Chapter 12
The two geared up and waited as Brian and Hunter freed the door and allowed them to escape outside. It was dark outside and they had taken the last two NVGs still working in the facility. They moved quickly with the NVGs over their eyes and headed in the direction of the incoming convoy. They worked their way around the hill behind them and then, when they figured they were clear of any Ridder forces, they picked up their pace into a fast jog.
When they thought they heard engine sounds, they slowed and took cover behind some small boulders and bushes. They finally saw the convoy sitting still with people around it, looking over a map and talking. Apache and Heaven sat down and discussed what they saw and how they should make contact.
Part way through their planning a voice came to them quietly. “I like your plan so far, guys. But I think it is now moot. You don’t need to go after your weapons. We have you surrounded, now relax. Are you with Ridder?” The voice was calm but full of power and assuredness.
Apache spoke for them. “No, we are from in the facility. Our commander saw your convoy and asked us to come out and talk to you.”
“So far, I like what you are saying. Why don’t you leave your weapons and let’s move over to talk to our commander?” the voice asked.
Apache removed her M-4 placed it on the ground and removed her 1911 sidearm. The voice came out again. “Just your rifle ma’am. You can keep your sidearm. Just keep it in your holster and keep your hand away from it. At least, till we all become good friends.”
Heaven followed suit and placed his SCAR on the ground and kept his hands in view. They stood and walked forward as the shadow that the voice belonged to came out of the dark and from behind the bushes and rocks he had surrounded himself with. He followed behind them as they came out of hiding and walked toward the lead Humvee in the convoy. An average height Asian man with a bushy beard, dressed in similar combat gear as Heaven, looked up from the map he was studying and waved over at them.
He offered his hand and smiled at them “I am Lieutenant Chun. How the hell are you guys doing?” He was of Asian descent, but had clear, sparkling blue eyes. His coarse, black bushy beard sat on the upper parts of his massive barrel chest. He had a disarming smile and seemed laid back.
“Chun, never thought I would see you again,” Heaven said in his slow quiet way.
Chun held Heaven’s hand a little longer and stepped forward to see him better. His expression morphed into shock, then to happiness, and then to confusion. “Heaven? What the hell are you doing out here?”
They let go of hands and embraced like long lost brothers. “My Delta team was frocked to Major Welko, orders from General Richards. We are down two brothers and now being held up in that little facility over that set of hills. We have been battered pretty bad by Ridder. What the hell are you out here for?”
“We have been kind of wandering around in the desert for a couple of months and fighting off these damn Ridder mercenaries. We just connected with the General a week ago and he asked us to head north for a while. I have three SEAL Teams with me and a couple of Army guys that we found, getting their asses kicked by Ridder. So we walked in and rescued them and now, I can’t get them to go away. So, how can we help?”
A small number of hard-looking men gathered around listening to the conversation. Apache introduced herself to them and shook hands with a number of them. Heaven continued, “We need some help clearing out the cockroaches from our facility and bolstering our defenses. We have a couple of Science guys working on what we hope will be end up being a cure. Feel like helping?” he asked.
“I think we can do something for you. Wanna show me and my boys the details of your little facility on a map?” He motioned to the map. Heaven and Apache explained the facility and the status of what they knew about Ridder. Chun turned and looked around at his men.
“Aces, Mortis, feel like having some fun?” Chun asked.
His men looked hard and dangerous in their battle armor and weapons. One by one, they nodded their agreement. “Alright. I’ll lead Team One, we will circle around the facility in this direction and set up here. Team Two come in from behind and escort our two friends to the garage. Team Three and Four will move in and secure the facility. Army guys, as always you will drive in your little Humvees and man your big guns, and back our teams. Any problems guys?”
No issues came up, so the Teams broke up and moved off to their assigned points. Apache and Heaven led Team Two to the garage ramp and to the side door. Apache tapped on the door and it opened slowly to reveal Brian, holding his M-4 at his shoulder. He relaxed and eased his weapon to his side, and made room for the rest to come through. He became wide-eyed, seeing the SEAL Team as they came through the door.
“Apache, where the hell did you find a SEAL team, out in the desert?” Brian asked.
