He took a deep breath, looking around at the men, who were nodding and staring down at the maps, murmuring quietly to each other.
Copeland looked to his squad. “You boys are going to be with me,” he said. “Our first target is the Super Center just south of the bridge. According to the sat image, there are a few trucks parked in the back, which we’ll use for the side bridge. For the main bridge, we’ll need to secure some rebar or other pole from the store so we can move those barriers. We got a buttload of them to do, so if you see back braces in the store, grab some.”
A light round of chuckles rippled across the men.
“Okay,” Copeland continued, clapping his hands together, “let’s talk load out. South teams, you got two hundred and ten rounds for your primary, thirty for your side. Sniper team, you’ve been authorized for double at four-twenty. We’re gonna be relying on you to hold the northern front one shot at a time.”
Kowalski raised a victory fist. “Don’t worry Sarge,” he piped up, “we’re a competitive bunch, so you can be sure we’ll be making every shot count.”
“Double check your rations,” Copeland reminded them, “and make sure you have a three-day supply, because we could be there for a while before reinforcements arrive. If you need a top off, they’re handing stuff out in the next hangar.”
Wade raised his hand, and the Sergeant pointed to him. “Who do we talk to about night-vision scopes?” the Private asked.
Copeland glanced over at Kersey, and the Captain took a step forward.
“I was able to score a handful of them, enough for the sniper squad, and one each for the others,” he replied. “They’ll be waiting for you at the planes.”
The Sergeant nodded and then spread his arms, looking around expectantly. “Anybody else got questions?” he asked.
There was a moment of silence, and a few replies in the negative came from some of the men.
“Good,” Copeland declared, and rolled a hand over his head. “Get loaded up, we’re in the air in five.”
CHAPTER TWO
Kowalski, Wade, and six other snipers packed tightly into a small aircraft. There was barely room to move between the men and the gear, all squeezed in like a sardine can.
Kowalski looked out over the darkness, catching the occasional glimpse of a building in the rural areas as the moonlight caught windows.
“Hey man, when was the last time you made a jump?” Wade asked, nudging his arm.
Kowalski tilted his head back and forth, unable to move enough to shrug. “I don’t know, a year, maybe a year and a half,” he said. “What about you?”
“About a week before all this began,” Wade replied.
Kowalski blinked at him. “A week?” he asked. “Where the hell were you?”
“This little vacation spot in Colorado,” his companion replied.
Kowalski raised an eyebrow at the tattooed sniper in disbelief. “You… you jump for fun?”
“Hell yeah I do!” Wade replied, excitement in his eyes. “Try to do fifteen to twenty jumps a year if I can. It’s more of a rush than being in a mosh pit.”
His companion shook his head. “Dude, this is going to be the first time I’ve jumped out of a plane without being paid to do so,” he admitted. “At least I’m assuming we’re not getting paid anymore.”
“You’re missing out, man,” Wade said. “When we survive this, I’m gonna talk to the higher-ups about setting up a jump school.”
Kowalski rolled his eyes. “Uh huh, okay, well, if you need somebody to help teach those people how to shoot once they land, give me a shout.”
Wade grinned and snaked a hand up to give him a thumbs up. Kowalski simply shook his head and leaned back, tapping the pilot on the shoulder.
“How far out are we from the jump?” he asked.
The pilot flicked on a small book light and checked his map and then looked over his instruments. “We’ll be over the zone in two minutes,” he replied.
Kowalski patted his shoulder at an awkward angle and then pulled his arm back down to his side. “Okay, listen up,” he declared, getting everyone’s attention. “We’re two minutes out. It’s gonna be a low drop, so don’t wait too long on pulling your chute. You all know the landing zone. We rendezvous at the small house on the east side of the field. Questions?” When nobody said anything, he nodded firmly. “Then let’s get ready.”
He shuffled over to the door, and waited by it, checking his equipment one last time as the throttle to the engine dialed back to reduce the speed. When the pilot held up his hand, giving the sniper a thumbs up, Kowalski threw open the door and began ushering his men out of the plane.
Right after Wade jumped, Kowalski waved to the pilot and then leapt out into the air himself. The wind rushed by his face as he hurtled towards the ground. His heart raced, blood pumping as fear and adrenaline coursed through him. Kowalski was not a fan of flying through the air.
When he finally pulled the ripcord on his chute, it opened without a hitch, and he finally allowed his body to relax a little. He looked around at the rest of his squad, gracefully floating to the ground. He looked down, checking the field within sight, only a minute or so away. From his vantage point he could also look over the interstate, the bridge, and their target shopping center.
“Holy fuck,” he breathed, heart rate tripling at the amount of movement on the road and parking lot outside of the shopping center. “Guess that wasn’t just dark pavement,” he muttered, and then braced himself for his landing.
He hit the ground hard, stumbling forward and falling onto his hands and knees. Wade approached, chuckling, and helped him back up as he unclipped his chute.
“Need to work on that landing there, bud,” Wade teased.
Kowalski grumbled. “Or, I could just not jump anymore,” he replied.
Wade continued to chuckle as they headed off towards the rally point a few hundred yards away. “You catch the movement on the road?” he finally asked, sobering.
