Chapter 16Hell

Chapter 16

Hell

We ran like hell, the baby clutched tight in Dante's arms.We didn't have time to ask Sam what the hell happened to the other survivors. Right now, we needed to get him and the baby out of the submarine and to relative safety.

I shoved my way past the decaying corpses littering the narrow submarine corridors, Dante close behind me with the baby secure in his arms. Scottie half-carried, half-dragged Sam, who was barely conscious. The stench of rotting flesh and stale air assaulted my nostrils as we maneuvered through the claustrophobic maze.

Eerie red emergency lights flickered, casting sinister shadows on the blood-smeared walls. The distant groans and shuffling of the undead echoed through the metal tomb. My heart pounded against my ribs as we scrambled up the ladder to the main hatch, desperate for the open air. We couldn't go back the way we'd come, they were already closing in on us. We'd have to go up instead.

I paused when we reached the top hatch, dread curling inside me as I glanced down at Dante.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he pulled the infant tighter to his chest, climbing the ladder with one hand.

"We don't have a respirator that will fit the baby." Icy dread filled me. "The fog…"

Dante's eyes mirrored my own horror, and he cursed. Zombies were filling up the space below us, and Scottie called up to us, wondering what the hell was the hold up. Sam already had his mask on, but his arms shook on the ladder.

Dante maneuvered the baby, handing me his gun and his knife. I shoved them into random pockets of my cargo pants as he placed the baby inside of his shirt. Catching on, I quickly removed my own t-shirt, leaving me in a sports bra, and handed it over to Dante. He took the shirt and laid it over the top of the covered baby.

"This might be bad," I warned him, a sick feeling of doom weighing down on me.

If the baby breathed in the noxious fog, it would turn in seconds. I'd never witnessed an infant zombie, or a child turning, but I didn't have to, to know that it would be horrific. I wanted to vomit just at the mental image of what that would look like.

"Coit Tower is one mile away. I need you guys to cover me while I run for it!" Dante shouted so all of us could hear. "I'm not waiting for any of you. I need to get the baby inside before any of the toxin gets through the fabric. I don't even know if this is going to fucking work!"

I nodded grimly, my grip tightening on Dante's gun. "We've got your back. Now go!"

We opened the hatch, and I climbed out. Dante burst through the hatch, the baby secure against his chest. I followed close behind, my eyes darting frantically, searching for any immediate threats. The fog swirled around us, an oppressive blanket of death that threatened to suffocate us all.

Dante took off at a dead sprint the second he got to the dock, his long legs carrying him swiftly across the debris-strewn ground. I ran alongside him, my lungs burning with each ragged breath. Scottie and Nina flanked us, with Ethan and Caleb coming up behind us. Their weapons were at the ready, while Wyatt brought up the rear, supporting a stumbling Sam.

The moans of the undead grew louder, the eerie sound echoing through the desolate cityscape. They were drawn to the commotion, their rotting bodies shuffling towards us with single-minded hunger.

"Fuck, they're everywhere!" Nina yelled, firing off a shot that dropped a zombie mere feet away.

I didn't dare look back, focusing all my energy on keeping pace with Dante.

We wove through the abandoned cars and piles of rubble, desperate to reach the safety of Coit Tower. My heart felt like it would burst out of my chest as I pushed my body to its limits, running faster than I ever had before.

Sweat poured down my face, mixing with the grime and blood that seemed to coat every inch of my skin. The fog clung to us, its tendrils snaking around our limbs, trying to slow us down. But we couldn't afford to stop, not with the baby's life hanging in the balance.

Dante's breaths came in ragged gasps, his strong arms clutching the precious bundle to his chest. I could see the determination etched into every line of his face, the fierce love he already had for that tiny life driving him forward. Dante was a healer. A doctor at the very fucking core.

A guttural moan sounded just behind us, and I whirled around, my finger already pulling the trigger. The zombie's head exploded in a spray of dark blood and brain matter, its body crumpling to the ground. But there were more, always more, their decaying hands reaching out, hungry for our flesh.

In the distance, I saw Alex, Ret and Missy sprinting after us, and the relief I felt was staggering. That relief was short lived, because right behind them, was a massive fucking horde. Hundreds of them. They came like a wave lapping at our heels.

"We're almost there!" my brother shouted, his machete slicing through the air, decapitating another undead monstrosity. "Just a little further!"

I could see the tower looming ahead, we just had to get inside.

