Wormwood Dawn (Episode IV) (13 page)

But, seeing the chaos that was going on, it seemed like the only way to go.

“Alright,” Dan said.

He pointed to the breach, seeing Drew nod. The three men stood, watching behind them as the tank continued to fire shells into the building. Suddenly, the glass doors along that wall burst, and a horde of Shamblers poured through.

“
Holy shit!”
Jake shouted.
“Go!”

Dan jumped up, sprinting toward the breach. The soldiers there advanced, laying down suppressing fire as the last of the prisoners passed them. Dan looked back, seeing the endless horde rushing toward them like a wave of rabid dogs. They fell by the dozens as bullets ripped through them. Thankfully, Drew was still in sight.

Dan’s lungs burned and his heart pounded like crazy. Though Gabe was keeping up right behind him, he heard Jake struggle to breathe as he ran. He looked back, seeing Jake’s pained expression. The big man was determined to follow, though, and fired behind him as he ran.

Then, the unthinkable happened.

Behind the assembled troops, another horde appeared. They fell upon the soldiers, clawing and biting their way through.

“Fuck!”
Dan shouted.

He fired ahead of him, carefully aiming to avoid shooting the soldiers. There was a gap between them and the side of the building, and Dan set his eyes on it, leading his friends right to it. Drew sidled up, narrowly avoiding the hording undead as he crossed in front of the fray.

“Dan!”
he shouted.
“I thought you were dead!”

Dan shook his head. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

He pushed ahead of Drew, clearing their way with a burst of rounds. The soldiers around them shot and bashed at the horde, desperate to get the prisoners to safety. The advancing horde in the courtyard crashed into them, flinging their bodies into their ranks and tearing into them. Everything was a clusterfuck of chaos, and Dan’s vision began to blur as he panicked.

“Move!”
he heard Jake shout.

The big guy’s hands firmly pushed him forward, guiding him through the battle. A Shambler leaped up from the body of a victim as he approached, rushing toward him with its maw gaping open. Dan double-tapped it in the chest and heard Jake finish it off as he passed. Dan dropped his magazine, slapping another one in and firing at another group that broke off and rushed them. The three men took them down quickly, keeping the unarmed Drew between them. Then, Dan heard a scream.

Gabe was grabbed from behind, and flung to the ground by the tentacles of a raging Stalker. The pale, white creature hissed as it crunched the poor man’s skull with its fangs, ripping his head apart with an enthusiastic gulp.

“Don’t look back,” he heard Jake shout. “Keep moving.”

They made their way through the rushing soldiers, avoiding the Shamblers that leaped out from between them. He heard Jake grunt and groan as he bashed the undead with the butt of his rifle, knocking them away like a mad ogre. Soon, they were around the front of the building, emerging onto Atwater, breathless and exhausted.

“The Hummer is in the parking garage a few blocks away,” Dan said through his quickened breath.

“Good,” Jake said. “I’m fuckin’ finished.”

Dan looked back at the building, feeling a slight twinge of pity for the soldiers and prisoners. Though he knew the military would make short work of the infected, they would suffer massive losses. But, he thought, they would die in the most noble way possible; protecting those that couldn’t protect themselves.

He would remember their sacrifice.

“Everything was still in the Hummer when I got away,” Dan said. “How long has it been, by the way?”

“A month, I think,” Drew said.

“Seems like a fucking year,” Jake added. “That was some nasty shit I had to do.”

“Man,” Drew said. “What happened to you? I thought the mercs got you too. I was glad that they didn’t, but I thought it was because you were dead.”

Dan thought about it a moment. “I think I would rather have died,” he said. “But I got away.”

“Got away from where?” Jake asked.

Dan stopped and sat down on a concrete planter. The battle was still going on in the distance, but he did his best to ignore it as he gathered his thoughts.

“The psycho that was following us was still alive,” he began. “He was… changed into something fucked up. It’s hard to explain, but he was kind of like a stalker, only he was still sentient. He could even speak.”

Drew sighed, shaking his head in confusion. “What the fuck, man? How is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” Dan replied. “Something about him already being a sociopath. That’s how he explained it.”

“He explained things to you?” Jake asked.

Dan nodded. “Yeah. But I’m not sure if he was telling the truth. I mean, how the hell would he know anything? He was just a fucking psycho hillbilly.”

“What happened there at his place?” Drew asked.

“Tons of fucked up shit,” Dan said, staring off into oblivion. “It was indescribable. He was somehow able to capture the infected, and use them in little games. He held me captive and man, he fucked with me good.”

“Jesus, man,” Jake said, shaking his head. “But he’s dead now, right?”

“Yeah,” Dan said. “I killed him right around the corner. I’ll show you.”

