Race for Safe Haven- Labs pt1

[Posted by Ted H]

By now, I should know what my NaNoWriMo should be.........hopefully. I am scheduling this from the fuuuuuuutuuuuuuure!

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[Race for Safe Haven - Labs pt1]

            "Let's get moving," Mike said as he nodded to Jason and everyone else got situated in the station wagon. Brandon started the engine as Jason pulled on the chain to raise the garage door. He drove quickly into the empty street as Jason dropped the door behind them. "This is going to be easy," Brandon said as encouragement as the drive began. Brandon sped through the streets as he recounted the path back to the shelter, Rhett looking out his window in blind hope that he'd see a certain recognizable car he remembered Chris and his family leaving in.
            No one talked as Brandon drove, opting to instead check and recheck their weapons. Nothing was left with Jason and the others, Brandon assured they were safe and that every available weapon was needed for this mission. Ammo wasn't plentiful either, another reason Brandon insisted that every gun was taken.
            The emergency shelter was several miles away in a caged off area with various warning signs posted along the way. "They allowed infected people inside," Brandon explained "That's what led to everything falling apart. At first it was a good idea, but once they lost all usefulness..." Mike was about to question what he meant when Brandon turned the wheel quickly to avoid hitting a zombie that wandered into his path. "Shit!" he said as he swerved again to avoid more. He turned a corner to reveal a large amount clustering around where the shelter was.
            "I figure they would have dispersed by now," Brandon said as he slowed down. "That's a lot of them," Steve said as he peeked over Mike's seat to look "I don't think we can just plow through that." Brandon hit the gas and sped towards the shelter. "Sure we can!" he yelled over the raging engine "We just need to have enough speed behind us!"
            "Brandon, stop!" Tara called "There has to be an easier way!"
            "The only other way is to go all the way around," Brandon said "That'll take too long and who knows what will go wrong."
            Brandon crashed into the first zombie and it harmlessly bounced off the front of the car. More zombies were taking notice though and were now clustering into the path of the station wagon. More and more were colliding with the car and being forced away, but  Brandon was losing speed as he was hitting more, and visibility was dropping from the occasional blood splatter onto the windshield. Brandon tried to turn away from the heavy section of the hoard, but they were becoming too tightly packed in the street to avoid.
            Brandon mounted the sidewalk and crashed into a building. Almost immediately, the dead overwhelmed the car. "Get us out of here!" Mike screamed as Brandon shifted into reverse and back up blind into a lamppost and sliding into another car. The car was stuck and Brandon couldn't drive out. "What now?" Tara said as Brandon opened his door and jumped out. "Out!" Mike called as he climbed out and shot at the nearest zombies.
            "Fuck," Rhett said as he opened his door, only for it to get caught on the other car Brandon drove into, making it impossible to get out on this side. Steve had already gotten out on his side and Tara was out after him before Matt toppled over the seat from the back and leapt out. Rhett frantically  shifted over to the other side as hands pounded on the front of the car and zombies began climbing in through the open front doors. A zombie appeared in the doorway Rhett was trying to get to and he shifter back and aimed his shotgun and fired.
            "Not good," Rhett said as he swatted away the reaching hands from the front and pumped the shotgun and fired at the zombies that kept appearing in his exit. The piled bodies created a temporary obstacle as he flipped himself over the seat and into the trunk area. He fired the shotgun and blew away the rear window, then quickly stuck his hand arm through to find the trunk latch. He kicked the raising door to knock back any nearby zombie before blowing a hole through the line with his shotgun and sprinting.
            "Rhett!" Tara called as Rhett ran forward in the crowd. She was standing at a corner store front waving him over as Steve and Mike fired into the hoard. Rhett caught up and they followed Brandon into the store and out the other side of the corner, funneling the dead where they entered and allowing them a distraction. Brandon led them to the narrow break in the fence he described before and they passed through, Rhett noting it was wide enough for his car to easily squeeze through.
            They entered into a large parking lot where the dead were more scattered. Ahead was another fence and behind that was a building complex. Rhett could only venture guesses as to what the building was used for before. "There's another fence!" Brandon called as they approached the next fence "I don't have the key to the gate but we can jump it!"
