Battle of Ash

Chapter 17

"I've given up hope that there is a God that will save us all.
How am I supposed to believe that there's a
heaven and a hell when all I see now is hell."
Aaron B. Powell

2017.05.30 12:33
Ash jumped dropping her folder, looking to the door again. The others had noticed her quick movements and their eyes followed hers. The room waited with breath held until it came again. A light scratching, the snuff of breath passing under the door in a huff.

"There it is again..."

"I heard it too." John spoke up, caressing Cassie's feverish forehead. "Something is out there." They paused for a moment to listen.

Dillon's face lit up suddenly, "The infected maybe?" He looked around desperately for any kind of reassurance.

Ash could understand Dillon's eagerness at naming what waited beyond the door. They knew what the infected were; a familiar enemy, a known threat that could be calculated and dealt with. The unknown was always terrifying.

"I doubt it." Ash checked her weapon, loading it carefully. "Infected don't sniff at doorways. I have ten bullets left, what about you?"

"Nine." Dillon responded, crestfallen, nervous.

"Here." Carlos offered one of his guns, a small pistol, to John, "I'll take your extra ammo and you take this. That way you can support Cassie and we'll protect you."

"I think," Ash stood, waiting for the others to follow suit, "that if Dillon and I take the front and Carlos takes the back you and Cassie could be in the middle. Sort of protected."

"N-no-" Cassie began to protest.

"Sounds like a plan." John spoke over her, slinging her arm over his shoulder again as they went into formation.

Carlos moved the cabinets out of the way, throwing them along the far floor then resuming his stance at the back. Dillon and Ash pressed against the door, nerves racing, breath heavy, and adrenaline coursing through their veins to give them renewed energy. She met his eyes, he nodded, and Ash threw open the door.

There was a flash of movement before a single shot exploded into the air around them. The creature fell limp, the force of the bullet had ripped it off its feet, hurtling it across the hallway. Quietly they inspected the area before grabbing the creature and dragging it into the control room. Cassie gasped, left behind and unguarded for a moment. The hallway had been destroyed. Large chunks of concrete had been scraped out of the walls and lay crumbled on the stair well, there was blood splattered everywhere- oddly think and dark, as well as other bodily fluids that made her sputter. Quickly they shut and barricaded the door again.

"What is going on?" Dillon whispered, looking over his shoulder as he went to shut the door. "I don't understand what they could have done to humans that made them able to rip into concrete like that."

John shook his head, "Maybe it had something to do what the parasite?"

Dillon opened his mouth to speak when a loud, long shriek pierced the silence and echoed down the hall. Within that moment everyone had their guns trained and ready. Dillon slammed the door behind him, his eyes wide.

"It will only take ten minutes to get to that platform." Ash reasoned, "We can survive for ten minutes. We can do this." She reached for the door.

Ash looked back to the rest of them; they were terrified. Ash swallowed, finding her throat suddenly dry. It dawned on her she was nervous too; scared possibly. Human DNA altered and cut apart; messed with like a high school project and then left for months, possibly years, to mutate and rot and grow waited for them just beyond the door.