Young Terror Chapters 5 through 8

Chapter 5



I woke up the next morning with a bit of a headache, which annoyed me immensely, but the girls didn't bother me. They knew what would happen today, my plan would fall through, and we would either end up driving away with our friends by the end of the day, or end up dead. It was as simple as that. It rained that day as well, and the gloomy surroundings only seemed to make our morale that much lower. Soon, it was time to move. I called the girls over to me, loaded the crossbow, and began to head out our little compound.

I went down to the middle of the road and checked the watch I had grabbed from my house, it was seven-twenty-six. Quickly, we got into positions, all lying in a relatively random order, limbs sprawled out, trying to look like we were killed by something in the area. I didn't exactly know how convincing we

seemed, but when I heard the ambulance approaching I held my breath, and the girls did the same. It stopped, and the two men got out of their vehicle. I felt so nervous I could of thrown up.

"Looks like there's a couple of fresh ones." said one of the men. "Yeah, young ones too. I'm sure they'd appreciate them for testing, they don't look too banged up." replied the other. My fears were indeed confirmed, they were doing testing on humans, and human corpses. I didn't know if it was necessary or not, but I didn't want to be a lab experiment for the rest of my life. They came closer to us, looking at us more closely. "In fact, they look like they're nearly in perfect condition, there's not even blood on the ground." one of them said. He seemed suspicious, and I couldn't hold my breath any longer. Once he knelt down next to me I sprang up, and my knee connected solidly with his jaw. He was knocked out instantly, and his partner didn't even had time to react before Lia had her hands around his throat. She choked him unconscious as well, and we laid them down in the road. From inside the vehicle I heard a radio crack to life.

"Hello, hello? You're late, respond immediately. Hello?" they said. Quickly, I grabbed the radio and fumbled with it a little. "Hello, we're reporting in" I said in my most masculine voice. "We'll be arriving soon, we found some fresh ones on the side of the road. Sorry for the delay." There was a pause. "Alright" he finally responded. "Get over here as soon as possible though. We're going to need more transports out of town, we need to evacuate the area soon. We have reports of a horde of the infected heading this way, and we are to join the other battalions in the quarantine area." I was impressed by how

successfully this was going. "Roger that." I responded. I thought quickly, and came up with another plan. I undressed both of the men and took their uniforms, which included what seemed to be a surgical mask to cover my face, it was perfect. Then, using some of the body bags in the back of the ambulance, we

would send them the driver and passenger as decoys to be our "fresh ones" that we had collected on the side of the road.

I got in the ambulance and hid our equipment in the back, along with the girls. I drove up to the armory as casually as possible, and parked up next to the gate until a soldier arrived, as we had seen them wait like this multiple times before, and we wanted to seem like we were completely following protocol. He came up next to the window, which I then proceeded to roll down. "You have some samples in the back?" "Yes sir." was all I did to respond. "Do you have further orders?" he asked me. "Yes, I am to join the convoy in evacuation to the

quarantine area." I said. "Very good, you're free to come in." he said. Then he turned around and opened the gate for me. I drove in slowly, and parked in the exact same place we had seen the ambulance park multiple times before. Soon, soldiers came out to aid me in bringing in the "bodies" I told the girls to just remain back in the ambulance.

Two soldiers and I carried the unconscious men within the body bags to the back enters certain of the armory as many other soldiers marched and patrolled around us. I couldn't believe my disguise was working so well, but nobody seemed suspicious at all. Perhaps it was their feeling of smug security, or their doubt that some teenagers could ever possibly infiltrate their fortress. I entered the armory and was greeted by the sight of a rather large room with multiple tables and beds. On some of the beds lied what i could easily identify as infected, some tied down as the struggled in their bonds, mouths gagged. Others weren't moving at all. Two of the soldiers laid one of my men down on a table nearby, and I followed their lead. I couldn't identify any of my friends in the area, but I knew there was a larger main room in the armory. That's probably where they kept the healthy ones, I assumed. After I made this assumption it actually comforted me that I couldn't see my friends around, maybe they were fine after all. Soon, I was approached by a man who I would describe as "Military" obviously high ranking, and very professional looking. I stood up straight as he approached me.

