CHAPTER 2
It was roughly three hours later that the small island of Johnston Atoll came into view of the carrier. It was dark, around 11.00 at night on the island. Jake held his automatic. A 9 mm beretta. He checked the clip, then smacked it back in. Jake looked out of the window of the 'copter. "There don't look like nothings going on down there," he said, placing his handgun in it's holster. He concentrated on a part of the island, but couldn't make out much thanks to the distance and the darkness. Only a few lights could be seen from the transport. "Hey, Rob, pass us one of those night-vision goggles will ya." He stuck his arm out in his friends direction, not looking at him.
"Why?" asked Rob, looking curious.
"I just wanna have a look at what we could be up against." Rob took a pair of NVGs and handed them to Jake. "Cheers." He put them on his head and turned them on. He could see everything clearly now, except for the green shading. He still couldn't make out much due to the area being such a long way away. "Do you get some sort of zooming-in type thing on these?" He asked Rob.
Rob, who now had a pair in his hands, pushed the button on the side of the goggles. "Yeah, you press that."
"Oh. Thanks." Replied Jake, now messing about with it 'till he got the right view. He could see nothing living on the island. After looking around for a while he gave up looking and sat back down in his seat. "Shit. This is gonna be one boring mission." He rubbed his eyes and face. He looked at the other Marines. They were either loading their weapons or talking to each other. He looked at the Marine in front of him.
Anna noticed Jake looking at her. She knew him pretty well. They were friends. It seemed that Jake wanted to get closer.
Yeah, and you don't?
She decided that when this mission was over, she'd start to see if there was anything between them.
"You all right?" Jake asked her. The question almost came as a surprise, and she quickly had to decide what to say.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yup." Jake said. "Not so bad." He looked at his watch. 11:17 p.m.. Jake laid back on the inside of the aircraft and lit a cigarette. He offered one to Anna. She took one from the packet, and Jake lit it for her.
"Thanks." she said.
"No problem." Jake replied. Suddenly, without warning, the gunship rocked violently, nearly throwing Jake of his seating. When it died down a bit, Jake asked the pilot "What the hell was that?"
"Just a bit of turbulence, ladies." the pilot said over the radio. "Nothing to worry about. Estimate time of arrival now 27 minutes."
It was still dark when they landed on the beach of the island. They all got out of the carrier and, under order of Captain Edwards, set up camp there. It had been a long journey and most of the team was tired, so it didn't take most of the Marines long to fall asleep. Jake walked over to Anna. "Hi." he said, nearly as a whisper.
She looked up at him. "Hi." Jake sat down beside her.
"What do ya reckon, then? Is this gonna be a shit mission?" he asked, smiling at slightly at her. She smiled back, only more obviously. Jake liked her. Not only was she good looking, she had a sense of humour as well. He had thought about asking her out. But he was afraid she'd say no. Something like that can really screw up a friendship.
"I reckon so. The other missions were." she said. "But it could be very exciting. I mean, you heard the tape, right?" She didn't sound scared. She liked danger.
"I heard it. It was weird. What do you reckon it was?"
"A lion, maybe?"
"Out here? Nah. Probably a dog or something." Anna looked into Jake's eyes. . She opened her mouth to say something. A scream echoed in the air around them. An inhuman scream, like a banshee. It was far away, but now they felt a slight bit scared. They stood up.
"What the shit...?" Jake whispered to Anna. She was as baffled as he was.
"Hell if I know." She whispered. Captain Edwards spoke loudly.
"Nobody panic. It's probably just a dog." He said, not a hint of fright in his voice.
"Sure ain't no Goddamn dog." Jake whispered.
"Some of us will stay awake a while to keep watch. Then some others will take our place. We'll wake you if you are needed. Now get some rest." Edwards walked over to a small group of Marines.
"Good advice." Jake said. He and Anna laid on the ground. "Night." he said, then closed his eyes.
"Night" she replied. She smiled then closed her eyes.
Jake awoke to feel something tapping his arm. He focused his blurred sight on the man. It was Captain Edwards. "C'mon, man. You're gonna help keep watch. You and Anna."
Jake rubbed his eyes. "Lucky us." he groaned. He rolled over and shook Anna. She woke up and instantly took her gun out, aiming for him. "Woah! Don't shoot!" Anna looked at him.
"Sorry. Bad dream." she said. She sat up, then Jake did.
"We've been volunteered for the second shift." he said. Anna groaned, and rubbed her eyes as well.
"OK." she said after a while. They stood up and walked to the edge of the camp. Edwards laid down and went to sleep. Another couple of Marines were on the other side of the site keeping watch. Anna and Jake walked around a small area.
"So, what were you dreaming about?" Jake asked. Anna gave him a curious look.
"Why do you wanna know what I dream about?" she asked.
"I'm just wondering. You said you had a bad dream."
"Oh. It... It was nothing, really. Just one of those strange dreams when you're being chased by something you can't see." she said, slightly embarrassed. "You must think it's pretty stupid."
"No. I don't." he said. Anna looked at him again.
"What do you dream about?"
"I don't dream."
"Everyone dreams. What do you dream about?"
"I don't dream. If I do, I'm not aware of it."
"You're just embarrassed."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"Piss off. I am not." Jake laughed slightly. They kept watch to see if anything happened. Jake looked at his watch. They had just over an hour to kill. Then the sun would rise, and they would all set of to the nearest town. Jake had a feeling deep inside him that whatever made that noise, they were sure to find it soon.
"Have you ever..." Anna started. Jake looked at her.
"Have I ever...?"
"Have you ever... I know it's a strange question but, erm..."
"What?" Jake asked smiling.
Something moved in the bushes nearby. Jake noticed it, and raised his machine gun. Anna looked at the bushes, neither of them moving. "What is it?" she asked, her voice as quiet as possible. Jake took a step forward.
