Authors: Mark Campbell
A few infected corpses staggered out from the nearby buildings
outside the base and hobbled towards the open gate, snarling, attracted by
the gunfire.
“Something isn’t right,” Witt said. “I thought that the Air Force
abandoned this place a long time ago.” He pointed down at the two
corpses on the wall. “Look at their uniforms. They’re neat, pressed, and
these men are well-groomed.”
Witt shook his head, troubled. He picked up a green book
marked Daily Log from the desk and threw it on the floor at Andrew’s
feet.
“Deserters don’t keep daily logs,” Witt said. He chuckled and
narrowed his eyes at Andrew. “You knew that the military came back
here, didn’t you?”
“And you didn’t bother correcting my assumption?” Witt asked,
narrowing his eyes. “You just let me waltz into a fully-staffed military
base?”
“We’re really past that point now thanks to you, Witt,” Andrew
replied calmly. “Things were going great until you pulled that bullshit at
the front gate. Now as far as the soldiers here are concerned I’m a raider.
Now I need your help shooting my way through the base.”
“I wouldn’t have done that stunt if you had been honest with me!
If I knew that this place was still operational then I wouldn’t even be
here!”
“Why didn’t they leave when the army pulled out?” Witt asked.
Andrew gave him a quizzical look and raised an eyebrow.
“Excuse me?” Andrew replied.
“Why did they stay behind in a wasted city when all of the other
troops left? What is so special here that they stayed behind to protect it?”
Witt asked as he stared into Andrew’s eyes.
“You’re lying to me,” Witt said, narrowing his eyes. He unslung
his rifle and crawled up onto the console, sending glass shards chattering
down against the floor. He crouched near the shattered window and
peered out into the street, trying to make sure that the coast was clear.
The corpses that been gathered outside had all shuffled away towards the
gunfire happening at other entryway.
“Now what are we going to do?” Jerri asked, cradling Jacob’s
putrid corpse. She caught a whiff of the child’s odor and quickly held him
away from her face. After they were settled, she would change his linen
and bathe him.
Andrew shook his head as he paced in the gatehouse. He heard
the shouts and screaming soldiers outside along with the haggard moans
of the dead. The gunfire was tapering off. He knew that they had to get to
the plane before it took off without them.
“Fuck it!” the soldier with the smoker’s voice growled. “Just drop
him!”
“Get down!” Andrew yelled at Jerri as he dove on top of her,
knocking her down onto the ground and covering her with his body.
Andrew kept Jerri low against the ground, shielding her with his
eyes squeezed shut. The bullets flew just inches over his body and
peppered the control console.
As soon as the hollow clips made their distinctive noise as they
struck the pavement, Andrew hurried back onto his feet and grabbed his
rifle. He bolted towards the door and leaned outside.
Andrew jerked back into the gatehouse just as a burst of gunfire
struck the pavement where he was couched just seconds ago. His heart
beat madly in his chest. He huddled against the dead console operator
who lay on the floor.
“Corporal J. Ramirez to Base Command!” the soldier said into his
radio. “Command, we have a second breach! Marauders have breached
the perimeter! Do you copy, over?”
Ramirez convulsed as the bullets tore through his body. Gurgling
on his own blood, he dropped his weapon, stumbled backwards, and
collapsed on the ground.
Andrew leaned against the door frame as his chest rapidly rose
and fell. He wasn’t a trained killer and he knew he got lucky. If he had
been out in the open he would have been killed for certain. He squeezed
his eyes shut for a brief second and then opened them, trying to gather his
thoughts.
Across the way he saw what looked like a small cluster of
dormitories that encircled a grass courtyard and a flagpole with a tattered
American flag. Long, windowless buildings that looked warehouses
surrounded the dormitory area, each of which were connected by a series
of roads.
On the road nearest to the gatehouse, a green military personnel
carrier sped along one of the roads as it weaved back and forth. The cabin
of the truck was engulfed in flames and the infected clung onto all sides of
the vehicle like tenacious spiders. The infected bashed their closed fists
against the windows and tried to pound through the sides, snarling like
rabid animals.
As the vehicle sped past the gatehouse, two infected soldiers lost
their grip and tumbled out onto the asphalt just a few yards away from
Andrew.
The engulfed vehicle increased speed until it broadsided one of
the aluminum warehouses. The vehicle erupted into a massive fireball and
flung the flaming infected off in all directions.
The two infected soldiers on the ground near him got onto their
feet and started to shamble towards him with blood dribbling out of their
mouths.
‘
CLICK’
His rifle was empty.
The soldier lunged at Andrew, swiping his arms in front of him.
The first shot missed but the second shot struck the soldier in the
throat and ruptured the man’s spinal cord. The soldier gurgled and fell on
the ground, convulsing madly.
He pulled the trigger.
The soldier’s legs flailed one last time and he lay motionless.
Andrew holstered his pistol and ran towards Ramirez’s corpse
and took the man’s military-grade assault riffle along with all of his extra
clips.
Andrew spun towards the closed gate and saw that the gunfire
and chaos had attracted thousands of rotten corpses to the chain-link
fence. They were pushing and pulling on the gate, desperately trying to get
through.
Jerri emerged out of the gatehouse and kept Jacob covered in his
shawl. She looked over at the gathered mass of bodies by the gate and her
eyes widened.
The gate wobbled violently and the metal ties were starting to
snap off as the structure started to break apart from the sheer numbers
pushing and pulling against it.
As Andrew crossed the street and got closer to the dorms, he
couldn’t help but think of a college campus that had been ransacked. The
barracks had their doors torn off of the hinges and most of their windows
shattered. A few buildings burnt out of control. Infected meandered in
and out of the buildings as they pleased, stumbling after the terrified
fleeing soldiers who were half-dressed and ill-prepared for battle. For all
the soldiers knew they were supposed to be evacuating later in the day;
they did not expect a sudden fight with the undead. Open suitcases,
scattered papers, and loose clothing littered the manicured grounds and
surrounded the flagpole that sat in a circle of grass in the center of the
courtyard and cement benches were situated around the expanse of the
courtyard.
A Humvee plowed through a row of hedges next to one of the
dorm buildings and skidded to a stop in the middle of the courtyard next
to the flagpole.
Six soldiers wearing riot gear and gas masks hopped out of the
Humvee and started systematically executing everything that moved.
Within seconds, the infected that were staggering in the courtyard were
dropped.