"Sir?" I said in a respectful tone. "You" he responded. "You're supposed to be helping us transport the healthy ones out of here, are you not?" "Yes sir." I responded. "Very good." he said. "Follow me..." He lead me to a door at the back of the room, and into the main chamber of the armory, a huge room

filled with bunk-beds where my friends and acquaintances had been staying. My eyes searched frantically for my friends as I followed the officer. Eventually he came to a stop. "I don't care which ones you take, just grab as many as you can fit in your vehicle and we'll depart at eight." he said as soldiers around us lined up everyone in the room. I walked down the line of them, and pointed to one of my friends, Derrick. "You, you're with me." I said to him. I couldn't believe my eyes, Derrick, Jaykob, Ashley, Emily, Weston, and Abby were all fine, I was almost jumping for joy, but I had to retain my posture, as I was still

surrounded.

After I gathered up all of my friends they followed me, without so much as a clue that it was actually me breaking them out. I approached the officer once again, and stood up straight. "Sir." I said. "Are these the ones you'll be taking then?" he said to me. "Yes sir." I responded. "Very well then, take them

out to your vehicle, and once we move out just follow us to the quarantine area." "Yes sir." I said once again. I left with my friends behind me in a single-file line, they were silent. I got to my vehicle and loaded them one by one into the back. I got in the drivers seat and checked my watch again. It was seven-fifty-seven. I looked into the back of the ambulance as they just sat there, quietly. I couldn't handle it anymore, and almost crying went to the back of the vehicle.

"Guys, don't make a sound, but it's me, John! We're here to rescue you!" I said in a whisper as Emilee and Lia emerged from their hiding places behind some boxes in the back. Their faces brightened up instantly, but they remained silent. I just put my finger over my surgical mask in a "Shhh" sign. I looked to my side and saw some soldiers approaching me. I slammed the back-doors of the ambulance shut.

"We'll be leaving momentarily." one of them said. "Alright" I replied "I'm just to follow you?" "Yes sir, you are to follow us to the quarantine zone, and we'll take care of the rest from there." I got back in the drivers seat, and began to pull out of my parking space. Multiple large green trucks began to pull

out of the armory, and down the road. Luckily, I was the last one in the military convoy.

Soon I was driving smoothly down the road behind them, we left town and I saw in the rear-view mirror as my friends re-united, crying and smiling, I couldn't believe it had worked so well. It was incredible, I never thought I could've managed it. However, I wasn't quite out of danger yet, I had to find a final way to escape, and then a safe place to stay. Little did I know, safe places were now too few and far between for me to have any chance of managing that, and I hadn't exactly though ahead about how that the vehicle I was driving was a huge target for looters, a freaking ambulance.



Chapter 6



Everything was going so smoothly, and I couldn't believe it when we passed a sign that said we were now entering Fort Hurington. That's where Tom worked, and by the looks of the area the quarantine zone wasn't anywhere around here. We passed through the streets of the town, slowly making turns and weaving through the littered streets, past abandoned cars and other vehicles. Soon, as we had passed all the way through the town and were now on the outskirts, I saw what I was looking for, the Hurington Hotel, where Tom worked as a dishwasher. Slowly, I pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine, the lights of the ambulance went out and I watched as the rest of the convoy pulled away, oblivious of my absence.

Once I was satisfied that we were alone I walked to the back of the vehicle and opened the back doors, hopped in, and quickly closed them. "Is everyone alright?" I asked quietly. They nodded, which was a satisfactory enough answer for me. "So, what was happening in the armory?" I asked. "They were taking some of us every day into that backroom, all I heard was some talk about a vaccine." said Derrick. "Yeah man, they were testing on the people they took back there, apparently there were quite a few 'failures'." said Jaykob. "It was terrifying!"

exclaimed Emily quietly. "That's absolutely horrible, they deliberately infected those people..." I said. "Well, at least we're alright. Now, we're right by the place where Tom worked, and I don't have enough food for all of us, so a few of us will go check it out, and the rest of you guard the ambulance. Hopefully we'll find Tom too..." I said. They all agreed to the plan. "So, who's coming this time?" said Emilee. "Well, Derrick, Weston, and Lia can be my team for this one. I trust that Abby will keep things under control around here until we get back. Does anyone disagree?" nobody seemed to. It made me happy that we were all friends, it didn't matter who was in charge or anything, and they understood that.

I had picked certain friends to come with me because of certain qualities. Lia and Derrick were a bit small, and could definitely fit in places I couldn't, and both of them were great for emotional support as well. Weston was quite the runner, tall, and cautious, perfect for a little recon mission. I was conflicted as to which group would get the crossbow, but I decided that my group should take it because of the risk of infected in the building, or if the other group was ambushed we could help free them from that danger from the outside. I grabbed the cross bow from out the back of the ambulance, and brought it out. Lia grabbed it from me and said "Dibs, it's my turn this time." I didn't object, I knew she was a good shot, she had been in rifle club for quite a few years when she was younger.

