Zombies: The Black Rock (6 page)

‘
In
here,’ said Oliver, pulling her into a side room.

Natasha
closed the door, quietly.

‘
Look,’
he said, pointing to the window. The window hung above a garage roof.
It was only a five-foot drop. From there they could climb down from
the roof and be back down on the ground. The cars they had driven in
with were still in the hanger nearby, the keys still in the ignition.
The hanger was only fifty feet away. They finally had a way out.

‘
You
are a genius,’ said Natasha, throwing open the window. ‘We
can get out of here.’

***

‘
Where
the fucking hell am I?’ Colt asked the world in general. He
scooped down and picked up an assault rifle from a dead soldier
slumped against the wall. The man’s internal organs had all
been eaten. Colt checked the magazine and the rocket-propelled
grenade attachment.

‘
You
are going to die...’ hissed a voice.

Colt
spun around, as he backed out into a large hanger.

The
hanger had several parked armoured vehicles inside. A quick glance
confirmed that this place was zombie free.

‘
You
are all going to die.’

‘
What
are you?’ asked Colt.

Suddenly,
the ceiling collapsed in a shower of dust and brick. Colt stumbled
backwards, falling to his arse. Wide eyes looked up at the alien
creature walking out of the cloud of dust. A cold shiver ran down his
spine. It felt like his heart had stopped beating for one long moment
in time. ‘I am the bringer of death.’ Only now did Colt
realise that the alien wasn’t talking to him. It was, but it
wasn’t. At no point did it move its mouth. The alien’s
voice was speaking directly into his mind. This creature of insanity
was inside his head.

***

‘
Give
him some time,’ said Andy, as he fired up the mini-gun in the
back of the helicopter. Levi was sitting in the pilot’s seat,
as the metal helicopter rotors came into life. The noise of the
helicopter engines appeared to be firing up the zombies. The dead
were rushing the platform with speed and madness. They were charging
across the roof like a pack of wild dogs. Lisa, Shelly and Sheridan
stood near the steps of the raised helicopter pads. They picked their
shots, taking out the zombies, as they came up the stairs. The
mini-gun roared into life, as tracers flickered across the rooftop,
cutting through the horde approaching on the other side.

‘
Look
out!’ Lisa yelled.

Zombies
were climbing up the side of the helicopter pad.

They
were climbing up the sides all around them.

‘
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck,’ chanted Shelly, as she rushed to the edge,
shooting down into their foreheads.

‘
I
need help here,’ said Sheridan, backing away from the stairs.
She slapped the last magazine into her handgun and opened fired, but
there were too many of them.

‘
Into
the chopper,’ ordered Lisa, but they were too late. The
helicopter was already going up into the air. Andy’s agonising
scream reached their ears, as two zombies pounced on the gunner. The
three women ducked down, as the helicopter lurched to the right,
knocking down the zombies that had made it onto the platform.
Gunshots boomed out of the helicopter interior. Shouting and swearing
could be heard, as the helicopter did a complete three hundred and
sixty-degree rotation in the air.

‘
No!’
Shelly screamed out, as teeth ripped into her Achilles tendon.

Decaying
hands grabbed her leg, pulling her over the edge of the platform.

Her
fingernails dug into the tarmac for purchase, but the wet conditions
were working against her.

Lisa
slammed the butt of her gun into a zombies face, as they rushed at
her. She threw the empty weapon at another zombie. Sheridan turned
and ran. Lisa glanced at Shelly. The beautiful young woman was
dangling on the edge of the helicopter platform, as a zombie chewed
on her leg, dragging her off as it ate her. A fireball of destruction
illuminated the rooftop, as the helicopter dropped down sideways. The
explosion was so large that it wiped out all zombies in a thirty-foot
radius. The entire building shook. Part of the rotor slashed through
the air, decapitating everything in its path. Lisa pulled her handgun
from her trousers and put down several zombies, they were coming at
her from all sides.

‘
This
way,’ called Sheridan, running towards the edge of the rooftop.

Lisa
ran after her, shooting anything that moved too close.

They
both got to the edge of the roof.

It
was a five-story drop.

A
ladder led from the roof back down to the tarmac below.

‘
You
go first,’ ordered Lisa, as she turned to face the incoming
horde. Rotting faces fuelled with the lustful drive to eat their
flesh rushed at them.

***

The
assault rifle kicked into life, but the alien was so quick. It used
the space in the hanger to sprint in a big circle around Colt. The
thing was so fast that it moved like a blur. Colt aimed slightly in
front of the alien and fired the rocket-propelled grenade launcher,
but the beast managed to change its course without slowing down. A
truck exploded in the background, as the alien came straight at Colt.
The assault rifle clicked empty. Colt dropped it and transitioned
into his side arm, but before he could fire a single bullet the tail
of the beast cut straight through his chest. Colt spat blood, at the
tree branched sized tail snapped out of his back.

The
creature lifted him up.

Colt’s
agonising screams echoed throughout the hanger.

Only
now did he realise that he never stood a chance against this monster.

Colt
looked straight into the mouth filled with thousands of teeth.

‘
Fuck
you...’ he mumbled, dropping the grenade in his left hand.

The
alien bit into the top of his head, removing the top of his skull.

It
began to suck on his brains.

It
slurped out his insides.

His
lifeless body convulsed and jolted in the air.

The
grenade went off.

The
alien howled in pain, tossing Colt’s lifeless body to one side.

