The Beginning of An Apocalypse
Thirteen

“Marcus!” Cas shouted. She had been on this bridge for hours. Since it only took at least forty-five minutes to walk to each end of the bridge without stopping, she had walked back and forth almost exactly three times. She had checked almost every inch of every car she had come across. She checked inside the car, inside the trunks, underneath them, and didn’t find Marcus. She found a cane in someone’s car and she had been using that to roll over bodies so she could tell if they were Marcus or not.

Gabriel had said that Marcus was still on this bridge. Everyone that she met seemed to be sure he was on this bridge. But besides the bodies and the news coverage were the only evidence that he was on this bridge. There was no evidence that he was still on the bridge.

Even though it would be hard for him to get off the bridge with both ends guarded by at least three dozen soldiers and military officers. Cas couldn’t get too close to either of the ends of the bridge because she was sure they would see her and either shoot her or drag her off the bridge.

She couldn’t have that happen. At least not yet.

She was sure that Gabriel and everyone else already knew that she was on the bridge. Cas knew it was just a matter of time before they either ran after her and brought her back or if they decided to leave her here to die. Even if she had no intention of dying.

Cas continued to walk on and check all the spots she already checked. She saw the same dead bodies over and over again. It got to the point she started to wonder how they got here. What they did do to have this happen to them? How Marcus could do this? Did he even know what he was doing?

Cas wondered what their lives were like and what they could have been. She imagined the grieving relatives that would break down in cries from the news. And she imagined herself and even a not-so-sick Marcus walking by and people screaming at them and cursing them. All because of the sickness that Marcus seemed to be the first to have.

Cas still couldn’t wrap her mind around that simple fact. How did this happen to Marcus? Why Marcus? Why did the one person that didn’t deserve this get this?

Cas walked down the path of dead bodies and disappear until she psychically couldn’t take it anymore.

She dragged her body to the edge of the bridge, she couldn’t let herself fall to the ground where she could step in the melted and turn to black blood and guts that were everywhere. She moved to the edge and rested her back against the wall. She let her head fall back and she tried to see if there would be any fresh air for her to breathe.

There was no use in trying, everything was polluted and sick.

Cas wondered if she should head back and try to accept whatever fate she was going to get for going behind everyone, especially Gabriel’s back to do this. She wondered if this was even worth it.

Cas lifted her head when she heard a noise. An almost growling noise.

She grabbed her flashlight and got ready for a dog to come at her again. Another half of her wouldn’t be surprised if the casualties of this virus turned out to be able to come back to life and become zombies.

That thought made her go frozen. There was a body just ten feet from her. If they did turn into zombies, it wouldn’t be great for her.

She found a small handgun in one of the glove departments in a truck, but she didn’t know how to use a gun. And the gun only had two bullets loaded in it. That could do little to help her. After the first two shots were over she was a walking dinner for a zombie.

“Look, dog or zombie or whoever and whatever is out there, you better not come towards me,” Cas said. “I do have a gun and I will shoot you.” She knew there were only two bullets in the barrel, but she knew she was the only one who knew that.

The noise continued and the more she heard it the more she knew that it wasn’t an animal. It was a human.

Or a zombie. She decided it was a sixty percent chance that it was a zombie and forty percent it was another regular human being. She always put her faith in the bigger percentages or chance, but this time she was hoping the little chance was going to be right this time.

She stepped away from the edge of the bridge and walked through to the center of the lane. The further away she got from the rail, the less she heard. She turned back to where she originally stood and wondered if the sound was coming from where she stood. But where from that point?

Cas walked back to the edge of the bridge and listened for the humans voice. The scratchy almost growling voice was trying to make out words. Something was blocking the words and it sounded painful.

“Hello!” Cas said lower than she had been shouting. Not only because her own throat was in pain, but this was a dangerous place and there were a lot of unknowns. The last thing she needed was some unknown danger, whether it be a person, an animal, or anything, it was a danger and she had to be careful.

Being careful was better than dead in her opinion.

“Someone there?”

She stepped closer to the edge to the point she could see the Golden Gate Chanel underneath her. She saw it in the distance but that was not the same as seeing it underneath her. She had to step away when she started to see it to take a deep breath. She held her stomach and moved to face the edge and look below her.

The closer she got the clearer she heard it.

There was someone or something stuck in the barriers that were there to prevent people from jumping off the bridge. The plastic stainless steel nets would catch you if you jumped. Located just twenty feet down off the sidewalk.

She looked down and just below her was a person. A person and a car.

“Are you alright?!” Cas shouted when she saw the person was still alive. The man was scratching and fighting to get free. The more she looked the more she saw that it was a teenage boy who had fallen onto the side of the car.

