Chapter Seven
Yesterday Was The Only Easy Day Among The Dead
Location: Tokonosu City-
Two Story House Overlooking Shaun Gas Station
Time: Z-Day + 1, 03:20 Hours
Queen shuddered as the cold night air cut into her skin while she laid prone on the second floor balcony. She was watching the area with a pair of compact binoculars. The multiplier range wasn't far compared to Dan's over sized binoculars.
After their escape from the seven-eleven stronghold yesterday they had encounter a fairly small number of infected. She had yet to fire a bullet at them since Jack deemed it unnecessary to create noise which seems to attract them. However she had almost filled a living person full of bullet holes earlier when they were securing the building they now took shelter in.
As Queen recalled the incident she had to restrain herself from giggling. Some dead beat thug dressed in a over size black tee-shirt and yellow shorts while sporting a white fitted baseball cap thought it was wise to bring a knife to a gun fight. The goon tried to sneak up on her from behind while she was having a smoke outside the building.
The thug froze in shock when she whipped out her Beretta and pointed it at his direction. Queen remembered her exact words from earlier when she turned around and gave the goon a cheery smile.
"Hey buddy, I haven't been able to release any stress since this shit-storm started. If you want to help me with my ordeal I would greatly appreciate it. I dare you. Make my day. I don't mind."
It was obvious that there was a problem with communication since she was speaking English and he responded in Japanese. However from the way the goon sounded as he was inching his way towards her, it seemed like he was trying to call her bluff about shooting him. He understood that noise attracts them.
The problem was not that Queen won't shoot him, she just didn't want to go on a whole new search for a place to rest. Queen was about to pull the trigger too but the familiar sound of Jack's voice saying clear as he came out of the house solved everything.
It was evident that the goon had already lost his mind. It was visible in his eyes. They were wide and his pupils were completely dilated. He was completely controlled by fight or flight instincts at this point. The image of Jack stepping out of the house with a demented smiley face mask on his face and a bloody machete in one hand was enough to make the goon shit his pants. Queen giggled as the fool immediately turn-tailed and ran screaming something they didn't understand. He was probably cursing them.
Queen shivered again from the cold before she got up from her prone position and headed indoors to grab a blanket. Jack was snoring lightly on the bed, but he had kicked the blankets off. A smile escaped Queen's lips as she examined her partner's sleeping figure.
Jack had feelings for her once. It was normal for those feelings to develop after spending a copious amount of time in each other's comfort, but she couldn't return those feelings at the time. Maybe in a few years or maybe never. She had always viewed him as a close friend, but almost never a lover.
Jack was easy going at the time and he didn't let the rejection affect him or their friendship. The man simply shrugged his shoulders and moved on. After a while Queen finally noticed a change in the man. Although he continued to demonstrate care and concern for her well-being, and under all those warm smiles and jokes, she knew something had happened.
He was hiding something. The casual and nonchalant demeanor served as a front. Something lurked in the dark recesses of Jack's mind that she can in no way shape or form comprehend. She could only feel the icy touch of it's invisible tendrils reaching out every now and then. Just like that moment when they were meeting with the Yakuza representative. The feeling was more sinister than any criminal in Roanapur. Whatever Jack was hiding from her, it definitely smelled rotten.
Queen's smile quickly turned into a concerned frown as she picked up the blanket and covered her partner's sleeping form. Despite all of this, she would not have any one else watching her back in any situation, nor would she have anyone else watching his back except for her. She owned him a debt that no one else knew besides the two of them.
When she was in her darkest moments of her life filled with guilt, self-conflict, self-hate, self-destruction, and seconds away from suicide, it was a bright eyed and gullible young man who understood her and pulled her out of the room that was forever filled with night and into the rays of day light. His cheesy words at the time was what sealed the deal.
He said: "I have a pocket full of sunshine. I can share it with you if you'll become mine."
