Zombie Theorem (Book 4): Aces Mortis

by James Wallace

  Chun looked over and shook his head in frustration. He closed his eyes and thought about their situation. The Navy did not train their soldiers to handle walking dead cannibals. He opened his eyes when he came to a decision. “Tell the men to get their equipment policed up and packed. Dump the heavy weapons, and tactical shit. No reason to carry it anymore,” he patted his .300 Win Mag lovingly and started collecting his gear.

  Butch sat back against a good size boulder and scratched his chin. “Why don’t you drop the ammo for the .300 and strip it down. We will all carry a piece of it. Never know when we are going to need a powerful long gun, plus you have carried that bad boy a long time now. Hell, I remember the day you got it, you looked like a thirteen-year-old who finally got to see a pair of boobs for the first time.”

  Chun looked over to him and gave Butch a ‘what the fuck’ look. “You got issues, Master Chief,” but he didn’t fight the offer. He picked up the .300 and went through stripping it down to smaller components. He put the now empty mags and firing pin into his bag and handed the barrel and stock over to Butch. “Alright, we are moving out in ten minutes.”

  “Sorry to ask Lt, but where and in which direction are we heading out too?”

  Chun chewed his bottom lip for a second. “We will head North West and hopefully make it back to the airfield we lifted off from. From there, we will have to improvise,” Chun got to his feet and dusted the sand from his fatigues and pulled his black Gargoyle Khyber sunglasses down over his eyes, swung his pack over his shoulder and walked back to the assembled men.

  Butch reached in his mouth and pulled the wad of Copenhagen dip from his cheek and threw it on the ground. He studied the wad on the ground and wondered if this weird shit was happening all over the globe. “Nothing to do but get to it,” he mumbled to himself, pulling his own glasses down and slid the rifle parts from Chun into his pack. He put his ‘fuck you’ face on and marched into the little group of the deadliest warriors on the planet standing around listening to Chun give a sit-rep.

  “Grab your shit, we got one hell of a walk in front of us. We all have family, but stow that shit and get your mind set,” he looked to Chun who he had interrupted to see if he had a problem with his words and actions. Chun gave him a flat stare but then let a little smile slip and nodded at Butch. “Get a litter prepared, we will take turns carrying Blakk. Hootie and Dio, you will take the first slot in carrying the litter. Hashkeh and Lupo take point, we are headed North West towards the air base we flew from. Rascal and Pico, you have rear. We have no working comms and no ammo. Stay frosty and keep your head on a swivel. Move out,” Butch watched Lupo and Hashkeh slip into the brush and were gone. They would take turns on point and make sure to leave a trail the rest could follow.

  Hootie and Dio worked quickly, strapping Blakk into his litter and following Chun down the slope and in the direction Lupo had left them. Butch looked back to Rascal and Pico. “Guns don’t work, you might want to use your knives, I’m going to use my truncheon tool,” he removed a small shovel looking item from the side of his pack and extended the small handle and flipped out the half-serrated axe, half shovel head and laid it on his shoulder like a baseball bat. He melted into the brush and knew the men would follow at a distance.

  They walked through the blistering hot oven that was called a desert and stopped at regular intervals when they found shade and would sip from their full hydration Camelbaks. They were going through large amounts of water to keep their athletic bodies hydrated, after a day of walking they had consumed three quarters of their water supply. They stopped a final time before the sun had gone down and quickly worked at building a small shelter for Blakk. Chun tasked Hashkeh and Rascal to find a new water supply for them, and then hunkered down looking over his map.

  Hootie came over and took a knee next to Chun and waited for recognition. Chun gave him a sideways look and then arched an eyebrow. Hootie took that as an opening to speak. “Lt, I was thinking. Remember when we did all that desert training way back before we did that little job in Iran? They had that dude, that Canadian survival TV guy, come out and work with us. He said for what we did we should move at night if we could and try and hunker down during the day to conserve our strength. I know he was telling us what we already knew, but shouldn’t we be considering that right now? I mean we have a while to go still and Blakk is not looking good,” he trailed off knowing he had talked way too much.

