Apex Predator

by Glyn Gardner

  “Time of death,” she announced, “2015… Shit, what day is it today?”

  “I don’t know,” replied the girl.

  “It really doesn’t matter,” Jen stated. “Go find me a sheet or something to cover him with. While you’re out there, let Sergeant Brown know.”

  The girl agreed and left the room. Jen didn’t know what exactly to do. She’d seen enough people die that she wasn’t particularly bothered by death. She wasn’t particularly religious, but she knew some nurses who were. She’d known nurses who would pray with a family or even by themselves over a recently deceased patient. What the hell, she thought.

  “Dear Lord,” she quietly began. “Please deliver your servant into your loving embrace. Grant him peace from the horror that has befallen your land. Comfort him in your grace. Lord, please help your children find comfort and safety in your arms. And, Lord, guide us to safety and protect us from this new evil…uh…Amen.”

  “I’m not sure that’s regulation last rights.” It was SSgt Brown.

  “How long were you there?”

  “Long enough to hear your prayer,” he replied. “I didn’t know you were religious.”

  “I’m not usually,” she replied. “I mean, I believe, but I haven’t really talked to him in a while.”

  “I can understand that,” the NCO replied.

  Theresa returned with a blanket and more of the OR towels. The two women cleaned the priest’s body, dressed him back in his collar, and wrapped him loosely in heavy blanket. The two left the body on the table.

  Jen would talk to SSgt Brown about disposal of the body. She knew the priest needed to be burned or buried in the next eight or so hours before it began to smell. He agreed to have the priest’s body burned outside in the morning.

  Kerry was in with the injured girl. She was holding her hand a stroking her face. “She’s been squeezing my hand a little,” she reported with a smile.

  Jen stepped to the table. “Sweetheart,” she said. “Can you hear me?”

  The young girl moaned, and moved her arms, as if she was trying to curl up. Jen looked at her nurse trainees. All three were smiling.

  “Alright girls,” she said. “I think I’m going to end today on a win. Same as last night, except this time wake me up.”

  The two girls agreed. Jen went to the back, where she found SSgt Brown. He agreed that they might have finally caught a break. He turned in for the night. Jen climbed to the roof. She wanted to see Mike.

  He was there, with Pvt Jackson, walking the perimeter, looking for zombies.

  “How’s it looking out there?”

  “Not too bad,” he reported. “I think I’ve seen about ten or fifteen zombies all day.”

  “Nice,” she replied. “You think we’re pretty safe here?”

  “I think so.” He leaned in and kissed her, and sent her back down the ladder to get some rest.

  Alicia Baker had a terrible headache. She couldn’t seem to remember what happened. She remembered being in a truck with those soldiers. What else? Wait. Did she fall? Yes, she fell. That jerk Scott had let her fall out of the truck. Did she get knocked out? She tried to stretch. OW! Her side hurt.

  She reached for her sore side. She felt something strange. What is this? It was plastic, and seemed to be connected to her. She tried to grab it.

  “No sweetheart!” Theresa ordered. “Don’t take that out. You need that.”

  What is that? Is someone talking to her? She could hear a voice. It was a girl’s voice. Is she talking to me? Yes, I think she is. What is she saying? No? No, what? She felt a hand on her hand. It was gently pulling her hand away from the plastic tube. Oh, don’t touch. Ok, she’s telling me not to touch this thing.

  “Can you hear me?” Theresa asked. “What’s your name? Can you open your eyes?”

  Can I open my eyes? I think I can. I don’t know why not. C’mon eyes. Open! She opened her eyes. She could see someone. Who was it? Was it the girl that was with them in the truck? Yes, the teenager that was with the others.

  Theresa was so excited. The girl was finally awake. She had opened her eyes. She had tried to say something, but her voice was really hoarse. Wait! Jen wanted to know if she woke up. Theresa ran out of the room totally empty handed. She passed the Lieutenant as she rounded the corner.

  “She’s awake,” was all she could manage as she passed.

