by Mike Staton
She shrugged and shouldered her rifle.
It wasn’t the response Percival had wanted to get from her. He wanted some sort of hint as to what he should do in this situation. Morrbid was clearly better versed in the local lore than Percival was. He sighed.
“Karl, Sarah, follow him to the door. I don’t like these faux military people and it seems he and Jessica have at least a decent handle on things here, and themselves.” Percival walked to Roy Joy and Andrina.
“Sure,” Karl said.
“I don’t know if that’s wise,” Sarah muttered.
“Didn’t say we’d bring them with us, but we do have some obligation to helping them get away from here.” Percival turned away from Sarah and faced Andrina. “Are you okay?”
Andrina looked at him. Her eyes were still red and puffy, but the tears that had streaked her cheeks a few minutes earlier were gone.
“They.” Andrina coughed and cleared her throat before starting again. “They did horrid things to me, Mister Polz. But I will be fine.”
“I’m very—“ Percival was cut off by Andrina’s hand slapping across his face.
“Don’t you dare apologize,” Andrina said. “This wasn’t your fault. You haven’t lost my faith or my support. Do you understand?”
Percival nodded slowly. He couldn’t have asked for better words. “Thank you, Andrina.”
She just nodded.
“Roy Joy, protect her. She’s a valuable member of our team.” Percival turned and moved through the gap in the shelves. He walked toward the door to exit the building.
The sound of gunfire and shouting made him pick up the pace. He found Sarah crouched to one side of the door and Karl crouched on the other side. Morrbid wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
Floodlights outside made a cluster of bullet holes in the door extremely obvious.
“What the fuck happened and where’s Morrbid?” Percival dropped to a crouch and walked up to Sarah.
“They heard the shot from earlier and came to check it out. We practically bumped into each other. They shot at us, we didn’t shoot back. I don’t think anyone was hit,” Karl muttered quietly.
“And Morrbid?” Percival asked again.
“He said he wanted a better view and was going to visit the roof.” Sarah looked over her shoulder at him.
“Which way did he go?” Percival held the shotgun out for Sarah to take. “Give me the rifle.”
“Why?” Sarah took the shotgun and held the rifle out anyways.
“I’m going to find the roof access.” Percival didn’t entirely know what he was going to do once he followed Morrbid up to the roof yet, but he did know that he wanted to go that route regardless. He traded the rifle for his satchel of shells. “Can I have the extra magazine as well?”
“Since you asked so nicely.” Sarah pulled the magazine for the rifle out of her pocket and pressed it into his hand. “Don’t do something stupid that you’ll regret later.”
“I promise I won’t.” Percival dashed across the door and past Karl. He wandered the pathways created by shelves for what seemed like minutes before he finally came to a ladder. He slung the rifle and climbed up the ladder. He pushed open a latch and crawled out onto the roof.
He could see Morrbid’s outline against the otherwise flat edges of the roof. Percival crept low and walked across the roof toward Morrbid. When he got closer to the edge he readied the rifle and dropped to a crawl.
“Do you intend to use that?” Morrbid whispered as Percival got to the edge. “It’s not the same as shooting zombies. Have you killed anyone before?”
Percival was silent for a long moment as he surveyed the scene before him. Half a dozen men were arrayed around the door. Most of them were clustered behind a Humvee. Most of them had good cover from the door, but horrible cover from Percival and Morrbid.
“I’ve gotten two people killed,” Percival said.
“Not the same. If you can’t shoot to kill here, they’re going to shoot to kill you. You need to be fast and efficient.” Morrbid pointed out toward one man in particular. “He’s their leader. Strike him down first. If you can’t pull the trigger, give me the rifle and I will.”
“I can do it.” Percival took a breath and brought the rifle up. He held his breath and sighted down the iron sights.
The man who Morrbid had pointed at turned to face the building. He was shouting orders that Percival couldn’t quite make out. It was Pete.