  “Were you rehearsing that speech during the entire march?” Chun dug into his breast pocket and removed a pack of gum and handed a piece to Hootie, who took it knowing it was a reward for speaking up. Chun looked back down to the map and looked to be in deep thought for a couple of minutes. “We will rest for two hours and move once the stars come out. Get some shut eye while you can, Hootie,” Chun looked surprised when he heard a soft snoring sound coming from his side. He craned his neck around and found Hottie had already racked out. That guy could sleep in the weirdest places, in the weirdest positions and at the drop of a hat.

  Chun gained his feet and walked around giving his orders and details of his new plan. Hashkeh and Rascal came back with a small canteen of brackish water between them. Chun eyed it and shook his head. “I ain’t drinking that shit. I would suggest you didn’t drink it either, go get some food down your throats and rack out, we will be moving out in two hours,” Chun left the men as they goaded each other on to try the fluid. Neither wanted Montezuma’s revenge, diarrhea, so they poured the water out, ate a quick meal of protein bars and sipped from their Camelbaks before promptly passing out. Chun, volunteered to take watch as his men racked out and snored quietly under the setting sun. He reflected back to the mission details and scoffed at the real-life situation they found themselves in. He racked his mind to create a new plan if they found everything had gone to shit at the airfield. He found a small town that resided 20 klicks west of the airfield and decided that would be a good place as an alternate objective.

  Chun sat back and stared up at the sky as stars came twinkling into view, he thought back to his long dead parents. When he was only six, his parents had been working with the CIA and became important assets to the US government. His dad worked for some nuclear lab, where they made small compact weapons of mass destruction. One day, his dad inserted a viral program into the computers and broke out of the lab. He gathered his wife and child and drove towards a spot that had been decided on by their handler. He had to drive around checkpoints and convoys as they swarmed into the city. Numerous times they were almost held up or arrested but something had watched over them. When they pulled into the area, a helicopter was sitting on the ground with men holding big guns. They checked their IDs and moved them quickly towards the helicopter. Chun was boarded first and strapped in next to a big armored, bearded soldier. The man looked down and gave him a smile and wink. His parents were about to board when the woods around them exploded in gunfire. His parents were killed within seconds, right before his eyes. The two men still outside the helicopter returned fire and boarded. The big man next to him grunted and then turned and folded his body over little Chun’s fragile body. In moments, the helicopter had taken off and pointed towards the west. It stayed just above the tree tops but moved very fast.

  The big man sat up, freeing Chun from his embrace. He looked down to his side and grimaced as he explored his right side with his fingers. When he pulled them back they were painted in bright red blood. He looked down at his fingers then to the young Chun. “Just winged me buddy, everything is going to be okay,” he said to Chun in perfect Mandarin.

  The man removed a pad of gauze from his vest and pressed it to his side. He never broke eye contact with Chun. Minutes after crossing over the shores of mainland China, the helicopter was rocked slightly from a large explosion to their west. His father had sabotaged the systems of the lab and caused the nuclear power source deep under the lab to explode and vaporize the entire city, including the soldiers and his dead parent’s bodies. A year later, the soldier who had r
escued him became his new father. The man’s name was William Beedie, he was a SAS trooper who now lived in the US and worked with the Special Ops Forces in all the branches. He was born in Scotland, the Isle of Skye to be exact. He worked hard at hiding his accent while working with the Yanks but every once in a while when he was drinking or frustrated, his hard brogue would come rushing through. Chun learned five languages under his new father, and how to be a man who could push his boundaries to the limit and beyond. Chun joined the Navy and Seals right out of high school, his new father supported him in everything he chose to do. He just asked of Chun to be passionate and respectful in everything he did.

  Chun was shaken out of his flashback when Butch placed a hand on his shoulder. Chun moved lightning fast, pulling his knife from its sheath and was inches from stabbing Butch through the jugular when he recognized the man in the darkness. He brought his knife back down and slid it away. Butch moved away from Chun quickly.

