Zombie Theorem (Book 4): Aces Mortis

by James Wallace

  Butch winked at her and raised the baton up over his head and in a roar brought his arms down in an impressive display of strength. The baton hit the glass right in the corner of its frame and rebounded back up, sending waves of energy coursing up through Butch’s arms. He ignored the pain and examined the glass where he had stuck it. A small divot could be seen, but better two cracks had formed and starred the glass. Butch wasted no time and raised the baton again, he brought it down harder using his body’s weight as he put everything he had into the hit. The baton struck the glass in the same spot and this time a loud crack could be heard. The baton buried itself part way into the glass and would’ve fallen through if it wasn’t for the intense pressure Butch was applying with his hands to hold onto it. Again, the energy from the strike traveled up his arms, and again he ignored it. He moved the baton back and forth, widening the hole he made and then stuck his foot against the windows frame and pulled with all his might. The baton came free and the cracks widened from the hole he made.

  “One more should do it, Master Chief. I would suggest hitting it here,” Pauline bent over and placed a finger just above the hole he had made.

  Butch divided his attention from admiring Pauline’s shapely rump as she bent over and the place she was pointing at. She noticed and gave him a devious grin. “I tell you what Master Chief, if you can break that window open on your next strike, I might be willing to let you touch the thing you keep looking at,” she wagged her bottom just a little before sitting back down on the roof. Meeting his eyes she saw he was intrigued.

  Without speaking a word, Butch took in a deep breath and swung the baton down with even more strength than he had used yet. This time, the entire glass pane shattered and rained down into the store below. He quickly cleared the remnants of glass still on the frame. Once done, he stuck his head into the store. “Ahoy, anyone call for pizza?” he shouted into the opening.

  “About fucking time! This pizza better be free cause your thirty minutes ended a week ago,” a strong man’s voice shouted out from below.

  “Anyone hurt?” Butch called down.

  “Got a couple of walking wounded but nothing too serious. No one hurt from the glass though, if you were wondering,” the voice came back.

  “Good to hear. We will be down in a minute,” Butch yelled back.

  Lupo and Hashkeh appeared with the ropes and threw the coils in through the opening and into the store. They uncoiled as they fell to the floor. “Just a sec, we need to clear a place for you to land, unless you want a twisted ankle or knee,” came the voice from below.

  Lupo secured the rope to his harness. Hashkeh handed one to Pauline and pulled a pair of heavy looking gloves onto his hands. He didn’t wear a harness, he was going too fast rope in. Which meant he would take the rope into his hands and free fall into the store and down the rope using his hands and a foot to brake. When the voice came back up that the area was clear, Lupo jumped into the hole and rappelled down into the darkening store, Hashkeh waited a couple of moments and then grabbed the other rope and disappeared quickly.

  Pauline looked up to Butch. “He is kind of a show off, huh?”

  “Nope, he really is that much of a bad ass. I’ve seen that man run into the face of danger so many times. Nothing he does surprises me anymore,” he grabbed the harness from Pauline and helped her get strapped into it. He kept his hands professional and didn’t touch her body in any improper way.

  “Hey Master Chief, didn’t I say you could touch it if you broke the glass?” she spoke softly into his ear as he was securing her straps and threading the rope through a carabiner.

  He paused for a second when her hot breath hit his ear. He shivered a little and then finished what he was doing before answering. “I tell you what Petty officer. If you make it down there in one piece I will gladly throw you against a wall and get a feel of that posterior,” before he could say more, she jumped into the hole and disappeared.

  Butch shook his head in disbelief. “Master Chief, if I was you I would get my ass down there and check and make sure she is okay. I mean, if you want to grab that ass and all,” Butch swung his head quickly around finding Chun smiling over at him. “I will stay up here with the rest of the team. You radio up to me whatever you discover, when you have time that is.”

  Butch threw Chun the bird just as he grabbed a rope and jumped into the opening. Chun laughed at the retreating form. Butch fell fast through empty space, squeezing his hand and using his feet to slow him at the last second to stop inches from the floor. He then dropped the rest of the way, landing on his boots. He stood among a large group of dangerous looking men. He recognized one of them and moved forward. The man was not very tall or muscled, but he was a friend of Butch’s since they went through BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) training. The man looked swarthy with his obvious Italian features. Butch wrapped the man in his massive arms and lifted him off the ground. “Fucking Nunzio, I should’ve figured an asshole like you would still be alive.” He put the man back down on his feet.

