Necrocide

Chapter 57

DAY THREE OF THE OUTBREAK...

Swirls of red energy surrounded Bloodletter's arm as he raised his open hand toward the buses. A large crimson spearhead formed from his blood and blasted out of his palm like a rocket, colliding with the back of the bus and slicing the door clean off its hinges. Long gash marks remained on the yellow walls of the bus's exterior, and several Deadmen did everything they could to get in through the new hole. The citizens closer to the back screamed in horror and many of them began to trample over each other to get away from the creatures outside.

Jonah and Kat endlessly swore as the soldiers opened up the window and fired at Bloodletter and the other Deadmen. Many of the creatures were struck in the skulls and collapsed to the ground motionlessly before getting crushed underneath the wheels of the vehicles behind them. Bloodletter, however, did what he did best besides weaponizing his own blood: enduring gunfire as if it were nothing but a harmless gust of wind.

The bullets tore through him easily, splattering his innards all over the street and the walls of the building behind him. He covered his head with his arms to shield himself. He knew his helmet was near impenetrable, but he also knew it would be a wise move to make sure its durability lasted.

Once the gunfire had faded out, he brought his arms back down. The blood swirled out of his wounds into his infamous red spheres. "My turn," he growled.

"GET DOWN!" Schaefer exclaimed.

All of the citizens on the bus ducked for cover as multiple explosions rattled the vehicle. Glass shards rained down on the citizens, and it seemed like entire buildings were obliterated around them. Dust clouds consumed the bus like a tidal wave, but the bus moved on into the unknown. The AIS officers continued to blindly fire their guns out the window, hoping their bullets were making contact with something in the opaqueness of the dust.

"What do I do, Colonel?" the bus driver shouted. "I can't see anything with this dust!"

"Keep driving!" Schaefer replied. "As long as we're heading straight, we should be at the borders of London in twenty minutes."

"Even though it only takes one for Bloodletter to kill us all," Shaw muttered.

"Shut it, Shaw! Keep that monster off of us! I cannot let that thing get near my family!"

Shaw remained silent and pointed his rifle back out the open window. The dust was starting to clear, and the first thing the soldiers saw was Bloodletter in the distance surrounded by long floating strands of his own blood. He was running toward them as fast as he could, barely maintaining the speed of an average jogger.

"Fucking hell," Jonah said, glancing out the window. "Never thought I'd be so terrified to see a Deadman casually strolling toward us."

Kat snickered. "You make it sound like he's out for a walk in the park. Doesn't he, Aaron?" But she didn't get a response from him. "Aaron?"

She and Jonah looked at the row in front of them to see Aaron and Nika still cautiously bent over in their chairs shielding themselves from further harm. They had their arms wrapped around each other fearfully, and both of them clenched their eyes tightly, as if witnessing the horrors surrounding them would leave them blind. Jonah noticed the window to their right had a massive crack trailing down the middle of the pane.

"I think we should leave them be," Jonah said softly. "They seem prepared."

"They look adorable together," Kat added.

"That's usually not a good sign during the apocalypse," Jonah added sheepishly. "Sorry. Too soon."

"Y'know, you're really good at timing things poorly."