John stood and flinched as he heard a gunshot, but a quick look told him that one of Mike’s people had taken out a zombie.
“Let’s get over there and check the wreckage,” he told Keith.
First, he walked back to the school entrance. The soldier with the badly broken ankle was sobbing in pain. Somehow, he had gotten shot in the belly as well. A blood stain slowly grew on his shirt. Emily had removed his weapon and had him covered. A few feet further lay the soldier who had shot Mel. He wasn’t dead either. His breaths came in small, squeaky gasps. Mike stood over the soldier and with a vicious shove flipped him to lie on his back. He looked at the face of his wife’s would-be killer. Small bubbles of blood popped from the corner of the soldier’s mouth with each breath. John stared at the young man and waited. Finally, their eyes met. John drew his sidearm and shot the man through his forehead.
“OK, let’s go,” he told a stunned Keith and marched towards the vehicles.
The screaming had stopped. They inspected the wreckage. There were no survivors.
“Open the gate so Mike can pull his vehicle into the yard,” he ordered Keith as he reached for a fire extinguisher in the SOV.
The minivan had also shown up once the shooting ended and followed Mike as he eased the Humvee past the wrecked vehicles.
The gate was shut. John cast a glance around and saw zombies at various locations along the fence. None were close, though, so he turned and walked back towards the school.
He stopped for a moment as Mike exited his vehicle.
“Thanks. You saved our asses.”
Mike shook hands with John. “Looks like you guys were managing OK — but you’re welcome.”
John raised an eyebrow. “Your timing was impeccable.”
Mike smirked. “You can thank your British import for that.”
When John still looked confused, Mike explained, “She contacted us with a distress call.”
“Ah.” John nodded. He looked over at the three dead and one wounded soldier lying in front of the school. And just beyond them, Craig. “I have to go check on my wife.”
He headed to the school, quickening his step as he neared his objective, concern for Mel once again taking priority in his mind.
Mike took charge as John entered the school. John could hear him order both teams around.
John entered the clinic and sensed that the tension had subsided. Joe was working on Mel’s hip. Christine and Shelley were bustling around Mel and Joe like two angry bees.
Mel turned her head and smiled. She still looked very pale. “It’s OK, John.”
“Lie still, Mel.” Joe continued to work without turning his head. “John, she will be OK. I’ll give you the details when I’m done here. Now let us do our work.”
“All right. Thanks, Joe.” John made to exit the room but turned back. “Craig was killed...”
Joe froze for a second. “OK,” he said, and continued his work.
John left the clinic just as Ethan came hesitantly down the stairs.
“John... is the coast clear?”
John nodded. “Yeah. But before you send everybody out of the library...” He grimaced. “Can you ask Sarah to come down, please?” It was clear that not everything was all right. Ethan noticed, and blanched a bit. “Uh, OK, John.” He turned and ran up the stairs.
John had barely made it to the door when he heard Sarah’s voice upstairs. He waited for her as she came down. She reached the bottom of the stairs and met John’s eyes. The word ‘No’ escaped her lips. She started walking towards John, repeating the word several times. “No. ...No. No! No! NO!” John went to embrace her, but she pushed him away and walked outside. She looked down and saw Craig’s corpse. “NOOOOO!” she screamed. And ran down to her husband, tears already streaming from her eyes.
Jack was already running down the stairs. Stepping aside, John let the young man by. Jack’s cries mingled with his mother’s shrieks of despair.
Chapter 13
Ben
Shots rang out in the distance. Ben watched from his hiding place as zombies reacted to the noise, jerking into movement. Some limped. Some moved woodenly. Others lurched, taking five or six quick steps at a time. He frowned in a mix of shock and fascination as one ran nearly at a full sprint.
Backing away from the small window at the front door, he walked down the hall. The first door on the left led into a mini theater. As he entered it, he found his gear carefully stowed near the front of the room. He could not hear the gunshots anymore. That didn’t mean they had stopped. This theater was seriously sound-proofed. So much so that Ben could have watched a movie in there the previous night without worry of being detected.
He didn’t, though. Any movie he watched would just remind him of the world he’d left behind.
Ben sat down in one of the oversized leather theater chairs. The chair would recline if he leaned back, but Ben sat forward. He refused to partake in any extra luxury. Guilt was eating him up.
You should be out there assisting Captain Shaw. You acknowledged your orders.
And yet Ben had been dragging his feet. He’d had enough time to make it to that school from the airport but could not find the motivation to rush over. He knew those people. He didn’t want to see them subjugated. He didn’t want to be around when Hill and Moyers got killed — for surely, they would be seen as a threat to authority and therefore eliminated.
It was a mild surprise that Shaw should be in on this. The LTC had fooled him for sure. It was getting harder and harder to distinguish friend from foe.
He hadn’t signed up for this. Yes, he believed that mankind had become a scourge — and he thought he agreed with the solution Brenin preached. But he was not prepared to experience it all first-hand. It got personal. Ben had watched as people
