“What does this mean?”
“That someone on that chopper was infected, Kurt.”
“It was coming, not going from the city,” said Fellows.
It quickly dawned on Kurt what that meant.
“The infection is already beyond the city limits?”
Bobby nodded in agreement.
“What does that mean?” Adam asked.
Bobby went to answer when he spotted movement on a roof the other side of the street. People were running from several Crazies. They were desperate, but soon reached the edge and tried to stop, but the Crazies leapt onto them, and they went over the edge. Gasps rang out from behind him, but he didn’t know why. It wasn’t the worst thing they had seen today.
“Bobby,” said one of the women behind him.
He turned quickly to see one of the men had dropped down to one knee and was struggling to breathe. Bobby leapt into action as he rushed to the man. He hauled him to his feet and walked him to the edge of the roof.
“What are you doing?” Adam asked.
Bobby didn’t reply as he stopped the sick man at the roof edge and held on to him by his shirt. He didn’t even fight it, either because he was too weak or had accepted his fate.
“Bobby, this could be anything, you don’t know he’s one of them! You can’t do this, not until you know!” Adam yelled.
He looked back to the others to see they were all in agreement. He didn’t want to kill anyone, but neither would he compromise their safety. He sighed as he looked back to the man standing precariously at the edge in his grip.
“What’s your name?”
“Troy,” he replied with a foreign accent Bobby could not place.
“Well, Troy, how do you feel?”
“Not good.”
“Do something for him!”
“There’s nothing any of us can do. Either he turns into one of those things or he doesn’t,” Kurt whispered to the woman.
“Please, don’t do this,” insisted Adam.
“You know he’s done for, and it risks everyone up here if he stays.”
But Adam was not having it. He grabbed Bobby and pushed him back, causing him to lose his grip on Troy as he stepped between them. But Bobby could see Troy’s eyes glazing over. Troy took hold of Adam, who turned around in horror as he tried to hold him at bay. Bobby grabbed hold of the pair, smashed his elbow into the face of the Crazy, causing him to stagger back and let go of Adam. With one swift push kick, the Crazy was launched off the side of the building and smashed to the ground below. Adam looked stunned.
“Thanks,” he finally said.
He looked humbled, but Bobby knew it wasn’t the time to berate him. He put a hand on his shoulder.
“You okay?”
“Not really, but I’m still alive,” he said in gratitude.
The group looked to Bobby now for leadership. There were just nine of them. Despair was on all their faces.
“Look, I don’t know what this is, but I’m not one to lie down and take it. I’m gonna fight to stay alive, and anyone willing to join me will have a chance of getting through this, too.”
“We’re with you,” said Kurt.
“We’re all with you,” added Lisa.
He nodded in appreciation, but their attention was once again drawn to the sound of a vehicle approaching, the roar of heavy-duty diesel engines. In the distance they could see a column of Army trucks coming towards them.
“You see, there is hope,” replied Bobby.
“Woohoo!” Adam shouted.
“We’re getting out of here, aren’t we?” Kurt asked.
Bobby smiled.
“I sure hope so,” he replied with a less than confident tone.
TO BE CONTINUED
Pandemic Part 1 (The Armageddon Series) Page 4
