“And all it cost me was another man’s blood on my hands.”
She pulled him close and hugged him. “Don’t oversimplify things. You did good.” She pulled back and gave him a forlorn smile. “She’ll come to terms. Just give her a little space.”
Roger nodded and trudged back to the mattress he called home. He remembered one of his wife’s favorite sayings when she wasn’t pleased with a situation. “I shaved my legs for this?”
Chapter 15
Hollis stacked along the wall just outside the stairwell door. His men were on either side of him and Dr. LaRue was stuck in his shadow. He felt the squeeze on his shoulder and passed it forward. When the lead man advanced, the entire team moved as one unit.
The door was pulled open and the team entered the stairwell, one man holding the landing where they led further into the basement and the others silently moving upward. Hollis felt the weight of the files and associated paperwork as it bounced on his back. He said nothing as LaRue gripped his middle.
As they approached the ground floor, the men stacked outside the double doors and Hollis pulled them open, his men entering the foyer, weapons leveled. They fanned out in the openly-lit area, each scanning their field of fire.
“Let’s move, people!” Hollis barked as he dragged LaRue toward the exit. Suppressed weapons fire greeted them as they pulled the front doors open and Hollis watched in awe as a wave of Zeds crested the hill below. He keyed his coms and yelled, “Get that bird in the air! Either circle back and get us or go to the roof!”
He heard the engines rev up and the spinning blades blew debris in all directions. He waved his men forward, “Cover the chopper! Don’t let them get close!”
His men lined up along the front entrance of the laboratory building and aimed for the advancing horde.
“Jesus Christ…where are they coming from?”
Hollis reached behind him and pushed LaRue back toward the doors. “Stay back!” He actually sighed with relief when the chopper lifted from the ground, the closest moving Zed at least fifty yards from the craft.
“Keep them covered.” He turned and dragged LaRue with him.
“Where are we going?” She insisted as he physically pulled her away.
“The roof. Now go!” He pushed her unceremoniously toward the doors. “Wait by the stairwell.” He tapped two of his men to provide coverage for the researcher, then began searching the area for a way to secure the front doors. He was looking for something, anything to slow the Zeds from getting into the building. “Suddenly, shooting out the locks didn’t seem so smart.” He tapped his closest man and barked at him to retreat.
He stood by the door while each man fired his final shots at the horde, then slipped inside. He came in last and pulled the doors shut. He scanned the interior as quickly as he could, looking for anything he could use to secure them. He could see the Zeds sprinting up the hill and surrendered the cause. He spun and bolted for the stairs. “The roof! Now!”
His men breached the stairwell again and began double timing up into the darkness. He knew what they were up against and threw caution to the wind. If they encountered anything in the stairwell, they’d deal with it as they were trained. He just prayed that they could access the roof without blowing the doors.
He knew from the outside assessment they only had four floors between the ground and the roof. He cursed to himself as LaRue slowed the team’s advancement. He slung his rifle and scooped her tiny frame up with one arm, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of dog food.
“I’m-per-fect-ly-ca-pa-ble…” she tried to say as she was bounced up the stairs.
“No time for slacking, doc!” He rounded the corner of the final landing and could see his men surrounding the roof access. “Tell me it’s open.”
“Negative, sir.” The breacher stepped forward and lowered his shotgun. “Electronic lock, and since the power is out—”
“Do it!” Hollis turned LaRue away from the blast just in case any shrapnel came their way, and he could hear the horde as they stormed up the stairs. “God help us,” he whispered.
He saw the light from outside wash the interior hallway and the shadows told him his men were exiting onto the roof. He could barely hear the chopper’s blades from the ruckus the Zeds were making as they bounded up the stairs.
He set LaRue down and pushed her toward the roof. “Go. Now.” He turned back to the stairwell and fed a fresh magazine into his rifle.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I’m right behind you, doc.” He chambered a round and lowered his weapon to cover the stairs. “Now GO!”
“But—”
“I said GO!” He loosed a shot into the first Zed to round the corner of the stairs.
LaRue screamed and bolted up the remaining steps and burst out onto the sun-drenched roof. She saw the helicopter nearly hovering along the edge of the roof, its landing gear rising and lowering as the pilot feathered the throttle.
“Let’s move it, ma’am!” one of Hollis’ men waved her toward the craft. She slid to a stop at the door and turned back to the stairwell. “The captain is still in there!”
“Load up, ma’am. I’ll get him.” The soldier turned toward the door as the first Zed burst from the darkened doorway. He slid to a stop, his feet threatening to come out from under him as he turned and bolted for the chopper door.
“Go! Go! Go!” the soldier screamed as he leapt for the opening in the side of the helicopter. He landed hard on his ribs and rolled to his back, his weapon coming up and firing at the advancing infected.
The helicopter lifted from
