by TW Gallier
Everyone tensed up at the mention of their jobs. I powered through it, trying to not be distracted for once. If they agreed, we could potentially be preparing to free our families this time tomorrow night.
Maybe I was a little too excited at that prospect. Sean stared at me warily. I noticed Terrel, Vince, and Fred looked excited. The single men, not so much. Brett especially looked like I was trying to get him killed. Charlie and Mike, well, they were pretty much game for anything but sitting around and talking about it.
"We have to move somewhere," Mike said. "Closer is better."
We've heard sporadic gunfire from the end of Miami Parkway since Sean and Terrel's return with the bad news. The continued fighting told us that their initial fight attracted more zombies, and the more they used firearms the more zombies they would attract. Sean was right when he said we had to be out of there before the soldiers across the river took notice.
"Roger has a point," Sean said. "Crossing the river at dawn or sunset is our best chance to survive the crossing." He looked around. "Are we all in?"
There was hesitation as everyone looked back and forth between each other, judging the mood. And then I heard it. That thump-thump-thump was the most hated sound I knew. Everyone looked up, and I wondered if they were coming for us or the bikers.
"Shit!" Sean cried.
A second later the first explosions shattered the nighttime peace. We were still alive, and the explosion was off in the middle distance. Miami Parkway.
"I knew it," Terrel shouted. "Those idiots woke up the sleeping giant."
I thought the Rough Riders were more like raging bulls, but sleeping giant seemed appropriate for the time of night. I heard the first sounds of ground vehicles, also off in the middle distance.
The 5-ton was hidden in an oversized garage built to park Class A campers. That was the main reason we chose that house. Most of our extra weapons and gear was stowed in it already, but we couldn't leave now. The soldiers would spot us immediately. We were trapped like rats.
"Let's get out on perimeter," I said. "Don't shoot at anyone who hasn't spotted us."
Like the first house, our current base of operations was built back from the road and had a lot of uncut trees and underbrush hiding it. I used to think people who tried to hide their homes were antisocial. Now I felt gratitude.
We spread out between the house and the street, and just inside the treeline. Sean and I were in the middle, with Mike and Charlie to my left, and Vince, Fred, and Brett to Sean's right. I heard Humvees racing up Tower Hill Road. It sounded like they were surrounding the hill. And then I heard motorcycles.
Are they riding the bikes through the woods and down the side of that hill?" Terrel asked.
If anyone could, it would be bikers. I started to wonder if we should check out the battle site later and see if there are any dirt bikes and ATVs left behind. Though, I suspected the soldiers would take them.
"Heads up," Sean whispered urgently.
Ten dirt bikes and an ATV came around the corner and headed straight for us. I tensed up. They were leading the soldiers straight to us. Our luck had sucked ever since reaching the Cincinnati area.
Keep going. Don't stop here, I thought, following the lead biker with my rifle. Nothing to see here, my friend. Just keep on going up this road.
He killed his engine at the end of our driveway. The others turned off their engines and coasted in quietly.
"Let's hide behind that house," one of them said.
I shook my head woefully. I didn't want to kill them. They outnumbered us, but we had the elements of surprise and covers. My concern was the fight might betray our position to the soldiers. We could lose everything again.
"No," Sean called, just loud enough for them to hear. "Not here. Move on."
The sound of Humvees started up again. It sounded like they were coming our way. The bikers looked back that way, and then at us. They were holding their weapons tighter, looking like they would rather fight than run. One of them had an Uzi, while the rest carried hunting rifles and shotguns.
They didn't stand a chance.
"Who are you?" their leader called.
"Other survivors just trying to stay under the radar," Sean replied. "We have no beef with you, but you're leading the soldiers to us."
I spotted the first Humvee turn onto our street. My heart skipped a beat.
"Soldiers!" I shouted. Then I had a thought. "Get across the street. We'll catch them in our crossfire!"
To their credit, the bikers didn't hesitate. They dropped their bikes in the street and took off running to the trees across from us. Within seconds four Humvee slowly came down our street. They stopped short of the bikes spread across the street.
