The Ark of Asylum (The Ark Series Book 1) (18 page)

Peter grabs his arm and looks at it. “Oh, yeah that. I forgot about that. Well, when he got on top of me, he bit my arm, but I’m alright, just might need a few stitches. That’s all.”

Without saying a word, Dave pulls his pistol out, cocks it, and aims it at Peter.

Simon immediately jumps in front of his son without hesitation, pulls out his pistol, and points it at Dave. “What the fuck are you doing? Get that fucking gun off my son, or I will put you down!”

“Get the fuck out of the way. He’s fucking bit. Move now!”

“I will fucking kill you, mother fucker, if you do not lower your weapon!”

Jason jumps in between the two of them, extending his arms out in both directions. The dog barks frantically. “Whoa! Whoa! Everyone calm down. Both of you lower your weapons before someone gets shot!”

“Move, brother, he’s been bit. He’ll change soon into one of those things. Now get out of the way!”

“I swear to God I will put a fucking bullet in your head if you go near my son. Do you hear me!”

Jason turns his attention toward Dave. “Dave, stand down, damn it. Stand down. That’s his son, and he seems fine. Just lower your weapon, and we can talk about this, alright? Simon, you too. Lower your weapon!”

“I’m not lowering shit until he stops pointing his weapon at my son. That’s a promise!”

“Alright both of you lower your weapons at the same time. We need to help Peter, and this is not helping! Now, both of you lower your fucking weapons right now!”

Dave slowly lowers his gun, followed by Simon. Jason looks back at Peter still holding his arm and the dog still barking and standing right in front of Peter.

Simon puts his pistol back in his vest and rushes over to Peter and stops right in front of the barking dog. “Someone needs to go back and get my pack. It has supplies that can help, and grab some sort of food out of one of the packs so we can get this dog away from my son.”

Without saying a word, Jason looks at his brother and then sprints back to the store.

Dave falls to the ground and puts his arms on his knees and just looks at his gun. “I’m sorry, Peter and Simon. I just panicked. That’s all. I’m sorry.”

He lowers his head and drops his gun on the ground. Simon walks over to Jason’s pack and starts rummaging through it for anything useful. He pulls out some of the items from the list and immediately pulls the plastic protectants off the bottles.

The dog barks louder as Jason emerges from the darkness with Simon’s pack and two full bags of dog food over his shoulder. He throws the pack to Simon and drops the dog food on the ground. The dog immediately stops barking and perks his ears up. Simon starts to pull items from his pack as Jason grabs a portable bowl from his pocket, cuts a tiny slit in the bag, and pours some food into the bowl. The dog licks his lips and whines as he lowers his head and wags his tail.

“Come here, boy. You hungry? I know you are. Come on, get some food.”

The dog hesitates at first but then walks over to Jason and the bowl of food. As soon as he gets close, he takes one last look at Jason and then dives into the bowl of food, devouring it in gulps. Simon moves closer to Peter, kneels down next to him, and starts pouring pills into his hand.

“Just keep that damn dog occupied, alright? Son, I want you to take these supplements now. I’ve got some Goldenseal, Echinacea, Pau D’ Arco, and some Manuka honey. Here’s my water bottle. Take a half a dozen of these first, and I’ll clean up and put some Manuka honey on the wound.” Peter swallows the pills as Simon sterilizes the wound and applies the honey to it.

Jason keeps filling up the bowl once the dog finishes the last one. He pours some water into another collapsible bowl, and the dog gulps that down within seconds. Simon goes through some more of the herbs they obtained and gives a few more different supplements to his son.

              “How you feeling, son? You need to keep us updated on how you’re feeling in case something bad happens, okay?”

              “Like what? Like if I kind of turn into a zombie or something like that? Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to let you know if that happens.”

“You know what I mean, son, and you’re going to be fine. You’re not going to turn into a zombie. Besides, I haven’t determined if it can be transferred by saliva.” He looks right at Dave, who still has his head resting on his arms. “Hey, Dave, why don’t you make yourself useful and try to get some saliva samples from that incipient?”

Dave looks up at Simon and then at Peter then jumps up off the ground, grabbing his pistol on the way. “Copy that. I’m on it.”

Simon throws him the testing kit and then finishes applying the honey to the wound. He then bandages it up.

