by A J Donovan
I pull Leo out of the way as the men rush past. There are actually closer to twenty of them. Reggie has a small army at his disposable. I have no doubt that most of them are trained in combat and they will soon be heavily armed.
An expensive looking vase gets knocked over in the rush and it shatters on the floor. Reggie doesn’t bat an eyelid. “Lily loved that vase,” he says. “I’m glad she doesn’t have to see what the world has become.”
He puts a hand on Leo’s shoulder and they stand in silence for a moment, thinking about Leo’s mother. She passed away years ago, and by all accounts she was a kind, loving person. I have no idea how she loved a man like Reggie.
“Rafael,” Reggie said.
Rafael was at the door but he turned back to us. “What’s up?”
“Explain to Jake what you do for us. You might just have found yourself a partner.” Reggie turns and walks down the hall before anyone has a chance to say anything. I guess this isn’t up for discussion.
Rafael grins at me, showing off bright white teeth. “Let’s go outside first, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
I follow him out into the daylight and I’m pleasantly surprised at the sight of close to thirty people gathered around a few vehicles. There are two jeeps, an SUV with a big trailer attached to the back, a few other inconspicuous cars and an armoured car.
I don’t even ask Rafael if he knows where they got the armoured car. I don’t think I’ll like the answer.
The people all look like they’ve been through hell. Most of them are just standing around or holding each other and all of them look like they’re in shock. The group is mostly women and children. I guess the men are either inside the house with the rest, or else they just didn’t make it. From the looks on a few of the faces in front of me, I think the second possibility might be correct.
There are not many children, maybe seven or eight. Some are crying but some are pale and silent. Those ones are staring off into the distance blankly. My heart goes out to them but I force myself to ignore it. I need to keep it together. I can’t help those kids unless I help Reggie keep this group alive.
A woman is barking out orders like she’s a general in an army. She has to be twenty years older than anyone else here. A smile crosses my face when I see her shouting commands to the younger people nearby.
Rafael sees me looking at her. “That’s Betty Acosta, she’s one of the most impressive women I’ve ever met. She’s also the only other one of us I’ve met.”
“One of us?”
“She’s immune. I don’t know what her power is, but I’ve seen her jump out of the way of more than a few biters without breaking a sweat. For a woman her age, that’s pretty impressive.”
I nod and then I realise what he said. “What do you mean when you say power?”
“You haven’t figured it out yet, have you?”
I shrug.
“It’s alright,” Rafael says. “It took me a while to figure it out too.”
We reach the perimeter of the property and Rafael stops and turns to me. “I have a theory that everyone who gets bitten and doesn’t turn gets a power. I have one, and I saw a little girl in the city do something that shouldn’t have been possible, so I know it’s not just me.”
“Go on.”
Rafael takes a deep breath and holds out his arm, facing away from me. “Just don’t lose your mind when you see it.”
I want to ask him what he means but I stop myself. “I won’t.”
His brow creases as he focuses on his arm. My eyes widen as I watch pieces of bone, sharp and serrated, pierce through the skin on his arms and extend until they’re almost 12 inches long. When they stop growing, Rafael is breathing heavily and his forearm is supporting four spikes. They look deadly and I realise that they look exactly like blades.
“Cool,” I whisper.
Rafael smiles. “It is useful. It’s impossible to disarm me, no matter what happens I always have a weapon.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No. I don’t feel pain like I used to, before I was bitten. I can still feel everything else, but pain is less than it should be. I can feel the bone breaking through my skin and I know it should hurt but it doesn’t.”
“I haven’t felt pain since I woke up, even when I should have.”
Rafael nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that makes sense. Betty has said the same. It must happen to everyone who doesn’t turn into one of those monsters. We are all the same.”
Rafael is clearly feeling relief right now, he must have thought he was alone. Like I did not that long ago.
“So this means you have a power,” he says. “What has happened? Have you done anything strange? Anything you couldn’t explain?”
I nod and start to speak, but the words get caught in my throat.
“It is alright, you can tell me. We are the same.”
I look at his bone blades for a moment and remind myself that he is right. We are the same.
“I turn water to ice without thinking about it and I froze a walker.”
“What do you mean you froze it?”
“I touched him and he froze solid. I don’t know how I did it or how to control it.” I take a deep breath and try to slow my racing heart. “I don’t know how to control it. I could hurt someone.”
“That’s incredible!” Rafael exclaims. “Show me! Do it now. Freeze something.”
The last thing I want to do right now is to use the power again. “Aren’t you supposed to be standing guard or something?”
It’s obviously a deliberate change of topic but Rafael doesn’t realise because he completely forgot about Reggie’s orders until I brought it up.
He straightens up and the bones retract into his forearm. “Yes, I am.” He clears his throat and starts walking again, scanning the treeline for movement.
“I’m sorry, Jake, but you have to understand, this is amazing for me. I can’t believe I found someone else like me. Finding Betty was a miracle, but she hasn’t shown any signs of having an extra power. This is such a relief.”
