Labor and Delivery

by Jamie Davis

  “Ready?” Marci asked.

  “Good to go here. Go ahead and do it.”

  Kurt shouldered his flechette gun and took aim on the doorway. It would be his job to take down the first few through the door until Marci could get herself in position to hold them off while he ran to the next barricade.

  Marci yanked on the paracord once, twice, then a third time. Finally, the bar pulled loose and clanged to the floor.

  The noise drew the attention of the zombies outside. They pressed in with fresh energy against the outer doors to the bank. The door that had been wedged closed by the bar started to buckle inward as the simple deadbolt lock failed.

  The reinforced wooden door wasn’t built to hold up to that kind of force and pressure. It gave way with a crash and five zombies fell into the lobby.

  They looked around, dazed by the sudden fall before scrambling back to their feet and charging at Kurt and Marci. Kurt dropped all five of them with a quick series of shots, but more poured through the open doorway.

  “Get back to the next barricade, Marci. They’re coming faster than we expected.”

  “As soon as I get there, I’ll holler. Come running and I’ll cover you.”

  Kurt kept firing as Marci left the barricade in the lobby and headed back down the hallway. Kurt emptied one magazine, then a second one.

  Marci yelled and he turned and ran down the hallway while he dropped a grenade over the front of the lobby barricade.

  The explosion nearly knocked him from his feet as he ran towards the next line of defense, but it also served it’s purpose, temporarily clearing the horde of zombies directly behind him.

  Kurt dove over the barricade of stacked desks and chairs blocking the hallway and heard the cough of Marci’s flechette rifle as she fired into the mass of zombies coming down the hall towards them.

  He got up to his feet and re-loaded, then added his fire to the carnage. In the narrow space, their rounds had much more effect, tearing through multiple layers of zombies with each shot.

  Despite that, the creatures still came charging onward and were gaining ground.

  This was it, Kurt knew. They had to get moving or they were going to get overwhelmed.

  “Marci, go. Go now.”

  Marci fired a few more shots, then turned and ran towards the closet, hurtling the desk when she reads the doorway. She turned to look back at Kurt.

  As soon as he saw her clear the desk, Kurt dropped one more grenade over the barricade and took off for the janitor’s closet. They had one more grenade between them and that was going to be the one that helped him make it up the ladder.

  Marci fired a few shots past Kurt’s head. It was awfully close for her to be making shots like that but he trusted her aim.

  He dove over the desk clearing the way for her to fire an entire magazine on full automatic, clearing the hallway behind him. He stood up and reloaded his rifle with his last magazine. “Go. Get to the roof. I’m right behind you.”

  Kurt turned and fired a few bursts down the hallway as Marci raced up the ladder.

  As soon as she was halfway up he turned and started up himself. If he could get there without them wasting any more rounds or the final grenade, they could seal the roof hatch and keep the zombies in the building below.

  He just reached the top when he felt hands close around his ankle from below. They yanked and almost pulled him free of the ladder. Only by hooking an elbow over the top rung, was he able to keep himself in position.

  Marci leaned over the opening and fired into the mass below with her pistol. One of the shots grazed his ankle but also succeeded in blowing off the hand holding onto it.

  Kurt hissed at the pain as he pulled his foot free and climbed the rest of the way up the ladder. Marci fired past him until he was all the way up and then together they slammed the hatchway shut. Marci had rigged clamps from material she found in the janitor’s toolbox. Kurt hoped they would be strong enough to hold the zombies down the ladder. There should be no way for more than one or two of them to come up and press against the hatch at a time anyway.

  Kurt crossed to the front of the building and peeked over the rooftop. More zombies were coming around from the sides and pouring in the front door. It looked like their plan was working.

  Kurt went back to Marci where she was pulling on the straps of her backpack. They were going to get one shot at this and they needed to carry everything they could with them. They weren’t going to make a second trip.

  “It looks like we’ve suckered most of them into the building. Which way do we go from here?”

  Marci had been the one to scout out things up here. Kurt didn’t know which way was the shortest rooftop gap.

  Marci pointed to the south. “There’s a flat roof warehouse that way. It’s only about seven meters away from the back of the bank building. That’s just about as far as I think I can make this work so you might have to jump the last few meters.”

  “Jump a couple of meters with a full pack on? If I’m walking on air, how will I know when the bridge ends?”

  “I’ll figure out a way to mark it for you. If not, just jump from the same spot I jump.”

  Kurt shook his head. This was always a crazy plan. Now it seemed even more insane.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Kurt said.

  Marci nodded and moved to the back of the building. Facing south with a pack on and her gun slung over her shoulder, Marci began waving her hands and muttering something under her breath. A familiar golden glow appeared around her fingertips and then she reached out and touched the edge of the low stone parapet around the rooftop.

  Kurt tried to tune his magical senses to see what she was doing, but as far as he could tell, nothing was happening.

