Chapter 4 Earth

Roberte sat with his boot heels resting on the stools legs.

"Bar tender, another."

He poured him self a drink from a dwindling bottle of whisky.

"I usually take ice.."

Wooden walls and floor, pictures hanging, a few ale casks around for decoration. This was a old theme bar that had fell into disrepair, helping it look that bit more authentic. It was thick of a years dust, Roberte drew swirls on the polished counter top.

" fucking space, i bet we explode on take off, mars? pfffft."

He stood up to go to the toilet, realised where he was and immediately undid his trousers and urinated on the floor. He swayed gently. The alcohol made him glow with invincibility. He walked over to the window buttoning his trousers up. It was getting dark, his best idea in fact was to stay in doors, safe tonight and head out tomorrow morning. He could secure the door, have some more drinks. The dusky street lit up, buildings flashed. The sound of a car followed the headlights as it sped past the bar. Roberte quickly zipped up his trousers and ran to get his gun off the bar. Alain could still hear the engine in the street. it hadn't stole through as he expected it to. The engine was low, stationary. His heart beat thick in his chest, moving his body with every beat. He convinced himself he was sober enough to deal with this. The trail of urine had trickled towards him he shuffled to avoid it,but then he heard people, voices. The urine changed courses on the wooden floor and the stream flowed directly to him. Muffled voices came in through the window. He felt the wetness on his leg, the smell arrived too.

" Hey,"

Roberte shouted with instant regret.

" I'm in here, I'm coming out, no worries Okay?"

The voices were more numerous than they seemed from the bar already. He pushed the door open. Roberte had just finished counting seven people in a semi circle across the street when the eighth, whose steps he heard quickening towards him, rammed the end of his rifle into Roberte's stomach. The world went dark and aside from a vomitous feeling in his throat and heavy blows that could have landed on any part of his body, Roberte felt nothing.

It is a strange feeling to overwrite memories, especially the mundane ones. Alain had entered the gates for work every day half asleep, he now left them in a pickup truck, to scavenge for supplies in an unwelcome world.

"You know if there's people around, they wil have stolen the food, they'll be dangerous too."

Sahil was on edge out of the compound. He trusted the computers and the buildings more than he trusted Alain driving.

"We need to go to the town for this storage anyways. I bet we get some clues about what happened here, whats happening. "

" You think we'll run into anyone?"

Charlie didn't answer, instead drove on and let the question sink in. The question of evacuees had been raised at the meeting. They had the capacity to evacuate hundreds, if not thousands. Ailbe had been in favor of this. He showed the images a satellite had captured of tilled fields and smoking chimneys. People lived on the planet still. Year long veterans of a rancid world. Alain swerved by wreckages of cars, some empty, some with dead inside them. The wrecks became dense, the truck began swerving around them on a narrow two lane road.

"WHAT THE FUCK"

Everyone lurched forward.

" I didn't have my seat belt on what are you think.."

" SHUT UP, Quiet"

Charlie hissed. He pointed over the dashboard towards a bus that lay diagonally across the road.

"Can't you go round it on the grass? its a 4x4"

Alain noted the shock on Charlies face and turned to see what he was watching. Filthy once white rags trailed along the floor, her hair was knotted and matted with mud. It didn't look towards the car but it was walking towards it.

"One of them."

"Okay we have guns, lets just see how it acts."

Charlie stopped the engine and stepped out of the car with the assault rifle that was lying in the foot-well. He side stepped out the way of the door with his barrel fixed on its slow lumbering movements.'Shoot on sight' Primula had warned. It started to breath impatiently, with difficulty. Its head lifted on a jaunty angle with wretched moans, it fixed its eyes on Alain. The moans grew louder as a lust filled the creature. It screamed and roared, moving faster, hobbling. The cries were growing and were joined by other tones, movement began on the bus. As the seconds drew on, the thing drew closer and movement was all around Alain. He pointed his rifle between targets and began pacing back towards the pickup. Several more filthy half dead limped around both sides of the bus. Their arms outstretched reaching towards Alain.

