“Butch, we will follow Joseph’s procedures, do I need to make that an order?” Chun turned his head to take in the big man behind him.
“No problem Sir.”
The door slid to the side and hissed as it opened. The next room looked like a locker room complete with lockers and another door at the end of it. Joseph opened the last locker and quickly shucked his clothing and boots. He stepped to a shower and scrubbed his body down with a bar of soap that looked a lot like lava rock. Chun and Butch had been through these procedures before while training for earlier missions. They worked fast and efficiently showering and changing into the new garments. Butch grumbled softly as he tried to stretch the largest shirt and pants to fit him. When done he looked like the seams of the clothing were about to burst.
“You look funny Chief, like you are wearing children’s clothing,” Chun laughed at him.
“Fuck you Lt. Doc, what about the promised weapons?” Butch spit out in an obviously angry laced voice.
“Next room Butch, follow me.”
They left through yet another airlock like door and stepped into a hallway that resembled a hospital. Joseph moved up to a small thin door and punched a code into a small keypad. The door clicked open and he opened it unveiling a row of Mossberg 500 ATI tactical shotguns. Under that rested long baton devices. Chun pulled out one of the batons and looked it over. He recognized it as a cattle prod. But this was much beefier, and Chun believed much deadlier. Butch pulled a shotgun out of the cabinet and pumped the action, finding that the gun was already loaded. He reached back in and removed a box full of shot. He threw it over his shoulder and stepped back.
“Lead on Doctor.”
You look like shit
Dan’s office stunk of sour coffee and cigarettes. He sat back in his new leatherback chair and closed his eyes trying to relax. He was not seeing straight and every time he tried to think, his head would explode in a white-hot anger. He was totally exhausted. He honestly could not remember the last time he had slept. A knock on his hatch interrupted his lethargy, he opened his eyes and squinted from the overhead lights. Since the nuclear attack on Seattle he had become even more alone, locking himself in his office.
“Come,” he croaked out through his raw throat.
The hatch swung open and Kuppers strode in. He turned and motioned for the guard to wait as he closed the hatch and secured it. He stood there, hands balled up at his sides as he tried to read Dan.
“You look like shit,” Kuppers announced.
“Thanks for the compliment,” Dan reached out and picked up a coffee cup. He made a face at it when he noticed it was old and cold. He put the cup down on his desk with a thwack of irritation.
“When was the last time you ate? Drank anything but coffee? How about just sleep?” Kuppers questioned Dan with a sincerity in his voice that Dan had never heard from him before.
“I think I ate something a couple of hours ago.”
“Wrong, you last ate twenty-six hours ago, you last drank anything but coffee two days ago. And you haven’t slept in four days.”
Dan closed his eyes and rubbed them with the palms of his hands hard. He had felt exhausted, but not as bad as he now did after hearing from Kuppers that his last sleep was so long ago. “Okay, so I have been burning the candle at both ends. Kuppers, my job is too important for me to sleep. People rely on me and look to me for guidance,” Dan spoke through gritted teeth.
“Yes, they do, and how good is that guidance or decisions coming from a man who is both sleep and food deprived? Do you think you are helping anyone?”
Dan looked up to Kuppers through his red rimmed and bloodshot eyes. He felt a bolt of anger building inside him. He wanted to let it loose and scream at Kuppers. Maybe order him out of his office. Instead Dan flexed his jaw muscles and bit down on the words that begged to be spoken. Finally, he sighed low and slow, dropping his head to the desktop.
“Kuppers,” Dan spoke with a shaky voice head still resting on his desk. “Even in the best of times, the responsibility of this office is so damn heavy to shoulder, and this is more near the worst of times.”
Kuppers moved over toward him and placed a hand on Dan’s head. “You can only do the best you can do. I and the others will step up to help you shoulder this heavy weight Dan. Now let me give you an update on our current missions.”
