John fired again and again. One shot, one kill every time. But this wasnt a video game with unlimited ammo cheats. A moment of horror struck him as a 'click' informed him that his gun was empty.

"Shit," he muttered "Alright, sir i hope you're good at running."

"Been a while but i'll keep up." Paul replied.

"Stay close and you'll be fine. They're slow and dumb we'll make it."

John contemplated using a civilian vehicle, but decided against it. The roads were jammed. All of the cars were abandoned. Walking would be quicker. Sure enough the massive structure came into view. Nothing more than a glorified office block really but hopefully somebody would be left.

The Pentagon parking lot was mostly empty. Most staff had been sent home or had fled the city. Two police cruisers formed a road block at the entrance. Their lights were still flashing but their occupants appeared to have fled. On closer inspection a bloody severed hand holding a shotgun told a different story. The cops had made a stand here. John pried the dead hand from the strigger. It was stiff but eventually came unstuck. Armed once more he could finally protect the President again.

"So, everybody is gone then." Paul said mornfully. "At least they made it out in time."

"Lets check inside." John said leading the way, shotgun at the ready.

A flurry of activity caught them both off guard as several heads popped up from behind barricades.

"Drop the weapon and get on the ground !" one of the voices ordered.

"Secret Service !" John shouted back "Im with the President !"

The figures lowered their weapons as they realised just who was in front of them.

"Oh shit..." the lead one mumbled "Sorry, Mr President. We've been on edge. I'm Captain Steven Peters, US Army." The short, fierce looking man said offering a salute. We've been ordered to stand guard here until orders change. We havent had any orders for a while now though."

"How many of you are there, Captain ?" the President asked.

"Over fifty yesterday. Now its just eight. We fought them off, but took a hell of a beating in doing so." the Captain said gesturing to the large pile of infected bodies about a hundred feet down the road. "If you dont mind asking, sir, what are you doing here ?"

"My helicopter crashed after picking us up from the White House. I'm trying to get back to the cabinet so we can start fixing this mess." Paul said, then added "You've done a fine job Captain."

"I wouldnt say fine job, i lost most of my men, but thank you anyway sir."

"Do you have a working radio we could use to call for extraction ? I must get the President to safety." John spoke up.

The Captain replied with a smile, "I can do you one better than that, we have a working helicopter."

"Why are you still here then ?" John replied with a confused expression clear on his face.

"As i said, we have orders to hold the Pentagon."

"Well Captain, i'd say you succeeded in those orders. You and your men put a lot of those bastards down from the looks of it. I've giving you new orders. We're all going on that chopper and heading for the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Centre in Virginia. Thats where we're gonna start to piece everything back together from." the President said.

"Yes, sir." the Captain smiled for the first time in days as he ordered his men to prepare the helicopter.

Within ten minutes the President was once again airborne.

"Would you look at that." a young corporal said as the Blackhawk helicopter moved away from the wrecked city. He was watching as dozens of A-10 warthogs screamed in low and fast unleashing their payload on the streets of Washington DC and Arlington. Buildings and streets were reduced to rubble. No doubt hundreds of infected were "killed" in the airstrikes but how many people sheltering in their homes also perished ? How many troops and cops still fighting on the ground were killed or wounded ? Who the hell was giving the order to bomb American cities ? It certainly wasnt him, the President thought.