Infected Series (Book 1): Mission: New York (5 page)

Dawson moved to the door they had locked earlier, unlocked it and taken the key out with her, leaving the two inside with no escape, but hopefully they would not need it. She made her way quickly to the end of the alley, and started to move toward the building using cover that was not perfect but would suffice for now. She was nearly there when she heard glass shattering and the AR fire sporadically, drawing the shooters fire, and she sprinted across the street to get under an awning hiding her from the shooter. There she caught her breath, waiting for the next barrage to move up toward the front of the building and gain entry. As soon as she heard their fire, she got up and ran; heading for the front door of the apartments, and quickly got herself inside. Simon had seen her progress across the street and kept up his rate of fire, but had not depleted his ammunition completely. Mo had done likewise and the two of them could now try and snipe the hostile, seeing if they could possibly wing him or just get him to focus on them creating the distraction Dawson needed. Dawson hit the barrier of objects, and had negotiated them safely to gain access to the stairs, climbing quickly without winding herself; as this would be wholly counter-productive, she listened carefully to where the shots were being fired from. She had guessed roughly the third floor, and was proven right when she heard the shots clearer as she headed down the passage. She stepped carefully, avoiding anything that would bang or fall, and would alert the shooter or shooters. She was pretty sure however that there was only one shooter. The door where she saw the gunshots emanating from was lighting up briefly, and she headed toward the open door, her rifle up and ready. Her finger was already taking up the pressure as she hit the door and took in the scene of the lone gunman, standing with empty bottles of various alcoholic drinks scattered on the floor. He had not noticed Dawson open the door, and was cursing softly to himself. She saw his naked swaying body, realising he was blind drunk as a result of the happenings of the day. She smiled, and made her way up behind him, and promptly hit him with the butt of her rifle; rendering him unconscious. She quickly scanned the apartment, and stuck out a red flag as they had agreed to use as a signal that they were now okay to stop shooting. The sound startled her then, which came from the bedroom just off the space where the unconscious man now lay. Dawson slowly approached the room with the closed door, and could hear muffled cries coming from inside. She carefully opened the door and peeked in quickly to scan for danger, and saw nothing. She did note the rumpled bed and the two tied up girls on the bed. She approached them carefully, and searched the room quickly for any other people, but saw nobody apart from the two girls on the bed. Dawson quickly went to them and untied the one sister then the other. Both of them looked at Dawson, their red eyes told a horrible story. She quickly explained to them that the man had been firing at them from the apartment whilst she and her friends were across the street, getting weapons and ammunition. The girls were scared that Dawson had been in league with the man and that it was all a trick. Dawson went one better and went to fetch the unconscious man; tied him up and sat him in a chair in the living room. Dawson asked the girls to get dressed and they complied happily; glad to see that Dawson had indeed tied him up and they were now safe.

Chapter Nine

The two sisters explained to the rest of the group in the gun shop what had happened to them, how they had been trapped in the apartment by the man who had been threatening to rape them. They lived across the corridor from the older man, and had often noticed the way he had looked at them. He had made lurid sexual comments whenever he could get away with it they explained, and he had once or twice promised them a real good time. Their caution had led to their capture, as they had tried to remain hidden in their apartment, and had tried to stay quiet; he had noticed they had not left for school that morning. That was when he had broken into their apartment; forcibly kidnapped them then had tied them up after removing their clothes. He had sexually assaulted the girls, but had not yet had an opportunity to do anything more than touch and feel them. He had planned to get all 'liquored up' and he would then 'play' with them properly. The saving grace had been the fact that their stash of party drinks was what eventually got him blind drunk. That was the best thing that they had hidden in the apartment, and when he had them finally tied up he had asked them if they had any weed or alcohol; to which they had replied yes. He had questioned them more and how much there was, and they told him that if they gave it to him then he should let them go. However he had reneged on the deal, and had kept them tied up and started his drinking. He had taken a break and had then abused them while they were tied up in the bedroom. They had been there since ten am.

That was when Dawson said she wanted to go and get some payback for the abuser. It had been a close thing, but Simon had stopped her just in time. She had been absolutely livid with rage. Simon had spoken to her calmly and managed to get her to promise that she would not retaliate without proper process. She had said that due process was gone; and that street justice would now be the law; not those that were of no relevance to them after their day. Simon had said that if the girls wanted him to be punished then they would do it, but it would be after he had spoken to everybody at the shop. They would have to figure out a way to get him down to street level, by preferably keeping his hands tied, and make him either walk behind the vehicle, or be driven in it. The sisters had said he should just be shot, but Simon had said that would not be an acceptable option; but the majority would decide and then their decision would be final. The argument was interrupted by the noise of Phil and George walking into the shop, and breaking the argument. They had located a Prius, and had it parked in the front of the store.

Their eagerness to get loaded up was apparent. They had noticed several fires were burning, and had seen a few shocked people on the street. Their search had been a few blocks away, and they had located this particular vehicle in a parking garage; where the keys were all locked in the guard’s office. They had managed to get the key, and get the Prius out with a minimum of fuss, as the car had been fully charged and they therefore would not need to find a charging unit for a while; or however long the electricity lasted. Getting the Prius to the back of the store was easy enough, and once it was finally there the group had folded the seats down flat to give them extra capacity. Quickly moving all the weapons; ammunition; vests; and all the other useful items into the back of the Prius, they had managed to snag most of the rifles, handguns and shotguns with enough ammunition to supply themselves for a long siege. It would not last them indefinitely, but would last them a reasonable time.

