The lights died, plunging them into darkness. Bucky’s awareness vanished for a second until the piss poor emergency lighting flickered to life. He barely made out the faces of his entourage.
“Are we ever going to get a break,” Johnny sighed.
“If a job is not difficult to do, it’s not worth doing,” Bucky quipped.
A scream bellowed from the corridor outside. Lacey jumped. It could only be one person.
“The soldier,” Johnny said, confirming Bucky’s theory.
“Shit. Alright. Back away,” Bucky ordered, opening the door a tad.
“I…”
“Shhh,” Bucky quipped, ordering Johnny to silence. “I hear something.”
From the far reaches of the corridor a strange, shuffling noise emerged. The darkness heightened his other senses. Through the gloom, a flap struck the tiled floor and then the shuffling sounded once again. In his mind, the form of a bare foot dragging a limp leg emerged.
“It’s coming this way,” Bucky whispered.
“What is it?” Lacey asked.
“It sounds like…” Bucky trailed away as the sound emerged once again. “It sounds like somebody walking, but dragging their other leg behind them.”
“It’s a crazy,” Aaron stated.
Bucky remained silent. He did not doubt his friend’s theory. All about them the muted sound of gun fire continued. The tell-tale sound of groaning emerged. The infected were inside the complex.
The sound approached within the darkened corridor. Bucky lifted a hand and gestured for the rest to stand back. As he peered through the door crack, an infected appeared beneath the emergency lighting. Bucky gasped. The ambling monstrosity stood almost as tall as the light itself. Long, gaunt arms swayed as it moved, dragging a lifeless leg in its wake. The body bore shorts and trainers. Even in the poor light its naked torso glistened with fresh blood. The man ambled past, groaning as he did so. Bucky waited a moment.
“Has it gone?” Lacey asked.
“Yes, but we have to be quick. It’s a big one, and I mean big.”
“What are we going to do?” Aaron asked. “It has to have come in somewhere, which means there will be more within the area where it came from. We’re trapped. This crazy will be at one end of the corridor, the rest will beat the other.”
An idea hatched in Bucky’s mind. “You three wait here. I’ve got a plan.”
“Wait, man! You can’t just go out there by yourself!”
“Johnny just…” Bucky raised a palm to silence him. “I have an idea, okay. Just wait.” He opened the door with care and stepped out of the room in silence. The ambling shadow that had just passed continued on its journey into the darkness away from him. Bucky turned and ghosted the other way. The light was terrible, nothing more than a soft glow in truth, but he could see well enough to walk and that was all he needed. Every step he trod was done so with care and precision. The standard issue boots he’d been donated made a minute thud on the floor, but nothing to arouse an interest in him.
He paced along checking the open doors for movement. Nothing moved, nothing shuffled or shambled. He turned a corner, peering around first to ensure its safety. He wandered, silent as the grave, to the next turning where again he peered around the corner to check his path. There it was. Up ahead, the slumped body of the soldier appeared beneath the soft glow of light.
With a sense of urgency, Bucky picked up the pace, unaware of why he did so. He reached the fallen hero quicker than he expected. In the gloom, Bucky noticed the soldier’s nose and lower face saturated with blood. Beside his leg the assault rifle lay. Bucky’s knowledge of arms was terrible at best, but he recognised it as an SA80 from the war video games he also liked to play every now and then. He reached down, grabbing the rifle with one hand. It felt lighter than he expected, but in truth he didn’t know what to expect. The thought of King Arthur withdrawing Excalibur from the stone passed through his mind as he took the rifle in his hands. He peered down to the soldier. The body lay motionless. He half expected it to open its eyes, snarl and launch an attack upon him. He recalled Michael attacking Stewart outside the hardware shop, something that felt centuries ago now.
Playing it safe, Bucky rose the barrel to the soldier, lining a perfect headshot that would keep him down forever. His index finger rested against the trigger. Bucky stared toward the soldier. What was his story? Why was he running inside the corridor? Was he deserting? Was he running to help re-enforce the corridor from the other end? He took a deep breath. The more he peered at the body the less motivation he felt to pull the trigger. Was the soldier dead? What if he was unconscious and injured, not turned? What if the injury was not a bite? What if…
The soldier’s eyes opened. His pupils vanished behind milky eye whites. Blood trickled from one corner of the lids. He snarled. Bucky gasped, engaging the trigger. A light flashed as a bullet popped from the barrel and echoed between the walls. The soldier’s face exploded against the wall.
Bucky shook himself from the daze and headed back to his friends.
“What was that?” Johnny asked, stepping into the corridor as Bucky returned.
“This,” he replied, showing off the rifle.
“Holy crap, where did you get that?”
“From the soldier. Bastard came back to life, though, that’s when I pulled the trigger.”
A guttural, primitive roar echoed through the corridor.
“That’s the other one,” Johnny said.
“Yes. I’m going to put it down. Come on, we need to leave. Now.”
Johnny summoned the others.
“That was you?” Aaron asked Bucky as he emerged from their once comfortable room.
“Yup. Got me an equaliser.”
“Just be careful,” Lacey asked.
Bucky wandered at the front of the group, leading his friends through the corridor and toward the infected giant.
“You’re not going to get many chances at this,” Johnny whispered from behind.
“Just shut up,” Bucky retorted.
