Jack felt the keel of the boat nudge the bank. Wrapping George in his arms, he picked him up. Then he followed the others into the waiting 4x4. Jack liked this guy, Ben. The waiting vehicle was planned, the boat in the river, everything. A chopper, coming to get us? To where? Safety? Jack had so many questions buzzing around in his head, but the ever-closer howls and screeches meant they had more pressing matters to be concerned about.
The 4x4 tore up the middle of the country road. Glancing in her side mirrors, Dee could see the Variants closing in from the sides and rear. Urging the vehicle faster, she jammed the accelerator to the floor. “Guys, we got company!”
A couple of lead Variants slammed into the back of the 4x4, rocking it from side to side. Their claws tore into the fleeing vehicle, trying to get a purchase.
Dee looked over at Ben just as he jammed a fresh magazine into his rifle.
He leant out the passenger side window and tried to get a bead on the chasing pack.
She could see the two Variants clinging to the back of the vehicle. “Boss, Jack, see if you can get these bastards off us!”
Jack twisted around in the back seat, and saw the two monsters clinging on. One started smashing its head into the rear window, causing it to crack. He pushed George down into the footwell. “Cover your ears!” he urged the boy.
He blasted the headbutting monster. The boom of the shotgun rattled his brain. Jack looked at the shattered window. The monster still clung to the back of the vehicle, mocking him.
Then it began to crawl in through the back, howling, its sucker mouth smacking so close Jack could see the rows of tiny sharp teeth. He pulled the trigger again, this time taking off half its head. The black gunk sprayed all over him. He heard another boom of a shotgun and saw the last one fall onto the road behind them, tumbling over and over before righting itself. It started to chase them again, sprinting down the road in rabid pursuit.
Hell, these things are hard to kill.
Jack crawled into the back. Using the shotgun, he pushed the corpse of the beast out. Beyond, he could see hundreds of them chasing, moving in a weird wave as they scrambled over the fields, hunting them tirelessly.
“How much farther? These things are gaining fast!” he yelled.
Without putting down his rifle, Ben replied, “About half a click. It’s just up over that rise.” Ben let off another shot. “This is going to be tight. Chopper is still ten minutes out.”
Jack reached down into the ammo bag and reloaded his shotgun. He crammed extra shells into his pockets, filling them as much as he could.
They finally pulled into the small airfield. Long grass surrounded it, baked dry by the hot sunny days. A small tin shed sat next to a couple of larger buildings. Jack could see a concrete pad with a big capital “H” painted in bright yellow. He scanned the sky to the west for the chopper; he could just make out a tiny speck flying out of the clouds.
Dee slammed on the brakes, bringing the 4x4 to a skidding halt between the buildings. Turning to look back down the road, she saw the mass of Variants charging toward them, already down the other end of the runway. Their screeches and howls filled the air. Raising her rifle, she sighted one through her scope. Pulling the trigger, she watched as it stumbled, fell, then kept on charging. You’ve got to get these things in the bloody head!
She looked over at Ben, firing into the mass. Dee could see the odd one staying down. In that moment, she realised this was it, their last stand. Unless the chopper arrived in the next few minutes, they were dead.
She looked over at her husband, searching out his eyes. She wanted to look into them and feel the love of his soul one last time. She had fought through loneliness, anger, and frustration to find him. She had battled Variants, killed them, watched people get torn apart. Almost got raped.
For a few glorious moments, she had held him again.
She saw Jack grinning at her. As covered in grime, mud, and Variant muck as he was, she still thought he looked handsome.
She could see the little red-haired boy, George, peeking out the car door, his ice blue eyes staring at the oncoming mass. She looked over at Boss as the wisecracking teenager loaded shells into his shotgun.
Dee turned back toward the mass of monsters. So be it, but I’m going to take down as many of you bastards as I can.
Raising her rifle back to her shoulder, Dee saw a stack of red tin barrels off to one side, next to a large tank with a bowser attached. Of course! AV gas! Do we have time?
“Jack! Boss! The fuel!” she yelled as she pointed. Not waiting for an answer, Dee ran over to the barrels.
Seeing what she meant, Jack and Boss followed immediately.
Dee reached up and unhooked the bowser, then depressed the trigger. Fuel started pouring out onto the grass. She sloshed it around as far as she could, and watched as Jack and Boss rolled some barrels out onto the grass, straining with the weight.
“Soak the grass between the buildings. We’ll burn the bastards as they funnel through.”
She watched as Jack and Boss grunted with exertion. They unscrewed the caps, letting the high octane fuel soak into the grass.
“Ben, how close are they?” she yelled.
Without pausing his firing, Ben yelled back, “Back in the truck, they’re coming up fast. We’re going to have to make a run for it.”
Dee, Jack, and Boss jumped back into the 4x4. Ben leant out the window and cracked open a flare. As Dee pulled away, he threw it into the pool of fuel.
The fuel ignited instantly, spreading outwards and into the mass of Variants as they funneled into the gap. Many of them were caught in the firestorm, screeching. The smell of burnt flesh reached Dee as she glanced in the mirrors. Even more of them were flowing around the buildings, chasing, snarling, toward their prey.
CHAPTER NINE
Jack could hear Ben yelling into a handheld radio, but he wasn’t paying too much attention. He focused on the spreading fire and the rolling black mass of monsters. The fire did its job in slowing down the vanguard, giving them the precious time they needed. Dee had driven them out into the middle of the runway. He heard Ben tell her to head for the fenceline surrounding the bush-clad mountain. Jack dared to have a little hope again. Having volunteered on the mountain, he knew it well. The whole mountain was surrounded by a three-meter-high pest-proof fence. Several New Zealand flightless birds, such as Takahe and the North Island brown Kiwi, had been reintroduced to great success.
The 4x4 bounced over the rough farmland toward the fence. Jack spotted the service road running along it.
“Dee, head left. There’s a entry gate on that ridge.”
He watched, mesmerised, as another mass of the monsters closed in from below the gate.
This is going to be close.
Jack tapped Ben’s shoulder. “There’s a shed next to the gate. That’s where they keep some quad bikes.”
Ben nodded as he gripped the door handles. “Just take your guns. We have to hightail it up to the summit. The boys in the chopper are going to meet us there, okay?”
Everyone murmured understanding.
Jack watched as the mass of monsters flowed ever closer. They had perhaps only a few minutes to get the bikes and go. A chance is better than no chance at all.
Dee drove right up to the gate. She could see a small enclosure built through the fence with doors at either end. She remembered coming here with Jack when they were first dating.