CHAPTER 9
The gigantic creature slowly started towards them, the electric rails seemingly unharming it. "Go!" George shouted, and turned around again. He started running down the dark tunnel, the only light coming from his flashlight, and the gunshots from the others as they tried stopping the creature while running away from it.
Jake heard a trip, then a thud. He didn't know who'd fallen over, and couldn't see. He heard the electricity pass through the body as it hit the rails, and Jake knew immediately they couldn't save them. He carried on running, then heard the creature pick the corpse up in it's teeth and start eating it whilst in pursuit. "Someone's down!" Jake shouted. "Hurry up!"
"Found it!" George yelled back. He focused the light on a dark white, metal door, and jumped up towards it. He pulled the handle down, and the door swung inwards. He piled in, followed by the rest. Jake jumped in last, and slammed the door. They heard thuds from the wall and door from the thing outside, but soon realized it couldn't get to them. George flashed the beam around, quickly finding a switch. He flicked it, and a bright light shone down at them from the ceiling. Jake looked around, checking who was missing.
"Paul's dead." he stated. I heard someone fall, it must've been him."
"Shit." Henry muttered. They looked down the lightened corridor. It stretched quite far. "Where to now?" Henry asked, looking at George.
"Follow me." George replied, and headed down the corridor. The rest followed him closely.
They reached a wall with a metal grate halfway up it. Jake looked at Anna, and she looked back. "Looks like it's the vents again." Anna stated, smiling slightly. George stuck his fingers through the gaps, then yanked hard at it. The metal grate gave in, and tore from the wall. George threw it to one side. He placed his pistol in his holster, and hauled himself into the vent. Anna followed, then Jake, then Lucy, then Henry. They slowly crawled through the tight metal gap, making their way into the base.
Dave and Kylie ran quickly through the corridors, still being undetected by the soldiers there. They'd almost run into some earlier, but only just missed them. Dave spotted a door on their left, and grabbed Kylie's arm. He opened it, and dragged them both into the room. He quietly closed the door, and they stood as still as possible. Kylie wondered what Dave was doing, then heard footsteps and muffled talking outside. They were silent as the noise drifted past them, until all they could hear was their own breath.
"That was close." Kylie whispered to Dave, edging closer to him.
"Yeah..." Dave replied, still listening. "I think it's all clear. Come on..." He opened the door, and a man dressed in the same camouflage gear as the other guards swung around at him. "Oh, maybe not..." he sated. The soldier looked at him and Kylie.
"What's going on here?" he asked, aiming his rifle at them slightly.
"We got lost." Kylie said, trying to sound convincing. "We're new here."
"Really?" the soldier asked, almost smiling. "I don't see how, because for about 4 days now the whole of the United States has been infected with this zombie disease." Dave and Kylie looked at the man confused.
"What?" Dave asked, not believing him. "How?"
"I don't know, I just work here." the soldier replied. "So, if you aren't new here, who are you?"
"Erm..." Dave thought about a believable excuse, when suddenly two guards turned the corner. They saw Dave and Kylie, and raised their guns.
"Freeze!" shouted the first guard. Dave looked at them.
"Shit..." he muttered. He raised his hands above his head, when suddenly the soldier in front of him and Kylie swiftly took a silenced pistol from his holster and shot the two guards in the head. They dropped to the floor, their guns rattling on the hard plastic ground. The soldier looked at them.
"Get those weapons. You'll need them." he told them, then turned and walked back the way he came.
"Wait!" Kylie called after him. "Who are you?" The soldier didn't reply as he walked around the corner.
"C'mon." Dave told Kylie, looking at the two bodies down the corridor. They ran over to the weapons hesitantly, and picked them up. They looked around, then ran down the corridor next to them.
Lucy was wondering how much longer they would have to crawl through the tight ventilation system of this secret underground base for. It was very uncomfortable, and hot. They'd been in there for what seemed like forever. She was busy thinking to herself, then suddenly she felt the vent buckle and fall away. She must've undone a latch or something, and she fell down the gap, screaming, and into another vent leading down. It sloped at the bottom, like a slide, so she didn't break her legs as she fell.
Henry notice Lucy fall into the other vent and looked down it. He looked up at the others ahead. "We'll catch you up!" Henry told them, and quickly followed the reporter.
"Henry!" Jake called, unable to turn around. "Shit!" he cursed. "We'll find them later." he said, and they carried on through the vent.
Lucy's feet smashed into the grate at the bottom of the vent, and she slid out along the plastic floor. She heard something follow, and rolled out of the way just as Henry slid out next to her. They layed on the ground for a moment, then heard a clicking sound. "Get up." came a voice next to them. Henry looked to his side to see a lone guard aiming a gun at them. "You're under arrest for trespassing."
"Oh, for Christ's sake." Henry muttered, casually standing up. As he did, he suddenly smashed his fist into the guard's face, knocking him out. Lucy stood up and stepped over to Henry as he took the guard's weapons.
"Is he..." Lucy started to ask.
