Dext of the Dead (Book 5): We Are The End

by Kuhn, Steve

  Seth nodded and said playfully, “Come at me, bro!”

  Nick swung hard with his blade a final time, and Seth parried it off wide and to the right, leaving Nick horribly overextended. With the style of a UFC fighter, Seth continued his motion in a full spin and backhanded Nick across his face with the iron fist. It knocked him to his knees, sputtering blood and drool to the grass at our feet. He got his legs back under him and stretched his jaw, running his tongue along his teeth to make sure they were all still in place. As Seth celebrated less than modestly, Nick cracked his neck and said, “Nice. You still hit like a bitch, though.”

  They bumped fists, and Seth took off the gauntlet. Time for some gunplay evidently. Nick told Seth, “I’ll be a bernie. You gotta reload one-handed before I get to you. Lilly’s gonna do her best to distract you. You up for that, Lilly?”

  Lilly asked, “How?” and Nick replied, “Anything you want. Your call.” She rubbed her hands together evilly. “Gotcha!”

  Seth held his pistol in his good hand with the slide locked back as if he ran out of ammo mid-fight. He had an empty magazine tucked in his belt, ready to imitate a one-handed reload. As Nick began his approach from about ten feet away, clumsily shuffling like the dead, Seth fumbled to retrieve the magazine. He bent over slightly to grab it with his bound hand. It worked out for him, but as he tried to bring the gun close to his body and insert it, Lilly kicked him in the back of the knee. The magazine tumbled to the ground uselessly.

  Seth howled in pain as Nick reached for him and pulled him to the ground. “You’re dead. Let’s go again.”

  They repeated the task a few more times with Lilly getting more creative in her approach. The worst was when she kicked him square in the balls from behind. He toppled like a house of cards, clutching his junk. As the frustration mounted, he gave it one more effort. Once again, the magazine went tumbling to the ground as Nick was within five feet of him. Lilly scooped up the magazine and smoothly brought it up into the gun for him, sliding it into place neatly while Seth still held the pistol on Nick. The second it hit home he clicked the slide release, chambering the ghost round, and met Nick with the barrel to his forehead.

  Click!

  He squeezed the trigger and mocked the execution. “Dead bernie…”

  Lilly smiled up at the two of them and said coolly, “That’s why you need me, boys.” She spun around and told me, “I’m gonna go say good-bye to Boyd.” She ran off, leaving us there scratching our heads.

  The timing of her exit was pretty good, though, because I spotted Kylee over at D-Prime. She stood alone and raised her hand to call me over. I left Seth and Nick to their practice and joined her at the rear of the truck, where she swung the doors open. “Get in.”

  I hopped up into the trailer and gave her a hand, pulling her up. I opened my mouth to speak, but she grabbed me before my first word, pressing her lips to mine. This wasn’t just a good-bye kiss, though. This was hungry and eager. I didn’t stop her, I’ll tell you that much. In seconds we were on the ground on one of the bedrolls, and the clothes were hitting the floor.

  She put it on me, man. I’ll spare you the gory details, but it was awesome. I’d be talkin’ shit if I said I rocked it, because I haven’t done it in a loooong time. Matter of fact, I wasn’t counting, but it was over sooner rather than later. We lay there on the floor, collapsed in a sweaty, panting heap for a good while, before she said softly, “I don’t want to leave.”

  I held her closely and told her, “I don’t want to stay.”

  She sighed. “What then?”

  I didn’t know. Life wasn’t fair. None of this was fair, but it was what it was. The importance of Kylee’s ability to survive the bites and the implications that had for everyone left was just too big. She had to go. I was entitled to be selfish, though, dammit. This was my life, too, and we only got one shot at it. So far, it’d been pretty shitty, to put it mildly, but at least we’d had each other to lean on. I didn’t know how I could even go on without that. Luckily, Kylee was a lot slyer than people gave her credit for.

  We held each other in silence until the familiar thumping of the helicopter approached in the distance. My stomach dropped, and I felt sick. Time was up. We dressed ourselves and exited the trailer just as the chopper was touching down on the other side of the field.

