CHAPTER 3
The ten, tired people had now been walking for nearly three hours now, although they had no way of telling what the time was. Anna walked up to Jake. "I want to thank you for what you did back there." She said quietly.
"For what?" Jake asked her.
"Agreeing with me. I wasn't sure if anyone would want to go to a town here after what happened."
"No problem. Anyway, I thought it was a good idea." They carried on walking together. "You married?" asked Jake, unsure. Anna looked at him, slightly amused. It was sort of the same question she was going to ask earlier on the beach, when they landed.
"No, I'm single."
"You're joking, right? I'm surprised." Anna laughed.
"What about you?" asked Anna.
"Single."
"Really?"
"Yup. Never really found the right person."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah." Jake looked at his feet. They kept on walking, still searching for a town to shelter in. Suddenly a zombie burst out of the thicket. It came straight at Jake, who drew his berreta and fired a single shot at the creature. The quiet of the forest made the .45 handgun sound like a .445. The zombie stopped in it's tracks, blood and brain matter hit the tree behind it and the zombie fell backwards, it's fingers still twitching slightly.
Captain Edwards walked down another deserted street. He was grateful, because if he had to run to safety he was screwed. He had tied a piece of his jacket around the bullet wound, but it still hurt like hell. He saw a large building down the road. The press building.
He walked towards it, gripping his berreta tight. He opened the main door and looked around. "Hello?" he called. "Is there anyone here?" No answer. Edwards walked over to the stairs, and limped up them. He called again. No answer. He suddenly heard a small banging sound in a nearby office. He slowly approached the door, then pushed it open. He quickly pointed his gun at the figure in the corner.
"Don't shoot!" said the woman. Edwards slightly lowered his gun, then noticed someone else pop up from behind a desk, and aimed at the new person. He raised his hands.
"Woah! Hold it!" the man said. Edwards looked at the pair of survivors, then lowered his weapon.
"You two alright?" he asked, wondering what to say. They nodded. "I'm Captain Edwards. I'm a US Marine."
"Are you here to save us?" asked the woman.
"That's the plan." Edwards said reassuringly. The man looked behind Edwards.
"You alone?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"You some kind of one-man-army, or something?"
"No. The rest of my team are somewhere else on the island."
"Why are you alone?"
"I'll only slow them down with this wound."
"Damn." said the woman, standing up. "That hurt?"
"Like hell."
"Well," said the man, "What now?"
"We get outta here. You know this island well?"
"Yeah, kinda. Anyway, I'm Dave. Dave Richards." he said. "This is Kylie Trent." Dave pointed to the woman.
"Nice to meet you." Edwards said. "Either of you got a car?"
Finally the large group of human survivors reached a small urban area. It was deserted. No zombies or other creatures in sight. They looked around to see the town looked like there had been no incident. Cars were parked along the road. It was dark now, but no lampposts were on. Exactly how the other town had looked at first. The nine Marines each had a flashlight, all of which were on. Near to them was a large, important looking building, possibly around 25 floors. They walked over to it. Jake walked up to the main entrance, turned the handle and walked into the building. His face banged into the glass. Michelle laughed quietly. Jake tried again, without head butting the door. It didn't budge. "It's looked." he said. "Lets try another building."
As Jake turned in search of an unlocked building, they heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. They all pulled out a gun and waited for it to arrive. Suddenly a black car spun round the corner and sped towards them. It didn't show sign of it going to stop. Jake stepped into the road and stood in the path of the oncoming car. He gripped his gun hard, but didn't fire it at the driver.
It looked as if it was going to drive straight through Jake. Anna looked at the car, then Jake. She knew he wasn't going to move, and he'd probably get run over. "Oh shit," she said as she realised this. She ran out in the path of the car and slammed into Jake. They both crashed onto the opposite walkway. Anna looked at him. "Jesus Christ, Jake. Are you genuinely psychotic, or just plain stupid?" she asked him, completely astounded by him nearly getting himself killed. Jake peered round Anna. The car had stopped a few inches from where he was standing before.
"Well, I stopped the driver." Jake replied smiling. Anna looked behind her.
"Yeah. But you're still a psycho." she said. Jake looked around.
"We'd better get up. Don't wanna give anyone the wrong impression now, do we." he said. They both stood up and walked over to the car.
The driver had stepped out of the car and was arguing with Rob. Jake walked over to them. "Hey, what's you're name?" he asked the driver.
"Frank Smith." replied the man.
"You got a driving licence?" asked Jake.
"Yeah, in my car." Frank replied. Rob went to get it. "But that ain't my car." he added. Jake looked at him, puzzled.
"Then who's is it?" he asked.
"Some FBI guy's. We got separated when he saw people in a building. He went in, then loads of these crazy people came after me." Frank replied.
"Where is he now?" Jake asked.
"I don't know. He's probably dead." Frank said, looking behind him to see if he was actually alive and following him. "Those people probably ate him. There must be a lot of them."
"You got that right. We met a load back in some coastal town. Nasty bastards, take some punishing." Jake explained. "Anyway, you where driving dangerously. With no licence. So you're under arrest." he added, changing the subject matter. Frank looked astonished.
"Can we do that?" Rob asked. Jake looked at him.
"I don't know. We are part of the law system, I guess."
"I thought we just shot bad guys." Anna said.
"Well, we can either arrest him or shoot him. Which one shall it be?" Jake said.
"Hey, wait a sec." Frank said, getting worried. "The island is being overrun by zombies and you're persecuting me for trying to escape?" Jake faced him.
"Yeah." he said. "Besides, you almost ran me over." Frank swallowed hard.
"You where the one who jumped out in front of me. I tried to stop,"
"Hey, shut it." Jake told him.
"Christ, man. I thought you guys where supposed to be good guys..." Jake faced him again.
"Excuse me, but we are the United States of America Armed Forces, so that gives us higher authority than you. So if we say that you are under arrest, you're under arrest. So if you would refrain from moaning about it, then you will not get shot. Kapeesh?" He faced the others. "I say we arrest him."
"What if he gets in the way?"
"Then we shoot him."
"I can live with that."
"Great. It's agreed then." Jake turned to Frank. "You'll be all right if you don't piss us off." he said.
"Oh, great. You really brightened up my day, y'know. I had a great plan for getting outta here."
"What was it?" asked Michelle, eager to find out how to get off the god-forsaken island.
"Airport. Get off the island that way." Frank explained to her.