"He'll be alright in a while." Henry answered, standing up with a silenced pistol, an assault rifle, and three grenades. "We'd better not be around when he does come to, though." Lucy nodded. Henry gave her the assault rifle and a grenade. "Let's find the others." he said, and walked down the bright corridor.
"Ok." Lucy answered, following. "How?"
"I dunno yet." Henry replied. "I'll think of something." Suddenly, an alarm siren rang out, and red lights on the wall flashed at them. Henry and Lucy looked around warily.
"What the hell?" she asked, trying to be heard over the sirens.
"I don't know!" Henry replied loudly. "It can't be good, whatever it is!"
Dave and Kylie turned the corner as soon as a deafening siren blurted out throughout the base. Dave looked at Kylie, who looked back. "They must've found the bodies..." Dave said, gripping the gun he had.
"Shit." Kylie muttered, looking around. "We've gotta find a way outta here fast."
"What if that man was right, though?" Dave asked. "What if America really is overrun with those zombies like at home."
"Then we're screwed." Kylie replied. Dave didn't say anything back, and they both ran down the corridor simultaneously. As they turned the corner, three guards spotted them and instantly fired at them with assault rifles. The bullets pounded into the wall and floor near to them, but miraculously missed them. Dave slid along the ground on his back as Kylie hid behind the wall again. He pointed his gun at the guards and fired a whole clip at them. The bullets tore through the humans with ease, and they dropped to the ground, firing aimlessly as they fell.
Kylie peered round the corner to see the bodies, then looked at Dave. He looked back, not saying anything. "Let's get outta here." Kylie said, standing up. Dave nodded, and rose to his feet. They ran past the corpses, and Dave swiftly exchanged the empty handgun for two full ones. As they turned the next corner, they froze where they were.
"Oh shit..." Dave murmured, staring directly ahead of them. "Maybe another way..."
The sirens had been going now for a while, and George got to the end of the vent. He smashed the grate off, and crawled into the corridor. The red lights seemed to reflect off the white, shiny plastic walls, giving it a dark red colour. Anna and Jake crawled out behind him, and they all readied their weapons. They looked around.
"Where to now?" Jake asked George.
"I think it's on the other side of the base." George answered, trying to remember.
"Other side?" Anna asked, not sounding too pleased. "Oh, shit. That means we've gotta get through this whole place before we can get the hell outta here."
"C'mon. It can't be that hard." George reassured her, feeling awkward. Jake gave him a funny look.
"Are you deaf?" Anna asked, getting angrier. "You hear that noise? You see those lights?" she pointed around them. George looked around at the red lights flashing at them. "Someone's set of an alarm, so every soldier in here will be going ape shit!"
"Calm down, honey." Jake told her, holding her arm gently. "We'll be alright." She looked at him, then calmed herself down.
"Alright." she said. "We'd better do this fast though, if we wanna make it out alive."
"Ok then." George replied, looking one way down the corridor. "I think it's that way." he said, and started walking. The other two followed him. Jake walked beside Anna, and held her hand. She looked up at him, and smiled. She held his hand tighter. They heard gunfire in the distance, and screaming. It sent a chill down the three human's spines. Whatever was happening, they knew it wasn't good.
They walked around the corner, guns ready to fire at anything hostile. At the end of the corridor, there was three civilians. George raised his weapon at them, and the civilians turned to face them. "Oh, shit." Jake said. Him and Anna also lifted their guns at the three zombies, and fired at them. The bullets punched through the zombie's corpses, and they were flung back like rag dolls.
"Looks like this plan just got a lot harder." Anna stated when they'd finished firing.
"What else was here?" Jake asked George, wondering if they were likely to meet anything else. "What other creatures were they keeping?"
"I don't know." George answered. "There was rumors that the scientists here were testing the disease on all sorts of creatures. God knows how many survived."
"We'll soon find out." Anna said. "But we'd better find the other two, then get to the airpad. Fast." George nodded.
"Follow me then." he ordered, running towards the bodies at the end of the corridor. Jake and Anna followed, still looking out for more zombies.
Lucy quickly ran around a corner, followed instantly by Henry, as the guards continued shooting at them. The bullets missed them, hitting the walls next to them. Henry reloaded his gun after using all the bullets in one clip, and ran backwards. As the guards ran into his sight, he fired again. The three guards all got hit by the wave of bullets, and fell to the ground. Henry slowed down, and stopped. Lucy copied, and walked over to him. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, another five guards turned round the corner, firing machine guns at them.
"Christ!" Henry shouted, the attack surprising him. He pushed Lucy sideways through a door, closing it behind him. They ran down another corridor, and fired backwards at the pursuing guards. They took out three of them, but the other two somehow avoided the shots. Henry pulled the trigger again, but realized he was out of bullets. He reached for another clip, but didn't have one. Lucy ducked around another corner, and Henry followed. Instead of running, he waited on the edge, listening for the guards. Lucy noticed, and stopped. She ran towards him as the remaining two guards ran past him. They didn't notice him at first, and Henry kicked the nearest guard in the leg, sending him flying down the corridor. The second guard turned to face him, and Henry punched him in the head twice, jumped up and spin-kicked him in the face, knocking him out.
