The Decay

Chapter 43 - The Sniper

43

It was evening by the time they reached the center of Boston. Two hours. They had planned to be on the road for four hours in total, but a rogue party of mercenaries three times their number had made them take a longer, alternative route. It was eerily quiet. “Up ahead is the financial district,” said Richard. “We should consider staying the night there if we find shelter.” Mike agreed with him. “We're exposed out here in these ruins,” he said. Grass, the remainder of trees and ruins surrounded them in this expanding area. Up ahead were a few buildings marking the surviving part of the district.

The sound of a gun shot interrupted him. “Get down!” He shouted. Diving behind a rock for cover, Mike pulled out his pistol and scanned the area in front of him for any vantage points. As a second shot was fired, he heard Anita scream in pain. Richard was dragging her by her arms behind the ruins of a building on his left. By the third shot, Mike saw the sniper. Up ahead were three buildings which had survived through the years. The one in the best condition stood at around 10 meters. Approximately midway down the building he saw a source of light. Taking aim, he fired three times at the target. Missed. I'm too far away, he thought. He ran closer, dodging two bullets. The third one grazed his left calf as he dove for cover behind a broken tree trunk. He winced in pain. He leaned to his right, aimed the pistol and shot twice. The first bullet narrowly missed the target, but the second must have hit as a scream of pain arose from within the building.

Mike ran inside. As he ran up the first flight of stairs, a thought struck him and he froze in his tracks. Traps. He looked down and, rightly so, noticed a thin wire stretched across the stairs three steps from where he was standing. He stepped over the booby trap and proceeded up the next flight of stairs. And another. And one more. He heard shuffling coming from the second room on the left side of this floor. Raising his pistol, he crept quietly down the corridor towards the sound. As he reached the door frame, he stopped and listened. Someone gasping for air. He peeked inside to find a man holding a shotgun aimed at the doorway.

Mike barely managed to retract his head from the open door before a spray of pellets lodged themselves into the opposite wall. He entered the room, gun first, and shot the man twice in the head. The third pull of the trigger resulted in a 'click' sound, and so did the fourth, fifth and sixth pulls. “That's for Anita you son of a bitch.” Her scream came back to haunt him. Anita. He ran down the stairs, careful of the traps and sprinted towards the wall he had last seen Richard and Anita. “Anita! Are you okay?” he shouted. No response. As he turned around the wall, he saw Richard kneeling next to her. He looked up at Mike as soon as he heard him. “Hey, she got hit in the right leg. We need to get the bullet out, stop the bleeding, close the wound and give her some kind of antibiotics as soon as possible. “What do we? What do we do?” asked Mike, panicked.

“The Massachusetts hospital is close by. I don't know what we'll find in there but it's our best bet to find some kind of tools and bandaging,” said Richard. “But how are we going to remove the bullet?” asked Mike, worried. “I have some basic medical experience. I should be able to get it out.” Mike took a deep breath trying to calm himself. “Okay Richard, I'll carry her. Stay ahead of us and let's hurry.” Richard nodded, picking up the duffel bag. “I wrapped my sleeve around her thigh to try and limit the bleeding for now but we have to hurry. It's about a 20 minute walk.”