CH 21
"More lickers incoming!"
"Don't let them climb over the wall!"
"Oh god, these giants won't die!"
"Use grenades if you have to!"
"We ran out of them!"
The screams and shouting didn't stop, she's sure that she would go deaf after this is over. K-Mart's arms are trembling from exhaustion, but she still kept shooting anything that comes too close to the wall. Santana is manning the flamethrower beside her.
They were defending at the walls, a group of recruits as reinforcements since the numbers are dwindling down fast.
Santana muttered something. The steady stream of Spanish words that came from her didn't sound like cursing and K-Mart leaned closer to her friend. She needed respite from her frazzled mind that she dared to comment on Santana's monologue as an excuse for any semblance of stability.
"Are you praying?"
The Latina hissed out the last words before answering back in English, "are you crying?"
K-Mart sniffed, tried to still her trembling hands as she tried to ignore the screams from the soldiers from another section of the wall. They were lucky that their section wasn't so concentrated with hostile infected. But they have five giants to worry about, two of them already pounding their enormous axe against the wall, as if trying to smash it open. The young blonde wondered grimly if the wall is sturdy enough to hold such abuse.
"The fuck do you care, Satan?" she said as she fired at a kipepeo that came too close to them.
Santana laughed, though it was a little forced, "that's the spirit." She successfully fried a small licker and let out a small grunt that sounded akin to satisfaction. "Y'know, after this is over, I'm gonna kick Captain Alomar's ass for putting us in here."
"They need us here." K-Mart shrugged, trying to appear unaffected, "but I'll be looking forward to see that though."
Bullets whizzed through the air. The recruit would wince every time, costing her the accuracy of her weapon, though the way her arms won't stop shaking, it wasn't already much of a loss to begin with. All she needed to do was keep firing and hope that most of the bullets find their mark.
"Incoming!"
One of the soldiers in their section of the wall was pointing at the horizon, another was peering through a pair of binoculars.
"What is it?"
Among the hovering kipepeos, there was a dark blob of figure. It was speeding towards them in mid-air at an indiscernible speed.
"It's... it's a person!"
"Are they're flying?"
K-Mart squinted at the figure coming closer and closer. She raised her rifle, solid and heavy in her sweat-covered hands, just in case of any orders to fire.
"Wait, it's a friendly! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" was the gruff yet firm words of Commander Kennedy before he traded his binoculars for a radio.
The friendly in question slowed down in their trajectory and eased into a descent, arms stretched out like pulling on a rope. Only in the last few feet that they stopped defying the rules of gravity and landed without any semblance of grace but clumsiness—or has no sense of self-preservation at all. They stumbled, face briefly planted on the ground before scrambling back up sporting a bleeding nose, perhaps broken during the fall, and a mirthless grin...
"Hatta! There you are, you little freak." Commander Kennedy shouted as he went to where Hatta had landed.
Whether it was an insult or an endearment, the small woman simply ignored the name-calling and turned around to face where she had come from. Her dark eyes scanned the horizon, completely oblivious to the fight going on.
"She can fly now?" K-Mart said mostly to herself, a little awed.
Santana snorted, "lucky bitch."
K-Mart had no time to observe the new arrival when a kipepeo was bold enough to fly near the flamethrower. Her partner was too distracted to notice.
"Look out!" The blonde warned and without thinking, fired her rifle.
Santana yelped, ducking down, releasing the control of the flamethrower as her hands covered her ears.
K-Mart realized too late that the barrel of her gun was right next to the brunette's head when she fired. She winced guiltily and she checked on her. "Oh my god, Santana! Are you okay?!"
"Whaaaat?" Her partner shouted back, deaf but hopefully the effect would only be temporary. Though that didn't stop her from saying a few choice words to the blonde, "fuck you, Wal-Mart."
There was no chance for K-Mart to form an apology when a soldier pushed them away from the flamethrower's pedestal.