It was pretty dark out now, I checked my watch which read nine-forty-two. Sadly, we only had one flashlight, which I turned on as we crossed the street to the hotel, myself taking the lead. I heard the back-doors of the ambulance closing behind us, and was surprised to find the front door of the hotel cracked open a bit. I slowly opened it, ready to slam it shut at any moment, but the front room was empty, and actually rather clean. Tom worked in the kitchen downstairs as a dishwasher, which scared me. What if the water he was working

with was infected? We made our way down the stairs, the lights flickered every once in a while, signs of the inevitable power failure. Soon, we made it to the kitchen door. I reached for the knob, but it was locked. I began to slam on the door, which made a loud banging noise.

"Do you want to get shot?" yelled back a voice that I could identify as our friend. "You have a gun?" I yelled back. "Holy shit..." he said as he recognized my voice. "Give me a minute man, I got the door all locked up..." I heard tumblers moving, something huge scraping across the floor beyond the door, and finally the door-knob twisting. Tom opened the door, a shotgun in his right hand. He smiled widely, and then let us in. "Tom, the rest of our friends are waiting for us in an ambulance out front... but where the hell did you get that gun?" I asked. "Well, it was upstairs in case of an emergency, when an entire

party of a couple hundred people drank the water upstairs and turned into those things, the chef went up to grab it. I could see that he was bit when he got back downstairs, and he just fell to the floor after locking the door. So I grabbed the gun and beat his head in with a frying pan." he said. "Shit man,

that's brutal." said Derrick. "Yeah dude, now, how are you guys doing on food?" he didn't have to say anything more. We grabbed everything we could and ran up to the ambulance. Finally, we were all in the back of our transportation, which was now rather crouded, but nobody was bothered by that, they were surrounded by friends again. We discussed our stories, everything that had happened over the past five days or so. We discussed our next plan of action as well.

"Well, I had heard movement upstairs, so I don't think we can really stay here." said Tom. "Yeah, and ambulances don't have the greatest gas mileage either." I said, knowing full-well that we could only drive for a few more hours if we had to. After our talk was over I got back in the front of the ambulance

and invited Jaykob to come be my navigator, as he had been in this area before. We got in the front of the ambulance, I turned the key, and the motor hummed to life. The lights turned on, and I thought could see a figure in the distance, but it moved away too quickly for me to tell if it was just my eyes playing

tricks on me. Slowly, I got back on the road and made my way past more abandoned cars and other such obstacles until we were heading out of town.

I could hear them in the back, the comfort of seeing each other was enough for now, but they wanted to see their families. I didn't have a clue where they were, but I knew there was a chance we could find out so long as we survived. I continued driving down the dark road until we emptied out onto a highway, and luckily only a few of the lanes were filled with vehicles, no longer moving, just adding to my growing headache. I looked in the rear-view mirror and was surprised to see lights behind us, growing as they moved closer and closer. We were already going fifty miles per hour, but the ambulance was heavy, and

wouldn't accelerate quickly enough. They moved up next to me, two big Ford trucks, filled with people wearing bandanas.

"Hold on!" I yelled, and I floored it, but they were faster. I was no expert driver, and when they slammed into the side of the ambulance I had no chance of keeping it under control. We swerved off the highway, and into a large

tree. My head slammed into the steering wheel, and then everything went dark...



Chapter 7



I woke up in the morning, the sun was just starting to rise, and the birds were once again singing. The sky was clear, but I couldn't see that at the moment. In fact, I could barely see anything because my vision was so blurry. My head was bleeding, and much of my body ached. I simply looked around for a little, immobile. Soon it all began to come back to me, and I was happy to be alive. However, through the motivator that I couldn't hear my friends in the back of the vehicle I managed to get out, and stumble to the back door, which I fumbled with a few times before managing to open.

Empty, everything was gone, my friends, my supplies, my weapon, my hope. All taken by those marauders. The ambulance was totaled, there was no point in even checking to see if it would run, not that I could drive in this condition anyway. They took everybody and everything but me, perhaps they thought I was

dead, but that didn't matter now. I began to stumble and limp down the highway, just hoping that there weren't any infected hiding behind the cars that lined the roads. The pain I felt was immense, I had to hold my left arm as I walked, and limp along the road. I had no chance of running away from an infected, and I couldn't fight back at all as well.

