After crawling - more like slithering, given the profusion of muck and filth therein - out of the culvert, Bill and I crept back to the gate as stealthily as possible. The ground was riddled with pockmarks where the M60 mounted atop the humvee had torn up the dirt, but there was no sign of either Francis or Louis.
Hardly surprising, honestly. Common sense dictated that they had to have hid somewhere, or they'd be dead now. My heart froze as other possibilities snuck unbidden into my head - maybe they had been killed, or worse, maybe they'd been captured and hauled back into the base for some insidious purpose.
No, I sternly reminded myself, These people would have no use for prisoners. They're just trying to eradicate all traces of the infection, so Francis and Louis would have just been shot, and then their bodies would probably have been burned.
Although that wasn't very reassuring either. Trying very hard not to think about Francis's body lying in the bottom of an unmarked ditch, I pressed my back against the wall and mouthed to Bill "What do we do now?"
"Now," he whispered back, "We wait."
-O-
As it turned out, we didn't have long to wait. After no more than five minutes - although to be honest, it felt more like five hours - I caught sight of two dark shapes creeping towards us, crouched low in the shadow of the wall. A lump of ice that had been constricting my heart melted in a flash, and I breathed a long sigh of relief. They were alive.
As Francis and Louis halted on the other side of the gate from us, I drank in the sight of the biker across from me greedily. Standing on the precipice and staring down into the endless void yawning open before me - as I had just done - always instilled within me an aching desire to cling desperately to life and all it entailed. And right now, with the world gone to shit and even other uninfected humans trying to kill us, all life entailed was me and my love for Francis.
But, no matter how much I longed to fling myself into his arms, the chain-link gate of the PURGE base separated us, a deadly gap that neither of us could cross, invisible and intangible yet impenetrable.
Bill and Louis were frantically trying to communicate with hand signals, and by the looks of it, having only mixed success. I locked eyes with Francis, and he looked like he was about to make a move when the chain-link gate started rattling open.
"Shit!" I hissed, leaping backwards. Bill did likewise beside me, and we both scurried backwards across the ground. My gaze flashed around, desperately seeking a glimpse of the other half of our group, yet Francis and Louis were gone, melted into the shadows. Bill grabbed me by the collar and hauled me backwards, standing me up and pressing me against the wall. I squeezed against it, fervently wishing to be elsewhere.
After the gate had swung fully open, a black humvee identical to the one that had almost spelled our doom earlier rolled out, full of soldiers dressed identically to the one we had briefly spoken to. The turret-mounted M60 raked the hill leading down to the river, and I swallowed hard, trying with all my might to sink into the wall and disappear.
As the humvee ground past and rolled away along the crest of the hill, its turret sweeping back and forth, I caught a snippet of muffled conversation. "…gotta be around here somewhere…"
Oh, hell. My heart almost skipped a beat. They're still looking for us. Then I stopped myself, taking a deep breath and calming myself. One thing at a time, girl. First we get out of here, then we can worry about the soldiers chasing us.
Eventually, Bill and Louis seemed to come to some sort of resolution, as Bill gave me a gentle push and whispered "Back down to the river, Zoey." Casting a nervous glance at the still-open gate, I hunkered down and started off at a crouching run for the hill.
-O-
Once I skidded to a splashing halt in the ankle-deep, frigid water near the edge of the river, I turned to look as the other three followed me down. Francis slid to a stop next to me, splattering my legs with icy water, and pulled me in for a brief hug. Pressed against his chest, I could feel his heart racing as fast as mine.
We tore ourselves apart as Bill cleared his throat from behind us, and turned to look as the 'Nam vet pointed down the river, in the direction we had been going. "Well, that was a total bust," he said, sweeping the group with his glance. "Looks like our only choice is to keep looking for that 'immune city' place we-…"
"Lieutenant! Down there!"
Oh, shit.
Gunfire shattered the relative silence, and bullets hissed around us. I jumped involuntarily as one threw up an explosion of water not ten inches from me, and we took off down the river. Louis was ducking low and shielding his head with his hands, Bill was taking occasional potshots with his rifle, and Francis just tried to keep between me and the half-seen assailants atop the riverbank.
Suddenly, Bill cursed and went down, face-first into the icy river. My heart lurched as a saw a crimson stain spreading outwards from his leg, turning the water into a scarlet fog. Francis skidded to a halt, flinching away as bullets slapped into the water all around him, and charged back as Bill started painfully hauling himself up out of the water.
"Damn it, no! Get the hell out of here!" Bill yelled, but Francis ignored him. Grabbing the older man, the big biker threw him irreverently over his shoulders, and took off.
Once in the relative shelter of the overhanging bridge, we paused to take a breather. Francis set Bill down gently on the riverbank, and Louis bent to inspect the wound. The constant chatter of gunfire had ceased, but I knew the soldiers from PURGE were still up there, watching, waiting.
