Rolling Thunder - 03 (6 page)

It was so dark and raining so hard that neither Dog nor I
had detected the three females that attacked us.  When the one in the lead
tackled me I flew forward and landed hard on the asphalt, rifle between my body
and the ground adding a few bruises.  My face hit hard and I was reasonably
sure my nose broke.  Not the first time and probably won’t be the last.  I
heard Dog go into his ‘savage’ mode and I pushed off the ground, trying to roll
over and pin the female under me.  I was halfway through the roll and almost to
the tipping point when another female slammed into us and slid in front of me,
face only inches from mine. 

She screamed in my face, fetid breath turning my stomach,
and lunged at my throat with her teeth.  I was able to get the rifle barrel
between us which prevented her from biting into me, but didn’t stop her from
pressing her putrid lips against my skin.  While I fought with her the one on
my back was frantically tearing at my vest and clothing, raking the back of my
neck with her nails as she tried to tear into me.  I tried to reach my Ka-Bar
but the female in front of me was pressed too tightly against my body for me to
draw the blade.

Unexpectedly, the female on my back was gone and I was able
to apply enough force to the one in front to clear space, draw the knife and
bury it in her throat, twisting up until I hit the brain.  Rolling over her and
getting my feet under me, ready to battle the second one, I was momentarily
confused when I saw Rachel and Dog standing there looking at me.  Dog had
killed the first female when we were attacked and Rachel had dashed over and
yanked the second one off my back, allowing Dog to have the honor of finishing
her off.  I grinned my thanks, wiped the blade clean and sheathed it.

These three had attacked silently.  So far I had only seen a
very few female infected that I was referring to as the smart ones that
attacked without mindless screaming.  Unfortunately it seemed as if we were
starting to encounter more and more of them.  Raising the rifle I scanned the
area, spotting a small group of males shambling our direction from a
neighboring warehouse.  They were still a safe distance away, but we didn’t
have time to be messing around.

“In the shack,” I gestured to Rachel and Dog as I hopped
behind the wheel of the Dodge.  When they were safely inside I pulled the truck
up tight against the wall of the small building, front bumper pushing against
the chain link gate and driver side door lined up with the empty doorframe. 
This effectively blocked any infected from being able to enter the shack and I
was able to open the truck’s door right into the opening and step out of it and
into the shack.

There was nothing notable about or in the shack so I quickly
moved to the steel door that opened onto the parking lot side of the gate. 
Rifle at the ready I started to reach forward to turn the knob but had to pause
a moment to change my grip on the rifle.  The latest anesthetic that Rachel had
injected me with a few hours ago was wearing off and my hands were starting to
hurt.  Rachel noticed me pause and shake my hands in the air and gave me a
concerned look.

“Bad?”  She asked.

“They’re fine.  Just a little tender.”  I lied.

“Bullshit.  Come over here and sit down.”

“No time.  Later.”  I said, getting ready to open the door.

Rachel stepped up and grabbed my arm, pulling me away from
the door.

“Like I said, bullshit.  You’re hurting, and if you’re
hurting it’s going to affect you.  This will take five minutes at the most.  We
have that much time if we don’t waste any more of it arguing.”  Not releasing
my arm, she guided me over to a vacant chair and forcefully pushed me down into
it.  Digging through her pack, she found the supplies she needed and set about
working on my hands.  While she worked, the males I’d seen approaching had arrived.
They tried to squeeze between the truck and wall to get to the doorway but I’d
parked the truck with only a few inches of space left.  They couldn’t get to
us.  Dog walked over to the door and sat down to watch them.  Just in case.

“Looks like your nose is broken.”  Rachel leaned sideways
and shone a small flashlight on my face.  “Actually, I think it’s an
improvement.  It’s straight now.”  Rachel finished treating my wounds and
quickly bandaged me up, took a moment to pack gauze into my nostrils to stop
the bleeding then re-stowed the supplies.  I thought about saying something
smart-ass back to her, but remembered she always found a way to get even so
decided to settle for thanking her for treating me.

It had only taken maybe three minutes and though I wouldn’t
admit it I was glad she had insisted.  The numbness in my hands was welcome
after the sharp, burning pain that had been growing worse by the minute.  Ready
to go I looked out the windows into the lot and saw a few males shambling
toward us, probably coming to investigate the noise the ones outside the gate
were making as they repeatedly bumped into the truck.  Glancing at Rachel and
Dog to make sure they were ready I opened the door, pushing it all the way open
to ensure there wasn’t a surprise hiding behind it. 

