The Lost Journal Part 2 (A Secret Apocalypse Story) Read Online Free Page B

only got half a mag left. It’s not enough if any more infected come
through here. It’s not enough to defend ourselves. I’ll only be gone a few
minutes."
    She raised
her head slowly. "Don’t," she whispered. "Don’t leave me."
    "I need to
do this. We need the ammo. If more infected come through here we’ll need to
defend ourselves. We need to be prepared."
    The infected
would indeed come through here, I thought. They would probably make their way
into the city from the western suburbs.
    She tucked
her head back into her arms and kept saying, "Don’t leave me."
    But I had
to. She knew it. I knew it. I patted her on the shoulder. "I’ll be right back."
    Exposed

    I made a quick pass of the surrounding area and made my way back up to the
footbridge. I managed to scavenge five more magazines of ammunition.
    From the
vantage point of the footbridge I could see back out to the main harbor. I
could see the smoke rising from the ruins of north Sydney and the main bridge.
There was more smoke from other areas of the inner city as well. The smoke
billowed up into the blue summer sky, giving the whole city a weird hazy orange
look. It was then I realized I could hear more gunfire coming from the city.
    The military
were in the process of falling back. And if my experience in Woomera was
anything to go by, they would be leaving those last soldiers behind. Leaving
them as a distraction, a diversion so the rest of the forces could get away
unscathed.
    Poor
bastards.
    The gunfire
continued to intensify as I made my way back to our boat.
    Heavy
machine guns.
    Chain guns.
    Mortar
rounds.
    Rockets.
    Hellfire
missiles.
    It sounded
like a pretty big force. This could only mean they were being pursued by a very
large number of infected.
    I knelt down
on the footbridge and listened to the noises. I tried to zero in on the
location of the fire fight. It was difficult. The gun shots were echoing off
the city buildings. The only thing I could tell is that they were close. Maybe
a few blocks away. Maybe less.
    As I
listened to the sounds of a new kind of war I wondered about what to do with
Maria. I needed to get her to the military, I thought. I don’t care if they
execute me. Maria needed to get out of this city and the military were the only
ones capable of doing that. It was the right thing to do, the only logical
thing to do.
    There had to
be a radio around here somewhere. I could get the radio. Call for help. Simple.
    Right on
cue, there was a blast of static from the radio of a fallen soldier.
    The noise
was coming from behind me. I turned around. Lying underneath a huge slab of
concrete was a body of one of the men in black. The body was partially crushed
by the slab.
    His legs
were too far away from his upper body.
    Somehow his
radio was still working. I could hear static. Every now and then I could make
out voices on the other end.
    Scared
voices.
    Terrified
and panicked voices.
    "There’s too
many!"
    "Fall back!
Fall back!"
    "Get to the
extraction point. NOW!"
    "They’re
coming!"
    In between
the shouting I could hear gunshots and explosions. The screams of dying men.
The howling moans of infected.
    We weren’t
safe here, I thought.
    I could hear
static from another radio. There must’ve been another fallen soldier close by,
but I couldn’t see him. I moved a plank of wood that used to be part of the
footbridge. I expected the body to be underneath.
    Nothing.
    He had to be
close.
    I lifted
another piece of rubble. And then I finally found him.
    And then it
was clear to me.
    The reason I
was having a hard time finding the body.
    It was
slowly crawling away.
    But when I’d
moved the piece of wood it saw me or heard me or whatever.
    It knew I
was there.
    The body.
The infected.
    Moments ago
this thing was a soldier. A Special Forces soldier. He was smart and skilled.
Highly trained. His mission was to rescue Maria. Kill the rest of us. But a
human being none the less. His legs were bent at sickening angles. His
intestines had