Threnody (Book 1) (26 page)

Immediately, Ethan realized the danger in his situation.  One rev was not of much concern, but a group of them posed an entirely different problem.  While one of them could certainly scare the hell out of you and perhaps get a lucky bite in, it was generally an easy foe to avoid, outmaneuver, and if necessary—neutralize.  A group of them, on the other hand, morphed into a much stronger and formidable enemy in much the same way that raging floodwaters can turn a quiet stream into a fierce killer.  Unfortunately, the majority of the noise and movement had been on his side of the street, drawing more than his fair share of the horde to his location.  “Won’t the neighbors be so jealous,” he whispered sarcastically.

The pinned, crippled biker he left for the newly infected woman was not helping his cause with his anguished screams, as the woman relentlessly gnawed on his shattered right arm. Ethan shuddered as he realized that the woman did not even look as though she had succumbed to the infection yet. 
That guy is like a damn dinner bell for the infected.  I’ve got to shut him up quietly and figure out how to divert their attention to the other house.

As if all the actors in the beastly play were reading his mind, several things occurred almost synchronously.  First, the screams of the crippled biker were staunched when the woman ferociously tore into his throat, rendering him aphonic, if not dead.  Ethan could not help wonder if the woman did this intentionally to help his cause, as she seemed so sentient only moments before.  Loud cries for help erupted from within the other house.  Again, they originated from a distinctly feminine voice, and Ethan vowed not to let her suffer the same fate as the woman in the front yard.  With a relative lack of stimulation coming from his side of the street, the revs shifted their attention toward the other house and the panicked pleas for help.  The urgent cries soon shifted to muffled sobs before falling silent all together.  He stared horrorstruck, as the possible meanings behind the change hit his brain with the force of an oncoming train. 

Suddenly the front door of the house across the street burst open, and a biker cradling something in his arms lurched through the doorway.  Seeing the biker gave Ethan a sickening sense of déjà vu, until he began hurling things toward his position.  Ethan recoiled as several glass bottles smashed onto the front porch, shattering the silence on his side of the street with a loud crash on each impact.  From somewhere in the front yard, another small explosion erupted, and judging from the fine blue mist hanging in the air above the fire, Ethan thought the biker must have thrown a can of spray paint into the bonfire.  He knew he must stop the biker’s barrage, and in order to do so, he was going to have to make some noise would draw more attention to him.

Ethan deftly raised the hunting rifle to his shoulder and prayed that the scope was at least somewhat accurate.  As it was a civilian hunting rifle, he assumed it was zeroed at fifty or one hundred yards and, as his target was less than thirty yards away, he held the reticle slightly low on the biker’s center of mass.  With practiced patience and control, he carefully squeezed the trigger.  On the heels of the deafening blast, the projectile hurtled through the air before striking the biker in the neck, dropping him instantly. 
Spinal cord.

By now the horde of infected amassed between the houses numbered over twenty, and the entirety of their attention was directed toward Ethan.  If any of their festering minds had been wandering, the sound of the gunshot took care of that. 
How strange that the sound of a gunshot, a sound almost as universally menacing as the racking of a shotgun, would actually attract these things when every other living thing would flee.  Maybe that’s the difference with this enemy?

Ethan’s eyes began to sting from the thick, black smoke wafting in through the shattered window, just as his nose registered the unmistakable organic, petrochemical odor of volatile fuel.
Molotov! Damn it!
  While he was uncertain of whether the woman he heard in the house was still alive, one thing was clear—the odds of winning this battle had shifted dramatically against him. With all of his enemies concentrated at the front of the house, he crawled to the back of the house under cover of smoke and flame.

Stumbling over a rotting corpse just outside the back door, an idea came to him.  Quickly, he dragged the lifeless body into the middle of the house near the flames, still satisfied that he was concealed by the blossoming inferno.  To complete his ruse, Ethan feigned screams of agony as though he was being burned alive. 
They’ll be that much less prepared if they think they already killed me.
  Moving surreptitiously to the back door, he escaped into the woods behind the house just as the first timid rays of the rising sun began to poke holes in the darkness of night.