The first guard jumped up to his feet as the second collapsed to the floor. He raised his pistol at him, but before he could pull the trigger, Lucy fired three bullets into his back. He fell onto his front, dead. Henry took the weapons from both guards, giving Lucy one of the machine guns and a clip for her pistol. Suddenly, two more people ran round the corner. Both Henry and Lucy aimed their guns at them, and they did the same. Henry noticed that they weren't wearing army uniforms. "Who are you?" he asked them. The man looked at the woman briefly, wondering if he should answer the question or if he should shoot.
"I'm Dave Richards." the man said. He looked at the woman again. "This is Kylie Trent." he looked back at Henry, still pointing his gun at him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Henry Rabin, LAPD. This is Lucy Numan." Henry replied. He kept his gun raised also. "What are you doing here?"
"We were prisoners." Kylie answered. "We've escaped."
"Prisoners?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. We don't know why." Dave replied. "Hey, have you two been outside this base, you know, recently?"
"Yeah, about two hours ago, in fact." Henry answered. "The whole city's infested with zombies. We're trying to find a way out of LA."
"Damn." Kylie murmured. "Well, if you're wondering, the rest of America is the same now. And the zombies have escaped in here, too."
"Shit." Lucy stated. "Do you know where the helipad to this place is?" she asked.
"No." Dave said. "That's what we're looking for."
"Ok, we'd better hurry before more guards arrive." Henry stated. He put his gun down, and the others reluctantly did the same. "C'mon!" he said, and ran down the corridor. The others followed him quickly.
Jake, Anna and George heard more gunfire nearby. Anna looked at Jake. "Could be the other two." she hinted. Jake nodded.
"Could be." Jake replied. "Shall we go check?"
"We'd better." Anna stated. "Even if it's not, we'll find more survivors. Probably."
"What if they're the guys that work here?" George asked, eager just to find the helipad. "We were trained to shoot at anyone or anything not in uniform, to avoid intruders. Now these alarms are going off, they'll shoot without question.
"You're in uniform, maybe they'll think twice." Jake reminded him.
"And what if they don't?" George asked.
"Then we'll see what happens." Jake replied. "We're going to go find Henry and Lucy, like it or not."
"Fair enough." George said reluctantly. "This time you lead." Jake stepped ahead of George, listening to the gunshots. He followed the sound down the next corridor, then through a door. As soon as he, Anna and George were through the door, three zombies turned around and started to shuffle towards them. Jake fired his pistol three times, each bullet finding a zombie's head to burst through. The bodies fell to the floor, and the humans continued walking through the base.
In a short space of time, the three walked past a door. Jake peered through the window, and spotted a helicopter. He quickly burst through the door and saw another two. They'd found their escape vehicles at last. Anna looked at Jake. "What about the other two?" she asked, not wanting to leave them behind. Jake nodded, understanding. He looked at George.
"Wait here for us. Save us a helicopter. If we're not back in about half an hour, get the hell outta here." he ordered. George nodded, and ran to one of the helicopters. Jake and Anna checked their guns for ammo, then walked back into the corridor. Anna looked at Jake, smiling slightly.
"Just like old times." she joked. Jake laughed.
"Sure is." he said. They walked down the corridor, listening to gunfire and screams for directions.
"Goddammit!" Kylie shouted, all four stopping as they walked through the door. They'd found a huge room, the size of a football pitch maybe, and hundreds of guards were fighting with zombies on three floors. Above them was metal gratings for floors, allowing the blood of the fallen to easily drip through onto the ground below. The blood covered the floor thickly, and a few guards and zombies were slipping over on it, promptly getting killed by their enemies.
Henry looked across to see a metal ladder. He looked above them to see there was less zombies on the higher levels. "There!" he shouted, running over to the ladder. The other three followed, and Henry climbed it quickly. He jumped up onto the second level, instantly taking his gun out and putting a bullet into the zombie standing over him's head. He jumped to his feet as Kylie got onto the same level as all three of them.
Without saying anything, they ran along the narrow walkway, shooting a few zombies along the way. Above them, Lucy spotted something larger crawl along the walkway. "Above us!" she shouted, and they all looked up. Whatever was up there heard her, and looked through the grate. It roared, and scratched at the grate, trying to get to them. Henry and Dave both simultaneously fired three shots each into the creatures body, and Lucy finished it with a head shot. It stopped moving, it's thick red blood dripping onto them. They quickly moved out of the way, not wanting to get covered in it.
Dave looked down onto the bottom floor and saw another of the large, bear-like creatures attacking a group of guards. It made short work of them, killing at least five before more guards shot at it, killing it. He looked at Henry. "There's more of those things!" he shouted. Henry turned around, and something caught his eye.
"Kylie, down!" he ordered. Kylie dropped to the floor, revealing a lone zombie behind her. Henry fired twice at it, hitting it in the chest. The creature reeled back slightly, but carried on towards them. Dave pulled the trigger to his gun, but all that came from it was an empty click.