  Marci, however, must have had some success. She moved to stand atop the parapet with her hands out in front of her while she crouched over. She moved her hands back-and-forth like she was scrubbing the floor or something. Then she moved forward, taking a step out from the edge of the building, her hands hovering at about knee height as she walked.

  Kurt marveled as his partner stepped out into thin air and appeared to hover there, slowly walking forward. He decided he didn’t want to be there if rear part of the bridge disappeared. He jumped up and took a tentative step out into the clear air behind her.

  It took a real leap of faith to put his foot down where he saw nothing. He relaxed a little when he felt a solid surface beneath his foot. Wincing, Kurt stepped out all the way onto the transparent bridge of air and moved up closer behind Marci.

  He followed her, though he was careful not to be too close or jostle her. He didn’t want to do anything to distract her from what she was doing.

  Marci continued to mutter her chant as she moved her hands methodically back-and-forth for a few seconds, taking a step forward, and then doing it all again. It seemed as if she was putting down a fresh brick, or plank, or whatever made of air with each step.

  Kurt stayed behind her and watched as she proceeded all the way to the edge of the next building.

  Just short of the building, maybe half a meter or so, she stopped stood up and took a step across on to the other rooftop. Kurt looked down and saw a few wandering zombies shambling about. None of them looked up in their direction.

  Kurt strode forward to the point where Marci had stopped and then hopped across on to the other roof.

  Marci had soaked her shirt through with perspiration from the effort of the casting. Kurt was sure he couldn’t have done it himself. She was a pretty powerful magic user and her ability once again amazed him.

  “Good work, Marci. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it and walked it for myself.”

  “Let’s just hope I never have to do that again. I was near my breaking point there at the end. I couldn’t have placed another section if I’d want to do.”

  “That’s all right. We made it. Let’s head to the other side and see if it’s clear. Then we can climb down and get out of here.
”

  Together the two of them crossed to the other side of the roof. There was no sign of any zombies on the far side of the warehouse. The street below was empty.

  It was dark out and easy for them to stay in the shadows as they climbed down to the street below. Kurt crossed to an alcove where he could scan for any signs they’d been spotted.

  He waited until Marci climbed down, then the two of them headed off to the west. They had to find baby Allie before it was too late.

  Chapter 18

  Kurt and Marci made it to the edge of town and found a stand of trees in which they could spend the rest of the night. They didn’t want to stumble through the darkness into a group of the infected wondering about. They’d get a fresh start the next morning and track down Brent and the baby.

  As they packed up camp the next morning, Kurt worked through a plan he’d figured out. “Marci, we need to find a way to track them down. There are some things I might be able to do to follow Brent. I saw him leave the police station and head off to the western edge of town. If we can find the point where he left and headed into the woods, I might be able to track him from there.”

  “How? I don’t think we’ll be able to find his tracks unless we’re fortunate.”

  “There’s a trick I learned back when I was in the service. They taught us a few things that were gleaned from native trackers and mages centuries ago. They’ve been incorporated into tactics by various parts of the military.”

  Kurt reached down and drew a circle in the dirt. He pointed to an area outside the ring. “We are located here to the southwest of town. When I last saw Brent he left the police station and headed west. I don’t know if that’s because that’s where this secret lab is hidden or if it’s where he found the closest exit from the area. That’s where we need to go.”

  “We’re taking a big chance heading back in that direction. The infected we lured into the bank aren’t going to stay there forever. Eventually, they’ll give up trying to get onto the roof. I don’t think they’re all that smart, but they will eventually lose interest and seek food elsewhere. You know that, right?”

  “All the more reason we need to get moving. I think we can work our way around the outskirts of town. We should be able to get to the point where Brent left town and follow his trail.”

  “Why is it you think you can track him?”

  “Because baby Allie is at least part Allison. She’s probably a quarter at least of full elven stock. That gives her a magical afterglow of sorts. While most elves dampen it, the baby probably can’t until she’s older. That’s what I’m hoping, at least.”

  Kurt gave a shrug and continued. “I didn’t bother to look when we had her with us because I didn’t think we’d lose track of her. However, I should be able to locate a trace of it when we get close to where they left the edge of town. If we can find that, I should be able to follow them as long as the trail hasn’t become too stale. It’s kind of like catching a scent on the wind. You sniff it out and then try to hold onto it while it’s still strong enough to draw you in one direction or another.”

  “All right, then we should get on the road.” Marci shouldered her pack and picked up her rifle. She checked the magazine and then looked at Kurt. “How many rounds do you have left.?”

  Kurt shook his head. “This rifle is dry. I’ve got my pistol but that’s it. I could shift some over, but it’s probably better to keep it where it is. How about you?”

  “I’ve got a magazine and a half for the rifle and four and a half for the two pistols.” Marci reached down and patted one of the two holstered pistols at her waist.

  “We’ll have to be careful and avoid contact as much as possible,” Kurt said. “Let’s also keep our eyes open for other weapons along the way. We might have to shift to standard firearms at some point.”