Out of nowhere, they hear gunfire in the distance, which forces everyone to stop what they are doing and take notice.

“Everyone quiet. That sounds like heavy weapons fire. We need to get our shit and get the fuck out of here right now.”

Everyone frantically gathers their gear as Dave scans the area for any kind of threat. Simon puts everything back into his pack and then helps his son off the ground. He throws his pack on his back and grabs his and Peter’s rifles off the ground.

“Alright, Jason. Leave the food, and the dog will stay. Leave him some water in a bowl, and let’s move out.”

Peter looks at his dad in shock and grabs his rifle out of his hand. “There’s no way this dog is staying behind. He saved my life, so he’s coming with us! Got it?”

“That dog cannot come with us. We don’t know if it’s dangerous or not. It’ll be fine. He survived this long, and he can survive a little longer.”

Peter puts his arms around him and looks up at his father. “No, Dad, we’re not leaving him behind. This is my dog now. He saved my life, so I’m going to save his. Dusty is coming with us!”

“Dusty? Is that what you
—
Oh, for Christ’s sake, you already named the damn thing? Come on, son. It’s not a good idea!”             

              While Simon and Peter argue, Dave scans the parking lot and notices multiple humans coming their way. He lowers his rifle and ducks down. “Everyone get down! Multiple hostiles coming straight for us! They only look like slow half-deads, but we still need to displace and now!”

After everyone follows Dave’s lead and crouches down out of sight, they immediately scramble to gather the rest of their things very quickly. Jason pulls some duct tape out of his pack and wraps the opened bag of dog food up to close the hole. He puts the tape back in his pack and throws it on his back. Still crouched, he picks up the two thirty-pound bags of dog food and throws them over his shoulder.

“You heard the man, Simon. The dog’s coming with us, so let’s stop wasting time and get moving before those things are on top of us. Besides, that looks like a highly trained military or police dog, a German shepherd like that may come in handy down the road.”

              Simon shakes his head and lets out a sigh. “Fine, but he’s your responsibility. Now, let’s just get the hell out of here!”

Dave bolts toward the woods, and everyone else follows. The gunfire in the distance gets louder and more intense as they move through the woods at a very rapid pace. The dog moves right beside Peter and suddenly comes to a stop. Dusty growls in the direction to their right, and everyone stops. Dave goes to one knee with everyone following suit. They scan the area. “What the fuck is that dog growling at? Does anyone have eyes on any hostiles? And Pete, try and keep that dog quiet; we don’t need him barking.”

Pete does his best to calm Dusty, but he just growls louder and louder as he jumps around. They all scan the area in the direction that the dog is growling but see and hear nothing. Then five figures appear in Dave’s sight. “Fuck! Contact. Thirty yards and closing fast, and they don’t look like friendlies. Wait for my command to fire.”

The dog jumps up and down, barking ferociously, but never leaves Peter’s side. Dave doesn’t even blink as the figures get closer much quicker than expected. “Stay in formation, and hit the target that’s in line with us. Everyone ready. I’ll fire first.” He yells out, “Stop, or we will fire on you!”

Not waiting for a response, Dave takes a deep breath and pulls the trigger and hits the figure on their left, sending it to the ground. The next shot comes from Jason, who takes out the figure next in line. Simon and Peter both take shots, hitting their targets but not stopping them.

As three of the remaining figures continue to get closer, Dave, Jason, Simon, and Peter simultaneously fire at them, but it only slows them down. Dave gets off one knee and aims for a head. He hits one of the men right in the forehead, pulverizing its skull and sending it crashing into the one next to it. Jason pulls the trigger in rapid succession, hitting the closest man to them and quickly putting it down. The last one gets up and charges the group, who in turn fires back, lifting the man off the ground and making mince meat of its now lifeless body before it falls to the ground.

They scan the area for any more threats, and Dusty finally stops barking and jumping around. Once satisfied that there are no additional threats in sight, they move through the woods even faster than before.

As they get to the edge of the tree line, they hear gunfire so intense and so close that the dark skies light up from the gunfire. They all stop and look around, but the streets in front of them seem quiet.

Dave checks his clip and slams a new one back into his rifle. “I need to find out what the hell is going on over there. That sounds like military fire and a shit ton of it. So here’s the plan: Simon, you and Peter head back to the house. Jason and I are going to do a little reconnaissance and see what’s going on over there.”

