by Dirk Patton
Standing up I had to hold on to the seats along the aisle to maintain my footing on the sloping floor. I tried to see out the windows, but the fog was still too thick to allow more than a dozen feet of visibility even though it was well lit by the sun. The passengers in the car were eerily quiet, the only sounds the crying of a few children and the underlying noises made as the overstressed and overheated metal wheels cooled with a pinging sound not unlike popcorn in an old time kettle.
“Master Sergeant, how far to the river?” I grabbed Jackson and pulled him to his feet.
“About five miles if we follow the tracks.”
“Let the Colonel know we’re going to be on foot. I’m going to try and get an idea of just how many infected we’ve got to deal with. Also get me a count of military personnel on this train and what the state of their ammo is.”
While Jackson got on the radio I moved to the left side of the train and cautiously stuck my head out one of the broken windows. I was immediately greeted with the screams of hundreds of females that were visible, some clearly as they were very close to the train, others looking more like spirits as they moved through the fog. Stumbling through the throng of females were hundreds more males, and between them we looked to be crashed in the middle of a sea of death. Rachel had moved to the row of seats next to me and was also looking out a window, catching her breath when she saw the mess we were in.
“What the hell are we going to do?” She asked without taking her eyes off the milling infected.
“We’re going to get everyone ready then we’re getting off this train and fighting our way to the river.” I said.
“Are you nuts? There’s too many of them. We won’t make it.”
“Keep it down!” I said in a low voice before Rachel got the civilians in the car interested in our conversation. “We don’t have a choice. There’s no one to come get us, and if we just sit here they’ll keep us trapped until we die of dehydration. When the sun burns the fog off it’s going to get damn hot in these cars and half these people will be dead by this time tomorrow. Our odds aren’t much better, if any, out there amongst them, but at least we’ll have a fighting chance. We stay here and we have none, and we need to get moving before more of them pile into the area.”
Rachel didn’t argue further, eventually nodding her head that she understood my reasoning, but I could tell she didn’t want to go out there. Hell, neither did I, but I sure as hell didn’t want to sit on my ass inside this train to just wait for a slow and certain death. Would a lot of us die outside? Absolutely, but some would escape and that was better odds than doing nothing.
“Major, there’s 312 military on the train, including us. Everyone is well provisioned but we’re too disorganized at the moment to get you accurate ammo counts. Each person is armed with a rifle and pistol and we’ve also got seven SAWs – Squad Automatic Weapons or light machine guns – and two up-armored Humvees and one Bradley. Also, the Colonel is overhead with a flight of five Black Hawks and twelve Apaches ready to provide air support when we need it, but it’s going to be dicey as hell with the fog for them to be able to see where to shoot.”
I nodded, wheels turning as I processed the information he’d just given me. 8,000 people on the train and barely 300 soldiers to protect them from what I guessed were going to be thousands if not tens of thousands of infected. Infected that couldn’t be scared off, beaten back or would even tire from the fight. They would just keep coming until every last one of them was dead, or every last one of us was dead or beyond reach. And there was also the five miles to the bridge that we had to cross.
Covering five miles on foot was nothing for someone in the military, just another day at work. The civilians, on the other hand, would be tired before we’d even gone a mile. Of course there were the few that stayed in shape and could keep up or even set the pace, but America had gotten fat. We drove everywhere we went, found the parking spot closest to the door, and consumed more calories for breakfast than millions of people around the world did in a day. Most of these people were going to be easy prey for the infected and I didn’t have any bright ideas about how to protect them. I kept those thoughts to myself.
“Get that Bradley and those Humvees moving. Pair up the Hummers on the left side of the train to provide fire support and put the Bradley on the right. I want him to stop as many infected as he can that are coming from that direction. Get all the military personnel to spread the word. We move in five minutes.” I glanced at my stolen watch to note the time. “Everyone out and to the left side of the train. Get the Colonel to put half that flight of Apaches on the right side with the Bradley to keep the infected cleared out. Keep the other half in reserve to support them and the Black Hawks ready for air support on the left side.” Jackson had been making notes on a small spiral pad while I talked. Giving me a look that said he hoped I knew what I was doing he nodded and turned away to get back on the radio and start issuing orders and a request to the Colonel.
I called the National Guard Sergeant over and gave him a thirty second dump of what was going on and told him to get the civilians on this car ready to move. “What about the prisoner?” He asked when I was finished. Shit. I’d forgotten about Roach. Part of me wanted to leave him tied up right where he was and let the infected have him after we left, but it wasn’t my call to make.
“Cut him loose.” I said. “But he does not get a weapon. He can take his chances with the infected just like the civilians.” The Sergeant nodded and started barking orders to the remaining members of his squad.
With two minutes left I walked over to where Jackson was wrapping up a conversation on the Radio. “Colonel Crawford wishes us luck.” He said when I stopped in front of him. “He asked if we wanted him to pick us up in the Black Hawk. In fact, he strongly suggested that we’d be of more value to the country if he did pick us up rather than staying down here and becoming some poor infected bastard’s breakfast.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him we appreciated his offer but we were right where we were needed most.” I clapped Jackson on the shoulder and gave him a big grin. I was really starting to like this guy.
