No Time To Bleed

My hands ached and cramped against the metal rungs.

We’d lost three people in the battles of the Level A hallways. That left us with me, Alex, Ashton, Kyle, Ryant, Clarissa, Max, and three others. That was a group of 10 and if you added in Cece’s group, that made us 13 strong.

“We’re almost at the end of it. Don’t climb so fast. I’ll have to remove the lid at the top!” Alex shouted down.

He was above all of us that were climbing. Every now and then, we’d have to rest to give Max some breathing time.

“Come on, Max. We’re almost there.” Ryant urged from on the ladder beneath me. “We’re almost there.”

“Got to the lid, everybody hold on.” Alex grunted as I watched his arms reach upward to budge the large circular shaped slab of metal.

The thing scraped above under Alex’s grunts and eventually the morning sunlight poured in, stinging all of our eyes.

“Ugh, sunlight sucks right now.” Ashton griped from all the way down.

Alex was the first out. He helped me through the tiny hole all of us had been crawling through and too the roof.

“Sweet air.” I pushed myself up from off the ground and made sure my gun was still tucked in the waist of my jeans.

Alex looked to me. “I’ll help these guys out. You go find Cece and ask her what the plan is.”

“Okay.” I jogged my way around the roof until I found Cece, Ashley, and Jesse.

They were huddled near a heating vent, just sitting by and talking.

“Hey guys! We’re up here now!” I called over.

They all walked over to me. Ashley had a nasty cut on her right arm that been tied over with a cloth from a shirt. Cece’s neck was slightly bruised and Jesse looked just as bad as before.
“Wow, what happened to you guys?” I asked.

“When we tried to go through the kitchen first, this cook stopped us. We had to fight him off and the guy was pretty huge. All the noise got the notice of a few workers and we had to fight them off too. We got away just before a guard heard us.”

My eyebrows rose. “Damn. How do you know the guards heard you?”

Ashley answered this time. “We got out the same way you guys did and when we were climbing, we heard them. Thank God they didn’t find where were climbing or the bullets would have been flying.”

I also noticed the array of knives that glinted on Jesse’s waist.

“How did things go with you guys?” Cece asked. “Oh wait, I don’t think I even need to ask…”

I turned behind me and Ryant with his smaller brother walking over.

The post 8 am sun burned in the sky, making the world’s ceiling a striking shade of yellow among the ill colored clouds. It all seemed of some sort of strange heavenly fire.

“You must be the infamous Ryant.” She held her hand out for him to shake. “I’m Cece Valencia.”

Ryant nodded graciously as he shook her hand. Then, he moved Max a little bit forward.

“This is my brother, Max. Max say hi to my new friends.”

Max stepped forward, sucking his thumb(something I knew was surely unsanitary after the filth of ladder we’d just crawled through). “Hi, I’m Max.” The slobber from his lips dripped off his fingers as he mumbled the words.

The group of us laughed and one or two people Max had helped out of the ladder walked over.

Cece dove at Clarissa in a long lasting hug and I smiled at her as well. The group eventually fully reunited and after full introductions, we were all ready for the plan.

“Okay.” Cece declared. “We have a little less than half an hour to get to the basement and shut off the power for the main level of the airport. We need troopers who can fight like hell for us on this one, okay?”

“But, if we shut off the main power, how are we going to be able to get out of the basement tunnel if those doors are electrically configured?” Ashton asked.

Jesse stepped forward, answering. “The main level power only applies to the electricity in the main lobbies. That’s where Brett will be doing his speech. We need some sort of distraction since the tunnel that we’re going to be using is limited access only.”

“So, there’s alternative power sources?” Alex said.

Cece nodded. “Yes. But, the one we’ll be at controls the entire airport and the Lexicon facilities?”

“How are going to get down there without any more guards getting to us?” Kyle stood beside Cece as he asked the question.

Then, Cece’s expression seemed to go for a blank until Ryant stepped forward.

