Max continued to struggle with his bonds, then switched tactics and focused on Bill instead. He sent the worms into his friend and saw the horrifying damage wrought by the three bullets. Bill's body was fighting back, but the damage was severe, he wasn't going to make it.
Aaron brought his combat boot up into Stewart's groin; she turned and took the blow on the outside of her leg. She kept spinning and hooked his leg with her arm, tugging him off balance onto one leg. Continuing her effort she pulled him up by his thigh and shook off his attempt to grab her around the neck by swinging the man outward. She spun him once and took a large step toward the wall, smashing his head into it. Stewart had thought the wall was just made of gypsum, but the zombie's head rebounded off of it without doing the slightest bit of damage. Aaron's head didn't fare so well, it looked like a water balloon attached to his neck now, his shattered skull leaking fluids as Stewart turned and slammed it into the wall again. She let go of his legs and watched his body crumple into an unmoving pile at the base of the wall.
Stewart was at Max's side in an instance, tearing aside his bonds and helping him over to Bill. She brushed the blood off of his face, to see unblemished skin where his bruises had already healed. She smiled briefly and knelt with him over their fallen comrade.
Bill tried to sit up, but Max put his hand on his chest and pushed him back down. The physical touch sparked a connection between the two and for a moment Max was inundated with Bill, the two of them mingling in a way that made them one. There was no communication between them, they didn't need words; Bill was dying and Max couldn't save him. Tears came to both men's eyes and Max knew he was going to have to go back to Iowa alone, to face Trisha and the kids. Bill lay back on the floor and pulled in a deep breath, understanding and seeming to accept his fate.
'Do something, Max!' Ruben said.
'I can't.'
'You have to. I…I got nothing, but I'm supposed to be here, I'm supposed…to get Bill out.' Ruben's voice trailed off and he bowed his head.
Outside the room the sounds of fighting had lessened, it sounded like Sentry was talking down to someone, monologueing the error of their ways or something. A quick glance in that direction showed Max that he had a woman on the ground and was hovering over her. It was Aubrey, she was still herself, but her mind was struggling not to let Sentry inside of it. Nearby several other zombies stood frozen, watching the unfolding drama.
'We gotta go.' Ruben said.
'Yeah?' asked Stewart, she looked Ruben over and asked, 'Where's the bomb Ruben?'
'Gone. I only came here for Bill, you have to go…to him.'
'Stewart,' Max said, 'He's winning, if we are going to hit him, we need to do it now, she's almost spent.'
Max got stiffly to his feet, looking at his friend beneath him. Stewart grabbed his arm and tugged him towards the door. He noticed there were holes in the front of her fatigues, but no blood. Pulling to a stop at the doorway he paused to look back over Ruben and Bill.
'Wait, Stewart, one second.' Max rushed back over to Bill and got down over his body again, he licked his lips and bent down over the wounds in his stomach. With both hands he pulled Bill's shirt apart, eliciting a wearied grunt from his friend. Max put his face to Bill's wound, hovering just over the worst of them, he spit into it. He sent another probe into the wound to see the effect and when he rose there was a slight smile on his face, 'Get him out of here, Ruben!'
'What'd you do? What did you do, Max?'
'I think I fixed him, just get him out of here! Get him back to his family.'
Ruben nodded, 'I intend to.' With that he grabbed Bill by the hands and swung him up onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry. By the time Ruben reached the hall he just caught the last of Max and Stewart running through the hole Sentry had made in the wall to get to the warehouse.
Chapter 42 — Katie
Katie fell down halfway across the street. It took her some time to realize she had fallen over, she was lost in the flood of memories. When she finally came to, she found herself lying in the pouring rain trying to piece together the fragments of her mind.
Randy offered her a hand up, which she accepted and he pulled her to her feet. She looked at her hand for a moment, then at Randy. 'What'd I miss?' she asked him as she ran over to, and rolled under, a late model Ford.
'Aubrey went inside with her troops, more zombies are trickling in, but they seem to be ignoring the melee in the warehouse and heading deeper into the building. Look at the doorway, there is where they all went.'
Randy was sitting with his legs crossed in front of the Ford, he was pointing at a ragged hole in the otherwise pristine warehouse wall that their new angle allowed them to see. 'That looks new.' Katie said.
Shrugging his shoulders, Randy said, 'Yeah, does it matter? Oh, I saw the old guy run around back of the building too. His eyes were closed and he was stopping and going in a strange pattern.'
'Strange pattern?'
'Yeah, he would take three steps and stop dead still for a second, then take a few more steps and stop again. Sometimes he'd run twenty or thirty paces before stopping. Sometimes he'd only take a single step. The time he stayed still varied too.'
'I don't really care about the old coot. I am surprised one of the contestants for 'best dressed zombie in military garb' of the year didn't put a cap in him though.'
'That's just it; I don't think anyone saw him. I mean anyone who cared. Team Aubrey wasn't exactly interested in capping his ass. The others probably would have. I think, but they always seemed to be looking where he wasn't at.'
'Weird, but it doesn't matter. How's our team doing?' Katie took a rag out of her pocket and wiped the scope down, then proceeded to give the gun a quick wipe down as well.
'Down to her and her man Kurt.'
'Kurt? You know his name.'
'Yeah, sure, I went to high school with him.'
Katie grunted, 'Small world.'
'I'm just shitting you. I don't know who he is, I named him Kurt, so I could root for him. He is like, one of the good guys.'
'Asshole.' Katie lined up her rifle and tried to get a bead on one of the men inside the building. The bright lights were a stark contrast against the dim light made from the approaching storm.
After a moment, Randy asked, 'You gonna take a shot or what?'
'They're moving too fast. What's with all these assholes going into the building, but not fighting?'
'How should I know? Just pick a target, even winging someone will slow them down enough for Kurt or Aubrey to finish them.'
'Good point. I was looking for a head shot.' A split second later Katie's bullet winged the zombie Aubrey was fighting in the shoulder. Aubrey wasted no time, she swung her fist around to shatter the thing's skull and moved on to the next opponent.
'Good shot! Were you aiming for him?'
'Quiet, you!' Katie snarled.
'Sure, sure, the rain and the thunder and the grunting and screaming isn't a problem, but me commending you throws off your aim.'
