Chapter 43: When Boomer Boomed
14.5 HOURS UNTIL FAILSAFE
The snarls of the Common Infected grew louder and louder as they stormed the area, sent into a crazed frenzy.
"Let's go!" Bill barked. "Make for the safe-room!"
No one needed to be told twice. They broke into a run across the roof. Luckily, like the instructions from the crane said, several gangways had been set up between buildings by previous passers-by, to allow quick passage across the rooftops to the safe-room. However, the sturdy planks were fairly narrow, and the group was forced to cross one at a time.
Bill urged the others across to the next rooftop while he covered them, and then gingerly crossed the gap between the buildings himself. He spared a look down into the alleyway beneath him to see a chillingly large crowd of people following them from the streets below. And more were rushing to join the horde –
His head turned back at the sound of a splintering crack to see the doors to the stairwells flying open, and many Common Infected pouring out onto the rooftop they had just vacated. Bill finished his crossing to the next roof and, without a second thought, kicked the gangway off the edge and down into the alley below to prevent the Infected from following them.
Regardless, many of them tried to jump across the gap anyway and fell to their deaths.
"Come on, Bill!" Zoey called from further across the roof, spurring him back into action.
However, as he began to move, he noticed two infected people appearing on the edge near her. They had climbed up the entire side of the building!
"Look out!" he yelled, taking aim and firing a quick burst from his assault carbine, flames flickering at the edge of the barrel. The two attackers convulsed as they were struck by the barrage and sent tumbling back over the edge of the roof.
Zoey was visibly shaken with her close encounter. "Th – Thanks!" she stammered.
"Come on, you two!" Louis yelled. He and Francis had already crossed the next gangway.
Zoey and Bill hurtled across the rooftop, their hearts pounding in their chests. The doors to the nearby stairwells crashed open as they ran past, more Infected spilling out behind them and falling into hot pursuit. Francis and Louis cursed, and began firing across the gap between the buildings at the Common Infected chasing down their compatriots.
At that moment, the stocky biker noticed several more attackers appearing at the top of a nearby fire-escape, eyeing him down hungrily. He thrust his HK MP5 forward and let loose with an extended burst of gunfire, sending them toppling over the railing. Louis continued to cover the others.
"Go!" the war veteran shouted at Zoey, and she quickly crossed the gangway to join the others on the far side. Bullets zinged past Bill as he followed her and then kicked the makeshift bridge off the building. "Next rooftop! Let's move!"
Unfortunately, the building they had stepped onto was larger than the others they had crossed. The next gangway was rather far away, and more Common Infected were appearing from nearby fire-escapes. The survivors ran, sending desperate shots over their shoulders. However, there were far too many chasing them. Francis' jaw was set in grim determination as he led the group, firing quick bursts at anything that approached from the front. At that moment, the stairwell door off to his left burst open and even more attackers emerged, screeching like banshees.
"Holy fuck!" he roared. "We gotta get off this roof now!"
The group abandoned their defensive retreat and broke into a full sprint across the roof. Five seconds later, they came to the gangway.
"There's no time to cross one at a time!" Bill yelled urgently. "Everyone, go now!"
With that, Francis and Louis ran across the plank, followed immediately by Bill and Zoey. However, with their combined weight acting on it, the gangway sagged horribly. Just as Francis and Louis reached the other side, the unthinkable happened.
It snapped.
"Shit!" Bill cursed, throwing himself onto the next roof in a desperate dive.
Zoey, following behind him, let out a shrill scream as the broken plank fell out from under her. She grabbed desperately for the edge, but was unable to hold on, and started to fall – when she suddenly felt herself stop. She looked up to see that Francis had thrust his hand forward over the edge and grabbed her in mid-air.
"Hang on!" he grunted. "I've got you."
"Thanks!" she gasped gratefully as she was pulled upward.
