Indestructible: V Plague Book 7 (9 page)

Rachel threw her body across John and Katie a moment before
the Osprey struck the ground.  The impact was brutal, the aircraft immediately
beginning to disintegrate as it carved a deep furrow into a dark field.  All
around her people were crying out in fear and pain, then the fuselage hit
something hard, most likely a rock embedded in the soil well below the surface,
and the tail rose and flipped over violently.

There were more sounds of the plane coming apart then it rumbled
to a stop.  Rachel was stunned, vaguely aware of sounds around her but unable
to move or even form a coherent thought for that matter.  She lay on something
hard that was digging into her hip, but the thought that she should move to
relieve the pain failed to translate into action.  Eventually her mind shut
down and she lapsed into unconsciousness.

Sometime later Rachel woke to the sounds of a fight.  She
could hear Dog snarling as he battled with something, then an infected female
screamed.  That scream was a catalyst for movement, spurring her to climb to
her feet.  She looked around for John, but couldn’t find him.  Another scream
sent her pulse racing and she reached for her rifle, but it was no longer slung
around her body.

She was turning to start digging through the debris at her
feet when two females stepped into the opening at what she thought was the rear
of the Osprey.  Turning to move deeper into the wreckage, Rachel had barely
taken a step when they sprang forward and tackled her to the ground. 
Struggling, she tried to fight, but they worked in concert and pinned her until
she stopped struggling.

Abject terror at being helpless in the embrace of two
infected turned to confusion as they did nothing more than hold her down.  No
slashing with ragged nails.  No attempts to tear her open with their teeth. 
They just held her with inhuman strength until she ceased struggling against
them.

A few moments later she was roughly hauled to her feet and
dragged outside.  She renewed her struggles, but the larger female on her left
leaned in and bared her teeth inches from Rachel’s face.  She could see the
blood red eyes and smell the stench of death on the woman’s breath, and took
the warning to stop resisting.

Rachel was stunned when they moved into the open air.  The
debris field from the aircraft was nothing short of awe inspiring when she
considered that she’d just walked away from the crash, relatively unscathed. 
But what really drew her attention were the bodies on the ground and the large
group of females.

From where she stood, still being held by the two infected,
she could see several bodies that must have been ejected during the crash.  She
wasn’t close enough to identify any of them, but recognized Gunny Zemeck
because of his size.  There was enough moonlight for her to see a large
fragment of metal sticking out of his chest.

She also saw one of the women they had rescued from the
casino, knowing it was her because of the skimpy outfit that left most of her
skin bare.  Then there were a large number of dead females.  She could tell several
had been killed by Dog, but there were several more scattered around the area
that had long, thin objects protruding from their heads and bodies.  Who or
what had killed them?  And where was Dog?

She turned her head, trying to find him, but couldn’t see
him anywhere.  There was a smaller group of the females that were clustered
together facing out into the night.  Rachel looked in the direction their heads
were pointed and was just able to make out Dog’s form.  He was thirty yards out,
standing and watching.  They had worked together to drive him away and keep him
from coming back.

What the hell was going on?  Along with John, she’d been
observing the females growing smarter, but this was like nothing she’d ever
seen or imagined.  No mindless attacks.  They were actually working together
and using the strength of their numbers.  But to what end?  Or did they have a
purpose?

Four of the females were moving around the area, pausing to
check each of the bodies.  Rachel stood in mute shock as one of them began
pulling what appeared to be arrows from the dead infected.  Arrows?  Who had
shot them and where were they?  Had the females killed them or driven them off
or, like Dog, were they waiting for an opportunity to attack?

When the female finished removing the arrows, several of them
moved past Rachel and into the aircraft.  Soon she could hear banging as they
dug through the wreckage.  But what were they looking for?  As surreal as the
whole scene had been, it became even more of a waking nightmare when two of
them emerged carrying Martinez.

Rachel couldn’t tell if she was dead or not, but the females
brought her out and gently placed her on the ground.  A few minutes later,
after more searching, two more appeared with Katie, laying her in the dirt next
to Martinez.  More searching and Rachel was afraid she’d see John’s body
carried out next, but it was the young girl that had been with Stephanie.

She seemed uninjured, but was twitching and moaning when
they put her down.  One of the females who had remained outside squatted over
the girl and leaned close, sniffing her body.  Examination complete, she moved
first to Martinez and then Katie, repeating the process.  Finally she was
approaching Rachel as the little boy was dragged out into the open.

Where the females had been gentle with the women, one of
them had a grip on the boy’s ankle and pulled him along, dragging his body
across the debris, unconcerned for any damage that might be done.  The female
that was approaching Rachel turned and looked at the child, then up at the one
dragging him.  There was some form of silent communication between them and the
boy’s leg was dropped before half a dozen females rushed forward and began
consuming him.

