Chapter Six

Chapter 6


“Oh no… no, no, NO!” Tom grabbed his rifle and jumped out of the police cruiser, not bothering to close the door as he ran into the battle, agony overtaking him as his friends, people he’d grown close to over the years were being overrun by the living dead.

“Tom!” Katharina screamed after, getting out of the car as well and calling out to him. Nick looked up, still in the backseat of the car. Katharina turned towards him. “He’s going to get himself killed, do something!” Nick shook his head.

“He’s a damn fool.” He muttered, grabbing his sniper rifle as he got out. He saw Tom sprinting towards the helicopter wreck, dodging every shambler in his path. “What can I do? There’s too many of them…” He pulled out the pack of cigarettes and his Zippo and lit one up, taking a long drag before exhaling. “We should go before we get ourselves killed.” Katharina took a step towards Tom, then back to Nick, shaking her head in disbelief.

“We can’t just leave him here! He’ll die!” Small tears were streaming down her face, her eyeliner beginning to smear.

“He made his choice-” Nick cringed as the girl slapped him across the face.

“He saved your ass back in the city, now help him!” She cried. Nick rubbed his face, for a woman she hit pretty damn hard. “You’re one of New York’s best, now do your damn job and help him!” She screamed. The sniper blinked a few times as he took another hit of the cig and looked back for Private. He spotted him helping up a badly injured soldier, his back towards a zombie that was rapidly closing the distance between them. “Please…” She pleaded.

“Awe hell.” He propped his rifle up on the hood of the car and looked into the scope, his cigarette hanging lose in lips, the cherry burning brightly in the night. He quickly chambered a round in the rifle and aimed at the zombie, a former soldier, that was about to grab him. “Steady now…” Nick fired, his aim was true. The round smacked the shambler in the back of the head, blood splattered against the helicopter’s burning heap as its skull parted and it crumpled to the ground. In the blink of an eye he yanked the bolt back, the cartridge clanging on the hood as another shell was chambered in. Through his scope he saw Tom placing the soldier down against an ambulance as he lifted his own rifle and began letting loose a hell of gunfire into a large mob feasting on his fellow soldiers. Nick Fired again, blasting away a zombie coming in on the soldier’s side and ending the creature’s life instantly.

“Come on Tom, come back already…” He heard Katharina say to herself as he chambered yet another round in his weapon. He saw the soldier propped against the ambulance with a pistol in his hand, firing away at two zombies coming around back the vehicle. His aim was off, the soldier couldn’t even stand up. One hand was around a large wound in his stomach that was still bleeding freely all over him. The other hand held his sidearm, and he letting his own fear hinder his accuracy.

“I gotcha, buddy.” Nick aided the soldier and dispatched both of the shamblers in an instant. The wounded soldier was looking around for his savior as Nick dug hiss hand into his hip pouch and pulled out more rounds for his rifle.

“Hurry, more of them are coming!” The girl yelled as he frantically reloaded his rifle. He cursed as one of the shells slipped from his hands and was lost in the grass. He left it there as he sighted Tom grappling with a creature, another one inbound.

“Shit!” Nick quickly dispatched the zombie closing in, but found he couldn’t get a shot on the one Tom was wrestling with. “Damn it Tom, keep him steady!” He yelled, his words lost to the moans of the undead. The shambler had Tom pinned down, the only thing keeping him from the deadly bite of the creature was his arm under the neck of the thing. Nick fired, but his aim was off. The bullet struck the carrier in its shoulder. It moaned, distracted for a second as the hot lead ripped away at its flesh; which was all the time the Private needed. Tom pulled out his M9 Beretta and stuck it underneath the chin of the zombie and pulled the trigger several times, the top of its head exploded in a shower of gore.

“Kathy, get on the police intercom and tell him to get his ass back here! He doesn’t have much time!” He chambered another round and picked off a zombie feasting on a soldier’s corpse. Katharina ran over to the driver’s seat and hopped into the car, picking up the radio.

“How do I work this thing?” She frantically asked. Nick gritted his teeth as he picked off another carrier closing in on Tom and the wounded soldier before dropping the rifle on the hood of the car and snatching the radio out of her hand.