Dan raised his head as Kuppers took his hand away. His eyes looked a little clearer than before. He looked around his desk franticly looking for something. Kuppers coughed bringing Dan’s attention to him. He placed a file folder in front of him and opened it up and placed a pen on it. Dan gave him a weak smile in thanks and picked up his pen. He stared at the folder, trying hard to focus on it.
“Don’t worry boss, I’ll give you the high points. You can read over the contents when you wake up from a nap and some food.”
“You ordering me around Kuppers?” Dan asked dully, without anger in his voice.
“Nope, but on the other side of the hatch is the ship’s doctor. She will come in here and give you a physical. And yes, she can order the President around,” Kuppers pushed his silver hair back from his forehead. He had not found time to get it cut to his usual flat top in a while and now it rested on his forehead driving him crazy.
Dan picked his hands off the desk and showed them palms up to Kuppers. “I give. After your report I will take a nap.”
Kuppers eyed him for a moment, before launching into his briefing. “Brian and his team have reached the I-5 where they ran into a group of children and adults. I authorized a flight of copters in to rescue them. His team then came under fire from two Ridder patrols. After a sustained firefight and an attack from a considerable horde, they were about to be overrun when a damaged B1 bomber crew returning to base altered their course and destroyed the two Ridder patrols. Brian and his team then mounted up headed north. The B1 was a total loss, I have no word yet on the flight crew.
The Vegas mission is going great, with little to no resistance. The flight of fighters we were able to scrounge up softened up the airport and Mirage hotel. Aces walked in and secured Treasure Island hotel and the insertion of the HRT groups led by Agent Kimberley Kelly was a complete success. The doctor, Chun, and Butch were able to enter the facility and secure it. The good doctor is working hard on perfecting the inoculation and should be able to pump out mass quantities with the supplies he has on hand. We just need to hold the city while he works.
Lastly the attack on Seattle’s SEATAC International Airport went well. According to a second flight from Alice, the destruction was minimized around the airport and adjacent Ridder bases, fallout is not a big worry as the winds have been calm.” Kuppers crossed his big arms over his muscled chest and waited or the questions he was sure Dan would have.
Dan dropped his head at the last bit about Seattle. He was hurting over the loss of life he had ordered to be carried out. “The other attacks?”
Kuppers stared into Dan’s gaze. “I am still planning those hits. Vegas took up more resources than we had planned. Intelligence says that Ridder is moving out from their bases throughout the country. I don’t want to waste precious fuel and ordinance hitting empty bases. I’ll have a report written up for our next cabinet meeting.”
Dan blinked away what felt like sand in his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. “That sounds prudent,” He signed the papers in the folder in front of him, then waited a beat before placing his hands flat on his desk and pushing his body up to a standing position. He wobbled for a second and then came around the desk to Kuppers’ side.
Kuppers offered his arm to steady Dan. He took it without question. They left the office together and passed the doctor in the corridor. She and the guard on duty turned and followed the men down the corridor and down two decks. Once in Dan’s plush quarters, the doctor and an orderly took over helping ready Dan for bed. Kuppers stood nearby, arms crossed making sure Dan followed the doctor’s orders. Once Dan was lying down in his bed, the orderly pulled Dan’
s arm straight and the doctor slipped a needle into his arm and pushed down the plunger. When the guard moved to interfere, Kuppers put a hand on his chest barring him.
“That is a sedative son, the man needs uninterrupted sleep. If anyone other than the doctor or I, try to enter these quarters, put a round in their foot and detain them. That is an order son,” Kuppers added some steel to his voice at that last part. The guard swallowed hard and nodded his head fast.
The doctor checked Dan’s vitals as he slipped into sleep. “He will be out for at least ninety-six hours,” she quickly inserted a needle into the crook of Dan’s right arm and attached to a tube from an IV bag of clear liquid. “That should help get him some much-needed nutrients and rehydrate him.”
“Thanks doctor.”
She pointed to the hatch and to the orderly and guard. They took the unspoken order and moved out leaving a sleeping Dan, Kuppers, and the doctor alone in the room. She fixed Kuppers in an intense glare as she methodically removed the tie holding her black raven hair back in a pony tail.
