Outbreak (Book 1): Emerald City (25 page)

Luke squinted to look over at the two Matt’s sitting at the wheel. “Huh?” he asked. Matt laughed and picked up the liquor bottle from between the seats. He took a long hit and started the truck. He drove them up the ramp and took a left. Luke looked out the passenger window and was surprised at how dark it had gotten. He watched as the buildings flew by in a blur when suddenly he heard Matt swear and jerk the wheel. Luke looked out the windshield and there was a zombie standing in the middle of the road. Matt plowed into the poor son of a bitch and slammed on the brakes. The whiskey bottle Matt had been holding, flew out of his hand and hit the dash before dropping and landing between Luke’s feet. Luke forgot about the zombie as he watched the liquor spill slowly out of the bottle.
Not much left,
he thought.
Who drank it all?

“Hey! Wait, is that the ocean?” Matt asked. He sounded very drunk.

“Hell if I know,” Luke replied.

“Shit,” Matt slurred. “I think I made a wrong turn.”

Luke looked out through the front windshield at the sun as it approached the horizon and his head swam. He thought about having a cigarette, but closed his eyes instead. He rested his head against the passenger door window again and enjoyed how cool it was. He had no idea where they were and decided he was well past giving a shit.

TASHA

Ortiz drove the team along the streets of Seattle, following Williams’ direction as he took them along side roads and alleys to avoid obstacles on the highway. She did not drive fast, but quick enough to stay ahead of any creepers who came out of hiding to chase the truck as it went by. They were soon back on the main road and Ortiz picked up speed. The miles quickly ticked by.
We just might actually make it to the base
, Tasha thought as she looked out her window and watched the buildings of the once great city go by. They drove past a bay and Tasha saw there were some broken down and abandoned ships there.
What would it be like to get in one and just sail away
? Tasha wondered.
It would be so nice to be anywhere else but here.
Then she saw some creepers milling around on the decks and changed her mind.
Maybe not so much fun after all.

Next they passed alongside an enormous series of warehouses with a crazy tall fence around it.
Some kind of prison?
Tasha wondered. “Hey, what is that place?” she asked as she pointed out the window at the buildings.

“Bowman boatyard,” Williams replied. “He was a little crazy about security.”

“I guess so,” Tasha said.

Ortiz roared past the warehouses and through the toll booths at the beginning of the downtown bridge. They started up the rise of the onramp when Ortiz slammed on the brakes.

Tasha heard a thump from the bed of the truck. “Dammit, Ortiz,” Tanner complained loudly from the back. “What the hell?”

“Bridge is closed,” Ortiz yelled back. “Ain’t no one going across this thing today.”

“Of course it’s out,” Williams said with a grimace. “That’s how my luck is running.”

Tasha looked between the front seats and through the windshield. She saw that the entire center section of the bridge had been destroyed by a large container ship.
Ortiz is right
, she thought.
Bridge is most definitely closed
.

“I think it’s too far to jump,” Cleveland commented.

“No shit,” Williams said as he picked up the radio handset and called Command. He asked for a pickup, but after a few minutes of bickering back and forth, he put down the handset. “Son of a bitch. We are on our own,” he stated. “Bridges are all out except the East-West to Mercer Island. We have to go all the way around.”

“How long you figure that will take?” Ortiz asked.

“Not sure,” Williams replied and pulled out a worn and faded map of Seattle which he had folded up in one of his chest pockets. Tasha and Cleveland leaned forward to watch Williams trace a line with his finger from where they were on the bridge to down and around the south end of the inlet. “It's going to add at least twenty miles … so probably a couple hours with all the crap we keep having to go around.”

Tasha sighed.
I knew it was too good to be true that we were almost there.

Just then Tanner slapped the side of the truck with his hand. “I don’t know what you guys are screwing around with in there but we have incoming,” he yelled. “Vegetable, two hundred meters. Looks like just one and it has a limp.”

“I got this,” Ortiz said. She released the parking brake, slammed the transmission into first gear and hit the gas. She pulled the truck in a tight 180 and accelerated back down the bridge. The single creeper’s right leg was twisted badly with its foot pointed backward. It hobbled toward them, swiping the air with its hands and growling. Ortiz lined up to hit it.

“No,” Williams said and shook his head. “Go around. We can’t risk another breakdown.”