“Breath. Your shot won’t be steady otherwise.”
Percival let out the breath he’d been holding. He lined up the iron sights once more and slowly squeezed the trigger. A crack of thunder announced the start of the storm.
The rifle kicked against Percival’s shoulder as cold rain dropped hard out of the heavens. It was a sudden downpour to drench away his regrets against taking the life of the self-proclaimed colonel. He lined up the iron-sights again and squeezed the trigger to put a second bullet into the leader before swiftly swinging the rifle to bear on the now confused and startled men.
He squeezed the trigger as he aimed. Each gentle pull came easier and easier. A second man’s head bloomed red that was quickly washed away in the downpour. Percival brought the gun to bear on a third man.
He squeezed the trigger and a bullet tore through the man’s throat. He tumbled to the ground with one hand feebly trying to stop the flow of blood, while the other pointed out Percival’s position. He hit the muddy ground and didn’t move.
The other three men took to shooting the rooftop.
“Shit,” Percival muttered. He backed away quickly as bullets ricocheted off the metal edge where he’d been shooting from.
“Mighty fine shooting.” Morrbid appeared at Percival’s side from the slashing rain. “Maybe you’re not as innocent or naïve as I originally thought.”
“Shut up.” Percival felt sick to his stomach. He pushed past the former priest and yanked the hatch to the ladder leading down open. The storm washed out any gunfire and he wasn’t sure that the firefight was continuing. He did know that he was done ‘sniping’ for the moment.
He climbed down the ladder. Morrbid followed him a few moments later.
Percival led the way back among the maze of shelves and boxes. He rounded the corner leading back to the door.
The door itself was mostly gone, as were the boxes in the shelves behind it. There were spent bullet casings scattered where Karl had been crouching and a single shotgun shell where Sarah was. Bullet holes also clustered along the walls around the door.
Roy Joy was lying atop Andrina with his head down.
Percival moved to the door and peeked through. He didn’t see anyone moving, but that didn’t mean there weren’t people out there. He also didn’t see any blood where his friends had crouched. That, too, was a boon and lifted his spirit. He dashed across the entryway and moved up next to Roy Joy and Andrina.
Roy Joy was whimpering softly and Andrina was silent. Percival reached out a softly touched Roy Joy’s shoulder. He couldn’t see any blood, but that didn’t mean there was an injury somewhere else on the man.
“Ahh! Military’s bad!” Roy Joy jerked back away from touch. “Percival, they shot at us.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Percival looked down to Andrina.
“Is it over?” Andrina asked.
“I don’t know. Where’s Sarah and Karl?” Percival asked.
“Somewhere not here, apparently. Mister Russevelt, get off of me please.” Andrina sat up after Roy Joy moved. “I’ve had his body blocking my vision since the gunfire started.”
Percival hadn’t heard Roy Joy’s last name before. It surprised him slightly to hear Andrina use it. He looked over his shoulder. “It doesn’t look like either of them were injured…”
“They’re probably outside.” Percival stood up. “Stay here.”
Roy Joy nodded. Andrina started to protest and apparently thought better of it.
Percival turned and walked back to the door. He checked the magaz
ine of the rifle, pushing it back into place. Morrbid wasn’t anywhere to be seen and it bothered Percival slightly. He didn’t trust the man enough to have him creeping about.
Percival peered around the edge of the doorframe. The scene was the same as before. Slashing rain splashing down into the yard in the headlights of the Humvee parked just outside the door. He pushed the door and it crumbled to pieces at his touch. The noise was lost to the storm and a crack of thunder overhead.
He lifted the rifle and stepped out into the cold slashing rain once more. He moved forward and around the front door. The men he’d shot were still on the ground, and there was still no sign of Karl and Sarah. Percival moved to the back of the vehicle and found Morrbid crouched over another fallen soldier.
“He’s dead, Jim.” Morrbid looked up at Percival. “The last one’s probably hiding somewhere else.”
