G-157 (32 page)

Her sobs echoed through the house. Her insides twisted, the grief too much for her body. She writhed in her aching weeping, rocking back and forth on the floor. Her agony bellowed in her ears and drown the rest of the world.

She didn’t hear the heavy footsteps coming down the hall. They paused
a moment
at the door to listen to her cries. The door jerked open, slamming into the wall. Two more heavy footsteps moved across the room.

Pure hatred welled within her when she saw him standing there. The twitch was severe, jerking his body every few seconds, his eyes blank and lifeless. She hated him, hated the sight of him.

“You!” she screamed as she stumbled to her feet and lunged towards her father. “How could you do this?”

The sudden attack caught him off guard. Aire was able to get several blows in, knocking him down against the dresser. She kicked at him on the floor, raising her foot high to smash down on his face with all the force she could muster. He got his bearings just as Aire’s foot was about to come down. Her father grabbed
her shoe
and yanked sideways as far as he could stretch. She landed hard on her back. The wind was knocked out of her
for the second time
and she gasped for breath, flopping like a goldfish out of its bowl to get away as she saw him stand up.

She held out her arms to brace herself as her father lunged on top of her. Strong hands wrapped around her throat. A flash of her mother blazed across her eyes. She swung at him, clawing his face, kicking her legs as she tried to squirm
out from under him. She needed to gag,  and her body spasmed as a cough was trapped in her windpipe.

Darkness began to cloak the room. The burn began to leave her lungs as the light grew dim. Her limbs were heavy,
and
h
er arms flopped
listlessly against his chest. The snarls and ranting grew quiet. She heard nothing.

Her father’s face was the only blurb of light left in the room, a
crazed
portrait slowly fading in the darkness. His features were blurred and
hazy
, and finally disappeared altogether. She gazed up into a small circle of white above, and closed her eyes.

There was pressure in the darkness. Someone was smashing her rib cage. There was a voice. It was far away and distorted, as though calling to her from underwater. More  pressure. A pain in her lungs.

She was dizzy. Someone smacked her back. She remembered coughing, huge aching coughs that
scoured
her throat.

Arms wrapped around her as she coughed. The light began to come back. Though dizzy she could feel she was sitting up.

“Thank goodness,” she heard a man say over and over.

De
tails of Mitch’s room appeared; broken b
ookshelves, bed, nightstand, they all waved and bowed, shifting left and right. People were screaming outside. She had to see what it was. Aire tried to push herself up but toppled back to the ground. Mike’s smiling face came into view.

“Just give yourself a few minutes,” he said, pulling her back into sitting position.

“Where, what,” she chocked, her throat raw. “Mike?”

“Yeah
, it’s me,” he said.

She rubbed her eyes and opened them wide for a moment. The room sat still and she took the scene in. There was remorse and hatred baked together when she saw her father laying halfway in the closet.

“What happened?”

“Everyone’s going crazy. It’s so bad they’ve got the military shooting in the street. Aire, I don’t think the Army is a good thing right now. I think they’re going to kill everyone, even people like us.”

She rubbed her neck, still trying to catch her breath. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with your mom and sister?”

He shook his head. “They’re gone.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, and hugged him.

“Me too,” he said, squeezing her tighter. Mike released his grip, holding her shoulders as he studied her face. “Are you okay to get up?”

“I think so,” she nodded as h
e helped her to her feet. “I saw them on the road a little bit ago. Where are they now?”

“They’re coming from the southeast. There’s
a semi
circle of them sweeping the neighborhood and picking people off one by one. A few more are behind them to pick up any strays.”

“Like driving cattle.”

“Right. But if we can get into the woods we should be able to hide from them.”

“I think so too,” she said.

More screams
and the barking of dogs
could be heard outside, the cacophony of chaos growing ever louder as the Army pressed on. They were close enough now that she could hear the popping of their pistols as they tagged people running through the streets.

“We need to get going.” She grabbed her pack and made her way towards the hallway.
“First we have to get Melissa.
Then we’ll make a break for it.”

“We can’t get Melissa,” Mike said.

“Sure we can. Her house is on the way, and since you two are on the same street you should grab a pack with some supplies while I get her.”

Mike grabbed her arm and spun her towards him. “Aire, you can’t get Melissa.”

“Why not?”

“Because Melissa is gone.”

“She got out already?”

“No.” Mike lowered his voice.  “I heard screaming just b
efore the sun came up. I went from
house to house trying to find who it came from. Most were empty, a few had dead people inside. I found Melissa in her living room. From the smell I don’t think she died today.”

Aire stared back at him, her body frozen in shock. “How?”

“It looked like someone hit her.”

“Gary,” she whispered, hot anger rushing over her skin. She clenched her jaw and grabbed Mike’s hand. “Let’s go.”