"Nobody is gonna fly you outta here." Jake told him.
"I could." Frank argued.
"Can you fly?" asked Rob.
"No."
"Then how the hell are you gonna use the plane, man?" Mike asked.
"I don't know, do I. It can't be that hard." Frank stated.
"You're a twat, you know that?" Anna told him.
"Shut it. I'm not a twat. I just wanna get off this island. Just like you. So does trying to save your own ass make you a twat?"
"No. But deciding to escape using a plane which you can't fly makes you a twat." Rob explained.
"You guys are real nice, you know that?" Frank told them. Mike smiled.
"You got a gun?" Jake asked Frank, changing the subject quickly.
"No. I don't. Does it look like I'd carry a gun around on the odd chance my once dead fellow natives would come back and try to use me as an in-between meal snack? What kind of stupid question is that?" Frank answered sarcastically, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Rob took a pistol out of his side-holster. He reloaded it and handed it to Frank. "Just don't shoot us and you can keep it." he said. Frank nodded, looking at the gun.
"Holy shit. You just gave me a firearm. I mean, what if I was a, a secret agent sent here to kill all of you along with all these monsters?"
"Then I'll have my gun back, thank you very much." Rob said. He held his hand out. Frank looked at him.
"It was just a joke. I mean, I ain't with no agency or nothin', man," Jake gave him an unamused look. Suddenly they all heard the sound of an approaching car. Anna looked at Jake.
"You stay right there." she said. Jake smiled at her. They looked down the road, guns drawn.
Another car swerved around the corner and towards the group. It got closer, then slowed down and stopped in front of the group. A man wearing a black suit stepped out of the car.
"Who are you?" Rob asked. The man took his identity badge from his pocket.
"Agent Dan Stanton. FBI." He looked at Frank. "Where the hell did you go?" he asked.
"I thought you were dead, man. I thought those assholes got you." Frank explained. Dan nodded.
"Don't worry about it." He turned to the Marines. "I thought they'd send you lot. Didn't expect so few of you, though."
"There were more of us. But they're dead." Jake told him bluntly. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm supposed to be apprehending this man. He's wanted for hacking into various top secret locations, then selling the information off to other people."
"Well, you can add dangerous driving as well." Jake said.
"Alright." replied Dan. "I will. Now that you know me, who are you?"
"My name's Jake, this is Anna, Rob and Mike. That's basically all I know. But that's not important. What is important is those things. It's very likely that they'll be coming or they are already here. So we better hurry up."
"No problem." Dan answered. Jake turned to everyone.
"OK, lets search the building. Head to toe. I don't wanna be attacked by none of them bastards. Find anything you're unsure of, shoot it. Then report it over the CV radio. Take no chances. Let's go!" He looked up at the building, then at Anna. "We'll search the top floor. Rob, Mike, you take these new guys with you."
They walked into the building, and over to the elevator. Jake pressed the button. Nothing happened. "Powers out," said the suprisingly calm Anna. "Lets take the stairs. More exercise."
Dave spun the car round a corner, knocking over a zombie in the process. "So," he said to Edwards. "You have no idea what's going on?"
"None whatsoever. A group of Marines were sent to the island before us, but they were eliminated. Most of my team were, as well. Something has caused these people to turn into zombies. I don't know why."
"We've had stories in about cannibalistic murders recently on the island." Kylie said suddenly. Edwards turned in his seat to look at her. "They might be connected."
"How long ago did you see the first report?" Edwards asked.
"Err... about two weeks ago." she replied.
"The first team was sent 5 days ago. If this started two weeks ago, then surely someone must have noticed something was wrong." Edwards said.
"Maybe it's because what's happening, lot's of people think is impossible. We thought it was just some sick freak eating his victims. Cannibals are more believable than zombies." Dave told him. Suddenly they heard gunshots, then the bullets smashed through the windows.
"Shit!" Kylie shouted, ducking down. One of the bullets hit a tyre, and the car skidded off-course.
"Jesus Christ!" Dave shouted, noticing the house they were heading straight towards. Edwards opened his door.
"Get outta the car!" he ordered, then jumped out. He landed on the sidewalk, rolling down the road slightly. The other two did the same, only Dave landed in a hedge. They watched the car as it smashed into the house, exploding on impact. They shielded their eyes from the blast. Edwards stood up, looking for their potential assassin, clenching his weapon hard. Nobody was around.
Dave ran over to Kyle. "You OK?" he asked, helping her up.
"I'm fine." she said. "You?"
"No problems." he answered, then they ran over to Edwards.
"We'd better make tracks." Edwards told them. "Whoever tried to kill us will probably come back. I think it's best that we're not here when that happens." The other two nodded.
"Good thinking." Dave said, and they headed down the road.
Eventually Jake and Anna reached the top floor, the number next to the door saying 27. The power was still cut, the two Marines still using their flashlights. There were six offices on the floor they were on, still no word over the radio. It was dark, and the bright beams did their best to illuminate the rooms. Jake walked into the first one, Anna walked into the second.
Jake shone his torch at the dark objects in the office. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. He searched every inch of the room to find something. Still nothing. "You found anything?" he called to Anna.
"Nothing here." she shouted. Jake checked around quickly again, then walked out.
Jake finished checking the offices. He had found nothing abnormal in any of them. He heard something nearby. He spun round, gun trained on the darkness in front of him. "Anna?" he questioned. No reply. He spun round again. When he stopped turning, he made out the silhouette of a person. "Shit!" he shouted, startled by it's sudden appearance.
Anna turned round as Jake shouted behind her. "Shit!" she replied. "Jesus, you scared the shit outta me."
"I scared the shit out of you?" Jake looked around the area again. "There's nothing here." he stated. Anna looked around also.
"You're right." she told him. "Do you think any of us will get through this?" she asked.
"To be honest, I have no idea. I hope so." he replied. Anna nodded her head in agreement. A split second later, Jake noticed a piece of the wooden frame next to them splinter. Before he could realise what happened, he realised a loud explosion-like sound. Then he realised they were being shot at.
As the second bullet skimmed past them a moment after the first, both Marines dived out of the way, hurling themselves opposite ways. As they were travelling through the air, they aimed there guns at the source of the firepower and shot at it.
Jake landed on his side, promptly rolling behind a desk and still firing. He leaned against it and looked to his side. Anna was inside one of the other offices, leaning against a wall. He heard footsteps leaving the room, and Jake rolled out of the office and fired again. His bullets hit the wall near a middle-aged man wearing a white lab-coat. His face was hidden, and he ran through the door.
