She didn’t want to think about how it would go when the time came.
She liked to think that, by that time, they would have found some kind of government help or maybe the military or something. She didn’t like to think of the possibility of giving birth on the island, with Bradley for a doctor.
What if something was wrong with the baby?
Jack came in and she pushed those thoughts away. He slid his hands down to her stomach, feeling the baby they had created together.
“Mmmm, you are so warm,” he murmured in her ear.
He trailed kisses down her neck. His cold lips cooled her skin, causing tingles to race through her body. She wished they could go upstairs, but there was food to prepare, and everyone was counting on her to get it done. Sexy time would have to wait.
“Jack, I’ve got to get this finished. If you don’t move your hand, I’ll never be able to concentrate enough to cook the food,” she warned.
“So, don’t cook it. Let someone else do it,” he said, rubbing the tops of her thighs through the thin material of her yoga pants.
This whole pregnancy thing had turned him on in a major way. She shook her head at it.
Maybe it was the huge boobs she had developed seemingly overnight?
“I can’t. It’s my turn, sweetie.” She turned and kissed him on the lips. “But if you are good then I’ll make it up to you later tonight.” She leaned forward and whispered, “I’ll do that thing that you seem to like so much.”
His eyes darkened with lust, and he squeezed her tighter. “I do like that, very much. Maybe I’ll do that thing you like so much too,” he taunted back.
She grinned and turned back to the stove. “Okay then, now grab an apron.”
“Whoa there, hold on now. I just came in here to deliver a message. Cam says there will be a meeting directly after supper. Required attendance. That means the dishes will have to wait.”
“All right,” she agreed.
Jim
Jim trailed a hand around Angie’s back and accidentally bumped into Cam’s hand doing the same thing.
Awkward….
“Jim…” he heard Cam’s warning rumble.
They were sitting on the couch in the upstairs bedroom. Jim had demanded entrance and access to his sleeping space and used it to annoy Cam.
“What? I just wanted to hold hands with you. You always do this Cam, always lay there silent afterward. Why don’t we ever talk more?” Jim said, trying to keep his voice serious. He leaned around and looked at Cam.
There was nothing better than getting on Cam’s nerves. He fucking loved it.
“Angie, make him stop before I do. Save his pretty face before I mess it up,” Cam said to her. Jim thought perhaps he was serious this time. Maybe he had taken it too far?
“You think my face is pretty?” he said, propping up on an elbow and looking over at him. He just couldn’t help himself.
Angie shrieked as Cam launched himself at Jim and tackled him off the side of the couch. Jim laughed when he realized that he finally baited Cam a little too successfully.
Jim’s laughter seemed to bring Cam back to where they were and the position that they had found themselves in. He jumped up quickly after that and Jim heard Angie’s uproarious laughter. She was leaning back, clutching her stomach. She was out of control.
Hysterical.
Jim jumped up then and grabbed her, tickling her ribs.
‘Oh God, stop!” she yelled. “Cam help me!” she called out, in between fits of laughing.
Cam came forward and grabbed her up in his arms, trying to steal her away. Jim grabbed at her legs and pulled her back down. He stretched out on his back and pulled Angie down on top of him, her back to his stomach.
It wasn’t what he had intended, but he wasn’t going to complain.
He saw Cam watching as he lightly stroked her stomach. He was testing Cam in a new way, one that was entirely serious.
He had to know that this was real.
“You want to spend some time with me?” he whispered in her ear. She caught her breath and nodded.
Cam breathed out a deep breath, gave a slight smile, and nodded at Jim. He was giving the okay.
“As long as it is what you want,” he told Angie.
Jim tensed, waiting for her response.
“I do, Cam. I love him.”
Cam leaned down and gave her a kiss, then he left the room.
Angie
“This was an excellent decision, Cam,” she said later as she cuddled up between them in the darkening room. The couch was small, but she didn’t mind.
She wasn’t about to suggest that they move to the bed.
“I’m glad you liked it. I’ve got plenty more,” Cam teased.
“It’s going to be supper time soon,” Jim said.
“Do we have to go? I want to stay here and cuddle,” she pouted.
“’Fraid so, I’ve got to eat something before I starve to death. Then Cam’s giving that briefing,” Jim said.
“Don’t worry, babe. We’ll spend our entire honeymoon together. I probably won’t even let you wear clothes…we’ll see,” Cam promised.
“Oh yeah, I second that! No clothes for Angie!” Jim said, raising a hand in the air.
“Don’t know why you’re so excited. You won’t be there to see it,” Cam grumbled.
“Maybe I will,” Jim said and smirked.
Angie laughed and turned her hands over and took theirs. She couldn’t see how this would have ever worked in the normal world, and she was startled to realize that she was grateful to the zombies for one thing.
It had given her the both of them.
They were so different too, and she loved and cherished each difference.
Cam’s chest and stomach was completely ripped. He still hadn’t gained back enough weight, but he didn’t lack any muscle at all. She ran a hand through the golden hair on his chest, it followed a trail all the way down. He was rough and rugged and had scars that she could only guess at what caused them.
