by S. M. LITTLE
“Everyone to the roof!” Cpl. Miller yelled out. “Evacuate this facility!”
Fear ran through every person in the lab as Faulk’s restraints gave way, popping like corn as they broke. People ran in complete chaos. The Marines never had a chance to do a walkthrough with everyone about the evacuation, so people just ran with no clear idea of what they were doing or where they were going.
The Marines had told them to remain calm during the evacuation and head to the roof, but that was all forgotten when Faulk’s restraints gave way.
Faulk was still lying there, the change not quite complete. His body was still convulsing, giving Tina a glimmer of hope that the research could be saved.
“Bob, get those papers!” Tina yelled at him as she started to grab thumb drives.
As she was doing that, Faulk started to move. Slowly, one arm started to rise, then the other. He reached towards the sky, and then in one fluid motion, he dropped his arms quickly and sat straight up. He took a long inhale of the smells around him and got off the bed. He was a purple menace, veins popped out and muscles rivaling a lifelong body builder.
“Too late!” Bob yelled as he grabbed Tina. He started to drag her across the room towards the stairs when Faulk let out a terrifying scream. It was filled with rage and hate.
Tina stopped fighting against Bob when she heard the sound and turned for the stairs. Gunfire erupted in the lab, followed by shouts and screams of pain, lending wings to their feet. Faulk had found his first victims.
A thought of ‘better you than me’ ran through Bob’s mind as he and Tina made it to the stairs. It was a horrible thought, he knew, but their deaths were saving Tina and himself. He snuck a look back as he was racing up the stairs to see a massacre occurring. The Marines with rifles were all dead, lying in pools of blood. Their bodies twisted into shapes that the human body was never meant to perform.
Faulk was destroying everything he touched, amazingly fast. Bob knew that anyone not already on the stairs was going to die in the next several minutes.
Tina and Bob reached the roof and boarded the helicopter. No one else was on board yet and from the looks of it, the other chopper was empty except for the flight crew. Several seconds later they could see the pilot talking into his microphone and then the choppers started to take off. Tina grabbed a headset and put it on.
“We can’t leave yet,” Tina shouted.
“We’ve been ordered to lift off and get you to Kitsap ma’am,” the pilot told her.
“What about all those people?” she asked.
“All dead. It was Cpl. Miller who told us to leave,” was the answer.
Tina looked at Bob and tears flooded her face. All the people she had worked with for so many years, all the Marines that had protected them, all gone. Gone from one lone purple monster.
“Oh my god,” Tina breathed out.
“What?” Bob asked her. He had just gotten a headset on and hadn’t heard the news.
“They’re all dead. Everyone in the lab is dead and we have none of the research. It was all for nothing,” she cried out, grabbing Bob and embracing him.
In all the chaos, she had forgotten that two thumb drives had made it into her pocket, one labeled Faulk, the other labeled Bob.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
DULUTH, MINNESOTA
Back at their base, Dylan launched himself out the vehicle and made a beeline for Larry. It was time to settle this thing, once and for all. Larry had not only disobeyed his orders, but he also selfishly put his petty feud before the team, putting all of them in danger.
Larry had exited the Hummer and was looking at the roof for his pile of crap, to see if it had flown off during the ride back. He was starting to smile, seeing that it was still there, when a sledgehammer-like blow caught him from behind.
He fell forward, face first into the Hummer. He knew who it was, fully expecting the confrontation, but thought he had a few more seconds before it came.
“Put yourself before the team, will you?’ Dylan said as he grabbed a fistful of Larry’s hair. He pulled Larry from the side of the vehicle and turned him around. A big right hand landed on Larry’s face.
“Disobey my orders?” Dylan screamed at him as Larry hit the ground.
“Damn straight,’ Larry countered as he lunged his right foot towards Dylan’s knee. He missed the knee, hitting Dylan in the shin. “She was going to be mine!”
“She was never yours, jackass,” Dylan yelled as he went to kick Larry, who was still on the ground. Larry countered by grabbing Dylan’s leg and twirling him around. Dylan ended up on his back next to Larry.
Larry saw his opportunity and jumped on top of Dylan. He reached for Dylan’s throat, thinking he could choke the life out of Dylan, but Dylan was stronger, and wiser.
Seeing that Larry was leaning slightly forward while reaching for his throat, Dylan lifted his hips and flung Larry over his head.
“She only tolerated you because you were my friend,” Dylan shouted, scrambling to his feet. He needed to regain his advantage.
“Uh uh, no way. She needed me because you were always off saving the world. She needed a man to be with her, not Mighty Mouse,” Larry said as he staggered back up.
That enraged Dylan even further because it was partly true. Adrenaline dumped into his body and he lunged at Larry. Larry knew this was coming and dodged the attempted spear by Dylan. He grabbed Dylan by the waist as Dylan flew past him and tackled him to the ground.
They continued to roll around, each trying to gain the upper hand, but failing. The rest of the team had gathered around the two, knowing this fight was inevitable. When it was clear the two were tiring out, Glenn stepped in to break it up.
