A Healer's War

Chapter 69 - Highjack

Chapter 69: Highjack

"Jane!"

Emmett needed to stop screaming. He was ruining the moment. Jane had always loved zombie movies as a kid, the swarms, the hiding, the jump scares, all of it, but she never thought she'd experience something like one. Maybe it was the shock or a blooming concussion, but these bony-not-zombies behaved an awful lot like zombies. What are they?

"Jane!"

There he goes again.

Most of Dawson's army lay dead and alone, scattered behind their fortification at the base of the plane. A trio of them held the ramp, picking off the not-zombies as they swarmed forward. But even downing a score of shamblers, more kept coming. Their bodies piled up the ramp—just like zombies would.

They aren't eating anyone. Some sleeping piece of her said. It made her nose hurt.

"Damn it. Snap out of it!" Emmett again. She was vaguely aware of him pulling on her restraints.

Someone screamed, and Jane watched one of the trio break and run, only to be tackled by two not-zombies and drug away. While bone might break against armor, it was only a matter of time before they found the gaps. Her gut churned when she saw red, jarring her musings. Something in her told her to run, which seemed reasonable, unlike what she was seeing.

SMACK!

The blow to her cheek came as a surprise, ringing her broken nose like a bell. Pain seared her senses, ricocheting inside her skull. She cupped her throbbing face.

"Owww."

"Jane?" Emmett said, panting. "Are you back?"

She peeked open an eye and saw him with another slap loaded.

"Present."

He turned and ran to the opposite side of the bay.

A surge of firelight came from outside, somewhere behind her. The plane jumped, sending Emmett tumbling. He glimpsed outside, and his eyes widened, catching a blossom of firelight. He scrambled back to his feet. Something like a howl followed from outside, like the bay of boiling rock. Jane's back prickled. Dawson?

"Clear the ramp!" Emmett called out from across the cargo bay. He slapped a button on the control panel, and the plane shuddered, its hydraulics lifting the ramp. One soldier turned and ran up the incline while the other shouted to keep shooting. The non-zombies swarmed into the opening, and the rear guard went down screaming and disappeared into the swarm.

Nearly closed, a creature's lumpy head appeared over the ramp's edge, but Emmett's pistol barked, and the creature disappeared in a burst of sludge. The surviving soldier took position beside Emmett, and the two dispatched one after another as the creatures clawed their way inside.

At last, the ramp pressed shut, dripping with blood and mud.

Ting. Ting. Ting. The creatures scratched at the bay door.

"What the hell are those things?!" the man cried, his voice cracking. "And where the hell is Dawson?" He started toward the side hatch. "He needs-."

BLAM!

The soldier's head snapped to the side, and blood sprayed the bulkhead. Jane recoiled as the body slumped onto the top of Jacklyn's steel cell and pooled blood on the glass. Emmett watched the body, weapon still aimed before he tucked it back in his holster. Jane's mouth hung open, staring at the once handsome kid, ambition burning in his eyes. Something had changed, something she recognized in herself, and she wasn't sure she liked it for either of them.

He knelt before her and produced a small key for her cuffs.

"Muff me, Emmett," Jane whispered. "What happened to you?"

"I wised up." The cuffs clicked open, and the weight dropped off.

She rolled her wrists, enjoying the freedom but uncertain about Emmett's transformation.

"The plane is ours," he said.

The chaotic scratches on the rear door changed, spreading up the walls and overhead. She eyed the ceiling.

"They can still damage the engines," Emmett said. "We have to leave. Now."

Jane followed the tinny sounds as they seemed to spread to the wings. Transformations can wait. "Time to fly." She swung her legs out of her seat and felt the blood tingle back into her feet as she followed Emmett to the cockpit.