“Last one?” Percival looked around the back of the Humvee. Another soldier was laying face down in the yard only a handful of feet from the Humvee. It looked as though he had tried to run from the battle and been shot in the process.
“Have you seen my friends?” Percival asked.
“They’re here somewhere. I know. Rain hides tracks, so I can’t say where.” Morrbid brought his bat up and used it to point. “Somewhere, over there. I’d guess.”
“How do you know?”
“The other ‘soldier’ was running in that direction and that building is the armory.” Morrbid pointed to a hazy building outline in the rain. He started walking in that direction.
Percival looked at the dead man next to the rear of the Humvee for a moment longer before taking off at a jog to catch up with Morrbid. The Humvee behind him faded in the haze caused by the rain as the building ahead came into sharper focus.
“You don’t seem very concerned that he might be waiting in ambush in there.” Percival lifted his motorcycle visor to see if he could see any better. He decided after a moment that it was better off down.
“That’s because I know something you don’t.” Morrbid casually walked up to the door to the building. It hung open.
Percival followed the man into the building. Morrbid didn’t seem to be worried at all.
Inside was a room with a locked gate and a counter with a wire screen that separated the entry from the rest of the building. The gate stood open, the locking mechanism shot out. There weren’t any shell casings lying about, so Percival assumed the gate had been shot open sometime before tonight.
It helped to levy credence to the theory that the men stationed here weren’t military at all. Percival followed Morrbid through the gate.
“What do you know that I don’t?” Percival asked.
“Slayer’s in here somewhere,” Morrbid answered. “I’m guessing that your friends are in here somewhere as well.”
“Good to know.” Percival followed Morrbid around a corner.
They found the last military man. He was toppled on his side near an intersection. The majority of his head was blown away, splattered across weapon racks and ammunition containers.
Percival felt slightly sick at the sight.
“Well, this solves this problem. Now just to find the others and hole up in the barracks until the storm passes.” Morrbid turned around.
“Right.” Percival turned away from the destroyed man and started walking back toward the front of the building.
“So we can tag ‘long with y’all?” Morrbid asked.
“You’re a little violent for our tastes,” Percival said.
“We’ve been stuck here for three weeks now.” Morrbid stopped at the front entry. “There’s two reasons they didn’t off us both. One, they thought they could wear Slayer down, and two they’re worried the rest of my ‘flock’ is out there looking for ways to get us out and that shooting us would incite some sort of attack.”
“Are they?” Percival stepped out into the slashing rain. Two figures were approaching the building.
“No. All that’s left of the group from Alabama, nearly twenty folks, is me and Slayer.” Morrbid lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the rain. “Your friends I think.”
Karl and Sarah emerged from the slashing rain.
“We’ll talk about whether or not to let you come with us later.” Percival looked away from Morrbid and to Karl and Sarah.
“We can’t find the last guy,” Karl said.
“He was in there.” Percival jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Jessica got to him.”
“How do you know?” Sarah asked.
“He was dead when we got here,” Percival answered.
“She was waiting for anyone who might come here to get bigger guns,” Morrbid added. “Might I suggest we get out of the rain?”
“Good idea.” Percival nodded. He led the small group back to the storehouse. He stopped long enough at the Humvee to turn off the headlights and collect the keys. He led them inside.
“Roy Joy, Andrina, we’re heading back to the barracks,” Percival called out to them. As requested, the pair hadn’t moved.
“Is it all over with?” Roy Joy asked. He sounded uncertain as he approached Percival.
“Yeah. It’s all done and over with. We’re the only ones here.” Percival turned to leave.
“Only ones here?” Andrina asked.
“There was a firefight, as you heard. All the military guys are gone.” Percival stepped out into the rain again. He didn’t hear whatever response Andrina gave to his statement. He didn’t entirely care. He walked past Karl, Sarah, and Morrbid, orienting himself on the barracks building.
