Struggle (The Hibernia Strain) Read Free Page A

Siobhan’s gun that it has night vision equipped. She’s as tentative to her duties as ever, still scanning the far end of the hall.
    “I hope you don ’t cramp up,” I whisper, trying to show some friendly pseudo concern.
    S he looks away for the first time from her target area, and throws me the dirtiest of looks. Even through the shadowiness, her glare pierces into me making me wish I hadn’t opened my mouth. I’m glad I’m not one of the infected, because I’m afraid to think what she’d do to me if she got her hands on me.
    A quiet snigger from Flynn is enough to break her stare and she returns to her scope. I make a wide eyed questioning gesture to him. He just comically throws a hand in the air.
    He has to pull it down again with speed to grab a hold of his weapon, as a few rounds burst forth from the muzzle of Siobhan’s machine gun. The rounds flash up the hallway like shooting stars lighting up the night sky, until they thud into their intended targets. My ears are ringing from the loudness of the firing.
    “Targets down,” she informs us, “If there’s more of ‘em then they’re gonna know were here now.”
    Flynn unhesitatingly ushers me into the lift and hands me his side arm from a holster strapped to his leg.
    “You know how to use one of these?” he questions.
    I shake my head.
    “It ’s easy, look here. Safety on, safety off, squeeze the trigger to shoot,” he explains as he demonstrates the gun.
    “It ’s simple right? Use it only if you have to ok, there’s only one magazine.”
    “INCOMING,” is the call from Siobhan, as she lights up the corridor once again with a hail of gun fire. Flynn flicks on a light switch before hurriedly joining her. The fluorescent bulbs slowly flicker to life, as he takes a kneeling position just as a herd of aggressors come barging round the corner.
    I wait in the lift , shakily holding the gun upright. Admittedly it does make me feel slightly more protected than if I didn’t have it.
    The hall now fully lit up from the strip lighting on the ceiling , enables us to see exactly what were dealing with. Corporal Fitzgerald mows down the majority with sustained firing, while Walker picks off any that manage to make it past her stream of bullets.
    I count ten to have fallen but more keep coming. This next lot are smarter however. They don’t just rush headlong into the bullets. Instead they’re seeking out cover in doorways and anywhere else that will provide shelter. The screams and taunting roars that can be heard through the intermittent firing, is not just intimidating, but pants soilingly terrifying.
    Some have managed to weasel their way to about halfway up the hall, about thirty feet away from us.
    “Tac reload ,” Flynn shouts as he swops out one cartridge of ammo for another. His speed is impressive and I can only assume he’s spent many an hour practising.
    He just about gets his eye to his sights again as a mass of bodies comes barrelling towards us. Some of whom are carrying blunt objects such as bed pans and medical equipment to offer limited protection from the bullets.
    Most fall as the bullets rip through them but the overwhelming numbers mean that they ’re gaining ground on us too quickly. Flynn taps Siobhan on the shoulder to indicate retreating. She doesn’t budge. He attempts to help her up but she pushes him away.
    “Get the fuck out of here,” she bellows.
    “I ’m not leaving you,” he argues.
    “There ’s no time to move me. Just go,” she counter argues defiantly.
    Earlier, it struck me as strange that they hadn ’t shared shifts aiming down the corridor, but I just shrugged it off as her being thorough. I hadn’t paid enough attention to notice, but now Flynn’s attempt to help her to her feet has unearthed a well hidden secret.
    The unnatural positioning of her legs is a dead giveaway that one of them is broken. To avoid slowing down our escape she’s going to sacrifice herself. I swallow hard; disgusted with