“Fall back!” I shouted as something massive struck the outside of the doors to the docks.
Masonry and cement was raining down around us as we turned and ran back up the stairs toward the doors to the main hall and I glanced back as the metal doors to the docks flew inward only to see hordes of dead-heads and other mutations swarming in—I hustled the others back upstairs as quickly as I could knowing that our fortress had been breached; we arrived back at he doors to the main hall and Josiah, Billy, Richard, Yuri and several others ran up to me and asked what the hell had happened.
“We’ve lost the generator room and the lower levels have been breached!”
“There’s a horde of those fuckers right behind us—let’s try and get these doors sealed or else this place will be lost!” I answered in a frantic tone.
Everyone joined me as I closed the doors and moved the latch into locking position and then one of the other survivors brought up a welding torch and started working to seal the doors—the only thought on my mind was my women and my family; I knew that this could be it, our last moments alive on earth; I shook the thought and worked to calm Ivy at my side as she was trembling.
“I-I should have stayed back at that abandoned building…” She stuttered in a terror-stricken tone.
“Listen to me—I’m not going to let anything happen to you or any of the others…don’t flake out on me!” I shouted working to calm her.
She glanced into my eyes with tears streaming down her face and she quickly nodded seeing my resolve—that was when the guy doing the welding reported that the doors were sealed as best as he could get them.
“I want you to go back to our room above and bring Jennifer, Sheila and the others along with the kids down here—if those fucking things break through this door they will swarm up the stairs and the upper levels will be lost…we’re going to fall back to the courtyard where we have the heavy ordinances—if that’s our last stand then we’ll take as many of those fuckers with us as we can!” I stated holding Ivy close making sure she understood my instructions.
She nodded and quickly ran up the nearby stairs toward the upper levels.
“I hate to say it but they’ve really fucked us up this time—they’ve used our own fortress as a trap against us.” Josiah stated grimly.
“I hate to say it but he’s right…we blew the bridge to try and stop those things from swarming the front gates when all we were really doing is trapping ourselves inside with no way out…” Darrell stated folding his arms.
“If those things are too many for us to destroy then we need an escape plan…is there any way that we could get across what remains of the bridge?” Chris asked as he and Amber approached from nearby.
“I’d have to check and see how much damage was done to the bridge from the explosions…” Josiah answered as he quickly ran outside into the courtyard.
He was gone for a few minutes before returning and he quickly reported as Jennifer, Sheila, Rachel, Shae, Ivy, Chelsea and Anya arrived with our children from our quarters above and joined me.
“The bridge is intact—mostly—it looks like the explosions only moderately damaged the concrete near the sides…if worse comes to worse we should be able to drive across and get back to the mainland.” Josiah reported huffing trying to catch his breath.
That was when a loud bang suddenly brought everyone’s attention back to the sealed doors to the lower levels as something struck them from the other side—whatever it was an imprint of where it had struck the metal on the other side of the doors could be seen.
“Fall back to the courtyard and the vehicles—we may have no other choice but to flee!” I shouted as I hustled my women and my kids out the front doors of the main hall and down the steps into the courtyard.
The other survivors gathered what they could and followed as the pounding on the other side of the metal doors got more intense and once everyone was out in the courtyard underneath the enclosed roof, many of the group members got into their vehicles and waited—I ran to the driver’s side of our marauder and my women clustered around me ready to jump inside at a moments notice; others of the group were loading food, water and other supplies into the backs of the vehicles from the storage and greenhouse and several of the guys had ran up to the heavy guns on the battlements and turned them toward the front of the main hall. That was when the sound of the metal doors breaking apart from inside could be heard and the air was filled with the horrible screams of the zombies and other mutations as they surged into the main hall and we all waited nervously with our weapons pointed at the doors until the first mass of them broke through and started sprinting down into the courtyard.
“Destroy them!” I shouted as I opened fire with my M16.
The others opened fire and the bullets tore through the heads and brains of countless dead-heads and other mutations but they just kept coming—it looked like the entire bulk of the massive horde that had initially attacked Echo Bay had somehow dredged across the bottom of the lake and came up through the lower levels of the fortress; we had been outsmarted somehow. I was noticing at that point that the bigger, more dangerous bio-weapons were starting to smash through what was left of the front doors of the main hall and come our way. That was when the whole rear of the fortress in front of us crumbled and two massive Destroyers broke up out of the ruins causing masonry and debris to rain down around them—movement caught my eye as a figure appeared out of the doorway to the main hall and my eyes just about popped out of my head; there before us stood a figure that was covered with fused metal plates, parts of its body had mutated but those same red, glaring eyes that I had seen in my dream glared at us from where it stood.
“Fuck…it’s him…” I stated out loud in disbelief.
“Who are you talking about?” Josiah shouted as he seen me and many members of my group staring at the figure in disbelief.
“Darkbourne…” I answered slowly as the realization still refused to set into my mind.
“How the fucking hell is he still alive?!”
