Operation Freedom

by E. G. Michaels

  “Fuck, they made us,” Spags said. He unleashed a dozen bullets, ripping through the monsters' flesh. Screams rang out above and below them.

  “Everybody up the stairs now,” Black shouted. “Hawkins, move to support Spags.” He saw Hawkins move his way forward and take position to Spags' left.

  The group moved as one up the stairs and as Black reached the second floor landing, there was a loud bang against the door. Black looked at the door's window and saw there were several Reapers pushing against it. One of the monsters looked through the glass, spotted him, and roared. The fury of their activity immediately doubled and with each blow, the door pushed against the zip ties keeping it shut. It was only a matter of time before one of the ties holding the door closed broke.

  “Pick up the pace,” Black yelled as he sidestepped up the stairs. “The door ties aren't going to hold much longer.”

  “Working on it,” Spags replied. He emptied a magazine, cutting down nearly a dozen Reapers rushing towards him. He pulled the empty and yanked a replacement from his vest. “Changing.”

  Hawkins fired his shotgun twice, cutting down two infected who were closing in on his teammate. The noise echoed in the confines of the stairs.

  “Damn it man, stick with fucking suppressed weapons,” Spags complained. “Think about the noise in here.”

  “You're welcome,” Hawkins replied. He fired twice more then switched to his suppressed rifle.

  The second door slammed open with a loud bang and a moment later, four Reapers spilled onto the landing.

  Black pulled a flashbang off his vest and activated it. “Flashbang out,” Black announced. He threw it down the stairs, angling it so it bounced off the far wall and landed in the middle of the landing. The grenade detonated and the monsters screamed out. The flashbang wouldn't kill any of the Reapers, but they would be blinded and confused for a few minutes until their sight returned. Those precious minutes might be enough for Black’s team to get the civilians out of the staircase. Because the longer they stayed where they were, the more it became like a cattle shoot. Eventually somebody would run out of ammo or the monsters would overwhelm them by sheer numbers.

  A Reaper pushed its way past their blinded allies and moved onto the stairs. Black fired and missed as the creature side-jumped off the wall and landed on all fours. It started bounding towards him like a rabid attack dog.

  “Son of—” Black muttered under his breath. Black's gun tracked the target, never letting it get out of his optical sight. He sprayed a deadly figure eight of bullets, striking the Reaper in multiple places. The monster went limp and landed face down on the stairs in front of Black.

  “Changing,” Black yelled as he ejected the empty magazine and slammed in a fresh replacement. He resumed firing at incoming hostiles. “MRAP Two, this is Black,” he shouted over the sounds of battle. “Come in, Gimble.”

  There was a garbled reply.

  “Maybe he can't hear you,” Hawkins yelled over the comms. He fired three times before adding, “Come on people, we got to keep moving.”

  Spags fired a double-tap, and both shots struck a monster in the face. “Clear,” he said. “I'm reloading.”

  “Covering,” Hawkins said. “Let's move, people.”

  “Clear,” Black said. He reloaded before adding, “Keep the noise down. No talking unless it's an emergency.”

  The civilians quietly grumbled amongst themselves, but that was it. Nobody wanted to be in the stairwell any longer than they needed to be. The group moved as one towards the ground floor exit. They were approaching the second floor landing when there was a loud thud, immediately followed by a noise like something mechanical was slowing down. The lights started to flicker and then all of them went out.

  1 Hour Twenty-Five Minutes Until The Bombs Fall

  There was an immediate panic among the civilians. Black heard several voices start yelling and he immediately flipped his night vision goggles in place. He glanced quickly towards the front of the group and saw his remaining squadmates had done the same.

  “Everybody quiet!” Black ordered. “I said be quiet!”

  “Contact!” Spags yelled. He unleashed a deadly hail of bullets which tore apart a charging Reaper.

  Several of the students continued to scream in what was a pitch-black arena of terror and gunfire.

  “The Sergeant said shut the fuck up!” Hawkins yelled. “You'll bring more of them our way.”

  A monster leapt towards the ceiling. Hawkins tracked the target and calmly fired a double-tap into the Reaper's head as soon as it's limbs touched the overhead surface. There was an immediate splash of brain matter against the ceiling, and the monster dropped dead onto the stairs in front of the group. Hawkins turned his attention back towards a trio of Reapers coming out of the first floor. He emptied the rest of his magazine, killing one of them and wounding the others.

  “Changing,” Hawkins said.

  Spags pivoted and fired twice at the nearest Reaper. Both shots blew away the monster's jaw and it collapsed in a bloody heap. Spags had already sighted and fired twice more at the remaining Reaper. One shot struck the creature in the throat, the other right between its eyes.

  “Clear,” Hawkins said calmly.

  “Reloading,” Spags said. He pulled a chemical glow stick out of his backpack, cracked it to activate the chemicals, and dropped it onto the stairs. The immediate area took on a light green glow. It wasn't much, but at least they could see everybody in their group.

