Mark Clodi - Discovery

“I know, we gotta go.” said Bill. Harry's last order was still holding the zombies in check, they continued to stare at the trio of men, but none of them took so much as a single step towards them.

Katie was grasped around the waist from behind, the arms that gripped her was like steel and she dropped her rifle as she was lifted up. “Got you! I got you! You tricksy little thing!”

Both of Katie's hands were free, the arms gripped her around the waist and started to squeeze the breath out of her. She struggled to reach the pistol she had tucked into her belt and kicked backwards at the zombie holding her to no effect. The camo suit was being torn into pieces as she struggled and finally she got her hand on the butt of her pistol. Then the building rocked sideways and she was suddenly thrown free.

“Fuck!” Max yelled as an explosion slammed into the building across the street about halfway up. Debris started to rain down on the zombie mob, sizable chunks of concrete that squashed zombies flat when they hit.

“We gotta go!” Bill said, grabbing Max and retreating up the stairs, Max managed to get one hand on his shotgun before being half carried up the stairs of the Art building. The two of them followed Javier across the lobby back towards the side exit to the courtyard they had originally entered the building through. Dust and chunks of masonry fell around them as the artillery barrage started to fall in earnest.

“Out! Out! Out!” Yelled Bill urging them through the courtyard and towards the raised street. Ruben and the other man, Chen, each had a shoulder under Stewart's arms and carried her through the explosions until they reached the marginal safety under the street. Javier shot the only zombie they saw along the way, a tall African American zombie dressed up in gold chains and a long basketball jersey. Once that weak opposition was taken care of the group made their way to the chain link fence separating them from the rail line.

“Can you stand Max?”

“Yeah. I am okay. Thanks.” said Max letting go of his friend. Bill turned to the fence and took out his combat knife, reversing it he caught the links on the back of the knife and pulled downward sharply, the wire of the fence parted easily. Ruben looked on dumbfounded, then over to Max, who shrugged his shoulders.

“Go, get down there and start heading east away from here, keep the wall next to your right arm and let's hope none of the bombs drop to the left of us.” Bill said once the hole in the fence was wide enough to pass through.

Max went down first, followed by Bill, the two of them then took Stewart from Chen and Ruben, it was a surprise to them when Stewart tried to stand up. She was unsteady on her feet and one of her eyes was glued shut with blood, but she managed a half smile as she saw Max was holding her. “Hi!” she said, “What is going on?”

“Shh…” Max started.

“You got her? She isn't the only one hurt.”

“Yeah I will start off you, catch up.”

“Keep your gun handy.”

Max shook his head, “No need. There isn't anything up ahead.”

“Good, go.” said Bill, turning to help Chen down from park to the level of the rail bed, a short distance of about three feet.

Max started stumbling forward while Stewart asked him how he was and what happened again. The others were still faster than he was and caught up with him after only fifteen or twenty seconds.

“This should be far enough.” said Bill as the bombs reached a crescendo behind them.

Turning they looked back as the street they had been hiding under disappeared under a heavy cloud of dust.

“Well maybe we should go a little farther…” Bill began.

“The boats sarge! We need to get to the boats. Like we planned.” said Javier.

Nodding Bill said, “Yeah, good idea, while they are all distracted.” He led the group across three sets of rail lines to the concrete embankment on the other side, where once again he quickly made a hole for them to pass through.

As he helped Stewart through the fence Max heard her ask, “Did we win? Did we win Max?”

“I think so Stewart. Yeah, I think we got him.”

“Good Max, that is real good.” She stood up, took a couple of steps with Bill's assistance then lurched sideways to the ground where she lay still.

“Stewart!” Max yelled, pulling himself through the fence. He rushed to Stewart's side and rolled her onto her back. She was still conscious, but just barely.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice slurring slightly.

“You fell over!” said Max as he checked the bandages on her head and looked her over. “Are you okay?”

“Sure. Fine…if I can…” and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Bill knelt down opposite of Max, with Stewart between them, “Well?”

“I don't know. She is out.”

“It is the head injury. Her skull is busted in, she shouldn't be walking around.” said Ruben, “Not that I am a doctor or anything.”

“Can we move her?” asked Javier.

“Leave her.” put in Chen, the rest of them looked at him until he looked away, “Look we gotta get moving. Max, where are the zombies?”

Max paused for a moment then said, “Behind us, a lot of them seem to be staying still, maybe buried under the rubble of the buildings. There are a bunch that way too.” He waved his hands to the north of them.

“Great. Isn't that where the boats are?” asked Javier.

Bill nodded. “Well we will skirt around one edge. Chen can you manage on your own?”

“Not too well. If I had a crutch, I would do better.”

“We'll work on that. Max are there less zombies to the east or west?”

“West.”

“That is good the boats are kind of that direction too. Now that the bombs have stopped do we take our chances on the streets or duck back down and follow the rail road tracks?”

“Through the smoke? That would be crazy.” said Chen, eying the impenetrable cloud behind them warily.

“Maybe, but we would get clear of the dust in a couple of blocks then head straight north to the harbor. Max, can you sense anything along the tracks?”

“Well, it isn't really a precise ability. I can only sense them, it isn't like I can see a map or anything overlaying where they are. But when I look where the tracks are going I don't sense anyone in the cloud.”

“It is a straight shot, so I suggest we go for it. It won't be clear for long, I bet those zombies will start wandering around again soon enough.”

Bill turned and passed through the break in the fence, dropping down onto the rail road tracks, where he turned and waited for the others to follow.

“Don't we even get to vote on it?” whined Chen.

Ruben chuckled, “A Sergeant's 'suggestion' is the same as an order private. Let's get going. Javier, help Max out with Stewart. Chen I will help you down. C'mon.”

Once they were back into the trench that held the rail road tracks they made good time getting into the dust. The men wrapped camouflaged bandannas around their faces to keep out the dust. Max got one wrapped around Stewart's face too, he pulled it up over her eyes, which made her look all too much like a corpse to him. He was sure they had traveled back to a point where the art center was once again beside them when a huge explosion went off to their right. All of the men dropped down between the rails, Javier and Max dumped Stewart between them and each held one arm over her neck and head while the bombs continued to rain down. This bombardment seemed to last forever to Max, every time he thought it was over another explosion would go off and more debris would fly over his head. Dirt and pieces of rock were pouring down on them like a heavy rain. In his gut Max started to worry about heavier debris, when he lifted his head to see if he could spot better cover he saw a semi-tractor crash down ten yards behind them. The windshield was strangely intact and it landed upright. One of the massive front tires broke off and flew through the metal wheel well and came bouncing their direction. Max ducked and screamed at the same time as the tire missed his head by inches then bounced up and out of his sight. After that he buried his face in the dirt and found himself praying, something Sarah would have been proud of. He could see her in his mind, arms crossed and an amused look on her face. “So this is all it took to get you to accept God? If I had known being in the middle of a field of explosions would do that I might have arranged for it to happen while I was still alive.”