"Shit!" he cursed. He dropped the gun to the ground and swung his fist at the zombie. It hit it on the side of the face, knocking it's head to one side. Kylie crawled past Dave as he hit the zombie with his other fist. As the zombie leaned over the railing, Dave swung his leg through the air and kicked the zombie in the back of it's head. The zombie flipped over the railing, and landed head-first on the hard floor below, snapping it's neck in half.
"Hey," Lucy said to Dave, picking Kylie up. She threw him an ammo clip, which he caught. He picked up his weapon, and swiftly reloaded it. He nodded, and they carried on along the walkway. Suddenly, one of the bear-like creatures dropped down in front of them and snarled. The four jumped back, the two women screaming. The creature looked ready to pounce, when suddenly it's back and skull erupted with blood and skin. It dropped down, dead, and the others looked up onto the next floor.
Jake and Anna were leaning over the railings, looking down at them. "Found ya." Jake said to Henry and Lucy. Henry smiled.
"Just in time to join the party." he stated. "Where's George?"
"He's at the helicopter. He's waiting for us." Anna explained. She looked at her watch. "But we've got about 18 minutes before he flies that thing away without us."
"We'd better hurry." Lucy stated. She looked around and saw a ladder at the far end of the hall. "Over there." she pointed out, and they ran towards it. Jake and Anna followed them, when suddenly a zombie which was playing dead grabbed at Anna's feet. She jumped, falling over the railing beside her. Jake shot the zombie in the head as Anna grabbed the metal bar, and he grabbed her arms.
"I got ya." he reassured her. She looked below her, the other four stopping just below her.
"We can catch ya. Just drop down here." Henry said. Jake nodded to Anna, and Anna lowered herself down. The four below grabbed her legs, and she let go of the railing. She didn't fall far, and the others helped her land on her feet.
"I'm ok!" she called up to Jake. He smiled and nodded.
"Good. C'mon, run!" he replied. The five below him ran towards the ladder.
Below them, on the ground floor, a group of zombies grabbed onto a guard. He flailed wildly, firing his machine-gun everywhere while the zombies starting feasting on him. The shots ricochetted off the railings above, and the others ducked down, avoiding the gunfire. A stray bullet made it through the gaps in the railings, and hit Jake in the side of the neck. He spun in the air as he fell to the metallic floor.
Anna looked up as she heard something fall, and saw Jake laying on the ground. "Jake!" she shouted, and ran even faster towards the ladder. The others looked up at the body, and quickly followed Anna to the ladder. She eventually reached it after what seemed like ages, and scrabbled up it, missing the rungs at least twice. She crawled up onto the third floor, running towards him before standing up properly. She made it to him just as the others reached the top of the ladder. She slid along the ground on her knees, the metal gaps grating them. She rolled Jake over, seeing the bullet hole in his neck. Blood gushed from it, and Jake wasn't moving.
Anna couldn't think at all as Jake layed on the ground, blood covering his neck, the metal underneath him and her hands. She pushed her hands against the wound to stop the bleeding, but it had already slowed down and was hardly noticeable. Henry reached them first, and he knelt down beside her. "We gotta help him!" Anna shouted frantically. Henry closed his eyes and looked behind them. The other three had reached them now, and were watching. He pulled Anna's arm back.
"He's dead." he stated gently. Anna shook her head, pushing her hand back onto his neck.
"No... No he's not!" she tried to explain. "They said he was gone before, but he came back... He's gonna be ok."
"He was dead before we could do anything." Henry continued to explain. "C'mon, we've gotta go." Anna broke down crying, and eventually let go of the body. The other three started towards the door, and Henry helped Anna stand up. "Come on." he said quietly. Anna continued crying as they jogged away from Jake's corpse.
The group of humans ran down a corridor, looking around. "It's just through there." Anna stated, still in tears, but slightly calmed down. They ran through a door and saw a few helicopters.
"Hey!" came a loud voice. Henry looked over to one of the helicopters and saw George standing next to one. They all ran over to him as he jumped inside and started it up. He looked above them and turned around to the others who'd just got in. "Ok, firstly, who are they?" he asked, looking at Dave and Kylie.
"We found them." Lucy answered. "They're survivors like us." George nodded.
"Ok. Secondly, where's Jake?" he asked. There was a long silence. "Oh." George said, realizing he must be dead. "Oh, shit." Anna nodded. "And thirdly, see that office thing over there?" he asked, pointing. They all nodded. "I need someone to go open the hatch above us. There should be a button in there."
"Ok, I'll go." Henry replied, jumping out of the helicopter. He ran over to the smallish room and looked at the control desk. There was lots of switches and buttons, and he looked through them. He eventually found the right one, and pressed it. A loud, mechanical whir echoed through the helicopter bay, and the roof above them started to open. Henry ran back to the helicopter as rain fell into the room from the small storm outside. He jumped back into the helicopter, closing the door. "Go!" he shouted. George started up the helicopter again, and lifted it off the ground, and through the open roof.