I nod. “I get it, I was freaking out too.” I don’t mention that I was hoping to be alone, because I’m afraid of what other people might do with this much power.
“Exactly,” Rafael says. “And now that we’ve found each other, we must stick together.”
I smile. “I agree completely. What about the girl you mentioned? Did you take her with you?”
Rafael’s smile drops. “She was small, maybe only five or six years old. There were corpses everywhere. Anywhere close to downtown is overrun, and she was right in the middle of it. I still can’t believe we managed to get out.”
“What happened to her?” I ask.
“She was throwing fire at them from her hands. Most of them were burned so badly they couldn’t keep walking. Some kept going, undead monsters that couldn’t feel the fire that was killing them.”
For a moment he stops talking and I can only imagine what is going through his head.
“She died,” he finally says. “The monsters are too stupid to recognise that immune people are not prey. Eventually, they realise that they don’t like the way we taste, but by then it is far too late.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Yes. It was.”
Rafael lapses into silence and I don’t want to disturb him. I think about that girl, a small child that was forced to fight for her life with a power she probably didn’t understand. I think about my hands and the deadly ice they can unleash. I can use this power to protect the people I care about from the walkers and anyone that might want to cause them harm.
A flicker of movement catches my eye.
“I saw something.”
Rafael whirls, his eyes squinting as he stares into the darkness between the trees. After a moment he curses and runs forward.
I follow him and catch a glimpse of spikes of bone before he rushes at the nearest biter. A second one steps from behind a tree and stumbles towards me but I don�
��t reach for a weapon. Some part of me realises that my most powerful weapon is the ice. It doesn’t matter if I’m afraid of controlling it. All that matters right now is using it to stay alive and keep everyone at the house safe.
Anger fills me when I realise that these monsters are threatening the safety of my friends and I let it flood through my body until it spreads from my chest to my arms and legs. When it reaches my hands, I strike.
I press my hand against its chest and coldness rushes through my fingertips and palm. Ice spreads across its shirt and I can sense it spreading through the undead chest cavity.
The monster doesn’t stop moving but the awful moans coming from its mouth have stopped. I must have frozen its lungs. It can’t make noise. The walker doesn’t care about speaking or breathing and all it wants is to sink its teeth into me.
A cold arm grabs at my face and I bat it away. I push forward and the monster stumbles backwards into the tree. I put my hand against its head. The coldness spreads again and this time the walker drops to the ground like a stone.
I did it.
***
Chapter 8 ~ Death
Kim
Someone is carrying me. It’s dark but after a moment I can see Matt’s face above me. I can hear other people talking and I turn my head, trying to squint through the darkness to see them. I finally see Scott and Cara in the dim light.
Matt looks down at me and his expression changes when he sees that I’m awake, but he doesn’t say anything. He looks like he might be annoyed. I want to ask him what’s wrong but I know why he’s angry. I have to keep in mind that I did almost destroy a building a little while ago. I have to give him some time to come to terms with what I did.
“Matt?” I whisper. The eerie quiet reminds me of a library or a church. For some reason, even though I can’t see for more than a few feet around us, I think we’re in an open area. There’s a cool breeze against my face. We are definitely outside. “How long was I out?”
“Long enough,” he murmurs.
That was specific. I don’t press him for answers though. I raise my head and take in our surroundings. I feel weak but I need to know where we are in case anything goes wrong. My eyes adjust to the darkness and within moments the area around us comes into focus.
We’re walking through an industrial park with very few buildings and no people. I have no idea how we got here. The few buildings are positioned in a large square, several warehouses making up each side. We move through the middle. It makes sense to stay away from the buildings in case there is anyone or anything inside, but I don’t like how exposed we are. There’s nowhere to take cover or hide.
“Where are we going?” I ask, raising my voice slightly so the others can hear me too.
Cara turns and smiles brightly at me. Scott just raises a hand in greeting without looking back.
“We’re getting out of the city,” Matt says. “It’s safer there.”
“Safer?” I repeat. Safer for who? Us? Or does he mean it’s safer if we’re somewhere I can’t hurt anyone?
I want to ask but I’m afraid to know the answer. I hesitate for a moment and then anxiety pushes me to close my mouth.
We reach the middle of the industrial estate, horribly exposed on this empty flat ground. The nearest cover is over twenty feet away. For some reason, that matters to me. Ever the daughter of a military man, I suppose. Dad was constantly spouting military tactics and principles. No matter how mundane something was, he turned it into a lesson. Always have a way out, always have cover, always have a plan.
Right now, I have none of them.
A sound breaks through the silence of the night. Something that sounds like chopping. It’s fast and continuous, like a propellor or...
“Helicopter,” I announce. I keep my voice low but they all hear me.
I point in the direction of the noise when they turn to me.
“A helicopter?” Cara asks, her face lighting up. “I love helicopters!”
