Desolation (28 page)

Three healthy half-dressed soldiers ran out of one of the dorms
towards the Humvee, terrified.

 

The soldiers wearing gas masks quickly took down all three men
with impunity.

Andrew cursed under his breath and closed his eyes; it wasn’t
good. He gripped his rifle tightly and got ready to pop up from behind
cover and take out as many as he could.

Taking a deep breath, he shot up from behind cover and pointed
his rifle towards the masked soldiers–

 

The six soldiers were standing in a defensive line, pointing their
weapons towards Andrew’s direction.

 

“
Over there!”
one of the masked soldiers shouted through his
respirator.
“Focus fire!”

 

Andrew ducked back down behind the bench and closed his eyes
just as the soldiers opened fire in unison.

The gunfire was not directed at Andrew but rather towards the
approaching horde coming from the newly breached east gate. Numerous
corpses tumbled down to the ground as the bullets found their mark but
the wave of infected kept pushing forward, staggering towards the soldiers
with their arms extended.

The masked soldiers dropped their empty clips and hastily
reloaded.

Andrew frantically searched for an escape route; the dead would
soon be right on top of both of them. To his right he saw a dormitory
with its front door opened. He knew it was his only option.

The masked soldiers took a step back in unison and opened fire a
second time.

 

A couple of infected collapsed to the ground but hundreds more
continued marching forward.

 

The masked soldiers staggered backwards towards the Humvee as
they hastily reloaded.

 

“Fall back! Fall back!”
one of the soldiers screamed,

 

hyperventilating through his gas mask.
“Regroup at the plane!”
The soldiers hastily broke from formation and clamored into the
Humvee.

 

Andrew took Jerri by the hand and led her towards the open
dormitory, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process.

 

Jerri clutched Jacob tightly against her chest as she threw terrified
glances over at the infected as they approached ever closer.

The inside of the dormitory consisted of two rows of bunk beds
lined along the side of a single long room. An army footlocker sat in front
of each bed. Shower and toilet stalls were stationed at the far end of the
room next to a fire exit door. The overhead lights were flickering and
fresh blood was slathered over nearly everything in sight. Mauled human
remains lay strewn across the floor and twisted inside their bed linens that
were scattered everywhere. Tattered mattresses hung off of the beds and
lay in the floor, many of which were soaked with crimson.

Decaying corpses were huddled around some of the bodies lying
on the floor. They were feasting on their victims, pulling out long strands
of gory intestines with their bare hands and shoveling them into their
gullets. The sick sound of flesh being torn apart by teeth filled the room
along with the coppery aroma of blood.

Andrew and Jerri watched with revulsion and quickly made their
way down the center of the dorm.

 

The infected were so preoccupied with their meal that they didn’t
even notice the two living souls sneaking past them.

 

Andrew pressed a finger up against his pursed lips and looked
over at Jerri, signaling her to keep quiet.

 

Jerri nodded earnestly; she couldn’t wait to be out of there.

As they walked past of one the bunks, Andrew noticed that the
footlocker next to the bed had been toppled over and a few uniform tops
and pants were sticking out of its open doors.

Andrew quickly reached down and snatched up an armful of
uniforms; he knew they could prove invaluable if he wanted to get aboard
the plane in one piece.

He hurried towards the fire exit, kicked the door open, and ran
outside with Jerri.

Andrew closed the door behind him and let out a sigh of relief.
He immediately started sorting through the uniforms he collected, tossing
anything that wouldn’t fit onto the ground.

Jerri stared at him, baffled.
“What are you doing?” she asked.

Andrew started to put on a pair of uniform pants, not even
bothering to remove his boots or his other clothes. He groaned and
struggled as he dressed in haste, throwing cautious glances over his
shoulder.

“I’m trying to make sure we have
some
chance of getting onto that
plane alive!” he explained as he struggled to put one a shirt that was too
small for him. He threw the shirt down and put on another.

Jerri ignored him and held Jacob close against her chest as she
kept the child bundled up tightly. She started to feel how cold and stiff his
tiny body was and grew increasingly concerned about his health. On top
of everything that was deteriorating all around her, she had to figure out a
way to get away from Andrew and find a way to Canada with a sick baby.

