Adrian Smith - The Rule of Three

Man’s arrogance had finally led to his own downfall.

Dee heard engines revving in the background and fired off a few rounds as the lead monsters slammed into the fence. She lost herself in the heat of battle and held her finger down on the trigger, screaming at the beasts. It was almost impossible to distinguish between the Variants. Their mutated bodies squished against the barrier holding them out, but as more and more creatures joined the crowd, the fence began to buckle. Dee shot another monster in the head. And one through the neck. No sooner had she killed those two than four had taken their place. The Variants stomped on the dead and scrambled over the buckling fence.

Dee flicked her eyes to the retired SAS soldier fighting by her side.

He glanced at her. “There’s too many of them,” Ben said, worry etched on his face. “Go with the others. I’ll hold them off.”

Dee looked back at her husband sitting on the quad bike, George’s arms wrapped around him. Boss was standing next to a second bike.

Dee slammed a fresh magazine in her AR-15. “I’m staying to fight.” She breathed out and fired at another Variant, taking a chunk of jaw off with her round.

Ben chortled and joined her firing on the beasts. Side by side they fought, shell casings clinking as they hit the gravel path.

The Alpha loomed into view from the back. As it moved forwards, the other Variants moved out of the way like the Red Sea parting for Moses. The Alpha bellowed, and the constant shrieks of the creatures stopped. The silence was so sudden and complete that Dee stopped firing. She blinked and let her rifle drop.

“Keep your rifle up, soldier,” Ben ordered.

Without warning, the huge Variant charged through the parted Variants. Each step he took shook the ground under Dee’s feet. Out of instinct, she fired at the lumbering monster. Her 5.56 mm rounds had no effect. She might as well have been hitting it with a feather.

Ben grabbed her shoulder. “Move. Now.”

Dee let Ben pull her away from the fence. She climbed onto the quad bike with Jack, little George jammed in between them.

Dee gasped, shocked, as the Alpha crashed into the gate, tearing it off its concrete footings as if it wasn’t there. It stood in the now-open gateway and bellowed, a sneer spread across its deformed face.

The rest of the Variant horde reached the gap and funnelled through. Now that they weren’t been fired on, the masses poured over the fence and the shrieking intensified.

“Get us out of here,” Dee said. “Jack!”

Jack gunned the engine, then tore off up the track leading to the summit.

Jack worked his way through the gears, willing the Honda 420cc engine to go faster. His nerves were frayed beyond anything he could ever have imagined. Blissfully unaware of the virus for the first couple of days, it hadn’t been until he’d reached the hut and cell phone coverage that his nightmare had begun.

The mad dash across the road-clogged countryside, his first encounter with the monsters, the family getting torn apart… His escape down the river, his capture and escape from the dam. And finding Dee, who had come to rescue him. It all flashed through his mind. He choked up at the thought. It would all be for nothing if he didn’t get them up this mountain.

Shaking off the emotions, he concentrated on taking the bends of the road as fast as he could.

Jack had hiked up this mountain many times; he hoped no trees had fallen down in the high winds that buffeted the area.

We would be dead in minutes.

He urged the bike to go faster as tree branches and vines whipped over his head. Faster and faster they sped, gravel from the road flicking into the underbrush. Even over the noise of the engines running at full throttle, Jack could hear the horrific shrieks of the creatures. Thankfully the road remained clear.

George squeezed Jack’s arms tighter as he took a sharp corner too fast, lifting two wheels off the ground.

“Careful!” Dee shouted above the roar of the bike.

Jack risked a glance to the side. Ben and Boss sped along behind him. This was a dash to the top, a dash to live, to fight another day.

Flying around another bend, Jack saw the stairs he was looking for. They would take them the last few metres to the lookout platform. Screeches and howls greeted him as he brought the quad bike to a stop and leapt off the bike.

“Take the kids,” Dee said, lifting her rifle.

Jack nodded and grabbed George by the hand. He took the stairs two at a time, his injured leg screaming in pain. Boss bounded up ahead and, reaching the ladder, held out his hand to George. Jack looked back and gawked in horror. Variants of every size and shape spewed out of the bush.

Dee watched Jack, Boss and George head up the stairs. Checking her rifle, she looked back down the road. Already some of the Variants were charging towards them, their reptilian eyes fixed on her and Ben. More sprinted from the trees. First a few, before a wave of mutated humans flooded the road. Inexplicably, they stopped about a hundred metres away from Ben and Dee, as if assessing them. Dee wondered if they were contemplating which limb to rip off first.

Ben bumped into her as they backed up the stairs. She kept a bead on the massing horde. Slowly they made their way backwards until they were halfway to the platform.

“Take out the lead runners first,” Ben whispered. “Aim for the centre mass.”

“Okay,” Dee said. She spent a few seconds taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself. To focus on the fight for life she knew was coming. She strained her ears, hoping for the sound of the helicopter.

“How long before the chopper?” she said.

“Should be here in minutes.”

Dee heard a deep, angry bellow as the lumbering frame of the Alpha Variant came over the crest in the road. Bones protruding from its shoulders, it stopped and tilted its head back, shrieking. The high-pitched sound echoed around the forest, so loud it rattled Dee’s teeth. She glanced at Ben, who was looking through his scope. His breaths remained steady and calm.

The huge creature moved closer, gathering the beasts with him. Now that it was closer, Dee could see the decapitated heads alongside his own. She couldn’t help the shiver than ran up her spine, chilling her to her core.

So that’s why they stopped. We are for you.

“Run!” Ben yelled, firing his carbine.

Dee reacted. Spinning around, she tore up the stairs towards the lookout. Ahead, the others were already clambering onto the platform. Jack yelled something to her but she couldn’t hear him. Finally the sound of the helicopter came thumping through the overcast sky.

The last few days of running, fighting and surviving were catching up to her. She was emotionally and physically drained, spent. Willing her body on for one last shot at safety, Dee sprinted for the ladder. For Jack. For survival.

Jack reached down, hand outstretched, his blue eyes willing her on. She grasped his hand and let him pull her onto the platform. She scrambled to her feet and spun, searching for Ben.

Jack gasped in horror as the giant creature bounded up the stairs after the fleeing Ben. The soldier paused and fired a couple of bursts at the beast. The Alpha swatted away the bullets. For its size, it moved incredibly fast. Jack had just hauled Dee up onto the platform when he heard the thump thump thump of the chopper. Boss was standing in the middle of the platform, waving his arms and a red flare.

Just a few moments more .

Ben reached the ladder, turning and firing over his shoulder as he went. The leader was now only metres away, his minions fanning out behind him.