Warlord – Chapter 11
“Let's go, he didn't die!”
George and Tony were hiding in an abandoned shop opposite to the hospital.
It was getting late so the sun wasn't as strong as in the afternoon but the dazzling golden rays were still flashing. Zero appeared at the entrance of the hospital. He wasn't controlling his left arm. It seemed that the left arm was seriously injured. The clothes on the right leg were torn too. The skin had blood stains and the situation didn't seem optimistic.
In addition, Zero's face was covered with the butcher's blood. The blood was so thick that it couldn't be removed with just a random wipe. He had to wait to find water to wash it properly. Zero felt uncomfortable because of the stench from the blood.
He saw Tony and George come out of the small shop. George raised his thumb up. Zero was surprised as his lips curled up into a smile.
The next instant he saw George and Tony's turn ugly.
“Be careful!”
George was the first to shout while Tony pulled up the machine gun in haste. Their eyes were looking above Zero's head. A zombie had climbed out of the window of the second floor and was about to jump at Zero.
Zero was quite tired because of the high-intensity fight with the butcher. Moreover half of his body felt numb.
However at the moment zombie's was about to jump an invisible object shot it. The zombie's body hit the wall as blood splattered all over. A big hole was opened in the zombie's chest. The sound of the bullet came from the distance.
It was Alan!
The picture of impatient youth emerged in Zero's mind. Earlier on he thought that Alan's character wasn't suitable to be a sniper. A qualified sniper should but calm and cautious but Alan hadn't given that vibe. Even now Zero didn't think that Alan was a good snipe but he was grateful as he had shot at the most crucial moment.
George and Tony was relieved when they saw the zombie dead. George raised his hand and made a gesture. The signal meant retreat. Alan should be about 800 meters away from them but George believed that he would be able to see the signal.
Tony run forward to help out Zero. He was quite surprised to see Zero's body temperature very high.
Zero asked: “Holt?”
Tony shook his head: “We found two zombies eating his body when we crossed the door."
Zero thought that Holt may be in dangerous situation when he left the storage room where he had killed Mary. But he had to decide whether to save Holt or the other two. He chose to save George and Tony even though he knew that Holt was at risk too. After all, he was going to save two people and get medicine which was very important to the lives in the base.
After comparing the option Zero had given up on Holt.
He wasn't a God and wouldn't be able to save everyone. Moreover death was common on the battlefield. That's why he didn't take to heart Holt's death.
George patted Zero's shoulder: “Thanks mate! We wouldn't be able to escape without your help."
However George's face changed the next moment.
“What happened?”
George helped Tony hold Zero up. He found out the unnatural temperature of Zero. They carried him towards a shadow. George opened the jacket and looked at Zero's body. It was like a boiled shrimp. In addition, the muscles of his body were trembling non stop as if thousands of insects had drilled under his skin.
“What's wrong?” Tony asked.
George shook his head: “I don't know. At first it seems like he has a virus infection and his body is going through a variation."
Tony was stunned: “Was he bitten by a zombie?”
The front teeth of the zombies were as sharp as beast's fangs. Moreover two canines were poisonous like a snake's. The moment zombies bit the human the biochemical virus would automatically inject into the body. Therefore if the body of the living being isn't eaten by the zombies then soon that being would join the ranks of zombies.
The period of transformation depended on the physical strength of the individual. There were ability users who could depend on their own powers to extract the virus from their bodies. It would take somewhere between ten minutes to two days for an ordinary person to transform into a zombie. Moreover neither George nor Tony had heard about a variation where the skin would turn red and the body would be hot. It was unheard of.
George checked Zero's neck and other parts of his body. But he couldn't find anything similar to a bit. It meant that Zero hadn't suffered from a zombie's bite. It was more difficult to explain the condition that Zero was suffering from.
Fortunately, in about two minutes Zero's body turned back to normal. He was a bit dizzy. George was looking at him while Tony came forward and raised his gun. The muzzle was firected at Zero. There was a trace of indecisiveness on Tony's face as he was in hesitation.
“Put the gun down.” George said.
Tony replied: “Boss, he may be infect. We…”
“Don't make me to repeat myself. Put the phucking gun down!” George screamed at Tony: “We owe him a life, man! I will personally kill him in case he becomes a monster. But I won't allow you to shoot right now before I determine if he carries any risk!"
“Alright, boss” Tony responded.
George came to stand beside Zero: “Help me to lift him. We gotta leave this freaking ghost city."
Naturally, Tony wasn't going to object this proposal. He best friend Carl was going to sleep in the basement of the hospital for an eternity. It won't take long for the flesh and blood of Carl to be consumend by the zombies. The only thing that will prove Carl's existence would be his skeleton. It was a sad situation but in this turbulent era daily death was reality and tears of grief was a luxury. If you want to make an extra effort then you had to use that strength in struggle for survival! That may help you to live for another few years.
As a result, even though Tony was sad but his face was expressionless. He came to help George to drag Zero's body towards the exit of town.
The accident happened when they turned over a street corner.
Suddenly, a figure rushed out from the abandoned laundromat. There was a rusty knife in its hand as it stabbed it towards Tony.
Tony raised his hand to protect himself on instinct and his arm was wounded. He roared as he let go of Zero and raised the machine gun towards the figure.
The person's chest became red the moment Tony began to shoot. He was constantly going backwards. The person's body fell into the laundromat as he laid there without a sound.
Tony cussed out the moment he recovered. The knife was rusty and perhaps it had viruses. It may have life-threatening problems if he didn't deal with it on time. But that could be only solved out back in the base. Tony did the same as Zero had done. He tore of a piece of cloth from his dress and tied to his arm to prevent the blood flow faster.
But their troubles didn't stop there. One shadow after another came out. All of them were wearing ragged clothing. However there wasn't slightest variation on their bodies. They were normal people.
“Mob”? George raised the machine gun.
Mob meant trouble… A lot of trouble. Although these people weren't bloodthirsty killers but they could be comparable to wild dogs of wilderness. The ruthlessness that they had was no less than zombies!
“It's the people we met on road.” Tony whispered.
George nodded as he could identify the man who had shot them back when they were entering the city.
A man whose face was full of beard was holding onto a pistol. He was clearly the leader of this mob. He mad a hand gesture and the others who were holding iron bars and other objects scattered around.
There was about five to ten meters distance between two groups. George and Tony could kill few of them but couldn't wipe out the mob at this situation.
“What do you want?” George asked. He hoped that these beasts in human shape could understand the language.
The leader of the mob said in a vague tone: "Car…Key!"
George felt regretful. Perhaps they had to wipe these group out when they had the chance. However he chose not to get into trouble. He wasn't expecting the trouble to come to their doors at its own. They had come for their care but couldn't run the car without a key. So it seems they have gone into the city to search for Tony and others.
George wasn't going to give them the key. Three hundred kilometers of distance meant that they had needed at beast a day or two to get there.
Clothing, water, firearms and motor-vehicles were extremely valuable materials. He could see the greedy eyes of the mob members. There was nothing called mercy in the wilderness!
The only hope George had was that Alan hadn't gone far. If Alan could kill the leader then the mob will be headless. It will be much easier to escape in that scenario.
Perhaps the gods heard George's prayed. One moment the mob leader was pointing the pistol at them. The next moment his body bounced up as blood burst out from his chest. The action was followed by the echo of shot.
It was an unexpected surprise. The mob was stunned. George was praising Alan in his heart. Zero roared at the same time: "Kill them!"
The machine gun in George's hands began to shoot…