She would if the person wasn’t so far away from her. She squinted her eyes and looked and saw the scene clearer from the first time she saw it. She looked clearer and realized that this person wasn’t just laying in a broken vehicle. There was a piece of metal, that looked like it was from the bottom of it that had impaled the boy.

“Oh my god,” she said to herself. “Are you okay?!” She knew the black blood-covered boy wasn’t okay, obviously, but he was still alive. The shard went straight through his chest, through his heart, and came out of his chest at least half a foot. Yet he was still alive.

Cas watched as the boy’s eyes connected with Cas’s and he started to raise his arm. It looked to her like he was trying to say something, but from the distance, she couldn’t hear what he was trying to say clearly. She wondered how his voice could even make it up to her from down there. Maybe it wasn’t as far as she thought it was.

“I’m going to try to help you!” Cas shouted. “I’ll find a rope!”

Cas stepped away and held her hands in her air. She had discovered this place and the only remotely helpful thing she found was a few bungee cords. She also saw a lot of clothes, if she wanted to she could tie a bunch of clothes together. But that only worked in movies and clothes weren’t the best thing to use as rope.

What was she supposed to do?

Cas ran back to the edge of the bridge and looked down at where the boy lay there. All the ways she could save this person. She could jump down there herself and find some way to get him free and then get back up on the bridge. She could tie clothes together. She could call for help.

Call for help!

Cas thought every possibility over and called for help, going to find someone to help seemed to be the only logical possibility. If she ran back to one of the ends she could get someone to help her.

They would do that if they knew there was someone alive on the bridge. They had to at least do that much for someone.

Cas figured that they had already sent people to scavenge this place instead of just guarding the inside and outside against getting anywhere. She had to believe people knew what was going on here.

“I’m going to run for some help!” Cas shouted. “There are military people out that way, I’ll get them and come back!”

The kid raised his arm and pushed his hand up further. It was like he was trying to tell her something with his strange hand gestures. She watched closely instead of running to get help while it could still matter.

Cas ended up looking at what the boy was wearing. He wore a blue top and bottom like he was a patient in a hospital. Most of the dark blue was covered in blood and turned black. The person continued to spit it out. It fell down his cheeks and covered lots of the area underneath him.

The dots started forming in Cas’s mind and they started to connect.

One of the many videos that Gabriel had shown her came to her mind. The one where it wasn’t taken from a helicopter. The one that was taken from the reporter that was there. It was taken before this happened. Before the military and government started intervening. Before all these bodies were dead.

And in that video, the now-dead reporter took showed Marcus. And she started to pay attention to the image of Marcus in that video. He wore a blue outfit like he was a patient of some kind. He was puking black blood while he made others do the same. Even though when someone else started puking they didn’t stop till they were dead.

And when Marcus had gone after the reporter that was the last video footage that was taken on the bridge instead of from a helicopter.

Cas threw her body at the edge when the dots finally connected and she knew who the boy who lay there impaled was.

“Marcus!” Cas shouted not caring to be silent. She stared at her brother who lay there impaled, stuck, and puking. “Marcus!”

Marcus’s hands started to move faster like Cas had figured out what he was trying to say. Marcus was reaching out for her to help and she knew she had to help him. She just had to figure out how.

“Cassidy Tyler!”

Cas turned frantically to the sound of her name being called. She heard it coming from the distance. Now that it was the morning she could see out in the distance. But whoever shouted her name was far enough away from her that they couldn’t be seen.

“Tyler! Are you here?!” Someone shouted

Cas looked back down at Marcus and whispered that it was going to be okay. She mentally told herself over and over again that she was going to get him no matter what. That he was going to be okay. That everything was going to be okay.

Cas knew that someone was looking for her and she was not going to hide from them or fight them.

“I’m over here!” Cas shouted. “I’m over here! Hurry! Please!”

She heard the men bickering with each other before someone shouted the words, “Alright! Stay where you are!”

She wasn’t going anywhere. Not when she knew Marcus was down there and suffering. When she knew that without help in the next few minutes, Marcus would truly be gone. It was a miracle he was still alive and still able to move.

“I’m over here!” Cas shouted again. “I’m over here!”

Before she finished her second shout she saw them coming up from behind a car. And the first person she saw was Gabriel. Gabriel practically sped to get beside her. He stood in front of her and angrily set down a large black case that he had. He took off his mask and was going to shout at her and tell her how stupid she was. He was about to when he saw her face and saw her tearing up.

He watched as she held her stomach and her breathing was hitched. She kept turning her head back and forth and looking as if she was going to faint. He felt like he could even hear her heartbeat.

And with that single look, he knew what was going on.

She found Marcus.

“Where is he?” Gabriel asked. “Where is your brother?”

“He’s down there! You have to get him! He’s injured and-and without help he’ll–” Gabriel grabbed onto Cas’s arms and gave her a soft yank. He looked into her eyes and waited for her breathing to calm before he began to speak.

