With trembling hands, she struck the plywood barrier but barely chipped it. She swung again, hitting the same spot. The hatchet buried deeper this time, and when she pulled the blade from the wood she could see a small black void. Soon, undead fingers reached through the narrow gap. She helped them open a little further until there was a hole the size of a softball. One of them reached its entire arm through the opening, and clawed wildly at the air. Lauren moved to another spot, and did the same. She continued until there were a dozen or so arms reaching in. The infected scratched and pulled at the holes, making them larger.
Lauren took her place at the ladder and waited for the first barrier to fall. She willed herself to stay calm as more arms reached through. The sounds the creatures made were almost gleeful. They were anxious to get at their meal. She jumped when the first zombie fell through the barrier and into the post office. That was her cue to start climbing. Half way up the ladder, she heard something she didn’t expect.
“Lauren,” Ben coughed. “Lauren, what are you doing?”
She could see him reaching out in the darkness.
“Lauren where are you?” he cried, coughing some more.
The undead were pouring in, and Lauren scrambled up the ladder. As soon as she stepped off the ladder, it was pulled down into the darkness.
“Lauren, is that you?” Ben asked.
His pleas for help grew louder as he realized what had happened, and as the undead began meting out their own brand of justice. Lauren watched from the roof as the undead surrounding the post office gathered at the front and continued to flood in. This was it, her chance to escape.
Lauren quickly climbed to the ground with her gear. An undead woman met her the moment she turned around. She pushed it to the ground, pulled out her hatchet, and before it could stand, planted the blade firmly in its skull. Lauren yanked her weapon free, and slipped away into the night.
From Preston, it was a seven-mile walk to the Mountain City Cooperative. She and Ben had avoided the road on the way up, but in the darkness it probably didn’t matter. She began at a speed walk, but after a short distance broke into a jog.
She maintained the pace until her lungs hurt, then, after making sure she wasn’t being followed, she slowed to a walk. She’d never been a huge fan of running, but found herself wishing she’d ran more often before all this. The chemstick in her hand lit her path, and ahead she could see something moving in the road.
“No,” she whispered.
Whatever it was, it moved toward her. Its eyes reflected the light of the chemstick, and she let out a sigh of relief when she realized it was only a deer. It continued on its path toward her.
“You’re a brave fella,” she said to the animal.
She was now just a few feet from it, and in the darkness she saw that it was covered in something.
“What is that?” she said out loud.
She froze when she’d connected the dots. It was covered in blood. The deer was infected and covered in its own blood. Lauren ran in a large loop around it, and continued up the road. She could hear its hooves clicking on the road as it ran behind her. She ran faster but its four legs quickly shortened the distance. Lauren pulled out her hatchet, and turned to attack it. She reached back to strike with her right hand, but the animal followed the chemstick in her left hand. Lauren swung at the rotted beast. It hopped back, and she missed. Its eyes continued to track the source of light in her left hand.
“Is this what you’re after?” she asked.
Considering it was infected, the creature was abnormally docile. She began to wonder if perhaps it wasn’t infected at all, but its smell put that thought to rest; it was definitely undead. Lauren threw the chemstick across the road, and the deer followed it. She didn’t understand why, but wasn’t going to wait to figure it out.
Lauren ran while it was distracted, and waited ‘til she was a good mile away before cracking another chemstick. Occasionally she’d stop and listen. Every now and then she thought she could hear something following her in the woods. She’d imagine the sound of hooves on the road and burst into a run again. She wasn’t sure how far she’d come, or even if she was headed in the right direction. She panicked at the thought and would give anything to just be back at the cooperative. Up ahead, there was a bend in the road, and she struggled to remember if it looked familiar. Her worries were proven unnecessary when she saw the tall grain elevators of the Mountain City Cooperative.
“Oh, thank God,” she sighed, as she began to run toward the large structure.
Lauren could see the lanterns that hung at each of the entry control points and the armed guards that protected their community.
“Stop!” one of the men shouted.
Lauren recognized the man, but couldn’t place his name.
“It’s me! Lauren!” she answered back, putting her hands out to show she meant them no harm. “Get Doc!”
The men spoke among themselves before one of them ran off to fetch Doc. The other two opened the gate and let her in.
“Where is Ben?” one of the men asked.
Lauren didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say.
“Lauren,” Doc greeted her, “we weren’t expecting you two until tomorrow.”
When Doc realized she was alone, he froze.
“Was it…” Doc started to ask.
“No,” Lauren cut him off. “It wasn’t them.”
“The Zs?” someone asked.
Lauren nodded, “Yeah.”
“Go get Kristie,” Doc ordered one of the men. “We’ll have to check you for…”
“For bites,” Lauren interrupted again. “I know.”
“So what happened?” Doc asked.
He could clearly see she’d been through a lot. The lump on the side of her face scared him for a moment, and he feared she was infected. However, since the skin hadn’t been broken, it looked as if she’d be all right.
