#1 Meant to be Broken
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 8:21 pm
Sleep never had come easy for the girl, who was in an almost pitiable state of disrepair at the moment. Training the new scout division had been, for lack of a better word, a bitch, and she'd run herself absolutely to the bone. But like the dogged warhorse she was, she continued further on.
At the moment, she was staked out solo, hunting for potential good buildings as both the first and second Irregulars expanded their territory. She was halfway through a bottle of peppermint Schnapps when the radio crackled to life, and she listened astutely.
Wait... Is that...
She knew that voice. Not a standard distress call, then. She knew action was necessary, and as always she rose to the call. Pulling a thick coat and hood on to keep out the September rain, she transmitted back.
"Eagle-Eye, this is Bengal. Do you read me? What's your position, over."
The radio channel was silent, only static coming back. It was mere chance that Sherry had picked up the singal; but she wouldn't be receiving a reply, his radio was dead.
Silver sat back, skin ashen and waxy as he held the semi-automatic pistol in his hands, pointing it at the only door to his room. He had barricaded it with a old sofa he barely had the strength to move, before he collapsed near the window. The impromptu bandage wrapped around his side was already soaked through with his blood, but he couldn't spare the time to change it now.
The sounds of claws scraping on wood and brick got louder, as the zombies came closer.
-----
The human had entered the building, they had tracked him here. They had thought he would bring them to others, but he had lead them to a abandoned surburb.
'Kill him...eat his flesh while its still warm.....his blood is everywhere...' the chorus sung in his mind, the other three looked to him as he shook his head. They listened to him as defacto leader, though he didn't call himself that, 'He is here, he was armed, he probably had a talking box...others will come to rescue him.'
'And if they don't? what if the human is not important enough?'
'They will come'
-----
"Bengal to Eagle-Eye, do you copy?" she shouted into the static, irritated as the adrenaline began to disperse into her bloodstream. Great. So she'd have to play detective. Wasn't the first time, but... She had no idea of Silver's starting point to begin with.
Calling on every last ounce of resolve in her, she tried to recall anything that anyone might have said.
Because even within ten blocks would be better than this.
And in the rain, no less...
"When it rains, it pours," she muttered as she stepped out into the night.
Night passed into morning as the rains slackened, and the first bit of light came upon the ruined city. In the morning, at the first moments of daybreak, Malton's post-apocolyptic waste was barely visible, the city almost looked whole again.
It was the sunlight hitting his face that woke him up. His hand was still clasped at the wound at his side, the bloodsoaked cloth was caked onto his flesh by the blood he lost.
His eyes were partially glazed as he sat there, lolling over the area, till they came onto the radio he had discarded the night before. It had died, he remembered, at the time he wasn't thinking straight enough to remember he had extra batteries...
Releasing his pistol, he dug in the pouch upon his hip, till he came across the battery. He couldn't know how strong the charge was, but if he could get a signal, at least know one of the Irregular's was out there, he could hold on. He could feel the disease already at work on his body, a few mor days, he figured, and it wouldn't pay for the Irregular's to do anything but hunt him down and blow off his fucking head.
His fingers were numb as he pried the lid off the radio, and swapped the battery. It took long moments, his brain clouding during what should have been a simple operation, but it was finally done.
He heard the crackle of the radio as power was restored to it for the moment, and he breathed a sigh of relief...
He pressed the transmit button, and spoke, his voice cracking with his throat's dryness.
"Eagle-eye to Base......over....."
Sherry had spent the night inside the remnants of an apartment complex, tryung to get her bearings on his location as best she could. She'd attempted reaching both Ace and Petro via radio, but they seemed to be out of range.
It was then the radio that woke her, and she snatched it quickly, fumbling o reply as she was still half asleep. God damn it, she knew he'd do it. Silver wasn't the type to just lay down and die, they were all well aware of that.
"Eagle-Eye this is Bengal, do you copy?" she transmitted
The voice came over the radio, and for a brief instant, Silver felt releif.
Someone was out there, one of the team.....
The lump forming in his throat disappeared as he heard the voice, he should have known she would be the most likely to pick up the call. He was to far out for the others..
"Bengal....Sherry.....I never thought I would hear your voice kiddo....."
He kept his breathing calm as he spoke, he wouldn't do to worry her.