"Take your friend to the infirmary if she's injured. Stay and keep firing, if she's alright," he said while trying to burn a climbing licker off the wall, "we still got some nasties to get rid of."
The ground shook as another giant joined in to pound his axe against the wall. Even when the first two are already burning from the flamethrowers and their strength gradually weakening, they are still treated as threats as long as they're still standing.
K-Mart glanced at Santana, but the brunette just waved her off, indicating that she's okay. They joined the other soldiers at the edge of the wall to take care of the giants.
"Hatta, a little help?" One of the soldiers asked.
There was no answer but a hummed out apathetic "meh". The small woman was standing on the edge without a care and looked up to the sky, as if waiting for something.
Some of the soldiers groaned out loud in frustration. Hatta has a reputation of doing whatever she wants. They can't rely on her sanity to help them.
One of the burning giants finally fell after a surfeit of lead riddling its body, crushing many of the undead beneath it and spreading its fire among the ones that are still standing. One down, four more to go.
The zipping noise of metal rope cut through the air, announcing the arrival of Agent Wong.
"Fire in the hole!" Commander Kennedy shouted.
K-Mart ducked down and reloaded her rifle when the woman had tossed a few grenades over the wall like tossing out a trash. Agent Wong then approached her passive charge and the commander. K-Mart couldn't hear the words being exchanged as the grenades exploded, taking down the two farthest giants that had yet to reach the wall and left a crater of burnt flesh and bones.
The explosion annoyed one of the giants. It stopped bashing against the wall and walked backwards.
"What's it doing?" was among the murmurs.
The giant lifted its axe and twisted its body. The intent didn't take too long to dawn upon them.
"DUCK!"
The warning was unanimous. Everyone did—K-Mart had to grab a deaf Santana down with her—except for Hatta who seem to be oblivious. Agent Wong didn't even try to persuade her and just took a few steps back.
The axe spun through the air like a boomerang, plowed through any kipepeos that are unfortunate enough to be in its trajectory.
Then the gravity around them become electrified and heavy. A small hand raised up to meet the projectile that could have taken down a good chunk off the wall.
The axe stopped in front of Hatta.
The small woman's mouth pulled back in a tight-lipped smile, perhaps in concentration as more blood dribbled from her nose as she raised her other hand. She stretched out her arms in full length, moving them across each other as the axe spun in sync with her.
With a huff of breath, she released the hold she has on the giant's weapon. She threw her arms sideways, making it spin back below, plowing through the horde and finally slicing through its owner in half with its sharp edge.
But Hatta wasn't finished, much to everyone's delight. The axe turned around and spun towards the last giant. The creature was already weak from being burnt but it still persevered to pound against the wall. It met its end when the axe sliced it in half as the blade embedded against the wall. The soldiers cheered.
However, Hatta's last trick made the ground shake more in finality and she lost her footing. She slipped over the edge and fell.
"Vivian!"
"Ada!" Commander Kennedy shouted after the sprinting woman.
Agent Wong dropped her crossbow without a care and jumped after Hatta. A kipepeo would have swooped down and snatch the pursuing woman if it weren't for Commander Kennedy when he shot it down. As soon as it happened, the zipping noise of Agent Wong's grapple gun had the two women hauled back up to the top of the walls. Hatta was safely tucked against the Chinese woman's side before being released to stand on her own.
"Don't do that." The blonde man huffed, handing her back her crossbow.
"I do what I want, Leon." Agent Wong said without a hitch, she turned around to follow Hatta with her gaze, "that's enough, Vivian. You need medical attention. The wave is already weakening." She warned when the small woman stood at the edge once again
"They look like they're sweet on each other."
K-Mart jumped at the louder-than-speaking-volume of Santana's comment. She realized now that most of the recruits, including them, were watching the display instead of doing their jobs at defending the walls. It's a wonder how the kipepeos didn't take the chance to pick on them during their distraction. Luckily, the experienced soldiers were more than adequate to hold on their own without much of their help.