Scott frowns at her. “No one said we could ride in it, don’t get your hopes up.”
She pouts. “That’s not fair.”
As Scott talks to his sister, Matt gently sets me on my feet and looks at me expectantly.
“Well? Should we try to grab their attention?” His tone isn’t exactly friendly but I suppose I deserve it. I did almost kill him, after all.
My legs tremble slightly underneath me but my strength is returning slowly. “We don’t know who they are,” I say. “They could be military or private. We don’t know if we can trust them.”
“We could use the ride,” he says.
“I agree. We can try to get their attention but I’m sure they’re going somewhere. They might not stop for us.” I try to soften my words with a tentative smile but he just nods and turns away.
He’s angry. I know I deserve it but I wish he would give me the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know what happened in that room either. I didn’t do it on purpose.
The helicopter comes into view as the first hints of dawn start to brighten the sky behind it. It is coming straight towards us, although I know it must be a coincidence. If it continues along its path, it’ll pass over the chain link fence enclosing the industrial park and then right over our heads. Or it might stop when the people in it see us. Which they will. We’re painstakingly obvious where we are, they couldn’t not see us.
I hope we’re not in danger.
It takes a few minutes for the noise to get louder and by the time it reaches the fence at the end of the lot, the sky has lightened considerably. Murky blue beats back the darkness and I look around again at the buildings. They look different in the light.
I glance over my shoulder and freeze.
“Matt.”
“What is it?” he asks reluctantly. He doesn’t turn.
“Matt. Turn around.”
He starts to reply but a deep, unnatural, unearthly moan cuts him off. He spins around and gasps. “We need to move!”
Scott and Cara were still arguing about the helicopter but they whirl around and all four of us watch with terror as four infected stumble towards us from the front entrance of the lot. They move towards us slowly but persistently, sniffing the air like hounds searching for a fox. Searching for prey.
“Scott!” Cara cries out and grabs her brother’s hand.
The infected all snap their heads up at the sound of her voice and their dead eyes focus on us with unsettling accuracy. They were just following a scent before. Now they can see us.
The nightmarish monsters that used to be people start stumbling quickly, moving as quickly as they can, despite their stiff, clumsy gaits. Scott picks up his sister and starts to run. Matt and I do the same and I try my hardest to keep up with the others. The infected behind us speed up and break into a fumbling sprint behind us.
Moans and growls are terrifyingly close and fear spurs me on. I run faster than I thought was possible for me. The fear of death is tangible in the air and I should be crying but my eyes are dry. Matt slows down to grab my hand and pull me faster, his longer legs moving more quickly than mine.
“Get to the fence!” I yell. There’s no point in being quiet anymore. It’s too late for that. “We can close it and block them off!”
The fence enclosing the area is positioned in two layers, there are two separate fences with about ten feet between them. It was probably designed so security guards could patrol the perimeter while being protected on both sides by the chain link fence. The opening I point to is about ten feet long, wide enough for vehicles to pass through, with gates on either end.
Scott changes direction slightly to aim for the opening and Matt and I are right on his heels. Cara’s screams cut through the cold night. My pulse thunders in my ears. The pounding feet of the infected are somehow clear despite the deafening sound of blood rushing through my ears.
This plan has to work.
We’re almost at the fence now and I’m really struggling for breath. My lungs are burning but I ig
nore the pain and force myself to keep going. I’m going to survive this.
The fence is less than ten feet away when the helicopter flies right over us. I look up and the wind forces me to squint against the gale force wind. I catch a glimpse of someone hanging out of the side of the helicopter, waving his hands and trying to get our attention, but then the wind force me to close my eyes and look away.
Then I see what he was trying to warn us about.
We’re dead.
There are over two dozen infected right in front of us.
My mind spirals for a reason, an explanation, anything that will tell me how this happened. It must have been the sound of the helicopter, I know that, but why? There must be some kind of cosmic intervention happening. The universe is pulling the strings and it wants to punish us.
Cara screams and Scott joins her. Matt comes to an abrupt stop and one look at his face tells me that he’s given up. There is nowhere to go. We can’t fight this many, we can’t hide from them. I turn to run but the infected behind us have caught up and they are blocking us in. We could climb the fence but it looks too weak to hold us. It would probably just bend back on itself and we would could fall towards the infected.
There are less of them behind us than in front of us, so I charge towards them. I don’t have a weapon but there’s no time to find one in the bags. Besides, it’s not like it matters if I get bitten anymore.
Matt yells something but I ignore him and crash into the nearest infected. It swipes at my face but I’m moving too fast and it hits the ground hard. I keep going, bouncing into the next infected. I lose my footing and this time both of us hit the ground. Gravel scrapes against my skin.
Hope returns to me for a single moment. There’s a way out. The other infected on this side are too stupid to block the walkway. If we move right now we can make it out before these two get back to their feet.
The horde following the helicopter crash into the fence and it crumples under their weight.