“We were in a post office,” she started. “I thought I was safe.”
Lauren burst into tears at the thought of Ben assaulting her. She wasn’t sure anyone would believe her story.
“They…they just came in. It all happened so fast,” she said, delivering the half-truth.
“But, Ben…?” Doc pushed.
“They got him,” Lauren said gravely.
Technically, she wasn’t lying. The undead had been the ones to finish him off.
“We were surrounded, and he sacrificed himself so that I could escape.” It pained her to lie. “He…he saved my life,” Lauren forced the words out.
He’d be remembered as a hero, despite being a monster. Lauren thought of all the things he’d confessed to before showing his true colors. Ben was worse than the infected, and the story she told was far better than he deserved.
Part III
Somewhere I Belong
"I’m a little wounded, but I am not slain; I will lay me down to bleed a while. Then I’ll rise and fight again.”
-John Dryden
45.
Reallocated
The convoy of vehicles hummed down the highway, slowing only to avoid abandoned vehicles. In the passenger seat of the lead vehicle, Cale looked at the map again. Blair had provided each of the truck commanders with strip maps, which were a rough copy of an area, often not drawn to scale.
A few days before, Blair had followed up on his promise to help Cale get home. Granted, it was about three weeks after he’d originally proposed it, but Cale understood that Blair couldn’t cater to just one person’s needs. He’d seen Blair and Amanda holding hands, just being themselves, a loving couple, and he couldn’t help but feel angry. He was jealous of what they had. He just wanted to get home to Lauren and Marie. Cale gained control of his anger as Blair approached him.
“Hey,” Blair greeted him.
“Sergeant,” Cale said, moving to parade rest position. “Come on, really?” Blair laughed. “At ease.”
“Old habits.” Cale assumed a fake smile.
“I’ve got some news,” he informed Cale.
Cale thought for sure he was going to say getting him home would be postponed.
“Everything is in order,” stated Blair. “I’ll be calling a meeting for all platoon and team leaders. We’re going to get some solid numbers on who’d be interested in going back.”
“Oh, my God!” Cale was excited. “This is really going to happen?”
“Better late than never, right?” Blair said. “We’ll try to turn part of the airport into an outpost, and maybe open a permanent channel of travel between France and the US”
Cale extended his hand to Blair. “Thank you so much.”
Blair grabbed his hand, but brought him in for a hug. “It’s the least I could do.”
He patted Cale on the back before releasing him.
Cale flipped the strip map up and viewed the layout of the airport that the recon team had put together. On it, entry points were marked, as well as hostile zones. They had a lot of ground to cover in order to put the terminal on lock down. Part of an exterior wall had been destroyed, so the exact number of infected coming and going was undeterminable. They’d definitely have their work cut out for them.
“Is anyone else nervous?” Goebel asked from the driver’s seat.
Specialist Goebel was a chaplain’s assistant, but after the outbreak, he’d been cross trained as an infantryman. He wasn’t one of the strongest soldiers but was absolutely one of the most intelligent.
“I think it’d be weird if you weren’t,” Private First Class Meyer responded from the gunner’s seat.
Meyer had the seat Cale preferred, but since he was the highest rank, he was also the truck commander.
“What about you, Sergeant?” Goebel asked Cale. “Are you nervous?”
Cale didn’t answer. He still wasn’t used to being referred to as sergeant.
“Sergeant?” Goebel asked.
“What?” Cale realized he was being spoken to. “Uh…no. I’m not nervous.”
“Really, Sergeant?” Meyer was intrigued.
“I’m not saying I’m a bad ass or anything,” Cale started. “But when you’ve dealt with as many infected as I have, you find ways to lock it away.”
The two soldiers riding with him fell silent for a moment. Cale looked over the maps for a few seconds, and then folded them up.
“Is it true you were in Iraq at the start of this?” Goebel broke the silence.
Cale stared out the window at the scenery passing by. It was a pleasant summer day, with not a cloud in the sky. As the engine hummed, he thought about the night everything went to shit. He could see McGregor and Rowan standing there as York jumped up and tore into them. He shook his head to wake up from the daydream.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“So…” Meyer pushed himself to say, “So how’d you get here?”
“That, guys,” Cale started, “is a story for another day. It’s show time.”
He pointed to the next corner. “Take a right.”
At this point, he really didn’t need to tell Goebel where to go. Signs for the airport were everywhere, and they were pulling past the main terminal. Infected were scattered throughout the road, and outside the glass doors to the airport. Their entry point was further down, where part of the fence blocking off the tarmac had been torn down. Some of the terminals had already been blocked off, so going straight to them, and clearing out the infected that occupied them, would be more efficient than fighting their way through the front door. Then, at least half the job of securing the area was already done. Their objective was to get to L terminal, where gates twelve through twenty-three would be at their disposal.