“We killed him!” Billy shouted as he grabbed a grenade launcher firing several rounds into the mass of the horde before us.
“He must have played us…he must have never really even been there where we thought we killed him…he must have disappeared, hid underneath the radar so to speak building an army to send at us here and now…it’s the only explanation I can think of.” I answered as the disbelief in my mind was starting to be replaced with rage.
Even after all of this time Bowman’s shadow was still after us and still trying to snuff out what was let of the human race—I glanced at Yuri as he turned the parameter gun he was using on the horde of creatures closest to Darkbourne and then I watched in disbelief as we were all forced to duck down out of the way as the powerful bullets from the torrent were somehow deflected off of Darkbourne and sent back at us; several of them hit the gun Yuri was at as well as him, it exploded blowing him to pieces as the burning remains plummeted off the battlements into the lake. I glanced back up and Darkbourne still stood where we was when he had appeared but the horde was getting closer and closer—the others on the parameter guns were still firing but they had turned their fire away from Darkbourne seeing what would happen if he was hit by any kind of projectile, I knew deep down in my heart that this was a lost cause; I shouted for my women to get inside of our marauder and I done the same with the others around me to get into their vehicles—this would be our last stand if we stayed, this would be our dead hour. The others heard my shouts and quickly loaded into their vehicles starting them up—something suddenly plowed into the rear of Darrell’s armored SWAT vehicle sending it several feet into the air where it came crashing down hitting the limestone rocks in the courtyard; by now the roof that had been built over the courtyard was crashing down around us and I watched in horror as one of the heavy beams came down and smashed the armored mobile home that Josiah and his fr
iends were inside causing it to explode violently, Roana managed to jump out at the last second but the rest of them were killed instantly. Emory pulled their 4x4 camper up to the side and he and several of his friends got out helping Roana inside of their vehicles but that was when the mass of dead-heads and other mutations surged into their flank tearing into Elizabeth, Emily, Katie and Emory killing them—their blood sprayed all over the side of the camper as the last survivor of that group Julianna managed to close the door and speed out of that area. I raced over to the side of the wreckage of Darrell’s vehicle running down countless dead-heads and other mutations with our vehicles’ large tires and I ran over to the side as my women covered me—only Darrell and Stephanie still lived—Erica, Rebecca and Stacey were all dead and the dead-heads and other creatures were now feasting on their flesh, pulling the intestines from their abdomens and ripping their flesh from their bones; my women helped me get Darrell and Stephanie into our marauder and then we fell back as the area was becoming more and more unstable. I raced toward the gates to the outside as the others still alive were around us and I glanced back noticing that one of the vehicles that many of the other newer group members had piled into had been left and was now surrounded by the surge of dead-heads, I looked away sickened as one of the Pollinator bio-weapons that we had seen years before appeared and started dowsing the bodies of not only the zombies that we had killed but also those of our fallen comrades; I watched as they rose to their feet and screamed the horrible way that the rest of them did and I knew that we were truly lost this time. Billy, Richard and a few of the others were working on getting the gates opened and I glanced back at the vehicle that had been surrounded was crushed underneath the massive foot of one of the Destroyers killing Victoria, Maggie, Lacey, Jason, Amelia, Michael Glassman and Megan Nicoles—the remains of the vehicle exploded sending pieces of burning debris in all directions; the horde was getting closer and yet Darkbourne still stood in the same spot leering at us, I glanced at Beau and I could tell that he had some sort of a plan.
“You’ve got to get everyone you can away from this place—this place is fucked…somebody has got to live or else there’s no point…” He stated focusing his attention on me.
“I will save as many as I can…” I answered as I glanced at my women and kids inside of our marauder and then around at what remained of our group.
I noticed Joshua carrying a body and when he got close enough we seen that it was Nicole Whitlock—she had been killed in the initial attack when the bullets from the guns Yuri had fired at Darkbourne had deflected back at us; her torso was torn open and blood was all over Joshua—Sheila and Billy tried to console him as they helped him into the back of Mace and my other older kids’ truck. I noticed Richard and Morgana running toward us and I pointed my assault rifle at the dead-heads that were surging after them and I shot them multiple times in the heads dropping them but I kept firing until my gun clicked and Jennifer and Sheila pulled me away as the air was filled with smoke that stung our eyes—Madison ran to Billy and Kayla who helped her into the vehicle where Lylah and Cora were safely protected, that was when one of the large Blighter bio-weapons smashed into the side of the modified car that Seth, Jamie and Lauren were inside of it to our shock and dismay, it lifted the vehicle up off the ground and crushed it inward like an empty beer can killing the three of them before they ever had a chance to get out; Morgana collapsed to her knees crying out her sister’s name and Richard worked to try and console her as the two of them climbed into their modified RV. I noticed Kira’s body laying on the ground not far from where they had come from—she was dead and several of the dead-heads were eating her remains, I quickly grabbed the grenade launcher that I had used many times before and fired several rounds which exploded destroying them; I stumbled back against the side of our marauder as I held the weapon, old memories of Chloe flooded into my mind and her loss, though it had been weeks before caused tears to stream down my face. Jennifer, Sheila and my other women helped me inside of our marauder and I watched as Billy and the others got the gates opened and then I gunned it out of there as the others followed—I was watching in the rear-view mirror as the last remaining vehicle of our group attempted to follow but was scooped up, Chris and Amber fell out of the passenger side of the land rover as the door broke off and they both hit the ground mostly unharmed and they ran after us as the Destroyer that had scooped up the land rover crushed it in its limb killing Cooper, Tara, Andra and Britney before it flung the remains of the vehicle after us hitting the upper part of the gatehouse causing it to explode and crumble; I looked back remembering Beau who I hadn’t seen get back into any of our vehicles and I realized that he was still inside of the walls of the doomed fortress.