Jason drops his head and shakes it back and forth. “Remember what I said about knocking on hell’s gate? Well, that sounds more like actual hell than just its gates. We should head back.”

Dave continues to check his equipment and doesn’t even look up. “Fine go back. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“That’s out of the question, I go where you go, but we don’t have to go toward that, brother.”

“Well I do. I’m still an active soldier in the U.S. armed forces, and if those are my men out there, then I need to help them if I can. I don’t expect any of you to understand that, but when you swear to protect this country, you protect it, and all those who inhabit it.”

Simon nods his head in agreement and looks over at his son.

Peter looks at his dad and then back at Dave. “It’s not a good idea to split up. We’re a team. We should stay together.”

Simon looks back at his son, confused. “Out of the question. We’re heading back. I need to take care of that arm!”

Peter rubs his arm and looks at Jason and Dave. “We’re a team. We stay together. If I was going to change into something, it would have happened already. Now let’s stop fucking around and move out. End of conversation!”

Simon drops his head and sighs as he looks over at his son. “Ten minutes. That’s it. Then we’re on our way back home. Got it?”

Dave looks at Peter and nods his head and then moves into the street as everyone follows in formation. They climb the hill and traverse the top in the opposite direction of the house.

As they get closer to the gunfire, the dog gets very anxious, alerting everyone in the group. They follow the ridgeline and come to a drop-off overlooking an intersection of some major streets. Once they get close, they all drop to the ground as the scene unfolds before them. What appears like a military convoy has stopped in the middle of the road and is firing heavily upon a massive group of human beings. The dog growls again as everyone lies in silence, trying to comprehend what they are looking at. Dave tries to adjust his sights in an attempt to see the situation better but without any luck.

              “Does anyone have a better view of what we’re looking at? I can’t tell what’s going on down there. Is the military firing upon a bunch of half-deads?”

Peter adjusts his scope and jumps back as soon as he sees what’s happening. “Oh my God, they look more like incipients and lots of them! It looks like there are hundreds of them attacking that convoy! Holy shit! I’ve never seen so many people before!”

As the gunfire gets more intense, at the same time it slowly gets more concentrated to one area. The horde is enveloping the convoy, leaving only a few vehicles still firing back.

“There’s only a few vehicles still firing, and they are falling fast. What should we do? Should we try to help them?” Peter says while erratically scoping out the scene.

Dave gets off the ground and goes to one knee. “There’s nothing we can do for them. We need to get out of here and fast.”

“There’s only one vehicle left now. We have to help him!” As Peter focuses on the last remaining Humvee, he quickly spots the greatest threats to the man on top using the fifty-caliber machine gun to fight for his life.

Without a second thought, Peter pulls the trigger and picks off the ones crawling on top of the vehicle, sending them flying off and instantly vanishing into the crowd.             

Simon grabs his son’s arm. “What are you doing? You’ll draw them toward us. Stop firing!”

Peter ignores his dad and looks back into his scope only to see the man get covered with infected and the gunfire stop. He looks at the ground in between them and sees dozens of infected rushing toward them. He jumps up and yells, “Holy shit! We gotta go! We gotta go now! There’s dozens of them heading straight for us!”

Dave stands up and looks down the cliff at what Peter was seeing: dozens of infected rushing toward them. “Everyone move now. Back to the house. Double time!”

They all get up and run from the cliff as fast as they can. They move along the ridgeline, not looking through their sights but just at what’s right in front of them.

After a few minutes, Dave turns his head to look behind and steps on a rock, twisting his ankle and sending him to the ground. Jason hears his brother fall and stops and turns around to see his brother on the ground and grabbing his ankle.

“Wait, hold up. Dave’s down. I gotta help him. Cover me!”

Both Simon and Peter abruptly stop and turn toward them. Peter moves around Jason, who is helping Dave off the ground, and sees multiple infected no more than seventy-five yards behind them.

“Contact! Less than a hundred yards and closing, multiple targets moving fast. We need to move now!”

Jason hears the distress in Peter’s voice and yanks Dave off the ground. He puts Dave’s arm around his shoulder, and Dave tries to hop with him, slightly grimacing in pain. Simon sees the infected moving toward them and starts firing his weapon as he backpedals.

“Move! Move! Move!”