Francis's voice broke me from my thoughts. "I was sure we were going to die out there. When those helicopters popper over the wall…" he broke off, and there was a long moment of silence before he added "I was sure you were going to die. And I was terrified. I felt so goddamn powerless… zombies I can shield you from, but helicopters? Sitting there in the shadow of the wall, waiting for a spotlight to find me, waiting for the bullets to start flying… I couldn't do anything, and it scared the hell out of me."
I blinked, surprised. It was a moment before I turned around, and when I locked eyes with Francis I saw fear in those chestnut orbs. Taking two long strides forward, I enveloped him in my arms, resting my cheek against his powerful chest. "Francis…" I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear, "It's okay. You don't have to shield me every single time. I love you, and I know you love me too, but you can't keep throwing yourself in front of danger just to protect me. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."
Francis blew out a long sigh, and I felt his chest deflate a little with the expelled air. "I know," he said, so softly I had to strain to hear it. "Goddamn it, I know, but… all this shit with my family, with Nicky and Max… I failed them. I should have tried harder to keep the relationship working with Nicky, should have been home more often… I should have taken action the moment I heard about the Green Flu, gone out and found Max, kept him safe…" I felt a single, solitary tear land atop my head, and Francis finished "I lost both of them, and I cannot, can not lose you too."
I didn't trust my voice just then, so instead I just moved my arms from his chest to his neck, strained up, and kissed him. At first he seemed somewhat surprised, but after a mere second he wrapped his arms around me, his lips melting onto mine. I realized he was crying, and held him tighter against me, wanting more than anything to somehow heal those old wounds, to make the pain go away, the memories stop haunting him.
But we just didn't have the time for such things. So I pulled away, murmuring comfort and apologies, and turned to survey the situation. Bill's leg had been bandaged, and Louis was helping him to his feet. I could hear the engine of a jeep idling somewhere nearby, and mentally cursed whatever crazy son of a bitch had founded PURGE. To survive a zombie apocalypse and then get killed by other humans… ugh.
"Alright, ladies," Bill said, hobbling towards us. "Team huddle. We gotta get out of here."
"Yeah, no shit," Francis muttered, coming up behind me, but Bill paid him no heed.
Suddenly, a thought floated through my brain, the first shadow of an idea. It terrified me to even think about it… but it might just be our only chance. "I can't believe I'm about to suggest this…" I said, then took a deep breath and began.
"What we need is a distraction," I said, and all three men shot me looks in various shades of worried or skeptical. "The bigger the distraction, the better. These guys seem to have no love for anything infected, so…" I broke off, not entirely sure I even wanted to say it. I felt Francis put a hand on my shoulder and squeeze, as if saying 'go on'. So I did. "So, why don't we call some infected to distract these assholes?"
A light came on behind Bill's eyes, and he slowly started to smile. "Zoey," he said, rubbing a hand through his thick grey beard, "I think you're a genius."
Louis, however, had a worried frown on his face. "With all of these helicopters and shit flying around, I think all the infected within hearing distance would have been summoned by now."
"Well then," I said, and smiled to myself, "We'll just have to get creative."
-O-
"Zoey," Louis whispered from his place crouching beside me, "This is either the smartest or the dumbest thing I have ever done."
"Yeah, tell me about it," I shot back, fingers slick on the grip of my pistol. Francis, of course, had volunteered for the job of attracting as many infected as possible. If his performance back during our escape from Fairfield was any indicator, it was a job right up his alley.
Surprisingly for a man of his bulk, he had managed to sneak out and over the far riverbank without alerting the PURGE soldiers sweeping the area, and had long ago disappeared from view with the group's last remaining pipe bomb. It was practically a suicide mission, but I knew that he wouldn't back down from it. He was never a man to resist a challenge, especially when our lives - well, to be honest, my life - were in danger.
Just as I was considering going out after Francis, I heard a faint, repetitive beeping, just on the edge of my hearing. My heart leapt into my throat, and I crept forward a step as the beeping slowly grew louder. And louder.
Not more than a few seconds later, Francis came charging over the riverbank, running full-out, with the pipe bomb - unlit - clutched in one of his hands. Pulling back his arm, he threw it with all his might in the direction of the PURGE camp, then dove towards us, landing in an awkward, sliding roll next to me. I had just managed to grab him and haul him the rest of the way under the bridge when his pursuers crested the bank.
There must have been a hundred of them. They came pouring down the slope in a tide of rotting flesh and gaping jaws, howling and snarling. I frantically crawled backwards to get away from the stampede, and only once they had all passed safely by did I dare to stick my head out from under the bridge.
I could hear gunfire, cursing and the bellows of the infected from the other side of the river, so I motioned the others to follow me. It was time to get the hell out of there.