“Enough!” Glenn yelled as he tried to separate them. Bull jumped in to help and they got the two separated.
“This infighting won’t help anyone!” Glenn shouted. “People out there are dying and you two are fighting over a girl that’s gone. Get real, you two. War is here, so start fighting the damned war, not each other!”
With that, Dylan settled down, but kept his eyes glued to Larry. Larry followed suit.
“He’s right,” Larry said. “But this ain’t over.”
“Damn right it’s not. If you ever put yourself before the team again, I’ll feed you to the Changed, one piece at a time,” Dylan retorted.
“Try it, big boy,” Larry said.
“I SAID ENOUGH!” Glenn shouted. “Dylan, act like the fucking leader you are supposed to be, and Larry, I swear on everything holy, if you do that shit again, I will kill you before Dylan has even one second to get to you!”
The rest of the team lined up behind Glenn, showing that they too, would drop him. Bull even went face to face with Larry, nose to nose.
“I won’t kill you. I’ll just chain your ass up and gut you like a pig,” Bull whispered to him. His words were full of bile and rage. Bull knew the code and adhered to it to this day. You never put anything before the team when on a mission.
Larry eased up on his bravado and came to his senses.
“You’re right. Team first, but this isn’t over,” he said, staring a hole through Dylan.
“No, it’s not,” Dylan said. “But Glenn is right. There will be a time for us to finish this, but it’s not now.” He turned to the rest of the team and looked each in the eye. Respect and admiration radiated from him as he silently apologized to each team member. They knew what he was doing and accepted his apology without saying a word.
“Unload these trucks and let’s get back to the airport,” Dylan ordered. He was uneasy about going there, as it was the place April had died, but they had to. They needed vital supplies and equipment from there.
An hour later, all the supplies were unloaded, catalogued, and put away. Bill served as quartermaster, because he was a jack of all trades, and could organize anything. He was famous for bartering and making trades, hence his call sign, Trader.
Altogether, they had come away from the armory with a t
on of gear and equipment. Every team member was now armed with an M4, a tactical vest, and a ballistics vest. Every person had a blade, for close-up action. They each had a sidearm and loaded magazines for both guns. They had changed into military fatigues that they had sourced from the armory. Each person was issued several sets of BDU’s in different styles. Tiger stripe BDU’s, tactical BDU’s, and a couple of other styles and colors. They grabbed everything they could just in case their ranks grew.
Along with the guns and ammo, they also acquired a couple of cases of grenades. Both fragmentation and flash bangs. MREs (meals ready to eat) had also been found and gathered. In total, the team was ready for war.
They loaded into three deuce and a half’s and two Hummers. The Hummers were both armed with M2s on top, for security purposes. Dylan was certain there would be some choppers at the airport they could “borrow”, along with some smaller fixed wing aircraft.
They were almost back to the warehouse district when they started taking fire. Whoever was doing the shooting was smart, because both Bill and Randy, who were manning the M2s were hit.
Rapid rifle fire riddled the sides of the deuce’s, leaving Dylan to wonder if his men were alive or dead.
“Keep moving, punch it,” Dylan said over the new radios they had acquired. He looked back to see every vehicle continue forward, so he knew that at least the drivers were still ok.
He frantically looked for a place to go, but they were out in the open.
“Someone get on those .50 cals,” he shouted. “Where is that fire coming from?”
“Three o’ clock, low” Bull replied. He sounded out of breath.
Directly in front of them and to the left was a warehouse. Dylan ordered the team to take refuge behind the warehouse. They pulled behind the building to see ten men aiming rifles at them. They had fallen right into a trap.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
MOUNTAIN VIEW, ARKANSAS
Lucy and the rest of the family had been working for what seemed like a week to get everything ready. Ben had pillaged every piece of farm equipment he could to get the bus up and running. It took him forever, working an average of eighteen hours a day, but finally, the old beast coughed to life. Thick black smoke poured out of the exhaust as the engine burned off old oil.
Ben took his time after that, making sure the old thing would purr. He tweaked this, tinkered with that, and now it was humming along. Repairs to the body had started, along with the renovation of the inside. They were trying to make it somewhat of a Mad Max-type vehicle. Ben had already installed a trailer hitch on the bus and had plans to make a trailer that could carry some of the larger items, even some of the livestock they had.
Along with the repairs to the bus, the family was gathering all the supplies they would need. Clothing was a big item for Kay. Being a mother, she was always on the lookout for what her children needed. She eventually took charge of the food, clothing, water, and other essential items that they would require, if they needed to bug out.
That left Lucy and Greg. It was up to them to get everyone armed, one way or another. The pickings were pretty slim at the farm. A shotgun, the rifles they had brought with them, and a bunch of old handheld farm tools that they converted to weapons. They would have to forage for other weapons as they went along if they had to leave.
Currently, Ben needed help on the bus. He was trying to install some bunk beds in the back section.
“Hold that piece right there, and turn your head away,” Ben told Greg. Greg had come to help him with the heavy lifting.