Of course that was a joke and he purposefully turned the lyrics from a song into a terrible pick up line. Queen sighed as she opened the cabinet and pulled out a clean light blanket to cover herself but instead of wrapping the blanket around her, she slapped herself on the forehead instead.
How could she have been so clueless. The familiar icy and sinister feeling that was emitting from Jack was too familiar. Queen picked up the light blanket again and walked towards the balcony door. Before she exited she looked back at Jack's sleeping form once more and she smiled. It was her turn to pull Jack out of the ditch this time. This time, she will repay her debt.
The sound of a dirt bike in a distance brought Queen to her knees instinctively in front of the balcony door. She can't exit now otherwise whoever was on that bike might see her. Bringing the binoculars to her eyes, Queen peered through the lenses as she tried to make out the figures in the dark.
Queen cursed herself mentally for being stingy and not purchasing the ones with night vision. Queen was readjusting the dials on the binoculars to get a better view when two arms wrapped around her as the blankets fell down slowly covering their figures.
"Caught you off guard partner," I said in a sleepy voice. The sound of a dirt bike had disrupted my sleep.
"Geez, Jack. You're always horny when you wake up. Now get your stiffy away from my butt. I'm working here," Queen growled at my harassment.
"Sorry, it's genetics," I said jokingly as I gave her breasts a nice firm squeeze which I shouldn't have because Queen returned the favor with a vice like grip on her own on my genitals. Changing my tone to something more serious I asked, "what do you see?"
"A guy and a girl, probably high school students. Orange dirt bike. Looks like they stopped for gas. How they survived this long sure beats me, but the kid made a mistake of leaving her out there alone," Queen reported without emotion. "Oh... argh... son of a bitch. I know I should'v shot that punk."
I knew who Queen was referring to. It was the goon from earlier in the day. After we had scared him off the first time I barricaded the doors to the house with furniture as an extra precaution. While Queen was sleeping when I had first watch, I saw him sneaking around the outside. So I decided to go downstairs and while he was struggling with the door knob I simply ejected and reinserted my pistol mag as loud as I could before I heard him running off again.
"Jack. I don't like this," Queen said as she handed me the binoculars.
As I peered through the lenses I let out a low whistle.
"Holy shit. Check out the fun bags."
Queen responded to my remark from underneath me.
"You men are all the same, but I'm just as guilty. Her tits were the first thing I was staring at too. What the hell are they feeding girls at school these days?"
I chuckled at her comment before asking if she was jealous, with which she responded that having breasts as big as those would only get in the way.
"Well. We're not being paid to uphold public safety. Under normal circumstances, this won't be our problem, but they're making too much noise," I said before handing the binoculars back to Queen.
Queen hissed when the bat the teenage boy tossed away clattered onto the ground. The damn thing echoed so loud that there was no way in hell those things didn't hear that. I tossed the blankets off of us immediately as I started to gear up and Queen immediately followed the suit.
"Son of a bitch. So much for thinking it was going to be easy," Queen cursed under her breath while donning her combat vest.
"The only easy day was yesterday partner," I said grimly while checking my rifle.
Queen growled as her anger returned again.
"Hey boss. Since they already made so much noise. You mind if I shoot that f_cker that's causing us so much trouble? I've had it with him."
"Knock yourself out."
Queen grinned as she flipped her mask down and started out the bedroom door towards the staircase. I checked the bedroom again to make sure we hadn't left anything behind before I walked out myself. Queen was already dismantling the makeshift barricade in front of the door when I got downstairs. Then a single shot rang out in the dead of the night.
Our time just ran out.
I rushed towards the door to speed up the process of dismantling the barricade as the noise of the dirt bike revving reached our ears. Queen threw a fit of curses.
"Well. Just ring the dinner bell why don't you? F_cking brats."
"You're not that much older than they are Queen."
"Well, I'm not as stupid as they are! Shit!"
Queen was royally ticked off at the moment and talking with her was not going to make anything better. At times like these, it's better to let her cool off by herself. Once the furniture was out of the way, Queen burst out the door with both her pistols leveled in opposite directions.
