Chapter 10- Natural Born Killers
Once I located Reaper's gun I had left on the floor, Sarge got his wish and we were again moving along albeit at a quicker clip than before since Reaper was spy and no longer dying on his feet. He was in a whole new zone of quiet, intensely focused vigilance. He looked even more lethal than before and I would be lying if I said that didn't turn me on just a little. The single minded purpose with which he glared down the barrel of his huge gun made me weak in the knees, but I had to keep my eyes forward and centered on Sarge's massive back much to my dismay. Selfishly, I thought of taking him up on his offer of a more thorough exam once we got to the other side and for a fleeting moment I felt slimy the way Portman made me feel with his disgusting proposition.
However much he may have made me want to puke, I had a newfound respect for him in knowing that every breath may be your last and to go for what makes you happy in the moment. I was not Portman, I reminded myself, I was a doctor with a very vested interest in my patient's health. It made me feel only slightly less a sexual predator but enough to justify the naughty images and thoughts that swirled around my brain at what was probably the most inopportune time of my life.
We arrived at the sealed door to the large room that occupied the Ark. Sarge lowered his gun and peeked through the small window in the door. With my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the corridor, I saw his jaw clench. I hadn't known Sarge too long, but I knew that he only did that when we were absolutely fucked and my heart sank. Why couldn't everything just work out? How many more obstacles did the gods think we needed? The fucking sadists.
"Reaper." He hissed and waved his comrade to his side.
John did one last sweep behind us to make sure none of the flesh eaters had snuck up behind us and he ducked to also look through the window. "Fuck me." He breathed heavily. Now he was just being a tease.
"What is it?" Sam whispered. "What is wrong?"
Reaper turned to us with a dim expression. "The room is swarming with those damn things. There must be 20 or more."
Sarge licked his lips and sighed. "Ok, here is the plan" he announced, "I will lead and Reaper will follow. As soon as he is though, you guys lock the door until one of us tells you to open it. Reaper, how many rounds do you have left?"
He patted himself down and replied, "12. Plus 1 reload."
"Shit." Sarge declared looking at his big fucking gun. "I only have 2 charges left. Your aim better be goddamn perfect, you hear me? We need at least 40 rounds and we only have 27 bullets and 2 mini nukes."
"Really?" Reaper asked looking at the gun impressed.
"Oh yeah!" Sarge glowed as though he couldn't love his own child more. "This thing is a badass! I found it in the weapons R&D lab. Makes me wonder what else they were working on." They both fawned over the gun in a sickening moment of male bonding.
"If we are being left here," I interrupted, "and you need more ammunition to go in there, why don't you take one of our guns? Better yet, stop being overprotective pigs and let us help you." Both their eyes fell on me and I continued. "Think about it. While the two of you are playing GI Joe, Sam and I can get the damn Ark fired up. Multitasking may save the day."
"Sam isn't going in there. I'm not taking that risk." Reaper muttered.
"Fuck you, you ingrate! Fine thanks that is for saving your ass as though my life doesn't matter, like I am expendable! You know what, maybe you are right. She can stay out here by herself while I go in with you and get it going or just the two of you can go because 20 on 2 are fair odds." I spat through clenched teeth.
Sarge looked at him and shrugged. "It was kind of crass, Reaper. Look, everyone here matters and no one person is more important than anyone else. We have to do what will give us the best possible outcome. Reaper, I am sorry but Murphy has a point. Time is a limited factor in our survival and we will need all the advantages we can get. Murphy, tell me you are not afraid to fire that gun with the absolute intent to kill and you are a go."
"I can do it." I vowed with steely nerves. "If it means we all get out together, I will."
"Good." He agreed with hardened eyes. "Then we will move quickly. Sam, give me my gun and you head to the controls and get to work. Murphy, you cover her. Reaper, follow me and let's get to work. On me!" He smiled pushing down the door lever.
Air softly hissed in as the sealed barrier was broken and we quickly filed in. Sarge and Reaper went left into the center of the room while Sam and I went right and crept low along the wall toward the console. Sarge and Reaper stood back to back yelling to draw the attention of the monsters and opened fire when they came into range. Sam and I crouched behind the console and she began flipping switches and pushing buttons while I kept an eye out for any zombies that might come our way rather than face the deadly accuracy of the Marines clad in black.
I watched them work with a sense of morbid fascination. Reaper stood tall and straight and held his gun perfectly level with his shoulder as he quickly but with great precision placed each shot with no amount of hesitation or waste of movement. One by one, the mutant bodies began to pile up like a wall in front of them.
Only once was there any hint of urgency in their plan. Sarge was facing the far wall and not many of the monsters approached from that direction. The bulk of them flanked to Reaper's side and he fired with impossibly lightning quick reflexes until there was a dull and very disappointing empty 'click' when he ran out of ammunition. Even though the zombies continued to approach, he calmly fished a fresh clip out of his pocket and reloaded. He resumed firing, but by that time several had accumulated and pushed toward him faster than he could fire. "Sarge!" He called with just a hint of tension.
Sarge readied his larger gun and turned just as one of the monsters took a swipe at Reaper and knocked him to the ground, leaving slash marks across his neck and face. Sam gasped and started to run to him but I grabbed her shirt and pulled her back down. "Watch." I instructed quietly. Just as before, the wounds slowly sealed and the flow of blood from them ceased. He wiped his hand across his cheek and looked at his bloody hand in amazement while Sarge fired a round from his gun into the crowd. There was a thunderous boom and an eerie blue melting glaze that engulfed the attackers. Suddenly, Reaper was far more interested in that than his own miraculous recovery.
"My God." Sam whispered in awe. I wasn't sure which phenomenon she was referring to, both were pretty damn impressive.
"How's it coming, Sam?" I asked as though we were back in the med lab trying to save her brother. We still were in a way.
"It is warming up." She replied looking over the many screens that blinked and offered minute detailed analysis on what exactly I couldn't guess. "It should be up in a few minutes."
I heard a soft shuffling to my left and I turned to see one of the horribly disfigured mutant zombies about six feet away and closing in. "Sam!" Reaper yelled jumping to his feet. I had no idea why he was yelling at her when I was the one with the gun. In that moment, everything became calm and silent. I became acutely aware of the weight of the gun in my hand as I raised it and carefully aimed just a little left of center where I knew the heart would be. I took a breath and remembered Sarge's instructions to squeeze the trigger instead of pulling it. I didn't want to miss this shot and there was little room for error. I slowly wrapped my index finger around the trigger and felt it give way easily until it fired.
I was not prepared for the loudness of the discharge nor the intense recoil with which the gun snapped back toward my face. My ears were ringing with the gun fire and I noted a searing pain in my wrist, I was certain it had broken under the pressure. What was more important in that moment was the realization that I had hit the mark as the beast stumbled and fell backward with a strange gurgling sound. I felt numb as I approached closer to finish it dreading what a second shock to my wrist would do, but this was one job I couldn't half ass leave.
The zombie's irises were completely black as they looked to me blankly. It wasn't human, that I knew, but it was in some way sentient and I felt a twinge of guilt. That feeling was fleeting, however, when it wrapped it's hands around my ankle and moved in for a bite. I fired again, sending another large caliber bullet through the temple and sighed in relief when the monster went limp. I grasped my wrist in agony and thought back to the expression on Reaper's face when he shot the zombie in the hall. Neither pity nor hatred and now I understood, it was simply what had to be done- nothing more and nothing less. That was fine for hell spawn, but how he was able to look another human in the eye and kill them was beyond me. Something told me that the haunted look he had in his was an indication that he had not yet come to terms with it himself. The empathetic man Sam once knew was still there asking himself the same question.