Part 18 (1/2)

I choked up as I remembered the soldiers that were left behind in the temporary immigration center. They were sacrificed and used as a distraction. ”Those men,” I continued. ”They're keeping the infected occupied while the rest of the military make their escape. While this is happening we need to make our escape as well. Or at least find a suitable hiding spot. The only problem is if they decide to send in another airstrike. If those jets come back. They could level this city. And no matter where we hide we won't survive.”

I thought hearing this piece of news would upset her even further. But it didn't. She actually stopped crying.

She lowered her head. ”You're right. I'm sorry,” she said, wiping the tears away from her face. ”We need to stick together. We can do this.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside more explosions rocked the city. We could feel the force from the blast waves. More smoke billowed up into the sky, high above the buildings.

Maria looked out the window. ”Well not if they nuke the joint,” she added. ”But we can't control that. What we can control is finding a hiding spot. Getting to high ground, fortifying our position.”

I was speechless for a few seconds. ”Wow. You sound like a real soldier, a master strategist.”

”Hey, I'm a fast learner.”

”I'm impressed,” I said, smiling. ”And you're absolutely right. But the timing is crucial. We should wait it out. At least until the bombing dies down. At least until those jets bug out. There's no point in finding a good spot to hide if all they're going to do is blow it up.”

I just hope they don't destroy this city, I thought to myself. If that happened it was game over for everyone.

Timing is everything Two of the longest hours of my life pa.s.sed.

The gunfire and the bombing had been steady during the whole time. And the worst part? We were now seeing more and more infected on the other side of the harbor, back towards the casino which was now leaning at even more of an angle.

Our time was up. We had to make a move.

”Do you think the military; those men in black will come back through here?” Maria asked.

”I'm not sure. Not for a while at least. I mean, ideally it would be great if they could get you out of here. But I don't know.”

”I don't want to go with them,” she said quietly. ”I know I probably should. But I don't.”

”Maria. You're different. You're special. You heard what Doctor West said. No one is immune. Everyone dies. Everyone turns. You need to get out of here alive.”

”Yeah I heard him. Doesn't change the way I feel though.”

I eventually convinced Maria that she needed to be rescued. And the only way that was going to happen was if the military came back for her. Ideally it would be great if we could contact the military and then dictate terms to them.

Organize a pick up point.

Organize a time.

I figured that would be the safer option. Beat the h.e.l.l out of walking up to them blindly on the streets. Who knows how they would react? They would probably enforce the containment protocol. Shoot first, ask questions later. We could not take that risk.

”In the meantime,” I said. ”We need to get off the streets. We need to get to a building. Get to the high ground.”

”All right then,” Maria said. ”Let's go.”

We climbed down the narrow stairwell of the harbor cruise boat and stepped out on to the jetty. We were about to make our move when we heard something coming from the other end of the marina.

Running footsteps.

”Who is it?” Maria whispered.

I moved to the edge of the boat and what I saw took my breath away. For a second I felt disorientated and confused. Like, I was dreaming, like everything that had happened that afternoon didn't really happen at all.

Why? Because the person running towards us as fast as they possibly could, like they were being chased...

It was Jack.

Maria had moved up next to me. We looked at each other just to make sure we had both seen him and that we weren't crazy.

”Is that Jack?” I asked in a state of complete denial.

Maria couldn't contain the smile on her face. She was about to jump off the jetty and run up to him but I held her back.

”No. Wait. It's not safe.”

Jack was sprinting at full speed. He kept looking over his shoulder like he was being chased.

Was he being chased?

I'll admit it was good to see him. But on the other hand I couldn't fight the cold; sinking feeling I had in my gut.

Something had gone wrong.

Horribly wrong.

What happened to their boat?

Images flashed through my head. Nasty G.o.d awful images.

Did they crash?

Were they attacked?

Apaches helicopters.

F22 Raptors.

A10 bombers.

Where was Kim?

Where was Rebecca?

Where the h.e.l.l was Rebecca?

The Return of Jack Jack was close now.

”We have to get him,” Maria said. ”We have to tell him we're here.”