She looked back with a little smile pursed on her lips. “Oh, these guys? Heaven just had to stop for a Slurpee at the 7-11 and these guys were just hanging outside. They asked if they could ride with us, and I said no, but of course being SEALs, they just followed me home. Can I keep them? I promise to be a good girl and clean up after them. Please daddy?” She patted her hands together like a little girl and let out a giggle. Brian rolled his eyes at the sarcastic bit from Apache. He walked up to the Team lead and offered his hand.
“Brian Leeder, Marine, and all around pain in the ass,” he offered by way of greeting.
The man could have been Brian twin, same Sasquatch height, same bulky muscles, shaved heads, but Butch’s face was clean shaven. He thrust his hand out and took Brian’s proffered hand. They stood there in a test of strength, squeezing and waiting for the other to blink or pull away. It was an impressive sight and the rest of the SEAL team seemed in awe over Brian, and his ability to meet Butch’s massive strength with his own. Finally, Butch broke out in a wide, toothy grin and laughed heartily. He let go of Brian’s hand and hugged him like a long lost brother.
“Haven’t had that much fun with a Jarhead in a long time. Names Chief Petty Officer Butch Barth, and I guess I am in charge of this mismatched crew of miscreant SEALs. Our lead, Lieutenant Chun is topside with another two Teams. He is going to help you get rid of your infestation of cockroaches for you. Who is the head screw turner around here?” While he spoke he removed a battered cigar from his breast pocket and shoved it in his mouth, and proceeded to chew on it.
Brian instantly liked this man. He stood proud and cocksure of himself and his men around him. Brian cocked a thumb at Kuppers. “Colonel Kuppers is the highest ranking officer here.”
Kuppers walked over and sized up Butch. Butch’s face showed amazement. “Holy shit as I stand here and breathe, Iron Man? What the fuck are you doing here? God, it’s been what, fifteen years since that little problem down in Grenada?”
“Butch, it has been a while. I thought you were a tier-one guy in Seal Team 6.” He showed general surprise.
“Yeah well, that will have to be a story told around a couple of glasses of scotch later. I thought you left the military. What the hell are you doing as a Colonel?”
“I did get out, shortly after that last mission. Went on to run the best SWAT team in San Fran. We barely got out alive and with our whole skin. A bunch of other crap went down and now, we find ourselves here. So what’s the plan?”
“We have a couple of Teams with us and they should either be working on your little problem, or should have it done by now.” He looked down at his watch, then turned and motioned for one of his men to come forward. “Lupo, get your ass out there and find out what’s going on. Comms are still down, keep your head down and finger on the trigger.”
The young man saluted him with the bird and disappeared out the door. He moved silently like a ghost, almost as if he was more part of the shadows than a normal man. His eyes never stopped moving and his weapon stayed in his hands and moved with him, almost like if it was one of his limbs. He moved over the ramp and around the base of the hill. When he reached the
corner of the building, he stuck his head around and took in the scene. He found the three teams pulling bodies out of the facility and depositing them fifty yards out. He looked around, but couldn’t find the Lieutenant. He stopped one of the guys.
“I need to find Chun,”
The man grunted while dragging a body and then nodded with his head, pointing with his chin to the facility’s entrance. Lupo passed more bodies and entered the building through the front doors, which had been blown off. He found Chun further into the facility down a hallway and in one of the bedrooms, he was busy interrogating a Ridder prisoner. Chun had the man taped naked to a chair with his wrists and ankles zip-tied. Chun had just finished explaining to the man what he was about to do to him, when Lupo entered and interrupted.
Chun swiveled his eyes over and then looked down at the small knife in his hand. “I am so sorry for the interruption, but this young man has something to tell me, unlike you. I tell you what. Hold my knife for me and I will be right back.” He then jabbed the knife into the man’s thigh and left it there. The man’s eyes bulged and looked as if they would pop out of their sockets. He started to scream when a SEAL behind him shoved a pair of socks into his mouth cutting it off. A little bit of blood seeped out of the wound and soaked the man’s pants. Chun got to his feet and made his way over to Lupo, ignoring the whimpering coming from the man. “What’s going on?”