"GO GO GO"

The crack of gunfire filled the air as Alain fired three shots at the head of the closest one. The last two hit others that had swarmed behind it now. Then, swiftly tracing a length of the bus which was now crawling with them he shot a burst of rounds. It hit glass and metal with a 'ThuckThuckThuck'. Blood splatted onto the remaining shards in the window. The bus still groaned teeming with the hostile dead. Retreating Charlie hopped into the waiting drivers seat and slammed his door shut. He had turned the key in the engine just as the first hands touched the front of the car. Alain had been sitting in the passenger seat, he had made no movements in all the time Charlie had fought fast. Only when the engine gave a pathetic whir did he come back into the world. Bodies lay with their hands outstretched on the bonnet, they rose their heads. Their faces exploded and they slumped in a pile of flesh on the bonnet. Sahil standing on the bed of the truck had took a head shot. He repeated and the resulting blood splatted on the windscreen. Dirty bloody hands appeared at the windows along with faces of rotten, deceased people. Their teeth were broken and grimy and they screeched and groaned, mirthlessly thrashing their bodies against the windows. The engine ticked over whirred limp before roaring into life. Charlie pulled down on the reverse lever and the bodies fell to the floor from the front of the car. The orange pickup was covered in blood and the attackers were left in a pile, some got to their feet to give chase and others crawled ungraciously along the ground their arms outstretched baying for the flesh of the occupants. The pickup reversed into a sedan half way into a three point turn and Sahil had only just managed to stay standing holding on when the engine changed gears and roared away back from where it came. Nobody spoke until they were clear of the last scattered wreckages.

"Left at the junction adds a couple of miles, we'll get there."

Sahil was slumped in the back of the pickup and stared off in the distance. He had shot several off them in the head, the kick of the rifle had made his shoulder sore and there was a underlying silence he knew was from the shots. He struggled to make sense of what he had done in his head. He knew they were no longer human, he didn't really feel remorse. It was more shock. He hadn't froze, he had acted and shot something in the head. These that could be killed remorselessly, and would kill as well, roamed planet Earth in herds.

The orange truck ceased chugging as Alain killed the engine. Charlie's finger, ever by his trigger, he scrutinised the area. Sahil was sat in the bed of the truck, coming to terms with what happened. He was relaxing his muscles one at a time, just as he did after a stressful situation in the real world. Usually office confrontations or traffic. He was interrupted by Alain.

"Okay lets, move, watch for Aliens"

Charlie and Sahil both frowned at this name, but considered it. The slobbering creatures weren't that far from the portrayal of aliens. Aliens was a good term for them, the creatures and their creation was truly alien to the group. They were lead out of the car by Alain who rolled the chain link gates aside and lead the way into the compound. Rows of dilapidated industrial units with pebble dashed walls and rusty roll up shutters stretched away in the distance. Sahil was to look for the parts, charlie was the muscle and Alain was in charge of mission integrity. Alain was leading them quickly and confidently to one of the rows, amongst a section of them that looked like they had either been looted post apocalypse or were just run down. The shutter they arrived at was that of 'busy Bee´s Nursery'. It's shutter was unbroken, Alain produced a key from his pocket, jigged it into the heavy padlock that lay at the bottom of the door. He dead lifted the door single-handedly and it rolled back and up into the ceiling. Confused looks were shared as Alain completed this task and strode into the darkness, as he had done it before.

"so what you used to come here?"

" This is a TP workshop, top secret, off base"

The smell of plastic toys and rubber padded climbing frames was pungent.

"It looks like a creche."

" It's both"