"Who the hell is it?" Anna shouted.
"I don't know. But I'm gonna find out." Jake said, reloaded his gun , took out another from his second holster, then ran through the same door the attacker had. Anna followed.
They got to the top of the stairs, and Jake spotted the man running through the door on the floor below them. Jake jumped onto the banisters sideways and quickly slid down it. He fired both guns through the door, hoping to hit the man. He jumped slightly at the bottom and crashed into the door. It swung open and Jake rolled into the room and fired his remaining bullets in front of him. It hit the window on the far side of the room. The man had gone.
"Where'd he go?" Jake thought aloud.
"Shit! We lost the bastard." Anna stated. Suddenly a lone zombie staggered in behind them and knocked Anna over into Jake. As they both fell to the ground, the zombie lumbered towards them. Jake looked behind Anna's head and saw it coming. He dropped his two pistols and pulled Anna's gun out of it's holster. He pointed it at the zombie and fired into it's skull.
The zombie's brain slapped across the wall behind it, and it collapsed to the ground motionless. Jake and Anna stood up and Jake handed back Anna's gun. She replaced it in it's holster as he picked his two up. "We better report this to the others." Jake said. He took out the radio only to find it smashed and useless.
"Ah, shit." said Anna, looking at the mangle of wires and plastic.
"We gotta find the others." Jake said. He turned and walked to the other side of the room, reloading his guns as he walked. He pushed on a door, but it didn't budge. "Can you pick this lock?" Jake asked. Anna stepped next to him and shot it with her gun.
"Yeah." she told him, then walked into the room. Jake half-smiled, then followed her. She flicked on the light switch and the bulb shorted out. "Damn." she said, flicking her torch back on. Jake did the same. The room was empty. There wasn't even another door in the room.
"OK, no-one's home. Now what?" asked Jake.
"They could be anywhere in the building." Anna said, not answering the question.
"If they heard the shots they could be on there way here." Jake told her.
"We're gonna die here, y'know." she stated. Jake walked over to her and held her arm.
"We are not going to die. Not today. I promise." Jake said reassuringly.
"Just don't break that promise." she said. She looked at him.
"I won't." Jake said, then kissed her lips. When he finished, he wondered whether that was a good idea or not. Without saying anything, Anna kissed him.
As they kissed, Mike ran into the room. He saw them. "Oops." he said, making sure they knew he was there. He caught them by surprise, and they looked marginally embarrassed about it. "Erm, we heard some shots, and you wouldn't answer the radio. Came looking for you." He coughed quickly. "You Ok?" he asked.
Jake nodded. "Yeah. But there's someone else here. He tried to kill us. But we lost him." As Jake mentioned the other person, Mike nodded.
"We know. We found two of our guys full of holes. Those zombies didn't do that. Someone wants us dead, that's for sure." Mike explained.
"Shit. It was a bad idea to come here." Anna said.
"OK, that leaves eight of us left, and that Frank guy. So where are the other five?" Jake asked.
"Follow me." Mike said, and turned around.
Willow ran round the corner, only to bump into another Marine. He raised his gun at him, but the Marine kicked it out of his hand before he could fire. "Doctor Alfred Willow, I presume?" the Marine asked. Willow nodded.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Neil. Neil Peters." Neil picked Willow up by the throat. "Where's the lab, Willow?"
"What?"
"Lab. Where is it?"
"Why?"
"You've been doing experiments. Big ones. Involving the recreation of prehistoric animals, I believe."
"How... How did you...?"
"Know? Let's just say that this is big news. People want to know how you did it. I'm here to find out. Now, where is it?"
"Screw you, asshole." Neil frowned at Willow, then threw him out of the window. He cracked his neck, then walked down the hallway.
Jake, Anna and Mike walked into the 14th floor. The two Marines, Michelle, Frank and Dan whirled to face them, all pointing their guns at them. "Nice welcome." said Jake. They put their weapons away. Rob walked over to them.
"Sent a couple of men to turn the power on. Tim and Gary." he said. Frank and the other Marine walked up to them as well. At that moment the power returned. "Right on cue."
"You two all right?" asked the other Marine, looking at their cuts. He looked about 18.
"Yeah. Bit worn out and tired, y'know." replied Jake.
"Same here." said Anna.
"What's you're name?" asked Jake.
"Stuart Miller. I'm new."
"Hell of a way to start you're career, huh kid?"
"Yeah. Must be my luck."
"Well," said Mike. "This place seems to have been a hotel. You two better rest. We'll hold the fort."
"You sure?" said Jake. Rob nodded and Jake and Anna walked down the corridor and into one of the far guest rooms.
Jake and Anna closed the door and turned the light on. It was a normal hotel room. Two small rooms, bedroom and bathroom. They put their weapons on the bedside table, took of their boots and jackets and fell onto the bed.
An hour had passed since Jake and Anna had returned. Rob looked through the hallway, making sure nothing was coming. Stuart walked over to Michelle. "You ok?"
"Yeah," She smiled. "How about you?"
"I'm fine."
"I know" Stuart looked at her. She realised what she'd just said. "I mean, I know because, you, you're not hurt or cut, or limping." Stuart smiled, then they heard a scream. It was very quiet, but definitely a scream. It was outside. They looked at each other.
Mike walked over to the window and looked through it. He could only just make out someone running to the building. "Heads up, someone's coming." he said. He grabbed his machine gun. "Tim, you come with me. Let's see what's going on."
"I'm on it." They walked out of the room. Stuart and Michelle looked out of the window.
Mike and Tim reached the bottom floor just as someone ran in the door. They aimed their guns at them. "Freeze!" Mike shouted. The woman stopped and saw them.
"Oh, thank God!" she said. "You gotta help me..." Suddenly something jumped through the doorway and grabbed the woman. The creature looked like a wolf, but as if it to was suffering the same thing as the zombies. It ripped at the woman's skin, silencing hr quickly. Mike and Tim fired at it fast as well. The bullets shredded the wolf apart, stopping it. They stopped firing and looked at it.
"I think we should block the door." Tim said.
"Yeah." replied Mike. They grabbed a table and closed the door. They put the table in front, blocking it. "Let's get back to the others." Mike said.
"Good idea." Tim answered. They ran back into the elevator.
Edwards, Dave and Kylie looked down the road to see a large group of zombies. "Oh, shit." Dave said.
