There was no time for quiet and careful. It was time to move. We climbed down a few branches and then jumped down from the tree, not caring if we landed with a thud. We must’ve dropped about fifteen feet but the suit absorbed all of the impact.

We started running back for the Humvee.

“Do we switch off the cloaking device?” I asked as we ran.

“No. Not until we get closer.”

I snuck a glance over my shoulder. Luckily we weren’t being chased. We still had the element of surprise.

About fifty yards away from the Humvee, Daniel switched off his cloak. He shimmered back into sight.

“Time to go guys,” he said to Kenji and Jack. “We don’t have much time.”

Kenji was off the roof in an instant. We weren’t even all the way inside the car before Jack took off, straight for the stadium.

“So what happened?” Jack asked. “Is she all right?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “But she’s scared. She’s worried about being out in the open. She doesn’t like that idea at all. But I said we’ll be there in the middle to meet her in two minutes.”

“And she is going to meet us there on the field, right?” Kenji asked.

“Ah, I think so. Yes.”

“What do you mean, you think so?”

“Well, the radio connection was a bit distorted. I couldn’t quite make out what she said. But I’m pretty sure she agreed to the plan.”

“So we don’t even know if she’ll be there?” Kenji said.

“I... I’m sorry, it was…”

“Don’t worry,” Jack said as he floored the accelerator. “She’ll be there.”

I glanced at the speedometer; we were up to sixty miles per hour already. The massive engine was working overtime. It was redlining. I almost felt sorry for anything that got in our way.

Almost.

We crashed through the tree line with the engine roaring, the tires screeching and the horn blaring.

Our plan was to do a lap of the stadium first, to get the infected away from where we wanted to enter on the northern side. So we headed off in a counter clock wise direction.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

But then Jack actually slowed down.

“What are you doing?” I asked in disbelief.

“Need to make sure they’re following us.”

It was weird making this much noise and actually trying to get spotted, after sneaking around for so long. Now we were going in with our guns blazing, our horn blaring. Full throttle. Everything decidedly not stealth.

I looked out my window, behind us. There was a sea of infected. And every single one of them was coming for us. Every single one of them was hungry.

Jack picked up the pace as we drove right around the stadium.

When we approached the northern access tunnel he took the Humvee out nice and wide so we could get a good run at the gate.

The gate was about fifteen feet high and consisted of black metal bars that had been sharpened into spikes. I remembered hearing a story on the news about a drunken guy who tried to break in one night because his friend dared him to. He climbed to the top of the gate, lost his balance and his grip. He fell and sliced off his pinkie. To make matters worse, on the way down, one of the metal spikes stabbed his leg, impaling his calf muscle. He was stuck there, hanging upside down for an hour before the security guard found him and called an ambulance. Apparently the grounds keeper found his pinkie the next morning.

I braced myself for impact as we sped towards the gate. We must’ve been going at least sixty or seventy when we smashed into it. The gate never stood a chance.

Unfortunately, when we smashed into the gate, it went flying back into the tunnel and bounced off the walls. It landed awkwardly. When we ran over it, it got stuck up underneath the body of the Humvee.

We had to stop. We had to dislodge it.

Both Kenji and Daniel jumped out, wasting precious seconds. But eventually they were able to remove it.

They got back in the car and Jack accelerated for the secondary gate and the makeshift barricade they had put there. But we couldn’t just smash into it. The barricade would destroy the car. Jack had to slow down so we could try and nudge it and push it out of the way.

Again, this was wasting precious time. It was kind of ironic that something that was put there to protect, could now cost us our lives.

It was taking too long. Any second now the horde would catch up with us. They would come charging into the tunnel. And we’d be done for. And how much longer was Maria prepared to wait out in the open for us? What if she had freaked out and gone back into hiding?

I don’t know what came over me. I wasn’t trying to be a hero or anything. Looking back on it now, I guess it was pretty stupid. But in my mind, at that point, there was just no other option. I had to go in and get Maria. Before it was too late.

I was wearing the NBC suit. I could get in. I could squeeze through the tiny gap in the makeshift barricade.

I got out of the Humvee without even telling anyone what I had planned. Another stupid thing to do. But I didn’t want to waste anymore time arguing over whether or not I should go. Besides, I was pretty sure I was the only one who’d be able to squeeze through the tiny gap anyway.

Kenji initially opened the car door to protest and to get me back in the Humvee. But I was up on the barricade, squeezing through before he could say anything. And once I was half way through, I think he realized what I was doing and that I was the only one who was able to do it.

“Just be careful,” he finally said.

After I was through, Jack revved the engine again and continued pushing the barricade out of the way inch by inch.

I landed on the ground on the other side of the barricade. The dust seemed to have intensified again. There were actually mini-tornadoes and mini-twisters swirling around inside the stadium arena. I couldn’t see Maria at all. But I couldn’t see very far. Visibility was back to a few feet.

I had no choice but to keep going. And like so many cricket players and football stars before me, I made my way to the middle of the Sydney Cricket Ground.