“Butch ordered me to come up here and find out what was going on. Comms are still down. He is working with a man he calls ‘Iron Man’, Kuppers.”
Chun broke out into a big toothy grin. “Iron Man is down there? No way! Okay, go down there and ask for the leadership to come up here. We need to get a-hold of our situation.”
Lupo turned and jogged from the room knowing that Chun didn’t want him to salute. On his way out, he grabbed a body on the floor by the feet and dragged it outside, depositing it with the others. SEALS are not lazy people and when they see others working, even in passing, they feel like they need to help. So, he did what he could, wiped his hands on his trousers, and jogged back toward the garage. He didn’t need to use as much caution as before, sticking to the shadows. Instead, he moved quickly and reached the door in fifteen minutes. He took his knife out of its sheath and using the pommel, he pounded on the door three times then two more times. He replaced his knife and waited. The door opened and he entered, finding his team sitting on their asses cleaning their weapons and eating. Lupe found Butch, came up and sat by his side.
“Chun says he wants the leadership team brought up stairs, he is interrogating some of the Ridder captives. The Teams made short work of the forces up there and are cleaning house.”
“Good job not getting lost, Lupo. Now go clean your gun and get something to eat.” Butch said.
Lupo moved off and Butch got to his feet and looked around for Brian. He found him sitting with the woman, Apache, chatting. “Excuse me, I just got word from our Lieutenant. He and the other three Teams have cleared out the top floor and are interrogating some prisoners. He would like your leadership to come up and meet with him.”
Brian climbed to his feet and nodded. “Great work, you SEAL guys don’t mess around. I’ll wrangle up the team and get them in here, so we can go up as a group.” They bumped fists and Brian moved away looking for Kuppers. Butch looked down as his practiced eyes roved over Apache’s body and gear. It was not a sexual or admiring thing he was sizing her up like he would with any warrior. Satisfied with what he saw, he nodded at her and moved on to prep his Team.
Apache had done the same thing, though she was also the kind to analyze someone and look for ways to kill them. She had a hard time imagining herself being able to survive long with a man like that. He was the same size as Brian in height and build, but he had the confident swagger that warned people to stay out of his way. Brian, on the other hand, discouraged people from messing with him, but wore his heart on his sleeve. Hase interrupted her musings when he sat down in front of her, favoring his left knee. He reached out and stroked her cheek. She gave him a truthful smile and leaned forward to press her forehead to his.
“Hey babe. Where were you just now?” he asked, kissing her nose and then pulling back into a more comfortable pose.
“Just in my mind, thinking about our team and these new SEAL guys. It will be nice to have someone else do the heavy lifting for a while. I am exhausted and don’t think I could go much further.” She put her hands to her face and rubbed it vigorously.
“Yeah, I get that, hun. I am tired of being on the front-line every day. We lost two guys who had been with me since the beginning. I think we need time to lick our wounds and recover. Hopefully, we gave Ridder a black eye and a bloody nose today. Maybe they will think twice before trying again.” He watched as Brian appeared from inside the facility with Dan, Vic, and Kuppers in tow. “That man, Dan, something tells me he is the link to all of this crap. I for one, am going to continue keeping my cart hitched to his horse.”
“Oh, I am not leaving his side ever. I’ve never seen a man so dedicated to doing what is right. But you can see that sadness still in his eyes.” Apache shook her head and leaned forward, landing a soft kiss on Hase’s lips.
Brian and Butch led Dan, Vic and Kuppers outside and around the facility, taking their time to watch for danger. Dan walked with a slight limp, as he worked hard to keep up with them. His face was puffy and a little purple in places from his tumble down the stairs with Brian. His hip had been wrenched a little and he had painful spots down his back, but he shook it off and continued moving. As they passed the corner of the building, they were confronted with giant, burning pits full of dead Ridder soldiers. Vic shook his head over the waste of human life. Zombies have taken over and killed millions, if not billions of people, and yet here they were, fighting and killing each other. He shook his head and averted his gaze back to Kuppers’ shoulders.
