Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Book 4): Walking In The Shadow Of Death

by Lundy, W. J.

  “Okay, so the Vilegases are in charge outside. Good. Let’s see about this door.”

  “Yeah … the door, we have to get it open,” Hahn mumbled back, his voice becoming slurred.

  They could hear Nelson yelling again from inside.

  “Nelson! This is Sergeant Thompson, can you tell me what’s going on in there,” Brad yelled at the door.

  “It’s Kelli, Sergeant, she’s hurt bad, she’s bleeding. Swanson too, she’s out and won’t wake up.”

  “Okay Nelson, I need you to stand away from this door. We’re gonna be coming in. Get pressure on those wounds okay?”

  “Roger, Sergeant,” responded a muffled but more calm Nelson.

  Brad saw that Hahn was still carrying his tomahawk strapped to his thigh. He reached down for it and Hahn quickly undid the straps and handed it over. Brad swung the hawk in a powerful two-handed swing, catching the door above the top hinge. Applying his weight to the handle, the hinges popped and broke free. Brad repeated this with the remaining two hinges, then used the face of the ‘hawk to break the door free of the frame.

  With the door removed, Brad and Sean pulled it out of the way and stepped into the cockpit. Nelson had a light focused on Kelli. Part of the nose of the aircraft had imploded inward and her lower body was trapped between the seat and the consoles. Nelson was struggling to free her from the wreckage. Sean moved forward using the handle of Gunner’s axe to apply leverage to the frame of the pilot’s seat. He pushed hard. They could hear the wood of the axe strain and pop as if the handle was about to break. With some of the tension removed from the seat, Nelson and Brad were able to pull Kelli’s limp body out and away from the wreckage.

  They positioned her on the floor. Both of her legs were broken; the right leg had an open fracture and was bleeding. Brad tried to straighten her legs as Brooks walked into the space holding a bright light. He looked down and shook his head. He motioned for Brad to move out of the way as he kneeled beside his patient and went to work.

  Brad took a step back and moved towards Chelsea. She was strapped into a smaller jump seat near the bulkhead. With the angle of the aircraft she was almost lying flat on her back now. Brad moved towards her and removed the seat restraints. He checked that she was breathing and had a strong pulse. She was wearing a flight helmet, but there was an obvious crack going along the top of it. Brad looked down at her and could see the cloud of condensation around her mouth every time she exhaled. It was the first time Brad had noticed how cold it was.

  “How is she?” Brooks called out, looking over his shoulder to Brad.

  “I can’t tell. She’s unconscious. From the break on her helmet, something must have knocked her out.”

  “Okay Brad, let’s just assume for now it’s a concussion. I need you to run your hands along her body and check for any broken bones or bleeding, okay? I’m pretty tied up over here.”

  “Okay,” Brad said back softly. Quickly he began the process of moving his palms down Chelsea’s arms and legs. When he completed that, he checked her torso as well as he could. Finding no breaks or blood, he reported back to Brooks, “Everything looks okay, what do I do now to help her?”

  “Just let her rest. Why don’t you check on the men outside?” Brooks said while he continued to work on Kelli.

  “Are you sure there’s nothing else that can be done for her?”

  “Brad, go!” Brooks said, annoyed.

  Brad found one of Chelsea’s bags pushed up tight between the seat and the wall. There was a small blanket rolled tightly and fastened to the top of it. He unrolled the blanket and laid it out over Chelsea, tucking in the edges. Nelson came up behind him looking on.

  “She’ll be okay, Sergeant, I’ll keep an eye on her,” Nelson said in a low voice.

  Brad turned to look at Nelson. His face was white and he had blood on his hands and uniform from helping Kelli.

  “How are you holding up, Nelson?” Brad asked.

  “I’m okay, just scared me. I thought I was the only one left for a bit there.”

  “Yeah we’re good now. Take care of Chelsea, and help Brooks, I’ll be right back,” Brad said.

  Brad looked up and saw that Sean had left the cockpit. He saw him and Gunner standing in the doorway. They turned away and Brad followed them back into the body of the aircraft. Gunner was now wearing a sling on his bandaged right arm. He was holding a Sig 1911 in his left hand. Sergeant Hahn was sitting farther away, now with his head heavily bandaged. Brad shook his head and looked at the floor.

