“Chaz—sorry to disturb you guys but there’s got to be almost a million or more of those things gathering on the southern shoreline of the lake, Josiah sent out several others with the speaker truck and they left it at the middle point of the bridge.” Noah reported as he turned glancing halfway back toward the way they had come.
“He’s going to bring the truck back inside these walls at a slower pace—just until enough of those things have been riled up enough.” Billy added with a serious expression.
“We might end up having to blow the bridge if too many of those fuckers get across—what’s the status on the horde at the moment?” I asked as me and my women left our room following the guys down to the communications room.
“There are several large masses of those Destroyer bio-weapons approaching from the southwest—most of the horde at this time looks like a mixture of regular zombies and those of the advanced strain; there are jumpers and other smaller bio-weapons mixed in.” Beau answered from the nearby monitor where he was watching through one of the cameras on the front wall.
“We’ll have a real problem if those Destroyers get too close to our walls here—the deep waters of the lake will slow down and keep most of the horde from getting too close but those Destroyers are big enough to ford across without much effort.” I stated in a worried tone as I joined him at the monitor he was watching.
“We’re about to ready the guns on the towers and walls—if we can take out some of the larger and more dangerous bio-weapons before they get too close then all the better.” A blonde headed woman stated as she entered the room and came up to stand beside of Josiah.
“Good, but you don’t have to report to me—I’m no longer the leader here.” Josiah answered glancing at her and then at me.
“R-Right, sorry.” She answered quickly as her eyes fell on me.
“Chaz—this is Megan Nicoles, she’s one of my older team leaders that was stationed at one of our southern wall checkpoints in the past.” Josiah stated as he introduced the woman to me and my women.
“It’s nice to meet you, my name is Megan Nicoles.” The woman stated smiling.
“Chaz Watkins, likewise—what happened to the southern wall?” I answered nodding at her.
“All of the southern checkpoints were overrun hours ago—we were forced to gather up everyone that was still breathing and flee back up here…there are more of those things than I have ever seen before.” Megan answered with a worried tone.
“Something is drawing them to this location and for the life of me I can’t figure out what it could be…it’s not the speakers on the truck because we haven’t even started using them yet…” I stated in deep thought.
“That remains a mystery to me as well…luckily the frequency is all ready to broadcast and we were able to acquire hearing protection for everyone here—those things are getting thick as shit out there, I’d suggest that we get ready to see if this frequency was worth the trouble it was to acquire it.” Beau stated as he turned to me and nodded.
Everyone in the room quickly left and headed outside to he courtyard and up into the towers and along the walls—Josiah and several of the others headed to the roof to prepare the frequency while everyone else throughout the compound put their ear protective gear on and waited; moments later the massive Destroyers could be seen coming across the lake toward us and that was when the others on the roof turned on the signal for the first time and a loud roaring sound could be heard from the hordes of dead-heads and other mutations that were coming straight for us. I quickly ran up to the top of the nearby battlements with my women and we looked out over the span of the lake toward the south, east and west and it looked like the zombies and other creatures were definitely being effected by the frequency waves and some of them were exploding in clouds of blood and gore while many of the others held their heads in what looked like pain—this lasted for several minutes before many of them started coming toward us again as it seemed like they were no longer effected by the frequency.
“Shit—it’s having no effect on them…those must be ones that have mutated so far beyond the original strain that it no longer works against them.” I stated in a horrified tone.
“It looks like it’s still working on at least half of them…there are so many though that it’s hard to tell.” Jennifer stated as she used the nearby pair of binoculars to gaze down on the hordes.
I glanced at the Destroyers and noticed that it had had no effect on them whatsoever and they were closer now than they had been before—that was when I heard Billy and Noah shout from their spots along the towers and battlements and the parameter guns opened fire sending shells into the masses of the dead-heads and other mutations and I heard the loud speaker on the truck below as the driver turned the noise on and then turned around driving toward the gates as the hordes charges after it; the shells from the parameter guns tore into the Destroyers knocking them back and each one done the same until the first few had been knocked back onto the shoreline and then one of them was hit in its vulnerable spot causing it to splatter into a cloud of blood and gore as its body toppled over crushing trees and other creatures around it. I glanced down as the gates boomed open allowing the speaker truck inside before they were sealed shut again and then I heard shouting before a massive explosion caused me and my women to cover our eyes and shield our faces as the bridge charges had been detonated—fire, smoke and debris filled the air as masonry and pieces of wood and steel rained down on us and the lake around our fortress; the middle section of the bridge looked to be gone and the surge of dead-heads and other creatures that had been caught in the blast radius were destroyed and floating in the lake.
“Well—we’re not going anywhere now that the bridge is gone…I hope that we can hold out here.” I stated in deep thought as I stared down at the area that was still shrouded by smoke and fire.
