I left you guys with a suspenseful ending in the last chapter, let's continue with the action!
Benny could feel his lungs beginning to burn as he ran with Ethan at his side, Sarah leading the group as they ran through the streets of London towards a tunnel exit. He could hear the sound of approaching jets as two of them flew overhead, sending out their payload into a few buildings. Benny looked behind him as the sound wave from the explosion hit them, the buildings erupting with fire as the windows were blasted out.
"Hurry guys!" Sarah screamed as they made their way past a blockade and into the Thames Tunnel as they kept running. Benny could only see from their flashlights dashing around until a faint red glow began to emit from the beginning of the tunnel behind them. Benny looked behind them as fire was barreling down the tunnel towards them, the heat beginning to warm his skin.
"Shit! Come on!" Benny screamed as he watched Sarah throw off some of her gear to lighten the weight on her body.
Benny could see the end of the tunnel getting closer as they dodged through cars and decomposing bodies that had not been picked up yet. Benny could tell Ethan was beginning to tire as his running became more erratic, he stopped momentarily to throw Ethan over his back before continuing to run. He could hear Ethan's soft whimpers and wheezing in his ear as he caught his breath, the fire hot on their trails before Benny finally felt the cool air of the night as they burst out into a city street again. Benny threw himself with Ethan atop of him to the left as Sarah and the nurse jumped to the right, just as the fire blew out of the exit and engulfed them in heat. Benny laid on the ground coughing as he felt Ethan get to his knee's, tears pouring from his eyes as he looked across the Thames at Downtown London. The whole city was erupting with napalm bombs as the liquid fire washed through the streets and blew upwards through the buildings. Benny looked up as he steadied himself, still catching his breath as he watched the haunting image unfold before him.
"London is once again burning down...we need to move." Sarah said as she turned to see the fire still spewing from the tunnel exit.
"Everything I've ever known is burning before my very eyes! Can I have a moment?!" Ethan hollered out, watching as the city he was born and raised burned to the ground. He continued to cry as he screamed at the wind, the sun beginning to rise in the distance as black plumes of smoke drifted towards the heavens. Benny stood up as he held his aching side and positioned himself in front of Ethan, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Ethan, we've got to keep moving. We are sitting ducks right now staying here, we've got to find shelter." Benny said as he held one of his hands onto Ethan's shoulder and looked into those brown eyes he had come to know. Benny brought Ethan close to him as the smaller of the two nodded his head and cried into his shoulder as he let Benny help him up.
"Sarah! Did you make it out! Do you come in Sarah?" came the voice from earlier as Sarah once again got her radio and brought it to her lips.
"I'm here, what's the news so far?" Sarah said as she walked off a bit towards the side, the other three standing there catching their breath as they watched her talk. Benny held Ethan close as he turned his head to see one of the high rises collapsing from the effects of napalm. That's when Sarah came walking back up to them.
"I've got good news and I've got bad news. Good news is one of the helicopter pilots still flying around the area has agreed to meet us at a nearby location but it'll take a bit to get there. Bad news, the Commander has ordered for the rest of London to be gassed with a very toxic cerebral toxin. Apparently some of the infected escaped the fire squads and out of District One and they are gassing the streets within the next hour. We need to move and we need to move fast." Sarah said as Benny looked at Ethan who in turn looked at him before Sarah signaled them to come on as they began to walk through the abandoned streets. Ethan clung onto Benny for a bit more before deciding to finally let go as he began to walk on his own. Ethan clung onto himself as he wrapped his arms around his side and walked in unison with the others. Benny looked up at the buildings, some of them had quarantine plastic blowing from them in the gentle breeze. Cars were piled up against each other in the street with blood staining parts of the sidewalk.
"God...can you imagine...all those people in those buildings...dead now. I mean look at this," came the nurses voice as she picked up a nearby purse and rummaged through it. "A cell phone with Hello Kitty on it, a pair of keys to a Nissan, and protection if she ever came across a guy interested." the nurse said as she threw the purse down onto the road again as they continued through the streets.
"Let's not focus on that for now...what's your name anyways?" Benny asked as Ethan kept silent beside him, Sarah taking the lead up front.
"Erica Smith, I'm a nurse for the United Nations Bio-hazard Team. That's why I was there when you were admitted into the Infection Care Building." Erica said as she pulled a small sweater over her scrubs, her skin and clothes stained with drying blood as she walked. Benny just nodded his head as they continued to walk through the streets, before Sarah stopped them and shushed them quickly.