"Clear."
Queen was at her best when she was angry, but the definition of retreat was lost in the midst of her anger. I gave her a pat on the shoulder to tell her to move up. As we entered the street, she covered our right flank while I took the left. No problems so far. The sound of the goon screaming at the gas station was creating so much noise that he was begging to be eaten alive.
Queen raised her mask as she observed the scene of them devouring the goon.
"Look's like the kids shot him and left him as a parting gift for our friends here. Sick as it may be, I like their style," I said under my mask while letting out a chuckle.
"Would've done the same myself. Come on let's move. I'll take point," Queen said in agreement before she lowered her mask again.
Queen and I continued to move north in the early hours of the morning as the sun rose. As the morning rays became stronger, we became bolder in our movements. We were on a clock to secure CIA assets and we had to reach them before something else did. The closer we got to one of the objective's house, the more of them laid dead on the floor. All of them had a bullet hole that exited through the back of their heads.
Queen stood up from the ground with a spent bullet casing in her hand.
"All 5.56mm," Queen said as she rolled the casing around.
"It can't be J.S.D.F. They would be some where else more important than in suburban street like this. Can't be the Japanese police either, since they use .38 specials for their revolvers. That only leaves two choices," I said while rubbing my chin.
"It's either the cow boys on the news from yesterday, or it's one of our teams," Queen said as she loaded a fresh magazine into her TMP and gave me a grin.
"Well, we can't know for sure since the battery on our masks went out. Let's keep moving," I said as I carefully stepped over the dead bodies.
I looked over to my partner, her shit eating grin along with her narrowed eyes told me one thing.
"You're hoping it isn't our team mates are you?" I asked.
"What do you mean? Of course I'm hoping it's our team mates!"
"That shit eating grin on your face and the way your clutching your gun is telling me something else," I responded casually.
I knew she was pulling my leg.
"Ok, you got me boss." Queen said as she admit her guilt before taking off in a sprint.
"You're hoping for a fire fight aren't you." I said huffing and puffing after catching up to her.
"Yep."
"I hate you."
"You know you love me."
Our little banter ended with Queen having the last say as we approached the target building. Dead bodies laid on the ground all over the front gate which was wide open. As Queen and I entered the front lawn, we noticed more bodies on the grass and a whole lot of them were piled up in front of the windows. The scene was very much like what we encounter on the block earlier with spent bullet casings every where. The front windows were broken and furniture was shoved in front of them as make shift barricades.
I gave Queen a nod as we slowly approached the front door. If humans were to attack this position, it would be from the back, and that is where there will most likely be a booby trap as simple as a trip wire. Going through the front wasn't particularly safe either, but from the look of things, it seems like the defenders believed that all frontal attacks would come from them.
Queen was positioned to the left of the door while I was on the right. I gave Queen a nod as she slowly put her hands on the door knob and began to turn. What I didn't expect was that the defenders will come out rushing at us. The moment Queen turned the door knob in the slightest, they kicked the door open and rushed out.
One of them knocked Queen down onto the ground while the other slammed me against the wall as I grabbed his wrist and wrestled the barrel of his pistol away from my head. Everything happened in a blur that it took everyone a second to recognize who the threat was.
A familiar voice with a British accent called out from where Queen laid on the ground with her TMP aimed at the assailant.
"Didn't you Yanks learn to knock? See I told you to lock the door Jordwell. This isn't Canada."
"Bloody hell Hunter. Stop poking my tits with your rifle," Queen responded a few feet away as I heard her slap the barrel of Hunter's gun away before getting up off the grass.
My attacker carefully let me go as he holstered his pistol, before giving me a smile and a pat on my shoulder.
"Sorry about that boss," the man named Jordwell apologized with a slight Albanian accent.
"Well come on in lassies. We got coffee," Hunter said with a wave of his arm while walking back into the house.