I took aim on the lead Humvee's gunner. Hell, it was all I could see of him behind his weapon. The moonlight made his face glow. The soldiers just sat there for the longest time, probably expecting an attack. When it didn't happen, they dismounted a few men to check out the bikes.
"Engines still hot, sir!" one of them called. "They're on foot now."
"Move the bikes to the side. Command wants all motorcycles collected," their officer said. "Sergeant Perry! Search the surrounding homes."
I was incredulous. They were really going to dismount and search homes? Where did that officer learn his job, playing video games? But then doors opened and men slipped out. They began dividing up into small squads. Even the gunners climbed down from behind their most potent weapons.
I was so embarrassed. Sean was going to ride my Army ass so hard now.
"Fire," Sean said just loud enough to be heard.
We opened up on them. The bikers opened up a second later. It took all of thirty seconds and all of the soldiers were dead.
"Mike, Charlie, Terrel, let's get those Humvees hidden behind the house ASAP!" I shouted as I took off running. I spotted bikers starting to come out of the trees beyond. "Hurry up! Hide your bikes behind our house before more troops arrive!"
"Brett, you and Fred get some dirt to cover up all of the blood," Sean shouted. "Hurry!"
There were helicopters all round, but none in sight. I could hear ground vehicles everywhere. It was a long shot, but one we had to take. If it didn't work, and the soldiers discovered our hideout, then we'd be on the run again with just the clothes on our backs and weapons in our hands.
Chapter 7
Roger
We quickly got things sorted out. After stripping the bodies of weaponry, we dragged the dead soldiers across the street and hid them in the woods. Dirt was dug up and used to cover all bloody spots. It soaked up the blood well enough, but it was still obvious something was amiss.
The leader of the bikers, Coop, had his men push a pair of wrecked cars over the muddy-bloody spots we left on the road. They made it look like the wreck happened there. Any patrol coming by would have to dismount someone to find the fresh blood, liberally covered with dirt and leaves, under the vehicles.
Sean and I quickly got our men and some of the bikers posted in concealed positions. Coop sent men to their rally points. Their orders were to bring all survivors back to our location. And then we went to check out the Humvees with Coop and two of his guys, Ivor and TareBear. Coop wasn't the biggest, but definitely the toughest looking of the bikers. Like us, none of them were clean-shaven. Did anyone shave anymore? Besides the soldiers, that is. Ivor was a big blonde Viking looking man, though he gave his last name as Kirkpatrick. TareBear was tall, dark, and tough, but looked the most suspicious of us.
"We get at least two of these," Coop said. "And all the .50 Cals, too."
"Whoa, my man," I said. "Most of your guys just received a full combat loadout. M-4s and ammo, a couple M249 machine guns, and lots of other stuff, so I think we can claim the .50 Cals."
"We need them more than you," TareBear said, giving me a challenging look.
All three of them carried freshly looted M-4s. None of them opted to take the one-point harnesses off the dead, but they held their wea
pons like they knew how to use them. It made me glad that Mike and Charlie were back there with us and behind two of the .50 Cals.
"Why?" Sean asked before I could respond.
TareBear and Coop exchanged a tense look. All three of them then looked off in the direction of the airfield.
It was Ivor that spoke up. "Those motherfuckers stole our women and children."
"We need all the firepower we can get to save them," Coop said.
"They are about brigade strength," I replied. "Do you know what that means in terms of manpower and weaponry?"
Coop gave me a look of utter contempt. "I served ten years as a Navy Seal."
It was Sean and my turn to exchange a look.
"Ivor was an Army Ranger," Coop continued. "And TareBear was a jarhead."
"Huh," I said. "Sean here is a retired Marine, while I'm ex-Army airborne." I pointed at Mike and Charlie, mostly to remind the bikers they were defending us with .50 Cals. "They're both former airborne, too."
"Scouts out, sir!" Mike said.