“Look, I came to you with the serious concern about him,” she pointed to the sleeping form of Dan. “You believed me and reacted with a swift, but reasoned response. Just know I trust you no matter what you are deciding to do, but remember he is the legal President of our country. He has the power to have us shot if he thinks we are taking away his power.”
“I would never usurp his power. I do need him at his best though, so he can make smart decisions and think over his orders. He is not in the right frame of mind, and this is the only way I can act legally. Also, he has signed the proper paperwork to give me acting powers as President till he awakes.”
“Okay, as long as you know I am behind you to the end.”
Kuppers moved forward and took the slightly younger woman in his arms. He tilted his head down till their foreheads were touching, their lips an inch apart. “Why did we ever divorce?”
“Because you are a stubborn pain in the ass man who believed his mission was everything,” she pursed her lips and kissed Kuppers lightly. “If it is of any help, I have missed you every day you have been in San Francisco.”
Kuppers’ eyes started to water. “I never wanted to hurt you Maeve. I had a job to do and would do anything to make sure I succeeded. When I finally got out of the service, I ran as far away from everything to find a new mission. But you were the first thing I thought of when I opened my eyes in the morning and the last thing I thought of when I closed them.”
“Well we are right here, in each other’s arms. What do you want to do about this?”
Kuppers flexed his arms and lifted her off her feet. He placed his lips on hers and kissed her with the passion of a man who has been away to long from the one he loves. “I am never leaving you again, for long that is,” he spoke with his face buried in her hair.
“After this is all over, let’s find a little place to live and be happy.”
“I promise,” he placed her back onto her feet.
Amazonian Warrior Of Lore
Brian’s Humvee led their little convoy north up Highway I-5 for forty minutes. He sat high in the cupola scanning the horizon and road up ahead of them as they weaved through wrecked cars, RVs, and semi-trucks. With his night vision goggles on, all he saw was awash in green. He started to think his eyes were playing tricks on him, when he saw a set of flashes in the sky. He removed the goggles and peered into the darkness, he couldn’t see anything. He slid the goggles back on and there, they were again. It took a moment before he realized he was seeing the flashes of an IR infrared strobe. Brian slipped down into the Humvee and patted Apache on the shoulder.
“There are IR flashes on the horizon. Slow down and tell Cupcake to add cushioning to his spacing. I want them available if this is Ridder, but something tells me this might be the air crew from that B1 that saved our lives.”
Apache raised a thumb to let me know she understood. She was wearing night vision goggles for her driving but had not seen the IR flashes from her lower view point. “Roger Sasquatch.”
I punched a sleeping Johnson in the shoulder hard to wake him. He opened an eye and gave me an odd look. “What the fuck does your hairy ass want?”
“I might need your services soon.”
“I still don’t swing that way,” he dead panned and showed me his middle finger.
“Very funny fucktard. Now get your gun and prepare to unass and cover me,” I popped him in the back of the head to get my point across. The gay jokes were fine, they never hurt my feelings. I knew Johnson was honestly a caring and loving friend. Most people out there in the gay community feel that any jokes toward their sexual orientation or lifestyle is an affront to them. But not me, I can laugh right along with the people cracking them. I am very comfortable of my lifestyle and who I am.
I popped my head back up in the cupola and studied the horizon. The flashes were still there, and we were coming closer. Now I had to decide, either have Apache drive on up the area and show our hand, in case it was an ambush, pull over, unass with Johnson and do a quiet little sneak and peak. I finally made a decision and dropped back inside.
“Apache, pull over behind that big RV and park it. Johnson and I am going to go on foot and recon the area. If it is clear, I’ll call you up.”
She pulled the Humvee to the right, came in behind the RV I pointed out and stopped. “Be careful Sasquatch,” she reached back and cupped my cheek. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the gentle touch. She was like a little sister to me.