Chapter 28

October 18, 2015

Though he had planned to do so, Ethan never asked John or Reams to accompany him back to Hermitage Estates. Instead, after hearing his story, both men insisted on going back to help the woman.

As each of them contemplated the new mission and what it might mean to them, the three men quietly readied their gear for the hike to Hermitage, and whatever was going to happen once they got there.  John studied Ethan as he loaded his pack and checked his kit.  They had only known him for a day, yet they were about to follow him into battle against a group of unknown men based entirely on his account of what these men were like, and what they were capable of perpetrating.  For a moment John wondered why they should trust him, why they should believe his version of the story.

Ethan, unaware of John’s scrutinizing gaze, organized and stowed a miniscule amount of food, a nearly full hydration bladder, several yards of paracord, binoculars, a flashlight, and a few other items John could not see clearly.  He then propped up a signal mirror as if he was going to freshen up a bit.  He began to clean the skin around the crevice in his midface with a small alcohol wipe.  With practiced skill that came from years of daily use, he applied a coating of medical-grade adhesive before fitting his facial prosthesis.

John was wondering whether he himself would be so casual and nonchalant about such a prominent, deforming injury when Ethan became aware of the eyes upon him.

Glancing in John’s direction, Ethan looked so unbelievably different, and he immediately saw the complete lack of recognition plastered across John’s visage.  Such looks were not new to Ethan, of course, and he was curious if John was shocked by the transformation, or if he was simply curious as to the reason he was taking the time to get all fixed up for the fight.  “Face paint doesn’t stick to sinus mucosa worth a shit,” said Ethan in a matter-of-fact tone, as he turned back to the small mirror and began applying the camouflage paint to his skin as well as the prosthesis.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed for his shameless gawking, John refocused his attention to his own preparations.  The men paused momentarily as the sound of several gunshots far off in the distance broke the silence.

“John, are you sure about this?  I mean this ‘mission,’ or whatever you want to call it, is an ‘assault.’  We aren’t soldiers, and those men aren’t revs.  They are real, uninfected people,” said Reams.  He was clearly struggling with the same issues John himself had when he thought about what they planned to do.  Killing a rev was one thing, but killing an uninfected human, even ones as evil as the bikers, was an entirely different matter.  John had deliberated on that from the moment he heard Ethan tell the story.

The idea of actually killing another living person made John feel physically ill initially, but the sensation proved fleeting. The more he thought about it, the less distinction he found between the revs and the men in that house.  Both were clearly sick, albeit in very different ways, and both would waste no time in harming or killing them if given a chance.  Much to his surprise, John actually began to hold the revs in higher esteem than the men in the house.  At some point in their lives, he reasoned, both were ‘normal’ human beings, and at some point both transitioned to something much more nefarious.  The difference, John surmised, was the bikers chose or, at the very least, accepted their truculent ways, while the revs truly had no say in the matter. 
Free will and the knowing disregard for everyone else—that’s what makes the bikers worse than the revs.  As far as I can tell the revs don’t have any awareness of who they were before or what they are doing now.  In that sense, they really aren’t much different than wild animals searching for food. That is why I have to go back to Hermitage to stop those men.

If there was a shred of doubt in his mind, the thought of his late wife, Rebecca, or his beautiful little girl, Ava, in the house with those miscreants completely eradicated it, leaving only a deadly resolve in its place.

Having discussed the matter with John, Reams’ concerns seemed appeased, and he returned to the business of readying his gear with an all-too-familiar murderous rage gleaming in his determined eyes.