"I don't know yet." he said, trying not to let the fright appear in his voice show. The thing moved again. Anna saw it this time. She also raised her gun. They both aimed at the thing as it moved to the edge of the bushes. It came into view and saw the guns pointed at it.
"Hey, hold your fire!" said a young, black skinned male, dressed in the same gear as the Marines. Jake recognised him.
"Scott, what the hell're you doin' back here? You scared the shit out of me." Scott gave him a relaxed look.
"When you gotta go..." He looked at the pair, and his facial expression changed to an amused one. "What are you two doing?"
"Keeping watch." said Anna, not unkindly. "You'd better get some sleep."
"Yes, ma'am." Scott joked, saluting her. Anna didn't know him, but she could tell he liked making people laugh. Or at least trying to. He walked of to join a group of Marines in the camp.
Jake and Anna kept walking around. Anna looked down at Jake's hand and saw something written on it. "What does that say?" she asked, pointing at the words. Jake looked at his hand.
"Oh, it's a show I watched a couple of nights ago. It's so I remember to watch it again." he explained. It was a strange conversation, but it kept them occupied.
"Why? Can't you remember any TV shows you like?"
"I don't watch the tube that often. I normally go down pub."
"Really. I don't normally watch a lot of TV either. Never anything good on."
"That's why I go down the pub." They kept talking until the sun rose out of the sea.
Michelle woke up to the sound of loud moans and smashing. She looked around the living room. Pete wasn't there. "Pete?" she called, walking into the kitchen. He was standing, looking out of the window. "What's going on?" she asked.
"They know we're still here." he replied. He then passed the shotgun to Michelle. She took it and looked at it. "Take it." he ordered, removing a pistol from his belt.
"But..." she started.
"Go upstairs. Block the door." he told her. He then took a cd from his pocket. "Take this too." he said. "It's about what's going on." She took it.
"You can't stay down here alone." she insisted.
"I'm fine. Just go upstairs and block the door." Pete repeated. Michelle stood were she was for a moment, then ran up the stairs. Pete watched her go, then checked to see if the gun was loaded. As he did, he realised that a group of the things were crashing through the window and grabbing onto him.
In the morning, the Marines set off to the coastal town. It wasn't far away, so they got there quickly. When they got to the town, everything was quiet. Not even any wildlife noises were heard. They slowly walked down a road. Captain Edwards turned round and spoke to all of them. "OK, split up into fours and search this town. See if any of the first team are here."
Everyone got into their groups and went down different roads and buildings. Jake and Anna, along with Mike and Rob, went down a long alleyway. They each had a Submachine gun each.
They reached a house, but the door was broken down. Mike went inside first, then Rob, Anna and Jake. As they entered the hallway, a smell struck them that almost made them throw up. A disgusting smell. A shitty smell. Rob and Mike went into the kitchen, Jake and Anna went into the front room. Jake found the source of the odour laying on the floor.
It was a body, but he couldn't make out any other detail. It had been torn to hell and back, blood covering the walls and surrounding furniture. Anna covered her mouth so not to breathe in the awful stench of rotting flesh. Rob and Mike ran in. "We found a body in..." They saw the mess on the carpet. "Ah shit. What the hell is going on?" Jake shook his head.
"I'll tell you when I find out." he said quietly. He had seen many dead bodies before, but none like this. something real bad was going down here, and Jake knew they would find out what very soon. He took out his radio transmitter and flicked it on. "This is Puma Team. We found a dead body in a house. No way to tell what street we are in. The body's been messed up bad. Over." They waited for the reply. The radio crackled.
"Roger. Report to us if you find anything else. Over." the Marine on the other end of the transmission said.
"Will do. Over." Jake replied. He put the radio back in his pocket. He turned to the other three Marines. "Lets check out the rest of this area." he said. He turned to leave the house when they all heard a dull thud from the floor above them. Everyone stopped, nobody talking in case the sound occurred again. There was silence.
"What is it?" Mike whispered.
"I don't know." replied Jake. He loaded his submachine gun. "I'll go check. You wait here just in case someone comes along." He stepped forward. Anna followed.
"I'm going with you." she told him. Jake nodded at her. He knew it would be stupid if only he went and there was something unfriendly there. They walked to the stairs. Jake aimed his submachine gun up the stairs and slowly walked up them. They quietly walked across the landing, towards a bedroom door which was slightly ajar. Jake pushed the door open and stepped in the doorway. Nothing was in the room.
Behind the two Marines the back end of a shotgun slammed into the back of Anna's neck. She fell over. As she did, Jake spun around and aimed at the attacker. It was a girl, aged about 19, and she aimed her shotgun at him.
"Put the gun down!" Jake said.
"You put your gun down!" the girl replied. "Who the hell are you?"
"We're US Marines." Jake told her. Behind him Anna stood up, rubbing the back of her neck.
"How do I know you're not lying?" the girl asked.
"Look at the way we dress. Does it look like we're going to a fucking dinner party?" Jake answered. The girl cocked the shotgun.
"Watch your fucking mouth." she told him. Rob and Mike ran up the stairs and aimed at the girl.
"Freeze! Put the gun down now!" ordered Rob. She glanced behind her, then back at Jake.
"They with you?"
"Yeah. Now, there is a dead body downstairs. The town seems deserted. Contact's been lost with the island. And we want to know why."
"Tough shit. You'll just think I'm crazy." the girl stated.
"No one thinks you're crazy. What the hell happened?" Jake said.
"I saw them. They came a few nights ago. I locked and barricaded all the doors so they couldn't get me. Every night and day I heard screams and firing. Today seemed silent, so Pete went downstairs to check if it was safe."
"Pete, who's Pete?" Anna asked.
"I didn't know him much. He said that he couldn't get out of the town because they were blocking the street, so he came here and helped me barricade the doors. He must have been killed by them." the girl explained.
"Who is 'them'?" asked Mike.