The group now had an anxiety about them, produced by there encounter at the road block earlier. Everything was regarded with suspicion. The only thing that kept them pressing on in the indistinguishable darkness was the figure of Alain moving on through the toys, cots and games that weer scattered, dropped mid play. Too busy checking behind him, Sahil barely noticed Alain had stopped at a door at the back of the room. He swiped a card from his pocket against an area of wall no different from the rest. The door hissed open. Looking wooden from the outside this door swung and creaked with a heavy iron character. lights glimmered and hummed to life in the room beyond the heavy door. Once they were in the door shut behind them. The feeling of being out in the open was replaced by an isolated, confined feeling. The windowless room had a low ceiling, compounded by the low hanging racks that held electronics, chunks of metal, wires hung down from them. Below every rack was a metal table, the industrial type used in kitchens. A workshop in the back of a nursery. The smell of ripe and sweaty children's oft used toys, and the plasticised protective environment had now been replaced by a metal workshop, parts strewn everywhere, the smell of festering engine oil and a background of burnt plastic was a world of opposites. Sahil was finding it increasingly difficult to be surprised. From being selected for a space travel program, everything in between, and now being ready to fight off the un-dead around every corner. The workshop was a different class to the gleaming hangar 8 at TR were no flags, no presentation, everything had a functional and rough edge.. Charlie noticed on work bench had hundreds of smart phones in various states of disassembly on it. it was a littered mess. Alain was already at the side of the room, this time swiping a card, in a more evident machine, another door gave a click, evident of a heavy lock deep looked around with a tentative air as the others had done until now, Charlie didn't think he had been through this door before. not like t rest. it was hard to fathom how this space could fit into the small, grim lock ups in long rows. It felt almost as if they were underground. this room was full of crates and boxes, a rolling door was visible past the neatly stacked crates of all sizes. Various markings were on the boxes, Charlie noticed a few words he recognised, with displeasure; Suppressant, incendiary.

"Alain what is this place?"

Alain motioned Charlie to come with him, he stopped next to a large wooden box and slid the loose lid off it. all Charlie could see was packing confetti. he rummaged through this until he felt cold steel and pulled it out.

" A laser capable of discerning and disabling all lenses, say cameras, scopes, CCTV, within sight lines. Not very useful for us, but experimental."

It was CD like shape with several tennis ball sized spheres around it. Alain passed it to charlie, he handled the dangerous weapon with ease, and caution, it was apparently without a trigger.

"This is just an example, I'm not saying we need these but we need some of the stuff here, sooner we get rid of the chunky Chinese made rifles the better"

Charlie lifted his rifle and dropped it in agreement. The strap dug into his shoulder, easily 15 pounds.

" What else is there that we need?"

Charlie feigned interest, he hid his internal ambivalence well, as he had done in the military. He wasn't sure of Alain, and therefore Primula's intentions with these kinds of weapons. For now he would play the soldier, and wait.

"Anything bigger?"

he smirked.

Sahil had found the equipment he needed. He arrived the group in the middle of the room, Alain and Charlie had a trolley with one large chest high box on.

" It's got one of each thing we need in, you won't need a whole box of each. We have the printer remember the replicator. "

"I'll take two as a redundancy measure."

Alain shrugged and loosened the clips. Once the lid was fastened on the box Sahil double took it.

"What else have you got?"

" Military, not civilian Sahil, sorry"

" very funny."

The team walked over in unison to the roll up door. Alain had unlocked it, they continued to talk together mocking Sahil, the nerd of the group. The rusty shutter creaked up about a foot, Alain murmured; one, two three. Charlie had only just reacted to the shadows and the sense of danger outside the doors, when the other two gave their final concerted heave. the sound of the door rattling home immediately drew the eyes of the crowd of dead that gathered outside the door. They looked in with hunger. Charlie began firing almost immediately, Alain rushed to the back of the trolley and began pushing . Charlie's rifle cracked as bodies dropped. he moved forward pointing the gun and firing in short bursts. he stopped momentarily to kick the lifeless legs of an alien from the path of the trolley. The group broke free, but the shots had clearly roused at least 30 of the monsters. They came limping towards the group arms outstretching, baying for blood. Alain moved to the front and pulled the trolley, as Charlie and Sahil pushed from the back. They dug their shoulders in and leaned all the might into pushing the trolley. it was only as it began to pick up speed and they were away from the immediacy of being torn apart did they realise how much trouble they had roused. They advanced away from the group as the rattle of the trolley spurred on the aliens, retching and gasping. Charlie ceased pushing in a second, stood bolt upright and shot into the crowd that showed no signs of thinning. on crumpled bloody mess was replaced by another screeching monster from the horde. Ever advancing. If you missed the head all you did was slow them down, and anger them more. with splats of blood and roars from them.

