Chapter 12 - Cherno Goes Crazy
Duke was right about shit going down in Chernogorsk that morning. Shutov had continually tried to quell the rising panic that rushed over his men but this became more difficult with each additional shot that rang out across the town. This wasn't helped by the ringing of the church bells. What had been - up until then - an orderly unit, was very quickly breaking apart, with the men speaking over the top of each other in increasingly panicked tones.
They were looting the general store when the first shots sounded. Prior to their arrival the store had been almost picked clean but there were still enough supplies to provide the men with some hope. The loot had been gathered and placed in a pile in the middle of the store. It consisted mostly of canned food and water but they’d also found a map and compass, which Shutov was studying, when the sound from the first shot had reverberated throughout the store.
Vuk was at the store entrance looking out to determine the direction from which the firing emanated. “I think it’s coming from that way,” he said as he indicated to the west.
Shutov tried to keep the men calm. “It could just be another survivor. There’s no need to panic,” but to him it seemed too orderly and too consistent to be another survivor just firing at infected.
“Vuk, take The Butcher with you and get eyes on the shooter. If he’s from the ship then get him to stop before he draws in every infected around.”
The Butcher nodded, popping open the double-barreled shotgun to check that it was loaded.
“Do we really need that?” asked Vuk.
“Hey, you want to go out there with only your dick in hand? Be my guest, axe boy. Me, I’m taking Vera with me.” He smiled as he popped the shotgun closed and he walked out of the store.
Vuk and The Butcher moved methodically along the edge of the road, hugging buildings and fences where possible to keep a low profile. Most of the infected they passed weren’t interested in them – instead they were drawn to the sounds of the shots or the ringing of the church bell. As they rounded a red brick building, Vuk saw a figure standing at the top of the smoke stack. His heart lept into his throat as the figure had a sniper rifle trained right in his direction. Assuming he was done for, Vuk closed his eyes and waited for the shot which rang out, almost immediately. Realizing he was not hit, he opened his eyes to see an infected lying fifteen meters in front of him, the fresh bullet hole gaping open in his forehead. Vuk scrambled back around the corner to The Butcher.
“He’s around this corner at the top of the smoke stack,” he whispered to the Butcher.
“Can you tell who it is?” the Butcher asked.
“No. It's too far and he’s in shadow.”
“Then we’ll cut across the road and keep making our way down this street.”
“That’s suicide. He just got a headshot off from that far away. Whatever he’s shooting with, it’s long range and he’s very accurate. He’ll shoot us before he hears our voices.”
“So what then?”
“Fuck, give me a moment, I just had a rifle pointed at me.”
They both leaned against the wall as Vuk looked around. Another shot rang out, causing them both to jump. Vuk looked back east, shielding his eyes from the sun.
“The sun. We use the sun. If we go back and two blocks over, we should be able to keep the sun on our backs as we make our way over.”
“And that helps us how?”
“The sun is low and strong. It’s almost blinding. If we keep it on our backs he won’t be able to see us moving, which means we can get close while he’s virtually blinded. You can’t shoot what you can’t see.”
The Butcher nodded impressed, “okay, we’ll do it that way.”
Vuk indicated towards the shotgun, “don’t fire that thing unless you need to. I don’t want to scare him until we find out why he’s shooting.”
Using Vuk’s plan and keeping the sun to their backs they made it over towards the entrance gates of the building the shooter was perched on top of. The Butcher was about to open the gates when Vuk grabbed his hand and inspected the gate. “It’s old and rusted, so wait for a shot before you open it,” he whispered. They didn’t have to wait long; the shot’s echo masked the squeak of the rusted gate as The Butcher opened it.
Before them was a helicopter landing pad with a red cross and some military tents. It appeared that at some point this had been a staging area for medical evacuations or treatment. There were bodies nearby still in body bags which made no impact on masking the smell. Vuk and The Butcher surveyed the area from the shadow of the wall, noting the ladder that led all the way up to the top of the smoke stack.
Vuk pointed to the furthest tent, “You get in there where you can see him but he can’t see you. I think he’s just shooting infected but if not, it’s better that he only sees one of us.”
“Works for me,” and with that The Butcher started to creep over to the furthest tent. His shotgun was trained on the figure thirty meters up the smoke stack.
“Don’t bother with the shotgun,” Vuk whispered, “the pellets will never reach that far up if you do fire.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know that,” The Butcher replied.