"They haven't noticed us yet." Edwards said, then looked at the house next to them. "In there." he whispered. The other two quietly crept up to the house and tried the door. It was locked.
"Damn." Kylie murmured. Edwards looked at it, then at the zombies. He quickly took out a silencer from his pocket, attached it to the gun, and shot at the lock. The door opened, and all three looked at the zombies down the road. They still hadn't noticed.
"Dumb-asses." Edwards said, then stepped towards the door. A lone zombie was in his way. Edwards quickly shot it in the head before it raised some kind of alarm, then walked into the house, ready for any more zombies. The other two walked in, closing the door behind them. They blocked it with a small cabinet, and looked at Edwards. He looked back. "We should be alright for now. Get some rest. It's been a long day."
"Sure." Dave said, and the two reporters walked into the living room.
"You two get some proper sleep. There should be a bed or something upstairs. You use that. I'll make sure we don't have any unwanted guests." Edwards told them.
"You sure?" Dave asked.
"Yeah." Edwards replied. They nodded, and walked upstairs. Edwards sat in the armchair next to him and reloaded his beretta.
Neil stood in the empty street. He was smoking a cigarette when another person walked up to him. "You found it, Smith?" Neil asked.
"Yeah. I know where it is. It's at the port. Can't miss it." said the man. He was also wearing a Marine uniform.
"Good. You go ahead. Get any evidence you can on this experiment. Also, see if you can find anything about this thing that's going on. There must be something about these zombies and other mutants in there. We'll get more money."
"No problem. What about you?"
"I've gotta take care of those other Marines. I'll plant a bomb or something. Anyway, get the samples, head to the airport, take an aircraft and deliver the package. I'll find some way off this island. This is to important to screw up."
"Affirmative." said Smith, then ran down the street. Neil dropped his cigarette, stubbed it into the ground, and returned into the building.
When Jake woke up it was light outside. He put his hand over his eyes and rubbed his face. He looked to his side. Anna was asleep, the back of her head facing him. He got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom. He went to the basin, half-filled it with warm water and splashed some over his face. He looked into the mirror. He saw himself looking back at him. It had been a long time ago that he had seen what he looked like. He was marginally surprised at how different he looked. He looked pale and tired looking. Small cuts on his face dribbled with blood. His hair was messed up and knotted.
He walked out of the bathroom and over to the pile of green/brown army gear and slipped on his jacket. As he did this Anna woke up. She sat up and looked at him. "Morning." she said tiredly.
"Morning." replied Jake. He put his boots on. "I'd better check the rest of them aren't worm-food. You get ready. I gotta feeling we'll be heading out soon." Anna nodded. Jake opened the door and walked through.
He walked through the room to Mike and Rob. The other two Marines were back. "How long are we staying here?"
"We'll be movin' out as soon as you and Anna are ready. We found a map of the island. It says there's a port not that far from here. It could be our best hope." said Rob.
"Great," said Jake.
"Yeah. But there's something else."
Jake looked at him. "What?"
"According to this map, there is a lab nearby. I'm guessing but it could be what caused all this to happen." Rob pointed out, clearly uneasy about this factor.
"Shit. Could be nothing, though."
"Maybe."
"This ain't how I was hoping things would turn out for this mission." said Jake.
"Look on the bright side," mentioned Mike. "You met Anna." Jake smiled. Then turned and headed back to the room Anna was in.
By now Anna was ready. Jake picked up his machine gun. He looked at Anna. She looked back. They kissed again.
"Right then," he said after. "We're off to the port."
"Great. We can finally get off this place." Jake walked over to the table. He picked up his packet of cigarettes. He also picked up his lighter, then tested it to see if it still worked. He looked at Anna.
"Smoke?" he said, offering one to her. She took it and placed the end in between her lips.
"I've been trying to give these up." she said jokingly.
"Hell. It's a special occasion."
"I'll say." Jake put his cigarette into his mouth, pulled out the lighter and lit both cigarettes.
"All right then," Jake said "Time to go."
Jake, Rob, Anna and Mike led the rest of the group through the building. They reached an elevator. Rob turned around to see how many people were left. "Ah..." he said. "Too many. We'll take the stairs."
"No problem." said Jake. He pushed open the doors leading to the stairs. Almost instantly a lone zombie lunged towards him. Jake jumped back, then the Marines blew the thing away with a torrent of machine gun fire. Jake looked at them, then breathed out a sigh of relief. "That was to close for my liking." he said. Then he looked at the zombie, crumpled up halfway down the stairs oozing out dark red blood. He dropped his cigarette on the floor, blew smoke at the creature and rubbed the burning stick into the floor with his boot. "Better leave before his buddies arrive."
"Good idea." said Mike. They walked down the stairs, passing the unmoving body cautiously. As Jake stood on the last step on that floor, the ground beneath him gave way, taking Michelle with him and almost Dan.
"Shit!" shouted the federal agent as his leg fell into the gap, then he was quickly grabbed by Mike and Frank.
Jake and Michelle weren't so lucky. They shouted in shock and pain as they crashed through several floors, and landed in a dark room with a thud. Dust rose as they hit the floor, completely blocking them from the other's gaze.
As they fell, Anna dived forward in an attempt to grab either of them. She missed. "No!!!" she screamed as they slipped over her hand. She saw the both of them smash through the next floor, land on the following floor and lay still. "Jake! No! Michelle!" Rob pulled her away.
"We gotta be goin'! C'mon, lets go!"
"We gotta get them outta there!" She put one leg down the hole. Rob and Mike automatically pulled her back out.
"They're gone! Jake's dead! Michelle's dead! Now we gotta get outta here before we end up like them!" yelled Rob.
"Fuck you! They ain't dead! They're alive! We gotta help them!" Anna shouted back. Rob pulled her around to face him.
"They are dead! We can't help them! Either of them! We have to go! Now!" he screamed. He pulled her away as everyone ran to the opposite side of the building.
They eventually got to the main entrance of the building. Anna was still crying over Jake. Mike spotted a four-wheel drive van. "Over there!" he said to Rob, and pointed at the vehicle. They ran to it. Mike smashed the window and unlocked it. Other Marines did the same. Mike got in the drivers seat, Rob next to him, the rest in the back. The keys were in the ignition. Mike turned the key and the engine roared to life. Mike hit the accelerator with his boot and sped away from the building. Anna looked back to the window. Tears filled her eyes. She touched the back window.
"Shit..." she whispered.
