“But Geoff…”
“He’s dead. Wade too.” Troy climbed down and pushed Jeremy aside. He typed in the code, and something thumped hard against the hatch. A gun chattered and bullets pinged off the metal.
Both Jeremy and Troy ducked instinctively. “Shit!” Troy grabbed Jeremy and tugged him deeper into the base. “If they’ve got the gear with them to cut through between the outer seal and the inner lock… we’ve got an hour, maybe two, tops.”
“How many are up there?” Jeremy asked. The look on Troy’s face told him all he needed to know.
Deep in the bowels of Def Con, Ian threw down the book he was reading and screamed. Spit flew from his mouth as his head shook uncontrollably. He leapt up from his chair and ran at the armory door, but his shoe snagged a nearly invisible tripwire he’d set in place the day before; the armory’s lights turned red as its huge door slammed shut in front of him. Ian pounded his fists against it until the bones of his hands were shattered, and then he started to use his head.
Troy and Jeremy burst into the control room, nearly scaring Toni to death. “What the hell?” Nathanial bellowed.
“They’re cutting through the outer seal,” Jeremy said, panting for breath. “The others are dead.”
“Nat, are any of the exterior cameras still working?” Troy asked as he closed on the engineer.
“A few… not the one in the shed.”
“Bring ‘em online. I have a bad feeling our friends up there aren’t just going to be sitting on their asses in the time it takes them to cut their way in here.”
“Okay, I’ve got two cameras reporting operational. Both of them are a good bit away from the gates though.”
“Put the closest onscreen.”
The huge wall display flashed to life, showing a small group of attackers, who appeared to be reloading their weapons. In the background, other attackers stood watching something beyond the camera’s field of vision.
“Can you pan around and see what those others are so interested in?” Troy asked.
“I can try.” Nathanial worked at his keyboard, and the image flickered and bounced as the camera slowly turned. Three of the attackers stood outside the fence amidst a pack of infected. The creatures cowered around them like pets.
“I don’t believe it,” Troy said, rubbing his forehead. “Damn, those fuckers are smart.”
Nathanial furrowed his brow. “Huh? I don’t get it.”
“They’re rounding up the infected in the woods. When they cut through the seal, they’re not just going to rush in here. There’s no sense in them risking their lives. They’ll let the mindless ones come in first, hoping they’ll either overrun us or at least weaken our defenses.”
“Aren’t they all infected?” Toni asked.
Nathanial answered before Troy had a chance to. “Yes, but they’re not the same. These new ones aren’t at all like the ones we’ve had to deal with in the past. They’re much more advanced, like they’re evolving back into something much closer to what we are, just not as nice. And certainly not above using their lesser brethren as weapons or cannon fodder, or whatever you want to call it.”
“Somebody should get Ian. We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Sheena suggested.
“No,” Jeremy replied, “Ian’s fine where he’s at.”
“We should at least warn him,” Toni added.
“Ian’s fine.” Jeremy moved to take hold of Toni. “Trust me, he’s where he wants to be.”
“Jeremy.” Troy motioned him over to a table in the control room. Troy ripped a map off the wall and spread it across the tabletop. “You don’t have to die here. None of us do. There’s a back way out.”
“That’s impossible!” Sheena snapped. “If there was another entrance I would know about it.”
Troy ignored her and pointed to a spot on the map. “There’s a tunnel inside the ventilation system here. Wade found it a few days ago. It’s sealed up with an iron grate, but I think you can get through it. It opens into the back of the garage.”
“The garage? Those things are all over the place up there,” Nathanial pointed out.
“They’re spread out pretty good though, and most of them will probably follow the normal infected in here once they get through the inner door. If you wait until they get into the base, by the time you get up there you’ll at least have a chance.”
“What’s with all the you stuff?”
“Jeremy, someone has to stay here to slow them down and make them work for every inch of the base they take. That’s me. I’m the only real soldier left.”
“Troy—” Jeremy started, but Nathanial interrupted him.
“I’m staying too. So is Sheena. I’m not running, Jeremy, and Sheena can’t. She’d just slow you down and get you killed.”
Sheena nodded. “You and Toni go on,” she ordered. “Make sure you take the time to gather up the things you’ll need if you get past those things.”
“No!” Toni cried, squatting beside Sheena’s chair to embrace her.
Sheena didn’t return the hug. “Go on. You’ve only got one chance at this and time’s running out.”
Jeremy pulled Toni to her feet and looked back at Troy. There was so much he wanted to say but the words wouldn’t come. Troy smiled and shot him a mock salute. In spite of the tears burning in his eyes, Jeremy laughed. Then he nodded and led Toni out to gather what they would need.
20
The outer seal clanged as it dropped inside the corridor below, and minutes later a well-placed charge blew the inner door off its hinges. The mindless ones flooded down the passageway and into the base. Troy waited for them in the only unblocked passage to the control room.
A man dressed in the tatters of a tuxedo came tearing around the corner, pink saliva flying from his mouth as he saw Troy and howled madly at him.
Troy raised the automatic shotgun in his hands and fired, cutting the man in two at the waist. A woman in a bloodstained jogging suit was next, and Troy splattered her brains all down the corridor. When the shotgun clicked empty, he snatched up his M-16 and retreated towards the control room, firing on full auto into the increasing tide as he went.
In the control room, Sheena struggled clumsily to ready the handgun Troy had given her.
“You’re not going to need that,” Nathanial told her as the gunfire on the other side of the door was replaced by the sound of Troy screaming.
Sheena looked up at Nathanial and understood.
Finally the door burst open and a woman with matted gray hair and a bleeding hole in her left cheek led the creatures inside. Nathanial stabbed at his keyboard one final time.
Jeremy kicked the grate loose and leapt down into the garage. A quick glance told him that the area was clear of the infected—both breeds. He turned and helped Toni climb out of the vent.
Only a couple of vehicles were left, and only one that he knew for sure still ran. He tossed his pack into the jeep. “Get in,” he told Toni, “and hold on.”
Apparently one of the thinking infected had heard the thunk of the falling grate from inside the garage and was now opening the large doorway to check it out. Jeremy ran him down as he tore out into the dying rays of the setting sun.
The few attackers who’d stayed up top were caught completely off-guard. Jeremy took advantage of their confusion and plowed through them. He spun the jeep’s steering wheel, making a sharp turn toward the gardens and the rear fence. He was already deep in the fields when the first shots began to ping off the tail of the jeep.