Anvil (20 page)

Nicole began
to freak out.  She tried to snatch the phone out of Sam’s hand, but he
held it high in the air like he was playing keep-away with a child. 
Shock, fear and revulsion were all reflected in her face as tears flowed and
the beginning of a scream welled up from her throat.

Sam saw what
was coming and lashed out with his fist, striking her in the solar plexus
before she made enough noise to alert every infected in the area.  The
blow temporarily paralyzed her diaphragm and she was unable to push the air out
of her lungs and scream.  Stumbling backwards from the impact, she glared
at the two SEALs.

Panic
momentarily replaced her other emotions as her body was unable to draw a
breath.  But as quickly as it had been stunned, her diaphragm relaxed and
she blew out stale air and took a shuddering breath.

“You have to
stay quiet,” Sam said, moving to loom over her.  “There are infected
outside, maybe inside, that will be drawn to your voice.  You need to get
it together so we can get out of here.”

“You hit me,
you son-of-a-bitch,” Nicole spat at him.

“Did you
hear what I just said?”  Sam asked, frustration creeping into his tone.

“Of course I
did.  But why did you hit me?”

Nicole stood
up straight and Sam took a couple of steps back.  He had no clue what the
hell was going on.  She looked infected, but she acted normal.  Was
this a new manifestation of the virus?  Or was this something entirely
new?

Then he
remembered her hearing.  She’d clearly heard and understood a mumble from across
the room.  A mumble that had required his concentration to understand and
it had been right next to his ear.  That, more than the red eyes,
convinced him she was infected.

“Master
Chief, you read every brief that comes in.  Any mention of something like
this?”

“No,
sir.  There’s lots of talk about smart ones working together and even a
few of them using basic tools, but nothing like this.”

“What about
someone turning slowly?  Eyes going red first, then they turn sometime
later?”  Sam was grasping at straws.

“No, sir,”
Gonzales shook his head without taking his eyes off of Nicole.  “But we
should take her back with us.”

“What? 
Take me where?”  Nicole’s voice sounded on the verge of hysteria.

“There’s a
team of virologists nearby in a secure facility.  That’s the only reason
we’re anywhere near the city.  They are definitely going to want to meet
you,” Sam answered.

“Can they
help me?  They have to help me!  I don’t want to turn into one of
those things,” Nicole wailed.

“Nicole, I
don’t know if they can help you or not, but if you don’t be quiet we’re not
going to make it back.  If you can’t control yourself I’m going to leave
you here,” Sam said, hoping the threat would help the woman calm herself.

“No!” 
She shouted.  “Don’t leave me!  I’ve been alone for so long. 
I’ll be quiet.  I’m sorry.”

Sam stared
at her and after a few moments she realized she’d been yelling.

“I’m sorry,”
she mumbled, making an effort to keep her voice down.  “I’ll be quiet and
I’ll keep up.  Just please, take me with you.”

Sam glanced
at Gonzales, but the Master Chief just shrugged his shoulders and went back to
scanning the doors.  Sighing, the Lieutenant stepped up to Nicole and
spent nearly a minute giving her instructions.  To her credit, despite the
desperate fear coursing through her body, she listened closely and didn’t make
a sound.

They put her
between them, Sam reminding her to stay absolutely quiet no matter what
happened or what she saw.  The Master Chief took point, leading the way
into the stairwell.  He had to pause half way down to remind Nicole not to
follow him so closely.  She had bumped into his back when he slowed to
scan the lower half of the stairs.

When they
reached the lower level, Sam called a halt by tapping his index finger lightly
on his rifle’s receiver.  The sound was subtle, but Gonzales was listening
for it and immediately placed his back against a wall, prepared to fight. 
But there wasn’t anything wrong.  Sam had just had an idea and moved to
stand on the same stair as Nicole.

“Nuclear
physics professor, right?”  He muttered.

She nodded
her head.

“So you know
how to use a Geiger Counter.” 

It was a
statement, not a question, and Nicole nodded again.  Sam shrugged out of
his pack and removed the device, holding it up for her to see.

“This is
what we came for.  This and radiation suits.”

He held it
out and she looked at him questioningly as she took it in her hands.

“Time for
questions later.  Right now, can you use that to test the environment
outside without making any noise?”

For the
third time, Nicole nodded.  Looking down at the Geiger Counter, she turned
it on and silenced it.  Her fingers flew across the controls as she set it
up to not only measure the exposure levels, but to also record them for later
review.  Watching her work the piece of equipment, Sam was glad he’d
thought to ask.

Meeting
Gonzales’ eyes, he nodded and the Master Chief got them moving again. 
They exited into the first floor lobby, the two SEALs tightening up to protect
Nicole as they moved towards the vestibule.  Sam walked backwards, rifle
on a constant swivel in sync with his head as he protected their rear.

