I finally located Pops. He was hiding behind another raised porch three houses in front of me. He caught me looking and smiled. I waved, and he nodded. Then a stab of pain from my leg forced me to sit down behind my brick barricade. I checked the leg wound and saw that it was still seeping, so I tightened the belt yet again. The thought came to mind that keeping a tourniquet on an appendage for too long would result in the need to amputate it due to the lack of blood. I told myself I couldn’t think of that now. First I needed to survive this whole thing, then I could think about getting back up the hill to the doctor. Back to Pepper.
I took a deep breath and stood up again. The two wounds screamed at me to let them rest, but I knew I couldn’t. I caught sight of Buck pointing the RBG over the top of the adobe wall. He popped the trigger, and a new Toyota sedan exploded into flames. There were screams of pain as a man opened the door and fell out onto the street. He was burning alive. I felt an overwhelming pity for him as he continued to scream and thrash on the road, and I prayed that he would die soon. He did, eventually, slumping to the asphalt with no more movement. I felt sick again and tried to throw up, but there was nothing left to come out. I consoled myself by remembering that he was one of the people who was trying to kill us.
✽✽✽
The Major was successful in crossing several backyards while heading back towards the Suburban. Fortunately, the people who had been looking for him on foot thought he was still close to the vehicles he’d destroyed; a thought that he was happy to let them go on believing. The retired U.S. Army officer hopped another fence and dashed across a small street. He figured he was two more blocks distant from where he had left Jimmy and Marie. He started to climb the wooden fence leading into another back yard when he heard the shouts.
“There he goes!”
Rifle rounds peppered the fence around him at the same time his foot slipped. He impacted the top of the picket with his crotch. The shock sent waves of agony throughout his body as he dropped over to the other side. There were three metal trash cans on the other side of the fence, and he quickly crawled behind them. Rifle rounds chewed at the fence pickets and made pinging sounds as they hit the cans. The bullets made it through the fence and two of the bins, but the third one stopped them.
The Major had already reloaded the RBG with the last of his grenades. He couldn’t risk exposing himself to search for a target, so he used an old trick he’d learned from a staff sergeant in Afghanistan. The veteran combat soldier lay on his back and pointed the grenade launcher up at the sky. He remembered where he had spied the knot of bodies who were trying to reach him and made a guess as to where to aim. The Major pulled the trigger and waited as the shell went upward, almost straight into the air above him. There was enough of a tilt in its ascent, however, to allow it to fall back on the other side of the fence after it reached its zenith.
The round landed, and the Major heard screams. “Time to go,” he told himself, getting to his feet and running toward the back fence. Someone had laid a stack of ornamental bricks alongside the pickets, awaiting future installation. Alas, that activity would never take place but the brick’s placement was a godsend to the Major who used them to vault over the barrier and into the next yard. He was sailing over the top when bullets started pecking at the fence all around him. As he fell on the other side, one of them pierced the wooden pickets and struck him in the ribcage. The impact spun him around and dropped him to the ground.
The Major felt at the wound and pulled his hand back wet. “Damn! I was so close,” he said to himself.
Then he heard the unmistakable sound of an M-240 chattering away on Shields Avenue. He prayed he had taken out all of the high caliber machine guns that the marauders had with them, that would mean the weapon he heard opening up near him was Jimmy’s.
The Major’s radio crackled, and he heard Marie’s voice. “Major, what’s your twenty?”
He moved stiffly into a kneeling position and snatched the walkie from its holster. “I’m in a backyard on the north side of Shields. I can hear the M-240; it sounds like it’s right next to me.”
There was a pause then Marie came back on the air as the machine gun continued to rattle away. “Can you see us? We should be close. We moved onto Shields and up one block so we could engage the enemy.”
“Wait one; I’ll pop my head over the fence.”
