Adrian Smith - The Rule of Three

Jack embraced Dee and sobbed. Holding her against his body, he was afraid to let go.

“I thought I had lost you,” Jack said, kissing her cheek.

“Me too,” Dee said.

“Dee. Come on!” shouted the bearded man.

Dee pulled herself out of Jack’s embrace and, racking her shotgun, started blasting at anything that moved in the water.

“Jack. In that bag. Grab a gun!” Dee said, gesturing with her head.

Jack found the bag and unzipped it. There were half a dozen guns that he didn’t recognise and two shotguns. He hadn’t fired a shotgun for a few months, not since that day at the firing range shooting clay pigeons. Jack gritted his teeth.

He looked around him. At the howling monsters throwing themselves into the river. At the little red-haired boy, George, huddled against a seat. At his wife, Dee, firing into the black mass of monsters. At the teenager steering the boat down the river. At the bearded man, rifle held to his shoulder, firing quick, controlled bursts.

Each of these people was fighting, fighting to stay alive. Fighting for the human race.

Jack checked the safety was off, and shells were loaded. Planting his feet, he tried to get his balance in the moving boat. Frustration boiling up, he joined the fight.

The Variants continued to throw themselves into the river. A couple more managed to land on the bow of the boat, but between himself, the bearded man and Dee, they dealt with them quickly.

The boat swung from side to side, dodging the beasts. Jack fired at a creature swimming towards him, taking off part of its head. He grimaced as it sank under the waves. Jack glanced up, searching for another target. The river in front of him was clear.

“Go!” Jack said, pointing.

The teenager heard him and opened the throttle, launching the boat free of the raining terrors.

As the boat pulled away, a loud bellow echoed down the cliffs. Jack shook his head and looked up at the Alpha. It glared down at the fleeing humans. With one last bellow he turned away, and his army of demons followed, howling and screeching.

Jack saw the bearded man raise his rifle and look through the scope, but he held his shot.

For now, they were clear of the creatures. The boat sped down the wide muddy river. Soon the high limestone cliffs gave way to rolling farmland.

“Why didn’t you shoot?” Dee said as she hugged Jack.

“No point. I don’t think this calibre would penetrate all that bone and hide,” Ben said. He lowered the weapon and glanced at them. “I guess this is Jack?”

A smile broke out on Dee’s face. “Yeah, it sure is.” She squeezed Jack tighter.

Jack caught her gaze. He knew what she was thinking. Somehow amongst the insanity, they had found each other. He could once again look into those blue eyes.

“Ben, Jack, Jack, Ben. And the tall one driving is Boss,” Dee said.

Jack and Ben acknowledged each other with a nod before shaking hands.

“Thank you. How did you know where I was?” Jack asked, shaking his head.

“A bit of guesswork. A bit of technology and a lot of luck,” Ben said. “I asked one of the collaborators what they were up to. He told me about the nest. When Dee came along looking for you, I figured it was the first place to look.”

“Thanks,” Jack said. He glanced down at Dee and raised an eyebrow. “Technology?”

“Find My Phone,” Dee said. “Your phone is thirty kilometres upriver.”

“Yeah. I crashed the car and ran into some of those beasts.”

Jack cast his eyes down. With all that had happened, it felt weird to talk about it.

“Guys,” Boss said, turning around. He pointed to the far bank. Dozens of Variants were charging down, screaming and howling at them.

“Keep going, Boss. Get us to the car,” Ben instructed. He reached into his combat vest and slammed in a new magazine.

“Boss?” Jack said.

“Another time, Highlander.” Dee grinned, her eyes twinkling in the afternoon light.

Jack returned the smile.

Boss turned. “Hey. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“You have? Well, I would’ve got here a bit sooner, but I ran into a bit of bother with some locals.”

Jack reached down and ruffled George’s hair. “This little fighter is George. He saved me.”

Dee crouched down to George. “Hey, little guy.”

Jack’s heart skipped a beat when the little red-haired kid wrapped his arms around her. He’d known she would like him. Perhaps, in spite of the apocalypse and the horrors they had faced, he and Dee had found that missing piece.

Jack could hear the howls of more monsters in the distance. Finally the river bank flattened out. Boss turned the boat for shore, heading towards a 4x4 parked under the trees.

Ben turned from scanning the bank with his scope. “All right everyone, stay frosty. We need a quick transition to the 4x4, no dawdling.” He glanced at each of them. “Dee, you drive. I’m going to radio the chopper. With those pursuing Variants, that LZ is going to be hot as hell.”

Jack felt the keel of the boat nudge the bank. He wrapped George in his arms and followed the others into the waiting 4x4. Jack liked this guy, Ben. The waiting vehicle was planned, the boat in the river, everything.

A chopper, coming to get us? To where? Safety?

Jack had so many questions he wanted to ask, but the ever-closer howls and screeches reminded him they had more pressing matters to be concerned about.

The 4x4 tore up the middle of the country road. Glancing in her side mirrors, Dee could see the Variants closing in from the sides and rear. Urging the vehicle faster, she jammed the accelerator to the floor.

“Guys, we got company!”

A couple of Variants sprinted ahead of the chasing pack and slammed into the back of the 4x4, rocking it from side to side. Dee swerved the vehicle, but their claws tore into the metal as they tried to get a purchase.

Dee looked over at Ben. He was filling his combat vest with fresh magazines. She blinked a few times. “What should I do?”

“Just get us to the airfield. We’ll take care of it,” Ben said.

Ben leant out the passenger side window and tried to get a bead on the chasing pack.

Dee could still see the two Variants clinging to the back of the vehicle. “Boss, Jack, see if you can get these bastards off us!”

Jack twisted around in the back seat and saw the two monsters clinging on. One started smashing its head into the rear window. Tiny cracks appeared, spider webbing across the glass. With each bash of the creature’s deformed skull, the cracks grew larger. Jack figured he only had a few seconds to react.

He pushed George down into the footwell. “Cover your ears.”

Jack blasted the headbutting monster. The boom of the shotgun inside the small cabin rattled his brain. Jack shook his head and looked at the shattered window. The monster still clung to the back of the vehicle. Its sucker mouth seemed to be smiling as if mocking him.

It began to crawl in through the now-broken window, howling, its mouth smacking so close Jack could see the rows of tiny sharp teeth. He pulled the trigger again, this time blasting off half its head. The black gunk sprayed all over him.

Jack heard another boom of a shotgun and saw the last one fall onto the road behind them, tumbling over and over before righting itself. It started to chase them again, sprinting down the road in rabid pursuit.

Hell, these things are hard to kill.

Jack crawled into the back. Using the shotgun, he pushed the corpse out. Beyond, he could see hundreds of them chasing, moving in a weird wave as they scrambled over the fields, hunting them tirelessly.