The Z Directive (Book 1): Extraction Point

by Thompson, Chris

“Smith, I promise we’ll come and get you and Bridges when we can, but you’ve got to hold out until then.” Jack reassured her.

  She didn’t respond and they didn’t hear from Bridges. Hoping they were simply holding their own, Jack continued to press forward. He quickened his pace, urging those following to do the same. As they neared the park, the droning, thunderous sound of a helicopter’s rotors became apparent, the noise getting louder and louder as they neared the extraction point. As the waist high boundary wall of the park came into view, the distant silhouettes of trees standing out amidst the blackness as the flashlight beams picked them out, they became aware of the infected. They were coming in from streets to the left and right, a half dozen at least on each side, and there were certainly more behind them.

  “This is Eagle Five Nine, we’re on location but the infected are closing in!” The helicopter pilot came over the radio.

  Gunfire erupted in the distance, loud enough to distract some of the infected that had previously been surging towards the group. They stopped and stumbled, nearly falling over in their stiff-limbed efforts to turn about. Jack and Tyrone set to work, firing upon and executing these new threats with far more ease than the sprinting creatures. Dull thumping from the rear indicated Cross and Rodriguez were engaging more of the infected. Regardless, Jack pressed on, moving and firing, engaging targets as they appeared in the lights, he led the way to the wall and assessed the situation. Dozens more of the undead were in the street, some advancing to intercept the group others heading towards the loud, rumbling helicopter in the park.

  “So much for it being a clear extraction point.” Tyrone commented snidely.

  Jack and Tyrone hoisted themselves up over the wall onto the grass and continued firing, picking off the infected that were getting too close while the rest of the group clambered up. It wasn’t difficult, but the party they were escorting was exhausted and it took them precious minutes to join Jack and Tyrone. Coming through the park were more of the relentless undead, seeking out the source of the flesh they appeared to be able to smell. Jack and Tyrone fired on them while Cross and Rodriguez engaged the infected in the street.

  “Faster!” Tyrone barked as he reloaded his spent magazine, while Jack checked the scattered corpses of infected in the area they had cleared for signs of movement. Not all that far away, the lights of the helicopter could be seen in the gloom; the unmistakable sound of gunfire could also be heard, and they could see muzzle flashes as the crew held back the encroaching infected, the guns on the side of the machine also ablaze.

  “Friendlies approaching from your west side!” Jack informed them as the group began to move again. The infected closed in behind them, their bodies pressing up against the waist-high wall while their arms stretched out so that their fingers could claw at the ground behind it in a clumsy attempt to clamber up after them. Rodriguez, using his sub-machine gun, and Cross, were firing on them while Jack and Tyrone tried to keep the front and sides clear of threats. They moved slowly over the grass before passing onto a path that led directly to the helicopter. Visibility was poor as the bushes and trees obscured the beams from their lights as they attempted to scan for targets.

  With the group flagging a little, they pounded the pavement towards the helicopter, their guns falling silent, leading Jack to believe that they had defeated the infected in their immediate vicinity.

  “Ramsay!” Smith came over the radio. “Ramsay, we need—” She started, but was silenced before finishing.

  “Smith?” Jack questioned. “Smith!”

  “What’s wrong?” Emma asked again.

  The group reached the helicopter and a pair of soldiers jumped down, helping the survivors to climb inside. Emma moved off to the side with Jack, much to his frustration.

  “Get on the helicopter, Emma.” Jack told her firmly.

  “Ramsay we need your help!” Smith declared roughly. “Bolvinox is—”

  “Jack?” Emma pressed.

  “Jack, we need to go.” Tyrone declared curtly.

  Cross and Rodriguez took on a defensive formation, protecting the helicopter and the survivors from any infected that might be approaching them stealthily as the droning of the helicopter was so loud that they couldn’t hear them moving at the edge of the light. The soldiers who had disembarked loaded their passengers as quickly as they could, as it was clear they wouldn’t have long.

