Chapter 20: Regroup!
Robles
Leo was knocked to the ground when the Warthog exploded. He hit face first, and was deciding on whether just to lie on the ground or not when something grabbed him by the back of the collar and hauled him up.
"Don't nap on the job, Marine, or you'll wish these zombie freaks get you first!"
With that, Paccone raised his battle rifle and peppered the oncoming horde with bullets. Leo began to fumble with his own battle rifle when Paccone yelled.
"Shoot em in the head! It's the only thing that seems to put them down!"
Leo looked, and saw that it was indeed true. The only zombie… things that were down for good were the ones that seemed to have been shot in the head. Leo started firing, but even though dozens of zombies were going down, even more came to take their place.
"It's no good! We're going to have to fall back!"
Then, like a crack of thunder, Leo instantly remembered Sam. He looked back, desperately trying to look for his best friend, but through the wall of enemies, he couldn't see a thing.
"Sir, what about-"
"We've got no time it, Marine! We're out of here NOW!"
As if punctuating his words, a grenade exploded in the midst of the group of zombies, opening up a small gap between them.
"It's now or never!"
Paccone then half-ran, half-dragged Leo through the gap, let off a volley of fire at the zombies, and disappeared into the mist.
…
"We should have stayed! We should've looked for her!"
Taking refuge inside a small shop, Leo was still beating himself up over leaving Sam behind.
"Stow it, Carter. We don't have time to start bitching about what we didn't do. I lost some good friends back there too."
Paccone was quiet for a moment, but like a flash of lightning, he reverted back to his normal, gruff self.
"Right. Well, our objective now is to get back to the Pelican, and get out of this hellhole."
"Good idea sir, but…"
"But what?"
"It's going to be a pretty long walk to the landing pad sir, especially with all those zombie things out there."
"Then it looks like we're going to have to run over there then. You loaded?"
"Yes sir!"
Coincidentally, the shop they took shelter in just happened to be a military surplus store, and that store just happened to have some surplus UNSC Marine-grade weaponry and ammunition stashed away.
"Good, because it's going to be a long walk."
"You mean run, don't you, sir?
Paccone smiled and kicked the front door open.
Omega
"Holy shit!"
Karla fell backwards as a person fell on her. She tried to shove him off, until she realized that, unlike the other men back there, this one was still alive. At that moment, Holy and several Marines came in to see what the commotion was all about.
"Cap?"
Karla looked up, and turned the man over onto his back.
"Get a medic, NOW!"
"Yes ma'am!"
Seconds later, another Marine came into the kitchen. He knelt down to examine the sole survivor.
"Damn, he's in pretty bad condition. He's got hypothermia, and just beginning to get frost bite. Where the hell did you find him?"
"Freezer."
"Ah."
"So what can you do?"
The medic opened his medkit and shuffled through its contents.
"Well… I can give him some steroid and adrenaline injections, to boost his metabolism and warm him up, but only time can really do anything."
Karla nodded. She looked around, and remembered the twisted playground of dead bodies surrounding her.
"Okay, lets get this guy out into some fresh air. And tell everybody to clear out all the bodies. The least we can do for these guys is bury them."
"Yes ma'am.
"Holy."
The Elite raised his head.
"Yes?"
"You're coming with me. We've got some other things to check out."
The Elite looked at the medic. The medic merely shrugged, and proceeded to drag the unconscious survivor away.
"Where are we going?"
Karla walked back out of the room and headed towards the other end of the installation.
"Just to clarify a few suspicions I have about this place."
Robles
Leo reloaded his rifle again and kept firing. He had no idea how or why, but whenever they were out in the open these things seemed to be able to track them wherever they went. It was just impossible to shake them off.
"This way!"
Leo turned to see Paccone back up toward another unoccupied shop. He began to back up as well, pumping shots into the oncoming crowd. By the time he reached the door, Paccone had kicked the door open.
"Come on! Get in!"
Leo dashed inside the store. The minute he cleared the door, Paccone slammed it shut and braced it with several brooms and mops he found. There was a pounding sound on the other side of the door, but they soon subsided and completely stopped, as if the zombies had suddenly lost interest. Leo looked out the window and could see the zombie things shambling along aimlessly though the mist.
"What the hell are these things…"
"Shh! Hear that?"
Leo stopped to listen. It was very faint, but he could hear the familiar staccato bark of gunfire.
Sam?
"Looks like we aren't the only ones alive out there. Let's move it!"
Paccone slammed a fresh clip into his rifle and opened the door. After checking the surroundings, he gave the "all clear" sign and dashed down the street, with Leo close behind.
As they got closer to the sound, Paccone checked his HUD. They were close, since they were already in range to receive the digital information every Marine broadcasted. Leo pressed several buttons on his onboard CPU and saw the information as well.
He read three Marines. CPL. MANN, PVT. SILER, and PVT. LEEDS.
Leo checked the list again, examining the last name even closer.
"You gotta be shitting me!"