Green
blood squirted out of its severed legs. The beast flipped around,
spraying blood everywhere. The explosion had blown off both of its
knees. Something that looked liked intestines fell out of an open
wound in its lower torso. The alien reached down, scooping up its
organs, trying to force them back inside. Agonising howls were so
loud that they could have shattered ear drums and broken windows.
Green blood dribbled out of its mouth, as it thrashed around. With
one final painful scream, it tensed up and then fell to the floor.

It
was dead.

***

Natasha
dropped down onto the tarmac beside Oliver. The two of them shared a
smile. They had done it. They had managed to escape the base. All
they had to do now was reach the cars and get out of here. Natasha
cried out, as a fist was smashed into her lower back. She fell
forwards, holding her hip. Bishop grabbed a handful of her hair,
yanking back the head of his wife, and slammed his right fist into
her spine. Oliver grabbed him from behind, pulling him backwards.
Beth rocked in the backpack, her teeth chomped away, as she went for
Oliver’s wrists. Natasha reached for the gun on her hip, but
Bishop shook off Oliver, stepped forward, and kicked her in the
wrist.

‘
Fuck!’

Bishop
pounced on her, but Natasha clawed at his face.

One
long fingernail slashed his right eye, cutting it in two.

The
zombie didn’t even flinch at the sickening wound.

Oliver
grabbed the backpack and pulled hard, breaking the straps. Beth tried
her best to bite him, but Oliver held her at arm’s length.
Natasha dug flesh out of Bishop’s face, while he planted a
right fist down on her, cutting her lip. Anger had consumed him. He
punched and punched. Bones in his fist broke, as he rammed strike
after strike into the bitches face. He wanted her to die. He wanted
her to suffer. He wanted her to feel the fear and pain that his
daughter had felt.

‘
Die,
you fucking whore. Die!’

‘
Get
off her,’ yelled Oliver. ‘Get off her or I will kill the
girl!’

Bishop
looked back with his one good eye full of hate.

Suddenly,
his body felt numb.

Oliver
was holding a gun against Beth’s head.

***

Sheridan
and Lisa ran across the tarmac and away from the base. The top of the
five-storey building was engulfed in flames, drawing all the nearby
zombies in. The two women headed up an incline towards a forest. The
heavy rain made it hard work. They reached the chain link fence, a
jeep with half-eaten corpses, had crashed into the fence, creating an
opening for them. They wasted no time in squeezing through the gap.
The two women headed straight for the forest. Not once did they look
back.

***

‘
Kill
the bitch,’ said Natasha, spitting blood onto the floor. Bishop
placed his hand around her throat, as he pinned her down to the
tarmac. Slowly, he applied pressure, chocking her out. Natasha began
to gasp, her face was turning red. It looked like her eyes were going
to pop out of her head. A strange sense of euphoria blossomed in the
core of Bishop’s body. He could feel the life being sucked out
of her. He could feel the cunt that killed his daughter dying.

‘
If
you kill her, I will kill you,’ said Bishop.

‘
I’m
scared, Bishop. I don’t want to die,’ said Beth.

‘
You
won’t die. This guy isn’t going to do anything.’

‘
I
will kill her,’ said Oliver, not sounding very certain.

Natasha
gagged and gasped.

Bishop
looked down at her. Hate filled his heart. This is the woman that
used his daughter as a shield. This is the woman that had killed his
baby girl. This is the woman he hated more than anything in the
world. Every single fibre in his body was screaming out for him to
end her here. He wanted to kill her. Reluctantly, he released his
grip on her throat and stood up. Natasha rolled onto her side,
gasping for air. The sound of her gagging brought a smile to Bishop’s
twisted face. It took a moment for her to be able to breathe properly
again. She scrambled forward and picked up her gun. She got to her
feet. Her neck was badly bruised.

‘
You
nearly had me, Bishop,’ she laughed.

‘
I
will kill you.’

She
walked around him in a circle, giving him plenty of room.

‘
You
missed your chance.’

‘
I
let you go. Let Beth go.’

Natasha
looked at Beth. ‘That is fucked up. The girl hasn’t got a
face or any limbs.’

‘
What
shall we do?’ asked Oliver.

‘
This...’
Natasha pushed the barrel of the gun into Beth’s mouth and
squeezed the trigger. The back of the little girls head was blown
clean off, killing her instantly.

‘
NO!’
Bishop lurched forward, but it was no good. Natasha swung her gun
around and fired. She fired once, twice and thrice. The last thing
Bishop saw was the sickening smile of the woman he hated. Everything
felt like it was moving in slow-motion. The first bullet struck him
under the left eye, blowing out half of his face. Still he pushed on.
She had to die. She had to pay for what she did. She killed Lucy. She
killed Beth. She had to die. The second bullet removed his ear. It
landed with a splat on the floor. Bishop didn’t care. She could
shoot him a thousand times, but she just had to die. The third bullet
struck him square between the eyes, cutting through bone and brain.
In a single moment all the hate and anger disappeared. It was like
someone had flicked a switch. Bishop was consumed by darkness, as his
brain blew out the back of his head.

***

Lisa
and Sheridan burst through a tree line and ran out onto a road. There
were a few derelict cars nearby. The towering buildings of the city
centre could be seen in the distance, but that was not their intended
destination. They needed to get away from here. Lisa opened the
magazine and checked at the ammunition.