“Yep,” Kowalski replied, voice level. “Gonna be a bitch to get around that.”
His companion clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, good thing they sent the best of the best.”
“Or the best that they could find,” Kowalski shot back with a smirk.
Wade rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the morale boost there, bud.”
“Anytime,” Kowalski replied brightly.
They reached the farmhouse, a tiny rundown shack with a beat-up pickup truck in front of it. Privates Martin and Doyle came around from the other side, walking casually.
“Perimeter is clear,” Doyle reported as they approached.
Martin shook his head. “Can’t say the same about the road.”
“No shit,” Wade agreed, “I’ve seen major festivals that were less crowded.”
“Where are the other four at?” Kowalski asked.
Doyle jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “We sent them up ahead to scout the shopping center on this side of the interstate and the road.”
“All right,” Kowalski replied, “let’s go catch up with them and see what we’re dealing with.”
The quartet hiked across the field, nothing but empty, overgrown grass ahead of them. They were silent as they walked, the daunting task ahead weighing heavy on their shoulders. As they reached the end of the field, the four other snipers crouched near a giant tree, one of them scouting out the shopping center through his scope.
“What do we got?” Kowalski asked.
The sniper lowered his weapon and shook his head, face pale in the moonlight. “Nothing good.”
Kowalski and Wade both took a knee, pulling out their rifles to survey the situation. About two hundred yards from their current position was the mid-sized shopping center with several outbuildings on the far end of the lot, close to the interstate. Past that was the interstate itself, and their main target across from that.
Both men’s breath hitched at the hundreds of zombies in the lot, like a Black Friday sale gone crazy. The i
nterstate was no better, jam-packed with ghouls. The two men put down their rifles before pulling the group together.
“Obviously the direct approach isn’t going to work,” Kowalski finally said, swallowing hard. “From what I could tell on the glide in, this group stretches up the road quite a ways.”
Martin nodded. “Yeah, it would take way too long to try and circle around them.”
“We need to draw them away from the road, create an opening we can slip through,” Wade suggested.
Doyle shook his head. “Not gonna do much unless we pull some to the north, too.”
Kowalski raised his gun again, looking through the scope to do a rough count of zombies, his mouth going dry when he realized it was in the thousands. He pushed down the anxiety and focused in on the shopping center, seeing a pathway to the back of the anchor store that was mostly clear.
“Hey, take a look at the center building there,” he said, nudging Wade.
His companion complied, seeing a pathway through the field to the back of the store. “What am I looking at?” he asked.
“You think you can get to that ladder on the back?” Kowalski asked.
Wade studied the ladder in question, a metal structure with a protective cover that stretched eight feet up before the rungs were exposed. He scoped out the back of the store, seeing a dumpster about fifteen yards away, but also a half a dozen zombies in the immediate vicinity, with dozens more on either side at the far ends of the building.
“Ain’t gonna be fun,” he admitted, “but I think I can pull it off.” He lowered his gun and turned to his companion.
Kowalski nodded. “Good,” he said. “That’s what I want you to do then. Get up on top and start causing a ruckus.”
“What about the northern position?” Martin asked.
Kowalski pointed to two of the kneeling men. “I want you two to handle that.”
Private Hurley spoke up from beside them. “That’s gonna leave us mighty thin for the main target,” he declared. “Especially when we have two fronts to cover.”
“True,” Kowalski agreed, “but if we try to cross that sea of death without diversions, we’re gonna be a whole lot thinner.”
Hurley nodded in defeat. “Heard that,” he agreed.
“How far up do you want us?” one of the snipers asked, getting to his feet.
Kowalski contemplated for a few moments, looking at the interstate and picking the crossing point. There was a spot about two hundred yards up from the edge of the parking lot, a short climb up a hill that led to the freeway.
“Two blocks,” he said. “Find whatever structure you can get on top of, and start firing.”
“What’s your ETA?” Wade asked them as they nodded. “Don’t wanna start firing too early.”
One of the snipers shrugged. “If we’re not firing consistently within ten minutes,” he replied, “there’s a good chance the shots you do hear will be our last.”
“Ten minutes it is, then,” Wade replied, clapping him on the shoulder.
Kowalski looked around at the group. “Okay, we good?” he asked, and when there was no response, he raised a fist. “All right, let’s move.”
The two snipers headed off towards the north, and Wade tore off for the shopping center. He stayed low as he moved across the field. The moonlight wasn’t exceptionally bright, and while that was difficult for him to see where he was going, it provided him some cover at least.
After a bit, he reached the end of the field, taking a knee in the grass to get a look at the situation. The ladder was forty yards directly in front of him, with half a dozen zombies shambling about. To the left, fifteen ghouls hung out by a door about forty yards away, and to the right was the dumpster with about ten more monsters twenty yards past it.
Gonna have to go silent, Wade thought to himself, at least initially.
He pulled out a knife and unlatched the holster on his handgun, just in case. He focused in on the closest zombie that was directly in front of the ladder. He darted out from cover, using the soft ground to muffle his footsteps as he quickly closed the gap. He slowed to a cautious pace as soon as he hit the pavement.