"Yeah, and you sound like you're deaf." K-Mart retorted, a little annoyed at being startled.
The Latina just shrugged and didn't answer back, whether she didn't hear what K-Mart said or didn't care. Only when she turned to face the horde that her apathetic demeanor changed.
"Holy shit..."
K-Mart followed her gaze and felt blood draining from her face.
One of the giants that should have perished from Agent Wong's grenades is now standing up, leaning its weight on its axe for support.
"It's still moving! Open fire!"
As soon as the bullets flew, the giant raised its axe in its final attempt to deal damage.
"Look out!"
The axe spun vertically like a tomahawk this time and Hatta was too distracted gazing at the sky to notice it flying towards them. K-Mart had to grab Santana once again to move away from the projectile's direct path.
It successfully cleaved a small but significant section of the wall. When the damage was done, the gravity and its weight made it fall down to the undead horde below it. Almost at the same time its owner dropped dead from the bullets it endured.
The lickers, who had a low success rate of climbing over the walls because of the flamethrowers aimed at them, took advantage of the narrow opening and squeezed themselves through one by one. The recruits who fought bravely within the safety of the walls are now scrambling away at the sight of them while the veterans are a blur of shouted commands and protocol as they try to save anyone they can. The flamethrowers are useless at this point.
It was Santana's turn to grab K-Mart and pull her out of harm's way when a licker mauled the soldier that was behind the flamethrower which the Latina had once manned. They both made quick work of killing the nearest lickers with their combined firepower before fleeing to a safer place away where the lickers are pouring from.
"Over here! Hurry! I'll cover you!" A soldier shouted from an open door of the nearest tower.
"This is bad!" Santana said when they were finally inside. There were several soldiers with them as well.
"No shit, kid." A familiar voice answered. Both recruits turned around to see a burly man with a heavy set of eyebrows.
"Chris!" K-Mart breathed out in relief. She wanted to hug him, but her trembling frame prevented her to do anything but grip her rifle harder. "Have you seen Claire?"
Her older brother shook his head grimly and K-Mart's face fell at the less-than-ideal possibilities. But his optimism, although a little forced, was enough for her to hold on to hope, "she's with Alice, remember? I'm sure she's fine."
"Yeah... Yeah, okay..." K-Mart nodded chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying to calm her wildly beating heart. She didn't dare mention about Jill.
Large claws slipped through the narrow windows, the whole room erupted into chaos as soldiers fend them off with firepower. Chris had a finger into his earpiece, "Leon, do you need assistance closing the gap? Over."
He was silent for a while as he listened to whatever Commander Kennedy was saying, then nodded before saying, "understood. Over." He looked at K-Mart with a sort of bewilderment in in his expression, "Hatta can fly now?"
K-Mart pursed her lips and shrugged. She didn't know what she saw. But now that she had a moment to think about it, it was more like Hatta was catapulted towards the compound instead of flying.
Chris shook his head, brushing the previous thought away as he ordered his men. "Okay, we split into two groups. Half of you come with me to the inner compound, the other assist Commander Kennedy's men."
He looked at K-Mart and said in a brotherly tone instead of a command, "sorry, kid. There's no middle ground, but you can come with me if you want."
The offer was tempting, but the young blonde didn't want to be a dead weight. Chris might get distracted from protecting her in the field instead of focusing on taking back the inner compound. So she shook her head and answered, "I'll be fine, don't worry."
It was evident that the man was conflicted, but he didn't say anything else as he squeezed her shoulder affectionately. Then he addressed a young man nearest to him, "Piers Nivans, you're in charge."
They're now moving as a squad along the walls, dodging swipes from the lickers' large claws and feeding them lead like a retort. Captain Nivans is an effective leader, perhaps learned it from Chris.