She looked back to see the large crowd that had been chasing them reach the edge of their respective rooftop. Most of them stopped and howled in outrage. However, several of the more ambitious ones tried to jump across the gap with frightening determination. What was worse was that three of them made it to the other side, digging their claws into the wall and starting to climb up.
"Look out!" Zoey cried, raising the pistol still grasped in her left hand.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! With expert precision, she twisted around in Francis' grip and blasted the attackers off the side of the building.
The burly biker grinned as he finished pulling her up onto the roof. "Looks like I owe you one now."
"Let's just call it even," she replied, ejecting her spent clip and slamming a new one into the breech.
Meanwhile, Louis and Bill had been covering them from the front, blasting away the Infected climbing up the sides of the building or hurtling at them from across the rooftop.
"You guys okay?" the old man called over his shoulder.
"We're perfect," Francis replied.
"Good. Let's go!"
At that moment, the all-too familiar screech of a Hunter echoed across the roof.
"It's gotta be one of those motherfuckers from before!" Francis growled.
"Well, let's not stick around and wait to be shredded!"
He and Bill took point with their respective MP5 and M4 machine-guns, cutting down the odd Common Infected that approached from across the rooftop with automatic gunfire, while Zoey and Louis covered the rear with their respective pistol and Glock, shooting down anyone or anything that appeared over the sides of the building behind them. Progress was slow but steady.
However, everything went wrong in the next instant, and Francis' blood chilled when he saw a figure crouched down menacingly in front of the gangway. "Hunt – "
"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The Hunter pounced, flying straight at the biker with incredible speed. He rolled out of the way, but did not have time to warn the others. Bill whirled, avoiding deadly claws by the skin of his teeth. Louis, however, gasped in shock when the creature slammed into him, the force of the blow knocking both him and the college student down, sending her rolling away along the rooftop.
"Zoey!" Bill cried, going to help her.
Louis groggily climbed to his feet and looked up to see the Hunter less than three metres away, growling viscously and poised to strike. "Oh, shi – "
Clattering gunfire exploded as Francis fired his submachine gun, shattering the monster's skull and sending his brains flying through the air.
The force from the Hunter's pounce sent Zoey on a painful roll several metres across the roof. She gasped in pain and shakily lifted herself to her hands and knees, just in time to see a small crowd of Common Infected bearing down on her, rage and bloodlust in their eyes. With a jolt of horror, she realised that her pistol had been sent skittering away across the rooftop. The Winchester was too slow-firing and unwieldy for a fight of this nature. She was completely defenceless –
No I'm not.
Zoey quickly drew the small flip-knife from the left pocket of her jeans, rose to her knees and stabbed it into the chest of a man about to grab her. She used the chance to push him backward, sending him stumbling. A storm of bullets abruptly dropped him in a bloody heap. The young woman whirled to see Bill approaching slowly, shoulders hunched forward, Colt M4 carbine raised to his shoulder. The rifle spat flame as he fired another burst in a wide arc, dropping the rest of the attackers.
"Hey kid," he said, proffering a hand and pulling her to her feet. "Think you might need this." He handed her back the SIG-Sauer that had been thrown clear when she was sent tumbling to the ground.
"Thanks," she said breathlessly as they ran back to rejoin the others. "For the gun, and for saving my life."
"I think we're past thanking each other for that by now, don't you think?"
"You probably have a point there."
"The Hunter's dead!" Francis yelled triumphantly to them as Louis gunned down an infected woman nearby. "Let's go!"
The group carefully made their way across the next gangway – the last thing they needed was a repeat of what happened last time. Francis led the way across and then immediately began firing his MP5 at the Common Infected on the next rooftop. He was quite surprised at how quickly he was chewing through ammunition – he had completely stuffed his new holster full, but this shit-storm of a run had already caused him to use over half. The others soon joined him and Bill kicked the plank down off the building as per usual.
"Let's go!" Louis shouted. "This is gettin' old real fast!"
