Kelly sat back down and fished another cracker from the package. “It was the first and only time I ever felt like I had any power.” She slipped the cracker into her mouth and chewed slowly, her mind elsewhere. “When I wasn’t the victim.”
Carol sensed a chink in Kelly’s armor and was about to inquire when a loud crash in the hallway had both women frozen in place. They locked eyes then glanced to the laboratory doors. “Did you shut the outside door when you came up?” Carol whispered.
Kelly shrugged slightly, her face a mask of fear. “Is that…an infected?”
Carol shook her head. “I’ve no idea.”
The scream that echoed through the hall answered her question.
Simon marched his army toward the Cager’s compound and when the walls first became visible, he broke his people into three waves. “Use this.” He handed the lead hunter of each wave a lighter. “Remember, pour the liquid, light it, then shoot the arrow right away.” He slapped each man on the shoulder as they broke away, taking fighters with them.
Simon nodded to Clyde. “You’re with me, big man.” They marched to the open field directly across from the compound and slipped into the sparse groupings of trees. “Bows. Now.” Simon snapped his fingers.
The three best bowmen stepped beside him and nocked their arrows. As they readied themselves, Simon squirted lighter fluid on the rags tied to each arrow. He turned and nodded to Clyde. A quick flick of the lighter and the arrows were aflame.
“Fire!”
Chapter 26
Hatcher ran down the hallway, the AR tight in his grip. “Get those men to the walls!” He pointed to Roger. “Man the East side. That’s our weakest link.”
“Already on it!” Mike ran through the double doors leading to the courtyard and grabbed two men entering the lobby. “You two, on me!”
Hatcher slammed a magazine into the well of the AR and exited the lobby. He could see what looked like torches in the distance and was about to yell to the sentries when the torches arced through the night sky, thumping hard into the roof behind him. “What the hell?”
“Arrows!” a man at the wall shouted. “They’re shooting ARROWS at us!”
Hatcher gave the man a confused look then turned and stared at the flaming arrows stuck in the roof. “That can’t be…”
“Heads up!” Somebody tackled Hatcher, sending him roughly to the ground as another volley peppered the exterior defensive wall and a few landed just feet from where he’d been standing. The man who tackled him was back on his feet and threw his body against the adobe wall. “Thanks,” Hatcher muttered as he got to his feet. “I owe you one.”
“Incoming!”
Hatcher rolled toward the wall and ducked under its mud brick protection. He heard arrows strike the outside and more landed inside the perimeter. Glass broke and a woman’s scream spun his head. He saw the first licks of fire inside the room and knew that things were about to get really bad, really fast.
He pulled his radio and keyed the mic. “I need people on standby to fight fires! Get every available body on fire extinguishers and have them at the ready. The rooms are already burning!”
He lowered the radio and cursed under his breath. “How the fuck is this Zulus? They don’t have the mental capacity to—”
“Incoming!”
Hatcher ducked lower and noted the lack of gunfire. “Shoot the goddamned archers! When they light the arrows, you light them up!”
He slung his rifle over the top of the wall and began firing into the dark. He noted that more and more of the men opened fire and he actually smiled when he saw flame hit the ground in the distance. “That’s one.”
Roger’s voice came across the radio. “Hatch, we got a shit ton of spears and arrows over here.”
“Shoot the fuckers!” Hatcher screamed back.
“They’re launching in waves. I’ve lost two men already!” Roger did his best to control his voice but Hatcher could hear the panic.
He turned and caught three men exiting the lobby, rifles in hand. “No! Go to the East wall. Back up Roger and the others.”
He turned his attention back to the attack and popped his head over the edge just as arrows zinged past him. He ducked again and cursed under his breath. “Son of a bitch.”
Big Mike pushed his way past the other men and set his jaw as he approached the front wall. He slung his rifle over the edge and began to sight in the light skinned bodies darting just outside the edge of the lights. “Angle those UV lights deeper onto the horizon!”
The man next to him shook with fear and remained ducked behind the wall. Mike looked down at him and scowled. “I ain’t moving from here, man.”
“Useless!” Mike pushed past him and stepped onto the edge of the old scaffolding. He reached for the light and felt his wound threatening to rip open. He took a deep breath and braced his body on the top of the adobe wall, pushing himself up to reach the base of the light. With a quick twist of his wrist, he angled the UV lights further along the horizon, putting the would-be attackers in view.
He lowered himself next to the cowering man and leveled his rifle on the darting bodies. Round after round belched from the rifle, sending hot brass towards the man cowering under the wall. “Jeezus! Do you have to be right there?”
Mike barely slowed his rate of fire when he reached down and picked the man up by his shirt front. “Get in the fight or get back inside with the other women!” He tossed the man aside then redirected his rounds.
The cowering man hunkered low and duck walked back toward the building. He glanced back at Mike and noted that he didn’t even flinch as the next volley of arrows sizzled right past his position.
Mike slammed another magazine into the rifle and pulled the charging handle. He
