by Allen Gamboa
“This is some nasty shit Sarge.” Duley said staring down at the entangled mass of undead bodies. They’d found a handful of the check point soldier’s corpses or what remained of them. Thankfully, Hale’s battle buddy Hansen, hadn’t been among them.
“That’s an understatement Duley,” Hale kept his rifle in a firing position and swept more of the destroyed outpost.
“Poor bastards.” Vannelli said as he joined the others.
“Must have been a good-sized herd to do this.” Cross added as she scanned the battlefield.
Hale nodded in agreement. “A group big enough to wipe out the checkpoint. Where did they come from?”
“The Stryker’s are gone so some of them made it out of here.” The red head said stomping on the head of a Deader that had started up crawling next to her. The flesh eater let out a gurgle and stopped moving. “I thought this area was pretty much under control.”
“Ain’t seen a mess like this since the beginning.” Duley glanced over at Vannelli.
“That National Guard unit in Shasta.” Vannelli nodded at Duley. “I remember brother. Bad day.”
Hale knelt next to one of the check point soldier’s corpses. Most of the woman’s throat and chest had been chewed away and her forehead was missing due to an obvious bullet wound. The sergeant reached down and pulled her dog tags out of a puddle of blood. Using his gloved thumb, he wiped them clean and read the name on it. “Carter Joan R, O-pos. She was a Catholic.” He looked back at the others, the pain of a thousand deaths in his eyes.
“Sarge,” Cross could tell he was starting to head South. She remembered the bad days when Hale almost didn’t make it out of his own darkness. For some reason the glue that was holding him together was starting to come loose. It wouldn’t be good for any of them if he lost it. “Maybe we should get in touch with FedEx. This herd might be headed in their direction.”
Hale just nodded and shoved the dog tags into his vest. He stood up and glanced around at the others. “Cross get on the sat phone and let Morgan know what’s up. Duley, Vannelli, back to the Hummer. Hopefully this herd is heading toward the Safe Zone. They’re more prepared for that.”
“Prepared for this?” Vannelli dropped his rifle to combat rest as he stepped over bodies and made his way back to the hummer. “How can you be?”
“Fuck, bro” Duley said as he followed behind Vannelli. “I don’t want to relocate. Hell, I just got all those posters of Beyoncé up.”
“Beyoncé?” Vannelli wrinkled his nose at that. “Dude, she looks like she just smells bad. Sweaty.”
“Aw, you’re just a hater Vannelli.” Duley frowned as they made their way to the vehicles. “I just found this cd with a duet she did with the Dixie Chicks. I know even a hater like you would dig it.”
“Beyoncé and Dixie Chicks?” Hale glanced around the battle field taking in as much of the scene as he could. “Truly is the end of the world.”
CHAPTER 76: MOUNTAIN DEW AND YEAST INFECTIONS
Rear Parking Lot
“All of them?” Washington asked Kate and Jefferson as they checked the bodies of the two Rangers and the pilot. The firefighter just gave the soldier a nod as she felt for a pulse on Franco’s still corpse. Jefferson knelt next to Cho and gently closed her eyes with his gloved hand. Washington cursed under his breath and returned to watching the area around him. The mass of hungry dead had followed the mercenaries as they made a hasty escape from the parking lot. “If only we’d been faster.”
“No, we would all be dead.” Jefferson reached over to where Frog lay and violently ripped the shirt off the dead mercenary. The Marine slowly draped the shirts remains over Cho’s chest and face. “At least she got a couple of the douche bags.”
Kate nodded as she stood up. The firefighter noticed the three cases and pointed at them. “What about those?”
“Shit.” Jefferson stepped over to the first open case and picked it up. Seeing it was empty he angrily tossed it aside. “They got the fucking vaccine!”
“Wait.” Kate reached down and grabbed a can of Mountain Dew. She tossed it to Jefferson then picked up another. “What the hell is this? There’s at least two dozen of them all over the ground.”
Washington looked back over his shoulder and shrugged. “Maybe those dickheads dropped them?”