"Awesome," Coop said, not looking impressed. "So we have a lot of military service between us. That doesn't change our situation or our greater need for those .50 Cals."
"It changes everything," Sean said. He actually grinned, though it was a dark and cruel looking thing. His eyes narrowed at Coop. "Those soldiers kidnapped our women and children, too. So we have common cause."
"Are you proposing we join forces?"
"Absolutely," Sean said. "How many men do you have?"
The sound of an Apache's chain gun sounded off in the distance. There was a noticeable tensing of the bikers as we all looked off in that direction. My first thought, Not as many bikers as a few minutes ago. But I kept that thought to myself.
Coop shrugged. "I'm not sure how many men we have left after that attack, but there were forty-four of us before. How many do you have?"
"Nine. But we also have more .50 Cals, M-4s, grenade launchers, and SAWs," I said. "And we've been studying the airfield and surrounding terrain for a few days. We know where they are keeping the women and children."
Coop smiled and thrust out his hand. "Welcome to the team, boys."
We all shook hands.
"Are y'all locals?" I asked. "We're up from Georgia, on our way to Canada to escape the zombies."
"No, we're heading home to Buffalo, New York," Coop said. "We stopped for the night at a truck stop. We made the mistake of leaving our women and children while we went out to scrounge for food. The soldiers attacked while we were gone, killed the men we left behind as guards, and took our families."
"Damn," I said. "We were passing through with all of our women and children in an old bus when they attacked. The bus was captured while we fought their ground forces."
"We've scouted out their base across the river, and were working out a plan of attack," Sean said. "Our biggest issue was manpower. You and your men can solve that problem."
Coop shook his head. "So you really believe fifty men can take on a brigade?"
"Of course!" Mike chimed in. "Nobody said we expected to survive."
"Ignore him," I said. "Mike's crazy."
"I can hear you."
"My kind of crazy," Coop said. "All that said, I agree we have a chance at success. Missions like this are a Seal's bread and butter."
I told Mike and Charlie to dismount two of the .50 Cals and set them up on tripods in the woods to bolster our defenses. While they did that, Sean and I lead the three bikers inside to study our map and make plans. Coop was a wealth of advice. He even thought we could go in that day. He and his men were ready to attack at a moment's notice.
Bikers filtered in for the next few hours. In total, thirty-two bikers survived, including Coop, Ivor, and TareBear. Coop gathered his men together in the backyard and convinced them joining forces with us was the thing to do. Sean agreed to let them man and keep all of the .50 Cals so we wouldn't have to leave anyone back to do it. I didn't like it, but Coop agreed immediately and it was a done deal before I could object.
Sean then divided up our spare weapons among them. Most of the bikers ended up with either an M-4 or M-249. We kept the rifles with grenade launchers, at least. I was not a happy camper, because we would not be getting any of those weapons back. So if successful, we'd continue without weapons for our women to carry.
"Damn, I'm glad that clusterfuck finally broke up before you gave them our women and children, too," I muttered as Sean and I walked toward the front to check on the defenses.
"Chill, man," Sean said, looking so pleased with himself. "Think about it. They need those weapons for us to have even a chance at success. Now they are happy. They see us as good guys who gave them military grade weapons. Everyone's happy."
"I understand that, but I'm still not happy about it."
"Think ahead," he said. "When we go in, we'll kill a lot of soldiers. We can take their weapons and ammo. Hell, we might get lucky and find their armory. Jackpot. They have running vehicles over there, so we can carry as much as we can grab. We'll leave there with all the weapons and ammo that we can use."
"Or we'll die trying," I replied. Shaking my head, "When did you turn into such an optimist?"
"When we quadrupled our numbers," he said. "I have a good feeling about this."
I felt our chances were much better, too. Yet, Sean's confidence wasn't proving to be infectious. Not for me. Bad things were happening across that river. I couldn't feel good until I had Jenny, Timmy, Harlan, and Spooky back. Not a second sooner.
