Hey ya'll, really sorry this chapter took so long to finish. I was busy writing like crazy for NaNoWriMo (that's National Novel Writing Month for those of you who don't know, go Google it) and didn't have much creative juice to spare at all during November. I feel terrible about leaving you people hanging, and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter!
The next week or so went by as a blur of trees, rolling hills and the endless chill that bit through my red sweatshirt and into my very bones. An endless, grinding slog uphill as we ascended into the Canadian mountains, punctuated by occasional encounters with wandering zombies who had strayed from the cities in search of food. Time rolled by in a monotonous rhythm, and I had long since lost track of the days.
It was early morning when we finally reached the outskirts of the Echo safe zone. And it was raining. Water sliced down from the heavens in a curtain so thick it obscured sight, the freezing drops cutting into my hands and face like razorblades. I shivered in the frigid downpour, rubbing my hands together in a feeble attempt to warm them. Francis walked beside me, shoulders hunched, hugging himself. In that sleeveless shirt of his, he must have been freezing, but he didn't complain.
Our first sign of military presence was a barbed-wire-topped fence, lined at the base with sandbags, stretching as far as the eye could see in both directions, blocking our path. "Well, shit," Francis said, and I could tell it was an effort to stop his teeth from chattering. "Looks like we found it." "Damn right," Coach said, grinning and making no attempt to hide his shivers. "I cannot wait to get out of this damn rain," Nick grumbled, wiping his rain-slick hair away from his eyes. "My suit is completely soaked." "Cry me a river," Francis snarled, in no mood for Nick's complaining. I sighed, and said "Let's just try to find a way in, shall we?"
The entrance, as it turned out, was about half a mile away, uphill. It was rather obvious once we saw it; a large chain-link gate flanked by concrete-based wooden guard towers with corrugated metal roofs. From the windows in the front of the guard towers protruded the eight-barreled maws of miniguns, and in front of the gate was piled a mound of corpses. "See? See?" Nick said, jabbing a finger at the unmoving guns and the corpses piled against the closed gate. "What did I tell you? They're all dead. We walked all this way for nothing." "We don't know that, Nick," Coach said, his tone placating. Francis glared daggers at Nick and growled something incomprehensible, Bill sighed and adjusted his beret, and Rochelle turned away, hugging herself - and not just from the cold. "Come on," Bill said, shouldering his assault rifle with a sigh. "Let's go see for ourselves."
We had to clamber over a veritable field of bullet-riddled corpses to get to the gate, a task which had everyone except Francis and Bill gagging. Bill just had that same, gruff, seen-it-all-before look on his face, and Francis just looked disgruntled by the fact that his footing was unsure. Once we reached the gate, Coach stepped up and boomed "Hello! Anyone there! We're not infected!" There was no response, and Nick scoffed. He was about to make a scathing remark when from out of the rain-obscured fog inside the base came a harsh staccato crackle, and bullets whizzed and hissed past us. I yelped and dived to the side as I bullet singed my cheek with the heat of its passing, and Francis grabbed me, twisting around to put his huge frame between me and the bullets.
"What the hell are they doing!" Francis bellowed as we dived for cover. "What does it look like!" Bill shot back, flicking the safety on his rifle off. Francis, Rochelle, Coach and I hunkered down behind the concrete base of the guard tower, and I flinched as a bullet slapped the corner of it, blowing a fist-sized chunk of concrete out of the wall. Bill, Nick, Ellis and Louis took cover behind the other guard tower, and Bill started returning fire, holding his rifle out past the edge and spraying long, un-aimed bursts in the general direction of our attackers.
Suddenly, something small, round and metallic landed next to me, rolling along on the field of corpses before coming to rest not five feet from me. I heard Francis curse beside me, and he shoved me out of the way with alarming strength, taking two strides forward, snatching up the object and hurling it away with all his might.
He wasn't quite fast enough. The grenade detonated too close to him, and the huge biker was picked up like a rag doll and thrown a good ten feet by the force of the blast, landing hard and rolling a few times in the wet grass before coming to an awkward stop. With a cry, I picked myself up off the ground and ran towards him, keeping low to avoid the bullets that whizzed and hissed around us.
As I neared, I saw Francis move, and relief flooded through me. Getting his hands underneath him, the biker pushed himself to his hands and knees with considerable effort, then collapsed with a snarled curse. "Ah, shit," he growled as I skidded to a halt next to him. Looking up at me, he put on a devil-may-care smile - which quickly turned into a pained grimace - and said, his voice tight with pain, "Hey, babe. Mind givin' me a hand?"