“Cas, where is your brother?”

“Down there!” Cas said. “In the safety nets!” She turned her head to face the edge of the bridge. She raised her arm and pointed to where she looked. “He’s down there.”

Cas pushed him off her and she walked back to the edge. She grabbed the ends and hung her body down till she was on her tiptoes. “We’re going to get you, Marcus! Just hold on!” Cas shouted.

“I was thinking that we could get a helicopter or something. We can find out a way to get him without having someone touching him,” Cas said. “We have to hurry.”

Gabriel turned to face one of his men and he told them to go get in contact with one of the generals and get a helicopter on the left side of the bridge. The soldier moved back and grabbed his walkie-talkie. If that wouldn’t work, he’d run back.

Gabriel turned back and got Cas to get away from the edge. Better one dead than two. “Cassidy, get out of here. I’ve got this.”

“No,” Cas said her breathing still uneven and her heart beating too much but she was determined. “I’m going to stay here until I know he’s safe.” She pushed herself away from him again and moved away.

“With all the control I have, I’m asking you to leave and get somewhere safe. At least back away from the edge.”

“He’s my brother!” Cas shouted.

“And I will see to it that he gets help, but killing yourself is no way to help your brother. Okay?”

Gabriel looked at her until she looked directly at him. “Okay?” he asked again and this time he didn’t look away and he didn’t think about anything else until she answered his serious question.

“You get him,” Cas said. She stepped away from the edge, only two feet but it wasn’t at the edge. There was no imminent risk to her life. If she fell he or someone could catch her if she had fallen.

“Davis is bringing in a helicopter!” The soldier said after getting back to them.

“Good,” Gabriel said. Even though he didn’t see what good that would do. He imagined they would try to get people onto the net and try to get Marcus onto something without touching him. There were many ways they could do that. Creative ways that they could get him without touching him.

It was just a matter of getting there and being careful.

But the thought remained in Gabriel’s mind.

Should Marcus be saved or should be put down? Was it worth the risk if he was saved?

After he was saved, Gabriel could push for getting himself on the task of finding out what was wrong with Marcus and how to stop it or fix it. He could do all of this, but should he risk the small chance of being found out? Of a somewhat alive able-to-talk Marcus Tyler ruins everything with just a few words. By a single look.

He didn’t want another test subject 7032. He didn’t want another animal in a cage to have to deal with the utmost security.

He weighed the pros and the cons and the chances. He thought about what could go wrong and what could go right for him with the choices he had in front of him. And he decided to give rescuing him a chance. He didn’t even have a reliable way of getting rid of him if he decided to kill him.

One chance to save him. To bring him in alive or almost alive from the looks of it. It was clear Marcus was no longer a regular human being, but it was also clear that he was alive. And if he was alive no one was going to let him do anything that needed to be done.

Gabriel stood there and watched as the helicopter came and stopped flying when they were above the safety net that held the sick Marcus Tyler on it.

Gabriel was stopped from his thinking when one of his men came up behind him and handed him a walkie-talkie. It took him almost ten seconds to grab because of his hair that was blocking his sight. Every time he moved his hair it only brushed back in his face as the helicopter stayed in the same place. Its wings blew unstoppable air toward him.

“Yes?! Over.” Gabriel shouted into the walkie-talkie.

“What do you want us to do from here? Over.” The man in the helicopter asked through the scratchy walkie-talkie.

Gabriel plugged one ear and he walked away after he got someone to guard his case. He walked to where it was less affected by the helicopter. “What do you have on the helicopter itself?! Tell me you didn’t bring anything. Over.”

“We brought guns as well as suits and metal rods, with a stretcher. Over.”

Gabriel figured that Davis thought that they could poke Marcus with the metal rods and get him onto the stretcher. Strap him down, pick him up with the stretcher and get him in the helicopter then out of here. It was a good plan but there was no way that they could know if it would work or not.

“Good. When you are ready and got your men and the things gathered, get onto the net and get this done quickly. Over.”

“Yes, sir,” the man replied. “Over.”

Gabriel hung and walked back to the edge of the railing where Cas stood. He kept the walkie-talkie in case there would be any more contact.

“What are they going to do?!” Cas had screamed her question because she knew it would be hard to hear. Not as hard as she thought it would be, but hard.

“You’ll see!” Gabriel shouted back. He didn’t have the time or patience to talk her through the plan. He was mad enough at her and it would be a waste of breath. He needed to focus on getting this done and over with. He needed to focus on being the first person back when they brought Marcus in. He needed to be the one in control over everyone and every little thing.

And he would do that no matter what. Whether this ended in death or rescue, he was going to be in control. He was going to put an end to this all.

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