“This many?” Jefferson frowned.
“Hold on a second.” Kate quickly picked up a dozen of the cans that were still whole and placed them in the case. The soft drinks all fit perfectly as the firefighter closed the lid.
“So?” Washington continued to watched their surroundings.
“So?” Kate handed the case to Jefferson. “That feel familiar?”
“Oh yeah.” The Marine hefted it up and down in his hand. “Those things were loaded with Mountain Dew.”
“What?” Washington dropped his rifle to his chest and turned to face the others. “You saying they were hauling soda around in them suitcases? We were guarding a bunch of Mountain Dew the whole time?”
“Yep.” The Marine set the case down.
“Some kind of decoy?” Kate asked.
“Had to be. They must’ve had a reason to suspect the real vaccine would be in danger of being stolen.” Jefferson rubbed his chin stubble. “I wonder if Cho knew what she was hauling?”
“She defended it with her life. All three of them did.” The firefighter said looking back down at the bodies.
“This ain’t good man, what if the vaccine was in one or the other? What if they grabbed it?” Washington asked as he walked over to where Kate and Jefferson stood.
“What do we now?” Kate asked Jefferson.
“See if we can make it to an outpost or a safe zone.”
“Either of you know how to hot wire a car?” Kate asked. The soldiers both shook their head no. “Good thing you two have me.” She smiled.
“You know how?” Washington asked as he scooped up an intact Mountain Dew can.
“Wasn’t always a firefighter.” Kate said giving him a wink.
“Damn.” Washington said popping the top of the can. “Girls got skills.”
“You gonna drink that Wash?” The Marine asked as he watched the soldier lift the soda to his lips. Washington just nodded and took a big swallow. Wiping his lips, he turned back to Jefferson.
“Warm but not bad bro.”
“You know that’s basically like drinking anti-freeze, right?” Kate warned him.
“No, it’s not.”
“Why do you think that shit hasn’t settled like Coke?” Jefferson told him. “They used to make it in Mexico. Shit is toxic.”
Washington stared at the can then shrugged and took another drink. “Kate cover your ears, please.” He told the firefighter, who, to his surprise, covered her ears with her hands. Satisfied she wasn’t listening, Washington whispered. “I once went out with a chick that had a yeast infection she could never get rid of. I know toxic Jeff. This ain’t it.” Washington said guzzling the rest of the can.
“Gross.” Jefferson looked at him with severe disgust. “Just fucking gross.”
“Can I move my hands now?” Kate asked still holding her ears. Jefferson nodded, still a bit traumatized. “What should we do about the sergeant and the others?” The firefighter asked.
“We don’t have anywhere to bury them.”
“How about we lay them in a car and close it up?” Washington suggested. “They’ll be safe inside.” He said with a tinge of sadness in his voice.
“Sounds good.” Jefferson said quietly. “At least it will keep the damn crows, rats and dogs off them.”
“Crows.” Washington shook his head. “They ain’t even good eating.”
“Yep,” Jefferson noticed more of the scavenger birds were circling the parking lot. “Seems like there are more and more around these days.”
“Come on.” Washington tapped the Marine on the shoulder. “Let’s move them before the dead start showing up.”
CHAPTER 77: GOOD LUCK
Front Parking Lot
Martone, Digger and Ali had returned to where Dolan and the other mercenaries were taking cover behind their wrecked SUVs. A green cloud wafted up into the morning sky from a smoke grenade. Dolan had marked their spot for the incoming air evac and was carefully picking off the dead that were heading toward their position. The injured mercenaries stopped firing as Martone and his men sprinted over to the side of the damaged Chevy Tahoe.
“You get it?” Dolan asked as he raised his side arm and shot a Deader that had stumbled into their area unnoticed. Digger dropped to his knees as the flesh eater stumbled and collapsed a foot away from him. “Didn’t see that fucker.”
“Shit bags are everywhere.” Martone said as he glanced around them. The dead were starting to emerge from all around the SUVs.