Jim was larger, his chest was sprinkled with dark brown hair, and he was tanned a golden color from the summer sun. He had no scars on his chest or stomach.
There was a knock on their door and it interrupted her pleasant reverie.
“Uhh, Colonel? Sir? Jessica wanted me to tell you that supper will be ready in five mikes,” a woman’s tentative voice said through the door.
It sounded like Sasha, but she wasn’t one hundred percent on that. It could have been Natasha.
Angie chuckled at the message.
“Yeah Colonel, we need to get up now,” she said
Cam squeezed her ribs and she lurched away, accidentally elbowing Jim behind her.
“Show some respect or I’ll teach you some,” he warned.
She tried to hold in the laughter, she really did.
He just got up, shaking his head and looking for his shirt.
Jim grabbed her and held her down. “Yeah baby, show some respect,” he said, lowering his voice and mocking Cam.
Cam gave him a warning look and Jim threw his hands up, “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll stop making fun of the glorious leader.”
“They treat you the same way, Jim,” Cam pointed out.
“Yeah, but I’m friendly. I don’t know why they don’t like me better.”
“Probably because you are a jackass and a clown— an assclown,” Cam retorted.
“Guys! Guys!” Angie said, holding her hand up for silence. “I think you are both great. Equally great. Though you both need to work on your relationship. You are going to be married, you know.”
Jim sat up quickly and gave Cam a look of triumph. “See! I told you we were going to be married!”
Angie watched Cam as he clenched his jaw, closed his eyes, and put his head back. He breathed in slowly and Angie could almost hear him counting in his head.
She was glad he learned that trick. There was no telling how much havoc Cam could wreak when he lost his temper.
Jim snickered in amusement. Angie gave him a warning look.
Is this how the rest of their marriage would be?
She wasn’t going to be a wife; she was going to be a referee!
Chapter Eighteen
Mission Briefing
Cam
Cam waited until everyone was settled in before standing up and starting. He looked around the room, making sure everyone was there.
Someone was missing.
“Where’s Jessica?” he asked Jack.
“Bathroom again. She’ll be right back.”
They waited a few more moments for her to return. She blushed when she walked in and saw them all waiting for her silently. She took her seat and Cam raised both eyebrows to her in question. She nodded her permission to start.
“Okay. Here is the deal. We’ve got a prison to liberate, and it needs to be done soon. It’s a perfect time too. The warden won’t be suspecting any attacks by now. He’ll have suspected that we are long gone. Security will probably be pretty relaxed, and I’m not sure if they will ever be able to replace the fighters they lost last time I was there.”
Ed nodded and blew out a breath. “Man, that was really something, Cam,” he said, looking up at Cam.
“I’d like to be in on this one too, Colonel. My arm is healed up and I know my way around a good firefight,” Trap said.
They had cut his cast off a couple of weeks ago. His arm was as good as new, though somewhat weak.
“I’ll get to that in a minute. First, I want to outline the plan for the mission. We’ll leave out in a week. I’ll be taking two teams. First team: Me, Nick, Angie, and Lily. The second team will be: Jim, Trap, Lane, and Monica. Any comments?”
Lily and the group of women looked shocked that some of them would be included in the mission. Cam had a reason. They needed the experience, and they had progressed the most since their arrival.
“Why do they get to go?” Cara asked. He noticed her usage of the word ‘get’, like it was a treat.
He liked that.
“Because I think they are ready, and they need some real experience out in the field. I need the rest of you to stay and keep things secure here and I know that you can handle it.”
“Cam, I’d like to go along too,” Ed said.
Cam rubbed his beard, thinking. Ed could provide valuable intel and those inside the prison knew his face. But…he wanted Ed to stay behind.
“Ed, I need you here this time. I’ll have you brief me on the layout of the prison, the guards, and the allies.”
Ed sighed and dropped his head. “Cam, I told them I would get them out.”
“I know, and you will. Your intel will be what saves those people,” Cam said, clapping him on the back.
Ed told him something later that evening that shocked the hell out of him, then he smiled. A plan was forming.
◆◆◆
The next day Cam had the two teams running drills.
He had set up a miniature layout of the prison behind the cabin and had shown them exactly what his plan was.
“We’re going to go in here and find this clearing. We can’t risk using the cabin I stayed at last time. They will have probably found it by now and seen the evidence that someone was there. We’ll camp here and make the trek through the woods.”
He pointed a stick at the line he had drawn representing the treeline around the pinecone prison.
“This is where your two teams will set up. We’ll have overlapping fields of fire to the side and the front. Trap, we’re going to set up some surprises for them around the prison, should they try to leave.”
“So how will we get to the people inside?” Cara asked.
“Ed left them a radio. If they were able to keep it, then I’ll contact them in the evening after we get there. If they haven’t, then I will continue with the second part of my plan.”
“And what is that?” Jim asked him.
