Killshot (Icarus Series Book 1) (43 page)

              “Let’s go,” he said, pulling Micah’s lighter from his pocket.

              Metz was surprisingly heavy, despite his lean build. It took both of us to carry him from the house to lamp post across the street and that’s not to say we didn’t drop him a couple times. He was groggy, but Metz was finally starting to come to. He let out a groan when we dropped his limp body to the ground next to Nicholas. Metz mumbled and grumbled as Zander wrestled him out of his fatigue jacket. Once we removed their camo, Zander retied the two soldiers back-to-back at the base of the pole.

              “Sombetch…mmkill…” Metz stammered, his head lolling weakly against his chest. “Mmrr…fuggin dead.”

              “Right, got it,” Zander said, rolling his eyes as he fastened the end of the two ropes together. “The big, bad, soldier man wants to kill me. Why don’t you just focus on regaining consciousness and be happy I didn’t leave your ass in the house.”

              “You’re his son, aren’t you,” Nicholas said, struggling to straighten her back against the pole. When Zander did not respond, she continued. “Look, I’m sorry about all this, okay? We were just following orders.”

              “Orders from who?” Zander said, tightening the last of his knots without looking up.

              “No idea,” Private Nicholas shrugged against her restraints. “That’s way above my pay grade, kid. All I can tell you is that it’s the same people that had us sequestered the day before the storm. We were told it was an emergency preparedness drill and nothing more.”

              “I’m sure,” Zander grunted. “What other lies did they tell you, huh?”

              “I’m just an E1 medic, so there’s only so much I am privy to,” she said, “but I was told that James—um, your father was lead on the E99 project. He was rumored to have shared state secrets with an outside agency. Our orders were simple; find out how much he knew and who he may have been working with.”

              “Tell your bosses that my dad didn’t know anything,” Zander turned his back on the soldiers. “He was just another nut-job, with a conspiracy theory and nothing more.”

              “Understood,” Nicholas said, “and thanks, kid.”

              “For what?” Zander asked, not turning.

              “For not leaving us in the house when you lit it up,” Nicholas said. “We’ve seen some seriously fucked up shit since the Icarus hit. Plenty of people would have left us in there and tossed a match. It’s only been a couple of days and people are already losing their humanity, raiding houses, looting, and fighting each other. Now that some of the infected are past incubation it’s as if—”

              “Whoa,
back up
,” I said, spinning on her. “What the hell do you mean by
past incubation
?”

              “You really have no idea what’s going on, do you?” Trista asked, her brows furrowed.

              “Shup, Trisss,” Metz mumbled, his head bobbing side-to-side.

              “Go to hell, Metz,” Nicholas barked over her shoulder. “They’re just kids, for Christ’s sake. They will never make it if they don’t know what is going on!”

              “So, incubation,” I said, trying to refocus her attention.

              “Right,” she said. “The Gamma Virus has a max seventy-two hours gestation before the shift. They say it depends on the level of exposure, the host organism, and the progression of the virus in the system but three days seems to be the magic number.”

              “What is it?” I asked.

              “All I know is that the debris that crashed down brought some kind of viral-parasite with it. The problem is, it doesn’t affect everyone the same. As of right now, we know of four different manifestations of the Gamma Virus, but the worst are the
Leeches
.”

              Zander and I shared a look.

              “Judging by the looks on your faces, I assume you’ve probably seen one?” Nicholas raised a brow at us.

              “Yeah, you could say that” I said. “Nothing we couldn’t handle, though.”

              “Nasty buggers, ain’t they?” She snorted. “Look, those things may look like a burnt steak, but leeches, or scabs, or whatever the hell you want to call them, are
really
dangerous. We have a standing order to eliminate them on sight.”

              “Based on what we’ve seen, Nicholas, that is probably not a terrible idea,” Zander said, and then turned to me. “Be right back, Liv.”

              “You want me to—?” I reached for the lighter in his hand.

              “No,” Zander said closing his hand around it. “I got this.”

              He sprinted across the street and disappeared through the front door of his parents’ house. I turned back to Nicholas with a sigh and gestured for her to continue.

              “Adaptives, like your friend there,” she said, nodding toward the house, “are able to carry the virus without suffering full conversion. We haven’t seen many, but they all seem to have that same blackened dermal malformation, somewhere on their bodies. As for the goobs, we still don’t know much about them.”

