11: 58 PM
Maximillian, Mary Sue, Delilah, and Sara all stood outside the dome. The fire had finally stopped, and the bodies near the border had collapsed, but around a few minutes ago, they again had risen.
They promptly turned and left, off to do their jobs. Everyone stood in the rain, unable to do a thing, wondering if now was the time that the survivors would perish.
Hundreds of officers, military personnel, and current and former soldiers for the Defense Program waited patiently outside, for the clock to strike twelve. Maximilian’s key could only be used thrice a day, and at the stroke of midnight, they would finally break in.
“Don’t mess up again,” Delilah whispered. “If Levi is dead, I will never forgive you. ”
Maximillian felt small under the hot gaze of his wife, and Mary Sue glared at him as well.
“I won’t forget this,” Mary Sue said.
Maximillian doubted it because she had forgiven him or chose to forget every horrible thing he had ever done. He was sure that he could do whatever he wanted and that he would always be forgiven.
He gazed up at the large door that was made, for the specific purpose of getting inside. No one questioned when he requested a large door the size of a small building be put at the entrance, as everyone was simply desperate to try anything.
The alarm on Maximillian’s watch went off and he groaned.
“Let’s get this over with,” he grumbled under his breath.
He held up the glowing key to the door, and the frame of it shined.
Everyone watched in awe as the gigantic doorknob, the size of a dumpster, turned on its own, and the door opened inward. Light poured out of it and Maximillian put the key away in his pocket.
They all marched in, keeping in order, and on the other side, they were amazed that it worked. Their awe soon turned into disgust and horror. Deteriorating corpses stumbled down the streets, some long past the point of movement. They crawled with their hands, and some were fresh enough that they could jog.
Those that couldn’t walk left trails of black slime on the pavement. The humidity inside the dome, created by the warm thunderstorm above made Maximillian sweat. He covered his mouth and swallowed his bile, the sudden smell smacking him in the face.
“God Almighty,” Maximillian whispered.
Everyone watched in horror as dead children simply got up and walked in their formation. They ignored all the people streaming through Maximillian’s portal.
“Where are they going,” Sara asked.
“Don’t attack,” Maximillian commanded his troops. “Follow them!”
His small platoon went off, but Maximillian stayed behind.
“There should be a switch inside here somewhere,” Maximilian told Mary Sue. “Inside the Training Center is where the beacon was put up. Let’s go turn it off.”
They all got into the light utility vehicles and drove towards the Training Center. They soon realized that all the dead were walking in the same direction.
“They know! They’re going to stop us from opening it,” Sara shouted.
“That makes no sense,” Mary Sue argued. “Wouldn’t they want to leave just like everyone else?”
Everyone in the armored cars wondered what they could all be heading to the same point for, and they drove faster, wanting to beat them before they arrived.
Maximilian looked up into the air and saw more grotesque sights the deeper they went into the campus. Monsters made of stitched-together body parts flew in the sky. On the ground, they ran over several fingerless hands, a monster reconstructed to have numerous eyes on its arms, and strangely enough, the skeleton of a dinosaur.
Around 1 AM Maximillian and several forces arrived at the Training Center. They were greeted by loud cheers and tears of relief. Levi awoke in the middle of the night once he heard the commotion. He moved the blinds aside and saw everyone running outside.
“What’s going on,” Mary Jane mumbled. She rolled off the bed and onto her brother on the floor.
“Careful,” Dexter grunted.
“Something good has happened,” Levi said. “It must be? Why else would people be this happy?”
He woke up John, who was sleeping on the floor as well. They all wanted to sleep together, still paranoid that something worse would happen.
They ran downstairs with the crowd, and for the first time, there weren't screams of pain or sadness, but shouts of joy.
Help had finally arrived, 29 hours after the attack began, and everyone was ready to leave.
Leviathan saw his father in the crowd and he was stunned. He knew if his father was there, it must be a lot worse than he thought it was.
Levi saw his sister, Mary Sue, his mother, and he pushed through the crowd to get to them. Delilah let out a shriek when someone grabbed her but smiled when she realized it was her son. He was much bigger than her, and he dwarfed her small frame when he hugged her tight.
“I love you mom,” Levi whispered. “I missed you and Sara so much.”
What about me, Maximilian thought. Rude.
Mary Sue cried when she saw her children, and they all finally had a happy reunion. She hugged Dexter so hard he saw black for a few seconds and Mary Sue kissed Mary Jane all over her face until she started to complain.
Throughout the night, more and more people streamed into the Training Center and the hospital as people saw the military forces and paramedics. Many were rescued and brought there themselves, and Mary Jane finally got to see Annie and Julia again.
Things started to get rowdy, as there was not enough room for all the people, and the wounded, sick, elderly, and young were given preference first. Savannah groaned, the responsibility too much to bear, Levi’s words becoming true as the night went on.
Throughout the night, George kept his promise and found Gabriel. He was relieved that he didn’t go anywhere, worried that the sudden influx of soldiers would shoot Gabriel on sight from seeing his blood-stained clothes and mouth.
Convinced that they would all make it out alive, Levi decided to make good on his promise.
