Chapter 12: Whithdrawal
In the room where Rick was, Airon looked at Shane and said, "Because the CDC has strict rules and my authority is not much, what little authority I have I can use to take Rick, but if I take a group of people to the center, it is possible that even Rick may not be able to get in. Do you understand me?"
Airon at first had also hoped to be able to take Shane and the others to the CDC directly, but without Shane, Rick's future group would most likely not be able to meet, so Shane had to take Lori and the others to Atlanta.
But this was within his thoughts. First of all he had to secure a fixed point where his authority was ultimate and he could make decisions without having to look to a superior, and only that way most people would be able to hear him.
"Alright, I appreciate your help in this difficult time! Airon, thank you so much. I knew you were a great guy when you stopped that thief."
After settling this very important matter in his mind, Shane relaxed a lot, and his tone was obviously calmer, he reached out and patted Airon's hand.
Airon returned a reassuring expression and remarked, "Let's move quickly! Help the nurse move the stretcher, we'll lead the way. By the way, don't worry about the outside, just help me get Rick out of the hospital."
As Airon walked out of the room, he looked at two people infected with the zombie virus and said, "This place is no longer safe, let's get out of here right away."
Shane looked at the soldiers in black tactical uniforms and masks, unconsciously thinking that Airon had a much higher position than a simple CDC worker, he looked at his friend on the stretcher and started to move.
As they moved forward, Airon watched the corridors and the half-open rooms with vigilance. His gun pointed naturally, when he heard a sound to his left, he moved quickly and fired.
"Bang!"
With a precise shot, the bullet pierced the infected person's head, and blood mixed together with the brain sprayed out of the large hole, staining the wall red.
The infected person whose brain was destroyed seemed to have lost all power, he lay weakly on the floor and there was no movement. Blood continued to pour out of the wound, forming a pool of blood in an instant, exuding a strong smell of blood.
Because these changelings had recently changed, their speed of movement and reaction were much faster than how I had thought they were.
Seeing the death of the infected person, the entire body of the nurse pushing Rick's gurney seemed to have run out of strength and collapsed straight to the ground, panting heavily.
"Don't stop, keep moving!" shouted Billy Fisher in a deep voice.
"Don't look sideways, focus on just looking straight ahead." Shane said. He was more tolerant to seeing these types of scenes due to being a cop, but he was still shocked to see the very purposeful movements of the people around him.
Airon watched all of this coolly, his spirit remained unbroken, feeling absolutely nothing but calm. He had long since learned that he was a cold-blooded person, very determined in his actions to accomplish his goals, even if he is a walker or not, he will not touch his heart to think about whether or not it is right to take this kind of action.
"Let's keep moving forward, don't stop!" Airon said before resuming his walk.
As Airon was still walking, he turned to the right and looked at some walkers to his left, raising his hand he took two steps forward and opened fire.
"Bang! Bang!"
Due to the silencer on his gun, the noise was muffled and not so outrageous. Two more infected people were taken out, their bodies falling weakly to the ground.
"Let's keep going!"
However, just as Airon was about to turn around to continue leading the way, a group of infected people with a hideous face came out of a room in a blind spot in the hallway.
"Be careful behind you!"
Seeing the infected people getting closer and closer, Shane ignored his task and shouted tensely as he saw the danger.
But the other party's reaction was quicker than Shane's warning, he turned around sharply, stretched out his foot and kicked the chest of the first infected person who came out of the room hard.
The unexpected kick caused the infected person to lose his balance and fall to the floor, then Airon stepped on the infected person's back, pulled out the dagger and stabbed the infected person's head, ending his life.
Looking at Airon extremely decisive in front of everyone, for the former soldiers who had already lived with him, they looked at him naturally, but for those who did not know him very well, this person seemed to be a person without compassion.
Airon drew his dagger and stared at the other walkers approaching him. Without waiting any longer, he aimed his weapon and opened fire.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Shane and the nurse began pushing the stretcher forward. On the other side, Jon, Billy, Sam and the others were moving the people who would serve as test subjects from the back with extreme care.
"Contact!" shouted Sam Valdez before opening fire on the enemy targets. There were more and more shifters in the vicinity and it looked like the soldiers had left this place.
"Turn right!" said the nurse in a shaky voice. Under the nurse's guidance, everyone moved safely forward.
Airon led the way without worry, every time he encountered an infected person he eliminated him with a simple headshot.
The road ahead was impassable and there were infected people approaching from behind. Airon and his group suddenly found themselves trapped and surrounded by infected.
"Take them out calmly, remember we are in an advantageous position." Airon did not panic and began to open fire.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
As the situation became more intense, Airon and his group stopped and began clearing the road. They couldn't do anything but start shooting, because the corridor had been invaded by many infected.
With the bullet shells hitting the infected, they all eliminated more than a dozen walkers coming out of the rooms and corridors around them.
After a while, everyone continued walking down the hallway forward. Shane on his side was surprised, because Airon was not initially seen to be a guy who leads with a cool and focused mind.
"Tylor, we are approaching the exit." Airon reported over the radio.
When they reached the main gate, Airon signaled Shane to wait a moment and Airon along with two others cleared the way eliminating the remaining walkers in the vicinity.
"All clear, let's move forward."
After a while, the roar of an engine was heard and a bus in an instant specially prepared pulled up in front of the hospital.