“TOM, YOU NEED TO FALL BACK. THERE’S TOO MANY OF THEM. I REPEAT, FALL BACK.” His voice boomed over the squad car’s megaphone; Tom looked up as he was slapping a fresh magazine into his assault rifle. For a split second Nick thought the soldier would come back, but when the cries of the dying and wounded reached Tom’s ears he turned back and began engaging the undead again. “Damn him!” Nick tossed the radio back in the car and slammed the door shut as he grabbed his sniper rifle again.

“Nick, over there!” Katharina cried out, he spun just in time to see a lone shambler creeping up from behind the car. In one swift motion he pulled his .40 handgun out of his holster and shot it right between the eyes without hesitation, then holstered the handgun again.

“Good eye, Kathy.” He peered back in the scope and began picking off zombies closing in on Tom again, taking out the closest ones methodically until he was empty again. As he pulled out more rounds, he saw Tom yell something to the wounded soldier before making his way towards a small squadron of men that were doing their best at keeping the numerous shamblers away from a small, frightened crowd of civilians. They seemed to have a strategy down, two gunmen were firing like madmen until they ran empty, while they reloaded two others open fired. It seemed to be working, but Nick knew that they wouldn’t last long. All the gunfire was drawing in more zombies, a lot of them former soldiers and people rescued earlier that day. As he chambered the shells into his rifle he noted where the wounded soldier was, and once he saw that there was no immediate threat to him he focused his aim back on Tom, who was yelled something in a radio set up on a small table before lifting his rifle and joining in the battle.

“Nick, to your right!” Nick pulled out his .40 once more and took out a trio of undead that were stumbling out of the trees his way.

“Here, take this.” He handed the large handgun to Katharina before concentrating back on the soldiers. “Shoot them in the head.” She nodded shakily as she held the gun close to her, doing her best to maintain composure. “Damn!” He could see one of the soldiers in the firing squad screaming as one of the civilians he was trying to protect turned on him and ripped a large chunk out of his arm. Nick sighted the newly turned shambler and took it out, considering whether or not he should take out the soldier as well. He thought against it, he was not going to murder the man, not while he was still human anyways. As the soldier collapsed, grimacing as he tried to contain the blood flow with his hand, Nick heard something. He looked up just as a military helicopter flew overhead, the turrets dousing a large group of undead. Limbs flew in the air and blood sprayed the military tents as the chopper circled the group of survivors overhead.

“Thank god!” Katharina said. Tom waved his arms frantically as the chopper blasted away another crowd of the undead, clearing for a path to land. Nick jumped as he heard three gunshots beside him, he cocked his head and saw a shambler convulsing on the grass, its face blasted apart. Katharina held his smoking gun and nodded at him. He returned it and took another hit on the cig before tossing it aside as the chopper landed.

“He better not leave us here.” He muttered as he took out another carrier with a clean headshot. Tom was waving the soldiers and civilians into the chopper, helping the bitten soldier on board as well. When he was the last one standing outside, he held up a hand and ran back to the wounded soldier still leaning against the ambulance. Nick followed Tom through his scope and watched as Tom through the soldier’s arm over his shoulder and helped him up. As he was getting the soldier, he noticed the helicopter beginning to take off.

“Katharina… get in the car.”

“Wha-”

“Get in the car, now!” She didn’t question him, she jumped in shotgun as he got behind the wheel and started the engine. It roared to life and he floored it towards Tom. Tom and the wounded soldier were back to back firing now, the crowd of undead closing in on him. Nick slammed into a few of the zombies as he slammed on the breaks; one went under the tires and another two bounced over the hood, leaving a bloody smear. Nick grabbed the Spas-12 shotgun and hopped out of the car.

“Get in!” He blasted two zombies back in a single shot as Tom loaded the soldier in the back seat. He pumped the shotgun and blasted a few more, the ravenous group closing in.

“Shit!” He used the gun as a club and cracked it against the jaw of a shambler before blasting a basketball sized hole in its abdomen. Tom open fired with his rifle as Nick hopped in the car along with Tom. As he grabbed the wheel a pair of rotten hands shot through the open window and grabbed him.

