by TW Gallier
"Turn right," he said once outside the hangar.
I paused to look around. It was almost sunset, so the sunlight was fading. I estimated another hour before full dark, though wasn't sure why I cared. My eyes were drawn to the helicopters all in line. There were still a lot of men around them, and I could hear more off in the distance.
"Keep moving," Glendale said. "Colonel Ritter is a busy man."
I headed toward headquarters. The sergeant stayed behind me which emphasized my prisoner status. I looked all around as we walked. I knew from the guards and other women that the hangar butted up against ours was the enlisted mess hall, and brothel by night. That was where I would be working. From what I'd been told, cots were setup along three walls to do the deed, and no privacy.
The whole thing creeped me out. So sick and disgusting.
There was a steady stream of eager young soldiers entering that hangar. Thumping dance music drifted out as we moved past it. More than a few of the soldiers paused to look me over with interest.
The headquarters wasn't as busy or crowded as my last visit. It looked like everyone was trying to finish up for the day. Most of them stopped to watch me walk past.
You'd think these guys have never seen a woman.
Colonel Ritter's door was open. I could see four men standing in front of his desk. Ritter was rubbing his eyes wearily, but when he put his wire-rimmed glasses back on I was again struck by how much he looked like President Teddy Roosevelt. The original Rough Rider.
That meeting broke up too quickly for my comfort. I was ushered in to stand before his desk. Colonel Ritter looked me over with appreciation. It made me wonder if I was destined for the Officer's Club instead. Would that necessarily be better? I probably wouldn't have to be with as many men per night, unless there weren't very many women in there. None of the women had ever specified which building they worked inside.
That prospect didn't give me any comfort. Indeed, my heart began to race and I felt my face heating up. Suddenly, my mind was blank and I didn't know why I thought speaking with him could resolve our problem. He was the problem. It was his orders, his policies, that kept us prisoner and forced our sexual submission.
I so wanted to shoot him dead.
"So, Jenny, you wanted to see me?"
"Y-Yes, sir. I wanted to appeal to your humanity," I said. I sounded, and felt, so lame. What made me expect mercy from him? "We've been attacked, captured, and treated like animals just so your men can have their way with us. Is this how you serve your country? I do believe you swore a sacred oath to serve and protect."
"Cops serve and protect," he said. "As for the oath I swore to the United States of America… That oath became null and void the second this country ceased to exist."
"Not true," I said, seeing a chance. "My husband, also a soldier, was with the President when he headed to the western states. The United States still exists, so your oath is still in effect."
"Good try," he said. "We tried to join our brothers in arms out west, but were turned back. Apparently we are thought to be just as infected as the zombies. We've been cast out by our own government. All we can do is carve out a new nation out of what's left." He leaned forward. "And to do that, we need women. Welcome to the family."
"Wouldn't you rather have willing women?"
"Yes, but in time you'll learn to appreciate us," he said. "Once the zombie problem is resolved, then we'll spread out and started the process of creating civilization again. The women will be divided up among my men at that time. You'll be a wife again, and you'll get to keep your children. You are one of the women with young children, right?"
"Three," I said. Any hope I had was gone. I saw lust in his eyes. He didn't care about my dignity or self-esteem. Colonel Ritter was no better than the leering soldiers who guarded us. "I'm a widow. I just lost my beloved husband a few days ago. Killed by your soldiers. Can't we be allowed time to mourn?"
"In a perfect world," he said. "But I have a lot more men than women. You and your friends are needed as quickly as possible. So, what's it going to be?"
I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. It was going about as expected, but I'd hoped he'd be merciful and give us a little more time. And feed us and our children in the meantime. I don't know why I thought he would. Maybe I just needed to think we had a chance.
"Can't we work out a better deal?" I asked.
"The deal isn't changing, only you have to make your decision right now," he said. "No more stalling. Either you agree to put out, or I'll have you and your children put out."
"Oh?"
"Tossed over the fence to the zombies."
"You are such a soulless bastard."
He grinned. "I've been called worse."
Our eyes locked. It was intense, but not in a good or erotic way. I could see his resolve. He would win because he always won. Ritter knew I'd do anything to save my children. I had absolutely no choice in the matter.
"Fine. You'll feed our children right away? Tonight?"
"We can do that," he said. "But after you've proven to me you have submitted."
"What does that mean?" I asked. He gave me a look. "Oh! Okay. I understand."
I was all hot and flustered. The only question was would it be Colonel Ritter or Sergeant Coleman who took me down first? I had a bad feeling it was going to be the colonel. Right there on his desk, if not the floor.
"Shall we seal the deal, Jenny?" he asked as he came around the desk.
I stood my ground, though I wanted to back away, if not turn and run. He pressed up against me, arms going around me. My arms remained at my sides. I was afraid to either anger or encourage him.
Colonel Ritter was short, but still a good two inches taller than me. He was one of the only clean-shaven men around. Even most of the other officers had grown beards. Shaving supplies had to be hard to find. He smelled clean.
He held me tight and kissed me. I couldn't kiss back. Not yet. I didn't feel anything. Well, nothing good. He stroked my hair, and then my back. He finally released my lips to kiss his way down my neck, while his hands dropped to my waist and started pushing my shirt up.
