The Sixth Level (26 page)

 

Chapter 32

 

We crammed back into the Humvee. Even though it was a huge vehicle it was really only designed to sit four passengers. Two in the front and two in the back. So Maria and I had to share a seat. I didn’t mind at all. It was nice being close to her again, knowing she was safe for the time being, knowing that I’d come here with Daniel to do a mission, to save Maria. And we were close.

Jack turned the key in the ignition but for some reason the engine struggled to start.

"That did not sound good," Maria said.

"Did we damage the engine?" Daniel asked.

"No, it’s cool," Jack answered. "I think we’re just low on fuel."

"How low?" Kenji asked as he leant over Jack to have a look at the fuel gauge.

"Ah, well, the needle is below the little ‘E’ for empty."

"Oh, great." Kenji said.

"Is there a puncture in the fuel tank?" Daniel asked. "Is there a leak?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't know. I guess with everything else going on, I haven’t really checked the fuel gauge in a while."

"There might be some spare cans of fuel in the back." Daniel suggested hopefully.

Maria squirmed her way into the rear compartment and had a quick look. "There’s nothing back here. Just empty bullet shells. And dried blood."

"It’s cool," Jack repeated. "There’s a fuel station right near here. We can make it."

He turned the key in the ignition one more time and the engine struggled and sputtered and eventually it roared to life.

"See?" Jack said. "Just needed a little positive thinking."

We made our way to fuel station. Luckily it wasn’t far. The Humvee began to stall but it had enough fuel to get us there. It was a huge relief because I did not feel like pushing such a big, heavy car for any amount of distance.

We had driven towards the back of the golf course. Alongside the western edge of the course was a main road. And just on the other side of the road was the fuel station.

It was a pretty big fuel station. It had plenty of pumps. It even had a large convenience store attached, almost like a mini supermarket. There was also a Burger King attached to it. And around the back of the station appeared to be some sort of junk yard or car wrecking yard.

Jack drove off the golf course and across a main intersection, nudging and smashing a few abandoned cars out of the way. Across the road from the fuel station was a huge IKEA store. Maria said something about how it would be cool if we could hide out there for a few days. We could make our own ultra-modern, ultra-chic living room and dining room set up.

"Apparently that’s the biggest IKEA in the southern hemisphere," Jack informed us.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Actually, I’m not sure. But look at it. It’s pretty damn big."

He had a point. It was a huge store, a huge building. And I totally agreed with Maria. It would be awesome to hide out there. But we all knew it wouldn’t be safe.

Jack parked the Humvee next to one of the pumps.

"What if they’re turned off?" I asked.

"They should have a manual pump," Daniel answered.

Jack switched the engine off. He was about to get out and fill the car up but Kenji grabbed his arm. "Hang on a second."

"What is it?"

"We still need to be careful," Kenji said. "We're not out of the woods yet."

He was right. As soon as we'd driven off the golf course and across the road we’d exposed ourselves to the possibility of another ambush. We were now back on the outskirts of the inner city suburbs. The infected could be hiding anywhere.

"So what do you want me to do?" Jack asked. "We gotta fill this baby up."

"Daniel and I will set up a perimeter," Kenji said. "Once we've secured the area, we'll give you the all clear. Rebecca, you stay in the car with Maria. Jack, you fill up as fast as you can, OK? The less time spent here the better."

We all nodded in agreement.

"You ready?" Kenji asked Daniel.

"Yeah, let's go."

I think Kenji loved the fact that he had another trained soldier to help with these types of situations. And we were extremely lucky to have them with us. We wouldn't have lasted long without them.

Daniel and Kenji moved quickly. They looked through the windows of the convenience store and the Burger King. They moved to the edge of the building, checking around the corners. When they were satisfied we were alone, at least for the moment, they gave the all clear.

Jack hopped out of the car and fiddled with the pump. The first pump he tried didn’t work. And neither did the second one. "Ah guys, it's not working."

"What's not working?" Kenji asked.

"The fuel pump."

"What about the manual pump?"

"There is no manual pump. It's all automated. It's all computerized."

My heart sank. I was really starting to like this Humvee.

"Let's check the car yard around the back," Daniel suggested. "Maybe they've got some cans of fuel? Might not be enough for a full tank but at least it would be something."

The guys jumped back in the car. Jack turned the key and the engine struggled to life once more. The car limped around the back of the fuel station to the wrecking yard. The Humvee lurched, and stalled to a stop in front of what appeared to be the main garage. It was now completely out of fuel. No way there'd be enough to start it back up again. Let alone drive to the airport.

If we couldn’t find any fuel, we'd either have to walk the rest of the way or find another car.

I did not want to walk.

The wrecking yard seemed to be full of broken down cars. Down the far end of the yard were the newer models and the cars that had only slight damage. Closer to the main garage were the cars that were in worse shape, most of them had been completely written off. And then right next to the garage were a few stacks of flattened cars, completely unrecognizable. They were stacked up at least twenty feet high.

Inside the main garage was a newer looking Mercedes. Next to that was another car that I didn’t recognize. It had been lifted up on to the mechanical lifting thing so the mechanics or whoever could get access to the underside of the car.

We figured if there was any fuel back here, it would be in the garage. Or maybe in one of the cars. I guess we could try and suck the fuel out through a hose. I'd never actually done that before but I’d seen it done in movies and on TV.

Jack pulled the handbrake on.

"OK, same deal as before," Kenji said. "Rebecca, Maria, you guys stay in the car. Daniel and I will secure the area. When I give the all clear, Jack you come with me, and we’ll look for the fuel inside the garage. Daniel will provide cover on the far side of the Humvee."

Again, we all nodded in agreement.