***

Thursday May 6, 2010

5:26 a.m.

Population: 122

Jackson’s team had the advantage of being in the heart of town. Their truck was parked in the City Hall lawn. Blue team leapt from the humvee before the driver had stopped and rushed to find safe vantage points to pick out the uninfected. He kept a careful eye on Jenkins as the man took cover in the nearby hedges.

“Make sure you tag them when you’re done so we can identify them,” Jackson called as his team dispersed.

He slipped easily throughout the town. He knew it as well as the residents, and would have to move fast before the eye of the storm caught up to him.

He hid just behind
one of the
clothing store
s
on the corner of Bourbon and Commerce. Once out of sight from his team, he ripped off his bandana and shoved it in his pocket.
H
e kept a careful
eye on his
team and Jenkins.
Patience
, he
whispered in his mind,
patience
.

Sweat soaked his face mask as he stood concentrating on four figures at once. He waited until he saw the first signs of panic
before making his move
.

In the distance he heard yelling
, and a pack of stray dogs went sprinting down Main Street
. First one, then two, and finally whole groups
of people
went running through the town square
towards City Hall
. Infected and uninfected alike ran panicked through the streets. Fights broke out as the severe cases ignored the panic and dove right in for the attack. The bodies began to drop. One by one they collapsed in the streets like wilted rose petals. Blue team was getting trigger happy. More and more tranquilized units dropped in the street. Now was the time.

It took less than two seconds for Jackson to peg his team with the tranquilizer darts. His hands were shaking as the last
man
dropped on the roof of the burger shop. A second too slow, a missed shot, and they would have pumped him with enough tranqs to stop his heart in a tenth of a second
.

“Thank you
,
Jesus,” he whispered
, his hands trembling
.

Jenkins sprung from his hiding spot as the crazed units rushed the lawn. Jackson cursed as he lost sight of the major disappearing around the City Hall building. Jenkins hadn’t seen him dart the others though. If he had, he wouldn’t be standing. Jenkins was a rattlesnake, the best in the business
.
If anything got out of hand he could end it in
milli-
seconds. Until the madness became a plague, that was.

Jackson went into the clothing store and slipped into the back where
they kept inventory. H
e climbed the ladder to the
roof, and waited for
Aire
to show.
She’d have to cut across town since t
here wasn’t enough time for her to make it to safety by cutting through the neighborhood. She’d have to run into
the business district
first, and he’d be ready and waiting for her.

***

Thursday May 6, 2010

5:26 a.m.

Population: 122

Aire wasn’t prepared for the scene she saw outside her front door Lunatics laughed in the street at the madmen attacking running families. They laughed like jackals, holding their sides and pointing until a dart pierced their hides and they fell to the dirt. The sad ones, as she thought of them, managed the will to walk out to their front porches. They sat down and watched and waited for the Army to shoot them or
for
a ma
niac
to finish them off, seeming to beg death
to come to them
.

The madmen lashed out at anyone they saw. Dogs were mauled to death, and orphan children
were
beaten ruthlessly. Mothers carried their young ones, fathers
fought back
at the attackers. Most didn’t make it far enough to escort their wives into the city.

“Come on,” Mike yelled, and yanked her out of stupor. Aire began sprinting behind him as fast as she could, never letting go.

She screamed when she saw the first soldiers turn in front of them on El Dorado Road. Mike jerked her to the left to cut across
the alley just as a group of
the three soldiers
popped off several rounds of darts at them that bounced off the fence like massive bugs who’d flown into a window
.

They rounded onto Commerce S
treet, panting as they looked around the
business district
beginning to fill with running people.

“Aire look,” Mike shouted over their screams. He pointed towards
a humvee
parked on the City Hall lawn.

Aire shook her head.
“They’ll follow us.”

“We can go as far as we can and ditch it.”

“Okay.” They began sprinting towards the unmanned vehicle. “Wait,” she said pulling on his arm to slow him down. “If we have a truck I’m getting Doc.”

“Aire-“

“I’m not arguing with you, just get the truck and meet me at the practice.

Mike nodded. They parted as they ran across Bourbon. She hadn’t gotten thirty feet when she heard a strangled ye
ll
behind her. She kept running, looking over her should to see Mike crumple to the ground, his hand on the truck door, a red dart in his back.

A soldier emerged from behind Maggie’s. The barrel raised, pointing at her. She zagged to the right. A whizzing sound buzzed past her ear as the
red
dart shot past her and bounced off a trash can into the street. She turned when she reached Dr. Caughlin’s office, doing a double take at a soldier laying in the street
before disappearing
into the office.

***

Thursday May 6, 2010

5:31 a.m.

Population: 118

The shot had been a risk, but one worth taking. Kane would have plowed into the the soldier if he hadn’t fired. There was still no signs of Jenkins, but Jackson knew he’d be close.