34
It was only a couple of moments later when I heard the first rounds fired off outside the train. I recognized the sound of the Humvee mounted machine gun and soon the second one joined in. Then the Bradley cut lose on the opposite side of the train with its 25 mm chain gun and I could hear its machine gun start hammering as well. I glanced at my watch. One minute to go. Involuntarily I looked up, as if I could see through the roof of the train car, when a helicopter that had to be an Apache came into a hover right over us and opened up with its chin mounted 30 mm chain gun. We certainly had the fire support, but I also knew the air and ground units didn’t have unlimited ammo and not even the option of falling back to resupply before rejoining the fight.
Thirty seconds. I moved to the back door of the car and Jackson fell in on my left as if we’d been training together for years. Rachel moved in behind us and Dog took up station in the middle of the triangle we formed. The National Guard had all the civilians on their feet and ready to follow us out the door. I hadn’t seen Roach for a bit, but had noted that the strips of fabric that had been used to tie him up had been cut and he was out of his seat. I didn’t like having him somewhere at my back. I only trusted him if he was close enough for me to kill him.
Fifteen seconds. Jackson sent an alert call out over the radio to prepare to move. I wanted every car evacuating at the same time, as many rifles as we could field ready to go simultaneously. If we weren’t coordinated it would give the infected an opportunity to fall on those that moved out early and wipe them out. I wanted their attention as spread out as possible. We were going to hit them hard the second we stepped out and do our best to keep the civilians in a tight group as we moved. I glanced over my shoulder to check on Max who was sitting up with a rifle in his hands, surrounded by his three sons who were also armed with rifles. Two large male
civilians stood ready to lift Max down and would stay with him when we hit the ground, a third man ready to go with Max’s equipment cases.
Five seconds. The hammering of a machine gun sounded right outside the car and I was glad that one of the Humvees was in place and ready to take Max and his equipment on board. There was also a pregnant woman that would be joining him. I tried not to think about what the virus might be doing to the baby in her womb. Unfortunately there wasn’t room for Max’s sons in the Hummer and they were going to have to take their chances as we ran for the bridge. Jackson was on the radio counting down to our go time. When he reached three I grasped the emergency release in my hand. On one I pulled it hard and the door released and slid open.
Three females waited for us on the other side of the door, screaming in anticipation as soon as the door started opening. Rachel, Jackson and I each fired at nearly the same instant and all three of them dropped dead into the seething mass of bodies that had forced its way into the gap between the cars. I stepped through the door before any more could climb up onto the platform and started picking off targets that were so close I could actually see the powder burns from my shots on their mottled skin before they fell. Jackson was close on my shoulder and between the two of us we quickly cleared the gap and were able to jump down and start engaging targets that weren’t close enough to touch.
The fog was a bitch. To my front the Humvee sat waiting for its passengers, no more than 15 feet away and it looked almost ethereal in the mist as the gunner fired the machine gun to keep the area clear. I was acquiring and firing on targets as fast as I could, but at 20 feet they were little more than an amorphous movement, suddenly sharpening into clarity as they charged and drew closer.
“Reloading!” I called out and Rachel stepped to my side to maintain the rate of fire and keep targets knocked down for the one second it took me to drop the empty magazine, slap a new one in and release the bolt to chamber a fresh round. I turned to cover Jackson’s area while he reloaded, then it was Rachel’s turn. We kept this progression up, moving into the open space between the crashed train car and the Humvee and spreading out to provide protection for the civilians that were streaming out of the train.
Max was rolled out the door onto the platform, the two men leaping to the ground and lifting him and his chair into the air and carrying him to the waiting Humvee. There wasn’t time for sensitivity and the driver popped open the passenger door as they approached, reached out and grabbed Max by the arms, dragging him out of the chair and into the vehicle. The chair was collapsed and tossed into the back, then two of the National Guard soldiers hustled over with the pregnant woman between them. I was engaging three females charging directly at me when several screams sounded way too close, but I couldn’t look. Any loss of focus and the three infected would be on me in a heartbeat.
Firing three quick shots I dropped them and spun just as a female who had made it onto the hood of the Humvee launched herself directly at the pregnant woman who was being hurried along with a soldier’s hand under each arm. The infected slammed into her chest and ripped her arms out of their hands, knocking her flat on her back and immediately started tearing into her throat. Before I could pivot and bring my rifle up Dog leapt and tore the infected off the woman’s body, rolling across the rough gravel and coming to a stop against the front tire of the Hummer. He quickly dispatched the female, but I didn’t have time to check on the pregnant woman as more shapes suddenly appeared in the fog to my front.
We kept up our rate of fire, along with the Hummer, and soon all the civilians were off the train and milling nervously in a tight group. Many of them were armed with varieties of weapons that ran the gamut from kitchen knives to a turn of the last century double barreled shotgun that was about five feet long. The group was pressed up against the car and the ones that were armed had positioned themselves at the edge to try and provide protection for the rest.