              “Goobs?” I raised a brow at her.

              “Those black blobs you see everywhere,” Nicholas said, blowing hair back from her face. “Goobs.”

              “Are you telling me those things are
alive
,” I shrieked.

              “That’s what they say,” she shrugged. “The squints chopped a bunch of them up and decided they were similar to an insect larva. From what we hear, the viable ones should start hatching in another day or so.”

              “Awesome,” I grunted, dropping to the curb. Just what we needed, another kind of monster to contend with. “Something to look forward to. Wait…you said there was four manifestations. What’s the last one?”

              “Death,” Private Nicholas said plainly. “Usually of the black, splattering variety.”

              “Right,” I said, remembering all the blackened car windows we had seen in the last few days.

              There was nothing more to say, so I sat there on the curb, tossing small rocks into the street while I waited for Zander to come back. He emerged a few minutes later carrying a small knapsack and the lantern from his father’s study.

              “We should go,” Zander said, grabbing my hand.

With a grim nod, he tossed the lantern through the open door and walked away. A second later, flames erupted in what had once been his front porch. The fire spread quickly and within a few minutes the entire lower floor was engulfed in flames.

              “Take my rig,” Nicholas said. “Keys are in my right front pocket.”

              “Why?” Zander snapped at her. “Why would you help us?”

              “Because it’s the right thing to do, damn it and because I can,” she yelled back, tears forming in her eyes. “Everything— every single thing that has happened to me in the last few days has been a direct result of someone else’s decision. This decision is mine. I am
deciding
to help you and it feels damn good. Now, I suggest you take the goddamn keys and get the hell out of here before Metz pulls his head out of his ass and chews through these ropes.”

              “Thank you, Trista,” I said, meeting her eyes as I dug the keys from her pocket.

              “Yeah, okay, you’re welcome,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek as she nodded up at me. “Now, shut your gab and get the hell out of here.”

Chapter 39

Search and Rescue

               “Okay, I’m sorry, but this is
so
much better than the tractor,” Riley said, relaxing back into the vinyl seat.

              She laid her gun across her lap, and gently rubbed at the golf ball sized lump on her forehead. I had begged Riley to let me take a look at it but she had shooed me away. According to her, she had earned every bit of her battle wound and she didn’t want me erasing it.

              “Take it easy, Bella,” I laughed, gently pushing the dog from my lap onto the floor. She climbed right back up onto me undeterred, torn between licking my face, and sticking hers out of the window.

              By the time we had made it back to the safe house she was so amped with worry she nearly knocked me to the ground. At some point, Bella had wrestled her way out of the ratchet strap and had torn it to shreds out of spite. She then spent the next couple hours tearing apart anything she could get her teeth on. Thankfully, she had made no efforts to escape. It would have broken my heart if she had.

              Our three packs were the only ones left so we could safely assume the rest of our friends (even Micah) had made it at least this far. With bags and Bella loaded into the truck, we were back on the road and headed towards the hospital in search of our friends.

              We decided to park a few blocks away, so as not to raise suspicion with our stolen military vehicle. A few minutes later, we pulled into the loading dock behind the Clinco Parts manufacturing plant. The place had shut down more than ten years ago and had since been abandoned. The rusty old chain link fence hung loose on its hinges, so it gave way easily under the bulk of the massive truck. We climbed out of the cab and stood in the trapezoid of light created by the vehicle’s dome light.

              “Put this on,” Zander said, handing Riley a hat, and the smallest fatigue jacket in the pile.

              “Cool,” Riley said, sliding into it and saluting. “Hello, my name is Sergeant Nicholas and I can kill a man with one finger.”

              “Private,” I said, shutting the truck door before Bella could hop out.

              “What?” Riley twirled in her new getup.

              “It’s
Private
Nicholas,” I said. “You said sergeant, and from what I have seen, you probably could, Ry.”

              “Whatever, no big,” she said, shrugging as she buttoned the jacket. “How do I look?”

              “Very military-chic,” I said, nudging her lightly with my hip. I buttoned my own jacket, though it did little to keep me cool in the staunch heat of the night. “Well, if you are done modeling this season’s latest apocalypse fashion, how about we go see how much trouble our friends have gotten themselves into?”

