“I’m ok with that,” he said.
They passed by the snare Frank made.
“Looks like our good luck is holding,” Frank said.
He knelt down to examine his fresh kill. A fairly large rabbit had been caught. He reached down and removed the snare from the rabbit and put the wire in his pocket. When he was finished cleaning the rabbit he put it in a bag he kept in his pocket. He raised it up to eye level.
“This should make a really good stew. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten rabbit,” Frank said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had rabbit,” she said.
“You know that gamey taste you get from deer? You get the same from rabbit. If you cook it right, it’s delicious,” he said.
“Looking forward to seeing what Natalie does with it,” Anna said.
They made it back to the van and went to the rendezvous to pick up Tommy and Jim. Within about twenty minutes they emerged from the tree line dragging their prize.
“Hi, Mom and Dad. I hope you don’t mind that I brought my date,” Tommy dragged the deer in front of them.
“This is Agatha. Agatha, this is Mom and Dad. Now, I know what you’re thinking, Dad. She’s a big girl, but I love her.” He dramatically fell to his knees, clinching his fists in fake desperation.
Everyone laughed and clapped.
“Well done. You should have been an actor,” Anna said.
“I am a man of many talents.”
“You can give the encore when we get back,” Frank said.
“How did you guys do,” Jim asked.
“We got Thumper,” Frank answered.
“Thumper,” Anna asked, confused by the name.
“It’s a rabbit from an old kid’s movie,” Tommy explained.
“Oh, Frank. That’s terrible,” she scolded.
“Yeah, I know. Let’s get Miss Agatha in the van.”
The party started to drive down the highway. All was well in their world, for the moment. A few miles down, Frank went around a sharp curve and was forced to slam on the brakes. A horde of Biters was between them and their destination. In fact, they were walking toward their destination.
“Frank…” Anna whispered.
“I know.”
Frank took out his radio.
“Alpha to base.” No response.
“Alpha to base?” Frank asked again. Still no response.
Frank checked the area around their vehicle. “Are you guys clear on your side?”
“Yeah. We’re good. They are heading towards the house. We need to do something,” Tommy said.
“We are. Weapons free. Anna, Tommy, you’re with me. Jim, watch our flanks. I want a diamond formation,” Frank ordered.
They got out of the van. The horde was still walking away from them. Frank readied his weapon.
“Pick your targets. There are plenty to choose from. Jim, make sure none of them sneak up on us,” Frank said.
He pick his first target and squeezed the trigger, taking one of many down. The horde slowly turn, seeing their dinner and began stumbling in their direction. The sight of so many Biters heading for them sent shivers down their spines. They were frightened beyond belief. Frank tried his best to keep calm. Shot after shot from the three, Biters fell. From what Frank could see, their numbers were not thinning. Frank lowered his weapon. He turned To Anna.
“Keep shooting,” Frank ordered. He ran behind her.
“Jim, coming through.”
Jim turned and nodded. Frank jumped up to the hood of the van and then to its roof. He turned to face the horde. His eyes widened, a lump formed in his throat. There weren’t a few dozen of them. It looked like a couple hundred…
“Mother fucker…” Frank mumbled to himself.
Frank jumped off the van and retook his position.
“There are a couple hundred of them.”
“The hell,” Tommy screamed, not believing what he was told.
“We’ll take down as many as we can then we will go,” Frank said.
“Sounds good,” Anna hollered.
Frank knew that he was shaking, his knees were threatening to buckle. The fear was taking control. He had never been this scared in his entire life. The thought of being torn apart and eaten terrified him. The thought that it would happen to Anna gave him his resolve. He knew that he had to fight through it.
They kept firing as quickly as they could, ensuring they hit their targets. Frank’s rifle was empty. The horde was thirty feet from them now.
“Reloading,” Frank bellowed. He drop the empty magazine and inserted a full one.
They were running low on ammunition. There were still dozens left. Bodies riddled the highway. Frank was out of ammunition for his rifle at this point. Fifteen feet away, the horde was closing in.
“I’m out,” Frank yelled.
“Frank! Here,” Jim yelled. Frank turned and Jim tossed him a magazine. Frank caught and inserted it. He slammed his hand on the bolt release and continued firing.
What was left of the horde was ten feet away from them now. Frank was getting desperate. Frank fired his last rifle round. He didn’t have time to get another magazine from Jim. He wiped his rifle around and pulled his side arm, continuing his barrage. Round after round dropped Biter after Biter. Soon the slide on his pistol locked back. He was out of ammunition for it too. What was left over was five feet from them.
‘Ten left. We’re so close,’ he thought.
“Fall back! Ammo Check,” Frank said as he started to back away from the last of the Biters.
Anna was still firing her pistol.
“Got a full mag, Frank,” she shouted as she fired while walking backwards. Anna took down three more. Seven left.
“I’m completely out,” Tommy said. Tommy had his knife out, ready to defend himself just in case.
“Jim!?”
Jim moved forward, in front of Frank and continued firing in his stead. Three more fell. Four left. Frank reached into Jim’s pocket looking for another magazine. There was none.
“Shit…” Frank said to himself.