“Can you hand me a copy of the map?” Ryant said.

Cece looked to Ryant a bit suspiciously, but surrendered the map regardless. Ryant took a hold of it and began to analyze the thing readily.

Ryant spoke loud enough for the entire group to hear. The wind of the morning day was rustling strands of hair into people’s faces.

“My dad used to work for Lexicon and he told me a few things. First he told me that every combined group has its weakest link. In Lexicon, that weak link is their inability to foresee opposition.”

“But, what does that mean?” Alex cut in.

Ryant glared to Alex for a bit after seeing I and his interlocked hands.

“It means we have to make a full offensive bound to the luggage basement if we want to get to the power source.” Ryant answered.

“But, why don’t we just go to one of the levels? The branches leading down to those tunnels originate from the three levels.”

“Was that just a guess on your part or bad planning because this map doesn’t confirm that.” Ryant volleyed back to Cece. “This map doesn’t-“

“Alright!” Clarissa shouted. “Enough arguing, we’re wasting time! Does anyone know of an alternative way to get off of this roof!”

Kyle raised his hand.

“What’s your plan?” Cece said and everyone’s eyes went to Kyle.

“We can try to the heating vents. It’s how I usually snuck my way up here. It leads you to a supply closet in the airport....”

Clarissa glared around now. “Anyone have any other ideas that don’t involve walking right into the airport?”

No one spoke, but I was able to squeak out something.

“What about Aliah?”

“Who’s Aliah?”

“Who the heck is she?!”

“We need to get out of here! We don’t have time to waste!”

Those were the various responses that went through the group and Clarissa sighed as she looked to me. “We’ll have to save her later. Right now, we have a different mission.”

Cece seemed disappointed at this new development of plans and rolled her eyes.

“Wait, did anybody hear that noise?” Ashley asked.

She was towards the back of the group, one of the people who stood by and listened idly.

“What noise?” Her brother asked her.

“Just listen!” Ashley snapped.

Everyone’s ears went silent and the wind rustled.

It sounded like scraping and moans… and something unlocking?

Someone screamed and a body was tackled to the floor. The group backed away like fire as horrible gurgles erupted through the air.

Someone had been tackled to the floor with blood oozing from their neck, crouched over them was a figure with boils covering them and skin peeling from their fingers.

“Oh my God.” Cece gasped as the thing to a chunk of the boy’s neck. “They’re sending those things up here!”

And from the open stairwell door, those zombies came tumbling their way out. I pulled my gin from my waist, one of the first ones in our group to run forward and send a bullet through one’s skull.

“Take em all down! We’ve gotta get out here now!” I screamed.

Then, one of those things tackled me to the floor, spit and blood flying from its lips.

God, I hated zombies.

The thing’s head exploded above, cutting off all the screams possible to be heard from it. I threw its weight off me and pulled my gun at the ready, showering bullets as they poured out of the stairwell more.

“We’ve gotta get out here now!” Alex shouted. He’d been the one to shoot my zombie.

I ran forward, jumping from the pebbled roof and sent a kick so hard it rattled one’s teeth.

It went down, neck snapping as the bedlam surrounded us. People screaming, running in all directions, and even Clarissa punched one’s skin clean off its cheek.

The thing I’d kicked went down hard, neck snapping along the way and I didn’t give it another second before I shot a bullet through its brain.

Something else tacked me to the floor and rocks filled my mouth. I spat as hands slammed into my back as I rolled over on my side.

Cece came running over and kicked the creature dead in the ribs, causing her balding hair to fly as she fell over. I clambered to my feet as the mayhem increased. The things had stopped pouring out the stairwell, but there had to be at least 35 of them to our group of now 9.

Another one came running at us and I shot a bullet through its.

Cece grabbed a metal rod from the floor and cracked it over the man’s skull. He went down with a red liquefied screech.

“Somebody help me!” The voice was Ashley’s.

