Chapter 33: Stitches

Robles

"You know, Sarge, didn't that seem a bit too easy?" Leo wondered as they were driving back to the radio station.

"A blessing, in my opinion."

"Oh yeah?" Leo pointed, "Why are you still holding the Jackhammer?"

Paccone grinned. "Privilege of rank, private. I get to take what I want."

Leo was about to retort when he thought he heard something. He stopped the Warthog so the engine wouldn't throw off his hearing.

"Hey, what's the holdup?" Mann asked.

"Shhh!" Leo put his finger to his lips. "You hear that?"

There were several moments of tense silence, but then, a very faint, but audible thud thud thud could be heard… coming from behind them.

"Oh no," Mann groaned, "Don't tell me that-"

A very familiar roar answered back.

"Damn! That thing's still alive? I thought you put a rocket in its face!"

Paccone looked at his Jackhammer as if it were somehow defective and said, "I thought I did."

"Well, in any case, he is back, and he is pissed." Mann looked at Leo. "I suggest you drive, NOW."

As if to underscore Mann's words, the abomination rounded a corner and roared again as it saw them. It was also deceptively fast, and with just a few strides, the creature was almost on top of them. Leo, seeing the abomination closing in them, slammed his foot on their Warthog's accelerator and drove as if the devil himself were right behind them.

Radio Station

Sam looked over to her left to see that the now supposedly dead man was twitching and slowly squirming, as if trying to get back up, but couldn't remember how.

"Oh shit." Sam gasped. She snatched her battle rifle and pulled the trigger.

Click. Nothing happened. The gun was jammed. Sam cursed again, and tried to manually remove the jammed round. Meanwhile, the now-zombified civilian slowly got to its feet, and glared at her with a meat-eating stare. Suddenly, there were three loud bangs! And the zombie fell to the floor, twitching. Sam turned to see Colette standing the other side of the room, holding the pistol in her trembling hands.

"Good shooting there, Colette." Sam said. She looked quietly at the corpse, and suddenly, she figured it all out. It was all so clear now… "Colette, can I have my pistol back?"

Meanwhile, in another section of the station, the cleanup operation was going well. The improvised search teams were successfully hunting down and eliminating the intruders. Kumi and Siler already managed to cut down six of the undead horrors already. Kumi and Siler made their way down a narrow hallway, checking any rooms they passed and locking doors as they moved. Kumi was in the lead and caught sight of something odd.

"Siler?" Kumi stopped. "Did you remember seeing this hole in the wall?"

Siler moved up behind Kumi, and saw a massive hole in the wall. The wall was just a mess of tangled steel and splintered wood, and chunks of pulverized plaster littered the floor. It looked as if a small elephant had gone straight through it.

"What could have done that?" Siler asked in disbelief.

Robles

"Sir, permission to speak freely?"

"Go ahead, private."

"That was the craziest shit I have ever seen!"

Paccone grinned, "But it worked, didn't it?"

"I suppose so…"

Behind them, the massive, bloated corpse of the abomination laid on the ground, body smoking from repeated rocket impacts, the result of some good aim and very tricking driving.

"I'm pretty sure it'll stay down this time."

"Umm, sir?" Mann trembled. "I hate to say this, but I don't think you killed it for good."

"What?" Paccone turned around, and saw that the corpse was gone. "Where the hell did it go?" He sputtered.

Leo shouted in surprise when the flesh composite burst from a building several yards in front of them. He slammed the Warthog in the reverse and started driving in the opposite direction.

"Why doesn't this thing just stay dead!" Paccone yelled, reloading his rocket launcher.

Omega

The elevator slowly creaked down to the deepest depths of the Omega facility. Karla couldn't help but feel that they were being lowered into the pit of the Underworld. Because they were carrying the HAVOK tactical nuclear mine with them, there was only enough room in the elevator to accommodate her, Williams, Tarin, and Holy. Karla hoped that would be enough to get the HAVOK into position and arm it.

"Ready, guys?" asked Karla.

Her other team members grimly nodded, and prepared themselves for what may appear on the other side of the door. The old freight lift doors slowly heaved themselves open, revealing an empty hallway.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Said Williams.

Karla and Holy led the way down the hall. The lowest level contained the power systems and fuel storage tanks that would give the HAVOK the extra punch needed to annihilate the facility, as well as destroy vital support structures that kept the place standing.

"Damn, this place gives me the creeps." Williams said nervously, looking at all of the empty holding cells.

"Keep moving." Karla said.

Williams kicked the robotic dolly carrying the HAVOK warhead to get it moving. Though its basic AI paled in comparison to that of a standard operating one, the dolly was still smart enough to carry its cargo and follow the squad it was assigned to.

"It looks clear." Tarin observed, giving a close look at the surrounding environment.

"That's what I thought seven levels up." Karla said grimly.

"What's that?" Holy pointed down the hall.

Karla turned and saw a large, observation window. The kind they had in hospitals and labs to let observers view what was within without being exposed to hazards like dangerous chemicals or machinery. In it, she saw a man in a bright white haz-mat suit pounding against the glass window. Tarin and Williams moved forward to try and help. Tarin hit the door console, but nothing happened. The door remained shut. Suddenly, something in the darkness of the lab grabbed the hapless man, slammed into the window several times with bone crushing force, and pulled him into the darkness. Tarin and Williams quickly backed away from the window.

"What the hell was that?" Williams yelled frantically.

"Can we kill it?" Holy asked.

"No." Karla said sternly. "We have a mission to complete."

Robles

"We should really give him a name." Paccone said as he looked at the dead-again corpse.

"You're kidding me." Leo coughed. "It's a giant zombie that keeps chasing us and won't die, and you want to name it?"

"Well, there's a superstitious and practical side to it. Have I ever told you about Sparky?"

"No." Leo shook his head. "I haven't been in your squad that long."

"Well, if we live through this, I'll tell you about it someday."

"And why did you want to name him?" asked Mann.

"Well, for the superstitious side, its just a sort of good luck thing to fight something you can just name."

"And the practical side?" Leo asked.

Paccone shrugged. "Well, if it keeps coming back, you've gotta call it something."

Leo nodded. "Good point. Hey, I know, lets call it Michael, or Jack, or something."

"Ugh, no… just… no." Paccone shook his head in disgust. "You are not naming anything ever."

"You have a better one, sir?"

"I was thinking of calling him Stitches. I kinda like it. Has a nice ring to it."

Suddenly, the corpse groaned and started twitching.

"Uhhh, maybe we should leave before Stitches wakes up from his beauty nap." Said Mann, backing away.

Radio Station

"I'm telling you, no ordinary zombie can do that sort of thing." Kumi said as she opened the door to Sam's room."

"Well, we haven't found anything in the station. Anything big enough to make a hole that size would be sure to leave a trail." Siler said.

"Yeah, well- oh my god!" Kumi burst through the door when she saw Sam holding her pistol at her own head. "What the hell are you doing?" Kumi screamed, snatching the pistol away from Sam.

Sam sighed. "I was hoping to save you the trouble. It's really only a matter of time…"

"Time for what?" asked Kumi.

"Maybe later. I'm tired."

Kumi was about to press Sam for more answers, when there was a loud crash from the hallway behind them.

"What, the fuck is that!" Siler yelled.

"Armageddon." The creature growled.