  “Butch, good to see you brother. Fuck it has been a long time, shit I think last we worked together was that little mission in Africa. Looks like you have done pretty good for yourself,” he read Butch’s rank.

  That was when Butch noticed the officer rank on Nunzio’s uniform. “Holy Hell, who the hell did you have to hump or kill to become an officer.”

  “The list is as long and thick as my Johnson, Master Chief,” he answered in his Brooklyn accent.

  “That ain’t that big!” Butch joked.

  “Alright, and with that, I guess we should get back to work, Master Chief.”

  “Aye, Aye, Lt. I’ll let my team lead Chun fill you in on the whole story. But for now, we have a Firehawk up on the roof. You are surrounded by easily a thousand-fucking ugly cannibalistic creatures. And I have five badass Seal Team Six warriors here to save you and your little boy’s lives, as usual.”

  Nunzio shook his head and laughed. “I tell you what Master Chief, we are happy to have you guys. We have plenty of food and water, but no way to get out of this fucking place. So, if you and your guys can figure out a way to get us out I would be so happy I might tell you our story.”

  “Excellent, Sir. Let’s get to planning. But first, where is the little hottie that came down before me?” Butch asked turning in a slow circle.

  “I am right here, Master Chief,” Pauline said as she came through the crowd of uniformed men and women.

  Butch waded his way through the men around him and picked Pauline up into the air and placed a hot passionate kiss on her lips. She squeaked in surprise at first then molded her body against his and kissed him back. After a moment, he put her back on her feet. “Petty Office Macleod, I need a full count of everyone in here and their MOS.”

  “Aye, aye, Master Chief,” she pulled a notebook from the breast pocket of her uniform and waded into the crowd.

  Hashkeh and Lupo appeared through the crowd. “Do we get that kind of treatment too, Chief?” Lupo enquired with a giant grin pasted on his face.

  Butch gave them a deadly look on his face and growled out. “Only if you had tits on your back, Lupo. Now go inventory their supplies. Hashkeh, I want you in on the planning to get these people out of here.”

  “Beans, bullets, and bandages. Aye, aye, Master Chief,” Lupo disappeared back into the crowd, snapping off orders to the people around him.

  As the planning started, Butch radioed up to Chun that all four were safe and figuring out things and would report back ASAP. Nunzio showed Butch and Hashkeh to his command table. “Chief, I have complete Teams one and five present so that gives us thirty-two men, and I have stragglers from Teams three and seven, so that gives us another eight shooters,” Nunzio explained to Butch.

  “Who are the rest of these people and can they provide help as we get out of here?” Butch asked.

  “Most of them are support personnel from the Ronald Reagan sitting over in the bay. They number about eighty, I have
no idea if any of them can fire a gun. But we don’t have enough guns for them anyway,”

  “Forty Seals and eighty support people, huh?” Butch scratched his bearded chin. “Can you find the highest ranked person of the Reagan?”

  Nunzio turned to one of the Seals standing at his side. “Go find that female officer, Commander what’s her face.”

  “Commander Langham, yes Sir, I’ll go find her,” the man melted into the crowd.

  “What are you thinking, Butch?” Nunzio saw the look Butch was famous for when he had an idea.

  “I am thinking if we can get the damn carrier moving we can get the hell out of here and take lots of toys with us. Always nice to have a mobile airport in your hip pocket,” Butch answered.

  “I read that, Chief. Now how about an idea to get us out of here?” Nunzio asked.

  “I was thinking of using an over-abundance of firepower and good old fashioned trickery,” Butch answered cryptically, a large smile chiseled on his face.

  Butch was part way into explaining the beginning part of his plan when the Seal returned with a prim and proper woman in tow. She was dressed in a dirty rumpled white officers uniform of the day. She took her hat off as she came up, she stared at the men as they stared back.

  “Are we forgetting Military Decorum gentlemen?” She asked snootily.

  Butch swung his head in her direction. “Would all of us lowly ranked ingrates make your life better if we snapped to attention and gave you a crisp salute?” he asked in a dry voice.