Once The Butcher was in place, Vuk stashed the axe inside a tent and moved out on to the helipad, his arms held high and palms out to demonstrate that he was unarmed. He called out, “you there shooting. Down here.”
Joe wiped the sweat off his forehead as the rising sun beat down on him. His ears were ringing from the sounds of the shots and once again he cursed himself for not getting ear plugs, although he wasn’t sure if he’d still be able to find any. He could hear some other sounds but with the ringing he couldn't be sure.
“You up there, I’m down here at the helipad.”
It was a voice. The demons had gained the power of speech. Joe put it down to hallucinations and looked for another demon to wipe off the scarred earth.
“Can you hear me?” the voice was louder and more insistent. Joe moved around and looked down. The sun was bright on this side and Joe had to shield his eyes but he could see something down at the helipad. There was a black figure standing there, all in shadow. The figure was waving both arms at him. Joe smiled in elation. It was Jesus. He had come down to personally take Joe up to heaven – the mission was complete.
“Jesus! My Lord I am ready,” Joe called back.
“I’m not Jesus, my name is Vuk. I’m from a boat that was shipwrecked last night. There are other survivors, and we mean you no harm.”
“You’re not Jesus?” Joe asked forlorn.
“No I’m a survivor. Like you.”
Joe studied the figure that was in shadow. What trickery was this? There were no boats. There were no survivors. There was only Joe and the demons, he knew he was the last man on Earth because God had told him so. But if this was not a man and he was not one of the demons then… and then it came to Joe. A revelation. This was not Christ, it was the Anti-Christ. Satan himself had come to tempt Joe and take him away from his mission as he had tempted Christ in the desert. That’s why the figure was in shadow. That’s why he had no face. Joe watched Satan intently as he unloaded the last magazine and reached into the pile for a new magazine.
From his vantage point Vuk saw the man move, saw him load another magazine into the rifle. He started to back away towards the wall, arms still up. “Hey I’m not sure what you’re thinking but it’s true. We can help each other. It doesn’t have to be like this.”
From up high Joe responded, “I cast thee out Beelzebub. You and your demon spawn.”
Vuk scanned around as he saw the rifle rise and train on him There was no cover but he ran and dived anyway hoping for a miracle which, ironically, was also what Joe was hoping for.
The first shot whizzed past Vuk’s feet to the place he was standing seconds ago. Vuk rose up and ran towards the smoke stack, hoping the angle would help. It did as the second shot was too wide. Joe stood up and looked down the stack trying to fi
nd Vuk when his body was abruptly riddled by AKM bullets. He stumbled back with each hit before toppling over the rail and falling to certain death. Vuk heard the sickening sound of Joe’s spine crack as he landed neck first, ten meters away from him.
Vuk turned to where the shots had come from and saw The Butcher walk towards him with an AKM in hand. Vuk was at first relieved that Joe didn’t have someone else with him but that relief quickly dissipated as The Butcher kept the rifle trained on him. The AKM looked formidable in his hands, similar to the well-known AK-47 it was an upgraded version, holding larger caliber bullets and had a clearer iron sight. That clearer iron sight was pointed directly at Vuk.
Vuk had good cause to be worried as The Butcher was at this moment debating whether or not to pull the trigger and also kill Vuk. The Butcher knew it was an irrational thought. He felt his breath quickening and his blood pressure was up, he was learning that he liked to kill. He looked around, there was no one to see, no police force to lock him up, he could just pull the trigger and kill this man right here and now without any consequences. He took a deep breath in – that kind of power was heady. Finally the rational part of his brain got a word in. There is no benefit in killing him right now, so wait until there is. You have a better chance of surviving with him alive than not – when that changes, pull the trigger.
The Butcher called out, “Is he dead?” Vuk nodded, not taking his eyes off the gun trained right at him. The Butcher nodded in response and lowered the AKM, at which point Vuk let out a long held breath. Recognition passed between the two of them – they both knew how close Vuk just came to dying and it had nothing to do with Joe shooting at him. Vuk decided there and then the only way he was going to get through this was to make himself indispensible.
“I see you upgraded,” said Vuk.
“Yeah, her name is Grace and she had no trouble reaching up there. You can have Vera if you want, I left that bitch back there,” said The Butcher as he took the CZ550 off Joe’s corpse, not thinking of offering it to Vuk. “This is for Shutov.”
The Butcher slung the rifle over his shoulder as he rifled through Joe’s corpse. Vuk was repulsed with the ease with which The Butcher killed and subsequently looted Joe, as he walked towards the tent to collect Vera.