I n f i n i t u m

Chapter Seventeen

For a moment we all just stared at each other, not one of us moving a single muscle, lest he had a trigger-happy finger.

He was tall and well built, definitely not someone Jess or Teejay could take on, but if I played my cards right, I had a fair chance. He was dressed in the same military combat uniform as the group moving down the street, and he carried his rifle like someone who knew how to use it would. I just needed to disarm him before he could shoot any of us— only problem was that everyone was in front of me.

"Hands up."

We all did as he said, me a little bit slower than the others, in which drew his attention immediately. Good. He didn't say anything, but he narrowed his eyes as he pressed on something that was in his ear, "I have a group of pups by number twelve, over."

My finger twitched.

The soldier cocked his chin and stepped forward, "Move it, and don't even think about raising any of those weapons at us."

I let the rest of my crew pass and followed a little ways behind them. I moved slowly to aggravate him, and in response, the man jutted his rifle at me. I moved first. I immediately grabbed the head of it, using his surprise to my advantage and disarming him in mere seconds. I pointed it at him and motioned for my crew to get back to the open gate. I backed away slowly, then lunged to strike the butt end of the rifle across his face, knocking him unconscious. I frisked his body for any weapons and came back with a pistol.

I handed it to Jess when I met them in the yard, "Don't fire—"

She immediately came up and fired a shot, shattering the glass door completely. We all stared at her in shock.

"Come on! Move it!" she hissed.

We all rushed through. My breath came in shallow when I peeked through the tiny gap in the curtains and saw them draw closer to the house, guns aimed and ready. Someone spoke through a megaphone the next moment, the voice making me jump, "Come out with your hands in the air!"

A good minute of absolutely nothing passed and just when I was about to peek through the curtains to see what they were doing, glass shattered and something tumbled across the floor. I didn't have enough time to process what it was before it was too late.

A deafening explosion sounded and white light flashed, momentarily blinding me. My ears were ringing so painfully that they had to be bleeding. I didn't even realize I was on the floor until harsh hands were pulling me up.

My head lolled and my fuzzy vision became black.

.

.

.

I woke with a jolt and my head banged against something hard. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was the top of a bunk and my bed was a part of a few others inside a dimly lit room and other sleeping people. An IV was attached to my inner arm, and carefully, I pulled out the needle with a cringe. 

The bunk above me shifted and a head poked out from the side. I watched, my mind spinning, as Teejay climbed down and settled beside my legs, "Hey, how're you feeling?"

"Confused. Where are we?"

"Don't freak out, okay?"

I shook my head, "Already am."

"We're quarantined right now. Only for another few minutes, though. They were waiting until you woke up."

My eyebrows furrowed, "Who?"

"Aegis Stronghold. They're a U.S. military base established in Canada housing around five hundred survivors. That's about all I remembered when I'd asked."