“Bastards are going to have us surrounded here if we don’t move!” Digger said nervously. He fired a burst from his AK at a couple of deaders that were crawling in their direction.
“Don’t worry your pretty lil head Digger.” Dolan dropped his hand gun to his side and nodded toward the smoke. “We have a bird coming in to pick us up.”
“Can’t wait mate.” Digger returned to helping the others repel the growing number of dead that were swarming the mall and parking lot. All the gunfire and explosions were starting to draw the attention of flesh eaters from the nearby areas. A light wind was starting to blow in their direction causing the smoke to move toward them.
“Where are the packages?” Dolan asked grabbing Martone by the shoulder and forcefully turning the Armenian to face him. Martone, greasy pony tail flopping back and forth, angrily jerked away from the other mercenary and put a hand up to stop him.
“Keep you stinking dick beaters off me Dolan!”
“Where are the fucking packages?” The mercenary ignored the others hand and tone. The Armenian stepped back and dropped his rifle down against his tactical vest.
“Look guy, there is no package.”
“What the fuck do you mean?” The mercenary spat.
“It was a fucking decoy, guy. There was nothing but soda cans inside. They fucking fooled us guy.” Martone turned back to where the others were busy shooting at the crowd of hungry undead. “They led us on a shitty wild goose chase.”
“No,” Dolan stepped toward the Armenian. “You’re lying. You guys must’ve hid the package and will pick it up later.”
“Fuck you guy!” Martone faced the other mercenary and jabbed an angry ring covered finger at his face. “You think I wanna come back to this fuck hole? You think I want to double cross old Black. Guy, he scares the fuck outta me! It was a damn trick, a flippin’ decoy. They pulled one over on us. How else can I explain it to you?” The Armenian growled, exasperated.
‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Dolan slapped his gloved gun hand on the side of the SUV. “Fuck!” He glanced over at Martone and pointed his sidearm at him. “You, it’s your fault!”
“Fuck you guy!” The Armenian knocked the pistol out of his hand and threw him to the ground. The others paid them no attention, they were busy trying to thin out the swarm of advancing flesh eaters.
“Pull yourself together guy.” Martone picked up Dolan’s handgun. The sound of an approaching helicopter could be heard over the firing weapons. Both men looked skywards as the black Jet Ranger helicopter appeared in the distance. Dolan grabbed his radio out of his tac vest and clicked it on. “Don’t tell them we don’t have the vaccine.”
“Alpha one… Alpha one.” Dolan sputtered into the radio ignoring Martone’s warning.
“Zero leader, is that your smoke?”
“Yes, it is. We are ready for evac.” Dolan said eagerly getting to his feet as tendrils of green smoke were starting to wrap around his legs.
“Do you have the package?”
“No.it was a decoy.” Dolan said willing to risk the wrath of his employer. The mercenary reasoned that Black would need them to help retrieve the real package. Dolan seemed to forget that Black had him kill his right-hand mercenary for fucking up. That was not lost on Martone as he watched Dolan sign their death warrants.
“Repeat?” The voice asked over the radio as the helicopter began hovering over their position. The other mercenaries were starting to get excited at the prospect of being airlifted out of the middle of the pack of hungry dead. Martone glanced over at Dolan and shook his head.
“No package.” The mercenary said. “The whole thing was a decoy.”
“Copy that.” The pilot replied matter-of-factly then quickly said, “Good luck.”
“What?” Dolan glanced up at the aircraft and noticed it was no longer descending. “Alpha one! Alpha one!” No answer came from the retreating helicopter.
“Guy, you should have lied! We could have hijacked the damn chopper!” Martone just shook his head in defeat. The Armenian knew this was the end of the road for all of them. Cursing in his native tongue, Martone joined the remaining mercenaries firing on the swarm of flesh eaters. “Now we are all fucked.” He calmly told Dolan as he changed out his last magazine.
“No…no…” Dolan mumbled hopelessly. The mercenary stared at the silent radio in his hand as if he expected the helicopter to radio they were coming back for them.