Santana still stuck to K-Mart's side, which surprised the blonde. The Latina seem to be the type to stick to the stronger or safer group. But the assumption earned her a nonchalant shrug and a declaration that while she may be a whining bitch, she's also a hardcore friend and that K-Mart can't get rid of her so easily.
The closer they get to the gap's location, the more lickers they meet along the way, as if they know what they're doing. But Captain Nivans was as adamant as the enemy, urging his squad to push against them.
However, a small licker broke the squad's rhythm. It grabbed a man with its jaws and dragged him down below to finish him off—the first casualty in their squad followed by many more. Several lickers sprang from the sides, ambushing them. They are smaller and faster than the ones running along the walls and the inner compound.
K-Mart sidestepped just in time when she saw a licker about to tackle her. Her partner reacted fast—killing it as soon as it got distracted. The blonde nodded her thanks.
"Nobody gets left behind!" shouted Captain Nivans when a few of the recruits urged him to move on.
A recruit, however, had other plans, ignoring the commanding officer's orders and ran away from the lickers and the group. He was heading back to the tower.
K-Mart watched him leave from the corner of her eye. She was tempted to follow him when a tongue darted towards her. She ducked just in time, unloading her rifle from underneath the creature's jaw.
She returned her attention to the fleeing man, noted that a few lickers already hot on his trail.
'He's going to get himself killed.' she thought as she raised her rifle and fired at one of the pursuing lickers, earning its attention and giving the recruit a fighting chance. If he's going to save his own life, then at least it won't be in vain.
Eventually, they moved on with lesser people than before. When they finally got to the gap, Commander Kennedy and Agent Wong were battling against a giant licker. Several feet away from them, Hatta was kneeling next to a person on their hands and knees, blonde ponytail hanging from on shoulder...
"Jill..." K-Mart gasped at the realization and her feet moved on their own accord.
Santana didn't like her idea, "bitch, be careful!"
The young blonde jumped over the gap, not caring about the licker that was still squeezing itself through. It's claws almost ripped out her leg.
'She's back. She's here.' was all she think about as she sprinted towards the hunched figure of Jill Valentine.
"Oh my god! Jill!" K-Mart said in relief and shock, immensely surprised—pleasantly so—to see the blond Agent alive and unharmed.
When the recruit finally got near enough to touch her shoulder, Jill greeted her by throwing up.
"Damn you, Alice," the Agent muttered under her breathed, apparently unaware of K-Mart's presence, "and fuck you, Vivian..."
She heaved once again, but nothing came out this time and just leaned most of her weight against a quiet Hatta, who was rubbing her back in a calm—sane—manner.
Not having enough time to interpret what she saw, K-Mart helped Jill back to her feet. The older blonde swayed, but the recruit has a strong and protective grip on her. "Jill, you need to get to the infirmary."
Jill finally looked at her with tired eyes and twisted her mouth in a half-smile, "well, look at you... Did I end up in hell after all this time?"
She let a languid arm rest on her shoulder to support the blonde's weight, "shut up and let me help you, you idiot." K-Mart growled, "or I'll throw you off the wall."
However, the warmth she's feeling inside is far from the cold and petty threat that came from her mouth. The weight that she had been carrying since the blonde's disappearance was replaced by Jill's presence, real and solid and made her feel everything for this woman. She won't let go of her this time.
The reinforcements arrived after killing any lickers that are still squeezing through the gap.
Captain Nivans offered a few soldiers to escort her and Jill. But the Agent didn't take it.
"These two are my escorts." Jill said, referring to K-Mart and Hatta, and then frowned at Santana, who was standing right next to K-Mart and pointedly looking at her, "and I guess this one is too. Just make sure the chopper that I asked for could get past the walls safely."
"Yes, ma'am."
Their trip to the nearest tower to get to the inner compound was an easy one with Hatta's telekinesis, waving her hands like a magician to repel any incoming lickers. She didn't even break a sweat, or swayed in her steps, she wasn't even limping as badly as she used to. The way the small woman would occasionally stop and check on them with clear dark eyes, it was as if she's a different person.
