Thursday, December 23, 2010

March of The Pigs: PART II

It was Mac’s cry for help that pulled Judah back into the moment. He sat up and looked around, his vision blurry from the trauma the Raider had deal. The world continued to spin and when he placed his hand to the back of his head, be felt the trickle of blood slipping between his fingers. Ahead, a cluster of Crazies rallied around the outside of The Generator Shed. The large door had been shut, and Mac was safely inside, though Judah didn’t know how much longer the barrier would hold them off. Slowly climbing to his knees, Jude crawled towards a large cargo crate. Once he was out of sight, he scanned the area for his rifle. His eyes finally located The 56, resting only a few yards away. Even though it was a short sprint from him, it was still too far and he was sure The Raiders would notice him. He was going to have to improvise.

Above him, he noticed the scaffolding, which could be reached via stacked containers. When he was above the chaos below, he took a minute to look back at the main entrance. The Family had only sent a wave of followers over the fence, but more were waiting to scale the chain link. They had to get The Titan running again. Moving quietly along the metal trusses, Jude didn’t stop until he was directly over the crowd assaulting Mac. There was nothing he could do to help his friend without a weapon, so he followed the walkway further down until he had reached The Weapon Cache. He lowered himself down onto the roof of the truck and opened a small hatch, before slipping in unseen.

Mac could feel his grip on the door handle weakening. He was going to die, and these freaks were going to eat him. He had let down the entire convoy, failed those he was assigned to protect. He couldn’t even protect Alison, why did he think he was capable of leading a colony? As his hand grew tired and sweaty, he closed his eyes. Was this how it was supposed to end? Dismembered by The Crazies in a shed? As pathetic as his final moments seemed, he accepted them and prepared to released the door, allowing the attackers to enter. Just before he could free his grasp, a whirling whistle gradually began to echo outside.

“MAC! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE DOOR!” Jude’s voice called over the now deafening hum of a spinning chain gun.

Mac dove to his left, as far away from the entrance as possible. His elbows tore open when the hit the concrete floor of the shed, splashing small specks of crimson onto the nearby wall. The small dots were soon joined by large gaping holes and violent mists of enemy blood. The minigun chewed through skin like thin paper, snapping bones like twigs. Jude’s barrage lasted for only a minute, but in that short amount of time, he’d managed to end eight lives. About 160 years worth of living, cut down by technology formed with brute force.

When the dust cleared, Mac stood up slowly. He could see Jude through the hole the gun had made in the wall.

“Holy shit!” Mac shouted, looking around at the corpses.


“I know!” Jude called back, his hands shaking as he placed the gun on the blood soaked ground. “Are you alright? I didn’t hit you, did I? My rescue options were limited” He explained and stepped through the hole into the shed with Mac.

“I’m fine, kid! We’ve ain’t got time to chat! We gotta get this fucking gene up and running before they send some more of their boys over the fence!” Mac informed, somewhat ignoring Jude’s question.

The two moved towards The Titan and scanned for the problem. Finally, Jude pointed over Mac’s shoulder.

“There! Cable came loose!” He cried.

The boy jogged over and connected to large extension cords. There was a sudden spark, a boom and then nothing. Complete darkness enveloped the room – The Titan had died.

“Oh fuck! Are you serious!?” Jude wailed from somewhere in the blackness.

“Nope, hold on!” Mac said confidently.

There was a bang, followed by a few clicking noises.

“Sometimes ya gotta give this old bastard a kick!” Mac laughed.

A loud crackle resounded throughout the shed, which worried Jude momentarily. Was the generator going to explode on them? These feelings disappeared when The Titan roared loudly and sprang back to life. Jude turned to Mac, who was leaning against a chair, smiling and breathing heavily.

“Told you” Mac chuckled, flashing a smile from behind his bushy mustache.

Across the yard, Cable was sending more troops towards The Compound. His cackles met a sudden halt as the newest scaling Family members shook violently moments after touching the fence, then collapsed into smoldering piles.

“What…” Cable whispered in shock. “This isn’t suppose to happen!” He cried, waving another group in.

They hesitated at first, but charged at the fence just the same. These followers met the same end as the previous party. Cable was stunned, and with his numbers now drastically cut in half, he called out for a retreat. Most of The Crazies that tried to return to him were shot by the remaining riflemen. When The Family finally pulled out, only twelve had survived. Jude watched them pile into a nearby truck and take off for The ICU.

“We did it! They’re retreating!” He cried happily.

Mac stayed silent, watching the truck pull away.

“No… Go get the jeep, Jude” He whispered.


“What? They’re leaving. We won, Mac” Jude laughed, rubbing an excited Stella on the head.

Mac looked at the boy, his eyes more serious than Jude had ever seen them.

“We have to follow them. We have to go to The ICU and finish this, or they’ll never leave us alone” He stated bluntly, picking up a backpack full of explosives. “You bring that jeep of yours around. I’m gonna go round up a few guys that aren’t hurt too badly” Mac walked towards the merchants, but stopped short and turned back to Jude. “Are you alright? Your heads bleeding something awful” He asked.

Jude touched his wound again. It stung, but it wasn’t anything too serious.

“I’ll be fine… Let’s just finish this” He answered, whipping the blood on his green cargo pants.

Mac grinned and slung his weapon over his right shoulder.

“That’s what I like to hear, Switch” He laughed.

Then he pivoted quickly, and marched towards The Guerillas. Jude hurried along in the direction of the garage, not stopping to pick up his rifle. About a mile away, Cable was riding shotgun. His face, still shrouded by his hood, remained expressionless. They’d put up more of a fight than he’d expected. The Family’s only option was to go back to The ICU and wait for them to arrive. Cable knew they’d come after them because he had seen a man he recognized. A man whose wife had been killed years ago in a raid. That man, with the bushy mustache, wanted blood for blood… And he was going to get it.

1 comment:

  1. Excellent as always. Jude and Mac are quite the pair of badasses and I'm really intrigued by Cable and just what the hell his deal is. As always, looking forward to more.

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