The ten, tired people had now been walking for nearly three hours now, although they had no way of telling what the time was. Anna walked up to Jake. "I want to thank you for what you did back there." She said quietly.
"For what?" Jake asked her.
"Agreeing with me. I wasn't sure if anyone would want to go to a town here after what happened."
"No problem. Anyway, I thought it was a good idea." They carried on walking together. "You married?" asked Jake, unsure. Anna looked at him, slightly amused. It was sort of the same question she was going to ask earlier on the beach, when they landed.
"No, I'm single."
"You're joking, right? I'm surprised." Anna laughed.
"What about you?" asked Anna.
"Single."
"Really?"
"Yup. Never really found the right person."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah." Jake looked at his feet. They kept on walking, still searching for a town to shelter in. Suddenly a zombie burst out of the thicket. It came straight at Jake, who drew his berreta and fired a single shot at the creature. The quiet of the forest made the .45 handgun sound like a .445. The zombie stopped in it's tracks, blood and brain matter hit the tree behind it and the zombie fell backwards, it's fingers still twitching slightly.
Captain Edwards walked down another deserted street. He was grateful, because if he had to run to safety he was screwed. He had tied a piece of his jacket around the bullet wound, but it still hurt like hell. He saw a large building down the road. The press building.
He walked towards it, gripping his berreta tight. He opened the main door and looked around. "Hello?" he called. "Is there anyone here?" No answer. Edwards walked over to the stairs, and limped up them. He called again. No answer. He suddenly heard a small banging sound in a nearby office. He slowly approached the door, then pushed it open. He quickly pointed his gun at the figure in the corner.
"Don't shoot!" said the woman. Edwards slightly lowered his gun, then noticed someone else pop up from behind a desk, and aimed at the new person. He raised his hands.
"Woah! Hold it!" the man said. Edwards looked at the pair of survivors, then lowered his weapon.
"You two alright?" he asked, wondering what to say. They nodded. "I'm Captain Edwards. I'm a US Marine."
"Are you here to save us?" asked the woman.
"That's the plan." Edwards said reassuringly. The man looked behind Edwards.
"You alone?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"You some kind of one-man-army, or something?"
"No. The rest of my team are somewhere else on the island."
"Why are you alone?"
"I'll only slow them down with this wound."
"Damn." said the woman, standing up. "That hurt?"
"Like hell."
"Well," said the man, "What now?"
"We get outta here. You know this island well?"
"Yeah, kinda. Anyway, I'm Dave. Dave Richards." he said. "This is Kylie Trent." Dave pointed to the woman.
"Nice to meet you." Edwards said. "Either of you got a car?"
Finally the large group of human survivors reached a small urban area. It was deserted. No zombies or other creatures in sight. They looked around to see the town looked like there had been no incident. Cars were parked along the road. It was dark now, but no lampposts were on. Exactly how the other town had looked at first. The nine Marines each had a flashlight, all of which were on. Near to them was a large, important looking building, possibly around 25 floors. They walked over to it. Jake walked up to the main entrance, turned the handle and walked into the building. His face banged into the glass. Michelle laughed quietly. Jake tried again, without head butting the door. It didn't budge. "It's looked." he said. "Lets try another building."
As Jake turned in search of an unlocked building, they heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. They all pulled out a gun and waited for it to arrive. Suddenly a black car spun round the corner and sped towards them. It didn't show sign of it going to stop. Jake stepped into the road and stood in the path of the oncoming car. He gripped his gun hard, but didn't fire it at the driver.
It looked as if it was going to drive straight through Jake. Anna looked at the car, then Jake. She knew he wasn't going to move, and he'd probably get run over. "Oh shit," she said as she realised this. She ran out in the path of the car and slammed into Jake. They both crashed onto the opposite walkway. Anna looked at him. "Jesus Christ, Jake. Are you genuinely psychotic, or just plain stupid?" she asked him, completely astounded by him nearly getting himself killed. Jake peered round Anna. The car had stopped a few inches from where he was standing before.
"Well, I stopped the driver." Jake replied smiling. Anna looked behind her.
"Yeah. But you're still a psycho." she said. Jake looked around.
"We'd better get up. Don't wanna give anyone the wrong impression now, do we." he said. They both stood up and walked over to the car.
The driver had stepped out of the car and was arguing with Rob. Jake walked over to them. "Hey, what's you're name?" he asked the driver.
"Frank Smith." replied the man.
"You got a driving licence?" asked Jake.
"Yeah, in my car." Frank replied. Rob went to get it. "But that ain't my car." he added. Jake looked at him, puzzled.
"Then who's is it?" he asked.
"Some FBI guy's. We got separated when he saw people in a building. He went in, then loads of these crazy people came after me." Frank replied.
"Where is he now?" Jake asked.
"I don't know. He's probably dead." Frank said, looking behind him to see if he was actually alive and following him. "Those people probably ate him. There must be a lot of them."
"You got that right. We met a load back in some coastal town. Nasty bastards, take some punishing." Jake explained. "Anyway, you where driving dangerously. With no licence. So you're under arrest." he added, changing the subject matter. Frank looked astonished.
"Can we do that?" Rob asked. Jake looked at him.
"I don't know. We are part of the law system, I guess."
"I thought we just shot bad guys." Anna said.
"Well, we can either arrest him or shoot him. Which one shall it be?" Jake said.
"Hey, wait a sec." Frank said, getting worried. "The island is being overrun by zombies and you're persecuting me for trying to escape?" Jake faced him.
"Yeah." he said. "Besides, you almost ran me over." Frank swallowed hard.
"You where the one who jumped out in front of me. I tried to stop,"
"Hey, shut it." Jake told him.
"Christ, man. I thought you guys where supposed to be good guys..." Jake faced him again.
"Excuse me, but we are the United States of America Armed Forces, so that gives us higher authority than you. So if we say that you are under arrest, you're under arrest. So if you would refrain from moaning about it, then you will not get shot. Kapeesh?" He faced the others. "I say we arrest him."
"What if he gets in the way?"
"Then we shoot him."
"I can live with that."
"Great. It's agreed then." Jake turned to Frank. "You'll be all right if you don't piss us off." he said.
"Oh, great. You really brightened up my day, y'know. I had a great plan for getting outta here."
"What was it?" asked Michelle, eager to find out how to get off the god-forsaken island.
"Airport. Get off the island that way." Frank explained to her.
