“Erwin gave us a hundred soldiers. We can do this.”
There’s no doubt we’re in over our head, but Davis is commanding our team while other officers take the lead with the soldiers. Our team’s goal is very specific: take control and hold the main office.
We’re in position just before daybreak. From our experience at The Fort, this is the slow part of the day. The guards change at 6 am, after that the majority of the facility is either in the housing area or eating breakfast.
“Each team will secure a particular area. There’s the gym, cafeteria, classroom wings, and the main office. We’re going for the administration building where documentation of their testing and protocol is held. The larger units will secure the other buildings,” Davis reminds us as we ready our weapons. We’ll stay in the truck as long as possible and move in once we get the signal.
The night is apocalypse-quiet but in the faint daylight I spot five crows alight on the fence surrounding the school. They’re silent but alive. Waiting like spectators before a big game. I check my watch. We’re already behind schedule. I’m about to suggest we call on the Walkie for an update when we hear the first explosion.
“Okay, they’re starting,” Jude says with
a nod. The second explosion goes off two minutes later and Davis starts up the truck. When we get to the gate we’re hoping only a skeleton crew will be there since the majority will be forced toward the explosions, but no one’s there.
“The fence line is empty,” Paul confirms.
Cole leans out the back window. “It’s not just the fence line,” he says. “It’s the whole freaking fence. It’s gone.”
I stare at him for a second. It’s the first time he’s spoken all day after fighting bitterly last night to stay back with Parker, who is recovering slowly, but positively, from her wound. Davis shut his arguments down, claiming we needed a medic with us on the field. I’d nearly forgotten he was here.
“Can you see anything else?” Paul asks.
“No, it’s too dark. It just looks deserted.”
The Walkie sputters to life in my hands and I hear the voice of another team leader. “The facility is under attack.”
I press the button on the side. “Who’s attacking? Hybrids?”
“Eaters. Dozens, if not more. They’ve surrounded the gymnasium.”
“Are the civilians compromised?”
“They’re holding them off but our arrival spooked them. We’re engaged.”
“What’s your position?” I ask.
“We’re--” the transmission breaks. So I ask again.
“What’s your position?”
In the distance another bomb goes off, this one large enough to shake the ground under our feet. I press the speaker to my ear and hear, “…fighting for our lives.”
“They’re under attack,” I tell the others. “We’ve got to help them.”
“That’s not our mission, Alex,” Davis says. “We’re not here to get into battles we can avoid.”
Out the window, a single crow separates from the flock and flies away from the school, as if sensing danger. I turn to face my teammates. “We can’t lose these people. Any of them. Otherwise Jane wins. We have to come back with as many physically able bodies as possible.”
“Alex is right,” Paul says, guns ready in both his hands. “We can’t leave these people behind. Not again. They survived the first phase of the apocalypse. We need to make sure they survive the second.”
“To Jane, they’re nothing but collateral damage,” I say. I consider Wyatt’s story about the creation of the virus and how it escaped. Sheer arrogance on my sister’s part. “That’s how we got into this whole mess in the first place.”
The car is silent for a beat but then Jude hits the back of Davis’ seat and says, “Then let’s do this.”
Davis revs the engine and rolls forward, leaving the road and crossing over the downed gates. The drive toward the school curves and that’s when we see them.
Bodies.
Many are dead—most dressed in my sister’s signature uniform, Fighter black. They lie lifeless and bleeding out on the grassy area between the driveway and school. Others are alive but it’s clear the infection is taking over. Davis steers the truck past them and follows the drive to the front of the school.