“But we’ll need some of this stuff if we miss the pickup,” Ryan complained.
Cahz sat down on one of the closed boxes and looked up at Ryan. “Cannon, what’s the survival time of a downed team in country?” he asked.
“Ten hours,” Cannon quoted.
“Ten hours,” Cahz repeated. “Held up in a nice cosy hotel like this, we’d make the pickup easy. Out there, most fully armed and prepared teams don’t even last ten hours. Look around, Ryan. We ain’t a fully prepared team. We’re three guys with a few guns. Now I appreciate you’ve survived out here for years, but you’ve been locked away in your makeshift fortress, not out on the street.”
“Then why leave?” Ryan demanded. “The fire might not spread. I’ve seen it tons of times. Some fires catch, others just fizzle out. We might be okay.”
“He’s got a point, boss,” Cannon said.
“It might not spread-I’m no expert. But even if it doesn’t, we’ll never get spotted by the chopper. With smoke and the updraft from the flames, it’ll make a pickup impossible,” Cahz explained. “And that’s the best case scenario. If that fire jumps and sets this building alight, how do we get out then? The undead will be enough to contend with without doing it in choking smoke or roaring flames. And before you even ask if we can stay just as long as we can, think about what would happen if the building starts burning after dark. We’d be evacuating into an infested city in pitch black.” Cahz stood up. “No, we move out now while it’s still light and while we still have some control over the situation.”
Ryan nodded and gave a shallow smile. “So what’s the plan?”
“First we gather what useful kits we can,” Cahz said. “Then we work out an escape plan.” He rifled in one of his thigh pockets and produced a map. “We need to take into consideration where’s best to get a pickup.” He pulled out a pencil from a pocket on his body armour and made a light mark on the paper. “You know the area better than we do and it’s not detailed enough to show anything but major roads and towns.” Cahz handed the map to Ryan. Ryan took it and examined the chart as Cahz continued, “Now, I’ve drawn a line from our current location all the way to the coast. That’s the direction I expect the chopper will come in from. Idris, our pilot, is a stickler for that sort of thing-likes to follow the same routes to make search and rescue easier. We need to stick to that line as close as possible to have any chance of intercepting our pickup. So what is the terrain like? Are the bridges blown? Are the roads blocked? Is there somewhere elevated where we can signal? Is there space for the chopper to land? Have a good long look and think things through, ‘cause if we can make it out of this building, we’ll need you scouting the way.”
Cahz turned back to Cannon. “Have a look through this stuff. See if you can find anything useful.”
“What about them?” Cannon pointed out.
Cahz looked at the baby and then at Elspeth. He ran his hands through his hair. “Ah, shit,” he grumbled.
He took the flavourless gum out of his mouth and flicked it away. The minty-ness had gone ages ago, but it hadn’t totally removed the foul taste in his mouth.
Cahz lay down his carbine and hauled off his body armour. He unholstered his pistol.
“What you doing?” Ryan asked.
“Why’d you take your armour off?” Cannon asked.
“I don’t know, Cannon… I don’t know.” Cahz was agitated. “She ain’t dead yet and I don’t feel right marching in there and killing her dressed like an executioner. Okay?”
Cannon made a submissive gesture with his hand and said nothing.
“You’re
He got to his feet, still holding the baby. As he took a step forward, Cannon swung his arm out to form a barrier.
“Cool it, Ryan,” Cannon ordered. “You know it needs done.”
Ryan started to object but couldn’t find the grounds he needed. Elspeth was infected. Even looking at her he knew she wouldn’t have long. He could also see it as a mercy.
He bowed his head and stepped back.
Cahz closed the office door gently behind him. The smell of death hung in the air. It was a sharp tart aroma, like a mouldy grapefruit mixed with stale urine. It was a smell that clawed at the back of his tongue and made him want to gag.
“Elspeth,” he said softly, swallowing back the nausea.
When she didn’t stir he called her name a little louder.
“Elspeth.”
Still nothing.
Cahz knelt down beside her. Her skin was pale and translucent, the veins underneath an insidious black entanglement of infection that he knew pervaded her every fibre. Beads of sweat dripped from the tip of her nose and landed in a damp patch on the canvas camp bed.
Cahz listened carefully for the sound of breathing. Elspeth’s lips were dark and cracked. A steady stream of frothy drool trickled from the corner of her bruised mouth.
He swallowed down nervously. He leaned closed to her mouth and, holding his breath, he cocked his ear, listening for any sound. A faint rasp struggled from her lips and her eyes flickered gently behind her closed eyelids.
The puff of breath was foul. It smelt sulphurous and dank.
“I’m sorry to do this before you’ve gone, but you don’t have much time left anyway.” Cahz paused, hearing his pathetic excuse. “Maybe it is better this way. I mean, you won’t have to come back as one of those things.”
Cahz clicked the safety catch off his pistol, “I’m sorry, but we… I don’t have the time to wait for you. I hope you understand if I’m to get Ryan and Cannon and me out of this. I…” He stopped himself. “The truth is, it’s easier this way. You’re one less thing to worry about. I’m sorry, Elspeth.”
Elspeth’s eyes began to open, very slowly. The whites were bloodshot, but her irises were still a bright blue.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. Her eyes slowly began closing again.
Cahz blinked away a tear. He pointed the gun and pulled the trigger.
He stood up and drew his sleeve across his face, wiping away the tears. His ears buzzed with the deafening thump of the shot. The roar of interminable pressure reverberated around his head.
An ugly black pit the size of a coin was oozing blood from Elspeth’s temple. The blood wasn’t the usual crimson red, but darker-more corrupted. Her eyes had flickered open and rolled back, leaving just a crescent of blue iris visible. Beyond, the cream coloured office wall was sprayed with a fountain of that visceral fluid. Sliding down the wall were chunks of grey meat and shredded skin. A clump of scalp with tendrils of fine white hair slithered its way to the floor. Robbed of sound, the dripping blood was all the more discordant. Cahz watched for a moment, the angry buzzing in his ears blotting out all other noise. It separated him from the moment and yet dragged him in. Trickles of contaminated blood, stark against the pale infected skin, dribbled down her lifeless face. As he watched a dry wad of sickness caught in the back of his throat.
Cahz turned and looked out of the office window.
Ryan was rocking the baby. Even with the bark of the shot impairing Cahz’s hearing, it was obvious by the way the baby’s face was contorted that she was crying.
Cahz looked down at the gun in his hand. It was a black lump of hard cold metal in his grasp.
He opened the office door, his gaze firmly locked on the crying child.
Gulping back the anguish, Cahz marched up to the others.
Cannon was saying something as he walked up, but Cahz couldn’t hear what above the ringing in his ears.
“Put her on the ground.” Cahz wasn’t sure if the words had come out but from Ryan’s shocked reaction he knew he’d made his intent clear.
Ryan shook his head and backed up.
Cahz levelled the gun at the screaming child. Her pink skin was flushed red with howling. He couldn’t hear him say it, but Cahz knew Ryan was pleading.
“Put her on the ground and step back!” Cahz shouted. Tears were streaming down both his and Ryan’s