The closest male was 20 yards away and I didn’t waste any
time putting him down with a shot to the head.  Scanning the expansive lot I
spotted several more, most of them stumbling towards us, but didn’t see any
females.  That could be a good thing or a bad thing.  I much preferred the ones
that screamed and ran at you, giving you time to shoot them before they could attack. 
Unlocking the knob I closed the door behind us.  I still hadn’t seen any sign
that even the smart female infected could operate a door knob and I wanted to
leave us an escape route that was free of infected.

There must have been fifty trucks parked in the lot.  If I
had tried I couldn’t have created a better maze we had to work through to get
to the warehouse. 

“Do you think the lot goes around the far side of the
building?  Maybe we don’t have to go through.”

I mentally kicked myself.  Rachel was right.  If the lot
went around the building it would be a much safer path than wandering through a
dark, cavernous warehouse with who knew how many infected inside.  I nodded at
her and led the way across the lot, frequently bending to look under the parked
trailers.  I didn’t want any surprises as we moved around blind corners.  I
shot seven more infected as we made our way across the lot. 

The rain still poured down, drumming on the roofs of all the
trailers and pounding the pavement.  My hearing had shrunk to a small radius
immediately around me and the only way I was finding threats was by seeing them
through the night vision rifle scope.  Try walking around a large open area
with a cardboard toilet paper tube held up to one eye.  Close your other eye so
all you can see is what is in the field of vision of the tube.  Now try to spot
and deal with random threats as you walk.  It’s not easy, and I was as tense as
a bowstring.

We finally reached the far side of the lot where I shot two
more infected before they noticed us.  The fence here separated the paved lot
from a large, weed choked field.  Dozens of males shambled around in the field,
occasionally bumping into the fence and rattling it against its posts. 
Following the fence line with the scope I saw where it connected up with the
corner of the building.  It didn’t go around.

“Good idea, but it looks like we’re going inside.”  I said
to Rachel.  She nodded and turned to look at the warehouse.

The back corner was where the offices were located, the roll
up doors ending fifty feet to our left.  Concrete steps led up to a narrow
platform with another heavy, steel door.  Next to the door was a bank of
windows that looked out onto the lot.  This was probably where the dispatchers
worked, keeping an eye on the traffic in the lot.  Weaving around two more
trucks we reached the steps and climbed up onto the platform.  Stepping in
front of the windows I looked through the scope and saw a typical office.  A
body covered in what looked like dried blood was lying half under a desk, but I
didn’t see anything else.

“Clear?”  Rachel was keeping an eye on the lot to our backs
while I checked the office space.

“One body on the floor, which means there’s probably at
least one infected running around in there.”

At the door I pressed my ear against the steel in a vain
attempt to hear any danger from the other side.  All I could hear was the roar
of the rain.  Checking to make sure Rachel and Dog were ready I tried the knob,
quite surprised when it turned freely in my hand.  Holding the knob fully
turned I took a deep breath and simultaneously pulled the door open and stepped
back, rifle up and aimed into the dark interior.  I could see shelves stacked
with boxes through the scope, but nothing was moving.  Dog stood in the doorway,
nose twitching as he sampled the air.  After a moment he took a step forward to
the threshold and growled very quietly.  He smelled infected, but they weren’t
close.

Stepping through the door I kept the rifle up and ready. 
Dog, then Rachel, followed and she pulled the door closed behind us, locking
the knob.  She must have had the same thought as me.  No reason to leave an
easy, open path at our rear.  Moving the rifle around so I could scan with the
scope, I checked the long aisle we were standing in, then the open row in front
of us as well as scanning up and along the shelving.  Nothing moved or seemed
to present a threat. 

There were hundreds of skylights in the roof, probably
enough to turn off all the lights and save a lot of electricity on sunny days. 
It was pitch dark outside however and the only light they let in was when
lightning flashed and everything in the warehouse lit up for a fraction of a
second, like being caught in a single flash of a strobe light.  There were also
a few weak lights attached to the ceiling as well, giving off enough
illumination for us to see well enough to avoid objects on the floor.  The
amount of light was comparable to navigating a house at night with only night
lights turned on. 

To our right, parked next to the door that led to the office
area were two electric golf carts.  That made sense in a building this size if
you wanted your employees to spend time doing anything other than just walking
from point A to B.  I was sorely tempted to hop into one of them.  We’d be
across the warehouse in just a few minutes, but with speed also came noise. 
They might have been electric, but their motors would whine and I suspected the
tires would squeak on the painted concrete floor.  Reluctantly passing on the
opportunity, I started us moving forward down a long aisle.

