“I’m sorry about this,” he said as he rolled the man back. “but you did try to kill me.”
Cale closed the man’s eyes and left the scene. He continued west to the rally point. If anyone made it that’s where they’d go. SSG Curtis and Ballard would be going there. Behind him he could hear the other soldier shouting to her partner.
“Maren! Maren, answer me!” she shouted.
Cale could hear moans all around them. Her shouting was drawing more of them in.
“Oh shit!” he heard her yell.
She must’ve found her friend’s body. Cale increased his pace. She’d be radioing in for backup and that would make evasion even more difficult. He came across another hiking trail. Again he followed the path. It took him to toward the northwest. As he passed a tree the wood exploded. Quickly Cale ducked behind the tree. Another round impacted it. Slowly and cautiously he peered around the trunk of the tree. The woman was standing just up the hill with the barrel pointed in his direction. He retracted his head just as another round hit. All he could hear was the metallic click of the rifle’s bolt slamming forward because of the suppressor.
“You’re going to have to run for it,” stated Zach from the tree he was leaning on.
Cale knew he was right. To his left he heard a twig snap. His first thought was she was flanking him, but as he turned his head to look he realized it was an undead. His reaction was all muscle memory now. He raised the weapon, looked through the ACOG scope, switched the safety off, and lined up his shot in one fluid motion. Then he gently squeezed the trigger after he’d exhaled. Given his target’s close proximity he aimed just below the man’s throat, allowing for the round to “lob” into his actual target. The man’s head. The round missed and the man continued moving toward him.
“Fuck,” hissed Cale.
“You’re off to the left,” Zach informed him. “Going to have to use some Kentucky windage.”
Cale fought all of his urges to center his sites on the man’s chest and aimed a little bit to the right. He inhaled then exhaled and squeezed off another round. The undead collapsed to the ground. He could hear the metallic clicks of the woman’s rifle but the rounds weren’t impacting near him. She was probably fighting some of them off too. This was his chance. Cale took off running. He weaved back and forth between trees just in case she was readying herself to fire at him.
Up ahead, an infected obstructed his path. He maneuvered around the undead woman only to have another infected block his new route. Reflexively he raised his rifle and at the last moment corrected his aim to compensate. His target dropped. He looked down at the man as he leapt over him. The round had hit him in the head, but it was a little off center. He was a fresh corpse. Late teens early twenties. Probably not much younger than Cale himself was. His appearance was intact. Cale concluded in that moment that the young man had been bitten and managed to get away before turning.
The leaves crunched under his boots as he landed on the other side of the man’s body. This was it. The home stretch. The undead would keep his pursuer occupied long enough for him to make his getaway. He felt relieved until he heard it. His pursuer began to scream.
“Just keep going,” Zach encouraged.
Cale wanted to. He really did.
“I-I-can’t,” replied Cale as he slowed down.
“What?” Zach protested. “They just tried to kill you!”
He turned and headed back toward her screams. Cale noticed he’d gathered a following in his attempt to flee. A small group had stumbled out of the forest and onto the hiking path to follow him. He maneuvered around them to save time. Her shouts grew louder as he burst onto the scene. The soldier lay on the ground, fighting to get to her weapon as three infected clawed feebly at her body armor. One of them sat on her torso and was trying to bite through the Kevlar flap that protected her arms.
Cale knew he wasn’t accurate enough with the rifle he’d taken to shoot them. Not without running the risk of shooting her. He slung the weapon across his back and pulled out his knife as he charged in. He started with the one pawing at her legs. She kicked ferociously to avoid being bitten. Cale hooked the undead creature’s arm and threw him to the side then turned his attentions to the other. The blade pierced it’s rotted out eye socket.
“Oh God!” she shouted.
Cale grabbed the back of the undead girl’s collar and yanked her back. She tripped up the first one Cale had thrown. He transitioned back to the rifle and fired.
“Fuck,” Cale whispered as he corrected his aim.
The next shot dropped his target. The undead girl was beginning to stand back up as he walked toward her. He placed the muzzle of the rifle against her head and squeezed the trigger. Her blood sprayed the fallen leaves behind her and her body went limp.
“Behind you,” said Zach pointing back at Cale.
Cale spun around with his rifle ready. The female greeted him with the same offensive stance.
“Easy,” Cale urged her. “Take it easy.”
Her helmet was crooked on her head but she steadily watched him through her scope. Cale looked at the dark hole of her barrel. He wondered if there were a round in there with his name on it.
“You came back?” she said sounding confused.
“Yeah,” replied Cale.
They stood in silence staring at one another. Crunching leaves and snapping twigs interrupted the tense moment. Both soldiers turned toward the sound and engaged the undead that approached. She was the superior marksman during the skirmish. Cale kept having to adjust his aim to drop his targets. Once they were all dealt with the standoff recommenced. Cale fought the urge to shiver in the cold breeze. The leaves crashed into each other. The natural sound of the forest was back. Free of the hungry moans of the undead for now.