When they passed by a shipping container, Hatta stopped, prompting others to stop as well. The small woman raise her hands to lift the large object, but her sole focus on moving it to the top of the walls earned them the attention of three small lickers.
"Shit! Why now?" Santana cursed, pushing her back against K-Mart's as she fired at the first one that lunged at them. "What's Miss Hannibal up to?"
"Closing the gap..." Jill grunted in pain to move faster towards the Resistance's main building—they were still far away. "We can move on without her."
K-Mart hesitated, but her partner is already pushing her to move. "Will she be alright on her own?"
"I don't care." was the Agent's reply through gritted teeth as she took out her gun and shot at a licker's knee cap, slowing it down before feeding its exposed brain with more lead.
Santana was still busy with the other one as she kept pushing K-Mart, and in extent Jill, farther away from it. Her panicked aim missing the vital points, but she did manage to slow it down.
The loud metallic crunch made them all look up to see the shipping container being crushed into shape. It floated towards the gap before settling down like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, stopping any more lickers to get inside.
However, the small woman was too focused on her task that she failed to dodge the remaining licker on time. Hatta yelped and kicked as the creature latched onto her left leg.
K-Mart stopped to help, but Santana was shouting at her to keep moving. Jill was already too weak to move on her own.
A bullet pierced through the licker's shoulder, making it howl in pain and annoyance. Hatta's leg was released from its jaws. Then two more followed, before it dropped dead.
"Come on, let's go!" Santana said as she pushed K-Mart.
The Latina wasn't the one who killed the licker. K-Mart caught a glimpse of the barrel of a sniper rifle peaking out from one of the towers nearest to them before they moved towards the white house. Hatta was limping closely behind.
"Dahlia..."
The soft, almost pleading voice, beside her made her stomach twist. "Yeah?"
Jill's eyes are half-lidded and glassy, chapped lips parted as she panted a little, "can I..." her paused, licking her lips, "can I be honest with you?"
The younger blonde's eyes widened in anticipation, feeling her heart race, as she tightened her grip on the weak Agent. "Of course." 'But please, not right now.'
There were still many lickers roaming around, wrecking havoc among the soldiers in the inner compound. A chopper provided brief fire support, giving them enough time to get behind Chris's unit, before it flew outside the walls.
It took them a few more steps until K-Mart felt the weight on her shoulders getting heavier and heavier as Jill swayed.
"I can't."
The Agent would have fell to the ground if it weren't for K-Mart holding on to her. But the younger blonde went down on her knees because of the dead weight.
"Jill!" 'No. Not again, dammit.' She panicked, she doesn't have enough strength to carry the older blonde on her own and they are still not inside the safety of White House. Santana is her cover fire and Hatta is injured.
"Agent Valentine? Damn it. Why now?" Santana hissed as she stomped her foot. "I can't get a recommendation if she's unconscious."
K-Mart scowled, though her concern outweighs her anger right now. "You're only doing this for a promotion?!"
The Latina huffed as she leaned down to take the Jill's discarded gun. "Hey, don't get me wrong, I care about you and your general attachment to people, it's just that a promotion sounds like a really great bonus right n—"
But a telekinetic wave interrupted them as they were pushed nearer towards their destination. Hatta didn't even give them a verbal warning as she faced off with a large licker on her own.
"Shit. Argue later, move now!" Santana shouted as she picked herself up. She was the one quick enough to grabbed Jill by grasping the straps and clothing underneath the Agent's shoulders and started pulling her towards the White House. It was crude but effective. "You do the shooting this time."
K-Mart nodded and took out her rifle.
She aimed at the licker but hesitated.
Hatta is running away from the creature. The small woman knew that they couldn't take it down on their own, so she's distracting it, giving them enough time to get to the White House.
"Let's go."
She hoped Hatta will survive so she can thank her later.