"Get down!" Sarah said as everyone dropped down to the ground, Benny taking Ethan behind a car as Sarah peered over the hood of another. A infected was snarling as it moved through the street, a younger black woman dressed in a business suit still in her heels. Sarah aimed her rifle as she peered through the scope and watched the woman move erratically. Finally the shot rang out through the streets, almost like a forgotten echo from the shots that rang through the city when the outbreak hit. Benny looked over at Erica as she covered her mouth and cried, Sarah surveying the scene before signaling to them that the coast was clear. Benny tried to move before realizing he was dragging Ethan's full weight now with no aid from the other as he turned to see Ethan's eyes closed. Benny knelt down beside the smaller of the two as he began to quickly slap Ethan's cheeks.
"What's wrong with him!" Benny asked as Erica wiped her eyes and moved to their position as Sarah kept watch and knelt down beside one of the cars. Benny watched as Erica felt Ethan's pulse before opening his eyes and shining a small flashlight she had pulled from her pocket into them.
"He must have passed out from too much emotional stress, it sent his body into overdrive and could have produced too much adrenaline which would've bound with the iron in his blood. When the adrenaline left his system, it sent him into a energy crash." Erica said as Benny looked down at Ethan's almost serene like face, his eyes closed and his lips slightly parted with the bare white fronts of his teeth showing somewhat.
Flashback
Ethan stood there in the kitchen as he stirred a pot of pasta, the only light coming from a nearby candle as he heard shuffling behind him only to turn and see Rory looking at a bottle of wine. He watched as Rory brought a candle light up to the wine and peered through it before showing it to Ethan who inspected it closely.
"You don't think it's been ruined do ya?" Rory asked, Ethan shaking his head no as he returned to his pasta.
"You okay love?" Rory asked as he walked up to Ethan and wrapped his arms around him, Ethan just stiffening up as he closed his eyes.
"Yea, I'm fine. I was just thinking of mum...ya know if she hadn't decided to move to Dublin a few weeks before the outbreak...she would've still been at home. God Rory, her apartment was right next to that bloody lab...do you think she's okay?" Ethan asked, feeling as water built up in his eyes as he stopped stirring the pasta for a moment.
"I think she's just fine love, probably cooking everything in her home right now wandering if your okay." Rory joked, rubbing his hands across Ethan's side as Ethan flinched away from the sensual touch and just looked at Rory.
"I'm sorry...I...I'm just nod in the mood to be frisky right now sweetheart. Could you go set the table and get everyone ready for dinner?" Ethan said as Rory gave him a disheveled look before grabbing the wine bottle and walking off into the dining room.
Ethan finished stirring the pasta before walking the pot over to the sink and draining the water through a streamer as he readied the salsa and sauce before following Rory's steps. Ethan saw Mrs. Price sitting down enjoying a cup of tea as her husband read a old and outdated newspaper by the firelight. She looked up at Ethan and smiled at him through her thick glasses as she stood up and hobbled over to him before setting the dishes out.
"It's so nice of ya to help deary, it does a woman's heart well to know there are still kind hearts out there during all these turbulent times." Mrs. Price said as she walked off into another room before turning shortly with two more people at her heel.
"About bloody time, I've been starving." one of the other tenants said with a smug smile as Ethan just walked over and dished him out some pasta before serving the sauce over it. Ethan looked at the other tenant, a young blonde haired woman who wasn't saying much. He dished some into her bowl and gave her some sauce before she held up another empty bowl to him.
"He will be hungry...when he gets back." she said, a hopeful look in her eye as Ethan stared down at her sadly.
"Oh will you bloody give up already sista? He left five days ago, we've not heard a bloody word since then. Just face it, your man's face has been eaten off already!" the other tenant said as she shot him a glare before Ethan looked at him.
"That's quite enough out of you! I will not have you quipping at her for her keeping good faith." Mr. Price said as he looked down from his newspaper before suddenly everyone heard a banging at the backdoor. Everyone's heads turned suddenly as they listened for the noise to come again before Ethan heard a young boy's screaming. Ethan dropped the bowl of pasta down onto the table as he rushed into the backroom and started undoing the locks before the other male tenant pulled him back.
"Are you mad!? He could be infected!" the man said as he tried holding Ethan back before Ethan broke away from his grasp.
"He's a child!" Ethan shot back as he opened the door, the immense bright light of the sun flooding in like a holy angel as the kid came rushing in. Ethan shut the door and began to lock it back up as the kid scurried back onto the floor, crying and gasping for air. Ethan looked out a small block of the door missing as he looked for any infected on the other end. He turned around as Mrs. Price picked the boy up, he couldn't have been more than seven years old.
"Oh dear, let's get you into the dining room and take a look at you." the elderly woman said as she took the boy into the other room as everyone but the other female tenant stayed in the backroom. Ethan watched as the older woman sat the boy down where he saw a bowl of pasta and began to dig in.
"How did you get here?" Rory asked the boy as he stopped shoveling food into his mouth long enough to look up at everyone.
"I was with my mum and dad in the woods and the infected attacked us. Mum told me to keep running and never look back, and I found this place." the boy said before beginning to eat once more before taking a drink of warm water.