The Major forced himself to ignore the pain and staggered over to the fence. He heard the machine gun still pouring its lethal rain of lead at the marauders and the rumble of the Suburban’s engine. He used a crossbeam on the fence to painfully lift himself up and peer over the top of it. The Suburban was almost directly on the other side. Marie was at the wheel, and she was slowly inching the big truck forward as Jimmy walked beside her, carrying the heavy machinegun while shooting at the scattering raiders.
The Major took three deep breaths, then hoisted himself over the rim of the fence. The pain from the broken ribs sent waves of anguish throughout his body, but he got over it and plunked down on his butt on the opposite side.
Jimmy spotted him and frantically gestured for him to get back into the fight. From his location, Jimmy could not see that he was wounded.
The Major took another two deep breaths and forced himself into a standing position, bringing the RBG around and pumping out lethal grenades. In front of them, trucks were exploding and bursting into flames as the two types of ammunition did their jobs. The grenade launcher ran dry, and the Major limped over to the open tailgate and found the spare box of grenades. He opened the action on the RBG and refilled the six cylinders, all of them with high explosive rounds this time. He snapped his weapon shut and came back out around the other side of the truck. Marie was now leaning out of the cab of the Suburban firing her M4. There were very few shots coming their way as the enemy fighters scrambled to avoid the explosions.
The Major lined up and took a rough sight picture at the vehicles which were still stupidly waiting in a straight line. He found the trigger and started pumping grenades at them. He started at the end of the line, the trucks that were the closest to him and his team, and just walked the bombs down the row of vehicles. The pickups and Humvees started exploding like a string of firecrackers on the fourth of July.
✽✽✽
I could hear Buck shouting at us over the rifle shots.
“The plan was to keep moving them south. Can you two move further up?”
Pops replied. “I don’t know. Every time I start to move, I get shot at. Maybe if Virgil can give me some cover.”
“How about you, Virgil,” Buck yelled. “Think you can move forward a little, push these guys back?”
I was still standing, but I knew I wasn’t able to run or maybe even walk at this point. I had slowed the bleeding with the makeshift bandage and tourniquet, but I was losing so much blood that my head was woozy, and it looked like fireflies were swarming around me.
“I don’t think so, Buck. I’m hit.”
Pops sounded panicked. “Son? How bad is it? I’ll try to get back there to you, just wait.”
I could see him raise up, but a small flurry of bullets drove him back behind his cover.
“Pops, don’t risk it,” I shouted. “Someone has you targeted, and I can’t see where the shots are coming from. I’m okay; I just can’t be running anywhere.”
“Dan? Listen, Dan, I think I’m clear. I haven’t drawn any fire for a while. I’ll get over to him and check him out. Virgil? Virgil, when I say ‘now,’ you light up this street with that weapon, you hear me?”
I almost told Buck to stay where he was, that I would be fine, but I knew that would make Pops try to get to me and the way he was pinned down, I didn’t think he could make it.
“I hear you,” I yelled, “Just tell me when.”
“Now!”
I raised up and fired off an entire magazine of rounds, raking my shots over every exposed door or window I could see. The destruction that followed might not have hit anyone, but it sure
kept their heads down because Buck got all the way over on my side of the street without being shot at. He rolled behind the brick porch steps and came up into a kneeling position.
“You’re gettin’ good with that gun, boy.” I heard him rooting around behind me in his load vest. “Okay, I see where you’re bleeding, Virg. Roll over on your stomach and let me take a look.”
I complied and soon felt my trousers being pulled down to my knees. Buck pushed and poked on the wound to my buttock, and I gritted my teeth through it. Then he started prodding the other wound on my leg, and I cried out in pain.
“Damn, Buck. That’s a bullet wound; don’t be poking on it.”
I heard a hoarse laugh from the Marine. “Sorry, kid. I just had to see what we were working with here. The one on your ass is just a graze. You’ll need stitches, but it’s nothing serious. The leg wound isn’t good, but it’s not as bad as it could be. The bullet track is shallow. It entered above your knee and traveled upward under the skin. Right now it’s lodged between your skin and your hip bone. It doesn’t look like it hit any other bones. The doc will have to cut the slug out, and you’ll walk funny for a while, but you’ll live.”
