London Bridge Is Falling

倀倀ight turns into day, we continue our journey to the base. We haven’t seen an infected since last night at the house. We’ve been walking for what seems like forever, Lara said only a few hours but I know it’s been way longer than just a few. We stop at a small convenient store and prep our lunches. On the road without a snack, it’s hard work.

“How’s everyone doing?” Lara asks.

“Good.” I reply, digging into my bag for whatever food I can find.

“How much longer, Lara?” Jake grabs some stuff from the shelves and stuffs his backpack full.

“Not much longer now. We’ll be there in about an hour.”

“So Dylan.” Jake says, finally sitting by me. “What happened with you being infected?”

I take a deep breath. “That’s a long story.” I laugh. “When I was bitten, I was told that the virus was destroyed before it could do anything to me. But Ben lied. He wanted to study me. Once he had enough information about me, he started creating infected with my blood, ones that could heal and adapt to the environment. But I blew the place up. The virus bonded with my body and made me stronger.”

“Thank god.” Lara smiles. “I thought you were dead back in New York. The virus was taking over your body, but in reality it was keeping you alive. Something poetic about it.”

“It’s crazy how the thing that killed billions, is making you like a superhuman.” Jill laughs a bit. “Lara’s right, it is poetic.”

“So you can’t get infected?” Jake asks.

“Not from the original virus. But from all the other mutations and Cordyceps, I don’t know. I don’t wanna find out though.”

“Everyone was after you for your blood, it was crazy.” Lara laughs.

“I’m glad I had you guys around to protect me and keep me safe.”

“We should get back on the road.” Lara says, packing up her things.

Back on the road once again. Only a little bit longer till we’re somewhere safe for the time being. Nowhere is safe, only safer. That’s something I’ve learned while living in the world of the undead. As we get closer to the base, more and more dead bodies start showing up, infected and uninfected. I just hope the rest of the helicopters were able to make it here, people need to feel safe for just a while.

“Stop!” A woman yells. She’s guarding a long tunnel entrance, I’m sure it leads inside the walls, which are much higher than the ones at the first base.

“My name is Lara Almore, put your weapon down.”

“Oh god. Sorry, Lara.” Her and the other guys put their guns away and signal us to follow them. “Glad to see you guys are still alive.” She’s British, long brown hair, very pretty. She kind of reminds me of Lara.

“How many made it here?”

“A lot.” The girl says. “But a lot didn’t. But our numbers are still holding strong.” She presses a button and a door slides open. “My name is Naomi, B.T.A.R. European Branch.”

“How are things over there?” I ask.

She kinda laughs. “Terrible. The B.T.A.R. pulled out.”

“I can’t believe they just left.” Lara sighs. “I guess it was either here or there. We need everyone we can get.”

We enter the base; it’s a bit smaller than the last but seems more protected. At least there isn’t infected scratching at the walls here. There’s still helicopters landing, bringing in the wounded from Base 1. I’m just happy there is still people that care about others around here, in times like this; it’s what we need. Naomi leads us through a few buildings and eventually into a room where a couple people stand, like they’ve been waiting for us. Three guys and two girls, they all turn their attention to us when we walk in.

“Dylan.” One of the guys walks towards me, reaching out his hand. “My name is Quint, B.T.A.R. Special Operations Agent. It’s great to finally meet you.”

“Likewise.” I smile and nod. “So why are we here?”

“This is the team.” Lara says. “The London team.”

“Great. This is getting realer every second.” Jake sighs.

“I know this is hard for everyone. But if we take Helios down and use the antivirus, this is all over.” Lara pulls up a holographic map, showing us how far underneath Wembley the lab is.

“Christ.” Selena gasps. “The place is huge!”

“That’s why we’ll be splitting into two teams. Alpha and Bravo. It’s the best way to get around down there.”

I take my anger out on a bag full of sand, punching it over and over, pushing my sweat soaked shaggy hair out of my face. It’s just me down here in the training room; everyone else is on watch or asleep in the barracks. I snuck out of mine and Jake’s private room; I needed some air and some stress relief. My heart pounds faster and faster as I punch the bag until my knuckles start to bleed. I don’t know how Lara is keeping a positive attitude; I’m on the verge of a mental breakdown.

“Hey.” enters on the other side of the room, slowly making her way towards me.

“Hi.” I stop punching the bag and wipe sweat from my forehead. “What’s up?”

“Can’t sleep. Jake said you might be down here.”

“Ah, thought he was asleep.” I sigh. “Didn’t mean to wake him.”

“What’s on your mind?” She asks.

“Everything.” I say. “What if we fail? The world will die.”

“We haven’t failed yet, Dylan. We have one last place to destroy.”

A voice screams over the intercom. “SOA team report to War Room. SOA team report to War Room.”

There are no words spoken. We run to the elevator and nervously wait for it to reach the top. As soon as the doors slide open, Selena is the first one out. I smash into Jake as I take off down the hall, he looks into my eyes then continues on again, I follow close behind. What could this be? Another breach? We just fled the other base. The doors fly open and Lara stands at a large screen, watching something very closely. She points to the screen and we all pile around it. The cameras catch three large creatures walking around the grounds. They look about 8ft tall, long arms and razor sharp claws for fingers.

“Why isn’t anyone out there?” Jake asks, freaking out.

“Because this place is more protected than the last base. We didn’t think this would happen. Let’s get out there and kill those!” Lara pushes passed us and out the doors.

Rain pours, drenching us as soon as we step outside. The three monsters stand in waiting; like they knew we we were coming out here to kill them. I’ve never seen these types before; the virus must be getting stronger. Alicia opens fire but the infected is unphased. She stops and looks over at me. I shrug; I’m not sure what to do. Lara cocks her shotgun and aims at it’s head then pulls the trigger, a shell shoots out of the chamber and hits against the ground, it’s like everything's in slow motion. The other two charge at us, knocking us down like bowling pins. Jake and I go flying across the concrete, I clunk my head against the ground; my eyes go fuzzy for a few seconds. All hell breaks loose, Alicia and Lara fight one, Selena and Jill fight another, and the last is up to the others. Naomi comes to our rescue, helping us to our feet. She hands me a pistol and slightly smiles. One monster goes down, two left. The mutated infected shoves his claws into Josh, one of our London Team members, and then thrusts his fingers outward, slicing the guy into a bunch of little chunks. With the swing of its arm, he tosses Selena against the building; she falls limp. I take off after her, hoping she’s not dead but before I can get to her, there’s a pain in my left leg, and I can’t walk anymore. I fall to the ground and begin to crawl, still not aware of what’s just happened. Finally making it to Selena, I check her pulse, she’s still alive. I look down at my leg to assess the damage, but there’s no leg, the freak infected has cut it off. Blood pours out onto the pavement as Jake runs to me, collapsing by my body, he rips off his shirt and ties it around the stump, trying to stop the bleeding.

There’s an explosion and chunks of zombie go flying through the air. Right outside the door is a girl with fiery red hair, bow in her hand. She loads another arrow and points it at the infected. Her fingers pull the string back, and then she lets go. The weapon sticks into his head, then explodes. I don’t know who she is, but she’s our savior. I grab the back of Jake’s head and hold it tight, trying to get through the pain that’s just hit me like a tidal wave. My vision becomes blurry, then I black out.