"Nobody is gonna fly you outta here." Jake told him.
"I could." Frank argued.
"Can you fly?" asked Rob.
"No."
"Then how the hell are you gonna use the plane, man?" Mike asked.
"I don't know, do I. It can't be that hard." Frank stated.
"You're a twat, you know that?" Anna told him.
"Shut it. I'm not a twat. I just wanna get off this island. Just like you. So does trying to save your own ass make you a twat?"
"No. But deciding to escape using a plane which you can't fly makes you a twat." Rob explained.
"You guys are real nice, you know that?" Frank told them. Mike smiled.
"You got a gun?" Jake asked Frank, changing the subject quickly.
"No. I don't. Does it look like I'd carry a gun around on the odd chance my once dead fellow natives would come back and try to use me as an in-between meal snack? What kind of stupid question is that?" Frank answered sarcastically, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Rob took a pistol out of his side-holster. He reloaded it and handed it to Frank. "Just don't shoot us and you can keep it." he said. Frank nodded, looking at the gun.
"Holy shit. You just gave me a firearm. I mean, what if I was a, a secret agent sent here to kill all of you along with all these monsters?"
"Then I'll have my gun back, thank you very much." Rob said. He held his hand out. Frank looked at him.
"It was just a joke. I mean, I ain't with no agency or nothin', man," Jake gave him an unamused look. Suddenly they all heard the sound of an approaching car. Anna looked at Jake.
"You stay right there." she said. Jake smiled at her. They looked down the road, guns drawn.
Another car swerved around the corner and towards the group. It got closer, then slowed down and stopped in front of the group. A man wearing a black suit stepped out of the car.
"Who are you?" Rob asked. The man took his identity badge from his pocket.
"Agent Dan Stanton. FBI." He looked at Frank. "Where the hell did you go?" he asked.
"I thought you were dead, man. I thought those assholes got you." Frank explained. Dan nodded.
"Don't worry about it." He turned to the Marines. "I thought they'd send you lot. Didn't expect so few of you, though."
"There were more of us. But they're dead." Jake told him bluntly. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm supposed to be apprehending this man. He's wanted for hacking into various top secret locations, then selling the information off to other people."
"Well, you can add dangerous driving as well." Jake said.
"Alright." replied Dan. "I will. Now that you know me, who are you?"
"My name's Jake, this is Anna, Rob and Mike. That's basically all I know. But that's not important. What is important is those things. It's very likely that they'll be coming or they are already here. So we better hurry up."
"No problem." Dan answered. Jake turned to everyone.
"OK, lets search the building. Head to toe. I don't wanna be attacked by none of them bastards. Find anything you're unsure of, shoot it. Then report it over the CV radio. Take no chances. Let's go!" He looked up at the building, then at Anna. "We'll search the top floor. Rob, Mike, you take these new guys with you."
They walked into the building, and over to the elevator. Jake pressed the button. Nothing happened. "Powers out," said the suprisingly calm Anna. "Lets take the stairs. More exercise."
Dave spun the car round a corner, knocking over a zombie in the process. "So," he said to Edwards. "You have no idea what's going on?"
"None whatsoever. A group of Marines were sent to the island before us, but they were eliminated. Most of my team were, as well. Something has caused these people to turn into zombies. I don't know why."
"We've had stories in about cannibalistic murders recently on the island." Kylie said suddenly. Edwards turned in his seat to look at her. "They might be connected."
"How long ago did you see the first report?" Edwards asked.
"Err... about two weeks ago." she replied.
"The first team was sent 5 days ago. If this started two weeks ago, then surely someone must have noticed something was wrong." Edwards said.
"Maybe it's because what's happening, lot's of people think is impossible. We thought it was just some sick freak eating his victims. Cannibals are more believable than zombies." Dave told him. Suddenly they heard gunshots, then the bullets smashed through the windows.
"Shit!" Kylie shouted, ducking down. One of the bullets hit a tyre, and the car skidded off-course.
"Jesus Christ!" Dave shouted, noticing the house they were heading straight towards. Edwards opened his door.
"Get outta the car!" he ordered, then jumped out. He landed on the sidewalk, rolling down the road slightly. The other two did the same, only Dave landed in a hedge. They watched the car as it smashed into the house, exploding on impact. They shielded their eyes from the blast. Edwards stood up, looking for their potential assassin, clenching his weapon hard. Nobody was around.
Dave ran over to Kyle. "You OK?" he asked, helping her up.
"I'm fine." she said. "You?"
"No problems." he answered, then they ran over to Edwards.
"We'd better make tracks." Edwards told them. "Whoever tried to kill us will probably come back. I think it's best that we're not here when that happens." The other two nodded.
"Good thinking." Dave said, and they headed down the road.
Eventually Jake and Anna reached the top floor, the number next to the door saying 27. The power was still cut, the two Marines still using their flashlights. There were six offices on the floor they were on, still no word over the radio. It was dark, and the bright beams did their best to illuminate the rooms. Jake walked into the first one, Anna walked into the second.
Jake shone his torch at the dark objects in the office. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. He searched every inch of the room to find something. Still nothing. "You found anything?" he called to Anna.
"Nothing here." she shouted. Jake checked around quickly again, then walked out.
Jake finished checking the offices. He had found nothing abnormal in any of them. He heard something nearby. He spun round, gun trained on the darkness in front of him. "Anna?" he questioned. No reply. He spun round again. When he stopped turning, he made out the silhouette of a person. "Shit!" he shouted, startled by it's sudden appearance.
Anna turned round as Jake shouted behind her. "Shit!" she replied. "Jesus, you scared the shit outta me."
"I scared the shit out of you?" Jake looked around the area again. "There's nothing here." he stated. Anna looked around also.
"You're right." she told him. "Do you think any of us will get through this?" she asked.
"To be honest, I have no idea. I hope so." he replied. Anna nodded her head in agreement. A split second later, Jake noticed a piece of the wooden frame next to them splinter. Before he could realise what happened, he realised a loud explosion-like sound. Then he realised they were being shot at.
As the second bullet skimmed past them a moment after the first, both Marines dived out of the way, hurling themselves opposite ways. As they were travelling through the air, they aimed there guns at the source of the firepower and shot at it.
Jake landed on his side, promptly rolling behind a desk and still firing. He leaned against it and looked to his side. Anna was inside one of the other offices, leaning against a wall. He heard footsteps leaving the room, and Jake rolled out of the office and fired again. His bullets hit the wall near a middle-aged man wearing a white lab-coat. His face was hidden, and he ran through the door.