Rachel’s state of confusion quickly became one of
revulsion.  She wanted to look away, but couldn’t stop herself from watching as
the small body was quickly stripped to the bone.  Gore rising, Rachel snapped
her head to the side when a scream from within the downed aircraft split the
night.  All of the females turned their heads to look as another woman charged
out into the night.  It was Stephanie.

She paused, looking around, then screamed and charged when
she spotted Rachel.  The female that seemed to be the leader stepped forward
and with a vicious blow sent Stephanie sprawling in the dirt, immediately
falling on her.  She thrust her face into Stephanie’s and screamed, lips
skinned back and teeth bared less than an inch from her face.  Stephanie didn’t
struggle against the woman, going completely still.  After a long minute, the
woman relaxed her posture and sniffed just as she had with the girl, Katie and
Martinez.

When she stood, Stephanie slowly climbed to her feet and stood
docilely as the woman turned and came up to Rachel.  Thrusting her face into
Rachel’s she sniffed, weaving her head slightly before dipping it to smell part
of the way down her body.  After a brief examination she turned away and looked
into the aircraft, testing the air.  For a moment Rachel thought she was going
to enter the wreck, but there was the sudden sound of a horse from the darkness
and one of the females in the group watching Dog fell to the ground with an
arrow quivering in her head.

Their leader screamed and four of them peeled away, racing
into the night at a frightening speed.  The woman walked over to the freshly
killed female and wrenched the arrow out of her head, adding it to the bundle
she carried in her left hand.

Rachel stood there in shock.  She wasn’t sure whether or not
she was suffering hallucinations as the result of a head injury during the
crash.  None of this made sense.  This wasn’t behavior she’d thought the
females were capable of.  For that matter, why was she still alive?  And Katie
and Martinez?  The infected never hesitated to kill.  That seemed to be their
single minded pursuit in what remained of their lives.

A few minutes later, three of the four females that had
chased the horseman returned.  The leader was still moving around the wreckage,
checking bodies.  The young girl’s condition hadn’t improved and Rachel started
to take a step towards her but was roughly yanked back into the spot where
she’d been standing with her two guards.  She caught her breath at the strength
of the females’ hands on her arms, then movement from the far side of the
Osprey caught her attention.

It was one of the Army soldiers that had been picked up
while they were in the casino.  He was infected, stumbling his way around,
apparently following a scent.  Seeming to zero in, he turned and began walking
directly towards where Katie and Martinez lay on the ground.  The females
ignored him, until he came within a dozen feet of them and started snarling.

One of the females who had been watching over the two
unmoving women leapt at him with a snarl, smashing her fist into his face and
sending him sprawling.  He was unfazed and began an uncoordinated effort to get
back to his feet, looking for all the world like a drunk.  The female pounced
on his chest and hit him several more times until he lay still, breathing
raggedly through his damaged nose and mouth.

“The females are protecting us!”  Rachel realized with a
shock, her head swimming.  But why the hell are they doing that?  Different
scenarios raced through her head, each of them more frightening than the last. 
The most terrifying thought was that they were going to be the guests of honor at
a feast.  Maybe main course was a better description.

After a few more minutes of milling around the area, the
infected leader made several guttural sounds that Rachel tried to recognize as
language, but settled on them as simply being subdued screams.  The grip on her
arms tightened and four females bent to lift Katie and Martinez into the air. 
Rachel couldn’t tell if they were still alive, but couldn’t imagine why the
infected would be messing with them if they weren’t. 

She had gotten both women’s bleeding under control before the
crash, so barring new injuries they should be OK for a while.  “For a while,”
she reminded herself as the group began moving to the east and she was forced
to start walking.  Both of them needed a hospital, but Rachel didn’t think any
of them would live long enough for something as mundane as gun shot wounds to
kill them.

The females set a fast pace.  Not faster than Rachel could
manage without having to break into a jog, but close.  Not for the first time
in her life she was thankful for her long legs.  If she was shorter she would
have been trotting, as failing to keep up wasn’t an option.  The iron grip on
each arm hadn’t lessened at all as they moved.

After a couple of miles, Rachel had settled in to the rhythm
of their movement.  The horizon they were walking towards was growing lighter
by the minute as sunrise approached.  It had been a warm and humid night and
she was sweating from the exertion of the forced march.  Once the sun came up
it was going to be a blistering hot day.  Would the females stop and seek
shelter from the heat, or would they push on?

Not happy that her prediction was accurate, Rachel squinted
as the sun climbed into the sky and began baking the earth.  The heat kept
building but the females seemed to be impervious to its effects.  When they
came to a wide, shallow river the group waded directly in, stopping in the
middle as each female bent and drank. 

