The Infection

Chapter 17

Ben checked his bag for anything he might of missed. He had his bag of guns, five grenades, a torch, a lighter, water, two days worth of food, and a second map that Cassie had drawn on, just in case they got separated. 

Cassie checked for the same reason he did, but found everything in order. This could be the most dangerous and stupidest thing she's ever done. Her and Ben will die if they slip up. She's never been so nervous about a mission before and she's done a lot of stupidly dangerous ones over the years. 

"Come back safely and preferably without the virus," Tom told her, as he helped her button up her thick army jacket. She nodded, but then told him, "No promises." He gave her a sad sigh, then pulled her in for a hug. When he pulled away, he told her, "If Stan tells us anything more, I'll radio you. We beat it out of him the first time, I'm sure we can beat some more out."

He handed her a radio and she stuck it in the side pocket of her gun bag. "Don't radio us unless you need to. Understand me?" She said. He saluted her and said, "Yes, ma'am. If you need us sooner than you think, just let us know."

She nodded. "Thanks, Tom. We should get going." Ben, who was standing awkwardly next to them, said, "Yeah, alright. See you out there, mate." He stuck his hand out to Tom, but he ended up just staring at it. Ben sighed and was about to retrieve his hand, but then Tom grabbed it and gave it a firm shake. 

"Be careful," he told him. Ben nodded. "We will." He let go of his hand, then walked up next to Cassie in front of the gate. A few seconds later, it started to open and they both took each other's hands and squeezed tightly. 

They both stepped out and started walking down the street. They could hear the gate close almost immediately behind them. They kept their hands together, but eventually let go when they realized they needed their guns to be out. 

There wasn't any talking, just their eyes glued to every part of the street, every corner, every valley in between buildings. They had miles and miles of this to go. By the time they reach where they need to be, it'll be pitch dark, which was apart of the plan. 

About two hours into their journey, they looked at the map and saw they were close to where they had been ambushed by the infected. When they got to the area, there weren't any of the infected. The only ones there were the ones they had killed a month ago and the stench was God awful. 

"They're not out yet," Ben whispered. "They're waiting." Cassie took his arm and continued to walk him along. "Let's not give them a reason to come out yet," she told him. They continued on to their destination without any trouble along the way. 

As it got darker, they could hear the screams of the infected, as they came out to hunt. They had their weapons up in case of any problems. When the screams got closer behind them, they decided to run. It took a little while longer, but they eventually ended up to where they needed to be.

They could hear the snarls and screams of the infected just around the building they had stopped at. They each peaked their head around and saw more of the Infected in one place than they had ever seen before. It was incredibly unsettling how many were just a few feet away. 

"We need to do this quick," Ben told her, as he took out his hand gun. "Tom, Chris and the rest of the group shouldn't be too far off. You take this building, I'll go to the one across." He took out a flare from his bag, but Cassie stopped him. 

"No, Ben, you're leg is still healing," she said. "I can run the fastest. I'll go." She took the flare from his hand, as he scoffed, "Are you kidding me?" She shook her head and told him, "No. Now get up there. I've got this." 

Before he could say anything else, she lit the flare, ran out from behind the building and threw it as far as she could into the horde of the Infected. As soon as it dropped, they all sprinted to it. Everything was happening so quickly, Ben hardly even noticed she was running to the building across the way. 

That was his cue to start getting up to the roof of the building he was at, so he quickly went to the back and started climbing up a ladder that was attached to the building. As he was climbing as quickly as he could, he heard gun shots. 

"Cassie," he whispered. "Cassie!" It was too late to climb down, so he went the rest of the way up and got to the roof. As quickly as he could, he ran up to the edge of the roof, took out a sniper and looked for Cassie. 

The Infected were on top of the roof at the building she was at. She was shooting them down, but it was attracting the ones on the ground and they were running inside! "Cassie, no!" He shouted. She shot down the last one, then looked over to him. 

"They're coming!" He shouted. "Hide!" She was trying to look for someplace to hide, but it was a goddamn roof! Instead, she ran over to its door and used one of the guns to put it through each handle so they couldn't get through. 

The door immediately started to move as soon as she stepped away. The Infected were trying to get in, but the gun was too strong for them. Ben let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his face. He watched as she checked herself for any cuts or bites or blood in her mouth. 

When she gave him a thumbs up, he wanted to cry in relief. He doesn't know what he would have done if he lost her. 

They went on with the plan and set up the homemade torches Rob had gotten for them. The newly lit light would attract, no only more of the infected, but Gary's group as well. Before lighting them, Cassie contacted Tom over the radio. 

Once she gave a nod to Ben, they both lit up the torches. They were planted on every corner of the roof, so it looked like an occupied building. After that, they grabbed their guns and set them up on the air conditioning units. This way, they could see down on the street, but nothing could see them. 

The sun was just getting down now. The adrenaline of the past few hours had made Ben exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to have Cassie over here to tell her how much he loved her and that if she ever pulled a stunt like that again, he would be furious. He also just wanted to kiss her like there was no tomorrow. 

Then again, there might not be.

Suddenly, he heard something climbing up the ladder. He pulled his hand gun from his holster and got off the air unit. He crept over to the ladder as quietly as a mouse and waited next to it, with his gun raised. He was getting ready to shoot when..."Jesus, Ben!" Tom whisper shouted. 

Ben let out a long breath and put away his gun. "I thought you were an Infected," he defended. "Where's Chris and everyone else?" Tom pointed down, so he looked and saw about six men coming up the ladder, the rest going over to Cassie. 

"We also brought along Stan," Tom told him. "He should be coming up here right now." As if on cue, Sebastian came up the ladder and tumbled on to the roof. He looked beaten and worn, but he got no sympathy from Ben. 

"Did he say anything else?" He asked. Tom nodded. "He told us they'd be coming up from the shore a few miles from here, so they'll be passing by. Our girl's plan is going to work." Ben smiled and looked to where Cassie was helping Chris and the others up on to her roof. "Yes, it is."