howling just outside in the streets continued as a horde closed in from al directions. Markus

  found himself praying to whoever would listen that they would not be found.

  Chapter 46

  15 HOURS UNTIL FAILSAFE

  The survivors huddled together in the lobby of the office building they had stumbled into for what felt

  like hours, not talking and hardly daring to move. The moans of the Infected in the street drifted in

  from just outside, and Corvo was glad that the door was made of wood instead of glass.

  "What the hel do we do now?" Jacob murmured.

  "I reckon they've calmed down a bit," he replied quietly. "Let's get further inside."

  That said, the group carefully made their way further into the building and shut the next door, further

  muff
ling the moans of the Infected.

  "Hey, check this out," Markus cal ed. The others looked to see him shining the stout barrel-mounted flashlight of his Glock at a large sign on the wal that read: 'MERRILL LAW OFFICE'.

  "What do you cal five-thousand infected lawyers?" Samantha deadpanned.

  "Five-thousand more assholes tryin' to kil us," the stocky man to her immediate right grunted,

  flashing her a lopsided grin.

  "Gee, way to lighten the mood, Jacob," she smiled. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Corvo

  watching her, and hated how it made her feel like she had done something horribly wrong.

  It was Markus who asked the million-dol ar question. "So what's the next move? We can't go out into

  the streets right now."

  "Why not head up?" the former col ege girl pointed out. Everyone looked to see her opening a door

  to reveal a tight concrete stairwel . "Hey, Corvo. It's your favourite – stairs!" she teased, in an effort to ease some of the tension that hung over the group.

  Corvo grunted in annoyance, but peered up the staircase anyway. Going up would at least get them

  somewhat clear of al the Infected out in the streets. "Let's head on up then."

  "Let's go check down there first," Jacob cut in, angling his flashlight toward the white-painted doors behind the receptionist desk.

  "For what? " the war veteran suddenly snapped.

  "I don't know, fuckin'... stuff! " he snarled. The two hardened men locked eyes in challenge.

  Markus and Samantha sensed the hostility in the air, and kept quiet.

  "Let's keep moving up," Corvo said, his voice eerily calm. "There ain't gonna be nothin' down there we can use."

  "You got a point," Jacob agreed sourly. "Fuck looking through the office building for stuff – all that's gonna be down here are staplers and paperclips. I hate staplers and paperclips, so we'd better get

  outta here now, before al those assholes outside sniff us out. If they break in while we're lookin'

  around, you're fucked. And I ain't gonna be here when that happens."

  "You done?" The older man said shortly, his steely gaze never wavering.

  The burly biker clenched his jaw, his gloves tightening as he gripped his HK MP5. But something

  made him back down and he finally shifted his eyes away, muttering unintel igibly as he reloaded the

  submachine gun.

  "Speak up, Jacob. Your voice got all muffled from your head being so far up your ass." Corvo moved

  off before he had a chance to answer.

  Samantha made to follow him up the stairs. She shot the biker a questioning look as she passed

  him, but he refused to meet her gaze.

  "What's going on?" Markus whispered to her as they made their way up the stairwel .

  "I don't know!" she hissed back. God damn it! There was an entire army of ravenous Infected just outside, and yet here those two were, having some sort of slap-fight. She thought they had left all

  this alpha male crap back in Fairfield when she berated them in the truck depot. She had obviously

  thought wrong.

  After going up several floors, they found that, shockingly, the rest of the stairwel had collapsed. The

  entire upper portion was completely gone – almost as if it had been destroyed by a gas explosion.

  Or a grenade.

  "Looks like we aren't goin' that way," Corvo muttered as he led the group out onto the main office

  floor.

  Their gun-mounted flashlights illuminated a neat layout of office partitions and cubicles spread out

  before them. Darkened screens of computers that would never be used again reflected back the

  light. The lack of windows was sadly a common sight in offices these days.

  "Markus, did you work in a cube like these?" Samantha said, smirking.

  Her light-hearted rib appeared to have the desired effect – he and Corvo visibly loosened up, the

  former grinning at her. Perhaps it was just the stress of al the recent combat that was making

  everyone irritable. The fact that they had not been attacked in the law office yet could be taken either way, but the young woman chose to take it as a good sign rather than a suspicious one. Her smirk

  broadened into a smile, although it faded when she noticed Jacob glaring daggers at Corvo.

  "Through here," the old man said, heading toward the far side of the office floor. "Let's see if there's another stairwell."

  The rest of the team fol owed him, careful y making their way through the dark maze of partitions.

  They kept their pistols on hand, ready to fire at a moment's notice, but each cubicle they passed was

  empty.

