by B. T. Wright
Jake walked past Jess over to the dormer window that looked out across the street. He opened the window and started to climb through.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jess walked up behind him. Amy and Tyler filed in behind her, but when Tom started to walk over, Tyler backed away.
Jake pulled himself through and stood on the slant of the roof. “Trying to find another way out of here. We have to get out of here. Now. It’s our best chance at making it to Cincinnati before we miss the helicopter the government is sending for the scientist.”
“And you think we can make it off the roof? So what if we can? Then what? We are just putting ourselves back down right in the middle of those things.”
Jake ignored her and turned his attention toward the street. There wasn’t time to think of ways this wouldn’t work. He had to find a way that would. There was still a crowd of infected just below him at the front of the house. He assumed it would be the same on the other side of the pitched roof. Jess was right, jumping down into those things would be suicide. So the only way to get down safely would be if they were all gone. Only way to make that happen was to get the infected to go somewhere else.
12
The helicopter lifted off from the front lawn of the White House. Emily tried for the third time to get her phone to power on, but the battery had finally given out. She didn’t have the chance to text Jake the two addresses she’d promised, but she would reach Mount Weather before he would get to Cincinnati. Jake was smart, he would easily find UC’s campus without her directions. She just hated that she hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye.
For the first time since the madness had begun, she felt she could finally take a breath. She paused for a moment to take in the chaos below. She felt as if she were in a dream. And not a good one. The last twelve hours had been more like the worst nightmare one could imagine, but there wouldn’t be the freeing moment of waking from it to offer relief. Though it didn’t seem it, all of this was actually happening. And that was never more apparent than from her seat looking out the helicopter’s window.
Just to make it to the helicopter with the President and the first lady, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of the CIA and the FBI, they first had to don gas masks. Then they were led out of the White House by a full military detail, all equipped with fully automatic weapons, which they used to keep the infected at bay as they relentlessly kept coming for the helicopter. If that wasn’t enough, several explosions nearby lit up the night sky, a chorus of booms and fireballs made up the soundtrack to the terrifying scene.
Now, as she looked down at Washington DC on fire from the safety of the helicopter, it was sinking in that Emily was literally watching the world coming to an end. The worst part was that she didn’t yet know if she was one of the lucky ones or not. On the surface one would think it couldn’t be confused. But if the world was ending and she was one of the less than one percent to survive, would life even be worth living? Maybe succumbing to the virus, or whatever was going on down there, was actually the most fortunate thing. So one wouldn’t have to watch the entire world die.
Emily took her eyes from the window. She just couldn’t watch anymore. She looked around the softly lit cabin as the rest of the high-profile passengers were being given the thumbs up to remove their masks. All of it was so surreal. She didn’t belong in this helicopter. Who the hell was she? A doctor, that’s all. Lucky––or unlucky––enough to be the one that got the first look at what was happening. That was the only reason she was there. Not because there was a single thing she could do for anyone going forward. She couldn’t even help her only family member, much less help save the world. She dialed her sister’s phone at least a hundred times that day. Not once did she pick up. And even though her sister shared her condition, the one that kept Emily from getting whatever was going around, she knew in her heart that there was no way Diane would be able to survive all of this. Not by herself. Emily couldn’t help but feel guilty. Here she was alive on this helicopter while her sister was most likely mindlessly running the streets looking for blood. Was it even her sister at all anymore if she had become infected?
So many unknowns.
The only thing she knew for certain at that moment was that she was happy Jake was still alive. She had no idea if the night they’d spent together in Syria meant to him what it meant to her, but the feeling of him holding her long into the night hadn’t left her for a moment. Of course she knew he had a girlfriend. He spoke of Jessica often. And even though he’d told her that night had been a mistake, that he loved Jessica, she couldn’t help but hope that somewhere in the future they could have a chance to be together again. In a day where all had gone to hell, a thought like that might be enough to give her hope.
“Emily. Emily can I have a word with you?”
Emily snapped out of her trance when President Miller tapped her on the arm.
“Sorry to bother you, Emily.”
“Not at all. Just trying to steady myself.”
The president leaned in. “Were you able to make any more contact with the professor in Cincinnati?”
“Only text messages. He was afraid actually talking on the phone would attract the infected.”
President Miller nodded. “Any clarification?”
Emily turned toward him fully. Still dazed that she was staring at the face she had seen so many times on television. The face that ran the most powerful nation on the planet.
“Mr. President, to be honest, the guy could be a complete lunatic.”
“Granted. Panic may very well have driven him crazy.”
“But his first call to the DOD was before all of this broke out. So maybe there is something to it.”
“That’s my point. Do we know what exactly his claim is? Other than he can talk to aliens?”
Emily cleared her head.
“From what I can gather, he isn’t claiming to have spoken to any aliens. He just says that in research of one of our satellites, he came across something that resembled a conversation.”
“Conversation?” The President was visibly leery.
“Right. But not in a language he could decipher. That is why he said it wasn’t human.”
“Okay. Well if it wasn’t human—however one could determine that—or wasn’t a language he could decipher, how the hell could he tell it was a conversation?”