The aisle was so long I couldn’t see the far end of it, even
in the night vision scope, and we were moving across the short side of the
rectangle that comprised the building.  At least the aisle was wide, a
necessity to get forklifts in and out.  To either side heavy gauge steel
shelving soared above us, every shelf full of boxes of whatever it was that
moved through this warehouse.  I was stepping carefully to make as little noise
as possible.  Behind me I could just hear Rachel’s soft footfalls.  Dog’s
nails, on the other hand, were clicking loudly every step he took.  I stopped
us and turned to look at Dog, contemplating the possibility of tying rags on
his feet.

While I stood there looking at him he turned his head
slightly to the side and squeezed his eyes shut before letting out an explosive
sneeze that was so loud both Rachel and I jumped as it echoed through the
building.  Dog shook his head then sneezed again, nearly as loud, sniffed and
was over it.  He stood there looking at us, waiting to see what we were going
to do next.  After the first sneeze I’d held my breath and a moment after the
second one a chorus of screams from infected females sounded from deep within
the warehouse.

The screams echoed, which made it impossible to tell what
direction they were coming from, and there were too many to identify individual
voices and get a count of the number of females.  Not good.  We were still
relatively close to the door we had come in and I thought about going back out,
but that didn’t really present a good option.  Time to catch the train was
running out and the only reason we were in the warehouse in the first place was
because we hadn’t found a better way forward. 

Deciding to push on, I started moving but only covered a few
feet before stopping.  We needed to move quietly and Dog’s nails were making
way too much noise on the hard floor.  I didn’t know what we were going to do. 
The females would be able to zero in on the noise, and the confines of the warehouse
worked to their advantage.  If I’d had a suppressor for my pistol I would have
had that in my hand as it was better suited for CQB – close quarters battle –
but I didn’t, so I kept the rifle up and ready. 

From what I thought was only a few aisles to our left I
could hear running feet, again too many to identify individuals.  Rachel and
Dog heard it too, Dog raising his nose in the air and sniffing.  I hoped his
sneezes had echoed as badly as the screams and the females hadn’t been able to
locate us.  Watching him sniff the air I really hoped he didn’t sneeze again. 
Rachel had been peering around in the darkness and she stepped up to me and
leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“Let’s use that,” she mumbled.

I looked back down the aisle where she pointed, not seeing
anything at first, then saw what she was talking about.  A low, flat, four
wheeled cart was neatly tucked underneath a shelf thirty feet behind us.  It
had probably been used by warehouse workers who had to go around and pull items
to fill orders that were less than an entire pallet of merchandise.  The cart
sat on four small, rubber tires and should move easily and silently across the
warehouse floor.  Telling Dog to stay I rushed back down the aisle, grabbed the
handle and pulled it back to where he and Rachel waited.  I was right.  It
rolled easily and nearly silently.

Parking it right next to Dog I bent, scooped him up in my
arms and set him down on the flat surface of the cart.  I don’t think he
understood what was going on, giving me one of his hurt looks, but he didn’t
protest or try to jump off.  Rachel stepped in and grabbed the handle,
gesturing for me to take the lead.  Not wasting any more time I started us
moving forward.  We had only gone a dozen feet when three females entered the
aisle a couple of rows to our front.  Freezing in place, I watched them through
the scope, only needing another half pound of pressure on the trigger to blow
the closest one’s head off.  They looked around briefly, heads moving more like
an animal than a human as they looked, listened and sniffed, then not finding
us in the dark they continued in their original direction which was at a 90
degree angle to us.

Slowly letting out a quiet breath I glanced behind to make
sure Rachel was ready and started moving again, stepping slow and quiet. 
Rachel was moving as quietly as I was, but there was a faint rubbing sound
coming from one of the cart’s axels.  It was just at the threshold of my
hearing and I didn’t think it would alert the females to our location.  I
hoped. 

I froze the instant I heard a clatter of objects falling to
the floor to our rear, turning quickly and stepping so that I was shoulder to
shoulder with Rachel.  She had frozen in place also, and I muttered in her ear
for her to keep an eye on our front.  Behind us two females stood in the
intersection of our aisle and the closest cross row that we had just passed. 
One of them had apparently bumped into a work station and knocked a cup of pens
and some other items to the floor.  They checked the area and once again I
noted the animalistic way they moved their heads.

After what seemed like hours, they turned and started moving
down our aisle in the direction we had come from.  I stayed rooted in place
until they reached another intersection down the aisle, then turned and started
us moving forward again.  Another crash a couple of aisles over made me catch
my breath but I didn’t pause.  I still didn’t have a good feel for how many
females were hunting us, but I did know I had seen two separate groups and
there were at least five.  The bad news was it seemed like they were working
their way through all of the aisles in the area in their search and would probably
find us soon.