I heard him laugh again.
“What the hell is so damned funny, Buck?”
“I was just thinking…that pretty new doctor will be stitching up your bare butt, and that will be the closest you’ve ever come to having sex.” He laughed harder.
“I’m glad my wounds are providing you with so much entertainment.”
He was rolling on his back now, his laughing out of control. “You can’t even show Pepper your war wounds to impress her. I can just see you dropping your drawers when she asks you where you got shot. C’mon now, boy, pull up your drawers, you look ridiculous lying there half nekked like that.”
I flopped on my back and wriggled my trousers back up. I wanted to be mad at Buck, but his laughter was infecting me. “Haha, it’s so funny that I got shot in the butt.” I grinned. “And how do you know that getting stitched up by Sharon would be the closest I’ve been to having sex?”
“Just an educated guess. You walk around like you’re all stopped up down there.”
We both broke out laughing then. It lasted for about thirty seconds before Buck grabbed the radio.
“I got to check in and tell the Major what’s going on.” He clicked the send button. “Major, you there?” There was no reply at first. “Major, it’s Buck, you there?”
We got a burst of static before Marie came over the air. “Hang on, Buck, the Major took a round in the side. Jimmy’s working on him right now.”
There were sounds of arguing in the background that we could hear because Marie had forgotten to release the button. After a few seconds, the Major’s voice came over the line. “Buck? Sitrep?”
“Yeah, we’ve hit our high water mark over here, Major. The kid was hit a couple of times, but he’ll live. We are about halfway down the block between Ashlan and Shields. We can’t move up any further. Our vehicle is history. I have four more shells for the RBG, and we have plenty of ammo for the M-240 and our M4s.”
There was a wait as the Major evaluated the situation report. He sounded tired when he came back to us. “Okay, stay put and hunker down. We’ve got these bozos on the run. Most of their assault vehicles are in pieces or in flames. Six of them got away and the last I saw of them they were speeding their way west on Shields taking fire from Marcus’ people and Jimmy on the M-240. Pretty sure they left some skin behind. Stay on while I get Marcus with us. Marcus, you listening?”
The younger man’s voice answered immediately. “Yeah, Major, I heard all that. I think we got most of the raiders who were trying to get at us through the backyards. What do you have in mind for our new situation?”
“Yeah, listen. Don’t mention any numbers but divide your people in half. Leave one half to guard against a second attempt to reach your position. Take the other half and meet up with us at the intersection. Keep everyone under cover, there is still an unknown number of people engaging Buck and Dan on Fowler, and they’re dug in tight. We’ll give them a chance to give up. If they don’t take it, we’ll have to go house to house.”
The two clicks signified Marcus’ understanding of his orders. The Major radioed again. “Buck, you still there?” Another two clicks from Buck. “Okay, we’re gonna drive down toward you. We’ll give those people a chance to give up. If they don’t take it, we’ll start pushing them your way. Be sharp; it’ not gonna be pretty.”
And that was when the excrement hit the proverbial oscillator. Our firefight brought out a horde of infected which surged around the corner of Ashlan and Fowler behind us and flowed onto the street. There were hundreds of them.
Buck grabbed my arm and pointed. “Up the steps, junior, quickly!”
We struggled up the brick steps, me hopping on one leg and Buck steadying me on the other side. I caught sight of Pops sprinting back toward us and noted that no one was shooting at him. I did hear the sounds of rifle fire and assumed the raiders were now targeting the greater danger of the infected. At the top of the stairs, Buck tried the door, and we were surprised to find it unlocked. We pushed into the bungalow just as Pops joined us. He grabbed the M-240 and bag of magazines from me and took Buck’s place at my side. Buck busied himself locking the door while Pops led me to a dusty old sofa and sat me down. I have to admit I felt a little naked without my big machine gun in my hands.