"Listen Bengal...I'm hurt, bad. The place is crawling. I need you to get to the General, give him this message, it's important. Tell him there's more of them, alot more.....they're surronding me....get him that fucking message kid....I'll keep hiding till I hear back from you......copy that? I'm counting on you Sherry....."
He released the transmit button, closing his eyes as he settled agains the wall
But the girl was worried anyway, what with having heard his message before. He couldn't keep anything from her because she could tell in a heartbeat. She replied to him after clearing her throat.
"I'll pass that on, Eagle-Eye, but I can get to your position before the night is up. Just send me your coordinates."
She wasn't about to leave him there overnight. The rain was bringing with it a certain cold that Sherry knew he couldn't tolerate while wounded.
"How many are there?" she asked, confident she could handle it.
----
The voices that flowed from the room brought their attention. Within the hall, on the otherside of the baricaded door, the four listened, their chorus filling each others minds.
'The talking box makes noise, others are coming' 'Meat comes, fresh flesh....this one's blood will be cold long before...we smell the death coming from him' 'He will live long enough...then we shall consume him and the others. Fresh meat....'
-----
Silver closed his eyes as Sherry's reply came through. He knew she was going to try to be heroic, but he couldn't risk her life. Hell, he already fucked up enough to warrent resigning his command, he be damned if he was going to get another killed.
Still, he couldn't lie to her, she would guess it soon enough, and she'd try to come looking for him with no idea of where he was. He needed to make sure Petro got the message. He could feel the queasiness hitting him, the flesh near his wounds already showing the signs of zombification.....he'd be a shambler long before she got to him.
His voice took a eery calm, as he spoke to her, "No....your not going to come after me." His parched throat and weakness seemed to melt away as he spoke, the cool core taking over for the moment, though his breath was still shallow, "When I hid, there was four of them.....the four who set that tap and got me in the park. Their working as a team, and I have no idea if they can control the other shamblers, but I hear them outside. They can smell the blood...Your not to try a search and rescue Sherry....not on your own. Petro would kill me if you got hurt trying to pull my ass out of the fire... Besides, I ain't worth you risking your skin over."
A cough erupted from his throat, though he never released the button, he was pleading with her now, it was evident in his voice, "I'll be fine...I've lived through worse. Just...tell the team. Please Sherry....."
-----
He had waited at the door as the other three had gone to disperse the growing crowd of their breathern. The chorus sang in his mind, and he shared with them.
The human was growing weak, he could hear it int he words, the coughing. Already he could smell the death coming from the room. It wouldn't be long before he became a cold meal, or rose to join their song.
'We're coming for you.....'
-----
"I won't be coming alone," the girl said evenly. But she would come, regardless, whether she had to save him or kill him.
Her mind raced. Since she'd been training the Blackcaps to scout alongside her, there had been a good four or five that had willingly gone out this time. All within good range. They could all arrive before the night was over. They could save him and take out the rotters in the process. They could win.
"Now," she instructed into the radio, "there's a grey oval on the underside of your GPS unit. Transmits a distress signal. I want you to push it and don't you dare give me any shit about it."
She meant business.
The radio crackled again, as his voice came through, sounding distant and far far away, "Fuck off Petro.....We do this thing brother....we won't let them down...." The sounds of the door breaking down filled the radio, but nothing else.
---
Silver's eyes were half closed, the infection had been spreading he could feel it taking over, his mind was clouding, his limbs where growing stiff. Petro would never let him live this down, if they could manage to bring him back. He doubted they would find him intime to make a difference.
The door bursted open, wooden splinters flying, and his eyes fixed on the zombie from the park. The one who was the bait. He had left the radio on transmit, his final words before his closed his eyes, made it back to Sherry..."I think I'm infected..."
---
The four waited, looking upon the ashen corpse. The blood and flesh had already taken the smell of death, he was unappetizing to them now, but he would make a welcome addition. They waited.
The sun was high in the sky when he finally awoke, his pale blue eyes now grey in color, his flesh cold and pale. He rose to his feet, eyes fixating on the four before him. His mind was clear, not hazed like only a few hours ago, he could think clearly. Then he heard them, not a vocal sound, but the disjointed chorus in his mind, the four had a new member.
'Welcome brother' the voices sang in his mind, and he answered them, 'I hunger..'