"I don't know. I haven't seen one properly, but Pete told me they looked human, but emotionless. And they eat people."
"Well, you'd better come with us. It'll be safer." Jake said.
"Bullshit! You can't kill these sons of bitches. They don't feel pain." replied the girl.
"We can try, though. You don't know they can't be killed, you don't even know if they're real. Which is probably the case." Anna told her.
"All right. I'll go." she said reluctantly.
"What's your name?" asked Rob, remembering no-one had asked yet.
"Michelle." answered the girl.
"Right then. Let's make tracks." Anna said. They walked down the stairs. As they walked past the living room, Jake noticed something missing.
"Where'd the body go?" he asked. The others stopped.
"Let's get the hell outta here." Michelle said.
"I have no arguments against that idea." Anna stated. They stepped into the kitchen when suddenly someone caught there attention in the back yard. The Marines raised their guns at the figure, but it stumbled over the fence furthest away, oblivious to the group inside the house.
"Look..." Michelle whispered quietly. They looked onto the floor and saw bloody footprints leading from the front room all the way to the back yard.
"Someone could have quickly snatched the body whilst we were upstairs, dumped it and scarpered." said Rob, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"It must have been that person who jumped the fence." Jake added.
"Well, whoever it was, they're not here. So we'd better look for him. He could be anywhere." Anna said. She walked out the back door and the others followed her.
Karl, Howard, Phil and Tim turned the corner. They were also Marines. They walked down the road, then saw an alleyway. They stopped. "Me and Karl will just check down there. You two finish this street, meet us on the other end.
"Affirmative" Tim said. Phil and Karl walked down the alleyway, whilst Tim and Howard carried on down the road. Tim noticed the manhole cover about 100 metres away was removed. He ran over to it, followed by Howard. They looked down it. Nothing but pitch black. But they could hear something. Tim looked at Howard. "You wanna go first?"
"Yeah, alright. Just keep an eye out." Howard said.
"No problem." Howard put his foot on the ladder and descended into hell. Tim followed. They got to the bottom and switched on their flashlights. As Howard switched his on, the beam highlighted something. Howard raised his weapon.
"Hey!" he yelled. The thing suddenly turned and lunged at him. It grabbed him, and bit through his neck. Howard screamed as much as he could before his throat was ripped open.
Tim heard Howard shouting, the saw the torch flailing wildly. He heard Howard scream, then stop. "Howard!" he shouted. He shone the torch on the thing. It stood up. It looked human, but also looked dead. It's flesh was decaying, and there was no sign of humanity in it's messed-up face. It came towards him. Tim fired at it, and it dropped to the ground, blood pouring from every place almost. Tim ran to the ladder and climbed it.
Suddenly something grabbed his leg. Tim looked down and saw another one of the things. He tried to kick free, but couldn't. The creature tried to bite his foot, but couldn't reach. Tim pulled out his pistol and fired three shots into it's face. It fell to the ground. Tim hurriedly climbed the ladder, got out of the sewers and put the cover back on. He looked around. "What the hell is going on?" he asked himself.
As they got to the end of a nearby ally, Mike saw a man standing at the other end of the road. "Stop right there, sir." he called, calmly. The man turned his head and started to move towards him. He was dragging his foot behind him. Maybe he was hurt.
"Hey, are you alright?" Anna asked. The man carried on towards them. Mike raised his gun and repeated what he just said. The man kept coming. closer and closer. And then they all saw his face. It had decayed, with skin flapping off his face. The bone shined red in the gleaming sunlight. Some flies buzzed around the skull like vultures.
"Oh shit." Michelle said aloud. The group knew this wasn't good news. They all aimed at the oncoming abnormality and fired. But even though each shot was a clear hit, he kept on coming. Bullet after bullet tore into the chest, gut, legs and arms of the monster. Blood and pieces of rotting flesh sprayed the road behind it. It lunged at Jake, who jumped backwards and shot at the monster's head several times. The back of it's skull blew out, pieces of brain and bone flying backwards through the air, slopping on the ground in a bloody mess. The monster stopped moving, and thick, red blood started seeping through the bullet-holes in it's forehead and left eye socket.
"This must be one of Michelle's monsters." Jake said, even more shaken by what had happened than the sharp scream last night. "I thought you said it couldn't die." he added, lightly kicking the thing's head to check it was dead. All five stared at the creature. Eventually Anna spoke.
"I think I know what that is," she said. The 3 men looked at each other. Michelle looked on, wanting to know what it was. "It's a person who has died, but has come back from the dead." Rob and Mike looked at each other again, but looked as if they were about to laugh out loud. Michelle didn't see how it was funny, and Jake just kept looking at whatever they just killed.
"A zombie?" asked Rob. Anna nodded her head. "You mean to say that that," Rob pointed at the thing laying on the floor. "Is a zombie?" Anna nodded her head again.
"It would explain the body in the house." This time Rob laughed. Then Anna raised her gun at his head.
"Woah, shit! I didn't mean it..." Anna fired off a shot. Rob closed his eyes. Something slumped to the ground behind him. He opened his eyes again and turned around to see what was behind him. A man laid there, a single bullet hole in the centre of it's head. It was similar to the one they just shot. It's flesh had started to deteriorate and it smelt bad. It's dead, yellowish eyes stared up at him, it's mouth was still open. Rob swallowed hard. He turned to Anna, who still held her gun in her hand, but was more relaxed. "Thank Christ you're a good shot." he sighed.
"I'm not." she said. Rob looked at her and she smiled at him.
A voice came over the radio. It was Captain Edwards. "We need backup, now! We have been ambushed! Repeat, We need help!"
They looked at each other. "Shit..." said Rob. Jake ran down the street, closely followed by Rob, Mike, Anna and Michelle. They ran down several streets until they found the area.