We passed a couple of more rows and I had taken to stopping
just before each intersection we reached.  I would stand and listen for a few
moments, then carefully lean out and check both directions with the scope. 
This was slowing us down, but I know my luck and didn’t want to risk bumping in
to one of the search parties.  We passed another row and I slowed and glanced
back at Rachel thinking it was her footsteps I was hearing.  When I looked back
she stopped but the footsteps continued for a moment.  Shit.  We’d been found
and were being stalked.  Where was the bitch?

The aisle to our front and rear was completely clear when I
checked it with the scope.  That left one of the parallel aisles.  The shelving
that created the aisles and towered over our heads like canyon walls was four
feet deep to accommodate standard shipping pallets.  The shelves were set up
back to back, so that meant an eight foot deep wall of shelves between each
aisle, with plenty of gaps in the stacked inventory to let sound pass through. 
It seemed like I had been hearing the steps with my right ear so I suspected
that the female was in the next aisle to my right.  Was she alone?  She was
obviously one of the smart ones that would stalk us rather than just scream and
charge, and if there was one smart one there were probably more.

We were mid-way between intersections and I started moving
back towards our rear as quietly as I could, motioning for Rachel and Dog to
stay put.  I strained to hear as I moved, trying to tell if the female knew I
was moving and was retracing her steps to meet me.  All I could hear was the
drumming of the rain on the roof several stories over my head and the sound of
my own heart pounding in the quiet.  Lightning flashed and for a heartbeat everything
lit up in electric white then went dark again.  I reached the intersection,
paused to check both ways then stepped out and around the shelving, losing
sight of Rachel and Dog.  I spent nearly a full minute to move the eight feet
that comprised the width of the shelving, then stopped and with exaggerated
caution peeked the rifle around the corner to check the aisle. 

Back to my right was clear.  To my left, at the mid-point of
the aisle I saw two females standing close to the shelving.  They were facing
Rachel’s position and appeared to be intently listening as they waited.  With
no other good option I slipped my finger inside the trigger guard, steadied my
aim on one of them and squeezed.  The rifle popped, loud in the quiet warehouse
despite being suppressed, but still nowhere near as loud as without the
suppressor.  One of the female’s head snapped to the side as she dropped to the
floor, dead.  I shifted aim as the other female reacted, trying to dash away,
but I had her caught in an aisle and she could only run toward me or away from
me.  She chose toward, and with the element of surprise gone she let out an ear
piercing scream.

I fired my second round, saw the bullet tear her cheek open
and rip away a portion of her face, but she ignored the injury and kept
coming.  Snapping off a second round the warehouse lit up again with a strobe
of lightning and I watched her head snap back then the trick of the light made
her appear to freeze-frame for a moment, off balance with blood spraying out
behind her into the air.  I blinked and she unfroze, her feet coming out from
under her as she tumbled dead to the floor.  Even before her body came to a
stop there were screams sounding all around me in the dark.  There was no time
now to do anything other than run.

I dashed back around into the aisle where Rachel and Dog
waited, the skin on my back crawling as more screams sounded way too close.  I
covered the distance to where they waited, Dog now standing up on the cart with
hackles stiff.  Not slowing as I approached I yelled at them to move and Dog
leapt to the floor and started leading the way towards the back of the
building.  He was a few paces in front of us, Rachel falling in to run at my
side when three females rushed into the intersection in front of us.  I had
been running with the rifle up and shot one the instant I saw her, popping off
a round at the second but hitting her in the shoulder.  Dog had sped up and
launched himself into the air, impacting the wounded female on the chest and
riding her to the floor.

Rachel and I fired at the third female simultaneously, both
bullets impacting her head and nearly decapitating the body.  Not used to
shooting while running, Rachel had slowed to take the shot and I skidded and
slipped on the floor when I heard her fall.  Turning I saw Rachel face down
with a female astride her back.  The infected had locked both hands into
Rachel’s long hair and was pulling her head back in an attempt to bite into the
side of her throat.  Reversing direction I drew my Kukri and slashed at the
infected.  Normally I would have at least managed to bury the blade in her
brain if not remove all of the head above her mouth, but my hands weren’t at
their usual strength. 

As the blade bit in I was unable to maintain the grip needed
to force through the tissue and bone and only succeeded in lodging a couple of
inches of it into the female’s face.  This got her attention, but didn’t stop
her from attacking Rachel or put her down.  Cursing, I swung the rifle and
clubbed her to the floor, Rachel wasting no time in scrambling away from the
fight.  Stepping in I kicked the female as hard as I could in the temple and
her body went limp.  I couldn’t tell if I’d killed her or only knocked her
unconscious, but she was down and not moving.  Gripping the Kukri’s handle I
yanked it free, stabbed through the throat cutting into her spine and sheathed
it after wiping it clean on her clothing.  I spent a quick moment to scan our
rear which was free of females for the moment, then turned and ran after Rachel
and Dog.