  As we ran over to it, Hicks and some of his men assembled to see us off, along with Boyd, Seth, and Nick. I knelt down and hugged Lilly tightly. “I love you, Lil. You keep Kylee and Don safe, all right?”

  She put her lips to my ear and said, “I got their backs, Jack,” then she kissed me on the cheek. “Love you, too, Dext.”

  Fuck. I was crying.

  The blades were drowning out almost everything, so I raised my voice to Don as I shook his hand. We wished each other good luck before he stepped aside to say his good-byes to the others and I found myself face-to-face with Kylee once again. She wrapped her arms around me and said into my ear, “This isn’t happening. Back my play.”

  Before I could respond, she drew her weapon and called out, “Hey, Hicks!”

  He turned to face her and scowled, the color leaving his face. “Don’t you even think about it,” he warned her firmly.

  She pressed the gun to her own head, determined, and said to him, “I’m staying, and if any of your men put a hand on me, I’ll blow my brains out right here on the spot. Then you can explain that to your Goddamn superiors. Savvy, motherfucker?”

  Hicks angrily shouted at her over the roar of the helicopter, “You can’t do that! If you die, we lose everything! They need you both!”

  She stared at him coldly with her good eye and said, “They can have me! But I got unfinished business, so today is not the day!”

  She glanced at me.

  I drew my pistol and trained it on Don. He looked scared shitless, so I gave him a subtle wink. He played along, thankfully. I spoke up, “Anybody have a problem with that?”

  Hicks stood his ground. “Baxter! Drop that fuckin’ gun, boy!”

  I refused. “No way, Hicks! We’ve been through too much. We’re seein’ this through, or we’re gonna die trying! It’s not your call anymore!” I turned to Don and told him, “Get in the chopper, Don. Go!”

  Don did as he was told, but not before smiling at me and saying, “Go get him, Dext. And take care of them—all of them.”

  I nodded and looked down at Lilly. “Go on, Lil.”

  She scoffed at me and grinned widely. “Nope!”

  Kylee told her, “Lilly! Go on! Get in the helicopter!”

  Lilly stepped in between Seth and Nick and shouted, “I’m staying! If anybody’s got a problem with that, they can talk to my boys!”

  Hicks gestured for the men to stand down and yelled to Kylee, “You gotta lotta balls, Staff Sergeant! But if you fuck this up, it’s on you. We can’t guarantee your safety!”

  Seth spoke up, saying, “We can. No one is putting this on you, Hicks. It’s our fight, too.”

  With a deep breath and silent admission of defeat, Hicks waved the chopper off. The door slid shut, and it lifted easily into the darkness, taking Don off to the safety of Thigpen and the rest of the command, somewhere.

  Hicks was disgusted. He held his shit together, though. I’ll give him credit for that. He rubbed his eyes to clear the dust from the chopper and called out to his men, “All right, shit-birds, show’s over! Quit standin’ around with your thumbs up your asses, and get some shit done!”

  We won that battle, but the war is just beginning.

  Entry 158

  We slowed to a stop about a mile outside the first city. While the city was still barely visible in the distance, the presence of the dead was once again marked by a black cloud of birds hovering above it.

  Most exited their vehicles and milled about the street, chatting amongst themselves in small groups until Hicks called everyone to order. He had demanded earlier that Lilly and Kylee ride with a group of his men, instead of with us in D-Prime, for added prot
ection. The two of them made their way to stand with me, Seth, and Nick while Hicks handed out his orders.

  He broke off a small contingent of four men and designated them as our ‘recon squad.’ Their job was to take one of the Hummers and approach to within a quarter mile of the city, then dismount and hoof it in quietly to get a feel for the area. They would be given one hour, and one hour only, to complete the task. If, for some reason, they didn’t return within the allotted time, he would send a slightly larger group to follow-up, extract them if possible, and rendezvous back with us to regroup and replot. He finished by saying, “If the recon fails, we’re already in the shit. Anyone wanna volunteer for the follow-up? Sound off now.”

  Surprisingly, a mass of positive voices flooded him, causing his chest to swell with pride. An approving smile creased his lips, and he pointed at seven of them, confirming their jobs. The rest were left sighing or cursing under their breaths at having not been chosen. Once that was settled, he ordered the recon squad to double-check their climbing gear and urged them to stick to the rooftops if at all possible.