Several hours later, the three men crouched in the forested area outside the walls of Hermitage Estates, farthest away from the house the bikers occupied.  They were relieved they did not see any infected in the immediate vicinity, but they knew, based on Ethan’s account, that many revs were likely lying in wait.  Much the same as John several days earlier, Ethan climbed the broad, flat branches of the tall red oak in order to attain a good vantage from which to observe the house.  The ponderous tree towered high above the walls of Hermitage Estate, providing a bird’s eye view of the entire area to anyone who explored its upper branches.  Lying prone, concealed by the diminishing canopy of the tree, Ethan eased out onto a branch and raised his binoculars.  What he saw through the glass caused a conflicting mix of feelings to arise within him. 

In the distance, he saw the charred remnants of the house he escaped from, as well as the house that the remaining members of the biker group occupied across the street.  Drawn to the house like flies to shit, a large group of over fifty revs encircled the house, effectively laying siege to whomever or whatever was inside.  This gave Ethan hope that someone inside the house was alive, though he had no way of knowing who it was.  On the contrary, the sheer number of revs he was able to see from his vantage posed a significant logistical problem if they wished to use the element of surprise.  His mind drifted to the horde he snuck through on the bridge, but he quickly pushed the thought of trying such a stunt again out of his mind.  He was not sure it would work again, and this time, there would be the threat of gunfire from within the house. 

Looking down to John and Reams’ position, he saw the two suppressed rifles they carried.  While not silent, they were certainly much quieter than the hunting rifle he scavenged from the burning house.  He estimated the distance to the house to be about two hundred and fifty yards, close enough for him to make consistent headshots with either rifle.  Ethan went through the possible outcomes of this option as he continued to watch for signs of life through the binoculars.  It was possible that he could thin the horde dramatically without alerting the people inside the house, particularly if he used the Tavor.  The 5.56mm cartridge would be much quieter than the more powerful 7.62mm cartridge used by Reams’ rifle and would still be effective at that range.  Even if they did not hear the report of the shots they were sure to notice the thinning of the crowd, as rev after rev fell dead with a gaping hole in the head.  That might give the bikers the room they needed to escape.  He thought it would be ideal to have a team on the ground ready to storm the house as a sniper provided overwatch.  Unfortunately, he felt that he was the only one capable of providing effective sniper overwatch, and it was unacceptable to send only John and Reams into the house.  Ethan dismissed the idea all together as he envisioned a new horde of revs congregating around the base of the tree, attracted by the muffled sound of the stationary suppressed gunfire.

After observing for about twenty minutes, Ethan finally caught sight of movement within the house.  From his position, he saw light shining through the house where two windows on opposite sides of the house lined up.  A shadow broke the beam of light before disappearing behind the walls of the home, leaving only the faint movement of a curtain hanging around the window. As it was bright outside, and there was no light within the house, it was difficult to tell who or what it was as the lighting conditions effectively masked any detail inside the house.  The movement seemed far too quick and coordinated to be a rev, but if it was an uninfected person, he could not tell if it was the woman or one of the bikers.  He gazed intently for several more minutes, and after seeing no further movement, descended from the tree to join the others.

As Ethan approached, John read the forlorn look on his face, and asked, “How’s it look?”

Ethan proceeded to tell the two men about the large group of revs amassed around the house, as well as the trace of movement he saw in the second story window.  “I’m not going to lie, it looks pretty bad.  I think someone is alive in the house based on the movement I saw and the fact that the revs haven’t dispersed, but I can’t tell
who
is alive in there.  If we do this, it may become a seek-and-destroy mission rather than a rescue mission.  I’ve thought about how best to approach the house, and the plans that seem best to deal with the revs pose significant issues as it relates to any hostiles in the house and vice versa,” said Ethan thoughtfully, pausing to gaze in the direction of the house before continuing. “I thought about picking the revs off from a distance with the suppressed rifles, but that would likely alert the occupants or give them the opportunity to escape.  We could infiltrate the neighborhood and set up distractions such as the balloons, but who knows if something like that would be enough to draw their attention away.”