I opened the back door and stepped out onto the concrete highway. My SCAR up on my shoulder, my head on a swivel. I heard Johnson pull himself out onto the highway and then felt his hand on my left shoulder. He squeezed, letting me know he was ready, and we moved on. I knew he had my back, the man had gone through hell with me more than once in Afghanistan. We moved down the side of the RV on the road’s shoulder, knees bent, barrels up. I concentrated on our twelve o’clock as Johnson covered our three and six o’clock positions. If you have no idea what I am talking about, look at a clock. If we are moving toward the twelve where would the three and six be? Now stop being an idiot and pay attention. I could hear our breathing, and my heart booming in my chest, but I tried so hard to discern any other sounds. It was then I heard a chorus of moans. I remembered the drone still following us and pulled out my tablet. I switched the feed on the camera to night vision and was shocked with what I saw. First thing was the battery on the drone was dangerously low. The second was of three people in the back of a pickup truck surrounded by at least twenty shambling ass hats. I commanded the drone to land near the Humvee and slid the tablet back into my vest pocket.
“Up ahead there is a truck with three people in it. Twenty or so zombies surround it,” I explained to Johnson in a quiet voice.
“How far ahead?”
“About fifty yards.”
“Okay let’s stop playing around and get into the fight. When we get to around ten yards let’s separate. You go straight in and cover the rear and right side of the truck, I’ll flank them and come in on that side. We can use our suppressed weapons to take them out. No problem,” Johnson smiled at me.
I nodded my agreement of his plan and we picked up our pace. We stopped behind a Suburban SUV that hid us from the horde up ahead. Johnson bumped knuckles with me and moved off to his left. I swung around the SUV and sighted in on the first zombie as it was getting closer to the people in the back of the truck. I moved up five more yards, stopped in my tracks, took a deep breath, let half out and squeezed the trigger of my SCAR. The rifle bumped against my shoulder as the round exploded out through the end of the barrel, and in less than a second burst the head of the zombie into a shower of bone, brain, and black mist. I quickly sighted on the next zombie and quickly emptied my magazine as I took out the rest of the zombies in my assigned AO, Area of Operation that is.
I checked my left and found that Johnson had also finished clearing his side. I moved up toward the truck slowly scanning my
right and rear. I really didn’t want to get snuck up on. I stopped at the back of the truck and leaned against the tailgate, arm propped up. The two women and one man dressed in flight suits looked over at me in awe.
“Anyone here need a ride?” I asked.
The taller of the two women with bigger breasts dropped to her knees and planted a kiss on my lips. She finally broke the kiss and pulled back. “I don’t usually kiss strangers, but I am guessing you are not Ridder, and you just saved our asses.”
“You just wasted that kiss ma’am,” Johnson materialized out of the dark and leaned against the side of the truck bed.
“Shut up Johnson, before I break you in half.”
The woman squinted through the dark to make us both out and had a weird expression on her face. “Do I want to know?” she asked.
“He means, I am gay,” I announced quietly.
She cocked her hips, smiled, and adjusted her breasts in her flight suit. “Oh baby, seven minutes with me and you’ll never look at another man ever again,” she purred.
I blushed a little and punched out connecting with Johnson’s shoulder pushing him back a step or two. “I don’t think my boyfriend would like that too much, but tell you what, if he decides to move on and I get curious, I’ll come and find you. What’s your name?”
“My name is Athena, but you can call me Captain,” she answered back.
“Well Captain, I am Major Brian Leeder.”
She blanched at my rank and snapped to attention. The other two with her copied her movements. I giggled at their discomfort. “At ease, Captain Athena.”
The three relaxed visibly and moved toward the rear of the truck bed. I helped each one down and onto the pavement. “Would you be the one and same Lancelot?”
“Only if you’re Freshmen,” I answered back.
“That I am.”
I turned away and activated my radio. “Apache, bring that Humvee up here, I have some guests for you to meet.”
Zombie Theorem: Dark Times Book Five Page 19