“You killed Maren,” she stated.
“He was going to kill me,” Cale answered quickly.
“Are you going to kill me, then?” the soldier asked.
“I’d rather not,” confessed Cale.
“Doubt you could, the way you shoot,” she observed.
“You’re probably right,” Cale agreed. “I haven’t had time to make this weapon mine.”
“That was Maren’s weapon,” she said coldly.
“And now it’s mine,” he replied.
She was quiet for a moment. Cale could see she was having an internal conversation with herself. Likely whether or not to shoot him. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Cale held his.
“Why’d you come back?” she asked, still pointing the rifle at him.
“I think enough of us have died today,” he replied.
She studied him a moment.
“I’ll go first,” he said as he lowered the rifle.
This was a major gamble on his part. He could see her internal debate in her eyes. Part of her was saying shoot and the other—well Cale hoped the other was coaxing her to lower her weapon too.
“I’m sorry about your frie—” Cale attempted to say.
“He wasn’t my friend,” she interrupted. “He was an asshole.”
Cale noticed the knuckles on her left hand, the hand she was using to support the rifle, were turning white. She had a death grip on it.
“I don’t think she’s going to put it down,” Zach whispered into Cale’s ear.
“Shh,” Cale said softly.
“What?” the soldier demanded.
“Nothing,” he replied before looking to his right at Zach.
She looked to see what he was looking at. Just trees and bushes.
“Be honest,” she said gravely. “Are you alone?”
“Yes,” answered Cale immediately.
“Then what did you just look at?” she pressed.
“Thought I heard one of those things,” he replied.
“Zach,” she said.
Cale fought the urge to audibly gasp. His eyes couldn’t hide his surprise. What was going on?
Chapter 3
HEED MY WARNING
“Zach,” she repeated. “That’s what we call them.”
A flood of relief washed over Cale. For a moment he thought he’d taken a larger break from reality.
“We call them Zach because the other word,” she paused for a second. “The other word sounds too bizarre.”
Cale agreed but he wasn’t about to start calling them Zach.
“What do you call them?” she asked.
Her grip had relaxed and she was loosening up. This was good. All he had to do was keep her talking.
“Um…my friend and I referred to them as them. But often times we just said infected,” Cale explained.
“Your friend,” she lowered the rifle slightly. “Is he the one we shot by the road?”
“No,” replied Cale. “He died shortly after all of this.” He gestured to the world around them.
“So, Zach got him?” she asked.
Cale really hated the way she called them that.
“His name was Zach,” he informed her.
His gaze lowered as to not make eye contact. He hated admitting it to people. Especially given his current situation.
“I killed him when he’d been bitten by one of the infected,” Cale explained.
“Just like that?” she asked. “He’d been bitten and you killed him?”
Cale shook his head. “No. He held up against it for about three days. He didn’t want to become one of them and asked me to do it.”
“Oh wow,” she whispered.
Cale took a moment before reengaging in eye contact with her.
“My name is Jenna,” she introduced herself.
“Cale,” he replied.
“Where are you headed?” she asked as she finally lowered her rifle.
He knew he couldn’t trust her one hundred percent. This may be a ploy to gain intel on him and his group.
“I just want to go home,” he confessed.
“Where is home?” Jenna asked.
“Where’s home for you?” responded Cale.
“Washington. Well, It’s actually my parents house.”
Cale could see she was perplexed about the distance between her and her home.
“How’d you end up out here?” he asked.
In his experience this was how service members built relationships with one another. He’d asked the question on pure reflex.
“I was stationed at Fort Bragg,” answered Jenna.
Cale noticed that she was answering on reflex.
“I just wanted to see the world after high school. Passed up on a few scholarships too. I wanted to go overseas but…” she trailed off.
“The dead stopped staying dead,” Cale completed her sentence.
“Yeah. You didn’t answer me. Where is home?”
“Nebraska,” he said.
She couldn’t hide her expression when he said, Nebraska.
“What?” asked Cale.
“It’s just that we lost everything after the government collapsed,” she explained. “We were able to keep the peace for a few months but before the first year was over many of the government militias went rogue. Small bands of survivors began competing for supplies.”
“It’s like that all over,” Cale told her. “I’ll manage.”
“You don’t understand,” she informed him. “It’s completely lawless out there. And…and there’s been stories.”
“What kind of stories?” he asked.
“The Zach,” Cale winced when she said his name. “I mean the infected. They’re…they’re different out there.”
“Different?” he was intrigued now.
“We’ve heard things. Like they aren’t dumb. They think and organize themselves. They use weapons,” she explained.
Cale was surprised to hear it. Just another Romero prediction come to pass. Cale thought of the way the zombie in Dawn of the Dead used a crowbar to bust through the semi’s window. The idea that they were actually doing the same thing struck fear into him. He’d have to cross that bridge when he got there. Right now he needed to focus on crossing this bridge.
