This is the End (Book 2): Not Dead Yet (14 page)

“Jesus, Angie!  Are you ok?”  I cracked open an eyelid to see faces huddled around me and struggled to answer through the pain.

“I think my shoulder is dislocated,” I got out around the flinching.  I started to sit up and was grateful when Jack grabbed my waist and pulled me to my feet.

Penny poked my shoulder a few times and before I could punch her, she pushed me hard into Jack and slammed my shoulder back with the heel of her hand.

“Holy fuck!
What the hell is wrong with you?!”
I screamed, panting around the pain until I noticed it was subsiding into a dull roar across my arm.

“It had to be done.  Let’s go.”  I watched aghast as she just winked at me and started across the tarmac.

I stood there breathing hard for a few moments, watching the pile of bodies trailing from me to the overpass twitching on the ground before Jack grabbed my hand and started to pull me after the others.

Shaking my head to clear out the thoughts of intense agony, I pulled the pistol on my left hip with my right hand and moved my machete into my left.  I was right handed so swinging it with any sort of accuracy was going to be laughable, but my shoulder couldn’t be trusted to put the force I would need behind the sword.  The kickback from the gun would suck, but I could handle it.

Running to catch up with the others, I fell back in on the left with Jack on the right.  Earl and Brian were still up front with the kids weaving around Penny and Johnny in the middle.

I wanted to just lay down on the concrete and feel the rain that was now coming down in tiny shards of glass on my skin but we weren’t done and I wasn’t going out yet.

We were just passing the main terminals when all hell broke loose.  Looking behind me, the horde had caught up with the zombies that had already been wandering the tarmac and we were right in the crosshairs.

I looked for any that were faster than the others and tried for headshots when I could.  Shooting a gun while running with a recently no longer dislocated shoulder was probably my worst case scenario, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.  We had given up on being quiet considering we were essentially sitting ducks out in the open as we ran for all we were worth towards the hangers.

There were so many zombies to my left and behind me that the sheer number was awe-inspiring.  I didn’t do well in crowds of regular people but put me in a swarm of people that wanted to eat me and I might just lose the last shred of sanity I clung to.

Starting to fire in earnest, they were fast closing the gap between us and them and we were starting to lose momentum.  The hangars were still far enough away I thought for a moment there was no way we would make it when Earl threw something over my head that went sailing into the first wave of the onslaught.  He kept running, so I did too but almost tripped when the explosion took out a large number of the group that had been closing in us and I realized it had been a grenade.

Earl had grenades?  Who else had them?  Why didn’t I get one?

Putting aside my jealousy, I picked up the pace as we closed in on the nearest hangar.  There was no way in hell we’d make it to another one before the horde caught up with us so I could only hope it had a plane we could use.

I reached the small metal door just in time to fall through it as Earl and Brian closed it behind me.  It was near darkness inside, the only light coming from skylights in the insanely high ceilings and considering the storm raging, even that light was muted.

Our panting was deafening as we all tried to catch our breaths from the couple of football fields we’d just run across to get here. It was dark, but I could easily make out the shapes of the two planes in the warehouse with us.

“Brian, will either of those work?” I asked through deep breaths as I tried to calm my heart.  The faster it beat, the more my shoulder hurt so it was in my best interest to calm the fuck down.

He looked at the two, gaze settling on the one in the far corner.  “Let’s go see.”  He jogged over to the little plane, grabbed the staircase on wheels and pushed it up against the door. 

Everyone else followed but I stayed by the door, peering out the little window in the event we’d been followed.  There were several dead around the door and a few were banging on it, but it didn’t seem any could get through it.  I bolted the little deadbolt just in case and started towards the others.

Through the dust particles, I could see the large hangar door on the other side of the building, in the direction the plane was pointing.  Looking up at the first one as I passed, I briefly wondered why he hadn’t picked this one until I caught sight of a large gas truck still hooked up to the second one.

Keeping my gun out, I searched the darkness for movement that didn’t belong to us, but the half-eaten bodies scattered about the ground weren’t going anywhere.

I tried not to look at one as I passed by; the flies swarming dizzily around the ribs jutting out with bits of meat still clinging to the bones and not much else.  The smell hit me though, and it took all my willpower to hold down what little I’d had to eat as I sped up to pass it.

Catching up with the others, Jack, Ty and Bash were busy disconnecting the gas hose and I could see Brian in the cockpit doing whatever it was that pilots did.  The hangar was large and I was willing to bet there was another entry point we’d missed.

I reached the staircase and yelled up to Brian, “Is it good?  Can we use it?  We need to get out of here fast, there’s bodies in here which means the dead aren’t far behind.”

He poked his head out the door, face lit up with an impish grin.  “The tank’s full and the log records show the engine checked out fine since the last time it was flown.  Let’s go!”  Darting back inside, he raced back to the cockpit and fired up the engine.

“So how exactly do we get the plane out of here?” Chloe startled me as she came to stand next to me.

We both stared at the closed hangar door for a moment as Penny herded Johnny and the dog up the stairs.  Earl came to stand next to us and stared at the door.

“Any o’you a track star?”  He asked, arms crossed over his chest and one hand stroking the stubble on his chin thoughtfully.

He met my confused stare at his question before continuing.  “Someone needs to open the door and race back here before the horde reaches us.”

“I’ll do it.” I hadn’t even noticed Ty coming to stand with us and looked at him in shock as he casually shook his bangs out of his face.

“No, none of the kids.” I said, crossing my arms across my chest and prepping for an argument.

