N-23: The last days

Chapter 3 - The ambush ii

“Ragers!” Sam exclaimed, his grip tightening on his riffle. “Move, now!” Jake ordered, leading the way towards the exit. They had just reached the exit door when about two dozen of ragers flooded in from the entrance. These were the hyper-aggressive variants, their eyes wild with furry, their movements unnaturally fast. Unlike this strain, the first set of ragers were slow and had no sense of anything around them. They were nearly alike to the zombies you would read in horror movies. The only thing they knew was their instinct to spread, which they did through mostly by biting or eating their victims. As time progressed, the virus began to mutate, evolved into a hive mind; A hive mind that seemed like it had a goal. Someone or Something was organizing this ragers and making their attacks intelligent. It was scarier to discover a zombie like species who also had intelligence like humans. There were rumors about different strains of the virus but Jake only knew about two; the hyper-aggressive variants and the first ragers that appeared. Still, something was off, the hyper-aggressive variants didn’t always move together. They were known to be hostile even amongst themselves. But something was different with the situation, these variants at the store had some sort of organization. There weren’t meant to be this much moving together, not to talk of working together.

“This feels like a trap” Liam said as they moved towards exit. He had a very firm grip on his riffle, his heart beat increasing drastically. He had never faced this much hyper-aggressive variants at a time. The team once had a hard time killing off just three of them, but now, there were times six of what they faced then.

“Trap? From who?” Alex asked rhetorically “I have studied them for months, they don’t have the mental abilities or capacity to think” He said it so much to himself to convince, and force himself to believe that they were not in grave danger. He could feel fear crawling under his skin, his hands were almost shaking.

“But you just saw how many came in, they don’t walk like that in groups. It could be another mutation like the rumors” Maria said. There was a bit of fear in her voice.

Jake already saw that he needed to step up, the team was already losing their cool. Deep inside, he knew this hive mind was a new mutation but if he said anything wrong, the team could fall into diaspora.

“Whatever it is, we need to leave now. Everyone be at alert. Grab your weapons and if the need be, you can leave the supplies to reduce weight. Our lives are more important.” Just as Jake had said this, some of the ragers came running towards them. One grabbed Maria’s foot and tried to drag her down as the other ragers were violent trying to get to them. Mark got a grip of his make shift spear and stuck it into the head of the rager. There was a gooey liquid, once blood, gushing down from its head. He quickly brought out the spear from the monster’s head, bringing out his shot gun, he raised his weapon and fired, the gunshots ringing out in the confined space.

He quickly looked at Maria. She was on the ground, still in a semi state of shock. Clearly, she wasn’t used to being on the field. Being the paramedic, most times she stays in the base and tend to the wounded when they got back from operations. Today, she had decided to go along to bring back certain medical supplies, and unfortunately for her, they were facing a horde of Ragers.

“Maria, I need you to get a hold of yourself” Jake said, while still firing. The ragers who didn’t get a head shot still kept moving, relentlessly. He threw his spear to Maria and reluctantly she caught it, still shaking.

“It’s either you buckle up, or we die” Jake said softly. Hearing those words, she took a deep breathe and took a stance, bracing for the Ragers. Jake smiled.

Rita was right beside him, her machete slicing through the air with precision. A Rager lunched at Sam, its teeth bared. Sam swung his riffle, the butt connecting with the Rager’s skull with a sickening crunch. Bone shattered, and blood sprayed across the floor. Liam, the mechanic, looked at Sam and gave him a nod of affirmation. But still, more were coming. Rita spun around, her blade severing the heads of various Ragers. She seemed to be enjoying herself. Ever since she lost her two sons to the hands of the Ragers, having to kill them with her own hands after they had turned, she had always enjoyed slaughtering them. Even if there weren’t operations, sometimes, she would go into the city herself just to kill Ragers. Something she did to always distract her self from the fact that she took the lives of her own sons.

“Watch your left!” shouted Sam, firing at a Rager that had gotten too close to Liam. His bullet tore the creature’s eye, exploding its head in a shower of gore. Ex military, he sure did know how to hit bull’s eye. He had a scar across his left eye which his juniors then believed to be the source of his good aim.

Jake and Maria moved as a unit, covering each other’s backs. Alex and Liam were a well-coordinated pair, while Sam and Rita did their own things. The Ragers were relentless, more still flooding in. One of them managed to grab Alex, dragging him to the ground. Sam rushed over, firing at the Rager until it released its grip. He helped Alex up and smiled saying “You owe me one ”. Alex simply shrugged and cleaned the dirt of his clothes. Jake looked across and saw an empty room. He signaled his team and they immediately understood. They moved quietly until they hid in a closet in the store room.