“Major, Major, big change in our situation here,” Buck was now shouting over the handset. “We have a massive wave of infected coming at us. We’re in a house, and it looks secure, but there are a lot of Rager types out there. Suggest you have everyone get under cover.”
“Roger that, Buck. Give me bullet count for the M-240.”
Pops tossed him the bag, and he counted five loaded mags.
“I have a full magazine in the weapon,” I shouted.
Buck got back on the walkie as he peeked out around the side of the old, paper window shade. “Major, be advised we have six hundred rounds.”
“Roger that. Stand by for further instructions.”
Pops left me on the sofa and grabbed his M4 rifle, tossing it to me. He checked the M-240 to make sure it was chambered and draped the mag bag over his shoulder while he made his way over to where Buck was still watching the street.
I heard them talking in low tones but couldn’t make out what they were saying. At this point I didn’t even care what they were saying, my leg and hip hurt so badly I didn’t think I could stand it any longer. I tried to lift my leg up onto the sofa but couldn’t manage it, so I flopped back on my back and spread my arms out to both sides. I wanted to be brave and ignore the pain, but I couldn’t manage it.
“Pops?” My voice sounded weak to me. “Pops, do we have any pain meds?”
He came over to me. “I don’t think so, son, not with us. Let me check this place.” He ran around the downstairs, and I heard him rummaging through the bathroom. He came back to the living room and held up a small green bottle. “I found some ibuprofen but don’t take it yet. Let me check the upstairs.”
He charged up the steps, and I could hear his heavy footsteps going back and forth above us. Sweat started to run down both sides of my face, and I yearned to take off my load bearing vest. I looked over at Buck. He’d been silently watching the outside for about five minutes now.
“What are the infected doing out there now, Buck?”
He turned to look at me, studied me for a minute then frowned. “You don’t look good, kid. But, to answer your question, they’re picking certain houses and breaking down the doors then charging inside. I don’t know how they’re picking the houses or what they are doing once they get inside, but it’s a good bet they aren’t cleaning up the place.”
Pops came down the stairs then. “Bingo! I found these upstairs.”
He came over and dropped a white bottle in my lap. The label said it had been prescribed by a dentist and identified the pills as ac
etaminophen with codeine. I shook out three pink capsules.
Pops frowned. “The label said one to two capsules.”
I grinned. “Pretty sure that was for toothaches, not gunshot wounds, Pops. Trust me; I need these.”
He nodded and dug a small bottle of water out of his vest. He passed it over, and I drained the whole thing, washing down the pills then laid my head back and prayed for the drugs to start taking effect quickly.
Pops walked back over to Buck and got the radio. He brought it back over to where I was and sat beside me.
“Let’s try something, Virgil.” He keyed the mike and spoke. “Hey, Dragon’s Lair, anybody read me out there?” No response. “Dragon’s Lair, anyone read?” Silence again. Pops looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, it was worth…”
“Yes, yes, this is Dragon’s Lair. Go ahead with your message.” The voice was Emma’s.
Pops sat up straight. “Is one of the doctors there?”
“Yes, Sharon is right here; hold on.”
A moment later, Sharon’s voice sounded. “Dan? Is that you? Are you hurt?”
Pops unconsciously shook his head as he answered. “No, Sharon, I’m good, but Virgil has been shot twice. One is a graze but the other was to his leg, and the bullet lodged under the skin. He has a tourniquet on the leg which is keeping the bleeding down. I just gave him three acetaminophen capsules with codeine. He looks wet and sweaty.” He laid his hand on my head for a second. “Definitely has a fever. What can I do, Sharon?”
“Get him up here, stat!”
“Can’t. We’re pinned down here by a horde of those things. We’re in a house, and so far they haven’t tried to get at us.”
Sharon’s voice sounded a little worried to me, and that did not help me calm down. “Okay, how long has he had the tourniquet on?”
Pops looked to me, and I held up all of my fingers.
“About ten minutes. Problem is, if we undo it, the boy will start to bleed again, and he’s already lost a lot of blood.”
Virgil's War- The Diseased World Page 19