  “Bridges and Smith are pinned down.” Jack said looking squarely at Emma. “I’m going to go and get them. Board the helicopter and go straight to Maxwell.”

  “I’m not going without you.” She said, looking more than a little concerned.

  “I’ve got to get—”

  “No you don’t.” Tyrone interjected. Jack looked at him, shocked.

  “What?”

  “They, like all of us, are expendable. We had to collect the doctor and her data and we’ve done that. They could be dead by now for all we know.” Tyrone explained coldly.

  “What the fuck, Ty? They’re you’re team!” Jack exploded.

  “And I’d expect them to do the same! The mission is more important!”

  “The mission is complete! Emma is—”

  “Who is this?” A voice cut over the radio; it was rough, carrying an east-coast accent that definitely didn’t belong to Smith or Bridges.

  “Ramsay.” Jack returned coldly.

  “I’ve got your people. Bring Doctor Emma Reed and the USB drive to us and we will return them.”

  In the background, there was a muffled, masculine scream followed by what sounded like Smith attempting to speak through a gag. The signal suddenly went dead; silence coming through the ear piece as though the other device had been deactivated.

  “Jack, we need to leave. Now! We can send another team if Maxwell authorizes it.” Tyrone insisted.

  “Please, someone tell me what is going on!” Emma demanded. Jack looked at her.

  “Bolvinox has taken Bridges and Smith hostage and they are demanding we exchange them for you. Now, I’m going to go and help them, but you need to board the helicopter.” Jack told her as calmly as he could. Gunfire sounded abruptly as Cross and Rodriguez worked to keep the infected clear of the helicopter.

  “We’re coming too.” Cross announced, moving closer. Rodriguez nodded.

  “No, you’re not! We’re going back to base with the doctor as ordered.” Tyrone told them, a cold calmness in his voice.

  “If you go without me, won’t they kill your teammates?” Emma questioned.

  “We’ll just have to make sure they don’t see us coming.” Jack told her. She looked nervously between Jack and the helicopter. With trembling hands, she reached under her shirt and took hold of the drive hanging on the chain around her neck, pulled it up and over her head then handed it to Tyrone.

  “I’ll... I’ll help, but we can’t let them have the data.” Emma said, sounding acutely uncertain. Tyrone took the drive but apparently wasn’t satisfied.

  “No, Doctor, you’re getting on the helicopter.” Tyrone instructed.

  “No, I’m not, and you can’t force me to!”

  “I believe I can.”

  Jack moved between her and Tyrone.

  “Take the data back.” Jack instructed. “That’s what your mission is. I’m going to get Bridges and Smith; if Emma wants to risk her life, then it's her choice to make.”

  “You’ve gone soft, Jack. This isn’t how the Coalition does things.”

  “I’m not with the Coalition anymore, remember?”

  Jack eyed Tyrone and they stared hard at each other for a long moment. Jack couldn’t believe the change in him; this cold uncaring attitude was totally out of character for his long time friend and comrade. There was no time waste in pointless dispute.

  “Jack... ”

  “Ty, this isn’t up for debate. Take the data back. Now!” He issued aggressively.

  Tyrone continued to stare Jack down for a moment, then turned to one of the soldiers, handing off the drive.
<
br />   “Take this back to Maxwell. Deliver it to him personally.”

  “But, sir—” The soldier started to counter.

  “Just do it!” Tyrone ordered, and with obvious reluctance the soldier took the drive being offered to him. Tyrone turned back to Jack. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Seven

  Jack led the group away from the helicopter as it rose up, the ground and air disturbance forcing them to duck down as they sprinted into the darkness; moving away from the position they knew the infected to be, hopefully in a direction of safety. He gave the command to switch to the backup frequency and the group adjusted their equipment, which, with luck, would prevent Bolvinox from listening in on any of their communications. Hearing Jack, Hall had already switched and he requested that she also monitor the primary frequency, just in case Bolvinox’ private security attempted to contact them. With that done, they moved out; Emma just behind Jack, Tyrone to his left and Cross to his right, with Rodriguez bringing up the rear. They surged through the park, fortunate that the sound of the helicopter seemed to be drawing the infected away from them as there were only a few that crossed their path, and these were put down silently. They hurried to clear the park’s south exit, moving vaguely in the last direction they’d known Bridges and Smith to be, while also getting themselves into some kind of cover should Bolvinox investigate the helicopter’s landing site.