  “I shouldn't have to remind any of you that noise attracts Reapers. My men and I have night vision goggles, but the rest of you don't,” Black said. “So I want the civilians to form a chain. Cindy and Logan, you're the closest ones to Spags and Hawkins. Put one hand on the back of their belts. Use your other hand to grab one of Kate's legs. Michelle and Marcus, grab her under her arms and support her head. Her body acts as the chain to keep you connected together.”

  There was a muttering among the students and someone snickered.

  “This is not a fucking date,” Black yelled. “This is not an opportunity to cop a feel either. If you want to get out of here alive, you will shut your mouths and do exactly what I just told you to do. I will not hesitate to leave any of you behind in the dark to fend for yourself.”

  The group immediately clammed up and Black was silently relieved that they were so quick to cooperate. Of course, seeing that they were unarmed and lacked any night vision gear, they didn't have many other options to choose from.

  “Spags and Hawkins stay on point. I'll stay on rear guard,” Black said. “Civilians form a chain and lift Kate up. Do it quick because we could get more company at any moment.”

  It took a couple minutes as the students shifted about taking position.

  “Let's move out,” Black commanded.

  The group started to move slowly up the stairs. Even with the night vision goggles, it was slow going. They stopped at the first floor landing to give the civilians a short break while Spags retied the first floor door handles together with zip ties. Black didn't expect the ties to stop the Reapers, but it should make it harder for them to enter the stairwell from that floor.

  Twenty minutes later, they managed to reach the exit door to the ground floor without encountering any new Reapers. Black couldn't help but feel like they'd caught a lucky break, and under the circumstances, he was thrilled to have any good luck he could get.

  Spags put his hand on the door handle, opened it, and then slowly pulled it against the doorframe quietly. “Looks like the power is out on the ground floor—or at least where we are. How do you want to proceed next, Sarge?”

  Black mentally weighed their options. If they took the route through the middle of the building like they had done when his team first entered the building, they would be hidden from any Reapers on the street. Problem was there might not be any lighting and there were multiple intersections to cross over. Intersections where they could hit a bottleneck or face an overwhelming amount of opposi
tion. He'd have to try to cover four directions at every intersection with only three men. If they took the route along the exterior glass wall, they'd have plenty of natural light. They'd also be visible to the outside. It might be a problem. Or it might not. Their chances of discovery all hinged on whether there were any Reapers outside to spot them walking past the glass. But the glass was probably pretty thick. It had to be in order to repel the elements for years, and probably wasn't easily broken either. As long as the glass held, they'd only have to worry about repelling attackers from two, maybe three directions tops.

  “Take the route by the glass wall,” Black said. “It's more direct to the exit and has natural light. Everybody will be able to see without night vision so we'll be able to move faster.”

  “Copy that,” Spags said. “The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

  Black decided to alert their ride.

  “MRAP Two, this is Black,” he said. “Come in, Gimble.”

  He was greeted by nothing but the sound of static.

  “Gimble, come in.”

  There was nothing but silence.

  “We are entering the ground floor now and need exfil in five minutes.”

  “Problem?” Hawkins asked.

  “Not sure,” Black said. “Gimble's not answering. This is getting close on time. Based on our evac route, we need at least forty minutes to get clear of the city. If we hit any roadblocks or have to detour, it could be closer to an hour to make it out of the city.”

  “Don't worry, he'll be there,” Hawkins said. “He's driving an armored vehicle. Plus the man is never late for anything. Maybe he can't drive and work the comms with one good arm.”

  “Good point,” Black said. “Okay, here's the plan. We're going to do the same thing we did on the stairs.”

  Marcus groaned. “Man, I'm getting tired of carrying this chick.”

  “Be thankful she's not a football player,” Black said.

  Marcus immediately clammed up and looked away.

  “I want each student to grab one of Kate's limbs,” Black continued. “It will be faster than making Logan and Marcus carry her by themselves. Spags and Hawkins will stay on point. I'll stay on rear guard. Let's move it people, we don't want to miss our ride.”

  65 Minutes Until The Bombs Fall

  Spags opened the door to the ground floor. Hawkins stepped through, rifle in ready position, and moved to his right. Spags motioned for Logan to grab the door and then moved onto the ground floor, taking up a position to flank Hawkins. Black watched as the civilians moved Kate through the doorway and then stepped through, making sure he closed the door behind him as quietly as possible.

  The group moved as one towards the corridor with the exterior glass walls. As they entered the hallway, Black called out on the comms. “Spags and Hawkins hold up. I want to try reaching Gimble again.” He saw his men stop and take up overwatch positions. Black activated his comms again.

  “MRAP 2, this is Black,” he said. “Gimble, report.”

  There was nothing but static.

  “Gimble, report.”

  Still nothing.

  “Try the radio instead, boss,” Hawkins suggested. “Maybe he's out of comm range.”

  Black pulled out his walkie talkie. “Gimble, come in.”

  He was greeted by silence.

  “Gimble, I don't know if you're having comm issues, but we are on the ground floor and need transport in approximately five minutes. If you can hear this, get your ass here pronto.”

  Black put the walkie back in his vest. He started to give the command to move forward but as he started to look towards the men standing up ahead, he glanced at the still-unconscious Kate. Her classmates and friends had opted to gently lay her down on the ground and grab a quick breather while they could. As Black took a better look at her in the bright hallway light, he was surprised how pale she looked. There were a lot of reasons why it could happen. He wasn't a doctor and wasn't about to try playing one while out in the field. The sooner they could get the young woman to an actual physician, the better.