  The Lieutenant turned and marched into the little girl’s room. He could see her lying on her back, rubbing her eyes. “Good morning young lady,” he began.

  She opened her eyes and looked at him. She recognized him. He was the leader of the soldiers. Why is he here? He doesn’t like us. Oh, he tolerates us, but he really doesn’t like us

  “Hi,” she croaked. He could barely hear her.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked. The girl seemed to stare at him with an odd look. Her head cocked to the side. Her facial expression turned to a look of terror. She raised her hand, pointing at him. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

  “It’s ok young lady,” he said. “You’re safe now. No one’s going to…”

  He couldn’t finish. A cold arm wrapped itself around his neck from right to left. The other hand shoved his head forward. He tried to spin, but couldn’t break free. He struggled to no avail. He tried dropping to one knee. That only caused him and his unseen assailant to tumble to the ground.

  He shoved both palms into the ground and tried to push-up. The attacker was too heavy and too strong for him to move. He reached over his head and grabbed his attacker by the hair. He pulled it towards his right shoulder in an attempt to throw it off balance and loosen its grip. This was the exact wrong thing to do. It brought the monster’s mouth closer to the young officer’s neck.

  Alicia tried to cry for help. She only managed a small croak. She knew she had to do something. She tried to sit up. OW! The tube in her side hurt. She could see the shotgun leaning against the counter a few feet out of her reach. She had to get it. She rolled off the table, landing with a crash. The landing knocked the wind out of her.

  SSgt Brown, Jen and Theresa were walking out of the citadel when they heard the crash coming from the treatment area. Jen let out a scream when she rounded the corner. It was literally a scene from a horror movie.

  The girl was on the floor, crawling slowly towards Theresa’s shotgun. Lt Cruzan was on the ground wrestling with the reanimated corpse of Father Albright. The priest was lying on top of Lt. Cruzan and had the soldier in a head lock. There was blood pooling on the ground underneath the soldier’s right shoulder. He was struggling unsuccessfully to escape the death grip of the monster. Blood was dripping from the monster’s mouth.

  SSgt Brown was the first to act. He drew his bayonet and drove it into the zombie’s skull in one motion. The attack on the soldier stopped immediately. The priest’s body went limp. Lt Cruzan rolled out from underneath the body of his former attacker. Jen could see the wound on the soldier’s neck. She couldn’t tell how deep it was, but it was bleeding heavily. She grabbed some gauze from the counter and shoved it over the wound.

  She turned to Theresa. “Find me some alcohol or peroxide or something!” To the young officer “You’re going to be alright Lieutenant.”

  He could hear the nurse talking, but he couldn’t understand her. For some reason his ears were ringing. He felt like the room was spinning. He still didn’t know what had happened.

  Ok Jason, get a grip. Think! What happened? You were talking to that little bitch. She looked at me. She looked scared. Why? Why was she scared? Oh, he finally realized. She saw who fucking did this. He tried to turn his head. Oh fuck! His neck hurt! He tried again. There, staring at him with empty eyes was the priest; an Army issued bayonet still lodged in his head.

  What the hell? He’s dead. “Oh fuck!” he said out loud. “No, no, no.” By this time the room was filling up with the rest of the soldiers.

  “Oh shit,” exclaimed SSgt Procell. “What the fuck happened?”

 
“What the fuck does is look like,” Jackson yelled. “Yo’ fucking El-Te just got bit by a dead priest.”

  “What the fuck! He didn’t get bit, did he?” It was Pvt Jefferson.

  “How the fuck should I know,” shouted Sgt Procell. “I didn’t even know he was there ‘till he bolted outa that confessional. Shit!”

  “So does this mean El-Te’s…” shouted Pvt Jefferson. “Is he gonna turn…?”

  “Fuck no,” Sgt Procell yelled. “He’s gonna be just fine. Isn’t that right lady?”