“I ran track, Angie.  I can make it there and back faster than those bumbling losers.”  He smiled at me with his crooked grin and winked.  I knew that look; that was the “hold my beer” look we all got before very bad decisions were made.

I started to protest when Jack and Bash joined the discussion.  “Are you sure you can make it?” Jack asked Ty, one hand on his shoulder.  He looked like a coach asking a player if he could still play after an injury.

Ty turned and inspected the distance again for good measure.  It was maybe 50 yards round trip plus he’d have to get up the stairs.  Shaking his hair again, “Sure, no problem.”

Earl came forward, “Ok, then go stand next to the door.  When Brian gives the signal, pull it open as fast as ya can and git yer ass back here.”

Ty nodded solemnly and I almost thought he was going to salute, but he left it at “Yes sir” and ran to the hangar door to wait for the signal.

I wanted to argue, but the banging on the small door we’d come through was getting louder, as was the rain hitting the roof; we were out of time.  I swallowed a sigh of disagreement and started up the stairs and into the plane.

Ducking through the door, I looked around seeing about 10 seats and the opening to the cockpit.  I didn’t waste any time, just moved to the front and sat down next to a window and buckled my seatbelt.

The others were situated around me and strapped into the little rows while Bash was up front with his dad and Earl in the seat just outside the cockpit.  We’d left the door open and the stairs waiting so Ty could get in fast.

The craft rumbled beneath me and the blood froze in my veins.  I couldn’t see Ty or Brian or hear anything over the engine and my own heartbeat so I closed my eyes and waited.

I was about to open my eyes and ask what was happening when I heard a commotion behind me and turned around in time to see Ty fall through the door and Penny closing it against the bodies that had followed.

Ty’s face was red and he was grinning ear to ear as he sat down and buckled his seatbelt.  I shot him a death stare before turning my attention to the zombies crowded below our plane as we drove out of the hangar.

The horde had reached us completely and instead of concrete, the tarmac was now made up of a sea of bodies, rolling like waves around us.  The ride was bumpy as I could only assume we were running many of them over on our way to the runway and I almost threw up at the sheer size of the crowd.  The little window didn’t give me much of a view, but there were literally so many people, dead people, trying to climb up the side of the plane that I feared for a moment they would overtake us.

I started to draw my gun when all of a sudden the engines got even louder and we started racing through them.  My teeth were clattering in my skull from the bodies we were running over and just as I thought we weren’t going to make it, it became still and my stomach dropped down to my toes as we lifted off the ground.

The earth was getting smaller through the little window, but it only gave me a greater vantage point to see the crowd; there were thousands.  Thousands of zombies covering the airport and surrounding area to the point where I couldn’t make out the distinction of buildings anymore, just bodies everywhere.  I closed the shade and leaned my head back against the seat.  We’d made it.  Just barely, but we’d made it nonetheless.

Chapter 7:

When I felt the plane steady itself, I opened my eyes to find everyone glued to the windows.  Except for Jack, who was busy smirking at me.

“You ok?” He asked through his devilishly handsome grin.

“Peachy.” I replied, giving him the finger.  Ty had moved up front and was busy talking to Brian and Bash in the cockpit while Earl sat there nodding his head at whatever they were saying.

“So where exactly are we going?” I half-yelled towards the front of the plane.

Earl turned to look at me.  “There’s a disease research center just outside of D.C.  That’s where we’re headed.”

“But isn’t the CDC in Atlanta?” I hoped that wasn’t where they wanted to go; I’d seen enough ‘Walking Dead’ to know that was a terrible idea.

Earl shook his head, “Naw, there’s a smaller facility not far from a military base that has a better chance of still being up and running.  It’s not advertised but I remember making a few supply trips there.”  He scratched his chin and I watched his eyes glaze over from the memory.

“But that was a long time ago, right?  How do we know it’s still standing?” I didn’t want to burst anyone’s bubbles, but I’d just as soon turn us around and head for the Bahamas than go to another military outlet.  A chill danced down my spine in agreement.  After what we’d been through, I was pretty thoroughly convinced the military and the government were evil and I’d rather be eaten alive than deal with them again.

Earl looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging.  “We don’t know it’s still standing for sure, but it was built into the side of a mountain, so I’d guess it’s still pretty well fortified.  Plus it was a well-kept secret and the best chance outside of NORAD we have of finding anyone who can make heads or tails of what you are.” 

His eyes looked pointedly at me and I couldn’t stop myself from shrinking into my seat a bit.  I broke the stare and looked at Jack.  He was watching the conversation with interest and when he caught me looking he just smiled and winked.  I knew he was trying to reassure me, but fuck.  The very idea of being near the military made my skin crawl with a thousand ghosts of bugs I’d killed in my life.  I’d rather face Jigsaw than another uniform.

“Ok,” I started, sitting up straight again.  “How long ‘til we get there?”

Brian was obviously listening in because he half-turned to cast me a glance.  “It’s about a 3 hour flight, depending on the weather.”

“What do you mean depending on the weather?”  I slid the shade on the window next to me open to be met with some extremely angry looking storm clouds.

“Well that storm over the airport appears to be stretching an unknown distance and considering I don’t have a tower to radio for weather alerts, we’re basically flying blind.”

“Oh.” I said and sat back in my seat again.  So what he was really saying is we were now in a tin can thousands of feet above solid ground flying through a storm whose magnitude we had no way to gauge on our way to a military establishment where they would likely turn me into a lab rat, running circles in a wheel for the next piece of cheese.  I should’ve stayed home.