  Samantha real y wanted to keep her cautious optimism up, but –

  "Wonder why it's so quiet in here," she commented quietly as they passed a row of dying pot-plants.

  "If it makes you feel any better, there probably were five-thousand infected lawyers in here," Jacob replied. "Bet they al got drawn out into the street when that Leaper threw my ass into the car."

  "I hope you're right."

  "Come on," Corvo said from further up ahead. "We gotta stick together, people – this dark office makes for a real good ambush spot."

  "Alright," Samantha cal ed. "Through the offices!"

  "Hold up." Markus was peering inside the fridge of a small kitchenette, tucked away in the corner.

  "Found a couple of water bottles."

  "Good find."

  Samantha, meanwhile, had discovered that there was indeed another stairwel on the northern end

  of the building. "Hey, Corvo," she grinned. "More stairs!"

  With that, she led with her SIG-Sauer up the staircase, her view upward blocked by the various

  landings. Their footsteps echoed off the concrete wal s, but there was no other sound to be heard,

  until –

  "Son of a bitch," Corvo growled, coming to stand beside Samantha on the landing two floors up.

  The upper portion of this stairwell had been destroyed as well.

  "How could both the staircases be messed up like this?" Markus wondered out loud.

  "The army must've blasted the stairs to prevent the Infected from coming up to reach the rooftop,"

  Corvo mused. "Crazy bastards, blowing two grenades like this. Could've brought down the whole

  building."

  "So much for the easy way…" Samantha murmured. She looked out into the floor they had come to,

  her flashlight revealing a similar scene to the one below – a network of office cubicles spread out into

  the darkness. However, looking toward the east face of the building gave her an idea. "Follow me,"

  she said, leading the way out into the office space.

  "Where are you going?" the oldest member of the group demanded.

  Wordlessly, she pointed at the windows that lined the east wal . Everyone caught on and cautiously

  spread out, peering through the gritty windows.

  "Hey, there's a fire-escape over here," Markus cal ed out. "And it looks like it's connected to a crane that we can use to climb down to the lower rooftops."

  Corvo came over and looked out the window in question. The younger man was right – if they

  climbed up the fire-escape on the building's exterior face, they could gain access to a smal

  construction crane on an adjacent rooftop, by using a gangway that had been set up between the

  top platforms of both structures in question. Then it would be a simple matter of climbing down the

  crane to the adjacent roof. However…

  "Samantha," he said quietly, gesturing for her over and moving aside to give her room. "Reckon you can take out those Infected hangin' out on the crane?"

  She nodded silently, holstering her pistol. She shrugged the Winchester strap off her shoulder and

  lifted the hunting rifle to her shoulde
r, bringing her eye to the scope. Sighting four Common Infected

  standing at different positions on the various steel girders and platforms of the structure, she

  selected a target and then squeezed the trigge –

  "Hang on a sec," Corvo said suddenly from behind, startling her.

  She shot him a puzzling look over her shoulder.

  "Here," he said, grabbing her shoulders and gently turning her to the side. "Now brace the butt higher – against your shoulder, not the joint. That way, the recoil won't hurt your arm." He gently, but firmly repositioned the rifle, and then stepped back, seemingly satisfied.

  Markus and Jacob remained silent during the exchange.

  Samantha nodded her thanks at Corvo, turned back toward the window and brought her eye to the

  scope again. She careful y held the rifle as steadily as she could manage, took a breath, and then

  waited until she finished exhaling before taking the shot.

  BLAM!

  The Winchester barked as a bul et zipped out, striking an infected man in the head. He jerked back,

  a puff of red flying into the air, before fal ing off the crane like a limp ragdoll. The former col ege girl

  lowered the rifle and drew back the bolt, ejecting the spent bul et casing onto the blue-carpeted floor

  in the process. With fast and expert precision, she plucked a new bul et from her holster, slid it into

  the chamber, jammed the bolt back into place and drew back the safety with a final CLICK.

  BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

  The three remaining Common Infected fel from the crane, one after another. Samantha kept the rifle

  raised, just in case any more appeared. None did.

  "Nice work, kid," Corvo said, a smile creasing his face. "You're a crack shot."

  She finally lowered the Winchester and shot him a smile in return.

  "Alright, out the window then," Markus piped up.

  Corvo nodded and made to climb through the window, but Jacob pushed past him, machine gun at

  the ready.

  "I got this, old man – the MP5 is wieldier for close-quarters anyway. You watch our six and make

  sure nothing's sneaking up on us."

  The burly biker led the way out onto and up the steel-framed stairs to the top, where the wooden

  gangway had been set up, connecting the fire-escape to the smal construction crane on the