Dan stood, beckoning them to follow. He briefly thought of mentioning how the shadows had helped him, but thought better of it. It would just sound crazy. Besides, he wasn’t entirely sure he had actually seen them. They were probably just a figment of his imagination.

Dan saw the crashed car in the middle of the street as they rounded the corner. He led his friends to it, ready to point out Robert’s body. But, as he rounded the front bumper, all that was left was a puddle of goo, greenish with black chunks. The remains had been devoured.

He hoped.

“Fuck,” he said. “He’s gone. Did it really happen?”

Drew clapped him on the back, giving him a little comfort. “It’s all over now, buddy,” he said.

“I can’t believe he followed you here,” Jake said. “That’s just fuckin’ creepy.”

Dan slung his rifle over his shoulder, staring at the puddle of goo. “Alright, let’s go. Fuck him.”

They walked down the middle of the street; casually and fearlessly. There was no need to sneak now, as the merc base was gone. Whether the military would escape with the prisoners or not, Gephardt was done for—at least here. There was no telling how many of them were out there among the living, killing or enslaving whoever was left.

Traitors to humanity.

“Where to?” Jake asked.

“Well,” Dan replied. “Wherever the wind takes us. The house is gone. The forest is gone. There’s nowhere to go but… wherever.”

“Sounds good,” Drew said. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”

“I went there once,” Jake joked. “I didn’t like the chicken.”

Dan chuckled, but noticed the pained look on Jake’s face. He didn’t bring it up, though. It was probably just Jake’s mind making sense of everything that he had just been through. They had all been through a lot, and none of it would be easily forgotten. Perhaps now was a good time to mention Vincent.

“I saw Vincent on the outside,” he said.

Drew shot him a look. “He made it out?”

“For a while,” Dan replied. “But he didn’t make it long. Our pal made sure of that.”

Drew swallowed hard. Dan knew that he, like himself, had liked Vincent. He was another lost soul just trying to survive—albeit a slightly less law-abiding one. But, who cares? He was a brother; their brother. And now he was gone. Though Jake didn’t react, Dan knew he was at a loss as well. Jake had always acted indifferent, as if he hadn’t really liked Vincent, but Dan knew the truth.

“Rest in peace, brother,” Drew whispered sadly.

They came upon the blockage that went across 2
nd
street. It was a pile-up consisting of several cars and a firetruck. From here, they would have to take the alley nearby. Dan led them between two coffee shops, down a long alley with steel on either side; obviously the back end of several restaurants.

There were gates along the way, separating the different sections. They were easily passed, as most of them were either open or knocked down. Many of the steel doors were open, as well, and they all looked cautiously into them before proceeding. Then, the last gate they came upon was secured with a hefty padlock.

“Shit,” Dan said. “We’ll have to go over it or around through one of the doors.”

“I’m not climbing that,” Jake said, breathless.

“Can’t we just shoot the lock?” Drew said.

“That doesn’t really work,” Jake replied.

Dan handled the lock, noting its rugged and heavy craftsmanship. There was no shooting it open. It would probably repel a bullet and kill one of them.

“Alright,” Dan said. “Through this door, then.”

He went to the nearest steel door, jiggling the handle in frustration. It was locked. Drew went to another one on the opposite side, turning the handle and pulling it open slowly.

“Jesus!”
he shouted, slamming it shut.

Growls echoed from inside, and something slammed against the door, nearly knocking it off its hinges. As Drew backed away, Dan stepped up, aiming his rifle at the door. Down the alley—the way they had just come—shrill cries erupted. Infected appeared in the distance, drawn to them by the screams of the Shambler on the other side of the door.

Jake raised his rifle, firing a few rounds at the rushing mob. Dan ran toward the open gate, slamming it shut and latching it tightly.

“We’re fucked,” he said.

The steel door suddenly burst open, and a Shambler pounced through, rushing straight for Jake. The big man turned, unleashing the rest of his rounds at the screaming, cackling creature. More appeared behind it deep inside the building, but Dan rushed the door, bracing it closed with his body. Jake finished off the Shambler with the butt of his rifle, crushing its head into the asphalt.

Dan and Jake both reloaded, finishing just as the dozen or so Shamblers impacted the fence. They both fired, taking down a few of them as they thrust their claws through the fence. Their growls and groans were deafening; adding to the cacophony that was erupting behind the steel door that Dan held shut.

“Drew,” Dan said frantically, tossing him the keys to the Hummer. “The Hummer is on the third floor of the garage, in the maintenance shed.”

Drew nodded, stuffing the keys in his pocket. “I’ll be back,” he said, mounting the fence.

Dan fired more rounds at the horde that threatened to burst through the fence, his back still to the door. He blasted them with single rounds, aiming for the head, splattering their disgusting brains on the ones behind them. But no matter how many fell, others were there to take their place.