            "Who's 'we'?" Steve yelled as Brandon reached the fence first, jumped on and climbed the chain links. Mike reached next, but instead turned and aimed his gun as cover. Tara and Matt were on their way up as Steve reached and tried to catch his breath. By time Rhett had reached, Tara was on her way down the other side while Brandon and Matt were checking around for any incoming threats.
            "Steve, let's go," Mike ushered as zombies began to close in. "Are you bleeding?" Rhett asked as he noticed the blood trailing down Steve's arm. Instead of answering, Steve began his climb up the fence. Without even a glance at Rhett, Mike began his trip up the fence. Rhett slung his shotgun over his shoulder and grasped the chain links as he began to pull himself over.
            Rhett's feet had just hit the ground on the other side when Brandon was leading them forward again. "That fence won't last long with that many piling up on it at once," Brandon said as they moved on, causing Rhett to remember how easily a similar fence had failed a few days back. "There aren't any on this side," Tara commented, noticing the distinct lack of dead bodies. "They're around, trust me," Brandon said as they reached the front of the building.
            The front door had been kicked in an no longer closed. Brandon pushed it open with his rifle and crept inside slowly. The rest followed him, with Steve bringing up the rear and closing the door as best he could so they'd be out of sight and have a chance to catch their breath. "We can't stay long," Brandon said "We're out of sight so they can't get too agitated out there, but they'll definitely head this way once the fence is down."
            "The hell was that out there?" Steve demanded "Bailing from the car like that on us?"
            "How about you shut the hell up!" Brandon yelled dismissively.
            "Argue later," Mike said as he checked around the room. They were in a small entry area that branched into three different hallways. "Lights are on," he said looking about "This place still have power?"
            "Not exactly," Brandon said, immediately forgetting about Steve "Lights are dim. This place is running off emergency power. The lab door won't open without the main power. Lucky for you I know where the generator is." Mike nodded as he motioned Brandon to lead the way. "No time like the present," he said.
            Brandon started down the left side hallway, Mike following him, then Rhett, Matt, Tara and Steve. "How big is this dump, anyway?" Rhett asked as he looked around the sterile white walls, softly lit by the dim lights, some occasionally flickering. "Not as big as you think," Brandon said "All hallways eventually lead to the same lab in the back of the complex."
            "The it doesn't matter which route we take?" Tara asked.
            "That's not the lab we're looking for," Brandon said "The lab we need is this way."
            "How many labs are there?" Mike asked.
            "Just two. But the other one is way bigger. The second lab was just used for the juice."
            "The juice?" Mike asked.
            "The inoculation. That's what we called it while the eggheads were putting them out."
            "What happened in the main lab?" Rhett asked.
            "Let's not talk about that."
            They continued on the hallway as it began to curve, still no signs of trouble. "How much farther?" Tara asked as Brandon ignored her and walked ahead until he stopped and swore. "What's wrong?" Mike asked as he and the rest of the group caught up to see what he saw. At the end of the hall was a door shut with a large red X painted in blood over it.
            "How bad could this be?" Rhett asked as Brandon approached the door and put his ear to it. "An X on a door means the room is, uh, compromised." Rhett shrugged "We got the guns to handle it," he said confidently. Brandon bit his lip as he continued to listen. "I hear them on the other side. A lot of them."
            "So?" Rhett said. "So?" Brandon repeated back to him "This is a thick ass metal door. I'm not supposed to be able to hear shit!"
            "We don't have much of a choice," Mike said as he aimed his gun and waited for Brandon to open the door anyway."
            "No," Brandon said "There's an easier way. We cut back and go around."
            "That's not the lab?" Matt asked.
            "No, it's right by the lab though," Brandon said as he began back down the hall the way he came. About halfway down the hall, he stopped at a door and slowly opened it. "It's clear," he said after peeking inside. The group entered into a large meeting room with several  tables placed around to form a square with an open space in the middle. Chairs were neatly placed around and conference call speakers were placed at each station. At the far end of the room was a podium with a projector screen hanging on the wall behind it.
            "Cozy," Mike commented as he pulled out a chair and took a seat. "Let's not waste time," Brandon said as he crossed the room for the door on the other side. "We would have heard the moaning of those things if they had gotten inside," Mike said as he made no effort to stand up. Instead he pulled out a cigarette and lit up. Rhett proceeded to pull out a cigarette for himself.