“I’ll manage,” he said confidently.
“I don’t think you understand,” she accused him.
“Look,” he interrupted her. “I’ve come this far already. I don’t care if the undead are driving cars and shooting guns. I will get home.”
“You said you’d come far. Where…where were you when this all happened?” asked Jenna.
“I was deployed in Iraq,” he explained.
“No…” she said in disbelief. “There’s no way…”
Cale nodded. “I’ve endured a lot more than just the infected to get here.”
“How?” she asked.
The wind picked up again. Brown and yellow leaves from the trees fell around them. The smell of the undead returned to the area. The forest was teeming with them.
“Long story,” he said.
“Yeah okay. Here is some advice, you’re going to want to stay off of the roads. There are patrols on them constantly. Don’t go out at night. We fly UAVs with thermal vision. Zach doesn’t show up on thermals,” she explained.
She noticed Cale’s discomfort when she used that name for them.
“If they spot you, QRF will be sent out immediately,” Jenna explained.
“Thanks,” said Cale.
“And don’t go south. There is a marine run FOB down there. It’s a different battle space. The marines in that area won’t think twice about putting a bullet in you. Oh, and lose the uniform. What survivors are left won’t take kindly to it,” she warned him.
“Thanks,” he said again. “You better be getting back.”
“Right,” she agreed. “Keep going until it gets dark. I’ll tell them I shot you and watched Zach—I mean the infected—get you. But they’ll keep looking for your friends.”
“Okay,” he nodded.
He turned to run away. Cale was thankful that she’d let him go. He hoped she’d make it back to her team safely. For now, he needed to find his team. Hurriedly he returned to the hiking trail. Cale continued back down it. Up ahead a few infected also followed the trail. Someone other than him had been through here recently. Behind him, the undead burst from the forest and onto the trail to pursue him. Instead of engaging the ones blocking his path, he ran around them, conserving his strength and ammunitions. The forest opened into a clearing. The sun shone past the few clouds in the blue sky and onto a field of tall grass. Cale’s body drank in the warmth of the light. He could see streaks of red and brown cutting through the tall grass. They were gore stains from the undead wandering through. Up ahead he could see a group of them feeding on something. Beyond them, at the other side of the clearing, he could see a group of people helping their injured into the wood line.
“Wait!” he shouted as he ran to catch up.
The undead were too preoccupied with their new feast to bother with him now. As he ran by them, he could see they were feeding on someone in an army uniform.
“No,” he whispered to himself.
Out of everyone on the plane, the small handful of survivors were dropping like flies. After he crossed the clearing, he entered the tree line after his comrades. Curtis had waited for him but had his knife ready. He looked as though he was going to attack Cale, but upon further investigation, lowered his blade. He had a look of astonishment on his face. The staff sergeant skipped welcoming him back and went straight into questioning.
“What the fuck happened to you?” he asked, indicating the blood and brains Cale had smeared on himself.
A small piece of entrails had dried to his clothing.
“QRF caught up to me,” explained Cale. “I had to get creative.”
Curtis waved for him to walk with him up to the group. Ballard and Specialist Huffman stood over Airman Ashley, who was resting her ankle. Grey looked around, ensuring their security. Including Cale, only six of them remained from the original group of eleven.
&nbs
p; “Where’d you get a rifle?” he asked.
“QRF killed Dylan. They chased me and I killed one of them,” answered Cale.
“And you weren’t followed?” inquired Ballard.
“I saved the other so she let me go,” he answered.
“Any Intel?” Curtis questioned.
“Yeah. She said don’t go south,” he answered as he looked around at the group. “The battle space down there is under Marine control,” Cale continued. “We need to stay off of the main roads and don’t go out at night. They use thermals to find the living.”
“We’ll have to find a place to set up then, I don’t want to risk getting to the airstrip only to get caught,” planned Curtis.
“Sounds good,” Cale answered. “She also mentioned losing the uniforms. The locals don’t take kindly to the military.”
“Why?” asked Ashley.
“Didn’t say,” Cale shrugged.
“Great,” Curtis replied. “Not quite the welcoming party we wanted.”
“No shit,” scoffed Grey.
“Well we’re safe for now,” Curtis informed them. “The trees conceal us from the UAVs.”
“Who was that back there?” asked Cale.
“It was Milo,” Ballard regretfully replied.
Milo was a private first class and a 91B.
“He was the only mechanic we had left,” Curtis added.
“And a damn good shot,” Huffman added. “Not that it matters, since we only have the one rifle.”
Curtis pulled out the map again. This time it ripped in half.
“Damn it,” he cursed.
But it only got worse as the paper refused to separate. SSG Curtis stood with a handful of useless paper now.
Z Plan (Book 3): Homecoming Page 2