"So, um, we do it now," I stammered, more to stall than anything. I glanced at his desk, which was covered with files and photos and countless other things. "And once I've given you what you want, I mean, proven I will be the woman you want, you will immediately feed my children?"
"Yes. Once I'm finished, you'll be taken over to entertain the troops tonight," he said. "And the other women in your group will be asked to join you. If they all agree, then all of the children will be fed tonight."
"What if the other women refuse?"
"Then your children will be moved to another cage, and only they will be fed."
That wouldn't happen. I had no doubt the others would buckle as soon as they learned I had given up and was already working. All I had to do was spread my legs and everyone would get what they wanted.
"Okay. You win," I whispered. I'd never felt so cold. "I'm yours."
He hugged me so tight it actually felt good. Ritter held my eyes as he slowly claimed my lips again. I moaned as he opened my mouth with his, and thrust his tongue in deep. I even managed to kiss him back, while my arms held on tight.
A sound caught my attention. I looked at the door, which was still open. A soldier was watching us from his desk. Others were walking by the door, and some of them glanced inside.
"Could you close and lock the door, please?"
He stopped and frowned. "You do know there is no privacy in the enlisted club?"
"I've heard. But, could we have some privacy this time?"
Colonel Ritter thought about it a second, and then nodded. "Okay. Strip."
While he went over to close the door, I pulled off my shirt. My hands were shaking so much, I couldn't unhook my bra. Ritter returned while I was struggling with it. One of his hands went up into my hair, and the other went around to release my bra. He tossed the bra away as our lips melted to
gether in a very passionate clench.
I started unbuttoning his shirt. He unfastened my jeans and pushed them down below my butt. While he shrugged out of his shirt, I pushed my jeans down to my ankles. I'd have to remove my shoes to get the jeans all the way off, but then I noticed his tented trousers.
"Unzip me. Pull it out," he commanded.
Dropping to my knees, throat tight, I unfastened his belt and trousers. They fell around his booted feet. His tented boxers were all that separated us. I bit my lip, took a deep breath, and…
All hell broke loose outside.
It sounded like World War III just hit us. First there were the sounds of gunfire, and then explosions. Lots of loud, earth-shaking explosions.
Chapter 14
Roger
The incoming helicopters riled up the zombies. They crowded up against the waterline, arms extended. A few even wailed. They were packed together tightly.
We'd moved southward, and to a spot across the street from the soldiers' headquarters. There was a small wooded cemetery there that allowed us to get right up to the road. Across the moat was a former entrance into the airfield. The gates were chained shut, but I planned to fix that issue. It was going to become a super highway for zombies.
Best of all, all three hangars we'd seen women coming and going were right there.
I did another count. The last of the helicopters was coming in for a landing. The shit was about to hit the fan. I looked over between the buildings and spotted soldiers moving eagerly towards the mess hall.
"Let me tell you a story about a man named Jed," Jed sang quietly. "Poor biker man wanted nothing more than to kill a bunch of soldiers dead."
"I like him," Mike said.
"You would," Charlie said. "He's your kind of crazy."
Jed grinned viciously. I suspected he'd kill a whole lot of zombies, and hopefully soldiers, too. He was one of the scarier bikers.
"At least the horde is distracted," I said. "Get ready to rock and roll, boys."
As if waiting for my cue, both .50 Cal fire teams opened up. I couldn't really hear them, but I saw their tracers and saw the devastation they wrought. A Huey blew up, and then a fuel truck exploded. The later spread burning fuel over at least half of the helicopters and a shit load of soldiers. It was a scene from hell.
"Fire!"
We all opened up on full auto. It looked like the packed mass of zombies just folded down to the ground. A pair of grenades were shot off into their mass. A few tried to stand back up, but most stayed down. The result was mass confusion within the zombie ranks. Per plan, we all expended one magazine, reloaded, and charged.
I heard Coop's team attacking up the perimeter a short ways. That was followed by the sound of a large truck engine revving up.
"Follow me!" I cried, taking off running.
I led them straight down the middle of that narrow corridor we created. It immediately began to close on us. Half of us fired into them to the left, the rest to the right. I hit the water running, and face-planted. Did a belly flop right there in one foot of water. My bad. I should've known better to run full-out into water.
I rose up to all fours as soldiers began firing at us. We returned fire, and quickly killed the four close enough to engage us. I headed straight for the gate.
"Bolt cutters!"
Paul raced up and cut the padlock off. I quickly removed the chain and we opened the gates wide. "Cut those hoses! Do it. Now!"
Everyone with a machete or ax fell upon the dozen hoses. They were big fire hoses, too. Tough to cut, but we got the job done. The axes were especially efficient at slicing and dicing them. The severed hoses started whipping all around, but at least they stopped filling the moat.
"We only have a few minutes before the zombies come pouring in," I said.
There was a door into one of the mess hall hangars. It was locked, so one of the axmen smashed off the knob, and then did short work of tearing that door apart. TareBear lead the way inside. Inside was utter chaos. Soldiers were frantic to get out the other side, while the women screamed and cried on the floor.