Chapter 8
Roger
Anxiety filled me as I looked up at the predawn sky. I'd already heard two helicopters fly by overhead, heading for the airfield. Their base wasn't visible from my location, but I knew they were gathering on the ground. Coop and TareBear were off with Sean and Terrel setting up the .50 Cals. From my understanding, his men all had a rally point east of Cincinnati to meet up after the attack.
The final plan had four lone men with .50 Cals atop the hill on this side of the river. Since Alms Park was closer, we would place five .50 Cals over there. Sean got one .50 Cal to fight the heavily guarded gate. Since we had forty-one men all totaled, that left us with thirty-two to conduct the actual assault on the airfield. We'd go in as three teams: two teams of eleven, with Coop's team being ten.
Sean's mission was to break open the northernmost gate, and then secure vehicles to transport us and our families out. Coop would go after anyone trying to get any aircraft airborne, and anyone trying to get to the tanks. Fortunately, the Rough Riders only had twenty tanks and all of them were in a single motor pool in front of a hangar. My team's job was to first setup the gunners in Alms Park, and then secure the women and children and wait for Sean to show up with the trucks.
We divided the available weapons up evenly. Each team received two M-249s and three grenade launchers. We still had two M60 machine guns, but not a lot of ammo for them. Coop's team took those since they needed them against the helicopters. They were going to be laying down most of the suppressive fire. Ivor and Cooter each took one, looking quite happy with their choices. Rambo had nothing on those two big bikers.
The bikers had a dozen dirt bikes, two ATVs, a Jeep CJ7, two pickups, and a minivan. That was more than enough to transport all of us crossing the river, but we were also taking the four captured Humvees. We mounted the M60s atop two of the Humvees, which Coop's team would take. I got a Humvee and Sean got a Humvee.
"TareBear, you and Aaron take the pickup with the .50 Cals," I said. "The gunners will ride with you."
TareBear insisted he be part of my team. I think he was as anxious to find his wife as I was to find Jenny. My team was giving a Humvee, one pickup, and three dirt bikes. Mike and Charlie both wanted motorcycles, and I took the Humvee. Terrel was my driver, with Vince riding with us. We were given the most vehicles because the Alms Park gunners were coming with us. Sixteen men in all.
Sean got a Humvee, the minivan, and the CJ7. He also got a dirt bike
and two ATVs he didn't want, but the bikers riding them insisted. In addition to the two Humvees, Coop took six dirt bikes. One pickup was left behind for the gunners on the Kentucky side of the river. Both pickups would be left with the two teams of gunners so they could escape and hook up with their friends later. We pretty much expected to lose most, if not all, of our other vehicles.
"Radio check, over," Sean's voice came over the Humvee's radio.
I keyed the mic on my CVC helmet. "Gotcha loud and clear, over."
"Loud and clear, over," Coop said.
"I hear ya," Ivor said.
"Then move out," Sean said. "And good luck to everyone, out."
I keyed my mic for internal comm to the driver, "Move out, Terrel."
My team led the way. We had the most pre-attack prep to do. I had to ensure the gunners were up and ready, before moving down to the airbase close to their headquarters and the hangars holding the women and children. Of course, we'd have all day to get into position.
We moved quickly, but carefully through the night streets of that hilly, wooded suburb. There were high clouds reducing the moonlight, but we could see well enough without headlights. Mike and Charlie scouted the route on the dirt bikes. They led us a twisted, winding route to I-471. They stopped us at the highway.
"There are soldiers guarding the bridge," Charlie said. "They are setup on the roof of an apartment building next to the river."
"How many?"
I radioed that info back to Sean and Coop. Mike and Charlie said the soldiers were high enough that it would be impossible to take them out quickly, if at all, from the road. Plus, they were protected by concrete.
Sean, Coop, and I went with Mike and Charlie to check out the situation. The building was four residential floors above a ground level garage. The next structure over was a high-rise condominium building that towered over the soldiers' position and the bridge. We studied it, too, but found no evidence anyone was posted up there.