The small
vestibule was clear.  Nicole quietly gagged and shied away from the
decomposing body.  Gonzales paused at the exterior glass doors and peered
out into the night, motioning Sam forward after watching for a few
seconds.  There were nearly twenty males bumping around in the parking
lot.  But they weren’t what was concerning the Master Chief.

Beyond the
males at the far edge of the parking lot was a group of nine females. 
Some were turned, staring down the slope that led to the small forested area,
but three of them appeared to be watching the building.

“Do we wait
and see if they move on?”  Gonzales asked as quietly as he could.

Sam shook
his head as Nicole raised up on her toes to see over the two larger men. 
She gasped when she saw what they were discussing, earning a look of warning
from both of them. 

“Sorry,” she
mouthed, silently.

“You’ve read
the same intel I have,” Sam mumbled.  “They don’t move on unless something
distracts them.  You’ve got right, I’ll take the left.”

“Do you hear
that?”  Nicole asked softly.

Both men
froze, listening for several seconds before turning to look at her.

“Hear
what?”  Sam asked.

“That
sound.  I started hearing it when we were coming down the stairs and it
got louder the closer we came to the door.”

Nicole
cocked her head, trying to identify what she was hearing.  Sam and
Gonzales faced the glass again, adjusting the positions of their heads in an
attempt to hear what she was talking about. 

After almost
half a minute, Sam glanced at the Master Chief but he shook his head.  He
would have dismissed it as nothing, but after the demonstration of Nicole’s enhanced
hearing he was hesitant to discount her warning.

“What does
it sound like?”  He asked, moving her closer to the interior doors.

“It’s like a
hum or a buzz.  It’s not loud, but I can hear it and kind of feel it in my
teeth, if that makes sense,” Nicole whispered.

“The Russian
signal, LT.  Remember?”  Gonzales reminded Sam of the report they’d
read about how the Russians were attracting and directing the infected.

“No shit,”
he breathed.

“What’s he
talking about?”  Nicole asked, looking at Gonzales’ broad back.

“Later. 
The good news is, you’re not crazy.  There really is a sound, but we can’t
hear it.  Now, stay close and stay quiet.  We’ve got to move and
we’re going to have to fight.  Better give me that back.”

Sam took the
Geiger Counter from her hands and slipped it into his pack before turning and
joining Gonzales at the doors, cutting the nylon flexi-cuff that was securing them. 
Nicole moved to stand right behind them, nearly frightened out of her
mind.  What did they mean, “fight”? 

“Stay
tight,” Sam said to her, turning and meeting her eyes.

She nodded
and followed the two SEALs through the double doors into the night.

“Gotta go
outside the fence,” I said into the radio.  “Dog four and five, maintain
cover fire.  Edwards, move the fuel line ten feet east of the fenced
area.  Keep it high until I’m at the fill port.”

Everyone
acknowledged my order, the rate of fire from the roof picking up.  Females
were dropping, but they were barely being held back.  I didn’t see any way
I was going to do this unless I was fighting with one hand and refueling the
tank with the other.  Shit.  I’m good, but I’m not that good.

“Dog one,
two.  Fence is down and we’ve got a whole gaggle flooding in,” Dutch
called on the radio.

“Gaggle?” 
I heard Drago’s voice in my ear.

“Knock the
shit off!”  I barked.  “Break… Sam one-niner, Dog one.  Copy?”

“Go ahead,
Dog,” the pilot of the Black Hawk answered almost immediately.

“Need you on
station with the minigun.  I’ve got to take a walk with the natives,” I
said.

“That’s a
big ten-four, good buddy.  Can you mark your location?”

If I
survived this, I had to have a beer with this guy.

“Affirmative. 
Break… Edwards, toss me a strobe.”

I moved to
the base of the wall, looking up.  A few moments later, Edwards stuck his
head over the parapet and looked down.  Spotting me, he held the strobe
straight out, paused a beat to let me lock in with my eyes, then dropped
it.  I caught it cleanly, almost dropping it from the sharp pain when it
impacted my broken fingers.  Cursing and shaking my hand, I activated it
and snapped the hard plastic base off to expose a nylon belt with Velcro at
each end. 

Nearly
dropping the damn thing again, I got the strap wrapped around my upper arm and
secured tightly.  I performed a quick check of my weapons, made sure the
safety on my rifle and pistol were set to fire, and stepped to a wide
gate.  There was time to shoot four females and a male before the Black
Hawk roared into a hover a couple of hundred feet above the parking lot.

“Dog one, ID
one strobe at ground level.  Confirm.”

“Confirmed,”
I said.  “That’s me.  I’m going to exit a gate and move ten feet east
along the wall.  I’ll be static and need you to keep the infected off my
ass.”