"I'm empty!"

Charlie shouted as he regained the box. The slight incline imperceptible on the way in was now making pushing the trolley even harder. Charlie moved back to the trolley hearing the groans from his compatriots and began heaving. Sahil spat as he breathed heavily, his face pressed against the box. His thighs burned and he felt vomit on the edge of his throat. Charlie burst towards the gate pulling it open to the side. Alain moved to the back of the box in his place, put his back to it and sprayed bullets wildly into the crowd. He hit various places on the first row of bodies and some hit in the legs fell, tripping those behind. Some exploded and sent cartilage and bone into the crowd. Charlie Ran back to the trolley, determined to give one last pull, helping the box over the fences precipice. With this yank the trolley moved further away from Alain than he had expected, left a space that he pushed into with vigour, he stumbled and fell to the ground backwards. His legs kicked up into the air. The hollow wrap on the concrete as Alain's head bounced echoed around everyone's skulls. His eyes stung shut and all he could sense was the smell of the rotten dead and their weight upon him. He felt he was being eaten. His limbs were being pulled, crushed, the smell, the wetness of cold blood. Sahil had pulled Alain's arm, the dead, executed by charlie had fell on him. His head lolled back and forth with each pull by Sahil. Charlie was now swinging his rifle like a club amongst the group, the slower ones at the back of the pack. A tangled defeated mess of corpse guts atop a barely perceptible Alain lay in front of the gates. Charlie joined in dragging him out. He discovered his arm amongst a pile of limbs. The two pulled together and his limp body finally emerged. His clothes were as filthy as those who attacked him. the gate was pulled shut once they were through it and the very slowest of the aliens crashed into it as they sat on the other side. they snapped and clawed at Sahil and charlie who sat upright, Alain wriggled grossly on the floor and coughed. after a few minutes Alain was helped into the passenger seat. charlie reloaded his empty clips with bullets from the glove box. each one clicked into its place. the world was unsafe now. Every journey, every road, the world was a hostile place where danger never subsided for the living. With a last glance from the back of the struck as it pulled away, Sahil looked into the hungry bloodshot eyes at the fence.

Alain's face lay on the window, brown blood had smudged against it as they drove. His hair, usually impeccably neat was matted thick with blood. Primula saw first the blood on the bonnet of the truck. it swung in and the passenger side door stopped where she stood. soundlessly she picked Alain out of the seat and carried him to the entrance to the building. "Head trauma, concussion, minor contusions, please report to the infirmary."

The infirmary was empty when Charlie got there. A barely perceptible change in an almost constant noise lead charlie out of the room down the hall. There were smears of filth down the corridor grubby bloody hand marks on the white walls. He rounded the corner of the shower room to see Alain, lying on the floor of the cubicle in half, fetal half recovery position. Primula sprayed him like a mother sternly but with love washes a naughty messy toddler. There was no red left in the shower or on Alain, just bruises and cuts. " Primula that was serious, they walk in packs, gang up on you..." She pointed the shower head at him still, like a hose. "...it's not safe to go out there." " i killed one, i know how disgusting they are." " Roberte won't last by himself out there." "What happened?" she asked, still staring with solemnity at Alain. " We got everything you wanted, Alain got crushed by 10 of them for it." Charlie was clearly searching with this comment. "See anything you like?" " i would like to see how a few things work, you realise that stuff is 20.- 30 years ahead of what we are using out there" prim reach over naked Alain and clicked the shower off. "men's toys" she scooped up Alain's naked body and hesitantly accepted Charlie's help. With Charlie's unwanted help the two of them walked him down back towards the infirmary. Alain's head bobbed between them. not one to be confronted by awkward silence. Primula unusually relented, even she needed allies sometimes. Now more than ever. " The second test was of a military nature, not humanitarian. We had weapons to test in space, just as we had to test your bodies. " So cold when she talks about things, Charlie thought. "So what did you get from there for the mission?" " Protection." " From the Aliens? That's what Alain called them. We're going to need it if we stay any longer, call Roberte in." " He stopped radio contact within a day. I haven't heard anything from him."