“Mike,” Eric whispered. Unfortunately there wasn’t any spare communication gear, it had been lost with the bus back at the airport, so Mike and Eric were dependent upon the others’ hand signals for all communication.
“What?” Mike whispered back.
“Look up at the roofline, I think I see someone up there. Do you see it?”
Mike took a long hard look for what might have caught Eric’s eye and thought he saw flickers of movement. Then he spotted a human form clearly outlined in the night sky. What made Mike’s skin crawl, though, were the telltale red pinpoints staring down in their direction. He hoped the night would provide sufficient cover until they made it into that vacant office. As he turned back toward Eric, he saw a baffled look on his friend’s face as he continued to stare upwards. Eric’s jaw went slack in amazement or perhaps fear, Mike wasn’t sure. Not understanding Eric’s reaction Mike looked back toward the roof and was met with a sight he would never forget.
Clearly silhouetted against the night sky, one of the Changed had stepped up to the edge of the roof and looked straight down at them. Two large appendages unfurled from each side of the menacing creature. Mike’s mind was going crazy at this point and he was convinced this freak had just sprouted fucking wings. It seemed like once that thought slipped from Mike’s consciousness the wind caught the birdlike wings and the Z dropped forward, taking flight straight for Mike.
The sum total of all the training Mike had ever received had not prepared him for what was occurring at that moment. He just stood there as the winged nightmare sped like something straight from the depths of Hell directly for him. The next thing Mike saw was the ground as Vogel knocked him from the creature’s path, sending him tumbling further down the hill.
Vogel wasted no time, raising his weapon and firing into the creature. The velocity of the creature’s free fall made the crunch of impact horrific to hear as it landed directly on top of the hapless man. The thing’s wings wrapped around Vogel as they rolled around in a death struggle. Before anyone could even react, the creature sank its teeth into Vogel’s skull. They clearly heard the sickening crunching sound of his skull popping only to be drowned out by his final agonizing death wheeze.
Eric recovered from the shock of the sudden turn of events first and let off a half-mag burst into the back of the creature’s head while it was preoccupied with the now-deceased Terra Corp operator. They all looked around wildly to see if the ruckus had attracted any further unwanted attention. Mike had his eyes glued to the roofline, searching for more of whatever it was that had just killed Vogel. Not seeing any further threat, he turned to Julian, who had just walked up to inspect the carnage.
“What the fuck was that?” Mike asked, unsettled and breathing heavily still.
“I told you some of them take on the attributes of foreign DNA they have been exposed to. It depends on the environment and what they were exposed to before changing. The mutations are uncommon, but you never know what you get . This is only the third example I’ve come across; unfortunately for Vogel, it will be his last. I call them the Mingled.”
Mike, still freaked out from what he had seen, was wondering what else he didn’t know. Every hour seemed to bring even darker revelations from Julian.
“So we have the Changed, a tweener, and now some fucked-up blokes you refer to as Mingled. What the fuck is next? I haven’t been this confused since I went to Hamburger Mary’s in Ybor Strip. Is anything as it seems anymore?” Mike asked Julian, angry and panicked at the same time.
“If we don’t move we’re sure to find out,” Julian said, obviously not wanting to deal with this while they were on mission and exposed.
Mike realized he was right. “Sorry, let’s hurry up and get inside,” he said, then started back down the hill.
The rest of the group fanned out and continued toward the insertion point. Only now they were looking in every direction, including up. Regretfully, there was no way they could stop long enough to untangle Vogel from the mutated creature that had claimed his life.
In complete silence from that point forward, and with a twinge of fear and uncertainty guiding each step, they made it without further incident to the side of the Resort. Davis then tapped Aggeles on the shoulder, signaling the man to lift him to the window’s edge so he could make sure the room they planned to enter was empty. Not seeing anything that wanted to kill them inside, Davis started to tug on the window, a string of low curses soon following. The window appeared to be painted shut or locked tight. He reached into a pocket on his tactical belt, pulled out a small object, and placed it on the glass close to the lock. A small click was audible to those below, followed by the clatter of breaking glass. Davis reached in, unlatched the lock, and slid the window open to the relief of everyone standing outside feeling very exposed.
Within seconds, the entire team was inside and they kept as quiet as possible. No one wanted to attract unwanted attention and they had no idea what stood between them and the bunker.
“What now, Julian?” Mike whispered.
“Let’s take a quick look and see what we’re up against. The good thing about dealing with the Changed is they only alert those closest to them. No general alarm will be sounded unless we get loud. If that happens we better be real close to getting inside that bunker.” Mike had no argument with Julian’s logic.
Julian walked up to the door, cracked it open, and looked down the hallway. He quickly closed the door again without a sound.
Mike had expected some sort of high-tech camera was going to be used to look down the hallway from inside the room.
I guess some shit still gets done the old way,
he thought to himself with a chuckle.
“How’s it look?” Davis asked Julian.