Peter tries to pick his targets with precision but quickly abandons that approach as they get closer, and he just starts firing as many times as he can. He sees multiple infected fall to the ground but only to be trampled by more that are heading for them. Dusty is going berserk, barking and jumping around, eager to attack but staying right by Peter. Dave pushes his brother aside and puts weight on his injured ankle, causing him to verbally grimace in pain.

“I’m fine, damn it. Now, put suppressive fire on those fucking targets, or we’re not going to make it out of here alive!”

              Jason looks at his brother and then turns toward the infected, lifting his rifle and unloading a hailstorm of bullets into the mass of bodies coming at them. Dave hobbles along the ridgeline, holding in the severe pain shooting from his ankle. But it slowly begins to dissipate from the adrenaline coursing through his veins. Once he gets ahead of the group, he swings his rifle around and turns to fire upon the infected.

              “Simon, Peter, move twenty yards behind me and continue the suppressive fire. Check your mages along the way!”

              Peter and Simon both turn and run past Jason and Dave and up the ridge that begins to bend, providing the perfect firing line. They both turn once they’ve gone about twenty yards, and they check their magazines. Simon sees he’s almost out and reaches for his vest only to find one clip remaining. He looks at his son already reloaded and already firing downrange. “Last clip! Last clip! Move it!”

He begins firing at a slower rate, trying to make every last round count. Dave turns toward them and hobbles his way into a slight jog and then goes by them. Jason empties his clip and reaches for another one but without success. “I’m out! I’m out!” He throws his rifle around his back and pulls his pistol from his vest then turns and runs.

Dave hears his brother and stops. He grabs Jason as he goes by and pulls him back toward his body and puts his rifle to Jason’s chest. “Take this, and put your pistol back. Here, last mag; make it count!” Dave hands the gun off, pulls his handgun from his vest, and limps toward the house. “Simon, how far from the house are we?”

Simon glances up then quickly looks back. “Fifty yards. Run, goddammit. Everyone run! They’re about twenty yards and closing!”

They all run for their lives. Simon and Jason grab Dave and drag him as fast as they can move. Peter stops and fires again, empting his clip. He slings his rifle over his shoulder and pulls his pistol out as he runs, the dog right behind him. As he catches up to the group, he sees two hand grenades hanging off of Dave’s vest.

He gets close to them and yells, “Slow up for a second. Dave has two grenades on him!”

They slow to a trot. Peter pulls the grenades from Dave’s vest. Dave says, “Holy shit! I completely forgot I had those!”

Peter clips one grenade to his vest and pulls the pin from the other one and hurls it directly at the infected. He turns and runs. The grenade explodes just as they reach the fence. Peter looks back to see a thinned out crowd slowly be replaced by numerous more infected emerging from the cloud of smoke and dirt.

They get to the fence and quickly unlock it. Jason and Dave go through the fence, but Simon turns toward his son. He grabs Peter and throws him into the backyard while firing his handgun. He slams the fence shut and picks Peter up off the ground and pulls the grenade from his vest. He pulls the pin from the grenade and tosses it over the fence then grabs his son, and they run up to the door.

He pulls his keys from his pocket just as the grenade goes off, forcing him to drop them on the ground. After a few seconds, the fence bends in toward them as the force of the mob slams into it.

With only handguns, Dave, Jason, and Peter stand at attention pointing their weapons at the now falling fence as Simon frantically searches the ground for the keys. He grabs them off the ground, and as he lifts them, he is met with the jingling of the keys from his shaking. He desperately tries to find the keyhole as gunfire overtakes the barking dog that’s soon overtaken by the ringing in his ears.

Dave presses up against Simon’s back as he moves back toward him. “Open the fucking door, damn it! Now! We’re gonna be dead in a few seconds if you don’t get that fucking door open!”

              And just like that the door opens, and Kelly and the two girls are standing in the doorway. Their eyes widen in shock as the horde begins to pour over the fence. The two girls scream and both run back into the house. Simon dives into the house while Kelly fires at the infected. Dave, Peter, and Jason rush into the house, grabbing Kelly and slamming the door behind them. Simon gets off the ground and quickly locks the door just as the mob hits the side of the house, shaking the foundation.

              “Everyone downstairs, now. They could overtake this house within minutes!” Jason helps Dave get down the stairs. Everyone else follows. They rush into the bunker, hitting the panic button along the way.