I didn't see Jenny anywhere. I did spot Fiona hurriedly slipping into a black teddy.
"Listen up, women!" I shouted. "We're here to rescue you. If you want to stay with the soldiers, that's your choice. Follow us if you want out." Then to Fiona, "Where's Jenny?"
"I don't know. Maybe the next hangar over. Maybe…" She stopped and looked worried.
That did not help me. Not at all.
I looked around more closely. There were four stripper poles. Cots along the walls, with a naked or topless woman sitting on most of them. The women were all dressing as quickly as possible. Worse, I noticed three dead women and about twenty dead or wounded soldiers.
"TareBear, we have to check the other hangar to the right," I said, pointing at the wall to the officer's mess hangar. "Some of our women might be in there."
"I got it," he said, and led his three bikers out the door.
Mike came running up from the back. "Zombies are coming."
"Let's go!" I shouted, heading out the door. We immediately started taking fire. My men moved forward to engage. "Protect the women."
More helicopters exploded. I spotted three lifting up. I ordered our M-249 gunners to fire at them, while noticing .50 Cal fire also moved towards them. One veered hard right and slammed into the control tower. Then the other two crashed into each other.
And then zombies came rushing around both sides of the hangars.
Chapter 15
Sean
"It's started!" Brett shouted from the trailer.
I heard it then. Explosions, and then the sound of small arms fire. Roger and Coop were going in. Our fire teams on the two hills were attacking the soldiers' air power. It was time for us to do our part.
I was riding shotgun with an M-249. Cash was driving the rock hauler. It had a full load of rock in the trailer, too. We were going to hit that gate with a whole lot of weight. I just prayed Cash didn't jackknife it.
The bikers were a handy bunch. They figured out a way to mount the .50 Cal at the front of the trailer. Brett was the gunner. The others were crowded to either side of him, ready to open fire as soon as we came into range.
"Move out," I said. "Time for payback."
The windshield on my side was smashed out. I braced the M-249 on the dash and waited for the gate and soldiers guarding it to come into sight.
"I bet they shit themselves when they spot us," Cash said.
"We can only hope."
They probably would when they suddenly took unexpected fire. That .50 Cal would especially rock their world. I just hoped we caught them with their pants down. Helicopters blowing up should provide a pretty good distraction.
Cash knew how to drive a tractor-trailer rig. He got us up to speed fast, and took the corners like a NASCAR driver. We ran into zombies even before the gate came into view.
"Wahoo!" he cried. "Killing zombies!"
That rock hauler plowed through the zombie horde effortlessly. It was a very bumpy ride, since most of them went down under us. I worried we'd lose the trailer, and that would doom all of the men riding in it.
And then we rounded the last corner. We had another couple hundred yards to traverse to reach the gate, all of which was packed tightly with hungry zombies.
It was the northernmost gate on the western side. As far as we could tell observing the airfield from across the river, it was the only operational gate. The moat blocked the other gates. It was guarded by a pair of Humvees and at least a platoon of dismounted troops.
I opened fire. The men in the trailer opened fire.
Puh-puh-puh-puh! Sounded above as Brett fired the .50 Cal. I could see the tracers going all over the place. It was too bumpy to keep our weapons on target, but hopefully we could get enough in to make a difference.
The soldiers returned fire, bullets striking all around us. Cash grunted twice. A quick glance found at least one bloody wound in his che
st. When I turned back to engage, another shot slit my left ear.
"Son of a bitch!"
Eyes watering, I continued to fire at them. "Keep it steady, Cash! You're doing good."
He just groaned, but held onto the wheel and kept his foot on the gas. We ran down countless zombies, hit the gate with a loud boom, and then plowed into the Humvees. They were parked in a V-formation facing the gate. That big semi smashed through the middle of them, and flipped them.
We continued on, leaving more than half of the soldiers still standing. But they had bigger problems than us. I watched in the side mirror as the horde overran them.
"I think… I think…" Cash said softly. And then he slumped over.
"Cash!"
I grabbed the wheel as we drove off the paved road. His foot was still on the gas, and we were gaining speed. Kicking his ankle several times, I finally got it off the gas pedal. Then I slammed my foot down on the brake. We came to a fast, bouncing halt and the engine died.
"Cash?" I said, checking his pulse. Nothing. I opened the door and jumped to the ground. "Dismount! Cash is dead."
The motor pool with all the cargo trucks was less than a hundred feet away. It was a hangar off by itself at the end of a runway. Across the runway was the hangar where the soldiers lived. We fired into the barracks hangar as we ran toward the motor pool. Some of those soldiers returned fire, but most seemed to be without weapons.
"Stupid rear echelon mother fuckers," I muttered as I emptied the M-249. That was all of my ammo for it, so I tossed it aside. I still had my M-4. "Jay, Brett, Jake, and Fred hang back with me. We'll provide cover while the rest of you find us some trucks."
We dropped to our bellies on the grass and fired at the approaching soldiers. They weren't combat soldiers, so they were a lot easier to kill. And then the zombies swarmed over them. We held our position, shooting any zombies that turned our way.
It didn't take long before I heard engines turning over behind us.