  “We’re pretty beat up here, Chief,” Brad reported.

  Sean reached down and picked up a M203 that was lying awkwardly on the ground. This caused Brad to look across the plane to the now covered body of Specialist Theo.

  Sean walked across the room and laid the weapon near Theo’s body. “Things could be a lot worse Brad, considering we were just in a plane crash.”

  Just then they saw a light come from the open door behind them. Daniel Villegas pulled himself up and into the cover of the AN-12. “It’s cold as fuck out there man,” he gasped.

  Villegas moved towards the huddled group of men and looked to Gunner. “We got a couple guards posted, Pops. But it’s damn cold out there, and I forgot to pack my coat.”

  Gunner looked back at the shivering Marine. “You see anything out there?”

  “Nothing Boss, it’s dark and the snow is coming down hard. Can’t see shit in that mess.”

  “There ain’t no sense in us posting up outside. Bring the guys back in, let’s try and secure the interior of the aircraft as much as possible until first light. We can strip the fabric off of these seats and try and insulate our clothing,” Gunner ordered.

  Brad was reassured to see that Gunner had regained his composure and was back on the job. “Let’s go Daniel, I’ll help you gather the guys,” Brad said, moving towards the door.

  Villegas looked up at him and nodded. Together they climbed out of the aircraft and into the darkness. Brad lowered himself out of the door and let go, dropping to the ground with a thud. Daniel dropped just beside him, then stepped off, leading the way.

  Brad took in their surroundings. Just as Daniel had said, the snow was coming down hard; it was nearly blizzard conditions. There was surprisingly a lot of light. Brad looked into the sky and could just barely make out a full moon through the blowing clouds. He’d grown up in Michigan’s northern peninsula, so a heavy snow fall was nothing new to him. He followed Daniel out and away from the aircraft, the snow making a dry crunch under his boots. Brad knew that dry snow was a clear indication of below freezing temperatures. He would have to find a source of heat for the men or they risked hypothermia. They moved farther from the aircraft and near a crumpled section of the AN-12’s lost wing.

  Corporal Parker was beside it with his M249 set up on its bipod resting across the wreckage. He had his arms crossed tightly across his body, shivering. Parker looked at the men uncomfortably as they approached. “Let’s go Parker, Gunner wants us to hold up inside,” Daniel whispered.

  “Thank God, bro, it’s so cold out here I think my nuts have retracted up inside of my body,” Parker stuttered in response. He rubbed his gloved hands together before reaching down and securing his SAW. He indicated he was ready and followed Daniel and Brad down towards the tail of the aircraft. They stepped off, staying close to each other, the close proximity giving them a false sense of security.

  Brad could see that the plane appeared to have crashed in a somewhat open field. Not the farm fields or pastures he recognized from home, but rather a large open break in a tall, old-growth forest. Kelli had done well putting them down in the clearing and avoiding the trees. There were no signs of any structures or manmade lights. They were surrounded by high ridgelines on both sides. A scattering of trees lined the tops of the ridges.

  Brad searched as far as the limited visibility would allow as they crunched through the falling snow. The wind was picking up, swirling snow pushing into his face, the biting cold
causing his eyes to tear up. They needed to get back into cover; it was too cold to be outside exposed to the elements.

  They found Joseph Villegas just a few feet out from the tail of the aircraft. He was standing silently with his rifle at the low ready. Daniel let out a low whistle to warn his brother that they were coming up behind him. Joseph turned and nodded to them. “Where the hell are we, Hermano?” he said, looking to Daniel.

  “No idea, brother. You see anything out here?” Daniel answered.

  “No, just wind and snow, even the wildlife is too cold to be out in this. What kind of frozen hell did we end up in?”

  “Kelli had said something about Canadian Islands before we went down? I don’t know what that means, but Canada has always reminded me of cold. Maybe this is good, maybe the primals will freeze solid in this shit,” Brad added.

  Parker stomped his feet and rubbed his gloved hands together. “I don’t know fellas, but can we talk about this somewhere else?”

