“XR-1, this is Kyle.” He figured no one cared about his call sign at the moment. “I’m heading to cafeteria building, can you cover?”
“Kyle, this is Jasmine. I see people running on the east side of Reactor 2, but it’s clear to the cafeteria.”
“Copy that Jasmine, coast is clear,” Kyle said. He grabbed his rifle and left the security building. It was only about seventy-five yards to the building the cafeteria was in, but he had to go through three different closed gates to get there. He opened and closed the first delay gate and started to cross an open area that was between two buildings. He didn’t see anyone as he ran, but he couldn’t help feeling anxious. Running with the rifle and belt was a serious annoyance but it wasn’t like he was springing.
He closed the distance quickly and neared the corner of the building he wanted to enter. He still needed to run another five yards to the door when something ran right into it with a loud bang that caused his heart to jump out of his chest. He stopped and quickly went down on a knee while pulling his rifle out in front of him. He didn’t have much time to think about what it could be when he heard a bang from the door again. He had to keep from taking off in the other direction.
“Jasmine, Kyle. I’ve got loud banging coming from the inside of the door,” he warned on the radio. His fears were telling him to back out and he was trying to decide if it was wise to approach.
“Kyle, Charlie 4, I’m with Tim and en route to your location! Command Center, I’m hearing gunshots out here, what is going on? he shouted.
“Charlie 4, Secondary Command, there are people in the Command Center but...they're not…” the voice on the radio hesitated, not knowing what to say. “Kyle, Charlie 4 is almost to you, explain it to him.”
Kyle had to laugh at that one, as he watched Sergeant Neil and Tim come running across the open pavement to rest beside him. They were both breathing heaving, sweat pouring from them.
“What’s going on out here? We've been inside the vial area?” Neil said. He continued breathing heavily and seemed extremely put out that his world had wrinkles in it. Radios weren't allowed on inside the vital area, lest they affect the reactors, which explained his ignorance of the situation.
“Neil, that virus we heard about is here, and it makes people crazy. It’s like rabies; it makes them crazy, taking away their pain receptors. I believe it kills them also.” He knew it wasn’t a clear and concise explanation but he wasn’t a doctor, nor could he prove what he thought. He also thought it wise to not mention the little bit about having shot three of their own people in the head.
“That’s ridiculous Kyle, I would expect more from you than this. And you call yourself educated,” he said, with a condensing shake of his head. Kyle looked straight at him, eyes not wavering but demanding that Neil meet his. He wanted to jack this guy, but choked it down. He tried again.
“Neil, you haven’t been out here. They’re dangerous and I think they're right inside that door. You don’t have to believe me, just wait and you’ll find out yourself when they try banging into the door again,” Kyle said, his words coming slowly through an almost locked jaw. He felt like he expressed his himself quite well, all things considered.
“Let’s go. You can back us up. Maybe there was a fight in there. They may need help,” Neil said, brushing off Kyle's plea. He got up and started to walk to the metal windowless door where a continuous uneven banging was coming from the other side. The door was up four small concrete steps that would lead to a small square clearing surrounded by round guardrails to keep people from falling.
“Negative Neil, I won’t stand near that door when it opens and neither of you should either, as a matter of fact.” He keyed his radio again, “Jasmine, live cover from your position please?” He looked up at the tower in the distance. The gun port facing him was already open. A quick response came back.
“Copy that Kyle, I already am.”
“You will not take your rifle down XR-1. We are not at Orange Alert anymore. I am the sergeant, I will call the play,” Neil screeched, indignation and hurt pride spilling out. His outburst caused Kyle to smile, but he kept his eyes on the door.
“Copy that Neil,” came the sarcastic response from the tower. The gun port didn't close. Neil gave a huff and started to walk up the stairs.
"Maybe we ought to wait for the lieutenant," Tim suggested, looking down at his boots. Tim was a guy that got along with everyone, and he would always follow orders that were given to him. He had never had any cause not to. He looked up at Kyle questioningly.
"Tim, you don't have to go up those stairs. Trust me on this buddy," Kyle said desperately. He then turned to Neil. "You shouldn't either.”
"Kyle, you're going to lose your job for this. Insubordination!" Neil yelled. "Tim, unless you want to lose yours as well, you'll go find out what's going on.”