“The cadence.”
“The cadence, Emily?”
“He said it was something about the rhythm of the sounds. Two distinctly different tones, sounding in a back-and-forth manner, just as you and I are doing now.”
President Miller sat back in his seat. For a moment the cabin was filled with only the sound of the rotors. Everyone else was trying to get some sleep. None of them had had a minute of it since Emily had made it to the White House.
The president leaned back in. “Sounds crazy. And yesterday I would have dismissed it immediately. But with the things I’ve seen today? Things I would never have imagined being witness to? Well, you made the right call telling him we would send a helicopter for him. No way we can dismiss anything at this point. Get some sleep. We’ll need the best of all of us to try and figure out what to do next.”
Emily nodded and leaned back in her seat. The president was right, she did need some sleep. But with thoughts of Jake battling his way through the end of the world out there, through God only knew what sorts of evils, that sleep would never come.
13
Jake brought the scope on his AR-15 to his right eye. There was a row of houses that extended to his right for a couple of blocks across the street. Several streetlights dotted the neighborhood, and as far as he could tell, they had attracted the attention of almost all the infected in the area. In the distance, he noticed a few balls of fire around the city. Everything looked like it was going to hell, fast. Those flames were too far away to draw the attention of the infected in his neighborhood. But maybe if he could create a fire down the street, that would be enough to get
them moving. He already knew they were attracted to light and sound. An explosion would seem to be a perfect draw for the bastards.
He moved the scope down the street a few houses on his left and noticed an RV sitting in a driveway. That would be big enough to fit the five of them and still have room for supplies. He aimed the scope in the opposite direction. A couple hundred feet down the street, there were two SUVs parked side by side in the same driveway. If he could hit the gas tank on one of them, both would probably blow. That might buy them the couple of minutes they needed to get to the RV. Problem was, what if there were no keys inside?
Jake knew what he had to do, and he also knew Jess wasn’t going to like it. He walked back over to the window.
“Tom, can you come out here for a minute?”
“Tom?” Tyler spoke up. “What the hell do you want him for? Let me help you strategize.”
“No offense, Ty, but just because you’ve seen Game of Thrones thirteen times doesn’t exactly make you a master strategist.”
“But I—”
“Call of Duty doesn’t count either.”
Tyler hung his head. Tom rounded the window and Jake helped him through.
“What’s on your mind?” Tom asked as he balanced on the slanted roof and looked out over the city.
“See those explosions out there? They gave me an idea.”
“Okay. I’m assuming you want to create a diversion.”
“That’s right. How’s your distance shooting?”
“Been hunting deer since I was a kid. If it ain’t moving, I can hit it.”
“Perfect.” Jake pointed to his left. “I’m going to go make sure that RV has a key and the battery isn’t dead.” He moved his finger to the other side of the neighborhood. “See those two SUVs?”
“Yeah.”
“If the RV is in working condition, I’ll give the signal. You blow those SUVs. If these things go running for it, I’ll drive over and we can jump down on the roof and get the hell out of here.”
Tom shifted from looking down the street to Jake. “Well, that all sounds great, soldier. But how the hell are you going to get to the RV without a distraction?”
Jake didn’t hesitate. “Carefully.”
“I suspect so. Mighty brave of you. Might just work too. But you think your pudgy friend in there can make the jump to the RV?”
Jake smiled. “He won’t have a choice.”
Tom nodded.
Jake started to hand Tom the AR-15.
“Let me get my rifle. I’ve been using it for years. No sense taking a chance.”
Jake nodded, then he followed Tom back inside the attic. The noise below them had grown even louder.
“So?” Jess walked up. “Did Tom talk you off the ledge?”
Jake replaced the empty magazine in his Beretta as he explained the plan.
He was right. He’d known Jess wouldn’t like it.
When he finished explaining, Jess still wasn’t convinced. “You’re crazy. You can’t go down there alone with those things. You’ll never make it!”
“What other choice do we have, Jess?”
Jess huffed and put her hands on her hips. “What happens if there’s no way to start the RV? Then what? That’s if you can even make it past those things to get there in the first place.”
Jake hadn’t really thought about it, because to him it didn’t really matter. He had to go see if it would run. No way they all could fit in Jessica’s car. The trunk couldn’t hold their bags and weapons even if the five of them could squeeze in the car.
“I’ve gotta say, Jess.” Tyler walked over. “You’re bringing a lot of negativity to the group right now.”
“Shut the hell up, Tyler. Are you going to help Jake across the street?”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “See? Negative. Just sayin’.”
“All right, all right,” Jake said. “We don’t have time for this. I will make it to the RV. And if it doesn’t start, I’ll find an SUV, or a van or something. I have to. We have to make this work. We don’t make it to the helicopter in Cincinnati, this journey gets a hell of a lot longer And if we have to go by car it will be much more dangerous all the way to Virginia, too. I’d rather take some chances now to try and avoid a more difficult situation later.”
