Wormwood Dawn (Episode IV) (12 page)

Dan laid the two rifles next to him as he crouched near the door. On the other side, the voices had moved closer to him, and he could almost make out specific words. But, as intently as he listened, the whispers were just too faint to be intelligible.

What would he do? There was no way of knowing whether there was a guard in there with them. If he burst in, he would risk getting shot, or risk getting the two prisoners shot. One guard could be easily handled; but two, three?

A muffled explosion sounded from above, followed by a slight tremor. The lights dimmed suddenly, and Dan backed away from the door as he heard a shout from inside.

“
Get down on the floor!”
the voice commanded.
“Get down now!”

So, there was a guard in there with them. He heard heavy footsteps moving away from him, and the frantic shouting of the guard speaking into a radio. Dan reached out and grabbed the door handle, pulling the door open and raising his rifle in one quick motion. The guard turned back to him just in time to look Dan in the eyes before a hail of bullets tore into him.

The guard staggered back, dropping his rifle and radio. Dan stepped forward into the room, moving past the prisoners and turning to face them. They stood cautiously, glaring at Dan in confusion. They were dressed in orange jumpsuits, grizzled and unshaven.

“Grab those rifles,” Dan said, “and follow me.”

The prisoners looked at each other briefly, and then picked up the rifles Dan had set just outside the door. They each examined their weapons carefully, nodding to Dan once they were ready.

“I’m looking for some friends of mine,” Dan said. “A big guy named Jake; you would know him if you saw him. Another guy named Drew; about my height, with glasses and a shaven head.”

“I know Jake,” one of them said. “He cleans up the interrogation rooms. I don’t know about Drew. There are a lot of people here.”

The other chimed in, “He’s with the grave detail. I’ve met him. You must be Dan.”

Dan grinned. “That’s me,” he said. “Where are they?”

“Everyone sleeps in the classrooms,” the first man said. “But I think the shit has just hit the fan. They’ll start executing prisoners now.”

Dan nodded, turning. “Then let’s go.”

He sprinted toward the opposite side of the room, stopping at the door and looking through the window. Another explosion sounded from above, and the sounds of gunfire erupted from one floor up.

“They’re doing it,” the first prisoner said frantically. “They’re fuckin’ killing people!”

Dan ripped the door open, looking left and right before stepping into the hallway. “Lead me to the classrooms,” he said.

The two men took the lead and dashed down the hallway toward the first turn. They stopped near the corner, peeking around, and nodded. Dan followed them around, keeping his rifle trained on the hallway ahead. Heavy footsteps sounded from an intersection about twenty feet up, and the three men crouched and readied their rifles.

Four mercs came into view, turning in their direction; only to skid to a stop as they saw the three men. Dan and his two companions dropped them quickly, and they sped forward to pilfer the mercs’ ammo.

“Those rifles are 5.56,” Dan said. “Anything that looks like an M16 uses the same rounds. Grab those mags.”

He checked his own ammo supply. He had three more full magazines, but had the feeling he was going to need more.

“The classrooms are two floors up,” the first prisoner said. “That’s the ground floor. The only door open to the outside goes right into the inner courtyard. The rest are blocked off.”

“Then we’ll have to come back this way,” Dan said. “Lead on.”

The two men led Dan to the nearest stairwell. The door was locked, but the first prisoner had the key.

“Trustee,” he said as he unlocked it.

They mounted the stairs, each of them keeping their weapon ready as they watched above them. There seemed to be a bustle of activity on the first floor they passed, so they quickly climbed up to the ground floor, hoping no one came into the stairwell behind them.

Another blast shook the building. The three men could hear the roar of shouting prisoners rioting against their captors as they were led into the courtyard.

“The interrogation rooms are on this floor,” the first prisoner said. “He would have been working when this firefight started. He’s probably still there.”

The prisoner opened the door, peeking to either side. “To the right,” he said. “The rooms are clearly marked. I’m not going with you. I have to find my son.”

Dan nodded, shaking the man’s hand. “Thanks,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Doug,” the prisoner replied. “Thanks for the help. I hope you find your friends.”

He went left, running along the wall in a crouched position. Dan truly hoped he would survive, and that he would find his son.

“I don’t have any family,” the other prisoner said. “I’m Gabe, by the way.”

Dan shook his hand. “Good to meet you, Gabe,” he said. “Do what you need to do. I gotta find my friends.”

“I’ll come with you. I might be able to help you find Drew.”

“Good. Let’s go, and keep watch behind us.”

They crept through the hall, heading toward a long corridor with dozens of doors on either side. The university signs had been covered with makeshift Gephardt signs, indicating the bizarre purposes of each former classroom. There were
conditioning
rooms,
observation
rooms, and finally,
interrogation
rooms.

Each interrogation room had a windowless door that was secured with a hastily-installed deadbolt. There were six of them in all, three on each side of the hall. Dan stopped, wondering how to go about checking each room without making himself a target.

A gunshot suddenly rang out from the nearest room; then, a heavy impact against its door. Dan backed up against the wall, aiming his rifle at the door as the handle began jiggling frantically. His heart raced, and he could hear Gabe shifting nervously next to him.

Then, the door opened, and a familiar face poked through.

“Jake!” Dan whispered.

Jake’s round, friendly face smiled as he came out; a bloody mop handle gripped tightly in his hand.

“Dan!” Jake said. “I thought you were dead.”

“So did I,” Dan replied. “I’ll explain later. We gotta find Drew.”

“Hold on,” Jake said, returning to the interrogation room.

When he emerged, he carried the guard’s rifle and a small backpack. “Some shit I’ve been collecting,” he said as he swung it over his shoulder.