Rachel took as much as she could force her stomach to hold,
not knowing when she would get water again.  While they were stopped, the grip
on her arms was released and she took a tentative step towards the females that
were supporting Katie and Martinez.  One of her guards snarled a warning, but
didn’t make a move to stop her.  After a moment Rachel kept moving, wading
through the gentle current.

Katie was conscious when Rachel reached her, and she was
glad to see that one of the females was helping her drink.

“What the hell is going on?”  Katie asked in a quiet voice
when she saw Rachel.

“I have no idea,” Rachel answered in an equally subdued
voice.  “I don’t know if we’re being kidnapped or protected, but either one is
something I didn’t think the infected would do.  How are you feeling?”

Rachel moved closer, skin crawling as she came within a foot
of the female holding Katie’s upper body.  Cautiously reaching out she moved a
filthy bra strap aside so she could see the bullet wound.  Before the Osprey
had crashed she had determined that nothing vital had been damaged as the round
punched through, and had successfully stopped the bleeding with a powdered
blood-clotting agent pressed directly into the entry and exit holes.

“Hurts, but I’ve felt worse.  How’s… I don’t even know her
name.”  Katie said, looking to her left.

“Martinez,” Rachel said.  “She was hurt worse than you. 
Hang in there.  I’m going to check on her.”

“Wait,” Katie reached out and grabbed Rachel’s wrist.  “Did
you see John after the crash?”

“No.  But you know as well as I do that if there’s a breath
in his body he’ll be coming for us.”  Rachel placed her hand on Katie’s.

“If he survived,” Katie said.  “He’s always seemed so damned
indestructible, but…”

“He is.”  Rachel said firmly.  “And just in case we don’t
have another chance to talk you should know he never gave up on you.”

“Thank you,” Katie said looking into Rachel’s eyes.  “Roach
told me some things about you two.  Things I don’t want to believe, that I’d
normally never worry about, but times aren’t normal.”

“He’s my friend and I love him,” Rachel said, her honesty
spilling out before she even thought.  “He’s had the opportunity, more than
once, but you don’t need to worry.  He’s still yours.  You should have seen him
when he found out your were alive and Roach had you.  Nothing and no one was
going to stop him.”

Katie smiled and squeezed her hand, tears forming and
threatening to spill down her cheeks.  Rachel smiled back at her and moved to
check Martinez.  She didn’t look good, skin pale and clammy with sweat.  The
bullet wound in her leg was a through and through in the meaty part of her
thigh, but other than spoiling the view in a short skirt it wasn’t anything to
worry about.

The wound in her abdomen was a different story.  The bullet
was still in her, and Rachel had no idea what internal damage had been done. 
There was always a possibility that nothing vital had been hit, but even if
that was the case there was still a contaminated foreign object inside the
woman’s abdomen.  Infection leading to sepsis and death was nearly assured if that
bullet wasn’t removed.

The leader walked over and Rachel took an involuntary step
back.  The woman was obviously of Indian heritage, tall with broad shoulders
and heavy muscle.  Neither attractive nor homely, she was just intimidating as
hell with her size and blood red eyes that seemed to pierce all the way to
Rachel’s soul when she looked at her.

She stood staring at Rachel for a long moment, then looked
down at Martinez.  She leaned forward, sniffing deeply as she inspected the
injured woman.  When her nose came close to the abdominal wound she jerked her
head back and scrunched her face into an expression of disgust.  She made a
guttural sound and the woman holding Martinez released her and stepped aside as
the sluggish current started to take her away.

“No!”  Rachel cried, lunging forward to reach for Martinez.

The female that had been carrying Martinez grabbed Rachel to
stop her.  Rachel struggled, fighting to break free, screaming as she tried to
get to Martinez before the river carried her too far away.  The leader stepped
in front of her and slapped her hard enough to knock her free of the other
infected’s grasp.

Rachel stumbled backwards, lost her footing and went under
the surface of the water.  She was only submerged for a second before the
leader latched on to her upper arms and violently pulled her back onto her
feet.  She pressed her face forward, her nose an inch from Rachel’s as she snarled
and bared her teeth.

Tears streaming down her face, Rachel stopped struggling
against the much stronger woman.  She understood the warning, and part of her
knew that without a hospital Martinez was doomed the instant the bullet entered
her body.  But that didn’t make it any easier to watch the woman who she had
come to think of as a friend slowly spin away on the lazy current.

Still crying, Rachel finally relaxed her body and the female
released her.  Looking around, Rachel met Katie’s eyes.  Saw the tears and also
the fear that reflected her own emotions.  What the hell were the infected
doing?  Why take them?  What could they possibly want with them?

The questions tumbled around in Rachel’s head as her two
guards prodded her back into motion.  Grief threatened to consume her, but she
bottled it up and focused on her anger at the death of another person.  A death
that could have been prevented if the infected hadn’t interfered.  She
convinced herself that she could have saved Martinez if she’d only had the
medical kit from the Osprey.