  Marci nodded and slung the rifle strap so that the weapon hung across her chest, ready to use. Kurt settled his pack in place and slung the rifle across the back of it. It was unlikely they’d find compatible flechette rounds for it, but you never knew. He was reluctant to leave it behind. “Ready to go?”

  “I’m following you, K.C. Lead the way.”

  Kurt took off to the west through the trees until they reached the edge of the woods. Checking to make sure there was no sign of movement at the edge of town, Kurt angled north for the part of town due west of the police station and bank.

  Kurt mouthed the words that enabled the tracking spell. His eyes glowed as they shifted to viewing the world in the magical spectrum. He started to see traces of magical tendrils instantly all over the place. They were very faint and indicated the usual presence of energy in nature that was there all the time. That wasn’t what he was looking for.

  The life force of the newborn hybrid elf child should be much stronger and leave a more definitive line or trace behind. At least that’s what he hoped.

  “Marci, I need you to watch the edge of town for any sign of the infected. I’m pretty focused in on trying to track magical energy and won’t be able to pay attention to anything else.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. Keep moving and find that trail.”

  Kurt continued moving to the north along the western edge of town. He stopped every fifty meters or so and crouched down to scan the area in front of him. He then turned and scanned both east and west, looking for any trace of where Brent left town.

  He almost walked right past it when he did stumble on it. He hadn’t expected it to be so faint. The baby’s residual trail looked just like a patch of sunlight shining through the leaves onto the ground. It was just a bit of a golden glow angling west.

  Kurt only noticed it wasn’t sunlight when he caused a shadow to fall across an area nearby and saw there was no change to the glowing magical trail. He stopped and held up a fist causing Marci to stop.

  She moved up next to him and whispered. “Did you find it?”

  “Yeah. This is where they left town. It looks like they headed west to the tree line and then angled to the south on this path. Let’s head down and see if we can find if they continued in this direction for very long.”

  Turning southwest through the trees, Marci and Kurt both continued paralleling the path until Kurt stopped them again. The trail faded here where the path met a gravel road. He couldn’t tell which direction Brent and the baby had gone anymore.

  It looked like the trail was most reliable when it was near live vegetation. When it neared the center of the road, it faded out. It was then he realized where the trail disappeared.

  “I think Brent tried to stay off the roads this far to stay out of sight. I think he’s moved back onto the road now, probably to make better time.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because the trail fades out and doesn’t pick up anywhere that I can see. They couldn’t have flown into the air, so we have to assume they moved one direction or another. My bet is on the packed dirt and gravel of the road. Let’s check the other side of the road and see if they just crossed over heading west.

  Kurt and Marci headed across and checked for fifty meters up and down in both directions on the other side.

  “See anything?” Marci asked.

  “No, they didn’t just cross over the road. I think they stayed on it.”

  “You don’t think they were smart enough to backtrack up the road to throw us off the trail, do you?” Marci asked.

  “No, Brent’s along because this is probably one of his corporate pet projects in the company. He’s probably here to cover his own ass.”

  “So south it is then. He’s got to be headed for the hidden lab,” Marci said.

  Kurt nodded and turned to follow the road south. He walked down the middle of the narrow gravel road. As he walked, he tried to watch both sides for any signs that Brent headed into the brush and woods on either side.

  Once again, he almost missed it.

  They’d been following the road for the better part of the whole day when Kurt got the sudden u
rge to stop and check the sides of the roadway.

  “I think he has just left the road here. I can’t be sure, though. Can you see any tracks where their trail moves off into the brush?” Kurt asked.

  “I’ll check,” Marci said. “Stay there. I’ll see if I can spot any tracks.”

  Marci moved over to the edge of the road and then took a step into the brush. She scanned the forest floor carefully for signs of anyone’s passage. Kurt waited as she disappeared into the trees for a few minutes before coming back out.

  “I found footprints. I can’t be sure they’re Brent’s. They might belong to one of the infected. Somebody came this way, though, probably within the last day or so. See if you can find a trace of the baby.”

  Kurt hurried down from the road to the tree line and stepped into the shadows. He said a silent prayer as he tried to find the faint, glowing trail once again.

  He spotted it again instantly. “This is it. Good eyes, Marci.”

  “I only found a few footprints. You confirmed it was them. Which way are they headed?”

  Kurt indicated south-west with a pointed finger and started down what amounted to a small game trail.

  Kurt continued as he saw more and more of the trail ahead of him. It seemed as if it was gaining strength. He wondered if that meant they were getting closer to catching up to Brent. He had more than a day’s lead on them and that worried Kurt because he could’ve done anything with the baby in that time.”

  “Kurt, we’ve been traveling for almost the entire day. We are kilometers south of the town at this point. He’s got to be headed for the secret lab. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “In that case, we need to be careful,” Kurt warned. “If there’s a secret lab here hidden in this place, they’ve got to have security measures and we don’t want to stumble upon them and trigger anything.”

  “You can’t keep an eye out for that and follow the baby's trail at the same time. We’re going to have to find a way to watch for signs of security systems while you follow Allie’s trail. What about magical wards?”