As they reached the area, they could tell what had happened. And they knew it wasn't good. They looked at the bodies of soldiers, lying in a pool of blood. They had been bitten and torn apart. No gunshot wounds. It looked as though they had been eaten alive. About 4-6 people lay there, still twitching. Then Jake heard a groan. All five turned around and immediately pointed there guns in that direction. Standing about twenty metres away was a group of men, they looked like the one they had encountered in the street a few minutes ago. "Aim at their heads!" yelled Anna, and automatically fired at the group. Then the other four fired. The sound of rapid gunshots, the moaning of the monsters, the screams of other soldiers being eaten alive, and the sound of hot lead tearing through flesh and bone and blood ripped apart the sound of silence more commonly heard in the town. But as much as they tried, the tide of the undead didn't cease, only slowed down. By now, other soldiers had joined in the fire-fight.
Knowing the fact that this army of creatures was unstoppable, Captain Edwards took a hand-grenade out of his pocket. He looked at Jake, who saw him pick up the grenade. "Get everyone outta here." said the captain.
"Where are you going?"
"Where d'ya think?" There was a long pause as they looked at one another. Everybody else was still firing at the zombies.
"You gotta be crazy if you think I'm letting you die."
"I give the orders. Get everyone out now." There was another long pause. Captain Edwards spoke again, louder this time. "Get the hell outta here! Now! That's an order!" Jake looked at him. He looked straight back at Jake. "Goddammit, Jake! That's an order, not a request! Get everyone out!"
"Alright," he said at last. "Everyone," he yelled into his comm-piece. " Pull back to the chopper. We gotta fall back!" He looked at the Captain. "That includes you." he said, bluntly.
"Go, now! Get the hell outta here!" Yelled the captain. He walked towards the zombie mass. Instantly Jake pulled out a handgun from it's holster and fired at Captain Edwards' leg. The bullet ripped through his thigh. Captain Edwards fell to the ground. He looked at his bleeding wound, then at Jake holding the gun. "You stupid shit! What the hell are you doing?!"
Jake put his gun away calmly. "Gettin' you outta here. What's it look like?"
"No you ain't," said the captain, the pain setting in now. " your gonna head to the chopper along with the rest of the troops."
"I'm not gonna have your death on my mind all day. I've got enough problems to deal with." Jake picked the Captain up just as a zombie lunged at them. Jake pulled his gun up to the zombies skull, fired three shots through it's brain and kicked it away in one swift move.
Still carrying the captain over his shoulder he ran to catch up with most of the other soldiers. Captain Edwards fired his machine gun at the pursuing zombies.
Eventually they got to the landing site. Jake put Captain Edwards down. Other soldiers came to help the captain. Jake walked over to his three team-mates. They came up to him. "You all right?" asked Mike.
"Yeah, fine. It ain't my blood. It's Edwards'. You lot?" replied Jake. Rob looked at him.
"Yeah. Never felt better." he said. Then he looked around. "Hey, where did the zombies go?" They all looked round at the forest.
"Maybe they gave up..." started Anna. Suddenly a large, skinless beast jumped out of the forest and landed right next to the four Marines.
"Oh, shit!" whispered Anna, unmoving due to fear.
The new beast looked at the four Marines and seemed to grin a lipless grin at them. It looked like a skinless bear, but majorly pissed off. And hungry. All four of them just looked at it. Seconds later a shower of bullets launched at the thing. Most of them hit the creature, spilling thick, red blood over the ground. It faced the soldiers blasting it. There were six of them. It pounced at the centre man and swiped his head clean off. It landed at least one hundred metres away.
A couple of soldiers dived into the gunship, but the monster followed them in. As it got into the vehicle, Jake ran towards the metal door and slammed it into place. The screams of the soldiers inside echoed all around them.
Everyone fired at the apache, Jake barely getting away in time. The bullets tore through the metalwork of the machine. Then a stray bullet impacted with a missile on the side of the apache. It erupted into a huge ball of flame, sending everyone diving for cover, and hurled Jake away from the area, landing a good 75 metres away from the explosion.
Jake looked at the burning wreckage. No movement. It was dead. Then he realised that they had no means of getting of the island. "Shit." He looked at where Captain Edwards was. He was gone. No sign of anything taking him. He'd just vanished. "Things just keep gettin' better by the fucking minute." Anna ran over to him.
"Shit, are you OK?" asked Anna. "You're not hurt or nothing are you?"
" Not much." came the reply. Jake got up off the ground. Rob and Mike walked over to him. "Good work." Rob said.
"Yeah, glad you're not dead." Mike added.
Jake looked around. There were only five or six Marines left. "Captain's gone. So's our ride outta here." He looked at the only three Marines he knew properly. "What do we do now?"
"What we do is look for any other settlements." said Anna.
"Are you kidding? There'll be more of them...things in all the towns, not just that one!" Rob said.
"You gotta better idea, smart-ass? I'd sure as hell like to hear it." replied Anna, clearly pissed off about Robs doubt.
"Yeah, I do." Rob said, calmly. He looked up. "Sit on my smart-ass 'till the rescue team arrives."
"In three days time?" reminded Anna. "Them things'll come here and kill all of us!"
"But we'll just walk straight into them your way!"
"We'll be able to call for help,"
"What, like Commander Robinson?"
"Yes,"
"His plan had a drawback. Because he's dead. You really wanna die?"
Jake turned around. "She's got a point, Rob. It's the best option."
"What?" Rob looked around. 4 other Marines agreed with Jake. "Christ." He looked at Jake and Anna. "Fine. We'll go find another town."
"Right then," said Jake. He looked at Anna. "Lets go." Michelle walked up to them.
"I know where the nearest town is. Just follow me." she offered. Jake nodded.
"Sounds good. Lead the way." Michelle smiled, then turned. Jake grabbed her arm and turned her around. He handed her his submachine gun.
"Your shotgun's empty. Use this." he said. Michelle took it and smiled again.
"Thanks." she said, then turned and started walking. Everyone followed her.