The Humvee bounced over the section of fence that lay on the ground. On the tarmac, herds of the undead were everywhere. They roamed around abandoned aircraft but quickly turned their attention to the vehicles as they entered. Cale checked the map of the airport once more, to ensure they set up their perimeter at the correct terminal.
“It’s the one at the very end,” he told Goebel.
“Roger,” Goebel answered.
“Should I start shooting?” asked a terrified Meyer.
“Not yet,” Cale replied. “We’ll wait ‘til we’re in formation; then we can establish sectors of fire.”
The rest of the vehicles followed Goebel’s path around the hordes of undead.
“This is it.” Cale pointed to a section of the airport. “Park right there,” he said, pointing at a luggage trolley.
Goebel did as ordered, and the rest of the convoy filed in to form a semi-circle around the northwest side of the building. This would be the easiest part, eliminating the infected on the tarmac, while the rear element of the convoy blocked off the hole in the fence. They’d been armed to the teeth and sent to war.
“Dismount!” Cale ordered Goebel, “You stay up on the fifty and just light them up when they get close! Try not to hit any of the aircraft!” he yelled at Meyer.
“Roger, Sergeant!” replied Meyer.
The members of the convoy who weren’t behind the crew serve weapons disembarked and set up their sectors of fire. Blair’s vehicle pulled into the middle of the perimeter.
“We don’t have much time!” he shouted, as he climbed out of his vehicle, “Set up your sectors and fire when busy!” he ordered them.
Another team went to work opening the door to the terminal where the baggage was handled. Cale looked through his scope and lined up his target. He gently squeezed the trigger and the creature’s head became a red mist. He could hear the crackle of a PA system turning on.
“A little morale booster!” Blair’s voice boomed from the speakers on his vehicle.
Soon Guns ‘n’ Roses “Welcome to the Jungle” began to play.
Cale heard someone yell, “I fucking love this song!”
With renewed resolve, the living went to war with the dead. Carefully placing their shots was difficult, since they’d been trained to aim center mass, but they adapted quickly. Cale lined up another target, and when the undead body collapsed to the ground, opened both his eyes to search his sector for another target. Quickly, he put down five.
“A little help, Sergeant!” Goebel shouted.
He was struggling to place his shots accurately.
“You want me to take them out?” asked Meyer. “No,” Cale answered. “Save your rounds!”
Cale picked the closest vector and lined him up.
“Just take your time! Remember to breathe! They’re slow, so it’s not like they’ll surprise you!” he explained to Goebel as he took down another target. “Give it a try!”
Goebel did as instructed.
“Just breathe!” Cale shouted over the music.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Now squeeze your trigger gently!” he continued to instruct the soldier.
Goebel’s target kicked back like he’d been booted by a horse and his brains sprayed the undead behind him.
“Good shot!” Cale praised him, “Just remember to take your time!”
Goebel nodded and took on the task of clearing his sector.
“Reloading!” Cale shouted.
Quickly, he replaced his magazine and went back to scanning his sector. A new group of zombies had filed out from behind an abandoned fire engine. Zach walked between them unnoticed. Cale popped off another round, missing his target, but fortunately striking another.
“Come on, don’t rush,” he coached himself.
On another part of the perimeter, the infected got close enough to warrant the use of a .50 cal. The crowd literally disintegrated to just partial limbs on the tarmac. The song ended, and the last few shots were fired. The living looked out across the battlefield at the bodies of their enemies littering the pavement. Cale could see that the team assigned to block off the tarmac to prevent any more from getting in had pulled a parking shuttle up to the opening. Already some of them had gathered, beating on the bus, but their efforts would be in vai
n.
Cale looked at the terminals. Sunlight bounced off the large glass windows, but in the ones he could see through, the undead were packed up against the glass. Some of the planes that had been halted during the quarantine had blood-smeared windows. There was no way to tell how many infected were inside, or what they were doing. Cale turned to check the status of the breaching team. They’d welded through the locks and were about to open the door. Their sectors of fire were about to flip one hundred eighty degrees. Blair got a thumbs up from one of the men and he nodded back.
“Eyes inward!” he shouted to the soldiers on the perimeter, “When we open this door expect a fight! The first part of the mission is done! Good work! Let’s keep it up! I don’t want any casualties!”
He motioned his driver to leave the center of the half circle, and all but one of the breach team got out of the way. Blair joined his men along the outside of the perimeter and gave the man the signal to open the large metal roll top door. It was immediately replaced by a wall of undead. The man that had opened the door fell back and rejoined the living.
“Fire!” Blair commanded.
Round two of the war on the undead had commenced. The undead that filtered out didn’t stand a chance. They walked into the rain of lead and fell to the ground, and then another flood pushed out. They attempted to climb over their fallen comrades, but only added to the pile. A mound of bodies formed at the opening to the airport’s interior. Soon, only a few remained, and once they were dispatched, Blair turned to address the group.
Z Plan (Book 2): Red Tides Page 29