              The walk from Clinco to the ball diamond was only about four or five blocks, but it took us nearly fifteen minutes. We didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves with flashlights, so we made our way in there in total darkness. I was the only one able to see clearly, so Riley held on to the back of my jacket and Zander held on to hers. We tripped and stumbled our way there and positioned ourselves at the top of the hill. Our friends were nowhere to be seen.

              “Where the hell are they?” I growled.

              “Calm down, Liv,” Riley said, lowering herself to the ground.

              “I don’t understand,” I said, staring over my shoulder into the darkness. “This was the spot we agreed on. We went over it a million times. They were supposed to be here.”

              “I think they were,” Riley said, holding up a candy bar wrapper. “And not too long ago. It still has melted chocolate on it.”

              “Get down, Liv,” Zander said, grabbing my arm and pointing over the ridge. “Look.”

              There were military vehicles all over the place, armed soldiers stationed at every entrance, and a guard post on each drive. The army had set up a hastily rigged lighting system that stretched around the perimeter of the hospital’s main building. Every fifty feet or so, there was a tall pole anchored in place with barrels of sand, or maybe concrete.

              Each light pole was connected to the next by a braided strand of cables that created a ring of conduit and wire around the building. The whole set-up converged into a twisted direct line that stretched across to the biggest gas powered generator I had ever seen.

              “Down there,” Zander whispered, “by the ER entrance.”

              A small group of soldiers were gathered near the back of a truck, their weapons holstered, or strung over their shoulders. One by one, the soldiers helped people down from the bed of the truck, then ushered them into the building through the emergency room doors.

              “That’s Fletcher,” I said, pointing to the tall soldier with dark skin that was carrying an elderly woman into the hospital. “What are they—?”

              My voice caught in my throat.

              I watched in horror as Jake and, a few seconds later, Falisha jumped down from the back of the truck. Before ducking through the ER doors, Falisha looked over her shoulder toward the hillside and flashed the hand signal for
hostage.
One of the soldiers shoved her forward and soon they were both out of our view.

              “We have to get down there,” I said, trying to climb to my feet.

              “Whoa, uh-uh,” Zander said, pulling me back down into the dirt. “You can’t just go running down there half-cocked with no backup and no plan, Liv.”

              “But—!”

              “He’s right, Liv,” Riley said. I knew she was scared but since I refused to be the voice of reason, she was backing him up. “We won’t be any good to them if we get caught, too.”

              “Ugh!” I rolled onto my back, running my fingers through my hair in frustration. “I hate this.”

              “I’m not trying to be insensitive or whatever, but you seriously need to get a grip.” Zander pulled my arm away and held onto my hand. “We are going to get them back but need to be smart about it, okay? There are guards everywhere and we don’t even know where they are being held in the hospital. Going down there now would be suicide, Liv.”

              “I can’t just sit here while our friends are dragged off to slaughter,” I groaned. “They need us.”

              “I know they do, which is why we have to be smart,” Zander said, softly. “Let’s just take a breath and think it through, okay?”

              “Fine,” I snapped, sounding like a petulant child. “But if anything happens to them, I swear to you I will blow the place up, myself.”

              “Deal,” Zander said, kissing my temple.

              Over the twenty minutes, three more trucks came and went. Each time it was the same. A truck carrying anywhere from five to twenty-five people would dock beneath the ER pavilion. Soldiers would swarm the entrance and guide the people inside. Then the trucks would leave again, presumably to “rescue” more civilians.

              It had been nearly ten minutes since the last truck had come and gone and I was starting get antsy. I was just about to suggest we break for it, when an armored car pulled in. It looked like the kind of truck that banks used to transport money, but it was painted in a flat gray with no plates and no other visible markings.

              The vehicle rolled to a stop in front of the entrance and cut the engines. Four heavily armed men in full black riot gear poured out of the cab and shuffled to the rear of the truck. A swarm of soldiers rushed out through the ER doors and surrounded them. Two of the guys in black stationed themselves on either side and prepared to open the rear doors while the other two waited at the ready. In one swift motion, the men released the doors, and flung them wide.

              “Agh!” I bit down on my sleeve as something exploded in my chest. It felt as though my chest wall was caving in on me. I struggled for breath, rubbing frantically at the stabbing pain that radiated from my heart to my head and back.