They made their way across the roof, blasting away any approaching attackers. Zoey noticed that, although there were still a lot, the Infected were starting to thin out. Perhaps the smell of the bile that covered Bill and Francis was starting to wear off?
Francis narrowed his eyes when another fat balloon of a man wandered into view. "Watch out! Another one of them Boomers!"
"What?" Louis yelled over the roaring gunfire. "'Boomers'?"
The biker took aim. "Boom, baby!"
Another foul explosion of blood splattered across the rooftop. Fortunately, this time, they were at a far enough distance to not be covered in bile. In fact, the Common Infected nearby screeched in delight and rushed toward the Boomer's remains, completely ignoring the survivors.
"Well, this is a fortunate turn of events!" Louis exclaimed, leading the way in rapid progress to the next gangway.
Francis noticed a familiar spray-painted symbol on the concrete, indicating that the safe-house was right ahead. "For once, you're right, Louis! That next building is the Harbour View Hotel!"
The man in question reached the gangway and crossed over first, followed closely by Zoey. However, as she was making her way across the narrow plank, she heard Louis cry out in shock and looked up to see the tentacle-like tongue of a Smoker wrap around his waist, yanking him away from them, further across the roof.
"Shit!" she cried, running after him.
"Zoey, wait up!" Bill yelled after her as he slowly crossed the gangway, but she ignored him.
"Someone, help!" came Louis' strangled voice from somewhere ahead.
"Hang on!" she cried, putting on an extra burst of speed. She wound her way through a maze of tall chimneys and air-conditioning units, and soon found her friend being pulled up the side of a rooftop stairwell. The tongue draped down over the edge, but the Smoker itself was staying out of sight.
"Get it… off…" he wheezed. "It's… ugh… squeezing me!"
Zoey stopped at a safe distance, aimed her pistol above his head and fired two careful shots. The second one severed the tongue, immediately followed by a loud shriek of inhuman pain from somewhere above them. The rubbery appendage and Louis dropped to the ground, and Zoey ran over to help him to his feet.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so…"
"Stay down," she hissed, pressing herself against the outside wall of the stairwell. "That freak will show its ugly face soon."
The two of them stood for a moment, waiting in vain for something to happen. In a flash of inspiration, Zoey pointed her pistol into the distance and squeezed off a shot, earning her a puzzled look from Louis. Keeping her eyes skyward, she opened her mouth to quietly explain that she was trying to attract its attention –
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A gargling scream rent the air as a horrific, green and boiled-covered face appeared over roof directly overhead, its features twisted and contorted, its mouth opened impossibly wide.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Three rounds from Zoey's SIG-Sauer pierced the infected man's face and left eye, causing him to violently implode in a billowing cloud of green gas. The two of them coughed and spluttered, but they also heard two more sets of coughs nearby.
"Guys!" Louis called between hoarse fits of coughing. "We're over here!"
"You two alright?" Bill's voice drifted through the smoke.
"One dead Smoker later," Zoey replied.
"Nice work. Let's get inside. These are the stairs we needed to get to, and following them down should take us right to the safe-room."
They carefully made their way into the stairwell, closing the door behind them and sealing the place in pitch darkness, broken only by four cones of flashlights dating about the place.
"Follow me, and stay close," Bill whispered.
He led the way down the stairwell, the slightly-echoed scuffling of four pairs of shoes and boots the only sounds to be heard. That quickly changed when a throaty snarl echoed upward through the air from further down the stairs.
Zoey shone her flashlight over the side of the railing, but the darkness was too absolute for the light to penetrate very far. We're not alone in here…
"There it is!" Louis hissed, angling his light on a familiar red steel door on the next landing down.
Movement could be heard from further down the stairwell, but everyone's attention was fixed on that single beacon of shelter in the gloom. Bill pushed the door open, motioned everyone inside, and then swung it shut, the iron door-bar falling into place with a CLANG of finality.