Two Alive, стр. 104
“Tommy!” Alana screamed out when she looked back to see the throngs had reached him and were ripping him apart. They even tore through the bodies wrapped in plastic.
“Lance!” Torrez called out to him but he knew it was over. Lance hadn’t got up from where his wife was and instead curled into a ball, trying to shield her body. The hive washed over him and he was ravished by human shaped hyenas.
“Are we going the right way? Is this the right way?” Manson was terrified.
Boom. Boom. Torrez blasted his shotgun at the faster sprinters that were still chasing the group and not having a dog pile on Burrows. The screaming had died down but that didn’t stop half a dozen freaks from tossing about the siren that called them all here. Some were even starting to scream on their own and creating even more of a frenzy.
“They’re learning! The virus is learning! Reacting to whatever was in Burrows and made him the way he was!” Manson watched a screaming, six-foot seven man charge at him with his arms at his side, hooting and inciting other freaks to follow him. “Remarkable.” Manson said.
Torrez fired his shotgun and splattered the tall freak. “Shut the fuck up and run--” The marine tripped as he was back pedaling and fell. With boggling heads and whooping hollers, three infected children ran at Torrez and he fired his Remington. After spraying them away however, the shotgun was out of ammo. He tossed the weapon aside and pulled a handgun from his side. He saw the others stop for a second, contemplating helping him. Torrez fired his gun into the dozens of infected running at him and yelled, “Just go!”
They did. But none of them knew how long they would be able to keep going. They weren’t even sure they were headed in the right way.
“We’re going to die!” Alana cried.
“I can’t die here!” Manson whimpered. “I can’t die like this! I’m supposed to save the world!”
Julia ran and ran and jumped over everything in her way. She dodged trees and sprinted through bushes. She looked back to see Alana struggling to keep up and Manson not far behind her. But drawing closer with each second was the thick crowd of infected, being led by three of four screaming lunatics. All hoped seemed lost. Until an air horn could be heard shrieking through the trees. Everything in the woods stopped and Julia turned to see a small boy off in the distance, squeezing a horn in his hand, high above his head.
“Miles--” Julia choked and tears started pouring down her cheeks.
The hive turned in unison and went running to where Miles was. The boy dropped down to one knee. He fired from his rifle four times and with each shot he took out the screaming infected that were sirens for the horde. He raised his horn again and went running into the woods, disappearing as dozens of strikers went chasing after him.
***
After escaping to the highway, Julia, Alana and Dr. Manson walked down the road to find the van parked where they left it. Julia jumped in the driver’s seat and the others climbed in the back. They looked out the windows and waited forever for anyone to come out of the woods. Castle went chasing after Miles and never came back. Clint took off running on his own and nobody was sure which way he went. The others were presumed dead.
“We have to go Julia!” The scientist was looking left and right, peering out the windows afraid to see any more infected appear. “We can’t wait here any longer! The boy said it’s worse at night.”
“And now you want to listen to what he said?” Julia snapped around, “After he just sacrificed himself to save us from all those monsters!”
Manson looked at her curiously, “And I’m grateful for his sacrifice. But it doesn’t mean anything if we stay here and get ourselves killed.”
Alana sat in her seat, crying and sniffling. “Oh Tommy. Tommy, why didn’t you get up? Why didn’t you run?” She whispered to herself and continued crying softly before wiping her face with the collar of her shirt.
Julia looked out the windshield, hoping to see Miles come running out to join them and be alright. But with each passing minute she felt that possibility fading more and more.
“We have to go Julia. We can’t stay here. They’re all dead.” Manson looked at Alana when she started to cry harder, “I’m sorry but it’s true. It’s true.” He leaned forward to put his hand on the driver’s seat.
Julia let out a deep sigh and turned the key. The van squealed and it startled her. She forgot she already started the engine and left it idle. She shifted gears and looked out the window again, seeing something stumble from the tree line. It was a scrawny figure with thin arms and a thin frame wearing a gray sweater hanging off its body. Julia turned the van onto the road and started back home. Back to the Costco.
“Finally.” Manson plopped down on his seat. “We have to hurry back. The strand I injected into Burrows is still in my laboratory.”
“Wha--what did you say?” Julia looked at him through the rearview mirror.
The doctor looked back at her with low eyes, “It wasn’t something that was planned but the results were something that a scientist like myself couldn’t dream of experiencing.”
“What the hell are