              “Liv, what’s wrong?” Riley shrieked at me as the soldiers stormed into the back of the truck.

              Her words were a whisper compared to the screaming in my head and the inhuman wail that echoed from inside the dark truck. A growl rumbled from somewhere beyond the door, and a soldier flew from the back of the truck. His body slammed against a jeep twenty feet away.  and slumped to the ground, motionless.

              There was shouting, soldiers rushed about barking orders and pushing each other. Then someone fired—
pop…pop-pop.
A couple seconds later another soldier hopped out of the back of the truck, dragging a length of heavy chain behind him. At the end of that chain, was a very strong, very angry
leech
.

              A low grumble escaped from Zander’s throat as we watched the creature slink forward. Despite having been shot as many as three times, it managed the jump from the back of the truck with grace and agility. It landed softly on the ground, growling and gnashing its teeth at the soldiers as it limped past. The leech’s hands were bound, and its feet were chained together.

There was no more than a foot of slack between them, so the angry monster could do little more than shuffle forward. Still, every soldier there looked scared out of their minds. Even the largest of them backed away from the thing, as it advanced.

              The man in black that held the chain tugged hard and the creature stumbled, but even in his wounded state it did not fall. It hissed at the offending soldier and crouched low to the ground. From that point on the creature walked on all fours, snapping and grumbling in protest.

              Despite the violent explosion inside my body, I needed to see more. I pushed myself forward to get a better look past the top of the hill. The wind shifted behind me and the hot breeze blew my hair into my face. The creature stopped dead in its tracks and sniffed the air.

              Three soldiers now held his chains, but no matter how hard they tugged and pulled, they could not move him from his spot. A deep, feral growl tore from the monster’s chest. Its inky black eyes were wild and frantic as it sniffed and dug at the ground. More soldiers moved in to help and all of them began tugging. The leech refused to comply. It continued to struggle against the chains, as its dark eyes frantically searched the hillside…and eventually locked with mine.

              “Rawwwwwwrr,” the creature bellowed, straining so hard in my direction that he dragged two of the soldiers straight off their feet.

              Pain exploded behind my eyes, my heart felt like it stopped dead in my chest. I nearly blacked out from the pain.

             
Pop-pop…

             
Pop-pop-pop.

              The leech fell to the ground in a heap and I collapsed to the ground as the air rushed back into my lungs. One of the soldiers from the truck rushed over, slammed the butt of his gun into the leech’s head and then kicked it once more for good measure. He started screaming orders at the soldiers nearby, who had apparently frozen in shock. Two of the men in riot gear rushed forward, grabbed the chains, and dragged leech’s limp body across the pavement toward a side entrance. Its arms and legs bobbled about, scraping against the rough surface as they disappeared into the building.

              “Holy crap,” Riley squeaked. “That was…holy crap!”

              “You okay, Liv?” Zander said, helping me into a sitting position.

              “Not really,” I groaned, rubbing furiously at my temples as I wobbled in place. “Jesus Christ, what was that?”

              “
That
,” Zander said, as he slowly rubbed circles across my back, “was trouble.”

***                

              “The ER entrance is not an option,” Zander said. “We have to find another way in.”

              “What if we—whoa,” I stopped short. A flash of black cut through the swath of light on the west side of the building and disappeared into the shadows. Whatever it was, it had moved so fast, I couldn’t be sure I had seen anything at all. “Did you guys see that?”

              “What?” Riley asked, looking baffled as she peered over the hill. “What did you see?”

              “I thought…never mind,” I said, shaking my head free of the stray thought. “We need to get closer.”

              We made our way down the hill, crouching low behind the straggly corpses of the shrubs and bushes and dodging behind abandoned vehicles. Caddy-corner to the hospital’s clinic entrance, was a small brick house. It was buried behind an ancient looking camper, a toppled aluminum carport, and years of neglected shrubs and evergreens. It was a real dump, but as shoddy as the property was, it proved the perfect vantage point.

              We nestled ourselves between the camper and a small outcropping of battered pines, and silently charted our rescue. We could clearly see the guard posts near the north gate where the loading dock rested, and the west side, where the administration offices were housed. We didn’t have perfect visibility of the ER pavilion but would be able to track the trucks as they exited the round-about, and headed out onto the road. The east side of the building held nothing aside from a couple maintenance buildings and a shelled out row of topiaries.