  They left behind the cheers of their fellows after a chorus of well-wishes and friendly advice, and as the Hummer disappeared into the blurry haze ahead of us, an ominous quiet settled in. The new war was underway, and we all knew it.

  Kylee told Lilly, “Check your ammo, load your spare, and be ready to go at any moment.”

  Lilly nodded and said with a determined, expressionless face, “Done.”

  Kylee squinted at her with her good eye and said firmly, “Check them again.”

  To which Lilly again replied without emotion, “Done.”

  Good girl.

  Hicks interrupted them and told us, “Yeah, that won’t be necessary—for either of you. Get to the rear, and stay put. You two won’t be fighting unless the shit truly hits the fan.”

  Kylee and Hicks argued back and forth about it until he finally gave in a little. “Look, I don’t have time for this shit. If you wanna participate so badly, fine, but you’re still in the rear. Find Boyd. You can spot for him if that eye of yours is still worth a shit, and the girl can run ammo. Deal?”

  That didn’t help. Kylee was still pissed, but she relented, grunting at him, “Fine.” She couldn’t help but to mutter quietly under her breath, “Asshole…”

  They made their way out of my sight, but not before Kylee whispered to me, “You better make sure you live through this. I’m not done with you yet.” She didn’t say it sweetly, though. She said it like she wanted the D. I tried to play it cool and winked at her before watching her go.

  Seth and Nick waited for her to be out of earshot before busting my nuts about it. Seth was like, “You hit that yet or what?”

  My shoddy attempt at modesty was lost on both of them due to their uncanny ability to spot the bullshit, though. I waved it off, but Nick smirked and said, “Yeeeeah, he got it done. Look at that stupid grin on his face.”

  Goddammit.

  I could feel my cheeks burning red as Seth added, “Best thirty seconds of her life, am I right, Dext?”

  I was busted. I flipped them the bird with both hands, and we all had a chuckle over it.

  As the minutes ticked by, the weight of the day began to settle on our shoulders—all of us. You could see it on most of the Kilo boys, too, as plain as shit on a white rag.

  Aside from the handful of snipers, the majority of the guys were wielding their combat shovels instead of firearms to conserve ammo. They were these short, little shovels that they called “e-tools.” Some of the guys were scraping them across the concrete of the road to further sharpen the edges. Parker explained that it was short for ‘entrenching tool,’ which was a collapsible spade that was used for everything from digging out firing positions to filling sandbags. “They make a handy melee weapon,” he explained, “because their solid construction is great for tearing into the skulls of both the living and the dead alike.” Parker’s features fell slightly when he added, “Sad to say that almost every e-tool in a hand today has been used to dig a grave for a friend at some point, too.”

  While the men of Kilo looked tough and ready to go, their white knuckles and jittery movements belied their outward appearance. Hicks marched nervously, but confidently, through their ranks, checking up on his boys and ensuring morale stayed up. He was shorter than most of them, but something about him made him seem like he towered above even the tallest man in the company. Parker noticed me watching him and told me, “I’d follow that man straight into hell if he ordered it. We all would.”

  Nick leaned forward to light Seth’s cigarette before lighting his own and noted, “You’re about to, Parker. We all are.”

  My moment to reflect on that statement was cut short by the engine sound of the recon team’s Hummer speeding towards our position. The tension in the air seemed to lift slightly as everyone came to the realization that they made it back in one piece, or so we thought.

  Three of the four men in the Hummer bailed out quickly and jetted to the rear of the vehicle, one of them shouting, “Parker! Medic! Get your ass over here now!”

  They threw open the rear and drug out their fourth man, what was left of him, and laid him on the pavement. He was conscious and screaming in pain as he writhed, feebly trying to stuff his own guts back into his torn abdomen. I couldn’t even tell what was hanging out of him, to be honest. It was just a mass of intestines surrounded by bloody, coagulated bits. I covered my mouth to hold in a dry heave at the sight of the gobs of pale, yellowish fat that spilled from the edges of the wound.

  Others rushed to gather around, including Kylee and Lilly. Lilly gasped at the sight and clung to Kylee for comfort.