“I’m out!” Digger shouted as he dropped his last magazine out of its receiver. “Do we have any more ammo?” He shouted at Martone as the dead moved closer to the group. The green marker smoke was giving the flesh eaters a surreal almost dream like appearance as they passed through it.
“No!” Martone yelled as he continued to fire on the advancing group.
“Fuck it!” Digger used his empty rifle as a club and smashed a Deader that had emerged from the smoke cloud and was charging at him. Digger smashed the cannibal in the head with his rifle butt sending it back to the ground. The mercenary dropped the AK and drew out his .357 Magnum. Now he really wished he’d replaced the old wheel gun with something that carried a twenty-round magazine.
Ali had stopped firing to change out rifle magazines when two of the dead slithered out of the smoke cloud and grabbed him, dragging the Iraqi screaming and kicking back into the blinding green haze.
“Shit!” Dolan crawled back against the roof of the wrecked SUV as he watched Ali disappear into the cloud of marking smoke. With his back against the top of the vehicle, Dolan could feel the weight of the deaders smashing against the other side of the SUV. The four remaining mercenaries were truly surrounded by at least a hundred of the voracious undead. The green smoke was starting to totally block their view of the advancing flesh eaters.
“I can’t see shit!” Talc, who had broken a leg in the crash, screamed as he fired rounds into the approaching smoke. “I can…”
“Talc?” Dolan heard the man scream as he was jerked into the cloud by several pairs of dead hands.
“We have to move!” Digger said firing a couple rounds at an advancing shadow.
“No fuck, guy!” Martone moved backwards toward the roof of the SUV. “This damn smoke is fucking everything up!”
“Martone!” Dolan shouted. “Help!”
“Fuck that.” Martone tapped Digger on the shoulder. “Let’s make a run for it. Beats waiting here to get eaten!”
“With ya mate!” Digger nodded as he heard Crawford let out a blood curdling scream. One of the dead had staggered through the smoke and fell upon him as he reloaded his Glock. The sound of him being ripped to shreds was enough for the Aussie to follow Martone into the thick smoke.
“Martone!” Dolan shouted as he watched the two disappear into the cloud. “Don’t leave me you fucking twat!” The mercenary desperately fumbled around the hazy ground for his pistol as the hungry dead closed in. After a few frenzied seconds of blindly searching the ground, Dolan felt the cold clammy fingers of one of the deaders. Recoiling in fear he slammed back against the roof of the SUV. A moaning sound came from above causing the mercenary to glance upwards in the direction of the noise. To Dolans horror, the broken toothed face of a flesh eater grinned b
ack at him. Dolans screams were quick and short lived.
“Dip shit!” Martone shoved his way frantically through the green smoke and hungry dead. A rotting hand reached out of the murk and gripped the Armenians slick ponytail jerking him down to the ground. Before Martone could get to his feet, three of the ravenous undead were upon him. Screaming, Martone felt the broken teeth ripping into his flesh. With the last of his strength he reached a bloody hand out to the fleeing Digger. “Help me Digger!”
“Sorry…guy!” Digger chuckled as he broke free from the crowd of undead and away from the slaughter of the other mercenaries. “Better you than me.”
CHAPTER 78: HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE UNDEAD
On the Road
“How long we been out here?” Washington asked as the three made their way through the debris and vehicle strewn highway. Jefferson had his rifle strapped to the front of his chest while he carried Kate’s fire ax. Kate, who walked in the middle of the three, glanced at her watch.
“Three hours.” She wiped some sweat from her cheeks. “I thought you guys were used to long walks?” The firefighter joked.
“Not in a land full of flesh gobblers, wild dogs and dollar store soldiers.” Washington smirked as he watched their surroundings for any threats. “Mama didn’t raise no dummy.”
“You joined the Army, didn’t you?” Jefferson shoved him with the top of the Halligan.
“Yeah, but I didn’t join the Marines.” The grunt pushed him back. “We need to find some water and some grub.”
“Where are we headed?” Kate asked the two soldiers.