My lungs burned as we sprinted the final stretch, the horde closing in behind us. Dante reached the tower first, shouldering open the heavy metal door with a grunt. We piled inside, Niko and Nina covering our rear as Ethan and Caleb helped Sam through.

I held the door open as the others sprinted through, Wyatt slamming into the wall behind me from the momentum. Ret crashed to the ground, and Missy collided with Nina.

Scottie slammed the door shut as he made it inside, throwing the deadbolts just as the first zombies crashed against it, their rotting fists pounding on the other side. I slumped back, chest heaving, as Dante carefully unwrapped the baby from his shirt.

"Is she...?" I couldn't finish the question, terrified of the answer.

Dante cradled her to his chest, his eyes searching her tiny face. A beat passed. Two. Then a thin wail pierced the air and I nearly wept with relief. She was alive. Hungry and scared, but alive.

"Thank fuck," Wyatt breathed, running a hand over his sweat-soaked hair.

Niko joined us a moment later, as he jogged back around the corner of the circular bottom level. "Barricaded the back entrance, but it won't hold forever. We need to get upstairs."

I nodded, pushing off from the door. My muscles screamed in protest but I ignored them, taking the baby from Dante so he could grab his medical kit. We climbed the winding stairs, the groans of the undead echoing up the tower behind us.

They weren't inside yet, and I hoped to god that the barricades held. We would probably have no choice but to wait out the night here and hope that by the morning, the zombies would forget why they were clawing at the tower, and hopefully amble off.

When we reached the top of the tower, I handed the baby back to Dante. He immediately set to work checking her over, his brow furrowed in concentration as he examined her tiny limbs and listened to her breathing. The rest of us collapsed against the walls, gasping for air and trying to catch our breath.

Sam slumped to the floor, his face pale and drawn. Scottie crouched down beside him, offering him a canteen of water. Sam took it with shaking hands, gulping down the liquid like he hadn't had a drink in days.

"What happened back there, Sam?" I asked, my voice rough with exhaustion.

Sam shook his head, his eyes haunted. "They got sick," he rasped. "One by one, they all started showing symptoms. Fever, coughing, vomiting. We tried to quarantine them, but it spread too fast. Within hours, they were all dead. And then..." He shuddered, his gaze distant. "They started coming back."

A heavy silence fell over the group as we processed his words. The thought of being trapped in that submarine with the undead, watching your friends and loved ones turn... it was a nightmare I couldn't even begin to fathom.

"The baby?" Wyatt asked, nodding towards the tiny bundle in Dante's arms.

"She's okay," Sam said, relief evident in his voice. "Malnourished and dehydrated, but alive. We need to get some formula in her soon though." He glanced up at me, his eyes filled with worry. "Did you bring any?"

I rubbed a hand over my face, exhaustion tugging at my bones. "We've got some, but only enough for maybe a day or two if we stretch it. When we get back to the ranch, we can go on a run and find more. There are warehouses all over the place just sitting there packed full of shit nobody's touched."

Sam's shoulders slumped in relief. Niko grabbed a pack and brought it over to Dante, taking out the canister of powdered formula. They mixed it with some lukewarm water, and Dante sat down with the baby in his arms, placing a bottle between her lips.

I stared at him, something in my chest cracking a bit. I'd never given much thought to being a parent. I was still young, and before all this shit happened, had my whole life ahead of me. Now, the thought of bringing an infant into this world seemed beyond selfish.

Dante would have made a good dad. In another life.

Alex paced the length of the room, his jaw clenched tight. "We can't stay here long. Those fuckers will find a way in eventually, and we're sitting ducks up here."

I knew he was right, but the idea of moving again so soon, with a baby in tow and Sam barely able to stand, filled me with dread. We needed rest, even just a few hours to catch our breath and tend to our wounds.

"We'll take shifts tonight," I said. "Two people on watch at all times, the rest of us will try to get some sleep. We move out at first light."

No one argued, too bone-weary to put up a fight. Ret and Missy volunteered for first watch, settling down by the windows in the stairwell with their guns at the ready. The rest of us collapsed onto the dusty top floor, our bodies aching and spent.

Coit Tower was built in such a way that we only had one place to go if shit went bad, and that was down. Either by way of falling off the top of the tower instead of being eaten alive, or by figuring out a way to scale the elevator shafts. I just prayed it never came to that.

I crawled over to where Dante sat with the baby, leaning my head against his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close. The baby had fallen asleep, her tiny face peaceful despite the horrors we'd just escaped.

