Chapter 21
Colson loved anything that showed power. That was why he loved his new toy so much. On one of Marcus’s runs, he discovered an M134, a gatling gun. He pressed on the accelerator and the cylinder began to spin rapidly. When the ammo from the large box to his side found its way the feed, the air turned to a shit-storm as thousands of rounds of ammo poured out of the massive weapon. The ground a hundred yards off filled with red mist as the undead were turned to mulch.
He used the pulley system to his side to steer the barrels where he wanted them to be. Wherever he turned it, a large line of undead fell. Colson was in a special part of hell; the part where only men like him belonged. It was a place where men fought forever in an unending tide of foes and fought simply for the sake of fighting. That was all he could think about, and it was all he could do to relax his elderly heart. Colson lifted the barrel to kill far off enemies and take down more and more with each round.
Yet, all of that death and destruction counted for nothing as the opening he and his crew created was filled with the next line and there was no end in sight. Eventually, he ran out of ammo and had to give up on fun. He realized that he was smiling and had to put on his straight face again. He said, “Tell Katherine we’re almost out of ammo. I think we better suck up our pride and run on home now.”
One of his communications personnel said to him as the explosions continued, “Sir, that may not be an option anymore.”
A hundred yards away, in the lower levels of the complex, two hundred men began to retreat as their last bits of ammo started to dwindle away. The undead had made it around the complex in an attempt to flank them. Well, it worked.
As the last few were making their way to the underground parking garage, one brave soul gave his life to block the entrance. He stole one of the escape busses and drove it into the entrance sideways, effectively making a wall over the exit. The men assembled in a half-circle to kill whatever passed through the bus. They remained steadfast until the realized that something immensely powerful was not trying to pass through the bus, but rip the bus in half.
The men retreated. The last man to run up the stairs turned back to close the door. He looked at the bus as its structure began to crumble by the force of an ominous black shape.
Colson’s group used up the last of their reserve ammo and began to retreat down into the lobby. Katherine’s group ran out of ammo a short time later. Zack’s group ran out of ammo when Colson’s group did, and the reserve group had little ammo to start. It seemed that the battle was lost and they would be slaughtered by uncountable foes.
The doors leading to the parking area started to buckle as something large struck it. Katherine heard a growl and the last en men with guns moved to the scene. That growl, it shook Katherine’s heart. No beast from earth or hell could make such a noise, she thought. Then, from behind, she saw the shadow of a massive beast behind her. She turned around and saw a fifty foot tall undead reach its hand through the broken glass and reach for her. When it was within five inches of her head, Zack used his normal blade to impale the mutated arm.
The beast used its other arm, but Zack was too fast and grabbed a rod sticking out of his hidden blade’s mechanism. He pulled back and pointed the blade between the beast’s eyes. When he pulled back far enough, the blade was launched like a bullet at the monster and it was struck down. The men cheered as the beast fell, but it ended as another one made its way forward.
Then the door behind them blew away and a low growl was heard from below. The undead behemoth ahead of them reached forward and made to grab Katherine. Zack jumped at the monster and blinded it. He seemed so determined to die, none of the men saw to stop him. Katherine wanted to look on, but the world outside seemed to turn to fire as the ceiling blackened and the lobby turned into a furnace.
He used the pulley system to his side to steer the barrels where he wanted them to be. Wherever he turned it, a large line of undead fell. Colson was in a special part of hell; the part where only men like him belonged. It was a place where men fought forever in an unending tide of foes and fought simply for the sake of fighting. That was all he could think about, and it was all he could do to relax his elderly heart. Colson lifted the barrel to kill far off enemies and take down more and more with each round.
Yet, all of that death and destruction counted for nothing as the opening he and his crew created was filled with the next line and there was no end in sight. Eventually, he ran out of ammo and had to give up on fun. He realized that he was smiling and had to put on his straight face again. He said, “Tell Katherine we’re almost out of ammo. I think we better suck up our pride and run on home now.”
One of his communications personnel said to him as the explosions continued, “Sir, that may not be an option anymore.”
A hundred yards away, in the lower levels of the complex, two hundred men began to retreat as their last bits of ammo started to dwindle away. The undead had made it around the complex in an attempt to flank them. Well, it worked.
As the last few were making their way to the underground parking garage, one brave soul gave his life to block the entrance. He stole one of the escape busses and drove it into the entrance sideways, effectively making a wall over the exit. The men assembled in a half-circle to kill whatever passed through the bus. They remained steadfast until the realized that something immensely powerful was not trying to pass through the bus, but rip the bus in half.
The men retreated. The last man to run up the stairs turned back to close the door. He looked at the bus as its structure began to crumble by the force of an ominous black shape.
Colson’s group used up the last of their reserve ammo and began to retreat down into the lobby. Katherine’s group ran out of ammo a short time later. Zack’s group ran out of ammo when Colson’s group did, and the reserve group had little ammo to start. It seemed that the battle was lost and they would be slaughtered by uncountable foes.
The doors leading to the parking area started to buckle as something large struck it. Katherine heard a growl and the last en men with guns moved to the scene. That growl, it shook Katherine’s heart. No beast from earth or hell could make such a noise, she thought. Then, from behind, she saw the shadow of a massive beast behind her. She turned around and saw a fifty foot tall undead reach its hand through the broken glass and reach for her. When it was within five inches of her head, Zack used his normal blade to impale the mutated arm.
The beast used its other arm, but Zack was too fast and grabbed a rod sticking out of his hidden blade’s mechanism. He pulled back and pointed the blade between the beast’s eyes. When he pulled back far enough, the blade was launched like a bullet at the monster and it was struck down. The men cheered as the beast fell, but it ended as another one made its way forward.
Then the door behind them blew away and a low growl was heard from below. The undead behemoth ahead of them reached forward and made to grab Katherine. Zack jumped at the monster and blinded it. He seemed so determined to die, none of the men saw to stop him. Katherine wanted to look on, but the world outside seemed to turn to fire as the ceiling blackened and the lobby turned into a furnace.
Chapter 22: Execution
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