  She stood there with her arms folded over her chest, a sneer on her lips. The entire situation seemed to be heading in the wrong direction when she suddenly laughed out loud. “You should’ve seen the look on your guy’s faces. Oh, I needed that laugh. Thank you, now what can I do for your gentlemen?”

  “Nice joke Commander, I was about to start shitting diamonds. I have an important question to ask you,” Butch wiped his forehead of the sweat beads popping out on it.

  “Go ahead, Master Chief. What can I do for you?”

  “I saw two carriers out in the bay. Do you belong to one of them?”

  “Matter of fact I do, the USS Reagan CVN 76,” she tilted her head and stared at him, eyes getting larger as she read the Chief’s mind. “I think I know what you are thinking. Hold on, I need to ask someone something,” she turned toward the crowd and yelled out. “Chief Petty Officer Adams, front and center.”

  A woman pushed her way through the crowd, dressed in an identical uniform, and just as wrinkled and worn out. “Commander,” she said as she came up to the table.

  “These fine gentlemen, I believe, would like for us all to be able to sail away on the Reagan. What is the status of the reactor?”

  The woman cocked her head and pursed her lips, thinking hard. “The ship was being resupplied, and the reactor should be up and running. If not, I’m sure if you let me borrow Petty Officer First Class Pepper, and a couple of other bodies I could get everything going. Sailing that bad boy out with just what we have is going to be a little hard. But we could do it,”

  “How long would it take you to get the ship steaming its way to open water?”

  She pursed her lips again and ran a hand through her hair. “No matter what I am going to need a couple of hours and if at all possible, as many shooters as you can give me.”

  Nunzio jumped in. “Team one has been onboard the Reagan and know every inch of her. They will guide you and protect you,” he turned and looked to Butch.

  “We can’t carry very many people on the helo, it’s a modified Firehawk, that the little lady I came down with calls a Dragonhawk. It has teeth and can drop some serious firepower, but not so much capacity.” Butch dropped.

  Another Seal came up and slapped the table. “I have an idea.”

  “This is Petty Officer Second Class Kevorkian. He is a little mad but is probably the smartest tactician I have ever worked with.” Nunzio explained.

  Butch made a hand motion for the Seal to continue. “Well, the way I see it, we need a big diversion so we can draw those fucking things out of here. But we will need transport, the carrier is about two miles from here. That is a fuck load of distance with a bunch of soft office people. So why don’t I take a couple of my boys out so they can grab some vehicles, maybe a fuel truck if we can get one. Then we lure those fuckers away, maybe towards the golf course. Then have your pilot drop some Hellfires down, perhaps on the fuel truck. Then my boys bring their vehicles back around and pick up the rest and transport them over to the Reagan.”

  Butch liked the idea a lot and said so. “That is an idea I can get behind, Petty officer Kevorkian. Let me radio it up to my Lt upstairs and see what I can do,” Butch walked away and activated his radio, giving the plan to Chun. He came back a couple of minutes later. “It’s a go, choose your men, Kevorkian and start shimmying your asses up those ropes. Chun will hook you up with our Freqs and codes. Let us know when you are on your way back and we will have everyone ready to move out.”

  Kevorkian threw him the bird and pointed the men he wanted in on the mission. They grabbed their gear and took turns shimmying up the ropes. They reached the top and disappeared from view. Soon after, the helo could be heard revving its engines and the mighty blades whopping as they cut through the cooling dark air.

  Butch turned to Nunzio. “I suggest you show me around. We should probably get the front doors ready, so we can get the Hell out of dodge fast when the boys show up.”

  Pauline showed up with the list of who was who and what their specialty was. Butch pursued it and was encouraged by the many different people they had. Heck, they even had two fighter pilots, and a small group of deck personnel. Hashkeh and Lupo provided an outlook on the supply front. They had plenty of supplies, they were flushed with food, toilet paper, and water. But not much on ammo and weapons except what the Seals had on them. Butch figured they would improvise when the time came. He shared their running battle from their broken training mission all the way up to when they showed up to the group. He left out major details and did what he considered was a data dump, only the pertinent information. He explained their tactics in taking out the creatures and shared techniques using hand weapons. The Team guys listened intently when he shared those parts.