Ortiz nodded and drifted wide to the right hand side of the road as they passed the creeper. The zombie immediately turned around and started limping back after them. Ortiz drove the truck down the bridge and back through the same toll gates they had entered through, just minutes before.

“Take a left here,” Williams instructed and Ortiz took the turn so fast it squealed the tires.

“Hello!” Tanner called from the bed of the truck as he was knocked around.

“Sorry!” Ortiz yelled but Tasha could see her smiling.

“Cut through here,” Williams pointed. “It will save some time.” Ortiz drove through a large open gate, lined with barbed wire at the top, and accelerated past a shot up old sedan. “Stop!” Williams ordered, but it was too late. The front two tires exploded a moment before the rear two did the same. The truck slid to a screeching halt as the tires shredded and the truck ground along on the rims. “That was a trap!” Williams shouted.

Suddenly gunfire erupted from the warehouse across the lot and the front windshield of their truck splintered and cracked. Everybody ducked. “Get out, get out, get out,” Williams ordered. Cleveland threw his door open and dove out onto the pavement. Tasha crawled across the back seat with her rifle and climbed out to kneel on the ground next to him. Tanner jumped down out of the bed of the truck with his SAW machine gun and crouched down behind the back bumper. Tasha saw Williams and Ortiz were already taking cover behind the truck’s hood. Another burst of gunfire raked the vehicle. Tasha curled up to make herself as small as possible. She had no idea what kind of gun the other guy was shooting but it went very fast and it only took a second for the firing to stop.

“Second floor window!” Ortiz shouted and opened fire. Tanner pulled the trigger on his SAW and the machine gun roared.

“Moving!” Williams yelled as he sprinted across the street, reaching the sidewalk unharmed. He had his rifle aimed up. “I can’t get an angle!” he called out. Another burst of gunfire. Tasha ducked again.
I have to stop hiding
, she thought.
I need to help.
She looked up and scanned all of the second floor windows, but she could not see anyone or anything. Ortiz let off another blast of rounds from her rifle.

“Where is he? I can’t see anything,” Tasha said.

“Watch for a muzzle flash,” Tanner replied.

“A what?”

“Reloading!” Ortiz called out.

Tanner looked at Tasha. “When he shoots at us, the weapon will make a flash,” he said.

Well that’s stupid,
she thought. “So, we have to wait for them to try to kill us before we can know where he is hiding?” Tasha asked.

“Yeah,” Tanner replied and winked at her. “War is hell, right?”

“Get ready to move!” Ortiz ordered.

“She talking to us?” Tasha asked.

“Yes,” Tanner replied and aimed his machine gun at the windows. “Cleveland! You ready!”

“Waiting on you,” Cleveland replied.

Gunfire erupted again from the building. “Shit,” Tanner said and ducked down behind the truck.

Tasha held her position and saw flashes of light coming from one of the windows on the second floor. “I see his position!” she yelled.

“Get down!” Tanner yelled, so Tasha ducked back beside him.

“What kind of gun is it?” Ortiz asked.

“You’re asking me?” Tasha asked. Ortiz frowned. She looked at the other two guys.

“Hell if I know,” Cleveland said.

“Doesn’t sound military,” Tanner replied. “Something from the street.”

“When they reload again, be ready to run,” Ortiz said. “I’ll cover you.”

“Got it,” Tanner said just as the shooting stopped.

“Go!” Ortiz yelled. She stood up and opened fire at the second floor of the warehouse.

“Let's move!” Tanner yelled at Tasha and he took off from behind the truck, running across the street. Seeing no other option, Tasha sprinted after him, followed by Cleveland. Tasha’s heart was racing and she listened for the roar of the other gun but the only gunfire she heard was from Ortiz. They made it across the street and crouched next to Williams.

“Ortiz!” Williams called out. “Stay there!”

“Where else would I go?” Ortiz yelled back.

“What’s the plan?” Tanner asked.

“Cleveland,” Williams said. “You stay here and make sure Ortiz is covered.” He pointed at Tanner and then Tasha. “You two, come with me. Keep it quiet.” Without waiting for a reply, Williams turned and ran into the building. Tasha and Tanner followed after him. They entered an enormous, two story warehouse full of boats and boat parts. The center of the warehouse was open and Tasha looked up at the balconies. There were two, one on each end of the giant room.