Taking his proffered hand in both of mine, I hauled with all my might, and felt his fingers tighten around mine as he did the same. It surprised me how heavy he was - Francis was not a fat man, but with all that muscle he must have weighed almost three hundred pounds. When he was about halfway to his feet, Francis let out a gasp, his face going pale. "Shit!" he hissed, falling to one knee and clutching at his side. "Must have broken a rib or two!"
He must have seen the worry etched on my face, because he waved a dismissive hand at me, and growled "Go on, girl! I'll be fine!" I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or if he was simply being his overly-macho, 'tough guy' self, but I turned away to survey the battle unfolding around me.
Bill was yelling at Nick, but over the gunfire I couldn't hear what he was talking about. Ellis was reaching around the base of the tower, firing blind at the soldiers. A bullet grazed his arm, gouging a bloody furrow in the southerner's flesh. With a yelp, Ellis dropped his gun and jerked his arm back, clutching his bloody arm and groaning. Nick and Louis rushed over, the former whipping out his first aid kit and the latter unscrewing the top on a bottle of pain pills.
My attention was suddenly wrenched elsewhere as Bill yelled "Francis! Catch!" I looked over to see a pipe bomb sail through the air, spinning end over end, towards the biker who had just now regained his feet. Looking up, Francis snatched the explosive out of the air, and looked down at the flickering glow of the lit fuse.
He almost dropped the bomb. Managing to keep a hold of the lit explosive, Francis pulled his mighty arm back and lobbed the pipe bomb with all the strength he could muster towards the enemy soldiers. Turning towards Bill as the bomb sailed away, he bellowed "Are you completely out of your fu-…"
The bomb detonated with a thunderous roar, and fire blossomed outward in a roiling cloud on the far side of the fence. The shockwave rattled the chain-link gate, and the gunfire abruptly ceased. My ears still rang from the constant clatter, and I slumped against the concrete wall, sliding down it to sit on the mat of corpses beneath me. Leaning my head back against the wall, I closed my eyes, allowing myself a moment of rest.
I opened my eyes to find Francis standing over me, holding a hand to his side and grimacing. "Hey, babe," he said, and held out his free hand. I took it gratefully, and the big biker hauled me to my feet, pulling me in briefly for a hug that almost crushed the breath out of me. Returning the gesture while carefully avoiding his injured side, I briefly buried my face in his chest. I was briefly overwhelmed by the mixed aroma of leather and sweat, and it was a welcome change from the stench of death that hung over the place. I felt one of Francis's hands idly running through my hair, and I muttered into his chest "I'm just tired, Francis… tired of running, tired of fighting, tired of this damn apocalypse…"
"I know," Francis whispered, planting a quick kiss on the top of my head before releasing me and walking away, towards the rest of the group. All of them except Bill were huddled around Ellis, who was sitting on the ground, cradling his thoroughly-bandaged arm.
"Hot damn, it stings," the southerner drawled as we approached. "Sorta reminds me of this one time mah buddy Keith an' I went fishin', an' I got a fishin' hook stuck right through the back of my hand! Y'see, Keith'd never fished b'fore, an' he thought that…" Nick gave the boy a hard glare, and Ellis shut his mouth with an audible 'snap', giving the con man an apologetic smile. Shaking his head, Nick stood up and walked over to us as we approached.
"That kid would tell stories at his own funeral," Nick said with a wry smile, folding his arms over his chest. "If he doesn't shut up soon, we're gonna be puttin' that joke to the test," Francis growled, glaring down at Ellis, who was launching into a prolonged monologue about something he and his buddy Dave had done once. I tuned him out, and turned to Francis to say something, when I stopped, and listened carefully. Holding a finger in Ellis's general direction in the universal 'quiet' gesture, I hissed "Everyone shut up!"
Everyone turned to look at me with startled expressions, but they all shut up like I had asked. I stood completely still, straining my ears to pick out the sound I had heard. And then I heard it again - over the pounding of the rain, the creaking of the gate, and the whispering of the wind, I could hear a faint, slightly fuzzy voice saying "Falcon 7, Falcon 7, come in! Repeat, come in Falcon 7, this is Delta Command!"
I looked at Francis. He looked at me. No one said anything for a full ten seconds, and then Louis gave a whoop of joy. A grin split Francis's features, and I could feel myself grinning back. Walking over, Francis grabbed me around the waist and lifted me into the air, planting a firm kiss on my lips. I felt excited, almost giddy. All we had to do was climb a fence, and we were home free.