Part 15 (1/2)

It landed on the jetty right next to me, bouncing to my feet, rolling around in a small semi-circle before coming to a stop right against my boot.

I was frozen to the spot for second.

One second.

It felt like an eternity.

Everything was still happening in slow motion.

I dived into the nearest boat wreckage. I curled into a ball, and covered my face. Another second pa.s.sed.

Another lifetime.

And then it erupted.

There was a blinding flash of light. The shockwave pressed into me. The noise destroyed my hearing.

The light, the shockwave, the noise.

Everything happened at once.

The red hot shrapnel smashed into the jetty and the boat. A huge chunk of wood crashed down on top of me.

My world turned dark.

The sound of my own beating heart was the only thing I could hear, the only thing that told me I was still alive.

Chaos I couldn't see and I couldn't hear. I was in bad shape. I needed those two senses if I wanted any hope of staying alive. My heart was still beating like a G.o.dd.a.m.n jackhammer. Thumping, like the rotor blades of a helicopter. There was a loud ringing in my ears. Almost as loud as my beating heart. I threw the piece of wood off me. Scrambled to my feet. I was so disorientated. I had completely lost my bearings. I had no idea which way I was facing.

Suddenly another explosion erupted in the harbor. A much bigger explosion. I turned around in time to see a section of the footbridge being blown up. Concrete, bitumen and wood flew in all directions, cras.h.i.+ng into the water. I was instantly confused.

Had they set charges to blow the footbridge? Why would they do that?

Another explosion erupted way overhead. The side of a building was partially destroyed. Concrete and gla.s.s rained down into the marina and the harbor. Then I saw what had caused the explosions. It was the tank. It was over near the casino building.

Slowly I regained my senses. The bridge had taken a direct hit from the tank. The tank was completely covered in the infected. Like ants attacking a larger insect. The driver of the tank was freaking out. You could tell by the way he was driving. Forwards. Reverse. Then forwards again. The main gun swiveled around back and forth. They were trying to shake the infected off but it wasn't working.

The men in black were losing their ground support.

I could hear the two closest soldiers behind the concrete slab, shouting at each other in confusion. They knew if they lost the tank they were in big trouble.

”What the h.e.l.l is going on?” one of them shouted. ”Where are the G.o.dd.a.m.n choppers?”

They're busy elsewhere, I thought. I knew how they felt. I could see the soldiers hesitate. All of a sudden they weren't firing at me. They weren't targeting me. They weren't even looking at me.

The horde.

It was just a few at first.

The tank fired another wayward shot. The sh.e.l.l rocked into the casino building. More concrete and more gla.s.s showered the street and the harbor. The tank was slowly moving away. The driver probably had no idea where he was going. It wouldn't be long until it crashed into the side of the casino building. Maybe even the harbor. The driver should stop. Wait for reinforcements to pick off the infected. He should stay calm.

Easier said than done.

A crowd of infected rushed into the street closest to the harbor.

The men in black opened fire.

I was no longer a priority.

In the confusion, I made my move. I headed for a bigger boat. One of the harbor cruise boats. It had suffered a lot of damage in the missile strike from yesterday and had taken on water. It was listing to one side. I made my way to one of the upper floors, climbing the narrow stairwell. I climbed three floors and crouched under a window so I could keep an eye on everything. I checked my ammo. I had two magazines left.

Sixty bullets.

I peeked out the window. The men in black were getting overrun. I took aim, fired at the infected. And for a few minutes the Special Forces team and I were fighting on the same side. Fighting a common enemy.

I could hear the soldiers screaming though. Confusion and panic spreading through the team like wildfire.

I could hear them on the radio as well. Calling for an extraction. Calling for aerial support.

”Where is the target?” one of the soldiers asked.

”Target is secure,” someone answered.

They were talking about Maria. They came for her. She was their target.

”Get to the extraction point. Now!”

The Special Forces soldiers moved back across the bridge. They were going to try and get to wherever their extraction point was. The problem with their plan was the extraction point was probably crawling with infected.

Suddenly the thumping of rotor blades filled the sky.

A Blackhawk helicopter flew in low over the surrounding buildings and set down at the city end of the harbor. A group of men in black were running for their lives towards it. In the middle of the group was Maria. She was protected on all sides by the soldiers.

They carried and hurried her towards the waiting chopper.

Maria was running hunched over. She was not trying to escape. The rest of the soldiers provided cover fire and so did I. If anything was to happen to Maria, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I made the call to leave her. And at that moment I thought she wasn't going to make it.

”She's not going to make it.”

They are being chased by hundreds of infected. And for a second I think to myself there is no way.

It's all my fault.

They are not going to make it.

There's too many.

Missiles streaked in from high above the city skyline, slamming into the road outside of the casino. The warheads erupted in a wall of fire.

The foundations of the casino building were rocked again and the whole building was partially destroyed. The whole building began to sway.