Jordan will sterilize and bandage up Wright’s wound from supplies in the laboratory.
“You should be okay. The wound is fairly minor and I treated it soon enough that infection shouldn’t be an issue. And the blood on the creature’s hands was dried, so there should be little risk of disease from that. Besides, I don’t expect anyone with a blood-borne disease would have been stationed or kept prisoner here anyway. Though, you probably should let me know if you being to feel under the weather. And if we pass a pharmacy or drug store at some point, stopping off there would be good.”
Jordan picks up the remaining rifle.
“Well, at least I can always barrel whip them if it comes to it. Probably’d be more accurate, too.”
“By the way, Alvin, the next time you decide to play ‘friendly neighbor’ with unknown humanoids you might want to tell the rest of us. Otherwise, you just might find yourself barrel whipped as well, Hippocratic Oath be damned!”
“So now that that’s out of the way. Let’s get out of here. And if in doubt, leave the talking to me. Believe it or not, I actually do have a good bedside manner when I need to. I just tend to prefer germs to people.”
Still 20, I’m assuming you just gutted his head with the bayonet.
You step out of the facility into the warm Los Angeles evening. The sun is low in the sky, giving the clouds of smoke and smog that lay over Los Angeles a blood-red tint. Ahead, the complex is in utter chaos. Most of the buildings have been gutted by fire, leaving only charred concrete walls. The main gate has been knocked off its hinges by a large gas truck, which somehow flipped onto its side in the center of the complex. It’s still smoldering. All around, dozens of infected soldiers and civilians shuffle around. Some are throwing up on the floor, others are fighting among themselves, and some others are yelling at random objects. You spot one who hollers gibberish at a nearby CDC poster; he picks up a piece of rubble and throws it at the poster, missing wildly, then runs up and starts attacking it.
There is no clear path to the open gate, although the edges of the compound seem to have less infected around them. From outside the compound, you the chatter of an automatic rifle.
"We should try to find a small group of ill soldiers. I can kill them and both of you can get, hopefully, ammo or loaded weapons. Inevitably, we will have to fight and you two will need to have actual weapons.
There is indeed a route to the roof, but you’re not sure where it is. The roofs of all the buildings are inaccessible from within, but they are all connected to each other. Emergency procedure taught to you during your stay involved fleeing to the roofs. The way up is four buildings away, in the opposite direction from the gate.
"Weapons are a priority, but even if we isolate a small number of infected with weapons, any out of place movements we make are likely to draw attention to ourselves. Which means what will start as a small group of ill soldiers could quickly mushroom into every infected in this facility coming after us. We’re not going to survive that.
“And the roof is more defensible anyway. So let’s start there. Maybe we can figure out where the gunfire is coming from, because chances are it’s coming from an uninfected.”
You make your way through the shadows to the ladder up. The infected seem to be attracted to noise and light; some are staring at the fire while others are hurrying off to the source of the gunfire. In any case, you reach the staircase unspotted.
The way up is a large, retractable metal staircase. It appears that the soldiers attempted to make a stand there, but failed; the staircase is halfway up and covered with blood. Bodies litter the floor underneath, and more infected shuffle on the rooftops.
“Well, we’re doing OK so far slinking around in the shadows. Maybe we’d do better to sneak around away from the gunfire and see if there’s a back exit or a hole in the fence.”
"I don’t suppose any of these buildings would have something useful in them, say like a bolt cutters.
“I’m fine with whatever you gents want to do as long as it involves the least chance of drawing attention to us. After seeing the results of whatever skirmish happened on that staircase, I’m inclined to agree that the roof might not be our best choice. I kind of hoped the infected hadn’t gotten up there yet.”
You circle around the buildings towards the back of the facility. It doesn’t look like you’ll be able to find a way through; the fence is made of a big foundation of concrete with barbed wire and iron bars running up for thirty feet. The only places that could possibly have been breached are the gates. You follow the fence towards the back gate you’ve seen. Finally, you come around the side of a building and find the second gate. It is simply hanging open, though it doesn’t appear to be damaged. You count twenty infected stumbling around the entrance.
"Shit, there are a ton of infected people over there. I told you all that getting weapons would be a priority. Even with my training, it’s ridiculous to expect me to kill 20 infected with 20 bullets, let alone the attention it would grab.
Should we just run for it and try to get past them?"
“If there was a way to create a distraction, we probably could get out this way. Unfortunately, we really don’t have much in the way of distraction creating material. Do you guys see anything?”
Jordan will look around for something that would work as a distraction long enough for them to slip out the back gate.