It was roughly three hours later that the small island of Johnston Atoll came into view of the carrier. It was dark, around 11.00 at night on the island. Jake held his automatic. A 9 mm beretta. He checked the clip, then smacked it back in. Jake looked out of the window of the 'copter. "There don't look like nothings going on down there," he said, placing his handgun in it's holster. He concentrated on a part of the island, but couldn't make out much thanks to the distance and the darkness. Only a few lights could be seen from the transport. "Hey, Rob, pass us one of those night-vision goggles will ya." He stuck his arm out in his friends direction, not looking at him.
"Why?" asked Rob, looking curious.
"I just wanna have a look at what we could be up against." Rob took a pair of NVGs and handed them to Jake. "Cheers." He put them on his head and turned them on. He could see everything clearly now, except for the green shading. He still couldn't make out much due to the area being such a long way away. "Do you get some sort of zooming-in type thing on these?" He asked Rob.
Rob, who now had a pair in his hands, pushed the button on the side of the goggles. "Yeah, you press that."
"Oh. Thanks." Replied Jake, now messing about with it 'till he got the right view. He could see nothing living on the island. After looking around for a while he gave up looking and sat back down in his seat. "Shit. This is gonna be one boring mission." He rubbed his eyes and face. He looked at the other Marines. They were either loading their weapons or talking to each other. He looked at the Marine in front of him.
Anna noticed Jake looking at her. She knew him pretty well. They were friends. It seemed that Jake wanted to get closer.
Yeah, and you don't?
She decided that when this mission was over, she'd start to see if there was anything between them.
"You all right?" Jake asked her. The question almost came as a surprise, and she quickly had to decide what to say.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yup." Jake said. "Not so bad." He looked at his watch. 11:17 p.m.. Jake laid back on the inside of the aircraft and lit a cigarette. He offered one to Anna. She took one from the packet, and Jake lit it for her.
"Thanks." she said.
"No problem." Jake replied. Suddenly, without warning, the gunship rocked violently, nearly throwing Jake of his seating. When it died down a bit, Jake asked the pilot "What the hell was that?"
"Just a bit of turbulence, ladies." the pilot said over the radio. "Nothing to worry about. Estimate time of arrival now 27 minutes."
It was still dark when they landed on the beach of the island. They all got out of the carrier and, under order of Captain Edwards, set up camp there. It had been a long journey and most of the team was tired, so it didn't take most of the Marines long to fall asleep. Jake walked over to Anna. "Hi." he said, nearly as a whisper.
She looked up at him. "Hi." Jake sat down beside her.
"What do ya reckon, then? Is this gonna be a shit mission?" he asked, smiling at slightly at her. She smiled back, only more obviously. Jake liked her. Not only was she good looking, she had a sense of humour as well. He had thought about asking her out. But he was afraid she'd say no. Something like that can really screw up a friendship.
"I reckon so. The other missions were." she said. "But it could be very exciting. I mean, you heard the tape, right?" She didn't sound scared. She liked danger.
"I heard it. It was weird. What do you reckon it was?"
"A lion, maybe?"
"Out here? Nah. Probably a dog or something." Anna looked into Jake's eyes. . She opened her mouth to say something. A scream echoed in the air around them. An inhuman scream, like a banshee. It was far away, but now they felt a slight bit scared. They stood up.
"What the shit...?" Jake whispered to Anna. She was as baffled as he was.
"Hell if I know." She whispered. Captain Edwards spoke loudly.
"Nobody panic. It's probably just a dog." He said, not a hint of fright in his voice.
"Sure ain't no Goddamn dog." Jake whispered.
"Some of us will stay awake a while to keep watch. Then some others will take our place. We'll wake you if you are needed. Now get some rest." Edwards walked over to a small group of Marines.
"Good advice." Jake said. He and Anna laid on the ground. "Night." he said, then closed his eyes.
"Night" she replied. She smiled then closed her eyes.
Jake awoke to feel something tapping his arm. He focused his blurred sight on the man. It was Captain Edwards. "C'mon, man. You're gonna help keep watch. You and Anna."
Jake rubbed his eyes. "Lucky us." he groaned. He rolled over and shook Anna. She woke up and instantly took her gun out, aiming for him. "Woah! Don't shoot!" Anna looked at him.
"Sorry. Bad dream." she said. She sat up, then Jake did.
"We've been volunteered for the second shift." he said. Anna groaned, and rubbed her eyes as well.
"OK." she said after a while. They stood up and walked to the edge of the camp. Edwards laid down and went to sleep. Another couple of Marines were on the other side of the site keeping watch. Anna and Jake walked around a small area.
"So, what were you dreaming about?" Jake asked. Anna gave him a curious look.
"Why do you wanna know what I dream about?" she asked.
"I'm just wondering. You said you had a bad dream."
"Oh. It... It was nothing, really. Just one of those strange dreams when you're being chased by something you can't see." she said, slightly embarrassed. "You must think it's pretty stupid."
"No. I don't." he said. Anna looked at him again.
"What do you dream about?"
"I don't dream."
"Everyone dreams. What do you dream about?"
"I don't dream. If I do, I'm not aware of it."
"You're just embarrassed."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"Piss off. I am not." Jake laughed slightly. They kept watch to see if anything happened. Jake looked at his watch. They had just over an hour to kill. Then the sun would rise, and they would all set of to the nearest town. Jake had a feeling deep inside him that whatever made that noise, they were sure to find it soon.
"Have you ever..." Anna started. Jake looked at her.
"Have I ever...?"
"Have you ever... I know it's a strange question but, erm..."
"What?" Jake asked smiling.
Something moved in the bushes nearby. Jake noticed it, and raised his machine gun. Anna looked at the bushes, neither of them moving. "What is it?" she asked, her voice as quiet as possible. Jake took a step forward.