“It looks like most of the Zs may be outside still; all I was able to make out were three at the end of the hallway leading to the exposition area. We go in pairs, with Davis and Aggeles taking the lead, Mike and Eric center, and Haya and I will bring up the rear. Go for head shots or a knee to immobilize them if that is your only option. Anywhere else and you just wasted a round, gentlemen.”
They all understood Julian’s instructions and were acutely aware deviating from them would only end up getting themselves or someone else killed. Tension was high, and the little bit of distance that separated them from the bunker felt like a million miles. Mike finally understood what fighting in the trenches of World War I must have been like; hundreds of men would die an agonizing and dirty death for each foot of ground gained, only to lose it the next day when the enemy countered with their own mini-offensive. He hoped they were successful and made it to the bunker so there would never be a counter-offensive.
Davis slid the door open and quickly fired off three silenced rounds. The muffled sound of bodies hitting a carpeted floor floated back to them. Stepping into the hallway behind Davis and Aggeles, Mike could see the three forms crumpled on the floor ahead. They were in the hallway now and, thankfully, the staff at the Greenbrier seemed to be fond of carpet as it was everywhere. This was a big bonus for a group of people looking to sneak around undetected with groups of the Changed free roaming the establishment. Mike could tell this was an upper-crust kind of place, and its interior even reminded him of the White House. Textured wallpaper, expensive framed art, and ornate wood furniture adorned the Greenbrier’s rooms and halls. No expense had been spared and he was sure the furniture was antique to boot.
As they slipped silently down the hallway, the lack of activity was starting to become unsettling. Everyone was expecting a grueling firefight this close to the bunker, but other than the three Changed Davis dropped outside the office the Resort was eerily silent. As they reached the end of the hallway, Davis crouched down and looked around the corner.
“It’s another long hallway, but it looks like this one leads to a large open room.”
Julian was looking down at a small hotel directory he must have picked up in the office as he quietly said, “According to this, the exposition hall we’re looking for is just beyond the room at the end of this hallway. It’s there we should find the entrance to the bunker.”
The muffled pop of silenced automatic rounds firing suddenly brought their attention back to the present. Haya was firing on a group of Changed advancing toward them from behind. There were more than they could handle; even with half the team firing now the Changed continued to shamble their way. Mike knew this was bad news because they could not afford to expend all of their ammunition so early into the operation.
“Move out,” Julian ordered calmly as he looked at Haya. “Try to slow them down. Only pop the ones in front then get your ass back to us.”
Eric moved toward the back with Haya, but Julian waved him off. “We need to conserve ammo and besides, I’m sure Haya loves the shit out of this.”
Haya flashed a quick smile all while continuing to pick apart the bloodthirsty Zs with precision and efficiency. The noise level was increasing as the Zs started to understand fresh warm bodies were just ahead. One in particular started to wail, his cry of bloodthirsty hunger so cold and wanting that it sent chills up every spine in the group. As quickly as the wailing started it was cut short as Haya put a round through its left eye.
The damage was done, though. The Zs now sounded like a chorus of the dammed, belting out inhuman sounds as loud as they could in their wanton frenzy for fresh meat. The sound was paralyzing at first, then motivating to those with an actual pulse. Movement and sound was seemingly everywhere suddenly. Stealth and surprise were now a thing of the past. They started down the hallway leading to the exposition hall only to see bodies pouring from their intended destination headed straight for them. The situation had just gone from bad to fucked-up.
Mike was trying to determine what their options were when someone or something burst forth from the pack. It was moving rapidly and dropped to all fours every couple of strides. After seeing the winged freak that had claimed Vogel’s life, Mike was sure he didn’t want stick around to see if this was simply a gimped Z or one of the Mingled. That thought must have been universal, because Davis ran up to the next door and tried the handle. It was unlocked and, throwing caution to the wind, he stepped through with his weapon ready. Seconds later, he waved everyone in.
Mike looked at the Zs behind them, then back to the fast mover getting closer by the second. He could see it with more clarity as it closed in on them; its face was distorted into what appeared to be a smile, but the red eyes coupled with the innards of its last victim dangling from its teeth, a bloody goatee spreading downwards from its chin, told an altogether different story. They hurried through the door Davis was holding open, with Haya the last to enter. Davis slammed the door shut and flipped the lock. Almost immediately, the pounding started along with the sound of ragged nails dragging across the door. Mike wished he could turn the sound of impending doom down a notch or ten. It sounded worse than fingernails on a chalkboard if that was even possible.
They found themselves in a well-appointed stateroom. There was a finely furnished sitting room attached to separate sleeping quarters. This room had everything a person would need while spending a night away from home. There was even a small refrigerator in a wet area topped with expensive-looking granite. The one feature missing was apparent to everyone immediately. They had taken refuge in an interior room and therefore they had no window with which to make their escape. The sound of the Zs outside the room was so loud they had to speak up just to hear each other talk.