It felt like the odds were stacked against her.

Andrew finished putting on the uniform and, in truth, looked
ridiculous. His shirt was disheveled, his pants were baggy, his boots were
scuffed and dirty, and he didn’t hold any of the disciplined appearance of
a soldier. He was hoping that the others would overlook his appearance,
given the circumstances.

He heard snarling and moaning coming from around the corner
of the dormitory.

 

“Hurry up and put these on!” he plead as he held out a handful of
clothes towards Jerri.

Jerri shook her head.
“I’m not wearing that…” she said.

Andrew gave an aggravated sigh and stepped towards her,
practically shoving the clothes against her chest.

 

“What are you talking about?! Hurry!” he shouted at her.
Jerri slapped the clothes aside and sent them fluttering down into
the dirt.

 

Andrew seethed with anger and spun around towards the noise
behind him.

 

Several shamblers emerged from the alleyways behind Andrew
and Jerri and hobbled after them with their decrepit arms outstretched.
“No time!” Andrew shouted, pushing Jerri forward. “Run! Just
run!”

 

They ran and the shamblers slowly followed.

Andrew led Jerri along a path behind the barracks, checking the
corners and clearing the alleyways with his rifle as they skirted their way
around the living quarters and the massacre occurring in the courtyard.

He spotted the edge of the tarmac ahead, just past the back of the
chow hall. Much like the camp he came from, the chow hall resembled a
large windowless gymnasium that was made out of aluminum. A large
group of corpses had gathered around the front of the chow hall, slapping
their open palms against the barricaded doors as they tried to get the prey
that had taken refuge inside.

“How much farther?” Jerri asked as she struggled to catch her
breath. Her legs felt like jelly and her diaphragm ached.

 

“The plane should be just ahead!” Andrew shouted as he kept his
rifle raised and ready. “Don’t stop running! Get to the tarmac!”

Just as Andrew neared the chow hall’s rear fire exit, the door
flung open and two soldiers ran out into the alleyway, firing their pistols
blindly behind them as they stumbled out of the building and closed the
door behind them. There was frantic snarling and screaming coming from
inside the chow hall.

Andrew and Jerri froze at the sight of the two men.

One of the terrified soldiers turned towards Andrew and stared at
the Velcro name tag on Andrew’s uniform shirt. A baffled expression
washed over the soldier’s face; he didn’t understand why the man standing
in front of him was wearing his friend’s shirt.

“Who the hell are you?! Why are you wearing Vasquez’s shirt?”
the soldier asked as he slowly started to raise his shaky pistol.
Andrew quickly pointed his rifle at the man and fired a burst of
automatic gunfire.

 

The shots tore through the soldier’s chest and flung him
backwards.

 

The second soldier, startled, aimed his pistol at Andrew and fired
three wild shots.

 

Jerri shrieked but Andrew didn’t pay her any attention; the shots
missed him.

 

Andrew quickly returned fire and blew off the top of the soldier’s
scalp.

 

The soldier stumbled backwards a few steps and then collapsed
on the pavement.

 

Andrew tore the Velcro name tag off and cursed under his
breath.

 

Meanwhile, the shamblers were closing in behind them; he knew
they had to hurry.

“Come on!” Andrew shouted as he spun towards Jerri.
He froze.

Jerri was staring down at Jacob’s blood covered blanket in horror
as she trembled, face pale. A bullet had torn through the side of the baby.
The blanket was soaked with blood.

“T-they…” she stammered, tears welting in her eyes. Her world
started to spin.

 

“Let me see him,” Andrew said as he held out his hands.
Jerri shakily handed Jacob over as tears started to stream down
her face. She looked close to fainting.

As soon as Andrew took Jacob’s corpse, he felt how warm and
fresh the blood was; he knew that it wasn’t the coagulated goop that filled
Jacob’s rotting corpse.

“You’re hit…” Andrew said as he stared down at Jerri’s bloodied
right arm.

 

Jerri sniffled and composed herself as she looked down at her
arm with a sense of detached wonderment.

