The Lingering by Ben Brown

had to get to Ada.
    He pulled his side arm and leaped to his feet once more. He saw three Lingerers dragging Ada towards the jungle. He hit his mike again.
    “I’m going after Ada, the rest of you finish this now!”
    He moved quickly, knocking Lingerers to one side as he went. It was dark, but he still had a good fix on the heat signatures of the three dragging Ada away. He heard her scream and almost froze, but his training pushed him on.
    He tore into the jungle calling Ada’s name as he went. Just in front of him he spotted the head of one of the Lingerers, and he obliterated it with a single shot. A moment later he heard another scream, this time it sounded full of pain.
    He burst into a tiny opening and saw the final two Lingerers ripping Ada’s abdomen to pieces. Her eyes met his, and without thinking, he finished the foul creatures with a bullet to each of their heads.
    Archer fell to his knees beside his fallen teammate, and pushed the corpses off her mutilated body.
    “Boss, I’m sorry I let you down.”
    He looked at her half eaten intestines, and then turned his eyes to hers. “You didn’t let anyone down.”
    She coughed, and blood spurted from her lips. “Boss, when I pass I don’t want to change … finish me before that happens.”
    Archer knew there was no point trying to persuade her she wasn’t dying. They’d all seen what a single bite would do, let alone a full disembowelment.
    “Ada, you’re one of my own, I would never let you turn into one of those things.”
    She smiled and nodded weakly. “You’re a good man, Boss. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.” She reached for his hand. “Boss …”
    He lowered his ear to her mouth. “Yes, what is it.”
    “We did good, didn’t we? I mean, this isn’t all pointless.”
    He kissed her cheek. “You did good, and no, this isn’t pointless. One day The Lingering will be gone, and you played your part in making it happen.”
    Ada let out a long sigh, and passed from the world. Archer held her hand for a moment, then stood and drew his sidearm. With a single shot to her head he kept his promise. Ada Bergmann would never join the ranks of The Lingering.
     
     
     

Chapter 7
     
    Location: nine miles from village 4521
    Date: June 12 th 2012
    Time: 8:45 p.m.
     
    Archer re-entered the small clearing with his side arm raised, but he quickly lowered it as he took in the scene. In the time spent with Ada, the remaining members of his team had finished the task of subduing The Lingerers. Now all their attackers were either dispatched, or lay crippled by their wounds.
    For close to a minute he watched on as Bouchard and Dallas went to each of the maimed Lingerers, and finished them with a bullet to the head.
    “Boss, take a look at this.”
    Archer turned to see Fairclough kneeling over a body; he held a blood covered knife in one hand. Up until that point Bouchard and Dallas had failed to notice his return, but now the large Parisian strode towards him.
    “Where’s Ada, Boss?” asked Bouchard as he scanned the jungle behind his leader.
    Archer shook his head slowly, and Bouchard stopped in his tracks. “Fuck, that’s a damn shame — did you take care of her?”
    Archer holstered his weapon and nodded. “She won’t end up like one of these monstrosities, if that’s what you mean.”
    Bouchard smiled weakly. “Sorry, Boss. I should know better than to think you would leave ‘er to change.” He turned and looked back at the clearing. “We found your MP5 and knife, Dallas has them.”
    “Thanks, I dropped them when one of the biters tackled me.”
    “Boss, I really need you to look at this.”
    Archer looked towards Fairclough, then returned his gaze to the Frenchman. “Bouchard, make sure none of these things are left to crawl out of here. Then take Dallas and do a sweep of the area. We need to make sure there are no more of these things lurking out there.”
    Bouchard nodded. “Sure, Boss. We are almost done ‘ere, we’ll start