While patting the dust off my clothes I called Hunter a cheeky bastard in a voice loud enough so he can hear it from inside the house.
"Says the yank who just got caught with his knob out."
Like I said. Hunter is one cheeky bastard. Then again, we did hire the guy while playing poker.
Queen and I both sighed in relief after sipping a nice hot cup of joe while sinking into a comfortable sofa. Our masks lay on the ground charging at a nearby outlet. Jordwell was upstairs at the second story window keeping watch. Jordwell was quiet, and he didn't talk much, but he would always smile politely at someone's jokes, even if it was a terrible one.
Hunter was acting obnoxious as usual. The house was in a terrible condition. It wasn't completely riddle with bullet holes, even though there were a few here and there along with blood splatters, but I didn't see the bodies.
"If you're looking for the bodies Jack, they're out back," Hunter said as if reading my mind.
"So what happened?" I asked before carefully drinking my steaming hot cup of coffee.
Hunter gave me his account of what happened last night while laughing every now and then through the process.
"The bloody wanker shot himself I guess. When Jordy and I arrived, the place was pretty quite. You saw that mess on the block earlier right? That wasn't us mate. There's somebody out there more dangerous than these things or us. I examined the whole area, a bullet for each one of those buggers. Not a single stray shot. Of course by the time we got here the door was open like they were inviting us in for tea."
I'll admit, the Brit does know how to make a sit-rep entertaining.
"Jordy and I swept the first floor clean and proper as you can see, the target's little girl was standing right there, and his lovely wife was over there, and she had some knockers. Shame that the dead bastards got a bite on them," Hunter said as pointed out the bullet holes and blood stains.
"The tricky part was the second floor. The space was so cramped that we had to switch over to our sidearms. All the rooms were clear except for the master bed room. We were expecting the worst. We opened the room and found the target dead on his bed with a hole this big right here." Hunter put his right index finger up to his temple to show us where the target was shot.
"That wasn't all though. We were about to exit the room when some cunt burst out of the in-wall wardrobe. Caught Jordy and I by surprise and she even bit him too."
It was at that point when Queen and I screamed in unison. "SHE BIT HIM!?"
"Aye! But Jordy isn't a bloke, you know that. He got the quick draw on her before her teeth could even break the fabric. The cunt was f_cking naked I tell you. I guess she was the mistress and the two were bonking when the wife and kid came home before turning into those things. Relax mate, we checked for penetration through the skin. The cloth wasn't even punctured so Jordy's fine."
"Does anyone else know about this?" I asked with a grave expression on my face.
Hunter nodded before concluding the conversation.
"I reported everything to Alan already so we're fine. We're getting paid to extract them, but if the buggers off themselves before we get to them, then that's not our problem."
Heavy footsteps coming down the stairs got our attention as Jordwell entered the living room.
"We have movement, several blocks away. Large group of survivors heading for the bridge," Jordwell reported.
Hunter clapped his hands and started to pack up his gear along with Jordwell.
"Well that's our cue. We're going to use the commotion caused with the survivors and try to cross the river and leg it to our next target. All the teams have moved across the river already, but you have one more target further north of here don't you."
"Yeah, some woman in a sunday dress next to a small puppy," I replied.
"I'd bunce that objective off your list right quick if I were you. This side of the city is going to become a feeding ground come tonight. Good luck and don't let the dead wankers get you before you buy us all a pint at the Yellow Flag," Hunter said with a smile before he walked out the door with Jordwell following behind him.
As the door closed with a click, Queen looked at me before kicking back on the couch and closing her eyes. I shrugged before I got up from my seat and moved some furniture in front of the door. It'll have to do for now, and as long as we didn't make any noise, we should be fine. I dragged myself back to the couch before raising Queen's out stretched legs and placed them on top my lap. She was already snoring, both of us were beat from the lack of sleep and all the traveling. Leaning my head back on the couch my eyes closed as my body shut down.
