The walk to the car was silent and awkward. After experiencing what they just did, who would be in any kind of mood to speak?
Charles searched for the car he had sneakily grabbed the keys for from the security office and found a well kept van parked directly in the back of the lot. The van had two machine guns mounted on its sides and a singular machine gun sticking right out the windshield. Apparently this vehicle was crafted for the sole purpose of condensed war on the road, or rather if martial law was declared.
But now him and Elias would be using it to escape from Greenland.
"Come on, this is the one."
Elias nodded and followed him into the van. Charles slammed the door shut before burying his face in his hands. If he were to get Lucy and her children, where exactly would they go? No, rather, how would they escape with the Stasis's undead crawling all over the place?
The only place he could think of was the military base closest to Canada, right on the shores. An armored plane sat there, capable of holding thousands of soldiers. It was built to handle even the strongest of explosives. The problem was security. It would be heavily guarded.
'Yeah, usually. But there's no guards on duty, especially in this panic.'
"Uh, Charles...?"
Elias was tugging on Charles' jacket, trying to get his attention. Charles ignored him at first, though he thought he'd entertain Elias's thoughts for once.
"What? Do you have any kind of ideas?"
Elias scratched his head. "Well, yeah. It's obvious you're not simply trying to escape for yourself. You're trying to get someone too, right?"
Charles' eyes narrowed. "Yeah, what of it? You too?"
Elias nodded. "My wife... She's pregnant with my kid..."
Charles sighed.
'Shit.'
His initial plan was to use Elias if things went south. He wasn't sure he would be able to protect him, so it was always in his plan to use him as a distraction to get to the armored plane.
'But a fucking wife that is pregnant with his kid? What the hell is he even doing here still talking to me?'
Charles put the keys into the van before looking straight ahead. "We get your wife first, then we go straight for my friend. Got it?"
Elias nodded, sighing in relief. "Thank you, thank you!"
"Urgh, yeah, yeah, whatever."
Charles began speeding straight towards the city, which would probably be a hell zone for Stasis. The engine roared beneath them, vibrating through the seats.
"Hey, get on the gun on the right side. I'll get the one on the windshield. You listen closely, do not hesitate to shoot them."
Elias swallowed hard.
"You hesitate, you're dead. Do you understand?"
Elias nodded unconvincingly. Charles assumed the gullible bastard still had sympathy for these inhuman creatures. But Charles would only be brought down by weakness if he had sympathy for anything that isn't human.
'Yeah, that's right. No mercy for the sons of bitches.'
The car headed straight for the city at an insane speed. Buildings blurred past the windows.
But then he came to a sudden stop.
'Fuck!'
A horde of cars blocked every inch of the road ahead. Not only that, the cars had no people in them. And even more terrifying, it was quiet. Too quiet. No screams echoed through the streets. No gunfire cracked in the distance. The wind whistled through empty windows, carrying with it the stench of rot. Papers drifted across the asphalt like tumbleweeds in some apocalyptic wasteland. It was as if they were the last two people left on Greenland.
"Elias, get the hell out of the car. We're moving on foot." Charles grabbed his gear. "How many weeks pregnant is your wife?"
Elias looked even paler. "She's around 34 weeks..."
'Crap!'
"When we find her, carry her."
Elias stopped. "Wait, what?"
Charles continued jogging forward, his boots hitting pavement in steady rhythm.
"Well, if you want her to live, when you find her, carry her."
Elias smiled slightly before catching up to Charles, his boots crunching on broken glass scattered across the street.
Charles was more nervous about the number of people who completely disappeared. Where were they? What happened to them? Are they alive? Too many questions and no answers. Charles hated being in the dark more than anything. The only thing he could do was hope, and even pray that Lucy and her kids were okay.
While running, however, he heard an ear-deafening scream. The roar was unmistakably familiar. Charles knew exactly what it was and what was coming. The sound echoed off abandoned buildings, bouncing back and forth until it seemed to come from everywhere at once.
"Elias! Prepare to engage combat!"
"Yes sir!"
Elias instinctively pulled out his rifle as the two of them examined their surroundings, making sure they were back to back. Their breathing was heavy, adrenaline pumping. But no matter where they looked, the creature was nowhere in sight.
'Could this just be a false alarm? No, I know the symptoms of the Stasis. The first symptom destroys you mentally, but Elias heard it too so I couldn't be going insane...Could I?'
While that could be the case, it seemed unlikely he was infected. The only way to guarantee an infection is getting bit, like the zombies in movies. But the Stasis was different from any other zombie virus. This bacteria connects all its victims through some kind of mental illusion to make them feast on their own kind after completely transforming them into the undead.
The scientists on Greenland were wiped out just yesterday trying to contain the virus and learn its origin. So once again, Charles was in the dark. He gritted his teeth.
"Charles, above us!"
Elias took a shot in the air at the undead. This one had undergone a complete transformation. It had two extra arms on top of its newly made flesh body with no skin whatsoever. It looked completely grueling and smelled revolting. Red, oily, gelatinous, and slug-like in appearance, the substance wrapped around every inch of the undead's body like a new skin in replacement of the old one.
Not only that, but tendrils of the same texture came out of its rear end, writhing like serpents in the air. They dripped something thick and dark onto the pavement below. Where the liquid landed, it sizzled and steamed.
But the most compelling part was its eye sockets. It had no eyeballs. Just empty, weeping cavities that leaked the same oily substance down its malformed face in rivulets.
Meaning...
'Ha... These sons of bitches can't see. They can only smell and hear. Hell if that!'
Charles rose his gun and then...
BANG.