“Copy. 
Watch your ass out there.  Can’t swing the death dealer too close to your
position.”

“No shit,
Sherlock,” I mumbled to myself.

Shooting
three more females, I called on the radio that I was moving and opened the gate
as the minigun cut loose.  Two females were between me and the tank. 
I shot them and moved five feet, pausing when another screamed and charged from
my left.  Turning to engage, I was happy to see her head snap back an
instant before she tumbled lifelessly to the pavement.  Two more that were
running in fell dead a moment later.

The Rangers
on the roof were keeping the immediate area around me safe.  The minigun
was keeping the larger mass of infected farther out in the parking lot beaten
back.  Trusting that everyone would keep doing their job, I dashed to the
pipe and grasped the greasy cap that covered the opening.

Unable to
turn it with my damaged hand, I had to waste valuable time pulling a pair of
channel lock pliers out of my pack.  Focusing on the task while infected
were charging my position was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to
do.  If Chico or Drago missed a shot on a female, the bitch would slam
into me when I was completely vulnerable.  All I could do was trust the
two men I didn’t know to protect me.

The big pliers
did the trick, loosening the cap enough for me to spin it off and let it fall
to dangle from the end of a short chain.  Edwards was on the ball and when
I looked up the fuel line was hanging right in front of my face.  I was
reaching for it when a body struck my back.

The bitch
hit me with a flying body tackle and I was slammed against the exterior wall of
the building.  Fuck, that hurt!  And even worse, I was a little
stunned as my forehead had bounced off the stone façade.  I was pulled to
the ground and I could smell the fetid breath of my attacker.

Punching
with my right, I tried to get a grip with my left but couldn’t hold on with two
of the fingers out of commission.  She batted my arm aside and grabbed my
hand, twisting.  I roared with pain, lightning bolts shooting up my arm
and into the base of my skull.  Rolling with her, I made room to really
get my right arm wound up and hit her hard in the side of the head. 

The infected
went limp, knocked out by the blow, and I shoved her off of me and scrambled to
my feet.  Whipping my pistol out, I aimed at her head, pausing when I saw
the damage my punch had done.  I hadn’t just knocked her out, I’d broken
her neck.  I’d like to take credit for being a brutishly strong fighter,
but the truth of the matter is she wasn’t very big.  Probably no more than
thirteen or fourteen years old.

Taking a
quick glance around I saw a lot of females charging in, a few males mixed
in.  But they were falling dead to the asphalt at a steady pace. 
Drago and Chico were keeping them knocked down, but the ring that had formed
around me was steadily compressing. 

Forcing my
attention away from the danger, I grabbed the line and pulled it down to reach
the filler pipe.  Opening the valve on the end, diesel gushed out on my
pants and boots before I could shove the hose into the opening.  Fuel
flowing, I turned to head for the gate and safety behind the fence, but the
closest ranks of infected had cut off my retreat.

“Moving to
the gate,” I called over the radio.

Leaving my
rifle slung, I pulled the Kukri and Ka-Bar and moved to engage the closest
infected.  The Rangers did exactly what I had hoped they would as I began
slashing and stabbing.  Instead of trying to pick off targets that were
directly in front of me, they concentrated on protecting my flanks.

That left it
up to me to battle my way to the gate.  And battle I did.  All of the
pain, anger and frustration lent fury to my attack and before I realized it the
gate was in front of me.  A male was bumping against it, a female leaping
for me with a bone-chilling scream.

The Kukri
made quick work of her and a fast stab to the head with the knife dropped the
male in his tracks.  Stepping over him, I released the catch on the gate
and pushed it open.  As I moved to safety, a female lunged and grasped my
left arm.  Pulling her through with me, I kicked the gate shut, the latch
automatically catching and securing the opening.

The female
screamed as she spun, still holding on to my arm and trying to slash my eyes
with her free hand.  Leaning away from the strike, I brought the Kukri
around and buried most of the blade in her skull.  It stuck, pulling free
from my hand as she collapsed to the ground, dead.  Stepping on her face,
I wrenched it free and turned to make sure the gate was solidly closed.

It was and I
wiped my blades clean on the dead female before sheathing them and dashing to
the closest generator.  As I worked to open the housing that protected the
battery, Chico and Drago kept up their rate of fire, shooting females that were
banging on the chain link as they tried to scale the fence.

“Dog one,
Sam one-niner.  There’s too many coming through the breach to hold
back.  You’d better get your ass back on the roof.”

“Save your
ammo,” I responded.  “Almost done.”

As I said
the last word, the final screw came free and I ripped the housing out of the
way and tossed it to the side.  Flashlight on, I peered inside and let
loose with another string of curses.  The goddamn generator had a 24-volt
battery.  Not the 12-volt vehicle battery I’d brought along.  There
was no way to jump start the engine.