The Destroyers had all been destroyed for the moment though I was sure that there would be more of them soon enough—the hordes were for the moment confined to the other end of the destroyed bridge and the shoreline but it looked like many of them had started to wade into the waters of the lake, determined to get to the source of whatever was drawing them to our location. The speakers broadcasting the frequency had been turned off for the time because using them the first time had seriously drained our generators and it would take time before they would have the juice to use it again, I was at that point skeptical about whether or not it was even worth it to use the frequency again knowing that although it had killed off thousands of those things the first time, that there were those down there that were immune to it and I didn’t know how it was effecting the larger bio-weapons either. The whole place seemed like a warzone as the others of the group were running around trying to make sure that the dead-heads and other mutations didn’t breach the walls or get inside of our fortress any other way as well as keep the parameter guns on the walls supplied with ammunition—the guns continued firing for another several minutes and then they just stopped; I glanced up at them and then at Billy and Richard who were closest to where they were.
“Why did they stop firing—are they out of ammo?” I called up as my women clung to me with looks of dread on their faces.
“No—there’s still ammo…hang on a second…” Billy answered as he quickly dashed over to the edge of the battlement and put a pair of binoculars to his eyes.
Several seconds passed and then he turned back to face me and the others who were now gathering in the courtyard near us.
“I can’t see movement of any kind…not even any of those big Destroyer fuckers…” Billy shouted.
“What the hell do you mean you can’t see anything?”
“Those things didn’t just all disappear!” Beau answered back as he hobbled over to the base of the stairs.
“Look for yourself if you don’t believe me—they’re fucking gone.” Billy answered tossing the binoculars to
Beau and stepping aside as Beau climbed up the steps and put them to his eyes.
Several long seconds passed before Beau took them away from his eyes and turned back to the rest of us.
“He’s right…there’s nothing out there, no movement of any kind—it’s like those things just vanished.” Beau stated with a troubled tone.
“How is that possible?” Sheila asked glancing up at me with worry.
“I don’t know, baby…I don’t see how it’s possible either—we all know how many of those things there were out there and we know from personal experience how hard many of those fucking bio-weapons were to bring down…I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t have a good feeling for some reason.” I answered scratching my head.
“Did the guns destroy all of them?” One of the other survivors in the growing crowd asked.
“Unlikely…as many of those things there were out there…look, let’s just keep our eyes peeled, the last thing we need now is to be caught off guard.” I answered turning to glance at the person in the crowd.
The lake and the lands around it were deathly silent and it was the kind of silence that sent chills down my back as I tried my best to keep not only my women but also my kids calm—the night was steadily approaching and I knew that in the darkness it was going to be extra difficult to maintain a parameter watch; snow was starting to fall again and it was accumulating on the frozen ground beneath our feet, I glanced over at the roaring bonfire that Billy, Kayla and several of the others were stoking with wooden pallets. I watched as the smoke drifted up through the rafters of the enclosure that covered the courtyard and that was when movement caught my attention—several figures flew down and attacked some of the other survivors; I caught sight of one of them realizing that it looked like a jumper zombie and yet it didn’t.
“Look out!” I shouted as I pointed my M16 at one of the creatures and opened fire sending a hail of bullets into its upper torso and head.
The others were able to quickly gun the others down but I had noticed that the survivor who had been attacked by the creature had a trace of blood on their neck—I led the way over to them and inquired on what had happened.
“I don’t think it bit me but my neck is hurting like hell…” The male survivor answered as he felt of the spot where the splotch of blood was.
“How did those fucking things even get inside of this area without us seeing them do it?” Beau asked in an irate tone.
“I don’t know, but we need to do a sweep and make sure that there aren’t anymore of them.” I answered quickly as my eyes darted around the rafters above us.
Moments later the others turned on several large spotlights turning them toward the rafters and ceiling above and we spent the next several minutes searching the area for infiltrators that had gotten past our defenses—the male survivor was taken to the infirmary to be treated by Anya and I couldn’t shake the feeling in the back of my mind that she was in danger; I directed my women to take the youngest of our kids and the newborns back up to our room and make sure that the windows and outer doors were locked while I went with Anya to make sure that she was going to be okay. The male survivor was placed on an exam table and strapped down—Anya began examining the spot on his neck as I sat down nearby with my assault rifle tucked underneath my left arm, I watched as she injected a sedative into the man’s arm and as she continued to exam him it seemed like it got harder and harder for me to keep my eyes open and soon I found myself asleep and dreaming; I saw the fortress around me and I saw my friends, family and my women. It seemed like we were up in arms about something and no more had I started looking around in the dream, the fortress around us started to shake and crumble and then right before my eyes a mass of thousands of dead-heads and other mutations started surging out of the lower levels of the fortress and then something massive caught my eye as I opened fire with my assault rifle; in the dream I remembered assuming that it was a Destroyer but then I seen it and I just about choked, for I had seen this creature before. I stumbled back as red glaring eyes focused on me and then I woke with a start as Anya was calling my name and lightly shaking me awake.