Jake sat down on a cinder block; seemingly defeated.

“What are you doing?” Dan said. “Let’s go!”

Jake shook his head. “I’m done for, brutha.”

Dan stepped away from the door, ignoring the banging and thumping on the other side. “What are you talking about?” he asked. “Drew will be back soon, and we can get out of here. On your feet, son.”

He reached out to pull Jake to his feet, but the big guy shoved him back.

“What the fuck, Jake?”

Jake reached up to his neck, pulling away the neckline of his shirt. There, right above his collarbone, was a gash. Dan had seen blood there earlier, but had thought it was the blood of one of Jake’s victims. It was, apparently, his own.

“I took one back there in the courtyard,” Jake said.

Dan’s heart sank. He stepped forward slowly, glaring at the wound as his breathing quickened. It was festering and black; leaking some strange fluid that pooled in the lower spots.

“Jake…” Dan whispered.

Jake reached into his pack, pulling out the Apocalypse Compendium. He held it in his hand, staring at it like it was his child. Then, he handed it to Dan.

“Take it,” Jake said. “Add to it. Learn from it. Pass it on.”

“I’m not leaving you here,” Dan said, shaking his head in protest. “No fucking way.”

Jake pointed at the Shamblers that threatened to tear the fence down. Some of them were beginning to climb, hungrily determined to get to them and devour them.

“Not much of a choice, brutha,” Jake said.

He reached into his pack, producing a red can. An incendiary grenade. “It’s amazing what you find when you go places you’re not supposed to,” he said, flicking the pin out with his thumb.

“Jake!”
Dan shouted.

“
Fuckin’ go!”

Dan backed away, stuffing the white binder into his pack. Jake sat with his head hanging low, the grenade held tightly in his hand.

“Be safe, brutha,” Jake said. “See you in Hell.”

The steel door burst open just then. Dan turned and grabbed the fence, leaping upward to climb over. Without looking back, he swung his legs over the top and dropped to the ground, sprinting away as fast as he could. Behind him, an explosion rocked the buildings, sending shrapnel in his direction. He was nearly knocked forward by the concussion wave, but kept his footing and ran madly toward the end of the alley.

His heart was killing him. Not because of the exertion, but because of his friend. He blindly raced toward the parking garage, ignoring the inner pain. He felt his throat tighten, and the tears welling up in his eyes. He screamed at the top of his lungs, releasing his rage into the sky. He was tormented; defeated.

Jake was gone.

The Hummer raced down the last ramp. Dan heard it as he sat with his head in his hands. He didn’t even look up from the pool of tears that had gathered on the concrete below. There was no point. Drew would see him.

The tires squealed as Drew slammed on the brakes right in front of him. “Dude,” Drew said. “Where’s Jake?”

Dan simply shook his head, still not budging. Drew was silent, too.

“He’s gone,” Dan said. “It’s just the two of us again.”

He finally looked up. Drew’s face was morose and angry at the same time. His lips were pursed, and he stared straight ahead. Dan stood, slowly walking around the front of the Hummer and hopping into the passenger seat.

Drew released the brakes, pulling onto the street. Dan could see him from the corner of his eyes, staring at him with that same look.

“Let’s get the fuck out of this city,” Dan said. “I’m done with it.”

Drew nodded, steering around the rubble. They drove in silence, slowly making their way through the streets in a morbid, forlorn cruise that seemed almost ethereal. Dan’s mind was blank. He couldn’t think. He never thought someone’s death would have such an impact on him. He had only known Jake for a short time, but their friendship was strengthened by everything that had happened in that week or so at the house.

He had learned a lot from Jake; not only some skills, but how to “give a little bit of a shit about things,” as Jake had put it. That was a good lesson. It was one that his own father had tried to teach him on several occasions, but it was Jake who finally pounded it into his brain.

Jake was a good friend. But now he was gone.

Dan would miss him.

“We need to figure out what direction to go,” Drew said, snapping Dan out of his haze.

“Is there anywhere you want to go?” Dan asked.

Drew shook his head. “Not really,” he said. “But we should probably go south. Winter is coming, and neither one of us is any good at chopping wood.”

“37, then?”

Drew pursed his lips, nodding his head. “Sounds good.”

Dan stared out the window toward the university complex. Smoke billowed upward, and choppers were beginning to gather to take away the civilians. Where the military was taking them was anyone’s guess, but Dan had no desire to go there. He and Drew would be better off on their own, he knew. Drew knew it, too.

They were two lone wolves, rebellious and pissed off. They wouldn’t fit in anywhere but out there in the wild.

They were cowboys of the apocalypse; Butch and Sundance with automatic weapons; Jolly Green Giants from Hell; two losers with nowhere to go.

And that’s the way they liked it.