Ethan swiveled his head around whenever he heard screaming from the backroom as he and the others raced back there to see the female tenants arm being pulled out the window as a infected began to bite her. Ethan stood in horror as he watched the male tenant pull her back in before her eyes went red and she began to fight him before Rory grabbed a crowbar and ran over, swinging it into her head as she fell over dead. Ethan grabbed the boy as the elderly couple fled into their cellar, before the infected broke through the front doors barrier. Ethan let go as he grabbed a knife and swung it deep into a infected woman's skull before she toppled over, turning to see the kid running up the steps to the second floor. Ethan gave chase as Rory ran up after him, the windows around the first floor being broken into as the boards came crashing down. Ethan ran up into the second floor hallway as he saw the kid run into the bedroom at the very end. He ran down the hall and inside the bedroom as Rory slammed the door behind them and locked it.
"Hey kid! Where are you!?" Ethan screamed as he looked underneath the bed only for the kid to go screaming into the corner as he went after him. Ethan turned around whenever he heard the door bust open as Rory broke the nearby window and began to climb out of it.
"Rory! Help us!" Ethan screamed as he held onto the boy tighter, watching as Rory took a look at him before diving out of the window. Ethan grabbed the kid and ran into the bathroom before closing the door and running up to the window. He watched in horror as Rory ran across the field, more infected chasing him as he turned around to look at the house.
"RORY! COME BACK!" Ethan screamed as he pounded onto the window before he felt a pair of arms yank him away from the window and onto the ground. Ethan screamed out in pain as a pair of teeth met with his arm before he reared his arm back and elbowed the infected person in the face, stunning them long enough for Ethan to jump out of another window as he rolled across the roof and fell onto the patio below. Ethan jumped to his feet, his whole side and arm aching as he took off running into the forest as the kid popped up at the window, beginning to snarl at him and scream with those blood red eyes staring at him. Ethan ran off into the forest, his leg limping badly as he moved swiftly through the tree's. Ethan could feel hot tears erupting from his eyes as his heart seemed to almost quiver as he thought of Rory abandoning him. Everything after that seemed to move in a quick like blur, what were simple minutes seemed like endless hours. Ethan finally stopped running as a soft rain drizzled around him as he fell to his knee's. He looked behind him to see nothing there anymore, he couldn't even begin to tell how long he had been running. Ethan crawled over to a nearby ditch as he crawled into it and laid there, sobbing silently to himself. He looked up at the sky, the rain clouds moving in as the sun set in the distance where the clouds had not touched. He could feel himself growing colder as he laid there crying, it seemed like every nerve in his body had shut off as he felt himself growing numb. The only thing he could feel was the soft pounding of his heart, yet at the same time it felt like it wasn't even there anymore. Ethan pressed a hand to his chest, almost certain he wouldn't even feel a beat anymore as he was certain his heart had to be gone now.
"Anybody...help me." Ethan whispered in between ragged breaths before he began to sob again, drawing his fingers across some leaves that had fallen onto the ground as he listen to them crunch together in his grasp. Ethan looked up at the sky as lighting flashed across it, rain drops continuing to fall down and sprinkle themselves across his body.
"Why God...please...just tell me why. Why me...why us...why now? Just...tell...me...why?" Ethan said, clearly out of breath as he began to cough as he held himself. Ethan wished desperately to feel someones warm arms around him as he continued to ponder about Rory. He couldn't get his eyes out of his head, those two blue orbs looking at him before turning away to jump out from that window. Ethan felt his mind growing fuzzy as he fought to keep consciousness as he steadied himself on his knee's. Ethan took a few deep breaths before reaching up and grabbing onto a locket around his neck before ripping it off. He thumbed the lock before opening it, seeing a small picture of Rory on his back in front of Big Ben. Ethan wrapped his fingers around the locket as he felt a few more emotion filled tears run down his cheeks before throwing it aside and taking off running once more. Every step away from the locket pained Ethan and made him want to go back and get it, but he knew he had to keep running. No matter what, he had to keep running.
End of Flashback
Ethan's eyes opened slowly as he felt a immense headache come on, the second thing he felt was two warm arms wrapped around him as he looked up into two green eyes which were looking back down at him.
"Thank God! Your awake!" came Benny's voice as Ethan looked around to see Erica and Sarah standing there. They were in some kind of pizza shop, with posters of kids and families eating fresh pizza plastered all over the walls.
"Where..are we?" Ethan said as he sat up and looked around, all the while rubbing his head slightly.
"In some kind of pizzeria, we had to pull you in here when you passed out in the street." Benny said before Sarah walked over and looked out the window.
"Shit! We have got to get moving ASAP!" Sarah hollered, everyone turning to see a white fog like cloud moving in the street towards the pizzeria. Benny helped Ethan up as they all ran out into the street and ran the other way.
What do y'all think of this chapter?