Mike was staring at the door now bending under the weight of the Zs. “They’ll be in here in no time, and if not through the door, it sounds like they’re starting to claw through the walls.”
Davis put his ear to the wall and said, “He’s right, let’s get some furniture against that door and figure a way out of this mess.”
Unlike most modern hotels, the Greenbrier was built before code required doors that interconnected between rooms. It took three of them to slide the heavy dresser against the door while Mike, Eric, and Julian looked around the room for anything that would help them out of this mess.
Eric picked up the phone and said, “Shall we call the front desk and ask them to remove their unruly guests?” That quip even got a smile from Julian’s generally stoic face.
“If we don’t find a way out we’ll be vacationing here permanently,” Julian responded. Mike could only nod in agreement; their situation was growing more desperate by the moment.
The wailing outside the stateroom was hitting a fevered pitch and they all could feel the floor vibrating from the pressure of the Zs’ sheer mass. Mike figured there must be at least fifty of them outside the room based on the noise alone, and if they didn’t figure something out soon they were toast. Eric was talking to Davis in hushed tones and pointing up. When he caught Mike’s look, he said, “The only way out may be up.”
“Up?” Mike said, gazing at the ceiling and not really understanding what Eric was saying.
Just then a large, snapping sound cracked throughout the room. The door had started to splinter. Time was running out, so if they had a plan it was time to execute.
“Pile as much shit as you can in front of the door,” Davis yelled at everyone. No one questioned him and soon everything not bolted down was piled against the door.
“Keep the mattress aside, we’ll need it in a minute,” Davis said as he and Eric attached wire to the firing pins of two grenades. Davis then ran into the sitting room and, standing on a chair he had kept aside, began taping the grenades to the center of the ceiling. As soon as he finished he ran back into the sleeping quarters and slammed the door closed behind him, all while carefully stringing the wire under the door’s threshold.
The door to the hallway splintered further and now they were able to see the red eyes and bloody faces of the Changed glaring hungrily through the cracks in the door.
“Grab the mattress and get in the corner. Once it blows we’ll need to stay focused and get to the floor above as fast as possible.”
Everyone moved into position without question, took a breath, and mentally prepared for the mayhem that was sure to follow.
“3-2-1!” As soon as Davis pulled the wire it felt like someone had opened the doors of a blast furnace. The explosion’s shock wave ripped the door leading into the sitting room off its hinges, sending it flying into the bedroom. The wall separating the rooms along with the mattress spared them from the shrapnel created by the blast. It also blew the hallway door the Changed were attempting to get through wide open.
Survival was now down to who would recover faster.
Unfortunately for them, the Changed recovered faster and started to climb over the pile of debris in front of the door. Mike and Eric were the first up and they rushed into the sitting room to see if their plan had worked.
There was a fair-sized hole blown though the ceiling to the floor above. Mike was able to make out the ceiling of another stateroom above. Someone behind them started firing into the Changed now climbing over the debris.
Mike kneeled down and Eric jumped onto his back. Mike then stood upright, propelling Eric upward toward the opening. Eric managed to secure a fingerhold and pulled himself through the opening into the room above.
“Let’s get going,” Mike yelled out, more due to his ringing ears than to motivate the rest of the group. The others were streaming into the room above one by one now, Eric hoisting each of them to safety. Mike, Julian, and Haya were all that remained below, and the Changed were only seconds away from overrunning them.
“Go!” Julian barked at Mike.
Mike didn’t need to be told twice and jumped toward the waiting hands of rescue. He was quickly pulled through the jagged opening in the floor, with Julian hauled up right behind him. Haya remained in the nightmare below. Before he could be snatched up to safety with the others, there came a loud crash and cursing from below. Mike crawled over and looked back down though the opening. The fast-moving Z they had seen before taking cover was standing not ten feet from Haya, who was in the process of loading a new clip as fast as he possibly could.
This specimen was big and brutish, with a shaved skull and bulging muscles. It was stripped naked and Mike could clearly see mortal wounds festering everywhere on its body. It was obvious this one had given its original assailants quite the fight before finally turning. It seemed to be leering at Haya, its red-tinted eyes burning with a feral intensity that screamed hatred and hunger for the man daring to stand before it. Even the other Changed seemed to be giving it a wide berth. This was surprising given their prey was so close they could smell the sweat rolling off him.
The moment the clip slammed home and Haya reached for the charging handle the beast hurled itself forward. Just as he brought his rifle to bear and the first rounds started to pepper the Zs neck and face, it slammed into him with a ferocity Mike had never witnessed at any time in his life.
“Semper Fi MOTHERFUCKER!” Haya screamed as the beastly brute tore into him, laying bare skull and bone. He went down with it on top of him and both fought until the very end. Not a whimper or a scream did the doomed man utter as he passed from this world, a warrior until his final breath eased itself from his lungs. Both lay still and the silence in the room above was deafening.