Wyatt and Alex joined us, their bodies bracketing mine and Dante's. We sat there in silence, just holding each other, drawing comfort from the solid presence of our rag-tag little family.

Exhaustion tugged at my eyelids, but I fought against it, not wanting to let my guard down even for a moment. Dante seemed to sense my struggle, because he pressed a soft kiss to my temple.

"Sleep," he murmured. "I've got her. We'll take turns watching over her tonight."

I wanted to argue, but my body betrayed me, my eyes already slipping shut. I felt Wyatt's strong arm wrap around my waist, and Alex's calloused hand slide into mine. With my boys surrounding me, I finally let myself succumb to the exhaustion, slipping into a dreamless sleep.

I opened my bleary eyes to the soft glow of dawn filtering through the dusty windows. For a brief moment, the events of the previous day felt like a distant nightmare, but the ache in my muscles and the weight of Wyatt's arm around my waist quickly brought me back to reality.

I sat up slowly, careful not to disturb the others. Dante was still cradling the baby, his head lolling back against the wall as he slept. Alex lay on his side, one arm thrown over Dante's legs, his face uncharacteristically peaceful in slumber.

I couldn't help but smile at the sight of my boys, all tangled together like a litter of puppies. It was a rare moment of peace in our fucked-up world, and I wanted to savor it for as long as I could.

But we couldn't stay here forever. The undead were still out there, and we needed to get back to the ranch before our supplies ran out. I gently shook Wyatt's shoulder, his blue eyes snapping open immediately, alert and ready for danger.

"Time to move," I whispered, and he nodded, sitting up and stretching his muscular arms above his head.

I crawled over to Dante, placing a hand on his knee. He jerked awake, his arms tightening instinctively around the baby. "Easy," I murmured. "It's just me."

Dante blinked, his gaze focusing on my face.

He gave me a sleepy smile, the kind that never failed to make my heart skip a beat. "Morning, beautiful."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't stop the grin tugging at my lips. "Flatterer." I glanced down at the baby, still sleeping peacefully in his arms. "How is she?"

Dante's expression softened as he looked at the tiny bundle. "She's a fighter. Ate like a champ last night and hasn't made a peep since."

I reached out, gently stroking a finger over her soft cheek. "She needs a name. We can't just keep calling her 'the baby'."

Missy had asked Sam what her name was last night, to which the boy just shrugged and said that her mother was too sick to name her before it all fell apart. I couldn't help but feel incredibly sad about that.

Dante nodded thoughtfully. "I was thinking... maybe Rebel? Clearly she's strong already. She survived with the odds stacked against her. It seems…oddly fitting."

I laughed, running a hand over her soft, golden blonde hairs. "Rebel," I repeated softly. "I love it."

When we got back, we'd have to find someone to care for Rebel. I wasn't maternal in the slightest, so I wasn't about to offer myself up as an adoptive mom, but I was pretty sure there were plenty of moms back at the ranch that would happily take her in and raise her well.

I pushed myself to my feet, wincing at the stiffness in my joints. "Alright people, let's get moving. We've got a long way to go and I don't want to be out in the open any longer than we have to be."

I clapped my hands, chuckling as everyone grumbled. Niko flipped me off, and Missy chucked an old shoe at me. I dodged it, shaking my head and I headed for my pack.

We gathered our gear quickly, Dante carefully securing Rebel in a makeshift sling across his chest. Sam leaned heavily on Scottie, his face still pale but determined. I could see the gratitude in his eyes as he looked at each of us, and I knew we'd done the right thing by going back for him and Rebel.

Ret and Missy led the way down the winding staircase, their weapons ready. The groans of the undead still echoed from outside, but they seemed more distant now, like the horde had thinned out overnight. I hoped to god that was the case.

We emerged into the cool morning air, the fog still clinging to the streets like a ghostly shroud. The stench of decay was overwhelming, but we pressed forward, picking our way carefully through the debris-strewn streets.

Dante fitted Rebel with a small face mask, like the ones used in hospitals. It wasn't enough, but with the makeshift sling wrapped around her, and a zipped up hoodie over that, it would have to do. It made me incredibly nervous, because we had a few blocks to go before we were back on the bridge. Thankfully, being this close to the ocean, the fog was thinner and less of a threat.

The thought of stepping foot back on the bridge had my muscles tightening, and anger flaring inside me. A part of me sincerely hoped we'd find Jessa's remains scattered all over the road as we passed.