  “Okay, let's move out,” he said.

  Several of the students groaned out loud.

  “Can't any of you carry her for a change?” Michelle asked. “My arms are killing me.”

  “It depends,” Spags said. “I scored 97% accuracy on my last SWAT firing range test. Are you as accurate?”

  “I-I've never fired a gun before,” Michelle stammered. “Does it matter?”

  “Lady, I can keep monsters from eating your face or I can help carry your friend,” Spags said. “Which one would you prefer I do?”

  “Well, I—”

  “Shut up, Michelle,” Logan interrupted. “All of us are tired. We don't have much farther to go. I say let the SWAT guys do their job and we carry Kate.”

  “I like this guy,” Spags said as he pointed to Logan. “I think he might be onto something. Now if nobody else minds, I'd like to get all of us out of here before the big bad infected kids show up again.”

  Black chuckled. “Take us out, Spags.” He watched as his man started to move forward. Hawkins waited until Spags had moved several steps before following a few steps behind and to the man's right. Michelle was muttering under her breath as she grabbed one of Kate's legs and helped lift her body off of the floor. Black waited until the students had started moving before he began walking backwards after them.

  They had moved approximately one hundred yards when Spags held up his fist. He was near the first intersection just up ahead. The corporal used a series of hand signals that he wanted to peek around the corner into the crossing pathway. Hawkins shifted his position and covered the hallway in front of them.

  “Clear,” Spags said softly. He moved across the intersection, checked that it was still clear, then signaled for everyone else to proceed forward. Black worked his way towards the intersection and then peeked into it to make sure it was still clear. He squinted into the darkness. As he started to pull back, something in the darkness moved. Black froze. He stared into the pitch-black hallway. He couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn there was something in the hallway about two hundred yards away. You're dog-ass tired. Don't let your mind start imagining things that aren't there, Black thought. He pulled back cautiously and hurried to catch up with the group, which had moved about twenty yards away from his location. Maybe he was just imagining things, but it wouldn't hurt to stay on his toes.

  “Stay frosty, guys,” Black said over the comm system. “Be ready for anything.” Both of his men double-clicked their comm mics to silently acknowledge his command.

  He had caught up with the group when he saw Spags suddenly throw up his fist. Everybody froze.

  “Two hostiles wandering the intersection fifty yards ahead,” Spags whispered over the comms as he sighted the monsters through his rifle's scope. “Everybody make like statues and give them a chance to move along.”

  Black and Hawkins shifted into overwatch positions.

  “Come on little beasties, go find someplace else to go play,” Spags muttered softly. One of the Reapers walked out of sight. The second monster wearing a tattered Eagles football jersey and black sweatpants started to follow but then stopped and turned around.

  “No, go follow your friend,” Spags whispered. “You don't want me to shoot you in the head.”

  The Reaper turned towards Spags, spotted him, and let out a blood-curdling roar. Black heard the sound of a suppressed rifle firing and then the monster's head exploded.

  “I told you that you should have left with your friend,” Spags said. “Target down.”

  Another scream sounded and the bigger Reaper charged into the hallway.

  “Contact,” Spags said. He fired two shots, which struck the creature in the face.

  Black heard two more screams. Then another scream. And immediately another. All of a sudden there was the unmistakable sound of multiple feet pounding, growing louder and louder with every step. Sounds coming from the intersection
that he'd just checked out. He turned in that direction and took up a firing position with his submachine gun.

  “Get ready,” Black blurted out moments before five Reapers spilled out of the intersection, their momentum forcing them to collide as a group against the glass wall. Black unleashed a torrent of bullets immediately. The deadly swarm of bullets from his SMG cut down multiple targets all at once and three of the monsters were left in a bloody heap. He watched as two of the creatures slowly stood up. Black fired another burst, which struck the pair in several places seemingly at once. The pair shook off the bullet wounds like a dog knocking water off its back. Black watched in horror as the bullet holes began to close up on the monsters and suddenly the creatures began to charge towards him. Black emptied the magazine in a sweeping motion, dropping one of the Reapers before it had taken a step. The second monster was struck with four shots and kept coming. Black backpedaled as he brought his rifle up and fired it three times instinctively. This time, the shots flew true. The first bullet struck the monster in the forehead, exiting out the back of its head. The second one took off the top of its head. The Reaper dropped like a stone and the third one flew harmlessly past its dead body. Black let go of his rifle. The rifle's carrying sling stopped it from falling and kept the weapon close to his body. He grabbed his SMG, performed a hot swap, and stuffed the empty magazine back in his vest. He glanced over his shoulder, saw that the group had moved forward another fifteen feet, and mentally scolded himself for not maintaining gap discipline.

  Black shifted into a side-walking motion, moving towards the group while still being able to respond to any attackers approaching their flank. The group had stopped and he closed the gap. As he moved closer, he saw Hawkins double-tap one Reaper in the face, pivot and with a practiced motion, shoot another charging monster in the head.