"I don't know yet." he said, trying not to let the fright appear in his voice show. The thing moved again. Anna saw it this time. She also raised her gun. They both aimed at the thing as it moved to the edge of the bushes. It came into view and saw the guns pointed at it.
"Hey, hold your fire!" said a young, black skinned male, dressed in the same gear as the Marines. Jake recognised him.
"Scott, what the hell're you doin' back here? You scared the shit out of me." Scott gave him a relaxed look.
"When you gotta go..." He looked at the pair, and his facial expression changed to an amused one. "What are you two doing?"
"Keeping watch." said Anna, not unkindly. "You'd better get some sleep."
"Yes, ma'am." Scott joked, saluting her. Anna didn't know him, but she could tell he liked making people laugh. Or at least trying to. He walked of to join a group of Marines in the camp.
Jake and Anna kept walking around. Anna looked down at Jake's hand and saw something written on it. "What does that say?" she asked, pointing at the words. Jake looked at his hand.
"Oh, it's a show I watched a couple of nights ago. It's so I remember to watch it again." he explained. It was a strange conversation, but it kept them occupied.
"Why? Can't you remember any TV shows you like?"
"I don't watch the tube that often. I normally go down pub."
"Really. I don't normally watch a lot of TV either. Never anything good on."
"That's why I go down the pub." They kept talking until the sun rose out of the sea.
Michelle woke up to the sound of loud moans and smashing. She looked around the living room. Pete wasn't there. "Pete?" she called, walking into the kitchen. He was standing, looking out of the window. "What's going on?" she asked.
"They know we're still here." he replied. He then passed the shotgun to Michelle. She took it and looked at it. "Take it." he ordered, removing a pistol from his belt.
"But..." she started.
"Go upstairs. Block the door." he told her. He then took a cd from his pocket. "Take this too." he said. "It's about what's going on." She took it.
"You can't stay down here alone." she insisted.
"I'm fine. Just go upstairs and block the door." Pete repeated. Michelle stood were she was for a moment, then ran up the stairs. Pete watched her go, then checked to see if the gun was loaded. As he did, he realised that a group of the things were crashing through the window and grabbing onto him.
In the morning, the Marines set off to the coastal town. It wasn't far away, so they got there quickly. When they got to the town, everything was quiet. Not even any wildlife noises were heard. They slowly walked down a road. Captain Edwards turned round and spoke to all of them. "OK, split up into fours and search this town. See if any of the first team are here."
Everyone got into their groups and went down different roads and buildings. Jake and Anna, along with Mike and Rob, went down a long alleyway. They each had a Submachine gun each.
They reached a house, but the door was broken down. Mike went inside first, then Rob, Anna and Jake. As they entered the hallway, a smell struck them that almost made them throw up. A disgusting smell. A shitty smell. Rob and Mike went into the kitchen, Jake and Anna went into the front room. Jake found the source of the odour laying on the floor.
It was a body, but he couldn't make out any other detail. It had been torn to hell and back, blood covering the walls and surrounding furniture. Anna covered her mouth so not to breathe in the awful stench of rotting flesh. Rob and Mike ran in. "We found a body in..." They saw the mess on the carpet. "Ah shit. What the hell is going on?" Jake shook his head.
"I'll tell you when I find out." he said quietly. He had seen many dead bodies before, but none like this. something real bad was going down here, and Jake knew they would find out what very soon. He took out his radio transmitter and flicked it on. "This is Puma Team. We found a dead body in a house. No way to tell what street we are in. The body's been messed up bad. Over." They waited for the reply. The radio crackled.
"Roger. Report to us if you find anything else. Over." the Marine on the other end of the transmission said.
"Will do. Over." Jake replied. He put the radio back in his pocket. He turned to the other three Marines. "Lets check out the rest of this area." he said. He turned to leave the house when they all heard a dull thud from the floor above them. Everyone stopped, nobody talking in case the sound occurred again. There was silence.
"What is it?" Mike whispered.
"I don't know." replied Jake. He loaded his submachine gun. "I'll go check. You wait here just in case someone comes along." He stepped forward. Anna followed.
"I'm going with you." she told him. Jake nodded at her. He knew it would be stupid if only he went and there was something unfriendly there. They walked to the stairs. Jake aimed his submachine gun up the stairs and slowly walked up them. They quietly walked across the landing, towards a bedroom door which was slightly ajar. Jake pushed the door open and stepped in the doorway. Nothing was in the room.
Behind the two Marines the back end of a shotgun slammed into the back of Anna's neck. She fell over. As she did, Jake spun around and aimed at the attacker. It was a girl, aged about 19, and she aimed her shotgun at him.
"Put the gun down!" Jake said.
"You put your gun down!" the girl replied. "Who the hell are you?"
"We're US Marines." Jake told her. Behind him Anna stood up, rubbing the back of her neck.
"How do I know you're not lying?" the girl asked.
"Look at the way we dress. Does it look like we're going to a fucking dinner party?" Jake answered. The girl cocked the shotgun.
"Watch your fucking mouth." she told him. Rob and Mike ran up the stairs and aimed at the girl.
"Freeze! Put the gun down now!" ordered Rob. She glanced behind her, then back at Jake.
"They with you?"
"Yeah. Now, there is a dead body downstairs. The town seems deserted. Contact's been lost with the island. And we want to know why."
"Tough shit. You'll just think I'm crazy." the girl stated.
"No one thinks you're crazy. What the hell happened?" Jake said.
"I saw them. They came a few nights ago. I locked and barricaded all the doors so they couldn't get me. Every night and day I heard screams and firing. Today seemed silent, so Pete went downstairs to check if it was safe."
"Pete, who's Pete?" Anna asked.
"I didn't know him much. He said that he couldn't get out of the town because they were blocking the street, so he came here and helped me barricade the doors. He must have been killed by them." the girl explained.
"Who is 'them'?" asked Mike.
