THE INFECTED PART FOUR

         THE INFECTED PART FOUR

           I pull out my journal and write todays date. February 14^th, 2013.

“Today is Valentines day, I decided that instead of flowers and a cheap box of chocolate, I’d get Mary something nice this year. I painted her a portrait of us in and old timey western setting. It’s the thought that counts, right? I think it came out alright, other than the fact that it looks like a five year old painted it.” I chuckle. “I think she’ll love it. Until next time, Journal.” I close the leather journal, wrap the string around it and place it in my back seat with the pen sitting on top of it neatly. I turn on the radio in the car as I wait for Mary to get off of work and join me for our nice dinner I have planned. I skim through the radio stations until I get to the news.

           The radio has a flare of static. “Breaking News, a world ending asteroid is set to make an astonishingly close fly by our big blue planet in the coming days. NASA astrologists state that they only just now observed the asteroid as it performed a slingshot around Jupiter.” I lean back against the headrest.

           “That’s crazy.” I say aloud. I look over and I see a man running from the mall that Mary works at. “What’s he running from? Hm, must be late to something.” I notice a woman running away from the mall. Then a few more people burst out of the doors, all sprinting away from it. “What the-“ I get out of the car and stop the man running next to me. “What’s going on!?” I ask.

He pushes me off and continues to run. “THE RUSSIANS!” He shouts.

“What!?” I slam the car door and run into the mall. “MARY!” I start shouting. Large planes are flying over the mall, shaking the building, gunfire echoes the mall. “MARY! WHERE ARE YOU!?” I keep shouting. I’m shoving people out of the way as I make my way to Mary’s store she runs. A bullet whizzes passed my head. I hear Russian men shouting. I don’t know what they’re saying, all I need is Mary and then we can get out of here. “Passed the food court, next to that body lotion shop. Passed the food court, next to that body lotion shop.” I keep repeating to myself, people pushing and shoving me, gunfire, screams. The floor has bodies and blood all around. Finally, Mary’s shop. “MARY!” I enter and start scanning, there are people hiding in the clothing racks and behind displays. Another bullet flies by and strikes a stack of magazines. I help a woman up off the floor, she grabs her sons dead body. “Come on, you have to get out of here.” I tell her. A bullet strikes her in the head and she drops as blood splatters my face. I fall down to the ground and start crawling through the blood and bodies. “MARY!” I shout. I make it behind a shelf and stand up, surveying the store. I see a group of people lined up on a wall, I move a little more out of my cover to see Mary in that line. Her hands are up as a Russian soldier with a gun trained on the group of people is screaming at them. “MARY!” I scream. She looks at me, the Russian soldier looks back at me, sprays bullets at the group of people and I see Mary in a burst of blood, fall to the ground. “NO! MARY!” I move from cover and rush the soldier. I tackle him to the ground, his automatic rifle flutters across the floor. I start to punch his face, screaming, punching, and screaming. The rage washes over me as I completely lose myself in that moment. “WHY!?” I punch his face more. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?” I scream and punch his face even more. He starts choking on his own teeth and blood. I stop punching him and pull him up to my face by his collar. “WHY!?” He smirks with what face he has left, spits blood at me and takes his last breath. I drop the soldier on the ground and rush over to Mary. She’s gone, lost in a pool of blood and bodies. I hold her hand and sit there, I can’t help myself but to burst out in tears.

                                              SIX YEARS LATER…

           “Hey boss, we lost Drew at the bunker. It looks like someone killed him, let him turn and then killed him again. They took all of the supplies he was supposed to bring back.”

I sit up from my chair, put out my cigar. “Is that so? Do we know who it was?” I ask my lieutenant.

He nods his head yes. “A woman, she was alone when she went there but we intercepted her radio signal and listened in to her contacting her base. Her name is Sarah. She’s part of a community called, “Hope’s Reach.”

“Good. Gather some troops and let’s go pick up our little lady friend. Grab our shit while we’re at it.”

My lieutenant exits my office. I grab Mary’s picture on my desk. “Mary, I miss you and I wish that you could see me now. I kiss the framed picture and sit back down. I light my cigar again and take a big puff. “They messed with the wrong man today.”

I get into my vehicle and lead the party of troops out of our bunker. By nightfall, we end up at this gated community. Barely any guards. I exit the vehicle along with my lieutenant.

“What do you think boss?” He asks.

“I think this will be a piece of cake, but, they could just hand her over, then we’ll be home sooner than expected. No need to kill more people than we need to, right?”

He nods.

I slam my fist against the gate. BANG BANG BANG.

“WHERE IS SHE!?” I shout. “WHERE IS SARAH!?”

BANG BANG BANG BANG. “We can HANDLE this the EASY way or the HARD way! I’M NOT AFRAID TO RIP THIS GOD DAMN GATE OF THE HINGES!”

“Boss, we’ve got a team breaching the wall behind the community.” My lieutenant says.

“YOU GOT TILL THE COUNT OF FIVE TO OPEN THIS GATE AND TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!”

“Alright, well let’s get a distraction going.” I say and pull a flare gun out. I release the flare up into the sky above the community. “Have the team that’s going in, check every building, get in there quiet, find people and ask questions, find Sarah, after you get your answer, kill them, don’t kill them, it’s up to you, but Sarah is mine.”

My lieutenant nods and rushes off.

“Hey! Bring it down!” I tell my man in the tank.

BOOM!

A man shouts to get everyone out of there.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH SARAH, HUH!?” The man yells at me.

“You! You know where she is? I just want to talk to her.” I pull my pistol off my hip, fully intending to shoot this man.

“I’m Sarah.” A woman says.

I look up at a thin woman standing on some steps of what looks like a makeshift hospital. She doesn’t look like she could have killed Drew. Never underestimate anyone, I suppose. I stare into her eyes, she stares back into mine.

“You? You’re the woman who killed my man and took my shit?” I spit onto the ground. “You don’t look so tough.” I smirk.

“I get that a lot.” She smirks. “So, he wasn’t lying, he’s part of a community, well, WAS part of a community.”

That just pissed me off.

“So, what? You’re gonna kill me, take our stuff, then what? What’s your plan after all is said and done, huh? You’re gonna rebuild the world in your own image? Yeah.” She scoffs.

Ugh, this woman is really getting on my nerves.

“I’m not willing to let the world suffer that way. We’ve built too much, sacrificed too many, to see the world go to even more shit because of people like you.” Sarah looks at Gwyneth.

She has the audacity to stare at my daughter!

“What about you? Is this how you want the world to be? Taking orders to kill innocent people from someone like…HIM?” Sarah asks.

I stand in front of Gwyneth.

“She’s made her decision, they all have. I’m their leader, I’m the one they answer to. Look, Sarah? You’ve got guts, I like that. Why don’t you join me?” I notice the group of my men we sent over the gate in one of the windows of a building. “Let’s take everything. Control everything. What do you say?” I ask.

Sarah pulls a pistol out and fires at me. A bullet whizzes passed my head. “Christ! Open fire!” I command at my men.

Gunfire and shouting commences. Flashes, the tank fires a shell into the hospital. I check around my cover, I can’t find Sarah.

“WHERE DID YOU GO!?” I shout.

I grab the rifle from Gwyneth. “Thanks, baby.” I set the rifle to full auto.

I stand on the destroyed gate and start shooting anyone I see.

“This whole community is going to DIE! There will be nothing but ASH AND BLOOD when I’m done with it!” I shout.