  “Jack, what the hell’s going on down there?” Maxwell demanded over the radio.

  “Bridges and Smith were taken hostage by Bolvinox. They’re demanding we hand over Doctor Reed and the data in exchange for their safety.”

  “You’re not seriously—” Maxwell started.

  “Not at all, but she’s volunteered to come and help us retrieve them.”

  “Damn it, Jack, we need her back here!”

  “The data has been passed along; you’ll be receiving it shortly.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “The point is you brought me back in because I get the job done; the job is done. Now I’m volunteering for the next.”

  “Which is?”

  “Not to leave anyone behind.” Jack returned icily. “Besides, if we can capture a couple of these Bolvinox goons, they might have some useful information.”

  Maxwell didn’t say anything. The line simply went dead. Jack knew he was probably quite pissed, but he didn’t care. They left the park and crossed the street into an abandoned bistro. It wasn’t a particularly wide building, but it was surprisingly deep, with a few booths along the right wall and a couple of out of place tables and overturned chairs on the left. There was a great deal of disturbance in the centre, with tables scattered across it and chairs pushed underneath. It appeared to have been hastily arranged as a barricade; the pitiful collection of bones and congealed blood behind indicating it hadn’t been overly successful. Jack led the team into the kitchen, checking the back door to make sure the rear alleyway was clear and also accessible, before they took a moment to talk.

  “So, what’s your plan, Jack?” Tyrone asked. There was an edge to his tone that Jack couldn’t mistake.

  “Get your people back then head to the secondary extraction point. Problem?”

  “Yeah, my problem is that it’s the same old shit with you, Jack. You’ve never been able to simply complete a mission. This civilian or that non-combatant; always something extra, some little thing you needed to do. It’s that bullshit that got you disavowed and it’s the same thing that’s going to get us killed!”

  “You could’ve gone on that chopper and left, Ty.” Jack told him. “You know, kind of like you did last time.”

  Tyrone eyed him coldly.

  “You know?”

  “I didn’t until just now. You were my brother, Ty; all the shit we did together, all the ops we ran, it didn’t even occur to me that you could’ve had something to do with me being burned - until I saw how willing to follow orders you were just now. You’d leave two of your team to potentially be eaten by the undead rather than go off task in a slight way to rescue them. That made me think about something Maxwell said earlier; he told me he never needed to find me that he always knew where I was. I figured it was something else - some way of tracking me I hadn’t considered. I couldn’t even imagine it was you who told him... right up until now.”

  “Sorry to interrupt, but what the hell are you talking about?” Emma wanted to know.

  “I followed orders.” Tyrone said, ignoring Emma’s request.

  “So you were the one who tipped them off?”

  “Yeah, and I’d do it again, Jack, because that’s what I was ordered to do. That was always the difference between us; you’d risk our lives to do things that weren’t in the mission profile, and yes, you’d save lives most of the time that would’ve been lost if you hadn’t. I went along with it for years and years because you were my C.O. and you were my friend, but sometimes, Jack, you have to focus on the task in hand. There was a leak and there were two people it could be. Orders were given and I couldn’t let my sentimentality get in the way of the job; that’s something you never learned: to just follow orders.”

  “And you always follow orders.” Jack told him disparagingly, shaking his head and turning away.

  “You’re pissed at me for being a good soldier?”

  “Just disappointed you weren’t a better brother.” Jack told him honestly.