  “You’re right, let’s get back inside,” Brad said.

  3.

  When Brad returned to the plane, he found that they had moved Kelli out of the cockpit. Brooks had her positioned in a makeshift hammock. She was attached to one of the emergency backboards that were stowed aboard the aircraft. They had tightly fastened Kelli to the board, then suspended it a few feet off the ground so they could keep her feet elevated. Most of her uniform pant legs had been cut away, and her legs were covered in improvised bandages. On her chest lay an IV solution bag with a line leading directly to her arm. Brooks was standing over her closely monitoring her vitals.

  Behind Kelli, Brad saw that Chelsea was now awake and sitting in one of the low side jump seats. She was covered in blankets and shivering. Nelson and Hahn were sitting next to her bundled under a similar pile of blankets. Brad moved near Brooks who was taking inventory of his aid bag. “What are you thinking?” Brad said barely above a whisper.

  “Fortunately she hasn’t regained consciousness. When … or if she does, she is going to be in a lot of pain. I’ll have to give her morphine, but right now … with those injuries … shit man, I just don’t know.,” Brooks said, not looking up from the bag.

  “And Chelsea?”

  “She’s fine bro, just got her bell rung. Nelson has orders to get her to eat something, but she looks okay. Gunner’s arm is jacked up pretty bad. I’m gonna have to get some sutures in it pretty soon. Hahn took a pretty good whack to the head. He’s seeing double; I’m worried about him. He hasn’t been right since we landed.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  “You can find a way to heat this place up. If we don’t get some warmth we’re all gonna freeze. You notice those water bottles back there? Most of them are already froze solid,” Brooks said, motioning towards a half case of water.

  “Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Brad said.

  He moved towards the back of the aircraft. The cargo they had carefully stacked earlier had come loose and was piled up against the walls of the plane. Looking at the mess, Brad was surprised any of them had survived the crash. He dug through the pile and found what he was looking for. The large wooden pallets were buried deep under the scattered piles of goods. Brad called over his shoulder for Parker to help him. Quickly they started the job of digging out and cutting away the wooden pallets.

  They managed to free the wood from four large pallets. Still Brad wasn’t confident about lighting a fire inside the body of the aircraft. The strong fumes of jet fuel were in the air. Brad didn’t know if a small fire would be enough to ignite them, but he wasn’t ready to take a chance. They ripped down heavy insulation blankets from the inside of the plane and built a makeshift shelter within the plane and surrounding Kelli.

  It wasn’t enough. Brooks said her core temperature was still dropping; they would need to do more or they would lose her. Sean had moved near the sheltered area and joined Brooks and Brad in their discussion. Brooks looked to Sean. “If we can’t warm her up she won’t see morning.”

  “What do you suggest, Brooks?” Sean asked.

  “I hate to say it, but I think we’re gonna have to make camp outside. We need to get a fire going. I’m willing to stay in here and burn one. I’ll take my chances on blowing up.” Brooks said.

  Brad shook his head. “What if I can take a couple guys out and get those pallets burning? Maybe we can heat some blankets and drape those over Kelli. Could heat up some stones or metal too. Shit, anything to warm her.”

  Sean stared at Kelli. “I don’t know. If we draw attention … If we draw in any infected we’re fucked. None of us are up for a sustained battle right now.”

  Brad nodded. “Honestly, if we don’t get some real shelter I think we’re all fucked anyhow. It’s too damn cold. And those primals still have human DNA. I’m willing to gamble they can’t operate in this storm any better than we can.”

  Brooks reached down into his bag and pulled out a block of C4. He held it in his hand for a minute before handing it to Brad along with his Zippo lighter. “Here, take this Brad. It’s gonna be hell getting a fire started out there. Break off some small chunks of this. They’ll burn pretty hot, should help getting that wood to burn.”

  Brad took the C4 and placed it and the Zippo into his assault bag. He turned back and saw Parker and the Villegases get to their feet and begin to strap on their gear. Brad was relieved they had overheard his conversation and he wouldn’t have to convince them to go with him. They still had no cold weather gear. The thin Multicam uniforms and body armor wouldn’t do much to keep them warm outside.