The gigantic creature slowly started towards them, the electric rails seemingly unharming it. "Go!" George shouted, and turned around again. He started running down the dark tunnel, the only light coming from his flashlight, and the gunshots from the others as they tried stopping the creature while running away from it.
Jake heard a trip, then a thud. He didn't know who'd fallen over, and couldn't see. He heard the electricity pass through the body as it hit the rails, and Jake knew immediately they couldn't save them. He carried on running, then heard the creature pick the corpse up in it's teeth and start eating it whilst in pursuit. "Someone's down!" Jake shouted. "Hurry up!"
"Found it!" George yelled back. He focused the light on a dark white, metal door, and jumped up towards it. He pulled the handle down, and the door swung inwards. He piled in, followed by the rest. Jake jumped in last, and slammed the door. They heard thuds from the wall and door from the thing outside, but soon realized it couldn't get to them. George flashed the beam around, quickly finding a switch. He flicked it, and a bright light shone down at them from the ceiling. Jake looked around, checking who was missing.
"Paul's dead." he stated. I heard someone fall, it must've been him."
"Shit." Henry muttered. They looked down the lightened corridor. It stretched quite far. "Where to now?" Henry asked, looking at George.
"Follow me." George replied, and headed down the corridor. The rest followed him closely.
They reached a wall with a metal grate halfway up it. Jake looked at Anna, and she looked back. "Looks like it's the vents again." Anna stated, smiling slightly. George stuck his fingers through the gaps, then yanked hard at it. The metal grate gave in, and tore from the wall. George threw it to one side. He placed his pistol in his holster, and hauled himself into the vent. Anna followed, then Jake, then Lucy, then Henry. They slowly crawled through the tight metal gap, making their way into the base.
Dave and Kylie ran quickly through the corridors, still being undetected by the soldiers there. They'd almost run into some earlier, but only just missed them. Dave spotted a door on their left, and grabbed Kylie's arm. He opened it, and dragged them both into the room. He quietly closed the door, and they stood as still as possible. Kylie wondered what Dave was doing, then heard footsteps and muffled talking outside. They were silent as the noise drifted past them, until all they could hear was their own breath.
"That was close." Kylie whispered to Dave, edging closer to him.
"Yeah..." Dave replied, still listening. "I think it's all clear. Come on..." He opened the door, and a man dressed in the same camouflage gear as the other guards swung around at him. "Oh, maybe not..." he sated. The soldier looked at him and Kylie.
"What's going on here?" he asked, aiming his rifle at them slightly.
"We got lost." Kylie said, trying to sound convincing. "We're new here."
"Really?" the soldier asked, almost smiling. "I don't see how, because for about 4 days now the whole of the United States has been infected with this zombie disease." Dave and Kylie looked at the man confused.
"What?" Dave asked, not believing him. "How?"
"I don't know, I just work here." the soldier replied. "So, if you aren't new here, who are you?"
"Erm..." Dave thought about a believable excuse, when suddenly two guards turned the corner. They saw Dave and Kylie, and raised their guns.
"Freeze!" shouted the first guard. Dave looked at them.
"Shit..." he muttered. He raised his hands above his head, when suddenly the soldier in front of him and Kylie swiftly took a silenced pistol from his holster and shot the two guards in the head. They dropped to the floor, their guns rattling on the hard plastic ground. The soldier looked at them.
"Get those weapons. You'll need them." he told them, then turned and walked back the way he came.
"Wait!" Kylie called after him. "Who are you?" The soldier didn't reply as he walked around the corner.
"C'mon." Dave told Kylie, looking at the two bodies down the corridor. They ran over to the weapons hesitantly, and picked them up. They looked around, then ran down the corridor next to them.
Lucy was wondering how much longer they would have to crawl through the tight ventilation system of this secret underground base for. It was very uncomfortable, and hot. They'd been in there for what seemed like forever. She was busy thinking to herself, then suddenly she felt the vent buckle and fall away. She must've undone a latch or something, and she fell down the gap, screaming, and into another vent leading down. It sloped at the bottom, like a slide, so she didn't break her legs as she fell.
Henry notice Lucy fall into the other vent and looked down it. He looked up at the others ahead. "We'll catch you up!" Henry told them, and quickly followed the reporter.
"Henry!" Jake called, unable to turn around. "Shit!" he cursed. "We'll find them later." he said, and they carried on through the vent.
Lucy's feet smashed into the grate at the bottom of the vent, and she slid out along the plastic floor. She heard something follow, and rolled out of the way just as Henry slid out next to her. They layed on the ground for a moment, then heard a clicking sound. "Get up." came a voice next to them. Henry looked to his side to see a lone guard aiming a gun at them. "You're under arrest for trespassing."
"Oh, for Christ's sake." Henry muttered, casually standing up. As he did, he suddenly smashed his fist into the guard's face, knocking him out. Lucy stood up and stepped over to Henry as he took the guard's weapons.
"Is he..." Lucy started to ask.