The first zombie had its back to him, making the kill easy. He shoved the blade into the base of its skull, catching the creature as it fell. He gently laid it on the ground to the left of the ladder.
The other creatures milled about aimlessly, not alerted to his presence just yet. He turned his attention to the duo between him and the dumpster. They were close together, about three yards apart, looking away from him. He silently moved up, but his toe kicked a rock that skittered across the asphalt.
Shit, he thought, freezing.
The two closest zombies heard and turned around, immediately opening their mouths to moan. Answering moans erupted from behind him as well.
“Fuck it,” Wade muttered and sheathed his knife, pulling his handgun. He popped off two quick rounds into the zombies by the dumpster. This set off a chorus of moans in both directions, so he rushed the bin and threw his weight into it.
It picked up speed, and he rammed it into a trio of ghouls headed his way. The front edge of the dumpster popped up in the air as it rolled over a rotted corpse. He pushed as hard as he could to make sure the back end cleared the obstruction.
The bin cleared the body, and he gave the metal beast a shove, stopping dead in his tracks to pop a bullet into the speed bump’s head. He looked over at the two other zombies that had been knocked down, struggling to get to their feet. He aimed for a second but then quickly changed course, running towards the dumpster and pushing it against the wall by the ladder.
As the zombies closed the gap, Wade jumped up onto the bin, making sure to put the bulk of his weight onto the frame rather than the dumpster lid. With all the extra ammo and food weighing him down, he didn’t want to risk crashing through the doors.
He stood up on the edge and watched the horde of creatures headed his way in both directions. He worked his way carefully around the outer edge of the bin before leaping up and grabbing on to the first exposed rung. He strained as he pulled himself up, using his upper body exclusively until he was able to swing his feet up onto the ladder.
Wade paused for a moment to catch his breath, locking his knee and looking below. Dozens of zombies clustered below, reaching up and moaning. He shook his head and took a deep breath, getting back to his task and climbing the rest of the way up to the roof.
As he hopped over the side, he dropped his heavy bag as he walked to the front of the building, carrying only his rifle. The sight below took his breath away.
“There’s something you don’t see every day,” Wade muttered, and shook his head in disbelief as he gazed at hundreds of zombies. They were easily into the thousands on the interstate, just a sea of rotting flesh, none the wiser to his presence. He took in the sight for a few tense moments before remembering to breathe and readying his rifle.
He picked out his first target, looking through the night vision scope, seeing muted tones instead of bright and vibrant color. The first head that exploded could have been a watermelon, and nobody would have been able to tell due to the lack of color.
The gunshot echoed across the area, and within seconds the moaning increased exponentially. It was so loud that Wade paused, blinking into the darkness.
“Damn, looks like that got their attention,” he muttered, and stared out at the death ocean for another moment before taking aim and firing again, hitting another monster in the head.
The zombies in the parking lot all began to move towards the anchor store he stood atop, and a small trickle of creatures began to filter in from the interstate.
He checked his watch, seeing it had been seven minutes since the other snipers had given him the ten minute timeline.
“Okay boys,” he said under his breath, “you got three minutes to start firing. I know I can pull mine off.”
CHAPTER THREE
On the ground, Kowalski led his squad of five into position t
o take advantage of the hole on the interstate. There was a fast food place just across from the field and directly in front of the crossing spot.
A trio of zombies roamed around the back, uninterested in the noise a block over that Wade was causing. Kowalski pulled out his knife, prompting Doyle and Martin to do the same. He inclined his head towards the ghouls, and they broke off in unison, each soldier jamming a blade into a zombie skull.
The group of five pressed up against the wall of the restaurant, keeping watch on their flanks as Kowalski crept up to the corner. He looked towards the interstate, seeing the path was still thick even though a few groups were working their way towards Wade.
“How’s it looking?” Doyle murmured from behind him.
Kowalski shook his head and whispered, “Still too thick to pass.”
“Why isn’t Wade shooting?” Doyle asked.
Kowalski looked at his watch. “Probably still waiting on the northern group,” he replied quietly. “Still got two minutes.”
Martin stayed on the other flank, keeping watch. Three zombies came towards them, mouths opening with hungry moans. He clucked his tongue to get the attention of his team.
Doyle and Private Carver turned to deal with the threat, taking out the zombies as more moans erupted from the side of the restaurant. The former peeked around and saw a dozen creatures near the front of the store, looking around for the source of the noise that had dissipated.
He crept back to Kowalski. “We can’t stay here much longer,” he murmured.
His superior nodded and checked his watch again, seeing it tick down to one minute. “Come on, come on,” he urged quietly.
A few tense seconds later, gunfire erupted to the north. Martin looked around the corner and saw the zombies near the front had lost interest in their skirmish and shambled off towards the new noises.
Wade opened fire right after, giving the zombies two different sounds to hone in on. Kowalski looked around his corner and watched the creatures breaking up, heading in one direction or the other.
After a minute of sustained fire in both directions, a pathway across the interstate began to open up, however several dozen zombies remained in the way, ping-ponging back and forth with every gunshot that went off.
Dead America-The Northwest Invasion Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 15