Kyle's anger began to mount but he would try one more time to stop this fool. He reached to take Tim’s arm but Neil saw him coming and put his hand on his sidearm. Kyle looked amazed at Neil, they weren’t close but he never would have thought Neil would pull a gun on him. Kyle took a step back and raised his hands. “He’s gonna get me killed,” Kyle thought.
Neil smirked as if he had shown him who the real boss was and turned to motion Tim up the stairs.
"Tim don't," Kyle pleaded looking at his friend. "Don't."
"Got to do it man."
Kyle started to step backward, now five feet from the elevated door and Neil. He took a quick second to look around the area to make sure nothing was creeping up on him. He placed his hand on his pistol and pressed down on the small plastic piece to release it if he wanted to pull it out.
Tim walked up the stairs noticeably shaking and hesitant to go farther. Neil, close behind, put his hand on Tim’s back and muttered something. Tim reached out his hand and grabbed the door, pushing the small lock down. Immediately the door burst open.
The next few seconds were a blur for Kyle as he watched the door slam open, its heavy weight slamming against the metal siding of the building. The lieutenant barreled through the open door instantly falling on Tim and ponderously bending his back over the guardrail. The lieutenant’s uniform, coated in dark sticky blood, spoke of what he had been through. His face showed no sign of a wound, but was pale and contorted in anger. He eyes, milky and unfocused, stared straight at Tim as he bit savagely onto Tim's lower neck. Tim, having no leverage to push off the attacker, struggled in vain to stop from being bitten. He failed. The bite, deep and powerful, ripped out skin, cartilage, and blood vessels, which instantly erupted into geysers of red mist and spray.
The lieutenant, temporarily satisfied, took his weight off Tim, allowing him to slump down on the small, blood-covered landing. Tim's head thumped against the lowest guardrail as his body settled. Pain coursed through his body and he stared up to see the crazed thing lean down again. Neil, still not moving, was not believing that the lieutenant had attacked Tim.
Kyle, also caught up in the unfolding drama, knew that he should act but the whole thing happened so fast, so freaking fast. One second Tim was opening the door, and the next, his crazed lieutenant, a man Kyle respected, began to eat him. Kyle couldn’t tell if Tim was dead but knew he had try and save him. He saw that the lieutenant wasn’t paying him any attention to him, so he holstered his gun and quickly ran up to the elevated platform to grab the back of Tim's shirt and pull him away. The maneuver didn’t work as well as Kyle hoped. The lower guardrail wouldn’t let Kyle pull the Tim through, it was too low. The next and largest impediment to the rescue, was the appearance of his fellow coworkers. He saw movement coming from between the lieutenant’s legs and then heard them. At least three more of these things tried to ramble out of the open door but were slowed by trying to exit at the same time. The need to be getting the hell out of there pounded through Kyle's body as he pulled savagely on Tim. He was rewarded as the unmoving body finally slid under the guardrail. The monster above, seeing his meal being taken away, growled in anger and surprisingly quickly, reached over the guardrail to grab Kyle. Kyle saw the grab coming and squatted on his knees while still pulling Tim through. Tim's body slammed loudly against the cement and he gave a soft moan in response. Kyle relieved, was about to ask for help when he saw Neil take off toward the security building. He decided to act on that later and turned his attention back to Tim.
Kyle’s hand slipped as he tried to pull the inert form of Tim across the rough cement. He stumbled backward and saw that his hand was covered in blood. He had only managed to pull Tim a few feet, but those few feet left a thick trail of dark blood. Kyle didn’t know if Tim was still alive but he couldn’t give up unless he knew for sure. He quickly looked up and saw three of the crazed men standing on the small square landing. The monster that had been the lieutenant was leaning against the guardrail with both of his hands reaching out as if to clutch the two officers struggling on the ground. No thought of walking down the stairs seemed to exist for him. Behind him were three other officers who were similarly enraged and bloody. Various parts of their bodies were missing or had been torn apart. They were currently standing behind the lieutenant or to his side, and all of them were trying to reach forward and grab someone. Kyle had to do a double-take on the strange scene in front of him. He was amazed at the stupidity of the creatures but thankful for the time. He had dragged Tim a good twelve feet, when he reached down to check his vitals. There were none, he was gone. Kyle looked down at his friend and just felt sadness. So wasteful. So stupid. He had just begun to ponder on his feelings when he looked up to see the lieutenant reach too far over the rail and flip right over it. He hit head first with his body crashing loudly behind
“Oh crap,” he said out loud. Crazy, that was all he could think to describe it. Even worse was that he got right back up and started walking in that stumbling, disoriented manner. The guy wasn’t running, but he was fast enough to get to Kyle quickly. Kyle jumped up and started to run back toward the security building.