"Who the hell is it?" Anna shouted.
"I don't know. But I'm gonna find out." Jake said, reloaded his gun , took out another from his second holster, then ran through the same door the attacker had. Anna followed.
They got to the top of the stairs, and Jake spotted the man running through the door on the floor below them. Jake jumped onto the banisters sideways and quickly slid down it. He fired both guns through the door, hoping to hit the man. He jumped slightly at the bottom and crashed into the door. It swung open and Jake rolled into the room and fired his remaining bullets in front of him. It hit the window on the far side of the room. The man had gone.
"Where'd he go?" Jake thought aloud.
"Shit! We lost the bastard." Anna stated. Suddenly a lone zombie staggered in behind them and knocked Anna over into Jake. As they both fell to the ground, the zombie lumbered towards them. Jake looked behind Anna's head and saw it coming. He dropped his two pistols and pulled Anna's gun out of it's holster. He pointed it at the zombie and fired into it's skull.
The zombie's brain slapped across the wall behind it, and it collapsed to the ground motionless. Jake and Anna stood up and Jake handed back Anna's gun. She replaced it in it's holster as he picked his two up. "We better report this to the others." Jake said. He took out the radio only to find it smashed and useless.
"Ah, shit." said Anna, looking at the mangle of wires and plastic.
"We gotta find the others." Jake said. He turned and walked to the other side of the room, reloading his guns as he walked. He pushed on a door, but it didn't budge. "Can you pick this lock?" Jake asked. Anna stepped next to him and shot it with her gun.
"Yeah." she told him, then walked into the room. Jake half-smiled, then followed her. She flicked on the light switch and the bulb shorted out. "Damn." she said, flicking her torch back on. Jake did the same. The room was empty. There wasn't even another door in the room.
"OK, no-one's home. Now what?" asked Jake.
"They could be anywhere in the building." Anna said, not answering the question.
"If they heard the shots they could be on there way here." Jake told her.
"We're gonna die here, y'know." she stated. Jake walked over to her and held her arm.
"We are not going to die. Not today. I promise." Jake said reassuringly.
"Just don't break that promise." she said. She looked at him.
"I won't." Jake said, then kissed her lips. When he finished, he wondered whether that was a good idea or not. Without saying anything, Anna kissed him.
As they kissed, Mike ran into the room. He saw them. "Oops." he said, making sure they knew he was there. He caught them by surprise, and they looked marginally embarrassed about it. "Erm, we heard some shots, and you wouldn't answer the radio. Came looking for you." He coughed quickly. "You Ok?" he asked.
Jake nodded. "Yeah. But there's someone else here. He tried to kill us. But we lost him." As Jake mentioned the other person, Mike nodded.
"We know. We found two of our guys full of holes. Those zombies didn't do that. Someone wants us dead, that's for sure." Mike explained.
"Shit. It was a bad idea to come here." Anna said.
"OK, that leaves eight of us left, and that Frank guy. So where are the other five?" Jake asked.
"Follow me." Mike said, and turned around.
Willow ran round the corner, only to bump into another Marine. He raised his gun at him, but the Marine kicked it out of his hand before he could fire. "Doctor Alfred Willow, I presume?" the Marine asked. Willow nodded.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Neil. Neil Peters." Neil picked Willow up by the throat. "Where's the lab, Willow?"
"What?"
"Lab. Where is it?"
"Why?"
"You've been doing experiments. Big ones. Involving the recreation of prehistoric animals, I believe."
"How... How did you...?"
"Know? Let's just say that this is big news. People want to know how you did it. I'm here to find out. Now, where is it?"
"Screw you, asshole." Neil frowned at Willow, then threw him out of the window. He cracked his neck, then walked down the hallway.
Jake, Anna and Mike walked into the 14th floor. The two Marines, Michelle, Frank and Dan whirled to face them, all pointing their guns at them. "Nice welcome." said Jake. They put their weapons away. Rob walked over to them.
"Sent a couple of men to turn the power on. Tim and Gary." he said. Frank and the other Marine walked up to them as well. At that moment the power returned. "Right on cue."
"You two all right?" asked the other Marine, looking at their cuts. He looked about 18.
"Yeah. Bit worn out and tired, y'know." replied Jake.
"Same here." said Anna.
"What's you're name?" asked Jake.
"Stuart Miller. I'm new."
"Hell of a way to start you're career, huh kid?"
"Yeah. Must be my luck."
"Well," said Mike. "This place seems to have been a hotel. You two better rest. We'll hold the fort."
"You sure?" said Jake. Rob nodded and Jake and Anna walked down the corridor and into one of the far guest rooms.
Jake and Anna closed the door and turned the light on. It was a normal hotel room. Two small rooms, bedroom and bathroom. They put their weapons on the bedside table, took of their boots and jackets and fell onto the bed.
An hour had passed since Jake and Anna had returned. Rob looked through the hallway, making sure nothing was coming. Stuart walked over to Michelle. "You ok?"
"Yeah," She smiled. "How about you?"
"I'm fine."
"I know" Stuart looked at her. She realised what she'd just said. "I mean, I know because, you, you're not hurt or cut, or limping." Stuart smiled, then they heard a scream. It was very quiet, but definitely a scream. It was outside. They looked at each other.
Mike walked over to the window and looked through it. He could only just make out someone running to the building. "Heads up, someone's coming." he said. He grabbed his machine gun. "Tim, you come with me. Let's see what's going on."
"I'm on it." They walked out of the room. Stuart and Michelle looked out of the window.
Mike and Tim reached the bottom floor just as someone ran in the door. They aimed their guns at them. "Freeze!" Mike shouted. The woman stopped and saw them.
"Oh, thank God!" she said. "You gotta help me..." Suddenly something jumped through the doorway and grabbed the woman. The creature looked like a wolf, but as if it to was suffering the same thing as the zombies. It ripped at the woman's skin, silencing hr quickly. Mike and Tim fired at it fast as well. The bullets shredded the wolf apart, stopping it. They stopped firing and looked at it.
"I think we should block the door." Tim said.
"Yeah." replied Mike. They grabbed a table and closed the door. They put the table in front, blocking it. "Let's get back to the others." Mike said.
"Good idea." Tim answered. They ran back into the elevator.
Edwards, Dave and Kylie looked down the road to see a large group of zombies. "Oh, shit." Dave said.