Jess’s face held trepidation in the orange glow of the candle. She was beautiful even when she was skeptical. “And you think that just because this . . . woman you knew from Syria says there will be a helicopter that it’s automatically going to be there?”
“If Emily says it will be there. It will be there.”
“And just how well do you know this woman, Jake?”
Tom interrupted the impending awkward situation. “This isn’t really helping us. Let’s save the jealous rant for the car ride to Ohio, shall we?”
“Fuck you, Tom.” Jess took two steps toward him. “You don’t know me or who I am, so just mind your own damn business.”
Tom didn’t back down. “Whether I like it or not, getting all of us out of here is my business now. And your relationship insecurities are nothing but a distraction—”
Amy stepped between them. “Please stop fighting! They’ll hear us!”
Everyone was quiet for a moment. The only sounds were Jess’s labored breath, and the movement of the infected on the floor below them. Jess shook the anger from her face and put on a smile.
“Amy, honey, those things can’t get up here. I promise.” Then to Jake, “Do what you’ve got to do, but I’m going with you.”
“The hell you are, Jess. I’m not putting you down there with those things until I can distract them.”
“But it’s okay for you to go?”
Tyler spoke up. “Jess, at least Jake has training. Maybe not against zombies, but he’s Delta Force, for God’s sake. You’ll only slow him down.”
Jess was quiet.
“Fat boy is right,” Tom said. “Jake is as qualified as anyone on the planet.”
Tyler gave Tom the finger.
Jake pulled back the slide on his Beretta to put a bullet in the chamber, then holstered it. He removed his go bag and his AR-15 and handed it to Jess while he kept his axe with him.
“You guys gotta be ready to move when Tom blows the SUVs. We’re only going to have one shot at this.”
Jess moved in and gave him a long hug. When she pulled away there were tears in her eyes. “We’ll be ready.”
Jake kissed her on the lips then exited through the window. He turned around and ducked his head back inside. “Tom, you know what to do. Tyler, help Jess with my stuff and Amy. And whoever is the last one out, tip the candle over. If there are any of these things left inside . . . let’s burn the mother fuckers.”
14
Jake backed away from the window and walked over to the left edge of the roof. There, he could see the front and side of the house. There were several infected still trying to make their way in through the windows. Emily had said that they were evolving. He didn’t know what she’d meant by that, but they certainly weren’t evolving here at his home. The front door was wide open and they were still climbing over each other at the windows. However, the side of the house was clear.
He walked up to the top of the roof’s pitch to see if he could get a look at the back deck, but he couldn’t see it without going all the way over. There were a couple of straggler infected out in the street between him and the RV. He would just have to manage them, because shooting them would be too loud and draw unwanted attention. He crouched and walked to the edge of the roof. It was about a fifteen-foot drop. It certainly wouldn’t kill him, but it might do some damage to a leg. The pine tree just below him on the side of the house was going to be his best bet.
Jake tossed his axe down to the ground at the foot of the tree. He then grabbed hold of the roof just above the gutter with both hands and lowered himself down. Dangling, he took the top of the tree in between his feet and squeezed. All he could do was drop on top of it and hope it held his weight.
It didn’t.
As soon as his body hit the tree, the top half of the trunk snapped and he crashed onto his back to the ground. It knocked the wind out of him, but that wasn’t his concern. The tree breaking and him crashing through it was loud. Too loud. As he sucked in air to try and refill his lungs, he grabbed the axe and pulled himself up against the aluminum siding of the house. He snatched up as many branches as he could and covered himself with them, just getting them in place before he heard something walk around the corner.
The infected had heard him fall.
Jake froze, but he still needed air, and his back was aching. He didn’t feel like he had broken anything, but that wasn’t helping him find a breath. He did his best to take small breaths in through his nose as quietly as he could. Branches cracked underfoot; something was moving on the other side of the now half tree. Jake’s chest was burning. His body was begging for air. But the infected had now come to a stop, and another one had just rounded the corner of the house. It was a woman. For the second time since all of this had started, he wondered who that infected woman had been before she became a monster. Had he met her somewhere before? Maybe seen her at the grocery store? Why was he having these thoughts? Was he light-headed? He had to breathe, and with that he knew he was probably going to blow his cover.
Jake couldn’t hold out any longer. He sucked in a long breath through his mouth, blew it out and sucked in another. The feeling was almost euphoric. Like he’d been at the bottom of a pool for far too long and he’d just surfaced. The euphoria was short lived. The woman on the other side of the tree heard him. Jake acted fast and he sprung from his cover and hacked at the thing’s leg. It lunged forward as if he hadn’t even made contact. He moved to his left to avoid its snapping teeth, shoved it off to the side by its shoulder, did a 180 spin to bring the axe around and hack at the neck of the second infected, shook the axe free, turned back in the direction of the woman, and slammed the blade down into her forehead. The sound it made was a wet, sickening thud. He removed the blade from her skull and turned just in time to front kick the still-advancing infected man with half a neck, and then he baseball swung the axe to finish the job. The half-dead man’s head thumped against the grass, and a second later his still flailing body did the same.
