Experiment Undead
Chapter 19

‘Well, as you can see, the plan changed,’ I reply.

‘You were part of this!’ Commander Bryant shouts at James, his voice full of anger and frustration, while he tries to hold his skin flaps back in place. The sight of his skin flapping around as he shouts is greatly disturbing.

James glares at the commander, ‘Your face should be the least of your worries right now. I wasn’t going to stand by and watch you kill more innocent people or keep them in these terrible conditions any longer,’ he says, his eyes blazing with determination.

James turns to face me again, ‘We have to go now, Penny,’ he says in a serious tone.

I realise we need to decide what to do with the commander, and I glance over James’s shoulder, searching for him. Quickly, I follow the trail of blood spots on the ground. They lead me to the back door.

As I open the door, chaos is all around me. The infected are hunting down the soldiers. The army members are fighting to contain the situation. I can’t see the commander anywhere.

‘Darn it,’ I mutter as James approaches behind me.

‘Don’t worry about the commander,’ James says reassuringly. ‘Grab the bag and make your way to the fence. I’ll catch up with you later.’

Nodding, I race toward the tent, darting and dodging between soldiers and infected individuals. The screams of those in the reserve are ringing in my ears, and I know that I need to move quickly if I’m going to get out of here alive.

I stumble over a fallen soldier, tripping and falling to the ground. My palms and face are scraped raw, but I force myself to ignore the pain and keep going. A spotlight swings my way, and I hear gunshots echo. I duck, roll to the side, and keep moving, praying I won’t get hit.

As I run toward the tent, I spot Sandy and Payton huddled together. They’re relieved to see me but also concerned about my face and neck injuries.

‘Never mind that,’ I say, pushing past them to grab my bag. The bottles clink together as I sling the bag over my shoulder.

I stop, turn back, and grab two rifles from the dead soldiers nearby. ‘You should both get out of here while you can. Maybe we’ll cross paths again in the future,’ I say to Sandy and Payton, saluting them as I race out of the tent.

Crouching behind boxes, I move stealthily between army trucks and a tank, trying to stay out of sight. Sparks fly as bullets hit the vehicles, and I duck and dodge to avoid getting hit.

As I approach a nearby house, I notice it’s caught on fire. I can only assume that it’s the work of Nate or Todd. Soldiers run in all directions, some jumping in vehicles and speeding away. I need to act fast if we’re going to get out of here alive.

As I peer through the smoky haze, I see the Gibb Street sign. I’m pretty sure that’s where the fire station is located. I need to get there fast. Checking to ensure no one is around to see me, I bolt out of hiding and run as fast as I can until I reach the fence. The exertion leaves me gasping for air, and I take a moment to catch my breath.

Suddenly, I hear a whisper from over the fence. It’s Nate. He’s alarmed and outraged at the bruises and scrapes on my face and neck. ‘What the hell happened to you? Who did that to you?’ he asks, his eyes flashing angrily.

‘Here, take the bag,’ I say, lifting it. ‘I’m okay. I’ll explain what happened later.’

I pass him the two rifles and back away before running and jumping up the fence as high as possible. Nate grabs my arms and pulls me over.

‘We need to move quickly,’ I tell him as soon as I’m on the other side. ‘We need to move quickly. I may have infected some soldiers, and now it’s gotten out of control. I thought there were only around four dozen soldiers. I kept count as we infected only a few at a time to be able to take them out easily, but then even more soldiers appeared out of nowhere, and at least half of them are soulless now.’

‘Damn it, Penny. How’d you manage to do that?’ Nate asks incredulously.

′ I don’t have time to explain it now,′ I reply, shaking my head at him.

‘Okay, come on, then,’ he says, taking charge. I follow close behind him. ‘You should know, I saw three buses arrive half an hour ago. There were at least one hundred soldiers on board. They must have been deployed to come here and arrived to replace Rokewood under attack by the infected.’

‘Damn it, that explains why we lost control of containing the soulless,’ I tell him.

As we hurry back to where we had left Kate, Nancy, Emma, and Oscar, I can see the worry etched on their faces as they run and surround me.

‘Penny, Penny, what happened?’ Oscar asks.

‘Penny, are you okay?’ Nancy asks.

‘Penny, your neck, your face?’ Kate shrieks.

‘Penny!’ Emma shouts, jumping up for me to catch her.

‘Stop, I’m fine,’ I tell them, gently putting Emma down and waving them away.

I approach Todd, who has two fuel cans and a handful of ripped rags.

‘Okay,’ Nate says, kneeling beside Todd. ‘We need to make Molotov cocktails. Fill all the bottles with fuel, then stuff the rags inside like this. Leave some sticking out, though, so we can light and toss them.’

I nod and hold the bottles while Todd fills them up. Oscar then stuffs the rags in, leaving enough to light on the outside. ‘Got your lighters?’ Nate asks Todd and me.

‘Yes,’ Todd replies.

I take mine from my duffel bag and place it in my pocket.

‘What about me? I want to help too,’ Oscar says with an eager look.

We exchange a glance and nod.

Kate steps forward, ‘You nor Penny should be going. You are both just children, and Penny should not have snuck off like that earlier,’ she says, narrowing her eyes at me.