Greg held the metal piece in place, closed his eyes, and turned his head. Sparks shot out from the metal as Ben laid down a perfect bead of weld.
“There, that should hold,” Ben said, admiring his work. It was the last piece to weld and the beds would be done. The welds needed to cool off before they could put mattresses on the frames.
“What’s next?” Greg asked.
“I’d like to build a turret where the vent is in the roof. I have a ladder we can cut up and weld in place. Might make for a good lookout spot,” Ben said.
“Great idea. How do we do that?” Greg said.
“Boy, you’ve never worked a manual labor job before, have you?” Ben asked.
“No, I was hell bent on being a doctor,” Greg replied.
“No problem, just do what I say and we can get this done pretty quick,” Ben said.
As they started to cut out a bigger hole for the turret, Lucy was instructing Shay and Tyler on how to handle a staff and a knife.
“No, grab the knife like this,” Lucy said as she showed them the safe way to handle a knife. “You can also hold it like this.” She tried to show them how to hold it with the blade on the pinky finger side of their hand.
“Why would we hold it like that?” Tyler asked.
“For this,” Lucy said and swung at the dummy they had created. They had taken some branches from a tree and shoved them in the ground and dressed them in old, ragged clothes. It loosely resembled a human form. She took a swing to show them what would happen, then did it again, but much slower, so they could clearly see how to execute the move.
“Oh, I see,” Shay said. “The blade would point out and cut the attacker.”
“Yes, very good,” Lucy told her. “Did you see that, Tyler?”
“Yes, but how would it stay in your hand? Wouldn’t it come out when you hit the other person?” he asked.
“It might, but if you hold on real tight, it should stay in your grasp,” Lucy told him.
She was having a good time teaching her niece and nephew, she just wished it wasn’t for life-or-death circumstances.
Another week passed before the inevitable happened. They were discovered.
It was later in the evening when everything went down. Ben was finishing up on the bus before dinner. He had just welded the last of his ‘armor plating’ to the sides. He had welded half inch thick metal sheets to the sides, leaving a few openings for windows. The bus had been fully stocked with supplies and whatever ammunition they could find. It wasn’t much.
Ben lifted his welder’s mask to see a green one coming right at him. It was only ten feet away by the time Ben saw it. He had been told to bring a pistol with him while he was outside, and he was glad he had listened.
He grabbed the Glock and fire three shots at the Greener. Two shots hit it in the chest and one in the head. The Greener fell to the ground, lifeless and unmoving.
The noise from the gun alerted the entire family, but also any Changed that were in the area, which turned out to be more than they had realized. The family quickly came to the understanding that they had only minutes to spare before they were overrun.
“To the bus,” Ben shouted as his family ran out of the house. They hadn’t worked out any warning system, and from what Ben could see, they didn’t need to think of one now. A group of thirty plus Greens were heading right towards them.
Greg ran to the bus and got behind the wheel. He had been assigned as the driver to get them out. Tactically, Lucy had said that it would be better for Kay to drive, because she knew the roads in the area, but she refused, saying that she would never get there first if her children were not on the bus.
It really made no difference. Everyone was on board faster than a lightning bolt. The kids had been told the dangers of the Changed, and how important it was for them to be ready to go at any moment. They ran like the demons of hell were chasing them, and they very well may have been.
The kids were the next ones on the bus after Greg, followed by Lucy, Ben, and Kay. Greg slammed the door shut, started the bus, and hit the gas. They flew down the driveway and turned right when they reached the road.
They made it barely two miles before Greg slammed on the brakes.
“What the hell?” Lucy yelled as she pulled herself off the floor.
“Look,” Greg said, white faced.
Lucy looked out the front of the bus to see a swarm of Changed walking down the road away from
them. There had to be hundreds of them, and as the bus screeched to a halt they all stopped and turned to look at the bus.
FROM THE AUTHOR
Again, I come to the end of another book. It’s always exciting when it gets finished, wondering if people will enjoy it. This one was really fun to write, and I hope it’s just as fun to read.
The ideas of the changed ones came mostly from my daughter, who loves horror movies. Without her assistance, I’m not sure this book gets written.
I give many thanks to you, the readers. Without you, I am writing for the sake of writing. It is such a joy when someone tells me that they enjoy my books. I can’t say thank you enough.
With that said, I love when I can connect with readers, so I ask you to join my Facebook group here.
Or you contact me via email
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As always, please leave a review. It is the best way for us indie authors have to let people know about our works.
Acknowledgement
This book was so much fun to write, btu with that fun comes work. With that work, comes alot of help.
To my beta readers, I could not have fiunished this without your help. I hope I have done you justice with this book. Linda Bailey, Mike Willingham, Tina Rush and Kathy Roberts... Thank you! I can't say that enough.
To my amazing editor, Amanda Poulin. Once again, you make me look good, which sometimes is hard to do. If anyone reading this needs an editor, look her up.
To Katie, Emma, Michael and Aiden. Your continued beliefe in me to write is inspiring. Thank you! Katie, this book does not get written without your ideas.
To Tracy. Your strength continues to amaze me. Thank you for your support of my writing.