“Jackson, get everyone moving!” I shouted to be heard over the weapons fire, screams of the infected and roar of the hovering Apache which was still firing short and controlled bursts on the far side of the train. Jackson shouted into his radio and as previously agreed Rachel and I went to the front of our group and he brought up the rear as we got them moving west along the shattered remains of the train. Firing from the group ahead of us was steady and it sounded like the Bradley was in a target rich environment, firing burst after burst.
Breaking into a slow jog I kept firing at targets as I ran, Rachel right beside me and doing the same. I was gratified to see how much her skills had improved as she was hitting most of her targets while on the move. Dog trotted between us, head on a swivel. The group behind had to spread out to be able to run and soon we were all moving at a slow but steady pace. Maybe four miles an hour. That meant over an hour just to get to the bridge.
Running through fog isn’t pleasant when there aren’t swarms of infected trying to kill you. Doing it when there are is absolutely terrifying. Your senses compress in as the fog blinds you and mutes sounds and smells, almost like having a layer of gauze wrapped around your head. I was frequently being surprised by infected that suddenly appeared in the fog right in front of me as if by magic. The fight was so close that I had slung my rifle in favor of my knife in my left hand and pistol in my right. We moved that way for a few minutes, Rachel still using her rifle and keeping up a fairly steady rate of fire, me stabbing and shooting any infected that were within visual range.
Screams from the infected were continually sounding from deeper in the fog than I could see, and the way sound was affected I couldn’t tell the direction the majority of them were coming from. It took me a moment to realize there were screams coming from behind me that were both infected as well as terrorized people. Looking back I could only see the first rank of evacuees closest to me, also turned and looking to their rear as they ran.
“Maintain the pace!” I shouted to Rachel as I dashed back toward the screams. As I moved through the fog I started encountering infected, both male and female, moving in from our flank. At least a dozen evacuees were already dead on the ground and the infected were still pouring in. I shot two females and three males as soon as they appeared in the mist, slashed the throat of a male who was fighting with a teenager and stabbed into the back of the head of another female who was trying to pull a heavyset man to the ground. Jackson ran up from the rear and killed two more females, nodded to me and headed back.
“Faster!” I shouted to the group and turned and ran back to the front, sheathing the knife and doing a quick magazine change before holstering the pistol and grabbing my rifle.
The two Humvees were driving up and down the edge of the fleeing evacuees, mowing down infected with their machine guns as they moved and I matched pace with one as it went past, taking advantage of the fire support it provided as I ran to catch Rachel. I was having to watch my footing so I didn’t trip over a body as well as be alert for infected popping up in the fog. Every few yards I was having to step over a dead infected and more savaged evacuees than I wanted to see. I was moving too slow, but still faster than the group of civilians and I shouted at them again to run faster.
I caught up with Rachel and Dog, Rachel nearly shooting me when I suddenly appeared out of the fog. Her hair was wet and plastered to her head, long strands of it hanging down across her face but she still gave me a bright smile when she recognized me. Shooting an infected that was less than five feet to her left I yelled for her to pick up the pace. She ran faster and matched my speed, Dog still able to stay with us at no more than a trot, but then he had four legs to use and could cover a lot of ground very quickly without much effort.
At our faster pace it didn’t take long for us to catch up with the group ahead. We had been dodging and stepping over bodies of both infected and evacuees for a few minutes before we caught them, frequently killing males that we encountered who were following in their wake. When we first came upon them Rachel and I both nearly shot the civilians at the ba
ck of the group when they coalesced out of the fog. We had grown accustomed to seeing and shooting infected males that were lumbering along and if it hadn’t been for a little blonde girl holding her father’s hand as they walked we probably would have fired on them.
“Run! Move faster!” I started shouting as we approached the group from the rear. Heads turned to look at me and one by one people broke into a slow jog. Rachel, Dog and I peeled off to the side and started running past the group which had apparently suffered a lot of losses as there weren’t that many people left. The group we had been leading caught up and pushed into the back of them, urging them to a faster pace. We were running close to the derailed train which offered a degree of protection, especially with the Bradley and Apaches clearing the far side of infected, but our exposed flank was under continuous attack and I couldn’t kill infected fast enough to protect everyone. Our numbers were dwindling fast.
35
Captain Lee Roach was terrified. He had thought he was going to die when Major Chase had put the knife to his throat, but for some reason the big man hadn’t killed him. Instead they’d stripped him and tied him to a seat where he’d been interrogated by that jumped up Army Master Sergeant like a common criminal.
Roach didn’t see that he’d done anything wrong by taking the General’s uniform when he escaped from Arnold. That uniform had helped him survive. Had gotten him past road blocks on his way to Nashville, then into a suite at the Hyatt where they had happily accommodated him. That damn star was like an all access pass, getting him the best room in the hotel even though they weren’t open for business.
The uniform had also gotten him into several of the nightclubs just down the street from the hotel. Despite the damage done to the country and the impending invasion by millions of infected, there were still people that wanted to party. Roach had enjoyed himself immensely, paying for drinks courtesy of the General’s DOD issue American Express. Amazingly, the systems that processed credit card payments were still up and running. He was playing the big shot that he’d always believed he was.