It didn’t take long to cross the yard and enter the building once more. Inside, Percival found the guard he’d knocked out bound to a chair and gagged. Jessica was sitting on the cot closest to the man.
“Took you long ‘nough,” Jessica said.
“Didn’t want to leave anyone out in the rain,” Morrbid said from behind Percival.
“We have some private matters to discuss,” Percival said.
“Discuss away. We’ve got business to attend to anyways.” Morrbid crossed the space to Jessica and drew her into a kiss.
Percival looked away. He tugged his motorcycle helmet off and walked to the other side of the barracks. The rest of his group followed him after a few moments.
“Morrbid would like to join us with Jessica,” Percival said after a few moments of silence. He looked around at the group assembled around him.
“They’re violent, but this is a violent world. Violent people have uses,” Andrina said.
Karl nodded. “Several of the Watchmen on campus are former ROTC and football players. People prone to violence. Properly channeled…”
“Jessica’s alright,” Sarah said. “I don’t know about Morrbid though. Something about him gives me the creeps.”
“Helping people that aren’t the military’s good.” Roy Joy dropped wetly onto a cot.
To Percival, it seemed as though it were already decided. The majority of his group wanted to add the other pair to their party.
“We also agreed to pick up anyone who needed us,” Andrina said.
“I’m not sure they need us. Or we need them.” Percival looked past Sarah and Andrina to Morrbid and Jessica. The pair was engaged in a heavy-handed make out session. He brought his gaze back to the group around him.
“Seven together is stronger than five and two.” Andrina sat down on the edge of a cot.
Percival nodded. “What about the only guy left alive from the military compound?”
His four companions turned, almost in unison, and looked at the man bound to the chair. His head still hung down in unconsciousness.
“When he comes to, we ask if he wants to be left here or come along.” Karl looked back to Percival.
“Unless there’s some disagreement with that statement, I’m willing to go with it as the course of action we should take.” Percival looked around the group of people gathered around him. “We’ll ask him what he wants when he comes to.”
He looked over at her.
“It can wait. They’re busy and I want to talk with you.”
Percival looked from Sarah to the rest of his team.
The others nodded and silently dispersed. Andrina and Roy Joy walked away, quietly talking, while Karl walked a short distance away and started to break down the pistol he’d gotten from the guard.
After they had dispersed, Sarah moved to the very back of the barracks. Percival followed her.
“What, exactly, did you do up on the roof?” Sarah asked quietly.
“What needed to be done.” Percival suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He’d pushed the last half an hour out of his mind until she asked.
“I won’t press. If you need someone to talk to, you know I’m here. Right?” Sarah wrapped her arms around his midsection and dropped her forehead to his chest. “I couldn’t even pull the trigger more than once, and that was when I wasn’t looking.”
Percival was quiet. He slipped his arms around her shoulders and held her tight.
“Karl said I didn’t hit anyone,” Sarah murmured quietly. “I couldn’t…”
“I don’t think Karl’d lie about it.”
“It was buckshot I was shooting,” Sarah said quietly. “Buckshot and I wasn’t aiming into the air.”
“There was a lot of metal down there to stop it, you know.” Percival had seen the positions of the men. Most of them had been well behind cover.
Sarah was silent. She didn’t even look up at him.
Percival brought his lips down to her forehead. “Everything’s okay.”
“You shot them, didn’t you? That’s why they started falling down.”
It was Percival’s turn to be silent. His stomach churned. He had shot them. He had methodically and purposefully shot them. It wasn’t like when he’d shot Evan either. That had made him feel sick, but not in the same fashion that he was feeling sick now. With Evan, it had been guilt and grief.
Here he felt different. He didn’t feel the grief, or even guilty, for what he’d done. He just felt sick to his stomach for snuffing out life when he should have been helping to preserve it. The world needed every living warm body possible, and tonight he’d snuffed three lives out.