“Gah!” He slammed on the gas, but the zombie held on. The car slammed through a tent as he yanked the .40 out of Katharina’s hands and emptied the magazine into the carrier until it let go. “Hold on!” He swerved the car hard to the left, sideswiping another zombie before regaining control of the vehicle. For a few moments, the only sounds audible in the police cruiser besides the moans of the undead was his own heavy breathing.

Once he cleared through the main congestion of zombies, he turned back to take a look at the wounded soldier.

“Jesus…” He now got a good look at what his wound was. A large piece of metal had lodged itself in his stomach, probably from the helicopter crash. Blood was soaking out of the wound, the soldier was pale as a ghost. He looked up at Nick and a weak smile formed across his face.

“Thanks…” He passed out unconscious.





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Sergeant Tyrell Keyes cursed as he let the phone fall out of his hands, breaking on the floor. His family was as good as dead. He looked up with sheer hatred in his eyes as hundreds of shamblers began pouring into the lobby. His men open fired.

“You mother fuckers!” He growled, raising his rifle and letting loose his rage. He ran over to his man on the M60.

“Get to the roof!” He hissed.

“But sir-”

“Get to the fucking roof, that’s an order!” The soldier dropped the weapon and ran, terrified. Tyrell got behind the M60 and held down the trigger. The tremendous boom of the gun filled the lobby as it kicked like a wild bull in his hands. Rows of shamblers were mowed down in an instant, the marble supports were chipped away in seconds as he began screaming in hate at the monstrosities stumbling towards him. A officers from the firing line began to flee.

“Run, you fucking pussies!” He yelled as he sprayed down another group of shamblers. The tiles and freshly waxed floor was covered in gore and body parts now. Blood flowed all around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw officer Garcia trampled down to the floor. He continued spraying the carriers as Garcia cried out in pair as a woman accidentally stepped on his head, he heal breaking off in his neck. Blood scorched out of the wound as he grabbed her ankle and pulled her down with him just as a crowd of shamblers piled down on them. Their screams were lost over the roar of the M60.

The gun was smoking now, almost turning slightly red from the constant hail of gunfire. He didn’t care, the Sergeant held down the trigger and was intent on sending ever last one of them back to hell.

“Yeah, you like that?” He yelled as the gunfire completely ripped a shambler in half. After another few seconds of firing, the gun clicked empty. Tyrell Keyes left it as he hefted up his rifle and began firing indiscriminately, not even bothering to take aim. There was too damn many of them.

“S-sir? What are my orders?” Private Sven ran over to him, dripping in a feverish sweat.

“Get everyone and tell them to evacuate, now!”

“Yes sir!” Tyrell Keyes backed up, still firing his rifle. He reloaded expertly and loaded his last magazine in, backing towards the stairwell. Something grabbed his ankle. Tyrell hit the ground with a thud, his head cracking on the tile. Before he could regain his composure, officer Garcia sunk his teeth into his leg. An excruciating pain shot up his leg, he could feel the virus instantly flowing through his body.

“Fuck!” He lifted the rifle a blasted Garcia away before shakily standing up. He cursed again as he emptied his last few rounds into the mob before tossing the rifle aside and pulling out his sidearm. He cried out again as he felt teeth sink into his neck. Any normal person would have given in, but Tyrell was a brute. He used his free hand to grab the ghoul’s head and flip him over his shoulders onto the ground in front of him, then blasted the carrier in its face.

“Ah shit…” His vision began to blur. He stumbled backwards, hefting the gun up with one hand and using the other to hold his neck wound. But he couldn't focus on anything anymore. Everything started slowing down.

“Sir!” The voice sounded far away. Private Sven grabbed him and half jogged him over to the stair well. On the way he lazily glanced over towards the elevators, and saw the fifty or so civilians and cops being overrun, the zombies crowding into the elevators; the people inside trapped. The doors wouldn’t close because of the sensors. “Sir!” The Private sounded very far away now. Tyrell Keyes blinked slowly and saw Sven close the stairwell’s door. Sergeant Tyrell Keyes took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. An overwhelming sense of agony gripped his body as he fell to the floor. Sven called out to him again, but the words were lost. His vision blurred and the world around him slowly turned to darkness.