Simon asked Dawson and George to see if they could persuade the tied up man to come along with them and accept the punishment the group would decide. Dawson grumbled as she and George made their way up to the apartment, and had finally persuaded the man to behave himself, and come along peacefully. Reluctantly he had agreed and had made his way carefully with his hands tied in front of him so he could walk easier, and if he fell he would be able to stop himself being injured. They ensured that he would not be able to escape, and ensured that the person leading him had enough slack to scramble over; but not get too close to anyone. They had also made sure that George would follow, and if he twitched, or tried to use anything as a weapon he would be shot. They finally reached the bottom of the building, and exited into the darkening dusk. They headed over to the gun shop, and moved him across slowly inside the building, making sure that he could not get access to any of the girls. The girls had initially not wanted him to be brought into the building, but they had relented after they were told that he was going to stand trial for what he had done to them. At that the two had agreed, on condition that he would be judged according to his actions. Having the Prius fully loaded they decided to leave to go back to Simon's shop and tell them of the news and distribute the weapons they had managed to get from the gun shop. They tied the man to the towing eye, and he was pulled at a rather brisk trot toward the coffee shop; while the others made their way on foot. The light was fading and they probably had about forty minutes to get back, barring any accidents or incidents along the way.

****

Interlude Two

Swearing loudly, the leader of the three blood covered men looked at the remains of the weapons that were in the gun shop. He had wanted to get there quickly, but they had run into a horde of those infected creatures just down the street from the gun shop, and had had to head away from the gun shop to give them some breathing room. The horde had come out of nowhere, and their hasty retreat had caused the horde to veer away from the gun shop, enabling the survivors from the coffee shop to get there first. Ant swore again, feeling his frustration boil over. Ant and his group had managed to avoid the horde, by hiding out in a store, and the few members of the horde that had managed to find them had been dispatched by his group. Then they had backtracked toward the gun shop; which had already been raided by the coffee shop people. Looking around he ordered his gang of criminals to grab what they could and to see if they could find a safe place to hide out for a while.

****

The little caravan had set off, back the way they had come, and they quickly formed a pattern to their movements that allowed them to move with some speed and keep themselves safe if need be. They had used it on the way to the gun shop, leap-frogging two people to the front, then walking while everyone else took turns doing the leap-frogging, getting them safely back to their destination with little fuss. They had seen others on their way back to the shop, but they were walking almost as if they were in a daze; not quite there in mind, but just the empty husk of a human being. As much as they wanted to try see if they needed help, they were trying to protect themselves and those with them. There was very little they could do to keep those people safe out there. Keeping themselves safe was right now a selfish thing to do, but Simon had been sure that others would be doing the same thing. Utilising their own supplies they had managed to get had not been easy, and if they had to share it with everybody they would not survive.

Chapter Ten

Simon had made sure that George had told everyone at the shop to start the unloading. By the time Simon and the rest of the group arrived, the shop had been stocked and filled with their loot. Judith had not been idle; her idea had been to use the table tops to create 'shutters' to place in front of the windows was inspired genius, and they had also looted the other stores in the neighbourhood to use what they could to make their sanctuary safer. They had used up the furniture and fittings to build themselves a veritable fortress, and had also managed to get enough supplies and materials that they had enough sleeping bags and blankets for everyone. Judith had been proactive all right, by sending out a foraging party, she had managed to get them set up with lighting in the form of lanterns as well; just in case the power went out and did not come back on. They were tired but happy when they saw the Prius approach, realising that Simons plan had gone smoothly.

Judith had asked about the man, and George had explained briefly, but asked Judith not to mention it to anybody just yet. They were to tie him up somewhere securely, and place a guard with him at all times. Simon and the rest had arrived shortly afterward, and Simon had gone up to Judith to thank her for her hard work in unloading the Prius. He did a double take when he looked at the shop, with the fortifications that Judith had managed to create. He was duly impressed and he had given her a quick peck on the cheek. Judith had blushed bright red, almost as red as her hair, but not quite. She had grinned at him, and said she needed to have a quiet word with him about the prisoner they had brought in with them. He stepped over to the side with her, and she began with her questions.

"Is it true what he did? To those girls I mean?" she asked him quickly, "How could he have done that to them? How can anyone be so inhumane?

"Trust me it was not something that I thought would happen," Simon said quietly, "but it did happen, the two girls were found by Dawson and she will confirm their state they were in." His voice changed then, "It was very cruel what he did to them, this is why I wanted to get him back here, so that we could hold a trial; then figure out a punishment for him." he spoke with the anger in his voice.

"Just what made him do that? Surely no-one can be that twisted? I mean, I used to read about people like him on the internet and the on the news channels; but to meet and be near someone depraved like that is sickening." she spat out, her eyes darkening. "I very much doubt that he will find much sympathy here in the people we have here."

"This is why I wanted to do it here, instead of out there." he said, pointing to the general direction of where they had come from, "People need to understand that everything has changed, and there is no going back now. We will come across more people like him out there in the next few days, and we need to be more careful. Thankfully we have now got weapons which can aid us." he finished speaking on a positive note. "Let's finish up here then we can get everyone together and get them all understanding the real dangers out there."

Unpacking the last of their stock, they headed inside to the others that had all been helping stack the food and ammunition, and as Simon had walked inside the shop, he had marvelled again at how hard the rest of them had been working to ensure their safety inside the shop. Judith's ingenuity at stripping the surrounding store had been an absolute masterful stroke, and Simon had wondered how he had not thought of that before they had left earlier. Heading to the counter where the coffee machines were located Simon had quickly brewed some coffee for them, and they had sat or stood around toasting their success with the supplies they had managed to obtain. Their good fortune of helping the girls had also boosted Dawson's image among the survivors, and they had praised her for her handiwork. The prisoner had sparked furious debate in the survivors as they were not quite sure what to make of the bound man; who now was roped to the back wall, and was tied very securely. Nobody had tried to approach him to discover why he stank of alcohol, but also to discover why he was bound like a trussed turkey.