“Baby—something is happening to him…” She stated once I was fully awake.
“What’s going on, babe?” I asked getting to my feet noticing the worried look on her face.
“His heart stopped beating about three and a half minutes ago…he-he started twitching a few seconds ago before I woke you.” Anya answered as she held onto me in fear.
That was when the body of the male survivor suddenly sat up and broke out of the restraints—the creature that he had become quickly leapt off the exam table and latched onto the nearby wall; as I looked the thing over it looked like it was mutating, its skin and limbs were contorting and it was making a sickening crackling sound.
“Get back—get to the door!” I shouted to Anya as the creature suddenly flew off from the wall onto the floor only a few feet away from us.
I opened fire on the thing as it turned toward Anya as she went for the door—my bullets tore through its body and sent it flying back into the far end of the room and I quickly joined Anya at the door as several of the others came running; that was when the thing came flying toward me and I could see a large mouth full of teeth on the lower side of what had been the abdomen. Noah ran to my side and fired several rounds with his combat shotgun—the rounds from the shells tore through the creatures’ body causing pieces of putrid flesh and black blood to splatter as it fell to the floor and twitched, I quickly ran up to it and opened fire on it again—once I was satisfied that it was destroyed, I turned and rejoined Anya, Noah and the few others at the door.
“What the hell was that thing?” Noah asked in a shaky tone.
“I don’t know—that was the male survivor who was attacked by that creature in the courtyard not long ago…he died and became whatever the fucking hell that thing was.” I answered with a troubled tone.
“Let’s seal this room off, there’s another room that we have that can be used as a temporary infirmary.” Josiah stated as we all continued to stare at the gory remains of the creature.
We left the infirmary and Josiah and several of the others locked the door and piled stuff against it to make sure that it was secure—I took Anya by her hand and we returned to our room on the third floor where I was hoping that my other women were okay; once we got there we seen that they were and things were safe, I told them what had happened in the infirmary and then I started describing the dream that I had just before the incident.
“Sounds like something is on the verge of breaking inside of this fortress…red glaring eyes…I don’t like the sound of that.” Jennifer stated in a worried tone.
“There’s also the fact of what happened in the infirmary with that man who was attacked…I’ve never seen a creature like that before, not even back during the days when I was trying to survive back in Winnipeg.” Anya stated as she sat down nearby in one of the chairs.
“We’ve never seen anything like it either—not in all of the years since the original outbreak…with all of these new bio-weapons that have been appearing lately it’s almost as if someone or something is engineering them…” I answered in deep thought as my attention went to the nearby window.
I could see the outline of the mountains to the west in the moonlight—it was still spitting snow but the majority of the clouds had cleared from the sky; that was when I had a terrible thought.
“I need to go check on something, you girls stay here and don’t unlock the door until you know for a fact that it’s me.” I stated grabbing my weapons and heading for the door.
“I’m coming with you.” Ivy stated firmly as she grabbed her weapons and gear.
I nodded knowing that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer and I kissed the rest of my women before leading the way out the door, we waited until I heard the locking mechanism inside of the door cl
ick and then I turned and led the way downstairs toward the first floor meeting up with Noah and Christina along the way; when I told them what I intended to do they insisted on coming with me as well and shortly after we arrived in the main hall and I stared upon the closed metal doors that led to the lower levels of our fortress with dread—there was just something about it that made my skin crawl and I remembered the dream that I had had a short time before and this caused me to grip my assault rifle tighter.
“Are we going into the lower levels?” Ivy asked looking up at me with a curious look.
“Yes…I have a really bad feeling…” I answered as I didn’t take my eyes off of the door before us.
“Set up a defensive parameter…be ready for anything.” I commanded as several of the other group members around us had taken notice of what we were staring at.
They nodded and started setting up barriers and blockades where they could take cover and shoot from and then I started toward the metal doors listening for anything that might be on the other side—I placed my hand on the steel latch and listened more, still nothing.
“Open it slow…” Noah stated as he cocked his combat shotgun pointing it at the door.
I nodded and started turning the latch until it clicked and then I pulled the doors open—ahead we were greeted by the long dankly lit corridor that led to the underground docks, storage and the generator rooms; it was empty and the only sounds were the faint rumble of the generators below. I led the way through the corridor with my weapons ready and Ivy stayed close at my side with her weapons ready as Noah and Christina followed at our flank—we descended down the first few flights of stairs and we were coming upon the doors to the docks when there was an explosion from somewhere ahead that caused the structure around us to shake as the lights immediately died; I could smell smoke and fire and the only light that we could see ahead was from a massive blaze that was burning out of control down the corridor toward where the generator room had been.
[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles Page 97