Cece and I ran off in separate directions. Her towards a large crowd of the undead swarming to people and I towards Ashley.

She was backed up against a large heating tube, zombie’s hands to her throat as she scratched for the thing.

I ran forward, slamming the butt of my gun to the thing’s head. It went down hard and Ashley fell to the ground, choking and gasping.

Without even a second, it lunged forward.

I ducked readily, but its hand grabbed for my ankle. I swung my foot away to avoid its snapping. My leg’s yank pulled my own balance from under me.

My gun lurched in my hand as I sent more bullets unsteadily towards the thing’s head. The bullets ripped and tore at the skull, but the zombie was still screaming.

Ashley sent a gross kick into its head. The bone turned to cartilage and slime.

I got the time to look around, seeing that we were at least winning some of the larger battle.

“Alex move! You’ve gotta move!” Alex had been tackled to the ground one of those things and he was fighting. “I’ve gotta blow the vent to get the last of them!”

It was Ashton who was screaming.

Then, Kyle came running over, killing the undead woman instantly before dragging Alex away as he screamed. “SHOOT! SHOOT!”

The bullet rang through the roof and a wall of heat leapt into the air.

My feet disconnected from the ground throwing me back as the smell of burning metal flew into the sky.

People could be heard screaming and withering.

“Max! Somebody get Max!” Ryant screamed.

One last of those zombies were running, one stub of its leg missing and the other one whole as it chased the little boy.

Without even my own thoughts, my hands tore into the rooftop and forcing me ahead, my gun forgotten. The run was a long stretch and some people were just recovering from the explosion.

My mind screamed and screamed Eli’s name, déjà vu coursing through my veins.

The thing hobbled closer to the boy and Max cried as he tumbled backwards and over the roof’s edge to a separate glass roof. The zombie’s teeth gagged open and spewed blood.

“You’ve gotta save him! He’s my brother!” Ryant sobbed, trying to get to his own feet.

The zombie lurched its way over the roof’s edge after the boy and heaved my body into the air, clearing the roof’s edge and the zombie.

I landed on the glass with the sickening feel of a crystalline crack.

My body landed just in between the zombie and the boy.

“SOMEBODY GET A GUN! SOMEBODY SHOOT IT!” I screamed, my feet kicking and the zombie about to get up and devour us both.

Jesse was the first up and shooting, scrapings of the bullets barely catching the zombie.

Max screamed behind me, terrible little boy sobs ringing in my ears as I kicked and kicked.

The first bullet to slice through the zombie went. My arm overtook Max and shoved him aside.

The sound of slow cracking came next and the zombie now turned to a slow crawl. Panic coursed my veins as I realized what was happening.

“Don’t shoot it! Don’t shoot i!”

But, over the bedlam and intense nose in my head Jesse mustn’t have heard.

The glass beneath began to crackle as if even the heat’s effect was tearing it apart. I grabbed onto Max’s hand as the last shot bullet tore through the zombie’s skull.

Then, the entire slab underneath us fell through.

A piercing scream of life and death shoved its way out my lungs. Max’s weight pulled against my arm’s socket as my own hand reached for a rail in midair.

The zombie that had been just a few inches from us went plummeting down past my vision and sobs were holding my lungs.

“I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!” Max screamed, his little fingers turning to microscopic morsels in my own hand.

“Jasmine! Jasmine!” Alex was the first from the roof to be screaming, heaving all this day’s events into his voice. His sneakers could heard on the last of the glass that remained off the roof.

His hands appeared from a miracle, holding onto my arm. His strong blue eyes widened past me and silence came.

“Pull me up! Just pull me up!” I screamed, lungs straining.

Then, I felt his fingers loosen from my arm and the words leave the lips. “I have to let go. You’ll be fine.”

I couldn’t tell you the things I screamed in those last moments as Max and I fell from the air.

I only knew we were doing to die.