Chapter 21: The Monsters Within

Francis felt a sharp and terrible pain as the crazed lady drove her teeth deeper into his flesh. "Fuck! Shit, get her off!"

The thought of stepping toward an enraged, bloodthirsty animal would have made some shy away from the task. However, Louis stepped forward without question and swung his fist, punching the infected woman in the face with a sharp thrust. She snarled in fury but did not relinquish her grip on Francis.

CHOOM!

Zoey whirled to the sound of Bill's shotgun going off to see him facing three dark shapes hurtling toward them from behind the fallen helicopters. One went down, but the other two leapt at the old man, howling in ravenous delight. The foremost one crashed into him and drove him to the ground, clawing and scratching furiously.

Zoey quickly raised her weapon and let fly with a short burst of gunfire, splattering the other one's blood across the helicopter behind it and sending it crashing to the ground. However, before she could go to help Bill, she whirled toward the sound of rushing footsteps and her terror became extreme when she was met with the sight of a large, blood-covered man diving through the air at her.

The young woman took hasty aim and fired a hail of bullets into him, spurts of blood gushing from several wounds that opened up in his face and chest. However, bullets can only do so much to slow momentum, and the infected man ploughed into her, knocking the Uzi from her hands and sending her stumbling back into the helicopter. She gasped as the wind was knocked from her.

Despite being hit in mid-air with a number of bullets, the man snapped his jaws and gnashed his teeth inches from Zoey's face, and it was all she could do to press both her hands against his chest, desperately trying to hold him back. The freshly-inflicted bullet wounds on his face spurted blood, and finally seemed to take their toll. The light of ravenous hunger and inhuman rage dimmed in his eyes, and he slumped forward with a growl of finality.

Bill grappled with the assailant on top of him, desperately trying to fling him off. However, the infected man slashed his arm, and then bit into his forearm. The war veteran roared in pain and made a panicky grab for his shotgun. However, it had been thrown clear when he had been tackled to the ground, and now lay beyond his reach.

"I said get her the fuck off me!" Francis bellowed, still wrestling with the woman hanging off his back.

Louis punched her in the face again, this time causing the infected woman to rear her head back and snarl at him warningly, her mouth smeared with Francis' blood. The enraged biker took the opportunity to throw her over his shoulder, slamming her into the ground at his feet. He stomped his boot down on the woman's chest and thrust his shotgun in her face.

"Eat this, bitch."

The buckshot tore the woman's face apart, leaving only a grisly crater of blood, brain and shattered skull fragments.

Bill roared in pain as the man overhead bit him again. The fiery pain radiated through his arm, and he could feel the warm, sticky sensation of his own blood trickling from the wounds. He was at a loss of what to do. Both his shotgun and sidearm were out of reach –

Just then, he heard Zoey utter a war-cry. She rushed at the creature and delivered a kick to its midsection, hard enough to throw it off balance and knock it away from Bill. The infected man screeched in anger and turned back toward her as she thrust her pistol forward. They both acted at once; the Common Infected leaping forward as Zoey squeezed the trigger, shooting it continuously while uttering a gamut of curses as though she was trying to inflict equal mental trauma. Her clip ran dry just as the man pitched forward with a petulant wail.

"Are you okay?" she asked, turning to help Bill up. She saw the bloody scratches and bite-marks all over Bill's arm and blanched.

"Still in one piece, thanks to you," he replied, nursing his mauled arm.

"What about you guys?" Zoey said, turning toward the others and retrieving her dropped Uzi.

Louis was unscathed, but Francis was holding a hand to his shoulder, where blood leaked freely between his fingers.

"That crazy bitch got me pretty good," he growled.

Taking cover by one of the fallen helicopters, Zoey opened the first-aid pack and started rummaging for bandages and antiseptic, while Louis covered them with his Uzi. Although, at first glance, Francis' shoulder looked pretty bad, the bite was not too deep. Zoey cleaned and dressed the wound fairly quickly, before moving onto Bill's bloodied arm.

As she dressed the wounds, she could not help but wonder if she should perhaps back away to a safe distance from him and Francis. However, she pondered the situation. Bill had been scratched nearly 48 hours ago, but had not turned. Although they could not be completely sure that he was not going to become a blood-thirsty maniac from that wound, she guessed that it was fairly safe to say that the veteran was immune to scratches.

Thank goodness!

A bite on the other hand…

Then again, why should it matter? This was not some game of rock-paper-scissors, where "bite trumps scratch". Hell, in 28 Weeks Later, that guy kissed the infected woman and turned –

Shut up, you idiot! Zoey scolded herself angrily. This isn't a stupid movie! It's life-and-death, and Bill and Francis have been bitten!

"Louis," Bill said, wincing from the stinging sensation as his brutalised arm was cleaned and wrapped in gauze. "The next few minutes are critical. Make sure you are keeping an eye on Francis and me. If we show even the slightest signs of turning…"

Everyone paused at those words, before the black man gave a curt nod, gripping his Uzi tighter. What if Bill and Francis did turn? He had only known these people for two short weeks, but he already trusted them with his life. What if he had to kill them?

At that moment, a bone-chilling screech cut through the night. Answering howls rose up, rending the stillness of the night. There were infected people nearby – a lot of them.

"Aw, hell…" the war veteran muttered.

"Those Common Infected that attacked us weren't alone," Francis growled in frustration. "There are others still out there."

"Shit…" Louis breathed. "They must have heard all that shooting just now. They'll be on us any minute!"

Zoey looked painfully at Bill and Francis. Would they have to part ways? The howling grew louder – the Infected were closing in.

Bill looked up at Zoey. "Leave us."

"What?" she whispered.

"We don't have time to wait and make sure Francis and I aren't going to turn. You and Louis have to go now. We'll hold them off."

The biker opened his mouth to object, but then sighed in begrudging agreement. "The old man's right. Get going, Zoey."

She was distraught at the situation. They were right, of course – they could not afford the risk. But she could not do it –

"Go!" Bill roared.

"No way in hell, we're not leaving you two!" she cried. She hauled him to his feet and handed him his shotgun, before turning to Francis. "Get your ass up!"

"Zoey, you're crazy!" Bill uttered furiously. "It's too dangerous – "

"I don't give a shit! We're all leaving here together or not at all. Now quit wasting time arguing! We make for the truck depot!"