  Parker pushed his way through, and his eyes boggled at the mess at his feet. “Jesus, it’s Riggs… What happened to him? Is he bitten?”

  One of the recon guys spouted at him, “No. If he was bitten, we would’ve handled it. They just tore him open real bad, man. You gotta fix him, Parker, c’mon. Fuckin’ fix him!”

  Parker nervously tried to assess the situation and find a place to start, but it was useless. He just knelt there, clueless of how to even begin his work and rubbing the sweat from his head. “I… I can’t fix this. I can’t!”

  The young man on the ground couldn’t have been more than twenty years old. He continued to claw at his innards, shouting at Parker, “Parker, please! You gotta do something. I’m dying…” He actually said the words. I think that was when it became real even to him. Up until then it was just the shock of the moment, the blur of action and fear and adrenalin. But now, as he lay dying in his own spew, the words left his mouth and death was real, knocking on the door. “I’m… dying… Oh fuck! I’m dying, Parker!”

  The men around Parker began shouting at him more fiercely than before, “Fuckin’ do somethin’, Parker! Fix it!”

  Parker welled with tears of frustration before turning to the men and snapping angrily, “I can’t! I can’t!” His feverishness dissolved into despair, and he looked down at the boy. I call him a boy because, in that moment, he looked like it. He looked like a scared, little boy. “I’m sorry, Riggs. There’s… there’s just nothing we can do.”

  Riggs looked into the sky and swallowed hard. In that moment, he became a man as he accepted his death. He struggled to catch another breath and exhaled deeply. He looked Parker in his eyes and said through bloody teeth, “Put me down then. It hurts too much. Please… just shoot me, Parker.”

  Hicks stepped forward and spat disgustedly at the situation. His face was one of sorrow and disappointment, but also resolve. He knelt beside Riggs and Parker and put his hand on Riggs’ chest, speaking directly. “Listen, son. The battle ahead of us is gonna be a long one. It’s gonna be even longer without you by our side. I want you to know that. Everyone here wants nothing more than to see you shake this off, but we all know that can’t happen. And I’m sorry about that—so sorry, I really am. But we also need every round of ammo and every bit of morphine we have. It breaks my
heart to see you suffer like this, but we can’t put you down right now. You’re gonna have to be strong and ride it out until the end. Your brothers will stay here by your side until it’s over, savvy? All of us. We ain’t goin’ nowhere until you get a proper burial.”

  Riggs’ bloody lips quivered as Hicks spoke, but he shakily nodded his head and took his orders. He fought for another breath and winced at the pain that surely shot through every ounce of his being. I felt sorry for him. It was different this time for me. There was none of that ‘better him than me’ feeling this time.

  The men of Kilo barked their displeasure at the decision Hicks made, and some could be heard complaining, “C’mon, Hicks. Give him something for the pain at least. Don’t just let him lay there.”

  Hicks popped to his feet and spun around to face the crowd that had gathered. “You think I like this? You think I fuckin’ want this? The ammo we have is all we have. The morphine we have is all we have, and it could very well save the life of any one of you. But Riggs is gone. He sacrificed himself so that we can fight another day! I don’t fucking want this for him any more than you do, but that’s why it’s my decision to make. It’s my guilt to carry, not yours!”

  The faces in the crowd fell somber as Hicks spoke to them, earnestly defending his position. Riggs’ coughing, sputtering, and whimpering landed on our ears like thunderclaps between Hicks’ words, adding to the desperation of the passing moments.

  Boom!

  Every man on the ground flinched as the shot rang out. The bullet crashed into Riggs’ skull, snapping his head back into the concrete and spilling his brains to the pavement to join the rest of his insides. Wide-eyed and mouths agape, the crowd stood stunned at the identity of the shooter.

  Lilly holstered her smoking gun and said sadly, “It’s not right. It’s just not right to let him hurt like that.” She looked up at Hicks, standing there speechless, and told him, “That’s not wasting ammo. That bullet stopped him hurting, and you should be ashamed of yourself.”

  She tucked herself into Seth’s side as if expecting Hicks to lash out at her, but he didn’t. Hicks stared at her for a long moment before stalking off to the rear of the convoy, rubbing his face.