Free Bowie V. Ibarra by Down The Road Page B

George from his sleep. Jeff was running into the room, an expression of fear on his face.
    “If you’re trying to get home, you’d better hoof it now! Those military fuckers from FEMA are attacking the place!”
    Gunfire and explosions were erupting outside. The building shook again.
    George’s gear was still in his car by the gas station. He and Jeff ran through the halls among a large crowd of men, women, and children. Lots of yelling, lots of screaming, lots of crying. Another explosion punched a hole in the wall behind them. The force of the blast threw them to the ground, their ears ringing.
     
    Four girls, two children, and a man weren’t so lucky. Most ended up a red mess on the adjacent cracked wall. The others were in pieces.
    The man’s weapon, an AK-47, fell by Jeff. It looked functional.
    More screams and crying children were heard as a series of rapid gunfire shots were resonating across the breached hallway.
    They were, indeed, under attack -A balls-out attack meant to crush them.
    When George and Jeff exited the building, they finally got to see exactly what was going on. A large tank had shot a huge gap in the automotive barrier, and a small group of green camouflaged soldiers -in hi-tech gear and armed to the teeth -were storming the place, laying waste the valiant, yet untrained, survival community. A field of wholesale slaughter was forming in front of their eyes.
    Through a loudspeaker, a booming voice was heard. “This is Homeland Security. We are here to help. Please lay down your weapons and follow us to safety at the FEMA center. You are not being attacked. Homeland Security is here to help. Repeating, you are not under attack.”
    From worse to even worse, the assault was opening up the community to the living dead, who were beginning to enter in increasing numbers in the trail of the soldiers.
    Jeff yelled, “Some of the escapees warned they were going to do this, but I didn’t think it would be this soon!” He passed the AK-47 to George. “I know you’ve got family to get to. There’s a large group of us that’s making a break for it.” He pointed to his gas station where cars were already hauling ass out. The military didn’t have as much man or firepower at the end where George entered from, and it looked like a good escape route. “But you need to fuckin’ go now!”
    “What about you?”
    “That’s my gas station, friend.”
    “Bad ass,” complimented George. Bullets ricocheted over their heads.
    “Go!” yelled Jeff as he began firing towards the advancing column of green.
    George sprinted to his car.
    “Homeland Security is here to help. You are not under attack.”
    Overhead, a helicopter began emptying its content of soldiers onto the roof of the elementary school. Explosions rocked the roof of the school as the black-clad and masked force entered from the roof. George knew there were only some women, children, and old men in the school.
    Those bastards, he thought.
    Gunfire, blasts, and screams shook George’s eardrums as he raced to the car. Several soldiers were opening fire on some of the barrier men, smearing them across the cars and mattresses of the barricade near the exit. George hit the ground, pointed the barrel of the AK-47 at the soldiers, and pulled the trigger. Sparks erupted from the end of the gun and the butt-end rattled violently against George’s shoulder. When he let his finger off the trigger he saw that the soldiers were down. But dead? He wasn’t sure. Getting up off the ground in a scurry, George saw creatures coming through the barrier as well.
    “Lay down your weapons and follow a member to the FEMA center at the stadium. We are here to help.”
    Several more vehicles hit the exit -and each other -on the way out as George unlocked his car, fired it up, and sped to the exit. George turned the corner just as a soldier came running in, colliding violently with the soldier’s right leg and snapping it in two. The soldier discharged his