Jim’s rifle bolt locked back.
“I’m out,” he yelled.
“So am I,” Anna screamed.
There were three left. Frank took out his knife. He wasn’t going to leave them to hurt someone. He burst forward away from the others, running at his full pace toward the closest Biter, then kicked it in the chest. The Biter flew backward landing on another one. They both hit the ground. He turned to the third one. It was two foot from him, reaching out for him. Frank drove his knife through the bottom of its chin with all his might. The tip of his blade popped out of the top of the Biter’s head. Frank twisted the blade a jerked it out of its skull. The Biter fell to the ground. He turned his attention back to the last two. Tommy and Jim beat him to the kill. They took advantage of the blow Frank had dealt to finish them off while they were vulnerable. They already cleaned their knives off. He noticed Anna standing behind him holding her rifle like a bat, ready to defend him. Tears streamed down her face. Frank reached down and cleaned the knife on the Biter’s shirt and put it in its sheath. He walked up to Anna, she was still on guard, tensed so much that she ground and bared her teeth. She stared at the Biter on the ground. The rage in her eyes would not subside. He put his hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, it’s over,” he said.
He grabbed the rifle and forced it slowly down.
“Anna?”
She didn’t respond. He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her toward him.
“Anna!?”
Her head snapped to face him, as if she woke from a trance.
“What,” she screamed.
“Are you with me,” he asked, softly.
“What? Yeah. Sorry, Frank. This isn’t going to stop is it?” She sobbed, uncontrollably. Frank took her into his arms and hugged her tight.
“It will. We’ll probably be old and gray but it will someday,” Frank said.
Anna half laughed,
half sobbed. He released her.
“Come on. Let’s go home,” Frank said.
He still had his arm around her and they walked to the van where Tommy and Jim were already waiting. He noticed they were still shaking.
“You guys good,” Frank asked.
They looked at each other.
“Yeah…We’re good,” Tommy said.
Luckily for the party, the rest of the trip was uneventful. They arrived at the house, thirty minutes later. The group met them in the yard.
“Guys, we’ve been trying to get in touch with you! Was all that shooting you,” Steve asked.
“We were in a bit of a valley. I don’t think we were getting reception. Sorry, Steve,” Frank said.
“What happened? Are you guys ok,” Kim asked.
“We’re ok,” Anna said.
“Let’s just say we are completely out of ammo…” Tommy said.
They were still shaken up by the whole ordeal. He and Jim sat on the ground in front of the van.
“Wait. What,” Natalie asked, confused by the comment. She and Kathy knelt down in front of Jim and Tommy.
Frank recounted the events.
“So you’re telling me that a Biter army was walking along the road, basically on their way here, and you guys took them on alone,” Steve asked.
“We didn’t have much of a choice at the time. I was hoping to get some backup but we couldn’t get you on the radio. We were forced to handle it on our own. We couldn’t have them stumbling on to the house. There’s no telling what would have happened,” Frank explained.
“You guys got them all,” Gloria asked.
“Yeah…” Jim answered.
Steve looked them all over. He saw they were nearly broken.
“Are you sure you guys are ok,” he asked again.
“Physically, yes.” He walked to the back of the van. “Someone come and give me a hand, please?”
Jesse and Craig followed him to take the deer out. Jesse and Craig drug the dolly carrying the deer and rabbit to the back yard to be processed. Frank walked back to Steve.
“I think they need some rest. They’re pretty shaken up. It was bad. I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared,” Frank whispered.
Steve looked past Frank to observe them. Anna was leaning against the van, her hand covering her face. Tommy and Jim were both still sitting on the ground next to her, Natalie and Kathy both in front of the men, trying to comfort them. Steve was fairly certain they were all crying. He looked back at Frank.
“Let me guess, you’re going to tell me that you’re fine?”
“No. I’m not,” Frank said then walked away to join Anna.
She stood up and wrapped her arms around his waist and cried into his shirt. Frank started to rub her back to comfort her.
‘Jesus…What the hell have they been through? They had taken on horrible odds so many times and it never hit them this hard,’ Steve thought.
Tommy and Jim got to their feet and started hugging their significant others. They stood there for some time, all crying. Finally, Frank pushed Anna away gently. He looked at her dark, chestnut eyes.
“Want to go inside,” Frank asked.
She shook her head no, tears still streaming down her face.
“Ok. We’ll stay out here as long as you want,” Frank said.
They sat down next to Tommy. He nudged Tommy’s arm.
“How you doing, big guy?”
Tommy wiped his face. “I’ve never been that scared before, Frank... You told us about all the firefights you’ve been in. All the bad shit that has happened to you. How would you rank today?”
“I would say, if the rank had a title it would be ‘I need a change of underwear.’”
The small group chuckled.
“How do you keep it together so well,” Tommy asked.
“What did I teach you?”
Tommy thought about it, then it hit him. “Be stronger than your enemy.”
“I wasn’t just talking about physical strength. My mom taught me that when I was a kid.”
Anna looked at Frank. They were all shocked. He never talked about his childhood. He always avoided the questions. Anna knew that it was painful for him. She didn’t know anything about his past before the military.