‘It’s fine, Kate,’ Nate says, ‘Todd and I won’t be able to free everyone at the reserve on our own anyway. We need them, even if they are kids.’

Kate points at me, ‘Have you not seen the state of Penny? Have you lost your mind, Nate?’

‘It’s just a scrape and some bruises. I’ve suffered much worse than this before,’ I say, annoyed at Kate.

Everyone stiffens and stares at me. Damn it, I’ve said too much. I don’t like people knowing about my past.

I face Nate and quickly change the subject, ‘We can split into two. I’ll go with you. Todd and Oscar can go together,’ I say as I give Todd one of the rifles.

We pick up three to four Molotovs each. Kate comes closer to me.

Her eyes soften, ‘Pen- ’

I step back, turn and run through the bushes toward the fence, ignoring her. Nate runs close behind me. I don’t want to talk about my past, not now or ever.

I used to have flashbacks in my sleep most nights about the physical and emotional abuse I used to go through at the hands of many previous foster families. My social worker never believed me, but now those horrible memories have been replaced with traumatic events since the virus outbreak.

We sneak up Ferrars Street until we reach McMillan Street, where the recreation reserve is.

Nate lights the cloth from one of the bottles and throws it at a tree by the reserve, where two soldiers are trying to keep the civilians in as they scream and rattle the fence to be let out. The tree is immediately ablaze, startling the soldiers. A soulless comes up beside one and bites her arm. She screams in pain, and the other soldier walks backwards, shooting the soulless, but misses all shots. In a state of panic, he runs off.

A group of soldiers further down the road are trying to surround the recreation reserve.

Nate turns to me, ‘We need to create a diversion. Get their attention away from the civilians,’ he says, gesturing at the Molotovs.

I nod, and we split up, moving in different directions. I light a bottle, throw it at a nearby house, and then another. It has caught the attention of nearby soulless who stop feeding on the dead victims lying on the ground. The soulless scamper towards me. I toss my last Molotov at them. They screech and stumble backward as the flame engulfs one. Then the other advances towards me, but I aim my rifle and shoot it in the head. The gunshot echoes through the air, and the soldiers turn their attention towards me.

‘There’s the girl Commander Bryant told us to replace. Get her!’ the soldier yells to his comrades.

The soldiers charge toward me. I quickly turn and run, hoping to create more distance between us. Nate sees I’m in trouble and runs beside me, firing his rifle at the soldiers as we sprint towards a fence. He ignites a Molotov and throws it toward the men.

We reach the fence and climb over when a hand reaches out and grabs my ankle. A soldier is holding onto me, trying to pull me back. I kick him in the face, causing him to let go. Nate and I drop down onto the other side and run back towards the reserve. We hear the soldiers shouting and running after us, but we keep moving, trying to put as much distance between them and us as possible.

As we approach the reserve, we see Todd and Oscar. They have already taken care of the soulless near them and are ready to help us fight off the soldiers. We exchange a quick nod and attack.

Nate and Todd take the lead, charging towards the soldiers, aiming their rifles. Oscar and I follow close behind, using his lit Molotov bottles to make a firewall between the soldiers and us as they try to create a circle around us. The soldiers are caught off guard with soulless now approaching behind them. Most of them are frightened and unsure whether to fight or flee.

One of the army men shouts, ‘You lot take out the soulless the rest shoot the two men and the boy but keep the girl alive. Commander Bryant wants to deal with her personally,’ he says.

I gulp as they turn back-to-back with each other. The men and women facing me are about to shoot at us, while the others facing the opposite way shoot at the soulless.

Oscar and I ignite the last Molotov and throw them over Todd and Nate. The soldiers step back to avoid the flame, bumping the men behind them. As they quickly repoint their muzzles, they are too late as Todd and Nate shoot them dead before the soldiers can aim.

We notice a large group of civilians entering the street. A woman is leading them and shouts, ‘Down with the soldiers! Free our people!’ and then howls.

The woman is tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and a strong, angular jawline. Her hair is cut short and styled in a practical manner. Her face is weathered and lined, giving her a look of hard-earned experience and resilience. She wears functional, utilitarian clothing well-suited to combat and physical activity. Her movements are swift and precise, with a no-nonsense efficiency that suggests she has been in many dangerous situations before.

When she speaks, her voice is loud and commanding, with a roughness to it that hints at a lifetime of smoking or shouting. I’m in awe of her, knowing I could never be such a strong, respected leader like her.

The people with her howl simultaneously and attack as many soldiers as possible.

‘The wolves,’ I say to Nate.

Nate nods. ‘Yeah, they’re the resistance group that’s been causing trouble for the military because their families are being held at the recreation reserve,’ he replies. I watch them in astonishment at the ferocity of their attacks. I can see that the wolves are determined to free their people, no matter the cost.

A soldier crawls away, but a soulless that wasn’t moving and that we all thought was dead suddenly sits up, grabs his arm and bites him. I shoot the soulless in the head. Its brains splatter across the ground. The soldier holds his arm, gets up, and runs towards the trees. I aim my gun, knowing it’s best to shoot him before he can get away and infect others, but he disappears into the darkness. ‘Shit, I lost him,’ I tell Nate.