“I go in.”
“What?! No way! They’ll kill you!” Angie shouted.
“No, they won’t. Not if they think I’m useful to them. And I plan to be very useful,” Cam said mysteriously.
“No Cam, we can do this another way,” Jim said, holding up a hand for Angie to be quiet.
“There is no other way. We can’t assault a prison from the outside and expect to free anyone. It will have to be an inside job.”
Everyone was silent as they considered his words. He watched them think it over, and they knew he was right.
“So, what’s the plan once you get in?” Nick wanted to know.
“I’m going to insert myself into the upper echelons of the guards, then I’m going to make contact with the resistance,” he said with a slight grin.
“Geez, Cam, they aren’t just going to welcome you into their little organization!” Jim said.
“They will,” he said assuredly.
“How do you know?” Cara asked.
They all looked to him and waited for his answer.
“Because I know the warden,” he said, his face turning cold and promising.
Jim
The week passed in a blur of advanced instruction, constant daily training, and practice drills.
Cam had gone over each of their duties in meticulous detail and they knew exactly what parts they would play in the upcoming drama.
Jim still thought it was dangerous as hell for Cam to go in and work from the inside, but he didn’t question him. He was the one with years of mission experience.
Angie was upset with Cam and currently giving him the freeze.
The anticipation was getting to them all. He was glad they were leaving this morning.
He dressed in the early morning hours. Cam wanted them to travel at night and get there before dawn. He looked at his watch. It was zero-three-hundred. They expected to be at the OP by zero-five-thirty. From there, Cam would lead them to their set-up points and make sure everything was good to go.
Then he would leave and go to the prison.
They ate a subdued breakfast. Everyone except Jonah had gotten up to see them off. Nick’s girls were crying and clinging close to him. Lily and Lane were geared up and pale.
Jim knew they must be nervous as hell. It would be easier once they got going though. The time before a mission was always the worst part. The waiting could drive you crazy.
“Load up,” Cam said as they finished a quick breakfast.
They said their goodbyes, Cam patting the dog’s head. They still hadn’t named him. Cam said he was waiting until the perfect name presented itself.
They weren’t sure when they would be coming back…or who would be coming back.
They got into the two Humvees and drove off into the night. They saw several groups of dead in the dark, but nothing that would stop them from their mission.
When they were an hour outside of the prison, Cam called a halt.
“Stop,” he said into the radio.
They stopped and Jim watched as Cam got out and jogged up the road, pulling his axe. He stepped up into the turret to see better. There, in the middle of the road, was a cluster of the dead.
They weren’t moving.
It was eerie, watching them huddle together without movement or sound. What if they woke up as Cam approached? There were only six to eight of them, but still.
He and the others observed. Lane had her hand over her mouth and watched with wide, scared eyes as Cam jogged up and swung his axe gracefully though the air. It caught the nearest Z in the back of the neck, neatly ending its life…or death…whatever. He pulled back the axe for the next blow. This one caught a Z in the side of the face, and even that didn’t wake the little band of corpses. He yanked it back out and buried it further in, splattering black goo across the others’ rotting faces.
He traveled around the group in a circle, dropping them where they stood.
As each one fell, Jim kept expecting them to finally wake up and realize that there was meat close by. It never happened.
Could they do this with a larger herd?
Cam finished his grisly task and jogged back to the Humvees. Jim saw Z blood splattered on his face and uniform. Cam seemed to be constantly getting splattered by the infectious fluids, yet he hadn’t ever gotten sick from it.
Hope he kept his mouth closed.
They reached their rally point at the expected time, and Jim was relieved that the clearing was far enough off the road that the Humvees and equipment wouldn’t be easily discovered.
They set up the small camp and camouflaged the Humvees with netting that Cam had brought along.
“Grab your assigned gear and let’s move out. I want alpha team in a wedge formation in front, bravo team wedge formation in the rear. Trap, take point,” Cam ordered.
Jim moved to the middle of the two wedges and watched as Trap took the point position. He would be the one looking for danger and alerting the rest of the group in the event of any attack or threat. Cam would join Jim in the middle and they would communicate with both teams.
They moved out, with Trap leading the way to the first firing position. They reached it and they all took a knee. Cam crouched and walked toward Nick and Lily.
“Set up here,” he said, directing them to place their M249 SAW in the indicated position.
It would provide good firepower and suppressing fire, should they need it.
Angie was lingering back with the other team. Jim motioned her forward. She ran up with her gear.
“You provide rear security for this team,” he said. She already knew. They had gone over this at least fifty times this week.
“Roger,” she said and moved into place.
Cam led Lane and Monica to their position on the other side of the front entrance. They set up their weapon there and had an overlapping field of fire with the first.
The front of the prison was covered.
“Jim, provide security until Trap returns. Trap, on me,” Cam ordered, and they took off through the trees.
Cam
Cam took the large ruck and jogged ahead of Trap through the trees.
Refuge From The Dead | Book 3 | Dead Fall Page 19