  Butch’s radio came to life. “Butch, Chun. Over.”

  “Roger Chun. Over.”

  “Kevorkian and his murderous band of life takers have secured two buses for transport and three full fuel trucks. Stand by, things are going to get loud soon. Over.”

  “Roger, just keep us informed of the buses arrival. Over.”

  Chun met with the six Seals who climbed up the ropes. He sized up Kevorkian and his men, he recognized two of the older guys. “Evans and Weeks, what the hell are you old guys up here for? Think you can keep up?”

  Evans, the kind of guy you would completely ignore if you walked past him on the street, adjusted his glasses and tactical Saiga-12 shotgun with its large round magazine drum. He gave Chun a brief hug. “Well if ain’t Lieutenant Chun himself. Decided to come and play with the West Coast Teams finally? About time you learn to shoot.”

  Weeks took a moment to tie his well-known black checkered doo rag around his head and settling it just above his eyes. “Chun, glad you and Aces decided to come bail us out. Did you bring any beer or whiskey?”

  Chun chuckled. “Do you remember what happened last time you and I drank whiskey together?”

  “Yeah, a bunch of Marines and blanket headed Army pukes got their asses handed to them,” he spat on the ground and smiled, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.

  Chun shook his head and offered a hand to Kevorkian and his other three Seals. “Alright, all aboard brothers, the taxi of death awaits,” he climbed aboard and went through the start-up checklist Pauline had shown him. Soon he had the large blades turning and whopping through the air.

  The Dragonhawk lifted off from the roof and moved slowly towards the south side of the base. The last thing Chun wanted was t
o lead the horde to the airfield and endanger the men he was taxiing. Once he had left sight of the commissary, he swung low, dipping under the bridge connecting San Diego and Coronado. Once clear, he sped along the water and swung around the two airfields.

  Kevorkian came up to the cockpit and slid on the earphones offered to him. “What we need are buses and fuel trucks. Fly toward the fighter side,” Chun listened to his direction and settled low over the runway, hovering. “Over there,” Kevorkian pointed toward a collection of three haphazardly parked blue fuel trucks. Chun moved closer, crabbing the helicopter slowly over, when he was close enough, Kevorkian and two of his men jumped out with him. Once they had gained entry into their vehicles, Chun gained altitude.

  Evans, took the headphones this time. “Okay, there is a motor pool just over in that direction,” he pointed to the south and east. “There should be buses there.”

  Chun nodded affirmative and moved over in that direction. He was starting to see straggling creatures moving in their direction. The sound of the whopping blades was drawing them close. ‘Oh well’ he thought. That’s why Seals were given the hard jobs, because they could handle anything. He pointed out the window toward the shambling things and Evans gave him a thumbs up. “No worries Chun, we can handle them.”

  The motor pool came into view with a chain link fence and orderly parked vehicles. He brought the Dragonhawk in as close as he dared, the wind being kicked up and channeled through the vehicles was making it hard keeping level flight. He kept a deft hand on the controls and maneuvered over the top of a semi-truck and trailer. Evans threw him the finger and disappeared to the rear cabin. Chun felt the copter rock slightly as the three men jumped off and onto the semi-truck. He immediately pulled up and slid sideways to a position where he could watch the men climb down from the trailer and into the rows of vehicles. Chun switched the thumb guard off his trigger for the guns and waited. More and more creatures appeared now, banging and pushing on the chain link fence. He saw black smoke out of the side of his vision and swung the Dragonhawk so he could see more of the yard and buses. Three buses moved and lined up facing the front gate of the motor pool. Chun read the situation and moved in slowly, bringing his guns to bare on the gate and growing horde. He pressed the trigger for a moment and watched as his rounds chewed up the ground just feet from the gate and then walked them forward. He blew the gate and the horde into pieces and chunks of twisted metal and flesh. He let go of the trigger and slew sideways, watching the buses move forward and through the dead and detritus littering the ground. He hoped the buses’ tires didn’t get punctured through all of the littered pieces of man and metal. He guarded the buses another couple of minutes before gaining altitude and circling out back towards the airfield. He hovered high enough to see the unraveling battlefield below him. He was glad these things couldn’t shoot at him. “That was an unnerving thought,” he mumbled to himself.