"I don't know. I haven't seen one properly, but Pete told me they looked human, but emotionless. And they eat people."
"Well, you'd better come with us. It'll be safer." Jake said.
"Bullshit! You can't kill these sons of bitches. They don't feel pain." replied the girl.
"We can try, though. You don't know they can't be killed, you don't even know if they're real. Which is probably the case." Anna told her.
"All right. I'll go." she said reluctantly.
"What's your name?" asked Rob, remembering no-one had asked yet.
"Michelle." answered the girl.
"Right then. Let's make tracks." Anna said. They walked down the stairs. As they walked past the living room, Jake noticed something missing.
"Where'd the body go?" he asked. The others stopped.
"Let's get the hell outta here." Michelle said.
"I have no arguments against that idea." Anna stated. They stepped into the kitchen when suddenly someone caught there attention in the back yard. The Marines raised their guns at the figure, but it stumbled over the fence furthest away, oblivious to the group inside the house.
"Look..." Michelle whispered quietly. They looked onto the floor and saw bloody footprints leading from the front room all the way to the back yard.
"Someone could have quickly snatched the body whilst we were upstairs, dumped it and scarpered." said Rob, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"It must have been that person who jumped the fence." Jake added.
"Well, whoever it was, they're not here. So we'd better look for him. He could be anywhere." Anna said. She walked out the back door and the others followed her.
Karl, Howard, Phil and Tim turned the corner. They were also Marines. They walked down the road, then saw an alleyway. They stopped. "Me and Karl will just check down there. You two finish this street, meet us on the other end.
"Affirmative" Tim said. Phil and Karl walked down the alleyway, whilst Tim and Howard carried on down the road. Tim noticed the manhole cover about 100 metres away was removed. He ran over to it, followed by Howard. They looked down it. Nothing but pitch black. But they could hear something. Tim looked at Howard. "You wanna go first?"
"Yeah, alright. Just keep an eye out." Howard said.
"No problem." Howard put his foot on the ladder and descended into hell. Tim followed. They got to the bottom and switched on their flashlights. As Howard switched his on, the beam highlighted something. Howard raised his weapon.
"Hey!" he yelled. The thing suddenly turned and lunged at him. It grabbed him, and bit through his neck. Howard screamed as much as he could before his throat was ripped open.
Tim heard Howard shouting, the saw the torch flailing wildly. He heard Howard scream, then stop. "Howard!" he shouted. He shone the torch on the thing. It stood up. It looked human, but also looked dead. It's flesh was decaying, and there was no sign of humanity in it's messed-up face. It came towards him. Tim fired at it, and it dropped to the ground, blood pouring from every place almost. Tim ran to the ladder and climbed it.
Suddenly something grabbed his leg. Tim looked down and saw another one of the things. He tried to kick free, but couldn't. The creature tried to bite his foot, but couldn't reach. Tim pulled out his pistol and fired three shots into it's face. It fell to the ground. Tim hurriedly climbed the ladder, got out of the sewers and put the cover back on. He looked around. "What the hell is going on?" he asked himself.
As they got to the end of a nearby ally, Mike saw a man standing at the other end of the road. "Stop right there, sir." he called, calmly. The man turned his head and started to move towards him. He was dragging his foot behind him. Maybe he was hurt.
"Hey, are you alright?" Anna asked. The man carried on towards them. Mike raised his gun and repeated what he just said. The man kept coming. closer and closer. And then they all saw his face. It had decayed, with skin flapping off his face. The bone shined red in the gleaming sunlight. Some flies buzzed around the skull like vultures.
"Oh shit." Michelle said aloud. The group knew this wasn't good news. They all aimed at the oncoming abnormality and fired. But even though each shot was a clear hit, he kept on coming. Bullet after bullet tore into the chest, gut, legs and arms of the monster. Blood and pieces of rotting flesh sprayed the road behind it. It lunged at Jake, who jumped backwards and shot at the monster's head several times. The back of it's skull blew out, pieces of brain and bone flying backwards through the air, slopping on the ground in a bloody mess. The monster stopped moving, and thick, red blood started seeping through the bullet-holes in it's forehead and left eye socket.
"This must be one of Michelle's monsters." Jake said, even more shaken by what had happened than the sharp scream last night. "I thought you said it couldn't die." he added, lightly kicking the thing's head to check it was dead. All five stared at the creature. Eventually Anna spoke.
"I think I know what that is," she said. The 3 men looked at each other. Michelle looked on, wanting to know what it was. "It's a person who has died, but has come back from the dead." Rob and Mike looked at each other again, but looked as if they were about to laugh out loud. Michelle didn't see how it was funny, and Jake just kept looking at whatever they just killed.
"A zombie?" asked Rob. Anna nodded her head. "You mean to say that that," Rob pointed at the thing laying on the floor. "Is a zombie?" Anna nodded her head again.
"It would explain the body in the house." This time Rob laughed. Then Anna raised her gun at his head.
"Woah, shit! I didn't mean it..." Anna fired off a shot. Rob closed his eyes. Something slumped to the ground behind him. He opened his eyes again and turned around to see what was behind him. A man laid there, a single bullet hole in the centre of it's head. It was similar to the one they just shot. It's flesh had started to deteriorate and it smelt bad. It's dead, yellowish eyes stared up at him, it's mouth was still open. Rob swallowed hard. He turned to Anna, who still held her gun in her hand, but was more relaxed. "Thank Christ you're a good shot." he sighed.
"I'm not." she said. Rob looked at her and she smiled at him.
A voice came over the radio. It was Captain Edwards. "We need backup, now! We have been ambushed! Repeat, We need help!"
They looked at each other. "Shit..." said Rob. Jake ran down the street, closely followed by Rob, Mike, Anna and Michelle. They ran down several streets until they found the area.