  The group fell into an awkward silence. There was tension between Jack and Tyrone and Jack wasn’t sure it wouldn’t turn to violence at some point. He’d spent all those years hating Maxwell and Tyrone hadn’t had the balls to tell Jack that he had been involved in getting him burned. Perhaps guilt had motivated Tyrone to help him, or maybe he was secretly ordered to by Maxwell, who had insisted he’d always believed in Jack’s innocence. Anger pumped through Jack’s system with every beat of his heart; a warm, unpleasant flash that was making his temples throb. Unfortunately, now wasn’t time to deal with it. On the streets were the infected and, somewhere in the city, Bridges and Smith still needed their help. Bolvinox security would likely have moved them by now, especially if the number of infected in pursuit of the ambulance had been as significant as Bridges suggested. Jack turned to face the group, finding Tyrone leaning against an oven, Rodriguez by the door keeping an eye on the dining room, and Cross by the fridges on Jack’s left. Emma was in the middle - literally and figuratively.

  “It looks like you guys have some unresolved issues.” Emma stated unnecessarily.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Jack announced. “Bridges and Smith still need our help, so to my mind nothing has changed. Bolvinox haven’t contacted us yet; that means they’re probably waiting until they’ve got them to a more defensible position.”

  “What does that mean with regard to what you can do?” Emma wanted to know.

  “It means if we can figure out where they’re going we might be able to intercept them.” Jack responded, bringing his hand up to his ear piece. “Hall? Hall, come in.”

  The line was silent for a little while then the woman’s voice came over.

  “This is Hall.”

  “Can you redirect a drone to sweep the streets south of our current position? Perhaps you can locate the Bolvinox security team.”

  “Standby.” She stated. A few silent moments passed then she spoke again. “It’s going to be at least ten minutes before we can redirect an air unit to that location. Maintain your current position and await further intel.”

  “Understood, but try to hurry up. Ten minutes is a hell of a lot of lead time. Also, have another helicopter ready to pick us up at the secondary extraction point.”

  “Yes, Major Ramsay.” Hall responded a little shortly before the line cut out.

  “Rodriguez, how are we looking out front?” Jack asked, looking around Emma.

  “Clear.” He stated simply.

  Jack nodded.

  “Okay everyone, take a minute but stay on guard. If the infected come for us, we’re out the back door
and moving in the direction of Bridges and Smith’s last known position.”

  Tyrone said nothing, he just moved to the furthest corner of the kitchen. Reading his expression Jack knew he wasn’t sulking, Tyrone was enraged and keeping his distance so that it didn’t come to a head. Cross looked at Rodriguez then back to Jack.

  “I think you’re doing the right thing, sir.” He commented before going to join his mostly silent companion. This left Emma and Jack alone by the back door.

  “Seems like a lot of drama just happened. Are you going to be able to work together?”

  “Of course. We’ll be fine right up until the job’s done. After that...” Jack trailed off, glancing towards Tyrone and feeling that now familiar flash of anger. “Well, then we’ll settle our problems.”

  Emma shook her head.

  “I guess that’s that then.”

  Jack looked at her and smiled briefly.

  “Why did you decide to stay? I figured you’d want to be well clear of this city.”

  “Oh, I do, but...” Emma said, her silence lingering for a few moments. “I thought at first you’d come all this way for the data, but the way you spoke... I guess I started to believe you’d come to all this way to rescue me.”

  “I did.” Jack told her.

  “That’s what I started to believe. So when you were going to stay behind to go to rescue your teammates and I could possibly help, I guess it just seemed like the right thing to do.”

  “It’s admirably brave of you.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Emma said, smiling briefly. “But I do want to try to do what I can to help. I can’t help but feel responsible for... everything.”

  “You worked at the company, but you didn’t design the virus. The people who did, by the sound of it, reaped what they sowed.”

  “But not the chief engineers, I think. The true masterminds behind the virus are probably still out there, hiding in some bunker or something.” Emma responded.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Bluefields may have been a place where they were experimenting with the virus, but from the little I gleaned from the data and what people were saying before the outbreak, it wasn’t where the virus was created.” Emma informed him.