"He'll be alright in a while." Henry answered, standing up with a silenced pistol, an assault rifle, and three grenades. "We'd better not be around when he does come to, though." Lucy nodded. Henry gave her the assault rifle and a grenade. "Let's find the others." he said, and walked down the bright corridor.
"Ok." Lucy answered, following. "How?"
"I dunno yet." Henry replied. "I'll think of something." Suddenly, an alarm siren rang out, and red lights on the wall flashed at them. Henry and Lucy looked around warily.
"What the hell?" she asked, trying to be heard over the sirens.
"I don't know!" Henry replied loudly. "It can't be good, whatever it is!"
Dave and Kylie turned the corner as soon as a deafening siren blurted out throughout the base. Dave looked at Kylie, who looked back. "They must've found the bodies..." Dave said, gripping the gun he had.
"Shit." Kylie muttered, looking around. "We've gotta find a way outta here fast."
"What if that man was right, though?" Dave asked. "What if America really is overrun with those zombies like at home."
"Then we're screwed." Kylie replied. Dave didn't say anything back, and they both ran down the corridor simultaneously. As they turned the corner, three guards spotted them and instantly fired at them with assault rifles. The bullets pounded into the wall and floor near to them, but miraculously missed them. Dave slid along the ground on his back as Kylie hid behind the wall again. He pointed his gun at the guards and fired a whole clip at them. The bullets tore through the humans with ease, and they dropped to the ground, firing aimlessly as they fell.
Kylie peered round the corner to see the bodies, then looked at Dave. He looked back, not saying anything. "Let's get outta here." Kylie said, standing up. Dave nodded, and rose to his feet. They ran past the corpses, and Dave swiftly exchanged the empty handgun for two full ones. As they turned the next corner, they froze where they were.
"Oh shit..." Dave murmured, staring directly ahead of them. "Maybe another way..."
The sirens had been going now for a while, and George got to the end of the vent. He smashed the grate off, and crawled into the corridor. The red lights seemed to reflect off the white, shiny plastic walls, giving it a dark red colour. Anna and Jake crawled out behind him, and they all readied their weapons. They looked around.
"Where to now?" Jake asked George.
"I think it's on the other side of the base." George answered, trying to remember.
"Other side?" Anna asked, not sounding too pleased. "Oh, shit. That means we've gotta get through this whole place before we can get the hell outta here."
"C'mon. It can't be that hard." George reassured her, feeling awkward. Jake gave him a funny look.
"Are you deaf?" Anna asked, getting angrier. "You hear that noise? You see those lights?" she pointed around them. George looked around at the red lights flashing at them. "Someone's set of an alarm, so every soldier in here will be going ape shit!"
"Calm down, honey." Jake told her, holding her arm gently. "We'll be alright." She looked at him, then calmed herself down.
"Alright." she said. "We'd better do this fast though, if we wanna make it out alive."
"Ok then." George replied, looking one way down the corridor. "I think it's that way." he said, and started walking. The other two followed him. Jake walked beside Anna, and held her hand. She looked up at him, and smiled. She held his hand tighter. They heard gunfire in the distance, and screaming. It sent a chill down the three human's spines. Whatever was happening, they knew it wasn't good.
They walked around the corner, guns ready to fire at anything hostile. At the end of the corridor, there was three civilians. George raised his weapon at them, and the civilians turned to face them. "Oh, shit." Jake said. Him and Anna also lifted their guns at the three zombies, and fired at them. The bullets punched through the zombie's corpses, and they were flung back like rag dolls.
"Looks like this plan just got a lot harder." Anna stated when they'd finished firing.
"What else was here?" Jake asked George, wondering if they were likely to meet anything else. "What other creatures were they keeping?"
"I don't know." George answered. "There was rumors that the scientists here were testing the disease on all sorts of creatures. God knows how many survived."
"We'll soon find out." Anna said. "But we'd better find the other two, then get to the airpad. Fast." George nodded.
"Follow me then." he ordered, running towards the bodies at the end of the corridor. Jake and Anna followed, still looking out for more zombies.
Lucy quickly ran around a corner, followed instantly by Henry, as the guards continued shooting at them. The bullets missed them, hitting the walls next to them. Henry reloaded his gun after using all the bullets in one clip, and ran backwards. As the guards ran into his sight, he fired again. The three guards all got hit by the wave of bullets, and fell to the ground. Henry slowed down, and stopped. Lucy copied, and walked over to him. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, another five guards turned round the corner, firing machine guns at them.
"Christ!" Henry shouted, the attack surprising him. He pushed Lucy sideways through a door, closing it behind him. They ran down another corridor, and fired backwards at the pursuing guards. They took out three of them, but the other two somehow avoided the shots. Henry pulled the trigger again, but realized he was out of bullets. He reached for another clip, but didn't have one. Lucy ducked around another corner, and Henry followed. Instead of running, he waited on the edge, listening for the guards. Lucy noticed, and stopped. She ran towards him as the remaining two guards ran past him. They didn't notice him at first, and Henry kicked the nearest guard in the leg, sending him flying down the corridor. The second guard turned to face him, and Henry punched him in the head twice, jumped up and spin-kicked him in the face, knocking him out.