Dan removed his own pack, retrieving the Apocalypse Compendium. Jake’s eyes lit up as Dan handed it to him.

“Ah,” he said, happily. “You found it. This shit is irreplaceable, brutha.”

Dan clapped him on the shoulder. “Nah,” he said. “It’s just a book. Friends are irreplaceable.”

“That’s sweet, buddy,” Jake joked.

“Can we get the fuck outta here?” Gabe said.

Jake led them toward the classrooms, where most of the prisoners were held. Though there was chaos outside, none of the hallways or rooms showed any sign of mercs. They were likely busy fighting off the military invasion, and had simply forgotten to give a shit about their prisoners. Most of them were probably being herded outside, anyway.

“The last time I saw Drew,” Jake said, “he was down this way.”

Another blast shook the building, and the lights flickered out for good. They all crouched in the darkness, waiting for the chaos to cool down before moving on.

“That’s a bummer,” Jake said. “Light’s kinda good for lookin’ for shit.”

Though Dan couldn’t see much, the sounds of rioting and gunfire were growing louder the further they went down the hallway. Dan stopped periodically to look through his scope and get his bearings, signaling when it was clear. The going was slow, but they were obviously getting closer to the courtyard.

Soon, the shouts of soldiers sounded behind them, and the three men ducked into a classroom to hide. At least a dozen mercs passed by on their way to join the chaos, probably having been somewhere on the upper floors.

“Maybe we should follow them,” Jake said. “All far back like.”

Dan nodded. “Good idea,” he said.

They crept out of the room, silently following the group of mercs until the light of the outdoors began to fill the hallway ahead. They kept a good distance between them, carefully navigating the cluttered hall to avoid making too much noise. Soon, they reached the end of the line, and the row of glass doors that led to the courtyard came into view.

The mercs stopped just outside the doors, squatting behind the clutter as they viewed the firefight outside. Dan could see prisoners in the distance, dragging the bodies of mercs around; beating them and stomping into the dust. The group of mercs they followed moved forward, preparing to burst through the doors and lay the prisoners to waste.

“Shit,” Dan whispered. “They’re gonna charge.”

Jake and Gabe both raised their rifles. “Shall we?”

“Hold on,” Dan said, fishing around in his pocket.

He pulled out one of the grenades he had procured. Grinning as he held it up. “I brought some coconuts.”

Jake grinned. “After you,” he said.

Dan pulled the pin on the grenade holding the spoon down as he stood in a bowler’s position. He released the spoon, drawing his arm back, and rolled the grenade down the hall as hard as he could. Dan counted in his head as the grenade bounced toward its targets.

1… 2… 3…
BOOM!

The explosion was deafening, nearly bursting their eardrums, but the screams of the mercs ahead told them the grenade had done its job. As the dust cleared, they saw the bodies of the mercs lying sprawled about, and the bare steel supports of what used to be the wall of glass doors.

“Holy fuck,” Gabe said. “That was loud.”

Dan nodded his approval. “Let’s go.”

They charged toward the open wall, spreading out to take cover and watch the rioting. Military personnel had broken through the fence and were laying down suppressing fire as the prisoners ran toward them to escape. Gephardt mercs were pouring through the opposite side, firing randomly into the crowd, dropping civilians left and right.

Dan fished out the other grenade, moving up to the wall to find a good place to hurl it. A small group of mercs was held down behind an overturned truck, firing over the top of it. One of them held a rocket launcher, and was crouched in wait. Dan set down the grenade, raising his rifle to get the rocket man in his sights.

He zeroed in on the merc’s head, hearing Jake whisper, “Drop that fucker.”

Dan held his breath and fired. The rocket man dropped like a sack of shit. Dan dropped the rifle and grabbed the grenade, pulling the pin and lobbing it toward the rest of the group. As he released, he saw a merc stare right in his direction and raise his own rifle.

Dan rolled out of the way just as a bullet impacted the cinder blocks behind him. He heard the grenade explode, and rolled back to assess the damage. He grinned as he saw the pile of burning bodies.

“Got ‘em,” he said.

The three men charged through the doors, taking cover behind a concrete table that had been knocked over. The prisoners continued to pour out of the surrounding buildings, sprinting and zigzagging as they raced toward their freedom. The mercs began to appear in the window above, firing down into the crowd. Military men returned their fire, and several of them came forward with rocket launchers.

In the distance, the rumbling sound of a tank brought a much needed sign of hope.

“I hope that’s the good guys,” Jake said.

“I think it is,” Gabe said. “It’s coming from behind the military guys. If it was Gephardt, they’d be turning around or running.

A giant boom sounded, and suddenly the wall of mercs exploded, sending chunks of rubble flying everywhere. The bodies of black clad mercs fell to the courtyard, and the civilians and soldiers cheered as the tank rolled up into view.

“There’s Drew!” Gabe shouted, pointing to a pile of overturned tables.

Dan switched off the IR, looking through the scope. Drew was there, crouched low between the tables, waiting for the opportunity to make a run for it. Dan aimed at the wooden table next to his head, firing a round.

He stood just as Drew looked up in shock, waving his arms in the air. Even from this distance, he could see Drew’s goofy grin. Dan squatted back down, looking around the side of the table as Drew stood into a creeping position.

“Lay down some cover,” he said.

“Fuck that!” Gabe replied.

“Right,” Jake said. “Let’s make a run for it and meet Drew outside. He knows we’re here.”

Dan considered the plan. If they and Drew stuck to the walls on their way to the breach, they could probably make it. The soldiers would cover them if they saw them, as they were doing with the massive waves of prisoners that were now escaping. The only problem was the risk of losing sight of Drew along the way.