The Sixth Level (33 page)

I guess he was leaving a trail of fuel, like an ignition trail, just to make sure each of the fuel tankers caught on fire, making sure the explosion and the wall of fire would be as big as possible.

It was an insurance policy. It was a good idea but the problem was he hadn’t left us with much time to get to a safe distance.

Kenji finally parked his tanker. Each one was parked about a hundred feet apart. Jack drove over and picked up Kenji. Once he was in the Humvee we sped off back towards Daniel and the Blackhawk.

I stuck my head out the window so I could see how far away the infected were.

They had made it to the fuel trucks. Most of them were running around the tankers, some were climbing up and over the actual fuel tanks. All of them were looking right at us. They definitely knew we were here.

Kenji stood up through the man hole in the Humvee and grabbed onto the massive machine gun and swiveled back towards the fuel tankers.

He took aim and fired.

At first he was shooting at the infected that had made it past the tankers. Initially I thought he was doing this for fun but then I realized he was just making sure not one of those bastards got through.

He laid down a devastating line of fire. He cut down maybe twenty or thirty infected. Bodies and limbs were exploding all over the tarmac.

He then lifted his aim a little higher.

The bullets sprayed into the fuel tanker in the middle. And in an instant it ignited. I mean one second it was there and the next it seemed to lift off the ground and vanish. There was a blinding flash of light and a huge red and orange fireball that seemed to ride up into the sky on a never ending column of black smoke.

A second later the heat wave hit us and I had to duck my head back inside because it was just too hot to look at.

Kenji had to slide down from the machine gun as well and take refuge inside the cabin of the Humvee.

I was about to ask him if he was all right when we heard another massive explosion and then another. The Humvee began to shake and rock back and forth from the multiple blasts. Jack then seemed to lose control of the vehicle and we actually spun right around and did a full 360 degree turn. In the spilt second we were facing back towards the explosions we could see the full extent of our handiwork.

It was horrific and yet beautiful at the same time. I don’t think I’m a pyromaniac, OK maybe I am, because at that moment I could’ve stared at that blazing inferno for hours and hours.

It was a giant wall of flame that reached up to the heavens. The smoked seemed to billow out and cover the entire width of the runway. Nothing was getting through. Everything in the blast radius and every single one of those poor infected souls would’ve been vaporized instantly in the initial explosions or incinerated by the flames.

Jack regained the control of the Humvee. He was cheering as we sped back to the waiting chopper.

Chapter 43

Unfortunately the explosions had attracted the attention of the military bombers. The pilots must’ve have seen it from wherever they were circling. And I guess they realized pretty quickly that this particular explosion wasn’t caused by one of their missiles.

They flew in low, directly over us. They were so low it felt like we could reach out and touch them. We could clearly see the vast array of deadly weaponry they carried on the underside of each wing.

Yep, they had definitely seen us. There was no doubt about it.

The Warthogs banked sharply to the left and began to slowly circle back around.

Thankfully Daniel had finished prepping the helicopter. It was ready for takeoff.

We all jumped on board and Daniel lifted off immediately.

Jack and Maria strapped into the back seats. I’ve never seen Jack look so worried. I guess it was because he was willingly putting Maria’s life in the hands of someone else. And I have to admit, I was nervous as well. It wouldn’t take long for the Warthogs to line us up in their sights and blow us away. We were so vulnerable at that point.

The Blackhawk was armed with two mini-guns, located on each side of the cabin area. They were mounted to the floor and needed to be fired by someone in the cabin. Luckily, Kenji was more than happy to perform this role. He grabbed on to the handles of the machine gun and pointed the multiple rotating barrels back towards the ocean, back to where the Warthogs would attack from.

He was locked and loaded.

Once again, I found myself in the co-pilots seat next to Daniel. Of course, I had no business being there but I didn't know where else to sit. And maybe Daniel needed my assistance.

"Anything I can do?" I asked.

"Just keep any eye out for those Warthogs, OK? You can be my spotter."

"Do you really think we can out fly them?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "We won’t be able to outrun them but we might be able to out maneuver them. The dust storm will help. And then maybe if we stay low, use the tree line and the houses as cover we might be able to make it."

"But won’t they have like, heat seeking missiles or laser guided bombs or something?"

Daniel shook his head. "Hopefully they would’ve used them all up by now. But if they do launch a heat seeker, the Blackhawk comes equipped with flares we can use a defensive mechanism."

"Flares?"

"Yeah. We can fire some flares from the rear. Basically this causes the missile to lock on to the heat signature of the flare, instead of us."

"Oh, so it’s like a diversion."

"Yeah, exactly. But the Warthogs are also armed with 30mm cannons. It’s a machine gun, kinda like the one Kenji is using back there except much, much bigger. And much more accurate. If one of them unleashes with that bad boy it’ll tear us apart in heart beat."

This whole thing sounded like an unfair fight. It was starting to sound more and more like we were a scrawny teenage kid who had taken a few karate lessons at the Y, going up against the heavy weight champion of the world.

"Get some distance between us and the rest of those remaining fuel tankers!" Kenji shouted from the back.

Daniel gave him a thumbs up.

I looked back over my shoulder and saw Jack holding on to Maria who was holding on for dear life. She let out a scream as Daniel maneuvered the chopper up and away almost horizontally.

Kenji fired the machine gun at the three remaining fuel tankers that were parked right next to the base of operations. In an instant the fuel tanks ruptured and ignited in a huge fireball.