The first guard jumped up to his feet as the second collapsed to the floor. He raised his pistol at him, but before he could pull the trigger, Lucy fired three bullets into his back. He fell onto his front, dead. Henry took the weapons from both guards, giving Lucy one of the machine guns and a clip for her pistol. Suddenly, two more people ran round the corner. Both Henry and Lucy aimed their guns at them, and they did the same. Henry noticed that they weren't wearing army uniforms. "Who are you?" he asked them. The man looked at the woman briefly, wondering if he should answer the question or if he should shoot.
"I'm Dave Richards." the man said. He looked at the woman again. "This is Kylie Trent." he looked back at Henry, still pointing his gun at him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Henry Rabin, LAPD. This is Lucy Numan." Henry replied. He kept his gun raised also. "What are you doing here?"
"We were prisoners." Kylie answered. "We've escaped."
"Prisoners?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. We don't know why." Dave replied. "Hey, have you two been outside this base, you know, recently?"
"Yeah, about two hours ago, in fact." Henry answered. "The whole city's infested with zombies. We're trying to find a way out of LA."
"Damn." Kylie murmured. "Well, if you're wondering, the rest of America is the same now. And the zombies have escaped in here, too."
"Shit." Lucy stated. "Do you know where the helipad to this place is?" she asked.
"No." Dave said. "That's what we're looking for."
"Ok, we'd better hurry before more guards arrive." Henry stated. He put his gun down, and the others reluctantly did the same. "C'mon!" he said, and ran down the corridor. The others followed him quickly.
Jake, Anna and George heard more gunfire nearby. Anna looked at Jake. "Could be the other two." she hinted. Jake nodded.
"Could be." Jake replied. "Shall we go check?"
"We'd better." Anna stated. "Even if it's not, we'll find more survivors. Probably."
"What if they're the guys that work here?" George asked, eager just to find the helipad. "We were trained to shoot at anyone or anything not in uniform, to avoid intruders. Now these alarms are going off, they'll shoot without question.
"You're in uniform, maybe they'll think twice." Jake reminded him.
"And what if they don't?" George asked.
"Then we'll see what happens." Jake replied. "We're going to go find Henry and Lucy, like it or not."
"Fair enough." George said reluctantly. "This time you lead." Jake stepped ahead of George, listening to the gunshots. He followed the sound down the next corridor, then through a door. As soon as he, Anna and George were through the door, three zombies turned around and started to shuffle towards them. Jake fired his pistol three times, each bullet finding a zombie's head to burst through. The bodies fell to the floor, and the humans continued walking through the base.
In a short space of time, the three walked past a door. Jake peered through the window, and spotted a helicopter. He quickly burst through the door and saw another two. They'd found their escape vehicles at last. Anna looked at Jake. "What about the other two?" she asked, not wanting to leave them behind. Jake nodded, understanding. He looked at George.
"Wait here for us. Save us a helicopter. If we're not back in about half an hour, get the hell outta here." he ordered. George nodded, and ran to one of the helicopters. Jake and Anna checked their guns for ammo, then walked back into the corridor. Anna looked at Jake, smiling slightly.
"Just like old times." she joked. Jake laughed.
"Sure is." he said. They walked down the corridor, listening to gunfire and screams for directions.
"Goddammit!" Kylie shouted, all four stopping as they walked through the door. They'd found a huge room, the size of a football pitch maybe, and hundreds of guards were fighting with zombies on three floors. Above them was metal gratings for floors, allowing the blood of the fallen to easily drip through onto the ground below. The blood covered the floor thickly, and a few guards and zombies were slipping over on it, promptly getting killed by their enemies.
Henry looked across to see a metal ladder. He looked above them to see there was less zombies on the higher levels. "There!" he shouted, running over to the ladder. The other three followed, and Henry climbed it quickly. He jumped up onto the second level, instantly taking his gun out and putting a bullet into the zombie standing over him's head. He jumped to his feet as Kylie got onto the same level as all three of them.
Without saying anything, they ran along the narrow walkway, shooting a few zombies along the way. Above them, Lucy spotted something larger crawl along the walkway. "Above us!" she shouted, and they all looked up. Whatever was up there heard her, and looked through the grate. It roared, and scratched at the grate, trying to get to them. Henry and Dave both simultaneously fired three shots each into the creatures body, and Lucy finished it with a head shot. It stopped moving, it's thick red blood dripping onto them. They quickly moved out of the way, not wanting to get covered in it.
Dave looked down onto the bottom floor and saw another of the large, bear-like creatures attacking a group of guards. It made short work of them, killing at least five before more guards shot at it, killing it. He looked at Henry. "There's more of those things!" he shouted. Henry turned around, and something caught his eye.
"Kylie, down!" he ordered. Kylie dropped to the floor, revealing a lone zombie behind her. Henry fired twice at it, hitting it in the chest. The creature reeled back slightly, but carried on towards them. Dave pulled the trigger to his gun, but all that came from it was an empty click.
