Hive Island - The Awakening | Open Novella Contest 2020

Chapter 9 - The Docks

"Are you coming or what?" Ron barked as he held the door open with one hand and held his rifle in his other hand.

"Matthew, let's go," Oliver said. Matthew left the room while Oliver lingered a few extra seconds. Then he shook off the unease he felt about leaving Claire. I was no longer Claire, that he was sure of. He left the room without looking back.

"Change of plans," Ron said as they tried to keep up with him. "Like I said, the perimiter has been breached and—"

"Which perimeter? The village perimeter?"

Ron stopped and looked at Oliver. "No. The city perimeter. The undead could be here anytime. We need to get you guys out of here."

"Out of here?"

"Yes. Off the island. Gone. Away."

"Wait a second. Where's Becker?"

"In the command center, I suppose," Ron said and waved toward the OPS CENTER door.

"Ok, just hang on. Matthew, wait here, I'll be right back," Oliver said and ran over to the operations center. Inside, operators were hunched over their screens, trying in vain to get their peers on the line. Becker sat at a desk, deep in a phone conversation. Oliver tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" Becker grunted. "Ive got a bit of a situation here."

"Is the city perimeter breached?"

"Look for yourself." Becker pushed a couple of buttons and the map of the city came up on the screen. "White dots represents the perimeter." There were no white dots on the screen.

"Where are they?" Oliver said and gestured towards the screen. "There's no-one."

"Exactly," Becker said and ran his fingers through his hair, then rubbed his eyes. "They've been overrun. They're either hiding or dead."

"What are you going to do?"

Becker shrugged. "We're regrouping at the airport. Our last stand."

"So that's it?"

"Unless you have any bright ideas?" Becker said and turned. "No? Thought so. I'd suggest you get out of here while you still can. Now, get out of here, I've got a job to do."

Oliver looked at the map one more time and noted that the road to the airport still appeared to be clear. Perhaps Becker and Ron were right. It was time to leave.

He rejoined Matthew and Ron.

"Anything else you need to do?" Ron said and glanced at his wrist watch.

"No, you're right. It's time to leave. Becker said as much."

"Ok. No time to waste. I've arranged for a private flight out of the airport," Ron said as they reached the entrance. "We just need to find a way to get there."

"We can use Claire's Jeep," Oliver said and pointed towards the vehicle that was still parked at an angle across the lanes of traffic. No-one had attempted to move it.

"Perfect. You drive, I'll provide us cover."

Without further discussion, they all piled into the Jeep. It started on the first try. Ron guided Oliver away from the station, but they only got a block down the road before traffic came to a standstill.

Ron cursed and slammed his fist into the dashboard, then open the sunroof and stood up.

"Traffic jam," he shouted. "Try to use the sidewalk."

Oliver cranked the wheel to the right and moved forward on the sidewalk, laying on his horn to get people to move out of the way. Around him, angry shouts and honks erupted as he tried to bypass the line everyone else were stuck in. They got stuck at a metal fence.