  All eyes fell on Jen. Shit. The wound itself is bad. She was sure the priest had severed at least one of the officer’s jugular veins. She was going to play hell just trying to keep the young man from bleeding to death.

  “I don’t know guys,” she finally announced. “He’s losing a lot of blood. I don’t know.”

  She looked into the face of the young officer. He seemed to be staring blankly at his assailant.

  “Lieutenant Cruzan,” she said to him softly. “Can you hear me?”

  His gaze shifted to her. She could see the fear in his eyes. She’d seen it before. He was beginning to realize he was dying. It was a combination of fear and desperation. As if his eyes were begging her to intervene and stop the impending death.

  “You might as well just save it Jen,” Pvt Jackson advised. “He’s fucking dead anyways.”

  “Fuck you Jackson!” Sgt Procell barked.

  “Hey,” Jackson replied. “He got bit by a dead guy. Does anyone here not know what that means? It means he’s gonna die. Then he’s gonna come back. You know it Sergeant.”

  “Shut the fuck up Jackson,” Pvt Jefferson interjected. “You don’t fucking know if the priest was infected. No one saw a bite or anything.”

  “He was dead,” Jen added. “I can tell you he was dead. Whether he was bitten, I don’t know. But, I can tell you for certain that 6 hours ago that man was dead.”

  “We don’t know if the El-Te is going to turn,” Sgt Procell pleaded.

  “You know of anyone in the past two weeks that’s been bitten by anything bigger than a fucking mosquito that’s still alive?” asked Jackson. “He’s dead and you fucking know it.”

  “He’s right,” SSgt Brown finally interjected. “We all know what that was,” he said pointing to the priest’s body. “And, we know how this is going to turn out.”

  The three engineers stood speechless. They both knew SSgt Brown and Jackson were right. Sgt Procell just looked at the ground. He couldn’t bear to look at his platoon leader. SSgt Brown motioned for Jackson to stay in the room. He led the engineers into the hallway.

  “For what it’s worth,” he began. “This sucks. But, you know what has to be done. You want someone else to handle it?” He could see the tears running down the faces of the young sappers.

  “No,” Sgt Procell answered. “I’ll do it.”

  “Take whatever time you need.”

  The soldiers returned to the treatment room. Lt Cruzan was still sitting on the floor leaning against the treatment table. Jen was holding pressure on the still oozing wound. SSgt Brown motioned for Jackson and the civilians to step out. Jen gave him a look of protest. He just shook his head and waved her out.

  The engineers picked Lt Cruzan up and laid him down gently on the treatment table. Blood continued to seep through the gauze Jen had secured to the young officer’s neck. The engineers huddled around their leader. Sgt Procell grasped the officer’s right hand. It was cool to the touch.

  “El-Te,” he said softly. “Can you hear me sir?”

  The young officer opened his eyes. He recognized the faces of his men above him. He could see the fear and anguish on their eyes. He also knew why. He was dying. He was dying only to come back like the priest. He smiled and squeezed the young NCO’s hand.

  “I can hear you Ed.” He looked at their faces one at a time. “C’mon guys. Don’t get all sentimental on me.”

  Pvt Williams couldn’t contain it anymore. He wiped the tears from his cheeks as he sobbed.

  “Ah,” said Sgt Procell. “We’ll be ok El-Te.”

  “Jason,” the officer corrected him. “I think at this point we can drop the military customs and courtesy crap. It’s Jason Cruzan, and I’m from Pittsburg Pennsylvania. My mother’s name is Karen and my dad’s name is Paul.”

  “Ok, Jason,” Sgt Procell agreed.

  “Hey Ed,” Jason said. “Do you remember that time in Afghanistan when Pvt Adams and Sgt Mendoza hung that kid from Charlie Company from the flag pole by his LBV?”

  The young Buck Sergeant chuckled. “Oh the battalion commander was pissed. I thought he was going to string those two up by their boots.”

  “Oh, he was talking about a firing squad.” The four sappers broke out into laughter.