They entered into the facility and moved down the hallway to a bunk room in the rear of the facility. They found Chun sitting on a bunk, going over some papers, and chatting with a man dressed in Army fatigues, instead of the SEALs distinct armor and camouflage BDUs. He looked up and saw Butch and the others walk in and handed over his files to the Army soldier. He grabbed Kuppers, lifted him off the ground and bear-hugged him tight.
“Iron Man, good to see you, brother! It has been ages!” Chun was not as big as Kuppers, but with arms the size of pythons, he sure had the strength.
“Chun you son of a bitch! Last time I saw you, you were nothing but a wet behind the balls, young petty officer. If I remember right, that was your first year in the Teams. Now you’re an officer? Who the hell did you have to hump to become an officer?” Kuppers grunted out.
Chun put him on his feet stepped back and looked him over. “Too many to name, Iron Man. So, who the hell are these sorry people behind you?”
Kuppers stepped aside and pointed to each of them as he named them off. “This is Vic Reynolds, used to be a San Fran detective. The big Sasquatch-looking guy is Brian Leeder, he is a knuckle dragging Marine, and works mostly as the next guy’s personal body guard.” He reached out and grabbed Dan by the shoulders and pulled him in front of the little group. “Dan Welko, no military training. In fact, he was a middle manager working at a company in San Francisco. So, him and that Sasquatch guy fought their way out of the TransAmerica Tower during the opening hours of this fuck-all war. I outrank his ass, but he is our de facto leader. We wouldn’t be here today without him.”
Chun stepped forward and thrust his hand out. Dan looked it over for a moment and then finally took it into his own. They shook and Chun held onto it a little longer. “So you’re the guy that Ridder wants to kill. General Richards ordered us to join your team and take your orders. I hear you may even have a possible cure in the works in the bowels of this place.”
Dan felt a little uneasy over having his hand held this long, and having a man he never met before know all of his information. “We are working on things, yes.”
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br /> Chun smiled and let go of Dan’s hand finally. He looked over to Kuppers, “If you say he is ok, that is good enough for me. I have some information to tell you guys. Take a seat.” He motioned to the other bunks, then turned and talked to his assistant. “Mr. Wright, please hustle up the rest of the Team leaders.” Wright saluted and left the room in a hurry to complete his orders. Dan and Brian took a seat together on a bunk, as Vic and Kuppers took another, Butch stood by the door guarding the room.
Chun stayed standing and moved to the middle of the room. He put his hands on his hips and looked over the men sitting on the bunks. “Gentlemen, let me tell you a little bit about what we have been through these last couple of months. Butch and I were leading our Team through a mock-up camp, for a mission we were about to go on. But after sitting outside the camp for two days gathering intelligence, nothing moved, and that was a problem. According to our briefing, there was supposed to be a lot of activity, but again nothing. I sent in two of my best men, to figure out what was going on. They came back with some disturbing news. They found the buildings a-wash in blood and viscera. When they attempted to help one of the victims, it ended up biting one of them, Petty Officer Blakk. When they made it back out and briefed us, we didn’t want to believe them. But when Butch looked over Blakk’s wound, he saw it had been a bite. We broke radio silence and tried to report the incident, but no one answered our calls. A couple of days later, we found out what the bites did when Blakk tried to eat us. We had no real ammo and Butch ended up breaking Blakk’s back and then pounding his head in with a rock.
That night, we decided as a Team to make our way to San Diego and the west coast SEAL base. We found some weapons after raiding a gun store, but ended up with handguns and hunting rifles. We made do and Rascal and Pico, two of our team-mates created some IEDs, and we found some farm tools that we turned into hand weapons. We battled our way into San Diego and found the rest of the Teams battling to hold onto the base. We resupplied and sat still till we heard that the Defense Secretary and Attorney General wanted us to liaison with the Ridder group. None of us thought that was a good idea, so we took a vote and decided to leave the base as one. Two days later, we heard from Admiral Heather Keithley. She ordered us to ignore our prior orders and seek out a retired General Richards up north. On the way, we helped a bunch of citizens and linked up with an Army group that we saved from a Ridder attack. We then received orders to come north and go to work for a man named Dan Welko. You, I presume, sir. The General said that wherever you were, Ridder would surely be lurking around.”
Zombie Theorem (Book 3): The End Game Page 25