Screams erupt again from the recreation reserve. We all see the female soldier bitten earlier has turned and bitten three people through the wire-link fencing.

I can see the panic on Nate’s face. More soulless appear and outnumber us. We watch the soulless walk toward each other creating small groups and then combining into bigger ones.

‘Are they grouping up on purpose?’ I ask, bewildered.

‘Stronger in numbers, but how would they know to do that? It’s as if they still have some form of intelligence,’ Nate says in amazement.

Two helicopters a few streets over descend into the sky. Another truck is also driving away.

‘The soldiers are leaving. They’re retreating?’ I tell the others.

I suddenly have a horrible feeling someone is watching me. I focus back on the helicopters. They are about to fly over us. My stomach sinks, and my heart stops as my eyes lock with Commander Bryant’s. His ominous stare sends a horrid chill down my spine. Half of his face is wrapped in bandaging. Blood has seeped through it.

‘Penny, what is it?’ Oscar asks as he notices the fearful look I’m showing.

Nate, Todd and Oscar look up at the helicopter. Nate quickly pulls me behind him to shield me, returning the deathly glare himself to Commander Bryant.

The helicopters descend higher and fly north.

Nate turns and grabs my shoulders, ‘Penny, it’s over. He’s gone. You don’t have to worry about seeing him again,’ he assures me.

Standing on my tiptoes, I peer over Nate’s shoulder and notice James sprinting towards the recreation reserve. He quickly dispatches a soulless soldier with a shot to the head and then takes out one of the recently bitten civilians. The commotion causes the already-panicked crowd to scream louder and back away from the fencing. I spot Carrie among the masses.

James scans the crowd, searching for the other two bitten individuals. He uses a bolt cutter to remove the lock, pull the chain off, and opens the gate. ‘Come out one at a time with your arms up. If you’re not infected, I won’t harm you,’ he shouts, making his intentions clear to everyone.

Initially, a few people follow his instructions and are let through the gate. However, the situation quickly escalates, and too many people panic. The crowd surges towards James at once, ‘Oh, shit!’ he exclaims as he is knocked over and trampled as hundreds of people run in all directions like a horde of frightened mice. Many scramble into and onto trucks and speed away.

I call out for Carrie, and she runs towards us and jumps into the arms of Todd. He tries his best not to react to her offensive smell.

Three armoured buses are present, one locked, while the others are open and rapidly filling up with people desperate to get out of this place. One man starts a bus and locks the doors, but the vehicle suddenly stops after accelerating for a brief moment. People in the back of the bus scream in terror as blood smears appear on the windows. An infected person is on the bus, now biting others, causing more panic and chaos. The trapped passengers bang against the windows and doors in a desperate attempt to escape, and people fall in a pile when the doors finally open—soulless soldiers approach and attack. Thankfully the majority manages to flee.

James slowly rises from the dirty ground. He realises he’s covered in faecal matter and gags as he stumbles toward us. I hear Patricia screaming to my left, kneeling, holding a man’s head. He’s dead.

I run over to her, ‘Patricia,’ I shout.

Tears are running down her face. ‘He wasn’t even infected, and they shot him anyway,’ she cries. ‘He was a good man and a good husband. He didn’t deserve this.’

Nate’s touch startles me out of my reverie, his hand heavy on my shoulder. ‘We have to get out of here,’ he says, his voice edged with urgency. ‘We must get back to Kate and the girls.’

My heart clenches at the thought of them in danger. I turn to Patricia, imploring her to come with us. But she shakes her head, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. ‘No, I want to stay here by my husband’s side,’ she says, her voice soft and trembling. ‘I promised to always stay by his side in our wedding vows.’

I feel a pang of regret as Nate takes my hand and pulls me away, leaving Patricia behind. I struggle to break free from his grip, but he holds tight, his eyes fixed ahead. ‘Penny, she’s made her decision,’ he says, his voice low and sympathetic.

‘We have to go, Penny,’ Oscar says, agreeing with Nate.

I glance back at Patricia, her fingers caressing her husband’s hair, and my heart twists sorrowfully. But before I can say another word, she is violently knocked over by three soulless beings, their teeth tearing and biting into her flesh. I cry out in horror, feeling sick with grief.

Nate pulls me into his side, shielding me from the gruesome sight. ‘Don’t watch,’ he says, his voice rough and pressing. ‘We have to keep moving.’

Carrie, Todd, Oscar and James follow us as Nate and I run towards the memorial hall, where we stop. Our lungs burn from the effort. As we catch our breath, I look up, and suddenly, everything seems to slow down. The rotor blades of helicopters flying over us move no faster than the second hand on a clock. People scream and run in all directions, their movements sluggish and laboured. Gunshots ring out, each sound and bullet seeming to move at a glacial pace. Debris from explosions flies through the air like the ripple of water

.

I feel a sudden darkness creeping over me, the edges of my vision blurring and fading to black. I hear Nate saying my name, his voice urgent and panicked, but it feels like he is speaking to me from far away. And then, everything goes black.