“So full frontal assault it is,” said John in an upbeat tone that belied the trepidation roiling inside.

“Blitzkrieg,” said Reams as he nodded his head in agreement.  His face remained an emotionless mask.

Ethan considered the big man’s word, nodding his head in both understanding and agreement as well.  Launching a lightning fast offensive, and taking down as many revs as possible with the suppressed weapons as they advanced quickly on the house would likely give them the best chance of getting through the revs while still catching those inside off-guard.

“Blitzkrieg,” said Ethan.

As it was approaching 3:00 P.M., the three men decided that starting the offensive at 5:00 P.M. might afford them the best chance of taking those in the house by surprise.  They went over the plan several times considering as many possible problems and deviations as they could come up with.  They ate, drank, and checked their weapons and gear several times as they waited for 5:00 to arrive.  At 4:45, they packed up and readied themselves—both physically and mentally—for what they were about to do.  Turning to them, Ethan said, “You guys don’t have to do this, you know.  I’ll be honest, it looks bad.  I won’t think any less of either of you for sitting this one out.  I know you guys are searching for Ava…”

Before he could finish, both John and Reams stopped him. Without hesitation, John said, “We’re coming with you.  We’ve both thought about this and talked it over.  Now it’s getting close to 5:00, we should get going.”

With a grateful smile and a nod from Ethan, the three men scaled the wall surrounding Hermitage Estates.  Once on the ground inside, things were just as expected.  They saw no revs anywhere as they approached the house on the far side of the neighborhood but none of them were so foolhardy to think they weren’t lurking in the shadows.  Approaching the rear of the burnt-out house, they stacked up along the wall.  At this distance, the sound of the horde blossomed into a continuous, foreboding drone that sounded like a badly tuned two-cycle engine in the middle of a plague of locusts.

Peering cautiously around the corner of the house, Ethan surveyed the scene, and was satisfied that it remained unchanged from his earlier observations.  If the revs or the occupants of the other house were aware of their presence, they did not broadcast the fact.  Ethan hoped he would see additional details about who was in the house from this close range but, unfortunately, that was not the case.

Huddled behind the house, the three men went over the plan one last time.  “John, you head around the left of the house; Reams, you take the right side, and I’ll follow you.  John, wait until you hear shots from our side before you open up.  We should try to take out at least five to ten revs each as quickly as possible so as to clear a corridor while still keeping the element of surprise.  Suppressed weapons only initially.  Reams has been kind enough to let me use the Five-Seven, and you both have the rifles.  John, pick your targets from the corridor of fire in front of you, along your path to the side of the other house.  We’ll do the same on our side except I’ll work the middle in order to keep eyes on the house for signs that anyone inside has taken notice of our actions.  Reams, you’ll move first, within thirty seconds of the first shot. Take up position along the side of the other house out of the line of fire of any of the windows.  Don’t engage anyone in the house unless you absolutely have to, focus on keeping the revs off of you.  John and I will cover your movement.  John, five to ten seconds later, you’ll move and do the same as Reams, with me covering your advance.  Depending on the situation inside the house, I’ll join one of you on the side or just take it up the middle to the front of the house. I’m hoping for the middle.” 

Both men stared in amazement as they listened to Ethan blaze through the plan like a head coach running through the plays for the big game.  Given his cool and collected demeanor, they couldn’t help but wonder how many times he had given this same kind of briefing before.  It was clear that he was in his element, a fact that left John and Reams feeling reassured they were in good hands heading into battle.

“Strict silence up until we actually breech the house, then no names, and only the bare minimum chatter.  We don’t want to let them know who or how many we are if we can help it.  Once I’m in position, I’ll signal the breech, and the two of you will come in through the back of the house.  The signal for the breech will be, ‘Give up now assholes!’ ” 

Suppressing a chuckle, Reams said, “Very original, Ethan.”