"They haven't noticed us yet." Edwards said, then looked at the house next to them. "In there." he whispered. The other two quietly crept up to the house and tried the door. It was locked.
"Damn." Kylie murmured. Edwards looked at it, then at the zombies. He quickly took out a silencer from his pocket, attached it to the gun, and shot at the lock. The door opened, and all three looked at the zombies down the road. They still hadn't noticed.
"Dumb-asses." Edwards said, then stepped towards the door. A lone zombie was in his way. Edwards quickly shot it in the head before it raised some kind of alarm, then walked into the house, ready for any more zombies. The other two walked in, closing the door behind them. They blocked it with a small cabinet, and looked at Edwards. He looked back. "We should be alright for now. Get some rest. It's been a long day."
"Sure." Dave said, and the two reporters walked into the living room.
"You two get some proper sleep. There should be a bed or something upstairs. You use that. I'll make sure we don't have any unwanted guests." Edwards told them.
"You sure?" Dave asked.
"Yeah." Edwards replied. They nodded, and walked upstairs. Edwards sat in the armchair next to him and reloaded his beretta.
Neil stood in the empty street. He was smoking a cigarette when another person walked up to him. "You found it, Smith?" Neil asked.
"Yeah. I know where it is. It's at the port. Can't miss it." said the man. He was also wearing a Marine uniform.
"Good. You go ahead. Get any evidence you can on this experiment. Also, see if you can find anything about this thing that's going on. There must be something about these zombies and other mutants in there. We'll get more money."
"No problem. What about you?"
"I've gotta take care of those other Marines. I'll plant a bomb or something. Anyway, get the samples, head to the airport, take an aircraft and deliver the package. I'll find some way off this island. This is to important to screw up."
"Affirmative." said Smith, then ran down the street. Neil dropped his cigarette, stubbed it into the ground, and returned into the building.
When Jake woke up it was light outside. He put his hand over his eyes and rubbed his face. He looked to his side. Anna was asleep, the back of her head facing him. He got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom. He went to the basin, half-filled it with warm water and splashed some over his face. He looked into the mirror. He saw himself looking back at him. It had been a long time ago that he had seen what he looked like. He was marginally surprised at how different he looked. He looked pale and tired looking. Small cuts on his face dribbled with blood. His hair was messed up and knotted.
He walked out of the bathroom and over to the pile of green/brown army gear and slipped on his jacket. As he did this Anna woke up. She sat up and looked at him. "Morning." she said tiredly.
"Morning." replied Jake. He put his boots on. "I'd better check the rest of them aren't worm-food. You get ready. I gotta feeling we'll be heading out soon." Anna nodded. Jake opened the door and walked through.
He walked through the room to Mike and Rob. The other two Marines were back. "How long are we staying here?"
"We'll be movin' out as soon as you and Anna are ready. We found a map of the island. It says there's a port not that far from here. It could be our best hope." said Rob.
"Great," said Jake.
"Yeah. But there's something else."
Jake looked at him. "What?"
"According to this map, there is a lab nearby. I'm guessing but it could be what caused all this to happen." Rob pointed out, clearly uneasy about this factor.
"Shit. Could be nothing, though."
"Maybe."
"This ain't how I was hoping things would turn out for this mission." said Jake.
"Look on the bright side," mentioned Mike. "You met Anna." Jake smiled. Then turned and headed back to the room Anna was in.
By now Anna was ready. Jake picked up his machine gun. He looked at Anna. She looked back. They kissed again.
"Right then," he said after. "We're off to the port."
"Great. We can finally get off this place." Jake walked over to the table. He picked up his packet of cigarettes. He also picked up his lighter, then tested it to see if it still worked. He looked at Anna.
"Smoke?" he said, offering one to her. She took it and placed the end in between her lips.
"I've been trying to give these up." she said jokingly.
"Hell. It's a special occasion."
"I'll say." Jake put his cigarette into his mouth, pulled out the lighter and lit both cigarettes.
"All right then," Jake said "Time to go."
Jake, Rob, Anna and Mike led the rest of the group through the building. They reached an elevator. Rob turned around to see how many people were left. "Ah..." he said. "Too many. We'll take the stairs."
"No problem." said Jake. He pushed open the doors leading to the stairs. Almost instantly a lone zombie lunged towards him. Jake jumped back, then the Marines blew the thing away with a torrent of machine gun fire. Jake looked at them, then breathed out a sigh of relief. "That was to close for my liking." he said. Then he looked at the zombie, crumpled up halfway down the stairs oozing out dark red blood. He dropped his cigarette on the floor, blew smoke at the creature and rubbed the burning stick into the floor with his boot. "Better leave before his buddies arrive."
"Good idea." said Mike. They walked down the stairs, passing the unmoving body cautiously. As Jake stood on the last step on that floor, the ground beneath him gave way, taking Michelle with him and almost Dan.
"Shit!" shouted the federal agent as his leg fell into the gap, then he was quickly grabbed by Mike and Frank.
Jake and Michelle weren't so lucky. They shouted in shock and pain as they crashed through several floors, and landed in a dark room with a thud. Dust rose as they hit the floor, completely blocking them from the other's gaze.
As they fell, Anna dived forward in an attempt to grab either of them. She missed. "No!!!" she screamed as they slipped over her hand. She saw the both of them smash through the next floor, land on the following floor and lay still. "Jake! No! Michelle!" Rob pulled her away.
"We gotta be goin'! C'mon, lets go!"
"We gotta get them outta there!" She put one leg down the hole. Rob and Mike automatically pulled her back out.
"They're gone! Jake's dead! Michelle's dead! Now we gotta get outta here before we end up like them!" yelled Rob.
"Fuck you! They ain't dead! They're alive! We gotta help them!" Anna shouted back. Rob pulled her around to face him.
"They are dead! We can't help them! Either of them! We have to go! Now!" he screamed. He pulled her away as everyone ran to the opposite side of the building.
They eventually got to the main entrance of the building. Anna was still crying over Jake. Mike spotted a four-wheel drive van. "Over there!" he said to Rob, and pointed at the vehicle. They ran to it. Mike smashed the window and unlocked it. Other Marines did the same. Mike got in the drivers seat, Rob next to him, the rest in the back. The keys were in the ignition. Mike turned the key and the engine roared to life. Mike hit the accelerator with his boot and sped away from the building. Anna looked back to the window. Tears filled her eyes. She touched the back window.
"Shit..." she whispered.