Read Revealed: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction Online
Authors: Norman Christof
"No promises, but we'll do what we can."
The colonel left the room with the sergeant. Chaz attempted to follow them, but after a few steps, he nearly collapsed. The doctor grabbed him by the arm, and directed him back to a seat at the table.
"You can't do anything in your condition, Colonel. Have a seat. You can watch everything from the monitors."
Chaz was reluctant, but took a seat and glanced up regardless. There was only one protector left now, and no sign of Alex. The protector and Christa had moved from where Alex was, pushed by the surge of the crowd.
"My name's Doctor Montgomery. Judith Montgomery; you can call me Judith. Don't call me Judy though, I can't stand that. Makes me feel like a puppet." She took a seat at the table as well, between Chaz and the monitors. She wasn't watching the monitors, but seemed more relaxed since the general had left the room. "Don't worry, the general will get your people out. He's good at what he does. Even if he's a bit pigheaded."
"I can't see Alex anymore," Chaz whispered as he looked over Judith's shoulder towards the monitor.
"He'll get the girl out. I'm quite sure of that." She said nothing about Alex.
Judith kept talking, but Chaz couldn't take his eyes off the monitors. Her voice became just white noise. The protector had picked up Christa's knife, and was desperately using it against their attackers. The freaks were closing in for the kill, when they suddenly started dropping to the ground. The snipers were picking them off. Small spurts of blood came from their skulls as their necks snapped from the force of the bullets. There were still so many coming. The protector now at least had room to maneuver. Christa still wasn't moving, but somehow the protector got her to her feet. He took her by the hand and directed her towards the front door of the fort. On another monitor, he could see one of the snipers yell to the protector. There was no sound on the monitors, but it appeared the sniper was directing him closer towards the front door of the building.
As the snipers kept the freaks from getting to Christa, the fort's remaining soldiers gathered in the front lobby. They numbered only twenty-three. Nowhere near the numbers they’d had when the siege on the fort started, but these were the best of that original group. Only the strong had survived this long. They were fully equipped with riot gear and shields.
As Christa and her protector got closer to the front doors, it was harder for the snipers to get a bead on the freaks. Every freak on the property had now been drawn to the conflict. There were still freaks out of the snipers' lines of sight between Christa and the front door. Christa and her protector had moved about as close to the front door as possible. The lead sniper on the roof radioed the sergeant in the lobby. "Time to move. We'll take him out once we see you."
The front doors of the fort blew open like a tornado had been released inside. The freaks in front of the doors had no chance. The soldiers took them down quickly with knives and riot sticks. As the doors opened, sniper shots pierced the skull of Christa's protector, transforming him into a lifeless bag of bones. Inside the facility, Chaz rose from his chair, his eyes glued to the monitors as the freaks advanced on Christa. The soldiers fought quickly towards her, but to Chaz it felt like they were moving in slow motion. When the doors opened, the pressing mob gained momentum as if they sensed an opportunity. But the snipers managed to hold them back long enough for the foot soldiers to reach Christa.
One of the men picked her up from the ground where she had fallen with her protector. His lifeless body lay across her lap, and she was catatonic. She appeared lifeless. The soldier picked her up and rushed her into the lobby. He handed her off to a lab coat, and returned to the fight. Now that Christa was out of the line of fire, the soldiers used their automatic weapons. Kneeling in formation, they sprayed a stream of bullets on the advancing freaks. The snipers pitched in, whittling the crowd down beyond the automatic-weapons fire. The foot soldiers worked their way down the main road to where Alex and Christa had initially fought. This task was made harder by the piles of bodies they had to wade through. Bodies that had been collecting there during the siege. More freaks advanced to take the place of those that fell to the gunfire.
Finally, the soldiers got to Alex. He was lying on the ground, not moving. Chaz could only watch as a medic reached down to check his pulse. The others held their ground amidst a stream of blood and bullets. The medic picked up Alex, and threw him over his shoulder. The group made their way back towards the front doors. The snipers kept firing as the men on the ground traipsed through the sea of bodies till they were safely back inside.
* * *
"I can't get a steady pulse, Sergeant. It comes and goes," the medic said.
The sergeant looked down on Alex. "Has he been bitten? Has he been infected?"
"Yes, sir, he's definitely been bitten; one of those freaks got a good chunk of his arm, and he's bleeding badly down his right leg."
The sergeant shook his head. "We never should have brought him in here. Damn orders. Get him down below with the white coats. He's their problem now. Make sure he's confined and restrained, regardless of what those science geeks say."
"Yes, sir." Two of the soldiers got Alex onto a gurney, and wheeled him towards the elevators.
"And you two stay with him at all times," the sergeant added.
Both soldiers nodded in agreement as they took Alex into the elevator.
The sergeant now looked around the room for Christa. "Where's the girl?"
Another soldier piped up. "The white coats took her below, sir."
"They were here? One of them actually had the balls to come up here in the middle of all that shit and take her below?"
"Yes, sir, they had a wheelchair waiting when I brought her back in. They didn't take long, they were out of here in a flash."
The sergeant flashed a sarcastic grin, and muttered, "Yeah, that sounds about right. Well, boys, I guess our work here is done. Good job, everyone. Wilson and Evans, get back to that breached wall. Hopefully Barker hasn't died yet."
"Yes, sir." They saluted in unison and headed off.
"The rest of you get back to your regular posts. This party's over for now, but I'm sure the hangover's gonna be doozy."