THE ZONE
Part 1: STRANGER
Chapter 11 (Wish)
Venge took one look down and pulled me away. "We have to go," he said, motioning the Biker toward the door. "Right now."
The three of us scrambled into the corridor as the first infected spilled from the top of the stairwell. The Biker slammed the door, and I slid Ever's empty shotgun through the handles to brace it.
The Biker grimaced, watching the door shudder under repeated impacts. I just stared.
"Unless someone's got a better idea, we can go east, try to make it to the other side of the compound," gasped Venge.
"Why can't we go south?"
"I tried. There's a drinker out there. I saw the drained bodies."
The Biker nodded. "No choice." He flipped on the light on his shotgun. There was a heavy step, and we whirled as a figure lurched around the corner. I've never done any real shooting before, but it almost felt like instinct. I brought up my FNP9, aimed for the center of mass and fired, as did Venge in the same instant. The figure jerked and slumped heavily against the opposite wall. Then the Biker's light fell on him, and I felt sick. I dropped my gun.
The Biker swore, brushing past me.
"You're a real team player, " Ever groaned, sinking down a little further before closing his eyes and slumping over.
"Well, damn." Venge let his pistol drop to his side. "He's with you guys?" I fell to my knees, covering my mouth in horror.
"They heard those shots," Venge countered. "We have to go." Something slammed into the door again, shaking dust from the ceiling.
"Vest got all of it," the Biker reported, ignoring him. "No penetration." That helped me snap out of it a bit; I hurried to Ever's side.
"Why's he unconscious?"
"You've never been shot, have you?"
"Can we move him?"
Even wearing a helmet, the Biker looked conflicted. I knew what he was thinking, and helped him make up his mind by pulling one of Ever's arms around my shoulders. But there was a problem; he weighed about eighty pounds more than I did. I got upright, faltered, and Venge took the weight on the other side.
"Now can we go?" He sounded impatient. I forgave him. A light flickered in the next hall over.
"Definitely." The Biker moved past us and started down the hall quickly, but not too quickly. Venge and I tried to keep up. We put a few turns between ourselves and where we assumed the military to be before the Biker called a halt. He and Venge convened briefly, considering their route. The corridors and offices in this part of the structure were like a maze, and it was clear that we were in trouble. We knew how to get out he way we'd come, but that was where the military was. We also knew that there were infected here, and our only choice was to continue deeper into the building, and the place was vast.
"We've got to get off this floor," said the Biker. "When that door goes down, this whole place is going to be flooded with them."
"You think they'll find us in this?" Venge didn't sound convinced.
"I don't want to risk it – haven't got the ammo."
"There is that." A patter of hurried footsteps began to echo through the hallways. They were coming. The Biker swore.
"This isn't going to work," he said.
"There were stairs back there," Venge nodded shortly toward the junction we'd come through.
"Going down," I pointed out.
"We don't have a choice," Venge said sharply.
"We won't last long down there," sighed the Biker.
"Longer than if we stay here."
"Great." He moved past us, bringing up his 870 and leading the way back. The stairs were concrete – that was nice. They only went down one flight; it was some kind of sublevel. The first thing the Biker's light fell on in the corridor below was a huge, rust-brown arterial spray all over the wall. I struggled to keep my breathing under control. Shots echoed from the level above; the military had met the citizens that their government had pawned off on the Ukraine.
Noisy footsteps rang out behind us, and the air began to fill with the gasps and snarls of infected.
"Are they onto us?" the Biker looked back.
"If they aren't, they will be." Venge pulled toward a nearby doorway, and we dragged Ever through. Swearing – quietly – the Biker followed us in. The room had more of an iron hatch than a door, which was apparently why Venge had chosen it. We pulled it shut and latched it swiftly. No sooner had the bolt fallen into place than I heard movement in the corridor outside. The Biker checked the room. It was small and rectangular, with a large pile of junk that appeared to have been stacked hurriedly in one corner. Venge made as though to steer us toward a wall to sit Ever down.
"Lay him out," I whispered. We did so, and I unstrapped his vest and pushed up his shirt. Even in the weak glow of the Biker's flashlight, it didn't look good. Enormous black impacts marked where Venge and I had shot him, but it was higher up that was the problem. Rifle rounds are a little harder to deal with than 9mm ones. This wasn't heavy armor – the only reason it had stopped the first two bullets at all was they were probably cut and softened for use against mutants and infected – but their muzzle energy hadn't been anything to sneeze at. Probing tenderly, I couldn't find any broken ribs, but they were probably all bruised. His sternum couldn't be shattered, which was good, but it might well be fractured. What he needed was a hospital, and he wasn't going to get one. "We should get him sitting up," I told Venge quietly, and we moved him against the wall.
I straightened, moving to listen at the door. They were still out there – but they weren't banging on our door. That was worth something. I turned around. Venge held out my FNP9. I remembered dropping it.
"Thanks." I took the gun, and looked at it. Then at Ever. It didn't feel great; I holstered it with a bitter taste in my mouth.
"You got a name?"
I hesitated. "Stranger."
"Venge." He extended a hand, and I shook it as firmly as I could. It was good to see that there were males my size in the Zone; it meant I'd stick out just a little less. "How long are they going to hang around out there?" I asked.
"Until something attracts their attention," the Biker replied. "Which is only a matter of time in here."
"We haven't seen anything," I pointed out.
"We've been lucky."
"So we wait?"
"For now."
I got out my flashlight and started to look around.
"How far do you think these sublevels go?" Venge asked the Biker.
"No idea - they obviously serve a purpose, this isn't maintenance." They began to examine a horribly corroded control box on the far wall.
"I heard one of the earliest labs was actually under the train yard."
"Don't even joke about that."
"No joke, heard it from a loner from up north. Ex-Monolith, or so he said. Wanted me to check out his Mini-14. Piece of junk." They continued to tinker. Men.
Most of the garbage piled against the wall was what it looked like – garbage. A couple of empty ammunition boxes, wooden crates, a file cabinet. I began to systematically pull things down and check them.
"How'd you know my name, by the way?"
"You fixed my Pernach a couple months back."
"That's right, that's right. Biker. How's she holding up?"
"The bike?"
"No, the gun."
I found a roll of moldy old bandages. If you tried to use them to treat someone, you'd do more harm than good. I tossed them aside and continued to search. I pulled out a couple of old food tins, revealing a gap. I shone my light through; there was rust on the other side. Intrigued, I reached in to examine further, but was startled as the Biker swore loudly. Too loudly. The footsteps outside grew louder, and there was a bang on the door.
I turned around, shocked. "We can't stay here," the Biker told Venge, and turned to me. "We've got to go – now."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"This room's irradiated. Probably the whole level."
"Where can we go?" The pounding on the door intensified.
"We can try to fight our way out," said the Biker helplessly. "It's that, or cook in here. Eventually that door'll give." Venge drew his P99.
"Last mag," he said.
"Guys," I said quickly. They looked at me. "I think there's a door behind this."
"Where's it go?"
"How should I know?" Venge and the Biker exchanged glances.
"What are our odds shooting our way out?" Venge asked.
"Even if we had gear, not good. Maybe if we knew the way."
"Then what have we got to lose?"