  Brad saw more of the heavy blankets they had managed to gather from the cargo bay. They were made of a heavy material and normally used to put over and protect cargo, but they would work. Brad grabbed a stack of them and turned to the Villegases and Parker. “Let’s cut these into squares. We can turn them into ponchos, then wrap the rest around our legs and tape them in place.”

  Joseph shook his head. “Oh, so because we’re Mexicans, you assume we want to wear ponchos and shit?”

  Brad looked at Joseph, confused. “Okay, suit yourself,” he said, handing a blanket to Parker.

  Daniel pushed his brother out of the way. “Man, ignore this fool, I love ponchos,” he said, pulling a large Ka-Bar knife and using it to start cutting away on the heavy cargo blankets.

  Quickly the four of them broke down the pallets into shards of boards and splinters. They loaded these into their now empty sea bags. They draped the cargo blanket ponchos over their bodies, tying them at the waist. Their legs were bundled and taped so that they looked like hockey goalies from the bulky insulation. After gathering their bags and gear, they stood in the door of the aircraft. The Villegas brothers lowered themselves down and back into the dark night. Brad and Parker quickly followed them out the door.

  Once on the ground, Brad led the way into the darkness. Daniel had spotted a piece of the tail on the far side of the aircraft and in an outcropping of rocks. The team had already decided that would make the best place to build a shelter. Their primary concern was getting clear of the jet fuel-soaked snow. Brad moved in close to the broken tail section of the AN-12. It was nothing more than twisted sheet metal wrapped between the large stones, but it would work.

  Brad moved towards a dead space in the boulders and dumped the wooden contents of his sea bag. He made a loose stack of the broken pallet parts, then used his knife to cut a long sliver from the nearly frozen block of C4. When the shard was free of the block, he carefully pushed it against a portion of the wood and, using his hands to shield the wind, ignited the plastic explosive. It lit quickly and began burning with a bright yellow flame. Brad added additional wood to the small flame until the dried bits of pallet began to take hold.

  Soon they had a large fire going. The men dug away the snow and used the metal from the tail to build a wind screen and also to reflect the heat of the fire back towards the rocks. With the fire going strong, Brad positioned one of the sea bags filled with blankets a
s near the fire as he dared. The flames were just out of reach of the bag and Brad saw steam rising off the edges of the green fabric. As soon as the bag and its contents were hot to the touch, Parker quickly ran the bag back to the aircraft’s door and tossed it up to Brooks. Brooks removed the heated blankets and laid them out over Kelli, then tossed the sea bag back down, now filled with replacement blankets to be heated by the fire.

  All through the night the men took turns standing watch, maintaining the fire and running the heated blankets back to the plane. As their supply of wood ran short they began burning parts of the aircraft and down wood from the tree line, using anything to keep their heat source going. They were surprised that they didn’t see any signs of primals. They were even beginning to hope that they had crashed in an area where the infection might not have spread. Eventually Sean, Gunner, Hahn, and Chelsea found themselves down by the fire, while Brooks and Nelson took turns keeping vigil over Kelli.

  The daylight came to the men as a dull gray. Slowly spreading over the tops of the high ridges, the cloud cover blocked out the sun, and the thick snowflakes dropping on the ground covered any sounds of nature. Brad had stayed awake all night helping to increase the watch. He stood now and searched the horizon as far out as he could see in all directions. He could clearly see that the plane had crashed in a valley, eating up earth as it had cut a path down through the snow-covered ground. Brad couldn’t see any structures or buildings, and no other signs of life, just the tall forests ringing the clearing.

  He reached down and dropped another bundle of branches on the fire before stepping off towards where Daniel and Joseph had taken up positions away from the makeshift campsite. As soon as daybreak approached they had moved out to set up observation posts. He held his rifle at the ready as he walked in the direction where he knew the brothers would be. The snow had come down fast the previous night, but had begun to let up over the last couple of hours. The snow covered the sound of his movements but he still wasn’t able to sneak up on the brothers. As Brad stepped closer to the tree line, Daniel stepped out of cover to greet him.