"Shit!" he cursed. He dropped the gun to the ground and swung his fist at the zombie. It hit it on the side of the face, knocking it's head to one side. Kylie crawled past Dave as he hit the zombie with his other fist. As the zombie leaned over the railing, Dave swung his leg through the air and kicked the zombie in the back of it's head. The zombie flipped over the railing, and landed head-first on the hard floor below, snapping it's neck in half.
"Hey," Lucy said to Dave, picking Kylie up. She threw him an ammo clip, which he caught. He picked up his weapon, and swiftly reloaded it. He nodded, and they carried on along the walkway. Suddenly, one of the bear-like creatures dropped down in front of them and snarled. The four jumped back, the two women screaming. The creature looked ready to pounce, when suddenly it's back and skull erupted with blood and skin. It dropped down, dead, and the others looked up onto the next floor.
Jake and Anna were leaning over the railings, looking down at them. "Found ya." Jake said to Henry and Lucy. Henry smiled.
"Just in time to join the party." he stated. "Where's George?"
"He's at the helicopter. He's waiting for us." Anna explained. She looked at her watch. "But we've got about 18 minutes before he flies that thing away without us."
"We'd better hurry." Lucy stated. She looked around and saw a ladder at the far end of the hall. "Over there." she pointed out, and they ran towards it. Jake and Anna followed them, when suddenly a zombie which was playing dead grabbed at Anna's feet. She jumped, falling over the railing beside her. Jake shot the zombie in the head as Anna grabbed the metal bar, and he grabbed her arms.
"I got ya." he reassured her. She looked below her, the other four stopping just below her.
"We can catch ya. Just drop down here." Henry said. Jake nodded to Anna, and Anna lowered herself down. The four below grabbed her legs, and she let go of the railing. She didn't fall far, and the others helped her land on her feet.
"I'm ok!" she called up to Jake. He smiled and nodded.
"Good. C'mon, run!" he replied. The five below him ran towards the ladder.
Below them, on the ground floor, a group of zombies grabbed onto a guard. He flailed wildly, firing his machine-gun everywhere while the zombies starting feasting on him. The shots ricochetted off the railings above, and the others ducked down, avoiding the gunfire. A stray bullet made it through the gaps in the railings, and hit Jake in the side of the neck. He spun in the air as he fell to the metallic floor.
Anna looked up as she heard something fall, and saw Jake laying on the ground. "Jake!" she shouted, and ran even faster towards the ladder. The others looked up at the body, and quickly followed Anna to the ladder. She eventually reached it after what seemed like ages, and scrabbled up it, missing the rungs at least twice. She crawled up onto the third floor, running towards him before standing up properly. She made it to him just as the others reached the top of the ladder. She slid along the ground on her knees, the metal gaps grating them. She rolled Jake over, seeing the bullet hole in his neck. Blood gushed from it, and Jake wasn't moving.
Anna couldn't think at all as Jake layed on the ground, blood covering his neck, the metal underneath him and her hands. She pushed her hands against the wound to stop the bleeding, but it had already slowed down and was hardly noticeable. Henry reached them first, and he knelt down beside her. "We gotta help him!" Anna shouted frantically. Henry closed his eyes and looked behind them. The other three had reached them now, and were watching. He pulled Anna's arm back.
"He's dead." he stated gently. Anna shook her head, pushing her hand back onto his neck.
"No... No he's not!" she tried to explain. "They said he was gone before, but he came back... He's gonna be ok."
"He was dead before we could do anything." Henry continued to explain. "C'mon, we've gotta go." Anna broke down crying, and eventually let go of the body. The other three started towards the door, and Henry helped Anna stand up. "Come on." he said quietly. Anna continued crying as they jogged away from Jake's corpse.
The group of humans ran down a corridor, looking around. "It's just through there." Anna stated, still in tears, but slightly calmed down. They ran through a door and saw a few helicopters.
"Hey!" came a loud voice. Henry looked over to one of the helicopters and saw George standing next to one. They all ran over to him as he jumped inside and started it up. He looked above them and turned around to the others who'd just got in. "Ok, firstly, who are they?" he asked, looking at Dave and Kylie.
"We found them." Lucy answered. "They're survivors like us." George nodded.
"Ok. Secondly, where's Jake?" he asked. There was a long silence. "Oh." George said, realizing he must be dead. "Oh, shit." Anna nodded. "And thirdly, see that office thing over there?" he asked, pointing. They all nodded. "I need someone to go open the hatch above us. There should be a button in there."
"Ok, I'll go." Henry replied, jumping out of the helicopter. He ran over to the smallish room and looked at the control desk. There was lots of switches and buttons, and he looked through them. He eventually found the right one, and pressed it. A loud, mechanical whir echoed through the helicopter bay, and the roof above them started to open. Henry ran back to the helicopter as rain fell into the room from the small storm outside. He jumped back into the helicopter, closing the door. "Go!" he shouted. George started up the helicopter again, and lifted it off the ground, and through the open roof.