“I am…” she said in disoriented confusion. The wound bled
profusely. She grimaced as the pain started to register with her. She
gripped her forearm and turned to look at the shambling entourage that
was following them.

The corpses were only a few yards away.
“But… he’s not…?” she started.

“No, he’s fine,” Andrew said as he held Jacob’s blood-soaked
body against his chest. He was relieved that she had been holding the
baby. The corpse softened the bullet’s impact and possibly changed its
trajectory away from her chest. “But you’re not. We have to get to that
plane so I can tend to your wound. Let’s go.”

Jerri let out a baited sigh of relief.

 

Suddenly the cafeteria's emergency exit door flung open once
again and made Andrew stumbled backwards with Jacob.

Three fresh corpses wearing combat fatigues stumbled out of the
chow hall. All three of them were male and their uniforms were soaked
with blood. Bite wounds covered their necks and chunks of torn flesh
hung off of their bodies. Their eyes were clouded, their blood stained
teeth gnashing.

The three corpses lunged at Andrew and swiped frantically at
Jacob’s bloodied shawl, attracted by its warm coppery scent.
Andrew panicked, dropped the dead child, and quickly unslung
his rifle as he stepped backwards to aim at the three snarling corpses.
Jerri screamed as the child made a meaty smack against the
pavement.

The three corpses dove on top of Jacob and started to sink their
teeth into blanket, sucking the warm blood out of the fabric. After biting
through the material and into Jacob’s cold corpse a few times, the three
unsatisfied soldiers turned their attention towards the nearest living prey;
Andrew.

Andrew opened fire and sent two of the corpses stumbling
backwards but the third one kept lurching towards him–

Jerri shoved the third corpse backwards and sent the man
sprawling onto his back. She fell to her knees and grabbed Jacob,
frantically trying to cover his battered body with the bloody shawl with
her shaky hands.

The soldier started to get back onto his feet, snarling as he stared
at Jerri.

 

Andrew shot the man in the forehead and sent him flinging
backwards against the emergency exit door.

Jerri examined Jacob’s bundled body with shaky hands,
desperately trying to think of what to do. Her mind was a muddled mess
and she couldn’t think straight. Her wounded arm continued to bleed and
she felt dizzy.

The moaning horde in the alleyway was almost right on top of
them.

 

“Come on!” Andrew shouted. He reached down and grabbed
Jerri’s good arm and pulled her up on her feet.

Jerri jolted as Andrew pulled her and was overcome with vertigo.
She held onto Jacob as tightly as she could. Her legs were weak and her
world was spinning…

Andrew saw that she was out of it. He brought her arm around
the back of his neck and supported her as they hobbled out of the
alleyway onto the tarmac.

In the near distance, Andrew saw a large black cargo plane sitting
in the middle of the runway with its rear hatch open and its loading ramp
extended. The plane had three propellers on each wing and had a small
group of infected hobbled towards it from between the empty hangars
that lined the expanse of the runway.

Near the plane, the Humvee that the masked soldiers were riding
in lay overturned and engulfed in flames.

 

The plane’s propellers churned to life and started spinning.
Andrew panicked and hurried towards the plane, struggling to
support Jerri’s clammy body.

Jerri was weak and dizzy as blood continued to spurt out of her
arm. Her ears were ringing and her body felt hot. She looked over at
Mitch and was grateful that he was there to help carry her towards the
airplane… She couldn’t wait to get away to safety… She couldn’t wait to
start her new life in Canada.

Andrew looked over at Jerri with concern. He felt her body
growing heavier and his shirt was soaked with her blood. He knew that if
he didn’t help her soon, she would die.

The plane started to slowly bank around on the runway, dragging
the ramp across the asphalt. The uncoordinated infected tried to hurry
after the plane but tripped over their own feet and fell flat on their face.

“Thank you,” Jerri thought she said in her incoherent stupor.
“I’m sorry for not listening to you… I’m sorry…” Cold sweat beaded
across her forehead and her vision started to fade to white as she stared at
Mitch and clutched Jacob tightly against her chest.

Andrew looked over at her and tried to understand her slurred
rambling but couldn’t make anything out of it. He limped towards the
plane, nearly dragging Jerri alongside him as he supported her body
weight.