As they reached the area, they could tell what had happened. And they knew it wasn't good. They looked at the bodies of soldiers, lying in a pool of blood. They had been bitten and torn apart. No gunshot wounds. It looked as though they had been eaten alive. About 4-6 people lay there, still twitching. Then Jake heard a groan. All five turned around and immediately pointed there guns in that direction. Standing about twenty metres away was a group of men, they looked like the one they had encountered in the street a few minutes ago. "Aim at their heads!" yelled Anna, and automatically fired at the group. Then the other four fired. The sound of rapid gunshots, the moaning of the monsters, the screams of other soldiers being eaten alive, and the sound of hot lead tearing through flesh and bone and blood ripped apart the sound of silence more commonly heard in the town. But as much as they tried, the tide of the undead didn't cease, only slowed down. By now, other soldiers had joined in the fire-fight.
Knowing the fact that this army of creatures was unstoppable, Captain Edwards took a hand-grenade out of his pocket. He looked at Jake, who saw him pick up the grenade. "Get everyone outta here." said the captain.
"Where are you going?"
"Where d'ya think?" There was a long pause as they looked at one another. Everybody else was still firing at the zombies.
"You gotta be crazy if you think I'm letting you die."
"I give the orders. Get everyone out now." There was another long pause. Captain Edwards spoke again, louder this time. "Get the hell outta here! Now! That's an order!" Jake looked at him. He looked straight back at Jake. "Goddammit, Jake! That's an order, not a request! Get everyone out!"
"Alright," he said at last. "Everyone," he yelled into his comm-piece. " Pull back to the chopper. We gotta fall back!" He looked at the Captain. "That includes you." he said, bluntly.
"Go, now! Get the hell outta here!" Yelled the captain. He walked towards the zombie mass. Instantly Jake pulled out a handgun from it's holster and fired at Captain Edwards' leg. The bullet ripped through his thigh. Captain Edwards fell to the ground. He looked at his bleeding wound, then at Jake holding the gun. "You stupid shit! What the hell are you doing?!"
Jake put his gun away calmly. "Gettin' you outta here. What's it look like?"
"No you ain't," said the captain, the pain setting in now. " your gonna head to the chopper along with the rest of the troops."
"I'm not gonna have your death on my mind all day. I've got enough problems to deal with." Jake picked the Captain up just as a zombie lunged at them. Jake pulled his gun up to the zombies skull, fired three shots through it's brain and kicked it away in one swift move.
Still carrying the captain over his shoulder he ran to catch up with most of the other soldiers. Captain Edwards fired his machine gun at the pursuing zombies.
Eventually they got to the landing site. Jake put Captain Edwards down. Other soldiers came to help the captain. Jake walked over to his three team-mates. They came up to him. "You all right?" asked Mike.
"Yeah, fine. It ain't my blood. It's Edwards'. You lot?" replied Jake. Rob looked at him.
"Yeah. Never felt better." he said. Then he looked around. "Hey, where did the zombies go?" They all looked round at the forest.
"Maybe they gave up..." started Anna. Suddenly a large, skinless beast jumped out of the forest and landed right next to the four Marines.
"Oh, shit!" whispered Anna, unmoving due to fear.
The new beast looked at the four Marines and seemed to grin a lipless grin at them. It looked like a skinless bear, but majorly pissed off. And hungry. All four of them just looked at it. Seconds later a shower of bullets launched at the thing. Most of them hit the creature, spilling thick, red blood over the ground. It faced the soldiers blasting it. There were six of them. It pounced at the centre man and swiped his head clean off. It landed at least one hundred metres away.
A couple of soldiers dived into the gunship, but the monster followed them in. As it got into the vehicle, Jake ran towards the metal door and slammed it into place. The screams of the soldiers inside echoed all around them.
Everyone fired at the apache, Jake barely getting away in time. The bullets tore through the metalwork of the machine. Then a stray bullet impacted with a missile on the side of the apache. It erupted into a huge ball of flame, sending everyone diving for cover, and hurled Jake away from the area, landing a good 75 metres away from the explosion.
Jake looked at the burning wreckage. No movement. It was dead. Then he realised that they had no means of getting of the island. "Shit." He looked at where Captain Edwards was. He was gone. No sign of anything taking him. He'd just vanished. "Things just keep gettin' better by the fucking minute." Anna ran over to him.
"Shit, are you OK?" asked Anna. "You're not hurt or nothing are you?"
" Not much." came the reply. Jake got up off the ground. Rob and Mike walked over to him. "Good work." Rob said.
"Yeah, glad you're not dead." Mike added.
Jake looked around. There were only five or six Marines left. "Captain's gone. So's our ride outta here." He looked at the only three Marines he knew properly. "What do we do now?"
"What we do is look for any other settlements." said Anna.
"Are you kidding? There'll be more of them...things in all the towns, not just that one!" Rob said.
"You gotta better idea, smart-ass? I'd sure as hell like to hear it." replied Anna, clearly pissed off about Robs doubt.
"Yeah, I do." Rob said, calmly. He looked up. "Sit on my smart-ass 'till the rescue team arrives."
"In three days time?" reminded Anna. "Them things'll come here and kill all of us!"
"But we'll just walk straight into them your way!"
"We'll be able to call for help,"
"What, like Commander Robinson?"
"Yes,"
"His plan had a drawback. Because he's dead. You really wanna die?"
Jake turned around. "She's got a point, Rob. It's the best option."
"What?" Rob looked around. 4 other Marines agreed with Jake. "Christ." He looked at Jake and Anna. "Fine. We'll go find another town."
"Right then," said Jake. He looked at Anna. "Lets go." Michelle walked up to them.
"I know where the nearest town is. Just follow me." she offered. Jake nodded.
"Sounds good. Lead the way." Michelle smiled, then turned. Jake grabbed her arm and turned her around. He handed her his submachine gun.
"Your shotgun's empty. Use this." he said. Michelle took it and smiled again.
"Thanks." she said, then turned and started walking. Everyone followed her.