“Merge right, Kyle,” a voice came through on his radio. Kyle lunged quickly and shots began to ring out from the towers on each end of the long street. Kyle didn’t turn to look, but made sure no one was coming from his sides and made it to the security gate that surrounded the building. He took out the hanger-shaped piece of metal that kept the latch secure and bolted through. Refastening the metal latch, Kyle turned around to see how close the lieutenant was when an ‘all clear’ was called on the radio. Kyle walked to the side of the building, slumped to the ground and closed his eyes, trying to control the shaking that was racking his body.
The door to the building slammed open and Patrick burst through.
“You okay man? That was intense! Did you see the lieutenant flip over the rail? Man, I’m shaking, look at this.” He held his arm out. It wasn’t shaking.
“Patrick, give me a second, okay?” Kyle pleaded. As usual, after battle or in this case fleeing for your life from your friends who were eating people, he was hitting the come down. It usually resulted in him shaking so bad that he needed to sit or kept him from holding anything in his hands for a few minutes.
“Sure man,” Patrick said. “I’ll get you a Coke, or a Mountain Dew...Do the Dew ya know?”
“Patrick!”
“Sorry, just talk a little when I get nervous. Oh yeah, the brave Neil made it inside also. He's in the lieutenant’s office,” he said, and darted back inside. Kyle leaned his back against the metal building. He didn’t check his watch, didn’t need to, Kyle knew it was time to get out.
Kyle sat there for a few more minutes and drank the soda that Patrick gave him. He had stopped shaking and was only left with rage and sorrow, both at Neil for what had just happened. He pushed himself off the ground and dusted his hands off, throwing the can onto the ground beside the door. He opened it and walked through.
Neil was in the lieutenant’s office when Kyle walked through with Yolanda and Patrick following him. He was dialing numbers and kept slamming the phone down only to pick it up and dial again.
"Neil," Kyle said, standing a few feet from him. Neil slammed down the phone again and looked at Kyle with loathing.
"You’re responsible for what just happened," Neil snarled. "You’re cowardice caused Tim do die. I intend to have charges brought up against you."
Rage. It was one thing to make a bad call, but another to lie to yourself and everyone else about it. Then to run away and leave others paying the price for it? It was too much for Kyle. Kyle almost jumped across the room to deliver a powerful roundhouse to Neil's smug face. It was a sloppy throw that if it had missed would have completely caused Kyle to lose his balance, but he didn't miss. His knuckles met the side of Neil's head, dropping him instantly. Kyle, all reason gone, picked Neil up the by the shirt and delivered two jabs to Neil's unconscious face. Kyle reached back to hit him again but was wrapped up in Patrick's surprisingly strong arms and pulled off. He didn't fight Patrick, but allowed himself to be pushed across the room into a corner with Patrick standing in front of him almost looking apologetic.
"Holy shit, Professor!" exclaimed Yolanda, "I hope you didn't kill him."
"I have mixed feelings about it," Kyle said, glancing at Neil's unconscious form.
“Is everyone ready?” Kyle asked Yolanda, who was waiting for him when he walked into the lieutenant’s office. He passed three large push carts in the hall, that were full of rifles, pistols, ammo, and other random things that had been collected while he was out.
“Copy that, Professor,” she answered, and clicked the radio on her vest, “All units, stand by for all call.” All-call was a system that would call every phone, in every post, and allow for a large group conversation or instructions. It usually turned into people all talking over each other, and a great time to out joke on someone.
The phone in front of Kyle rang and he picked it up. “All units, this is Kyle in the lieutenant’s office, please sound off,” Kyle wondered if he would be challenged, but this was often done many times a day to make sure everyone was awake. Standard procedure when nothing interesting was happening.