I was bleeding, and let my hurt arm hang loose as I used my shirt to cover the deep cut on my forehead. Slowly, I made my way down the road, though I had no clue where I was heading. Eventually I collapsed, and just laid in the middle of the road. I couldn't move any more, my strength had been sapped, and my body slowly began to fail me. My vision blurred out again, and I closed my eyes, accepting defeat. Maybe my friends and family could manage to survive, maybe they'd be alright, those were my last thoughts as I closed my eyes, and prepared not to get back up...

Despite all this, I woke up once again. A tall man with a hat was poking me with the end of a rifle. "Get up, c'mon kid, you aren't dead yet." he said, I opened my eyes, and he helped me into the passenger seat of his truck. "That was some wreck you made, I can't believe you made it that far in this condition. You were so close just to give up too, one more half-mile down the highway and you would've been in good hands." he said as he started the car and began to drive. "We'll get you bandaged up kid. You got a name?" he said. "John..." was all I

could say, weakly at that. "John, huh? Well, I'm George, and I think we're going to have some use for you."

He handed me a bottle of water, which I almost declined. I didn't get thirsty or hungry too easily, especially not in stressful situations, but I realized that my body probably needed something to drink after all the trams I had been through. Who was I to decline clean water anyway? It wasn't too long before he pulled up into what seemed like an RV park. He was greeted by the residents as he drove by slowly, and if they asked about me he would just shrug and say he "Found a live one." I didn't object or anything, I'd say he was being

very gracious so far.

They brought me to an RV with red bandage in the shape of a plus sign, which I could identify as the infirmary. George helped me in, and they sat me down on a couch. After many days of relatively intensive care, tests, and bandages, all courtesy of the local doctor. I was grateful, and ventured out of the RV finally, after a week of being cared for. I asked around the park, looking for George, I owed him a lot and maybe I could use these people's help to re-locate my friends. I found his RV after getting some directions, and knocked on the door.

"You're looking good." he said with a smirk. "Thanks." I responded. "Well, looks like you owe me a favor." he said rather cheerily as he closed his RV door behind him. "Anything you want, I really appreciate what you've done for me." I said. "Of course, not a problem. But we do need your help, and it'll be a little dangerous. You can stay with us for the next few months while you heal up, but our supplies are beginning to drain. When you decide to leave, all I need you to do is head west, go into town, and grab some medicine. Not too difficult, right?" he asked. "Undoubtably, I'd be more than glad to help." I replied. "Very good, well, I'll see you around then."

Over the few months that I stayed in the community I helped any way I could. Moving around fortifications, cleaning guns, and just generally fixing things up in the area. Occasionally someone would yell about approaching infected, every few days at least, and then a few men with guns would run to the side of the community that they were approaching from, eliminate them, and then take away the bodies to be burned. It was an efficient system, and throughout the Summer the place only seemed to improve, as did my health. Soon I was in good condition, and once again approached George.

"Well hello there John!" he said. "Hey George. So I was thinking that I'm ready now, I'll go get your medicine for you." "Alright, sounds good. Thank you for everything you've done around here, you've been a big help." he said. I felt great, as if I had really made a difference in the course of this area, maybe it wouldn't have ended up in quite as good shape if I didn't get brought here. "No, thank you. If it weren't for you I wouldn't be alive. So, I just head West?" I asked for reassurance. "Sure, I've got a backpack ready for you. It has a little bit of food, some spare clothes, clean water, and a pair of binoculars." he said. The thought raced through me, I had to find my friends and the binoculars reminded me of this. The item that I had looked so desperately for with Lia, just so that I could save my friends. Suddenly I was filled with new motivation, I would find them, and we would all be together again, every part of my being believed it. I would not fail.

After thanking George once again for everything, and head down the country road. Just like always, as I was walking along, I got lost in my thoughts. I scouted out the town, entered the pharmacy, and was chased by the infected, which then led to the surprising "John! What the hell?" I looked up slowly to see none other than my brother, Troy, staring down at me, rifle in hand, bandana around his face. "You were driving the truck..." was all I said as I identified his truck as the vehicle that drove us off the road.



Chapter 8



My brother jumped down from off the truck, and then helped me back on my feet. For a brief moment I was infuriated at my brother, as he was the one who caused me so much pain. However, it really didn't matter to me, I had missed my brother more than almost anything. He had always been there for me, and there's

absolutely nobody I thought I had a better chance of surviving with in this situation. I got on the truck with him, he told the driver to start moving, then he spoke to me on the way to our destination.