“She was surrounded by dangerous people for fifteen years while she worked in that prison. Every week she had new bruises from the fights she would get into. Every time I noticed, she would smile and say ‘you should see the other guy.’ There was no one tougher than her.”
“So that’s why you fight so hard,” Anna asked.
“Hmm. My mom raised me right. To always do the right thing, no matter how hard I get knocked down, no matter how hard times get. In the end, she died saving her guards from a fire set by the prisoners. She saved five guards before she died. Died doing the right thing. Her friends told me that she never hesitated, even one second.”
Tears streamed down his face.
“Frank…” Anna started to cry again.
“Well… this explains a lot. Like the missing pieces to the puzzle,” Tommy said.
Frank wiped his face and continued. “The way I think about all of this is the world was a pretty fucked up place before all this started. Bad things happen. Terror attacks when you least expect it. Hell, in our line of work, we would be dealing with the terrorist’s weapon of choice. How many EOD techs die every year? Ten, at least? The only difference is the war is here in our back yard now. Truth be told, I would rather deal with the Biters. At least they move a lot slower and aren’t going around setting ambushes and IEDs.”
He leaned into Tommy, nudging him again. “And with us fighting together, there is no enemy we can’t beat.” He then nudged Anna. “Right?”
She wiped her nose. “Heh. Right.”
Natalie and Kathy watched in admiration as he lifted up his troops. They knew that he was torn just as much as the others but they knew he would pull them through it.
“And with Jim and Tommy with us, we’ll definitely have plenty of ammo and comedy along the way,” Frank said.
Jim chuckled. “Which do I supply?”
“Quite a bit of both. More on the ammo though.”
“Yeah. I do tend to carry a few extra mags.”
“Yeah. You saved our asses today, Jim,” Frank said.
“Thanks.”
“We’ll get through this together. All we have is each other,” Frank said.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes.
“Thanks, Frank…” Tommy said.
“Yeah. Thank you. I feel a little bit better,” Jim said.
Frank was glad he could help, even though it pained him to dig up the memories.
Jim patted Tommy on the arm. “Come on. That deer won’t cut itself up.”
He leaned in and kissed Kathy.
“Yeah. Right behind you.”
Tommy stood up and hugged Natalie then kissed her.
The ladies followed the two men to the back yard.
When they were alone, Anna looked at Frank.
“Are you ok?”
“Not really, but I will be. After she died, I went to stay with my aunt. She always tried to get me to open up but I never could. I’ve only really talked about it once.”
“What changed,” she wondered.
He looked at her. “You. Them. Everything.”
“You’re so sweet, Frank,” Anna said. She laid her head on his shoulder.
“I’m glad the illusion is still working,” Frank said.
She slapped his chest playfully and laughed. “Oh, shut up.”
Frank chuckled. “You ready to head inside?”
“No. It’s nice out here.”
Frank thought for a second. The sun was just starting to set for the night but it was still ninety degrees and terribly humid. Then it hit him. They were alone and it was quiet.
“You’re right. It is nice out here.” He pulled the half empty water bottle out of his pocket and offered
it to her.
“Thank you.” She took the water. “Thank you for everything, Frank.”
“You’re welcome,” he said.
The two sat outside, in the dirt, for the rest of the night. When they finally went inside, they went straight for the kitchen. No one was around. Everyone had gone to bed beside the night watches. Frank went to the pantry and retrieved two cans of food. Ravioli and spaghetti. He held up the cans for Anna to see.
“Date night? How does Italian sound,” Frank asked.
Anna giggled. “Italian sounds great.”
Frank started heating their meal on the stove. He sat down next to her at the table, waiting for the food to warm up.
“Feeling better,” Frank asked.
“Yes. Thanks to you. Sore and hungry, but better.”
“Good.”
Frank heard a pop behind him and got up to stir their dinner. Anna watched him. As horrible their situation was, she was glad she was in it with him. She hadn’t been this happy in a long time. She just hoped and prayed that she never lost him or Isabelle.
Frank turned to her. “Spaghetti or ravioli?”
She smiled. “Spaghetti, please.”
There was no place that she would rather be.
They sat and ate dinner then talked about their lives up to this point. He told her more about his childhood. How his father died in the Army when he was a toddler. About how his aunt had helped raise him. More about the woman his mother was. It wasn’t comfortable for him but he decided Anna deserved to know. Anna told him about her past as well. She told him about her husband, her parents, and what drove her to join the IDF.
Steve and Kim walked into the kitchen.
“Morning guys,” Steve said.
“Morning!?” Frank looked at his watch. “Wow. It’s six in the morning. Well, then…”
“How is it six already?”
“Time flies when you have good company. It’s a good thing that you’re here, Steve. Need to talk about something that I’ve been thinking about.”
“Aren’t you tired,” Steve asked as he put the kettle on the stove. “I haven’t had coffee yet.”
“Well, yeah,” Frank said, realizing just how tired he was.
“Then shouldn’t you two go to bed?”
“It won’t take long. Promise.”
Steve sat down across from him at the table. “Ok. Lay it on me.”
Life In Death (Book 1): Surviving Death (The Struggle) Page 19