He watched the front end lift high in the air as the driver climbed over bodies. He put the crosshairs on the truck again and emptied a magazine into the rear of the cab.
He watched the truck jerk to the side and slowly roll into the fence next to the gaping hole that the Zulus had entered. “I think I got him!” Roger squinted to peer through the rising black smoke, his weapon at the ready.
“I-I can’t see anything for the smoke.” He waved his hand in front of his face and brought the scope back up to his eye. “I can’t see if…dammit!” He opened fire on two retreating bodies in black leather biker gear.
“Did you get Simon?” Candy asked as she launched another cocktail.
Roger shook his head. “I can’t be sure. They wrecked the truck, but I watched two people run out the back.”
Hatcher appeared, his face covered in smears of black and his rifle barrel smoking. “It ain’t over. The infected are fighting through!” He lowered his barrel over the edge of the parapet and began firing at those that were hanging on the fence.
Bodies stacked up on the ground just beyond the staging area fence and Zulus were using them to climb up to the top of the chain link. “Don’t let them get over the fence!”
Roger opened fire on those closest to the fence as Candy tried to drop the cocktails into the body mountain. She lobbed one over the fence that refused to shatter, the bottle rolling harmlessly down the fleshy ramp of infected. “Damn it.”
Roger smiled as he put the crosshairs on the tumbling bottle and squeezed the trigger. The first shot went wide, but the second shot shattered the glass, sending the flames up and out as the fuel mixture inside expanded.
“Hatcher, there’s another vehicle!” One of the men on the roof and Roger turned to peer past the edge of the warehouse. He could just make out headlights slow and come to a stop before the car accelerated and tore away. He watched the taillights as the car made a beeline for the end of the road.
“I gotta see which way they go!” Roger took off at high speed and launched himself from the roof of the warehouse offices and onto the roof of the main warehouse. He scrambled on hands and knees up the steep metal until he reached the peak.
Candy watched as his silhouette pulled up a pair of binoculars, watching after the car. Roger lowered the binoculars and shook his head. “Son of a…” He turned and looked to Hatcher. “He’s out there.”
“Simon?” Hatcher asked as he reloaded his rifle.
Roger shook his head then clambered back down the peak, took a running jump, and rolled onto the roof of the offices again. He came to his feet and approached Hatcher. “No. The infected guy with the pipe. He was out there.”
“How do you know?”
Roger grimaced. “I watched him try to spear their get away car with the pipe.”
Hatcher shook his head as he took aim again. He scanned the grounds but only saw dead or dying. “Where’d they go?”
The man standing next to him raised the barrel of his rifle. “They were all just there a second ago, then…disappeared.”
Hatcher blew his breath out hard and nodded to the men on the roof. “Get a team down there. Put down any that are still breathing, but make sure you have a lookout. I don’t want any surprises.”
The men scrambled for the roof exit as Hatcher slumped down and refocused on the parking lots. He continued to scan the grounds as the men set up in the staging area.
“What do you think about that, Hatch?”
“About what?”
Roger huffed. “The guy with the pipe.” He settled in close and lowered his voice. “That was a pretty big group that just hit us. You think this guy could be their leader?”
Hatcher shrugged, his eyes never leaving the ground below. “Possibly. Not that it matters.” He finally pulled back and nodded over the edge. “Look at them. They’re nearly dead already.”
Roger pulled his rifle up and peered over the edge. “Most are dead. I see a few still moving.”
“No. I mean, LOOK at them. They’re about starved to death.” He shook his head as he continued to scan the area. “This may have been one last surge to get food before the end.”
Roger mulled the idea. “Yeah…I don’t think so.”
Carol slowly opened her eyes and blinked against the bright white light. She pulled her hand up to shield her eyes then suddenly froze. She sat up and instinctively covered her chest. “What the hell?” She spun on the metal table and used her other hand to cover her nakedness.
“Easy there, doc!” Carol snapped her head toward the voice and saw a man handing her clothes, his head turned away from her. “You’re good. You weren’t bitten or scratched.”
She reached out and plucked the coveralls from his grip then turned her back to him as she slid into them. “What the hell happened?”
“Dr. LaRue happened. She was rabid. She escaped her room and has bitten or killed at least twenty people onboard.” The man cautiously turned his face to her as she zipped up the coveralls. “How you weren’t injured, I don’t know. You were lucky.”
“So you just took it upon yourself to strip me down and—”
“By my order.” Dr. Andre Broussard stepped into the room; his clothes were soaked with blood. “We saved as many as we possibly could.”
Carol swallowed hard as the realization sunk in. “How many?”
“You.” Broussard rocked on his heels. “The rest…” he blew his breath out hard. “They turned within moments.”
Carol’s mouth fell open. “Moments?”
He nodded solemnly. “Whatever Vivian is carrying, it’s even more virulent than the original strain. At least back then they had…some time.”
Carol’s hand instinctively went to her mouth. “I didn’t know.”
“How could you?” Broussard stepped forward and placed