“He’s in the balcony,” Williams whispered. “We need to find stairs.”

“Try the ends, along the walls,” Tasha offered.

Williams nodded. “Okay, let's move.”

Williams and Tanner moved quietly ahead of Tasha, crouched low with their rifles pointed out in front of them. With no idea how to proceed, Tasha mimicked what the two men did, taking care that the long heavy rifle was pointed down and to the side so she did not accidentally shoot either of them in the back. They moved through the enormous warehouse, sneaking between boats and around debris until they reached one end of the building. Sure enough, there were two sets of wooden stairs which lead up into the balcony, one along each wall.

“Tasha,” Williams whispered, pointing to the stairs furthest away. “Go up that side with your rifle. We will try to flush out whoever is up there. If we do, snipe those bastards.” Again, he did not wait for a reply and started moving quietly up the closest stairs. Tasha gave Tanner a questioning look. She did not know what to say.
I’ve never intentionally killed anyone before,
she thought.
Not like this.
Creepers were one thing, they were dead inside. Her attacker back at the cannery, that was life or death.
Then again, so is this
. Ortiz was stuck out in the street, so it was her life which hung in the balance now. With that, she gave Tanner a quick nod which she hoped looked confident. He winked at her and moved to follow Williams. Tasha ran quietly across the floor to the stairs and started to work her way up.

When Tasha reached the top of the stairs, all she saw were more boats. They were smaller than the ones down below, but there must have been hundreds of different watercraft plus all kinds of parts.
We will never find them in this,
she thought. Suddenly she heard gunfire, the same kind that had been shooting at them before. It sounded like it came from about the center of the warehouse. Tasha ran towards the sound, behind the boats, trying to align herself with where the shooting was coming from. She peeked between two crafts and saw Williams and Tanner moving together, weapons up, and running in a slight crouch. Suddenly Williams started firing and Tanner split off to his left, deeper into the balcony. Tasha looked for where they were shooting, but could not see anyone, so she kept going.

“Put your gun down!” she heard Tanner yelling. “Do it! Do it now!”

Someone else started shooting and then everyone was shooting … except Tasha. She hid behind a boat and looked over the top. She could still see Williams, but she had no idea where Tanner was at that moment.
I have to do something!
She raised her sniper rifle and rested it on the rail of the boat and looked through the scope. She was out of breath and was breathing so hard it was making the whole gun shake. Finally she saw someone, a crackhead looking guy. She hesitated.
Is that the guy? Was she supposed to just shoot?
Then the guy was gone from her view.
Shit!

She looked again, panning the rifle left and then right. She could not see anything through the scope because everything was so close. Remembering the scope could be moved out of the way, she thumbed the button Tanner had shown her and pushed the scope down to the side. She put the rifle barrel back onto the boat rail and looked again, sweeping left and then back to the right.
Much better
. Finally she found Tanner. He was on one knee, shooting down the length of the balcony. Tasha swept back to her right and saw his target. The crackhead guy was crouched behind a wooden crate. Suddenly Tanner stopped shooting and Tasha glanced back, realizing Tanner needed to reload.
He’s out of position! Williams can’t cover him!
Her heart thumping with panic, she sighted the crackhead, thumbed the firing selector on her rifle to automatic and pulled the trigger. In five seconds she was out of ammunition but she had annihilated their attacker. She had also destroyed the crate he was hiding behind, the boat next to him, and the windows behind him. Tasha let out a breath.
That seemed to solve the problem.

She started to stand up from behind the boat, just in time to see a second person on the balcony, this time a kid. He was aiming a gun right at her. He fired and she ducked back down just as bullets ripped into the boat in front of her. “Shit!” she yelled. Wood splintered everywhere around her. Tasha dropped to her stomach and crawled backward, trying to get as far from the edge of the balcony as she could. “Tanner!” she screamed and heard a single rifle shot.

“Clear!” Tanner called out.

“Clear!” she heard Williams yell from the other end of the warehouse.

“Tasha!” Tanner yelled. “You okay?”

Tasha shook all over as she stood up. “I’m okay,” she yelled back, but she did not feel okay. She felt like crap. She did not think she had been hit, but she did feel like throwing up. She had never been shot at before and she did not like it. “I need a second is all,” she said and walked on shaky legs toward the stairs.