"Have you heard of the rebels?" he asked. "No, I haven't really heard too much from anyone other than the visitors and merchants that head to the RV park I've been at for the last few months. Who are they?" I responded, intrigued by the idea of a rebel army, and my brother being associated with them was all the better for me. "They are us. Ever since we found out about the militaries experimental testing we've been trying to stop them. They've gotten nowhere with a vaccine, and yet they urge us all to go to the quarantine zone. I almost believed them at one point, but then a guy escaped from the quarantine zone.

Soon after he told the group of survivors I was with and I that it might as well just be a testing zone. We formed the rebellion and tried to stop the military from hurting more people, which is why I ran you off the road. I thought you were just another collector, picking up bodies and people and taking them to be

tortured, so we saved your friends and transported them to headquarters. They're safe by the way." "Good to know. How long until we get to your 'headquarters'?" I asked. I was interested in the rebellions intentions, and I couldn't wait to see my friends once again. I was ecstatic to hear they had made it, and were in good hands this whole time.

"A couple more minutes, we're situated at a hospital not far from here." and soon, after an exit off the highway and a couple of winding roads, we had made it to the hospital. It was in good shape, and I was glad to see activity in the area. People moving, working, living. That was something I needed to see. My brother and I hopped off the truck, and the driver then drove it to the parking lot. We walked into the hospital as he gave me a little tour. I was more than impressed, they had food, a garden, over five hundred residents, and patrols out every day. This was the most secure non-military establishment of human activity within a one hundred and fifty mile radius, or so they told me. Also, very importantly, they had weapons. Over the months they had scavenged whatever guns and ammunition they could find, and with good reason. For one, I was informed that the infected had completely over-run Whitington, as the soldiers had forewarned back at the armory. My brother walked into a room that said "Officers only" and sent me upstairs to find my friends.

I opened the door to room 306, which my brother told me was where my friends were situated. They were as happy to see me as I was to see them, and the reunion went on for several hours. "I can't believe you're alive. When the driver looked at you he said there wasn't a doubt, you were dead. Your brother almost went mad, he wanted to get back at what the military had caused, and now we believe they're going to start an assault on the quarantine zone soon." said Jaykob. "Wow, really? That would be crazy, does anyone know what the quarantine zone is like?" I asked. "No, but from what we've heard it's like an entire town,

fenced off from the outside. Only the officers really know what it's like, I think they have a map..." said Ashley. "That's incredible, if we could just manage to capture the quarantine zone we could almost live normal lives." I said, awe inspired by the idea of things even going remotely back to the way they were. "Well, it just might happen. We'll have to wait and see." said Abby.

The next few months went by without too much commotion. The Winter was harsh, but it reduced the amount of infected in the area, which almost made up for the hunger. Once Spring came along we were down to a normal routine throughout the day. Everyone had their chore, but it was worth it to watch

things improve around the rebel headquarters. The hospital was cleaned up, Derrick and some of the engineers repaired the generator, so we had working lights. Weston became part of the patrol groups, and Jaykob worked in the garden. Lia was given a rifle and would go up on to the roof some days, she was more than glad to have the title "Sniper". Tom worked in the armory, checking the guns, cleaning them, and stocking the ammunition. Abby, Ashley, and Emilee did some domestic work, and occasionally volunteered in the kitchen. I began training as a medic in the upper floors of the hospital, a skill which I knew

could prove invaluable. During the Spring however there was one activity we all participated in, training in how to fight.

I was surprised to see so many familiar faces at the hospital, many of my peers from Whitington school had made it here. Apparently the rebels missions in intercepting the militaries transport convoys of civilians had been rather

successful, and the amount of people who lived in the complex increased every day. During the nights we sat around in our room and talked about the day. We'd party by playing cards and telling jokes, it was a relatively comfy life,

undoubtably. I needed to know one thing, however.

One day I walked up to my brother, got his attention and said "Where's the rest of our family?" to which he responded "Captured, by those bastards, the military. If we capture the quarantine zone, we'll see them again, hopefully." "So it's true, we're going to attack the quarantine zone?" I asked. "Yeah, soon. I can't tell you exactly when yet, but soon..." He was then called away, but at least I had my answer.

The rebel army had grown, and soon we were more than two hundred strong. Our squad was pulling together, and in time we felt we were ready for action. Once spring had passed we were to receive an important announcement. The news spread quickly, this July we were to attack the quarantine zone, and stop the militaries terrible deeds. I was ready to see my family again, and no innocent soldier was going to stand in my way.