  “Same team Lt, same team. Holy fuck man, if you were supposed to be on watch, you should’ve heard me get up from my nap and come approach you,” Butch stood with his hands at shoulder height and palms up.

  Chun rubbed his face roughly with both hands. “Sorry about that, Master Chief. I wasn’t sleeping, although maybe I should’ve been. Just reliving an earlier time. Get the rest of the team up and let’s get some miles under us,” Butch nodded his head in agreement and moved off to wake the guys.

  Chun wasted some of his precious water to wet his bandana and run it over his face. He hadn’t thought about his past for a while now, and no idea why it reared its head now. He shook off the nostalgia and squared himself away. Getting to his feet, he screwed back on his command persona and made his way over to the team. “Rascal and I will take Blakk. Hashkeh, you and Lupo feel up to staying point?”

  Hashkeh and Lupo answered affirmative as one without checking with each other. They would never show weakness or suggest they should stand down. This was a good thing and bad. Chun and Butch had to constantly read their men’s well-being and order them to rest. Or they would continue well past their point, Seals never quit, it was not a word in their vocabulary. The guys on this team were tier one A type personality warriors. They made other special force operators look like regular troops. With one exception, some Delta teams were close if not equal with them. Chun grabbed the handles on the back of the litter as Rascal turned backwards grabbing onto the front handles. They lifted together and followed out behind Lupo, who wore one of the precious night vision goggles they had. They traveled over the now cold desert until the hard pack ground gave way to gravel and low lying hills. After traveling for three hours, Butch called for a stop and rest. Chun and Rascal were happy to put the litter down and rest their hands, arms, and shoulders. After five minutes, Hashkeh materialized out of the darkness like a silent ghost. He carried two plastic bottles full of something. The darkness was not complete thanks to a half moon shining down on them but was still hard to see what Hashkeh carried.

  He strode over and handed one of the bottles to Chun, who cracked open the top and took a long pull off it. Chun was almost rocked out of his boots when cold refreshing water poured down his throat. He had to be disciplined though and stop himself from guzzling the whole thing. He replaced the lid and held it back out to Hashkeh who pushed it back at him.

  “You need the fluid, drink it all, there is a small running stream just over that small rise. We have plenty of water to fill our packs. Give me yours, Lupo and I will collect everyone’s packs and take care of that need,” he held his hand out and waited as Chun shrugged out of his heavy pack, and handed it over. Chun drained the rest of the water and handed it back to Hashkeh before he could walk away. Chun opened his legs wide and worked through some stretching exercises, that looked a lot like yoga. He felt refreshed after his back and shoulder muscles had stretched. He took out a protein bar from his vest pouch and ripped into it, the taste was bland but would afford him some extra energy. They only rested twenty minutes and switched off duties. Hashkeh and Butch took over litter duty as Rascal and Chun took point. The rest of the team fell into place as they moved off into the low hills. Chun moved at a good clip but whenever his ears picked up a noise, he would go to a knee and strain his hearing to find the source of the noise. When nothing happened, he would gain his feet again and move off. The sun was starting to rise when Chun called for a halt. Rascal moved up next to him and waited, while scanning their immediate surrounding for danger. Chun raised his head and slowly sniffed.

  “Do you smell that, Rascal?” Chun asked.

  Rascal tilted his head and tried to catch the odor. At first nothing, but as he waited a small breeze picked up and brought with it the smell of acrid yet sweet smelling smoke. “Smoke, has a sweet smell to it, almost like avgas,” He cocked his head and took in another whiff. “Coming from the North West.”

  “Aviation gas, that is not a good sign,” he made a difficult command decision and flipped up his night vision goggles, pulled them off his head, and handed them over to Rascal. “Report back to Chief, halt the team and tell them to make a shelter. I will be right back,” he didn’t wait for Rascal to repeat or acknowledge his orders.