  “How ‘bout the time when Adams painted white walls on the battalion commander’s jeep?” asked Pvt Williams. Again they laughed.

  “Holy shit,” replied Sgt Procell. “I thought the old man was actually going to kill him.”

  “Oh,” added Pvt Jefferson. “Everyone E-6 and below had to pull 24 hour guard duty on that fucking Humvee for the next month.”

  “Would have been the rest of the deployment,” Jason added. “But, the thing got blown up.”

  The group suddenly got quiet. “He was a hell of a good battalion commander,” Sgt Procell finally spoke up. They all agreed.

  “Never the same after that day,” added Jefferson.

  “Sucked,” added Williams. They all looked at Jason. Again, their faces betrayed their sorrow.

  “Let’s get this over with,” he announced. No one moved.

  “Damn it guys. Do I have to do this myself?”

  Sgt Procell snapped to attention. The others followed suit. They rendered a salute. Jason stiffened his supine body and returned the salutes. Sgt Procell removed an M9 9mm pistol from a holster on his belt.

  “Sir,” he said. “I never got a chance to say thanks. You saved our asses more than once. I…I…”

  “It’s ok Ed,” Jason replied. “It was a pleasure serving with you men.” He reached for the business end of Sgt Procell’s pistol, pulling it to his head. Sgt Procell thought he saw a look of relief on his Lieutenant’s face. Ed closed his eyes and fought back the tears.

  “Good bye, sir”

  BANG!

  Glossary of terms

  ACU: Army Combat Uniform. Replaced the BDU as the battle uniform for the US army in 2004.

  Charlie Foxtrot: Military phonetics for “C F.” When used together they often refer to a Cluster Fuck or screwed up situation.

  Click: Kilometer. 1000 meters.

  CO: Commanding Officer

  El-Tee: Army slang for Lieutenant. It derives from Lt. the abbreviation for the lowest officer rank in the Army.

  HMMWV: Humvee, or Hummer. High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle. Replacement for the Jeep.

  LBV or LBE: Load bearing vest or Load bearing equipment. Vest or suspenders connected to a pistol belt used by members of tactical units to carry various items such as ammunition, water, grenades, etc.

  LMTV: Light Medium Tactical Vehicle. U.S. Army truck manufactured by Oshkosh. It replaced the Army’s 2 ½ ton truck. It has an open bed, and a very high center of gravity, enabling it to traverse very rugged terrain.

  Lt: Lieutenant. The lowest officer rank in the US Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps. In the Navy, it is the equivalent of a Captain in the other branches.

  M16/M4: US military rifle firing the 5.56 NATO round. M4 is the carbine version with a collapsing stock and shorter barrel

  M240B: 7.62 mm belt-fed machine gun used by the U.S. and other NATO militaries. It replaced the M60 in US military use.

  NCO: Noncommissioned Officer. Corporals and Sergeants in the Army and Marines, Petty Officers in the Navy, Sergeants in the Air Force

  Pvt: Private. Lowest enlisted rank in the Army and Marines

  PZ: Pickup zone. Where a helicopter picks troops up from Indian country

  Ruck: R
ucksack. A backpack.

  S2: Military staffs are divided into 4 sections. S-1 is personnel, S2- is intelligence, S-3 is plans and operations, and S-4 is supply. Higher headquarters will have a “G” to represent General staff, and Joint staffs will have a “J” preceding the number.

  SPC: Specialist. An E-4 in the US Army, that is equal in rank to a corporal.

  Squadron: A unit in the US Cavalry that is equal in size to a battalion. It has between 500-1000 troopers divided into 4-5 troops

  SSgt: Staff Sergeant, an NCO, E-6 in the Army and Marines, E-5 in the Air Force.

  Stacking up: In Close Quarters Battle: stacking refers to the team members lining up beside the chosen entry point in preparation for the breach

  Troop: A unit in the US Cavalry that is equal in size to a company. It will usually have between 90 and 150 soldiers divided into 3-5 platoons