The Rotting Flesh Book 1: Escatology
Chapter 10: Jane

The sound of gunshots filled the whole area as Merllyn, Karl and Jennifer shot at the undead who were coming for them. They groaning and growling like some injured animals.

"They just won't die!!" yelled Jennifer as she reloaded

"Hit the head aim for the head" advised Karl as he shot down his targets

"We have to go, now!!" yelled Merllyn "there are too may of them we have to retreat" she advised as the undead seemed to come in endless waves

"Jesus, when the hell did it spread this fast" Karl complained

They slowly backed away while firing until they reached their military jeep and sped off. People were running up and down the streets screaming. Some were in the midst of being torn apart by these unholy beings while others were trying to fight for their lives. Things had turned from peaceful to chaotic in a matter of hours, the infection seemed to be spreading really fast. The soldiers could not believe their eyes the world did not end with any gunshot or explosion but with screams.

"How did it get this bad" Karl said looking very troubled

"I knew not warning the people was a bad idea now this thing is already out of control" said Jennifer slamming the steering wheel

"There was no evacuation people left on their own and caused a traffic jam making it easier for this sons of bitches to get them" Merllyn frowned

"What did you expect them to do when faced with something they do not understand" Jennifer replied

"None of us do" said Karl sadly staring out the window at the city I'm chaos

"Commander we are trapped and would like air support this situation has gone out of control" Karl raised his voice through the walkie talkie

"Have you executed your mission soldier?" a calm voice asked

"No we have not the situation is out of control I repeat out of control" he yelled

"Your death will not be in vain soldier" the voice said shocking everyone in the car

"Damnit what sort of bullshit is this I said we need air support to get out of here Rugal you piece of shit" Karl snapped and the receiver hung up "son of a bitch!!" he slammed the walkie talkie to the dashboard breaking it upon impact

"We are on our own now" Merllyn sighed covering her face with her hands

"I can't believe they did this to us, that son of a bitch Rugal hes a coward" Jennifer said in a low tone

"What now?" Merlyn said with evident disappointment in her voice

"We survive" replied Karl

Racing through the streets avoiding any headons with fleeing traffic, Jennifer tactfully maneuvered their jeep through town. Karl and Marlyn tried by all means to clear the way by shooting any zombies in front of the car so that the jeep would trample over them instead of slamming them head on. His whole body shaking to the extreme vibration of the machine gun Karl used his impressive sniping skills to take out the targets. The jeep would jump up and down due to the heaps and heaps of bodies on the ground. They finally left the city and sped off into the distance.

After leaving the city there was peace again, the highway was quiet all you could see were crashed cars on the side of roads and some zombies here and there but it was nothing like the Cyna.

"Who ever imagined it would spread this fast" Karl commented as he stared out his window

"This is one hell of a mess" Jennifer commented

"Take the road to Nance field, we will wait there and plan how we are going to expose Rugal" Merlyn said

They took that route and what they saw upon arrival shocked them to the core. Dead bodies and undead bodies with missing limbs were scattered everywhere in the streets. House were destroyed and there were bullet numerous bullet casings everywhere. Jane automatically slowed down once she saw all this.

"Jesus" Karl remarked with a heavy heart

Noo this is all our fault Jennifer's thoughts tormented her

Realizing how there weren't any walking dead Merlyn took binoculars from the jeep and checked in all directions, it was to no avail.

"Uh guys is it me or aren't there any of these bastards that can walk?" she asked

The others looked around too and agreed with her. As they tried to communicate with the commander of the base in Nance field, gunfire drew their attention.

"Where?" Karl asked as he looked around

"There" Jennifer said pointing behind some tall buildings

They got back into the jeep and drove quietly in that direction. The situation was the same in all the streets until they took a turn into Bakker Ave where the gunshot had come from. What they saw left them speechless. Nance field had been devastated.

Hundreds of undead were lined up on the camp fence trying to get it to budge. On the other side of the tent were civilians. Karl quietly got out and walked closer making sure to not get noticed by the eaters. As he watched what was going on inside the fence his pupils dilated and he turned sprinting back to the car

"Shit Jane get back!!" Karl yelled noticing one of the people inside the fence aiming an rpg at the fence where the zombies were

"Shit no, that will kill us all" Merlyn commented realizing it too

Jane immediately reversed getting the car to face where it came from but the rpg had already been fired. The situation was dire, Karl had realized that he wouldn't make it in time but Jane could not stomach leaving their comrade behind. Before Karl would reach the car and escape the explosion had already caught up to him. It happened so fast none of them had time to think or react once it caught up to them. It was so powerful the force slammed their jeep throwing it into the air. Merlyn and Jane were throw out of the jeep in mid air and crushed a few blocks from each other. With a final bang the jeep hit the ground bursting into flames. Blood, flesh and limbs came raining down on the street they were on. It had turned into a blood bath in the blink of an eye. Everyone who was in the fence had died from the explosion. Merlyn looked around but there was no trace of Karl anywhere

Damnit all tears filled her eyes, she knew he was gone. She searched for Jane and a few blocks from her she saw her friend leaning against a pole. She yelled but Jane seemed not to hear, there were zombies already going after her but she kept leaning against a pole and all of a sudden she fell to the ground.

Ears buzzing and eyes blurring, Jennifer struggled to put her thoughts together. Struggling to stand she leaned against a stop sign for support. One wrong turn had landed her in this mess. So much much flowed from an open wound on her forehead almost blinding her. She could feel herself becoming lighter by the moment. In the far distance behind the smoke from their raged jeep came a hoard of the undead.

"Jane!! Hey Jane!!" Merlyn yelled but Jennifer did no respond

In Jane's ears the voice was coming from far away and she couldn't tell whether she was being called or not. Without noticed the ground began to come closer to her face and everything went black.

"Is she going to be okay?" Merlyn's voice spoke a bit muffled

Jane's low moan drew everyone's attention

"She's waking up, Jane" Merlyn said in a worried tone

Jane slowly opened her eyes, they still blurred and were slowly clearing. As things became clearer her thoughts began rushing back to her and she jolted up

"Karl!!" she yelled "arggg" an intense piercing pain stroke her forehead

"Jane, Jane calm down its me" Merlyn said gently laying her back down

She turned to look at her friend and immediately tears began flowing down her cheeks

"Merlyn, its Karl he he I'm sorry"

Merlyn's eyes watered too but she fought back the tears

"Its okay, it was not your fault....please don't move too much your wound might reopen" she said comforting her friend

Two more people were with Merlyn a black woman around her early forties and an asian man around his early thirties. They had stumbled upon Merlyn as she was trying to flee with Jane's unconscious body and helped her. They had hidden in a restaurant.

"This is Desmond and Praise, they helped me get you here" Merlyn introduced

Jane looked at them and forced a smile

"Thank you"

"No problem, how is your head feeling?" Praise asked looking at the blood stained bandage

"Hurts like hell" she replied

The exit to the restaurant was infested by the undead trying to get in but due to their lack of reasoning all they did was slam against the door. Desmond watched the door for any weaknesses and saw none at the moment. He was an average height lean man, he wore a black jean jogger and a short sleeve green and blue flannel shirt.

"Thank God those bastards lack the ability to think because they would have just opened the door" he commented

"You got that right" agreed Praise

"So how long do you thing we will be here" he asked

"Until Jane has recovered" said Praise

"No don't worry its fine i can look after her, don't trouble yourself" Merlyn said humbly

"All for one and one for all" she replied smiling

Merlyn and Jane were baffled by the kindness a total stranger was showing them.

"Good thing we are in a restaurant, we got enough supplies to last us a while" Desmond commented