“Remember what I told you, Chaz—get as many as you can to safety and live…I’m not going to let that piece of shit get away with this…” Beau’s voice stated over the CB on our dashboard suddenly.
“I will…I swear.” I answered putting the receiver to my lips.
Chris and Amber caught up with us and they climbed in with Richard and Morgana and we all left heading across the somewhat unstable bridge, luckily we were able to make it to the other side and we stopped on the roadway looking back as the huge Destroyers could be seen as they tried to tear through the walls of the fortress and come after us. Beau crawled along the ground covering his left side with his hand as blood steadily flowed out of a grievous wound that he had sustained—he could hear the heavy footsteps of Darkbourne as he stalked after him, Beau crawled into the armory and grabbed a detonator before arming the massive cache of high explosives that had been stored there; that was when the wall of the building crumbled as Darkbourne smashed through grabbing Beau up into his massive hands holding him up before him.
“Your feeble friends have left you to die…but don’t worry, they too will share your fate.” Darkbourne stated as his eyes flared red.
“Not…not going to happen—this is where you die, here and now!” Beau retorted as blood poured from his mouth.
Seconds later, he hit the button on the detonator and the whole building and fortress around him went up in a powerful, towering explosion that spread out all across the lake island consuming it and everything that stirred inside—I looked on it with shock as I put my foot to the pedal speeding out of there as what was left of my group followed; the shockwave from the explosion spread out traveling at the speed of sound hitting the rear of our convoy doing little damage but I could tell that something had happened in my daughters’ truck as I could hear them crying and shouting. Moments later I heard Mace’s voice over the CB stating that Ember and Xavier had been killed when the shockwave had hit the rear of our convoy, I slowed down to a stop and just sat there in a daze not knowing what to do—two of my children had just been killed and I suddenly let out an animal cry banging my fists against the steering wheel repeatedly until Jennifer, Sheila and my other women managed to get me calmed down; I glanced at Jennifer with tears in my eyes and noticed that her eyes matched mine, I took her into my arms comforting her as best as I could knowing that our son was gone as well one of my daughters—one of Angie’s legacy was now lost. After several minutes I managed to start driving again and I took us back the way that we had come when we had first arrived as the lake island far behind us sank into the lake—whether or not Darkbourne had survived the explosion was unknown but I knew that I had to find a safe place for those who still lived, I had to find us a new home. Over the next several days I made it back to where we had buried my mom and I noticed that another hole had been dug beside of her grave and I glanced down seeing ashes and traces of bones and other remains—it was at that point when I had my answer as to my dad’s fate; he had obviously set himself afire and then collapsed into the hole, with her death he had lost his resolve—his will to even exist.
“Maybe he’s at peace now…” I stated in a melancholy tone as my women, kids and other group members gathered around me.
&n
bsp; For the first time since that devasting day, we were able to assess our losses and we soon found out that LaDonna as well as Marco had been killed—we spent the next few hours digging holes for graves as well as filling the one that the remains of my dad was in up and we put Ember and Xavier to rest as well as Marco and LaDonna.
“Take care of them…wherever you are…” I stated staring down at the graves of my two kids as well as those of my parents.
Soon after that we all got into our vehicles and departed determined to find a new home—one that would be secure and safe from whatever else might try and come after us; we would endure, one way or another…
Much had changed and I stood on the roof watching the birds fly past me—the rolling clouds in the sky above as a storm approached; glancing down over the edge I looked upon the opposite tower structure that the others of my group had since settled into and then I looked upon the settlement at the base of our towers knowing that it had started to thrive with other survivors. We were slowly rebuilding, one step at a time and I smiled, a bittersweet memory of those who had been lost six years before—the image of their faces flooded through my mind and I turned as I felt the hands of my women as they came up behind me, I smiled sharing kisses with them and taking two of our youngest kids into my arms.
“Whatever happens, we’re together and we will survive.” Jennifer stated smiling as the wind blew through her long, red hair.
Sheila and the others agreed and wrapped their arms around me as we turned and watched as the sun began to set on the vast forests of southern Saskatchewan before heading back inside.
Fin.
[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles Page 98