The explosion was much bigger than the first, probably because Kenji was able to shoot them all at the same time with the mini-gun. The heat was incredible. Even from the chopper, even as we were flying away, we could still feel the burn.

The explosions didn’t blow anything up, certainly not the Warthogs but as black smoke billowed high into the sky, I realized then why Kenji had done it.

It was a smoke screen. It was our cover.

As the warthogs circled and came back around to focus all their fire power on us, the smoke screen would buy us some time. Not much, maybe a few seconds. But again it was better than nothing.

Kenji kept the machine gun pointed towards the black smoke. He was waiting, watching for the bombers to come flying through.

"Hold on, everyone!" Daniel shouted. "I’m gonna take her down."

The nose of the chopper dipped and we picked up speed. My stomach seemed to do a back flip. Again, I had this feeling like I was on a roller coaster, an extremely dangerous roller coaster where I might be killed at any second.

"We’re gonna head for the Blue Mountains!" Daniel said.

"Where are the blue mountains?" I asked.

"West of the city. It’s a pretty rugged area. Lots of cliffs. Lots of canyons."

Oh great. Daniel was going to take us on a high speed, mid-air chase through the mountains.

"Are you crazy?"

"It’s our only chance. We’re sitting ducks out in the open like this. But if we can fly low through the mountain range, between the canyons, we might just make it."

"Maybe we should land?" I suggested. "Maybe we could hide?"

"Land? Land where? You really want me to put us down in the middle of zombie country?"

I guess he had a point. But flying through a mountain range sounded like a death wish. Unfortunately it was just as dangerous out in the open air. The jets could chase us down easily. They could destroy us with any one of their weapons.

And we couldn’t land. Below us were the western suburbs of Sydney. This area would undoubtedly be crawling with millions of infected.

Suddenly, Kenji unleashed with the machine gun. The damn thing sounded like a chainsaw. The amount of bullets, the rate of fire was just mind boggling.

I looked back at the wall of smoke just in time to see the two Warthogs fly through the black cloud. They whipped up mini-tornadoes around their wings and their jet turbines as they broke through.

Kenji nailed one with a stream of bullets ripping into its fuselage. The jet dropped out of the sky and began spiraling towards the earth.

As soon as it went up in flames the other one took evasive action, banking sharply and pulling up into a steep climb.

Daniel lowered the nose of the chopper again and we dived again picking up even more speed.

The remaining Warthog was circling back around but again Kenji had bought us more time. They hadn’t expected to be shot at with such a powerful weapon by such an expert marksmen.

We were coming up to the mountains but unfortunately we still had quite a long way to go.

"How much further?" I asked Daniel.

"About sixty miles," he answered. "But I think we’re gonna make it."

And just as soon as he said that a beeping alarm started to ring throughout the cabin.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

"We're being targeted. They're trying to get a lock on us."

"I thought you said they wouldn't have any heat seeking missiles left!?"

"I didn't think they would!"

The alarm was beeping intermittently but then suddenly it turned into a constant, flat ring.

"They’ve got a lock!"

I looked back over my shoulder and saw a missile launch from the edge of jet’s left wing.

"Sidewinder!" Kenji shouted.

It came for us faster than the speed of sound. It had one, single purpose.

Daniel banked sharply to the right. At the same time a series of blindingly bright flashes shot out from the rear of the chopper.

The flares.

The sidewinder deviated from its course at the last second and exploded in mid-air.

But the Warthog kept coming.

The alarm started up again.

"It’s got more?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. And we’re out of flares."

"We’re what!?"

Once again, the alarm turned into a constant ring, indicating that the Warthog had a lock on us.

Another sidewinder was on its way.

"Hold on to something!" Daniel shouted.

He dropped the nose of the chopper again and we plummeted towards the earth. We flew below the power lines and telephone lines. We banked sharply around a block of apartment buildings, winding and twisting our way through the cluster of high density housing complexes. The missile tried to follow us but it couldn’t keep up. It slammed into a solid brick apartment, exploding upon impact. Concrete and bricks and glass showered the street.

"How many more missiles does it have?" I asked.

"It wouldn't have many left," Daniel answered. "Well, I hope it doesn't have many left. We're out of flares and it's open skies until we get to the mountains."

Off in the distance we could see the Warthog circle around, preparing for another run at us.

"But even if it’s out of missiles we’ll still need to take cover from its cannon," Daniel said.

"Where? How?"

"I don't know. But it needs to be a solid structure."

"Down there!" Kenji shouted from the back.

There was an old building. It was a church. It was made of solid stone and brick. It was built to last.

But unfortunately it was across the road from a fuel station.

"No way!" Daniel said. "Not near the fuel station! Well be cooked alive!"

"Get me a clear shot," Kenji said. "We can create another smoke screen."

Kenji's trademark grace under fire. Literally. I mean, we were taking heavy fire from heat seeking missile for crying out loud. And yet Kenji was able to remain level headed and come through for us when we need it the most.

Daniel swung us around so Kenji was facing the fuel station. Kenji pulled the trigger, spraying hundreds and hundreds of bullets.

Sparks flew as the shells pinged off the concrete and the asphalt. And then all of a sudden the fuel ignited, causing yet another gigantic eruption. It wasn’t as big as the ones at the airport but it was big enough. And again we could feel the heat on our faces. The shock wave buffeted the chopper and Daniel fought and struggled with the joystick to keep us level.