"How are you guys doing?" Tyler quickly got out and opened the back door of the bus.
"All good." Airon didn't have time to talk and wheeled the stretcher Rick was on up the back door of the large modified bus. Then the test subjects were successfully loaded and secured.
Airon briefly entered the bus, then turned and tossed a black object to Shane.
Shane caught it and saw that it was a radio. He understood what Airon meant, but then also saw him pull out a backpack and hand it to him.
"Shane, we communicate by this method. The channel is pointed behind the radio. Remember not to run out of battery. When Rick gets better and the situation inside the CDC stabilizes, I'll contact you."
"Okay! Listen, brother, I really want to thank you for everything you've done, I wouldn't know what to do without your help!"
Shane's eyes are very sincere at this moment, he is really grateful to Airon, and he is also happy for his good brother Rick, who unexpectedly met such an acquaintance under such circumstances.
"Needless to say, if you want to thank me, you can buy me a drink when Rick gets better!"
"In the backpack are weapons and ammunition, there is also a note with details about the situation and what is known so far, have a good trip buddy."
"Of course, bon voyage, help me take care of Rick."
"Don't worry!"
George Burcea drove all the way back to the CDC, taking a detour due to the fact that now the road leading towards Atlanta has started to be blocked.
Looking at the test subjects that were prepared, Airon made sure they were properly secured. Meanwhile, the group in general was discussing everything they just experienced.
"Something unimaginable is happening."
...
Shane shortly after separating from Airon and leaving the hospital, picked up Lori and Carl, and spoke briefly about what happened at King County Hospital. Lori was grateful for how lucky she was. She did not expect that a person her husband and Shane briefly met would save her husband's life at such an alarming time.
"Shane, when we get settled, we need to thank Mr. Airon."
"Yes! If it wasn't for him, I really don't know what I would have done today..." Shane said excitedly as he drove.
"Mom, is dad okay? That man named Airon is amazing, is he some kind of special soldier?"
Little Carl didn't understand half of what he heard. He only knew that his father was rescued by a soldier and his squad.
What mattered most to the innocent child at that moment was which army were the heroes who saved the people.
Lori lovingly stroked Carl's hair, secretly sighed thinking her son was still a child, but still had to warn him.
"Carl, Mom doesn't know either, but you must remember that when we meet that person soon, we must thank them, understand?"
Little Carl nodded vigorously.
"Well, I will, Mom!"
"Yes, you will, Carl!"
Shane also smiled and bowed his head and said.
At this point, there was a relaxed atmosphere in the car.
What they didn't know was that the urban area of Atlanta had become hell on earth at this time, and countless people were also frantically fleeing to the outskirts of the city.
By the evening of the same day, Shane and the others were stuck on the road, looking at the endless line of cars ahead of them, many people even stood on the roof of the car, trying to see the overall situation they were in.
Lori pulled some pieces of bread out of a backpack and distributed them to Carl and Shane, who discussed the following plan as they ate.
At that moment, Carl found a little girl sitting next to him, looking at the bread in her hand, the longing in her eyes could be felt even by Carl who was only a child.
So Carl broke off a piece of bread and handed it to the girl casually.
"Are you hungry? I'll give you some of my share, I can't eat that much. My name is Carl, what's your name?"
The little girl shyly looked at the bread in Carl's hand, took it silently and looked back at her mother.
At that moment, the girl's mother also heard Carl's words and turned her head. Seeing this scene, she smiled and said to Carl.
"Little boy, Sophia has something to eat, no need, thank you!"
Lori also noticed this, turned her head to look at Carl and said softly, "Carl, don't disturb the others and eat quietly."
"It's okay, the boy is nice too. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have noticed that my Sophia is already hungry. Hello, my name is Carol. This is my daughter Sophia , and my husband Ed."
Carol always spoke softly, as if she was used to talking like this. Lori nodded amicably when she heard the words and introduced Carl and Shane.
Then the two parties were silent, and when she felt embarrassed, Carol spoke again.
"Are you going to Atlanta for shelter? Or are you going to see some relatives?"
"We're going to a shelter, we don't have any relatives there." Lori shook her head slightly, a depressed look on her face, she thought again of her husband.
Carol noticed Lori's expression was wrong, she looked at Shane as if she saw something and randomly changed the subject.
"We're also going to the shelter - we should get more people together! After all, no one knows what's going on there. If there are more people, a lot of things will be easier to deal with. You know what I mean?"
Lori felt that what Carol said made sense, so she turned her head and looked at Shane.
Shane also heard Carol's words, thought about it, and then spoke.
"Carol, I think what you're saying makes a lot of sense. To be honest, I'm a county cop."
Hearing the word county cop, Carol squeezed hands hard while the others weren't paying attention, but her expression didn't change one bit and she was still listening seriously to Shane's words.
"I think we can use my identity to contact some fellow officers along the way, so that whatever happens in the future, it will be much better than facing it alone."
"He's right, it's better to act as a group than separately."
With a smile on her face, Carol waved cheerfully, then gestured for him to talk to her husband, then turned around and got into the car.
Shane for his part looked through what Airon had given him in the backpack and was surprised at what he found inside. Military food, medicine, ammunition and some guns among many other important things.
Airon was definitely very well prepared and Shane was grateful that he was inclined to help him.