  Chun stood, dropped his pack on the ground and moved off at a quick jog. Rascal retrieved Chun’s pack and moved back to the team, who had caught up and now stood waiting. Butch saw him coming sans Chun and cocked his chin to the right. As if asking ‘what the fuck?’

  “The Lt is going up ahead, he wants us to halt here and set up a shelter for the day,” he turned to check the side of their trail when Butch’s big right meaty paw grabbed onto his bicep.

  “Why is the Lt moving out on his own?”

  “We caught a faint whiff of avgas on the wind coming from the direction of the airfield. He ordered me back and said he would return. Just following orders, Master Chief,” Rascal pulled free of Butch’s grasp and moved off the trail, examining the nearby rocks and trees.

  Butch turned to the west and started sampling the air with his nose. He found the sweet smell and identified it as avgas. He wanted to find his Lt and stay by his side. But he had orders and if anything, Butch followed orders. He took lead on the shelter building and in no time had a nice shelter from the rising sun and encroaching heat of the day. It was big enough to accommodate them all. Really it was a break in between a boulder that they had covered with branches and foliage, then dug into the ground and created a small wall using the loose dirt. It wasn’t the Ritz, but it would do. He ordered Pico to check on Blakk’s wounds and condition.

  Pico checked the bandage and found the bleeding had stopped. He then checked for a pulse. Finding none, he unsecured the straps and started on CPR. The men surrounded him and went through their gear pulling out first aid material they carried in such a situation. It was Hootie that saw it first, Blakk’s hand twitched. After seeing inside the buildings and their contents back at the compound he was not going to be surprised if what he thought was coming happened. He grabbed Pico’s shoulders and yanked him back just as Blakk’s eyes snapped open and reached out, fingers just brushing Pico’s blouse. Butch and Hashkeh worked fast and quickly secured Blakk back to the stretcher. Blakk was going crazy, darting his head forward trying to bite anyone close enough. Butch ordered everyone back and they watched Blakk as he thrashed and rocked his body back and forth. He was trying to free himself from the litter and the straps. Butch worked his way around to the end of the litter where Blakk’s feet rested. He grabbed the handles and dragged the litter out of the shelter and out into a small clearing.

  “Blakk, you stupid, dumb nuts, pencil dicked moron, quit it. Calm the fuck down so we can help you,” Butch shouted at him.

  Blakk just went crazier trying to wiggle out of the straps, all the time trying to bite Butch or the others. He rocked up and down so hard they all heard Blakk’s shoulder break under the force he was putting on it. The weird thing was, Blakk ignored the break. No cry out in pain, or favoring of it. He continued to thras
h until an elbow broke and bent the other direction for a moment. Hashkeh came forward and without any hesitation took his large wicked serrated bowie knife and plunged it straight into Blakk’s heart. He twisted it when he felt the knife hit bone and then stepped back in bewilderment as Blakk continued to keep moving, ignoring the large knife protruding from his chest. Hashkeh mumbled something in Navajo and crossed himself.

  “I obliterated his heart, yet he continues to thrash. He doesn’t even seem to notice the knife,” he looked to Butch for answers. Finding none, he looked back to Blakk.

  Just then Chun came trotting into their circle. “What the hell is going on here?” he asked, slightly out of breath.

  “Pico was checking on Blakk. He couldn’t find a heartbeat, started chest compressions and that is when Blakk tried attacking him. He was moving around too much and trying to bite anyone who came close so I dragged him out here. He has now broken an elbow and a shoulder, never noticed the pain and is continuing to try and get loose. Hashkeh drove his blade into Blakk’s chest to end his suffering, but as you can see that had no effect,” Butch finished his report and went silent, keeping his eyes glued to Blakk.

  “Do you think Blakk is still in there? You know like his soul? Is he trapped?” Dio asked.

  “No way, with the heart obliterated, the brain dies. This is something else, something wrong, an affliction,” Hootie said a quick Ave Maria, or Hail Mary. He was one of three religious men on the team. His Catholic upbringing and faith in his God kept him going when other men would fold over the stress and physical demands this job required.