Kenji and Daniel moved swiftly towards the far end of the yard, knees bent, rifles up to their shoulders. They must be running low on ammo, I thought to myself.

When they got to the far end of the yard, near the newer cars, they stopped and paused briefly. They checked a few of those cars out. I guess they were checking to see if any of them were functional. Maybe it would be possible to take one of those cars if we couldn’t get the Humvee refueled. That might be an option. A regular car wouldn’t be as good as the Humvee but it would be a million times better than walking.

Kenji and Daniel made their way back towards us. Kenji waved to Jack, letting him know it was safe.

"Back in a jiffy," Jack said.

He got out of the car, leaving his door open and headed for the garage.

Daniel stayed outside on the far side of the Humvee, keeping a careful watch.

Jack and Kenji made their way inside. It was a fairly large and open garage.

At the entrance were some metallic artworks. Sculptures, I guess they were. Some of them looked like weather vanes. Others looked more like metallic monsters. There was one I recognized as being the creature from the movie ‘Alien.’

"Check that out," I said to Maria.

"Wow. That’s messed up," she said, scrunching her face up in disgust.

"I think it’s kinda cool."

It was a life sized replica. It was at least nine feet tall. It appeared to be made up of scrap metal and spare car parts. The more I looked at it the more I realized just how big it was. It was huge. As a fan of the Alien series, I thought it looked awesome. But I could totally see why someone who had never seen the movies would be terrified. The thing looked like a living nightmare. It had huge talon-like claws, razor sharp teeth. And of course the distinctive banana shaped head. But apart from all that, I think the thing that freaked me out the most about the Alien monster was that it had no eyes. I don’t know why but that always scared the hell out of me.

I began to notice more sculptures inside the garage. There was a trio of what looked like Velociraptors in mid-stride. And something that looked like a dragon. One of the bigger ones looked like a giant spider. And when I say giant, I mean it would've been the size of a truck. It looked like it was hiding in the far corner of the garage between some equipment and the wall. There was a tarp covering half of it so it was probably even bigger then what it appeared to be.

Whoever made these sculptures must have been very dedicated to their art. And probably even a little crazy.

"Do you think one of the mechanics who worked here made these things?" Maria asked

"Don’t know. Maybe."

"Do you think he sold them, as like, art or whatever?"

"Who the hell would buy something like this? And where would they put it?"

After a couple of minutes I had to look away from the sculptures because I started to imagine them coming to life.

But as I turned away I thought I could hear something. Breathing maybe. Like a purring noise. Like a cat purring. A very big cat.

It was strange. I couldn’t be sure but it sounded like it was coming from the garage.

"Can you hear that?" I asked Maria.

"Hear what?"

"Like, a purring noise?"

"A purring noise?" She asked. "Like a cat?"

"Sort of."

I leant over the front seat and stuck my head out of the driver side door. "Daniel, can you hear that noise?"

But he had his index finger up to his lips, urging me to be quiet. He had his head tilted to the side. He was listening. He had already heard it. And he was scared.

Inside the garage, Jack and Kenji were making their way through boxes, and crates and oil drums. I don’t know if they heard it. Maybe they were too distracted, too focused on finding the fuel.

Jack had moved over near the spider sculpture in the far corner. He grabbed the blue tarp that was covering it. And pulled it off.

As soon as he did we heard the unmistakable screaming howl of the infected.

The whole sculpture, the metallic spider seemed to stand up on its legs, all eight of them. It lurched forward. It was an awkward movement, like it was being operated by cheap hydraulics or something. But when it extended one of its legs, it knocked Jack clear off his feet. He slid across, the oil and dust covered concrete floor of the garage, back towards the Humvee.

He must’ve slid into the back tire, because we heard him thud into it. Maria screamed. She tried to open her door to see if Jack was all right. But I grabbed her arm, pulled her back.

It was too dangerous.

Because now we could see what the tarp was covering. It seemed to be covering the spider’s 'abdomen'. If you could call it that. Except it was more like a cage. A spherical cage. And inside that cage were the infected. I couldn’t see how many were inside because they were all crammed in together, in a massive writhing ball of decaying, bloody flesh. It was a tangled mess of limbs and bones and teeth.

Just then the cage seemed to split open ever so slightly, just enough for the infected to squeeze out. They cut themselves to shreds on the cage as they did.

It’s like they were being released. It was surreal to see, unnerving, terrifying.

I saw Jack get to his feet and make a run for it down the side of the garage. A second later the infected smashed into the side of the Humvee.

Then they began to bang their fists and heads against the small reinforced windows.

 

Chapter 33

 

Daniel jumped on to the roof of the Humvee and started shooting. He was yelling at us to get out of the car. "Run! Go!"

At first I was reluctant to leave the relative safety of the Humvee. But then I figured it was out of fuel, it was useless. And even though it was built like a tank and practically indestructible and zombie proof, we had to go. We just had to.

I opened my door and pulled Maria out with me. We started running. I had no idea where Jack or Kenji were. Daniel was still on the roof of the Humvee. He was still shooting. But a few seconds later he ran out of ammo. So he jumped down and ran after us.

As I looked back over my shoulder I saw Daniel sprinting, trying to catch up with us. And beyond him I saw Jack. He had made it down the side of the garage. He was trying to climb up and over the fence of the car yard. The fence was a chain link style fence, maybe twenty feet high. Jack had made it about half way up when an infected woman wearing a blood soaked Burger King uniform grabbed his leg. He was kicking and trying to pull himself free and get higher up the fence, desperately trying to get away. Luckily the infected woman only had one arm. The other one had been ripped off at the elbow and her head was bent back at an awkward angle, so she couldn’t really reach up and bite him.